Baseball is a tough game

As a sports fan, everyone wants to see their team do well. It has an even bigger impact when that team is right in your town and you have been a season ticket holder and one of the biggest fans of the team since their inception back in 1993. The team, and it’s players take on an even bigger role once you really begin to get to know the players as real people and not just as the guys on the field, getting paid to play a kids game. Once you begin to open your house to these players each summer, there is no going back to being only a casual fan again.
Before the beginning of the 2008 baseball season, the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association traded a dependable first baseman to the Chico Outlaws of the Golden League for a pitcher that had put up decent numbers in his career but nothing outstanding. Plus, the Golden League is not as high of a level as the American Association and you never know how the pitcher will be able to adapt to the tougher league.
The pitcher that came to Sioux City that year was Nick Singleton and he immediately began to show that he was an outstanding pitcher. With any run support at all, he would have been the top pitcher in the league. Even without the help of his team, he was near the league lead in innings pitched, strike outs, and earned run average. Even more important to my family is about a month into the season; Nick moved in with us and instantly became a true part of our family.
As the season went on, Nick continued to be a major part of our family, and he also went on to dominate the league. At the end of the season, he was named Right Handed Pitcher of the year in the league, becoming the first player staying with us to win an award. Nick returned for the 2009 season however instead of staying with us, he shared a house with a few other players. He still came over for a meal occasionally and did his laundry here. We saw him at every home game and my son continued to wear the replica jersey that said “Singleton’s little bro” on back with Nick’s number 17. Even though he wasn’t with us, he continued to be family and still is today.
Now as nice of a story as this makes, the most important thing about the game of baseball at this level continues to be winning. That is why I was torn today when I received word from the team’s general manager that Nick, along with pitcher Tyler Meigs, had been traded to the Gary-Southshore Railcats of the Northern League for three pitchers.
This was tough for my family to hear. As I had mentioned, Nick was like family. Plus, Tyler had been at the house nearly every night last summer playing video games with the player that we had staying with us for the majority of the season. However, the three pitchers that the team received in return all put up outstanding numbers for a Gary team that has been in the league championship series the last couple of years, losing to the Fargo-Morehead RedHawks last season.
Baseball is of course a game and the players change all season long. This isn’t the first time we have lost a player who was very near and dear to our family. It isn’t easy but we all know by now that is how the system works, we can’t change it, we can only adapt. All we can do at this point is call Nick and wish him the best as he heads off to the Chicago area next summer.

An Idiots Introduction to Volleyball

I would like to be the first to admit that I know very little about the sport of volleyball. Is this unusual? Is it real popular? Of course, it is a rather bad thing for me to admit since I have spent the last three days working 4 games per day at the NAIA National Volleyball Championship in Sioux City, IA.
Maybe I do know more than I give myself credit for but before I started working the games last year, I had never attended a match. I am proud of myself that I am starting to pick up on the rules and am now very good at recognizing an amazing play. It helps that the quality of volleyball has been outstanding this week.
The biggest issue I have though is with some of the rules that involve the net. I am not sure I understand why some times they can touch the net and cross the white line and other times they can’t. Even more confusing is the signals the officials use when they make one of those calls. I decided it was time to end the confusing and use the internet to solve all of my questions.
After a quick Google search, I found my way to volleyball.com and was thrilled at what I found. At this wonderful site, I found everything from an officials signal chart to an explanation on the official score book. I was also able to finally find out what PAVO is since I keep hearing about it over and over again.
Even though I am a relative novice to the game, I will admit that I am very impressed by the ability of these athletes and the condition they must be in. I have never seen anyone other than a wrestler roll on the floor and be back on their feet ready for action that quickly. These women are ready to sacrifice their body by diving anywhere for a loose ball. I wish that some of the basketball teams I had coached over the years had been so aggressive. Now, if someone could just teach me the proper pronunciation of Libero, I would be all set.

When adding a photo, I was looking for one that your faithful blogger happened to be in but the only ones I am in, I am not able to use without purchasing. Sorry.

Battle of the Phones

As a parent, I remember watching the Island of Misfit Toys at Christmas time with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with my kids. It wasn’t one of my favorite shows, and the animation is better than that from those older shows which was pretty cheesy, but it was still something I had to watch every year. The Miser Brothers Christmas was another one I watched every holiday season.
I have to say I was a little surprised when I saw a commercial for it the other day and saw an Apple I-Phone on the island. I will admit I started laughing when I realized it was a Verizon Wireless commercial making fun of AT&T’s spotty 3G coverage.
This has lead to quite a battle now Verizon has their map commercials all over television and AT&T now has commercials talking about how their coverage is better than Verizon’s. Although I know from my own personal experience that I had horrible coverage in Valley City on my trip up there with my AT&T phone.
The most foolish part is that AT&T filed a lawsuit against Verizon claiming that the map commercials are misleading. In my profession, I deal with cell phone and especially data service coverage multiple times a day. We have Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T phones all over the country and we have fewer coverage issues with Verizon than we do with any other company.
These ads are correct in that Verizon has much better 3G coverage across the country than they AT&T does. AT&T, in their commercials, focuses only on coverage which to me is even more misleading because they do not tell you that certain services may not be available on your phone if you are in the majority of the coverage zones around the country. Verizon has countered that this lawsuit is nothing but a stunt by AT&T to gain more exposure to shoppers in this critical holiday season.
This is all very reminiscent of the battle between AT&T and MCI, as well as Sprint, for long distance customers back in the 1980’s and 90’s. There were lawsuits, false advertisements, as well as misleading commercials all over the industry. This goes to prove that no matter how big of a difference there is with the phones, the marketing and demand for market share will never change.

To the Winners Go the Spoils. Or Porkchops

Can a pig really be a prize? In my opinion, I would think only if it is something that can be turned into pork chops or ham and thrown on the grill to watch the game. However, this Saturday in Iowa City, there will be two teams fighting over a pig. The Hawkeyes of Iowa will want to keep it on their side of the field while the Golden Gophers of Minnesota want nothing better than to carry it across to their fans and their side of Kinnick Stadium.
The whole tradition dates back to 1935 and the two governors having a bet of a prize hog from their state being given to the governor of the winning state. Minnesota won that year and the Iowa governor personally walked a pig into the Minnesota governor’s office. The pig was affectionately named Floyd in honor of the Minnesota governor. Rosedale was the name of the farm that produced Floyd. Oddly enough, Floyd is not the only famous pig from that farm. The pig BlueBoy from the Will Rodgers movie State Fair also came from Rosedale Farms near Fort Dodge, IA.
I was lucky enough one time to witness the battle for the bronze pig. The Golden Gophers had won three straight games heading into that beautiful November day back in 2001. On this day, it was all Hawkeyes and it was amazing to watch those players run at full speed all the way to the Minnesota bench to haul that statue back home where they felt it belong.
It seems that nearly every game in the Big 10 is for some type of traveling trophy. The Purdue Cannon is given to the winner of Illinois v Purdue. Michigan and Minnesota play for the Little Brown Jug. Indiana and Purdue play for the Old Oaken Bucket. Next to the brass pig, perhaps the strangest one of all though is the Old Brass Spittoon given to the winner of Indiana and Michigan State.
This game is a true rivalry game and it is always played last in the season. Records don’t matter as a season can be salvaged with a win in this game. The fans will be battling each other nearly as much as the players will. This will be a great game. Why not celebrate it with a great pig.

One Strong Little Man

One week ago tonight, I sat at this computer and shared with the world the joyous news of the birth of my son. I wrote about how amazing it was to share the news and pictures immediately. Unfortunately, I discovered a few short days later how bad news can be spread just as quickly.
All of the parents from a 3rd grade football team made up of boys who attend the catholic elementary schools spread out across Sioux City received an email about one of the boys who played on that team this fall. This email told the story of Jacob Nichol and how on Friday afternoon, doctors at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, NE found a tumor bigger than a golf ball pressing up against Jacob’s brainstem and surgery would be done on Saturday.
The news was shocking and of course very hard on Jacob’s classmates which my son happens to be. Jacob is a friend to everyone in the class and had been in school on Thursday, now they suddenly had no idea when they would see him again.
Luckily, Jacob’s parents began using Care Pages. This is a website that people suffering from diseases and their families can share updates about how everything is going. Plus, friends and families of these patients can post messages of encouragement and hope. It is a very touching site.
Every member of the 3rd grade class spent time on Monday posting a special personal note to Jacob. The school has started doing fundraisers, including “Nickels for Nichol’s” and two of the boys who share a birthday in late November have invited both 3rd grade classes to their party and have requested that instead of gifts, a donation be made to the Nichol’s family.
The best news in all of this is that Jacob is doing very well. An MRI has shown that the surgery successfully removed all of the cancer. Jacob is hurting but is starting to be able to eat through a feeding tube although he is confused why he is not able to talk or move. The type of tumor that was found was one that did not require another surgery and more tests done. This is one very strong and amazing boy and what turned out as a sad and scaring email, has turned into a Caring Page of hope and recovery.

A Miracle in My World

16 years, 10 months, 2 1 days, which is also 6,169 days. That is how many days separate December 12th, 1992 and November 2nd, 2009. For me both of those days are special, along with September 19th, 1994, October 25, 2000, and May 24th 2005. These are the days that my children were born. The dates mentioned at the beginning though are special because they were the first and the last. It is hard to believe how fast time has gone and how much has changed since that day back in December of 1992.
My oldest son Ryan was born very early on a Saturday. That night, my company that I was working for way back then was having our Christmas party and I had to take a roll of film to a store and had it developed in order to stop by the party and show off pictures. This time, I took pictures immediatly with my cell phone and my digital camera. Within 15 minutes after Rhett was born, I had photos sent to friends and family from my phone. Within an hour, there were photos being sent out by email and an album at Walgreens.
The most amazing part though was being able to share the photos on Facebook. Within that first hour, my sister had taken the photos I had emailed her and placed them on both my wall and my wife’s wall. I would have posted them myself but the hospital blocked the site to keep employees from using it while working.
Later that night I had made the photos into an album on Facebook. I had shared it not only with my friends but also those that don’t have Facebook but were still able to access my album. Even tonight, I added more pictures as another album. Of course my new profile photo is a picture of all of my kids.
It is amazing how much easier it is to brag and show off the latest arrival to the family. I have carried a flash drive to people’s desk to show them pictures. Plus I have many photos on my cell phone that I am very happy to show to anyone who asks. My boss had a picture of him hanging on my wall when I came back to work. None of this was possible back in 1992.
This is one situation where technology has definitely made it easier on the parents. Now I am anxious to find out if technology has made the rest of the work of raising a baby any easier.

When a playoff game is not really a playoff game

Congratulations, you have qualified for post season football in Iowa. No, you are not in the playoffs. Only those who win this first game are actually in the playoffs. This is actually a sub-state game. No, the host school doesn’t get to keep the gate that is all going to the state high school athletic association. Of course there will some good games. After all, the second place team in one district will be playing the third place team from a different district. Yes that does also mean that the first place team will be playing the fourth place team from those same districts. This was the fate of the Panthers of Creston High School.
The Panthers, making their first post season appearance since 2005, faced a tough opponent in the defending Class 3A champions, the Crusaders of Bishop Heelan High School. These two teams did have one common opponent this year. Both teams played the Harlan Cyclones this season. Heelan lost 24-6 at Harlan in a non-district match while the Panthers lost 44-0 in district play. That was the Crusaders only loss of the season. Creston entered the contest with a 5-4 record.
Perhaps the best way to explain how this game went is to tell you that the fourth quarter of the game was played mainly by freshman while Creston kept their varsity in the majority of the game. This game was complete domination by the Crusaders as is shown in this video from the Sioux City Journal. The Crusaders came out on top of this game 66-2.
Now I have to admit, my oldest two children are students at Heelan. I go to every sporting event that I can and am a big fan. In the midst of the 38 point second quarter, I was beginning to feel sorry for the fan and players from Creston. The biggest question that comes to mind though is why does the state feel the need for this extra round of playoffs? There are a couple of ways to look at this.
Firs t of all, for those that support this decision, this gives twice as many boys in Iowa the chance to participate in post season play. While this game and a few others came out very ugly, this scoreboard shows that there were some close games as well. In the District 1 vs. District 8 matchup that took place in this part of the state, two of the third place teams beat the second place teams on the road. The first to fourth place matchups were another story.
For those that do not support this round of football post season play, it is another way for the state athletic association to pick up money. They keep the vast majority of the money from the gates. While attendance was down a little bit from the regular season, it was still a descent crowd in Sioux City. Also, this means that if a team advances to the state quarterfinals, they will play four games in two weeks time with the last regular season game on Friday, October 23rd, the Sub-state game on Wednesday, October 28th, the first round playoff game on Monday, November 2nd, and the quarterfinal game on Friday, November 6th.
For those boys that lost this first game, yes it may be crushing, but at least they can say they participated.

An Iowa Tradition Becomes Healthier

This week in Iowa, the high school football season will come to an end for the vast majority of the boys across the state. While many will head on to basketball, wrestling continues to be huge in the state of Iowa. That is in big part that the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa are all major powers in NCAA Wrestling.
While wrestling continues to be very popular, as a friend said tonight, it can be the hardest sport by far on the parents. Our kids come home absolutely exhausted, we have to watch them get tied up in knots, and worst of all, we have to watch them starve themselves in order to maintain their weight.
When I was in high school, yes that has been a few years ago now, I remember teammates who basically would go a week without eating anything. After finally weighing in, they would gorge themselves before we started wrestling that night. This was very unhealthy and could cause permanent damage to the kids.
That is why the Iowa High School Athletic Association, as well as every other state in the country, has adopted strict rules on weight loss. A person can only lose a certainly percentage of body fat. Plus, at the beginning of the season, a wrestler has to gradually cut weight. Because of their body fat percentage, most wrestlers have to wrestle at higher weight class than what they plan at the beginning of the season. The IHSAA even has a video explaining the weight loss rules and guidelines on their website.
It is important for the student athletes to get ready for wrestling and their weight loss in a gradual descent. A weight loss plan will help the wrestlers get to the weight they need to be at and their body fat percentage at the right level, before the season starts or shortly after the season starts. This will take them away from having to starve as the season goes on. The wrestlers should start eating a healthy diet and being smart about their calorie intake now.
During the season, the athletes need to make sure they keep taking in healthy calories. Starvation will do nothing but hurt the body and make the wrestler weaker and more likely to become ill or injured. Perhaps the smartest addition to high school wrestling over the past years is the two pound rule. This rule is that after the holiday break, each weight class moves up two pounds to make it easier on the wrestler.
While wrestling can be a very grueling and demanding sport, the rules have changed to help the athletes and make it easier on them. Wrestling can also be a great sport for these boys and teach them valuable life lessons. All of this will lead to wrestling continuing to grow in popularity.

Is it smart to go ahead and take on a challenge when the risk may outweigh the benefits? Football fans all across the Dakotas will be finding out on Saturday as the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota face off in Grand Forks against the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls. The danger in this game for the Fighting Sioux is that they are expected to win, and to win big. If they do not, they will lose more than they can ever expect to gain from beating an NAIA school.
For the Fighting Sioux, they are still in a transition period of moving to Division 1 athletics. This can make scheduling very tough as they are facing an interesting combination of opponents with everything from NAIA, to NCAA FBS, NCAA FCS, and NCAA Division II teams. They had a great showing to start of the season playing in Lubbock, TX against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
At this point, it can be tough for NCAA transitional schools to schedule opponents. There are multiple schools that have had to find NAIA schools to compete against. This is normally not a bad thing but the University of Sioux Falls just happens to be the defending National Champions as well as the #1 ranked team in the country.
Now I am not saying that the Cougars will win in Grand Forks this weekend but I think it can be quite a battle. For one thing, the Cougars have nothing to lose and everything to gain. No one expects them to be much in the way of competition for the much bigger Fighting Sioux. That may be just the extra motivation that the Cougars need. This is a very talented football team. In watching them play last weekend, they did not come close to truly opening the playbook and they were much better than their opponent. They hit harder, they were much faster, and they executed better than many of the teams that I have watched play over the years.
The biggest factor of the game will be whether the Cougars can handle the physical part of the game. There will come a time in which the Sioux will start smacking the Cougars around, will the Cougars be able to answer? Also, while there is obvious talent and athletic ability on the field for Sioux Falls, will they be able to match the depth of UND?
While the battle will be waged on the field, the teams, plus the fans, will face off against a mutual opponent that day as well. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Fighting Sioux are holding Sioux Strong. Each team will be wearing pink wristbands and there will be pink shirts for sale for the fans.

Google is everywhere

Google is truly everywhere and can do just about anything. I discovered a handy little trick today with my cell phone and it interested me enough that I decided to see what all Google and can do and I was amazed at everything that was out there.
First for the trick; Google SMS will allow you to send a text inquiry from your text message enabled cellular device. Simply text message your search query to 466453 (“GOOGLE” on most devices), and
Google will text message back the results. You can inquire on local business information, weather, airlines, directions, area codes, zip codes, etc. To see a list of sample keywords go to the following web site: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/index.html for example: You are traveling to Miami and want to know the weather there. Send a text message to 466453, containing “weather Miami.” You will receive a text message indicating the current weather, plus a short term forecast.

I have two friends who recently started their own promotions business. They asked me for help with their access and storage needs and I led them to Google. With Google, these partners are able to share nearly everything and access it all from anywhere. They are using Calendar to track their events and bookings. They are using Docs to share excel spreadsheets that hold contact and budget information as well as to store their contracts.

They have been having a great time using Sites to create their own website. They haven’t done much as far as showing it to the public yet but it has become a great learning tool and soon they will be ready to show their website to everyone. However, to make their website easier to share and for people to remember, they are planning on using a web hosting site to host their site. They are posting pictures of their events using Picasa and can share this with everyone.

Perhaps the best thing about Google though is the website can be fun and the people working there always seem to be having fun. I recently stumbled across a slide show from Tech Republic. This slide show covers everything from Google in Pig Latin or Klingon to fun with Google Maps as they set up a street show for Google’s arrival.

As you can see, you really can use Google for a little bit of everything. Remember that if you are ever in Sioux City and looking for great Mexican food. Text Mexican 51101 to 466453 and it will lead you to La Juanitas, Navarette’s, or a host of other great places. Trust me, any of them are well worth the visit.

When I was in high school , yes I know that was more years ago than most of you in this class, I remember my college search very well. I remember most of the people in my class thought I was crazy because I was collecting information from colleges all across the country and I wanted as many opportunities as possible. This was an important decision for me and I wanted as many possible choices as I could find.

Now, I have a son who is a junior in high school and he is facing this same decision. He is lucky enough however that the colleges have been coming to him. During his sophomore year, he took the ACT Plan test. At the beginning of this test, he gave them his name, address, phone number, and email address. I am sure he had no idea how much mail and email would end up coming his way. He is a smart kid and did very well on the test.

Around the end of January, he just happened to check his email and he had nearly 50 emails from colleges all over the country. Big schools, small schools, some very prestigious universities and a few I will admit even I had never heard of. As all of his information has started flowing in, he has been overwhelmed at times at the amount of paperwork that is coming his way. He had to use a way to keep track of everything and start narrowing down his list.

To my surprise, he created an excel spreadsheet to track all of the schools he had received information from already. He has a second tab of the sheet in which he is tracking his top choices and what they offer for majors that he is interested in studying. Even more amazing, is that he has started following these schools on Facebook and Twitter. That has really helped for him to keep up to date with the athletic teams that he hopes to play for in the near future.

Technology has taken a tough slow process and made it easier and faster. When I requested information, I had to look up the address in a guide book, send it snail mail, and wait for something to finally come back. Thanks to the internet and today’s technology, a college or university can send out more information to more people than they ever dreamed of in my day.

December 31, 2006. So very much has happened in our world since that time. The United States has elected
Barak Obama as the first African-American President. The world economy has fallen, gotten back up again, and depending on whom you listen to is in various stages of recovery.
What’s important about that particular day? That was the last game that

Michael Vick played in the NFL. As a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Vick at that time was finishing up another strong season that moved him to third in the career list of rushing yards by a quarterback. He had thrown for nearly 2,500 yards and 20 touchdowns and his team was bringing in a new coach that was looking to install a high powered offense.
All of that of course changed in July of 2007 when Vick began to be investigated for running a dog fighting ring. By November he was beginning to serve a nearly two year prison sentence and many wondered if he would ever play again. It is obvious now that he will play but what will the public reaction be once he begins to play?
I feel that Philadelphia is a very good city for Vick. If a player performs well, the city will forget everything he has done in the past and he will be a hero. However, if he is struggling, the city will come down hard on him. This is after all the same group of fans that once booed Santa Claus at a game. This is also the same fans that threw batteries at J.D. Drew after he refused to play for the Phillies and made his first visit into the City of Brotherly Love as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
PETA has already said back in May when Vick was signed by the Eagles that “the move disappointed millions of decent football fans”. With the number of animal rights activists around the country, some of whom can be extreme, it is easily to believe that there will be protests around each stadium that Vick plays in. Fans, which can be very cruel, will of course be hard on Vick. Not that long ago there were fans all across baseball that through large syringes onto baseball fields near Barry Bonds. That chorus of boos rang down whenever he came to the plate. That will also happen to Michael Vick wherever he goes.
All that being said, I am cheering for him to do well this week and as he moves through his life both on and off the playing field. I would like to think that if I made a mistake and had to spend time in prison, that there is an employer out there that gave me the same second chance that Vick received. If he is foolish enough to make mistakes again though, I believe he should be thrown to the dogs.

I want my burger!

Can a promotion be too successful? TGIFriday’s may know soon enough. The restaurant chain has decided to use social networking to find out just how big of a promotion a free burger or chicken sandwich can be.
TGIFriday’s is using Facebook to reach out to its customers. Their offer is that the first 500,000 fans to become a fan of Woody will receive a free Jack Daniel’s grill burger or chicken sandwich. All you have to do is give them a valid email address and be over 21 years of age and you will receive your coupon by email. Woody, the self-proclaimed biggest fan of TGIFriday’s is more than willing to help out and is now at over 700,000 fans. Their new goal is to give away 1,000,000 sandwiches. Yes, I did already register. I was more than happy to become a fan and get a free meal.
Woody
I think this was a great idea for TGIFriday’s. The marketing has been fantastic. Sure they may have spent quite a bit of money on the commercials but this is money they would have spent on advertising anyway. They also have a special at this time where you can buy a burger for chicken sandwich for five dollars. If they give away 1 million coupons, that will equal $5 million. That seems like a very large amount to give away. Most people though would not go there to get only the free burger. I know that when I go, I will also get fries and a drink. I will have others with me and they will be having meals and drinks, and probably an appetizer. The fact that I will have to drive 75 miles just to get there, I will make this a special trip.
I know that is how most people will be, and that will make this a very successful program for TGIFriday’s. I am guessing the average person will spend at least $25 dollars on their trip to the restaurant. Most of these people will be like me, and would not have made this trip in the first place had it not been for the coupon. It would be very interesting to see how much they make as a profit on this promotion. I am guessing that if it is as successful as it should be, you will soon be seeing more companies doing the same thing.

A day with out cell phones is like a day without your family

Never did I think that I would become dependent on one type of communication device, especially a modern one that runs on a new technology. I laughed at those people that mentioned in their discussion boards that they would not be able to live without their cell phone or without Facebook. I thought that since I grew up without any of these conveniences that I would easily be able to live without them now. I found out that I am very wrong.
I recently made a trip to a small city. This was my first trip to this city and I was very excited to be there. This place was amazing. The people were friendly, the town was sunk down into a picturesque valley, and everything was perfect, except for my cell phone. As I arrived at the edge of town, I noticed that my signal was weaker than it had been at any point on the trip. I was not concerned about that though because I deal with a weaker signal every day at work but I can still receive calls and more importantly I can still receive texts and check my emails.
As I drove down into the main part of the city for the first time, I realized that I had lost my signal completely. Again I thought maybe it was just a fluke. I was sure that as I moved to a different part of the city, I would have a signal again. I was completely wrong. I won’t say the name of the carrier out of fairness but I am very certain that this company had never heard of this wonderful place that I had come across.
I soon realized that I had not heard from anyone in my family for a while and realized that I was missing it. I always receive a text from my son on his way from school to cross county practice telling me how the day went and letting me know what he has going on for the rest of that day, that never came. I didn’t get a call from my four year old on her way home from school, I truly missed that. I wasn’t even able to tell my wife and kids goodnight. I had no idea that 24 simple hours without a cell phone could be that difficult to handle, but when you are over 300 miles away from your family, it becomes very tough.

It's Everywhere!

While working on a recent assignment for an Introduction to Anthropology class, I ran across an interesting article. The American Anthropological Association is now using Twitter. I found this interesting because here is a society that’s purpose is to study and explore humans. This same society is now using a modern tool to spread their finding. At the same time, they can be using this tool to study humans.
Archaeologists of the future will be using Twitter to explore human society and interaction. The days of digging in the remains of an ancient city will still exist but digging through thousands of internet sites will replace cave drawings and manuscripts.
Until I began researching this a little more, I had no clue that Anthropology would have so many followers on Twitter and found that it has moved on to other blogs as well. Blogs such as this one are normally very against Twitter but are promoting using it to meet and have conversations with other people interested in Anthropology.
The author of this blog also brings up an interesting point. Who isn’t on Twitter? Organizations that you would never expect to be on Twitter or Facebook are joining the Social Networking phenomenon. The local baseball team here in town is on both but I am disappointed in how they are updated. I am sure the time is coming soon that my employer will be using social networking sites to connect with trucking companies and drivers.
The City of Sioux City is on Twitter. The Tyson Events Center here in Sioux City has a Facebook page and uses that to provide updates on what is coming to town. People also have an opportunity to post messages such as reviews and their opinions on what they would like to see in town. Everywhere you go, social networking is there.
So many times, you reach a point where a hot new item reaches a point where it no longer grows. People have had as much of it as they want. Demand starts to drop. In this case, new content will drop. I am not sure this will ever happen with social networking. For one thing, it is becoming easier to update. The percentage of people updating their Facebook status on the go, or Tweeting while being mobile continues to grow. We had better get used to it. All of this is upon us, and it isn’t going anywhere.

Sports Fans Unite!

All over America, students of all ages are returning to school and what better signifies the return of autumn than the return of college sports. All of us have a favorite team which means we also have a hated rival. Some people, like me, are hundreds miles away from their team and have no way to stay in touch with that team and more importantly with other fans. This is where the internet really plays a major role.


What better way is there for a person to stay up to date with what is happening with their sport than on the internet? Everything is available if you know where to look. Recruiting, schedules, prognostication, of course second guessing of the coaches, and everyone’s favorite, bashing on the hated rivals, and all of this can be found on the internet with nothing more than a click or two.


With the popularity of My Space and Facebook, fans of a certain college or university can connect and all become fans of that school. That works great if you are a fan of a major college or university that has enough of a following to ensure that someone has created a group. Or there may be a group page out there for a small school but most people don’t search for it assuming it won’t be there. Now we need to find a place for those fans and alumni of America’s great small colleges and universities. Fans from every school need a place to connect and there is one website that I found that offers just that. CollegeFanz is just the site for every fan.


CollegeFanz, created by Bill Rasmussen, one of the founders of ESPN, provides a place for fans of every school, small, medium, or large, to connect. It is a true networking site in that it allows you to blog, post to message boards, interact with other fans, plus you can upload your favorite videos and photos of your team. There are some fantastic photos there and the home page keeps a current rotation of these photos. The message boards can be a great place to catch up on what you may have missed with your school, conference, or favorite college sport.


One surprising feature that I made sure I signed up for is the contests. The first one I tried was a college basketball pool. The interesting aspect of this pool is that it included brackets for men’s and women’s basketball and included the brackets for both the NCAA as well as NAIA schools. The best part about this is that it is free, and so is the registration. Even the most bitter college rivals can agree on the importance of that.