Looking back at 2008 & How I faired on my resolutions

Looking back 2008 was a very challenging year both professionally and personally.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and went after what I wanted. I’d be lying if I said I did this voluntarily every time.  Sometimes, the situations left me no other but to venture out.  With some planning and some luck I end up where I had hope to be by the end of the year.  Along the way, I met some great folks, made some new friends, became more idealistic, lost faith in the baby boomers,  and gain faith the millennials.  Most of you probably watched this chapter of my live chapter unfold live via Twitter, Facebook, Frienfeed, Tumblr and this blog….whenever I updated it.  The highlights of 2008 include South Carolina primary, 1631 S Streeet NW, ServiceNation Summit, DC Primary,  November 4th, Frat house 2.0, Boston/NH, my investiture, and becoming an American.  I will remember 2008 as the year I decided to get involved.

As for my resolutions,  here is how faired:

1.  Maintain a GPA above a 3.5 -  DONE. I was able to keep a 4.0 GPA.

2.  Read 6 books (outside the classroom) and write about them on here  - FAIL. I did not read six books I think I read 3... Sad I know. This is commitment that I make every year and continuously fail at it.  I'm not really sure why.  I'm an information junkie and I do read a lot but I haven't managed to read books.  I blame it on the amount of reading and writing I have to go school.

3.  Reconnect with 5 or more family members back home - DONE.  I think I reconnected with more than 5 family members.  But I still don't talk to them on the regular basis.  It gets quite expansive to call home regularly.  And Skype does not have exactly have stellar services.  If you're using a software to call Africa or other third world countries, I'd love to hear about it.

4.  Record all financial data for the entire year - FAIL.  I'm going to try again this year. I will be switching to Mint something this month. 

5.  Bring in 10K to 15K through freelancing - DONE and most of the money went to paying for school.

6.  Open an IRA or Home buying fund - FAIL.  Instead, I focused more on the opening and beefing up an emergency saving account.  It came in handy when I was let go earlier this year.  So I'm glad I went that route instead.

7.  Go to 12 museums - FAIL.  I think I went to 2 museums,  I did do more cultural stuff around the city including BSO, Kennedy Center, Book signings and lectures.

8.  Learn Ruby on Rails - FAIL. I don't even have it installed on any of my computer.  I instead focused on learning how to customize WordPress and give it a professional touch.

9.  Be a better boyfriend/Better Work life balance - FAIL.  At some point during the summer, I was working, going school, working on a the Silverman Campaign and doing freelancing.  That's not balance at all.  However, I have become much more organize and learned how to schedule leisure time as well.

10. Get Management Position in IT or Public Policy - I did get a management position at Be The Change, Inc from which I was let go earlier late in the Year  and I’m now at a Public Affairs firm.  I'd say I'm moving towards the right the direction professionally. I've moved a way from a purely technical background which was the real goal here.

I could have done better with my resolutions, but I’m satisfied with my performance.  I’m will my 2009 resolutions up shortly

Merry Christmas...

For those who celebrate, Merry Christmas. And to the rest, I wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

Technorati Tags: Christmas,Chanukah,Holiday Season,2008

Weekly Reads 12.19.2008

This entry was backdated to the week when i read and collected these articles. The articles are as valuable today as they were a week or so ago.

What's in it for Your Followers? How to be Useful on Twitter - Pretty self-explanatory. If you want to be successful on Twitter you have to have to provide value to your follower. Darren discusses that in this blog post.

Best 100 Twitter tools - After you learn how to be a useful on Twitter, using of these tools will be help be more affective at providing value to your followers.  If you think 100 tools is too much, try these fives suggested by Darren.

Visual Quick-start Guides to Political movements - Want to start the next succesfull online campaign? These videos will help get started. If you're still have having problems, you may want to think about hiring the pros like these guys.

Five Ways Web Professionals Should Be Proactive In a Recession - I was recently laid off but lucky I was able to find a a gig. I some friends going through the same things that I did and other who are unsure of their position in the current economic crisis. In this post Jeremy, discuses how web professions can be proactive is such economic times.

Weekly Reads, Twitter, Blogging, Advocacy, Online Advocacy

The Josh [Silverstone] Burrito now available to all @ Visions... go try it!

During my time of unemployment, one of the things I tried to do is to catch up with friends around this city/suburbs.  One such friend is Josh Silvertsone.  Josh had been ranting and raving about a restaurant where he had become a regular located in downtown Bethesda. The place's name is Visions (blog). I met him there for lunch on a Friday and little did I  know Josh and Tony (twitter), the chef , had been working on introducing a new menu item name after him.  Well it's official, the Josh Burrito is now available to all (see the announcement below).  You should go try it.   Have had one one I can confirm that that it is delicious. 

p.s.  If you're foodie and want to chat with a chef on a regular basis, make sure to connect with Chef Tony, he is all about social media.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Silverstone,Josh Silvertone,Josh Burrito,Visions,Chef Tony,Tony Marciante,Bethesda,Restaurant,Eating out

Thank You

The past week was a crazy one; the end of another semester and the start of a new gig.  Now that life has calmed down a bit, I wanted to take a second to say a big thank you to everyone that helped me during my job search. My job search ended late last month when I accepted an offer for the position of Web Strategist at DCI Group, where I will be helping our clients navigate through the social media interweb.   In these tough economic times, I was lucky enough to received multiple offers.  However, I would be lying if I said I did all the work that got me these offers. In fact it was quite the opposite. During my search, a number of people graciously volunteer their time to proofread my resume and cover letters, help make video resumes, offer career advice, make introductions on my behalf,be a reference, and pass my resume along. Between writing cover letters and submitting my resume for various position, I attended a number of social media/technology events around town where I met an incredible number of nice and smart folks using the web to bring attention to some great causes.  I will work to keep in touch with as many of them as possible.  But more importantly, I hope to work with some of them (in pro-bono capacity, of course) on some of the projects that they are currently undertaking.

The entire job search experience was very humbling and I'm very grateful for all the help I received.  Again Thank you.

 

Image by d0ntblink

Technorati Tags: Thank you,Job search,DCI,DC,Career

Obama's first weekly address (on YouTube)

During the campaign, Obama relied on technology to supplement his traditional media outreach.  He used the web to make the case directly to voters why is he was the best choice for President.  Whether you agree with his policies, the approach was a successful one.  As president, I had hoped that he would continue this approach while governing. However after the election,  some of the outreach efforts slowed down.  As some bloggers have pointed out, there had not been any action on his twitter page in 10 days.  When I saw his first weekly address yesterday, I was delighted.  I'm glad to see that he will continue his approach of talking to directly to the people.

 

Technorati Tags: Obama,YouTube,Web 2.0

I am asking you to vote because I can't

I can't vote today (for many reasons I've cited here before) but I'm asking you to. 

As it was written in the Economist several days ago, "it is impossible to forecast how important any presidency will be" nor can we predict how good of a president any politician will be.  In fact history has shown us that some of our finest presidents were mere novices in the political arena, or so we thought, while some of our worst presidents were seasoned professionals.  So In effect, no matter who we vote for today, we are all taking a gamble.

Recognizing that there is not much we can do about that aspect of elections, I urge you not to think of this election, or any other election, in that prism.  Instead, I propose that we think of this election, and all elections, as a responsibility and an opportunity. 

It is our responsibility to hold elected officials accountable, to hold the torch that was passed onto us by previous generations dating back to our fore-fathers, to tell the world that democracy is alive and well and is indeed the best form of government. 

This election is also an opportunity.  For some, it is the opportunity to correct the mistake from 4 or 8 year ago.  For others, it is the opportunity to re-affirm their beliefs from the same period.  For many, it is the opportunity to participate in the democratic process for the first time.  But for all, it is an opportunity to be heard; an opportunity to take this country in a different direction; an opportunity to make history regardless of ideology or background.

So today, I am asking you to vote.

I am asking you to vote for me and many others like me who won't have the opportunity to be heard.

I am asking you to vote for our men and women in the armed forces serving abroad that won't be able to vote because of archaic absentee ballot laws.

I am asking you to vote so that we can put people in office with the moral courage to deal with challenges facing our nation today at the national and local level.

I am asking you to vote so our generation may be heard.

Most of all I am asking you to vote because your vote, your voice, matters.

Some will dismiss my call to action as a gimmick to get people to vote for Senator Obama.  It is true that I support Senator Obama.  I do so for many reasons that others have penned more eloquently than I ever will.  And it is indeed my fervent hope that you do cast your ballot for the junior senator from Illinois.  However, this is not to say that Senator McCain will not make a good president.  In fact, I believe that he will be an adequate president or even a fine president.  Very few of us have served this country like he has over the decades.  Though I question his vice-presidential pick, I believe that he will take that same dedication and love for our country to the white house.  I did not write this to endorse any candidate running on any level, but simply to ask you to vote.

So I will ask again, please go vote.

The late Robert Francis Kennedy reminded us that "few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." Today, your small portion is to go vote.

[picture by joecrimmings]

 

Technorati Tags: Obama,McCain,Election 2008,GOTV,President

Obama on Technology

 

 

Technorati Tags: Obama,Election 2008,Technology Blueprint

GhettodevTV Episode 3 - Good News/Bad News

In this video (taped yesterday) I share some good news and some bad news.  Bad News - I got laid off yesterday,  Good News - I'm closer to becoming a U.S. Citizen.

As I said in the video, I'm looking for a job so if you know of anyone hiring please pass along my resume.  Thank you.  As always, comments/suggestions about the video are welcome.

Technorati Tags: Makembe.com/TV,Career,USCIS,US Citizenship,Terps

You are my 5 friends and I'm asking you (NOT) to register to vote

Neat video. Glad to see the expansion from the usual politically active entertainers.

My take on it is - If I can't vote (b/c I'm a permanent resident), why should you?

On the serious. Don't forget to register to vote. Use Google maps to figure our you voting place (it will include links where you register to vote in your locality. If you're going to be out of town, use GovoteAbsentee.org.

Tags: Election 2008, Obama, McCain, Google, Vote08

Money in Politics Grant Summit Wrap-up

Last weekend,  I had the distinct honor of participating the "Money in Politics" Grant Summit hosted by Mobilize.org in partnership with the Sunlight Foundation, and Common Cause.  According to their website, Mobilize.org:

Mobilize.org is an all-partisan network dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people to increase our civic engagement and political participation. We work to show young people how public policy impacts our lives, and more importantly – how we can impact public policy.

The orgnization put its name on the map by taking over the 2100 Fund, an organization that raised funds for organzations promoting youth activism, and writing the  Democracy 2.0 Declaration (watch it). 

Admitidly, prior to the summit, I had heard of Mobilize.org but I was not very familiar w/ its work.  I had planned to submit a proposal for the summit but missed the deadline because of the Silverman campaign and the presidential forum.  As luck would have it,  at the forum, I got the priviledge and opportunity to meet mobilize's CEO, Maya Enista, and work with her in a breakout session. During that time, I told her about my interest in the forum and she invited me to attend.  

A crucial piece of the summit was the ability for those attending to present ideas and plans that solve the issue of money in politics. From the mobilize.org website:

Competitors in the Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit must advance a new solution or approach to the money in politics problem - that will change the pattern in the field of civic engagement. Winners will each receive a grant, between $3,000 and $5,000 and will receive the support of Mobilize.org and its partner network to champion their proposal, creating systemic and sustainable change in the way elections are administered.Competitors in the Democracy 2.0 Entrepreneur Grant Summit must advance a new solution or approach to the money in politics problem - that will change the pattern in the field of civic engagement. Winners will each receive a grant, between $3,000 and $5,000 and will receive the support of Mobilize.org and its partner network to champion their proposal, creating systemic and sustainable change in the way elections are administered.

On the first day, keynote speaker, former Representative John Buchanan, gave an inspiring address encouraging and challenging my generation, the Millenials, to become the greatest American generation. He pointed out that money has become an element in our democracy. Technology, along with other tools, makes it easier to promote transparency and hold elected officials more accountable.

The morning on the second day, Nancy Watzman, of the Sunlight Foundation, and Political Party Time, a blog dedicacated to tracking parties thrown at both party conventions as well as fundraising activities of lawmakers, spoke about her exprience trying to bring transparancy to government since the 1990s and all the Sunlight Foundation's projects and resources.  Nancy's address was followed by a panel that included Josh Zaharoff of Common Cause and Matt Stempeck of Americans for Campaign Reform. In the afternoon, Sam Rasoul, candidate for U.S. Congress in VA-6,  stopped by to talk to us about his campaigns, his goals, the change would try to enact in congress and what he has been able to accomplish so far in VA.   Between the two speakers, competitors had a chance to meet with panels of experts who gave them feedback about their proposals.

On the last day, David Mark, Senior Editor at Politico and author of Going Dirty, shared his thoughts about the current Presidential campaign as well as some notes about his book. Competitors also got a chance to present their proposals in front of the entire conference. Four winners were later announced. The first prize went to Sam Oliker-Friedland of GoVoteAbsentee.org.  I whole heartily agree with the decision, as his proposal was the most developed and most likely to be sustained over the course of time. Basically, his website takes any voter of any district in the US throught the process of getting an absentee ballot. Check it out (Facebook Page) if you get a chance, and please spread the word.

The summit was a great fun and learning experience. It was a eye-opener in the fact that it made me realize how many Millenials are invovled in the political process and are seeking to improve the process and make it more accessible to everyone. I feel as though we sometimes get a bad rap for being overconnected and lazy and the summit gives us as a gneration the chacne to fight that stereotype and put our best effort into improving our democracy.

Tags: Democracy 2.0, Mobilize.org, Money in Politics Grant Summit, Sunlight Foundation, Common Cause, Just6dollars.org

Mid-Week Reads...

Some interesting blogs post that I think everyone should read. 

Mashable's posts about T-Mobile Google phone -  Google’s G1 Isn’t Pretty, But Is Impressively Disruptive and Now I’ve Finally Seen It, I Still Dig the ‘gPhone’.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting this phone when it comes out. Please share any reviews with me.

What color is your nonprofit's blog ? - In this blog post, Beth Kanter takes Nina Simon's categorization of different type of museums blogs and applies it to Non-profit blogs as well as provide some strategy tips.   Very interesting reading for those blogging for your job/company.

Why Doesn't Anyone Comment on Your Blog? -  In this article of ASAE, Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer suggest some ways to get ways associations can get more comments on their blogs.  I think the advice can also be true to individual blogger.  Simple suggestions but they work.

What is a non-profit blog?  - In this post, Britt Bravo - officially one of my new favorite bloggers - shares a list of blogs authored by non-profits/NGO orgs.  Some are worth adding to your reading list.

 Mass Instant Message That Link With The Tell-A-Friend Widget - TechCrunch shares what will possibly become the most annoying widget to date.  I might add it to my blog tho.  Thoughts?

If you like these, you can find more on my Google Reader shared page.  I'm also going over my feeds and removing the blogs that I don't read anymore.  If you're reading some good blogs and think I might find them interesting, please share them.   I'm pretty much  interested in everything -- from politics to fashion.

DC Primary Wrap-up & My YouTube debut

After a little hiatus for the ServiceNation Summit, I'm back at it.  More on the summit later, including pictures. While I was in NYC,  the post-election drama continued.   I will try to provide with a time line from the articles that have been written in the Post and the City Paper.   First,  the Board of Election & Ethics (BOEE) went on a communication blackout. This was actually not a bad idea, since their attempt to provide an explanation on election night was pathetic.  No offense to Dan Murphy, BOEE spokesperson.  When the BOEE came out of its self-imposed blackout, it provided some clarifications on the election night debacle but mostly blamed the irregularities on the equipment. However, California-based Sequoia Voting systems asserted that "there is absolutely no problem with the machines in polling places." Instead, the company brought up possibility of  human error.  Despite the assertion by Sequoia, BOEE stood by the results on primary night. As it now become the tradition in DC after a scandal,  Mayor Fenty fired someone and launched an investigation but not before the Ward 2 ANC  passed a  resolution calling for an investigation.  Maybe something will come out of this one.  In the middle of all the all this, Cary conceded. He thanked his supporters and staff.  He also called on BOEE "take all steps necessary to restore trust in the election results."  Cary concession essential ended the post-election drama.  However as the post put it,

SO ELEMENTAL to government is the conduct of elections that there can be no excuse for failure. It's important, then, that D.C. officials not minimize the problems with Tuesday's primary. The chaos surrounding the results suggests that there may be bigger issues that need fixing and that, if left unresolved, could undermine voter confidence.

The only good thing that came out of this drama is my debut on YouTube thanks to LooseLips Columnist Mike DeBonis.

Technorati Tags: DC primary,Ward 2,Silverman,Evans,DCBOEE

ServiceNation Summit Streaming online and on Twitter

Follow tonight's ServiceNation Forum online and on twitter.

On television we expect the Forum to be broadcast live, starting at 8 pm EDT, on CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, C-Span, and selected PBS stations around the country (check your local PBS listings).

In addition, MTV will also stream the Forum live. To watch the MTV stream go to http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/live. Below the MTV stream, you can subscribe to the ServiceNation Kyte player for organic content captured by our mobile producers on the floor! They will be recording behind-the-scenes, exclusive footage throughout the two-day summit. You can also watch the stream on MTV's website at http://think.mtv.com/groups/servicenation.

Enjoy the broadcast, and stay tuned for further details on how you can watch Day 2 of the Summit. We will be sending another e-mail, and details will be posted on www.servicenation.org. You can review the full program here: http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/summit/schedule.

ServiceNation is also the talk of the town on twitter.

More at http://twemes.com/sn08

More at http://twemes.com/sn08

Election night drama

Last night, I was nominated to go to DC board of the election to await for the result of the primary.  I thought it  would a be a cool experience so I accepted.  Another volunteer and I headed down there  for what we thought was going 30 minutes then off to the victory party.  Little did we that the DC Board Of Election & Ethics (BOEE) complete incompetence would keep us there till the wee hours of the morning.  To make the long story short;  when first set of result came in, everything looked fine.  Evans was up 66% to 33% and .54% write-in with 14% of the precincts reporting.  When the second set the report came in, something didn't add up.  Evans was up 48% to 34% and 17% write-in with 94% of precincts reporting.  The second set of numbers estimated that 9000 people in our Ward, more than doubling the numbers from 2004 ( a mayoral election).  Having walked around throughout the day, I knew there was a low voter turns out.  Additionally, we were not aware of any write-in campaigns going on in our race, so 17% write-in made absolutely no sense.  My suspicions were confirmed by Evans' Campaign manager. We went upstairs along with Mara's campaign manager and Schwartz's campaign manager (They were having the same problem).  Meanwhile, The AP called the raced, then the post based on the AP the numbers.   And from there things went downhill from there.  Lawyers came, WaPo came, CityPaper came, Washington Times was called, I think the AP had take back calling the race and people at the BOEE just looked really really really really really bad.  The lawyers present requested precinct by precinct report.  The BOEE put out three sets of numbers after that but the damage had been done.  Everyone was dissecting the numbers and the whole thing was just a mess.

Needless to say, this was an eye opening experience for me.  I'm deeply troubled by the city's inability to handle such a small election.  By all accounts, the primary in February had a much larger turn and the city failed to properly handle that election as well.  As of this moment, I'm shocked, angered, and disappointed.  If I had any power, no one at the board of election would have a job this morning (except maybe nice security guards from last night).  I really hope Mayor Fenty and the rest of the council take a good look at this.  It's ridiculous that the capital of the free world can not manage to run an election smoothly.

As of the writing of this post, we have not yet conceded.  we are waiting for the precinct by  precinct report and results from the absentee ballots (if they can count them correctly.)  I'm headed to NYC for the ServiceNation Summit with Senators Obama and McCain, more on what I learn in this campaign when I get back from NYC.

DC PRIMARY RESULTS NIGHT COVERAGE

CityPaper - Live from the Clusterfuck

BOEE "Official" results

Washington Post

DC Wire

DCist

 

p.s.  I did not cut my hair for the next POTUS... whoever he is.

 

Technorati Tags: Cary Silverman,Jack Evans,Patrick Mara,DC primary,DC Board of Election & Ethics,DC BOEE

DC Examiner endorses Cary Silverman

Today, the DC Examiner endorsed Cary saying:

Cary Silverman promises open, competitive bidding for all city projects and a fully Freedom of Information Act-able financial reporting system. And more accountability and transparency is exactly what this city needs.

Read the entire article here .  I wish they did this last week so we would have been able to take advantage of it a bit more.  But hey an endorsement is an endorsement.  That marks our first endorsement by  a local paper. 

Now for all your Ward 2 (which includes Shaw, Dupont, Logan, Mt Vernon Sq, Gtown, Foggy Bottom, West End, Downtown, Chinatown) Residents go out and Vote!

Technorati Tags: DC Examiner,Cary Silverman,DC Primary

What impact will the next POTUS have on public service?

With all the (local)election stuff going on, I forgot to mention that BTC (along with our coalition partners)  will be hosting the first presidential forum since both nominees formally accepted the nomination of their respective parties.  From an e-mail we sent out today to our list:

It’s a HUGE week here in ServiceNation. This Thursday evening, Sept. 11, our Sept. 11-12 ServiceNation Summit in New York City will open with a Presidential Candidates Forum featuring presidential nominees Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. They will share their views on service and civic engagement in post-9/11, starting at 8 pm EDT. CNN and MSNBC have indicated that they will carry the forum live (we are hoping Fox will too), so invite your friends and family over for a night of inspiring television.

The next day, the 12th, the ServiceNation summit continues with a gathering of 600 leaders from every sector of American society. The summit will release a bold policy proposal, and a Declaration of Service, which you can sign to declare your support for the idea that service to community and country can help unite America and solve problems. We hope to gather 1 million signatures (up, that’s 1 million!) on this Declaration, to show our leaders that America is ready for a new era of service.

I'm very excited for this event. I'm looking forward to hearing what both Sen. McCain and Obama have to say.  It should be fun, interesting and tiring.  I'm heading up to NYC on Wed morning for the forum (all my NYC people, holla me).  I will be part of the content production team but I'm not exactly sure how much freedom I will have to roam around.  Regardless,  I will be blogging (here and ChangeWire),  tweeting (BTC Tweet feed), taking pictures and possibly streaming (working out the details on that).  The full schedule of the event is at http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/summit/schedule (Sorry for the formatting). 

 

P.S.  The biggest dilemma if my life right now is whether or not I should cut my hair just in case I get to meet the next POTUS.  Feel free to weight in.

4 Days till the election

It’s down to the wire. Since June (actually a lot longer than that for Cary), we’ve been working hard to make the case to Ward 2 Democrats that it’s time for change on the City Council. We’ve had three debates; one in Foggy Bottom, another in Dupont, and another on the Kojo Show on WAMU. We’ve had tons of candidate forums, some at 8 AM and others at 8 PM. We filled out more questionnaires than I care to remember, attended neighborhood picnics, block parties, tenants association meetings and what seems to be every ANC meeting in the ward. Supporters hosted countless meet and greet events as well as fundraisers. We played the endorsement game - got some and lost some. We met some fun people, some interesting people, some skeptic supporters, some enthusiastic supporters and people didn’t care much for us. We’ve walked through part of the city that I never knew existed and rediscovered parts that I had not visited in a while. And of course there was the parade. Everywhere we went and to everyone we met, we made the case for Cary. I think we’ve made a compelling case and put ourselves in a position to win on Tuesday. With a strong GOTV effort, I believe that we can seal the deal. I’m very excited about the election on Tuesday. The only thing that would have made it better is if I could vote. Oh well, can’t have everything at once. If you’re registered to vote in DC, Vote Cary Silverman on Tuesday!

The truth about Nigerian soccer ... from a Nigerian

If you follow African soccer at all, you know that Cameroon (CMR) and Nigeria have been rivals since they both fielded national teams.  Needless, to say this rivalry has followed me state side and I consistently trash talk my Nigerian friends - mostly because they always lose to us.  This morning, I woke to find the e-mail below from a Nigerian friend and I thought it was worth sharing with the rest of you because it's so true.

Before I begin, I'd like to say that I've been watching Nigerian football since Sam Okwaragi's time, back when Jay-Jay Okocha was still playing for Rangers FC in Enugu, Nigeria.
That being said, I'd like to take this time to re-iterate what I've said in the past. Nigerian soccer performance has been awful since France '98. The last impressing performance by Nigeria was beating Spain with that lovely shot from Sunday Oliseh during the 1998 World Cup. Ever since, they've been nothing more than just another average African team. Not to mention the fact, they didn't even make the World Cup in 2006.
Why I'm I writing about this? Because I'm tired of all the hype and people (Nigerians and non-Nigerians) telling me Nigeria is really good in soccer. No, they used to be 10 years ago. Now, they suck.
How have they been able to win some games? Easy, regular teams are still haunted by the performances in USA '94, Atlanta '96, and France '98. As a result, they are defending more, and attacking less. Great teams like Argentina, Brazil, Spain and more destroys Nigeria in matches. They attack Nigeria's unconditioned defense full of mistakes, especially after the 70th minute. Well, maybe the fatigue that shows at that time is due to African soccer players reducing their ages by 5-10 years in order to make it pro. So while they are listed as 30, they are possibly 40 year old men...lol
I woke up this morning and watched the Nigeria/USA game and was not impressed. With USA playing with only 10 men, Nigeria barely squeezed out a 2-1 win. First, we know Africans can't shoot...at least not from outside the 18-yard line. They were shanking shots wide away from target. On a break away, they lack individual skills to make a counter attack deadly. In most cases, the attacks were slowed down and waited for the other team's defense to get back. In other cases, people were trying to do moves and losing the ball. On the offensive third, it looked like they were playing monkey post (Ban all Monkey Post games in Africa now!...lol). Players held the ball long enough to draw 2-3 players in the attack and were still passing it around, trickly within the same little area.
Late in the game, U.S learned that they needed to score a goal and began pushing. The defense was totally exposed and U.S could've capitalized especially with the one that hit the cross-bar.  The next round will be very tough for them. Even the goalie was caught off his line a couple of times, I can imagine what the likes of Messi and other stars can do to that defense.
Just tired of hearing that Nigeria is good. Personally, I've never been a fan of false praises whether it benefits me or not so I had to tell the truth if no one else will.
Do you care? Yes, you do because you made it to the end of this article :)

Of course, I can't say  the same for CMR because, well we win Olympics medals in soccer and were second in the more recent African Cup.  I will admit that our performance in the last couple of world cups have been less than stellar.

 

Technorati Tags: Soccer,Nigeria,Cameroon,CMR,World Cup,CAN,Africa

Vlogging it is! My first video post.

My first video. Enjoy. Leave any feedback. Sorry for the cheap camera. If I follow through, I will upgrade.