For only the second time in my 23 years as a season ticket holder, I will not be at Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday to watch the Arizona State Sun Devils take on the USC Trojans.

Even though USC will likely be huge favorites, it won’t be an easy game for me to miss.

Trust me.

Instead, I’ll be at the Rendezvous of Friends in Santa Fe, an annual gathering the organization I work at hosts for Friends groups from across the West. While I’ll be working during the game, it’ll be recording back home, I’ll get frequent score updates on my iPhone, and I’ll definitely be doning some maroon & gold.

Go Devils!

I’m not a big hockey fan, but I do enjoy watching the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I discovered the sport while living in Detroit during second and third grades, which meant that I was destined to be a Red Wings fan. It’s a fast-paced sport that’s one of the best to watch live. Even after returning to Arizona, I’d routinely attend Phoenix Roadrunner games. By the time high school rolled around, however, it had been years since I had attended a game. And I hadn’t since – until last week.

I’ve definitely considered going – I even listed it on my 101 things to do in 1001 days list. And I tried to organize an outing with some friends the last couple of years. But the general cost and timing always seemed to get in the way. This year, with talk of the Coyotes being sold, I figured I needed to make it happen.

And while the outcome wasn’t what I hoped for – Phoenix won 3-2 in overtime – it was nice to have the experience and mark it off my list.

Here are some additional thoughts on the evening:

• Free parking? I’m in! It was very easy to get in and out of the parking lots. I guess it helps that only a few thousand poeple are showing up for the game. BTW, iMarkMySpot is a great app for finding your vehicle afterwards.
• Westgate looks like a blast. Many options to hang before and after the game.
• The free food inspired me to buy the tickets, but it shouldn’t have. While it was easy to get it, after standing in the two lines where it was available, it was a limited selection and some of it (I’m looking at you hot dogs and nachos) was downright disgusting.
• No wonder the Coyotes are going broke – their ticket prices are too high. The lower bowl is nearly empty while the upper decks are packed.
• The Red Wings don’t look like the Red Wings of old. I hope they can pull it together as the season progresses.
• Only the Coyotes would sell off naming rights for their will call window.
• The Coyotes need to refine their crowd interaction efforts. First, skip calling them the “cai – yotes.” Second, get a better mascot. Thirdly, play a cool entrance video when the team comes out on the ice.
• I was reminded of why football is my favorite sport. One of those reasons is that it’s simply hard to get too excited about winning or losing when you have another 80+ opportunities. There wasn’t much jubilation after the victory, most fans clapped and cheered for 5-10 seconds and then headed for the exits.
• Anyway, it was a good time and inspired me to buy a Wings jersey, and I think we’ll try to make it out to at least one more game this season.

Check out the snapshots if you’d like.

It was one of the most baffling plays to win a game. Embattled quarterback Danny Sullivan, who was booed by the home crowd during the video introductions, connected with flu-stricken but wide open Chris McGaha for a 50-yard touchdown to take the lead with only :05 seconds left to play.

What a night of elation Danny Sullivan must have had. It’s not redemption, at least not in the eyes of the fans, but it sure must have felt good to celebrate with the stadium and hear the “Dan-Ny, Sulli-Van” chant from the student section.

Other notes:

• Chris McGaha is the only person I want making that catch. The ball hung up there for days, long enough for fans to imagine Chris tripping on the goalline or some other calamity before returning to reality – this is Chris McGaha. He makes the impossible catch look routine. Touchdown.
• Vontaze Burfict is a beast, but an uncontrolled beast. Mike Nixon needs to mentor him on being a leader on the field. Burfict’s penalties really hurt the team. His post-play rowdiness and antics get old quickly. And his cheap shot against Locker was, dare I say it, classless.
• The Devils allowed an inferior team to hang around, even when they clearly seemed to be dominating. This team lacks a killer instinct. Nonetheless, a win is a win.
• The referees continue to amaze. Several horrendous calls out there, including a defensive pass interference call that was beyond ridiculous.
• Dennis Erickson is the king of quotes after a game like this.

To say it was a frustrating, disappointing and ultimately futile night is a substantial understatement. The first half was one of the most tragic of recent memory, the officiating downright mind-boggling, and the quarterback play saddening.

Danny Sullivan has worked hard. He’s does all that he can. But it’s just not enough. Sullivan simply doesn’t have the accuracy necessary to make this offense go, and the defense can’t be expected to carry the team game in and game out. He doesn’t make costly mistakes, but he also doesn’t make the plays that you need him to. The quarterback position is clearly the weakest link on the team and unless we can play small out-of-conference schools like Louisiana-Monroe every week, Erickson’s going to have back-to-back losing seasons. He needs to give Brock Osweiller a shot – and at least get him some experience for the future.

Nonetheless Erickson manages to land a highly touted five star JC defensive end, Bruce Irvin. Irvin switched his commitment from Tennessee to ASU during the weekend – the only piece of good news to come out of the weekend.

After the Georgia game, I was cautiously optimistic that we might be able to exceed my 5-7 prediction for the season, but after the performance on Saturday, I’m just hoping we can attain that low bar.

Another lower tier opponent, another win.

There wasn’t much drama in this one. ASU’s Omar Bolden returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and there wasn’t any looking back. That’s probably a good thing, because it wasn’t much closer to halftime that the Devils had actually put the game out of reach.

It wasn’t as clear of a victory as Idaho State had been, but ASU did what it needed to in what could have been a dangerous trap game. Danny Sullivan looked much crisper, the running game – especially Dimitri Nance – was effective, and the defense continued to show that they can be something special.

Nonetheless, the stands were pretty empty and there’s still very little buzz about the Sun Devils this year. I’m still predicting a season ending record around .500, but given the two victories and a first-ever roadtrip to Georgia on the horizon, you’d expect a bit more from fans.

Hell, they should be showing up just to see true freshman phenom Vontaze Burfict step onto the field. He’s been stellar – better than advertised, actually, which is pretty amazing feat given the hype that surrounded his signing.

Dennis Erickson seems to be doing fine calling plays, with what’s seemed like a slow rollout of the playbook. Chris McGaha is back to making his circus catches. It’s hard to tell given the competition level thus far, but the offensive line hasn’t been overly offensive, an improvement over the previous two years.

That being said, the pass rush needs to improve. With such a heralded defense, and plenty of depth in the line, you’d expect ASU to have been setting sack records against the likes of ISU and UML. The pass protection still needs to improve. And while Sully has done a great job of managing the game – throwing the ball away and failing to turn the ball – he still has some growing to do. I’d especially like to see him connect on the deep ball with one of the talented receivers.

All in all, it’s about what you’d expect from an ASU team that’s likely to finish in the middle of the pack.

Über-recruit Vontaze Burfict accelerates to the QB during one of the first plays as a true freshman.

1. The Defense will lead the team. It’s painfully obvious that the offense is not the strength of the 2009 team. The defense will clearly carry the team – something we’re not used to seeing from an ASU team. However, for all of the ways that Erickson has failed to field a really competitive offense (at least since Ryan Torain went down), he’s done a stellar job of upgrading the defense. This is the fastest defense we’ve seen from ASU in quite a while.

2. Danny Sullivan and Dimitri Nance shouldn’t be the starters. Both have been in the program long enough to get the nod if talent levels are the same. However, at least on the field tonight, neither were tops in their respective positions. Nance had a difficult time finding the hole but looked better than he actually was given the competition. The other backs wowed on several plays; they’re the future and we need them to play.

Also assisted by a lesser opponent, Sullivan ended the night with somewhat respectable numbers, despite looking much worse in person. He seemed either quickly flustered in the pocket or slow to react to oncoming pressure. He zipped the balls when a bit more touch was necessary, making several attempted catches much harder than they needed to be. Brock, on the other hand, seemed very composed in the pocket and completed several passes in spite of pressure that would have resulted in a sack with Sullivan. His touchdown pass was a top-quality pass, anticipating the hole and lofting it perfectly in between two-deep coverage. He is clearly the future and it would be best for Sun Devil football to get him as many reps this season as possible.

3. Mike Nixon is still a stud. He’s smart – football smart, and very mature. He’s not the fastest, not the strongest, not the largest, but he just makes plays after plays. He has that Tillman/Archuleta quality of just being in the right place and doing the right thing at the right time.

4. Vontaze Burflict is the real deal. First play from scrimmage, he lays a big hit on the quarterback. Second play, he recovers a fumble. Let the hitting begin, this guys going to be catching the eyes of lots of people. He is a stud.

5. There’s a lot to be tightened up. And it all starts with the pregame, which the stadium crew flubbed. The kick return coverage seemed effective, but at times, dangerously close to losing the returner to a long long gain. Receivers dropped countless passes. Hell, even Weber missed a short FG attempt. In order to win some PAC10 games, we’ll need to tighten things up.

If you haven’t already checked out a Culture Pass, you need to. They’re available for “check-out” from your local Phoenix-area library and will admit four adults for free to one of several museums (plus the Phoenix Zoo and Desert Botanical Gardens). A great way to get in your culture fix without spending any extra cash.

However, you’ll need to get a bit lucky, as the passes aren’t always easy to come by. In fact, the rack is nearly always bare at the popular libraries, less so if you’re willing to travel to some of the ghetto locations.

But you shouldn’t despair if you can’t snag one of those passes – many of the museums participating in the Culture Pass also have regular free admission days. Here’s the list, which is current as of May 20, 2009. I’ve included links and phone numbers so you can verify a museum is still participating before you show up.

Arizona Museum of Youth
Noon – 5pm first Sunday of each month
35 N Robson St, Mesa – 480-644-2467

Arizona Museum of Natural History
Noon – 5pm first Sunday of each month
53 N MacDonald St, Mesa – 480-644-2230

The Bead Museum
5pm – 8pm Thursdays and
11am – 4pm Sundays (5/25-9/7)
5754 W. Glenn Dr, Glendale – 623-931-2737

Children’s Museum of Phoenix
6 – 10pm first Friday of each month
215 N. 7th St, Phoenix – 602-253-0501

Heard Museum
11am – 5pm first Sunday of each month
2301 N Central Ave, Phoenix – 602-252-8848

Heard Museum North
11am – 5pm second Sunday of each month
32633 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale – 480-488-9817

Heard Museum West
10am – 5pm second Saturday of each month
16126 N Civic Center Plaza, Surprise – 623-344-2200

Mesa Contemporary Arts
Noon – 5pm first Sunday of each month &
10am – 8pm Thursdays
1 E Main St, Mesa – 480-644-6560

Phoenix Art Museum
3pm – 9pm Wednesdays &
6pm – 10pm first Friday of each month
1625 N Central Ave, Phoenix – 602-257-1222

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
10am – 8pm Thursdays
7374 E 2nd St, Scottsdale – 480-874-4666

This is a great way to check out some great museums – leave a comment if you really enjoyed a particular place or if you find any other locations with free admission days. Thanks!

Photo credit: Rail Life

I received an interesting email a couple of days ago from some guy named Jason. It read:

I know this is a random question, but I have a friend in Denver that has been looking everywhere for Dublin Dr. Pepper and I found a photo on your flickr stream of a Dublin Dr. Pepper on tap somewhere in Denver’s Central Business District from last year. Do you happen to remember where exactly you found this?

Well, I’m not sure it technically qualifies as much of an adventure, but I still had a blast during my first kayaking outing. I’ve wanted to go kayaking for years but Kim hasn’t, so I had never gotten around to it until Rebecca organized this short excursion. We spent just a couple of hours out on the water at Lake Pleasant, kayaking out to a cove with a floating bridge, where we do a little swimming. Lake Pleasant isn’t exactly pleasant for kayaking – there are plenty of motor boats and jetskis around – but it was close enough to give us a taste. It certainly whet my appetite – I’ve been seriously considering buying my own kayak. We’re talking about an overnight trip to Prescott next; I’m looking forward to paddling around the Granite Dells of Watson Lake.

Yesterday, I became an uncle for the first time in my life. Kim’s sister Jessica gave birth to her first daughter, LiliAnn Faye Scherer. She’s beautiful.

The funny thing is that I hadn’t ever planned on being an uncle. In fact, the concept of actually being one was still quite foreign. As an only child, there weren’t going to be many opportunities. Even so, I’ve grown pretty excited about it and am really looking forward to participating in the growth and life of my niece. It’s just a shame that we live so far away, but maybe that will change. Oh, and of course, congrats Jessica and Michael!

Welcome LiliAnn, Im’m looking forward to meeting you soon!

Last fall, I decided that I was going to start blogging about roadtripping the National Parks. Kim and I were fresh off a long summer roadtrip that covered 8700 in 17 states. We had completed a fall trip to Canyonlands National Park – long on our to-do list – and were planning on completing all of the Texas national park units that winter if ASU failed to make a bowl game. I had started compiling writing ideas, from tips and techniques to top 10 lists to insights about favorite destinations.

The idea was to start the blog, build a bit of a readership, immerse myself in the travel writing world, and improve my writing. One day, I reasoned, I might want to write a travelogue of my own, which would focus on my quest to visit various places that played key roles in the history of public land protection in America.

Of course, the best laid plans, right? While I snagged up a few domains, continued stockpiling writing ideas, subscribed to a ton of travel blogs and sought out travel and national park related social media opportunities on Twitter, I’ve yet to write a single freaking post.

Most of that is certainly due to a lack of time and energy – things have been very busy recently, and it doesn’t seem like the right time to try to squeeze something else into the mix. But that’s not all of the reason. I like planning things out, making sure I have done the required homework, and not necessarily one to jump in without giving something a thought. Since I haven’t had time to commit to spending any money getting the blog designed, nor have I had the time to fumble through doing it myself, I’ve procrastinated on doing the most important thing you need to do to have a successful blog – write something compelling, interesting, and useful. Instead, I’m concerned that I haven’t learned the art of Google AdSense, or am wondering which sidebar items are the most important to highlight.

There are some possible big changes afoot, and I’m wondering how much time and/or energy I’ll have to actually get this thing going. In short, I’m wondering if I should, indeed, commit to this project. Am I willing to forgo relaxing after a long day at work to write yet another post? Am I willing to skimp on dinner so I can afford to invest in the blog? Right now, the obvious answer is no. We’ll have to wait and see if it stays that way.

It’s been far too long since I’ve been to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, a unit of BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System just west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first out-of-state destinations that Kim and I went to together. Back in March 1998, we borrowed my dad’s old Cadillac and drove up to Las Vegas for a few days. We didn’t have much money, but Kim hadn’t seen Vegas before and it seemed like it could be a cheap vacation.

We stayed in a cheap Motel 6 just a block off the Vegas Strip, next to the MGM Grand, and spent the first night wandering up and down the Strip looking at the spectacle that is Las Vegas. Since we’re not drinkers or clubbers, and didn’t have any money to waste on slot machines, we simply took in the sights. The next morning, we headed out to a part of Vegas that far fewer see. We drove up to Charleston, turned west, and drove until we found Red Rock Canyon NCA. Red Rocks has some interesting resources and we found ourselves spending much of that day exploring the Calico Hills area. I still remember taking the a much-treasured picture of Kim curled up in an alcove.

After some time exploring that area, we continued along the loop drive, stopping at each turnout to read the signs and snap some more photos. We took a few short hikes before completing the loop drive and heading back to the bright lights of the city for dinner.

While Red Rock Canyon didn’t quickly vault to the top of our must-see-again list, we had a surprisingly good time there. We hadn’t expected to do much hiking at all on the trip, but the visit to RRCNCA and nearby Valley of Fire State Park made the trip uniquely special to me. Not only was it the first time we had ventured out the state together, but we did it on our own terms and managed to stumble upon some really cool places – foreshadowing, I suppose, the wandering National Park roadtrips we’re now known for.

So it was great to stop by and visit – even for a short time and by myself – and reflect on the importance of the site to the last decade of my life. And this time, I won’t let another decade go by before I return.

ASU junior wide receiver Kerry Taylor – relative of famed 49er receiver John Taylor – made a pretty nice behind-the-back catch after a double-move route during practice last Wednesday.

Former ASU football coach Bruce Snyder died yesterday, ending his long battle with cancer. Even though it wasn’t a surprise, it’s still a huge blow to the ASU football community. Coach Snyder was a pretty darn good coach, and even a better person. He taught many players to be great, including the likes of Pat Tillman, Jake Plummer, and Juan Roque. He also gave many ASU fans, myself included, the greatest year of football of our lives. He will be missed.

President Obama: ASU’s in, U of A’s out.

Less than two hours ago, President Obama signed into law the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, one of the most important conservation bills of the last decade. In addition to establishing three new National Park units, protecting 2 million acres of wilderness and 1,100 miles of Wild & Scenic Rivers, the act made an important bureaucratic change – one that may not seem like much on its face, but may indeed play a major role in the future of public lands conservation. It permanently authorized the National Landscape Conservation System, which incorporates more than 26 million acres of the most culturally and ecological important lands managed the Bureau of Land Management. More on the Conservation System in another post. In the meanwhie, you can watch the bill signing below and reading the President’s signing statement.

Here is the official signing statement:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release March 30, 2009

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today I have signed into law H.R. 146, the “Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.” This landmark bill will protect millions of acres of Federal land as wilderness, protect more than 1,000 miles of rivers through the National Wild and Scenic River System, and designate thousands of miles of trails for the National Trails System. It also will authorize the 26 million-acre National Landscape Conservation System within the Department of the Interior.

Among other provisions, H.R. 146 designates three new units in our National Park System, enlarges the boundaries of several existing parks, and designates a number of National Heritage Areas. It creates a new national monument — the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument –- and four new national conservation areas, and establishes the Wyoming Range Withdrawal Area. It establishes a collaborative landscape-scale restoration program with a goal of reducing the risk of wildfire and authorizes programs to study and research the effects of climate change on natural resources and other research-related activities.

Treasured places from coast to coast will benefit from H.R. 146, including Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan; Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia; Oregon’s Mount Hood; Idaho’s Owyhee Canyons; the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado; Zion National Park in Utah; remarkable landscapes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California; and wilderness-quality National Forest lands in Virginia and public lands in New Mexico.

This bipartisan bill has been many years in the making, and is one of the most important pieces of natural resource legislation in decades. This legislation also makes progress for which millions of Americans have long waited on another front. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act is the first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of Americans living with paralysis. It creates new coordinated research activities through the National Institutes of Health that will connect the best minds and best practices from the best labs across the country, and focus their efforts through collaborative scientific research into a cure for paralysis, saving effort, money, and, most importantly, time. It will promote enhanced rehabilitation services for paralyzed Americans, helping develop better equipment and technology that allows them to live full and independent lives free from unnecessary barriers. This legislation will work to improve the quality of life for all those who live with paralysis, no matter the cause.

Section 8203 of the Act provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall appoint certain members of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission “based on recommendations from each member of the House of Representatives, the district of which encompasses the Corridor.” Because it would be an impermissible restriction on the appointment power to condition the Secretary’s appointments on the recommendations of members of the House, I will construe these provisions to require the Secretary to consider such congressional recommendations, but not to be bound by them in making appointments to the Commission.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 30, 2009.

# # #

It’s taken the tremendous and relentless effort of many to pass the NLCS permanence legislation, and far more to pass the Omnibus Public Lands bill. Please join me in thanking everyone who helped make that possible, and in celebrating this momentous occasion.

The iPhone is quite possibly the most useful mobile tool ever. Seriously. People who don’t own one think it’s a phone with some added features, but they are clearly wrong – it’s a mobile computing platform that integrates a phone.

My Top Five must-have apps:

1. Evernote. Evernote is the single most useful app to add to your iPhone. It simply works…and is flexible enough – without being too complicated – to be incredibly useful. You can use it to keep track of just about anything, whether that’s meeting notes, planning documents, or web clippings. Really. Check out their video to learn more. Free.
2. Instapaper. While the praises of Evernote run far and deep on the series of tubes we know as the internet, Instapaper seems to fly under the radar. That’s a shame, as it’s one of the apps I use most on my iPhone. Simply put, it’s a way to flag, download, and read (usually clutter-free) articles and posts that you’ve come across. I use it whenever I find something interesting that I’d like to read at a latter time, whether that’s from a link floating past on my twitter stream or something that’s caught my eye while processing my rss reader feeds. Simply click the bookmarklet and rest assured that you’ll have access to that content the next time you find yourself waiting in line or using the facilities or something. Free or $9.99 for Pro version (I use the free version).
3. Darkroom. Darkroom lets you take better cameraphone pictures by utilizing the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer to help pick the best time to snap the shot. While this can certainly slow down picture-taking, it usually results in a much, much clearer picture. The premuim version adds some useful features, including a timer and fullscreen shutter button, that make it easier to take pictures of yourself. Free, or $0.99 for Premium version (which is well-worth the buck).
4. Tweetie. While this is only useful if you’re a twitter-user, it’s an absolute gem of an app. A clean interface and a myraid of useful features make this the primary social media/networking mobile app out there. $2.99.
5. 1password. With so many logins, password, and even accounts to keep track of, you absolutely need some sort of password manager. There are several worthy apps out there, but 1password is my favorite. It’s easy to use and can sync with desktop clients. Enough said. Free.

• Honorable Menton: RTM. Remember the Milk is one of the better task managers out there, and this app allows pro account holders to manage most everything they might need to about their lists. Free, but it’ll cost you $25/year for RTM’s Pro service.

I spent the last week at a conference in Baltimore with a couple days of meetings in Washington, DC. When I travel for work, I’m usually staying in relatively nice places and enjoying the experience. However, this trip included some annoyingly bad travel experiences.

While the site of the conference in Baltimore, the Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards, was mostly pleasant, it was unfortunately situated near what seemed like some rough neighborhoods and required nearly a mile walk in the cold to find some decent restaurants. In an even more annoying development, the hotel only had two elevators working throughout the time we stayed there and it took forever to get from one floor to the next. About halfway through the week, I gave up on using the elevator at all during normal hours, resorting to chugging up and down 6 flights of stairs instead.

Snowy scene from the Marriott in Baltimore

Despite its faults, the Marriott was heads and shoulders above our our DC accommodations. We stayed at the Washington Hilton – yes, the place Reagan was shot – after negotiating a discounted rate of $209/night. The Hilton is a few blocks off Dupont Circle, around which our DC visit would be centered. Unfortunately, the location was about the best thing the hotel could offer. The first major flaw was the fact that the hotel is undergoing a major renovation. That means that a good chunk of the windows have construction bags flying, good chunks of the hotel are off-limits, there are construction guys wandering around like they own the place, and there will be the sounds of demolition. The clerk checking us in said as much when he offered to put us in the “back of the hotel” where “it would be quieter.” Not a good sign.

The hotel room itself wasn’t that great – I’m surprised this renovation hadn’t happened long, long ago. The carpet in my room was terribly uneven and dirty, the layout was less than ideal, and frankly, things were falling apart. There were two thermostats, neither of which seemed to have any control over the room temperature. There wasn’t enough room for what the hotel has to offer, so the window sill (which had entire wood panels falling off) was apparently the home for things like the coffeemaker, even though it was plugless and could not be used there. The hotel offers corded internet access, but you’ll have to pay $12.95/day for the privilege and struggle with a short cord that forced you to work on the right side of the desk. Internet access that puttered so slowly through that cord that it was virtually impossible to watch a youtube clip or browse the modern web without wondering if you had been time-warped back to the era of 33.6k dial-up modems.

Ridiculous bathroom at the Washington Hilton

The bathroom was pathetic -  when laying out the room, the designers evidently forgot that guests would want a toilet in there, as it was unceremoniously stuffed under the sink. Yes, you read it correctly, the toilet was under the sink…which meant that you (1) couldn’t put the toilet seat up, (2) had to bend over and reach under the sink to find the flush handle, and (3) couldn’t use half of the sink counter without leaning over the toilet.  Unbelievable.

The bed and sheets weren’t up to $209/night standards, but that hardly matters when you have to deal with the nearly constant sound of jackhammering. The racket seemed to start about 7:20am and last until 6-ish, which is a tad early to start waking up your guests but otherwise acceptable. At least it would be if it was minor noise, muffeled or “background” noise thatone could work through. Unfortunately, it was not. It was shaking-the-picture-frames, rattling-the-heater-vents, drive-everyone-insane style noise. Absolutely unacceptable.

I should mention that we were planning on holding our upcoming board meeting at the hotel. We will certainly be taking our business down the road instead, and I never, ever plan on staying there again. EVER. I routinely have significantly better experiences in a $42/night Motel 6.

I have to say, I was also under-impressed with the Dulles airport. First, I wasn’t very impressed with the crazy shuttle (designed by a sci-fi geek, I’m sure of it) that you have to board to get to the other terminals. Not sure why, but it’s a bit creepy. Second, the place is friggin’ packed. There’s not nearly enough space to sit down at your gate, and the restaurant options are both limited and overcrowded, making it virtually impossible to grab a bite to eat without arriving 2 hours early for your flight. The most annoying thing, however, was the lack of electrical outlets. Dulles has a few of these “charging stations,” which feature a whopping four plugs, all of which have evidently been used by the travelers who’ve been living in the airport for the past few days. After searching the entire terminal, I only found 6 other outlets, and only one that was open (only because someone had just unplugged as I walked by). In 2009, that’s a problem, and certainly shows that the airport doesn’t care much about customer service.

So, there you have it – my travel troubles and complaints from this week’s business trip. I hope your next trip is more satisfying.

I’m shocked that I’m still hearing people discuss the Super Bowl as the best ever. I’m sorry, but there’s simply no way that you can say that – under nearly any measure.

A struggle of the best teams? Hardly. The Cardinals are one of the worst teams to ever make it to the big dance, if not the record-holder. In fact, the Cardinals wouldn’t have even made the playoffs if they hadn’t played in the worst division in football (not surprisingly, every other team in the NFC West has parted ways with last year’s coach). The Steelers were certainly a good team this year, but also weren’t as good as they’ve been in recent years either.

A showdown of Hall-of-Famers? Nope. While Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger may eventually end up there, they aren’t HOF material just yet (yes, some believe Warner belongs there, but he’s only been successful in special offensive systems and has had some pretty bad years, too – any one remember his Giants days). Nope, this game couldn’t hold a candle to the Montana vs Elway, Bradshaw vs Staubach, Montana vs Marino, Aikman vs Kelly, Elway vs Favre, the list goes on and on.

A showdown of head coaches?  Again, no. Tomlin and Whisenhunt are great young coaches, but they’ve hardly established themselves among the league’s best. I suspect that they will, but that’s not yet the case.

The biggest upset?  Well, certainly not – the better team, the Steelers, won the game…even if they had to do it in the last minute.  Besides, last year’s Giants, the 2001 Patriots or those pesky Jets of Super Bowl III might take issue.

The best finish?  Nope, not that either. There have been a bunch of very compelling finishes in Super Bowl history – whether that’s the 49ers winning drive over the Bengals, three last-minute winning field goals by the Patriots, the missed field goal that let the Giants sneak away with a win against the Bills, or the last second game-saving tackle by the Rams over the Titans. It was a great finish, sure, but it clearly isn’t unprecedented or unusual. And frankly, with today’s league parity, most of the recent Super Bowls have come down to the last drive.

Look at just about any measure – aside from viewership, which is mostly driven by factors unrelated to which teams are playing – and it’s pretty darn hard to make a case that this was the best Super Bowl ever. Let’s stop saying it was.