Bobby Murcer with his wife Kay (Photo: amNewYork.com)

I went to a gathering at a neighbor’s house yesterday afternoon and missed the end of the Yankee game. When I got home I went online to see how the game finished up, and saw the news that Bobby Murcer had died. My sincere prayers and condolences go out to his family and friends.

Bobby was my boyhood idol when he was a player and my touchstone to Yankee tradition and class when he was a broadcaster. I had the privilege to meet him once, when he brought some of his childhood friends from Oklahoma to visit NYSE, as recounted in this post. I had the honor of meeting them at the door, and I remember being completely awestruck when I shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Murcer,” was all I could stammer out. “Please, just call me Bobby,” he said with a big smile, instantly putting me at ease. I think his real greatness was in exactly that regular-guy connection he had with people.

Not that he hadn’t done great things in his career. For years and years he was an excellent player, the best guy on Yankee teams that otherwise were anything but excellent. He was exciting to watch — fast as a colt, good power, sure center fielder. He was an All-Star in both leagues, once hit .331, hit 252 lifetime homers, and once hit four consecutive homers over the course of a double-header I remember listening to on a little transistor radio.

And of course, there was 6 Aug. 1979, the day of the funeral of his friend and Yankee captain Thurman Munson, who had died when his small plane crashed. The entire team attended the service, where Lou Piniella and Bobby gave eulogies, then flew back to New York to play Baltimore that night. Bobby hit a three-run homer and a walkoff, two-run single in the ninth inning to knock in all five runs in a 5-4 comeback win. What accounts for the ability to do such things in such situations, I wonder — adrenaline? Luck? God? All I know is that it was something special, and it always shone around Bobby Murcer.

The day he was at NYSE, Gordon Charlop, one of our brokers, walked Bobby and his friends around the trading floor. People stopped what they were doing to come over and talk with him. They got his autograph, they asked him how the Scooter was doing, what did he think of the Yanks’ chances for the playoffs, did he remember the time when this or that happened. More frequently than anything else, I heard people thank him, for being a player and announcer they enjoyed, for always conducting himself well. Bobby was a modest man and could tell he appreciated the outpouring of affection.

The following Christmas Eve we read the news that Bobby had brain cancer. Ever since, we have followed his battle with the disease. His comeback to the Stadium after his surgery. His stated goal of being at Opening Day at the new Stadium next year (I’m sure he indeed will be there). And most notably, the news reports of his trading letters and phone calls with others battling cancer, sharing his experiences, affirming theirs, gently urging them to have faith and hope. That he should think of others at such a difficult time for him seemed completely in character.

I looked up to Bobby when I was a kid, and even more so as an adult. It is a rare person who lives up to what you imagine them to be, and more. For that, I thank you, Bobby Murcer.

A classic product of a fine NYSE-listed company, of course!

This post marks the debut of The Nasdaq Decoder Ring, an occasional feature in this space. In each episode, we’ll take one of Nasdaq’s marketing claims and pass it through this neat Nasdaq Decoder Ring that I got in a box of Cracker Jack. You look through the Decoder Ring viewfinder and apply a little lemon juice, and the reality becomes clearly visible.

If you’ll forgive a plug, I’m proud to say Cracker Jack happens to be made by Frito-Lay, which is part of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP). But I digress.

I lent the ring to my colleague Christiaan Brakman earlier today, and here’s what he reported back:

Hey, want to be the biggest, largest or have the most?

Just keep on saying it, in hopes that one day people might believe it, like Nasdaq OMX tried once again this morning, announcing in a press release that Nasdaq “attracted more new listings than any other U.S. exchange” in second-quarter 2008.

Fact is, in the month of June 2008 alone, NYSE Euronext’s U.S. markets attracted 42 new listings — as many as Nasdaq did in the entire second quarter 2008.

NYSE Euronext new listings data is available in our monthly volume release, announced last Tuesday, July 8.

For those really interested in this side of the business: IPO proceeds raised on NYSE Euronext markets in the first half of 2008 were the most of any exchange in the world, approximately 28 times the value raised by IPOs on Nasdaq OMX.

Thanks, Christiaan. That’s one cool ring, huh? Get it back to me when you have a chance. I have a feeling it’s going to come in handy.

A classic product of a fine NYSE-listed company, of course!

This post marks the debut of The Nasdaq Decoder Ring, an occasional feature in this space. In each episode, we’ll take one of Nasdaq’s marketing claims and pass it through this neat Nasdaq Decoder Ring that I got in a box of Cracker Jack. You look through the Decoder Ring viewfinder and apply a little lemon juice, and the reality becomes clearly visible.

If you’ll forgive a plug, I’m proud to say Cracker Jack happens to be made by Frito-Lay, which is part of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP). But I digress.

I lent the ring to my colleague Christiaan Brakman earlier today, and here’s what he reported back:

Hey, want to be the biggest, largest or have the most?

Just keep on saying it, in hopes that one day people might believe it, like Nasdaq OMX tried once again this morning, announcing in a press release that Nasdaq “attracted more new listings than any other U.S. exchange” in second-quarter 2008.

Fact is, in the month of June 2008 alone, NYSE Euronext’s U.S. markets attracted 42 new listings — as many as Nasdaq did in the entire second quarter 2008.

NYSE Euronext new listings data is available in our monthly volume release, announced last Tuesday, July 8.

For those really interested in this side of the business: IPO proceeds raised on NYSE Euronext markets in the first half of 2008 were the most of any exchange in the world, approximately 28 times the value raised by IPOs on Nasdaq OMX.

Thanks, Christiaan. That’s one cool ring, huh? Get it back to me when you have a chance. I have a feeling it’s going to come in handy.

Here’s a guest post from Daniel Labovitz, vice president, Office of the General Counsel, NYSE Regulation, in response to my comments on Tuesday in this post about slogging through some of the more complex sentences in one of our memos to members::

Speaking as the primary memo-writing colleague on this one, I have to admit that you’re not off the mark in your commentary. But in defense of the long sentence at issue, it’s important to remember that these memos are legal sources upon which regulatory actions may be based. And while ideally we try to avoid getting too technical, and to use colloquial phrases and common-sense descriptions, we sometimes need to be very precise so that we foreclose any meaning but the one we intended. This can sometimes result in long, complex sentences that sound stilted, like the one you cited.

And besides, long and complex aren’t always bad things: When I taught legal writing, I sometimes liked to refer students to John 11:35 (”Jesus wept”, famous as the shortest sentence in the Bible) to show the power of short direct writing. But then I would point out that some of the most powerful creeds in the Western canon are complex sentences with lots of words — things like the Lord’s Prayer (2 sentences of 24 and 46 words, respectively), the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (1 sentence, 71 words) and the Preamble to the Constitution (1 sentence, 52 words). Then I would suggest to them that they try to write somewhere in the middle.

Thanks, Dan, I learned a lot from that. Never really thought about the dual purpose of those memos. Now I understand the need for such a level of detail. Plus, you offer a peek inside this place that I hope will help readers better understand our process and what we’re about. I thank you for that, and encourage our other colleagues to let me know if and when they’ve got an insight to offer from their respective areas. As a reminder to all, this blog is not mine, it’s everyone’s.

I also loved the writing lesson. You taught legal writing? You also taught good writing. That’s some of the best writing advice I ever heard. Thanks for sharing it.

I learned something when I got an e-mail last night from the Webby Awards people, announcing the list of Webby recipients (which did NOT, repeat NOT, include your humble blogger, but I’M REALLY OK WITH THAT, REALLY I AM).

The thing I didn’t know is that all the Webby acceptance speeches have to be five words or fewer. I never realized this because I don’t pay a lot of attention to the Webbys. Which appears to be mutual. Your humble blogger still humbly awaits his first nomination. Gonna be a long, long, long wait, I think.

Anyway. All kinds of brilliant, creative, funny people (again, by definition, not me, but I’m OK with it) win Webbys and get to say things like this:

“Me, me, me, me, me.”
- Stephen Colbert (Webby Person of the Year)

“Mr. DJ, can you play another song?”
- David Byrne (Webby Lifetime Achievement)

“Now we know we can.”
- will. i. am (Webby Artist of the Year)

“Five words is not enough.”
- Lorne Michaels (Webby Film & Video Lifetime Achievement)

“Keyboards are full of germs.”
- Michel Gondry (Webby Film & Video Person of the Year)

All of which gave me a chuckle and got me thinking. What if they start a new Webby category that neatly defines my niche, i.e., financial-market blog, large-nosed author? I need to get my five words ready!

If that unlikely day comes to pass, if my years of lonely blogging somehow pay off, if the Webby people someday deign to acknowledge my existence, if they one day bestow that chrome Slinky trophy upon my shaking hands, here is what I would say:

There must be some mistake.

I learned something when I got an e-mail last night from the Webby Awards people, announcing the list of Webby recipients (which did NOT, repeat NOT, include your humble blogger, but I’M REALLY OK WITH THAT, REALLY I AM).

The thing I didn’t know is that all the Webby acceptance speeches have to be five words or fewer. I never realized this because I don’t pay a lot of attention to the Webbys. Which appears to be mutual. Your humble blogger still humbly awaits his first nomination. Gonna be a long, long, long wait, I think.

Anyway. All kinds of brilliant, creative, funny people (again, by definition, not me, but I’m OK with it) win Webbys and get to say things like this:

“Me, me, me, me, me.”
- Stephen Colbert (Webby Person of the Year)

“Mr. DJ, can you play another song?”
- David Byrne (Webby Lifetime Achievement)

“Now we know we can.”
- will. i. am (Webby Artist of the Year)

“Five words is not enough.”
- Lorne Michaels (Webby Film & Video Lifetime Achievement)

“Keyboards are full of germs.”
- Michel Gondry (Webby Film & Video Person of the Year)

All of which gave me a chuckle and got me thinking. What if they start a new Webby category that neatly defines my niche, i.e., financial-market blog, large-nosed author? I need to get my five words ready!

If that unlikely day comes to pass, if my years of lonely blogging somehow pay off, if the Webby people someday deign to acknowledge my existence, if they one day bestow that chrome Slinky trophy upon my shaking hands, here is what I would say:

There must be some mistake.

Apologies for multiple XBRL-related posts in one day, but your no-longer-quite-so-humble blogger was honored to be invited on the SEC’s conference call this afternoon with a dozen bloggers about interactive data reporting, ahead of Monday’s expected action by the Commission on this more-accessible type of financial disclosure.

Am jammed at the moment and will write more about this later, but for the moment just wanted to tell you that Chairman Christopher Cox joined the end of the call. He talked about how the reporting language would make it easier for investors to sift, compare and analyze data from companies, and that it will also make easier the exchange of financial information globally in addition to domestically. He said, “It’s going to be so breathtakingly different from what people even in recent years have been used to, that it’s sometimes hard to get people to focus on the big change that’s in store.”

If no one else has blogged about this yet, then I have one word to add:

Scoop!

Cox used to be the first SEC chairman to write into a blog (Jonathan Schwartz’s); he’s now also the first to participate in a teleconference with bloggers, which also was the first the SEC has ever conducted.

Glad they had the call; I learned a lot; will share more later. Smart move on their part, too, to have the chairman join the call. He’s walking the talk. Or, for a call, is it talking the talk? Anyway, he’s obviously committed to this worthy initiative.

Apologies for multiple XBRL-related posts in one day, but your no-longer-quite-so-humble blogger was honored to be invited on the SEC’s conference call this afternoon with a dozen bloggers about interactive data reporting, ahead of Monday’s expected action by the Commission on this more-accessible type of financial disclosure.

Am jammed at the moment and will write more about this later, but for the moment just wanted to tell you that Chairman Christopher Cox joined the end of the call. He talked about how the reporting language would make it easier for investors to sift, compare and analyze data from companies, and that it will also make easier the exchange of financial information globally in addition to domestically. He said, “It’s going to be so breathtakingly different from what people even in recent years have been used to, that it’s sometimes hard to get people to focus on the big change that’s in store.”

If no one else has blogged about this yet, then I have one word to add:

Scoop!

Cox used to be the first SEC chairman to write into a blog (Jonathan Schwartz’s); he’s now also the first to participate in a teleconference with bloggers, which also was the first the SEC has ever conducted.

Glad they had the call; I learned a lot; will share more later. Smart move on their part, too, to have the chairman join the call. He’s walking the talk. Or, for a call, is it talking the talk? Anyway, he’s obviously committed to this worthy initiative.

I’ve ranted here now and again about how public companies should join the move to report their financial disclosures in an interactive data format (known as XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language) to make the information easier for investors to search and analyze online. More to come on that shortly: on Monday, the SEC is scheduled to decide on its plans for any requirements and timeline for public companies to file their financial statements in the format.

Disclosure: NYSE Euronext has been filing its own financial statements in XBRL, as a participant in the SEC’s pilot program on interactive reporting.

If you thought I was all geeky-excited about this, I think my enthusiasm pales compares to that of Cate Long of the ShopYield blog, whose post on the subject brings to mind that Meg Ryan scene from “When Harry Met Sally.” You know the one. Excerpt:

CFO.com is reporting that the SEC will vote on Monday whether to require public companies to make their financial statement filings in XBRL …

To the Commissioners … YES … YES … YES …

Although it’s often hard to communicate the benefits of data standardization it is so powerful… one can point to the use of hyper text markup language in the development of the Internet… who would have guessed the information hurricane that was unleashed…

Poor CFOs and IT folks will groan … one more mandate for their overworked departments… it’s true it will be more work… but the markets and public will benefit … for decades to come … YES … YES … YES …

Okaaaayyyy. Come on, Cate, tell us how you really feel! : )

Back here on the ground, I’m taking next week off — or at least I’m supposed to, though the working world sometimes gets in the way — so posting here will be at least lighter than usual. Be good and be well, my friends. A little shot of trivia before I go:

Today in NYSE History
18 April 1980 — The NYSE’s first female specialist, Amy W. Newkirk, is admitted to membership.

I continue to be blown away by that. Happy that it ever happened, completely ashamed that it didn’t happen until 1980, 17 years after Muriel Siebert became the first woman member in 1967, which in itself was way, way too long in coming. Clubs become better places for opening their doors.

I’ve ranted here now and again about how public companies should join the move to report their financial disclosures in an interactive data format (known as XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language) to make the information easier for investors to search and analyze online. More to come on that shortly: on Monday, the SEC is scheduled to decide on its plans for any requirements and timeline for public companies to file their financial statements in the format.

Disclosure: NYSE Euronext has been filing its own financial statements in XBRL, as a participant in the SEC’s pilot program on interactive reporting.

If you thought I was all geeky-excited about this, I think my enthusiasm pales compares to that of Cate Long of the ShopYield blog, whose post on the subject brings to mind that Meg Ryan scene from “When Harry Met Sally.” You know the one. Excerpt:

CFO.com is reporting that the SEC will vote on Monday whether to require public companies to make their financial statement filings in XBRL …

To the Commissioners … YES … YES … YES …

Although it’s often hard to communicate the benefits of data standardization it is so powerful… one can point to the use of hyper text markup language in the development of the Internet… who would have guessed the information hurricane that was unleashed…

Poor CFOs and IT folks will groan … one more mandate for their overworked departments… it’s true it will be more work… but the markets and public will benefit … for decades to come … YES … YES … YES …

Okaaaayyyy. Come on, Cate, tell us how you really feel! : )

Back here on the ground, I’m taking next week off — or at least I’m supposed to, though the working world sometimes gets in the way — so posting here will be at least lighter than usual. Be good and be well, my friends. A little shot of trivia before I go:

Today in NYSE History
18 April 1980 — The NYSE’s first female specialist, Amy W. Newkirk, is admitted to membership.

I continue to be blown away by that. Happy that it ever happened, completely ashamed that it didn’t happen until 1980, 17 years after Muriel Siebert became the first woman member in 1967, which in itself was way, way too long in coming. Clubs become better places for opening their doors.