BarrieBergman

Thanks Dick

We lost an American icon this week, Dick Clark.  Dick was an original.  He was the first person to break a record nationally.  He never saw color in artists.  At a time when many radio stations refused to play music by black performers, Dick played Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and James Brown for a national audience.

He was a hell of a businessman.  He took Rock and Roll from the clutches of payola and let his audience decide about the merits of the music (i.e. “I like the beat.  I can dance to it.  I’ll rate it a ten.”).

He created the Academy of Country Music and many other award shows, primarily to showcase the music, when so little Rock and Roll was on television.  His production company was extremely successful, and no New Years Eve will ever be the same without him.

I met Dick a few times.  He was always kind and respectful toward me.  He did business on an honest, ethical basis, which was missing in many of his contemporaries.

I don’t think the American record business would have developed without Dick Clark.  So many of us owe him so much.  He will really be missed.

~
Hail Hail, Rock and Roll
Deliver me from the days of old
Rock, Rock, Rock and Roll
The music is there body and soul
- Chuck Berry

Stop the Madness

Bobby Petrino, the football coach at Arkansas, is caught with the swim coach’s fiancée on the back of his motorcycle, when he has a wreck.  He says that she is a random woman standing beside a country road, apparently watching the birds and the bees.  It is even more remarkable that he can lie so facilely with a broken neck.

The assistant football coach at Penn State is accused of molesting many small boys, while school officials look the other way.  This goes on for years.

The assistant basketball coach of Syracuse is accused of child molestation.  The head coach says that the accusers are crazy.  This allegedly goes on for many years.

An assistant coach with the New Orleans Saints incentivizes his players to hurt and maim other team’s players.   The head coach and general manager know, but do nothing to stop it.

The successful Baylor women’s basketball team, NCAA Champions, and the men’s football team send thousands of illegal texts and e-mails to prospective recruits, while the school does nothing.

It doesn’t end here.  It goes on and on and on.  There is no institutional control of sports in this country, as long as the coaches and the teams win.  As long as the money keeps flowing in from fans and alumni, nobody gives a crap.

When are we as a society going to say, “Enough of this”?  We can only stop this reprehensible behavior by voting with our wallets.  Don’t attend, don’t watch, and don’t donate in support of these thugs.

You wouldn’t make donations to your local meth dealer.  Stop supporting the great American addiction.  If you do, Carolina football can come back from its latest scandal.

~
Mr. big stuff, who do you think you are?
- Jean Knight

We’ll Get Rich a Few Days Later

I read recently that rich people are more likely to cheat at stop signs by jumping the queue than people of modest means.  The wealthy are also more likely to fudge on taxes, and in other places, than their poorer compatriots.   The theory is that the rich are empowered and feel more entitled than those of modest means.

Before you poor schlubs out there start to feel superior, you’ve got to realize that as soon as you get wealthy, you expect the same entitlements as your formerly rich betters - so much for the nobility of the poor.  As I have often mentioned, I’ve been poor, and I’ve been rich, but rich beats the crap out of poor.  However, that is a topic for another day.

Ethics are an interesting matter.  When I first decided to write a book, my title was going to be We’ll Get Rich a Few Days Later, which referred to having a strong ethical base in business.  Instead, I named my book Nice Guys Finish First, because my publicist talked me into it.

I still like the first title, although the second title took me to great riches and fame.  In a time of Rush Limbaugh and mass cheating in politics and sports, doing the right thing is an American value we should return to.

In the same article I alluded to, it was discovered that more affluent people fudged on change.  They were much less likely to return money, if a cashier gave them too much change on a cash purchase.  My wife Arlene and I have given money back many times.  About half the time the person is reluctant to take the money and acknowledge they made an error.  Some times you can’t do the right thing even if you want to.

Nice Guys Finish First:  amazon.com
Website:  barriebergman.com
Blog:  http://barriebergman.typepad.com/barriebergman/   

Siss Boom Bah!

College athletics have ben important to me since I was a young child.  Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, I became a UNC fan.  My first hero was football player Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice.  When Carolina won the NCAA basketball championship in 1957, I was as excited as I’ve ever been about a game.

Later I switched allegiances, when I went to Duke, but switched back UNC because we had too many family members split, and I lived in Chapel Hill anyway.  The Tar Heels became my team.  I have gone to a lot of games.  I’ve traveled to Bowl games and Final Fours.  I’ve spent countless hours glued to the TV screen.

The reason that I’ve recounted this personal journey is because I have just about had enough of college athletics.  The greed and the lying, the insistence that “it’s all for the student athletes,” is making me ill.  Now we are faced with several sexual abuse scandals, which were covered up by schools to protect the programs (i.e. the money).

We need a new model for universities.  Either sponsor teams with paid players, who don’t attend the schools, or revert to a inter-mural model more like the Ivy League, but less commercial.

The athletic tail is now wagging the educational dog.  The schools have lost their way, and it’s starting to hurt their educational goals.  In a time when budgets have been cut and tuition costs are going out of sight, it makes no sense to occupy college time and energy with a preoccupation on the business of athletics, which has nothing to do with education.

Athletic Supporter

Jim Tressel, the Ohio State football coach, got fired this week.  His crime was a cover-up, which included lying to the NCAA.  His players had gotten discounts from tattoo parlors and car dealerships.  Even with the penalty, the players were allowed to play in a bowl game, that was OK’d by the NCAA.  This looks somewhat suspicious, since it raised the TV ratings of the game.

It’s hard to find a place to start because there is so much stupidity and greed at play here.  Normal people can get discounts or free stuff and it’s OK with everybody, but college athletes can’t get anything because they are amateurs, whatever the hell that means.

The NCAA, the conferences, and the schools are making billions of dollars, but the kids can only have a scholarship, which many of them don’t want in the first place.  The kids aren’t allowed enough money to go to McDonald’s.  If I trade my t-shirt for a tattoo, it’s not an issue.   But let a 350 pound lineman do it, and he’s an ogre.

Coach Tressel got in trouble for lying to protect his players.  He was covering up a rule that is so stupid, that I can’t even figure out if he was wrong, except that he pontificated all the time about what an ethical guy he was.  If a player plays a video game and sees his likeness on the game, he doesn’t get paid.  If he sees his jersey in a store with his name on it, he gets nothing.  Is that fair?

I love college athletics, but this stuff is nuts.  I’ve given money to schools before, because I’m an athletic supporter, but from now on I’m giving my money directly to the players, under the table, of course.

Donald Trump for President – You’re Fired

Donald Trump is running for president – or not.  He made President Obama fess up about where the president was born – or he didn’t.  He is fabulously wealthy – or he isn’t.  What a fascinating guy.  Is he an asshole, a sleazebag, or just a common jerk?

Why does our society tolerate individuals like this?  He won’t run for president because he would have to disclose his tax returns, and that ain’t gonna happen.  The guy never lets the truth stand in the way of a good lie.  Why can’t we all stand up and say, “Donald, You’re Fired from the human race”?

Do we need a test for presidential candidates?  Is the electorate intelligent enough to eliminate people who don’t have the qualifications to run our country?  Should a president have a basic understanding of world economics?  Should we have a minimum IQ as a pre-requisite? 

Why do I keep thinking about Sarah Palin?  There must be better people to spend my time on.  Maybe it was the minimum IQ requirement that brought her to mind.

At least if Trump were elected, we could have our initial First Bimbo.  He could teach the government to cheat and lie more effectively.  Hair Club for Men would prosper.  Look on the bright side.  If he gets elected, I’ll be living in Paris.

Use Untraceable $100 Bills

Soccer’s World Cup will be played in Qatar, where it’s hot as hell and no alcohol is allowed.  Sepp Blatter, President of Fifa, the organization that puts on the World Cup, cautioned homosexual fans to refrain from sexual activities in Qatar.

Mr. Blatter went on to stress that the decision to hold the games in Qatar had nothing to do with money.  “This is about the development of football, and don’t speak about money.”  Mr. Blatter pronounced.

I don’t care where they play the World Cup because I think soccer is boring to watch; and I’m not going to Qatar because I’m Jewish.  But I wish to hell old Sepp would own up and take responsibility for what he did.  He Took the Money!  It’s okay with me, if he took the money.  I like money, and I’m bribable for the right price.  Anyone who wants me to say anything in these pieces should come up with a number.

However, there’s a caveat that goes with this offer - I’ll tell.  I’ll take responsibility for my actions.  We live in a society where no one wants to take responsibility for what they’ve done.  I read recently about a football coach blaming the referee for some bone-headed mistake he had made.  He just wouldn’t own up to it.

Most screw-ups aren’t going to end the world.  Come clean, accept responsibility, and take your medicine.  Usually situations work out okay.

P.S.  Send me a post card from Qatar (with some oil)

My Friend Don

I lost my friend Don Meredith this week.  Arlene and I had become friendly with Don and his wife, Susan, when we lived in Santa Fe.  Don was one of the coolest, most interesting people I ever met.

His career was long and varied.  He was a great football player, an actor, and a wonderful broadcaster.  Much more interesting, however, was his huge intellect and adventuresome mind.  He was always ready to try new things, and he surprised me with a wide range of knowledge.

I loved the guy as much as anything because he was funny as hell.  That stuff he did on Monday Night Football was pure Don.  He didn’t put that on, it just came out of his mouth.  He was still that east Texas boy, just smarter and better traveled than most.

I never knew him during his wild days in Dallas, but I wish I had.  He eventually got tired of being Dandy Don, but he was unfailingly polite to the people who approached him.  He was like everybody’s best buddy.  Everyone wanted to talk to the big guy.  I’m going to miss the hell out of him.  Knowing him was a gift.

Wanted: More Nice Guys

The Type-A personality and the drive to succeed at whatever the cost, has gotten us to this culture of cutthroat, doctor-the-books and free-for-all antics.  It’s what has gotten the folks at Enron and AIG and other high-profile business executives in trouble.

In business it’s easy to cut corners.  It is a slippery slope.  After you cut the first small corner, the next corner is much easier to cut. Once you start small alterations in next quarter’s profitability--for stock market reasons, or bank reasons, or IRS reasons--it’s much easier to do it the next time in slightly larger amounts.  Pretty soon it becomes standard operating procedure.  In a company like Enron, they found themselves manipulating energy in entire regions of the country to the detriment of the people who lived in those areas.  My philosophy has always been to just do it honestly and ethically the first time around and keep doing it that way.

Nice guys adhere to ethical standards and nice guys do indeed finish first.  I’m no saint, but life is too short to screw around with people, or to mess around with the IRS.  Nothing is worth taking a chance of going to the slammer.  I have nothing against guys named Bubba.  I just don’t want one for a roommate.

Show Up and Own Up

When we first moved to California, my wife Arlene and I noticed an interesting phenomenon.  Everyone here re-confirms.  Not just doctors’ offices and hair salons, but all social engagements are reconfirmed the day before.

We thought this was strange at first, but we later realized that non-responsibility is so pervasive in California, that no one trusts anybody to follow through on anything.   There are a lot of dogs eating a lot of homework around here.

Unfortunately, as in all things, it starts in California and spreads east.  Our society is rampant with non-responsibility.  Politicians blame their staff for anti-gay texts by saying they never saw the texts.  Football coaches blame assistant coaches for indiscretions by adopting the Shultz defense, “I know nothing . . .”  Donald Trump is responsible for everything good and nothing bad in the universe.  By the way, The Donald will neither confirm nor deny that he is running for president.  I’m looking for real estate in Toronto.

Whatever happened to “I did it, I’m sorry, I’ll try to do better in the future”?  Own up, take your medicine, and rectify the damage.  A responsible world works better for all of us.