April 15, 2010 – Istanbul Journal

It is my last evening in Istanbul and my last personal blog on this trip. I will write about the conference on our work blog. You can read that early next week on http://blog.demandcaster.com/.

Today was the workshop. I presented a three hour session on Supply Chain Physics, a concept I have coined to enhance communication across the various functions in the organization and thus foster improvements. It was very good. The attendees were very engaged and asked great questions.

I got to see my friend Nurhayat Ulucan. She was supposed to come by for lunch but work and traffic had here coming by just as lunch was ending and I had to start my workshop. She drove an hour for a short visit. I really appreciate her doing that. She worked at Colgate and had a short term assignment in New York where we became acquainted. It was really good to see her again, see photos of her son, and hear how life after Colgate has been for her.

The most interesting part of this day was during lunch. Jim Ayers, another speaker from the US, and I sat at a table with two ladies: one a professor of engineering and the other a management consultant with a Big 4 firm. Both ladies had spent several years living in the United States. When they learned I was Armenian, they both commented on the meetings in Washington DC between Sarkisian and Erdoğan. They asked where I stood on these issues. I stated my position as politely as I could and it was clear that we disagreed but agreed to disagree. Both ladies related a very interesting story about coming to the US and living experiencing their first April 24^th. Their stories were the same and independent. They were shocked and surprised at how their country was being portrayed. They were taken aback and unaware of any of this history. As a result, they both began to read and learn.

I do not think they were reading Taner Akcam, Richard Hovannisian, Michael Arlen, or Ahmet Altan. Basically, they believe that this issue is mostly one championed by the American-Armenian Diaspora. In a sense, we are the vanguard of the movement. But it is not just us. It is the entire Diaspora: the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of those that survived. If the Genocide issue were somehow resolved, they wondered what the Diaspora would have to rally around. They also both gave the argument that it was a time of war and many people on both sides were sadly killed. There are a lot of gaps to be bridged and closed. If I learned nothing else on this trip, it is that perceptions right or wrong exist on both sides. I reflect on my own trepidations, mostly unfounded, about coming here. I really understood, intellectually, that there would be no issues with my last name, being Armenian here, or speaking Armenian openly for long periods of time.

I really believe there is a winner-loser psychology going on here. A hundred years after the facts, the winners don’t really take things as seriously or gravely as the losers. I have likened this before to the Americans and American Indians and I believe it is apropos. As an American, I feel bad about what was done. I cannot even say what we did as my people were not in any way involved. I feel empathy but I cannot see me taking a big stand. It is history. I am sure there are large numbers of American Indians who do not see it the same way. It all sounds eerily familiar.

It was a great experience. Istanbul is a great city and I had a wonderful visit. I look forward to making another trip here soon.

April 14, 2010 – Istanbul Journal

Today I spoke at the Supply Chain Summit sponsored by Bosphorus Conferences. This is the reason I am here after all. The speech went well and I am looking forward to my workshop tomorrow. This will probably be a much shorter posting simply because there was not a lot of exciting things in a Supply Chain Conference to write about. A waiter did not drop a tray of water glasses; there were no problems with the AV, or anything notable to write about the meetings. Not surprising, and this is something I learned from years of business travels, except for language hotel conference rooms around the world have a certain sameness about them.

I was impressed with all the speakers. They were talented professionals doing impressive work here. But that is not a surprise; the Turkish Supply Chain professionals I met while at Colgate were very talented. The conference was most professionally organized. All the attendees I met and talked to were very nice and we had great discussions during the breaks and lunch.

Music and food sidebar: I am watching a TV commercial for a supermarket, Tansaş, featuring cartoon grocery bags dancing soorch bar style. The music? What else? The heaviest version of Dali Lolo I have ever heard. I am almost getting used to this. At lunch at the conference, the buffet included imam biyeldi, suboreg, eech, and both kinds of halveh. It may be culture shock when I return to the US on Friday.

The most interesting fellow I met was actually born in Elaziğ the city, then Kharpert or Harput, where three of my four grandparents came from. Semih Seçkin works for Turkish Aerospace Industries as a manager in charge of subcontracting. He was delighted to meet me as I was to meet him. We had a great conversation. He knew of all the little villages my folks hail from. He asked if I had heard the CDs of Enver Demirbaş singing the songs of the region. I, of course, bought that CD last year. We laughed about my last name.

I found most of the people I talked to, that were educated, knew enough about what happened in 1915. All of them said that it was politics and the government and they should all let the people just simply get along. I guess that is OK and I can relate, in a way. This is how I look at the American genocide of the American Indians. It was tragic but long ago. We need to admit the truth and move on. I related in a way to the reaction of these people living their lives and working. They/we stop, sigh at the tragedy, and move on. I really wish the government would admit things and, I don’t know, give us Ararat and Kars. That is not going to happen but it is just me being naïve again.

I missed hanging out with Siragan today. What a great fellow. He and his brother Bedros are from the same cut of cloth. He took me all over for three days. I worried I was taking him from his work but he would not hear of it. He wanted to show me his city and I greatly appreciate the camaraderie and attention. I hope I can reciprocate in the states someday.

Did I mention it is Tulip time in Istanbul?

April 13, 2010 – Istanbul Journal

Last night just before posting my travel journal on my blog, I wrote that, for Armenians, Istanbul is “a city, easy to love, in a country with policies that strain that relationship. “ I wrote this knowing that I would feel this more as the initial euphoria of first being here wore ebbed. I wrote this as a prelude to commentary I knew I would have to address later this week or in my April letter. I did not know I would be addressing it at 6:30 am, a mere seven hours later.

As I do not understand Turkish, all I could do was watch the video of the headline news. The headlines this morning were of the meeting yesterday of Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan. Actually, I watched these two leaders shaking hands over and over again along with the obligatory pregnant pause that allowed the cameras to take close-ups of their hands. I decided to look at the New York Times on-line. There was no coverage as yet. I looked at CNN.com, there was a story on their home page reporting that the Turkish Prime Minister will not support US led proposed sanctions against Iran regarding Iran’s nuclear programs. Embedded in that story was a reference to the Erdoğan trying to navigate carefully to push his point on Iran without irritating the US House of Representatives to the point where they pass the Genocide Resolution.

It will be interesting to see how this colors my day and impressions of Istanbul.

As it turns out, it had zero influence whatsoever. I am sure, though, I will reflect on this later.

It was another great and last day of being a tourist. This morning I went with Siragan to Aya Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and saw the obelisks. Aya Sophia is a most impressive space. This building first a church and then converted into a mosque with the conquering of Constantinople is a most impressive space. It was built by the Emperor Justinian and opened in 537. I was simply amazed that they built such a large space with such an amazingly large and high dome with no machinery. I was thinking that the local residents of Constantinople had to be simply astonished at this great building when there was nothing to remotely compare it to. Siragan and I were impressed even though Istanbul is full of large and larger buildings old and new. There were two other churches built on the same spot but had burned down. The edifice has grown over the years as structures to buttress the building for both earthquakes and to help the structure to sustain its own weight. The Ottomans added most of these fortifying structures as well the minarets, a women’s gallery, the sultan’s loge, and an ablutions fountain which made the church into a mosque. As the walls and domes are being cleaned, they are also restoring the Christian artworks that have been long covered.

I heard there is a movement to make Aya Sophia into an active mosque again. I would love to see this grand building become a religious center again. I will reveal my complete naïveté and total optimism by wishing it could be both. I would love to see the Greek Orthodox and Moslems using it for high holidays. It would be great but I realize the very low probability of that happening.

We next ventured to the Blue Mosque. It is also called the Sultan Ahmet Camii for the Sultan who commissioned it. Silly me, I thought there were three significant historic mosques in this Sultanahmet region of the city until I realized that the Blue Mosque and Sultan Ahmet were one in the same. Unlike Aya Sophia, the Blue Mosque is an active mosque. When we went in, we had to take off our shoes. The interior is beautifully and decorated with blue Iznik tiles. It is quite serene. Being fully carpeted, the noise is also dampened which definitely contributed to the serenity. The mosque was designed by the imperial architect Mehmet Agha and to me is in a style complementary to Aya Sopia creating a Byzantine/Ottoman form.

The Obelisks were nice. There were three. I thought the Ottomans brought them to Istanbul but they were, in fact, Byzantine plunder. The Egyptian Obelisk, circa 1500 BC, stood outside of Luxor until Constantine had it shipped to his new city. This one piece obelisk looks brand new. I wonder how they shipped this gigantic stone statue in the 4th century AD. And I think I am a logistics expert! The Serpentine Column, 479 BC, was at Delphi and commemorated the Greek defeat of the Persians. The last is the Brazen Column as it was coated in Bronze. It is the worst looking of the obelisks down to the base bricks. It is because the Janissaries used to scale it to show off their bravery.

There is another Ottoman architect of great renown: Koca Mimar Sinan (1491 – 1588). I only saw the exteriors of his great works such as the Sülemaniye Mosque in the Bazaar Quarter. Sinan was a Christian. I understan the Ottomans would regularly round up Christian youth who showed talent and bring them to Istanbul for further training and, I suppose, Islamification. Armenians all believe Sinan was an Armenian and claim him as our own. He was named imperial architect and then mentored and funded by Süleyman the Magnificent. As a result, Sinan was prolific and built 131 mosques and 200 other buildings. He is known as the Ottoman Michelangelo or Michelangelo is known as the Italian Sinan… depending on your point of view. The architecture college next to Dolmabahçe is named for Sinan.

My last truly touristic activity was to go to the old Bazaar. It is the oldest and probably largest of its kind. It is a maze of old narrow streets walled and covered and filled with shops of every kind. It was set up by Mehmet I in 1453. Today it is full of jewelers, rug merchants, and souvenir stores of every price range. I went there to see the place and to buy gifts and a few CDs. My friend Mike Isberian gave me the name of a family friend, Erol Kazanci, the owner of Gallery Shirvan inside the Bazaar. We stopped to see him. Erol was a gracious host. Siragan and I spent two hours drinking tea and discussing the relationship of Armenians and Turks, life in general, and looking at some beautiful Armenian pieces that Erol has collected in his storied career. Like Cengiz yesterday, I made a new friend in Erol today. In fact, I put Erol and Cengiz together as Erol has some antique ouds he wants to have appraised. It is a most wonderful thing to experience this kind of slower paced, get to know each other well, style of business and friendship.

This evening I met with Funda Eresken. She is the contact and coordinator of Bosporus Conferences which is the company hosting the Supply Chain Summit that I am speaking at tomorrow and the Supply Chain Workshop I am presenting on Thursday. It was nice to finally meet her. I guess I am back to work tomorrow, but truly it is an extension of this great adventure.

April 12, 2010 – Istanbul Journal

Could my second day in the Polis be just as exciting? Inchu ché? Why not, as we would say in Armenian.

I began the morning in the gym again. There was no music on TRT this morning. The news was all about soccer. Galatasary beating Diyarbekirspor 4-1. Galatasary is the only team I have ever heard of. Every Turk living in the US seems to be their fan. In lieu of TRT providing the sound track, I had my iPod and listening to the early recording of Udi Hrant. I especially liked listening to his rendition of Kemani Tatyos Effendi’s Huseyni Saz Semai. Listening to Hrant Baba is always grounding, humbling, and most enjoyable.

My guide and cousin in-law, Siragan, picked me up at the hotel again at ten. We took the tram and subway and to Seraglio Point, the heart of the old Ottoman Empire. We walked through the spice market, it was a rainbow of shops, colors, and especially fragrances. From there we toured the Basilica Cistern built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 532. The vast vaulted cistern was designed to collect water for the demands of Great Palace of that empire. It is impressive to walk through the cistern especially with how the Turks have lit the base of each column. It is amazing with what could be constructed with no machinery but an abundance of really inexpensive labor.

Sidebar: As I am typing this, I saw a commercial for a financial concern: FinansEmeklilik. What is the big deal about a commercial for a bank or brokerage or something? To me, it was huge. The background music in this thirty second spot was a beautiful rendering of the chorus of Kemani Tatyos Effendi’s Bu Aksam Gün Batarken Gel. Amazing. It just makes me realize what living in a place where the dominant culture is heavily laced with things I highly value. Here is another case in point, I used to love my grandmother’s suboreg. She used to labor hours to make this delicacy. She served it about twice a year. Today, I walked by at least ten restaurants that had pans of it in their windows and sold it by the slice to passers by as if they were Ray’s Pizza in New York.

After walking through the Basilica Cistern, we ventured to Topkapi Palace, the oriental predecessor to Dolmabahçe. Topkapi was built between 1459 and 1465 by Mehmet II upon his conquest of Constantinople. What an impressive compound of opulence and power that was in the hands of Sultans. The meeting and receiving chambers were ornate and tiles with blues and whites. I felt the power of the Ottomans much more in Topkapi than in Dolmabahçe. They had collections of jeweled, well everything, that were gifts, plunder, or commissioned by the Sultans. There were chalices, pitchers, cradles, candlesticks, stands to hold Korans, thrones, and hand mirrors to mention a few were made of gold and jade. They were encrusted with rubies, diamonds, and emeralds some as big as the palm of your hand. To further emphasize the militaristic nature of this empire was the collection of jeweled swords, sabers, and daggers. I even saw the dagger featured in the 1964 movie Topkapi starring Peter Ustinov and Melina Mercouri. They had the kaftans and ceremonial garb of various sultans.

The Pavilion of the Holy Mantle was a special place. When Selim I conquered Egypt and Arabia (1512-1520), the sultans also assumed the title of Caliph, the leadership of Islam. Many of the important relics of Islam came into their possession including the swords of the Prophet and his son-in-law Ali. The most important possession is a robe, mantle, worn by the Prophet. 24/7, holy men chant the Koran over the metal chest containing the mantle. It was a very moving and outside of anything I expected or experienced.

After lunch, we ventured to Veysel Müzik Evi, an instrument shop. The owner is Dr. Cengiz Sarikuş, a maker of ouds and other Turkish instruments. I found the shop on line when I watched YouTubes of accomplished oud players playing the vintage instruments in his collection that also happen to be for sale. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PdbSUiI4Gg He has instruments from the great Greek maker Manol, the Stradivarius of oud makers, and several ouds from the great Armenian makers of Istanbul including Onnik Karibian, Agop Ohanyan, Agop Gudikran, Mgrdiç Karibian, Karekin Kavafyan, and others. The ouds ranged from 50 to 150 years old.

There I was in the same room, sitting on the same couch, where the videos were shot and the vintage instruments were hanging on the wall. I was talking with Cengiz and next thing I know, I was playing an oud, an 1908 Manol once owned by Enver Paşa’s wife Naciye. I held Bimen Sen’s oud (no strings) and Tatyos Effendi’s violin. Cengiz learned his craft from Agop Ohanyan and knew the Karibian brothers Onnik and Mgrdiç. It was an amazing experience. I played Tatyos Effendi’s Huseyni Saz Semai. Cengiz then pulled out a 78 of Udi Nevres Bey playing the same. It was equally humbling as listening to Udi Hrant earlier in the day. I played a variety of ouds both antique and made by Cengiz Usta (master).

We spent the afternoon at Veysel Müzik Evi. Siragan talked to Cengiz and another visitor a wonderful saz player, Gügor, who gave us a great little concert. Güngor was from Yozgat as is Siragan. They did not know each other but had many common friends. It was a great way to spend an afternoon in Istanbul. I am considering importing and sell Cengiz’s ouds.

On the way back to my hotel, Siragan and I walked around Taksim Square in the heart of the Beyoğlu section where prosperous Armenian’s once lived. We stopped and heard two Gypsy clarinet players playing a duet of the kind of music I love. I tipped them and was amazed that here were a couple of great players playing outside for tips. They were better than all of the clarinet players I play with. It was just another example of dominant culture…

I have seen people who look like people I know. I believe we are closer than the religious, political, and language differences. The food is too much the same. The music, to me, overlaps very much. I started keeping track, well at least today. I have seen people who look like my daughter Armené, Garabed Darakjian, Kevork Toroyan, a more homely version of John Harotian, and many others.

I am beginning to fully understand the Armenian dilemma regarding Istanbul. It is a city, easy to love, in a country with policies that strain that relationship.

April 11, 2010 – Istanbul

It is my first full day in this great old city.

I had the greatest tour guide and dear friend, Siragan Magar. Siragan is the brother of Bedros Magar who is married to my cousin Sandy. Originally from Yozgat, Siragan has lived in Istanbul for many years and knows the city well. I had met Siragan twice before once in New York and another time in Detroit. We hit it off well those times and it was like we had seen each other once a week. He met me at my hotel this morning and agreed to an agenda for the day. We agreed to go to an Armenian Church, go to Dolmabahçe Palace, and then take a boat ride to one of the Prince’s Islands to have dinner.

We decide to go to Surp Vartanants Church because it was, at most, a ten minute walk from my hotel. Surp Vartanants is in the Feriköy section of the city. It was a rather unimposing façade off of the street. It was just a double door in a non-descript wall. The doors had crosses on them and above the door a simple sign: Surp Vartan Kelisesi . I did not know what to expect from the very plain entrance. In walking through the door, I realized the church was inside a courtyard and I felt much better. I realized it is probably better to have a plain front for an Armenian Church in this country. I lit two candles and said a prayer for my grandparents and great-aunts and uncles and those of my wife. These wonderful and special people were all born in what today is the Republic of Turkey. I felt very good and connected doing this as the morning service was ending and the mass was about to begin. The church was full but it was mostly old people. Younger people were coming in and out with their youngsters. There was a school attached to the Church and it had two social halls as well. Siragan told me a lot of Armenians now lived in Feriköy both Armenians born in Turkey and those who had come from Armenia to work.

From Surp Vartan, we caught a taxi and went to Dolmabahçe Palace. It was first and foremost on the list of Ottoman sites I wanted to see. I have an indirect personal connection to this place. The palace was commission by the 31st Sultan of the Empire, Abdulmecid , in 1856. He wanted a western style palace to take the place of the more oriental style Topkapi Palace which I will visit tomorrow. The architects that the Sultan commissioned were the famous Armenian architects Garabet Balian and his son Nigoghos. The Armenian connection in itself would be most indirect but I know the great great great (and maybe another great in here, I am not sure) of Garabet. First cousins Rich Berberian and John Harotian are good friends and fellow musicians. They played at both my children’s weddings and John and I are in the same band in Chicago. I had to see this place.

In one word… WOW. I was very impressed and immediately thought about my reaction to remotely similar, much less grand, edifices that the Spanish built in Latin America. There is no limit to what you can do with the unlimited wealth gotten in creating an empire. The gilding, the incredible frescos, the English or Baccarat crystal chandeliers weighing 1, 2 and 4 tons, inlay flooring, the Turkish carpets of unreal dimensions, the porcelain doorknobs, the china, and paintings (including a wonderful piece from the renown Armenian artist Ivan Aivazovsky. It was phenomenal. Go to http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/istanbuldolmabahce to see photos of this amazing palace.

From Dolmabahçe, Siragan and I walked to the ferry port past a mosque the Balians had also built next to the palace. We had a cup of tea waiting for the ferry that goes to four of the Prince’s Islands in the Sea of Marmara. These islands with are summer retreats and homes of the well heeled of Istanbul. It is like Cape Cod is to Boston and Providence, with the charm of Istanbul, if that even makes sense. The ferry goes to the four largest of the islands Kinaliada, Burgazada, Heybeliada, and Büyükada. We went to Büyükada, the largest of the nine island chain. The ferry ride took an hour and a half. It was great watching people, the coastline, and to talk with Siragan. In Büyükada, we went to a restaurant right on the sea. The food, the entire experience, walking around the streets of the resort island was great.

What are my overall impressions?

I came here both excited and apprehensive. I had only known Turkey and Istanbul through the eyes of others, what I have read, and heard. I was a bit worried about being Armenian in a place that for the past hundred years, for sure, was not kind to Armenians. I was worried about my last name.

I had nothing to worry about. There were no issues. No one gave a second thought about my last name or even questioned it in any way at all. It is a total non-issue. Siragan and I talked Armenian all day everywhere, in public, on the Ferry, in the restaurant, in Dolmabahçe. No one even looked at us funny.

I was worried about being in a Moslem country for the first time. 10-15% of the women have headscarves. No big deal. I heard my first call to prayer at 1 pm. No one within my range of vision even flinched and no one prayed.

The city reminds me of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. It is European and it is definitely Turkish. It is a great place to hang out and explore. It is a great place to experience the rich history here and the culture that overlaps the Armenian so much. A good 70% look like we could be related.

It was a perfect cool blustery spring day. I could not have picked a better day to visit this city, this Constantanopolis, this Bolis… Istanbul.

I got up at 7:30 am after a blissful sleep. I went to the gym of the hotel. I was the only one exercising so the nice attendant lady went to change the channel to something she thought I would like such as CNN. I asked her if there was any good Turkish music on TRT. She looked at me sideways but found a folk music concert. I commented that I recognized the singer Bedri Aysli (an Armenian). The lady asked me, “You know Bedri Aysli?” “Yes and I know this song.” She was clearly surprised.

As I exercised, another show came on. It was called Göçmen Kuşların. It reminded me of a show on Discovery Channel in the US called Dirty Jobs in which they explore jobs most people might not have the fortitude for. I thought this because the host followed a garbage scavenger around. This fellow began work in the dead of night with his rickshaw like wagon. He went through the garbage before it was collected and took recyclables and anything he thought he could clean-up, fix, and resell. It was tedious and at times dirty. It could not have been easy dragging that cart, full of refuge, uphill. I asked later what göçmen kuşların meant? It means “migrating birds” which is what the Turks call those people who leave their village to try to make a go of it in Istanbul. They often take on the most menial kinds of work. It was very interesting. They even followed the man and his wife and daughters on their day off to see what they do for recreation. This reminded me of Orhan Pamuk’s depiction of life in Kars in his book Snow which I am reading while on this trip.

I am very glad to be here. There is no substitute for experiencing a place first hand.

Opening Day

It was the opening day of major league baseball today. I was completely unaware for maybe for the first time. I knew it was the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. I am watching Duke and Butler battle out as I type this. But, I did not know it opening day until I heard it on the radio about 5 pm.

I find this odd because it was so far off of my radar screen. I used to love opening day. It was my “official” first day of spring. Every fan of every team is hopeful their team will go to the World Series. It is a time of great optimism. It is a time to celebrate baseball.

This year baseball was nowhere on my radar screen. This is sad to me. Am I finally fully grown up? Am I now completely jaded? I wish I could say I was too busy know but that just is not true.

I listen to National Public Radio when I am driving. I love listening to their opening season reporting. It is the Roger Angel and Field of Dreams approach to baseball reporting. They tap into the richness of baseball literature always make me nostalgic and sentimental about the game and this time of year. Somehow this year, I missed their coverage. I may have been on the phone.

It was on NPR that I really leaned to appreciate the timelessness of baseball. I am not referring to the age of the game nor its lasting heritage. I refer to the fact that there is no clock. A team could theoretically win the game with two out and two strikes in the ninth inning if they are down one run or ten. A game could theoretically go on indefinitely. Baseball, unlike football, basketball, soccer, and hockey, is timeless.

I grew up in Detroit. I loved the Detroit Tigers. I could not wait until the season started. I was excited about the new players and, of course, the players I had been living and dying with as long as I had been a fan. The city was full of buzz for opening day. The stadium, Briggs Stadium, was full on opening day. Grown men played hooky from work to be a kid again.
I remember the great 1968 World Series Championship team starters by name.

Norm Cash 1B

Dick McAuliffe 2B

Dick Tracewski SS

Don Wert 3B

Bill Freehan C

Al Kaline RF

Mickey Stanley CF

Willie Horton/Jim Northrup LF

Denny McClain P

Mickey Lolich P

Earl Wilson P

Gates Brown PH

I am some kind of old fogy. My interest in baseball began to wane, I believe, when free agency began. The luminaries, my heroes, were always Tigers. I could not imagine Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Gates Brown, Dick McAuliffe, or Mickey Lolich playing for anyone else but the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won the World Series that year. It was a great time for me. I was fifteen and had been a Tiger fan all of the 1960s. It was cool.

In December 1975, free agency came to baseball. The best players became their own brands and went to the highest bidder. There is nothing wrong with that. It is capitalism. But, I had trouble keeping focused on the team when the players, the best players, moved around. I thought that belonged in Eurpoean Soccer not baseball. Many people got used to it but not me. I never liked it. Add to this the designated hitter rule and, ugh, baseball changed for me. I liked Hank Aguirre batting .010, he was a good pitcher and such a bad hitter. I loved Earl Wilson who would hit homers to win his own games. Thankfully, the pros never went to the metal bats.

Jack Morris debuted with the Tigers in 1979. He was a great pitcher. In 1984, on April 7^th, he pitched a no-hitter against the White Sox. It was the signal of what would be a great year. He was the ace of the staff and notched 19 victories that year. The Tigers won the World Series that year. It was great. Twice in a lifetime was like a real gift. There is nothing like a winner to bring fans back to the game.

But Morris did not stay a Tiger. In 1991, he went to the Minnesota Twins and led them to a World Series Championship. He moved on to Toronto in 1992 and led them to a World Series trophy as well. I have said since then it was easier to be a Jack Morris fan, which I was, than a Detroit Tigers fan.

A funny thing happened when I moved to Connecticut in 1990. I became a reluctant Yankees fan. It is funny because I hated the Yankees from the 1960s when they used to beat on my beloved Tigers. They were the best team money could buy. They were owned by inflammatory George Steinbrenner who changed managers seemingly at a whim. But, who couldn’t like Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and the rest. They were a likeable crew. They were… likeable Yankees. Go figure. After decades of not going to ball games. I went to Yankee games and enjoyed them. I went with my kids. I went with my Latino friends who were working at Colgate in the city. Everyone in the Latin American baseball countries were Yankee fans.

Upon returning to Chicago, I got into both the Yankees and the Cubs. I loved how there was no middle ground. You were either a White Sox fan or a Cub fan. Where I wanted to see a subway series between the two, real Chicago fans wanted their team in the Series and the other to finish last. It is pretty amusing for someone from the outside.

These days, I go to a game or two each year, especially if tickets fall into my lap. The only time I watch baseball on the TV is during the playoffs and the World Series. That is the best baseball and the only thing worth watching.

But, somehow, this year, I missed opening day. What’s up with that?

iPad

The Apple iPad went on sale today.

Yesterday morning, April 2, 2010, I was watching The Colbert Report. It was a repeat of the April 1, 2010 show. I do not remember much about it except for one segment.Stephen Colbert , the very funny host, put up a copy of the latest Newsweek magazine. On it was a photo of the iPad, Apple’s just released tablet computer that has been the buzz of the moment.Stephen Colbert was commenting on the launch and all the free publicity Apple was getting being on the cover of a major magazine. Then while still commenting on and emphasizing the very free and high impact value of having the iPad on the front of such a magazine, he turned the magazine around and showed an advertisement for Amazon.com’s Kindle on the back cover.

Stephen Colbert noted that Amazon.com had paid for their ad. Apple’s high impact essentially free ad for their exciting new product was on the front cover of Newsweek. Amazon.com had paid for their ad for their product that had a display, he paused for effect and then said, in “Oh look the screen has both black and gray.”

He did not have to say anything else. But he did and it all was pretty funny even though it was an April Fools segment. (Search on "Stephen gets an iPad.")

Later the same day, I was driving around and listening to WBEZ the local NPR affiliate here in Chicago. They were also covering the launch of the iPad. They were interviewing an official from the Short Hills Mall, “an upscale mall,” in northern New Jersey. The mall official was being asked how they were preparing for crowds that were anticipated for this launch. Don’t quote me, but I recall an extra 30K people expected to visit the mall this weekend. Maybe it was only 3,000 people or 10,000. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the mall was absorbing the cost of $2,000 per day for extra security and crowd management paraphernalia (Velvet ropes? Police tape?). The mall official was excited because if they could get folks in and out of the Apple Store quickly and mannerly, these same customers would have lunch in the mall and shop in other stores. They were expected a good weekend at the Short Hills Mall.

Is the iPad a game changer? It is the beginning of the end for the laptop? Am I ready for the end of the laptop? I am still having trouble grasping the concept that young folks don’t e-mail in favor of texting, facebooking, and twittering. If the iPad is a game changer, the players in this game change are definitely the more youthful users.

The iPad sure seems like it could be game changer.

Apple has what Seth Godin calls a viral idea or viral product. It is exciting and there is a class of people called innovators, what Sony used to call ‘the crazies,’ that have to be the first to get something new and exciting. It is viral because the buzz and excitement spreads with these innovators, these crazies, sneezing i.e. telling everyone they know that got the hot new thing. They will show everyone they know that they got the hot new thing. The idea spreads like… well a virus, a new product epidemic. Retailers cannot keep the product on the shelf and thus create more demand. The runaway success of the iPod and iPhone has given Apple the kind of reputation that brings about this kind of excitement and buzz. It has extended to the iPad and beyond.

“Standing outside an Apple store in Arlington, Va., Saturday, was John Kay, a 27-year-old employee of AT&T Inc. He would pay for just about anything Apple made and said, ‘If they came out with a $1,000 microwave, I'd buy the microwave.’” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125534493&ft=1&f=1001

In reading the reviews, there is a mix of opinion. No keyboard. No mouse. That bothers some. Other detractors say it is a glorified iPhone and in time no one will want a phone this big. Basically, if the Kindle is cool, the iPad is cooler. If not an laptop killer, the iPad may well become a killer of the mini-laptops or e-mail computers. It is small, thin, can be a phone, music player, and mini-laptop all in one. In the New York Times, David Pogue noted that “The haters tend to be techies; the fans tend to be regular people.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/technology/personaltech/01pogue.html

Here are my views

• Could I have prepared this blog offering on an iPad? Could I type a thousand words a day on it?
• I carry two books that I am having trouble finishing in my bag these days. With an iPad, I could carry ten, twenty, and probably more books I would have trouble finishing. That would be efficiency!
• I could never ever see watching a movie or TV show my Blackberry or iPhone… no matter how much fun the TV made it look. Blackberry, and perhaps iPhone, internet connectivity is very slow. Is the iPad better?
• It would be really cool if I could have a cell phone and iPad and via the iPad decide which one I wanted to be active. Can I patent this idea?
• If I had an extra $400-500, and that is a big if, I might consider buying an iPad over a mini-laptop. My felling is I could get more functionality in a smaller weight and dimensional product.

Did I even think of going to buy an iPad today? Was there some curiosity to go and watch others buy them, bask in the buzz, and maybe get to play with one? Naw, not even a little bit. I have never been a crazy. I like things. I like gadgets and gizmos. But, I don’t have to be the first on my block or my socio-economic class to have one. I can wait. I will wait. I will wait until I see how the market reacts beyond this early surge of excitement. I want to see if I see a lot of folks carrying iPads around and using them. I will ask them what they like and don’t like. Then, just maybe, I may invest in one.