Scoreboards

North Korea is a mystery to most of the world. Their exclusionist attitude, the brain washing of the people, and their lack of association with anything that the rest of the world is involved with, has kept most people scratching their heads as to who they really are. The rather strange visit of Dennis Rodman to North Korea, along with his own bizarre behavior, has had an effect on North Korea when it comes to the topic of basketball. It appears, that the ‘dear leader’ (Kim Jong-Il) also loves basketball, but in his typical methodology, has created his own rules for the game.

It’s understood that apple pie and American baseball are two of our iconic claims to fame as a culture. Baseball is played in every town, city, school and open field in our country and we have established a complete set of traditions that blend with the sport. With so many sports choices and excellent players and teams in the U.S., how did baseball take the top spot as the favorite?

Americans are fascinated with anything sports, and this carries over into those teams, games, and players that accomplish anything on an outrageous scale. From players that dress and act strangely to an extended duration of a game, Americans soak this up, like a dry sponge, and add them as topics to talk about with their fellow fans. Sports games that extend beyond the normal bounds typically mean a game that will be a hot topic. So what are some of the longest sports games in America’s history? A sports game that goes beyond the norm in duration is eagerly watched, with all eyes on the electronic scoreboard for points and the winning team. A record was set in tennis when Nicolas Mahut and John Isner had a match that lasted over eleven hours, covering three days.

Designing a soccer jersey is a tricky business and one that has changed from a plain necessity to an outright fine art. A well crafted look can turn a team into both popular and iconic or make everyone do a double-take, asking “what were they thinking”. Some of the best soccer jerseys that stand out are memorable and recognizable, and, after all, in marketing, that’s the name of the game; especially when you see the team colors on the electronic scoreboard.

It seems that sports enthusiasts are never satisfied with the size of their favorite stadium electronic scoreboard, and manufacturers in the U.S. are stepping up to the plate to bring the fans what they want. Whether college or professional, the scoreboards are getting bigger with technology to wow the viewers. Competition is fierce, and the list is ever changing for the winner of the top biggest scoreboards.

Any time you ask anyone about their favorite or best moments in NBA finals history, you get a flurry of responses. Everyone has their favorite player, team or moment, and always wants to show off. Thanks to today’s technologies and mass internet, we can see the replays from the electronic scoreboards on the internet as many times as we want, and even share them in a friendly competition. Here are some of the most popular. In 1992 Michael Jordan was unstoppable. In Game 1 of the finals, he hit six 3-pointers, just in the first half. Suddenly, he stopped, turned to the announcers and made his now famous ‘shrug’ stating he didn’t understand why he was on fire.

I grew up sitting in the bleachers, watching my Mom play on a women’s team in Missouri. This was a team of working women, most of the moms, and were some of the hardest playing games I ever saw. With a semi-pro player like my mother, I couldn’t begin to compete, but she gave us the legacy of the love of baseball. Another of her legacies was that we should never take ourselves too seriously. We shared many a day watching ball on television and laughed until tears ran down our faces when we saw a blooper, something silly or a player performing out of character. Some of these have become quite popular, being played and replayed on the electronic scoreboards to the joy of the fans.

150 years offers a lot of leeway for the development of traditions in baseball. There is always an evolution of rules and guidelines when it comes to sports; and in most cases, these are established based on safety or fairness. Baseball, however, has some rather unusual or downright weird rules for the game. As you watch the game and view the electronic scoreboard with confusion, keep these in mind and the fact that they are completely legal.

Football has become an iconic American sport, with billions of dollars spent each year on teams, players, stadiums, electronic scoreboards, equipment and, of course, merchandising. The sport itself has experienced an evolution, from humble beginnings as a spinoff of a kind of Rugby game, to the mega-sport of today. If you could turn back the hands of time and attend a football game in the 1920’s, you might not want to watch it.

American was founded by people that considered themselves individual thinkers. It is therefore not surprising that this culture continued as we developed as a nation. The U.S. takes great pride in establishing unique traditions that are completely alien to other countries. Our attitude towards our sports games is often a lot more obsessive than the rest of the world and this includes the concept of cheerleading. But cheerleaders and sports fans are not the only things that differentiate Americans from other countries, there are many things that we do that, frankly, the rest of the world considers bizarre. We have to understand the other countries are not quite as expansive as the U.S. The logistics of the sheer size of America allows us the opportunity to hop in the car and drive long distances, without even thinking about it. Other countries find our fascination with driving everywhere, rather odd.

As Americans, we don’t think twice about cheerleading. This is part of our culture and we are introduced to the tradition at a very young age in school. In the U.S., a certain stigma has developed on the topic of cheerleaders, as they fight the generalized concept of ‘dumb blondes’ that usually date the jocks. The idea of ‘cheerleading’ is not one that is shared or even a consideration in other countries. Europeans are completely alienated on the topic and, it is often a topic of both amusement and irritation. Americans take our sports very seriously; but with that, comes an idea of fun and competition. We associate sports with smiling, laughter, fans, stadiums, players, and of course, cheerleading. This is not always the case in other countries. Some cultures do not express emotions, such as smiling in public, as they feel it makes them look stupid or, in a kind of ‘Vulcan’ concept, makes them appear weak.

If you watch any news or view it on the internet, it is hard to miss all of the fanfare about the FIFA World Cup in 2014, in Brazil. The country is considered to be one of the top nations in the world for soccer expertise and no wonder; at any given time Brazil has over 10,000 players, on a professional level; complete with playing fields and electronic scoreboards.

Soccer is to Brazil as baseball is the America. There is not just a love for the sport, but a true passion. Soccer was brought to the country by a Scotsman in the 1800’s. Already a popular sport in Britain, he introduced Brazilians to a game with very little in the way of equipment or professional guidance. As more British began living in Brazil, they brought equipment and the kind of experience that helps team and player development.