World Cup icons

We will be having MLB icons for the playoffs and World Series as well as some generic icons. As teams are eliminated, the icons will be removed. The champion and generic icons will remain a few days after the champion is declared.








Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

 

You're really selective in applying your reasoning here Strilo.

I have friends in Ireland, for example, and France; they watch the Tri-Nations. Does that therefore mean the Tri-Nations has a French or Irish dimension?

And just because people in other countries watch the NBA doesn't change the fact you're promoting US sports over multilateral sports which comes back to a US centric bias. We should be using icons that reflect major world sporting events, and by world I mean more than two countries. But seriously, I wouldn't think we'd need icons every time a F1 GP is on, nor for the UEFA cup, for example - we should use them for sporting events that matter to a significant number of countries, like 10 or more.

So we're clear on what constitutes matters, I mean where those countries have a vested interest by way of team, and not individual, submissions (i.e. not claiming the NBA is important to 1.6bn Chinese on account of a Chinese player). Where countries come together to compete in sport - like the US and Iran did in 1998.

E_S

 

I agree with Ender. I watch the Tri-nations (and would LOVE an All Blacks icon!), so it's not something that's just limited to those three countries. That's like saying only Americans watch the NBA.

 

Ender we get that you are Australian and damn proud of it okay? But the fact of the matter is that these forums are based in the US. A somewhat US bias is just part of the package.

 

Just as a note - I'm totally fine with uploading any number of icons for special occasions so long as they are approved by the admins first. Making sure that's known.

 

Okay DV! I would like icons then for the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the Quidditch World Cup.

 

Seconded

 

Well, if we're getting NBA stuff, we might as well get UEFA Cup stuff as well. And synchronised diving.

 

how about table tennis for our favorite table tennis stars?

like Xiaoan WU

[image=http://www.astro.princeton.edu/events/dept_picnic_2004/images/xiaoan_returns.jpg]

 

Wu Xiao An, actually - Chinese names go Family Name, Given Names. His given names, I think (I haven't seen the characters) mean Small (xiao) and Peacefull (an), which is a pretty cool Chinese mingzi.

Strilo, my point is more if you give the US sports icons, you can't say no to UEFA or whatever else icons. So, less Aussie pride and more "this is what it feels like for the rest of us", uh, um, ah, pride...

E_S

 

You CAN say no. A line can be drawn before we get into territory that ruins the special icons. Some may feel that to be unfair or US-centric but we cannot have icons for every little sporting event in every country. Now we may decide to allow UEFA icons. I would say that if there is a clear championship game between two teams, like the World Series or the NBA finals then go for it. Let's remember that we're not talking about allowing icons for all the baseball teams in the MLB. We're talking about allowing a few icons (two for the teams and probably one MLB icon) for the 10 days of the World Series. In the larger scope of things, I don't see a problem with this, so long as the sporting organization is major enough (on a world scale) and the event is a major championship that is viewed by people across the world. Say what you want, Ender, but more than the US watches the Super Bowl and the NBA Championship than just the US and Canada.

 

*weeps for Poland and Costa Rica*

 

*weeps for Englands shoddy performance*



May I put in a request for a black armband icon for those who's team has gone out of the world cup.





//in pessimistic preparation for next Sunday

 

When England win the World Cup, can you add the words "pwnerz j00" onto the flag? Pretty please?

 

Strilo;

I'm arguing that we don't cheapen special icons by having them on display all the time.

If it's a major event on a world scale, then I'm afraid that the NBA/NFL/MLB etc don't qualify, because their appeal is heavily, heavily confined. I've lived in three countries, and even though one was heavily pro-US (Taiwan), the Superbowl didn't rate on theirs or anyone else's radar. Don't get me wrong, I know they are HUGE events in the US, and that alot of Canadians get in on it; but their appeal outside the US is minor at best.

Your critera allows for UEFA icons, or rugby world cup icons; as they're major championships with significant numbers of people in significant numbers of countries watching. I mean, using your patently disingenuous method before; if you took the populations of all nations with Rubgy teams, you'd have billions of people (same as cricket, thank you India) as your audience. Same as UEFA; if you consider how popular it is in Latin America and Oceania as a result of local players playing in the league, you've also got billions.

(I don't advocate that method, but you did earlier arbitrarily add the populations of the US, Canada and all of Europe as justification which is sloppy and inaccurate)

If you look around, you see lots of world cup icons, few if any hockey icons, despite us doing US sport icons for some time. The FIFA World Cup is a world event, and the icons a qualified success. They were special in every sense of the word, and it's for events like this or, say, the Olympics to which I propose we limit sporting icons.

Why?

They're globally inclusive events, and I don't just mean that the 95.5% of the world that's not the US gets to feel involved; I mean they promote a sense of inclusion. We tried what I proposed fromt he get-go - elimitating icons as teams were eliminated - and that worked, because people have either a) Deferred to their next-preferred team, b) Gone to the generic World Cup icons, or c) moved on entirely, disinterested now their team is gone. With the Olympics, we could promote that same spirit by eliminating icons as we narrow down to the top X number of medal-winning countries.

I think that the world cup shows that a major world event has to attract large numbers of diverse people to be special, and frankly the major US sport icons haven't enjoyed 1% of the use that these have. By keeping sporting icons limited to major, major events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, we keep them special, we promote the ideals these events represent, and we make them memorable.

The difference between having a few US sports icons that maybe a dozen will use, and the World Cup icons, is that the former is something that happens once a year. The latter is a rare event, and my god did it work.

Sometimes, less is more and the wait, the anticipation and the like make it worthwhile. We're a Star Wars board first and foremost, but our members come from all over. We should be reflecting that spirit of international cooperation and competition, or change the term from "special ico

 

The difference between having a few US sports icons that maybe a dozen will use,

You're totally insane if you think only a dozen people on the jc will use superbowl icons... and I'd bet the same with NBA and MLB as well.

 

Hyperbole, Tracy.

In any event, I'd wager the the usage of FIFA WC icons : US sports icons is still a 3:1 or so, based on their ubiquity.

E_S

 

And I'd bet at least some people are just using them to show national pride and don't care much about soccer.

 

I think that the defining point for icons for WC, NBA, MLB and NHL during their championships is that here at the JC, there is already a section of users that discuss these sports in the JCC. It's not so much that it's the world we're trying to represent, but the JC. There is no long standing thread for the UEFA and rugby cups that I'm aware of.

 

exactly (and this has all already been discussed earlier in the thread). firstly i would say it's a bit rich for people to want special icons for a sport or competition that they haven't even bothered discussing throughout the particular season, be it a worldwide sport or not. if you want Rugby WC icons, there should really be SOME form of Rugby discussion on the boards which could encompass the Tri Nations, Super 14's, etc.

secondly who cares if the Rugby WC involves more countries than the Superbowl if 90% of the countries involved don't even have any posters here at the JC? similarly why should the Superbowl be discredited because it's 'just an American thing' (which i would say is incorrect anyway; i stayed up to about 3am to watch it this year) when 90% of the posters here ARE American??

as i say though, this has all already been discussed and stuff.

 

I think having icons for the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL[and others] championships are a good idea. I'm not saying we have them year round, but during the championship games I think it's a good idea.

 

I want my black armband















We wuz robbed

 

I'd just like to say thanks again for the allowing us to have World Cup icons, and an additional thanks to gabe for creating them and loading them. I thought the whole thing has been quite a bit of additional fun over the past few weeks. Wish I could have keep mine until after next Sunday though.

 

It was our pleasure. I've heard a lot of positive responses to the NBA, NHL, and World Cup icons.