"Doing what is best for my family..."

Why is it every time an athlete is in contract negotiations they throw out the "I'm doing what is best for my family" line to make it seem like they aren't that greedy athlete we all know them to be. I do believe that the owners in all sports are getting over on all athletes based on the ROI of having a Super Bowl, NBA Championship, World Series, and Stanley Cup team. However, College presidents have been doing the same thing for years without having to pay any of their athletes. But I digress back to my initial reason for this post...So these athletes try to cover the real meaning of their actions which is pride. I don't think it has anything to do with the money although it is a nice bi-product. The true reasons for wanting to receive the bigger contract is that we feel we are evaluated based on what another is willing to pay for our services/skills. Similar to corporate America where we want that promotion or the raise to show others and ourselves that the company values our skill set. The sad thing is that these athletes have put their innocent families out there as the scapegoats for why they are trying to increase their contract from 50 Million to 60 Million. Which is amazing given that with smart decisions any family should be able to live off of the revenue of their initial contract of 5-7 million over the first 3-5 years. What they fail to mention is they need that extra 10 million to support the lifestyle. How else would we be able to floss on Cribs if we aren't the highest paid in our profession. But I wouldn't put all the blame solely on the athletes. Most are raised being told how great they are or are going to be and how they will be the next big star. So when they make it to this scene of their life what else would you expect them to act like besides thinking they should be compensated as the biggest star. I'll step down off my soap box now but I hope next time we hear about a star wanting more money the true reasons are given which are A) they want to be valued by their employer and B) They'd also like to have the resources to show everyone how big of a star they are through material items instead of only on the field/court.

Travel Woes

What is up with my recent traveling issues? Well I guess it has been limited to when I fly. I hesitate to even comment on this since I'm not home so it may cause my trip back to be thrown out of whack even further. It all started back in like April or May when a flight out of Chi City was delayed then canceled and we were lucky enough to drive home for that semi-ok 5-6 hour drive. Not bad you say but that is the tip of the iceberg. Then I going to NY week before the 4th and we experience a 2 hour delay which causes a meeting we were set to have to be canceled. Then once I get there and have a good time, we miss our flight back home and are forced to drive home because of overbooked flights for the holiday. Only a 12 hour drive. And that leads me to today where my flight is canceled and requires me to fly through Dallas who then decides to switch my gate 5 times to only have it end at the initial gate we were set to fly out of when we arrived. I didn't have to drive but I did land 4 hours later than I expected. I guess you would think I would have learned by now but thats not the case...I'm hard-headed...

Real Men of Genius

Not sure if you've seen the spots on TV for the Real Men of Genius from Budweiser. They are rather entertaining with recognitions of guys who where too much cologne or the guys who created foot long hot dog. Well I decided to recognize the inventors I really appreciated. To avoid this being another top ten list I've decided to list them alphabetically and . This list will serve to recognize those individuals who were ahead of their time. I've not done the research to gather actual names so if you know who the person is please add their name so they can be deservingly recognized.

Bowling Alley Neon Lights inventor - This rocket scientist took a sport that most people aren't good at and made it even more difficult to master by making it harder to see the pins. He was probably an alcohlic.
Color Copier inventor - This genious took the regular copier and added colored ink to it. BRILLIANT! What is really funny is this guy was color blind.
Freon inventor - every A/C or Refrigerator would be useless without this. He had to be a cool guy.
Gas Guage Milage inventor - He was able to take an available tool tool, the gas guage, and add an equation to tell you how many miles you can go before your car would require kinetic energy to move. Probably not a fan of the procrastinator.
Light Beer inventor - again adapting another product such that you are able to it as a "healthier" option to regular beer. Why hasn't someone come out with Light Cigarettes?


I've assumed that all these were invented by Men but if you have a storng argument why a woman would have evented any of these I'd love to hear it.

Back in the Day

When we were kids we always tried to grow-up but now that we are smack dab in the middle of being grown up it seems we try to hold on to things from childhood. So here is my list of the Top Ten things from Childhood that I wish I still had:

10. Naptime
9. Allowance for doing house work
8. Free room and board
7. Back to School Clothes
6. Summer Vacations that lasted 3 months
5. Measuring your age in 1/2 & 1/4 (i.e. I'm 12 & 3/4 old)
4. Flashlight/Freeze/etc. Tag
3. Snow days
2. Recess in the middle of every day
1. Tator Tots, Square pizza, and chocolate milk at Lunch for $2.25

In the beginning...

So I figured I should join the masses and set up my Blog. Not sure I'll be any good at keeping up with it but it should give me a chance to let out some of my thoughts and interesting insights in the world as seen through my eyes. I can't promise that it'll be a consistent flow of postings but we'll see how inspired I become.

Right now the one thing I want to stress for everyone is to go pick up a PSP. The PSP is going to change mobile entertainment as we know it. Not too mention they have created a PS Link that allows you to share games like Madden between your PSP and PS2. (Most likely PS3 will follow as well) So don't be left behind and go get it today.

Also - Call your mom today and say thanks and that you love her. If you are anything like me you probably don't do that enough.

More to come...