Expressions of fan displeasure through memes- David Stern

National Basketball Association (NBA) fans has often blamed executive decisions made by league commissioner David Stern, as the main catalyst for compromising the ideals of competition and fair play in the NBA. Such accusations include, draft rigging to suit teams with larger television markets, allowing player transactions to favour major city teams and refusing to compromise during negotiations talks by the players union for an increased salary, ultimately leading to the 2011 - 2012 NBA season lockout, cutting the season short by 16 games. More recently, Stern was accused of vetoing the trade of marquee of players and rigging the 2012 NBA draft to allow New Orleans Hornets to draw the top pick (the Hornets are owned by the NBA). Certainly, the proposition of fan displeasure towards Stern is supported by substantial levels of fan complaints regarding his decisions, across the various forms of fan generativity on the internet. Fan concerns are voiced out within message forums and more recently are expressed through memes. As proposed in a case study concerning football fans, written by David Rowe, Andy Ruddock and Brett Hutchins (2010) — they suggest that, a common and pleasurable way for fans to deal with what they perceive as 'unfavourable' basketball incidents is to complain. Complaints can take many forms. Perhaps the most familiar is to express discontent at the state of the sport due to the primacy of money and the power of media broadcasters and so on. Rowe, Ruddock and Hutchins (2010) also argue that complaints can be interpreted as a form of fan enthusiasm in the sense that, complaints actually exhibit fans' devotion to the sport, so much so, they are willing to invest their time and effort to express their feelings and build consensus among other fans, as to what they are unhappy about and crucially what they are willing to do about the situation. Using the observations from Rowe, Ruddock and Hutchins’ case study about football fans, there appear to be similarities in the way basketball fans embrace networked media for comment and activism. The memes below exhibit a degree of fan resistance towards the commercial imperatives of the NBA through memes, some of which are attempts of humour through sarcasm while others take on a more serious tone with personal attacks directed at NBA commissioner David Stern. Together, these memes comprise a consensual tone of basketball fans in that they see Stern's ambitions for increased revenue and television ratings as the major contributor to what they perceive as problems concerning the NBA.

Additionally, fans have also associated their displeasure with Stern, with cultural and political issues within society such as healthcare reforms in the United States, the world's aids epidemic and political tensions in the middle east.

 



 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Socio-cultural issues through memes

The sporting world has traditionally embraced the classic mythologies of nobility and fair competition. The reinforcement of such ideals is conveyed through event coverage and documentary features on athletes. This conception is prevalent because sport is widely perceived as an equal playing field where socio-cultural issues are considered irrelevant to the ideals of fairness and competition (Ebanda de B’béri and Hogarth 2009, 90-91; Rowe 2004, 109).  These ideals are communicated through mass media which often emphasises underdog situations and rags-to-riches stories of sportspeople from ethnic minority or lower class backgrounds graining success through athletic achievements. The problem with these narratives is that it has become apparent that these ideals are constantly challenged by fans. Indeed, Phillips and Hutchins (2003, p. 228) argue that highly publicised and contested 'rationalisation' processes created at a popular level, ensures a critical distance that allows supporters to question and challenge the corporatization of sport. Accordingly, reactive forms of engagement have emerged to contest, challenge and inform these transitions These have included the emergence of fan lobby groups, independent supporters associations (Nash 2000), supporters trusts, alternative 'media' in the form of fanzines (Haynes 1995; Jary, Home & Bucke 1991), a multitude of internet-based communities that supports fan activity to consume, advocate and critique sports-related issues. Reactivity and mobilisation of fan communities illustrate the active nature of fandoms. Fan activities within online sports communities suggest issues concerning class, gender, race and political disparities are still relevant within its fandom through creations such as memes in which socio-cultural concerns such as racial stereotypes are mapped out onto the images of athletes, such as associating Asian sportspeople with academia and black athletes with gang culture. While it is likely, most memes are generated with comical intent and are meant to be consumed with a light hearted approach- they also signify the existence of racial stereotypes within society, which contradicts against the portrayed images of professional sports by mass media.