Welcome to a new series on ReadWebWeb, which we're calling 'Mainstream Web Watch'. Over the coming weeks I will be exploring a whole range of websites for RWW - from sports sites, to grocery store sites, to government websites, to banking sites, and much more.
We're starting with a sports website that has probably peaked in popularity just this week, the NBA basketball website.
Firstly, a personal note on why I've started Mainstream Web Watch. One of the things I'm most interested in these days is how new Web technologies are infiltrating regular non-techie industries. I think we geeks tend to lose ourselves in the Twitters and FriendFeeds of the world, perhaps overlooking what's happening in the real world. So this series aims to put some balance into tech blogging :-)
So, I'm a basketball fan and I've been tracking the NBA finals with much interest this year. I'm a long-time Lakers supporter (although my name suggests I should be a Boston fan!). This year's final was a dream match-up for the NBA marketers, as it revived the most famous rivalry in NBA history: Lakers vs Celtics. So I wondered how has this story been covered on NBA's official website?
As of today, here is the NBA.com homepage:
Click here for full page version
As expected, it's dominated by news and pictures of the winning Boston Celtics team. The homepage is extremely busy, with loads of links and information including results, stats, fantasy leagues and videos.
The NBA site makes great use of video, with a whole section devoted to video highlights of basketball. The latest videos are in WMV format, which meant I had to download a plugin called Flip4Mac (I'm on a Mac) - a collection of QuickTime components that enables you to play, import and export Windows Media files. A 10.7 MB download later, I was able to watch the NBA videos.
A great feature was the NBA Highlight Mixer, which enables you to mix your own videos:
I especially enjoyed the NBA Dunks section! Similar to YouTube and other popular video sharing sites, NBA Highlight Mixer allows you to view videos by popularity and by ratings. Here's one showcasing Lebron James (note: requires Flash):
Regarding the Lakers-Celtics history, I'm pleased to say there were plenty of classic videos of the 80's Lakers vs Celtics clashes.
Back to the NBA homepage, there seemed to be a decent selection of RSS feeds:
There was a veritable feast of other clickable options on the NBA site - everything from opinion polls, to fantasy leagues, to mobile alerts, to dinky fun things like the NBA Nickname Generator (mine is Richard "Rocksplitter" MacManus).
And of course, what could be more web 2.0 than blogs! NBA.com has those too (and no we're not talking about Mark Cuban's, who as Dallas Mavericks owner is probably the NBA's most famous unofficial blogger). One of the more popular NBA blogs is from Gilbert Arenas, who is a current player - a guard for the Washington Wizards. In his latest post, he starts off by debunking a Washington Post blog rumor that he's giving up blogging - "I'll give you all a hesitant no, this is not my last blog", Arenas (kind of) assures fans. He goes on to say about his blogging:
"You'll hear all the negative stuff about me blogging like, "Oh, you said you want to play Cleveland, you called out Cleveland, you're crazy ..." It could be one little quote in a long blog post from me, but that's the only thing people talk about when I could have five other stories in that blog post. But, it's just like everything, people pick and choose what they want to read. You just got to do your job to be entertaining.
You give your readers and insight of your life and what's going on. It's a risk. But if they hate you, they're going to hate you for telling the truth and I can live with that. The bad part about it is that you can kill yourself with your own sword."
More than a few tech bloggers can relate to that! Overall Arenas' blog is excellent and I'm keen to read more of it next season.
There's an overwhelming amount of stuff on NBA.com, enough to keep click-happy fans happy for a long time. NBA.com is using the latest web technologies to good effect too, especially on the video side.
What do you think of NBA.com? Also, what are some unofficial NBA websites out there that are making great use of the Social Web, which perhaps the official site could learn more from?
Update: The Widgets Lab blog has a post about NBA.com widgets, noting that they are "web friendly and socially acceptable (works on Myspace & Facebook)".
Comments
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Congrats on the good idea. Will follow this series with great interest.
Posted by: Stan Schroeder | June 19, 2008 4:09 AM
Great, I think NBA.com is the best sports site on the web today.
Posted by: Mati | June 19, 2008 6:38 AM
So good to have you on board as a Lakers fan! I have a new appreciation for what you do here :) It was a rough series for us, but we'll be back!
Posted by: Harold | June 19, 2008 7:38 AM
Excellent article. While not many 'unofficial' NBA blogs have really taken advantage of the social web, there are some great sports social news sites like YardBarker and BallHype that are really blowing up. I think it's only a matter of time before the 'larger,' 'unofficial' NBA bloggers begin to make use of Twitter, FF, etc.
Posted by: Ryne Nelson | June 19, 2008 7:51 AM
Between the nba.com and espn.com, these are two killer sports web sites that are easy to use and make use of nice tech w/o overwhelming the user. They seem to have integrated technologies into a smooth experience. During the playoffs, I spent many-a-day going to both of these sites for my fix when I couldn't catch a game. Never even thought of the tech they were using, was just happy I could get to whatever info or video I needed to see. Didn't have to sign-up, didn't feel like I was getting locked in, never felt that my privacy was being violated in any way...just got to what I needed when I needed it. That s/b the Web 2.0 mantra ;)
Posted by: p-air
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June 19, 2008 8:59 AM
I thought this was a great post. So much so, that I followed up with a small blurb about the NBA.com widgets.
Posted by: deralaand | June 19, 2008 11:12 AM
Oh yeah...the NBA *is* really fantastic. I grew up playin ball in Cleveland. Hung out with Flip Saunders all the time. I even wrote a song, If I Was Ten Inches Taller, I'd be in the NBA.
Never saw such a blow out in that final...Celtics were determined. Good rivalry.
Once last thing; I am *so* glad the video content is Flip4Mac compatible. F4M is a saviour for us Mac'ers.
Posted by: Antonio | June 20, 2008 8:10 AM
A nice adjunct to the official nba.com website and for any hoops fan is blogger (turned ESPN affiliate) Henry Abbott's True Hoop. It has even become my primary site for pro hoops and Henry's (and his wide connections') stories are engaging.
Check 'em out.
Best.
alain
mor.ph
Posted by: friarminor | June 21, 2008 6:58 PM
I love the NBA, and as a true fan SLAM magazine is a must read. The online version is excellent, and if you aren't already reading Lang Whitaker's daily Links section you should definetely start. Great, underground, inside info as well as fun and totally unrelated stuff.
http://www.slamonline.com
Posted by: Kjartan Bjørkvold | June 22, 2008 4:34 AM