Now that we’ve finished banging our heads against the wall (for reasons that will become apparent shortly), let’s jump into this week’s TMQ…
463 words noodling around the question of “If the Super Bowl were tomorrow, who the heck would go?” Remember, this is week five. (Conclusions, such as they are: Indianapolis is still TMQ’s pick to win the AFC. Seattle and Denver look good, but TMQ continues to harp on the rarity of Super Bowl rematches.)
There is a roughly one-in-a-million chance a teen will die during an hour behind the wheel compared to a roughly one-in-six-million chance that an hour of a high school football game or practice will cause death. Life cannot be lived without risk: the risk of mortality in football is lower than other kinds of risk society accepts for teens. Long-term brain damage from repeated head hits, which affects tens of thousands of high school players, is a larger social concern than tragic but rare deaths caused by football.
TMQ has a point here, we think, but there are a couple of other things worth considering.
- A cluster of three deaths in a short period of time is sad. But statistically, it probably isn’t unusual. Obviously, deaths are more likely to take place when football is actually being played.
- But is there anything that could have been done to prevent these deaths? TMQ doesn’t answer this question, and neither does the coverage we’ve seen elsewhere. It appears one of the deaths may have been caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm; perhaps this is something that could be screened for, but is the cost worth the benefit? The causes of the other two deaths are unclear.
The Power 5 conferences have announced they’re going to give out full-cost scholarships and multi-year scholarships, and also provide health care coverage to former players. TMQ likes this. We do, too.
In fact, Tuesday Morning Quarterback would argue the Power 5 deal moots the debate about pay for college football players. For all football players in the Power 5 to receive the progressive new package is a much better outcome than a few college stars receiving high income. And when did this breakthrough come? Just as a movement to unionize college football players began. Sometimes, the threat of a union causes employers to treat workers better. If the same effect is spilling over into collegiate athletics, that’s great news.
Especially if it hastens the demise of the NCAA.
The Bengals lost on Sunday. They were the last undefeated team. And we all know what that means: once again, despite repeated notifications that it is wrong, and even observations to the ESPN Ombudsman, TMQ drags the false 1972 Miami Dolphins item out of his Word AutoText. Time for another email to the Ombudsman, we think.
Stats. Sweet: Dallas. Sour: Baltimore. Mixed: Denver – Arizona. Something something Washington-Seattle (mostly Bobby Three Sticks bashing and half-measures by the Redskins).
“Wacky Food of the Week”: New York City barbecue.
Well, yes, actually it does sound yummy, you giant jackass. What’s wrong with you? Oh, wait: you live in Maryland. That’s your problem.
Politicians Gregg Easterbrook bashes for “promoting themselves” on the taxpayer dime: Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Barak Obama, William Bell (Democratic mayor of Birmingham, Alabama), and Shinzo Abe (prime minister of Japan).
Guess what’s out in paperback?
Traditionally, the Chargers start slow because they are distracted by waves and babes at the beach, then come on strong late because San Diego surf season ends.
We know Easterbrook thinks he’s trying to be funny here, but it comes across as more “insulting” than “funny”. And if they come on strong late, why is their lifetime playoff record 11-17?
JaMarcus Russell, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Josh Freeman and Matt Leinart are but a few of many quarterbacks who might have had solid NFL careers if they hadn’t been chosen high.
First off, JaMarcus Russell’s problems in the NFL were pretty much his making, and probably had little to do with his being chosen high in the draft. Secondly, there’s another reason for the “First-Round Curse” that TMQ doesn’t consider (we’re not even sure it is a curse): teams that have high draft choices tend to have them because they are bad. Taking a quarterback high in the first round may be a good idea if your existing quarterback is used up, but a quarterback is rarely enough to fix all (or even most of) the problems of a bad team.
Chicken-(salad) kicking: Kansas City. Chicken-(salad) passing: ditto.
Job data good. Inequality data bad. Plus Piketty bashing:
Even as the income-minus-taxes-plus-benefits situation improves for most Americans, by taking into account only pretax income, Piketty will be able to say that inequality grows worse. Any 2016 presidential candidate who cites him as an authority will be citing someone whose work borders on intellectually dishonest.
Vanilla Flaming Thumbtacks. We think we went to a bar once that served that drink.
Connor Halliday of Washington State attempted 70 passes and completed 49 for 734 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions…
By the way, Washington State lost.
You were looking forward to TMQ talking about Hollywood and weapons, weren’t you? You weren’t? Too bad.
Characters say “let’s lock and load,” which makes no sense. Once the action of a firearm is locked, it won’t load. (“Load and lock” does make sense, though isn’t a common expression.)
Cops and commandos are depicted as cocking pistols or snapping the pump on shotguns while still in the police station or during preparations at a staging base. This is supposed to be macho, but would you drive around in a car with a cocked handgun a few inches from your vital organs?
Condition One, anyone? Also: “If the son-of-a-bitch wasn’t dangerous, I wouldn’t be carrying it.”
TMQ is right about Mexican Carry, although we’re sure he’s never heard the term.
Something something Bengals-Patriots. More chicken-(salad) kicking: Minnesota. There’s a Big Paper lobby. Comeback kids. Movies are unrealistic. TMQ’s Super Bowl hosting item makes no sense; it is almost like he didn’t even think about what he was writing.
Major League Baseball has no shame because they won’t pay for the trains to run, do dah do dah.
For at least the second time since we’ve been doing this, Gregg, it isn’t going to happen because “Thunderbirds” was an abject failure.
We could say the same thing about “Robot Monster” or “Manos”, Gregg. “Actual stuff that really exists” is not automatically good.
One word: “Gravity“. Easterbrook’s complaint should be against directors who don’t properly know how to use their tools, not against the tools.
Smart special teams play: Carolina. Steelers fans travel well, especially if you keep them in the cooler with some dry ice.
The difference between a quarterback who knows what he’s doing (Rodgers) and a quarterback who doesn’t (Ponder) was never on sharper display than in the Packers-Vikings game.
Adventures in officiating: Alabama-Ole Miss, Denver-Arizona. The 500 Club. The 800 Club. The football gods are still chortling. We, on the other hand, stubbed the crap out of our right little toe and have a massive bruise on our foot.
University of Chicago 17, Rhodes 14. Second worst college play of the season (so far): USC. Worst college play of the season (so far): Stanford.
That’s a wrap. Tune in next week for a status update on our foot.