Mad Dogs and Lebanese. So the Trip is Only 2.5 Years? Finding the Right Players. Updates.
- Last week’s post regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of retired four-star General James Mattis as his choice for Secretary of Defense caused a bit of a stir with many readers. Most of the response was very positive including this comment from a gentleman who did a stint in the Lebanese army: “While I know the general is affectionately known as “Mad Dog”, I take issue with almost everybody ignoring his intellect. Our new secretary of defense is an avid reader, his personal book collection exceeds 7,000 books (mostly world history, warfare…) !! What is more amazing is the fact he did read them all. He used to require his troops to be well read regarding the culture and history of the regions where they were deployed. He has, in my opinion, a better nickname, the “warrior monk” mostly because he was never married.” I appreciate any and all comments and certainly agree with this take on our new Secretary of Defense. Godspeed, General Mattis!
- I previously mentioned the cable television series, MARS, now showing on the National Geographic channel. Now that the series is underway, I am pleased to report that the episodes to date have exceeded my expectations. This is especially interesting as in general I have little interest in Sci-Fi. What makes this series a bit different? It mixes both documentary and speculation to tell the parallel stories of two groups: the fictional year 2033 explorers who will make that first journey, and the scientists and astronauts of today who are working hard to figure out the go-forward with a mission to Mars. The task seems daunting for many reasons. One glaring hurdle: According to NASA, a vessel with humans on it would take roughly six months to travel to Mars and another six months to travel back. In addition, astronauts would have to stay 18-20 months on Mars before the planets re-align for a return trip. In all, the mission would take roughly 2 1/2 years. Understanding that the Elon Musk’s of the world eventually want to monetize travel to Mars, 30 months on that planet could be problematic. Watch the series as it provides a great deal of insight into science and technology with a very high level of production, writing, and vision of how we approach getting to Mars.
- Here is a scenario for you to ponder: You are an executive reporting to Steve Cannon, the former head of Mercedes Benz USA, who reports to Arthur Blank, a multi-millionaire, philanthropist, and CEO of the Arthur Blank Family of Companies. Mr. Blank, along with his never-ending desire for the Atlanta Falcons to win a championship, has made a huge investment to bring Major League Soccer to Atlanta. The initial investment all in was around $100m, but then Mr. Blank welcomes the idea of building a state-of-the-art headquarters and training facility for his new soccer team at a cost climbing to $70m. Those numbers are staggering without recognizing that the new Mercedes Benz stadium, opening next summer in downtown Atlanta, has a price tag of $1.6B, with at least $1B of that from Mr. Blank’s pocket. Those are the hard costs and now comes ‘simple’ things like player acquisition and their salaries. As that executive, you must be feeling a bit of pressure when trying to build a roster that will compete right out of the gate as Mr. Cannon and Mr. Blank have very high expectations with this soccer team, as well as 25,000 season ticket holders who are expecting big things from Atlanta United. The Club has acquired some players and is looking forward to next week’s MLS expansion draft, where United will have five picks. Along with the expansion draft and the short trade window that is later today, Atlanta United could have an additional seven players by this Tuesday afternoon. To follow this important process look for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution’s outstanding journalist, Doug Roberson, to provide detailed coverage of the trade window and expansion draft. Darren Eales, United’s president, is the executive I am referring to, and with his strong background and experience we can all look for great things to come from Atlanta United.
- Updates: I would not want to be the San Francisco ’49er executive who made the decision to get rid of Alex Smith and go with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback. Maybe new SecDef Mattis will call in the world’s special operations forces to deal with ISIS after all? Can we refrain from shopping on XMAS day? Matt Ryan: you have proved me wrong but NO more pick-sixes and pick-twos, please; To the honorable John Glenn: RIP.
Adios and have a Funday Sunday!
Come on….they work way to hard as a drunk does at his position. With rest they must perform at there best. The N.D Union must take a harder look at this issue when negotiating their next contract.