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The Boston Red Sox celebrating their clinching...
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Today I read Bob Hohler’s article published in the Boston Globe called “Inside the Collapse”.  Hohler refers to “team sources” when stating how he learned of the intimate and disturbing details associated with the 2011 Boston Red Sox.  These indiscretions include:

  • Top Red Sox players (Beckett, Lester, Lackey) drinking booze, eating and playing video games while their teammates were actually playing a game.
  • Disgruntled players who openly objected to trivial requests of management.
  • Selfish players only concerned about their own accomplishments.
  • Constant undermining of the manager and coaches.

The article goes on to then malign the job of former manager Terry Francona citing highly personal issues that include:

  • A failing marriage
  • A potential prescription drug addiction
  • A real concern about children/relatives deployed as soilders in Afghanistan

There is no doubt that the 2011 Red Sox are/were a disgraceful bunch of underperformers who casually dismissed management and their adoring fans.  That said, for Red Sox owners Larry Lucchino, John Henry and Tom Werner to float unsubstantiated rumors about their former manager is downright unseemly.  Larry, John and Tom endorse the philosophy that firing a person is not enough agony to inflict on another human.  They must use the puppet media to deflect criticism, and burry any and all viable scapegoats.  I don’t know Terry Francona but he seems like a decent person who helped generate a lot of money for management/ownership over his 8 year tenure as Red Sox manager.  During interviews conducted post his dismissal, Francona was openly remorseful when taking responsibility for the failure of his team.  He had plenty of opportunities to lash out, but remained professional and composed as he exited Fenway Park for the last time. 

Red Sox General Manager, Theo Epstein is heading to Chicago to become the Cubs Director of Baseball Operations.  In the coming days, I am certain Hohler will publish another article that cites unnamed “team sources” who besmirch Theo’s 10 year run in Boston. 

Firing someone for lack of performance is certainly the right of management in every business setting.  The 2011 collapse of the Boston Red Sox should have meant the end of Francona and Epstein.  That said, trying to destroy someone’s reputation in order to preserve one’s own image is reprehensible.   

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Review: Orvis River Guard™ Easy-On Brogue Wading Boots

Last spring I decided to invest in a new pair of wading boots.  Like most fly fisherman, I want to do my part in mitigating the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species.  I fish waters throughout Colorado and Wyoming, and I was told that the felt soles in my Cabela’s boots played host to these nasty diseases.  A 2007 study conducted at Montana State University on angler movement found that the average pair of wading boots sampled carried more than 16 grams of sediment.  The study estimated that in one year, angler boots moved more than 6,300 pounds of sediment between access sites in southwestern Montana and that nonresident anglers carried more than 1,600 pounds into Montana.

For about 4 months I examined the marketplace, looking for a boot that was rugged, sturdy and easy to get on and off.   I thoroughly evaluated boots by Simms, Patagonia, Cabela’s, Korkers and Chota.  It was the River Guard™ Easy-On Brogue that ended up on my feet.

Criteria

Thoughts

Date Purchased

March 2010

Retail Price/Price Paid

$179.00/$154.00 (used a $25 Orvis coupon)

Manufacturer Description

The easiest on-and-off boot—now upgraded with EcoTraX™ rubber soles to help stem the spread of aquatic invasives. The Orvis-exclusive lug pattern with sharp leading edges gives better traction in the boot with legendary stability thanks to our hunting boot welt construction to minimize torsion and keep your ankles from rolling. They last a lot longer than competitive boots, too. All-synthetic construction resists shrinkage and expansion and wards off damage from rot, mildew, or sun. Support panels and main toe and heel made of rugged polyurethane. Recessed side-panel stitching prevents thread abrasion. Heavy-denier nylon uppers. Padded collar. Same durable zipper for easy on-and-off. PosiGrip™ Screw-In Studs included with each pair for better traction.

Looks

Who cares – the boots are generally under water or covered by my waders.  They could be hot pink as long as they were comfortable and kept me vertical.

Functionality

  • Comfort: The boots are light weight but sturdy.  I have walked miles to my favorite spot and my feet are always fine.  No blisters or banged up toe nails which is a good thing.
  • Fit: I wear a size 11 shoe and usually wear Smartwool OTC Extra-Heavyweight Hunting Socks when I fish.  I purchased a size 11 River Guard™ Easy-On Brogues and the boots were true to size.
  • Access/Egress: I love the side zipper and Velcro closure.  After a long day of fishing (and walking), it is nice to bend down and simply unzip the boots.  Your foot exits as easy as it entered.  I give Orvis high marks for this design.
  • Traction: I have yet to wipe out during the last 18 months (10 trips and a lot of moss, grass, snow and ice beneath my feet).  The screw in studs in conjunction with the rubber sole, have kept me upright even during a spring trip to the North Platte when the river was flowing at 3200 CFS.  I do think that wary fish scatter after hearing the grind of the PosiGrip™ studs as they move over rocks.  That said I will gladly sacrifice a few fish in order to stay dry.

Recommendation

An extra pack of PosiGrip™ studs would be a nice addition.  Orvis sells a 20 pack of extra studs for $29.95.

Would I Buy it Again?

Absolutely.  I consider my Orvis River Guard™ Easy-On Brogue boots to be a great investment.   I expect them to last for years.  Orvis has fantastic customer service, so I know they will support their product if anything should happen to the boots.  Much thanks to Tucker Bamford and his crew at the Orvis store in Lone Tree, Colorado.

http://youtu.be/4qAfz5afnqQ

When Golf Goes Bad

My Reality

One year ago, my handicap was a 7. Today it is a 12, and rapidly moving north. To provide some perspective, I have not been a 12 handicap in over 12 years. I generally float between a 7 and 10, with scores ranging from a 77 on a good day to an 84 on a bad day. For those of you who understand the handicap system, the type of meteoric rise that I am experiencing can only happen if your registered scores far exceeds the published handicap. This means I am not playing to a 12 – it just says that on my Colorado Golf Association GHIN card.

I am not certain where it all went wrong. In 2010, I played pretty well throughout the season. My accomplishments ranged from my first hole-in-one (May 31st, Colorado Golf Club, hole #6, 5 iron, 205 yards) to scoring in the low 70s on two occasions (including 6 birdies in one round). I do not possess an elegant or balanced swing, and generally succeed with a bit of guile and a decent short-game. For years I tried to improve my swing through lessons, practice, swing-aids and more practice. The results are mixed, but the effort and financial investment deserve an A+. In 2010 I was experiencing longer distances throughout all clubs in my bag. I attribute these advances to better equipment (TaylorMade Burner 1.0 Irons and a Ping G-15 Driver), more solid ball contact and of course more confidence.

Until recently, I have not regularly recorded my swing, due to the fact that I do not want to question why a swing as ghastly as mine can occasionally produce decent results. Through multiple lessons in 2011, I concluded that my club is so off plane that making any contact with the ball should be deemed a colossal success. At address, the body club and ball position look fine. As the club rotates back, my hands and shoulders suck the shaft/club head inside. At the top of the swing (which has become disturbingly short), the club face is closed and very flat. On the transition, the club maintains an inside position, while my right elbow flails aimlessly away from my body. For those non-golfers reading this piece, what I have described is not what you should do when attempting to compress a golf ball. The unfortunate result of this uncoordinated move has the golf ball snapping wildly left or ballooning to the right. On the rare occasion when the ball does fly straight, I have no idea what I did to execute the shot.

My Mind

Those who have the patience to play with me these days, tell me that my mind is “mush” and I should stop trying to be “mechanical” and just “swing the club”. Of course my mind is mush; I stand over every shot hoping to get the ball airborne and in the direction of the green. In conjunction with my lack of confidence, I have started to throw clubs and launch into bouts of uncontrollable swearing (turrets has not been diagnosed). Childish temper tantrums resulting from poor execution will not continue, but it sure feels pretty cathartic to toss a 9 iron farther than you have hit your ball. Unfortunately I am in the midst of a deep golf depression. Diagnosing golf depression is easy, here are the symptoms:
 • At the first sign of trouble during the round you say “here we go again”

• After your ball enters a hazard you strongly consider sending your club then the bag in after it

• You apologize to your partner more than 10 times in a round

• Your best friend asks you to play in a member/guest and you have to figure out a really good lie why you can’t join him

• You would rather watch TV with your wife than play golf with your buddies

• You fail to recognize how lucky you are to be outside playing golf with friends

My Pet Peeve

In the August issue of Golf Digest, the cover reads “Get More Distance”, “Pick up 17+ Yards with a New Driver Fitted for you…It gave our guy 44 yards – Wow”. The multiple articles in the magazine stress the importance of upgrading to new technology, and getting properly fitted for golf clubs. Obviously, it is advantageous to swing a club with the most appropriate shaft, loft and length. That said; please do not tell me that a custom fitting will result in a 23% increase in distance. I have played golf for just over 20 years, and there has been some improvement in my length over that timeframe. During a club fitting at a local retailer last year, the cocky sales rep told me that he could “get me hitting the driver 270+.” After cycling through a plethora of drivers, he insisted that a stiff shafted (stock) Ping G-15 was the answer. I told him that I felt more comfortable swinging the regular shafted G-15. “The numbers on the computer don’t lie”, he told with a smug voice. After two days on the range staring at hundreds of balls landing right of target, I returned the club to the store the following Monday. The regular shafted Ping G15 still remains in my bag and I hit it between 235 and 255 yards. If you are still playing the TaylorMade Bubble Burner, I guarantee you will pick up some distance when you upgrade to a club manufactured in the new millennium. As for Golf Digest, I will not be renewing my subscription in 2012.

My Plan

I admit to being anxious when I think about playing golf. I am even more apprehensive about committing to playing in a tournament with a partner; something that I relished not more than one year ago. I try to make it to the range two nights a week in a concerted attempt to try to pull off a golf-swing 180. These are not ball-beating sessions; there is whole-hearted attempt to incorporate professional instruction while mentally simulating game conditions. Yes I will continue to utilize swing aids (Tally MIND set, alignment sticks, Momentus, Swing Glove, Power Angle Pro) to try to put me in the right position and obtain the proper feel. I will also reengage my PGA teaching professional. Other than that, I am not certain what more I can do.

It is not my nature to sulk around looking for sympathy. My wife is praying for Divine Intervention as she is tired of looking at a face full of desperation and angst at the conclusion of every round. Eventually, I will construct a swing that produces the results I expect. Hopefully it is sooner rather than later.

http://qik.ly/CY9qeAetyBAvLzMcCnerQsU

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Stop Discounting Premium Products

Premium product discounting usually occurs when a lift in sales is needed during a specific period of time. Companies sacrifice margin in order to appeal to a larger audience with the hope of a sudden and predictable surge in revenue.  These discounts vary from a percentage off the list price to a flat dollar amount reduction.

Generally speaking, discounting a high-end product can result in an immediate increase in demand.  That said, marketing professionals continue to profess that the more people pay, the more value they credit to their purchase. However, when premium products are discounted, consumers question the value of the product.  In addition, the value of a powerful brand is the ability to demand, and consistently obtain higher prices than competitors in the marketplace.  Discounting also conditions the consumer to delay their purchase and wait for the impending sale. 

A viable alternative to price discounting continues to be the utilization of a prepaid card (plastic or virtual) to create the motivation for the targeted consumer to purchase immediately.

The benefits of prepaid are as follows:

• Immediate program revenue lift – prepaid stimulates demand and improves margin

Predictable program financials with an ability to maximize revenue recognition

• Return of incremental customer monies – prepaid allows for a unique opportunity for seamless cross-selling and up-selling ancillary products

• Continuous engagement of end customer through card messaging (IVR, Text, Email and Web)

• Ability to gain consent from the consumer in order to continue to interact with them moving into the future

• Reinforcement of brand with ability to customize the card and corresponding collateral

• Detailed spend data that helps create a more accurate profile of the end customer

Historically, rebates were utilized to stimulate revenue, with the underlying hope that the consumer would avoid the involved process of submitting their rebate and the rebate dollars would return to the sponsor company.  That is not the objective any longer.  The real value the rebate provides is in the ability to immediately engage the consumer with the end goal of creating a loyal, persistent relationship.  In the case of a consumer rebate, prepaid becomes a valuable financial instrument that provides an organization the ability to ensure their buyer becomes a viable, long-term asset.

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Salvatore Giunta…Thank You

Tonight, I watched Lara Logan of 60 Minutes report on Medal of Honor recipient Salvatore Giunta and his courageous Army platoon.  Please click on the link below, and appreciate the amazing sacrifice our soldiers make for our country.  I am certain these acts of enormous bravery happen every week in Afghanistan, but unfortunately the stories are never told. 

The summary of the events that took place in the Korengal Valley are below.

Shortly after nightfall on October 25, 2007, rifle team leader Giunta and the rest of the seven troops of 1st Platoon had just finished a day-long over watch of 2nd and 3rd Platoon in the valley below. Although dark, there was sufficient moonlight that night vision equipment was not needed. They were returning to Combat Outpost Vimoto and Korengal Outpost. They walked about 10 to 15 feet (3.0–4.6 m) apart through the thin holly forest, along the Gatigal Spur of Honcho Hill at about 2,438 meters (7,999 ft) elevation.  Within 50 to 100 meters (160–330 ft) of leaving their position, 10 to 15 insurgents ambushed the main body of the squad from cover and concealment only about 10 meters (33 ft) away,so near that the Apaches overhead could not provide close air support.  The ambushing force was armed with AK-47 assault rifles, 10 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers and three belt-fed guns. They fired an unusually high proportion of tracer rounds. Giunta described it later:

Ambush on October 25

The ambush was initiated with intense RPG and PKM fire Giunta’s squad used grenades to suppress enemy fire.  Sergeant Joshua Brennan, leader of alpha team and one of Giunta’s best friends, was walking point.  He was followed by SPC Frank Eckrode, squad leader Erick Gallardo, and then Giunta, who was then a specialist. PFC Kaleb Casey and Garret Clary followed Giunta. A 13-man Headquarters (HQ) unit led by Lt. Brad Winn, including a five-man gun team from weapons squad,along with a nurse who volunteered for the mission, followed immediately behind them. When the Taliban opened fire, Brennan was struck by eight rounds and Eckrode was hit by four rounds.  Gallardo attempted to sprint forward, but RPGs exploding among the thin trees and 18 inches (46 cm)-high bushes around him along with machine gun and small arms fire stopped him. Unable to advance, he fell back to join Giunta’s bravo team. While backpedaling and firing at the same time, he fell and was in the same moment struck in the helmet by an AK-47 round. An RPG round struck very near Giunta, who was returning fire and directing bravo team from a small defilade. Giunta was puzzled that the lip of the small depression he lay in was not protecting him from rounds cracking by his head that they appeared to be coming from the north as well as the west.

Giunta saw Gallardo take the bullet to his head and fall. Assuming Gallardo had been shot, Giunta rose and ran through the intense wall of fire to his side. As he helped the uninjured sergeant find cover, the ceramic plate in the front of Giunta’s protective vest was struck by a bullet. Another round struck the SMAW-D weapon slung over his back. Giunta recognized that the extremely heavy tracer fire was coming not just from his west but from the north as well, a classic L-shaped ambush that threatened to roll over the squad. He ordered Casey and Clary to pull back a few steps to prevent the Taliban from flanking them.  Casey was firing his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon cyclic and Clary was firing his M203 grenade launcher as well.

The platoon leader in the HQ unit, Lieutenant Brad Winn, radioed Captain Kearney to advise him that their unit had five wounded men. The squad’s medic, Specialist Hugo Mendoza, was among them. He had been shot through the femoral artery at the beginning of the ambush and died. Kearney ordered Second Platoon to assist Winn’s platoon, but Second Platoon was in the valley below, some distance away, and had to first cross a river to reach them.

Giunta and Gallardo gathered Casey and Clary. They were pinned down by the concentrated small arms and cyclic machine gun fire from a number of Taliban positions at close range. Less than 15 seconds into the ambush, Giunta and his men acted to disrupt the attack. They alternated throwing volleys of fragmentation grenades towards the Taliban about 15 meters (49 ft) to their west and moving north.  Firing Pfc. Casey’s M249, Clarey’s M203, and their other weapons, they advanced until they reached Eckrode. Shot twice in one leg and with two other wounds, Eckrode was attempting to unjam his M249 SAW.  Gallardo, who later received a Silver Star for his actions, dressed Eckrode’s wounds and called for MEDEVAC.

Giunta, seeing that Eckrode was tended to, continued with Pfc. Clary to advance over the exposed, open ground of the ridge in the dark, looking for Brennan. When they could not locate him where they expected to find him, they ran after the retreating Taliban. The anti-coalition militia covered their rear with effective small arms fire but the Americans ran after them. Giunta saw three individuals and then recognized that two of them were Afghans dragging Sgt. Brennan, one by the legs and one by his arms.  Giunta pursued them, firing his M4 carbine as he ran, killing one (later identified as Mohammad Tali, considered a high-value target).  The second Afghan dropped Brennan and fled.  A Spectre AC130 gunship shortly afterward spotted someone carrying Brennan’s rucksack and killed him. Giunta said, “I ran through fire to see what was going on with [Brennan] and maybe we could hide behind the same rock and shoot together … He was still conscious. He was breathing. He was asking for morphine. I said, ‘You’ll get out and tell your hero stories,’ and he was like, ‘I will, I will.

After reaching Brennan, Giunta pulled him back towards the rest of the squad and cover, comforted him, and examined him for wounds in the dark. Brennan was grievously hurt. The 2nd and 3rd Platoons arrived to reinforce their squad and render aid. Giunta continued to assist the medic and adjust security while they waited for evacuation.

The ambush had lasted three minutes. Later the next day, Brennan died while in surgery. Gallardo told Giunta later on, “You don’t understand . . . but what you did was pretty crazy. We were outnumbered. You stopped the fight. You stopped them from taking a soldier.” Eckrode said of Giunta. “For all intents and purposes, with the amount of fire that was going on in the conflict at the time, he shouldn’t be alive.”

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