BACKTIME

An Alma Mater Hit and Run

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:40:00 +0000

I lived in the Northeast from when I was born until 2002. During that time I graduated from Syracuse University in 1991, and returned several times to cover college football and basketball games.

But since moving all over the country, I hadn't been back in 5 years and my 42 hours in town felt very familiar.

First, our group stayed at the Genesee Grande Hotel, which was the first hotel my Dad took me to when I first visited the campus in 1986. It was the Genesee Inn at the time, and a little more spartan than the boardroom suite I commanded on this trip.

We were there long enough to hit an excellent dinner at Phoebe's. And before heading to the Dome, I got my dome shorn up at a barber shop that was open at 7 AM on a Saturday.

I walked through campus to work, picked up some Orange gear for the kids, and remembered the 44-degree weather wouldn't be so cold without the 20 MPH winds, an observation I made many times in my 4-year (no summer classes, no 5th year) tenure.

Syracuse football is back on the map this year, with 7 wins and their first guaranteed winning season since 2001. And I was there to cover it - and in the press notes to prove it.

I'm sure my parents, who paid 6 figures in tuition, would've felt some sense of payoff for their investment. But as for the emotional investment in the football team, it was an uninspiring 23-6 loss to surging Connecticut.

There's always next year. Besides I never made it to Cosmo's - my first trip back to M Street without a signature tuna bomber.

Turmoil in Washington

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:14:00 +0000

I picked an apropos headline since were are upon a historic midterm Election Day. But the people who actually live in DC are probably much more concerned with the quarterback situation.

Mike Shanahan had the guts this past weekend to pull potential Hall-of-Fame QB Donovan McNabb, saying he was poorly conditioned and lacked the "cardiovascular endurance" to run the 2-minute drill in a comeback situation in Detroit.

Personally, I have loved McNabb since he set foot on the Syracuse campus. He is the most prolific quarterback in Syracuse history, and Philadelphia Eagles history as well. But Shanahan is right, highlighting McNabb's lack of fitness.

It was something that Andy Reid didn't address until trading the face of the franchise within the division. So maybe he said it without saying it.

And I don't believe that McNabb is poorly conditioned, per se. But I think he has a condition. I remember him burning clock in a big comeback spot against Miami so he could catch his breath in the huddle. Syracuse came up short in that game 38-31 and the game ended on the 1-yard line.

I remember another game where he suffered in the same situation, and actually threw up on the field minutes before throwing the winning TD pass against Virginia Tech.

And what Eagle fan can forget the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, when the Eagles could not rally fast enough down the stretch because McNabb couldn't keep up?

McNabb's accomplishments in the NFL speak for themselves, but now Shanahan knows his limitations as well. And unlike Andy Reid, he won't have an invested fan base to piss off if he yanks McNabb in a similar circumstance.

And Washington will have to prepare for a change in its leadership structure.

Predictions for the Mad Men Season Finale: Go Fish

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Some of my friends who enjoy Mad Men don't like the Sally Draper story arc. I find it to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the series. Her reaction to her parents' breakup, combined with growing up as a young lady in the mid 1960s, is fascinating.

But that only leads into Backtime's Mad Men fishing expedition into the season finale:

1. Sally Draper will do something more defiant and outrageous than anything she's pulled to this point. Her Mom's plan to move to get her away from Glenn down the street will be the next tipping point in her volatile state in the "Francis" residence.

2. There will be some sort of confrontation between Don Draper's most recent steady, Dr. Faye Miller, and his new secretary Megan.

3. Roger Sterling will be marginalized. Now John Slattery has become a bona fide TV star so I don't expect him to be gone from the series, but he will become a glorified consultant a la the role that Bert Cooper has take on this season.

4. As a result, Pete Campbell gets to be the agency's top dog. And SCDP won't have to change their logo as Campbell slides right into Sterling Campbell Draper Pryce.

5. Don Draper's New York Times ad that renounces Big Tobacco catches the eye of some big fish, and even prompts the return of Conrad Hilton, who signs with SCDP and saves them from economic free fall.

6. But ultimately, it will be an episode that ends the season with closure instead of an open-ended cliffhanger and tons of unanswered questions (a la AMC's other show, Breaking Bad).

Open Mike: Putting the MV in MVP

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:42:00 +0000

We at Backtime smelt this comeback coming even while #7 was still serving 2-to-3.

There was too much ability and too much game to count him out. His time as a guest of the federal government gave him pay his debt to society, and emerge like so many others, with a second chance...to play the game that he redefined.

And the other thing that nobody talks about - he didn't take a hit in 3 years. He's still only 30 years old with a football age of 27. And now we see a new piece to the Vicksaw puzzle: poise.

Not only has he become a pass-first Quarterback, but he's playing now with a serenity to go with his sizzle. And you can make the argument that he's playing with the type of speedy skill players that Donovan McNabb never had (the Eagles ironically take on McNabb and the Skins this weekend).

With LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, and Jeremy Maclin to complement him, Vick doesn't have to do things on his own the way he did his early days in Atlanta (or McNabb throughout his career in Philly). Vick can trust the guys around him, and if he can trust himself, he may just have a season for the ages.

Just as we forecast over a year ago.

July 27, 2009 - The Trick for Vick: Gotta be like "Mike"

"There's a lion in my pocket, and baby he is ready to roar."

Prince, 1999

It was 10 years ago when I did a shoot with Michael Vick on the Virginia Tech campus. He was a phenom as a redshirt frosh, but he just seemed polite, friendly, and very unassuming.

When he introduced himself as "Mike," I didn't know who he was right away. There wasn't an entourage, there wasn't bravado, it was just Mike.

But there was plenty of bravado in my script and he didn't carry it like that. He was shy. The piece was average and didn't air because Vick got beat up by the Clemson "D" - though the other man on the shoot, Corey Moore, was the dominant defensive star in a Hokie home win.

I'm not trying to extol the virtues of Mike Vick, the seemingly mature 19-year old. This sick subculture was obviously ingrained in him from a very early age. And somewhere deep inside him was a Ron Mexico with middle fingers extended to his home crowd.

But we had truly never seen anyone like him. A black, left-handed whirlwind who probably could have been the best player on the field at a half-dozen positions. He did it with such confidence and class. His play screamed "look at me" so he never had to do anything arrogant to call attention to himself.

In Mike's freshman year, he led Virginia Tech to an undefeated regular season in spectacular fashion. And he left his guts on the Superdome field erasing a 3-TD deficit to Florida State before falling in the 4th quarter. Head Coach Frank Beamer is still his biggest advocate.

Two years later, Mike was drafted #1 overall. Three years after that and one broken leg later, he finished 2nd in the MVP voting, and led the Falcons to the NFC Championship game.

Then came the contract. The sense of entitlement. The rules didn't apply to him. He could spread herpes around, or bankroll dogfighting, or smoke pot on his MySpace page. He thought the authorities and the media, much like your average NFL defender, couldn't catch Michael Vick.

"Tryin' to run from my destruction, you know I didn't even care."

He was wrong and paid the heavy price. This isn't some run-of-the-mill NFL suspension he has to come back from. He was incarcerated. Every day is a blessing for this man.

This time around, I think we're going to see a lot less Michael and a lot more Mike. And maybe one team's fans will party like it's 1999.

The State I'm Min

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 15:54:00 +0000

I packed the autumn hues for highs in the low 60s in Minneapolis.

Even though there were no flight delays, the travel snafus continued. First an over-officious gate agent at the home airport told me my new suitcase was too big to carry on, so she said she had to check it.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Don't worry, you're in first class and won't have to pay." I just shook my head, "It's not about money, it's about time."

And naturally I waited 45 minutes at baggage claim in Minneapolis. And then I got to the hotel and was assigned to a Westin "Grand" Suite. Cool. Except I had to return to the desk three different times because my key didn't work. Ultimately they decided it was the lock that was broken and my room wasn't going to be ready for a couple hours.

In the meantime I got an e-mail that I needed to set up my travel for a couple of October gigs. So I got on the phone with our travel department.

TRAVEL: What position will you be on these shows?

ME: Producer

TRAVEL: I thought so, I was just checking.

ME: That's OK, I like saying it.

Always remember no matter how important you (think you) are or how upgraded your travel day is, it's still just rife with speed bumps. Fortunately Suite 432 lived up to it's billing.

And that was just the living room portion.

The highlight of the Minnesota trip (certainly wasn't the game) was the two meals at Hell's Kitchen.

Thursday night dinner - Lobster Tacos - a "10"

Saturday morning breakfast - Poached Eggs over Venison Chili with a side of Cornmeal Waffles topped with Homemade Peanut Butter - a "12" - one of the best breakfasts I've ever head.

Other highlights of the trip (that didn't involve food) were USC-related. Let's forget for a moment that the USC Song Girls practiced their routine right outside our truck.

After a fairly generic USC victory over the Golden Gophers, we went out to Smalley's sports bar in downtown Minneapolis. And watching 50 Trojan fans in USC colors sing "Fight On" in unison in the center of enemy territory was actually very cool.

Then it was the 3:45 AM wakeup call for the 5:20 AM flight Sunday morning, all so I could be home before Noon and spend the afternoon with the kids.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll get to watch some of the Jets-Patriots game.

Fight On Mark Sanchez!

The Breakout Star of Hard Knocks: Mike T

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:11:00 +0000

My new favorite Jet doesn't wear a number, but he sure can crunch them.

The 4th episode of HBO's Hard Knocks 2010 featuring the New York Jets may have been the most ground-breaking hour in the history of reality television. The training camp football behind-the-scenes of who makes the team and who gets cut, and the big personalities - are always eye-catching. But it's the candid contract negotiations headed up by GM Mike Tannenbaum that yields unprecedented access.

When Mike T gave 3rd string QB Kellen Clemens a calculated business offer to take it or leave it, that's when I hit the rewind button and watched the same scene several times in a row. Did that just happen? Was that on television?

Did an NFL quarterback have to decide his own future right there on the spot? No, but pretty damn soon. And a man who started 9 games at QB for the Jets in the last 3 years took the minimum salary to stay with the team. Hey, at least it's guaranteed.

And the cut-throat decision-making involving veteran team leaders WR Laveranues Coles and FB Tony Richardson were handled with tact and a personal touch.

And there was the outright lambasting of ESPN's Tim Cowlishaw who reported that holdout all-everything CB Darrelle Revis' arrival at Jets camp was imminent, which of course was a fallacy.

And is it any wonder that after an episode that showcased how Mike T and the Jets do business, that Team Revis ended their holdout and came to camp at a much lower number than they were floating?

Mike T handled players' coach Rex Ryan the same way with the same incisive, clinical thinking he operated with players and their agents.

That's the side of football that isn't reflected in a Fantasy Football draft or a 3-hour TV broadcast, the complicated and fascinating business side. And the business of Jets football is in great hands.

Mad About You: Another Case of Co-Dependency

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:35:00 +0000

The continuing, evolving drama of a night with Don and Peggy told you everything you wanted to know about what this show is all about. Watching them take on a the Samsonite campaign, a mouse, and a Duck in an all-nighter, was very reminiscent of watching the way a mentor and protegee bicker on their AMC compadre show, Breaking Bad.

Don naturally backed Sonny Liston against Cassius Clay that night in 1965. The way he liked Nixon over Kennedy a few seasons earlier. Don liked the guys who didn't brag.

And Peggy is Don's #2 now. Peggy gives don ideas and she tries to boast about it, but he shits on her. At least that's Peggy's take on it. But Don is adamant.

"That's the way it works. There are no credits on commercials."

"I give you money. You give me ideas."

When Peggy complains, "But you never say thank you!" Don is incredulous, "That's what the money is for!"

It is a pivotal night in Don's life. Not just because Don lost $100 on Liston, but because of the death of Anna Draper - and the close relationship he had with the woman who allowed him his name. And Don showed vulnerability for the very first time.

But at the end of the night (really the next day), a "spruced up" Don Draper realizes he has a stable relationship in his life. Despite the death of his great friend, his divorce, and his reckless drinking, he found someone to complete him, and not in the usual way Don relies on a woman.

And the constant shake-up of the pecking order on the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce totem pole continues. At age 26 (Happy birthday!) Peggy Olson is in a tremendous position at her job. And she didn't know it until now.

Mad Mentor: When Roger Met Don

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:33:00 +0000

On the eve of Don Draper's first Clio Award for television advertising excellence, Roger Sterling walks down memory lane to how it became possible. When he met Don, the fur guy. And it's kind of a hazy path considering how much they each drink along the way. Just consider Roger's ramblings in the dictation of his book.

And for Don the award is a culmination of his crooked path to the highest heights of his profession. And after the win, the calculated Draper lets his guard down. First comes the most exaggerated case of hubris, then the drunken blur.

Don still didn't pull a Duck Phillips, ranting out in a crowded banquet room, but his spouting at the mouth caused him to inadvertently steal a slogan from an idiot he interviewed earlier. Then naturally he winds up in bed with a waitress he doesn't remember.

For Roger, the alcohol reveals the truth in his feelings. He's jealous of Don, who always gets the credit and naturally he transfers his anger to any target he can find.

Ultimately, Roger's behavior is damaging his own company. Lane Pryce, the London corporate lackey who runs the nuts and bolts of the agency said so much calling him a "child" in his empowerment of Pete Campbell. This ultimately begs the question, "Who runs Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce?"

1. Don Draper - He's the face of the firm, but ultimately a creative diva who goes off the reservation whenever he fells like it.

2. Roger Sterling - A buffoon who is tied to Lucky Strike, the company's biggest client. But he's a loose cannon (see what he did with the Japanese Honda people?) who isn't up to date in 1965.

3. Bert Cooper - Older than Sterling, his presence is mostly ceremonial.

4. Lane Pryce - He really is in control of everything with a dollar sign attached. But he's just an operational wizard who doesn't do accounts or creative, and is still an outsider.

5. Pete Campbell - This is the best character arc in the 4 seasons of the series. He went from a conniving kid to a savvy, confident exec who is well on his way to running the show.

Pete has been challenging Roger this season, and took the balls of his former colleague/competitor Ken Cosgrove while hiring him back.

The next generation is on the rise on the creative side as well with Peggy taking the balls of her creative cohort in the art department in a metaphorical game of strip poker. "Let's get liberated!"

When she "won," she was promptly tagged as "the smuggest bitch on the planet."

Just another major character evolution on a show where the kings are becoming the jesters, and their loyal servants are becoming enlightened.

When The Men In Blue Don't Have A Clue

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Being a Major League umpire is a pretty thankless job - nobody disputes that. But there are occasions like Wednesday's Tigers/Yankees game, when Home Plate ump and crew chief Eric Cooper brought it upon himself.

Let's rewind for a second to Monday night, when the Tigers turned a dramatic game-ending DP to take the series opener at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers completed the play despite a vicious takeout slide by the Yankees Brett Gardner, that landed Tigers 2B Carlos Guillen on the disabled list.

Now I am a Yankee fan, but not a Yankee apologist. Gardner's slide, with the game on the line, was a bit overzealous (I refrain from using the "d" word). Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay called it a clean slide live, though you could hear him biting his tongue on the replays.

I recognized right away that with 3 more games in the series, that this situation wasn't resolved. I even tweeted as such at the time. The Tigers, managed by old-school Jim Leyland, sat out the situation on Tuesday as not to involve their ace starter Justin Verlander.

But on Wednesday with Brett Gardner leading off the bottom of the 1st, Tiger starter Jeremy Bonderman returned fire on the very first pitch of the game.

But Bonderman didn't put one in Gardner's ear. He went for the legs of a guy who makes his living with them (34 Stolen Bases), since Gardner injured Guillen's knee.

Gardner didn't charge the mound, he took his base. The Yankee dugout didn't empty. This was the type of baseball justice that's been going on since the game began. You could almost see Joe Girardi tipping his cap to Jim Leyland that the matter was resolved. Except Umpire Eric Cooper injected himself into the situation by warning both benches.

So now fast forward to the 8th inning, with the Yankees holding a 9-4 lead. AL MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera, who already homered twice in the game stepped in and was plunked in the back by Yankee reliever Chad Gaudin.

Whether Gaudin intended to hit Cabrera or not, the scenario plus the warning made it a no-brainer. Eric Cooper had to eject Chad Gaudin and his manager, Joe Girardi. But he did nothing.

Was Cooper intimidated by the pinstripes? Or the Yankees crowd? Either way, he proved to be a chump for not following through on his own warning. Jim Leyland rode Cooper relentlessly, until Cooper had no choice but to eject him. And Leyland was still pointing the finger, quite righteously, as he took his walk.

So the situation continued to take on a life of its own, and the umpires had lost control of the game. So in the bottom of the 8th, Tigers reliever Enrique Gonzalez threw behind Yankees captain Derek Jeter.

And the Yankees had to sit there and take it, just like the Tigers did in the previous frame. So despite an early warning, the umpires didn't follow through.

Now the Yankees and Tigers play for the final time in 2010 at 1 PM today. Has the bad blood continued to elevate, or is the matter put to bed? Either way, the umpires, the policemen of the game, were invisible as it played out.

Sunday's Step Up Squad At Whistling Straits

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:19:00 +0000

There's a little matter to be settled on some lakefront property in Wisconsin today. And everyone is talking about the "young guns," the 20-something band on the front page of the leaderboard. But to look forward, you first have to look back to the last PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

In 2004, everyone was hailing this unique setting, which presented the challenges of a US Open with the look of a British Open. It was going to be brutal - except Vijay Singh was -12 through 3 rounds. But on Sunday, everything got tightened up. Singh shot 76 with no birdies until winning in the playoff.

I look for history to repeat itself and 29-year old Nick Watney's -13 and 3-shot lead to go by the boards long before the end of the day. That leaves a very precocious group to seize the trophy.

Exhibit A: Rory McIlroy (21).

While Tiger Woods' grip on the #1 World Golf Ranking will be over fairly soon, who immediately succeeds him (Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood) is a mere formality.

McIlroy is the next world's-best-golfer. He owns the year's most dominant performance with a 66-62 finish in Charlotte, blasting past Phil Mickelson in the process.

McIlroy also pounded St. Andrews with an opening round 63 at the British, before he got hammered by the weather in Round 2.

Exhibit B: Dustin Johnson (26).

The 6-foot-4 South Carolinian makes you take notice. He's got "extra" length off the tee, and can routinely out-drive Tiger. He can dunk a basketball.

And just watch him swing and watch him walk - everything exudes confidence, except his face. He's a "flat-liner," and maybe with the Sunday US Open blowup in his rearview, he may become the next face of American golf.

Exhibit C: Jason Day (22).

This is the wild-card. He's been flying under the radar until taking The Byron Nelson this year in Dallas.

While McIlroy blows you away with his moxy and Johnson with his talent, Day has all the tricks in a short game reminiscent of someone twice his age.

While these men may represent the next Big Three in professional golf, you never know what the future holds in such a tenuous profession (see: Garcia, Sergio).

And we don't want to write Tiger off too soon, though he won't win this tournament. He could find his way from 31st place to a Top 10 finish. That would give him three Top 10 Majors in a tumultuous, transition year in his life, a season 98% of PGA Tour golfers would probably trade their career for.

And the winner today will be: Rory McIlroy. His first of many career Golf Major championships.

Hard Knocks Ready To Take Off

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:44:00 +0000

It's T-minus one week to the Season Premiere of HBO's Hard Knocks, and I can't remember a higher-profile training camp than the beloved New York Jets, bunking in Cortland, NY in August 2010.

There are plenty of reasons that GM Mike Tannenbaum and Head Coach Rex Ryan should be looking up. But the real hard knocks have begun already with the holdout of Darrelle Revis.

Clearly the Jets brain trust anticipated this situation with their all-world corner, and signed an accomplished cover guy Antonio Cromartie from SD (10 picks in '07) and drafted a major playmaking corner in Kyle Wilson from Boise.

Rex Ryan's attack defense requires outside guys to take care of their island while he throws everyone else at the quarterback. The Jets may be set up there with or without Revis. So the Jets actually have some measure of leverage against the NFL's king of coverage.

From Revis' standpoint, he is living off the 6-year, 30-million dollar deal he got as a 1st round pick in '07. The one player in the League that is equal or better than Revis at his position, the Raiders' Nnamdi Asonugha, got a 3-year, 45.3 million extension in March of '09.

Whether or not the Raiders overpaid for the #1 ranked player in Madden 2010 is a matter of historical debate. But Revis feels he's entitled to that sort of deal, and that has been backed up by the Jets' brass, who said last year that he'd be taken care of.

While the Revis situation has vaulted to the #1 headline in an August that will be filled with them, HBO will still have plenty to enjoy.

> Rex Ryan: Year 2

> Mark Sanchez: Year 2

> LaDainian Tomlinson: Career 2

> Kris Jenkins return from torn ACL

> Moving Targets up top: Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes

> Pass rusher Jason Taylor: Can he still bring it?

> Pass rusher Vernon Gholston: Can he ever bring it?

Plus there's hard news: QB Erik Ainge has checked into rehab for drug dependency. And there's the collateral tabloid damage that's developing from the Jets situation with Brett Favre in 2008.

Most importantly it's the Jets' most anticipated season maybe ever. Let's hope it doesn't peak on pay cable.

Don Draper's Unlucky Strike

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:26:00 +0000

While Don Draper isn't too fickle about who he sleeps with, he knows he fucked this one up.

After leaving the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Xmas party, Don had left his keys in his office in his usual drunken form. While he was ready to jump on the firm's psych consultant or the cute nurse across the hall, there are some lines Don doesn't cross.

Which of course he did when he nailed his own googly-eyed secretary after she came to the rescue with the keys in one of the queasiest scenes in the show's history. Alcohol is a hell of a drug. Just ask Freddy Rumsen, returning to the agency clean and sober after 16 months.

So what makes Don so different from Big Tobacco heir Lee Garner, Jr.? While the Lucky Strike prince can make any demands he wants (they are the #1 client responsible for some 70% of SCDP's billings), he does so in the brashest possible fashion.

Lee Garner, Jr. can threaten to fire the agency if he isn't accommodated by Art Director Salvatore Romano in a same-sex tryst. That was the likely tipping point for the likable character's departure from the firm last year.

Or he can pull out his swinging dick (figuratively of course) and demean the boss, Roger Sterling, in front of the entire agency, forcing him to be Santa at the Xmas party and putting his hands on Roger's wife. But Roger handles it with charm.

Nobody seems to know exactly what Roger Sterling does. When he comes back drunk from a client meeting, Peggy says, "I can't believe that's his job." But it's the ability to keep the big fish clients, the quirky, greedy, selfish perverts and their insatiable appetites...happy.

So back to the scoundrel tale of the tape:

Lucky Strike's Lee Garner Jr. is a bully who gets what he wants through sheer power and intimidation.

Don Draper uses his power to persuade and use and hurt people to get what he wants, from the same people who only want to please him.

"The morning after" meeting with his secretary was just as icy and sad as it could possibly be. He thanked her for bringing him his keys, which translates into "last night never happened." Allison gets a $100 bonus on a generic holiday card, while Don walks out of the office with the presents for his kids that she shopped for and immaculately wrapped.

Who is the more dangerous predator?

Mad Men Season 4 Premiere: Be Careful What You Wish For

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:20:00 +0000

Want to go rogue and start your own ad agency? Well you just might get it.

Welcome to Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, a "scrappy upstart" of an ad agency, that Creative Director Don Draper has just put on the map with a very clever Glo-Coat TV spot.

Now Don Draper is the headline name of the company, even though we all know that's not his name. But as Don plays "modest" to an Advertising Age reporter, he comes across as aloof. In one of Roger Sterling's signature one-liners, he spells it out to Don, "You turned all the sizzle from Glo-Coat into a wet fart."

So the one-story agency isn't growing as fast as the partners would like, no matter how many chairs Don kicks around in the non-conference room.

Want to save the Sugarberry Ham account, with a bold plan to stage two women fighting over a ham Thanksgiving week? And make an end run around Don? Be careful what you wish for, Peggy and Pete.

When the play fight turns real and assault charges are filed, the bail and hush money escalates. And Peggy gets a tongue-lashing to boot.

And there's the suddenly sympathetic figure, Henry Francis (thanks to a very well-placed scene with his mother).

Want a beautiful trophy bride? Be careful what you wish for. You just might get Betty Draper.

As much as I love the ad agency, this is the storyline that resounds. Henry's mother calls Betty a "silly woman," and he's seeing it himself. A spoiled child, who went straight from Daddy to Don to Henry, Betty still lives in Don's house and does nothing but badger her own children.

And for those of you who think Sally Draper is an annoying, ill-tempered child - you obviously don't own the feisty Daddy's Girl home version.

The whole episode comes full-circle, when Don's smart, somewhat risque presentation to a potential ladies swimwear client strikes out. He realizes that being modest is ignorant and tells the Wall Street Journal the more confident and appealing Don Draper story.

Maybe next Thanksgiving, Don won't have to hire a prostitute to smack him around (not pictured).

Backtime Road Trip Day 16: The Voyage Home

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:17:00 +0000

This entry's subtitle was borrowed from Star Trek IV. As a plot refresher, Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise crew had just commandeered a Klingon Bird of Prey and traveled through time and space to late 20th century San Francisco to transport humpback whales to the future to save humanity.

I merely transported some precious cargo through 15 states in 16 days, but we returned home and humanity was still intact.

When we left Busch Gardens last night, daughter fell sound asleep almost as soon as we got in the car. So as we foraged for takeout dinner and snacks on the back roads outside Williamsburg, I put us in the hands of my GPS to get us to our hotel in the northernmost part of North Carolina. Bad move.

Garmin directed me to the Jamestown Ferry. I was not prepared for this, so I chickened out, doubled back to I-64 and lost an hour. In retrospect, it may have worked.

So we wheeled into Roanoke Rapids NC right around 10 PM. I threw the bags on a luggage cart and propped a sleeping son on top of the pile. Daughter had woken up from her nap, so Gramps took her out for some late-night chow.

We woke up and saw the weather report for the region. High of 103 with heat indexes approaching 115. Good thing we were headed south.

First stop was to drop off my dad at RDU for his one-way flight back to JFK. His contributions were tremendous on the evening drives the last two nights. And there's no way I would have made it through Busch Gardens with the two kids without him.

Then we had a 5-hour drive home from there. Remarkably, we only made one stop. It was a place I had seen several times, but never visited - the iconic Carolina travel respite.

South Of The Border...let's just say there's truth in advertising. There was virtually no AC, smoking allowed everywhere, and no restrooms in the restaurant or the gas station. Instead there was a public restroom building next door that was just as gamy as you can imagine. Think of a below-average gas station bathroom, but 20 times the size.

And the restaurant was a real greasy spoon.

The kids were good with their hotdogs, but I decided to go native applying the "When In Rome" philosophy south of the border. I went with the beef and bean enchilada with the Mexi-fries. Wasn't half-bad (tasting). Would I pay later? At least I'd be home when I found out.

It was a very smooth and uneventful 3 hours home from there. And after the trip of their lives, the kids got home to a very happy reunion.

My dad asked me last night if the trip was everything I wanted it to be. I thought for a minute.

Maybe I should have re-connected with more people than I did back in NYC. But much like my situation, a lot of my friends' lives are not their own anymore.

Maybe I shouldn't have tried to cross Pennsylvania in one day, and bunked up back in Syracuse for a night. But that's easily tabled for another summer.

That's all. The kids never cried once that they wanted to go home. They were as into the adventure as I was. I devised a strong plan, and it was executed without (much) drama. The trip was everything I wanted it to be. And now, I was glad to be home.

Backtime Road Trip Day 15: Muppet Mayhem

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:43:00 +0000

The penultimate day of the family journey began overlooking Cal Sr. Park at the Ripken Baseball Academy from our hotel room in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Ripken has become a brand name in youth baseball over the last several years, drawing little leaguers to the complex from around the country, and consequently filling up the adjacent minor league stadium.

Naturally the address of the hotel was on "Long Drive," and we were off on hour 3+ hour trip to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for the brand name in youth everything, and a much more famous address...

The Sesame Street Forest of Fun at Busch Gardens. I don't know if I'd call it "fun for all ages," but I definitely got into the spirit on Prince Elmo's Spire.

Even Gramps got into the act, riding on Oscar's Whirly Worms.

And after several hours running around in near-100 degree heat, with never enough to drink and no nap, there was a great kiddie cool-off. Fortunately Daddy was on top of it with sunscreen, bathing suits, and towels (the ones that didn't cost $20 in the gift shop).

And speaking of the heat, how do you think you'd like to be dressed as a muppet as your summer job?

The chroma-key green background is so they can sell you overpriced pictures of your family with their favorite Sesame Street characters superimposed on some sort of background from the actual set of the show - much like how your favorite weather lady appears in front of a regional map.

I wasn't going to pay for that picture when they still let you take off-center snapshots against the green. But there was one picture that I bought, framed even, since there's no recreating the moment.

The kids took their first ever roller coaster ride on Grover's Alpine Express. I tagged along, expecting a kiddie ride. It wasn't. It was a real roller coaster, though a very short ride. I'd call it a junior coaster. The kids had a blast and rode it over and over again.

And sitting next to my 3-year old girl on her first roller coaster ride ranks right up there in the highlights of my life. But I am surely aware that the real roller coaster ride is only beginning.

Backtime Road Trip Day 14: Iron Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:55:00 +0000

Today, our last day in NYC, had no family support. My sister had flown home and both of my folks had to work. I wasn't about to drag the kids around the city all day by myself, so we became one with the country.

Not really, more like the suburbs. Actually Paramus, New Jersey - the town with the most shopping malls per capita in the United States. But also home to the New Jersey Children's Museum. For the record, the third children's museum we've hit on the tour.

It was a pretty good way to kill a couple hours. Lots of hands-on practical things - my daughter probably manned the register at the grocery store for a half-hour. But also creative play and role play.

So after a long day at the construction site, we did what any New York-area union workers would do - take a long lunch. Burger King and Baskin-Robbins did the trick sustaining us through heavy traffic back into the city, where we packed and split.

It is 13 hours back to Savannah, so this has been planned like everything on the trip, thoroughly plotted out and segmented. Like any good producer would.

Gramps came with me and the kids as the first leg went from Central Park South to Aberdeen, Maryland. This was a good stopping point for the pivotal journey to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg tomorrow.

We pulled into the hotel in Aberdeen just as the crowd from Ripken Stadium was exiting and the lights were still on.

The Aberdeen IronBirds took one on the chin tonight against the Tri-City (that's Albany, Schenectady, and Troy New York in case you were wondering) ValleyCats 6-2 in a NY-Penn League Single-A battle. The crowd was listed at 6,550.

So it would seem that Aberdeen owner/proprietor Cal Ripken Jr. continues to work hard and do things the right way.

The Ripken work ethic will serve as inspiration for me on the last 48 hours of this family journey. It's been just one fortnight in the books which begs the question, "how did Cal Ripken do it?"

Backtime Road Trip Day 12: Zoo Times Two

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 02:01:00 +0000

That stuff I said last week about New Yorkers being wimpy about the heat - that lasted until the Monday morning downpour. The rain didn't cool things off, just made things steamier.

Who knew a family trip to the Central Park Zoo would include the "Rain Forest" package free of charge.

The kids wondered where all the animals were, but they were only doing what all our instincts were telling us to do: find a shady spot and take a nap.

The penguins have the right idea for July. I know I told you the one about the guy who was supposed to take the penguins to the zoo, but he had some money left over, so he took them to the movies.

But others are just meant to triumph over the dog days of summer:

As evening rolled around, it was time to visit a very different zoo. This one located in a Rockwellian manor on an acre of land just off the Saw Mill Parkway in Mt. Kisco. But don't let the serene setting fool you.

Inside there was another kind of zoo, where two solo Dads armed only with their Syracuse education took on four little critters from dusk through dawn.

In this case, feeding the animals was required. And some fat and happy animals were successfully tamed.

Backtime Road Trip Day 11: Your Tax Dollars At Work

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:13:00 +0000

Since I was spent, I decided not to spend. And take the kids on some more convenient public (read: free) offerings in the New York/New jersey area.

First was the Asser Levy Recreation Center on Manhattan's Lower East side. It was a very clean outdoor pool setting, and very tightly run. It was if Mayor Bloomberg himself made sure that nobody brought a cell phone, gym bag, or water bottle poolside.

But tight rules make for careful and respectful patrons, and the free pool experience was fun for everyone. Not to mention we beat the Sunday rush at 11 AM.

Then after lunch it was off to Van Saun Park in Paramus, NJ. Free admission here as well, with all the basics to occupy a couple of kiddos for a couple of hours. Like the carousel (photogenic daughter not included):

Or the expansive playground:

Or checking out where the Bergen County buffalo roam.

The Sunday funday ended at Bischoff's Ice Cream shop in Teaneck, or as my GPS called it up "Bischoff's Confectionary." Bischoff's has been in one spot since 1934 while the world has changed around them. It's a landmark whose ice cream sodas alone are worth your tax dollars.

Backtime Road Trip Day 9: Another Day In The Park

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:42:00 +0000

New Yorkers call today "hot." While I still consider myself a New Yorker in my mind, my body lives in Savannah, and I've achieved Climate Conditioning Transformation.

Got a late start out this morning and it was the warmest and most humid since we got here. The Grandparents and I took the kids over to Central Park to the Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink. It was the standard kiddie fun fair, for kids of all ages.

For 3-Year Old Daughter it was a chance to ride some "big kid" rides that she'd never been on before. For 6-Year Old Son, it was just another chance to get overheated and melt down after a couple of very active hours.

So the next stop was one of the playground/fountains, where the kids got their swimsuits on and got to cool off a little. But there were lots of camp groups and some pushy kids, so the Buddy System was in full effect.

Anyway, after 4 hours in the sun, my kids' nerves were frayed and my parents' energy was zapped. This is where my Climate Conditioning Transformation (CCT) comes in handy.

The rest of the day was indoor play in the AC, and after the usual practices, the kids had to invent their own entertainment.

Backtime Road Trip Day 8: Interlocked

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:45:00 +0000

I already live in Lego Land. I had no desire to visit there.

That's where Grandparents come in handy. They think your kids' quirkiest traits are just adorable. And there's plenty more I'm looking forward to do with my children in Gotham. For Legos, I can curb my enthusiasm.

For a while on the Central Park playground my kids bickered and partnered and were "interlocked like Legos" like a couple of my favorite HBO housemates.

But ultimately, the older child won the adventure competition taking on the park's giant rock structure. And for a brief moment, he was part of the skyline.

Backtime Road Trip Day 7: Eastbound and Downright Frustrated

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:35:00 +0000

I doubt there is a more depressing stretch of road in the eastern United States than the length of the state of Pennsylvania on I-80. 310 miles of nothingness, broken up only by tedious road construction and landmarked only by a couple of nuclear power facilities.

No wonder they call Penn State "Happy Valley." It's because people are so happy to have found civilization.

So we woke up this morning in Cleveland, Day 6 A.D. (After Decision). For the short time I was there, the city seemed no more or less depressed than it normally is. Cleveland is actually very nice - in July.

You'd think that losing LeBron is like any major city losing their #1 commodity, akin to Detroit losing GM. But basketball still wasn't "king" in this town.

There was a lot of local coverage on the death of Cleveland native George Steinbrenner, the American Shipbuilding magnate who tried to buy the Indians in the early 70s but was thwarted. The rest is history in two cities.

But baseball doesn't reign in this town or the state for that matter. You see, George Steinbrenner's role model and mentor was Woody Hayes. Everything in Ohio is football. LeBron's headline news cycle runs until the day Browns camp opens. Period.

As I was cruising the streets on the Baldwin-Wallace campus near my sister's house in Berea, there were football tributes on your average street corner.

So now came the single hardest leg of the trip (at least thus far), the one day trip from Cleveland to New York City. After four stops, a 45-minute construction crawl, and a ton of junk food, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's place 8+ hours later.

Now we get to stay in (generally) one spot for a whole week. And a pretty cool spot it is. Six stories up, overlooking Central Park. And tonight we were greeted by fireworks. Bastille Day! Who knew?

Now the hard part of the trip is over, and the real fun can begin. At least until the 13-hour drive home next week. But that's still a long way off. Bonne nuit!

Backtime Road Trip Day 6: Back to the Future

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:49:00 +0000

In 2007, Kalamazoo was in the rearview. Today was time to re-live history.

We pulled into Kalamazoo kind of late last night, but it was hard to notice. It's about as far west in the eastern time zone as you can get so the sun didn't set until about 9:30. The kids went to bed late and that may have thrown them this morning.

When we last lived in the home of the Western Michigan Broncos, our son was 3 years old. This morning, Sonny did his best impression of a 3-year old getting into a couple of territorial skirmishes on the McDonald's playground.

First I get talked out of a free Hampton Inn breakfast, then I'm pulling two crying kids back to the car in a crowded McDonald's parking lot. I was naturally beginning to second-guess a lot of things.

But we visited Son's old pre-school where I learned his particular teacher had retired. But everyone else there recognized him. He wasn't so sure. His memory is fast becoming legend in his present digs, but his memories of his previous life aren't as clear. But he remembered the big slide.

Then we were off to his former speech therapist. He said he didn't remember her, but he acted very familiarly there. The floortime and specific reinforcement moving forward was worth the trip by itself. So the second-guessing was now over.

Then we went downtown and checked out both of our former apartment buildings. We went down to the Amtrak station where we went on countless walks and stroller rides.

We hit Irving's Market, which is housed in our former building and we were treated like returning heroes.

Then we hopped across the street to Caffe Casa, where I got my coffee almost every morning for three years. We were recognized and greeted instantly, though they couldn't remember my "usual." The kids split a big brownie.

We went to the Arcadia Park playground to get some ya-yas out. Even though it was crowded with some rowdy kids, both kids were perfectly content and kept their cool.

Then it was one more trip to The Root Beer Stand for lunch, where a car-hop recognized my car and the kids, nonchalantly asking, "What's it been, two years?" Almost three actually.

So the purpose of the 20 hours back in the old hometown was to see what the little man remembered from there. And specifically I'm not sure he recalled much. But he seemed familiar and comfortable.

We left town and headed for my sister's house in Cleveland. With Kalamazoo in the rearview, my son said he wanted to come back next summer.

Backtime Road Trip Day 5: Easy Riders

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:51:00 +0000

The world is out there. But you have to leave your comfort zone to experience it.

Through years working on the road, I have lots of madcap stories to tell. Like many of us in the industry, I live "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" for several months out of the year. There are no situations that shock me anymore. It's all within the comfort zone.

But when you do it as the solo honcho for a 3 and 6 year old, that would fall outside the protective bubble. What with the tummy aches and the potty breaks, fighting over snacks and DVDs, and generally tugging in opposite directions. But all in all, they're major troopers.

We started this morning outside Louisville and drove 2+ hours to Indy, where we hung out at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. We spent two hours there and could easily have spent two more at the multi-level facility.

The theme this summer was Rock Stars: Cars & Guitars. It features equipment through the years, automobiles from vintage movies and music videos, and the original Kiss costumes. Pictured below is the collection of Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, featuring guitars owned by B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and of course Rick Nielsen (see if you can spot that one).

There were a million other things to do there as interactives as well as some of the current exhibits: miniature houses (I was looking for Lester Freamon's signature), the 50th anniversary of the Etch-A-Sketch, the typical Indiana black community of the 1960s, and a trip to Egypt. The kids sat first class and landed in Cairo without incident.

The museum also has a pretty good food court. Another thing to beware of on these type of hit-and-run family trips is the food. I've eaten tacos, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs in just the past two days.

The next order of business was the 3 hour and 30 minute ride to Kalamazoo, Michigan - where we lived for three years, and where our daughter was born. Mercifully, one-third of Backtime's editorial department snoozed much of the way - and it wasn't the one who was driving.

When we arrived at our destination, we jogged the young man's memory by hitting Jungle Joe's for an hour of bounce time.

That got them good and exhausted before hitting another favorite joint. The dog lovers ate it up.

We've got a few more memory cells to unearth in our man. He was three-and-a-half when we left here.

So tomorrow we're gonna party like it's 2007.

Backtime Road Trip Day 4: Been Down This Road Before

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:01:00 +0000

Just played a 48-hour game of Running Bases on I-65.

I returned to Al Obama last night to pick up the kids for the journey north today. Stayed at my Father-In-Law's lake house, which is gorgeous and expansive, but has sketchy cell phone service and no internet (thus no road trip blog entry for yesterday).

Anyway we were off this morning, boomerang ready to launch. Two hours later, we were at the Nashville Zoo. One of the things that lured me there was the "Jungle Gym."

On the zoo's website, it describes the playground as 66,000 square feet with a 35-foot tall "Tree of Life." So we had barely waved to a couple of gibbons and squawked at a macaw, and my son was off to scour every inch of the structure.

Just over an hour later, in 96-degree heat, both kids were over-heated and under-nourished. The snack bar was the last stop in the zoo. The rest of the animals would have to wait until the next road trip.

So as I re-traced my steps back up to the greater-Louisville area, we passed the exact spot where I sat still on I-65 for over 3 hours Friday. I was listening to the Yankees-M's game on my never-leave-home-without-my XM radio. It was then I learned of the passing of legendary Yankees Public Address Announcer Bob Sheppard. Since I had been somewhat information-deprived, this was the first I heard of it - it was like the day the music died.

Sheppard was 99, and was the P.A. voice of the Yankees, Giants football, and St. John's basketball, where he taught speech for a quarter-century. Growing up in New Jersey literally minutes from The Stadium, everybody knew, and everybody mimicked Sheppard. Imitation is after all the greatest form of flattery.

My favorite Sheppard impersonation came from Sunday Night Baseball play-by-play man Jon Miller, who would have Sheppard ordering breakfast at Denny's.

"I'll have number one. Eggs...and toast. Number one."

We appropriately passed Shepherdsville, KY en route to Brooks, KY, where we crash for the night. And if the kids were dragging from the long trip (and there's plenty more of that to come), there was an outdoor pool and Papa John's on the menu. Hopefully things go swimmingly from here.

Backtime Retraction: The New Boss Is Nothing Like The Old Boss

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Posman) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:04:00 +0000

The idea of a weblog, or "blog" in the current lexicon is to report, opine, rant, predict, question, or stream consciousness.

It is generally one person on a keyboard entering items into cyberspace and beyond. It is generally accountable to nobody and thus an apology for misrepresentation is rarely required.

Today I feel compelled to apologize to Tennessee Head Football Coach Derek Dooley. In yesterday's entry, I made an off-hand remark, reflecting on the transgressions of a couple of knuckleheads from the football team. I wrote quite sarcastically "And I thought the new boss was nothing like the old boss."

Well my first instincts were correct. Yesterday Coach Dooley dismissed Sophomore Safety Darren Myles Jr. from the program, and suspended two other players indefinitely.

Dooley's words back up his actions, maintaining that being a member of the University of Tennessee football squad is "a privilege, not a right."

And he doesn't mind taking a pointed shot at predecessor Lane Kiffin in the process:

"As I have referenced on many occasions, a change in culture is achieved in time through a combination of education, discipline and support. We will aggressively continue to build on the many positive changes that have occurred over the last five months to ensure our program is represented with class and dignity."

Remember six months ago when Lane Kiffin bolted for USC after one season, and Tennessee couldn't find a coach? Well they stumbled onto Dooley and the program looks like it's in very strong hands. Meanwhile Kiffin has inherited a mess at USC.

Sometimes karma works the way it's supposed to. The new boss is nothing like the old boss. We won't get fooled again.