Do You FIFA 08?

Every year, Electronic Arts releases a soccer simulator titled "FIFA" and then the year that it is released. People all over the world play this simulator yet aren't soccer fans. This year's edition (FIFA 08) was nominated by the IGN Awards for "Best Sports Simulator", "Most Realistic Real Life Sim", "Game of the Year", and "The Best Sports Gameplay". FIFA 08 is loved by not only soccer fans, but video gamers across the globe. People may not know or care who Ronaldinho or Wayne Rooney play for internationally or which club team they are on. Video gamers know them because of FIFA 08.
Being a soccer fan, I enjoy the FIFA series because of the plethora of teams that are included in the game, the greatest current players as well as their signature moves. The game is essential for youth soccer players, where they learn different moves as well as basic and advanced rules that helps kids understand the game much more.
The game is a very good game with authentic gameplay to match FIFA rules and regulations. The problem is that some people still won't play the game because it's soccer. FIFA is a fantastica game for soccer fans as well as the average Joe!

Favorite Athlete Ever?

People are often asked the question "Who is your favorite athlete of all time?" You'd hear the common responses of Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Walter Payton, Joe Montana and so on and so forth. My response is different from other people in the United States. My favorite athlete of all time has to be Mia Hamm. Some people would look at this name and say, "Who is that?" Well, Mia Hamm is now a former American Soccer Player. She played on the United States National Team and won two FIFA Women's Player of the Year awards in 2001 and 2002. She was and still is an inspiration to not only young female soccer players, but also youth soccer as a whole. After she helped the 1999 Womens National Team won the Womens World Cup against China in penalty shootouts, I was given a book written by Mia Hamm talking about her life of becoming a soccer player from the high school level, to the international level. She has always been an inspiration to me when watching her play on the field and her actions off the field. I have always wanted to meet Mia Hamm and maybe get a few pointers on how to become an elite soccer player. Just recently, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame as well as being selected as one of the top 125 greatest living soccer players. Now 125 may sound big, but there were only two from the United States of America, both being from the Womens National Team. So as a diehard soccer fan, my favorite athlete of all time has to be Mia Hamm.

What is really "Football"

The average National Football League game has a score of 21 points. Now when one looks at this, they realize that it is three touchdowns. There are three attempts to kick the ball for extra points plus the five kickoffs (opening kickoff, one kickoff after every score, second half kickoff). Each NFL game has an average of 125 plays during the game. out of those 125, 8 of them are kicks. Put all these statistics together, it shows that 6.4% of the plays in an NFL game are kicks. Why is it called football then? You only use your feet 6.4% of the time? Soccer players use their feet a majority of the 90 minutes that are played in a regulation soccer game. Their hands are used rarely, with the exception of a goalie who can use his hands inside his own goal and penalty box. So why do Americans call football "football"? Well it was originally derived from soccer, which was called football in Europe. In the early 1900s, North American football contained the use of your feet a lot. They had dropkicks, punts, field goals but side passes were only allowed, not forward passes so kicking was the basis of North American football. Since then, the name of the sport has stuck with it since then. So I think Commissioner Roger Goodell should think of a new title for the sport to avoid worldwide confusion.

We Should Care

Last Wednesday on February 6th, 2008, the United States soccer team had a "friendly" match against their rivals Mexico at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The game ended in a 2-2 draw but this is not about the game itself, but more about the fans that attended. The game had a total of 70,103 fans in attendance at Reliant Stadium, where a majority of the people at the game were wearing white and green. Prior to the match, Fox Soccer Channel sat down with United States player Landon Donovan. Donovan mentioned that since he has been playing on the U.S. National Team, the games versus Mexico in Phoenix, Dallas, or any southwest city have not really been "home" games. He noted that a majority of the team feels like the road team with most of the fans being from Mexico. United States citizens should show more support to our team. They represent our nation very well and we should give them more support than what they really get. Mexico is one of the United States' toughest and most competitive opponent in International play. We show our support for local teams in our american leagues, so why can't we show our support and pride for our international team when they play against other rival countries?