NFL Week 9 preview

Well, week 9 of the NFL season is upon us and there are not that many exciting games this weekend, basically 3 that catch my attention besides the Thursday night game that features my horrible Chargers.

Norv logic - #FireNorv

The Monday night game featuring the Eagles going into the Big Easy to take on the Saints is really intriguing for many reasons. Mainly, both teams have been pretty big busts this season, the Saints at 2-5 and the Eagles at 3-4; while the record would make you think the Saints are a worse team I think it actually is Philly who is in more trouble.

I expected New Orleans to be a couple of steps lower than last season due to all the offseason mess and the loss of Sean Payton, so a losing season is not that much of a surprise. The Eagles I expected to be much better as they would finally put the pieces together and make the so-called All Star team work, that has not been the case. Vick has been his usual horrible self, with a ton of turnovers, the defense has been horrible, they have no running game even with McCoy -who should be the most important part of the offense- being a non factor, add to this mix a coach that has lost control of the team and is in his 14th year with the team, and you have a recipe for disaster. It is a interesting game since both teams have a lot of talent and are in desperate need for a win, sports books are a 3.5 point favorites and I expect them to cover it. My pick: New Orleans, 31-17.

The second game that catches my eye is the Steelers at the Giants. At 6-2 the Giants are one of the strongest teams in the league while the Steelers started out slow but have been picking up steam the last couple of games. Pittsburgh has been getting healthy and I'm looking for them to go on one of those 7-1 runs in their remaining 8 games since they have a not to hard schedule. The Giants are one of those teams that always flies under the radar even with a couple of titles in the recent past.

The home team is a 3 point favorite and this is a hard one to call. NY showed lots of weaknesses last sunday vs Dallas by letting the Cowboys come back from down 0-23 to almost win the game; sure it was just one week but you can see they have some holes. The Steelers are rolling and will continue to play great football. My wildcard for this game is how G-Men react to the Hurricane thing in the East Coast, I believe lots of them were affected, maybe practices were disrupted, I also believe that the emotion at Met Life Stadium will be a big factor come Sunday afternoon since it will be one of the 1st events since the hurricane hit; that being said, I'm taking Pitt.. My pick: Steelers 24-21

The game of the week is without a doubt the Cowboys traveling to Atlanta to take on the undefeated Falcons. The Cowboys usually put on pretty entertaining games, in some cases entertaining due to the fact that Tony Romo finds new and cool ways to mess up, in others -like last weekends second half- because they have an explosive and dynamic offense. On the other hand the Falcons are back home after spanking the Eagles in Philly in what probably was their best game of the year; Matt Ryan -or the Mattural as @RichEisen now calls him- is your 1st half offensive MVP, he is just playing head and shoulders above everyone else. Yes he may be 3rd in TDs and Passer Rating, 8th in Yards thrown but his game management and leadership have been superb.

So we have the Falcons a 4 point favorite with a 47 point over/under line. The over I'm not totally sold on it since I'm not sure which Romo will show up on Sunday, but I expect the Falcons to take it by at least a touchdown. My pick: Atlanta 30-21

The rest of the games are (bold for the winner taking in account the spread):

• Chiefs at Chargers -8
• Broncos -3 at Bengals
• Ravens -3.5 at Browns
• Cardinals at Packers -11
• Bears -3.5 at Titans
• Dolphins at Colts +2.5
• Panthers +3 at Redskins
• Lions -3.5 at Jaguars
• Bills at Texans -10
• Bucs +1.5 at Raiders
• Vikings +5 at Seahawks -5
• Steelers +3 at Giants

*Highlighted are my Fav 5 picks of the week

This is my week 9 preview, who's your team? How is it doing? Who're you betting on?

Mr Khakbaz out!

2012-13 NBA preview

 Lakers House, Staples Center from NBA 2K13

So tonight we kick of the 2012-13 NBA season with a couple of pretty interesting games on TNT. First the Celtics travel to South Beach to take on the defending champions, Miami Heat followed by the Dallas Mavericks being hosted by my Los Angeles Lakers. I’ll be looking into the favorites for this season, surprises and other things to expect during the basketball year.

This is one of those seasons where I don’t expect many contenders for the title. There are maybe 3 teams who I give a legit shot at the O’Brien trophy. Miami, LA, OKC are top contenders (according to my sports book the Heat are the favs at only +120, while LA and the Thunder are at +200); two other teams that could be interesting to watch are the Celtics and the Spurs. Beyond that I can’t see anyone even coming close to these 3 big ones.

My main focus will be those 3 teams starting with the defending champs. It’s no secret I hate the Heat with passion but there is no denying they are a great team, not for nothing the won it all last year. The core of the team, LeBron, Wade and Bosh, remains intact and they’ve added some interesting pieces, mainly Rashad Lewis and Ray Allen. While these 2 won’t put up All Star numbers they will be of great help off the bench, one of their few weaknesses last season, and will help keep the Big 3 rested and in top form for when they are required to perform. LeBron is the greatest physical specimen in the league, I still doubt his mental toughness but last year he proved he has enough of what it takes to be a champion.

The Oklahoma Thunder had a coming out party in the playoff series vs the Spurs last year; they are true contenders and will be great this year. The topic of recent conversation regarding them was the departure of James Harden, the thing was Harden (who has the greatest NBA beard ever) wanted more money in a shorter period of time and the Thunder would not give it to him, so they set up a deal this past weekend with the Houston Rockets that sent Harden, Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to H-Town for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two 1^st round draft picks and a 2^nd rounder. All in all it was a good deal for both sides; the Thunder didn’t really lose THAT much, got a solid player in K-Mart and a gamble on Lamb, plus the draft picks; also Harden got his extension with a 6 million upgrade as to what OKC offered him. This being said I don’t think this changes the Thunder’s chances at a title, neither does Vegas; Westbrook and Durant are spectacular, Ibaka is a monster on D and they will be in serious contention for the title but will wind up coming up a bit shot.

Now on to the Lakers. Did any team have a better offseason? Ever? They only lost often injured and yet to fulfill his potential Andrew Bynum in the deal that got them Dwight Howard. Any smart NBA follower will tell you this is a steal, and it is! While Howard is a diva, you know you’ll get 15-15 night in and night out and a huge post presence that few teams have. Then you get Steve Nash who is not nearly what he was 5 years ago but will be a huge upgrade to any PG the Lakers have had in recent memory, he will be great for the pick and roll and will create a ton of shots for Kobe. The impact of Nash is beyond description, the amount of energy Kobe expends to fight for a shot is astonishing and Steve will be of huge help with this. So all in all you get a hall of famer PG, a future HOFer Center in addition to Kobe, Gasol and Metta World Peace, can’t get much better in a 5 month span. Will the Lakers win it all? Will everything work to perfection in year one? Not sure on both questions, we could have a case of what happened to Miami in year one of the Big 3. Still LA should win the West with ease.

As I said before, these are the only 3 teams I give a chance to win the title. That is not to say that there won’t be other fun teams & surprises. For one, the Portland Trailblazers will be a really entertaining team night in and night out; they won’t win more than 40 games but all 82 will be real enjoyable. Denver is another one of those fast paced, don’t care about defense teams who always provides some fun TV time. Chicago will be fun to watch, and depending if D-Rose returns could be a contender for the title; I see an interesting scenario where the Bulls are 6 or 7^th in the East and Rose comes back around March and they make a serious run at the Heat. Also the Houston Rockets will be pretty solid.

Who will take the main individual awards this year?

• MVP: Kevin Durant; barring a long setback due to injury he will be a monster in 12-13


• Scoring champ: KD will take this one for the 3^rd straight year


• Defensive player of the year: Dwight Howard, closely challenged by Serge Ibaka


• Rookie of the year: Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Hornets

As you can see the main awards will be distributed between Lakers and Thunder, thus my prediction of them having great years.

Now the million dollar question, who will reach the NBA Finals and win it all? I’m going with pretty much everyone else’s prediction: Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat. The winner? Logic says it will be the Heat but I’m going with my Lakers –actually saw a NBA 2K13 simulation of the whole season and it predicted the same outcome with LA winning the Finals in 7 games (for the article click here)

Who is your team? Who do you expect to win it all?

Mr Khakbaz out!

Go Lakers!

2012 World Series Preview

Baseball is a real special sport for me for so many reasons. Played it a while even though I sucked, have spent a ton of time at the ballpark with friends and family, have had some great times with my old man playing catch back home Nd have had the chance to interact with fans of lots of teams at 10 or so ballparks I've had a chance to catch games. So on the eve of the start of the World Series I'd like to share my thoughts on the 2012 postseason and how I believe the Fall Classic will unfold.

As always October brings us the most exciting baseball all year; most people don't get the sport and think it is to slow, well when you've never given yourself a chance to go to the ballpark and understand that baseball goes way beyond to what happens on the field, well then you'll never get it.

The Oakland A's made the playoffs when in April no one gave them a chance, and rightfully so. They were in a division with 2 teams that were, in the eyes of many, favorites to win the AL Pennant, the Angels and Rangers. While their playoff run was nothing memorable, their play during the season was a thing of beauty.

Something I will never forget is the EPIC collapse of the New York Yankees. I mean, seriously, how can that happen? You've got Cano, A-Rod and Granderson who just were erased right of the map; first I kind of enjoyed it them I felt bad for these guys. What will 2013 have in store for the Yankees? I believe Jeter will be back, Granderson is liked and will be back. A-Rod has never really clicked with the NY crowd even when he put up MVP caliber numbers; his contract is a nightmare but I really think he needs a fresh start and will be moved to another team. Cano is a real mystery to me, he has all the tools but always seems to collapse at the clutch moment, he is too young and has a great upside thus he will be back.

I expected a bit more out of the Orioles since the Yankees couldn't hit a lick, but somehow they were not able to grind out a series win. In my book the season was really good but the postseason will be remembered as a disappointment, if remembered at all.

On to the Tigers and Giants. Two teams that have a similar build and play to similar strengths. What I'll do is try and break down the different areas of the game and see who has the "advantage" based on that.

Hitting. This is a clear advantage for the Tigers since they have the eventual MVP Miguel Cabrera, Prince Field and Delmon Young who always seems to have big playoff series. The Giants rely on timely hitting lead by Buster Posey but are not as explosive as Detroit. Advantage Detroit.

Starting pitching. When you have Justin Verlander on your staff and you can count on him going out there in games 1, 4 and 7 if needed you must feel pretty good, and a guy like Max Scherzer and you are in great shape. The Giants have Matt Cain, bust Barry Zito -who has been really good recently- and Madison Bumbgartner, and somewhere lost in the shuffle Tm Lincecum, who from what I hear will not be in the rotation. Both rotations are solid as heck and a huge part of why these teams have gotten so far. Again, advantage Tigers.

Bullpen. No need to get into much detail here, the advantage goes by far to the Giants.

Managing. I guess I'll be a bit biased since Giants' manager Bruce Bochy was the manager of my Padres for 12 years and I really like the guy. Jim Leyland is one of those guys that will always put the team in a position to succeed, he is as good as they come, doesn't overthink stuff and just lets his guys go. Bochy is very similar in those aspects but I believe he has a deeper relationship and knowledge of his player that could prove to be the difference in the tight games we'll have. Advantage Giants.

Intangibles. Luck. Call it what you want but so many things have gone the Giants way it's amazing. A simple example is that double Hunter Pence got last night with the bases loaded; thanks to Fox's 300 FPS camera we got to see how the bat broke and actually made contact with the ball 3 times! Never have I seen that happen. Just timely hits, a bounce there, and you find a way to sneak into he finals. But then again, luck is usually on the side of better prepared, more talented teams and people.

The final tally is 3-2 in favor of the Giants; but I still believe the 2 areas where the Tigers are favorites are the most important ones. Sports books seem to agree as Detroit is at -170 and SF is at +140 to take it all.

My prediction is that the Detroit Tigers will take it all in 6 games. My heart wants the Giants to win it all, hoping they can close it out at AT&T Park since it's one of the best venues to catch a game (was lucky enough to catch 4 games in the summer of 04 while at Stanford) and they have some of the best fans around.

Regardless of the end result I hope we get some real exciting games with great pitching, timely hitting and just all around, fun to watch ballgames.
Who do you think will take it all?

Mr Khakbaz out!

The Apple Event / ipad 4 / iPadMini

iPad Mini

So the Apple Event just finished, so many things to say so here go my random thoughts:

• The iMacs and laptops I could care less about since I believe it's nothing more than a commodity market.


• Not a fan of the presenter taking a shot on users for still using a Optical Drive. I get your idea of presenting something new (and this was the only technology-wise advancement).


• The new iMac design is beautiful


• Apple announced a 4th generation iPad. This is wrong on so many ways and i think it just took importance out of the iPad Mini


• There a some many things wrong with this, the announce that the 3 has been the best selling product yet they kill it in 6 months.


• Way to protect peoples investment, not even 6 months in and they already tell you your product is old


• It shows a ridiculous amount of arrogance by Apple, with Jobs it always had it but in a way that didn't get in the way of getting good stuff out there


• On to the iPad Mini, while I'm against the idea of this product (check out my thoughts here) I thought the presentation was lackluster


• I found it really wrong that they went on to "destroy" the Google Nexus yet they price it 130 bucks above it.


• What reason would I have to buy a iPod if for 30 bucks I can get a iPad Mini, but why should I get the Mini if I can get for 70 bucks a real iPad.


• The talked about what they are "better" at but they forgot to mention the resolution is worse than its competitors. 7.9-inch iPad Mini with 1024x768 pixels is lower resolution than Nexus 7 and Kindle HD Fire HD. 162ppi versus 216ppi and 169ppi.


• I remember a time where Apple truly dazzled us with new products, now it seems every event is just a refresh, a bigger or smaller version of what is in the market.


• Why did Apple choose this date for it's event? To take attention away from Microsoft Windows 8 and the Surface launching this week. After seeing this I don't really think they accomplished that.


• Apple will never accept this but they are afraid of the Android platform. The signals are there: going into the market that is already created, try to stay on pace with technologies that have been out for a while and not create new stuff, actually bring nothing new to the market in the past couple of years


• Competition is stronger than it has ever been, don't get me wrong, but I don't think dismissing something saying you are better but not really offering it in the same way to the market.


• Why would I buy the ipad mini now if I'm sure that in 6 months they will come out with a retina display Mini?


• So the new iPhone comes out and has pretty much what every other high end phone has, the Mini brings nothing new to the table regarding mid-sized tablets -except a absurdly high price-, the new iPad 4 is a slap in the face to iPad 3 consumers... hey at least the iMac is sexy.

I hope this doesn't come across as an Apple hating post, I'm a fan of some of its products but I really believe the Cupertino giant is slowly losing it's way. I don't like where this is heading; I think people are dumb enough that the Mini will be a financial success but as an investor I'm afraid of what the next 5 or 10 years will look like.

Never forget what brought you to the party, that is something Steve Jobs always had present and I believe Tim Cook and the rest of the team is slowly losing.

What are your thoughts on the Apple event? on the 4th generation iPad? On the iPad Mini?

Mr Khakbaz out!

The state of UFC / Bones-Sonnen thoughts

UFC 155 poster

By know you must know I'm a pretty big MMA fan; I find it intriguing, entertaining, a great strategy game and not only 2 dude beating the shit out of each other. The UFC has done a great job, and still does, of trying to make the sport relevant and erase that noting that it's human cockfighting.

About a year ago I attended my 1st UFC event (136 in Houston) and was even more hooked. The live fights are off the hook but the experience goes way beyond that. Simply entering the Toyota Center and seeing the octagon was awe-inspiring; the cage itself has such personality that is gives me shivers. The loud music, the crowd -which is surprisingly knowledgeable and just drunks waiting to see guys kick each other in the face- everything makes for a great atmosphere. Is it a violent sport? Yes it is, but no more than a NFL game to which you'd take your kids without thinking twice. TV doesn't do the live events justice and this is something the UFC needs to work on. They need to learn a bit from WWE in making you say "next time I have the chance I NEED to be there live".

I believe 2011 was the greatest MMA year to date. Some of my highlights are:

• The sport brought in main stream media attention like never before. ESPN and USA Today are a couple of examples; i use them since they have alloted TV and print time specifically to MMA each week.


• The FOX contract for the UFC which, in my mind, translates into a "we have arrived to the big time"; there is a ton of work to do regarding this topic but no doubt this is huge step in the very right way.


• There were a ton of great fights with no doubt strenghthens the product. The likes of Edgar-Maynard II and III, Diaz-Daley (Strikeforce) and the best fight of the year, Shogun Rua vs Dan Henderson (worth checking out on Netflix)

2012 has been another story; why the sport keeps growing this year has been tougher.

• Right of the bat injuries have been ravaging cards left and right. This is a contact sport & injuries are part of the game but this year it has been out of control. Heck, it went as far a cancelling 151 due to the HenDo injury; this takes me to my second point.


• Oversaturation. Too much of good thing is bad and 2012 has been the case; too many darn event providing us with weaker cards and, in the case of 151, a one fight show that when the UFC realized the main event was off, the whole card was off


• Some of the biggest fights have not delivered. Case and point, UFC 148, which I had the chance to be a part in Vegas. While the whole experience was nothing short of amazing, the crowd was the best I have EVER seen live - and I've seen Paul McCartney in a 70k person packed stadium, Metallica 3 times, tons of big football games, the NLCS, heck I was in Atlanta for the 96 Olympics and nothing has even come close. The fights were another story, basically nothing delivered and if it not were for the crowd it would have been pretty bad.

What comes now? The closing of 2012 seems to be good since we get a superb UFC on FOX card, headlined by Benson Henderson vs Nick Diaz for the title, and UFC 155 on 12/29 with the most stacked card ever (which I'm planning to be a part of; tix go on sale 10/26 for the general public, 10/24 for UFC Fight Club Members and 10/25 for UFC Newsletter subscribers), headlined by Junior Dos Santos putting the heavyweight title on the line against former champ Cain Velasquez.

Another thing I'm greatly looking forward to is the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Just last week the UFC announced the coaches will be Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen. These two have to be the most polarizing figures in all of MMA; there is no doubt in my mind that Bones will go down in history as one of the best ever but I believe his whole "good God-fearing christian man" is a bunch of BS that doesn't feel authentic and seems to be more of a work than a WWE match. On the other hand Sonnen is an incredible sales man that has proven absolutely nothing in the octagon, well he has proven you can talk your way into a title shot.

The decision by the UFC to book Sonnen based, on what Dana White called, "stepping up" is a bunch of bullshit. Is it good for business? Yes! Will I watch? Yes! But it sets a pretty bad precedent that you can talk your way into a title shot; the UFC used to pride themselves in putting on the best matches possible, this is certainly not it. Sonnen will sell the fight in a way you believe he has a shot of winning  (like he did at 148), there is nothing wrong with that, but lets be objective and understand that he will probably will be destroyed on 04/27/13 by Bones. Will this help the TUF show? Yes it will, also moving it out of the horrible Friday night timeslot they got will.

Is hyping yourself like Sonnen does bad? Not at all, if you can legally make a buck, more power to you. Heck, I believe many fighters should learn a bit of that, learn how to talk in front of a mic, learn how to sell a fight and then reap the benefits of it! But talking will only take you so far, you gotta prove it in the octagon. And getting a shot because you "stepped up" is not good enough in my book, Dana can talk all he wants about it but it's still $ - again nothing wrong with it, but don't think your audience is stupid-.

What would I like to see?

• A spectacular fight between GSP and Condit, where regardless of the result both come out as even bigger stars.


• I really hope that the Fox card delivers and helps turn those casual fans into full time UFC and MMA fans.


• I'm literally praying that none of the 155 fighters get injured


• I hope the are a bit less events in 2013


• No UFC fighters test positive for any banned substances and / or PEDs. While it's bad for any sport, baseball or football can take the hit, lots of press is waiting for a misstep by any fighter to have a field day and blast the UFC. Imagine the backlash if say, Anderson Silva, tests positive, all the work that has been done with the media for the past 5-8 years will be flushed down the drain.

The sport will only continue to grow, hope it does in the right way; in a way that is sustainable in the long run. In a way where it can create more revenue opportunities for all the parties involved; in a way where both casual and captive audiences will be willing to spend 60 bucks for an event every month or so.

What do you like about the UFC? What do you want to see changed?

Good fight, good night

Mr Khakbaz out! 

iPad Mini and Apple losing it's way

iPad Mini "leaked" image

All of a sudden I’m writing more than one entry a year, well there are lots of interesting topics that needed a bit more detail than 140 characters. Today’s topic is related to Apple and how it has evolved so far from Steve Jobs’ vision, as evident with the new iPad Mini, and how messed up the world is that it is such a ridiculously successful company.

Before anyone starts bitching this is not a Apple bashing post, I have a iPad 2, I’ve had a couple of ipods, a macbook and other fine Cupertino created products. It’s about facts and how Apple has evolved. Also, if you have never read Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renne Maubornge do yourself a favor and give it a shot and you will understand how companies like Apple don't go -I stand corrected didn't use to- into a market that was already created and dominated by other competitors; I won't spoil it, just read it.

Ok, on to the topic at had. Just yesterday Apple sent the invitation for a October 23th event where they will likely announce the release of the new iPad Mini. Why do I find this as a inflection point for Apple? Well it's been almost a year since Steve Jobs passed on and this is the third, and most evident, time that i see his vision is near extinct.

Some of blind Apple fans will likely close this window right about now since I'm stating some things you will refute with no real proof but it is more than true that Jobs' vision -and what made Apple what it is today- is long gone. They used to be a company that didn't go into markets that were already created and dominated by others, they created such amazing products that the world had never seen that a whole new market and "need" was created for them. Take the product that saved Apple, the original iPod; when released for mass sale on October 23, 2001 most of us didn't really consider music "portable" even though we had a Discman or one of the many portable CD player that existed. The idea was so different than anything that had existed, "1000 songs in your pocket" described it perfectly and thus a new market was created, pure genius. Soon after the Zune, lots of Japanese players and other brands came into the market but Apple was the 1st there and captivated the audience. Lots of iterations came, lots of new competitors arrived but almost 11 years later the iPod is still the best selling mp3 player there is. (Stock value rose from 9 dollars in October, 2001 to about 13 in April, 2002)

Heck, lets stay on the music topic a bit longer. When did you think that right now as you read this you could be buying almost every song there is in the world from the coziness of your parents basement. The "invention" of the iTunes store  and the idea you can purchase stuff directly on your computers and other devices. This Business Insider link takes you to a 1983 interview where he already has this ideas, no idea how they will come true but is on the right way, AMAZING!

Lets move on to January 9, 2007 when Jobs announced the iPhone. This was a time where Nokia, Motorola and Blackberry where leading the market with pretty cool yet simple phones; did Apple make something to compete with them? No they did not, they created a whole new market segment and released what was the 1st smartphone. The concept was beyond astonishing, and companies that didn't understand how it could be successful are now pretty much all but dead because they never understood the threat the iPhone was and how it would change the way we communicate. Some companies have made huge strides and provided us with products that in many ways are better than the iPhone -I myself use a Samsung Galaxy S2-, but this was a market that Apple created. (Stock value rose from 92.57 dollars on 01/09/07 to 179.40 exactly a year later)

Again, move forward to January 27, 2010 when Apple unveiled the new iPad. Some, including me, will say that this is not the 1st tablet since Microsoft introduced the Tablet PC in 2001, but it clearly was the 1st commercially successful attempt. Again, creating a whole new market. (Stock value rose from 199.27 dollars on 01/27/10 to 343.21 exactly a year later)

The Cupertino based giant has continued to grow hiking it's stock value to around $650 bucks, give or take a few, because it has been widely successful in what I believe are 4 areas:

• Create products that the world has never seen, introducing them in a way the people think they need them


• When a new version comes out it will be lighter, thinner, "sexier"


• Not have any competitor for a while and have a dominated market by the time anyone else comes out with something similar


• Being able to generate a profit from the hardware sale and not only the apps and content to be consumed on these products (looking at you Amazon, more on that later)

The idea is so simple yet is so complex and hard to execute that Apple is the giant it currently is. Here is where the iPad Mini changes this equation.

The small tablet market (7 inches and smaller) has been something that other companies have gone to as a means to be able to put something on the market and not compete with the iPad. Smart, why fight a fight you know you are going to lose. Amazon has a solid product in the Kindle Fire, Barnes and Noble has the Nook, Samsung has like a gazillion options, you've also got Asus, Acer, Google and a ton of other manufacturers.

Apple is going into a market that has lots of options and while it may be successful (I believe it will) this is a step away from my 1st point on how it has made its mark on the world. (The other 2 things i saw that was off from this strategy is that the new iPad was heavier that its predecessor, and the iPhone 5 brought absolutely nothing new to the market no matter how dumb Apple fans look by trying to defend it)

Again, I believe the iPad mini will be a financial success based solely on the Apple name and not because it brings anything new to the table(t) and also it is released at the perfect time of year -near Christmas shopping time-. I see some alarming signals and i don't like them; I'm a firm believer that evolution is a critical part of personal and business success yet you have to be smart enough to understand you gotta stick with what brought you to the dance and Jobs' baby is clearly running away from it.

I've always had the idea that Apple originally had the vision of creating "beautiful" products that in consequence generated a ton of money but nowadays it seems that has changed a bit, they main driver is creating money by any means necessary. Again, as a company my main goal will always get the best return to my investment but there also needs to be some essence and some appeal that  goes beyond the money and i truly feel that they are slowly losing that.

Regardless of what happens with the iPad Mini and future Apple releases I find it fascinating a single company generates such interest and controversy, motivates people to fight over its products, news telecasts to talk extensively about them, people with little to do to write 1200 word blogs on it. That is how successful businesses are created.

I leave you with a phenomenal Apple quote I ran into yesterday: "Apple creates products that no one needs, but not one of us can live without"

Khakbaz out!

Making sense of the Chargers mess

So it’s been a while since I blogged at all, I guess it has to do with being so active on twitter (@MrKhakbaz). After all it is considered a micro-blogging site and in a way it’s a means to talk, share thoughts or just vent on any random topic. So what brought me back? A horrible performance by the San Diego Chargers.

If you follow me on twitter, or on really old posts, you know I’m a huge sports fan, specially the Chargers; historically they have been a pretty crappy all time record (395-388-11, prior to this season), recently they have been “better” yet are one of those franchises that every year it seems they are on the brink of greatness and something gets in the way; whether it be injuries, draft mistakes, a fumble here or a pick there they always come close yet always seem to fail.

Yesterday I heard a ton of stuff on the Chargers demise. Some I thought was right, some I thought was pure bullshit trying to have some cheesy material for people to listen to or to write about. A couple of my favorite sports writers are Colin Cowherd (@ESPN_Colin) and Mike Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) have some very interesting points.

Cowherd, while may be a little extremist and someone I don’t always concur with, had the point of “why should I care to talk about the Chargers?”. At first I simply thought “you’re a sports writer, you should talk about them” but then he explained that if the organization didn’t care about the results why should he. He went into more detail talking about how AJ Smith was so full of himself and would never acknowledge that hiring Norv Turner was a mistake from the get go. That is as big a certainty as there is. Smith fired Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 record in 2006, you must expect the replacement to perform the same –maybe not a 14-2 record but at least to be better in the playoffs, right?- move on from 2007 till the present day, Turner has a 11-5, 8-8, 13-3, 9-7 & 8-8. While that is a better overall record than Marty (52-34 vs. 47-33) the context is totally different. Marty took over a team that was laughable while turner took over a 14-2 team!

I understand many of you will not understand what these last numbers mean, let’s do a quick exercise: who is a better coach, Bill Parcells or Wade Phillips? Pretty sure any football fan with half a functioning brain will say Parcells, right? It’s a simple answer, but if you go to the numbers Tuna has a .570 winning percent vs. a .573 by Phillips (which will go higher now that he is with Houston) yet the context is totally different. Parcells took over horrible teams and built them from scratch and won 2 Lombardi Trophy’s while Phillips is considered a defensive genius who has been hired  / upgraded from a specialty coach to a head coach of pretty good teams and done nothing! Sound familiar?

Wilbon talked about how that Chargers are “nappers”. Could not put a better adjective; this goes from owners all the way to the 3^rd string defensive backs, the team has seemed disinterested, not really caring and assuming that eventually the talent they have would be enough to win a couple of games and slide into the playoffs. How has that gone the last couple of years?

This may seem as a Norv Turner bashing post, while to a certain degree it is it also is a Chargers organization bashing. From top to bottom this organization is a joke. From the owners who aren’t willing to spend bucks in complimentary players and expect a economically depleted city to spend cash on a new stadium that will only benefit them! What kind of stupid logic is that? The General Manager is a clown who is not willing to admit his most profound mistake, hiring Turner, who in turn has taken a pretty talented team and turned them into the worst coached, most unprepared team I have seen in years –only comparable to what Jason Garret has done with the Cowboys-. I’m a huge Phillip Rivers fan and believe he has a ton of talent but numbers, in this case, don’t lie; he has gone down in every single category –well, up if you count interceptions- from 2008 where 7.1% of his passes where TDs and in 2009 where 1.9% of his passes where picked off to a 4.6% and 3.4% respectively in 2011.

What happens now? Well, they are 3-3 going into the bye week but regardless of what happens the rest of 2012-13 the Chargers problems run much deeper than a 10-6 or 8-8 record it goes way beyond this. I try to look at the big picture and what happens in the long run, I seriously hope they do bad and eventually fire coaches and the GM –but am not sure it will, should have happened this past offseason-; I know it’s not the way a fan should think that way but I truly think it’s the only way they will finally change things for the better.

I’m not even sure the past 867 words made any sense; I think it was a way for me to make some sense on what happened this past Monday, which is hard to understand. I didn't even mention Peyton Manning in this post, while Denver's return was possible in a big way because of #18, it would have never been possible if it no were for the brutal performance the Chargers put on.

What are your thoughts on the Chargers debacle or your teams current performance?

Khakbaz out!