The AT&T–T-Mobile Merger: Good, bad, and why it must happen…

I have a confession to make:  I am fascinated with wireless networks.  A lot of it has to do with my job.  But the evolution of wireless networks has been an amazing advance to witness, starting with the first analog cell phone networks in the 1980s, moving on to digital cellular networks in the 1990s, the addition of WiFi networks around the turn of the century, and now the convergence of cellular and broadband wireless data in mobile internet devices.  Initially, wireless networks (both cellular and wireless data) were considered a luxury by only the rich and businessman.  However, beginning in the late 1990s, cell phones became affordable, and as more people saw the benefit of laptop computers, WiFi networks became a necessity itself.  Over the last 4 years, with the advent of the iPhone, the cell phone has morphed into a smartphone, and with the iPad, the computer has become smaller and even more portable.

Long ago, the number of wireless phones blew past the number of landline phones, and just recently, the number of wireless broadband data devices surpassed fixed broadband devices.  This is good and bad for users of smartphones and tablets.  It’s good because it is clear wireless broadband and phone is not just the future, it’s now.  The bad is that with wireless, you need one or a combination of three things to prevent rapidly increasing demand from causing a smartphone meltdown:  increased data speeds, more frequency spectrum, and more cell towers/backhaul towers.  In some ways, AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile addresses two of those needs so AT&T can implement the third need and build its LTE network.  T-Mobile has built up their capacity in urban areas (both cell and backhaul towers).  T-Mobile also has the AWS Spectrum which maybe the key reason AT&T has shown interest in buying T-Mobile.

But there are good and bad reasons for the merger to proceed, and it is what Congress is grappling with as they seek to approve the merger:

Good reasons for the merger:  T-Mobile’s parent company is leaving the US Market.  Deutsche Telekom, the German telecom giant who owns T-Mobile, has wanted to leave the US Market to focus on other investments around the globe.  So, the #4 provider, needed a company to buy it.  Also, the merger enables AT&T to develop their LTE network in a much quicker timetable and challenge Verizon for the fastest LTE speeds.  And, as I stated earlier, AT&T needs frequency spectrum.  In cities, such as New York and San Francisco, the capacity has been exceeded by users.  Without additional spectrum, AT&T would be forced to build tens of thousands of cell towers to meet the capacity, which would set AT&T back financially in a down economy.

Bad reasons for the merger:  An AT&T-T Mobile merger means there would be only one telecom company in the US that uses the World’s largest cellular standard, 3GPP.  3GPP encompasses GSM, WCDMA, HSPA/HSPA+, and LTE.  And in the US, AT&T and T-Mobile are the only companies that use this technology.  Sprint, Verizon, MetroPCS, and other regional networks use the 3GPP2 standard, which include CDMA, EV-DO, and LTE/WiMAX.  So, the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile means that most worldwide customers would be forced to AT&T when roaming in the US, meaning AT&T would have a sort of monopoly.  AT&T and Verizon would hold 80% of all US cellular customers, which might mean Sprint and other companies would be at a severe disadvantage.

Why the merger must go through:  No other cellular company could buy T-Mobile and survive the eventually merging of technologies other than AT&T.  There was talk of Sprint and T-Mobile merging, but the integration of all the technologies would be a disaster and would effectively destroy Sprint.  And considering Deutsche Telekom is leaving the US, T-Mobile needed a buyer who could make the transition smoothly.  In the end, if the merger is not approved, you still need a buyer for T-Mobile or else T-Mobile will fail and AT&T will struggle along and still need spectrum.

In the end, the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile has advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately, I believe it will have to go through.  The question is will Congress and the FCC see it the same way.

Steve Williams: Big mouth caddie

As golf approaches its final major of the year (The PGA Championship) near my childhood home in Atlanta, the biggest story in golf is not about the golfers, but about a caddie.  Steve Williams, who until this summer was Tiger Woods’ caddie for the last 12 years, was on the bag for Adam Scott this past weekend at the WGC-Firestone Invitational in Ohio.  Scott won the tournament, but Williams stole the spotlight in his initial Post-Round interview with the entertaining David Feherty and subsequent interviews.  I heard Williams’ initial comments live, and couldn’t believe them.  Williams said this was the biggest win of his career.  OK, you were on the bag for 13 of 14 majors that Tiger has won, including some of the game’s most impressive individual showings and you say this victory was the greatest of your career? 

Caddies are largely silently.  Most people couldn’t name 3 caddies on the PGA Tour.  And for those who can, I’ll bet 2 of those names are “Fluff” Cowan and Steve Williams, both of whom caddied for Tiger.  Quick, somebody name Jack Nickalus’ caddie for most of his life.  Can’t?  For that matter, name Jack’s golf coach.  Can’t do that either?  But I bet you could name Tiger’s golf instructors.  The point is we are in a time where anyone associated with Tiger achieves instant star status.  Steve is not special and, as Tiger proved over the weekend, he can find another bag guy.

Steve was a caddie long before he worked with Tiger, without the successes he enjoyed under Tiger.  And he may enjoy some success with Adam Scott.  But, at the end of the day, Steve doesn’t swing the club or putt.  He can offer advice, but the golfer’s have final say and ultimately provide success or failure.  The caddie at best gets 10% of the winnings, but not much else.  Yet, Steve thinks he helped Tiger win all those years, and now is guiding Adam to becoming a great golfer.

Memo to Steve:  know your role.  You’re a caddie.  At best, give advice when asked and shut your mouth the rest of the time.  Sooner or later, Tiger will probably go back to his old ways and be one of the best again in golf.  And then what, Steve, if Tiger proves he can win without you, or when Adam begins to struggle, which all golfers do?  Oh, and whatever happened to Fluff, Steve?  This may be your future one day, too.

A critique on the ESPN Book

Well, I finally finished the ESPN Book that my wife and son got me for Father’s Day.  It’s a long book (about 745 pages of material), and there was still stuff left on the cutting room floor.  Anyone who has been in the “inner circle” since my college days knows I love to talk Sports, so reading this book was a natural.  With the book now finished, I wanted to share a few thoughts…

Best part of the book:  The fact that the narration did not interfere with the first-person accounts.  The first person accounts were fantastic.  It allowed the reader to hear from the figures involved in ESPN (past and present), as well as a few outside sources.  And those accounts showed a lot about ESPN.

Most unaware part:  The early years of ESPN.  It was fantastic to see behind the curtain in those early days and understand that at any point, ESPN could have fallen apart between 1978 and 1986.  Once ESPN got to cover NFL games in 1987, from that point forward, ESPN never had to worry about going belly up.  It was also interesting to see the turmoil between the Rasmussen family (Bill and Scott came up with the ESPN idea), and Stu Evey, who used the Getty family fortune to prop up ESPN in those first days.  Eventually Stu won out, forcing the Rasmussen family to exit ESPN, and Stu would eventually be forced out as other financial powers took interest and eventually help make ESPN the monster it is today.

One sports story the book missed:  The Mike Leach firing at Texas Tech in 2009.  It is clear ESPN analyst Craig James was instrumental in the firing on Leach and ESPN personalities at the time were more than willing to support James and his son’s accusations against the coach.  Colin Cowherd basically was one of the on-air personalities who led the charge.  True or not, ESPN was probably making up for the Big Ben debacle from earlier that year.  And yet, nothing was said of it in the book.

Two Biggest jerks (based on their accounts and the accounts of others):  Chris Berman comes off as an ass.  He’s first-person account shows him for what he is.  He’ll praise you if you pay homage to him, but he’ll stab you in the back if you get on his bad side and dance on your grave.  And because he’s been with ESPN since the beginning, it’s hard to upend Mount Berman.  Not even fellow-lifer Bob Ley could do it (and Ley doesn’t).  But an even bigger jerk is NBA Commissioner David Stern.  You can tell even in Stern’s comments that he’s a two-faced liar.  The incident at the Palace of Auburn Hills and his accounts are disingenuous and the Stephen A. Smith dismissal also shows how that he doesn’t like criticism.  He tries to smooth everything over, but anyone who can read between the lines sees the truth.

Most entertaining portion of the book:  Any stories involving Keith Olbermann.  No one can take away from the fact that Olbermann is brilliant (no matter if you despise his political perspective), and the stories prove how much of a genius he is.  One question I would ask Keith, though… When are the Yankees going to call you about being their play-by-play guy?

Most sympathetic figure:  Dan Patrick.  I think the stories show Dan could have been a life-long ESPN employee, but his willingness to be the company guy eventually forced him to leave ESPN.  I think ESPN misses Dan more than they care to admit.

Overall, I liked the book, but I understand why there has been criticism about the book.  I’m a Sports fan, so I knew I would naturally like it.   But I wonder… Imagine if we could tell the story of the 54 years of South Gwinnett High School in a similar format.  Or the Class of 1992 at South.  Or the Band of Stars.  Can you imagine what accounts we could get out of that book from various people?  It would be interesting.

The re-booting of Generation X cartoons and a true “golden age” of characters…

Why are we so interested in retelling the legends and myths of our youth.  For thousands of years, mythology has been told and re-told in various stories of heroes.  In one generation, the heroes are without fault and the villains are pure evil.  In the next, the heroes are faulted individuals who must battle their own demons and an evil that appears to be a force of good on the surface.

Granted, the cartoon of Generation X (starting in the 1970s and going into the early 1990s) aren’t the first to have their mythology revised and reborn in numerous ways.  And yet it interesting to note that only a handful of the cartoon characters from our generation are recognize as some of the greatest of all time (at least according to a TV Guide survey in 2002) compared with the mid-to-late 90s successors like the Powerpuff Girls, Rugrats, Spongebob, and Cartman.  And yet, how many times have these cartoons of our generation been celebrated and reborn.  Spiderman, X-Men, Transformers, He-Man, GI Joe, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Inspector Gadget, and Voltron are the obvious examples of Generation X cartoons that continue to dominate our psyche and continue to be re-created with new takes on the original storylines—mostly without the critical acclaim.  Now you can add Thundercats and Smurfs to the list of re-created cartoons as Cartoon Network has re-booted the Feline series and the tiny blue creatures have hit the big screen.  The Hub network even shows classic Transformers, GI Joe, and now Jem and the Holograms.

Growing up as a Transformers fans in the 1980s, I have been fascinated as to how the story continues to be retold in new ways.  Since G1 left the airwaves in 1987, we have seen Beast Wars and Beast Masters, Robots in Disguise, Armada, Energon, and Cybertron, Animated, and now Prime as new creations of the old storyline.  That doesn’t even count the three live action movies or the Japanese storylines (such as Headmasters that just reached US shores).  I have my favorites (Beast Wars/Machines was probably the best storyline) and least liked (Animated somehow had to insert every character into the story and did so horribly), but overall I’m happy that Optimus is still Optimus, no matter whether as a tractor trailer, fire truck, or “Primal” ape—and that he deserves to be on the Top 50 list of Greatest Cartoon Characters of all time.

We all have our favorite 1980s cartoons.  What’s yours?  Maybe one day we will see the 1980s cartoon get the respect they deserve and recognized as a golden age of character creation.  I just don’t know how many re-boots its going to take for critics to see how special our cartoons were…

A Dream Poker Final Table

The World Series of Poker has just started the $10,000 WSOP World Championship Main Event on what has been a surprisingly successful WSOP.  I say surprisingly because of the fact that many of the players who might have played in the Main Event have been shuttered out thanks to the U.S. Government shutting down the top 3 Poker Gaming Sites in the country.  That shut down and its effects has led to top poker player Phil Ivey boycotting the entire WSOP and others to reconsider playing in the Main Event of the WSOP.  We do not know who will comprise the Final Table to be held in November in Las Vegas, but we will begin to find out live on ESPN2 and ESPN starting Thursday.  Still, the events of this year’s WSOP has led me to wonder… if there was a final table made up of the greatest poker players in the WSOP era (which began in 1970), who would be the 9 players at that table and how would they be seated?

After some quick thinking, I believe I have comprised a dynamic Final Table, which would be must see TV in any era.  So let’s reveal the table in order of seat position (not to be confused with where they might rank):

Seat 1:  Johnny Moss—One of only two players who can lay claim to 3 Main Event Titles, Johnny Moss’s 9 WSOP Bracelets make him a must have at the Table.  Moss played back in the period when few players could afford to play for the title, so in today’s Internet age, it would be doubtful in Moss could be successful.  Still, he was the WSOP’s first true Superstar, even if he was past his prime at the beginning of the WSOP in 1970.

Seat 2:  Chip Reese—Chip played very few WSOP events in his life, but the fact that he is regarded as the best high stakes cash game player in the modern poker age at any discipline gives him a spot at this table.  That and the fact he won the very first $50,000 HORSE tournament in 2006, the forerunner to the Poker Players Championship.  In fact, the trophy for this WSOP Title is the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, a testament to how much this player was respected by the poker community.

Seat 3:  Erik Seidel—Erik is one of the greatest players never to win the Main Event title, but he’s done just about everything else.  Erik’s 8 WSOP Bracelets brings him to this table.  He closest chance to the Main Event Title when he finished 2nd to Johnny Chan.  Seidel is still dominant and the recent heater he has been on in 2011 show even today he is one of the greatest players in poker.  Speaking of Chan…

Seat 4:  Johnny Chan—“The Orient Express” was the first player to win 10 WSOP bracelets and was the last player to win back-to-back Main Event Titles in 1987 and 1988.  Johnny’s playing skill was immortalized in the 1990s movie “Rounders”, where Matt Damon broke down Chan’s final hand with Seidel.  At his prime, few players could match wits with this Hall of Famer.  One of those few stopped him from winning 3 Main Events in a Row in 1989, and that player is sitting next to him in Seat 5…

Seat 5:  Phil Hellmuth—The “Poker Brat” became the youngest champion of the WSOP Main Event in 1989 beating Chan heads-up.  He held the youngest Main Event Champion distinction for almost 20 years, and during that time, Phil has gone on to win a record 11 WSOP bracelets, cashed a record 84 times, and holds the all-time record for Final Table appearances.  His greatness is tempered by his temper, especially when he takes a bad beat and also by the fact that all 11 bracelets are in Texas Hold’Em.  He claims if it wasn’t for luck, he’d win all the bracelets and he frequently belittles his opponents.  There is one player, however, that would even intimidate Phil...

Seat 6:  Stu Ungar.  The original “Kid” in Poker, Stu Ungar is the other 3-time WSOP Main Event Winner.  And he was dominant when he was at his best.  There is no question that in this day and age of Poker, Stu would dominate.  The 1997 Main Event is a perfect example of Stu at his greatest.  However, drugs and a hard lifestyle led to his early death in 1998.  Had Stu not encountered drugs, it’s safe to say, he might have 15 bracelets and a 4th Main Event Title.  Stu may have even staved off the Internet boom for a couple of years.

Seat 7:  Scott Nyugen.  If you’re going to have any player play behind Stu, it has to be “The Prince of Poker” Baby!  Scotty succeeded Stu as Champion in 1998, and talkative style and imagination makes him the final player at this table.  Scotty is also the only player in WSOP history to win the Main Event and Chip Reese trophy when he won the 2009 $50,000 HORSE event, although that title was tainted by his unusually angry demeanor at that final table.  Still, you need Scotty at this table to provide some light-hearted trash talking.

Seat 8: Phil Ivey—Considered “The Tiger Woods of Poker”, Phil has dominated the poker game at many disciplines and stakes. Phil is the only Superstar of this group to have been a part of the WSOP November Nine, and his 8 bracelets at such a relatively young age makes him a threat to become the all-time bracelet winner one day. Ivey can intimidate even the best players in the game.

Seat 9:  Doyle Brunson—You really thought I would not include a Final Table of Greatest Poker Players without the Living Legend, “Texas Dolly”?  Brunson is one of the biggest reasons Poker is popular.  His book, “Super System” is the foundation for many of today’s Superstar players.  He is well-respected in the game.  Oh yeah, he’s won 10 WSOP titles, including back-to-back in 1976 and 1977.  So, it’s only appropriate he gets Seat 9.

So how would this Final table go down?  Here’s a likely scenario… 

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The action at the dream Final Table began fast and furious as many of the all-time greats jockeyed for chip advantage.  Early on, Phil Ivey was eliminated when his A-K was eliminated Stu Ungar, who turned 9-7 suited into a straight.  Almost immediately following Phil was Erik Seidel, who still can’t solve the mystery of Johnny Chan after Chan’s A-10 cracked Seidel’s pockets Queen’s.  Phil Hellmuth followed shortly after.  After being constantly raised and outplayed by Stu Ungar, Hellmuth picked up pocket Jacks, only to be eliminated by Ungar’s pocket Kings.  Hellmuth left muttering under his breath about how Ungar couldn’t play the game the right way.

Johnny Moss was eliminated next.  His tight style was no match for the wild play of today’s players, but he was eliminated by fellow peer Doyle Brunson when the A-Q couldn’t crack the pocket 10’s of Texas Dolly.  Scotty Nyugen was knocked out next.  Despite giving Ungar havoc after Hellmuth’s elimination, Nyugen ran into Stu holding pocket Aces at the worst moment.  Scotty tried to bluff with 8-3 off suit, but got caught.

Down to 4 players, Chip Reese was the next elimination as Johnny Chan’s A-Q bested Chip’s A-J.  Then Doyle Brunson was eliminated when he tried to win holding his favorite hand, 10-2 off suit.  Stu saw that hand coming, and his pocket 9’s survived.

So it came down to heads up with Ungar holding a 3:2 chip edge over Chan.  After a ferocious final table that went back and forth with the chip lead changing hands 12 times during a 6-hour showdown, Ungar finally picked up A-4, then caught the wheel straight on the flop.  Chan’s pocket sixes failed to improve and Stu ended up with the Title of Greatest Poker Player of the Modern Era.

The day when the World met the Peachtree Road Race…

In Atlanta, the 4th of July has meant one thing… one of the world’s best 10K road races, the Peachtree Road Race, is run through the streets of downtown Atlanta in the early morning hours.  Begun in 1970 with just 150 runners, it has grown to well over 60,000 elite and weekend runners racing from the city, nation, and world.  Most of the runners are interested in getting one prize:  the T-shirt that every runner who completes the race gets.  That’s not to say there is prize money involved, and it has drawn the best in the world in the hopes of conquering the 10K hilly course.

For the Walker family, the Race for many years was an annual tradition.  Although my immediate family never raced in the Peachtree, we got many T-shirts through our volunteer work with the Atlanta Track Club, mostly under the leadership of Julia Emmons.  My father volunteered in the 1980s and 1990s, usually working the area around the Colony Square Hotel.  For 7 of those years, I worked with my dad, and both of my sisters also assisted in the race, either pre-race or during the race.  One of cousins ran the course three times, placing in the top 500 in his first trip back in 1981 and being invited to the 1982 Peachtree Road Race.

In the early years, the Peachtree was dominated by American runners, winning 12 of the first 13.  In 1976, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution became the title sponsor of the race.  With the Peachtree T-Shirt firmly entrenched to anyone who finished the race, the Peachtree expanded to 25,000 runners as many people wanted to finish and achieve the coveted wear.  The best American runners started competing in the event.  Between 1979 and 1981, Craig Virgin of Illinois won the race each year, setting the then-course record of 28:03 in 1981.  No other male runner has won 3 Peachtree Road Races. 

It was against this backdrop that an international field started to show interest in the competitive race.  Little was known about the international contingent.  It was rumored that runners from Kenya were invading the Peachtree field, but very little was known about how good these runners really were.  In 1982, the city of Atlanta would get a glimpse of the potential.

That Sunday Morning was a confluence of events.  With my cousin running in the competitive division, my dad volunteering in his first Peachtree, and the biggest threat to Virgin’s dominance, my family gathered near the finish line in Piedmont Park.  It was a long wait, and we first had to cheer on the first ever wheelchair race into Piedmont Park.  As we closed in on 8 am, the first runners began to approach the finish line.  It was clear that Craig Virgin was not in the lead group (he wore 1 in the race), but it was 2 Kenyans and an American battling for the title.  In the end, the American John Sinclair won the race, but the Kenyans had served noticed.  From that moment, Kenya dominated not just in Atlanta, but everywhere.  They were here to stay and one year later, Michael Musyoki won the Peachtree, beginning the Kenyan winning machine that continues to this day.  Musyoki would also become the first runner to break 28 minutes in the Peachtree, winning the ‘85 race in 27:58.  As for my cousin, he struggled in the race and failed to finish in the top 500.

It’s amazing to look back and see that we were seeing the future of long-distance racing on that Sunday morning.  But now looking back, I am proud to say I was there when the Kenyans first invaded the Peachtree and showed the world a glimpse of the future.

The Fall of the Dodgers…

One of the saddest stories in sports today is the fall of the Los Angeles Dodgers as a franchise.  The Dodgers have long been one of the top organizations in Baseball, just below the New York Yankees, and on par with the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox.  Yet this season, the Dodgers have been a running joke, starting from the top of the franchise, the McCourts, whose divorce proceedings have exposed the fact that Frank McCourt is a bankrupt clown and that his best chance of holding onto the Dodgers is suing MLB if they attempt to do the right thing and rip the franchise away from the deadbeat.  An opposing fan has been hospitalized since opening day when he was beaten unconscious by a thug dressed in Dodger gear while his children watched in horror.

You want to find out how bad it’s gotten?  Check out the recent column by Bill Plaschke of the LA Times:  http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0622-plaschke-20110622,0,1723241.column.  It’s not just bad, it’s 1980’s Fulton-County Stadium attendance bad.  You remember Braves games at Fulton-County Stadium back in the mid-to-late 1980s.  On a regular summer night, my dad and I would sit in the upper deck behind home plate and, for the most part had maybe 400 to 500 people in the upper deck with us for Braves games.  Even with the lower deck, attendance on many nights was about 6000 to 9000 until the Braves got good in 1991.  The Dodger attendance on some games have not been much better.

And the team is struggling very badly too.  Now stuck in 4th place in the National League West, the team appears to have no future and may not meet even payroll this week.  It may have to be seized by MLB.  And instead of trying to negotiate an out clause with Bud Selig and leave Baseball, Frank McCourt is trying to lawyer up and squeeze as much money out of the Dodgers’ franchise for himself as he can.  It seems that he learned some tricks from fellow Los Angeles owner Donald Sterling.

As a Braves’ fan, I should be happy that the one-time Atlanta nemesis is hurting.  But then I remember that then-Los Angeles manager Tommy Lasorda sort of encouraged Braves fans to come out when the Braves were good.  Tommy represented the best of Baseball, and the Dodgers franchise he has always supported deserves ownership that will at least be better than the current owner.  But short of Frank McCourt’s heart growing 3 sizes or him departing the scene in a physical sense, the Dodgers will be held hostage.