Over the last few months, I’ve talked more about sports than I usually do. Here in the US, it’s big business. And it has been for years, but the metrics keep growing. The price of winning in professional or college sports grows exponentially. Yesterday, I woke up to the news that the Buffalo Bills had…
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Today is Dolly Parton‘s birthday. It’s her 80th. And the governor has proclaimed that it’s Dolly Parton Day. That makes some people very happy, and it’s rubbed others the wrong way. Because it’s also a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And of course, this is getting political. Some in Tennessee would rather we…
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For most of us, the first time we eat cheese, it’s usually bright orange in color and wrapped in plastic, and not really cheese. After that, most of us encounter it coming out of a green cylinder that we shake over pasta. Many of us call it Parmesan cheese, but representatives from the Parmesan region…
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On Thursday, Verizon Wireless users suffered a nearly day-long outage in many parts of the country. Sadly, it’s not the first outage for a major cell phone service. I understand that technology is constantly changing and improving, but at some point, we have to face reality. Many people can’t afford one, let alone another outage….
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It may seem simple, but I know a few people who wish we’d go back to the old days when we had just four or five television stations to watch. Those days are long gone, and that’s both good and bad. We do have a lot of choices these days, and for many, the question…
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If you’re a college sports fan, for decades, you’ve likely followed the story of whether to pay the athletes. Of course, everything changed just a couple of years ago, and now student athletes can sometimes be paid up to half a million per year to play a sport. Of course, the majority of those players…
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If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time on social media. Perhaps too much. And one of the hassles of social media is all the ads we see in our feeds. But do you ever feel inclined to comment on an ad that you don’t care about? In my work for my social…
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Because of my media and marketing background, I tend to view life through a ‘commercial’ lens. I sometimes pay more attention to the ads and promotional announcements than to the TV show or the performance on the field. I’m a long-time NASCAR fan and understand the unique way the sport has tried to create promotional…
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The first round of the NFL playoffs wrapped up tonight. It’s called the Wild Card round. And that rubs me the wrong way. While yes, every wildcard team plays, so do the majority of division-winning teams. I understand branding and marketing. I’ve been involved with that almost my entire life. So I understand why they…
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I’ve had a long fascination with coffee drinkers. I only drink casually, usually as an after-dinner beverage, if I drink any at all. Unlike most people, I don’t start my day with a cup, or two, or three. But yesterday, as we were driving down the road, I noticed a new Starbucks, less than a…
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