Awhile ago I said I was watching a boat for sale along my route to work in West Manchester Township, simply to gauge whether the economy is making a turn for the better.
I saw two lookers so far, and a third appeared this morning, and got close enough to read the contact information. Maybe that boat will be purchased soon.
The brackets are out.
Now the fun begins.
Employees in offices all over the country this week are welcoming the great diversion that is the NCAA men's basketball tournament, more commonly known as March Madness.
In case you aren't familiar, here's how this thing works:
Everyone who's interested prints out a blank bracket. They then proceed to predict the winner of each game, all the way to the national championship.
Usually, there is one person within the office who coordinates the pool, meaning that person will collect the filled-out brackets and the entry fee, which is due before the games begin Thursday.
Coordinating the pool is an important task, because the coordinator is expected to send out regular updates on who is leading in the standings.
It's fun for everyone in the office and is sure to inspire some drama and intrigue as the April 6 national title game nears.
Is your office doing a pool this year? Let us know. Send an e-mail to reporter Kevin Horan at khoran@ydr.com or call him at 771-2029. Make sure to include your name, phone number and the name of your company.
I realize this has nothing particular to do with business, but I just had to share anyway.
I just read on Philly.com that a pregnant woman is thinking about naming her baby Chase, after the Phillies' second baseman.
Makes me wonder if the names Chase, Cole and Brad are going to become immensely popular in PA the rest of the year.
After a fun-filled celebration of the Phillies winning the NLCS last night (that included a 2:30 a.m. phone call from my brother who was actually celebrating in Philly) I thought it would be fun to check out what the going rate for World Series tickets was.
I hopped on to StubHub to see what prices they had listed for the games in Philadelphia.
Game Three: $459 - $17500
Game Four: $365 - $25000
Game Five (if necessary): $457 - $12999
Please note, the "cheap" tickets are for standing room only.
I have no idea how anyone could afford to fork over that much dough in today's economy, but man if I could afford it (and could get a ticket), I'd so be there.
The picture above shows the jerseys of a few players on Manchester United, a British soccer team, featuring a sponsorship by the failed AIG.
When the news of AIG's failure broke, a friend of mine and I were wondering whether AIG would continue to sponsor the team. We both agreed it didn't seem like the company should be allowed to spend its money on sponsorships when it is being bailed out by the U.S. government.
An Associated Press article had this to say about the situation:
"For now, it appears that the players of Manchester United will keep the American International Group name on their uniforms. A Manchester United spokesman said there have been no discussions about AIG buying out the deal, and there are no plans for changes to the uniform. A spokesman for the insurer, Joe Norton, said 'nothing has changed' with the deal."
Let me know what you think about AIG's continued sponsorship in the comments.
Came across this really interesting article about the top three ways the Olympics are being marketed.
But I found this blog post more interesting. It suggests that the Olympics are marketed solely to females. The author makes a good argument for his case. Just take a look at the ads that run during the games. As he says, you would never see Neosporin, Wal-Mart or furniture polish ads during an NFL game.
Alex Rodriguez just signed with an agent in Hollywood to help him make even more money than he already does, according to this article in the New York Times.
The talent agency is supposed to help A-rod land some new endorsement deals so he can cushion his salary for when he says good-bye to baseball.
I don't really think his salary needs much cushioning, but I'm just a lowly reporter. What do I know?
