Worldwide Reach of Coaches Hot Seat – Aspen Ideas Festival
For those of us that grew up in the 1970s and 80s we never cease to be amazed at how technology has changed all of our lives in the past 30 years. All of us here at Coaches Hot Seat can remember when we first got cable TV, and in addition to our three local networks channels we had WTBS out of Atlanta (where we could watch the Atlanta Braves, Gilligan’s Island, and Andy Griffith) and WGN out of Chicago that had Harry Carey and the Chicago Cubs, and who can forget that Empire Carpet commercial: “9 8 8 – 2 3 (hundred)…Empire….” We thought then having five channels and a remote control to change those channels was nirvana, but that seems like the Stone Age compared to world we live in today. Now just in the past 15 years or so the Internet has connected all of us together and allows people from around the world to stay up to date on whatever they choose, and there are truly college football fans all over the globe. Check out the below Clustr Map that details the places where people have visited Coaches Hot Seat from countries all over the world. Each dot represents between 1 and 1000+ visits and we here at Coaches Hot Seat can only look at this map and shake our heads in amazement.
For a larger view of the above map visit:
Coaches Hot Seat Clustr Map
With summer upon us several members of Coaches Hot Seat are off to Aspen, Colorado for the 4th of July holiday to celebrate our country’s birthday, to revel in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but also to attend the Aspen Ideas Festival. There are very few places on this earth where regular folks can interact with the movers and shakers in our world, and the Aspen Ideas Festival provides an opportunity to take the people that shape US foreign and domestic policy to task. It does very little good to just complain to oneself about the state of the world, or for Coaches Hot Seat members to argue among themselves over the direction of our country, so if we can ask a question to or corner someone in a restaurant like: Ken Adelman, Jonathan Alter, Eli Broad, David Brooks, Bill Clinton, John Doerr, Thomas Friedman, Walter Isaacson, Robert Kagan, Charlie Rose, Shelby Steele, then that is an opportunity we cannot pass up.
You never know who will run into in Aspen in July around the Ideas Festival, and three years ago a few of us arrived early for a panel on politics that was being held at the Double Diamond restaurant/bar. All three of got some Budweiser longnecks and sat down at a table just in front of the stage where the panelists were to sit, when we noticed two guys in dark suits come up and commandeer the table just to the left of us. These guys looked way to uptight for this setting, but a few minutes later we turned around to see who was causing a slight commotion and here comes Bill Clinton into the bar and he comes right over and sits down at the table beside us. We all look over at Clinton and he looks at us and then he says to his personal assistant as he points at us, “Get me one of those Bud longnecks.” That got a good laugh from us, and Clinton was the life of that small group (about 50 people) as the panel discussed politics and we asked whatever questions that came into our heads. After the panel ended, Clinton gets up and says something to his personal assistant, and she then comes over to our table and says, “There’s a party at the Jerome Hotel in the Grand Ballroom tonight. Here are three tickets to get in. Have a good time!” That got our attention, but Clinton’s assistant didn’t have to tell us about parties at the Jerome Hotel (we have been crashing parties there for years, yes even wedding receptions, but this time we had tickets!), because the J-Bar at the Jerome Hotel is our second home while in Aspen (Is there anything better on this earth than being in Aspen, sitting in the Jerome Hotel Garden Terrace in early July, eating The Jerome Burger with cheese, caramelized onions, mushrooms and applewood smoked bacon and washing it down with a cold draft beer? No, unless it is something involving a good looking woman!). Needless to say, that night was just another of dozens of great nights that we have spent in the beautiful Rocky Mountains and in the fine hamlet of Aspen.
Coaches Hot Seat is headed off to the Rocky Mountains to celebrate our country’s birthday, to play some golf, to get in our two cents with people that help to shape US policy, and to host a beer or two! Certainly a toast to Thomas Jefferson and his magnificent Declaration of Independence will be in order in the coming week!
