As you all know that I’m a big fan of Tony Kornheiser. I’ve always wanted to meet him, though I didn’t have the time the past 10 years. I’ve wanted to go to the radio show a few years ago, but there was a policy implied about Mr. Tony stalkers (thanks Neil in Rockville (inside joke)). I wasn’t likely to meet him again until he mention my name out of nowhere during the D.C. Sports Fan contest. Yes, I know he reads the papers, but I would have no idea he would remember my name. He mention if I don’t win the contest, then I get some consolation prize from him. I didn’t get anything from him and that was expected. That made me think that I need to force the issue and meet Mr. Tony on my terms.
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:
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
The last month has been very busy for me: conferences, DCWeek, networking events, donations, projects, and the one that came unexpected…I was chosen as one of the ten finalists for Washington Post’s “D.C.’s Greatest Sports Fan Contest.”
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.
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.
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.
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
You know from this blog that I like Tony Kornheiser, especially his radio show, where he is at his best. I also mention that he has lost his fastball by moving to ESPN 980 with tape delays, shorter e-mail segments, and being the old guy. Well, Mr. Tony and his radio station are at a crossroads.
Recently, executives from ESPN 980 in DC decided to put up the podcast 24 hours after the “live” show. Since then, they decided to put up the podcast in 12 hours to split the difference. This is ESPN 980′s Director of Programming, Chuck Sapienza, explanation for the move on DC Sports Bog:
“We’re delaying the podcasts 24 hours for all of our shows,” he told me. “I know this hurts people who listen out-of-town, but we’re trying to get people to listen on the radio. We’re in the radio business, and we’re trying to get people to listen on the radio. And the more people who download podcasts, the fewer people who listen on the radio.”
There has been a lot of backlash from the littles (Kornheiser fans) about this move since most of the littles work at an office or don’t get ESPN 980 since they’re outside the DC area. I agree with them.
When did Sapienza (and to an extent, Dan Snyder) all became Bill Wirtz believing you have to listen to radio to best listen. This tells me the regime does not have a clue about the current trends and don’t pay attention to the business. If Sapienza had a brain, radio advertising is down across the board except if your call letters are WTOP or NPR, podcasting can be lucrative, if done right, and people use mobile apps since it’s more convenient than carrying a radio. Red Zebra dropped the ball big time, but they are not only to blame.
I have said this many times, but you have to look at Kornheiser as well. Yes, his first stint at ESPN Radio was hoot, but it was unlikely we would see those days. His time at Bonneville (used to own Washington Post Radio and 3WT, but now defunct) was at his best. If I know Jim Farley, his only regret was not calling Washington Post Radio/3WT…WTOP2 (talk radio). If he took those call letters, Kornheiser would have his audience and would stay at Bonneville (which is now Hubbard Broadcasting after Bonneville sold WTOP to them). Instead, Kornheiser had the Monday Night Football gig and ruin the momentum for the station(s). After quitting his MNF job and getting “fired” by the Washington Post, Kornheiser had a talk with Jim Zinzi and decided to go to Red Zebra to reboot his radio show. It was great the littles can listen to Mr. Tony again, but we all knew there were consequences. The first thought was ESPN 980 is affiliated with ESPN and that the station is owned by Dan Snyder (and you know that story).
If Kornheiser open his mind, he would have ample opportunity to make big bucks: Go back to Bonneville, where their revenues are second biggest in the country; go to public media and ask for donations to feed his family and crew; or take the podcasting route at his own home or at the PTI studios and charge the littles a fee, for which the littles were willing to pay. Instead, he went with the safest route and select ESPN 980. How that turn out? He can’t bash ESPN (for which he did and got suspended). He talks to one of the biggest superstars (he did with Lance Armstrong (and his cronies), but got ridiculed from a meaningless joke). Finally, his shows were live (and then switch to pre-recorded). Sadly, Kornheiser re-signed with Red Zebra for two more years until 2012. Until that time, the Metro construction at Tysons Corner and Reston will be finished.
Dan Snyder’s pettiness, Chuck Sapienza’s lack of intelligence, and Kornheiser’s stubbornness are effects of who’s the biggest loser of the debacle: the listeners (podcasters and live listeners). I pray for someone not name Red Zebra to take Mr. Tony after October 2012, I beg you.
UPDATED: On his opening segment yesterday, Mr. Tony stated that he has reach his maximum number of shows and will take next week…and the whole month of July and August off from the show. This is unprecedented and shows again the terrible business judgment of Sapienza and Snyder that they don’t know how to run a 1) content delivery business nor 2) a radio business. Kornheiser literally helped carried the station. I hope somebody buys out Kornheiser’s contract: Hubbard, public media, hell even evil Clear Channel. Somebody?
We interrupt with the Quora Question of the Day and discuss a bigger issue that has been brewing the past few months.
Every day, I set my alarm at 9AM to brush my teeth, get my breakfast, and run errands before turning on the Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN 980. He was and still has the best radio show in D.C…it is that the competition lowered the bar and he came with it.
It all started in February 2010 when Mr. Tony ranted on Hannah Storm’s clothing. Personally, I thought it funny, but professionally, it was the wrong move and did not mind that ESPN suspended him, although their reasoning was mixed since they were going to suspend Tony for a few days but extend the suspension to two weeks because he “implied” that he was dissing on ESPN’s “Number 1″ employee, Chris Berman on air. The show did not suffer at the time.
In March, Mr. Tony had his typical rant on bicycles like he always had for years. Somehow, the bicyclists heard of his rant and ranted to throw Mr. Tony and they called upon their hero, Lance Armstrong to take down Tony…and sadly he did.
The serious cyclists who don’t get satire have won out and soon after that show, Tony was never the same.
He had memorable shows after when his dog, Maggie, passed away and his last show before Labor Day, which told us something that he secretly telling his fans: the show you know for a long time is over:
It used to be Mr. Tony had one or two funny segments on his show daily. Sadly, we will be lucky if he has one funny segment in a week. It seems Tony is playing it safe and trying to survive than going balls out funny. It also seems he’s putting more work to PTI than his radio show, which would never happen two years ago. It’s great he is having success but like anyone, the corporate pressure took its toll.
I appreciate what Noel from St. Louis is doing with the @MrTonySays account mentioning Tony’s quotes of the day, but if you want to appreciate Mr. Tony, listen here:
We want to hear about Swiss cheese with holes, Peter Yarrow, red89hawk, Rich Eisen and Bea Arthur, The Snack down with Mr. Kornissioner, Liz Clarke hating on Anne Murray, Death Star Radio, The “Praying Mantis” Ann Curry, Twitching Little Freaks, bashing sponsors, etc.
That is why “The Board” decides to put “Toothless Tony.” You can put up your “Toothless Tony” by copying this picture to your profile:
(via Kuke Reynoso)
In your post/status, select an audio clip from the old Mr. Tony days before 2009 and share it with everyone else.
We want the old show back and to be honest, he can go toe-to-toe with Ira Glass as best radio host in this country. However, he’s close to Larry Michael‘s level than Ira now. If we can’t get his real show back, we have to wait two more years until his contract is up and hope a station is willing to take him and be himself. Right now, it’s like seeing the radio version of David Letterman…milking it in.
For full disclosure: everyone who reads my blog knows I’m a big Tony Kornheiser fan. I have posted a lot of material about Tony, hell my website url is in honor of Mr. Tony. Also I have to admit: Between 10 Am-Noon is my most unproductive (but gives me the best ideas of work) hours of the day because of the Tony Kornheiser Show.
To sum up: last Thursday, Tony made comments on his radio show on a couple fashion faux pas: one for Today‘s Hoda Kotb and her bare arms and Hannah Storm. Here was Tony’s comments on Hannah Storm that day:
“She’s got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body … I know she’s very good, and I’m not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won’t … but Hannah Storm … come on now! Stop! What are you doing? She’s what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point.”
As a fan, that statement was funny, especially his reference to Catcher in the Rye with the “Holden Caulfield Fantasy” line. As a HR person (which Tony has said are along the same line as terrorists), this looks bad. I don’t care how accurate it is, you never…EVER diss a co-worker in public. Tony knew that from the statement above, but said it anyway. Also, the sausage line gives me pause as well since it could be interpret as a euphemism. A few blogs mention
Tony’s comments on Hannah’s wardrobe and someone told Tony to diffuse the situation.
The next day, Tony went on-air to his audience and called Hannah personally to apologize for his comments. That should be it, end of story, let’s move on. However, ESPN has a different take.
Initially, Tony’s suspension was for three days. If I were in HR at ESPN, I would have reduce it to a one-day suspension, but that can be debated. However, ESPN change their mind and suspended Kornheiser for two weeks for “inappropriate, hurtful, and personal comments” towards Hannah Storm. Wait, Kornheiser did an on-air and personal apology and Hannah did not ask for suspension, so what gives?
Deadspin gives the real reason why Tony was suspended: he use Chris Berman’s name in vain. Apparently, Tony broke ESPN’s Ten Commandments that he use Berman (implied is a better term) as an example, hence the longer suspension. ESPN was fine about Hannah Storm, but not Chris Berman? This leads to the bigger issue: ESPN itself.
Tony and Hannah did the right thing and diffuse the problems themselves to limit its exposure and that should be the end of it. ESPN then came right out saying Tony was suspended for two weeks and there was a media frenzy around the suspension, even some of the press incorrectly call the incident, “a sexual harassment case.” In addition, people knew ESPN’s workplace culture from several public sexual harassment cases that shed light to their situation, plus the highlighted departures of Matt Winer and Peter Gammons and could potentially lose Erin Andrews, Bill Simmons, and Chris Berman before the end of the year.
Another thing to ponder: ESPN hired Tony Kornheiser back in the mid 90s to be an asshole. He was frequently on The Sports Reporters to be an asshole. He was selected to be a co-host of PTI because he’s an asshole. He was one of the Dream Job judges because he loves Simon Cowell, who is an asshole. You hire him for Monday Night Football to be an asshole, yet he got suspended twice from ESPN of being asshole? Which Tony does ESPN want?
You have to ask ESPN this: what did ESPN do when Mike Golic bashed Tony when it was announced he was an analyst for MNF? What about when Mike Greenberg said a derogatory word on air on Martin Luther King Day? What about Bill Simmons occasional bashing of ESPN, the company he is currently working for? The answer to all of these questions: nothing.
Basically, ESPN turned into the International Luge Federation and made the situation worse by putting the onus on Kornheiser-Storm and not the real reason for this fiasco: Chris Berman. This speaks of ESPN acting as if Kornheiser was the antagonist of the event since he attack someone from a “protected class.” If you want to justify the suspension, mention that he said bad things publicly about Chris Berman and you will get fewer people upset about it.
The moral of this ESPN story for HR is know who you hire and try your best of not to be surprise as a result. Also in some cases, employees know how to deal with the situation on their own and saving HR’s time. In addition, be transparent of what and why you do it because anyone can blow the door wide open if it is kept hidden. Finally, understand the culture you’re working at because some do get special treatment that is unfair to others.
It is alright to have conflicts and disagreements in-house, like Tony bashing Digger Phelps and his “tie-lighter” or his numerous fights against Paul Farhi when he was with the Washington Post at the time. ESPN knew the risks and rewards of hiring Tony Kornheiser and they realize they control the sports empire in part because of PTI and him. However, they should also know everyone is gunning for them and be prepared to take hits, including their perennial superstars like Berman, Stuart Scott, and Bill Simmons. In this case, ESPN opened their own Pandora’s Box by shifting blame to who they think are expendable.
For that, it’s a shame ESPN took that route.
By the way, if you really want to work for Chris Berman, you have to deal with this:
I’m approaching my one year anniversary of starting my own business and there are tons of things going on in the next few months to celebrate it. Ok, this post might be self-serving for some (or most), but I really like meeting new people on a variety of topics either for business or fun. So, here’s the rundown:
I will be attending a few social media and recruiting club meetings. Check both of my Twitter account for listings.
I’m 50/50 of attending Mashable’s Summer of Social Good Tweetup in DC, but I will be going to the Washington Twestival Local Event on September 10 (albeit it coincides with the opening of the NFL Regular Season). Met a lot of great people from the Twestival event last February, why not attend another Twestival event?
I will be a guest at HR Happy Hour, tentatively scheduled for August 28. The topic is “Sports and HR” Come join me and my Johnnie Walker Blue because I am going to get loaded on the show and cause visitors to drop.
Going to the first Washington Capitals Convention on September 26. Hit me up if you’re attending. I also might attend Caps Training Camp in September.
My birthday is on September 24…not a big deal.
I will still do my virtual offices in the DC Metro Area. If you want to have an informal chat or discuss business, I’m open. Again, check both my Twitter accounts for listings.
There are two big events will happen during the next few months:
I will be doing my first workshop on “Social Media for Businesses” in October. The details are vague right now, but email, Twitter, or call me for more details and/or you’re interested. It’s going to happen, but I need to know who will be attending.
Finally, the biggest news of them all…TONY KORNHEISER IS BACK ON THE RADIO!!! Mr. Tony will be back on September 8 on WTEM 980 in DC. There will be live-streaming and podcasts. Spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, or the old fashion way…talk to people about it. Give thanks to Jim Zinzi for the information.
There will be more events I will be attending and I’ll announce it on my social media profiles. I’ll see you on the flip side and give me a heads up.
Since everyone is explaining their hashtags on Twitter in their blogs, it’s my turn. You heard the news that Tony Kornheiser left Monday Night Football. This has open speculation that Tony would probably be back on the radio, live webcast, and/or podcast in the D.C. area. This is where the Mr. Tony Twittles play a role.
If you want Mr. Tony back on the air either by radio, satellite radio, public radio, internet show, podcast, or a Q and A luncheon like Carol Joynt does; just tweet it under 132 characters and use the #mrtony hashtag so the topic can be visible for everyone to see. You can also make your mark on @PTIShow or pester through @Redskinsinsider (Cindy Boren).
Remember, the #mrtony hashtag is not only we want Mr. Tony back on the radio/podcast airwaves…this is a plea to stop the Animal Revolution that has been daunting us for the beginning of time.
If you’re out on riding your bike tonight, do wear white.
Lynapalooza was a get-together (not a tweetup, Tweeple [rolling eyes]) of all the Mr. Tony littles meeting Lyn for the first time. Lyn is in D.C. from Arizona for finalizing her late husband’s estate. So, this was a good time to meet together and enjoy a baseball game, hence Lynapalooza.
For my adventures, I started going to D.C. in the afternoon to go to Rumors to see a friend there, but she doesn’t work on weekends anymore. So, I walked a few blocks to ESPNZone to watch what is going on (I know, sad). Stay there for an hour when I got my assignment to go to Eastern Market for a quick dinner. I headed back to the Metro and arrive there at 3:30 PM…1 HOUR EARLY! I’ve been to Eastern Market before, but I did not know they had the depth of independent restaurants. There were franchises like Subway and Popeye’s, but there are quality restaurants, and the one our posse went, Lola’s, was solid (although the bacon on my club wrap was burnt, but it was decent). We got our dinner and now onto Nationals Park.
Before going to Nationals Park, heavy rain hit upon us, so Esther, her husband John 1, Dobber, Lyn, and I headed to the parking lot that was tailgated by a bunch of Phillies fans and stayed in the car for roughly 15 minutes. We were looking at radar and weather reports to see if the game will start on time. Fifteen minutes later, the rain calmed down and we were on our way to Nats Park, where we met John 2 and Beth, Erin, Steve and Julie, and two people I finally met: Kitty and her family, and Shad and his family.
I mostly talk to Shad most of the night because we’ve been writing a lot of stuff through Twitter and the Tony Kornheiser Message Board (yes, it exists… actually, there’s 2 Mr. Tony message boards). This was our first face-to-face encounter and I have to say, Shad couldn’t be a more of a nicer guy. I knew him being a professor, haikuist, and a Mr. Tony enthusiast, but when you get to know him in person, you get a deeper appreciation of him. He told great stories from his trip to Boston, to getting a home run ball in Tiger Stadium in Detroit and was truly having fun with his family and the minions surrounding him. He is also on Twitter, so if you have a chance, follow @shadfromdc and holds his annual chili cook-off every year if you live in the D.C. area (not the DC101 chili cook-off that was going on at RFK the same day yesterday; his is at the beginning of spring). (Of note: I finally met Mark Stelzner for the first time last Wednesday in the Project SAME meeting. He is the fifth HR/Recruiting person I met face-to-face that has Twitter. I got 495 to go. Must be “Meet people face-to-face for the first time Week.” )
We knew the game would not be finished because of the weather, so we hoped the game goes past 5 innings, which it did. So it was the top of the sixth inning, the Phillies were up 7-5 (I wasn’t paying attention to the game that much), bases loaded with Ryan Howard at bat is when the heavy downpour was dumped on Nationals Park and everyone headed to the roof. Then, the fun begins.
To set the scene, our group was surrounded by Phillies fans…essentially; the majority of the stadium was surrounded by Phillies fans. I felt like I was the sole Clippers fan surrounded by Lakers fans. There were two sides of Phillies fans: on our left were the respectful and loud Phillies fans; on our right were the obnoxious and boisterous Phillies fans. Dobber tweeted some of the events the Phillies on the right did. We merge to one roof during the rain delay. Two things happened on the rain delay: the first thing was the Nats grounds crew were trying to put up the tarp over the field, but the grounds crew had a little trouble and the whole infield was a mess, but they put back the tarp again, got it. and we had a laugh at that.
The other was when one of the Phillies fans on our right got cigarettes and started smoking in the park (smoking is prohibited in Nationals Park). Security was in front of this group and did nothing. So John 2 and Beth came to grips with the Phillies fans on the right and tell them to not smoke or go outside the park. The whole Phillies group was in a tizzy and started arguing and a scrum broke between John 2 and some Phillies tall guy. During that scrum, someone was racing to stop the scrum and threw a cup of beer at me. It hit me on the chess and had my WTF?! Moment. I couldn’t see who threw it since I was talking to Dobber and did not want a Ron Artest moment, so I stayed away. Both parties broke it up and then afterwards, Beth got into who I call the “Druckin’ Fighting Philly Mother.” Everyone from Steve and Julie, Dobber, and I had to create a wall to separate our group to the nutcases on our right. The “Druckin’ Fighting Philly Mother” came to our side 10 times trying to start a fight with us and it looked obviously she drank too much for her age. The Phillies fans on the right started drinking, singing, and chanting like they won the war (we knew the Phils were going to win the game when Daniel Cabrera was on the mound). I know there are Philly fans from Dan Levy, Kitty, Sara, and a few others who are passionate about Philly sports and care, but these fans we met give you reasons why Philly fans get a bad reputation. After that incident, we said our goodbyes as the rain continues to pour and it was not going to stop anytime soon. After a 1 hour and 45 minutes into the rain delay, the game was called and the Phillies won 7-5.
What came of this of Lynapalooza?
The Eastern Market could be the new hot spot for me after knowing what restaurants are out there.
Everyone asked me about my green Ryan Zimmerman t-shirt. For the answer: I got it from the official team store at the park, you can’t find it online.
I was going to say the reason why I wore my green Zimmerman shirt is I want to meet the environmentally-friendly women since the majority of them are hot. Instead, my colored t-shirt symbolizes Irish blood, meaning fights…or it could be my name.
I was coy about the Washington Nationals having an open position for Director of Human Resources. Now to think of it, if they filled the position or vacant, they better take their job seriously after what happened last night:
There must be better training for security to look for suspicious activity. I would argue the security almost caused a riot by doing nothing.
The music selection: Jonas Brothers after a double…REALLY, MOTHER EFFIN JONAS BROTHERS?!!! Get a new music director. Also, Nick Johnson’s at bat music is Justin Timberlake’s “Sexyback”. Yes, that Nick Johnson:
The PR/Communications/Marketing team needs to revamp as well. First, it was the Elijah Dukes charity matter and now…Sausage Segway Shooters. I dare the fans who come to the stadium and when the announcer says “Now it’s time for the Sausage Segway Shooters!” they say, “That’s What She Said!” Also, those ads for defining moments in Nationals history?
The only good thing: Clint got demoted to do dirty work. No wonder there’s a MASN booth in center field.
With the weather, the near riots, the food, and my “awesome” t-shirt, this was a very eventful day and I’m glad to share it with the rest of the littles.
I was going to be poetic and affectionate with my February story this month. However, two things happen on the way: 1) I had no time with work and networking, and 2) I’m a realist, not a poet and I’m not that graceful. So, I called an old friend to do these stories. The stories (or haikus in this case) are from Shad Ewart. These three haikus are about the month of February. Please enjoy:
For the people who believe in love:
A stolen glance, then
Fumbled conversations, then
The heart skips a beat…
For the weather geeks:
Brutal whipping winds
Don’t mess with Mother Nature.
March could be much worse.
For Puxatony Phil:
Poor past predictions
And the market keeps falling…
Phil needs a bailout.
Shad Ewart (or Shad in DC) is a professor at Anne Arundel Community College and the haikuist for the Tony Kornheiser Show (if it comes back).
Recruiter, Blogger, DC Sports Fan, Nonprofiteer, Mr. Tony E-Mailer, Silver Elvis, Porn Star
I am an independent recruiter looking for contracting or full-time recruiting work.
I have been in recruiting for nearly nine years sourcing, networking, interviewing, negotiating, and advising hiring managers on who to look for. I have recruited for many different sectors from nonprofits, consulting firm, government contracting, tech, media, and others from a variety of positions from executives, directors, interns, senior-level, mid-level, and entry-level positions
I am also a blogger on many topics, including HR, recruiting, DC Sports, Tony Kornheiser, and pop culture, many others. I have been on the list in the "Top 100 HR and Recruiting Pros to follow on Twitter" by Unbridled Talent and was named a top 10 finalist for the Washington Post's "Greatest DC Sports Fan."
My tweets, photos, and posts have been on ESPN, NHL Network, NBC4, NewsChannel 8, The Washington Post, and Ted's Take. In addition, you probably know me as Tony Kornheiser E-mailer.
My door is always open. Give me a call, write an email, follow me and let's converse.
You know from this blog that I like Tony Kornheiser, especially his radio show, where he is at his best. I also mention that he has lost his fastball by moving to ESPN 980 with tape delays, shorter e-mail segments, and being the old guy. Well, Mr. Tony and his radio station are at a crossroads.
