Gnaws

Source: Jimmy Emerson, DVM, on Flickr

And, not to be outdone, Bloomington. Here in Indiana, not far west of Columbus, is a stretch of highway 46 called Gnaw Bone. Says at that link that the origin of the name is “obscure.” By the way, Columbus isn’t the only Indiana location sharing its name with a bigger place elsewhere.

• U.S. Cities: Albany, Atlanta, Austin, Buffalo, Cincinnat, Columbus, Denver, Elizabeth, Nashville, Portland, Topeka.
• Cities outside the U.S.: Berne, Rome, Versailes, Warsaw.
• Countries: Brazil, Morocco, Mexico, Ireland, Panama, Peru, Chile, Chine, Crete, Cuba, Egypt.

So marketing still gets to screw the customer. Tom Fishburne’s latest cartoon shows marketing and customer AI agents trying to outsmart each other. He sources this Bain report, which describes how “the traditional customer discovery funnel” has been upended by customers using AI for “zero click” product discovery methods along their buying “journey.” This means fewer ways for marketers to influence customers along that journey. The solution: “Marketers must adapt by optimizing content for large language models, investing in new performance metrics, and rethinking their digital strategy around a future where the AI agent—not the buyer—is in control.”

The result will more parity across the league. Two predictions. First, while I want the Knicks to win the NBA championship, the Thunder are obviously the best team. Best offense, best defense, deepest bench.  But ya never know. Should be good games ahead. Second, NBA salaries for the best players have now maxed out, and we’ll see teams dumping high-salary players outright, or trading expensive good players for affordable mediocre ones. The Boston Celtics will be Exhibit A for all this. They pushed all their chips to the middle of the table this season, going over the “second apron” and paying penalties for it, while five of their chips turned out to be damaged goods. Brown, Porziņģis, Holiday, and Hauser were all injured or slowed by health problems, and Tatum’s achilles injury leaves him out for most or all of next year (while he’s still getting paid). The Suns, Bucks, and Lakers are also in trouble.



3 responses to “Gnaws”

  1. that’s really interesting. i didn’t realize the celtics had pushed all their chips to the center (great visualization). so i assume the knicks are okay in this respect? KAT’s contract must be pretty expensive and OG’s is. wh

    1. While the Bucks can send Giannis wherever they like, he’ll have a big say in the decision. And he won’t go anywhere that isn’t in a position to compete for the finals. That takes the Nets out. The Nets are a pit. They are where fan love goes to die. The KD-Kyrie-Harden experiment/debacle proved it. (You’ve been right that KD should have gone to the Knicks.)

      The story of the season ends up coming down to injuries. The Sixers were killed early by that. The Celtics were walking wounded. Four of the starting five were either hurt or (alas, Tatum) doomed. The Cavaliers were hurt and gassed. The survivors are the teams with the fewest injuries and the most energy. Or energy that’s on the ascent. Example: Robinson for New York. He’s been great. And he has something to prove: hitting free throws and killing on defense. But the Thunder are a juggernaut. They have no serious weaknesses, and great energy, talent, and depth.

      I love the Knicks-Pacers rivalry. Brings back the ghosts of Starks and Reggie Miller. Two underdog teams with overdog energy. Also two very good veteran coaches. History will show they out-coached Atkinson (Cleveland) and Mazzulla (Boston). Games will be close. Pray Brunson stays healthy.

  2. that’s really interesting. i didn’t realize the celtics had pushed all their chips to the center (great visualization). so i assume the knicks are okay in this respect? KAT’s contract must be pretty expensive and OG’s is.

    i’ve said elsewhere that it feels like Giannis should go to the Nets, seems like a proper fit. Brooklyn is to NY the way Milwaukee is to Chicago. things are more densely packed in the northeast.

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