March Madness experts
March 17, 2015
The tournament and the workplace
Ellen Kossek, professor, Krannert School of Management. Kossek is an expert on work/life issues. In particular, she can discuss interest in the NCAA tournament in the workplace, including whether employers should let employees watch early-round daytime games at work. Kossek is president of the national Work/Family Researchers Network. Here is a link to a news tip on the tournament and the workplace:
Related news release: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q1/5-reasons-to-bring-ncaa-tournament-into-the-workplace.html
CONTACT: ekossek@purdue.edu
News Service contact: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu
College sports, PR and advertising
Josh Boyd, associate professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication, focuses on corporate rhetoric including sponsorships, advertising and public relations. He can discuss stadium and athletic facility naming rates for professional and collegiate sports. He also has attended various early-round tournament sites during 20 of the 22 past tournaments.
CONTACT: boyd@purdue.edu
News Service contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Women’s basketball, sports
Cheryl Cooky, an associate professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, researches girls' participation in sports and gender images in media, and she can discuss the coverage of women's sports and how female athletes are featured, as well as gender disparities between leadership in athletics. She is part of a team based at the University of Southern California that analyzes the media coverage of women’s and men’s sports, as well as the popular national tournament for women's college basketball during March Madness. She also studies athletic participation and interest of young girls in urban and rural environments. She can talk about constructed identity for girls who play sports, and while more girls than ever are playing sports, what challenges and limitations they face.
CONTACT: Cheryl Cooky, ccooky@purdue.edu
News Service contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Sports history and the appeal of the underdog and rivalries
Randy Roberts, distinguished professor of history, focuses on American and sports history, and he can discuss college sports, college rivalries, race and civic issues in sports and sports traditions in different cities. He also can talk about the origins of the term March Madness during the 1973-74 season when the UCLA streak ended. He is the author of more than 30 books and has made more than 50 appearances on television documentaries and films in the past 20 years for the History Channel, ESPN Classic, and other networks.
CONTACT: rroberts@purdue.edu
News Service contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu