CNBC keeps noting that airline stocks may be a good buy for 2010. Delta and United were the top two picks and have the potential to increase 50%. They are cautious on Southwest (LUV) due to the fact of increasing ticket prices that will try to absorb non fuel related costs.

Panama City Beach – I have been hanging out in PCB at Celadon Beach Resort the last couple of days.  SB 65 today, not bad for December!  Here are some ideas for celebrating on New Year’s Eve if you are in the area.

Breakers located at 12627 Front Beach Road, is having a British New Year’s celebration at 6PM.  There will be a countdown, Champagne and noise makers.  Mike Van Elsen and Ivy start playing at 4:30.  This looks like a disguised early bird special to me. 

The main Breakers celebration starts at 9PM with The Exceptions featuring Big Band, Oldies and Beach Music.  Dinner for two, an open bar as well as all the fun for only $150 per couple.

A little further west on Front Beach Road you will find the Pier Park festivities: 

5:30 pm to 8:30 pm – Family Celebration: Bands including The Barry Fish Band, bounce houses, stilt walkers, balloon artists, face painting, funnel cakes, tons of fun for the kids including 7,000 beach balls being dropped at 8:30 and fireworks off the pier.

8:30 pm to whenever – Countdown celebration: Nothing Short of Pure Band at 9:00 pm, Headliner Band is VERTICAL HORIZON will go on at 10:45pm, funnel cakes, beer and liquor tents, tons of fun for all including a countdown and grand firework display off the pier at midnight!

140+ prizes being given away including 12 Southwest Airlines tickets to ANYWHERE in their network.  Good luck!

Happy New Year!!  http://www.bestpanamacitybeachcondo.com

Digital Image by Pdxrailtansit

Good old Herb Kelleher’s little airline. You know, the guy that spent lotsa bucks, and lotsa political influence in the State of Texas, to stymie creation of a high speed rail network between DFW, and Houston.

Southwest’s Gary Kelly, voted CEO of the Year, keeps aiming high in a challenging environment.

Revenues through the first two quarters are down more than 8 percent. Hundreds of flights had to be dropped from the schedule. Three of the last four quarters operated at a loss. At press time, Wall Street was forecasting this year’s third quarter in the red. Expectations are that Southwest Airlines could lose money in 2009, ending a 36-year run of annual profits.

Yet the business leaders of Dallas have named Gary Kelly—president, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of Southwest—as CEO of the Year. The votes were tabulated as part of the CEO Sentiment Survey 2009 conducted by the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

Kelly’s peers saw how well Southwest has performed compared to its industry rivals, most of which sustained revenue losses reaching the double digits in percentage terms. They saw that Southwest’s flight schedule changes—adding dozens of flights while trimming unproductive routes—led to profit in the second quarter. Though air traffic remains depressed in a sluggish economy and fuel prices are back on the rise, Southwest expanded—Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York LaGuardia, and Boston Logan joined the route map. Flights from Milwaukee were scheduled to begin Nov. 1.

… for more visit dmagazine/dallas ceo of the year

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 WL N714CB (msn 27848) (gold) BWI, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) has announced its schedules and fares from the new Northwest Florida International Airport near Panama City, FL. The new airport is set to open on May 23, 2010. WN will fly to Baltimore/Washington, Houston (Hobby), Nashville and Orlando. In addition the company has announced its summer 2010 schedules which will see a net gain of 41 roundtrips systemwide.

Press release:

finance.yahoo.com/news/Southwest-Airlines-Opens-May-prnews-3778814252.html?x=0&.v=1

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough.

Southwest Airlines’ 2010 Summer schedule effective the week of 09MAY10 sees the launch of new routes. Service from Northwest Florida-Panama City takes off from 23MAY10:

eff 09MAY10
2 Daily St. Louis – Los Angeles
2 Daily St. Louis – Nashville
1 Daily St. Louis – New Orleans
1 Daily St. Louis – San Diego
1 Daily St. Louis – Seattle
1 Daily Seattle – Baltimore
1 Daily Seattle – Kansas City
1 Daily Seattle – Nashville
1 Daily Los Angeles – Baltimore
1 Daily Nashville – Oakland
1 Daily Las Vegas – Norfolk

eff 23MAY10
2 Daily Northwest Florida-Panama City – Baltimore
2 Daily Northwest Florida-Panama City – Houston Hobby
2 Daily Northwest Florida-Panama City – Nashville
2 Daily Northwest Florida-Panama City – Orlando

It’ll soon be even easier to reach the beach next season. Southwest announces today the four destination cities that will be served by the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, opening May 23, 2010.

NASHVILLE – HOUSTON – BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON DC – ORLANDO

Click here to view there interactive map.

Wow, they had me at 2 bags fly for free but after my experience with their customer service today they now have me wrapped around their wings!  Southwest Airlines is my carrier of choice!

Some back story on why I’m head over heels for Southwest Airlines:

Carol (my mom) called me about 1/2 hour ago super excited that she just booked our flights for the amazing family cruise we are taking in May.  Southwest Airlines just opened their summer schedule and our vacation will be the first week of May so she was finally able to book the flights for myself, my husband, my brother and his girlfriend.  My reaction was of course happy and giddy and I wanted to know what days/time we were leaving on our flight and my mom said that I needed to check my email because she had already forwarded along the official Flight Itinerary.  Woo Hoo, I’m checking it out while she’s on the phone and this is how our conversation goes:

Jesy: “Mom, George is a second, not a third.  It is George Robert Herron II not III.”

Mom: “Oh, don’t worry about that I’m sure they won’t even notice the extra ‘I’ in his name.  Plus, I could have sworn you told me he was a third.”

Jesy: “No mom, OH SHIT, you have me down as Jessica Leigh Wenstrup???  Mom, I’m HERRON, remember?  I’ve been married for 4 years”

Mom: “oooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh F&^% (won’t repeat the real word but I think you get the hint) what are we going to do?“

Jesy: “I’ll call them and see if they’ll change it, crap Mom, what were you thinking?”

So, the conversation ended and I ended up on the phone with an amazing Southwest Airlines CSR who informed me that there really wasn’t much they could do.  I told a funny joke and said something along the lines of, “man, my mom really needs to stop drinking before noon.  I can’t believe after 4 years of marriage and she forgot my last name.”  This of course got the CSR laughing a bit and then I got the, “I’ll see what I can do.”  GLORIOUS!  After being on hold for a few minutes the CSR informed me that since my mom had just booked the trip that she was able to convince her boss to make the changes and then she re-emailed my mom and me the new flight itenerary.   And that is how Southwest Airlines became my carrier of choice.

One side note – I will be flying with Southwest Airlines on both my vacations this year

As of 10:30pm on Saturday night, I’d never heard Matt & Kim, Yeasayer or Girls.

But that changed after reading a WaPo headline: “Exposed! Bands Bare All for Art.”  I naturally complied by reading the article about indie musicians using nudity in their videos in an effort to get attention.  I also watched the said videos and visited the bands’ websites.

I’m not surprised their strategy motivated me to take action.  We live in an  over-caffeinated society and our attention spans are disappearing.  Unless you’re interesting, no one’s going to pay attention to you.

And let’s face it, nudity is interesting.

Of course, it is a bit extreme (they are indie musicians, after all).  But it sure works.  Matt & Kim’s video was named the 2009 MTV Breakout Video of the Year and has racked up 983,000 views.  This is significantly more than the 376 views garnered by my ukuele rendition of U2’s “With or Without You.”  But I digress.

The bottom line is that you have to stand out to succeed.  Herb Kelleher, the former CEO of Southwest Airlines, knew this and made it a cornerstone of his business.   So has Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann,  animal rights activists PeTA, Donald Trump and many others.  Nudity might work for indie bands, but there are many other reputable ways to get noticed.

Let’s discuss this, now. You’ve been hurting these past months. While I’ve been gallivanting about Europe and Africa, spending and making money, breaking and mending hearts, purchasing and consuming foodstuffs, you’ve been at home, shivering under a blanket you stole from Southwest Airlines the one time you ever flew in an airplane. The blanket doesn’t even cover your feet, so you have to wear your socks to bed — your holey, ratty socks. And by “to bed” I mean “as you lie curled up on the floor like a mangled Slinky” (even though you’re curled up, the blanket still doesn’t cover your feet — that’s awful).

I was surprised to see that my hits have actually gone up, but then I realized the pattern — your anxiety has grown to the point where you now do nothing but refresh Tinspeaker.com all day, mindless, automatic, subhuman. You’ve been reduced to the status of automaton, and for that I am sorry. Do know that my advertising revenue has increased dramatically, and for that I am grateful (this is actually false; I don’t even know how to put up Google ads on the site).

So what now? Does this post signal the return of the king? We’ll see. In the meantime, as always, the back catalogue remains open for business. Get at it.

Bet you though that link was going to be Lord of the Rings, didn’t you? Idiot.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Southwest Airlines on Wednesday will announce its four destination cities to and from the new Panama City airport, along with special introductory fares.

Bob Montgomery, Southwest vice president of properties, will make the announcement during a press conference at 10 a.m. at the Breakers Restaurant in Panama City Beach.  Officials have anxiously awaited the location of the four “gateway” cities from which Southwest plans to schedule its eight daily non-stop flights to the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, scheduled to open May 18 near West Bay.

Need a beachfront condo?  You will land approximately 10 miles from our Panama City Beach Condo http://www.bestpanamacitybeachcondo.com

Bay County Tourist Development Council (TDC) officials say they want to jump-start a marketing campaign in the cities once they were announced, particularly using the new social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

“We are waiting to get the names of the cities,” said TDC executive director Dan Rowe. “It is a very important day. When they start selling tickets, it really brings energy to the whole project.”

The TDC has signed an agreement with Southwest, the national largest domestic carrier, that requires Southwest to begin air service to the new airport with daily non-stop flights from four different cities amounting to at least 525 inbound seats daily.

In exchange, a fifth of the TDC’s yearly bed tax revenue will go to help Southwest market Panama City Beach and put tourists into airplane seats.

Last weekend, I traveled to Dallas for a few hours to conduct an interview with the CEO of Tommy John, Tom Patterson. The easiest way to get to Dallas from Houston (if you live Inside the Loop) is on Southwest Airlines out of Hobby Airport. Southwest Airlines offers flights literally every hour, on the hour from Houston to Dallas and back, making same-day travel pain-free.

That being said, I’m a Continental Airlines loyalist. I rarely fly Southwest because I mostly cash in Continental miles to travel, meaning I have to spend the extra time driving to Intercontinental Airport if I want that semi-free flight. In this case, however, I flew Southwest for convenience. Every time I fly Southwest, I am reminded a) how much I enjoy it, and b) that they really practice what they preach. Southwest Airlines received a lot of praise in 2009 for not only their social media practices, but their excellent customer service. We’ve all seen Dave the Rapping Flight Attendant, which has gotten several hundred thousand views. And perhaps you’ve even heard or seen something similar during your own travels on Southwest Airlines (I have). Those things are praise-worthy, but what inspired me to pat SWA on the back was the post-purchase email I received yesterday:

These are the little things that make a big difference in customer loyalty. From this email, I can join their online community of travelers, share my travel experiences, talk to other people about their trips, and create a travel profile to keep me coming back. What I especially like is reading about other people’s cool travel experiences on Southwest. Once, on a trip to Vegas, the entire plane sung “Happy Birthday” to a passenger. On another trip, the flight attendant did a stand-up routine that was actually really funny. Now, through Southwest’s community, I have the opportunity to share those experiences with someone else.

The post-purchase email is one of the most neglected marketing tools in the arsenal. I rarely get one, though it’s one of the best ways to reengage a customer after they’ve bought from you. Southwest Airlines has a great channel through which I can interact with their brand even after my trip is over, and it all starts with a well-times post-purchase email.

Have you received any amazing post-purchase emails lately? Share ‘em in the comments!

Panama City Beach – While the commonality between a giant Waterford Crystal and an 800-pound beach ball is not obvious, the season offers a clue. On Thursday, December 31, New Year’s 2010 will be ushered in by traditional countdown “drops” across the nation. Just as New York City has its Times Square Crystal Ball, Panama City Beach in Northwest Florida will embrace its seaside roots with the second annual Panama City Beach Beach Ball Drop presented by Southwest Airlines. In collaboration with Southwest Airlines and hosted by Pier Park, Panama City Beach’s Beach Ball Drop event represents what the destination is all about — white sand beaches, family togetherness and just plain fun.

 
“Last year’s inaugural Beach Ball Drop attracted 12,000 visitors, and we’re expecting that number to grow this year,” said Dan Rowe, president and CEO of the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The destination is in a celebratory mood in anticipation of the New Year as it will bring exciting new developments our way. This includes the May opening of the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and a long-lasting partnership with Southwest Airlines.”

 
Southwest Airlines, the first airline to announce service to the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, rings in the new year with Panama City Beach in serving as the presenting sponsor for the annual event. The 800-pound glowing beach ball begins the more than 100-foot descent just before midnight on December 31.

Pier Park festivities, free and open to the public, begin at 5:30 p.m. with family-friendly entertainment including bounce houses, party favors, street performers, stilt walkers and face painters. The family portion of the event culminates at 8:30 p.m. with fireworks and a family ball drop, consisting of 7,000 inflatable beach balls.

The countdown celebration takes place from 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. when streets will be closed to traffic. In addition to the highly-anticipated beach ball drop, guests will enjoy live musical performances, prize giveaways including six pairs of round trip airfare compliments of Southwest Airlines and a majestic midnight fireworks display over the Gulf of Mexico.

Happy New Year!   http://www.bestpanamacitybeachcondo.com

A flight from Chicago headed to Salt Lake City got exciting this evening after a baby decided it was his time to arrive.

Dr. John Saran, an MDVIP-affiliated internal medicine specialist was napping when his wife heard the pilot’s announcement asking if any passengers had medical training. She poked her husband saying, “John, wake up, wake up, you’ve got to help deliver this baby!”

The mother, who Dr. Saran describes as probably in her 20s, went into labor in the seat right in front of him.

About three nurses assisted the doctor in helping the mother to the tail section of the plane, where she delivered the baby.

The baby “appeared rather quickly, just two or three pushes” in a 10- to 15-minute delivery, he said.

Wrapped in a passenger’s blanket, the baby was held by a nurse near a portable oxygen tank but breathed “on his own and appeared healthy,” Dr. Saran said, adding that the baby was about 5 pounds and one month early.

“They announced that (we) had a new baby boy aboard, and the passengers all clapped,” he said.

The flight was diverted to Denver, where paramedics rushed mom and baby to the Medical Center of Aurora outside Denver. Though the doctor didn’t know if this was the mother’s first child, he said the baby is going to be adopted.

“I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,” He said.

How exciting! We hope that the new family gets to meet their baby soon!

Related Articles:

• Baby Arrives Prematurely on Board AirAsia Flight
• Coast Guard Rescues 28 Week Baby Born On A Ferry
• Baby Born On Estonian Ferry Wins Free Travel For Life

SOURCE

Believe it or not, branding is supposed to make things easier…for everyone.

What has become the science of pontification was once the art of simplification.

Remember that a brand is really just a shortcut. When we see a logo, we can make assumptions about the product that bares it. If you don’t know anything about aspect ratio or refresh rate you can just buy a Sony television because you know it will be quality. If you don’t want to spend your weekend comparing the price of Frosted Flakes at every grocer in town, you can just go to Wal-mart because you know they’ll have the lowest prices anyway.

Imagine a world with no brands and only products. You’d have to laboriously balance the pluses and minuses of every product for every purchase. You could have no preconceptions or expectations. You could make no assumptions. You’d have analysis paralysis every time you went to the deli.

Sadly, this is what job-hunting feels like a lot of times. You’re forced to form an opinion of a company based solely on the few tangible benefits listed in a job posting. A brand should replace this process of rationalizing and help create an emotional connection (or not) with the company and the culture.

However, too often employer branding is used as just another rational benefit – another “plus” on the old strengths vs weaknesses scale. Your employer brand is not just another reason to believe. It’s the reason to believe. It’s the higher order that supersedes all the rational benefits. So if you spent the time, money and effort to develop a brand, but continue to base all your communications around the same old rational benefits, then you’re spinning your wheels.

Google’s recruitment Youtube video says nothing of pay or benefits – it talks more about the cafeteria and the culture. This is with good reason – for many technical positions, Google pays less than Microsoft does, but Google is the heart’s desire for young engineers not Microsoft. Google has taken the side-by-side comparison out of the equation replaced it with brand.

Or, look at the recruitment ads for Southwest Airlines, one of the strongest employer brands. Absent are the bulleted lists of good reasons to join the company or an “about us” paragraph touting the company’s prestigious history. Instead they seduce you with brand identity.

Your brand should take the guesswork out of joining your company. It should let people put away the scale and listen to their gut. Just as shopping for clothes is as much emotional as it is rational, so too is shopping for a job. So allow your brand to pull its weight. Allow it to make things easier for jobseekers. Allow it to simplify your communications. Allow it to simplify your recruiting strategy. And if you don’t have a brand, call BRANDEMiX.

I read a Facebook post today from my friend Jamey Ice, a member of the band Green River Ordinance (and if you haven’t heard of them… you need to get to iTunes and pick up their new ablum Out of My Hands).  Anyway… he was headed on an American Airlines flight to FL and was lamenting that it wasn’t Southwest Airlines.  So… what does Southwest do that others don’t?

I was fortunate enough to attend the Center for Services Leadership’s annual Compete through Service Symposium a few weeks ago and Dave Ridley, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Revenue Management, at Southwest Airlines, was a featured speaker.

Dave summed up the motto of Southwest Airlines in three words… “cheap and cheerful”.  It’s really all you need to know… (well, assuming safety is a given!).  But in my vast experience traveling on Southwest, their motto is consistent with their actions (they walk the talk).  Have you ever encountered a Southwest team member who was rude or grumpy?  I haven’t.

Dave also talked about the company culture… all employees have a sphere of influence. They are all empowered to deliver superior service.   But Dave…” how do you get employees who do this? “

Three ways… Southwest:

1. Hire great people
2. Put people first
3. Lead them well and no BS  (meaning “Big Shot” leadership)

He also emphasised three things that all Southwest employees need to have:

• A warrior spirit (being innovative and creative)
• A servant’s heart
• A fun-loving attitude

I think Southwest has it right… and I try to embody these last 3 principals in my everyday life.  Do you?  I think any company who does has a huge wing up on their competition!

If you’ve been following my blog, you know by now I am a guy who is driven by passion and LOVES what he does for a living. Championing the efforts of my sports and entertainment PR firm is one of them!

We have outstanding clients. We have great prospective clients. We have an incredible internal team in our staff and partners. We understand how important it is to be surrounded by people who just “get it.”

A short while ago we introduced the first installment of “Brands That Are Getting It Right.” This topic has generated a lot of interest, so it’s time to bring you the next group of brands that, in my humble opinion, are clearly doing what it takes to “get it right!” Remember, this list of brands is not exclusive to the corporate giants either. If you’re getting it right, then you’re getting it right, and with all of the brands listed below, it is clear the PR teams surrounding them are doing a great job!

BRANDS THAT ARE GETTING IT RIGHT – Part II (“The Big Wes List”)

1. Dr. Bey-Ling Sha and San Diego State University’s Public Relations Student Society of America (SDSU-PRSSA)

One of the things I have the good fortune of doing is sharing my passion and experience with students around the country. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with some of the future talent of the public relations field, the PRSSA chapter at San Diego State University. This enthusiastic crew is being nurtured under the academic guidance of one of my former graduate school classmates from The University of Maryland at College Park, Dr. Bey-Ling Sha. What I saw was invigorating and what I took away was encouraging. These young adults are inspired, creative and driven, and they are going to go far. I can’t wait to follow their careers and see where they end up!

To all of my professional colleagues, regardless of what field you are in, make sure you spend time speaking with, mentoring and providing insight to the next generation. It is not only part of our responsibility but you will be amazed by the impact you can have on them. Should you have an opportunity to interview one of these
soon-to-graduate SDSU Aztecs, I strongly encourage you to do so. You will not be disappointed!

2. Elevation Blog Talk Radio with John Kline

If you haven’t listened to John Kline’s blog talk radio show, do it. Do it now! John is one of the journalism field’s brightest up-and-coming stars and without question, he is one to watch. Mark my words. I’ve had the privilege of chatting live with John on the show twice, most recently about the latest crises in the sports world, as well as who is getting it right. We covered everything from Tiger to Tebow to Agassi and Artest. John conducts great interviews and fosters conversation on his show that is fun, interesting, intelligent and informative. Be sure to check him out!

3. ESPN’s “College GameDay Built by The Home Depot“

Nobody covers college football better than ESPN’s College GameDay crew of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso and Desmond Howard. And let’s not forget the production team and crew behind them! In my opinion, these guys not only have the best job in sports broadcasting, they have the most fun — and it shows. They work hard, they know college football and they deliver. Whether it’s watching Kirk’s four young sons join him on the set in their Ohio State Buckeye gear, listening to Lee Corso’s trademark “Not so fast my friend!” or enjoying the on-air spots developed for the show, the show gets it right every week.  The guys do not talk over the audience’s head. Desmond Howard has been a great addition to the show without disrupting the overall chemistry. Home Depot’s sponsor integration is seamless, engaging and it makes sense.

The team’s overall presentation of the College Football Awards and the Heisman Trophy ceremony earlier this month was first class. The professionalism they showed (especially by NOT capitalizing on the obvious story line surrounding young Mark Ingram and not delving into the negative when profiling the Heisman finalists) was both refreshing and impressive. And I must add Kirk, Chris and Desmond did a great job of not letting some technical issues affect the broadcast.

ESPN’s overall college football coverage team of Matt Winer, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Eric Kuselias, Jesse Plamer, Andre Ware, and the rest of the gang, did a fantastic job all season long. Congrats to the entire ESPN college football family on another great season!

4. The 2009 Heisman Trophy Finalists

Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Ndamukong Suh, Toby Gerhart and Mark Ingram. Throughout 2009, each of these young men represented themselves, their families, their teams and their universities extremely well, both on and off the field. During Heisman Week, they were all on message, articulate, humble, personable, respectful, and treated one another with the utmost respect. These young men were shining examples of how to conduct oneself as a true student-athlete, future professional, and upstanding citizen. They all deserve the success they’ve enjoyed and what’s ahead of them. Their ability to handle the white-hot spotlight of the media, the university, the fans, the alumni, the games, etc., throughout the entire season, all the while keeping their focus, remaining good teammates, and productive citizens, is a tall order for anyone of any age, let alone 19-22 year-olds.

5. Southwest Airlines

Bags Fly Free? Indeed they do! Southwest’s recent on-air campaign is hilarious and TRUE!  (channeling, “WHY DO YOU CHARGE FOR BAGS!” here…). Southwest is a model in efficiency. Its customer service is top notch. Rarely — if ever — do you find a disgruntled employee at the airport who works for Southwest (unlike many at the “major” airlines). No, they are not perfect, but the other airlines (with the exception of Jet Blue and Virgin) could take a page — make that a chapter — out of the Southwest customer service book.

6. The National Football League

Under Commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL has done an excellent job of improving and managing its image and reputation this year. Gone (or at least rarely heard about) are the off-the-field distractions in the form of bad behavior and player conduct detrimental to the team. Their “Play 60″ campaign in conjunction with United We Serve is well done. It is important and timely, as our nation’s schools are unfortunately having to cut physical education programs (among others) and trying to survive. Most of all, it is refreshing to see the League push the good guys who are doing the right thing off the field as well. DeMarcus Ware, Drew Brees, Mario Williams, Eli Manning, Santana Moss, Troy Polamalu, etc., are good examples for kids to look up to. The NFL’s push in this direction is a good thing. Keep up the good work.

7. Mr. William Younce

Ahhh! William Younce? You may not know the name, but you know the individual! We all know the William Younce’s in our world. They are the people behind the scenes who make it happen day-to-day for their firms. Currently with 776 Original Marketing, a full-service marketing and events company based in Colorado Springs, Colo., Younce is known for adding serious bounce to the departments he’s worked for with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the GMAC Bowl, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, and KOM Sports, among others.

But William not only makes this list because of his continued efforts “on the field” at work, but because he got engaged to Comment Communications own Katrina (a.k.a. Kat, a.k.a. KayeFlo, a.k.a. KatrinaKaye) Florence, thus making one of our outstanding staff members one of the happiest women on Earth! Congrats to you William (and to you too, Kat) on a bright future!

8. The Friends and Family of TheSportsCommentary.com

Thank you to everyone for checking us out on The Sports Commentary! We appreciate the support, feedback and interest. Have a GREAT holiday season and we’ll be back soon with more great COMMENTary for you!