With all the anticipation and hoopla over David Beckham coming over to the states, there's been a lot of nay-sayers along with a constant surge of excitement over the dynamic Brit's presence here in the states. It ALL came to a head when Becks turned on the magic out of nowhere in the 2-0 win over DC United at the Superliga Tournament.
Beckham scored a gorgeous, curling free kick from 24 yards out, in his signature form in front of 17,000 fans who all rose to their feet feeling that history was about to take place.
He didn't let his fans down and continued to dominate the field from the middle, setting the pace and pushing his Galaxy out of the funk they seem to have been playing in most of the season.
Check out the shot thanks via Google's YouTube!

Beckham sent a tricky ball down the right side of the field that caught the DC United defenders off-guard and Landon Donovan was able to take the through ball to the net. The ex-Galaxy captain followed with the second goal of the match when his shot deflected into the back of the netting.
It looked like he was still a bit out of condition and the superstar was pulled off in the 63rd minute.

The Galaxy's play waivered a bit, as the United started to gain momentum in Beckham's absence, but after a few key saves, the Galaxy managed to keep their lead and move on in the Tournament where they will play Pachuca for their next game towards the $1 million dollar SuperLiga prize.
Peronally, I want to just say that I'm stoked. I think it's just a little matter of time for Becks to make his presence known on the field, and seeing the kind of world class plays he brings to the pitch, I am glad he stuck with his word. Even once things got better for him overseas, that he stuck by his agreement and came over here.

Work break... Actually only a few hours to go. Don't forget to take a break at work or you might end up like Elmo here... poor guy.

... so take a break, open a window, do something, and see you soon!

It always amazes me just where Google ends up popping up. Now the news is official. Google posted the offical news of their partnering with Clear Channel, which sports a radio network of 675 stations. It's almost stupifying somedays when you think about the amount of reach Google has, even outside the net. There's a kind of Egg and Chicken effect to this whole thing though, don't you think though, as far as how search traffic is driven. I mean, has the Search Engine ceased to just show results of traffic and validity, and are you just creating that now? It's kind of its own beast, or is getting that way if you think about it. Anyhow very interesting stuff.



Here's the actual Google blog post.

I don't get it. More importantly, some people REALLY don't get it - Like Joe Francis.
You know, its just common sense that when Johnny Law comes nosing around on your doorstep, you might want to at least make the ATTEMPT at keeping your nose clean, if even for appearances. Apparently Girls Gone Wild found Joe Francis, just seems unable to do so. The guy is already serving time for a contempt of court charge .

U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak had issued an unusual decree ordering the creator of such racy mail-order videos as Girls Gone Wild: Ultimate Spring Break and Girls Gone Wild: Dormroom Fantasies thrown in the slammer for contempt of court following a profanity-laced tirade during settlement talks in a federal lawsuit.
... I think he lost his temper with the wrong guy at this point. Even if the judge is off in what he is trying to do, there might be better ways of dealing with it than how he went about this. Especially when teeing the judge off can land you behind bars.

Then again, parts of the civil suit seem a bit crazy:



This entire thing started because a group of young women claimed to be underage in his videos, meanwhile the parties for Francis and Girls Gone Wild maintain that the girls lied about their age.

SO MAYBE, they're getting the shaft and these girls are really just playing GGW and Joe Francis, and trying to make a buck the old fashioned way (lying your ass off and screwing someone for it). This doesn't change the fact that meanwhile Joe Francis is under federal investigation with a coming up hearing for allegedly attempting to fraudulently deducting $20 Million dollars, and stashing $15 million in offshore accounts in years 2002 - 2003.
So, while Joe Francis is serving time, he THEN gets busted for trying to bribe a guard for a water bottle and having a controlled substance on him:


All charges are third-degree felonies and carry a maximum five-year prison sentence.
Best of luck to ya Francis. You may be a slimeball, but there's probably a small army of men that wish they had thought of the GGW idea first...

I love Eric Wynalda, and this is why:
In an interview he gave to Fullham Fan, Eric Wynalds tells everyone how it is with the MLS and U.S. Here's a great excerpt:


Wynalda gives a great run down on what he believes the future of MLS should be and how it needs to be managed. The greatest thing about him is that he's absolutely frank about how he feels, and doesn't pull punches like his comment about Freddy Adu "Maybe he really is 14 years old". That's awesome, though apparently it got him fired. I think an organization like MLS can use a guy like Wynalda who calls what he sees and doesn't just pat everyone on the back to not "tarnish" how MLS looks are calls them when they're screwing something up. That's just going to stifle the growth in the end.
Way to go Eric, if nothing else, you made a great read!

Wow, I keep tossing this notion around, and I just can't believe its actually happening. I know the news is a bit old, but it still amazes me everytime I read something about this...
So the big news of course is that Beckham is coming to the U.S to play for the L.A. Galaxy. And while the MLS in the US is a budding and growing sport league, its dwarfed by the attention and money it gets in Europe and the rest of the world. You have to understand that when according to Soccer America, in 2004, the Salary cap per player was $280,000 . Mr. Sunshine however just signed a deal with LA for 5 years at $250,000,0000.
That's right, there's a correct amount of zero's in there. Thats TWO HUNDRED MILLION (Dr. Evil voice) DOLLARS!!!! WHUAHAHAHA!!!

Boy that seems a bit expensive. For that kind of cash, you can build your own stadium (or two) and fund several franchise teams (or ten, give or take a few). However, and this is a big one - I don't think you can employ ANYONE, and I do mean ANYONE that brings the kind of attention with him the way Becks and his lovely Spice Girl wife do.
The biggest problem with soccer is how it seems to be played in the rest of the world, but just not here, at least not by adults. There's just no standouts that people seem to like and everything just seems like its their sport and not ours. It seems every world cup or so, people almost embrace it ('the rules just seems so strange'), and with disappointing runs at the actual World Cup even by some real talent, we just seem to fall short and everyone just kind of puts their hands up, says 'whatever' and goes back to what they were doing 10 minutes earlier.
But.. that's where Golden Boy Beckham comes in. The guy and his girl have are a walking poster that kids and even adults seem to just remind me of old "be like Mike!" anthems of the late 80s and early 90s. Attendance has gone up all over the place at MLS and some of the smaller pro leagues in the US, but they haven't had anyone to rally behind as a personality. I once thought it could Donovan, but hell, he admitted on one interview I saw him in to listenning to boy band music to get "pumped up" before a game... (oh Donovon, how you have let me down...), And when he gets his chance to go abroad at the real show, he opts to come back home (because hes awww wonely and misses his girlfriend). Nope, at least for now, Donovan's not it. He's still young and maybe got time to come to that next big step, but for now, it will instead be Captain ENGUH-LAND taking that mantle!!!
And this guy can do it. Even when he loses he looks good. The ladies love him. The guys either like him or say "nah, he looks gay" but secretly go "damn, his hair always looks good, what a bastard."
I'm going to admit I've said several times, he's overrated in an individual sense. He really struggled last year, and has seen several instances of benching and even kicking off of a squad, but there's just a few things you can't deny...
The guy knows how to win. He's been to the big show. He's won at the most competitive levels, and though it was in the past, he's been nominated for the highest amount of play at the highest levels. In exhibition games with Real Madrid, he and his teammates made some of our best boys look like school yard kids. If some of that composure, skill and thinking on the pitch begins to rub off on our players, and he can captain that kind of winning, I would love to see the level of soccer with him acting as America's Ambassador to soccer...
I can't wait to see how the ball play goes with him and the rest of the LA squad out on the pitch....

In one of worst displays of reality television-like scripted nonsense I've ever seen, the Judge presiding over who gets control of Anna Nicole Smith's body began by letting those in the court know that he "also had suffered" along with them, and then proceeded to weep despite trying to hold back his tears.

Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid this garbage on television so I eventually gave in and left it running while I worked today. I threw the remote several times at the TV after not being able to deal with the Judge after several hours of this three ring circus. For hours this guy conjectured, sermonized, and even led witnesses in their answers, and asked all kinds of off-the-wall questions (at one point began to recall his own hard life when he moved down from New York being a "stranger in a strange land," and telling about how Nicole had a rough life and how life isn't always as you hope it will be).
In the end, the only thing he did was give the remains rights to whoever is found to be next of kin, in this case it was temporarily awarded to the daughter's temporary guardian while the body will be buried in the Bahamas next to her son Daniel's grave. Basicly this is still up in the air. Way to go judge, you could have come to that ruling in hours, not days.

SO, while I'm ok with the ruling, the ENTIRE excruciating process that he dragged everyone through was horrible. It was days of this jackass posing in front of the cameras so he could come off as the loving judge from New York (new judge series, maybe new reality TV show?). He should give the taxpayers back their money it cost to put his freaking show on for everyone, and disbarred for running his court like a zoo. It might have been a warm and fuzzy petting zoo under him, but a zoo nonetheless.
Yahoo News clip
I just hope this entire thing gets buried and the people who have been fighting to get in front of the camera just go away...

Well, this is my first post as I try and continue on with my old blog...
Unfortunately, its the same day with official news on what happened to CNet's James Kim. The official word from the Coroner is that James Kim succumbed in the end to exposure and hypothermia. His tragic plight to save his family in the wilderness is being called superhuman by some, as he made his way in the end over 10 miles thinking nothing more than saving his family...
I personally remember James Kim from watching Tech TV, when I used to look forward to his reviews. As a tech and gadget enthusiast in my own time, his reviews in the past helped me find my way through informed purchases of printers, MP3 players, and digital cameras. THe one thing that always came through was his enthusiasm and knowledge of the subjects, as well as just having a great attitude. I was very happy when I found out not too long ago that when Tech TV changed (or whatever it did exactly as it is now G4), that James found his way over to CNet, and I kept following up with his stuff whenever I could.
On another note of personal observation, I remember seeing lots of pictures of James' kids and friends whenever he did camera reviews. It's obvious this guy loved his family, and the world just lost a great guy. My thoughts are with his family and friends who must be going through a ringer of emotions right now....