Note to self: must not miss this one!
July 25, 2009
July 23, 2009
July 22, 2009
Why international soccer/football will take off in the US, courtesy of @sportsguy33
Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy from espn.com gives his opinion on why soccer / football will finally take off in the US in response to a user question.
the full article is here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090717
His archive of podcasts & articles here: http://search.espn.go.com/bill-simmons/
Q: I am a die-hard soccer fan living abroad and agree with your theory that international soccer could take off in the States. But not everyone listens to your podcasts, so could you please make the same case in one of your columns so everyone can see it? I think it’s important. Thanks and cheers from the UK!
— T.J., Leeds, England
SG: Sure. I’ll do it in five short paragraphs and 500 words total. The theory goes like this …
1. Americans enjoy watching the best (fill in any sport). We are elitists. That’s why we like the Olympics, that’s why we enjoy any finals, that’s why we watch Wimbledon and the Masters, that’s why we don’t care about sports like the WNBA, MLS or arena football as anything other than a niche sport. International soccer plays into this. It’s the best of the best. Hell, we even liked "The Best of the Best" even though Eric Roberts was the biggest star in it.
2. The games zoom along: no commercials, no sideline reporters, no corporate tie-ins, no four-hour games like in baseball, no "takes 20 minutes to play the last two" like in the NBA. You can sit down for a soccer game and say, "I’m going to spend the next two hours watching this and then I’m going to do something else." Like watch more TV.
3. Give credit to ESPN for committing air time in non-Cup years to elite international soccer tournaments like the UEFA Cup. I know that’s how I started paying more attention. If you like sports, you cannot NOT get caught up in the level of play, the maniacal crowds, the intensity and tension and everything else. It’s impossible.
4. Widescreen TVs make it easier to see the field; HD makes it easier to see faces and numbers (and the grass looks green and vibrant); and better camerawork (and also more cameras) make the games more intimate. Now you feel like the players are flopping right onto your living room rug! Just kidding, soccer fans. Seriously, settle down. Jokes.
5. International soccer never took off here for the simple reason that American sports fans had trouble following anything they couldn’t attend in person and/or watch on television at their leisure. Now? We’re turning into a sofa culture; since it’s more expensive to go to games, many of us find it just as rewarding to stay home, save money and watch games on a nice TV. Throw in the Internet, DirecTV, fan blogs and everything else and you really can follow soccer from across the Atlantic.
That’s why, over the next decade — starting with the World Cup in 2010 — I predict international soccer takes off to a modest degree in America during the ’10s. Not to compare everything to "The Godfather," but for America, the NASL was Sonny (exciting, impetuous and ultimately self-destructive), the MLS is Fredo (weak) and international soccer is Michael (the heavy hitter who was lurking all along). That’s how this plays out I think.
Yahoo! in aggregate second only to Facebook for sharing links online
A really interesting chart (see below). It turns out if you add up the three Yahoo! properties, that at 13.9% market share, it only trails Facebook in terms of providing a platform for sharing links and information online. If you factor in email (of which Y! has a large share as well), the share would be even higher. It goes to show that Y! is still a well used medium for connecting people online. The engagement is probably nowhere near as strong as Facebook or twitter, but given the assets Y! has (including Search and its media properties), over a period of time the link information can be syndicated and re-used in many different places to surface interesting content to users. Twitter and Facebook links tend to go stale and fall away, whereas Y! can re-use them to enhance search results, or to republish content in different places.
Link to the article here (thanks to James Bilefield for sharing it via Facebook & Twitter): http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-social-networking-sites-dominate-sharing-2009-7
The math(s):
Y! Bookmarks: 5.5%
delicious: 4.5%
Y! Buzz: 3.9%
Total Yahoo! = 13.9%
Good to see Y! Bookmarks/MyWeb still holding up well 
July 21, 2009
Great advice from Seth Godin-How to approach challenges with the correct mindset
I subscribe to Seth Godin’s blog, and today’s transmission was fantastic.
An excerpt below with a link to the full blog. Great encouragement on how to approach challenging situations with the correct mindset, especially as a startup.
And with the Tour de France in full swing, an appropriate business analogy. Enjoy.
Winning on the uphills
Interesting business lesson learned on a bicycle: it’s very difficult to improve your performance on the downhills.
Now, I look forward to the uphill parts, because that’s where the work is, the fun…the improvement...The downhills are already maxed out by the laws of physics and safety.
The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset. The moment you earn your keep as a public speaker is when the room isn’t just right or the plane is late or the projector doesn’t work or the audience is tired or distracted. The best time to engage with an employee is when everything falls apart, not when you’re hitting every milestone. And everyone now knows that the best time to start a project is when the economy is lousy.
Most of your competition spend their days looking forward to those rare moments when everything goes right.
Imagine how much leverage you have if you spend your time maximizing those common moments when it doesn’t.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/07/winning-on-the-uphills.html
July 20, 2009
Red Bull competing with Coca Cola – new “natural” cola
Just got delivered new Red Bull “Strong & Natural” Cola. Tastes pretty good actually.
