Things are likely to depart from the norm in this obscure corner of the Internet for the next several months. My long-suffering wife and I have signed a contract to purchase a new home; at the moment, we are in the throes of convincing a loan company to lend us the money to close on the purchase until such time as we sell our current abode which should over the cost of the new place. Anyone who has ever moved from one place to another knows that any sort of “regular scheduling” can be kicked to the curb considering these sorts of moving/contract closing events. Add to that degree of uncertainty the fact that my long-suffering wife and I will be taking 2 overseas trips between now and the middle of June.
The routine around here is – and has been for a while – that I write about 1000 words about 5 days a week. If interrupted by “life-events” that could mean shorter rants or less than 5 rants per week until the whole schmegegge can be written in the past tense.
Today, I will take the opportunity to be brief – and to let the comments of others form the skeletal structure of this offering. Let me begin by linking here to a column by Scott Ostler in the SF Chronicle a couple of weeks ago – just after the Niners signed free agent Richard Sherman. Much of the commentary at the time focused on Sherman’s needing to rehab from a serious injury in the middle of last season and/or on his age and how corner backs’ careers often go into terminal nose-dives proximal to his time on the planet. As usual, Professor Ostler took his commentary onto a different vector
I suggest you read the column in its entirety at the link above; the main thrust is that Jimmy Garoppolo – as the image of the Niners’ offense – and Richard Sherman – now as the image of the Niners’ defense – might just be the opposites that turn the Niners from also-rans into contenders. Even if none of the projections comes to pass, it is a Scott Ostler column and that makes it worth reading all by itself.
While I am piggy-backing on the exposition of Scott Ostler, here is a recent comment by him regarding a current news item and a TV show from about 15 years ago:
“I don’t know who would win a fistfight between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but their verbal sparring makes you wish for the return of the old Fox TV program, ‘Celebrity Boxing.’ Instant classic: Jivin’ Joe vs. Manos Pequenos.”
My only quibble with Professor Ostler here is that the fight he envisions would have to be on a spin-off version of Celebrity Boxing possibly titled Geezer Fightin’.
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald had this observation about the upcoming NFL owners meeting:
“The NFL winter meetings start Sunday in Orlando. This is where a bunch of rich guys get together, wring hands and do very little. It’s a little like politics, in that way.”
My reaction differs from Professor Cote’s in one aspect. Indeed, it is a “little like politics” but there is a large and fundamental difference. Almost nothing that happens at the NFL winter meetings will have a direct and deleterious effect on the US citizenry at large; would that were true about the political realm…
Whilst piggy-backing on the exposition of Greg Cote, here is a comment from his column last weekend regarding the “unconventional” off-season to date of the Miami Dolphins:
“The Dolphins’ offseason is getting ‘curiouser and curiouser,’ as Lewis Carroll’s Alice might say. This week the team signed former Hurricanes star Frank Gore and then quarterback Brock Osweiler, which might not be too bad except that one is a soon-to-be 35-year-old running back and the other is Brock Osweiler.”
As of this morning, the Dolphins have 3 QBs on their roster:
- Ryan Tannehill
- Brock Osweiler
- Brandon Doughty
Before anyone asks, Brandon Doughty was a 7th round pick by the Dolphins in 2016 out of W. Kentucky. He has been on the practice squad for the team since then; that is why you have never heard of him regarding NFL action. That means the Dolphins roster as of today has:
- A QB who has shown flashes of competence and flashes of mediocrity for the entirety of his career with the Dolphins since 2012.
- A QB who signed a HUGE deal with the Texans and who performed so badly that the team traded him to the Browns AND tossed in some money and a draft pick so the Browns would take him.
- A QB who has never seen the field in a real NFL game.
Dolphins’ fans need to go to church and light candles as offerings to assure that Ryan Tannehill can play all 16 games this year. He may not be a Hall of Fame QB, but he has to be a better option than the other two guys…
Finally, here is a comment from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times regarding the 2018 Iditarod sled dog race:
“A Norwegian musher, Joar Ulsom just won this year’s Iditarod.
“In other words, they scheduled a sled-dog race and the 2018 Winter Olympics broke out again.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………