#oney plays fans rise!

[jeffdaving-it-out]

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[ispeaktheyburn]

Things I learned about the Leo Frank case from reading And the Dead Shall Rise by Steve Oney (note: none of this is meant to drag Parade, which I love with all my heart):

-Britt Craig didn’t launch a smear campaign against Leo; he was just the reporter who broke the news of Mary Phagan’s murder (before Leo was considered a suspect).

-“That’s What He Said” is a pretty accurate depiction of Jim Conley’s testimony on how he allegedly acted as Leo’s accomplice and helped him hide Mary’s body in the basement, but before the trial he gave four different versions of the story in affidavits (the police grilled him until he produced a version they were satisfied with).

-I’ve posted about this before, but Leo’s lawyers were racist as fuck. They argued that Jim Conley’s race made him inherently untrustworthy and that “no white man” could have committed such a brutal crime. I’m guessing JRB/Uhry chose not to include this in the musical because it would have made it harder to sympathize with Leo.

-The musical exaggerates the antisemitism that occurred during the trial—not to say there wasn’t any, but incidents like Mary’s mother spitting “Jew” at Leo when she was on the stand are definitely fiction. The most blatant, violent antisemitism arose after the trial, when Northern Jewish-owned newspapers started campaigning to save Leo.

-The unsworn statement Leo made at the trial was nothing like “It’s Hard to Speak My Heart”—he used most of it to explain the work he did at the National Pencil Company on the morning before the murder to convince the jury that his hands were too full to kill Mary, but it probably just made them perceive him as cold and unfeeling.  -Several of the factory girls who testified against Leo did recant their testimony and admit to being coached by Hugh Dorsey, but later they recanted their recantations and claimed they were coerced by William Burns (a private detective working with the defense to clear Leo’s name) into changing their testimony. Of course, Burns denied the accusations and the defense accused the prosecution of bullying the girls into changing their testimony again. So it’s clear that they were bullied by one side or the other, but we’ll probably never know which side.

-Tom Watson was silent on the case until a year after the murder, when a newspaper run by his political rival published an editorial supporting Leo. Also, if you think Watson is evil incarnate in the musical, the real guy’s writings make the musical version look like Mr. Rogers.

-Jim Conley had his own lawyer during the proceedings, William Smith, who came to believe Jim was the actual murderer and played a major role in Governor Slaton’s decision to commute Leo’s sentence to life imprisonment (he also wrote a note on his deathbed professing his belief in Leo’s innocence). 

To sum up: I'd highly recommend this book to any fan of Parade who’s interested in learning more about the case; just don’t read it expecting to find 100% incontrovertible proof of Leo’s innocence. I still believe he was most likely innocent, but I found myself agreeing with Oney’s comment on the last page that “there will never be a resolution to the Frank case,” because it’s a lot murkier than the musical would have people believe.

[rickhorrow]

Rise of the Machines: A Look At The Disruption Leading During The Pause In Live Events

By Tanner Simkins @tannersimkins

When we look back at this period without sports what will we have learned? Is it the rise of engagement of gaming and esports, or the realization that fans really want a second screen integration? How will mobile play a bigger role, and can media companies now actually sell an experience that is not the traditional?

One first adopter and disruptor is Jay Sharman, co-founder of TeamWorks Media In Chicago. TeamWorks has used the time to expand the footprint of its popular English language daily baseball show La Vida Baseball, increase its scope of engagement with The Big 10 Network and add a number of content offerings, from a podcast with digital industry leaders to a popular Twitter show on “The Last dance” to a newly launched Spanish language baseball program, the only one offered to native Spanish speakers about a game they love.

We thought it would be good to ask Sharman about disruption, change and who he is following as we get closer to the resumption of play.

Teamworks Media has proactively pushed some great new offerings like the one on The Last Dance, how and why has it come about?

It was clear to us that The Last Dance, was going to be attention-grabbing and dominate the sports conversation on social media, based on the dearth of quality sports content. Tom Smithburg, a co-owner of TeamWorks Media has a truly unique perspective, since he was the official 90s-era Chicago Bulls gatekeeper (media relations manager) for Jordan, Scottie, Dennis and Phil. His first-person, behind the scenes daily access during this era combined with our want to be innovative as a company made the idea of a weekly social media show, Backstage at The Last Dance a no-brainer. We also wanted to show the marketplace this is the new normal, innovation at the drop of a dime, and a need to serve people with unique content, despite production limitations. Great storytelling trumps aesthetic.

Without games how is La Vida Baseball, another property that you are running doing?

Remarkably well. The company literally means “The Baseball Life” and we look it La Vida Baseball as a culture and lifestyle brand, mostly about stories off the field. We had 25 MLB guests on our live shows in April and shared everything from at home workouts with Nelson Cruz, to video game playing with several Latino stars. Like any passion brand, there is no off-season and despite no live games, in this case, there is a shared experience component to COVID-19 that brings fans even closer to players. La Vida Baseball is that facilitator for Latino baseball fans.

How has the "Being Guillen" piece of LaVida Baseball worked?

Being Guillén may be the most underrated content in sports right now. The weekly show (Fridays, 1pm et on La Vida Baseball social media) features former World Series Champion manager, Ozzie Guillén Sr., and his three sons – Ozzie Jr., Ozney, and Oney tackling any and all issues in baseball and beyond. It feels like you’re an uninvited guest sitting at a family dinner where the debates get heated and you’re borderline uncomfortable wondering if you should excuse yourself from the table. The show has not missed a beat during the quarantine (it’s based in the Chicago area) since the family gathers from their home. This show deserves a national television slot and that’s something we’re working hard to secure.

Baseball is part of Latino culture, but yet your new offering on LaVida is one of the few Spanish language shows in the digital space. Why is that?

Great brands listen to their audience. When we launched La Vida Baseball, we had the resources to only choose one language, because multi-language shows are not a function of auto-translate. Our target audience, the U.S. Latino baseball fan, consumes sports content primarily in English (66% according to 2018 Pew Research). Yet, as we’ve experimented and engaged our fans, it’s clear there is a want for Spanish-only content as well. We’ll continue to listen, test and evolve to satisfy our fans.

Explain the strategy in the shift to almost all video; how has the audience grown?

La Vida Baseball’s recent partnership with Minute Media was a key factor in that decision. Our goal with La Vida Baseball is to fill the lifestyle baseball niche for Latino baseball fans by Latino fans and candidly, we poured tremendous resources in to the written word, but the economics didn’t make sense. When Minute Media came calling, it forced us to ask the tough business questions about written word content. And, Minute Media’s video-first ecosystem plays to one of our core strengths – high volume, high quality video content. Part of it was economics and part of it is the video consumer economy we’ve become. I wish more people in general read, vs watched video content, and at some point, we hope to connect those dots, but this just makes sense for our brand right now. The audience continues to grow, but we’re too early in our partnership to have concrete numbers from our Minute Media partnership. We concern ourselves less with total audience numbers – it’s not about scale for scale’s sake – it’s about the engagement level of fans and the strength of the community we’re building. I always say, I’d rather have 1 million diehard, run through the wall for your brand fans than 20 million followers who do nothing.

What are some of the lessons being learned by smart digital marketers during this time?

Speed. Calculated risks. Realizing the pandemic will be the moment digital content finally got its due. I’ve talked to many media executives who (finally) admit, despite talking about digital content as an asset, it was still a distant second to television revenue. With no live sports, that mentality has changed. C-suite folks are realizing with the uncertainty surrounding the live, in person fan experience, really understanding the digital fan journey and experience is a must. It’s hard to believe this conversation is really just happening now, but the money for live sports just seemed to make a lot of executives pretty cushy.

I’m disappointed at how poor the sports media world has responded during this crisis. You look at some winners like the IRL and how their early risk net them incredible gains with a deal with FOX Sports and how upstarts like the Drone Racing League have created incredible new opportunities during this time. Turner Sports took a chance and went big with their “The Match” ( Tiger/Peyton Manning vs Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady) live event and it sold out in a matter of days. ESPN moved up The Last Dance and it became the most successful non-Live sports event in their company history.

Who has been able to grow in the space that you are following?

Esports and fitness are obviously crushing it. The go-to solution for sports leagues and media companies has been “insert video game + sports stars in a competition”. Twitch, as a platform, has likely gotten more of a bounce than any one else. I also think, while a bit abstract, the video podcast or live streaming shows are going to give a boon to some homegrown talent. Media companies once thumbed their noses at production aesthetic (think: multimillion dollar sports studio sets) and now, you realize just how valuable engaging content is, when you see them shooting out of their basements. It’s a great time for those that follow the fundamentals of building and engaging communities as opposed to just spewing highlights. I give a hat tip to Jeff Volk, who created a brand new brand – Sports Hiatus, within a week of the quarantine – and it’s become a go-to for people like me seeking content innovation in this environment.

The Big Ten Network is also a client; how are they adapting without college sports on the landscape?

We’re lucky to have both the Big Ten Network AND Big Ten Conference as clients. Clearly, there are a number of pressing issues in collegiate sports that extend far beyond competition, including the fundamentals of higher ed and what the college experience will be like. That being said, we’ve been inspired being able to shine a light on the amazing stories of alumni, faculty and students who are doing game-changing things that will address the virus as well as many of the social and emotional issues surrounding it. The Big Ten made a nice splash by introducing their mental health initiative geared towards ensuring every single student-athlete has their mental well being at the top of schools’ priority lists. The focus on purpose is authentic and real. I commend Commissioner Kevin Warren for this timely move.

Some have said this pause in society right now will help accelerate changes that were coming in areas like media and content creation? Do you agree, and how so?

No doubt. The costs of content acquisition (think camera crews, travel, etc…) are going to be challenging for a considerable time. As mentioned, there have to be CFOs asking “remind me why we’re building $10M studios when we just did fine with Webex and a light kit from home?” I believe this is going to democratize talent even more and open up new communities that tap in to unmet niches. I also think it will accelerate gambling initiatives, which I’m not a fan of, but the race for additional revenue streams will accelerate this. That being said, as evidenced by The Last Dance, there will be a continued appreciation for exquisitely produced original content. It’s all about tapping in to the emotional vein that creates a reaction. I do believe media companies will be paying much more attention to the at home, game-watching experience as a necessary hedge against fan attendance.

When your partners look to you, or when you speak to colleagues, what advice do you offer about the business not just now, but what will you be able to say as we head to the other side of this?

Fail fast. I fear way too many people are trying to make a move when things feel right as opposed to trying new things. So what if they don’t work? At no other point can I remember will you credit for trying. I tell people those that think they can weather this storm in hopes that things get back to “normal” will lose, because the great companies are innovating as you retreat. The exciting part of all of this is that no one truly knows what the future holds, so talk to your consumers, listen, engage and adapt.

[placetobenation]

Before we get to the week that was in the WWE, let’s start with a few quick thoughts coming out of WrestleMania.

Holy Boneyard Match! Well done and a nice touch to both The Undertaker and AJ Styles for how it was laid out! Well executed and a great way to bring some strength back to UT and the returning American Bad Ass! Plus, who can not like Metallica on a big stage!

Bizarre doesn’t quite go far enough to describe that Firefly Fun House Match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt/The Fiend. You either loved it or hated it! I, for one, loved it! Showing all the twists, turns and chances that Cena had to go one way or another in his career was genius. The one-liners and inside ribs were tremendous. And oh yeah, loved to see Eric Bischoff back (I kid, I kid) after being fired a few months ago!

The WWE made the best out of a bad situation with the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of crowd for its biggest event of the year. For that, I’ll give them a round of applause!

Loved having the two-night 3-3.5 hour shows instead of the one-night 7+ hour extravaganza. Something to think about going forward!

The sight of Kevin Owens flying off the WrestleMania sign only made me want him jumping off the pirate ship at Raymond James Stadium even more. It has to happen down the road.

Edge vs. Orton was long, dramatic and worth it! The RAW emotion, pun intended, showed through. Count me as one who did NOT think it went too long.

Interesting that the WWE resisted scratching the itch on Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the moment.

I guess now we get Charlotte Flair full time on Monday and Wednesday nights, right?

JBL back on commentary was a welcome listen!

Still, we get no reason why Roman Reigns didn’t wrestle at the company’s biggest event. That, my friends, is just lazy storytelling.

RAW

RESULTS

Asuka defeated Liv Morgan

RAW Tag Team Title Match: The Street Profits defeated Angel Garza & Austin Theory (DQ)

Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega ended in no-contest

Bianca Belair & The Street Profits defeated Zelina Vega, Angel Garza & Austin Theory

Aleister Black defeated Apollo Crews

Ricochet & Cedric Alexander defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch

Seth Rollins defeated Denzel Dejournette

Nia Jax defeated Deonna Purrazzo

Humberto Carrillo defeated Brendan Vink

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre defeated The Big Show

The good thing about Monday night’s first RAW after WrestleMania was that there was plenty of wrestling in it. The problem was that most of the matches didn’t involve any of the top tier talent, a trend that’s been more and more prevalent over the past few years.

What started as a match for the #WWERaw #TagTeamTitles became @MontezFordWWE, @AngeloDawkins & @BiancaBelairWWE against @AngelGarzaWwe, @austintheory1 & @Zelina_VegaWWE! The #ESTofNXT has now arrived on Monday night! pic.twitter.com/Yr3ZaR3Jz7

— WWE (@WWE) April 7, 2020

We got a pretty good start to the night with Asuka winning over Liv Morgan. Then, for the next 45 minutes, we got three different versions of The Street Profits and Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega, Angel Garza and Austin Theory. It’s nice feud with the addition of Belair into the mix. But no, we did not need the better part of an hour of it. Anyway, I digress.

Good to see Ricochet and Cedric Alexander get a win as a team. It’ll be good to see if they actually get a push into the tag team title mix as well.

Nia Jax returned. Seth Rollins appeared for a few minutes as the run of opponents from NXT continued.

The tide just TURNED after #WrestleMania as @WWETheBigShow provoked @DMcIntyreWWE into getting a #WWEChampionship Match!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/T924k50dbr

— WWE (@WWE) April 7, 2020

Not sure what to make of the Drew McIntyre vs. The Big Show main event other than this – it was a good plug for Paul Wight’s new show on Nextflix – “The Big Show Show,” which BTW is pretty funny having seen a few episodes so far. But here’s what makes the match make no sense. Why would Drew McIntyre come back out to the ring to do a promo in front on no one after the main event? Why would Drew McIntyre agree to a match right after WrestleMania’s main event with someone who hasn’t been around in months? Why would we believe any of this as fans? What, just because The Big Show tried to push his buttons and slap him in the face? Not buying it folks! There’s nothing in it for the new champion whatsoever! I understand that the WWE needed to tape things well in advance, but this one made absolutely no sense at all! Do another recap or show parts of a WrestleMania match for those who didn’t see it, just like they did for the Boneyard Match or Charlotte’s Flair win over Rhea Ripley.

And oh yeah, another thing – that video was in no way SHOCKING FOOTAGE!

NXT

RESULTS

NXT Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Ladder Match: Io Shirai defeated Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae

Indus Sher defeated Ever-Rise

Johnny Gargano defeated Tommaso Ciampa

SHE DID IT!!!!!@shirai_io has WON the No. 1 Contender's #LadderMatch to challenge @MsCharlotteWWE for the #WWENXT #WomensTitle! pic.twitter.com/FgfBFgSz9g

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 9, 2020

Kudos to the ladies! An awesome start to the night with Io Shirai outlasting Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox and Candice LeRae to win a title shot with the newly crowned NXT Champion Charlotte Flair. It’ll be a fun underdog story as Shirai tries to take down The Queen in her first championship defense.

Nice tease by Candice LeRae too as she told her husband, Johnny Gargano that she was going home before his final match with Tommaso Ciampa later that night.

Indus Sher, Malcolm Bivens’ new tag team had their in-ring debut against Ever-Rise. Kind of flat if you ask me.

I could be wrong, but I expected more from Gargano vs. Ciampa – The End. It surely got enough time devoted to it – lasting the better part of the second hour of NXT. The commercial interruptions ruined the flow of the match I thought. Why not just give it to us commercial-free it it’s such an epic event as the last time they will EVER meet? Didn’t make much sense. But that seems to be the prevailing thought coming out of WrestleMania weekend. Granted, the similarities between Orton vs. Edge and Ciampa vs. Gargano were there. Plus, the fact that we saw Ciampa and Gargano just take down the Performance Center recently didn’t help matters.

And so it ends.@JohnnyGargano defeats @NXTCiampa in #OneFinalBeat. #WWENXT #CiampaVsGargano @CandiceLeRae pic.twitter.com/W83NA37dOE

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 9, 2020

The ending twist with LeRae coming back to seemingly betray her husband yet then turn on Ciampa as well to give her husband the victory was fitting. So, now we get the heel duo of Gargano and LeRae to take on the shortly debuting Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux, who were seen watching Gargano and LeRae walk to their car to end Wednesday night’s show. Here’s hoping they play up Kross & Bordeaux in a huge way after all the hype leading up to it. Tick. Tock. Apocolypse.

Is it time? #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/EdiiCtak1o

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 9, 2020

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Women’s Tag Team Championship WrestleMania rematch: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)

Dolph Ziggler defeated Tucker

The Forgotten Sons defeated Lucha House Party

Sheamus defeated Cal Bloom

Universal Title Non-Title Match: Braun Strowman defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

Let us just call Friday Night SmackDown what it really was this week: re-SmackDown. Instead of moving forward after WrestleMania, we just got more of the same.

A rematch for the Women’s Tag Team Titles between Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. the former champions, the Kabuki Warriors is where we started. We got Dolph Ziggler vs. Tucker. A replay of the SmackDown tag team title ladder match from WrestleMania which gets us another triple threat match for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles as The Miz faces Big E and Jimmy Uso. Plus, another Nakamura vs. Strowman match.

What we didn’t get was more from Otis and Mandy in person. What we didn’t get was any reasoning or update on Roman Reigns. What we didn’t get was anything from Goldberg.

.@TaminaSnuka can have her match with #SmackDown #WomensChampion @itsBayleyWWE, but she has to BEAT @SashaBanksWWE first! Did The #RoleModel just "sacrifice" her BFF?

pic.twitter.com/PooS4SuRE6

— WWE (@WWE) April 11, 2020

What we did get, and liked, was Bayley throwing her bestie, Sasha Banks under the bus to go and face Tamina one-on-one. The seeds are being planted there…

I wonder where the WWE is going with the Jeff Hardy retrospective. His contract is up soon, reportedly and with his brother already gone to AEW, you have to wonder how long he’ll stay with a full-time WWE schedule. It was a good look back though! Let’s see where part 2 goes.

"Since I brought you into this world, I'm going to have to take you out." – @WWEBrayWyatt to @BraunStrowman #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/p6i2zlkyAe

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) April 11, 2020

The Fiend gets right back into the Universal Title picture by challenging Braun Strowman. That’s a very good thing! I just hope they don’t use The Fiend as a throw-away to make Strowman look better. The Fiend deserves more, especially after being a highlight of WreslteMania weekend. Plus, who can’t appreciate the twist on the line that usually comes from a parent to a kid – “I brought you into this World, I’m going to have to take you out.”

Next week, we get qualifiers for a Money In The Bank PPV that we’re not quite sure is going to happen, although we know now that it’s not going to happen in Baltimore now that the venue has announced its cancelation. It’s Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro and Dana Brooke vs. Naomi. And further down the road we get Brooke & Carmella with tag team title shots against Bliss & Cross. I guess Dana wins the fill the time spots!

In two weeks, we get the 25th anniversary celebration of Triple H. Can you say time filler!

Parting shots:

The WWE give The Revival their official release. Honestly, good luck to both Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder . They are what they are – more pro wrestlers than sports entertainers. And in the end, that’s why they never really fit in the WWE. Still, they were tag champs in all three brands, so they were given a chance. They will do fine no matter where they end up, although it seems like AEW and NJPW are perfect fits for them.

I’m begging the WWE to please end the in-ring promos to no one! There are better ways to deliver these messages! Cut them down and make them more important with better delivery. You can be more creative than this! Now is the time to do it and take more risk. The rewards are there for the taking!

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!