James Raia – Page 2

Best Moments of the Summer Olympics: Oscar Pistorius to Missy Franklin

August 13, 2012 by James Raia

Sports we otherwise don't care about. Subjective judging. Commercial overload. The 30th Summer Olympics were ripe with issues. But it was still hard not to watch and there were plenty of reasons we're glad we did.

Here are the Top-10 Best Things about the London Olympic Games.

Gabby Douglas soared high above the balance beam

10. Michael Phelps. Mission Accomplished. Now go and enjoy life.

9. Bulgarian gymnast Yordan Yovchev, 39 and silver-haired, competed in his sixth Olympics. For once, “You're the Man” meant something.

8. Bob Costas, commenting during athletes' parade in the Closing Ceremonies: “Forging friendships and in some cases, being vibrant, perhaps more than friendships.”

7. Closing Ceremonies. Would have served well as the Opening Ceremonies.

6. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Jack Nicklaus, Lance Armstrong. Hey, fellas, meet Mr. Usain Bolt.

5. The image by Reuters photographer Luke MacGregor who took three days but finally got what he wanted — the shot of the full moon under the Tower Bridge as the sixth Olympic ring. No action, no athletes, no image more poignant.

4. Grenada teenager Kirani James asking fellow 400-meter “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius to exchange numbers after their semifinal. Pure class at age 19.

3. Oscar Pistorius. Three words: Inspiration, athleticism, graciousness.

2. The image of Gabby Douglas frozen in time a stratosphere about the balance beam taken by Ken Budd of the Associated Press. Note to Pulitzer Prize judges: Look no further.

1. Missy Franklin. One ever-smiling teenager who never stopped proving there's hope for the Olympic Games as something other than sponsor-driven, network-controlled madness.

James Raia is an editor and publisher in Sacramento, California. Visit his site: www.tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Social Media, Twitter, US Open Tagged With: Gabby Doublas, Missy Franklin, Oscar Poistorius, Summer Olympics

Gabby Douglas Soars in Gymnastics and in Twitter Popularity

August 13, 2012 by James Raia

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) might not readily come to mind as a leading source of sports news from the London Olympics. But with the 30th Summer Games now complete, the newspaper should be rewarded with its own gold medal.

Where else could a Summer Olympics enthusiast read a front page article about former figure skating gold medalist Peggy Fleming and other former Olympians who have had successful careers as artists?

Gabrielle Douglas had huge Olympic and Twitter success during the Summer Olympics in London

And where else could Olympic followers read in such detail the trials, tribulations and impact of Social Media in London?

From the Opening Ceremonies to the Closing Ceremonies, no other social media platform was more discussed and utilized than Twitter.

The WSJ followed the Twitter coverage of the Olympics in detail, including an August 11 article that charted the most popular Twitter feeds among the London Games' most celebrated athletes.

For example, gymnast Gabrielle Douglas was an unheralded athlete prior to the Olympics, and the WSJ called her a “relative nobody” on Twitter. But that didn't last long. When Douglas claim

ed two gold medals in t

he first few days of the Olympics, her social media status soared into another stratosphere — much like she did while competing.

By the final weekend of the Olympics, Douglas had 576,654 followers on Twitter, an increase of 1,522 percent and the biggest jump among the top-20 most popular athletes on Twitter who competed in London.

Here's the top-5 largest Twitter popularity increases during the Summer Olympics, with name, sport, Twitter name, Twitter followers on July 27, followers on Aug. 10 and percentage increase:

1. Gabrielle Douglas, gymnastic, (@grabrielledoug), 37,888, 614,542, +1,522%
2. Missy Franklin, swimming, (@FranklinMissy), 29,694, 346,353, +1,066%
3. Jordyn Wieber, gymnastics, (@jordyn_wieber), 65,404, 446,108, +582%
4. Ryan Lochte, swimming, (@ryanlochte), 161,045, 911,290, +388%
5. Jake Dalton, gymnastics, (@jake_dalton), 16,939, 82,635, +342%

Michael Phelps was the most poplar American competing in the Summer Olympics via Twitter. Phelps had 319,427 followers at the start of the London Games and 1,246,351 after two weeks of competition. His popularity increase of 290 percent was the eighth-largest increase.

Equally interesting, of course, will be to re-visit the athletes' Twitter totals in the near future to determine if they retain their Twitter popularity.

James Raia is a California-based journalist who writes about sports, travel and leisure. Visit his cycling site at tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Social Media, Social Media Data, Twitter Tagged With: Gabrielle Douglas, James Raia, Social Member, Summer Olympics, Twitter

Wi-Fi Police Patrolling London Olympics For Pirate Hotspots

August 8, 2012 by James Raia Leave a Comment

Is it a return to Lost In Space? It is a newfangled directional signal? Is it a metal detector or a antenna to attract signals from outer space?

In actuality, the odd-looking device and the guy carrying it around London and his colleagues comprise the London Olympics’ “Wi-Fi Police.”

Sadao Turner of Ryan Seacrest Productions tweeted this accompanying image of a member the enforcement corps carrying the bizarre detection device.

Wireless interference is a concern at the London Olympics. But BT, which runs approximately 1,500 paid Wi-Fi hotspots, is also part of the equation since it does not wish to lose income.

The Wi-Fi police will remain engaged throughout the remainder of the competition.

James Raia is a California-based journalist who writes about sports, travel and leisure. Visit his cycling site at tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: NBC Sports, Olympics, Twitter, Wi-Fi

Reuters’ Photographer Captures Iconic Olympic Image After Three Days’ Wait

August 7, 2012 by James Raia 2 Comments

Luke MacGregor, a photographer for Reuters, the international news service, didn’t capture an athlete in flight or a dramatic race finish. But after three days of trying, MacGregor captured among the most stunning images of the London Olympics.

Posting the details of his three-night mission near the Tower Bridge in London on his blog, the photographer perfectly captured the moon as the sixth Olympic ring.

Tower Bridge. Image © Luke MacGregor/Reuters

Using a smartphone application to properly gauge the rising of the moon, MacGregor details his quest to get the shot in a three-day diary, accompanied by three images.

In one first-day passage of his blog post, the photographer writes:

“Having planned to be in the ‘perfect’ spot on London Bridge with a good view of the Olympic Rings further up river and using the app information, I waited for the moon to rise.

“However the horizon itself was a little cloudy. When the moon eventually showed itself about 10 minutes after the app’s moonrise time it was off to the right hand side of the bridge. I hadn’t taken into account that the moon wouldn’t rise in a vertical line but would travel across the sky.”

Two days later, after calculating the changing exposure, the brightness of the moon and dealing with curious tourists in the line of his pending image, MacGregor got what he wanted. It’s an iconic image, a remembrance of the London Olympics far away from competition but as poignant as an event.

To read MacGregor’s blog in full and to view the three images, visit: Shooting The Moon
James Raia is a California-based journalist who writes about sports, business, travel and leisure. Visit his cycling site at tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Apps, iPhone, Olympics, Uncategorized Tagged With: James Raia, London Olympics, Reuters, Smartphones

Kevin Love’s Insider’s View of the Olympic experience via Twitter, Instagram

August 4, 2012 by James Raia 2 Comments

If the 156-73 victory by the USA over Nigeria didn’t quite stimulate your appetite to watch more of the Summer Olympics basketball competition, Kevin Love is here to assist.

As he’s done on Twitter, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ forward and USA Olympic team reserve is thriving in London via social media. He’s chronicling the Olympics in his own personal way via Instagram, the image application.

Love has nearly 382,000 followers on Twitter and more than 56,000 followers on Instgram.

Sweet Dreams, Fellas

During the Summer Olympics, Love is posting an insider’s view of the U.S. team. It’s not network style, like replays of dunks or sweet passes. It’s more like Candid Camera. Love takes compromising, often funny pictures of his teammates with Instagram and also posts the shots to Twitter.

How about a picture of teammates sleeping on the airline with eyeshades on? Or how about teammates with their faces smashed into pillows? Or how about teammates looking prim and proper in their official Olympic attire?

Love’s playing role on the Olympic team may still be undefined. But his roles as the team’s unofficial photographer and official team prankster are well established.

The Summer Olympic basketball competition continues through Aug. 12. Stayed tune for more of Love’s zany Olympic view.

Love’s Twitter handle is @KevinLove and his Instagram signature is KevinLove.

James Raia is an editor and publisher in Sacramento, California. Visit his site: www.tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Instagram, iPhone, Olympics, Social Media, Sports Social Media Tagged With: Instagram, Kevein Love, Kevin Love, Olympics

New York Times Comes Full Circle With Online Olympic Track Cycling Video

August 4, 2012 by James Raia Leave a Comment

Like other Olympic sports with global popularity but only in niche locales, track cycling comes to the masses every four years at the Summer Olympics.

There were few sports more prominent in the United States in the early 1900s when six-day races were all the rage for celebrities and high society theater patrons who made bets on riders competing in Madison Square Garden.

London Olympics' track cycling venue

Bobby Walthour, a track cycling champion at the time, was among the country’s highest paid athletes and made more than $100,000 a year. His exploits on and off the track were prominently displayed in the New York Times — including his image in a display advertisement for Camel cigarettes.

How ironic is it that it’s the online edition of the New York Times’ (Page 1, Aug. 3) that featured a video, detailed charts and accompanying audio explaining the nuances of the sport’s most well-known event — the match sprint?

The video, “A Simple Bicycle Race,” begins with the description: “In the track cycling match sprint, riders go around a 250-meter track three times. Typically, they go slowly at the start, until someone makes a move.”

The narration of the video describes the event’s strategy and takes viewers around the track in animation and via the perspective of two riders’ head cameras via a split screen.

In addition to the Olympics, track cycling has a yearly World Cup circuit and a World Championship, the latter of which was last held in the United States in 2005 at California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California.

The Olympic track cycling competition continues through Aug. 6.

To view the New York Times’ video, visit: Olympic Track Cycling

James Raia is an editor and publisher in Sacramento, California. Visit his site: www.tourdefrancelife.com

Filed Under: Cycling, NBC Sports, Olympics, Sports Social Media Tagged With: Cycling, James Raia, Summer Olympics

Wi-Fi Police Patrolling London Olympics For Pirate Hotspots

Reuters’ Photographer Captures Iconic Olympic Image After Three Days’ Wait

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