Wednesday, December 13, 2000

Pay Rod

"The game just means so much to me, that I do not want it to be diluted by a dollar sign."
-Alex Rodriguez, 12-12-00
The day after signing a 10-year $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers.

Season's Greetings from Cincinnati!

I thought I would begin my periodic update to all of you with a pleasant quote. This one is by far the best one I could find. I heard it on ESPN's SportsCenter this morning and about choked on my laughter.

In other insane news, we have a winter storm warning today, calling for six inches of snow today and 2-4 inches after midnight with wind chills of 10. I love it! They say we are looking at up to 12 inches possibly.

It started here just about a half hour ago.

Stacy spent this past weekend in Chicago for a conference. She was there for the blizzard, but still had a good time. She experienced some local dining favorites while there, including the Billy Goat Tavern and Grill, where John Belushi did his famous Saturday Night Live skit, "Cheezborger, Cheezborger." She made it back safe and sound yesterday afternoon at the lovely (really) Cincinnati Airport.

I had one of my finals moved to this past Monday and it went well. I think I studied too much because my arthritis set in early. I knew all the questions and I was writing so fast. Then again, I hardly ever write anymore its all typing for me!

The rest of my finals are next Wednesday and Thursday, and I will be done for the semester, finally, but already! Next semester begins Tuesday, January 16.

Stacy and I are going to the Crosstown Shootout on Thursday. We were lucky enough to each get a ticket we are not sitting together, but we are going!

The Shootout is the main event University of Cincinnati vs. Xavier University basketball. The game is on national TV ESPN at 9:00pm. I cannot wait. The newspapers blow this up! Last year, Xavier beat then #1 Cincinnati 66-64. Dick Vitale is doing the game, one that he does by choice because he says, "this rivalry is as good as Duke-North Carolina."

I hope you have got your gifts bought and wrapped for the holiday season. I am ready to get to the families' houses and spend time with them.

If you have made it down this far, let me make you feel better when you look at your paycheck. Alex Rodriguez got his 10-year, $252 million contract. Let's break it down:

PAY PER GAME - $170,270
PER INNING - $18,918
PER AT-BAT - $45,487

· If A-Rod wanted to spend all of his $252 million in the next 10 years, he would have to spend $2,877 per hour -- around the clock It would take 23,525 years for a worker earning minimum wage to earn $252 million.

Thanks!

Well I wish you Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa or whatever you choose to celebrate this season! Our best to you and your family this season.

I look forward to talking to, e-mailing you or seeing you soon

Tuesday, November 21, 2000

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Cincinnati!

I hope you are getting the belly ready for some weekend treats! I am making appearances at the in-laws in Chattanooga on Thursday and Friday and then past Knoxville to White Pine to see my folks, as I double my eating pleasure.

Everything is going well here. It is colder than a well digger's boots, etc. here. The "feels like" temperature here last night was 0, yes zero. The real low was 15. The wind is brutal. We had some snow flurries yesterday but that is about it. It is supposed to get back to 50 this weekend. There is a dusting of snow on the ground today.

Well, I have three weeks left of my first semester at XU. I have projects due in each class and then finals. I have projects of evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the Xavier licensing program, a marketing and budgeting plan for a pro sports facility, and a marketing and promotions plan for a local premier (semi-pro) soccer team here in Cincinnati.

Yes, in sports news, the Xavier men's basketball team opened the new arena on Saturday with a 68-54 win over Miami, Oh. The Cincinnati Bearcats won its 7th football game Saturday with a come-from-behind win over No. 20 Southern Miss; there are now a bunch of Bearcats car flags being dusted off. The Bearcats will more than likely be in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit hopefully against hated Marshall.

The Xavier women's basketball team beat Vanderbilt in its first game in the new arena on Sunday and moved to No. 23 in the nation on Monday!

I was sad to see the Mocs end the football season 5-6 with the gutsy 45-44 overtime loss to No. 4 Furman. And then the Mocs basketball team lost by one to College of Charleston on Monday night. UGH!

On the transportation front, Stacy and I got a new used car on Saturday a 1998 Honda Accord EX V-6. We have been driving it all over Cincinnati. It is a great car, and we are lucky to have it. We have three cars right now. I am taking the Ford F-150 to Tennessee to sell. It is worth more there than in Ohio. I hate to let her go, but she has given me seven good years of trucking fun!

I hope you take the time this week to enjoy your thoughts and be thankful for what you have. I am lucky to have many great friends. I am thankful for you and your friendship. I am thankful to have a great wife, a great family, a great life, good health, great peace and great friends.

Remember what is there at the end of the day. You may even want to drop to your knees and send one up to the big guy!

Well, take care. I hope to see you sometime soon

Monday, November 06, 2000

VOTE

I hope everyone is getting riled up and ready to vote!

I am watching George W. Bush on the "stump" right now in Chattanooga live on CNN. Of course there are old ladies behind George Dubya with orange and white checkerboard sweaters. Who makes those God-awful ugly things? And everyone in the crowd has orange and white shakers. Wish there was a little Chattanooga Blue and Gold in there!!

And of course the crowd is chanting "Ain't seen nuthin' yet!" Always nice to see on live national television that grammar=Tennessee, huh?

Speaking of "ain't" and weird phrases, we have learned up here that when you say something and a person does not understand you, they say "please?" instead of "excuse me?" or "what did you say?" The first time I encountered that was in class when I asked a guest speaker a question and he asked, "Please?" It sounds very odd.

Anyways, I do not have far to go to vote tomorrow, as the nearest voting location for us is in our complex's clubhouse.

Stacy and I are doing well. Stacy has been given a lot of responsibility at the University of Cincinnati Foundation. One of her big projects is the restructuring and redesign of the UCF's website.

I have about six more weeks this semester at XU. My midterms went well, and I have three A's at this time. My finals are on December 18, 19, and 21 just in time for Christmas! That is late, but the next semester does not start until Tuesday, January 16, when I will begin taking research/statistics, marketing and facility design classes for the spring term.

It looks as though I will finish in December 2001 with intern/research project and sport seminar classes in the summer and legal issues and NCAA rules/regulations classes in the fall.

Stacy's parents came to Cincinnati this past weekend and we went to Lebanon, OH, about 20 miles north of us. This little town is full of antique and other curious stores. It was a good time.
We finished the weekend with a lunch trip to Covington, KY, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. We ate at one of our favorite places, Jack Quinn's, an Irish pub. The corned beef boxty (a potato pancake with corned beef and sweet cabbage with a cheese/mustard sauce) is the best. Meanwhile, across the river, the Cincinnati Bengals were getting spanked.

Stacy and I are coming to Chattanooga on Thursday night, Nov. 9. Stacy is going to visit her friends at UnumProvident on Friday, and I will more than likely make my rounds around town to say hi to everyone. Then it is on to the last Mocs home football game of the year versus ETSU. Hopefully, after good wins over App. St. and The Citadel, we will pull out a win off the Bucs and secure a winning season. We are going to the UTC Fine Arts Center on Sunday afternoon to hear Stacy's sister, Meghan, perform her senior recital.

The weather has started to get a little colder here, as it was in the mid 20s for the low this past weekend. It is going to be in the mid 40s for the lows and mid 60s for the highs this week.

Monday, October 16, 2000

October

I hope everyone is having a good Fall and getting ready for Halloween! We have more than enough opportunities to visit haunted house attractions here it seems like every other house in Cincinnati is haunted.

King's Island, Cincinnati's big amusement park, has converted the park into "Fear Fest," which is open past midnight on weekends. We hear it is awesome, as the parent company, Paramount, has poured millions of dollars into the attraction, with The Mummy's Revenge, The Museum of Horrors, The Sewer, Studio Fifty-Gore, and Torture Tower.

They are charging $19.95 admission and say Fear Fest was designed to be very frightening and is not recommended for children under 15, or for adults who don't care to be scared. They have transformed the park adding special effects and roaming "scaracters." And to top it off, five of the roller coaster rides are open.

We are not sure if we are going, but for future reference, King's Island is less than five miles from our apartment.

I am starting my 8th week of classes at Xavier and it is going well. Mid-terms are upon me, but I believe I am good and ready for them.

I recently went to the Cincinnati Bengals new stadium, Paul Brown Stadium for the Tennessee Titans game. The capacity is 65,000 and there were more than 64,000 at the game. I never saw a long line at a concessions stand, every seat has a Bengals helmet logo imprinted into the chair back, and the two giant scoreboards look like those new high definition television wide screens.

That stadium is like something people have never seen. It is really awesome. It is unfortunate the people have never seen a good Bengals team, which is currently 0-6.

The news stations here in town are all coming up with spoofs on the Bengals. It is bad. The local Fox Channel here showed a video of the time the Bengals last won, Sept. 12, 1999 with the Barbara Streisand's song "The Way We Were" in the background. Then when it came back live to the anchors, it showed them all crying with tissues. Finally, the main anchor asked the meteorologist about a last look at weather, and he said he was just too choked up to talk and he walked off! It was hilarious.

One more note in sports, the turf has come up at Cinergy Field (Riverfront Stadium), and the reds will be playing on grass for the final two years in the ballpark. The new stadium opens in 2003. They are currently tearing down half of Cinergy to make way for the new ballpark.

Progress!

Stacy and I made it back to Chattanooga for UTC's homecoming weekend. We had a great time. I saw people at the football game I had not seen in over five years. It was really special to see so many people come back to their alma mater. I still wish more came back I noticed many of my friends who were unable to make it.

We missed Midnight Madness, the tip-off of basketball season on Friday night/early Saturday morning, altogether. We missed UTC's, and later heard Cincinnati had over 8,000 people and Xavier had over 5,500 for their midnight festivities.

I cannot wait for the basketball season to get started at Xavier. There is a lot of hype here for it, as well as at UC. I know I have mentioned it before, but XU's new arena, the Cintas Center, is amazing. There is a great story about it and some photos at this website at http://enquirer.com/xavier/2000/10/13/xu_xavier_moves_into.html and a great graphic of the facility at http://enquirer.com/xavier/2000/10/13/xu_cintasgraphic.html.

Stacy and I were invited to the University of Cincinnati's President's Ball this Saturday. It is a celebration to recognize the Foundation's goal setting of acquiring over $328.9 million. It is a black-tie affair, so I guess I have to dress up!

Cincinnati weather has no major difference from Chattanooga's. Only two weeks ago we were preparing for 30 degree temperatures and the cold season, however that brief spell came and went. It is back in the 70's. It rained yesterday for the first time in a good while. I have noticed the temperatures are about 6 degrees lower on average than Chattanooga's. I guess that will make up for something if we happen to get any snow here this winter.

Wednesday, September 27, 2000

Two months in Cincinnati

Well, I have finished my fifth week of classes at Xavier and all is going well.
From principles and management of sport to finances, budgeting and accounting to media relations, I am neck deep in education right now.

No, it is not all bad.

A couple Wednesdays ago, my finance class professor took us on a field trip to Cinergy Field, the home of the Reds. Our professor is the Controller for the Reds. He is the guy who budgets the money to pay for things like Griffey and Barry Larkin's huge salaries. It is neat to hear his stories about the inner-workings.

Let me tell you two things I observed from the field trip:
1. The new Reds stadium to open in 2003 is going to be a thousand times better than this 30-year-old cookie-cutter hole of a stadium.

2. Ken Griffey Jr.!! Griffey had a sore hamstring and did not play the day we went to the stadium, which was great because he was not in the dugout. He was in the hall behind the dugouts where we were. He was talking to about 20 kids who were all sitting around him. I was about 10 feet from him, and that is as close as I got. He was doing some special talk to the kids they all had Pepsi shirts on. I did yell, "What's up Griffey!" to him, and he waved back and said, "what's up guys."
Well, we made it back to Chattanooga the weekend of Sept. 15-17, and had a great time with some of my family, friends and fraternity brothers. I also caught some of the Chattanooga Mocs football game - the 72-17 bashing of Mississippi Valley State. We will be back in town Homecoming weekend, Oct. 13-15.

Stacy is doing great at her new job at the University of Cincinnati Foundation. The building she works in, University Hall, is quite awesome. Her office facilities are very nice. The UC campus is undergoing some really large building projects, which add to the impressive campus.

My Thursday night professor, Betsy Ross, who works for ESPN, called class off last Thursday. She stayed at the ESPN studios to help cover the Olympics. She has been doing updates in the morning before the hourly SportsCenter.

So last Thursday, Stacy and I am went to XU campus for the dedication and blessing of the new 10,250-seat Cintas Center. Remember, Xavier is a private, Jesuit campus, so the President is a "Father." Father Hoff blessed the arena and unveiled the new Musketeer statue outside of the arena. The Musketeer is about nine feet tall carrying a sword and pointing toward campus. By the way, our nickname is Musketeers. If you were wondering, and I did, other Jesuit campuses include, Marquette, Georgetown, St. Joseph's, Boston College, St. Louis, Loyola, Santa Clara and about 21 more.

Now that I am pretty set in my classes and know what I can handle, I am starting to look for a job that will continue to help with my personal and professional experiences.

My birthday was last week so it was a time for gifts, including Pottery Barn delights, the new, very awesome Jimi Hendrix four-CD box set, some DVDs I wanted and some Ivy League gear my mom, step dad and sister got for me on their trip to the New England states.

Stacy and I are both trying to get involved with our respective Greek alumni groups here in Cincinnati. Stacy's, Sigma Kappa, is said to have one of its strongest alumni groups here. My alumni chapter here with Sigma Chi is deep-rooted in tradition as our first chapter was founded up the road in Oxford in 1855.

We are also hooking up with the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association Chapter up here. The chapter is watching the UT-LSU football game at a local sports bar this Saturday. The best thing about this is the sports bar is about ½ mile from our apartment. Sorry, we could not get the UTC-Wofford game on pay per view, though I would love it!

It is supposed to be sunny and mid-60s through the weekend. Well, thanks to everyone for keeping up with me and keeping in touch.

Thursday, September 07, 2000

News and Notes

Hello from Cincinnati, home of your Bengals!!

Well, with that nice of a new stadium ($450 million) on the riverfront I guess they gotta be good, so I better get on the bandwagon. Uh, okay.

I finished another week of class and everything is going well. I got home in time to get the Mocs football game at UAB on the internet broadcast. We had them on down 15-7, but UAB came back and won 20-15.

In good news, Stacy finished her first day with the University of Cincinnati Foundation. She really likes the people in the office, especially her boss, which is a great thing.

Her first project is to research other college foundation web sites, and create a new direction for the UC one. She will probably present several approaches, then pick and have an outside design firm create the new site.

Our commute is definitely different from Chattanooga. We could drive down our driveway and be at work in five minutes. We live on Exit 19 on I-71. Xavier is on Exit 5 and UC is on Exit 3. It is interstate driving so it is not stop and go, which makes it just fine for me.

Last Sunday was the Tri-state area's Labor Day celebration, complete with 500,000 people and 30 minutes of fireworks. We watched the fireworks from the Kentucky side of the Ohio river, and I must say it was a spectacular view of the city skyline and the celebration. It is wild because mostly all of the streets on both sides of the river are closed all day long, so you can imagine the people and partying everywhere.

Stacy and I went to the Cincinnati Army football game on Labor Day. It was a nice day and some good football. The UC campus is very large with many unique buildings.

This weekend is the 23rd Annual Oktoberfest in Main Strasse Village in Covington, KY, just across the river from Cincinnati it might as well be Cincinnati. They have the ceremonial beer-tapping on Friday and do not stop until Sunday. We are going to celebrate this occasion on Saturday.

We are coming to Chattanooga on September 15. We are going to the Mocs football game on the 16th and will go out that Saturday night if any of you Chattanoogans are up for it.

Write when you can, and take care!

Monday, August 28, 2000

Good and Great News


Well, I have some good news and some great news!

The good news-
I had my first class tonight and really enjoyed it. I am glad I spent four years in the workplace before I started to pursue my masters. Being able to apply what I have learned at UTC Athletics is going to really pay off.
My class tonight was Principles of Sport Management. The PR and Communication class that I am taking on Thursday night is taught by a guest faculty member this fall, and I must say I am pumped! It is Betsy Ross, a lead sports anchor on ESPNews.
Now the great news-
Stacy accepted a job with the University of Cincinnati Foundation, as a promotional writer. It is going to give her a lot of exposure to marketing, development, advertising, and public relations - all the things she loves to do!
She will start next week. One great benefit will be the option to go to school there for free. She told me earlier she may need a long break from school, but this will likely change her mind.
This is a great opportunity for her, and I am very proud of her.
It will be interesting to live in a household with Xavier and UC ties - they are very big rivals, at least in the world of basketball. I do not think I will mind attending Xavier and UC games though.
On another note, we are having oppressive heat here - as the weathermen say - high temperatures near 87 and very muggy, 70% humidity. Folks, it is roll the window down weather compared to Chattanooga!
Well, that's all for now. Let's give the Mocs football team some good vibes for the home opener this Thursday night!

Tuesday, August 22, 2000

Home in Cincinnati

Well, I am happy to tell you Stacy and I have made it safely to Cincinnati. The unpacking process and exploration of our new home town is going well.

With the help of Trevor "the Penguin" Parks, David Cope, Jeff Romero, and Stacy's parents and sisters, we packed the moving truck until almost Midnight on Friday, which the Weather Channel informed me was the hottest day of the year in Chattanooga.

On Saturday, the caravan of Stacy's parents and sisters, Stacy and me left for Cincinnati, where we were welcomed by a nice 75-degree afternoon. It was a nice relief from the Tennessee humid heat, even though it has climbed back to the upper 80s here today.

Our first meal in Cincinnati was at Waffle House, mostly because we were in moving clothes and no one else would probably let us in.

We really love our apartment. We are in a northwest area of Cincinnati called Symmes Township. The areas here are called townships instead of suburbs, and Cincinnati is made up of dozens of them. Our apartment is a mile off I-71 and is a straight-shot 25-minute drive to the heart of downtown. We are a tenth of a mile from Meijer Store (a 250,000 sq. ft. part grocery, part Target, part Lowes), a Sam's Club that is being built and a Wal-Mart just down the road. As we have entered "the big city," the Meijer Store does not have check-out clerks. You scan your own items at a computer terminal. It is cool. It is also open 24 hours a day.

Between us and the interstate is a Barnes & Noble, Pier One, Target, Circuit City, Kroger's, Kohl's, TGI Friday's, Olive Garden, O'Charley's, Office Max, Lowes, and a huge Auto Mall to name a few places. Okay, now this sounds like a Hamilton Place without the mall, but it is really not that bad. There is one main drag with all of these shopping centers.

Saying that, our apartment is just past all of that, but it is very peaceful and quiet at night as we are on a side road from the hustle and bustle.

Stacy had an appointment at a PR firm downtown today, and I went to Xavier to get my books and my "Musketeer All Card" a.k.a. my ID. Three books -- $110. I have never spent less for three classes, so I was pumped.

Xavier has a great campus. The University started in 1831. I toured many of the buildings and walked through campus on my own. There are some great buildings, including the new 10,000 Cintas Center. I cannot wait to watch a basketball game there. They also just tore down the entire University Center to make room for a new one.

We also went over to the University of Cincinnati today. That place is HUGE. It has 35,000 students. I thought UT was big - this campus eats Knoxville up, except for the football stadium. I could not imagine being a student on a campus that size.

If you made it this far down and read everything, thanks for putting up with it. We are having a good time and are very excited about all of this.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you are doing.

P.S. Our two cats, Moe and Boo, are just fine and have already taken over Cincinnati.

Wednesday, July 26, 2000

Moving to Cincinnati

I wanted to give you all an update on our impending move to Cincinnati.
My last day at UTC Athletics is Monday, August 14.
Stacy's last day at UnumProvident is Tuesday, August 15.
We will be loading the moving truck on Friday, August 18 and leaving Chattanooga on Saturday, August 19.
We will be leaving early and getting the truck unloaded quick because the Cincinnati Bengals' first exhibition game in the new Paul Brown Stadium is that Saturday night vs. the Chicago Bears! Ha, Ha I know Stacy will love to hear that!
Once again, we thank you for your support and friendship. We appreciate all the good wishes many of you have sent. We are excited about our move, but will miss you all.