Author: Tom Robinson

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Monday ramble

Today in 1908, President Roosevelt — affectionately known as Teddy — declared the Grand Canyon a national monument. The big, gaping chasm still awaits my first glimpse, other than as seen from a plane at 30,000 feet. I gotta do something about filling that hole in my travel resume . . .

  • Picked all four NFL winners over the weekend, to some fun but absolutely no profit. If I heard this right, it’s the first time all four visiting teams won on wild-card weekend. Of course, Seattle had to rally like crazy and then lucked out when Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh gagged a 27-yarder at the wire after kicking three earlier field goals in the sub-zero chill. The drama (and pressure) of sports, man. It gets in your head, no matter if you’re an All-Pro (as Walsh was as a rookie in 2012) or what. Walsh is a fourth-year kicker out of Georgia. He’s been there before. But still . . . His irony is that the Vikings wouldn’t have been in position to win Sunday without him, and then they ultimately couldn’t win with him. Life’s a bitch. He’ll bounce back, I reckon, but the thud of a season going bust like that is consuming and surreal.
  • Favorite meme I saw re Walsh’s kick:
    harvey 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • I didn’t see this, but former Vikings coach Bud Grant, who’s 88, doffed his jacket and went to midfield for the ceremonial coin toss in a polo shirt. That’s awesome, assuming he isn’t dead today from that whole macho exhibition. Grant famously never let his teams use sideline heaters. Back in the day, coaches usually didn’t allow water breaks even in summer practices, either. Nutty. I’m thinking Teddy Roosevelt wouldn’t let his riding party bring canteens on their moose hunts or whatever. I’ll have to look that up.
  • David Bowie, dead at 69. I wasn’t a big fan, even though he was huuuge in Philly when I was growing up, but I did appreciate his longevity, the respect he enjoyed from his peers and followers, and his flaming independence. There is a vocals-only recording out there of Bowie and Freddie Mercury making “Under Pressure” — actually, it’s right here. It’s pretty impressive, I gotta say. The weirdest “Little Drummer Boy” duet tandem in history (Bowie and Bing Crosby in 1977, which also actually is pretty good) can commence its heavenly encore. Hmm, maybe I liked David Bowie more than I knew.
  • Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes. Meh. Oy vey with the award shows. So tedious and self-important. And anyway, when did they become extreme celebrity roasts of very questionable taste? Talk about jumped sharks . . .
  • Seriously, Jordan Spieth, who only won a record $22 million on the PGA Tour last year, is Tiger Woods without the crazy father and Supreme Being complex. When Spieth doesn’t win a tournament – hell, when he simply mishits a shot slightly or misses a putt – it is stunning. The 22-year-old Texan rolled to an eight-shot victory Sunday in Maui over a field of last year’s tournament winners. It’s unbelievable to think, but incredible talents like Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson are in danger of becoming to Spieth what Ernie Els (and others) was to Woods – great foils dwarfed by a daunting shadow.
  • It’s taken me a while to come around on this, but I’m with you people now. Sean Penn is just a loon. An annoying one at that.
  • Tonight, Alabama beats Clemson. Nick Saban, winner of four previous college football championships, gets his one for the thumb. Ring, that is. Saban once made a Miami Dolphin cry. He’s a baaaad man.

 

 

 

 

 

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Friday comin’ down . . .

On Jan. 8, 1963, Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” which was already about 450 years old, went on public display in the United States (in Washington, D.C.) for the first time. That  was something to smile about, right?

 

  • China and its dysfunctional economy, which I guess is contributing to the Wall Street tank, is starting to piss me off.  Alas, a billion Chinese don’t care about the bottom line of my 401(k).
  •  Speaking of tanking — no, not the 76ers – how’s that Chipotle stock working out for you? Oy vey, Chipotle.
  • TrumpTrumpTrumpTrump . . . Driving last night, I caught some of the candidate’s appearance/rally/performance in Vermont on the radio. The WWE or Maury – is there still a Maury? — in their prime wished they staged such spectacle. As usual, not a word about policy or anything related to being president. Just protesters being bum-rushed out of the building and Trump taunting them to many hoots and hollers. Watching slack-jawed, the media swoon as an inexplicable American phenomenon rolls on.
  • Finished Making a Murderer(!) Thank you for not spoiling my binge, and there will be no spoilers here from me. I can say, without offense, that it is a fascinating look through the criminal-justice window.
  • Jackson Browne, tonight in Virginia Beach. No, he didn’t die after the 1980s, smart guy. He’s a master musician and songwriter, tours a lot, still in very fine voice. Saw him a couple of years ago, a solo show, at Christopher Newport. He’s not mailing anything in.
  • I would expect Bishop Sullivan High to almost instantly create a powerhouse football program, which evidently is its intent by hiring coach Chris Scott away from Ocean Lakes High. Absent zoning restrictions, good players will flock there from across the area for Scott’s expertise and, more paramount to parents and kids, his recruiting connections. And the school offers financial aid. If football’s what you’re about, Sullivan will be the place to go, and quickly.
  • Heard Andrea Mitchell, who has worked for years around the world’s most powerful people, go all fan-girl while interviewing retired soccer player Abby Wambach via remote earlier at lunch. What is it about sports figures that quickens the hearts of even grizzled – no offense, Andrea – news vets? Do not get.
  • Next movie up: “The Big Short.” Didn’t read the Michael Lewis book, though, and my friend Brendan suggests my life is less than it should be because of it.
  • Odd, and completely infantile, dustup online and even on Morning Joe about ODU coach Jeff Jones, unbeknownst, vigorously tucking in on camera and then shaking hands with somebody with the said hand with which he tucked. Come on, you people. The 24/7, cameras-everywhere, everybody-has-a-hot-or-snarky-take culture strikes again.
  • Good luck to Debbie Harmison White, the communications senior associate athletic director at Old Dominion, who announced her retirement this coming June. Thirty-six years in the books. Quite the career. Thanks for the personal friendship and professional courtesies. Best wishes from here.

 

 

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Thursday Thoughts

 

A year ago, two Al-Qaeda terrorists killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the Charlie Hedbo attack in Paris. Pray for peace. And on that note . . .

  • One and half more episodes of Making a Murderer to get through on Netflix before I can get up to speed on what’s going on with that case. And also get back to getting more sleep.
  • I’m not crazy about Jimmy Fallon’s gushing, Labrador-puppy style as Tonight Show host, but I enjoy pretty much every clip from his show that strays into my attention span. He’s an incredible mimic, as we know, the latest evidence being this effort as Mick Jagger last night. (The other guy in this clip is Billy Joel.)
  • Which reminds me, I have made no effort beyond his first week to see what Steven Colbert is doing on CBS. That surprises me because I thought I was a big fan. But there’s that sleep goal I mentioned above. And I just don’t make the effort to dig up clips of what he’s doing over there.
  • Congratulations to Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza for being voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame. Griffey got a record 99.3 percent of the vote. Deservedly. The two sluggers got out of the ‘roid era relatively unscathed, although there was always chatter about Piazza for various reasons. Supposedly he also enjoyed show tunes. That’s a joke. Here’s another “joke.” Piazza was drafted in the 62nd round – 62nd! – of the 1988 draft out of Miami-Dade College, as a favor from Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda to Piazza’s father, his childhood buddy outside Philadelphia. Lasorda is Piazza’s godfather. Piazza was the 1,390th player selected out of 1,433. He turned into the best-hitting catcher of all time -.308 average, 427 home runs. Great story.
  • I got to see Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. play outfield together live one time, in Seattle in 1990. I think it’s cool just tossing a lacrosse ball back and forth out front with my college kid. We won’t be in the majors for quite a while yet. Some forms of life take place on extremely different planes, don’t they?
  • Well, coach Sean Payton’s staying with the Saints. I thought he would. No soup for you, Iggles.
  • You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to pick all four visiting teams to win this weekend’s NFL wildcard playoff games. Chiefs beat the Texans; Steelers win at Cincinnati; Seahawks take out the Vikings; Packers come to FedEx Field to beat Washington. Hey, how wrong can I be?
  • Whew, I got a Powerball reprieve. Was out last night, but forgot to purchase my winning ticket. But none of you losers won! It’s up to $675 million for Saturday. I am shopping for islands as we speak.
  • Throwback Thursday! Send me embarrassing high-school photos for me to laugh at during lunch. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Daily (or when I think of it) Ramble

 

Tuesday, the first week of January 2016. Hard to believe, just in general. My disconnected thoughts o’ the morning:

* Good on Virginia Tech, knocking off those U.Va. hoopsters in Blacksburg. As always, it’s just damn hard to win on the road in college buckets. Anybody ever tell you that?

* Didn’t see it, though. Nor the Kansas-Oklahoma 3-OT palooza. Why? I get to that . . .

* I thought “Concussion” was pretty good. It’s a talker for sure. Will Smith isn’t holding on to the side of any jets during takeoff, if you get me. But I thought he was believable, and the true story compelling.

* As for the Star Wars, saw it with the kids. Entertaining enough, I suppose. The kids had to brief me on the whos and whats of the series, but that was fine. The world can have the Star Wars. I am at peace with my disinterest.

* Just started Making a Murderer on Netflix. Watched the first two of the 10 episodes last night. (a-ha!) It’s all the rage. If you spoil it for me, I may murder you.

* I am disheartened on the regular by some of the writing that comes out of college sports-publicity offices. 101 Class: The team as a unit is an “it,” not a “they.” As in “Midwestern State won its third game in a row.” And don’t get me started on dangling modifiers.

* My baby girl in San Francisco just moved into a new house in the famous Haight. The “Grateful Dead House,” as noted on Google Maps, is down the street. There’s something Smithsonian about that to me.

* The Eagles fire their coach Chip Kelly, who by all accounts has the people skills of a prune, but he’s an innovative football wonk (it appears). Bill Belichick seems to answer to that same description. Is Kelly another Belichick? There are GMs and owners who will still want to pay large money to find out, as in the second shoe has yet to drop on Kelly. What a country.

* Our little band’s fantasy golf season starts this week, to continue through the fall. Make your jokes. But it’s a lot of fun for people (like we five) who pay attention to the PGA Tour, the small weekly wager focuses our interest, and  I enjoy recapping and razzing the weekly “drama” for the boyz in my Monday flounder-mail. So there.

* Bonus points to you if you get that above passing reference to fan mail from some “flounder.”

* Didn’t do the Movember thing. But Dry January sounds like a good idea.

* Have a great day D. XO

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Presence …

tree

Christmas morning, and I have to apologize to my kids that the central air is broken. Who would have thought that? Not me, which is why in September when I noticed the air wasn’t blowing cold I figured I had more important things to worry about the next six months.

Suddenly, we’ve got baseball weather. Shorts and T-shirts. Sandals. Clammy Christmas skin. And every window in a three-story house wide open, which is just weird. If I wanted to live in Tampa, I’d live in Tampa.

But because Mother Nature taught us very long ago that we all bow to her – a little lower, knave — we carry on with the things we can control, if we are wise. Checking our gratitude meter, for instance, making sure it’s in top operating condition.

The slings and slights and insecurities of life want badly to rattle our bolts, to make us throw a rod, whatever that means. (“Threw a rod, then the engine blow’d up, Junior!”) Each day offers a walk with that darker side, which I guess could be a Star Wars reference, although believe me I am so far from a Star Wars wonk it’s not funny. I realize that temptation, but I take that walk too often anyway.

Except . . . if I just take five seconds to stare out those wide-open windows with the still-cool morning breeze wafting through, a bird cawing across the street, a big yellow lab on the living room floor impatient to go sniff and mark, brilliant kids home and asleep, health, humor and talent soothing, new love lifting, new days calling . . .

Grateful is as grateful does, Forrest. Does mama really have to keep reminding you of this?

Damn the humidity. It’s a wonderful life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The no-self-hate zone (No. 20 …)

I’m not sure where I came across what follows, but I’ve had it buried in my inbox for, well, going on a couple of years, it looks like …

Decluttering, I found it this morning and read through it again, for the first time, for all intents. I like it. You might, too.

Inspiration is always where we find it. Lessons and learning, as well. They’re all in here.

 

20 Things To Let Go Of Before The New Year
BY SHANNON KAISER
DECEMBER 16, 2013

How much stress are you carrying around? Do you feel burdened by life’s circumstances and emotional issues? Becoming more grounded and happy starts with letting go of worry and stress. I learned this in my own journey, through overcoming drug addictions, healing myself from depression, and walking away from a career in corporate to follow my heart and be a successful writer and life coach. In the process, I had to let go of a lot of things to become the person I am today.

Physically, spiritually and emotionally, I had to learn how to let go of the person I thought I should be in order to be the person I really wanted to be. Letting go of anything in life can be a little scary, but it can also be an amazing act of self-love.

Letting go of my worries and stress made a difference for me; of course I still dip in and out of some of my stress jar from time to time, but I’ve found this list a good reminder of what I need to strive for each day in order to reach unlimited happiness.

Here are 20 things to let go of in order to reach unlimited happiness.

1. Let go of all thoughts that don’t make you feel empowered and strong.

2. Let go of feeling guilty for doing what you truly want to do.

3. Let go of the fear of the unknown; take one small step and watch the path reveal itself.

4. Let go of regrets; at one point in your life, that “whatever” was exactly what you wanted.

5. Let go of worrying; worrying is like praying for what you don’t want.

6. Let go of blaming anyone for anything; be accountable for your own life. If you don’t like something, you have two choices, accept it or change it.

7. Let go of thinking you are damaged; you matter, and the world needs you just as you are.

8. Let go of thinking your dreams are not important; always follow your heart.

9. Let go of being the “go-to person” for everyone, all the time; stop blowing yourself off and take care of yourself first … because you matter.

10. Let go of thinking everyone else is happier, more successful or better off than you. You are right where you need to be. Your journey is unfolding perfectly for you.

11. Let go of thinking there’s a right and wrong way to do things or to see the world. Enjoy the contrast and celebrate the diversity and richness of life.

12. Let go of cheating on your future with your past. It’s time to move on and tell a new story.

13. Let go of thinking you are not where you should be. You are right where you need to be to get to where you want to go, so start asking yourself where you want to go.

14. Let go of anger toward ex lovers and family. We all deserve happiness and love; just because it is over doesn’t mean the love was wrong.

15. Let go of the need to do more and be more; for today, you’ve done the best you can, and that’s enough.

16. Let go of thinking you have to know how to make it happen; we learn the way on the way.

17. Let go of your money woes — make a plan to pay off debt and focus on your abundance.

18. Let go of trying to save or change people. Everyone has her own path, and the best thing you can do is work on yourself and stop focusing on others.

19. Let go of trying to fit in and be accepted by everyone. Your uniqueness is what makes you outstanding.

20. Let go of self-hate. You are not the shape of your body or the number on the scale. Who you are matters, and the world needs you as you are. Celebrate you!

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But you already knew this …

From Editor & Publisher

 

Business of News: What Are Your Qualifications?
posted: 11/25/2015

by: Tim Gallagher

The job coach reviewed my resume on his desk, used his thumb and forefinger like pincers and picked up the sheet.

“We can work with this,” he said.

I was leaving the newspaper business. This guy was supposed to help me. And he was treating my resume—my career—like a dirty diaper.

He read my face. “This is what you were,” he said. “We are going to talk about who you are. What your skills are. Not the jobs you’ve had.”

And for the first time in nearly 30 years I began to think that there were jobs out there that did not start with journalism.

My job coach was the first person who looked at my skills, not at job titles.

This column and this magazine is about the newspaper industry, but it’s instructive for your future—whether it is in the industry or out—to look at the extraordinary set of skills that newspaper people possess. Believe me, these are not in the skill set of many people outside the industry.

Unfortunately, I’ve had this conversation dozens of times in the past decade with newspaper people looking for a new career.

Like many who left, I chose to start a consultancy that turned into a small business. Others found new jobs. In either case, these skills—rather this combination of skills—learned in the newspaper business proved lucrative in new careers.

Rapidly synthesize complicated information. Journalists take it for granted that they can take notes during a four-hour meeting and then compose 800 words that capture the essential actions. This is an exceptional skill.

Make a deadline. In all the disciplines across the newspaper industry, deadlines are sacrosanct and daily. But talk to people in many other industries and they find deadlines, well, deadly. They are blown off or pushed back. The fact that you can make a deadline each day makes you valuable.

Compose coherent sentences. Even write some that sing. In the newsroom, we get used to a minimum level of composition competency. Step outside the business for a few weeks and you will appreciate those who can take subject-verb-object and write it clearly, and often with panache. This ability is not to be taken for granted.

Ask questions. Sometimes in my new job I am interviewed by a journalist who just won’t run out of questions. That’s great. A natural curiosity makes one smarter.

Great facial architecture. The best journalists remember that the head has two eyes, two ears and one mouth. According to that ratio, one should listen and observe four times as often as one speaks. This is crucial in another career you are just learning.

The ability to reserve judgment. Newspaper people learn to wait and listen with disinterest. The best never take a side. They explore points of view and ask for facts. But they never choose a side. No matter what field you might enter, the ability to stay neutral (until there is time to take a position) is important to building the strongest position. Aristotle advised us to know the other side as well as we know our own position.

Manage multiple projects. The best people in our business keep several balls moving at once. They can drop one to work another. This isn’t prevalent in everyone’s skill set.

Motivate. If you’ve been a manager in the business for the past decade and managed to keep your team focused on moving ahead in spite of the challenges, then you are exceptional. You’re a great motivator and other industries need that skill.

Creatively problem solve. Some of my newspaper colleagues once put out a newspaper after an earthquake that knocked out power by powering laptops with a car’s battery. Enough said. We know how to work under difficult circumstances.

Know the ins and outs of a community and who makes it run. We take for granted our knowledge of civics and which level of government or which business leaders make our communities work. If you move outside the newspaper industry, that intimate knowledge will make you exceptional.

Like many former journalists, I built a new career after thinking I would be a journalist forever. I hope those reading this do stay in a business that gets healthier than it has been. But if you don’t, take comfort in knowing that your skills are unique and extraordinary and can help you make a living.
Tim Gallagher is president of The 20/20 Network, a public relations and strategic communications firm. He is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and publisher at The Albuquerque Tribune and the Ventura County Star newspapers. Continue reading “But you already knew this …”

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Distinction, take one

Here’s a link to my first contribution to Distinction magazine, a really well-done local publication of which I’m proud to be a small part. There will be more contributions, which pleases me no end.

This first one is about Kent Bazemore, who was undrafted — and unfortunately tainted at the end of his Old Dominion career —  but who has made himself an NBA life despite it all.

Hope you enjoy it.  Kent-Bazemore-1

 

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Fair winds

I don’t know Jeff Bradley, although I feel as though he is me in many ways.

His excellent blog post the other day about being an out-of-work sports writer, which I include here because it’s poignant and relatable, is too common a story these days.

I just had numerous friends survive the media-company slashes in Philadelphia. I am happy for them, obviously, especially if sports writing remains what they truly want to be doing, if it is still the best thing for them and their families.

A year and a couple weeks ago, my detour met me straight up. There is a lot of angst that comes with such a parting and recalibrating, and Jeff, a much bigger-time sports writer than I ever was, gets at the heart of it well in his piece. He doesn’t write asking for sympathy, as some jerkwood blog commenter offered up from his snake pit. He just writes with honesty, same as I do here . . . and every day in the different word-jockey position I now hold.

I don’t know Jeff, but I wished him good fortune, as you do for fellow travelers. Too many of them on the road.

 

 

 

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Happy Hokie Trails

beamer

I don’t really know Frank Beamer well. I was around him a handful of times a year for a decade or more as a sports columnist. I didn’t sense a lot of spin in the guy. I thought he pretty much told it like it was, except for some schedule-padding and news-manipulating stuff back in the day when he was trying to make Virginia Tech matter. Which he did.

I sat next to him once at a banquet. We chatted and laughed a bit. He is a good fella.

The career eulogies bursting forth upon the recent announcement of his retirement as Virginia Tech’s football coach are earnest and true. Beamer was hardly glib. He was hard-boiled Fancy Gap. But he got it. He has class. Self-control. He was as professional as they come in college football in representing his school and his team on the field and in the media room.

A gentleman. Yep, he is a gentleman.

Of course it won’t be the same to see a Virginia Tech football game without Beamer on the sideline. We’ll get used to it. So will he. Sooner than he suspects, he might even enjoy being out of the snake-pit cauldron of constant recruiting, social media, message boards and instant judgments.

I hope it happens that way for him. He deserves it. He made Virginia Tech football into a thing of consistency, respect and resiliency, even if that national championship the Hokies hungered for proved too large a dream.

Tech’s stadium, and the field inside it, are already named in honor of others. But Beamer-Lane Stadium isn’t too awkward, is it? In the big picture, it doesn’t really matter. Virginia Tech knows the impact Beamer had on its national profile, its enrollment, its fund-raising, and Beamer knows, too, what he meant to his alma mater.

For both, that is a monument in itself.

Happy trails to Frank Beamer.

 

(Photo, Roanoke Times)