Where Do We Go From Here...

Checking In To Tell The LBS Story

2010-10-13T16:29:00.001-04:00

From our Corporate blog over at www.definition6.com

Wednesday, October 13, 2010 by Gil Wolchock

Fall is my favorite time of year, just like it is for a lot of folks. While I enjoy the cooler temperatures, the changing of the leaves and all the preparations for the holidays, the real coup de grace for me is sports. Let’s face it, summer is the ‘dead of winter’ for a true sports fan, but fall is our Valhalla.

I mean, could October be any better? You have baseball pennant races, playoffs and The World Series. In Hockey and Basketball, the seasons are just beginning and everyone thinks they have a chance. For America’s new favorite pastime, college and professional football are in full force.

But you're on our blog to read about unified marketing or the latest technology trends, right? You don't really care about my passion for sports.

When Sports and Marketing Collide

Sports and marketing have been closely aligned for as long as I can remember now. From the ads you see in the programs at the ballpark, to TV/radio spots (and shows created for the sole purposes of selling ads I might add). Of course, there's also the signage all over, including player uniforms, the scoreboards and that precious real estate in the line of sight of any television camera (like behind home plate).

The next iteration of fan engagement is coming through Location Based Services (LBS). There is no question that services like FourSquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places have moved beyond the fad to widespread fan adoption.

For me, I think sports is the bridge between fad and reality for LBS. Sporting events - whether you're at the game or watching it in the neighborhood bar or from your couch with your Snuggie on - have always been about participation. Fans want to be part of the experience. With LBS, they can mark the event.

- A captive audience – when you arrive at a stadium for a game, they have you at “hello”. You are there for 3-6 hours (if you include tailgating). Advertisers have long seen the value here with placement in Programs, buying up ballpark ‘real estate’, etc…

- Fans are a passionate, core demographic for sports. The term ‘fan’ comes from ‘fanatic’ - is there a more poignant example of this passion.

LBS Creates New Opportunities for Storytelling

- The narrative – here ‘IT’ is, the KEY to making LBS truly successful. At the heart of any success is STORYTELLING. At the heart of sports and why we love them is STORYTELLING. Whether it is sharing the ‘moment’ with 95,000 others or telling your grandchildren 40 years later about how you were there when ‘IT’ happened, sports is about the story! Deep in this concept of STORYTELLING is the desire to SHARE, which is really what LBS is about.

So now that we have the groundwork we need to look at LBS and assume that something is ‘missing’. If you agree that three things needed for success today from a marketing standpoint are storytelling, technology and social engagement you can begin to see where I am going.

Clearly LBS’ have the technology angle solved. Smart devices with GPS and social networking built in are what have fueled the revolution. Additionally, they are inherently social. You check in, tell your friends where you are, see where they are, etc...

What I see as missing is the ‘story’. When LBS first launched the question was raised, “Why would I check in and tell people where I am at?” In those early days the answer was, “If you give them a free beer they will check in”. While that worked initially, I don’t think it is a long-term strategy.

What should be the answer is sharing. Let people share in a group experience, add in their commentary/story, record it for posterity, and then relive it as they choose. Now, what better platform is there for that than sports?

Take this past week and look at all the great stories you could have been a part of:

Roy Halladay pitching only the SECOND No Hitter in baseball playoff HISTORY
Bobby Cox managing his last game for the Atlanta Braves
Brett Favre throwing his 500th touchdown last night on Monday Night Footbal
Quite literally there were THOUSANDS of fans looking to share those stories and LBS’ could have been the perfect tool to do so. Sure, you get a glimpse of the story with a short message, but there's more to it than that.

You could check in that you were there, you could post pictures, add running commentary and lastly share the emotions of the moment. Yet, it’s not being done, at least not through one consistent service.
The question is then why? The answer is money. It’s expensive to launch initiatives, especially ones that don’t have a direct ROI to the groups, in this case a Sports Teams, bottom line. But I see that as short sighted and where advertising can step in. For an advertiser what is the benefit of placing an ad in the program of a World Series Game? It’s that eyeballs in the stadium will see the ad, resonate with it and choose to purchase your product.

The same thing can happen through LBS with an even more emotional pull. Take the Halladay no-hitter (as a Philly fan I will). If I were checked-in to the game and right after it ended, I received a personal message to me (and the others that checked in) that I could be the FIRST to get the t-shirt commemorating the event --- how fast would I do it? Two seconds! How long would it take me to tell the rest of my social network that I did? Less than two seconds!!

Soon I would have two stories to tell, the game AND the great offer I received after, all because I was checked-in. How many of my ‘friends’ will now check into games waiting to see if they will get anything? A lot of them. If they get something, they might tell two more friends, and they tell two friends and soon we are all using shampoo from the 1980’s!

So, why haven’t teams, leagues and advertisers seen the power of this yet? I’m not sure, maybe they need to check into LBS in the off season.

QB Shake ups Impact Week 3, and the Return of the Denny Green Quote

2010-09-23T13:39:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite coach quotes of all time was when a FIRED UP Denny Green snapped this lovely line at the reporters in a post game press conference,

"they are who we thought they were"

It remains one of the classic moments in coach speak history, but why is it relevant to Fantasy Football and why now? Well, we are entering Week 3 and while it seems like the season just started we are already more than 10% in. To me it feels like the end is near. Seriously, I have already rationalized in my mind that after this week we only have one more week to the 'Quarter Pole' and yikes, then it's really on! Before you know it the leaves are gone, there is snow on the ground and we are talking playoffs…but I digress. By Week 3 teams start to establish themselves. They shed the expectation that they would be like last year or they don't live up to the hype that they were 'supposed to be' this year. Injuries have started to set in and already we are seeing massive QB shake ups. If there is one position, at least from a starters perspective with little impact is the QB change (with the exception in Philly). As a general rule, the QB's being yanked are guys that went undrafted but what you do need to do is pay attention to the other skilled positions on that team. Take the Steelers this week (please): with Dennis Dixon having surgery and Big Ben still suspended they turn to Charlie Batch (I think). You would never start Batch but I bet you, like me, are looking at Rashard Mendenhall and wondering if this is a blessing or a curse. Sure, a scaled down game plan dictates he runs a ton and gets 25+ carries. But the defense knows this too and they should be stacking 8 guys in the box with run blitzes. Doesn't mean Mendenhall has a bad day? No. But it does give you pause to think about an otherwise 'no brainer' scenario. Then there are the WR's and TE's. Do you bench a guy like Hines Ward? Probably not, but he probably becomes a WR3 vs. a WR2. A TE like Heath Miller might actually see some uptick as a security blanket in this scenario.

So with that in mind, where are the juicy match ups in Week 3, with the standard caveat that I will not mention guys with the last name of Manning (P), Johnson, Rodgers, Peterson, etc…

Carson Palmer – gets pretty nice match up vs. a struggling Panther team that is starting Jimmy Claussen. Your only worry here is an early blow it, but CP should put up 2-3 TD's

Joe Flacco – where has this guy been? Well, he only played two of the tougher Defenses in Jets and Bengals. Look for the Ravens to open it up and take out some frustration on the Brownies.

Vick – Do I need to even say anything else? Last week we told you, if he plays, he is a Top 10 QB

Worthy of mentioning – Orton vs. Indy

Maybe think twice – D. McNabb – had a MONSTER game last week but will that continue? Should be a HUGE spot for #5 but I have a sneaky suspicion it won't be.

Ray Rice – 'sticking' (get it?) with the Baltimore theme here; Rice is due to bust out!

Marion Barber – why did the Cowboys stop giving this guy the ball last week? They have to keep Schaub and Johnson off the field; only way to do that is run, run, run.

Darren McFadden – is he finally living up to the hype? Coming off a big weekend he should continue to get the ball, especially with another one of those "lousy QB change for just another lousy QB"

Mike Tolbert – not sure if Ryan Matthews will play for the Chargers but he quickly is looking like a 'bust' and he is having trouble holding onto the ball. Tolbert is a 5'9" 'bowling ball' and the Chargers seem to love him.

Think twice – who on the JETS to start? LT or Greene? I have no idea right now and that means, if you can, sit them both. If not, it seems like LT is getting balls thrown to him so in a PPR league his value is higher.

WR – a lot of strange match ups this week, so there is a lot of 'chalk' at WR. Here are two guys that I think can go in at WR3 but begin to perform at WR2 level

Demariyus Thomas – Broncos, after sitting out Week 1, he was Orton's 'go to guy' and you have to expect that relationship to grow. This week they get Indy at home and you have to figure they will be playing catch up at some point. Garbage time is big in Fantasy Football.

Louis Murphy – Raiders, I love this guy and not just because he is a Gator. As McFadden asserts himself, Murphy should get some single coverage and Gradkowski/Campbell can actually throw the ball well…once in a while.

Have a good Week 3 and see you as we approach the ¼ way mark!

Week 1 - Studs, Duds and Pick ups

2010-09-14T16:29:00.001-04:00

Let’s start on the positive side because it was just Week 1 after all right?
The big headline grabber was Arian Foster, of course. He of the 231 yards rushing and 3 TD’s. He single handedly made the rest of the Houston Offense DUDS in fact! If you were with us in the offseason and preseason prep you would remember us talking about Foster even before the Ben Tate injury. I’ll stick by my quote of him reminding me of another former University of Tennessee Running Back --- Jamal Lewis. Certainly Chris Johnson didn’t disappoint and thanks to a great OT run Rashard Mendenhall came out in the top of the RB pack. A couple of RB’s surprised a few Owners. If you were like me and stuck with Matt Forte (my Week 1 RB pick on the radio show this week) you were handsomely rewarded with a 2 TD’s, 200+ total yards and 7 big catches! Or how about Darren McFadden? Oakland is paying the guy and I think he will continue to get the ball. WR Studs were dominated by ‘2nd tier’ guys that really maybe shouldn’t be --- while Austin Collie (11 catches, 163 yards and a TD) might have seen his best day, guys like Hakeem Nicks (4/75/3), Wes Welker (8/64/2) and Ochocinco (12/159/1) should continue to thrive and were for the most part late early to middle round picks.
The Dud list this week is littered with first and second round picks up and down the line! Who would have thought this group of RB’s could have been so bad? Shonn Greene, Frank Gore, Turner, Ray Rice and that’s not mentioning Ryan Grant’s season ending injury! Not to be outdone were eggs laid by some of the NFL’s best hands guys – Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Malcom Floyd, Deshaun Jackson and to a lesser extent Marques Colston, Brandon Marshall and Randy Moss. In fact, if you had a Viking, a Jet, a Raven or a 49er you probably are scratching your head quite a bit today.
So, who is out there to go and get? Maybe the most important part of Fantasy Football is working the ‘waiver wire’. Big caveat here though, week #1 is just that, one week. No Denny Green “they are who we thought they were” speech here. Guys you took in the first 3 rounds are not being sat and should not be dropped. You might think about trades, especially unloading a guy whose value will never be higher (see Brandon Jackson if you don’t own Ryan Grant).
• The aforementioned Brandon Jackson in Green Bay. Until they trade for someone else and they get up to speed he is the guy. He automatically becomes a RB2
• Michael Vick – yep, #7. Don’t like his ethics, morals, etc? It’s Fantasy Football – who cares? If Kolb is out this guy becomes a Top 10 QB instantly
• Fragile Freddy Taylor – I may be a Gator ‘homer’ and I love Freddy but haven’t from a Fantasy perspective for a long time, BUT, he is getting the carries in New England and he looks fresh. On top of that the Patriots JUST unloaded Laurence Maroney to the Broncos. Ride him while he’s healthy
• Any number of WR’s on bad teams that will be playing catch up 
o Mark Clayton (STL)
o Mike Williams (TB)
o Mike Thomas (Jax)
o Danny Amendola (STL)
o M. Massaqui (CLE)

Good luck in Week 2 --- may your stars rebound and your ‘reaches’ keep on plugging away.

So now that you drafted…

2010-09-07T20:42:00.003-04:00

For so many Fantasy Football Owners it is “all about the draft” and in a lot of cases that is true, for any number of reasons.

But that can’t be it, right? Think of Fantasy Ownership like dating – I know, for some of you it’s been a LONG, LONG time (for many different reasons) but bear with me.

Remember all the prep work that went into that ‘first date’? Well your draft is the ‘first date’. How do you make sure it goes well? That you ask the right questions? Get to know exactly what you need to know and vice versa so there is a next date? How much time did you do in preparation? Have you been ‘studying’ your ‘prey’ for quite some time? Do you know where she likes to eat? What are her favorite movies to go to? Or exactly what it’s going to take to go all the way?

Ok, enough with the analogies but I think you get the comparison…

If that first date goes well it leads to a second and a third and maybe a nice relationship. Same for the draft – you put in the time, do your homework, pay attention to the little details that make your draft unique for yo, then you might just have a nice little relationship as well, with your team that is!

But what happens when it all goes wrong? You forgot your date was a vegetarian. She isn’t feeling well and doesn’t want to go on that nature hike you set up. What do you do then? You improvise!! You don’t give up! Same thing goes for your draft. No draft will ever go to the form you expect. MJD will slip because of his knee so do you take him at 4 or do you go Andre Johnson? These are the things you need to be thinking about.

But just like dating the first date is certainly important but it’s just the beginning, so too for Fantasy Football, the draft is just the beginning. Hopefully your league is built so that you can adjust on the fly (think, how do I get that 2nd date to make a better impression). What are my leagues trading rules? Restrictions on Free Agent pick ups? Too many leagues these days want to take away the ‘tough stuff to manage’ like these things. Guess what? It’s the best part!! Just like the actual best part of dating is the process of getting to know someone! The meat of the relationship here is like your ‘regular season’.

Hopefully with the right moves, the proper amount of intuition and courage you will advance to the best part --- the post season --- I am going to leave the dating side of this analogy to your imagination my friends, but I think you know where I am going.

My point here is the draft is just the draft. It is the ONE time all the Owners of your league are together (hopefully face to face because who likes online dating? ☺). Enjoy it for what it’s worth but stay engaged for the full season!! Even if it’s not going that well a season can be saved and even if it can’t be think of all the lessons you will learn by managing through it --- again, easy analogy to dating…

We are on the eve of the 2010 Football Season my friends, and just like in life, we all have a fighting chance --- enjoy your year!

The Devil’s Advocate

2010-08-26T13:06:00.001-04:00

Maybe it has been all the rain over the last few days, or the oppressive heat this summer or just quite possibly it was being stuck on an un-air-conditioned subway car this morning for 45 minutes but I am feel quite in the contrarian mood. In this case it's a good thing because it is letting me look at Fantasy Football, and more broadly at Fantasy Sports, through a different lens. I've decided that this season, once a week, I am going to look at this game we love to play from the other side of the 'pond'. No, I'm not in London advocating for the NFL Europe to return but I will be trying to separate myself and opinions, at least here, from the masses of mainstream media that try to feed you Fantasy Football in a neat little package.

You know the 'package' – it's the 'uber' site that not only gives you stats (which are useful) but also gives you projections (ok, good debate fodder) but then goes on to try to turn you and your league in to auto-bots that go through life on auto pilot. You think I'm wrong? Ha! What the FUCK is auto pick then and why are you able to use it? I think, at least I hope, it was created as a 'fail safe' for online drafters in case they get bumped off line or get called out of their room by their 'Mommy'. Me, I hate online drafts --- loathe, loathe, loathe them. Put me on a plane and take me to my 'boys' or Vegas or wherever but I need to be in a room, shooting the shit; I mean isn't what this was all about in 1992 when I joined my first league?

Enough with the diatribe, I apologize. So throughout the season I will try and tackle the mainstream thought 'police' out there and see if we can't refocus the lens.

Today's example – Rankings based on the previous season for Running backs in particular. Every magazine you pick up and who's the #1 pick? Well OF COURSE its Chris Johnson; has to be CHRIS JOHNSON. Look at his totals last year, it's Chris Johnson. Ok, I get that, but then why wasn't Chris Johnson last year's #1 pick? Oh, he didn't have the stats to support it. You mean, the guy who led the previous year didn't again --- big shocker! Anybody remember the CONCENSUS #1 pick just one year ago? Yep – Adrian Petersen. Where did he finish? 5^th in Rushing…in fact, in just the last 3 years of the 15 RB's who finished in the top 5 (in rushing) only Petersen (all 3 years) and Steven Jackson (2 of the 3) are repeaters on the list. So why is he the #1 pick this year? It's because of FEAR! The fear begins with the "experts" because of the 'herd mentality'. G-d forbid you step out of line and look elsewhere --- people will stop buying your magazine, subscribing to your website or mock you on the intertubes. Fear on the behalf of the millions of Owners out there who hold the #1 pick. You will agonize, debate internally and dissect ad nausea (that's BS because the second you learned you had the #1 you though Chris Johnson, but I'll give YOU the benefit of the doubt). And lastly fear of the unknown. We all know that CJ is the choice, it's the easy one to make, the 'right' one, the safe one, but based on statistics more than likely the WRONG one and guess what Mr. #1 Draft Pick Owner, you have a LONG wait until you make your next pick. Who else would you take? There's the real FEAR…

Every year there seems to be a more desirable spot in the draft. To me, this year it is at #4. Why is that? Well if #1 is a no brainer because CJ's stats last year, well, #4 is the next big no brainer and there is a huge drop off to #5 (in my mind). At #4 we can assume that CJ is gone and that any rotation of AP, Maurice Jones-Drew or Ray Rice will be left. Guess what, give me ANY of those three and I am ecstatic!

Sage words of advice - "it's an ever changing landscape"

2010-08-03T16:21:00.002-04:00

What worked yesterday may not work today; the tried and true precepts you've based world on are suddenly turned upside down. Sound catastrophic? In the world of Fantasy Football it very well may be. The axiom I am referring to? You MUST grab a top back in the First Round if you are say in the top 6 picks. There are actually people that swear by the philosophy of going 'back, back' in 1 and 2 and never factor much else into the equation. If you have been a savvy FFL Owner then you find these guys and prey on them. If you are not sure who they are, look in the mirror. Do you pour over cheat sheets made in April? Do you print out ESPN's ranking and go from there (even those guys will tell you this is wrong)? Better yet, in your online draft do you set up for 'auto-pick'? In poker there is a great phrase, "find the sucker at the table, if you don't see him, then it's YOU". Same thing goes with Fantasy Football. If you are going to play one way and one way only you will get run over.

Why am I bringing this up now and what's its relation to the 'Running Back Rule'? In case you missed it kids, the NFL is once again evolving. Nearly extinct are the 'every down back', the guy who will carry the rock all day long. In fact, you can count on your two hands the number of those guys out there this year. What this does is two things; 1) yes, it makes those guys all the more valuable but it also 2) creates a pretty deep pool of talent that begs you to hold off on the 'back-back' strategy. Of course all things are relative, and you MUST know your own scoring system inside and out (yes, we at the FFL Guru preach this every year and we still get complaints about our 'rankings'). In knowing that, step out of your comfort zone this year, at least look at a WR or dare I say a QB. It's a leap but it might be a leap of faith.

One thing I am getting bombarded with right now is, I have 'x; pick...who should I take? Again, just like every year, and written above, it is generally not enough info, which is why you can't rely on a cheatsheet. So what do you need to know, or what would I need to know to give you a knowledgeable answer:

- your point system
- how many teams in your league
- how many starters you have at each position
- some Owner tendencies

then I think I could a decent job. Without that it's tough, but I will give you my top 5 at the Big 3 spots and a sleeper and a bust (as of today 8/3/10)

QB - The Big 3 and then a whole lot of "isn't this guy like another guy", except maybe Romo (can't believe I said that)
Rodgers, Brees, Manning
Sleeper - Henne (some really mice weapons in Miami)
Bust - It's hard to call Tom Brady a bust but I see the continued diminishing of the skill positions in New England and that should impact his #'s. I certainly don't believe he is in the Top 4, where he is consistently ranked.

RB - it's all about versatility
C. Johnson, Rice and Jones-Drew - where is AP? Blasphemy? My leagues are all PPR, feel free to adjust as needed
Sleeper & Bust - going to package this one together; give me the Colts RB's for both Alex. Donald Brown is my Sleeper and Joseph Addai is my Bust. Addai literally carried me to 2nd place last year and I still scratch my head over it. Fact is he is aging rapidly and is barely averaging 3 yards a carry. Whether it be by injury or sheer lack of production, Donald Brown becomes the #1 back there by mid-season and isn't that the definition of a Sleeper?

WR - the guard continues to evolve; give me big, strong and tough. And as I think about it, I'm not sure I can give you a Top 3 that is heads above another. I'll give you a #1 and some thoughts, because I can!

Andre Johnson - duh

Other thoughts - give me some of these guys, they are ranking way too low by the 'experts'

Greg Jennings - STUD STUD STUD
Marques Colston - I've seen him in the mid teens, are you smoking crack? I hate the too many weapons argument (see Reggie Wayne for the last 3-4 years)
Brandon Marshall - he will become the first 100 reception guy in Dolphin history

Oh yeah - Sidney Rice just became the official first BUST for teams that already drafted, why anyone does that is beyond me, assuming that #4 stays retired...

In other news, the FFL Guru is continuing on with several very cool partnerships and projects to be announced shortly as the pre season goes on. One that is done, we are teaming up with Circus Dave from http://www.redhotlocks.com/ and will become an integral part of their team. You can look for weekly columns on our take of things over there as well as get Dave and all his prognosticating glory at our site, www.thefflguru.com

The powers of observation

2010-07-09T21:25:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I can withdraw into myself and not really be a part of the world around me. At its worst, I put on my ear buds, crank up the music, drop the sunglasses and 'sleepwalk' to where I need to be. Every once in awhile something will shake me out of that 'slumber' and I once again realize how much I am missing when I intentionally choose to turn off some of the senses that G-d gave me.

Intentional, like the use of the word above, is quickly becoming my motto. I am trying very diligently to lead an 'intentional life'. For too long now I have sat back and allowed the days to wash over me. While things have been good, they could and will be better.

All of this ran through me today at the airport while I waited through a two hour maintenance delay and an hour ground stop once we boarded. On top of that, I got to the airport early and got on an earlier flight, which thanks to those delays wound up taking off over an hour after my regularly scheduled flight left. Normally my reaction would be one of disgust. Disgust of the airline, disgust in myself for making the change and from there I could have spiraled right into a shitty weekend. Instead I took that opportunity to be intentional. I opened my laptop and reviewed documents for three very big meetings next week. I looked over a resume for an interview I need to conduct and I did research for a project that a friend is working on. I also reflected on my week with my children, where we visited friends and family. I wish I could put into words how special it was to see four of my closest friends on the same night with their families and to have a picture of all of us the reflection of 30+ years of friendship and then seeing our children enjoy those same bonding moments that we had.

Lastly, I spent some time observing the world around me. Mostly I was looking at the interaction of 'couples'. Not just any couples but the ones where you could tell that they have been together for awhile. What I saw scared me. It also made me think back about my own relationships and realize I now have an opportunity to be intentional once again. What I saw was that, at least in my eyes, the 'closer' a couple was, the less mutual respect they showed each other. Whether it was the husband rolling his eyes at what must have seemed like a silly request or the huffing of a wife as she yanked something out of her 'out of touch' partner I saw genuine disdain. Now I realize, having been in more than a long term relationship, that we get on each others nerves. But what I also thought about was, for some reason, the more we become comfortable with someone the less we appreciate them. If a co-worker, or an acquaintance asks us to do a mundane task we most often smile, do it and move on. However, how many times, when our significant other asks for a small favor, do we sigh, roll our eyes or do something to let them know what a bother it is. Again, I am human and I realize this does happen, but realizing that it also helps make me aware of it. By being intentional with my thoughts and actions I hope to reduce these occasions and instead, show more caring, love and support to those around me. I imagine it will be noticed and reciprocated.

My afternoon of intention wrapped up with a great phone call. I was reminded how positive I was being about my experience and how I sometimes, OK often, react with a more negative attitude. I smiled, knowing that I was acting intentionally and it showed.

As I write tonight I am thinking about one of my friends who is resilient, strong and brave. He would never say those things to you. He will tell you he deals with what's in front of him and believes in staying positive amongst many great adversities. I see he is living an intentional life. Thanks again for 'waking me up' Alex.

An All Sports Post - sorry to put you to sleep

2010-06-11T21:24:00.004-04:00

Realignment, Probation, The Beautiful Game and a Run that was nearly complete...

Pretty amazing Spring for sports. Let's start with the last of those four up there because chronologically it came first. If you are not a fan of hockey you should at least become a fan of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whether it was the first round and the early run by the Canadiens, or you are like me, a die hard Philly sports fan, there was a lot to enjoy about this run to the Cup. And if you are a Chicagoan then you are still celebrating a well deserved Cup victory. For me, the 4 weeks+ were magical. Watching the Flyers manhandle the higher seeded and hated New Jersey Devils was great. Moving on to Round 2 and taking care of the storied Montreal Canadiens seemed to be 'icing on the cake' for a team that squeaked into the playoffs but then the real magic happened. My Fly boys looked flat after 2 tough losses in the Conference Championship Series versus the Boston Bruins and then got blown out in game 3 to go down 3-0 in the Series. At that point I began to appreciate where 'we' had gotten to so unexpectedly, but at the same time hoping to at least steal a game to save face. What started as one game turned into two and then a third and before you knew it we were in Game 7 and on the verge of history. Game 7 in Boston was a daunting task and getting down 3-0 in the first period made it tougher but somehow this team did it the impossible. Like Rocky coming back against Apollo Creed in the original Rocky, only this time Rocky wins and we don't need that "rematch" (Go watch the movie). Like so many good stories this one ended just short of history as the Flyers lost in 6 to the Blackhawks for the Cup but this run will be remembered by me for years to come and it was more than the hockey. It was memories revived and old friendships brought alive again. As the Flyers snuck into the playoffs I sat in the basement of my oldest (as in time) friend. A friendship that began at summer camp at the age of 4, survived family changes, moves, college and life has been renewed and on that final day we watched the Flyers get 'in'. Ironically, one of my other 'camp' friends from that same time period also lives in New York and we met up for the first time in 33 years to watch what became the final game of the year. It was a bittersweet but felt great to reconnect with someone and see 33 years melt away.

With hockey out of the way, I can turn my attention to the World Cup. I don't profess to be a true lover of soccer/futbol but I certainly can enjoy the spectacle and marvel at the athleticism. The whole world can't be wrong, this really is a great sport and the World Cup is truly a grand event. Today marked just the beginning but I am excited to tune in as much as possible and cheer on the Red, White and Blue. For the record, I am taking the boys from SPAIN to win it all. I like the US getting out of their group and as I will be posting this the night before the Yank take on the Brits, I like us to upset them tomorrow as well, hey, I'm a HOMER!

Next up is college sports. What started as a quiet rumor turned into a giant inferno within the week. What am I talking about? Conference realignment and the birth of true 'Super Conferences'. Already we have seen Colorado jump to the Pac 10, which I guess gets a new name and Nebraska head to the Big 10 (which already had 11). Next dominoes to fall seem to be the complete disintegration of the Big 12 (though now the Big 10 is 12 so aren't they the Big 12?). While all this is big news I am wondering what the SEC will do. The biggest conference of them all has been relatively quiet. From the reports I am reading it looks like Texas and a couple of other Big 12 schools will jump to the Pac 10+ as well. This surprises me; call it East Coast bias but why do they want to jump two time zones away from TV coverage? In my mind the natural pull would be to bring Texas and Texas A&M into the SEC and make a truly SOUTHERN conference that stretches all the way across the Gulf States. For the SEC it also brings in two HUGE TV markets in Dallas and Houston as well. It would also mean the SEC would need to add two more teams to balance out the East with the West. I would think they could have their choice of Florida State, Miami, Clemson and Georgia Tech. This would truly create a mega conference. It would also create a near impossible run to undefeated seasons, but is that so wrong? It would make for great football and huge ratings week after week. I know it will never happen but I like the idea. I also like the idea of the Gators and Hurricanes renewing rivalries every year!

The other big news in college football was the announcement of USC getting hit hard with sanctions from the NCAA. Now there is a lot to debate here (why punish kids that were not a part of the problem) to gloating about things like karma (it's a BITCH isn't it Coach Kiffin?). What I am trying to figure out is what happened to schools losing the right to be on television for a period of time? In the 80's, when Florida was put on probation, along with losing scholarships and Bowl games, we also were not allowed to be shown on TV. Maybe, now that TV contracts have gotten so large this is no longer an option, but if you truly want to deal a Program a blow you take away the TV coverage. Why you might ask? College athletes today want to be on TV. They want to be seen. They want to be drafted and make a ton of money. If your School is not on TV, it really doesn't matter how many scholly's you have to offer, the best will not come! I'm not saying that USC should have gotten it in this case, I am just wondering if it is even still an option...

BONUS SPORTS NOTE - as I type this the Gator Baseball Team just beat the Miami Hurricanes in their opening game in a series that will determine who goes to the College World Series --- GO GATORS!!!

Thoughts about the NBA???

2010-05-20T12:19:00.003-04:00

Really, why? Well it was on my mind! I also typed it on my new iPad with a Journal App that I fell in love with, so there. By the way, yes, still on blogspot with every good intention of moving to WordPress. I am thinking next weekend, its a long Holiday one and I don't have my kids, I'll be in New York, alone and mostly bored, not that anyone pays attention...

I am really disappointed in the NBA. I used to be a very big fan as a kid. I look back at the early 80's and I wonder if I am just being nostalgic or is there something to it. The night before last I was watching the Flyers hockey game and in-between periods I switched over and the NBA Draft Lottery was on, that's what initially got me thinking about the topic...

Anyway, I watched and sat there comparing it to the NFL which seems to do everything right when it comes to drafts and dealing with college players. On the flip side you have the NBA; their silly one and done college rule and this 'lottery' that is staged to determine who gets the first pick through the 14th, I think. This should be exciting stuff!!!! It's what can shape a future franchise right? Not so fast my friends --- not only is drafting NBA talent a hit and miss, moving target but thanks to stupid contracts and salary restrictions it is downright convoluted. On top of that, I really no longer understand what it takes to be an NBA player and I have to tell you, I love the college game and think I am fairly knowledgeable, but I look at the mock drafts put up by experts and I scratch my head...I know maybe 10 names from the college game and I really wonder what their impact is going to be. The overall #1 seems to be John Wall, a skinny 19 year old kid that played one year at Kentucky, because quite frankly, he had too. Now I am not knocking the kids' talent but I don't think he is NBA ready and I don't necessarily mean from a skills standpoint, though I think the top 10 point guards in the game will eat him for lunch for the next two years. What I see is an immature, self absorbed, talent laden kid that will never reach his max potential because he will no longer be 'taught' the game of basketball. All of that is sort of off topic but because year after year this same thing happens, it has made the NBA an inferior product. David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, can stick his head in the sand and point to TV ratings all day long but I see empty buildings and complete apathy about the future. You, Mr. Stern, got very lucky with an influx of talent in the Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul class. Enjoy it now because I don't see the future staying 'rosy'.

Watch your older brother, the NFL, and learn; you can market the player but at the end of the day it is the team that matters. Fans will always appreciate great talent but we fall in love with teams, winning and enthusiasm. When you hand 19 year olds $40 million without any track record of success you are creating an atmosphere of individualship and greed. Coaches are not respected in the same way as they were before and veterans are seen as has beens that should just go away. And fans? Do they even know we are there? Just ask Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks, but that is a whole different rant!

I am glad my 76ers are no longer relevant or this would all frustrate me so much more and there is an indictment in itself. I look longingly at my Dr. J jersey, the 1983 championship banner and my Moses Malone '4,4,4 Sixers' shirt with longing and passion, for another time and another era, but no longer for basketball...

Change is never easy...

2010-04-29T12:13:00.006-04:00

...but it is inevitable

With that said, I think it is time that I say goodbye to dear old Blogspot. Fear not, I am not giving up on blogging (though it seems that way from post infrequency sometimes) but I am beginning the search and transition to a new 'home' for my blog. If you have read a post a little while back, there are a wide range of things that I will blog about (at least TWO ok?) and it seems disjointed to have them in the same place without a way to delineate them so a reader doesn't get stuck in something they are not overly interested in. I am also intrigued around the concept of building 'personal brands' and developing my own. i don't want to run multiple blogs for this reason, so I am looking at some 'tabbed' type of format which will allow the reader to view blogposts by category. For a great resource on a true 'Personal Brand', thanks to hard work and the Internet, you should GOOGLE Gary Vaynerchuck and pick up is book "Crush It".

So with that said, I am looking at Wordpress as a new potential home. Now, I like to think I am fairly tech savvy. Really, I know my way around social media and networks and really isn't that the ONLY thing technology is about these days? But when it came to researching a new home for my blog I came to realize just how much I have to learn and as I poured through document after document just how smart you really have to be to get all this stuff right. Just trying to figure out how to transfer 200+ blog posts seems to be a Herculean feat right about now. On top of that I want my URL to be without the 'name of blogging company' inserted in it, so I have to buy a URL and make sure all the pointing stuff works, plus as I plan to disable this one I need to point you all over somewhere else, etc...

Needless to say it's making my head spin a bit, but the reality is that it's a great exercise for me and helps build my credibility in 'living a digital life' which is at the core of my Employer's, Definition 6, philosophy.

As I do all these things, I have also been attending a lot of conferences in the past few weeks. Whether directly or indirectly everyone of them has made their focal point around Social Media. It's incredible how dominant the topic has been and I absolutely LOVE it! One of my favorite concepts is that of being 'hyper local'. The basic idea is that thanks to smartphones, social media and some pretty cool technologies marketing can be extremely targeted and highly localized. I agree 110% BUT I am concerned with how a local business will actually capitalize on this opportunity and as Gary V. says, "Crush It". For enterprise clients and even mid size firms they have the bandwidth to hire both internal experts as well as outside consulting groups and agencies. But how does the local pizza parlor do it, or your neighborhood bookstore or chiropractor? They need help, the landscape is forever changing. Working in the small business world I know the two greatest challenges - TIME and MONEY. They never have enough time or the money to throw at such a bold effort in the same manner as say Coca Cola. What they do have is desire and intention. I feel there is a whole niche market here that needs these services and can do great things with them but doesn't have anyone 'servicing' them. I have some really great ideas around that, and I digressed a bit, but it came to mind while struggling with my own limitations.

Anyway, not sure when I will finish the transition or if I will have any more posts here before then...you just never know ;-)

Enough is Enough

2010-03-26T08:19:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am about to commit blasphemy in its highest form, right here on my blog --

DEAR ESPN, PLEASE STOP COVERING FLORIDA FOOTBALL LIKE WE ARE THE ONLY PROGRAM IN THE COUNTRY

There, I said and I feel a little bit better. I know at least one of you might have just dropped a coffee mug and said 'woo hoo', but lets not get ahead of ourselves here (and clean up the mess please). I didn't say to 'stop covering Florida Football' just discontinue what you are currently doing. By that I mean, it is March people, we just started SPRING PRACTICE!

Here goes my rant, and I feel like Deonte Thompson (in that I am going to say how I feel and hope that everyone reading it doesn't dissect it, twist it, or fuck with it so they can make a headline). I guess I better digress first, because the Deonte Thompson 'real quarterback' quote is what got this whole thing started (and by the way there is plenty of blame to go around, including on Coach Meyer)...

The other day after practice, one of our WR's is asked to compare his old QB (Tim Tebow) to his new one (John Brantley). The WR in question, Thompson, said that, and I am paraphrasing, it was a little tougher with Tim because he might run, scramble or throw it at the last second. This meant he, as a WR, had to always be on his toes, and sometimes, quite frankly he wasn't. On the other hand, Brantley, is more of an 'pure passer' in that he drops back, has an idea of where he is going and delivers the ball in a much more rhythmic pattern, or as Thompson called it, "a real quarterback". There is where all the trouble began (big shocker, alert the world) one of Timmy's old teammates doesn't think Tim is a REAL QB!!!! Orlando Sentinel, Mike Bianchi (you douchebag -oops, personal opinion) let's make it a HEADLINE!!! Write a column, a blog, let the world know that a 21 year old kid says that 'Football's Lord and Savior is not a 'real QB'... I think you sense my sarcasm...

Do we really have a story here? Not really, but it is March and in between basketball games, baseball is in Spring Training, no one cares about basketball or hockey until the play-offs and Tiger's come back is 3 weeks away, so the National Sports News needs 'filler' and what better filler than another person dissing the Savior that is Tim Tebow! The PTI guys debate it and concur that "hey, it's really no big deal" and I thought, thank G-d that is over...but...nope, and here is where Meyer added fuel to the fire...the next day at practice HE goes after the reporter. Now I will tell you, I am glad he said something. My hope would have been that he would have pulled him aside and had a quiet discussion, but nope, he goes off on a rant, and yep, it's all on tape. So instead of this silly thing dying it is mushrooming and now it has spun out of control.

Last night, all I hear about is how Meyer is sticking up for Tebow and how this affects Tebow, and what it does to his draft status, etc...now I am scratching my head...Meyer was not in ANY WAY sticking up for Tebow, he was sticking up for his WR and current player. He was TRYING, though not succeeding, in trying to put the comment in perspective.

Like I said, there is a ton of blame here. One person I am not blaming is the original reporter, Jeremy Fowler, who asked the question. He did his job and I don't think he took the quote that much out of context. The person that did was Mike Bianchi at his paper that decided this needed to be his COLUMN of the day. He's the one I'd like to see Meyer in the back room with. I also understand that ESPN will cover anything and everything, but as a Florida Alum I am growing weary of the daily coverage and that sounds strange. To put it in context, I am a great Gator fan, but too many I am their worst nightmare as Gator fans already have a reputation about arrogance in the SEC. Layer that on with my Philadelphia sports upbringing and yep, I can be downright obnoxious. At least I admit it and I am seeking help (Step 1 complete - LMAO). In years past I would be rolling around like a pig in shit with all this coverage, but today I am afraid to turn on SportsCenter to see what is next. I love Tim Tebow, I love Coach Meyer, but at the end of the day the constant scrutiny about 'perfection' and 'Mr. Perfect' grew tiresome and hurt the team. I was hoping for a quiet Spring, one of developing young talent and of talk of re-building and then a nice build up to the Fall where we unleash John Brantley on the college football world...

Now, I just hope to go a weekend without seeing us on the 'crawl'

Newbie tips from SXSW

2010-03-22T09:26:00.001-04:00

The following is going to posted to my Company's Blog, so I thought I would share it here as well…

We have plenty of experts at Definition 6 and several of them were able to join me at SXSW this year. In their blogs they will give you great insights into the fantastic technical content and incredible creative features that SXSW provided. As for me, I was your basic wide eyed child seeing a new world for the first time. Every experience and many of the sessions were sensory and information overload but I did bring back a few good nuggets that will be helpful for 2011 and beyond:

Do NOT ignore the early panels and sessions – I am an early riser and not a 'huge' partier so this one for me was easier than some of the other Conference Attendees. Every day sessions began at either 9:00 or 9:30; set your alarms early, get up stretch (workout if you do that) because you are in for a fully packed day!
Speaking of panels and sessions – there are TONS of them and if you don't pre-plan your day you will get lost, overwhelmed and miss things. SXSW has gotten so big that many sessions no longer take place in the Austin Convention Center (ACC). They use the Hilton across the street and several other hotels around downtown Austin. If you aren't paying attention you could very well miss your session.
Use the tools SXSW provides – If you weren't using my.SXSW.com then you missed out. Additionally, I am an iPhone user and the SXSW app was a LIFE SAVER! Everything from my custom schedule to maps to venues, it is a must have.
Network, Network, Network – I know this sounds rather elementary for a Conference, let alone SXSW, but I would focus on where and when you can do your best networking. For me, I found that to be in TWO places. My favorite place to network was before a panel/session. For a generally small panel I would arrive about 30 minutes beforehand (take note, for big sessions, like Keynotes, I would arrive 60 minutes before, take a good seat, and be ready to talk to my neighbors. I met everyone from the head of Interactive for a Fortune 50 to someone who had actually read one of my blog posts! The second place was in the 'Lounges' on the second floor of the ACC. In general, I had about 60-90 between sessions. I would head up to the Bloggers' Lounge and process my thoughts and get to meet great people from around the world.
Bring your laptop! – A few folks suggested I leave it behind but for me it was my SINGLE BEST TOOL at SXSW. Why you ask? During every panel/session there was a hashtag for Twitter associated with it. I would open up TweetDeck and add a column for that hashtag. From there I could pose a question, make a comment and follow what others were saying. This actually became ANOTHER great 'place' to network as I started picking up 'followers' and I began to 'follow' others in the room.
Work the parties – At least until 10:00pm or so. I noticed that most of the sponsored after hour gatherings were also good places to network but only up until a point, and that point was generally around 10:00. From then on places were very crowded and the atmosphere was no longer conducive to very strategic business talks. Stick around, pick up cards and talk about your business but think of that like early snow – it's coming down but it most likely won't 'stick'
Book in advance – Hotel rooms fill up fast! See you March 15^th, 2011.

From the Blogger Lounge...

2010-03-16T14:57:00.002-04:00

I'm on Day 3 here at SXSW while most of the folks here got here on Friday. There is definitely the growing sense of weariness as the Interactive Crowd is wrapping up and getting ready to move on for yet another year.

For three days now I knew this 'Blogger Lounge' was here but I haven't had the time to swing by and quite frankly I was a little bit scared. Now that I am in here I am full on scared!!! There are about 8 round tables set up with 8 seats per table and laptops are up and people are typing away furiously. If you have been reading me for awhile you might recall my first real Starbucks experience, well, this one tops it. At least for my trip to Starbucks I had directions and guidance, here I feel like a complete alien. Let's face it, I am a quasi blogger at best. I need lessons, I need help!!! I am afraid to even open my mouth as something completely stupid will come tumbling out...

So here I sit, with another 90 minutes before my next session. Loving that I can recharge though. Speaking of recharging, I don't think I mentioned the AT&T recharging stations here. They have this mini-locker set up where you open a locker with a key, put in your iPhone, lock her up and boom your iPhone is charging. I haven't needed it but it is super cool. I was sitting and watching though and this was the general behavior --- put phone in, stand off to the side, wait 3 minutes (tops), open locker to check phone, respond to email/texts, repeat for 30 -45 or until the phone is charged enough to go 2 more hours...

Sat in two good sessions this morning, the first about the changing dynamic of how sports is distributed. One of the panelists is the CEO of the Major League Gaming and another was the Interactive guy from Dr. Pepper who advertises with them. Pretty interesting to hear what is described as sports and how monetization of online video continues to evolve. The second panel was on Location Based Advertising and it had light bulbs going off for me the whole time. It was mostly a pitch from the speaker but it clearly has relevance. More later I'm sure as I took a ton of notes. Next up is a panel on the changing dynamic of the magazine space which is big for me and two of our clients in the publishing world and then I wrap up with an panel on Facebook.

All in all I have not had a single bad experience at SXSW and I really see where Definition 6 will have relevance here in 2011.

SXSW Report - Observations from a 'newbie'

2010-03-16T11:29:00.004-04:00

* I knew I couldn't party like a rockstar but I had hopes that I could party like an 'internet' star. Sorry to say but nope! Two nights in and I have been in bed by 2:00am both nights. Maybe I am starting too early or maybe I am too old, either way, when I see 'tweets' from friends letting me know that they are still going at 5:00am and my alarm just went off to go for a run...well, enough said.

* The Apple MacBook Pro is by FAR the #1 choice for computing in this crowd; yes, I brought mine, and my DELL as well (hey, I'm in Austin) but the PC has stayed back in the room for work purposes.

* Gary Vaynerchuck is just as good in front of 3,000 people as he was last month with 120 people. If you never heard of Gary, you can check out his site here - http://garyvaynerchuk.com/. He is SXSW legend at this point and regardless of anything else he is brutally honest and I like that. He also gives me hope that what I and the people I work with are doing the right things by our clients, our colleagues and our stakeholders. Still trying to get some one on one time with him but I realize that will have to happen back in New York.

* PEPSI sucks --- ok, maybe you don't think so but I'm a Diet Coke guy and I cn't get it here!!! I give PEPSI credit for stepping up in the Interactive Space and getting their brand out, I just wish it were my friends at Coca-Cola.

* I really get this 'stuff'! I'll never be a techie or be able to grind away in geel speak (despite what some of my less tech savvy friends believe) but from a philosophical and energy level I am right there. I can't remember how many years it has been since I knew that my skills and talents were so meant for the place that I am at.

* Everyone is a 'social media expert' and you know what? That's cool with me. There are so many places to gravitate towards there will never be one authoritative voice on 'what's next'. As long as you keep an open mind and continue to learn; not allow yourself to get 'boxed' into one technology or one platform then I think there is room for everyone. The tent is literally open my friends.

Wrapping up here --- panel on the future of Sports Journalism --- go figure, I have an interest there :)

Personal Space

2010-03-08T17:28:00.002-05:00

Everyone knows the story of the 'close talker'; you know they guy who gets right in your face - happy, sad or indifferent, and always invades that invisible barrier.

It's funny how those things come about. Why for some are there no boundaries and for others there seems like a 'wall' that is built that people can innately feel, even from just a picture.

Last week I paid attention to yet another one of these 'social boundaries' that I thought about today while in traffic trying to get out of the city. Its the escalator. Think about it, I bet it is something you are not even conscious about unless confronted with the situation first hand, like I did last week. As I was walking in the Atlanta Airport Terminal on my way to get my car I was having a conversation with two other people. When we reached the escalator I got on and one of my fellow conversationalists got on WITH ME. Yep, same step. The whole way down he kept talking and I felt uncomfortable. To be honest (my least favorite cliche phrase) I just assumed something was wrong with me! That is until the drive this morning when the third person in the Friday conversation was in the car with me. I asked him he noticed the escalator 'moment' and much to my surprise he said YES. So it got me to thinking --- what's the escalator rule and here is what I came up with.

- Same Step. When you are with your child, spouse, significant other or immediate family member then the same step is appropriate. You can argue close friend as well and for women this boundary may be a tad bit looser, but for most guys the next one is more common.

- The One Step Rule. You are friends or colleagues. One person is above or below the other (depending if you are going up or down) and one party can easily turn to the other and a normal casual conversation ensues.

- Two step MINIMUM. You are a complete stranger and I am waiting for two escalator steps to roll before I step on. It's common courtesy or at least it keeps me comfortable.

Maybe the most fun 'personal space' rule for men is Urinal Etiquette but if you think about it, the escalator is pretty high up there.

Safe travels on the escalator of life my friends.

Monthly 'Dump' - February, sort of since it's March already

2010-03-04T08:18:00.004-05:00

Man could I play on that word, but I won't! It seems like I am going through stretches of wanting to write but not being able to formulate full posts and other times where random thoughts strike me that don't require a full post but I want to express them. I thought I would add in a monthly 'dump' here as to what has crossed my mind. Hopefully I'll remember most of them, or at least recall where I jotted them down...

* I don't think I have ever been more excited for baseball! Maybe it is living in New York but I can't wait to go to Yankee Stadium, take the train 'home' to Philly and the 'Bank' with long lost friends and even the thought of taking in a Mets game is somewhat appealing (at least I own plenty of Orange and Blue in case I chicken out of Phillies gear).

* I am beginning to get sad about the end of LOST. The show has certainly run its course and this season started off rocky but I am back and fully engaged. It took me 4 years to catch on and while I spent 6 months getting caught up I stayed away from all the internet stuff...now, alone at night, I pour through content. I have even gone back and started all over and the context and complexity that is layered in is really fascinating me. My favorite subject in school became English thanks to one of my High School English Teachers. She taught me to read behind the words; to understand subtext, symbolism and foreshadowing. In those teenage days I thought she was a whack job...today it is the biggest blessing I have been given. It helps keep my observational skills sharp and in terms of LOST has opened up a whole new world of debate and conversation.

* I really need to rant on a sports topic. I also caveat this with the fact that my opinion here is currently skewed because of my love for all things Florida Gator related. As most of you know, I love the Gators and I love the NFL. So it would make sense that in a year where 10 former Gators will most likely be drafted, I am paying attention to the NFL Combines and things draft related. What I am now disliking is the complete dissection of every little nuance and facet into these micro numbers that seem to take the person out of the equation. From a Fantasy Football guy I know that sounds a little off since according to many all I care about is statistics but at least those stats are related to actual game play. At the NFL combines they have kids running the 40 yard dash and doing a standing jump. Very rarely will an NFL player need to run a straight flat out 40 yards as fast as they can and unless you are playing Special Teams trying to block a kick when the fuck are you jumping straight in the air trying to 'touch something'. Look, I get the need to break all this down but up until a few years ago it was done with and for the people who needed to see it, the teams and their scouts. You know who doesn't need to see it? A back up college QB on a D2 team that never got to play a down 'because of an injury' and is now clearly bitter about it and uses his platform at ESPN to rip whomever he wants --- yes I am talking to YOU Todd McShay ---leave my Gators alone or I am coming to Bristol --- now that's a thought :-)

* I am ready for SPRING!!! Holy crap have we gotten a ton of snow in New York and even when I spent a week in Atlanta we got 4 inches. I want to explore the greatest city in the world! I want to walk and run in the Park, I want to see people in less clothes (please take that in whatever you deem as the proper spirit), I want the cold to end!!

* February was a month of many high notes but it also saw my daughter in the hospital for 6 days (yes she has gotten better) and it also marked the loss of a dear family member. Life is a cycle and it must come all the way around but sometimes it seems like the end should never come for some people and that is how I felt about Grandma Ruth. She will always be in our hearts and as I heard her eulogized so eloquently, her legacy will live on in our children.

A letter to a friend

2010-02-20T16:32:00.004-05:00

T,

Thank you for finally getting back to me. These last 3 months have been very difficult not hearing from you. Fact is I care about you! I know you are always pulled in 5 million directions and like to remain private but yet I still missed you. While you were gone though nobody stopped talking about you, and not much of it was very nice. Fact is, as you pointed out to me on Friday is that it was justified. You did some really bad things. A lot of people out there are still wondering how you could do all of those things to 'them' but I am not one of them. Personally you didn't hurt me. Even as someone I admire and respect for how accomplished they are in business i understand everyone is flawed. I do feel deeply though for those you hurt. I am glad you took some time to acknowledge them. Of course it was your immediate family first and they will hurt the deepest and those wounds may never fully heal, but the other relationships in your life can be repaired. Your business partners need you as badly as you need them. You will get a second chance with them and you know it. There are others though that won't ever be able to express to you the difficulty you have put them through. How do you explain to an 11 year old who sees you as 'larger than life' that you are not only human but that you took advantage of your position, exploited it, and in hindsight exploit him and millions like him.

As sad as I am though, you know what, I want to believe you, I want to see the humanity through the rigid exterior. I have learned over the last several years that everyone has their own story and no one person can truly understand what it is like to walk in an other's shoes. So, I like many, will be here for you. We will wear our hearts on our sleeves and hope beyond hope that you conquer your personal demons, for this is really where you and 'I' connect. It is where you connect with the world, not with a 350 yard drive. We ALL fight our demons. We all do the wrong things and we all have to pay the price. The smartest line you delivered was the one about overcoming adversity. I am right there with you brother.

The road ahead of you is a long one, and you will never be the same. In my mind that's a good thing. You can actually become BETTER! You already have given so much in charity and have helped thousands of kids that needed it. Now you can take this experience and quadruple those efforts. Live your life with humility at every turn. Open your heart to the word not just your checkbook. In therapy discover what it was like to feel pure joy because as I see it, that's what you are seeking. Hopefully what you are learning is that no one person, or experience can give you that joy until you find it in yourself. Be thankful for all your blessings and celebrate them above all else.

If I have one bit of advice or critique from what you said to me on Friday; don't go anywhere near deflecting what you have brought on upon yourself. No reasonable person should be following a two year old to their school, however, YOU brought that upon your daughter. As senseless as it seems those photogs are doing the job they are paid to do. They would not be invading your privacy if it wasn't for your actions. As crappy as that sounds you and the family will live with this for quite some time. The more contentious and accusatory you get about it the less we will support you.

I do really wish you well my friend. I hope that someday, no matter the outcome, you will look back at this experience and it will have made you and those around you better people. Then the actions you took in these trying times will have shown your true contrition.

Your Friend

Big Brother is here and I am embracing him

2010-02-19T08:21:00.003-05:00

How many of you out there when you first saw FACEBOOK said, "that's silly, why would kids do that"? Be honest. When FACEBOOK started it was for kids on college campuses only and that was my first reaction. Why communicate on the computer when you can just walk across the proverbial Quad? Well, like 350 million + people I am thrilled that FB 'opened' up to allow anyone in. It has allowed me to connect, reconnect and express myself in ways that were impossible just 3-4 years ago.

It seems like as each new technology is released in the Social Media spectrum there is an initial resistance and then a fairly quick acceptance and adoption. Clearly this is what happened to TWITTER. Basically a concept that was developed at SXSW (South By SouthWest Music Festival in Austin, TX) as a way to let people know what concerts and clubs were hot up and down 6th Street, is now being used as a bona fide business and marketing application. It truly can be THE great equalizer for small retailers when trying to battle the 'big guys'. If you are in business and aren't finding relevant applications for a TWITTER feed then you just aren't trying. Personal case study - lots of big companies are now using employees and technology to track twitter feeds when their name comes up. Good, bad or indifferent a smart company can react to positive or negative feedback in a timely way. In sales there is an old axiom that says when you make a mistake and take ownership for it, fix it and make it better you have actually done more good than had there never been a problem in the first place. Three weeks ago I was sitting on a MISERABLE flight from LaGuardia to Atlanta. The weather was getting dicey, the flight was packed and I was already ornery. I noticed the Flight Attendants basically had the same sentiment as I. I even heard them cursing under their breath about dumb passengers and them wishing the flight would get cancelled. I thought, let's see if DELTA is paying attention, so I tweeted that I was receiving horrible customer service on DELTA flight # XYZ. I thought, someone is monitoring this and will at least Direct Message me an apology. Nothing. I was PISSED. I am an Platinum member at Delta. I have my own # to call when I want something. I am freaking George Clooney (if only at 30,000 feet) but I got nothing! I know had it been JetBlue or Airtran or SouthWest someone would have been in touch with me. You wonder why the big airlines are getting their asses kicked?

The 'newest kid on this block' is GEO TAGGING. Geo tagging is using smart phone technologies like GPS and phone apps to allow you to tell anyone in your network where you are at any given time. Like the technologies above my first initial thought was "why the F would I want everyone know where I was all the time" and seriously I still feel that way, but what I know now is that sometimes it is to MY advantage for folks to know where I am and even more so, it is amazing what a savvy marketer/promoter can do with that information. So I started using FOUR SQUARE ( as my geo tagging site. I have not been 'great' at doing it very often but I have tried and there are certainly times I don't want everyone to know where I am but as I do it more often I see the possibilities. Two weeks ago I was at a Social Media event so I thought, what a better place than here to 'TAG' myself, so I did. Within 3 minutes I had two people, who had done the same thing, find me and 'friend' me and then we had a REAL conversation, face to face about business (WOW!) and then I got a text from the BAR asking me if I wanted a complimentary cocktail...you bet your ASS I did!! There in lies the power. Its as simple as the Jergens (I think that was it) shampoo commercial from the 80's, "if you tell two people, and they tell two people...". I could have gone on my FB page to my 655 friends and said, "come down to ABC Bar in the next 30 minutes and tag that you are here your first drink is on the house" how quickly would that have spread? The applications are limitless and I am really excited to bring these ideas to three of our clients in the next couple of weeks.

Like all the other early adopters I am taking some heat when I post where I am and for the most part I laugh about it, knowing that in 6 months these same people will probably me right there with me :-)

Art

2010-02-16T14:50:00.003-05:00

Art - by definition:

1. The products of human creativity
2. The creation of beautiful things
3. A superior skill that you can learn by practice or skill

Three definitive definitions of the same word. All come to a conclusion for a very broad term and they all explain the word in a very broad way. The concept of what is art and what is not is one that is always hotly contested when it comes to certain 'fringe' types of 'performance' or material. For me, I have always been fascinated with certain aspects of art while completely uninspired by others. Over the years my mind has been opened up to new experiences and new understanding through the Arts that I could never had access to without 'its' assistance. As I look back at these three definitions I am actually inspired to poke holes in them, and thus through written word, create 'art', but then again, "art is in the eye of the beholder" (I guess that is a thought and not a definition)...

Definition #1 seems pretty cut and dry; the product of human creativity. Simple, clean, easy, yet in today's technological age is it correct? The spectacular web of a spider, the song of the humpback whale as she searches for a mate...are these not 'art' as well? But those things are created for 'survival' and not for pleasure (or out of pain), but yet the definition of art did not mention either of those things.

The second definition, the creation of beautiful things, is one I have a real problem with. Who judges what is beautiful? It is an age old question and one that hit me last night as I went to see 'Next to Normal' on Broadway. It is a difficult musical to discuss without giving away the plot or some key themes that you should really experience 'without prejudice', but let me just say that in it's pure power and rawness I found art. I found it to be disturbing, sad, touching and very real. Yet as I sat there I realized that I was responding to the art based on my own experiences. I have heard of people being moved through art in this way before, but for me it was a first. I physically and emotionally felt the pain of each of the six characters. I saw their hopes and fears and related in a way I never have before. But, I am guessing it isn't for everyone and many won't find much 'beauty' in this work of art.

What I realize more and more is that we each truly have a story and no two stories are alike, and as we weave through each others lives those stories get intertwined and interconnected and sometimes they get completely severed. This morning I was crammed on the #2 train out of 72nd and Broadway. It was 31 degrees above and a mix of rain and sleet were coming down so the train was unusually crowded. As I packed in, four more people tried to get on, three with success and one left behind. At first I was annoyed that we had taken more on, but I realized they are now a part of 'my story'. What of that fourth person that didn't make it? Is she 'lost' forever to me? What if she had something to say that could have changed my life? I will never know, nor was I meant to. Last night, I was meant to see that play. In reality, if not for my cousins being in town, it would not have been on my radar. I would have read the synopsis and said "not for me thanks", but through a series of events, there I was, center stage, 5th row and I felt all alone with the actors. I could look them in the eye and I felt like they looked right back and they knew 'my story'. They knew I needed this and that by being present they had helped mold my story. The show had so many lines, and nuggets of insight that I know my mind processed yet I can't remember the exact phrases. I do know I need to go back and feel it again.

Up until last night the real genres of art that have touched me have been music and film. I now include theater in that mix even though I have been going for years. Living in New York I realize I have the chance to explore all sorts of genres of art that are kept hidden from most. I no longer want to just go to the 'hit' play because of the name in it, I want to go deeper, see more, feel more.

Last night inspired me to write more, be more and do more with the time I have left. I am 41, I am at the peak, my personal summit. The days and years behind me, for better and for worse have led me here, and despite the challenges, there really is no other 'place' I would rather be. In the last two months life has thrown more challenges than I thought were fair; I will not shrink from them. I will take them in, ingest them as input and make sure the output they create is used for good.

Fortunately for us we are our own story tellers and the final line is really never written. One of my favorite lines from a movie is "what we do in life echos in eternity". Well, that eternity is our children, our friends and those we interact with.

My story continues to be told, but after last night I am determined to be its author and not just a character in it.

To 'split' or not to 'split' that is the question

2010-02-05T09:02:00.003-05:00

For the record I am staying put, you couldn't drag me away with 1,000 horses (is that how the saying even goes?).

What I am talking about is my blog, too which more than one of you might say, "do you even write enough any longer for it to matter?"...to you Craig, I say "ha ha".

The other night I attended a panel which was part of Social Media Week here in New York. The panel was about Sports Blogging, which is something I do fairly regularly. What I realized is that more than one panelist had multiple blogs, each devoted to different themes. In fact, one blogger, Dan Shanoff, has an entire blog dedicated to one player (Tim Tebow, if you don't have Tebow-fatigue you can find it here, http://www.timteblog.com/).

I realize I talk about a diverse amount of topics and I don't necessarily blog for a given audience, but by maybe splitting up into a couple different blogs, I could drive traffic based on content. The flip side would be my need to really focus on my writing and be more diligent about putting my thoughts down in a coherent pattern. I think I like the idea of the 'pay off'.

The next question is how 'diverse' do I get? Yes, it seems a sports related blog makes sense. I don't think I need just a 'Gator' focused blog, or a Fantasy Football one, well maybe one there, or a Philly related one...maybe baby steps, split once and go from there. Outside of sports I could see wrapping the rest up and staying here at 'Where Do We Go From Here' but who knows. I still like the title of this site because I am constantly still asking that question...

I guess my next step is to come up with a new name for a new blog and then I'm off...

I'm excited about the iPad but I'm not quite sure why

2010-01-28T13:43:00.002-05:00

So, I am a 'gadget' guy. Mind you I'm not the geeky gadget that actually knows the internal guts of a device and why it works but I am the gadget guy that needs to have the latest toy to play with.

Yesterday, I saw on my company's internal 'twitter like too' called Yammer that the Apple version if the 'Kindle' was being launched. Now, of all the cool gadgety items out there I have held off on the Kindle; partly because I love books and I am resistant to give up the tangible feeling of turning a page, partly because I keep thinking there might be something better (Apple - cough cough) and partly because I was hoping someone would actually buy one for me (apparently I have SUCKER written on my forehead - LOL).

So, out comes the iPad, Apple's version of the eBook and I have to tell you, 24 hours later I am pretty torn. First, the name is just absolutely horrific. I mean, if MadTV is going to spoof you 4 years ago with the name of a product and then you actually use that name...really...someone should be fired. By the way, see the spoof here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsjU0K8QPhs&feature=youtube_gdata. Secondly, I'm not exactly sure what this thing really is and is it trying to be too much. Granted, I like the idea of 'more' but essentially do I need more? I have a MacBook (the laptop), I have two iPods that rarely get used, because I also have an iPhone...the iPad seems to be the iTouch on steroids with the added bonus of being an eBook as well. While I think that is great I don't know if the end justifies the means. From a fiscal standpoint, in year ONE you will be in for roughly $1,000 and that is before you even buy a single book or app.

At the end of the day, I'll probably find a way to justify that I 'need' one, whether it be because of my travel schedule dictates that I have to have it or my iTouch miraculously gets 'lost' :-)

In the meantime I do hope Apple looks at some tweaks besides the naming function. Moat specifically their decision to not incorporate FLASH into the development. I know they don't love it but FLASH is the industry standard for video delivery and any mobile that device that can not incorporate it will always be lacking.

Just my two cents

PS - I am happy to be back blogging again and I am actually looking forward to using this 'forum' to discuss new and cutting edge work we are doing at Definition 6 (www.definition6.com)

Giving Thanks

2009-11-25T09:44:00.002-05:00

It is pretty easy in today's world to be pretty down. The economy sucks, the weather is generally turning to cold and here in Atlanta it has been downright dreary! The days get longer, work piles up, the kids are either ignoring you or being obnoxious and at times it feels very lonely. Through all of this it is often easy to overlook all the good; all the reasons to smile, lift up you head, breathe in some fresh air and get some positive perspective. It can't happen all the time, and I know there will be dark days ahead but my focus on this season of thanks, into the holidays and then onto a new decade (can you believe that? Already!!!) I am going to continue to try and see the glass is more than half full and allow change happen but not allow it to control me.

So what am I thankful for this year? here is my 'short' list, from the extremely important to the silly and sublime (Why not, it's my list!):

Family - from the girls, to my parents, siblings and extended family who have been so supportive through a very turbulent year.

Work - funny, most people are not very thankful of work and their peers but maybe in a tough economy that will change. In the past couple of weeks I have returned to the 'space' and industry I love and am passionate about. I embark on a whole new challenge that began on the 9th but really takes of on the 30th when I 'relocate' my work life to New York City. While I certainly have mixed emotions about the process, I am sticking to the positives here - New York City --- I really believe that if I can make it there I can make it anywhere. So much to experience and do. The company I work for (www.definition6.com) is dynamic and fun. The technology and thought leadership is on the front line of changing how we continue to communicate as brands and companies with our clients, vendors and partners. I could not be more excited about the world of opportunities that are laid at my feet.

The Gators - yep, I know it...a lot of you will be like "WTF? his University? the sports?, really Gil!!!" and I say YES! really! Whether we are winning or losing, and for a long time now it has been winning, I really do feel pride and joy and a connection to my present as well as my past through the Florida Gators. Partly its the sports but more it is the personal connection, that stirring inside, whether I am at the game or sitting by myself on the couch. For 3+ hours each Saturday this Fall I have found the ability to get away from the issues of everyday life and enjoy kids coming together for one common goal. Seeing them overcome adversity and lofty expectations has motivated me at a very core level.

My body - I am thankful that it is still in tact! I am lighter (though the last 6 weeks have been bad) than I have been in a long time. I am enjoying running, spinning/biking and working out again. Two weeks ago I walked about 13 miles in Manhattan in 2 days and it felt great! After two major knee reconstructions, countless broken bones and sprains over the years this is a pretty nice feat for me :-)

Last on this short list, but never least, are you, my friends - I don't need to name you by name for you to know how you have touched my life, not just this year but every year. You have pushed me to go farther, be stronger, be better and enjoy more than ever before. Whether it is 60 minutes next to me on a spin bike, across from me at lunch during the week, sharing emails and texts throughout the day, letting me in your home and hearts during trips, it is YOU my friends that make my life more full than the average person deserves to have. Time, distance and circumstance have never been obstacles for me when it comes to my friends. I love you all and the time we have been able to spend together. The life lessons you have taught me I share with the girls and a piece of each of you is carried in my heart.

YOU are my inner strength, my peace after a long day. I close my eyes and see my future and embrace all of life's possibilities.

Devices Devices everywhere and no one to talk to!

2009-11-23T09:34:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about the devices and technologies we use more and more these days. I keep meaning to write about the topic but my mind wanders in so many directions when it comes to the subject.

Yesterday I was sitting at a light and a minivan pulled up next to me and I realized it was time to talk about it. What did I see next to me? I saw what is probably today's typical middle to upper middle class family going about their daily life and it made me sad. Picture this, Dad driving (well waiting at the light) whips out his Blackberry and starts typing; Mom in the passenger seat already on her phone, alternating between texting and talking on it. Two kids in the back seat with headsets on, clearly engrossed in a DVD on the entertainment unit. Now, I realize TWO things; one, those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and we all know I love my iPhone and all the gadgets and I have played this scene out myself and two, I may be 'thin slicing' and this might not be a normal occurrence at all. However, the more I look around the more I see it, and I am just as guilty! Whether it is hustling through the airport with headphones on or 12 people in a meeting sitting around with laptops open, communication has forever been altered by technology and while it is great at times, at other times it SUCKS.

I have ranted before about email and its inability to convey feelings properly so I won't go there, but what bothers me more is we have literally stopped TALKING to each other. Whether it is out of convenience, fear, lack of time or combinations of those and others, we as a society no longer talk. We 'chat', we Facebook, we tweet, we text, we email, we Skype, we IM, we do it all except look each other in the eyes and have a DIALOGUE, a conversation, a meaningful interchange where I share how I feel, how something has impacted me, how much I care about you or a topic and then you share back. You process what was said, get the words, the emotions and the gestures and you in kind respond. I love that!!!! I love looking in your eyes and reading your expression. I love how my words and passion can move a room.

I for one never want to lose that and in fact am going to consciously bring it back. How am I going to do that? Resolution #1, when it is not work hours and I am with another human being I will 'detach' myself from my iPhone. Will I still have it? You bet but it won't sit on the table between us waiting to ring. I won't constantly be hitting refresh on my email to make sure I have gotten the latest right then and there. I think that's a great start. I am still looking forward to using technology to facilitate the important things but I will no longer let it be a crutch to honest to goodness dialogue, or so I hope!!!

Text me next week to see how I am doing :-)

Biting off more than I can chew?

2009-10-03T16:26:00.003-04:00

I think I may have done it this time, I really do.

I have been taking spin classes at the gym for about 4 months now and I have really gotten into it. As I have done it more and more I have had a friend in my ear telling me I need to start doing triathlons. His logic, you can already run the distance (10K) and you can figure out the swim. As far as the bike goes, I figure that riding in the gym has to be like running on the treadmill.

So, in preparation, I decided to sign up for a fundraising bike ride. It makes total sense, get a great ride in the fall, raise money for a great cause (Camp Twin Lakes) and also get comfortable on a bike. Today I got my bike (3 weeks before the event) and I also received my first rude awakening. Riding a high end 10 speed is not like it was when I was in High School and it certainly isn't anything like the nice relaxing rides at the beach with the girls. My first few 'laps' around the parking lot were shaky at best and then I put on my cycling shoes and 'clipped' in. The over under on parking lot falls was two! Fortunately I was able to smoothly clip in and take off and I was able to navigate stopping and unclipping without falling down. This only means I will probably eat it at least three times the first time I hit the road on a training ride. The fear of falling, while huge and potentially embarrassing is not my biggest fear. My biggest fear is the 47 miles I will be riding!! Ummm - what was I thinking? Even at 15 mph I will be in the saddle a little more than three hours --- YIKES!!! If I were not on a plane first thing tomorrow morning I would be finding a nice, flat, long and car less place to ride and hopefully get some of my fears out and I have LEGITIMATE fears. The last time I was on a 10 speed I went head over heels when a branch got caught in a spoke and my left hand got crushed between the bike's 'forks' and its frame. That was over 20 years ago!!! If you know me, then you know my memory and recall, so its very easy for that image to come to the forefront. As I ride in the weeks to come I hope that image gets replaced by the smile on my face and the sheer joy of accomplishing a goal and raising money for a great cause.

To learn more about the camp, go to www.camptwinlakes.org and if you care to make a donation you can go to

http://camptwinlakes.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=312622&lis=1&kntae312622=B6A8E44A31EE4D06B2F08B5FD53C9948.

If you click the Donation button and then search for me, Gil Wolchock, I will get 'credit' for the donation.

Blogging at 35,000 feet --- because I can

2009-09-29T17:37:00.002-04:00

It's not my first time using the new Wi-Fi service in the air but I am still pretty enamored with it; aAll except the cost aspect, but I imagine that too will come down over time.

It seems like a 'no brainer' to be online in the clouds when the world of computing is all about the 'cloud' these days.

My favorite part - except for the lack of ability to 'text' my life can go on as usual up here. I am on Facebook, working on an expense report and getting ready to write my weekly article for the FFL Guru (I know you are reading here but do you watch me at www.thefflguru.com as well) all from the comfort of 2A somewhere between San Antonio, TX and Atlanta, GA.

As much as I get frustrated by technology it really is an incredible time we are living in and how much we take it for granted. Just now, it struck me that I forgot to TiVO a show tonight. Do you know what I did? I logged into my Direct TV account here, up in the sky, typed in a few key strokes and voila! when I get home The Biggest Loser will be waiting for me (please no jokes...).

I finished reading the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, last week and it was fairly entertaining but one part that struck me is the concept is 'Man as the CREATOR' as opposed to 'Man being created'. When I think about technology and advances in Science that really is true. We as a species are the only living things that 'create' beyond some basic type structures. For the most part this is good, however, sometimes we create for the bad (even if its not intended that way). No deep philosophical discussion about it now, just an interesting thought.

Those are my thoughts for now, going to turn back to the 'Sports Gil' and go 'create' an article.

Talk to you next on 'terra firma'

Fantasy

2009-09-27T22:22:00.003-04:00

Google the word - you get 246,000,000 hits in .15 seconds. Wow, either my MAC is screaming or a lot of people like things with the word 'fantasy' in them. Interestingly enough the first hit I got was for the Wikipedia definition of fantasy. I checked it out. Guess what? It ONLY referred to 'fantasy' in terms of magic and that genre. This really surprised me. From there I went to Webster's online and get the OFFICIAL definition. Low and behold there is more!

Main Entry: 1fan·ta·sy
Variant(s): also phan·ta·sy \ˈfan-tə-sē, -zē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural fan·ta·sies
Etymology: Middle English fantasie — more at fancy
Date: 14th century
1 obsolete : hallucination
2 : fancy; especially : the free play of creative imagination
3 : a creation of the imaginative faculty whether expressed or merely conceived: as a : a fanciful design or invention b : a chimerical or fantastic notion c : fantasia 1 d : imaginative fiction featuring especially strange settings and grotesque characters —called also fantasy fiction
4 : caprice
5 : the power or process of creating especially unrealistic or improbable mental images in response to psychological need ; also : a mental image or a series of mental images (as a daydream) so created
6 : a coin usually not intended for circulation as currency and often issued by a dubious authority (as a government-in-exile)

For the purposes of this post I am definitions 3 and 5, though I am intrigued by #6. As I read the definitions, in particular #5 I get the feeling that the word 'fantasy' is a negative term, or at the least one that has very little reality attached to it. Again, I was surprised.

Lately, when I think about fantasy it is usually in relation to NFL Football and my side pursuit of Fantasy Football. What I love about Fantasy Football is that it allows the 'average man' to be in control of a sports 'franchise'. As a guy and a sports lover this is one of our fundamental desires. Many of us grow up playing the games we love and dream about playing at higher and higher levels. Eventually reality comes crashing down on us. Conversely, as we watch sports and follow our favorite teams we know in our hearts we could do a better job in managing the franchise. Of course, economically, the likelihood of us actually owning a Major sports franchise is far less likely than actually playing for one, so once again our dreams get crushed. In steps Fantasy Sports which may be created in a 'fictional world' clearly exists in REALITY. We use real players and real games. We just manipulate that reality to our own rules.

Personally, this pursuit of my own sports fantasy is leading me further into a pursuit of a dream. Ever since I was a young kid I fell in love with sports. Not only did I love playing sports but I also loved talking about sports. Some of my earliest memories are of debating the Philadelphia sports teams of my youth. I had always thought I would make a pretty good Sports Broadcaster long before I knew what that was. Remember, I was a kid growing up before ESPN. Besides the local games on TV, my view of a Sports Broadcaster was the guy in the tie on the nightly news who got 3-4 minutes to give scores and local updates. As many of you know, this dormant dream has become more and more real over the last 3 years. Three years ago I was part of creating a concept for a Fantasy Football show that would be online and be no longer than 15 minutes long. At the time, even the big guys of Sports Broadcasting were not creating video content specifically for the web and we saw a niche in this growing market. Today, Fantasy Sports is a 3-4 BILLION DOLLAR Industry. We are now in our third year of The Fantasy Football Guru (www.thefflguru.com). With each season we have grown and become more comfortable with our content. We have also grown our audience and distribution channel. We now stand on the precipice of the 'tipping point' I believe. We now are integrated into Atlanta's #1 Sports Radio Station, 790 the Zone, www.790thezone.com. Our production team, The Raw Report (www.rawreport.com) are top notch and they are taking us into new markets as well. More recently, we have signed a deal with Yahoo! Our content is now available as a WIDGET on new Internet Ready TV's as well as a mobile app. What started with about 100 viewers is now available to 3.5 MILLION households. Where we go next I do not know, but what I do know is that something that started as pure FANTASY has become part of my REALITY. I am not just passionate about sports or my fantasy team, I am passionate about the process and the business. I see and feel opportunity around every corner.

So there is one story where fantasy is not the improbable that the definition seems to imply. The more I think about it, the more I hate that definition. Why is a fantasy nearly unattainable? Last week I witnessed TWO things I thought were improbable , nearly impossible but they happened. They happened because of hard work, determination and passion. The first is just a video I saw on YouTube. It like many videos on that site is of a 15 year old scoring a touchdown in their High School football game. What was improbable is that the kid has Downs Syndrome! I watched and I cried. I cried for joy and I cried for the human spirit, but mostly I cried as the Uncle of a 9 year old who has Downs. The second story I heard was that of a Make a Wish child. One of my friends has a grown child who was a Make a Wish recipient and now the family gives back through their own Foundation. Last week my friend put together a very personal, last minute Make a Wish for a local child. Within 4 hours of the 'Wish' being fulfilled the young child passed away. I once again found myself crying. At first I wept for the loss of a young child and then for the sadness my friend felt. Within a few minutes though my tears turned to joyful ones. What I realized was that in this child's final hours they were able to smile and feel special. For the briefest of moments there was no illness, no tubes, no fear, just love and happiness. For however short the life was, it went out the right way, with a full heart. Neither of these stories have anything to do with my fantasies or fantasy sports yet they are once again examples of turning a fantasy into reality.

Economically things are bleak, not just locally but globally. We seem to be divided more by politics and race more and more every day. Turn on any of the 'news' channels and you will find pundits trying to push their REALITY on us and stifle our creative energies to turn our fantasies into reality. This week, as a Jew, I am celebrating a New Year as well as paying respect to the year gone by and asking G-d and my family and friends to forgive me for the wrongs that I have done this year. I hope that I will not just be forgiven but also continue to be given the freedom to dream and fight for turning fantasy into reality. We might not always hit the mark but you can't ever get there if you don't try. It's very cliche but the journey of a 1,000 miles begins with the first step.

Here are my first steps in this New Year:

- lose the last 17 pounds to get me to 200 lbs. (I started at 247 in July of 2008 after knee reconstruction)
- complete an Olympic length Triathlon with my friends the 'Tri-Nuts'
- continue to grow my career and current company
- let The FFL Guru take me where it may
- re-engage with the Non Profits that I serve
- continue to be an engaged and active father to two of the most beautiful and precious young ladies I know
- be a better friend, sibling, son and partner to those that need me
- smile everyday and stop to be thankful for all that I am blessed with
- spend more time with YOU, my 'audience' if you will. Those of you that post, send me private emails or just spend time on my page are an inspiration.

Sorry for the long and rambling post, it's late and its been a while since I have blogged :)

The FFL Guru is OFFICIALLY back

2009-09-03T08:58:00.003-04:00

Yes -- i have been waiting and holding this exciting news, but as football season kicks off so does another season the The FFL Guru. This year our role with our Radio Partner, 790 The Zone (www.790thezone.com) has expanded and our website will now be housed there as well (www.790thezone.com/fflguru). Additionally, we welcome a new Production Partner, The Raw Report (www.rawreport.com). Our first production was on Tuesday of this week and should be live on the site by Friday (9/4) morning! We are very excited about the new elements the gang brings to the FFL Guru!!!

Also, Jordan and I are finalizing contracts with Yahoo! that will air our show on their new Internet TV Property called Yahoo! Connected (http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/).

Lastly, we will be blogging on our site at least twice a week, so if you are into Fantasy Football make sure you are checking out the site, www.790thezone.com/ffluguru often. As a sample, here is my first blog that went up the other day:

Draft Preparation and Cheat Sheets
Posted 9/2/2009 4:00:00 PM

Go ahead and call this my Fantasy Football Manifesto, my Jerry Maguire moment. if you will.

From this moment forth, I will not purchase another Fantasy Football Magazine!

What purpose do they serve other than taking up space in my bathroom, where two months from now I will peruse them and laugh about their inaccuracies and dart board projections. Look, I understand, Fantasy Sports is a BILLION DOLLAR industry and that magazines were an essential element in the early growth of Fantasy Sports. And from a pure entertainment and basic information standpoint, the content in those magazines is ok. But the thing that kills me in them is the ‘Cheat Sheet’ they all insist on providing. Actually, let me retract that previous statement, what really PISSES ME OFF are the Cheat Sheets, which pretend as if they are supposed to help you in any league regardless of the league’s scoring system.

The fact is magazine Cheat Sheets don’t help you because they can’t help you. How could anything written in May, i.e. pre-Memorial Day, possibly help you pick players at the end of August or beginning of September? Today’s NFL is a fluid, ever changing league where a team or player may be highly thought of in May, but considered a bum in August. Those Cheat Sheets are worse than putting up Christmas lights in July or wearing white in October!

So, why the rant? Clearly I’m not shilling my own online site that sells information. And I’m not a tree hugger frustrated with the number of trees being cut down for these magazines. No, I’m ranting because I’m just another frustrated Owner with three drafts in five days with three different scoring systems and three completely different sets of rules.

It is impossible for a magazine or any static mechanisms completely help you prepare you for YOUR draft. If you rely on nothing but projections, cheat sheets and someone else’s rankings you are doomed to fail.

Remember back in College and High School? How did we get by when studying was too difficult or reading took time away from a party? We bought Cliff Notes and other study aids that assisted you in bypassing the actual learning involved in studying. In fact, with minimal effort, many a drunken and lazy Undergrad was able to make it through.

But did the Cliff Notes’ users excel? Were they top of the class? Of course not.. Doing the minimum might be fine for college. Heck, it might be fine at your job. But in Fantasy Football if you do the minimum, i.e. printing out cheats sheets and rankings, you can expect the same average result in every league you play in-- a 5th-7th place finish, notable for it lack of glory and embarrassment.

Sound like fun in the FFL world? Not to me. I’d rather go for it, on my own, with some knowledge in hand and my own system and notes relied on. Sink or swim, it will have been my choices and I won’t spend the offseason blaming some stupid magazine or online site for my playoff-less finish

Ok, so what’s important in crafting your own personalized pre-draft strategy ? (FWIW – make sure you utilize available websites for updated player information and comparisons of players based on your particular league’s scoring system and number of teams)

1. Draft order – duh, right? Well, in one of my leagues we don’t use a snake system. We actually draft randomly through the entire draft in an order that was picked ONE week prior to the draft. Mock if you want, and many do, but it is fun and unique and eventually things even themselves out over the years and it is actually pretty rewarding finishing ‘in the money’ when saddled with a poor draft position. The point here is where you pick is not the only important thing. Where you pick relative to those around you is just as important in analyzing your draft order, which leads me to strategy #2.

2. Know thy Competition – the longer you play with the same people the easier it will be for you to pick up their tendencies and behaviors. In poker we call this a ‘tell’. In Fantasy Football you should be aware if an owner likes to draft QB’s early or another owner has to have a player from a certain NFL team. Be sure to gather as much of this subtle information as you can. It will help you determine where to grab certain players and when to pass on certain players that you can be believe you’ll be able to get later in the draft.

3. Have a Flexible Plan – in general I know I want to come out of Round 3 with a stud RB and 2 top flight WR’s or flip flop that. What I can’t predict is who they may be OR what ‘reach’ another Owner may make that could throw my strategy out of whack. For instance, my plan is to wait on drafting a QB (like many others do). But if there is a top-tier QB (think round 1 or round 2 quality) available when it’s my turn to select in round 3, then I need to be mentally prepared to shift gears. Don’t get stuck on certain positions in the top rounds just because of the 27 mock drafts you created. Odds are they are all wrong!

4. Let the ‘run’ on a position happen without your involvement -- Drafts are moving, living organisms. Invariably human nature takes over and panic steps in. Often it happens around Tight Ends (no jokes please). There are very few high quality TE’s (again, I am open for humor or a nice picture of Jessica Alba), so when one goes it often starts a run on the remaining TEs in the top tier. But if all of the players you consider to be top tier in a position are gone, then pass on participating in the draft run, especially in the early rounds when there is still a ton of value on the board. On the flip side, if you pay attention to knowing your competition and being flexible (as discussed above), then you very well could create one of these runs and take advantage of some undervalued talent in the very next round.

I hope these four ideas are helpful as you prepare this week. Good luck in your drafts and I would love to hear your thoughts, feel free to send them (or Jessica Alba photos) to gwolchock@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to catch us on the air every Friday Morning and Sunday before kickoff on 790 on the AM dial in Atlanta or streamed live on www.790thezone.com.

Gilly Gator

All things Tiger and Vick

2009-08-17T16:08:00.003-04:00

First let me apologize to those of you that are not totally enamored with my sports posts, I realize this is three in a row and I owe you something more insightful soon :).

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger I am so glad you lost. Unlike the scores of people who were saying that yesterday and this morning for a myriad of ignorant and socially incorrect reasons I was glad to see that you were HUMAN! As you may know, I am a HUGE Tiger fan and of course I want him to win and make history, but yesterday there was something poetic in watching him be human and at the same time watching a relative unknown step up and perform under pressure. Today I have read about Tiger choking and even that his career is over. Journalism today has become so full of hyperbole and nonsense. It is what it is. Tiger is human, he suffers from the same frailties as us, how refreshing. Why go off the deep end and suggest his career is over? Phil Mickleson blows leads and tournaments on a regular basis, I have never heard word one that his career was over let along on the decline. I look forward to the day Tiger wins his 19th Major along with his 87th overall tournament (I think that's the record) but yesterday was a refreshing departure from the script.

Speaking of departing from the script, you have the Michael Vick 60 Minutes interview last night. I want so badly to still hate Mike. What he did was deplorable and the extent of the lying makes it even worse, but watching last night I believed him. I know I very well be naive and as one of my closest friends asked me, "Would you feel the same way if he wasn't going to play for your team?". I can't answer that question because he is. Someone also wanted me to compare it to Terrell Owens leaving Philly for Dallas and the fact that I despise T.O. to this day. I thought about the difference. I have no idea who either of these guys are as people though they have given us more than glimpses. What I can say is I think someone can learn from errors in judgement and poor societal moral choices. I don't think someone can change their internal make up and how they view others as human beings. Mike Vick committed atrocious acts, no doubt, but if is no longer doing those things and recognizes he can't isn't it over once he paid his penalty? Owens on the other hand continues in his selfish ways from city to city. He holds himself accountable to no one. Me personally, I'd rather go to battle with Mike, who has shown he can be a teammate, than T.O. who doesn't know what that word means.

America is a place built on second chances. I hope Vick not only gets his second chance but that he fulfills the promise of what a second chance means. If he does he might change the way we look at athletes. If he doesn't then he goes into the pile with the rest of the liars.

How much reality do you want to see?

2009-08-12T08:24:00.003-04:00

Watching a public figures life played out in front of you on TV, in print and on the Internet has become an American pastime all to its own. For me it is uncomfortable and strange, but like a huge wreck on the highway it is nearly impossible to not look over and draw your own conclusions.

Last night I got that same feeling when hearing the initial story of Rick Pitino, the Head Basketball Coach at the University of Louisville. I also had a similar feeling after the pictures of Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers Outfielder, but for his plight I feel much more empathy.

The Pitino story, if you haven't heard, is just breaking and details are VERY vague, which helps allowing your mind to wander. What we do know. Pitino had consensual sex with a woman, not his wife, in 2003. At some point the woman began to attempt to extort money from Pitino and now she is on trial and Pitino is a witness. Other interesting tidbits; Pitino gave the woman $3,000 for an abortion. Does that mean Pitino knew he was the father of an unborn child after ONE encounter? Did he feel sorry for her and feel like this would 'sweep the issue under the rug' regardless of who the father is? The last really interesting thing I noticed is the woman's last name, now that she is married --- Sypher. What's in a name? Oh, 6 months after this incident happened she MARRIED one of the coaches on Pitino's STAFF!!!! Hello? Isn't that a little bizarre? So, she has an affair with the head coach, gets pregnant by 'someone', begins extortion on said coach and then DATES AND MARRIES one of his employees and friends...There has got to be a lot more here and no one is really talking. So when no one talks, people will make shit up. That's what is running around in my head --- inventing all of the really juicy stuff that 'could' have happened. I'm not going to type them here, I'll let you use your own imagination, but needless to say, if someone needed a payday, it would make for a great hour on Jerry Springer.

The Hamilton story is much sadder. Again, for the less sports baptized amongst you. Hamilton was a major stud coming out of High School and a #1 pick. In a long and sordid start to his career he got messed up with alcohol and drugs, including all of the 'hard stuff'. Through years of dedication and faith he has turned his life around. Not only has he rejoined the Majors and become an icon, but he has a beautiful young family. Apparently, in January he slipped and drank. Thanks to camera phones and his celebrity status, his fall off the wagon was captured and has now become public more than 6 months later. Unlike Pitino above though, Hamilton didn't wait for the 'smoking gun' to become public to deal with things. The day after the incident Hamilton opened up to his wife, his sponsor and his employer. He held nothing back so that when the 'story' eventually broke it was a non-story. It is what it is, Hamilton will live his life battling his disease and his demons. There are no guarantees he won't slip again, but it does seem that he has learned the most important lesson and that is when you make a mistake, own up to it, ask for forgiveness and realize that only through your positive actions can you truly be forgiven.

Two public stories, handled two different ways makes me think of a line from my favorite Robert Frost poem - "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference".

The Case to make Michael Vick an EAGLE

2009-08-11T16:05:00.002-04:00

Yep, I typed it. I can't believe I did it, but I figured if it should happen I wanted to have it in writing so I can say 'I told you so' to the world.

If you are a long time reader, and why would you be since it's been so long since I posted, you will know I am no Mike Vick fan. I find, not just the act that he committed, but the lies he perpetuated and the image he has portrayed as reprehensible. However, I am not looking at this as Mike Vick the man alone, I am looking at it objectively. Where could he fit in as a player and a system.

So, I am looking at my beloved Eagles and thinking why not?

First, as an Owner of a Football Team, my first concern might be community outcry. Philly is NOT Seattle or San Francisco. Sure PETA will protest and there will be rumblings but Philly is at its heart a blue collar town that embraces the underdog (no pun intended); real or not (see Rocky and the fact that he has a statue...). Second, this team is considered a front runner in the NFC and I am not exactly sure why. I love McNabb, but can Westbrook stay healthy, actually is he even healthy to begin with and who are we throwing the ball to again? Third, Vick can be utilized in the West Coast Offense that Andy Reid subscribes to. In fact, where McNabb has lost a step, Vick could be used as a playmaker. Fourth, Mcnabb. One, he is NOT getting any younger and with Kolb getting hurt yesterday, do we have a back up? Also, McNabb has been through the wars and can relate to Mike on just about every level.

The more I think about it, the more I like it, for the FOOTBALL TEAM. Would I run out to buy a Vick jersey? No. I would also explain to my children what he did, how I feel about it and what second, and sometimes third chances are all about.

Who in fact couldn't use a chance to 'rehabilitate' his/her image with a fresh start? Sometimes I wish I could!!!

So I suck at getting back to posts...

2009-07-08T14:47:00.002-04:00

though I promise I will, I really do promise, but this is related, it really is.

Last night, while trying NOT to sleep, because why would I sleep when the next morning I am taking a 5:45 SPIN class and then have to hustle home to make the girls' lunches, wake them up, make their breakfast, get myself showered, etc...I mean really why even sleep.

So I am watching Jon Stewart, a re-run no less, but at least it wasn't Sports Center as alas Brad Lidge blew another save and I didn't want to see the lowlights, and Jon mentions one of the GREATEST 80's gadgets of ALL TIME that I can't believe I forgot...

The CASIO CALCULATOR WATCH! Who amongst us did not have this gem and act like we were getting away with some amazing tool in the 7th grade? Looking back, was multiplication and division really that difficult to do by hand?

Anyway, just thought I'd share, plus it reminds me I haven't finished the last post...or one from a little further back...when did I become King Procrastinator????

Happy Birthday to the Walkman!

2009-07-01T14:20:00.002-04:00

Can you believe it? This most amazing gadget, well at least to those of us that were pre-teens and teens back then, came out 30 years ago!!

So it got me thinking, while I type on my laptop with its wireless connection and my MAC laptop is next to me 'ripping' custom ringtones as my iPhones recharges off the USB connection about all the gadgets we had back then and how 'most awesome' they were in the words of either Bill or Ted and now how they pale in comparison.

I don't have time right now, but tonight after I take the girls to see the Phils' and Braves and before I get on a plane for 5 days of much needed relaxation and self examination I am going to explore the gadgets that made up my youth and maybe even look at their counterparts today.

I know I won't get them all so if you want to add to my list feel free:

The aforementioned SONY Walkman
8 tracks
two turntables and vinyl
real cable boxes and their long cords connected to the TV
the original 'mobile phone'
How about wall mounted phones and the curly cords that always got knotted and twisted and you had to let them dangle to unknot?
The VCR and Betamax
Word Processors
The Apple IIe or Commodore 64
Nintendo, Intellivision or Atari gaming systems

Processing the loss of Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T09:42:00.003-04:00

Quite frankly I am a little surprised by the outpouring of emotion that has been the last 15 or so hours.

Sure, the music of Michael Jackson spans generations and so many people have been touched by his 'gift' from early childhood through many great solo albums and performances well into adulthood. But let's be realistic on the 'musical front', Jackson has not produced a 'relevant' album let alone a single in at least a decade if not closer to two. For me, 'Remember the Time' might be the last thing I recall of Jackson, at least musically that is.

Sticking to his 'pop' legacy, he was truly groundbreaking AND in the right place at the right time. I was talking to a friend last night, who was not yet alive yet when Jackson released Thriller (yikes I think was the quote)! The album and what Jackson did with it visually truly changed the way we think and WATCH music today. I remember rushing home, in my Freshman year in High School, with a group of friends so we could be in front of the TV set for the World Premiere of the Thriller Movie. If I am correct, it ran close to 15 minutes and MTV played it at least 3 times in a row. We sat there mesmerized. Music Television had been out for a couple of years now but Thriller changed it all. There are so many tremendous songs in the Jackson library and it would do me disservice to start naming favorites but there are ones that I can still listen to today and even put them into context of things I can relate to now.

So, I just spent a paragraph and a half glorifying the musical genius of Michael Jackson. You would think I was mourning in the streets or at least on my Facebook status but I am not. But before I get into that, I'd like to explore a thought I had in the middle of the night...

Jackson was Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and even Miley Cyrus well before we even thought of things like that. Jackson and his family grew up in an age without mass media coverage, no cameras in the face, no TMZ snapping shots of them coming out of seedy hotel rooms. Let's be honest, we've seen enough evidence to realize the Jackson kids did not grow up in an ideal household and given the stereotypes of the early 70's lets just assume there was a little bit of recreational drug use and promiscuity around them...Can you inagine the FIELD DAY that all the tabloids and daily trash TV shows would be having if they were around then? Is the transformation that Michael has gone through any less horrific than Lohan? Ummm, she's got drug problems, apparently steals shit and who knows how many sexual partners but is she a pedophile? Have we seen her dangling babies from windows, etc...

So that leads me to my final thought. How can we GLORIFY a man, as gifted as he was, for only one side of his life? If OJ dies tomorrow there will be no candle lighting vigils on the campus of USC or in Buffalo where he is lauded for his football talents. At the end of the day, Jackson was a recluse and a creep at a minimum and a pedophile/child rapist at the worst who preyed on innocent and often sick children for his own satisfaction. Forget the mutilation he did to his own body in modifications and changes, he was NOT a good guy.

Certainly it's a tragic tale and one that the entertainment world and we as consumers should pay attention to. We, as a society, LOVE child stars. We go nuts for them, have pageants and contests to discover them and for what? Our own glory and riches?

To their parents, the Jacksons' were a way out, a means to an end. Look up and down the line of those kids and who amongst them have become well adjusted adults?

There has to be a place for children in 'show business' there always has, but at some point someone must educate the parents and make sure they keep their kids best interest at heart. Ok, I took a strange tangent there, but its related right?

To sum it up - I hope that you find peace Michael. I have and always will enjoy your musical gifts. I will explain to my children, as they have already asked why I think the person on the Thriller video is the same person in the Bad video, that sometimes people change and that pressure can be a very difficult thing to deal with, and also never to talk to strangers no matter how appealing that offer may be...

Age and time...

2009-06-16T09:44:00.002-04:00

I know I have other issues to get to but this is what's been on my mind for at least the last few days.

First, the middle week of June is a difficult one for me. My father would have turned 66 on the 14th, instead it marks nearly 8 years since he passed away. Usually his birthday falls very close to Father's Day. This year it is separated by a full week, which I believe is the furthest apart it ever gets. Father's Day to me has always been a dichotomy and now that I have been a father for almost 9 years I guess it's a trichotomy if that is even a word. My earliest memories of Father's Day are of pain and loss, a father that left in the truest sense of the term. Today I know that you may not be in the same place as your children but you can always be PRESENT. The second Father's Day for me is one of gratitude and thanks for the man that chose to be by father. Now more than ever I feel that gratitude and look to carry on that legacy he has given me. The third, Gil as a Dad is more difficult. I think because of my original feelings on Father's Day and its proximity to my biological father's birth I would try to push it out of my head and say its not really a 'day for me'. I'm still not comfortable with it. I like days about 'other people'. I'm a pretty good giver and I like focusing on someone else's happiness and thus getting joy from seeing them smile at my thoughtfulness. As TIME marches forward I think I need to re-focus that lens and try to receive Father's Day differently, for me.

So where does all this tie in (notice the cute father's day pun of TIE)? Maybe it won't but by now you know that I just type and type.

Back to TIME, last week I was STUCK in the Dallas airport for 18+ hours with not much to do but sit in the Crown Room and contemplate life. Sure I watched a movie and even used the restroom, but basically it was the worst 'holding pattern' I could remember in a LONG time and it made me think about TIME and how much of it we waste in our life on petty shit. In fact time wasting has actually become a 'pasttime for people'. Don't believe me? GOOGLE 'time wasters' and all you get are hits for games and sites for you to actually WASTE TIME. Fuck - I want just the exact opposite (pardon my french). I don't want to waste any more time.

I am now 40. Do I feel 40? I have no idea. I know I don't feel like I thought 40 would feel. I still love to goof around, I like current music which makes the kids happy, despite two major knee reconstructions I run, play golf and am getting ready to play basketball again. When I was in my 20's I looked at 40 as old and sometimes I wonder do I come off that way to that same 'demo' now. The biggest thing about being 40 seems to be the realization that if life were a bell curve I am no longer on the 'climb'. Though it doesn't mean that I can't still reach higher heights!

How do the concepts of AGE and TIME collide?

Pretty simple. There are so many things I wish to do, experience and accomplish. What I have come to accept is that I don't have time for 'time suckers', 'time wasters' or 'haters'.

MY father died at 57. I can't imagine only having 17 years left on this planet, but if I do I want to make the best of it. I don't want to 'live each moment to its fullest', I want to 'LIVE IN EACH MOMENT'. I want to be able to look around and see it for what it is, enjoy the experience or even hate the experience but use that to make future experiences that much better.

AGE is truly but a number. I know 35 year olds that have given up and are resigned to a life less ordinary and I have friends in their mid 20's that have a lifetime ahead of them and they see all that life can offer them. My hope is to try and help rescue the 35 year old while being able to jump on the ride with the mid 20's and let them see, through experience, how many ways this life can be enjoyed.

Is 40 the new 30? Probably not, but 40 is me. Its active, fun and looking forward to the next 40 and not back on what the first 40 'should' have been.

Age and time...I hope they are both on my side and those around me get the chance to see that and while things might not be 'ideal' from a fairy tale perspective, they can be pretty spectacular in the moment and on in to the future if your mind and heart is open.

Teaser...

2009-06-03T10:05:00.000-04:00

Seriously, if I had the time, and I am working on clearing up some space, here are some topics that I would like to blog about...and I will I promise.

1. Homelessness - especially in Atlanta. I went to a breakfast for the Atlanta Children's Shelter that was very powerful and I started doing some research. I can't wait to share.

2. Iran and its continual development of nuclear capabilities and the ramifications on not just the Middle East (Israel) but also Europe. Also Iran's relationship with Venezuela and the impact that could have on the West - interesting and scary stuff.

3. Comedienne Lisa Lampinelli - I almost cringe about giving her 'face' time. I watched her HBO Special over the weekend, at 3:00 AM when I couldn't sleep, and I was outraged, disgusted and offended (not things that someone can usually do to me). Sitting here 2 days later my skin still crawls from her racist, anti-semetic and cruel sexual orientation jabs.

I have been traveling a TON for work and that continues through the middle of next week, but I have all these notes, I just need to put them together in coherent thoughts :)

Patience...

2009-05-20T14:03:00.002-04:00

Patience with the process is something I heard awhile ago and thought I subscribed to it, but I also realize I am basically an impatient person, which I don't think is a bad thing if reigned in. I am hungry and aggressive to reach my goals thanks to that impatience.

So today at lunch a Leadership Atlanta classmate and I were discussing her job situation and what she wants to 'really' be doing and I was impressed with how thought out and methodical she was. She knew what the present reality was and she knew what the future reality will be and she has the patience to see them through.

So here I sit, about to embark on 3 business trips between May 27th and June 11th that should be the start of the great things I envision, I just need to have the same focus and peace with the process to go along with the patience.

With that in mind I 'googled' - "patience quotes" and I think I got better than I bargained for...

“All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope” - Alexandre Dumas

"Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart.”

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions” -Rainer Maria Rilke

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.”

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” - Tolstoy

“Patience and fortitude conquer all things” - Emerson

and my favorite, from one of my favorite Philadelphian's ----

“He that can have Patience, can have what he will” - Benjamin Franklin

Travel Date - May 15-18, 2009

2009-05-18T08:19:00.003-04:00

I do a bunch of travel. I actually enjoy it for the most part. I certainly miss my family while I am away but I do enjoy seeing different parts of the country and sometimes the world. I also like meeting people from different places and finding out where we are similar through our backgrounds and how we are different.

One thing that has always been a constant has been my mode of transportation - the airplane. This week I had the chance to experience a different means of transportation and I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed experience a part of the country I have never been in; enjoyed but ready to depart for more familiar turf.

I had to be in Providence for a Trade Show and the flights into Providence were a little pricey. If you are not familiar with the area (as I was not) I quickly found out Providence was about an hour from Boston and 3 from New York. Well, airfare into NYC was unbeatable so I took that option. My next choice was how to get to Rhode Island. Sure I could rent a car for like $300 or I could grab the TRAIN to Providence for around $100. I had NEVER been on a REAL train so it was a no brainer. I upgraded to 'Business Class' because that's how I roll (LOL) and I had no idea what to expect from coach.

The whole experience was new and exhilarating and began early with my first walk into PENN STATION. Clearly I was a fish out of water and had no idea what to do. I did have my itinerary and easily picked up my ticket from the kiosk, but unlike the airport there was no GATE # on my ticket. I was also about 2 hours early not knowing proper protocol. I asked an AMTRAK attendant what to do and he pointed to a waiting area and said "wait and they will tell you what track". OK. I still had a bunch of questions but figured he was not the guy to ask. I spent the next hour using my power of observation and realized that about 15 minutes before a train would leave they would put up its track # on a big board. I look at my ticket for Providence but don't see it on the board and slight panic sets it. I look to see it has a # and I look for that and realize that my trains ultimate destination must be Boston and there it is, 2164. As the 15 minute mark approaches and passes the Board still reads, ON TIME but no track # as a large gathering of people swell. As the moments pass the track # goes up and the mass of humanity the rushes past me is enormous and I allow myself to get swept up in it. What I am realizing is that the train to Boston gets crowded and there are NO assigned seats and I have no idea how these things are configured. I finally make my way down to the track, feeling very much like Harry Potter on his first trip to Hogwarts, and I am searching for the first BUSINESS CLASS CAR I can find. I found one, ducked in, and grabbed a seat.

The configuration was like a library table with two seats on either side. I grabbed one by the window as I was looking forward to watching the countryside roll by. Across from me was a guy with a laptop up and a book ready. I took down my backpack and pulled out a book and my iPod, opting to leave the laptop put away. Next a woman sat next to the guy across from me and finally a middle aged man filled in next to me with his laptop. Away we go and the conductor comes around and collects your ticker and I'm off for my 3 hour adventure, and I never really made it an adventure...

I never got up in fact! Too scared to look like and idiot searching for the SNACK Car I just sat there. I watched out the window as NYC faded away, I napped, I read and listened to T.I. and I ogled at the gorgeous scenes as we reached the coast and made our way up to Providence.

I did also observe, which I always do. Guy across from me, got up and bought 4 Heineken's for the trip; he was going on to Boston and he spent most of the time back and forth between the laptop to his book. The man next to me was the most interesting; I saw the PowerPoint he was working on. He clearly was in the financial industry and he was manipulating billions of dollars worth of data and I was pretty impressed. Then, for his break he toggles over to a shoot'em up virtual game on his DELL, I chuckle to myself at the 50 something 'gamer'. He gets more interesting as though as he gets up and reaches into his bag for what I think is a book. Turns out he has about 20 different issues of COMICS...yes I said comics. Now I am NOT passing judgement as I am sitting there reading TWILIGHT like a 13 year old TWEEN (please censure yourself here David...) but I am a bit surprised he would be so 'bold' as to read comics in public.

Looking back, I actually admire the guy. He is comfortable enough with who he is and likes what he likes and he could care less what some random stranger thinks of it on the train to Boston. Good for him, good lesson for me!

All in all I really enjoyed the trip and I know someday I want to do the full 'train experience' across our beautiful country, in a REALLY COMFY train mind you and with someone to SHARE the experience, but for a first time experience I enjoyed it.

I am no longer a 40 year old virgin in the riding the train category - CHECK

What's on your mind?

2009-05-14T07:57:00.002-04:00

The ever so provocative question that appears when you open up Facebook. It's your opportunity to share with the world, at least YOUR Facebook world, what's on your mind.

I am fascinated with updates. Now mind you, fascinated does not mean in love with. Sometimes I think they are a ton of fun and I love catching up with what my friends are up to but sometimes they can be downright scary and uncomfortable (more on that later).

In my world there are several types of status updates that I like to display:

1. What's on my mind - exactly that! What I am thinking right then. For me these are usually about my girls or how I feel about something that has happened current event wise. Like this very minute, I fired up the laptop from 35,000 feet in the air to write this blog and remembered DELTA now has wireless in the air --- my status - Online in the AIR - SCHWEEETNESS!!!

2. Song lyrics - I love using song lyrics in my status. Usually it's a lyric that pops in my head while listening to a particular song while the MAC is on, but sometimes I'll have a meaningful lyric in my head that I want to get out.

3. The MESSAGE - ahhh - the ever 'cryptic' status update that befuddles the world because everyone wonders if it is for THEM, about THEM or meant for THEM. It's funny - I very rarely use this, unless it is a positive message that may be meant for just a few, but wouldn't worry the rest of my 'online clan'. But in certain cases I have done it and then regretted it.

This final type of update is where I worry about online communication in general and it is the same issue I have had with email forever now.

I think as a society we have become so comfortable using all the forms of 'text communication' that we forget how this comes across sometimes. Sure, you can put in all the fancy emoticons you want, add in exclamation marks and add ROFLMAO all you want but what you can NOT do is convey TRUE emotion via a device (except the phone). Why is that you may ask? Sure, you know how you 'feel' at that moment and are sure you are conveying that exactly so what's the problem? You are not the problem. I (in this case the euphemistic I) am the problem. You have no idea my mood or state of mind and there in lies the rub. Text does NOT convey true emotion. I will interpret the words on the screen based on my mood. I may color it with sarcasm, sadness or joy, you have no idea. This has long become a problem in the Corporate World and I wish more companies would address proper communication strategy. In the work world, email should only be used to convey INFORMATION not feelings or discuss opinions. Those should be saved for face to face conversations. But, people now 'hide' behind the veil of email and texting.

One of my newer friends has helped me see this very clearly. While in Washington we had a blast 'TWEETING' at a Conference we were at. We even texted each other during break out sessions that we were at separately. In that 2 day period it became the basis of how we 'communicated' except when we met for drinks with the rest of our group. When we got back to Atlanta it seemed like texting was the only way to communicate until I was reminded --- hey, pick up the phone and dial (not in those exact words) and I got the message!

Enjoy the various ways we can communicate but don't forget the BEST way, your voice. It displays exactly how you feel through your tone, intonation, pitch and even the silence.

So, I'll certainly keep using my FB status and all the other great tools out there, but I am making a more conscience effort to pick up the phone, both personally and professionally --- give it a try, as the OLD commercial says "Reach out and touch someone" ---- ROFLMAO!!!!! :-)~

I'll be back I promise!

2009-05-13T15:00:00.002-04:00

I just lost my USER NAME and PASSWORD so I couldn't get in...

Just kidding!

Lots of pent up rants on the economy, the media, swine flu and of course sports...

Stay tuned, thanks for your patience - LOL

Memories of a Legend - RIP Harry Kalas

2009-04-14T10:38:00.002-04:00

I was greeted early yesterday afternoon by a text from my oldest childhood friend in Philadelphia - "Harry Kalas has colapsed and been rushed to the Hospital". Immediately I felt like I had taken a blow to the stomach. It is amazing to me how the death of someone you never met could be so impactful, but growing up listening and watching Harry I think all of Philadelphia feels like we knew him.

As a kid growing up my first love was baseball. We played it non stop, whether it was for the Huntingdon Valley All-Star travel team, wiffle ball in Rubin's back yard or in the winter down in the basement it is all we did. We did Strat-O-matic before Fantasy Sports even existed. We had Cub Scout trips to the Vet to see the Phils' and I don't think we missed many games on TV. Along with all of my great memories of the Phils' is not just the visuals, like the '80 World Series or Michael Jack Schmidt's (even as I type it I hear Kalas' slow dlrawl) 500th home run in April of 1987, there is the soundtrack of Kalas' voice that still plays in my head. For us, he had two signature 'catch phrases': "It's outta here" on home runs and "He struck him out" for strike outs. As an 11 year old that last phrase still brings tears to my eyes as I watched Tug McGraw strike out Willie Wilson to give the Phillies their first World Title since 1950. I sat that night at the foot of my parents bed and cried with joy. Seven years later I felt the same way as Schmidtty launched #500, back when hitting 500 home runs meant something.

I think there is something poetic in the way Harry left us yesterday. First, he did it where I can only imagine him forever, in the broadcast booth before a Phils' game. I know he will also be associated with NFL Films and some commercial work but for those of us from the Greater Delaware Valley he will always be the Voice of Philadelphia. It was the same way with Dave Zincoff, who is far less famous nationally but not if you were a Philly Sports fan in the 70's & 80's. All you need to do is pull up an introduction of "The Dr. Juuuuuulius Erving" to get those goose bumps.

There other piece of poetic justice is that Harry got to see the Phils' do it again by winning the World Series last year. Harry was always 'one of the guys', just listen to interviews with John Kruk or Mike Schmidt. He was the consumate throw back to sports journalists of the past right here today. The players loved him and he was always welcome around. I can only imagine the stories Harry has taken to his grave that today's journalists would have plastered on the Front Page just to see their own BYLINE!

When I got home from work yesterday I found the broadcast of the Phils' game on cable. I sat and watched with the volume on MUTE, the entire broadcast. I am sure there were amazing tributes to Harry by our hometown broadcasters as well as call ins from so many others. For me though, I embraced the silence that will now always be there when the Phils' play.

Your voice, talent and love for our team and city will be missed Harry!

Home is where you belong

2009-04-07T15:23:00.002-04:00

I have had the opportunity to once again spend a good amount of time on the road for work. It has brought back a lot of memories from years past when I was a true road warrior.

What I remember from those days still hold true today. When you are 'home' and love where you live it really shows; no matter what the rest of the country believes is true about your home town.

No where has this rang truer for me than Milwaukee, WI where I was two weeks ago.

My perception of Milwaukee before the trip? beer swilling, foul mouthed, overweight people with funny accents. I had no expectation for 'city life' or any type of 'culture' - pop or otherwise. Basically, in my mind I saw Laverne, Shirley, Lenny and Squiggy. Sure Happy Days took place there, but no other show represented Milwaukee more than Laverne & Shirley (at least in my mind). Then of course are the generalizations of beer, cheese and bratwursts that the media fixates on. Lastly on my mind was the scene in Wayne's World where Alice Cooper gives the history of Milly-wau-kay (as the Indians pronounced it). but I digress.

Of course there are some general truths in these sweeping generalization, hence the name, but what I found were great people that were bursting with civic pride. From the tour of the Company's Office to my round about drive to downtown for dinner I could 'feel' why so many of its citizens were passionate about Milwaukee. What I did not see in the stereotypes were all the positives; the city resides on the same beautiful lake as Chicago. In fact, she is only 2 hours from Chicago. For an 'urban' city she still has small town appeal and a great and easy airport. The people were just as friendly as any city I have visited down South as well. Sure, it has winter, but so does 75% of the country.

I also love the 'tag lines' city's develop! Mailwaukee's is 'A great city on a great lake' - what a great play on words! Growing up in Philly I was always proud to be from the 'City of Brotherly love' and even during the Garbage Strike as a kid I got a kick out of "Filthy-delphia'. I remember moving to Ft. Lauderdale and hearing - 'Venice of the West' and man it's true, we had a TON of canals! Dallas in my mind will ALWAYS be 'Big D' and Atlanta will always be 'The city too busy to hate', no matter what the Convention Bureau tells us :-)

What I also realized is that you can take the name, the location and all the other great things I found and substitute any hometown...including YOURS!

When you embrace a place and find a way to contribute meaningfully it will always have a place in your heart and you in theirs. I learned that in Atlanta and will carry it forward in my heart to destinations yet to be reached.

ILU VM

The Sex Talk

2009-04-02T10:13:00.003-04:00

I don't remember getting 'the talk', honestly, I am racking my brain and it's just not up there. I do remember coming home from the first date where I was allowed to drive and the conversation with Art that ensued (and I won't share that with the public - LOL) and I remember the first time I was allowed to have a girl stay over in my room (still shocks me that happened) but I don't remember being between the ages of 8 and 13 and getting the 'talk'. Sure there was the OFFICIAL Health Class in school and the UNOFFICIAL Health Class in the bathrooms, playgrounds and friends rooms of my youth but not the BIG ONE.

Over the weekend my 8 and 1/2 year old daughter got the 'Big One' but I look back and realize that it is merely a progression on Big One's, but it was a BIG ONE nonetheless. For better or worse (and I am reserving judgement at this point) I missed it. I certainly got the 'blow by blow' details (read into that as you like - ROFLMAO) and it seems like Cydney 'got it' and handled it very maturely but there were at least TWO 'gotchas' for me coming out of it.

You may be wondering...is 8 too early here Gil? I was wondering the same thing. However, she was beginning to ask --- things like "What do you eat to become pregnant?" and they see an awful lot more on TV then we did. Most importantly, you have NO IDEA what other kids are putting into your kids' head. I know that at least two or three of her friends have concepts of boyfriends and kissing so we thought it was best to 'cut it off at the pass'. Additionally I felt much better after sitting down with friends over the weekend who just had the same conversation with their eight year old as well, albeit they are in the fast paced world of South Florida and we are here in the 'sticks' in Atlanta :-)

Fortunately the conversation was not off the cuff and Ilene armed herself with a book and research. From what I understand 'we' stayed with the basics and got through it quite admirably. Cydney understands (at least she tells us so) that this was a PRIVATE conversation and that she is to not share it with friends or her YOUNGER SISTER. In fact, I think she took it so privately that she isn't sharing it with me yet!

So, for the funny stuff, as you know if I am not going to get weepy then I will get funny:

In one illustration it shows a man and a woman together in bed, in an embrace. Very PG in detail, lots of good blanket coverage. Cydney takes in the picture and asks her mother, "Does the man always have to be on top?". Funny, I don't think I heard what the answer was...

Second, Ilene reinforced the concept of this is a mature thing and you will be waiting a LONG time but we want you to understand...so she tells Cydney that "You should wait until you are married before having sex" to which Cydney replied, "Mommy, you said SHOULD, so that means I CAN, but you wouldn't be happy right?".

OH F*CKING MY AM I IN TROUBLE!

Someone please pass a big bottle of Jack and a loaded weapon - LOL

On a side note, Cydney was also fascinated with the menstrual cycle and thinks it's "COOL".

I still don't know if she was ready, or more importantly if we were ready but I am pretty sure she will remember these talks long into the future, as opposed to her 'Old Man'

ILU VM

Simple preparation - one of my biggest pet peeves

2009-03-06T09:51:00.002-05:00

I don't remember the exact quote but it is something like, "Success is 90% preparation and 10% execution". If there is no such quote then I want credit - LOL

Anyway -- this is post is NOT about big preparation stuff like a daily itinerary for your two week vacation or getting your taxes done by March 1st or anything grandiose like that, in fact, for that stuff I am a spontaneous go with the flow guy (especially when it comes to tax prep!).

What I am talking about is the little stuff that REALLY gets under my skin. The biggest of them all might very well be the TOLL BOOTH!

Let's see, whether it's on the highway, the airport, or a parking garage you KNOW IT IS THERE! I can not stand pulling up behind someone who is completely unprepared. Seriously, at least have your ticket handy. Yesterday I was at a seminar and was stuck in parking garage for nearly 20 minutes. As I was THREE cars away I noticed the person at the cashier was 'fishing' for their ticket. Ok, if the lot was empty and you just cruised on up this makes sense, not for me, I would be ready with ticket and money in hand, but I'm ok with it. But really, you just sat there for 20 minutes, couldn't you have done the whole purse search while you were waiting (this just happened to be a woman, I am not judging or making a generalization I assure you). So, Car A gets done and I am now just one away. I pull up and realize that the driver of Car B is about to begin the same 'dance' as HE pulls up to the window. Are we serious? Is time that useless to everyone? This dude though takes the cake...not only can't he find his ticket for at least 90 seconds he has NO cash! Ummmm...ok, lots of people stopped carrying cash, but again, didn't he KNOW this when he pulled up and couldn't he have had his credit card ready? Unbelievable.

My other FAVORITE toll booth past time is the 'one coin at a time dropper'. You know the person, they pull up to the EXACT CHANGE toll booth and feed in ONE coin at a time. I have decided this happens for one of two reasons:

1. They are 2 minutes from death (elderly) and they don't realize you can throw a shit ton of coins in and the machine will actually count them OR

2. and this is the BAD one --- you are looking for a 'free ride' so you toss small coin in after small coin in hoping that somehow either you will 'game' the machine or the random person in front of you actually tossed in too much money.

In either scenario I have been able to do some 'profiling' to try and avoid these people in front of me (and yes I have a TOLL TAG, but it doesn't work anywhere I travel to for work). Scenario ONE you actually can avoid with some preparation. Avoid being behind cars where you can only see knuckles on the steering wheel in front of you and MAYBE a shock of grey hair. You can also get a good read from the vehicle...does it have one of those thingies on the antennae like a tennis ball?

Scenario TWO is tougher because you often can't spot them until they are actually at the booth, however, if this happens be prepared to take 10 DEEP BREATHS --- the window does NOT roll down and they have to open the car door to 'toss coins' in. Statistically accurate within a +/- of 5%, 80% of these people are 'coin feeders' and you will be waiting.

These are just two examples of small amounts of wasted time. Each might only be 5-10seconds but that adds up, plus you have no idea if that 5-10 seconds could have saved your life down the line or cost you an opportunity to meet someone special.

Think about, next time your in line at the grocery store, have your credit card ready, half the check written or whatever else you can do to facilitate a quick and efficient exit and let the next guy get moving --- he may be more impatient than me, but I doubt it :-)

ILU VM

Assignment #3 was a 'retread' but a goodie

2009-03-02T15:19:00.002-05:00

Last I left you, I was going to use 'Ear hair' as my topic. Didn't do it. Tried putting pen to paper and out came nothing. I really wanted a 'rant' and I wanted to show off my 'individuality' and quite frankly the last week has been one of the worst ones I can remember from a desire to do anything but bury my head and heart in the sand, except for the basics.

So, I went back and realized my 'Starbucks" post was pretty good, let me just turn that in.

And that is what I did...copied here are the Instructors remarks and then below that I am pasting in the post again for those that might have never read it...

ILU VM

Intrsuctor's Note

Gil,

We’ve reached the midway point, and our “individuality” exercise. I was happy to see you really get into this one.

Firstly, and most prominently, I must comment on how honest this piece was—you really set everything out, directly, for the reader. I felt a real connection between author and reader with this short exercise. You are both hilarious and honest. I think that you’ve prepared the groundwork, perhaps, for a longer nonfiction piece exploring this topic. You bring so much entertainment to the subject, and that is a good thing. Did I mention you’re hilarious?

Secondly, I wanted to comment on the “you” in this piece. There is a lot of “Gil,” and your personality really came through in full force. I want to see you bring some of this humor and honesty to every piece. Your writing has been strong thus far, but I think that bringing some more “you” into your writing will be of benefit (honestly, it is for most of us). Keep that energy and passion, no matter what you’re writing. You’ve managed to write about something honest—keep that strength!

Again, great work, Gil. Keep it up. I am really enjoying reading your work.

Best,

Danny

Starbuck's Blog

Coffee – I really don’t drink coffee. I think I’m supposed to drink coffee. As a kid, all the adults drank coffee; to me it was a sign of maturity. I went to college and everyone was drinking coffee – hey you’re on your own, you’re not really a grown up but we can act like grown up, let’s drink coffee. Not me, but I was sure that when I finally grew up I would one day drink coffee.

Inherently though I’m lazy, at least as far as coffee goes. Here’s the deal. Coffee is a pain in the ass to make. You have to put the filter in, put the coffee in, dump in the right amount of water and then wait, then you pour it out and have to add in milk and a sweetener, and to top it all off you have to clean up. What the fuck, that’s a lot of work just to get pumped up for your day, so in my inherent laziness and ingenuity I pop a Diet Coke as I walk out the door and voila I have caffeine…this isn’t rocket science kids.

So I’ve lived my adult life that way. Sure, I’ll drink coffee, but it’s at a business meeting, a client breakfast or after dinner with dessert, you know, basic adult stuff…but the key here is I do not work to get the coffee, so why not drink it.

This is all good until I encountered Starbucks. Now, Starbucks has been around a long time and I have avoided it like the plague. The few times I have ventured or been forced in it has been VERY uncomfortable. I had NO idea what to do and there was no one willing to help. The Starbucks aliens that work there are very friendly to their ‘kind’ but you introduce a human being to the counter that can’t say “Venti, decaf, quad something, something with a this or that” and they think you just landed. So, on the few times I had to go I just say “medium coffee” and I could feel the entire line and staff just laughing their asses off.

All of this changed in the winter of 2007. We were visiting my brother-in-law’s family in South Florida and I need to run out to the store for some wine, wine by the way I do thank you very much, and my sister-in-law says she’s dying for Starbucks can I get her something. "Sure, no problem they are right next door to each other, WRITE DOWN what you want… no way am I approaching that counter without written directions". So I walk in and wait my turn, rehearsing my lines…”Grande nonfat 2 Splenda latte, Grande nonfat 2 Splenda latte”. It’s my turn and I nail it, like I’ve been doing it all my life. I’m freaking Michael Jordan hitting an 18 ft. jumper to win the NBA Championship; I’m Tiger Woods…never mind.

I strut out of the Starbucks, head held high, with Melissa’s grande nonfat 2 Splenda latte and I feel I need to take a sip…uh oh…I like it, I mean really like it. Here I am now two years later and 3 or 4 days a week going to Starbucks and ordering a grande nonfat 2 Splenda latte. I even giggle when some yahoo can’t figure out what to order. I’ve become the alien, assimilated into the borg….the kicker…I have NO CLUE WHAT THE FUCK I AM DRINKING…to this day, and I’m not asking.

The Man who changed my life

2009-02-27T08:50:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow we celebrate Pop-Pop's 67th birthday, to me he is Dad.

I have TWO father's but only ONE Dad. I no longer have the big misgivings about how my childhood turned out, in fact, I am grateful. I have had the gift of a father that loved me to the best of his ability and I have had a Dad to guide me through the difficult and akward years: he has been a mentor, a teacher and most importantly a friend, that listens first and gives freely.

Art is a quiet man, but it doesn't take much for you to understand where he is coming from --- it just takes a look and maybe a grunt.

My greatest memory growing up in the Slomsky house:

When we still lived in Philly and my parents were dating at the time, Art took me to the 'shore' to set up for his summer job. It was April and we were in Aunt Sybil and Uncle Denny's Dark Green van. Art took me, just me, to help set up the T-shirt store he had on Million Dollar Pier. It was FREEZING and the van was also our 'hotel room'. I remember that first night, we went to see HAIR at a movie theater and then we went for coffee at the Pink Flamingo. He knew almost everyone, especially theses ladies that were dressed really funny (later I would learn they were the famous AC Hookers, but I digress). I don't remember too much else from the trip except we ate lots of cheesesteaks and worked on the Pier.

I remember that Summer and the gypsy kids, spending time with Todd & Tara, who would become my brother & sister and running all over the pier, playing skee ball, messing with the Gorilla Woman's kids and generally staying out of trouble.

Soon after we moved to Florida and the t-shirt shop was no more, and the Pier was torn down and turned into a mall, but that summer stayed with us for YEARS as we had the worst wardrobe of iron-on t-shirts for a very long time. It still kills me that my parents let Tara run around with "IBTC"(and I hope you know what that means)t-shirt on at the age of like 10!

There are so many other great memories of my childhood thanks to Art.

You did what no man 'has to do'. You raised someone else's kids as your own, you worked 3 jobs to make ends meet, you kicked our butts to work around the house and most importantly you taught me what it means to be a man and a REAL FATHER.

I love you and am thankful that you CHOSE to be DAD and never settled for anything less.

Happy Birthday!

Lunch with the President of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy

2009-02-25T20:06:00.004-05:00

One of the best parts of being part of Leadership Atlanta, www.leadershipatlanta.org, is the access to amazingly successful Business Leaders in very personal settings. The Organization set up these "few on one" meetings with about 15 of Atlanta's Finest. I signed up for two, today's with Mr. Cathy and then I am meeting with the new CEO of Home Depot in late March. I chose these two for very specific reasons. Mr. Cathy because the Chick-Fil-A(CFA) story is truly legendary in Atlanta and I had heard him speak to a large group and he was very charismatic. I chose the Home Depot meeting because I have always specialized in turning organizations around and this is truly a company that needs to be doing that.

So we arrive at CFA's Campus which is South of the city by the airport and it is a gorgeous drive from the gatehouse to the main building. I park and meet my fellow classmates in the sprawling lobby. In the lobby is a collection of Dan's (yes we had to call him Dan, not Mr. Cathy) father's antique car and motorcycle collection. It was breath taking to walk through Model T's to Rolls Royce's and a few magnificent Harley's. From there we were taken down to the 'cafeteria' which was more like the Buffet at Bellagio! Of course, along with fish, pasta, salad bar and dessert there was also Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich's for the taking. The best part --- it is ABSOLUTELY FREE for ALL...not just employees, but contractors, guests, vendors...even the maintenance guys that come in to fix things do so around lunch time so they can enjoy. We took our lunches to a conference room for our meeting with Dan.

First thing you should know, if you don't know Chick-Fil-A, is that Dan and his family are very religious. This is something I had heard and was anxious to see how I would deal with it. Sometimes, as a Jew, my radar goes up about being proselytized too so I was a little worried about being uncomfortable. To tell you the truth, Dan's story is very spiritual and certainly one of Christianity and the service of Christ, yet he told it in a fashion that did NOT make me uncomfortable at all!

So, what Dan wanted to talk to us about was Leadership and Service; two of my favorite topics and with me moving into a leadership role in a new company I was looking forward to a 'refresher course'.

Dan likes to use metaphors and examples and we received each one of his metaphors as actual gifts to keep! Here were Dan's Five Gifts:

1. A SMALL jar of Jiff Creamy Peanut Butter - Dan explained how he LOVES PB (I'm with him)! He had us unscrew the top and look at the freshness seal. He asked us what we though of as we peel of that freshness seal and we all agreed it was the fresh aroma of new PB. Dan said this was metaphor #1 - STAY FRESH! He also said he only buys the small jars so he can have that experience more often --- how cool? So with this he gave us a couple of nuggets about staying fresh

- Always be learning
- Always be thinking
- When a student is ready, a teacher will appear (how cool)
- Be BOLD and AGGRESSIVE with people you want to spend time with (hmmmm)

2. A silver baton (like the ones used in track & field) - the metaphor --- Success is built on SUCCESSION. What a powerful message and what a way to deliver it. It is one thing to be successful, it's a completely other thing to help make someone else successful and carry on a legacy in a smooth transition.

3. A railroad spike, with 'Stay on Track' engraved on it --- this is fairly obvious but it is the yin to the Peanut Butter's Yang. It's one thing to be bold and always fresh; it's an entirely different thing to stay grounded and focused on what you do best.

4. A starch white towel with a monogram on the bottom that says "Great Leaders SERVE" on the bottom. Dan explained by showing how the WHITE towel can be a sign of service when draped correctly over the left arm versus tucked in your back pocket with a Spray Bottle dangling from it.

- Great leaders have an attitude of service
- Be humble, gracious, generous and genuine

5. A shoeshine Brush -- Dan actually got down on the floor and buffed one of our shoes. Again tying the lesson of service Dan told the story of how at the Last Supper Jesus actually washed the feet of his disciples. What struck me was not the story per se but Dan's genuineness as he worked on Pat's boots. The care he took with her pants cuffs and the hug he gave her when it was over. I actually was moved watching him.

I also picked up a few great lines:

- We were designed to lead challenging lives; full of love, health and generosity. If you aren't getting this you need to find it to be fulfilled.

- God Built is for service

- The handshake of the host directly affects the taste of the roast ---now that is BANADICULOUS!

All in all it was a great 2 hours on a day that I needed inspiration greatly

As always --- ILU VM

Diet Coke

2009-02-24T09:04:00.006-05:00

"Hi my name is Gil W. and I am compulsive Diet Coke drinker."

"Hi Gil"

My last drink of Diet Coke was February 15th at 6:00 PM. This morning I had a 'slip up' so I guess the last one was now Tuesday, February 24th. In actuality I only had about 1/2 a can but a slip is a slip right? A heroin addict can't shoot up half way? The guy who pounds a half a bottle of Cab a night to take the edge off doesn't get by with just one glass. So, I broke my ban on Diet Coke but I am resolute on the goal.

People have asked this last week why give it up? Can't you cut back? What's wrong with it anyway?

First of all, I don't think there is ANYTHING wrong with it, I just didn't like the amount I was drinking and looking back on how my body felt this past week without it, I have realized I didn't like how it made me feel. I have no scientific proof and I don't get into all the 'Internet theories' but I can share this with you: after the 24 hour withdrawal headache subsided (and no i have never done hard drugs to know what true withdrawal is) I have NEVER felt 'healthier'. Healthier in that I am not having energy dips and spikes throughout the day. Healthier in that I banged out 5 miles on Saturday and came back Monday and did another 5 and it was faster than Saturday. Healthier in that I 'feel' lighter even if the scale only shows .8 lbs. I also seem to have lost a craving or two. My biggest craving, a stress one, is Burger King Cheeseburgers, and yes I specifically mean BK ones. I could pound 3 of them in less than 5 minutes and still not feel sated. Right now, in a situation that is begging for a BK run...I am ok...not ok with the overall picture but ok in that I don't need the cheeseburgers. Is this related to the DC's I don't know.

The second part --- cutting back. Yes, I think I could just 'cut back' and have 1 to 2 a day and feel fine and be completely justified...but why? Am I drinking it for the taste...really? After drinking nothing but WATER for 8 days I realized, this morning after drinking the half a can, that the taste ain't all that great and in fact WATER tastes good, especially freezing cold, like I am drinking right now. So, for me, for now I don't need to cut back. Am I pretending that I will never drink a DC again? Absolutely not! For now, I am trying hard to not be dependent on it.

So, in the fashion that started this post off ---

God, grant me the serenity to accpet the things I can not change,
the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

ILU - VM

Assignment #3 topic

2009-02-20T08:02:00.003-05:00

got some really good input and was reminded how good it feels when someone knows you even better than you know yourself at certain times.

I have narrowed it down to two choices; ONIONS and 'Ear hair - and other true signs of aging'.

As I look back at the assignment and the other things I have written about; this is really a chance for me to change courses and rely on my lighter and funnier (notice I said funnier and not funny) voice. For that reason I am going with EAR HAIR, not that there's anything wrong with it - LOL.

Hopefully I will have some time tonight to free write and I know I'll have plenty of time Sunday morning while I sit at a Panera I found here in Atlanta that actually has ORANGE SCONES - it's a bit of a hike but worth every minute!

Week #3 Writing Assignment

2009-02-19T16:37:00.002-05:00

So up until now I have posted the assignment and then my creative piece off of that.

This week I am struggling a bit and I am not sure why. Here's the assignment:

Make a list of five things you hate. These can be grand things, such as world leaders who lie, or these can be relatively minor things, such as carpet. Try to include one or two “hates” that no one else is likely to think of. Feel free to be petty or politically incorrect.

Pick the “hate” on your list that you find most interesting. The most eccentric choice might be best.

Then write a short piece presenting your “hate”—what it is, why you hate it. Write this very much as you would talk to someone you know. If you end up with some “telling,” that’s okay for this kind of thing. And if you find yourself launching into a rant, that’s fine, too.

But try not to go over 500 words.

You'd think this would be easier for me since I can go on a rant and exude some great hate, but maybe I've become more of a lover in my old age - LOL!

Tonight I plan on opening a bottle of something and putting pen to paper but if anyone has some good outrageous 'hates' you'd like me to explore --- FIRE AWAY!

Random thoughts from the middle of the week...

2009-02-18T17:07:00.003-05:00

-- Things really do happen for a reason! I am back in my 'old' chair at my 'new' desk and realize that the world does work if you let it.

-- Three days plus of ZERO Diet Coke's and I am alive - who'd have thunk it!

-- The other day I was reminded of something VERY IMPORTANT -- I am a DREAMER. At first I took this as a negative but I have realized in the last day or two that I am a dreamer and I am proud of it. We would still be stuck in the Middle Ages if it weren't for dreamers, from the Wright Brothers to Walt Disney it is the dreamers that make REALITY. In doing research I came across this quote by Brian Tracy, whom I have gotten to work with in Sales Seminars in the past, "All successful people, men and women, are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day towards that distant vision, goal or purpose". Sums it up nicely I think.

-- Dealing with LICE sucks!!!! Thank God someone started an in home service as this past weekend could have been a lot worse!

-- A-Rod can't tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

-- Being around really creative people sparks creativty.

-- I'd like to spend an hour with P!NK talking about her music and how she writes.

I'm being haunted

2009-02-15T08:36:00.002-05:00

no, this is not a creative writing piece ---- YET!

Literally, every night for the past 10 days or so I keep waking up from the same dream/nightmare. In actuality the dream changes somewhat but the basic premise is the same:

I am driving in my car with my father, mind you he is dead and the dream is in 'present time' hence why I know he is still dead. I don't remember the specifics of the conversations, just little threads, but EVERY time we are having a phone call with someone (this is the only part that changes) on my BLUETOOTH. On occasions the conversations have been 'funny' enough to make me laugh in my sleep and other times they have been downright scary to where I wake up in a cold sweat.

I have no idea what it means or how to make it stop -- or even if I want it to because maybe he is 'here' trying to help me work 'things' out --- I have no idea, but I do think it is odd that he hasn't asked me how my car can talk to me like KNIGHT RIDER yet since all this 'technology' should be new to him.

Oh well --- it is making for some good 'free writing' in my notebook.

Creative Writing Assignment #2

2009-02-11T20:09:00.003-05:00

Here is the assignment and my first pass. As I told my 'editor' and friend I might rewrite this one with several different stories but this was my first pass:

Loretta and Mick were driving down a lonely highway one winter night. The car hit something, making a loud noise. Loretta and Mick bickered about whether he was driving drunk or not, then they got out to see what was hit. They peered into the darkness, seeing nothing.

Rewrite this episode, showing what happens. You should stick to these events and stick to the start and end point, but you may add in anything you like. Turn this into a scene that unfolds moment by moment. It will probably include some dialogue. Also strive to include descriptions that are specific and sensory.

Loretta and Mick are driving down a lonely highway one winter night. Like most nights in this part of the world darkness is total. With only Mick’s headlights to guide them and the wind and snow blowing around them, Mick’s cherry red ‘vette (his REAL love) feels more like a coffin with each passing moment. They weave down the center line crossing through imaginary gates like a downhill skier.

The night has gone all wrong for Loretta. She was hopeful that tonight they could start over, find the common ground that their relationship once had. By 11:00 Loretta knew that Mick was drinking too much. Loretta knew all the signs, she watched a parent slip into the cocoon of alcohol as a child. She still loved Mick, but now, 10 years later she was tired, exhausted actually, and the love she feels has turned into anger, self pity and guilt over how she has let her life get this way.

Loretta asks Mick to slow down, she even offers to drive. Mick scoffs, “as if I would let you drive my baby”. Loretta steams inside but knows better than to carry on any further at this point, in her mind she keeps repeating “just get me home safely so I can kiss MY babies and hopes the pain and lonely feeling dissipates, if even for a little while”.

Mick could feel the tension in the air as well. He knows all of the issues and his role in how the way things are turning out. He knows he is out of control with the drinking, he loathes how he feels but nothing else dulls the pain. He has tried focusing on his job and then getting back in shape and even went out of his way to spend extra time with the boys but even in those moments of pleasure there was always the haunting in the back of his mind.

Mick knows all the buttons to push on Loretta yet can’t stop himself, like the driving the car comment --- he knows he shouldn’t be driving; he trusts Loretta yet the crazy shit just comes out. His mind starts to drift, he too knows they love each other but wonders how did they get here and is there too much damage done.

Mick shakes his head to clear his mind so that he can focus on the road. Fifteen miles from home and he knows the weather is getting worse as they near the coast and his head is now pounding and feverish. He rounds a big curve and his eyes begin to close. Quietly, hoping Loretta doesn’t notice, Mick slaps his left cheek to keep himself awake, as his left hand returns to the wheel the car slides across the pavement and they hear the sickening sound of metal crunching the front end of the sports car.

Mick pulls over and the two share a glance that is filled with fear and concern. They open their doors and peer into the darkness and see nothing.

Is this how it happened?

2009-02-10T11:14:00.004-05:00

At 13 he already knew he was special. He was long, lean and had the eye hand coordination of a skilled field marksman. At a very young age people started showering him with gifts; taking him to dinners, opening doors for him (both real and virtual) and making sure his every need was taken care of as he was going to be the family 'breadwinner'.

Through High School it became easier; no homework, girls all around him and always the invites to the best parties, but despite all of this he remained a hard worker, diligent in practice, knowing that this was just a stepping stone to the prize. He always knew the prize; not only to be the best but more importantly to be able to provide for his family, as extended as it was.

In college he saw the lesser players looking for the edge; the difference between being a baggage handler at MIA and getting 8 years of service in the 'bigs' was 15 to 20 points on your slugging percentage and maybe 5 more 'big bombs' a year. These were meaningless to him, he WAS the star, but he filed it in the back of his mind.

Time came to leave school early and make it in his chosen profession. He was a smash hit and starred early on. The money early on was nice, but his 'field' was about to explode with free agency and astronomical contracts. He was going to be THE ONE and for the first time he felt the pressure. Was he really good enough? Could his talent alone make him worthy of being #1? By now he'd seen it all, the injections, the swapped urine, the lying and back dealing. He never wanted anything to do with it but there was that gnawing in the back of his mind...a still, silent voice whispering to him from ages ago, "you have to provide for them", "they are counting on you".

In a moment of weakness, the man-child of 23 made his first mistake. The needle looked cold, the trickle that came from the tip was menacing; was he really here? did he really need it? He had $252 MILLION reasons to believe so. Just one cycle he thought. The boss isn't even testing for it, everyone has turned a blind eye just wanting to see the 'ball fly out of the park'. Let's get good and healthy for this new city and then it can be over.

Of course it is never over. One time leads to 3 years or maybe more, who knows...does it really matter?

Is he the boy with the passion or the man who made the mistake? Is his the only guilty conscience here? Why is he and this generation of ball players being called out? How about the more blatant abuse of amphetamines sitting in locker rooms like M&M's? How about the 70's and 80's with the rampant use of cocaine? Not too mention the abusive use of liquor and tobacco products?

Who are we to judge? If given a chance to turn your $75,000-$150,000 salary into $750,000 what would YOU do?

The GRAMMY's and feedback on my first assignment

2009-02-09T08:09:00.003-05:00

First the writing assignment --- he like it, he really liked it (The Instructor that is!). I received really positive feedback and some terrific constructive criticism. I can't wait for the next assignment and also to keep working on this piece as maybe there is a BIGGER story in here trying to 'get out'.

On to the GRAMMY's. I think this is by far the best award show out there for one reason --- they really don't waste time on the AWARDS; they have turned it into a massive concert with great artists and then they mix them up and throw them together. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't but the energy is amazing.

My favorites from the night --- the biggest highlight for me was Sugarland performing their song STAY and then joining Adele to sing CHASING PAVEMENT. Personally both songs 'speak to me' and Sugarland has long been one of my 2 or 3 favorite country groups, well they are a DUO. If you don't know them, the lead singer did the duet with Jon Bon Jovi on "who says you can't go home again" or something like that --- her name is Jennifer Nettles. As for the Adele song, I just LOVE her voice and when you listen to her it is nothing like her physical presence. The song is also very inspirational to me right now. I also really liked Al Green with Justin Timberlake, Boys II Men and Keith Urban. Speaking of JT, I officially have a MAN CRUSH on the guy. Forget the 'boy band' stuff, this guy is SERIOUSLY talented and articulate. His duet with TI was the other highlight for me.

Almost forgot COLDPLAY - they are genius, love them and LOVED the shout out to The Beatles with the colorful jackets, a la Sergeant Peppers, while watching I was wondering what Gayle, Vicki and Dina were thinking....hmmmm....

As for the bad (at least for me) --- two performances I was looking forward to disappointed me. The first was Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. I actually let Cydney stay up with me just to watch this one and it missed; even Cyd looked at me and said 'ewwwwww'. The second was Katy Perry. I really like Katy and I saw the Katie Couric interview with her and it made me like her more but last night she was off (both in key and performance). I think the 'I Kissed a Girl' song is CUTE and maybe she HAD to do it, but she has MUCH BETTER stuff and I think she could have just gone out there and performed instead of doing a 'show' where clearly the physical antics hurt her performance.

That's my recap, thought it would fit in well after my last post on music.

Next writing assignment gets posted tonight at MIDNIGHT - I am psyched!

I got the Music in me...

2009-02-07T11:40:00.002-05:00

I just had to cut out of a Social Media Conference to get on with the rest of my day but it certainly had me thinking. As I walked to my car I had a little 'bounce' in my step; I was on a college campus, it was a beautiful late morning, air still a bit crisp but not a cloud in the sky and I knew as soon as I got to my car I was going to open the roof put down the windows and crank up exactly what I needed on THIS morning...

The first thing I love about music is that it can change my mood or channel my thoughts instantly. Usually I can control that by what's in my head or what I want my personal 'playlist' to be but sometimes it will happen just by what is on the XM on a 'spontaneous' nature, and it doesn't ALWAYS make the mood a good one (think John Cusack in 'Better Off Dead' when he chucks the radio out the window). So, as I am walking and admiring the scenery on a SOUTHERN COLLEGE CAMPUS I think about music and where my love for it began and how it developed...

At 8 years old I had the best stereo system on the block; not only did it have a turn table and double cassette deck but it also had an 8 track deck as well and it was hooked up to FOUR speakers and we could plug in microphones and create our own 8 tracks. The 8 track that stands out the most to me in my mind is the GREASE SOUNDTRACK. My mother would play it in the car alot and we would sing along. I also remember hours in my room with Scott Rubenstein dubbing over hot songs. Our favorite was RAPPER'S DELIGHT by Sugarhill Gang. To this day I can 'rap' the ENTIRE song --- you should try me sometime, this and BABY GOT BACK, but that's another story entirely.

Shortly thereafter we moved to South Florida and the stereo came with me but 8 tracks were replaced with vinyl. My two best memories of vinyl; before our house was finished I lived with my cousins for about a year. Everyday I would come home from school and hang with Stacy for hours listening to her 45's. Stacy was cool, she was a FRESHMAN in High School and I was only in 6th grade. To this day I can picture that tan 45 holder with the blue K-102 sticker on it...I think she wore MY SHARONNA out! The other memory is of the records I would play in my room alone with the headset on; Queen - News of the World, Kiss Live and Kiss Live II, Van Halen, Journey and of course AC/DC - Back in Black.

I'll also admit that around this time I was in the band and I really enjoyed it, though I didn't enjoy falling off the top riser in 6th Grade only to lay on the floor looking up as the tuba came down next on top of me...

My favorite part about playing music was solo competitions. I liked being able to pick my own music, work with my teacher and get 'lost' in the piece. In 8th Grade I tackled the theme from Carmen, the Opera, on the tuba. Why did I take that on? Well, one of the stanzas is the theme from the Bad News Bears and I loved baseball. I received straight Superiors in competition and went on to be First Chair All-County and All-State that year. I gave up band in high school, mostly under the peer pressure of a growing social calendar, I wish I hadn't.

Music has always been the 'score' to my life. Songs from the 80's and 90's bring back memories of friends and girls, of times and places I wish I could escape to or could have escaped from. Today I love music as much as ever. My iPods are almost full and I have two hard drives full of music and I still have at least 100 CD's that have yet to have been transferred over. The other day I was going through them and I came across R.E.M.'s Eponymous Album and the sticker from the store I bought it from was still on it. The second I picked it up I could see myself in that spot, at the cash register and then the ride back Gainesville where we listened to non stop R.E.M.

Today I listen to everything. I can go from Keith Urban to Lil' Wayne and everything in between. I appreciate it all because it is someone's love and inspiration from their heart and soul put into Art for us to enjoy.

I still love to go to live shows and can't wait to see Springsteen in April. I love going to outdoor shows that are small and intimate.

I picture a bottle of red wine, a blanket and the stars as we listen to a jazz ensemble or the Symphony and reminisce on life, what we've been through and how we got here.

Cheers and happy early Valentine's Day

Michael Phelps is getting a pass...why?

2009-02-05T16:41:00.003-05:00

Because he is WHITE! Ok I said it. Maybe it's not that 'black and white', pun intended, but I GUARANTEE if Mr. Phelps was an African American or Latino he would NOT be getting this free pass. Don't get me wrong either, I love the kid and was glued to the TV every morning during the Olympics, but facts are facts.

Here are the excuses I am hearing:

1. I don't condone what he did but it's not that big of a deal, he is only endangering himself since he does not play a team sport.

2. He's 23 and he was never a kid, this is just a phase.

3. He has apologized profusely and has promised it won't happen again.

Ok, let's look at them.

1. Personally, if he were NOT in the public eye, I could also care less. I believe I am in the minority in my generation to say that I never experimented with weed. I have my own personal reasons but to each his own. HOWEVER, this guy IS in the public eye. What is the signal it says to the 11 year old who is being told to stay away from recreational use? I mean the dude just won EIGHT GOLD MEDALS and is sleeping with every hot chick in Hollywood --- what 11-14 year old does not want to be like Mike? If he is not a ROLE MODEL he is at least a public figure. He also has MILLIONS --- if this was his choice, why not light up in a hotel room with no cell phone cameras.

2. Give me a break! He chose the life and is reaping the rewards. Plus, I have kids and I am not looking to the 'phase' :-)

3. The apology angle ---give me a break! Four years ago Phelps was caught and arrested for a DUI. We got the same sob story...please.

So, you are thinking --- where is the race deal Gil? Let's not be naive...name for me ONE African American athlete who has been found smoking dope and the story becomes a 'feel good' one? I'll wait.

In the meantime, the world has come to Phelps' back. Even the International Swimming Federation fell for the heartfelt apology. Tell me when Roger Goddell will do that in the NFL.

Anyway, I just find it all to be intriguing and worth watching.

On a side note, this was ALL just stream of consciousness while listening to an amazing 3DD/Maroon 5 mix I put together but no I am not 'packing a bowl'.

Creative Writing Assignment #1

2009-02-04T08:18:00.002-05:00

Ok - I gave you my warning in my last post!

Also, before I paste it in here, I would be remiss if I did not say how proud I am this morning of TWO people: one, my little sister is 33 today and she is an amazing woman, mother, wife and sister! two, I got one of the best emails last night. My friend Steve, who's BLOG is linked on my page here, is finishing his FINAL ROUND of Chemo and will be OFFICIALLY CANCER FREE. Last night in the email he said he was, "officially a survivor". Funny, we already knew he was so much more! I love both of you greatly, thanks for being such important parts of my life...

Ok, here goes ----

Looking out the windshield his mind played tricks with the raindrops. It was a game of distraction; pick two drops and ‘bet’ with himself as to which one gets to the bottom first. It had always been this way. The rain comforted Jeremy in the darkest of times. Tonight was one of those nights. He knew following him would lead to this but he had to do it. He had to know what his father did when he claimed he was ‘going to work’. He knew in his heart there was no ‘legitimate’ work. How could there be…there was never a briefcase, never the dinner conversation about a ‘tough day at the office’ or ‘that bastard Johnson down the hall’. Instead there was tension and arguments which led to beatings and crying.

Tonight was going to be different though. For once, Jeremy knew the truth and he was prepared to use it. As he sat in the driveway steeling his nerve for the encounter he let every bit of anger and frustration flow through his 25-year-old body. Tonight, the nightmares would end; the lightning flashes and he feels the hand, the elbow or the bat…whatever he got his hands on; as the thunder rolls he hears his mothers screams. As soon as the drop on the far left wins the race he will get out of the car. Jeremy plays the scene out in his mind. He starts with the pictures; the drug deals, the athletes and the politicians. He knows he has enough that his Old Man will listen. He’ll have 15 minutes to pack up and get out of her life. As a child she sang every night to Jeremy, always the same song, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” by Simon & Garfunkel, tonight he would be that BRIDGE; after tonight the waters will be still, she can sleep. The raindrop is half way down, almost time. What if he says ‘No’ or tries to get ‘physical’? Jeremy felt the cold metal pressing against his abdomen. How ironic would it be to shoot his father with his own gun? How many nights did he lie awake wondering what it would be like to do just that? He knew he wouldn’t have to. His father would go, he would have to protect his friends and clients. Three quarters of the way down, Jeremy thumbs through the pictures, the physical and the ones in his mind. He never came to a ballgame, never took him to the park and never let on that there was any pride in his offspring. Ironically, he will probably be proud tonight – at least the kid stood up for himself.

The raindrop is done and so are the nightmares – the car door opens…

Will the writing get any better? Let's hope so

2009-01-30T16:09:00.002-05:00

Over the last year and a half of building this blog I have truly come to love writing and being able to express myself. I was not expecting anyone to read me consistently, let alone 'follow' me except for my mother and a few other friends that i have picked up along the way. In fact, that might still be reality some days, however, I have received so much great feedback from people whom I love, cherish and value their opinions. This group includes at least THREE professional 'writers' as well as TWO editors. Thank God the TWO of them have not jumped all over my grammar, syntax and all the technical stuff. Instead it seems most of the feedback focuses on my 'voice' and how I am able to convey my thoughts here on the screen.

Reality is that I type 'stream of consiciousness' and don't really go back and change anything outside of spell check (a hush falls over the room as you all collectively go "DUH" - LOL). I want to change that without losing my 'voice' so I have decided to take a WRITING CLASS. I am starting with a 'Creative Writing 101' course that starts on February 2nd. The course is offered through the Gotham Writers Workshop out of New York City, so every Monday night I will get on a plane, go to class on Tuesday and fly home Tuesday night. Who wants to meet in the City for dinner on the next 6 Mondays? Ok, so I am not getting on a plane every week - the class is on the INTERNET, through a series of 'tubes' I will be able to take a class, communicate with my teacher and even share my writings with the class.

I am very excited to contimnue to share a lot of my personal feelings here as well as my unique look at sports, politics and life but now you can start looking for a new series of 'creative pieces'. I share this as some of you might wind up reading some of it and go..."what the F is happening down there in Atlanta?"...hopefully it will be exercising my creative mind and not sharing...maybe I should use different color text...probably the two will cross over anyway...

Meanwhile, I am anxious to start, put up my first piece and have my 'editiorial' and support staff let me know how I am doing.

Shabbat Shalom

Enjoying my cultural/spiritual side

2009-01-23T16:53:00.003-05:00

Sometimes explaining to someone how being Jewish is more than a religion can be difficult. By all definitions that I have found, we as Jews are a PEOPLE and define ourselves as such. Our religious beliefs vary greatly and the way we observe that religion is as different as the clothes we wear but at its core belief is a shared heritage that is unmistakable and forges bonds that are undeniable.

This morning, while sitting in my girls' Kabbalat Shabbat Service (basically a school prayer service on Friday mornings) I was reflecting on my 'Jewish life' and how vital and beautiful it is. Mind you I did not grow up in a 'religious' house or even one that put an over-emphasis on being different. I went to Hebrew School and was Bar Mitzvahed and we observed the MAJOR Holidays but that was about it. I think my strongest Jewish Identity came from learning about the Holocaust, its impact on us and the world and then the creation of Israel.

Listening to Cydney stand in front of the entire school and chant the AMIDAH, which is the 18 Blessings at the core of our belief, was so moving. First I am proud that at eight years old Cydney can chant the entire series of blessings, but listening to her go through the movements as well lets me know she gets it and feels that connection. Second, I was humbled as the Guest Rabbi, whom I know through community stuff, looked up at me and smiled as Cydney chanted. It was a look of pride for the father and man I am. I needed that today, it warmed my heart.

So what got me on the path to where my kids go to Jewish Day School, we have Shabbat Dinner on Friday nights and I serve on a few Jewish Community Boards? I'm not really sure but I know that my trip to Israel in 2000 cemented it forever. This afternoon, while waiting in carpool line to pick the girls up, I decided to pick up my latest book and read instead of 'kibbitzing' with the soccer Moms :). My latest reading is a series by an Author named Daniel Silva. This series has eight books and the central character is an Israeli spy/assassin. In fact, if you saw Munich, the main character is this guy. Needless to say the books are fast paced and exciting and getting to see things through a Jewish/Israeli lens is neat for me. Anyway, one of the places mentioned in this book is a visit to Yad Vashem by the main character. If you don't know, Yad Vashem is the Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Israel. It is one of the most beautiful yet painful places in all the world. As I was reading I was remembering every step I took in that place in February of 2000. The most touching place for me was the 'Children's Hall' where the children of the Holocaust are remembered. Imagine a very dark corridor where just five lights are used to create the illusion of millions of tiny lights (stars) that represent the lost children of the Holocaust. Realizing in 2000 that those 'children' would roughly be my parent age was very painful. From there I remember the Art Museum and wondering how amazing the human spirit is that actual works of art could be created by people in so much pain and terror on a daily basis. There is also a parallel Children's Art Musuem that displays the work of the kids that is equally compelling.

To wrap up the day, I sat and listened to Cydney during her piano lesson here at the house. She has a recital on Sunday so this was her 'dress rehearsal; of sorts. One of the songs Cyndey is playing is Hava Nagila and I can hear the difference in her fingers on the keys when she plays that tune versus another.

In a week that saw us Inaugurate our first African American President I am optimistic about everyone being accepted no matter what their religious, ethnic, gender or social beliefs. On the flip side, I hope that in all this 'melting' we are still able to take pride on our own individual and unique heritages and cultures. Oftentimes, as a Jew, it is very easy to assimilate and slip into the 'white, mostly Christian world, which is fine but its also important to recognize and celebrate our differences and even take the opportunity to educate someone else on just how beautiful those differences can be.

Shabbat Shalom

It's the beginning, not the end...

2009-01-19T20:27:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow marks a historic day in our Nation's history and I am very enthusiastic about the possibilities. At least in this moment of time, there is no BLUE states or RED states there are United States. Do I think every one shares this thought? Heavens no, but more than 50% of us do and that is what this REPUBLIC is all about. If I dwelled on the negatives, I would see the trepidation and fear mongering even in my own peer group, but I refuse to look that way, there will be enough for the partisanship over the next FOUR years. Tomorrow is about renewal, rebirth and the possibility of what can be, for however naive and fleeting that is.

What tomorrow is not is the fulfillment of a 'Dream'. It is the dawn of a new day, a promise for what someday may be but it is not FULFILLMENT. Fulfillment comes when we no longer discuss the passing of things as 'firsts'. I've talked about this before, but it bears reiterating --- we must not be a society of exceptions. It is not enough for ONE to have done something. It will only be enough when everyone has equal access to be the ONE.

Tomorrow will be a beautiful day, full of hopeful and inspiring speeches, smiles and wonder. What plays out over the next 6 months will shape the direction of not just our nation but the world. We have too many REAL issues to work and not enough hours in the day to sort them out.

As you watch, harness that power of positive thought, take in our country, in all it's glory, all that mankind can be and try to integrate just a little bit of that into your daily life for the next year, it is what I will be doing. They say it only takes 5 weeks to turn something into a habit, let's make them good ones.

The Pros and Cons of a Playoff System for College Football

2009-01-11T20:40:00.001-05:00

This time of year, almost every year, a debate rages on about whether or not ‘Division I’ college football should join every other collegiate sport and create some sort of playoff system to determine it’s champion. No matter which side of the fence you sit on, there are obvious pros and cons for both cases. I will try my best to stay impartial in looking at both sides; in fact, that should be easy because I am torn as to which I think is truly best for the ‘game’ I love. Please note that some of these pros and cons maybe myths and not facts (we’ll look at that as well).

First, let’s look at the pros of moving to a playoff system which determines its winner ‘on the field’ (this is just my list from 30,000 feet – literally, I am on a plane, I’d love to hear your additions to the list):

1. We get just that, ONE winner at the end of the day, no multiple Bowl Games that leaves the outcome in doubt.
a. Does one winner = the best team or just a champion?
b. On any given day one team can beat another
c. Does anyone really believe the Arizona Cardinals are ‘better’ than the Carolina Panthers?
2. Revenue – sure the Bowl System is a sweet bonanza to the schools, the conferences, the BCS and the network it is on, but imagine the potential revenue for a ‘Super Bowl’ amongst college football.

Next, let’s move onto the cons of a playoff system:

1. The beauty and uniqueness of the current system is devalued. There is some value here – the Bowls (at least the big ones) are special. Now the counter argument is they can still be incorporated into a playoff…ok
2. The ‘student-athlete’ will have too much time added onto their season and they won’t be able to concentrate on Final exams. This is BUNK and we know it, those in favor of the current system need to stop using this argument. It’s like saying our prisons are there for rehabilitation - BULLSHIT
3. What would be the format? A ‘plus one’? 4 teams? 8 teams? - on this one there is no myth…but what exactly works for football? Look back over the last 20 years and you will rarely find a time that 4 teams are deserving of a playoff let alone 8 teams.
4. A playoff system would ruin the regular season and make it meaningless. In my opinion this is the MOST compelling argument. Look at College Basketball, where a champion is determined ON THE COURT and they have the most successful tournament and excitement in March Madness. Proponents of a playoff will say EXACTLY…however, football is NOT basketball #1 and #2 the college basketball regular season IS MEANINGLESS; TV ratings are ABYSMAL and everyone knows that wins and losses on a regular basis are meaningless unless you are on the ‘bubble’. Right now, the college football regular season is pretty compelling, especially in conference play.

That is a good start to the playoff scenario; let’s turn our attention to the current system – the BCS. The BCS has already gone under several tweaks but yet has gotten things completely correct.

Again, we start with the pros:
1. The Bowls have been consolidated so Conference Champions are not forced to their original bowl alliances so an actual Champion can be determined. Here is believe is the greatest success of the BCS. Take this year’s game, or all of them. In the OLD BOWL lineup we would have NEVER gotten Florida-Oklahoma, OR Florida-USC, OR USC-Texas, OR Florida-USC, etc…bowl tie in’s would have sent USC to the Rose to still play Penn State; Florida would have gone to the SUGAR…maybe to play Utah; Oklahoma (or Texas) would have gone to the ORANGE and played Virginia Tech and who knows who Texas in the FIESTA.
2. Money – the BCS is a financial boon for the Schools and their Conferences. Could a playoff bring more? I think so, but right now the rich are getting richer.
3. The debate! In many ways the sheer fact that we are even having the debates are a good thing for college football and the BCS. As much as you want to bitch it keeps the sport and topic relevant all year long.

On to the cons:
1. We are left feeling empty on a usual basis that there is at least one team getting ‘screwed’ by the system. Ok, I can’t see any untruth here except life sucks and isn’t fair…a good lesson for college kids to learn ☺.
2. Coaches and players may continue to feel disconnected and not content and this might leave the college ranks earlier than usual for greener pastures. Ok, that would suck, especially on the coach’s front, but the kids are going as soon as they can and who can blame them?
3. Conferences are left to determine how they want things done – do they have their own Championship game? How they handle tiebreakers (did you see that Big 12 – lol)? In general, the NCAA is shut out of the BCS and the Bowl System and that is a little weird…

There you have it, a look at both scenarios with no answer, just some of the pros and cons and the start of a healthy debate. I don’t have an answer and like I said early on my opinion on the matter changes nearly daily. I do think the creation of the BCS was the first step to reforming a broken system. Whether a playoff system is the next step in that evolution is yet to be determined.

My Greatest Joy

2009-01-07T08:25:00.003-05:00

As any parent can attest to, raising children is the most difficult task you will embark on but also the most rewarding. Hopefully the rewards outweigh the frustrations and in the end you don't damage the kids, yourself or your loved ones around you too severely.

This morning, while in the shower, all I could think about was my two girls, Cydney now 8 and Rachel, who is 6. Why in the shower you might ask? Part of this week I am playing my normal role as Dad, but also taking on the role of Mom and 'house mananger' and mind you I am not complaining. My wife doesn't travel excessively and when she does it is usually for a night or two and I do my fair share of traveling as well. This morning I was thinking back on how just a year or two ago how panicked I would be if Ilene were out of town. Not that things would go wrong but at how overwhelming it is to get a house moving and out the door in such a short time span...I know single parents and those that do the lion share of the work (SAHM's) can relate. This morning I realized how simple it has become. Sure Rachel NEVER wants to get out of bed, at 6 she has mastered not just hitting the SNOOZE button but she also turns the damned alarm clock completely OFF. On the other hand, Cydney is a morning person like her Daddy. She is up and at'em and ready to tackle the day. No longer do I have to get them dressed or do all that stuff; they are self sufficient. My biggest issue, to this day is HAIR and that had me panicked this morning as Rachel has a new haircut. Cydney does her own ponytail, thank G-d and Rae Rae says to me, "Daddy, can you use the hot iron please"...ummm..."what's that", I ask..."it's the thing that makes Mommy and my hair straighter silly, it gets really hot and you put it on my hair"..."ummm, ok, well it looks like Mommy took it with her to Kansas"...."ok, Daddy, you got lucky this time, you can just get a brush, wet it and then brush it"...how cute is that?

So many other amazing things come from them and out of them, take these series that have happened in the last few weeks:

- We are in Disney World for Cydney's birthday and on the last night the Magic Kingdom is open late so Cyd and I go to hit Thunder Mountain Railroad in the dark a few times before leaving. It's a blast and as we are strolling back, holding hands and skipping (there's a visual) I say to Cydney, "can we always do this?" and she said "of course Daddy, I love this". About 5 minutes later Cydney just stops and turns to me and says, "what exactly did you mean my ALWAYS"...I said, "you know when you are a teenager and stuff", to which Cydney replies, "maybe I didn't mean always Daddy". I thought I had her.

- One of the myriad of gifts Cyd got for her birthday is the doorbell for your bedroom set. We installed it over the weekend, it is really cute but oh so LOUD and ANNOYING. On top of that Cyd has now adorned her door with a great BIG sign that reads, "If I don't answer then you are not allowed to ENTER". Oh my, my 8 year old is about to turn 16!!!!!!!!!

- Rachel is TWO kids, I swear. There is the very loud and very opinionated young lady that does not understand NO and needs complete control. I usually let her mother handle her...they are very much alike (just kidding, sort of - LOL) and then there is the SWEETEST most affectionate kid I have ever seen. Over the last few weeks the sweet girl has been around so much more. I've never met a kid who aims to please more than my Rae Rae. Last night we had very bad storms and she came into my room, climbed on the bed and said, "Daddy will you hold me, I had a bad dream". Who says no to that one? We snuggled for two hours and then she says, "I'm ALL GOOD, you can sleep now dude"

- I also just love to listen to them talk to each other. What kids know and experience today is amazing from pop culture to technology to the world around them. Having my 8 year old explain how important it is that Obama support Israel is just really cool stuff.

So there was my morning. Nothing can make you cry and smile like your kids, I hope yours, like mine give you smiles and joy that far outweigh the pain (at least for now).

Working on getting better

2009-01-06T21:45:00.002-05:00

I've been 'blogging' now for awhile but never really wanted anything more from it except for my own personal gain. I like to tell stories, I like having opinions and occasionally I like making people laugh or think.

I want more now. I think I have found my voice and developed a 'style' and I think there is more out there for me.

Today I went to the book store and picked up a book on the topic as well as one about writing. I think I am going to look to take a creative writing class as well. There is a lot inside of me and I think some of it is even worthwhile for public consumption - LOL.

Tonight, I am closing the laptop and I am going to read, not for pleasure (though I have been doing that and I HIGHLY recommend Daniel Silva and the book The Messenger).

As a kid I wanted to be a Sports Broadcaster and I started at UF as a Journalism Major. The 'writer' in me is alive and I want to explore it.

I have loved all the positive feedback publicly and even the great constructive criticism I have gotten from my personal editor and proofreader. To become better I need it all and I hope you will feel free to assist, someday I'll give you credit in my great masterpiece ;-)

3 movies in ONE weekend - must be worthy of a post and a review or three

2009-01-04T20:50:00.003-05:00

Friday night wound up being completely unusual and quiet (for once)...Cydney got a call for a sleep over at 5:00 and then Rachel opted for a night at Nana's, so after Shabbat dinner we were on our own so we decided to see Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise movie. First, let me say I am NO Cruise fan, and I am biased by this whole Scientologist bullshit. The movie was pretty good, one thing I will give it was INTENSITY. I sat there glued to the movie the whole time. That didn't make it great but it was compelling. I guess I am a bit spoiled by having a Dad that was not just a History teacher but also a Holocaust expert so I knew most of the story but I think it was told well. The movie plodded a bit, but I was glad to get to see it.

The second movie up was Saturday afternoon with my girls. One of my favorite things to do is get alone time with both Cyd and Rae Rae. On Saturday we caught the Adam Sandler movie, Bedtime Stories. I really liked it. The girls were amused especially Rachel. I love watching them as they watch a movie, they are such opposites. Cydney gets VERY involved in a movie and her expression doesn't change much, she is concentrating I think more than just enjoying. Rae Rae on the other hand is so expressive and nothing brings that out more than a COMEDY. She laughed and smiled the whole time and when she does that it just lights up the room, even a dark theater. As usual, there was goofy Sandler stuff and the obligatory Rob Schneider appearance but all in all it was entertaining.

Saturday night we had a sitter, but no plans, so when in doubt go to a movie to get out of the house. I reluctantly went to see Marley & Me. I was only hesitant because it had been several 'chick' flicks in a row, though I guess Valkyrie wasn't one...anyway, Jennifer Aniston is on my TOP 5 list so I couldn't complain too much. Let's just say I identifed a little too closely to the story in some parts and it got emotional. Besides having had several dogs as a child I really connected to the Owen Wilson character (and that sounds weird normally - LOL). The movie made me think about so much and it continues to have me thinking, contemplating, planning and challenging myself even 2 hours later.

Big week coming up! My Eagles won tonight so a week from today they play the New York Giants for the chance to go to the NFC Championship Game. Ironically I land in New York about an hour before kickoff so I can't go to the game but I'll be following along! I am however going to a BIGGER game this week! On Thursday morning I am hoping down to South Florida for the BCS National Championship game and a chance to root on the GATORS with my co-horts TEAM STRAUS (just the 3 of us baby) and I will run into a host of Fraternity Brothers and old friends to catch up with.

First controversial post of 2009, I'm sure not the last

2009-01-02T09:48:00.003-05:00

I am pissed about the way the media is handling the latest round of violence in Israel. Maybe it is my 'blue and white' tinted lens but it looks like every report is showing Israel's 'aggression' towards the Palestinians and reporting little to nothing on why Israel is doing this. Notice I used the term 'doing this' because here is where one of the controversies seem to lie. Apparently, many factions in the world believe Israel is being the AGGRESSOR and attacking the Palestinians where a smaller group (U.S., Jews and Israel, and some 'friends') see that Israel is PROTECTING her people on her OWN soil.

Here is the RUB for me and my beef with my fellow citizens who are supporting the 'War on Terror' yet seem to have an issue with Israel's right to secure her borders.

We, as the U.S., is off fighting a 'war' on foreign soil with no real enemy, no clear directive with no clear goal, except to protect democracy, our safety and end terrorism...

Imagine, for a moment, you lived in a 'border town' like El Paso, TX. El Paso, like every other Texas town was once part of Mexico just 200 years ago. In swoops the European setters and in a battle they 'win' that territory and claim it for their own, call it Texas, make it a sovereign State of the U.S. and here you are in 2008. Well...a group of Mexicans are not happy some 200 years later and they start raining BOMBS on your town for YEARS. Night after night, bombs fly, sirens go off and people DIE. During the day, you walk outside and you have 10 seconds to find COVER if you hear a siren. For years you live in fear for your life and your family's. Your Government, in reaction to protect you fights back. How would we as the U.S. be fighting back? Based on historical evidence at this point we would be attacking overseas (based on 9/11) and I'm sure we would focus on the 'local issue' as well.

Well, Israel is ONLY focused on the local issue. She is fighting HAMAS where they are. She is not running around the Middle East picking fights with the Saudis (that we know finance MUCH of this terror), she is not going after Al-Queda or any other Organization except those that are an immediate threat.

Back to the El Paso comparison...would we as the U.S. ever decide to give back parts or all of Texas to Mexico for peace? I think not! In Israel, this has already happened. Israel has returned much of the area of Gaza to the 'Palestinians' (whoever they even are is a whole different discussion). Yes, she occupies the territory and 'rules' it very strictly but that is a tangled mess which includes the threat of terror. Israel is open to discussing a TWO State answer despite the threat to her security as a nation. Do the Palestinians even want that? In my opinion the answer is no. They, like the majority of the Arab/Islam world want TWO things - the destruction of the State of Israel and the eradication of the Jewish People. From this, they get the THIRD thing they want - control of JERUSALEM.

These things must never happen. We ALL have the right to live in peace and freedom, we all have the right to PURSUE happiness and find our own way.

The next time you see a news story about what is going on, swap out your hometown for whatever town in Israel they are showing and ask what would YOU want your country do to protect you and your family? Put yourself in the shoes of the countless innocent Palestinians as well, it is horrible on their side as well, no doubt, but somewhere, somehow the fear and loathing must give way to acceptance and humanity.

Saying goodbye to 2008 and my 30's

2008-12-31T08:34:00.003-05:00

I just looked back over some of my earlier posts in 2008 and late 2007. They were dominated by thoughts of Jon, losing weight and of course sports. It's amazing as time passes how so much stays the same yet so much changes and how those two things intermingle.

I can honestly say that 2008 was a year of growth for me. I became more spiritual, more determined to succeed (whatever that means) and more in touch with my feelings and who Gil really is. As usual with all the good there always comes the challenges. I am not big on 'Resolutions' but if I were to say I have ONE big resolution for 2009 is to approach the challenges with my head held high and be the fighter that I am...stay positive, push through, love strongly and be the man I found once again in 2008!

As each year gets ripped from the calendar I also rip off another year of life. I have NOT been looking forward to turning 40 in January. I am trying hard to turn that around and getting to spend time with the best group of friends a guy could ask for in December was helpful!

to recap the month - the first weekend in December brought friends from all over to Atlanta for the SEC Championship and a
mini High School reunion. I also reflected on the loss of my good friend Jon Barkan and spent a couple hours at his grave. I am blessed to have so many good memories in a short time span. I also have enjoyed watching his oldest have a great relationship with Rachel that I hope can flourish into what we had. Days go by, like Keith Urban says, and December rolled on. Kids concerts and Cydney's Siddur Presentation were some highlights. In mid December I went on a 'boys' trip to NYC...Scotty's
40th (the last of the group to turn 40...besides me that is). From the 2:00 AM trip to Tick Tock that Friday night to we bid
farewell after a frozen day at the JETS game I realized how fortunate I am. The weekend flowed into Monday and I spent yet another day reminded of what the great surprises in life can give you! Back from NYC it was off to 9 days in South Florida
with family and friends. It was peaceful and non-stressful! To cap it off I was surprised not once but TWICE with early
birthday wishes - thanks, here I am dreading 40 and you throw it in my face 3 weeks EARLY - just kidding, I LOVED it!

So turns the page to 2009. I am scared of 40. Not because I am getting older, greyer, slower, etc...it's because I am now expected to do all the things I do. In your 20's when you climb that Corporate Ladder quickly you are an 'emerging star' and surprising people. In your early 30's that continues and you get recognition. You become members of elite groups like "40 under 40" and "up and Comers". Seems like at 40 that stops...there is no 50 under 50, there is no "your at the middle of life and climbing" award. I am fearful that I will not live up to all that potential heaped upon me. The economy and all the world uncertainty does nothing to make that feel better.

However, as I started with, this is MY challenge...at least one of them. I am determined to face it head on, the only way I know how to do things.

I will keep blogging, I will keep striving to be a better person, for my family, my friends, my clients and business partners. Lastly I will strive to enjoy it all, smile, laugh and love.

"We'll follow the rainbow wherever the four winds blow" - Keith Urban, Making Memories of Us

DisneyWorld - two different perspectives (the economy and sports)

2008-11-25T08:29:00.004-05:00

We just got back from a very quick trip to Disney. In fact, most people were surprised to here that we were going down Friday night, doing only TWO days and headed back Monday. Well, it is what it is. First, it was pretty last minute and we are already taking nearly TWO weeks at the end of December for the holidays. Second, with the girls 8 and 6 they really only wanted to do the Magic Kingdom. Third, this is already their THIRD trip to Disney so it was not the 'once in a lifetime deal'. I guess I am bit spoiled when it comes to Disney in that we went several times a year as a kid and even going to the University of Florida it was a short ride in college so going there was not a major deal. However, I am a Disney guy. I really love it. I am always impressed with the STAFF everywhere and the unique ways in which they market themselves. I am NOT a Disney cult person with the pins and clothes, I just appreciate it for what it is and given the world today and MY world today it was a great SHORT escape and a good reminder that 'When you wish upon a star, dreams can really come true' - YOU just have to have the courage and dedication to make them happen.

So - the trip from TWO sort of different perspectives since anyone can find out how to 'tour the park' though I am an expert (you can ask for my FAST PASS strategy personally).

First, the economic angle! We stayed at Port Orleans (a moderate resort) and got a RIDICULOUS RATE. Let's just say we paid MOTEL 6 prices. We pulled in Friday afternoon and the parking lot was pretty empty, which surprised me given that it was Thanksgiving Week. On Saturday in the park it was downright EMPTY until about noon which says to me, not a lot of people were staying in the park like us. By the afternoon traffic picked up and Sunday was pretty crowded but still not the 60-75 minute long lines I expected. It may get more crowded as the week goes on but I definitely feel this is related to the economy. It was also the first time in a LONG time in Disney where I did not here a lot of foreign languages besides Spanish. Usually the park is full of Euro's...this surprised me. Lastly, I LOVED only having to spend a total of $90 round trip on GAS in the minivan. We are talking just over 900 miles so that was great.

Ok, onto the sports. You know me, I watch people and I like to observe, and well, I am drawn to sports.

Here is what I noticed Saturday:
1. tons of folks in college gear
2. Florida Gators stuff most prevalent and that is not being biased (I promise)
3. Ohio State #2 - I give these people credit, they travel WELL to everything. I did love letting them see my Gatorwear. Let's be honest though, if you lived in OHIO you would want out too, right?
4. Very little Florida State stuff
5. Georgia items were close behind the Ohio State people

Sunday took a different turn:
1. I couldn't believe the number of NFL Jerseys people were wearing. At one point I thought I was going to a PATRIOT tailgate. Ok, I am not a HUGE jersey guy (the shirts not the State, plenty of love for the State). I certainly own my share and will break one out for a game sometimes, BUT, to wear around Disney...hmmmm...
2. All of a sudden the FSU gear broke out - I guess they were waiting to see if they would win at Maryland on Saturday before showing their school spirit?
3. Jean shorts are not a University of Florida thing - they are a fat guy from the north wearing it with his NFL Team jersey thing, and in general they either are over 45 or they have pony tails and are looking for a smoking area.

All in all it was a great trip!

Happy Thanksgiving all, count your blessings, there is SO MUCH to be thankful for!

Catching Up

2008-11-20T14:42:00.002-05:00

Thanks Alex for checking in and making sure I am still breathing! LOL

First and foremost REHAB is over! My knee 'tested' out LAST Friday and after 16 weeks I no longer have somewhere to go on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7:00 AM. This is good and bad - good that the knee is 'getting well' enough to the point where I do not need supervision and coaching and bad that the knee is 'getting well' enough to the point where I do not need supervision and coaching :-)

What else, we leave tomorrow for 3 days in DISNEYWORLD with the girls. Cydney turns 8 on Sunday and we thought the trip was a better idea than a party...yeah right, still will be a party (on December 7th) but we are all excited. I just picked up Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E for new videos for the drive (now I just have to figure out how I can sit in the back...). Cydney also got her ears pierced and I hear she is already looking for diamonds - thats my girl!

After Turkey Day here in Atlanta I have a ton of fun and enjoyable stuff going on including some travel:

- SEC Championship is here December 6th and we have a group of friends coming in to enjoy another GATOR romp and a spot in the mythical National Championship Game (I told you it is the decade of Gil after the Phils won it all).
- the week after that I am going on a 'boys' trip to New York to celebrate Scotty's 40th. The weekend will include time to catch up, eat, see Manhattan, eat, drink and take in a JETS game on Sunday. Why am I going to freeze my butt of for a team I have no love for...I'm that kind of friend - LOL. Looking forward to catching up with ONE and ALL while I am there.
- from there we head down to South Florida for the Holidays and relaxation.
- maybe a trip back to MIAMI for a little football game for a nice big TROPHY on January 8th
- Not sure all the plans for the BIG 4-0 in January but I know my sis and her husband Mike and my nephew HENRY are definitely coming in for the weekend and that is present enough for me!

What else - the football thing has really taken off and I am now on the radio locally in Atlanta every Friday morning from 10:25-10:50 on 790 the Zone (www.790thezone.com) and it is also live on the internet on that site. This offseason should be packed with deals as things have really begun to take off.

More after Thanksgiving as I have 'Mickey on the brain'. Pictures to come I am SURE!

Race and the 'Obama Effect'

2008-11-07T14:40:00.004-05:00

Ok, here we go kids, off onto politics and race - too VERY sensitive issues, but I think you will see I am looking through a little different lens:

First and I have said this before, I am a DEMOCRAT. I voted Obama in the Primaries and obviously voted that way again on Tuesday. My thoughts here are not at all about a black man becoming president, a woman being president or a Jew, Muslim or Mormon becoming President. I hope I will see all of them in my lifetime.

My specific purpose here is to examine the mindset of what this means in a 'white male dominated' society that is America. If you don't think we are a white male dominated society then we can have a whole different discussion :-). As a GROUP, whites like to look at what has happened since the Civil Rights Movement and talk about ALL of the progress we have made. WE like to hold up 'people' as example, athletes, entertainers, business people and politicians to say "hey, they have made it, we have broken through the racial divide". From a very myopic view this is CORRECT and yes things have changed from that perspective but have they really gotten better on the whole? More people live below the poverty line than ever before. There are more people in today's prisons than ever before. Illiteracy rates are at an all time high. Healthcare and access to basic needs are severely hurting in our urban centers.

Here are some statistics and facts I have learned in my own city that scare me:

1. 36,000 out of 50,000 KIDS in the Atlanta Public Schools are living below the poverty level (pop. is 85% African American)

2. Prison bed population is forecasted based on the # of kids FAILING 4th Grade reading. This sick and disturbing

3. It costs $18 Billion a year in the State of Georgia in servicing the high school drop out group. The State funds $14 Billion for education. Don't you think if we put more resources INTO education we could spend less on dealing with dropouts?

4. If person 'X' is found with a single piece of crack (personal use, problem or not) faces the same MANDATORY sentencing guidelines as person 'y' who is found with a POUND of cocaine in powder form (this would be for DISTRIBUTION purposes). Interestingly enough, crack is urban...pounds of coke - suburban.

What do these facts have to deal with Obama being elected President? My fear is that Obama will become held up, by the white community, as "they got theirs, it's all good". As John McCain would say, "My friends, it is NOT all good". Racism is still prevalent today. It is far different from the 1950's. Rarely do you see the Klansman running around burning a stake, but how often do you see a 'roll of the eyes' or people crossing the street to avoid one another?

There are no easy answers and we all come with our own set of prejudices, and that is ok. The issue with racism is systemic and institutional. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Can we change the education system, the healthcare system, the welfare system, etc all at once? Probably not.

I do think we can begin to make differences in small measures but the onus MUST come on us, the privileged class, to recognize this issue does not go away with an election. It is ok to talk about the issues and not deflect them. We can take ownership of the past, ask for forgiveness and work to make tomorrow a better place for everyone...

Thanks Mom! You deserve your own BLOG POST - YOU ROCK

2008-10-31T13:47:00.004-04:00

In all the excitement that was my weekend I almost forgot the most meaningful part!

This weekend my mother participated in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk to fight Breast Cancer. The event began last Friday in the rain and cold of an fall Atlanta day and ran through Sunday late in the day with a celebration at the Georgia World Congress Center.

On Saturday we took the girls to catch their Grandmother chugging along. The girls had signs and everyone was dressed in pink. It was amazing to see the cheering station and the enthusiasm of the walkers. If I thought that morning was my emotional high for the weekend I was wrong! Late Sunday afternoon I wandered downtown to the finale celebration. I walked into this HUGE room and saw 10,000 PLUS people waiting to cheer on the walkers. I searched for my Dad and kept leaving messages to no avail. As the parade of walkers came in I knew I would neither find Mom or Dad. Somewhere along the line I realized my Mom was not in one of these WHITE T-shirts, she was in a SPECIAL PINK shirt for SURVIVORS. As soon as this dawned on me the emcee announced that here come the survivors. I made my way around the side and towards the front and tried to spot my Mom. While this was going on the ceremony itself was very powerful and I was tearing up. When they said it was over I found my way around a barricade of sorts to where they were letting the survivors stream out. Within 30 seconds I spotted my mother with her YELLOW Angels 4 Angels hat and yelled but she couldn't hear me. I made sure to get in her path and make eye contact and when we did the emotions just poured out of me.

I could not be prouder of my mother. She has overcome so many obstacles in her life and reinvented herself with each one. With this challenge she walked 60 miles in 3 days and even endured sleeping and camping OUTDOORS!

Mom, you are my hero! I love you and if you are up for it I will walk with you next year and you can forget the minimum amount we need to raise, we will hit $10,000!

Can this really be happening...

2008-10-28T10:34:00.002-04:00

I wanted to blog yesterday about the cool stuff that happened over the weekend but I was tied up all day in meetings and then my attention last night turned to the World Series where my beloved Fightin' Phils had a chance to end 25 years of 'civic pain'. As is typical for us Philadelphians we are left 'on the hook', in suspense having to wait another day but this time not because of a loss but because the game last night was SUSPENDED, which is a FIRST for the World Series. I can't even begin to explain how exasperated I feel. It started of great, 2 runs in the bottom of the first and Cole Hamels pitching masterfully. Then, the real rain begins and it's 39 degrees...do they stop the game? NO. The umpires continues realizing that the game gets scrapped and started over if it doesn't go 4 and 1/2 innings with the home team leading. We trudge on and get through the 5th and I am thinking, would they really end a World Series game early...NO! Will they keep playing? What other option do they have? In the 6th inning I got my answer and the realization that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig must have made a deal with Al Pacino's devil character in 'The Devil's Advocate' because the Rays plated a run to tie it a 2 and all of a sudden the game goes into rain delay and quickly into suspension mode...

I am happy Hamels got to pitch 6 strong innings. I think we come out in the bottom of the 6th and put up some runs and end the series. If not we still lead 3-2 going back to Tampa, but this has now become a very strange World Series with HORRIBLE umpiring!

As for the weekend:

1. I saw my favorite live band, Cowboy Mouth (www.cowboymouth.com). They put on a great live show and for me it was 2 hours of singing, screaming and even a little toe tapping which left me soaked with sweat, exhausted but GLAD TO BE ALIVE! I also caught one of Fred LeBlanc's (lead singer and drummers) drumsticks in the pit which Cydney equated to catching a foul ball.

2. The girls soccer seasons ended on Sunday. Cyd had a very pretty goal in their 6-3 win so their season ended on an up note and Rachel scored the only goal in her teams loss. Both girls enjoyed their seasons and their teams improved greatly. I am proud to coach to great kids on two teams filled with great kids.

3. Saturday afternoon I watched the Gators take Kentucky to the woodshed as they get ready for this weekend's World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with the University of Georgia. Saturday night I was out so I missed the first few innings of the baseball game but got to catch the last few innings and the Phils great win.

4. Sunday was an historic day in Philly, I wish I was there. The day started with the Phillies beating the Atlanta Falcons and then carried over to the ballpark where the Phils whipped the Rays 10-2.

I am looking forward to the World Series ending and being able to focus on the Gators the back half of this week.

Oh yeah, tomorrow I want to write about politics...there still is an election going on...right?

Our best show yet...

2008-10-24T09:51:00.004-04:00

and we go on the air on Wednesday morning at 9:10 on 790 the Zone here in Atlanta. You can listen live at www.790thezone.com

ONE down THREE to go

2008-10-23T09:13:00.003-04:00

Last night was full of tension and excitement. The game went pretty to form though I am still concerned with the slumping of Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. From the glass is half full side of the world, the Phils still won and two of their best players are not playing well; from the glass is half empty perspective, you can't expect to win a lot of games going 0-11 with runners in scoring position.

Anyway, I do have a real bone to pick with the 'national mainstream media' and their portayal of the Phillies in this World Series (yikes...I just re-read that and I sound like Sarah Palin - LOL). I am not really sure why the Rays have been installed as the favorites; I guess it is some combination of them beating the Red Sox, winning there division and being baseball's 'best' story, but for whatever reason this Phillies Club is getting ZERO credit. What exactly have they done? They are back to back NL EAST CHAMPS, beating out the favored New York Mets this year. In 10 postseason games they are now 8-2 and have roundly dispatched of both the Brewers and Dodgers and in both cases roughed up the best pitchers on either staff. Last night, as the overly LONG pre-game show went on I tried to figure out why this Phillie line up is not getting credit, especially compared to the Rays line up. If this were ANY other American League team there would be a lot of talk about the DH and the advantage that gives the AL team, but there is no such talk here. In fact, outside of Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and BJ Upton this Rays line up is not very scary and they showed that last night. From a pitching perspective I think it is pretty close but I'll give the Rays starters a slight edge in depth but does that really that matter in a 7 game series? I remember when the media would say, "give me 2 quality pitchers and you can win in the post season". Well, Cole Hamels is one and Brett Myers has shown in the second half of the year he might be the other. Go to the bullpen and all of the sudden you hear about the Rays amazing bullpen by 'committee'. Bullpen by committee means your best guy is hurt (Troy Percival in this case) and you really have no idea what to do. Thus far it hasn't hurt them except they SHOULD have wrapped up the AL in 5 games when they had a 7-0 LEAD WITH TWO OUTS! They are getting a pass because Boston is the toughest team to put away - MY ASS!

Look, FOX needs viewers and they need to try and get a way for you, Joe the Plumber, to watch this series...fine, I get that, but let's give this Philly team credit. I am tired of hearing about ONE World Series in 125 years and 10,000 losses in franchise history...THIS TEAM IS 81 OUTS FROM BEING WORLD CHAMPS!!!!!!!

Phils in FIVE

2008-10-22T09:30:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I said/typed that but it is truly what I feel in my heart. I am always one to be superstitious, see post below, but I can't help it here. A few weeks ago I was at the Florida-Tennessee game and I received a text from a good friend and he asked my prediction. I replied that I won't type it in because of my superstition. We went on to win the game and then I told him my prediction. Pretty anticlimactic since I knew the final score...

So why am I doing this now? I'm a risk taker, a guy who lives life right on the edge...not! Who knows, I can't help myself I guess, I am just giddy with the anticipation of the Series starting tonight and my hometown getting the HUGE monkey off our backs! I hate when we, as Philadelphians, get mocked for our behavior..granted booing Santa Claus is not politically correct but we came back and booed the crap out of Sarah Palin on the Flyers opening night - so we do know a few things :). But really, this is a town full of some of the most knowledgeable and passionate fans, we just expect our heroes to be like us. We want them to work hard, do their job and hustle every time out. In my 39 years I can only think of ONE player we never booed and that was Julius Erving. I love all of our sports stars, none more than Michael Jack Schmidt but even I can admit to booing him at times.

Anyway, back to the prediction - I like Hamels tonight in the opener in Tampa. The place will be rocking but Cole has been steady and I think we get just enough offense and maybe blow it open a little bit late, I'll say 6-2 Phils tonight. Tomorrow we have Brett Myers on the mound and that is a bit of a toss up, I think it is possible the Rays win Game 2, but if they don't win Game 2 they will win Game 3 in Philly. The Phils Manager Charlie Manuel is a loyal guy (we like that in Philly) and he is sticking with Jamie Moyer to pitch Game 3. Moyer has been great all year but he is 46 years old and that is showing. He had a poor outing against the Dogdgers and this might be a tough game for the Phils. Personally, I would have like to see Manuel move Joe Blanton up to Game 3 and potentially put a stranglehold on the Series but who am I to complain? The aforementioned Joe Blanton goes in game 4 and I think he is becoming a big time pitcher in this spot and then we get to game 5 where Cole Hamels retakes the hill and the Phillies win their SECOND World Series ever and doing at HOME in the BANK would be sweet!

I am holding out hopes that a ticket to Game 4 and/or 5 drops in my lap and I can get there from Atlanta. The Eagles play the Falcons Sunday afternoon across the street as well...can you see Gilly from Philly watching the Eagles at 1:00 and then walking across the complex to Game 4 of the World Series? I can!!!!!!!!!!

Go Phils!!!!

Next week it is back to College Football as I prepare for the annual trek to Jacksonville, FL or the FLORIDA-GEORGIA game and this year I am traveling with and sitting with DAWGS...

I'm very nervous about sharing this information...

2008-10-17T11:10:00.004-04:00

THE PHILLIES ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!

Sports Superstitions - Do you have them?

2008-10-07T10:36:00.005-04:00

I know that I do! Let me run through my list to get you 'comfortable'.

I'll start with the Florida Gators. Number One rule is on 'gameday' I am in Gator clothing. Usually this will consist of a t-shirt/golf shirt and a ballcap. Since April of 2007 that cap has been the FINAL FOUR one I picked up at the NCAA Basketball Tourney. This is my standard routine for games that I am NOT attending. For games that I attend it stays basically the same, HOWEVER, there are certain items that have been 'banished for life' since we lost while I was wearing those items AND I was at the game. Then there are the 'BIG GAMES' that I travel to with the SAME people! My 'people' in this case are Gregg and Denise. It is not that others are not invited but we three do not miss these events, and I have to say we have an impressive track record dating back to the 1996 Football National Championship. It was in that game that Denise broke out our now famous sweatshirt. Denise will bring that sweatshirt along to any of the BIG GAMES! It was in the desert in 2006, it was in Indianapolis in 2006 and back here in Atlanta in 2007. We are UNDEFEATED with that sweatshirt.

On to the pros. I really don't have any personal superstitions when it comes to my favorite pro teams (Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers...yes all from Philadelphia). However, I do subscribe to the Curse of William Penn. It is not as famous as the Curse of the Bambino in Boston (now destroyed) or the Curse of the Goat in Chicago (sorry Cubs fans, there is ALWAYS next year), but it is just as colorful. See, up until 1983 Philly was a pretty successful sports town; the Sixers had just won the NBA Title, the Phils had won the World Series in 1980, the Flyers were always in and around the Stanley Cup despite going nearly 10 years without one and there was promise with the Eagles as they had made the Super Bowl in 1980. In fact, look at that year of 1980 and you will see EVERY major sports team in Philly in the ULTIMATE game for their respective sport. All this glory changed drastically in 1983 when the laws on the books about the Philadelphia Skyline were changed. If you are not familiar with Philly, up until this time, the tallest structure in Philadelphia could NOT rise HIGHER than the statue of William Penn on Independence Hall. Well, in an effort ot build skyscrapers this law was scrapped and as a result, it has now been 25 years without a Championship. We Philadelphians have had hope. All four teams have been back to the Finals but to no avail. This year we hold out hope again as the Phillies have moved onto the NLCS to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. For me it brings me back to the days as a very young kid in the 70's when these two teams met three times to go to the World Series. Starting Thursday night I will don a Phillies cap and root passionately for change. I long for the feeling of jubilation. I remember like it was yesterday, my Stepfather letting me sneak into my parents room late that night in the Fall of 1980 and sit at the foot of the bed and watch Tug McGraw bring US our FIRST World Title. It was something neither of us had seen and it was great to share together. I hope in 30 or so days to relive it, maybe with even one of my girls.

So, do you have any superstitions when it comes to your favorite teams?

Still Processing

2008-10-06T19:44:00.002-04:00

I am still trying to reconcile my weekend with Leadership Atlanta and figure out how to discuss it here while still keeping it authentic to the 37 other people I went through the experience with.

In short, it was impactful, humbling, unsettling, disturbing, painful and uplifiting.

This past weekend was our workshop on 'Race Relations/Awareness'. I learned so much about myself through this process. I know that change does not happen overnight, and I know I tend to be impatient but I have such a yearning to change the way people think immediately. Along with my classmates I pledge to change the way we see each other, the way we interact with each other, the way we treat each other and most importantly that future generations don't repeat the mistakes of ignorance that WE continue to make.

To my classmates, I appreciate all that you gave in honesty and reflection. I hope we continue this most important dialogue and not get frustrated or to allow all of the other distractions get too much in the way.

Looking forward to LOL and ROFLMAO tonight

2008-10-02T09:12:00.002-04:00

For most of you this will probably begin at 9:00 with the VP debate! And trust me I am TiVOing it so I can laugh along with you.

However tonight will be even funnier for me and G-d freaking knows I need to shut off for an hour or two and just LAUGH! I, along with three of my good friends are off to see Lewis Black from the 5th row! This will be my third time seeing Lewis and each time is unique, crazy and hysterical. If you don't know him you should look him up! He is probably best known for his stints on the Daily Show with John Stewart where he does mostly political satire work. In his stand up he does that and so much more! He also makes sure to be audience/city specific so no two shows are totally alike. I can already here all the great political stuff he must be ready to crank out. In fact, I was joking this week that he could roll out a TV at 9:00 and just add commentary to the Palin-Biden debate! He'll also have lots to say on the 'energy crisis' as well as the financial collapse I am sure.

I can't wait! I am picking the boys up around 6, we hitting midtown for dinner and drinks and then WALKING to the Fox for the show.

On the Football front it looks like within two weeks I won't just be on the internet, I will also be on the radio. It looks like Sunday mornings from 11-12 and Monday mornings during 15 minutes of DRIVE TIME!!!!!!

May you be inscribed in the Book of Life...

2008-09-29T15:31:00.002-04:00

Tonight begins the celebration of the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah. It is now the year 5769, a pretty long time for a people to be around.

Rosh Hashanah is not in my 'top 3' favorite Holidays but it is one of our two High Holy Days. I'm not all that big on the food and I certainly get antsy sitting in Temple for 2 plus hours for two days. I am looking forward to the first big sermon from my friend and Rabbi, Peter Berg. He came to Atlanta as our Rabbi in July and I have had the pleasure of being friends with him for a little over 10 years. In fact, he officiated Cydney's baby naming in Dallas, Tx.

What Rosh Hashanah is good for, at least for me, is reflection over the last year and looking forward to the year to come. I have dealt with many adversities over the last year, most that I did not see coming but I have had a few WONDERFUL surprises that have shown me how much life really is worth living. That is my biggest goal for the year 5769, appreciate the life I have been given and truly LIVE it. I know that some days will be tougher than others but I also know I have the support of loved ones, near and far.

May you have a happy, healthy and sweet New Year!

Week 11 rehab update

2008-09-25T19:59:00.002-04:00

I ended week 11 today with a 'test' on the knee. The test is designed to be done 12 weeks after surgery but since I am seeing the surgeon tomorrow Mark wanted to do it today.

Basically, they took a baseline 'strength test' of both legs right before surgery. Realize I did 8 weeks of rehab BEFORE surgery and was feeling very good.

There were four measurements; quad strength, hamstring strength, quad endurance and hamstring endurance. They hook you up to this weight machine and a computer and off you go doing leg extensions and flexions at different speeds and weights.

Today I replicated that test with just the bad leg. The average person with my ACL reconstruction has recovered 60-65% of their ability in all four categories. Mark told me afterwards that his goal for me was 80%.

Here were my scores:

Quad strength - 90%
Hamstring strength - 97%
Quad endurance - 106%
Hamstring endurance - 97%

So as you can see I am way ahead of schedule and very excited about the next phase of rehab. Assuming the check in with the surgeon goes well tomorrow then I will move on to 'functional skills' which means cutting and lateral movement :-)

2 pics from the ball game, as promised

2008-09-23T08:36:00.003-04:00

You can't tell it here, but I am down to 220.5 lbs!

Oh yeah, my favorite TWO words during the end of baseball season - MAGIC NUMBER - GO FIGHTIN' PHILS!!!!!!!!!!!

The Weekend that was (mostly sports related...spoiler alert)

2008-09-22T13:17:00.004-04:00

I left Friday evening for Knoxville and the University of Florida - University of Tennessee football game (Jonathan, I did that correctly by spelling it out for those not in the know right? ;-))? It is a very quick and easy drive from my house to my friend Marc's in the western burbs of Knoxville. The night was beautiful and I had the roof open, windows down and iPod blasting my FAVORITE mix and it just let my mind wander and prepare for what I knew would be a great couple of days. I rolled in around 10:00 and got caught up with the my friends and then went to sleep. Up early on Saturday we were out the door for a tailgate party at 10:30. Kick-off was not until 3:30 so it was going to be a long day. Marc had a buddy that hooked us up with an awesome party right outside the stadium. The Tennessee folks at the tailgate could NOT have been friendlier and really, besides a few obnoxious students the fans were hospitable all day and night. While I ABSOLUTELY love home games in THE SWAMP I really enjoy going on the road where there are 100,000+ people rooting for the other team. The atmosphere in the SEC is second to none and Knoxville is probably my favorite away game to go to for the atmosphere. Our seats were in the Florida section right under the 'jumbotron' so that would be the last row. However, it was only row 33 so it was really not bad as the pictures will attest. We had the added benefit of a great breeze all day and the Tennessee River behind us. Oh yeah -Gators romped 30-6 - "IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR".

Besides college football there was so much else going on sports wise. We are in the middle of the pennant chase in Major League Baseball, the NFL is in fool swing and the Ryder Cup was going on. Being an avid golfer and homer, I was pulling for the U.S. and enjoyed watching periodically throughout the weekend. What I did see showed great shot making from both sides and I was pleased to see the emotion and spirit the Americans played with. I give a ton of credit to their Captain, Paul Azinger, who has survived cancer and truly is inspirational.

On Sunday morning I hustled out of the door in Knoxville to make it home in time to take the family to the final home game of the year for the Braves. The girls looked ADORABLE in the pink Braves hats and their Tomahawks. I, of course, was in a PHILLIES cap but for the first time I can remember actively remember rooting for the Braves because they were playing the New York Mets. The mets and Phillies are in a battle for the division and every Met loss is a good one. The Braves battled back and won and I am almost beginning to feel comfortable that the Phillies will be in the playoffs. I forgot to download those pics but I'll add them at some point.

The only disappointing part of my Sunday sports day was hustling home to catch the Eagles-Steelers game only to find out it was not on in Atlanta.

Besides the big boys playing sports I did miss the girls' soccer games on Saturday though I am happy to report about them. Cydney's team WON their first game of the year in the 8/9 year old division. They won 4-2 and Cydney scored the game winner when it was knotted at 2. I can't tell you how proud I am of these girls as their coach. I only have 3 girls who are even 'of age' and they are new to the team. The rest of the girls will be turning 8 throughout this year. We lost our first 2 games soundly but they are playing with heart and determination and really having fun and enjoying each other. On a side note, from an embarrassment standpoint I am glad to have missed the game as Ilene apparently did a cartwheel ON THE FIELD after Cyd's goal. G-d forbid there is video of that I would love to put it on YouTube! Rachel's team also won and she scored 3 goals. They too have moved up divisions and are playing great soccer and are now 2-1. Coaching both teams is challenging yet very rewarding and as I told one of my coaches, maybe I should stay away from games more often.

Lastly, I watched some of the New York Yankee game last night as they closed down Yankee Stadium. Fortunately I got to see several games there. It is by no means a 'beautiful park' from a cleanliness standpoint but I was always truly in awe knowing the history that had preceded me being there.

I think that covers the weekend

Milestones & Thank You's

2008-09-18T09:55:00.004-04:00

This morning marked exactly 10 weeks from surgery, 70 days.

I walked into therapy feeling good. After doing the usual stretching Mark went to the elliptical machine and I asked him if I could do something else, something less boring. He shrugged his shoulders and I pointed to the treadmill. He took about 15 seconds and said, "ok, but let's be careful". I spent 1 minute walking at 3 miles per hour and then RAN (ok, really a jog for me) at 5 miles per hour.

Before I get to the thank you's and there are many, I need to describe what those 5 minutes were like. First, I never believed 5 minutes could fly by so quickly or seem like a lifetime at the same time. Physically it was EASY! Was there pain in my knee? I wouldn't call it pain per se but I felt it. Mentally it was maybe the best 5 minutes I have spent in a long time (at least vertically that is). So many things raced through my mind. I literally 'ran through my life', cried nearly the entire time, tears of joy, relief, overcoming and realization. To use a poor analogy I felt like Forrest Gump when he shed his braces, I could run and my mind raced with me. Cathartic ally I believe I shed a lot of weight and issues this morning, so onto the thank you's and since it was all in my head I will start chronologically:

My Parents, all THREE of them. My father, who is now long gone and never played a very active role in my life, yet now I know he loved me as best as he could and he still is there to support me today. From you Dad, I learned that there is no easy road. Also, although I can give of myself freely with love I will never truly understand and feel true love until I can love myself. Today I know that lesson all to well and I am learning every day. From my mother, you showed me strength and perseverance through adversity and that continues today. You transformed your life for your family and today you are transforming yourself in health and well being. Every milestone you pass in beating Cancer I celebrate and I can't wait to watch you complete your '3 Day Journey' in October. To Art, my DAD, you gave my sister and I unconditional love and continue to be the strength and support of our family, as silent as you may be. Your model and consistency as a parent and friend will always be my beacon as a father to Cydney and Rachel.

Carin, Tara and Todd - although we may go long strecthes without talking or seeing each other your support and encouragement is always with me. I love you and your families with all of my heart.

Enough of the history - let's get more present...

Dr. Evander Fogle and your staff. I am in disbelief as to how well my surgery went and your care and after care in the last 10 weeks. You have shown skill and caring far beyond most surgeons in your field.

Mark Wentworth, my Physical Therapist - you know when to push and when to back off. I would be no where near where I am physically or mentally without your guidance, faith and support.

Ilene, Cydney and Rachel - my wife and 2 girls. I am NOT an easy patient. It was a VERY long road to just get to surgery. You never wavered in your faith and confidence in me and when I was down you picked me up. Ilene, you have given of yourself as a mother and a friend through this more than anyone could hope for.

My oldest of friends - Gregg, Steve, Scotty, Glenn & Jackie - you have checked in, you have lifted me up and in one instance even freed up an entire weekend for me to just dump on and get everything out. I never can express how much you all mean to me adequately.

Gayle - you are in the group above but through all of this and so much more you have stood out. Even before the surgery you lit up my world as I spent a marvelous day with you and Jared in the City in March. Your phone calls, emails and responses to my posts mean the world to me.

Pam - from the funny posts on B2B, to good chats on the phone to hysterical 'someecards' you just 'get me' and to not have spoken to you in 22 years that is pretty rare. You truly are a special person and I look forward to enjoying our friendship for years to come.

Regina - my favorite B2B friend - how were we not closer in High School? It's not like we had more than 350 people in our class! You are funny, intelligent and the perfect spark when someone is feeling down!

Talbott - YOU are an inspiration and your encouragement and courage is impossible to match.

Mark Patrick - thank you for following the blog and continuing to motivate me!

Jonathan G., Alex, Jordan and everyone else in Atlanta who has checked in on me, given me inspiration, dropped off food and encouraged me throughout this rehab.

Lastly, my colleagues and friends at EventStreams who have been patient with doctor appointments, rehab and unexpected issues.

This is by no means the END of my journey, it is a new beginning!

Rehab Update - Week 10

2008-09-17T15:51:00.003-04:00

WOW! I just realized how long it has been since a rehab/weight update!

I am in week 10 and things are going amazingly. I have MAXED out the leg press machine both from a weight standpoint as well as how close I can get to the machine in full squat. I have also maxed out this machine that forces my leg to bend at the knee. I have also begun PLYOMETRICS, which is a fancy word for jumping, which means they bill me at a higher rate, and lastly I finally began some 'running'. It is basically working through a rope ladder on the floor and a little light jogging. I started this 2 weeks ago and when I left the rehab center I broke down. I had spent 10 months building up to running 10 miles then spent 163 days without any running like movement. It was a humbling and proud moment for me but also a little bittersweet as I was terribly winded after these short little bursts.

I had lunch today with a very close friend and one of my inspirations and he filled me in on his first triathlon and I got excited just thinking about it. He also commented on my continuing improving shape (yes, I am comfortable with our relationship :) ).

On that note, I am down to 222 lbs. that is a total of 27 lbs in about a year and 5 lbs. post surgery.

breaking through the 'block'

2008-09-15T20:10:00.000-04:00

Time is the great equalizer
Time heals all wounds
Love knows no time

Like sands through the hourglass and all that silly stuff…

I watch the girls grow up day by day, month by month and year by year. From moment to moment they remain unchanged but over the span of 8 years so much has changed. For that matter so much has changed over what will soon be 40 years but so much remains the same.

I was once a very shy child. Today I see that shyness in Cydney. I was once overly sensitive and today I see that in Cydney (and yes I remain sensitive in some cases and not so much so in others). I once was intense and absorbed with learning; I see that intensity in Rachel. I once had fits of rage and uncontrollable outbursts; I see these in Rachel and wish they would pass and not happen for her.

Time continues to baffle me. I have had relationships that have lasted 30 plus years now that are on the level with ones crafted within the last 8 months. I have met people in the last 3 weeks that have changed my perspective on our city and world. I have loved, been loved and lost loves but my heart still yearns for peace and comfort.

I am not yet at peace in my own skin, when does time fix that? I have accomplished a lot yet often feel unfulfilled.

Enjoy this while I am suffering a bit from 'blogger block'

2008-09-15T11:40:00.003-04:00

Shameless plug and I am being a bit lazy...

2008-09-09T09:08:00.004-04:00

I spent the past weekend at an absolutely amazing retreat with a program called Leadership Atlanta (www.leadershipatlanta.org). It has left my head spinning and back in the real world my head is spinning from too many other things.

So forgive me for 'copying' from myself but this will allow those of that like my sports stuff to have another avenue.

As part of my day job I am a partner and co-creator of a site called www.thefflguru.com. As part of that site I write a weekly article on anything I want to (football related).

Here is the article that will go up later today, you my favorite people get to see it first :-)

So the first weekend of NFL has come and gone. In general, you are probably in one of three Fantasy ‘states’:

1. Euphoria – as my team(s) rock; I made all the right moves and I am hoping to go ‘coast to coast’ to win my league crown.
2. You feel ‘ok’ (insert John Malkovich Russian accent from ROUNDERS) – you team looked ok, there were not a ton of TD’s but guys performed pretty well; also, you might have seen your bench step up and look good.
3. Is it next year yet – You own TOM BRADY, one of the Bengal or Rams Wide Receivers. You won’t be the only ones in this pile eventually but right now you are dejected.

Me? I’m firmly in camp #1. My team had the high score in week 1 in my ‘Big League’ (the one with a good cash, 2 great trophies and bragging rights with guys I’ve known for decades). My biggest coup you ask? Starting my #3 RB in Michael Turner. However, just like group #3 should not get too down (hopefully they drafted well enough to stay competitive) those of us in Group #1 need not get too excited. It is just ONE week! As they say on the PGA Tour, you can’t win a golf tournament on the first. However, you can lose one .

If you are in Group 1, don’t rest on your laurels. Really evaluate your team and see where your flaws are. Identify teams in groups 2 & 3 where panic for unseasoned Owners might be setting in and see if you can shore things up. For me, I am need depth at WR. I am good 4 deep in a league where we start 3 WR’s but I need insurance. I purposely helped start the run on back up QB’s so I have room to deal either a Derek Anderson or Eli Manning since I will be gunning Drew Brees out most days.

If you are Group 2 – don’t panic! Realize your starting line up has the quality and were drafted where they should be. Guys like Addai, Santonio Holmes and Derek Anderson are going to get there’s. Now is not the time to panic and start juggling those line-ups.

Enjoy the few days between games. It is amazing how quickly this time year flies by…before you know it we will be in Week 10 and beyond!

RNC - Night 2 - Sarah Palin 'shines for the crowd'

2008-09-04T10:26:00.004-04:00

Look, I'm not going to try and kid you, I am not anywhere near the Republican 'base' on almost every single social issue. However, I can certainly recognize and respect a strong performance while still getting to be a little bit critical :).

First, Sarah Palin did more than what the media expected but exactly what I expected, she delivered. No one goes from Mayor of a podunk town to Governor of a podunk State (no offense Alaska) without having a certain amount of flair and charisma. She did a very nice job of counter balancing her "I'm a hockey Mom" with I'm a tough as nails bitch and can sling mud and half truths too very well.

*side note - thankfully the RNC was in MINNESOTA where they actually know what hockey is or that might have not gone over well

Second, she had very good timing, she worked the crowd and really does have a speaking style that works well.

Third, she hit the ball out of the park for the 'BASE' and that is what John McCain needed. To the new Republican base he is a scary 'liberal' and she fits right in, especially on socially conservative issues.

Now, I can turn to some criticisms:

First, let's start with the family. Again, under 'full disclosure' I have a 8 year old nephew with Downs Syndrome. I do NOT have a favorite niece/nephew among the 9 that I have but I am pretty sure I am his favorite Uncle :). I understand and respect the entire special needs spectrum from a very personal level. What I do not believe is fair is that the Palin Family can be open on one side of their family life and then choose to stay 'closed' on another. Facts are facts and in the world we live in today what is going on is 'fair game'. A part of me REALLY despises it but I realize why it happens. Truthfully, the Republicans have run for a VERY LONG time now on the FALSE notion that Obama is a Muslim, or that he conspires with terrorists. This mud slinging stuff sucks and I wish it didn't happen but it does. Is having a 17 year old pregnant daughter make you a bad mother? No. All of a sudden to have the young man who impregnate her become her fiancee and have his life changed (see that he mysteriously no longer has a MY SPACE page) is a bit more than interesting.

Second, let's get off personal and go to the facts. Mrs. Palin, or her speech writer, was NO WHERE CLOSE on several facts. There is no single evidence that points to Obama-Biden raising taxes for the majority of citizens. Raising taxes for the majority of Republican delegates sitting in that hall, probably, but not the single mother making $34,000 a year raising 2 kids. On the War in Iraq, she talks of 'forfeit' like this were a game of kickball. That is just ridiculous. EVERYONE wants an end to war, isn't that why we fight them in the first place? Win, divide the loot and get out or take over...hmmm...the problem here, and she brought it up is that the Republicans (thanks to the President) want to WIN. Someone please tell me what exactly is winning here? Seriously, what does it look like? Maybe if we knew that we could get on board.

Third, this concept of energy and how Obama-Biden want to make matters worse by not drilling. Look, this is a policy debate. Fact is there probably is no right and wrong. Will drilling solve some problems, short and long term - YES; will drilling cause some problems, short and long term - YES. You will fall in one camp or the other but to lie and say the opponent doesn't care is RIDICULOUS. While we are on energy. When did energy become the #1 issue in America? And if the media is SO liberal how did they buy into this concept. I thought the #1 issue was the ECONOMY, which, oh by the way, the energy issue is a part of. I would think #2 would be the war, but back to #1. If the economy didn't SUCK people would not be complaining as much about energy prices. If our foreign policy was stronger we might not see the energy issue (which is ALL ABOUT MONEY, big fat oil company money). Lastly, we are in this crazy dependency not because of Republicans, Democrats or whatever, we are in it because of ALL OF US. Shut up and work together - solve problems, stop taking blame - BOTH SIDES.

So what did last night do? It kept thinks interesting. Do I think Sarah Palin will ever appeal to the Hillary Crowd? Not if they look at her record - NRA lifetime member, pro life, pro drilling, against universal healthcare, anti-environmental issues (and if you don't think so look up her thoughts on polar bears). She will shore up the Republican base and energize a DEAD campaign. Polling numbers will change, but there is a long way to go and the polls are missing a whole GENERATION. No phone based poll gets to the under 28 (or so) set that does not have a HOME PHONE. They all have just a CELL NUMBER!!!!!!

I am hopeful that the upcoming debates will be about substance and not rhetoric. I am also hopeful that thousands of people will one day rise up from reading my blog and demand that I write a National Column that makes me millions of dollars from book deals and world tours...

Republican National Convention - Day 1

2008-09-03T07:55:00.004-04:00

As unbiased as possible - I PROMISE :-)

1. The theme of the convention was established, in my opinion - Change = Reform. John McCain is his own man/maverick (though I think they will be careful with that word for their 'base) that Independents can trust. While the Obama campaign pounds 'Change', I believe the Republicans will talk about 'Reform'; taking what they see as almost working and tweaking it. They are trying to appease the base yet reach out to swing voters at the same time, I guess that is a sound strategy.

2. The President and his father - I'm not sure why our sitting President is live via satellite while his father is in the hall, oh yeah, and his wife as well. I understand that he is NOT popular at this point but the idea of his speaking is not to the 15,000 in the hall, these people are 'sold'. It is the millions supposedly watching or maybe the millions just getting sound bytes and reactions of the spin doctors. With that in mind, are they fooling anyone? They gave the guy 5 minutes and held their breath that he enunciated his words properly and didn't give that sarcastic, "I know I'm better than you chuckle".

3. Joe Lieberman - What the F dude? On every side, what the F dude? From Senator Lieberman's side; and I should preface this that I like Joe. I think his experience is great, I support many of his core issues and as a Jew I am proud that he was a VP nominee 8 years ago. However, last night was no service to your 'legacy'. You can support Mr. McCain but to be a 'puppet' on their stage where you were clearly not wanted (see the tepid applause you received) was not wise in my mind. Several times you referred to yourself as a Democrat. While I appreciate all that you have done in your years as a Democrat, you chose to be an Independent so you could win your Senate seat back. I'm cool with that, but you can't sit on that fence, Joe. Secondly, the Republican Party. What did Mr. Lieberman do for you? Do you really think that ME, and yes I mean me, a social liberal and fiscal conservative (and a Jew no less) was going to change his mind based on Mr. Lieberman's 'testimonial for McCain/Palin'? Give me a break. I don't think he has even met Sarah Palin yet and if he had he probably didn't know it.

4. Sarah Palin - I am not getting into her personal life. I have learned through lots of adventures (and no I was NOT a pregnant teen) that the world is not Black & White, there are way too many shades of grey for us to pass judgment. Fact is good parents, great parents, have kids that make mistakes and some of them are more glaring than others. Does it speak to other things? Maybe, but I won't bash her for what I don't know. However, how the Republicans are spinning her is phenomenal! I am going to TiVo her speech tonight because in all honestly I have my Fantasy Football Draft and I know my priorities :), but I am very interested in hearing her. If I were handling the Democrats I would leave well enough alone. I would applaud the Republicans for choosing someone fresh, new and a woman and I would say we are excited to get to the real issues of where we differ. I would leave the 'mud' to the media and keep their hands clean. Going after her could be a NO WIN proposition.

So, how did I do on a unbiased basis?

One of the many reasons I love college football

2008-09-02T08:18:00.002-04:00

No - this is not about the Gators whipping up on Hawaii on Saturday! Though as a side note, I will officially go on the record and say that Tim Tebow will not win back to back Heisman's but I believe the Gators will be playing for the National Championship in Miami this year.

What I saw last night, late into the night is what separates college football from the NFL. The pure passion and enthusiasm of the kids playing the game and the coaches coaching these kids.

In case you missed it, last night Tennessee traveled to Los Angeles to play UCLA and their new Head Coach Rick Neuheisel, who happened to have once starred as the QB at UCLA. In his first season as coach, Neuheisel has seen his top 2 QB's go down with season ending injuries before they could ever take a snap, so they have turned to a kid who transferred from a smaller program. Last night they were up against a very good and aggressive Tennessee Defense and in the first half the young QB showed that he was overmatched, throwing for 4 interceptions. Asked at halftime what he told his young QB, Neuheisel said that he threw 4 interceptions in his first game too but things turned out ok. The second half was a complete turnaround and the kid led UCLA on a go ahead drive with 6 minutes left in the game. In what turned out to be a spectacular last 5 minutes, Tennessee had a great drive of their own to retake the lead with about 2 minutes to go. Out comes the UCLA offense again and what do they do? Drive the ball down Tennessee's throat through the AIR and grab a 3 point lead with 27 seconds to go. Of course, the story does not end there, Tennessee finds a way to get in field goal range and they send the game to overtime. It's almost 11:30 last night and I am exhausted but here I am, rooting for the 'wrong' guys. Every fiber in my body says I should be rooting for the SEC and the team we play in 2 weeks but I just can't do it. The story of this kid and the coach are too compelling for me. In the end, UCLA wins and the celebration was awesome to see.

It was the sort of game that no team 'deserved' to lose but someone had to. It was also what college athletics are all about. You will never see that passion on a professional football field or in the stands.

Clemson fans are probably wondering what it will take to get their coaches to draw that kind of passion from their kids (OUCH!)

Palin, who the heck is Palin?

2008-08-29T13:54:00.003-04:00

Ok, can I get a conservative voice here to tell me exactly who this woman is and a real reason she is the VP Candidate on the Republican ticket?

I looked at her bio and stuff on CNN. She is 44 and has been Governor of Alaska since 2006...ok...so this is the person who is 'ready' to be Commander in Chief if/when the 72 year old McCain should not make it through his Presidency? All I have heard from Republicans for a year now is Obama is 'not ready' to lead...hmmmm...I guess President of Harvard Law Review, Illinois State Senate and the US Senate is not enough compared to 'owner of hunting and fishing outfit' and Mayor of a town of 1,400.

So what's the attraction for the Republicans? Well I guess there is the OBVIOUS which I will save for the end:

1. She is big on environmental issues - or supposedly since she's been rocking the Governor Mansion for 1.5 years
2. She's young - well we know why that IS important (play the baton death march music here)
3. She is a lifelong member of the NRA (thank G-d)
4. She seems pretty peppy (again cue the mortuary music)

I'll just assume she is pro-life but CNN didn't say...

And the BIG WINNER IS:

SHE IS A WOMAN, A YOUNG WOMAN, AND SHE IS NOT HILLARY CLINTON!

I can see it now - thinly veiled, maybe not so thinly, comments made to woo the Hillary Dems that are disgruntled still.

I guess it makes things interesting and I am really waiting to see comments from the hardcore conservative base. I get not going Romney (two rich white dudes) but was this the best option? Again, I need a conservative to chime in because I really do want to know.

Can you imagine the Clinton's if McCain should die in Office? The first woman President and it's not Hillary...

It's so close I can feel it...

2008-08-29T10:32:00.003-04:00

I am actually talking about several things with that line, not in the least are:

1. Football season
2. My FAVORITE season - Autumn
3. Our Fantasy Football show getting set to take off!

So, let's 'tackle' them in that order.

1. As I type this the Gators take the field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in less than 26 hours from now. I get very nostalgic thinking about all of my 'firsts' in that stadium and on that campus. I remember the first time I set foot in The Swamp. I was a high school Senior and we went up for Gator Growl (Homecoming). I knew right then and there that Gainesville would always be HOME. I remember throwing the ball around on the astro turf back then and I even remember a crazy night where I wound up on the G that was painted for Goal Line but I was convinced it was for Gil. Let's just say there is a spot on my arm/wrist that hair will never grow thanks to that astro turf...sorry no details my Mom reads this blog :).

Optimism is everywhere in college football this time of year but I really do believe this season can be a special one for the Gators. I'm not sure Tebow can win back to back Heisman's but I do think we can go 12-1 and wind up playing for it all in MIAMI at the Orange Bowl - WOW, that would be INCREDIBLE! I know where I will be and I know Denise will have our lucky sweatshirt ready to go!

2. The fall is just the best time of year. I love the change in weather, I like to pull out different clothes to wear. I like waking up to the cool air and opening the windows in the evening and breathing the fresh air. I love the change in the foliage and the smell of a fire roaring in the neighborhood. Of course fall also ushers in football and closes out baseball and it also welcomes back hockey and basketball. Driving with the radio blasting, windows down letting the cool breeze take you wherever you want to go, literally or figuratively, that is what fall is about for me.

3. The FFL Guru - wow, this journey that Jordan and I started last year is really beginning to take flight. First, we signed the deal with 790 The Zone and you can reach us directly from their website (www.790thezone.com), then we grabbed a 'title sponsor' in Lincoln and the new MKZ, and the latest news, we are now a part of the World Championship of Fantasy Football (www.wcofs.com). We officially kick off with them next week when Jordan will be in Vegas for their weekend extravaganza and draft. We will be covering the event and we will also be participants. Viewers will be able to follow our progress in their Leagues through our weekly videos. We also are creating a custom front end for them so they can sell their own advertising which is where we make some money. Lastly, they have over 100,000 players who will now be watching The FFL Guru TWICE a week - traffic should skyrocket and that can only mean good things for us, our partners and our advertisers.

Cheers to what should be the most rewarding season ever and a terrific launching into 2009!

From what I've seen from the Democrats

2008-08-28T08:04:00.004-04:00

Day 1 - Ted Kennedy showing up was huge. It energized the crowd and certainly was nice to see given his condition. Michelle Obama was very good. She showed that she is articulate and charismatic. I thought the kids at the end with Obama on the screen was a little much. I see the parallels to Kennedy and 'Camelot' but I think those things will come naturally.

Day 2 - It was all about Hillary - great speech. Say what you want about her but she delivered and hopefully woke up her 'base' from the baggage they are carrying.

Day 3 - I missed most of Bill's speech because I was on a fantasy football prep call (priorities you know) but the sound bytes seemed spot on. I was surprised to see that the National Networks waited to start coverage until 10:00 knowing Bill was speaking at 9:00 - hmmm. Joe Biden is AWESOME. His story is great and his son Beau was very good (and not just because he is a client of mine :) ). All of the speakers on Day 3 were overshadowed by the 'history' of the day. No matter where you stand or what party you are a member of you have to stand back and hopefully enjoy the step we are making in history and humanity by having Barack Obama be the nominee for President. On top of that, he was sent on by Hillary Clinton and her historical run and the process was run by the Speaker of the House, the FIRST female Speaker of the House that is!

No matter what your political lean this was certainly a good night for mankind.

Tonight Obama wraps things up in front of 80,000!

Tomorrow we turn to see how the Republicans counter on the VP front. There Convention should not lack for interest, but it will certainly lack diversity.

My take on Biden as the Democratic VP choice

2008-08-25T20:13:00.003-04:00

As many of my friends will attest to I am a bit of a political junkie. I have even flirted not once, but twice with running for political office including within the last 6 weeks. However, I have for the most part shyed away from talking politics here. I'm not sure why since I share so much but for whatever reason I have.

Tonight I'll change that course. For full disclosure sake, I am a registered Democrat and have voted that way fairly often. I have ventured to the other side of the aisle based upon issues or people I feel strongly about.

So, with that as a back drop I am ready to discuss the Biden choice and I spent a good part of my flights on both Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon thinking about it. I also did a lot of research about a particular topic before coming to this conclusion. In fact, before doing research I was going to blog about my feelings of disillusionment when it comes to the running mate process. For as long as I can remember it seemed like VP running mates have been chosen for strategic voting reasons and not strong political reasoning. I was feeling that way at first with the Biden selection and then I started to do some research.

What did the research show me? First and foremost Biden is a proven leader with a strong track record of leadership, working jointly on both sides of the aisle and standing firm on his core issues. This is exactly what Obama needs as he faces criticism for his experience level and ability to lead. Second, Biden is all about Foreign Policy. He chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Policy and he is a go to guy for foreing leaders. Biden is also a staunch backer of Israel and will not allow U.S. policy change in that regard. This is HUGE for Obama from a perception standpoint on the Israel issue and a key cog in how he sets foreign policy as the President. I also think he will fill a key cabinet position with Sam Nunn who is also great when it comes to foreign policy. Lastly, Biden is tough and straight forward. He can deliver the hard message with sarcasm and a smile. He will not back down or coalese.

After looking it over, this choice had little to do with wrapping up a key swing state, which is what I believe McCain will be doing if he chooses Tom Ridge, and more to do with good, smart political strategy and choosing a 'partner' who could lead now if necessary.

Like a 'bolt' of lightning

2008-08-22T08:38:00.003-04:00

I must be slipping a bit since it took me until this morning to talk about Usain Bolt, henceforth known as 'The World's Fastest Human'.

First, let me say that the title 'World's Fastest Human', in my mind, is by far the COOLEST moniker one could have. Possibly 'Ruler/King of the World' is appealing as well but I imagine you will live in constant fear of your life with that title. The 'World's Fastest Human' only has to worry about doping scandals, cheaters and guys chasing him.

If you missed either of Bolt's World Records at the Olympics you need to go to www.nbcolympics.com and find them. It was absolutely STUNNING to watch him fly around the track. What Michael Phelps was to the pool, Bolt was to land. He energized the second week of the Games and kept them relevant.

As I watched, and heard the commentators talk about how he will dominate track for the next several years, since he is only 21, I couldn't help but think what he should do, at least in my mind. The kid is 6'5" tall which is not typical for a sprinter. He also weighs almost 200 lbs. so he is no 'little guy'. If I were Bolt or his agent I would RUN, not walk, to the NFL. If he put on 15-20 pounds he would be the prototype Wide Receiver and who knows if he can catch? What I do know is the graphic on the screen that translated his 100 Meter time to a 40 yd. dash (the measurement du jour for speed in the NFL). The best times in the NFL approach 4.2 seconds in a 40 yard dash; Bolt's time translated to a 3.53! Holy Sh*t! Imagine this guy running a 'fly pattern'? Better yet, if he realty learns the game no Defensive Back could ever come close to covering 'dig routes' or 'corner routes' because they would be so afraid of his speed. There are some pretty smart and maverick Owners out there. I can only imagine that Jerry Jones in Dallas is having the same thought...

$3.82

2008-08-21T21:39:00.002-04:00

That is what I paid today for a gallon of Premium gas and I almost screamed with jubilation when I saw it.

A sure sign that we live in a mad, mad world!

Sorry for the short post, but that was all that was really on my mind tonight.

It's not cooler yet, at least here in the South, but can you feel the Fall winds blowing?

2008-08-20T14:36:00.005-04:00

That can mean only one thing, and that is Football and yes indeed we are so very close to making the women we love and the children we adore weekend widows. I know a lot of guys (and some women) are college football people and others are Pro football people and this befuddles me as I am clearly both.

On the college side we are just 10 days away from my beloved Florida Gators open with Hawaii. Amongst our very difficult schedule I am very excited about our 2nd game against the University of Miami Hurricanes. What was once an annual rivalry has been changed to a once every 6-7 year thing. With that we have not beaten the 'Canes since my Senior year in High School. Interestingly enough one of the cable channels has been playing that game every night for the last few days. It brought back a lot of good memories at the Orange Bowl and has gotten me completely psyched for September 6th when we finally putting a hurting on the boys down south.

Equally as important for me is the NFL. From a team perspective I am a born and bred Philadelphian and that will never leave me no matter where I call home. I have lived and mostly dies with the Eagles over the last 39 years but hope always springs eternal this time of year. Additionally, as many of you know I am not just a fantasy football player but I also co-host a web video show on the topic

www.thefflguru.com

(shameless plug). In my own league tonight is one of those 3 or 4 great nights. The best night of all is draft night. Tonight is the lead up to the draft where we will find out what order we pick in the draft. In most leagues there are 10-12 teams, this is where my league begins to differ. We have remained an 8 team league throughout or 20+ year history. The other major draft day difference is how we choose draft order. Again, most leagues do what is called a 'snake draft' where it serpentines back and forth, so if you draft 2nd in a 12 team league then you would have the then you would pick 23rd in the 2nd round and so forth. Well, we differ and it works for us because we are only an 8 team league. We have what is called 'the picking of the cards' which to me sounds like, 'the running of the bulls' but I digress. Essentially we have a RANDOM draw for all 23 rounds of our draft! So yes, it is conceivable that you could have the number 1 pick or the number 8 pick, if you are a pessimist) for multiple rounds in a row! What we have always seen is that it evens itself out over time and certainly allows for a fun event this evening. Once tonight is over I go into full prep mode where I will overlay my projections with where guys draft and try to determine who will be available for me when I draft. As I have said before, I am not the most detail oriented guy on this so I'll do it a few times just to get a sense for things.

Picking of the cards is at 6:30 tonight. I imagine I will have every one 'seeded' into my excel spreadsheet by 9:00 and I'll probably mock draft the first 3 rounds tonight. Some of you are reading this, or stopped reading awhile ago, but for me it makes for a fun few days as I get ready for the draft

What constitutes an Olympic sport?

2008-08-19T09:56:00.006-04:00

I had the TV to myself last night as Ilene was off at tennis practice. I got back from the gym by 7:30, had the girls down by 7:45 and had reheated my lean meat burger on the grill and turkey hot dog all before 8:00.

My plan was to fill my night with some Monday Night Football and Olympic coverage. Well, the football game sucked. From my perspective I was purely watching for fantasy football information and there was not much to see. The kid on the Giants that caught 2 TD's is a 3rd or 4th WR on that team and not much else happened except what I fear for the Browns. So I decided to turn my attention to the Olympics and boy do I wish I was a fan of The Hills because that had to have been better than last nights Olympic coverage.

I was excited to see the US women on the beach. Forget the bathing suits, I am a fan of the athleticism that is beach volleyball, and ok, I'm a sucker for a 6 pack on tall blond :)~. Unfortunately the match lasted all of 20 minutes as the US pounded the Brazilians very quickly to get to the Gold Medal Match. As I watched I thought fondly back on my week in Rio de Janeiro where I woke up to the sun rising over Ipanema Beach and all the people out playing volleyball at 6:00 AM when I went for my runs. Here's a couple great shots:

So back to the remote and what's on next at the Olympics? Back to the gymnastics venue for, wait for it, not individual finals, no...TRAMPOLINE! Really, trampo-freaking-line. No offense to any of you big 'trampers' out there but anything that constitutes a obtrusive backyard playset should NOT be an Olympic sport. It certainly looked athletic and fun, but not nearly as fun as what Adam Corolla and Jimmy Kimmel did with 'The Man Show' on Comedy Central where they had hot girls on the trampoline in very little clothing. If someone can shoot me one rule of Olympic Trampolining without google-ing it I will be very impressed.

There are some other silly Olympic sports, see badmitton, table tennis or team handball but this one took the cake for me.

The FFLGuru - first few shows are on line

2008-08-18T09:18:00.004-04:00

We shot a total of 8 pre season shows. They are being added to the following URL.

http://www.eventstreams.com/ffl/2008/

Soon they will be up on www.790thezone.com as well www.theffluguru.com

Looking forward to your feedback!

Friday's Fitness Test

2008-08-17T15:08:00.002-04:00

As the rehab continues on its course it is time to return my attention to my overall fitness. The good news is that I actually lost 2 pounds in the 5 weeks since surgery. The bad news is that I have lost a lot of the stamina that I had been building up from a cardio standpoint, but that won't be a concern for a while since I won't be doing true cardio workouts for at least 3 more months.

What I can do is my upper body and start sculpting myself for where I want to be by the time I turn 40 in January.

My #1 goal is the be under 205 pounds. That means I have around 22 pounds to lose. I am still waiting on the fitness test results to tell me what my body fat composition is and from there I will have a goal as well. Additionally, I WILL run both a marathon and complete and Olympic length Triathlon. I won't be able to do those before 40 but I will begin training as soon as I can. Also, I will get myself back to at least a 36 inch waist.

The really good news was the actual results of the 'fitness' part of the fitness test. Over the last year, not only was I running but I was lifting weights 3 days a week. Primarily my routine was fairly low to medium weight but high reps in a circuit routine. That will all change after meeting with the trainer but she was really excited about where I was. For me, I was never a big workout kid. I did it with teams and with the guys but I never got into it and once I got over 200 pounds I was pretty dejected that I couldn't routinely bench my weight. Whenever I tried adding that second 'plate' to each side of the bar (225 lbs.) I never got anywhere. Fast forward to Friday where I warmed up on the bench press with 10 reps at 135, no biggie, then we went to 185 lbs. and I did 8. I said let's load on a 2nd plate and a little 2.5 lb on each side and see if I can left more than my weight (228). I got 230 pounds up 3 times. I was absolutely giddy. I also did really well all around and Kathy was pretty impressed.

I paid for it later in the evening as Ilene and I sat at the Braves game with friends and I was sore, stiff and exhausted! We had ridiculous seats, just 3 rows behind the Braves dugout, thank God no foul balls came flying my way because I don't think I could move!

I meet with Kathy on Friday where she will give me my total numbers, my new workout plans and my goals for the next 3 weeks.

Follow along with me and help hold me accountable.

Next stop - the torso of Michael Phelps :)