I decided to book the PTI tour last month with assistance from the board, so I had around a month to set up what I wanted to do. What was stunning is I made it publicly that if anyone wanted to attend the tour, they can. Sadly, only a couple responded. It could have been the tour was on a Monday and nearly everyone is working. After Christmas, I got a response from a friend who was available on January 9. One week later, my friend had a prior commitment she couldn’t exit, so a slot opened up from help with @MrTonySays. Then, I got a response from Ernie and he accepted. How do I know Ernie? Well…I don’t know him that well since we recently met on Twitter, but I (and the rest of the littles) know him for this:

(via Ernie Chamberlain)

Yep, Ernie put up that sign on the Today Show.

The Day of the Tour

Ernie, his friend, Joe, and I first meet up Morton’s for lunch. Luckily, this week was D.C. Restaurant Week – Winter Edition, to get a discounted three-course meal. I selected Morton’s hoping they have the steak sandwiches Mr. Tony craves about. Sadly, it wasn’t on the list and Ernie mention why I didn’t choose the Palm. Inside, I was shaking my head and should have booked a table at the Palm. Besides that, all three of us had a great talk about Mr. Tony, sports, sports radio, our day jobs, etc. After a 1 hour break, we went to the ABC News studios for the tour.

There, we met Bonnie Berko and asked who the Mr. Tony stalker is and everyone pointed at me, including myself. I mention that I was a recruiter and I was a “professional stalker” who has standards of how to “stalk.” We came up to the newsroom and saw  Mr. Tony working on today’s show. A few minutes later, he came by to us, shake our hands, and mention me that I should have won the contest and I thank him for it. Then, he saw we have tons of stuff, or as the crew calls it, the “Bag of Crap.” I had most of the crap, Ernie and Joe brought 4-5 Mrs. Smith’s Apple Pies and Peanut M & Ms. I mention most of my crap came from Costco and Mr. Tony said, “Yeah, I get my food next to the tire section.” Both Mr. Tony and Bonnie said this is most gifts they’ve gotten from a tour guest. It was sweet of them to say that, but I know there were others who have done better, but I was flattered. Anyway, the only gift that was not on the Mr. Tony shopping list was an autographed portrait of my head photoshopped to a bird.

The story behind it was a few years ago, I mention to the board that they should join Twitter. Some muffed at it, but slowly they went to Twitter and from there, they see I did a lot of tweeting. On my birthday, Kuke Reynoso (the photoshop artist of the photo above) decided to photoshop my head onto a bird and it became one of my favorite profile pictures.

As we were heading out to the tour, Tony saw me grabbing the Johnnie Walker Blue and gave it to him and said slyly,

“You paid too much for this, this is a lot of money. Have you tried this before?

I said, “Yes, at an event last year”

he then said, “You paid too much”

then I said, “I had this for 4 years.”

We headed to the tour and the studio is pretty small, but handles three shows: PTI, Around the Horn, and Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable. Then we headed to the studios, where PTI and ATH stages are linked to each other and met Sharon and Will, who might be the only Bostonian I know who hates ALL Boston teams. Will predicted that the Giants will go to Super Bowl this year. I’m writing that so I don’t forget and hold him to it.

As for the show itself, Mr. Tony arrived on time and mention me that I went beyond my means with the gifts and the cheesecake. We had another surprise that day: Michael Wilbon was in the D.C. studios for the next two days and as Ernie pointed out to me, “He’s wearing pants!” The taping should have started around 4 P.M., but in typical Wilbon fashion, he came in late. This is not a shock and if you saw Wilbon on WRC’s Full Court Press or Redskins Report, you know his tendencies. What was surprising was Wilbon has a booming voice on and off camera, while Mr. Tony “rests” his voice off-air, and then when the on-air switch is on, he yodels of what you see in TV and on radio. Another great part was we were helping out Wilbon and Tony Reali what SEC quarterbacks made it to the Super Bowl or made an impact on the NFL. On the guest end, we mention Rex Grossman. For the record, Reali does read tweets, Facebook statuses and check YouTube videos during the show for research.

Basically, what you see on TV is what you get when you attend a live-taping, but more explicit language during commercial breaks (like the old Mr. Tony radio shows), and they only did one take for each segment. The interesting part is the SportsCenter segment  they do it between the regular show format, so after the second “Headlines” segment, they do the SC segment, and then go to the last two PTI segments “Mail Time” and “The Big Finish.” After that, Ernie, Joe, and I got our picture with Tony and Mike:

(via Ernie)

Afterwards, the PTI crew gave me a 10th Anniversary shirt, hat, and cup. I wanted to get an autograph, but I know Mr. Tony had to go home through the strong flurries that came that night, so I didn’t bother.

I know Ernie and Joe had fun not only having lunch and going to see a live PTI show, but visiting Washington D.C. As for me, I wanted to get a consolation prize from Mr. Tony on promoting me by name, never even meeting me. Shaking his hand was the best consolation prize I’ve got. The rest after that is a bonus and I thank Mr. Tony and “Gettin’ It Done” Bonnie for organizing this to five littles.

Of note: Apparently, we were there to witness history that Woody Paige broke the ATH scoring record of 71.

Photos from the PTI Tour
If you go to the PTI Tour, get inspired here

Onto the crystal ball:

• Barack Obama will win his re-election as President with 298 electoral votes.
• The GOP nominee will be Mitt Romney, but you ain’t going to see happy faces.
• The GOP will be taking over the Senate and House…and still have a 9% approval mark.
• Barack Obama will be 2012 TIME’s Person of the Year.
• SOPA will not be passed.
• Unemployment will dip to 8%. More part-time workers will be hired.
• The 2012 Apocalypse everyone is going to talk about: The “God Particle” explodes.
• If there’s a mild and warm winter, expect a steamy summer and tons of storms in the D.C. area.
• Goodbye WJFK, The Fan 106.7. Welcome, the new home of 106.7…WNEW.
• WNEW will take away 2% of WTOP’s market in the D.C. area.
• Tony Kornheiser will start his own paid-subscription podcast after he gets out of his ESPN 980 deal.
• Number of my friends/followers who are dating based on Pinterest: 124.
• Number of my friends/followers who are going to marry from Pinterest: 15.
• Biggest grossing movie in 2012: Part 2 of Breaking Dawn: The Twilight Series.
• Still waiting for CBC America.
• There will be no games lost for the NHL as they will sign a deal in September, hence a crazy and short free-agent signing window.
• Usain Bolt won’t break any world records at the London Olympics, but will be the main star before and after the Olympics.
• With Mike Shanahan returning, he will tell Bruce Allen to make a deal to get the number 1 pick and the Redskins draft Andrew Luck since he’s the closest clone to John Elway.
• The Capitals will make the playoffs as the 6th seed…and make it to the Conference semifinals and losing to the Penguins.
• The Wizards will get the 4th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
• The Nationals will win 86 games and be 2 games out of the 5th spot in the National League.
• The Nationals will not sign Prince Fielder. He will go to the Miami Marlins.
• This will be the worst year in traffic for D.C. In 2013, it will be the best year for traffic in D.C.
• With the influx of Walmart stores in the D.C. area and the struggles behind Giant, Safeway, and Food Lion; HMart will start advertising Metro on this:
• The iPad3 will make good sales, but the iPhone 5 will be the best-selling smartphone of all-time…for the next 3 years since it is considered Steve Jobs’s last idea he dealt with.
• Apple will announce a new gaming system to compete with Microsoft Kinect.
• Fugazi will make a special, one-time appearance at the 9:30 Club in October.

Finally, the annaul prediction that won’t happen but still optimistic: I’m going to have a girlfriend. One of these years, I don’t have to write this anymore.

Have a comfortable 2012. Be safe.

When 2011 began, our landlord towed our family car because it didn’t have a sticker, although the landlord never handed out the sticker. Then, in the later months, I had to find a tax accountant since my original accountant bailed on me without warning. It didn’t look good for the first few months. After the Capitals were swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was getting worse…until the idea of NatsJobs came upon.

When that moment hit, I had my biggest client to date, and had the buzz surrounding this new venture. I started this for fun and has grown into a potential avenue for me. It made decent money, but could have been more if I expanded the scope. Remember, NatsJobs this year was only social media. Next year, it will definitely be expanded and be useful not only for job seekers, but for companies looking for potential hires.

Of note since it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want: if you’re interested in our NatsJobs newsletter and the big changes for next year, send it to tracy [at] tranrecruiting[dot]com. We will announce the big changes during the beginning of Nationals Spring Training.

A new venture, new clients; this was a solid year after a struggling beginning, but to finish off the year, I became a Godfather to Mason Isaiah Tran, and I was selected as one of the finalists for the Greatest D.C. Sports Fans contest.  Although I did not win, it felt great to be recognized as one on the ten best D.C. sports fans out there (albeit subjectively, but I’ll take it).

I felt 2011 was the warm-up act for 2012 with the momentum I having the end of the year. I can tell you the promises I made the previous years…it will come true in 2012:

• You know I mention that I wanted to travel for the past few years. Well…I WILL be traveling this year for the first time in 4 years. In March, I will be going to Orlando for Spring Training to see the Nats (Yes, I know their spring training site is in Viera, but I got a great deal to go to Orlando). In July, I will be going to Williamsburg, VA for vacation, and possibly going to Atlanta for the strip clubs…er, I mean the 2012 SHRM Conference.
• As you know from the site (and the URL) that I’m a big Tony Kornheiser fan and e-mailer, and Tony is a big supporter of me. On January 9th, we will both meet for the first time. I have heard all the “backstage” stories about Mr. Tony, so I will come prepared.
• As I mention earlier; a bigger, badder, bolder NatsJobs.
• I return as a season ticket holder for the Washington Nationals.
• Doing a few side projects and experiments.
• Of course, the election.

I can’t wait until 2012 arrives. Pop the Perrier.

Norman Chad was the original blogger. He wanted to stay home, eat a bunch of junk food and basically make money by watching TV. He has done that, but starting as a young adult, Norman Chad was a chick magnet. If you think chick magnet, you would think attractive, can play around the English language, and has the “it” factor. You wouldn’t imagine a chick magnet be like this:

However, Norman Chad is living the life…way too much life. Norman Chad has been married 25 times. Here are 25 stories of each wife:

Wife #1 – Meredith: Norman and Meredith were in love through college. Norman was an aspiring writer, while Meredith wanted to be a government wonk. They wanted to live in suburban D.C. and raise a family…until Norman realize Meredith REALLY wanted to work for the government. Norman hated federal workers and hate talking politics. Meredith got a job for the government. The both split up just one year of marriage.

Wife #2 – Gloria: Norman spotted Gloria at a local Prince George’s County Bar watching the Terrapins basketball game. Norman loved the way she can talk about sports and took her to his apartment. There, Gloria saw Norman was a mess. She took initiative and cleaned up Norman’s apartment. Norman was stunned…yet attracted since she was cleaning and watching TV at the same time. Norman found her woman. The both were married in 1981 and it was a great year for Norman: got married, his favorite team, the Oakland Raiders, won the Super Bowl, and send columns about sports and TV. Several newspapers, including the Washington Post, picked up his column and Norman’s career started. It was the life in the 1980s: man makes the money, the wife makes the house. It was going well until mid 1982, when the Raiders were allowed to move to Los Angeles. It was then Norman Chad wanted to move to L.A. to further enhance his career. Gloria loved her life. Then one day, Norman gave Gloria roses, a handsome man, and divorce papers. Norman Chad was heading to L.A.

Wife #3 – Jaime: Since Norman moved to L.A., he had all the luck: he was a syndicated writer, he started playing big-time poker, and his L.A. Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. At a Super Bowl party, Norman met Jaime. They had a nice talk and shared a lot of things. They got married in July of 1984. Marriage ended in December of the same year and Norman realizes Jaime was attracted to plastic surgery.

Wife #4 - Jeanne: Norman first met Jeanne at the 1984 Olympic Games in L.A. when she was a volunteer. Norman was stunned by Jeanne’s good looks and wanted to marry her. The got married in early 1985…and lasted for 3 weeks since all Norman thought about Jeanne was sex.

Wife #5 - LaLaine: Norman met LaLaine at an UCLA game in 1986. What interested Norman going to UCLA was his alma mater, the University of Maryland, had a superstar in Len Bias. Norman got so excited for UMD basketball, he did not care LaLaine was a UCLA fan. It was blind love. They were married in May 1986. two months later, the couple was divorce not because they grown apart, but LaLaine’s name was similar to Len’s name and it had an emotional attachment to Norman since Len passed away by drugs. They became friends after the divorce.

Wife #6 – Jade: Norman took a break from dating in 1987 for one year after what happened in his last marriage. In 1988, Norman was back in the dating scene. She met Jade at a bookstore, reading up on various pop culture books. They were married in August 1988 after the Seoul Olympics and got a present from Michael Wilbon…cooked dog. Shortly thereafter, the couple vacationed in Hawaii. It was there, someone accidentally order the movie, Ishtar, at their room. Norman saw the movie since he had nothing to do. At the end of the movie, Norman was watching the credits and saw under, “Extras,” Jade Hickenbottom…Norman’s wife. Yep, Jade was part of the worst movie in cinema history. Norman didn’t want to travel back to L.A. with an extra who was part of a terrible movie. So, Norman bolted and left a note to Jade and $1.25.

Wife #7 – Shirley: In 1989, Norman met Shirley in Las Vegas at a bookkeeping convention. Shirley knows the matchups and knew if the house was crazy or lax. Norman was impressed by her skills. They got married in June 1989. This was the first marriage Norman truly fell in love. In his columns, Norman started to put his wife in it when the one-liner, “Pay the man, Shirley.” One little thing about the marriage is in the pre-nuptial agreement that if the Redskins win the Super Bowl during their marriage, they immediately divorce the next day and split their stuff, 50/50. Apparently, Shirley was a huge Redskins fan and she would never see the Redskins winning the Super Bowl again. On January 26, 1992, the Redskins won Super Bowl XXVI. One day later, the couple divorce. This was Norman’s longest marriage to date.

Wife #8 – Destiny: So down in the dumps since the divorce…and the Redskins winning the Super Bowl, Norman was back to the dating scene and heading up the Las Vegas strip. Drinking his sorrows, Norman met a stripper name Destiny. He told his long story to her and had a one night stand. It was also they were officially married. Realizing this, Norman called it off after 1 day.

Wife #9 – Unknown: Norman decided to write a book about being a TV sports junkie, for this, he took out an ad looking for a woman to live with him for a few months so he has an inspiration for his book. Only one person answered his ad. The person did not have a name, but Norman had no choice. Norman brought in a judge and the two were married. Five months later, the book was finished and Norman dumped her to go on his book tour.

Wife #10 – Abigail/Wife #11 – Angie/ Wife #12 – Bethany/ Wife #13 – Georgia/ Wife #14 – Jennifer/ Wife #15 – Rachel/ Wife #16 – Doris/ Wife #17 – Maude/ Wife #18 – Brittany/ Wife #19 – Ginger:  Throughout 1993, Norman Chad was traveling the U.S. to promote his book, Honey, I’ll Take You to the Hospital at Halftime (Confessions of a TV Sports Junkie). The book was a success and Norman was finally getting the attention…and the ladies. In a one-time stunt, Norman became a one day polygamist and married 10 women…and divorce all 10 women. Hence the “Sleeping with Angels” line he uses.

Wife #20 – Deidre: Norman took a break from dating between 1994-1996 with Nancy-Tonya, O.J., and the Olympics. He then struck a deal with America Online on posting his columns on their sports section. There, Norman discovered the internet, especially internet dating and chat rooms. This is where Norman’s personality was a blessing…and a curse. By having his columns online, more people will see Norman’s columns. However, the ladies would know his personality and quite frankly, he almost fits a description of a pedophile. There was one person who was interested in Norman. Deidre lived in Seattle and love the Pacific. There online chats were hot, and shared a lot of things. Norman did something innovative…he wanted to marry Deidre online through the help of AOL. Norman has never seen Deidre’s face, but with their interaction through chat rooms, Norman sounded so confident, the woman who she is marrying, he didn’t check who she looks like…or he. When the ceremony ended, Norman saw video of Deidre…a drag queen (real name: Joe Sanders). Norman realizing what he did, call it off the second he saw him.

Wife #21 – Dorothy/ Wife #22 – Cheryl/ Wife #23 – Nancy: Online dating has hurt Norman Chad’s chances of really attracting a woman. Then in 2003, Norman had a second career. ESPN started to show segments for the World Series of Poker and wanted Norman to do commentary. Norman shine through the shows and became a TV star. It was also the 10th Anniversary of Honey, I’ll Take You to the Hospital at Halftime (Confessions of a TV Sports Junkie). To relive his book release, Norman wanted to be a polygamist again. This time, he only married 3 people, not 10, since he has gotten older and and can’t really handle 10 people. Basically the same as 1993: married and divorce on the same day.

Wife #24 – Leslie: With his new poker fame, Norman was swarm with fans and tons of ladies. He was getting interview requests and was the talk among the poker community. Norman also is a poker player and at a circuit tournament in L.A., he met Leslie. She had red hair and was a chatterbox. Norman reminded her of Tony Kornheiser. The couple married in L.A. in May 2004. Everything was right in Norman’s world…until he had a rift with Kornheiser. It was the time at Monday Night Football is where Tony got the gig and Norman was either jealous or didn’t know what to do. When Tony got the MNF gig, their friendship deteriorated. When the friendship deteriorated, Norman’s marriage deteriorated. Norman and Leslie broke up in 2006.

Wife #25 - Toni: Norman realizing he was fast approaching 50 and wanted to settle down. After trials and tribulations with his dates and friends, Norman was seeking love again. We know the friendship between Norman and Tony Kornheiser declined, but Norman spotted a winner in Toni. They took a shot in married in 2007. Currently, they’re still married. Let’s hope they stay that way.

I knew of the announcement the day before the Post publicly announced the ten finalists. I was going to announce it through my social media networks until someone beat me to it (forward to the 2:00 mark).

Yes, that was Tony Kornheiser giving me a shout out and support for this contest. If there ever was a bump in Washington Post traffic, it was Joe Paterno and me since I’m associated with Mr. Tony, which could help (or hinder, depending who you ask) me through this contest. I carried most of the publicity for this contest. There were three rounds in the contest.

Round 1 

The first round was to write an essay on one thing you want to change to one local team. I decided to not write about the Redskins or Nationals since most of the contestants will cover that, and the Capitals since it was tough to argue Ted Leonsis and their play at that time. It was down to the Wizards or D.C. United. There are many things I wanted to discuss about the Wizards, but neither of my arguments had substance, so I decided to do the D.C. United stadium situation because it was known that week that Major League Soccer (MLS) was thinking of locating D.C. United to Baltimore. I knew I had a topic to write about because it involved Baltimore; soccer as a rising sport not only in D.C., but in the states; and D.C. politics. The outside-the-box thinking help me get into the 2nd round, but barely.

Round 2

This was going to be a hard challenge for two reasons.  The first is my D.C. sports memorabilia isn’t all that impressive. I have an autograph jersey from Ted Leonsis, a Bruce Boudreau signed hockey puck, an Elijah Dukes signed jersey and a signed Chris Clark hockey stick. Those sound awesome, but the stories behind it were not impressive. It was down to two items: the Stephen Strasburg debut ticket stub or the August 28 Nats ticket stub. The Strasburg game was great and the best experience I ever had…but 41,000+ had the same experience. If it had an autograph from Strasburg, then my memorabilia would have been cooler, but it was not. I went with the August 28 ticket stub because it had a huge back story and I have told this before.

The second issue I had was I had no camera person since I already took a family trip to Williamsburg with my middle brother the week before and my oldest brother was on call. My other friends were busy that weekend, except Welvin, who was my classmate in college and accepted my offer to volunteer. We went around the D.C. Metro area for 5 hours shooting a 90-second spot. I had three minutes of material, but have to edit down to 90 seconds.

When the videos were posted, I knew it would be the “Veterans” versus the “Young Guns” and the videos showed experience matters. The “Young Guns” videos (including myself) were choppy and unpolished while the “Veterans” were slick and ready for the film festival. Also, the “Veterans” had an impressive sports memorabilia and great stories behind it, while ours was a spur of a moment, so to speak. It came down to the worst of the “Veterans,” which was John Pence and the best of the “Young Guns,” which was me. Although my video was not the best and my memorabilia isn’t all that impressive, I was relying on my back story to carry me to the top 3. If I had 3 minutes, I might had a shot, but in 90 seconds, it was too tough and frankly, the judges picked the right three to advance. I came in 4th, which wasn’t too shabby and I can call myself “D.C.’s Greatest Sports Fan under the age of 35.”

Of note: there was one comment saying that the Washington Post should have pick one of the “Young Guns” since our memorabilia were not impressive and didn’t have the experience. That’s nice, but truth be told, there are many D.C. sports fans, younger than me, who have memorabilia saved from their family or experience it, so the judging was fair. I just need better memorabilia. In hindsight, I could have done a video of One Helluva Ride signed by Liz Clarke to suck up to the Washington Post judges to surely put myself in the top 3. Oh well.

Round 3 (if I was there)

Although I did not pass round three, I tried out the written test without studying and scored a 28, which was very good and frustrating since I had in my head, “what if?” As for the top 3 contestants, the winner was John Mann, who scored a 32 out of 54.

I entered the contest for three reasons: 1) $1000 worth of free tickets to any sporting event, 2) publicity for myself and my business and 3) the cool title of “D.C.’s Greatest Sports Fan” to put on your resume. Number 1 failed and number 3 sorta failed, but I hope number 2 comes to fruition after the Thanksgiving break and hopefully they stay in March 2012 for the big announcement.

I personally want to thank Mr. Tony and the littles for their support, Welvin helping me shoot the video, my family, the contestants including the top 3 of Mann, Pence, and Michael Ortman, and @emmi1966 for putting me into the second round and almost to the final round.

This was a fun ride and although I didn’t win, I realize there are many D.C. sports fans out there (although there was one contestant who is a Baltimore Orioles fan and sneak in through the process. Hint: not the top 3.) and hopefully I’ll meet them soon at a sporting event or drinks. To the other 9 contestants…Cheers!

Also, I’m still looking for a woman who is Catholic and loves D.C. Sports

(via Kristy Morrison, @clancykolzig on Twitter. This is from the Carolina game last Friday)

Though Bruce Boudreau lashed out Jizz at his press conference for his dumb penalties, Jizz brought in a total of $200 for “Give To The Max.” The big winner of the $200 is…Friends of Fort DuPont Ice Arena. Congratulations.

Sadly, only two nonprofits participated for “Jizz Cares”: Friends of Fort DuPont Ice Arena and Little Lights Urban Ministries. Just for Little Lights to participate, I will donate $25 to their nonprofit.

Overall, “Jizz Cares” raised $225. Hopefully next year, Ted Leonsis will mention “Give To The Max” (better yet, this year) as be a great way for nonprofits to raise money during these tough times.

Now, will “Jizz Cares” come back next year? That depends if Semin returns to the Caps since he’s being going on one-year deals. I hope he does, but if he doesn’t return, who deserves to take his place? The players will change, but the process is so much fun when nonprofits and sports are involved Let’s do this again next year…and hopefully a Caps win!

This season, people have started the “Semin Cares,” “Sasha Cares” tweets and chants and it is getting old very quickly. Those chants should be only reserved for the playoffs and one other occasion.

That one occasion is “Give to the Max Day.” “Give to the Max Day” is a fundraising drive in the DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia nonprofits and charities in a 24-hour span. The fundraising event in DC is on November 9. This is where nonprofits step in.

On November 8, the Washington Capitals face the Dallas Stars. When Jizz does something during the game, I will donate money to a charity/nonprofit the following day at “Give it to the Max” Day.  Here’s the breakdown:

• JIZZ!!! (Whenever Alex Semin scores a goal): $100
• Jizz on the assist (Semin assist on the goal): $50
• Jizz in the Box (Semin gets a penalty): $25

• 3rd Star: $100
• 2nd Star: $150
• 1st Star: $250

Rules:

The first charity/nonprofit/nonprofiteer to retweet whenever I tweet when Jizz does something, gets the donation. Your nonprofit must be in the DC Metro area (DC, Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland) participating and have a page on the “Give it to the Max” website to be eligible.

So nonprofits/nonprofiteers, root for Jizz on November 8 to do something and your charity/nonprofit will get something in return from me. Let’s hope Jizz is “Giving it to the Max”…but not the bad kind

Redskins

Obviously, this is not the best Redskins team ever, but from training camp, interviews, and their play, this is a different Redskins team in year’s past. Gone are the flashy names Snyder has signed and coming are football players who want to play. Everyone criticized Mike (and his son, Kyle, for that matter) Shanahan for not keeping the house in order and didn’t develop Donovan McNabb or motivate Albert Haynesworth. With the offseason moves they made, guess the Shanny made the right decision. This is a real team. They might win the NFC East, like Rex Grossman predicted, and they’ll unlikely go to the Super Bowl from the mouth of Tim Hightower, but this is finally a “team” and hopefully this continues on a few more years…and hopefully better QBs  and WRs down the line.

Nationals

I predicted the Nationals would win 77 before the season start just for the Werth signing, not necessarily for the statistics, but what he brings to the clubhouse the Nats really lack: winners. I was close…the Nats won 80 (could have been 81 if it wasn’t for the monsoon that hit the Dodgers series). Some say this team will start contending for 2013…I think they’re starting now. They have solid pitching, bullpen and starting, a strong infield, a revelation in power hitting from Michael Morse, and a team bonded together and actual hope. Of course, the Nats need a speedy center fielder, but no necessarily a leadoff hitter. Just want the guy at the 6 or 7 spot to help out the bottom of the lineup. The Nats also need a veteran for the pitching staff. Most everyone will want C.J. Wilson from the Texas Rangers. It would be nice, but after the Yankees performance last night, they’re moving all in to get him and CC Sabathia. Best bet for the Nats: sign Mark Buehrle for a 2-4 year deal and he will be beloved in Washington since when he is pitching, it usually ends around 2 hours, a must for the transient community here. The bigger picture is this: the Nats are coming and a dynasty might start a year earlier than expected. As for the baseball fans in DC: get your tickets now, especially against the Philadelphia Phillies, so we don’t see their tour buses and piss around DC… literally.

By the way, please no managerial change until 2013. We don’t really need Terry Francona, although Joe Maddon is available after the 2012 season.

Wizards

There’s nothing much to say since the Wizards are not going to be good and there’s a lockout. If you’re a fan of the Wizards, you want to side with the owners for a hard salary cap since that will be the only chance the Wizards can be good and if they’re lucky, a championship.

Capitals

If the Nationals are the most anticipated team in DC in 2012, the Capitals are the most anxious. As you know from my past posts, hockey is my number 1 sport to watch, but as I learned from previous years: the regular season doesn’t matter. The NHL regular season is also known as the longest preseason North American sporting league ever. It’s great that the Caps are the best in the “preseason,” but they’re always be determined when the “real” season starts and that’s the playoffs. I do not want the Caps to be number 1 in the “preseason.” I want them to use the regular season to prepare for the playoffs. I expect some struggle, some triumph, some agony, some pain, and something unorthodox throughout the 82 games, but that’s great because it makes the team hungrier to advance beyond the conference semifinals and hopefully the Stanley Cup. Like many other Caps fans, I’m cautiously optimistic for this season, but the Caps need to know: this is the year to capitalize. If they go to the Conference Finals and beyond, consider it a semi-success (the real success is if they win the Stanley Cup). Anything less than that, not only heads will roll at Kettler Iceplex, but the fan base will move somewhere else. From the looks of it, the Caps are looking like the Detroit Red Wings of the 1990s. The question is can they win Stanley Cups like Detroit in the 90s? I am anxiously waiting.

DC has come a long way, but next year is the moment DC should become an emerging sports town as we have more than one (or two) team to root for and anticipate. I don’t remember that happening in DC in a long time. There’s something in the air and t looks great for DC…politics aside.

1. Washington Nationals Dream Foundation – I have been more of a baseball fan this year more than any time because this team was attempting to try to compete on and off the field. The team has achieved that and their foundation does a wonderful job on their charities. Go check them out.
2. Alternative House – I have a few people at Alternative House from the ViennaTysons Chamber of Commerce and they’re great people working on a great cause for abused and homeless children’s refuges.
3. Hiring for Hope - If you’ve been following my person and business account, you notice the #jobangels hashtag on NatsJobs and other job postings. It was started by Mark Stelzner to help job seekers find a job in a tough market. He forward the program to Hiring for Hope and they do a great job helping and still continue to use the #jobangels tag
4. The Harry Potter Alliance - I actually met a representative from the Harry Potter Alliance at the NTEN Nonprofit Tech Conference last March and had no idea it existed and did not know they were a non-profit in Massachusetts. I just find that cool. Wish I could create a “Psych”-o’s Non-Profit or the Free Mr.Tony Foundation.
5. George Mason University School of Management Alumni Chapter – I’m a little bias since I’m part of the Board of Directors and the chapter is doing networking events this year. So come on by (also, they have their Alumni Celebration on September 29, FYI).

It actually started in October during hockey season where I started to dabble on posting jobs during Caps games. It had some responses, but nothing broke through. My guess is hockey fans want to see the action more than the outside stuff, which was reasonable.

After the Caps playoff season was over against the Tampa Bay Lightning in May, my focus shifted to baseball and the Nats. At that time, Cheryl Nichols forwards a list of our mutual friends on Twitter to me of who are looking for jobs. I help gave most of the Twitter friends’ advice on their job search. It was then I decided to post jobs during Nats games just for the heck of it. To my surprise, there was a huge response of my job tweets during the Nats game. My guess is that people want to watch something other than baseball to pay attention, which can be tiresome for some fans. Posting jobs during baseball games probably was that outlet. Many people have asked, retweeted, and favorite (I have Tweetdeck, FYI) my job tweets. Some asked for me to transition this to part of my business. It was getting a lot of attention, but how was the end result?

There were two factors why I created NatsJobs. The first reason is the business aspect started to creep up during a discussion I had during an awards dinner this past week. It was the rare time I wore a suit and tie and add in the heat during the summer; it affected my decision. The second and main reason was my job postings were getting results. A few people have contacted me and got hired as a result from the job tweets I posted during Nats games. That to me puts a smile to my face and at that moment, it was time to put it to the next level. Thus, NatsJobs was created.

The purpose for NatsJobs is for companies and organizations to tap into the Nats community, which is diverse in every way from skills, ideas, and personalities. NatsJobs is also a way to communicate who you are looking for and the one area everyone is looking at one setting. NatsJobs is not only for Nats fans; it is for job seekers and businesses that are looking for and want to be part of an open community like the Nats organization and their fans. NatsJobs is always an open door for both the job seeker and business (though not sure about the Phillies).

Now, NatsJobs is part of Tran Recruiting and although my staffing firm focuses on nonprofits, associations, and small businesses; NatsJobs is a job posting service for any business that needs to advertise their job to a diverse market at a reasonable price.

In addition, no one or few businesses will dominate all the job postings during the Nats game(s), so I’m asking for 17/18 different businesses if they have a job to advertise for each game. I know there are businesses out there who want to advertise their jobs, and NatsJobs is a great avenue to go to.

Finally, and I didn’t mention this on the initial announcement, but when we post your job, it will not only be on my company’s Twitter and Facebook page, it will be also on my personal Twitter page, Linkedin profile, and my Google+ Buzz section (Oh, my whole Google+ page if you’re interested). In addition, you can add the Tran Recruiting twitter account to your RSS feed/Google Reader and follow via text messaging when a job is tweeted, so your job posting will get more bang for your buck.

I can’t wait for July 26 when NatsJobs officially begins and it will be a new arena for not only to attract talent, but keep the Nats community growing as a baseball town and a tight community people can rely on.