New Year, Same Results

What is wrong with the Portland Timbers? Four games into the season and they are rock bottom of the western conference with a disappointing 4 points. Only Fenando Adi has been able to get on the scoresheet and in the final minutes of games they have blown chance after chance to come away with points. It is beginning to feel an awful lot like last season when the Timbers had to wait until May 3rd to claim their first victory of the season.

The injuries have been a huge factor for the team. Diego Valeri is still out with a torn ACL, Will Johnson is out with a broken leg, Ben Zemanski out for the season with a torn ACL and Jack Jewsbury was sidelined this weekend with a concussion. These three injures leave a big hole in the center of the Timbers midfield. George Fochive has looked promising but he is not at the level of the injured veterans he is filling in for. Fochive's central partner Diego Chara has been at his usual level, running all over the pitch, getting stuck in as well as gathering his customary yellow card.

In Valeri's absence Darlington Nagbe has taken a more central role. It has been a delight to see Nagbe torment defenders, linking up with Rodney Wallace, Adi and new boy Dairon Asprilla. On Saturday Nagbe was deployed out on the right wing with a forward partnership of Adi and Maxi Urruti tested. However, it was Urruti's exit in the second half that was the game changer. Nagbe was able to play more central and the speed and trickery of Asprilla was just what the Timbers needed. Nagbe was a main contributor to the 82nd minute equalizer. His drive down the center of the field then playing Wallace into the the box, Wallace then centered the ball just out of Vancouver's David Ousted's reach for Adi to slot home the rebound. Plays such as these are occuring more and more, Nagbe and Wallace linking up and Adi finishing inside the box. Unfortunately that was not the final goal of the match. Vancouver took the lead in the 90th minute because of sloppy play from the Timbers defense. A miscommunication between center backs Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell gifted the Whitecaps with all three points.

Late goals have been ever-present for the Timbers this season. A late goal against the L.A. Galaxy cost the Timbers three points at Providence Park on March 15 when Alan Gordon was able to out jump his man to head home an equalized deep in stoppage-time. Against Vancouver the Timbers had two opportunities to kill off the game claim all 3 points late. Asprilla had a header bounce just inches over the cross bar and a fine save from Ousted denied Adi a second goal.

The Timbers have lacked that killer instinct late in games. Blame it on the injuries or new players failing to jell together quickly enough, something needs to change quickly. Missing out on the play-offs by a single point to none other than the Vancouver Whitecaps has left a bad taste in the organization's as well as all the fans mouths and one cannot help but feel like this past weekend was a big opportunity wasted for the boys in green.

Eliminating Racism

Between 2012 and 2014 there were 219 incidents of racism in Russia alone. That stat was part of a study done by the leading anti racism group called FARE, which is Football Against Racism in Europe. Racism has put a black eye not only on the game of soccer but the European culture as a whole. (Personification) (Ethos)

Thankfully here in the great US of A we do not experience such nonsense at sporting events. According Andrei Markovits writer for the Harvard International Review, in America our violence related to sports is in celebration and not because of racial hatred, political views or religious reasons. Examples of racism include but are not limited to bananas being thrown at black players; racist words being exchanged between players as well as countless racist banners being displayed at games all across Europe. (Culturetype)

Organizations such as FARE and programs like Stand Up Speak Up and FIFAs Say No To Racism are acting as the knight in shining armor attempting to destroy the evil that is racism

With the help of these programs and organizations I believe we can tackle racism. No I don’t think racism will end in the beautiful game but I believe it will help fight against this terrible crime.

Soccer has the nickname of “The Beautiful Game” but it is in danger of losing that nickname because of a few bad apples

Games are being interrupted by racist acts and are being suspended as well as cancelled.

Incidents such as monkey chants and Nazi references made by fans and players are ruining the game of soccer.

Not only are games being cancelled but also players are being suspended and banned for life like Giorgos Katidis.

The main targets of racism include black players, foreign players and players from the Caucasus region of Europe which is Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

James M. Dorsey, writer of numerous articles related to soccer and soccer fans, is quoted as saying “The failure to acknowledge societal change is reflected in the fact that senior football management in Europe does not reflect the cultural and racial diversity of society in the sport itself. Football management remains dominated by white Christian males, some of whom have in recent years been embroiled in controversy over racist and discriminatory remarks.”

The remarks he speaks of include former Italy national team coach Arrigo Sacchi saying Italian soccer has too many colored players, Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol saying African players lack intelligence and discipline and Former Spain national team coach Luis Aragones using inappropriate language about black players during a training session.

To eliminate racism from the game we must eliminate racism from society first and use sports as a platform to showcase the right way of behaving. (Logos)

To successfully eliminate racism from society I believe that we need to bring back the Stand Up Speak Up campaign, organized by Nike and FARE in 2003 that raised funds for 238 anti-racism projects.

I also believe there needs to be mandatory workshops for players, coaches and officials to raise awareness and give instructions on how to fight racism.

There also needs to be more interaction between fans and club officials. The term “team sport” does not only apply to the players on the field but as a whole culture.

Floris Müller wrote an article for soccer and society discussing “accidental racism”. In the piece Floris brings to light that racism is experience even between teammates, saying “It was possible for white team mates to express overt racism towards a black player on the opposing team without it immediately constituting, for them, an attack of the black player on their own team.” This issue would obviously be addressed at the workshops.

It will help for there to be more opportunities to teach about racism but there also needs to be stricter punishments. Clubs that are repeat offenders need to be banned from European competitions as well as a possibility of being relegated from their league. Fans should be given life bans as well. We cannot take this issue lightly anymore and need to be firm with consequences.

As a common fan and supporter there are ways we can make a difference.

FARE has created activities for fans, which include panel discussions, social media campaigns as well as assisting with organizing anti-discrimination charity matches.

Teams are also encouraged to participate in activities such as giving out anti-discrimination material at games, supportive TIFOS and sending players to visit schools to raise awareness.

UNITED is also a volunteer based organization that is taking on racism, fascism and nationalism.

The fight against racism has been going for years but hopefully there will be an end in the near future.

There are a number of programs fighting racism and now we need fans, players and officials to unite and end racism.

I believe Howard Webb, a member of the 2018 World Cup anti-discrimination committee said it best “we are passionate about football and want to take racism and discrimination out of the game, because it has no place in it.”

The Dynamic Duo

Imagine winning a national championship in a sport. Now imagine winning three straight. Now imagine being able to do that with your identical brother by your side. Few people can fathom such a feat. For Rick and Ryan Charbonneau, it is a reality.

“Winning nationals with my brother is something I will remember for the rest of my life. We are hoping to make some more history this spring by becoming the first class to win nationals four years straight” Ryan said.

           

            Rick and Ryan have been playing racquetball competitively for 14 years and they have played matches in Oregon and all the way to North Carolina as well as being given the opportunity to meet people from all across the world.

They have been on the Oregon State University Club team for the past three years. The club team has won the previous eight of nine national championships and Rick and Ryan are hoping to bring home a ninth this spring.  While in high school the brothers were four-time all-Americans and they have been three-time all-Americans and now are on the quest for their final award.

Make no mistake; with this much success comes a fierce competition between the brothers. “Having my brother playing with me of coarse I am always trying to be better than him. When we play against each other we both raise our game, compared to when we are playing against other people,” said Rick. Just three weeks ago the brothers went head to head in a tournament. Ryan said “There is definitely a rivalry between us. We know how each other play so that makes things interesting on the court. I’m pretty silent when I play against other people but when I play Rick all hell breaks lose, we don’t hold back any emotions.”

Not many people know of this dynamic duo because the NCAA does not sanction their sport. Racquetball is never shown on television despite having a loyal fan base.  “Yes, it bothers me that we aren’t allowed to receive scholarships. I realize we don’t bring money to the school but we do bring exposure, positive representation and marketing” said Rick.  

When asked if he is nervous about nationals Ryan said, “I don’t get nervous” as he chuckled, “I’d say I’m anxious. I just love competing.” Their desire for competition means a strict training schedule. The brothers train five times a week as well as lifting two of those days.

The brothers also volunteer in their free time at Timber Hill Athletic Club, Eastside Athletic Club and the Boys and Girls Club.

A Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Forum at LBCC

On Wednesday January 28, LBCC hosted a forum. The goal of the forum was to educate the public on the Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual community. About 30 people gathered in the LBCC library witnessed this eye-opening experience.

Sitting at a long table in the front of the crowd sat Tay Mcedwards, Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill, Kamran Ahmed Mirza and Wyatt Zuber.

In the 90  minute forum representatives of the trans* community  were able to speak of some of their personal experiences some good and some bad.

They spoke of being targeted for the way they looked, or what it is like to fight for what they believe in. The panel spoke of  how they feel they are becoming better people because of their efforts

Every person in attendance  was given a handout filled with a list of terms and a list of resources such as:  books, websites and movies all related to the LGBT community.

Kamran said,

”There are terms that can be offensive to some people but it is just a part of life.”

Dr. Driskill brought up a great point;

“No one is concerned about someone’s gender until they are trans. why is that?”...” Why is it that once someone is trans everyone immediately has to discuss it?”

One speaker said it is very simple to just ask a trans if they prefer to be referred to as sir or ma’am.

The final  question the speakers were asked is “what is the one major thing you want the audience to learn from this forum?” Wyatt said, “Just treat everyone the way you want to be treated.” What a simple answer.

Everyone is taught that lesson from a very young age but for some reason, people seem to forget it once they become adults. It does not matter what gender a person is or what type of clothes a person chooses to wear, everyone wants the same thing, respect.

Who: Lesbian Gay Transgender and Bisexual community

What: Transgender, gender non-conforming discussion panel

Where: LBCC Library

When: Wednesday January 28

Why: To inform

LBCC Students for Life Club

In every persons life they dream of being a parent but occasionally in some peoples lives, that dream becomes a reality too soon. There are a handful of ways to deal with that situation. The Students for Life club want you to know that they are here to help. The Students for Life Club give resources such as adoption agencies and information on the matter like guest speakers as well as scholarships.

The club meets every Wednesday at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Linn Benton Library conference room. They are always looking for new members as well as people to help. The club president is Melody Durrett.


At A Glance:
Who: Melody Durrett
What: Students for Life Club
Where: Linn Benton Community College Library Conference room
When: Wednesday 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Why: Resources, help, support and options to avoid abortion
For more information contact linnbentonstudentsforlife@gmail.com

News Reporting & Writing intro

My name is John Madeira. As of right now I am undecided but soon plan to be a journalism major. I enjoy writing as well as speaking in front of people. I really just enjoy being heard. I want people to know who I am and what I am all about. I'm taking this class to learn about reporting and develop my skills as a writer. I have a passion for soccer and my life essentially revolves around the sport. I enjoy all the ad campaigns for soccer cleats from Nike, Adidas as well as Puma. My favorite soccer team is the Portland Timbers, WHEN I GO AND WHEN I GO MAKE SURE I'M WEARING GREEN AND GOLD!!!!!!

Improving Media & Society

Let's get one thing clear right away, Rob Priewe is the man. I'm not saying he's Superman, but no one has ever seen Rob and Superman in the same room at the same time so just think about that for a second. He made this class a lot of fun. He pushed us as a class to think about every aspect of media. The class as a whole was very easy to understand but also very challenging. From reading What Would Google Do to the quizzes and blog posts everything was a lot of fun. There was just the right amount of reading mixed with awesome and informative videos that worked perfectly with the readings and it all made for great class discussions. Learning is not something that comes easy to me but when I find a subject I am passionate about I find it easier to study and learn material and that is exactly what has happened with this class. With how many apps are being created in the world today I think it would be good to go into detail about how to create an app in a class discussion as well as talking about ideas that would make a person a millionaire through an app and maybe a little more discussion on net neutrality because that is some confusing stuff. I like

Future Vision

Technology is growing faster than my eight month old nephew. Before we know it we will be using hover boards like Marty Mcfly. This week I watched a video that had me really wondering what the future holds. The video is a concept video of what technology will be and to be perfectly honest, I didn't like what I saw. The video is filled with screens constantly popping up and being flipped through like books, there was even a see through refrigerator! Now don't get me wrong, I am all for advancing technology but I feel like this video has taken it too far. While watching the video I kept asking myself what in the hell was going on. Yes, life looks much simpler in the video, easy hotel check in, being shown where a meeting will be the next day, and of course a see through refrigerator. I feel that all those luxuries would take all challenges out of life and I am a firm believer that success is built on challenges. With all that help from technology people would not need to plan for themselves, it would all be done by a piece of technology. I would definitely say the world would be more efficient but I would not go as far to call it a better world.

One aspect about the video that I do find fascinating however is that a handful of the devices used in the video are quite a bit like iphones and ipads. The part that scares me though is that it seems like the products are simply thinking for the user. I know that this video is made by Microsoft but is that really the next step for tablets and phones as a whole?

I didn't like all the things that were 3d in the video. I don't think we will need that in the future as well as it scares me how there are no screens. It is just very difficult to wrap my head around all the concepts that are thrown at me in this video. Although, one concept I had no problem understand was the see through refrigerator. I. NEED. A. SEE THROUGH. REFRIGERATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!

With this kind of technology I think it will make magazines, books and telephone calls essentially extinct. Paper will never be used again nor will calls be made without being able to look at the person you're calling. My mother always tells me how her grandmother knew that someday we would be able to look at people while we are on the phone with them, let's just call my great grandmother a genius before her time, Steve Jobs really should have hired her. In a world with that much technology I can't imagine it without free wifi everywhere. When you think about it, there is free wifi in a lot of places already and it is only a matter of time before wifi is essentially everywhere almost killing off internet companies. I'm calling it, within our next 5 presidents, there will be a program to get wifi nationally free.

Wikileaks

Snowden did absolutely nothing wrong. He swore to uphold the constitution when he took his oath for office. By exposing an unjust government I do not believe he did anything wrong, I would not call it irresponsible. He did what he thought was right for the good of the country. If the government is doing something that they try and keep secret should they really be doing it? In the TED talk Julian Assange says that wikileaks gives the world a real look at what the government is doing and what is going on.

I think the current state of freedom of speech is doing just fine. For instance I am able to voice my opinion for everyone to see and nothing will happen to me. I do however feel like freedom of speech has changed over the years. In previous years people would have sit ins and sign petitions to voice their opinions on situations the have strong feelings about. Now people say how they feel just to talk I think. It is no longer like the days of MLK when people fought for what they believe in but now people riot and destroy a city when they are upset. I feel completely safe sitting on a laptop and typing away on what I feel.

LBCC Campus Radio

As much as I would like for it to succeed, I don't think that a Campus radio station would be successful at a community college. The reason being that there is no average student at a community college; walking through the halls of all the different buildings I see all different types of people.
If a college radio were to succeed the two programs that would do the best are an underground rap program and a conspiracy talk radio because all colleges have two types of people for sure; crazy hippies that love to think the government is corrupt and behind all bad things that happen in the country, and students blasting rap music at parties. To fund the station there would need to be fundraisers along with selling commercials to local businesses and bake sales because everyone loves cookies.

Music

When I was 14 years old Bone Thugs N Harmony came to Portland for a concert. My older brother bought a ticket and I wanted to go. I asked my mom if I could go and she told me a rap concert was no place for a 14 year old. She was worried that the foul language and the possibility of drug use by the rappers or crowd would have a lasting impression on me. I was not a happy camper; I just wanted to see the band perform live with my brother. After many hours of begging and pleading with my mom she finally allowed me to go. Still to the day it was one of my favorite concerts.
I enjoy all music, but my favorite genres are rap and classic rock and roll. My favorite artists include: The Doors, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Logic, Kid Cudi and Mac Miller.

Logic- Driving Ms. Daisy  Chuck Berry and John Lennon- Johnny B Good  Mac Miller- Missed Calls   

Gone Girl

Gone Girl was a movie that was hyped all summer long; every time I saw a new movie I saw a preview for Gone Girl. The trailers always left me scratching my head, I had to know what happened in the movie so of course the first week it came out I went and saw it.

The movie is based off a book also called Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It is about a woman who thought she was madly in love with her husband only for the marriage to fall apart thus making the two hate each other. The wife goes missing and the husband gets accused of killing her. Through out the movie we learn that the wife, seen by the community as a loving and caring housewife, is actually a manipulating, psychopath that will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

The director of the film is David Fincher. Some of his previous films include The Social Network, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Seven and my personal favorite Zodiac. The majority of those movies all have handful of similar qualities; suspenseful, crime and they are all thrillers, Gone Girl fits in all three of those categories. The main character of Gone girl was played by Ben Affleck who is also known for playing in thriller movies such as The Town, Argo, Good Will Hunting, Armageddon and The Sum of Fears (Ben Affleck movies kind of suck except for this one). Ben Affleck won Academy awards for Good Will Hunting and Argo (I'm baffled the he has Academy awards but Leonardo Dicaprio does not. I'll get off my soap box now). David Fincher has been nominated for two Academy awards as best director for The Social Network and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but he never won. When you look at other thrillers such as Silence of the Lambs there is not nearly as many twists as in Gone Girl; half way through Gone Girl I thought I had it all figured out and then BOOM the story got twisted 180 degrees, in Silence of the Lambs you know what is going on the whole movie you're just constantly wondering how it will end. Taking a look at Fincher's previous films Zodiac and Social Network I noticed that the main characters are intelligent and witty but in Gone Girl Affleck's character is a complete meat head idiot, too dumb to keep himself out of trouble. in fact, in Gone Girl the villain is the brains of the movie opposite of Zodiac and Social Network.

This movie was important because it is one of the biggest movies out right now. It gives husbands and wives chills throughout the whole time, this movie was like nothing seen before, if you ask me this is a definite game changer for the thriller genre. People go missing every day and there are handfuls of movies about people going missing but this one has so many twist and turns it is miles above other missing person movies. As for reflecting our culture I'm not quite sure if this crazy psycho movie does. I realize that husbands and wives unfortunately do start to hate each other at some point in their marriages but I really truly wonder if anyone has ever hated their significant other this much and put this crazy of a plan together. On a small scale I guess the movie does reflect our culture in the sense that husbands and wives do occasionally hate each other. I'd say the target audience of the movie would be males and females aged 25-55, people that are either in serious relationships or that are married. As for stereotypes I think it squashes the stereotype that all white house wives just sit around all day, this housewife was insane!

This movie definitely has many strengths and the occasional weakness. One of the the strengths was that the movie was two stories, the husbands version and how the whole world thought he had killed his wife, and the wife's version and how she had come to hate her husband and her psychotic plan she devised. I felt that one of the weaknesses of the movie was that everything worked out so perfectly; the husband of a missing woman would not smile for reporters, he would look miserable and distraught and in my best attempt not to be a spoiler I will just say that certain situations through out the movie that just work out so perfectly it is just a tad bit unbelievable. But all in all I really enjoyed this movie; the story was compelling, the actors did a great job and this is another great film done by David Fincher. It is tough for me to rank this as Fincher's best movie ever because, I have seen Zodiac probably ten times but I would definitely put this in his top four movies. There are some scenes in this movie that really push it to the limit, if you watch the link below you will learn exactly what scenes, and for that reason I have a feeling this movie will be talked about for quite some time. I looked up a review by Justin Chang on variety.com and they were able to put into words what I felt about this movie "But what makes “Gone Girl” so particularly potent — and such an appropriate match for this filmmaker’s icy view of the human condition — is its deliciously cynical attitude toward the relationship at its core; its sly awareness of the thin line between love and hate, happiness and misery; and its skill at laying bare the cruel, manipulative behavioral patterns that spouses can lapse into over time." Also rottentomatoes.com said that 90% of viewers enjoyed it and according to fandango.com 79% of critics liked it.

After seeing this movie I didn't run out and buy every Fincher or Affleck film ever made, but this does give me a reason to watch the Zodiac again. This project had me looking up all of Fincher's work and I was amazed to see that he has directed some of my favorite movies. I have also looked up a handful of interviews of Ben Affleck and he is actually starting to grow on me, slowly but surely. When I saw gone girl I took my girlfriend with me so since then her and I have been sharing our feelings about the movie with one another along with my two roommates that have seen the film and we all agree that this movie is a must see.

From this project I have learned a couple of things, one being that if a man performs oral sex on a woman in a movie it USUALLY gets an NC-17 rating (until this film) and I learned of a couple of movies that have had to make changes in order to not get that rating. I also learned that David Fincher is one of my favorite directors, all the different techniques he uses for his movies and all the little metaphors that go unnoticed while watching movies. And finally I learned the sad truth that Ben Affleck has an Academy award but good ol Leo DiCaprio does not.





Gone Girl Trailer     Washington post review     How Gone Girl pushed the limits

My Bookshelf

We all have a bookshelf of some kind, whether it be big or small, we all have a few books gathering dust. I started collecting books at the ripe old age of 18, that was when i realized books aren't just about dead presidents and picture books meant for five year olds. I learned that books are written by crooks, hustlers and savages. The first book I bought was I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max. After reading his stories of drunken nights and womanizing I was hooked. I immediately went out and bout his second book Assholes Finish First. Here recently I purchased a book called The Wolf of Wall Street  that was turned into a Martin Scorsese movie. I'll admit, these books are not the books my mother would choose for me (my father doesn't mind but more on that later) but they intrigued me and challenged me. How were these jackasses (make no mistake these authors are complete jackasses) able to do accomplish what they did? How could I become a millionaire or even just a writer in general? I always got dirty looks when I would read these in public but no one really understood why I was reading them. My father gave me both Tucker Max books and then I ordered The Wolf of Wall Street off of Amazon.
I also have a book of every piece Edgar Allen Poe ever wrote given to me by mom, she knew I didn't exactly enjoy stories and poems about roses and rainbows but she was just happy I was reading. At first glance someone would probably assume I'm some dark person filled with hatred but in fact just the opposite. I read it to see how Poe was able to fill the pages with so much description and so much passion.
The final book thats on my shelf is To Kill a Mocking Bird. I first read this book in my 8th grade English class with one of my favorite teachers of all time so when she passed away I went back to her classroom and snagged a copy to always remember her by.
I'm not a very big fan of ebooks myself, I like having the physical copy in my hand. As the market of ebooks I will do my best to dig my heals in and stick with the old ways. Plus, an author can't sign your ebook. I will admit that Amazon is a great way to get books though, they are fast with delivery and very cheap as well.

Newspaper

Newspapers are out of date, slow, uninteresting, and a hassle to read. The list of negative adjectives goes on and on. The list of things newspapers can improve on is simple and also quite long. I would read a newspaper more if it were free, if it wasn't such a hassle to read and if it had more pictures. Let's compare magazines to newspapers for a moment, magazines are simple to read with tons of pictures as well as reporting on news. News papers on the other hand are difficult to open and with few pictures in the whole thing, it is also just grey and black, BORING!! No one likes having to open the paper and fold it together as well as search for your article as if you are Christopher Columbus searching for the new world. It is Tom foolery to expect newspapers to be just handed out for free but with sales doing so terrible what could it hurt?
In order to boost sales newspapers need to start hiring bloggers and having people pay to read their blogs (come get me New York Times or The Oregonian). Blogging is the new, trendy and free way of getting news so it is a real head scratcher why newspapers haven't started to employ bloggers. Newspapers also need to change their look. Long gone are the time of the boring old grey and black huge papers, they need to be smaller, brighter and have a look of a magazine. Magazine sales are doing fine so I'm not sure why newspapers haven't jumped on that bandwagon. The final thing newspapers need to do is give the readers choices on apps. Allow the reader to personalize how they get the news, allow them to choose what journalist they see the most, what topics they see and where in the world the news is happening.

Risk Everything Campaign

This summer was huge for the world of soccer. The World Cup was in Brazil. Not only did nations battle it out but so did the sponsors. Nike and Adidas both came out with new cleats and ad campaigns followed. I have chosen to analyze the Nike campaign. It had a simple name with a huge meaning, Risk Everything. For this campaign they were showing off the new model of Legends, Vapors, Hypervenoms and the cream of the crop the Magista. Like previous World Cup ads this one told a story, had some of the best players and was actually quite long for an advertisement, it ran for 5 minutes and 29 seconds. The cast for this ad was legendary, Cristiano Ronaldo (Portuguese), Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Franck Ribery, Tim Howard, David Luiz, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Ronaldo (the Brazilian) and even a little cameo from Lebron James. This ad was released on June 9, 2014 and I first saw it on twitter but all throughout the World Cup segments of it would air all over television. Two segment ads were made after this ad almost like sequels.

One technique used in this ad is famous-person testimonial. The characters in this ad are known worldwide and they are constantly under the microscope. When people see their favorite super stars wearing Nike they instantly want that Nike swoosh on their feet and because of that this ad also uses the Bandwagon technique.

This ad definitely tells a story, there are villains and good guys, there is a climax in the story and a happy ending. We see the players go from superstars to being just average Joes because the clones came in and played the game completely perfect but then we learn we don't play the game to be perfect, we play the game to express ourselves and to try new things.

World Cup ads usually have the same general idea behind it; show off the new cleats and have super stars of past and present (see adidas +10 ad of 2006 link below). This ad had a target market of soccer fanatics specifically between the ages of 13-27. That age group was their target market for for two reasons; players older than that generation are used to a different style of soccer cleat, usually  black, no fancy high tops of bright colors and players younger than that group are to young to care what players are wearing what cleats, they just want a pair that fits them. This ad did have a new factor to it, animation. This ad really really made you feel like you were watching a movie; constantly being entertained and constantly wondering what will happen next. Unlike previous ads though, this one made fun of the superstars. I would not call it offensive but more like having a laugh with the characters. When the players were pushed out of the game because of the clones they took up day jobs that ranged from hair dressers to fishermen, each characters job was chosen because of their personality.

As great as this campaign is with all the intriguing story lines, superstars and displaying its products it definitely has its flaws. All but one of the players that took part in the campaign actually played terrible in the tournament or didn't even qualify. The one player who had a good tournament was none other than America's very own Tim Howard. Cristiano Ronaldo's, Wayne Rooney's and Andres Iniesta's teams did not make it out of their groups even though they were all heavy favorites to move on. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fanck Ribery didn't even play in the tournament. The Brazilian boys had decent tournaments until they were completely destroyed by eventual champions Germany (Germany 7 Brazil 1) leaving a terrible taste in everyones mouth. To add insult to injury the two teams in the final were sponsored by Adidas and three of the four players that received an individual award was sponsored by Adidas. The one shining moment was that the winning goal in the final was scored by Mario Goetze who wears the Magistas. According to adage.com Nike's two campaigns were the most viewed throughout the whole tournament. Adage also said that companies are now focusing on the quality of the campaign and making the campaigns tell stories. World Cup ads had 30% more online views than the ads during the Super Bowl but that comes down to the fact that the World Cup is a month long and is also a sport that is watched worldwide.

Ever since seeing this campaign all I have wanted is a pair of Magistas. My brother and I drool over them when we see other players stepping onto the field with them. Those cleats are all that players are talking about. My brother actually purchased a pair of Hypervenoms and says that he loves them. I will always tell people to buy Nike cleats if possible.

The fact that Nike was able to put out two world class campaigns for this tournament just shows how dedicated they are to ruling the sports world. The other ad is called winner stays and just like this ad has a storyline along with the best players in the world. I like the Risk Everything campaign more though because of the animation and the story. Not only Nike have these ads online but they also made futsal tournaments around the world all tied to this campaign. My brother actually made the futsal field in Portland Oregon that was in the middle of the Willamette River. Nike knew that since they were not a sponsor of the World Cup they would have to get their products in a different way and they certainly succeeded.

Before researching this campaign I had no idea that the futsal tournaments were played worldwide, I only thought it was in Portland. I also had no idea how many more views World Cup ads get compared to Super Bowl ads

The Magistas were worn by Mario Gotze who scored the winning goal in the final

Neymar wearing the Hypervenoms

Raphael Varane wearing the Legends

Claudio Marchisio wearing the Vapors

Adidas +10   Nike Risk Everything  AdAge Article
Nike Winner Stays   Social Bakers article   Newscred article

Week 3 blog

Social media is changing the game. It no longer is a way to stay connected with your friends. Now a big part of social media is advertising. On twitter I looked at +SoccerBible and was instantly able to read up on soccer cleat reviews and see all the new cleats that are coming out. It gives me an update on what players are wearing what cleats, if a company is coming out with a new cleat and it also shows training gear such as dri-fit shirts or t shirts. When I am looking to purchase a new pair of cleats a review of it is just a few clicks away. The target audience for @soccerbible is definitely a small niche market. It is intended for soccer players and also a group inside of soccer players called "boot nerds". A boot nerd is someone who has a passion for cleats and soccer as a culture. +SoccerBible is definitely succeeding in reaching its target market, a lot of boot nerds are on twitter and instagram.
My favorite concept from WWGD is "make absolutely certain that you have a great product or service. make absolutely certain you have great customer service." If your product sucks no one is going to want it obviously. If your employees are dicks no one is going to want to use your company. Every time I go to Nike the employees always help me out with finding clothes and shoes and I also love the products nike puts out. Nike is able to stand out through the clutter with products because they are always improving and making new products. Their ads also are awesome. Their ad campaign during the world cup was legendary. I still watch it now.

week 2 forum

Twitter, one of the greatest inventions of this generations in my view. It allows me to connect with celebrities that I have no chance of ever meeting. I am a firm believer that I have attached the greatest tweet ever composed. Someone finally put Kim Kardashian in her place and it just had to be the late Robin Williams! My favorite twitter accounts are +Josh Elkin, he is a member of Epic Meal time and and has changed the food game and the general concept of a cook book. Another great twitter site is @timbersarmy they constantly are tweeting about how garbage our rivals or how stupid refs are. My third favorite twitter site is bleacher report. BR reports not just on the action in sports but also the emotional side which i believe goes unnoticed by the public.
Twitter allows people to stay up to date on sports and celebrities but it also allows people to start a revolution. At my old highschool kids used a hashtag to get national recognition. The school was not allowing student athletes to wear pink during October so students started #pink4canby and the administration along with many many other people took notice. News teams came from all over to report on the issue. Back before twitter the issue would never been able to catch fire the way it did. We are definitely in a special time with the world at our finger tips.
My book WWGD is being shipped to me so I am unable to answer the question regarding the book. In his video Jeff Jarvis answers the question that there is junk on the internet.  And I completely agree with that. Junk is the reason why the internet is so great. Where else can I find a picture of Wiz Khalifa and Kanye West making out?

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