JerseyMan Magazine V6 N1 by JerseyManMagazine

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Volume 6 • Number 1

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All in the CBS3 Family

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WASHINGTON THE

Sixers’ Savior?

PHILADELPHIA REAL ESTATE Boom or Bust?

TRAVEL SECTION Page 54

P. 28

George Anastasia’s

MOB SCENE

THE GAME OF BALLS www.jerseymanmagazine com

PUBLISHER

FROM JerseyMan Magazine THE VOLUME 6 • NUMBER 1 ____________________________________________________________________________________ BY KEN DUNEK

I went to the Philly Pops recently. It was amazing spectacle of sound and light. It got me to thinking about music and how unique the sections and instruments are: There is the brashness of the brass, the delicate nature of the strings, the boldness of percussion and the eloquence of the woodwinds. Amazing how all these different elements come together and create beautiful music. Since it is the political season as well, it got me to thinking how dysfunctional our government is. And how chaotic the presidential nominees are. Donald Trump is a tuba, emitting loud and overwhelming sounds. Hillary Clinton is a trumpet, blowing out her agenda for all to hear. Ben Carson is a piccolo, whispering his message in soft and muted tones. Bernie Sanders is a mad violinist fiddling like his hair is on fire. Chris Christie is a cymbal, delivering his opinions with a crash. Carly Fiorina is a harp, letting her conservative edict flow from her deft fingertips.

Ken Dunek Publisher CONTRIBUTING EDITOR George Brinkerhoff ART DIRECTOR Steve Iannarelli CONTRIBUTING WRITERS George Anastasia, Jan L. Apple, Michael Bradley, George Brinkerhoff, Sam Carchidi, Matt Conforti, Alexandra Dunek, Ashley Dunek, Ken Dunek, John Hopkins, Robert Kennedy, Sam Kraft, Bill Lyon, Anthony Mongeluzo, Daniel R. Morroni, Nicole Pensiero, Gervase Peterson, Nina Radcliff, MD, Don Russell, Andrew Ryan, Nick Santangelo, Kurt Smith, Matt Stevens, Dr. Rubina Tahir DC, T. Jordan Wompierski ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS Liz Boccolini Alexandra Dunek EVENTS COORDINATOR Ashley Dunek

Jeb Bush is a triangle, never wavering in tone or rhythm.

Editorial 856-813-1153

Ted Cruz is a piano that can deliver sharp right wing chords.

Advertising 856-912-4007

Marco Rubio is a tambourine, shaking his message with a Cuban flair.

Printing 856-813-1153

The orchestra conductor makes all the instruments come together in wondrous harmony.

Controller Rose M. Balcavage

It’s just too bad we don’t have someone with a wand that can lead our presidential hopefuls and channel their differences into a melody that will benefit all of us. Let the political music play on.

This issue marks the 5th anniversary of JerseyMan Magazine. In late 2010, we saw an opportunity in the marketplace to produce a magazine specific to men’s interest, but careful not to exclude or offend women. JerseyMan Magazine has been a true labor of love. We have gone from 48 to 96 pages as our advertisers have seen the unique branding opportunity that we offer. Our distribution is now 40,000 total, with half of that going across the river for PhillyMan Magazine. Our Legacy Club business network has 200+ members. The Chairman’s Club is less than a year old and has 12 of the 15 available spots filled by CEO-level business people. PhillyMan the TV Show is in development. Our goal is to continue to bring you unique and informative stories by some of the best writers in the business, while providing our business network the opportunity to meet potential clients face to face at our monthly events. Thanks for being a loyal reader. Onward and upward. – K.D.

Sales Associates Ashley Dunek, Jamie Dunek, Terri Dunek, Chris Kazmarck, Lisa Liccketto-Lombardo, JP Lutz, Tinavalen Nguyen, Debbie Sarcone JerseyMan Advisory Board Peter Cordua. . . . . . Cordua, Pastore & Associates Nick DeRose. . . . . . . . . Legacy Treatment Services Joseph Devine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kennedy Health Ted Flocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernst & Young Bob Hoey. . . . . . . . . . . Janney Montgomery Scott Jeffrey Jaskol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Jaskol Group Steven Kantor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEH Insurance Robert Kennedy. . . . . . . . The Kennedy Companies Julie LaVan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LaVan Law Anthony Mongeluzo is a serial entrepreneur and a computer expert. Today, his IT firm has four offices and operates in four states (NJ, PA, DE and MD). He has started four other companies while maintaining an active role with several social service organizations, ranging from the YMCA Governance Board to the Rowan University Alumni Board. Anthony is also FOX-TV’s IT expert in Philadelphia.

Anthony Mongeluzo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PCS Toni Pergolin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bancroft Mike Regina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Big Sky Enterprises Paul Tully . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eagle Wealth Strategies JerseyMan Magazine/PhillyMan Magazine, products of the partnership of Joe LaGrossa, Ken Dunek, and Alex Kazmarck, are published by New Opportunity Publishing, LLC, with offices at 7025 Central Highway, Pennsauken, NJ, 08109. Copyright 2016.

JerseyMan Magazine

“ A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

VOLUME 6 • NUMBER 1

INSIDE

– Lao Tzu

FEATURES

S P E C I A L T R AV E L S E C T I O N

54 ONLINE TRAVEL

56 ADVENTURE TRAVEL

IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE

58 POSTCARD FROM THE EDGE

on the

PLAN YOUR TRIP WITH THESE WEBSITES

TRAVELING BY BIKE THROUGH PATAGONIA

cover

Ukee

WASHINGTON

22 CARLI LLOYD

BY BILL LYON

28 PHILLY REAL ESTATE

BOOM OR BUST?

36 SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE

FLYERS ROOKIE PHENOM IS SCARY GOOD

40 JERRY COLANGELO

THE SIXERS’ SAVIOR?

44 LAMBEAU LEAP

A PHILLY GUY IN GREEN BAY

60 THE GAME OF BALLS

BOCCE HAS SERIOUS STAYING POWER

64 PHILLY’S MR. SPORTS

PHL SPORTS LARRY NEEDLE

76 DEVOTION VODKA COLUMNS 12 JOTTINGS • 20 GEORGE ANASTASIA’S MOB SCENE • 24 THE ENTHUSIAST • 34 GET FIT 70 THE HEALTH REFEREE • 74 DR. NINA • 82 THE ENTREPRENEUR COACH • 84 JOE SIXPACK 86 THE CIGAR GUY • 89 TECH TIME • 90 WHAT WE WEAR • 93 THE WINE MAN • 94 SAY GERV? BY GERVASE PETERSON

www.jerseymanmagazine.com

JOTTINGS

“ The journey

not the arrival _____________________________________________________________________________ matters.” – TS Eliot

BY GEORGE BRINKERHOFF

MADE IN PHILLY Margeaux Kent

5AM... Really? The 5AM Miracle, Dominate Your Day Before Breakfast

Walter Kent

Photos pegandawlbuilt.com

ike old things? Like new stuff made from old things? Like stuff made in Philly? Maybe you’ve heard it said, “Nobody makes things here in the U.S. anymore.” While there may be more than a bit of truth in that statement, the folks behind Peg and Awl – Treasures from Abandoned Materials are rejecting that notion one hand made product at a time. From their workshop, located in an old casket company building in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, Walter and Margeaux Kent have conjured up an amazing array of practical items which put the fun back in functional. Their step

Work stool

Rogue backpack

stools, tables, cutting boards, cabinets, wooden knives, waxed canvas satchels, wooden swings, candle blocks, log carriers and knife racks, (just to name a few) all retain their functionality while still recalling the enviable design elements and hand-crafted construction of another time. Between their reverence for all things yesteryear and their exceptional design and craftsmanship, the Kent’s along with their small staff 12

of craftsmen and women, turn out thoughtful, unique and elegant items of exquisite quality using repurposed items. And every item they fashion tells a story. Whether it’s reclaimed wood from old Philly houses, or leather from things like old baseball gloves or WWII gun slings (which, according to their web site they find at “flea markets and old shoppes, abandoned houses and torn down buildings, construction sites, yard sales and dirty basements”), their designs are meaningful new takes on old school craftsmanship. Sold in many stores of both the brick and mortar variety, including Urban Outfitters, as well as on Internet sites like their own, they make their products with a vision and quality that harkens

Weekender bag

back to a more golden era of American manufacturing. Since our focus in this issue is on travel, check out their Weekender or Journey Bag or Rogue Backpack, which may just be the ideal things to stow your gear in and provide instant street cred, gravitas and faded glory on your next sojourn. For more information on their made-in-Philly products go to pegandawlbuilt.com.

EFF SANDERS is a productivity coach, ultra-marathon runner and host of the 5AM miracle podcast. He believes that he has discovered the one key habit which has revolutionized his life: intentionally waking up early (I know, sounds ghastly!) The book, based on his popular podcast of the same name (with more than two million downloads), offers a seven-step program for you to be more productive than ever before, and systematically create a healthy lifestyle while achieving all your goals. “For those who experience their own 5AM miracle, there are no accidents. Their life is planned on paper, on purpose, every day, without exception. This also means that the benefits they experience are planned. The amazing results are anticipated and realized.” He says you too can experience a dramatic increase in sustainable energy, higher–quality sleep and consistent sleep patterns, weight loss and improved mood, ability to ward off distractions and much more. It’s the ultimate guide to reaping the benefits of early rising. 5AM you say? Hmm, seems just a wee bit early. But I guess that if anyone might know about the “benefits” of getting up at 5AM, it’d likely be an ultra-marathon running, productivity coach, right? And in fact, I believe it was none other than Philadelphia’s own illustrious inventor, statesman and founding father, Ben Franklin himself, who once mused, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” And, of course, no less of a man than singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett has frequently opined that, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere!” Well, if both Ben and Jimmy are down with it, then hell, so am I. (You say Jimmy meant what?)

The right man for the job…? Photo Philadelphia Eagles

y all accounts new Eagles head coach Doug Pederson is a good man, good family man, and good football man. But after never having won a Super Bowl in their history, owner Jeffrey Lurie, President Don Smolensky, and Executive VP of Football Operations Howie Roseman have opened themselves up to criticism if this latest hire does not bring the Eagles the Lombardi Trophy. When I think of the qualified candidates: Nick Pederson Saban, Urban Meyer, Brian Kelly, Jim Mora Jr., Patriots coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, Panthers coordinators Mike Shula and Sean McDermott among others, the choice of Pederson, who has no head coaching experience, is curious at best. Eleven years ago he was a high school coach. I understand he was an Andy Reid disciple. And Andy Reid is a good man. But he also never brought us to the promised land. We long suffering Eagles fans deserve a championship. Let’s hope Doug Pederson is the man who can bring it to us. If not, as Desi used to say to Lucy, and I now say to Jeffrey Lurie after passing by the aforementioned names, “you got some ‘splaining to do.” – K.D.

Photo courtesy Jeff Shurilla/Hornercom.com

LEANN RIMES TO HEADLINE FIRST CONCERT IN NEW SUGARHOUSE CASINO EVENT CENTER

orld renowned singer-songwriter LeAnn Rimes will be the first star to shine in the new SugarHouse Casino Event Center. The two-time Grammy® Award winner takes the stage Sunday, March 6, at 8 p.m. Tickets for the performance go on sale Feb. 1. LeAnn Rimes became a household name nearly two decades ago, when at 14 years old she became the youngest person to win a Grammy for her album “Blue.” She has sold more than 37 million albums worldwide and has won 12 Billboard Music Awards. Tickets can be purchased online at www.sugarhousecasino.com. 13

DUNEK HONORED

n Saturday, January 18, JerseyMan Magazine publisher Ken Dunek was honored to be selected as the 40th inductee into the South Jersey Sports Hall of Fame in Bridgeton, NJ. Former Penn State AllAmerican Quarterback Chuck Fusina made the nominating speech, and former Philadelphia Eagles and Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams Head Coach Dick Vermeil was in attendance and addressed the crowd as well.Â The SJ Sports Hall of Fame is located in Bridgeton, NJ. Future HOF events include former Philadelphia Flyers great Rick MacLeish and former Phillies All-Star Greg Luzinski.

Ken Dunek, pictured here with his former coach Dick Vermeil, was a tight end with the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia/ Baltimore Stars of the USFL.

Eagles and Verizon Wireless Packs for Pride – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia

The Durand Foundation 9th Annual Casino Night – Tavistock Country Club, Haddonfield, NJ

Ray Cristofoletti, Douglas and Laura Gaffney

Attendees enjoyed a fun-filled evening with professionally run casino games, performances by Rat Pack impersonators, a silent auction, raffles, scrumptious free food and beverages. The Durand Foundation Casino Night benefits children and adults with special needs.

The Philadelphia Eagles have partnered with Verizon Wireless on an initiative, Packs for Pride, which presents hundreds of backpacks to area children who come from families affected by domestic violence. The backpacks are filled with clothing, personal care items and toys. The Eagles and Verizon Wireless together have focused their efforts on raising awareness around domestic violence over the past 10 years. Pictured above is Eagles mascot SWOOP, Verizon Wireless director of retail sales Chris Flood and Eagles defensive end Brandon Bair. Photos Philadelphia Eagles

Left, Johnetta & Tomas Ervin. Below, Dennis Rivell, Jennifer Rodier

Cradles to Crayons – West Conshohocken, PA The Luncheon Roundtable Gang hosted by Joseph Myers at the Union League in Philadelphia

Cradles to Crayons in West Conshohocken, PA, provides gently used children’s clothing, books, and toys for ages up to 12 years old living in homeless or low-income situations in the Philadelphia Region. If you like to volunteer contact: www.cradlestocrayons.org 16

22nd Annual Hair O’ The Dog Philly’s Most Glamorous Bash - The Crystal Tea Room, Philadelphia

Emily Baatz, Lance Bachmann with The Notorious D.O.G & Robot Men

Felicia Punzo

Robert Molinaro, Buffy Harakidas, Daniel Cronin

Dr. Nina Radcliff

Darnell & Angela Hicks

Doninique DiEnna & Marissa Malin 17

Hot Soup & Hope “In a gentle way you can shake the world.”

BY ASHLEY DUNEK

– Mahatma Gandhi Photos courtesy Brandon Kamin

The holidays. A time to be thankful. A time of giving. We all have our own ways of giving back. Whether it be dropping a few bucks into the Salvation Army bucket, adding a $5 donation onto your latest Wawa purchase or contributing to your church’s local food drive. Most of us find some way to give to the less fortunate, particularly during the holiday season when we’re immersed in love and generosity from our loved ones. Then there are those who create a movement. A movement starts with an idea and is driven by passion, both of which local filmmaker Brandon Kamin had. Partnering with several charities and nonprofits already, Brandon woke up a few days before Thanksgiving with an idea. He wanted

Kamin with cameraman Mike Gallagher

to do something authentic and altruistic for those in need. He ran to the supermarket and loaded his cart with 100 cans of soup as the cashier blankly stared at him. He then transformed his dolly into a mobile soup kitchen. He asked his friend Mike Gallagher to come along and set off to make his idea a reality. Brandon and Mike maneuvered through the streets of Philly, interacting and offering soup to those in need. For those that were willing, the camera rolled as Brandon chatted 18

and ladled hot broth into bowls. Most people would expect to hear the cries of despair, of an unfair life handed to them, of the trials and tribulations that had left them to fend for themselves on the cold pavement of Philly. That is not what Brandon heard. Most of the individuals Brandon met sang a very different tune. He found that they were genuine, welcoming and, most of all, very driven to overcome the obstacles they were facing. They have a story. They have goals. They have hope. “The goal was singular; give folks a voice.” A voice that deserves to be heard just like yours or mine. lthough Brandon had no ulterior motive or sought any personal attention from this good deed, several people recognized his efforts and were touched by his story, including me. The video received thousands of views and landed on PHL17 morning news. In addition, the story struck a chord with Denise Morrison, CEO of none other than Campbell Soup Company. Campbell’s Soup caught wind of Brandon’s video and reached out to him. In October of 2015, roughly a month before Brandon hit the streets with his soup-mobile, Campbell’s announced their advertising campaign, “Made for Real, Real Life,” featuring a

Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell Soup Company, teamed up with Kamin to help his efforts.

collection of moments inspired by the lives of American families. I can’t think of anything more “real life” than what Brandon and Mike did. Campbell’s agrees and has plans to help continue Brandon’s movement. The next time you’re walking down the street and you pass by someone bundled up on the corner, holding a piece of cardboard asking for help, lay your judgement aside. Say hello. They too have a voice that deserves to be heard. n

Historic Snowfall In January 2016, Winter Storm Jonas dumped 22.4 inches of snow on Philadelphia, making it the fourth-biggest snowfall in 132 years of record-keeping. Photo Dan Dinsmore

MOB SCENE

_______________________________________________________________________________ BY GEORGE ANASTASIA

A Piece of the Action

friend of mine who likes to wager on sporting events has an interesting take on the Super Bowl, a game that arguably attracts more action than any other American athletic contest. “It’s a chance to get even,” he once told me with a laugh. Then he paused, shrugged and added, “Or to get even worse.” He’s been there. So have tens of thousands of others. Last year the sports book in Vegas took $116 milliion in bets. The year before it was a record setting $119 million. But those numbers are only a fraction of what is bet on the game. Nobody has an accurate figure because many of the guys taking bets don’t report their business income. But the total is in the billions. Best estimates are from $3 billion to $5 billion. The Super Bowl—number 50 was played this month—is the culmination of the American betting season. Sure, gambling continues on other sports throughout the year. The college NCAA basketball tournament is big. So is the Kentucky Derby. The World Cup tops everything, but that’s a once-every-four-years event. When it comes to sports betting, football is king. As a result, the Super Bowl caps each betting season. Guys will be settling up all month. The question is, with whom? All of this is by way of background because the really big game for New Jersey this year will play out in the federal courthouse in Philadelphia where, on Feb. 17, lawyers for the Garden State will try to convince members of the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals to allow bookmaking in the state’s casinos and at its racetracks. New Jersey has been fighting this battle for more than a decade. This may be its last chance. At issue is the Sports Wagering Act of 2014, a newer version of the Sports Wagering Act of 2012 that the courts struck down. One of the authors of the legislation and one of the state’s biggest proponents of legalized sports betting, State Sen. Raymond J. 20

Gamblers just want a fair shot to lose their money.

The mob has always given them that. Lesniak, had this to say when the bill was first introduced: “Legalizing sports wagering recognizes the inevitable—that people are going to bet on sports, whether the practice is legal or not.” A legal book, Lesniak argued, would “provide a safe and legal avenue for [gamblers] to bet on their favorite teams. By mainstreaming sports wagering, we can…put it in the regulated hands of existing casino and racetrack operators. And we can create new jobs and new economic opportunities for our ailing gaming establishments.” Ever the optimist, Lesniak at one point was predicting that the state’s casinos and racetracks would be taking action on the Super Bowl this year. That didn’t happen. And next year, even if the Appellate Court rules in the state’s favor, is a long shot. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and if the athletic institutions challenging New Jersey stay true to form, they will have their lawyers appeal any adverse ruling. The issue, then, could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. And maybe it should.

he opposition is the alphabet soup of sports. The plaintiffs who filed suit to block New Jersey include the NCAA, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and MLB. They claim that New Jersey’s current law violates the state constitution and also the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a law passed in 1992 that basically banned sports betting in all but four states that at the time already had some form of sports wagering in place. Nevada was the only state with a serious bookmaking operation. The three other states, including Delaware, had a form of sports betting based on pools and did not allow bets on single games. New Jersey is trying to end run the prohibition by repealing a portion of the state gambling law that bars sports betting. The repeal would apply only to casinos and racetracks. But the heart of the issue is much broader. The move could directly or indirectly challenge the constitutionality of the 1992 federal law. If New Jersey is successful, then other states are sure to follow.

That’s what has the leagues concerned. In legal papers filed in the current case, their lawyers have argued that “the 2014 Sports Wagering Law is New Jersey’s latest attempt to accomplish exactly what Congress and this Court have already prohibited it from doing: sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license, and/or authorize sports betting. The 2014 Sports Wagering Law does so by purporting to ‘repeal’ prohibitions, rules, and regulations on sports gambling.” The leagues say New Jersey is attempting an end run around existing prohibitions. And, as they always have, they argue that the very integrity of sports is at stake. Integrity can be a complicated issue. And in this case, it sometimes intersects with hypocrisy. When the NFL issues injury reports each week, is that to inform the fans about which one of their favorite players may not be suiting up, or is it to help bookmakers set an accurate line? When the NCAA touts its annual basketball tournament—arguably one of the best and most exciting events in all college sports—is there any mention of the graduation rate among the “student athletes” who will be suiting up for the games? Or of the freshman and sophomores who will be completing their “collegiate careers” after the tournament in order to enter the NBA draft. Steroids in baseball. Domestic abuse across the spectrum of pro sports. Criminal charges ranging from rape to murder. Those are part of the professional sports picture in America. And we should worry because a legal bookmaker is going to set odds and take bets on a sporting event? As Lesniak said, if there’s no legal book, a bettor will find someone else to take his action. Usually it’s the mob. And ironically, it’s in the mob’s best interest for the games to be legit. amblers just want a fair shot to lose their money. The mob has always given them that. A legal sports book will have little impact on organized crime’s take because casinos don’t extend credit. The mob does. And that’s no small thing for a degenerate gambler who’s getting buried on a Sunday afternoon. He just needs to pick up the phone to bet again on the games that have yet to be played. It’s

called chasing, a weekly attempt to get even when your luck is running south. It seldom works. More importantly, it has no impact on the integrity of the games being played. But do the leagues really care about integrity? For me, that ship sailed years ago during the 1977 baseball playoffs between the Phillies and the Dodgers. Steve Carlton was pitching a night playoff game in Philadelphia. The commissioner of the National League was in the stands, sitting behind home plate, if I recall it accurately. And it was pouring rain. Baseball is not meant to be played in the rain. But this was national television, a playoff game with lots of advertising dollars at stake and so the game went on. A minor point, but for a baseball purist like myself, a telling one. The league really didn’t care about creating the best atmosphere for a championship game. It cared about revenue and TV and schedules. Yet Major League Baseball seems to believe that someone betting on a game in mid July at a sports book in a New Jersey casino will undermine the sport. The Super Bowl went off this year on Feb. 7. As you are reading this, the numbers are already in. My bet is Las Vegas did $115 million to $120 million in action. The wiseguys and those who run their books all over the country probably did at least 10 times that. Vegas, as it always does, turned it into a weekend. There were “heads in the beds” as they like to say in the hotel industry. And customers at the bars and the restaurants and at the gaming tables. How was it in Atlantic City on that same weekend? Let me hazard a guess. There were rooms available in every casino-hotel. Reservations weren’t necessary at most restaurants. And you could have fired a cannon ball down the Boardwalk without hitting anyone. Four of the city’s 12 casinos have closed over the last two years. More than 10,000 jobs have been lost. These are desperate times for the city. Sports betting may offer a chance to keep the other eight casinos up and running. That’s why New Jersey wants a piece of the action. Sports integrity is not the issue. If gambling were going to undermine the games, it would have done so already. For Atlantic City the issue is survival, a chance to get even before things get even worse. n

BILL LYON ___________________________

Carli Lloyd: Jersey Phenom

In the gold medal game of the World Cup, Lloyd scored three times in a span of 16 minutes.

••• In the middle of the summer of 2015, Carli Lloyd, the best woman’s soccer player in the world, out-did even herself. In the gold medal game of the World Cup she struck three times. Count them: 1-2-3. In a span of 16 minutes. Sixteen. A record. The U.S. team cruised, 5-2. Carli Lloyd overnight became a certified, mint condition heroine. Strike up the band. The Shot. That’s what Soccer World christened the hottest of those three flame throwers. The Shot. It was replayed around the world, instantly and endlessly. Carli Lloyd’s e-mail account was buried under an avalanche of marriage proposals. It was only the beginning. The capper was being nominated Athlete of the Year by Sports Illustrated. She was among the finalists in a field of six. Quite a roll call: 22

• S erena Williams, the Grand Old Dame of tennis, who came heart-breakingly close to winning the Grand Slam. • S tephen Curry, sniper extraordinaire, whose long range accuracy helped the Golden State Warriors to their first NBA championship in 40 years. • Jordan Spieth, who, with his power and touch and unflappable presence, already evokes the early Tiger Woods. •A merican Pharoah. A horse? Yes, a horse. The first Triple Crown winner in 37 years and a smashing romp in the Breeders Cup. Move over, Secretariat. • Simone Biles. Floats like a butterfly, flits from balance beam to vault to the bars to

the floor. She is America’s most decorated female gymnast. ••• Prodigy. Phenom. The Natural. That’s what they hung on her when she first took the field. She was a mid-fielder. But, of course. Because mid-fielders run things. Like a point guard. Or a quarterback. You want your mid-fielders lean and sleek, able to run all day and run all night, able to create a shot for themselves, and just as crucial set up the others. Run a fast break if the opening is there, throttle down if it isn’t. You want your mid-fielders to be able to

Photo N. Salzman

o there she stood, near mid-field, tap-tap-tapping the ball with her feet, tap-tap-tapping with such apparent ease, tap-tap-tapping to a rhythm only she can hear, right foot, left foot, with such nonchalance, right foot, left foot, with an elegance and grace born of a million practices, or is it 10 million, 100 million…? Carli Lloyd and the ball are one. They are joined at the foot…left foot, right foot…and you swear she can make the ball sit up and speak. She favors the right one and when she pulls the trigger, the ball is a sonic boom and then a blur, only faster and louder, like this: B-O-O-O-O-O-O-M-M-M-Mmmmmm. The goalie has no chance. The goalie never sees it coming because, well, because Carli Lloyd is half a football field away and at midfield and who can snap off a shot from that far away? Especially since Carli Lloyd delights in flummoxing them all by, on occasion, shooting left footed!

The Carli Lloyd File: Name: Carli Anne Lloyd Born: July 16, 1982 (33) Height: 5-feet-8 (Chiseled) College: Rutgers University Position: Mid-fielder Achievements: Olympic gold medalist… Twice. World Cup gold medalist Finalist SI Athlete of the Year FIFA player of the year Elected co-captain, United States national team New Jersey towns which now claim her as their own: Delran, Marlton

dribble (left foot, right foot, remember?) their way out of trouble and see the game three passes ahead. Carli Lloyd can do that. With both hands tied behind her back. ••• She never pretended to be a shrinking violet. Fortunately she outgrew that, because early on by her own admission she could be hard to take. When you’re the best, she decided, don’t keep it a secret. So she sashayed on down the Yellow Brick

Road, introducing herself as “Jersey Girl.” Well La-De-Da. For a time it was wondered—quietly—if she was a little bit—no, make that a lot—full of herself. Then again, give the kid a break. You’re allowed growing room. Hard to remember now but when she was 21 she was cut from the U-21 team. And then along came Aussie Jim, alias James Galanis, a trainer with a sadistic bent. She thought she had been pouring herself into her workouts. You thought wrong, he said. Grievously wrong. They’ve been together for 12 years. Aussie Jim reckons she’s about halfway to what he thinks is her potential. She rolls her eyes and sets off for another million reps of left-foot right-foot, and chip shots, headers, crossing passes, rebounds, one-touches, penalty kicks… and then you run. For what feels like forever. Ninety minutes working out in the morning, and ninety minutes in the afternoon. No days off. Not one. Heather Mitts, who worked out with her, said: “No one trains like Carli.” ••• It has been estimated that Carli Lloyd’s net worth is $800,000. Which is shockingly and shamefully low. In any men’s professional locker room they’d call it chump change.

But it holds true, right or not, that women are far behind no matter the sport. Example: The World Cup champion Americans split $2 million while the men’s champion, Germany, split $35 million. Endorsements are the meal tickets. And she calculates if she can keep up that insane schedule she’s good for five more years. At least. Another Olympic gold medal wouldn’t hurt, either. She has one staunch, and vehement, supporter. When Carli Lloyd and the rest of the World Cup championship team were brought to the White House, President Obama said: “Playing like a girl means you’re a badass.” There was a rousing chorus of Amen’s. n

THE ENTHUSIAST ______________________________________________________________________________________________ BY ANDREW RYAN

The Rock n’ Roll Chameleon

N JANUARY 10TH OF 2016, Planet Earth lost its favorite Spaceman: the great David Bowie. The icon is hopefully remembered for his groundbreaking 1969 album Space Oddity (which contains not only the ubiquitous hit song of the same title but also the beautifully restrained and often overlooked “Letter to Hermione”) and not Never Let Me Down, possibly the most terrifying forty-nine minutes of 1987, and yes, that includes the morning of October 19th (look it up, I’m not your history teacher). He was truly one of a kind in that way: completely unafraid of fail-

ure, adventurous, ever changing. Bowie has often been referred to as the rock n’ roll chameleon, able to (successfully) change his look, his sound and even his modus operandi with the times. But that’s not entirely accurate. For as much as Bowie changed to fit his environment, the environment itself changed just as much to fit Bowie. Whether you recognize his songs on the radio or not, Bowie has profoundly influenced the way both consumers and artists think about entertainment today, maybe more so than anyone else in the last half-century. He took us on wild visual rollercoasters, blew our minds singing about outer space, crafted entirely new personas and reinvented both himself and his music again and again. But most importantly, he never did the same thing twice.

Let’s face it, ever since we started putting televisions in bedrooms our attention spans haven’t been quite as robust as they once were. We crave the latest information, the next sequel, the newest iPhone. Netflix now bulk premieres new shows by season because we all got sick of waiting ‘til next Thursday to find out if Timmy makes it out of the well. (If I’m being perfectly honest I didn’t even type this entire sentence in one sitting). The point is we, the consumer, get bored pretty quickly—with our TV shows, our gadgets, certain music-related columns and especially our entertainers. Either Bowie understood this and masterfully capitalized on the fickleness of the average consumer, or he didn’t and his penchant for retooling his career was simply his nature. It’s probably a little closer to the latter than the Illustration by Dan Dinsmore

former—as with everything else in the world, the truth is probably buried somewhere in the middle. But if you ask me, nothing Bowie recorded ever felt forced. From dreamy acoustic ballads to New York funk to glam rock, he navigates them all brilliantly and completely without effort. Even with an album like Never Let Me Down. (Seriously, you should go look it up right now. There’s a spoken word track about a glass spider and a rapping Mickey Rourke. Need I say more?) I don’t really get the impression he embraces change just for change’s own sake, or that he’s only changing things up to stay relevant. He sounds like he believes it, every track, the good, the bad and even Mickey Rourke. Regardless of motive, Bowie defined and set the standard for reinvention, or at least the expectation of reinvention. After Bowie, nobody else ever seemed quite as interesting;

may have shared more in common than one might think at first glance: neither ever told a lie. Now I don’t mean they literally never told a lie (like “heterochromia” is even a real thing). What I mean is that neither artist ever did anything that was in any way unfaithful to their nature. I never saw Bowie change his tunes or his clothes (which he did do quite frequently) just to appeal to a new audience, nor Lemmy try to catch up with the times as hard rock waned in popularity. Their outlook was almost Darwinian in this sense: both were given by God (or Satan, depending on who you believe is holding the reigns of this rock ‘n’ roll thing) a highly-contrasting and specific set of skills. Both artists used their distinctive talents to their advantage in ways only they themselves were capable of. Because their music resonated with enough people, they succeeded. Had consumers thought Lemmy too scary and Bowie too

Analyzing Bowie’s significance as a musician is like analyzing the significance of a dream: there are no right answers and anything you learn will be about yourself. the other artists around him just seemed more two-dimensional than before. But let’s lose the rose-colored glasses for a moment and ask a difficult question: There’s no doubt that Bowie changed pop-culture, but did he really change music? Or did he just change his hair color? I often wonder if Bowie’s real legacy will be his approach to songwriting and image rather than the music itself. If you asked me to swear on my life that my overall experience as a human being would have been palpably worse had I never listened to Ziggy Stardust, I couldn’t do it. It never hit me as hard as The Beatles. It’s not Pet Sounds or London Calling. But somehow Bowie just feels more important than so many other perhaps more talented songwriters—one of those few artists more valuable than the sum of their parts. owie isn’t alone in this category. Just weeks before Bowie’s death we were saddened to learn of the passing of Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy, the binge drinking, swearing, two-pack-a-day front man for the legendary Motörhead. Let’s be clear about this: these two artists could not have been more opposite, be it aesthetically or sonically. Whereas Bowie had a natural talent for crafting bulletproof melodies and penning existential lyrics, Lemmy had a penchant for no-nonsense, blistering rhythm and tough-asnails vocals (and probably never used the word “penchant” in his entire life). Yet these two

pretty, their careers would have died, but they would have carried on till the bitter end anyway, the last of their respective species. Ziggy Stardust may not be in my top ten favorite records of all time, and unless I was planning on running someone over in my car or robbing a bank, Ace of Spades might serve me better as a Frisbee than as a record, but both artists have by far proved themselves worthy of existence, even adoration. It’s just nature at this point. But where does that leave us in terms of answering our question? Was Bowie a musical genius or a marketing genius? Was he The Beatles or was he The Monkees? I’ve thought about this a lot recently and I’m still not sure I have an answer, or that I’ll ever have one. Analyzing Bowie’s significance as a musician is like analyzing the significance of a dream: there are no right answers and anything you learn will be about yourself. Maybe that’s a just another part of the art that was his life. Maybe it wasn’t the music that was important, or even his legendary reinventions. Maybe he knew what he was leaving behind was bigger: An icon. A living, breathing work of modern art—one whose very existence was a tribute to self-expression. A strange-looking Martian who popped by our little planet to share fantastic sounds and visions of the future. Bowie could be anything for anyone, something as true now as it was in 1967. It’s why he meant so much to so many. It’s why he’ll be missed. n

When completed, the 1,121 foot Comcast Innovation and Technology Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere outside of Manhattan and Chicago. Artist rendering

W BY NICK SANTANGELO

WILLIAM PENN enjoyed a solid 90-year run atop the tallest point in Philadelphia. A sort of loose “gentlemen’s agreement” prevented anything else from rising above his City Hall statue until One Liberty Place broke from tradition in the late 1980s. Some 20 years after that, our city’s most notable corporate entity built even higher with its eponymous Comcast Center. The Great Recession followed, but as is most notably evidenced by the in-construction FMC Tower and Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, Philadelphia commercial real estate is once again on the rise. In fact, it’s experiencing a major boom—perhaps its biggest ever. 28

PHILADELPHIA REAL ESTATE IS BOOMING But Is It Doomed to Bust?

Artist rendering: corporate.comcast.com

Clint Randall

Millennials and Investors What’s fueling this proliferation? Many experts and studies point to that ever-popular target of middle-aged residents’ ire: millennials. Yes, the young adult crowd stained with a reputation (arguably unfair) of impatience and a “me first” attitude is at least partially responsible for the massive influx of recent and forthcoming office and retail projects. Philadelphia’s population bottomed out at an

Philadelphia adds 61,747 jobs since 2004 (up 8.4%)

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

JOBS CREATED PER YEAR 2004

all-time low in 2006, but no other major US city benefitted from a larger increase in 20-to34-year olds since, a 2014 PEW Charitable Trusts study found. Indeed, data from the US Census Bureau and commercial real estate strategy firm JLL shows that Philadelphia added 120,600 millennials between 2006 and 2014. That 41.2 percent growth rate was the largest among America’s 10 biggest cities. JLL Research Analyst Clint Randall points to a growing demand for multifamily development projects, with all those new millennials leading the way toward a net gain of 30,000 residents in the downtown area alone. “Unlike some cities where job growth drives the residential market, Philadelphia is seeing the inverse,” says Randall. “It’s become appealing primarily as a residential destination first, and jobs are now starting to respond to that in the form of companies moving or expanding to downtown locations.” The most recently available report from the city’s Center City District supports Randall’s claim, showing that of the 1,983 new units to come online in greater Center City in 2014, 1,358 of them were apartments. And that’s just the beginning—JLL estimates that between 6,000 – 7,500 additional Center City and University City multifamily units are coming over the next three years.

Source: JLL Research, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

The Great (Eventual) Recovery It’s strange to be writing about how well the market is doing today. Sure, The Great Recession hit almost eight years ago, but recovery wasn’t exactly speedy in the beginning. Anyone who found themselves in the dubious position of looking for a job in the years immediately following the downturn can attest to that. While Randall believes it’s difficult to say just how fast things moved, he notes that “Philadelphia is bucking a long-standing trend, which was that it never fully recovered from the previous downturn. In this cycle, we’ve seen the city surpass its pre-recessionary jobs peak by about 1.2 percent, whereas the suburbs have yet to recover fully.”

Artist rendering: www.pidcphila.com

Neighborhoods to Watch Okay, so Center City and University City are red hot right now. That much is obvious. But what’s happening elsewhere in Philly? One expert we spoke with counts Northern Liberties among neighborhoods everyone can agree has blown up. In fact, he says the neighborhood that Bart Blatstein essentially built has already hit a saturation point. “So speculative developers are hoping that Point Breeze, Brewery Town and also Fishtown are going to be the next three. Kensington as well. They’re going to be the next Northern Liberties.” Clint Randall adds one more area to the list. “The Navy Yard (right) is doing exceptionally well as an office district,” he says. “It has next to no available spaces for lease, which is why we saw construction begin on 1200 Intrepid.” Despite having no planned tenant, a 94,000-square-foot project from world-renowned architecture company Bjarke Ingels Group is underway there. JLL cites US Bureau of Economic Analysis data showing that Philadelphia jobs were in steep decline from 1970 through 2004, but

Philadelphia Navy Yard proposed Canal District, looking south at Delaware River

more than 60,000 jobs have been added in the nine years since. Philly still has a ways to go before the job market surpasses its 1970 mark, but the current positive trend is not far off from the pace being set by Boston (over 70,000 jobs added during that period) and Washington, DC (over 80,000 added).

“Unlike in previous market cycles, the diversity of projects is impressive,” says Randall. “There are major developments underway for office, residential, retail and hotel, and more than one major example in each category. Last we measured this, we counted 18,000,000 square feet in the construction pipeline.”

Photo N. Santangelo

All Grown Up

The Comcast Innovation and Technology center is currently under construction in Philadelphia

It’s been said that this is Comcast’s city, and we just live in it. But is it really true that as goes Comcast so goes the city? The telecom giant sure hopes that’s the case when it comes to its 59-floor Innovation and Technology Center project. As the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere without a Chicago or Manhattan zip code, the tower will forever change the city’s skyline and serve as a lessthan-subtle signal that Philadelphia is looking to the future. Far removed from its days spent in the comforting but aging shadow of William Penn, this oft-dismissed metropolis between DC and NYC will outgrow its Little Brother image by bringing in more tech innovators and Fortune 500s. At least, that’s the plan. Architect Lord Norman Foster described the Innovation and Technology Center as a tower that would be “like nothing that’s ever happened before.” This is not an unpretentious statement, but perhaps you need a little pretentiousness when your client is spending $1.2 billion to build a monument to its prestige intended to be big enough to have its own gravitational pull for techies and corporations. It remains to be seen whether or not Comcast swagger—with a bit of an assist from the Cira Center South’s 50-story FMC Tower in University City—can accomplish that task.

Millennial share of Philadelphia’s population increasing fastest among 10 largest U.S. cities 2014

26.5%

2012

26.4%

2006

20.2%

Between 2006 and 2014, Philadelphia added 120,600 millennials (ages 20-34) to the population base, growing by 41.2 percent in eight years. Philly continues to experience the fastest millennial growth rate among the 10 largest cities in America, as well as the largest change in concentration of millenials, who now make up 26.5 percent of the citywide population. Source: JLL Research, U.S. Census Bureau

Perhaps a fully constructed and operational Innovation and Technology Center will begin attracting the new city tenants Comcast desires in the fall of 2017. But Randall notes that the cranes at 1800 Arch St. have yet to inspire the Philly equivalent of General Electric’s January announcement that it would relocate from suburban Connecticut to South Boston. Instead, it’s been the small and midsized outfits that

Back to School or Back to the ‘Burbs After three and a half decades of leaving Philadelphia for suburban office parks, many well-paying jobs have returned to the city to court the young adults flocking to it. But will they stay here? Or when millennials reach their middle ages will they retreat to the suburbs or other cities in search of better educa-

tional opportunities for their children? There is no sugar coating the fact that the city’s public school system is notoriously bad. Of the country’s 25 biggest cities, Philadelphia lags behind at 22nd in college degree attainment. Newly sworn-in Mayor Jim Kenney isn’t blind to this; his agenda includes universal pre-K and neighborhood “community schools” that also provide healthcare and other social services. Randall also cites the formation of parent groups representing parents in over 200 school districts and driven largely by new millennial residents who don’t want to have to choose between city life and a quality education for their kids. “Whether this momentum lasts and whether these types of changes are enough for most parents to deem public schools as acceptable alternatives remains to be seen,” Randall admits. The same can be said of the real estate boom in town. In the year ahead, Randall sees the good times continuing to roll. Things are murkier when you look five or more years down the road, however. If the school system doesn’t improve, the millennials and jobs are likely to leave, and the vision of a tech-heavy Philadelphia rich with large corporate residents could stall well before another developer gets a chance to reimagine the skyline. n

Comcast Innovation and Technology Center viewed from 17th & JFK Blvd.

Artist rendering: corporate.comcast.com

have fully or partially moved into the city. He points to Independence Blue Cross’ consolidation of some suburban offices at 1900 Market St; Axalta building a new headquarters at the Navy Yard; and Linode, DDCWorks and Integrichain’s coming moves downtown. “This means they see a market of users that need temporary or small space, which could be sole proprietors, startups that need room to grow or out-of-market companies testing out the market,” says Randall. “Overall, it’s safe to say that the more companies that decide to locate here, the more that companies in related fields will see a reason to establish a presence, be it large or small. Between that and the increasing need for companies to locate where the talent is, it will be interesting to see if established suburban Philly firms opt to make the move to Center City or at least establish branch offices as some suburban companies have already done.”

GET FIT

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ BY ALEXANDRA DUNEK

Take A Hike!

s I stood on top of the mountain, soaking in the beautiful landscape, I couldn’t help but feel at peace. In that moment, I didn’t remember the unrelenting climb or the struggle of reaching the top; I just appreciated the view, the most breath-taking moment at the edge of world. Hiking has recently become one of my favorite ways to stay active while doing something fun. Not only does it keep you in great shape, but it also gives you an opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones, plus a chance to see amazing sights you won’t get from a treadmill (unless you count the cutie running next to you). Some benefits include a lower chance of several health risks: diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke and certain cancers. Hiking can also reduce anxiety by releasing adrenaline and it can act as therapy, helping those who are depressed. Other benefits

include improvement in sleep, weight loss and a boost in brainpower! The trails can present a great challenge. An hour of hiking can burn around 500 calories or more depending on the level of difficulty and the backpack you are carrying. If you are looking for a different way to switch up your routine, check out some of these trails with your significant other, friend or gym partner. I promise it will be worth the workout. For beginners, I recommend getting your feet wet by starting with the easy or moderate trail at Bushkill Falls. n Trail

Level of Difficulty

Mt. Tammany Trail in Columbia, NJ (pictured above) Strenuous Glen Onoko Falls in Jim Thorpe, PA Strenuous Bushkill Falls in Bushkill, PA Easy, Moderate, Strenuous The Pinnacle Trail in Hamburg, PA Moderate

FITFEATURE LOOKING TO REFUEL with a new, fun snack? Meet Gabrielle Terzano (left), food blogger from Mt. Laurel, NJ who shares with us a great recipe to enjoy that’s so yummy, you won’t believe it’s healthy for you! This cute little snack can be eaten before or after a workout for optimum performance from complex carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats and fiber. The combination of oats, chia seeds, dried blueberries and cranberries, peanut butter, honey and pumpkin seeds make this snack a perfect little ball of energy. What is a superfood? A superfood is a nutrientrich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being. Of course, many foods fit this definition, but I decided to put a couple of these foods together for this recipe, and it just happens to be perfect for extra energy before a workout; or, it can help feed your muscles post workout.

RECIPE: (makes 15 bites)

• 1 cup rolled oats • ¾ cup brown rice cereal • ¼ cup chia seeds • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds • ¼ cup dried cranberries • ¼ cup dried blueberries • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract • ¾ cup natural creamy peanut butter • ½ cup honey • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

For more recipes, follow Gabby’s blog and IG, @livelaughyum! Each bite is very energy-dense, making these a high-calorie but healthy snack before a workout or after a workout. Nutrition for 1 bite: 159 calories, 9g fat, 21 carbohydrates, 4g fiber, 13g sugar, 4g protein.

INSTRUCTIONS:

• In a large bowl, mix oats and brown rice cereal together • In a smaller, microwave-safe bowl, heat peanut butter for 30 seconds until warm and melted • With an electric mixer, mix melted peanut butter, honey, vanilla and coconut oil together • Add oat mixture and mix until blended • Add chia seeds, dried blueberries and cranberries, and pumpkin seeds • Mix until everything is mixed and coated with peanut butter and honey mixture • Use your hands and roll into balls (about 1&1/2 inch thick) • Place oat bites onto a baking sheet and freeze for about ½ hour • Store in an air-tight container for a pre/post workout snack 34

Alexandra Dunek

For more guidance follow Alexandra @TipsFromAFitChick on Instagram!

PROFILE

Scary good Flyers

rookie phenom shayne

gostisbeher

BY SAM CARCHIDI

through it....This is only his second year in pro hockey, but he’s got a tremendous skill level, and he thinks the game very well.” When he was growing up, Gostisbehere used to frequently attend Florida Panthers games with his grandfather. The sport mesmerized him. Soon, he began taking skating lessons with his sister’s figure skating coach. Before long, his parents were driving to his out-of-state hockey games and his sister’s figure skating competitions on most weekends. Now Gostisbehere is blossoming into one of the NHL’s best skaters. Considered the first player born and raised in South Florida to reach the NHL, Gostisbehere doesn’t look at himself as a pioneer. “I’m just a kid who loves hockey,” he said.

wondered if her family was jinxed when her mom texted her about Shayne’s knee mishap. “For me, and not only for me, but our entire family, it was one of those things like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this happening again?’” Felicia Gostisbehere, 25, said in a phone interview from South Florida. “We lived through it with me: a promising athlete, and in the blink of an eye, they’re injured.” Felicia Gostisbehere picked up her phone and knew she had to do some damage control.

he player they call “Ghost” has made a smooth recovery from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last season. Gostisbehere credits his older sister, Felicia, a one-time Olympic hopeful whose promising skating career was cut short because of hip surgery, for helping him in his comeback from surgery. “Her dreams were cut short,” Gostisbehere said, “but she helped push me toward mine.” While Gostisbehere went through a grueling rehab after his surgery 15 months ago, he was constantly in touch with his sister, who lives in Florida. “She stayed with me for a week when I got the surgery—she’s a nurse, and that also helped—and we were on the phone a lot,” Gostisbehere said. Having had her figure-skating career cut short by a devastating injury, Felicia at first

Photo courtesy Felicia Gostisbehere

LORIDA ISN’T EXACTLY A HOCKEY HOTBED, but the Sunshine State has produced one of the Flyers’ most exciting young defensemen in franchise history. Say hello to Shayne Gostisbehere, who was born and raised in South Florida and has taken the NHL by storm. Gostisbehere, 22, was in the minors for the first five-plus weeks of the season, but after being recalled by the Flyers on Nov. 14, the speedy defenseman asserted himself so quickly that he was named one of the NHL’s top rookies for the month of December. In short, the Flyers are looking very shrewd for selecting Gostisbehere in the third round— 78th overall—of the 2012 draft. He is one of just eight Florida-born players to ever reach the NHL. “He shoots the puck well, and, for a young guy, he’s a great passer,” said Mark Howe, the Hall of Fame defenseman who is the Detroit Red Wings’ director of pro scouting. “His mobility is good, and I think he’s starting to gain some trust in his ability.” Howe said he likes “the way he defends and challenges and takes away time and space in all zones. Once he matures a little bit physically, he’ll be able to compete a little better in that area, but he’s a very effective player already, and he’s pretty effective on the power play already.” Gostisbehere, who has added 15 pounds from last year and is now 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, has been dynamic on the attack but has struggled in the defensive end at times. “It’s part of the learning process,” Howe said. “Anybody who has played defense goes

Gostisbehere with sister Felicia. “Her dreams were cut short, but she helped push me toward mine.”

“My main priority was to call Shayne and figure out where his mind was at,” said Felicia, who is an emergency-room trauma nurse in Fort Myers, Fla. “Having gone through something like that personally, your mind goes from 0 to 60 in a million ways. You ask [yourself], ‘Is this the end of my career? Is this it?’ So for me, I automatically had to find out where Shayne’s head was at.” Felicia became Shayne’s attitude coach, not allowing doubts to creep in.

Gostisbehere postgame with the puck from his first NHL goal.

“

I’m just a kid who

Photo Zach Hill/Philadelphia Flyers

loves hockey.” 37

many players have,” goalie Steve Mason said. “He has a really high reward, high risk type of game, but you can just see when he has an opportunity he can make plays that not many guys can.” Mason said Gostisbehere has “a way of putting the puck through traffic and finding the net. It’s nice to see a guy that’s young coming in and playing with confidence like he is.” “Throughout his entire rehab, especially that day after surgery, I wanted him to be in that moment and not let his mind wander and think of the what-ifs,” she said. When she was injured, Felicia said, “I didn’t have somebody who already went through it. So for me, the hardest part was staying positive [in rehab]. That was my primary focus with him: keeping him positive.” This season, Gostisbehere survived a scare when he was injured in a Jan. 7 game against Minnesota. The Flyers would not give specifics on the lower-body injury—Gostisbehere said it was not related to his surgically repaired knee—but that it was not serious. At the time of the injury, Gostisbehere had seven goals and 16 points in 23 games. He led NHL rookie defensemen in goals despite being in the minors for the first 14 games of the season. “He’s just got a different skill set that not

ostisbehere had a rough time—no points, three minor penalties—on the Flyers’ 0-3 California trip that ended with a 2-1 loss in Los Angeles on Jan. 2. That came after a terrific first six weeks of the season, causing the Flyers to keep him on the roster and demote Sam Gagner to the AHL’s Phantoms when Mark Streit came off the longterm injured reserve list. Howe said you can expect ups and downs from a rookie defenseman, but that Gostisbehere has “the stuff you can’t teach. The other part, you can teach…or learn. You can learn to play the game without the puck. I had to learn. You learn through trial and error, through practices and games. Defense is hard work and learning by your mistakes and learning the players in the league. He’s just seeing these players for the first time. Once you get used to what certain players do, you put that in the memory bank, and it helps you be a better de-

fender against those individuals. “But you can’t teach people to have offensive instincts and do the things he does on the power play and the way he moves the puck.” St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock is also one of Gostisbehere’s admirers. “He’s like a lot of these other young guys. They’ve got no fear of making plays,” Hitchcock, a former Flyers coach, said before a recent game. “They’ve got no fear of the position. I think in years past, you used to think, ‘Well, a guy’s got to be 26, 27 before he can be a regular player.’ Now it’s the other way around and we’ve got defensemen who are 22, 23 years old that can play in the league.” Hitchcock said there are “lots of NHL defensemen that don’t look like they need much more time to be elite players. He’s in the mix with a bunch of other guys where it looks like he can contribute and help you. I think also the game has changed. You used to play the third pair as a physical pair and even secondary shutdown. Those times are gone now. Your third pair has to advance the puck as quick as your first pair.” Gostisbehere, who led tiny Union College to the NCAA title at the Wells Fargo Center in 2014, is staying humble. He doesn’t take his stay with the Flyers for granted. “There’s no need to sit back,” he said after Gagner was sent to the minors. “…You can’t get complacent. It doesn’t mean anything. A lot of things could still change. I mean, I’m very confident in my game. I’m going to stick with things and keep it simple. Just do what I do best.” In his short time in the NHL, Gostisbehere has become a fan favorite. His No. 53 jerseys are selling briskly. So are shirts with ghosts and bears on them, a play on his last name. “I don’t know where it’s coming from, but it’s pretty cool to see,” said Gostisbehere with a smile. As for the rest of the season, he has a simple goal: “I’m just trying to get better every day and be a two-way player,” he said. “Take care of the defensive end; the offensive end will take care of itself.” His defense will never match his eye-opening offensive skills, but when his work in the ‘D’ end gets more refined, this Ghost is going to be scary-good. n

o l e g n a l o Is Jerry C

THE

’ s r e Six ? r o i Sav

BY T. JORDAN WOMPIERSKI t’s only been four years since the Philadelphia 76ers have posted a winning record, but it feels like an eternity. After struggling through back-to-back seasons with under 20 wins in an 82game schedule, as the 76ers did in 2013-14 and 2014-15, it’s understandable why the days of playoff berths at the Wells Fargo Center seem so far in the past. With the Sixers’ 2015-16 season off to an abysmal 1-20 start in early December (a .047 winning percentage, a number that would have ranked the 76ers as the worst team in NBA history if it stood until the end of the season), Sixers’ brass had seen enough. Team owner Josh Harris called a surprise press conference and announced a hiring that was not on anyone’s radar: accomplished sports executive Jerry Colangelo would serve as chairman of basketball operations. “Our situation necessitated a review to make our organization better,” Harris said at the time of the Dec. 7, 2015 hiring. Colangelo, 76, brings instant credibility to a Sixers team that was the laughingstock of the 40

NBA. A member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Colangelo is the former general manager and owner of the Phoenix Suns and the current chairman of USA Basketball. He has a wealth of experience in multiple sports and business ventures, but basketball is his

them to assemble a legitimate championship contender. If the plan was to lose, and things were going according to plan, why bring in Colangelo? “This is not a deviation from our plan,” Harris stressed at the press conference to intro-

“There’s one way to go here, and that’s up. I’m very optimistic. This thing could flip a lot sooner than people understand.” forte, as evidenced by his four NBA Executive of the Year Awards. Colangelo is also synonymous with winning, and if there’s one thing the 76ers have shown they need help with, it’s winning. Of course, the losing was to be expected. It was part of the “plan” implemented by General Manager Sam Hinkie, a plan designed to weather the storm of multiple losing seasons in order to stockpile top draft picks and use

duce Colangelo. “Rather, it is an opportunity to drive our organization forward in an impactful way by adding an invaluable mind.” Some have speculated that ownership no longer trusted Hinkie to right the ship without someone to help steer him in the right direction. Others suggested the league had become fed up with the Sixers’ tanking antics and urged the team to bring in a trusted and respected basketball mind to accelerate their rebuild. Re-

Philadelphia 76-years Colangelo is 76 years old, which on one hand makes him a perfect fit for the 76ers. On the other hand, his prime years as an executive are behind him. Even so, Colangelo believes he can still positively contribute to an NBA franchise like the Sixers. Age brings experience, and he has plenty of wisdom to share. “I’m excited about this,” he said. “It’s nice to feel that there’s someone there who feels you have something to offer at this stage of my life.” gardless of the true reason for his hiring, Colangelo made it clear that he was coming on board to guide Hinkie, not overrule him. “Through the experiences that I’ve had with franchises in basketball and in baseball and USA Basketball and so forth, I think there’s something that I can offer which will be very helpful to the franchise, and that’s to Sam, by way of example, who has a great reputation as a young mind in this game,” Colangelo said. “He has a plan, and that’s something we’re going to continue to talk about. I’m intrigued, quite honestly. As I shared with Sam earlier, during my years in Phoenix, I tore down the team four times and came back four times.” His most notable turnaround came in the 1988-89 season with Phoenix. After the Suns limped to a 28-54 record in 1987-88 to miss the playoffs for the third straight year, Colangelo led the team to a 55-27 record the following season, kicking off a streak of 13 straight postseason appearances. Colangelo’s experience with fixing a struggling franchise will be key, regardless of whether he plays a hands-on role in the Sixers’ resurgence or serves as more of a mentor to whom Hinkie can go to for advice. “Through those experiences, I think I can offer a lot of mentoring to Sam to help him in his job to make him even better at what he does,” Colangelo said, adding that he will also lend his expertise to Harris and the Sixers’ ownership group. “Since I spent a lot of time in ownership in basketball and baseball, I’m making myself available to Josh and his partners on a whole myriad of things because I have been there and done that under different circumstances.” After taking some time to get acquainted with the Sixers’ situation and familiarizing himself with the organization’s depth, Colangelo is optimistic about the future. There are multiple avenues Colangelo and the 76ers can take to improve the team. “Do we take a couple picks and move up? Do we make a trade? Do you look at free agency, realistically, and see what you can

do there?” Colangelo asked hypothetically, reviewing his options. “It’s great to be in a position where you have the assets to use. There are a lot of teams in the league you can’t say that about.” He credits Hinkie for stocking the Sixers’ cupboard with those assets. “Sam has really done a great job of accumulating assets,” Colangelo said. “If you look at the trades, you look at the draft picks that have been accumulated, it’s all there in place, and now it’s a matter of when do you pull the trigger on using all those assets, or any of those assets?” owever, just because the Sixers have the building blocks for a winning team doesn’t mean it won’t take time to lay the mortar; Philadelphia fans could be in for a few more seasons on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Colangelo understands it can be hard for die-hard fans to watch their team lose year after year, hanging their hopes on Hinkie’s plan and waiting for it to come to fruition, but rushing things won’t reap the same long-term benefits as a patient rebuild. “When I think about the great legacy of Philadelphia fans, there’s a great history of Philadelphia fans supporting the Sixers and the great teams and the great players. It sounds wrong to say, ‘Look, be patient,’” Col-

angelo said in early January. “I’m trying to be patient with myself. I’ve only been around for a few weeks and I’d like to see things done sooner, but that’s not reality.” While patience is key, Colangelo believes the steps the Sixers take over the next few months will show the fans how serious of a commitment the franchise has made to making a comeback as a contender, even though the process will take time. Adding players will eventually lead to becoming more competitive, and becoming more competitive will ultimately lead to a winning record. “Once you start winning, it becomes a mindset,” Colangelo said. “You know, that’s our goal. That’s our objective. When people ask, ‘How long is that gonna take?’ I wish I knew that. I wish I could look into the crystal ball and say, ‘It’s gonna happen in one year or two years or three years,’ but you can’t.” “All you can do is... stay with the plan, whatever the plan may be,” he added. “I don’t think you vary off a plan unless everyone collectively agrees it’s time to do so.” On the bright side, it can’t get much worse for the 76ers, and with Colangelo at the helm, it’s only a matter of time before they turn things around. “There’s one way to go here, and that’s up,” Colangelo said. “I’m very optimistic.” Under Colangelo’s leadership, Hinkie is optimistic as well. He likened the hopeful resur-

gence of the Sixers to farming, and it’s almost time to grab the sickle and reap the rewards. “I think if you zoom out a little bit, the summary of what we’ve done is to plant seeds for a harvest, and it’s not out of the question that that harvest might come in even this summer,” he said. Colangelo agrees that the Sixers can get “some big things done” in their rebuilding process over the next year. “As I look at the board, if you will, I see some things that could happen sooner rather than later,” he said. “If somebody gets healthy [a reference to Joel Embiid, the 3rd overall pick in the 2014 draft], if the player from Europe comes in and is part of the rotation [a reference to Dario Šaric, the 12th overall pick in the 2014 draft] and we will have a very high draft pick, and then using some of those assets to do other things to consider, be it free agency, be it a trade, whatever, this thing could flip a lot sooner than people understand.” n

What Can Brown Do for You? One of the first moves the 76ers made under Colangelo was extending the contract of Head Coach Brett Brown. The move came on Dec. 11, just four days after Colangelo was hired, but he undoubtedly had a say in the decision. Despite an atrocious .226 winning percentage in his first two seasons as bench boss in Philadelphia, the Sixers view Brown as the right type of coach to develop young talent into playoff-worthy players. “I hope [Brown’s extension] sends a message that we mean what we said, and our ownership means what we said, about trying to build something really special for the city of Philadelphia,” Sixers General Manager Sam Hinkie said of the hiring. “We’ve been on this path for a while now and we haven’t blinked, and I don’t see it happening. I really don’t. I don’t see us wavering.” Brown is also a believer in the rebuilding plan and is excited to help make the 76ers contenders again. “I’m excited to see this through,” Brown said. “It’s not always fun, but I feel like when you weigh it up in its totality, there are amazing opportunities if we can stay solid and not get distracted.” 42

BY NICOLE PENSIERO

Russ Micoli at Lambeau Field

THE LAMBEAU LEAP USS MICOLI had carried around a little dream in the back of his mind to see the Green Bay Packers play in their famed Lambeau Field since he was a kid. As the decades went on, the now-56-year-old Mullica Hill, NJ resident didn’t really give that dream much thought—nor did he necessarily expect it to ever come true—but it rested comfortably in his mental “bucket list.”

Yet a serendipitous series of events in the summer of 2015—initially taking place in Italy, where Micoli and his wife, Diane, were enjoying their first-ever overseas vacation—did indeed lead Russ Micoli to Lambeau Field on October 18, 2015. There, he watched beloved Packers beat the San Diego Chargers in a thrilling game that also broke a non-playoff game attendance record for the team. The experience also led to new friendships that Micoli hopes 44

will last for the rest of his life. But the story really begins in the mid-1960s, when Russ Micoli was growing up in a suburb of Buffalo, NY. Young Russ was so taken with the Vince Lombardi-era Packers that his first-grade teacher asked his mom if he had relatives in the small Wisconsin city. “No,” she said, “why?” Well, the teacher explained: “Every time we play train, Russell makes a stop in Green Bay.”

“They say Packers’ fans are born, not made, and I’m proof of that,” Micoli jokes. “I would send away for team pictures; I had posters and pendants, and my mom would get me Packers shirts from Sears.” The Packers’ famed 1960s quarterback Bart Starr was Micoli’s boyhood hero; so much so that when his only fellow Packers fan friend defaced Micoli’s autographed photo, he had to turn over his own autographed photo of Starr to salvage the friendship. Basically, though, Russ Micoli was a “lone wolf” Packers fan—rooting for a team that didn’t play for his hometown city (Buffalo), nor for his transplanted one (Philly) after he moved to South Jersey in the 1980s. While he can’t fully explain why his fascination with the team has lasted 50 years unabated, the affable healthcare executive knows it has a lot to do with the “Vince Lombardi mystique,” as he calls it. “The more I learned about Lombardi and his hardscrabble, Italian-Catholic upbringing,

the more I could relate to the Packers on some deep level,” Micoli recalls. “Even as a young kid, I connected with his philosophy about hard work and integrity and teamwork—it all cemented my passion for the team.” ast forward to June 2015: Russ and Diane Micoli are on a nine-day escorted tour in Italy, traveling from Venice, to Florence, to Rome. Their two 20-something kids can’t join them because of work and school commitments, so the Micolis are taking what is essentially a second honeymoon. While the first group meals on the tour are an awkward mix of small-talk and story-telling, within a few days, the group of 30-some travelers from throughout the U.S. start get to know each other. The Micolis soon become friendly with three couples from the Los Angeles area. They, too, haven’t been to Europe before; the husbands talk about sports and work with Russ; the wives, about their kids and jobs. “I kept messing up his name and calling him ‘Ross,’” recalls 57-year-old Bob Lopez of Laverne, CA, a retired firefighter. “But Russ was good-natured and took it in stride.” Over the course of the trip, Lopez recalls, a casual camaraderie developed among the couples, who would sometimes meet up at night for a drink or sit by the pool and chat. At some point, Russ mentioned being a Packers fan.

Clockwise from back left: Russ Micoli, Alex Gatica; Davey Grijalva; Bob Lopez; Tom Bachman, Tim McGrath.

immediately: “I know we all liked Russ right off the bat.” However it happened, by the end of the European vacation, Micoli had been formally invited to join the California guys in Milwaukee, where they would then travel to Green Bay by

chartered bus for the game. About a month after returning home, Russ got an email invite reminding him about the offer. Diane urged him to sign on: “She told me, ‘Russ, you need to do this. You’ve been crazy about the Packers your whole life. Here’s

RUSS MICOLI WAS A “LONE WOLF” PACKERS FAN—ROOTING FOR A TEAM THAT DIDN’T PLAY FOR HIS HOMETOWN CITY (BUFFALO), NOR FOR HIS TRANSPLANTED ONE (PHILLY). The California guys, in turn, told him that for the past several years, they’d taken an annual trip to watch the San Diego Chargers play an away game. Sometimes, their wives would come along; other times, it would just be the guys if the city they were visiting didn’t appeal to the ladies. 2015’s destination? Green Bay, Wisconsin. As Russ recalls it, initially, Lopez and his buddies joked that if they ended up liking him by the end of the Italy trip, he’d earn an invitation to travel with them to Green Bay. Bob Lopez, however, thinks the invite was extended 45

“I KNEW I WAS GOING TO BE AWESTRUCK, LIKE A KID WALKING THROUGH THE GATE AT DISNEY WORLD FOR THE FIRST TIME.” your chance.’” “I knew I was the outsider that they were letting into their circle, but I also felt very comfortable with these guys,” Micoli recalled. Plans were finalized, his plane ticket purchased, and on Friday, October 16, Russ Micoli boarded a plane from Philly to Milwaukee to live out his dream. Meeting up that first night for dinner and some beers—Russ, Bob Lopez, the two other California guys who’d been on the Italy trip, and two additional Californians Russ was meeting for the first time—the male bonding immediately took hold. “It sounds corny, but it was truly a magical weekend,” Micoli recalls—and not just because it culminated with a Packers win over San Diego (final score: 27-20): “There’s real collective life wisdom among these guys,” who got Russ thinking about “the different phases of your life, what you value, any regrets, doovers and what to look out for.” Lopez explains that when the California gang goes on its annual Chargers road trip, there’s an informal schedule that plays out:

Russ Micoli (R) with Bob Lopez

dinner and drinks on the first night (a Friday), a day spent “getting the lay of the land” in whatever city they’re visiting (Saturday), the actual NFL game (Sunday) and then the trip home on Monday. “Getting the lay of the land” basically involves bar-hopping, sight-seeing, and plenty of talking to the locals—something Russ Micoli discovered made the road trip all the more enjoyable. “That’s what these guys do when they travel; they immerse themselves in the local color and the local people,” he recalls. “They’re enthralled by people’s stories—every waitress, every bartender, people at the next table—they really want to know the people in the place they’re visiting. And they’re right; there’s no better way to do that than to just talk to them. I kept walking into these wonderful experiences the whole weekend because of that philosophy.” On Game Day, the six men—five dressed in Chargers garb and Russ in his Packers colors (a “cheesehead” hat and cheese scarf would be acquired before kick-off)—set off at 9 a.m. on a chartered bus for the hour’s drive to Green Bay. They arrived at the Brett Favre Steakhouse, where they had tickets for a private tailgating party. “It was a blast,” Micoli recalls. “I got to meet three retired Packers; I got to try on one of their Super Bowl rings from 1996. I got my photo taken with them. They were great—very friendly.” Entering the legendary Lambeau Field on a crisp and sunny autumn afternoon, Micoli took his place among the record-breaking 78,434 people in attendance. “I knew I was going to be awestruck, like a kid walking through the gate at Disney World for the first time,” he says. “Because of the way it

Russ Micoli poses with retired Packers receiver Antonio Freeman, who let him wear his 1996 Super Bowl ring.

happened, the way I ended up there, the whole experience was intensified and amplified.” The game itself was a thriller, with the Packers holding off the pass-happy Chargers to triumph in the fourth quarter. Micoli texted his wife, Diane, throughout the game, sending pictures of himself and his new pals, all of which show him with what he calls this “ridiculously silly grin on my face.” Russ realized that, if he’d been a just little less open, a little less friendly, to Bob Lopez and the other guys when they met in Italy, he probably would have never seen his lifelong dream come true. “I could have just pretty much just have said hi and left it at that, and I would have never had this tremendous life experience,” Micoli recalled. “But for whatever reason, I decided to be a little more open to meeting some new people, and it led to this incredible adventure and people who I think are now friends for life. They felt like brothers to me.” Russ says that Bob Lopez and his fellow California travelers welcomed him into their circle without hesitation: “They were just as great as I hoped they’d be. One thing I learned during the Green Bay trip was how deeply bonded as friends they are, how emotionally open they are and how supportive they are.” And, he learned, it’s never too late to try something new. A month after returning from Green Bay, Russ Micoli and his 20-year-old son set off by car to experience something they’d talked about for a long time: a father-son road trip. The two traveled to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, OH, and to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland for what ended up being another “tremendous weekend adventure.” “Bob and those guys have taught me something really important just by the way they are: you need to take advantage of opportunities when they come your way to try something new; you’ve got to just open yourself to the experience.” n 47

Photo Jamie Dunek

BY KEN DUNEK

Ukee

ALL IN THE (CBS3) FAMILY

WASHINGTON

I’M GOING TO ASSUME

that Carroll O’Connor and Ukee Washington have never been mentioned in the same sentence. You remember O’Connor. He played the lovable (albeit satirical) bigot Archie Bunker in the CBS sitcom hit “All in the Family” back in the 70’s. And of course the omnipresent Ukee Washington can be seen as the Eyewitness News co-anchor (with the interminably effervescent Jessica Dean) on CBS3 here in Philadelphia. Why the comparison? He refers to us as “family” with his personal and signature sign off at the end of each broadcast. And it’s not shtick. He is as sincere as Archie was at Stretch Cunningham’s funeral. Washington is a product of West Philly and Dover (DE) High School. His parents were educators, and his dad was actually the head football coach at Delaware State University back in the 60’s. A prep star in basketball, Washington accepted a full scholarship to the University of Richmond until a torn patella tendon cut his career short during his senior year in which he was captain of the Spiders. It was January 26, 1977. He recalls the date as if it happened yesterday. “I think I was a pretty good player, and I loved basketball,” Washington said. “But the injury cut my career short and it helped me go in a different direction.” The multi-talented Washington was also part of the Philadelphia Boys Choir as a young lad, honing his craft at Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church on 56th St in West

Washington and co-anchor Jessica Dean

“ Ukee has no pretense, it is not an act. He is a really, really nice guy and a true professional behind the microphone.” – CBS3 co-anchor Jessica Dean Philly until he was 13 and the pipes started to mature. No screechy tones like Edith Bunker singing Gloria in Excelsis here. And speaking of singing, he now belts it out occasionally with a group called The Funk Authority. They do a mean rendition of “Shining Star” from Earth, Wind, and Fire. His easy flowing speaking style and attention to detail have given his broadcast career

flight, going from a small local market sportscaster to a major market prime time newscaster in a relatively short period of time. He started out as sports anchor in Fort Myers, Florida and Atlanta. He moved up here in 1986 and did the sports gig at KWY as well. He was named as the morning news anchor in 1996, and the station was throwing a party in his honor the night of the bombing at the Atlanta 49

“ Ukee is in love with this city, and in love with his job. His sincerity is genuine. The man you see on the street is the same guy on the air.”

Photo Jamie Dunek

– CBS3 News Director Margaret Cronan

The multi-talented Washington has worked with many celebrities. Here he sings with Stephen Colbert.

Olympics. Certainly it was an auspicious start to a news career. I asked CBS3 News Director Margaret Cronan about Ukee and his success. “Ukee Washington is in love with this city, and in love with his job. He is the man I wanted to lead the new CBS3 news team. His sincerity is genuine. With Ukee, the man you see on the street is the same guy on the air,” Cronan said. Co-anchor Jessica Dean echoes the sentiments about Washington. “Ukee has no pretense; it is not an act. He is a really, really nice guy and a true professional behind the microphone. We got along from the start, and I hope that our viewers

can feel our chemistry.” Chief Meteorologist Kate Bilo and Sports Director Don Bell round out the Eyewitness News Team. It’s a tough market to capture. Channel 6 Action News anchor Jim Gardner has been the “Godfather” of local news in this city for as long as anyone can remember. But like Michael Corleone, Washington is poised to take over when the reigning Don is done. Speaking of being a Godfather—Ukee is one to ex-Eagle safety Nate Allen. More family references: he is either 2nd or 3rd cousin (don’t ask, it’s very complicated) with actor Denzel Washington. And he speaks to him occasionally, especially when he has a new movie coming out. Ukee himself has had several cameo roles including the films Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and Shooter (2007). He also credits a friendship with local filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan for his occasion appearances on the silver screen. He is a Hall of Famer as well, having been inducted into The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia in 2008. I asked Ukee for some comments on several topics during the course of my interview. On new Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney:

“He is perfect for the city. He knows it in and out. He has the pulse on what makes the city tick and where we need support and help. “ On the state of the city’s struggling sports teams: “The current pro sports teams are in a slump right now, but I’m excited about the management each team has. And to be honest, don’t call me crazy, but I see a return to the early 80’s when ALL of our teams are good again and vying for championships.” (Writer’s note—At this point of the interview I stopped and took his temperature and checked his vital signs. I thought he might have stepped out for a quick slug at a bar like Archie’s Place.) And on new Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson: “He said all the right things at his press conference. The thing I enjoyed most is that he understands the fans and what the Eagles mean to this city and surrounding area. More importantly, he is a former Eagle. Only one thing to do now, let’s go to work!” So the man who signs off each night with a folksy style has endeared himself to his viewers, and the ratings for CBS3 Eyewitness News continue to rise. He is supported by the city of Philadelphia. We are all, of course, his family. n

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Plan Your Trip Online

BY MATT STEVENS

Find Some Deals and Save Some Bucks with These Sites to Plan Your Trip

SING THE INTERNET to search for travel deals is nothing new. Whether it’s finding a cheap flight, a bottom dollar hotel or a bargain tour, saving money and still having an amazing travel experience is what defines a successful trip. When booking travel, many of us instinctively return to the same large internet travel agencies that we’ve used for years. And even though well-known sites like Expedia, Priceline, Kayak and Orbitz offer travelers reliability and a wide range of booking options, they may not always be the cheapest. Vacation planning has four basic components: destination inspiration, getting there, staying there and doing there. There are hundreds of sites claiming to have the lowest rates on flights, hotels and tours. But a few have managed to stay under the radar, while adding useful innovations that would make any traveler feel at home. Whether it’s daydreaming about a warm, sandy beach or seeing a post on Instagram of an isolated mountain peak, becoming inspired and deciding to take a vacation is where it all begins. If you are looking for ideas—or trying to narrow down a few different options—one resource that might 54

help is LonelyPlanet.com. Founded in 1972, Lonely Planet got its start publishing guide books on how to travel on a budget. More than 120 million printed books later, they are still a leader in the industry and continue to offer valuable information to costconscious travelers from around the globe, both in paperback and online. Their content-rich website and its intuitive design make searching for destination information easy and painless. If you’re not exactly sure where to go or what to do, try clicking on the Inspiration tab and see if anything lights you up. Have a travel question? Jump on their Thorn Tree Forum to ask other travelers for their help. Getting there usually ranks low on the list of where people want to spend their money on a vacation. Booking the cheapest seat—and risking the fact that you may get stuck in the middle seat for multiple hours between two linebackers—is surprisingly something people are willing to do. One flight booking site has made headlines by exploiting an airline loophole which in some instances can save travelers a considerable amount of money. Skiplagged.com uses something called “Hidden City

Whether it’s daydreaming about a warm, sandy beach or seeing a post on Instagram of an isolated mountain peak, becoming inspired and deciding to take a vacation is where it all begins.

Fares” to find travelers cheap airfare. This loophole has existed for quite some time in the airline industry, but has never been packaged and delivered to the end-user quite the way Skiplagged has done it. The premise is simple: Skiplagged shows you flight itineraries where your final destination is a layover city on a multi-leg trip. The cost usually ends up being less than if your destination was the final stop. Once arriving in the layover city, just don’t get on the next plane. But be careful—there are a lot of things you need to watch out for when booking this type of travel. For instance, make sure to book a one-way ticket. Often if you miss a leg of a roundtrip itinerary, the airline will cancel the entire trip altogether with no refund. Also, make sure that you only bring a carry-on bag. All checked luggage is destined for the final destination of the trip whether you like it or not. And finally, pray for good weather and no delays. One storm or diverted flight could leave you stranded in a city you had no intention of ever visiting...like Boise. If you’re like me and are willing to pay a little more to be comfortable on a plane, then head over to Routehappy.com. They compile information about the aircraft that will be flying each route, assigning it a “happiness score” based on seat size, connectivity, food and in-flight entertainment, then ranking the routes best to worst. Even if you don’t end up booking through the site, it’s still a good way to look up the flight you do end up booking and see how it stacks up against the rest. inding a cost-effective home base that fits your vacation style is crucial. In many cases this is the most important part of the booking process. This is usually where you are going to be starting and ending your day. Sites like AirBnB and HomeAway have become popular because they allow travelers a more personalized experience through the rental of private homes. But if you want to book a hotel and are working with shallow pockets, GoSeek.com might be able to help. Compiling hundreds of mobile rates—while identifying AAA or military discounts and hotel coupon codes—Goseek can often save users up to 20% over some of the larger sites, and they are not afraid to show it. The site displays its low rate beside a comparable rate—usually one of the big guys—and then

There are many handy travel apps that you can use to help plan your next vacation.

directs you to a third-party website where you can complete the booking. Of course, the experience itself is why we travel in the first place. Immersing ourselves in a foreign culture, walking the streets of a new city, meeting the locals and tasting the food are all reasons why we shell out the money we do to escape our daily routine and take a vacation. But traveling to a foreign city and not knowing where to go or what to do can waste valuable time and money. That’s where Vayable.com comes in. After a life-changing trip to the Sahara desert, Jamie Wong, founder and CEO of Vayable, decided that she wanted to bring people unique experiences offered by local insiders. The idea behind the excursion and tour site is that anyone can be an insider. It allows people who have a unique knowledge of a certain city to offer a personalized experience to anyone who is willing to book their tour. These trips can be anything from a food and wine tour in Rome to a guided secret surf session in La Jolla. They bring travelers and insiders together at an agreed upon price, letting you experience the kind of culture only a local can show you. I’ve personally booked through the site in places like Lisbon, Munich, Marrakech and London, and every time I’ve had a great experience, often times staying in touch with the insiders I met long after the trip was over. They showed me things and took me places that I would have otherwise walked right past or not had the confidence as a foreigner to go. The prices vary based on the type of tour you want, but the intimate connection you’ll form with the culture and people is priceless. Taking the cheapest vacation possible is not always everyone’s main objective. Paying a little extra to make sure that you’re happy and comfortable is also part of the vacation experience. But by doing your homework—and using the right tools—you can experience our planet’s most remarkable places, all while preserving your funds. n 55

S P E C I A L T R AV E L S E C T I O N

Your friends might think you’re a little off when they ask you what you’re doing for vacation and you say that you’re going to climb a mountain in Morocco. But when you tell them that you’re going by yourself with a guide who barely speaks English and that you’ll be sleeping in a stone refuge with 100 other people,

Photos courtesy Matt Stevens

. y z a r c k e n r they’ll probably thi you’

Lookout from the Top of North Africa (Summit 13,641’)

Toubkal Refuge at 10,502 feet

Adventure Tourism, or Strange Trips with Strangers

BY MATT STEVENS

t’s natural to find it strange that someone would pay good money to hitch a ride with a random guy in a van that smells like B.O and drive for two hours just so he could bust his ass climbing up and down a mountain for two days. But strange is exactly what I want in a trip. Actually, the stranger it is, the better. Adventure travel is about getting outside of your comfort zone, conquering new landscapes and immersing yourself in a new culture. The solitude awakens the mind and breaks us free from the death grip of connectivity, allowing us to not only observe nature, but to become part of it. Being in the wilderness with only the necessities needed to survive, you immediately revert back to your predetermined rung on the food chain, stimulating a natural human desire that few people in today’s busy, over indulged society ever get to feel: the desire for adventure. The “ATTA” (Adventure Travel Trade Association) believes adventure tourism contains three main components for the traveler: 1) physical activity, 2) a connection to nature and the environment and 3) an immersive cultural experience. This criteria applies to a wide range of trips. Whether it’s kayaking in Antarctica, going on a safari in South Africa or gallivanting in the Galapagos, as long as you are exploring the outdoors, meeting new people and trying new things, you are an adventure traveler. Last year I traveled to Morocco in an attempt to summit Mt. Toubkal, the tallest Mountain in North Africa. I didn’t know much about the trip before I booked it, but I knew the experience would be life changing. Traveling such a long distance by myself, I knew I would want someone to guide me up the mountain. I did

some research on different guide groups and found someone who agreed to take me for $300. After catching a ride from Marrakech, I arrived in the small mountain town of Imlil, the starting point of the hike. I was dropped off on a random side street and instructed to walk into a colorful Berber hut where I met Muhammed, my guide. He was not overly friendly and really could not have cared less about me. We set out on our trek, with the goal of reaching the refuge by late afternoon. After a brutal seven mile hike through remote mountain towns and along steep dirt trails, we reached the stone building where we would be staying for the night. Muhammed brought me some mint tea and told me that if we hurried, he thought we might be able to summit in one day. Considering it would add an extra four hours to our hike for the day, I had

steps to the top. Muhammed was already there and I was greeted with a smile and a congratulatory high five. My legs felt like Jell-O, so I took a seat on the nearest rock I could find. Muhammed looked at me as I sat catching my breath; in broken English, he told me that he was going to go pray and that it would be dark soon. He said I had seven minutes until I needed to start heading back down, telling me that he would catch up. As he walked off, I sat alone on what felt like the top of the world. At 13,641 feet above sea level, I had never felt more connected to my surroundings. I felt at ease. I wasn’t concerned with anything back home, and at that point, I didn’t even care how I was going to get off the mountain. For those seven minutes I was able to live in the moment. I could see for miles in every direction, with mountains extending all the way to

I sat alone on what felt like the top of the world. At 13,641 feet above sea level, I had never felt more connected to my surroundings, and at that point, I didn’t even care how I was going to get off the mountain. to ask him, “What’s the rush?” Muhammed explained that all of the other hikers that were at the refuge for the night would be at the top in the morning, and that if we left now I would have the summit all to myself. The thought of this once in a lifetime opportunity spurred a second wind. I dropped everything, grabbed only a water bottle and a sweatshirt, and made my way up the rocky slope. The sun had started to set as I took my last

the horizon. As the sun went down over the Atlas Mountains, I knew I was living one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I’ve lounged on a cruise ship to the Bahamas, gorged myself at an all-inclusive in Cancun and seen the sights in Disney. But there will never be a substitute for setting out into the unknown and witnessing the natural wonder of this world. n 57

S P E C I A L T R AV E L S E C T I O N

Postcard from the Edge

The author on his cycling adventure in South America

Photos courtesy Matt Conforti

ALUDOS from General Carrera Lake, Chilean Patagonia. I arrived at this otherworldly location yesterday via bicycle, a sight which only months prior was a faint possibility to reach, if ever, in my lifetime. So far I’ve biked 800 miles south through Chile and Argentina on a mixture of pavement and dirt roads as I explore some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes in the world. One day over the summer while sitting in my New York City office, a thirst for adventure boiled from the depths of my stomach, rose throughout my body and exploded in my mind. It could have been one too many videos watching surfers catching waves at the iconic Punta de Lobos in Chile or that I was 25 in the midst of an identity crisis, but in that moment I knew I had to act or forever live with the “what ifs.” So, I quit my job, worked countless days on a ranch to save money and bought a plane ticket to Santiago. The idea of dropping everything I had dedicated my life to achieving scared me, let alone to travel a continent in which I barely spoke the language. Yet, that feeling felt right and I knew the months ahead would change my life. I chose to travel by bike because I knew it would challenge me in ways that I couldn’t manufacture in my daily life. I craved a completely new adventure, something that I used to think only “the other epic people” I often read about can accomplish. But now, in the thick of this trip, I often stop peddling to soak in jagged mountains framing turquoise blue lakes and say to myself “you’re doing it.” During my remaining two months here I know I will face huge challenges coupled with failure as well as moments of glory. I crave them both. I’ll see glaciers and hike some of the most remote regions in the world. I’ll fly fish and travel the southern-most island in South America. But most of all I’ll be able to say I took action and went for it—and that will make all of the difference in my life. – Matt Conforti

The Game of Balls After 7,000 years a group of friends finally made obvious what’s so great about the game of bocce.

ISTENING TO SARAH DELUCAS, it all started when she and a group of friends were cooped up indoors for a hurricane party. And someone said, “Let’s start a bocce league.” “Like most great ideas that come about, we were just drinking at someone’s house,” the part owner of Major League Bocce says. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that simple. This freethinking group was actually looking for a socializing sport. Something beer-league friendly that players wouldn’t take too seriously. But as DeLucas explains, once bocce was suggested, it seemed obvious. “I was relatively new to Washington, as were some of my friends. We played in a kickball league. We liked the concept of social sports; it was fun to go do a recreational activity and then go to the bar after games and socialize. But we didn’t really like kickball. There were a lot of rules and regulations that we thought were a little ridiculous. And we were like, we 60

BY KURT SMITH should just do our own thing. “My friend grew up playing bocce, and he thought we could totally do this, it would be really easy. First of all, it’s very easy to set up, because you don’t need to play on a specific field. Softball, kickball, you need a baseball diamond. Soccer, you need a soccer pitch. Bocce you can fit in any sort of green space and just play. “Also, bocce is super social, you’re hanging out with everybody, your team, your opponents, you’re all standing around talking. It’s also very easy to pick up. For kickball or softball you have to learn certain abilities, how to throw a ball or kick a ball or bat a ball. People don’t necessarily have those skills.” Fortunately, there were people in the hurricane room with business acumen too, like DeLucas and her friend Rachael Preston, who has an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. “Everyone took on different things,” Preston adds. “My thing was to make sure we had ar-

ticles of incorporation to file with the city, another partner had taken on starting the bank account and we had to pay a few hundred dollars to get our permit. “Then we e-mailed everybody we knew and said, ‘Hey, come play bocce with us!’”

That is how Major League Bocce, the umbrella of official bocce leagues now in ten cities, was formed in 2004: a group of D.C. friends stuck in a house during a hurricane, looking for an activity that would enable people to compete and mingle at the same time. The league website notes that when it came to finding a social sport, “Bocce was the obvious

1) A target ball, called the pallino, is rolled out onto the court. 2) Two teams take turns rolling balls as close to the pallino as possible. That’s pretty much it. Oh, there are rule variations; there is an International Bocce Federation that defines regulation court sizes for tournaments and rules about things like what to do if a ball strikes the backboard. Major League Bocce does have its own set of statutes for game situations, obviously. But if a person can grasp those two basic rules, they can play bocce. A bocce league is like a bowling league. Participants can drink beer while playing, often wear shirts bright enough to direct traffic, and range from every level of skill. But bocce has some key advantages over bowling too…like not having to rent community shoes that are cleansed only with a mysterious spray, for one. Nor is the scoring anywhere near complicated enough to require a computer program; a team gets a point for each ball closer to the pallino than the other team’s closest ball. On to the next round. And after the game, enjoy an adult beverage at the bar. That simplicity and community is the beauty of it. In just over ten years, the Major League Bocce people have helped make obvious the benefits of a game that has existed for millennia without ever being an Olympic event.

Start Your Own Bocce League Unlike in fantasy sports, where you’re leaving your success in the hands of athletes that have bad days, in a bocce league you have control of your destiny. Major League Bocce enables players with the right amount of “social stamina” to set up their own league. League owners can create a website, post scores and standings, and even activate a system to collect dues. As one league owner said, “If you can use Facebook, you can run your own league with Major League Bocce.” The league FAQ lists some tips on setting up your own tournament play, including the equipment you’ll need to set up a court, where to find the best place to play, the number of people in a typical league and a recommended season length. If you need to know more, the folks at the website are glad to help. And if you’re a bar owner in South Jersey who’d like to bring in some bocce players, give Sarah DeLucas a shout. “I really want to try and get something going in New Jersey; I looked last fall at the Collingswood/Haddon Heights area, but we just weren’t able to get it off the ground. It would be spectacular if someone came to me,” she laughs. The league website is www.majorleaguebocce.com.

a game was finished. Later, Giuseppe Garibaldi, among his many accomplishments upon unifying Italy, popularized the sport as we know it today. Its growth eventually led to the game being brought to the U.S. by Italian immigrants. The name “bocce” is the plural of the Italian “boccia,” meaning bowl, as a verb. According to the United States Bocce Federation, there are 25 million bocce enthusiasts in America today. That might be a stretch, but the sport has definitely grown outside of the Italian-American community, the rapidly growing popularity of Major League Bocce being just one example.

or a sport that has never seen a city government hand over billions of taxpayer dollars to build a venue, bocce has some serious staying power. The first recorded drawings of men throwing balls… well, round rocks, anyway… at targets have been dated as far back as 5200 B.C. in Egypt. Early versions of the game spread through Greece and then Rome in the years of the Roman Empire. The Romans brought coconuts back from Africa for bowling events… arguably the first recorded instance of coconut migration. In the days before Abner Doubleday, the game of balls enjoyed quite a bit of popularity. Even celebrities of their day like Hippocrates and Galileo were known to sing the game’s praises. There was no restricting factor like social status; anyone with round rocks could play, and so they did. Much like Elvis, for a time the game was

F Kamali Brooks and Martine Pelletier, the Major League Bocce employees who set up the courts.

even seen as a threat to society. It had become so popular that nations began to worry that it was weakening their armies… the appeal of throwing balls drew participants away from military exercises like archery practice. Even the Catholic Church frowned on it, citing it as a form of gambling that could interfere with Bingo nights. But the game was kept alive in Great Britain; there is a legend that Sir Francis Drake once refused to face the Spanish Armada until after

rom its humble beginnings in a Washington hurricane party, Major League Bocce is now in ten cities; other than in D.C., it’s growing fastest in Philadelphia and Boston. There were 1,500 participants in the Philadelphia division in 2015; Preston estimates that 60% of them are returning customers, a number she is confident will grow even larger. “We’re always testing out different things, trying to see what is the most attractive for people,” Preston says. That expansion took place in just two years, from 2012 to 2014. “We spent 2015 playing catch up,” Preston laughs…and now there are plans to reach out to the West Coast. Players can sign up any time. Each season of the year features a season of bocce. During the spring and summer in Philly, it’s played outdoors at places like Cavanaugh’s River Deck or 61

Photos Kurt Smith

choice as athletic coordination was hardly a prerequisite for play.” Indeed, when you can hold a beer with one hand while playing (don’t actually do that, though, you could damage the court), you know it’s a sport for the rest of us. Just in case you’re one of those rare folks in South Jersey who doesn’t have Italian roots in your family tree, the rules of bocce can be learned in about ten seconds. Here they are:

Photo Kurt Smith

in Dilworth Park; in the fall and winter the crew sets up indoors at the Field House or Cavanaugh’s Headhouse in Center City. Each season consists of six weeks of regular season play, followed by two weeks of bracketstyle elimination playoffs. Like the owners say, it’s easy to set up anywhere, and there’s always a place to roll and enjoy an adult beverage afterward with Bocce Night at the Field House in Philly fellow bocce enthusiasts. Drinking establishment partners love the mutual benefit too…simply dedicating a space for a bocce court brings in a dedicated group of customers for eight weeks. Beer brands have gotten into the act as well. Dogfish Head is now a major sponsor with the Philly group, making swag prizes another incentive for players. And it all happened because some Washington natives took their kickball too seriously. Preston and DeLucas have quit working for the man and are now full time co-owners of Major League Bocce. It’s been stressful, DeLucas admits, but both are really proud of the growth and success in other cities. It’s doubtful that either of them ever dreamed that finding the ideal fraternizing sport would turn into full time employment. The two have become successful entrepreneurs just through wanting to have a good time with friends. For centuries, the game of balls has had a way of hooking people like that. n

SPORTS GUYS

PHILADELPHIA’S

MR. SPORTS

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

HILADELPHIA BASKETBALL FANS will no doubt be particularly excited this March, and certainly not because the Sixers will be making a playoff run. The arrival of the NCAA tournament is usually enough to cripple office production throughout the area, wherever it’s held. But once the annual process of selecting a champion commences, things will be even more exciting around here. The East regional semifinals and final will be held at Wells Fargo Center, assuring that some lucky locals will have the opportunity to experience the Madness live. As the games take place, and a Final Four representative steps forward, the seats will be filled, hotel rooms will be occupied, and restaurants, bars and shops will have free-spending visitors from other parts of the country patronizing them. To Larry Needle, that bottom line—and not the final scores of the games, unless his beloved North Carolina Tar Heels are playing—is the one thing that matters. Needle is the chairman of PHL Sports, a branch of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the man largely responsible for luring many of the premiere athletic events to town. The local pro and college teams handle their own business, but when something like the NCAA tourney comes to town, it’s due considerably to Needle’s efforts and experience. He may deflect praise to PHL Sports’ board, but the fact is that during his nearly 20 years at the helm he has played a huge role in convincing so many big games and tournaments to migrate to our region. “Larry is really first class and first rate,” says La Salle University Senior Associate AD John Lyons, who worked with Needle on bringing the tournament to town this year. 64

“He is instrumental in promoting Philadelphia as a destination sports city.” This year’s NCAA basketball arrival comes just three years after Philadelphia hosted the second and third rounds of the tournament. That’s the season Florida Gulf Coast knocked off Georgetown in front of a delirious crowd at Wells Fargo Center. Philadelphia has become a regular stop on the NCAA schedule, so much so that the city has hosted the second-most tournament events in the nation (27) and is only one behind the leader, Kansas City, which benefitted from 20 visits from 1940-64. During Needle’s tenure, Philly has landed six hosting gigs and has an appetite for more. “The NCAA is looking for bids this spring for tournaments to be held from 2019-23,” Needle says. “Philadelphia will no doubt be in the mix for that.” ssembling an NCAA tournament bid requires a tremendous coordination of resources. The city must choose a host from among the local schools. La Salle is serving as this year’s host, while Temple held that role in ’13. The host school, PHL Sports

Needle

and the venue then work to assemble a proposal that covers everything the NCAA needs, and that is one meticulous organization. The manual describing the various particulars for a city/arena is so thick that even the biggest hoop player might have trouble picking it up with one hand. Meeting such an exacting set of requirements can seem daunting to some, but because of Needle’s experience, it isn’t difficult. Rather, it requires him and those working with him to assemble previous protocols into a neat package. “The good news is that we have most of this readily available,” Needle says. “We have to bring our hotel partners on board, work with our school partners and put the financial plan together. The NCAA has a way of doing things. It wants to make sure it is comparing apples to apples in terms of the cities.” Cities hosting NCAA basketball tournaments—and all of the confederation’s championship events, really—must have a wellconsidered plan in place well before any games are announced. That’s where Needle’s veteran presence is particularly valuable. He joined PHL Sports, then the Philadelphia Sports Con-

The fact is that during his nearly 20 years at the helm Needle has played a huge role in convincing so many big games and tournaments to migrate to our region. gress, in 1991 as director of promotions and took over the top spot five years later. During the ensuing two decades, he has built a network of alliances with hospitality partners (hotels, restaurants), venue operators, professional teams, colleges and sundry affiliates necessary to the staging of large-scale sporting events. “We’re not doing this as a single entity,” Lyons says. “It’s a group effort.” The detail work is key to landing hosting spots and vital to making sure everything moves smoothly and successfully. For instance, the four NCAA tournament participants will stage open-to the-public practices the day before the March 25 regional semis. But those are merely light workouts designed to get the players loose, reiterate a few coaching concepts and give the fans a thrill. The real work happens away from the Wells Fargo Center, and it’s up to Needle and his people to find venues, be they college or high school gyms, for teams

to perform the kind of serious—and clandestine—work they need before a game. Because Needle and his staff have spent so much time involved in these events, they are able to anticipate just about anything. “A great team effort goes into making all of these events possible,” Needle says. “You need the venues, the city’s resources and expertise, the teams and colleges. “We want everything to go as smoothly as possible.” The men’s basketball tournament is the highest-profile of the events the city has hosted lately, but Needle and his staff don’t just go after hoops opportunities. This spring, Philadelphia will again host the NCAA lacrosse Final Four, which concludes the third of its two-year residences in the past 11 years. The women’s championship rounds will take place the same weekend at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, home of the Philadelphia Union. In 2011, the NCAA wrestling championships took over

Wells Fargo Center, and three years later, the NCAA’s Frozen Four determined the best college ice hockey team in the country. Since that event was one of the best attended in NCAA history, Needle expects Philadelphia to host a return engagement within the coming decade. utting together bids and staging the events is important stuff, but Philadelphia’s athletic infrastructure is vital to the process, too. Begin with the city being one of just 12 in America to have teams in all four major sports leagues. Continue with a collection of venues capable of handling just about any event. Sure, Philadelphia lacks the giant domed football stadium that could accommodate a men’s basketball Final Four, and icy weather conditions preclude a bowl game or College Football Playoff contest (although if New York could host a Super Bowl, anything is possible), but the Center and the Linc can handle plenty of business. “We can do things we couldn’t years ago,” Needle says. That’s right. The Vet wasn’t an inviting destination for anything, no matter how fondly some of us remember it. And the Spectrum’s narrow concourses, cramped

locker rooms and lack of premium seating couldn’t handle today’s media and hospitality needs. The Palestra hosted 17 NCAA tournament weekends from 1953-78, but despite that building’s iconic status, it couldn’t possibly be considered. Nope, modern events require updated homes, and Philadelphia has that. A deep lineup of hotels and one of the nation’s most vibrant restaurant scenes makes sure the hospitality end of things is locked down. The final component is the area’s residents, who are among the most sports-crazy anywhere. The wrestling and hockey championships were sold out months in advance. Just try to get a ticket to any NCAA basketball tournament game staged here—without paying a huge premium. When the men’s lacrosse Final Four debuted here in 2005, record-setting crowds attended. If you play it, we will come. “The demand for NCAA basketball tickets when we did our first round of sales last spring was by far the biggest of any city,” Needle says. A big sports fan—of more than just the Tar Heels—Needle understands that his overriding mission is to help attract visitors to the city and boost its reputation, not to mention the bottom lines of businesses associated with hospitality. That he gets to do that by helping build alliances with local entities and national partners through athletics is a great bonus. “I feel incredibly fortunate to do this every day and to have sports as part of my vocation,” Needle says. “That is definitely a privilege, especially in this market, with all the amazing sports happening here.” Needle and PHL Sports will continue to focus on attracting NCAA events, making sure the Army-Navy Game remains a Philadelphia staple, even if it does stray to Baltimore or D.C. every so often. Other events, like the Copa America soccer games at the Linc this June that will feature the U.S. Men’s National Team, continue to fill the calendar. But there is some long-range planning going on, too. In 2026, America celebrates its 250th birthday, and as the city prepares for broad-scale commemorations, Needle and his staff are looking at booking an avalanche of big sporting events, just like Philadelphia landed during the Bicentennial year of 1976. “We would like nothing more than to bring a slew of world-class events to Philadelphia that year, like we did in ’76 when the MLB, NBA and NHL All-Star Games and the Final Four were here,” Needle says. “There is the possibility of Philadelphia hosting not just one but multiple big sporting events. Time will tell what those events are.” No one knows for sure, but we do know that with Needle in the game, the results are bound to be pretty darn good. n 66

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THE HEALTH REFEREE ______________________________________________________________________________________________ BY DR. RUBINA TAHIR, DC

Healthy Teeth Something to SMILE about. 80% of the U.S. population has some form of periodontal gum disease.

AD BREATH, gum disease, cavities, sensitivity and tooth loss are just a few dental problems that can occur if you are not taking care of your mouth. The good news is: healthy habits can quickly elicit positive changes. Here are the facts on oral hygiene:

BRUSH OR FLOSS FIRST? FACT: Pick Up The Toothbrush. To better understand this debate, Dr. Ken Cirka, DMD, (left) graduate of The University of Pennsylvania Dental School, explains: “This way the teeth are cleaner, and you are not inoculating bacteria deep into your gums, which can lead to a gum infection.” FLOSSING FACT: 31% of Americans Do NOT Floss. If you are human then you know that hectic schedules are very good at distracting us from the most simple of tasks. The truth is we need to floss in order to remove food AND the film of bacteria that forms there before it turns to plaque, which can cause inflamed gums (gingivitis), cavities and tooth loss. On the issue of flossing every day, Dr. Cirka states: “None of us is perfect. But leaving floss next to the TV or bed is a gentle reminder to floss before bed.” DENTAL PRODUCTS. What are the best options? FACT: Look for ADA (American Dental Association) approved products. “I love Crest toothpaste,” says Dr. Cirka. “Crest offers ADA-approved oral products that work great at helping to reduce plaque buildup and keep your mouth feeling fresh throughout the day.” SWEET TOOTH FACT: Bad Bacteria Love Sugary Treats. There are hundreds of bacteria that live in our mouth, many of which are beneficial to our oral hygiene. However, certain harmful oral bacteria actually feed on the sugars you eat to create acids that destroy the tooth enamel, which is the shiny, protective outer layer of the tooth, making us susceptible to cavities. “I love holiday sweets just like everyone else,” says Dr. Cirka, “and the trick is to consume with meals. Studies show that if sweets are consumed with 70

meals, the incidence of cavities remains the same as if no sweets were eaten.”

sitive than others and through an-in office procedure we’re able to greatly reduce sensitivity.”

REMEDIES FOR BAD BREATH FACT: Bad Breath in the morning is normal because our mouths dry out while we sleep. Bacteria love to hide in the deep crevices in your tongue. Dr. Cirka’s advice: “Brushing your tongue before you fall asleep can actually reduce your bad breath for the following day!” In between brushing, studies suggest that drinking unsweetened black or green tea may help ward off bad breath. Eating six ounces of unsweetened yogurt every day can reduce the level of odor-causing hydrogen sulfide in your mouth. If you are looking to mask garlic breath, eat an apple. The polyphenols found in apples break down the smelly sulfur compounds. An apple a day can keep the garlic breath away!

Cons: Higher cost. CUSTOM BLEACH TRAYS AND GEL Pros: Can lighten your teeth as much as 10 shades with just a 15-minute gel application a day for ten days. Cons: At home technique, not done in office. OVER THE COUNTER Pros: Less cost. The only over-the-counter gel that Dr. Cirka recommends: Crest Whitestrips.

FACT: Studies show that people with whiter teeth make a greater first impression. There are a variety of options to choose from if you are considering a brighter smile: Zoom! Whitening, bleach trays with gel and over the counter products. Dr. Cirka breaks down the pros and cons.

Cons: “Other products, over the counter or on the Internet may not be safe, may be acidic and may remove a layer of your tooth. Don’t take that chance. Also, you may experience high sensitivity, the teeth can whiten unevenly and the teeth can become weak using methods other than that which a dentist provides.” Prevention is the best way to take care of your mouth. In addition, regular cleanings are a must to protect your teeth. Remember, healthy gums don’t bleed. If yours do, then see a dentist right away. For more health tips, catch Dr. Rubina’s Daily Whistle on Instagram: Dr_Rubina

ZOOM! WHITENING

References:

Pros: “The safest way to whiten teeth is through an in-office treatment such as our Zoom! Whitening. Some of our patients’ teeth are more sen-

1. Dr. Ken Cirka, DMD www.phillydentistry.com 2. https://www.adha.org/ 3. ISRN Preventive Medicine, 2013, 2013, 1 4. Oral Diseases, 2012, 18, 4, 333

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DR. NINA

_______________________________________________________________________________ BY NINA RADCLIFF, MD

A Heart to Heart Talk UR HEART IS TRULY AMAZING, especially when you consider that it is the size of our two hands clasped together. Our heart is responsible for delivering blood to every single one of the estimated three trillion cells in our body. In just one day, it beats 100,000 times; that equates to 2.5 billion beats over our lifetime. And, in just one day, it pumps blood over a total distance of 12,000 miles; that is four times the distance of our country, from sea to shining sea.

Keeping our heart healthy is something we should all take to heart. During February’s American Heart Month, awareness will be raised about heart disease, the number one killer of Americans, both men and women. Today, more than one in three adults has some form of cardiovascular disease. And studies estimate that 80 percent of heart disease can be prevented by lifestyle changes. We have the ability and can make choices that allow us to live longer and healthier lives.

curs, LDL can enter the wall of the artery. And because our immune system sees the accumulation of LDL in the vessel wall as abnormal, immune cells follow and try to digest it, thereby adding to the size of the plaque.

Ruptures from the shearing stress of blood flow, or other injury, causes complete blockage of the vessel. When a plaque ruptures, our immune system sees the exposed plaque contents as a foreign invader and sends swarms of cells to attack them. Additionally, to stop the bleeding, clotting cells that circulate in our blood start clumping on. Although both are noble causes, the body’s response can lead to complete blockage of blood flow. Cell death, or infarction, can occur within a matter of minutes. I’ve heard the terms “good” versus “bad” cholesterol. How can cholesterol possibly be good? High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is often referred to as “good” cholesterol because it helps remove LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, from the arteries. This results in decreased plaque formation. Consequently, high levels of good cholesterol may be protective against heart disease, stroke and kidney injury due to atherosclerosis.

What You Need To Know About Heart Disease: What is heart disease? This is an umbrella term for diseases that affect our heart’s blood vessels, electrical rhythm or structure. Oftentimes, the term heart disease is used to imply coronary artery or cardiovascular disease. What is cardiovascular disease? Abnormal conditions that affect the heart’s blood vessels. Atherosclerosis is the primary culprit and describes plaque buildup inside our arteries (blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood). Similar to rust buildup within a pipe, the plaques can cause narrowing or blockage of heart vessels and prevent an adequate supply of oxygen to our ticker.

ing harder and requires more oxygen, but atherosclerotic blockages preclude the increased oxygen supply. As a result, people with heart disease can experience chest pain on exertion, known as angina.

What’s wrong with a little clump of plaque? It can prevent our hearts from receiving an adequate supply of oxygen. Plaques have one of the following fates:

Atherosclerosis is something I will worry about down the road, right? Wrong! Although symptoms typically present in our middle and late adulthood, the development of plaques often begins during childhood. How can I stop (and possibly reverse) atherosclerosis?

What are plaques comprised of? They are clumps of cholesterol, fat, calcium and other substances. In fact, the term atherosclerosis stems from the Greek word athere meaning “porridge,” and sclerosis meaning “hardening.”

• Grows large enough to decrease blood flow, causing the organ it feeds to become chronically oxygen deprived. Imagine if our busy heart does not get an adequate supply of oxygen. This can impair its ability to pump blood to the rest of our body.

• Decrease “bad” cholesterol levels. Consuming foods high in cholesterol can contribute to atherosclerosis. Fortunately, there are a number of delectable delights that can help lower LDL levels: oatmeal, nuts, beans and legumes, olive oil and possibly red wine. In some instances, our doctor may determine that a cholesterol-lowering medication is appropriate.

What leads to atherosclerosis? Too much lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes can result in damage to our blood vessels. When this oc-

• In some instances, we see symptoms occur when our heart’s oxygen demand increases (e.g., exertion from going up a flight of stairs, lifting something heavy). Our heart is work-

• Maintain normal blood pressure. Hypertension or high blood pressure can damage our blood vessels. Staying physically active and lowering salt intake and stress can help prevent hyper-

• Stays the same size or grows slightly, but does not block blood flow or create symptoms.

tension. And if we are diagnosed with hypertension, there are a number of medications that can help manage it. They work best when lifestyle changes are also implemented. • Control diabetes. Chronically elevated blood glucose levels can damage our blood vessels. If you have diabetes it is imperative to keep your blood sugars under proper control. • Avoid (or stop) smoking. The chemicals in cigarettes cause damage to our artery walls (not to mention increase our risk for lung cancer and a number of other diseases). Smoking remains the number one preventable cause of death. • Become physically active. Physical activity decreases LDL levels, weight and our risk for diabetes and hypertension. At the same time, it increases HDL levels and nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide dilates blood vessels and can help with circulation. Our heart is truly amazing. Not only does it provide oxygen and fuel to every single one of the three trillion cells in our body, it also transcends our worldly understanding. For example, “Why do we close our eyes when we pray, cry, kiss, dream? Because the most beautiful things in life are not seen but felt only by the heart.” Let’s take care of our heart. Our lives and passions depend upon it. n

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contact: ken@jerseymanmagazine.com 75

Two Jersey guys build a brand WHAT DO YOU GET when you mix passion, innovative thinking, business savvy and the determination of two born and bred Jersey guys? The answer: Devotion Vodka – the first sugar-free, glutenfree, American-made vodka!

BY JAN L. APPLE 76

D Devotion can be found in 22 states with 14 more on the horizon and recently reached a milestone with a total of over 100,000 cases sold. The 80 proof vodka has made its way into national and regional chains, like Whole Foods, Walmart, Wegmans and Publix, sports arenas and popular dining and bar establishments such as Houlihan’s, Chickie’s and Pete’s, Applebee’s and Red Robin. The recipient of the 2014 and 2015 Rising Star Growth Brand Award (Beverage Information Group), named a Top 50 Spirit by Wine Enthusiast Magazine and a 2014 Breakout Brand by Beverage World, Devotion Vodka’s founder and CEO, Andrew “Drew” Adelman and Partner, COO and VP of Sales, Michael Calleja shared their recipe behind their evolving success story. “You’re never going to stop people from drinking and partying,” said Adelman, who brings an entrepreneurial spirit and years of expertise in the nightlife and entertainment industry to his current enterprise. “If you’re going to choose from a few vodkas, why not choose the healthier one?” said Adelman, who aspires to establish a lifestyle alternative. In fact, he explains that the brand’s slogan, “If you’re going to be bad, be good,” which appears on every bottle, is the message he wants to spread. A shot (or 1.5 ounces) of Devotion is 60 calories, he adds, as compared to most other vodkas, which are about 100 to 110. “We’re in every Pennsylvania state liquor store,” said Adelman. In South Jersey, Devotion can be found at numerous locations, including some Wegmans Wine, Liquor and Beer; Traino’s Wine & Spirits; Roger Wilco; The Spirit Shop; Total Wine and Crescent Liquors. “I wanted to create something that is sugar-free and gluten-free,” said the 49-year-old Adelman, who resides in Brick, NJ but can often be found on his private jet en route to his second home in Boca Raton. “This way, you won’t get that hangover in the morning.” Affordability and being American-made were

also high priorities. Each 750-milliliter (ML) bottle costs $19.99. In terms of quality, he describes Devotion as being in a similar realm to Absolut and Stolichnaya (“Stoli”). With a culture that’s increasingly health conscious, Adelman believes Devotion is filling a need and consumers are proving the accuracy of his hunch. For people with diabetes, he says it’s the brand of choice, and those with Celiac disease “are loving the fact that it’s gluten-free.” Adelman was a partner in the former nightclub chain Polly Esther’s—featuring 70sand 80s-themed music. At its peak, the club boasted 22 locations nationwide. “It started in Manhattan in 1995 as a small place and we turned it into the largest nightclub chain in the world,” recalled Adelman. He and his partners once calculated that they were spending millions and millions of dollars a year on alcohol that was going directly to Europe. At the time, Adelman remembered thinking, “I’m going to create something that not only will keep the jobs here and keep the money here, but will be affordable.” As a lifelong fitness enthusiast and athlete, he wanted the product to be as natural as possible. “You want to party hard, but you want to train hard,” said the 6’3”, 280 pound Adelman, who frequents the gym four days a week and can still bench press 500 pounds. Pairing his passions for the nightlife/dining industry and fitness, Adelman created Devotion Spirits, Inc. in 2009 with the launch of a single, unique brand, Devotion Vodka. Based in Red Bank, NJ with a distillery in Temperance, Michigan, Devotion Vodka is named for his 25-year-old daughter, Nicole, whom he describes as “the little angel that has given me so

much in life.” Angel is a nickname she’s had since childhood. On every bottle, Adelman explains, there are angel wings wrapped around a heart within a heart, signifying his lifetime devotion to his daughter. Nicole lives in Los Angeles and is Devotion’s West coast distribution chain manager for Whole Foods. orn in Newark, NJ and raised in Avenel, the youngest of eight siblings, Adelman says he’s proud to be a Jersey guy with a strong work ethic. A graduate of “the School of Hard Knocks,” Adelman’s only regret is not getting a college education. However, he emphasizes that this has never stopped his tenacity or drive to succeed. “You do what you’ve got to do, so you can do what you want to do,” said Adelman of his motto on life. He describes his late parents—Edward, a Newark, NJ police officer and Grace, a homemaker—as role models in every sense of the word: loyal, hardworking and supportive. “My father would always tell me that no one is going to give you anything for free; you have to work for it,” recalled Adelman, who is also proud of his years (1988-1995) as a New Jersey State Trooper. He calls that job training incredibly rigorous and disciplined. Adelman says that no matter what the task or endeavor, he always strives to be the best he can be. “We [at Devotion Vodka] have such great

support and loyalty from the people I grew up with,” said Adelman. “Sometimes, Jersey gets a bad rap. Mike and I are super proud to be from New Jersey.” The two met through mutual friends and in 2010, Calleja brought his award-winning sales and marketing expertise to the table. Having a successful track record with some of the largest wine and spirits companies in the world, Calleja had been immersed in almost every aspect of the industry from a young age. Calleja, 38, received many accolades along the way. His proven prowess with Skyy Spirits and Brown-Forman— as in Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort—was the perfect segue to teaming with Adelman. What friends at first termed an unlikely partnership that wouldn’t last has netted big time results, with even more aggressive plans for 2016. The brand is sold in 1,000 stores throughout New Jersey and over 5,000 nationwide. Describing himself and Adelman as complete opposites, Calleja said: “We match up very well and listen to each other. We have a good working relationship.” Calleja and Adelman believe that you’ve got to have passion to be successful. Soon after the two joined forces, the specialty brand truly took flight, offering the original and six fruit flavors: Wild Cherry, Coconut, Blood Orange, Black and Blue, Tiki Tea and the Perfect Cosmo. Adelman underscores that

Devotion Vodka’s founder and CEO, Drew Adelman (R) and Partner, COO and VP of Sales, Michael Calleja

all are made from a natural essence of fruits. There are no chemicals or artificial sweeteners, and they are Whole Foods certified. The vodka doesn’t have that candy flavor, explains Calleja, because the ingredients are all natural. “Our partnership with Allen Flavors, the number one privately-owned flavor company and maker of Arizona Iced Tea, has been truly unique,” said Adelman. “They developed a

process of eliminating sugars as a flavoring agent in vodka, distinguishing our brand from the many mass produced flavored vodkas available in the marketplace that have been diluted by sugary flavoring agents.” Today, the two have about 26 people working for them, including employees, distributors and brokers. Calleja lives in Sherman Oaks, California, with his wife of over two years, actress Renée Marino, 33. But New Jersey is always close to his heart. Born in Elizabeth, Calleja grew up in Linden. He met, or rather reconnected, with Marino—also from Linden—at a Devotion Vodka event. Their families had known each other for years: Calleja’s dad coached her brother’s baseball team, and Calleja’s sister and Marino went to dance class together. Among her roles, Marino starred as Frankie Valli’s wife, Mary Delgado, in both the acclaimed Broadway musical and the Clint Eastwood directed movie “Jersey Boys.”

“Our company was built on innovation,” explained Calleja of the protein infused, nonGMO, high quality vodka that ultimately emerged through a series of trials and tribulations. The two hope to one day take the brand to an international market. For now, the rave reviews keep coming and this year, notes Calleja, they’ll be unveiling a whole new line of bottle sizes. Their accomplishments, according to Calleja, reflect a melding of many factors, including strength in sales, pricing and hiring. “We developed a team; we have the best brand builders and our production is state-of-the art.” he partners are also devoted to giving back, supporting numerous charitable organizations including the R Baby Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project, Wigs and Wishes, Pink & Bloom Foundation and Casey Cares Foundation. To these Jersey guys, the company’s progression is, frankly, not all that surprising. They feel that those from the Garden State possess a rare combination of resiliency, loyalty, strong work ethic and an attitude of never giving up. “We’re very passionate and committed,” stated Calleja, adding that about 300 spirits are introduced each year from various companies. “A brand has to resonate with consumers.” So

Drew Adelman with his daughter, Nicole. The brand, Devotion Vodka, is named in her honor.

to have continued success after six years, he says, they must be getting it right. “When I walk into a Walmart in Northern California and see my product with a beautiful display, it’s a shock, but it’s a proud feeling,” said Adelman, reflecting on how far they’ve come. “On my team, we may not have the biggest budgets, but I always say we will outwork you. What we don’t have in budget, we have in drive. “My goal is to make Devotion a household name. We’re on our way.” n For more information, visit devotionvodka.com.

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Man & Woman of the Month JerseyMan/PhillyMan Magazine wants to recognize one man and woman in our region every issue for their extraordinary achievements in community service. At the end of the year, each of the ten nominees (5 men, 5 women) will be recognized at a dinner in their honor.

Jim Haefele Jim Haefele is a Partner at Haefele Flanagan, a full service consulting, accounting, auditing, and tax services firm. In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Jim is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), and a Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF). Jim’s top priority is the needs of his clients. He provides a variety of services to his clients including general advisory, strategic business planning and budgeting, due diligence, business valuation, and succession planning. He is also regularly involved in negotiating loans and exploring financing alternatives for his clients with various financial institutions. Jim has extensive experience with the acquisitions and dispositions of business operations for corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, and sole proprietorships. When he’s not working, Jim is extremely active in his community and devotes a substantial amount of time to a number of professional and charitable organizations. Jim currently serves as the treasurer for the Legacy Foundation, which supports Legacy Treatment Services in their mission to change the behavioral health and social service outcomes for people of all ages from surviving to thriving. His firm, Haefele Flanagan, has been the #1 fundraising team for the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s for 9 years running. Jim is also a coach for local youth baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He lives in Voorhees, NJ with his wife, Kara, and their two children, Ryan and Sarah.

Lisa E. Silveri Lisa Silveri is the Manager of DRANOFF Properties Realty, Inc.. DRANOFF a premier developer and owner of luxury apartments and condominiums which has now expanded into a full Real Estate Brokerage. Lisa works with Carl Dranoff, Founder and CEO and her team of expert advisors to elevate the brokerage service and leverage the extensive network across all of the Dranoff portfolio, the entire marketplace with an additional multi-level focus on International clients. She has been quoted as saying “This role is everything I have worked for, I think it is one of the most exciting opportunities in our marketplace.” Silveri a 28 year resident of Rittenhouse Square, is one of the city’s most influential real estate Power Brokers- especially in the ultra-luxury residential and commercial market. As President and Owner of AGENCY Real estate Partners, LLC, she represented both buyer and seller in several notable and award-winning multimillion –dollar transactions. Prior to founding her own agency, Lisa led sales and Marketing efforts for several high profile Philadelphia properties and is currently the President/Chair of the Union League Real Estate Club as well as Programming Director of the Business Leaders Group. There is a long list of real estate memberships, designations and awards including the CREW(Commercial Real Estate Women) Committee MVP Award, PBJ Heavy Hitters of Real Estate Award and the BIA Award of Excellence in Sales and Marketing just to name a few. You will find her wherever she needs to be to help her clients, or those in need. She is an active volunteer and board member for SoldierStrong, Donors Are Heroes/Gift of Life, Project Home, Cityteam Shelter in Chester, St Columba’s Shelter and more. While she seems to schedule more in a day than many people do in a week, Lisa also manages to spend time with her wonderful 14 year old daughter, Faith. Lisa loves what she does and is striving to make a difference in leading the real estate brokerage marketplace to the next level. Her mantra: “Want more for others than you do for yourself”.

You’ve worked hard for a lifetime to make it to the top. And we want to recognize you for the success you have achieved for your company…and for yourself.

Welcome to the Club The Chairman’s Club from JerseyMan/PhillyMan Magazine is an elite fraternity. We are looking for a mastermind networking group of no more than 15 exceptionally gifted professionals who have made it to the head of their class and want to learn from and share with other members of this group.

Welcome to the rarified air of success…and to the Chairman’s Club! JerseyMan

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www.jerseymanmagazine.com 81

THE

Entrepreneur Coach by John Hopkins

inspireme@inspiritgrowth.com

Finding, Keeping and Inspiring Your Teams YOU HAVE TO BE WISER THAN EVER BEFORE Estimates are that there were about 73.5 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964. The estimates for Generation X born between 1965 and 1979 are 48.1 million. Ten thousand boomers turn 65 each day. If traditional retirement patterns continue, the numbers suggest there are not enough experienced people to rise up to fill all the retiring positions. The next in line are the Generation Y or millennials born between 1980 and 2000. There are 80 million in this age group. While the increase in numbers is positive, the issue is that many experienced workers are leaving the workforce faster than employees can gain the necessary experience. Fortunately, technology and innovation are moving quickly to provide alternative solutions to current workforce patterns.

IS THE CANDIDATE POOL DRYING UP FOR RESPONSIBLE POSITIONS? With the unemployment rate down to 5.3% as of June 2015, hiring and retaining talent will continue to be a growing challenge for employers. This is particularly the case for small to mid-sized business owners as the competition for talent is getting tighter in larger corporations. Considering the statistics shared above, finding and keeping good people requires new insights from readily available data driven tools.

HIRING IS AN INVESTMENT ACTIVITY Clients, customers, patients and patrons are our highest priority, but our people are our most valuable investments. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the average cost of a bad hire is between 25% and 30% of that hire’s first year earnings. This reinforces that no organization can afford to make bad hires. This statistic strongly suggests that strengthening the recruiting process is essential, not optional. In a 2015 Recruitment and Retention Trends Survey by Predictive Index, LLC, a company that empow82

ers businesses across the globe, CEO Mike Zani indicated “that when looking to bring in new hires, most organizations are still primarily focusing on the expected more ‘concrete’ areas of candidates’ skills, experience, and education.” But what are the principle causes of employees quitting companies? Predictive Index tells us: • Behavior Needs – While the more “concrete” and obvious criteria can be easily reviewed, the “softer” criteria such as personality and behavior needs are not being assessed as often or accurately. This results in disconnects.

Many experienced workers are leaving the workforce faster than employees can gain the necessary experience.

• Misrepresentation – Smaller companies report candidate misrepresentation as the primary reason why new hires don’t work out. Most smaller companies rely primarily on less structured interviews or skills, experience and education representations and not the use of cognitive behavior assessments and knowledge/skill testing.

It is equally important in ongoing assessments of existing employees, management and leadership in mid-sized companies. Are you confident that you have the right people with the right skills in the right positions? These predictive behavior assessments can provide insightful answers.

• Weak Supervisors – Many companies in the survey indicated they have lost top performers owing to conflicts with peers or managers who may not be best qualified for what they do (not the right person in the right role).

A “NEED TO HAVE” VS. A “WISH TO HAVE…”

IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO ASSESS CURRENT AND FUTURE EMPLOYEES? Certainly we need to consider previous experience and specific skills for a given position. But insights from behavioral assessments can be significantly more accurate in predicting how well a candidate will perform within a specific role, culture, and ultimately how well they will execute on a daily basis. There is a growing need to supplement traditional thinking when it comes to selecting candidates for jobs. These insights are gained in minutes and have a profound impact on how to not only assess near term behavior but can predict long term performance based on the motivating needs that are observed. This is the best form of investment risk analysis and mitigation for your people investment decisions.

Today, for current employees as well as recruiting candidates, we can now predict future behavior that will directly impact their skill development, attitudes and performance. All of my clients and their employees have benefited tremendously from behavior predictability. Sales efforts improve. Operations are streamlined. Recruiting and retention is more precise. Customer experiences are more enjoyable, and selfaccountability increases. These insights with today’s technology are instantaneous. The benefits are both immediate and long-term. Most importantly, the cost is insignificant and the payback is incredibly high. Make smart investments with high returns and make them a lot easier. You will be glad you did. n If you would like to learn more about how to make wiser recruiting investments, increase retention and inspire better contributions from your best and brightest, please reach out to john@inspirtgrowth.com.

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JOE SIXPACK

_______________________________________________________________________________ BY DON RUSSELL

You got chocolate in my beer! A verse for Valentine’s Day… Roses are red, Violets are blue. Forget the flowers, And pour me a brew! Well, nobody ever said mug-fisted beer drinkers were romantic. Passionate, yes, in an Eaglesneed-a-better-quarterback kind of way. But all that hearts and flowers stuff has always been the traditional turf of the wine set, right? Not any more. As the lovey-dovey day rolls around, beer makers will try to pry that corked bottle from your paws and replace it with a bottle of suds. Admittedly, they’re not always especially convincing. Not long ago, for example, a Belgian brewery sent me a press release suggesting that women could “make his night special with a romantic dinner incorporating Stella Artois.” A $2 bottle of ordinary lager? C’mon… you need to step up your game. Try something like River Horse Chocolate Porter from New Jersey. It was the top new beer last year in Philadelphia Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan’s “Brew-vitational” contest. Described as a “liquid s’more,” it’s a yummy brew with a touch of vanilla. This year, River Horse amped it up a bit with an “imperial” version that hits about 10 percent alcohol. Or look for California’s Stone Xocoveza Charred. It’s a full-bodied milk stout brewed with cocoa, coffee and spices to mimic the flavor of Mexican hot chocolate. The bottles on shelves this month were brewed in 2014, and then aged seven months in Kentucky bourbon barrels. Or crack open a sixpack of Evil Genius’s wonderfully named I’ll Have What She’s Having. The Chester County brewery spiked this imperial stout with hazelnut flavoring. It’s the chocolate in all three that makes them a perfect pairing with that heart-shaped box of Godiva you gave your sweetie. And while you’re savoring the sweet stuff, consider how much effort went into that beer. 84

Chocolate is not a particularly friendly brewhouse ingredient. Its oil can ruin the head on an ale, and it sometimes adds a trace of unwelcome bitterness. Trevor Heyward of Evil Genius said it took him several tries to get the recipe for his stout right. He remembers one attempt when he added a simple syrup of cocoa, sugar and water, “but it didn’t quite mix through the whole batch. We had kegs that tasted like a chocolate milkshake, and others without any chocolate at all.” That’s why many brewers opt for so-called chocolate malt. It doesn’t contain any actual cocoa, but is instead produced by kilning grain at a high temperature to produce a deep black color and a bitterness that is identical to unsweetened chocolate. Don’t believe me? Try Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. This superb, deeply roasted brew tastes like a Black Forest torte topped with espresso powder, but it doesn’t contain an ounce of actual chocolate. ow, I know what you’re thinking: Chocolate beer? That’s kind of wimpy, isn’t it? Offer a bottle of Sexual Chocolate, the remarkable stout from North Carolina’s Foothills Brewing, to a chest-thumping mainstream lager guy, and he might look at you like you just asked him to wear pink underwear and sip a Pabst Blue Ribbon from a Lennox teacup. But a new body of archeological and chemical research offers a completely different image of the supposedly unmanly stuff. Namely: Aztec warriors dragging their human sacrifice to the top of a pyramid, ripping his still-beating heart from his chest, cooking up the entrails for

a festive orgy—and then washing it all down with chocolate beer. That’s right, the drink of choice in the so-called Mesoamerica region was a fermented beverage made with the pulpy fruit surrounding the seeds of cacao trees. Researchers have discovered that the earliest inhabitants of Mexico and Central America were drinking something resembling chocolate beer at least 3,000 years ago. “This was the most elite beverage in the Americas,” Patrick McGovern told me. He’s the scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia—a long title that essentially means he spends his time digging into the history of what we eat and drink. What he learned in Central America is that chocolate booze was “made for the kings and the gods.” McGovern was one of five authors of a 2007 research article that reported the earliest use of cacao was not for the production of chocolate, but for alcohol. Chemical analysis of residue from pottery found in Honduras showed cacao-based beverages were consumed before 1000 B.C. That research led to the production of Theobroma, one of a series of ancient brews re-created by Delaware’s Dogfish Head brewery. Made with cocoa powder, honey, chilies and a fragrant seed called annatto, the beer takes its name from the plant species that produces cocoa. According to McGovern, early Mesoamericans likely consumed the cacao tree’s fruit because the seeds themselves were too bitter. As they discovered how to brew with the bean, they added honey, chilies and spices to offset the bitterness. Traces of cacao beverages were found in a curious assortment of vessels, including one with a high neck that was used for pouring, and another spouted bottle with a wider, flared neck. Researchers theorize that

I think we can all agree there’s nothing like a nice, cold pint of chocolate beer after getting your heart ripped out. the drink was poured back and forth between the vessels, to produce an aromatic froth. “The idea was to put a head on the drink so that you could breathe in the aroma while you were drinking,” McGovern said. Consumption of cacao beverages, the article’s authors argue, “became a central dimension of social life in Mesoamerica.” Over the centuries, they emerged as an important part of Aztec and Mayan ceremonies. By the 1500s, Cortez and Diaz, the Spanish conquistadors, would send word back to Europe of flavorful chocolate drinks served at ritual events including, presumably, those human sacrificial orgies. Yum! Not to be overly manly on this Valentine’s Day, but I think we can all agree there’s nothing like a nice, cold pint of chocolate beer after getting your heart ripped out. n 85

The Smoking Dog THE CIGAR GUY ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored by

BY SAM KRAFT

La Freyja - Thor

HIS MONTH’S REVIEW comes right after the release of Cigar Aficionado’s newest top cigar picks from 2015. Every year, this magazine dictates which smokes people will spend their money on in the year to come. With all that power and influence floating around those select stogies, I thought I would review instead a cigar that just was released this past summer. It is called Freyja and is produced by La Cumbres Tobacco. The Freyja was released a little too late in the game to be considered for a top spot in Cigar Aficionado last year, but from all the buzz floating around, it seems to have good potential for next year’s edition. La Freyja is an interesting blend as it has mostly Dominican tobacco in it, which is known to be a slightly milder tobacco. Yet, there is also quite a bit of Nicaraguan and Mexican tobacco in this cigar as well. Its binder is what is most interesting to me in the form of the Mexican San Andres leaf, which has recently become a very popular Maduro wrapper. The San Andres tends to be strong and spicy with a richer flavor, and I don’t see a lot of lighter cigars that use it as a binder. Mexican tobacco in general is a pretty rare thing and has been disregarded in many cigar communities, one exception being tobacco from the San Andres valley. All that geography is important to note, however, because the Freyja does an amazing job of being both mild-medium, yet having full-bodied qualities to it.

Upon the pre-light draw and even into its first puff, the Freyja starts out like your average Dominican cigar. It’s light, it’s sweet and it’s sour. It didn’t seem to have any tricks up its sleeve. That was until I decided to retro-hale. Holy cow, was I surprised! The smoke and spices burned my nose and left me with a strong sense that this wasn’t your ordinary Dominican cigar. The Freyja had a kick to it. The strength surprised me, but as the shock wore off, I realized that it didn’t necessarily come out of left field. The white pepper and vegetal sensation of the retro matched the cigar’s upfront woodsy and savory tastes. The combination was very fitting. As I smoked down to the second third, the cigar began to pick up in flavor. I tasted molasses and cocoa on the tongue. The retro-hale reminded me of jalapeños and rye bread. It was quite the fun mix. By the end of my smoke the cigar had grown to a solid medium-full body. Overall, the Freyja was a great cigar. It appears so simple and straight-forward, yet had such an exciting twist to it. After smoking it a second time, I realized how much the regional mix of Dominican, Nicaraguan and Mexican tobaccos complemented each other. Not all sticks could pull that off, but I thoroughly enjoyed the way this one played out. Find it for under $10 a stick and pair it with coffee or something nutty. Be safe, have fun and enjoy your smoke! n

PROMOTION

What you should do with an identity verification letter from the IRS

n its efforts to combat identity theft, the IRS is stopping suspicious tax returns that have indications of being identity theft, but contain a real taxpayer’s name and/or Social Security number, and sending out Letter 5071C to request that the taxpayer verify his or her identity.

Letter 5071C is mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to the address on the return. It asks taxpayers to verify their identities in order for the IRS to complete processing of the returns if the taxpayers did file it or reject the returns if the taxpayers did not file it. It is important to understand that the IRS does not request such information via e-mail; nor will the IRS call you directly to ask this information without first sending you a Letter 5071C. The letter number can be found in the upper corner of the page.

Before accessing the website, be sure to have your prior-year and current-year tax returns available, including supporting documents, such as Forms W-2 and 1099. You will be asked a series of questions that only the real taxpayer can answer. Once your identity is verified, you can confirm whether or not you filed the return in question. If you did not file the return, the IRS will take steps at that time to assist you. If you did file the return, it will take approximately six weeks to process it and issue a refund. You should always be aware of tax scams, efforts to solicit personally identifiable information, and IRS impersonations. However, www.idverify.irs.gov is a secure, IRS-supported site that allows taxpayers to verify their identities quickly and safely. IRS.gov is the official IRS website. Always look for a URL ending with “.gov” — not “.com,” “.org,” “.net,” or other nongovernmental URLs.

Letter 5071C gives you two options to contact the IRS and confirm whether or not you filed the return: You can: 1. U se the www.idverify.irs.gov site or 2. Call a toll-free number on the letter. However, the IRS says that, because of the high volume on its toll-free numbers, the IRS-sponsored website, www.idverify.irs.gov, is the safest, fastest option for taxpayers with Web access.

Cordua, Pastore & Associates is an accounting firm providing services to smalland medium-sized businesses. At Cordua, Pastore & Associates, clients experience a service-minded staff whose goal is to customize their relationship with clients in order for clients to reach their goals.

www.corduapastore.com

South Jersey A Warming Trend for Entrepreneurs?

TECH TIME

______________________________

BY ANTHONY MONGELUZO

A larger game is at play here. It’s the nascent burgeoning of the IT business and entrepreneurship, Let’s wrap up the year with a quick, down and dirty take onnot just in Philadelphia but in South Jersey.

OLVE A PROBLEM. How many times have would-be entrepreneurs heard that little ditty? It seems so obvious and yet it remains true. This month, I want to highlight a cool entrepreneurial venture, not just because they did it but more as an example of how JerseyMan readers should be thinking if they want to shed the shackles of having a boss and reach their goal of being an entrepreneur. A quiz: What irritates you the most when you suddenly have to move something from one location to another, but the process of finding a vehicle seems like such a big deal and you discover how expensive it is? Renting a truck for two pieces of furniture (or taking your kid’s dorm room innards back to the house) is both pricy and time consuming. Plus, you might have never driven a van. And that bad back makes you wonder whether you should actually participate in the move. Enter the small (or large) moving answer with more than 50 shades of choices: Marlton, N.J.-based QHAUL (www.qhaul.com). When you need something transported and someone to do the “heavy lifting,” QHAUL came up with the answer by identifying a proverbial gap in the market to provide quick, reliable, safe and cost-effective moving services. As one of the founders told me: “We have a proprietary algorithm to enable consumers and drivers to obtain around-the-clock convenient delivery of

a lot of topics we faced this year (and a glimpse to 2016).

their purchases in a fully insured and efficient matter at a low cost.” Location, delivery distance and size determine price, which is easily determined on their website. So who might use this service? Here are a few examples: • You’re at a store and make a spontaneous purchase of an item that’s too large for your vehicle. • You’ve given up on hauling out stuff in your garage or basement. QHAUL will haul it away. • You’ve got multiple small packages that you need to deliver across the area. You just found your one-stop solution The icing on the cake, like Uber or Lyft, is that QHAUL is looking for qualified drivers who own a light truck (some with a ramp), van or SUV. You pay online and QHAUL vets its drivers for a reliable background. While I’m impressed with what QHAUL is doing in the delivery business, a larger game is at play here. It’s the nascent burgeoning of the IT business and entrepreneurship, not just in Philadelphia but in South Jersey. While I applaud the success of other entrepreneurial locations like Silicon Valley in California and Silicon Alley in New York City, it’s nice to know and trumpet our local homegrown talents. I’ve never believed that genius just resides in a specific geographic area no matter how much media attention it might receive. Identify a need, create a plan, fill the need and you’re on your way. Ask any successful entrepreneur. n

WHAT WE WEAR

_______________________________________________________________________________ BY DANIEL R. MORRONI

Contrast-Color Cuffs and Collars

shirt that uses a different fabric for the cuffs and collar offer an interesting variation from the traditional single-fabric shirt. Because they are somewhat unusual, they allow you to make a statement. Many gentlemen never try wearing shirts with contrasting elements, but for those who enjoy using their wardrobe to express their unique sense of style and image, it can be a good option. Building a custom wardrobe allows you to build this type of shirt using precisely the colors that you choose, along with giving you the perfect fit you enjoy on your other custom shirts. This style is most often seen as a blue shirt with a white collar and white French cuffs. Other color combinations, such as using printed fabrics as the contrast, will look more casual than the white-and-blue option, so consider the occasion and environment it will be worn in before you make your decision. You’ll look great in your contrast cuffs and collar even when you’re not wearing a suit coat over your shirt.

“ The difference between a man of sense and a fop is that the fop values himself upon his dress; and the man of sense laughs at it, at the same time he knows he must not neglect it.” – Lord Chesterfield

Ask Dan

QUESTION: When I don’t wear a tie, I feel like my outfit looks incomplete. How do I master going tie-less? ANSWER: When you’re skipping the tie, you’ll need to make sure your shirt is up to the task. Choose thicker fabric to ensure your shirt won’t “wilt” without a tie to stabilize it and pull it into shape. If you frequently go tie-less, consider creating a stiffer-than-usual collar for even more help with stabilization. And, of course, a shirt that fits you perfectly will always look better than one that’s merely close to fitting you and requires a tie to cover its inadequacy. 90

THE WINE

MAN

_______________________________________________________________________________

BY ROBERT KENNEDY

New World vs. Old World Wines

ANY OF US WINE DRINKERS have heard the words “New World Wines” and “Old World Wines.” Some of us have opinions on what the differences are between these worlds, but do we have a view of which is best to drink? Let’s first explore the differences between these dichotomies to truly determine which one wins our palate test.

Many archeologists would argue that the earliest known wine production dates back to 7,000 B.C. This, of course, would point to areas of the Middle East as the earliest vine growth in the world. Wine production also began to sprout up in France, Italy, Spain and Germany long before Leif Eriksson discovered America. Wines that were produced from these countries were, and still remain known as Old World Wines. These wines have been made for centuries, but what’s more important is that these wineries continue to be held to strict traditional standards. The French were the first to insti-

New World Wines are given this name as a result of old winemakers and growers migrating to new lands such as the U.S., Australia, South America and South Africa in areas where grapes are grown. Very early on, vines were transported from areas in France, Italy and Spain reaching the new worlds with wine techniques that were quite different. The styles between the old and new worlds differ immensely, and technology and experimentation have been widely encouraged in the New World, minus the same laws and regulations that continue on the books throughout the Old

to develop into riper fruit, chock full of sugar and acid. This leads to a higher alcohol content than its competitor. While Old World Wines are earthy with many minerals driving flavors, New World Wines leave a fruit-forward, fuller-bodied taste on the palate. Not only do the Old World wines have many earthier, mineral notes, but these wines produce less sugars and alcohol by volume, and have a tendency to have lighter-bodied flavors. These are the most obvious differences between both, since the terroir shapes how each of these wine oppositions is ultimately graded—through the scent, feel, texture and taste of each wine. So, when in a wine store that displays thousands of wines and wineries, how do we know which is from the Old World and which is from the New World? One obvious way is to follow the countries listed above. More importantly, Old World wineries always name the appellation in which the grape was produced on its labels. That is, if the label of a wine reads Chablis, know that this is not a grape, but rather a region of France in which the grape is grown. In this example, the grape is Chardonnay and the appellation, Chablis. New World wineries, such as the ones in Napa, CA, would simply place the name of the grape on the label; thus the name Chardonnay would appear rather than the appellation, Chablis. Somewhat confusing, I know. ltimately, today’s trends speak towards having an Old World preference. Not so back in the 70’s and 80’s, where the tendencies were to lean towards New World wines. The current trend favoring Old World wines over New World ones will change too. (In Ireland the Irish have a saying: If you don’t like the weather here, wait 15 minutes.) Does this mean the better wine now is from the Old World countries? Not in the least. It means if you enjoy the flavors, textures, bouquets and tastes of Old World, then by all standards, drink Old World. If you prefer the distinctions outlined above of New World wines, than have at it. Both are excellent in their own right. It simply comes down to preference. And, as I always say, drink what you like, no matter the label, price point, color or rating. n

U Carcassonne, France

tute a system called the Appellation d’Origine Controlee or AOC. Similar regulations and like quality laws have since been adopted by most of the other Old World countries, which control the methodologies of wine making today such as grape varieties, permission where to plant and harvest, even dictating amounts of alcohol content in wine.

World today. This has caused a huge difference between both worlds, affecting the viticulture and viniculture of these wines. Another large distinction between these worlds is what’s known as terroir, the French word that refers to the climate and soil where grapes are grown. New World countries have climates which are warmer, allowing grapes

SAY GERV?

_______________________________________________________________________________ BY GERVASE PETERSON

ay Gerv? My wife says I should let my 17-year-old son beat me in hoops to make him feel good. Should I? – Marvin, Lawnside, NJ

Marvin, in no way should you ever let your son beat you in hoops. Now I’m sure a lot of people may disagree with me on this, but this is one of those life lessons that your son needs to learn the hard way. Kids today have it easy; they have everything handed to them and I think that sends the wrong message. It’s like when kids get trophies just for showing up to play a sport because you don’t want to hurt their feelings. But feelings and emotion are a big part of sports. My son Gunner is 17 years old, too. I told him that the day he can beat me one-on-one in basketball is the day he will become a man. It didn’t matter if I just got home from work, woke up from a nap or was hung over. Every day last summer Gunner would call me out into the backyard for a game. And every day I would whoop his ass! I will not throw a game. He has to earn his victory. The great thing about it is that he’s working on his game; his desire and hunger to win is strong and he’s learning how to deal with

Every day last summer my son would call me out into the backyard for a game. And every day I would whoop his ass!

losing. The day will come when he finally beats me (though not until I’m 80 years old. Hey, I hate to lose!) _________________________________________

talking on the phone, texting, being buzzed or drunk. These things can get you a ticket and can get you killed. Driving is a privilege, not a right. Truer words were never spoken and I’m sure you can attest to that since you haven’t driven in so long. Timmy, it’s like anything else you haven’t done in a while. The more you do it, the more it all starts coming back to you. You’ll find your groove again and then you’ll be cruising down the highway like Jay-Z with your Beyoncé in the passenger seat. _________________________________________ Say Gerv? What’s the best way to call in sick and not get caught if you’re not really sick?

Say Gerv? I’m finally getting my license back after being suspended for five years. Will driving again be like my first time? – Timmy, Cherry Hill, NJ Timmy, driving is like riding a bike, but after not driving for five years it’s more like riding a bike with training wheels. You’ll definitely want to freshen up on the laws of the road since some have changed, and take some short trips to the store and back just to get a feel for being behind the wheel again. Try to avoid any distractions when driving like

– Lamont, South Philly, PA Lamont, of course, neither I nor this fine publication would ever condone such a thing. However, were you to consider such shenanigans, the first thing you might want to do is check the company policy. Do you need a doctor’s note? Do you have to call your boss or HR? Once you know this you can devise a failsafe way to call out without any repercussions. If you’re calling out on a Friday you should set it up all week by dropping subtle hints. On Monday say, “I feel like I’m coming down with something, my kids have been sick or I’ve been having car trouble.” Anything to plant the seeds that will grow into your excuse. By Wednesday be ready to implement the plan by having your friends call your job pretending to be the doctor’s office saying you need to make another appointment, a family member saying the kids are still sick or your mechanic saying they need to keep your car a few more days. Then on Friday, make the call. Now your boss is like “yeah, you mentioned something about that earlier this week didn’t you?” Game, set, match. Happy hour here you come! n Gervase Peterson is a cast member from the reality series “Survivor.” Gerv is an actor and entrepreneur and keeps busy fulfilling personal appearance requests and speaking engagements all across the country.

Got a question for Gerv? Send your questions to:

saygerv@jerseymanmagazine.com and look for his answers in the next issue!