HopsGuy

C'mon, now! Anyway, Prince is one talented dude. Couple that with the litany of babes on his resume (he's up there with Scott Baio and Adam Duritz) and the Charlie Murphy basketball story, and Prince earns quite a bit of respect.

Has anyone tried Coke Zero? As a 15 year "diet" drinker, I like it. A guy I work with drinks regular Coke and says it tastes like diet, but to me it's like I'm cheating. It's especially good for mixing with Jack or Bacardi.

My buddy is a huge Steelers fan. At a party for the Championship games, once the Steelers won, he announced that he would be hosting the SB party this year. By the next morning he had retracted because he wanted to go to the game with his dad. I helped him search for packages and I almost had him sold on a $15k/man package that included RT 1st class air-fare, double room at the Dearborn Ritz, lower bowl 50-yard line tix, tix to the NFL tailgate, and (get this) tix to the Playboy party. He decided to buy a 72" DLP and host the party instead. Cheap skate. I don't have a strong rooting interest, but I'm sure I'll lay some $$ on the game on Sunday. Either way, I'm taking Monday off. While I was writing this, he sent me flight information for Vegas for the NCAA Sweet 16 weekend. This guy is 7 years younger. I swear he's trying to kill me.

The business model of the NFL (and other pro sports) has evolved since the beginning. Sundays were available because colleges played on Saturday (Friday nights were for the high schools). First, they wanted to sell you a seat. Then they wanted to sell you a beer, a hotdog and a program. Next thing you need a place to park your car. Advertising revenue from billboards was a nice addition, but with the advent of radio then televsion, broadcasting rights became the prime mover. You could reach way more people with these new fangled gadgets. The broadcasters have made quite a few demands over the years, so that's why you have a 6:30 kickoff and multitudes of commercial breaks. I would vote for moving the game to Saturday, but right now it would seem that Sunday makes more economic sense for the NFL and the networks (I don't have any hard numbers, and quite frankly, neither do you.) But there's hope. The entire model of television is based on advertising. I wrote in another thread about the advertising revolution that is coming with targeted ads. Right now, advertisers blast out the message to everyone and hope the are reaching potential customers. When the system changes to where it is efficient to target potential customers (10 years?), the walls will come tumbling down. I see a pay-per-view model in the future, and we'll still have to watch ads but probably only ones for products we'd be interested in (e.g. In Mormon households the Bud Light ads will be replaced by some guy hawking the "Left Behind" series or "Got Milk?"). The whole idea will be fueled by good market research. But if that research says that more of us will watch on Sunday rather than Saturday, then we'll be stuck with what we got. Of course, I could be wrong.

I know what you mean. After Hurricane Wilma came through, the inconvenience of lack of electricity was muted a bit by the amazing sky.

I've never read any of his books, but I always feel rather dubious about someone that wants me to pay him to learn how to make money from his book. In my industry (stock trading), the question is always asked "If you have a way to make money, why in God's name would you want to share (sell) it?" Then again, the gov't has an endless supply of $$$. As Dillinger said, "That's where the money is."

When Chris Berman said that if the Colts had returned the Bettis fumble it would have been the most memorable play in the history of the league, the Sports Guy retorted. He listed a number of plays that he felt were more memorable and the Beebe-Lett play was listed (so was Norwood).

Some would say that much of what America is today is owed to a rabble-rousing carpenter that lived 2000 years ago. Some would say that.

MSFT, YHOO & GOOG are public companies. They have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders to have a presence in China. While Google's informal motto is "Don't be evil", they cannot ignore the potential revenue stream available from the world's (potentially) largest market. Microsoft conference rooms are booked with discussions on how to fend off the latest offensive(s) from GOOG. Freedom of information is essential to freedom. China will get there, but it probably should be a slow evolution. Search engines will be a toe-hold for the eventual freedom of speech.

I just keep hoping that Khrystyne Haje (Simone) will show up in a Cinemax thriller. Oh wait, she's 37. Nevermind.

Advertising drives content. The lowest common denominator (greatest mass) currently drives advertising. Google, or at least the Google model of targeted advertising will eventually makes its way to television. Right now, advertising on TV is like direct mail: Blast the message out to everyone to ensure you hit the folks you're trying to reach. However, eventually advertisers should be able to reduce costs by only sending their messages to the folks most likely looking to buy their products/services. Here's an interesting take on what can happen. It turns out, the revolution will be televised.

If they're religious, they don't.

I thought masons worked with stone and it's the blacksmiths that work with iron?

That should be pinned to the top of the Stadium Wall and PPP. Some things are too important.

Ever see the PBS documentary, "Triumph of the Nerds"? The guys that developed the first PC "killer app", VisiCalc (the first spreadsheet program), never made a dime. Here's a site dedicated to VisiCalc.

Does anyone actually want to act their age? In the immortal words of our esteemed modern-day philosopher, David Wooderson: "The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin', man. L-I-V-I-N."

2 years ago, someone asked the Sports Guy if Andy Reid was going to buy Marty Shottenheimer's Honolulu condo.

I asked a Bears fan I work with about Jauron. He said, "Hold on. Let me see if I can find that speech from a few years ago that I gave to Dolphin fans about Wannstedt."

I was in ROTC in college and we had a Field Training Exercise at beautiful Fort Dix that weekend. I remember giving my roommates (Eagles fans) strict instructions to tape the game for me. I got home Sunday afternoon around 4:30 PM. I walk into the apartment and find those guys studying (!). I said, "Don't say a word. I want to shower and watch the Bills game." Bob turned to me and said, "Dude, I'm sorry. I VCR took a s#!t. We only got the first quarter." I stared at him for a few seconds while he sported his best poker face. "Okay (rhymes with bass-whole), who won?", I asked. A smile crept across his face. "I dunno. I don't watch blowouts. Your Bills were ahead 41-3 at the half." I watched the 1st quarter 4 times. "The Raiders have just called a basketball timeout to slowdown this fastbreak Buffalo offense." - Bob Trumpy

One time a freakishly tall dude (~6' 7") was heading into the stall next to my colleague. He looked down at him and said hello. My buddy said that the experience bound him up for a week.

It's really a personal thing. I'd suggest going to a Edwin Watts-type place and hitting some irons. Try Cavity-back and blades. Also, try some oversized grips and see how they feel. Don't forget to ensure the shaft stiffness (cue Beavis laugh) suits your swing.

Doctors, pffttt, they don't know anything. I see a holistic healer, Tor Ekman.

In the Olympic spirit of "Faster, Higher, Farther", I'll toss Steve Tasker's name in there. The guy was lightning quick, 5' 8" and could dunk a basketball. Great athletic ability, fantastic football player.

They play a "horn" at Bank Atlantic, home of the FL Panthers. I can't really tell if it's a real horn, or the organist hitting an F chord. I'm speaking of a horn, not the siren they played at the Aud. Now that was unique.

Saw him opening night in Sunrise FL. The set list was pretty disappointing as he played a bunch of obscure stuff. He finished strong, though. All in all, it was a pretty good show. I saw the set list for the Jacksonville show, and he made quite a few changes for the better. I'd recommend you see him. His voice is as strong as ever, and the backing band is great. Edit: Also saw "Movin' Out" the night before the concert. I don't normally go for musicals, but it was a very good show.