OT - Lakers Essay Help

motorcity15 · Post #1 » by **motorcity15** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 4:03 pm

Hey guys

My writing and rhetoric class midterm project is to write an essay on a specific fan culture (ex. a movie with a cult following). The topic i chose was the Los Angeles Lakers because their fan culture and following is pretty big and there would be enough information to create a well written essay. So my outline.

Intro

P1 -Why it became famous
-Location/La-Hollwoood Connection/Showtime
- Star Players/Championships/Winning culture

P2- Details of this fan culture
- Central Website/forums/marketing
- Tv ratings/ attendance/sales
- Staples center
- History

P3 - Fan relationship
- Types of fans/loyalty/bandwagon fans/association with the team.
- perception around country
- Nostalgia

Conclusion

My question to you guys is that do you think this a solid breakdown/outline for a Lakers essay? Is this enough info? Am i missing something ?

Another question to LA residents - what is the general view on the lakers at this moment in LA?

Thanks for your time and help.

Post #2 » by **dockingsched** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 4:22 pm

i know its about fan culture, but if you're going to talk about showtime, winning culture, and generally how they became so popular, you have to mention something about jerry buss, arguably the best owner in the NBA.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/111282944.html

Since earlier this week we highlighted the best and worst owners in the National Football League and Major League Baseball, based on a survey of SportsBusiness Daily/SportsBusiness Journal readers, let's not forget the National Basketball Association.

The most effective team owner in the NBA, according to 1,065 respondents in the survey, is Jerry Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers with 37.0% of the vote. Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks was next with 19.0%, followed by Micky Arison of the Miami Heat (15.1%) and Wyc Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics (7.2%).

http://dimemag.com/2010/06/the-best-worst-nba-owners/

Top 5 NBA owners

2. Jerry Buss
Buss has been a great owner because of his willingness to stay out of the way and let the basketball people handle their jobs. Under his watch since 1979, the Lakers have won nine championships – which is truly remarkable considering they have won over a quarter of the championships since Buss took over. He has also been willing to spend the money to keep marquee players, and bring in excellent coaches like Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/b ... z1FSZ4HAbb

Five Best NBA owners

1. Jerry Buss - In retrospect, Lakers fans almost feel silly for calling Buss onto the carpet for dealing Shaquille O'Neal and putting up with Kobe Bryant's repeated trade requests. All is well in Lakerland again, as the organization has rebuilt itself into what may be the third dynasty of Buss' tenure. The Lakers made the postseason for the 28th time during Buss' 31 years. They've also won more than 60 games eight times, not to mention eight championships in 14 NBA Finals appearances. Beneath all that glitz and glamour is an organization that clings fast to its tradition: Magic Johnson is a part-owner, Mitch Kupchak is the GM and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw are assistant coaches.

motorcity15 · Post #3 » by **motorcity15** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 4:30 pm

^ Ownership slipped my mind. Including Buss is a good idea, thanks

I really appreciate the links

Thanks for your help

CowsMoo · Post #4 » by **CowsMoo** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 5:47 pm

Boston Rivalry and how winning brings in the band wagoners.

H00PDREAMS · Post #5 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 5:55 pm

I think you should mention something about the National and Worldwide appeal of the Lakers organization.

Also its influence on art and music i.e. redhot chilli peppers "magic johnson" and other songs and artist. There was a video Lkaers.com had on season ticket holders that was fantastic. It would be the source material youre looking for. If anyone has it hook this guy up. It featured people from all walks of life describing why they are season ticket holders.

The Laker Kid · Post #6 » by **The Laker Kid** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 9:18 pm

You should mention the number of celebrities that show up in a Laker game, especially during the playoffs. It is part of the reason why the Lakers have such a huge cult following - people who are originally not into sports become bandwagon fans because their favorite celebrities show up in a Laker game. It has that "coolness" factor in it. It screams glamour, style, and winning culture.

I think your outline is good.

motorcity15 · Post #7 » by **motorcity15** » Wed Mar 2, 2011 10:43 pm

Thanks for all the great advice and help guys. Much appreciated

Gek · Post #8 » by **Gek** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 12:24 am

The Laker Kid wrote:You should mention the number of celebrities that show up in a Laker game, especially during the playoffs. It is part of the reason why the Lakers have such a huge cult following - people who are originally not into sports become bandwagon fans because their favorite celebrities show up in a Laker game. It has that "coolness" factor in it. It screams glamour, style, and winning culture.

I think your outline is good.

The Lakers are the Apple products of the NBA world. Man I feel like a tool

.

BUT **** EM. PURP AND YELLOW PURP AND YELLOW PURP AND YELLOW!

Speedlot · Post #9 » by **Speedlot** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 10:43 am

G=K wrote:
The Laker Kid wrote:You should mention the number of celebrities that show up in a Laker game, especially during the playoffs. It is part of the reason why the Lakers have such a huge cult following - people who are originally not into sports become bandwagon fans because their favorite celebrities show up in a Laker game. It has that "coolness" factor in it. It screams glamour, style, and winning culture.

I think your outline is good.

The Lakers are the Apple products of the NBA world. Man I feel like a tool .

BUT **** EM. PURP AND YELLOW PURP AND YELLOW PURP AND YELLOW!

Except Apple is overrated

TruSkool · Post #10 » by **TruSkool** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 12:35 pm

you might want to include in your opening paragraph about how the lakers are one of the best economically beneficial sports teams in the world (forbes)

H00PDREAMS · Post #11 » by **H00PDREAMS** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 3:19 pm

Speedlot wrote:Except Apple is overrated

Sure dude whatever helps you to sleep at night. :roll:

Penberthy · Post #12 » by **Penberthy** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 3:30 pm

If you want to show the relative magnitude of fans, you should mention some championship parade numbers. If I remember, something like 150,000 people show up, I doubt any cult movie or any anything else has a following like that.

Post #13 » by **dockingsched** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 5:49 pm

for magnitude of fans, use this link:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Jour ... tings.aspx

the lakers lead the league in average viewership with 278,000 households tunning into their games on FSW. the 2nd highest are the bulls with 141,000, almost half. lakers dominate.

Post #14 » by **MadNESS** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 6:24 pm

Also, another thing that might help, is the Celebs the players date / marry.

Odom = Khloe
Brown = Monica
Sasha (Old) = Sharapova
...rumors were that Bynum was dating Rhianna for a while...

either way my point is, That kind of thing brings in different kinds of fans / celebrities into the mix as well.

IDK if it helps, just my 2 cents

The Laker Kid · Post #15 » by **The Laker Kid** » Thu Mar 3, 2011 6:33 pm

Lakers = Mac... they simply dominate. They don't get upgraded a lot (ie. not much trading) but when they do, it's huge (Gasol). The Lakers is expensive, but worth the price of admission. It doesn't gets viruses (no Arenas-type stuff) has sense of style, runs triangle offense (OSX) and has the best, most influential coach in the league (Phil = Steve Jobs).

Celtics = PC/Windows..... Still a threat, but they're old, boring, has one dude with foul mouth. They have Shaq who is like a huge bloatware. He's always injured, much like a PC, and FAT, just like Windows 7.

Clippers is like Linux.... they have good potential but they never keep their good players. They have so many players going in and out all year, just like Linux distros.

And that, my friend, is why the Lakers have such a cult following. We're always good, and have a distinct style, just like Macs.

nbatalkdotcom · Post #16 » by **nbatalkdotcom** » Fri Mar 4, 2011 1:50 am

H00PDREAMS wrote:I think you should mention something about the National and Worldwide appeal of the Lakers organization.

Also its influence on art and music i.e. redhot chilli peppers "magic johnson" and other songs and artist. There was a video Lkaers.com had on season ticket holders that was fantastic. It would be the source material youre looking for. If anyone has it hook this guy up. It featured people from all walks of life describing why they are season ticket holders.

China's following of Kobe... He's like god over there.

China's Basketball hero's:

1. Kobe
2. Yao

Gek · Post #17 » by **Gek** » Fri Mar 4, 2011 2:31 am

You are amazing.

laduane1 · Post #18 » by **laduane1** » Fri Mar 4, 2011 4:12 am

Down load it like we all did in school. Change a few words and go play some video games with all the free time left over...

motorcity15 · Post #19 » by **motorcity15** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 5:16 pm

Sorry for bumping up this thread but just wanted to let you guys know how i did on the paper...

Got a 3.8 on it :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the help, suggestions, and links

joelafan · Post #20 » by **joelafan** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:15 pm

you could put how kobes iconic status has made XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX amount of dollars for the lakers. Or that the lakers has always had iconic players play for them and how that effects nba fans.