Corporate Culture. Fast Tech. Enough of Ryan. Go Bears. Barca. Flight 1549.

Corporate speak in the NFL? Technology evolving too fast…is it out of control?  Why do we really need to watch Lochte? It is THEIR territory. Disparity with the Champions League.  The Hudson River Decision.

• I am an Atlanta Falcons supporter and have been for a very long time.  I also admire Arthur Blank, the team’s owner.  Mr. Blank, as tough as he can be, must have a very high level of resilience when it comes to his football team.  He has provided the team with the resources to build a winning team.  He is spending a ton of his own money on a best-in-class stadium that will open in June of 2017.  What I don’t understand is how he puts up with the corporate speak from his head coaches.  Yes, coaches because the previous head coach, Mike Smith, was a master of the ‘speak’ when explaining his team’s lack of performance.  So Mr. Blank replaces Mike Smith with Dan Quinn, the former Seattle defensive coordinator.  I am sure DQ is a tough coach and has the basic ability to handle the head coaching responsibilities but I am sick and tired of hearing the ‘speak’ again.  His post-game comments after Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay sounded like he was reviewing last quarter’s P/L statement.  I am not one to look back but I do benchmark the qualities of successful head coaches in the NFL.  Can you imagine the likes of Shula, Cowher, Parcells and Madden dealing with subpar performances from their teams?  These coaches did not care about their “Q” rating or the media’s perception of their demeanor.  DQ:  you are 3-9 since last October 15 and two of those three wins were against Tennessee and Jacksonville.  The Falcons franchise value is ranked in the bottom half of the 32 NFL teams.  Quickly change the culture and demeanor of your team or you will end up as DC again very soon.
• I do realize that technology is always evolving and the race to deliver new products to market is the underlying objective of Apple, Samsung, Tesla, and many others.  One example is the dynamic competition between Apple and Samsung with hand-held devices.  Great for the consumer until the product development cycle is shortened to get product to market too fast and without the proper quality control parameters.  C’mon Samsung!  You release the Galaxy s7 in response to Apple’s latest phone and the s7’s battery heats up with such intensity that it has exploded in your customer’s hands?  This nonsense needs to stop. Why did the Consumer Product Safety Commission wait so long to announce a mandatory recall of the s7?  The world is crazy enough without worrying about your phone  catching fire.  Speaking of crazy….Tesla is investigating the cause of a fatal crash in China involving one of its vehicles, but has “no way of knowing” if its semi-automated Autopilot system was engaged at the time of the accident.  23-year-old Gao Yaning died in January after crashing into the back of a road sweeping vehicle while driving a Tesla car on a highway in the northeastern province of Hebei.  No way of knowing if the auto-pilot was engaged?  Really, Tesla?  The driver just decided to test the front end integrity of a Tesla by driving into the back of a massive street sweeping machine?  Yes, technology is being introduced too fast.
• I will not waste too many keystrokes on drama-boy, Ryan Lochte.  Sickening that after his immature stint in Rio he decides (ok, his agent decided) to participate on the infamous Dancing with the Stars.   He needs to either go away or make good by donating money and time to help educate our youth on alcohol abuse.  Publicity-seeking when you should be doing the opposite?  Yes, Ryan Lochte……..Go Away.
• The Russians are coming!  Or maybe, the Russians are really stupid.  There are Russian meteorologists who somehow were assigned to do research on a glacier 2800 miles away from Moscow.  If that is not terrible enough, the glacier, like most artic areas, is swarming with polar bears.  Yes, the animals who LIVE in that part of the world.  All good except that these intelligent meteorologists are now ‘trapped’ as the polar bears have become curious to why humans have invaded THEIR territory.  Seriously, if you are 2800 miles from Moscow and camped out on a glacier you might have planned a bit better.  To the meteorologists on Troynoy Island:  you can’t fix stupid.  Not wishing the Russians harm but…..Go Bears!
• The Champions League.  The epitome of competition among European Club teams.  The CL runs in concert with domestic leagues and honors the top finishing teams of the previous season with entry into this big money-making tournament.  You would think that UEFA has the competition figured out and make parity a priority.  Not exactly, as Tuesday there was a lopsided result with Barcelona destroying Celtic, 7-0.   There is talk about UEFA revamping the CL and Tuesday’s game supports their thinking.
• I had the chance to see the movie Sully the other night.  Well done Clint Eastwood.  I am not one that usually enjoys movie flashbacks but Clint handles the storyline well.  I mentioned Jonah Hill’s performance in War Dogs a couple of weeks ago….Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger is also remarkable and along with Hill should get an Academy award nomination.  At the time of the incident I had only focused on the ability of Sully, under extreme duress, to safely land the plane on the Hudson.  Little did I know that the NTSB put Sully and his co-pilot through the ringer with the thought that Sully could have made it back to LaGuardia or Teterboro airport.   Great writing and acting…go see it.

Adios.  Happy Sunday Funday.