Happy Holidays!

I haven't been blogging for a while. Sorry. I haven't had any bus rides in about 6 weeks and I took a break from donating plasma. Those times are when I get most of my writing done. Coaches put in long hours so I am very protective of my family time. I decided from the beginning that the blogging gig will not interfere with my job and it will not take away any of my time with the wife and kids. Them's the rules.

Plus, my laptop is in the shop and I don't know when I will get it back. It is pretty darn hard to blog from an iphone. I've tried. Can't upload pics and the keyboard causes me to spiral into madness.

I just wanted to make a quick post to say "happy holidays" to those of you out there who are paying attention. My Christmas break has been amazing. The Wii has entered my home and I have to say that it is a blast. As a certified PE teacher, I am amazed with the Wii fit plus. We had a lot of fun creating our Mii's. We even made one for the dog. Check out my Mii picture above. They even had my exact eyebrows and a perfect winter goatee and stache. The winter facial hair is an Alaskan habit to help keep my face from freezing off. I used to have an awesome picture of my dad with icicles hanging from his beard. He worked on a crabber in the Bering Sea for a few years.

Also, don't forget that the most important poll in swimming history is about to close. The suits are going away on the 1st. If you want to speak up to try to keep them, the poll on the right is your best bet. Methinks the bloggers have played a larger part in the decision making process than the big-wigs would like to admit.

I hope you are all having a fun break and that training is going well. Let me know if you have any monster sets you want to brag about. My girls team is scared to death right now. Yay!

Good Lick at the Meet, Dude!

I just got an iphone and it took a little while to get used to the texting. Auto-completing words makes it even more susceptible to errors. Now I understand why I have received so many text messages from people that have the same somewhat humorous mistake.

About twenty people this year have wished me "GOOD LICK" instead of "good luck."

Depending on who the message is coming from, that can be really funny, or just downright uncomfortable. Ya know?

And do you want to know something really uncomfortable? Doing a google image search for "lick" without the "safe for work" search settings enabled on your computer. I am pretty sure these were the only two pictures that came up that weren't just downright disgusting. Although there were a few people who could actually lick their elbows, and that's kind of cool, only because I can't even come close.

Search filters are a good thing. Auto-complete, not so much.

...because beer and excellence don't always go hand in hand.

Back in college, I was proud to be the guy buying the four dollar twelve pack. It was exciting for me when someone would try to convince me to grow up and try their fancy premium imports, or even worse Zima, because it was my opportunity to wax poetic the virtues of my favorite cheap box of aluminum cans. The most solid argument I ever had was “nothing beats first place, dude!” There was nothing they could say. I win. Every time. Pabst had a blue ribbon right on the can!

So, I got to thinking last night about PBR, and how their marketing strategy has been riding on a blue ribbon they won way back in 1893. Think about it! That is over a hundred years! Spitz barely got 30 years out of his performance in Munich! I feel great for a few weeks after a good race, but I have never been so excited about it that I could carry that momentum for so long!

Then I got to thinking that the only thing cooler than a blue ribbon… is a gold medal. So, then, naturally… if Michael Phelps wanted to market something called 8 Gold Medal Beer, one could assume that his marketing strategy would be solid for close to 1000 years. Right? Makes me want to brew and sell my own beer. Damn. Shoulda trained harder and won 8 gold medals. Coulda built a brewing dynasty.

Then I started thinking about how beer helps our self-esteem. Americans lead the world in high self-esteem, and I am sure that beer plays a large part in that. I want to make people feel better about themselves with my own unique brew. Not that my self-image needs any help, mind you… I just started feeling a little sad for those people who were never good enough to win a blue ribbon or a gold medal. Granted, the reason PBR still sells is that people want to associate themselves with that kind of excellence. I feel like I am the Jason Lezak of an awesome Olympic beer relay when I have had enough of them. But, shouldn’t we also have a beer for those other people who maybe aren’t as awesome as me and Michael Phelps? You know, those people who never got more than a heat winner or best time ribbon? And aren’t there more of those consumers out there, who might be intimidated by a beer that inspires an excellence that they might never achieve? Wouldn’t the masses relate better to a beer more suited for them, that is maybe grounded with a little more realistic expectations?

And that’s when I realized I had the beginnings of a new brew that is guaranteed to sell to the average Joe. I am gonna make bank with this one. Don Draper has nothing on me…

And then I got to thinking that all this thinking was starting to make my head hurt, and I probably better just get to bed before I think up something really stupid.