The Dreams of a Solo

Congress, Roger Clemens and Steroids

I hadn't intended on talking about baseball, steroids or Roger Clemens, but I thought I would mark my reemergence on the blogging scene by linking to some current events.  It is also a good time for a public service announcement so here you go.  Cue the NBC public service intro "The More you Know", "Kids, young and old, steroids are bad.  Not only will they cause you great physical harm in the end (i.e. shortened life expectancy, shrinkage, excess acne, ect.), but they will also apparently greatly reduce your mental capacities.  So much so that you may find yourself in a situation where you think it would be a good idea to "allegedly" lie to a federal grand jury (Baroid Bonds) or "allegedly" lie to Congress (Roidger Clemens).  It is never a good idea to lie, but it is especially not a good idea to lie when that perjury could send you to the Big House.  And no when I say Big House I am not referring to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.  Last but not least, steroids are bad because they have removed the cloak of innocence that so many sports fans desperately need to maintain sanity and purpose.  The naivety that we all have shown and the betrayal of trust may leave many of us jaded and scorned for life.  But at least we still have the hope that the "bad" guys will get what's coming and baseball will make it through this Asterisk Era.  In the end we can all agree that steroids and HGH are bad, so don't do it."

In all seriousness folks, I am almost unable to put my reaction to all of this into words.  I am a huge sports fan and all of my life I have been one of those guys that loved the statistics and history of baseball.  I watch anywhere from 10 to 20 live MLB games a year and another 100 or so on TV.  It is just sad really.  All around sad.  Two of this generations best players are set to go down amid this steroid mess.  I find myself disappointed and angry at the players, the union, the owners, and MLB.  On the other side I find myself disappointed and angry that our elected officials are spending time holding hearings on this stuff as if there is nothing more pressing for them to attend to.  Off the top of my head I can think of one thing for them to do that would certainly help my law practice and the peace of mind of a fair number of people.  That would be figuring out what to do with the tax laws that are set to expire at the end of next year.

In any event, this is the world in which we live.  We get information 24/7 for 366 days this year.  The overwhelming majority of that information is a complete waste of time and space in my brain.  I have been interested in the political races this year, but I don't need a constant flow of it to satisfy my appetite.  I don't much care about Heath Ledger, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Anna Nicole Smith, or whatever the latest flavor of the day is.  Come to think of it I don't much care about Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens or even the grand deity here in Wisconsin, Brett Favre.  Our society deifies celebrities and athletes and the truth is those men and women do not matter much in the end.  Their celebrity and fame is built upon the fans.  If there are no fans, then there are no superstars.  My point is all Americans should have cared much more about the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist than they do about the death of actors and actresses, but there is no sparkle in that even though a Supreme Court Justice or an elected representative may have a direct impact on all of our lives.

That will do it for my late afternoon rant.  It's good to be back in the blogosphere.  Now I better get back to work.

NFL Playoffs: A View From Packer Country

From a football fans perspective this is the best time of year.  The NFL Playoffs are in full gear with the Divisional round almost in the books.  This blog is not a sports or football blog, but I am a sports and football fan.  So when I develop things to write about I tend to resort to things towards the front of my mind.  On top of all of that I live in Appleton, Wisconsin, which is only 30 miles from Green Bay for those of you wondering about Wisconsin geography.  Needless to say this is Packer Country.  In fact, the entire state of Wisconsin is Packer Country, but we are up to our eyes in Packer mania 24/7 for 365 days a year.  If I sound negative at all please forgive me.  The truth is I am not a Wisconsin native, nor am I a natural Packer fan.  However, I have come to appreciate and even cheer for the local teams.  That last statement is kind of funny actually since I consider the local teams to be the Green Bay Packers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Marquette Golden Eagles (basketball) and the Wisconsin Badgers (football).  None of those teams are technically "local" since the closest is the Packers and, as mentioned above, they are 30 miles away.  Yet we cheer and we act like we personally know the players such as Brett Favre.  That is the main thing that separates the Packers with my previous experience as a Minnesota Vikings fan growing up in North Dakota.  There is a personal investment by Packer fans in the outcome of the game.  If it would be proper to call the Packer nation the best fans in football, then it would be equally proper to call the Vikings nation the worst fans in football.  Talk about your quintessential fair weather fan base.   (note: this is the second time in a day that I have used the term quintessential, which coincidentally exhausts my supply of said term for the first 6 months of 2008).

The point is that the Packer's playoff push is great entertainment all across the country since the Packers have a somewhat national fan base, but it is infinitively more important here in Wisconsin.  Packer's news is the lead story on the local 10 o'clock news.  Bret Favre is the Governor even though Jim Doyle allegedly occupies that position.  The radio voice of the Packer's, Wayne Larrivee, is also the voice of reason in many households across the state.  After yesteday's dominating performance against the Seattle Seahawks it is near impossible to not feel the electricity in the air.  Are the Packer's going to make it to or win the Superbowl?  We'll see.  All I know is that the Wisconsin economy will inevitably see an up-tick in numbers the longer the Packers survive in the playoffs.  Happy people work harder and spend more money.  They also like to congregate at the local watering hole to watch "their" team make a championship run.  Go Pack Go.

The Mitchell Report is Out: What a bad day for Baseball

This is not the latest breaking news but Major League Baseball has received and published the contents of Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell's report regarding steroid use in baseball.  A PDF version of the report can be found on ESPN.com by following this link:  Mitchell Report.  The report is gigantic (409 pages including exhibits and attachments).  Senator Mitchell was assisted by the law firm of DLP Piper US LLP.  The commissioner's office and Major League Baseball were represented by the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP.  The Mitchell Report names a ton of past and present MLB players.  I have not personally tallied the results but the early estimates put that number somewhere between 60 and 90 players.

I understand that this is not a story that each and every person or even every baseball fan cares about.  But it is a big deal in my opinion.  I am a baseball fan and I have been my whole life.  I am also a stickler for rules and laws.  The truth is that many, many players cheated and broke the law to enhance their physiques or to recover more quickly from injuries.  It will be very interesting to see how the chips fall at the end of the day.

The one law related question that I have at this time is how much do you think the two law firms were paid for their representation and assistance in this matter?  I cannot even imagine what those legal bills look like.  It is too bad that Commissioner Selig or Senator Mitchell did not call me to retain my services.  I would have been happy to help out. 

Friday Night Bowling League!!!

This post is not a normal post in that it covers something that one would assume has nothing to to with a solo law practice or the practice of law in general.  While that would be a very popular assumption, it would also be very wrong.  Okay, that is me being overly dramatic, but the point is that we have our Friday night bowling league tonight and it occurred to me that in addition to the opportunity to post my wife's great action shot of me, I could also share my positive Marketing experiences from bowling. 

As you have seen from my posts over the summer I am involved in a variety of sports or other activities during the year including two golf leagues, a youth soccer league, and now this fall, a bowling league.   In addition to the enjoyment and exercise (debatable, I know) that I derive from these activities, I have also developed valuable friendships and yes, clients along the way.  When I leave the office today I am bringing with a number of business cards and some of my estate planning informational material because fellow bowlers have requested said information.  People like to work with attorneys they know, like and associate with on a personal basis.  If I just looked at people in terms of gross estate values or if all these people see me as is a suit and tie then there is a very good chance we would not have the opportunity to work together.  The moral from my perspective is that we should all strive to be active and visible in our communities.  Clients cannot hire you if do not know who you are and/or if they do not know what you do.  So be proud and promote yourself to anyone and everyone that will listen.  Have a great weekend.