Tales of Hoffman

Homeland Security Switching to "Gut Feeling" Warning System

(via Boing Boing) It's been a long time since I've read something on the Net that actaully (really!) made me laugh out loud. And this one was not just a quick chuckle. It was more like a full-fledged chortle. A guffaw, even.

After the Director of Homeland Security announced that he had a "gut feeling" that we could experience a terrorist attack this summer (Gut feeling? Is that what our intelligence reduced to these days?), Ryan Single at Wired Blogs put together this new Homeland Security Advisory System. Enjoy.

ESPN Finally Carries the World Cup....of Softball?

That wacky ESPN is at it again. Last time we spoke, the US Men's Under-20 Soccer squad had vanquished those pesky Uruguayans (sorry, Edu!) in a stirring comback overtime victory that next to no one saw because someone thought it was more important to show a repeat of the most boring Home Run Derby ever staged.

What's on tap for tomorrow afternoon's Quarterfinal match against Austria? Oh, more of the same. Over at ESPN you can see the Conference finals of the Indoor Football league (are they even still in business?). Oh, wait! On ESPN2 you CAN see the US participate in the World Cup! Unfortunately, it's the World Cup of Softball. Huh?

Can we hope that, maybe by the Semifinals, and if the US makes it, that we can actually get these games off of ESPNU and onto one of the other ESPN stations that actually have some distribution?

(Postscript: I know that after months of not posting, I've now posted twice in one week with a rant about a sport that few people in the US even follow. And that it's not really ESPN's fault that I don't get ESPNU or Galavision where I live. But if you can't rant about something this inconsequential on your blog, where can you?)

Say It Ain't So, ESPN

Riddle me this, Batman....

I know that soccer is not the most popular sport in the US. I understand. But there are many, many soccer fans in the US now. Many, many children play the sport. The Hispanic population in the US is bigger than ever.

So tell me why...WHY does ESPN feel it's more important to carry a repeat (REPEAT, I SAY!) of the "Home Run Derby" that actually happened just two nights ago, rather than the US Under 20 Men's Soccer team versus Uruguay in the Under 20 World Cup?

This team is fantastic. Led by Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore (from my hometown Red Bulls) and a fantastic keeper, Chris Seitz, this team can and will open a lot of American eyes to how exciting soccer can be. But what does ESPN, who has the rights to tonight's match do? They put the match on ESPNU, one of their lesser networks with little distribution.

ESPN, do the right thing (within the next hour ;-) ) and change your lineup to put the US Men's U-20 team on ESPN, or at least ESPN2! It's the World Cup for Pete's sake.....

UPDATE: Of course the match was fantastic, resulting in an overtime win for the US. Of course, ESPN did not change their lineup to accomodate. And, of course, not a single higlight was available on ESPN or any local news channel on the night of the game (at least that I could see). Sigh.