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Quick random stuff.

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

The NYT has a feature on the “industrial musical”.

The 1956 Chevy show cost $3 million, while “My Fair Lady” opened on Broadway with a budget of $500,000. Big budgets attracted top-drawer talent. “Go Fly a Kite” was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the team behind “Cabaret” and “Chicago.” Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock wrote “Ford-i-fy Your Future” for the tractor and implement division of Ford, as well as the songs for “Fiorello!” and “Fiddler on the Roof.” Bob Fosse was already at work on “The Pajama Game” when he toured with “The Mighty ‘O’,” a 1953 Oldsmobile show.

$3 million in 1956 money works out to about $25,700,000 in 2013 money. Or about a third of the cost of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”. The NYT piece seems to be mostly promotion for a new book: Everything’s Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals. But I’ll admit: I’m intrigued by the book, and will probably purchase it at Half-Price when it shows up there.

Apparently, there was a serious proposal last year to add bass fishing to the list of high school sports which are approved and regulated by the Texas University Interscholastic League. It did not pass. And honestly, I’m a little weirded out by the idea; where would students practice? How? How often? In boats or from the shore? Can you practice bass fishing in Midland? What would the bass fishing championship look like? Would it be televised on one of cable’s many outdoor channels?

(Not making fun of bass fishermen at all. I realize there’s an active bass tournament scene, and if that’s your thing, God bless you. I just think the logistics of doing this at the high school level are strange. Especially since if you’re a high school bass fisherman, you can probably compete in professional tournaments for real money; it isn’t like professional bass fishing is subject to the same sort of size and weight issue that high school football is.)

Posted in Books, Clippings, Music, Sports, Theatre | Comments Closed

TMQ Watch: the votes are in…

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

…and Richard Sherman is your 2013 Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-QB Non-RB MVP.

Mike the Musicologist made a good point to us last night, in reference to TMQ’s (and, we think, specifically Tony Dungy’s) comments about America needing more time away from football: the NFL is a profession. They call it “pro football” for a reason.

Our bosses would never say to us, “you need some time away from security. Take three or six months and go do something else.” And if we did decide we needed some time away from security, we wouldn’t expect to get paid – or for that matter to have a job when we came back. (Yes, there are some professions where you can take a sabbatical or a leave of absence, but not every year.)

So why do football players need “time away from football”, other than the usual rest, recuperation, and vacation you get in most other professions? What’s special about the NFL? Maybe the physical demands of the job, but we suspect that’s built into the training and off-season expectations of NFL teams.

As far as needing “time off from football” as a society, we already feel there’s a pretty long gap from February to August. The attention of society during those months is pretty much devoted to basketball and baseball; we don’t see a lot of football coverage during this period (major events excepted). Indeed, if we wanted “time off a sport”, our pick would be basketball: the 2012 NBA season ended on June 20th, 2013. The first preseason game of the 2013 season was October 5th. So that’s basically what, three months with no basketball compared to the NFL’s six months with no football?

“But don’t you agree college players need time away?” No, we pretty much agree with MtM’s other point: college is just the minor leagues for the NFL, and college players are every bit as much professionals as NFL players.

When you get down to high school and lower levels, yes, we’d agree that time away is needed. But we’re not sure that kids aren’t getting that; we’re still trying to figure out the UIL regulations, but so far we’ve determined that junior high kids can’t start practicing before the first day of school. (When do they have to stop? Good question. Any UIL rulebook experts out there? Feel free to comment.)

Posted in NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

TMQ Watch: January 28, 2014 (part 2).

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Where were we? Oh, yes: cheerleaders.

(more…)

Posted in Clothing, Food, Law, NFL, Pants, Sports | 4 Comments »

TMQ Watch: January 28, 2014 (part 1).

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

We were wrong, wrong, wrongity wrong! This is appropriate, as part of TMQ’s column this week is the “bad predictions review”.

Why were we wrong? We predicted last week that TMQ would use this week’s column for lots of gratuitous TV bashing. Instead, there’s pretty much…none.

So how does TMQ fill column space in this, the most boring week in football? After the jump, this week’s TMQ…

(more…)

Posted in Books, Clippings, Law, Neuroscience, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

TMQ Watch: January 21, 2014.

Friday, January 24th, 2014

It is official. It is now impossible for us to care any less about the Super Bowl (or, as some are calling it, “The Pot Bowl”) than we do now.

But we still have this week’s TMQ to get through after the jump…

(more…)

Posted in Books, Clippings, Food, Law, Neuroscience, NFL, Planes, Sports, TMQ watch, TV | Comments Closed

Random notes: January 18, 2014.

Saturday, January 18th, 2014

Obit watch: Larry Monroe, former KUT-FM DJ. Yes, it was radio – worse yet, public radio. But I liked pretty much everything Monroe did for the station. I drove home from South Austin many Thursday nights listening to the “Phil Music” show, back when KUT broadcast city council meetings. (This was a long time ago, in another country. It was called “Phil Music” because it began with Monroe playing music while the council members were in private session and/or there were gaps in the broadcast; in other words, “fill music”.)

I don’t care much for golf. But, by way of Jimbo, one of the more interesting things I’ve read so far this year: Grantland writer discovers a woman who’s invented a revolutionary putter, and starts working on a story about her. Then things get weird.

Edited to add: adding link to MetaFilter discussion of the story above.

Posted in Clippings, Obits, Radio, Sports | Comments Closed

TMQ watch: January 14, 2014.

Thursday, January 16th, 2014

The playoffs have not been good to us. Our Saints are out. Our Packers are out. San Francisco is still standing. On the other hand, San Diego is gone, which means an end to the stupid “San Diego is destined to win the Super Bowl because they played Philadelphia in the opening game” meme. And our Patriots are still standing.

But enough about us. After the jump, this week’s TMQ…

(more…)

Posted in Books, Clippings, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch | Comments Closed

TMQ Watch: January 7, 2014.

Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

Ah, the promise of the new year. Ah, the promise of Gregg Easterbrook’s first column of the year. Ah, the promise of the playoffs.

After the jump, this week’s TMQ…

(more…)

Posted in Clippings, Mixology, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch, TV | 2 Comments »

Random notes: January 8, 2014.

Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

Jeff Ireland out as general manager in Miami, on the heels of the Mike Sherman firing. This is being spun as “by mutual agreement”:

A club source said Ireland was going to lose much, if not all, of his decision-making power. Owner Stephen Ross intended to hire an executive with personnel authority over Ireland, a situation that was not acceptable to Ireland.

106 individuals charged in a massive, multi-decade long Social Security disability fraud scheme. Included in the indictments are 72 former NYC police officers and eight former NYC firefighters.

More to come. I’m getting a slow start this morning, but I do plan a gun show post as soon as I’m able to get one up. Assuming Lawrence doesn’t beat me to it.

Posted in Clippings, Cops, Firings, Law, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

Firings and other random notes: January 7, 2014.

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014

At this point, it is probably easier to list who the Houston Texans have not fired:

Assistant head coach/defensive line Bill Kollar.

Also out of a job: Miami offensive coordinator (and former Texas A&M head coach) Mike Sherman.

The latest episode of “American Experience”, which is airing tonight on most PBS stations (7 PM on KLRU, with repeats at 1 AM and 3 AM) is an adaptation of Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook, about forensic toxicology in New York during the 1920s and 1930s. I thought this was a swell book, and I generally enjoy the “American Experience” documentaries, so I commend this to your attention.

Posted in Books, Clippings, Firings, Geek, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

And another one down…

Saturday, January 4th, 2014

Legendary former Houston Oiler Mike Munchak, who went on to coach the Tennessee Titans for three seasons, was fired today.

He was 22-26; the team finished 7-9 this year.

The decision ends Munchak’s 31-year run with the franchise that dated back to him being drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1982. Munchak later served as a long-time offensive line coach with the team before he was hired to replace Jeff Fisher in 2011.

Also:

The team offered him an opportunity to return, with conditions. Among them included parting ways with a good portion of his coaching staff. Munchak declined to do so, and the two sides agreed to part ways.

Posted in Clippings, Firings, NFL | Comments Closed

Ballad of the Houston Texans.

Saturday, January 4th, 2014

Now that Bill O’Brien has taken over, what’s going on?

Answer: he fired everybody just as hard as he could go. He fired Wade Philips and he fired Rick Dennison, and he fired some people that he didn’t even know.

Seriously: Wade Philips is gone as defensive coordinator. Rick Dennison is gone as offensive coordinator. Quarterback coach Karl Dorrell is gone. Defensive backs coach Vance Johnson is gone.

Reports from elsewhere say everyone is going to be fired before the day is out.

Musical hattip:

Don Helms from Wikipedia.

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Music, NFL | Comments Closed

TMQ watch: December 31, 2013.

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

More “we’re just not feeling the clever this week”. Might as well just open the box. After the jump, this week’s TMQ…

(more…)

Posted in Clippings, Mixology, NFL, Sports, TMQ watch, TV | Comments Closed

Firings watch.

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

Carol Ross, head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, was fired yesterday.

Well, actually, she was laid off. Along with her staff. And the entire front office staff.

And the team’s current owner has said that they are “no longer in a position” to continue with the team.

Asked if the Sparks would field a team for the 2014 season, or if the franchise would fold, [WNBA President Laurel] Richie repeatedly said that several entities have expressed an interest in owning a WNBA team and the league is exploring those options regarding the Sparks.

Posted in Clippings, Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Bloody Monday.

Monday, December 30th, 2013

This is your official Monday after the end of the season coach firings post. I’ll try to update this during the day as coaches are let go.

Starting at the beginning: the Browns didn’t even wait for Monday. Rob Chudzinski was fired last night after one season.

Yeah, they finished 4-12, but I kind of feel like Chud was being used as the scapegoat for years of bad decision making by the previous management of the Browns. Really, one season? A season in which you traded away a previous first round draft choice (who turned out to be a bust)? I smell a scapegoat cooking.

Edited to add 1: Looks like Mike Shanahan’s firing as head coach of the Redskins is now official, as opposed to merely speculative.

Edited to add 2: Leslie Frazier out in Minnesota. 21-33-1, and the Vikings were actually a playoff team last year. It does seem like most of their games this year were competitive until near the end, and I don’t think Frazier was the problem with this team. You know, the Texans could probably do a lot worse than Frazier…

Edited to add 3: Stepped away for a little while to run some errands. While I was out:

Greg Schiano out as head coach at Tampa Bay, along with general manager Mark Dominik. Schiano was 11-21 over two seasons. Perhaps now he can return to what he really loves; beating up middle school children for their lunch money.

Jim Schwartz out in Detroit. Also out: offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and recievers coach Tim Lappano. Schwartz was 29-51 over five seasons, and actually took Detroit to the playoffs once. Once.

Also, it looks like the Redskins are engaged in a major housecleaning: eight of Shanahan’s assistants are gone as well, including offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

Posted in Clippings, Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

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