in english

Mexican football roundup

My beloved Chivas lost in the Mexican Clausura 2007 championship semifinals against eventual champions Atlante.  Their history has taken a remarkable turn for the better this season.  Founded in 1916 in Mexico City, the "Team of the People" had fallen on hard times, as followers became few and far between.  An attempted move to Ciudad Neza to get new supporters didn't work, and they had to return to ever more empty seats at the Aztec Stadium.  This year, to improve their luck, they decided to move to Cancún.  Their results improved considerably, their local stadium is continuously full and the team played very well both in the regular season and in the playoffs.  Congratulations!

América, on the other hand, lost the final of the Copa Sudamericana against Arsenal de Sarandí.  They were completely schooled during the second leg at home in the Azteca, and even though they won away it was not enough.

Furthermore, Pachuca lost their first and only match in the Club World Cup.  After having a wonderful few years, winning the Mexican championship multiple times, the Copa Sudamericana and the CONCACAF championship to qualify to Japan, they underlined their terrible second half of 2007 with a disastrous performance against Étoile Sportive du Sahel, the African champions.

There is rumours that more Mexican players will move to Europe in the winter, with Héctor Moreno from Pumas UNAM going to AZ Almaar, therefore joining Carlos Salcido in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Let's see what new surprises there are in the new year.

 

in english

E-Marketing

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My still not that long career has taken me from very different roles.  As an engineer, started in a technical area around content management, then moved to product/project management, followed by sales support for different (but related) businesses and now, starting on the 1st of January, will be doing e-marketing for specific services.

Since the area itself is so new, there is a lot to learn, but the reason that drove me to take this position is simply that this is where marketing is moving.

Any hints?

in english

The convergence space

"Convergence" is a word I've heard plenty of times in the last 10 years, when mobile phones still had monochromatic screens and Minidisc players were all the rage.  Now, with Google and Apple entering the mobile market, it's definitely getting interesting.  The IHT has a run on the situation here, and a couple of posts from Mobile Opportunity giving a digest of the most recent moves here and here.

Disclaimer: Yes, I work for one of these companies, but even if it weren't related to my job I find this interesting.

en español

“Ricardo La Volpe necesita su propio departamento de Relaciones Exteriores”

Antes de que el Sr. La Volpe dirigiera a Vélez en Argentina, algunos medios de ese país (especialmente "Olé") decían que en México no se le apreciaba dado que es argentino.

Después de haber experimentado las malas formas de este entrenador con la prensa, con los jugadores y hasta con sus partidarios, se dieron cuenta que aunque esta persona es realmente es uno de los que más saben de táctica en el balompié mundial, sus formas y su trato humano es lo que lo hacen fallar.

Después de escuchar la frase que da título a este post de boca de un amigo argentino, me dí cuenta que ellos habían llegado a la misma conclusión.  Escribo esto aún cuando sigo siendo de la opinión que el partido México-Argentina del Mundial pasado fue el mejor que una selección mexicana jamás haya jugado en una Copa del Mundo.

in english

Finnish Independence Day

Yesterday we commemorated Finnish Independence Day with my wife’s family at our place, with a typical Finnish dinner.

As much as I like Finland and respect the people that gave their lives for it, I haven’t yet understood why is it such a sombre occasion. Or rather, I understand that it is like that since such events are rather recent and, well, Finns tend to be melancholic, but I don’t feel comfortable with it. I’d rather have a celebration of Finnishness, but of course I understand it’s not my holiday, it’s theirs. I don’t mean to offend anyone with these observations.

What I really don’t like is sitting down and watching the reception at the presidential palace. There are these kind of receptions in Mexico, the United States and other countries as well on their national day, but Finland is the only place I know where people feel compelled to sit in front of the TV to watch a line of guests arrive and greet the president, and where the newspapers will have all the pictures of the party with a special focus on what where the guests wearing. Is it that Finland would have liked to have these kind of “royal happenings” more often, given that it is the only republic amongst its Nordic sisters?

Regardless, hope you had a hyvää itsennäisyyspäivää whichever way you decided to commemorate it.

Now, what am I going to do with my blue/white candles…?