Matt Leinart, MySpace, CAA, NFL and Webcams - On Technorati

For some reason related to a prank, when I typed "CAA NFL" in my Technorati search to learn what more was written about CAA's rumored acquistion of two NFL agents and their clients, all I got was a lot of Matt Leinart listings under "webcams" and other stuff related to sex.

I guess some people can't get off -- or are getting off on the idea -- that Matt's a kind of sex symbol in the negative way for whatever reason. Either that or it's that MySpace guy playing a prank on Matt for coming to that Atlanta event while he was hanging with Matt's ex.

Who knows?

Well, once the season starts, it's all decided between the white lines, right Matt?

NFL Network's Adam Schefter Reports On Raiders Deal For Michael Huff

Who's Adam Schefter? According to NFL.com... "After covering the Broncos for 15 seasons, the longest continuous stretch of service by one reporter covering the team in franchise history, Adam Schefter has joined the NFL Network, where he will contribute in a variety of ways, including regular on-air reports, features and commentaries for the only year-round NFL news show, NFL Total Access, plus stories for NFL.com. He was named Colorado Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 2002 and 2003."

(July 24, 2006) -- When the Raiders rookies report to work on July 24, first-round pick Michael Huff will be there with them.

Huff and the Raiders reached an agreement on a five-year deal that will be worth between $22.5 to $26.5 million dollars, including $15 million in guarantees, sides close to the deal confirmed.


The Raiders think taking a chance on Michael Huff at No. 7 in this year's draft will pay off.
Should Huff go on to become the superstar that the Raiders envision, the contract contains enough language that the former University of Texas standout could earn up to $43 million, making it an even more lucrative contract than the one that Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed recently signed with Baltimore. But Huff would have to become a premier safety to achieve such levels of pay.

Nevertheless, the Raiders will have their first-round pick in camp on time, and Huff is expected to win the starting safety job, paired opposite Stuart Schweigert to give Oakland a young and talented safety tandem.

Huff's big deal is expected to be one of two in the AFC West that gets done July 24. The San Diego Chargers also are closing in on a deal with their first-round pick, former Florida State cornerback Antonio Cromartie. With Chargers rookies due to report by the night of July 24, Cromartie is not expected to be late.

And with the Kansas City Chiefs signing Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law, the quality of defensive backs in the AFC West has been dramatically upgraded.

Roger Goodell Still Front-Runner For NFL Commissioner - AP

But there are 11 names and the NFL's not revealing who the non-NFL-staff candidates are. So don't pop the cork for Roger just yet... Goodell's in the lead, as he should be.

ROMULUS, Mich. -- The list of candidates for Paul Tagliabue's job as NFL commissioner is down to 11, although with two weeks to go until the final selection meeting, a majority of the owners still don't know who is on it.

The owners met for about three hours at the Detroit airport Monday to help narrow down the potential successors. Then the search committee continued discussing procedures for getting down to a workable number of finalists for the meetings in Chicago on Aug. 7-9 to choose Tagliabue's successor.

"We are pleased with the way it went," said Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney, co-chairman of the selection committee after a three-hour meeting that followed the main session. "Things went well and the other owners came up with some ideas."

Asked if he thought a commissioner could be selected at the Chicago meeting, Rooney echoed what Tagliabue earlier said: "We're very confident."

Despite the secrecy, the front-runner remains Roger Goodell, Tagliabue's second in command. He appears to be one of three league office people in contention -- the others are Jeff Pash, the league's chief lawyer, and Eric Grubman, its top financial officer.

The reason the owners have not been told any names is that Tagliabue and the search committee want to prevent leaks of the kind that plagued the last commissioner search in 1989.

"Sure I've heard the usual names. We all have," said John Mara, co-owner of the New York Giants. "But we haven't heard anything officially and that's the way it should be. I think the committee is going about it just the right way."

The 11 candidates will meet with the search committee this week at an unspecified site, then the field will be narrowed. Tagliabue didn't specify how many finalists there would be, but said the owners might be divided into small groups to interview the candidates.

The process is in stark contrast to the one 17 years ago, when it took seven months after Pete Rozelle announced his retirement for the owners to choose Tagliabue. He was elected after the late Jim Finks, then the New Orleans general manager, led for most of the process.

One of the problems then was that the search committee was made up entirely of owners close to Rozelle, all with long histories in the league. They were set to elect Finks when a group of newer owners, including Dallas' Jerry Jones, rebelled and ended up supporting Tagliabue.

This search committee includes such non-traditionalists as Oakland's Al Davis and Jones, who despite his early support for Tagliabue ended up differing with the commissioner on many issues. The committee also includes both high-revenue and low-revenue owners, men on both sides of the debate that still remains the NFL's most divisive: how to split income.

Mike and Jean Strahan aren't kissing in the tree anymore

Most people don't know this, because they only see the "pro" in Pro Athlete. I have been a teacher for most of my adult life, But in the 1980's and 1990's I taught profoundly disabled young adults. I also volunteered my time as a coach for NY special olympics. The Director of the Bronx chapter at that time was a mentor of mine, and a former college football player. He asked me, i guess because i had some background in Media, to do back stage interviews of sports personalities at a charity event.

One of the players was a young second year defensive end from the Giants named Mike Strahan. The Mike Strahan i met that night was personable, warm, and talked about his Families' football legacy( his dad played millitary service football in Germany in the 60's, and his uncle played for the Giants in the 1950's). No one reading the NY post each day ever got to see the Strahan i met that night. The Strahan who chatted with the parents of disabled children and teens that night, or the Strahan who actually bid on several items in the auction. The Mike Strahan who shook my hand at the end of the interview.

I wonder if the NY post will spend time kissing up to Mike after the case is over.

MySpace Down - "AsylumBound27" Uses YouTube To Rant About it!

MySpace, now the world's most popular social network / web portal, was down for almost 12 hours due to some kind of power outage.

The event left its 50 milllion users without their habitual outlet for connecting, creating, and venting. One person, a teenager who calls herself "AsylumBound27" was really upset by the whole affair and used YouTube, another popular site used for Video distribution and social networking, to express her displeasure.

This is what she said:

Hummer Winblad Search Dabble Turns Up...Web Widget; What's Vister?

I'm still trying to get to the bottom of the interest in searching for Hummer Winblad on Technorati. In my search, I learned that Hummer Winblad gave money to "DabbleDB" of Canada -- like $2 million. I also discovered that Hummer Winblad sent $1.5 million to Startup PostApp for an "online widget."

Ok, gimme an f-ing break. An online widget. You know "widget" is an economics term for just some kind of device -- nothing specific -- that's used to show the sale of something as related to matters in microeconomics.

Next.

Well, next I learned that Hummer Winblad really did give money to Post App, and they've got an application I'm going to put to great use at SBS.

What's a Web Widget?

Well according to PostApp, it's "A web widget is a piece of web service-based interactive content that can be dynamically embedded into a web page. For example, a web widget can be a game, a score box displaying a set of statistics, a weather box, an advertising box or any other functionality to be embedded on a web page such as a blog, personal homepage, social networking profile, or auction page. Web widgets, sometimes called gadgets or modules, are increasingly used by web publishers to enhance their web pages, and web service developers are now frequently making their technologies available as web widgets. Many different technologies can be used to develop widgets: HTML, JavaScript, AJAX, Flash, Java Applets, and any web application platform: J2EE, LAMP, Perl, Ruby, etc.

PostApp is creating a marketplace that connects web widget developers with bloggers and other personal publishers. Widget developers include online services seeking widespread widget distribution such as Yahoo! and eBay, as well as small independent widget developers."

Nice.

It fits in with what we're doing with our main products here. Real cool.

Now about that Dabble thing.

It turns out there are two Dabbles -- the one in Canada, and this one.

I like Mary Hodder's better!



But regarding this whole social networking craze, you're probably wondering what's next on the horizon that Hummer Winblad should be investing in. Well, here's "Vister."

..and that's Danah Boyd who's 1/2 of the team who conceived Vister. She's an interesting speaker. How do I know? Because I happened to catch her talk about social networks one day at Cal a few years ago. Her talk was theoretical and a bit racy -- I think deliberately so -- but none the less informative.

I tried to contact her with the idea of exploring how what she was doing could fit with SBS, but she didn't see how and at the time I was dealing with too much with business and family battling cancer to try and take time to show her how. So I set the idea on the shelf.

Jeffrey Heer seems to have more of his teeth sunk into Vister's development. This is he:



And this is a video about Vister. Check it out!

More On Michael Strahan’s Divorce

Regardless of how this ugly matter turns out, I do hope Michael Strahan’s not one of those "Down Low" brothas. Yikees!

NEWARK NJ (UPI) — The nasty divorce between New York Giants Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan and his soon-to-be ex-wife is stunning even seasoned divorce lawyers.

The case features sordid details like adultery, beatings and rampant overspending of money, the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reported. The highly public case, taking place in Superior Court in Newark, is a culmination of 17 months of a very bitter battle between a couple, who once projected a clean, wholesome image.

Accusations include Michael Strahan’s alleged “alternative” affair with television doctor Ian Smith, an accusation that Michael Strahan secretly videotaped his sister-in-law getting undressed and Michael Strahan’s allegation that Jean Strahan cheated on him with other women, the newspaper said.

The case, far from settled, has turned into a spectacle that most celebrities try to avoid. Michael Strahan, who once appeared in television commercials for Campbell’s Chunky Soup, is trying to refurbish his image with the help of Sports Media Challenge, a firm that helps athletes deal with the press.