I heard a funny story at the coffee pot this morning. Our company golf tournament was this past weekend. We had about 20 four-man teams for the annual scamble.
One of the teams finished with 7 over par, a buzz, and a fish. I almost rolled in the floor as I heard the guys describe how they were teeing off on #8 and asked the other team where their teammates were. Keep in mind, with four players on a team and two player in each cart, there should be at least two carts playing each hole. One team will usually play faster than another, forcing one team to have to wait on another. With 20 teams, it gets worse. You end up with several teams at the same hole waiting for someone to get finished.
Back to the story.. two players (one cart) arrive at the 8th hole and are having to wait for this other team to finish playing. A four man scramble takes awhile per hole. So these two guys show up and are rushing the four. That is when one of the four asks where the other teammates are.
"They stopped over in the woods to pee awhile back and we ain't seen 'em since," one of the players said. I guess you had to be there to really understand how hilarious this sounded. These two guys went on about their business playing the game while their teammates were gone to the bathroom. No wonder they were playing quicker and catching up with other people. One of the guys that was missing supposedly caught a fish from one of the ponds.
With only two of the four playing at least half the holes, it kind of explains why they finished 7 over in the scramble. Most of the teams hovered around par, with most being just under and some being 8 or 9 under. These guys were 7 over and probably had more fun than anyone out there.
One of the guys told me that he started out with 12 balls and didn't bring any of them home. I asked, "How did your team finish?" He replied, "With about a 12-pack."
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Sportsmanship
I ran across this link this morning, and thought I would post it here in case you missed it. It is a good read about sportsmanship. If we could all only learn from these girls, our world might be a better place. We should always do the right thing, even if the outcome is not beneficial to ourselves.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Building for the Future
If you are an Alabama fan, you have to find the results of Signing Day a bit exciting. True, a good percentage of the signees will not qualify for various reasons but given the strength of the numbers, the percentage of the new meat that actually participates will make a difference.
I never knew who Lance Thompson was until he joined this coaching staff. I was familiar with Nick Saban and was aware of his recruiting reputation. However, it looks like Thompson is getting credit for closing the deal on some of Bama's top recruits. One of my hometown's very own made it official this week when he said, "I am going to play for the Nick Saban."
Courtney Upshaw wore #41 for the Eufaula Tigers and was a joy to watch. I cannot wait to watch him in his crimson jersey. He can run; he can catch; he hits hard, and has the best tackling skills of any high school player I have ever seen. He plays down the line, can close the gaps, and is quick off the ball. He is a man among boys when he is on the field. In high school, he played defensive end and tightend. At 6'-2, 240, with 4.6 speed, I think Bama fans may see him playing linebacker. One things for sure no matter what the position, you will find him in somebody's backfield when he becomes a starter.
Many defensive players - from high school to the NFL - try to knock a player down instead of wrapping him up and tackling him. You will also see alot of defensive players at these levels grab someone around their upper bodies try to ride them down. Play after play I have watched Courtney's techique: he grabs their lower body or jersey, and then basically sits down. They HAVE to come down with him because he does not let go. It's textbook and he only started playing football a couple of years ago.
Alabama recruiting class was #10 a year ago with Saban and the gang only having about a month to recruit. What a difference a year makes. It will take a few years to see the results of the recruiting and coaching efforts. If they can consistently build the depth charts by landing good recruits, and maintain some stability in the coaching staff, the University of Alabama will eventually rise out of the shadows of mediocracy and return the playing style that was once its tradition.
I never knew who Lance Thompson was until he joined this coaching staff. I was familiar with Nick Saban and was aware of his recruiting reputation. However, it looks like Thompson is getting credit for closing the deal on some of Bama's top recruits. One of my hometown's very own made it official this week when he said, "I am going to play for the Nick Saban."
Courtney Upshaw wore #41 for the Eufaula Tigers and was a joy to watch. I cannot wait to watch him in his crimson jersey. He can run; he can catch; he hits hard, and has the best tackling skills of any high school player I have ever seen. He plays down the line, can close the gaps, and is quick off the ball. He is a man among boys when he is on the field. In high school, he played defensive end and tightend. At 6'-2, 240, with 4.6 speed, I think Bama fans may see him playing linebacker. One things for sure no matter what the position, you will find him in somebody's backfield when he becomes a starter.
Many defensive players - from high school to the NFL - try to knock a player down instead of wrapping him up and tackling him. You will also see alot of defensive players at these levels grab someone around their upper bodies try to ride them down. Play after play I have watched Courtney's techique: he grabs their lower body or jersey, and then basically sits down. They HAVE to come down with him because he does not let go. It's textbook and he only started playing football a couple of years ago.
Alabama recruiting class was #10 a year ago with Saban and the gang only having about a month to recruit. What a difference a year makes. It will take a few years to see the results of the recruiting and coaching efforts. If they can consistently build the depth charts by landing good recruits, and maintain some stability in the coaching staff, the University of Alabama will eventually rise out of the shadows of mediocracy and return the playing style that was once its tradition.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
I kind of ticked my wife off this morning.....
I was lying in the bed, wide awake, this morning when it hit me. "IT IS ONLY SEVEN MONTHS 'TIL FOOTBALL SEASON!" I said, right after I nudged my wife with my elbow.
It kind of gets on her nerves when I start counting down the months before the NCAA kicks off. I guess it was a little more disturbing to her this morning because it was only 5:30 and she was still sleeping.
But it is like this: I have to share in her excitement about a big sale that she learns about. I always say, "Yes, baby, I bet that would be a good movie." I will give her an honest opinion when she asks me which shoe looks the best. We still have our Friday night dates, and I tell her dinner was good even if it really was not. (Hey, I am nice like that.)
So, I think it is time that she got into the spirit of football. What do you think?
It kind of gets on her nerves when I start counting down the months before the NCAA kicks off. I guess it was a little more disturbing to her this morning because it was only 5:30 and she was still sleeping.
But it is like this: I have to share in her excitement about a big sale that she learns about. I always say, "Yes, baby, I bet that would be a good movie." I will give her an honest opinion when she asks me which shoe looks the best. We still have our Friday night dates, and I tell her dinner was good even if it really was not. (Hey, I am nice like that.)
So, I think it is time that she got into the spirit of football. What do you think?
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Still the GREATEST....
Paul “Bear” Bryant
1913 - 1983
He led his crimson troops
Across two decades on the field;
More than a coach, or a myth, or a man,
He leaned against each goal post,
A proud symbol of his sport,
His chiseled chin catching the sun,
His squinting stare peering out
From under his houndstooth hat
Searching through each autumn afternoon
For the silent pride inside his boys
Who fought for their gentleman general
Who believed in the spirit of man.
Poem by Charles Ghigna.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Hello, again....
Yes, this blog is still alive! I have taken some time to enjoy the holidays and the last month of hunting season, but plan to get back to blogging regularly very soon.
I have been enjoying the sports pages and watching the coaching circus in college football continue. Not sure what to think of the stories about Rich Rodriguez, and am still wondering who Alabama will grab as an offensive coordinator.
I, personally, did not share in all of the enthusiasm as others when Applewhite was hired, so it does not bother me that he is gone. To me, it was a case of head coach just picking up someone that was available to get them through as season or two. Hopefully, Saban will find a proven coordinator for the job, and one that can tolerate the head coach.
I have heard alot of people say that Coach Saban is a hard person to work with. The ones that complain the most are usually the ones that are not doing their jobs. Anyone in any kind of leadership position has had to contend with this.
I have been enjoying the sports pages and watching the coaching circus in college football continue. Not sure what to think of the stories about Rich Rodriguez, and am still wondering who Alabama will grab as an offensive coordinator.
I, personally, did not share in all of the enthusiasm as others when Applewhite was hired, so it does not bother me that he is gone. To me, it was a case of head coach just picking up someone that was available to get them through as season or two. Hopefully, Saban will find a proven coordinator for the job, and one that can tolerate the head coach.
I have heard alot of people say that Coach Saban is a hard person to work with. The ones that complain the most are usually the ones that are not doing their jobs. Anyone in any kind of leadership position has had to contend with this.
Friday, December 21, 2007
A Christmas from Dell
I got this wild hair and decided to order my wife a laptop for Christmas, so I called Dell. I bought my last computer from them about 10 years ago (yep, still running Win 98) and it has been a good one.
I placed the order over the telephone with a person who spoke great English and had a great personality. It only took me about 10 minutes to spend $1100 with him. It was December 3, 2:30 pm, and my laptop was to be shipped on December 14. My last bit of Christmas shopping was complete.
As soon as I hung up the telephone, I realized that I could have gotten a larger hard drive for an additional $25, so I called back. I punched all of the required buttons on the automated part of the call and finally got a live person. Unfortunately, there was a language barrier and I eventually had to hang up the phone.
I immediately dialed Dell again, punched the necessary buttons, and got another person. This time, we not only had a language barrier, but there was alot of static on the line. I figured that this must be a very long-distance call...maybe to India. I could understand this person better than the first, but not well enough to discuss upgrades and prices. Out of fear of a misunderstanding that may result in my upgrading the wrong part or accidentally purchasing two laptops, I politely hung up the phone again.
Third time is the charm they say, and on the third attempt at calling Dell, I got someone that spoke better English. He confirmed that my upgrade would only be $25, but my new ship date would be December 19. I asked him how I could have lost 5 days of shipping on an order that was placed less than an hour ago, and then I explained to him that the order would have only been about 5 minutes old had I been connected to America and to someone who could speak English on my first call. My plea fell on deaf ears and in the end, I was assured that my laptop would arrive in time for Christmas. I guess I should have confirmed that we were both refering to Christmas of 2007.
On December 20, I called the toll free line to check my order status and the automated thing said it was still in the build phase. I had to dial a different number to get a live person, but not until I punched all the right buttons on the automated portions of the call. This person said that some parts were on backorder, but the laptop should be shipped by December 31.
I asked him what Dell was going to do about this poor service and he said that he could rush shipping. I told him that I expected that anyway since I had been assured on December 3 that I would receive this by Christmas. I asked him about a rebate or other reparations and he said that there was nothing that he could do, but I could cancel my order if I wanted. I asked him had he rather lose the whole sale instead of just a hundred bucks of it. He said that he could not give me a discount or anything else.
I asked him to guarantee that it would be shipped by the 31st, but he could not. He did say that Dell has an "order control team", or something like that, that would call me if it was not going to be shipped on time. I asked him at what point did this "team" kick in and do their jobs because no one had bothered to call me to tell me it was going to be late the first time. He said that they did this after it was late twice. Awesome team, I thought.
Then, this guy said that he could transfer me to the "build" department and get them to delete the upgrade that I had ordered and that might save me some time. Now, this was the stupidest thing that I have ever heard and I told him so. Here's why: if they are working on my computer, then this would be another change and my date would be delayed even more for the revision. If they are not working on my computer, then I guess it could save me some time, but if they are not working on it, why did this upgrade cost me 5 days in the beginning, less than an hour after I ordered it?
He did not have an answer, we ended our conversation, I did a little shopping, and thought a little about everything that had transpired. If they do not care about my business, then I should not care who I give it to, right?
Well, I called back, this time to cancel, pressed all the buttons, had to stay on hold for 15 minutes due to "heavy call volume", finally got a woman who spoke English poorly, and told her that I wanted to cancel my order.
She told me that I had ordered my computer from the Business division, and that she worked in the Home division and would have to transfer me. I told her that I did not order it from the Business division to my knowledge, and did not route the call to any specific division when I ordered or even now while I am trying to cancel it. Rudely, she told me that I did order it from the Business division.
I finally got someone who sounded like they really cared about my ordeal and was willing to help me cancel my order. Maybe she did not really care and was just ready to go home for the holidays...I do not know. At this point, I do not care.
She sent me a cancellation confirmation email, which reminded me that I never received the confirmation after I ordered it. I was supposed to have received one after the order and then one after the upgrade. I mentioned this to her and she asked for my email address.
The person who took my order had mispelled my email address, so there is no way I would have ever received these confirmations. Which brings me to this: the order confirmation email and the upgrade confirmation email would both have been returned to the senders since the email address was incorrect.
On top of all of the customer disservice that Dell has provided in this process, they did not even check their own email often enough to realize that the confirmation emails were never even sent to me.
Last night, I spent several hours shopping on ebay. There, I purchased a Dell laptop, one model above the one I originally ordered from Dell, new and in the box, for $350 less than the one I was trying to buy straight from Dell. In addition, it shipped today (received a tracking number) and should be here Monday.
Nothing like a Christmas from Dell.
I placed the order over the telephone with a person who spoke great English and had a great personality. It only took me about 10 minutes to spend $1100 with him. It was December 3, 2:30 pm, and my laptop was to be shipped on December 14. My last bit of Christmas shopping was complete.
As soon as I hung up the telephone, I realized that I could have gotten a larger hard drive for an additional $25, so I called back. I punched all of the required buttons on the automated part of the call and finally got a live person. Unfortunately, there was a language barrier and I eventually had to hang up the phone.
I immediately dialed Dell again, punched the necessary buttons, and got another person. This time, we not only had a language barrier, but there was alot of static on the line. I figured that this must be a very long-distance call...maybe to India. I could understand this person better than the first, but not well enough to discuss upgrades and prices. Out of fear of a misunderstanding that may result in my upgrading the wrong part or accidentally purchasing two laptops, I politely hung up the phone again.
Third time is the charm they say, and on the third attempt at calling Dell, I got someone that spoke better English. He confirmed that my upgrade would only be $25, but my new ship date would be December 19. I asked him how I could have lost 5 days of shipping on an order that was placed less than an hour ago, and then I explained to him that the order would have only been about 5 minutes old had I been connected to America and to someone who could speak English on my first call. My plea fell on deaf ears and in the end, I was assured that my laptop would arrive in time for Christmas. I guess I should have confirmed that we were both refering to Christmas of 2007.
On December 20, I called the toll free line to check my order status and the automated thing said it was still in the build phase. I had to dial a different number to get a live person, but not until I punched all the right buttons on the automated portions of the call. This person said that some parts were on backorder, but the laptop should be shipped by December 31.
I asked him what Dell was going to do about this poor service and he said that he could rush shipping. I told him that I expected that anyway since I had been assured on December 3 that I would receive this by Christmas. I asked him about a rebate or other reparations and he said that there was nothing that he could do, but I could cancel my order if I wanted. I asked him had he rather lose the whole sale instead of just a hundred bucks of it. He said that he could not give me a discount or anything else.
I asked him to guarantee that it would be shipped by the 31st, but he could not. He did say that Dell has an "order control team", or something like that, that would call me if it was not going to be shipped on time. I asked him at what point did this "team" kick in and do their jobs because no one had bothered to call me to tell me it was going to be late the first time. He said that they did this after it was late twice. Awesome team, I thought.
Then, this guy said that he could transfer me to the "build" department and get them to delete the upgrade that I had ordered and that might save me some time. Now, this was the stupidest thing that I have ever heard and I told him so. Here's why: if they are working on my computer, then this would be another change and my date would be delayed even more for the revision. If they are not working on my computer, then I guess it could save me some time, but if they are not working on it, why did this upgrade cost me 5 days in the beginning, less than an hour after I ordered it?
He did not have an answer, we ended our conversation, I did a little shopping, and thought a little about everything that had transpired. If they do not care about my business, then I should not care who I give it to, right?
Well, I called back, this time to cancel, pressed all the buttons, had to stay on hold for 15 minutes due to "heavy call volume", finally got a woman who spoke English poorly, and told her that I wanted to cancel my order.
She told me that I had ordered my computer from the Business division, and that she worked in the Home division and would have to transfer me. I told her that I did not order it from the Business division to my knowledge, and did not route the call to any specific division when I ordered or even now while I am trying to cancel it. Rudely, she told me that I did order it from the Business division.
I finally got someone who sounded like they really cared about my ordeal and was willing to help me cancel my order. Maybe she did not really care and was just ready to go home for the holidays...I do not know. At this point, I do not care.
She sent me a cancellation confirmation email, which reminded me that I never received the confirmation after I ordered it. I was supposed to have received one after the order and then one after the upgrade. I mentioned this to her and she asked for my email address.
The person who took my order had mispelled my email address, so there is no way I would have ever received these confirmations. Which brings me to this: the order confirmation email and the upgrade confirmation email would both have been returned to the senders since the email address was incorrect.
On top of all of the customer disservice that Dell has provided in this process, they did not even check their own email often enough to realize that the confirmation emails were never even sent to me.
Last night, I spent several hours shopping on ebay. There, I purchased a Dell laptop, one model above the one I originally ordered from Dell, new and in the box, for $350 less than the one I was trying to buy straight from Dell. In addition, it shipped today (received a tracking number) and should be here Monday.
Nothing like a Christmas from Dell.
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