On Jerry Jones, The Super Bowl Ticket Issue, And Other NFL Notes: the “what do we do now that the seasons’s really over” edition:
By Dr. Bill Chachkes-Executive Editor-Football Reporters Online
So what are you supposed to do now that the season’s really over? Count the days to the Lockout? (18 after today)…It Didn’t take too long for the seating mess at the taj McJerry (Cowboys stadium) to boil over post super bowl. The Question is ”why “was it so important for Mr. Jerruh Jones to have the attendance record? To put it in one word: MONEY! I guess it’ll be awhile before he gets another SB there again,..like maybe SB 60,..if he is still running the team in 15 years, Jones should be glad that Roger Goodell came to his rescue by offering MOST of those effected a ticket to next years or any game of their choice,..plus three times the face of those bleacher seats..Oh yeah,..Al Davis is 80’something,..Jerry wants that record too, Oldest living active owner….Give the UFL credit for making a smart move by keeping the franchises limited to sustainable cities and the number down to 5 teams until they figure out what happened in Florida. If the NFL has not solved it’s labor issues by August, the UFL might be the only game in town, since they moved upo the start of their season to the first weekend of that month.…Congrats to our pal Jim Fassel, who is now also the Team President of the Las Vegas Locos as well as Head Coach & GM….Congrats to Jay Gruden for getting the DC job in Cincy…Our Heart goes out to poor Demaryius Thomas, he was working out in Atlanta and tore his Achilles Tendon, he could be out up to 8 months….I tore mine in a pick up Basketball game in 1990 and it’s never been the same…Thomas’ Bronco receiving mate Eddie Royal also just had hip surgery, so maybe another wide out is in the Broncos’ cards for the draft…Or will new Head coach John Fox switch the team to the 4-3 defense and draft 2 or 3 “Stud” defenders?....With Oakland on the rise and drafting in the middle of the pack, could they be planning some moves besides giving DE Richard Seymour the Franchise tag?...One good move was for New Head Man Hue Jackson to Hire Ex-Raiders LB Greg Biekert as that unit’s coach. Biekert was a defensive assistant for the raiders last season and spent nine of his eleven season playing as a Raider linebacker….meanwhile that hapless franchise known as the San Deigo(super) Chargers have to deal with losing Darren Sproles, franchising Vince Jackson(which would make him happy because it would still be a raise) the continued mediocre play of Phillip Rivers and dropping the price on some 6000+ seats for the 2011 season….It’s ok if they stink next season, the folks in SD will just go surfing….My Dear late mother used to say if you can say anything nice don’t say anything, but it doesn’t mean you can’t think it…..So can you guess what I’m thinking about those Pats fans who are still whining about not being in the SB this year, and how they would have beaten the Packers(I doubt it) or any other NFC team(yeah,..ok)….Hey at least your coach got the Coach of the year award….someone get me some pepto…That award should have gone to the SB winning Coach Mike McCarthy…So what if Jets QB Mark Sanchez has poor judgement? The Girl is clearly a “serial Star-dater, as evidenced by her retaining a Los Angeles lawyer who’s writing nasty letters to Deadspin’s Editor…Sure “E.K.” we got ya covered…we know what your up to…..I‘ve been hearing some unsavory things about a certain College all-star game…but I think it’s wise to heed mother’s advice on that one, but I will say this,…how can you claim to be a scout and offer player management services at the same time?? I keep hearing about all these “NEW” pro football leagues starting up, but when we dug into one of the “supposed” new start-ups, they hadn’t even rented a facility to run a combine….shame on them for deceiving the poor unsuspecting players…I am hearing some good things coming out of Canada about a new tv network that’s hiring a certain football writer you all know for a segment each week…and last but not least, I found some vintage football cards in my collection, one of which will go to the lucky winner of a contest we did on a collectable’s radio show last week…
Between my trip to the combine and the Draft I have 2 speaking engagements, so I’ll have to brush up on my stand up so when I sit down they’ll be laughing so hard they will forget what I say….see you all next week.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Mubarak Stepping Down: Congrats Twitter, Facebook, YouTube & Blogs
That dramatic video was uploaded just minutes ago by AlJazeeraEnglish on YouTube and from a camcorder used just over an hour ago. Twitter's Top Trends list "Congrats Egypt" among the list as this is written. And again and again, Eqyptian protest groups were organized using the social network called Facebook as a base. And when that wasn't the case, the focal point was a blog, most notably, the Young Leaders Social Media Cafe.
The dramatic announcement that after three-decades of rule, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek (really a dictator more than what we think of when the title "President" is used) has stepped down and given way to a new, free Egypt, is both pleasing and shocking. It gives us pause and causes us to look back at what we've created: this giant and growing "digital mirror" on World industrial society. And we're asking ourselves "Do we like we see," and in many cases, we're saying "NO!"
The fall of a dictatorship in Egypt is perhaps the best example of our desire to change ourselves to date. But we can't ignore the impact of digital communications and social media: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, blogs on Blogger, Wordpress, and Tumblr (to name some of the platforms), and photo sharing sites like Flickr.
Wow, what a day. What a time to be alive!
Mubarak Steps Down Giving Power to Military
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt is stepping down after holding office for 30 years, and now all the power will be left in the hands of the military, reports ABC News.
The news of his resignation has made the Egyptians feel as though they are now free - which is quite odd, because if the military was given all the power of the government within the United States we would be not be singing the same tune. But ABC News reports:
"Men, women and children alike -- many with tears in their eyes -- flooded into Cairo's streets as the atmosphere turned from one of determination to pure ecstasy. People streamed into Tahrir Square dancing, honking their car horns and waving flags. Fireworks were later held in the square that has become the heart of the uprising."
The Christian Science Monitor reports that many people in Egypt trust that the military will "play a caretaker role and ensure a democratic transition."
Kraft, Mars, Nestle, Hershey - think before you buy that Valentine
The folks at 
GreenAmerica.org are determined to to promote green and Fair Trade business practices and end corporate abuse -- to make you aware before you buy chocolate and without realizing you might be supporting a company that exploits children, for instance.
♥ You can visit their website, or check out the chart (below) to compare the performance of brands you may or may not know. Of course, as chocolate buying peaks over the next few days...
GreenAmerica.org are determined to to promote green and Fair Trade business practices and end corporate abuse -- to make you aware before you buy chocolate and without realizing you might be supporting a company that exploits children, for instance.♥ You can visit their website, or check out the chart (below) to compare the performance of brands you may or may not know. Of course, as chocolate buying peaks over the next few days...
"More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold on February 14th, adding to the total 58 million pounds of chocolate to will be sold during the week of the most romantic holiday of the year....it helps to understand just what the different certifications mean, and to do more than merely making deliberate choices. You can also spread the word, and communicate directly with companies such as Hershey to let them know you consider their business practices before you make your purchases.
Consumers are expected to purchase more than $345 million on chocolate treats for their beloveds."
"...every time a consumer purchases non-Fair Trade chocolate, they are putting money in the pockets of people who run a system based largely on forced child labor.
The U.S. State Department estimates more than 15,000 child slaves work on plantations in the Ivory Coast. Children are taken from their homes by traffickers for the very purpose of supporting the country's largest export crop: cocoa."
Here are some basic definitions, courtesy of GreenAmerica.org:
Organic certification does not include labor rights standards. The program does not address wages, prices to producers, or management of cooperatives. Organic means 100% of the ingredients of a product be certified organic to earn the label. Fair Trade prohibits forced labor, child labor, and discrimination, and protects freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. Fair Trade certified farmers are guaranteed a "floor price" for their cocoa beans, as well as a social premium. Fair Trade producers are required to form democratic cooperatives.
The IMO Fair for Life certification guarantees that human rights are protected at all stages of production, with a strong focus on hired laborers, as they are often the most marginalized in the supply chain. Fair for Life guarantees that smallholder farmers receive fair payment and that workers enjoy good and fair working conditions. The Fair for Life system prevents forced and child labor and also includes detailed environmental criteria. Fair For Life certified products must use Fair Trade ingredients if available, and regardless, 50% of all ingredients must be Fair Trade in order for a product to bear the seal.
The Rainforest Alliance (RA) standards prohibit the use of forced labor, child labor, and discrimination. The right to organize on RA-certified farms is not a critical criteria. RA does not require buyers to pay a specific minimum floor price for cocoa beans. Only 30% of the primary ingredient needs to be certified in order to earn an RA label.
And what about Nestle's UTZ Certification? UTZ was founded by Guatemalan coffee producers and the Ahold Coffee Company in 1997 and launched a cocoa plan 10 years later; it prohibits forced labor, however no organizations with a specific expertise in labor rights are included on the Board of Directors. So, while it protects the right to organize and bargain collectively, the price is solely based on negotiations between the buyers and farmers. Paying the legal minimum wage is required only after the first year of certification.
Now, what label is on your chocolate? ♥
Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Democratic Campaign Manager, strategist, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.
Super Bowl XLV Ticket Fiasco: Bleachers Under Construction
This photo shows the temporary seats installed at the 400 level of Cowboys Stadium that, in some cases, were not signed off by the Arlington Fire Marshall in time for Super Bowl XLV. The photo was taken by DCVBphotos on January 19th, and using an using an Apple iPhone 3G.
As you can see, the temporary seats are metal bleachers and were in the middle of being built. (Notice the back seat stand fence that was placed on the seat in the middle ground.) From experience in heading the Oakland bid for the 2005 Super Bowl that Jacksonville won, I can say they were really playing with some access issues with those seats.
First, the area that the seats were installed in is a corridor; thus the space between the bleacher seats and the blue permanent seats is really narrow. This is what Stu Guskind was referring to in my video interview.
You can see from the photo that each of the sections going down was "filled in" with these bleacher seats. I'd love to see a photo of what it looked like during the Super Bowl game. I'll bet it was chaotic for those people able to even get in the stadium to get to their seats.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a plan to compensate Super Bowl patrons who never got to their seats because the fire marshall didn't approve them. Click here for info on his plan.
Stay tuned.
NFL Commissioner's Super Bowl XLV Ticket Refund Plan Announced
The National Football League posted Commissioner Roger Goodell's plan to refund tickets purchased by attendees of Super Bowl XVL (where The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 35 to 21) within the NFL Media website.
If you recall, what was reported as 500, but really is a total of 2,000, Super Bowl Patrons were impacted by the Dallas Cowboys plan to break the Super Bowl attendance record by installing bleacher seats. The problem was the action was done at the last minute; the fire marshall had not signed off on the new seats.
One of the patron impacted was my friend Stewart Guskind. He shared his experience in this video:
Here's the NFL press release:
18 hours ago, Brian McCarthy of the NFL sent this tweet (@nflprguy) that has an email for fans to use:
Stay tuned.
If you recall, what was reported as 500, but really is a total of 2,000, Super Bowl Patrons were impacted by the Dallas Cowboys plan to break the Super Bowl attendance record by installing bleacher seats. The problem was the action was done at the last minute; the fire marshall had not signed off on the new seats.
One of the patron impacted was my friend Stewart Guskind. He shared his experience in this video:
Here's the NFL press release:
2,000 SUPER BOWL XLV ATTENDEES IN TEMPORARY SEATING SECTIONS TO RECEIVE FACE-VALUE TICKET REFUND OR FREE SUPER BOWL TICKET
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced today that approximately 2,000 fans in the temporary seating sections at Super Bowl XLV will receive a choice of either a refund of the face-value amount of their ticket or a free ticket to a future Super Bowl game of their choice. These 2,000 fans were significantly delayed in gaining pre-game access to their seats due to the problems with the installation of some of the temporary seats at Cowboys Stadium.
Once their Super Bowl XLV ticket is validated, these fans can choose to receive one of the following: 1) a refund of the face value of their ticket, OR 2) one free ticket to one Super Bowl game of their choice. Eligible fans, subject to appropriate review and verification, are those that held tickets in any of the following sections:
Sections 426A, 427A, 428A, 429A -- all rows and all seats
Section 425A -- Row 11 seats 22-33; Rows 12-18 seats 22-31; Rows 19-32 seats 22-33; Row 33 seats 22-36
Section 430A -- Row 11 seats 1-12; Rows 12-18 seats 3-12; Rows 19-33 seats 1-12
Fans who had tickets in any of those sections and rows should go to www.nfl.com/sb45reseating and enter the required ticket and other information. Fans should retain their tickets to help in the validation process.
The plan announced today is separate from the one announced on Tuesday by Commissioner Goodell to the approximately 400 fans that were denied a seat. Those 400 fans can choose one free ticket to next year's Super Bowl game plus a cash payment of $2,400 or one free ticket to any Super Bowl game plus round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations provided by the NFL. In the event of a work stoppage that impacts next year’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis, the fan would have a choice of one free ticket to the next Super Bowl.
NFL senior staff members so far have personally contacted 260 of the 400 fans to explain their options and how to confirm and fulfill their choice.
There were 13,000 temporary seats installed at Cowboys Stadium for Super Bowl XLV. The Arlington Fire Marshall inspected and cleared for use 11,740 of those seats.
Commissioner Goodell has initiated a complete review of the matter, including all seating and stadium entrance issues.
18 hours ago, Brian McCarthy of the NFL sent this tweet (@nflprguy) that has an email for fans to use:
NFLprguy Brian McCarthy
We've spoken to nearly 250 of 400 fans who didn't receive seats @ #sb45. Pls email SBXLV@nfl.com if u haven't heard from us
Stay tuned.
Taylor Corley Playboy Pictures Gets VH1 Reality TV Show
But doesn't this all smack of the greatest hypocrisy? College Cheerleaders are basically showing it all, or most of it. Playboy models are showing it all, or most of it. So why is it that Taylor Corley has to make a decision between college and modeling, rather than the University itself making a little coin?
Think about it.
To take advantage of this, all of the cheerleaders below 18 would have to quit, just to be on the safe side. And those remaining would have to get parental consent to be involved. And the cheerleaders would get a cut of the money earned.
This is the logical thing to do, but America's puritan ethic is a hard deal to overcome. Still, no one can say it's not worth a try, in some way.
Cal Athletics Cut Decision Never Had Thursday Deadline - Mogulof
It didn't happen.
Instead, UC Berkeley spokesperson UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof told the blog Berkeleyside not only that Thursday wasn't the date, but...
"I also need to state in no uncertain terms that the anonymously sourced stories claiming that the process has been completed and a final decision rendered are categorically false. If that was the case we would have had news to share today."
What?
Ok, to briefly recap, last fall Cal Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and athletic director Sandy Barbour were expected to have some statement on the future of the sports on the hook, as well as what the impact of the Save Cal Sports effort, said to have raised between $12 million and $14 million of the $25 million needed.
Which at one point last year was $80 million.
From a systems standpoint, at a university where the systems approach was born, it's unfortunate to see a that such thinking has no role in decision-making. Or to put it another way, and I ask this again, why isn't raising the $25 million the focal point for a University-led funding drive?
I still get the impression Cal doesn't really care to save the five sports beyond the hue and cry of the alumni who formed the "Save Cal Sports" movement.
Let's do some reverse engineering and take that effort out of the picture. There would have been no advocate for the Cal sports in question within UC Berkeley and enough to fill the void the Save Cal Sports effort is itself filling.
The Chancellor needs to get on the phone and make some calls, not just the alums. Robert needs to start "The Chancellor's Fund," and not let a bunch of alums beat him. I'm sure Sandy's doing that herself, but Robert needs to do that too.
He can't be the person who's on the field when we win The Big Game...
But won't roll up his sleeves and get involved in building a champion by dialing for dollars.
We've got to see that Chancellor B's right in their, too.
GO BEARS!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks 83rd Academy Awards Presenters
Since Tom Hanks is a Member of the Board of Governors of AMPAS, it's a fair bet he'll reprise his 2010 role in naming who gets the Oscar Best Picture Award. As to who else is slotted where, I'm going to bet that Nicole Kidman's going to be involved in one of the "best" award categories.
But with that, there's still 17 days, more names, and still not a lot of color. It would be nice to see AMPAS fearlessly attack this problem.
Of course, there's a lot we don't know; just because AMPAS asks a celeb to present or perform doesn't mean the person's going to do it.
But sill, we can wish for: Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, John Cho, Halle Berry, Tyler Perry, Sidney Poitier, Zoe Saldana, and Jennifer Lopez.
Stay tuned.
Ongo: New Media Aggregator For NY Times, AP, Established Brands
Ongo, with Alex Kazim as its CEO, was started with a $12 million first tranche of funding (not bad) from Gannett Company, The New York Times Company, and The Washington Post Company (not VC firms at all), it combines the following established news print media brands: The Associated Press, The Guardian, Slate, The Boston Globe The Miami Herald, USA TODAY, Financial Times, New York Times Picks, The Washington Post, The Indy Star, The Kansas City Star, The Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, Detroit Free Press, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and other print titles. (not The San Francisco Chronicle as of this writing.)
You have to subscribe to get its information, which is news content from those publications. Ongo is an "inny" or what's called a "closed loop." A system, (1) the existence of which you have to know about as a brand, and then (2) information's sent out to you and (3) only after you pay for it.
That's three reasons why Ongo's going to have a hard time building revenue off the $12 million start. Here's another problem.
As of this writing (in case they fix it), I go to the Ongo website, and right at the top I see three links: "Ongo Is.., How Ongo Works, and in large letters, SUBSCRIBE.
Ok, so I click on SUBSCRIBE expecting to know what the cost to do so is, right? Makes sense. When I click on the link, I'm taken to a page that's just a bunch of simple HTML entry fields, and nothing - not a thing - telling me how much the subscription is, and for how long. According to The Examiner's Romona Paden, it's $6.99 per month, but that must have come from the PR folks, because guess what...it's not listed on the dog-on Ongo website!
And I'm supposed to just enter my credit card number anyway? As the folks on ESPN's NFL Prime Time say "C'MOM MAN!"
So, I'm looking around to find out the cost of subscription to Ongo, and I can't find a single mention of a price.
That's bad.
It's also a major deterrent to getting subscribers.
Kevin Skaggs, who did a good job of running SFGate.com, is the Chief Content Officer for Ongo, so this business falls into his lap. Kevin, you should have called me to beta test the damn thing, because I'd have pointed this problem out straight away then, instead of now, in print, online.
Or, that could be why you didn't call me. But I digress.
NY Times Really Committed To This?
If the New York Times is really committed to this new media effort, it could promote it at NY Times.com. But, there's no top link with the Ongo logo in it. In fact, the Facebook login button, a great way to promote Facebook, is prominent.
Ongo Arrogance
The problem with Ongo, called Hulu for news, is the idea that people want to get their news from a bunch of newspaper brands that are dying in print. The problem with not having any basis in a real open-loop, web platform, competing for search engine space with other brands, is the ability to piggy-back off popular stories online and gain subscribers and views, and value, is totally lost. This was a bad idea.
I see the "immediate" cognitive hit that making a "Hulu for news" is to those who don't know how to make their own websites, but the fact is print does not have one thing going for it that television has: TV makes its own original content.
Because TV makes original content, I can go to Hulu and see shows that are hard to get online anywhere else. Ongo's not presenting original online content, just stuff that I can get at The Huffington Post. Which was just bought by AOL for $315 Million.
The fact that Gannett, and not a VC firm, made this $12 million investment is telling. It means no VC would touch it for that much money. VC's want to see page view potential - something like 4 billion unique visitors a year. That calls for an online platform that Ongo is not - now.
I wish Ongo and Kevin luck, but this "inny" thinking's not the way to go.
Eliza Kruger Pictures Make Mark Sanchez Seem Pervy
Mark Sanchez of the Jets is 24-years-old and he is dating Eliza Kruger. Kruger is 17-years-old and is the daughter of a hedge fund manager in New York. The laws in New York and New Jersey allow the two to date so that is not an issue, but although the two are allowed to date there is still something wrong with someone under 18 giving out compromising photos.
The Stir is a Cafe Mom blog which writes about the sexy pictures of Kruger that have showed up on the Internet. The blogger writes:
But go looking for proof of Mark Sanchez and Eliza Kruger in flagrante delicto, and you're more than just a perv. You're a pedophile. If you want to see lascivious pictures of Eliza Kruger, you're committing a crime under federal law. Whether she's legally allowed to have sex or not, at 17 she falls under the federal child pornography statute regardless of who took the photos (yes, even if she took them of herself to send to Marky boy). That includes any picture that:
"Depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and is obscene, or depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in graphic bestiality, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex and such depiction lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."
DeadSpin has an entire expose on the relationship of the two which is called "The Somewhat Romantic Story of March Sanchez And A 17-Year-Old Girl," the entire article written is pretty epic, and the word epic is overused but in this case it is quite all right. The article is worth reading to get the whole background information on the two. It gives Kruger's account of what happened and how the two met: which include hotel rooms and threatening e-mails and all sorts of interesting tid bits. It includes a shot from Kruger's Facebook. At that time her name had not been released and she was only known as E.K:
The photos will not be posted on Zennie62.com, and no one from Zennie62 Media has seen the photos so all of this is based on what other sources have to say, because the photos have not been seen first hand.
Eliza Kruger Pictures: Mark Sanchez 17 Year Old Deadspin Victim
That's largely for the reasons stated in this space yesterday and in the video, below:
Also, it's because Deadspin's doing a LOUSY job of protecting its real source - Kruger. They're just spilling everything she's shared with them onto the space of their blog site.
Awful!
Let's get one thing straight here: Eliza Kruger didn't ask for this. It happened because someone claiming to be associated with Deadspin - but Al Daulerio, Deadspin's Editor says is not - contacted her and threatened to tell what they knew.
And if Daulerio and deadspin had nothing to do with the contact, why get involved by using the person's information? Think about it.
According to Deadspin, for Eliza Kruger it all started this way:
A threatening email was sent to me from someone by the name [name redacted] who claims to be doing research for you, it regards Mark Sanchez picking up a girl in a club around new years. The tip was originally sent from a [name redacted]. If you could explain what is going on here I would greatly appreciate it because so far I am being threatened w media exposure regarding false accusations and slander.
And then, today, Deadspin prints this email message that was sent from her:
Well I'm still "close" w mark and he knows about you so jets pr was like here how's you handle it, I don't want to betray him but I don't want to let him play me like this, if this comes out like I technically sold this then I can risk any jobs or college in the future. They may not want me if I "sold" the story. So publish what you no and ill just be like it was a deceitful friend of mine. You no? So my future isn't ruined but mark doesn't get everything. He is a genuine person but not necessarily good to women. You know?
Wow. Talk about throwing a source under the bus. Eliza's 17 and is obviously in way over her head. Instead of Deadspin taking steps to protect themselves and her, they just went buck wild, all over the place.
We're not talking about someone running for public office, or who's a public official, we're talking about an innocent person. One who's not threatening anyone, and probably has a very good heart. She just wanted to have a good time with a star.
There's no crime in that.
Deadspin's played fast and lose with the email messages sent, especially the one from Eliza mentioning how Sanchez is "not necessarily good to women. You know?"
Nice, Deadspin. Gain a young woman's trust, then use it to crap all over her.
That's not cool at all.
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