It always strikes me as somewhat amazing how much SMS and MMS services have seamlessly integrated themselves with mainstream activities.  As an example (and no surprise to those who really know me!), I will use this afternoon's Ranger/Bruin hockey game as an example.  Before you send me lots of comments and e-mail pointing out that what I really wanted to write this blog installment about was the thrilling game, I plead 100% guilty.  I will try to at least give some lip service to mobile Internet services while I carry on about the thriller in the "World's most famous arena."

The Rangers and Bruins started the day separated by just one point in the standings, with the Broadway Blues holding the advantage.  The Eastern Conference is very tight this year, with only 6 points separating the top 7 teams! 

The teams traded excellent scoring chances in the first period with the Rangers testing the Boston goalposts, back boards and protective netting, as much as they challenged the Bruin goaltender. But with no pucks finding the twine of either goal, the period ended scoreless. 

The second period was similar to the first, with the intensity turned up several notches.  Jaromir Jagr powered by the Bruin defense on three occasions for close-in tries, denied on each by Jay Auld, the Bruin net minder.  The Bruins finally did put some sustained pressure on the Rangers, with Henrik up to the challenge.  The second intermission came with no goals.

A special shout-out at this point must go to a Blue Shirt faithful in the "Blue Section."  With exactly 1 minute and 5 seconds left in the period, he yelled out, "Hey, how much time is left in the period?"   The announcer of course then followed with "One minute left in the period."  The fan responded with a loud "Thank You!"   19,000 people laughed.  At least the tension of the game was broken for a bit.

The third period was frenetic.   Both goalies made acrobatic saves that seemed to defy the laws of physics.  At one point, Sean Avery made a great power move to the net and flicked the puck off the left post -- groan!   Both teams tried the old tried-and-true method of pushing the defenders and the goalie, along with the puck, into the net.  In both cases, the referees were close at hand to restore order.

 With about 7 minutes left in the game, Scott Gomez completely undressed a Bruin defensemen, stealing the puck in the offensive slot area.  Gomez came in on Auld totally uncontested ... and missed.

Both teams traded some good scoring chances in the 5-minute overtime, but it was obvious that this one would be settled "Mano a Mano" -- with a shootout.  After regular and OT play, both goalies had turned away a combined  64 shots.   That's a whole season of shots for a soccer team!

(If you've stuck it out this far in the blog, I promise to have something about mobile services at the end!)

(Also, if you've stuck it out this long, there is a good chance we share some DNA!)

The shootout -- a best of three -- was as nerve- racking as it gets in a big game.  Both teams missed their first shots.  Nigel Dawes, a Ranger rookie, took the second shot and ringed it off the left post and into the back of the net!   After nearly 3 hours, a puck finally entered the net!  The Bruins missed their final two shots and as Henrik stopped David Krejci, bedlam broke out at the Garden. 

Playoff-atmosphere hockey in mid-March.  Very nice.!

If you want to see video highlights of the game, follow this link:

http://rangers.nhl.tv/team/console?hlg=20072008,2,1037

So here is the wireless angle on this joyous day:

 At that start of the game, I updated my "microblog" with my whereabouts and the status of the game.  During the game there were three wireless polls taken of the audience.  I sent an MMS picture of my daughter to be displayed on the arena's Jumbo-Tron.  At one point, my daughter got lost in the arena (actually, she knew where she was;  I didn't).  She texted me her location, which was back at our seats. ( I can put this in here because my wife does not read this blog!)  And lastly, this entire blog was written on my BlackBerry on the train ride home.  A very full day indeed!

The name on my locker was “Spence.” My coach did not know my real name! He had to ask me so they could print the program for the upcoming games. The other players on the team all had their own “team” names: “Moose,” “Sparky,” “Mole,” “Mud,” “Scooter,” “Sticker,” “Blade,” etc.  It was the persona we each adopted within our social network.

Years later when I played “beer league” hockey, we had a social network that would have only existed in the context of creating a team. The team had some corporate types like myself, blue- collar construction workers, several criminal defense lawyers, and many of their clients! This was a collection of 18 guys that would never network together in “real life.” Like my college team, we only knew each other by our team nicknames. We played together for almost 15 years and won 12 championships.

The years we lost were when some players violated probation! After each season we invited our wives or girlfriends to an end of year dinner. This dinner was always an interesting exercise in social networking. As you can imagine, the female companions of the team members had about as much in common as the players, but easily bonded around the topic of men chasing a small frozen piece of rubber around cold, damp arenas.  My wife always got frustrated when I would introduce her to the other players. The reason was simple – I did not know their real names!! It was always, “Hi, Dear, this is 'Stinky'; 'Stinky,' this is my wife" and “Dear, this is bone-crusher ...."  and she would reply, “Hi, Mr. Crusher!” This group was very tight in the context of ice hockey, but once the season ended, so did our association.  No context equals no social networking. That is the lesson I learned.

Many of today’s social networks have an explicit (such as LinkedIn) or implicit (Facebook) networking context. With a context that is understood by its members, a social network has longevity. If you remove that context, the network will cease to exist. If a network forms (like my earlier comments about CB radio) around a weak context, then the fade will become big, then die.  

My hockey network had context that bonded the group. When the context was removed, that social network became a collection of nice memories, and a few trophies.