• The growth of fantasy sports is changing the landscape for the professional sports fan - the game that is much loved (whether soccer, basketball, baseball, or something else) or followed can now have a different level of interaction and control for the fan. Choose players, select which ones play at a certain time, spend a certain allocation of money to develop a team, win prizes, win money - all of these possibilities are creating a new type of fan; a fanatical, fantastical fan. I observed this recently whilst over at a friends house - he had a game on the TV with two teams that I knew he didn't follow or have any loyalty with. When I inquired about it

    Apr 27,
  • For Bryan Smith, Haiti has become a bit of home away from home. Smith first traveled to Haiti in 2004. For the last four years, he has been bringing soccer with him. It is the world's game, after all. Last year, the Colorado Rapids donated a couple of boxes of equipment with many personal donations by Haitian Goalkeeper Steward Ceus (Rapids, 2009-2013). This year, the Rapids donated enough gear to outfit a complete team with shorts, shirts, and compression shorts along with some miscellaneous gear. Smith, using some of his other connections, was able to secure additional equipment like shoes and balls for the young men of the village of Fedja, in the Mirebalais region of Haiti, northeast of Port-au-Prince.

    Apr 24,
  • A friend recently lost his job. Terminated without any warning, he expressed shock and dismay when the company that he had worked for over 8 years told him, "We're going in a different direction." Box in hand, he cleared out his desk and made his way home - bewildered and confused while coworkers looked on. Whilst we don't often consider it in this way - a death had occurred. Relationships, pay, significance, identity, and much more all were "killed" in that particular moment for my friend and he had to cope with a great sense of loss that was compounded by the whole thing being confusing and unforeseen. Losses like this are commonplace in life and also in professional sport

    Apr 20,
  • Distant Bri Bri Native Indian Village Along Panama Border Receives Gear           In the distant native indigenous Bri Bri Indian village of Yorkin, nestled and shrouded by the green canopies of primary jungle forest along the Northeast border with Panama, is a group of young boys and men who are passionate about soccer. Chaplain Hugo Venegas has worked on short term mission projects with this community for over seven years and have helped build with volunteers from Colorado and other areas in the US and Canada, the village's water system, a health clinic, classrooms for their jungle high school, and the infra structure for their rural ecotourism project. When Chaplain Venegas arrived at the village after

    Apr 17,
  • The other day at the stadium, one of the Colorado Rapids staff members said, "Thanks for the luck!" The team had just scored a couple of goals against an important rival and looked to win it's first game of the season. The comment reminded me of the superstition that surrounds much of professional sport - from the player wearing the same socks game after game or makes the sign of the cross before entering the field of play to the coach or executive that hires certain staff or makes certain business decisions in order to keep "luck" on their side. A few years ago, after the Colorado Rapids had won the Major League Soccer Cup (2010) a member of the

    Apr 13,

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