FIFA refuses to come out of the stone age, instead preferring futbol to be refereed by one human being guaranteed to make mistakes – mistakes that the world can watch in gorgeous hi-def slow motion, over and over, seconds after they occur. Players perpetually dive and shove and take cheap shots behind the ref’s back, unashamed of the camera catching their every move, simply because it pays off – the fans may boo, but the play goes on in their favor, and the only one clueless to the truth is the poor overworked referee.
Poorly distributed cards aside, the number of bad calls at this year’s World Cup has been staggering, with the most well-known errors leading to an incorrect score. Even before the World Cup began, complaints regarding the famous French handball that knocked Ireland out of qualifying were at a din. During, the US were mysteriously stripped of a winning goal against Slovania without explanation, England was denied a critical goal that was a yard inside the net, and Argentina was given a goal against Mexico when it was clear to everyone that their man was offside. These kind of errors not only change the actual score, but provide a mental blow that certainly further affects the outcome. And don’t even get me started on the red cards, apparently distributed randomly as the lone referee grapples with maintaining control.
The most shameful thing that FIFA has done is scapegoat the referees. All three refs that made the goal errors have been sent home, as well as another that sent off Kaka after some ridiculous Ivory Coast acting. Talk about not fixing the problem. Until FIFA adds more referees, implements goal-line technology, and generally decides that truth is better than drama, they will be ON MY LIST. 
Even if had money, I would rather burn everything I owned,
and not even give them, you know, the final dust from the burning, so…
(Anna: the ashes) Yeah, the ashes.
(Anna: not even the ashes) No, not even the ashes.
They could pick them up, and then give them to someone else.
They could have the job of picking it up.
That’s what I think about that media industry.
UPDATE: …and round 2 has begun… unbelievable…
I can’t seem to find much Olympics coverage on TV. NBC apparently has the exclusive broadcast rights in the US. They’re showing a few hours a night, mostly previously recorded. 1000 cable channels, loaded with junk, and they can’t take over 3 or 4 to give at least some tiny modicum of coverage?
UPDATE: I’ve found lots of information at http://www.nbcolympics.com. You just have to dig in a little bit. I have just shed a tear watching the U.S. women’s soccer team score against New Zealand in the FIRST MINUTE. A long shot from Heather O’Reilly while the keeper was snoozing. Absolutely beautiful.
Check my next post for women’s soccer info.
So… all these ugly “workarounds” are no longer necessary:
- http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Watch_the_Olympics_Online
- http://www.sportizo.com/sports/olympics/
- http://www.mightyfootball.com/category/beijing-olympic-2008-football/
- http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/how-to-watch-the-olympics-live.html
- http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/08/viewers-eager-t.html
How do you organize your life? In the past I’ve entertained the thought that the important tasks rise to the top like cream, and there’s no reason to waste time shuffling todo lists when that time could otherwise be put to productive use – oh the irony! There’s truth to that – you can’t be anal about every possible task you have. But… I HAVE TOO MUCH I WANT TO DO. I don’t want to be the jellyfish caught in the tide of life. I am pretty good at “not catching the ball” when it’s not the right thing to do, but I want a system that helps me be laser-precise in applying my limited resources. It just happens to be the time for that “sequence” in my life – no one is driven like a man in his 40′s. The requirements of the perfect task planning system:
- responsive, intuitive – i.e., FAST task-calendar flip
- quickly offload tasks from memory – i.e., available anywhere
UPDATE: Chandler is the current champ, and I got it working through a proxy, so I’ll give it a good strong thrubbing.
I think it is centered around the fact that I just got a haircut – a real haircut – in a salon and everything – for the first time in months. Continue reading »
The only thing Barack Obama has going for him these days is us. You and me. Continue reading »
Andrea and I headed to Chapel Hill/Carrboro (what a great place) to hear Obama speak on the UNC campus.
I wasn’t far from throwing this book in the trash at times. Essay after essay from scientists condemning “God” as the dangerous idea that stands as the blockade to mankind and her progress. Blah blah blah. Be devoted to science, and the scientific method of discovery, but don’t be one-dimensional, dogmatic and closed-minded. There will always be more to life than what we can reverse-engineer. Continue reading »
I really tried to coerce my ’94 Honda Civic VX into starting again after it died in the parking lot at work. New plugs, rotor blade, distributor cap – words that previously had no meaning to me, until Ricardo explained, and helped me install them (thanks Ricardo!) – but to no avail. Hybrid car shopping commenced. Continue reading »
If you want to rein in the reign of King George and his cartel, get on over to MoveOn.org and sign up to call voters in swing states this November. They have a website that steps you through the calls. You have to make them on your own dime, with your own phone. I thought about killing my caller ID, then said screw it, I’m ready to shout it out. And with most decent cell phone plans, an hour of long distance a week is no problem. It’s empowering – even if America continues to so*o*ize itself this November, at least you can say you officially objected.
