Monthly Archives: May 2009

Insurgents vs. Establishment – Who Wins?

Posted on by

It is ironic that a team in Washington DC is playing a team from Pittsburgh PA and that the team in DC is considered the insurgent - the under dog, the newcomer - and has the odds stacked against them. Some people think of Washington DC as the “most powerful city in the world” but that doesn’t translate to the NHL.

A really smart fan of our team emailed me this story from the New Yorker magazine. It is a long one but well worth your time in reading. Click here to read it and reap. I show this article to our fans to say that David can beat Goliath and that we do have hope. Pittsburgh is a great franchise. They went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. They have won Stanley Cups before. They have a bevy of great players and a great history. But insurgents can and do win so keep the positive vibes a-coming. We will need them tonight.

Continue reading →

“If You Don’t Like Change…”

Posted on by

“You are going to like irrelevancy even less.”

That is the name of a chapter in a great, soon to be published tome by Bob Garfield. His book and living Wiki will soon be made available to the public and it is called The Chaos Scenario. This work will be considered very important by consumers of media and by those of us in the business. The book explores the issues that media companies face today and how social and personalized media are changing the landscape and enabling consumers to take control of their information consumption.

Bob is a long time media observer and columnist. He gets the new media. He lives in it and he asked me to critique his manuscript. It is very well written and filled with great anecdotes, stories and insight into what the strange brew of new media consists of  today and will look like in the near future. I believe he has developed a hit and this project will be much discussed over the coming years. Keep your eyes and ears open for when it comes out.

What It Is All About…

Posted on by

Professional sports are much maligned. They have such scrutiny and such passion wrapped around them and so many negative slants that sometimes, we forget the true beauty at the heart of the matter.

I am honored to lead a partnership that owns professional sports teams. When I read articles such as this one - click here please - it makes me swell with pride. Love, passion, friendship, honor and civic duty and family connectedness…that is what it is all about. And we also have players that we can be proud of in our community. Thank you Alex and Matt.

Continue reading →

Summer of Love is A-Coming!

Posted on by

It is hard to believe we are closing in on the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love. I know 1969 meant a lot to me in my personal young adult development.

And two icons of the summer of love, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, are being paid homage right now on SnagFilms.com. Click here to go to SnagFilms and to watch two great films on John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix for free. If you like it, snag the film widget. Embed it on your page and share the love – just like the summer of ’69! :-)

Trust me. Click it and lick it. You will feel younger and better for it.

Hershey Bears Up 2-0

Posted on by

We are very proud of how our Hershey Bears are playing in the playoffs. Ironically, they are playing the Penguins’ AHL franchise as well in the second round. The Bears won last night 3 to 1.

John Carlson, a number 1 draft pick by us who played in junior hockey for Dale Hunter’s team, was moved to Hershey to play in the playoffs. He scored his first professional goal last night on a rush to the net. Congrats John! Click here for a video update from YouTube. My bet is that we will see a lot of John in the coming years at Verizon Center. We drafted John with a pick from the Flyers in exchange for Steve Emminger.

The Big O also scored last night, Oskar Osala, and dependable, gritty and professional Graham Mink did as well.

Oh yeah, our goaltender who is 21 years old and playing in Hershey, he is pretty good, too. :-)

As I have noted before, we have a backlog of very good young players. We should only get better as time progresses. The plan is working everywhere so have faith. Go Bears!

The Science of Fear and Random Notes

Posted on by

I have just finished reading a very good book called The Science of Fear: Why We Fear Things We Shouldn’t –And Put Ourselves in Greater Danger. The author, Daniel Gardner, posits that we have been programmed by our DNA and history and collective conscience to have internally based irrational fears and that they can be easily overcome through analytics, rationale and training coupled with positive thinking. I thought this was a great book to read before we entered Round 2 of our playoffs. I recommend it highly.

Continue reading →

Major New York Times Story on Homeless Soccer

Posted on by

Wow. Here is a major piece on homeless soccer in the New York Times. As a reminder, this was the subject of our film Kicking It, available on SnagFilms. Thanks again to ESPN for showing this film to a worldwide audience. Click here to watch it.
Also, we will be hosting the US based Homeless World Cup qualifiers again here in Washington DC in late June. Stay tuned for more details.

Kudos to Lawrence Cann and his team for doing the Lord’s work here.