Not really feeling it this week. Sorry. Let’s just get started and see where this goes. This week’s TMQ, after the jump…
“Are high football scores a bad thing?” Reply hazy, ask again later. More seriously, TMQ suggests that high scores might tend to devalue each individual score; is each touchdown in a 61-58 game worth as much as each score in a 17-14 game? His other argument is that “Higher scores derive in part from quick-snap, no-huddle tactics that increase the number of scrimmage downs. The more snaps, the more chance of injury.”
But it seems to us that there’s an argument to the contrary: higher scores are the result of the devaluation of defense, and an increasing emphasis on player protection. That emphasis results in fewer hits and fewer stops, and may perhaps be making the game safer.
Sports etiquette dictates that record-holders pretend to be cheering for those who may leap-frog their names in the record books.
We’d really like to see TMQ’s sports etiquette book. Did Miss Manners write it, or Dear Prudence?
Stats. Sweet: Dallas. (Actually, we were pretty impressed with that result ourselves.) Sour: New York Football Giants. Mixed: Green Bay-Miami. More mixed: ditto. More mixed: Houston-Indianapolis.
As TMQ has noted about gamma-ray bursts from deep space, scientists assume any unexplained interstellar phenomena are natural in origin. Why assume that?
Perhaps, Gregg, because the opposite assumption – that gamma-ray bursts are the product of extraterrestrial civilizations – would be an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary proof? We realize that you’re fascinated by the idea that “Gamma-ray bursts may be the muzzle flashes of doomsday weapons built by other civilizations”, but science doesn’t run on what fascinates you; it runs on verifiable evidence.
Chicken-(salad) kicking: Jacksonville. Sheer stupidity: Buffalo.
Would you believe that the latest “X-Men” movie is unrealistic? Well, that’s not strictly fair: TMQ’s complaint is more that the action doesn’t make sense within the confines of the premise.
In the flick, as the world is about to end in 2023, the handful of surviving X-Men realize Armageddon was set in motion by a mistake made on January 27, 1973. Wolverine is sent back in time to correct the mistake. But he’s sent back only a few days prior to the event, requiring a furious race to head off disaster. If it was possible to move half a century backward in time, why not send him a bit earlier and make the mission more practical?
That’s actually a question we think is worth some consideration, even though we haven’t seen the “X-Men” movie and really aren’t big fans of the franchise. Briefly, we’d suggest the idea that there are what might be called “fulcrum points” in history; times and places where a relatively small change can make a big difference. Think of it this way: if you go back in time and kill Hitler in his crib, who’s to say that another Hitler equivalent won’t rise up in the intervening years? But if you go back in time to March 1, 1933 and rig the elections, then what happens? Perhaps, if you accept the idea of time travel, it is easier to change events the closer you get to them?
Speaking of time travel, TMQ is also unenthusiastic about the use of same in “The Flash” TV series.
Trendy NoMad Bar in Manhattan offers a $110 cocktail — the Madison Park Smash, a julep-inspired drink that is all the rage — designed to be shared by several people.
TMQ thinks this is wacky. We’d like to know how many people there are in “several people”. For four people, that’s $27.50 each. That’s a little high to us, but Bar Congress charges $13 for the “George Burns“. Add in the Manhattan surcharge, and all of the sudden $27.50 doesn’t sound that horrible to us.
Are the Eagles for real? Are the Cardinals for real? Can TMQ give a straight answer to his own questions? To give credit where credit is due, TMQ does seem to understand the physics of recoil.
More chicken-(salad) kicking: Tampa Bay, Minnesota.
The arts make an important contribution to society, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is a high-quality symphony. But Geoff Edgers of the Washington Post reports that orchestra members earn an average base salary of $71,256, which is above the median household income. And they get to be artists — a form of “psychic income” most Americans can only envy. Millions of people would trade their current circumstances for income in this range and the high status of being an artist.
We’re sure TMQ believes this. We wonder what the life of an ASO member, or any symphony orchestra member, is really like. Is that $71,256 based on per hour pay for a 40-hour work week, or is it a salaried position? If so, how many hours does an ASO member generally work? How much vacation time do they get? Are they expected to do public appearances as part of their base pay? Do they pay for their own clothes? What other expenses do they have? (Dacia Clay, call your office, please.)
(Seriously, “Classical Classroom” is a swell podcast.)
Why does the NFL have no shame this week? Because Gregg Easterbrook can’t get NFL Sunday Ticket.
We checked. Apparently, we are part of the “less than 10 percent”. Which isn’t as good as being in the 1%, but still better than being in the 99%.
Usually, conservatives praise states’ rights — but when Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin decided to recognize gay unions (civil marriage has always originated at the state or local, not federal, level), conservatives went ballistic.
Our reading of the history of same-sex marriage in Indiana and Utah (and possibly those other states, but we haven’t checked those) is that those stated “decided to recognize gay unions” because of judicial decisions, such as Baskin v. Bogan in Indiana and Kitchen v. Herbert in Utah: the later decision going against a Utah constitutional amendment passed by an overwhelming majority of voters.
Please do not get us wrong: we are generally in favor of same-sex marriage. Our point here is that TMQ’s complaining about the “conservative” position is at least misleading, if not outright disingenuous.
More chicken-(salad) kicking: the New York Football Giants.
Ghostwriters in the sky.
“The Football Gods Promised An Investigation”. Can we turn them loose on the IRS?
Florida State just keeps looking worse. Fake cheeseburgers. (Arguably, we already have fake Pepsi. Now if we could just come up with fake chips.)
Random college football notes. (Including “…arguably the worst college football series of all time.”)
Colts versus Texans. (“…the first entertaining Thursday game of the season”. Yeah, it kind of looked that way to us as well. We’re almost sorry we missed it, but tragically, we have to work until 10 PM weeknights.)
Hey Buffalo Bills. (“…it’s fine when tax law encourages true philanthropy.” We wonder what false philanthropy looks like.)
Why can’t the Bengals kick? The Golf Gods Chortled. The Football Gods Chortled. Our foot is improving, but still a little sore.
Dance fever. UC Berkeley is upping their standards. So is the NCAA, maybe.
The 500 Club. 600, 700, 800. Reader mail: “How come it’s almost ten times less expensive to build an underground subway in Barcelona versus the United States?” An excellent question that curiously goes unanswered.
Pittsburg of Kansas 45, Emporia State 17. “Single Worst Play Of The Season — So Far”: St. Louis.
That’s a wrap for this week, folks. As TMQ notes, next week is the Indiana of Pennsylvania versus California of Pennsylvania game. And the week after next is the Indiana of Pennsylvania versus Slippery Rock State University game. Until then, aloha.