Why I hate FIFA

I have fond memories of running around outside kicking a soccer ball with classmates and friends as a kid. Sometimes we got bloody noses, other times, scratches. We really didn't stop playing, though, until we saw bone and blood at the same time.

In recent world championship tournaments like the FIFA World Cup a common practice has developed. So much so, that nearly all players do it at some point. Call it diving, falling, flopping or flailing-wildly-on-your-back-while-your-teammates-make-the-plays-happen. It doesn't matter what name it has, because in the end, all that matters is that it proves a single point: weakness.

True athletes push themselves beyond all, above all, through all, into the wild blue. True athletes grit their teeth, get up, then briefly wipe the blood, sweat and grime off their bodies. True athletes don't let anyone or anything get in their way in achieving a clean biomechanical movement or a personal record.

True athletes just get up and keep going to overcome their opponents.

No. Matter. What.

What does a true athlete mean to you?

Why Tiananmen Square Matters 25 Years Later

I was days away from turning eight at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 3 - 4, 1989. Little did I know 11 years and one month later I would stand on the stones that were once bloodied from the conviction of students. Or that I would be employed in the city that the tanks originated from.

Charlie Cole, Stuart Franklin, Jeff Widener and Arthur Tsang Hin Wah all captured similar images of the anonymous tank man who became the symbol of dissent from the Chinese government at the time. Five floors up, with a 300 or 400 mm lens. In 2009, however, a fifth photographer came forward. Terril Jones. His version of the event was quite different as his point of view was captured at eye level. He shared in an email to the New York Times,

"Adrenaline and the drive to stay close to the action took me back to the street on June 5. I was in front of the Beijing Hotel and I could hear tanks revving up and making their way toward us from Tiananmen. I went closer to the street and looked down Changan Avenue over several rows of parked bicycles when another volley of shots rang out from where the tanks were, and people began ducking, shrieking, stumbling and running toward me. I lifted my camera and squeezed off a single shot before retreating back behind more trees and bushes where hundreds of onlookers were cowering. I didn’t know quite what I had taken other than tanks coming toward me, soldiers on them shooting in my direction, and people fleeing."

Interested in seeing more? Watch this raw CNN video from June 5, 1989, below:

13 dead and 3 unrecoverable, Jim Geiger opens up about his Mt. Everest Attempt

Yesterday marked the 61st anniversary of Sir Edmund Hilary's Mount Everest summit. About a month ago Jim returned from the base camp at Everest in an unsuccessful attempt to summit Everest. What stood in his way? The most deadly avalanche in Everest history. It claimed the lives of 16 very experienced climbers. Had he succeeded, he would have been the oldest American and first great-grandfather to make it to the top.

In a 17 minute interview with Capital Public Radio's Beth Ruyak, Jim opened up about the experience, what brought him to that point and what was on the horizon.

Listen to the full Insight interview.

Read more about Jim's journey in previous posts.