Whipped Cream Difficulties

Every once in a while, instead of being all snarky and stuff, we like to ask you to go out and read something else on the Internet that we think is interesting or important or both.

“the depression thing” by Zach Holman.

Therapy basically got me rubber duck debugging myself. Even when I’m not programming I’m fucking programming, I can’t get away from it, ha. But it’s true: the mere notion that I’d have to discuss my life with someone else later meant that I became far better at self-analysis than I ever had been.
That was one of the many neat realizations I had during this whole experience. Therapy tricks you into becoming better at therapy.

After the jump, this week’s TMQ…

…which comes in at about 5,600 words. Of those, the first thousand repeat one of TMQ’s recurring themes, which can be summarized as “End tax breaks for the NFL! And college football, too!”

You can now skip all that, but there are a few points worth engaging on:

• TMQ continues to be confused about the NFL’s former “non-profit” status. As we and other smarter people have pointed out to Easterbrook many times in the past, that status did not mean the NFL was a “charity”: rather, it meant that the NFL did not keep any money above and beyond their operating expenses, and distributed the excess back to the 32 NFL teams. This is not an uncommon form of “non-profit”.
• “Josh Kosman details another odious tax break to the NFL: owners can depreciate the cost of buying teams.” What is the depreciation schedule for an NFL team?
• “But whenever government confers tax breaks, either taxes on average people must rise, or debt must grow. So why is college sports subsidized by the tax code?” Or government must cut spending, something that never occurs to Easterbrook. And as always, TMQ characterizes allowing people to keep more of their own money as a “subsidy”.
• “Ohio State football’s educational performance is laughable. In the most recent year posted by the NCAA, for students entering as freshmen in 2009, just 47 percent of Ohio State football players graduated, versus 83 percent of all Ohio State students under the same metric.” Is there a good reason, beyond TMQ’s preference, why Ohio State’s tax deductions should be tied to athlete’s academic performance?

Stats. Sweet: Miami. Sour: the New York Football Giants before last Sunday. Mixed: New England – Jets. Two point conversions good.

If science continues to uphold the idea there are no substantial genetic distinctions among people with differing appearances, the human prospect will improve, because it will become possible to imagine a future in which bigotry in all forms withers away.

That’s certainly an optimistic view of human nature, to say the least.

Remember how we mentioned the first 1,000 words (roughly 1/5th) of this week’s TMQ were about tax breaks? Well, approximately the next 1,500 words are about…the prevalence of TV shows depicting traitors. Really. We are not making this up.

Does the subliminal content of celluloid impact viewer behavior? Studies of children are clear that it does; studies of adults reach no clear conclusion.

…

Presuming movie and TV subliminal effects are not confined to cigarettes and guns…

In other words, “Presuming this thing, which I just stated there is no clear conclusion on…”

Sure you won the Super Bowl less than two years ago. But what have you done for us lately?

That would be, “played badly and lost to a previously 0-5 team,” Gregg.

More sweet: da Bears, Pittsburgh. The Cleveland Browns are bad: alert the media.

TMQ used to write that since basketball was 1% as interesting as football, he devoted 1% of his column space each year to it. Apparently, this week is that 1%.

Most Football Teams Don’t Practice Letting the Opponent Score.

American Football Gods. (Neil Gaiman, call your office, please.)

“Adventures in Officiating”: you guessed it, the Jets.

Zebras reviewed and reversed to a fumble out of the end zone for a Patriots touchback. This play WAS A TOUCHDOWN.

No it wasn’t, Gregg. The NFL officials explanations of the rule and why the call was reversed are quite clear. You may disagree with the rules, or think the replay evidence wasn’t good enough, but that doesn’t change the facts.

Also: Eagles-Panthers.

What made your columnist scratch his head is that referee Pete Morelli, who Eagles fans have long accused of bias against their club, announced the delay-of-game penalty had been declined, and that only the roughing flag would be enforced. But Carolina couldn’t decline a penalty committed by Carolina, and it’s hard to believe the Eagles declined an opponent’s penalty. Generally a major penalty does not offset a minor penalty. But that’s not what Morelli announced. So who declined the delay-of-game flag?

…

A week ago Hell’s Sports Bar was doing a lively trade in pitchers of craft-brewed brimstone…

“brimstone” is another name for sulfur, which is a chemical element, so “craft-brewed brimstone” is nonsensical.

Hell’s Sports Bar closed for renovations. When the doors reopen, patrons will be able to order Buffalo wings with a selection of sauces – except, they will have to rip the wings off a live roster.

To recap: televised depictions of traitors in government bad. Jokes about animal abuse good.

The 500 Club. The 600 Club. Mount Ida 14, Dean 7.

With a season-ending injury to J.J. Watt and a possible one to Aaron Rodgers, this would seem to get me off the hook for my predictions the Texans and Packers would reach the Super Bowl.

Oh, so injuries get you out of your predictions? Good to know.

That’s a wrap for this week. Tune in next week for more exciting discussions of TV shows and tax policy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 18th, 2017 at 7:55 pm and is filed under NFL, Sports, TMQ watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.