Ken Whisenhunt out as head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
The team was 3-20 during his tenure, 2-14 last season, and 1-6 (with six losses in a row) so far this season. They also lost to the Texans on Sunday, which may have been the proverbial straw…
Archive for the ‘Clippings’ Category
Rearrange the deck chairs.
Wednesday, November 4th, 2015Obit watch: November 2, 2015.
Monday, November 2nd, 2015Random notes: November 1, 2015.
Sunday, November 1st, 2015In case anyone was wondering, the hand surgery went about as well as I expected: in that, I lived through it and didn’t die on the table from a bad reaction to the anesthesia or something else. My left hand is still wrapped tightly, but I’m approaching maybe 1 1/3 hand functionality. At this point, I’m off painkillers and it really doesn’t bother me: the itching is more disturbing than anything else.
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I’d managed to avoid breaking any bones or surgery requiring more than a local anesthetic for over 50 years. So much for that record.
I think what bothers me the most was the loss of continuity of consciousness, if that makes any sense. What I mean: one moment, they’re telling me that they’re going to put a sedative in my IV line. Next thing I know, they’re telling me the surgery is over and I’m okay. It just feels…weird, for reasons I can’t articulate. It’s not like going to sleep: it feels more like a gap during which I stopped processing memories. I need to think through this some more.
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I haven’t seen this covered elsewhere yet, and I’d really like to see coverage in someplace I trust more than the WP, but: the FBI is switching back to the 9mm, and away from the .40.
This also means new pistols for the FBI, and that’s going to be a windfall for somebody. It also won’t shock me to see the current administration attempting to use the procurement process to advance their political goals…
Heh.
Well, it’s official now…
Friday, October 23rd, 2015Obit watch: October 20, 2015.
Tuesday, October 20th, 2015Irwin Schiff, noted tax protester.
Mr. Schiff was serving a 14-year prison sentence when he died.
Pat Woodell, aka “Bobbie Jo Bradley” of “Petticoat Junction”.
Your NFL loser update: week 6, 2015.
Monday, October 19th, 2015Another busy weekend. I was running around helping people celebrate their birthdays, driving between Austin and Lakeway, and generally doing stuff that distracted me from the NFL games.
Which is a good thing. I’m not sure if I should be happy that Chicago lost to Detroit, or sad that my dream of another 0-16 season has to be deferred until next year.
At least San Diego and Buffalo both lost. Would that the Browns could have won, but it sounds like that was an exciting game in any case.
NFL teams that still have a chance to go 0-16:
None.
We’ll be back with the loser update next year (perhaps sooner, if anything interesting goes on in the world of basketball) and TMQ Watch tomorrow, maybe, we hope.
Obit watch: October 16, 2015.
Friday, October 16th, 2015There’s a really nice obituary in today’s NYT (written by Bruce Weber, one of the paper’s best obit writers) for Sybil Stockdale.
Mrs. Stockdale was the wife of James B. Stockdale. You may remember him as Ross Perot’s vice presidential candidate in 1992. But before that:
During his captivity, Mrs. Stockdale became a leading advocate for the POW/MIA cause. She also worked with the CIA to gather information. This story brings a smile to my face:
Speaking of the CIA and other bits of history, Ken Taylor has also passed away. Mr. Taylor was the Canadian ambassador to Iran during the hostage crisis:
When the U.S. embassy in Tehran was stormed by Islamist students and militants, six American diplomats escaped and found sanctuary in the homes of Taylor and his first secretary John Sheardown. In addition to shielding the Americans from Iranian capture, Taylor also played a crucial role in plotting their escape.
Working with CIA officials and Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark, Taylor obtained for the Americans six Canadian passports containing forged Iranian visas that ultimately allowed them to board a flight to Switzerland. He undertook all these covert actions at a high personal risk, as he and his team would have been taken hostage themselves in the case of discovery by the Islamist militants.
Last, but by no means least: “fresh-faced ingénue” of the 1940s, Joan Leslie.
At 9, touring with her sisters, she played Toronto. Their act included her impression of Durante.
One night after the show, her dressing room door opened to reveal a man armed with nothing but criticism. Her Durante was all wrong, he told her. Unbidden, he showed her the right way to do it.
Read the obit for the punchline, if you haven’t already guessed it.
Obit watch: October 14, 2015.
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015I don’t think he ever reached the level of fame Frank Serpico did, but he was part of the same NYPD anti-corruption movement.
Ripped from the headlines!
Tuesday, October 13th, 2015Police affidavit: Shia LaBeouf ‘was a danger to himself and others’
I have no joke here, I just wanted to say this:
Firings watch: October 13, 2015.
Tuesday, October 13th, 2015Steve Spurrier is “retiring” “immediately” as head coach of South Carolina. This may not technically be a “firing”, but his team was 2-4 so far this year, 0-4 in the SEC, and “have lost eight of their past nine SEC games dating to the past season.”
Steve Sarkisian’s indefinite suspension has turned into a firing. Again, this is one of those I’m not getting a lot of pleasure out of: I hope he gets the help he needs.
(Hattip on both of these to Lawrence.)
Your NFL loser update: week 5, 2015.
Monday, October 12th, 2015Another jam-packed weekend. A wake, a blogshoot, a gun show, shopping…
Didn’t watch a single minute of a single game (well, I did catch a few seconds of one out of the corner of one eye while we were eating at Denny’s, of all places). But it wasn’t a bad weekend for the loser update.
NFL teams that have a chance of going 0-16:
Detroit
In other news, Randy Edsall was fired on Sunday while I was running around. He was 22-34 at the University of Maryland, and they were 2-4 so far this season.
(Speaking of 2-4 teams, did Charlie Strong save his job this weekend? Discuss.)
This doesn’t exactly count as a firing, and I take no joy in it, but: Steve Sarkisian is on an “indifinite leave of absence” from USC. It sounds like he has a serious problem: I hope he manages to pull himself out of it.
Quotes of the day.
Friday, October 9th, 2015There’s not a theme here or anything, just two quotes that tickled me.
Number One:
Looking at the general world situation, I'm thinking about a GoFundMe to buy bulletproof vests for Archdukes. Anybody wanna kick in?
— Tamara K. (@TamSlick) October 7, 2015
Number Two:
I deem it important to direct your attention to Article 2 of the Constitutional Amendments of the United States — “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” This you should comply with immediately. Every union should have a rifle club. I strongly advise you to provide every member with the latest improved rifle, which can be obtained from the factory at a nominal price. I entreat you to take action on this important question, so that in two years we can hear the inspiring music of the martial tread of 25,000 armed men in the ranks of labor.
—Ed Boyce, president of the Western Federation of Miners, addressing the 1897 WFM convention.
Obit watch: October 9, 2015.
Friday, October 9th, 2015Number One!
Monday, October 5th, 2015Our first firing of the NFL season:
He was 24-28 over those 52 games.
Also, the Washington Nationals have fired their manager, Matt Williams, and their entire coaching staff.
(Loser update tomorrow: have to wait on Detroit.)
105 years ago today.
Thursday, October 1st, 2015At 1:07 AM on October 1, 1910, a bomb went off at the Los Angeles Times.
The bomb was planted in an area full of volatile chemicals and near natural gas lines. The explosion and fire killed 21 people, most of whom burned to death.
At the time, there was a massive struggle between “labor” and “capital”; Bill James, in his book Popular Crime
The Times of the time was strongly pro-capital and anti-union, which made it a target. Three men – Ortie McManigal and the brothers J.B. McNamara and J.J. McNamara – were charged with the bombing. McManigal rolled on the McNamara brothers, who were members of the iron workers union.
The labor movement engaged Clarance Darrow to defend the McNamara brothers. He agreed to do so, but warned them that he would need a boatload of money ($350,000 in 1910 dollars) to a proper job. The unions painfully raised the money.
The problem was that the McNamara brothers were pretty much guilty. Darrow is supposed to have told them, “My God! You left a trail of evidence a mile wide!” Ultimately, Darrow pled both brothers out in order to avoid the death penalty.
This case came pretty close to destroying Darrow. The plea bargain alienated him from labor, cutting off a large source of his income. In addition, Darrow was charged with two counts of jury tampering for actions during the case: I’ve written about that before. It took a while for Darrow’s reputation to recover.
Historical article with photos from the LAT.
Howard Blum’s American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century