Watching this video gives me chills.

I woke up early to meet up with some friends at a bar here in Seattle to watch the game. It was absolute heartbreak the entire game and as the game drew closer to the end the bar went absolutely silent. I spent the great majority of the game with my face in my hands. And then it happened. The bar erupted, I went bananas, strangers hugged each other and those gorgeous gorgeous USA chants started. There really is something special about that chant.

I don't really get behind any other teams. For some reason I'm uniquely tied to the USA National Team. Maybe it's because, like the guys on the team, I grew up playing a sport that no one in this country really cares about but I love dearly. Then again I'm not even really sure. All I really know is that sports has a special ability to bring people together and it's beautiful.

For what it's worth, it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Ira Glass filmed a series of clips giving advice on Storytelling but I think it's applicable to anyone that is trying to create something. He talks about his teams spends the majority of their time in the process of looking for stories. They'll fly all the way out to a story, get all the information, shoot a few things, come back and realize that the person wasn't as interesting or the story not as compelling. It's really hard to admit that after you've already invested time and effort into it. But it's absolutely crucial.

He goes on to talk about how things gravitate towards crap, it's like a law of nature. Anything that's being created is just trying to be boring and horrible, you have to prop it up at every turn to keep it from being crap. Most of the time that means getting rid of stuff, you have to be relentless, even ruthless, about it. Even if it's good, If you want to make something special you can't settle for good.

There’s this great quote in Frost/Nixon that goes like this: “In boxing, there’s always that first moment, and you see it in the challenger’s face. It’s that moment that he feels the impact from the champ’s first jab.  It’s kind of a sickening moment, when he realizes that all those months of pep talks and the hype, the psyching yourself up, had been delusional all along.”

It’s one thing to know how strong the champ can hit, and something quite different to feel it.

That’s kind of what it’s like to start a company: “Yeah, yeah … I know it’s going to be hard – everybody has told me it’s going to be hard – but I’m ready for it, and I can handle it.”

Trust me, you’re not, and no matter how much you think you know about what it’s going to be like, when that first jab comes, you’ll begin to truly understand for the first time.

Paul Graham says that good startup founders can be described in two words: relentlessly resourceful.   I agree, but I would add two words of my own: arrogant and naïve. Arrogant enough to get in the ring, and naïve enough that you still think you will win after you feel the first punch.

I think it's true for most of the really important lessons in life. Everyone knows how it's going to be or how it should be but actually getting there or doing it is something different entirely.

"If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail," he says, laughing. "You know what I mean? Fuck it."

I just watched "Kobe Doin' Work: A Spike Lee Joint", they put a mic on him for a entire game and then had him give commentary after the game on almost every single play. It might not sound that interesting but I was blown away by how much conscious strategy went into almost every play. Adapting to the defense, taking advantage of weaknesses, exploiting mismatches. He's constantly giving directions to the guys on his team.

I don't think it's typical of all players. You can tell by how he talks about it, he treats it like a craft. He studies it, gets genuinely excited about the smallest detail. I don't know how many times he said execution, "it's all about execution".

The thing that I've always loved about Kobe and the thing that I think sets him apart from everyone else in the league is, he doesn't just want to win, he wants bury you. Unequivocally, without mercy, just because he can, bury you.

I have to give it to Google. I found it incredibly original to tell a complete love story through a search box. I especially liked the part where the user started to type 'long distance relationship advice' and instead erased it and typed 'jobs in paris'.

Amid all of the ads about beer, cars and hot women, it was simple, inventive and sweet. Things that everyone can relate with and just the kind of personality that Google wants to be associated with. Google really stood out from the rest of the noise with this ad.

It had the girls at my superbowl party googly-eyed, pun unanticipated but appreciated.