Trick My Ride

I'm using a new resource in my Strategic Marketing class: Bloomberg.  Today I showed a video about the super wealthy being able to add a $50K electronics package to their luxury cars.

Many of my kids tell me they want to drive Bugattis and Ferraris--I wonder if they know what it takes to be able to afford those cars...scratch that.  I know they don't know.

Current Events for Strategic Marketing

From: cmgdigital.com

One of the results of switching schools this year is that I get to teach new classes, like Multimedia and Web Page Design.  I'm also teaching Strategic Marketing, which I've taught before...but that was a long time and one curriculum re-write ago.

I have really enjoyed talking about current events in my sports marketing classes, and I would like to continue doing that in Strategic Marketing.  It's easy to find stuff for SEM I: just watch ESPN, CNBC or E!.  For Strategic Marketing, I have to do slightly more digging.

For my first current event in class, we're going to be talking about the tobacco packaging that has been struck down by a federal court here.  I'm sure we can have a good discussion on that!

Here...we...go

From: wildsoundmovies.com

I had planned on blogging about Lance Armstrong, or Neil Armstrong...but, school's about to start!

This is the least prepared I've felt for the start of school year since my first year.  What's wrong with me?  This is my seventh year doing this!  Even my daughter's not nervous about starting the year.

Why do I not feel prepared?  Let me count the ways:

1. I have three preps for the first time ever, and every class is new.
2. I'm at a new school.
3. I'm not teaching in a computer lab for two of my classes.
4. I'm in charge of the biggest DECA chapter in my county, and I've never been good at leading that club.

It's time to pray I can make.  I know I've got the first day's activities down--now it's trying to figure out what to do with the other 89 days this semester!

The Carolina Way?

From: blogs.nd.edu

It's been a stressful two years for UNC athletics, and it doesn't look like things are going to get better anytime soon.  Two years after Marvin Austin's tweets sent the 2010 and 2011 football seasons in disarray, more bad news has come out: the Julius Peppers transcript.

Carolina has already had its hand slapped by the NCAA once, but that was for transgressions that occurred after 2007.  Now it seems that the academic fraud goes back to at least 2001.  Things are so bad even a former governor has been put on the case to investigate the full extent of this mess.

I'm not shocked that athletes pursue easy majors and take easy classes--they have insanely busy schedules in college, and I'm sure many are there for the primary purpose of playing ball.  What boggles my mind is the low GPAs required to play.  I thought only high schools were slack about eligibility standards, but when a school with the academic reputation of UNC allows athletes to play for years with a sub-2.0 GPA, it makes me scratch my head.

The Carolina Way, indeed...

Pay the Man, Shirley

Dear NFL,

You make over $7B a year.  Your refs aren't great, but the replacements are even worse.  Pull the change out of the couch and pay these guys.

Thanks!
A decreasingly interested NFL fan

What I Learned From Watching the Olympics

From: The Guardian

I watched more Olympic events in the last two weeks than I had since high school.  Why?  Probably because it was something both my daughter and I were interested in (and had time to watch).  All the Olympics-viewing I did gives me the knowledge to actually know what everyone else is talking about, Olympics-wise.  Here's what I learned:

• Millions of people don't care that things were tape-delayed, so shut up with all the #NBCFail whining.  Unless you're someone with infinite loads of free time in the summer (like me), you couldn't watch the Olympics until after work anyway.

• China's sports system is heinous to its athletes.  Even worse than what the Soviets and Eastern Bloc countries did.

• The NBCSports channel may actually work.  I saw several promos for shows about the NFL, MLB and the NHL.  It'd be nice to go somewhere other than ESPN for sports news and analysis.

• The tennis on Bravo was better than any of the lame reality shows they normally run.

• The Brits are really good at cycling, and I didn't realize how many forms of it there are.

• We got shut out in sailing medals for the first time in decades.  I didn't realize that sailing and all of its various forms were Olympic events.

Will I watch the next Olympics?  We'll see--no one in our house actually does the sports they do.

Raising the Bar

From: chron.com

I had a chance to listen to ESPNU's College Football podcast this week, and they spent the whole show on the upcoming changes to initial eligibility for the incoming class that graduates high school in 2016 (aka this year's 9th grade class).

It was shocking (in a good way) to hear that the NCAA was requiring a 2.3 GPA for core classes.  Also, students also have to complete 10 of the 16 core classes prior to their senior year, which keeps them from sleepwalking for three years and then making a mad dash during their senior year to get eligible.  You can read about the new requirements in their entirety here.

After taking a look at some of my students' GPAs, I think the new rules are a good thing.  Students that can't possibly have a 2.0 are playing football and basketball for four years in high school with the expectation that they can play in college.  Meanwhile, there are teachers, guidance counselors and administrators that enable these kids to play.  I hope the new NCAA standards force those of us at the high school level to be honest about who's participating on our fields and who's not.  Maybe even let us add a "plus" to a grade, even!

The Definitive History of College Football on TV

From: phatboyg.com

If you're planning on talking about sports TV rights in class, I highly recommend this article by Andy Staples in Sports Illustrated.  The article covers the time from the 1984 Supreme Court decision that paved the way for conferences and schools to make their own TV deals up through this year.

TV has really driven the conference realignments, which seem to be never-ending.  The end of the article really illustrates the full circle of college football and TV rights: the colleges would make even more money if they banded together and negotiated...just like the way it used to be before they sued the NCAA.

I Could've Had a V8!

If you remember that classic tagline from the late '70s/early '80s, people were slapping themselves in the head for not having a V8.

That commercial came to mind this week.  I'm switching schools, so I had to turn my laptop in to my old school, leaving me with no access to PowerPoint.  I have a lot of PowerPoints I need to create, as well as switch slides around from one file to another.

Enter OpenOffice.  I've spent all summer spinning my wheels, waiting to get my hands on a laptop with PowerPoint installed.  I put OpenOffice on my computer yesterday, and viola!  Back in business.  The irony is that I have recommended OpenOffice to many students over the years that have lacked Microsoft Office software.

Could've had a V8, indeed...