The Sports Info Business

Many people were not surprised that Lakers head coach Mike Brown was fired.  Many, including myself are surprised that it happened after only five games into a new basketball season.

Today, the Los Angeles Lakers general Manager Mitch Kupchak released the following statement related to Brown:

“This was a difficult and painful decision to make,” said Kupchak. “Mike was very hard-working and dedicated, but we felt it was in the best interest of the team to make a change at this time. We appreciate Mike’s efforts and contributions and wish him and his family the best of luck.”

The following statement was issued today from Mike Brown:

“I have great respect for the Buss family and the Lakers’ storied tradition and I thank them for the opportunity they afforded me. I have a deep appreciation for the coaches and players that I worked with this past year and I wish the organization nothing but success as they move forward.”

Assistant Coach Bernie Bickerstaff will take over as interim head coach for tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors and a search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

With expectations so high after signing Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, a 1-4 episode is unacceptable.  But fire the coach a few games into the season?  It sounds like pulling the plug on a new TV show before it finds an audience.  How does a stable and winning team like the Lakers pull this off?

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I was approached by a company who is promoting custom Frisbees as an option, to include  it in my blog.  Well, I don’t throw a Frisbee well, have played ultimate Frisbee growing up and loved it, but I would certainly play it on this beach below (your truly took the photograph).

©Charles Harris Photography

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This weekend, Peter Carroll and MLB.com the Seattle Seahawks battle the Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets.  It is a 4:05 p.m. Eastern starts, 1:05 p.m. on the west coast.  Its coach vs former Quarterback for this mini USC alumni reunion in Seattle.  While Sanchez has thrown for more yards so far then Seattle Russell Wilson, I think the Seahawks will get the win.  The game will be shown on CBS and Direct TV.

At what point do we raise the white flag and proclaim that there is too much information to process?

The thought process for this blog started with a single Keynote slide.  For the last two weeks, I’ve had a one-page slide sitting on my desktop with details how many different ways which friends, family, colleagues and new contacts can reach me.

During my childhood, I remember we had two staples: the home phone and our mailbox.  As an adult, communication grew more complex.  We were offered choices between new business toys like fax machines and pagers.  When cell phones and email hit main stream, the world changed forever.

Consider this:

Today, we have more ways to communicate than I can count on both hands, yet, I see and hear about more miscommunication and lack of communication than ever before.  While I do not plan on deleting what I started, I hope you will play along with me as I recount the ways in which people can reach me today.

Let’s start with the phone.  Once reachable only at home, now we can find anyone, anywhere, from airlines to bathroom stalls.  Privacy?  Forgetaboutit.  I remember reading a sad story of a family burying someone who passed away and as the dirt was being shoveled over the grave, a cell phone from under the ground started ringing.  You won’t find a home phone to reach me, but certainly a cell phone, work phone, a Google talk number and texting on my smart phone are options to communicate.

The mailbox is a second method.  Home, work and a PO Box.  Three simple outlets, and while the frequency of important information has fallen, the pure spam of direct mail has not.

Email is a third option.  Personal and work email is on the check list as is a dedicated email for consulting work.  Let me knot forget a teaching email for my graduate school adjunct work and there’s always the dummy email account to check once every blue boon.  If you don’t use a dummy account, it is terrific when you need to register for something online yet do not want to give away your personal information.

The overload effect enters into the picture when it comes to social networking and social media.  In no particular order here is my personal list.  There’s my personal Facebook page, the work related Facebook pages I need to monitor and then I cannot forget the sportsinfo101.com Facebook page; Twitter – A personal account and of course my corporate Twitter account.  My LinkedIn profile and the corporate LinkedIn page for my company that needs updating and monitoring;  Finally there is Youtube Channels, Instagram, Pinterest, tumblr and Mobli to name a few more  Whew. 

Finally, there are two blogs to write, monitor and respond to.  This one on sportsinfo101.com and a photo blog I recently started, that compliments my photography website site.

Tired yet?  I am.  That’s 26 different channel, minimum and I may have missed one or two.

I will certainly admit that not everyone is as connected with new social platforms like I am.  Yet, when you take stock in how the world has changed, I ask again, when is it too much?  At what point do we say enough and just go back to basics?

The calendar officially says January 1st and that means we all have a clean slate for 2012.  Clear the cobwebs from your brain today and get ready to follow these easy steps of starting the new year off on the right foot.

When we begin anew, there are many things we wish to accomplish.  Things like exercise, organization and goal setting are the first items that come to mind.

Some of us make lists of things to do.  I am one of those people.

So with no further ado, I present to you my mini list of the First Five Things to do in 2012.

1. Update Your Business Networks

We all know how important business networking is, yet often times, the lines blur of where are contacts are.  Let me provide you an example.  How many of your business contacts overlap between your main contact database, which rests on your smart phone or computer, and other networks like LinkedIn and Facebook?  Mine too.  One of the first things I did this weekend was to sync my Facebook Contacts with my computer (lots of emails have changed and it was a good exercise) and then I moved to LinkedIn where I added people from my main contact data base.  I am willing to bet that some of us still have business card contacts that have not been entered into any contact list….

2) Refresh Your Resume

2011 is behind us, yet you certainly have accomplished items in your life that needs to be addressed in this space.  It could be a new job, work related accomplishment or just new items you have learned which should be addressed.  While the reports have been conflicted about the direction of unemployment and job growth, we should all be prepared for the next great opportunity.

3) Back Up Your Files

We are all guilty of not doing this item often enough, but a new year brings a new opportunity and a reminder that we will all kick ourselves if we don’t do it and then something crashes.  It is easier to stay ‘whew’ then ‘oh no!’  Hit the back up button and then grab lunch or watch an NFL football game today.  it is that easy.

4) Update Your Computer Software

This is also relatively easy to do.  Many of our machines need just a little attention and yet we neglect them and live in denial.  From computer systems, to operating systems to smart phone apps, it usually takes a few minutes of items running in the background.  Take time when its slow, like a long weekend like this and punch in those updates.

5) Renew old friendships

This kind of goes together with point number one.  However, my first point was about sync’ing and updating.  This is more about outreach.   I enjoy hearing from friends and colleagues with their annual holiday letter, but if friendships really mean something, take a few minutes to reach out and reconnect more than once a year.  Make a call from the road (I have a lot of experience with this), send an email or even a quick text message to let them know you are thinking of them.

Those are my five easy items to begin your year.  I could have goen the much more traditional route and said things like:  clean up your home office/business office desk, clean out the garage or even start a new exercise program.

Death Valley

In baseball vernacular, August is referred to the dog days of summer.
Before we reach August, Major League Baseball teams pass through July and the All-Star break.  By this time, more than 80 games have already been played.  Half of the season has been completed and you usually find out which teams are contenders (see Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks) and which ones are not (see Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins and the New York Mets).

But August is a month where grinding out games and nagging injuries takes place.  Come September, the heat of pennant races take over.  As of yesterday, only three on first place teams in baseball were four games out of first place or less.  The Angels, Thankfully, were one of the three teams after winning their last four consecutive games.

That said, I checked my custom sports calendar to see what major events take place in August.  This calendar is coming to the new website as soon as we are finished transferring all of the previous posts over.

Until then, I’ll ask you to name a few major events in August. first.  Go ahead.  I’ll wait.
I didn’t think so….  it was tough for me as well.

Yes, you could say college football season, but I am talking about major events in each sport.
Sadly, here is what I came up with for August:

♦ The National Basketball Association Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

♦ The U.S. Open Tennis Tournament (and that doesn’t even start until next week)

♦ The 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia.

That’s it folks.

August is the death valley of months for sporting events.

Bring on September.

Bring on professional and college football, baseball pennant races and the majority of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.  We need passion, meaningful games and matches and a bit of magic.

Is there any way to fast forward through this final week?

Sports stories around the world this week that you may or may not have heard.

Fumblerooski: The story gives new meaning to being thrown under the bus.  In this care, literally.

Apparently, soccer’s Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, celebrating the team’s Copa del Ray victory  after an 18 year drought, fumbled the trophy from atop a bus. It fell out of Ramos’ hands and was run over by the team’s bus which was carrying members of the team.  The bus had to stop on its route passing adoring Spanish fans as security personnel tried to retrieve the damaged trophy, as Sky News captured it all.

There is a reason why soccer players use their feet and not their hands.
Higher Than a Fever: As a kid growing up, I heard that baseball pitchers throwing in the 90′s, threw heat, gas, smoke.  Now this may top the burnt cake.  Cincinnati Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman was clocked at throwing 106 miles per hour this week, after being recorded at 105 mph a year ago.

Pick Your Story Line: In Southern California, there’s no lack of sports related news stories for media to pick from.  The obvious:  The two-time defending Los Angeles Lakers have rebounded to take a 2-1 series lead over the New Orleans Hornets. The Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks are battling in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — It does not look good good for the Ducks who blew a lead with 35 seconds left Friday night and now trail 3-2 to the Nashville Predators (who have never won an NHL Playoff Series).  Across town, the LA Kings are faring no better and have fallen behind the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in their first round playoff match-up.

Speaking of the Kings, the on again off again romance with Anaheim and Honda Center has taken another soap opera turn for the Sacramento Kings currently of Sacramento.  The Kings, which appeared to be he headed to Orange County for the 2011-2012 season, might stay in Sacramento after, all, according to a Saturday report in the Los Angeles Times. Its easy to guess there will be more twists and turns before a decision is announced next month.

Then there’s the Los Angeles Dodgers, my former employer and a team that cannot stay out of the headlines.  After an opening day tragedy that saw San Francisco Giants fan Brian Stow left in a medically induced coma, nowMajor League Baseball has stepped in an announced it would take over day to day operations of the team.  With potential lawsuits and other distractions, its amazing the team is hovering around .500 for the first month.  If that wasn’t enough, former Dodger first baseball Steve Garvey announced on Friday that he has formed a business partnership with billionaire Ron Burkle as part of an investment group that would like to purchase the team.

(Taking a deep breathe).

The not so obvious: The Angels, flying under the radar so far in 2011, have won 12 of their first 20 games and were a half game out of first place as of yesterday. Maicer Izturis was ranked fifth in the American League in batting average (.355) while Howie Kendrick was tied for the league lead in home runs (6).  The team’s top two pitchers, Jared Weaver (5-0, 1.23) and Dan Haren (4-1, 1.46) are a combined 9-1 with a mind blowing 1.34 ERA in 73.2 innings pitched so far.

Nationally Ranked, Left Out: Two Southern California College baseball programs are nationally ranked, yet I have heard nothing about their success so far.  I am guessing the electronic media is running out of time in their segments to mention Cal State Fullerton (ranked eighth and 27-9) and UCLA (20 and 19-12) while it is obvious there is not much room left in the print edition of newspapers.

Bad Timing: All of these stories leave little hope for Southern California media to attend the 2011 Sportsman of the Year banquet on Tuesday this week, where UCLA Football Coach Rick Neuheisel will be honored. The event is put on by the OCYSF and proceeds benefit youth in Orange County, CA.

I love when people send me information to include in this space (note to publicity people:  Yes, I do have a book or two to still review for this site) and yesterday was no different.  Dario, a former student of mine at Long Beach State’s Sport Management program, sent me a note.

Hey Charles, don’t know if you’ve seen this video before, but pretty funny take for those trying to break into the sports industry.

Sometimes words are not enough.  Here’s a YouTube cartoon-like video, uploaded on April 17th on working in sports.  Anyone who works in this business can watch this, relate to some and hopefully laugh a bit.  There is some truth in everything we read, write or say.  Almost everything I write is serious stuff.  Once in a blue moon its time to take a break and just laugh.  One note, there is small amount of profanity in it so if you are watching this at work, you may turn need to adjust the volume just a little.

When the phone is ringing and you know who it is, do you pick it up? …Even when you know the news might be bad news?  It’s a great question and the following story is certainly a lesson we can all take something away from, as I did.

Let me explain.

On February 2nd, I found myself speaking with the Bruins head football coach Rick Neuheisel on the UCLA campus.  I had travelled there with three other members of a non-profit broad I sit on:  Tom Johnson, the Publisher of the Newport Beach Independent, restaurateur and UCLA alum John Ursini and wealth manager  Greg Whelan (you can read Tom’s account of our visit here).  We were on campus to speak with AD Dan Guerrero and other sports management folks at UCLA about a banquet honoring Neuseisel, but more about that tomorrow.

Neuheisel was in sound-bite mode as it was also national signing day for college football programs and he had an up and down day to say the least.

I am going to paraphrase the conversation a bit, but this is the story that Rick told us.

A nationally ranked high school recruit had committed to going to UCLA a while ago.  The head coach thought this was a done deal, although nothing is really ‘done’ until the athlete signs the national letter of intent and faxes it back to the school.

National signing day is here and then Rick turns on the TV that morning only to see the same recruit wearing a UCS baseball cap on television.  The same recruit said he was going to sign with the Trojans.

Stunned, Neuheisel was beside himself.  He was beyond disappointed, as he told the four of us during an informal chat session before the coach was set to address more media.

“This is just not possible,” he said.  ”It is just not happening.  I needed a moment of silence.”

Now mind you, at this point, this young recruit is not the only player Neuheisel is counting on to help bring back a UCLA football program that went 4-8 last year.  He had others he is also waiting on.  This particular student athlete, however, was seen as already coming to UCLA until he appeared on TV.

Then Rick’s phone rings and it appears to be the student’s father calling the coach.  He sees the name on the caller ID.  He knows who it is and he doesn’t want to answer the cell phone.

It would have been easy to ignore the call.  Let it go to voice mail.  Deal with the ‘I’m sorrys’ later.

However, he answers it.  This is what he learned.

The student athlete he saw on the TV earlier talking up USC and their football program had since changed his mind.

“Here is a guy who thought he was doing the right thing,” said Neuheisel.  ”But in his heart of hearts he could not do it.  I thanked him for coming to his senses (laughs by the group) and he faxed in his letter of intent to attend UCLA in the fall.”

By answering the phone, even when he didn’t want to UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel received the good news he thought was gone.

Lesson learned.

You always have to pick up the phone.  You never know who or what awaits you on the other end of the line.

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The conversation reinforced how college coaches must jump through hoops to sign prospective athletes and nothing ever seems like it is done. I told Rick during the conversation that he needed a stomach of steel to deal with things like this and he just laughed.

I thought about others who are in similar situations and quickly came to sports agents.  Players hop from one agent another all the time, often seeking bigger and better deals, more attention or other intangibles.

Last thought on UCLA:  The football coach announced during a meet the boosters session before UCLA and USC squared off for basketball later that day, that 81,000 people had applied to UCLA for the fall, one of the largest totals for any college in the nation.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Self Portrait of Charles Harris. I took this on the Pier overlooking Newport Beach this last weekend.

The Super Bowl is around the corner and with it, the blitz and chatter abut the commercials will start to hit mainstream media as well as the social media space.  According to Ad Age, the following companies all have secured at least one spot for the big game in Dallas on February 6, 2011.  If you click on the Ad Age link above, it will break down in detail what is known from each company and their spots.  This includes how many :30′s and :60′s are planned as well as any known creative.

Anheuser-Busch InBev

Audi of America

Best Buy

BMW North America

Bridgestone

Careerbuilder

CarMax

Cars.com

Chrysler

Coca-Cola

Doritos

E-trade

General Motors

GoDaddy.com

HomeAway Inc.

Hyundai Motor North America

Kia North America

Mars

Mercedez-Benz

PepsiCo’s PepsiMax

PepsiCo

Pizza Hut

Skechers

Teleflora

Universal Studios’ “Cowboys & Aliens”

Volkswagen of America

“With about $9 billion in annual revenue, the NFL would rank somewhere around No. 260 on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies, ahead of such well-known names as online marketplace eBay and upscale department store operator Nordstrom.”

From Marketing Daily on January 19th

“The National Hockey League (NHL)has signed McDonald’s USA to a one-year agreement that makes the company the league’s lead partner in the U.S.”

I am not a fan of “dynamic pricing for sports events”, but the Cardinals and Oakland A’s just came to an agreement to start using this software. So says the press release.

“Qcue, the dynamic pricing engine for live entertainment, announced the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals will use Qcue to implement dynamic ticket pricing for the 2011 Major League Baseball season. The A’s and Cardinals will leverage Qcue’s proven solution to set better prices up front and adjust to shifting demand as real-time sales data and market conditions change. These MLB teams add to Qcue’s growing customer base of professional sports franchises and further expand Qcue’s position as the most widely deployed dynamic pricing solution on the market today.”

Always wanted to know what a golf sponsorship looks like between a pro player and a business?  Read This:

Westin Hotels Announces Sponsorship of 2010 PGA TOUR Player of the Year Jim Furyk:  Furyk will proudly wear the Westin logo on his hat at the more than 20 events he will play this year. He will also appear in Westin marketing campaigns and make appearances at resort locations throughout the year on behalf of Westin and Starwood’s award-winning loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). Through the SPG Moments^SM program, which gives members access to once-in-a lifetime experiences, Starwood Preferred Guest members can bid Starpoints^SM to participate in a golf clinic led by Furyk at the famous TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on March 4, 2011.

Good news and Bad news in Professional Soccer, According to Ad Age

Attendance cracked the 4 million mark last year for the first time in league history, with the average per game up 5.5% (largely due to the raging success of the Seattle Sounders, which average more than 36,000 fans per game, 15,000 more than the No. 2 franchise).  But TV ratings are troubling. The league should have seen something of a bounce last year thanks to the World Cup, but while it might have at the gate, it didn’t on TV. The website Sports Media Watch reported that ESPN suffered a 12% decrease in regular-season ratings for MLS games in 2010 compared to 2009, and that the 0.5 rating for the MLS Cup championship match between the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas was down 44% compared to 2009′s MLS Cup between Real Salt Lake and the L.A. Galaxy.

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Photo of the Day….

With apologies since I do not know whom to credit the photo to, someone posted this shot on Facebook from a Pittsburgh hospital on Sunday night after the Steelers beat the Jets.

There are many different roads to success for sports executives and certainly a variety of ways to measure it. I am not telling you how to define it. Some may say success means job satisfaction or longevity with a certain organization while others define success by how much money they make. Many will look at success by how high they climb on the corporate ladder.

Hall of Famer and Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who I saw and spent a few moments with on Tuesday prior to the All Star game, naturally joked with others passengers as we rode a packed elevator towards the press box. “Going up,” he bellowed. “Always going up!”

The enormously talented friends and staff who worked mid-summer classic in Anaheim these last few days serviced in part, 2,000 credentialed media from around thew world. I worked with and saw a group of sports executives with extra-ordinary longevity in a sport known today for frequent movement of free agent star players.

Folks like Mets VP of Media Relations Jay Horwitz, who began his major league sports career as an SID at Fairleigh Dickenson but has spent the last 31 years in professional baseball. Then there’s current Angels VP Tim Mead, who began his journey the same year as Horwitz but on the other Coast with the then California Angels as the team’s first ever intern.

Then there’s Katy Feeney, baseball’s senior vice president for club relations and scheduling, Bernadette McDonald, MLB VP of Broadcast Administration who said on the field before the game yesterday she has been with baseball for 24 years. Rich Levin, the current senior vice president of public relations for Major League Baseball, is retiring after 25 years come October and I cannot forget Pat Courtney, the Vice President of Public Relations at Major League Baseball and the heir apparent to Levin once he retires.

For me, the game was great but the people and the friendships are much more valuable. That’s how I measure success.

I have always thought the good has outweighed the bad when it comes to working in sports.  That is not to say there is no downside.  There is.  So, I made a list and tried to come up with five reasons on each half of a blank page of why you should work or not work in the sports administration business.

Here is the list I came up with this morning:

Why Work in Sports?

1. Realize a Dream — I never wanted to argue in court before a judge.  I ruled out being a doctor as a kid when the site of blood made me want to faint and being a fireman was for some of the other kids.  However, playing first base for the Chicago Cubs or just as good working as a business leader in sports?  Sign me up.

2. Lasting Friendships — To this day, I continue to speak and see friends I have met from the first day I began working in this business more than 20 years ago.  For anyone that has made sports administration a career, you invest a tremendous amount if time and energy around preparing, selling and promoting the events.  You must enjoy the people you are working for and alongside.  I always have and I am grateful.

3. Live Your Passion — I have had a passion for sports, any sport, since I was a kid growing up in the north side of Chicago.  Any of my long-time friends and family will tell you that.  It has been a passion and I have always felt at home on the field, rink, court — you name it.  Follow your heart and you will never go wrong.  Always.

4. Be a Part of History — I have seen a perfect game, no-hitters, 3,00th hit, 300 career wins.  I have been to the Stanley Cup finals, worked the World Series, been on the field for a Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks game.  I have worked college basketball, baseball and volleyball, professional tennis too.  They all add up to terrific memories and some of the events people still stop me and talk about to this day. —- How did Paul Kariya get off the ice and come back from a separated shoulder in Game Six of the Stanley Cup and nail the goal to beat the Devils?

5. Winning a Ring — Missed it by that much — twice now.  As part of the Angels front office in 1986 and then again with the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks in 2003.  How does one get one pitch away form the World Series and also get to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup and come away with naked fingers?  There has to be one more run in it.  Lakers and Yankee front office employees are spoiled.  Others are lucky enough to have one.  It is something special for anyone that has made the journey with a team.

Five Reasons Not to Work In Sports

During my Dodgers interview, Fred Claire asked me if I liked to Golf. "Sure!" I said. I was then advised to play as much as I could before I was hired. There would be no time for golf.

1. Sacrifice, Sacrifice, Sacrifice — Sports is not a 9-5 job.  If you want this, look into banking.  For a baseball game that begins at 7:00 p.m., employees are at work by 9:00 or 9:30 and do not get home often until 11 p.m. or later.  Multiple that times 162 games (plus pre-and post season commitments and your friends and family do not see you often.  Holidays (fourth of July for example) mean work, not BBQ.  Understand the commitment before you jump in.

2. Your Hard Work Does Not = Wins and Losses — You could put in 20 hours a day and you have no bearing if the team wins or loses.  If you want to feel that you control your destiny more.  Go into sales.  You will be judged by the number of new sales you have closed.  No matter how good of a job you do, remember it is abut the fans (the paying customers).  They come to see the players and enjoy the game.  You are just a small piece of the reality show called sports.

3. Ownership Change Often Means Change in Staff — Everybody likes to have their “guy” or their “gal” working for them.  When there’s a change in ownership, that often equals change to the front office makeup of the leaders running the business.  The higher up you are, the more vulnerable you become when this happens.  It happened to me and countless others who have been impacted when the keys to the kingdom change hands.  Get used to it.

4. Ready to Change Cities/And Teams To Move Up — The sports business is a transient place.  A few folks start and end their careers with the same company.  When I joined the Dodgers, employees had worked for the O’Malley family for 30 years.   Since Peter sold the team, I can think of only two employees that have been with the team from the “old school.”  One name you know, the other name you probably do not.  Billy DeLury, who has been with the team since the Brooklyn days, was the traveling secretary for a looooong time.  The other person?  Just a broadcaster by the name of Vin Scully.  Look at a successful sports executive and they have moved around town or moved across the country.  It is often what it takes to move up the ladder of sports success.

5. The Competition is Fierce — Never get too full of your accomplishments because your boss probably just received a resume today from a person who is willing and ready to do your job tomorrow.  Based on the visibility and impact sports has had on our culture, the opportunity to work in the business is still a dream for countless folks who want your job.  One known open position often floods a hiring manager with hundreds of qualified applications.  …and a few more that have no business applying.

That’s my Top 10 reasons to work or not to work in sports.  As I said at the beginning, the positive has always outweighed the negative.  Did I miss something or hit the nail on the head?  Leave a comment and let me know.

For those of you celebrating, happy Father’s Day.