One of my favorite overly-self-important-indie-hipster-online-music magazines, Pitchfork.com, released it’s year end lists….aka the best and worsts of 2005. Although being too reliant on Pitchfork to find new music may make you feel a bit desperate to be Johnny Indie, their “top lists” generally are stacked with killer music.
Top 50 Albums Of 2005 –> Click Here.
Top 50 Singles Of 2005 –> Click Here.
The 15 Worst Releases of 2005 –> Click Here.
Sorry Jimmy (as in Jimmy Damon), your son is no Babe Ruth. I know you are biased, but let’s inject some reality into the situation here and get some friggin’ perspective.
In a phone interview with the Daily News yesterday, Damon’s dad said he wasn’t particularly surprised to see his son end up in pinstripes and warned that Sox officials will lament the day they let Damon go.
“Mark it down: It’s going to be another Babe Ruth,” Jimmy Damon told The News from his Florida home. “They sent Johnny off just like they sent off Babe Ruth. It’s going to be another big, big mistake. They made the biggest mistake of their lives.
Vomit.
Honestly, letting a legally retarded lead off hitter with no speed and an arm like a girl, go to the Yankees for $52 million at the age of 32 has so little in common with the Ruth move, that is is beyond laughable. Ruth sent 714 balls over the fence, and hit .342 lifetime, over a twenty two year career. Oh yeah, for good measure, he also won 94 games and had an ERA of 2.28 over ten years as a starting pitcher. Yes, Damon produced a lot of runs for the sox and brought something to the park every day in his hustle, his style, and his persona that will be missed…but the only way he is going to end up in monument park, is if Stienbrenner asks him to go weed the area around the bust of Lou Gehrig.
Let’s be real. He will have some good years in NYC, no doubt. But he is going from being a big fish in a medium sized pond, to just another guy in the biggest pond in the world. Not to mention, that he will arrive stripped of his signature beard and hair that together were responsible for 97% of his fame and notoriety here. Its like hiring Dane Cook to perform, and telling him “Hey Dane, if you could just tone it down with the energy and sit here on this stool while you tell your jokes in a quiet monotone, that’d be great.”…it just ain’t the same. Nobody cares about Johnny Damon without the look. Hell, I barely cared about him with the look.
One thing I love about Boston sports, is that as soon as someone skips town for another team (especially the Yankees), EVERYTHING they did here is forgotten. With one move, Damon went from being the most beloved athlete in the city, to the devil himself.
“I know I’ll always be remembered for Game 7 (against the Yanks) to help get us to the World Series, and I know I’m also going to be remembered for jumping sides.”
Um…yah. Game seven? Doesn’t ring a bell anymore Johnny. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that most people are going to remember you more for the latter. I’m no Jimmy Nostradamus Damon, but that’s just MY prediction.
Enjoy New York, and no one is pissed that you left. We just are disappointed you didn’t take Kevin Millar with you.
Looks like my post on the (possibly unintentionally) sexually charged McDonald’s banner campaign, encouraging un-natural activities with your burger, has made the Top Thirty Adrants 2005 Sex-In-Advertising Stories. A great list put out by a great site…my personal favorite is probably the Very Pink Hotties Provide Football Fantasy.
Via Brand Autopsy, this book, and the theory behind it caught my interest this morning for several reasons. First off, I have loved the broken window’s theory ever since first learning about it (like many others likely did) in Malcom Gladwell’s Tipping Point, and was actually JUST discussing this theory with someone over the weekend. I know the Broken Window’s Theory gets some eye rolls from people now and again, but I think it makes a lot of sense…and I REALLY think it makes a lot of sense when applied to the business world, which is just what Michael Levine is doing in his new book (very cleverly titled Broken Windows, Broken Business). Second, I am looking for a new book to read, having just plowed through Freakonomics, Wrecking Crew, and Now I Can Die in Peace, and I think this might be the one. Lastly, I made an observation and comment this weekend, which I think applies here in a round about way. While visiting a Boston Dunkin Donuts this past Sunday morning, I immediately noticed that it was un-surprisingly dingy, that the counter help spoke very little English, and that they were anything but helpful. I commented to the person I was with that:
“One thing you can count on no matter where you go…that Dunkin Donuts service will almost always be consistently terrible.”
It’s sadly true. As much as I loathe that 17 year old, shaggy haired kid at Starbucks cheerfully calling me “Boss” when I get a $19 coffee at 8am, I CAN appreciate the efforts that they go to in order to make everything perfect. The music is always playing at just the right volume, the stores are always clean and bustling, the help is always…er…helpful, and the experience is always pretty damn good. It almost makes the irony of paying the GNP of Ecuador for a cup of Ecuadorian coffee, a little less noticeable. I think that almost subconsciously because of this, I have made a slight shift toward Starbucks this past several months for these very reasons.
The simple theory behind Broken Windows, Broken Business . is as follows:
… that small things make a huge difference in business. The messy condiment area at a fast food restaurant may lead consumers to believe the company as a whole doesn’t care about cleanliness, and therefore the food itself might be in question. Indifferent help at the counter in an upscale clothing store-even if just one clerk- can signal to the consumer that perhaps standards here aren’t as high as they might be (or used to be). An employee at the gas station who wears a T-shirt with an offensive slogan can certainly cause some customers to switch brands of gasoline and lose an enormous company those customers for life.
Overly simple, I know…but sometimes overly simple is the way that people, and especially businesses, need to think.