The Internet's Effect on "Less Known" Sports

So as I've said before, I'm a long distance runner and run track and cross country (and that's me running to the left), which i would consider "less known" sports. But, thanks to the internet, these sports are getting better notoriety and allowing true fans of the sport to really follow the action.

There are high school network sites devoted solely to track and field, such as MileStat and DyeStat; and also sites like Letsrun.com and Trackshark.com that stick strictly to college and professional level news and racing. These various sites use memberships and advertising to generate money, but their main goal is to get news and results out as fast as possible so their "running nerd" audience is appeased.

An even better website that is going to the next level is called flotrack.com. It runs a live video feed from big time meets and is free for anyone to watch. Here's a link to a race i ran a week and a half ago in Philadelphia. My teammates who didn't make the trip were able to watch the race live from DC, pretty crazy.

And who knows where this will stop. Back in the days when my coach ran, he said there was a monthly magazine that was sent out that gave the updates on what was going on around the country in track and field. Now people can watch races live from across the country. The Internet is giving those individuals in the "less known" sports a chance to have there 15 minutes of fame and become "more known" to everyone else.

E-mail: the new social network

Everything nowadays seems to be social networking. Facebook, Facebook, a little MySpace, and more Facebook. And everybody appears to put just about everything on these social networking sights to share with the rest of the world. A constant conversation we revert back to in class is how people should be wary of what they place on their social networking pages because recruiters and possible employers are scanning these pages so they get a better look at the possible employee.

Is this right? I don't think so; but if the information is out there and is open to others, why wouldn't they dig it up and check it out? It seems like a smart business move if they can avoid hiring people that could potentially become a liability.

Well things may be changing if the newest form of social networking has anything to say. And that would be e-mail. There are some new applications, like one called Thunderbird, that will allow internet users to use their e-mail accounts as their social networking page. This can limit what content is shared to people in user's address book based solely on the activity they have with them whether it's business or personal.

I feel this is the future because it will help limit the potential "dirt" others can find on you, and also simplify things for all users. Instead of having to go to several pages to check your e-mail, facebook, etc., it can turn into a hit on one website for all. In a society where time is everything, this seems to be the way to go.

Buddy Beacon: Worth the Money?

This idea of buddy beacon really intrigued me when i read about it. At first i really didnt see the point because why do you really need to stalk your friends and know exactly where they are at all times?

But the more i thought about it, the better the idea seemed to be. I first perceived it to be just another way for people to stalk others, but you have to authorize whether or not you want to be traced. But then i started thinking about the good things that could happen. Lets say you lose your phone (which happens way too much for some people), you can link it to your friends phone if they have the feature and track it down a lot easier. And it could also work for missing friends, because lets face it, sometimes on friday and saturday nights after a few too many drinks people tend to wander off without a word so this could be a real life saver.

It is pretty expensive, which may also turn people off; however, i think it would be a worth while investment. You just have to make sure not to tell your stalker friends about it or you may never have a moment of peace again.

Is the Internet Helping to Polarize your Thinking?

There seems to be an easy answer to this question:

• No.

And the reason:

• Because we are able to get our hands on limitless information and see issues from all sides of the spectrum.

But I have another question to ask:

• Is everyone really venturing into unfamiliar territory and seeking out information they don't necessarily agree with?

I guess only you can answer that question. I have never really thought of an answer to this question, but I'd have to say, personally, i really don't explore to much outside of my realm. I'm satisfied with just reading/hearing what i want to see/hear and I rarely seek out opinions of people with contrasting views from myself. I feel my upbringing partially has something to do with this because i was raised a catholic in a mainly all white neighborhood. I think coming to school at American has helped to broaden my views, but there is still things that can be done.

Recruiting

The only experience I've had with recruiting was when i was recruiting to come to school here and run. Now that process is slightly different than the job recruiting process because everything was based on my high school times and how i felt i would fit in with the team, but the principle is essentially the same:

• Apply to the school (job) you are interested in after doing research
  
• Get word from the coach (employer) as to whether they are interested or not
• Take an official visit (interview for the position)
• Find out if you are accepted to the school (got the job)

And of course what is helping companies with recruiting, social networking on the internet. People are being connected to various groups that they normally wouldn't encounter and this is opening up new and unique opportunities for everyone. It is important not to abuse the power of social networks because then they would lose their appeal.

Allan Schweyer wrote in this article that:

"Part of the beauty of social networking is that there is a rarity to it. If it were easy for any of us to connect with anyone else, we would remove the scarcity and erode the value of networks."

Now people must learn how to use these networks effectively without diminishing their value.

Epic 2014?

So i watched this video instead of doing a reading because it's Easter today and i didn't feel like reading anything, plus i was playing halo so i could just listen while i killed people...

But anyway, that video kind of freaked me out a little because it definitely seemed like a real possibility to me. I rely heavily on the internet to get news, and rarely look at a newspaper (maybe twice a week, maybe). Looking online for news allows me to multi-task better, like check e-mail while instant messaging and texting but also checking my facebook while getting all the news i need and watching sportscenter (gotta love being able to have more than one tab per window). By using the internet i can get a lot more done than having to worry about folding a newspaper correctly.

And i don't think i'm the only one that operates like this, so if companies like google and amazon were to merge they could easily get a strangle hold on how the news is relayed to internet users and do exactly what this video suggests. Scary yes, but only because it's possible.

My Views on Crews

I couldn't resist putting this picture (which i found here) of the peanuts crew in after reading the blog on how to pick your million dollar crew.


Everyone has a "crew". Through the years I've had several crews who I associated myself with, from my preschool crew, where we controlled the sand box, to my current crew where we patrol for girls and go wild at basketball games (see this link for details).


Being an athlete I always have a crew to roll with. Running is an individual sport but there is the team aspect of running relays and cross country is very team oriented. To be a good crew (team) member I feel you have to be flexible. Some times your roll with be differnent in various situations. You have to be aware of your strengths and the strengths of those in your crew so you can set eachother up for success.