Holla At A Playa...Or We'll Come to You

Despite the midst of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the focus has shifted from who’s in the Sweet 16 to who will return next year. The attention drawn by Ohio State University’s Greg Oden and Texas forward Kevin Durant has landed several basketball executives in hot water…actually just a slap on the wrist. From Michael Jordan, Danny Ainge to Don Nelson, they all have been slapped with a fine of between $15-30,000. I’d say that is a small cost to say, “hey Kevin Durant, we want you here.”

Of course all this would not have been necessary if the National Basketball Association did not impose a requirement that requires you to be 19 year old or one year removed from high school.

Maybe the hope was to send them to college for at least one year and hope that the college coaches and professors would be able to convince those student athletes to stay in school longer. But regardless, how could you turn down millions of dollars to say I need to go to school? And then say I should go to school for four years and get a diploma but risk getting injured, which could lead me to never make millions.

The real hope was not to hope for better education for the blue chip stars, it was just so the NBA can appease the naysayer of high school All-Americans going straight to the pros. The sudden increase in blue-chip talent has elite programs using and losing great talent in less than 2 years. What does that mean for the rest of the teams? The verdict isn’t in yet. But while elite teams substitute All-Americans from year to year, other schools are losing out on the opportunity to land quality talent. Well, everyone except USC. O.J. Mayo’s representation insisted that he play at USC. Coach Tim Floyd wasn’t even thinking about the most coveted player in the nation but Mayo’s desire to become legendary as a player and make connections to launch his “famous career” at USC a reality.

How different would PR look if we had straight from high school talent? It wouldn’t work but maybe in a few years when social media gives these kids all sorts of talents that PR firms will need, that may be a different story.

Survival of the Fittest - Newspaper Style

San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Lazarus wrote on Wednesday about the lack of a functional business model for the online portion of the newspaper despite growing audiences and decreases in readers wanting to get their fingers dirty. Lazurus said “newspapers' online operations typically account for only about 5 percent of overall revenue.” He offers several of his ideas for how to make online newspapers more profitable.

Now, I’ll offer mine.

• I already know that Bill Gates is a billionaire and Microsoft is very profitable. Let’s hear about what smaller companies are doing to change the landscape of particular industries. I want to know what solutions exist to stop cyber crimes like phishng and man-in-the-middle attacks, not about how Microsoft fell short of expectations this quarter and only made $4 billion while Gates was sleeping last night.
• Leverage assets you already have and get assets you need. I don’t blame publications for laying off reporters for cost cutting measures. However, newspapers need to better integrate with local news channels. More and more local news stations have Web sites that have great video interviews but some very poor articles. Sometimes I’ll watch it on the news or hear about it the next day and I want to go back to the clip. But other times, I’ll see a video and want to hear about what’s being written about it. But if I can find it all in one place, then that would be even better. This will attract more readers and viewers and enable revenues to go up on both sides. So, you might be asking, wouldn’t television revenues go down? Not really, unless you have Internet clips in HD, it should remain steady. Then get some young guys who surf the Web frequently to find creative new multimedia techniques for the latest vehicles for news delivery.
• Personalize newspaper content. This is a challenge and may not be doable. When I went away to college, I wanted to read my local newspapers. Primarily for the sports section but also for some of the local news. With so many connected newspapers you might think it’d be possible to live outside the Bay Area and get my daily dose of the A’s, 49ers and Warriors while still getting my fingers dirty. I had to instead resort to viewing stories on the Internet. And instead of getting my local news through family and friends, I can read what is happening beyond my block. Now I can’t get enough of the Trojans. Fight on!

Zito Robbing the Cradle Legally

On Friday, The Big Lead reported former USC Trojan, Oakland A's starter and now the richest pitcher in the majors and new San Francisco Giant, Barry Zito was seen together with Hillary Duff. She's 19 and he's 28. Now let's not jump to conclusions. A picture together doesn't mean a relationship but you have to admit, a 28 year old having a meaningful conversation with a 19 year old doesn't happen too often. I'm sure she's probably having drinks and it's not like the typical 18 and over club w/ dry bars since its celebrity studded...but they just don't look comfortable being photographed together. What could they hiding something?

Todd Bozeman Upset Over Deli Meat Selection

After attending USC, I've become a Trojan for life. However, growing up as a kid, I loved the Cal Bears. Especially in basketball with stars like Jason Kidd, Lamont Murray and Shareef Abdur-Rahim leading the way. In 1996, facing recruiting violations, Cal coach Todd Bozeman was banned by the NCAA for over 8 years. He made his return to the hardwood last year with Morgan State. Recently, after losing a 10-point lead against Longwood, he wanted to give his kids 52 Philly cheesesteak and chicken sandwiches. After being told, the diner couldn't handle that request and agreeing to the offer of a variety platter, he went to pick up the order. However, to his displeasure, he found ham and turkey sandwiches not up to his standards and started yelling and shaking the female assistant manager. Now he faces assault charges.

Read it here on Deadspin.

I myself am a big fan of philly cheesesteaks. I'm not so big on the ham but I would of settled on a turkey sandwich with a little cranberry sauce.

But seriously, who does a takeout order when you're on the road and why is the head coach picking up the food? And finally, since when did an NCAA team start having 52 mouths to feed?

Way to go Todd. You're well on your way to showing your a winner and deserve a chance at a top program.

Who's the Biggest Loser? Troy Murphy or Mike Dunleavy?

The Golden State Warriors took another step in the positive direction. They got rid of two very inconsistent players, dumped some salary($25 million and a few years) and got the free agent they most coveted during the offseason - Read it here. Forwards Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and guard Keith McLeod were passed on to the Indiana Pacers for Al Harrington, guard/forward Stephen Jackson, guard Sarunas Jasikevicius and forward Josh Powell. Overall, the Warriors become more athletic, have another big man on the roster who can score and a couple guards who can be decent role players. We also may get slightly better free throw shooting. But the real benefit is the magical ability to dump Dunleavy who should be embarassed to be called a #3 pick and Murphy who is an overpaid jackass. Plus I hate Notre Dame. Fight on! I bet Dunleavy senior is happy he didn't have to take his son either.

Natali Del Conte's Secret New Project

I don't know what Natali's new gig is, but I'm dying to find out. I worked with her when she was in public relations and we're both Trojans. Fight On! I pitched her when she was with the SF Examiner and exchanged a few emails when she was at PC Magazine. But I haven't spoken to her recently. If you've been following the news, you saw Mike Arrington revealed last month on CrunchNotes that Natali left TechCrunch after three weeks. This was followed by a blog in the SF Chronicle that got Natali's side of the story. AppScout says she's working on a "top-secret tech-internet-video-blogging project." I'll probably end up finding out what her new gig is through some blog but maybe she will pick up her cell and reveal the big secret...