Monday

Thanks to 1 for a little addition to the account yesterday afternoon. Sounds like DM was a success. The only casualty for the weekend could have been 4 who seems to have lost her voice.

Sports Monday.

There are not many years when I have been able to say that I did not see a single inning of the World Series, but that is/was the case for this year. From what I have read, Colorado had no answer for the Bosox, and the series was over before any drama developed.

An interesting observation relative to both last year's series and this year's: the team who swept their way through their League Championship Series (essentially, the semi-finals), and had to wait while the other semi-final series went to seven games, got swept in the World Series. This would validate the argument that an abnormally long lay-off hurts a team that is used to playing everyday. I think that this is an argument that is more valid in baseball than, say, basketball, but the rhythm of play in any sport is certainly a key to performance.

A NASCAR item of note: Jimmy Johnson won the race over the weekend in Atlanta, and announced afterwards that the winner's pot of about $350,000 was being donated to The American Red Cross, earmarked for relief efforts in the fire-ravaged areas of California, his home state. Team owner Rick Hendrick and Atlanta Motor Speedway owner Burton Smith were each to match the contribution, meaning that over a million dollars would be contributed.

The businessman (and tax man) in me always wonders what really happens when these sports stars take some or all of their winnings from an event and "contribute" it to charity. Does it ever hit their personal books? Or does the event sponsor pay the charity directly? Who in the organization, where there is a team involved, makes the decision to donate? And how, if at all, is "Bubba", the rear-tire changer affected?

Most of the more successful NASCAR drivers have established their own charitable foundations and go about efforts to make some kind of positive impact. The Petty's have built the Victory Junction Gang Camp for disabled kids, and numerous teams have made substantial contributions to the Camp's ambitious capital improvements plan. The tail-end teams probably can't do much because they are just trying to get in The Show each week, but NASCAR has done a decent job of picking up causes without the primary intent being the hiring of somebody's cousin or "pay- girlfriend".

I think Tiger has done a decent job at sharing his time and wealth for his foundation. As has Lance. Those yellow plastic "LiveStrong" bracelets have to be the greatest single charitable marketing ploy ever. $50 million? Wikipedia says that more than 70 million have been sold. They originally thought they would have hit a home run if they did $5 million. That was all timing. Was there ever an athlete in our time who was hotter than Lance was in that two years' time between the winning of his fifth TdF and the winning of his seventh race?

Well, the answer to that question is, "yes", with Tiger, Michael, and Ali all with probably more world-wide appeal than Lance. Pele. Others?

Did anyone know that they played an NFL game in London yesterday? Does anyone care? It's all about the globalization of business. And don't kid yourself: the NFL, the NBA, MLB, and even NASCAR are businesses at their cores, and the strategists in all of these organized North American pro sports leagues are looking at the rest of the world as additional audiences. If the Internet can allow Aunt Millie to sell her receipes on eBay, the pro games ought to be able to make a buck as well.

My pal Roy leaves on his honeymoon this Thursday. Two weeks, I think. South America. Chile. Rio. A couple of other places. No golf clubs. I'm not sure if the laptop is going along or not. His IPhone should work, but I doubt if his new bride wants him to get daily reports from the bad influences in the QC.

Gotta go. 2 and I are running tonight.

BCOT