New Energy Drinks Target Young Gamers

Many Americans adults love to get the next best supplement that will help improve their lives. Whether that’s a new vitamin to help their eyesight, or an easy fix to lose weight, people can’t get enough. Many are even willing to accept the potential health hazards that can go along with these products. However, even though Americans love their supplements and additives, it becomes a sticky subject when it comes to youth. In recent news, energy drink spinoffs are targeting gamers with a new alternative to traditional energy drinks. However, by virtue of going after gamers their target market contains a large portion of kids under eighteen.

Let’s face it; energy drinks with lots of caffeine and sugar are bad for you. That’s what kids are taught in school and what their parents probably reinforce. Large amounts of caffeine have been linked to slowed brain development, bad sleep patterns, and irregular heart rate in children. In the culture surrounding gamers though, energy drinks maintain a strong foothold, even to the degree of special flavors like Mountain Dew Game Fuel specifically targeting them.

One of the two companies, G Fuel, markets itself as a secret sauce to help enhance focus and endurance. Its main advertising point is that its drinks are sugar free and vitamin infused. Sounds great, right? Well G Fuel forgot to mention that it has more caffeine than both Monster and Red bull, a staggering 150 milligrams in 12 oz. (for reference a cup of coffee has 95 milligrams in 12 oz.) They have successfully sidestepped sugar as America’s enemy number 1 in food, but the new path isn’t better. As mentioned earlier, the caffeine context proves just as hazardous as sugar it its own right.

It seems as if the FDA needs to pass some sort of restriction towards today’s young buyers. Earlier this year a report from congress scrutinized energy drink producers for their “recklessness” Previously, major energy drink companies have agreed to stop marketing to kids under twelve years old due to negative health effects. Is this enough though? Adolescent medicine specialists have said many parents don’t truly understand the adverse effects of these drinks and therefore it is up to the FDA, or even congress, to help regulate. Or perhaps we could sit back and let the targeting of kids continue for a nice profit.

UNC Faces Lawsuit for Guiding Student-Athletes to Be Just Athletes

Another top university leaves student athletes behind while making millions off them. This January, news of a class action lawsuit from two former University of North Carolina athletes surfaced to the school's horror. According to the lawsuit, the school, and by association the NCAA, had not “safeguarded and provided a meaningful education to scholarship athletes who agreed to attend UNC- and take the field- in exchange for an academically sound instruction.” This is just one of the latest developments in an array of bad press for UNC concerning its academic practices regarding athletes. Academic scandal is a blow to any school's reputation, but this is a school with a very highly regarded academic reputation that has been in trouble multiple times in the last year. The responsibility to provide them with a first class education is completely sacrificed for athletic eligibility and success. Most of these players don’t play professional sports successfully after they graduate. What are they supposed to do then?

These “shadow classes” were run through the Afro-American studies department and required minimal work to achieve a good grade. Students did not have to go to class, meet with professors, or do any assignments. All that was required was a final paper that was usually graded highly without being read.The focus of the institution has shifted entirely. It is a flawed system where the revenue stream is more important than their education.The multi-million dollar T.V contracts that football and basketball teams are part of must be worth more than the student-athletes themselves.

It’s one thing if a recruited athlete struggles to succeed at the school they attend. But it is an entirely different situation when the school places them into joke classes with one paper for a final grade. Many of these students were considered “under qualified” for the university's usual academic standards, however they do provide a service to the school in the sports they play, which generates a good portion of the yearly revenue. There is a trade off that needs to be maintained. The school has a responsibility to them, and this is an absolute disgrace to lead them through without educating them as they would with any other student. If the students don't care enough, that's fine, but the administrators have a duty to do their job regardless of economic influences.

(Photo is of a Final Exam paper that received an A-. Please excuse photo quality, it is the best available.)

Where Is Rory’s Rival?

With his success last year, Rory Mcllroy has solidified himself as golf’s face. Picking up hardware at the Open Championship, and also the PGA Championship three weeks later, has him slotted at #1 in the world, with four majors at the age of 25. However, as he rises to the top, golf fans are looking for a rival to challenge him. Where is his head to head competition that everyone wants to see? Tiger’s fading, Phil’s aging, Bubba’s gone cold recently, and a few younger players have been playing well recently, but not consistently enough to emerge as a challenger. People need some excitement among the top finishers. Not another win by eight strokes.

Throughout the sport’s history, Golf has been limited to only a few constant rivalries similar to what other sports enjoy. The tour format limits players when it comes to consistently succeeding, and having players face off one-on-one with the tournament on the line. There are not end of the season playoffs, frequent overtimes, or conference rivals. Not very often do players at the top of the sport have the playoff holes that electrify viewers. Jack Nicklaus-Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus-Tom Watson, Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson, those are the great rivalries people usually think of when it comes to golf. Without one present, fan interest can stagnate, and they simply get bored watching one guy cruise to the finish line. Last weekend we found our new challenger.

All of the buzz was not about Rory, or anyone most people have heard of. Young Jordan Speith broke out to an early -8 and immediately demanded all of the attention. This weekend I was lucky to catch a glimpse of who could be Rory’s new foe, and the newest golf name that many Americans would know by the end of the week. He finished in second place last year, but being only 21 years old, the prospect of another run for him really ramped up interest nationwide. This was his chance to prove last year wasn’t a fluke and that he could carry a lead. He had all year to think about watching his lead slip away in 2014. This time around he would not make that mistake.

Jordan captured the spotlight quickly and it never left. Speith kept his composure throughout and never lost his lead. This is the type of player golf needs right now. He’s young, confident, and composed. Both him and Rory let their game speak for themselves and limit any ego that goes with it. He finished -18 for a tied Masters record with Tiger, and won by four strokes that afternoon. He has received all of the recognition he deserves and I don’t think his success is going to halt anytime soon. Lets see how Rory can respond to a newer challenger to his spot atop the globe. If he can elevate his game, it will be a fantastic show watching them go at each other.

Jay-Z and Friends Need More Money

As I watched Wisconsin vs. Kentucky this past weekend, I saw a star-studded commercial featuring many of the nation’s most popular artists: Jay-Z, Madonna, Kanye West, Beyoncé, and many others were all present. They all exiting their cars in designer clothes, trying to seem as important as possible while walking in slow-motion. They gathered around a large conference table and panned the camera to reveal all the famous faces. At its end viewers are shown one word, Tidal. Immediately after, I did exactly what the advertiser pitched that every American would do. I hopped on my phone to figure out what Tidal was and why so many A-list musicians were involved.

Upon further research I found that Tidal is the latest music service provider to hit the market. As if there were not enough players in the market, now Jay-Z and his partners are making their latest business venture apparent to a very large audience and plan to battle dominant providers like Pandora and Spotify.

These are the things I discovered that make Tidal different from its competitors: higher quality sound, two paid subscription options, music recognition function (a la Shazam), and promised "exclusive content". Assuming most people who are interested in this service are already subscribed to competitors, why would they switch over? It would be considerably more expensive when Tidal's two packages are listed at $9.99 and $19.99 a month with no free option as Pandora and Spotify provide. It also has more royalties towards artists built in. Tidal is relying most heavily on celebrity endorsements to help attract press, and until they provide something dramatically different from their competitors I believe it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold.

Tidal has been active since October and due to a late arrival to the scene they needed a boost like this commercial to gain more mainstream attention. But there is really little room left for them. These artists are banking heavily on their personal endorsements and I don’t think much will come of it. The only major difference is the change is bitrate. Tidal advertises CD quality sound better than the compressed files we have grown accustomed to. Other than customers that are drawn purely from the celebrity endorsements, only audiophiles utterly obsessed with the sound quality of their music will be clientel. Moreover, studies have shown that most people cannot hear the difference anyway.

Growing up as someone moderately interested in music, I have learned that my generation, and the one ahead of me, are very cheap when it comes to music. Many are reluctant to pay iTunes a dime, and download all of their music illegally. Some choose to abuse the free trial system on services like Spotify by changing their email repeatedly for new trials. Others still find the cheapest ways possible to get all of the music they want without paying. Are people really going to pay $19.99 a month for music quality they might not even hear? No, and unless Tidal is going to provide some extraordinary “exclusive content,” it may remain not only late but altogether out of the game.