Posts tagged new mexico
March Madness Part 2
Mar 20th
I love college sports. And this time of the year is awesome. It’s not just the basketball tournament but also the NFL draft and spring break (oops. different post). It’s the time of the year when we have mock drafts, mock brackets and mockingbirds.
My pool got thrown a loop when I picked Tim Tebow to beat New Mexico State but other than that things are rocking along. Here are some things I am lovin’ about this year’s March madness:
Freaks of nature
Taylor Mays. Height: 6’3″, weight: 230 lbs., 40 yard dash: 4.43 (4.24 unofficial was one of the highlights of the combine), Bench Reps of 225 pounds: 24
I am not sure I need to say anything more other than maybe don’t let him get a 40 yard head of steam before he runs into you.
Bruce Campbell. Height: 6’6″, weight: 314 lbs., 40 yard dash: 4.85, Bench Reps of 225 pounds: 34
Look. This 314 lb guy who looked like he didn’t have an ounce of fat on his 6’6” frame ran a fucking 4.85 40. Oh. And he benched a tremendous 34 reps of 225 pounds. No matter how drunk you are I recommend not picking a fight with him if he asks to dance with your date.
The Big East
One of the things I love about the tournament is it becomes conference put up or shut up time. For years we have always heard “ACC is the best tournament” and it seems every other year their middle tier teams get crushed too early in the tournament. This year it looks like it’s the Big East conference’s turn. Doesn’t mean their top teams won’t end up in the final four just that maybe the rest of their teams weren’t as good as we thought. Oh. And maybe the Pac10 teams weren’t as bad as everyone thought.
The state of New Mexico
Whoda thunk New Mexico had two universities let alone two basketball teams worthy of making the NCAA tournament (and winning). The only thing I know about New Mexico teams are one is the Lobos (which is an awesome nickname), one of them must play in Albuquerque (the only city I know in New Mexico) and I love that city and Geronimo had an awesome crossover move but couldn’t keep his grades up and lost his eligibility. I also love the fact one of the teams figured out how to beat Montana who cheated by having two huge rock trolls (Lord of the Rings reference) who trundled up and down the court bashing everyone out of the way and missing layups.
Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow this. Tim Tebow that. He shouldn’t even be drafted in the first 3 rounds (despite the fact he is a first round media story every frickin day). But. The NFL draft is so tough to predict because there are just way too many stupid teams in the league. I guarantee two things. 1. Someone will be stupid enough to draft him in the first 2 rounds. 2. That same someone will look 2 years from now at someone they passed on they should have picked playing in the Pro Bowl.
Bob Huggins
I don’t know Bob Huggins personally but for some reason I haven’t really liked him. His style of coaching or his attitude or maybe just how he handles himself when he actually has an opportunity to talk. Anyway. The guy can coach. Doesn’t matter where he is and what kind of team he has he figures out how to coach them to win. And he makes his teams tough. That I appreciate.
Baseball
The University of Texas is the favorite to capture the 2010 College World Series. Look. Their pitching staff had a team ERA of 2.95 last year. That is good enough for Cy Young consideration. And this is college baseball. And this is the ENTIRE staff ERA. They have a bunch of other players but that is gonna make them tough to beat.
A look at the current poll:
- Texas
- LSU
- Virginia
- Cal. St. Fullerton
- Arizona St.
Oh. Just in case you weren’t paying attention. Something to note. The ACC. 6 teams in top 16. Doesn’t seem that long ago the west coast had a stranglehold on college baseball. No more.
Lastly. Two names for you. South Dakota State and Dallas Baptist. They are predicted to be in the college baseball 64 team tournament. Awesome. Where else would that happen?
The West Coast
Finally. Finally I have found the true benefit of moving to the West Coast. An extra 2 to 3 hours of NCAA tournament. 9 a.m. and there is a game on. Awesome.
Implied benefit versus overtly stated benefit: The “Windustry” Example
Jan 8th
I have always believed it was more powerful to create messaging with an implied benefit. It seemed to me that permitting the person to articulate the benefit in their own minds and in their own words was powerful way of empowering people to ‘own’ the benefit reasoning.
That said. Traveling to New Mexico reminded me of an industry badly in need of overt communication. There are these beautiful 21st century windmills on acres of windswept rolling hills waving in circles as you drive through New Mexico. Beautiful in a modern sort of way and a reminder of the power that something as simple as the wind can create. I tend to believe that anyone who has the privilege of seeing these “windmills” in action are exponentially more likely to actually consider signing up to utilize energy created by the wind (interestingly they call the industry “Windustry”).
Once in the area I started seeing Wind Energy advertisements in the newspapers. Full page color ads. All talking about what wind energy will be doing…providing energy to over 20% of homes in southwest…over 2.2 million homes serviced by wind power (don’t hold the numbers against me…just recreating them in my mind) but the point I am trying to make is that nowhere is anyone stating the functional benefit to someone who wants to sign up. Oh yeah. Sure. Better for the earth and environment. The ‘greater good.’ Okay. People get that.
To me at some point people want to know what they…personally…are gonna get. A cleaner world for the next generation is fine and dandy but…hey ladies & gentleman of the Windustry…what about me, the decision maker, today?
Will I save money? Is it complicated? Heck. I may be willing to even pay the same amount I am now but I sure have a sense that I am going to be paying a higher price to have a better world (and most of us cannot even afford the basics so I may want to put off the ‘next generation value’ for a little while if you don’t mind).
I think this industry could invest some time telling people the basics. The greater good is really kinda understood. So step up and make it easy and functional to the people who really can get this Windustry ball rolling. Just tell me it ain’t going to break my bank. That’s my 2 cents. Okay. Maybe a cent and a half.
