2019 Sport Marketing Association Conference (SMA XVII)

The “Double Doink” Double Whammy: Fan Reactions When an On-field Mistake is Compounded by an Off-field Gaffe

Matthew Zimmerman, Mississippi State University Sarah Stokowski, University of Arkansas Jimmy Sanderson, Texas Tech University Ali Fridley, University of Arkansas Nathan Hutchens, University of Arkansas

Wednesday, November 11, 2019 50-minute poster presentation 5:45-6:35 PM, River Ballroom Salon D,E,F,G

The 2018 ’ once-promising season ended in the wild-card round of the playoffs, as kicker ’s attempted game-winning hit both the crossbar and the upright before bouncing out. Television analyst described the play as a “Double Doink” and the term soon found a way into fan and football vernacular and conversation (Thompson, 2019). Despite the NFL ruling a day later that the kick had been partially blocked (Reyes, 2019), fans’ disappointment at the abrupt end of a 12-4 NFC Central Division championship season remained. Parkey drew further criticism with an appearance on NBC’s Today morning show, with many Bears enthusiasts expressing their displeasure on social media (Ellis, 2019). In the wake of Parkey’s miss and subsequent Today appearance, two coders examined 526 Tweets, gathered from the microblogging service Twitter through a manual search for Parkey’s last name. The aspect of fandom in this particular case not only applies to Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), but also to Maladaptive Parasocial Interaction (Sanderson & Trueax, 2014). While sports fans often use social media (Haugh & Watkins, 2016) to be part of a larger whole comprised of individuals with similar interests, negative news such as playoff losses can also lead to commiserate reactions in a parasocial manner as the athlete in question does not respond to the messages sent their way through social platforms. Preliminary results indicated that 70% (n = 372) of the Tweets examined could be categorized as negative (e.g., “Youre absolutely trash my man. Don’t ever wear a Chicago Jersey again @ Cparkey36 @chicagobears”) with the rest (n = 154) leaning toward mentions that could be categorized as positive and supportive (e.g., “Last I checked football was a team sport. The kicker is the last resort when everyone else on that team did not get the job done!”). Following this preliminary analysis, the two coders examined the Tweets with an eye to categories derived from Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) as well as a Sanderson and Trueax (2014) study that discussed a similar pivotal miss by an Alabama Crimson Tide kicker in 2013. Tweets were coded for General anger or frustration, Direct criticism or mocking of Parkey’s abilities, discussions of the possibility that Parkey might leave the Bears, and expressions of support for Parkey. The potential effect of Parkey’s actions, and the Bears fanbase’s reaction to them, pertain to the need for a sports entity to deal with such situations. Considering team officials’ negative reaction to Parkey’s Today show appearance and subsequent release as well as the established fact that sports entities will encourage their fans to connect through online media (Haugh & Watkins, 2016; Waters, Burke, Jackson, & Buning, 2010), this research ultimately includes implications for crisis management in sport (Brown & Billings, 2012) when dealing with an unhappy fanbase full of individuals expressing themselves publicly through social media.

REFERENCES

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Ellis, C. (2019, January 11). Cody Parkey went on the TODAY show this morning and Chicago was NOT having it.

NBC Sports. Retrieved from https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/ bears/cody-parkey-went-today-show

Chicago, IL November 6-8, 2019 2019 Sport Marketing Association Conference (SMA XVII)

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Glaser, B., Strauss, A., 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Aldine Publishing Company, Hawthorne, NY.

Haugh, B. R., & Watkins, B. (2016). Tag me, tweet me if you want to reach me: An investigation into how sports

fans use social media. International Journal of Sport Communication, 9(3), 278-293.

Reyes, L. (2019, January 7). Bears kicker Cody Parkey’s miss officially changed to blocked field goal. USA Today.

Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports /nfl/playoffs/2019/01/07/cody-parkey-chicago

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Sanderson, J., & Truax, C. (2014). I hate you man!”: Exploring maladaptive parasocial interaction expressions to

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Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. Austin (Eds.),

Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7-24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall

Thompson, P. (2019, January 7). NBC’s Cris Collinsworth’s ‘double doink’ call bounces into Bears and NFL lore.

Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/ sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears

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Waters, R. D., Burke, K. A., Jackson, Z. H., & Buning, J. D. (2011). Using stewardship to cultivate fandom online:

Comparing how National Football League teams use their web sites and Facebook to engage their

fans. International Journal of Sport Communication, 4(2), 163-177..

Chicago, IL November 6-8, 2019