momesso

2012 Cardinals - New Numbers

2012-01-15T12:03:00.000-06:00

Short and sweet this time. Curious about your predictions on how quickly...or how big of a star...will it take to open up uniform numbers 5, 10, 18?Before you answer, remember that Edmonds was barely out of town before his #15 was re-issued. Same goes for long-time Cardinal Ray Lankford's #16.Will the Cardinals allow the coaches' numbers of 10 (LaRussa) and 18 (Duncan) to be available this year? If so, does it go to just anyone, or does the player have to be a veteran...a star (i.e. Beltran who wants #15, but Furcal has that now).When is the right public relations timing to allow #5 to be on the back of another player? Do you turn the page immediately like Albert did to St. Louis when he "felt a connection with the Angels after a 30 minute phone conversation"?My thoughts: Coaches numbers are available for spring training. Pujols' #5 stays under wraps for another season to see what the true fan reaction is, then it is available. Though I would reissue the #5 immediately, I don't think the Cardinals will do that.What do you think?

Post A.P. Era Starts Now

2011-12-08T17:39:00.004-06:00

Huh, so the Cardinals stuck to their guns. The set a limit that they would not exceed, and they made that their final offer. Pujols called the bet and the Angels came away with a new first baseman. Here's my initial reaction: Good signing for the Angels for the first few years. No matter how they structured the deal they will get a couple very productive years out of Pujols. Then Albert hits 35 years old and that $25M a year (avg salary) begins to weigh the team down a bit. Pujols is an amazing player, but after 35 don't expect .330/35/120 numbers. I would expect .290/30/100 numbers. Still damn impressive, but not elite at that moment. Then look at those years from 2018 - 2021. Pujols will be around the 40 year old mark and will be exclusively a DH. Maybe he can keep up those numbers...but chances are they fade a little. Not because he can't hit at that point, but because he is missing games on the DL. Look for a strong average still, but power and production numbers down for the season total.

So, Pujols, congrats on signing a great contract for you. You needed to go to the AL so that you can ride off into the sunset as a DH, you did that. You needed to go to a team that has deep pockets in a big market, you did that. Thanks for the memories here in St. Louis. I am sorry to see you go, especially after your "it's not about the money", and "I want to finish my career in St. Louis" comments. But I understand. Listen, if another company comes to me and offers me significantly more money each year, in a better climate with a chance to make that organization the best in class for the next 10 years, I'd listen too. You are taking a chance here. You have no past with the Angels. If you don't do well right from the start, it will be a tough hill to climb. But you have the skills to make this work for you. Good luck.

Now, the Cardinals on the other hand have to feel like it is Christmas. Not because they just lost one of the best players of all time, but because they now have about $20M a year to go play with. We have a near-term 1B replacement in Berkman. Let's go get a SS and 2B and make this lineup incredible.

Let me dream:
SS Rollins
CF Jay
LF Holliday
1B Berkman
3B Freese
RF Craig
C Molina
2B TBD - almost has to be a trade as the market is thin
P Carpenter, Wainwiright, Garcia, Westbook, Lohse

With the right guy at 2B, you might even have to move Molina to #8. And there still is a bunch of money to fill the bench and RP.

It's time for Holliday to be the player he was in CO. He can put up Albert numbers, let's hope he helps us forget about a potential hole in the #3 spot in the order.

I can't wait for April 4 Opening Day!

-Serge

A Second Look At Keeping Pujols

2011-09-24T09:21:00.002-05:00

There have been two major signings since my last post about the economies of keeping Albert Pujols on the Cardinals in 2012 and beyond. Carpenter and the Cardinals agreed to a 2-year extension worth a total of about $21M and Lance Berkman resigned for one year and $12M. I also realized that I had been severely underestimating the salary that our CF-turned-2b makes. Schumaker is on a 2 year $4.7M contract. Let's enter in those salaries for 2012 and see where we are.

Holliday $17M ($120M over 7 years)
Molina $7M - assumes they pick up the team option for this amount
Wainwright $9M - just exercised his option + 2013 at $12M
Lohse $10.25M ($41M over 4 years)
Westbrook $8M ($16M over 2 years)
Garcia $7M ($27M over 4 years)
Berkman $12M
Carpenter $10M ($21 over 2 years)

That's $80.25M over 8 players not named Pujols.

Now let's pay our rookies and 2nd year players.
Craig $450k
Jay $450k
Freese $450k
Descalso $450k
Boggs $450k
Motte $450k
Salas $450k
Rzepzkyski $450k

That $3.6M is still going a long way. The Cardinals now have 16 players out of 25 with a total salary of $83.85M.

Factor in McClellan, Schumaker and a backup C. I thought that would run us about $4M. I think that Skip will almost get that alone. So let's bump it up to $6M for those 3 guys. (TOTAL = $89.85M for 19 players).

The 6 remaining spots are:
1B
SS
RP
RP
IF
OF

The veteran in the bullpen is McClellan. Probably need a little experience out there. Still think that will run about $5M. Is it time for Tyler Greene to move from AAAA to the Big Leagues? If so, he is cheap at about $450k. Sanchez comes back to the pen at his rookie salary ($450k). Nick Punto again as your backup infielder? He can't be making more than $1M, right? Some journeyman OF to spell CF when Jay needs a break might set the club back about $3M. So to fill all of those spots with basically a hope and a prayer will cost just about $10M. That leaves just about $20M left to fill 1B (again, assuming the salary level for the team is increased to only $120M).

The Cardinals are moving forward with their plans and forcing Albert a bit. "Albert, if you really like it here, here's what you can get". "We don't have any more money and we have a good supporting cast for you" - I see Mo saying this to Albert and his agent. Interesting how it is all unfolding. If Albert stays, be ready for lots of young players again in 2012. If Albert leaves, some of these holes can be plugged up with some other veteran talent.

Keep Pujols? The math makes it tricky.

2011-09-05T18:29:00.004-05:00

Even for us optimists, it's time to face the reality that 2011 is over for the Cards. They gave us all one last hope last week when they swept the Brewers in MIL. Since then they are 1-3 against the Reds and Brewers (AT HOME). There is a slightly better chance to capture the wild card over the Braves, but this team has not shown that they can string any wins together so I am ready to declare it "hockey season". So sad, too early.

So looking ahead to 2012 - I can't help but wonder if this team is better or worse with Pujols. Yes, he is the best player in baseball. Yes, he instills fear in the opposing team each time he comes up. But in most games, he bats 4 times. And Holliday has not proven to be a clutch #4 hitter to consistently make the opposing manager pay for pitching around Albert.

So I decided to take a financial look at the 2012 Cardinals. These salaries are not exact, I was able to find total value for player contracts, not year by year amounts, so many just represent the average amount over the course of the contract. Even with that said, my calculations should be within about $3-5M in the end. That's relatively close when guessing that the Cardinals will have to have a payroll of $120M next year should they want to even consider keeping Albert. This year, I believe their salary was in the $110M range.

Here's the big contracts on the books for 2012:
Holliday $17M ($120M over 7 years)
Molina $7M - assumes they pick up the team option for this amount
Wainwright $9M - just exercised his option + 2013 at $12M
Lohse $10.25M ($41M over 4 years)
Westbrook $8M ($16M over 2 years)
Garcia $7M ($27M over 4 years)

Those 6 players (2 hitters, 4 starting pitchers) = $58.25M or 48.5% of the $120M potential budget.
This means that $61.75M remains to fill in the final 19 roster slots (actually 34 as there is a major league roster of 40, but I'll do the math on the 25-man)

Carpenter has a team option for $15M, or a buyout for $1M. Bye, bye Chris! No room for that salary as that would leave only $46.75M for 18 players - or about $2.5M avg per player - still no Albert factored in.

Now let's load up the team with our inexpensive young talent. This year all of these guys made either the league minimum of $414k or maybe 10% more. Let's just figure each at $450 as they might get that 10% increase in pay for 2012.
Craig $450k
Jay $450k
Freese $450k
Descalso $450k
Boggs $450k
Motte $450k
Salas $450k
Rzepzkyski $450k

Getting these 8 guys before they are arbitration-eligible comes to an efficient $3.6M total. That just helped out the team quite a bit. Adding the $3.6M to the $58.25M and so far we have spent $61.85M on 14 players. Still have 11 slots to fill (still no Albert), still have $58.15M to spend.

Of these 11 spots, here's what we need to fill: 1B, SS, 4th OF, 5th OF, 2nd C, MI, CI, SP, RP, RP, RP.

Do you bring back McClellan? He will cost you about $1.5M. How about Schumaker? Roughly another $1.5M. A decent backup for Yadi? That typically runs about $1M. So there we have just spend another $4M to keep some inexpensive hometown veterans.

We have now spent $65.85M and need to fill 8 more slots.

Let's figure in Albert at this time. I will be very optimistic with this number of $25M a year (maybe he is getting another $3M deferred until he retires).

You now have your big horse in the middle of the lineup, you have made all of St. Louis happy, and you now have $29.15 left to spend on 7 more roster spots.

You will need to look for a reclamation project to be the 5th starter or hope that one of the guys at Memphis is ready. The Cards usually spend $5M on a #5 starter, it's fair to assume that track record will hold true. $24.15 remains.

There are two more reliever spots open. You so far have a bullpen with the highest salary of $1.5M in McClellan. Perhaps Sanchez comes back from his injury and is lights-out again and you step up to bring in a lefty specialist. All-in between the two you spend another $5M. $19.15 remains.

It's time to get an everyday SS who can cover some ground and swing the bat. Furcal seems to be a good fit, but his team option is at $12. That's probably a little high, maybe $8 is more like it for someone with his skill set - and that is a good fit for this team. You get Furcal or someone who is like him. Good work! You now have $11.15 left to spend.

Your last 3 spots are a CI (corner infielder) and 2 backup outfielders. Yes, this could all be covered from within. Maybe Tyler Greene gets a 3rd year try, perhaps Shane Robinson and Nick Stavinoha are all called upon. You have came in under budget by roughly $9M (don't forget you had to buy out Carp at $1M to not sign him for $15M). But let's look at that team

C - Molina
1B - Pujols
2B - Descalso
SS - Furcal-type guy
3B - Freese
LF - Holliday
CF- Jay
RF - Craig

SP - Wainwright
SP - Garcia
SP - Westbrook
SP - Lohse
SP - Duncan - reclamation project

RP - Salas
RP - Motte
RP - Boggs
RP - Sanchez
RP - Rzepzkyski
RP - McClellan
RP - lefty specialst du-jour

BENCH
C - Laird-type guy
MI - Schumaker
OF - Stavinoha
OF - Robinson
CI - Greene

Is this a playoff team? Is this championship team? Yes, there is another $9M to make improvements on any of these spots. Maybe that means bringing the Big Puma back for another year. What is so different about this 2012 and the 2011 team that could not do the trick? Sure you can replace some low-cost guys with other low-cost guys. But your home-bred players are going to the the cheapest. Even getting a mediocre guys with 5 years experience will cost you $3-5M a year. Quite a bit more than the $450k.

About the only way to make a $25M signing of Pujols work is to have 10-11 guys player near the league minimum. That's a lot of hope from the farm club.

Now imagine what that $25M spread over 2-3 positions does to the club? Upgrade your 2B and still get a very good 1B. Still with money to spare to bring in a proven bullpen arm. This team looks a little more well-rounded.

It will be hard to watch Albert crushing HR and reaching .300 / 30 / 100 every year for another team. But what are we really trying to do here? Watch a great player with lack of lineup and pitching support? Or watch a team compete for the World Series annually?

I leave you with one more question. Now look at 2013 - Lohse is off the books, Waino costs an additional $3M, Molina's contract is up and each of those cheap guys costs you maybe 10% for some, and a couple million more for those who are reaching arbitration. What does the team look like in 2013 and beyond?

Bici Cafe & the Full Moon

2011-08-15T21:57:00.002-05:00

Let me start by saying every bit of what you are about to read is real. I only wish I were making this up.

I want to like Bici, a local restaurant and bar that is just about 1 mile from our house. It has promise. It has a great location on Pershing in U. City. Has a great patio for the cooler summer nights and the food there is usually pretty good. It has the potential to be "our neighborhood restaurant and bar". But potential only gets you so far.

Tonight Misty and I decided to enjoy the nice evening and walk to Bici. We had nothing planned, so a 20 minute walk to and from dinner was going to be nice. We got to Bici around 7:45pm. There were people at about 5 of the outdoor tables and no one indoors. It took a minute for the bartender/waitress to seat us, but there we were, sitting among the other patrons. And we waited, and we waited. We had been at the table for about 5-6 minutes with no one coming to greet us. We imposed a "if no one is here by 5-till, we are leaving". As it happens the bartender/waitress showed up just before the buzzer.

Misty initially ordered a Rootbeer, but wisely chose an alcoholic drink thinking that she might need it for this dining experience. We had just purchased a Restaurant.com coupon for Bici where we were in essence going to get $15 of free food. "Let's stick it out". I ordered a glass of wine and we both emphatically asked for a glass of water each. Along with that we placed an order for the meatball appetizer.

We waited.

Finally, two drinks arrive - neither of them water. We asked again for the water as well.

We waited.

We sat there at the table while others were served. There were two servers tonight. Ours, and the apparent owner. They were struggling to keep up with the 5 tables counting a total of 11 guests. While the owner was in ear-shot I said to Misty, "I just hope they take our order sometime". This tactic worked and the owner stopped to ask us what we would like. I had noticed that one of the Seafood Specials was Pork Chop of a bed of Apple Risotto. I had to ask what part of the Pork Chop special was seafood. He explained that it was like that for about 3 weeks on the menu, and had just been caught a few days ago. He assured me that it was not seafood and I made it clear that I was not looking for seafood. Oh, and he offered to bring us some water.

We waited.

Finally, and I forgot to check my watch for when, the meatballs arrived. We struck up a conversation about how busy it must have been tonight and she mentioned that she was on her 4th day on the job and that another server and bartender did not show tonight, and this being a beautiful night, they were too busy for two. Totally understandable.

She then leaned over the table and told us, "once I get out of here, I am getting fuckin' stoned".

This is not the first drug story we have from Bici. We have been there before and met other bartenders who were obviously leaving the bar to get high, then returning to their post. I have a feeling that it comes with the job at Bici. I digress.

We waited.

The owner came by later and asked us if we wanted 2 more drinks. Dinner was obviously not coming any time soon based upon the pace of our water or appetizer, so we agreed. When he returned, Misty's Sangria was in a much larger glass (a mini fishbowl). Her first was in a wine glass. Somewhat embarrassed that his Sangria would be served in such a puny glass, he offered to comp the first Sangria, "our Sangria is too good to be served in a small glass like that, and with 8 Rums and Vodkas, it will knock you on your ass". Yes, that was the owner. We were scheduled to get our first freebie.

During this time another couple sat, ordered, was served their drinks and food.

We waited.

Ah, our dinner approached the table. Misty ordered the new Mushroom, Parmesan Burger and that arrived in all of its glory. In the other hand of our waitress was a risotto, but instead of pork chops it was shrimp - the real seafood special. I told her it was not what I ordered. Misty began eating.

The owner came out a few minutes later and says "I have some good news and some bad news, the good news is that your dinner is on us. The bad news is that in our run earlier tonight, we sold out of the pork chop". Odd that the cook did not mention this to him when he ordered. Or was it that he told him the seafood special and then did not want to come clean on his mistake that the seafood special I ordered did not have SEAFOOD! He began to rattle off what I could have. First, the shrimp and risotto (again, I did not want seafood). I settled on a lamb kabob that sounded good, and I was tired of waiting. Off he went. 2nd freebie.

Misty continued to eat her dinner. By the way, the burger and salad were good.

Finally my lamb shows up. Of the 10 pieces on the kabob, at least 5 of them were incredibly fatty. If you don't believe me, you can go check the flower bed next to my chair, a piece that refused to surrender to my teeth is sitting in there now. The couscous bed was also quite interesting. An Indian / nutmeg taste. I was hungry, I plowed through it.

Finally, we finish dinner, pushing 9pm. Supposedly the kitchen closes at 8:30 on Mondays. The owner was well aware that we had a restaurant.com coupon. He offered us some bread pudding. It was time to go. We had enough stories for one night. He picked up our coupon and went into run our bill. When he returned he had neglected to subtract my dinner, but Misty had drank for free. I was ready to call it even, to pay the $19 for my plate and vow to never return again. Misty says, "that's a dinner at The Fatted Calf!". She called the owner over and reminded him that he promised me a free dinner. It was removed. Now, with all of the freebies (2 sangrias and a fatty lamb) + the $25 Restaurant.com voucher our bill hit $24. It was not quite that simple though. Instead of running a new check for me, he just wrote the new total below the higher amount on the original bill. Never had me sign it and offered us 2 shots because it had been such a crazy night.

Who knows how this story would end had we took him up for those shots. We were the last ones there. I am sure the waitress was already rolling her own somewhere inside.

We began our walk home and noticed the large, full moon rising in the sky.

"never go to Bici on a full moon" was what Misty said. I think that says it all.

PROS: Sangria, 1/2 of the meatballs (the ones which were not burnt) and the burger, potential of free after-dinner shots
CONS: Scroll Up

Cards 8-Person Trade Fallout

2011-07-27T19:39:00.004-05:00

So, after days of saying that we were not shopping Colby Rasmus the Cards dealt him to Toronto for a slew of pitchers, a few players to be named later and a journeyman 4th outfielder. It has been interesting to hear the 2 points of view on the trade thus far. Here's how I weigh in:

On Mo saying that he was not shopping Rasmus.Let's be honest here, you can't negotiate in the papers, blogs and tweets. Cards management said what they needed to say in public to keep some pressure of Rasmus and also to keep the other owners wondering what was going on. If he came out and said that Rasmus was on the block, his value slips.

Moving Colby Rasmus
Colby has appeared to be a distraction (or distracted) since his rookie year. If you recall that season he complained that the veterans were not "including" him. Last year, his sophomore season he supposedly requested a trade (thus killing his value at that time). Then this year he had troubles keeping his average above .250 then said that he wanted to listen to his father's advice on hitting over the paid coaches. As I said to my dad today, "that's fine when you are 14, not 24". Colby was going to continue to be a distraction, or distracted, either one here. That's just the way it is. Think about a time in your life when things were stacked against you for some reason or another, often it is best to leave the situation and start anew. I think that applies here. Colby is thought to have tons of talent. If that is true, perhaps he finds it in Canada. The Cardinals needed to get something for him while they could.

Jon Jay has unseated 2 everyday outfielders in 2 years
Think about this, here is a guy with about 200 games in the majors and he has allowed the Cardinals to move Ryan Ludwick and Colby Rasmus. 2/3 of the 2010 opening day outfield has lost out to the hungry Jon Jay. Jay plays the way the Cardinals want a young player to play. He hustles all the time. He keeps his mouth sut. He consistently performs (with the exception of after the Cards traded Ludwick, but his average was still .300 for the year). Jay is a solid player, but not the kind of guy you build a club around. Compare his hitting stats to a prior centerfielder of the Cardinals - Skip Schumaker. .300 hitter, gap power, capable of stealing 5-10 bases a year, good glove. These are the kids of guys the Cardinals love to stack around the big 3 in the middle.

Did we give up anything more than Colby?
Losing Colby's potential stings. But what else did we really give up? Tallet and Miller were both struggling this year and probably not far from being straight out released by the Cardinals. They were costing the team wins. PJ Walters was not a top prospect. He was servicable. He could be called upon, eat some innings, but he has proven over the past few years that he is a classic AAAA player. Can dominate AAA, but can't stick at the majors. So the way I look at it is that the Cards traded a young and talented CF, dumped two lefty relievers and threw in a servicable mid-inning guy.

Getting fair value
I guess this is the million dollar question. And a question that can be attempted to answer today, can be attempted to answer again at the end of the season and perhaps again in 3 years or so. Looking at it today the Cards made a move to improve the 2011 team. Just looking at stats, compare Colby to Corey Patterson. AVG/HR/RBI/SB Patterson (.252/6/33/13) Rasmus (.246/11/40/5)
If they are to play that same average out the remainder of the season they are fairly similar (losing power, gaining avg and sb). They you look at the pitchers; Miller was benched for games on end due to ineffectiveness, then gave up a hit in his last Cardinals pitch to add fuel to his fire. Tallet is on the DL. Walters' last appearance briefly let the Astros back into the game on Monday by serving up a grand slam to Carlos Lee. That was his last pitch as a Cardinal I believe.
The lefty relieve we got, Rzepczynski is young, under team salary control for a few years and has a respectable ERA under 3.00. Dotel has bounced around a bit but has proven that he can be a closer (good Salas insurance) as he saved 22 games last year. He also strikes out more than a guy per inning so he has the stuff to get hitters to swing and miss to get him out of jams. Batista did not pan out earlier this year. Dotel now assumes that role with a more recent history of getting hitters out. Finally Edwin Jackson jumps into the lineup. There are now 6 potential starters for the Cardinals. This is key as they hit the long days of August. Jackson has the ability to go 6+ innings each time out and we have seen time and time again what Duncan can do with good pitchers who have not consistently found their rythym. Let's don't forget the 3 players to be named later. You don't know for a few years if any of them will ever amount to anything. Most likely not a superstar, but maybe the next Jon Jay that will allow us to move a poor fit player in 2015 or so.

So yes, I think it is a good deal for the Cards. I think it is a good deal for the Blue Jays too. They get someone needed a reset button. Cards get players to help them win this year and give up from strength. Oh yeah, and they didn't have to move any promising talent in the minors.

So what are your thoughts? Have an opposing view? Agree?

...and then there were two...

2011-07-12T22:54:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe how close I am to actually reaching the milestone I have been striving to achieve for so long. What started back in the early 80' could very well come to a fruition (temporarily) here in 2011.

Since 1983 when my dad took me to Wrigley Field to see a Cards/Cubs series I have been working towards seeing a game in every active MLB ballpark. In the early years I did not realize the goal I have today. Then the goal was simply to see baseball with my dad. The man who taught me everything I know about baseball. The opportunity to go to a baseball game with him - be it in St. Louis or in a ballpark far away - it didn't matter. Every question I had about baseball, he had the answer. "Who was the greatest Cardinal" I would ask. Dad would tell me about still summer nights in Emporia where he listened to Cardinals games on the radio and heard about the great Stan Musial. How he always was a Cardinals fan. How his neighbor rival always a Yankees fan. Two Kansas boys, rooting for AL/ NL rivals if there was such a thing in the 50's. That's what lead to my baseball love. What would have happened if that were reversed? Would Dad and I always have to battle over who is better, Cards or Yanks? Luckily, that was not the case. Instead, his idol was the poster child for baseball in St. Louis.

So here we were, father and son (and sometimes sister) watching ballgames in this little ballpark in Chicago. It was fun. Sure, Wrigley was fun, the people were colorful and the difference between the concrete of Busch II and Wrigley made it different - thus exciting - but the real joy was a weekend away with dad. Living in "the city" for a weekend. Staying at the "Mighty Comfort" as he would call it. A Comfort Inn about a mile or so south of Wrigley on Diversey that sported more mirrored walls and ceilings than any pre-teen should be subjected to. Still it was always a great trip. I remember being at an arcade in the neighborhood and playing video games next to Andy VanSlyke and Mike Lavallier. But nothing will compare to the game when we say the Cards and Cubs go at it like never before - only to see Sandberg hit a game winning HR against Bruce Sutter (which I believe was his 2nd of the game).

That's where this journey began.

Since then we had several family vacations where we caught baseball games. We went east to see the Orioles play in old Memorial Stadium. We went north to see games at old Tiger Stadium and the the old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. We even traveled west to see games in LA, Anaheim, San Francisco and Oakland. For some reason dad loved this bumper sticker he picked up in Oakland. It was from the AM station that broadcast the games. When we returned home, it was pasted along the bumper of the 1985 Celica. I guarantee we were the only car in Missouri to have this OAK A's bumper sticker.

I was off and running. Dad and I must have visited at least 12-15 ballparks together. I recall a year in highschool when I was loving the Boston Red Sox in the AL. Mainly due to their 3rd baseman, Wade Boggs. Well, dad found out when the Red Sox were going to be in KC (remember this was before the internet, so it was more like looking it up in the Sporting News than going online). He grabbed my friend Brad and I and we went to KC to see Koffman Stadium and Boggs. All I recall from that game was sitting high, high, high up behind home plate. I recall it being cold. Like, "where's my blanket" cold. But I got to see Boggs play.

By the time I was in the "real world" and on my own I had several stadiums down, but was witnessing the cruelty of the sport of seeing every stadium. You see, stadiums don't stick around for ever. Baltimore had demolished the old Memorial Stadium and had a new, beautiful Camden Yards. Others were following suit. It was time to get on this dream of seeing every stadium. I was in a race against cranes, wrecking balls and corporate boxes. Luckily my second job took me on the road. While at first it was travel to midwest towns, it expanded to the northeast. Time to see Yankee Stadium, Shea, Fenway, Veterans, 3 Rivers, Riverfront, Jacobs, Cellular One. I found my way to games around my work. Enjoyed the intricacies of each ballpark as well as the unique atmospheres. What I love about each ballpark is that no 2 dimensions are the same. No two views are the same. No two sightlines are the same. Of all of the professional sports - only baseball allows the architect and team to play with the dimensions. Each ballpark has a fell that is all it's own. I've been to my share of NHL arenas...not the same. I've been to a handful of NFL stadiums - outdoor ones are cool and have the fans to bring it life. Only baseball creates its own life. The fans just add to the life and character of the ballpark.

In the late 90's I was able to see Cooperstown for the first time. It was 1998 and McGwire and Sosa were battling for Maris' record. As soon as I set foot into the Hall of Fame I knew that I just return with my dad. Luckily, a year later I met Dad in New England for not only a trip to Cooperstown to talk to him about all of the players he grew up with, but to go to Fenway Park with him to see one of the old Jewels with my baseball-loving Dad. It is a trip that I will never forget and would do over and over and over if it would have the same effect year 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. If you haven't been to Cooperstown with your Dad. Do it. I can't explain it, just do it.

Now it is nearing the year 2000 and I have been to 20 or so stadiums. It's time to get serious. I need to see the random ones. I go to Tampa Bay. I'll always remember the night I was there as being the night that Fernando Tatis hit two Grand Slams against the Dodgers. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the game in Tampa...but on my drive back to the hotel in Orlando, I can hear 1120 KMOX (a little) and I hear Mike Shannon call both homeruns. Who played Tampa that night? no idea! I do know I had good seats on the first base side that were aligned to look at home plate. The person to your left sat about 3" ahead of you as the aisle looked straight towards center, but the seats were all askew towards home. Odd memories.

Bevin moved to Denver in 2001 and I was able to catch a game (actually several since) with her to knock the Rockies off the list. I travelled to Toronto for work and saw an interleague game against the Dodgers where the late Jose Lima made a huge impression on me when he lifted a fan from the stands to the field to have a photo on Lima's knee. Another memorable moment of that game was the streaker that dropped from centerfield and ran around the outfield until finally contained by security. I'll never forget the look on the bullpen pitchers faces when they had to escort this naked man past them and off the field - priceless.

Since then it has been almost a game of catch up. Houston opens a new stadium...I'm there the opening weekend in 2006. Cincinnati opens a new ballpark - Boyd and I take an IN/OH baseball roadtrip where we see 3 games in less than 72 hours (Cincy, Jacobs and the minor league park in Indianapolis. Gotta see the Marlins. Find a weekend when the Cards are in town and schedule a trip with Brad to not only see a game in South Florida, but see South Beach (see, it's not all about the ballparks). Fraternity brothers living up in the North East...great excuse to see a Mariners game at Safeco. More fraternity brothers living in Phoenix - easy excuse to swing by "the Bob" as it was called to see a game. Same brother from Seattle now living in MIL...well, the new Miller park had not been visited yet...now, check (along with the old one on an evening trip from Chicago about 20 years prior with high school buddies).

After all of these stadiums, which my unofficial count rests near 50, I have not collected anything physical. No ticket stubs, no photo of me next to a beer vendor, no real record. Except. Except the memories. It all started with a father telling his son about baseball. About a great player named Stan Musial. From there it became a fantasy. "See how cool it is to see baseball on the road?" Now it is an obsession. "I have to catch up". Not just for the "braggin rights" of saying I have been to them all. Don't get me wrong, that will be cool. But for what it means to me. It means childhood dreams. It means seeing architecture working together with art and strategy. It means travel. It means memories. There are so many more memories. Maybe, as I reach that last stadium, I'll relive a memory from each. That's what can never be taken away. Looking at the field again from my memory. From our seat that day. Looking at the beautiful field. Looking at the ballpark. Being around people who love to leave their crazy life for 3 hours at a time and live this fantasy life of living and dying with their team.

I have but two stadiums to go. This week I plan to see Citi Field. Seeing a game there will leave me with just Target Field in Minnesota to see. I am looking over the schedule carefully to see when that game will come. But it must come soon. The Marlins are building a new stadium. I need to be caught up. Just once. To say that I did it. My destination is within reach. From humble beginnings, to this goal of viewing a major league ball game in every active ballpark. It all started with my Dad. He is with me at every ballpark. Maybe, who knows, he'll physically be with me at the last one to share the experience with me. Maybe, I'll turn to him and say. "Who was the best Twin when you were growing up?". He'll start by telling me Harmon Killebrew stories but it will end with him and his friend playing baseball in Emporia, KS. Stan was the best, his neighbor liked the Yankees. That's where baseball stories begin. They begin a generation before...we just carry the flame. That's why I love baseball, that's why I long to see every ballpark. It's the history. I'll tell someone in 30 years about my memories about what I saw. Baseball lore lives on...

To My Brothers

2011-03-10T23:31:00.002-06:00

It's been way too long since I have posted anything on the blog. I blame my new role at Energizer for taking up too much time...but that is not entirely fair as I love this new position as Brand Manager of Communications...it just takes up more of the time in which I used to think up and write blogs.

The following is an excerpt of an email I wrote to my fraternity brothers today. If you know the story, you understand. If you don't know the story, they are an amazing group of guys whose bond continues to grow...even 16+ years removed from collegiate life.

20 years ago today, a group of boys met in the Wells Lounge. All invited there through one Chris Jones. Many of us never had met one another before. But we were all united for one reason. We all were looking for a way to make a difference. Some may have rushed before, some never had even thought about going Greek. It didn't matter, we all were looking for something different, something to put our mark on.

This was not a typical group of boys. You would not have looked at this group and thought that they soon would all be best of friends. Our backgrounds were very different. Our looks were very different. Our ideas, however, were the same.

On this day in 1991 a most unique "band of brothers" was born. This is unlike any fraternity bond you will ever see anywhere else. This is a group that understands where we came from, understands it's what is on the inside that matters, understands the meaning of brotherhood as an affiliation binding for life.

I think I can speak for all of us who gathered in Wells Hall on March 10th, 1991 when I say we had no idea what we were getting into. Most of us didn't know what a Fraternity was supposed to be. I think that is what makes this group so special. We made it our own. We made it our Fraternity. And somehow, we passed that legacy along, on down through the pledge classes.

So on this 20th anniversary of the first ever meeting of the soon to be AKL Beta Psi, I say thanks to each of you for giving it all you have. Thanks for being a huge part of my life and thanks for helping me grow up to find out who I can be. It is amazing having friends like you.

Now, let's party!

Alethia Kai Logos

Like a Good Neighbor...

2010-09-11T11:43:00.003-05:00

...State Farm will spam you.

I have received all of this mail from State Farm over the past 5 weeks. 10 total pieces from four separate reps. What's best is the different offers they are selling.

John A. Smith tells me I can save $489 on auto coverage, but his competitor (in the same company) down the street, Brad Busch, states that I can save $696 on auto and home! Brad then followed up with another letter re-emphasizing the $696 with a Discount Double Check Certificate. Good thing I have that certificate now.

Ken Kaid LUTCF tells me that "Together we'll make it happen.". He is also touting the $489 savings on auto insurance along with the Discount Double Check. Sorry Ken. Only one piece of unsolicited mail and an offer that doesn't beat John or Brad's. I think you are out of the running.

Nobody, but nobody, is as persistent as Beth Travis Ins Agcy Inc. Beth cranked out a staggering 6 letters and post cards to me in this 5 week period. Two of the letters are identical. Pushing their homeowners insurance, but there is a tear-off reply at the bottom for me to get more info on Auto, Life, Health, Financial Review, Financial Services and other. I think I might just fill this out and return it marking other. I think my other will be "I'd like more information about:" direct mail strategies. I wonder if I would get a response? Might be worth it. She and her Agcy seem quite good at pumping out mail. At least someone is keeping the USPS afloat.

The best is that the continue to tout their "Good Neighbor service". Sorry, my best neighbors don't flood my mailbox with random junk mail. How about making those $489 and $696 offers a little better by not spending thousands on direct mail campaigns. To all of you insured by State Farm, I am sure you are glad to know that your insurance money is going towards multiple mailings for more business as opposed to keeping your rates down.

Is the Season Over?

2010-08-21T10:34:00.003-05:00

I have kept my optimistic view of the Cardinals all along this season. When in conversations I have steered the conversation to "remember 2006". In that year the Cards were unable to string anything together all season of any significance. They limped, actually backed into the playoffs, then caught fire.

I believed the "remember 2006" mantra until last night. This team is flat. And the flatness is killing their spirit (as best as I can see from my seat at Busch or in front of my TV at home). There is almost nothing I would like to see less than the bases loaded for this team. I just know that means that the rally is over. They can't get a big hit when they need it. They are the kings of meaningless hits and homers. Pujols has been padding his stats of late. Raising his average from the uncharacteristically low sub-.300 spot to over .315 in just over a week has looked great, but it has not led to any wins. The Cardinals have lost 5 in a row to the Cubs, Brewers and Giants. Then you look at AB with runners in scoring position and every time there is a groundball to short. Maybe it scores a run, many times it is a double play. The rally killer.

I tried to drink the Kool Aid earlier this season. I saw the need for a Duncan-esqe starting pitcher and knew the financial reasoning behind trading Ludwick. But that was all with the understanding that there was something else up their sleeves. A proven hitter they were close to trading for that would fill this void in the lineup. Now I am to believe that that hitter is Pedro Feliz? The Cardinals have a line up of 7-8-9 hitters along with two boppers. One of which can't seem to produce in the clean-up spot. Can you seriously win a championship with this band of .250 hitters; Lopez, Ryan, Feliz & Molina. Last year 3 of them were closer to .300 hitters. Why did they all go south at once? Why can't Holliday hit in the clutch anymore. In my opinion it all points to one person, Mr. Mark McGwire.

Let's face it, the team is seriously under performing at the plate and typically the hitting coach is to blame for that. For some reason, McGwire is off-limits this year. I know he is "Tony's Boy" and I am glad that LaRussa wanted to give him a chance. After all, McGwire did seem to show over his career that he had learned how to hit. Though he was a HR guy, he did have his .290 seasons and knew the strike zone like no one else at the time. What he didn't know, what is still obvious, is that he does not know situational hitting. He seems to be teaching his hitters his approach which worked often for a large man bulked up on steroids. It doesn't work for smaller guys like Lopez and Ryan. They ground out to short.

It's time for McGwire to go. Now, before the season is up. It was the wrong move for the club. Swallow your pride, make the right decision and move on. Mike "Enough" Aldrete is waiting in the wings as an assistant let him take over the reigns for the remainder of the season and then find a hitting coach that better melds with this teams size and ability.

But, since we know that is not going to happen, here is my plan B. Shuffle the lineup to a formula that has worked before, bat Holliday before Pujols. My lineup for the remainder of the season looks like this (or at least until my faith is restored and they score a bat for this lineup).

Jay
Feliz
Holliday
Pujols
Rasmus
Molina
Lopez
Schumaker/Ryan
Pitcher

Jay has speed, Feliz needs a boost, perfect guys to hit 1-2 before the big guys. Holliday jump started his season in front of Pujols, no one else can carry the weight of cleanup - that's your 3-4. Rasmus is the only guy left who can protect Pujols, by default he is #5. Molina can hit when he taking the ball to the opposite field, then Lopez' bat moves into a run producing spot at 6-7. Put your light hitting middle infielder before the pitcher.

PLAY BALL!

Gov't Efficiency

2010-07-14T17:00:00.003-05:00

Here's a classic example of government hard-at-work.

In August of 2008 I received a $5 parking ticket in the city of Columbia, MO. I mailed them a check for the $5 and forgot about the entire thing. About a month ago I received a notice from the City of Columbia that I owed $10 for an Aug 2008 parking fine. I photocopied the check receipt in my register that I had paid the original ticket in Oct 2008, mailed that to them and asked them to please let me know they had received this and that the matter was taken care of and off the records.

I received a note back promptly that I "failed to pay within 15 days of receiving" my ticket and an additional fine of $10 had been added. It had been nearly 2 years since this additional $10 had been assessed, but this was the first time I had heard about it. I thought about sending something smart-assed back like, "it only took me 30 days to pay it, but it took you nearly 700 to alert me that I had not paid on time", or something to that effect. I thought better of it and just mailed the $10 to the City of Columbia. I don't need no trouble from the government. This was on July 10.

Today, July 14, I received another letter in the mail from the City of Columbia stating the following: "Recently all 2008 tickets have been removed from our database, therefore this ticket no longer exists. Sorry about the confusion." Enclosed was my check for $10 which I just wrote 4 days ago.

So let me get this straight, you put a parking ticket on my car in Aug of '08, I pay you for it (relatively promptly, but not within what they considered to be prompt). You cared so little about collecting my $10 that you sat on this fee for nearly 2 years. You make me go through my old checks to prove to myself that I did pay your parking fee. I take the time to photocopy and mail that to you. You reply that this is an ADDITIONAL fee because I was late. I mail you the flippin' $10 and you promptly mail it back to me saying that 2008 has been deleted from the database!

I wonder how many $10s have been written off now? How many of those over-priced government hammers would that have paid for? Thanks Columbia, I am glad to have the $10 back in my pocket. I will gladly pay that to some other merchant who is not paying taxes to the great city of Columbia.

Windshield Words In Antigua

2010-06-27T10:55:00.000-05:00

Misty and I spent 6 nights on the island of Antigua. An interesting British Isle in the West Indies. As we toured the island in our 10 year old Toyota RAV4 we saw many of the neighborhoods and locals of the island. One thing that became evident quickly was that Antiguans love to put sayings on their cars. Usually they were simple sayings with a little bit of attitude thrown in - either in the words or in the font they used.

But none were as phenomenal as this one...Classy!!!

From Antigua

A Day of Riding the Rail

2010-06-04T00:19:00.004-05:00

Here it was Memorial Day. Misty and I didn’t have a concrete plans for the day, but the weather was supposed to be nice and we didn’t want to “work” on anything. So after disposing of Boyd in three games of racquetball at the courts in the center of Forest Park I headed home to see what Misty was in the mood for. What we landed on was a few things around town that we wanted to see – they were all linked by the rail in St. Louis, the MetroLink.

First stop after buying our all-day passes was out west on the parking lot of UMSL. The Gypsy Caravan was in town and Misty told me this was “a big artisan festival”. We have taken in a few of the “artisan festivals” in several towns including our own and while they are not my first choice of things to do, they are tolerable and sometimes I will find something to make it worthwhile.
If you have never been to the Gypsy Caravan let me tell you, it is NOT just another artisan festival. It is closer to what the name implies…Gypsy style. Never have I seen so much stuff that is not suitable for the average garage sale. Booth after booth of (I use the word very loosely) antiques and many things that I would just say are old. Beyond that there are countless tents of knockoff purses and sunglasses. I am not sure how this selling of clearly fake merchandise is legal in the US, but there it was, proudly on display.

Misty could tell within minutes that I was not enjoying the Caravan. While she was able to find the few artisans in the bunch and check out their jewelry I was left standing there on the hot pavement under the hot St. Louis Memorial Day sun.
It was a festival however, and that means festival food…and festival lines for said food. I wanted about 20 minutes for a corn dog that would make ordinary hotdogs jealous. Wash that down with about 32oz of soda and I was officially part of the festivities. Fattening and clogging my arteries just like the rest of them. We wandered aimlessly for awhile until I found this ol’ boy. I don’t recall ever seeing an organ grinder before. And Kudos to this guy for dressing the part. I am assuming that it may not be legal to have a live monkey on your organ anymore, so this guy replicated the sidekick with a stuffed one. Nice try…
From there we jumped back on the Metrolink to head downtown. It was about an hour before the Cards 3:15 game and the train was already packed. Quite a crowd getting on the train at Lambert or North Hanley. Whenever I hear that the Metrolink is not doing well I just try to add up what they must be raking in on game days. I ride the train down from U-City quite often and it is always a full train before the games. And not just one or two trains, it is crowded for an hour or so before the game. Don’t even get me started about how packed it is coming home. Let’s just say it is worth your sanity to find a post game beer or two somewhere before trying to catch a train.

We departed with the mob at Stadium Station and walked over to the Old Courthouse. For anyone wondering if advertising on the trains works, I am living proof that it does. I had seen ads for an art exhibit at the Old Courthouse that depicted what the St. Louis riverfront looked like a hundred-plus years ago. Before the Westward Expansion Monument was erected and surrounded by a park. These ads were adorning the walls of the Metrolink and after countless rides, convinced me to check it out. Ironically on the day we were to go to the exhibit, there was no ad to be found.

While the exhibit was small it was well done and told an interesting story. St. Louis was once a very vital city to this country. Much trading happened here of all sorts and these original paintings did a nice job of taking you back in time. Interesting fact #1: Did you know that the arch grounds were once bluffs and later grated for the city that took shape in that space? Interesting fact #2: The Old Rock House that now stands south of downtown and is a great place to hear live music once stood near where the north leg of the arch now stands? It is one of the few buildings to link us back to the old St. Louis.
The Old Courthouse is a beautiful space and would be a great place to rent out for a speech or other gathering. It had been years since I was in there (I think the last time was a grade school field trip) and it was Misty’s first visit. Very glad we stopped and let me offer up this…it is a good place to drop in if you have parked north of the stadium on a hot day. It has AC and a water fountain.

After learning about what the old arch grounds looked like before it was determined that it should be a park…we headed over to the arch. There was another exhibit going on there that chronicled the Westward expansion of baseball. Focusing more on the story than the artifacts this small exhibit tucked into the corner of the Westward Expansion museum was an educational find. Did you know that the song take me out to the ballgame is only the chorus of a longer (and much worse) song? Something about Katie Casey seeing a game. Not memorable…thus the reason the chorus was the only part to stick.

We were downtown, and there was a day Cards game going on, so that was always in our consideration. We waited out the brief rainstorm with a visit to the Over / Under on Washington Ave. then decided to see how low the scalpers would go on ticket prices. It was the top of the 4th inning and the Cards were down by 2. We were able to talk a guy down on tickets from $88 face value (for 2) to $25 for both – and these tickets were 4 rows off the field down the rightfield line.

We got to witness all of the excitement of the games (from a Cards fan’s perspective). The Cards scored 3 in the 4th and 5th and a five spot in the 6th. Ah…a beautiful day at the ballpark.

It was Memorial Day and the Cardinals asked all Military to stand and be acknowledged. Misty, not listening, saw several people standing up and she decided to do the same. I should have let her stand, but I couldn’t do it. This was about the veterans and it was there moment. A nice moment orchestrated by the Cardinals…classy.

The guy to my right was a veteran and he was quite opinionated about the Cardinals, oh and about the gulf coast oil spill as well. I did learn that he was a Cards fan who needs to complain about something – typical if you read the comments on stltoday.com. First he did not like our bullpen. I needed to remind him that the ‘pen was actually one of the strong parts of the team. He especially did not like Motte, McClellan, Franklin or Boggs. Since that is about the entire ‘pen, at least he was consistent. He wanted the Cards to sign Oswalt, though when I mentioned that it would cost them about $15M a year he said “maybe Houston will pick it up”…right!

We talked baseball a while longer. Most conversations resulting in him having a very grim impression of this 1st place team. Ah hell, he is entitled to his opinion.

After waiting out the crowd home on the Metro at Broadway Oyster Bar we finally headed home. About 9 hours after we started our rail venture. The train was quiet now. It was about 9pm on a holiday evening and most fans had left downtown for home for dinner. A decent crowd still gathered at Rib American festival listening to Blue Oyster Cult wrap up the weekend’s concert series. There would be another surge of riders still that night.

If nothing else, it gave me something to write about and something to laugh about as the day progressed. We were able to salvage a day of looking at stolen goods and make a memorable Memorial Day out of it. Every once in a while it is good to see what lies in your own city. What hidden treasures or tourist traps you have forgotten about that need to be experienced again. When you decide to see what is out there, think about taking the Metrolink to show you around town. No parking hassles and you actually feel like a tourist in your own town. I just challenge you to find an organ grinder…and if you do, ask him why he doesn’t have a live monkey.

Rough Week for the Redbirds

2010-05-27T07:33:00.002-05:00

It's a long season, everyone knows it and says it at some point during the 162 games. Each team has its ups and downs over the summer and what is nice about 162 games is that typically the cream rises to the top and the true good teams make it to the playoffs.

Let's just say this is one of the "down" times for the Cardinals. Over the past week the Cards have been dealt an interesting hand. First there was last Friday night. Against the Angels the teams were trading runs early, then Brad Penny launches a Grand Slam off ex-Cardinal, Joel Piniero to open the game up...Penny is the lifted due to injury that he may have aggravated with his monster swing. The next day Kyle Lohse takes the hill and just cannot control his stuff. While watching on TV you can tell that he has no control of what his pitches are going to do. He was never too wild, just right off the plate with a fastball that had some odd movement at the end. It reminded me of throwing a wiffle ball in the backyard and trying to throw a straight pitch - too hard to predict what made it straight.

The Angels were patient and hit the few that didn't move to chase Lohse from the game, to the medical specialist on Monday and then to another on Wed in CA. Lohse is found to have a condition that is unusual to baseball players. They say he can either go for surgery and miss a minimum of 2 months or become a right-handed relief specialist. How many right-handed specialists do you know of that are not called closers? And I think we can agree that Lohse is not closer material.

The Cardinals were able to score runs over the weekend though many times they were doing so in a catch-up fashion. The worry began to set in that the strong starting pitching for the Cards may be the trouble spot, and soon. Then comes this years' two aces; Waiwright and Garcia. They take the mound in back to back starts in SD and allow one run combined over 13 innings. In that span the high-priced hitters score 0. The Cards are forced to use their bullpen to the tune of 8 innings over 2 games. Weakening their pen for the upcoming 3-game stretch when they will need to march out two new comers to the rotation.

PJ Walters will get the start on Thursday and just last week he was being touted as the #6 starter in the Post-Dispatch, little did they know how soon he would fill that roll. He has earned the start with his spring training and minor league performance this year. But who will start in Chicago on Saturday? Though the season is long, this stretch that is coming up is important. As important to the final wins and loses as any 9-game stretch will be. The Cards go to Chicago for 3, then Cincinnati and Milwaukee come to town for 3 each. An off day is sprinkled in, which might save the Cards from needing a 5th starter once, but it will be a tough stretch for the team.

So, who gets the nod on Sat? Or beyond if Lohse is out for 2+ months? Here's a Free Agent list from mlbtraderumors.com. I am sure discussions are already going on with the Braden Looper camp. What about Smoltz? He never officially retired...though he is in the broadcast booth now for Atlanta. Can the Cards find lightening in a bottle again at Memphis and have the rookies perform similar to Garcia? I think the name of the game is finding an "innings guy" who won't hurt you. Get a good 6 a game from this slot and you are in good shape.

But none of that even touches on the real issue in St. Louis, and that is the lack of hitting. This team is under-achieving up and down the order. The only guy who you could say is over-achieving would be Freese and that's not good. When will Pujols and Holliday find a clutch hit? When will Yadi cut down on his strikeouts? When will Rasmus develop into a solid hitter? When will Ryan find his .290 stroke again? I hate to point to McGwire as the culprit, but I am leaning that way. If it was one or two guys I would say it was on them, when it is the team it sounds more like a system - set up by the hitting coaches. I believe that McGwire can teach more than just how to hit HR. But does he know how to hit behind runners? How to hit with a runner on first? How to get a rally going and put crooked numbers on the board? I am not convinced he does.

So, keep an eye on the NL Central over the next 11 days. There is a chance this could get interesting. The Cards have the talent to prevail on top on June 6 and again on Oct 3, but can they string it all together when the going is tough? It's time to find out. It's been a rough week for the Redbirds, let's see how they respond.

Pay It Forward

2010-04-30T17:41:00.004-05:00

The only thing I would have done differently while an under grad and active of AKL is reached out to those who graduated. Now, here's the interesting part. Since I am a founder of our chapter, those people were not going to be our Alumni, but Alumni of other chapters who were in the area of Springfield. We did try a few times to reach out to those on a list provided to us by our National Fraternity, but we gave it an attempt or two, with a bland letter then let it go.

As we approach Alumni weekend 2010 I want to start to pay back to our actives. Give the young guys something that many of us never had the opportunity to experience. What's great about these weekends is that there is as much take as there is give. What I take from these weekends is an opportunity to rehash some great stories from my youth. Some great memories with some great friends. I am also able to take with me the energy and exuberance of those who have not let their 9-5 beat them down yet. There is so much promise, so much joy, so little responsibility.

What I hope to give is some promise to the guys. Promise that the friends they have made while at MSU (still odd, it will always be SMSU to me) will be with them for years to come. Promise that the memories don't end at graduation. Promise that a "regular guy" like them was able to make it and be successful in a career of my choosing through good times and bad. Promise that the network they have built in college will continue to grow and prosper.

While my trip to Springfield will be brief (one night), I cannot wait to be there and share some stories with these young guys. I get the opportunity to be that "old guy" who came back to relive and pass along. Old Wise Man I may not be, but I will impart as much wisdom as I can...and take with me some much needed boost of energy.

Make me proud, brothers! Alethia Kai Logos

Ever have a Bad Customer Service Day?

2010-03-06T18:03:00.000-06:00

Sometimes a little poor customer service is enough to ruin your day. Sometimes that poor customer service seems to compound like everyone is ganging up on you. That’s what happened yesterday.

The airline industry does not have the best reputation for their customer service to begin with. However, you would think with some of the larger gaffes of late and those being shared via blogs and microblogs that the airlines would start singing a different tune.

Misty and I were headed to Phoenix to stay with some friends for a long weekend and take in some Spring Training baseball. We purposefully chose an afternoon flight so that we could work the better part of the day before departing. Our flight was scheduled for 5:30pm departure on US Airways. We live relatively close to the airport and we had not only checked in online, but we also purchased to check a bag online. Our first stop was the off-site parking lot. The bus picked us up, then circled the parking lot two more times waiting for others to shuttle to the airport. It was about 10 minutes of circling and picking up other passengers. As luck would have it, one of the passengers was flying on Southwest Airlines, so the first stop was going to be the East Terminal. Finally we made it to the main terminal. We still had to physically check in our luggage and wile in line for that the US Airways computers went down.

As we found out, this is crippling for the airlines. There is no backup plan. There is nothing that they can do. They can’t check in passengers, they can’t check in baggage…nothing. And Judy S., the US Airways representative there was quick to tell anyone on our Phoenix flight that there was nothing she could do for us. By this time we were about 45 minutes before departure. Judy’s main message was telling the Phoenix passengers, “this is why we tell you to arrive 2 hours before your flight”. If you have flown through STL lately you know what a ghost town that airport has been. Who knew that there was a rush of people leaving this city at the end of the workday on a Thursday. We figured arriving, at what we expected to be, an hour before the flight would allow us ample time to make our flight. It always had in the past.

Suddenly at 5:02 the computers started working again. Judy grabbed our boarding passes and IDs and printed off baggage claims. Of course in STL you still have to take your luggage elsewhere to be scanned and sent on to your plane. Heaven forbid they use that conveyor belt behind the ticketing counter!

We thought we were in the clear. 30 minutes to get from ticketing to the plane seemed like plenty of time in this typically-deserted airport. We made our way downstairs and turned the corner headed towards TSA and were amazed to see a line that stretched halfway down the hall. “Shit!”, there is no way we are getting through this line in time. There is a policy in STL that we learned, they will not move people up in the line if there is a flight about to depart. I know that other airports will do this, because I have been on both sides of it. If a flight is about to depart someone excercises some superior customer service and trolls the line looking for poor travelers who are stuck in line. A quick check of the boarding pass confirms the passenger indeed needs some intervention to make their flight and for the most part the passengers who are being “jumped in line” understand. Not the case in STL! We stood in the line for nearly 30 minutes. Once finally through the line we grabbed our belongings, didn’t even bother to put our shoes on and tore through the A Concourse.

All for not.

The door to the plane had just been closed and there was no way that the gate agent was going to open that door. Let me interject here that it was not just the two of us who missed our flights. There were six of us in all in the same circumstance. So that means that there were likely 6 seats open on that flight now.

We stood there staring at our plane, still connected to the gate bridge, just a short throw from where we stood. No sympathy, no desire to help us feel better about the situation, just “I am busy right now, I’ll be with you in a few minutes” from Reginald the gate attendant.

I understand that there are rules and regulations that are set in place for a reason. But we all know that there are ways to accommodate the consumer, to make the travel experience better and neither US Airways or TSA had any interest in making our experience any better.

Here’s what burns me the most. It was crab-ass Judy at ticketing. She spent her time standing in front of the passengers while we waited for their crippling computer shut-down to reboot telling us what we did wrong. It was our responsibility to plan for “things like this to happen”. You know what she should have been doing? Calling down to the gate agent at A16 and letting them know “there are 6 passengers in line that are trying to make that flight. The computers were down, we just got their luggage checked and they are on their way. Is there any way to hold the flight for them?” We all know that airlines are also not known for their on-time arrivals. Waiting an additional 5 minutes to accommodate their paying customers (time which is easy to make up in the air) would have been a much better solution. A solution I would expect (or at least the attempt) by a company that invests in customer service.

Instead this is now public. I started with a couple microblog posts on twitter while this was transpiring. First booing Judy and her poor attitude, then reaching out to US Airways asking for them to delay flight 244. I don’t think they were listening. In this “new” social world you had better be on your best behavior as you represent a company. It is easy to be heard as a disgruntled customer. US Airways did more harm than good yesterday by employing someone with a horrible attitude and letting her be the face and voice of their company. My money is hard-earned. I have choices on where I will spend it. Bad experiences make my decisions easier by eliminating choices.

The Hill Dine Around

2010-02-21T13:35:00.004-06:00

There are so many restaurants in a city the size of St. Louis. It would be difficult (and expensive) to hit them all and know what is truly available around town. Luckily there are friend networks and restaurant reviewers out there helping pare down the daunting list. Today I throw myself into those categories.

For the month of February Misty and I decided to go to a different restaurant on The Hill each weekend. The idea came to me one Saturday morning when I was at Viviano's on The Hill picking up some fresh meat for a home cooked meal. As I drove down Shaw and Edwards I kept saying to myself, "I need to try that place", or "it has been way too long since I was last there". With that, it was set. A Hill dine around.

We are 3 weeks into the 4 week tour and we have had some amazing meals.
Week 1 was Gian-Tony's. This place came highly recommended. Nice atmosphere and good food were the billing. It did not disappoint. It was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night at 7:30. The bar was hopping, but the tables were not all full. We were able to be seated quickly near the back of the restaurant. The portions were huge as most people took home a "doggy bag". If you are looking for a good meal on The Hill with large servings and a fair price put Gian-Tony's on your list. Everyone at our table was more than satisfied with their meal. Plus it appears that you can make last minute reservations.

Week 2 we went to Favazza's. This restaurant was quite a bit more lively. While it did not have the ambiance of Gian-Tony's the food was equally good. We also put in reservations here, and there appeared to be a wait for a walk up table. Perhaps their location on Southwest helps their traffic, or maybe it was the relaxed atmosphere; either way I would recommend a reservation. Their white sauce was particularly rich and again everyone left full and several had plenty left over to take with them.

Last night was Week 3. Mama Campisi's had been mentioned, and no one I knew had been there. This was an amazing find. The place was packed. Good thing we had reservations! It is one of the smaller restaurants and add to that a singer roaming the joint with his wireless microphone and there was not much room to stand and wait. Even with our reservation we waited about 15 minutes. While at the bar before dinner they poured generous glasses of wine for a fair price. Our table was near the door, but never was cold. The singer paid quite a bit of attention to us as we were seated near his karaoke set up. At one time he handed Misty his CD of covers, only to take it back later. I don't think we would have had much use for his CD, but it was odd how he took it back. The food was even better than it smelled, and the place smelled like a true Italian restaurant.

I would highly recommend this place. They were supposed to have a dish on the 3rd weekend of each month, Chicken Lasagna. Someone had come in that morning and bought all of it. So the special was not available this time. The chef told us that he will most likely have it next weekend. Everything that we ate was so flavorful, I can only imagine how good the chicken lasagna would be as a special.

So now we head into Week 4. Our last meal on The Hill. We have the list narrowed down to a few potential restaurants; Zia's (just reopened after their fire 6 months ago), LoRusso's or Giovanni's. Have you ate at any of these? Do you recommend one over the others? If so, please share. Also, if you care to join us we always welcome others to come along. It will be this Friday Feb 26th around 7:30. I hope you can join us.

We are thinking of doing something similar again in a few months either in another area of town or maybe another theme. We'll keep you posted.

Serge
momesso.blogspot.com

Recycling VHS Tapes

2009-12-30T13:47:00.004-06:00

So, in my home the VCR is all but dead. Not that I watch a ton of movies on the DVD player, but at least that one still seems to get used periodically.

As we were looking through the house for Christmas decorations I came upon several shopping bags full of VHS tapes that are not being used. A wide assortment, really. There are many tapes containing the old "Must See TV" Thursday nights from when I traveled all week and wanted to catch "my shows" when I got home on the weekend. There are a few others with random movies recorded from HBO or free TV and then many purchased movies.

I got to thinking that just taking these bags of movies to the trash was probably not the most environmentally friendly answer. I went online and found that there really isn't a good answer out there. The answers ranged from donating to hospitals and senior centers to selling on ebay. No good answer for those once-blank tapes that are now no good.

Does anyone have any ideas on how/where to recycle the blank tapes? Would a group of you be willing to join me in combining our pre-recorded collections and donating to the local hospitals and senior centers? I doubt that I am the only one out here with these piles of useless VHS tapes. I would even be willing to donate my perfectly functioning VCR along with some of the tapes.

Let me know if you are interested in joining in this collection and if you have any ideas on how to dispose of the self-recorded tapes.

Serge
momesso.blogspot.com

Reactionary Airline Security Proceedures

2009-12-26T15:30:00.002-06:00

It sucks to hear that there was another potential terrorist attack on an US flight. The flight headed to Detroit on Christmas day that the Nigerian-born man is about to change the way we fly once again.

Of course, measures should be taken to keep these flights and our skies safe. What really bothers me is that when something happens the TSA strips another "freedom" from their travelers. A few years ago there was the concern over the liquid bomb, so no one could carry on beverages any longer (now you can buy them past security). Also, there was the fear of shoe bombs, so now you have to take off your shoes to go through security. Now I read that since this man tried to attack during descent that there will be great limitations to what passengers can do during the last hour of a flight.

The last HOUR? It is already crazy that electronics (anything with an on/off switch) has be to turned off for landing. This should be a huge boon for the magazine industry. Especially with the growth of ebooks (did you hear that digital books outsold physical books this Christmas?) becoming a household term and soon a household item, this is going to be tough for passengers. Everything has an on/off switch now.

All I ask is that the TSA step up and try to take care of the real issue. They had received warnings about this guy, he was being watched. But they let him on the flight anyway. The descent of the flight IS NOT THE ISSUE!

Please stop telling me what I can't do on a flight. It is bad enough that I have to listen to 5 minutes of rules of what I can't do at the beginning of the flight. Please go after the root cause, and not the method.

Stepping off my soapbox...

Serge
momesso.blogspot.com

Early Winner of the Hot Stove League

2009-12-19T10:28:00.004-06:00

It is mid-Dec. The owner's meetings have come and gone. Right about now, there are few names that are sacred in trade talks. Seems that there is a rumor on just about every player. And if there isn't a rumor, there is a sportswriter who is trying to create a rumor. Maybe it isn't this way around the country, but here in St. Louis where the Rams are vying for the #1 pick in next year's draft and the Blues can't seem to string together two solid games in a row, the Hot Stove League setting is on HIGH.

But the Cards are taking their "wait and see" approach again this year. Probably not the worst strategy as they would be bidding against themselves now for the likes of Holliday or DeRosa or Bay, but it is enough to keep the sportswriters busy. I still feel optimistic about the Cards landing a big bat to hit in the #4 hole and shag some flies in leftfield. It is obvious the Cards are trying to win again. The signing of Brad Penny as our #4 starter was a huge indication that this team mean business in 2010.

But the winner so far in the offseason moves is many miles away from St. Louis, and coming to town this summer for a 3 game series.

The Seattle Mariners are making some shrewd moves and turning their team around this December. First the signed the super-utility Chone Figgins. This guy can play 2nd, 3rd or the OF and be a great top-of-the-order hitter. Then they weaseled their way into the blockbuster trade of the winter and were able to extract Cliff Lee from the Phillies when the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay from Toronto. Then, yesterday they pull off a trade with the Cubs to get Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva. Bradley has a ton of baggage, but he also has a ton of talent when he is happy. Silva is a #4 starter. Not a bad gamble by the Mariners.

The M's already had Ichiro in place for a few more years, this is a great way to build around him and to bolster their team in a rather weak AL West. The Angels will be tough again, but losing Figgins to a team in the division, losing Lackey to the Red Sox and possibly losing Vlad this offseason too they don't look right to repeat.

Watch out for the Mariners in 2010. I'm glad that my Cards ticket pack has a M's game in it. They should be fun to watch.

Serge
momesso.blogspot.com

Definition of Insanity

2009-12-13T20:11:00.002-06:00

...is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results each time.

I have to say that this defines my approach to fantasy sports. I recently looked at my online fantasy sports statistics and found out that my overall performance is 37%! Ouch! That covers about 9 years of fantasy baseball, a couple of miserable hockey seasons, a few NFL leagues and some college hoops pick-em tourneys.

This gets me to wondering...do the same people keep winning? I don't seem to see any real spread in my leagues among the winners. It is usually one of the same 3 teams that wins the season. I may be wrong here, honestly I typically forget who won about 2 days after the season. For instance, I could not tell you who won this past baseball season in our league. I do know it is not me. I also know that I always seem to be battling it out with the same group of underperformers for the 7,8,9,10 spots in the league.

If the same people keep winning, are there a large number of people whose performance % is 75%+? Maybe the middle is real thin. Maybe it is the opposite of the bell curve. All I know is that I find it interesting that each year I go into March thinking this is my year. Then I make it through the 3 hour draft thinking I am in good shape this year. Then, beginning with week 1, my team does not support my thoughts or hopes.

Insanity on my part?

Maybe. We'll it is time to change strategy. While I am not going to unveil my new strategy on this blog since several readers are opponents I will have a new approach. I may have to hire my own Billy Beane. I may have to invest heavier in Caribbean players. I may need to up ticket prices to afford some bigger name players. OK, none of those will work in this fantasy world, but I do know that I have 3 months to create a new draft and management strategy and be ready to try out my new approach.

Word is that my Dad is going to drop out of our league this year. I hate to seem him go since it is some good father/son bonding throughout the summer. I also hate to see him go because he is the one team I can count on keeping me out of the cellar. Dad, I'll hate to see you leave the league.

Bo Knows Running Plays

2009-12-02T07:28:00.002-06:00

Ah, back in the good ol' days of college I spent more than my share of time playing Techmo Bowl. In fact, our freshman year, we actually hosted Techmo Tournaments. It's any wonder that the Nintendo did not crap out during the season. Luckily we all knew the "blow in the cartridge, blow in the Nintendo" move to magically restore what ever was ailing the games.

This video clip is compliments of Jimmy-D's searching on youtube.com. I never had Bo dance quite like this, but he was my #1 horse in the backfield and with the coupling of Marcus Allen, running plays for the Oakland Raiders were hard to stop. Since most of my college buddies that freshman year were Cheifs fans, the Raiders were always available to take.

While I was cleaning out the basement yesterday I came across my old Sega Genesis. While I decided to part with a few games I had to keep NHL 94, 95, 96, Super Techmo Bowl and RBI III. Let me know if you ever want to fire up a classic from the early 90's.

momesso.blogspot.com

Restaraunt Week

2009-11-29T13:46:00.004-06:00

What was going to be a blog posting asking for your suggestions on where I should go to grab a bite to eat quickly gained parameters when I found this...Restaurant Week is here!

So now I share this with you...any recommendations from this list? I am thinking Trattoria Marcella will be my first choice.

Sorry to those of you not in St. Louis. Do your towns offer something similar?

Bon Appetite!

I think I'll just sleep in, thanks

2009-11-25T15:19:00.002-06:00

I just don't get it. Waking up at a time in which I once went to sleep to go shopping with hoards of other nocturnal bargin hunters. Back in the day, when there was no internet to speak of, I can see that you needed to get going early to get a good deal on something. Trying to spread the "Christmas Dollar" as far as possible lead some people to go to Macy's at 6am. Then the stores realized that they weren't the only trick in town at 6am, so Kohls went to 5am. Still not good enough. Someone else had to open at 4, then 3am. Seriously? 3am! I think that is what time the Wal-Mart Black Friday deals begin this year.

Let's see, awake around 2am to shower and grab a late night snack (can it really be called breakfast at this hour?). Of course, don't forget to wake your friends and kids so they can go too. Then off to Wally World to race down the aisles for one of 5 whatchamacallits on sale. Does anyone not remember people were trampled to death last year on this very day!

So, let's say you get your good deal at Wal-Mart, then you cruise over to Macy's or Target. You have to be done with your shopping around 6 or 7am, right? Now what do you do with the next 12-14 hours of your day?

I think I'll just sleep in. When I do awake, I'll log onto this internet thing and look for similar deals while I enjoy an English Muffin and some OJ. I'll see if any other e-mall has the same item cheaper (thanks Google Shopping), click to buy the one I want and go on about my day.

Oh, and if you are one of those who are out at the 3am openings let me know if you notice anyone pulling an all-nighter. That is how I would have played it. Throw back a few barley pops at my favorite late night haunts, then get a sober driver to take me to the mall.

momesso.blogspot.com

History...basically in my backyard

2009-11-05T08:18:00.003-06:00

I was out for my morning walk today when I came across something interesting. Just about two blocks from our house I came across a sign that read "Historic Site 1904 Olympic Marathon Route". This was not a small sign, I mean it measured about 6' wide and stood about 8' tall.

It stood right along River Des Peres on North & South. Amazing what you can pass every day and never see, until you pass it from a different vantage point (in this case, walking).

So, now I was curious. Was the marathon route the old river bed? Is that possible? Was there once a road that went along this river? I know that the World's Fair was hosted in Forest Park, and I had heard that the football stadium at Wash U was erected for the 1904 Olympics...but that was all I had heard about it.

After a little digging on the inter-web I was able to uncover some interesting stories about the race.

Other resources:
Wikipedia
Useless Information

I still have not been able to uncover the exact route for the race. [I thought everything was on the internet now].

Somehow the City of University City found out that the marathon path crossed North & South near River Des Peres and sometime in history there was a Parks and Recreation budget surplus - so they put up a sign.

Well U. City...it worked, you piqued my interest. Now please post the rest of the story...in particular the route. I want to know if I can start selling admission to my land as "part of Olympics history".

Still a Kid at Heart

2009-10-27T23:27:00.004-05:00

If you are in St. Louis, or even if you are not, you need to get to the City Museum in downtown St. Louis. You may get a few less odd looks if you take a kid or two with you, but believe me, it is not mandatory. There is much fun to be had, even if you are a non-married, non-father at the ripe-young age of 37.

The only real consequences of being this old and climbing around like I am 30 years younger is that A) I don't fit in the small places that the kids can climb through and B) my knees seem to bruise up much faster than I recall earlier in my life.

So what is the City Museum? Great question. It is an interactive jungle-gym experience with tunnels, old cars and planes, bridges, slides and about anything else you could imagine...all stuck inside a huge warehouse in downtown St. Louis where some rooms look like large animals (lizards, whales, dragons) and others are just old pieces of machinery. There is even a large wheel that makes you look/feel like a hamster.

So the reason for this blog is just to remind you all of this hidden gem in downtown. When you get the chance wrangle up some kids and head down for a day. But don't be afraid to explore some yourself. Be ready for sore knees and maybe a little dizziness from the 7 story spiral slide. If you don't have the kids, don't worry - it didn't stop Justin, Misty or I from having a great time for a few hours - forgetting that we were on the other side of 30.

Serge
momesso.blogspot.com

Transparent Humans?

2009-10-16T18:49:00.004-05:00

Here's an excerpt from an article I read today. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how different communication is today. This transparency is what is linking people together. In other means of conversation you reserve your transparency for those closest to you...now it is there for everyone to read. The human race just got a little more...human

The old paradigm in communication was that people generally revealed very little of their fears and doubts. They tried to present the image of themselves to other people as completely confident and knowledgeable. The goal was to make sure that you appeared like you were always in complete control. But this is shifting, in part, because of social media. The paradigm is now no longer to try to appear perfect, but to be more transparent with your thoughts and feelings, to reveal your humanness.

We now have queens acknowledging that they get nervous at times when speaking, CEOs being more honest and at times using blogs to express reservations over past decisions, and people openly sharing personal views on social issues. Of course, what we decide to reveal and when to reveal it can be delicate, and there will always likely be items we wish to keep private. However, rather than working to hide our thoughts and feelings, social media is helping to create greater personal transparency.

Is this good or bad? Is this the downfall of human kind? Just like rock and roll was 50 or so years ago?

Full article: http://mashable.com/2009/10/16/social-media-changing-lives/
momesso.blogspot.com

Phus Vs.

2009-10-05T16:32:00.003-05:00

Phus Vs.

Similar to this summer’s hit show Shaq Vs. the Phus Brothers have taken on several opponents throughout life, this weekend was just the latest episode.

Back in the late 80’s the Phus Brothers were formed and took on Kirkwood High School. Arguable you could say that the Phus Brothers won that battle as all five members Ephus, Ruphus, Striphus, Breakphus and Memphus graduated from KHS and scattered for their college careers. A bond was formed while at KHS that is revisited from time to time.

Typically a quorum from that group get together for the annual Turkey Day Football game between Kirkwood High School and Webster Groves High School. While 2 of the Phus Brothers live out of town, it has been awhile since all members were back together for that Thanksgiving tradition.

Two and a half years ago, Mitch (aka Memphus) had his bachelor party in Las Vegas. Though not billed as so, this weekend in the desert could have been called Phus Vs. Vegas. While the Phus Brothers put up a valiant fight in sin city, it is not fair to say that we won. Nobody beats Vegas. No matter if you think you did or not, you don’t win.

The latest installment of Phus Vs. just wrapped up this past weekend. Phus vs. Kansas City. In this battle the Phus Brothers took on KC BBQ (several times and places), NASCAR (more on that in a minute), KC Power & Light District and make-shift beds.

One good thing about the Phus Brothers is that they always work as a team. Usually like a team from the 80’s; reverting back to tendancies, stories and behaviors reminiscent of the old high school days. When a team comes together like this it is hard to lose. The real loser this week was the KC air quality. The methane gas increased considerably over the two days/nights. It will take a few days of leaving the windows open in the car and house to bring back some semblance of regular air quality. This group does not need much to have a good time. Constant ribbing and laughter are trademarks of the Phus Brothers. A diverse group has only grown more so over the years, but that diversity does not stand in the way of a unique brotherhood. A banker, an architect, a lawyer, an online communications guy (we honestly can't figure out what Ruphus (Coon) does and a marketer put aside the real world for a few short days and hearken back to a time when things were less stressful and having fun was hallmark.

So the impetus of the trip was to go to a NASCAR race. None of us had gone, but Ephus (aka Gee) was Jonsin' to go to one, so we found a way to make it happen. The race in KC was chosen and we combed our contacts for tickets. Striphus (Rake/me) was able to not only get us seats, but also access to the hospitality tent of A/B. With free seats, free food and free beer on the agenda we set off for the Kansas Motor Speedway. The race was unlike anything else. Anything else but other races really. But this time there were NASCAR fans in attendance, so that makes everything different. Flags flying high above cars in the parking lots showing off loyalty to a particular driver, or country or side of the civil war. We opted for a wayfinder of a different sort, Gee punched in the location of the car into his GPS so that we could find our way through the maze of pickups.

Our seats were close to the start/finish line and right above a couple of ol' gals who were as fired up about the race as anyone in attendance. They were Tony Stewart (#14) fans and pointed at him every time he sped by (we were in row 62), but they felt like they were part of the team and they definitely were part of the experience.

After about 40 laps (30 minutes) we were through with the seats and off to the land of free food and beer. The rest of the race was watched from the side of the track, much close to the action than row 62, but miles away from die-hard NASCAR fans. The race continued, and continued, and continued with little excitement. No wrecks, a few lead changes, but nothing that had to be seen. Finally with 30 laps to go NASCAR threw out the caution flag to clear debris from the track. If you ask any of us, it was a staged way to reset the race and make it somewhat close. It didn't work. #14 took the lead and did not relinquish it and very anticlimactically won the race.

All in all it was a great experience. If we were to see NASCAR, this was the way to see it. The people there were incredibly friendly and passionate. Much like we are of baseball. Another great Phus trip. This one definitely more low-key than the trips of years gone by, but now that the group has a combined 7 kids and much less tread on the proverbial tires I still call the weekend a success for the Phus Brothers. We are all still standing, still friends and still ready for the next event. Let's just make this one happen a little quicker than 30 months.

_Striphus
momesso.blogspot.com

Inspiring

2009-09-26T12:31:00.000-05:00

Over the past 2 weeks I have attended two separate art fairs. Some very unique art, unique mediums, unique perspectives.

I don’t have a ton of artistic talent. I like to doodle, I used to draw floor plans of houses and rooms for fun (yes, dorky, I know), I did well in art classes in college, but those were more design-based.

One artistic area where I have always had an interest but no real tools is photography. I never had a good camera. I usually had a cheapo point and click. With a poor camera, came poor pictures.

This year I decided to buy a nice digital SLR camera, you know, the kind with a big-ol lens. I have found that I love to take pictures of architecture. Finding old buildings around town that are shuttered and ignored.

Walking these two art fairs I have become inspired. I need to make time to take more pictures. Show more from my own lens. This blog tells you what I am thinking. My music preferences say something about me. Now I need to let some photography show another part.

I will start sharing some images via picasa (Google’s photo sharing site). Take a look, comment, laugh, or just tell me that you visited the site (I don’t think I can track viewers, so I will never know).

My first Tweetup

2009-09-18T17:38:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am on twitter.

I am trying to learn what this new medium of communication is all about. I find myself on twitter everyday. For me, so far, it has been a way for me to get a snapshot of information - what is going on in the world. I follow some friends, I follow some sports writers, I follow some alternative power companies, I follow Shaq.

The creator and co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was speaking today at Webster University. Jack grew up in Clifton Heights so this was a homecoming of sorts. His speech was short, but to the point. Beyond his own story..."I lived here, I did this, I then did this..." he got to talking about why he thought that something like Twitter needed to exist. What void it need to fill.

He broke it down to 3 things:
IMMEDIACY
TRANSPARENCY
APPROACHABILITY

People want to know stuff now. Reading the paper tomorrow is just not fast enough any more. Tell me what is going on right this minute. Be open and transparent. The more immediate the story, the more truthful (and insightful) it will be. With these followers get to know the person/brand/whatever better and thus make them more approachable.

Very interesting stuff. The way I see it is that the first thing (immediacy) leads to the other two things in this case. I got to asking where would I benefit and my customers benefit if they had immediate information. The answer was right in front of me. There was a large projector screen running the stream of tweets about the speaker and his Q&A. The first person to ask a question was not heard well by the rest of the room. It was answered without repeating the question. What showed up next on the screen is what hundreds of people were thinking. "Can you please repeat the question so the audience can hear it?" It was addressed immediately. Later someone tweeted that the screen behind the speaker scrolling these tweets was distracting, it was temporarily blacked out. WOW! Now anyone had the power to influence change.

Neither ground breaking, but both shed a glimpse into what could be done.

I have already recommended that ENR tweet from our next earnings release meeting. Not many people will likely follow, but those that do really care, and now they can be closer to the company.

Twitter is hard to get used to. I was on it about 6 months before I found my twitter voice and cared enough to tweet. I am still not a hard core user. But I like it, I watch it, I learn from it and now I am learning how to use it to make our company better.

Don't be scared of it. Someone said today that "Twitter is to this generation what the printing press was to an earlier generation". Same things are being said, just now there is a new delivery method.

Down the Stretch They Come

2009-09-09T17:31:00.003-05:00

Cards just pulled off a pretty nice sweep of the Brewers up in Milwaukee. Carp and Wainwright do their things on the mound and on the other game the bats battle back for a late game winner. Not bad. So how does that position the Cards for NL home field advantage as we have about 3-4 weeks of ball left? Currently the Cards have the best record in the NL by .5 games.

The Cards have 7 more 3-game series remaining. Three of those series are against teams with sub-.500 winning percentages (HOU, CIN, MIL). Two of the three of those are on the road. Other opponents include ATL (4 games over .500), FLA (8 games over), CHC (4 games over) and COL (19 games over). The combined record of our future opponents is 490-478 (.506).

Now look at the Dodgers. Their opponents have a combined record of 448-543, almost 100 games under .500 (.452 winning %). At first glance you would think that they have the easy road. But there is more to it than that. Yes, there are some easy series coming up for LA. They play PIT twice, WAS and SD. None of those teams have won 45% of their games. But the other three series are not going to be easy. A home and home against SF (76-63) and finish the season against COL (79-60). LA had better take care of business against the bottom feeders because the other teams are still fighting for some more October baseball.

On to the Phillies. Their future opponents' winning percentage is .475. There is still some competition in the NL East and they still play them all. FLA for two series, ATL for a series, and the Mets for a series. The Mets are not much on paper this year, but PHI has ruined the Mets playoff hopes a few times as of late. Will they inflict some revenge this year? PHI also plays a series against WAS, MIL and HOU.

All three of these teams should win their divisions. But with the pair of 2 series between LA/SF and PHI/FLA there is plenty of room to shake things up.

So while the Redbirds may have the toughest compiled opponents' winning percentage, they may have the easiest road to the best record. Not to mention, the Cards have less games to play (more off days remaining) than either the Phillies or the Dodgers.

Baseball Fever...Catch It!

Is this the next music revolution?

2009-09-07T12:00:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Ryan Dannan for the inspiration to blog about this.

You don't know you are experiencing a musical revolution until it has passed. It is impossible to know what music will matter 5, 10, 30 years down the road. Did anyone watching the New Years Day video back in the early 80's think that U2 would be the biggest tour in 2009? Music has staying power. Good music defines a generation.

So, are we hearing that now? It has been awhile since there has been good music put out in mass. A good band comes up now and again, but is this the time that there is a whole new sound? A whole new feel?

Take a listen to some of these new(er) groups. They may just be the sound that will mark the late 00's.

Gaslight Anthem
Gomez
Glasvegas
Editors
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
White Lies
Friendly Fires
The Shins

Let me know if there are others you are listening to these days. I am always looking for something new to drop on my iPod.

The Airport Bar

2009-09-02T23:07:00.002-05:00

While this story will not quite read like a glimpse of the bar in Star Wars it was an interesting motley crew none the less.

I was sitting at the East Terminal in St. Louis, waiting for a flight to Cleveland and missing a double header in softball. Things were not off to a good start. I belly up to the "Home Plate" bar because they have TVs tuned into sports and the Cards are about to face off against the Brewers.

First of all, where does one find a job at the airport? You look at the workers and they don't seem like the traveling type. I doubt they were waiting for a flight one day and said, "hey, look the airport is hiring bartenders or a cleaning crew, I should work here". I am assuming that somewhere there is a placement agency that specializes in these jobs.

Our bartender was on cruise control. "What can I get for you?", "Would you like to make that beer a tall?", "How about a shot for just $3 more?", "Can I see your I.D.?" This same sequence was uttered to every traveler who stepped forward to the bar.

So I expect to see business travelers at the bar, or maybe a lonely traveler while they wait for their delayed flight. But this night there were some others who showed up.

The first was a weathered old lady who was pushing 60. She orders a shot of tequila. Declines the "double for just $3 more". Sits down long enough to show her I.D., pay the $6.90 for the shot, and address the drink. Lick of the salt, bottoms up, stuff the lemon (yes, not a lime) into her teeth. She then grabs her purse and off she goes...

So, I was just sitting there enjoying my 20oz Bud and laughing inside about this transaction. It reminded me of the gambler who approaches a table game, drops down money on one roll/deal/spin, loses their money, and moves on...

Then up comes another. This girl much younger. Probably in her 20's. Could have been cute had she not lived such a hard life already. Leathery skin and a look of it was her against the world. She orders a Red Bull and Stoli Vodka...up...chilled. Huh?

Yes, she ordered a Red Bull martini. The bartender chills the vodka, pours it into a martini glass and then hands it to the traveler. Along side it stands the Red Bull can. Our young alcoholic takes the Red Bull and pours about 1/4 of the can over the vodka and takes a huge pull of her drink - 1/3 down. She pays, puts her wallet away, and takes another long drink - now about 80% gone. Before setting it down, one last drink to drain her martini. Grabs the Red Bull can and she was gone.

So my question is this. Who was it they were about to see that they both needed a quick drink to handle? Good stuff to see, felt like I was watching Intervention. Feel sorry for them a little. Then again, it was I who was sitting right beside them, drinking alone as well...

I'm a bad movie-picker-outer

2009-08-17T19:06:00.000-05:00

Admittedly, I am not one who sees a lot of movies. I have seen the classics. I have my favorites that I have seen countless times. But on a yearly basis I go to one or two flicks at the theater and I may rent another 5 or so over the year. That "renting" includes finding one on Showtime or HBO. I think that it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy of only seeing poor films. Usually I just have too many other things going on, and when a movie looks good in the trailers I always seem to not have a free night to go to the movies. Then, that one day comes along and I am in the mood to sit down with 100 strangers and see a movie on the big screen and I have no idea what is playing.

So, last night was one of those nights. Movie night for Serge. I know I wanted to see the Hangover as EVERYONE I know who has seen it has loved and said that I would love it to. So, I looked up show times on my phone and it was playing at 9 and 10 PM around town. It was 7:30. I did not feel like finding a way to entertain myself for an hour and a half so I decided to play movie roulette. Bad move Mr. Traylor.

The last time in this predicament we found ourselves at Walk Hard. A spoof on the Johnny Cash movie. It was a comedy with an actor who was good in a previous movie I'd seen. Was I wrong! Horrible. I still don't know how I sat through all 84 minutes of it.

Last night it happened again. I get to the mega-plex 130 screen theater in west county. And here is a list of movies in front of me that I had either never heard of or had no interest in seeing. Sorry, I am not a Harry Potter guy. So, I rolled the dice. GOODS.

Ouch! Even with a cameo by Will Ferrell it was horrendous. Two or three laughs. Almost painful at times.

So, why am I so bad at picking out movies? I think it is a law of averages with a healthy helping of not knowing good actors/actresses names. If you only go to bat twice, you have a good chance of striking out twice, like me. If you go to movies all the time, not only is your average better but your memory of bad movies is worse. Then you put a little, "well the only actor I have heard of on any of these movie posters is Jeremy Piven, so let's see that one" on top and you have a recipe for disaster.

Does anyone know a good movie review site? Not the Siskel and Ebert one, one that guys in their 30's might enjoy or relate to? I need a go to spot next time the mood hits me. Cause one more strike out like that and the side is retired.

I admit my geekiness now

2009-08-15T19:33:00.002-05:00

I remember the days when my magazine subscriptions were Maxim, Men's Health, Baseball Weekly, ESPN the magazine. Now, none of those get mailed to my house. I fashion myself as a guy who is still "in the know", but for some reason those publications just don't warrant me spending $10 - $20 a year now in subscription.

What happened? When did it happen?

I look at my coffee table now and I see Fast Company, Inc., St. Louis Magazine, Consumer Reports.

Damn, I am old. Or as I would have titled myself a few years ago, I am a geek (to some extent).

I remember the days when I was on the road day in and day out that I would watch SportsCenter at least 2x a night, and again in the morning. I knew every little thing that was going on in sports with thanks to the World Wide Leader in Sports. Now, I check my Google Reader and see what is going on from a few bloggers out there on teams that I care about (Cards, Blues, sometimes KU basketball and sometimes Steelers football).

I am becoming a business man. Actually, I guess I am full-fledged business man. Getting old is weird. I won't even share with you the geeky publications I have on my desk at work...

momesso.blogspot.com

Using Twitter as a research tool

2009-07-30T09:29:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I signed on to my Twitter account (twitter.com/momesso) to see a tweet from Southwest Airlines that caught my attention. SWA had gathered 250 people of their leadership team and for 1 hour they were going to watch their company's twitter account and scroll through all of the responses. SWA has over 380,000 followers so there was a good chance that a decent number of tweets would be posted to them when the followers knew they had the attention of SWA leadership team. I mean, even if 1% of the followers posted during that hour, that is 3,800 comments.

So what did people say? We don't know yet. Here was my tweet; @southwestair LUV the free drink coupons, LUV them more if they were paperless. #GoGreen.

So, what is going to come of it? Who knows. But if you see SWA go to paperless drink coupons you will know that I might have had something to do with it. What I really love about this is the impact it can have across an organization. I can't help but picture 250 execs with pen and paper watch the scrolling tweets and writing down the ideas/compliments/etc that would impact their part of the business. Hopefully someone was aggregating this information for them and they can see what topics were tweeted about the most. This market research of their devout followers was worth at least $50,000 - maybe twice that. And what did it cost them? Time for the execs to carve out an hour to read first-hand what their customers had to say. Time and money well spent.

So I ask you. How can you or your company gain from the new social media world? What can you learn to make your business better? Are you ready to listen to your customers?

momesso.blogspot.com

The answer is...

2009-07-24T14:32:00.001-05:00

Matt Holliday will be wearing #15. The quiet tribute to Jimmy Ballgame is over. It took a year and a half.

While Holliday is no Edmonds in the OF, he should be able to offer up more at the plate that Edmonds did since about 2005.

Now let's get on to Holliday growing a 'stache to match his new teammates.

...momesso.blogspot.com...

So, what number does Holliday wear?

2009-07-24T13:53:00.003-05:00

Put in your guesses quick, just a few hours before Matt Holliday puts the birds on bat across his chest. There are not many numbers open (I'll go on about why numbers should not be retired at a later time). Here's what's available unless Holliday makes a swap with another player for a number - which has been done before at the cost of a car or other luxury item...

15 - last worn by our Jimmy Edmonds (are the Cards ready to pass this number along?)
16 - Chris Duncan's old number, also worn somewhat recently by Reggie Sanders - so it is used to playing leftfield.
25 - Big Mac's old number. No one on the Cards has worn it since he rode off in the sunset.
30 - Jess Todd has rights to this number, but he does not have too much major league experience and is only on the 40-man roster
33 - Shane Robinson's number, see Jess Todd
34 - No real significance to this number's last owner

Holliday wears #5 now...and he wore that in Colorado. Pujols wouldn't give up his #...unless he REALLY wants Holliday to feel welcomed and stay in St. Louis. Think of all of the new merchandise fans would have to buy!

My guess is that he goes with #16. I would like to say he could have #15 if he wanted it. I also think that #25 would be cool too. Would Cardinal fans cringe at seeing someone else in #25? Are we finally over McGwire being untouchable?

We do know one thing...he won't wear #51. Bud Smith tried that...was quickly switched to #52. You just don't mess with Willie McGee's number in this town.

Your thoughts?

Time to treat the "Best Fans in Baseball" like it

2009-07-15T18:32:00.003-05:00

It cost $365 million to complete the new Busch Stadium. A hefty price tag, until you hear what they spent in NYC for Yankee Stadium. In that price was a good design that is open to downtown, allowing great views of the courthouse and the arch. It also included a couple of state-of-the-art scoreboards. That's where my beef with the stadium begins.

I have been lucky enough to visit most all of the current and recent baseball stadiums around the country. On these tours I like to see what they team does to communicate to the fans. You have to assume that many of your "best" fans are in attendance, so you should talk to them - without alienating the casual fan or the corporate entertainer. The one stadium that comes to mind as far as a good example of what to do is the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix (OK, I'll comply and call it Chase Field). The first time I went there I was amazed at what I could learn at a game. Complete stats of the players were up for each at bat, the lineups were always posted and they had secondary displays that scrolled classic baseball facts. The ones I remember was listing all of the World Series winners in chronological order and scrolling through other historic trivia.

These are the kinds of conversations that come up when you are amongst baseball fans at a game. "Can you name the last 10 World Series winners?", "Did the Phillies win in 4 or 5 games last year?" The answers to these types of questions were there for the fans to see. I was impressed, and I didn't worry about the cap dance or the t-shirt launcher between innings.

So, back to Busch Stadium. The people in charge of the scoreboards in St. Louis are more worried about graphics than quality. They come up with images that look like they are in baseball cards, or make it look like a page is being pulled back to reveal more stats. Instead of just giving the fans what we want - Stats. Baseball is all about stats. You would think that they would understand that in "Baseball Heaven".

During the all star game I found it difficult just to find out what the hitter was doing that year. Wait, there it was...on a terrace facade scoreboard for about 30 seconds, then replaced with a too-close shot of the player's eyes and their name...and their number. Oh, and while I talking about this. How hard is it to find out what number a player wears. Orlando Hudson #30 2B. Only problem is that he was not wearing #30, he is wearing #13 now. So, not only is the information light, it is also wrong.

Also, during the all star game they put up career stats of a few players. Good idea? I thought so, until I read down below the stat categories to read something that looked like this.

AB HR RBI AB H BB
Jeter .316216103983682645853

No, you are not reading that wrong. There were no spaces! My buddy, Gee, then brought up another classic Busch Stadium stat misque from a few seasons back. Showing batting average they would stop the number after 2 spaces beyond the decimal point. So, a .320 average on the Busch scoreboard read ".32". Nowhere in baseball is this done...except Baseball Heaven. They also had a period when the would do it this way "0.320" also odd to read.

So here's what I am asking for from those operating the scoreboard. First, show us all of the player's stats on the main scoreboard. Not just AVG HR RBI. Tell me AB, H, R, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, BB, SB and maybe SAC as well. These are the stats we follow. If you really want to talk to the baseball fan, add the OPS. Now, don't just show that once, show it every time the guy hits. We are talking about this hitter in the fans, give us something to talk about. Now, somewhere show us how many strikeouts the home pitcher has that game. I think that EVERY other park does this, catch up!

On the scoreboards on the terrace facade focus on the key stats AVG, HR, RBI score, balls, strikes, outs. I need to be able to get this info instantly. This is what rules baseball.

Inform us, reach out and embrace the fanatical customer. And, start acting inside the stadium like you are the baseball mecca that you are. Time to catch up.

Is Loyalty Not Worth A Damn?

2009-07-04T10:39:00.003-05:00

I am always amazed at the lengths that marketers will go to reward or entice new customers, but neglect those who are already choosing their product or service. I switched to Sprint cellular service about a year ago because AT&T would not budge on their discounts. With Sprint I was able to get a top of the line phone and a cheaper service plan, just because I was a new customer. So I switched. It is easy to do now that you can take your number with you (or if you have a google voice number that links to any number you want). Maybe the cellular industry should start looking at how to keep the customers they already have. It is widely known in the marketing world that it is much more expensive to attract a new customer, than to hold on to an existing one.

This week I saw another example of the luring of new customers. Visa and Marriott want to offer me a credit card. They are going to offer me a free night hotel room as well as 25,000 points. Add to this the Visa Signature program and this sounds like a pretty good deal. So what will Citi or Bank Of America do when I call them up to cancel their card to take advantage of this new offer (with better rates)? They might offer to lower my interest rate. OK, not a huge deal since it gets paid off pretty regularly? They might remind me that it does not look good to have so many cards on my credit report. Since I don't make a real habit of this, I should be OK here too. I expect that they will let me walk. They are more worried about their new customers than their existing.

Why don't we all just try to keep our current customers happy and look to them to help spread the word about our products?

One last story. Yesterday I was at an Acura dealership looking for a new(er) car. As I got out of my car, a woman leaving the lot pulled up along side me and started gushing about what a great business this Acura dealership was. "The service is great, they treat me like a person" on and on she went. To the extent that we accused her of being a paid spokesperson. I really don't think she was. I think she just had that great of an experience. If she believed in this business so much that she took the time to talk to a stranger about her feelings, imagine what she says to her friends. That is good marketing...that is good service...that is a whole lot less expensive and more effective than luring new customers with one time deals.

The Big Suck

2009-06-22T18:45:00.004-05:00

Every ballpark has its own little charming idiosyncrasies. I have to say that one of the highlights of the Metrodome is leaving. Not because the stadium is that bad, but because you literally get sucked out of the dome when leaving.

Since the dome is basically inflated, there is a ton of air pumped into this large pillowy stadium. When the fans begin to leave, the doors open and the air just pours out just as the fans do. It feels like you are getting blown out the door. This explains why there are revolving doors like you would find at Macy's to enter through. It would be hard for some weaker individuals to beat the wind to ever enter the stadium.

But there is more to the stadium than just this crazy doorway breeze. Justin and I were able to buy 2nd row seats down the rightfield line. These seats were right next to the visitor's bullpen home plate...oh yeah...and 35 rows below the entrance to the section!

Luckily some front row fans decided to take advantage of other plans on Father's Day, so seats were open and we found ourselves in the front row enjoying out Dome Dogs.

The Astros were in town as part of the interleague carrusel. We were talking distance to Pudge Rodriguez and several 'Stros pitchers during the game.

Due to the way the stadium is set up, we never really ventured around the park as I usually do. There are no "other views" from different areas around the concourse. The concourse is hidden behind the seats and is loaded with fans - at least it felt that way as the walkway was narrow and the lines from concession stands blocked many parts of the walk.

The rightfield is as was expected, large hefty bag-looking things draped over the collapsed Vikings seats. Seats in the right centerfield area in the upper deck were also blocked by large curtains. On these curtains were the retired numbers of the Twins franchise. More than I expected. Can you name them? If not, here you go...RETIRED NUMBERS.

The only other odd thing about the stadium was the fact that you had to check multiple scoreboards to get the total picture of a batter's year. Want to know his average? Better look to the narrow scoreboard along the second-level facade. Want to know how many homeruns, RBI, at bats or other stats? Better look up high over left field (or above firstbase line) for the jumbotron and other large scoreboards. From out seats, that scoreboard in the OF seemed like miles away.

It makes me wonder who is in charge of determining what stats will be displayed...and where. It is an issue I have with Busch as well. Cater to your die hard fans and let me know every at bat, hits, doubles, triples, HR, Runs, RBI, SB - and all in one place, please. The casual fan will learn a little more about these telling numbers and the player and the devout fan will be happy. Niether the Twins, nor the Cardinals, are listening to me...yet.

Overall, I think that the Twins fans are in for a big surprise when they walk into their new stadium next April (brrrr). This stadium is a football stadium that allows baseball to be played. It is not a good place to watch baseball. It is a horrible place to listen to anything. The sound system echos so much and sounds so muffled that it was impossible to understand anything said over the PA system.

So where does it rank in my list? Near the bottom. Maybe at the bottom. Three Rivers and Veteran's Stadiums were both bad, probably the worst I had witnessed. This was even more generic. The fans were into the game, so the atmosphere was pretty good (even more impressive since they were 2-hit). The only place I would say was worse is the old Nationals' Stadium, RFK. So, if you have not been up to Minneapolis and you feel you need to see the Metrodome for baseball, you have 42 more home games (it is hung proudly in leftfield). Next year baseball will be different in MIN, it will be in a beautiful open-air park (not even a retractable roof). I will be back, but it will be June or July. The town is beautiful during the summer, the team has some big stars, and the fans, draped in their Twins jerseys seem to love the team.

But what they rename the Dome Dog? And how will they ever replace the best part of the stadium...the way you get sucked back into the beautiful June weather in Minneapolis?

I was worth the wait...

2009-06-15T17:14:00.007-05:00

So I was on my way home from a trip out west. Been flying for about 4 hours and it was already in the evening of a Friday. All I wanted to do was have the airport parking shuttle take me to my car so I could get home.

I boarded the parking shuttle to find little room to sit down. Not because there were so many people, but because there was a large family (I mean large in size, not quantity) taking up more than their fair share of seat space.

I honestly thought that I had no patience for these people. I had to squeeze in next to grandma (who was only in her 50's) in the seat and endure a ride that is in reality no more than about the distance of 5-6 blocks. But in these tight conditions, it seemed much longer. This family was quite the redneck bunch. Grandma and Granddad were sporting their Crocs (sorry if you have a pair), Mom was kickin' her 80's hairdo and the daughter was just plain awkward. Let me remind you that not one of them was weighing in less than me. Probably had me beat by 50 lbs at least with some of them. My patience grew thinner as I listened to them. "Mom, where'd we park?". "I dunno, to the left I thank." "Do you have the piece of paper that says where we parked?". "Nope, 'left it in the car so we wouldn't lose it." CLASSIC!

Then they decided to get involved in the few other conversations going on in the bus. You know, like only really annoying people can...Nothing really to add, but feel that they must interject something into a conversation they know nothing about and have no business in.

Is it my stop yet?

Of course the driver forgets my stop and proceeds to every other stop before mine. Including this wonderful family's stop. They yell to the driver, "I think I saw our car in 'L'". The driver makes the turn and creeps up the aisle. Then it happens. A quote that made it all worth the wait..."that's it on the left, the white minivan...the LOSER CRUISER."

Aw, thank you annoying family for bringing that phrase into my life. Thanks for knowing that your minivan is exactly that...And thanks to the bus driver for forgetting my stop. Had I missed that I would have just been annoyed by this family. Now I have a memory.

Loser cruiser...I think it might better fit a PT Cruiser...but it is good all the same.

You all are on my distribution list - let me know if you don't want to hear about this random crap.

Renaming Stadiums Mid Season

2009-06-09T18:08:00.002-05:00

So the Cardinals are rolling into Miami tonight and I read earlier today that they were going to be playing at Landshark Stadium. I honestly thought it was the author playing with the Dolphin Stadium name since it is not on the water.

Nope, as it turns out, the name was officially changed. I googled it and there were a couple of stories on it. So I guess it was not a complete mystery to others like it was to me.

So are we at the point now where stadiums will be renamed each year? This deal with Jimmy Buffet will go through the end of the 2009 football season. Buffet is behind the Landshark beer so that just adds to the beer companies holding naming rights to stadiums: Busch Stadium, Coors Field, Miller Park.

Anyone want to get a group together, albeit a large group, to buy naming rights to a stadium for a year? Maybe if we all pony up $10 we can come up with a crazy name that the stadium would have to be called.

Thoughts on the name?

2009-06-08T18:58:00.002-05:00

It was about 7:35 this morning when I looked out the window for the first time. Misty said, "has it been raining?". "No", I replied, "Not yet". Well, all you had to do was give me enough time to close the blinds and count to five before it hit...and it hit hard.

A hail storm in June in St. Louis. Pea sized hail bombarding U. City. It was an onslaught like I have not seen before.

This picture is of the ground just off our front porch. That pile is snow...OK...sleet piled up. Here it was June 8th in St. Louis and we had accumulation!

Amazing!

To make it all worse, I had left my sunroof "popped open" last night to air out the car as I had gone running in Forest Park earlier and the car had to bear the grunt of my sweaty self on the drive home. What I did not know was that I had forgotten to fully roll up the back window as well.

This pile of sleet is nothing compared to the number of leaves and sleet pellets that I found in my car as I left for work. Some day I will learn to close my sunroof and windows. Maybe that day will be today...and I will keep doing it from here on out...

Now to air out the car...

It seemed cool to me

2009-05-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

I guess I never really thought about it before. I could not only get my towels, cat food, outdoor furniture, but also pick up a bottle of wine all at the same location.

Being in the bi-state region our groceries have been dominated by the 2 local players; Dierbergs and Schnucks. These two have such a stranglehold on the town that we have not seen the likes of a Super Target or Super Walmart around these parts. To go into a Town & Country Target (I am pronouncing it the fancy way now that I bought vino there) and seeing a merlot on the checklane endcap really threw me. So, I had to buy a bottle to along with all of the household items I was stocking up on.

What really gets me is the part that Target is so good at merchandising sections in their store. Yet, they have not done well with this section. It would be any old aisle, just this one had finely aged grapes. I would expect so much more from the fashion leader of mass-merchandising. How about dressing up the shelves a little? Bringing in some faux wood? Maybe to trite? Maybe...but I was very underwhelmed in this section. So much so that I just found a bottle with the red Target clearance sticker (also classy for wine) and got out there.

If target can get their merchandising together, could they be like Sam's Club? I think of them for decent to great bottles of wine. It's all in the merchandising...and I guess some awareness, as it took my until May 22, 2009 until I bought alcohol from Target.

ugh...time to buy a new car

2009-05-20T10:56:00.000-05:00

A few years ago I thought it wise (and fun) to buy a Jeep Cherokee. I realized quickly that I am not a big-car guy. I didn't like the way is slurped gas (it was a record summer for gas prices at the time). I didn't like how long it took to cool down the inside of the SUV since the cool air had to flow all the way from the front of the cabin to the back storage area. I didn't like how when I played a sport and put my equipment back in the car that the stank would take over the entire SUV. There were some things I liked. I believe twice I was able to take curbs with no fear. And I think I used it twice to bring home a real Christmas Tree from the Meert Tree Farm. As you can see, the cons far out-weighed the pros.

So, I went smaller, nimbler. I leased an Altima. Back to my4-door sedan life. For the most part I love this car. It gets good gas mileage, it looks somewhat sporty (for a 4-door sedan), it is reliable and it has a concealed trunk. But...I leased it. Now I sit three months away from the end of the lease. The pains of buying (or leasing) are upon me again. First of all, how will Nissan bend me over to extract every last dollar in the end? New tires, fixing scrapes on the bumber, new floormat...they all add up. So, getting out of the car is going to cost me a couple hundred bucks. That is before I drop the first dime on a new(er) car for me to drive. Yes, I could just buy out the lease on the Altima. However, with auto prices dropping faster than gravity the residual value on my contract of the Altima is higher than the value of the car. Not to mention, it has 50,000 miles on it. But it is still reliable.

So, where to go from here? Drop $400+ a month on a nice car loan? Drop $600+ a month on a nicer car loan? Lease again and be ready for this same thing in 3 more years? Try to milk the poor car market for a good deal on a used car and cross my fingers I am not buying someone else's problems?

I need a car. I love the time I have in a car...my car. My music, my stuff where I want it. I am in control in my car. So public transportation is out of the question. Plus, I live / work off the commuter train route.

My heart tells me to go with a car that I would love to drive. Right now, that would be the Mini Cooper S. Put, I am not one who typically goes with his heart. I am more practical than that. Do I go with another Altima? It has been the best car I have ever owned. Maybe Altima 2.0 will be the same? Am I entering my mid-life crisis time? Do I need to get that sports car? A G37x? A Porsche? Too much of a heart/ego/look-at-me associated with those. Let's cross those off the list for now.

So, here I sit. Three months until I need to trade in my lease. I need to start looking at options, I needed to look at options beginning about a month ago. In reality I will not start looking until July. Will dealers continue to wheel-and-deal? Will I be able to get the deal that I want on the car that I want?

It is a necessary evil - buying a car. It is a huge decision for me. I love my car, I love it because it is my sanctuary, it plays my music, it goes my speed, it keeps me physically connected to the people and places that matter to me. So, who will join me in this journey?

What, exactly, should a coach wear?

2009-04-15T20:45:00.000-05:00

In watching playoff hockey it struck me again how odd it looks for a head coach to be behind his team wearing a suit and tie. When I think of suits I think of going to an office, meeting clients, closing business deals...hell, even interviewing for a job. But here is a guy who is surrounded by 20 sweaty men in tons of pads and "sweaters" (a.k.a. jerseys). How often does a hockey coach have to have his entire suit dry cleaned? Do hockey coaches have the highest dry clean bill in the world? It has been years since I wore a suit to work, but when I did, I think I had the jacket cleaned maybe twice a year...the pants obviously more often. But I was going to an office, with other people who did not (for the most part) sweat profusely and stink. Yes, NBA coaches do the same thing. That one looks odd too. A bunch of 6'6" men in tank tops surrounding a shorter man in a suit. Just looks odd. Then there is baseball.

A couple things about baseball coaches and managers in uniforms strikes me as odd. First, is the fact that many of these coaches are older and not in top shape any longer. We have all see the older coach who should no longer be in a baseball uniform. Maybe it makes sense for the base coaches to wear uniforms so that the look like the fit in, but then again, isn't there the chance that they look too much like the player. I can't remember a player tagging out a coach in a highlight, but I bet it has happened. The other part that strikes me as odd is the fact that the coaches have numbers. The reason I see that players have numbers is so that you can readily identify them when they are moving quickly on the field. Coaches are not moving quickly. There is plenty of time to make out their name. Some of the coaches even grab the good numbers - forcing the players to use number 67 or some other very high number. I am not saying that baseball managers should wear suits...that would be a little too warm on the field.

Finally, there is football. The only sport where the league allows the coaches to decide on their wardrobe (within reason). Maybe this league is the reason the rest insist on a dress code. Belichick of the Patriots is known for his ripped up hoodie sweatshirts. No fashion statement here. I bet there are people in NE that emulate his look though - but no one would wear a Belichick jersey (if there was one).

So, what should they wear? Maybe there needs to be a shirt/jacket that they can sport. The teams are always looking for "alternate jerseys", this could be marketed as wear what the coaches wear. I don't know what it is, but these suits and these Uniforms with #10 just seem odd.

Third Base

2009-04-02T10:03:00.000-05:00

I was going to make my next post about something other than baseball, but today's news that Glaus is shelved until possibly the all-star break changes things.

So, the Cards head north with a centerfielder holding down second base, and a guy 1 year removed from A-ball manning the hot corner. Just that in itself sounds scary. But digging deeper, it just may work. At second we are sacrificing some glove for a solid .300 bat and leadoff hitter. As long as Skip does not botch the double play pivots he should be servicable at 2nd. Not to mention, as of the 7th inning, Skip will move to the OF and a seasoned second baseman will take over.

Now, at third we have a guy who supposedly brings a strong glove. His bat is the question mark. He has always proven he can hit, but the ML is a different scenario. Pitchers are working hitters differently. More breaking balls, more hitting the corners. If Freese strikes out 100 times in the minors, what happens in the majors? His best spot in the lineup may be just ahead of the pitcher. Pitchers are more likely to let the guy before the pitcher get something to hit so that the pitcher could lead off the next inning. There are flaws to this theory as why face a potential good hitter when you can just go after the pitcher. But that speaks more to strike zone knowlede than anything else.

So what do you think? How is this going to play out?

My World Google-style

2009-03-23T22:32:00.000-05:00

Changing the subject from Cardinals to online for a moment, I have to talk about what Google is doing to my life. A few years ago, I looked into google with their IPO. I was fortunate to be able to buy in shortly after the IPO at about $119 a share. This was with the investment group, but none-the-less I had my first connection to google. Well, that is not considering all of the searches that I was using google for on the web.

I have become more and more aware of what google is doing, and I have to say, I like how they are improving my life. First, I added Gmail to my list of email accounts. I had used a yahoo account some, but as most of you know, I have an sbcglobal account too. Not even sure how I got that one, but it does a fine job of displaying my spam. Gmail allowed me to bring in my sbc account and link it to my google account - pretty cool! Then, more over, I could read all of my emails as a thread - so every conversation was together. Not bad...I was in.

Next thing I bought into (well, it was free) was the google calendar. I have to say, this has been the best technology that Misty and I have shared. We both upload our calendars and share what we want with eachother. "Do we have plans on Friday night" is not uttered, all we have to do is go to the calendar online and see for ourselves. WOW, has it made planning anything easier. Now I was buying into the franchise. I next took a look at this new voice mail system that google bought where I could get one free phone number and I could set it up to ring any or all of my phones. Cool I thought, but without texting capabilities it was lacking for my purposes. That voice mail system has been completely converted to google voice now and you will each see a new number from me soon. This number will allow me to pick up at home/work/on the road, where ever I want. So, all you need to know is one number...all I have to give out is one number. And best yet, I can screen calls just like the old days with an answering machine. So, if I don't want to hear from people I don't know their number...I can send them straight to voice mail and the voice mail system can text me a transcript of the voicemail.

I could go on, but this is not a commercial for google, they don't need it. It is just sharing how some new technology out there by this one company can help you organize your life. One spot online for me to see my calendar, my emails and now my voice and text messages...oh yeah...and this blog.

That number...314-714-5190. Once I get your number in the system be ready - I can even leave personalized outgoing messages.

softball downtown

2009-03-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

so a response from Jimmy is to blame for this installment. Jimmy has sent out this comment to both me and our beaver team "I don't know what to think about the softball field going up at ballpark village, it is either the best idea or the worst idea ever". Let me take a stab at it Jimmy.

If those are my two options, I am going to have to go with best idea ever. It is a cheap way to dress up a vacant lot - and it will look like it is supposed to be there. Many other teams have created softball/little leage/wiffle ball fields where their old stadium once sat. I think of Milwaukee for instance, there is a field on the old location of County Stadium. We are going to have national media coverage of Busch stadium for the first half of the season, and this will dress up the goodyear blimp shots a little.

Would we rather there be a village on this location? Of course! Let's be honest, no one is giving out loans right now so if this village were to be built on the dollars that Missourians have paid in taxes, there would be few residents - both businesses and people. So...we can build a village that will not make money or we can make something somewhat productive out of the land temporarily and let people enjoy it.

Personally I think it would be fun to play a softball game downtown under the shadow of Busch. You bet that I will call to find out rates and times that are available. I can't beleive for a second that the owners of the Cardinals are trying to stick it to St. Louis fans by not building the Village. These are business owners that know that building this would not work now. These are the times that we live in, give them the benefit of the doubt and then step up and take you swings at the location of old Busch's homeplate.

Cards Showing Us Reason For Hope

2009-03-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

OK, it is only March 20 - so we still have 10 days or so left of spring training, but what I have seen this spring so far is encouraging. Outside of the shotty defense that comes with sticking 2 outfielders on the infield, this team has really impressive down in Florida. Daily I look at the box scores and see impressive numbers being put up. Yes, this is not the same as watching how a guy is swinging the bat or how a pitcher's breaking ball is breaking, but it is getting results all the same.

You look up and down the line up and there are guys hitting .300+. RBI are spread out over the entire line up and an occasional long ball scattered into the mix. If the birds can keep "seeing it & hitting it" the way they have been, this could be a fun team to watch.

On the other side of the white lines, our pitching has stepped it up too. Can Carp be for real? 14 straight scoreless innings! Again, some against minor leaguers - but these kids are fighting for jobs just like ours are. These are not freebie at bats. Piniero seems to be pitching with a chip on his shoulder and dare I say that Wellemeyer may make it a habit to find the 6th inning this year.

All in all, after 3 weeks of spring training, I am looking forward to the season. My buddy, Gee, just posted some 4th row tickets for sale, I may have to look into these and have a closer look at these guys this summer.

Thanks for reading.

Cards since the World Series

2009-02-25T14:44:00.001-06:00

I read a few blogs and a few columnists who follow and report on the Cardinals. Finally, I needed to say my piece (or peace...whichever), but didn't feel like posting a retort on their forums, so you get my ramblings here.

Today is February 25, 2009. Just less than 2 and a half years ago the Cardinals hoisted the World Series trophy above their heads. Since then, a total of two teams have done the same - just two! But, when reading the local views on the Cardinals you would think that it has been since 1982, or 1967 since we last won anything. Everything is so negative. Now, I know that I am extra optimistic in most of my views. So, this may seem like a fantasy world to some that I live in, but it is not that bad. What I see is a team that is spending their money wisely and making difficult decisions along the way. As someone who manages a business budget, I may be closer to the realities of opportunity costs than others, but you can't just spend and spend and spend. Just look at our economy for a dramatic case-in-point. Many just spent on whatever they wanted, now people are upside down in mortgages, maxxed out on credit cards and wondering where this robust economy went...

So, where am I headed with all of this? Let's just take a look at who the Cards have parted ways with since winning it all in October 2006. First, we will skim through the replaceable players. Larry Bigbie, Jose Vizcaino, Hector Luna, Gary Bennett, Ricardo Rincon, Miguel Cairo and Kip Wells. I bet some of you forgot we even had some of these guys on the roster.

Next let's look at the guys who had bigger names, but are still replacable. Randy Flores, Jason Marquis, Sidney Ponson, Ronnie Belliard, So Taguchi, Preston Wilson and Adam Kennedy. Now ask yourself, do you wish we had any of these guys over our current roster players? Most likely your answer is no.

Now let's step up to the guys who are worth debating. Starting with pitchers:

Isringhausen - I think he did enough damage last year

Looper - he'll give you 6 innings a game and allow 3-4 runs each time, serviceable, but replacable, right?

Mulder - I think we gave him enough time to recouperate, it is time for him to give the Cardinals a deal. We paid him well to rehab.

Reyes - he was never going to thrive under the Cardinals

Suppan - a better than average starter who should have stayed a Cardinal. But he has proven that he is not a "top 2" starter in MIL.

Weaver - I think he sold his sole to the devil in 2006, never been the same since the WS.

Eckstein - a fan-favorite indeed, but he was injured most of last year and then traded at the deadline. We let him go at the right time.

Miles - a great super-sub. This guy would have fit well into the Cards plans. Hate to see him in Cubby blue this season.

Rolen - we got Glaus for him, I would say that was a nice upgrade.

Spezio - no hope here, he did it all to himself.

Edmonds - We walked away at the right time. Which of our outfielders would you like to see sit for an aging Edmonds? OK, maybe Duncan...

Encarnacion - unfortunate injury ended his career

Springer - yes, along with Miles, he should be here. A seemingly great fit for the 2009 Redbirds. He was a stud for us the last 2 years and wanted to be here. Plus his leadership could help all of our young relievers.

So, as you can see, we are no worse than we were in 2006. And that year was good enough to win it all. Yes, we did back into the playoffs, but that does not matter. You just play yourself into the playoffs, then see where the cards fall for the 3 series.

I, for one, am anxious for the 2009 team. We have talented young players who have proven big league ability and a new crop of young players who are highly touted by the experts. Let's lay off the ownership for now, if glaring gaps appear, I believe they will find the right available player to fill the gap...and be more than our next Hector Luna.

2007-11-16T14:11:00.000-06:00