Making the big time

You all know about Google's purchase of YouTube. I'll leave the PR ramifications of that $1.65 billion deal to my esteemed PRWeek colleagues. But upon reading a related story in The New York Times, something else caught my eye.

In discussing why Yahoo didn't make the YouTube deal while Google did, Jordan Rohan, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets, was explaining how Google has more cash - $11 billion versus $4 billion - and more market value - $131 billion versus $34 billion - than Yahoo. To emphasize his point, he is quoted as saying, "In poker terms, Google is the dominating chip stack."

Now that's a language I can relate to.

Sports references are used ad nauseum to explain potentially complex concepts to the masses. "They hit a home run," "They tried a hail-mary," or "It was a slam dunk." You've heard them all - a lot! And guess what: they work! By saying it, Rohan acknowledges that. By printing that quote, The New York Times validates that.

It's just one quote, I know. But I bet (pun intended) you that you'll see a bevy of similar quotes for the forseeable future, and not just on ESPN.