I wrote a blog post today on the AddThis blog about crunching data in preparation for the 2012 South Carolina primary this weekend. I was curious to see which states showed the most interest in Mitt Romney. I also was interested in seeing how political television ads were influential in increasing interest in neighboring states. For example, the map below shows interest in Romney is strong in Massachusetts and Georgia because TV markets in both states overlapped with primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina. This is just the beginning of the insights we can provide.
One of the top NFL games that season was the NFC Championship game between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco. The 49ers were the favorites to win, led by Joe Montana, Roger Craig and Jerry Rice. The Giants had a great defense but a boring ball control offense. In 1991, defense won championships and it was the Giants defense that gave them the upset victory, by knocking Joe Montana out of the game and causing a fumble as the 49ers were running out the clock. The Giants won the game a few minutes later with a field goal. The win in San Francisco propelled the Giants to the Super Bowl where they defeated the Buffalo Bills.
21 years later, we are right back to that NFC championship game. The players are different but the stakes are the same. No one will confuse Alex Smith with Joe Montana, but some might think the Giants defense is just as good as the 1991 model, and they are probably right. For those wanting to take a trip down memory lane, here is a YouTube clip of the game highlights:
We had a great idea back in September when we were creating the 5th Birthday Infographic for AddThis, and planning the year end infographic we release in December each year, that wouldn’t it be great if we could give our publishers their own infographic. The design and development team of Jeff, Foo and Aaron did a great job of getting these graphics out to our publishers this week. Now publishers who use AddThis can have a nice recap for their 2011 that they can post on their blogs Here is mine:
After flying between 150,000 and 200,000 miles every year since 2006, this year I barely flew 10% of that. So it is with great sadness that I say farewell to United, my 1K status, free upgrades, free checked bags and fast lines at the airport. I am now a free agent in the airline world, willing to fly whomever will get me from point A to point B the fastest, most conveniently and cheapest.
I miss flying around the world even when it meant delayed flights, missed connections and lost luggage. This week there were two cool videos that were posted to satisfy my flying needs. The first video is a behind the scenes look at what happens to your luggage from the time you check your bag to the time it is delivered to you.
The second video is a cool behind the scenes look at an average day at Denver International Airport, an airport I flew through way to often in my 5+ years flying United.
For years I have wanted to go to the Turks and Caicos. Located 650 miles southeast of Miami, Florida, and part of the British Overseas Territories the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCIs) the TCIs have the most amazing color of water and the most pristine beaches I have ever seen.
As of December 2011, there are no non-stop flights from Washington, DC to TCI, so we hopped a prop plane up to Newark, NJ to catch our flight down to paradise. I caught a great sunrise picture departing National Airport:
After a 3 hour flight from Newark, we arrived in Provo which is the largest city in the TCIs. One of the most popular places to stay on Provo is an area called Grace Bay and is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world.
The beaches were completely empty and the color of the water definitely lived up to its reputation.
The downside of the TCIs and Provo is that the cost of food and other goods on the island is in some cases 50% higher than in the US. In one store I saw a container of Breyer’s Ice Cream selling for $12.50!
The cost of food aside, the privacy, solitude and beauty of the TCIs definitely make the trip worth it. To see it from above is even more beautiful, here is a video of our departure:
2011 was an incredible year for social sharing. I spent the free time over the past 2 weeks processing incredible amounts of data (we process 70+ terabytes per week!), and Jeff did an awesome job turning my spreadsheets into a great infographic. I am really excited to share with you the great nuggets we were able to find amongst the 11MM+ publishers and 1.2B+ users who share through AddThis.
Last month when I wrote about Penn State University and morals, I had to re-write that post a few times because my original draft was very angry. I was angry at so many people, and I wasn’t even sure why I was angry, I did not personally know any of the people involved. When I stepped back, I realized my reaction was due to shock…I was shocked that Coach Sandusky could do what he is accused of to children and, Coach Paterno and Penn State could turn a blind eye.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving, and now there is a similar scandal erupting at Syracuse, my alma mater, class of 1999. Again, I was shocked when I heard these allegations. I spent 4 years working in the athletic department, I got to know Jim Boeheim, his wife Juli, and the coaching staff. I never saw or heard anything to indicate that Coach Fine was abusing children.
The reaction that I had, and the inactions of Penn State University and definitely the inflammatory remarks from Jim Boeheim come from the same place, shock. See, we never really know a person. You may be friends or work colleagues with someone for 30 years, but you cannot possibly know everything about that person. I first learned this lesson when my rabbi was caught on Dateline NBC to Catch A Predator back in 2005. I kept asking myself, how could this happen? I knew this man, I traveled to Israel with him, and was friends with his daughter, but you see, you never really know a person.
Recently inspired by an old Top Gear episode where the hosts, Clarkson, Hammond, May, and The Stig race across London in various modes of transportation, I faced a similar opportunity going to and from NYC. For the past 4 years I have had to travel regularly to NYC from DC for work and I go back and forth on how to travel between the two cities.
Last week I decided the time had come, it was time to see which mode of transportation was fastest home from NYC to DC. While we were not as scientific as the Top Gear crew, we definitely discovered whether flying is faster than the train.
We left midtown at 445PM, I was headed to LaGuardia for a Delta Shuttle flight at 630PM, my competitor left for Penn State trying to make the 5PM Acela train, but knew he would most likely take the 6PM Acela train.
It took me 45 minutes to get to the airport, just missing the 530PM shuttle, but enough time to grab a drink at the bar. It turned out that my racing companion made the 5PM train which meant that he would be south of Philly before I even left the ground. I was doubting my choice.
Finally it was time to board, and get under way. We took off on time and the pilot announced a flight time of 33 minutes. When we flew over downtown Baltimore 20 minutes later at 650PM, I knew I had taken a lead. We touched down and were at the gate by 710PM, the train well that was still 40 minutes from DC.
While I had to go through security at LaGuardia, had no Wi-Fi and had to sit in an airport for 45 minutes, I still got to DC 40 minutes faster than the train. Now the train has benefits, it was slightly cheaper than my plane ticket, I can get work done (a pro tip, sit close to the food car because that is where the wi-fi connection is strongest).
The uncontrollable factors in the race include the cab ride between the city and the airport and weather. I find that the cab ride out to the airport is always easier than into the city, so it may be the case where the train is faster when going to NYC. When the weather is bad (thunderstorms in the summer, snow in the winter) the train is a better bet than the plane. In this race, I had little traffic and perfect weather.
I waited a few days before writing about what has gone on at Penn State University because the first 2 attempts to write this post came across too angry. I am angry at Jerry Sandusky who has been accused of harming so many young children, I am angry at the former Penn State quarterback, and at the time a grad assistant who witnessed one of the alleged assaults but only went to Joe Paterno, I am angry at Joe Paterno for not reporting the assaults to the police, and finally the leadership, or lack there of, at Penn State to take these statements seriously.
What happened at Penn State is that they forgot that as leaders they should have done more than the bare minimum. Mike McQueary, was a quarterback at Penn State. He led 10 other men into battle each week in the Big Ten Conference, and when the games ended, he became a grad assistant coach. Why only tell Joe Paterno? If someone was robbing the PSU Bookstore would you tell coach or campus police? The athletic director and finance guy just sat on the news. And then there is Joe Pa, he did nothing. Sure he told the AD, but as the leader of 80+ student athletes, and dozens of coaches, he essentially did nothing. If Joe Paterno saw a person injured on the street, would he try to help? He has no morals, and was more interested in protecting his image, his university and his friend, Jerry Sandusky.
My heart aches for the victims and how their lives have been impacted by this. In a community as small as Happy Valley, PA, I initially was shocked that no one had discovered this sooner, however, after reading Chris Korman’s article it became clearer. At Penn State University the only morals that leadership had when it came to their football program was money.
The Big East Conference is on the brink of extinction. The reek of desperation coming from the Providence, RI headquarters is overwhelming at this point. The same week the conference, which was started by schools located in the Eastern Timezone, went and invited Boise State in Idaho to join the conference. By Friday morning, the conference filed a lawsuit against West Virginia University to prevent them from leaving the conference at the end of the school year.
Let’s quickly rewind. The Big East has been under attack since 2003 when the ACC came after two of the key football members in Virginia Tech and Miami to leave the Big East. This upheaval caused the conference to add inferior teams and put in place rules that said if any other team were to leave the conference they would have to pay $5M to exit the conference and wait 27 months before departing.
Fast forward to 8 weeks ago, and Syracuse and Pitt decided they wanted out because they were concerned they would be left without a seat at the table of big conference football. I said at the time this was a brilliant move, and 4 weeks later I still think it was an awesome move. The league said Syracuse and Pitt had to wait 27 months to leave, which they made no comment on, and they did so purposely I am sure. Now West Virginia wants out to move to the Big 12, again great move by West Virginia, but this time, both West Virginia and the Big 12 say WVU starts play in the league next year. WVU immediately sues the Big East to get out of the 27 month waiting period, and that brings us to today.
Here is what Mountaineers do. As soon as they can, work with the Big 12 to put together the football schedule for 2012 and release it publicly. West Virginia sets the dates, announces ticket sales, start scheduling TV coverage. I can see it now, next September, lowly UConn shows up in Morgantown and finds their locker room occupied by Iowa State.
Syracuse, Pitt and fans of each team are just sitting back with a bowl full of popcorn watching how all of this is going to play out. Talking with a friend who is in the know at Syracuse believes that there is a 50/50 chance that they will be in the ACC starting in 2012, thanks to West Virginia though he believes the odds have dropped. The league is going to get injunctions and prevent all 3 from leaving until 2013. The Big East should just move on, they are starting to look like Glen Close in Fatal Attraction. Give up!
