I just got home from a weekend with my family in Vero Beach, FL, one of my favorite places in the world.  I moved there in 1981 to start my first business.  It is where I met my wife, it’s where our children were born, and it’s where my father lives.  Great weather, nice people, beautiful beaches, and incredible golf courses.  It really is a little bit of heaven right here on earth. 

Two of reality TV’s heavyweights squared off last week, and guess which one won. I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t the one with superbly-trained athletes who’ve dedicated years of their lives to the relentless pursuit of victory in short and spectacular performances. Nope, it was the motley collection of warbling, whining, and wince-worthy performances that makes up American Idol.

Two of reality TV’s heavyweights squared off last week, and guess which one won.  I’ll give you a hint:  it wasn’t the one with superbly-trained athletes who’ve dedicated years of their lives to the relentless pursuit of victory in short and spectacular performances.  Nope, it was the motley collection of warbling, whining, and wince-worthy performances that makes up American Idol.

In head-to-head competition, Idol creamed the Olympics by more than 11 million overall viewers and more than twice as many in the key 18-49 demographic.

Much has been written about how the Olympics is suffering because the other networks are putting up new episodes of their best programming – like Lost, 24, Idol and Desperate Housewives — to compete, but I think at least two less-noticed factors were at play. 

First, American Idol offers one compelling element of reality TV that the Olympics lacks:  interactivity.  The voting process (although it hasn’t yet started) hooks members of the audience into a deep loyalty for both the show and individual singers on it. 

Second, the Internet.  When you know by 1 p.m. sitting at your desk who is going to win the Gold, your incentive to watch that night’s actual events disappears.  Worse, with the U.S. not performing up to expectations, who wants to watch our athletes finish out of the running? 

As I said earlier, I think NBC has done a great job at presenting the Olympics on TV this year, but networks and Olympic executives will have to do some fundamental rethinking of their strategy if they want to draw more viewers — on TV, online, and on other devices — in the future.

Here’s what I’m listening to while sitting on the beach this weekend:

Bush The Exies Click Five  Fefe Dobson The Donnas Elvis Costello Dean Martin

I’m taking off for a few days with my family – blogging will be light.

Have a great weekend.

Yesterday, I spent some time visiting with Jonathan Bulkeley, a former AOL employee and a good friend of mine who is now a venture capitalist. During the call, he reminded me of a conversation we had several years ago.

Yesterday, I spent some time visiting with Jonathan Bulkeley, a former AOL employee and a good friend of mine who is now a venture capitalist.  During the call, he reminded me of a conversation we had several years ago.

While traveling together on a business trip, I asked him if the Bulkeley Bridge that runs from New York City to Connecticut was named after his family.  He told me it was, and then I asked about his family background.  Just like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Jonathan had gone to Yale University.  One of his ancestors, Morgan Bulkeley, served as the first president of baseball’s National League, was elected Governor of Connecticut, and served as a U.S. Senator.

Jonathan then asked me about my family, and I explained that my Dad was a waiter in a restaurant, that my grandfather emigrated from Greece and was an employee in a shoe tannery in Lowell, MA, and that I was the first person in my family to graduate from college.  I had to admit that I didn’t know anything about my great-grandfather, but promised that I’d try to find out.

My dad didn’t have any more information than I did, but he wrote some letters to the old country, and a few months later we had our answer.  It turns out that my great-grandfather was a goat herder who spent his days chasing goats across the Greek countryside.

That’s one of the things I love about this country.  Regardless of your background

Alex Ovechkin is having a great Olympics.  He has played two games in Torino so far, and scored two goals. 

Despite a solid effort by goalie Olaf Kolzig, the Germans lost to the Czech Republic 4-1 on Wednesday.  Kolzig should get to play again this weekend as Germany tries to make it into the medal round.

Today’s flood of e-mail can make a person feel like Sisyphus, the character from Greek mythology who was condemned to an eternity of pushing a boulder up a hill, and whenever he reached the top, the boulder would back to the bottom of the hill, forcing him to start all over.  Most mornings I get up at about 5:30 in the morning.  I hang out with my wife for a while and then I do my e-mail for about an hour.  If I checked e-mail before bed, I usually have about 30 Caps-related and 50 AOL-related e-mails by the time I check it in the morning.  I check my e-mail again before I leave the house around 9, and by then, I usually have another 50 e-mails.  As soon as I get to the office, I try to attack that new stack of e-mail, and then I spend at least another hour in the middle of the day cutting down the incoming flood.  Overall, I usually get about 350 AOL-related e-mails each day, so on average, I get about one work mail every four minutes around the clock, and that doesn’t include100+ hockey e-mails and personal mails I get each day.  It sometimes feels like daily life is becoming a constant search for "white space" — that free time that allows you to clear your head, reflect on your priorities, and refocus your energies.  As much as I love — and need — e-mail, it truly is the enemy of an open calendar.

I think NBC is doing a great job in its coverage of the Turin Olympics.  The HDTV broadcasts are breathtaking

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I decided to do some research, and I was a little surprised at the results. 

Apparently, Valentine’s Day has its roots in the ancient Roman festival of Luperci, which involved young Roman males running through the streets of the city slapping women with blood-soaked strips of goat hide.  I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen that on a Hallmark card.

Yesterday AOL announced the launch of a new Chinese language portal.  Using both simplified and traditional Chinese characters, this new site will allow millions of people in the United States to access information and features like email and search in Chinese.  I think it’s another great example of how AOL, Inc. is reaching out to different audiences and consumers.  Check it out.