Case Blog

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have dominated professional golf in the United States for most of this decade. They have clearly been #1 and #2 on the PGA tour.  At this point, they are still ranked 1 and 2 in the world, but they may have reached a point in their careers where we will see a changing of the guard.  In Tiger’s case, his personal life is clearly a preoccupation and he no longer possesses the total focus necessary for 72 holes over 4 days that defined him for most of his professional career. He has not won a major in two years and it is starting to look like Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships, which at one time was within Tiger’s grasp, is slipping out of reach.  He is going to be an old 35 in December of this year and has been playing this game almost from the time he could walk. When you combine the physical toll on Tiger with the difficulties he has experienced in his personal life, the odds become very long for him to catch or surpass the Golden Bear.

In the case of Phil Mickelson, he won his 4th major championship at this year’s Masters in Augusta, but he turned 40 in June and we learned after the PGA Championship that he was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis just prior to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. While he is still capable of posting a round in the 60s, Mickelson has not been able to make a move during Tiger’s slump to take over the #1 world ranking. His wife Amy’s ongoing battle with breast cancer remains an obvious concern.

Let’s look at this year’s majors starting with the Masters, where Mickelson won and Lee Westwood came in 2nd. Westwood, today, reminds many of Mickelson, who had many #2 finishes at the majors prior to finally winning his first major championship at Augusta and donning the fabled green jacket.  Graeme McDowell of Ireland won the U.S. Open when Dustin Johnson imploded on the final day. (Yes, this is the same Dustin Johnson who was penalized 2 strokes when he grounded his club in the fairway bunker on the 18th hole and missed a 3-way playoff with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson.) McDowell, who is 31, was trailed by Ernie Els, Mickelson and Woods, but none of them was able to make a move as McDowell stayed steady and won his first major.  At the British Open, 27-year-old South African Louis Oosthuizen ran away from the field and never faltered.  At last week’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, 25-year-old Martin Kaymer of Germany held steady to defeat Bubba Watson in a 3-hole playoff.

As we enter the home stretch of this year’s PGA Tour, the focus will be on the FedEx Cup starting next weekend with The Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club. Corey Pavin, captain of this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team, has stated that he will not announce his final four selections (the other eight earned their positions on the team through points this season) until after the Deutsche Bank Championship, which is played over the Labor Day weekend. Tiger Woods has expressed his interest in being on the team, but he will have to wait with the others for a final decision from Pavin. On the European side, Colin Montgomerie is captain of the favored team. Thirty-year-old Sergio Garcia, who not that long ago seemed to be a young phenom, announced that he was taking several months off and should not be considered by Monty for the European team. (Garcia never realized his early potential by winning a major, but has been a very effective member of previous European Ryder Cup teams.)  The generational challenge has been laid down to Tiger Woods by the Irish golfer Rory McIlroy, who on May 2nd, just before his 21st birthday, ran away from the field at the Quail Hollow Championship. He made it clear last week that he hopes Pavin selects Tiger so he can face him at Celtic Manor in Wales. I trust that some more trash talk will emerge as we get closer to the Ryder Cup tournament, which will be played October 13 at the Twenty Ten course. This course was designed to host the Ryder Cup and opened in 2007. It is 7,493 yards from the back tees and par is 71. It will clearly provide plenty of length and will allow us to see if the next generation of U.S. and European golfers is clearly in charge as we move forward in the new decade.

In closing, I would like to share with you a story in which I find great inspiration. Last week I received an email from Anthony K. Shriver, Founder and Chairman of Best Buddies International. He wrote, “As many of you know, last week marked the first anniversary of my Mother’s passing. However, her spirit lives on through our continue commitment to making her vision of full inclusion for individuals with intellectual disabilities a reality. Accordingly, we are launching the inaugural Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day in her honor. On September 25, 2010 Special Olympics and Best Buddies will lead the world in a celebration of my Mother’s inspiration, impact and indomitable spirit. Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day will become an annual celebration of her life, and a global call for people to carry out Eunice Kennedy Shriver Acts of Unity - acts of inclusion, acceptance and unity for and with people with intellectual disabilities…”  I was introduced to Best Buddies a number of years ago by my director of business development at pennNet, James Stankard. He and his wife Laura are the devoted parents of Vincenzo Stankard, who at 1 1/2 years old is truly inspirational! Last year, Anthony Shriver wrote, “I was sincerely impressed with the amount of money raised by individuals soliciting donations from their friends and family this year. It has never been higher at any event we have ever done. Our top fundraiser, Vincenzo Stankard, a six-month-old baby with Down syndrome, raised $56,000! His parents, Laura and James have been friends of our organization for many, many years. In fact, James was the student leader of the Best Buddies chapter at Boston College. It just goes to show that you never know what life may have in store for you.”

Your support of Vincenzo Stankard and Best Buddies would be greatly appreciated. You can go directly to his donation page at the Best Buddies Challenge website.

After months of turmoil in the Eurozone and the continuing environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the world was ready for some Summer Competition. Last weekend all the world turned to South Africa for the start of football’s World Cup. The host South Africa played Mexico on Friday to a 1-1 tie to kick off the “beautiful game’s” global tournament. At the outset we were introduced to the vuvuzela. I trust many of you, as I did, tried to no avail to remove the annoying buzzing from your sound by adjusting the volume. Last Saturday we saw the United Kingdom and the United States, both Group C teams, put their special relationship to a test as they played to a surprising 1-1 tie on goalie Robert Green’s poor attempt to stop Clint Dempsey’s soft shot. Whether it was the design of this year’s ball or a lack of concentration on Green’s part, the result had many proclaiming U.S. football (soccer in the U.S., Canada and a handful of other countries) had come of age. Friday’s 2-2 comeback tie against tiny Slovenia’s tough squad kept expectations in line for the U.S. team. England played Algeria to a 0-0 draw in its second match. We will have to wait until Wednesday to see which teams emerge from Group C for the next round.

Basketball is the only sport that rivals football for worldwide interest, and it does not get any better than the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers playing for the NBA Championship. Between them, the Celtics and Lakers have played in more than half of all the league’s finals, with Boston going into this year’s series holding a slight edge. On Sunday evening with the series back in Boston and tied 2-2 in the best-of-seven finals, Paul Pierce put on a shooting display while the Lakers seemed to forget that they needed to play defense to allow Kobe Bryant to dominate. The Lakers left Boston down 3-2 with a 6th and possible 7th game back home at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.  On Tuesday evening the Lakers finally played four quarters of team basketball and got a strong showing from Pau Gasol, who had been tied up in the previous games by Boston’s tenacious defense. Up until the 7th game, Celtics coach Doc Rivers had the edge over Phil Jackson, who with 10 championship rings between Chicago and Los Angeles had coached more championship teams than any other NBA coach in the long history of the league.  Everyone knew that Thursday evening’s 7th game in Los Angeles would not disappoint. The stars were out in force, led by the ever-present Jack Nicholson. The “will to win” was on display on the Staples stage. By midway through the 3rd quarter, the Celtics appeared to have a commanding lead, but the Zen Master coach, Phil Jackson, remained calm and the world’s greatest basketball player, Kobe Bryant, with strong support from Derek Fisher, Gasol and Ron Artest, came roaring back to hold on to a 83-79 victory for the Lakers’ 16th championship. This was Kobe’s 5th championship as a player and Phil Jackson’s 11th as a coach. Artest has been toxic since the brawl at the Palace, but he played the best game of his career as the Lakers’ supporting cast delivered in the 7th and final game.

Mary Claire and I are visiting our children in Boston on this Father’s Day weekend.  As I write this on Saturday our attention will shift to that golf mecca, Pebble Beach, for the final two rounds of the U.S. Open.  Tiger Woods ran away from the field at Pebble Beach in 2000 to win the Open, but despite making the cut this year he remains 7 strokes back of the leader and is clearly not the Tiger of old. Phil Mickelson, who has finished number 2 too many times at the U.S. Open, has moved into contention in the #2 position after a flawless 66 on Friday. I have been reminded this week that I need to schedule another trip in August or September to Pebble Beach to have the unique golf experience that only Pebble Beach and a handful of other great courses around the world can provide.

For two summer wine recommendations, I turn to the oft-slighted Rose, which this summer seems to have come back in vogue in New York restaurants:

Copain Wines
Tous Ensemble Rose at $15 provides great value and with a slight chill is perfect for a warm summer day. www.copainwines.com

Landmark Vineyards
They produce a Rose for their mailing list customers and it also provides great value at $20.
www.landmarkwine.com

Enjoy the summer!

Two years ago today I wrote in The Masters Tradition: “There is one weekend every spring that I clear my calendar from early afternoon until early evening, the weekend of the Masters. I find myself seduced by the beauty of the course, particularly Amen Corner, combined with the challenge it holds for the world’s best golfers and its unique traditions. There is something special at the end of this tournament when the prior year’s winner puts the Green Jacket on the new champion. It was fitting that Phil Mickelson won his first major here several years ago and that Zach Johnson, last year’s winner, will have the honor of putting the Green Jacket on this year’s winner. Both of them entered Sunday at -2 and too far off the pace of Trevor Immelman at -11 to catch him.

Tiger Woods did not disappoint us on Saturday and played himself back into contention at -5. Tiger has won the Masters 4 times and has a profound understanding of the importance of this tournament. If anyone could close the gap of 6 strokes on the final day at the Masters it was Tiger…”

As we fast-forward to this year’s Masters, we know that Tiger set a new record for consecutive days on the cover of the New York Post for “sexploits” off the course, but he chose to return to the Tour in Augusta. It proved to be the right venue for him. Tiger did not embarrass himself on the course and finished 4th, but he was in the hunt right through Sunday’s back 9. Phil Mickelson, the fan favorite, who in many ways represents the human side of every golfer, made a charge on Saturday with back-to-back eagles on 13 and 14 and had a near miss on 15. I believe 3 consecutive eagles in a major would have established a new record! He entered Sunday 1 stroke off the pace.

On Sunday, again on 13, Mickelson found himself with a second shot off the pine straw and a slight view of the flag from between two trees. He took his 6 iron, and with a gambling instinct that has often gotten him into trouble, put his 2nd shot on the green, leaving himself a short putt for another eagle. This time he missed the putt and had to settle for a birdie, but he was not going to be denied his third Green Jacket and ended up finishing 3 strokes ahead of Lee Westwood with a birdie on 18. He then had a memorable embrace with his wife, Amy, who has been fighting breast cancer over the past year. He clearly represented the American Eagle on this special weekend in Augusta.

On Saturday evening, my alma mater, the Boston College Eagles, played the Wisconsin Badgers in the Frozen Four Final at Ford Field in Detroit for the NCAA hockey championship.  Coach Jerry York, who has gotten his team into 9 of the last 13 Frozen Fours behind very fast front lines, coached the Eagles to this year’s national championship, their third during York’s tenure.  With a flourish of goals in the 3rd period, the Eagles coasted to a 5-0 victory over the much larger Badgers. (York also coached Bowling Green to a national championship prior to coming to Boston College.)  The trophy moved from one end of Commonwealth Avenue, home of Boston University, last year’s winning team, to the other end in Chestnut Hill.

Finally, after waiting more than a decade and eventually forgetting about my request to get on the mailing list for Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the most difficult cult wines from northern California to secure, I received notification that I could place my order for my three-bottle allocation. After much back and forth with myself, I placed my order for a wine that Robert Parker gave a 96-98+ score, but wrote: “The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon may merit a three-digit score if it continues to evolve as it is currently.”

April has arrived with the sighting of many Eagles!

I spent the past week in London. While it was colder than normal, I missed the February blizzard that blanketed the northeast U.S. on Wednesday. Over the past several years, Mary Claire and I have managed to be in New York City for each of the major February snowstorms. This time she got to enjoy the winter wonderland without me.  It was hard to gauge on this trip if the Labour Party was bouncing back in time for the spring election or if the Tories had peaked too early, and no one I spoke with seemed ready to make a prediction.

Speaking of predictions, The Field General lost to the clever Sean Payton and the Drew Brees lead Saints. Congratulations to all those long-suffering Saints’ fans and the city of New Orleans. I trust that Peyton Manning and the Colts will get at least one more shot at another Super Bowl before Manning ends his stellar career.

While in London my meals were distinctively French. We had lunch with Dominic Hobson and the management team of Global Custodian at L’Oranger on St. James’s Street. This classic restaurant never disappoints. One evening we had dinner with John Lee and his senior team from The Trade at The Bleeding Heart Restaurant in Bleeding Heart Square, just off Hatton Garden. The ambience, service and cuisine were, as always, superb.  Both groups continue to build upon the strong momentum they established in the fourth quarter.  Finally, I got to try a new restaurant, for me, The Orrery Restaurant on MaryleBone High Street.  Orrery is located with Conran’s and is a superb restaurant, again French, with enough room between tables for one to truly enjoy a special meal with colleagues or friends.

On the M&A front in London, the announcement by Pearson (PSON/PSO ADR) in January that they were exploring options for their majority-controlled public company Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) brought out a long list of potential bidders. IDC is a global provider of financial market data & analytics for financial institutions and traders and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company was formed in 2000 when Pearson merged FT Interactive Data Corporation with Data Broadcasting Corporation and gained the majority position. It is clear that with the amount of interest this auction has attracted, with bids due shortly, the winner will need to pay at least $3B for this trophy. The list of suitors according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ, 2/3/10) and the Financial Times (FT, 2/10/10) includes many of the major private equity funds: Apax, Apollo, Bain, Blackstone, Carlyle, Hellman Friedman, KKR, Permira, and Providence. McGraw-Hill and Thomson-Reuters were listed as the two interested strategic acquirers. The FT also reported that Bloomberg, which recently purchased Business Week but does not have a history of large acquisitions, was not intending to bid.

Within the past two weeks it was also announced that the Financial Times had purchased Medley Global Advisors as FT continues to look for subscription-based data products to lessen their dependency on advertising. This relatively small acquisition is along the lines of Money-Media, another subscription-based business FT purchased two years ago.

It is clear that as global financial markets continue to recover the companies that have both the financial data and analytical tools that provide transparency will see significant EBITDA multiples offered when they come to market in an auction environment.

We will be announcing, shortly, the appointment of a managing director for Strategic Insight, who as part of the Global SI team will manage our expansion in the UK and the rest of Europe from our new London office.

As we approach Super Sunday, most of us have had our teams bow out early. After a surprising win over the Patriots two years ago, the Giants did not even make the playoffs this year. Dallas won their first playoff game but exited the next week when they came up against Brett Favre and the Vikings. The Patriots are starting to show their age and the lack of top-quality draft picks, due to their three Super Bowl rings in the last decade, has not helped. They made an early exit against the Ravens led by Ray Rice. Foxborough did not provide much of a home-field advantage this year.

The Jets were the Cinderella team with a trash-talking coach and a rookie quarterback, at least for the first half against the Colts, but came crashing back to earth in the second half as Peyton Manning, the Field General, picked them apart. We are left with the underdog New Orleans Saints playing in their first-ever Super Bowl and the Indianapolis Colts. A friend of mine, Walter Callender, who generally reads this blog for my wine picks, wrote to me, “When are you going to make the call? My heart is with the Saints, but my wallet’s with the Colts!”

Here goes…Peyton Manning is without question, for me, the best quarterback to play the game since the legendary Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers. Manning is in complete control on the field and is constantly using audibles to change the plays based on the defense he sees when he gets to the line of scrimmage. While Drew Brees has demonstrated excellence, particularly this season, I am going with the Manning-led Colts, who have been here before, by a touchdown, 7+ points.

Enjoy the Game,
Jim

I woke up Saturday morning in Blackhawk ready to focus on college football, The Presidents Cup in Harding Park and an afternoon round of golf on The Lakeside Course, where two weeks ago the LPGA held the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge, which was won by Sophie Gustafson.  While the morning fog was dense, I knew that the afternoon would yield a beautiful fall San Francisco/Bay Area day in the low ’70s.  I brewed a special blend of morning coffee and moved to the Wall Street Journal Online.  Within minutes I was greeted by the headline, Democrats Weigh Tax on Financial Transactions, by John D. McKinnon. (WSJ October 10-11, 2009) I had assumed that we had moved on when Lord Turner’s proposal did not get a serious discussion at the G-20 meeting and his own Labour Party did not endorse the idea. Our financial institutions, which are just starting to recover, looked certain to be spared an idea that would have a negative impact on them and certainly on job creation for an industry that has been very hard hit, both in The City and on Wall Street.  I had not realized that Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was a supporter of a Tobin Tax.  As the Wall Street Journal reported, the idea has significant support from large labor unions, and House Democrats are clearly growing more enamored with the idea.

If this bill advances to the Senate, we can hope that Senator Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from New York and a member of the Senate Finance Committee, will remind his colleagues from around the country, as he has before, how important the financial services industry is to New York’s economy and that a regressive tax will have a very negative impact on the overall region’s economy. I would also hope that Mayor Bloomberg would weigh in on why this type of tax is not what is needed during a recovery.

I finished my first cup of coffee, moved on to my second one and started to watch the early match play from Harding Park.  Harding Park opened in 1925 in San Francisco and offers a classic tight design and views of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, as a municipal course it fell on hard times over the years through neglect.  Several years ago the city of San Francisco made a commitment to restore the course as a championship venue. Together with Bethpage Black on Long Island and Torrey Pines in San Diego, these are the three best municipal courses in the country and each of them is committed to hosting major professional events.  The Presidents Cup is relatively new compared to The Ryder Cup, where the best U.S. golf professionals compete with the best European golf professionals. The Presidents Cup inaugural year was in 1994, and it alternates every two years with The Ryder Cup. The golf professionals that play for The Presidents Cup International squad are all from outside the U.S. and Europe. This year Australia’s Greg Norman is the International team’s captain and the ever-likable Fred Couples is the U.S. captain.

As I write this on Saturday evening, the U.S. team holds a 3-point lead, 12.5 vs. 9.5, as they enter the final day and Sunday’s single matches. The U.S. seems well positioned to win its sixth Presidents Cup. Their record is 5 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie since the tournament began.  The next Presidents Cup will take place in Melbourne, Australia in 2 years.

Mary Claire and I will return to New York City this week and I will hold a strategic off-site for Asset International with the theme of “One Company” as we move to expand globally.

Yesterday Mary Claire and I flew back to our Blackhawk home in northern California. Blackhawk sits in the East Bay at the base of Mt. Diablo, which provides the highest vista in the Bay Area. The weather in the East Bay is much closer to that in Napa and Sonoma Valleys than the weather in San Francisco.  The cool morning air with gradual warming during the day, along with all the winery information I have received lately, reminded me that harvest is in full swing.  The early predictions are for an excellent harvest that should yield, in several years, some spectacular ‘09 vintage wines.

The fall harvest in wine appellations around the globe reminds one of the rhythms of life that we often take for granted.  The fall is a special season beyond what crops are harvested and eventually make their way to our dining room tables, and in some cases to our wine cellars to age and mature — it is also the season that gives us football. On campuses across the country the stadiums are once again filled on Saturdays with fans pulling for their school’s team.  At this point Florida is #1 in all the polls, followed by Texas and Alabama. We will take in the Boston College vs. North Carolina State game in two weeks in Chestnut Hill. In spite of this year being billed as a rebuilding year, the Boston College Eagles have remained competitive in the ACC and find themselves 4-1 as the showdown in South Bend with the Irish of Notre Dame looms on October 24th.

On Sundays our attention turns to the NFL. With only four games played in a 16-game season, it is much too early to predict the February Super Bowl combatants, but with Eli Manning and the Giants matching his brother Peyton Manning’s Colts 4-0 record, there is an outside chance that we could see an epic brother vs. brother Super Bowl. I trust that I will hear from many friends and colleagues with alternative scenarios and teams!

Fall is also an excellent time for those of us in the advertising business to focus on closing out ‘09 and preparing for ‘10, where we all hope that we will find improved fortunes for our own companies and our industry. For a look back at the advertising industry in the ’60s, I recommend AMC’s superbly written drama Mad Men, built around the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency. It is written and produced by the talented Matthew Weiner. Weiner’s previous credits include being an executive producer and writer on The Sopranos.  John Hamm plays the lead as the creative director Don Draper, around whom there is always mystery and intrigue.  In many ways it carries us back to a simpler time in the ad business, when campaigns and fortunes were built around relationships often forged over long lunches and dinners. I must admit, though, that I do not recall all of the office drinking, which is a staple in the offices of Sterling Cooper. Perhaps those of us on the media side missed what really was driving the creative?

As we prepare for ‘10 and try to forget the pain of ‘09, it would serve us well to remember that even in the age of Google and automated, search-driven advertising, relationships matter, and we need to partner with our clients to find new and creative ways for them to reach their target audiences in a way that will be impactful.  Search or lead generation will continue to be an essential part of the marketing mix, but our clients are looking for opportunities that will allow their products and services to be distinguished from their competitors, and in this way we have much in common with Don Draper and the Sterling Cooper team.

For those of you who cannot get enough of Mad Men and would like a Monday morning analysis of each Sunday’s episode, I highly recommend MediaPost’s MADBLOG, by Dorothy Parker. You can sign up to have it delivered by email to your inbox at www.mediapost.com.

As we celebrate Labor Day in the Bay Area, it is clear that summer is coming to an end. I returned to Blackhawk from a week in London, where Gordon Brown and the Labour Party continue to surprise me by still surviving. It looks like Brown will make it until he must call for an election in the spring.

We are evaluating several acquisitions for further expansion in London. In addition, organic growth through global expansion is also a priority. Information needs around pensions are still significant, as plans continue to recover from last year’s stock market debacle. Under Nevin Adams’ editorial leadership we will launch the well-respected Plan Sponsor brand in the United Kingdom and continental Europe. I sense that New York and London will remain the primary global money centers and we need to have a significant presence in each market. Commercial real estate offers similar opportunities to New York and we plan to consolidate our presence in a new headquarters in The City.

Many of London’s private equity players and their bank sponsors are working on restructuring plans. I was interested to see that the Royal Bank of Scotland and Apax have reached an agreement to split Incisive Media. RBS will take a controlling interest in the UK assets of Incisive, while Apax will still control the U.S. based ALM, which was under a separate financial structure with very different covenant requirements. The media industry will continue to be deleveraged throughout the fall, particularly in the newspaper sector.

Mary Claire and I will enjoy several last rounds of summer golf this weekend, and then she will return to New York while I head to Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. In Hong Kong we will attend SWIFT’s Sibos 2009. It is a large conference and exhibition and for many it is one of the financial services industry’s major events. Last year in Vienna it drew over 8,000 attendees. We will be introducing Asset International’s growing portfolio of products and services, including our most recent acquisition, Strategic Insight. Charlie Ruffel and Dominic Hobson will host the event during this 20th anniversary year for Global Custodian.  The Trade’s editorial team (we acquired The Trade in June) under John Lee’s leadership will be producing the show dailies, which they have done for close to 10 years.  We will be looking for opportunities to further expand our footprint in this fast-growing region, which appears to be recovering at a faster pace than the west.

Fall has also given us the return of the football season in the U.S. The biggest upset of this inaugural weekend of college football was the #20 Brigham Young Cougars beating the #3 Oklahoma Sooners, who with their Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford had their eye on a national championship before last evening. Max Hall, the talented quarterback of BYU, clearly established the Cougars as a contender for a major BCS bowl game, in spite of playing in the Mountain West conference, one that is not insured of BCS Bowl representation.

In the July 26th issue of New York Magazine, Joe Hagan raised the question: is Goldman Sachs (GS) just extremely good at what it does or evil?  This followed a July 2nd article in Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi entitled “Inside the Great American Bubble Machine.”  Taibbi clearly came down on the evil side and tied Goldman Sachs to creating and then exploiting bubbles like the Internet bubble and the housing bubble. This one was written with a genuinely conspiratorial tone. Then on August 9th, an article written by Gretchen Morgenson and Don Van Natta Jr. in the New York Times raised the issue of how many times former Treasury Secretary and Goldman CEO Hank Paulson spoke to his successor, Lloyd Blankfein, during the fall credit crisis. Let us not forget that our global financial system was headed toward the abyss after the Lehman bankruptcy and the ensuing credit crisis. Both the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama administration and their respective treasury secretaries, Paulson and Timothy Geithner, were in unchartered waters, and as we recover they should receive more credit than criticism.

Now I have a slightly different take than the authors of these articles and others. I do not buy into the conspiracy theories. (I do not currently own any GS stock.) I believe that Goldman’s partners have a definite swagger and this is reflected in how they do business.  Merriam-Webster online gives the definition of swagger: “…to walk with an air of overbearing self-confidence.”

Let’s look at swagger in this context. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, whom I write about frequently, have a certain swagger. Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers have a swagger.  The Patriots under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have it. Jamie Dimon and his team at JPMorgan Chase (JPM)  have it, particularly after paying back the TARP funds. (Goldman Sachs has paid back the TARP funds as well.)  Morgan Stanley (MS) under John Mack has not regained its swagger.

In the end, individuals and companies that outperform their peers do acquire a certain style or swagger that some will find arrogant. Those that don’t will find reasons to doubt how good they really are.  Great-performing companies and individuals do have self-confidence, but we should applaud their outstanding performance and excellence while we strive to have our own organizations become better at elevating our game.

It is also important to note that swagger can serve us when we hit the inevitable bumps in the road. Tiger Woods just lost the PGA Championship to Y.E. Yang, of South Korea. Yang becomes the first Asian golfer to win a major championship, with an incredible second shot on the final hole. I congratulate him, but I know that Tiger’s swagger will not abandon him as we move to the FedExCup.

We were originally planning to head to Blackhawk this week, but two very exciting transactions that we will announce shortly will keep us in New York City for the next two weeks.  While we  await the time when we can make these announcements, I thought I’d share some excellent diversions to tide everyone over as summer gets under way.

Within the past week, Mary Claire and I have paid two visits to what we lovingly refer to as my cousin’s cafe, Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto, which is the well-known Tuscan chef Cesare Casella’s latest creation. It is located on the Upper West Side of New York City (above Columbus Circle, on Amsterdam Avenue near 73rd Street). I knew we would be back this weekend, after having brunch last Sunday and Mary Claire telling Cesare that his caponata (cooked vegetable salad, with the primary ingredient being aubergine) was the best she had ever tasted.  He has taken a small plates approach, which is taking hold across the country, particularly in wine bars, and is very attractive in the current economic climate.  I trust that we will make one or two more visits before we head west. www.salumeriarosi.com

Tonight, I look forward to watching Phil Jackson coach the Lakers to his 10th NBA championship. With this win, he will stand alone. He has been tied at 9 with the legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach. Looking back on Jackson’s record with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan and now with the Lakers and Kobe Bryant, it is clear that he knows how to put together a winning team with the chemistry necessary to carry them all the way to the pinnacle of success. I am confident that this record will stand for many years.

If you make it west to Sonoma County this summer and are looking to have a spectacular dining experience, I strongly recommend that you make a reservation, well in advance, at Cyrus in downtown Healdsburg, just off the square. Their champagne and caviar cart to start the meal is exquisite. www.cyrusrestaurant.com

For wines I am going to focus on the much-maligned chardonnay and recommend several special wineries that consistently produce outstanding chardonnays.

Aubert: I have referenced Mark Aubert previously with regards to his outstanding Pinot Noir wines. His chardonnay releases are my personal favorites. www.aubertwines.com

Copain: With a slight detour from the chardonnays listed, if you are looking for something very different for a summer day, I recommend Wells Guthrie’s Tous Ensemble Rose, which is dry and crisp.  www.copainwines.com

Martinelli: Their winemaker/wine consultant, the legendary Helen Turley, consistently releases outstanding unfiltered chardonnays from several vineyards. www.martinelliwinery.com

Rochioli: This Sonoma-based winery consistently produces excellent chardonnays and sauvignon blancs. www.rochioliwinery.com

Williams Selyem: This legendary winery is known primarily for its pinot noir releases and has a huge fan base. While I continue to enjoy their pinot noirs, I am always intrigued by their chardonnay releases, which are very limited but are truly outstanding. www.williamsselyem.com

Starting on Thursday we will have golf’s U.S. Open Championship to focus on, with its return to the Bethpage Black Course on Long Island. Is Tiger Woods back in full force to defend his amazing ‘08 championship, and will he once again tame Bethpage Black as he did in ‘02? Will Phil Mickelson, a crowd favorite in New York, challenge him or will we see one of the younger pros in their 20’s make their move? Regardless of who triumphs, it will hold our attention as only a fabled major golf championship can.