Studs Up

It’s sort of hit me that the season is over, but also sorta not. Every now and then a wave of confusion flows over me as I struggle to remember who’s playing this weekend, before remembering it’s no one. It’s kinda liberating actually.

Of course the World Cup is looming, and I am claaaaazy excited. I travel around a lot, splitting time between Hong Kong, Melbourne, New York and London so I had to pick where I wanted to be for the tournament. I chose New York. Why? Well, New York is great in the summer but more importantly there’s a LOT of effort being put in by the city and the companies who call it home to make this World Cup a real event. Pop-up shops, impromptu football festivals and a LOT of advertising is already beginning to show up all over the city and should only get better as we get closer to kick off. When NYC gets excited about something, they usually know how to put on a show.

World Cup’s actually provide great markers in the progress of society and well, the world. A lot can change in four years and this World Cup is the Digital World Cup. Four years ago I had just started my first site CaughtOffside, the iPhone didn’t even exist, and Facebook was only available to American schools and work places. How fucking insane is that? Japan & Korea may as well have fought by cavemen in… some sort of cave… ages ago.

Brands are able to join the party like never before as well, the notion of guys like GQ Magazine launching an entire World Cup microsite wasn’t fathomable while Nike is now premiering clips of their legendary TV marketing via… well… guys like me. Whaaa?

The current dominance that digital devices and media enjoys in how we manage our daily lives was something only just bubbling to the surface in 2006, leaving untold opportunities for individuals, brands and just about anyone else to blow us away with how they enhance the 2010 World Cup. I can’t wait to see who steps up.