Rivalries Can Actually Be Healthy

This is Super Bowl week, culminating with Super Sunday. The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks should be a classic matchup.

Old school football fans remember when these two teams used to face each other regularly as part of the old AFC West before Seattle moved to the NFC. It was a bit of a rivalry, including all star players such as John Elway, Steve Largent and Cortez Kennedy, among others.

Rivalries can get heated, especially for the super competitive folks. However, they extend beyond sports, and can actually be good for overall competition, fan bases, and obviously business.

SPORTS:

Two of the best rivalries in all of sports are the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox in baseball and the North Carolina Tarheels/Duke Blue Devils in college basketball. Both of these rivalries are intense, have lots of history, and the games often have championship implications. The same can be said for Auburn/Alabama and Ohio State/Michigan in college football, The New York Knicks/Boston Celtics in the NBA, and many others. You live for the days when these types of teams play each other.  Often houses, and even families,  are temporarily divided depending upon the magnitude of the games and fan bases. 

BUSINESS

There are also rivals in the business world.  Some notable ones are Google/Apple, Xbox/Playstation, Ford/Chevrolet, Nike/Reebok, and McDonalds/Burger King. It can get intense in these respective boardrooms as the executives and marketing teams want to stay ahead of their counterparts.  Like any other rivalry, it's almost natural to pick a side.

ENTERTAINMENT AND CELEBRITIES

There will always be certain yings and yangs in this realm. It became extreme and fatal in the 90s with Tupac and Biggie. Some rivalries that have been lesss fatal include Beyoncé/Rihanna, Michael Jackson/Prince, Adam Sandler/Ben Stiller, AC/DC/Metallica, Jay-Z/Nas, and even networks such as CBS/NBC/ABC, MSNBC/FOX news, and soap operas such as The Young and The Restless/All My Children. 

Paraphrasing a line from the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby", having a good competitor can make you better. Katie Couric needs Diane Sawyer, the Today Show needs The Early Show, The View needs The Talk, American Idol needs The Voice. George Lucas needs Peter Jackson. LeBron James needs Kobe Bryant. Jimmie Johnson needs Matt Kenseth. The Beatles needed The Rolling Stones. The list goes on and on.

A friendly rivalry is usually fun and not hate filled. You want to be on your game and do your best. This rival can often be your greatest motivator. You compare each other constantly, always striving to do better.

So as you tune into the Super Bowl this weekend, remember that the game imitates life in many ways. We all want to be on the biggest stage of our careers or passions, and it always feels better to win.

Text Neck Is Serious

Usage of cellphones has increased hundred fold over the past few decades. The introduction and expansion of smartphones into mini computing and texting devices that are often touchscreen or tailored to heavy eye and finger usage have been popular.

There are always side effects obviously. Outside of contract committments, data capping, and the overall expenses, you cannot forget the wear and tear physically. And no this is beyond carpal tunnel. There is a condition called text neck.
Trust me, text neck is very real. Often many of us do it out of habit. This goes along with proper poise and posture. Several people drop their necks while playing with their cell phones. This causes tension on the back neck tissue and muscles and can even cause nerve damage in the upper back.

However, awareness and prevention is key. An ounce of preventiom is worth a pound of cure. What you want to do is try to hold your neck and back in an upright position. Then hold your phone in front of your face to avoid even slumping your eyes. Also, use both hands if possible to increase comfort.

I have practiced these techniques personally and the differences in comfort is astounding. Lying down and holding your phone over you is also effective.

Many of love our iPhones, Galaxys, Notes, and other mobile devices. Therefore, we deserve to use them without fear of suffering permanent damage to your upper body torso. 

Balance is key in achieving goals and living a healthy life. Apply this balance to your cell phone usage and you can avoid those annoying neck pains and cricks.

The Google Explosion

Microsoft and Apple have been going head to head in the technology world for a couple of decades now. However, it seems whenever Apple releases a hot product or gadget, Google (owned by Microsoft) is not far behind. You have several successful Samsung products such as the Note, Galaxy, and Nexus, Google Chrome and Cloud. Google even has a social network: Google +.

However the one thing that Google has one upped Apple on for years is Google itself. By this, I mean the search engine.

People, myself included, are so quick to visit Google in search of something. Random information, facts, photos, recipes. Heck I will Google in the middle of a conversation to try and settle a debate or heated discussion. I am a Googling fiend, and apparently I'm not alone.

Yahoo, MSN, and even Dogpile that combines all the search engines are good as well. However Google has branded the online research technique. They have impacted it so much so that people now say "I'm going to Google this or that". Google is thus a verb.

We recently had a Super Bowl full of excitement, blackouts, Beyonce' gyrating, and of course the ads. I remember an ad Google ran in 2010 during the Super Bowl about its search engine. This guy was searching (or Googling) on how to woo and romance his girlfriend. His Googling and research evolved to looking for engagement rings, wedding venues, tuxes, realtors, and later baby items.

Google is an important part of our lives. Even Apple users cannot deny how Google has changed us as a culture.

Being that I enjoy trivia, Google does take some of the fun out of it, for those that do not play fair. However, random knowledge is part of the Google experience.

Perhaps you came across my blog via a Google search. I hope you continue to visit my blog weekly, and look at my past posts. Google is truly helping improve everyone's lives with their one size fits all approach.

2012 End Year Cowbell List

Ok it's that time of year again. Who needed more cowbell, and who has become a permanent fixture on my list? Joined once again by my lovely and intelligent sidekick Regina Wright, here's the list for the second half of 2012, starting with the repeat offenders.

Repeat Offenders:

-2Chainz, (along with Chief Keef, Lil Wayne, and any other garbage rapper) What is the deal with this awful music? Bands Will Make Her Dance? Hip hop is becoming less about lyrics and more about club and booty anthems.

-Mitt Romney: Did you really expect America to believe all of those lies? I'm guessing you will return to your faith and continue with the whoppers.

-Facebook: more privacy changes, making Instagram more controlling, and just doing too much period. It's still addictive and the #1 social network. Some of these changes, however, weren't necessary. At times it's best to leave well enough alone.

-The LA Lakers. First you don't even give Phil Jackson a chance. Then you play lost until Steve Nash returned.  Looks like another short season for the Lakeshow.

-Charlotte Bobcats. Slightly better but still terrible to watch. Perhaps regaining the Hornets name will make you play better.

-Apple. It appears the iPhone 5 has been a disappoinment thus far. Google has once again one-upped you. How's that iPhone 6 coming?

-Overcommercialism. Hey we all have to eat and live. But we should.be able to live and enjoy things and holidays without all the bs. 

-Tony Romo. You are just a choke artist. When will the Cowboys learn you are not Staubach or Aikman. You're not even Philip Rivers.

-VH-1. Still displaying coonery in the form of new seasons of Basketball Wives and washed up athletes and rappers with their own shows.

-World Star Hip Hop. Still exposing ignorance, from the Ramen noodle boy, to the infamous bus driver uppercut. Debra Lee must secretly own y'all.

New Additions:

-Mikalya. You may not be impressed, but guess what, neither is anyone else.
-The overall media. TV, print, and social media cannot stop overexposing a story and running it into the ground. That's when I find a good book and start reading.
-Christmas music and specials. How long can we endure the classics of yesteryear? We need fresh holiday tunes, movies and specials.
-12.21.12 (and anyone who believed it). When is the last time you ever saw a Mayan?
-Haters for no reasons, especially on Gabby Douglas, Notre Dame football, and President Obama.  No merit in your statements at all.
-Clint Eastwood. Looks like you had more than trouble with the curve during the RNC. The Republicans slipped you something strong.
-Modern radio. Still terrible, and still playing the same 20 songs/artists
-MTV. First your network has gone to Hell. Then you decide to put your highest rated program, the VMAs, on the same night as the final night of the DNC.
-Viacom. You should have known you couldn't bully DirecTV. You are truly greedy and vile.
-School security. It appears school children of every age are no longer safe.
-Big Lots. How do you accept debit cards, but no cashback option? That's like saying you can get into the club free , but the club closes at midnight.
-Brooklyn Nets. You didn't give Avery Johnson a fair shot. Now your inner city rival, my beloved Knicks, will dominate you.
-Texas Rangers. Welp you let Josh Hamiliton go. So much for getting that World Series title anytime soon.
-Spike Lee. You always have something to say. Now you're criticizing Django Unchained. Umm now weren't you an executive producer of the IFC mockumentary The CSA: The Confederate States of America? Need to borrow a broom to sweep around your front lawn?
-The 22 States that petitioned to secede from the USA. And the worst part: half of you are states that voted President Obama back into office.
-Rex Ryan. You talk too much, you don't give Tebow a fair chance, and now you may never be a head coach again. Good riddance.
-Nicki Minaj. Ok first you endorse Mitt Romney. Then you threaten Mariah Carey. Sit your fake self down somewhere.
-Kim and Kenya Moore from RHOA. Kim, why did you even return to the show, only to leave later?  Kenya, simmer down on the thirstiness. If you want to be married that bad, find someone that wants to be married right away.
-Phrases such as "flow", "real talk" , "gucci" and "swag". They all need to die in 2013.
-People going too crazy over the latest Jordans. Shoes above everything else huh?
-Chik Fil-A. Now everyone knows what you really stand for. Hope you're cool with that
-Honey Boo Boo and her mom. Need I say more?

Happy New Year to all of my readers and those stopping in for the first time. One of your resolutions should be to stay off of this list!