Lashinsky & Some NFL Picks

On August 8, 1994, I started my long and (as I would describe it) illustrious career with General Mills. When you start in the marketing group at the General, they start you with a half-day orientation that teaches you important stuff like the history of the company, fun stuff to do in Minneapolis (like watching boiling water evaporate in mid-air in January), the secret corporate handshake, etc. I sat through that orientation with one other person: J. Patrick Lashinsky. Besides learning that General Mills did indeed make both Gold Medal AND Robin Hood Flour, a great friendship was born that day.

Almost immediately, as we sat and made fun of the people giving us these welcome presentations, Pat and I realized we would get along just fine. Pat, or JPL as I call him (not sure if I coined that one or not; I know, not that creative either way, it’s just his initials) is a West Coast guy, growing up in Sacramento. What I did not realize when I met him, based on his 6 foot, 230 (give or take) lb. frame, was that in high school Pat was one of the fastest sprinters in the state of California. In addition, he was a good enough football player that the USA Today once called him “the next David Fulcher.” Of course, if that does not prove the lack of journalistic quality of that rag, I do not know what would.

Striving to capitalize on his athletic prowess, Pat got involved right away Mills intramural football, immediately tearing his Achilles and needing surgery. He died during that surgery. Seriously. Flatlined. Somehow, in a Jack Bauer-like heroic moment (I would use House as a more accurate reference, but nobody would know what in the world I was talking about), they brought him back and we became great friends.

One time early on (we were Assistant Marketing Managers, which translates to a Coffee Fetcher title or something), I was talking to someone and Pat’s name came up, and the guy says “it is pretty cool that he has the General Mills corporate jet at his disposal.” I said something like “it sure is.” Anyway, after Pat ended up, all expenses paid, going to like six straight Super Bowls, some other all-star events, and assorted of high profile activities, I realized a very important life lesson that was reinforced by Pat’s best man at his wedding: “When Pat tells me something, I take it at face value.”

To illustrate Pat’s considerable street smarts, I like to point to a dinner that he hosted at his house for several of his friends. We had a great dinner, and as we were sitting around the table talking afterwards, Pat lamented that he was unsuccessfully trying to lose a few holiday pounds he had put on. So we asked him what he was doing. He told his he was working out. He also said he was really watching what he ate. And he was so dedicated, he had stopped drinking soda and was drinking juice instead. When we probed on that, he went right to the refrigerator, and pulled out a gallon of juice (or sugar water), and says “look, I drink a gallon of this stuff every day.” Each jug was like a ten-day supply of sugar. Problem solved.

JPL and I (and an assorted group of buffoons) go to Vegas every year in March to celebrate March Madness and just catch up in general. One year, we are watching hoops in the sports book, when the big man comes running in, and says to my buddy Mikey “Can you come with me? I was trying to break up a fight in the lobby and security detained me. I told them I had to go get my lawyer in the sports book.” Needless to say, Mikey was pretty happy. Not sure if we saw JPL again that day.

On a serious note, One of my saddest days during my six-year stint was the day when Mr. Lashinsky told me that he was moving back to California to work for Del Monte and be closer to home. He lasted I think less than a year at Del Monte, and called and told me he was considering going to a dot-com called ziprealty.com, and online realtor. I then told him all the reasons that was a bad idea, how the company could not survive in that industry, how you need the intimate experience of a brick and mortar realtor when you buy or sell a home, yada yada yada.

As an aside, as I read back through this, I realize that at this point, you could assume JPL either died or something good happened. And while I may keep some of these stories handy for the next time he has Achilles surgery, I am happy to report that these words are to celebrate a tremendous accomplishment. Now back to the story…

Fortunately, Pat did not listen to me and joined the company (www.ziprealty.com, ZIPR, NASDAQ). He has been there for about seven years I think. And yesterday, the company announced that my friend, J. Patrick Lashinsky, was being promoted to President. This was truly a proud moment for me. I will tell you one thing. Zip made a wise selection. Pat is a great person, a smart person, and he will be a charismatic leader for that company. I recommend everybody reading this support this company, either by buying stock (so you can be his de facto boss) or, next time you buy or sell a house, by using their service if you live in one of the many markets they serve.

The only other thing that I will say here about JPL as he embarks on this exciting new role is that, trust me, I understand this is a public forum, so the material at my disposal is somewhat (i.e., extremely) limited. But, in all serious, congratulations and best wishes for every possible success to the guy I met exactly five years after the Cubs were scheduled to play their first night game at Wrigley (against the Phils, the got rained out and had to play the next night).

Now onto the football picks. Based on the last two weeks, I am not sure if anybody wants these, except to go the other way, but I am still clinging to a better than .500 record, but we need to pick it up now. One other football note for those interested in the Win or Die, we lost 3 of the 8 remaining with the Seattle loss last night. Picks will be posted here as soon as I get the other 5 picks.

NFL (Last week: 4-5; Overall: 41-38, 52%, YUCK)

Dallas (-3) at Atlanta (SATURDAY). Dallas is a better team, coming off an embarrassing home loss. Atlanta is not very good. Look for Dallas to get a win before their big showdown with the mighty Birds next week.

Tennessee (+3.5) vs. acksonville. Vince Young is the man! Tennessee is playing great ball, and at home against a team who is not good on the road and coming off a huge emotional win. Take the home dog.

EAGLES/Giants OVER 43. Not sure who will win. Garcia will have to play a perfect game to pull this off. But I think both teams will score some points.

Denver (-2.5) at Arizona. A battle of rookie quarterbacks. Take the guy with the better defense supporting him.

Kansas City/San Diego OVER 46.5. Doesn’t San Diego score this many by themselves each week. Plus, they will put up points cause I am not starting Philip Rivers in my fantasy playoff game.