For Fuks Saké

PR Case Studies ref: McClaren '08

When you start a new job, don't pretend to be someone you're not. Like pretend to be Dutch. Or simply be a twat. Full marks to the Mirror for bringing this to our attention.

It's Still A Girl's Game

Lacoste...tennis 75 years from now.

You Don't Get This Kind Of Stuff On ITV

BBC Sport have unveiled their Gorillaz work for the Beijing games. There's all sorts of widgets, gizmos and irritants around the main characters Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy.

Have a look at this though....the 2 minute movie that will form the basis of their opening titles for the Olympic Games.

15 days to go - personally, can't wait. The sanctimonious whining of anyone from Spielberg to Konnie Huq can be parked to one side. Seeing China have its well deserved moment in the sun will be captivating, breathtaking and awe-inspiring. Londoners are about to get a big wake-up call.

Spain. Possibly Holland. Anyone But Germany.

Deep down, other than Brian Glanville, James Richardson and the 3 subscribers of World Soccer, who really gives a shit about Euro 2008?

BBC Sport are giving it the best possible shot. Their campaign is a cracker. Simple insight (no-one's got anyone to supoort therefore they won't care), matched with simple idea (who will you support?), execute it smartly (like they always do) and then throw the kitchen sink at it (the campaign is everywhere on telly and online). There's just a chance with them, that this won't be buried on BBC3 alongside Garth Crooks.

Come Friday night and a few pints, my mates and I have all agreed that all of us are alright at being marketers / PRs / accountants / fund managers / solicitors / whatever. But we'd all be geniuses if we were given the chance to do the music for the all the montages on Football Focus. I don't think so somehow.

Here's the trailer.
Here's their Top 10 Euro goals.
Here's their video archive.
Here's the blog.
Here's their Twitter feed.
Here's their Flickr stream.
Here's their Youtube channel.
Here, even, are the opening titles from Euro '96.

Lineker: Business As Usual

The Surrey-based millionaire divorcee's on the sniff again. This time he's learnt how to use Facebook....

Football Is Important

I agree with Mitchell & Webb.

Sid Waddell Educates Australia

It takes just three clicks to find a clip of Sid Waddell discussing darts, the Gulbenkian library and the Geordie  Nation to ABC Radio's Mick O'Regan and what must be a confused, but then enlightened set of Australian listeners.

You can visit Charles Frith's excellent Punk Planning, who'll tell you about Speechification. Speechification like sourcing and sharing all the gems of speech radio me and you have missed. And from there you get Sid. Nice to see Martin Kelner brought on beforehand to act as a sort of pre-interview translator.

This is education. "The best way to play the Geordie way of sport is to compare it to the Sioux Indians, who are a mighty nation split into little tribes. We Geordies will kick hell Newcastle out of Sunderland."

Listen, download or read the transcript here.

More Sid here.

We are lucky to be alive. Marvellous stuff.

A Proper Job

I don't know who you are, but you'll be like me. We don't have proper jobs. As Mrs Martin Lukes' commented, we're all "just faffing about."

Except this man. This is a real man with a real job. This is David Higgins and his job is to build an Olympic Park.

The London 2012 Olympics will cost GBP10.3bn. David's in charge of GBP9bn of that - and with it he's got to see that an 80,000 capacity Olympic stadium, an aquatic centre, a velodrome, an Olympic village and a media centre are all standing and fit for purpose in some dark hinterland of east London when the world turns up in five years time. There's no mealy-mouthiness going on when you meet David down the Rotary Club. His annual appraisal doesn't have too many grey areas.

I like David a lot, and I'd like to sit down with him in his office and get my head round how the hell he does it. If you read this very refreshing interview, and if you have ever undertaken any form of 'project' in your life, you end up doing what I've been doing today...getting distracted, your mind wandering back to David and his job, and starting hundreds of phases in your head with, "how does he know," or "what if,"   or "how on Earth...?"

LOCOG should be / will be looking to Beijing for lessons as they prepare for 2012. For once, LOCOG should accept a lesson in communication from China - because it's time to get a grip on the drip-drip of budgetary bungling and the tepid passion the UK has for the Olympics. If David was in Beijing he would be a Chinese national hero - the man who holds China's dreams in his hands. In the UK he's perceived as just one of a quagmire of bungling bureaucrats with acronyms and dodgy calculators, tucked away in a corner of east London, as remote from the citizens of Putney as they are those in Pudsey. 

GBP60bn thrown down the toilet of Northern Rock, or GBP10bn for an experience that will shape a generation financially, physically, spiritually? I know what's better value for money. It's about time we started to see, hear and feel a campaign that connects with the country - that starts building an Olympic spirit with young and the not-so-young. David Higgins doesn't need our support, but he certainly deserves it.

Why Viewing Loftus Road from 5,000 Feet Is So Important

I'm such a sad fuck. I can't seem to take my eyes off maps, things to do with travelling, journeys, countries and stuff.

I can gently and warmly spin a globe for ages, thinking about flights, time zones, terrains, climates and the restaurants I'll find when I get there.

I log onto Google Earth to look into sporting stadia  from the sky. 

I get mildly irritated if the Flight Tracker thing isn't working on the plane.

I'm genuinely interested when I ask people  what roads or trains they've taken on a journey, just to see if I could have done better.

That's why I love these.... With Dopplr, I can tell the world where I'm travelling to. With Plazes I can point you to a map and tell you exactly where I am and what I'm doing right now. On Facebook I blatantly show off all the countries I've visited. With OSX Planet my Mac desktop updates every 2 minutes with a live satellite shot of the whole fucking big blue planet.

No-one gives a fuck, but that doesn't matter. It just makes me feel 5% warmer inside.

English Football 2008-2010

I think The Times described Fabio Capello as "a star fairy on a diseased Christmas tree." This is what will happen over the course of the next 2 years.

England lose to Croatia and fail to qualify for the European Championships. Everyone's pissed off. McClaren gets fired, but that's just one ingredient of the English game's problems agree most commentators. Barwick, Thompson - the FA 'administrators' - announce that there will be a 'root and branch' review of the game. The players return to their clubs.

Capello is straight out of the traps. He wants the job. The administrators get over-excited. There will be a week of blacked out limos, secret meetings, and ego boosting on their part - as they hang out with bigger football men than themselves.

Barwick pours the coffee in a box in a deserted Wembley Stadium, whilst the Italian pours compliment upon compliment upon the English game, the job, Barwick and his administrators. They shake hands on a deal and Barwick can barely contain his excitement that he's landed someone with credibility, and he hasn't been made to look like a prick again. The 'root and branch' review of the game slips a notch or two down Barwick's 'To Do' list. He'll look at it in January.

The next day, the press and the game's heavyweights are up for it too. They devote a page to their 'if anyone can do it, Fab can' puff pieces - sandwiched between two double page spreads, previewing Sky Sports' Grand Slam Super Sunday.

In February, Capello's first game in charge, England beat Belgium 4-0 in a friendly. Goals from Crouch, Lampard and two from Michael Owen confirm that England are back. England are installed as fourth favourites for the World Cup. That week the Premier League announce a new multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo. Still no news on the 'root and branch' review of the game.

On the domestic scene, "one of the world's best midfielders," Steven Gerrard has added to his achievements in the game by winning another 2 FA Cups. Milan and Barcelona win the Champions League in '08 and '09 without a single English player in sight. In fact, there are no English players playing in Serie A or La Liga - not even a hint of a transfer rumour.

England qualify comfortably. The players arrive in South Africa. There are injury concerns over Owen and John Terry. Capello confirms that they are simply 'niggles' and both should be fit for England's opening game against the Ivory Coast in Durban. The word from the camp is that Owen's groin has been playing up again - he's been carrying it since February but his club didn't want him back on the operating table. John Terry's defensive partner at Chelsea, Micah Richards, has played 50 games during the season.

A goalless draw sees England through to the 2nd round, but they are up against a resurgent Dutch side.  Again, injuries are an issue. Terry's niggle has developed. He's out. Rooney is suspended after 2 yellows in the opening three games - brought about through needless, reckless challenges. The press question his ability to handle pressure and expectation at the highest level. Lampard has failed to impose himself on the tournament so far and has looked tired physically and mentally.

Marco Van Basten's side look energised, youthful and refreshed. A previously unheard of 19 year striker - Jans Sodderland from Ajax - shocks England. His hat-trick is billed as the 'hat-trick that shocked the world.' England are out, losing to the Dutch 3-1.

Capello honourably resigns. The FA promise a 'root and branch' review of the game. But they also realise they're a damn sight richer than they were 2 years ago. Jose Mourinho suggests to friends that he could be tempted to return to England....