I edited this image during the Nevada-Boise State game last night - so those two field goal misses might have actually been my fault. My bad!

I’ve been feeling compelled to write about my thoughts college football again lately (I did blog a bit two seasons on a short-lived, now-defunct college athletics website I ran) – so here goes.

There has been a lot of talk lately about whether or not non-BCS conference teams such as TCU and Boise State have any business playing for the national title (obviously the Broncos are out after last night’s loss to Nevada). Actually, this has been going on for some time now. It’s just more likely that it could happen this season, prompting The Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee to insinuate that since TCU and Boise St. play “the Little Sisters of the Poor”, that they don’t deserve a shot at the national title – even if they were to run the table.

To give a bit of info/disclosure on my background, I have somewhat of a unique ability to understand both points of view. My allegiances in college football lie on the opposite ends of the FBS conference power spectrum – the SEC (Florida) and the Sun Belt (FIU – Congrats on your conference title by the way!). Prior to my days working for FIU Athletics, I also liked Miami (Fla.). However, things like this helped pushed “The U” down my list a bit (still well ahead of FSU, of course). My point being – I am empathetic toward both the “big” programs and the “mid-major” schools.

I think both TCU and Boise State may indeed be good enough to play for the national title. By that I mean, they are probably good enough to beat anyone in the country – including current Nos. 1 and 2 Oregon and Auburn. Having said that, I could also make the same claim for half the SEC, along with a few other teams from the Big 12, Pac-10 and Big 10. I’d at least concede that they may, however, be among the top five best teams in the country (as in I wouldn’t be surprised if either one made the semifinals of a hypothetical FBS playoff).

In the absence of this playoff system (which I still believe is THE best way to solve this), however, I do have to take strength of schedule into consideration. In sports like basketball (games not as grueling and less importance on a single game), I think the TCU’s and the Boise’s of the world would have a stronger case with their “quality wins.” However, there really is something to be said for playing football in the SEC. Yea, the non-conference schedules of some of the BCS schools aren’t too demanding. And TCU crushed a very good Baylor team while Boise State beat Virginia Tech (the best of a very weak ACC) out of conference. Still.

Like I said before, I feel TCU and Boise State can beat anyone in the country. Any given day. That is one game, however. When you have a schedule like their’s, those games against Baylor and VaTech are the highlights of the season. They are going to get up for those games a bit more. They aren’t going to be challenged like that though as often as teams in the SEC are when it comes to conference games. Utah, Nevada and a few others depending on the season aside, there is plenty of margin for error built into the schedule.  Even games against 1-6 Ole Miss are a challenge for anyone in the SEC – and Ole Miss would probably be in contention for the title in the WAC.

No disrespect to Oregon, Auburn or TCU, although I think Alabama might still the best “team” in the country (Oregon a close second) even though they aren’t playing like it for some reason, and they would be my pick (a bit of a sleeper, admittedly) to win the national title in a playoff system. They are a three-loss team though and deservedly aren’t in the BCS picture. Perhaps it is a bit of a championship hangover for them, plus the rest of the SEC getting up for playing the defending champs. What I see though is, if you slip, take your foot off the gas for just a moment or just have a bit of a bad day against any team in the SEC – you pay for it and lose! If you do that in the Mountain West, you beat San Diego State by five (TCU 40 SDSU 35 on Nov. 13 just one week after their very convincing win over Utah).

In conclusion, playing through the argument (i.e. a playoff system) is the best way to determine a champion, and I’d really like to see Boise and TCU take on the big boys in that setting. If we had this BS in basketball we wouldn’t have had that amazing Duke-Butler title game last year. Or amazing runs from the Gonzagas, Valpos and George Masons of the world in years past.

Actually, playing every team home and away like European soccer teams do would be the best, that’s simply not feasible with 120 FBS teams! But given we are stuck with the Bull Crap System (BCS), I’d find it very hard to pass up a one-loss Big 12/Pac-10, or even a two-loss SEC team (note I’m not mentioning the other three BCS conferences). It just takes a hell of a lot more energy and effort to make it through the conference schedules that a loss is understandable, and acceptable.

Prior to last night’s win by Nevada, there was a very real possibility of having TCU and Boise State go unbeaten, with only one team getting into the BCS games. You can’t tell me ANYONE from the ACC or Big East is more deserving this season, and yet they get AQs. Boise State decided to take one for the team now and will get that bowl game that an unbeaten TCU might have been stuck with. They’ll play a decent BCS conference team like maybe Arizona (just guessing), in which I would hope the Broncos would run up the score and win 83-20 just to prove a point – and they probably could.

Technorati Tags: ACC, Arizona, Auburn, Baylor, BCS, Big 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Boise State, E. Gordon Gee, FIU, Florida, Florida State, Miami, MWC, NCAA Football, Nevada, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pac-10, San Diego State, SEC, Sun Belt, TCU, Utah, Virginia Tech, WAC

The style of play on the pitch is not the only beautiful aspect of Dutch football! (flickr:stewied)

The first five days of matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup are in the books. More importantly for me, my three favorite footballing nations have all played already. I’m American, so I root for the USA of course. Although in football, the Netherlands are my favorite. Their attacking style and total football philosophy are just an absolute joy to watch. I also like to see Australia do well – although I focus primarily on the Dutch and Americans.

First off, the USA more than held their own against a supierior (on paper) England squad. I like England’s chances to go far this year with the way Fabio Capello has the team playing, so for the Americans to come away with a point in this match was huge. Granted, it took a horrifying goalkeeping error (although Robert Green did do well to stop Jozy Altidore’s second half near post effort) to gift us the point. That and the usual solid keeping from Tim Howard. Also impressive that the Americans kept their comosure after conceding the early Steven Gerrard goal.

Australia… well the Socceroos didn’t look so impressive against Germany. Maybe things would’ve been different had Tim Cahill or Richard Garcia found the net in that 3rd minute flurry in front of goal. After that, however, it was all Deutchland. The Germans looked very impressive, although I figured the Aussies would give them a better game.

My primary attention was directed toward the Netherlands-Denmark Group E encounter. I am happy with the win and three points, despite Oranje not playing at their best. Perhaps it is best to ease into the tournament like some countries like Italy and Brazil tend to do. I think Holland may have peaked too early at the last major tournament (Euro 2008) after starting out with 3-0 and 4-1 wins over previous World Cup finalists Italy and France, respectively, so perhaps this will be better.

General thoughts on the Dutch performance… they seemed to be a bit slow in their passing and build-up. Perhaps nerves, also perhaps due to Denmark’s defensive organization. Tactically, I don’t think Rafael Van der Vaart played his role well. He should have acted as a true winger on the left rather than drifting into center. It took space away from Wesley Sneijder. It’s tough because those two are very similar players and can be that central player who sets up the attack. I think people saw when Eljero Elia came on for vdVaart, that the Dutch were much more dynamic. The Danes crowded the middle, and Elia was able to use his speed and tricks to create more opportunities.

Some people think he should start in the next match. I’m not sure about this. He is great a great spark to bring on in the second half against tired defenders. I’d might give vdVaart another chance on the wing (he is too good not to play), or go with Ibrahim Afellay. He looked impressive in some of the friendlies leading up and seemed to have a good link-up with Robin van Persie. Speaking of RvP, I have high expectations for the Arsenal front man and think he could be a leading candidate for the Golden Boat award. Especially considering he is relatively fresh having missed a good chunk of the Premier League season and has been in good form since returning from injury. He didn’t have a great performance against Denmark, however. He had opportunities to score, but seemed to take too many touches or was making slow/poor decisions. I think the remaining matches will be better from him and the team.

I’ll probably have another update this weekend after all three teams have played their second matches. US faces Slovenia on Friday, and then both the Dutch and the Aussies play Saturday morning. Luckily my tennis match for Saturday at 8:30 a.m. has been rescheduled for Thursday evening!! Just added the three countries’ schedules on my Google calendar so I shouldn’t make that mistake again!

Technorati Tags: Google, Oranje, soccer, Socceroos, Sports, Tennis, US Soccer, World Cup

Personal branding is a no-brainer concept to me. I highly recommend it to anyone at any time – not just when you need to have it, say for instance, when you are searching for a job. Your image is important, and it is relatively easy and fun to create a positive brand for oneself online these days.

When I talk to people about building websites, I stress the importance of blogging, no matter if it is for a personal site or a business. The need to brand is the same in both cases. In fact, here is a recent blog post I wrote on my web design company’s blog explaining the benefits. In today’s world of open communication and transparency, it is a crucial tool.

I’ve been working in PR and on the internet for many years now. This stuff is second nature to me. So why is it then, that I am only just now starting to do this for myself? Why haven’t I been practicing what I preach? C’MON KEVIN!!!

A bit of a background…
This isn’t exactly my first blog. I’ve been blogging on and off for a few years now on my own websites and at my job a bit. Back in early 2008, I started a blog about being able to combine travel and work/income (i.e., digital nomad/location independent). Later on that year, I started blogging about college football. Most recently, there is the company blog for Tri-Penguin Media that I mentioned before.

The digital nomad topic is still something that very much is of interest to me. I immediately stopped and lost momentum on that blog the very day I started my most recent job with the Boston Breakers – which was a bit of unfinished business for me at the time. I had interned and volunteered for the Breakers during the first American women’s pro soccer league, WUSA, from 2001-03.

Having just finished college around that time, that was where I had wanted to start building my career. The league folded in 2003, and professional women’s soccer (and the Breakers) didn’t return again in the USA until WPS was born in 2008. Despite not exactly being keen on continuing to burnout work in sports PR at the time, I couldn’t resist the lure of returning. Not to mention, I would be the director this time (the title “communications manager” was a bit misleading), leading the media relations, website and social media efforts of the organization. Pretty cool I thought.

As for the college football blog… well, sometimes I feel like writing about sports, sometimes I don’t. In the midst of getting ready for the launch of the new league, the burnout was beginning to set in once again before I could really build any momentum off this blog. Basically I have a great many interests outside of sports, and I didn’t feel like spending more time thinking about it than I already had to at work.

For better or worse, and despite a considerable amount of praise from both within the organization/league and from outside, I was let go of my position with the Breakers this past September. Such is the unfortunate state of our economy, and that of a fledgling sports league. I do hope things turn around soon for both.

Present Day…
Fast forward nine months to today. I am still in the same position as I was back on Sept. 3 – unemployed. I had done some consulting and freelance design work on and off for a few years, so I’ve continued to pursue and have landed a few such opportunities. Not enough, however.

Between trying to find a new job using the somewhat “traditional” methods (i.e. scouring the internet for job postings and responding with a cover letter and resume) – which can be a full-time job in and of itself – and trying to find more opportunities for self-employment or telecommuting, I’ve noticed that my focus and efforts have been scattered and very ineffective. Subconsciously I either just needed the time off, or I needed to be a lot more clear about what it was I was looking to do. Most likely both.

Yes, I would prefer the flexibility of working for myself and/or telecommuting. I’m just not there yet. Whichever one happens first, full-time job or full-time business, I’ve told myself. The longer this period of unemployment continues, the greater the need to gather a steady paycheck. I have no issue with this.

This brings me to the point of this post… I should know better!!! There are better and more creative ways of going about promoting oneself in today’s world. Better tools, technologies and ideas. Why aren’t I using these? Why haven’t I been using Twitter and other social media platforms to find a job. Why haven’t I made good use of my LinkedIn profile? Why haven’t I been using my own website for crying out loud?

Back in September I decided to at least put something up on this, my namesake website. It was quick and painless to do, and yet painful to look at and very ineffective. It really sucked to put it bluntly. I think I just put something on here just to have something and be able to say I have a website with my name as the URL. Another example of how scattered my mind has been. Apparently I didn’t really care that it was far below any standard I would accept – which strongly goes against my M.O. Why should any potential employer or client who ventures onto my digial landscape feel any different?

I’ve woken up and am now consciously aware of the situation. Fortunately I already know how to fix this and I can now focus on working smarter (see: effcient and effective), and not necesarily harder with no results (see: busy for the sake of being busy). I’ve had a free in-house PR and productivity guru at my disposal all this time. It’s about time I start paying attention to him.

Technorati Tags: blogging, Boston Breakers, college football, freelance, jobsearch, LIP, mind, nomad, PR, psychology, resume, social media, Sports, subconscious, tri-penguin media, unemployment, webdesign, WPS, WUSA

Muuuullltteeeepaassss

Howdy folks!

Thanks for visiting my website. After some time, I have finally decided to start blogging on here. I’ll explain in my next post the reasons why I’m only starting this now.

What can you expect from me on here? Expect the unexpected I suppose. I have a wide range of interests, including sports, technology, science, internet, spirituality and travel – to name a few. I also have a tendency to be a bit random. Sometimes I’m serious, sometimes I try to be light-hearted and funny. And sometimes I may even come up with something ingenious that readers will find valuable.

What I can tell you is my next post will bring readers up to speed on what I am up to these days and how that all came to be. Also, from now until July 11 or so, expect a lot of football (soccer) related posts with the World Cup going on. Especially in regards to the Dutch National Soccer Team as I am a huge fan of Ajax Amsterdam and Oranje!

Basically, there will be a lot of random musings from my mind and subtle observations of our little corner of the universe we call Earth. I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Kevin

Technorati Tags: Ajax, blogging, Netherlands, Oranje, randomness, soccer, World Cup