For various reasons – some obvious, some that we’re keeping to ourselves – we’re having a hard time getting in the Christmas spirit this year. This might help a little bit:
Or possibly not. After the jump, this week’s TMO…
“To say many teams mailed it in this week actually is sugarcoating. They didn’t even phone it in. They barely bothered to text it in.” You can now skip the first 763 words of this week’s column. However. we do like “Chan Gailey has acted all season as though he was fired last season,”
Also: “Every quarter ought to matter.” So, Gregg, why do you keep hammering that teams that are ahead should be pulling their starters. If “every quarter ought to matter”, shouldn’t the best players be on the field as long as possible? (Don’t get us wrong: we think that if a team has a massive lead, giving the second and third string guys a chance is a good idea. We’re just tired of Easterbrook being a self-righteous prig about that.)
“…it was refreshing to hear that Eric Dickerson does not want Adrian Peterson to break the single-season rushing record.” More on Eric Dickerson.
Sweet: Dallas – Pittsburgh. Sour: Baltimore – Denver. Mixed: Dallas – Pittsburgh again.
TMQ suggests that, instead of giving gifts this year, make a charitable donation in someone’s name. We’ll give his recommended charities a free plug here:
- Teak Fellowship, which “helps talented New York City students from low-income families gain admission to and succeed at top high schools and college”.
- Berea College, which “does not charge tuition because it accepts only students from poor families”.
- World Vision.
- Doctors Without Borders.
We’d like to add to that: if you feel like getting TMQ Watch a gift this year, we’d appreciate a donation to Heifer International in memory of Dr. William Zeus Bligh-Glover.
Creep. “Since Bucs coach Greg Schiano thinks it’s fine to risk injuries on the last snap of a game by charging an opponent’s kneel-down, presumably he had no problem with New Orleans openly running up the score on staggering City of Tampa, keeping Drew Brees on the field in the fourth quarter despite a 31-0 lead.” But, Gregg! “Every quarter ought to matter.” Folks weren’t paying to see second-string players!
Tragically, TMQ‘s “BBQ Grill Light and Fan” is showing as sold out. But it looks like you can still get the Glove Hat. Man walks down the street in a hat like that, you know he’s not afraid of anything.
Cam Cameron, scapegoat. How to manage rising college costs: move to Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, or Wisconsin, take AP courses, take extra classes and graduate early.
The Chiefs: WTF? Chicken-<salad> kicks: Philadelphia. Can you take a Zodiac 6,000 miles? (Bligh sailed the lifeboat from the Bounty about 3,600 miles.)
TMQ thinks the “digital divide” has not come to pass:
The falling cost of electronics has made them accessible to many — of course not all — disadvantaged households. Your columnist tutors at a Maryland housing project, and of the apartments of disadvantaged families I’ve been in during the past two years (obviously an unscientific sample), each has had at least one flat-screen TV, at least one current-generation video game console and high-speed broadband.
We expected something like this when people first started talking about the “digital divide”: falling electronic prices would make things so cheap they’d be given away in cereal boxes. But we were under the impression that broadband Internet access was still a big problem for the urban poor, so Easterbrook’s point that they have high-speed broadband is…interesting? (Also, good on TMQ for being a tutor.) TMQ’s other point is that this is leading kids to waste more time playing video games, etc., to which we say “that’s what parents are for, Gregg”.
“The defending champions are in serious jeopardy of missing the postseason party.” Gee, we hope so.
Private jet abuse. “…there is no hint of evidence in the past decade that commercial jetliners are more dangerous than private jets.” Actually, it seems to us that there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary.
“The Patriots are 3-3 in games against teams likely to make the playoffs, a middling record, and finish the regular season with Jacksonville and Miami, a combined 8-20.” Middling. We like the sound of that word.
The Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Which reminds us: we actually watched part of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl the other night. (It was playing on the big screen as we dined.) Here’s their sponsor page.
The Bills now are 1-4 in “home” games at Toronto and seem to save their worst for what ought to be an important marketing opportunity.
There’s a new helmet report out from Virginia Tech.
Valdosta State 35, Winston-Salem 7. Marian (Ind.) University 30, Morningside (Iowa) College 27. Thus ends the obscure college score of the week for this year, and TMQ takes the chance to drag out another paragraph of auto text from Microsoft Word.
It looks like there will be a “mini-TMQ” on Christmas Day, so we’ll try to follow through with a mini-TMQ watch between watching marathons of “Pawn Stars” and whatever sleazy crime is being profiled on “Investigation Discovery”. Until then, keep your turkey frier away from the Christmas tree, and have yourself a merry little Christmas.