Back from the dead!

So, I'm sure alot of you - "you" being a small pack of friends, family, and random instigators - were, at one point, wondering what the heck happened to this blog. And then, like so many other things that fall into your world of wonderment, you probably quickly forgot about it, and moved on with your lives.

Wonder no more. Here's a brief recap what's transpired since my last post back on September 2, 2010, which in blog years, was like ten years ago.

- Over the course of last summer, while we were rueing the "what ifs" of the U.S. National Team' in the World Cup and Snookie was getting arrested, fellow writer/good friend Sean Donahue and I were contemplating the creation of a soccer website unlike one ever seen around these parts of the internets. One that would bring unparalleled coverage of the Revs, local soccer, and the national team. In short: it would transform the medium completely.

What started as a really, really long Facebook thread of thoughts, ideas, emotions, and emoticons eventually morphed itself into a honest-to-goodness website. We named it "New England Soccer Today," or "nesoccertoday.com" if you're on the world wide web.*

(*Last night, I popped the fourth season of "Boy Meets World" into my PS3 for little bit of late-night entertainment. I'm know: I'm dull. During one of the episodes, Joey the Rat references that he was chatting on "the web" with Harley Keiner, who's release from juvie was imminent. I believe the episode was taped in 1995, which got me thinking: who, at that time, could have ever foreseen how big the internet would become? Certainly not Joey the Rat, and definitely not me. Otherwise, I would have saved all of my random missives on sports written during free period and published them here for open ridicule.)

Since then, Sean, Julian Cardillo (another one of our talented writers), and I got to work and have slowly, but surely, turned the site into a moderate success. What can I say? I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by a pair of writers who, by association, make my stuff actually appear readable.

Of course, the site isn't a finished product. By no means. Recently, Sean re-introduced his wildly-popular Revolution Recap in podcast form, with the hopes that it might someday return to the radio airwaves in order to siphon the attention of listeners throughout southeastern New England. Meanwhile, there's been talk of video reports, game broadcasts, and NEST-branded polo shirts and thongs. Should we taste success on all of these fronts, our next step is WORLD DOMINATION.

-Another endeavor that's kept me up late at night (besides watching all four seasons of "Boy Meets World" everynight without interruption) is the reconstruction of the New England Soccer Hall of Fame's website. Now, without throwing anyone under the bus, the site became outdated, and when it was apparent that we were out of luck in our numerous attempts to update it, we frustratingly crumpled it up (figuratively, of course) started from scratch.

As one of the few members with passing knowledge of the internet, it was my job to oversee the creation of the new site. The fact that I'm also president probably also had something to do with it. Anywho, I met with the extremely-knowledgeable/helpful Brian Sperlongano and got the site launched in December. Alot of work still remains to get it looking, dressing, and talking the way I want it to, but it's a start.

In addition to the site, my role as President has thrown me headfirst, fully clothed and all, into a number of projects concerning the organization. One such project is the location for the 2011 induction ceremony. Typically, we hold it at the Riveria Inn, which is right down the road for me in East Providence and is pretty convenient for most of the Board and Committee Members to get to. Plus, it has that "old world" charm that I'm sure alot of people appreciate.

But, I've always thought another location could also work. One which, for lack of a better cliche, will "take us to the next level." And right now, I'm currently discussing that locale with a few people within the New England soccer community. Although I can't divulge too many specifics because nothing is even close to set in stone, I can say that if it all shapes up according to plan, this year's ceremonies will blow the previous year's out of the water like a deep-sea torpedo.

Lastly, but certainly not at all the least, the search for a physical home for the countless items and artifacts that we've accumulated over the years remains our top priority. Although we've been told many things by many people over the years, nothing has come to fruition as of yet.

However, it is my one of my ultimate goals in life - besides, you know, winning the lottery and driving a different car each day of the week - not just as President or even as a Committee Member, to get a physical location for the Hall. As a soccer fan, New England deserves to have its own soccer museum to showcase how rich the sport's history is right here. Not alot of people know how deep the sport's roots run here. And that's a darn shame. Hopefully, we can change that. The establishment of a soccer museum would be a tremendous step in the right direction.

So that's all that's going on with me. Because alot of my writing responsibilities lie with nesoccertoday.com and nesoccerhall.com, the bulk of my work can be found there.

But, stick around. I still plan on writing here. I'm thinking of firing up another Soccer Odyssey a la the one I journeyed on back in 2007, and writing extensively about it here. I also plan to post some less formal pieces here, stuff that probably isn't the best for N.E.S.T. First-person writing is done best in blogs, anyway.

If you've made it this far, then please bear with me for little longer. If you haven't, then whatever message I type here will be utterly useless (much like the majority of my posts).