Tag Archives: brazil

Rio 2016 Olympic Moment: Erica Wiebe

Everyone loves the Olympics. Even the harshest critics among us can find a feel good human story once in a while. As we all experience the Olympics I’ll attempt to share a favourite moment.

Erica Wiebe went from never winning a point in university wrestling to winning a Gold Medal in freestyle wrestling at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil. Congratulations Erica!

Rio 2016 Olympic Moment: Rafaela Silva

Everyone loves the Olympics. Even the harshest critics among us can find a feel good human story once in a while. As we all experience the Olympics I’ll attempt to share a favourite moment.

“The place for a monkey is in a cage. You are not an Olympian.” That was one of the text messages gold medallist Rafaela Silva received four years ago after being disqualified in the early stages of the London 2012 Olympics for an irregular manoeuvre. BBC

What the heck did we learn from the #WorldCup2014?

One thing I learned from this year’s edition of the World Cup in Brazil is that my son emotionally invests in his team: Argentina. The South American nation became his favourite to win the World Cup when he completed an in-depth assignment on Argentina for his Grade Two class. So it was no surprise that he wept when Messi and his team lost to the hated side from Germany. He blamed the referee for cheating (not far off if you believe some internet sites) and Germany for taking away Argentina’s rightful place as the best soccer nation in the world.

Argentina Fans Crying - from Jonathan Fun
Sad Argentina Fans – from Jonathan Fun

Here’s what else we learned:

  1. Even with the latest in technology and the ubiquitous nature of TV and personal cameras, soccer players continue to “dive” and embellish injuries.
  2. The world is in LOVE with The Beautiful Game. I mean, in LOVE like an 8 year old loves Pokemon or a 3 year old loves Lightning McQueen.
  3. Canadians love the World Cup and the international game of soccer more so than their national or local teams. We can name more players on the (insert team foreign country) team than we can Team Canada or any of Canada’s MLS teams.
  4. The team from Germany is not just a good tactical team. They are a damn good soccer team.
  5. Soccer TV commentators don’t need a “colour” man. They can do both play-by-play and colour commentating.
  6. Canada needs to learn how to play soccer and unlearn how to play soccer like it’s another version of hockey. Until then, they are doomed to never make it to the World Cup Finals tournament.
  7. England continues to disappoint. Were they ever a good team?
  8. Everyone, including myself, is a soccer expert for at least one month every 4 years.
  9. Soccer fans like to use Twitter.
  10. I know soccer. Proof:
Winner of the #WC2014 office pool!
Winner of the #WC2014 office pool!

Twitter hopes to dominate #WorldCup second screen action with World Cup hub

As The Verge (and others) reported earlier this month, Facebook and Twitter will be battling it out during Brazil’s World Cup in the hopes of dominating second screen World Cup social media participation. (Man, that was a mouthful!)

I am a huge user and evangelist of Twitter so I was surprised I hadn’t seen anything. Until now. (I’m also a huge user of HootSuite)

Here’s a screenshot tour of the World Cup Twitter experience:

World Cup 2014 - Twitter

When you login to Twitter and click on the home tab on the top left you will be directed to your timeline. On the left you will notice the right navigation is World Cup themed.

World Cup Brazil - Twitter

This is what it looks like. The upcoming games are shown as is the ability to actually customize your Twitter World Cup experience based on your favourite team.

Brazil World Cup - Twitter

By clicking on the first game we get a Brazil vs Croatia themed Twitter page. Everything from scoreboard, photos, videos, tweets and even team players’ accounts are displayed.

Brazil World Cup - Twitter

What is you actually want to choose your side and get more personalization? Click on through to the other side! (The Doors would have loved Twitter, eh?)

Brazil World Cup - Twitter

Click a flag to choose your team! Who are you supporting?

Brazil World Cup - Twitter