In weeks past, I would scan my RSS feeds for football stories and put the interesting ones in my delicio.us account. If I didn’t have anything to say about the stories myself, I would either throw a quick link up here (if it seemed big enough) or just put them in Carlito’s Link Dump at the end of the week.
However, the boys at We Are the Postmen pointed me to FeedWordPress, which allows you to pull content from an RSS feed and put it on your blog. Obviously, this is something that can be abused, but it’s still an interesting little tool.
So it hit me — what if I took my del.icio.us links and posted them automatically to my blog? Wouldn’t that make things interesting?
So that’s what I’m attempting to do here. If you see a post with Link: in the title, it comes from delicio.us, and it will point directly to the original site. There will be bugs — duplicates seem to be a problem with this plugin — and I might just attempt to flesh things out with new tags and such,
but ultimately, the goal is to keep things alive around here when I have little to say myself, or when I’m focused on Fanhouse writing — like this post about Clint Dempsey’s next stop, this post about the MLS clubs’ lack of success on foreign soil, or this post about my Carolina Panthers apparently giving up on zone blocking.
I have a few things to cover here later today myself, but expect a fair amount of quick-blogging here in the near future. These are things I think you should read. Go look at them.
Have you ever had days when even the most ordinary things seem to drive you completely batshit for no apparent reason? As you can see from this picture, Carlito knows exactly how you feel.
It has been a crazy week for football around the world, though, what with the Champions League knockout stage and the Super 14 starting, the NAB Cup well under way, and in America… the scouting combine. Oh, yes, the NFL scouting combine. There’s nothing creepy at all about young men in T-shirts and shorts being ogled by geezers with clipboards. Nothing at all.
It’s a sign that we take the NFL a little too seriously — some guys more than others — but really, where don’t they take football seriously on this planet?
Here’s a look around at some football stories around our planet this week:
Michael David Smith has the combine covered. [NFL FanHouse]
That ought to hold you for a little while. In the meantime, I’ll be straightening up the house this weekend, as some fellow Carolina Railhawks supporters are coming over to watch the Carling Cup Final. Meanwhile, the Premier League, Super 14 and 6 Nations are on, while Australia will witness the A-League Grand Final and more NAB Cup preseason footy. Set your DVRs accordingly. I did.
Yes, into everyone’s life, a little rain must fall — and if you live in North Carolina these days, the rain is not nearly as annoying as it used to be. Rain has become a symbol of hope for those yuppies in Cary who are terrified that their lawn won’t be nearly as green as their neighbors.
Meanwhile, our man Carlito stands there and wishes he could give the rain falling on him to North Carolina — or anyone else, for that matter. It’s all just a matter of perspective, really, and hopefully some of these stories from the last week or so will provide some extra perspective into your own football experience.
On with the show!
Why Arlen Specter may not be wasting his time (or ours) with this whole Spygate investigation. (Mighty MJD)
Those wacky Chris Berman videos aren’t on YouTube anymore, but they’re still online. (Deadspin)
It’s an FA Cup weekend in England. Show of hands: who’s paying $16 to watch Man U v. Arsenal? Not me. I’m going to take a good look at Super 14’s opening weekend and see if these new rules really do make rugby union more fun to watch. I’ll report my discoveries on Monday. Oh, and the Champions League knockout stage begins next Tuesday. Expect a lot of coverage of that on FanHouse.
Before we take our wide scan of the football world, our pal Carlito would like to talk to you about the importance of stretching. Even if you watch football rather than play it, the last thing you want to be is tight and inflexible. After all, you’re going to be jumping up out of your seat and raising your fists in celebration a lot*. How embarassed would you be if you pulled a hammy or felt a twinge in your knee or ankle while cheering your team’s success?
Carlito wants you to make a habit of stretching every morning when you get up — especially on game days. You’ll feel better every day for it.
That ought to hold you for now. It’s a quiet weekend for football in America, with only the sad little exhibition that is the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. There’s a full card in Europe, though, including a Chelsea v. Liverpool match on Sunday and some Six Nations rugby action around the continent. Oh, and there’s also some Aussie Rules in Dubai, though we’re still more than a month away from the start of the AFL season. (I need to find some way to get the rest of the blogosphere talking about Aussie Rules again. The West Coast Eagles’ drug problems won’t be enough this year.)
One more thing: the Carolina Railhawks are holding tryouts this weekend. So if you’ve got some serious soccer skills and are looking for work, get yourself to the Triangle by tomorrow morning. Here’s a little something to inspire you to play…
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So here’s what I’m trying to do here.
Have you ever had days when even the most ordinary things seem to drive you completely batshit for no apparent reason? As you can see from this picture, Carlito knows exactly how you feel.
Yes, into everyone’s life, a little rain must fall — and 
Before we take our wide scan of the football world, our pal Carlito would like to talk to you about the importance of stretching. Even if you watch football rather than play it, the last thing you want to be is tight and inflexible. After all, you’re going to be jumping up out of your seat and raising your fists in celebration a lot*. How embarassed would you be if you pulled a hammy or felt a twinge in your knee or ankle while cheering your team’s success?
