The Madness -- It Came, it went.

Every March, one of the greatest sports spectacles on the planet takes place – the men’s NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament.

For the uninitiated, this tournament consists of 64 teams that compete in a single elimination format that ultimately leads to the crowning of the national champion. Teams are grouped into four divisions and within each, the sixteen teams are ranked 1 through 16. Although the rankings (or seedings) theoretically give you a sense of how the teams will do, it is rare that the four #1 seeds advance to the Final Four – please disregard 2008.

Where this tournament differs most from the pro competition, in my opinion, is the fact that these athletes are hungrier. I once hear a stat that 1 in 5 US college players go on to professional ball. That means that for many this tournament is their chance to show case their skills and get to the gravy train that is professional ball. Keep in mind that even making the tournament is an accomplishment as there are far more than 64 division 1 teams in the US. As such, these guys put their everything into the game and leave NOTHING behind. For many, there simply will be no next year, no second chance, no Mulligans!

This year I was on vacation when the time came to make my tournament picks for our company office pool. As such, I had exactly one hour to do my research and make my picks after a day of touring southern cali. It is difficult for us north of the 49th to track college hoops by watching team as TV coverage is scant at best. Nonetheless, I barreled into the business centre at the hotel I was staying at, printed out my bracket, and made my picks. The final result is shown in the attached image.

Amazingly enough, I made some excellent picks. Through the first round I selected 27/32 matchup correctly, and carried on to choose three out of the final four teams. MSU over Louisville was a key pick that proved to come true. Of course, I was blindsided as well. I didn’t expect Pitt to lose prior to the Final Four, and certainly did not see Oklahoma dismantling Syracuse with surgeon-like efficiency – I still have nightmare about that game.

Ultimately, though, there was just no stopping #1 North Carolina. Michael Jordan’s alma matter represented in fine fashion disposing of a solid MSU team in a final game that was anything but in question.

In the end, I was lucky enough to lead my corporate office pool wire to wire, giving me a 1000% return on my initial wage – nice!

The one knock I have against the tournament is simply this. In advance of it, the anticipation builds. During it, the excitement is intense all consuming. But, all too soon, the tournament is over, and we are left wanting more, sadly relegated to waiting another eleven months to repeat the process all over again. Before we know it, we are left watching CBS’s famous “One Shining Moment” video ( ), and reliving the brief, but intense tourney, in a sub two minute clip.
As this year’s tourney has come and gone, I leave you with my two cents on the tourney:

· Blake Griffon is a powerhouse and will be an excellent NBA player. I can’t think of the last time I saw someone jump high enough to graze the side of their face on the backboard foam – and the fact that he is ½ white is all the more amazing! This isn’t to suggest that white men can’t jump, but rather, that as a white man with a vertical that has seen better days, my hats are off to Blake.
·Tyler Hansbrough looks possessed when he plays– his eyes just might pop out of his head one day. Either that, or he might burst into tears at any moment – not sure which. It is also funny to me that while he is undoubtedly a basketball phenom and will likely to be named NCAA’s college player of the year, I can honestly say that in looking at him, he doesn’t look like a baller to me. Sure, he is 6’9” which naturally gives him a bball bend, but he almost looks too physically large, and doesn’t look super athletic to me. Prior to seeing him play I would actually guess him to slow and uncoordinated.
·When was the last time player benches were sunken below the floor level as they were in the final games?
·How great was it that Obama filled out a tournament bracket and made is such a public event. Can you imagine, even for second, W doing that? Genius, I tell you, genius. And, not only that, but he had the vision to pick UNC to win --- what a leader!

Until next year, I leave you with my favourite moment of the tourney:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otKxYdQVpew&feature=related

Booyah!

Pet Peeves - Group Think

So, it is time to vent. One thing that annoys me to no end is Group Think. Why is it that people have a penchant for acting like lemmings? Is the concept of individual, and dare I say, prospective thought, a thing of the past?

You see examples of this all around you, but what has brought it to my attention yet again was a seminar I recently attended. Noting an advertisement and happening to have a free night, I elected to attend a seminar on stock trading by Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame. Having read the book and concluding that he had some valid, albeit not overly complex, points, I figured attending couldn’t hurt.

For those of you considering attending such a seminar, don’t. I will give you the entire message in the following bullets:

Successful trading is achieved by:

a) Using fundamental analysis to pick your companies
b) Using technical analysis to time your buying and selling points (they are big fans of the Moving Average Convergence / Divergence, the Stochastic, and the Moving Average itself).
c) Using software to facilitate both a) and b)

Fair enough, nothing really alarming about the messaging here, all pretty solid. But, then the pitch follows. Pay $500 for a course to learn how to use the Rich Dad, Poor Dad proprietary software tools (can’t imagine you get an education on anything but how to click here, then there), and then pay $40 per month to get market data from eSignal that fuels the software.
Maybe it is a good deal for some, I suppose that is a matter of perspective. But what amazes me about the situation was the tricks incorporated into the presentation that seemed to successfully up the urgency for the call to action (i.e buy).

Firstly, they put out insufficient seats for the number of people registered. Then, of course, they have to add seats during the presentation, thereby conveying the idea of an intense demand. Did I mention that despite having registered online, my name was NOT on the list? Maybe an innocent mistake, then again, maybe not.

The speaker then builds rapport with audience by eliciting from them via the use of inane questions such as “who wouldn’t like a return of 1000% in these tough economic times”, to which the audience coos “yes, yes”. Honestly, what is that? I swear he could of asked if $10 more valuable than $5 and people would have chimmed in just as enthusiastically.

He also leveraged the public’s familiarity with Warren Buffets wealth to make points in favour of his pitch (i.e. use Fundamental Analysis), but then proceed to slam the Buy and Hold philosophy that gave Warren his riches. Amazingly, nobody challenged this notable inconsistency.

He throws out random technical terms to the audience as a means of connecting with them and demonstrating his knowledge of the topic at hand. “Candlesticks”, “Shoulders”, “RSI”, etc. Uhmmm, did anyone notice that he kept saying “I don’t have time to go into this tonight due to time constraints”? People, please, are you mere puppets?

Near the end of the session he suggests that anyone interested in signing up for the 3-day course can move to the back of the room and sign up, as space is limited. Apparently, there was nothing the speaker could do in terms of adding additional sessions to the city’s calendar. Are you kidding me, Rich Dad, Poor Dad has a business model that has no flexibility to adjust course offerings to meet the demand? Come on people, give me a break!!! In fairness, this was a brilliant use of social proof! He prefaced the call to sign up by saying “for those of you convinced that this is right for you; if you know you need this in your life”. In so doing, he subtly suggests that these people are more together than those who opt not to sign up for the course. How many people wanna bet that a good number of those people signing up for the course were plants?

In the end then, what is my beef? Am I upset with Rich Dad, Poor Dad? Not really. They are a business and have a sales system that effectively uses weapons of influence to get people to buy their services. While they are certainly manipulating people that aren’t aware of it, I sadly don’t expect much more from a business. At the end of the day, business is about taking a product or service to a market and getting them to purchase. We would all like to think that our decisions are free of external influence, but in reality, is not the whole focus of business schools to get people to par their money in exchange for a product or service? If you concede that, you will hopefully also concede that there are few limits as to what they will do to make that happen, manipulation included.

Truthfully, my disappointment lies with the human race, and in particular, with the fact that so many of us are susceptible to these types of games. True, we do concede to a house advantage whenever we attend such a seminar, but nonetheless, I would hope for better for us. Perhaps, my message really boils down to the following:

·Remain objective in your thinking and do not assume that everything presented to you is factual and accurate
·Believe in yourself, and do not assume that the people who are acting around you are somehow more intelligent, or have figured something out.
·Realize that it is rare in life that you have to buy or do something right this minute and that no other opportunity such as this will come along again in your life. Leave that type of thinking for matters of love, not for transaction based decisions.

VB Out……

USS Midway

So recently, I was lucky enough visit the USS Midway aircraft carrier. What to say?? It was off da hook!


Ship specifics:

• 3500 crew


• Flight deck - 4.2 acres and ~1000 feet


• Displacement - 100,000 tonnes


• The Chief Petty Officer has the best food on the ship, and the captain has to ask permission to visit his living area


• Engine is the same as in the Mighty Mo


• It missed WWII by days --- that must have been TOUGH for the crew!

The tour is self-paced and wickedly informative, so if you are in San Diego, you gotta drop by for sure!

Those are my Two Cents for the day

Money Shot

Every once in a while you snap a photo that is really unique and that you might even think would be worthy of being a screensaver.


This past week, I took one such shot (at least I think so). Taken at about 30,000 feet and just north of San Diego, the photo shows a hurricane-like break in the cloud cover just as the sun was setting for the day.
















Total Money!

That is all I have for Two Cents on this day!

Meow, meow, meow, meow, ..........

Okay, so The Tonight Show features funny ads from papers around the US. Well, I submit for your consideration the following postings on a bulletin board near my house.

Now, in case you can't read the image, here is the background needed:

• The poster on the left tells us of a cat named Chet that has gone missing
• The poster on the right tells us that coyotes have been regularly spotted in the area

Not to take anything away from poor Chet's plight, but is it just me, or his Chet's ultimate whereabouts not staring us right in the face -- well, maybe in this case a bit to the right?

RIP Chet


That is my Two Cents for Today......

Resolutions - February Check In

With today being March 10, 2009, it is time to check in and see how I am doing with my New Year's Resolutions.

With 1/6th of the year under my belt, in theory, I should be at least 1/6th of the way toward reaching any goal truly is tangible. For the more abstract resolutions, things will be far more subjective. For each resolution, I have provided my assessment of my own progress and I have also listed my sense of a next step to address the situation.

As the list below suggests, I still have MUCH work to do. Welcome March, I look forward to getting to know you!

Here we go:

• Reconnecting with French - 2.5%

No update since last month, so half the value of last month.

• Mandarin - 2%

Purchased a new book, and started reading it. Lost my Mandarin tutor for odd reasons (jealous partner), so time to post and ad for a new one.

Next Steps: Read 10 minutes per day; Find new tutor

• Latin Dancing - 0%

No update
Next Steps: Find course

• Sommelier Course - 0%

No update
Next Step: Sign up for next semester's course

• PADI License - 0%

No update, too damn cold right now.
Next steps: Acquire before April trip if temperature warms up.

• Salesmanship - 0% -

Next steps: Find a good training program?

• Run a sub 4:15 Marathon - 0%

Vball and running are not mixing - knees r hurting - will take a week off, then get ready for the Sun Run in April. May have to settle for a sub 1:45 1/2 in Seattle.

• League Vball - 100% -

Timing and hits are coming back - just in time for playoffs!

• 1200 Calories a week - 98%

5500 calories for the month - not enough to make up for last month's shortfall, so not 100% yet.

• Solve Rubik's Cube - 7.5%

Can do about half without cheating
Next Step: Learn the finishing steps

Learn Carbon Financing - 20%

Made a great contact in SFO, and read about concepts in Green Business.
Next Steps: Study the European market

• Build Advent Calendar Quiz - 0%

Next Step: Find three questions this month.

• Appreciate time afforded me - 0%

Still a bit preoccupied and not fully in the moment.

Next step: smarten up!

• Connect with people - 50%

Better eye contact, better focus, and better listening

• Judge less - 100%

Judging very litte - appreciating that people come from different circumstances

• Live in the present - 5%

The past is simply traces of memory, the future projections of thoughts - only the Now is real

• Write my obituary - 0%

Next Steps: Read obits

• Make mistakes; grow from them - 100%

Carrying on with messing up and learning from those events.

• Finish Black Swan - 30%

Nearly 2/3 done - TOUGH book!
Next Step: Finish this month and/or take on trip

• Visit Asia - 2 new countries - 20%

Firm up dates- looks like April. Vietnam and Cambodia under consideration

• Donate to 4 move KIVA projects - 0%

Next Step: Find one project this month.

• Help Charter New Generations - 100%

Attending meetings, keeping up with recruiting efforts.

• $1000 a month idea - 5%

Next Step: Explore blogging as an option

• Emergency Kit for home - 0%

Source list and buy materials


Sadly, that is my 2 cents for the day!

Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime

At one point in my life, a friend of mine shared an amazingly simple, yet exceedingly poignant observation with me. Over the years since she shared her idea with me, it has proven itself to be true over and over again. Today's post is dedicated to this idea.

Put simply, she asked me if I had noticed that people seem to enter your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Here is my crack at explaining the concept.

Reason

Life doesn't come with a road map, and so we are each left to our devices to get through it. We all have lessons to learn, and sometimes bridges to burn (recognize the lyrics anyone?). As we move through life, people will suddenly come onto the scene out of nowhere, and can just as quickly they dissapear. As we reflect on these transients, we may just come to realize that their passage through our life has if taught us something - that is to say they came to us for a reason. Now, whether someone higher up is responsible for orchestrating these entries and exists as though part of a larger plan is not for me to say ... I will leave that for those with a penchant for religious and/or philisophical debate.

I can say, however, that in my life, I have had several Reasons come into my life. In university, one friend was a fixture of my night life for a small period of time. In looking back, the reason for them appearing seems to be that they introduced me to one of my best long term friends. Other examples are people that pop into our lives and teach us a bit about a culture we previously knew nothing about. I have recently learned a bit of Khazakstan thanks to a Reason.

Season

At the season level, people enter your life for a period of time, and then they too move on. The learning afforded us from this group can also be powerful and likely more substantive than that of a Reason.

Why Seasons come to be is anyone's guess. It could be due to a temporary alignment of beliefs. Maybe u went through a punk band phase, or went a little gothic, or just picked up a new interest and/or hobby that introduced you to somebody new. Or, maybe you lived somewhere for a short period of time and connected with someone while there. Either way, the connection doesn't prove strong enough to survive the distance nor will it endure as you move on to new interests and hobbies..

Having led a nomadic life, particularly while growing up, I too have had many Seasons in my time. Among the things I have learned through Seasons are: family pressures to be a successful hockey player can be ridiculous and beyond realistic, quantum chromodynamics is too much for my simple brain, cancer kills - even if you're in your early 20s, and that no form of action figurines have ever placated my need for entertainment!

Lifetimes

Lastly, you have your Lifetimes. These are the ones that, at the end of the day, we consider ourselves very fortunate for having in our lives. What exactly leads to a lifetime relationship is not known to me, but I think it certainly has something to do with genuine respect for one another. After all, to keep the connection going while you and this person's life evolve according to different paths and timelines must be predicated on respect at some level. Otherwise, neither person would invest the time and energy needed to keep things going. But therein lies the true beauty of Lifetimes. That which we work hardest for is often the most rewarding. Healthy long term relationships of any kind should ideally be built on choice, not need. Overt dependence, one on the other can work, but hardly leads to a satisfying arrangement in my mind. The preferred approach is one in which both parties elect to keep the relationship going by each putting forth effort required to weather any life storms. After all, the only glue that connects us is that which we provide ourselves.

From my perspective, this applies equally well to marriages, romances, or friendships.

At this point, only time will tell how many Lifetimes I will be fortunate enought to collect, but thus far I count myself very lucky to have many candidates.

Those are my Two Cents for the day.