from ted roof's halftime interview

we need to get better in every phase of the game.

maybe he finally gets it

force turnover, drive bacll inside 10, miss FG. ah Duke football.
I feel sorry for Joe Surgan, its not his fault the coaching staff
puts him in the game.

our fundamentals are horrible. we don't stay low, we don't play
with leverage, we don't wrap guys up. These are mistakes good high
school teams don't make.

missed FG by Duke... UVA isn;t that good either. Its almost about
who will implode more

SAFETY 14-2.

just when you want to give up, they reel you back in

get a first down on a fake punt-- ted is desperate, that can be a
good thing. 6 passes so far; none more than 4 yards down field.

TD UVA 14-0. nothing special, they just walk the ball down the field.

another 3 and out ended by a drop..keeping a positive atitude is tough.

TV UVA. their TE runs over 3 of our guys

short punt returned 66 yards to the Duke 2. This blog might be
pretty short.

first play-- audibile into a FB lead for a 3-yard loss. nice way to
start.

they don't even mentioned that Chris Long is Howie Long's son. I
think the production meeting for this game lasted about 5 minutes.

mike hogewood back on the sidelines. with coverage this bad, you
would think they would give some good young guy a chance. Or at
least a hot young southern belle. In the Duke preview, they don't
even mentioned that Duke is allowing Mike Tauilili to play even
though he fled a DWI and pulled a gun.

May guess is that it isn't intentional, it just piss poor reporting.

keys to the game

For Duke: Beat UVA, not themselves.

Quite insightful for a team that has lost 23 straight.

real time blog of Duke vs. UVA game

let's see how this goes and how long i can prevent getting hostile.

Opening shows Chris Dougherty which my wife told me just goes by his
last name. Just they wanted to save Doc Walker a few minutes of
time for his intro. Probably a good move.

another episode in poor customer service.

wanted to share this with you guys and get some opinions on what I should do next. Clearly, many golf courses forget that they are in the service industry.

Around 6 tonight, I go to my local muni (Winnetka Golf Club) to get a quick nine holes in. First, I go to the pro shop to hit a bucket of balls, I go to the counter and a new employee at first undercharges me. I correct him and pay him the full amount instead. He doesn't believe me until I throw the point to the rate sheet above the cash register.

After I hit a bucket, I go back in and pay for a greens fee. I go up to the register and talk to an assistant pro who is clearly on a personal phone call. I handed him $20 (the twilight greens fee). I ask if I need a receipt and he tells me just to go to the first tee.

At the first tee, as I am approached by a ranger asking me for a receipt. (in the middle of my backswing, noless). I tell him that Jeff, the assistant pro, told me just to tee off. He tells me that I need to go back to the pro shop and get a receipt. I told him no and he can radio into the pro shop if he doesn't believe me. Remember that there is only about an hour of daylight left so I have no interest in wasting any more time.

The assistant pro storms out in a huff to talk to the ranger. I ask them what the problem here is. He tells me "Stop being such a f***ing a*******. If you don't like the way we do things here, play some other F***ing course. The ranger is just trying to do his f*****g job here."

I respond that I paid for greens fee and don't like being this way. Jeff responds "Well, I don't having to be nice to f***ing a*******. As he walks away, I nail a three wood 275 right down the middle.

My questions-- what do I do now? The way I see it I have a few options

1) Never go back to Winnetka Golf Course again.
2) Ignore it and go back as normal like nothing happened.
3) Call the head pro tomorrow morning and tell him my story. (Not sure exactly what he would do about the problem though).
4) Go back and confront Jeff about his behavior.

Also keep in mind while there are other cheap munis in the area, this one has the best twilight rates and is usually deserted after 6pm, which I like since i can often play multiple balls and really work on my game. I would prefer to be able to go back, but don't want to go somewhere which doesn't treat its customers well.

great new website

check out  http://www.walkscore.com-- one of my new favorite website.  This website is designed to measure how "walkable" a neighborhood is.  However, its real value is a quick and easy to read view of all of the key restaurants, grocery stores, etc near a certain address.

 

 

The dog ate my law license

literally.

 

 

Apparently Mike Nifong's dog ate his law license.   http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0815071puppy1.html   If they made this a movie, noone would believe it.

 

 

 

dumb question.

If you usually wear a size 11 shoe, but end up fitting right in a
size 10.5 instead, do these shoes run big or run small?

what the heck?

just got a mysterious package from the Duke Alumni Association. They wanted to thank me for my contributions so they gave me a, err.... gift. Not exactly sure what it is, but i think it clips to something.

I guess the $13MM they paid out for the lacrosse settlement made it so they can't give out gifts that the giftees can identify.

vick-mania

i feel like the ESPN ombudsperson here. but why on earth did
ESPN.com need to offer 5-hour of live coverage for the Michael Vick
arraignment? It should be noted that the arraignment offered no
surprises, occurred exactly as expected and lasted fewer than 15
minutes.

On a related note, I expect Joey Harrington to have a huge year this
year. I will undoubtedly take him late in my fantasy draft.

strange edit

watched office space on comedy central today. obviously swear words
needed to be edited out. one switch doesn't make sense though.

They changed the phrase "we are going to pound me in the ass prison"
to "we are going to pound into ass prison" they still said ass on
both version. Apparently, any anal sex reference is too hot for TV.
On a related note, I watched "The Fuck Buddy" Sex in the City episode
on edited TV last night and the edits weren't that bad.

one week in... I still haven't seen a person with an iPhone.  Maybe i just don't see technosavvey people on a daily basis (no, that's not true) or maybe I just don't see enough really stupid people on a daily basis.

 

 

 

shout out

thought i would give a shout out to one of my new favorite web
stops.

www.chowhound.com.

For a foodie like myself, you can always
pick somethign up.

good news

so before i leave for work this morning, i check out the cover of the tribune. A quick link to people who are passionate about certain restaurants. So I wondered "Did Chick-fil-a make it?" Apparently, the closest Chick-Fil-A is in Racine, WI (70 miles away). But here is the better news, CFA is planning a Chicago-area restaurant by Christmas 2008.

andy

andy roddick is a stud. he was down 3-0 in the third set and then
down 5-0 in the tiebreaker and still managed to win. He just kept
putting the ball back in play and let the frenchman he was playing
completely implode. This is the year he beats federer.

no sightings

 

still no iPhone sightings yet.  maybe I have reached that point in my life where i don't associate with conspicous consumers that much.

it never fails

somethings just never chance. the things you appreciate and look
forward to and look back fondly on. Like Christmas when you still
believed in Santa, like going off to college before you discovered
alcohol or the g-spot or the proper combination of the two and now,
Bill Simmons' draft day diary. though not as good of the 2003
edition (nothing will ever be), it is a must read and i will probably
read it 15 times before next year. rarely is there good quality
analysis that can be laugh out loud funny.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070629

political correctness

in the car this morning, when talking about our respective middle management heavy organzations, i made the comment, "sometimes its all chiefs and no native americans".   Wifey didn't get it.  Then i explained, I was referencing the expression all chiefs and no indians, with my tongue in cheek politically correct adjustment.  She still didn't get it. 

 

Apparently, she had never heard the expression before.  Guess the U of C Lab school was politically correct way before the rest of us

 

My list...

products that charge a premium for offering a cheaper or less quality product than their competitors.

Here is my start

- Nudie jeans
- Dove/Degree Ultimate Clear deodorant
- some type of plastic hangbag Wifey was telling me about

here's the secret... P&G are liars.

maybe you've seen the latest ads for Old Spice or Secret Deodorants.   Money-back guarantee.    One would think that if use the product and it doesn't work, P&G (the owner of the two brands) would do the right thing and refund your money.   WRONG!!

 

I recently called their Refund line (1-866-311-0795) to call and ask for a refund after my mother had green marks left on her underarm after using the product for the first.   But no, they want the original receipts, the UPC from the original document and enough information to fill a wikipedia site.   Who is actually going to have this information?  Only someone trying to get something for free.  Users of the product who are NOT trying to take advantage of the company, will get nothing back except a bad taste in their money to P&G.

 

Here's hoping all of the Secret complainers switch to Dove after they can't get their money back.    And stop using Tide too.

 

 

back from alabama

Ross Bridge might be one of the best golf courses in the world.  Next time I am in sweet home alabama.  Definitely need to make a point of playing (though not that 8300 yard version).

the price is wrong, bitch

haven't watched the show since the summer of 1986. (when it was
followed by Press Your Luck). These people are complete lunatics.
not sure if it is overacting or they just recruit complete lunatics.
I swear WWE is more realistics.

For instance, a 40 year-old single blonde who appently forgot her
lexapro that morning gets called to contestant's row wearing an 8
size too big green shirt with the word Plinko all over it. (quite
impressive since blondie was almost pushing 2 bills). Anyway, she
wins and what game do you they? You got it-- Plinko!!

I really wanted to know who watches this. (On a related note, there
was a wishbone salad spritzers commercial after the first pos..
gotta love Da U.).

will the country be behind Duke?

In the heart of Maryland country, is there a chance this could be a
home game for Duke Lacrosse? I can never remember a past Duke
athletic event where most of the country was rooting for them to win.
(at least since the 1991 UNLV/Duke National FInal). Even Tony and
Wilbon on PTI wanted to see Duke win it all. If Johns Hopkins
wasn't just down the street, then i would be almost certain that it
would be a Duke crowd.

Stranglely, most people actually know more about David Evans than
they do about JJ Redick.

watch me... i'm trendy now.. and a great marketing idea

I am now officially the most fashion forward member of my family, passing wifey this weekend.  The reason-- our latest purchase, a pair of Nudie jeans.

 

Never heard of them before?  Me neither.  There are jeans made with unwashed denim.  When you try them on, they are stiff and rigid.  As you wear then over time, they wear out to your body.   Apparently, they are the rage in Europe.  So I will be wearing these jeans for the next few months at home, before they will be ready to leave the house with me.

.

From a marketing perspective, this is truly brilliant.  They are taking costs out of a product, but charging consumers a premium.  Kinda reminds you of deodorants, doesn't it?

test

 

The bestest boyfriend in the world!!!

Gotta check out the latest US magazine. A great story on Spencer and Heidi promoted on the front cover with the quote "The Best Boyfriend in the world". Upon reading the article, you see that the quote was accurate from the article, but Spencer was the one giving it as in "Heidi has the Best boyfriend in the world."

Other juicy tidbits from the article include Heidi not calling LC after the sex tape story leaked because she was recovering from a boob job.

my new favorite pastime

and america's pasttime as well. Computer Simulated fantasy baseball league. Here you are the manager and general manager for a mythical baseball team. They play 8 games per day so the seasons run fast and you can really build a dynasty over time.

if i was 10 years old and the internet existed back then, I would have spent 20 hours a day on the computer

Nifonged.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nifonged

It is now a word. How cool is that...

We are Virginia Tech

Just watch this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cSuidxE8os


One of the most moving things I can remember in a long time. Speeches like this are why I love the spoken word.

still waiting...

for an apology from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to the Duke lax players. I know Jesse promised to pay for the poor stripper's college education. I wonder if that offer is still true for Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.

With all of the race-related public outcries over the past week with Duke Lax, Imus and Billy Packer, my complaint is not with the people who have committed an insensitive remark. My bigger complaint is with all of the opportunists who try to advance their own personal agendas. Nobody wins in their media stories and are hurt by those who kept the story alive.

Texas is trendy

why are all the women on Friday Night Lights wearing premium denim? I doubt there are lots of Sevens sold in Dylan, Texas

new favorite blog

CJ Nitkowski, MLB journeyman reliever is pitching in Japan this year. His very often updated blog is a really good read and is becoming part of my morning routine.

Radio Daze

something happened on the way from the suburbs. Wifey and I were driving back from Niche in Geneva last Saturday and she asked that we listen to FM radio. After learning that my car had FM radio, she switched the channel to Q101.

Q101 is an alternative radio station that is pretty popular. (At the very least, its well-advertised). Anyway, within 5 minutes, the following commercials players

-An Ad for a downtown strip club
-An Ad for a strip club in Cicero
-An Ad for Jimmy John's
-An Ad for a strip club in Indiana
-Two Ads for a low-cost car insurance
-An Ad for New England Teddy Bears
-Another Ad for Jimmy John's

Now, I must ask... who the hell is listening to radio at 9PM on a saturday night? A bunch of reckless, horny, hunger young men who like sandwiches, girls and occasional send teddy bears to strippers the next day?

Someone really needs to explain this to me.

for the ladies... a saving tip from wifey

Hey ladies,

Have you checked out the new deodorant from Dove? The scent is called smooth cashmere and wifey claims that it smells just as good as the $20 deodorant she buys at Bloomingdales from Donna Karan. It only costs about $4. That's a $16 savings you can use to buy stuff for your husband.

Click here to get a free sample.

G for the money

I like women's basketball. I really do. It is entertaining and since Duke has been pretty good in recent years, I can even have a rooting interest.

Here's what's not so cool and big pet peeve for me-- women's college basketball salaries. Guess how many women's college basketball programs make money. Guess? Remember that almost every top 25 program plays in packed arenas with big games on national television. Done Guess? Did you guess 20, 40? 60?

Here's the answer... TWO.. and barely. Uconn and Tennessee, two powerhouses who sell out 20,000 person arenas on a weekly basis. And Tennessee barely makes any money.

Why is this important and why do I care? Because over the past few weeks, several high profile women's college basketball jobs have opened up and Duke coach Gail Goestenkors has been named as a candidate for many of them. As well she should since she has led Duke to four final fours in the past eight years and this year's team is ranked #1 in the nation.

Coach G currently makes between $250-300K, based on recent estimates, well below the $1MM the UConn and Tennessee coaches make and well below what the likes of Texas, LSU and Michigan will be offering for a top coach. Many Duke women's fans are upset that G will bolt for more $$ and are urging Joe Alleva and Dick Brodhead to give me a big raise.

I will be very disappointed if Duke ponies up more dough to keep Coach G. Women's basketball loses $$ at Duke, despite an outstanding team. Given the dynamics of sports, this is unlikely to change anytime soon. Since there is only really one sport providing $$ for Duke Athletics, it is basically a zero-sum game for non-revenue sports. Every additional dollar you give Coach G will be a dollar taken away from the swimming, lacrosse and wrestling teams. I don't think thats a good trade.

I don't wish Coach G any ill will. If she can make more dough, she should go for it. I am sure that Duke will have people lined up the door to fill G's shoes and coach a perenniel top 10 program.
My response: You Go, Girl. Literally.

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History of television, part one

50 years from now, when they teach a class in reality television, Sanjaya's performance where he hugged a crying obese 8-year old will rank among the all-time greats right next to Real World New Orleans' David singing "Come on be my baby tonight".

Television

earlier this week, I ws talking about how bad television was. With S60 on its way out, Friday Night Lights not looking much better Antonella off American Idol and Janice Dickinson at the end of her season, there is NO must-see television for Mark. However, I saw October Road on DVR this morning and finally saw something with promise.

originally, i thought it was going to be another sappy What about Brian, however, this was much better acted and writen for a more intelligent audience. (channelling Aaron Sorkin). With its Grey's lead-in, I hope it does well.

As an FYI, Lee Norris (the actor who played Minkus on Boy Meets World) is a recurring character in this show. Thanks IMDB.

Peeves and Complains

1) Fox Sports' NASCAR covered. Noone on TV or via the internet can you find our when the race actually starts. It is probably a way to drive rating of the prerace shows, however, it might end up working in reverse with lots of fans missing the starts. I definitely wouldn't want to be an advertiser with a big spend on the first C-Break. For a sport that literally revolves around its fans, I would expect more.

2) Brian Grossman. This guy is the slimiest realtor in Lincoln Park. He sends out obnoxious mailers every week and is our development snoop. He is constantly peering in our townhouse to see how it compares to his listings. If you are thinking of moving to Lincoln Park, DO NOT BUY A HOUSE FROM BRIAN GROSSMAN.

3) Franco Turinelli. The Black Widow has struck again; another one of his associates has quit. I believe this is 7 in 2.5 years. At some point you would think that the William Blair partners would stop giving Franco new associates. He is ruining William Blair's reputation in the finance community

outKoached...

for one day, Ted roof was not the worst coach for a high-profile Duke athletic teams.

some highlights from our basketball team tonight

- young players who haven't developed
- an offense that runs away from its most effective weapon in the 2nd half
- an defense that can't adjust to a change in strategy from the other team
- poor decision making at key positions
- horrible unforced turnovers
- your best offensive weapon form the first half sits for most of the second.

I could write a book about this. But if coach K wasn't famous with 25 years of success, everyone would be calling for his head.

Wow

Antonella lost. So did Sundance.

I'm done watching Idol for the year. Hopefully, lots of others are as well.

Over the Hills

If you ever want to very dirty, read this!

Not sure that I can every watch The Hills the same way again. Spencers talks about making a sex video with Heidi and posting it on the internet.

Random thoughts

things i've been meaning to post about, but haven't


- Wimbledon Pay Equity. This week, Wimbledon announced that the women's and men's champion will make equal money. Women's right advocates rejoiced. This is one of the most ludricrious things I have ever heard of. Sports is entertainment. Compensation should be given based on which of the two sports generates a larger fan base, which gets more sponsors, which gets higher TV rating. In many cases, this might justify HIGHER prize money for the ladies, even though they work less (3 sets versus 5). I wouldn't let the chairman of the All-England Club manage a lemonade stand with these business principles.

- RFID. Somethign I posted on Jonathan Kaplan's blog. As someone who working in consumer packaged good, I feel like I need to comment here. First of all, the experience you describe already exists, and it has nothing to do with RFID. There is a much simpler and efficient way to give customers specific prices-- its called couponing. For a while, every who uses a frequent shopper card gets specific offers (at different values) based on various things in their shopper history (usually purchases of competitive products).

Additionally, some cards will now make custom offers to you when you ENTER the store and scan in your card.

Regarding the example you gave, this would never occur for several reasons-- most notablly whenever you see a discount on a product at your local grocery store, it is funded by the manufacturer, not the grocery store. The manufacturer has no incentive to "raise" prices, since they don't see any of it.

The only really use of RFID in retail (which is mandatory by end of 2009 is to improve inventory management and the amount of product which is actually in-stock.

does anyone else...

prefer watching the NFL combine to an actual college basketball game?

American idol

if you watch American idol, you need to know about dialidol.com. This will allow you to monitor real-time which contestant is likely to be voted off.

this made me laugh

Sign above the Chelsea International Youth Hostel in the New York:

Check-in In Rear

Help please

love our new Mac, Sparky. Only negative is Excel.


is anyone can get me a good list of Mac shortcuts for Excel, I'd be your baby tonight.

Jim Harbaugh... classless

Kind of ironic it happens during Superbowl week. But the former Bears and Colts QB has realy made his mark as Stanford's new head football coach. Already with a good recruiting class in tow, Stanford rescinded an offer to Eddie Morgan, a fast Texas DB. Not that much interesting there, though academic schools tend not to yank schollies the way teams Mack Brown coaches do.

However, when terminating the scholarship, their method is a bit unusually. THEY DID IT VIA EMAIL. Yes, the same way Harriet dumped Matt Albie on Studio 60. Via Email. I know Palo Alto is in the middle of Silicon Valley, but a little class here would have gone a long way. I hope any football player thinking of going to Leland Stanford Junior College thinks about this.

i love my wife...

- she coined a new phrase today, "debutards" . noun. a combination of a debutant and retard. See also, "My Super Sweet 16"

- While watching the Apprentice she said, "You know what the problem is with this team. There are too many damn women."

Its official... im a traitor

After 9 years, I'm coming back. Just purchased a new computer and it is a Mac. I'm sick of slow boot ups and it will make photo editing and storing easier for Wifey.

Should be here Tuesday.

great quote...

from my friend Erin, regarding Duke guard.

Marty Pocius.

"In my country, this is where the talking stop and the sexxing begin."

Poor guy, the only attractive man on the basketball team who gets more applause for checking out of the game than most get for scoring 30 points. Somewhere J.D. Simpson is smiling.

damn

Indy beats the Pats. So I actually need to root for Bears in a couple weeks. I hate being part of the crowd.

The American Pasttime

...not baseball, real estate.

If you like real estate, live in Chicago, or are just nosey, go here. If up and coming website, just got a plug in today's Tribune, tracks recent real estate sales with some stories about the people doing the buying and selling.

Shows the wonders of Google.

what's on my tv

have a few new favorite shows...

these are the type of shows that you feel bad before it ends and are disappointed when a week goes by without a new episode.
Here are my two new favorites:

• Its always sunny in Philadelphia.-
• Iconoclasts.

Sunny is like Seinfeld on crack. Probably more like a combo between Seinfeld and Larry David. five self-absorbed people own a bar and always look for the quick score. The writing is incredible and I can't wait until new episodes next season. Its on FX, but you think it should belong on HBO.

Iconoclasts is a simple concepts. Bring two people, each famous for separate unrealted things together and see what happens. I've seen two episodes so fair-- one with David Chappelle and Maya Angelou, the other with Laird Hamilton and Eddie Vedder. I was blown away by each of them.I even started lookin to book a Malibu vacation after watching Laird and Eddie surf the other day.

Football picks for the day

everything logicial points to the Saints, but everyone and their dog like the Saints. So as much as it pains me, i'll pick the bears.

Getting good value in manhattan

New York city to eliminate sales tax on clothing. link. Wifey will be quite happy. She will definitely want to visit more.

The fundamanetal economics of this still don't make sense to me. Take Manhattan. You have a concentrated population of comparative wealthy people, many of whom don't have transportation of their own. Now this is a captive audience if I have ever seen one. Where is the lift from this effective price decrease. Does the New York department of tourism think that Manhattanites are fleeing to Jersey to go shopping. Are they concerned about internet sales. Are girls from Queens no longer going to go to the trendy boutiques for their shiny halters top to wear to the best clubs on Staten Island?

Is this driven by trying to draw tourists for shopping vacations? Maybe. However, if this can't be driven by price due to the prohibitive cost of New York hotel rooms. The only legit argument I could think of is competition from the internet. However, I think this has to be marginal at best. This is a TON of $$ that NYC is walking away from, most of which is paid by people who are willing to pay it.

in breaking news...

The Miami, DC and Vegas condo markets have collapsed. Couldn't see that coming. Let's see in cities with no real growth in industry, quadrupling the amount of high-income housing in a concentrated area.

link

Heidi-larious: The season premier of The Hills

OMG, like this is a total bummer, dude.

Is MTV now trying to create Heidi into a sympathic characters? She is now getting played instead of doing the playing and making accidently have been pregnant. Maybe they are just trying to delay her inevitable career into the porn industry. And by the way.. That Bolthouse guy looks like the dirtiest pimp I have ever seen. I guarantee there are some "extras" available to the VIP room in his clubs.

And what's up with this doofus that she and Audrina are hanging out with? He must either have a billionaire father or a 12 inch cock because I just don't get. He isn't that attractive and is way too cheesy. These two girls are hotter than most of the girls in "The Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency" and they are chilling with an extra from the 2007 version of Mayberry.

At least Kristin Cavellieri knew how to be a good power dater. Matt Leinhart and Nick Lachey. And she wasn't as attractive as these two either.

Now if only Matt L. had given Kristin a pregnancy scare... that would have been some must-see television.

Duking it out on campus

Get your bets in now people. Duke is going to a bowl in 2008. Don't believe me. Ask head coach Ted Roof. Or Duke President Dick Brodhead. Or Duke Athletic Director Joe Alleva. Apparently, the pieces are in place to get to a bowl in TWO year.

Quite impressive and ballsy for a team that hasn't beaten a division I opponent in two and a half years.

This weekend was the 1st Annual Duke University Football summit. A rah-rah meeting attended by former football alums and some other friends of Duke athletics.

So quick summary-- noone is accountable for anything for another year. We are going to "stay the course." Gee, I wish I could get a job where I didn't have to deliver any results for 4 years before being held accountable. Boy, I'm glad to be an alum.

If this enrages you and you want to complain, go here

Can he sink any lower

Apparently, Tom Cruise helped influence David Beckham to the LA so he could join the church of what's happening now, I mean scientology.

Admittedly, the source is the New York Daily News, but still it makes you wonder. Maybe some of Beck's $200MM of endorsements will be for books by L. Ron Hubbard.


In other news, the most hyped day of NFL playoffs came and went yesteday. Good thing I didn't bet on either game since I would have gone 0-fer. (Even though Philly covered, i would have taken the money line.).

It also got me to thinking about why I like or dislike certain people. Those who know me know that I refer to Peyton Manning as "the anti-Christ". Don't like Tiger Woods, but like Phil Mickelson and Barry Bonds. At this point, I don't even know why I hate Peyton Manning. Is it because he is smug, but Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are just as smug? Is it because he is a huge choker, well, I liked Phil before he choked.

I love revenge

especially for small and pretty stuff.

We sold our condo about a year ago. The new buyer (whose wife was a C*NT at the close has had his cell phone bill forwarded to our address for the past 6 months (no idea why). We called the cell phone provider and they will not allow us to change the address.

So now Wifey has let me get some revenge. I don't want to just cancel his cell phone service because that can be detected and corrected easily. Instead, I want to deluge him with telephone solicitations. Since this is a work phone and he is likely a drug rep, he can't easily change his number.Any ideas on how to quickly sign him up for really ANNOYING and persistant telemarketer?

Guerrilla Marketing

Anyone who drives through the River north neighborhood in Chicago is familiar with it. Going south on Wells a big green billboard saying "If you were offended by the Rolling Rock "Beer Ape" ad please email rob_xxx@rollingrock.com."

Now, as someone who works in the consumer packaged goods industry, this has me thinking.. Is this really a guerrilla marketing programs, that should be driving web traffic? Or was there an ad where somebody truly was offended.

The biggest issue from a marketing perspective, is "Is this something you want to be associates your brand with?" Admittedly, I don't know what the rolling rock brand stands for. However, creating offensive commercials is probably not something that I would want to put in my brand key. It reminds me of interest companies circa 2000, who launched via Superbowl ads which had nothing to do with the product. The one shooting the squirrel out of a cannonball was particularly poignant.

Admittedly, I still need to try to go a find the commercial, but that doesn't mean this is good marketing.

today's news

A few very good things online today..


- From Jonathan Kaplan: Interesting post about the stock options activity at Apple with backdated stock options. What I didn't know, though, was that Al Gore served on the board of directors and didn't say a word. Kinda suprising and it will definitely kill any chances Al has of getting elected President. Interesting since I think that he is the most electable Democratic BY FAR in the next election.

I also posted a reply on why legal backdating of stock options is not necessarily a bad thing due to the inherent assymetry of interests between shareholders and optionholders.

- From Bill Simmons Lots of good stuff today from the huge demise of Dante Hall (Are you listen Devin Hester) to the why Chris Collinsworth is the best announcer in the business. however, the best part was his arguments of why all football teams should have a Assistant coach of strategy.

Which leads me to wonder: I've already made the argument for coaches hiring a clock-management consultant (Andy Reid clearly needs one) and a VP of common sense (to talk them into things like, "Definitely try to punch it in on fourth-and-goal, otherwise you're giving up either an extra four points or 30 yards of field position and you're showing no confidence in your offense" and "Maybe we shouldn't call that quick pass to Terry Glenn on our own 1-yard line and just run the ball three times; we have the lead, for God's sake"). Well, why wouldn't they also have some slacker college student who has played 250,000 hours of "Madden" the past three years and faced every conceivable football situation on hand to throw out advice like, "Dude, let them score here; we can get the ball back down eight?" With those three advisers flanking him on the sideline, even Bruce Coslet would have been unstoppable.

Other than being my dream job, it just makes good sense. What other company do you have a key executive making decisions with little to no analysis nor training in the area of risk? None. You need a specialist game theorist to make specific recommendations to the coach during a game. Especially in the NFL with no limit on coaches or coaching salaries. Kinda surprised little Danny Snyder doesn't do this. I know Mark Cuban would if he owned an NFL team.

Things I wish I could bet on....

1) Time until Jimmy Clausen has his first arrest on the Notre Dame campus. (My bet: September)

2) What Jimmy Clausen will be charged with on his first arrest (Smart money is on underage drinking, but I like pot possession.)

3) Time until O. J. Mayo is compared with Harold Miner by Dick Vitale. (Any time now.)

4) Time until Justin Timberlake gets back from Britney. Need to ask Wifey on this one.

5) Time until the NFL person who hired Prince for the Superbowl halftime show is fired.

6) First member of "The hills" to do porn. Smart money is on Heidi, but don't put it past Jason. Also, Breanna Conrad could be a good sleeper as well to get out of LC's shadow.


7) Time until my wife slaps me, the next time I drop Breanna Conrad in the Alphabet game.


more to come...

I guess Joe really know how to work his Dick

quotes from Dick Brodhead regarding Duke athletics.

Q: How would you evaluate Joe Alleva's leadership of the Department of Athletics?

A: I'm in my third year as president. I met Joe as I met many others before I became president, because I spent six months here in my transition. I really have almost three full years of working with Joe as with everyone else here.

I think it would be fair to say athletics has thrived at Duke in the time that I've been here. Look how many teams have gone so far in postseason championship play. I'm also going to take note of Duke leading the pack in graduation rates of schools with strong sports programs. That's great too because the whole point is we really try to take the student-athlete concept seriously here and not just have students who are great athletes who do not participate in the academic life of the school.

Our one Rhodes scholar this year was a varsity athlete and a captain of a team. That's great. One of the things that's very much to Joe's credit is the evenness of attention that's been given to lots of sports. There are some schools where only a couple sports are taken seriously. I think Joe takes them all seriously, which is a very good thing. To be sure, last spring was a challenging time for him and his department as it was for the rest of the university.

Joe Alleva is the athletic director of this place, and he's our athletic director going forward

--------------------------------

I don't even know where to began. Is the worst part of the article...

1) the perception that we needed to invest in all sports evenly?

2) the fact that Dick perceives Joe as doing a good job or

3) the perception that Joe has been responsible for our increase in the Sears Cup rankings? No sport where he has hired the Head coach is in a better position now compared to when he arrived.

misery

something is wrong with me. Or wrong with wifey... possibly both.

Wifey was upset this past week because she told off some horrible customer service reps. She was upset that she was particularly mean to them . Me, I feel better after doing that.

Also, I have started to be addicted to cruise message boards. Especially those from people who had miserable times. though i would likely never go on another cruise (at least a middle market one), for some reason i love reading about people whose experience was worse than mine.

High comedy in the NFL

There is comedy, there is high comedy and then there is Nick Saban. Check out this link for the most mind numbing press conference ever. At this season ending press conference when asked about whether or not he would return next year as a dolphins coach.

If he won't answer that question, what will he answer?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIoqLcP1X1s

day 2: on a roll

update night #2. 156 hands, + $1.30. The play is so bad I really don't see any chance of not doubling up at least a few times. It seems like Razz is the game where strategy changes from most from higher level games. Since the hands start out 5-7 handed. I won't play 8s under any condition, but will play 2 wheels cards more than I woudl at high levels. Oh, and thin the field raises are non-existant. All raises are pot builders.

Total so far: $298 hands. +$2.05.

Here is the challenge that I've accepted to prove a point. If anyone cares, I'll likely post some updates from time to time here, I definitely will on my blog.

Start with $5 in a new UB account. I will start playing at .05/.10. Every time I double my $, I will increase the stakes so that I have 50 big blinds.

The bets.

What are the odds I get to $50? $250? $1000

What is the over/under for total number of hands before I go busto?

What is the over/under for highest day-total bankroll?

Some background on me. Primarily a mixed-game player. Haven't had a losing year in the past 6.

what i did on my winter vacation...

As many of you know, Wifey is a graduate of Wellesley, a very prestigious all-woman's school outside Boston. At the school, there are tons of holier-than-thou students whose response to any situation is to "write an angry note". That being said, here is my review of our vacation which will soon be posted (hopefully) on the cruisecritic website.------------


You know its a bad sign when you return from a cruise and when you check into the airport and say "finally some decent food."

This was my first cruise with Princess and will likely be the last. The principle reason was the food was horrible, worse than most cafeteria food and definitely far below expectations. Out of 7 dinners, I sent my entree back 5 times. I had salads with brown lettuce, veal that was all fat and every pasta dish was overcooked. Soups were all water and seafoods wasn't fresh. Additionally, the cooks didn't understand anything about how the appearance of food. Having a bunch of chopped up food with a half leave of mint on top is not attractive.

We went to both premium restaurants and they were a little better. But the same issues with quality of food, though preparation was a bit better.

Service on the ship was hit or miss. Our room attendant was very good and did an excellent job with our stateroom. The service in the dining room was pretty good. They really made an effort to give us what we wanted. (It was their food the food was horrible). The bar service was hit or miss. We spent lots of time out by the pool and it was also impossible to flag down a waiter. (Maybe it was because my wife and I don't drink). On other occasions, when waiting in line for pizza, I was skipped in line for a countryman of the person working the area. On the postitive side, my wife (who is Flipino) often didn't have to pay for her drinks when she ordered them from Filipino countrymen. This is a major customer service issue which needs to be address immediately by Princess.

Shore excursions were OK. We probably didn't pick the best ones but the tour guides were qualified and friendly. One problem-- nothing started on time!!. They made a big deal about excursions starting promptly, but they always started at least 20 minutes late. Apparently, they built this into the schedule. This is completely disrespectful to Cruise guests.

Entertainment onboard was OK. The comedian wasn't funny, but wifey and I enjoyed the art auctions. The biggest issue I had was with the casino. The dealers (especially the Blackjack and poker ones) didn't know the rules. Several guests had to complain and it was very unprofessional. It appears that Princess doesn't invest in basic training for its staff.


Getting on the boat was easy. Got there at 12:30 and were in our room by 1:15. Getting off the boat was another issue. There was little communication to the process. There was tons of line going around the boat and noone communicated which line to get in. We ended up lining up before our assigned group (seems like other people did the same) and noone cared. A few signs explaining the process could have gone a long way.

All this said, we will not sail Princess again.

Gone cruising

Won't be much bloggage for another week since I will be on a cruise with Wifey and her parents. Should be a decent time to get to know them better. Since its a confined environment, I will definitely get the chance.

Hopefully, the Diamond Princess will leave and arrive safely.

A new tradition

thanksgiving is quickly becoming my favorite holiday. Plus, I have established a new Thanksgiving tradition.

Got up at 6 this morning and went to Jewel before the crowds overtook them. Then, Wifey and I went to an early movie. Five bucks for a 10:30 show of "Bobby". Pretty good movie about the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Its strength is not so much in that it provided any real insight to the tradition, but that it was a pretty good period piece, putting some real life into complex social issues.

LiLo (Lindsay Lohan) played a small role about a girl who is marrying a guy who was recently drafted so that he wouldn't get sent to Vietnam. Based on this premise, you are less likely to get sent to the front line if you are married. If this is actually true, it wouldn't make much sense to me. Plus, I'd think that I would have seen more of these Vietnam couples since then.

Then, we got home, cooked the Turkey in a box and it was quite tasty. Both the movie and turkey in a box were quite good. Oh yeah, and very little traffic. This might be another new tradition.

you gotta love wal-mart

you might not agree with Wal-mart position on low prices, low wages, unions or its role in corporate america. who cares? You got to love the way they slap liberal politicians around.

As you know, PS3 is the big thing this Christmas. Former Prez candidate John Edwards wanted to cut in line (which started at 2:30AM) to get his son the latest toy. Wal-Mart in their brilliance decided to slap Edwards for being selfish, yet praise him for choosing to shop at Wal-Mart. This is truly brilliant.



Walmart's response

i want to sell you... myself

Great post by Vixen that needs to be read by anyone applying for anything. Been doing a decent amount of interviewing lately, everyone from high school kids applying to college and MBAs. One thing is is common-- they pretty much all suck. They are passive participants in the process and they make the task as hard as possible.

If there is any chance you may ever interview with me, please read this.


Vixen's job advice

My dilemma

The classic gambler's dilemma today.

In fantasy football, I have a big game against our General Manager Kevin George's team. Though both teams will likely make the playoffs, this is all I will hear about if I lose. For that game, he has Larry Johnson from KC and I have the KC defense.

However, I have a big bet on the over in the KC/Oak game. How do I cheer for this? Is bragging rights more important than $$ or should I just have not made the bet in the first place?

Maybe I should just close my eyes and not watch? Nah!!

nfl picks

Haven't posted any in a while.  so what the hell..

 

 

San Diegeo +130 vs. Denver.   The Jay Cutler era is ready to begin.

 

Green Bay + 5.5 over. New England.  More of a play on a home dog than anything else.  Plus NE is overvalued.

 

Cleveland +3.5 over Pittsburgh.  See Above.

 

Oakland/KC over 35.5.  I still like Aaron Brooks.  I think the Oakland defense is overrated and KC just has too many weapons.  I would probably go over 40 in this one.

 

Washington +3 over Tampa.  Tampa shouldn't be favored over anyone on the road. Period.  I dont care is Washington doesn't have Portis or Brunell.  Neither has really product this year anyway.

 

 

Indy PK over Dallas.  My un-sharpest pick ever.  I think peopel try to outhtink themselves on this one.  Indy should win this game more than they don't.  Tony Romo though good is still young and Dallas' defense really can't stop anyone.  If the over didnt move so much this week, i would have liked it too.

 

 

 

say it ain't so, Bo

I remember it like it was yesterday. The headlines of the Detroit News, the day Bo Schembechler resigned as head coach from the U of M. As an 9 or 10 year old growing up in Michigan, you knew who Bo is. You wanted to play for Bo someday. Unless you were one of those who rooted for Michigan State. And I couldn't figure out why anyone would. Who was George Perles and why would you want to play for him? All he was about was run, run, pass, run, run, pass, run, run, pass punt?

He gave us one of the best quotes ever when Bill Frieder left to coach Arizona State at the end of the regular season: "I want a Michigan coach coaching a Michigan team. I don't want an Arizona State coach coaching a Michigan team. I want that to be understood." Bo was badass.

As he became older and the coach emeritus, you saw him less, but that deified him more. Once in Ann arbor I saw him literally stop traffic. I know it wasn't the first time.

Michigan has a football game tomorrow. They should win. I said that all year. But no matter what, that swagger won't go away.

when you're running good, you're running good

not one losing day in the past week. was about to have a decent loss after getting sucked out on back to back wheels against made 7s on back to back hands in the 30 sixty. Then this happened. note back to back hands. The first is against a maniac so note the rope a dope strategy.



Hand #36803835-4152 at Effingham (No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 15/Nov/06 21:21:35

Laptopsmasher is at seat 0 with $2488.
xxomegaredxx is at seat 1 with $1234.
fourdoor is at seat 2 with $970.
YaYaMoto is at seat 3 with $1214.
Monzo is at seat 4 with $2788.75.
roscopeeco is at seat 5 with $1221.
The button is at seat 0.

xxomegaredxx posts the small blind of $5.
fourdoor posts the big blind of $10.

Laptopsmasher: -- --
xxomegaredxx: -- --
fourdoor: -- --
YaYaMoto: Kd Ac
Monzo: -- --
roscopeeco: -- --

Pre-flop:

YaYaMoto calls. Monzo folds. roscopeeco folds.
Laptopsmasher folds. xxomegaredxx raises to $40.
fourdoor folds. YaYaMoto calls.

Flop (board: 6h Ks 9s):

xxomegaredxx bets $55. YaYaMoto calls.

Turn (board: 6h Ks 9s Kc):

xxomegaredxx bets $150. YaYaMoto calls.

River (board: 6h Ks 9s Kc 4d):

xxomegaredxx bets $285. YaYaMoto calls.



Showdown:

xxomegaredxx shows Ts Th.
xxomegaredxx has Ts Th Ks 9s Kc: two pair, kings and tens.
YaYaMoto shows Kd Ac.
YaYaMoto has Kd Ac Ks 9s Kc: three kings.


Hand #36803835-4152 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $1070.
YaYaMoto wins $1067 with three kings.
----------------------------------------------------------------

i love it when this works

Hand #36804466-445 at Forsythe ($30/$60 Triple Draw 2-7)
Started at 14/Nov/06 22:02:10

LLC22 is at seat 0 with $1657.50.
groth911t is at seat 1 with $810.
meowgary is at seat 2 with $3476.
zhanfox is at seat 3 with $3696.
YaYaMoto is at seat 4 with $2661.
The bigchief is at seat 5 with $3340.
The button is at seat 0.

groth911t posts the small blind of $15.
meowgary posts the big blind of $30.

LLC22: -- -- -- -- --
groth911t: -- -- -- -- --
meowgary: -- -- -- -- --
zhanfox: -- -- -- -- --
YaYaMoto: 2c 5s 2d Kh 4s
The bigchief: -- -- -- -- --

First Round:

zhanfox raises to $60. YaYaMoto re-raises to $90.
The bigchief folds. LLC22 folds. groth911t folds.
meowgary folds. zhanfox re-raises to $120. YaYaMoto
calls.

zhanfox takes 1 card. YaYaMoto takes 2 cards.

zhanfox: -- -- -- -- --
YaYaMoto: 5s 2d 4s 3c Jh

Second Round:

zhanfox bets $30. YaYaMoto calls.

zhanfox takes 1 card. YaYaMoto takes 1 card.

zhanfox: -- -- -- -- --
YaYaMoto: 5s 2d 4s 3c Ah

Third Round:

zhanfox bets $60. YaYaMoto raises to $120. zhanfox
calls.

zhanfox takes 1 card. YaYaMoto takes 1 card.

zhanfox: -- -- -- -- --
YaYaMoto: 5s 2d 4s 3c Kc

Final Round:

zhanfox bets $60. YaYaMoto raises to $120. zhanfox
folds. YaYaMoto is returned $60 (uncalled).

Hand #36804466-445 Summary:

$3 is raked from a pot of $705.
YaYaMoto wins $702.

--

thought for the week...

Ohowihateohiostate.


Plus Luke Perry is from Ohio. That gives you even more incentive to root for Michigan. Currently, Michigan is at +230 at Pinnacle. Even more incentive for Maize and Blue if you ask me.

Luke, Part 2-- Can you hear me now?

Perhaps the Viagra endorsement isn't the best choice. Maybe Verizon is a better fit for this overacting wanna-be.

After his encounter with Cousin. He didn't bother to call, write, email text or send smoke signals. Guess we had his 70 seconds of fun with a hot 23-year-old and went on his way.

You know there is a reason he is divorced. That's right Luke I'm calling you out. Can you hear me now?

Luke Perry, Part One-- Will Act for Viagra

As many of your know, Wifey's cousin was dating Luke Perry for a while. I was totally hyped by this for a while, but apparently Dylan isn't a relationship kinda guys.

Cousin met Luke at a Democratic fundraiser and they went on a few dates. Then Luke went away to shoot a made-for-TV movie. Cousin and Luke texted each other for a while and luke talked about how much "he missed her".

Well, Luke came back and quickly got with Cousin. Or should I say came quickly. Very quickly. As cousin said, "He had a big thing, but really didn't know what to do with it or couldn't last that long." That must have been exactly why Brenda cheated on him with Dean Cain in Paris



Since Luke is looking for work these days, a Viagra spokesperson made not be a bad choice. Calling Pfizer.

first poker hand posting in a while.

You'd think that people who played middle limit poker know the basic strategy. I might post a blog sometime later with horrible play at the 10/20 and 30/60 games in UB. the 2-7 play is passable, but the a-5 is a joke. Appareently, very few people understand that hand value change.

In case you don't know, defending your blind with 876 in the game IS A MISTAKE. So is drawing to an 86 after a raise on the 2nd draw.


----
From a juicy a-5 game on UB. BB plays decently, a bit too tight for a 3-handed game. button is complete fish who will be drawing to 9s after a raised turn.


3-handed A-5 30/60. I am in the small blind with 63A. Folded to me, I raise, BB calls.


I draw 2; BB draws 3. I blank and bet, BB calls.

1st draw, I get nothing and bet/call. I draw 2 again, BB draws 2 as well.

I make a 7653A. I bet, BB raises, I call (mostly due to my read of his tightness). I stand pat. BB draws 1. (which shocked me).

Is this an autobet here?

football

Watched a bunch of football today. Several teams that are very young,
had lots of youth on their offensive line and were horrible 2 or 3 years
ago. Note: Duke is NOT one of these teams.

Indiana, Illinois, South Florida are all young teams that were laughable
3 years ago. All 3 of them would pound Duke. Hopefully, someone else
will see this and sack Template Ted.

Go Duke. Beat BC.

poker

Took a poker break and started playing some more today. Restarted my
account on UB and had a decent, yet very volitile afternoon. Played a
bit all of the games, limit HE, NLHE, triple draw. Really only made one
mistake (at least that I realized) where I got a bit aggressive with a
middle pair against likely A-K on an dry board. Check to induce the
bluff idiot.

Also played some 1-2 NL where I tried to play every hand. That is fun.
I used to be a limit machine but I need to play some more NL. I
honestly think the 1-2 NL game might even be a better game than the
30-60 TD (and that's saying something).

Maybe I'll post some hands later.

I have stats now...

another reason for me to get some better content.  Check out the link on the right about my links and see what my rank is. Got the link from Mark Cuban's blog who is #3.   Need to check to see who numbers 1 and 2 are.

An even better quote from wifey...

"let's get a flat screen TV for our bedroom"

quotables

Great quote from my wife:

"The problem with most work environments is that there are too many damn women."


If I said that, I'd be slapped. Gotta love the Wellesley education. And yes, I completely agree.

Navy 38, Duke 13

Usually we you beat yourself this much, you end up chaffing. Someone
please buy Ted Roof some vaseline.

Uh-oh: Butch Davis to UNC

From Carolina Blue:

CarolinaBlue.com has been told by sources that the two-week search to replace John Bunting has apparently come to a close with the Tar Heels landing one of the most-sought after coaches in the college football circles.


A real blow to Duke-- To think we are this bad in the worst year in ACC history. Hopefully, this will force Duke to take a national recruiting approach.