I have a very diverse group of friends. I love them all, and I relish their diversity. I am hearing strange rumblings from my liberal friends lately that they, and their liberal friends, are beginning to abandon Obama.
One such friend was on vacation for the summer, and he told me that he and his friends, who were main financial supporters of Obama, were now feeling embarrassed that they had put their support and money behind Obama. I’m quoting here – he said, “Tell all of your friends to go vote in this election!”
My friends come from all walks of life – all religions, all economic levels, different political parties. I talk to all of them, and I listen to all of them. And I am now hearing a panic in my liberal friends about the direction that this country is going in. It is a panic I expect to hear from my conservative friends, but from my liberal friends, I find it shocking.
But I also find it hopeful, that maybe the tide is turning, and people are finally seeing the signs. If that is the case, then maybe this country has a chance
I just got back from a week in Pebble Beach. There’s no place in the world more beautiful, and it is America! We played golf at Pebble Beach, and stayed right there at the Inn at Spanish Bay, but within a 30 mile radius, there is so much more to do than just play the greatest golf course in the world. The high temperature was 62, low about 52.
One of my favorite lunch spots was the Stillwater Café at the Pebble Beach Lodge, which overlooks the 18th green and the Stillwater Cove on the Pacific Ocean. It is an amazing place, but the food and wine is even more amazing. In Carmel, my favorite restaurants are Christopher’s, Bouchee, and Flaherty’s.
If you are visiting Monterey Wharf, don’t miss Café Fina. My Italian friend, Dominick, who is partners with John Madden, is a longtime owner of restaurants on the Monterey Wharf. It’s fabulous, and the food is so fresh! Carmel Valley has a wonderful inn and outdoor restaurant called Bernardus. It sits right in the middle of their own vineyard, and they make a great, great chardonnay. There is no place in Europe that is any more beautiful than Bernardus, and the food and wine is world class!
We also had drinks at Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch Inn. The place is about 150 years old and sits in a marsh-type area that opens up to the Pacific Ocean. You can eat, have drinks, it’s very old fashioned, very charming and different.
We went to Big Sur twice while we were there – once for lunch and once for dinner. We left Pebble Beach in the fog and 60 degrees, and arrived in Big Sur to 80 degrees and bright sunshine! We had lunch at the Post Ranch Inn, which sits about 1,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean, with the most stunning views I’ve ever seen.
While our lunch was five-star, the ambience and view were 10-star! We went back to Big Sur a couple of days later for dinner at Ventana, which is something I have been doing for 30 years. We eat outside in front of their big fireplace, and watch the sun set over the Pacific. Behind us to the east, so close it seems like we can touch them, are the golden hills that are so unique to California. It’s a spectacular place to spend an evening with friends.
I hope this gives you a notion of the diversity you can find in a 20 or 30 mile radius of the Monterey Peninsula, the Carmel Valley, Carmel Beach, and Big Sur. Again, all part of America. I have no need to travel anywhere else!
If you have the opportunity to visit the Monterey peninsula, I hope you’ll explore it and enjoy it like we do.
Fran is going to be a guest on The Fred Thompson Radio Show, a national talk radio program, today at 1:45 PM ET. The show will be guest-hosted by Dom Giordano, a Philadelphia media personality, and they will be discussing current events as they pertain to small business.
Click on the link below to see the Station Finder:
Your touching communiqué to your friends and teammates is heartwarming. I like it that sentimentality has smitten you as you turn 70. You have a lot of close friends who care about you because you care about them. Gratefully, I feel that I am in that group.
None of us is without flaws or shortcomings, failures or setbacks, but each of us should have some redeeming feature in our lives. With you, it is your consummate underscoring of an upbeat tempo. Nobody I know has ever accentuated the positive more than you. You have been on “uppers” all your life. What a joy to see that in a friend and know it is natural. That is why I am always trying to find my way to Atlanta to see you. You’re busy, but you always make time for your friends. For that, I am truly grateful.
You are a gifted conversationalist. I’ve known nobody with a greater gift of conversation than you – unless it is Lee Trevino. Whenever I get to see him when I am in Dallas, I come away with the greatest feelings. Like you, when he talks – about anything – he has something to say. With a lot of people, conversation is meaningless. No substance. Like that good looking girl Jerry Burns talked about.
Another very important asset in your life is your loyalty to your friends. You also inspire loyalty from your friends which is why I drove my Volkswagen, in 1965, to Baltimore (to see Raymond Berry and then took the train to NY to the World’s Fair); then reclaimed the VW and drove across to Chicago and up to Bemidji to see you at the Viking training camp. You got me a room in the dorm at the college, you arranged for me to eat at the training table, and if we went out, you got the check. I wasn’t freeloading, but if you hadn’t done that, the trip would have had to have been aborted. (If the state trooper in Indiana had given me a ticket for speeding instead of a warning, that would have also cause me to abort.) While I was moving around the country, Myrna was studying at Northwestern for a few weeks. Leaving Minnesota, I picked her up in Evanston. We drove to St. Louis to see Charley Trippi who was coaching with the Cardinals at that time. Other than gas, and you know how many miles you can travel with a full tank in a VW, I bet we didn’t spend $250. We were rich from the experience, however.
When we got home, we were so grateful for our summer sojourn, all inspired by loyalty to a friend. This is why I have always had the greatest appreciation for our friendship.
For all of you who come to the blog, I have just published an autobiography. It’s called Every Day is Game Day. It’s not just about the wins and losses of football, the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory. It’s about the people and the lesson I’ve learned in my entire life. It’s about the notion that life is about relationships. The secret to happiness in life is relationships that come from caring about your people. It’s on the football field caring about your teammates and in business caring about your customers and your partners.
It’s in all the bookstores. It’s on Amazon.com. I hope you go find it, read it. I think there’s something in it that will serve you well and be an inspiration to you. Thanks for coming to the blog.
[Note: An autographed copy of Fran's latest book can be ordered for $16 + shipping at TarkentonSports.com. Click here to go there now.]
The eagle has landed for Michael Vick. He’s just signed up with the Philadelphia Eagles, and I think that’s great. This young man deserves another chance. He’s a talented talented athlete. Like so many of us we have all made mistakes.
No professional athlete in the history of time has ever had to spend two years in prison to pay for their mistakes. He did. He served his time. He deserves the chance to come out. He doesn’t need to burn in purgatory for the rest of his life. He’s paid his debt to society. He made a mistake. He admitted the mistake and he served his time more so than than anyone else that’s ever lived in the sports world. I think he will do great. I am pulling for him. I want him to knock the cover off the ball.
He’s going to the right organization. He’s going to a stable team the Philadelphia Eagles. Their ownership is stable. Their coach Andy Reid is stable. He’s going with a quarterback that’s already there. Donovan McNabb, who’s the epitome of stability. A quality quality person who I’m sure they talked to about bringing Michael Vick in and said bring it on.
Michael Vick is going to be a great asset to the Eagles because I would think they’d put a package of plays for him in that spread wildcat offense that Miami did last year. It’s a very effective offense. Just think if you have Brian Westbrook and Michael Vick in the same backfield. A package of 15 plays or so every game. It’s going to make Donovan McNabb better. It’s going to add to that football team and make them an offensive challenge for all the defensive coordinators.
Now I know that people are going to criticize the PETA people and the animal rights people. I love animals. I’ve had German Shepherds all my life. Up until three weeks ago I had four dogs. I had three German Shepherds: one 13-year old, two 1-year olds and I have a little tea-cup long haired Chihuahua weighing 2.5 lbs. I love my dogs unconditionally. They talk about dogs love to their master being unconditional love. It’s right back to me. I lost my 13-year old Shepard, Turbo, about 4 weeks ago. It was devastating to me. I cried and grieved for a week. I still miss him. I have a passion and love for my animals.
I understand the mistakes that Michael Vick made but I also understand he deserves anther chance. He paid his debt to society. And Michael Vick, go for it buddy! Go and show the people your skills. Show the people the quality of person that you are. I really believe that this will be a transforming experience for you. And I hope that everybody, everybody pulls for you and supports you because you deserve it.
You know, a few weeks ago I did a blog on recognizing the signs – really looking at reality. My point was that so often we don’t want to look at reality and see how things really are. In our lifetimes, as we grow up and become adults, it’s about problem solving, isn’t it? In business and our personal lives, managing our households, managing our business…it’s about solving problems that come up everyday. And we cannot solve any problems unless we look at the reality and understand that there is a problem.
Let’s talk about this financial meltdown that we are experiencing. And let me tell you that in my 68 years, I have never seen anything that approaches this! I read everything that I can read about what Ben Bernanke is saying and what Henry Paulson is saying, and what all of the European financial leaders are saying, and as we get more information, we are seeing that this meltdown did not jut happen overnight. This has been coming for years and years and years. The sub-prime mortgage meltdown did not just happen. All of these credit swaps did not just happen. Our great financial minds on Wall Street or Main Street or in Congress, Democrats or Republicans, financial experts in America and in Europe….they had to see that this was coming. I’ve talked with people whom I have known for years, people who are brilliant in business and history and the ways of the world, and they all say that this time has been coming for years. They had recognized this and sensed it, and yet our markets went up and even hit record highs just a year ago. People were spending money like crazy buying airplanes and cars and traveling and so forth because at the very top level of our financial geniuses around the globe, they saw the signs but ignored them. The politicians saw the signs but ignored them. Allen Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson…they had to see the signs, but they ignored them. At every level. And you and I at our levels, even though we probably do not have the same level of understanding, we saw the signs and we ignored them. It’s another lesson for us – bad news doesn’t get better with age. In all of our lives, in everything that we do, we have to look at the reality. If our kids are doing drugs, we cannot ignore the fact. We have to deal with it. If we are spending more money than we have and our budget is out of balance, we have to deal with it. We have to look at the reality of whatever our situation is because that is the only way that we can make a difference. I hope and pray that our financial leaders across the world, who are much smarter than me about these matters, and our political leaders will understand it is not about politics now. It is about survival. It is about looking at the signs, looking at the reality. It is about telling me the truth and telling yourself the truth. It is about recognizing the problem, and I think we are right now. Once we recognize the problem, we can start to deal with the problem, and deal with it in every way that we can. We have to understand that it is not going to change tomorrow. These problems have been brought on by years of financial abuse that didn’t have to happen. And if you hear any Republican or Democrat trying to blame it on the other party, shame on them! Because this cannot be about politics. This has got to be about survival, not only of America but the rest of the world financially.
I came back from another one of my great trips a few weeks ago and I like to share with you my trips and where we stay and where we eat and what we do. I’ve talked to you about St. Barths, I’ve talked to you about Pebble Beach. Well, I recently came back from Martha’s Vineyard, and I have to tell you – I had about the best four days there that I have ever had in my life. We were there in August, during the heat of the summer in the south. We go up there and the sky was blue, the high temperature was 75 degrees, and there was no humidity. In the morning I would go read the paper at 6:30 or 7:00 AM and it was 55 degrees. What a beautiful spot! Up in the Northeastern part of the country in the state of Massachusetts, where our early settlers came. I understand why they came to the Northeast – it’s beautiful up there! The water, the beaches, the sailing, the boating, and this wonderful little village of Martha’s Vineyard, this wonderful little island they have protected environmentally.
You have houses that were built in the 1800s, these clapboard houses, and they are all beautifully painted – they must repaint them every two hours! Everything is in place. Everything is kept up. There is great pride in keeping these things neat and clean, and in keeping the environment as it is in its natural state. It’s really a credit to the people who live there — the pioneers of the Northeastern part of the country — who have worked so hard to keep the island so beautiful. The Vineyard is also a great sailing venue. I think that is where Ted Turner sailed out of to win the America’s Cup in 1977. But it is not a pretentious place. The yacht club there where he sailed out of is just a normal little place.
Why would anybody want to go to Europe when you can go to the Monterey Peninsula? And more specifically, when you can go to Pebble Beach and stay at The Inn at Spanish Bay, and enjoy all of Pebble Beach – the great golf, the great lodges, and shops? But also to be able to enjoy Carmel, Carmel Valley, and Big Sur.
It is the most beautiful area that I have ever visited anywhere in the world. I have been going to Pebble Beach in August for the last 10-12 years because in Atlanta it is so hot and so humid in August that I go to Pebble Beach. The high at Pebble Beach during the week that I was there last week was 70 degrees. The low was 52 degrees. We were never hot, it was always cool – a great temperature for the trip, and great for golf.
As I’ve said to you often, entrepreneurs are the best business people in this country, and the reason they are is they are the ones that are doing the work. They are engaged. They have their hands all over their businesses. They’ve got good hearts, and they work hard at what they are doing, at whatever age they are.
One of the greatest entrepreneurs and greatest human beings I have ever known is Buddy Koffman from Binghamton, NY. He came into my life when I was 27 years old. I was playing for the New York Giants and had started some businesses in Atlanta. I had a lawyer who worked with me who was a good soul and a bright man, and he was going to run all these businesses for me. He did – but he ran them right into the ground!
