football families and facebook
i really love finding connections among things that previously went unconnected. In my childhood, there was a fantastic bbc/discovery program and books (hosted by my favorite balding guy with white hair and black eyebrows) making leaps across centuries and civilizations through personal, individual connections between them. it really engaged me, and was one of the first books i remember finding on my own, without anyone else’s input, in the library, and voraciously reading it. i finally found it thanks to the internet (which makes me overjoyed), and i still enjoy the idea of social nets to this day.
ive often wanted one for a small group of highly related people that are famous - the one i always think about is NFL coaches. a very incestuous business, but also very familial. i think it would create interesting trees - i remember an nfl films roundtable(see 09.25.02) with all of mike holmgren’s assistants that were then-current head coaches, it was like 1/4 of the league! but then he was a bill walsh guy too, so it could get even bigger. its probably all bill walsh or bill parcells guys.
anyway, apparently nndb is now has UGC for some of the big movers and shakers in the world, and i guess i could make it myself. this seems like it could become powerful, and more than to just explore Paris Hilton’s sex life. and, as a plus, it reminds me of a sweet online game i play when bored. facebook started with a friend visualization that is really why i joined, but dropped it after expanding to too many schools and realizing people are just friend whores that couldn’t ever be loaded into their API. but, as i’ve noticed they seem to be back on the bandwagon, or at least third-party people are. the conclusion? Kevin Bacon is god.
