Engage. Enrage. Enjoy.
MSN, which isn’t one of my favorites, has this Stormy story. She fears life won’t be normal anymore. I assume that is because it was so normal prior? What, pray tell, was her first clue?
The circus that is American culture and politics reaches a new low on a daily basis.
1. If you are a college football fan (and if you aren’t what is wrong with you?) and you wait roughly 243 days (who is counting?) for your favorite team to begin the 2018 season hope springs eternal in the early fall. And then the game begins. And then mercifully it ends. If you are a Miami, Florida St, Michigan, or Arizona fan among others, you’re disappointed. You can almost hear your rival yell “OVERATED.” Worry not, the season is 12 or more games long. One game does not a season make. Overreaction reigns supreme when the body count is high and the body of work is incomplete.
2. That same mentality permeates the press. They have to fill your mind for 24/7/365. More impressions, hits, views, and dare I say it, newspapers are the goal. Power rankings and polls before the season and in the first few weeks of the season are worthless. You won’t know how good you are until you know how good you are. After one game the work shapes the perception. One game. After six games, half of the year, the body of work shapes the reality. The sample size is far better.
3. Urban Meyer should resign. Of course he won’t though. Of course. His body of work (including his stint in Florida that stank towards its closure) creates a thumbs down reality. When you are the state’s highest paid public employee and your job description includes proper/procedural reporting of employees immoral or illegal behaviors, and you don’t, its bad. When you are charged with leading 17/18 year old “boys” that get to your program to manhood, and you deceive, delete, deny, and act if the entire process is beneath you aren’t leading. And, that might even be worse. Simply stated, you are setting a bad example of behavior to many kids at a time that they most need good examples.
4. That said, just like I doubt nike will sell less shoes because of their Kapernick campaign, I doubt that many, if any, recruits will spurn THE Ohio St. University. Moms, if your goal is to win, go to THE. If you want the best overall program for your son’s continued overall mental, emotional, and physical development, don’t. Don’t do it at least until Urban Blight Meyer, aka Suburban Urban, aka THE Buckeye’s Blackeye feigns that he wants to spend more time with his family and does the right thing.
5. Do we really need projected bowl match ups and an updated final four playoff championship bracket after one week? Hell no. That said, mine are Bama, Wisconsin, Clemson, and Georgia. Notre Dame’s schedule, unfortunately, will keep them in the discussion until Brian Kelly turns as red on the sideline as the Irish Leprechaun is green. This occurs as the leaves turn each fall when they underachieve at just the wrong moment.
6. Lefty likes Kansas St. plus and Shorty loves Colorado St. plus v the spread this weekend. Soon we will have a little fun with point spreads on the site on a weekly basis. Keep some powder dry my friends.
7. So, who is the better coach Tom Herman or Ed Orgeron? The narrative for 18 months has been that LSU blew it by hiring Coach O when they failed to corral Tom Herman. He was supposedly nearly locked and loaded to BR town in November, 2016. They “settled” for the local cajun. They went cheap. Well, one season, one bowl season(Texas stayed home, LSU lost to ND), and one game into the next season makes one pause when answering this question. The programs that they now lead are still works very much in progress. But the results are beginning to show that the narrative should take a zig from its previous, persistent zag.
8. Is everyone playing for second again this year except Bama? Roll Tide Roll. Nick Saban insists that his team “focus on the process and the results will take care of themselves.” Well, the process in week one processed a Louisville team straight into the Waste Management proverbial dumpster fire. How good is Louisville? Me thinks not very, very. They look 8-4 to 9-3 to me in an average (Clemson aside) ACC. How good Louisville is, or for that matter how good anyone is, may not matter. Bama is the process. PS. Nick, be nice. Tiger on tour is smiling now and as competitive internally as ever. The internal burn need not light the external ass quite so often.
9. Congrats to Kevin Sumlin. He brought his same exposed O to Tuscon and he is getting paid to do so. He got the same results in a different uniform against a BYU team that sports average talent but wanted it more, far more, down the stretch. And, it looked like they were better conditioned for four quarters. If I am a money man at Arizona or a board guy there I would aspire to do better. No TE and one WR in motion so horizontal that he is effectively out of the play post snap puts the Oline at a serious disadvantage. You can rush five on five and still have six covering five. It worked for two years in lovely College Station because of two reasons. One, Manziel could run for his life to cover this shortfall. Two, it was still new to the SEC, and they had enough talent to make it go pretty well. Then, after an off season of studying tape it didn’t fool too many. But, it can wear out a D. Remember UCLA’s insane comeback v the Aggies two years ago? Or, ask Arizona already. The combo is exposed against good running teams that have well coached D’s. The law team of Fournette, Guice, Chavis, and Aranda cannot defend you either. Sumlin never beat LSU.
10. We hope you like this format that we intend to use on occasion. We welcome your responses, complaints, or suggestions to it. And we expect them on its content. Engage. Enrage. Enjoy.
The Big Lead tells you all you need to know about the dark Brown’s past.
Texting while driving can be deadly. Texting while walking isn’t much better. You’ve seen the videos. Unfortunately people do dumb things while fixated on their smart phones. People walk into anything, anywhere, anytime when distracted. But, walking into traffic or crossing a street illegally is a bird brain thing to do. If a cop in a bad mood observes this you might get ticketed for “jaywalking.” How did this irresponsible behavior’s name take flight? Its meaning and origin follows.
Meaning: One who crosses the street in a reckless or illegal manner
History: Jay birds that traveled outside of the forest into urban areas often became confused and unaware of the potential dangers in the city – like traffic. Amused by their erratic behavior, people began using the term “Jaywalker” to describe someone who crossed the street irresponsibly.
Nothing good comes of jaywalking. You could cause an accident, be in an accident, or worse case you could die in an accident. What a way to go. Imagine your loved ones explaining that jaywalking caused you to die, or “kick the bucket.” How “kicking the bucket” became a phrase to describe death isn’t pleasant and is described below.. You’ve been warned.
Meaning: To die
History: When a cow was killed at a slaughterhouse, a bucket was placed under it while it was positioned on a pulley. Sometimes the animal’s legs would kick during the adjustment of the rope and it would literally kick the bucket before being killed.
Father Time is undefeated. There is no need to help him by mindlessly walking into traffic and possibly kicking the bucket.
