Thursday, September 26, 2013

Game Over: EA pulls plug on college football video game


Game Over: EA pulls plug on college football video game
Posted by Kevin McGuire on September 26, 2013, 5:35 PM EDT


Perhaps destined for this decision, Electronic Arts has announced the cancellation of the popular NCAA Footballvideo game franchise for the upcoming year. The video game giant is caught in the middle of an ongoing legal dispute concerning the NCAA and former college players and had already lost the license to use the NCAA brand as well as multiple conferences and a couple of schools. In this case, the writing was on the wall.

The announcement gamers have been dreading was delivered Thursday afternoon vie a press release by Cam Weber, GM of American Football at EA Sports.

“Today I am sad to announce that we will not be publishing a new college football game next year, and we are evaluating our plan for the future of the franchise,” Weber said. “This is as profoundly disappointing to the people who make this game as I expect it will be for the millions who enjoy playing it each year.”

Weber cites the dispute between players and the NCAA over player likenesses, one in which EA has been criticized for using without any form of compensation for players represented in the game aside from the annual cover athlete. In addition, Weber says

“For our part, we are working to settle the lawsuits with the student-athletes,” Weber said. “Meanwhile, the NCAA and a number of conferences have withdrawn their support of our game. The ongoing legal issues combined with increased questions surrounding schools and conferences have left us in a difficult position – one that challenges our ability to deliver an authentic sports experience, which is the very foundation of EA SPORTS games.”

The production team that works on the video game will be placed elsewhere under the EA Sports division of Electronic Arts, but there will be no college football-themed video game released next summer. The college football franchise has been released every year dating back to 1993 on the Super Nintendo and SEGA Genesis. When introduced, the game used Bill Walsh to headline the franchise and was a bit ahead of its time. The game featured only a relatively small number of teams that resembled actual college teams but included a playoff system long before the adoption of the actual College Football Playoff. Walsh’s namesake was used to sell the franchise in similar fashion to John Madden and the NFL franchise, but the franchise was soon named College Football USA before switching to NCAA Football.

EA Sports has long been the only producer of a college football game. 2k Sports had two college football titles released in 2001 and 2002, but the company has slowly been phased out by EA Sports in the sports video game market. Will we eventually see another college football game released on our video game consoles? Probably. This is probably not a long-term or permanent solution, but until the NCAA, conferences, schools and players all start playing under a system that allows for players to be compensated we have probably seen the last college football game for a while. The demand will always be there as well as the target audience, but off-field legalities must be sorted out first.

UPDATE (5:43 p.m.): Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com reports EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Co. have settled a number of lawsuits with as many as 100,000 current and former players.

Photo credit: EA Sports

Golf Traditionalists Rejoice Ban of Belly Putter


Golf Traditionalists Rejoice Ban of Belly Putter











Travis Mewhirter May 23, 2013 2:01 PM




COMMENTARY | On Tuesday morning, golf traditionalists took a resounding victory, a 2-0 sweep, when both the R&A and the USGA agreed on signing in rule 14-1b, a ban against the use of an anchored putter, which will begin at the onset of the 2016 season.

It's a decision that has been a long time coming and, to most, has been the obvious one to make. The change was proposed on Nov. 28, and after six months of d
ebate and a rare 90-day comment period -- there were 2,650 total comments received, 2,300 by the United States -- the decision came down.



"We strongly believe that this rule is for the betterment of the game," USGA President Glen Nager said. "Rule 14-1b protects one of the most important challenged in the game -- the free swing of the entire club. Anchoring is different: Intentionally securing one end of the club against the body, and creating a point of physical attachment around which the club is swung, is a substantial departure from that traditional free swing."

To be clear, however, this does not mean the ban of the long putter, such as the one used by Matt Kuchar, but the pan of anchoring a longer putter so as to use it as a hinge. Adam Scott, the Masters winner by use of anchor, pressed his against his chest. Webb Simpson (U.S. Open champ), Keegan Bradley (2011 PGA), and Ernie Els (British Open) all hinged at the belly. So this does not mean we will see the end of the long, sweeping style, which Scott hinted that he will likely try when the ban sets in, just that the club will be completely free of the body other than the hands.

"I've always felt that in golf you should have to swing the club, control your nerves and swing all 14 clubs, not just 13," Tiger Woods said Monday. "I hope they go with the ban. That's something that I've said, that anchoring should not be a part of the game. It should be mandatory to have to swing all 14 clubs."

And in 2016 all 14 clubs will have to be swung, but not until then. This means that there are still 11 majors up for grabs for belly-putter users like Scott and Bradley, Els and Webb. And at the rate majors have been handed over to anchored users lately -- four out of the last six -- there's a good chance we will be seeing more of golf's Big Four being lost to those using the longer version of the flat stick.

But that is still far from the worst possible consequence of the new rule. The PGA Tour and PGA of America have both been steadfastly opposed to banning the anchored putter, and both organizations have the opportunity to rewrite their own rules, as does Augusta National, which would allow for it to be used. Imagine having four major championships split by two different rule books, one allowing an anchored putter, one not allowing it.

"We are disappointed with this outcome," PGA of America President Ted Bishop said in a prepared statement. "As we have said publicly and repeatedly during the comment period, we do not believe 14‐1b is in the best interest of recreational golfers and we are concerned about the negative impact it may have on both the enjoyment and growth of the game. Growing the game is one of the fundamental purposes of The PGA of America.''

Long putters have been used for more than 40 years now, with no real backlash until Bradley won the PGA Championship and was then closely followed by Simpson, Els, and Scott. The real alarms may have gone off, however, when 14-year-old Tianlang Guan became the youngest player to make a cut at a major as he used a belly putter. It invited the question: Why on Earth does a 14-year-old kid need a belly putter that was designed, in part, to help aging players like Bernhard Langher and Fred Couples?

Woods, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Brandt Snedecker, Steve Stricker, Arnold Palmer and Graeme McDowell have all voiced their approval of the rule while the opposing party's biggest proponent has been long time anchorer Tim Clark.

"It would be hard to find anybody in the pro game using a long putter or belly putter who didn't know this announcement was coming," Harrington said. "It's a decision for the benefit of the game. They should have done it 16 or 20 years ago and if they didn't ban them now they'd become institutionalized. If belly putters were coming on the scene now they would not be passed. It was timely to make the change and protect the traditions of the game. We don't want it to become so embedded in the game that kids think it's the right thing to do".



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Travis Mewhirter has been working in the golf industry since 2007, when he was a bag room manager at Piney Branch Golf Club in Carroll County, Maryland, and has been involved, as a player, since 2004. Since then, he has worked at Hayfields Country Club, where the Constellation Energy Classic was formerly held, and has covered golf at the high school, college, and professional levels.

Senior PGA Championship sets new highs as most socially connected senior golf event ever


Senior PGA Championship sets new highs as most socially connected senior golf event ever











PGA.COM May 23, 2013 4:25 PM

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Even the tournament staff is promoting the social media effort this week.(Montana Pritchard/The PGA …


By John Kim, PGA.com Coordinating Producer

ST. LOUIS -- When you think seniors, Twitter probably doesn't come to mind. When you think golf, Instagram doesn't seem to be a natural platform. And when you think senior golf - well, let's just say that even Facebook turns up zero results with those terms (one 'group' for "senior golfers" - it has 108 members and updates a time a two per month). Golf - tournament golf, especially for the older folks - just doesn't translate to the social media craze. ... Or does it?

The 74th Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid will no doubt be the most 'socially-connected' senior golf event in history. Though that claim is unofficial, the sheer volume of accounts that will be covering the event all but makes it absolute.

The Senior PGA Championship itself has an official Facebook page, Twitter account and even an Instagram account. But the reach of this event will extend far beyond those platforms. Using partnerships, dedicated resources and even the players themselves, the action from Bellerive Country Club this week will be covered extensively in the social sphere.

"Nothing can replace seeing a major championship in person or the visuals you'll see on TV," said Julius Mason, the Senior Director of Communications & Media Relations for The PGA of America, as he shared why the social experience this week matters to the Association. "But by reaching the community of golf that lives and enjoys the game on these platforms, we are placing the most prestigious event in senior golf in front of an audience that has already indicated they love golf.


"We want them to not only see the action, but feel like they are a part of a special experience - whether here at the championship, home while viewing it or even while at work or a little league game, wherever life happens to take them," Mason added. "It's not just about providing information now, it's about conversations and dialogue with the fans."

To that end, the championship itself has four dedicated social media correspondents. Each day, they will cover all areas of the event - inside and outside the ropes - to give views and perspectives that traditional media simply doesn't have resources to share. Other media, sponsor and association groups will also be taking part in the social conversations, thus saturating the social landscape with Senior PGA Championship posts.

In fact, when the first tee shot is struck on Thursday morning, there will be nearly a dozen Twitter accounts with significant followings (including PGA.com with more than 100,000 followers, the Champions Tour account and the KitchenAid Golf account) all tweeting out updates from Bellerive. Add to that, the hundreds of thousands of 'fans' on half a dozen Facebook pages and there is an obviously significant audience being reached.

Maddie Marshall of The PGA of America Championships Department is coordinating the social efforts for the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid. "Our plan is simple: these separate accounts all connect to different audiences but have one singular purpose in mind - to engage and inform golf fans, both at home or here at Bellerive Country Club. We want to take this championship from a passive enjoyment to an active participant for fans and players alike."

The championship will also benefit from the strong social presence of its presenting sponsor, KitchenAid.

Said Deb O'Connor, Director of Global Partnerships for KitchenAid, "Our brand has put a major emphasis on our social media channels to connect with golf and cooking enthusiasts around the country, and we work closely with The PGA of America to engage with fans about the KitchenAid Fairway Club, chef demonstrations, leaderboard updates, and more."

Fans, media and even players will be joining in the conversation all week. You can take part or just follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #SrPGA.