An ominous assignment with overtones of extreme personal danger.

First a total random comment. I love Keith Olbermann. I love Countdown. I love Keith Olbermann even more. That is all.

Spent most of the day manning the phones. This is crunch time for everyone now. Players are starting to finally find out where they will be playing this year and in what role they will be placed in. We had a bit of good news today too. Two players we've represented for a long time, Kyle Crist and Patrick Green will be starting off in AA. They deserve it too. Kyle and Greenie have had setback after setback with regard to injuries so it's nice to see an actual payoff finally.

Had a very big crisis to deal with today. One player who I sadly wont name just to avoid a situation with had threatened to quit today. I signed this player back in 2004 and over the years my relationship with said player has gone from strictly professional to overwhelmingly personal. I love this player as if he was my brother (I love all my players but like any situation each one of them in a different way) This player has had many professional hardships and finally he has a genuine opportunity to advance and he was about to quit today because he was unhappy with his initial assignment. I spent all day talking to the player, his father and the team and FINALLY I talked him out of quitting. He has a great deal of pro options if baseball does not pan out. I told him if he struggles this year then I would support his move to another sport however it would be insanity to make this move before he has an opportunity to see what he can do with a full season on the diamond. The worst thing in life is wasted talent and I would hate to see someone I care a great deal for have a lifetime of lament because of an impulsive decision. I'm glad he's sticking it out.

Gave an interview yesterday to one of my former interns who is actually engaged to one of my clients now. She is fantastic and works very hard so I didnt mind being mildly candid. One of the things Ive learned over the years is that I am not like everyone else. I am okay with this fact and after 25 years I am moderately comfortable with who I am but occasionally I still slip up. I work in a business dominated by perception. I always make it a point to be my true self in every facet of my life so every time I give an interview I just kind of let it go. The thing is up until this point in time all of my interviews have either been via phone or radio or some other medium and I have actually never read back anything Ive said in print before. Well, that changed today. It turns out I am insanely abrasive, borderline arrogant, hypersensitive, and have a big time shortage of professional modesty. You know what though? Everything I am has gotten me to where I am at. I have this motivating rage in me and it's the rage that drives me. If people only knew (they will now) how motivated I am it would be interesting to see their genuine reaction. Nobody is harder on me than myself. I know where I am at and I know where I am going to be. Anyway, the point of this part of my rant today was to let people know that I'm now sharply aware that anything I say professionally could possibly be an ominous assignment with overtones of extreme personal danger.

Plan tomorrow is to talk to scouts, figure out living assignments for some of our players, and work on endorsements.

Mahalo


J