Starting Five
Bulls. Bears. Birds? Yes, birds.
1. Aviary Special IPO
Ordinarily, birds are known for heading south this time of year. Especially Canadian snow geese. Have you seen those creatures? They’re huge.
However, today comes news that Twitter has finally set a date and a price for its Initial Public Offering, or IPO. The San Francisco-based company that was founded in 2006 will go public on Wednesday, November 6 and have an initial price of between $17 to $20. Industry experts say that the company is being appraised at a “modest” $11 billion because executives are wary of the “Facebook Effect”, a reference to that company’s calamitous, at least at the time, IPO.
And good luck buying Twitter stock (ticker symbol TWTR) at that price, unless your bank account already has six zeros and two commas.
A thought or two: We can compare Twitter to both Google and Facebook, two other Bay Area-based companies whose website everyone uses but about whom experts said upon their respective IPOs., “But how do they make money?”
The answer: Hand over fist.
Google (GOOG) went public on August 19, 2004. Its IPO price was $85 per share. Nine years later it closed yesterday at $1,025 per share, or 12 times its initial price, or about a 133% jump PER YEAR since its IPO.
Facebook (FB) went public on May 16, 2012, with a glitch-filled IPO (it was delayed for more than a half hour, causing panic) and at a price of $38. The stock price fell all the way down to $18.87 last November 12, but you know what? Yesterday FB closed at $52.44, meaning that if you had bought it on its IPO day and never sold, you’d still be up about 37%. That could change your status from “Middle-class” to “Holiday in Santorini.”
The outlook: I’ll be surprised if Twitter isn’t selling as high as $25-30 by the end of its first day. There may be some turbulence that first week, but five years from now? I doubt anyone who buys the stock this next month will be bummed that they did. Twitter is a far more accessible tool than Facebook, and I find that while I go to Google often, I spend far more time on Facebook. It’s half the fun of watching any sporting event on TV these days.
Finally, The man behind the Twitter IPO, at least on the investment banker side, is Goldman Sachs’ Anthony Noto, a former football player at Army and former CFO at the NFL. One industry insider calls him the “Don Draper of IPOs” (so he didn’t get Hershey?). Noto’s secret for success on this deal? He studied the Facebook IPO playbook and did almost everything opposite.
2. Are Cardinal Pitchers Old Enough to Rent a Car?
The Card rookie can legally drink a highball, but he’d rather not throw one. Wacha, wacha, wacha.
Game 2 Starter Michael Wacha: 22 years old. Six innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 earned runs off a blast to Big Papi. No shame in that. Still gets the Win.
Game 2 Middle Reliever Carlos Martinez: 22 years old. Two innings pitched, one hit, no earned runs, three strikeouts.
Game 2 Closer Trevor Rosenthal: 23 years old. One inning pitched, struck out the side. No hits. no walks. Gets the save.
Wacha is now 4-0 in this postseason and actually raised his ERA to 1.00 with last night’s “disappointing” outing. Not bad, rook.
If you were wondering, pitchers younger than Wacha to have won a World Series game include Madison Bumgarner (21) of the San Francisco Giants in 2010, Fernando Valenzuela (20) of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1980, Jim Palmer (20) of the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 and Joe Bush (20) of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913, who was 20 years old at the time.
As for David Ortiz, who has hit five home runs this October, he is now tied with Jim Thome at No. 7 for most postseason blasts with 17. Check out this list, however, and notice plate appearances. Further evidence that Babe Ruth was the greatest ballplayer of all time.
3. Is This Any Way To Promote Captain Phillips?
Couldn’t this have waited until AFTER we released the director’s cut DVD?
The captain and the chief engineer of a U.S. oil supply vessel, C-Retriever, were kidnapped off the coast of Nigeria earlier this week. For the geographically-challenged, Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean while Nigerian pirates operate in the Gulf of Guinea, technically the Atlantic Ocean. They have a fierce rivalry, especially in interleague games.
(Also, Nigeria is NOT Niger, although the two nations are adjacent to one another and both give copy editors nightmares. People from Nigeria are known as Nigerians, while people from Niger are known as Nigeriens. Unless you’re Paula Deen [low-hanging fruit, couldn’t resist]. And you thought you’d learn nothing by visiting MH today.)
Anyway, not sure what the pirates are demanding as ransom, but I’d ask for points on the theatrical release as well as a share of the front end. And, if action figures are in the future, I want 5% of the licensing.
4. Steve Rushin in 7 Heaven
No, I said, “Seven Heaven.” Oh well, if we have to run a photo that includes Jessica Biel…
This is the Steve Rushin-est column you may ever read. Read it and then search for other “seven” references that he might have missed. I unearthed James Bond, that Morgan Freeman-Brad Pitt-Kevin Spacey-Gwyneth Paltrow flick, an Uncola and, of course, the right Reverend Camden and his sultry brood.
“Shaken or stirred?” “Do I look like I give a damn?” (Now THAT’S a great moment)
My man Steve is, thankfully, back on the back page of Sports Illustrated print edition, where he recently penned an eloquent and insightful essay on the NFL’s concussion dilemma. It was a typical Rushin column in that it took seemingly unrelated moments and arcana, tied them all together with an idiot-proof bow, and included a reference to Alan Page, Steve’s boyhood sports hero. I swear, Steve mentions Alan Page nearly as much as I mention Troy Niklas, but they’re both Notre Dame linemen, so it’s all cool.
Alan Page with the Irish. And what does 8 minus 1 equal?
By the way, there are currently only six members in the Rushin-Lobo family. Was this essay a subtle way of suggesting an addition?
5. “Oh Beautiful, O Say Can You See Her, So Fine and Pretty…”
I need verification: Is this James Taylor or is it Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln after a shave?
Acoustic guitar legend and Bay State native James Taylor gets the “Star-Spangled Banner” duty and instead opens with “America the Beautiful” before catching himself after two words, as Deadspin aptly notes. Personally, and as an inveterate fan of word trains, I wish he would’ve segued from the national anthem directly to Van Halen’s, “Dance The Night Away.”
As if you ever need an excuse to break out that Diamond Dave classic. Oh, and if you’re between the ages of 44 and, say, 52, and you NEVER once scrawled the Van Halen logo on the back of a spiral notebook back in junior high, I don’t even know what to say to you.
Reserves
Pat Haden would already have fired Greg Schiano. I’m just saying. Tampa Bay is 0-7 after last night’s loss at home to Carolina and recruits are decommitting like you wouldn’t believe.
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Fox’s Pam Oliver, making friends in the Big Apple. Maybe that football that struck her in the head inflicted more damage than first thought.
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Notre Dame meme Cam McDreamy appears on the Today Show (it is NBC, after all) to discuss THAT photo. The ladies of Today, well, this was a tad (Hamilton) embarrassing, was it not? Even Mario Bartiromo thinks they made fools of themselves.
Here’s a photo of Cam after losing his helmet in the Purdue game, shot by Matt Cashore. And another one, as you can see, below (The meme photo was shot by Jonathan Daniel).
(t Earlier this season McDaniel had his helmet knocked off during a rushing attempt near the goal line at Purdue, but failed to become a meme.
Again, wait until they see Troy Niklas.
Oh, and well done, NBC. You were only three days behind this site, which is man-powered by one unpaid employee, on this story. And you actually have rights to Notre Dame football telecasts.
Also, it’s a good question asked by tweet Tom Daignault: Why does McDaniel’s helmet keep coming off? Sure, he loves contact, but is he not strapping it on (Hey, now!) correctly?
*****
I happen to think Russell Brand is truly brilliant (and, yes, I’m saying this on Katy Perry’s 29th birthday). I find that people who dismiss him out of hand because of his accent, or the way he looks, dresses, or the fact that he’s a comedian, do so at their own risk (right, Mika?). Anyway, thanks to The Big Lead for turning me on to this interview between Brand and a fellow Brit on BBC. What I love about it, and about the Brits in general, is that they can fervently disagree or debate a topic on TV without it seeming personal or vindictive. Just two intelligent people batting around ideas. How refreshing.
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So, Notre Dame football has a verbal commit from linebacker Greer Martini (the first pledge of the Class of 2014) out of Virginia and is extending an offer to Long Beach, Calif., wide receiver Juju Smith. I’m all for this. See the headline: “Martini’s hits leave opposing RBs shaken AND stirred.”
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Just wondering, and I’m honestly asking: Has anyone asked Eddie Vanderdoes how many times he has been home since August 1?
Remote Patrol
Boise State at BYU
ESPN 8 p.m.
Petersen, winner of the Israel Gutierrez lookalike contest.
What a compelling matchup this is…in 2009! The Broncos finished 14-0 that season, the Cougars 11-2 (their lone defeats coming to Florida State and to a TCU team that also went undefeated until meeting Boise State in the BCS Outcast Bowl, a.k.a. Fiesta Bowl). These two Mountain Time Zone neighbors assiduously avoided one another for years, but last season they finally met. Curiously, it was a low-scoring, offensively challenged 7-6 Boise State win on the Smurf Turf.
Why tune in tonight? Because it’s Chris Petersen’s 100th game as Boise State’s head coach, and if he wins his record will be 90-10. Knute Rockne has the greatest winning percentage of any FBS coach with 100 games under his belt, at .881, but Petersen of course will be better than that after tonight, win or lose.
Opposing running backs find BYU’s All-American LB “Van Noying.”
Also, tune in to see BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who may just be the premier defensive player in the country. He is also the only player we know whose name ends in “-annoy”, which we like.
Regarding Russell Brand, I recently read an in-flight magazine interview with another Brit wit, Ricky Gervais, who said: “Onstage, I play an arrogant showbiz pseudo-intellectual bore who comes down on the wrong side of every issue.” I found his statement to be very Brand-esque. Whence I dubbed it ‘the thrill of the wince’.
As for Nigeria, I called Ibadan (the largest indigenous African city south of the Sahara) home many moons ago. I’m honored to say a number of high-ranking Nigerian princes have stayed in close touch with me over the years. And coincidentally, it’s remarkable how often their banking assets are frozen!
Enjoyed Rushin on seven. But yes, where was the Max Weinberg Seven? The Seven Sisters? Seven Years in Tibet? Seven Samurai? The pH balance men and women can strive for? I can understand why George Carlin’s seven words weren’t in there.