You may have heard that there's a special sporting event starting this weekend. (And, no, I am not talking about the Mariners heading to San Diego for interleague play).

This sporting extravaganza is slightly bigger, and it doesn't use bats or mitts. Of course, I am referring to the 2010 FIFA World Cup which officially kicks off at 6:30 a.m. on Friday when host nation South Africa faces off against Mexico.

I know a few Seattle techies who are making the voyage to South Africa for the tournament, and since they forgot to pack me in their suitcase (or sneak me on to their massive yacht) I'll be monitoring the matches from afar. Managing an intense 64-game tournament -- taking place in a time zone nine hours away -- is no easy task for a passionate viewer such as myself. In fact, it takes smart use of technology. And, in some cases, total avoidance of technology.

Here's my primer for all of you tech and soccer geeks out there who are looking at ways to juggle the month long tournament. You can also view my picks below, as well as my cameo last weekend on the wonderful "Forever Football Show" held at the George & Dragon pub in Fremont.

SOCIAL MEDIA: As many of you know, the World Cup takes place every four years. And while that makes the tournament extra special, it creates challenges for lovers of technology. After all, four years is a long, long time in the tech biz.

Behaviors change. Gadgets change. Consider this: During the last World Cup in 2006, Twitter was something that most people associated with birds. (According to Wikipedia, the first publicly-available version of Twitter went live in July 2006 around the same time that Italy was capturing the World Cup crown in Germany).

Twitter today represents an interesting dilemma for World Cup soccer fans. While the instantaneous chatter offers a fantastic way to stay abreast of what's happening on the pitch, there's the problem of avoiding scores.

I haven't quite figured out how to address this challenge. Because most of the games occur in the early morning hours on the West Coast, I am simply hopeful that I can avoid the Twitter stream until I watch the games.

The challenge extends beyond Twitter. I frequently receive breaking news alerts in my email inbox via The New York Times -- such as one Thursday night about the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. I may have to turn those off during World Cup time, otherwise they could spoil the outcome of a game I am recording.

Conclusion: Social media is great if you can turn it off or tune it out.

MOBILE: Having a powerful computer in the palm of your hand opens up all sorts of possibilities when it comes to getting your World Cup news, schedules, photos and more. In 2006, I simply cut a soccer TV schedule out of the newspaper and kept it in my wallet wherever I traveled. And while I started down that path again this year, I quickly realized that I'd be better off downloading one of the many free World Cup iPhone apps.

For the past few days, I've been testing out ESPN's wonderful 2010 FIFA World Cup app, the BBC Football app and the AP Sports World Cup app. All three are super handy, allowing fans to browse schedules and gobble up news. (Unfortunately, I couldn't get the audio recaps to work on the BBC app, though that would be pretty cool).

I've been spending most of my time with the ESPN app, which I like for its Soccer Power Index, player profiles and news. It's also handy how you can peruse each group, and view game times for those teams.

A $7.99 version of that app includes access to radio broadcasts for all 64 games, detailed stats and video highlights. I'll probably bypass that option, unless I get in a pinch.

Earlier this month, Mashable put together a list of the top six free iPhone apps for the World Cup.

TV SET UP: I've already purged a number of old shows on my DVR, clearing out space for the onslaught of games. Only on special occasions will I be waking up for the 4:30 a.m. kickoffs, so having the DVR primed and ready to go will be of utmost importance as I attempt to watch all 64 matches. (I wonder if my wife will notice if old episodes of Gilmore Girls and Lost mysteriously disappear?)

Of course, I don't want to spend the month of June holed up in my basement watching soccer. So, the original plan was to borrow a digital projector from a friend and rig it up so we could show games on the side of our house in the backyard. But that plan proved too technically challenging, so now we are exploring a way to easily move my TV to the backyard.

In fact, my buddy -- who has more technical chops than me -- has already tested this system and plans to host a bash at his house for the England-USA match on Saturday morning.

FANTASY GAMES: I love the fantasy football game operated by the English Premier League, and this year I took top honors among our 10 players by managing a team that included stars Frank Lampard and Carlos Tevez. But for the World Cup, I am avoiding this side show to focus on the games and the team-oriented competition.

Instead of the many online fantasy games out there, I have organized a competition among 16 friends in which each participant was able to claim two countries during a live draft held last weekend. (I chose Holland and South Africa). In order to manage this process, I've shared a Google Doc with the 15 other participants showing which teams the other people in the pool have. Throughout the tournament, I plan to update this Doc and use it to keep track of the scoring system for my pool.

PICKS: This is where I am just going to geek out a bit on the soccer side of things, and I hope you'll bear with me or share your thoughts as well. As many of you know, there are eight groups of four teams competing in the World Cup. Two teams make it out of the group stage, advancing to the final 16. Here is who I think will advance (teams in bold), along with my final prediction. Enjoy, and feel free to critique my picks.

Group A: Mexico, Uruguay, France, South Africa

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Greece, South Korea

Group C: England, United States, Slovenia, Algeria

Group D: Serbia, Germany, Ghana, Australia

Group E: Netherlands, Cameroon, Denmark, Japan

Group F: Italy, Slovakia, Paraguay, New Zealand

Group G: Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast, North Korea

Group H: Spain, Chile, Switzerland, Honduras

And the final will come down to Spain and England, with Wayne Rooney and crew taking the crown for England on July 11th.

Meanwhile, for those of you who've stayed with me this long, here's a portion of my appearance on Alberto Sutton's live soccer show which airs on Ustream on Sundays at 5 p.m. Full episode here.