Ex-Lion Chris Spielman has strong message for college athletes From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110531/SPORTS0203/105310392/Ex-Lion-Chris-Spielman-has-strong-message-for-college-athletes#ixzz1PRqitD3z

The turmoil at The Ohio State University has caused many of the people that know me to ask how happy it makes me.  The reality is, while anything that helps Michigan is good, it hurts everyone.  Chris Spielman is one of my favorite football players of all time.  It is of no surprise that someone who played with such passion and intensity, saw his wife step by step through a devastating disease, and has always worked to be the best at everything he does would be so blunt about doing it the right way.  His recent message about the actions of the Buckeye football players is one everyone should take to heart.  As expected, Spielman tells it like it is. And should be.

Last Updated: May 31. 2011 1:00AM

Ex-Lion Chris Spielman has strong message for college athletes

The Detroit News

Chris Spielman, an All-American linebacker at Ohio State and Pro Bowl player for the Lions, has a strong message for college football players who run afoul of NCAA rules:

Learn to live within your means.

Spielman, 45, was a guest on Frank Beckmann's show on WJR-AM 760 on Tuesday and his contempt for players who accept benefits from overzealous boosters was evident.

Beckmann raised the issue to Spielman by quoting former Ohio State defensive end Robert Rose, who told Sports Illustrated he traded school memorabilia for tattoos.

"I knew how much money thatthe school was making," Rose told the magazine. "I always heard about how Ohio State hadthe biggest Nike budget. I was struggling, my mom was struggling. … It was just something that I had to do."

Beckmann pointed out that the Big Ten has considered giving athletes additional money to cover living expenses such as travel to home.

This is how Spielman responded:

"I wouldn't mind a stipend for players. If the Big Ten wants to add a stipend … fine. But here's what I would say to any player:

"OK, you're struggling with money. How about this. How about you rent an apartment with four guys, to cut down on your living expenses. How about not getting the latest, greatest smart phone. How about not downloading 100 dollars or 50 dollars worth of iTunes. How about going to a discount retailer and getting a coat and a tie and wearing that every week. How about not driving a (nice) car; get a used beater for a thousand bucks.

"How about doing things the right way. How about sharing rides. Let's do that instead of thinking that you're owed something.

"See my problem is we live — and we've got to be careful as parents — in a very narcissistic society because everybody believes they're owed something. Because we have Facebook and all these social networks and everybody thinks they're a freaking star: Let's post pictures online so everyone can see my great accomplishments.

"So until we get guys to realize it's not about them, it's about the team … And it's OK to suffer a little bit financially while you're in school, and you're going to be better for it. Then kids will make better decisions.

"But don't whine to me about money when you're getting free money already (scholarship, living expenses). We'll give you a little extra. But, hey, sacrifice on the clothes, the cars, the electronic toys. And maybe go without a PlayStation or an Xbox for a while, too. See how that works."

Survey: Vacation Home Market on the Rebound

The following article provides secondary verification to what I have been saying for some time.  The noirthern Michigan vacation home market is ceertainly making a return but buyers are cautious.  They are willing to take a little less if they can spend less thus decreasing the overall investment and therefore risk.  I property with 200' of waterfrontage used to be a hot commodity but the 100' lot is now acceptable in trade for a lower cost.  Everybody still wants a vacation home but how much of a vacation home has changed.  The important factor to remember is that vacation homes are about lifestyle and family.  As one client said to me, "You can't take your kids up north to your stock options.- billy

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/survey-vacation-home-market-rebound
After several years of negative trends in the real estate industry, finally a sign of life: A market study just out by a Stuart real estate marketing firm shows budding consumer confidence in the second- or vacation-home market.

"It's no exaggeration to say that four years ago -- unless you count commercial buyers grabbing up ultra-cheap foreclosures -- the second-home market was dead as a doornail," said Rolly Marsh, a market analyst with Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Realtors.

The good news comes via the third annual Cotton Report, which reports a polling of more than 800 participants on housing preferences, motivating factors, pricing levels and timelines for purchase. It included participants from 39 states, Canada, Europe and Latin America.

While no direct correlation was made to the harsh winter temperatures, the research survey did point to a significant increase in the number of homebuyers looking to buy a vacation home -- in fact, a year-over-year increase of 800 percent.

This trend is further supported by an increase in the number of buyers describing their transition as "a geographic relocation." Over the three years the study has been conducted, there has been a continuous trend toward smaller homes. The most popular size? It's now between 1,700 and 2,299 square feet. Homes ranging from 1,000 to 1,699 square feet saw an increase of 5 percent in interest levels from 2010 to 2011.

The Cotton Report also shows signs that pricing levels have adjusted to meet consumer expectations.

In 2009, respondents indicated the need for a 50 percent price reduction in order to re-enter the market. In the 2011 survey, this level of price reduction has changed dramatically, down to 20 percent.

"The second-home market is improving, more orderly and more predictable," the NAR's Marsh told Sunshine State News on Friday. "The bad economy and real estate decline of 2006 to 2008 in particular weeded out the speculators. Now we have second-home buyers who buy homes to live in them. Most aren't purchasing for a quick turnover.

"Buyers are returning cautiously, buying smaller and smarter," said Marsh.

The Cotton Report, an annual consumer report, is compiled by Cotton & Co., a 28-year old firm specializing in the marketing and sales of residential real estate throughout the United States and the Caribbean.

Says Stephann Cotton, the firm’s president, “The adjustment of pricing to realistic levels has brought buyers and sellers closer together. These price adjustments combined with the brutal winter up North have resulted in strong sales in many of our resort residential properties.”
The future of the 30-year mortgage is still up in the air, Cotton acknowledges, but the survey indicates that even though 36 percent of the respondents plan to finance their purchase with a 30-year mortgage, an equal 36 percent plan to pay with cash. The rest are opting for a 15-year loan.
“One of the most dramatic changes in buyer psychology was seen in the responses from those who are uninterested in a real estate purchase,” says Laurie Andrews, Cotton & Co.’s COO. In 2010, 96 percent of these respondents cited economic conditions or political instability as the reason for not purchasing. In 2011, the number was cut in half, with 46 percent of the respondents saying they now have no desire to move.
“These results show buyers are beginning to separate the home buying process from the economic instability,” Andrews said.

What the frack? US natural gas drilling method contaminates water?

I try to include positive things in my blog but I have a responsibililty to comment when things are not as they may seem.  I can't help but believe this is one of those situations.  Protection comes from education and action.  Whatever your opinion, please take the time to make it an informed one. The honest answer is I haven't yet made a determination for myself but the items in this chart can't be good for our water and environment. - Billy

A controversial new method of natural-gas drilling, embraced rapidly across the US, has contaminated water supplies with radioactive waste, according to an investigation by the New York Times. The paper said internal documents from the Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators showed that the dangers to the public from the drilling method – hydraulic fracturing – were greater than previously understood.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses huge volumes of water, chemicals and sand injected into rock at high pressure to release natural gas. Its development has unleashed a natural gas boom in the US and around the world. But the NYT said the waste water contained dangerously high levels of radioactivity. It was being sent to treatment plants that were not designed to deal with or being discharged into rivers that supply drinking water.

The NYT said its main findings included:
• More than 1.3bn gallons of waste water was produced by Pennsylvania wells over the past three years, far more than has been previously disclosed. Most of this water – enough to cover Manhattan in three inches – was sent to treatment plants not equipped to remove many of the toxic materials in drilling waste.

• At least 12 sewage treatment plants in three states accepted gas industry waste water and discharged waste that was only partly treated into rivers, lakes and streams.

• Of more than 179 wells producing waste water with high levels of radiation, at least 116 reported levels of radium or other radioactive materials 100 times as high as the levels set by federal drinking-water standards. At least 15 wells produced waste water carrying more than 1,000 times the amount of radioactive elements considered acceptable.

The investigation comes amid growing concern about the potential dangers of natural gas drilling as it spreads from western states to the more densely populated north-east. The investigative website ProPublica has published an extensive series on the threats to water supplies from hydraulic fracturing. It has also raised doubts about whether natural gas can indeed offer a solution to climate change, noting that the mining process is extremely energy and water intensive.

The dangers of natural gas drilling were also the subject of a gritty documentary, Gasland, which was nominated for an Academy Award. The film's director , Josh Fox, told the Guardian: "All these things are starting to add up in a very clear picture of a massive failure to protect public health."

Good Things Do Happen

Wed May 05, 2010 2:37 pm EDT

When losing a golf tournament really makes you a winner
By Shane Bacon

There are times to be competitive. Moments when all you want to do is humiliate your opponent as you defeat him. It's the nature of sports, and what our internal competition meters usually read.
That, we all know, is how athletes feel most of the time. But, at times, and these are few and far between, we see acts that defy wins and losses. A moment when a girl is brought in on crutches to score a layup to break a record or someone being carried around the field after she twisted her ankle rounding the bases. Opponents coming together to transcend the game.

That is what happened between two collegiate golfers, vying for a spot in the NAIA National Championship.
Grant Whybark (left), a sophomore at the University of St. Francis, had locked up a spot in nationals with his team, which won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship, but was in a playoff against Olivet Nazarene's Seth Doran (right) for individual honors.

As championships go, both the winning team and winning individual are asked to move on to nationals, so if Whybark won the playoff against Doran, he'd be honoring both spots and Doran wouldn't be asked to move on.

What happened next is the type of stuff movies are made about. Whybark stood over his tee shot on the first playoff hole, looked down the fairway and back at his ball, and hit it 40 yards right of the fairway, out of bounds by a mile. He made double bogey, Doran made par, and Olivet Nazarene had a man in nationals.

What makes it so incredible? Whybark intentionally did it, because he felt Doran had earned a spot in the next round. "We all know Seth very well," Whybark explains, "and he not only is a very good player, but a great person as well. He’s a senior and had never been to nationals. Somehow, it just wasn’t in my heart to try to knock him out.

"I think some people were surprised, but my team knew what I was doing and were supportive of me. I felt Seth deserved to go (to nationals) just as much as I did.  "It was one of those things where I couldn’t feel good taking something from him like this. My goal from the start was to get (to nationals) with my team. I had already done that."
Too many times we read about cheap shots or fights or cheaters, and it is stories like this that make it all seem petty. A golfer simply knew his place, was comfortable with where he was, and thought that a senior, playing in his final tournament as a collegiate golfer, had done enough to earn one more week with the game he loved.

I'm not a big believer in karma, and I'm sure the story won't end the way it should, but if Whybark somehow won nationals, it would make for a really nice screenplay. Whybark did what most of us would never do, and although he is short a trophy in his case, he earned respect from anyone reading this story.
Nice shot, kiddo.

Click here to see more photos of the ice pushing inland from Burt Lake

 The ice is now off Burt Lake and has landed on the eastern shore.  I was taking photos of a new listing and the beauty of the ice was breathtaking.  It is like a mini-glacier moving onto land.  The ice must have been slush in the water as it is not in sheets but rather volleyball-sized pieces pressed together.

 

Rainbows and Sunsets

It has been a beautiful week in Northern Michigan with the shining sun and far above average temperatures. We well know a blizzard leaving 10” of snow on our lawns is possible – and another snow storm probable – but the thought of Spring leading into summer is just too exciting!  














I was thinking a round of golf and a boat ride across Burt Lake to see the sunset on another Up North day. Sunsets & Rainbow Skies………doesn't that sound like a Jimmy Buffett or Kenny Chesney song?
 

I made a mistake...and will do better

I have been working on several blogs for a while. I have this main blog I planned to use for real estate purposes. I have experimented but really not done much with it. The posts are boring and not at all fun.
I contemplated a blog called "Good Things Happen Here" which would be a forum to talk about the fun things in northern Michigan. This is a great place to live, great place to visit and great place to vacation with so much to do all times of year.
Knowing I didn't know much about blogging, I started reading and discovered my approach was flawed. I truly felt like an idiot because I wasn't seeing what I profess each day...real estate is about relationships and lifestyle.
So I learn and adapt. Look to my blog for fun things happening in this wonderful area, stories about the "Good Things that Happen Here", and a little bit of real estate. This is my space on in the electronic world and share I shall.

Topinabee Big Chill Winter Carnival 2010 February 13th

Spend your UpNorth Saturday at Topinabee's 11th Annual Big Chill Winter Carnival.



9:00am - 11:00am Firefighter's Pancake Breakfast at the Topinabee Township Hall.

12:00 - 3:00 The Big Chill Chili Cookoff, horseshoes, BroomBall, ice skating, family games, and warming tent all on the ice.

Come see the Hovercraft Demonstration!!!!

Kid's games at Township Hall