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A Presidential Pardon, Please

Last night my wife and I were flipping back and forth between America's Team and the New York Gints (for all you New Yorkers out there) and various other channels when who should get a little face time himself but Barack Obama. What a surprise, huh? 

I turned my head and said to my wife, "I've got Obama-overload." She didn't waste another second to say, "He's going to be on Letterman tomorrow all night." I don't know if that's true and I didn't fact-check it, because it doesn't matter. The fact she knows Obama will be on Letterman -- and my wife has as much interest in politics as I have in wearing high-heeled shoes -- makes my point for me.

Barack Obama is overexposed.

During his historic election campaign, Barack Obama was everywhere, all day and all night. He texted, e-mailed and was as visible as any presidential hopeful ever has been. It worked. He got elected in a landslide, mandate-forcing vote, and there's no doubting he has the energy and passion for the job that John McCain didn't seem to exude. But now I believe in the rush to force government healthcare down the throats of the American people, Obama has droned himself out of the debate. I saw him last night and my knee-jerk reaction is to turn the channel. Don't misconstrue me for being either an advocate or obstructionist for health care reform. Certainly it's needed, but I might be the last person to be worthy of an unqualified opinion regarding what exactly needs to change. 

What I am sure of is healthcare reform is better served with a soft sell. I find myself tired of Obama's endless energy, and while I'm certain he's not intending this effect, his constant presence in just about every available media medium makes me equal parts weary and leery of his entire effort. 

There was a day when the medical industry was a not-for-profit industry, which to me seems like a large part of the problem. It's the old school adage of just about every worthy journalism school in the country: Follow the money. The greed and corruption that inevitably follows the chase for profit has certainly changed the tenor of care in this country, and not for the better. Malpractice tort reform would be a good starting block, too, as a way to slow the endless wave of ambulance chasers who've irrevocably changed health care practices and policies in America.

America needs some sort of health care overhaul, but I wonder if President Obama's Cash For Clunkers car salesman approach will drive any legitimate, worthy change?

Regards...

~T.C. Cameron's second book, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, will be available on October 26th from Arcadia Publishing.

Detroit An Isolated Island Of Harsh Reality

DETROIT -- Today Neil Rubin's Sunday column in The Detroit News told the whimsical story of a suburban Detroit copywriter from tony public relations firm Campbell-Ewald with a dream to help his firm's biggest client, Chevrolet, change the attitude of American consumers.

In short, the story is part 'Little Engine Who Could' and part grass-roots belief in the American manufacturing model that once provided high-paying union jobs, obscene profit margins and gave unions and manufacturers keys to entire cities, regions and states. There's a copycat YouTube video of the popular 1980s commercial, "This is your brain; This is your brain on drugs" that replaces the drugs with foreign cars.

Har-har. Ridicule of the foreign competition from the inferior domestic product.

Like the cars they've built for 40 years, it's more of the same out of Detroit. Less substance and more resistance to the changing reality of the global marketplace. More pining for what was and less adaptation to the economic realities that have been evident in the auto biz for decades. Despite countless downturns, warning signals and market share loss that have preceded this unprecedented economic meltdown we're currently experiencing, it seems Detroit still doesn't get it.

America isn't concerned anymore with making sure you have a job, Motown. Yes, you were the Arsenal of Democracy...60 years ago. Today Americans want to drive the cars they want to drive, not the cars you still build. Either you or the cars, or possibly both, have to change. It's a 40-year-old message that hasn't sunk in.

This week's failed deadline that forced Chrysler, LLC into bankruptcy included a quote into a television camera from a Detroit-area autoworker that reveals the essence of Detroit's denial.

"I never thought it would come to this," said a suspended autoworker shown walking out of his assembly plant. I won't mention him by name here because why kick a man while he's down. Chrysler plant management shuttered operations just moments after the bankruptcy filing was formally announced.

However, you never thought it would come to this? As if the vultures and hawks circling overhead your industry's viability the past 10 years didn't grab your attention, you didn't take notice that American product, even premium brands and trim levels, never came close to matching foreign car residual values? You didn't notice the annual, consistent loss of market share year after year since the 1970s?

You didn't notice the plants closing one by one, more and more smaller product being sent overseas to be manufactured, followed by transmissions and other mechanical working parts?

Perhaps the biggest indicator to me was the domestic travel I did in the past ten years. Only in Michigan do I see a glut of American cars on the road. It's almost like it's 1955 in metro Detroit while its' 2009 everywhere else. In other major metropolitan areas, the foreign car rules. It's a mathematical equation only Detroit can't seem to comprehend.

Ten years ago I owned Ford common stock. It was $66 per share. Then Ford had the brilliant idea to split with former in-house supplier Visteon, driving the price down to $33. The board of directors hired Jacques Nassar to run the company, but the only thing he did was drive the company into more debt. Before he was released from his duties, I sold the stock for $18 a share and said goodbye to my Ford loyalties. Last year it was more expensive to buy a single share of Ford common than it was to buy a tall coffee at Starbucks -- that's about 10 ounces of flavored hot water in a paper cup with a plastic lid and a cardboard sleeve for those fo you keeping score at home (thank you, George Kell).

My 2004 BMW X-3, which I bought in February of last year with a six-speed transmission and 42,000 miles of city driving in Brooklyn, New York on it, was worth more by the standard Kelley Blue Book tables than the new 2008 Ford product it compared to as a competitive vehicle. The domestic automakers have quietly ignored this fact for many, many years, that foreign residual values have consistently outpaced domestic product. They've instead played on your sense of patriotism and loyalty to sell cars.

Ford finally addressed it first, and not surprisingly, they look most likely to emerge from this meltdown with both a profitable business model and their dignity intact.

All that's left to ponder now is the if & when. I wonder when -- not if -- Detroit will finally acknowledge the days of manufacturing muscle are over, and I wonder if anyone will still be here in southeastern Michigan to see the once-proud Motor City remake herself into something viable ever again.

~T.C. Cameron is the author of Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, which profiles the proud tradition of prep basketball in the 313, 248, 734 and 586. The book is due to be released in the fall of this year from Arcadia Publishing.

A First In American Economics

In 232 years as a willfully independent country, never before has the American consumer been at fault for a region, company or industry going belly up. Never.

But if you subscribe to the message from the rank-and-file of the United Auto Workers (UAW), it's our fault that General Motors, Chrysler and Ford is in dire straits. It's our fault just a few buyers to the right of nobody buys their products these days. You know, those unimaginative, boxy, boring domestics that have been built for way too many years on tired, outdated platforms. Yeah, those cars, the cars that aren't worth as much at initial sale as their foreign competition and certainly can't hold the higher values after initial sale, either. Those cars that you've been told for years and years never to purchase if they were built at the plant on a Monday or Friday. Yeah, those cars.

If we would just simply ignore everything this side of common sense and mindlessly buy domestic cars, America would be humming, magnolia trees would be in full bloom year-round and the temperature would be 70 degrees everyday. At least, that's what the UAW wants you to believe. It's our fault.

It's our fault? Usually it's the time-tested axioms from the supply-and-demand theory, that if a company doesn't bring to market a product that the masses can support in the way of demand, the product fails and the company follows. The company bears the responsibility to bring a product to market that creates demand, outstrips supply, creates production jobs and then profitability follows.

Who's kidding who, here? That doesn't sound like our car companies, does it? No, the reality is our car companies are cranking out cars by the ton that nobody is buying, but does that halt the plants? No, and when the lack of demand results in layoffs, there's the job bank, this marvelous creation where you sit on your can and get paid to do nothing...after you've drained the union and state benefits dry.

It's our fault? How long have 'we' been picking up the tab already?

I do think the auto companies need a bailout, but I doubt they'll get it and I'm even further convinced they don't deserve it. Maybe they will and Detroit will get the cash infusion they need. I live here so I'm not going to say it wouldn't help, but I'm also not going to become a shrill voice for the auto companies like some other media-ites in the Detroit area and ignore facts for the sake of making listeners, viewers and friends. I don't trust that the leaders of the car companies will spend our money wisely, and the rest of the country certainly has no faith in the Big Three. There, I said it. I see it every time I travel outstate. There are people who really believe Detroiters wade through knee-high trash with assault rifles held above their heads. What do you think those people think about our car companies? Unfair? Yes. But perception is truth to many people, and it's up to us to change it.

GM's making money hand-over-fist in China, where they invested billions in the 1990s. Ford's European market share is very strong. I can't feel bad when these car companies made their bed with UAW contracts stateside that defy any semblance of logic and then complain when the rules they agreed to curtail any chance of profitability in the here & now. When I'm in New York City, the only Ford I ever see is yellow with an hourly rate published on the doors. Yes, Ford is making a much better product than it has in many years, and it shows in multiple high quality ratings. But just like it took many years to erode the market share and confidence of the American consumer in American production cars, it will take many years to build it back up.

Therefore, the real question is will a bailout for the domestic automakers give them the needed time to recover from their mistakes?

Part of me wants to see a bailout because I know a lot of good people -- hell, great people -- are living daily with the fear that their job is a goner, and I hate that. On the other hand, maybe it's time for the Detroit region to untie itself from the shackles of the manufacturing roller-coaster. Yes, the good times are good but the bad times are awful and it might be the perfect time to seek a different mantra for the Motor City. We're already struggling, so can we tough it out to re-make ourselves into a new community with a new mindset and new way of life? We have a significant legal and medical community. Renewable energy platforms are extremely viable with natural resources like water and wind in abundant quantities. There are jobs to be created here -- are we savvy enough to see our way out of the forest of fallen trees? If the automakers are really the corporate citizens they claim to be, how about bidding on and building a mass-transit system that could be used nationwide that includes Detroit, which hasn't had any transit in nearly 60 years. Anyone who has lived or visited Europe, much less New York, Boston or Chicago knows all the things that America isn't. Amtrak and Greyhound don't count, either.

No matter what side of the fence you fall on, it certainly isn't the consumer's fault. The country didn't fall apart at the seams when the textile industry and electronics industry went overseas. The car industry's on it's way out the door, and in my opinion, the sooner Detroit's constituency of white and blue-collar sectors alike plan on being something other than the Motor City, the better.

Fuel, Energy Costs Changing Face Of Officiating

The days of Michigan having some of the lowest officiating fees might not be changing anytime soon, but the corps of officials it pulls from might be significantly smaller this year due to a rapidly-changing economy.

Energy prices, cost of living increases and the concern of losing a solid job for an advocation have made officiating a changed religion for many of us in the Great Lakes and around the country. What used to be good 'play money', even for the patricians among the ranks of officials has become cost-of-living money for all of us. Assignment processes that were regional are now local, and umpires, referees and officials have to be careful dealing with coaches, players and fans in their own backyard.

A few days ago I wrote about the puzzling and oft-perplexing decision of some assignors to reward the same core of officials over and over with the same, premiere assignments while other qualified officials are left behind. Today's economy makes walking away from that frustration easier, and for many serviceable prep officials, necessary to remain legitimate breadwinners in their households. What will be left behind will be a smaller, leaner and less-qualified corps of officials to handle the mass of games before the championship tournaments play. Officiating is not a growth industry, but youth sports is rapidly expanding. The who and when of staffing the many games will be a monstrous challenge in the future.

Michigan, and the state's high schools in particular, have enjoyed the luxury of paying some of the lowest fees in the country to the corp of officials who handle their games. In Detroit, three-man basketball pays $50 per man; the same assignment pays $75 in Indiana. Outside of Detroit's metro, many basketball games are still staffed by two-man crews. Michigan ranks in the bottom five of 50 states in official's pay. An explosion in cost of living costs and the low end of the fees for officials is not a good thing for Michigan's prep sports structure.

Long drives to games, gas at $4 a gallon and milk at near $5 a gallon has made officiating, even when paid cash, a losing endeavor. Seriously, did anyone think that milk would be more expensive than gas if it had been reported 20 years ago that gas would someday by $4 a gallon? A gallon of milk and two loaves of bread is now $10!

What we're seeing now is multiple games at the same site for officials because travel expenses have made officials decline assignments they used to readily accept. Officials are forced to fish for the highest-paying games at the expense of assignors who are trying to staff games with fewer officials. And what used to be money for golf, boating or vacation is now paying car notes, fuel costs or grocery bills. I worked four baseball games yesterday and I would have handled multiple games today had it not have been for work commitments. Staying at the same site for multiple games becomes problematic when dealing with coaches, players and fans, but our changed economic realities have made this an unavoidable evil.

Where do the solutions come from? With higher costs for everyone involved in youth sports, asking for more money hardly seems as a plausible remedy.

Only one conclusion is certain: It's strange times to be an official in Michigan, to be sure.

UAW Ignores Core Truths

Michigan's state song is a catchy little tune called Michigan, My Michigan. Lately, the lyrics might as well have been rewritten to include the following: Record-breaking unemployment, foreclosures at all-time highs and adjustable-rate mortgages ballooning out of control. Welfare is the state's biggest outbound stream next to all the business pulling up stake and leaving, which might explain why state budget problems, already billions of dollars in the red, might force a statewide shutdown of government services.

Good time to order a national strike, huh? That's the reality of yesterday's decision by the powers-that-be in the Detroit headquarters of the United Auto Workers working for General Motors. Singing a new tune, yet? I got an e-mail from a friend this morning. Not just any friend, my best friend. My best man in my wedding. He's leaving Michigan for Newport Beach as of today. Was I sad? Did I offer him my admission that I'll miss him? No. I told him take the new job, get out of here and don't look back, because the Michigan he called home for the last 18 years is a shell of it's former self and will not be changing anytime soon.

Which brings us to the UAW. They're singing a song these days, too. It's called We can't see the forest through the trees. It's no longer 1937, 1946 or 1970. The sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan is a great story but not a great tactical model. Striking isn't going to solve your problems but rather accelerate them if you're a struggling auto worker. I cannot remember ever reading a Detroit daily that wasn't pro-union, especially the liberal slants of the Detroit Free Press, but both the News and Freep chastised the decision to strike by the UAW-led workforce of General Motors yesterday. If that doesn't tell you a new day is here, nothing will.

Two years ago, I worked for a dealership owned under Roger Penske's United Auto Group umbrella. It was a foreign car dealership in the toney Detroit 'burb of Bloomfield Hills. Sadly, two things stood out to me. The unprofessionalism from many of the sales staff was obvious and the longtime Detroit dealership mentality was a tough nut to crack. Smoke breaks, language and behavioral problems, not-so-secret  but intimate office relationships between managers and loan officers tarnishing professional judgment, you name it. I lasted a month before I walked away. The few that did it right were swallowed by the many who were the prototypical salespeople customers hate to deal with. The other obvious truth? People weren't walking in for American-made products. The company's best selling sedan is made in Sylvania, Ohio and is the most American-made car in the country, yet it took me all of two days to figure out I was better off keeping that fact to myself. I watched many potential customers become disinterested in products built in America, and these were non-union plants building these cars. I actually asked if we could remove the final assembly point from the window stickers.

Perception defeats reality every time. It's not fair and it's not about truth. It's about perception. The UAW is playing into the perception that Michigan is a truculent, union-heavy state full of loafers and freeloaders looking for guarantees in a no-guarantee world. UAW workers are giving back many gains because the marketplace can bear it. For too many years the UAW workforce allowed mediocrity and, hand-in-hand, the employers looked the other way in the name of profits. The Big Three signed blank checks and the UAW cashed those checks and emboldened a mentality that will be the final undoing of the unions.

Six weeks ago a Super Walmart opened in Livonia, Michigan, another quiet Detroit suburb. 5,000 people showed up for 350 jobs. If Michigan became a right-to-work state and GM offered 10,000 jobs paying $12-15 per hour, they'd have zero problems staffing plants right now. This is the reality the UAW rank-and-file doesn't understand. They're easily replaceable in today's global marketplace. Our neighbor wears his union jacket anywhere and everywhere these days, and we see him a lot -- he's unemployed. I asked him why he didn't take a move to another plant even though it was less money. "I've worked for $27 an hour for the last fifteen years -- what makes you think I'd work for $15-18 when I'm worth $27?" Now he's worth $0 per hour, and guess who's trying to sell his house?

It seems like the last people left in Michigan will get stuck with the check, not to mention the task of rebuilding the state, physically and mentally, from the ground up. The days of doing business per usual are long gone, and the sooner Michigan finally hits rock bottom the better, because the state can finally begin a recovery based on today's marketplace, not the one we grew up with in 1970.

Selling The Call!

Today fellow official Chad Clark shares some of his off-the-field experiences in the officiating realm from his daytime chair at Cliff Keen Athletic in Ann Arbor.

“Selling the call,” when it comes to officiating refers to making it obvious.  This confirms your absolute certainty in making the correct decision in that split second.  In dealing with official’s uniforms over the past decade, all bets are off when it comes to the idea of “selling.”

I’m in the business of officiating at Cliff Keen Athletic in Ann Arbor. The nuances of that statement that can be quite challenging.  I spend more time with football officials than any other sport.  I umpire football and I sell to football umpires. Understanding what a hold is on the field and what holds an official’s eye off the field in terms of gear are two different things. Success comes from being able to listen to our customers, just like a great official can listen to a coach.  A lot of great ideas from many officials from around the country have led to great advancements in what you wear.

There are different attitudes toward “fashion” in the official’s world, just as there is in the athlete’s world or the business world.  On the whole, we aim to make products that are of a superior quality with a reasonable price tag. Yes, they want quality -- they do NOT want to have to buy a new shirt or new knickers every year. No, they do not like to take paychecks from two games work and have to spend it on new gear -- for any sport -- so what they buy has to last.

Over the years, our “rule books” are the descriptions of products like “Soil-out” conditioner in our football knickers; Optic-White stripes in shirts and knickers (to prevent yellowing due to UV rays); sizing our umpire shirts for the plate; Stretch-FitÒ hats to accommodate not only different head sizes, but also variable hair lengths; collar “stays” so the tips of shirt collars do not curl up; and breathable, moisture-wicking materials.

You can stereotype officials any way you want (authoritative, bossy, arrogant, neat, cheap...). The truth is they, like everyone else, come from all walks of life, including socio-economic, race, gender, religion, age and other markers. There must be as many differing tastes among officials as any other group of people in a given occupation. The one common denominator: No one likes to spend money on something that doesn't last -- something I hope Cliff Keen make the right call on every time.