Big Baggy Shorts

Coming up on the mean streets of Bay Village and believing I would grow up to be 6'3," I always envisioned myself becoming a college basketball superstar at the University of Michigan.  My friends and I played basketball 24/7 whether it was in a gym or outside on the courts all over our town.  This love and admiration for the Wolverines started right around middle school at the brink of our teen angst.  The University of Michigan was the epitome of teen angst and my friends and I were all about them.  They were rough, raw and ready to take on any team.  Their attitude and appeal led a few friends and myself to even sign up for their basketball camp a few years after the Fab 5 left.  The experience is one I will never forget!  The image of Robert "Tractor" Traylor along with Maurice Taylor hopping out of their fully loaded Ford Explorer with as much gold around their necks as Mr. T is one that never seizes to amaze me.  Years later when 5'8" became my height for life, my dream of being a hoops star diminished but my love for the Fab Five stayed true. 
 
These feelings were re-ignited this past week when I found out ESPN's 30 for 30 will be doing a documentary on  the Fab Five.  I have been an avid fan of this series since its beginning and I cannot wait for each new one to come out.  For those of you who have not seen any of these or would like to be blown away for two hours, I highly recommend The Best That Never Was, The Pony Excess, Once Brothers or The Two Escobars.  In my opinion, this series has reached new demographics outside of the normal sports fan including film aficionados and random fans of folk lore.  Instead of having Steve Sabol or Mike Lupica and the sports reporters tell these stories, like they have done countless times in the past, they have allowed 30 contemporary and innovative filmmakers to create their own canvases and imprint their works upon the sports world.

This has been a brilliant move by ESPN to renovate their product and tap into new streams of viewers and potential sponsors.  Sports will always have their Black Sox scandals and Tim Donagy conspiracies but how many chances will Reggie Rock Bythewood or Barry Levinson have to show off their interpretations to the sports world?  Take for instance Steve Bartman, the exile of Chicago.  His documentary, "Catching Hell," was slated to have been shown at the beginning of this year's World Series but due to the Academy Award winning film director, Alex Gibney, sense to have it pushed back to 2011 (there are even rumors speculating that it may be turned into a two parter). 

By creating these series, ESPN has positioned their brand as no longer being just the jock on the block.  Now, they are the muscle headed jock on the block who just received a full-ride scholarship to Stanford and what they do at Stanford is up to them.  Do they party or do they get an education? 

I Love Pringles

Just when I thought I couldn't love Pringles any more than I already do . . . . they decide to use A/R to pull me and everyone in.  A/R stands for "augmented reality."  Defining it is a little complicated and better left to smarter minds so I recommend a simple Google/Bing search.  However, for those who want the cliffs notes, just think of the yellow first down line you see every Sunday watching an NFL game.  This is but one example of A/R using a digital overlay within real action.

A/R is a concept that has been toyed around with for awhile now.  I am only familiar with a couple uses such as with mobile, Layar's First Mobile Augmented Browser, XBox's Kinect Light Sabers Are Always Cool and with the USPS Yes, I said the United States Postal Service.  I leave out the Minority Report example because that one seems to be the most obvious.

I am sure there may be thousands of cooler representations of A/R out there however; these three are pretty innovative in their own fields.  To be able to use such technology in the field of marketing where clients could use, try out, or even put on the product before physically touching it is a tremendous tool.  To think, clothing stores could have men and women try on clothes from home without having to go inside a store.  That application alone would boost online sales tenfold, not to mention the impact it would have on mini malls.

I highly recommend looking into A/R for yourselves and looking into all of its potential applications.  There are loads of hilarious examples which will keep me amused along with many more tech fueled videos that will challenge the most verbose of intellects.  This is field of technology is still growing and is only at the adolescences of its development.  So kick back and remember the good ol' days with some Pringles because once you pop, you still can't stop!