Tag: everyone

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Boo Hoo

As a kid, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays… until we moved to the country when I was seven and there were no doors within walking distance. Then Halloween was just my brother’s birthday. (Happy 56th today, Mike!).

When our children were little, it was an annual treat to take them around our neighborhood and go to ‘only houses with lights on of people we know.’ That ended last year. When I asked our 13-year-old this weekend what she was wearing, she said, “I want to stay home and hand out candy.” Guess my next opportunity to celebrate this fun occasion is with grandkids, whichever decade that might be.

Some folks at our church don’t allow their young kids to trick-or-treat. After all, they say, it’s a holiday rooted in darkness, filled with satanic undertones, totally pagan. Perhaps. Maybe. OK. However, I don’t think little Johnny or Susie – age six – think wearing a Lightning McQueen or Angry Bird costume this year has anything to do with celebrating the devil. (Although they might get scared if someone dressed as a presidential candidate walks past them on the sidewalk.)

To me this is more of the same ‘everybody gets a trophy’ mentality that is pervasive in our society. ‘Lexi played soccer, and at the party afterward our wonderful coach gave everyone a medal and said each one was the team’s MVP, and Jen, the soccer mom, got a trophy for all the kids, and Tom, Adam’s father, made goals for everyone to practice in the off-season.’ Wow! Imagine if these eight-year-olds had actually won a game.

It’s a big world. Most of it is good. Part of it is bad. There are Buzz Lightyears who want to save mankind… and Big Bad Wolves that want to devour it. Your role as parents isn’t to shield your children. It’s to teach them the difference between good and bad – and to protect them until they’re old enough to make their own decisions. Sheltering doesn’t help them learn. Teaching everybody wins isn’t dealing in reality. Those acts – done mostly to hide from your own fears of what might happen – simply delay the inevitable until young adults are unprepared to deal with what they encounter in daylight and darkness.

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Foreword Thinking

Growing up I played a lot of golf with three lifelong friends. In 1980, the hottest summer on record before this one, we’d tee off at first daylight – 6 a.m. – to beat the heat. Those were great times and I have lasting memories of our outings on the links. Sadly, in October 1982, one of our foursome died in a car accident.

The following summer, the three of us left behind decided to start a golf tournament to honor our friend. The first outing had 12 players. Over the next decade it steadily grew, and we typically had 88 participants. During years 13-23, another good friend took the reins and did a great job. Through it all, we raised more than $100,000 for a scholarship fund at our high school in Fort Worth. After the 2005, tournament, everyone knew the time had come to end it.

Then one year ago this week, another friend reached out and asked if we would allow him to restart it. “That was such a wonderful chance for everyone to get together every year,” he said. “I’d be willing to do all the work, if you guys will tell me what needs to happen.” Of course, we said yes, and on Sunday 40 of our long-time players will tee it up in the 24th Paul Knippel Memorial.

I turned 23 the week of that first tournament. Everyone who played was within a few years of my age. Now we’re on either side of 50. This time, my 17-year-old son is playing with me, along with my 21-year-old nephew and my brother. By grace, those of us in the Class of ’78 have lived a lot of life Paul never had the opportunity to experience. Somewhere, he’ll be smiling as we gather again. Life passes quickly. Make sure you reconnect with those who matter.

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Winning Formula

Since we moved to Houston in 1998, the only local sports highlights were when the Astros played in the National League Championship Series twice and made it to the World Series once. Rockets? One playoff series win in 13 seasons. Texans? Still mired in mediocrity after nine years. Meanwhile, in the past eight months, my hometown – DFW – has seen the Rangers play in the World Series and crowned the Mavericks as NBA Champions. That’s great for my family and friends there… and I’m enjoying it from afar.

Listening to and reading commentary of media experts this morning about what happened to the South Beach dream team – for instance, Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio said, “I honestly thought Miami was better last night with LeBron James on the bench” – it’s clear Dirk Nowitzki and the deepest roster in the league outplayed the Heat’s three highly paid All Stars.

Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron joined together last summer with the goal to win multiple championships. Number one will have to wait another year. As Michael Rosenberg wrote on SI.com: “The self-proclaimed King wanted it to be easy. His company’s logo should be a cart in front of a horse.” LeBron disappeared in the fourth quarter of every game. He’ll have the next four months to develop his post play and figure out how to do more when the basketball is in someone else’s hands

The Heat proved it’s hard to buy your way to success. Its travails serve as a lesson to business leaders that you need everyone on your team working together to become a champion. It took Dirk 13 years to lift that trophy. Time will tell whether the Big Three ever stand on the podium with smiles on their faces… or if this great experiment turns out to be the Big Mistake.

Note: Tomorrow at 1 p.m. EDT, I’ll appear on Insights Live, an Internet radio show, to share how to get everyone on your team pulling in the same direction. Here’s a link if you’d like to join us: http://bit.ly/keUIj4

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Ho Hum

You would think a Super Bowl that came down to the final minute before the Packers were assured of victory over the Steelers would be memorable; however, last night’s game didn’t seem as suspense-filled as the past three close contests.

The halftime show with the Black Eyed Peas disappointed, thanks to poor audio and over-production. Going forward, maybe it would be better to stick to the normal 12 minutes and skip the entertainment.

As for the commercials… well, it’s clear the golden age of ‘Did you see that one?’ spots is past. Most these days are average, a few are entertaining and some are obvious examples of ad agencies wasting clients’ money. Note to E-Trade: Time to retire the talking baby.

The best ad of Super Bowl XLV was a freebie: the NFL spot in which all the sit com stars of old were outfitted in team gear. (No, they didn’t really wear those back in the day. It was, as my father used to say, ‘trick photography’ thanks to computer animation.)

Here is my analysis, based on the reactions of those around me:

Best

“Hack Job” – The game’s first spot about a kitchen remodeling that consists solely of placing a six-pack of Bud Light on the counter tops the list. Simplicity at its finest.

“Young Darth Vader” – Everyone loved the little kid trying to find his ‘force.’ The shock on his face when dad remotely starts the VW was a terrific finish.

“Detroit” – The teenagers at our party unanimously felt Eminem’s third quarter Chrysler spot was the highlight of the game.

“You Gonna Finish Those?” – There was great laughter when the Doritos lover licks the fingers of his co-worker. Pulling off another’s pants and smelling them… not so much.

“Dog Party” – There weren’t a lot of animal spots, so this Bud Light commercial where canines put on a blowout while master is out of town stood out.

Worst

“Godzilla” – Outstanding animation in this Coke spot but it left our room saying, “What was the point of that exactly?”

“Compact” – After much build-up in the playoff teaser commercials, the multiple Hyundai spots were big letdowns.

“Cram It in the Boot” – I have no idea what Mini was trying to accomplish with this ad.

“Shape Up” – The night’s last spot in which a beautiful woman tantalizes her hunky trainer missed the mark. Oh, that’s Kim Kardashian?

“Tibet” – Something tells me a few folks are getting fired this morning at Groupon for making light of a serious situation. Timothy Hutton should look for a new agent.

Noteworthy

“1984 Redux” – Thought Apple had hit a home run with this sequel to their legendary Super Bowl XVIII ad. Then it turned out to be Motorola Zoom. Talk about stealing your competitor’s thunder. Nice surprise.

“Product Placement” – This Bud Light spot spoofing how filmmakers allow advertisers to impact storylines was a hit. Everyone should take a lesson from Bud Light: terrific ads throughout the game.

“Just Send” – Faith Hill is always worth watching, although a few executives at TeleFlora are asking right now, “Who approved that?”

“Reply All” – Good comment by Bridgestone on the perils of e-mail. I also liked their commercial where the beaver pays back a driver six months later.

“Joan Rivers” – I thought it was hilarious when the new Go Daddy celebrity turns out to be the face-lift queen. Then one of the teenage boys near me said, “We were getting all excited until she showed up. Then we were just grossed out.”

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Morning In America

So the Republicans took over the House and made strong gains in the Senate. Faster than you can say ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler Too’ the political landscape in America shifted again.

One thing the new leaders soon to arrive in Washington need to understand is the last two elections have not been about like, they’ve been about dislike… as in frustration with everyone in power – regardless of party affiliation. The landslide of November 2nd was simply voters pushing the restart button.

Americans are tired of politicians intent on serving themselves and not their constituencies. If ultra conservative Republicans choose to create stalemate in order to ensure the White House has a new occupant in two years, then there will be no solutions, no answers to our problems.

As business leaders know so well, nothing gets done when folks stubbornly stick to their personal agendas over the necessary vision and growth for the organization. In order for America to get back on track, Republicans and Democrats need to create the right plan – working together – and start executing on it immediately. This approach takes place in companies across the country every day. There’s no reason it can’t work inside the Beltway.

Failure to accept the responsibility granted unto them by the electorate would mean we end up repeating this cycle in 2012… with the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction again. Citizens deserve better.

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