ESPN is currently having a countdown, '25 Hours' to college football. Meaning, it is less than 24 hours till LSU vs. Miss. St. in Starkville, MS.

AHHHHH......

Meaning I am about 72 hours away from being in Berkeley, CA watching Tennessee vs. California.

College Football is the best time of the year. It brings new hope for a season yet to be. A long awaited change of seasons mid way through the schedule. It evokes the ideals of tradition, history, youth and promise.

It has way too many flaws, but in the end it is a game. One played in front of fanatics all be it but a game all the same.

Go VOLS.

Accoording to a blog on WIRED.com AT&T is official dropping the "fewest dropped calls" bit from their advertising campaign.

Turns out it was never true and AT&T ranks close to the bottom when it comes to dropped calls....

Did you hear that? No? It was my call being dropped.

New York Red Bulls beat the LA Galaxy last Saturday 5-4 in front of 66,000+ in New York (The Meadowlands in New Jersey).

There were 3 goals scored in the first 10 minutes and 5 in the second half.

Beckham got assists on the first two LA goals both scored Carlos Pavon. Beckham had multiple free kick opportunities but hit the wall 3 or more times. The game was on Field Turf which Beckham already said he doesn't like.

Even though LA loss the game was a success for the Red Bulls and MLS. With 66,000+ people in the stands watching what is considered in soccer terms a shootout and coverage on ESPN the game was lifted up to another level. More fans were probably created, more merchandise was probably sold, and more importantly more people will go or watch another game.

From a fans perspective it was exciting to watch. There was not only a lot of goals but a lot of impressively scored goals. There was also a great atmosphere that even came across on TV. I guess you could say it was a successful night for soccer in America.

The Beckham effect is in full swing.

I got an e-mail from an old friend with the accompanying FARK headline:

Hurricane Dean announces that its gonna gain strength, then it's going to the Gulf of Mexico, and then Texas, and then Georgia, and then Florida, and then all the way to the White House Yeeeeaaaaaaarrrgh

Well apparently Hurricane Dean is at least on its way to the Gulf of Mexico after picking up steam late Friday. The best part about Hurricane Dean is that it comes a week or so after Hurricane Forecasters lowered there outlook for 2007.

Oops.

By the way, how arm chair quarterback is that? The Hurricane season starts in June and after a couple of months of little to no activity in the Atlantic they decide, ' ah, well guess there won't be as many.'

Ghetto.

In any event, if Hurricane Dean doesn't do much damage (which I hope it doesn't) then at the very least we got to watch that Dean Scream again.

A couple of years ago I read in some wire report about a coup attempt in Africa. Somebody arrested a plane full of mercenaries on their way to overthrow some government in West Africa. As it turned out a former member of the British SAS was leading them and they were financed in part by the son of a former British Prime Minister.

Well, the mercenaries were mainly South African, they were arrested in Zimbabwe and they were on their way to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.

Follow?

Yes? Good then you'll enjoy reading ' The Wonga Coup' by Adam Roberts. Don't follow? You'll still enjoy reading this book by Adam Roberts.

Roberts is a writer for 'The Economist'. He has covered Africa pretty well and jumped all over this story from the beginning. His ability to bring all of the pieces together and give get background information on the main players gave you the pleasure of understanding where these solider's of fortune were coming from and why they were doing what they were doing.

He also didn't end the book with, ' hey...they got caught.' No he went further and brought you up to speed on where these people are now (some are still in prison in some God awful places in even worse conditions)

With people and the mainstream media beginning to realize how much we in the United States depend on private military firms (Blackwater, KBR, Custer Battles) in war zones like Iraq and elsewhere this is a good side note to what could happen when these hired guns have no war to fight.

I highly recommend this book not only for the story but for the well done piece of journalism that Adam Roberts did in writing it.

The game HALO 3 for XBOX 360 doesn't come out until September 25th but it already has over 1 million pre orders.

In addition to this several other companies are attaching themselves to the launch such as Mountain Dew, Burger King, Pontiac, and 7-Eleven.

Mountain Dew will be coming out with something called Mountain Dew Game Fuel that will contain 30% more caffine and will only be available time starting around August 13th.

The really crazy part is how far video games have come. As the Wall Street Journal article points out video games aren't on the level of Hollywood movies but they are growing a hell of a lot faster.

On a side note, part of my job consists of getting UFC fights to XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE so people can download them onto their XBOX 360's. I always tell fighters when I run into them that they have a fight in HD on the site.

When I talked to a fighter from France he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Part of the reason as I was told by a photographer nearby was that game consoles aren't big there. Think about that, a western country like France and gaming isn't all that big.

Hello growth market. Especially when you consider companiesd like Microsoft are now allowing you with Windows Vista to play on your PC against people playing on an XBOX 360.

The glory of high-speed networking.

It's the early days of The Weather Channel. Check out the 80's hair!  

It's live television folks!

The Weather Channel meteorologists prove that live TV can betricky.

The Chuck Palahniuk book 'Choke', which is one of my favorites, is being made into a movie starring Sam Rockwell.

This was Chuck's (and yes I can still call him Chuck even though I feel his last two books were sub-par) follow up to 'Fight Club'.

Apparently things are going well on I assume would come out sometime next year.

If you haven't read the book go read it now. It's funny, interesting, and like a typical Chuck book disturbing as hell.

I loved it.

Especially when it satrts out in a sex aholics class and it's main character may or may not be a direct decendent of Jesus Christ.

Just read it.

DeMarcus Beasley made his debut for Rangers of the Scottish Premier League this past weekend. The story it appears isn't that this US National team soccer player is playing for Rangers but that he is so small and playing for Rangers.

Beasley is a little dude, 5ft 8 and 145lbs soaking wet. He is very fast and very talented. He has played in the Netherlands for PSV Eindhoven and in the English Premier League with Manchester City. He played for the Chicago Fire in the MLS a few years ago and makes frequent apperances for the US National team.

He apparently got tossed around quit a bit in his first game in Scotland which is nothing new for the Fort Wayne, Indiana native. I've seen him knocked around during International competition and I'm sure he got clobbered a few times in the Netherlands and in England.

But he is going to do well. He's 25 and a helluva play maker on the wing. He is one of the leaders of the US National team and I'm sure will make a pretty noticeable impact with his new club.

So if you get the chance to catch a Rangers game this season keep an eye out for DeMarcus. He's the fast, skinny, black man on the wing and usually developing some kind of a scoring chance.

So I went to do some interviews for work yesterday Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture gym over on Sunset. As I was leaving I got stopped by Rampage Jackson yelling ‘Where you going?’ followed by Michael Bisping yelling “Give us a ride or you’ll never get an interview again.”

Next thing I know I got 3 UFC fighters, a trainer and a manager squeezed into my 2 door Chevy Blazer on the way to the Hard Rock Hotel punk rock style.

Now we are talking about some big boys here. 2 Light Heavyweights (205lbs) and one Heavyweight (205lbs and up) squeezed into this truck. How they all fit (with there gear) I’ll never know.

The funniest part is that it's the biggest Frenchman you'll ever see, and Englishman, and Rampage who is the biggest character you are ever going to find. It was like an SNL skit.

After 10 entertaining minutes we arrive at the Hard Rock and I drive right up to the front to let them all out. So Rampage and Bisping decide to get out, run around the car and crawl back through like a comedy routine. Those two could be going on a comedy tour later this year.

Former San Francisco 49er Head Coach Bill Walsh died. It's not often you associate the word 'Innovator' with a football coach but he really was. He revolutionized the game of football with his short passing game that became known as the West Coast Offense.

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An NBC Dateline producer ran out of the Def Con security conference here in Vegas after it was made clear she was going to be exposed. I am sure she will find out that he identity has been stolen within 48 hours.

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Got back from Charleston on Monday afternoon. A quick 4 day trip. I could have used a few more days.