At Morgan/Dorado we work with a lot of companies working to change the world.  Some make products for schools, others are trying to bring alternative fuels to market, but our newest client may have their finger on the pulse of a cultural shift in our country like no other.

This morning Trench Fantasy announced funding for a new kind of fantasy football. This is fantasy football that focuses on the hardworking players in the trenches, the linemen, and the players on special teams and defense, that don’t always get the glory.  Our country is going through a bit of a tough period right now, and we think a lot of people may be interested in watching someone else other than the quarterback married to a supermodel.

We think people want to root for the blue collar players, and we’re not the only ones.  The principal investor in Trench Fantasy is a blue collar business, Elite Power, Inc. of Sacramento , one of the largest electrical contractors in Northern California.  They connect with a lot of their customers through sports and fantasy sports and identify with the guys in the trenches. They aren’t flashy, they just get big jobs done for their customers, like the guys in the trenches do.

Trench Fantasy is going to be launching in time for the 2009 season. Sign up now at TrenchFantasy.com to be notified when leagues begin forming.

It is often said that in Silicon Valley, they celebrate failure.  This is a bit of a misnomer, it’s not the failure that’s celebrated it’s the act of going for the win.  It seems that everyone in Silicon Valley has a story of how they left a secure job to go to work for a startup, or left a big company to company to start one of their own (PS I- I’ve done both), and it didn’t work out, or it did work out and now they can’t wait to do it again.

The impetus for this post was the closure today of Verified Identity Pass, the much-ballyhoo’d creators of the “Fly Clear,” program which for a fee let certain airline passengers move through security checks much more quickly.  The company was the creation of Steve Brill, who has had many successes and many failures over the years.  His biggest successes were very big, CourtTv, and American Lawyer Magazine.  His failures have also been big, along with Clear, there was Brill’s Content and Inside.com.

The lessons learned here:

- Not every one hits a homerun every time

- You’ve got to step up to the plate to even have a chance

- More people want to read/watch semi-sleazy stuff (like CourtTV – no comment on lawyers) than read a self-described “media watchdog” publication

The baseball analogies just happened, they weren’t planned. I think it’s because the SF Giants are much more fun to watch than I anticipated them to be this year.

I grew up watching “60 Minutes.”  I still watch it every Sunday.  It’s an amzingly well done show, but there are certain things about their style that make me want to tear my hair out.  The one that really gets to me is the artful use of the non sequitur.  I know that it is not an exact correct use of the term, but for lack of a better one I am using it here.

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes re-ran an interview with chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse.  In the last 30 seconds of the segment, Waters talks about her desire to see a sustainable garden at the White House.  This segment originally aired in March.  After this running Leslie Stahl said, “Five days after this story first aired on March 20th  Michelle Obama broke ground for a garden on the South Lawn of the White House.”

There is no mention of whether the subject of the previous story had anything to do with that garden being established, but apparently we are supposed to think that they did. I am confused.  Watch the last 30 seconds of the interview for yourself and let me know wha tyou think.

The date has been announced.  Broadcasting and Cable is reporting that Mad Men is returning August 16th.

Also, AMC has the pilot episode up for viewing on their site.

Ed Moed has a great post up on the way that LoudmouthGolf - makers of outstanding golf pants (or as my father calls them ‘jackass pants”) is capitalizing on John Daly using their product.

Basically, the gist of the story is that when something like this drops into your lap as a company, you run with it, and you run hard.  I’m actually reading the John Daly autobiography right now (don’t worry I’m reading other books as well), and yes you can follow John Daly on Twitter.

There are a lot of people in the Sacramento-area that serve as a support network for people starting businesses. Some of these people make money doing it, some people try and make money doing it, some do it because they love it, and some do it for all of the above. Most importantly if you are starting a business, find those that can help you. Where do you find them you ask?  At breakfast!

Some of the people participating in this breakfast:

• SARTA
• Entrepreneurs Organization (EO)
• SacStarts
• Sacramento Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (SACE)
• UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship
• Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy
• Sacramento Angels
• Foothills Angels
• Strategis Early Ventures

It’s $10. See you there.

In May, I wrote about a teacher and administrator from my high school that had cancer. At the time, he was leaving work to fight cancer, that is after he ran The Dipsea one more time.

Early Monday morning, Don Ritchie died of pancreatic cancer.  The Marin IJ has an article about Mr. Ritchie’s life, as well as final thoughts from his wife on their blog chronicling their journey.

The thing is, I never had Mr. Ritchie as a teacher, but his enthusiasm for learning was infectious and you couldn’t escape it, whether you were in one of his classes, walking down the hall or watching him eat something truly revolting as his Dr. Digesto character at school assemblies.

He made a difference in many lives.  In my previous post,  to give an example of what kind of guy he is, when asked if they may name a building after him, he replies:

“I’m not big on buildings. I really hope they don’t name anything after me,” Ritchie said.

“Maybe a doorway somewhere, that’s it.”

If you would like to make a contribution he has asked that they be made to “Don Ritchie Memorial Scholarship Fund established at Marin Catholic College Preparatory High School, 675 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Kentfield, CA 94904.”

NECC is the biggest edu-tech conference each year. This year it’s in Washington DC.  Turning 10,000 educators loose on the Capital Mall should be awesome.

This is going to be my 7th NECC. From my first with Apple in Chicago they’ve all been a lot of fun, but attending in DC is going to be incredible. I’ll be there with Lumens, and they are going to be showing off some very cool new visual presenters for the first time. If you would like to see them stop by booth#3248, or send me an email.

There are always an incredible amount of events at NECC, some of the best for me have been the accompanying EduBloggerCon events that run right before the show. This year it is on the Saturday before. Check it out and if you’re going drop me a note and we can hopefully catch up.

IMified, founded by Adam Kalsey of SacStarts in Gold River, was today acquired by Voxeo.  The press release announcing the acquisition is online, and for the PR-angle here includes a video in the release. Very cool.

This is the first Sac-area tech acquisition in a little while, since LiveMarkets of Rocklin last September. Here’s hoping this bodes well for future area startups.

The video that accompanied the IMified press release is below. Congratulations Adam!

If you subscribe to the Ferris Bueller Fight Club Theory (basically the whole entire adventure of the movie, including Ferris, is a construct inside Cameron’s mind), then you believe the entire movie took place in a modern home outside of Chicago.

If that’s your thing, good news, now you can buy the house used in the movie! It’s in Highland Park, IL and was recently listed for $2.3m. Who’s in?