Koo’s Corner

If you are anything like me, you probably have a love hate relationship with ESPN. I love the live coverage, Baseball 2night, Sportscenter, College Gameday, and lots of other great programming but could do without Skip Bayless, Steven A Smith, and gimicky crap like Who’s Now and 50 States in 50 days.

But rather analyzing what’s on ESPN, its also important to take into consideration what’s not on ESPN. In particular, its been 3 years since a NHL game was broadcasted on the sport’s leader. Meanwhile coverage of pro and in some cases collegiate sport like football, basketball, baseball, and soccer have thrived on the network. So why no NHL on ESPN?

In a nutshell, upstart network Outdoor life (now Versus) made a big play for hockey after the 2004 strike hoping to buy the TV rights for a deflated price. Wikipedia has a great article about the NHL on Versus you can read found here.

I have watched the NHL on Versus on occasion, and have to say its quality. But the fact remains having games on the network is detrimental to the league regardless what they are paying.

First off Versus is distributed to about 73 million households compared to the 91 million households ESPN reaches in the US. Right off the bat thats almost 20 million households who no longer have the opportunity to watch the NHL via their cable provider.

However the largest issue is that Versus is still an emerging entity on cable television. Typically viewers have a rotation of channels they surf and ESPN is a staple in many viewers rotations. Versus is getting there, but sometimes its odd channel number (on DirecTv ESPN IS73, Versus is……603) keeps its programming away from interested viewers.

ESPN through its website, radio network, and other programs also is very skilled in self promotion of their events. In a nutshell, they can build buzz for an event with reminders about games, updates on the Bottom Line, previews on SportsCenter, and radio show discussion of games and storylines. Although they wont admit it, when the NHL moved to Versus to ESPN marketing machine turned against the NHL.

ESPN analyst Don Cherry…known for is sense of style

Versus has leveraged their NHL contract and grown as a network and the ratings are on the rise. But the truth is that never has the NHL been so distant from the mainstream American sports fan. The real bummer is that despite the speculation that hockey would be coming back to ESPN next year, Versus inked an extension with the NHL which will keep hockey on the network for the next 3 seasons (Deal valued at about 75 million a year).

Its really a shame as the NHL really needs to get back to “The Sports Leader” if they have any chance to stay competitive with other pro leagues and emerging sports like Nascar, MMA, and a hoard of others.

Plus I miss Darren Pang and Gary Thorne and Steve Levy are better suited for hockey.

I keep my eye on a handful of Silicon Valley startups and have even been lucky enough to have interviewed or worked with some of these interesting companies. Last week I noticed a pretty interesting trend among three of these emerging companies.

In the past couple of weeks all of the below developments took place.

- Innovative VOIP startup Oooma rolled out a small pilot retail and training program at Best Buy.

- On Demand movie hardware producer, Vudu, announced a more substantial pilot distribution program with Best Buy

- Electric sports car maker Tesla Motors opened the doors to their first retail dealership.

What’s interesting about these developments is that all three SV startups chose to launch these initiatives in Los Angeles.

I was initially told by an Oooma employee that Best Buy’s HQ was in LA, thus warranting a rollout in their local market. However a quick check shows that their HQ is actually in Minnesotta. Maybe he was referring to a particular office or program being headquartered in Los Angeles that is critical for establishing new retail agreements.

Regardless it seems that Silicon Valley is more than content to roll out innovative and highly anticipated yet virtually unknown products to the backdrop of Hollywood’s rich and famous. Time will tell if this a solid strategy for all three but for now it doesn’t raise any flags with Southern California being known for their embracing of luxury products in addition to their ability to start a viral buzz via celebrity ownership and endorsements.

In particular look for Tesla Motors to leverage adoption of their Roadster vehicle by Hollywood’s A list with multiple celebrities already on the waiting list.

With reports that only 10 or so Roadsters being manufactured and sold, I found it pretty interesting that a friend in Columbus Ohio is 100% confident he saw a Roadster all the way out in Ohio. He isn’t an idiot and saw it blow by Porsche in a impromptu street race. If true, one wonders who bought got one of the first Roadsters and subsequently got all the way out to Ohio.

Man o man I have been busy of late. Really wanted to give some love to a new San Francisco Giants commercial featuring Matt Cain, but alas I could not find it.

Luckily this is a pretty decent silver medal winner. I think this maybe the first apparel commercial to take the crown and deservingly so

The below Dockers ad has a great soundtrack and showcases not just their clothes, but a upscale exciting San Francisco lifestyle to go along with it. I am biased as my recent 1/2 move puts me within eye sight of the great city, but I still found myself impressed with the work, weekend, dress, and golf multi use concept. Plus that babe looks amazing in the party clip.

I am a huge fan of the viral internet hit, stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. But more so than the content on the site itself, I find myself awed by the abbreviated timeline from concept to published book which is coming out in a month.

Christian Lander is the man behind the site and book, and is a person I greatly admire. I see a lot of similarities to him and myself. (20’s, educated, writing aspirations, funny, satirical, web savvy, audacious, ambitious, conissour of pop culture , fan of the hills and the wire, and all around articulate guy).

The difference is Christian is rolling around in money, because he built and subsequently monetized the web phenomena that is stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. Along the way he provided terrific entertainment to millions of readers (almost 30 million page views) on his way to inking a $300,000 book deal with Random House. From initial concept conception to the pending release of the book, Lander accomplished all of the above in just under 6 months.

Below is a recent presentation he gave. Kudos to BraveNewMedia who recorded and published the video, as it gives terrific insight into the rapid rise, backlash, and monetization of stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

Hmm kind of sounds like a blueprint for future blog initiatives…. stay tuned.

Part 1

Part 2

Albert Pujols is already universally known as a MLB badass and super star. However this past Wednesday the slugger added another impressive distinction as being the only MLB player I know to take out 2 players in one inning.

Sure baseball players get injured all the time, but usually its wear and tear and not directly at the hands of one player. Yet somehow in a span of 3 pitched Pujols relegated Pitcher Chris Young and Catcher Josh Bard to the disabled list. The plays were not dirty, and Pujols’ has been emotionally drained by the one in a million coincidence.

But honestly, how many player could pull of such a feat? The first injury occurred when Pujols lined an outside pitch up the middle which drilled pitcher Chris Young in the face (Video here).

A lot of players could have hit the ball that hard up the middle, but do a double check on the pitch location. Very few hitters can hit that pitch at that velocity up the middle. Young is now on the DL with a broken nose.

The second injury occurred 3 pitches later when Pujols came home to score from second. With the throw coming in, catcher Josh Bard attempted to block the plate. Pujols opted to slide into home and went through Bard’s leg (video here) It was a tough but clean play, one that has sent Bard to the DL with a high ankle sprain.

Once again, not that many players could have generated such a lethal combo of speed and size to generate that kind of force.

While both injuries are troubling, thy were not rooted in ill will or poor sportsmanship. Rather they just kind of highlight what we already knew. Albert Pujols is a badass….. don’t mess with him, unless you want to miss work for 2 weeks.

Its been a hectic week at the new job as well as settling into my new abode for the summer in Alameda. I actually don’t really move in until Monday. With that in mind here are some blog topics that kind of slipped by the wayside the last week.

- CBS purchased technology focused internet media network CNET last week for 1.8 billion dollars.

- I had an article published last week on Bucknuts on my interview with Alex Coates, the young man posting incredible Buckeye highlights videos. Alex is great at what he does, and it was good to bring attention to him as most people knew him only by his youtube alias, Lexco44.

Below are 2 of his videos

- The tech blogosphere is buzzing about the likely eminent release of the Apple 3G Iphone. Said to be announced and released in the coming weeks, technology enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting official confirmation from Apple at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9th.

- Netflix users with a $9.95 monthly plan or more can now buy the first Netflix hardware device similar to Apple TV or Vudu, which I own and endorse. Netflix will be releasing other devices this year through partnerships with LG and others. This box is made by Roku, and is somewhat limited in its functionality compared to Vudu or Apple Tv. However its the first box that is not pay per view but rather a monthly service.

I am going to guess, the above Roku box, will sell only modestly until the LG Netflix box comes out later this year. I’ll be shocked if I ever see one of these in flesh at someone’s house.

- I have been planning on blogging about the airline industry’s demise the past 6 months. 3 notable bankruptcencies, a safety scandal, new losses in customer satisfaction, and record losses all make the list as notable signs of the industries implosion.

I knew changes were in store, but was shocked to see American Airlines announcement that they will begin charging $15 for checking your bag.

Thus far none of the other airlines have embraced this decision. Hopefully American will do away with this god awful policy and find another creative way to try to avoid going bankrupt.

I have moved, and am without internet until Wednesday. Hang in there as I know it hurts you more than it hurts me.

This blows my mind! I am putting this contraption on my Birthday list.

Today I am not going to pick a commercial of the week. Despite extra time watching the tube during my week of vacation, nothing stuck out what so ever in the world of commercials.

So rather than crowning a false winner, I am going to vent my anguish at the continuously annoying nostalgic basketball commercials. You know the Haynes Michael Jordan and Cuba Gooding Jr ads as well as the more prominent T Mobile Dwayne Wade and Charley Barkley commercials.

Both campaigns are not funny, never were, don’t sell the product well, and have been annoying overkills of advertising over the past 6 months.

But the question begs, which tandem is more annoying?

In one corner we have advertising and basketball royalty in Jordan. The man made me buy cologne, when I was in like 4th grade.

Its hard to make Jordan look bad, somehow Cuba Gooding Jr finds a way to make you roll your eyes at the greatest athlete in the last 30 years. The commercials usually consist of Cuba looking stupid, doing something stupid, and then Jordan being emberassed by how ridiculous Cuba acts.

Personally I would be more embarrassed that a great actor like Cuba has starred in films like…

In the other corner is the sometimes mildly funny, but mostly ambiguously gay (not that there is anything wrong with that!) T Mobile commercials with Wade and Barkley. The first rounds of these advertisements had Wade pursuing Barkley only to find later on that Barkley is a needy, not cool, whiner.

With Barkley’s past and recent gambling debts well documented , its looking probable that we may have to endear years to come of Wade trying be cool, and Barkley attempting to be funny.

The verdict: Wade and the Heat suck, and I already have too much Charles Barkley on my television. Its also good to see Cuba Gooding Jr working, and not chasing dogs, money, little kids, or girls on a Gay Cruise?

With that being said, I give the nod only slightly to Jordan and Gooding Jr for being the less annoying commercial tandem. Potential dream matchups for future marketing campaigns below

Magic Johnson and MC Hammer

Christian Laettner and Christian Slaeter

Scottie Pippen and Wesley Snipes

I don’t really read books. I don’t really know that many people who do. Often I will read about books online, to learn more about them, but alas nothing warranted a purchase and more importantly the commitment.

But crack of dawn tomorrow (11:30 am, its my only week off in years) I am heading over to Barnes and Nobles or Borders (whichever one it is at the Pruneyard) to buy the book below.

I was a local but generally uninterested witness to the dot com bubble bursting 8 years ago. At the time I was preoccupied  about getting into college, getting a fake ID, and staying 2 steps ahead of my parents.

Since my graduation, I have been lucky enough to jump onto 2 emerging technology trends (Open Source, and now Web 2.0 with my new job)

Web 2.0 has quickly become a personal interest of mine and is something I have spent a lot of time on the side learning about. While I understand much of the skepticism behind the blossoming trend (many think its another Silicon Valley bubble), I truly feel the entire Silicon Valley eco system has taken heed to the bad practices of the late nineties.

I believe we’ll avoid something like this hilarious video below

Investors are VC’s are more shrewd, CEO’s and founders are more patient and less vain, the analyst and tech media  communities are more grounded, and the general enthusiasm is not a fevered pitch.

I think Web 2.0 is just the beginning of more great things to come. This time around the expectation levels are accurate and the business models are solid. If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t be changing jobs!