Stadium Status
Having used their videos on our site before it is only fair that we help the Internets Celebrities, Rafi Kam, Casimir Nozkowski, and Dallas Penn, raise awareness about their forthcoming project, Stadium Status. Following up on the success of Checkmate and Bodega, two shorts for which they received considerable acclaim, Penn and Kam (the mainstays in front of the camera) are striking out on an exploration of the fascination with elaborate sports arenas and stadiums. While this latest project is set here in New York, their film applies to virtually every city with a major sports team. In the past three years alone we have witnessed Seattle’s NBA team uprooted to Oklahoma City because city residents wouldn’t agree to finance a new stadium, and this year Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones unveiled a 1.4 billion dollar monstrosity that includes a scoreboard so large that punters can routinely hit its bottom. Just two weeks ago, we watched President Barack Obama travel to Copenhagen to lobby on behalf of Chicago’s olympic bid; and as most observers know Olympics are anchored by large stadiums, many of which are often of little use after host the game.
In Stadium Status Penn and Kam shift their attention to New York’s recent spate of luxury liners for millionaires, Yankee Stadium 2.0, CitiField, Giants Stadium and the forthcoming notorious Barclay’s Arena that will house Brooklyn’s NBA team. Why would a city that has yet to solve its problems financing public education and transportation deem it necessary to underwrite new playgrounds for professional athletes? After all, the Yankees aren’t the Sonics, therefore the odds of them leaving New York are nil (can you imagine anyone clamoring to play for the Oklahoma Yankees?).
It will be interesting to first see whether The Internets Celebrities who have been honing their craft online for years now with little compensation, save for press passes, can succeed in crowd sourcing this project, and then two how their blend of humor and analysis is sustained in a longer form project. We’re willing to bet that they will hit home runs on both accounts. And when they do, let’s just hope they don’t forget the little guys and gals when they achieve stadium status and are sitting court side along Spike et al.
To help kickstart Stadium Status or to learn more about the Internet Celebrities click on the following links:
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