Author Archives: commonknowledgemedia

Sep 15 2014
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2014 Season, Minnesota, NFL, Sports, Vikings

Tough Week for the Vikings Continues

Casey Johnson

If you see a Vikings fan this week (myself included), be sure to give them a big hug. Trust me, we need it.

In a matter of 3 days, Minnesota’s season outlook went from very bright to utterly uncertain. I guess the combination of losing your star player and former MVP for potentially the foreseeable future and getting destroyed 30-7 by New England in your home opener tends to cloud your future.

And if I’m being fully honest, for more than one reason, it’s a little difficult to write about Minnesota’s crushing 30-7 loss to New England on Sunday.

Reason #1: I had the unbelievable opportunity yesterday to road trip to and from Chicago in less than 24 hours with my fiancé, my sisters, and two of my cousins to see one of the greatest entertainers in the history of entertaining. Of course, I’m speaking of the incomparable Garth Brooks whose music has had an impact on me and my family that is impossible to explain. And due to the timing of the concert and Sunday’s Vikings game, as well as the distance between Minneapolis and Chicago (about 6.5 hours), I got just slightly over 3 hours of sleep. I don’t know how others operate when semi-sleep deprived, but my mind is dragging like I took a horse tranquilizer. So please forgive any logic or grammar issues that you have with this article.

Reason #2: I’m writing this at the airport while awaiting a flight to Denver for work. If you must know, I’m interviewing to be the punter for the Denver Broncos. It seems their current punter is extremely overpaid for the amount of work that is actually required of him. Ok, you caught me. That’s a lie. But I am at the airport awaiting a flight to Denver for other work-related business.

Reason #3: Quite frankly, there’s nothing positive to write about from Sunday’s game, which is really killing my mojo. I mean, I could write about how pathetic Matt Cassel’s performance was (4 interceptions) or about how those turnovers turned into 17 New England points or about how Minnesota couldn’t run the ball (only 54 yards) or protect Cassel (sacked 6 times) or about how Minnesota was outplayed in every facet of the game, including special teams (among other things, New England blocked a Blair Walsh field goal and returned it for a touchdown in the final minute of the first half when said field goal would have cut the New England lead to 17-10). I could probably think of more reasons if I tried, but I’m kind of sick of dwelling on what amounted to nothing more than the Vikings taking the field on Sunday and proceeding to metaphorically soil their bedding.

Reason #4: For probably the most significant reason, though, it’s a bit difficult to write about a football game that was, in many ways, marred by the Adrian Peterson child abuse controversy. I would call it an accusation, but Adrian himself has admitted that he went too far in disciplining one of his children. So whatever your stance is on corporal punishment as a form of discipline for children, we should all be able to agree that Adrian, as he acknowledged, went too far in this particular instance. I’m not going to speculate on how many other times this sort of thing may have occurred or what kind of punishment Adrian will or should face because that’s not the least bit constructive. I’ll also refrain from going on some long diatribe about why child abuse is such a serious topic. I’m going to assume that all reasonable people already know that child welfare is as serious an issue as there is.

The Vikings deactivated Peterson for Sunday’s game, which, if we are honest and drop any of our misplaced Vikings allegiances, was the right thing to have done given the circumstances, and we should know sometime this week what Minnesota plans to do with Peterson going forward. We also don’t know what, if anything, the NFL is going to do in the immediate future in regards to disciplining Peterson, but given the NFL’s current climate, it is conceivable that Peterson could face a lengthy suspension at some point down the road.

My apologies if reasons 1 and 2 are a little self-absorbed and whiny and/or complainy (yes, I know that’s not an actual word). No excuses. Play like a champion (Wedding Crashers rule #76).

But besides the other reasons, reason #4 is probably sufficient support for a bit of an offbeat article this week. There’s a smog hovering over the Vikings right now, and it’s the type of suffocating filth that is associated with terrible actions such as possible child abuse (regardless of whether or not Adrian Peterson is ever found guilty of these charges).

With or without Peterson, Minnesota has to perform exponentially better, and it will be up to Mike Zimmer and the Vikings coaches to get their team focused on improving and preparing for their matchup next week against New Orleans. A win against the Saints certainly wouldn’t do anything to change or better the Adrian Peterson situation, but it would provide some wind in the sails of the Vikings as they find themselves at a potentially season-defining moment very early in this 2014 season.

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Sep 10 2014
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NFL, Sports

CASEY AND TIM’S NFL DENNANANNANNNA LIVE PICKS WEEK 2

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Sep 08 2014
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2014 Season, Minnesota, NFL, Sports, Vikings

Vikings Batter Rams to Start 2014 Season

Casey Johnson

minnesota-vikings

What a beginning to the 2014 NFL season Vikings fans!  

Sure, the Vikings weren’t exactly playing the 2007 New England Patriots, but they still went to St. Louis and very impolitely beat down the front door of the Edward Jones Dome. The Vikings handily battered the Rams 34-6 Sunday in St. Louis, as they started the season with some gusto and the Rams started the season as lame as the name of their stadium (sorry Edward Jones enthusiasts, just not a great stadium name).

It was clear going into the game that the St. Louis offense wasn’t exactly a smoke show. Last season, the Rams were 21st in the NFL in points per game (21.8 points/game) and 30th in the NFL in yards per game (304.8 yards/game). To add injury to insult, they, as all of NFL fandom is aware, lost starting quarterback Sam Bradford to an ACL injury in the preseason. So it was supposed going into the game that Minnesota’s new defense being run by 1st year head coach Mike Zimmer was going to have a somewhat easy and mediocre challenge to start the season. Of course, you never know what is going to happen in the NFL, and Minnesota’s defense made every offense look good last season, on their way to dead last in the NFL in points allowed per game (30.0 points/game given up).

During halftime of one Minnesota home game last season, I’m pretty sure that I actually heard a 5th grade quarterback say, as he was running onto the field to engage in some peewee football hilarity, that he could “pick apart” Minnesota’s secondary and that he would be celebrating later with a Capri Sun Mountain Cooler. In Minnesota’s defense, though, there was probably a lot of confusion on the sidelines and on the field as both players and coaches strained to understand the faint whisper of Leslie Frazier’s hummingbird-like voice.

Fortunately, true to the common Vikings fan’s expectations for Sunday’s game, Minnesota’s defense did its best impersonation of Tupperware and superbly contained St. Louis’ stale, bland, and plain baked potato offense (without the fixings of course).  

Again, I realize that no one is going to confuse these Rams for “The Greatest Show on Turf,” but the Minnesota defenders truly made the Rams look like “The Worst Show in the Turf,” as they held the Rams scoreless in the 1st half and then repeatedly pulverized St. Louis’ 3rd string quarterback Austin Davis in the 2nd half. The Vikings defensive front clearly smelled blood in the water in the 2nd half, as St. Louis’ headless snake of an offense was forced to put in their 3rd string quarterback and become one-dimensional due to their deficit. They constantly harassed Davis and were able to sack him four times, while also pressuring him into throwing the interception that Harrison Smith returned to the house.

All in all, Minnesota’s defense bore no resemblance to last year’s squad, which, like remembering to wear underwear, is definitely a good thing.

Offensively, Minnesota was also able to control the game. Aside from some procedural penalties and a couple of snap miscommunications, Minnesota’s offense was able to dictate play with a smart, semi-conservative approach, while utilizing its two best weapons, Adrian Peterson and Cordarrelle Patterson, as runners. It was clear within the first two snaps of the game that new offensive coordinator Norv Turner intended to use Patterson both as a decoy to open up the field for his teammates and as a ball-carrying weapon out of the backfield. Patterson’s amazing talent was then put on display in the 3rd quarter during his explosive, eye-widening, exaltation-inspiring 67-yard TD run that capped a one play Minnesota scoring drive and upped their lead to 20-3. That run increased Patterson’s rushing total to 102 yards on just 3 carries and allowed him to overshadow Adrian Peterson’s ground game (21 carries for just 75 yards).

Regardless of who rushed for more yards, though, the one-two tandem of Peterson and Patterson proved to be as dynamic of a duo as TVs and couches and will be an absolute treat to watch this season. That combo will also continue to make the job of Matt Cassel easier as well, and on Sunday, Cassel played smartly, effectively, and sufficiently while going 17 for 25 passing for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those aren’t exactly numbers that will make you confuse Matt Cassel for Peyton Manning, but perhaps a more important statistic is that he didn’t turn the ball over nor did he put Minnesota’s defense in any difficult situations. Cassel very adeptly ran the show for the Minnesota offense and helped the team to a dominating victory over the Rams.

And if you’re a St. Louis fan, look on the bright side. It certainly could have been worse. At least no one on your team got kicked in the head like Cleveland’s punter. And kudos to Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown for remembering to look at his W.W.C.N. bracelet before returning that punt (W.W.C.N., of course, referring to What Would Chuck Norris do). That jump kick really was a thing of beauty.

Speaking of things of beauty (and getting back on topic), this game certainly was one for Minnesota faithful. It may have started a little slow, as my dad pointed out in a text message that read, in PG-version, “Good luck writing about this stuff.” But a 34-6 victory definitely indicates a strong performance by your Minnesota Vikings.

Overall, Minnesota had a refreshing swagger and competent-ness about them that is hopefully something that will continue with the new regime and new season. And hopefully I’m not just misreading or overblowing those signs like a person that mistakes gas for a serious health issue.

Sep 06 2014
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Business, Sports

Fantasy Entrepreneur League

Jon Taves

Enrico Moretti, a professor of economics at the University of California-Berkeley, wrote a paper in 2011 reporting that cities in the United States were creating jobs at different rates. He argued that after the 2008 stock market crash the US job market rebooted. The cleanse dramatically changed the “geography of jobs” – with the majority of growth shifting to “knowledge hubs”.

Knowledge hubs are parts of the country that are heavily populated with skilled workers. From computer programmers to electricians, their workforces are full of individuals capable of performing in-demand jobs. These regions fared better after the recession because the influx of high-skill jobs also necessitates low-skill, service sector jobs to support them.

For those reading in Minnesota, we’ve been somewhat insulated from the lingering effects of the Great Recession. Minneapolis/St. Paul has been experiencing growth and, you guessed it, is one of Moretti’s ten knowledge hubs. The other nine cities on that list are:

  • San Francisco/San Jose, CA
  • Seattle, WA
  • Boston, MA
  • Washington, DC
  • New York, NY
  • Raleigh/Durham, NC
  • Austin, TX
  • Ann Arbor, MI
  • Chicago, IL

The fastest growing area in the country, at least in terms of venture capital raised, is Silicon Valley. Home to San Francisco and San Jose, that region of California houses the world’s most innovative companies. Old stalwarts like Apple have made room for companies like Google and Twitter, who are now watching the rise of Uber and Airbnb. The economy is back on its feet and no part of the US is more representative of this than Silicon Valley.

Over the Labor Day holiday weekend, many Americans held drafts for their fantasy football leagues. Fantasy sports – actually “fantasy entertainment” if one includes the plethora of Oscars, US Weekly, Bachelor, and other non-sport leagues – has swept the nation. According to NFL.com, approximately 30 million people will play fantasy football this year. In honor of the US’ most fertile economic region, I’m suggesting a new type of fantasy league: Fantasy Entrepreneur League.

Instead of starting seven offensive football players, one defensive unit, and a placekicker, why not select nine of your favorite entrepreneurs? I’m not exactly sure what the scoring metric would be: annual sales, gross margin, employees, venture capital raised. What I am sure of, however, is my starting nine. They are as follows:

QB – Paul Graham (Y Combinator)
QB – Mark Levin, Kevin Starr, & Robert Tepper (Third Rock Ventures)

Quarterback is the most important position in football. He touches the ball on every play and has enormous influence on whether his team wins or loses. He’s the field general; he reads the defense and reacts. No dominant football team is complete without him. Perhaps the same can be said about start-ups who don’t use incubators.

Y Combinator and Third Rock Ventures are the class of venture capital firms. With Y Combinator in the heart of Silicon Valley and Third Rock in Boston’s thriving biotech community, each work in different sectors, but they achieve similar outcomes. Y Combinator helped Dropbox and Airbnb rise to prominence. Third Rock guided Bluebird Bio to an IPO last year. Bluebird’s goal for 2015? Eradicating the spread of ALS. Unfortunately for them, the “Ice” nickname is already being used by an NFL QB.

RB – Elon Musk (Tesla Motors)

Perhaps my favorite entrepreneur of all, Elon Musk is a bastion of innovation. Responsible for Tesla Motors – not to mention PayPal, SpaceX, SolarCity, and the proposed Hyperloop – at 43 years of age, Musk has a remarkable list of achievements. Look for a mass-market version of his electric car marvel, the Model S, to hit the road by 2017. Currently priced at $70,000, Musk is targeting $35,000 for his next vehicle.

RB – Drew Houston & Arash Ferdowski (Dropbox)

It’s all about the cloud, baby. As more and more of the world reduces their offline activity, having somewhere to store their “lives” becomes more important. Not to mention the proliferation of Big Data, everything we do online is tracked. Before data scientists at Target can sift through all of our clicks and decide what toothbrush should be featured in their catalog, that data has to be stored somewhere. Dropbox launched as a personal file storage system, but they’ve done an excellent job in scaling their business quickly. Their size now allows them to offer products for companies, as well – a critical market for their long run success.

WR – Garrett Camp & Travis Kalanick (Uber)
WR – Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, & Nathan Blecharczyk (Airbnb)

The darlings of the “sharing economy”, Uber and Airbnb allow users to earn income off the assets they have already have. Perhaps someone doesn’t have the skills to be an engineer, but assuming they are honest and reliable human beings, these companies give them the opportunity to make extra money with their car and house.

They get additional kudos for disrupting the traditional taxi and hotel marketplaces. Airbnb cites studies that argue they aren’t in a zero sum game with hotels, but instead, are attracting new customers from the pool of individuals that usually stay with relatives when they travel. Uber makes no such claims – their brash approach is perhaps why they’ve been met with such regulatory backlash. (I’m looking at you, Germany.)

TE – Alex Hawkinson (SmartThings)

Remember that Disney Channel movie from the late 90s? Smart House? SmartThings is starting to make that dream seem possible. (Well, most of it.) It’s an app that connects to the “smart” devices in your home so that you can control them remotely. Cool, huh? Maybe there isn’t much mainstream appeal right away because of its economics, but it’s the TE spot. You shouldn’t expect much production here anyway.

D/ST – Jack Dorsey & Jim McKelvey (Square)

If “defense wins championships”, businesses need payment processing services just as badly. What’s the point of creating a great product if no one can pay you for it? Square has the newest seat at the transaction table and is eager to prove they aren’t PayPal-lite. A partnership with Starbucks to handle all payments on their platform, if successfully launched, would go a long way to disprove that expectation. They’re off to a good start on their own, however, with $20 billion in payments already processed.

K – Yancey Strickler, Perry Chen, & Charles Adler (Kickstarter)

Obvious pun aside, Kickstarter deserves as much credit as Uber and Airbnb for the reach of the sharing economy. Its services allows entrepreneurs, big and small, to market and sell their ideas to the world – all without having to give up equity in their company. It allows everyone the chance to innovate; including copycat sites like IndieGoGo and FundAnything. Despite its mimics, Kickstarter is definitely worth more than a late round draft pick.

Jon Taves is a contributor to Common Knowledge Media and the editor of the economics and finance-based website, EFEssays.com.

Sep 04 2014
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Sports

TGIF (THANK GOD ITS FOOTBALL)

Luke Cutler

The NFL season is finally here, and while we have been tortured over the summer by sports news such as Mr. Manzel’s lifestyle choices, Lebron heading home, and baseball trades… it’s finally time to enjoy watching SportsCenter again.  This won’t be too long, but I wanted to get some of my playoff and Super Bowl predictions out there so I can rub it in everyone’s face when I’m right.  And heck, being able to brag about that, as well as winning “The League” fantasy football league, I don’t know how my head is going to fit through the door.  Oh, and did I mention I’m a Broncos fan… somebody stop me now #UnitedinOrange.  So, here we go:

AFC:  #1 Broncos (arguably the best team in football this year with the additions they made on defense, as well as Peyton in his 3rd year as a Bronco), #2 Colts (Luck has been crazy good his first 2 seasons, and this year he gets better; the running game will wake up too), #3 Patriots (Brady, Gronk, horrible division, nuf said), #4 Steelers (Big Ben had a solid year last season (28 TDs, 4300 yards), the running will be better than 28th, and the defense will hold true), #5 Bengals (they may not get past the wild card round, but Green will be awesome gain, and their RB, Gio, will have a breakout year) #6 Chargers (I would have them at #5, but their defense blows, and as much as I loathe Rivers, he will carry them to the playoffs) .

NFC: #1 Seahawks (defending champs, if Harvin stays healthy, and Wilson progresses like he should, scary good again), #2 Saints (Brees has thrown for 5,000 yds 5 TIMES, and they will finally have good running from Ingram and Thomas), #3 Packers (if Rogers stays on the field, he has great weapons; Jordy will be a top 5 receiver this year, and Lacy will rush for 1400 yds and 14 scores), #4 Eagles (offence will put up points and yards (1st in rushing last year), add Sproles to that mix and game over; secondary needs to improve), #5 Redskins (RG3 will bounce back, they have great WRs and RB, and defense will be good enough – and you couldn’t pay me to like the Cowboys or Giants… gross), #6 Bears (sorry Viking fans; if there was a #7 spot, It’d be yours.  Cutler will rack up TDs, yards,… and INTs… but they will score enough, it won’t matter, and Forte will remain elite).

table2

So, there you have it.  I’m not going to do scores, cause that annoys the piss outa me and makes me feel stupid, so HA.  My Broncos will redeem their Super Bowl loss a year ago and crush Rogers and the Pack.  Green bay will avenge a Week 1 loss to the Seahawks in the Conference Championship game (remember, SF was just a tipped-to-interception away from possibly doing that last year… you don’t think Rogers can complete that pass?) and reach the SB for the first time since 2010/11.

Happy Football Season boys and girls.  Go Broncos!

Sep 04 2014
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Sports

Casey and Tim’s NFL dennanannannna Live picks Week 1

Aug 22 2014
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Sports

Sports Stocks: Where Would You Invest?

allfour

Luke Cutler

Getting married was, and forever will be, the biggest decision I make in my life.  There are so many exciting things that happen when you decide to pop the question.  You get to call your family and friends to share the news of your recent engagement; you get to pick out the venues for the rehearsal dinner, the service, and the reception; Chose cake or cupcakes (OK, may not seem awesome at first, but do you know how many samples you get to try??  Uh… yes please).  One issue that is kind of a hot and touchy topic after marriage, and even during the engagement, is money.  What loans/debt do WE have?  What should OUR monthly budget look like?  Where should WE invest?

The last question is one that really intrigues me, and prompted me to play out a little scenario: If sports were like a company or a stock you could invest in, what would be the biggest ROI (or for you slow ones out there, return on investment …) ten years from now?  The measuring stick here is overall popularity of the sport in the US of A.  So for example, the NFL right now is a stock that is very high.  It may have reached its ceiling (I think Mark Cuban is just a little jealous), but it’s a pretty safe bet, or shall I say… investment, that probably it won’t lose popularity in the next 10 years.  I’m going to give my opinion on which sports will have a steep climb to popularity by 2024.

Thinking of the 4 major sports in the US (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL), I think the NHL will have the greatest ROI in the next 10 years.  The first reason is really just comparing it to the other sports.  The NBA and NFL are already very popular with their superstars, off season drama (don’t know how many times Lebron and Melo were talked about on SC this summer), young talent, and recognizable players.  The MLB blows, and I don’t expect it to get any better.  With the fast paced world we now live in, no one wants to watch 1853167 games a year.  WHO CARES!!!  Each game during the season becomes less and less meaningful.  When Mo’ne Davis and the LLWS gets 17x the ratings as an MLB game (one was on ESPN, the other on ESPN 2) on a Wednesday night, something is wrong.  Especially when you had the MLB’s best team playing the defending World Series champions.  Just hilarious.

The second reason is that I don’t think the NHL can get much lower on the popularity scale.  I don’t have exact ratings and number of viewers to back my opinion; all I know is that this past season, when I wanted to watch the Stanley Cup Finals between……. Anyone…… The…… Mighty Ducks???  Nope, the Kings and Rangers, the game wasn’t even on TV.  Not a major network.  Nowhere to be found.  I almost gave up on actually becoming a fan of this sport (thank you Torey Prahl, and NHL ’12).  It was finally found on NBC Sports Network.  Is that even a thing?  It reminds me of the NFL Network that .016 of people in America have.  Baseball hasn’t even dropped that low.  There is nowhere to go but up.

In terms of a positive thing that the NHL has going for them, I love the outdoor games.  This is something to break up the season, provide a fun event for fans to go to, and very entertaining to watch (in Chicago last year, the snow was going crazy.  Pretty cool).  I also believe a solid rivalry is building between the LA Kings (defending champs in case you missed it) and the Chicago Blackhawks.  They are both very young teams, and are from 2 of the biggest sports markets in the US.  Between them, they own 4 of the last 5 Cups.

What is your stock of choice?

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Aug 21 2014
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Relationships

Engagement Party Rules of Thumb….or Ring Finger

Casey Johnson

engagementparty

On April 19, 2014, I asked my favorite person and woman of my dreams to marry me. Now, that could have gone one of two directions. But don’t worry…she said yes. Thanks Miss 😉

Since then, we’ve been slowly planning our future nuptials but mostly just enjoying the Minnesota summer and being engaged. Somewhere along the way, it occurred to us that, as a result of our slow planning and potentially (cough) lengthy engagement, we really ought to take a moment to celebrate our commitment to each other with those nearest and dearest to us. I mean, why not strike while the iron is hot, right?

So we decided to throw an engagement party, which, in essence, would serve to cap our honeymoon engagement stage and mark the beginning of our “oh dear God, what have we gotten ourselves into” stage. Again, don’t worry. When I say “oh dear God,” I’m referring to the planning of a wedding, not to the forever being connected to someone like two members of a chain gang who can’t shake their ankle shackles.

As the day of the party and the party itself wore on, several things became evident to me. You could call them engagement party rules of ring finger (Get it? Instead of rules of thumb…). Ok, that might be a stretch for a passable joke, but regardless, I tried to keep track of the important engagement party policies that presented themselves to me.

So in the order of reversed to first, here we go:

(And yes, as I’m writing this, I am realizing that this does bear an eerie resemblance to a PG-rated version of Wedding Crashers.)

Rule #5: Let the lady make the decisions.

There’s a reason that, in traditional marriages, the man gives the woman the ring. It’s not because we come from a historically patriarchal society, which urges men to make such gestures to claim what they deem to be theirs. And it’s not for some other probably far more directly traceable reason that Professor Robert Langdon could Da Vinci Code up to the surface of this conversation for us. No, it’s because, like a queen or some other nobility, that ring is a symbol of who is truly in charge.

And let’s be real guys, there are innumerable things that we should, indeed, not be in charge of anyway. I would say that the planning of an engagement party ranks somewhere near the top of that list, probably right after birthing a child (I’m 100% positive that we could not handle that).

And as party preparations, planning, and purchasing were occurring, it took me some time to fully understand and grasp this rule. But the more I simply accepted the undeniable truth and infallible logic of this directive, the more fun I was able to have.

And it’s clear now that I should have never offered any resistance to this rule because my lady throws a hell of a party.

Rule #4: Don’t ask questions. Take directions.

This is obviously a fairly similar rule to the previous one, but I believe that it deserves its own attention. In the planning of an engagement party, every time that you feel your mouth contorting to form the word “why,” you should either take a drink of something or try to distract yourself by thinking about sports because no good will come from asking your fiancée “why.” Asking why something is being done a certain way is a direct implication that you don’t agree with the way that something is being done. So again, refer back to Rule #5, which states, “let the lady make the decisions,” quiet your unknowledgeable engagement party planning mind, and take directions.

Trust me, it’s not that bad. If your fiancée is anything like mine, there will be plenty of awesome food and tasty beverages to keep your mouth occupied.

Rule #3: Eat, drink, and be merry.

Man, these rules are really seguing nicely.

I’ve never seen anyone that was eating good food and drinking an adult beverage that was unhappy. So if you want to have a kickass shindig, make sure that there are plenty of mouth-watering morsels and libations to go around. 

I’ll give you some examples of food that will, from our experience, knock the socks off of your guests and that will get them stuffing said socks with food like hobos. Bacon-wrapped chicken bites, roasted Brussels sprouts with prosciutto, turkey meatballs, fruit kabobs, seasoned pretzels, homemade caramels, and, my all-time favorite, peanut butter Chex bars will all do the trick. I assure you that, if you copy those food choices, you will not be disappointed.

And if you give your guests the option of washing down those tasty, but thirst-provoking, foods with beer, vodka-spiked raspberry lemonade, and mini champagnes, I can assure you that your guests, too, will not be disappointed.

What can I say, we really went all out for the bellies of our guests. And, of course, when I say “we,” I actually mean Missy.

Add a hand-picked Spotify playlist and a muted sports game to the smorgasbord, and you and your guests will certainly be merry. Of that I can promise.

Rule #2: Invite your favorite people.

You can’t have a party with just two people, and you can’t have a party with your nemeses. You could technically, I think, have a party with people that you kind of like, but that’s really not going to create that magical night that you’re hoping for. No sirs and ma’ams, if you want to throw a party that you’ll never forget to celebrate most likely the biggest moment of your life to that point, you have to invite your absolute favorite people.

Now, unfortunately, many of them won’t be able to make it, even though they and you would have been thrilled if it had worked out. But you will still, inevitably, end up being surrounded by a group of people who mean the world to you and who will absolutely go out of their way to show their support. You’re going to end up with a group of people who have been there for you since day 1 (parents, siblings, extended family) and who have loved you even when they didn’t like you. And you’re going to end up with a group of people who like you so much that they have chosen to be a part of your life as a true friend. In fact, most of them are more like family than friends, and you’d do anything for those people.

And when you look around that party, you won’t be able to keep the smile off of your face nor the joy out of your heart. Accordingly, I would like to extend my sincerest thank you to all of those who were able to attend our engagement party and to all of those who would’ve loved to have been able to make it.

Rule #1: Don’t forget the reason you’re having a party in the first place!

It can be really easy to get caught up in the planning, the decorating, the cooking, the errands, the eating, and the socializing. But, whatever you do, do not forget the reason that you are throwing a party in the first place. Don’t lose sight of the fact that the party is to be a joyous occasion to celebrate love. Don’t lose track of the feelings that made you want to be someone’s fiancée to begin with. And don’t get so caught up in the sea of friends and family that you forget to take a couple of special, personal moments with just your fiancée.

Hopefully these edicts will help you to have as wonderful of an engagement party as we had. And thanks again to all that partook!

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Aug 15 2014
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Entertainment

Dre’s Doctorate in Business

Jon Taves

Perhaps used solely as an excuse to eat carbs and sit in air conditioning, Americans love going to the movies in the summer. Can you blame them? Apart from the carbs and air conditioning, a screen the size of their house displays fantastical worlds, beautiful people, and lots and lots of explosions. This summer’s cinematic darling, Guardians of the Galaxy, stars Chris Pratt. Now shockingly “swoll”, Pratt leads a group of misfits on a quest to save the galaxy. (Although, I’m sure you could’ve guessed that from the title.)

As stars are wont to do before their new movie/album/book is released, Pratt went on a whirlwind tour of promotional interviews. One went viral, an interview with DJ Whoo Kid on his “Whoolywood Shuffle” radio show, after a video surfaced of Pratt perfectly rapping verses from Dr. Dre’s 2001 hit, “Forget About Dre”. Being the millennial I am, once I saw that video I was reminded of my love – albeit brief – for gangster rap in 2002, sending me down a Spotify rabbit hole. For a little more than a week my ears feasted on nothing but Dre, Tupac, Eminem, 50 Cent, and N.W.A.

Only recently coming up for air, and back to my usual mix of folk rock and classical music, I’ve taken time to reflect. Dre, the man who started my journey “Straight [Into] Compton”, is an incredible figure. Not only is he an impressive musical talent, but he’s an even more impressive businessman. In 1965, Dre (Andre Young) was born into humble beginnings. His parents separated shortly after his third birthday and his mother’s poverty, along with the crime-riddled neighborhood in which he lived in Compton, CA, led to a difficult upbringing. Coupled with making poor grades, transferring school three times, and fathering a child at seventeen, Dre wasn’t exactly set up to succeed.

Nevertheless, succeed he did. He founded N.W.A. in 1986 and had success as a solo artist a few years later, eventually forming his own label – Aftermath Entertainment – in 1996. By the time he left music in 2011 to focus on his business, Beats Electronics, Dre had received six Grammy awards. Three of those were for producing, with Dre responsible for kick-starting the careers of Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar.

Success in entertainment is one thing, but success is business is a different beast. There are seemingly endless stories of athletes and entertainers becoming broke after earning millions of dollars in their careers – an entire ESPN documentary, Broke, was made around this phenomena. Not only did Dre avoid squandering his money, he grew it. By forming Aftermath Entertainment, he earned royalties from the artists he produced and when he sold his share in the label to Interscope Records, he made $52 million.

Dre’s greatest feat in business was forming Beats Electronics with Interscope Records and Geffen A&M executive, Jimmy Iovine. Iovine recalls that the company originated when Dre once said to him:

It’s one thing that people steal my music. It’s another thing to destroy the feeling of what I’ve worked on.

That complaint grew into a $3 billion idea – the figure Apple acquired them for in mid-2014. Beats Electronics manufactures high-end headphones and speakers for personal and studio use. Beats began this endeavor by partnering with Monster Electronics and HTC. Concerned about a potential decline in the quality of their products, however, Dre and Iovine took the company under their control in 2012 and ran the entire supply chain, from R&D to manufacturing to delivery.

Dre has been described by rappers on his label and Iovine as a perfectionist and an incredibly hard worker. They claim he also has a unique ability to create “exactly what he wants”. Lucky for Dre, “what he wants” is also what consumers want. In 2014, before the sale of Beats, Dre’s net worth was calculated by Forbes at $550 million: the second highest in hip-hop, behind Sean “Diddy” Combs. Expect to see a change in the rankings next year.

The key to entrepreneurship is having a passion for the product or service you’re selling and the right mix of work ethic, determination, and partnerships. Ideas come and go, and as Sam Altman of the Y Combinator venture capital firm once said, he sometimes aims for “rebounds”. If they fall in love with a pair of founders, even if they suspect their idea will fail, they’ll invest in them just to be around for when they get it right. Dre fits that mold. His background wouldn’t lead anyone to predict success in the business world, but his unique blend of tenacity and street smarts led him from the corner store to the corner office. When thinking of the most successful US entrepreneurs, don’t “Forget About Dre.”

Jon Taves is a contributor to Common Knowledge Media and the editor of the economics and finance-based website, EFEssays.com.

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Aug 11 2014
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Sports

Preseason Perspective

Casey Johnson

Fear not American men. You can get up out of the fetal position, dry your tear-soaked faces, and change out of your favorite baseball team’s apparel. No longer do you have to pretend to be interested in the World Cup or baseball. The American sports equivalent of electricity is back. Awaken from the dark months, rub your weary eyes, re-acclimate yourselves to the light, turn on your televisions, stock your mini-fridges, and plug in your crock pots because football is back baby.

Sure the first preseason game was about a week ago, but as I am a Vikings fan, the NFL season essentially started on Friday night at TCF Bank Stadium with the Vikings winning a 10-6 barnburner (sarcasm) over the hated Raiders (And try to think of the word Raiders like Chris Berman was saying it, “Raidas.” Isn’t that more enjoyable?). It was a beautiful night at The Bank, which served quite nicely as the Vikings home stadium for preseason game #1 (at least from a fan’s perspective). And although my crew and I missed the first two possessions of the game, including Minnesota’s lone touchdown drive, as we navigated the oft-praised light rail to a game for the first time, we still proceeded to have a good time at the game.

After the game, I found myself digging for conclusions that could be drawn and searching for intelligent, original analysis to unearth. Indeed, I believe that this is a common feeling for most fans. Our society’s football appetite, as a whole, is so insatiable that our desire to “analyze” even preseason games is astronomical.

But let’s face it, your average fan has very little idea of how to analyze a professional football game, let alone a preseason game. We aren’t equipped to judge how well a rookie offensive or defensive lineman is playing. Nor can we tell you much about how good the starters are when they only really played one series together and some of the best players didn’t even play at all. We are, at best, capable of noticing glaring successes and mistakes at skilled positions such as running back, wide receiver, and quarterback. Sure, we can tell you if a running back is playing badly if he has problems holding onto the ball, we can tell you if a receiver is playing poorly if he continuously drops passes, and we can tell you when a quarterback is having a bad game if he’s missing open receivers or turning the ball over. For defensive players, we can really only say if they have a good or bad game based on very tangible, quantifiable statistics that we look up after the fact, unless they force a turnover or make several plays in the backfield or miss some tackles that we notice/remember. For the most part, we rely on announcers, analysts, and radio personalities to tell us who is playing well and who is playing poorly. That’s because the vast, vast majority of NFL fans never played football after high school, and a significant percentage probably never even played in high school (including yours truly).

So let’s admit that we don’t know people.   Don’t be ashamed to not take big, bold stances. Don’t be afraid to keep your opinions and predictions reserved until seeing meaningful, regular season games played (and even then, the world would probably be ok with you keeping them to yourself).

You don’t have to be the idiot behind me at the game on Friday who yelled, “You suck Musgrave. Let Bridgewater throw the ball.” And if you don’t know why that is an absurd thing to yell at a Vikings game, you probably should feel free to be one of those people that keeps their Vikings opinions muted. That is, of course, an absurd thing to yell at a Vikings game now because Bill Musgrave was replaced as offensive coordinator by Norv Turner, who was hired by new head coach Mike Zimmer.

And to all of those who are so delusional about the preseason that you think you can predict MVP candidates, rookies of the year, and Super Bowl winners, please consider this article to be your wet blanket. In truth, your opinions are likely just regurgitated, second-hand commentary that you pilfered from some football analyst or sports talk radio host somewhere (which is why I try to write most of my Vikings articles immediately following games before I am exposed to outside opinion). And don’t be offended by this observation. These words are also meant to serve as a reminder to myself that opinions are just opinions. We tend to forget the ones that we have that don’t work out and cling to the ones that do. And in all honesty, there are very few original opinions to be had anyway.

Which brings me to a rhetorical question. What, if any, acceptable opinions/conclusions can we draw from preseason football games then?

The answer: virtually none.

At least none that don’t come directly from the mouth of a knowledgeable football analyst or coach, and even theirs will likely miss the mark more often than not.

So here’s what I can feel comfortable telling you after one Vikings preseason game:  it was a gorgeous night at TCF Bank Stadium (The Bank), which I’m confident will serve as a suitable home for the Vikings over the next two seasons.

Aside from fewer seats, a lackluster speaker system/audio experience, bleacher seating in parts of the stadium (including our seats), and the stupid drunk guy yelling about Bill Musgrave, the stadium is a better venue for taking in a game than the Dome. The Bank’s jumbotrons (without pathetic yellow nodes/display), concourses, overall architecture, and urinals (yes urinals, not troughs guys) are all vastly superior to what the Dome used to offer. And don’t forget the authentic, outdoor football experience (not that I’m complaining that the new stadium will be enclosed, though).

If the Vikings can manage to win some football games early in the season and remain relevant, this could be one of the most fun and special falls in recent memory. The circumstances of playing in a temporary, outdoor home stadium could potentially reinvigorate fans and provide some positive, nostalgic “I remember when the Vikings played at The Bank during the 2014 season” memories.

Of course, that is entirely dependent upon how well the team plays, and I’m hoping that the memories created don’t just turn into one big, white, foggy flashback of Vikings fans freezing in the stands come late December while the Vikes get toasted by another opponent in another meaningless game.

I guess that, for now, we should probably just be happy that football is back.

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