This might be what we would read in the obituary of the Rocky Mountain News, whose last publication is today. Read about here, here, and here. Here's an "official" obit.
Apparently for this Greatest Depression thing to really gather some steam, a major Denver newspaper had to go down.
Is it sad? Sure. The Rocky was published for 150 years. The longest run business in Colorado. That's not exactly a weekend in the Hamptons (or Vail, the choice is yours). But what I think we're witnessing is another business model that has failed to keep up with the changing business environment and was just plain run by morons who probably don't know a damn thing about working capital or debt/equity ratios.
Hell, if banks and car companies don't have a chance, what kind of odds does a tabloid-format newspaper have?
Showing posts with label The Agony of Defeat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Agony of Defeat. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
"So...the Fed, huh?" Who's that playing Shortstop for the AL?
On Tuesday Major League Baseball’s Mid-Summer Classic will be played at none-other than Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. I remember watching the All-Star Game on TV and loving it. I enjoyed watching all the cool players of that time all playing on the same team. There were always lots of home runs and lots of action and back in those days, the National League always won. Plus, it helped with bargaining in my baseball card trading.
Now that I’m older, while my interest in baseball is increasing again, I am not as knowledgeable about the sport or the players, the American League always wins, and while there is still plenty of action and home runs, there is now something else ubiquitous that I don’t remember as a young fan. Constant corporate sponsorship and advertising.
Since this year’s game is being played at Yankee Stadium and it is the last year of the original Yankee Stadium existence, the corporate presence will likely be more over the top than usual. Not only will the ads be flying fast and furious, the only people attending the game will be CEO’s, Chairperson’s of the Board and their guests, in the following order of importance: 1) clients/customers 2) suppliers/partners 3) mistresses/boy toys 4) family members.
It would be great if more of the tickets were made available to the general public so that they could have a great memory of a baseball game played by its greatest players. Alas, this is not the world we live in. Most people who have enough money to buy these tickets are either not interested in the least or already have their tickets.
Meanwhile, the rest of the tickets are gobbled up by corporations and given to the bigwigs to entertain others who are probably not interested in the game at all.
Hey, what can I say, I’m a fan, and I’ll watch if possible. But thinking about how the game will only be played a short train ride away and also knowing that a bunch of corporate stooges will be deciding how to best present their next big write-down or massive layoffs to the media doesn’t really sit well with me.
On another, unrelated note: how does this guy not make the American League roster?
Now that I’m older, while my interest in baseball is increasing again, I am not as knowledgeable about the sport or the players, the American League always wins, and while there is still plenty of action and home runs, there is now something else ubiquitous that I don’t remember as a young fan. Constant corporate sponsorship and advertising.
Since this year’s game is being played at Yankee Stadium and it is the last year of the original Yankee Stadium existence, the corporate presence will likely be more over the top than usual. Not only will the ads be flying fast and furious, the only people attending the game will be CEO’s, Chairperson’s of the Board and their guests, in the following order of importance: 1) clients/customers 2) suppliers/partners 3) mistresses/boy toys 4) family members.
It would be great if more of the tickets were made available to the general public so that they could have a great memory of a baseball game played by its greatest players. Alas, this is not the world we live in. Most people who have enough money to buy these tickets are either not interested in the least or already have their tickets.
Meanwhile, the rest of the tickets are gobbled up by corporations and given to the bigwigs to entertain others who are probably not interested in the game at all.
Hey, what can I say, I’m a fan, and I’ll watch if possible. But thinking about how the game will only be played a short train ride away and also knowing that a bunch of corporate stooges will be deciding how to best present their next big write-down or massive layoffs to the media doesn’t really sit well with me.
On another, unrelated note: how does this guy not make the American League roster?
I don't know either...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Willie Randolph: Not That Different from the Rest of Us
Strangely ironic that a friend of mine got let go today...I decided I was writing on Willie while on the 'Q' this morning. My hope is that it's not somehow my fault...
For those of you who don't follow sports closely, the New York Mets (baseball) fired their manager, Willie Randolph this week after four seasons. Randolph chronicled his being let go today in the New York Daily News.
The article isn't terribly interesting (it's in the Daily News, after all) but what is interesting is that it shows that even Major League Baseball managers can get treated like complete and utter crap by their bosses.
Randolph was let go approximately 3 am EST. Now granted, that he was on the West Coast so it was only 12 am where he was and he isn't in an office job where the ax drops somewhere between 9 and 5, but it seems a little sloppy.
And, if you read the article, Randolph was completely shocked that he was getting let go. He states that he confronted the GM, Omar Minaya, before leaving for California and that Minaya told him things were "still being evaluated". Randolph goes on to say that he didn't think it would only be one more game before he got fired.
In sports, "being evaluated" might as well mean, "pack your bags".
Many in NYC and across the country have shared a similar feeling with Willie in the past few months. Corporate America has a tendency to be a little more creative when it comes to letting people go. Read this and this. In sports, they take more of a Donald Trump approach.
I guess this may give me some reassurance that no matter what kind of job you have, don't expect your bosses to be above board with you when the possibility of layoffs are looming (unless of course you're a contestant on the Apprentice).
If they're dodgy and non-committal, that usually means they're lying. The problem is, most bosses have bosses who have bosses in sports and in Corporate America. Everybody is under the gun and when "results" are at stake we're all expected to "step it up". What a bunch of shit. If I'm not performing say, "your work is not good, do better or you're going to get fired". Maybe people don't like to hear that but for me it beats the hell out of "you need to step it up".
Refer to other lame buzzwords and cliches here.
The only thing that we can take away from all this is that few people will actually tell you how you're performing because most people suck at delivering bad news or just suck as people in general.
For those of you who don't follow sports closely, the New York Mets (baseball) fired their manager, Willie Randolph this week after four seasons. Randolph chronicled his being let go today in the New York Daily News.
The article isn't terribly interesting (it's in the Daily News, after all) but what is interesting is that it shows that even Major League Baseball managers can get treated like complete and utter crap by their bosses.
Randolph was let go approximately 3 am EST. Now granted, that he was on the West Coast so it was only 12 am where he was and he isn't in an office job where the ax drops somewhere between 9 and 5, but it seems a little sloppy.
And, if you read the article, Randolph was completely shocked that he was getting let go. He states that he confronted the GM, Omar Minaya, before leaving for California and that Minaya told him things were "still being evaluated". Randolph goes on to say that he didn't think it would only be one more game before he got fired.
In sports, "being evaluated" might as well mean, "pack your bags".
Many in NYC and across the country have shared a similar feeling with Willie in the past few months. Corporate America has a tendency to be a little more creative when it comes to letting people go. Read this and this. In sports, they take more of a Donald Trump approach.
I guess this may give me some reassurance that no matter what kind of job you have, don't expect your bosses to be above board with you when the possibility of layoffs are looming (unless of course you're a contestant on the Apprentice).
If they're dodgy and non-committal, that usually means they're lying. The problem is, most bosses have bosses who have bosses in sports and in Corporate America. Everybody is under the gun and when "results" are at stake we're all expected to "step it up". What a bunch of shit. If I'm not performing say, "your work is not good, do better or you're going to get fired". Maybe people don't like to hear that but for me it beats the hell out of "you need to step it up".
Refer to other lame buzzwords and cliches here.
The only thing that we can take away from all this is that few people will actually tell you how you're performing because most people suck at delivering bad news or just suck as people in general.
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