College Football Playoffs: New Information, New Market
Success is never owned; it is only rented—and the rent is due every day.
Rory Vaden, “Take the Stairs”
What do the College Football Playoff Selection Committee and a bar in Austin, TX have in common? Plenty, if your mind is as warped as mine.
Back in the mid-1990’s I conducted frequent business fly-bys to Austin. Already recognized as one of the best places to live in America, the Texas capital offered rolling hills, a laid-back vibe, fantastic live music and finger-licking barbeque. And thanks to fifty-thousand students matriculating at the nearby University of Texas, there were enough attractive coeds walking down Sixth Street to make a chiropractor rich from guys straining their necks. I had been told way too many times that the best looking women in the world could be found in Texas; I just had no idea they all lived within a two-mile radius.
Our business dinners would usually conclude with a drink or three at The Iron Cactus, a two-story honky-tonk reputed to be one of the best tequila bars in the country. We’d plant ourselves at a corner table and ask the waitress to keep ‘em coming, or at least until my corporate Amex exploded. On my very first visit to the Cactus, I noticed a pack of long-legged sorority babes dressed in miniskirts and tank tops stroll into the establishment. “Holy Victoria’s Secret,” I said to Mr. Customer, my tongue lapping the table.
“That’s nothing,” he replied. “Just wait ten minutes. The scenery changes pretty fast around here.”
“Don’t tease me like that,” I said while downing a vodka-laced Jell-O shot.
Mr. Customer gave a wry smile and raised an eyebrow. “What is it you guys on Wall Street always say when you tell me to sell something two minutes after I buy it?”
I quaffed my supersized margarita . “New information, new market.”
“Well Mr. Institutional Flip Flopper, that’s what happens at the Iron Cactus. One minute you’re ready to marry ‘em, and then the next minute you’re throwing rocks at ‘em.”
Memo to TCU and Baylor: After Ohio State won the Big 10 Conference championship by whipping 13th-ranked Wisconsin with a third string quarterback, the Selection Committee was provided with some new information. So they adjusted their market.
Be sure to watch out for the rocks.