Armando Sucks and the Fans Let it Be Known

I actually didn't mind the signing of Armando Benitez but like most of Brian Sabean's moves, it sucked. I'm not saying this because I'm an A's fan. I use to work for the Giants. I'll admit it. When I first got out of college, I was a freelance sports writer but I also needed some extra money since I was making more money expensing my miles than the articles I was writing. Getting back to Benitez, the Giants should have traded him in spring training instead of waiting until now. Or else a guy like Sabean can only get a middle reliever and be forced to pay more than 93% of Benitez' remaining salary for year...about $4.7 million of the $5 million owed to the finger pointer. But the fans are happy, they basically booed Benitez out of town.

Okay, I'll be honest. I wasn't too happy that the A's got stuck with Jason Kendall and his salary for Arther Rhodes...but Billy's still got a much better track record than Sabean.

Dilbert on Public Relations

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this. I'm a very big advocate of meeting with reporters to "chop it up." Not necessarily to pitch clients but to just see what's top of mind in the reporter's head and also see what you have in common. I recently was talking to a reporter who wrote about the Oakland A's and Moneyball and found out baseball was a common interest. He interviewed one of my heros, Billy Beane so you can bet I'll be asking him about that.

But I would never take time to go to drinks with a reporter to have him repost a release and put his byline on it.

Who Hates Blogs? I Do

For more than a year, I've been exposed to the blogging world. I've always thought of it as an unedited, uncensored and public way for people to share thoughts both for good and evil. I hated the way it has become so commercial and part of the reason I have stayed away from social sites like MySpace and Friendster. Does anyone still use Friendster?

But sites like YouTube have given me hope that people will do anything to be famous or get rich.

I'm not trying to get famous and I hear there's no money in blogging but I'm hoping to be discovered by Mark Cuban, Donald Trump or Billy Beane. If I ever come up with a bright idea and start my own business, the way these guys operate will help me define how my company is run.

The challenge: One Good Idea

The good thing about blogs is the feedback and I'm hoping that will lead me to One Good Idea.