Time was in the late 80s and early 90s when I first hit the west coast, we’d all congregate around the British pubs in Santa Monica in LA to find out the scores and to, y’know, be British together. Today you can catch the Champions League games on ESPN and the rest on Fox Soccer Channel but it’s the internet that has really changed everything…

Image via FB

I leave you with this inspiration for the weekend. Randy Pausch, a former professor at Carnegie Mellon passed away from pancreatic cancer. If you haven’t’ had a chance to catch his viral “Last Lecture” on You Tube, I encourage you to check it out. It’s an hour and 16 minutes long, but worth it. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and really feel that each day is a gift and that we all have the power to choose how we participate happily in our lives every day. And, most importantly, you’ll be reminded to have FUN every day of your life and appreciate everyone around you.

Oct. 23 1960 - July 25 2008

47 Years Old

Annie

image via Wikipedia

I have talked before how the Internet is changing the relationship that fans have with the games. We are able to be involved in a different way, voice our opinions, and connect with other fans from all over the world. Harnessing the power of the Internet to benefit the growth of the sport and our culture is no small undertaking. But it is definitely being done.

One of the leading sites pushing the social networking side of the sport is OleOle.  According to their site, “OleOle is the ultimate online playground for professional football.” You can build your own blog on the site, create a profile amd all those other social networking type tools we have become accustomed to, only this time the focus is squarely on the beautiful game. Click here to check the site and get your own profile up and running. And if you end up starting your own blog on there, hit us off with it and we’ll let people know about it.

Are your boys supposed to throw you under the bus?

Tonus found out the hard way….

Dunny and I often talk about the importance of the Internet with soccer fans and how soccer’s growth in the United States is connected with the explosive growth of the Internet on some level. With up to the minute news, streaming games from around the world, and blogs informing us of what is going on, we Americans get to be a part of the beautiful game in more ways than ever.

Now, when you talk about soccer and the Internet, you can’t help but bring up BigSoccer.  I’m pretty sure I don’t need to go into detail explaining BigSoccer to any of you, so I won’t. I’ll admit that I used to go on BigSoccer, and sometimes I would even be compelled to post something. If you are ever in the mood to be ridiculed for anything that you have to say, I highly recommend making a post on BigSoccer that challenges one of the moderators.

So yesterday as Dunny and I were chatting, I start telling him about how I actually got red carded from BigSoccer about a year ago! That’s right, I was red carded by a website! When this happened I really didn’t know what had happened. I hadn’t used foul language, yelled at anybody or did anything that would warrant “being sent off” from a website. In fact, I didn’t  know that you could even be red carded. But there I was. Ostracized from the community that is BigSoccer, I was left with few outlets to pontificate about squad selection for the US National Team, hammer American soccer commentators, or to “tell” MLS GM’s who they should and shouldn’t trade for. I still find the entire “red card” thing very entertaining and comical. What to do with my life now!?

I have yet to go back and try and reinstate my standing with BigSoccer and I can’t see that happening at anytime in the….well, ever.

If anyone else out there has ever been red carded from bigSoccer drop us a line. We would love to know why. As for the reason I was given for being banished from BigSoccer, I was told that I had mentioned another website and they apparently didn’t take take to kindly to that. Oh well….

image via DSL Reports

Study after study has shown that phones and internet wouldn’t affect the computer systems during airplane flights. All the time we’re told to turn our phones and computers in the Off position, but now it might be a little different since the Airlines will be making money off us. For the small price of only $10 for “short” flights and $12 for 3+ hour flights, Air Cell is available for internet scrolling on American Airlines Boeing 767-200 flights. Will I be able to get something more that peanuts now?