Strangeness

It is a very weird experience to check up on your old employer. I haven't done so directly, but rather just by getting bits and pieces of information from former co-workers and also checking out the old sites we used to sponsor and inhabit (or inhibit as one case might be).

It is also strange to see things finally coming to fruition which were discussed to the point of boredom during a two-year span. Seeing new products come to light that you helped inspire (or flat out created on a sketch pad) is weird in its own right as well. The place that no longer wanted to keep you is profiting from your ideas. Granted, there can't be much profit in this climate, but still.

There is some satisfaction in seeing what you believed would be a good idea simply existing. Yet, there is pain in knowing you will probably never receive any mention for the genesis or development of the idea. I guess this shouldn't matter. But it also makes one wonder why some things can take so long to transpire where others are enacted in almost a blink.

Oh well...onward and most definitely upward. I do know that if I were still where I was at this time last year, I'd have been hospitalized for massive and repetitive concussions.

And Here We Are

Seven months and three days ago I lost my job. Honestly, I figured I would find a new gig by August at the latest. Clearly I was wrong.

In that vein, I hope to prove myself wrong once again. For months I have considered and avoided launching my own business. I have a background in advertising and marketing and keep on discovering more and more marketing agencies already out in the market. I have used that as an excuse not to pursue my own company and put my skills and experience to use.

That all changes in just over two weeks time.

An Opportunity

Oh my. So apparently making money out the wazoo, dominating your supposed life's passion and pursuit for as long as people can remember, and having absolutely everything could possibly want at your beckon call/disposal/in your garage just doesn't keep you entertained. The pristine brand that was Tiger Woods is no more.

Methinks the folks in Austin, TX are probably about to drown in their own drool.

Could it be that Nike's premier spokesperson will soon be Lance Armstrong? Provided he can avoid any similar gaffes that everyone and their mother thought Mr. Woods was above, I bet he's right up there. Between Livestrong, the now third attempt at professional cycling, and his singular name status...I bet it's more likely than not.

Nike will want a feel good story. It won't matter how many times you've heard it before. That only strengthens the argument in Armstrong's favor. He can fill the gap between Tiger's PR downfall and his future resumption of his throne.

It will happen. The public forgets this stuff - just ask Kobe Bryant. Will it take as long for Tiger as it has for Kobe? Only time will tell. But I would guarantee that thanks to our culture's 20-second attention span and adoration of all things sports, he will be back. He may make only $50 million a year in endorsements, but he will be back.

Aside from Lance though, I bet the Mickelson camp can't believe their luck right now either. Go Phil!!!!