The Irrelevant Individual Fan II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. As mentioned yesterday, the sports owners consider individual fans irrelevant. They are focused on the corporations. Will this hurt them?
The answer is, maybe. From a gate receipt perspective, no. They can charge whatever they want for 80% of the seats and not have to worry.
From a TV perspective, definitely. Leagues like the NHL which have always been gate receipt based are now suffering with a lack of TV exposure. Kids are not able to watch the games easily in some areas, so they don't know the sport. When they become adults, they don't purchase NHL stuff, but rather another league's souvenirs.
There is a chance most leagues (except the NFL) will no longer be able to command the money they want to. So, does that make the irrelevant fan relevant? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Individual Fan

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Jimmy Traina of si.com asked what the 5 worst things in sports are. The one that most people seemed to point out was how expensive it was to go to an actual pro game. Ticket prices have gotten to the point where a family cannot attend regularly, and all the other costs involved (parking, concessions, gas, etc) do not help either.
Why does the individual fan get gouged so much? Because that fan is irrelevant.
This is explained by the Pareto Principle. 20% of the fans account for 80% of the revenue. In the case of an arena, this translates into the box seats and floor level seats. Anything above the bottom row is irrelevant.
Because the 20% are priced out of reach for 99% of people, the remaining 80% can be priced at whatever the owners please, because anything less seems like a bargain to an ordinary fan.
Will this cause sports to have problems? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Theory IV

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Once you've found the kingmaker, the one who can implement your "world is round" theory for the benefit of mankind, you have to look for someone who reports into that kingmaker. More specifically, you have to find someone that, when you start at your place on the org chart and this someone's place on the org chart and work up, you arrive at the kingmaker as the first person you both report to.
Once you've found that someone (who I'll call the verifier), you have to convince the verifier. The verifier will probably be someone in a different department who will also benefit from the "world is round" theory. If you get that person on board, you can then go to the kingmaker.
Will the kingmaker approve if two people from two different departments come with an idea? It's a better bet than going solo. Two different perspectives, and an idea that will benefit at least two different departments willbe tough to refuse.
Please try this relevant theory method, and let me know how it works.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Theory III

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Okay, you now have proven your "world is round" argument using an objective, accepted test. Does that mean you're done? Hardly.
If you're perceived to be irrelevant, it's just the beginning. What you have to do is find the right person in your organization politically to present this theory to.
So how do you do that? Ask your immediate supervisor. Worst case, it keeps your supervisor in the loop. Best case is your supervisor may be the only person you have to tell, because they may have the political clout required.
If your supervisor does not have the clout, ask your supervisor who would have to approve this new theory. Then look at the organization chart to see who reports into this kingmaker.
What do you do then? Go directly to the kingmaker? Hardly. The answer Monday.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Theory II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. How do you get your theory to be accepted? It has to be proven using an accepted, objective measurement, like DNA testing.
The key is accepted by your would-be detractors. It has to be something they can understand, and can say that result is correct. Any other way will always leave some doubt.
Christopher Columbus said he would sail "off the edge of the world" to prove his theory. He had all his passengers as witnesses. He would prove to everyone he got to "India" by having visual accounts, and different artifacts.
Of course, Columbus did not get to India, but he did prove his theory, and was hailed for it. On the other hand, when Galileo said the Earth revolved around the Sun, instead of the other way around, he was criticized, because his telescope was not seen as an accepted device to prove his theory.
Please come up with an accepted objective test to prove your theories.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Theory

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. My apologies for not writing yesterday, but I was celebrating Victoria Day.
This week will be about theories. There have always been theories that are accepted as gospel, even though they're later proven to be incorrect. The most famoous one is arguably "the world is flat" theory.
If you come up with a "world is round" theory, you're likely to be considered a weirdo (or something worse). It's even more likely if you're already perceived as being irrelevant.
So what to do if you want your theory to become as accepted as the "world is round" theory. There are two approaches you can use. One is to try to disprove the "world is flat" theory. The other is to prove the "world is round" theory.
Is this possible especially for an irrelevant person to make an unaccepted theory accepted? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Education II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Is education irrelevant? It is if you don't use it. Or if you say "I know/knew that", but don't practice it. If you do it, then you know it.
My biggest flaw over the years has been being uncoachable because I thought I knew it all. I am a good learner when it comes to reading something. My golf game is my biggest source of accomplishment, because I've shot around par for most of my career, even though I'm self-taught. I got my instruction from reading golf magazines and watching golf on TV. I felt I could do the same with other subjects.
It's only in the last 5 years that I've started to listen to various instructors when I'm attending classes, and really making an effort to do the exercises they recommend. Before I used to skip the exercises because I equated memorizing dialogue and pages with actually doing things.
Please do all exercises to make your education relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Education

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. There is no such thing as bad education. All education helps a person grow. However, some education can be irrelevant to a person.
For example, I'm taking a stock market course at the moment. It's been very interesting. I feel I could make enough money from it to never have to work at a real job ever again.
However, if I never use it, and I have to go back to work, that education becomes irrelevant. Why? Because I'm in the same position I was in when I didn't know anything about the stock market. Since I'd be in this position no matter what, it doesn't matter if I had the stock market education. That means this education, or any education for that matter, is irrelevant if I don't use it.
The best thing you can ever do is use your education after you acquire it. Make sure your education is relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Golf Course

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. The other day I heard Richview, a golf course in north Oakville, was no more. It had been turned into a real estate development.
Richview was a course I had caddied at for the best player at my club in the Ontario Open qualifying round. I also played it one year when it opened in March. I thought it was real nice, and it seemed to fill a niche (a relatively inexpensive public course).
Of course, golf courses have often become irrelevant when developers come by. Because the number of golf rounds played is going down, public courses and high end private clubs are having a tough time meeting cash flow obligations. It's much safer to take the developer money and run. After all, golfers will just head to another nearby course if this one goes away.
Sorry you had to become irrelevant Richview.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Golfer

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. I've now become an irrelevant golfer. No one cares how often I play, or where I play. I've decided not to keep a handicap. I don't belong to any leagues. I'm not going in any tournaments. The GAO (Golf Association of Ontario) and the RCGA don't see me on their radar. I'm not going to ask too many people to play with me. So far I've just been playing Monday and Wednesday mornings, mostly by myself.
So am I irrelevant? According to all governing bodies, definitely. The question is, should I be irrelevant? Should there be an organization that cares about me? I'd really like your feedback on this one.
Should private golf clubs be trying to recruit me? Should golf magazines be persuading me to subscribe? Should golf stores be trying to sell me? Should there be a parade of golf people at my door? Please let me know.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Silent Auction Bid II

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. So what makes the $80 bid irrelevant, when it could be the winning bid? It's not your best bid. And since you're probably at the event because of a personal contact, either directly or indirectly, you may have some belief in the cause benefitting from the event.
If that's the case, then the relevant objective of the event is to raise as much money as possible for the cause. Getting the best deal on a silent auction item is irrelevant. In fact, in the ideal world, the event would be irrelevant, because people would just give the money.
As someone who does a little bit of fundraising, I can honestly say there is nothing more rewarding than seeing someone bid generously for the silent auction items. What I do at our event is put my best bid for an item, then walk away. I bid the retail price because it still results in a 14% savings (no taxes) if I win.
Please give generously to your favourite cause. It makes you feel great, and relevant!

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Silent Auction Bid

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advise.

Hello. Memories of silent auction bidding are going through my mind. I've been at two events in the past 3 weeks with silent auctions. I've seen bidding at our fundraiser for 8 years. Here's what I've discovered.
There are quite a few people who will bid $80 on an item they'd spend a maximum of $100 for. Then when they are unable to raise a person's $90 bid in time (prior to the close), they lament how they would've paid $100 for it.
In the above example, the $80 bid was irrelevant. Why? Because it wasn't the person's best bid. They should've asked what their best bid was (in this case $100) and bid it. That way they either get the item for what they were willing to spend, or not get it because someone else paid what they were not willing to spend.
So why bid $100, when they might've gotten it for $80? More tomorrow.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Wait

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Yesterday was a strange weather day. When I woke up, there was frost on the ground. Then when I went to golf at 10:30am, I had my shorts on. It's amazing how quickly it got extremely warm.
As a result of the frost delay and the tournament ahead of us, we couldn't start golfing until after 11am. This meant I could not play 18 holes, as I had a 3pm appointment. I told my group members that up front, then decided to stop after 9 holes rather than play 12 holes and walk in.
A few years ago, not playing 18 holes would've really gotten me irritated. Now, however, I see it as irrelevant. The main thing is to play and enjoy the holes I do play, instead of worrying about the ones I didn't play. And while I would like to play more holes, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, especially since I'm now golfing at this course for free.
Look at the glass as being half full, because that's the relevant half.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Result

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Hello. I played on Friday at the 9th Annual Cystic Fibrosis Golf Tournament at Angus Glen North Course (site of the 2007 Canadian Open). A friend asked me what our group shot. I replied we were under par, which should not be too difficult in a scramble format (everyone hits a shot, then take the best shot and everyone hits from there). We were among the highest scores there. My friend's team did better, even though they didn't have great golfers on their team.
My friend then asked why I didn't try to put together a "super team" with 3 other really good golfers, so I could try to win. After telling him I had won 3 years ago, I mentioned the result from our perspective was irrelevant. My spouse and I were more interested in golfing with each other and with friends, and supporting our favourite charity.
It's best on days like last Friday to put everything into perspective, to find out what's really relevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Doan Controversy

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Hello. Much has been made by federal politicians about Shane Doan captaining the Canadian World Hockey Championship team. I think the whole point (what little I've heard) is irrelevant.
First, Doan was never charged with anything. He is only alleged to have made a French racial slur. In fact he sued for character assault.
Second, is the point that Doan shouldn't be captain? Sidney Crosby would be a better choice, but he decided not to play. Doan at least wants to play, which should be worth something.
Maybe Doan shouldn't be playing at all. If so, then why wasn't GM Steve Yzerman informed by the feds that he couldn't choose Doan? Wouldn't that have stopped this controversy?
Why wasn't a similar outrage made by the feds when Todd Bertuzzi was included on the Olympic team? Wasn't he charged with physical assault at the time?
If the feds want a person with great character to be captain, they wouldn't even be able to choose Sir John A. McDonald, the father of Confederation, because he was an alcoholic.
Next time, feds, make your complaints behind close doors. They are irrelevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Gas Prices

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Everyone is obsessed with gas prices, especially after they hit 1.08/litre in the GTA Tuesday. However, I feel gas prices are irrelevant for the following 10 reasons:

10. You can take alternative transportation to work (mass transit, bike, walk, roller blade, etc)
9. You can live closer to your work
8. You can work closer to your home (or even at home)
7. You can drive during non-rush hour traffic
6. You can get your company to cover your gas costs
5. You can carpool so you pay for a fraction of a tank
4. You can hitchhike
3. You can move into a hospital, fake illness at work and have an ambulance take you "home"
2. You can siphon gas out of someone else's car
1. You can fill a hot air balloon up with the official lines from all parties responsible for gas prices and commute by flying

Regards,
Irrelevant

The Irrelevant Gossip

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. Why are people preoccupied by gossip? Case in point - typing "Anna Nicole Smith" in Google gets almost 7 million hits; "Tiger Woods" gets almost 4 million.
Why the big interest in who gets Anna Nicole's fortune? Are all these people trying to get it? I don't think I'll qualify, so I'm not interested.
Other than many males claiming to be the father, what's so unusual about this that people are so obsessed? Wouldn't Tiger Woods, a golf legend pursuing another legend, Jack Nicklaus, be more interesting? Or global warming? Or poverty?
My spouse gets People magazine. I do look at the article table of contents, because I want to see if there's something current, like the Virginia Tech shooting. But I really don't care what celebrities are wearing, or who they're dating.
Focus on relevant things, and make gossip irrelevant.

Regards,
Irrelevant