July 2007 Archives

Some of you have asked me what the name of my blog means; others know. For both of you (yes, both the readers of this blog), I'll admit to the fact that last night, for the first time this century, I put on a full set of ice hockey goalie equipment and played an hour long game. Perhaps my recollection of the great view I used to get from the crease (the goaltender's protected area in hockey) was made rosier by time. Perhaps I, and in particular my back, was much younger when I formed my opinion of the best place to watch hockey. Perhaps I was much more flexible and in much better shape when I came up with this...

Nevertheless, it's still a great place to watch a game from. When your team has the puck, you can see the play developing, direct traffic, warn teammates about a player coming from behind, and enjoy the beauty of a great goal. When the other team has the puck, you still get the best seat in the house to see the play develop and you also get an up close and personal view of goals being scored (most of those came while I was on my stomach).

A few observations:

• The new equipment is nice, much more protective and lightweight than I used to wear (25 years ago)
  
• I still can't play the "deke"
  
• The equipment, though lighter than it used to be, is still heavy
  
• I forgot how bad your hands smell after a game!
  
• I used to wear contacts.
  
• I still remember how to give a "Waffle Sandwich" to someone who strays too close to my goal (kids -- especially kids I coach -- don't try this at home or a rink). The goaltender's blocker used to be called a "waffle" because it resembled one -- with sharp, square corners (I think you might be getting the sandwich part now).
  
• I still hate the term, sieve.
  
• I will be sore in the morning.
  

I appreciate the guys on the other team going easy on me, but geriatric hockey can rest easy...I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon. For now I'll be content with this view from the crease.

I have this thesis that I've discussed with a few folks. It's not fully developed, but it goes like this: When I was in high school, we read Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell. We KNEW these were about the USSR and when the US "won" the Cold War, I for one, put them in the irrelevant bin. I've been reconsidering that for the last 5 years or so and recently, Al Gore's book, The Assault on Reason, has me coming back to this thesis about the manipulation of language, particularly the manipulation of language to gain political advantage. One of these days I'll write this all down, but here's an observation "torn from today's headlines" (OK really from last week's):

Two years ago, when something stalled in the United States Senate because of the supermajority vote required to end debate in that house (AKA cloture), it was said that the minority was threatening a filibuster! Last week, however, when the Senate couldn't limit debate on the Immigration Bill, the Senate was unable to obtain cloture. OK, class, which phrase is more loaded? Am I the only Winston Smith here, or have others noticed this too? This is doubleplusungood...

By the way, we haven't had a good actual filibuster in decades meaning that the leaders no longer require a member to continuously speak/debate to keep debate "open." These days when a cloture vote fails, the legislation is usually "removed from the floor."

I hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July. The fireworks for the Central PA 4th Fest were outstanding this year. Great musical selection and nicely choreographed. I'll be publishing a podcast shortly with my conversation with Matthew Lindenberg of the 4th fest crew.

I did something if not uniquely American, certainly part of Americana, last weekend -- I went to the drive-in. When I was a kid, I lived along I-290 north of Buffalo NY. Just off my exit was a drive-in called the "I-290 Drive-in." The I-290 had two screens -- one which could be seen as you drove by on the 290 and the other with its back facing the 290. The one which could be seen from the road generally showed the G- or PG-rated movies and the other PG- or R-rated movies. Of course, you could always go in to the PG side and watch the R-rated movie. My brother and his friend would offer to ride in the trunk to "decrease" the admission price. Of course, the Chevy Impala we rode had holes in the trunk, but everyone lived to tell (Kids -- don't try this at home).

There appears to be a new etiquette at the drive-ins based on our SUV/Minivan society. Everyone parks backwards and "opens the hatch." The way the hatches open, the aerodynamic bump outs create obstructions for the folks behind you. Don't forget to take some twine or rope to tie down the hatch. Be sure you know how to turn off the inside lights with the hatch open.

Call me a Luddite, but I still prefer to sit on a lawn chair next to the van. A great time was had by all and I hope to do it again this summer.

Congratulations to Wired editor Chris Anderson for having his book The Long Tail selected as the Loeb Award winning Business Book of the Year. It was certainly one of the best books I've read in the last year. In a (non-commercial) plug which I can only describe as "Camplese-esque," here's a link to my WPSU-FM Bookmark review of the book from January 2007.

I highly recommend this book if you're interested in reading about technology, business, and society.

On a side note, former Smeal College of Business dean and current UCLA Anderson School of Business dean, Judy Olian, is the chairman of the G. and R. Loeb Foundation.