This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/23/sxsports-sports-focused-spinoff-of-sxsw-grows-up-in-sophomore-year
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| SXsports: Sports-focused spinoff of SXSW grows up in sophomore year | SXsports: Sports-focused spinoff of SXSW grows up in sophomore year |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| John Tejada is sitting at a table near East 6th Street, a wide avenue running through the heart of downtown Austin, Texas. It’s the city’s version of Bourbon Street, with countless bars separated only by kitschy tourist shops. All around him, local teenagers in sundresses and twentysomething tech entrepreneurs sporting their own company’s fluorescent sunglasses are stumbling in and out of the bars as they soak in the 80F heat. It’s adult spring break, otherwise known as SXSW. | John Tejada is sitting at a table near East 6th Street, a wide avenue running through the heart of downtown Austin, Texas. It’s the city’s version of Bourbon Street, with countless bars separated only by kitschy tourist shops. All around him, local teenagers in sundresses and twentysomething tech entrepreneurs sporting their own company’s fluorescent sunglasses are stumbling in and out of the bars as they soak in the 80F heat. It’s adult spring break, otherwise known as SXSW. |
| The 10-day event started out as a music festival nearly 30 years ago. It’s since morphed into a gathering point for the tech, music and film industries. There are thousands of panels on ways to run a start-up, blockbuster film premieres, performances by Kanye West, Miley Cyrus and soon-to-be-famous local bands. Tejada is in town covering SXSW for Adweek, and he’s made his way to 6th Street to grab a food truck cheesesteak. | The 10-day event started out as a music festival nearly 30 years ago. It’s since morphed into a gathering point for the tech, music and film industries. There are thousands of panels on ways to run a start-up, blockbuster film premieres, performances by Kanye West, Miley Cyrus and soon-to-be-famous local bands. Tejada is in town covering SXSW for Adweek, and he’s made his way to 6th Street to grab a food truck cheesesteak. |
| Related: SXSW 2015: 10 things we learned | Related: SXSW 2015: 10 things we learned |
| As he sits down, someone taps him on the shoulder. “Damn, that looks good,” Drew Brees says, ogling the food. Drew Brees, the NFL superstar who plays ball near the real Bourbon Street. | As he sits down, someone taps him on the shoulder. “Damn, that looks good,” Drew Brees says, ogling the food. Drew Brees, the NFL superstar who plays ball near the real Bourbon Street. |
| A musician, an actor, the founder of Meerkat – these are all people you might bump into at SXSW. But a nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback? That’s now par for the course, too. Last year, SXSW added it’s latest series of events: SXsports. This year, the sports-focused offshoot of the long-running festival seemed to take on a life of its own. | A musician, an actor, the founder of Meerkat – these are all people you might bump into at SXSW. But a nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback? That’s now par for the course, too. Last year, SXSW added it’s latest series of events: SXsports. This year, the sports-focused offshoot of the long-running festival seemed to take on a life of its own. |
| Even as a sports writer, I had no idea SXsports existed until about a month before the event. I scrambled to get a press credential, curious to see what was there for the true sports fan. Surely it couldn’t compare to the experience for music and film buffs. | Even as a sports writer, I had no idea SXsports existed until about a month before the event. I scrambled to get a press credential, curious to see what was there for the true sports fan. Surely it couldn’t compare to the experience for music and film buffs. |
| Touching down in Austin on 12 March, my first stop was an Under Armour welcoming party. The company just opened its digital headquarters in Austin, and the building is impressive. CEO Kevin Plank, as well as several UA athletes, came out to party. The next morning, SXsports kicked into full gear. | Touching down in Austin on 12 March, my first stop was an Under Armour welcoming party. The company just opened its digital headquarters in Austin, and the building is impressive. CEO Kevin Plank, as well as several UA athletes, came out to party. The next morning, SXsports kicked into full gear. |
| I started the day at a Radius Fitness class sponsored by NBC Sports. Workouts seem to be the coffee meetings of SXSW - you could unwind with Yahoo, recharge with Onnit, run with Brooks. After busting my hangover with 40 minutes of cardio, I heading into the Four Seasons for the first of many panels, first listening to Emmanuel Acho of the Philadelphia Eagles lament the amateur status of college athletes. He also gave me the backstory on how he ended up agreeing to attend a high school prom this May - one of his Twitter followers asked him, and he said he’d go if she got 10,000 retweets. She pulled it off in less than three hours. While Acho laughed about prom, Aaron Williams of the Buffalo Bills was next door, talking about how he prepped for the NFL draft. These two weren’t even the biggest draw – the only full house that morning was at a panel called “The In-Stadium Fan Experience in the MLS”. It ended up being one of the most popular panels of the weekend, a good indication that most of the SXsports crowd was local. Austin lost its USL team in 2010, and is campaigning for a new one. | I started the day at a Radius Fitness class sponsored by NBC Sports. Workouts seem to be the coffee meetings of SXSW - you could unwind with Yahoo, recharge with Onnit, run with Brooks. After busting my hangover with 40 minutes of cardio, I heading into the Four Seasons for the first of many panels, first listening to Emmanuel Acho of the Philadelphia Eagles lament the amateur status of college athletes. He also gave me the backstory on how he ended up agreeing to attend a high school prom this May - one of his Twitter followers asked him, and he said he’d go if she got 10,000 retweets. She pulled it off in less than three hours. While Acho laughed about prom, Aaron Williams of the Buffalo Bills was next door, talking about how he prepped for the NFL draft. These two weren’t even the biggest draw – the only full house that morning was at a panel called “The In-Stadium Fan Experience in the MLS”. It ended up being one of the most popular panels of the weekend, a good indication that most of the SXsports crowd was local. Austin lost its USL team in 2010, and is campaigning for a new one. |
| Later Friday, I dropped in on Charles Barkley explaining why people still watch him on TV, even as so many sports fans are turning to digital. It’s all about having a big personality, he said. I couldn’t stay long, because I also wanted to hear about the ways sports can influence society, new approaches to coaching, and how teams are trying to attract a millennial fan base. | Later Friday, I dropped in on Charles Barkley explaining why people still watch him on TV, even as so many sports fans are turning to digital. It’s all about having a big personality, he said. I couldn’t stay long, because I also wanted to hear about the ways sports can influence society, new approaches to coaching, and how teams are trying to attract a millennial fan base. |
| There were three conference rooms going at a time, as well as keynote addresses happening at the Austin Convention Center. You want to go to everything, to take it all in, but by about 1pm your brain is fried. I took a breather before my 2pm interview with the Giants’ Victor Cruz. Cruz, who is still recovering from a rare injury suffered in October 2014, was in town with Equinox to talk about the ways elite athletes use data in their training regimens. He assured me he can safely salsa again, though he still has a ways to go before he’ll be back in game form. He’s expecting to be ready by the start of the season. | There were three conference rooms going at a time, as well as keynote addresses happening at the Austin Convention Center. You want to go to everything, to take it all in, but by about 1pm your brain is fried. I took a breather before my 2pm interview with the Giants’ Victor Cruz. Cruz, who is still recovering from a rare injury suffered in October 2014, was in town with Equinox to talk about the ways elite athletes use data in their training regimens. He assured me he can safely salsa again, though he still has a ways to go before he’ll be back in game form. He’s expecting to be ready by the start of the season. |
| The panels went on all day, but the thing about SXSW is that there’s also always a party to go to. And once the athletes and sports broadcasters are done with their own panels, they’re usually heading to the parties. Grantland had also set up shop, and the Men in Blazers were doing their podcast from the NBC Sports patio at the Four Seasons. There is legitimately too much going on. And it was only day one. That night I took a break from sports and checked out a Spoon concert followed by Busta Rhymes. The fun just never ends. | The panels went on all day, but the thing about SXSW is that there’s also always a party to go to. And once the athletes and sports broadcasters are done with their own panels, they’re usually heading to the parties. Grantland had also set up shop, and the Men in Blazers were doing their podcast from the NBC Sports patio at the Four Seasons. There is legitimately too much going on. And it was only day one. That night I took a break from sports and checked out a Spoon concert followed by Busta Rhymes. The fun just never ends. |
| Saturday afternoon I sat in on Cruz and Equinox’s Sarah Robb O’Hagan talk about data, and a panel looking at ways to encourage young athletes to stick with their sports. At noon I had to rush off to a media luncheon at the Under Armour headquarters, then came back to hear Ronda Rousey describe her meteoric – and incredibly inspirational – rise to UFC fame. By Saturday night, sports films were starting to premiere, starting with one about the competition to be the best court stenographer in the world. I made it halfway through the film before heading back to the SXsports headquarters for more panels. On my way in, I ran into Bill Simmons in the hallway, then Will Ferrell as he exited the Grantland studio. | |
| As a bit of a nerd, I was excited for Science Over Tradition: The New Edge in Sports, but found that nothing new was really explained. Same for the panel on mental health and sports, and the future of PEDs. The best panels were those that included professional athletes, who entertained us with personal stories. | As a bit of a nerd, I was excited for Science Over Tradition: The New Edge in Sports, but found that nothing new was really explained. Same for the panel on mental health and sports, and the future of PEDs. The best panels were those that included professional athletes, who entertained us with personal stories. |
| That night, Grantland premiered its first documentary feature, Son of the Congo. It tells the life story of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka, who made it to Austin for the premiere. He was one of the few non-NFL athletes on site during the week, and went straight back to Oklahoma to rejoin the team after the screening. The film proved that Grantland has documentary chops, something we’ll likely see more of from the sports and pop culture website. The fact that they premiered at SXsports, and not at the ESPN-sponsored Tribeca Film Festival, is curious, and gives an indication that brands will continue adding SXsports programming next year. Another fantastic film was T-Rex, the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields’ pursuit of Olympic boxing gold in London. I stopped going to films after that, though, because I realized I could attend films all week. The other stuff was ending on Sunday. | That night, Grantland premiered its first documentary feature, Son of the Congo. It tells the life story of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka, who made it to Austin for the premiere. He was one of the few non-NFL athletes on site during the week, and went straight back to Oklahoma to rejoin the team after the screening. The film proved that Grantland has documentary chops, something we’ll likely see more of from the sports and pop culture website. The fact that they premiered at SXsports, and not at the ESPN-sponsored Tribeca Film Festival, is curious, and gives an indication that brands will continue adding SXsports programming next year. Another fantastic film was T-Rex, the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields’ pursuit of Olympic boxing gold in London. I stopped going to films after that, though, because I realized I could attend films all week. The other stuff was ending on Sunday. |
| Related: Judd Apatow's Trainwreck stays on the right track at SXSW | Related: Judd Apatow's Trainwreck stays on the right track at SXSW |
| Sunday saw more NFL stars – including Tejada’s run-in with Brees. Earlier in the day, the Adweek crew had interviewed Colin Kaepernick, too. Yahoo’s hockey blogger, Greg Wyshinski (better known as Puck Daddy), hosted a panel with former NHL fighting legend Brad May. That night, we all took in LeBron James’ acting debut in the Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer film Trainwreck. Turns out King James can act. The audience loved him. He couldn’t be there, though, with the Cleveland Cavaliers playing that night. | Sunday saw more NFL stars – including Tejada’s run-in with Brees. Earlier in the day, the Adweek crew had interviewed Colin Kaepernick, too. Yahoo’s hockey blogger, Greg Wyshinski (better known as Puck Daddy), hosted a panel with former NHL fighting legend Brad May. That night, we all took in LeBron James’ acting debut in the Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer film Trainwreck. Turns out King James can act. The audience loved him. He couldn’t be there, though, with the Cleveland Cavaliers playing that night. |
| Overall, the general takeway is that SXSW is a chance for athletes to get down to Austin to enjoy the rest of the festival. They do their part with panels and telling their stories, but they’re really there for everything else that’s going on. Cruz said he’s been going for four years, and this year he was there to see Nas perform. | Overall, the general takeway is that SXSW is a chance for athletes to get down to Austin to enjoy the rest of the festival. They do their part with panels and telling their stories, but they’re really there for everything else that’s going on. Cruz said he’s been going for four years, and this year he was there to see Nas perform. |
| Most of the crowd consisted of team and broadcast executives hobnobbing and trading ideas, or members of the Austin sports industry looking for pointers. Perhaps some of the panel discussions offered groundbreaking insight, but to a journalist who is constantly covering stories related to these subjects, much of the information seemed repetitive. | Most of the crowd consisted of team and broadcast executives hobnobbing and trading ideas, or members of the Austin sports industry looking for pointers. Perhaps some of the panel discussions offered groundbreaking insight, but to a journalist who is constantly covering stories related to these subjects, much of the information seemed repetitive. |
| The true appeal of SXsports is the film releases, the parties, and the stuff happening around the event. The music. The food. The chance to run into Drew Brees in the middle of East 6th Street, surrounded by a bunch of people who are just here to party. | The true appeal of SXsports is the film releases, the parties, and the stuff happening around the event. The music. The food. The chance to run into Drew Brees in the middle of East 6th Street, surrounded by a bunch of people who are just here to party. |
Previous version
1
Next version