tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64115187820234931812024-03-20T05:40:35.358-04:00ConspicuouSIDeasA place for me to share my thoughts, ideas and perspectives...Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-85311459392778066672013-04-08T09:17:00.000-04:002013-04-08T09:17:07.992-04:00Minimize the Number of Times You Get Knocked Out of "The Zone" DailyIt’s been a long time. I shouldn’t have left, without a dope blog to…
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I digress.<br />
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This latest blog post is about eliminating unnecessary dings, buzzes and vibrations that affect your productivity throughout your work day.<br />
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For those of you who are old enough to, think back to a time before you received email on your smartphone.<br />
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My guess is that you were more productive and more efficient in those days.<br />
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For too many of us, our workflow is interrupted dozens of times daily – perhaps even more than a hundred times, depending on your profession –by our intrusive smartphone alerts.<br />
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Some of those among us have the willpower to push through the ding, ignore that feeling of curiosity, deny the urge to stop what we’re doing, grab our smartphone, and look at what is “now.”<br />
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I’ll use myself as an example. My job requires that I write press releases often.
I could be in “the zone,” fervently typing away, my mind clearly focused on the topic and task at hand.<br />
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Then, I hear the ding (a new email has arrived on the email client on my second computer monitor).<br />
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Or I hear the vibration (has someone @ mentioned me on Twitter?).<br />
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For many people I know, maybe the ding meant they received a Facebook notification. Some folks allow far too many smartphone apps to allow “push notifications,” meaning that they hear/feel that distracting ding/buzz every time their favorite baseball team scores a run, or every time their favorite cosmetic company puts a new nail polish on sale.<br />
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So many of us can’t resist that urge to see what caused the ding/buzz. We get knocked out of “the zone.” We screech to a halt. Productivity dies a swift, clean death.<br />
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Now, the press release that should have taken me 15 minutes to write is still a work in progress at 30 minutes.<br />
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After your curiosity is satisfied, can you go from zero to 60 and restore your productivity quickly? Or do you now decide to check on other things?
What’s new on Twitter? Anything interesting on my Instagram feed? Let me check my favorite blog/message board before I return to this project…<br />
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Imagine how many more tasks each day you could accomplish if you did some much-needed “distraction maintenance?”<br />
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Giving yourself the ability to finish one more project/task each day soon means that you can finish five more things each week. The to-do list on your desk is suddenly shortening. Doesn’t it feel good to cross things off?<br />
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Using myself as an example once again: I love my subscription to <i>Rolling Stone Magazine</i>. But I could certainly do without the daily emails from <i>Rolling Stone</i> featuring online content (most of which I’ve already had the chance to read in the magazine itself).<br />
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So if I take a few minutes today to log into my <i>Rolling Stone </i>account and change my email settings (ex: Don’t send me daily/weekly news updates), then that’s one less distracting ding each day.
That’s one less time I’m getting knocked out of “the zone.”<br />
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It means the press release I wrote today is little bit better – clearer, more concise, streamlined – than the one I wrote a week ago today.<br />
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Wow… imagine if I turned off a couple of these app notifications, reduced the frequency of LinkedIn emails I receive, unsubscribed from the Living Social emails that, without fail, NEVER seem to interest me even the least bit.<br />
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Now I’m really cruising. I’m not grabbing for my phone every three minutes. I’m staying focused on projects that matter. I’m a better employee. I sleep more soundly because that formerly overwhelming to-do list is no longer running through my mind while I lay in bed each night.<br />
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Before you leave work today, take 30 minutes to do some “distraction maintenance.” Or dedicate the first 30 minutes of your workday tomorrow.<br />
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Yes, you’ll surrender those 30 minutes.<br />
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But you’ll be amazed at how quickly you earn those minutes back.<br />
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PS: Just as soon as I finished writing this, but before I could post it, I got a Living Social email. It was for laser hair removal.
Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-68805147271798646152011-09-14T16:24:00.018-04:002011-09-14T17:55:19.535-04:005 Tips for Collegiate Athletic Media Relations GAs...<span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>How to Get Noticed by Senior Administrators</strong><br /></span><br />If you’re currently serving as a graduate assistant in a collegiate athletic media relations office, you’re on the right track toward a successful career in this industry (and you’re probably also hungry and sleep-deprived). But when you got that fateful call notifying you that you’d been selected for the position, that was the signal that you’re journey was just beginning. <em>Landing</em> the assistantship is never the goal. The goal is to <em>leverage the opportunity </em>that accompanies the assistantship into a great job upon graduation.<br /><br />It’s really not much different than the training regimens carried out by the teams you work to promote: Hustle, hustle, hustle every day and focus on the process rather than the result.<br /><br />An important part of the process should be finding ways to distinguish yourself in the eyes of those who run your department. Here are just a few tips to help you along the way.<br /><br /><br /><strong>1: Volunteer to assist at as many events as you can.</strong><br />Working in collegiate athletic media relations often means showing up before most everyone and being among the last to leave. It can leave you yearning for a more exciting social life; but keep in mind—you’re logging all these hours with the ultimate goal of landing a good full-time gig upon graduation. The payoff will come.<br /><br />Athletic departments, particularly at the “BCS level,” host several non-competition events each month. Donor receptions, corporate partner luncheons, golf tournaments and other events such as these present opportunities to assist and interact with senior-level athletic administrators. Showing ambition and providing competent and reliable assistance at these events can be a difference-maker for your future.<br /><br /><br /><strong>2: Identify a useful publication your department lacks, and produce it.</strong><br />Every collegiate athletic media relations department produces publications (I use that term loosely, as fewer and fewer of these “publications” actually exist in printed form) geared toward the recruitment of prospective student-athletes. But does your athletic department have a similar publication to serve as a recruiting tool for talented coaches and/or athletic administrators?<br /><br />In addition to touting your school’s traditions, championship history and facilities (which you already do for student-athletes), you could entice coaches/administrators with benefits information, apparel deals, conference and TV revenue data, etc. And best of all, who better to consult on such a project than your athletic department’s current senior administrators?<br /><br />Sport-specific record books, almanacs for discontinued sports and fan’s guides are also publications you may have the expertise to generate. And if your desktop publishing software skills aren’t up to par, find a pet project along these lines and spend an hour or two each night working on your craft and making yourself a more desirable job candidate down the road.<br /><br /><br /><strong>3: Embrace new media and use it to enhance your department’s brand.</strong><br />Age is a touchy subject in today’s workplace. But if you’re a GA, chances are you’ve got youth on your side. You may be more well versed in social media and digital technology than some of your superiors. Take advantage of that opportunity.<br /><br />Offer to give “how to” presentations on tools such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Prezi to your athletic department’s full-time staff members.<br /><br />Pitch ideas on ways to use social media outlets to engage your school’s fanbase. Is your ace pitcher a candidate for an award that uses online voting? Better yet, is your ace pitcher deserving of publicity that has yet to come his/her way? Use Prezi to promote him/her and make a captivating and attention-grabbing case for recognition.<br /><br />Utilize Facebook and Twitter to put together a prize-packed scavenger hunt for fans. Use your imagination. Do something no other school has done yet. With social media, it’s possible.<br /><br /><br /><strong>4: Treat the secretaries and janitorial staff the same way you treat your athletic director.</strong><br />Don’t be so narrow-minded in your ambition that you lose sight of how you treat people deserving of your respect. People talk.<br /><br />Maybe that kid working on the stadium grounds crew who you breeze past everyday without acknowledging is an associate athletic director’s nephew or next-door neighbor. Take note of the senior level administrators who never give <em>you </em>the time of day—and promise yourself you won’t become that person.<br /><br /><br /><strong>5: Don’t get noticed for the wrong reasons.</strong><br />To maintain the type of hours we keep in this profession, having a good sense of humor is a necessity. But there’s a time and place for jokes. You never know who may be walking through the office hallway while you’re standing on a desk teaching a fellow GA how to “dougie.”<br /><br />I’ll offer a personal anecdote here—an example of how my foolishness turned into an extremely embarrassing experience (haven’t shared this story with many folks until now).<br /><br />When I was a GA, I ate lunch every day at the athletic training table. And on Tuesdays during the fall, we hosted a football media day, after which media members had the option of eating free lunch at the training table as well. On that day each week, all media members and media relations staffers were required to sign in upon arrival at the dining hall.<br /><br />Foolishly, I thought to myself, “I don’t understand why we need to sign in on Tuesdays. Surely nobody is actually looking at this log book each week.”<br /><br />So… I started signing in as “Hulk Hogan” every Tuesday.<br /><br /><iframe height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u2OR6Kjo5m4" frameborder="0" width="420" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />That lasted about a month or so, until I got a phone call from one of our associate athletic directors one afternoon asking me to come to his office. When I walked in and sat down, he held up one of the sign-in sheets and asked “Are you Hulk Hogan?”<br /><br />Not my proudest moment. But, I admitted to it and apologized 10 times over.<br /><br />The moral of the story is that senior level administrators have enough on their plate. The last thing they need is to spend valuable time trying to figure out why Hulkamania is runnin’ wild in the dining hall. So do them—and yourself—a favor, and spend your time figuring out ways to be a productive asset to your athletic department. Your future depends on it.Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-67322225288571930902011-07-29T14:27:00.000-04:002011-07-29T15:07:16.333-04:0050 Twitter Tips for Division I Student-Athletes<span class="Apple-style-span"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="2" face="arial">It's been far too long since my last blog post. The one person who reads it hasn't complained (thanks, Dad), so I wasn't too compelled to remedy my lack of activity here.<br /><br />But I recently read Darren Rovell's outstanding contribution to social media entitled "<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/43759244/The_100_Twitter_Rules_To_Live_By/print/1/displaymode/1098/">100 Twitter Rules To Live By</a>," and I was supremely inspired.<br /><br />Rovell's revelations led me to author my own list of Twitter rules. However, I decided to focus on a specific demographic. Thus, I present Tom Satkowiak's 50 Twitter Tips for NCAA Division I Student-Athletes:</font><br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">1)</font> Before you do anything else, read <a href="http://www.twitter.com/darrenrovell">@Darrenrovell’s</a> “<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/43759244/The_100_Twitter_Rules_To_Live_By/print/1/displaymode/1098/">100 Twitter Rules to Live By</a>.”<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">2)</font> Your Twitter account is one of many mediums through which you can build your “personal brand.” When people decide to follow you, they are investing in your brand because they believe you can add value to their timeline. Don’t craft useless Tweets—you know the kind… they’re the ones you skip over every day while looking for something worthwhile.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">3) </font> </span>After composing a Tweet, but before you hit send, ask yourself: “Would I be comfortable saying this in front of my parents, my grandmother, my pastor?” If the answer is no, discard it.<span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">4)</font> Turn off the “enable location data” option on your Twitter app. Do you really want everyone knowing where you are at all times?<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">5)</font> Take pride in who/what you represent. In addition to representing your family, hometown and church, you also represent your university and your team.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">6)</font> </span>The visual elements of your Twitter account (avatar, background) are how other Twitter users form a first impression of you. Put a shirt on. Don’t photograph yourself lying in bed—this isn’t soft-core porn.<span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">7)</font> Twitter hasn’t made the text message obsolete. Tweet things worthwhile that are appropriate to share publicly. Don’t Tweet about the party you’re hosting tonight. Instead, text the party details to friends you want to show up.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">8)</font> It’s perfectly fine to display your sense of humor on Twitter. Fans in particular love it when student-athletes show their personality. But don’t Tweet at the expense of others. Making fun of people or Tweeting a photo of the overweight family in Wal-Mart just makes you appear shallow and cold.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">9)</font> Don’t allow the impersonal nature of Twitter lull you into a false sense of security. It’s easy for a thought that materializes in your head while you’re lying in bed or sitting on the couch to suddenly find its way into a Tweet. But once you hit send, it’s there for the world to see.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">10)</font> Don’t use Twitter as an outlet to complain about how rough your life is. You are getting a college education, traveling to interesting places, getting free athletic shoes and apparel and more. Thousands of people would crawl over glass for the chance to enjoy the opportunities you have.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">11)</font> If a fan Tweets at you telling you how much they enjoy watching you play or how much their son/daughter looks up to you, ReTweet them and add a “Thx” at the start of the Tweet. You can make someone’s day just by granting them that simple, public acknowledgement.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">12)</font> Chances are there are some young kids who view you as a role model and follow you on Twitter. Do their parents a favor and keep your Tweets “family friendly.” Don’t type LMAO or LMFAO when LOL works just as well.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">13)</font> When you Tweet something clever or funny, try to leave around 15-20 characters free. This makes it easy for fans to ReTweet you without having to edit your original Tweet.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">14)</font> Don’t Tweet about how much you hate school. You chose to become a college student-athlete. If you hate school so much you should have joined the Marines.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">15)</font> Speaking of the Armed Forces, use Twitter as a way to engage your fans. Ask if any of your followers are in the military. Thank them for what they do, then ReTweet the ones who respond. The same goes for schoolteachers, police officers, firemen, etc.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">16)</font> Maintain a decent follower/following ratio. <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jaybilas">@JayBilas</a> has the market cornered as far as Twitter snobs go. He makes up for it by having one of the most value-adding accounts in existence. You, my friend, are no <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jaybilas">@JayBilas</a> (maybe one day…).<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">17)</font> ReTweeting profanity is no different than using it in your own original Tweets. Don’t do it.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">18)</font> And while we’re on that topic, remember it’s not ok to Tweet about how that meal you just ate was “good AF” or how your finance professor is “on some boring ish.” Assuming your followers don’t know what that ish means is insulting.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">19)</font> Avoid replying to or ReTweeting Twitter users with vulgar names. Do you really want to be associated with @oddfuckingtaco, @BigPhatBooty or @herpesboy?<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">20)</font> Don’t Tweet daily about how hard you’re working on the field/court/diamond/weight room/etc. If you were really working that hard, you wouldn’t be on Twitter to tell us all about it.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">21)</font> That’s an awfully nice Twitter background you have… looks like it was designed by a professional. Keep in mind that if the person who designed it for you for free typically charges for his/her design work, you may be receiving an improper benefit.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">22)</font> If you wouldn’t say something in a media interview, don’t Tweet it. You’re being naïve if you think the media isn’t keeping an eye on your Twitter feed (and locking your account is not a failsafe way of ensuring only your friends are following you).<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">23)</font> Don’t Twitpic a photo of someone who doesn’t know they’re being photographed. You’d be angry if someone did that to you.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">24)</font> Look over your recent Tweets. Chances are you could delete one out of every 10 Tweets and not feel as though anything worthwhile was being lost. That said, don’t Tweet the worthless stuff to begin with. Numerous people who would be considered “social media experts” often compose a Tweet, read it over, think about it and then decide to discard it.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">25)</font> Follow at least one news feed that will keep you informed on major current events (such as <a href="http://www.twitter.com/CNNbrk">@CNNbrk</a> or <a href="http://www.twitter.com/CBSNews">@CBSNews</a>).<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">26)</font> Don’t allow yourself to be photographed while holding a drink. If you’re posing for a photo, put your drink behind your back or on a counter out of the frame. Even if you’re only drinking water.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">27)</font> Baby mama drama? Don’t air your dirty laundry on Twitter.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">28)</font> Don't Tweet after a tough loss. You pour your heart and soul into training to become a champion, and losses are emotionally draining. Sleep on it. Your followers will still be there tomorrow.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">29)</font> Enjoying a big win? Take 30 seconds to Tweet a "Thank You" to the fans who were there to cheer you to victory.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">30)</font> Don't allow a hater with 20 followers to bait you into a “Twitter beef.” Ignore them and remember their actions are usually fueled by jealousy.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">31)</font> If you don’t like something a media member wrote about you, your coach or your teammate, ignore it. Engaging in a public Twitter argument is a battle you won’t win. You’ll only end up looking foolish (you’ll also likely boost the other person’s follower count).<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">32)</font> It’s the morning of a big game/match, you feel like you have the flu and it looks like you won’t be playing tonight. Don’t announce that on Twitter. If you compete in a revenue sport, Tweeting something like that will have ripples that reach all the way to the Las Vegas sports books.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">33)</font> Next time you’re skimming the Internet while sitting on the toilet, do yourself a favor and do a Google search for “Marvin Austin” and “Twitter.” Apply the resulting lessons learned to your own personal Twitter usage </span> (a biased and explicit, yet interesting, account <a href="http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2010/07/20/avid-cupcake-enthusiast-marvin-austins-pictorial-journey/">HERE</a>)<span class="Apple-style-span">.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">34)</font> You know that 10-second period after you type a Tweet during which you re-read it and ask yourself if you really ought to hit “send?” Take two more seconds to ask yourself, “Is this going to give my SID an ulcer?”<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">35)</font> Consider polarizing topics off limits on Twitter. Avoid commenting on sexual orientation, race and religions you don’t understand.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">36)</font> Know the type of Tweets that are boring and painfully unoriginal. They include such gems as A) Just got a great workout in; B) I’m up early, finna get this money; C) Wattup Twitter??<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">37)</font> Don’t Tweet about how much you respect your mamma and grandmamma if, 10 minutes later, you’re going to Tweet about the “juicy cakes” on the girl walking past you on campus. Twenty years ago, those “juicy cakes” belonged to your mamma. Do you see the irony?<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">38)</font> Many Twitter users are only religious when they wake up. Do you Tweet thanks to God every morning? If the other 90 percent of your Tweets reflect a different attitude or lifestyle, people notice. So does <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jesus">Jesus</a>—he’s on Twitter (but not yet verified).<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">39)</font> There are many other teams and student-athletes at your school. Take the time to give them a shout-out on Twitter when they do big things. Ultimately, you’re all on the same team.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">40)</font> Smile in your avatar or background picture!<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">41)</font> People want their experience on Twitter to be fun. Make a real effort to Tweet far more positive content than negative.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">42)</font> What happens in the locker room stays there. Things that are said in private team settings should never find their way onto Twitter.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">43)</font> Don’t Tweet during class. That’s like disrespecting someone (in this case, your professor) behind their back. And always be mindful that your professors may be monitoring your Twitter account.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">44)</font> One of your Twitter followers may be in a position to hire (or draft) you someday. Evaluate your Tweets from time to time and ask yourself, “Would I want to hire this person?”<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">45)</font> If you feel like the Twitter guidelines your coaching staff and/or athletic administrators expect you to comply with prevent you from “keeping it real,” then that should probably be your cue to re-evaluate your definition of “keeping it real.” Your team support staff has your long-term best interest in mind.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">46)</font> Your athletic compliance office is monitoring your Twitter account. And the NCAA has acknowledged that it monitors student-athlete activity on Twitter as well. Even if you don’t compete in a major conference or a revenue sport, don’t be fooled into believing nobody is paying attention.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">47)</font> Share Twitpics when your team takes part in community outreach projects. But it’s important to remember that all students entering ninth grade and older are considered prospective student-athletes (PSAs), and should not appear in any Twitpic (for men’s basketball, PSAs are all students entering seventh grade and older).<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">48)</font> It’s ok to Tweet once about what a great dinner you had at Red Lobster. But multiple mentions of the same business could be considered an endorsement, which is impermissible according to NCAA legislation.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">49)</font> Twitter can be a tattle-tale. For instance, you told your coach you missed a team meeting because your phone’s battery was dead and you didn’t get the call/text about the meeting. But if your Twitter timeline shows a Tweet from a mobile app during that time, you’re busted.<br /><br /><font style="font-weight:bold;">50)</font> Don’t let these rules prevent you from enjoying your Twitter experience. It’s perfectly acceptable to show your personality and have fun on Twitter—it’s encouraged. But like anything else, the key is to enjoy it responsibly.<br /><br /><br />As always, I welcome comments and feedback.<br />Find me on Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/TomSatkowiak">@TomSatkowiak</a>.<br /></span>Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com148tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-67492877648822788532010-07-01T15:48:00.003-04:002010-07-01T15:50:40.111-04:00Europe 2010 - Days 12-13<em>NOTE: It’s about 9:45 p.m. in Innsbruck, Austria, as I write this. Even with the window open and a breeze flowing in, our hotel room is still quite hot. So I may skimp on the historical notes and hyperlinks pertaining to places we visited on Wednesday and Thursday.</em><br /><br />Wednesday, June 30 - Day 12<br /><br />Wednesday morning we checked out of Gutshof zum Schluxen quite early and made the approximately 45-minute drive to the only one of King Ludwig’s three castles in which he actually lived: Linderhof. Ludwig lived in Linderhof for seven years, but his time spent there was that of a hermit. The only other people on the grounds most of the time were his servants, and he ate dinner every day alone—even having a special dining room table installed that allowed the servants to set the table from the floor below and then crank the table up through the floor so that he could dine all alone without seeing or talking to anyone.<br /><br />Another odd aspect to Linderhof is the “Venus Grotto.” Ludwig had a portion of the grounds a few hundred yards away from the castle excavated, and in the resulting pit, he had a fake concrete cave constructed. It was made to look like a real cave. It even has a working waterfall and a lake inside. His inspiration behind this place was (surprise, surprise) another one of Richard Wagner’s operas.<br /><br />Of all Ludwig’s castles, the grounds at Linderhof were the most magnificent. We got a lot of great photos there. He also had a Moorish hut built on the grounds. He used it for drinking tea and smoking opium.<br /><br />When we left Linderhof, we also said goodbye to Germany and drove to Innsbruck, Austria (the capital of the Alps). The drive was less than two hours, much of it on the highway (my top speed during this trip was about 148 km per hour, but many cars were going MUCH faster than that).<br /><br />Upon arriving in Salzburg, we checked into Hotel Mozart. Had I known that we wouldn’t need our rental car at all during our time here, I would have tried to turn it in a day early rather than wait until Thursday.<br /><br />One reason we didn’t need the car was because we purchased two “Innsbruck Cards.” For a total cost of 68 Euros, the cards granted us admission to all of the city’s main attractions as well as complimentary access to all buses and the cable car that runs up the mountain that hulks over the north side of the city.<br /><br />We had dinner outdoors in the middle of the old town at a place called Wiener Wald. It’s worth noting that in German-speaking countries, Ws are pronounced as Vs. Veal is one of my favorite meats, so of course I had the wiener schnitzel. It was excellent. There aren’t a whole lot of places left back home where you can get good veal.<br /><br />We actually turned in early Wednesday. We got back to the hotel before 8 p.m. and went right to bed.<br /><br /><br />Thursday, July 1 – Day 13<br /><br />On Thursday, we got the full value out of our Innsbruck Cards. <br /><br />After breakfast at Hotel Mozart, we walked to the Hofburg, which is where the royal Tyrolean family lived for centuries. We went from there straight to the Golden Dachl (Golden Roof) Museum. The Golden Dachl was the domain of Emperor Maximilian. That museum wasn’t all that impressive, but the next one was.<br /><br />Our favorite sight in Innsbruck was the Hofkirche. It was a “court church” built by Emperor Maximilian. The beautiful sanctuary houses his empty tomb—apparently the most impressive tomb in all of Europe—and more than a dozen lifesize bronze statues of his relatives and ancestors (and some people he “sort of” considered to be his ancestors, like King Richard of England).<br /><br />From there, we had a quick lunch at a small cafe. Brooke got a sandwich, but I opted for apple strudel with ice cream and whipped cream. You’ve got to have some local strudel, right?<br /><br />Then we went to the world headquarters of Swarovski Crystal, about a 20-minute shuttle ride outside of Innsbruck. The company has a mind-blowing museum of sorts there called Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal World). It’s a subterranean exhibit of crystallized sights and artwork. It houses both the largest and smallest hand-cut crystals in the world. The Crystal Dome and Crystal Forest were a couple of the cooler exhibits. It was actually a pretty amazing place.<br /><br />Of course, what awaits at the end? Yup, a giant Swarovski store. I had already bought a pair of black crystal cuff links last week in Switzerland, so I was done with Swarovski. Brooke apparently had not finished up in Switzerland...<br /><br />After the shuttle back to Innsbruck city center, we bused to the hotel, grabbed the car and then dropped it off at the airport. Following an easy bus ride back into the old town, we had another great dinner (Austrian ravioli for Brooke, more wiener schnitzel for me).<br /><br />As we were walking back to the hotel to call it a night, we were lucky to see a procession of a traditional Tyrolean folk band, which was making its way toward the Golden Dachl for a free public concert featuring traditional singing and dancing.<br /><br />Our plan now is to catch the 7:54 a.m. train to Zurich, where we’ll finish up our trip before flying out of the Zurich airport Saturday morning. It will be a long day, as we take off at 9:50 a.m. (3:50 a.m. ET). This may be my last vacation blog entry. I hope everyone who followed along enjoyed it. If you ever make the (great) decision to travel to any of the places we’ve been, I’d be glad to provide some tips and suggestions.Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-88666716883397685932010-06-30T02:22:00.002-04:002010-06-30T02:25:09.047-04:00Tuesday, June 29 - Day 11Today was Bavaria day for us here along the Germany-Austria border. The majority of our day was near Fussen, Germany, where we toured two of “The King’s Castles.” <br /><br />“The King,” being referenced is (Mad) King Ludwig II. You ask, of what was he the king? He was the King of Bavaria, which was its own kingdom centuries ago, similar to Prussia.<br /><br />Ludwig grew up in his father’s castle, Hohenschwangau (pronounced: HO-in-SCHVON-gow). That castle, beautifully decorated in classic romantic themes, was quite impressive, and the tour through it was very interesting.<br /><br />Ludwig—whose brother, Otto, was declared insane at the age of 24 and was sent to live in a castle in Munich—became King of Bavaria in his mid-20s. He loved Hohenschwangau, but he had ambitions of building his own fantasy castle.<br /><br />He began construction of Neuschwanstein (pronounced: NOISH-von-stine) and watched its progress carefully from his quarters in Hohenschwangau. The telescope he used to view the construction is still there, pointed out the same window (by the way, now is good time to mention that photography and filming is prohibited inside both castles).<br /><br />Ludwig oversaw Neuschwanstein’s construction for 17 years. Well before its completion, he was declared mentally unfit to rule at the age of 40 in 1886. He was found dead in a lake in Munich less than a week later. The circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery.<br /><br />Ludwig’s quarters in his dream castle were completed, but he only lived in the structure for 172 days. It’s pretty sad, really. Brooke and I were most impressed with his throne room. The mosaic floor was made of more than 1 million pieces of tile. The walls and ceiling must have taken thousands of hours to paint. The 96-candle chandelier was made of gilded brass and weighed more than 2000 pounds. But the room has never contained an actual throne on the lofted structure where it was designed to rest. The room was one of many that were never totally finished.<br /><br />The famous view of Neuschwanstein from St. Mary’s Bridge was worth the short and easy hike.<br /><br />After leaving the castles, we each had a bratwurst for lunch before driving just a few minutes north to Tegelberg, Germany. There, we rode a luge down fun and twisty course. My goal was to never use my brake the entire time; mission accomplished. I took a video with my flipcam for the entire ride. I’ll post it on my YouTube page when I get the chance.<br /><br />In 1328, the Holy Roman Emperor was traveling through Bavaria and he established a monastery in the village of Ettal, Germany. Many monks still live there, and the monastery sanctuary is incredibly beautiful. When we walked in, there was a service going on and all the monks were singing (that stereotypical monk-like chanting). We sat in the back pew for a while and just looked around at all the Baroque sculpture and art work. It was tremendously impressive. <br /><br />Next we drove to Oberammagau, Germany. That is the Bavarian city that hosts the world famous “Passion Play” every 10 years in the summer. Passion 2010 is going on now. The city (tiny village, really) is flooded with Christian tourists from all over the world who come to watch the huge production in which almost every resident in the city take part. <br /><br />We weren’t that impressed with Oberammagau.<br /><br />We had dinner at the restaurant below the Aldstadt Hotel in Fussen. Brooke had a vegetarian dish that looked like some kind of macaroni and cheese. I had venison and dumplings. I ordered lemonade to drink and was given what tasted like Sprite or 7-up. What’s up with that?<br /><br />Tomorrow we plan to start the day with a tour of Linderhof. It’s the one castle that King Ludwig did live to see completed. It features fabulous gardens and the interior is decorated in the theme of Richard romantic Wagner’s operas (Ludwig and Wagner were very close friends).<br /><br />From there, it’s on to Innsbruck, where we drop off our tiny Mercedes-Benz rental car (which I think I mistakenly identified as a VW in an earlier blog; sorry, I’m not a car guy).<br /><br />TomTom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-1546407852784978922010-06-29T02:21:00.004-04:002010-06-29T02:39:31.417-04:00Monday, June 28 - Day 10Best day ever. The day of days. No way I can do it justice without writing volumes.<br /><br />Funny then, that it started out somber--because we had to say goodbye to Hotel Cortisen in Saint Wolfgang. Since we had to meet our paragliding pilots at 9 a.m. about an hour away from Saint Wolfgang in Obertraun, the alarm came early, we ate a quick breakfast and were on the road by 8 a.m.<br /><br />We found out that the Cortisen is managed by a company called <a href="http://www.epoquehotels.com/">Epoque Hotels </a>that has 130 properties in 70 countries worldwide (only about six are in America--all in either New York, Los Angeles or Miami). There is a book that highlights all of their properties, and we saw so many amazing places we'd love to go someday. One of my favorites was in Namibia, where you could watch zebras and gazelles roam from the back sundeck of the hotel.<br /><br />I won't have enough vacations in my life to visit half the amazing properties they have.<br /><br />Back to our day. We arrived at the cable car lift at the base of a mountain called Dachstein and met our paragliding pilots. Mikhael, a native of Austria, was Brooke's pilot. Jorg (pronounced: YORG), a German industrial engineer who gave up his profession 11 years ago due to his addiction to paragliding, was my pilot. Jorg has worked the past few years in South Africa but came to Austria this summer to be partners with Mikhael and to escape the hectic festivities surrounding the World Cup. Both of the guys were cool as hell, but it was also clear that they were experts and took the safety part of their job seriously.<br /><br />I opted to wear an HD helmet cam to film the duration of my flight. I can't wait to get the footage. I want to see it so badly. I took one short video in-flight, about a minute or two after takeoff, but it really doesn't do justice to the whole experience.<br /><br />Takeoff, by the way, was pretty awesome. The mountain peak just to the left of us had the Dachstein glacier on it. It was totally covered with ice. But at about the same elevation (2,150 meters), our takeoff point on the <a href="http://www.skyclub-austria.at/html/de/paragleiten/tandemflug.html">Grid Krippenstein summit plateau</a> actually had a bit of a grassy field with some bushy vegetation. Jorg and I did a mock run-through of what we were going to do on takeoff, then we went for it.<br /><br />He told me what he wanted my path to be, then he just yelled, "Run! Run! Run!" I ran as hard as I could--there was a lot of drag once the chute caught air, and he was only about a foot and a half behind me, clipped onto my harness with carabineers. After about 15 yards, we lifted up, then we touched down again for about three or four steps after sailing about 10 yards, then we were off the cliff for good. <br /><br />The thermal updrafts running up the mountains immediately caught our chute and sent us upward. There is no way I can describe the next 30-40 minutes. Jorg said over and over again that there was no way the conditions could have been any better, and he had to be telling the truth. The views were amazing.<br /><br />There was one point early on when Jorg asked if I was comfortable with doing some in-air maneuvers. I said sure and he swung the chutes quickly from side to side. At one point I thought we might flip.<br /><br />Then as we were over the landing field, he said that I seemed very comfortable and asked if I wanted to do some spirals. He said it pulls a lot of "G's" and makes us descend very fast. <br /><br />You know my response.<br /><br />Suddenly we were spiraling super fast straight down. It probably only lasted for about 6-7 seconds, but it was awesome.<br /><br />After we landed, Brooke said, "When I saw what you were doing. I thought I was going to throw up." <br /><br />Mikhael asked her if she wanted to do what Jorg and I had just done, but she declined. She did, however, really enjoy the experience and said she would do it again. I HAVE to do it again.<br /><br />After saying goodbye to Mikhael and Jorg, we started the one-hour drive to Berchtesgaden. Ever since I first saw the "Band of Brothers" mini-series, which I still believe is the finest thing ever put on film, I've wanted to visit the Eagle's Nest.<br /><br />More than the fact it was the Third Reich's 50th birthday present to Hitler, the main draw for me was the fact that <a href="http://www.majordickwinters.com/">Major Dick Winters </a>had once been there (while active with Easy Company in the 101st Airborne). He is the epitome of a bad-ass. I've read his autobiography as well as books written by at least four other men who served under him in Europe during World War II. Everyone who went to battle with that man speaks of him with such esteem that you just have to respect him. He was with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101st_Airborne_Division">101st</a> when it captured the Eagle's Nest--officially known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehlsteinhaus">Kehlsteinhaus</a>.<br /><br />One thing I didn't know before visiting the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obersalzberg">Obersalzberg </a>region was the fact that the Third Reich took over the whole area in the 1930s. The Nazis removed families who had for centuries called the place home. Obersalzberg became the party's second main base of operations (behind Berlin).<br /><br />Really, the most impressive parts of the Kehlsteinhaus structure itself are the road leading up to it and the solid brass elevator that takes you from inside the mountain to the building. Somewhere along the way, someone decided to make the Kehlsteinhaus--which is a small building to begin with--a touristy <a href="http://www.kehlsteinhaus.com/">restaurant</a>. A full-service restaurant kitchen takes up a lot of space, so much so that there really isn't much left to tour. There is just the main circular tea room, with its large windows and huge fireplace. There are photos of Hitler, foreign diplomatic guests and high-ranking members of the Nazi Party dining in that room.<br /><br />There's also a photo of Eisenhower smoking a cigarette in that room with a big grin on his face after the capture of Berchtesgaden. I asked one of the employees which window exactly the photo was taken near, and I stood in the same place with the same pose and had Brooke take my picture.<br /><br />Really, the coolest part of the whole compound was the audio tour of the Nazi Documentation Center. It starts in a two-level building and leads underground into the four miles of bunker tunnels that Jewish and Polish slaves were forced to build all over the mountain.<br /><br />On Google Earth, you can see where hikers have explored the surrounding forests and mountains and have found bunker exits and old doors. It would be awesome to hike around that area sometime. <br /><br />I couldn't help but wonder, as I walked through the tunnels and looked at the exhibits in the Documentation Center, what do the German tourists think of all this? Until the late 1990s, it was kind of taboo for Germans to come to this area or any other Nazi-related sites as vacations. But in the past decade, it's become a huge attraction for Germans. There were tons of German vacationers visiting along with us today.<br /><br />If I was a German, I would be thinking to myself, "How did almost our entire great nation follow this psycho and align itself with Nazi beliefs?"<br /><br />It's remarkable to think that Hitler could gain such influence--in the past, now, ever. It's a pretty sad commentary on mankind.<br /><br />So after leaving our second incredible experience of the day, we started the three-hour drive to Pinswang, Germany (during which we crossed the Germany-Austria border numerous times). Again, the drive offered gorgeous scenery.<br /><br />Around 9 p.m., we arrived here at <a href="http://www.schluxen.com/eng/index.htm">Gutshof zum Schluxen</a> in Unterpinswang. We'll be here for two nights. Tomorrow we'll visit King Ludwig's Castles, one of which was the inspiration for the famous Disney World Castle.<br /><br />Hike or bike. That's our initial plan on how we'll get to the castles tomorrow morning. If the bikes look like ass-busters, we'll be hoofing it.<br /><br />That's all for now.<br /><br />TomTom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-30308070047000585032010-06-28T00:55:00.007-04:002010-06-28T01:10:44.718-04:00Europe 2010 - Day 9Day 9 - Sunday, June 27<br /><br />Sunday was great. The breakfast spread at the Cortisen was the most impressive we've seen yet. I was especially impressed with the dozen or so varieties of fresh jellies that were available. Brooke, on the other hand, had one of the girls show her how to operate the espresso machine. Something tells me our kitchen is going to have one of those before long.<br /><br />After breakfast, I did some research on paragliding, as I've seen that it is a possiblity here in the Salzkammergut region. That research included about four trips down to the reception area to get clarification on how to use the phone here in Europe.<br /><br />While I was doing that, Brooke was sunbathing in a lounge chair at the edge of the lake on the hotel's sundeck. I went out and joined her for a few minutes once I had a paragliding trip booked for Monday morning (we'll run off a cliff in Obertraun, Austria, before making our way to <a href="http://www.letsgo-europe.com/Germany/eagles_nest/">Hitler's Eagle's Nest </a>in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berchtesgaden">Berchtesgaden</a>, Germany).<br /><br />Then we strolled through the village, checking out the various shops. There have been <a href="http://www.hallstatt.net/publisher/articleview/action/view/frmArticleID/22/?lang=en-iso-8859-15">salt mines </a>in this area for centuries, and we found one <a href="http://www.salzkontor.at/index.htm">store</a> that had a variety of local salt (salz) products. They had cooking salts, bathing salts, lotions, everything you can think of all made with pure local mineral-laden local salt.<br /><br />For lunch, we stopped at a cafe just a few doors up the street from the Cortisen. I really wanted to try a ham and (Swiss) cheese omelette. So I did. Brooke and I also split a pizza with cheese, ham, tomatoes and mushrooms. The waitress was under the impression that the omelette was my entree--not my appetizer--and that Brooke was having the pizza all to herself. So as we paid the bill, Brooke felt compelled to explain to the waitress that I helped with the pizza.<br /><br />We went back to our room and threw on our bathing suits before making our way to a riverfront dock area that rented electric motor boats and paddleboats (you know, the ones you pedal like a bike) by the hour. We took a paddleboat out to the middle of the lake and jumped in the water. It was freezing for the first few minutes--Brooke couldn't catch her breath at first--but then you got used to it. I was just swimming around in the middle of the lake (Wolfgangsee) with a 360-degree panorama of beautiful mountains surrounding me. It was one of those moments where you stop and say to yourself, "I can't believe I'm doing this right now. I can't believe I'm in a lake in Austria, surrounded by all of this."<br /><br />I'll remember that lake experience for the rest of my life.<br /><br />We decided to relax a little after returning the boat. We had dinner reservations at the Cortisen's restaurant for 8 p.m., so we showered up and changed into some nicer attire before heading down to eat.<br /><br />It was one of those dinners where they bring you a couple "greetings from the kitchen," and they keep swapping out your silverware based on what you order and you have to try to remember the proper dining etiquette of when to use which fork and knife. I ordered salmon with an orange glaze and Brooke had trout from the lake. This meal probably topped all that we've had during vacation so far. <br /><br />Sadly, we both realize that when we check out tomorrow morning, our last few days of vacation will probably fail to match the time we've had here in Saint Wolfgang. I can promise we will be back here again.<br /><br />That brings up a point about the travelers you see here. In Switzerland, you see many, many Chinese, Japanese and Indian tourists (Indians go there to escape their own monsoon season). But of course, you also notice a decent amount of American travelers as well. Here in Saint Wolfgang, most everyone is European. It is a popular German resort town--great skiing in the winter. I was signing the book at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_of_Regensburg">Saint Wolfgang</a> Parish Church this afternoon as we were taking a more in-depth walk through the place, and I had to turn back almost 15-20 pages to mid-June to find the last time someone had scrawled a message in English. I guess Saint Wolfgang is a place that is left out of most popular American travel and guide books (I found back it in May while scanning lakefront properties using Google Earth).<br /><br />Well, I need to figure out where we have to drive to tomorrow morning for our <a href="http://www.skyclub-austria.at/html/de/paragleiten/tandemflug.html">paragliding adventure</a>. And from there it's on to a few days in Germany where we'll visit the "King's Castles."<br /><br />TomTom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-14333365577663810082010-06-27T04:32:00.005-04:002010-06-27T05:12:23.442-04:00Europe 2010 - Day 8Saturday, June 26<br /><br />Well, we are most definitely "tourists" now. <br /><br />After a light breakfast at Institute Saint Sebastian in Salzburg, we checked out of our room. The kind woman working the desk allowed us to leave our bags in a locked closet in her work area, however, so we took advantage of that. <br /><br />Our plan was to walk a few blocks down to where a couple of the local tour groups' booking stations were located to inquire about jumping on a morning <a href="http://www.panoramatours.com/salzburg-Original-Sound-of-Music-Tour.aspx">"Sound of Music Tour."</a><br /><br />I know what most of you guys are <a href="http://www.meetthegeeks.org/files/uploads/aston/aston4/StraightJacket.jpg">thinking</a>...<br /><br />But anyway, we were able to get two seats on that morning's four-hour bus tour. And it was actually cooler than I thought it would be. Riding around Salzburg in a tour bus filled with people singing "The Hills are Alive," "Edelweiss," "Doe-Ray-Me," and "I Must Have Done Something Good" had me feeling a little skeptical. But our tour guide, a witty Brit named Trudy who wore a traditional Austrian dress, made it quite enjoyable. <br /><br />We visited numerous places around town that were used during filming, such as the two castles that served as the von Trapp family home (they used one facade for the front of the house and another building all together for scenes shot in the back), the famous gazebo and the church were the captain and Maria were married.<br /><br />That church, located in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondsee_(town)">Mondsee</a>, actually had a wedding ceremony going on at the very time we went inside. We stayed in the back taking pictures (if it was my wedding; I would have been kind of upset). But really, the church was so large--and there was music playing at the time--that I don't think anyone noticed.<br /><br />We did get a lot of great pictures during the tour. And it was something that Brooke really wanted to do (I get the impression that women get a LOT of enjoyment out of this particular tour) so it was well worth it. And like I said, I had more fun than I expected.<br /><br />After the tour, we walked back to retrieve our bags and we then headed for the car park. I owe John Painter big-time for agreeing to temporarily swap my Magellan for his Garmin GPS device, as his works in Europe. It made our drive to Saint Wolfgang, Austria so easy. All told, it took us less than an hour to arrive at our hotel: Hotel Cortisen am see.<br /><br />At the age of 30, I am willing to say that this is the coolest place I will ever stay at in my life. Leading up to this vacation, this is the hotel I was most excited about. We had a particular suite reserved (you could view panoramas of the rooms on the hotel Web site), and it is a "no kids" establishment right on the lake.<br /><br />You have some laundry you want done? Bring it down, we'll do it for free. You want to use our sauna and steam room on the third floor? Let us know, we'll just turn it on for you. You want to ride a bike or mountain bike around the village for the day? Just let us know, no charge for the bikes. You want to take our rowboat out on the lake? No charge. <br /><br />They also offer a Harley, but there is a fee to rent that.<br /><br />If you ever consider coming to Austria, you really ought to give <a href="http://www.cortisen.at/">this place</a> a look.<br /><br />After checking in, we explored the property a little bit, checking out the cigar room, the library (with free books, DVDs and CDs to use), the bar, the lakeside sun deck... everything clearly laid out and designed by a top-notch decorator.<br /><br />Then we decided to stroll through the village and explore while at the same time looking at restaurant menus. One lakefront hotel, Hotel-Peter, had a terrace restaurant out back, and the menu looked great, so we gave it a try.<br /><br />Now, I love Switzerland like I can't even begin to explain. But it's very expensive. At Hotel-Peter, our total order included two Cokes (you don't get free refills of ANYTHING in Europe), a beer, a bowl of soup, an entree of fresh fish caught in the lake and each prepared a different way(intended for two people to share) and two homemade desserts. All of that, and our bill was 51,70 Euros!!! I was pleasantly shocked--though I should have been a bit prepared for that when our lunch in Mondsee that afternoon during our tour came to 11,00 Euros (two drinks and a pizza).<br /><br />So that's another great aspect about Austria. And the scenery is just as nice as it is in Switzerland.<br /><br />After dinner, Brooke made use of the jacuzzi tub in our suite while I opened the door to our balcony and updated my Europe journal/blog. Then we watched the damn USA-Ghana World Cup match.<br /><br />Germany plays England Sunday. That is a really big deal here since we're just a couple miles from Germany. In fact, I'm quite certain that some of the mountains that surround us are on Germany's side of the border.<br /><br />Quick shout-out to Allix Bullock for everything she's doing for us while we're gone. We know the house and Crockett are both in good hands.Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-52224075420619853972010-06-26T13:20:00.014-04:002010-06-26T14:50:25.183-04:00Europe 2010 - Days 6-7Day 6 - Thursday, June 25<br /><br />The first thing we did following breakfast (at the hotel) Thursday in Luzern was visit the Post headquarters to inquire about the cost and ease of shipping some items back home. We had already bought some items, and there were some others we were considering purchasing if we knew we wouldn't have to add them to our baggage and cart them around for the remainder of the trip.<br /><br />Feeling as though it would be both simple and affordable to make an "economy" (11-14 days) shipment home, we finished up shopping. I returned to a store that sold a lot of World Cup merchandise from numerous countries--the most common in stores here are Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Italy and USA--and I purchased a child-sized red Switzerland jersey for Crockett. He's going to love showing it off to folks back home, proudly touting his ancestry.<br /><br />After we made all our final purchases, we proceeded back to the Post headquarters and shipped a box full of goods home.<br /><br />It was about that time that we were ready for lunch, so we grabbed an outdoor table at <a href="http://www.schweizfotos.com/data/picture/detail/922.jpg">Restaurant Fritschi</a> (in that photo, you'll see the umbrella-covered tables where we sat) and each ordered a salad. Brooke got the Fritschi salad--the house special--and I felt brave and went for the sausage and cheese salad. It didn't disappoint, though it was different than most any other salad I've tried before.<br /><br />Since we were close to the lakefront, we looked into the various <a href="http://gallery.photo.net/photo/9602174-md.jpg">Lake Luzern cruises</a> that were offered that day. Our Swiss passes give us free access to all buses, boats and lifts in Switzerland (with about 4-5 exceptions), and we were just looking for something quick to take in the midday views from the middle of the lake. So we waited about 45 minutes next to the lake before boarding a boat named "Rutli" for a nice, one-hour cruise.<br /><br />For dinner, we decided to wait for a table to open up at the http://www.rathausbrauerei.ch/, which sits near the famous "Chapel Bridge" on the riverfront in the old town. I ordered fried perch filets, and they were exceptional. It was yet another great setting for a waterfront sunset dinner. Check out my <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHWe5CjCM8">video</a> of our view.<br /><br />Knowing our time in Luzern was essentially over, we went to bed looking forward to Friday morning's train ride to Salzburg, Austria.<br /><br /><br />Day 7 - Friday, June 26<br /><br />Since we had no more days remaining on our Swiss passes, I had purchased our point-to-point tickets from Luzern to Salzburg (with a train change in Zurich) prior to our departure from home. <br /><br />The first "reserved" portion of the trip was an 8:45 train in Zurich, so we had to make sure to be in Zurich by that time--preferably at least 10 minutes early so we could find the <a href="http://johnnyholland.org/wp-content/uploads/Zurich-Hauptbahnhof.jpg">right track</a>.<br /><br />That meant skipping breakfast at Jailhotel and catching an early (7:40) train to Zurich. That got us there in time to find our train to Salzburg with about five minutes to spare. <br /><br />We had seats 95 and 97 reserved; and that is where we were sitting. But at one particular small-town stop, a group of about 6-8 (German?) teenage boys boarded the train and tried telling us we were in their seats. They were polite about it, but I showed them our reservation certificate showing our seat numbers. <br /><br />"I think you are on the wrong coach," one of them said.<br /><br />He pointed to a section on the ticket that had the number 252 on it. He then showed us how to tell which coach we were on... and it was 354. So I told them "I'm sorry" in German (I was proud they understood me) and we waited in an area in-between coaches until the next stop, at which point we exited the train, walked up about 15 cars and then re-entered. That was a lot easier than trying to walk through about 15 coaches with all our luggage, because all the coaches were quite full at that point.<br /><br />We got to Salzburg--one of the greatest Baroque cities north of the Alps--at about 2:15 p.m., and luckily our rental-car pickup point was only about two blocks from the train station. We picked up our tiny, navy blue VW sedan and drove to a "car park" that is basically a parking garage cut into a mountain beneath the Salzburg fortress.<br /><br />I didn't have a hotel booked for our lone night in Salzburg, so this was the first day of the trip I planned on winging it in terms of lodging. The first place we inquired at was booked up, as there was a music festival going on in the portion of town I had planned on staying in. <br /><br />The second place we planned on trying was called "Institute St. Sebastian." It's actually a <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_CBxsOIVHcDIjWtDIeiy07fkS8vgq2r3HQAs6Erd2-cF0xg4vUuN6qy5oDnOdt99RdHtAXwYpY8ygF-M971EJQtOHvxbWgaP36pABUTFedSRWUKoElQPuRSWoXrx-nkTT5GG1G6Q0KwSv/s320/Institute+St+Sebastian.JPG">historic old church</a> building that has been converted into a girls' dorm for students at various college in Salzburg. During the school year, it rents about 20 single rooms. But when the girls are gone, all the rooms are available, including some doubles. <br /><br />We were in luck, as they had a double for only 71 Euros for the night (it had a private bathroom, and the price included breakfast). <br /><br />With lodging secured, we embarked on a walk around the historic old town (south of the river) and new town (north of the river). We saw <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Mozart's</a> birthplace, the residence in which he lived as a young man when he wasn't touring Europe's major cities and many sites (such as <a href="http://www.visit-salzburg.net/sights/mirabellgarden.htm">Mirabell Gardens</a>) where they filmed outdoor scenes in "The Sound of Music."<br /><br />But Brooke and I both thought the most impressive part of Salzburg was the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jlSGzOXE2E">Salzburg Cathedral</a>. There were many, many bishops entombed both in the sanctuary as well as in the crypt below the altar (which was open to those willing to venture in; we did). The interior was more beautiful than my words, or even my pictures and videos, can do justice. It features <a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1107/576254566_f30472c852.jpg?v=0">five </a>organs, and Mozart himself was the main organist there for two years. Speaking of Mozart, the <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/87/225555626_c603782b4b.jpg?v=0">font </a>in which he was baptized is there in the cathedral. It dates to 1320. <br /><br />I could go on and on about how impressive that place was, but like I said, I can't do the place the justice. It just has that "feel" to it, and it's the kind of man-made structure that has a way of humbling you. I couldn't leave without dipping my fingers in the Holy water and making the sign of the cross.<br /><br />We also visited the <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/images/reps/slides/salzburg-peterskirche-interior3-cc-stefan-eissing.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/salzburg&usg=__0i7Wu8_WU7g8asOoa8G4o6xrxtk=&h=166&w=250&sz=43&hl=en&start=6&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ix6ON2m4eVcUxM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsaint%2Brupert%2527s%2Btomb%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26tbs%3Disch:1">Abbey Church of St. Peter</a>, in which St. Rupert is entombed. I left a donation and lit a candle for my Aunt Boots.<br /><br />For dinner, we ventured off the touristy streets and opted to eat at http://www.dieweisse.at/, which is a favorite spot for the locals to go for sausage. We both ordered the bratwurst with kraut. Hey, what else?<br /><br />Finally it was back to our "<a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/3759263557_a112bdac76.jpg">dorm room</a>" at Institute St. Sebastian, where we slept soundly in our third-floor room with the window open all night. <br /><br />PS: Traveler Tip: If you ever visit Salzburg, don't plan on sleeping in. There are so many churches; the bells will have you up and at 'em quite early.<br /><br />PPS: I've uploaded quite a few photos to Facebook and hope to get some others posted as well.Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-9517257682308897142010-06-25T17:05:00.006-04:002010-06-25T17:46:26.323-04:00Europe 2010 – Days 3-5Sorry for the absence of our Monday (June 21) update. We milked our day for all it worth. In fact, we cut it as close as possible and could easily have been stranded away from our hotel for the night. But I’ll get to that later.<br /><br />The forecast in the Berner Oberland region called for fog and rain again Monday, thus wiping out our chances of paragliding there. I’m quite bummed about that, but there’s always next time (I’m already working on Brooke, trying to talk her into a return to Switzerland in the summer of 2012). <br /><br />So rather than hope the clouds would clear long enough to catch some good glimpses of the peaks of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, I called an audible and we set off for Lake Geneva. Originally I hadn’t planned on visiting the French-speaking part of Switzerland this time around—we spent a couple days in Montreux in 2006—but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lausanne">Lausanne</a> (loh-zahn) seemed like an interesting destination. The city is built along a steep hillside overlooking Lake Geneva. It boasts a nice lakefront district (Ouchy) as well as an “Old Town” area. And had it not been for the easy-to-use metro train that whisks back and forth from the waterfront to the top of the town where its cathedral resides, we would have had some sore legs.<br /><br />My only complaint about Lausanne was the noise, and that wasn’t even the locals’ fault. Portugal played a World Cup game Monday, and I don’t have a clue why, but I think every fan of Portugal soccer who was not in South Africa Monday was in Lausanne—and they all had those damn <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1287631/The-dreaded-vuvuzela-claims-victim-Woman-bursts-windpipe-blowing-hard.html">vuvuzelas</a>! Portugal ended up beating whoever it was they played, and these fanatics paraded through town, blowing the vuvvuzelas, blowing air horns, honking their car horns, singing and waving flags out their car windows or wearing the flag as a cape—or best of all: wearing the flag as a cape while hanging out the window of a moving car and simultaneously blowing a vuvuzela.<br /><br />We had a nice lunch in a small eatery on a cobblestone side street, but the woman who took our order at the counter had little patience for those who couldn’t speak French. We didn’t care much for her. That kind of experience seems to be common in the French-influenced region of Switzerland. The German areas seem to be much more warm and welcoming. It’s interesting picking up on those sorts of things as you travel from place to place.<br /><br />We decided we’d have dinner at a particular restaurant in Interlaken that has received many good reviews. But on the way from Lausanne to Interlaken, we stopped in Bern again to visit some of the shops that were closed when we visited there on Sunday.<br /><br />I found a great paisley blue pocket square that was on sale in one of the men’s clothing stores on the main street, and Brooke found a pair of earrings in the Swarovski crystal store. So… that cleared the way for me to get the clearance on some black crystal Swarovski cuff links that I look forward to rockin’ during the 2010-11 season!<br /><br />We finally got to Interlaken and had a solid meal of cordon bleu (me) and rosti with fried egg (Brooke) at <a href="http://www.baeren-unterseen.ch/">Restaurant Baren</a>. We also had apple pie and ice cream with fresh strawberries, respectively, for dessert.<br /><br />Things did clear up enough by the evening that we saw a very colorful sunset over the mountaintops from the window at our booth in the restaurant. We had kind of lost track of time. It was already dark when we boarded the train at the Interlaken Ost (East) station en route to Lauterbrunnen. When we finally got to Lauterbrunnen, we had to wait nearly an hour for the last bus of the night that headed to the cable car station. <br /><br />Remember, you can’t drive up to Gimmelwald; you must take the cable car. If you miss the last one, you are out of luck and I guess you would have to basically beg the driver to take you back to Lauterbrunnen and then hope to find a hotel room there.<br />So our 11:28 bus finally arrives at the stop, and we make it to the Schilthornbahn station just in time for the 11:45 cable car up to Gimmelwald (last of the night). The station attendant literally turned off all the lights and locked up the station right before we started the ascent.<br /><br />When we got to Gimmelwald, there was some poor guy who must have been out drinking or doing something in Murren, and he tried to get on the cable car as we were getting off. But there was absolutely no way they were going to take that one passenger back down after they had already closed up the station for the night. Heck, when Brooke and I rode up on the last car, we were two of only six people on board—and that includes the operator!<br /><br />As that poor guy and the operator tried to talk back and forth, Brooke and I headed for our room at Pension Gimmelwald (only about a 100-yard walk from the station). I would really love to know what that guy ended up doing. I’ll bet anything he had a car at the Schiltohornbahn station lot and he was trying to get back to it. Who knows what the guy did. If he tried hiking down, he’s probably still walking (or dead from falling off the ledge in the pitch black night).<br /><br />Day 4 – Tuesday, June 22, 2010<br /><br />We decided to skip breakfast at the Pension today and hit the road early. I checked out and said goodbye to David and the crew at the Pension. I hope to be back there again for a third stay at some point.<br /><br />I’m writing this from Murten, which was today’s ultimate destination. We arrived here in town just after noon and checked right in at <a href="http://www.murtenhof.ch/index_en.php">Hotel Murtenhof & Krone</a>. What a great hotel in a great city! This place has a great vibe and a lot of history to it.<br /><br />Unbeknownst to me, our arrival in Murten coincided perfectly with an annual celebration. June 22 is comparable to the Fourth of July in the states.<br />On July 22, 1476, Mighty Charles the Bold and his well-armed 20,000 Burgundian forces, who had been laying siege to Murten for 10 days, were <a href="http://www.allfunnypictures.com/images2/surpriseattack.jpg">surprise attacked</a> by a makeshift Swiss army of about 10,000. They compare the Swiss surprise attack, which took place when Charles’ forces were hungover from a Midsummer Night’s Eve celebration, to George Washington’s attack on the British when the Brits were celebrating Christmas. All 20,000 Burgundians were <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Morat">slaughtered</a>; many of them were driven into the lake in their armor, where they naturally drowned. French bones washed ashore here for centuries (Charles escaped on horseback, bloody hell!).<br /><br />So today the main streets were closed to traffic and there was celebrating in the streets all day long. All the children get out of school and come to town dressed in white. It was really something cool to be a part of as we walked along the cobble stone streets and took in all the excitement.<br /><br />Popular American travel writer Rick Steves touted Hotel Murtenhof & Krone’s lakeside terrace restaurant as the best in town. He also exclaimed, “sipping a glass of local white wine, with the right travel partner, while gazing across the lake at hillside vineyards as the sun sets, is one of Europe’s fine moments.”<br /><br />So, we reserved a table for 8:30 p.m.—after being told the sun would set at 9 p.m.—and the experience was outstanding. It was certainly among my top three or four dining experiences ever. We both got perch (known here as “egli filets” and a local favorite) with different sides. Brooke got a red wine from across the lake since she had a white wine the previous night in Interlaken. We got some great photos of the sun setting over the lake. It was the kind of dinner that defines a top-notch vacation.<br /><br />But… there was one other experience today that rivaled our dinner. Right after checking into the hotel, we went to the local co-op grocery and bought items for a picnic. We then walked back to the Bahnhof (train station) and rented bikes. I had planned to make the approximately 9 km bike ride to <a href="http://www.avenches.ch/en/siteetmuseeromain">Avenches </a>for a picnic at the <a href="http://image63.webshots.com/63/9/66/57/495096657TCqGSl_fs.jpg">Roman ruins</a> there.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenches">Avenches</a> was once known as Aventicum, and it was the Roman capital of Helvetia. It was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire and in recent years has often won the title of “most livable place to retire.” I can definitely see why. Its population now is very small, and not a lot of tourists know about the place. So you can be sitting on some old Roman ruins from the days of Emperor Marcus Aurelius all by yourself, enjoying the world’s coolest picnic.<br /><br />We biked around and saw the old Roman amphitheater, the remains of an ancient sanctuary and some smaller theater ruins. The lone standing tower of the original 73 towers that lined the city walls in ancient times now houses a museum with some really interesting artifacts that have been dug up over the centuries. The coolest item is a <a href="http://www.memo.fr/Media/REG_VAU_ANT_004_G.jpg">gold bust of Marcus Aurelius</a> (circa 80 A.D.) that was found in an Avenches sewer in 1939! The French woman attending the small museum in the tower offered a book explaining the contents of each exhibit in English, and our Swiss Passes granted us free admission. We spent the better part of an hour in there and I saw a lot of really awesome stuff that is certainly priceless—much of it in great shape given its age.<br /><br />Biking through some peaceful fields and past numerous small farms was really, really enjoyable. I found myself thinking, “I can’t believe this. I’m biking along the Swiss countryside right now.” We’re really fortunate to be able to experience things like that.<br /><br />Brooke is out cold right now, and our bedside clock is displaying 23:13 (that’s 11:13 p.m. ET for the folks back home), so I better wrap it up.<br /><br />Tomorrow we’ll walk around a bit more here in Murten in the morning and then make our way to Luzern for a couple days.<br /><br />We really miss Crockett. We’ve seen some great-looking Bernese Mountain Dogs here and wish Crockett was with us to meet them. They may be distant relatives<br /><br />Day 5 – Wednesday, June 23<br /><br />We woke up and showered before heading to the complimentary breakfast spread at Hotel Murtenhof & Krone. I explained how fantastic dinner was Tuesday night at their terrace restaurant; well the views from their breakfast sun room were just as gorgeous. The morning view overlooking Lake Murten made for a great setting in which to enjoy an impressive spread that included fresh breads, meats, cheeses, yogurt, granola and fresh fruit.<br /><br />After breakfast we walked around the cobblestone streets of the town in the area known as the “<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6Tc3X2WgLpkHOVLdRGDnSqd8nBbf5CQZ4HAs_-FhF6bM2w_uTydAfiY3mvbt3U00FljEtv0EX7oLbp8P3-X-V-4g7AKc26tJ_Wki8M1MsDAk2Qc-mbDUCXc1OHMNIfrni5UjrOL4rzQ/s400/Murten+-+Bern+Gate.jpg">ramparts</a>.” Brooke had wanted to visit a few stores that were closed when we passed through on Tuesday. <br /><br />We then made our way back to the hotel to pack our bags for the 11 a.m. checkout. Then we were off to the train station, ready to make our way to Luzern.<br /><br />We arrived in Luzern right at 1 p.m. It’s the first city we visited during our honeymoon trip in August of 2006. I don’t know what it is about this place exactly, but it’s definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to. It just has that great European feel to it (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHWe5CjCM8">a video I shot</a>).<br /><br />We returned to a familiar hotel, <a href="http://www.jailhotel.ch/html_e/frame_e.html">Jailhotel Lowengraben</a>, which is actually a former jail (our room door is a wooden jail door and our room window has bars running from top to bottom when you open the glass panes.<br /><br />Brooke isn’t the biggest fan of Jailhotel, mainly because it has a disco on street level (we’re just one level above) that stays open to very early in the morning—I think it’s 5 a.m. on the weekends and I’m not sure about weeknights.<br /><br />But there’s no place like it. Folks who stayed in the room previously have written messages on the cinder blocks in the wall such as “Nothing like this in Australia! Thanks for making this the most memorable stay of our European holiday. – Mary & Paul, Queensland”<br /><br />Yes, I added to the "graffiti."<br /><br />We had a nice dinner at a cozy side-street restaurant called Fondue House. I’ll let you guess what we had. Fondue meals are priced per person and are usually among the most expensive things you find on most menus. It was for that reason that we decided to pass on a fondue experience during our honeymoon. But this time we gave in, thinking that we really couldn’t make two trips to Switzerland without having said we tried it. I couldn’t eat like that often, but it was very good and a nice change.<br /><br />We continued to wander around town, taking in the sights. Of course, you can’t do Luzern without walking across <a href="http://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/germany/ChapelBridgeAndWaterTower.jpg">Chapel Bridge</a>. I also wandered over to the huge and ornately designed <a href="http://images.travelpod.com/users/noozles99/1.1211635260.post-office.jpg">Post headquarters</a> to check their hours. We may make some purchases tomorrow if it’s not too terribly expensive to ship them home—we’re not interested in doubling the amount of baggage we have to haul with us with more than a week remaining here in Europe.<br /><br />Speaking of purchases, I thought the $4,000 Swiss watches I saw earlier in the week were impressive. Well today I saw some designer Swiss watches priced at $40,000, $32,500 and $28,000. Who buys this stuff?<br /><br />Then we ducked into a dimly lit pub called “Bar Konige” to get a couple drinks while watching the Germany-Ghana World Cup match with a bar full of rabid Deutschland fans. Soccer fans don’t mess around over here. Luckily for all involved, Germany emerged with a 1-0 victory. It was interesting that our bartender was a Brit. She seemed more interested in the Australia-Serbia match. Am I crazy or didn’t Australia start out as an “island prison” used for deported Brits? I could totally be making that up. I don’t know.<br /><br />During our walk back to Jailhotel, the streets were alive with honking car horns, proud chanting soccer fans and, of course, a chorus of vuvuzelas.<br /><br />Oh! Prior to Bar Konige, we had made a rest stop in our hotel room before walking over to the Post headquarters. It was around that time that the Germany-Ghana game was just getting started. We heard a lot of commotion going on right outside our window. So I climbed up on the bed and peered out to see about 50 people looking right at me. Apparently the landing outside or room was being used for a World Cup viewing party sponsored by some European energy drink, and they were using the exterior wall of our room as a projector screen for the game!<br /><br />Educational nugget of the day: I learned today how to say cuff links in German. Phonetically, it’s man-CHET-in kuh-NOP-fay (I’ve said that over and over to myself all day long. Try it. It’s fun to say). One place sold cuff links that were roulette wheels, and there was even a little ball inside that could land on the numbers. If anybody needs a pair like that, they were only CHF 25 (close to $25). Let me know.<br /><br />I’m now about to hit the sack for the first of two nights in Luzern. Then we’ll be off to explore new territory along the Germany-Austria border. I hope that all is well back in the states.<br /><br />Tom <br /><br />PS: I'm posting this from Salzburg, Austria, on Friday night (June 25). I'm two days behind but will try to get caught up. Some highlights from the past two days: Cruise on Lake Lucerne, Mozart's birthplace and the Salzburg Cathedral (no photos or videos can do that place justice).Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-42649106688618777252010-06-20T16:13:00.008-04:002010-06-20T17:07:13.305-04:00Europe 2010 - Day TwoWe got off to an early start today and took advantage of a full day's worth of activities. Breakfast at the Pension began at 8 a.m., and as soon as it was ready, Brooke and I were dressed, showered and ready to get things started. <br /><br />David didn't disappoint with the breakfast spread. Bread with fruit spread and butter, yogurt with granola-type cereal, dried meats and cheeses as well as apple and banana slices--it was all as fresh as it could possibly be. I'd love to know how recently the milk that made the butter and yogurt was sloshing around in the belly of a cow on some nearby hillside.<br /><br />After breakfast, we took the cable car down to the Schilthornbahn station, caught a Post bus to Lauterbrunnen and boarded the train once again headed to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern">Bern</a>.<br /><br />The national capital, Bern is a fantastic city that boasts a lot of great personality. I could definitely spend more time there. It was especially meaningful to Brooke and I due to the fact that Bern is where our boy Crockett can trace his ancestry (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernese_Mountain_Dog">Bernese Mountain Dog</a>)!<br /><br />During our stroll through town we saw most of the city's famous 11 fountains (each topped with a character based on biblical or Swiss folklore (such as Samson and a <a href="http://www.mrfs.net/trips/2002/Switzerland/Bern/ogre_fountain.jpg">child-eating Ogre</a>), we explored a beautiful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnster_(Bern)">15th-century Cathedral</a>, saw the <a href="http://www.baerenpark-bern.ch/">riverfront brown bear dwellings</a> where four brown bears--the symbol of Bern, as depicted on the canton's official seal--go about their business while locals and tourists alike observe.<br /><br />Another great part of our stroll through Bern was visiting the <a href="http://www.einstein-bern.ch/index.php?lang=en&show=start&subs=">apartment where Albert Einstein lived</a> from 1902-05 and where he worked out his famous theory of relativity. It is now a museum dedicated to Einstein, and although our Swiss Passes would have allowed us free admission for the 20-minute audio tour, we settled for a few pictures out front and headed to one of the bustling squares for lunch.<br /><br />The trademark Swiss dish Rosti, which I explained in Saturday's blog post, originiated in Bern. So naturally that's what we both got at a place called <a href="http://www.restaurantsuche.ch/resto.php?PHPSESSID=da13ec7a48533cc2c7ab84cc7447fcc9&id=100134">le Mazot</a>. I got the "rosti sportsman," which is basically hash browns topped with a slice of ham, covered in melted swiss cheese and topped with a sunny-side-up egg. <br /><br />Cooked eggs here look different than they do in the states. Our egg yokes have a yellow look in comparison to the bright "Florida Gator" orange that they take on here. I'm no expert on the matter, but my guess is that it may have to do with the chickens here lacking some of the steroids and other chemicals that we feed to or inject into the chickens back home.<br /><br />We did a bit of shopping in Bern. I bought a great water- and wind-proof jacket that will surely serve me well on future hiking trips. It is made by a really cool brand I had never heard of before: <a href="http://www.sherpaadventuregear.com/index.php">Sherpa Adventure Gear</a>. Brooke looked at dozens of nice, Swiss-manufactured watches but couldn't settle on one. Many of the nicer watches sold for up to CHF 4000 (close to $4,000). <br /><br />On our way back to Gimmelwald in the afternoon, we got off the train at the Interlaken West station and walked through that city all the way to the East station. Brooke made a good find at one of the shops, purchasing a red <a href="http://www.sporting-heroes.net/files_footballworldcup/BARNETTA_T_20060626_GH_R.jpg">Swiss World Cup team jersey</a> that I must admit is pretty cool. The Swiss play tomorrow at 4 p.m. and we'd like to find a nice little pub or restaurant with a good scene in which to watch the game, but we'll see how the day progresses.<br /><br />I'm still holding up hope that the clouds will clear out of the area and make a paragliding trip a possibility for tomorrow.<br /><br />Dinner this evening was at the restaurant in <a href="http://www.muerren.ch/alpina/seiten/frame-e.htm">Hotel Alpina</a>, which is up in Murren. Brooke and I each had the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette">Raclette</a>, which is another trademark Swiss dish of melted cheese with boiled potatoes and cucumbers and onions. Like all our other meals thus far, it was stellar.<br /><br />Well, walking all around Bern and Interlaken really wore us out, so are ready to call it a night. We hope everyone back home is doing well. Aside from missing Crockett terribly already, we are having an extraordinary time here.<br /><br />TomTom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-82586425221404197942010-06-19T15:28:00.005-04:002010-06-19T16:17:21.666-04:00Europe: Summer 2010Nearing 11 months since my last post. Apparently I don't have as much time (or perhaps desire) for blogging as I initially thought...<br /><br />Brooke and I arrived in Switzerland this morning (Saturday, June 19). For the next two weeks we'll be rolling six hours ahead of our friends in the Eastern Time Zone. Our first flight from Knoxville to Atlanta was simple enough--a quick 30 minutes. I then passed the time during our brief layover in the Peach State by downing some low-quality Panda Express as we waited to board the nine-hour flight to Zurich.<br /><br />Invictus and The Time Traveler's Wife were two of the three movies that were shown during the flight (I didn't recognize the other one). I watched The Time Traveler's Wife while Brooke slept. I'd seen it before, but it's a great one.<br /><br />Brooke definitely made the wrong choice on the in-flight dinner entree. My manicotti was quite good and certainly had to have been better than the "chicken" product she selected. Breakfast was awful: a banana and an "egg muffin." I told Brooke afterward that the egg seemed more like a folded up chunk of yoga mat.<br /><br />As proof of Swiss efficiency, we got our passports stamped and had our checked baggage in hand no more than 5-6 minutes after walking off the jetway. We caught a quick train from the airport to the Zurich main station, where I got our Swiss Passes validated before we started off toward Gimmelwald.<br /><br />To begin, we rode from Zurich to Interlaken with a quick train change in Bern (did you know Craig Pinkerton can trace his family heritage back to a particular house in Bern?). From Interlaken, we took one more train to Lauterbrunnen than caught a Post Bus to the Schilthornbahn station near Stechelberg.<br /><br />The tiny mountain village of <a href="http://www.pensiongimmelwald.com/index.html">Gimmelwald</a>--elevation 4485 feet--is accessible via a five-minute cable car ride from the Schilthornbahn station. It was GREAT to arrive back in Gimmelwald after we fell in love with the place during our honeymoon in August 2006. Once again, we are staying at Pension Gimmelwald, but the Edelweiss Room, which we stayed in previously, was not available this time so we are in simply "Room 1." <br /><br />The Pension is now under new ownership as well. A friendly Englishman named David Waterhouse now owns the place; we literally just spent about an hour hanging out down at the bar and he visited with us a bit He has two vintage Jack Daniels signs hanging behind the bar. There were quite a few folks from the Mountain Hostel next door who came over to the Pension's restaurant and bar for some good food and drink, so it was a good scene down there, with David blaring some great blues music (which I can hear from our room as I type this; no complaints). <br /><br />After we checked in, we took about a three-hour nap before getting cleaned up and taking the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDhtluQhXKM">cable car up one village to Murren</a>. There, we ate a fabulous, fresh dinner at <a href="http://www.hoteleiger.com/seiten/frame-e.htm">Restaurant Eiger Stubli</a>. Brooke had lamb with scalloped potatos and a beer, while I had veal cutlets with fresh vegetables, a local specialty called rosti (similar to hash browns) and Ramseier apple juice (carbonated; it's awesome). I can't begin to describe how good it all was, and aside from one other German-speaking couple, we had the place all to ourselves.<br /><br />It has been raining all day here in the Berner Oberland region, so it's as if you are walking around above the clouds as it's quite foggy. When the cable car descends from Gimmelwald back down the mountain, it quickly disappears from sight all together after less than 100 yards.<br /><br />One downside is that if this weather doesn't clear up before we move to Murten in a few days, we may not be able to go paragliding. It will be too dangerous and there won't be enough of an updraft through the valley.<br /><br />On a more positive note, I'm doing pretty good with my attempt to begin conversations in German. Tip for American travelers: at least show people that you are willing to make an EFFORT to speak the local language when you are visiting somewhere. I think folks appreciate that. Some of the Americans we cross paths with embarrass me with how they act and how loud they are.<br /><br />Well, a trip back to <a href="http://www.schilthorn.ch/?uid=11">Piz Gloria</a> may be in order tomorrow (look it up online, especially if you're a James Bond fan). Dinner on top of the world, perhaps?<br /><br />Gutentag,<br />Tom<br /><br />PS: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71j3Q-CXDrk&feature=related">One more link</a>. We've never been to Murren during the time of year when this occurs, but it looks pretty interesting.Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-13583462594617363112009-07-24T19:06:00.021-04:002009-07-24T22:18:57.426-04:00Biting The Hand That Feeds YouPublicity Man. Sports Information Director. Communications Coordinator. Media Relations Specialist. <br /><br />The job titles in my industry have changed through the years, but the primary job function has remained the same (for the most part). My business card happens to read: Associate Sports Information Director. <br /><br />I promote the athletics programs at my university by helping the media do its job. Many of my daily responsibilities revolve around assisting our media contingent so that it can easily cover the programs, coaches and student-athletes at my institution/alma mater.<br /><br />I enjoy that part of the job. And while differences arise from time to time, I believe that most media members appreciate the efforts my colleagues and I put forth on their behalf (and yes, I do understand my institution also benefits from said efforts).<br /><br />The rise of the social-networking era and the evolution of online information dissemination have changed the landscape of how news is covered. Many reputable outlets risk their credibility on a daily basis by placing an emphasis on "being first" rather than "being accurate."<br /><br />Along with this trend also has come a tendency to shamelessly transform typically mundane topics into items of newsworthiness. In doing this, I've recently seen one media outlet bite the hand that feeds it, so to speak.<br /><br /><strong>WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN ON YOUR SIDE</strong><br /><br />On July 14, 2009, I received two virtually identical e-mails almost simultaneously. The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the United State Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) had issued a joint statement regarding media guides--the extensive, sport-specific books published by universities to provide the media with a useful tool to assist them in their coverage of the schools' respective programs.<br /><br />It was around this time of year that a nationwide debate was raging among college administrators on whether or not to eliminate printed media guides as part of a comprehensive push toward "cost containment" within collegiate athletic departments.<br /><br />The statement by the FWAA and USBWA supported the stance taken by the Southeastern Conference--of which my university is a member--to "preserve 208-page printed media guides for football and basketball."<br /><br />The journalist-driven organizations believed there was "still a strong need for printed guides in football and basketball" after polling their respective memberships.<br /><br />Officials within my department were among some of the SEC's most vocal proponents of preserving media guides as a means of assisting the media. <br /><br />Bottom Line: We recognized that the media found value and usefulness in the guides, and thus, we fought to be able to continue to publish them. You want it? We print it.<br /><br />While my contributions to the football guide the last couple years have been quite minimal, my colleagues go to great lengths--and dedicate most of their summer--to publish a tremendously thorough volume. They pour their hearts into the annual project and it shows; our football guides have won numerous "Best in the Nation" citations from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in recent years.<br /><br /><strong>OUCH, CHARLIE!*</strong><br /><br />Knowing how much time and effort goes into the guide every year, it was awfully disheartening earlier this week when--on the very day the guides were distributed to the media fresh off the press--one local editor decided that a minor misprint in the book was somehow, in itself, newsworthy.<br /><br />The editor decided to post a short article basically poking fun at the oversight. And he did not put a name with the article, attributing it only to "staff." In addition to the article (which ran online and in the following day's print edition) the error was Tweeted about as well.<br /><br />"Disheartening" is how I characterize my feelings on this issue because our staff goes to great lengths to publish a valuable tool for the media, only (in this instance) to see the media pick it apart and poke fun at its oversights.<br /><br />What the editor might as well have said: "Thanks for printing this 208-page resource that my staff and I will reference time and time again in the coming months. It will help us write accurate stories. It will help us meet deadline after night games in the fall. I appreciate it so much that I'm going to point out a minor oversight to thousands of readers throughout the world who otherwise would likely never to have noticed.<br /><br />"Oh yeah, and can you help arrange an in-depth one-on-one interview with your head coach and one of my writers?"<br /><br /><strong>OF ALL THE PEOPLE TO PUSH US OFF THE LEDGE...</strong><br /><br />Errors happen in publishing. It's a part of life in that business. I know a former newspaper man who says, "If you ever publish a perfect newspaper, you might as well quit."<br /><br />When you print a 208-page book, there are going to be misprints, errors and oversights.<br /><br />If anyone were to appreciate this, I would expect that it would be someone in the newspaper business. Especially someone at a paper that prints errors and inaccuracies with regularity (as I suppose most do, because like I said, these things are just part of the process). <br /><br />But one newspaper veteran lacked such an appreciation. He saw an opportunity to take a shot and he took it. And my colleagues and I will brush it off and continue to help him and his staff do their job more easily than they could without us. <br /><br />This blog is my small outlet to vent; very few will read it. But at least I get to bang out my feelings on my keyboard and leave it at that. There will be no grudge or get-backs. Vindictiveness does one no good--especially in this business.<br /><br />The frustration from this whole episode has been tempered somewhat by the overwhelming outpouring of support from numerous local and regional media members. Even many of the trigger-happy editor's colleagues reached out to apologize, empathize and even admit embarrassment.<br /><br />That softens the blow a bit. But the fact remains that someone took a run at my "teammates." And that hurts. They've probably handled it more gracefully than I have. <br /><br />Regardless, we'll all turn the other cheek.<br /><br />We'll provide assistance however we can tomorrow. Even if "tomorrow" is a Friday evening or a Sunday night.<br /><br />We just enjoy that part of the job. And we're not going to let anyone ruin it for us.<br /><br /><br /><br /><em>* a reference to a viral YouTube classic, search: Charlie Bit My Finger</em>Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-64828376787384354052009-06-02T17:45:00.022-04:002009-06-02T19:48:37.615-04:00Other Statistical Head-Scratchers and Ridiculous RulesI was thrilled last week when my first attempt at blogging fueled some good discussion and thoughtful comments about not only the method of recording defensive stats in college football, but also a number of other aspects of stat-keeping and rules in collegiate athletics.<br /><br />A number of folks--mostly SIDs or people with a background in athletic media relations--brought up some really good points. So I thought I'd share a few of them here in this entry of ConspicuouSIDeas...<br /><br />One former hoops SID raised a great point about assists in college basketball. Before we go further, let's take a look at how the NCAA's 2009 Official Basketball Statisticians' Manual (accessible <a href="http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/Stats_Manuals/Basketball/2009EZ.pdf">here</a>) defines an assist:<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">A player is credited with an assist when the player makes, in the judgment of the statistician, the principal pass contributing directly to a field goal (or an awarded score of two or three points). Only one assist is to be credited on any field goal and only when the pass was a major part of the play. The same player cannot be credited with an assist and a field goal made on the same possession.</span></em><br /><em><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Such a pass should be either (a) a pass that finds a player free after he or she has maneuvered without the ball for a positional advantage, or (b) a pass that gives the receiving player a positional advantage he or she otherwise would not have had.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Philosophy. </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">An assist should be more than a routine pass that just happens to be followed by a field goal. It should be a conscious effort to find the open player or to help a player work free. There should not be a limit on the number of dribbles by the receiver. It is not even necessary that the assist be given on the last pass. There is no restraint on the distance or type of shot made, for these are not the crucial factors in determining whether an assist should be credited</span></em><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br />Despite the verbatim wording that an assist is a "principal pass contributing directly to a field goal (or an awarded score of two or three points)," there <em>is</em> an instance in college basketball when a player can make a pass that leads to "an awarded score of two or three points" but is <em>not</em> credited with an assist--that instance is when the shooter is fouled and converts the resulting free throws.<br /><br />Failure to credit an assist in this instance makes little to no sense.<br /><br />Picture this hardwood scenario...<br /><br />Johnson makes a perfect back-door bounce pass to Brown down on the block, and an opposing defender scrambles over and fouls Brown, thus forcing Brown to miss his layup. But Brown goes to the free-throw line and converts both his free throws.<br /><br />Did Johnson's pass lead to "an awarded score of two points?"<br /><br />Yes. Brown would never have had possession of the ball on the block or been able to attempt the layup were it not for Johnson's pass.<br /><br />But because the resulting points came via free throws, no assist for Johnson.<br /><br />The foul was out of Johnson's control. But the pass made the play possible. If you really break it down, not only did the pass lead directly to two points, it also led to the opposing team increasing its number of team fouls for the half, which could ultimately lead to more points via bonus free throws.<br /><br />Some folks may make the following argument: What if Brown made only one of his two free throws?<br /><br />Well despite my personal feeling that every solitary point is crucial (particularly if your team ends up on the winning side of a one-point ballgame), I'm willing to cede the fact that the statisticians' manual defines an assist as a pass that leads to two or three points. Devaluing the assist is not my intent here.<br /><br />So even though Brown's 1-for-2 trip to the charity stripe may be enough to make the difference in the game, I'm fine with it also being enough to wipe a potential assist off Johnson's line in the final boxscore.<br /><br />I'd sure love to see this rule tweaked. What's your take on this one?<br /><br /><br />From the desk of a BCS-conference football SID--a timing suggestion that ought to become reality on the college gridiron...<br /><br />In the final minute of a quarter, why does the game clock not display tenths of a second? In the final minute of a half in college basketball, the final minute counts down using tenths of a second starting at 59.9 seconds to play.<br /><br />Is the closing minute of a quarter in college football any less important?<br /><br />The person who brought this timing flaw to my attention offers a plausible reason as to why there isn't more of a groundswell to change this aspect of game timing--there is no horn/buzzer in football. The final second ticks off and that's that.<br /><br />But what if a team had the benefit of knowing--more <em>precisely</em>--exactly how much time it possessed in the closing minute of a game on a potential scoring drive?<br /><br />Think of it this way. In football, at the very instant when the clock displays 59 seconds remaining, there is really 59.9 seconds remaining (because a full second passed at the start of the quarter before the clock first ticked to 14:59).<br /><br />Thus, when the clock displays 00 seconds remaining, in reality there is 0.9 seconds remaining. But due to the absence of a final horn, as soon as the officials see the game clock at zeros, the quarter/half/game is over.<br /><br />Every season, teams are conceivably being deprived of one more play. One play can change a drive, a quarter, a game, a season. Thank goodness at least college basketball has it right.<br /><br />Pat Forde, Chris Low, Dennis Dodd--somebody, please! Either prove this line of thinking wrong or bring some national attention to the issue.<br /><br /><br />And lastly, courtesy of yet another former longtime hoops SID, a rules issue pertaining to jersey numbers in college football...<br /><br />Joe Fan may be apathetic to whether or not his favorite college football team is allowed to dress out two players wearing the same number, but there is little doubt that double numbers are a pain in the butt for stat crews as well as media covering games.<br /><br />In 2006, Cal's football team had a pair of standout players who both wore No. 1: wide receiver DeSean "Cross the Goal Line Before You Discard the Ball" Jackson, and linebacker Worrell Williams. Both players were starters. And that was just one of many duos who wore the same number.<br /><br />As my friend wisely asserted, "Double numbers should only be used when dressing 100+ players at home games, (with) the second number going to a walk-on who is not likely to play."<br /><br />One cause for this confusing problem is that during the recruiting process, coaches promise certain numbers to certain prospects, regardless of whether or not another player on the roster is already wearing that number.<br /><br />And don't come at me with the "as long as one player plays defense and the other plays offense it doesn't matter" argument, either.<br /><br />Stat crews don't want to deal with the headache of double numbers, and I'd guess that writers and broadcasters feel the same way.<br /><br /><br />Thanks to all who gave me feedback on my first-ever blog attempt. Many of you helped give me some great fodder for this entry, which I hope will lead to some more good discussion. If you enjoy the blog, don't forget to follow me on Twitter @TomSatkowiak.Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411518782023493181.post-26612708008707412782009-05-27T18:22:00.016-04:002009-05-27T21:14:34.211-04:00College Football: The Offensive Story Behind Defensive StatsThe Southeastern Conference is conducting its annual Spring meetings this week in Destin, Fla. League officials are coming together with administrators and coaches from all 12 member institutions to share ideas on how to keep the SEC atop its pedestal as king of the collegiate athletics landscape.<br /><br /><br /><br />No doubt the Sunshine State's "Luckiest Fishing Village" is hosting a bevy of brilliant minds, and the discussions will be healthy and productive for sure. From television contracts to NCAA compliance to public relations hotpoints, countless worthy subjects will be broached.<br /><br /><br /><br />But many worthy subjects also will fall by the wayside. A mega-million dollar machine can't get all its parts oiled in just a few days each spring. It's impossible. Especially when you're at the beach, for cryin' out loud!<br /><br /><br /><br />One subject that likely will not arise--and perhaps it's better-suited to be addressed at an NCAA level, though the SEC could certainly be the one to bring it to Myles Brand's desk--is the method by which the defensive statistics of players across different historical eras are measured.<br /><br /><br /><br />Huh?<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9fT4GKXVVb2f2hTKa8APuyBgmOnBGWiIm4qPWdOPYohzebcgPOEcgcSSK4mBoprVL0CYKa-rLKnZyYoPJuf5tKq1BDS_-RBrw52CrQv5wPvoVGPXzeuD4dFyplNHnDc68F4UXYaKtZZc/s1600-h/ruth.jpg"></a>Let me try to explain my thought process on this one... I'll change gears for just a moment and use Major League Baseball as an example. Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs during his career. Two things are certain about Ruth: 1) he was one hell of a hitter; 2) he didn't use performance-enhancing drugs. Anyone dispute that?<br /><br /><br /><br />Barry Bonds, meanwhile, has 762 home runs to his credit. Do you believe the two aforementioned "certainties" about Ruth hold true for Bonds? If you do, please navigate away from this blog and promise never to return.<br /><br /><br /><br />For those of you still with me, I propose that it's only fair to athletes that their accomplishments be compared to those of fellow athletes who competed under the same circumstances or whose statistics were measured using the same methods.<br /><br /><br /><br />You can't fairly compare Ruth to Bonds. You can't compare Willie Mays to Mark McGwire. The powers-that-be in the MLB office ought to separate statistical data into eras. Determine when the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs became rampant in baseball and group all the players who began their careers after that point into the "Modern Era" (I would prefer something like "Steroid Era" or "PED Era," but that would be too harsh, I suppose).<br /><br /><br /><br />You could then say Hank Aaron is the "<em>Golden</em> Era's" all-time home run king. And Barry Bonds is the "<em>Modern</em> Era's" home run king.<br /><br /><br /><br />Which brings me back to college football. Let's look at the individual defensive statistics at the University of Tennessee. The school record for total (primary + assisted) tackles in a single game belongs to linebacker Tom Fisher, who had 28 against Auburn in 1964.<br /><br /><br /><br />One player, 28 tackles. The game was decided in regulation, not 13 overtimes, in case you were wondering (Tennessee lost 3-0, by the way).<br /><br /><br /><br />There have been some damn fine defensive players to suit up for the Volunteers since 1964. Linebackers in particular: Kevin Burnett, Keith DeLong, Leonard Little, Jerod Mayo, Raynoch Thompson and Al Wilson just to name a few.<br /><br /><br /><br />None of those guys ever logged 28 tackles in a single game. And unless UT finds itself in a double-digit-overtime affair in the future, no Vol ever will match or surpass that total.<br /><br /><br /><br />I'll tell you why.<br /><br />Some years back (can't pinpoint exactly when, but it would be possible to find out), the NCAA changed the way defensive statistics were filed. In Fisher's days as a student-athlete, offensive statistics were kept in real time from inside the press box by the official stat crew at each respective venue. But defensive statistics were tallied up by each team's coaches via film review one or two days after each game took place.<br /><br /><br /><br />Now I'm not saying the coaches were being dishonest. But coaches do have a vested interest in assuring that their players post good numbers. I'm not trying to take anything away from Tom Fisher here, but is it plausible that maybe just <em>one</em> of his 28 tackles may have been credited on a play during which he jumped on the pile as the whistle was already being blown? I say, sure.<br /><br /><br /><br />By the time Kevin Burnett was donning the Orange & White on the gridiron, the NCAA had relieved coaches from their stat-keeping duties and ruled that all statistics--offensive and defensive--were to be kept by the stat crew in the press box in real time.<br /><br /><br /><br />At Tennessee, as at most other schools in the SEC, the stat crew sits in the working-media area of the press box and is surrounded by writers. It's awfully hard to "pad stats" for your team when a respected, national writer from the New York Times or CBSsports.com is sitting within earshot of the individuals calling out tackles.<br /><br /><br /><br />Not that such a thing would happen anyway. Stat crews are generally made up of sports information directors whose professional reputations hinge on their credibility. They're going to call it how it happens on the field. No B.S.<br /><br /><br /><br />When the Vols won in five overtimes at Alabama in 2003, linebacker Robert Peace logged 16 tackles in an awesome, gutsy effort. That game was decided in five overtimes.<br /><br /><br /><br />That five-overtime, 16-tackle performance wouldn't even crack Tennessee's all-time top-10 list for single-game total tackles. He would have needed six more stops just to tie for 10th place.<br /><br /><br /><br />Why should Burnett, Peace and co. be compared to Fisher when it comes to statistics? You're comparing apples to oranges.<br /><br /><br /><br />The records book should be separated into eras, with footnotes plainly stating that in Era X, defensive statistics were maintained by the coaching staffs via postgame film review. And in Era Y, those stats were kept in real time by the home team's official stat crew.<br /><br /><br /><br />This suggested alteration of the records book doesn't take a thing away from any player in any era. It doesn't wipe anyone off the books. Football rules change all the time. Sports evolve.<br /><br /><br /><br />So too, should the records books. Robert Peace's grandkids sure would appreciate that.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><em>Postscript: I should point out that I am a member of the official stat crew at Tennessee home games. We place an emphasis on calling it right both ways. I can't say that for every school. We played a road game a couple seasons ago, and at halftime the home team had been credited with 30 assisted tackles, while we had been credited with only 12 assisted tackles. We had rushed the ball 14 times, and they had rushed the ball 17 times. They had only attempted seven passes. Do you really think with that kind of offensive playcalling by the opponent we were making that many solo tackles? </em></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div></div>Tom Satkowiakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06739415910483411884noreply@blogger.com1