Wine recommendation

If you're in the market for a nice Merlot for less than $20, try Benziger Merlot 2005. The wine is produced by a small family winery in Sonoma County, CA.


The family employs Biodynamic, Organic and Farming for Flavors techniques. Biodynamic is the highest form of organic farming. It incorporates the environment in and around the vineyard and works with nature to apply the knowledge of life forces to bring about balance and healing in the soil. Organic grape growing avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and uses natural methods to maintain soil health. And, Farming for Flavors is an advanced certified sustainable farming program for all Benziger growers who are not already certified Biodynamic or Organic. This program challenges growers to use sound environmental techniques to cultivate their grapes.

The winery, while small by Sonoma standards, boasts one of the better wine-making tours in the county. In addition to their Merlot, my favorite, they also sell a nice Cab and Chardonnay.

Try the Merlot...and check out the winery if you ever find yourself in Sonoma County.

The difference between the Royals and the First Family?

It's been widely reported today that First Lady Michelle Obama "touched" the Queen of England. And, perhaps in an interesting display of what differentiates the British from Americans, consider what the Daily Mail (the British national daily newspaper) had to say about "the touch" versus CelebFace (www.celebface.com.)

The Daily Mail called the incident "an electrifying moment of palpable majeste." The Mail says it "may have been the Queen who made the initial move. It was the first time that anyone can remember in her long public life that she has put her arm around another woman."

CelebFace's spin was a little different...and more American perhaps? "Perhaps the Queen simply doesn't care about protocols anymore and she just wanted a cool American girlfriend," said CelebFace.

The Queen and the Prez's lady--gal pals!? BFF's? Perhaps this is this Administration's equivalent to the friendship struck between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

New stadiums in the Big Apple

Not only is Major League Baseball's Opening Day right around the corner, so too are the debuts of two new baseball stadiums in New York--Citi Field, new home of the New York Mets, and the new Yankee Stadium.

There are plenty of intriguing story lines around the opening of these new sports venues. Both are expansive and premier ballparks which open in an economy that is about bailouts and Bernie Madoff. Both open in the biggest city and media market in the U.S. Both open next door to where the prior stadiums sat. Both began construction in 2006, cost their teams $2.3 billion but were made possible by $1.2 billion in city and state-funded infrastructure and tax breaks. And, both have had to deal with a weakened economy's impact on the sales of upscale seating options.

Since 1990, 19 new baseball stadiums have been built in the U.S. But, only one new sports park was built in the New York area during that same time--Arthur Ashe Stadium, site of the U.S. (tennis) Open. The openings of Citi Field and Yankee Stadium II represent the first new sports architecture in the five boroughs in a major sport in 20 years.

The new Yankee Stadium is most like its predecessor, from its facade to the familiar field layout. From the outside it looks very similar to the original stadium. So, this venue is less about changing what was and more about changing the little things that enhance the spectator's visit--wider concourses, cushier seats, better and more concession options and, of course, improved restroom facilities.

The new Shea...er, I mean Citi Field, is a radical departure from the prior stadium. Shea Stadium joined other multipurpose stadiums like Busch Stadium (St. Louis), RFK Stadium (Washington), and Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh), which were built in the 1960's and 1970's and incorporated one venue for both baseball and football. The closing of Shea means that only the Oakland Coliseum remains as a major market stadium where two professional franchises play in these two sports.

The controvery around Citi Field has to do with the economic bailouts which have occurred for financial institutions and what that means to how these companies spend their marketing funds. For many, naming rights on a new stadium seems counter to the spirit of the bailouts.

Both promise to be outstanding facilities. However, as some have pointed out, Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago have weathered the "new stadium architecture storm." Was Yankee Stadium, in particular, in dire need of being replaced? It's too late now--the House that Ruth built is no more...the House that George (Steinbrenner) built stands in its place.

T.G.I.F.

- Birthday greets to my lovely wife today!

- Dudes, what was up with that performance by Lady GaGa on American Idol earlier this week!? Frightening...

- In case you're missing this piece of news from the European Summit, there is a First Lady fashion competition going on between Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French first lady. Bruni-Sarkozy is a former model (who once dallied with Mick Jagger, pre-Sarkozy) so one would expect that she'd be the favorite in this competition. However, Obama appears to be holding her own thus far, according to media reports. Shades of Jackie Kennedy--this media frenzy is reminscent of the President and his wife's visit to France in 1962 when he famously uttered, "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris--and thoroughly enjoyed it!"

- New advertising from Sprint for its in-cinema effort breaks shortly. Here is the new advertising which asks movie attendees to turn off their phones and to not text during movies.

Turn out the Light

The Guiding Light, the longest running television drama ever, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is being cancelled by CBS. The soap opera, after a 72-year run that pre-dates television, is a victim of changing viewing habits and the economy. The final episode of the show will air on September 18.

The soap opera began as a 15-minute serial on NBC Radio on January 25, 1937. It then debuted on CBS TV in 1952, focusing on the fictional town of Springfield and the Spaulding, Lewis and Cooper families.

As with most soap operas, the show featured a variety of actors who went on to have successful careers, including James Earl Jones, Calista Flockhart, Hayden Panettiere, Taye Diggs and Kevin Bacon.

Is there anything on which Kevin Bacon has not appeared?

Denny's "random act of kindness"

Denny's, home of the Grand Slam breakfast, is at it again. The restaurant chain gave away a free breakfast on a February Tuesday and the nationwide event drew over 2 million people. A television spot on the Super Bowl announced the promotion which engendered goodwill across the country.

Now, Denny's plans to offer a "bring a friend" promotion on April 8, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. The friend receives a free Grand Slamwich when the inviter purchases a Grand Slam breakfast.

Denny's is positioning the promotion as a "random act of kindness."

Great college hoops towns

Lawrence, KS is ranked #2 by CNN on the best college basketball towns in the U.S.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/03/31/great.basketball.towns/index.html

Quick Hits for a Wednesday

- Robert Plant has relented. It was announced today that Led Zeppelin's remaining members will indeed reunite for a tour beginning late this year. Plant had been the lone holdout given the success of his collaboration with Allison Krauss and possible plans for another tour by that duo. Zeppelin will kick off their tour in London; no word yet on U.S. dates.

- Tonight is the McDonald's All-America High School Basketball game. As noted here earlier today, there is a lot of interesting speculation swirling around this event given the John Calipari move to Kentucky and what that means for his high profile recruits at Memphis, his former school. Well, part of that suspense just ended--John Wall indicated today that he is attending Baylor and Xavier Henry, in a surprise, committed to Roy Williams and North Carolina. Not a bad Final Four week present for Ol' Roy.



- Oh, by the way--all of the above is untrue. April Fool's Day!

Dwight Howard--a Jayhawk!?

Pretty cool...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpjqlSMg51Q

The drama that is Final Four week...

...and, no, it's not about the teams that are actually playing in the tournament. At least, most of the time it's not.

You see, the week after the first four rounds are completed, after the regional finals have been played, and as the final four teams are set is the time when the soap opera that is coaching comings-and-goings begins in earnest. And, we saw it play out on many fronts over the past 48 hours. Tony Bennett leaves Washington State to take the job at Virginia, thus ending speculation that Jeff Capel (Oklahoma) might have been interested in that slot. John Calipari, as expected, became linked with the Kentucky job. That then sent an undercurrent through the recruiting world--what would happen with high profile recruits Xavier Henry (signed Letter of Intent), DeMarcus Cousins (committed) and John Wall (heavy lean to Memphis?) And, what were we to make of the decision by Lance Stephenson, supposedly headed to Kansas, to wait to make his commitment?

Then, we learned that Georgia was making a strong play for Mike Anderson of Missouri. Local sports talk was in an uproar--could that be true? Or, could the rumors that Memphis would now be interested in Anderson become a reality?

Answers were delivered last night by the closure of the deal between Coach Cal and UK--he now becomes the highest-paid coach in college hoops. Anderson got a salary lift from MU and signed a seven-year deal with the Tigers. Meanwhile, schools like Georgia continue to look for their guy and Memphis now is in the coach-hunting market.

This will play out in earnest this weekend. The National Association of Basketball Coaches convention happens concurrently with the Final Four. And, the lobby of the coaches' hotel is the biggest male meat market in the country each April. Assistant coaches lobby for positions at other schools. Out-of-work coaches network. Ticket scalpers surreptitiously look for coaches willing to part with tickets (each coach gets a pair of tix to the Final Four.) And, fans and hangers-on pack the lobby to observe the who's who of basketball coaches.

Occasionally, the drama spills over and affects the teams that are playing--the 2003 "Roy Williams to North Carolina" being the best example. But, usually, the soap opera of this week involves those schools looking to find a way to join the the fun of the Final Four--the fun of actually participating on the court versus being a part of the drama occurring off the court.