Yelp, there goes the neighborhood

I recently discovered YELP!, a great review site for restaurants, entertainment and more -- including sports. I came about yelp! by reading up on the Chicago Red Stars marketing plans and social media strategies. I hate to say it beacause I work in sports as well, and in a comparable area, but they are really off to a great start and have easily surpassed the National Pro Fastpitch in terms of popularity and in a business sense too.

Anyways, I digress. Yelp! is pretty cool. It's an online reviewing community. If you're going out to dinner or lunch or even to a sporting event, hop on their and check out what others are saying about the place. I certainly would not avoid a place because of the reviews -- obviously think for yourself and experience it on your own -- but if you go to a place, do the justice of giving it a reveiw on Yelp!, good or bad.

Are you on Yelp!, find me and connect!

guess who got new shoes

"Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything is right .... Oh, short on money but long on time, slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine .... cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes"

I just got some new shoes, pictured above obviously, from Zappos and they are awesome. It took me quite some time to pick them out and so far popular opinion is indicating that I did a nice job in the selection process. I owe this new pair of shoes to my younger sister Kristin. She bought them for me for my birthday and graduation -- very nice of her. If you haven't heard of Zappos, go check them out. It's an online shoe megastore with anything and everything you could possibly want. Plus, as the photo shows, I wear size 14 or 15 depending on the brand and Zappos carries those sizes and bigger too.

I've got a huskie/lab with her head on my leg... i think it's time for a walk....Later!

@aophillips

no harm, no foul...

Sometimes in sports you have to do things that may not always seem right. I'm not talking about unethical things like cheating or steroids, but more like replacing someone with another someone. For example, due to a minor scheduling blunder we had only Jamie Schloredt for the Elgin 4th of July Parade. So, we filled the need with some front office interns and special friends of the Bandits. All was smooth, no harm no foul. It kind of sucks that it had to happen, but when a miscommunication caused our players to be on vacation till July 5, we did what we had to do. The mobile, the bus and us all stepped up in a pinch and got it done. Special thanks to Brooke B., Gail, Sam, Stacy, Erin and Erin's guy friend (sorry I forgot your name) for helping us make the parade a success :)

@aophillips