Human: Born to Make Mistakes

I was all prepared to write about how the Florida Marlins are getting 500 million dollars to build their new stadium but are charging fans FULL price to a baseball game that occurred IN THE PAST.  Instead, as I sat down to write it, this occurred:

Armando Galarraga, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, had just retired 26 batters in a row.  The 25th out was an amazing over-the-shoulder fly ball catch that preserved the perfect game (at the time).  The lifetime 18-17 pitcher with a 4.62 ERA was one out from history. That is, until Umpire Jim Joyce made a call that will live in infamy.

On what would have been the 27th out and given Galarraga a Perfect Game (the 3rd in a month in Major League Baseball), Joyce called the baserunner safe.   In regular speed, it was a questionable call at best.  In slow motion, it was an AWFUL call.  No one disputes that.  Even with the slight bobble by Galarraga, the ball never left the webbing of the glove and his foot clearly hit the bag a full step before the runner.

The internet exploded after that.  ESPN analysts, bloggers, Facebook and Twitter users quickly spoke, and came down hard on Joyce. People (including me) wondered aloud on Twitter if Bud Selig would overturn the call in the best interest of baseball or whether the official scorer would overrule the out call and change the scoring to an Error, which would give Galarrage a no-hitter (but not a perfect game).

I then stumbled upon a tweet sent out by my friend Mike Goldstein of ESPN 760 AM (West Palm Beach):


@Mike_Goldstein Jim Joyce: http://twurl.nl/gmzpw1 i think this actually makes me like him quite a bit. amazing that he knew it was wrong immediately.

After listening to his interview, I began feeling more and more sympathetic towards Joyce.  Umpires never show their emotions, and when they do, they usually deny making mistakes.  Yet, in this six minute radio interview after the game, he sounded as remorseful and upset as any umpire or referee I've ever heard.  

While I was watching this, the following lyrics from a 1986 Human League song came into my head:

I'm Only Human,
Of Flesh and Blood I'm Made
Human,

Born to Make Mistakes

Instead of a Perfect Game, we are once again reminded that no one is perfect.  Credit to Joyce for apologizing to Galarraga; credit to Galarraga for not going ballistic at the time of the call and for already accepting Galarraga's apology.

The biggest loser in all of this? The Marlins, who were all set to purchase unused Detroit Tigers tickets following the game had the correct call been made. 

Friends: The Ones You Make Earlier in Life May Help You Later

When I attended Florida State University in the early-1990s, I wrote for the FSView school newspaper.  I originally started out as the student government writer, but then worked my way up to features editor.  For my last semester in Fall 1994, I was the sports editor and even had a sports talk radio show five nights a week on WTAL 1450 AM.

I worked with a lot of great people, many who have gone on to do some amazing things. Sports Editor Manny Diaz is now the defensive coordinator with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  Photo Editor Lance Rothstein worked for many years with the St. Petersburg Times and now resides in Belgium.  Melanie McCullough went to work for Duke University and then the V Foundation before finding happiness as the Director of Communications for a church in Chapel Hill.

However, this blog entry is about one person in particular - then-Sports Writer Mike Avila.

Mike and I hit it off immediately.  We had great sports discussions and wrote a lot of side-by-side pieces where he expressed one opinion and I expressed another.  One particular memory I have is getting Mike a press pass to interview then-WCW World Champion and FSU football legend Ron Simmons before a match at the Leon County Civic Center in Tallahassee.  Simmons totally broke character for the interview and Mike asked him excellent questions, including what it was like to be the first-ever African-American World Heavyweight Wrestling Chamion.

After graduation, Mike and I lost touch; through the years, I looked him up many times.  Unfortunately, Mike Avila is a very common name and I never did locate him.

That all changed with Bobby Bowden's retirement.  On December 2, the day after the retirement, I managed to stage an event on Twitter that included about 50-75 others who changed their avatar for 24 hours to Bobby Bowden.  Gators, Hurricanes, LSU Tigers and Seminoles all participated in #Bobbyfor24. 

One of the people who participated that day was a person on Twitter named @MikeAvila. When I reach out to him, we immediately realized who each of us was - after 15 long years, I had finally found Mike.  It was no surprise to me that Mike has gone on to become a successful writer/producer/contributor for many news organizations in New York.

As 2010 moved along, Mike and I communicated often on Twitter.  Finally, on April 16 (my dad's birthday), Mike friended me on Facebook.  When I confirmed him, it said he had one mutual friend.  I naturally thought it was someone we wrote with at FSView.  However, to my surprise, it was a friend of mine from South Florida that I met through Twitter almost a year ago: @JoseBoza.

Jose and I are both in Public Relations and would often talk to each other at events about PR and other communications-related topics.  Not once did we ever talk about sports, though.

When I noticed Jose was the mutual friend of Mike and me, I was curious.  So on Saturday, April 17, I called Jose up to talk.  I found out that he and Mike went to Coral Park High School together and he was a year or two behind Mike's class.  At that point, I explained to Jose about how I knew Mike and that Mike and I were huge sports fans.

That led Jose to mention he had wanted to talk to me for a while because he could tell from my Facebook and Twitter posts that I was a big sports fan.  He mentioned he had thought about starting a blog/website for a long time that dealt with social media and sports in a way not yet being done.  The second he said it, my ears perked up and I began agreeing with him.  He said he thought I would make a great partner on this venture.

After adding my good friend Jarret Streiner AKA @jarret23 (who I have known since high school and reconnected with a few years ago via a client event) to the team as our web designer, we went through some names until Jarret came up with "Pitch to the Rhino."  It plays off the children's riddle, "What do you do to an elephant with three balls? You walk him and PITCH TO THE RHINO!"

One month to the day of my first conversation with Jose, we launched the site on Monday, May 17.  It has been a fun project so far thanks to the support of so many on Facebook and Twitter, and one that keeps this old sportswriter-at-heart involved in sports

Had I not been such good friends with Mike back in the day and had Mike not friended me on Facebook, none of this may have ever happened.  Thanks, Mike!

Coach Karma

Karma is something I've always believed in - if you do something nice for someone, it will pay off for you down the road. 

To the left is a photo of a Hess Express gas station in Tamarac, Fla. on the corner of Southgate Boulevard and University Drive.  If you would have told me that my good friend Goldy and I would ever have an encounter there that would be something we'll talk about 10, 20, and 30 years down the road, I would have originally said there's no way.

However, that's exactly what happened on the evening of Friday, May 7.  First, I must go back in time before I can go forward.

The Seminole Club of Broward County's yearly banquet with Florida State's head football coach was a date all South Florida boosters always circled.  For 34 years, Bobby Bowden packed the house and told jokes.  However, with new FSU Head Coach Jimbo Fisher on his first banquet tour, tickets were still in high demand because it would be his first speaking engagement as head coach in front of many boosters.  In addition, with rave reviews from other Seminole booster clubs across the state regarding his speeches, the interest was at an all-time high.

My buddy Goldy had purchased two tickets with the intent of taking his dad; however, a conflict came up for both of them and they were going to be out of town the day of the banquet.  Goldy offered me the tickets since he couldn't use them and I jumped at the chance.  I invited my friend Tony (@AbeFroman21) to join me.

On May 7, I was running low on gas as I approached Woodmont Country Club, but because I was afraid I was going to be late and I didn't want Tony not to be able to check-in, I arrived at the event practically on fumes decked out in a garnet FSU shirt.

Once inside, thanks to Tony's Iron Arrow Booster status, we were afforded the opportunity to take a photo with Coach Fisher and interact with him.

In my brief time with Coach Fisher, I told him I had seen Part 1 of a two-part article about him in the May 6 Palm Beach Post regarding his love of hunting (the second part runs May 13). He told me he hadn't read it yet but that he does love to hunt as much as the author of that story said.

We then sat down, enjoyed dinner, and around 8:15, Coach Fisher got up and spoke passionately about his new job, his expectations, and took questions and answers from the crowd.  After 45 minutes, he received a standing ovation and the event started to wrap-up.

While most stayed for a few minutes for a raffle, since I hadn't played golf earlier that day with the boosters, I got in my car and called Goldy, who was in between flights at the Atlanta Airport.  The distance from Woodmont to the Southgate Hess is about 3 minutes tops.  During the entire car ride, I gave Goldy a play-by-play of what Coach Fisher had said and why I liked everything I heard.  I also thanked Goldy about 20 more times for the tickets.

I pulled up to the pump at Hess closest to the front door (and the photo in this blog is exactly where I was on the 7th when I was talking to Goldy).

As we continued to talk, a white Navigator pulled up right next to the curb and out stepped a man from the passenger seat.  I cut Goldy off in mid-sentence.  "GOLDY, You're not going to BELIEVE this.  Jimbo Fisher is walking into the Hess station!"

Goldy thought it was as cool as I did, and I was hoping I would be done pumping my gas before Coach Fisher finished inside so I could approach him and tell him how much I enjoyed his speech.

As I started walking over to the front door, where Coach Fisher was about to come out, I told Goldy, "I am going to try and get Coach to talk to you, so sit tight."

Coach walked out and I gave it my best shot. "Coach, you were great tonight at Woodmont.  I was hoping you could do me a quick favor. My buddy who gave me his tickets to the event because he ended up having to be out of town on business happens to be on the phone with me right now - could you please say hello to him?"

Coach Fisher looked at me for about two seconds like I was out of my mind.  Honestly, I didn't blame him for doing so, and for a guy who had just spoken 45 minutes non-stop, I wouldn't have been upset if he didn't do it.

He then took the phone and did the thing that Goldy and I will be talking about for years to come:

"I wish you could have made it tonight buddy - we missed you!"

Goldy then spent the next 90 seconds speaking to Coach Fisher, who wrapped up their conversation by thanking him for buying the tickets even though he had to give then way and told him he hoped he would be able to support the team in person in Tallahassee this year.  Coach Fisher then gave me my phone back, shook my hand, and was gone in the blink of an eye. 

The second he drove away, I believe the next words out of both my mouth and Goldy's as we spoke on the phone was "AHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHH!"

I STILL can't believe this happened! Here's why I believe in karma and how it paid off for Goldy:

1. My buddy Goldy and his family run a charity event each year that benefits students that want to go to college, and through his tireless efforts, he continually gives back to these kids and their families and never asks for anything in return.

2. Goldy never asked for anything in return for giving me and Tony his tickets - he just wanted them to go to two people who would appreciate seeing Coach Fisher's first speech in Broward County as head coach.

3. I could've gotten gas before the event, but chose not to.

4. I could've been facing University Drive instead of the actual front of the station when Coach arrived - had that happened, I may have never seen him.

5. I had JUST seen Coach Fisher five minutes before he arrived and had taken a photo with him earlier in the night, so I obviously recognized him right away when he got out of the car - had I not been at the banquet, I'm not 100 percent sure I would have realized it was him.

6. Coach Fisher could have simply said no, but instead, he showed a side that has earned him two fans for life no matter what he does at FSU during his tenure.

As we reflected on the story a couple of times over the weekend, we still can't believe it happened.  What sticks with me about the entire incident is that although Goldy would have enjoyed Coach Fisher's 45 minute speech, the 90 seconds he did share with Coach are a minute-and-a-half he will never forget.  I'm just glad my phone didn't die during the call!

The Bible of the PR Industry

As my Public Relations career has now reached 8 1/2 years, I received exciting news the other day: I'm featured on a five-person panel in the May 2010 issue of PR Week.  This marks the first time in my PR career I've been included in our industry's "Bible", and I could not be happier.

My inclusion in this article is just an example of something I've always believed in: things happen for a reason.

When I was promoted to Manager of Social Media at the agency I work at at the beginning of March, we sent out a press release about my new position and responsibilities.  One of the publications we sent the release to was PR Week, which, although no longer a weekly publication, is still the industry-leader when it comes to sharing PR stories from around the country.

A writer with their staff contacted me at work one day in late-March to ask me if I was interested in participating in their Master Class panel feature on Social Media for the May issue.  The first thought that came to mind (besides yes) was - timing is everything.  If my title hadn't changed when it did, I may have never gotten this opportunity.

The essential question the reporter asked me was, "How do you best incorporate offline experiences into social media strategy?"

Due to copyright restrictions, while I can't share the content of the story publicly (subscribers to the magazine can access the article in print and online), I will say this: anytime you can engage people online and build value offline, you're doing things the right way.

When the article was released on May 3, I discovered for the first time who the other four panelists were.  To be featured in an article with people who have large social media followings like Todd Defren (@tdefren) and Chad Latz (@chadlatz) is something I will remember for a long time.

As I begin my 3rd month in my new role, I'm so excited of what's to come over the next 8 1/2 years and beyond. Hopefully, the highs will continue to exceed the lows.

#twHEATup's Success Should be Wake-Up Call

Shortly after I wrote my April 21 blog about the first-ever Miami HEAT #twHEATup, I was excited to see the social media voice of the HEAT thought it was informative enough to retweet it herself under the @MiamiHEAT Twitter account.

I also became doubly excited when I saw that of the 311 accounts the team follows, they started following me, which has led to greater interaction between myself and their staff.

Now that a week has passed since South Florida's first-ever team-sponsored tweetup, I reached out to the team to see if they would provide me with details related to the event's success.

With special thanks to Stephanie Hoyos, Internet Services Coordinator for the team, she was able to shed some light on the subject.

For starters, she said the overall response on their social networks has been great and they sold out their inventory of approximately 50 tickets for the $50.00 event, which included a seat in Section 307, a halftime meet-and-greet with the Miami HEAT dancers, and a postgame meet-and-greet with HEAT legend Tim Hardaway.  "We're very happy with the response and we're definitely planning on hosting more #twHEATup events," said Hoyos, which was music to my ears!

Hoyos was kind enough to also provide a photo of an added-value bonus that was included on the front of each envelope the #twHEATup attendees received when they arrived on Friday, April 23:

Inside the 5x7 black envelopes were passes for both meet-and-greet sessions and a Miami HEAT keychain, which was a special gift.  According to Hoyos, the teams' Twitter experts personally handed out the envelopes at the end of the first quarter, which was just in time for the halftime meet-and-greet with the HEAT dancers (and the location and time were printed on the passes).

Then at the end of the game, the #twHEATup attendees had the chance to meet Hardaway, who signed autographs and took pictures, some of which were posted by the team at their Miami Heat Facebook page.  The following picture is from that page:

The only downer, if there was one, is that this meet-and-greet took place shortly after Paul Pierce won Game 3 at the buzzer.  Despite that, it appears the people in this photo and all off the attendees absolutely had fun at the game.

Now that the HEAT have proven a fan tweetup to be a success in the South Florida sports scene and have already indicated they will absolutely do more in the future, the question hopefully isn't IF the Dolphins, Panthers and Marlins will do one, it's WHEN.

Crawling Along: #ChevyPizzaCrawl An Amazing Experience

On Saturday, April 24, I was fortunate enough to be part of an experience known as #ChevyPizzaCrawl.  For those who don't indulge in social media that often, many businesses are starting to partner with one another in unique ways to try and drive their message home in an unobstrusive way.

Earlier this year, Chevrolet partnered with @LionCountry on #ChevyROAR, where several mommy and lifestyle bloggers including @McMommyLive, @TheTinyJEWELBox, @amandastewart and @vicequeenmaria drove around Lion Country Safari in several Chevy vehicles.  The bloggers tweeted during their experience and blogged about it afterwards.

As good as that partnership was, Chevy raised the bar when Stephanie Camargo AKA @midtownchica, who works on Chevrolet's account at the Axis Agency, invited Craig Agranoff AKA @lapp, who handles WorstPizza.com, to create the #ChevyPizzaCrawl.  The first one took place in Palm Beach County and combined five cars with five great restaurants chosen by Craig.  Due to its overwhelming success, Chevy decided to go for Round 2, but this time in Broward County.

Both my wife and I were lucky enough to be chosen in the group of 20 people to participate.  The five vehicles we were invited to test-drive (or ride in when it wasn't our turn to drive) by Ed Morse Sawgrass Chevolet in Sunrise were the Chevy Camaro, Corvette, Equinox, Malibu and Tahoe.

Meanwhile, Craig's itinerary of Pizza would take us to Davie, two stops in Fort Lauderdale, Coconut Creek and Coral Springs.  The word of advice that returning veterans of the first crawl like @jarret23 gave us was simply "PACE YOURSELF - THERE'S FIVE RESTAURANTS!  In exchange for driving and eating, all we were asked to do was tweet using #ChevyPizzaCrawl during the entire event. What a deal!

We started the day in the Camaro, riding over to Antonio's Pizza-Rant in Davie just east of 136 Avenue in the Publix Plaza.  Since it was such a short ride, the driver made a right on State Road 84 and drove down to Weston Road before back-tracking.  The car handled very nicely and, while it's not one I would own at this point in my life, I can see why so many like the Camaro. 

If you click on the website that I linked to their name, it has a very old school feel to it.  That's how this place felt.  It had a very cookie-cutter feel to it.  Don't get me wrong - the wait staff was friendly, and I actually enjoyed the combination of cheese, crust and sauce at this place; however, it was very similar to many pizza places I've been in before.  I don't know that I would go out of my way to go there again.

For the trip to @PizzaFusionFTL, my wife and I rode over in the Malibu.  I was surprised at how much I liked this vehicle.  Among other things, the Dual DVD screens in the back were an unexpected feature.  Our driver managed to miss the exit on I-95 that @TheReal_OnStar gave us.  When we turned around and went back north, they sent us up Griffin east to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the words "You have reached your destination" were said.  Of course, we were nowhere near the restaurant yet, as it's up on Sunrise Boulevard at the Federal Highway northern curve.

When we finally got there, the @PizzaFusion crew had four pies waiting for us.  Known for their organic offerings, I enjoyed the slice I had.  Although several didn't like the Honest Tea we were given, I did in fact enjoy the pomegranate.  All told, its their unique menu and organic flair that make this location memorable.

The third stop was @SlicePizzeria, which came highly recommended by @BeahBunnie.  Located in Fort Lauderdale on SE 1st Street just west of Federal Highway and South of Broward Boulevard, I commandeered the Tahoe for my test-drive turn.  As I currently drive a similar car, this was one I really liked.  It handled very well and the "step-bar" that goes down when you first get into the car is a nice touch.

At Slice, the crew there REALLY got into it and raised the game an entire notch.  Most places typically provide pizza and soda as part of the visit.  Slice provided the following: Pizza, Garlic Knots, Sodas, ICEEs, T-Shirts and a half-stamped lunch card.  The pizza itself was delicious, but what I will remember about this place more was how accommodating they were.  As I have many friends who work or live within two blocks of this restaurant, you can rest assured I will let them know about this amazing find.

Stop #4 would be Amici's Restaurant in Coconut Creek, and it was Sara's turn to drive - she chose the Corvette Grand Sport.  I can admit it now - instead of going Broward Blvd to 95 to Hillsboro Blvd, Sara and I figured how many times in our life are we going to be in a Corvette?  We took the LONG way.  Las Olas Blvd to A1A to Commercial Blvd to Bayview Drive to Cypress Creek Road to 95 to Hillsboro. 

The beach was bustling and we did end up getting stopped by the Commercial Blvd. drawbridge.  The car handled like a dream, and we finally made it over to @AmicisPizzeria about 15 minutes after everyone else.  We were actually familiar with this place because a teacher Sara works with orders from there all the time.  They are located in the plaza next to the Publix Plaza at the SW corner of Lyons and Hillsboro.

Amici's seemed to also understand, like Slice, that the way to our hearts was through free stuff.  In addition to the pizza (which was very tasty and had a delicious pizza sauce) and soda, they gave us each free meatballs, free tiramisu, and a bottle of wine to take home with us.  The Aqueduct Race Track sign hanging on the wall in this restaurant, which reminded me of my dad, made me smile the moment I saw it.  I would definitely go back here.

Finally, for stop #5, my wife and I rode in the Equinox over to @SicilianOven of Coral Springs.  I had never even heard of this vehicle until #ChevyPizzaCrawl, but I was most impressed by this one.  Of all five vehicles, the Equinox is the one I could most likely see myself driving in the future.  It seemed like a crossover vehicle and was spacious.

The Siciilian Oven was previously a DiSalvo's restaurant.  Whereas before the place was very nondescript, it is now quite memorable from the wood brick oven to the amazing array of menu items.  Their chicken wings and salad they gave each of us was a nice touch in that I would have never ordered chicken wings here on my own.  They were quite tasty the way they were made.  The Margherita Pizza I had here was probably my favorite pizza of the day.

At the end of stop #5, Stephanie and her team gave out awards and gift certificates for the best tweets, the best photos, best team spirit and other categories.  We then got one more ride in the Equinox and parted our separate ways.

I applaud Chevy for their innovative way of connecting with a group of people who they knew would tweet and talk about them that day and for the foreseeable future.  In addition, I applaud Craig for making an entire event around pizza tasting across a county.  After all, everyone loves pizza!

In conclusion, it was special day my wife and I won't soon forget, and yes - I DID pace myself!

The TwHEATup Is On!

After writing in this space on April 8 about the San Francisco Giants decision to have a Tweetup at their April 30 game, I mentioned that three of the four local South Florida professional teams were kind enough to let me know they were researching ways to continue increasing their social media activities with their fans in the future.

To that, I wondered aloud as to which South Florida team would be the first to take advantage and hold a TEAM-SPONSORED fan tweetup. (I was reminded two weeks ago some Twitter users staged a small tweetup at a Marlins game late last season but it was not sponsored by the team).

As it turns out, the weight took all of 13 days, as Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel broke the story in her Business of Sports Blog Wednesday afternoon that the @MiamiHEAT (whose Twitter name used to be @MHEAT) were using Game 3 of their NBA First Round Playoff Series against the Boston Celtics to stage the team's first-ever Tweetup.

In fact, they're taking the bold step of branding the event with a special name -  twHEATup.   Kudos to the person in the organization that figured out twHEATup and Tweetup are pronounced the same.

For $50, twHEATup participants will receive:

• Seats in Section 307 (the special twHEATup section for the evening)
• Halftime Meet & Greet with Heat Dancers
• Postgame Meet & Greet with Former Miami Heat legend Tim Hardaway

Although parking is not included, the ticket price for this special event is a savings of between 16 to 40 percent off the normal single ticket price.

Hopefully, our friends with the Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers and Miami Dolphins will follow suit with tweetups in the coming weeks and months now that the Heat has stepped up and determined how to package the event.  I said it was brilliant when the San Francsico Giants did this, and I applaud the Heat for taking a chance on something they haven't done before.

The only remaining decision for the twHEATup may be which hashtag attendees should use at the event, as the ad for the event shows #LETSGOHEAT and #BLACKisBACK.

Either way, hopefully this is the start of a new era in South Florida sports.

Know Your Audience

I was sitting at work today when I received an email from a vendor of ours.  The email template letter began with with three words that caused me to tune out everything else:

Dear Valued Client

In this world where new ways to communicate seemingly evolve each day, to receive a letter with this greeting on it tells me two things about whether you truly believe we're a valued client:


1) You chose convenience over thoughtfulness - Rather than spend the extra 10-15 minutes to mail merge with your customers' last names, to simply have everyone listed as "valued client" makes me feel anything but that way.


2) You chose chest-thumping over caring - Half of the letter from this vendor trumpeted every great thing this company has done during his long and storied history.  Unfortunately for them, I didn't read a single, solitary word once they decided to not identify me by name.

 Now, it could just be I'm overly sensitive to greetings because of the thousands of times in my life I have had people misspell my last name in a greeting (which actually doesn't bother me as much as when people start a letter to me Dear Tony!); however, when I get emails from vendors who have taken the time to learn my first and/or last name, i am certainly going to at least open the email and read it.

The bottom line: If you're calling someone a valued client in your greeting, it's as if you don't know them at all.

Role Model

My father Robert would have turned 79 years old today.  Life has been completely different for me these last 13 months.

This photo is probably my all-time favorite of my dad and I.  On this particular day in March of 2005, me, my brother-in-law Ira and my dad made a journey to Dodgertown in Vero Beach to watch a spring training game.  The tree over my left shoulder gave us shade the entire game, and we liked it so much, my dad had no problem joining us for trips in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (the final year Dodgertown was open before the team abandoned Florida for Arizona).

That's the kind of person my dad was.  If I was interested in something, he became interested in it, too.

He was always a Dunkin' Donuts fan even before I started working with them from a PR standpoint - once I did that, he always made it a point to call me and tell me when he was visiting one for a cup of coffee.

He sat through two heartbreaking FSU losses to Miami in 2000 and 2002 in the upper deck despite being afraid of heights. 

He originally began listening to Meat Loaf and Queen because I liked both groups.

He began using the internet in 2000 while I was still in Tallahassee so he could email me, watch music videos on YouTube and get sports news from ESPN, long past the average age of people who use computers.

He even let me explain Twitter to him, and understood it enough that when I showed him I was quoted in a Sarah Talalay article eight days before he died, he laughed (because the quote was about his short height) and told me he was proud of me.

I miss him the most in the mornings on the way to work - I used to call him religious at 8am to talk about sports, life and whatever else was on his mind or mine.

In short, my dad was my role model and I always try to do everything for my children that he did for me.  I'm happy that my son had a great relationship with him and that he got to spend one year getting to play with my daughter.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. Enjoy the donut!

Proud Papa

Today was my father's unveiling.  It was nice to see so many friends and relatives come out and make it a point even 13 months after his funeral to be part of this solemn occasion.

Sometimes there's things your children do that you will remember for a day or two but quickly forget due to other great memories.

My son did something at the unveiling that 20 years from now I'll remember and still be as proud of him then as I was of him at the ceremony.

When my mother asked if anyone wanted to say any words about my dad AKA Robert AKA Bobby AKA Bob AKA Grandpa, my son raised his hand and walked over to the shiny new headstone which showed my dad was a beloved Son, Father, Grandfather and friend to all.

My son looked down at the headstone and said he misses his grandpa and he will always think of him whenever he watches a New York Jets game.

Then, he did the thing I'll never forget.

He sang Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and even as a six-year-old, not only did he get all of the lyrics right, he changed up home team to "Tigers", my dad's favorite baseball team.

When he concluded, the people that were there with us clapped while I welled up with pride.  Thought my son only knew my dad for five years, they were a great five years.  My son lost his grandpa at the exact same age I lost my grandpa (my dad's father).  The difference is, while I wasn't close to my dad's father, my son enjoyed hanging out with my dad.

When we left the cemetery and got into my wife's car, I told my son how proud I was of him.  He smiled and asked me if I could hand him his Nintendo DSI.

Kids!

A Giant Step

First and foremost, I'm back.

I can't believe I haven't blogged since January 2009. I thought about deleting that entry after reading it over, but I figured that would be wrong.

Why did I stop blogging? Many reasons. My father passed away in March of 2009 and I went into a funk. When I'm at work, ideas come to me without much problem, but at home, the few times I tried to blog, I just couldn't come up with anything to say.

Then it hit me - I'm overthinking.

Some of my friends (@carrieimpactpr, @agustinap) challenged me to get it going once again. One of my friends (@jarret23) started his blog a week ago and has cranked out about one entry a day and is doing great coming up with ideas.

So I decided it's important for me to do this for myself and not get hung up on whether I have the perfect topic.

Which brings me to the San Francisco Giants and their April 30 Tweetup.

Surfing the internet this past weekend, I stumbled across the ad to the right. For $20 on April 30 in San Francisco, a fan would receive:

• Panel discussion with social media experts (which, it turns out, one of whom is one of the Twitter co-founders)
• First 1,000 fans receive official "Follow Us" Tweetup T-Shirt
• Private pre-game Tweetup Party
• Seats in the special Tweetup section
• Partial Proceeds go to a local non-profit

When I saw this, the first thought that came to mind: BRILLIANT.

Finally, a sports team came up with a way to marry two things that benefit them in the long run: Putting a fair value on a package that would cause them to make money, and reaching out to a community of passionate fans who probably follow the Giants online, like I do with the #Rays.

The full details: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ticketing/special_events/tweetup.jsp

What struck me as interesting about this is that Sarah Talalay, the talented Sports Business Writer from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writer, wrote a front-page sports story about our four local South Florida sports teams in March 2009, and the only team at that time with any true social media presence was the Miami Heat.

It's 13 months later, and when I reached out to all four sports teams (@MHEAT, @Marlins411, @MiamiDolphins, @FlaPanthers), three of them were kind enough to let me know they are researching ways to continue increasing their social media activities with their fans.

The bottom line: Anything that makes people feel part of a community and creates goodwill between a sports team and its fans is greatly appreciated.

The race is on - which South Florida team will be the first to take advantage?