Update on ... SPORTS!

OK - So - I've been a little preoccupied with "life stuff" over the last few months and I just figured it was WAY too long since I've written a sports related post... I don't have any specific topic to dive into - so I just thought I'd give my take on my favorite teams and some other random commentary ...

My Favorite Teams:

• I told myself that I'm going to give Rich Rodriguez a couple of years before I jumped to judgment.  College Football is all about having players to fit your system - and especially in Rich Rodriguez's case - he needs time before being fairly evaluated ... This all said ... I've watched most of our games this year - and while I recognize we have a lot of young players in important positions - I have found myself saying "that was not a good coaching decision" on a number of occasions ... I can't say that I'm necessarily "hopeful" that UM is less patient than I'm trying to be .... I just want to beat Ohio State in 2 weeks .... You do that Mr. Rodriguez and we're cool.
• I like what I'm seeing as a long-time Dol-Phan.  There will be no play-off appearance this year - but I feel like we have a solid situation brewing ... I believe in The Tuna and Tony Sparano .... Although I like Chad Pennington, I feel like giving Chad Henne this year full of low expectations will do wonders for him down the road.  Our offensive line is solid and we have good mix of veteran and young pieces on both sides of the ball ... Look for the Phins to win the AFC East in 2010 ... Yes - that's right.
• The Miami Heat are 6-2, although they haven't beaten any team that is going to fight for an NBA Championship.  Both losses were to teams that should be doing that in June...  This said - we all know that the Heat are playing for 2010 - without coming out and saying that because D. Wade has put the pressure on to be competitive now.... I think the Heat are doing that.  Jermaine O'Neal has potential to be a solid #3 contributor as does Be-Easy Beasley but Jermaine is a couple of years removed from being a #2 and Beasley is a couple years early from being a #2 (and I think he can be ... I think he's Rasheed Wallace-esque when it's all said and done for him).  Pat Riley did a good enough job in the off-season getting Q. Richardson (D. Wade's friend) to help with veteran play during crunch time and signing Carlos Arroyo as the back-up point-guard.  (I'm sorry but Chris Quinn was never the answer there).  If I'm any team in the East, I don't want to play the Heat in the play-offs merely because Dwayne Wade can single-handaly win a Championship himself (like he did in 2006) depending on the match-ups.  So as of now - I have the Heat getting to at least the 2nd round of the play-offs this year and perhaps farther depending on the match-up...
• Michigan Hoops is getting some hype.  Top 15 pre-season ranking (Honestly cannot remember the last time this happened ... Fab Five maybe ... seriously). My favorite player on the team is DeShawn Sims (he's so under-rated) but the hype is around Manny Harris (I think he's over-rated).  The pieces around them both are typical John Beilen shooters/scrappers - but I'm not buying that Michigan is any true National Championship threat just yet.  I will enjoy watching games this year - and will be rooting/watching with a lot of interest - but it's just been so long that I could have confidence in our hoops program that I forgot what it feels like...

General Sports Commentary:

• I have a genuine love the NFL - but I'm starting to get really annoyed but the NFL Media Machine... I don't care that Vernon Davis "called out" the team that he's playing this week... I didn't need to hear about Brett Favre and his trip to Green Bay 1000 times in the week leading up to the game ... It's gotten to the point that I really don't like mainstream NFL media coverage.  I get enough from my weekly fantasy research that I do on my own online...
• I saw pieces of that Tim Donaguey book that the publisher canceled.  Seemed REALLY interesting - and while it appears he has Jose Canseco-like credibility - I still think it's interesting... Can't we get Mark Cuban to pay someone to look back to the video on all the specific cases he mentions to see if there is some validity?
  
• I've heard of some fantasy leagues that kick-out teams if they come in last place for two years+ in a row ...  Can't the major sports leagues do the same?  The Cleveland Browns, Memphis Grizzlies, Pittsburgh Pirates .... There needs to be some penalty for not competing over a certain stretch of time ... call it 10 years then ... Just seems fair.  Plenty of cities would support franchises and expansion just isn't going to happen in any of the major sports leagues anytime soon.
• Seriously - the NHL is still in business?  Crosby, Ovechin, blah, blah, blah.  I've got no interest - and only have one friend who even follows the sports anymore ...
• Loved watching the World Series of Poker.  I know a lot of people (especially women) don't get it -- but I love watching Hold em on TV.  A 21 year old (from the University of Michigan!) won the Main Event!  Can you imagine getting $8.5 Million after graduating college??  Nuts.

That's it.  Hopefully it won't be so long in between my sports related posts...

Oh Crap - I'm "that guy"

It's inevitable - but when you get to certain points of your life - you sometimes look back and say, "Shit - I promised myself when I got here - that I wouldn't do X" ... Well, earlier this week - I got that feeling...

You see - my daughter is obviously the cutest thing in the world in my mind. And you combine the general cutest thing in the world + a very cute Halloween costume, and you get a father who is busting at the seams to share pictures with people.... So - Yes - I was "that guy."

Ideally, I'd be someone who is happy to share pictures - but acknowledges that seeing pictures of peoples' kids is a polite, socially acceptable thing - but not something most people will value even close to as much as each individual parent. Ideally I wouldn't be someone who shoves his iPhone in front of people who haven't even finished the sentence of "Oh - do you have (shove) ........ pictures?"

I hate being the cliche'. I don't feel any less proud or amazed at my daughter's cute-ness -- but I would like to not be "that guy."

So ... please be patient as I get used to this new phase of my life - and I promise to try and not be "that guy" for long....

My New Punctuality Reality

Apparent from my long delay in blog posts ... The concept of "Time" is something I recently have lost a bit of sense on.

Traditionally, I HATE being late. For some reason - I get this anxious feeling in my gut if I told someone I would meet them at 8 PM - and 730PM rolls around and Amy is still asking me which dress I like better ... Even if I KNOW the person/people I'm meeting don't care if I'm late or not - I just hate being late - period. Maybe it's because I remember as a little boy - waiting at various after school activities and being the last one picked up. At the time - I don't think I really cared - but perhaps it did something to my future subconscious...

Anyway -- fast forward to current times. Being on time is pretty much now a pipe-dream for me. I have a 9 week old - and we are first time parents. Our "schedule" is fluid - and there is no way to change that. So ... From now on - I will always include "ISH" at the end of my scheduling conversations....I still get a bit anxious if I'm running late - but perhaps now I care more about making sure my daughter is happy/comfortable/safe than anything else... ;)

So - this is my warning. I'm not sure how long it's going to last - or for that matter if it will ever change - but I'm most likely going to be late to things. I'm going to try my best - and I will feel bad if I'm late - but just know that you've been warned.

See you later-ish.

My life will never be the same

There's an obvious reason why it's been 4 weeks since my last blog post... 3 weeks ago - my life changed forever. Amy and I welcomed our BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Alexa, to the world on August 17th, 2009 at 4:59 PM. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 15.4 ounces and was 19.25 inches long.

Needless to say - we've been overwhelmed on several different accounts. We are first time parents - so it goes without saying we've got a lot to learn. I was telling a few people the other day that the past 3 weeks have felt like 3 months+. It probably wasn't the best time to start a new job - but at this point I feel like it gives Amy and I story #1 that will annoy the heck out of our daughter ("When you were born - your dad started a new job ... you had a hard time digesting... oh brother!).

Anyway - a couple observations from the first few weeks:

• People warned us that we may not feel the love and connection to our daughter right away - and that it's natural to learn to love over time ... Well - it may happen to some people - but it definitely didn't happen to us. I get a smile on my face when I see her blank stare - my heart hurts when I see her cry ... Amy and I were both there minute 1. Now, I can obviously see my love growing as I get to know her and she's able to communicate - but the unconditional love started at 4:59 PM on August 17th.
• After about 42 hours of being parents - the hospital sends you home. Amy and I hired a baby-nurse (the original one we had planned for 9 months had an emergency the day we were going home). I feel lucky to be able to financially afford the luxury of a baby nurse - but I have no clue how people do it with any sanity without that kind of help. Sure - you can read books and go to classes (Amy and I went to 15 hours of birthing class) - but nothing will prepare you for the real-thing. I keep saying to myself, "Hey - it's been done for thousands of years" and "tons of people less intellectually gifted than Amy have done this - so we definitely can do it..." I still don't understand how those people do it...
• Breast feeding is CRAZY-hard. I'm so proud of Amy's patience over these first few weeks. People say "breast feeding is hard" - but I didn't come close in my mind to knowing really what they meant. It's damn hard - and fellas - not sure we could do it given the proper equipment - Just sayin...
• People love babies! I think we've gotten more presents for Alexa than we got for our wedding! If you're reading this and you haven't gotten a "Thank you note" - know that you're not alone. There is a 99.9% chance we got the gift - love it - and will be sending thank-you's, um - shortly (and by shortly I mean - I'm not sure when - but asap).
• If you haven't met Alexa yet - know that she is ADORABLE. (I'm not biased at all) I'm not sure if she cries as much or more than typical newborns - but I feel like that's just her way of getting her lungs ready for American Idol 2029. Amy thinks she'll be more of a "So You Think You Can Dance" prospect - which I'm totally supportive of - I just think the vocal practice in these first few weeks shows her dedication to AI.
• Finally - just a heads up that I'll probably be blogging less ... Watching MUCH less TV and movies ... Talking on the phone less ... watching less sports ... You get the picture. My hope is that you, my friends, will love me just the same - even though I may not be as "cultured" as I once was (HA!) and I'll probably talk about my daughter every 5 minutes or so (OK - If I do this - you can roll your eyes).

That's it for now ... Until the next time I get 30 minutes of free time...
Welcome Alexa! Your mother and I are SO happy that you're here and promise to love you forever!! ;)

A New Role at Google

Two weeks ago I passed the 6 year mark for working at Google. Over those 6 years I've really enjoyed what I did on the day-to-day. I would joke that it was "Retail Sales Strategery" - but it really was an amazing sales and marketing job. In the role - I was viewed more as an individual contributor who was an expert on particular topics that various advertisers were interested in learning "best practices" on ...

With that experience under my belt, it is time for me to do something a little different (where I can leverage the last 6 years), yet I still think Google is the best company in the world to work for - so - I'm really psyched to continue working at Google - but having a different job.

Starting in about 2 weeks - my new official title will be "Head of Industry, Retail" where I'll lead a team of 7-10 people who call-on and service some of the top retailer advertisers on the east coast. I'm really inspiring to become a great "people manager" and doing my part to attain our team goals.

Starting a new job is always exciting - and given that I'm doing so with the same company I truly believe in - I'm really looking forward to it...

DirectTV vs. Cable -- Need Advice

As football season approaches ... I've got an interesting decision to make.
In our new apartment - I'll be able to set-up a DirectTV satellite dish. In NYC - I've only ever known the Time Warner monopoly... I am pretty sure cost is about the same for both....

At this point - in terms of the "PRO'S" to keep Time Warner - I could only come up with a few:

• It's done. No more appointments, etc.
• My phone, Internet, and TV/Cable is from one provider - one bill.
• NY1

The PRO'S to change to DirectTV:

• NFL Package/NFL Network
• I don't have to deal with TimeWarner
• Tons of HD options
• Did I mention The NFL Package?
  

In terms of the CON'S for Time Warner - let's just say that I've hated them for 10+ years - so we can move on...Cons for DirectTV are:

• Internet comes from another provider and is "Satellite internet" - I'm a little sketched about it.
• Is the DirectTV connection/service in NYC gonna be clear given all the large buildings?
• Is Amy gonna be able to figure out the new DirectTV controls, etc? ;)

I'm looking for advice people .... Thoughts?

The price of drinks

If this was 10 years ago - I easily could have written a blog with the exact same title but talking about totally different kind of costly drinks. At this point - I'm not surprised when I order a $7 beer or $12 Jack-on-the-rocks. I'm not happy about it - but at this point - not surprised.

What I am surprised about is what I've noticed as the ridiculous inflation of non-alcoholic beverages at restaurants. On many occasions this summer, Amy or I have ordered a standard "Lemonade" because it's what we are in the mood for. Beverages aren't the typical menu item that you order off a menu ... You just know what you want .... Well - maybe I should start - because I've noticed that the price of lemonade in NYC is often $5- $6. Six dollars for 12 ounces of lemon, water, and sugar!?! Seriously? I can buy 128 ounces of lemonade for less than $6... Iced tea, sodas, etc are now all over $4 at a diner in NYC. Again - seriously?

Fast food companies have long known that beverages are where the REAL profit margin occurs - but at this point - I think I'm priced out of the non-water order. Now, I'm of the mindset that when you go out - you should order what you're in the mood for and should you not be able to afford it - that maybe you shouldn't go out to eat... but at the same time ... Knowing myself, I just don't think I'm ready to be able to enjoy a $6 lemonade.

Am I crazy?