CHANGE? YES WE CAN..

Hidden high up in the upper levels of the fantastic South African stadiums, there must be a group of well trained snipers. These snipers practice their craft with deadly invisible shots to the Italians, Brazilians and Uruguayans along with other assorted "Foolball" nations. The blood boiling arrogance of these snipes is the way the foolballers miraculously recover when a penalty is given or card brandished, the rolling around as if on fire just stops and the cheater gets us as if nothing happened. To a northern European this is an insult to the beautiful game and is one of the reasons why many Americans will never adopt the sport, they see the cheating and diving and consider it foreign and strange. I can't say I blame them, so change must happen.

What has changed about football in the last 20 years? only a passback rule and that has added to the speed of the game.
When you think about how things like technology and player development have changed the game the way that every action on the pitch can be reviewed and broken down frame by frame by the networks, or how todays players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever, then how the hell can 1 referee and 2 linesman be responsible for that much action and speed? Throw in the antics of the "Foolballers" and the game turns into speedy pantomime.
How about an "Eye in the sky" a group of officials to review the match live and be able to speak to the referee via some kind of headset, review infractions like penalties and handballs in 30 seconds or less and let the referee keep harmony on the pitch. If the foolballers knew that the EYE was on them then I bet the diving and cheating would diminish.
I have watched, lived and played this game a various levels and it is in my blood, I know I speak for the rest of the world's football fans who want better. We deserve 11 players versus 11 players, not 11 Italian divers versus 10 other hard working players.

If I want to see diving then I will watch the olympics, If I want to see cheating then I will work for a Corporation.

Drogba: One of the best worldwide, I would not like to fight him in a dark alley, but on the pitch my wife could knock him over with a feather.

Take your Vuvu and stick it up your zela

I have never looked at other cultures as foreign or alien, It was hard enough growing up in America being labeled as both. I like to think of myself as one who embraces people from parts of the globe not geographically close to my own and learns from their culture to better my own life.
That was untill the World Cup started and the bloody Vuvuzelas drowned out the sounds of the beautiful game on the pitch, these horns of ear shattering noise can stop a rhino from 50 paces. I would only suggest beg the fans in South Africa to please stop making that noise for part of the game.
It is even more difficult to promote soccer to the average baseball fan when they assume that the horns are part of every game.
Oh well who am I to judge...keep on blowing....Just have fun....

Communication Breakdown - Smoke Signals to Satellites

When I look at this picture of my son and friends, I wonder how this generation will communicate as adults. I remember the agony of such iconic 80's standards as: phone booths, writing thank you letters and having to ask a girl out face to face.
The ironic truth about this picure is that when I took it, the three of them were communicating to each other via their dsi's. This is amazing to me and I hope that the beauty of written and spoken word will not be something a future generation looks back at and says "Remember when..."