I decided today to write up a pseudo-stream of consciousness post today, with random fodder on things going on over the weekend...
RODDICK
Congrats to Andy Roddick for winning the title at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. This tournament will always be 'The Lipton' in my mind, and is probably the most prestigious non-major out there. He showed the ability to change strategies in the middle of matches (serve and volley against Rafa!), and looks like he's going to be a force in the Majors this year! Go Andy, Go!
REDS
Red's Opening Day is today! I'm still amazed at the level of enthusiasm the whole city has for Opening Day--given that they haven't been relevant (ie. playoffs) in over a decade. Good luck to the Reds...their pitching should keep them in games this year--but where are the runs going to come from?
GOLF
Had my first two golf rounds of the season a few weeks back, and it was ugly. Shot in the 90's on both days (94 at Royal Links in Vegas, 90 at Boulder Creek in Boulder City). Amazingly, I was outstanding off the tee, and it was my short game that blew chunks--specifically anything where a wedge, touch and creativity was needed. I'm looking forward to playing more this year, since we decided to increase our golf membership at Ivy Hills now that Wendy has committed to playing more this year!
iPAD
Got the iPad over the weekend. I admit that I was very skeptical about this device when I first heard Steve Jobs announce it in January (come on...it's just a jumbo iPod Touch!), and I loved the following edited video of the announcement--stripping the announcement down to only adjectives. Talk about vomit-inducing sappiness! How in the world could this thing be 'magical'?
However, after having mine for over 2 days, I retract my cynicism. The iPad is definitely going to change the game of personal computing. The first thing to realize is that it's target market is not really techie, gadget geeks like myself--it's for the normal, non-techie consumer. It's very easy to envision the entire population of average folks having a similar device to consume media--newspaper, magazine, web content, video all to be accessed with their tablet. iPhones are merely complementary accessories to the tablet. Not sure how long before tablets become the norm (5 years?), but definitely the tablet market will finally begin to take off this year--and consumers are going to reap the benefits of R&D departments in all the big manufacturers trying to get new, innovative product lines to fill this newly created demand for tablet devices. Hooray!
ZINIO
One of the reasons I'm excited by the iPad in the short-term is that it leverages the Zinio app much better than the iPhone does. The race to how content is created and served up has started, and Zinio already provides digital content to the iPad for many magazines, periodicals, newspapers--so they seem to have a head start. Regardless of who wins the digital content race, the consumer viewing platform of the future is currently Apple's to lose.
SCARY TV
Ugh. I thought the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati was in bad shape and in need of renovation--but the Tappan Zee in NYC is way worse. History Channel program that aired over the weekend on the 'Crumbling of America' highlights the T-Z bridge as the poster child of bridges on the verge of collapse. Beware, Hudson commuters!
EASTER WEEKEND
Celebrated Easter with the family and neighbors... Started out at 6:30am with the girls waking up early to get into their Easter baskets/presents.
Candy is to Kids, as Bloody Mary is to Daddy! Good times! This helped us survive a special Easter Time Warner service disruption--but this one was caused by neighbor John. He cut our service off while edging out the new landscape 'feature' we're jointly putting in to hide our utility boxes. To John's defense (kinda), those stickers plastered all over the utility boxes that say 'Call before you dig!' are a bit faded in areas!
GATOR FOOTBALL
Sounds like the Gators spring practice is going well, with few injuries. Defense should be stout next year--which will be needed as the Offense continues to carve out it's identity. John Brantley will be well-known nationally by the end of the year.
TIGER WOODS
It appears that Tiger is staying on the down-low at Augusta, sneaking in Sunday and seemingly being humble and apologetic. Homey screwed up. He knows he has a problem. Sounds like he's working on addressing the problem. The humanizing of the Tiger brand has already started, and I hope he wins the Master's and balls his eye's out at the end. More importantly, I hope that those tears are real and not contrived.
TIM TEBOW
Because I get asked nearly daily, let me go on record to say that I think Tim Tebow will be a playoff quarterback--but only if he gets a year or two backing up a QB star today: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, or even Carson Palmer. If he goes to a team like Buffalo and is thrown to the wolves right away, he will not do well--short and long term. Regardless, though, Tebow WILL play in games this year regardless of where he goes... more than likely in a special offensive package, ala the 'Wildcat'. Will he be a HOF'er? Probably not. Will he make folks sick of hearing his name in the media for another 5 years? Absolutely.
