John K. Laub
1. Students will examine the imperial coach during the 1960s in college football. On the Sports Illustrated Vault web page, students must locate the August 15, 1966 issue on Alabama Coach Paul Bryant "I'll Tell You About Football" and complete worksheet. (Please see Appendix B)
2. Students must identify the salaries of the following NCAA football coaches in 2009: Nick Saban (Alabama), Bobby Petrino (Arkansas), Chris Petersen (Boise State), Jeff Tedford (California), Urban Meyer (Florida), Les Miles (LSU), Rich Rodriguez (Michigan), Jim Tressel (Ohio State), Greg Schiano (Rutgers) and Steve Spurrier (South Carolina). (Please see Appendix C)
3. Students will analyze "Schools Seek Budget Patch" that appeared in the USA Today on April 2, 2010 and complete a worksheet of questions. (Please see Appendix D)
4. Students will research the history of TV contracts between the NFL and television and cable networks. The scholars must create a bar graph in an Excel spreadsheet illustrating the growth of the deals for every even year between 1964 and 2008.
5. Students will produce a two-page proposal to Steve Sabol of NFL Films, recommending an idea for a new documentary. The scholars can choose from a current issue in the NFL, an historical team, a memorable event, and a player or owner profile feature. The students must use historical evidence to justify their suggestion and be resourceful and creative in their promotional pitch.
6. Students will complete a worksheet on the 30 for 30: Straight Outta L.A. documentary. (Please see Appendix G).
7. Students will research the television ratings (number of viewers) and advertisement costs for one-minute commercials during the Super Bowl for the following years after the merger: 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010. The young scholars will also have to construct a bar graph in an Excel spreadsheet of their results.
8. Students must visit the Sports Illustrated Vault web page and acquire the articles "A New Round Of Star Wars?" by Paul Zimmerman on March 7, 1983 and "Can the USFL Cut the Mustard" by William Oscar Johnson on January 16, 1984. A worksheet will also be given to the students to complete. (Please see Appendix H)
9. Students will write an essay answering the following essential question: Could the USFL have survived in the spring and become a principal entertainer in America's consumer culture? Why or why not? Think about: television ratings and revenue, player salaries, the AFL, the antitrust lawsuit, Heisman winners, the players and fans.
10. Students will be responsible for researching the growth of the NFL Network since 2003 when the league provided fans 24-hour access to coverage of its games, history, players, and owners. A worksheet will be provided to guide the assignment. (Please see Appendix I)
11. Final Project: Students will work in groups and produce any one of the following summative assignments.
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a. Write and generate a pre-game introduction for a fictional Monday Night Football contest. The segment must be three-minutes and presented to the entire class.
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b. Produce a fictional commercial for a product and present it to the class. The commercial must be one minute in length and feature a player selling a product.
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c. Write a 1,000-word game feature article of a fictional game employing the 1920s mythmaking style of Grantland Rice.
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d. Construct a 1,000 word speech for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to be presented to the fans on the state of the game to be presented at the Super Bowl.
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e. Create and film a Doritos commercial for the Frito Lays' competition to be aired during the 2012 Super Bowl. The project must include Doritos and be a half minute in length.
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