My 10 Assignments

Here are the ten blog posts I have decided to include in my final blog assignment:

This post about the then-current top five teams in the Premier League was written on 29 Jan 09. I chose to include this in my assignment because I felt I gave a great deal of news, as well as commentary to one of the manager's outbursts over officiating. The post includes a video of the manager.

On 9 Feb 09, I continued my blog posting on Beckham-watch. I chose to include this post because I included personal interest in Chelsea FC's season but also included the Beckham saga. I also put in my own personal commentary which I felt wasn't too biased.

For my hybrid class assignment 5 written on 23 Feb 09 I kept the blog strictly to the topic of 'citizen journalism'. Because of the seriousness of the topic (the Virginia Tech Massacre) I didn't load the post with pictures or video. I just linked to two 'citizen journalists' that I like to read.

During a turbulant time in the Chelsea FC organization, I wrote commentary on Scolari being sacked in a post from 10 Feb 09. I kept the post short and very newsy. I felt this was a good switch from my humorous commentaries. I also enjoyed putting in the photo of Scolari who seemingly is shocked over a call on the pitch. Perhaps a similar expression crossed his face when he was sacked.

In a personally exciting news post for myself, I reported on 3 Feb 09 that a World Cup would possibly be coming to America. I included this post because of it's importance to the topics covered in my overall blog and feel that this post exemplifies one of the aspects of In Pele We Trust.

In this 2 Feb 09 posting I wrote on the Beckham-AC Milan-LA Galaxy love triangle. The introduction of the Beckham-watch I felt that this blog was worthy of inclusion of this assignment because of the news like writing, which helped set the tone of my blog.

In the second hybrid class, I focused on my exploring blogs. I included this 2 Feb 09 post because it really helped me expand my knowledge of blogs and I felt that my commentary would help other students as well. Also, by reading the comments, I felt that my reasoning for including this post in this assignment was justified.

I included this hybrid class (written on 9 Apr 09) because I feel it showed off my sense of writing style. I think it was humorous (hopefully) and showed I truly was Gen Y-er. I didn't just draw on typical reasons, but drew on what I was doing at that exact moment.

These two early postings from 27 Jan 09 and 28 Jan 09 both show how far along my blog design has travelled. At first I just posted the links in the blog without linking key words like I later learned was an important thing to do in the blog world. I included both of these posts for this reason, and feel changing them to be blog-correct would diminish how far I have come in blogging.

Adam

Hybrid Class: Social Networking

I facebook. I love it. I love how silly the quizzes are, I love updated my status with ridiculous limericks, I love it all. I find it soothing to see others tell me they're up at 3AM doing stupid stuff. I also love reading people's problems in their notes.

Of course I know out of the 300+ 'friends' I have I really only actually talk to about 20 of them on a consistent basis. The rest are previous classmates or even previous best friends that it is nice to see their life is as boring as mine.

The main reason I use facebook is to keep in loose contact with these people. That way if I ever need something from them, or they need something from myself, we can contact one another. It is a good tool to use for, well, networking.

However, the main reason I use facebook is to kill time while I'm at work. I love looking at my 'friends' ridiculous pictures that they feel the need to take every time they go to a party. Why do they do this? I have no clue. It is so repetitive, so boring. Maybe I'm letting my hatred of the college scene come through. But maybe the college scene includes facebook.

Overall I think facebook could be positive, but it could be easily abused.

Adam

My youth team

I have been coaching youth football for a few weeks now. It's a recreational league with 8-10 year old boys on my team. Now, I'm not new to coaching footy. I've been helping coaching JV girls at Chandler High School for three years now (all three focusing on goalkeeper training, last year being promoted to assistant coach), but man, I am having a difficult time.

The fact that I do take the basic skills for granted, I find it difficult to even run a practice because half of the players cannot pass correctly. But there are two players that stand out. One played for a club team and his father is an Israli who lived in England playing footy. Then Marc, a family friend I have been training for a while (I coach with his older sister).

Marc gets trained by me as a keeper, but has a natural skill for scoring and more importantly assisting goals. He really an amazing player.

We have our third game (one win and loss currently), but we should do well the rest of this training season. They only play 6 games to get them ready for summer and fall leagues.

Adam

Hyrbid Class 9

As a member of the Gen Y generation I feel that I am completely tech savvy. I'm no genius, and still cannot figure loads of stuff out, but I can get by. I put myself in the 87th percentile. I find it interesting that older generations are catching up. My parents are becoming more frequent internet users, and have even started to text. I think that my generation takes for granted what we were given to us. I know that right now I am sitting in my office, with duel monitors, a blackberry in my shirt pocket, music playing, and right after I finish this I'll be streaming some video (yes, I'm a terrible employee).

As for google...I think it is the most (along with wikipedia) amazing source for the new millenium. I do think it teaches us many things, but I agree that spending too much time on the web is a bad thing. But when I'm researching for a paper I can search endless databases instead of my local libraries old journals. So yeah, I am smarter because I have access to so much material.

I think the internet has increased my subject knowledge leaps and bounds beyond a typical classroom.

Adam

Ruining America?

Check out this interesting article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123680101041299201.html

Adam

Week Review

Well, the Premier League seems to be had to the defending champs, Manchester United, but my boys in West London are now in second. The current league standings are:

Manchester United - 62 pts
Chelsea FC - 55 pts (own tiebreaker due to goal differential)
Liverpool - 55 pts
Aston Villa - 52 pts
Arsenal - 46 pts

We will see what comes of this.

Meanwhile the first knock out round (after group stage) kicked off this week for the Champions League. The Champions is a Europe-wide tournament that Manchester United won last year. The results for the first leg (you play the same opponent twice, whichever has more goals over the two games moves on) are as follows:

Chelsea FC (England) 1 - 0 Juventus (Italy)
Villarreal (Spain) 1 - 1 Panathinaikos (Greece)
Sporting CP (Portugal) 0 - 5 Bayern Munich (Germany)
Atletico Madrid (Spain) 2 - 2 Porto (Portugal)
Lyon (France) 1 - 1 Barcalona (Spain)
Real Madrid (Spain) 0 - 1 Liverpool (England)
Arsenal (England) 1 - 0 Roma (Italy)
Internazionale (Italy) 0 - 0 Manchester United (England)

As you can see England and Spain make up 1/2 of the remaining 16 teams. It seems likely that one of those countries will win the League.

Here's hoping to Chelsea! But if not Barca or Inter are my other hopefuls!

Adam

ENG 494, Hybrid 5

It has been a long, hectic week and I apologize for the lack of updates. I will get back into the swing of things soon.

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'Citizen journalist' is a great was to label all of us. Us bloggers, us facebook linkers, everybody. Up to the minute, a matter of fact, balls to the wall news. Sure, bloggers blog about silly, random thoughts, but I definatly agree that with all of the technology in the world it is hard to not take citizen journalist's seriously.

Many of the footage of the Virginia Tech Massacre was captured via a cell phone. A tragic event was able to be brought to the public on a first hand account. Us CJ's really affect the world. All over the internet people are blogging about world events. I think of it this way: if there is a section in the NY Times, there are thousands of blogs about that type of news. News, opinion, sports, arts and entertainment, business. The list goes on and on. I think a good CJ must be opinionated, give facts, link (unlike myself this post). I don't think they have to report on everything, because then they actually become the media. I feel myself is a citizen sports journalist, focusing in footy. I think that there are many bloggers who become the media and really shape how we think about things.

Soccer by Ives and Perez Hilton are two bloggers who have become respected news sources. And perhaps, with a little bit of luck and hard work 'Pele' will become one. I would want to change the name and just focus on AZ footy, but I think I am going to try that.

Adam

ENG 494, Hybrid 4

As a blogger (for this class) I feel that I am reporting news. Sure, it is football news, but on this blog I think the readers get very little of my personality. I feel I filter information, as Blood said, and I feel the statements reflect me accuratly.

For this blog I feel I am solely a news reporter who puts his own bits of personality and favouritism into it. I think about Steven Cohen from Fox Football Fone-In who runs the radio/tv show as a journalist, but puts his love of Chelsea on the line every week.

I think it is clear I search for information, but it isn't hard for me to find football news. I love how this blog allows me to keep up with the news as well. I feel I'm learning more about the world of football now than I ever had before. Blogging has benefitted me tremendously. I hope that others had experienced the same as well.

Blogging has also allowed me to communicate with others, I hope that I will be able to expand my network through this class and hope to educate others on football. Perhaps even people may watch the MLS when it picks back up in March when it usually plays matches on ESPN2 on Thursday nights.

Adam

Busy weekend

Football this weekend was quite crazy. Instead of writing and explaining everything. I'm going to steal an excerpt from soccerbyives.net. Read the rest of the post in the link.

This was orginally written by GianFranco Panizo.

England
FA CUP
-Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made seven saves in Everton's 3-1 win vs. Aston Villa on Sunday.
-Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Aston Villa's 3-1 loss vs. Everton on Sunday.
-Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 3-1 loss vs. Everton on Sunday.
-Clint Dempsey came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Swansea City on Saturday.
-Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in West Ham's 1-1 draw vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday.
-Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 3-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
-Eddie Johnson and Cardiff City play Arsenal on Monday in the FA Cup.

You can notice that Chelsea won 3-1 in their FA Cup match this weekend. Meaning they advance to the next round.

Adam

US Beats Mexico

In the first of tenfinal games of World Cup Qualification the US beat Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, OH. Enjoy 7 minutes of highlights. Bradley scored the two goals.



Adam

Scolari sacked!

On Monday, Luiz Filipe Scolari (the manager of Chelsea FC) was sacked. Since "the chosen one" Jose Mourinho was let go after winning more titles for Chelsea in a two year span than anyone in previous history early last season Chelsea hasn't won anything. Though they ended up second in just about everything (the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup), this season they have slid down to fourth in the Prem...truly below expectation.

Scolari, who had won a World Cup coaching for Brazil and had been the manager for Portugal just before his stint at Chelsea, says he plans on returning to the national team stage sooner rather than later.

Englishman Ray Wilkins has taken over as caretaker of the team.

Adam

494 Class 3

In my lifetime the internet has become something that I can't remember ever not having. I remember when we first had our own computer and got AOL. I was so excited to be able to play games and chat with people. I never imagined I would be taking classes online or do any of the things I can do here. Technology has advanced past any of our wild imaginations thought was possible and is still advancing to the scifi realm. Perhaps what we thought of in movies like Back to the Future II hasn't happened yet, but I feel hover cars, and robots, and everything are in our future. But not exactly like in the movies.

It is scary to think that we are pushing the envelope when it comes to technology and that we may push it too far. What the internet does already seems like it is enough. With google, facebook, blogger, youtube, itunes, everything. However, soon I feel all of this will become obsolete and the world will change once again.

The sharing we do over the internet makes life so much easier, but has also made us more lazy. I can also argue that it has made us less lazy because we are so willing to go look information up now instead of quitting something because we don't know the answer to it.

Adam

Weekend heartache and Beckham-watch

It looks as if Chelsea is going to be out of the chase. It will just be Manchester United followed by Liverpool as hopefuls for the league title. It will be a big battle. I don't know if I can root for either team. Also, Aston Villa (my number 2 team) pulled into third place leapfrogging Chelsea.

This weekend AC Milan offered $10 million for Becks, a cool number just for a transfer. The Galaxy countered asking for $22 million according to the Daily Mirror. If the report is accurate, it looks as if LA is atleast in a bidding mood and will allow to see if AC Milan will jump $12 million to their asking price. There may be another reason for them letting him go, I will look into the rumors and see if I can pull any news stories.

Tonight I will do my third hybrid posting.

Adam

Beckham really wants to stay, really

Oh, David Beckham. That handsome man that America loves so much. Well, he hates us all. He really wants to stay in Europe to play because he wants to play in the 2010 World Cup and thinks he won't be selected for the team if he continues to play at MLS level.

''I've expressed my desire to stay here but at the moment I'm still a Galaxy player,'' Beckham said on Wednesday. ''I respect the Galaxy and everything they have done for me. They have always been great to me.

Here is a link to his statement. I couldn't get the video loaded directly.

If he doesn't want to be in America, I don't want him here. He didn't do much really. And I understand MLS play is different than the rest of the world. But don't cry me a river David. Please.

Adam

Lamps wins his Red Card appeal

Thank all that is holy! He isn't suspended for three games! (the normal suspension for a red card)

Here is the article from the official site of the Premier League. It's possible that Chelsea's hopes for the title are dashed but at least justice was kind of served. Kind of...

Adam

US World Cup? Hopefully.

The United States Soccer Federation has announced it is hopeful that America will host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup! Yes, this is super news for the USSF. It is launching a bid for both Cups at the same time.


According to Wikipedia the US is joined by Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Mexico, Qatar, and Russia as bidders, with Belgium and the Netherlands, and Portugal and Spain as joint bids.



Ever since the US hosted the 1994 Men's Cup it has also hosted the '99 and '03 Woman's Cup. This makes the Federation hopeful they'll get one of the Cups. South Africa has the 2010, while Brazil has the 2014.

Right now it seems like the US is going to be a popular choice for one of the years it has bidded for.


Adam

Is Becks staying?

As promised I have returned with more information on the Beckham-AC Milan-LA Galaxy love triangle. It seems as though the Italian club does not seem to care that the loan is almost up on the superstar. They have decided to put him on their UEFA Cup roster.

Speculation has been swirling for links, especially since Beckham said that some games in the MLS were just ridiculous to play in. Now, that may be true, but the level of the States is strengthening and has a chance to be a real powerhouse someday.

Don Garber (MLS Commissioner) never responded publically, which stinks. I would love to hear him rip Becks a new one, but know he would never dare because everyone is kissing up to him now.

I think Becks will return for the season with the Galaxy, but he has a clause in his contract that says he can leave (even though his contract still has a few years left on it) in October. This means he is splitting when he has the chance.

Adam

494 - Class 2

It's time for another hybrid class activity. We were asked to look at blogs and see how the visual aspect of them affected how we view and think about the author and page itself.

In response to Meredith Badger's quote: "[w]hen we encounter images in weblogs the sense of entering a private space is enhanced, particularly as weblog images often reveal information about the blogger, either intentionally or by accident. Some weblogs include an image of the blogger at the top of the page and we carry this face in our minds as we read the text. Is the blogger young or old? Male or female? What nationality? The information imparted by the blogger’s photograph inevitably influences how we react to the words that surround it," I feel that having the blogger's photo makes it seem more relatable. I feel credit is given in some cases, seeing who is actually writing makes what I'm reading seem real. For instance, if I was reading a blog about politics, I wouldn't want some high schooler who chose their party based on what their parents like. I want to see somebody with experience, intelligence, and older than I am.


First I viewed mysoccerblog.blogspot.com and which I found by googling soccer blog. It is similar to my idea, but more news oriented. I found it bland, but very informative. There was little graphics and I got no sense of the author whatsoever.

Next I went more professional and read http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/ which is run by the New York times and gives me loads of information. I cannot say I actually think of this as a blog, but a...newsblog? I don't know what I would call it. Very informative, but lacked any visuals.

Soccer by Ives gives great information, and each post starts with a picture of the subject. I have found that I do a good mix of linking, video, and pictures to give the reader a sense of what I'm talking about. Maybe it is because I am not trying to be professional, and just trying to show my fandom.

Now, in the future, I am going to link more, put more video (I know that's what everybody wants) and expand what I talk about. I want to give interesting tidbits, I want to make this blog not just about footy, but about the culture surroudning the world's most popular game.

Next I'm going to try and find classmates blogs to respond to. I'm excited to see what others are saying.

Adam

Red Card to Lamps

Chelsea lost today. A red card given to Lampard early in the second half forced them to play a man down for the remainder of the game. While I'm trying to find a photo or video evidence that he in fact made contact with the ball, therefore proving the red card was uncalled for, all I can find is this link about the call by the referee. http://www.premiershiplatest.com/news/01-02-09/5517061,html

It was written before Liverpool scored their two late goals. This means Chelsea is five points behind Manchester United. While Liverpool is now in second, only two points behind.

It's a tragic thing that Riley (the referee) could make a terrible snap decision that directly effects the outcome of the game. Now, even though I am biased, I think that all will agree that the red card on Lamps was a terrible.

This is Mike Riley, the referee. The photo is not of today's match, but if you google "Mike Riley, red card" you will see he gives many, many red cards. In fact, he has handed out more red cards this season than any other referee in the League.

He is ridiculous. I'm beyond words today. I cannot even express my dissapointment in Riley today.

Adam.

Updated top 5 in the Prem

I focus on the Premier League of England because that is where my team is, and what I follow most. After the midweek matches here is an updated top 5:

Manchester United - 50 pts
Chelsea FC - 48 pts
Liverpool - 48 pts
Aston Villa - 47 pts
Arsenal - 42 pts

Man United won the league last year, while Chelsea won the previous two years. It looks like it may be a tight race, but Chelsea or Liverpool can take sole possesion of second place with a win. They are playing each other this Sunday. If the Red Devils (Man United lose) the winner of the Chelsea/Liverpool match will jump into first place.

The reason all of this is close is because ever since Liverpool's manager ranted about Man United's manager in early January, the Anfield team has tied every game, while Man and Chelsea have caught up in points. Here is part of the news conference:



In other news, Beckham scored for AC Milan yesterday, and said some interesting quotes about returning to the MLS. I am continuing to follow that story and will post this weekend after the team has another match.

Adam

If Chelsea loses...

It's all over. Sure there are many weeks left in the season, but already down 5 points (3 points per win, 1 per tie) any slip-ups will prove deadly. Two of my most dreaded opposing teams (Manchester United and Liverpool) are ahead of Chelsea. And my number two team, Aston Villa is fourth while Chelsea is fifth. Bloody Arsenal is sixth.

This article explores Chelsea's title hopes: http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/9145272/Wilkins-issues-Blues-title-warning, while this article is an interview with my favourite player, midfielder Florent Malouda: http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1536095,00.html.

Both deal with the importance of the upcoming matches. Today they play Middlesbrough, a team the beat already in October.

Here's to the win! Later I will explore the possibilities of Beckham staying in Italy istead of returning to the States for the Galaxy.

Adam

Chelsea FC, Kaka, and the Economy

It's no secret that I'm in love with Chelsea FC. In my cubicle there is my giant flag, I have two jersey's (the most recent edition and the last), a track jacket, a hoodie, a backpack, a car detail, calendar, and more. And I'm tired of people hating them just because they spent a lot of money to get a lot of good players. Well if you look at this January's transfer window, a lot of teams are spending a lot of money trying to get fabulous players. Manchester City of England tried, and as a matter of fact is still trying, to get Kaka from the Italian side Inter Milan. The best part? For £100,000,000. That's $220,000,000! And that is just the transfer fee, to obtain the rights to the player, that does not include his salary. (See the article here: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Sport/Story/STIStory_328827.html)

In today's economy I find it ridiculous footballers are demanding so much money, when in reality all they need is £1 million. If that. I'm just being generous. But seriously, 9 digit numbers for a transfer? The debate is on about whether or not a salary cap will do the world of football a major improvement in competitiveness. The gents on Fox Football Fone-In continue to debate it. I'll look for transcripts and try to post them.

Adam

Introduction and first assignment

My name is Adam and this blog is for ENG 494: Writing for the Web. My weekly blog (in addition with my assignments) will be about the world of football [soccer]. The title of the blog derives from the greatest footballer to ever play: Pele.

For this post I'll just focus on my first assignment.

In reading the articles, it is clear that the Internet has leaped lightyears away from what it originally was. Not only does the content of the ariticles demonstrate this, but also how it is presentented. I feel that neither writer grasped the idea that these articles would be around forever.

The freedom that the Internet gave writers was astonishing at the time. Just think: you've been limited to only publishing what people want you to publish. Freedom of speech? Yeah right. But now! Now, you are able to write what you want, when you want, and post it anywhere. The freedom, or anarchy, scared people, gave people hope, and others didn't even know what the Internet was.

The idea that cyberspace was infinite was still being thrown around recently. Many people do not realize the power behind running the WWW, and many people still don't. The writers seem to have the typical idea of what the net was and is, but it is interesting to see their response at the time, and how almost 15 years of technology can change everybody's opinion about the Internet. Which is maybe why Bush stayed in Iraq. Maybe he felt that if the troops were there for 15 years, people might actually agree with him, and get his approval rating above 30%.

Adam