Alex Bain's Blog

Some thoughts on Superbowl XLII

Here's what I have to say about the game last night:

• The game called to mind the quote from Varsity Blues (but substitute Matt Light or Ellis Hobbs for Billy Bob):
  

  Oh, Big Billy Bob Crybaby!? You cost me my perfect season. How's it feel? My quarterback is off limping, and to top it off I got watch you cry about it?

• The Pats worst offensive player, Matt Light, and worst defensive player, Ellis Hobbs, both really cost the team. Even if Light couldn't have held off the impressive Giants D-line, it'd have been great if he could have remembered the snap count. Likewise, I know that covering Plaxico is a tall order for Hobbs, but it's not like he forced him to make a super-human catch on that final touchdown; he practically broke his ankles when Plaxico threw one juke at him, and he watched the catch from the ground as the game slipped away from us.
• Writers are going to write articles about how we lost because of the bad karma from "cheating" in game 1.
• Writers are going to write articles about how beautiful it is that two brothers won consecutive SuperBowl MVPs. these will be crappy articles.
  
• Some writer will eventually write an article about how, even though we lost, the 2007 Pats still have to be mentioned among the greatest all-time teams.
  
• It was a curious decision not to kick a 48 or 49 yard field goal earlier in the game, opting instead to attempt to convert on 4th and 13. I'd have to love to have had those 3 points at the end of the game, but perhaps Belichick knew something about our kicker that I don't.
• I don't know why the refs forced the Giants to run that final play to get the last second off the clock. That was a crappy move, and some idiot writer will claim Belichick should have sat around and watched it.
• No rational person could have predicted that the Giants would win the game, and just because they did doesn't prove those people right.
• I've heard people mention that this game may have been the biggest upset of all-time. This drives me crazy. People in the media must not want to mention Vegas for fear of sounding like a degenerate gambler, but gambling lines are necessary to back statements like "biggest upset" or "we get no respect". By definition, the Pats win over the Rams was the biggest upset of all time. If one wants to argue that yesterday's win was a bigger upset, they must acknowledge the smaller spread in their argument. You couldn't argue that America really became independent in 1805 without mentioning what went on in 1776.
• As I thought back on painful losses I've endured before, I remember how badly the Sox stung me in 2003. What's nice to remember is that, because we came back and won the next season, I don't exactly carry around 2003 like baggage that haunts me. It makes me think that, if the Pats come back with a vengeance in the Fall 2008, we'll easily be able to put this loss behind us.
• Had we won yesterday, Belichick and Brady have have retired earlier than they might as a result of the loss. I don't know if I would trade a few more years with these guys for a perfect season, but it's a nice consolation prize to think we'll probably have at least 3-4 more years with them as opposed to 1 or 2.
• It sure was fun while it lasted. I had an absolute blast these last 4-5 months just reveling in our dominance. Even if we didn't win it all, these last few months were real, even if it may feel like we imagined it after that crushing loss. I'm still glad I got on the roller coaster. It reminds me of the Miami Vice quote when Crockett calls his ex-wife (the one Bill Simmons once pointed out, watch until the 1:45 mark):

"Caroline, I just gotta ask you something. Me and you, not how we are now,........but then.....it was real right?"

Dice stacking: I'd love to see this in person

What I love about this is how casual the guy looks the whole time:

From Boing Boing.

Dramatic Prairie Dog!

I know he's everywhere on the internet right now, but I love him so much I had to have him on my blog too:

FYI, he has a funny little website of his own...

Creed Thoughts

For some reason, this cracks me up every time I see it, even after a dozen viewings. Maybe it's not funny if you haven't seen the show:

The Landlord

My buddy, Hurwitz, sent me this. It's a little disturbing that someone sat down and wrote this, but the execution is impressive:

From the desk of Mr. Ligums: Champagne

My buddy Jeb's father sends me crazy stuff all the time. He sent me this clip this morning to congratulate me for me engagement...

Big Bad Bruins

Here's a video that combines two of my favorite things: Boston and light-hearted violence :-)

It's a bit too long, so don't feel bad about only watching half of it. It also contains (early on in the clip) footage from the 70's Bruins fight where they went into the stands and my friend Alison's father, Mike Milbury, tore off a man's shoe and kicked his ass with it. He later had this to say:

"It’s unbelievable that after more than 30 years in the game, pummeling a guy with his loafer will be my legacy. But I guess it's better than having no legacy at all."

[FYI: The music starts out pretty fitting, but then gets a little monotonous and too weird to be inspiring]

Monster founder thoughts

Back in December I attended a VC conference at MIT, mostly because I'm generally interested in entrepreneurship, and thought it would be a good way to see what was going on in the area.

I enjoy myself immensely, though it's a little awkward to go to something like that alone. What made being alone even worse was that I didn't have business cards. Every one I spoke to gave me their card, and I had to repeatedly explain that I had nothing to offer in return. This was a conversation ender. I would put this faux pas right up their with wearing white Nike socks with my tuxedo to the prom (which really happened).

There were some great speakers that day, and there were some people who seemed like they didn't know anything. The best part of the day, by far, was when the founder of Monster.com gave a keynote speech.

He's a very captivating speaker, even though he looks like a crazy homeless man. He's been all over the country touting his latest project, a web portal for people over 50 called eons.com. I've included his commercial below, mostly so you can confirm that he's somewhere between genius and insanity.

When he addressed the audience at this conference, he made it clear that he had 6 points he wanted to impart on entrepreneurs:

1. The name of your company is very important. He pointed out that Monster is easy to remember, and is spelled the same way in many different languages.
2. Employees can collectively fire their boss. He told this great story about the time he bought 15 special towels for the Monster gym. These towels were embroidered with the Monster logo, cartoon monsters. He said that the towels were all gone within a couple weeks, because employees were bringing them home. He was a little mad, but instead of trying to tell them what they could and couldn't do, he bought more towels... and the new ones disappeared. He said that, he figured that, once people have taken one each, if they keep taking them, it'll be to give them to friends, which is a good thing. At this point, he claims he the company has made 1400 of these towels, 15 at a time, and that he sees these towels on the beach now.
3. Are entrepreneurs lucky or hard working? He addressed this issue by holding up $40 in cash and saying it would go to the person who wanted it the most. Some guy in the audience stood up and said, "That's me!" and walked up to the front of the room and took the cash. Taylor made the point that, it's hard to say if that guy was lucky or hard working, but the difference between him and everyone else in the room is that he took a risk and pursued it.
4. Write down your dreams. He includes in the category of "dreams" all the great thoughts that occur in the shower or a long, solo car ride. He says most people do their best thinking in these everyday situations, and that these moment should be fostered and recorded.
5. The size of the market matters. I've noticed that Steve Jobs always focuses on this too. Taylor gave a great example of a person approaching him to invest in a site that helped place musicians in orchestras. He responded that there are very few of these jobs opening every year, and that there's no way to make money in this business. Monster, however, is in a $200B market.
6. Don't coast. He said that other people might not notice when you're not trying your hardest, but you can't fool yourself. He suggests that, if you find yourself coasting, pick up the phone and call your mom, or an old friend. He said that the simple act of doing SOMETHING will motivate you to do something productive afterwards.

As much as I learned from his speech, I learned more from the way he spoke. I picture myself in future public speaking engagements, and I know I don't have the salesman mentality that Steve Jobs has, but I think I could develop a public personality like Jeff Taylor. Watch him in the video below to see what I mean:

The pen spinning all-star team

Ever since a boring french class in 9th grade when I had tons of time to practice, I have been good at spinning books and pens with my fingers. People that know me find it mesmerizing, distracting, or both. The graduation speaker at my high school mentioned my pen spinning in his speech, and now people are noticing it at HBS.

It's a bit of a bad habit, because I don't know when I'm doing it usually, and I find myself spinning the nice silverware at fancy dinners, where it'd be better to be showing off my good manners.

One of my classmates sent this video around, as a challenge to me to improve my performance:

Brokeback Penguin

I know that Brokeback jokes are old, and I know that mash-up trailers have been going around the internet for a while now, and aren't cool anymore, but I just found this one today, and it cracks me up. It would be fair to call me juvenile.