Expanding the Vision

I'm always up for alternative training methods...Any way that gets you to be a 'raw dog', push it.

However, after reading this article from Nathaniel Vinton of the NYTimes on Steve Nash and how he's working out on the soccer fields in Central Park, I'm saying that Steve Nash is the coolest and one of the more intelligent athletes on the planet right now.

Now that his famed soccer workouts have been documented, I'm placing his off-season workouts up there with Wilt Chamberlain and his famed beach volleyball workouts, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his extensive martial arts and yoga workouts, Bill Walton and his bicycle rides, and "Pearl" Monroe's use of the tennis court throughout the '70s to improve his footwork...Too dope.

The cool thing is that the quote from Nash's boy, Claudio Reyna, shows he recognizes how passing his correlates in soccer and basketball through vision. “When you have vision in soccer, you can connect the pass. It’s the same idea. You can see that from playing basketball, and also from growing up playing soccer, he understands the game.”

With that said, check out the article. I'm placing Nash as one of my all-time favorite athletes. He's a beast.



P.S. I'm with the Conservancy on their booting...Fellas, you'll tear the turf up. That's a primo eye candy spot as well. What's the problem with not using the cleats?...Go to the indoor shoes that Nash uses, meatheads.

Visionaries,
IronDog

Go Slide Go..

I'm a big fan of Slide...

So, when I saw this BusinessWeek article from Jessi Hempel about how Slide, a site that lets users post snapshots of friends, say, or vacations in slide-show format, is developing strategies for generating revenue, I'm up for it.

Slide has fast become the most trafficked widget maker on the web. I'm a big user and proponent of what they do. Plenty of people who are connected through social networks are utilizing the widget. Yet, the question that I have is how the hell are they going to generate cash?

Do you use subscription service? Do you create pay-for-service models through a Flickr model? I don't know about this one...

Slidin',
IronDog

Bud is Back

Solid move by ESPN to bring back Bud Collins...

I was brokenhearted at the news that NBC was letting the longtime tennis analyst go. How would Sunday at Roland Garros and 'Breakfast at Wimbledon' be the same?!

What's even more solid news for tennis fans is that Bud will be paired with Dick Enberg again.

Collins worked with Enberg for 20 years at NBC, including the "Breakfast at Wimbledon" broadcasts starting in 1979. Enberg has been calling matches on ESPN's Grand Slam coverage since 2004.

From this Boston Globe report by Susan Bickelhaup, Collins will also be paired with Cliff Drysdale. I'm up for it...Bring back the insider, descriptions, pants, and that shiny dome.

From the Queen's Box,
IronDog

No More Select

Thank you NYTimes...

Thanks for freeing up the op-ed pieces and the archived articles of your great writers.

Although the announcement has not been issued, Holly Sanders of the NYPost has reported that the Times will be removing the restrictions established from their TimesSelect service.

On the media sales front, yes, you may not the same segments of highly targetable users. Yet, this move should be solid for more targeted page views and larger ad inventory. On the subscription front, I thought this statistic was interesting.

"The number of Web-only subscribers who pay $7.95 a month or $49.95 a year fell to just over 221,000 in June, down from more than 224,000 in April."

That stat may prove that there are still solid sources of online journalism available, and the decreases in readership from offering subscriptions may not be worth it in the long run.

The next question is when the WSJ will open up?

On my end, you'll see more links to the Times again.

Feed that Head,
IronDog

WUNC "Respect Yourself"

How did I miss this one...?!




Yes, how did I miss the PBS documentary, "Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story"?

I should be banned from a DVR for two weeks on this one. I pulled an airball with my selector, and I missed the show. I'm praying that WUNC will pull me a huge favor and air the show in the near future.

In the meantime, check out this Ginia Belafonte's review from the NYTimes. She's right on with not only how important the Stax sound was to music, but also how tumultuous the times were for R&B and Soul musicians performing and publishing their music in the '60s.

If you really are looking for a way to amp yourself up for this weekend, catch this snippet of Booker T. & The MGs performing "Time is Tight."

Steve Cropper strumming on electric guitar, Booker T. Jones banging on the organ, Donald 'Duck' Dunn thumping on bass, and Al Jackson keeping the tone. God damn this is hot! So, damn hot that Al Jackson even has to cool himself down.

Keep your game tight! WUNC play this one again!

Memphis '65,
IronDog

Farewell to General Walsh

Innovative leaders come in very small doses these days...

Which is why I became intrigued with the innovations and life of Bill Walsh, who passed this past week at the age of 75 from leukemia.

Growing up a Chicago Bears fan, I have to admit that I had a major bias against his legacy until after his retirement in 1989 when I discovered how much of an impact he had made upon the game of football. After reading Michael Lewis's 'Blind Side' this past winter, my memories were rekindled about how intricate Walsh's innovations were upon the offensive game of football and the development of the passing game.

SFGate has provided an excellent chronicle of his life over the past few days. Check out the articles here. This one from Scott Ostler from the San Francisco Chronicle is a great one describing Walsh's quirky ways.

I'm more impressed at his work with Stanford University. As a sports fan, I've always been amazed at his move to become Stanford's head football coach in '92 in order to work with the student athlete and how he regarded education and the development of the game. (Here's another great SFGate article on his Stanford days.)

In terms of memorials, I'm glad to see that a movement is occurring to remember Coach Walsh and his work through a public place. Although there is a buzz to name a portion of El Camino Real as Bill Walsh Way in Palo Alto, the best legacy may be for naming a campus practice facility, or better yet...Bill Walsh Field at the newly renovated Stanford Stadium.

Al Davis has another great idea from his state of the address yesterday. Name the award for the best college quarterback each and every year for him as well.

Since Ken Anderson is my original idol from the Cincinnati Bengals, I was familiar with Walsh's work when he left Paul Brown for the Chargers. Oh what could have been in Cincinnati...Check out Dr. Z's (Paul Zimmerman) take from SI. As usual, the good 'Doctor' provided some solid insights and memories, and I love these two quotes that he unveiled.

"My offense is the Cincinnati Offense," he said. "I wouldn't even mind if they called it the Walsh Offense. But the West Coast offense is that Sid Gillman, Don Coryell, Ernie Zampese thing. Why do they keep making that mistake?"

"Genius ... wouldn't you say that's term usually associated with some figment of crackpot?"

Walsh always seemed to be comfortable as someone in the background while his players were pushed into the spotlight. I've always respected that about him.

In terms of style, I enjoyed this description from former Walsh aide, Fred VonAppen, in Tom Fitzgerald's SFGate article listed in the link above.

"He's a complex man, somewhat of an enigma. I gave up trying to understand him a long time ago. In a way he has the kind of personality that creates a love-hate relationship. He's not always the distinguished, patriarchal guy television viewers are used to seeing on the sidelines. He's a very competitive guy, and he can be scathing, especially in the heat of battle. There have been times when I would have gladly split his skull with an ax. Then again, he's the greatest."

I enjoyed that description...

Like Al McGuire's death, I wish that we could have received more memories and thoughts from a great leader at the end of his life. Although he wrote an autobiography with Glenn Dickey called "Building of a Champion", I felt that he could have provided more insights upon the sport of football is evolving around education, university life, and front office management with his work at Stanford and his latter days with the 49ers.

To a class individual who led his life in the pursuit of education and innovation. Thank you for instilling new methods for bringing individuals together to perform as a collective.



Fare Thee Well,
IronDog