Is It Our Turn Yet?

Is it our turn to be in control? I’m talking about everything here. The media, politics, sports – you name it and the older generations have seized control for years. But I think times are starting to change for my generation.

All it takes to see a swing in power is a look at things that are applauded today. I read that the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have a Broadway show out meant to be a satirical look at Mormonism. 

Oh yeah, and the show is being raved about. You heard me right, a Broadway show from the same duo that brought the world cinema greatness in the form of Baseketball. I mean, I’m all for it. But my mom? She’d never have it.

More proof is just about everything I do on the internet. I play video games, which my parents always frowned on. I laugh at other people’s misfortune on Failblog.com, which my grandparents don’t think is nearly as funny as I do. Rebecca Black wouldn’t have garnered an inch of fame had we not had so much influence in today’s world.

Actually, maybe that would have been better.

Another sign of the times is TV programming. Television is plagued with programs today that showcase promiscuity and drug use like it’s an unedited look into the life of Jim Morrison. To most people I know, it’s not even shocking. But my grandparents would be appalled that things like this can even be shown on television. We’ve come a long way from the variety shows of their era.

So how do we continue this rise to power? I really don’t think there is much we can do. As the older generations lose fire it will eventually fall to us without much work. But, hey -- I’m in no rush to push the older, wiser generations out regardless. 

They control everything for a reason. And do you know why? It’s because they’re smarter than we are. Don’t doubt this. Are you smarter than your parents? If you’re shaking your head yes, you’re delusional or lying.

I’m sure one day when I’m older, my kids will be complaining about the way my generation wants things. But until then, I’ll just sit back and wait for my turn. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Almost.

Charlie Sheeeeeeeeeen

I have to write about the man. Really…I have to. I apologize in advance.

But seriously, the man is (might be?) a genius. His off-the-wall rants and general lack of care about his public persona is getting him ridiculous amounts of coverage in every aspect of the media. I won’t lie; I’ve watched and enjoyed more than one of his movies. The Rookie was great.

I never cared for Two and a Half Men, but I understand it has a huge following. I’m more of a King of Queens kind of guy myself (bring that show back CBS), but I digress.

The reason I threw in “might be a genius” is because I’m not sure where all this attention is going to take him. Is it going to be like when Gary Coleman went batshit crazy on everyone or will it pan out and make him another American Bad Boy? Colin Farrell seems to enjoy that role. As did Johnny Depp until he started making Disney movies.

But Sheen landing a reality show TV offer from my boy Mark Cuban days after all the ensuing madness shows that I think it will be the latter.

America loves controversy. No wait, we strive for controversy. It makes our days better to see a celebrity go nuts. We can say, “Wow, at least I’m not as mental as that Charlie Sheen guy!” And after we’re done knocking him for being insane, we watch an hour long interview on 20/20 with the guy.

Twice.

So yes, I think he’s a public relations genius of sorts. Why are you hiring a social media person again, Sheen? You seem to have this mapped out pretty well in your “10,000 year old brain.”

Have you ever heard that there is no such thing as bad publicity? It’s kind of playing out here. I’d be willing to bet money that he’s going to get some (multiple) deals off this entire situation. And to top it off, maybe he’s right about some stuff.

His kids will think he’s the cool parent. It’s nice to know your mom or dad can’t judge you because they did the same things when they were your age. I guess it helps that he’s rich.

The early numbers say that he’s received over 74,000 applications to be his social media intern. SEVENTY-FOUR THOUSAND. If the caps weren’t enough to show you how many that is – it’s more people than the capital of Nevada.

He’s high on Charlie Sheen, I get it. Maybe his self-produced drug will someday run out, but for now, I have one question: Where can I get some?

When Good PR Stunts Go Bad

Poor THQ. 

THQ is a gaming company which was pushing its new video game, Homefront. Homefront is a first-person shooter that is based around a fictitious war against America. As an off-the-wall PR stunt, THQ released thousands of red balloons into the air. 

The plot to the game is that North Korea invades the United States, and as a symbol of unity, South Korea launched the red balloons to signal to North Korea that it has hope. 

But the stunt went wrong, as the balloons lost steam and started dropping like flies in the San Francisco Bay. Local environmentalists were outraged.

The kicker? The flyer says “Gamestop exclusive!” at the top, so angry environmentalists immediately blamed Gamestop for the incident. It turns out, THQ hadn’t been working with Gamestop on this PR stunt at all, so they knew nothing of it and denied all the responsibility.

While I find it fairly humorous, it proves that companies need a good PR department. Like Bufkins always says, “If the public thinks you have a problem; you have a problem.” In this situation, even though there was no wrong-doing by Gamestop, the public thought it responsible, so the company needed to act. They did, THQ stepped up and now there is less of a problem.

THQ did a good job in this as well. Like I’ve been told countless times, if you’re having an event, have a contingency plan. In this case, THQ thought ahead. The balloons released by THQ were biodegradable as well as the flyers which incriminated Gamestop in the first place.

Twitter and Facebook updates were quick to jump on the hatred bandwagon, which makes me wonder the true effectiveness of the social media giants. Sure, it gets information out with the quickness. But in this case, it got incorrect information out quickly, which is bad for business. It’s borderline libelous. 

But hey, PR stunts don’t always go according to plan, and when they don’t, we PR people get our chance to shine. So I guess it’s a win/win for me!

Forgiveness is overrated

I was reading an article over at The Huffington Post and came across this quote that made me stop and think a second.

“BP’s U.S. operations will need to be sold, spun off or the name will need to be changed because the brand doesn't look salvageable in this country,” Marshall Goldsmith said.

I mean, he’s a CEO consultant and he writes about leadership, so maybe the guy knows what he’s talking about, but really?

What happened to forgive and forget? Forgiveness is a pretty big deal.

People mess up, it happens. It will always happen. We’re not perfect. So why will the U.S. never forgive BP? Since when are we a nation of environmentally friendly people? Most everyone in this country does their part to destroy the Earth, so why are we acting so high and mighty about this situation?

Yes, the company caused the biggest oil spill in American history, but they didn’t set out to do so. It wasn’t a terrorist attack on our nation. If they had set out to sabotage our gulf coast, okay yeah, screw them. But they didn’t.

They should pay damages, and they are. They should help people out whose lives it affected, and they will. Hell, they should probably be fined out the ass, it’s not like they won’t make the money back in a year anyways.

We forgave Exxon after the Prince William Sound fiasco, so why not BP?

Sure, BP didn’t handle it well, but I’m fairly certain they know that now. They should have said to hell with the cap they were trying to install and just shut it down, but they didn’t, which might be why we won’t forgive them – but if they try to make it right, shouldn’t we at least give them a chance?

The only option they have is to sell off, change names or discontinue the American branch? Surely those aren’t BP’s only options.

Then again maybe they are the only options. The Union Carbide catastrophe from the 80’s proved that sometimes it’s all you can do to get out of the situation alive. Sell off your assets and start again, with a fresh image and a clean slate.

The NFL Doesn't Care About You

To me, the collective bargaining agreement debacle is a public relations nightmare. The owners look selfish, the players look whiny and all around the media the league is getting negative press coverage and losing the respect of its fan base, which ultimately pays for its existence.

This longstanding feud between the owners in the NFL and the NFL Player’s Association has been irritating me since day one. The owners, who make the most money by far, have proposed that they should get $2 billion (they currently take $1 billion) off the top of the $9 billion in revenue the league currently enjoys. The rest is split 60/40 among the players and the owners.

So, the way it is currently the players essentially get around $4.8 billion to split and the owners get $1 billion off the top, plus another $4.2 billion to share. Why are they so upset? They’re getting more than the owners!

Well, there are 32 teams. That’s 32 owners splitting $5.2 billion. Rosters are made up of 53 players. I’m not sure if practice squad players get a split of the money, so I’ll leave them out for the sake of this math problem for now. 

The (Sad) Math

32 teams with 53 players each equals 1696 players (1952 with practice squad). That’s a little under $2.8 million per player, while the owners are receiving about $162.5 million a piece. If you throw in the practice squad players (eight per team), the players receive around $2.45 million a piece.

That means the owners, who request the $1 billion off the top to combat their operating expenses (which the owners haven’t shown numbers to account for), get a majority of the money (per person), while the players take all the physical risks and do all the work. And they’re still asking for more.

Why Should I Care?

Okay, so why should we care? It’s billionaires against millionaires. They both make more money than we do, and we make ends meet, right? Well, yeah I guess so. But I for one love the NFL and I’m not sure what I’d do without it. I’d be a sad panda, that’s for sure.

Hey, you – look over here. Yeah, you NFL. It’s me, a fan. You know, the reason you make any money at all. Get something done for us. Not once have I heard anything about the fans in the entire collective bargaining agreement discussions.  Do us a favor and put your egos and wallets aside and get this thing done.

Plan Ahead

No, really. Plan ahead.

Who else has made this mistake before? I’m betting everyone. Even Superman forgot to have a plan B sometimes, and he’s Superman for crying out loud.

And no, I’m not talking about the aptly (and terribly) named pill. Besides, Superman is an alien and wouldn’t need that anyways.

Plans don’t always go according to, well – plans. So when they don’t, that extra alternative could be the difference between success and failure. Ever taken your laptop to class or a meeting and as soon as you arrive, BAM! Dead laptop. Yeah, me too. Luckily though, you’ve brought that archaic set of tools known as pen and paper.

A terrifying alternative, but it gets the job done. If you understand, just skip to the end. If not, keep reading.

Plan B and you

Did my first few paragraphs scare you into always having a fallback option? What do you mean no?

Fine, an old article from Entrepreneur.com showcases why you should always have another option to fall back on.

Because your first idea might suck (and your second, for that matter. Keep reading for plan C). 

No, really. I’m not being a smartass here. Maybe your company basis is fine, but your marketing strategy is a wash. Proceed to plan B. Try something else. Maybe your business model doesn’t make sense to anyone besides you – start over. If it’s not working, what’s the worst that could happen?

Plan C

The most prepared people have a plan C. Now, in some situations having two backup plans might be overkill, sure. But, in crunch time when your laptop dies and your pen runs out of ink, what do you do? Okay, I’m not sure either, but come up with something already before it happens to you! *cue scary music and lightning*

After implementing their own plan B for our economy, our government started working on their own plan C a couple of years ago. I’m not sure if they’ve had to implement any of it yet, but isn’t it reassuring that, in case of another economic collapse, our government at least has a plan in place? That sounds better than scrambling to fix things when the next AIG failure happens.

I guess what I’m trying to say is stop being lazy and have options. When life hands you lemons, make your lemonade. But make some fruit punch, too – because lemonade is nasty.

The Twilight Zone

IT'S A BLIZZARD
Like every other blogger in the south, I’m going to write about this weather we’ve been having. You know why we’re all writing about this Texas version of a blizzard? Because this weather is insane for us.

I can’t remember the last time we had a winter break because of actual winter weather. In high school, we used to get a week break in winter, but not because of weather – because the teacher’s were tired of us and needed a break (or so I think).

Since the last day I went to school (Monday) until today (Saturday) I’ve gotten next to nothing accomplished. Sure, I wrote a blog for a class. And, sure, I’m writing this blog for another class.  But stories written for the NTDaily? Zero. Times I’ve been to the gym? Zero. Time spent in front of the computer talking about the weather? Countless hours.

That doesn’t mean the cold weather has all been bad for me. I didn’t really have to go to the gym because I had to walk 45 minutes to work since my back tires are so bald I’d have never made it. I’ve gotten caught up on all of my TV shows I’ve fallen behind since this semester started. I even got in some quality video gaming!

Thanks, social media

But beyond all that, I definitely have social media to thank for my sanity. I could keep tabs on friends, businesses, sporting events, current events – everything I pay attention to really – with social media. I follow the teams I like on Twitter, I’m friends with people I care to listen to on Facebook and I keep tabs on current events through both.

What else could help you keep tabs on everything single-handedly and from the comfort of your couch? I went on a Rome re-watching marathon this week and didn’t move from my couch for a solid six hours. But I still knew that friends were going to Fry Street, Mubarak wouldn’t say he’d leave office early and that the Mavericks extended their hot streak (huzzah!).

Amazing.

This isn’t to praise social media as a jack-of-all-trades per se, but it does help with many facets of my life. I guess it just makes my life more convenient. And as a lazy man, convenience pretty much means the world to me.

I’m going to go off on a tangent here. So if you don’t care about basketball, stop reading now because this has nothing to do with class, social media or the weather.

Nonsense Dallas Mavericks talk

Amid Dirk’s return to the Mav’s lineup, I took a step back and also remembered why I hated (HATED) Erick Dampier. Have you seen Tyson Chandler’s stat line this year? He’s rebounding twice as well as Dampier ever did. And none of those sissy swat backs to Kidd or Dirk at the top of the lane, either. I’m talking jumping up and securing the ball. Coming down with it and then putting it back up. He’s a better scorer than Dampier. He’s a better rebounder than Dampier. He’s a better shot-blocker than Dampier. And, most importantly, he doesn’t look like Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Okay maybe that last one wasn’t that important, but still their resemblance is uncanny. See? Erick Dampier looks like a ninja turtle.