Blog

So, I finally sat down and watched the 1st half of a MLS game.  It was probably because of David Beckham, and a New York vs LA game in front of 66,000 people is good in any sport.  And if you were the MLS, you had to be pleased with 3 goals in about 12 minutes, with 2 of them assisted by Beckham.

The game was fun, it was ok soccer, and I recognized some names.  The fans were enthusiastic and the stadium was packed.  But there was still something missing for me.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Then the next morning I went down to the George and Dragon for breakfast and to watch Manchester City v Manchester United. That’s when I realized what was missing from the MLS game.  For all the excitement and story lines, at the end of the day, it’s just harder to watch any league in which the best players in the world aren’t taking part.  That’s not a knock on the MLS – it’s a credit to the EPL.  And as much as I am rooting for soccer in the U.S, I’m still unsure how to promote what is essentially a minor league.

But then I think about all these reality TV shows, where second rate singers, chefs, designers, MBA students and outdoorsmen compete for big money and a short-cut to the big time.  These are people who by definition are not successes yet – minor leaguers in their professions if you will.  And Americans eat it up.  The chase for the dream is what drives the viewership.  Americans are actually watching other people cook, yet we can’t get them to watch soccer.

So what I’m getting at, is in the case of a minor league sport, maybe we need to promote the dream aspect.   It would be great if they could figure out some way that one MLS guy gets a European contract every year, based on some sort of elimination.  Just a thought.

If you ask me, the game that launched video games into the stratosphere was Tecmo Bowl. Other sports games were pretty good, but this was the precursor to Madden. This was the one that turned playing video games into an obsession for some people.

So, if you ever played, you will find this clip hilarious. Remember how Bo Jackson was the absolute MAN in this game?

I don’t throw any personal stuff on here, but I think it’s newsworthy in my circle that Liz Boyer completed her PhD in Sports Psychology from teh University of North Texas.  It’s been quite a long road filled with sacrficies – the kind of uphill battle most entrepreneurs and start-ups face every day as well.  These stresses were shared and assisted by her husban Rich who has been great through the whole process.

Anyway, let me be the first person in the blogosphere to congratulate DOCTOR Elizabeth Boyer.   Nice work. 

(also posted at http://myelectionchoices.wordpress.com/) 

Hi all – we just got done with two segments on "The Air Americans" on Air America Radio.

We had the chance to speak with host David Bender, and saw traffic to the site spike during the period we were on.  Unfortunately, the particular show we were on was not broadcast in Seattle – and we didn’t realize that until gametime.  Also, to further confuse matters, we were moved from 7:00pm to 6:30pm to 6:00pm.  So, if you received one of our emails and were hoping to hear the live broadcast on the radio at 7:00pm, apologies.  But, we do have it recorded and will be posting it as podcasts as soon as we get the legal clearance.

So, we’d like to thank David Bender and the whole team over there for the opportunity.  Hopefully we’ll get a few more shots on the radio.

So, marketing question – Are mascots an important part of the baseball experience today, or are they simply peripheral to the process? After all, if owners’ claims that stadiums are integral to fans’ interest, it stands to reason that all parts of the stadium experience are necessary. One could even argue that the mascot is the only figure that can be guaranteed to wear the team’s uniform for 25-50 years.
I ask this because the Mariner Moose near killed the Red Sox center fielder, and so some people wondered if the Moose should be fined, banned or at least given driving lessons. The clips are funny since no one was hurt.

I am trying to catch up on my John Cook reading, and ran across something confusing.

Now, I don’t know that much about the WSA, but it stands to reason that any formal Association that supports Washington Software Companies would have some pretty high bars when rounding out its executive board.  And I don’t know Keith Smith personally, but I can read things on the Internet about his company, Zango (formerly 180 Solutions)

Some excerpts from simple google searches:

In my testing, 180 software specifically and systematically causes merchants’ tracking systems to conclude that users reached merchants’ sites thanks to 180’s efforts, even when users actually reached merchants on their own or through other affiliates. As a result, merchants pay commissions to 180 even when no commission is properly payable. In addition, 180 causes merchants to pay commissions to 180 even when commission is properly payable to other affiliates. – http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/180-affiliates/

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Monday accused 180solutions, one of the world’s largest developers of Internet advertising software, of "deliberately and repeatedly" engaging in illegal and deceptive spyware practices. – http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3579576

Just when 180solutions’ CEO Keith Smith is whining about anti-spyware companies, or to use his words “scanning applications”, Spyware Warrior has captured another 180solutions installation with no notice and no consent through a security exploit. From a crack site, too. Nice. Way. To. Go. – http://netrn.net/spywareblog/archives/2005/11/29/anti-spyware-zealot-rants-about-180solutions/

Again, I don’t know Smith or the company personally.   But when your Board of Directors includes Google, RealNetworks, Amazon, Microsoft, etc…you would think an invitation to join that board would at the very least require not being sued by the FTC, or not incurring the wrath of every Spyware watchdog advocate on the planet.  It seems like this is kind of like Jeff Skilling being invited to join a committee of oversight in the energy industry.  

So just to be clear, I’m not making a value judgement here, but I think it’s an interesting selection to what is supposed to be a respected board. 

At a time when the sports leagues are under seige from drugs, gambling and violence, the loss of one of the really "Good and Decent Guys" in the game seems to hurt a lot more.

However, the other way to look at the death of Bill Walsh today, is that sports fans, especially football fans, have a chance to recollect and reminisce about a football genius that was both intellectual and classy.  

It’s hard to imagine Bill Walsh ever leading a team who’s star players flirted with the law, or engaged in all out illegal behavior.  You think of "Walsh’s guys" – Montana, Rice, Craig, Lott, Clark, Young, etc….guys you couldn’t root against even when you were supporting another team.

Over the weekend, babeball inducted two of their own high-class players into their Hall of Fame – Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn. When reading the Sunday features about these two gentlemen of the game, it was difficult not to make mental comparisons to the players today that would fill their shoes.  Besides someone like Ichiro and Craig Biggio, it’s hard to imagine who will be grabbing the torch.

But back to football – where the Walsh legacy will live on thanks to the long list of Bill’s apprentices who went on to long coaching careers in the NFL.  Perhaps more and more of these coaches will remember back to lessons Walsh taught, choosing players who love football and achievment, and see that long-term financial rewards come from being good people and players at the same time.   Maybe the fans will start to look to Lindsay, Paris and other Hollywood convicts for their crime fix, and revert back to admiration of the players who excel on the field and serve as good role models without trying to.

If there’s anything the loss of Bill Walsh this week can remind us, it’s that good guys win lots of games.  And fans spend a lot of money to watch teams win games.  Maybe losing one good guy this week will help teams and players look to character as an imprtant trait, and we’ll soon be able to look back at last week as the low point in professional sports, the point where things actually turned around.