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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Tournament talents: Shaman, Pondexter and others have NBA scouts abuzz
Monday, March 22, 2010
Strange 16: NCAA Tournament delivers unexpected group to regional semifinals
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
Tournament wide open after KU's upset; 'Nova, Lobos also out
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Saturday, March 20, 2010
World Cup 2010 Blog: “Podcast: World Cup 2010 Group B Preview. “You hear that, Mr. Anderson?”” plus 1 more
World Cup 2010 Blog: “Podcast: World Cup 2010 Group B Preview. “You hear that, Mr. Anderson?”” plus 1 more |  |
| Podcast: World Cup 2010 Group B Preview. “You hear that, Mr. Anderson?” Posted: 19 Mar 2010 10:40 AM PDT
Allow me to introduce the second of the Total Football Soccer Show's World Cup 2010 previews, broadcast yesterday on Richmond Independent Radio and now available as a podcast. For our preview of Group B (Argentina, Greece, South Korea, Nigeria) we’re sticking with last week’s highly scientific system for predicting which teams will advance, awarding points based on best team nickname and so on. To listen to the show and find out a) which two teams make it, and b) what Agent Smith from The Matrix has to do with any of this, simply click here to open the mp3 file. If you like what you hear, you can also subscribe to the show via iTunes for the very reasonable cost of free.
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| FIFA Has $1 Billion in Reserve Funds, But Still Doesn’t Appreciate Clever Advertising Posted: 19 Mar 2010 08:53 AM PDT
The first story is that FIFA made a profit of $196 million in 2009, and now has a reserve cash fund of more than $1 billion. One billion dollars in the vault. Which makes FIFA sound a little like a Bond villain. The second story is that FIFA have come down hard on South African budget airline kulula.com for what FIFA calls “ambush marketing”. Basically, Kulula isn’t an official World Cup sponsor, and as such is not allowed to suggest otherwise. Which makes perfect sense. However, Kulula – famous for its slightly left-field advertising campaigns – recently ran an ad in the South African Sunday Times newspaper on February 28th stating the airline was the “Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What”. First of all, can I assume I’m not alone in finding that ad absolutely hilarious? Rather than straightforward trying to cash in on the World Cup in a cheap and nasty way, Kulula have instead made a clever and defiant gag at the expense of FIFA’s heavyhanded copyright and licensing laws. (Licensing laws that we here at World Cup Blog (soon to be renamed the You-Know-What Blog?) are already familiar with.) FIFA didn’t find it so funny. They objected not just to the slogan, but to the fact that the ads featured stadiums, vuvuzelas and the South African national flag – none of which FIFA actually owns, last time anyone checked – and have forced Kulula to cease and desist with the ads.
Unfortunately, Kulula don’t have much choice but to do as FIFA asks. But now comes the clever bit. Hands up if you’d ever heard of Kulula.com before this story broke all over the internet? Me neither, but I’ve just typed the company name exactly eight times in the course of this post, and now have a new favourite South African domestic budget airline, should I ever need one. FIFA may have all the money, but I suspect someone at the Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What is getting a hearty pat on the back today for a perfectly executed marketing campaign.
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World Cup previews. They can be a bit dull and not particularly helfpul when it comes to predicting who will qualify from each group. One reason for this is that they focus too much on things like players and not enough on the really good things. Like quality of national anthem, team nickname and potential celebrity spokesperson. Until now.
Two bits of news today. Read them both, and then decide for yourself whether the two are related.| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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22-page Tournament Extra: Cornell, Purdue, Xavier prove they belong with big boys
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Friday, March 19, 2010
World Cup 2010 Blog: The World Cup 2010 DJ Playlist (Musical Lineup)
World Cup 2010 Blog: The World Cup 2010 DJ Playlist (Musical Lineup) | |
| The World Cup 2010 DJ Playlist (Musical Lineup) Posted: 18 Mar 2010 07:10 AM PDT
There’s going to be a rather large party in South Africa this year. Some call it the World Cup. But before there can be the real party, there must be another party beforehand. Because it’s not really a party unless it’s sandwiched by eight other parties of no importance whatsoever. And judging by the musical lineup for the World Cup pre-party, this will be no different. A concert will take place in Jo’burg’s urban center Soweto, which is where you’ll find the cleanest children on Earth, on June 10th, the day before the actual party kicks off. The four ‘mainstream’ artists – forgive my lack of being hip with the times if someone else has entered into the purview of global popular culture – are (currently) as follows: Black Eyed Peas All of whom will bring a decidedly multicultural flavor to the event, being from two countries and all. There will be a more ‘local’ (continental) feel at the festivities too, fortunately:
And all of it’s for a good cause:
“Positive change”? In whose pockets? In other news, Carlos Queiroz needs a medic – stat:
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(That kid immediately gets some sort of WCB Order of Merit.)| You are subscribed to email updates from World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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24-Page Tournament Extra: Seven upsets highlight crazy Day 1
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
World Cup 2010 Blog: “FIFA World Cup 2026: Colombia!” plus 2 more
World Cup 2010 Blog: “FIFA World Cup 2026: Colombia!” plus 2 more | |
- FIFA World Cup 2026: Colombia!
- World Cup 2010 National Anthems: South Africa, France, Mexico, Uruguay
- World Cup Moments: Philipp Lahm Kicks Off The World Cup Properly, 2006.
| FIFA World Cup 2026: Colombia! Posted: 18 Mar 2010 04:40 AM PDT
So FIFA, after handing this year’s World Cup to the country with the second highest per capita murder rate, are looking to outdo themselves by sponsoring a World Cup bid by the world’s most dangerous country, Colombia. Hip hip.
Colombia’s earned a World Cup bid once before, in 1986. The same tournament which was held in Mexico because Colombia couldn’t scrape up enough cash to improve facilities. Colombia’s also the same country which allowed a player back onto the pitch 6 months after he murdered a fan. Of course this won’t stop FIFA from doing everything possible to get the World Cup in Colombia. Jack Warner lives there, you see, and by the time the vote happens for WC2026, enough Unless a cryogenically frozen Sepp wants it in his living room.
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| World Cup 2010 National Anthems: South Africa, France, Mexico, Uruguay Posted: 17 Mar 2010 04:40 PM PDT
As you hopefully know, the national anthems of each team will be played before every World Cup game, adding to both the atmosphere and the sense of occasion. For this first post, may I present the national anthems of Group A: South Africa, France, Mexico and Uruguay.
South Africa National AnthemFrom 1957 to 1997, South Africa had two national anthems. Broadly speaking “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” (which means “God Bless Africa” in Xhosa) was the black anthem, while “Die Stem van Suid-Afrika” (which means “The Call of South Africa” in Afrikaans) was the white anthem. Which The current South African national anthem was adopted in 1997, three years after the end of apartheid. As a result, it carries a strong element of integration and national unity. Not so much in the lyrics, but in the way it was constructed. The new anthem combines elements of both “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” and “Die Stem van Suid-Afrika” and throws in a new English language verse too. The anthem also features not one language, not two, but five of the eleven most widely spoken languages in South Africa. Which puts Wavin’ Flag’s multilingual credentials in the shade. Here are the lyrics to the South Africa national anthem in English: God [Lord] bless Africa God we ask You to protect our nation Ringing out from our blue heavens, Sounds the call to come together, France National AnthemThe French national anthem is titled “La Marseillaise”, and was apparently the rallying call during the French Revolution. It was written/composed in 1792, and so seems to be mostly about the French defeating invading armies. Easily the most stirring rendition of “La Marseillaise” (for me anyway) occurs in the movie Casablanca, where it’s sung in defiance of the occupying Nazis: The lyrics to “La Marseillaise”, in English, are: Ye sons of France, awake to glory, To arms, to arms, ye brave! Now, now, the dangerous storm is rolling To arms, to arms, ye brave!… With luxury and pride surrounded To arms, to arms, ye brave!… O Liberty, can man resign thee To arms, to arms, ye brave!… Mexico National AnthemThe Mexican national anthem was chosen after poet Francisco González Bocanegra’s lyrics won a national competition. A second competition was held to find suitable music, and so the “Himno Nacional Mexicano” (also known as “Mexicanos, al grito de guerra” (Mexicans, at the cry of war!) was established in 1854. Like the French anthem, it’s all about defeating invading armies. Popular theme. Lyrics to the Mexican national anthem, in English, are: Mexicans, at the cry of war, Gird, oh country, your brow with olive But if some strange enemy should dare War, war without truce to any who dare War, war! In the mountain, in the valley, and the resonant echoes Oh country, ‘ere your children defenseless bend their neck to the yoke, May your fields be watered with blood, And may your temples, palaces and towers Oh, country, country, your children swear For you the olive branches! A reminder for them of glory! A laurel of victory for you! For them a tomb with honor! Mexicans, at the cry of war, Uruguay National Anthem“Himno Nacional Uruguayo” (National Anthem of Uruguay) is apparently the longest national anthem in the world at 105 bars. Or, as Wikipedia calculates “about five minutes”. The lyrics are by Francisco Acuña de Figueroa, who may also be the author of Paraguay’s national anthem, which would make him pretty prolific in the “number of different national anthems written” category. Lyrics to the short version of the Uruguayan national anthem, in English, are as follows: Orientals, our nation or the grave, Liberty or with glory we die.
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| World Cup Moments: Philipp Lahm Kicks Off The World Cup Properly, 2006. Posted: 17 Mar 2010 07:00 AM PDT When discussing the history of any sport, any talk of the “greatness” is bound to be met with a quick hop in a time machine, going back into the A lot of times, great moments are much simpler than we think. Sometimes great moments are just that: moments. Moments without grand results, without a decisive impact, without parades, and without babies being made on the streets. Merely a single moment in time meant to be enjoyed. And equally as often, these moments are right underneath our noses. It was also a brilliant goal from a mite of a man who’s long been mentioned in the discussion of the world’s best fullbacks. And it was proof that great moments don’t need to end with a trophy. But perhaps greatest of all are the opening seconds of that movie, in which Lukas Podolski hurries to throw the ball in five minutes into a group game, yet acting like it was the last minute of injury time in the final with Germany down a goal. And this would be the part where we open up the forum to German fans for jokes, potshots and everything in between. [The genius stroke of photographic timing above found on flickr.]
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There are many things which FIFA isn’t very good at. One of them is putting anyone in the organization in front of a microphone, or allowing spilled words onto a page into the hands of the media. Another is running the world’s football organization.
Seems like the most popular part of our 
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