Tag: FOOTBALL

In 2004, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) awarded South Africa the privilege of hosting Africa's first World Cup. Based on concerns -- both legitimate and ethnocentric -- over crime, violence and inadequate facilities, some observers immediately proclaimed the tournament doomed. But the World Cup, which is now in its 80th year, is currently enjoying enormous success and ...

Most Apple fanatics who waited in line overnight to get their hands on the iPhone 4 wouldn't part with their shiny new handsets easily. But Brittany Hightower of Little Rock, Arkansas simply couldn't say no to Stacy Andrews, an offensive guard for the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL star stopped the Walmart shopper, who was on her way out the door with what had been the last iPhone in the store, and ...

Share In celebration of... well, we're not sure what exactly (perhaps to raise awareness of migraine sufferers), Google has added a vuvuzela button to YouTube. Just click the soccer ball icon to overlay a loop of the blaring World Cup staples over almost any video on the site. It's great for transforming seemingly harmless clips (of bunnies staring, for instance) into terrifying, Stanley ...

If you missed Landon Donovan's game-winning goal in the waning minutes of the USA's World Cup match against Algeria, you missed a milestone moment in American soccer and the Internet. According to Mashable, Internet traffic on 100 major news sites, as tracked by Akamai's Net Usage Index, spiked to a whopping 11.2 million visitors-per-minute after Donovan nailed the net. While that's not quite as ...

Earlier this week, Brazil's national soccer team beat North Korea at the World Cup. The result wasn't shocking, but the fact that North Korea actually has a soccer team certainly took us by surprise. The team may be the lowest ranked squad in the tournament, and the country may be making its first World Cup appearance in 44 years, but the underdog of this year's Cup apparently has a secret, ...

Vuvuzelas, those long plastic horns, are inescapable at this year's World Cup. The stadium horns, as they're sometimes known, are as integral a part of the soccer experience in South Africa as fight songs are in the U.K. Outside of South Africa, though, the horns are regarded largely as an annoyance. The sound generated by the constant blaring of the "instruments" has been compared to the sound ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Google added user photos to Street View (much like Microsoft's Photosynth technology). You'll be able to bring up real photographs as you 'stroll' through Street View ...

While most of us have been spending our evenings watching Glen "Big Baby" Davis slobber all over the NBA Finals, the rest of mankind, for whatever reason, is caught up in something called the 'World Cup.' From what we've heard, it's some sort of grandiose international event where people from historically war-torn nations find new excuses to burn the cars of their former colonizers, drunk ...

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is nearly upon us, and, to get in the soccer spirit, Google has introduced a soccer Easter egg on its search results page. According to Geekosystem, when you enter "world cup" into Google's search bar, the page index at the bottom of the screen reads "Gooooooooooal!" instead of the company's name. This trick also works when you enter other phrases like ...

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe could be in for a long season after some comments he made last week. According to Pro Football Talk, Bowe told ESPN Magazine that his veteran teammates would meet girls on Facebook and MySpace, and fly them to hotel rooms in cities they visited during the season. Bowe said there's even a name for it -- importing. "You hear stories about groupies ...

Late in the Oscar-winning football drama, 'The Blind Side,' Michael Oher's adopted brother puts together a reel of clips and burns it onto a DVD for scouts. College coaches like Nick Saban are wowed as they watch the young man on their computer screens. Apparently, that isn't fiction: In one of the most unconventional NFL free-agent signings, the Cleveland Browns recently picked up a player after ...

In a battle of man versus machine, an NFL kicker's leg has bested a robot's pneumatic arm. According to Wired, San Francisco 49ers kicker Joe Nedney nailed a 45-yard field goal into a fierce headwind while Ziggy, a 340-pound titanium robot, missed two attempts from the same distance. The kicking competition was part of an event leading up to the annual Robogames, which pits bots against bots in ...

Somewhere between Mars Blackmon and the Lebrons, Nike became much more than just a shoe company. Now, the Oregon-based empire has decided to throw its hat in the coaching ring with a new, interactive online program called Nike Football+ (read: Nike Soccer+). In what seems to be an extension of its Nike+ system for runners, Nike Football+ allows diehard soccer fans (read: non-Americans) to watch ...

The World Cup of soccer kicks off this summer in South Africa, and even though the globe is ready for the world's most popular sporting event, an impressive hi-tech ball unfortunately won't be. AGENT has designed a technologically incredible soccer ball, capable of changing its color depending on various circumstances on the pitch. The transparent CTRUS ball design, which requires no air ...

The kickoff to a new football season is a long way off, but gamers can still get a virtual fix on their console of choice. Nintendo Wii owners have a leg up in the realism department, though, thanks to the system's motion-sensing capabilities -- and, more recently, thanks to a new controller from CTA Digital that literally puts the ball in your hands. According to Gizmodo, this soft foam add-on ...