Keeping up with Real Time

I'm a terrible blogger.

I'm sorry I haven't written about the Tribe still hanging in there, LeBron still being a d-bag, Ohio State still taking bullets to the head, or the bureaucracy involved with it all. I'm sorry I promised to be more consistent, but instead violated this all-important rule of blogging.  I could make a thousand excuses for my non-existent presence, but I'll limit the number to two. Neither of these have to do with my job taking over my life (because it doesn't, even if I am working more than 40 hours a week).

The first is that it's summer. In my 23 years of life, summer has been the time where my mind gets to rest. I've never taken summer classes, the only other "summer" internship I had was more of a shadowing opportunity and I've worked food service/retail jobs since I was 14. This is the first summer I've had a real job where I'm required to be just as, if not more, creative as I was during the school year. You would think I'd be adjusting with difficulty, but in fact, I love this pace. And every single weekend thus far has been phenomenal. This state of bliss is possible because I'm not waiting on ignorant men who think giving out their phone numbers will suffice as an adequate tip, or tourists who spend so much money on water gun games that their food budget had to be sacrificed. So, rather than staying at my apartment or sitting behind a computer 16 hours a day, I've been enjoying summer, as all of us should be.

Some friends and I waiting outside Grimaldi's in Brooklyn back in May. This was taken a few days after my first Yankees game. Go Tribe!

                                                                                       

The second reason is that I got rid of cable and won't allow it to return to my life until mid-August. For sports people, not having cable is sort of sacrilegious. I got rid of it because my roommates moved out and I barely watch TV in the summer anyway. As far as the sports stuff is concerned, I get everything I need to know from blogs, Twitter and sports websites. Personally, you should all be jealous of me because I have the privilege of NOT watching ESPN. However, the bad part of not actually watching sports and sports news is that I find it much more difficult to get a 360 platform of inspiration. Hearing other people talk about stuff is fine for knowledge, but not when you want to get in the conversation surrounding a live event.

Speaking of the conversation, who's heard of this little thing called Google+? I hope the answer to that is yes, but hey, it's summer. I don't blame you for living under a rock. Basically, Google's been paying attention to the way people communicate, connect and create content, and has developed an interface to give everyone a unique place to do what they've already been doing. It seems most of the people I've added to circles share like they would on Twitter, but it looks like it would on Facebook, if Facebook wasn't so busy.

I'm not saying Google+ is going to wipe out either of these networks. Facebook connected people in a way MySpace couldn't and Twitter made real-time the norm. But as someone who has established myself in a sports circle in the Twitterverse, I can honestly say this platform can give us a whole new way to talk about live sports- if we have a way to watch them, of course.

Think about it. Every Saturday from September to November and in the three weeks of bowl season, those of us who are not at a college game, at a bar watching a college game, at a party watching a college game, or doing anything involving a college game that keeps us away from our computers, were most likely live blogging or live tweeting with others about that game. With Google+, we can take our live discussions to the next level and "hangout" with each other, "spark" content with each other and follow our "circles," all in one place. Now, for those of us who don't get to leave the house, we can technically watch and absorb the game with other people in the same boat. Brilliant.

I personally would much rather be out and about on football Saturdays, but if I learned anything last year it's that grad school doesn't always allow a full day for fun. Sometimes I have to stay sober and the only way to do so is to pretend I'm doing homework while watching the game(s). It's a wonderful mind trick I seem to have perfected. In either scenario, it's much better enjoying football with others.

I'm still learning Google+ and all the fun that might come with it. I'm not quitting Twitter because I like it too much. I'm not quitting Facebook, because that's where my friends are, though I suspect my activity will decrease even more than it already has. I guess if I removed some of the clutter, aka people I don't care about, I could make Facebook a little more like Google+. But nobody likes the feeling of being "unfriended," and I don't like hurting people's feelings. I actually like that these social networks are different, serve different purposes and keep up the conversation in different ways.

For me, and hopefully for others, the unique purpose of Google+ can be another way to make our communities more open. But if this summer taught me anything, it's that no interface, social platform or real time conversation can ever replace real life experiences. I can look at people's beach vacation pictures all day, but nothing compares to actually going to the beach. I can read about stuff going on in Cleveland, Columbus or NYC but it doesn't do much for me unless I'm really there. I can drink a Summer Shandy while writing this post, but it doesn't taste as good as when I'm sitting around a patio table, having a toast with my friends.