...Minnesota's 'cash for clunkers' program

I have always loved Brett Favre. Today the Vikings quarterback will make his 296th consecutive start against the Washington Redskins, but he’ll do so under the weather...and does anyone care?

Favre told ESPN that he’s been sick most of the week and he might have pneumonia. Favre received a steroid pack, had an injection and missed a portion of team meetings on Saturday because he was resting, according to the report.

Favre has told the media he wants to start the final six games and then retire for good. Thank God!  He is 41 years old, has thrown an NFL-high 17 interceptions, and his 69.8 passer rating is the second-worst in the league.

What a difference a year makes. It was last year at this time when Brad Childress had plenty to be thankful for. Mainly, Brett Favre! Favre completed an amazing 88 percent of his passes in a sold-out Metrodome where the Minnesota Vikings routed Seattle 35-9 and improved their record to 9-1.

The Viking fanatics gave Favre a standing ovation. Seattle head coach Jim Mora gave Favre a chance to quit while he was ahead.

“Would you please retire?” Mora pleaded to Favre.

Of course, Mora’s father is best known more for his infamous 2001 post-game tirade as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts: “Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game.”

Had Brad Childress not been fired as the Vikings coach Monday morning, he could have used the same line at his weekly press conference. Vikings assistant Leslie Frazier should’ve used the line when he was introduced as the Vikings’ eighth head coach Monday afternoon.

Playoffs? Are you kidding me? Frazier just hopes this disheveled group of Vikings can win at least one more game this season.

Last Sunday’s embarrassing 31-3 loss to the Packers put a fork in the 3-7 Vikings. They are as done as that 25-pound turkey Clark Griswold overcooked in National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation.”

“Save the neck for me, Clark.”

Obviously, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre has had better seasons. The future Hall of Famer leads the league with 17 interceptions. His 69.8 passer rating is the lowest of his career since his rookie season. I know I said that already...but "come on man!!"

The Vikings, who lost in overtime in the NFC championship game last season, are 3-7. Favre reportedly was at odds with former coach Brad Childress, who was fired and replaced, on an interim basis, by defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

Favre is still capable of big performances. In Week 9, Favre passed for a season-high 446 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions as he led the Vikings to a 27-24 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

He still can sling it…but too much has happened this year Brett…give it up. Do something that no one would expect out of you. Quit. Not at the end of the year…quit now. Go home and mend your relationship with your wife that has been your supporter through thick and thin.

And since you have trouble deciphering the two…this is a “thin” time sir. Mora was right…retire.

...can you generate customer loyalty?

That may be one of the toughest questions your organization has to answer. A consumer might be completely satisfied with a brand, but does that mean she won't jump at a chance to save money, become more efficient, etc?

It can be hard to stay loyal when there are many options available, and simply providing world class customer satisfaction is no longer enough.

Walker Information Inc. recently polled consumers on the topic of loyalty. Their research indicated "there's still a yawning gap between the percentage of people who say they're satisfied with a business and those who consider themselves 'loyal' to that business-intent on maintaining the relationship and continuing it into the future. Many companies have figured out how to deliver satisfaction, but they've not yet figured out how to earn loyalty anywhere near those levels."

With increased competition, and focuses on cost, all companies must continually exceed their client's expectations and focus on building long-term, profitable relationships. Delivering results, at a fair price and with the right level of attention has never been more important or challenging.

Every company spends a huge amount of time and resources on retention. I once worked for a company that each month, we implemented new strategies to 'save' customers from switching to other companies, all while trying to balance profitability and customer satisfaction. The one thing we failed to do was to prepare for our customers' future needs. Most of the time, when we were at the point of trying to retain them, it was already too late.

Anticipating those customers' needs lets them know that you care about their business, and you want them to reach their goal. Instead of focusing on how to simply retain, companies need to think about building rock-solid relationships that have customers wanting to do business with them over their competitors.

Is your company focused on meeting customers' future needs?

..next-5 steps to getting there...

...Cincinnati soon found out

Sparky Anderson was as much a storyteller as he was a baseball manager. Games come and go. Wins and losses are forgotten. But the stories endure.

And that is why Sparky and Casey Stengel are the two managers most prevalent in the memories of fans. They had substance and a pleasantly fractured style that made us want more of them. But we’ve gotten all we’re going to get of Sparky. He died Thursday of complications with dementia shortly after being placed in hospice care at his long-time home in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

He won 2,194 games and three World Series with the Cincinnati Reds (1975, 1976) and Detroit Tigers (1984). And he won over countless people to the game he loved with a passion. There was a reason behind much of what many labeled simply as Sparky being Sparky. Using his gift of gab to take the pressure off his players exemplified that approach.

Anderson was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame five years later, joining many of the players who had been instrumental in racking up all those wins. And he made clear in his induction speech how much his players had meant to him.

"Let me tell you this, and get it straight, and I hope every manager that follows me will listen very carefully: players earn this, by their skills," he said. "Managers come here, as I did, on their backs, for what they did for me. I never believed different, I will never believe different, and I think that's what made my career so lucky."

When Anderson landed in Cincinnati on Oct. 9, 1969 when I was just a kid, for his introductory press conference, he was greeted by a Cincinnati Enquirer headline that shouted the thought on everyone's mind: "Sparky Who?" No one had ever heard of this guy.

Cincinnati soon found out. The Reds went 102-60 in Anderson's first year, making the playoffs for the first time since 1961. They fell to the Baltimore Orioles in five games in the World Series, but the bar had been raised on the banks of the Ohio River (I cried when we lost by the way). After a brief fall back to 79-83 in 1971, the Reds reeled off five consecutive seasons in which they won at least 95 games.

For years as a young boy I watched from Lexington, Kentucky as Sparky built the ‘Big Red Machine.’ I loved watching him and the Reds as they set the bar higher than even the experts predicted they could as the 'team of the decade.'
You will be missed...and don't step on the chalk line as you enter the gate.

p.s. You even turned me into a Detroit fan years later….

...people can be so damn rude!

People can be so damn rude. A prima donna plops herself in front of everyone standing in line at Fry’s. A guy sitting next to his date is ignoring her as he furiously texts someone else. 

A motorist...who either forgot or did not bother to prepare for an upcoming turn.... cuts off three lanes of traffic just to make it work. These are not hypothetical situations, but a few fine Portland examples.

And obviously discourtesy is not limited to the Pacific NW, but instead rears its ugly, rotting head throughout the entire U.S. of A.

SURVEYS:
• A full 69 percent of folks who answered an August Rasmuseen Reports survey of 1,000 adults across the nation said people are generally becoming ruder and less civilized

• Nearly 70% questioned in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll said people are ruder than they were 20 or 30 years ago. The trend is noticed in large and small places alike, although more urban people report bad manners
• A mere 14 percent, perhaps those who don’t get out much, said people were becoming kinder and gentler while 17 percent were “not sure.” (Maybe they were too busy texting during a date to give the question much thought)

• Other poll results had 62 percent saying Americans were ruder to sales personnel than they were 10 years ago and, in turn, 57 percent saying the sales personnel were also ruder to customers than a decade hence.

So why are people becoming cruder, ruder and more barbaric?

We could easily blame TV and call it a day, since TV is already behind most of the world’s woes. Or we could play with a few other theories. Technology could be to blame. Rudeness often comes from loud cell phone conversations, blaring ringing in the middle of meetings and yes, folks furiously texting or yapping on their phones while out on a date or in other social situations.

Cell phones can also indirectly lead to rude driving. Drivers blabbing on cell phones are perhaps not necessarily attempting to be rude but have instead become so oblivious to the road that they have no clue what they’re doing.

Entitlement is another possibility. Some folks today act as if they are entitled to everything, from being at the front of the line to owning last 50-cent sale item in the clearance bin. They will thus push, shove or steamroll others just to fulfill that entitlement.

Lack of manners can also stem from upbringing, with parents and schools feeding kids the idea that they can do no wrong. Children are applauded simply for breathing. They are gifted with new toys and cars just because they exist.  Such children grow up expecting the world and everyone in it, to bow at their feet – or at least not blink an eye when they abruptly cut the Starbucks line.

So what should we do when accosted with such crude actions?

• Only a slight majority of those surveyed – 51 percent – said they have actually confronted someone for the person’s rude behavior in public.

• A full 44 percent let it go without comment while 5 percent said they were “not sure” if they’ve ever said something about another’s uncivilized actions

Yeah right...I am not sure how people are “not sure” but wonder if they took a beating after the confrontation that could have clouded their memories.

Letting rude behavior slide might be the easiest thing to do, but it also threatens to turn us all into a stack of doormats, letting rude people claw their way to the top of the pile and continue to stomp.

Americans' fast-paced, high-tech existence has taken a toll on the civil in society. From road rage in the morning commute to high decibel cell-phone conversations that ruin dinner when eating out, men and women behaving badly has become the hallmark of a hurry-up world.

An increasing informality — flip-flops at the White House, even — combined with self-absorbed communication gadgets and a demand for instant gratification have strained common courtesies to the breaking point.

A slippage in manners is obvious to many Americans. Peggy Newfield, founder and president of Personal Best, said the generation that came of age in the times-a-changin' 1960s and 1970s are now parents who don't stress the importance of manners, such as opening a door for a female.

So it was no surprise to Newfield that those children wouldn't understand how impolite it was to wear flip-flops to a White House meeting with the president — as some members of the Northwestern women's lacrosse team did in the summer.

• A whopping 93% in the AP-Ipsos poll faulted parents for failing to teach their children well

"Parents are very much to blame," said Newfield, whose Atlanta-based company started teaching etiquette to young people and now focuses on corporate employees. "And the media!!"

Sulking athletes and boorish celebrities grab the headlines while television and Hollywood often glorify crude behavior….not to mention the parents that film their kids fighting on youTUBE.

It is NOT getting any better people. Perhaps it is time to take little Johnny out to the ‘wood-shed’ like we did when I was a kid.