Soccer

Know Your Angles

Did you watch the Brazil/North Korea game today? I caught part of it while I was eating a late lunch and thought that Maicon's goal was amazing. Nike agreed and (not a brand to miss a beat) did an excellent job of capitalizing on it by posting an image of Maicon with the caption "Know Your Angles. Write The Future." on the Nike Football Facebook page.

No kind of planning or content calendar can take that into account. An update like that with a response of over 1500 "Likes" on Facebook and more than 300 comments means that Nike is in tune with its audience and able to deliver what will create conversation amongst them.

In short, Nike knows its angles.

Between this and the previous post I wrote about the Pitch Perfect series of mixes, you're probably thinking I've gone a bit nuts for Nike.

The truth is that I've worn Nike shoes for years (they fit my feet well), and currently have about four active pairs (cleats, indoor soccer, running, casual). If they're going to keep me entertained as well, what's not to love?

-Parker

Crazy About Soccer

We've always heard that there is more than one way to tell a news story. In the latest example of this, there are two somewhat contradictory headlines.

The first, from Yahoo! news, says "Iraqis bask in rare joy after soccer win."

The second, from The Globe and Mail, says "Gunfire after Iraq soccer win kills two."

For the most part, much of the text in the two news stories is almost identical. Both make mention of the fact that two people were killed and many others wounded while the mostly-male celebrants took off their shirts and waved them in place of flags. The writers at each outlet obviously used the same source.

It really makes me wonder just how much I'm missing when I quickly scan the headlines from online news sources.

-Parker