American Airlines has no priority, they are terrible. 

I had to fly out of Columbus Airlport to get to Dallas, and my mom got American Airlines tickets...  Big mistake...  They are the only Airlines to fly to Dallas though, but still.

Side note real quick.  Whats with all of these business guys that walk around the airport like they own the place?  They think that since they dress up that they are better than everyone else..  Well I have news for them, I am better than them.  What do they have to say about that?

Talk about overcrowded, they didn't even have enough seats I don't think.  The 3 hour flight seemed like 3 days.

So I finally get called to go on the plane, I'm like the last group.  There is no space for my freaking one carry on backpack.  I have to go like searching all over the plane for any open spot.  I finally find a spot but my straps apparently hit some old guy and he got all huffy and puffy.

I get to my seat, and I have the window seat so I politely ask the person if I can get by.  They get up and I have so much trouble getting in.  My freaking head hits the ceiling of the plane as is, so I put my two hands around this business casual guy and yank his seat to help me get in.  Lets just say he didn't like that.  Well I have news for him, he's has a huge bald spot.

Then bald spot puts his chair all the way back, I didn't even have any room before he even moved his chair back.  So I was sitting like sideways, and I even got a cramp which was not fun.  I didn't confront him because I am not confrontational to chumps like him, not worth it.  It would be to easy, I deal with guys like him for brunch, no biggy.

The plane takes like 30 minutes to take off because there's like sleet on the plane.  I love how they try to deceive everyone on the flight.  "Oh folks, I'm the captain.  We will take off in 10 minutes."  Bullshit, more like 20.

I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the flight, so I tell the person next to me to let me out please.  So I am walking down to the bathroom and they have that drink cart in the way.  They get all huffy and puffy that I am causing them trouble.  I AM THE CUSTOMER, YOU TEND TO ME!!!.  They are like "sir, please wait a second".  First of all, I am not sir, second of all...  Hurry up.  They take forever, I am just standing there in the middle of the aisle awkwardly standing there with everyone staring at me.  If they knew my status, they wouldn't have the nerves to stare at me like that, if they only knew.   If I am in a situation like this anywhere else, I usually get out my cell phone and act like I'm texting.  But there is no service in the airplane so I would just be looking like a fool.  So 3 minutes goes by, and they finally let me get by. 

The Airlines service sucks, they need to get their shenanigans together.  Stop cutting jobs, your staff is very angry and is being mean to me. 

In my SASM 201 class, we had a lesson on the one and only Mark Cuban.   We talked about the ways he has made a positive impact on the Mavericks organization.

Herzberg's Two Factor Theory of motivation

Motivation factor: This means the ways you motivate your employees to be able to move up the ranks in the organization. Also recognition for your achievement, and interest in the job.

Hygiene factor: Salary/ Working conditions.

Cuban is a prime example of both of these factors. He motivates his employees to do their best, and makes them interested in his job. 

The hygiene factor is an interesting one, because Cuban does this perfectly.  Not only does he have flat screens and gaming systems in the players lockers, but he does nice gestures to the other team.

He doesn't put out the crappy visitor towels in the visitors locker room, he gives them the nicest, softest towels out there.  He knows they will be stolen, but this gesture engraves in the back of the mind when they become a free agent.  

Will that gesture alone make them sign with Dallas?  No.  But small things do count.

My professor made a GREAT comparison to Cuban.  Daniel Snyder of the Redskins is the same type of owner who is willing to spend money and is very outspoken.  He just hasn't had the same type of success as Cuban has.

This is the part which made me mad in class.  People said that Cuban was responsible for making the Mavericks a world class organization.  I quickly got involved and asked a few simple questions.

Who traded for the draft rights For Dirk?

Who convinced Dirk to come to America?

Who traded for Nash and Finley?

Who made this Dallas offense exciting and fun to watch?

Don Nelson

And I knew AJM would be proud of me for standing up for the greatest coach of this teams history...

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We had a speaker series for the Sports Management program on Friday.  This just made me even happier that I came to Ohio University.  The people that come out of this program are beyond amazing.  Not only did Jeremy Fulley( the most respected Athletic Director in the country out of Florida) and the assistant GM from the Giants, but countless people from the sport industry.

The people they chose from the speaker series were only 2-4 years removed from the program.

One of the speakers I saw was a girl who just two years removed out of the undergraduate program, she is the head of sponsorship for the Lake Eerie Monsters.  She was with the Cleveland Cavilers but switched over when Dan Gilbert bought the Monsters.  She said something very interesting.  You job should include three factors.

-Something that you can be the best in the world at.

-Something that fuels your engine.

-Something that you love doing.

The other speaker that stood out was the marketing director for National City Bank.  He was just the man involved in signing a multi million dollar dead with the Detroit Pistons for the official sponsor.  So whenever you see a pistons logo or name, it will say "presented by National City Bank".  He is doing this type of stuff at the old age of 30.  This deal happened 2 days before he spoke.

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This is what I love about this school.  The professors are the best in the business.  One of the newer ones is David Ridpath, who was a assistant athletic director of Marshall when Randy Moss, Bryan Leftwhich and Chad Pennington came through.

He is now suing the school for a million dollars.  He was told to keep quiet when they were giving athletes such as Randy Moss grades for doing nothing, and he went forward.  The NCAA decides to keep quiet about what they want.

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Ive been pretty busy lately, I am a team manager for the basketball team which I think is a great opportunity for me.  With Ohio not a big time program, I am able to really get involved in this program since they don't hire all these different positions.  They rely on the team managers more than other big time programs.

Listening to John Groce in practice every day is amazing.  If you don't know who that is, he was the assistant coach for Ohio State.  He was like their offensive coordinator in a way, and got credit for brining in Greg Oden and Mike Connolly. 

His offense is like the Phoenix Suns exactly.  they do drills that Steve Nash does exactly and talks in terms of their players all the time.  I think he is a genius, and won't be surprised when he is taking a big time job in the next few years.

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This stuff is keeping me pretty busy lately, but I like being busy. 

Its probably good so I am not bothering everyone on this board all the time like the good old days.

But I hope everyone is doing as good as a Rangers fan could be!

"Wright, the Texas A&M product considered the “bright spot of camp’’ by coach Rick Carlisle, has obviously earned rotation minutes. Wright, who came to Dallas in the Kidd trade, isn’t locked into the first-team job by any means; there will be a temptation for Carlisle to rely on a more “known quality’’ like Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse.

But. … we can hope, can’t we? Wright is 6-7, is athletic, is a finisher, has handles, can play a little defense and has been working on his shot. Stack and Jet off the bench would make that group special. And one or both of them might still be on the floor at game’s end.

But an injection of something different from years past at the 2? Worth a shot."

His line for the night?

9 points (4-4), 4 assts, 3 steals and 3 boards.

Wright is a guy I have always liked, and thought he was the bright spot in the Jason Kidd trade.  I said last year that we will look back and say that Wright was a HUGE steal in that trade...

Does Dallas finnally have a legit SG?

Why yes.

Is anyone into Sports betting?

I never gave it really much thought until this week.

My roomate just started and bet on a few games for NFL this weekend.  He made 50 dollars off of the games.

Then last night he bet on The Cubs winning and the two teams scoring over 9 runs.  At the same time he bet on the Phillies beating Atlanta and the two teams scoring under 9 runs.

It was funny, because in the 9th inning, a guy hit what looked like a home run that would have made it go over 9 runs.  They called it a HR and my roommate flipped out and I thought he was going to kill himself.  The umpires then got together and took back the HR call.

He won 250 dollars.

So anyone bet on any types of sports? 

Care to share any stories on winning or losing money on games?

Who does this guy think he is?

First of all, he owes his soul to this organization for sticking with him through his complete shit play and his injuries. 

"I don't know what happened last year," Arias said. "I want to forget about last year."

You don't know what happened last year?  Lets start with you measly body getting injured like it always does.

I'm reading this DMN article about this guy and it is making me sick. 

"It's my passion to play shortstop," Arias said. "But I'll play anywhere."

Ok, do I also need to remind him how many errors he had at shortstop?  Yeah, like 6 high fives worth.  IN AA.

"Maybe one day I'll play every day with another team," Arias said.

Oh, its nice to know you are so dedicated to this organization that you are already thinking about where you are going to play next.

Ive never liked this kid, he thinks he is so cool because he was part of the A-Rod deal.  Know what?  Well I have news, you are a nobody Arias, A nobody.

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Alright, you know how my wallet and stuff got lost?  I called them and told them to send me a new card which they did.  They gave me a new pin and so I went to the ATM and the pin didn't work.  I stood there doing it like 20 times getting more and more angry.  Then I was doing it again, and the damn machine ATE the card and said that the bank requested that it take it.  I get pissed.

So I started a chase account here, which is good because I was getting annoyed paying 6 dollars every time I use an ATM machine here(no Bank of America's here)

The people at chase are pretty slimy, all hidden fee's and shit.  I avoided all this stuff, but banks are slimy people.

Walmart pisses me off.  They think they are so slick with their 6 dollars an hour salary, they think they have power.  I went with a few people at 4:30 in the morning and want to ride the electric wheelchairs or whatever.  So we start riding them and they start yelling to stop.  I'm like no, I'm going like 1 mile per hour I think you can walk over here.  They come over and tell me to get off.  I say no, I am a paying customer and we are the only people in the store so its not that big of a deal. 

Then the other night, I go with different people and I start throwing balls around.  My friend throws one at one of the signs that hangs from the ceiling over the frozen food section and the sign falls.  I see this guy with a few people cracking up, and I'm like "hey that guy looks familiar".  My ex is like "thats our sociology professor".  I start cracking up, our professor is 24 years old and looks like your typical frat guy.  Its just funny because I didn't recognize who he was at first.  Well anyway, I go up to the front of the store and get confronted by these walmart employees.  They are like "hand over you alls balls".  I was like "no, I'm buying this".  Long story short, they got pissed.  They know I hide balls all over the store whenever I go which is like everyday.  Those people hate me there, I don't care though. 

Who are they?

Who be me?

Thats what I thought.

Not only is the NBA getting a hit from the donaghy scandal, but now there is worry about keeping their stars in the U.S.A.

Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar, Carlos Arroyo, Jorge Garbajosa, Earl Boykins and Juan Carlos Navarro

What do all of these players have in common?  They left the NBA to play overseas for more money.  Why is this?  there is no cap where they are playing.  Some of these owners overseas are  some of the richest people in the world. 

They are willing to drop 40 or 50 million a year on players such as Lebron and Kobe.  Would Kobe and Lebron consider that?  Definite yes.

When Kobe was asked if he would go overseas for the right amount of money, he responded "You can't turn down $40 million (a year), I don't care who you are," Bryant said. "If someone turns down 40, I'm beating them up."

Lebron was also all ears when asked if he would go elsewhere in 2010, as he said "I haven’t been offered that, I haven’t talked to anybody," James said. "It’s just rumors?" When I asked him if he liked hearing them, he smiled and said: "I like hearing good rumors, not bad rumors. That’s a good rumor."

D Wade was also asked the same question when he responded "They throw 30, 40, 50 million a year at me? I can't turn that down," said Heat star Dwyane Wade, a free agent in 2010.

The thing is that overseas owners are willing to pay the dollars to get world class superstars on their teams, these owners are some of the most powerful men in the world.  How can Kobe or Lebron turn down 50 million a year when the most they can be offered in the NBA is 20 million?

So is this the end of the worldly status of the NBA?  The power is already switching, can Euro basketball get bigger?  The fan base is there, and it can only get bigger if they bring in American superstars. 

Former Mav Pops Mensu Botsu is a fan favorite as they chant his name every game and treat him like a god. 

How would Kobe Bryant or Lebron James be treated?

Boston Globe

Arizona Republic

New York Times

Dallas Morning News

ESPN.com

I don't even know where to begin, I am so stressed out right now.

Lets start from yesterday.  I was walking down the street and somehow I lost my wallet.  My wallet had everything in it including my school ID which is used for meals and to get into buildings, My debit card, all my cash, and my Texas drivers license which I need to get on airplanes.

I have no cash right now which is not good since I need to buy all this stuff ect.  My new bank card doesn't get here for 8 days so I have to wait.  Actually, I have 21 dollars, and I need to buy books for classes and other stuff.

Thats not even the bad part.  So my last final was today for this summer session.  I drank that 5 hour energy stuff last night to study some and it felt good for awhile and then it just messed me up.  It made me like drugged tired.  I set my time for my alarm for the next day, but I didn't slide the thing over to actually set the alarm. 

My class is 8-10, I didn't wake up until 9:30.  My professor understood my situation which is more than I could ever ask for.  I finished my exam because she gave us extra time, but that class was hard anyway and I don't think I'm going to do very well.

This is the most I have ever been stressed out in my life, I basically lost all of my identification, and all monetary sources.  Its just that I am busy 24 hours a day it seems, I always have something to do or somewhere to be and its just a change. 

It takes me a long time to get used to things and this is no different.  I am 4 states away from my home, in college.  I'm still trying to figure out how to study because I have never had to in my life.  I didn't study nearly as much as I should have this session of summer school, and I'm feeling the side effects hitting me right now.

Now I see why people smoke, I used to wonder why.  This stress is building up inside of me and it just gets more and more. It just seems like everything is crashing at once.  I don't know what to do anymore.

And its not like I hate this place.  I love this place and school, I would pick going to school here than any place in the world.  I love everyone here, they are nice and chill people.  I'm just trying to get used to this environment and how to be successful here.

To make this kind of a on topic diary, I will tell a story.

I had forgotten the HR derby was on TV a few weeks ago.  So I was coming in the lobby and all these Japanese exchange students where watching it.  These were the same kids that wouldn't talk to me before.  So I started watching it with them and I could feel us bonding.  When Josh Hamilton came up, I told them he would dominate.  During that first round, they were amazed at him. 

This is just another example of how sports are the universal language.  It pulls two cultures together into one common interest.  Now I am great friends with many of them, we even play baseball together outside.

It is amazing how a sport can make two different cultures come together and become great friends.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_yankees_rodriguez

Another example of open marriages not working.

This comes just a few months after the birth of their newborn.

This is what happens when both spouses cheat on each other.  Recently, Cynthia has been seen with Lenny Kravitz in Paris holding hands.                                                   

A-ROD DOES NOT HAVE A PRENUP, SUCKS TO BE HIM RIGHT NOW.

NEW YORK - Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez and his wife have split less than three months after the birth of the couple's second daughter, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

The story on the newspaper's Web site comes amid reports linking Rodriguez to Madonna. Rodriguez refused to address the topic on three occasions Tuesday, once saying "no" when asked if he had any comment.