The Thanksgiving holiday is all about tradition: turkey, stuffing, gravy, football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And, like every year since 1952, the Rockettes are the last act before the parade begins. There they are, right where they should be—a tradition within a tradition.

You recognize the costumes. You know the act.  But still, the performance is impressive—captivating—I stop and watch every time. More than anything, it’s the coordination and harmony that is the marvel.  Complete fluidity.  Each dancer doing precisely the right thing at precisely the right time.

Could this be the year?

For the love of everything Harry Caray, this might be the year the Cubs finally win the World Series. Cubs’ fans have been waiting for this moment for a long time—since 1908. A little Internet research can tell you there are probably 350 people walking the planet who were alive to see the last Cubs’ championship (None of them actually saw it because TV hadn’t been invented yet). Everyone else has literally been waiting their entire life to see the Cubs to win the big one.

Patience and focus.

I love watching competition – especially Olympic competition. For a couple of weeks, it was all Olympics, all the time.  I was totally ok with that.

Even for events that I only pay attention to a few days every four years, like trampoline, I can’t not watch.  In fact, I think trampolining would be the official sport of IOS. Why?  Same blueprint for success.

You don’t know what you don’t know

How often have you said there should be a law for that, only to realize that it already is a law, then you begin to wonder if anyone ever reads these things.

I read about this last week, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

The Brooks Act, also known as qualifications based selection (QBS), is a law that has been on the books since the 70’s. It makes it illegal for federal buyers to use price as any part of the decision process when selecting architects or engineers for government projects.

What a novel idea…buy on value not solely on cost.

Merkilegt is the Icelandic word for remarkable. Did you know there is a major international soccer tournament going on right now and the team from Iceland is the headline for how well they are playing? The backstory is remarkable. Iceland has about 330,000 people and here it is competing on the world stage against the giants in the sport.  If Iceland was a city in Indiana, it would be the 2nd largest in the state.  Additionally, coaching the team is a part-time job.  When the coach isn’t coaching, he’s a dentist.