Sean sure does love soccer. And it’s a big thing right now with the Women’s World Cup and the U.S. National Team’s victory for the ages over Brazil (whenever we beat Brazil at anything in soccer, it’s a big deal). So he’s been helping Courtney research and find inspiration for the annual Louisiana Tech women’s soccer season poster.

In scouring the Internet for images, we found our favorites that are relevant to what we’re trying to accomplish. Here’s some of the images we’ve taken a liking to:

This was an ad promoting last season's kit for Manchester United. We loved the desaturation on the players, intensity of the photography, and clean background.

A photograph of USWNT keeper Hope Solo notable for the triangle cutaway with text and desaturation on the photograph.

We really liked the blue (Tech's colors are red and blue!) and the gradient on the text, as well as the text being a main feature of this ad for Porto's treble-winning season.

An ad for Arsenal's new home kit, we liked the red saturation that adds color without it being too much.

I have no doubt Courtney will work his magic and come up with some sort of amalgam (or something completely different) of all of these wonderful ads to make something unique that we, LA Tech, and the Lady Techsters Soccer Team can all be proud of.

— Apple launched its new round of MacBook Pros yesterday. Like Derrick Rose, they’re FAST.

— Nike is back with another epic, jaw dropping commercial. This time it’s pimping Kobe Bryant’s shoes in a Robert Rodriguez-directed piece. Enjoy “The Black Mamba”.

— There’s a comic about Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg. Canadian comic production company Bluewater Productions released the it written by Jerome Maida and illustrated by Sal Field. No comment because he could buy me 500 times over. Via mashable.com.

— The only way to be memorialized (Note: this actually happened). Thanks to Geekologie:

— Saw this on Chase Jarvis’ Blog. It’s a photo project from Irina Werning that recreates childhood photos with the subject all grown up. It’s a great idea with so much attention to detail it frustrates me I can’t be that focused.

— Had this emailed to me…It’s three old French guys dueling with lightsabers. You might want to take precaution with the bad language…That is, if you speak French.

— Why not play in the virtual snow and make music while you do it? A fantastic, whimsical game over at Color Cave that is a great way to say goodbye to winter. Check out “January” HERE.

— Finally, another incredible video by Freddy Wong. This time, he brings Mario Kart (if you had a Nintendo 64, then you had this game) to life with great special effects. Somebody give this guy a Hollywood movie to direct! Thanks to FStoppers.

I saw a post on designfollow.com giving 70 poster design ideas from Nike and Adidas. It got me inspired to find some of my own favorites, and I also included some promotions featuring text and athletes along with shoes. We do athletic promotions for Louisiana Tech and often use poster designs like these as inspiration. So here’s some of my favs:

This ad features the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard.

This ad features Manchester United's Wayne Rooney sporting the red cross featured on England's flag.

I'm sure, even though he's moved on, we remember the "We Are All Witnesses" campaign featuring LeBron James.

This is a fan-made poster for the University of Oregon football. It's still pretty spot on.

It’s the day you look forward to and simultaneously dread every fall…The day after the college football national championship.

Your team may have already played its bowl game or never came close to winning a game, but you still keep an eye out for the title bout. The best of the best. No. 1 vs. No. 2. And after it’s over, as the confetti covers the field, you realizes it’s all over and that there will be no more Saturdays in front of the TV for another 8 months. No chance to redeem that loss to your rival, no more eye-popping runs, no more aerial theatrics for a game-winning catch, no last second come backs that all but stop your heart, no more broken records, no more college football.

The book has been closed on another season of upsets, unpredictability, and controversy with the crowning of the undefeated Auburn Tigers as the BCS national champion. They beat the Oregon Ducks 22-19 last night in Arizona. It was an unexpectedly dull affair with the teams finally ratcheting up the drama at the 5 minute mark in the fourth quarter, ending with a last second field goal from the SEC Champs to snatch a comeback victory from the Pac 10 champions.

Will this game stick in the collective memory of college football? It’s too early to tell. We haven’t had the advantage of time to provide perspective discerning what this game will mean to the coaches, players, teams’ destiny, etc. Was this Cam Newton’s crowning moment? Was this the game that relegated Oregon back to anonymity in the Pac 10? We just don’t know yet, but we’ll have pundits around to remind us if it does have lasting importance. The more important question, to me, is will it stick in my memory? Probably not. It was a very average game bordering on dull and I’m not connected to either team (except my favorite college team plays Auburn every year and usually defeats them). What will stick in my mind this year is a mixed bag of events, games, players and off-the-field incidents that was a microcosm of the juggernaut that is college football.

The biggest story of the season is the controversy surrounding Auburn QB Cam Newton. The Heisman Trophy winner dominated everyone he played, having a great individual season, but it has a black mark on it thanks to his father allegedly seeking payment for his commitment to a university. Newton originally committed to Mississippi State out of junior college after he had originally transferred from Florida, but there were allegations that popped up towards the end of the season saying Newton’s father had asked for $180,000 for his son to play at MSU. The NCAA investigated and found that Cam had no knowledge of his father’s actions and allowed him to keep playing. The question is whether this is over or just getting started.

The best game of the season belongs to LSU vs. Auburn. The October showdown pitted LSU’s staunch defense against the offensive juggernaut of Auburn. This game had a little bit of everything: lead changes, big plays, momentum swings, and players playing their best. It wasn’t the highest scoring game or the one that will convert fans, but it had national title implications on the line with both teams refusing to lose. The game was even won with a big play: Onterio McCalebb’s 70-yard run out of nowhere.

Another memory is how the Heisman hype is always wrong. We started off the season by saying the 2009 winner Mark Ingram could repeat as Alabama railroaded everyone on their way to a second-straight national championship, but also had Washington QB Jake Locker, Stanford QB Andrew Luck, and Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett on the shortlist. By week three, the list had already changed to incorporate Michigan QB Denard Robinson, with everyone ready to hand him the trophy because of his individual effort and jaw dropping plays. Unfortunately, he got injured. Meanwhile, Locker disappeared on an average team, Mallett choked against Alabama, Ingram shared touches with Trent Richardson, and Newton came out of nowhere to snatch the award. So for the umpteenth time, can we wait until mid season before hyping the Heisman, please?

Lastly, the other thing I’ll remember is the changing of the game. Spread offense has turned college football into a passing sport with the run being adapted to unique formations and alignments. Gone is the traditional I-formation, abandoned for 5 wide receiver, the Pistol Formation (the hot trend at the moment), and bunch sets and bubble screens are the being employed more and more as an alternative to running plays. For better, in my opinion, is the inclusion of the little guys at the big boys table with TCU getting a Rose Bowl selection and Boise St. coming within the width of a goal post from making it to the BCS back-to-back seasons. No longer is it down to the SEC and Big Ten. Everyone has a shot and had Auburn or Oregon stumbled down the stretch, the Horned Frogs would have been playing last night. The uniforms are even changing. Thanks to Nike (who dominates the college football uniform sponsoring world) and their Pro Combat unis, the usual jersey appearance is looking a century old compared to the high tech fabrics, neon colors, unique piping and stitching, and futuristic numbers and logos. While these uniforms aren’t worn every game, if you catch the game or even highlights, the unis grab your attention and hold on for dear life. Mainly because they look like something you would see a football team wearing if they were playing during a scene of a Michael Bay sci-fi movie.

So the season ends with an undisputed champion (can you hear the sigh of relief from the BCS backers?) and memories of a season filled with relative parity and close calls. Can we keep the momentum going for next fall? Who will knock Auburn off their throne? Who will be the next star? What teams are headed to New Orleans in January 2012? For all that and more, see you in September.