Diary of a mad dog

August 29, 2010

My New Fantasy Football

Filed under: General — admin @ 10:35 am

Dateline: Ann Arbor, MI - September 4, 2010

weeds grow in vacant stadium

The University of Connecticut Huskies trounced the once fabled Wolverines of University of Michigan football team 21-0 before one lone fan in Ann Arbor under sunny skies yesterday. “It was a surreal experience,” said UConn head football coach, Randy Edsall after the game. “It was more like a scrimmage – lots of action but little fan participation. I’m extremely proud of our team and appreciate the support we received in Ann Arbor. It’s a lovely town, and beautiful campus.”

Tailgating fans congregated outside “The Big House” followed the game action by radio and television and cheering loudly for the visiting Huskies team, while completely ignoring the hometown Wolverines. No booing or cat-calls – the crowd was just totally silent when the Wolverines had the ball, paying more attention to gulping beer and tending hamburgers and steaks cooking on grills. Overall, 107,500 fans boycotted the game due to various issues related to U of M head coach Rich Rodriguez including his admitted guilt of seven NCAA rules violations. “Rich Rod’s NCAA troubles were just the final straw,” said Ida Fyerrod, former GoBlue Booster chairperson. “He never should have been hired in the first place. The $4 million penalty U of M had to pay West Virginia should have told Sue Coleman that they’d picked the wrong guy. Our members will continue to avoid attending games until Rich and Sue are both demoted or released.”

Fans took turns occupying one seat in section 12 located in southern end zone. “We were hoping to let everyone with a ticket have a chance to watch at least one play, but it took longer than we anticipated shuttling one fan in at a time. It’s a much longer walk than we thought,” said boycott seating coordinator Justin Deserts, U of M Senior. “We’re proud that 902 fans did get to see some live football action, or the halftime band show, which was really spooky since the players and coaches were all in the locker rooms. With zero fans in the stands and no crowd noise you could really hear how talented those musicians are. It was great!”

Ticket scalpers had great success peddling tickets to others wanting to join the protest. “Not buying a ticket would be just so lame,” said Adam Ghetoverit, sports medicine sophomore. “I mean anyone can avoid coming to the game. But if you’re really sick of Rich Rod, it means so much more to have a few bucks on the line!” Ghetoverit did not want to reveal how much he paid for his ticket fearing his parents might not share his commitment to getting Rodriguez fired. “They might not understand – but the game was awesome! Go Huskies!”

Post script: all characters above are fictitious except the coaches and U of M President Sue Coleman. When I had this fantasy the game had not been played yet – so any similarity to actual outcome is purely coincidental. A guy can dream, though, can’t he? Big game, big stadium, and only one fan attends.

BTW: the photo was taken by my father back in 1956.

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August 13, 2010

Made In USA (but you won’t find it at Eddie Bauer)

Filed under: Business — admin @ 11:13 am

Open Letter to Eddie Bauer (just received their latest catalog): With raising trade deficit and high domestic unemployment it’s time for everyone to do what they can to drive change. As a consumer I will try to avoid imported goods whenever possible, I will not buy more than I actually need and try to find ways to conserve, recycle and re-use. All of this bodes negatively for Eddie Bauer, I realize. Given the volume of stuff in your catalog and stores that is not made in the USA I felt part of my personal campaign must include communications with businesses like yours and communication to the general population through my blog.

Either you need to make some changes, or you’ll vanish from the scene. As a small business owner I have enjoyed the consumers’ renewed appreciation for American made goods, and urge you to reconsider your business practice of manufacturing virtually all of your merchandise in some foreign land. (I realize, too, that a significant portion of Bauer sales are to populations other than America). Besides this heightened interest in domestic business topics, I wanted to comment on goods sold in Eddie’s retail outlets (specifically Great Lakes Crossing, Auburn Hills, MI)….the quality of merchandise varies dramatically – some items are quite nice. But increasingly I find your goods are quite inconsistent in quality (even on similar items like polo shirts, crew neck sweaters, jeans). I find huge variations in thickness of material, and significant sizing differences. Over the past 20-25 years I’ve bought hundreds (perhaps thousands) of things from Bauer stores and catalog…it’s really just been the past 4-5 years where I’ve seen the quality decline.

I don’t plan to monitor the next 4 years…I’m now a former customer of yours.

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July 16, 2010

The Things We Make, Make Us

Filed under: Business,General — admin @ 11:40 am

Spotted a neat TV commercial recently for new 2011 model of Jeep Grand Cherokee which starts off saying: “The things that makes us Americans are the things we make. This has always been a nation of builders, craftsmen, men and women for whom straight stitches and clean welds were matters of personal pride.“ I like the commercial a lot – enough so that I’ll consider buying another Jeep one day – fortunately our vehicles are running fine at the moment (knock-on-wood). But the message is strong and a little ironic now that Italy’s Fiat owns a big chunk of Jeep’s parent, Chrysler.

Still, the message “made with pride in America” is something we’ve been emphasizing for quite sometime at our little retail shop. Louise really digs deep to find products and merchandise made in the USA and North America; my rough guess is 90% of what we sell is supporting the American manufacturing base and American communities. And that number is growing as customers are noticing and responding positively.

The US trade deficit rose again last month by $42.3 billion dollars. Annualized that’s over $500 billion. US Commerce department was emphasizing the need to boost exports to solve the problem. Personally, I’d like to see Americans changing their buying habits and buy less imported, extruded crud. (Link to trade deficit story)

There is a trickle-down affect that is real and overlooked by lots of people – and if consumers continue to load their shopping carts with imported merchandise many of the problems we face will only get worse. Concerned about the unemployment rate? Concerned about your neighbors losing their job, their homes? Concerned that foreclosures are lowering the value of your home? Concerned that reduced home values are lowering the tax base for your community – which force municipalities to reduce expenses or face insolvency…so the city, township, county, state cuts services and personnel….causing more unemployment, negatively impacting the economy further. It is a vicious cycle and it’s happening all across America.

The vast majority of merchandise sold in big-boxy stores is imported….so if you are serious about the concerns mentioned above consider your own personal shopping habits and realize that this is a social and economic problem we have created ourselves in our quest for the cheapest goods on the planet. Sorry if it offends you but I find Wal-Mart’s slogan: “Save money. Live better” to be a huge mistake and a big part of the trouble. Who is living better when the American manufacturing base is destroyed simply because consumers want cheap merchandise? This is a problem we can resolve to solve: Shop local.

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July 8, 2010

Once Great Voice Has Lost It’s Way

Filed under: Business,General,Politics & Media — admin @ 11:36 am

“The Great Voice of the Great Lakes,” has long been the slogan of radio station WJR-760…broadcasting live “from the golden tower of the Fisher Bldg” in Detroit – their powerful 50,000 watt signal was often my companion as a young sales pup. Traveling the state I could just about always tune-in to J.P. McCarthy, Jimmy Launce, and Warren Pierce. I found that I even enjoyed a bit of classical music with host Karl Haas’ Adventure in good music, and Kaleidoscope special features by Mike Whorf. The general tone of the station was generally positive, and business friendly – always supporting and boosting the state of Michigan and various charitable events – all of which helped me maintain a positive, optimistic outlook on my sales calls. Even if I was having a tough day the friendly nature of the radio station helped me self-adjust my attitude and get back on-track. There was plenty of focus on sports from golf to sailboat racing…with an emphasis on local teams: Wolverines, Pistons, Spartans…Lions, and Tigers. Oh, my.

Back then WJR also broadcasted a lot of live sports – Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey brought life to the Detroit Tigers’ games, Bob Ufer was a bit zany in his support of University of Michigan (“Meeeeshigan”), Bruce Martyn was the voice of the Detroit Red Wings (“…he shoots…he scores!”). WJR was the “goodwill station” for the City of Detroit, S.E. Michigan, and for the State of Michigan.

That has changed quite a bit in the past two decades. WJR’s news department is virtually non-existent – of the radio personalities mentioned above only Warren Pierce remains. Las Vegas based Citadel Broadcasting bought the station in 2006 from Capital Cities Communication (ABC/Disney); ironically, Citadel filed for bankruptcy in 2009…which is not a huge surprise. Today, WJR’s identity has been replaced by mush – mindless talking heads filling the airwaves with politically and socially conservative syndicated trash. They offer a cookie-cutter line-up: Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura (Schlessinger), Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Bob Brinker and Adam Bold. (Barf.) WJR does host two locally based syndicated shows: Glenn “Handyman Show” Haege, and Detroit Free Press author Mitch Albom. Being a home-handy-sort-of-guy myself, I find Haege’s show to be interesting, but I’ll pass on Albom – the guy is over-exposed in my book. Other local programming is limited to Paul W. Smith and former sportscaster Frank Beckmann, and news director Lloyd Jackson. Lost in the equation are positive influences for our community and society, replaced by negative, argumentative ranting that is filled with hate and fear. Nope, it’s not the same radio station by any measure – only their call letters remain the same.

Through the second half of the previous century WJR was always solidly #1 in listener ratings; today they struggle to find an audience (down to also-ran-status, a distant #6 according to March 2010 PPM ratings release). It’s obvious these guys are on the back-nine; gone are WJR’s lucrative base of national and regional advertisers – replaced by enterprises of questionable repute – a motley collection of mortgage and debt refinance companies, fear-based high-tech gadgets promoting computer back-up software, and identity theft protection. A recent study by Arbitron/Edison Research concluded 38% of radio listeners find ads/advertising spots so annoying or intrusive that they simply tune-out or turn off the radio entirely. I am definitely a part of this group of listeners who bolted. Over time I found WJR’s brand of “news-talk” to be less about hard news reporting and more about promoting a radical, extremely conservative political agenda. So as I traveled the state I discovered a network of commercial-free broadcasts by National Public Radio (NPR) affiliated stations. Goodbye ranting babble-heads (Limbaugh, Beckmann & Co.)….say hello to reasonable, intelligent, balanced, thoughtful and thought-provoking programs like All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Diane Rehm, and others. Whew.

The National Football League has some fun with their annual draft, calling the last player selected “Mr. Irrelevant“….maybe I’ll expand the concept and bestow a similar title to other entities, like: WJR – Irrelevant Radio Station.

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June 30, 2010

Stay in Cleveland

Filed under: General — admin @ 9:07 am

Tomorrow NBA star LeBron James becomes a “free-agent” – hope all the hype dies down quickly and he opts to stay where he belongs: Cleveland. The mega-rich lure of big city exposure (New York, Chicago, etc.) may be tempting but really…James’ estimated income of $42 million in ’09 (salary + endorsements) surely will increase regardless where he opts to hang his sneakers and trademark sweat band. Hardly chump change. Given this stratosphere of earnings and, well, greed…..the issue to me is more about loyalty and roots and supporting his hometown, and the fans who have supported him and the Cavs through his first seven years in the NBA. Cleveland, home of the original Standard Oil, rocks!

(Note to those following the Gulf Coast disaster: Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River was the site of our nations first environment disaster…oil drilling and production dating back to the mid-1800′s polluted the river and adjacent land so badly river fires were common up through 1968 when massive clean-up efforts were finally enacted. Gads, the things we humans do to this wonderful planet! Link to read more about America’s original oil spill.)

07.08.10 postscript: NY Daily News has a new nickname for the King: LeCon. Seems perfect after Wednesday night’s seriously gross hour-long, self absorbed ESPN TV special. PS-thought #2: One group of entrepreneurs who deserve relief or some kinda’ financial consideration are all of the t-shirt vendors who have standing inventory of LeCon’s former Cleveland Cavaliers jerseys.

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June 29, 2010

GOP is doing America a disservice

Filed under: Politics & Media — admin @ 5:16 pm

GOP is doing America a disservice. As a party they have lots to say but not much of it makes sense to the majority of citizens, and it seems nearly every day for the past nine and a half or more years they say or do something really silly/dumb/wrong. They shoot themselves in the foot or insult someone or alienate some group of people…other Republicans, Democrats, taxpayers, aliens (legal & illegal), GLBT, women, Latinos, blacks, Gulf Coast residents, owners and drivers of American automobiles. The list is almost endless, and grows longer every day. Take Thursday June 17^th (2010) for example when we heard the extraordinarily thick (as in dense) Texas Congressman Joe Barton apologizing to BP for their agreement with US Federal Government to establish a fund to compensate those who have been negatively impacted by their oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Ya, Joe. We really owe them an apology. (Not.) What followed was even more amazing: other members of the radical right-wing like Michele Bachmann (R-MN) agreeing with Barton.

There are so many positive things to be grateful for (in this world), so it amazes me by the volume of negativity that surrounds us daily. Politics is a nasty business and the GOP is focused like a laser beam upon building fear with the electorate – frequently pitting one group against another. In particular, the degree of acrimony among our political leaders seems to be growing and becoming increasingly hostile. Leading up to the 2008 election the GOP leaders and their spinmeisters developed a strategy that is destructive and obviously designed to obstruct any and all efforts by the Obama administration and the congressional majority.

Bills presented in the House have been acted upon – mainly because the Democrats have a significant majority. But in the Senate – very little is getting accomplished. For example, 122 appointments languish in the Senate – at various stages in the confirmation process. Some date back over year like Nicole Lurie nominated June 1^st, 2009 to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Department of Health & Human Services). A big chunk of the nominees stalled by the Republican Party are judicial appointments to fill current vacancies in various Federal courts, so there is a ripple affect to the GOP delay tactics: courts are backlogged with pending cases. Then there are various Senate rules that increasingly are becoming abused – the GOP used the filibuster more in the past 1.5 years than the previous 8-years combined to block or kill pending legislation.

(No, I am not a Democrat…see “about Mike“ regarding my political orientation.)

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June 13, 2010

What a great day.

Filed under: General,Politics & Media — admin @ 12:02 pm

Just what the world needs: another “blog”. Regardless, I’ve opted to post this as a way to express myself – partly ‘cuz I’ve got things to say – and partly because this seems like a better venue to ramble, rant, vent, comment…..rather than bombarding friends and family with my take on world events and politics via email.

I’m a cheerful, optimistic, serious fellow, and take the news seriously – I consume several newspapers daily and stay engaged with what is happening in the world. While I don’t pretend to stay current with popular culture I am a positive guy, happy with life and the oppotunities we all have on this really great planet. However, I have a big concern and huge problem with many things people do to the environment and other living creatures – I detest many of the disinformation tactics used in politics these days – folks intentionally spreading falsehoods to cast doubt in the minds of those too lazy to factcheck or question the validity of the claim. (Think “deathers” during the health care debate, or “birthers” among those who just can not stand having a black President.) Often this misinformation is spread via email – and when I receive it I tend to speak my mind with email responses much like the old “point-counter-point” segments on 60 Minutes.

Well, that approach hasn’t been well received in some corners of this fine planet – and the audience is too narrow to waste the time. So those folks can ignore this blog (or not)…hopefully it’ll be read by more than one person. Along the way I’ll continue to learn a few things – certainly that includes the technical side of creating this “blog” which interests me (as I do maintain website for our store)…but most of my “pc skills” are frozen in time, gradually becoming out of date – gotta’ keep trying new things! Not interested much in some of the “social media” stuff out there (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.), but who knows? Maybe someday. For now, I’ll try my hand at Blog-o-rama. If you’re inclined, let me know what you think.

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