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May
19
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I was just looking for stuff in the garage and came across my soccer (aka footie) cleats (aka footie boots) and realized I haven't played soccer (aka footie) for about six months (I injured my back so decided to take a rest). The funny thing is I don't have the overwhelming urge to get back on the field so I'm thinking that I may have officially retired - which is kind of sad - after playing pretty much non-stop for 30 years.
Depending on whether my kids take to the world's greatest game - I may start looking into coaching - I assume there's some kind of accreditation / course you have to take - it might be fun teaching the next generation of aspiring soccer stars.
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Jan
12
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I've been following some of the Beckham news over the last couple of days.
Not everyone gets it yet. The move isn't about directly raising the standard of soccer in the US - it's about raising the profile so it can compete with the other major franchises. It's about showing the US that soccer too has it's share of Ferrari driving rock stars, earning 8-figure salaries (and even more from promotion and advertising).
At the level that Beckham is used to playing at - he's at the end of his career (as a player) - he's 32 years old !! He's been warming the bench at Real Madrid and hasn't won anything for 3-4 years. Moving to the US is a fairly well trodden retirement plan for European soccer players
So, don't expect him to make a big splash on the pitch - he's not a one-man-team like George Best, Pele, Maradona and Ronaldo. His impact will be on greater acceptance of Soccer in the US. For that I'm thankful - even if we have to put up with a couple of years of obnoxious Beckham Frenzy.
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Jan
11
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I'll soon have three things in common with David Beckham - we both have young kids, play soccer (football) and live in California. I should add - our soccer careers followed very different paths.
So a personal message to David - if you, Posh and the kids (Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz - see I even looked up their names) need somewhere to crash while the new Beverly Hills pad is being fumigated - you don't even have to ask - we'll clear some space in the play room; it would be our pleasure to help out a fellow Brit.
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Dec
31
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I started this last year and though I'd do it again.
Best Moment
Last year it was a toss up between Jack learning to use the potty and England qualifying for the World Cup. This year - the kids win again - this year (over the course of a long weekend) - my five year old daughter Lilly learned to ride her bike without training-wheels. Watching her cycling off into the distance made me feel very proud. If anyone needs advice on teaching kids to loose the training-wheels - leave a comment.
Worst Moment
Watching England's performance in the World Cup and realizing we were going to blow it.
Best Blog
I still read many of Sun's bloggers but the one blog I have read consistently is Seth Godin's.
Best Gadget
Last year it was my (very inexpensive) GPS receiver for my Treo - something I still use a lot of the time - and something I find invaluable when travelling. This year it's pretty tricky. The two contenders are my home SunRay (something I use every day and I still think it's one of those game-changing products that way too few people are aware of); the second is the Logitech Harmony 880 Universal Remote (a Christmas present) - five remote controls was driving my wife crazy - harmony has been restored. I think the Harmony wins.
Worst Gadget
I had to think hard about this one. This is tough - it's my beloved Treo650 that I've ranted about over the last couple of years. Here's why. I recently had to replace my Treo (having dropped it too often) - before I shelled out $300 I looked at a couple of other smartphones and they all make the Treo650 look really dated. The reason I stuck with the Treo is that I have 3 or 4 applciations I use a lot that aren't all available on other (newer) models and makes. Unless Palm gets their act together - it's probably the last Palm I'll buy - the competition looks too good. My initial infatuation with the Treo meant I tollerated the crashes and out of memory errors - not any more.
Best Book
Last year this was easy - this year I'm struggling between Blink and Freakonomics - looking at my Audible library - I gave Freakonomics 5 stars vs. 4 for Blink - so Freakonomics gets the prize this year.
Best Film
No films really stood out this year - though I've enjoyed watching TLOTR trilogy again - now in HD (OK - upconverted DVD). I'm going to break the rules a bit and vote for Lost - over the Autumn we watched the entire Season 1 & 2 on DVD (via NetFlix) and season 3 on HBO - I can't wait for it to restart in February.
Worst Film
Da Vinci Code - I enjoyed the book and decided to get the DVD as my wife hadn't read it. Great story, great actors - what happened ?
Best Application
I've been using Google calendar for the last six months and have completely given up the various other calendars I'd been maintaining. It almost rocks and I have high hopes for it continuing to improve. I just hope Google doesn't become big and evil - I'd hate to have to look for place to park my appointments.
Biggest Disappointment
World Cup 2006 (Soccer / Footie). England had some of the most hyped and over-paid players in the game and played like a bunch of guys who hadn't played together before. Overall - the tournament was great - and England's part was pretty minor.
Have a great new year, Rich.
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Jun
22
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The FIFA rankings seem to be causing the usual confusion (especially among my US friends). Mexico & USA are placed unusually high (4th & 5th) because the rankings are based (to a large degree) on the results of local confederations (for Europe - the EUFA European Championships & for the US & Mexico the CONCAF Gold Cup). Basically the CONCAF Gold Cup covers North & Central America and the Caribbean and not suprisingly, the two big countries (USA & Mexico) have always dominated. So USA & Mexico always get a good ranking. Compared to Germany (19th), Sweden (16th) who have to battle through the European Championships.
I'm ignoring a lot of detail but that's pretty much the reason for the ranking disparity. Here's a longer explanation.
Technorati Tags: fifa world cup rankings
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Jun
20
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Well we're a couple of weeks into the biggest sporting event on the planet (the World Cup) and one thing I pleased to say is that it's a lot easier to follow in the US than it was four years ago. In 2002 I had to watch many of the matches in Spanish or follow via the Web. I guess the location helps a bit (+8 hours vs + 16) but I wonder if Soccer is gaining a bit more traction in the US - Max is wondering the same.
Soccer certainly seems to be very popular (at least in Northern California) amongst children but as an adult game it's still very niche - though I manage to play a couple of ties a week (with other adults) - where there's a will; there's a way. The major impediment is of course that the US already has 4 established sports (American Football, Basketball, Hockey and Baseball) all with big frachises attached. Trying to compete with those in the domestic market is tough - but not impossible.
I was recently chatting with my brother in law (a Brit. living in Australia) and a similar situation has previously impeded the spread of Football there as well - ie. big encumbent sports (Rugby Union & League, Aussie Rules & Cricket) but from what he told me - Footie seems to be really taking off (even amongst adults) - and hopefuly Australia's sterling performance so far in the World Cup will accelerate that.
Anway - the next couple of days will be interesting - Group E (Italy, USA, Czech Rep. & Ghana) is wide open
and Wayne Rooney looks like he'll be starting for England vs. Sweden today. I really hope that England aren't looking for a draw (which might make tactical sense) - that'd be a really dull match.
Ah, well - "c'mon englund".
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Jun
15
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Well, England have somehow managed to scrape through to the next round of the 2006 World Cup with a pretty unconvincing 2:0 win against Trinidad & Tobago. Looking at the situation another way - we managed to get through without playing as a team - if we actually find our form; how knows what we can do. Rooney got 30 minute run-around - which is good - I think Sven is being smart holding Rooney back until he's really needed. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the rest of Group B - that will be mostly decide today when Sweden meet Paraguay.
