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Friday

The ‘That’s It, That’s it, I quit!’ paper

At the International Association for Communication and Sport summit my lovely bride and I presented some interesting and unique research. We met the friend of some friends and he was telling us about why he quit playing fantasy sports. It was an interesting conversation and led to a pretty basic research question: why?

It turns out that while there’s a reasonable amount of scholarship about why people gamble and play fantasy sports, there’s not a lot of work done studying why they quit. So we’re cornering the market. And here’s the first bit of that work, a pilot study. We told some of the best sports media scholars in the world about it today. She discussed the quantitative part of the mixed-methods study, and left me to discuss the qualitative themes. Here’s some of the takeaways, which I’ve already shared on Bluesky.

This version of the research was titled “That’s it, I quit!: An analysis between the relationship of quitting sports gambling and enjoyment.”

If you need a citation: Smith, L.R. & Smith, K.D. (2026, March 13-14). “That’s it, I quit!: An analysis between the relationship of quitting sports gambling and enjoyment.” [Conference presentation]. IACS 2026 Summit, Dublin, Ireland.

Just presented some new research with @laurensmith.bsky.social. Turns out there’s not a lot of work done studying why people stop playing fantasy sports.

Let’s dive in!

#IACS26

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

We met a guy who had strongly passionate feelings about why he no longer played fantasy sports. So we developed a mixed-methods instrument to study it. We approached this from a motivations perspective.

@laurensmith.bsky.social used PANAS and ENJOY on the quantitative side.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

We learned, from one person, that you can actually do some version of UFC fantasy sports.

We also learned, from other great scholarship, that gambling has the highest suicide rate of any addiction disorder (Vijayakumar &
Vijayakumar, 2023).

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Lauren broke down the quantitative data, I unpacked a bit of the qualitative. We had 50 respondents, 37 identified as male, 12 as female. The slide below has a few standout answers. Most said they quit because of the time invested, loss of money, loss of interest, stress, changing life priorities.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Eighty percent of the respondents could point to a specific incident that motivated them to quit. Most revolved around lost money, time spent, stress from building and dealing with lineups and, curiously, dissatisfaction with player performance and player injuries.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

We asked the quitters group where they spend their time now. Fully 60 percent said nothing about watching sports. Some 18 percent of them used specific phrase like “stress, attention, focus, relaxing.” Work, spending time with family, exercise filled in the time. So did video games and reading.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Nineteen of the 50 respondents wish they had quit sooner. The rest said no. Only one person, as you see here, indicated any regret at not playing.

Thirty-eight percent said they’d play again. All of those said they would impose limitations and low stakes on their participation.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

We wondered if they missed it; 36 percent said they do not.

Of the rest, 30 percent missed the competition, 18 percent missed the social aspects of fantasy sports. Sixteen percent we categorized as other.

Almost all said what they DON’T miss is the stress involved or the time invested.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Eight members of the quitters group said they’d spent more than $1,000 playing fantasy sports. The highest was $5,000. A personal appeal made them stop. They talked at length about how things have turned around for them.

One person self-reported spending 800 hours a year on fantasy sports.

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— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.org) March 13, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Now if you’ll excuse me, after a day full of conferencing, and an evening full of networking and socializing with friends and colleagues, I have to finish my notes for tomorrow’s presentation.

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6
Mar 26

Three-out-of-four, then two-out-of-three

I had four meetings — count ’em, one, two, three, four meetings — on my calendar for today. Researchers were trying to wedge one more in there in between the few null spaces in my day. Me, I’m the researcher.

My first meeting, which was to be the best one of the day, was postponed or canceled. It’s that time of year for everyone, not just you or me. This meeting was to be about a presentation we are delivering next week. This was the get our ducks in a row meeting. Guess who’s ducks are all out of sorts?

Not ours, because we have a plan and a great slide deck. I am working with an amazing colleague on this particular presentation.

My second meeting was a regular committee meeting. We meet for half an hour, every other week. Lovely people. Just happy to be around them. Thoughtful, curious, dedicated, wanna-take-part, sorts of folks. We talked for about 25 minutes about the details of our work and how we might invite this person or that person or all of these people in to a meeting to talk and take a lot at the whatsits and the whosits. And finally, it occurred to me, we’ve been asked to focus on just this one group, not all of the groups. And so we returned to the start of the meeting, essentially.

My third meeting was about sustainability in the classroom. This one was led by a departmental colleague and it was more of a workshop than a meeting. A PLC, they call it, a professional learning community. This meeting is filled with smart people from all number of fields and they are, right now, looking for ways to weave this and that into their own classrooms. I don’t do a lot of that in my classes at the moment — the thises and thats of the environment and ecology conservation and so on. You might think, “You teach sports communication and communication studies, how could you?” And I would say, Thanks for reading my bio.

Then I would say, I have an idea for a future class that fits in nicely with some of what this PLC does. If I’m ever allowed to pitch and offer it, it is going to be awesome. I am trying to get my arms around more than just the basic details.

Today they were using some tool called Padlet which felt very 2.0 Wiki, to share ideas. It is a subscription-based customizable bulletin board with options to populate with text, images, audio, videos, and links. It is like Jamboard. It’s a fun little thing to type in. So people typed in stuff they were working on, and cast about for ideas. I read all of them, because I’m trying to learn stuff and project my project into it. I was also able to add two or three ideas for people, so time well spent.

Then, finally, I wound up the work day with one more webinar, a Q&A session about this work packet I’ve been going on and on about. This was the last minute session. There are a few people on campus who devote just huge amounts of time to this particular chore for everyone else, and good thing, too. We’d probably all be in a much different place if the help didn’t exist. I had three questions, myself, and the answers can be boiled down to: 1.) don’t use that form now use it later, 2.) yes use that form now how did you not know that, and 3.) you are probably correct about the last form, but continue asking around. Two out of three, late on a Friday, is not bad at all. Some other people had questions, and some of which were unexpectedly useful, too, so it was 80 minutes well spent.

Also, today, I got a bit ahead of some class prep for my online course and my in-person Criticism class. And, now, this. So it felt, more or less, like a productive Friday.

I hope yours was too.

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27
Feb 26

I remember the poster differently

I remember being in an office somewhere as a kid, seeing a framed poster on the wall. Kitten dangling from a rope. “Hang in there — Friday’s coming.”

And from then on I have known that we weren’t made for Friday work. It was right there. Big Poster has been trying to tell us for years. But then the system, and The Man, are out there trying to keep you from seeing the truth. The truth, man. And the truth is, you shouldn’t be doing work on a Friday.

These are the things I was thinking about today, while working on this fine Friday.

I had a meeting this morning with a colleague to discuss a presentation we are working on. It was quite productive. I explained the thises, and she explained the thats. We’ll have another meeting next week and deliver the goods the week after. At the very least I should enjoy the presentation.

And then I began grading. So many things to grade. Actually … half the things to grade. I graded half of them late last night. And when the grading was done the writing began.

I have to do these big documents every few years. It’s a task of explaining your work. It matters for bosses and record keeping, but I choose to think of most of it as valuable for me. This can be reflective if you want it to be. And who doesn’t love to write about themselves at great length when it could become a part of your Permanent Record that you’ve always heard about?

This thing will be probably 30-some pages, before the appendices. And I have wisely chosen to start early this time out, get ahead of the thing. Do it in stages. Be thoughtful, be patient. Make myself look good.

Or something close to it, at least.

The writing will take place in four sections. There’s one for teaching, one for service, one for research and development, and, finally, a section meant to summarize all of that. All of that goes with a bunch of forms and a bunch of records and evaluations and, of course, the CV. I update my vita every month, so that part is easy enough. And know, thinking of it, knowing I’ll have to write another one of these huge documents in three years, I might just work on this every semester.

Each of these sections has a page limit, and I’ve been working on these from smallest to largest. I’ve been working on the smallest section, the development section, this week. I wrapped that up today, discussing the things I’ve done these last two years to better myself and research I’ve done. I got that into three pages. Then I moved into the service section. Here you go on for several pages about your service to the campus and and community. So I talked about the six committees I sit on and the seventh I’ve just joined, and the two community projects I also have contributed to these last two years. I’ve got five pages to talk about all of that, but I can write tight and get that into three or four pages.

This weekend I’ll have to tackle the teaching section. In that section I have to expand on classes, reply to peer observations, address student feedback and some other little things. I get seven pages for that. It’ll probably take all seven pages.

I’m trying to get all of this done for the first part of the week, so I can get some second draft feedback. It’s due mid-month, and there’s still probably several hours of work to go into it. But pretty much everything is due mid-month.

It occurs to me that i am the cat on that rope.

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20
Feb 26

Cats great, snow gone, writing written, forecast … let’s just not

Since we haven’t done so this week, and since they featured in otherwise as a big part of the goings on around here, let’s do a quick check in on the kitties. They had a visit to the vet on Monday, had a little anesthesia and a dental checkup and came home woozy. But as that, and their disappointment at being asked to go somewhere and doing something they clearly were not interested in, wore off, they’re right back to normal. And it’s the delightful usual antics and comfort cuddles from them. Or for them. I am never sure which.

Anyway, so that I might fulfill my feline contractual obligations, and also boost traffic around the ol’ site, here’s Phoebe, pointing out, once again, that she is not on the counter, but sitting in this little cardboard drink cartoon thing, thus maintaining her status as a good girl.

And here’s Poseidon, patiently sitting at one of the island chairs. That’s not a usual spot for him, but this week he’s been there a few times.

I’d really like to know how cats establish their patterns, and what prompts them to create new ones.

They’re both doing well, and I am sure would like to just stay inside where it warm, dry, and there are no vet techs.

Their view outside has changed. The snow and ice have melted away. Thursday and today were a big day on that front. The temperatures warmed up just a bit, all of the dry air has been pushed out and, for the first time in almost four weeks, we could see what was beneath it all.

Honestly, it was a little weird for the first few minutes.

We went outside to do some yard thing that has been neglected this past month while we lived inside the arctic circle. The ground was spongy and wet. I said, “Ya know? I miss the snow.”

Not to worry, guess what’s in the weekend forecast: A lot of snow.

So the greenish=brown grass was nice while it lasted, I guess. But we could use the water in the soil, so there’s that.

While we were out, we discovered a dead squirrel. I guess it had been underneath the snow and ice for a while. Not wanting it to just stay there for Ice Age v 2.0, I went over and picked it up. By hand.

Kidding, of course. I do not have the latest in steampunk squirrel removal machinery, however, so I used the Squirrel Lever 3000, brought to you by the makers of the Bass-O-Matic. I apologized to the little guy, and then carefully removed him from the premises. Nature gives and nature takes, and a hard winter is hard on some of the furry little creatures.

Also, this is why the birders are getting fatter on our bird seed. Less competition.

I wrote something last night. Got it published today. It’s about the Olympics, and fans, and nationalism. You can click this link and read it.

We know more about athletes than ever before. We see them in closeup HD. We see them in carefully crafted publicity and commercial campaigns. We see them in their social media. Around the Olympics, there’s even more. We see them in the vignettes that NBC produces, well-crafted packages designed to humanize the person who runs faster and skis better than anyone you’ve ever met.

It can create some real parasocial interaction. That smiling young face, the ones with something to prove to themselves and their neighbors, and the ones trying to show their kids what heart and determination look like, they come into our homes, and we think we know them. They are from places we’ve heard of; they wear the same colors in the same patterns which we hold dear.

Even though almost none of us will ever climb to the top of a podium, and few of us have any real chance of becoming the best in the world at something, we carry with us, just as they do, aches and pains and worries and injuries and fear and love. Yet, for some reason, we aren’t so willing to let them do that.

This is what it means to be an American athlete on the biggest stage in your sport. You hear the ringing cheers and are embraced by coaches and teammates and family and competitors. Maybe you hear your anthem played for you. You face ridicule and scorn, vitriol and threats from far corners.

It goes on like that for a bit, trying not to sound like a scold, until, at the end, it absolutely becomes one.

I think I have one more piece to write next week, where there will be no scolding. I just have to get it in among all of the other things. There are so many other things that must get done. Four classes to prepare for next week, about 100 things to grade, my review packet (some 40-ish pages, but 15 or so are done) and two studies to work on. I go back and forth: there is no time for this, or, I’m in great shape, take the day off. Really it just depends on when I ask myself about it all.

But I’m not going to ask myself about it anymore tonight. I am going to stare at the forecast, and will it to chance.

Meteorologists are predicting 18 inches of snow this weekend. Give or take.

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13
Feb 26

The 13th passes by almost unnoticed

The weather forecasts and the meteorologists assure us, a disbelieving group of weather sufferers, that all of this snow and ice will melt. Before it does, let me share one more picture, which I’ve been sitting on since, no kidding, February 3rd. But that’s not the most important information about that photo. What’s really important is that this photo was taken at 12:36 a.m. The bright snow and a brighter moon made for a nice composition.

So we’ll always have that view, at least.

And this snow and ice. We’ll always have this snow and ice, which will never melt.

That’s been on the ground for three weeks come Saturday. For meteorological purposes it’s been a long time.

Isn’t time funny like that. Not so much funny haha as funny how long we can stay below freezing.

We made it to about 35 for the sunniest part of the afternoon, today. Snow and ice are still on the ground though. I admired it through my office window during meetings.

I had a committee meet-and-greet, and then another meeting which required someone read their slides word for word. Having slides is one thing. Reading them to an audience with a fair mastery of literacy is another thing. Reading them to audience in a webinar is another thing entirely.

The meeting gave me two great big laughs. Hilarious stuff. One of them I wanted to unmute my microphone and laugh for everyone else, so that I might share my amusement, if not my mirth.

As a rule, you should always unmute your amusement.

We haven’t checked in on the kitties this week, and they do, of course, notice these things. They’re famous and they know it. They’re traffic drivers and they know it. And that’s OK, I know you’re here to see this cute face.

No one relaxes harder that Phoebe.

But for all of their similarities, the siblings are different in this one way. While Phoebe is serious about her relaxing, Poseidon has a different style. Here, he’s enjoying a bit of the sun one morning. I like to think he was trying to insist I stay home rather than going to work. Because of pets. The boy needs his pets.

Last night, he got an ice cube to play with, which he enjoys. Usually he’ll bat it around a bit. Sliding ice is fun! I’d let him outside, but he’s all about his creature comforts, blankets and quilts and things. Instead of playing with the ice, he just sprawled out beside it, right there on the kitchen’s anti-fatigue mat — because of creature comforts.

So the kitties are doing just fine.

I wonder if they miss seeing the ground and the patio, or if they distinguish the snow and ice at all.

The next time we talk we’ll be in week four of this being on the ground. But it’s getting warmer! And there’s some humidity coming! And and and, middle of February, spring is coming, all of that.

Believe it when you see it though, right?