Biography
Dr. Baerg’s primary research interest involves the relationship between sport and the media with a specific focus on the cultural and social significance of the medium of the sports video game. His prior research has focused on the relationship between sport and culture in sports game franchises like Fight Night, Madden Football, NBA Live, NBA 2K and Fifa Soccer. His work has been published in the International Journal of Sport Communication, Electronic Journal of Communication, and Sociology of Sport Journal as well as being included in anthologies addressing sports fans, sport history and role-playing games. His recent research has concentrated on the intersection of quantification, social theory, and sport. Dr. Baerg is a member of the National Communication and Popular and American Culture associations. He is also a founding member of the International Association for Communication and Sport.
His first memories of sports video games involve playing Intellivision’s Major League Baseball at a friend’s house as a child. From there, he graduated to running virtual baseball leagues using his Commodore 64 and Micro League Baseball before moving on to a Commodore Amiga and Earl Weaver Baseball. Today, Dr. Baerg can usually be found playing the latest sports video game of some kind, typically the most recent version of Sports Interactive’s, Football Manager. He also enjoys role-playing and strategy games as well.
When not working, Dr. Baerg enjoys cycling and watching just about whatever sport happens to be in season. He avidly follows the San Antonio Spurs and Iowa Hawkeyes and hopes his favorite childhood team, the Detroit Red Wings, will be good again one day.
Undergraduate Courses Taught at UHV
- COMM 3310 Introduction to Communication Theory (fall)
- COMM 4318 Mass Media Communication (spring)
- COMM 4326 Digital Games and Popular Culture (spring)