Background
The New Jersey Nets selected Brian Scalabrine in the second round of the NBA Draft. Playing on a championship calibre team alongside all-stars Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, Nets' management had hoped Scalabribe would improve over time. However, before his first season had even begun, Scalabrine had already injured himself twice in training camp, resulting in him missing the majority of his two seasons in the league (Robbins 2001). He recovered in time for the NBA play-offs both seasons as the Nets made back-to-back finals appearances. By his forth season (his contract year), his statistics improved to 6.3 points and 4.5 rebounds, sparking enough interest from other teams such as the Boston Celtics. The Celtics, who were desperate at the time for a young player at the forward position, took a gamble and signed Scalabrine to a 5-year deal (Springer 2005). However, by 2008 the Celtics coaching staff grew increasingly reluctant to play Scalabrine and during the finals series he was not used at all (Johnson 2011). The Celtics won the NBA championship that season. And despite winning a championship ring with the team, Scalabrine did not play a single minute during the 2008 NBA Finals. Fans and analysts questioned why he was deserving of a 5 year - $15 million dollar contract, let alone an NBA championship (King 2009 & Payne 2009). The warm response he received in New Jersey quickly transformed into jeers in Boston (King 2009). It was also during this time that fans begun to sarcastically proclaim his "greatness".
With continued decline in his playing time and his performances, the Celtics chose not to renew Scalabrine's contract. In the 2010-11 season, he was signed by the Chicago Bulls to a veteran's minimum salary and as expected he was used sparingly, appearing in only 18 games throughout the 82 game regular season (Wojnarowski 2010). This only fuelled basketball fans into further mockery of Scalabrine. His non-factor in games along with his sub-standard statistics inadvertently made Scalabrine one of the most popular players in the NBA. As a result, memes about Scalabrine also became increasingly popular and continue to evolve.
Discussion concerning Scalabrine begun as early as his first year in the NBA. Perhaps it was not justified at the time given it was his first few seasons in the league since it would have been difficult to predict his development as a player. By the 2008 NBA Finals, Scalabrine jokes were being spread within different mediums on the internet such as comment spaces on YouTube and basketball related websites. And
as technology continued to evolve, so did jokes about Scalabrine, spreading
onto nearly every medium on the internet, most notably meme communities on
Facebook.
And like Jeremy Lin and the Linsanity phenomenon it is difficult to explain Scalabrine's online popularity without resorting to stereotypes. It is perhaps with truism that his enthusiastic mannerisms in cheering on
his team mates from the sideline are amusing for fans, but that is only among a
host of reasons he became viral as a meme on numerous occasions on the
internet. A career that spanned 11 seasons which included a 5 year- $15 million
dollar contract on a player who was the penultimate 12th man on any team that he
was a part of, was perhaps justifiably mocked by fans. There is also another factor to consider, his race. In the premier basketball competition in the world, the NBA, Caucasian players are a minority making up only 18% of total players in the 2011-12 season (Lapchick 2012, 4). And within the minority crop of white players, very few have reached the pinnacle of the sport compared to their African-American counterparts. And also within the minority of Caucasian players, very few have red hair, as comical as it may sound; Scalabrine's fiery red hair has been an integral aspect in his immense popularity. Scalabrine never put up big numbers during his career, nor was he expected to, fans and industry insiders knew he had little to offer on the court. Yet, the consistent mockery of him by fans through the countless internet memes has inadvertently transformed him into a real life cult hero. The trend has spread from commenting about his non-factor on the court to posting video highlights of him. Comments on these highlight reels often convey a sense of approval despite the majority of them being clips of him committing errors or being outplayed by an opponent. These sentiments have transferred to real-life events where chants of "MVP" for him have become common trends during basketball fixtures.
Despite the fact he is no longer a competitive basketball player, Scalabrine memes consistently remains present within meme communities on the internet. And perhaps, if it were not for all the viral memes that made a mockery of him, he would not have been as popular as he is today. After announcing his retirement from professional basketball, Scalabrine, without any prior broadcasting experience, was hired by broadcast network Comcast to provide "expert" commentary for Boston Celtics basketball matches for the upcoming season (Friedell 2012). Additionally the NBA also released a video package paying tribute to the career of Scalabrine. The NBA's media synergy has traditionally focused on marketing the game's elite performers, promoting the classical sporting myths of achieving greatness through hard work and determination. Yet, they shifted away from this trend and appropriated the consensual sentiment of mockery towards Scalabrine. Perhaps there is no denying that Scalabrine worked equally as hard as his more popular contemporaries. However, his playing style and career statistics suggest he was no more than a less-than-average player. And yet, the NBA chose to craft an advertising package focusing on an internet favourite, who embodies the precise opposite of the distinct images of male masculinity the league has traditionally favoured.
These themes coincide with Shifman's typology for analysing memes. Particularly the aspect of flawed masculinity. The memes depicts a theme where the men fail to meet the expectations of masculinity that contemporary society have become accustomed to, in appearance, behaviour or performance (Shifman 2011, 190). The fiery haired, pale skinned and non-muscular physique of Brian Scalabrine fails to represent the Western ideals of a male idol. Additionally, his less than impressive playing style and statistics further emphasises his flawed masculinity. We live in a world where players like Scalabrine are mock cheered for their [lack of] accomplishments and his lack of athletic prowess because people can not seem to understand his worth, believing he is undeserving of his position on the team. Conversely, we also live in a society where players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are revered by the masses as heroes, marked by their achievements on the basketball court. It is perhaps this very notion where we are constantly being encouraged to embrace the extraordinary while at the same time reject the ordinary, in which fans have invoked their own version of a "hero". According to Shifman, the consistent theme of flawed masculinity can be seen as an extreme manifestation of contemporary representations of men within mass media (Shifman 2011, 190). Scalabrine memes can be interpreted as a response to the mass marketed images of the over achieving athlete, in which the memes present a far-from-perfect man who fail to fulfil basic expectations in their appearance and performance. Such themes embody a distinct rebellion against professionally crafted star images of hegemonic masculinity and yet at the same time creating new ideologies, providing a unique insight into the psyche of contemporary sport fans.
The rise of social media and the encouragement of participation that is embedded within it have thrust memes into the daily interactions of web users. It is a phenomenon that deserves our attention. On Facebook alone, there are meme communities for just about everything, from sports to entertainment, from schools to local landmarks and from global events like the Olympics to cultural movements such as gay rights. Similar trends are happening in the world of politics. In response to actor / director Clint Eastwood's criticisms of the Obama government by comparing President Obama to a empty wooden chair, Obama's advisers responded by posting a image on Twitter and Facebok, showing the president sitting at the cabinet table accompanied by the caption "This seat's taken" (Singer 2012). The meme went viral and was the most tweeted during the National Republican Convention, the rallying event of the opposition party.
"Texts from Hillary" is a Tumblr website that features images of Hilliary Clinton, in her sun glasses, using her mobile phone. The images are connected to photographs of a host of celebrities and political figures, portraying the impression of a back-and-forth conversation between them and Hillary Clinton. Perhaps the most interesting meme from the website is the "conversation" between Clinton and Barack Obama which shows the President laying down on a couch texting on his mobile phone accompanied by the caption "Hey Hill, Whatchu doing?" Clinton responds, "Running the world" (Parker 2012). Whilst the meme may just be another example of the satirical humour that has become so common on the internet, it is also an indication of people's impression of her. The meme went viral and created a buzz among voters, not only signifying her popularity as a possible presidential candidate in 2016 but also the impact viral memes can have.
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Clearly, memes have become a convenient, fun and interesting way for people to converse, debate and bond over similar interests. However, the effects on industries are potentially much greater. Industry administrators may not be particularly pleased that memes may present a negative view of their organisations and equally, star athletes and other culturally prominent figures may not be too happy that memes perceive them in ways that works against their professionally crafted star images. Furthermore, in some cases, by using photographs of everyday normal people as stock images, meme-creators could be inadvertently violating the privacy of certain individuals. A further exploration of the positions fans take when making memes, whether they are creating or exhibiting respect for the less than perfect protagonist , is crucial for understanding the implications of contemporary fandom and the potential influences it can have on athletes, fans and the industry in a digital environment where impression can turn into perception within an instant.
Friedell, Nick. 2012. "Report: Brian Scalabrine retires." Accessed October 17th. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/8345043/report-chicago-bulls-brian-scalabrine-retiring-boston-celtics-broadcast-booth.
Johnson, K.C. 2011. "Scalabrine still finds ways to contribute: 'No one has been to the Finals more and played less than me!'." Accessed October 8th. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-05-21/sports/ct-spt-0522-bulls-scalabrine-brian-ch20110521_1_brian-scalabrine-tom-thibodeau-pick-and-roll.
King, Jay. 2009. "Chubby, Slow, But Finally Useful: Brian Scalabrine's Player Capsule." Accessed October 3rd. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/182170-chubby-slow-but-finally-useful-brian-scalabrines-player-capsule.
Lapchick, Richard. 2012. The 2012 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Basketball Association. Vol. 2012: The Institute for diverstiy and ethics in sport
Shifman, Limor. 2011. "An anatomy of a YouTube meme." New Media & Society 14 (2): 187 - 203.
Parker, Suzi. 2012. "Hillary Clinton is finally hip, thanks to a meme." Accessed October 17th. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/hillary-clinton-is-finally-hip-thanks-to-meme/2012/04/12/gIQALzOODT_blog.html.
Payne, Greg. 2009. "Brian Scalabrine Could Have a Breakout Season." Accessed October 5th. http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/10/13/1080650/brian-scalabrine-could-have-a.
Robbins, Liz. 2001. "A Healthy Nets Team Is Too Much to Wish For." Accessed October 5. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/27/sports/pro-basketball-a-healthy-nets-team-is-too-much-to-wish-for.html.
Singer, Paul. 2012. "Obama gets most retweets of the GOP convention." Accessed October 18th. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/09/obama-tweet-chair-gop-romney-eastwood/1#.UH93hMXMixw.
Springer, Shira. 2005. "Celtics agree with free agent Scalabrine." Accessed October 5th. http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2005/07/08/celtics_agree_with_free_agent_scalabrine/.
Wojnarowski, Adrian. 2010. "Bulls invite Scalabrine to training camp." Accessed October 3rd. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-scalabrinebulls092110.
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