I was reminded the other day that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus had closed recently, and it got me to thinking about animal rights, particularly from a libertarian perspective.
Ringling Brothers…no more.
First, a bit about where I stand: I eat meat; I’m fine with employing animals for their labor; I’m also fine with keeping animals for companionship. We have an English bulldog who’s pretty awesome, if occasionally stubborn and flatulent. I hunt and fish, and I don’t have a problem with killing an animal that I’m not emotionally attached to for food. But, I don’t want to cause any unnecessary suffering to any animal, and I don’t think anyone else should, either. If someone intentionally hurt my dog, I’d inflict as much pain as possible on them, and maybe on their children, too. Ideally, I’d eat free range meat, but I haven’t done my research yet to figure out what that entails (or even means) and how to go about it.
Circuses are out for me. I don’t want animals to be kept in captivity for my entertainment. Zoos require some nuance. Some zoos exist purely for entertainment, and there are many examples of cases in which the animals in these zoos aren’t treated well. However, there are also many zoos (and aquaria) which have multiple functions of research, education, and, entertainment. I’ve had the privilege of visiting some excellent ones, including the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Vancouver Aquarium. These zoos have biologists on staff who conduct studies to better understand the animals, as well as biologists charged with the care and well-being of the animals. As an added benefit, those of us who aren’t biologists can visit and learn about, and, yes, be entertained by the animals.
I’m torn on medical experimentation on animals. While I realize that medical experimentation can cause suffering to animals, I recognize that it can also relieve the suffering of humans.
Now, on to the perspectives on animals rights that I was aware of beforehand. One perspective is that animals are not humans, and thus have no rights. Another is that there’s no special sauce that distinguishes humans from other living creatures (indeed, we share an overwhelming percentage of our genetic material with most other living organisms), and thus animals should have the same rights as humans. I think that these are both extreme views.
Given that western civilization is heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian values, it’s not a coincidence that the origins of some western values on animal rights can be traced to the Bible. Genesis 1:26 says “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Saint Francis preachin’ it.
However, there are also many examples in Judaism and Christianity that hold that humans should care for and protect animals (see Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, and the analogy of Jesus as the shepherd). (Aside: ZARDOZ seems mostly concerned with grain production, but what does He command about animal rights?)
So, what are the libertarian perspectives on animal rights? It seems to me that a libertarian’s view on animal rights is largely dependent on whether one views animals as “individuals” that are afforded rights, or property, which has no rights of its own. In this respect, libertarian viewpoints on animal rights parallel libertarian viewpoints on abortion (which come down to whether one believes that a fetus has rights). My research seems to indicate that, as with abortion, the majority of libertarians seem to come down on the side of animals having no rights, but it’s certainly not unanimous.
Next week, the final push for the playoffs begins, and it figures to be pure madness, at least in the NFC. Twelve teams have at least a puncher’s chance at one of the six playoff spots available. In the AFC, it’s looking more and more like the Steelers and Patriots are on a collision course for the conference championship game – but they’ll have a dress rehearsal for it in two weeks at Heinz Field. As of this writing, no one has clinched anything yet, so this season’s final four weeks figure to be quite dramatic.
But again, that all starts next Sunday. With week 13 being the relative calm before the storm, let’s look back at the career of one of the NFL’s greatest players, Barry Sanders.
AFC WEST
Kansas City @ NY Jets – I’m officially off the bandwagon
Denver @ Miami – just don’t make me watch it
NY Giants @ Oakland – Geno Smith is no kind of answer for the Giants’ woes
Cleveland @ LA Chargers – Sure, they’ll boff it up in the playoffs, but they are ROLLING now
We’ve all got our favorite football team; for most of us, it’s the hometown team. If not, it’s the team we rooted for before we moved. Others jump on the bandwagon of whoever the team of the moment is. Usually, the custom for sports fans is to overly praise their team’s best players while barely acknowledging the other stars of the game.
Some players are so good they’re exempt from this. In the 1990s, if your favorite team wasn’t the Detroit Lions, chances are you were a fan of their running back, Barry Sanders. Whether Sanders was the best running back of all time, or even of his own era, is open to question; the entertainment value of his running style was not. For ten years, Barry Sanders dazzled football fans from coast to coast with an inimitable running style. Only a handful of players past and present could claim even a vague similarity, as Sanders’ approach demanded imagination, risk-taking (no Hall of Famer ever lost more yards while trying to gain yards), a pair of legs that can execute any change of direction his brain could throw at them, and the ability to accelerate like a dragster.
AFC NORTH
Pittsburgh @ Cincinnati – Next week is the trap game
Cleveland @ LA Chargers
Detroit @ Baltimore – close game to the home team
Barry Sanders was no less unique in between plays. In the 1990s, the practice of celebrating after every play was rapidly becoming the norm. Players like Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin were establishing the template for the modern NFL star; Barry Sanders was more of a throwback in terms of temperament. Sanders just simply jogged back to the huddle regardless of whether he’d lost five yards, gained five, or gained fifty. After a touchdown, Sanders’ signature celebration was to simply hand the ball to the nearest official.
If anything, Barry Sanders was probably too humble considering his abilities. Maybe humility was the key to his success; perhaps a refusal to revel in success spurred him to keep working, to fight for yards, to pursue excellence. Maybe he was working against a native complacency. In any case, it’s clear that the roots of Barry’s demeanor came from his father, the late William Sanders. This profile of the elder Sanders by TJ Simers certainly helps make the son’s behavior between the lines a little more understandable.
AFC SOUTH
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville – Jags bounce back at home
Houston @ Tennessee – Titans keep pace with Jags
In a 1993 interview in SPORT Magazine (that I can’t find online), the subject of rushing for 2000 yards came up. Barry talked about how special OJ Simpson was in his playing days, noting that Simpson’s 2000 yard season came in a 14-game schedule. The other 2000 yard rushers had gotten there in a 16-game season. (Simpson was primarily a north-south runner, but even well into his forties he could still slash through a double-team)
Barry Sanders’ Hall of Fame contemporaries were Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas. While Sanders was arguably the best of the three, Sanders was inarguably in the worst situation. Emmitt Smith ran behind the greatest offensive line ever assembled. If opposing defenses put eight men in the box to stop him, he had a HOF QB in Troy Aikman throwing to HOF WR Michael Irvin. Emmitt Smith was a huge talent, but huge talent around him helped him gain more yards on the ground than any running back in history. Thurman Thomas had comparable assistance in HOF QB Jim Kelly and WR Andre Reed. Barry Sanders, by contrast, didn’t have the same kind of talent to work with. WR Herman Moore had several great seasons playing with Sanders, but not a HOF career. Sanders’ QBs were a bigger step down: Bob Gagliano, Rodney Peete, Erik Kramer, end-of-career Dave Kreig (who wasn’t top flight in mid career), Scott Mitchell, and Charlie Batch. The 1990s belonged to Emmitt Smith’s Cowboys, who won Super Bowls in the 1992, 1993, and 1995. Thurman Thomas’ teams went to four straight Super Bowls.
Barry Sanders didn’t have an opportunity to play in even one. Sanders was in his third season when the Lions lost the 1992 NFC Championship game. In the 25 years since, the Lions haven’t gotten past the wild card round since then, losing eight times.
AFC EAST
New England @ Buffalo – The most gut of gut-feeling picks I could ever make
Denver @ Miami
Kansas City @ NY Jets
After two weeks had gone by in the 1997 NFL season, the Detroit Lions were 1-1 – but no one was talking about Barry Sanders rushing for 2000 yards. Through two games, Sanders had gained 53 yards on 25 carries. A more relevant question at that time might have been: Is Barry Sanders done? Sanders was 29 years old, in his ninth season, with more than 11,000 rushing yards on his odometer. (Of course, in week two he had caught 8 passes for 102 yards, which probably kept the naysayers from speaking too loudly). Heading into week three, Sanders would need to run for 322 yards just to get back on to a 2000 yard pace.
NFC WEST
LA Rams @ Arizona – Like the Jets most weeks, expect the Cardinals to keep it close in defeat
Philadelphia @ Seattle – The Eagles aren’t going to finish 15-1
In week three of the 1997 season, Barry Sanders looked like his old self, rushing for 162 in a 32-7 win at Chicago’s Soldier Field. And over the next few weeks, Sanders piled up the yards while his team alternated wins and losses like a see-saw: 113 in a road loss at New Orleans, 139 in a home win over Green Bay, 107 in a road loss at Buffalo. Thru six weeks, the Lions were 3-3, but after an unrecognizable first two weeks, Barry Sanders had gained 574 yards.
Then Barry Sanders stepped his game up.
NFC NORTH
Minnesota @ Atlanta – Just when I thought the Falcons were fading, they’re surging late
Tampa Bay @ Green Bay – Rodgers, Hundley, doesn’t really matter against Tampa
Detroit @ Baltimore
San Francisco @ Chicago
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had built one of the best defenses in NFL history. From 1997-2005, the Bucs defense was the envy of the league. With Tony Dungy’s Cover 2 scheme executed by the likes of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, and Ronde Barber, Tampa’s defense ranked in the top five in either Points Against or Yards Against, usually both, seven times in those nine seasons. In 1997, the Bucs were #2 in Points Allowed and #3 in Yards Allowed. In week two, the Tampa defense held Barry Sanders to 20 yards on 10 carries in defeating the Lions at the Silverdome, 24-17.
Sanders’ revenge was extraordinary. In the rematch at Tampa, Sanders was magnificent against Tampa’s stout defense, gaining 215 yards on 24 carries in a 27-9 road rout. Whatever had plagued Sanders in the first two weeks was a faded memory. Five weeks later, Sanders notched his second 200 yard game of the year at home against the Colts. Through 15 weeks, Sanders had run for 100+ yards in a league record 13 consecutive games. And he needed 131 yards in the final game of the season to become just the third player ever to rush for 2000 yards in a season.
But at 8-7, the Detroit Lions needed a win to get into the 1997 playoffs. So did their week 16 opponents, the 9-6 New York Jets.
NFC SOUTH
Carolina @ New Orleans – the Game of the Week goes to the home team
Tampa Bay @ Green Bay
Minnesota @ Atlanta
Sometimes, real life makes its way into a football game. The threat of serious injury hangs over every game, over every play, but rarely does a life-threatening injury take place. More rarely does such an injury follow a simple two-yard run, but with just under 12:00 left in the 4th quarter, with the Lions leading 13-10, Lions linebacker Reggie Brown came up to stop the Jets’ Adrian Murrell; the collision resulted in a spinal cord contusion for the Lions LB. Wikipedia:
[Brown] lay motionless for 17 minutes on the turf at the Pontiac Silverdome, briefly losing consciousness, with CPR saving his life.[2] Emergency surgery saved him from using a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
The incident sent a chill through the stadium. Players on both teams were visibly shaken and upset, but the game had to be finished. A playoff spot awaited the winner.
NFC EAST
Washington 14 @ Dallas 38 (F-11/30)
NY Giants @ Oakland
Philadelphia @ Seattle
Neither team could make progress on offense throughout the fourth quarter. After a Jets interception and a pair of punts, the Lions had the ball at their own 42. Barry Sanders, who had gained 129 yards on 21 carries to that point (extending his league record to 14 straight 100 yard games), needed just two yards to get to 2000 for the season; he got exactly two with his next carry. Naturally, with the game being played in Detroit, there was an acknowledgement of the moment. Sanders appeared to be exiting the game…but then he lined up in the backfield again. And Sanders fans were nervous. Everyone who was familiar with Barry Sanders at all knew that one more touch might mean lost yards. One of Sanders’ weaknesses lay in his willingness to give up yards to gain yards; sometimes those strategic retreats were stopped in the backfield.
Following that run, three more kneel-downs sealed the Lions’ trip to the postseason. Barry Sanders finished his season with 2053 yards on 23 carries. In the process, Sanders had done what he praised OJ Simpson for – gaining 2000 yards in 14 games.
This is my review of Platform (Cleveland, OH) Smokin Fineapple Gose.
I was graciously given the day off by my employer in observance of Veteran’s Day. I took the day mostly to hang out with my kids and on my way home I noticed the FEDEX truck driving around my neighborhood. Way to work it on a Federal holiday, FEDEX!
I got my box, fed my kids, and let the sender know the Maguffin arrived. Then I tore it open! I got some schwag: stickers, a new pint glass, a D-ring/keychain. Somewhere in there was some beer. Hat Tip of all hat tips: Nephilium.
Immediately the Gose caught my attention. I’ve had a few that were made with lemon but pineapple seemed a bit off for this style. I decided that I’ve trusted the judgement of others only to come back with a sour apple martini so I dismissed these fears and put it on ice.
This link here has a few methods on cooling beer in a few minutes time, some without electricity. The absolute fastest way to chill a beer without electricity is to take a disposable tupperware container large enough to hold the can/bottle. Poke a couple holes in the sides and in the center of the lid. Put the beverage into the container and ‘seal’ it. Then take a can of compressed air and insert the straw attachment into the hole in the lid. Invert the can of compressed air and go to town. You may want to wear gloves. It should take only a minute of two to empty the can but the results will be chilling. So in the event of the apocalypse we all can still have a cold drink. Thankfully, I don’t live in Somalia so the refrigerator sufficed.
The Gose is sour but the pineapple has a nice subtle sweetness to it to counter it. It also has sea salt floating in the mix so the result reminds me a bit of grilled pineapple. Its pretty good, but I was wrong about this one being the most interesting thing in the box. Platform Smokin Fineapple Gose: 3/5
Others in the box included:
Masthead American IPAFat Head Sunshine Daydream IPA
Masthead American IPA: 3.2/5 The head says it all, it has a lot of body and delightfully floral.
Fat Head Sunshine Daydream IPA. 3/5. I had this one the next night in observance of fight night, for obvious reasons. It was better than majority of that card.
Millersburg Brewing Panther Hollow Vanilla Porter 4.5/5. Hell yeah! Go find it, right now. Don’t worry you can record your college football game and/or Man City (probably) won. Don’t hesitate to get a six-pack.
Hoppin Frog Infusion A Coffee Porter: 3.8/5. A bit more bite than expected but overall is solid. It’s like a light imperial stout.
Finally the most interesting thing in the box, not just because it’s watching you.
Saucy Fauxbia White Stout
This one calls itself a ‘white stout’ so go ahead and insert an appropriation joke. The malts are roasted with a high intensity heat that doesn’t seem to alter its color. It’s like grilling chicken with too much flame, where the outside looks good but the inside is raw. The result is something akin to a nice bitters with a smoky finish. Do you like Scotch Whisky? You’ll probably like this. Saucy Fauxbia White Stout: 4.1/5
So the bottom line: it may be easy for us to make fun of Cleveland, unless you’re in Detroit, but their beer is most excellent. Thanks Nephilium!
I have known of the movie Zardoz since I was a kid but never watched it until last night, and I must say, “Huh?” Exterminators get guns from a giant head, who haphazardly tosses shotguns and shells at anyone who can pick them up. What about infiltrating Brutals? Zed proceeds to climb into the head while no one was watching, (maybe Arthur, who knows?) and shoots Arthur in the arm, causing his death, which can’t be because he’s an Eternal.
Zed lands in the scenery for the Prisoner and finds the only person (Mae) (Ginger yum) with no soul to make contact with, gets caught up in the Tabernacle Bullshit, and is forced to leave, OK. (I’m a Ginger, my Wife is a Ginger, and yes, we have no souls.)
And where are the boobies? Is that what the British have to put up with? No wonder we created a new country, full of boobies!
Attacked by people who can’t fight their way INTO a plastic bag? Then run when Zed breaks out of a PLASTIC BAG?…. OK. If you break the law you are aged, so where did the 300 hundred-year-old tuxedos and dresses come from? Leaving ’em in storage for later? What later? Zed apparently breaks the Tabernacle at just the moment The Exterminators come in to clean house? And of course, Consuela and Sean make a baby and grow old. It’s amazing how good Sean Connery looks compared to the movie version of him aging.
What the Hell did I watch? I love early 70’s movies: washed-out scenes, horrible dialogue, and a certain Hippie-je ne sais quoi, FWIW, but this was a complete 70’s mess. The storyline is typical for the time, which is none! Maybe I should torture myself and watch it again and again until my Brutal thoughts are cleansed, but no.
I suggest the Charleton Heston dark series which includes: Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes (World Ender), Soylent Green, The Omega Man.
These are all early 70’s movies. Some period, some not, but a good glimpse of Sci Fi from the era.
This is part two of our series The Two Best Super Bowls, Ranked
#1 Super Bowl 43
Most of the time, football teams make the Super Bowl because they played top-notch football from September to January. There are only sixteen games in an NFL season, so there really isn’t time for teams to play poorly for a long stretch of games. When the playoffs start, if you’ve got money riding on which teams will make it and which won’t, save yourself some time and write off teams that won fewer than 11 games. In the last 17 Super Bowls, contested by 34 teams, 29 of them won at least 11 games.
When a team gets into the Super Bowl with a 9-7 record, it means they’ve won three straight playoff games to get into the Super Bowl. Although the 2008 Arizona Cardinals did manage to win three in a row during the season, that modest accomplishment was their high point. In a home-heavy schedule that featured four opponents that would make the playoffs, the Cardinals slumped badly down the stretch, losing four of their last six games by a total of 97 points. They did win their division, but they had the worst record of any NFC playoff team. Unlike the legendary squads that played in Super Bowl 25, these Cardinals weren’t nearly as stacked. Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was the trigger man under center, and his favorite target was future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald. It was these two men, Fitzgerald in particular, that paced the Cardinals in their three playoff wins. A 9-7 team had never before reached a Super Bowl, and it was also the first-ever Super Bowl appearance in the largely forgettable history of the Cardinals.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, were long accustomed to championship football. They won four Super Bowls in six seasons from 1974 to 1979. Just three years prior, the Steelers won a record-tying fifth Super Bowl, and behind stars like QB Ben Roethlisberger, WR Hines Ward, LB James Harrison and S Troy Polamalu, the Steelers went 12-4 en route to their 7th Super Bowl appearance. If Super Bowl 25 was a clash of Fire and Ice, Super Bowl 43 was a classic David vs. Goliath matchup.
AFC WEST
LA Chargers 28 @ Dallas 6 F (11/23)
Buffalo @ Kansas City – Switching QBs every week can’t be good for business
Denver @ Oakland – At this point, Denver’s 2018 draft priority ought to be clear
PREGAME
Jennifer Hudson belted out a great rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner…which someone recorded and played back through the stadium speakers before the game. So the main event can have missed kicks and bungled snaps and turnovers, but don’t you guys DARE miss one stinkin’ note before the game. Rubbish.
AFC NORTH
Houston @ Baltimore – how’s two in a row sound, OMWC?
Green Bay @ Pittsburgh – pencil the Steelers in for Super Bowl 52
The first quarter was dominated by the Steelers. They held the ball for 12:27 and outgained the Cardinals 135 to 3. True, the only points in the quarter were a Steelers field goal, but they were just five yards from paydirt as the quarter drew to a close. Ben Roethlisberger was in fine form to start the game, particularly on this 3rd-and-10 play.
Pittsburgh 3, Arizona 0
AFC SOUTH
Tennessee @ Indianapolis – Should be a close one
A little sumpin’ sumpin’ to ward off the ugly
Jacksonville @ Arizona – “Sacksonville” vs. a backup QB ought to be ugly
Houston @ Baltimore
SECOND QUARTER
After the Steelers finished off their drive from the end of first quarter (11 plays, 69 yards, 7:12), the Cardinals got the ball back with a minute gone by in the second quarter, trailing 10-0. They answered the Steelers’ long touchdown drive with one of their own (9 plays, 83 yards, 5:12), and the battle was joined. The teams swapped punts, then things got a little crazy.
What an opportunity for the Cardinals! Down 10-0 at one point, outplayed for a majority of the game thus far, and now creating a turnover just 33 yards from the end zone? This team may have finished 9-7, but they clearly knew how to hang in through adversity. Four completions later, the Cardinals were just three yards away from a four-point lead, halfway through their first Super Bowl.
Unbelievable. The Cardinals were poised to at least tie the game with a chip shot field goal; instead, they were in the same position they were facing 14 minutes prior. Maybe the 2014 Seahawks should have watched this game prior to their last Super Bowl appearance; throwing anything but an outside route inside the five-yard line seems to be a bad idea in Super Bowls.
Pittsburgh 17, Arizona 7
AFC EAST
Miami @ New England – the last time Miami won the Super Bowl, Tom Brady was -3
Carolina @ NY Jets – the Jets will return to their “just good enough to lose a close one” ways
Seattle @ San Francisco – Seattle injuries are catching up to them, but not this week
New Orleans @ LA Rams – the win streak stops here
Jacksonville @ Arizona
THIRD QUARTER
It was a near-repeat of the first quarter: Pittsburgh controls the clock and manages a field goal. Through three quarters, the Cardinals had achieved little offensively. But defensively…that was different. The defense had only surrendered 13 points, and on two occasions bent-but-didn’t-break. There was the first quarter field goal where the Steelers drove 71 yards on 9 plays, consumed 5:15 on the clock, but got no further than the one-yard line. The second field goal-hold was an even more impressive display by the Cardinal defense, warts and all.
The drive began on the Steeler 18. First play, run stuffed for -3 yards. Second play, six-yard completion, but a 15-yard facemask gave the Steelers a fresh set of downs. Three more plays, another first down. Next play: incomplete pass, but another 15-yard roughing the passer gave the Steelers another set of downs. So far, that’s 47 yards on the drive, 30 by penalty. Then the Steeler offense managed a couple of chunk plays in amongst some stuffed runs and incomplete passes. After the last incomplete pass, it was fourth and goal from the nine. Jeff Reed made a 27-yard field goal…then the Cardinals committed a third personal foul penalty.
Incredibly, after everything that had occurred, both throughout the game and during this drive, the Cardinals defense held again, at last without a penalty. Reed’s next field goal attempt was five yards shorter, and also good.
Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 7
NFC NORTH
Minnesota 30 @ Detroit 23 F (11\23)
Chicago @ Philadephia – the Bears are a year away at least
Green Bay @ Pittsburgh
FOURTH QUARTER, part one
A Cardinal drive that began late in the third quarter stalled after six plays. Through 46:19, the Cardinals had managed just 7 points. Their defense, called upon to keep the game close all night, held yet again. The Steelers went three-and-out, punting the ball to the Cardinals with 11:30 left. At last, with no margin for error, the Cardinals got back into the end zone, covering 87 yards in 8 plays in 4 minutes. On the ensuing possession, the Cardinals defense again forced a three-and-out. They couldn’t take advantage on offense, however, punting the ball away after eight plays. It was now Pittsburgh’s turn to hurt themselves via penalty, and a personal foul placed the ball at the one-yard line. On third down, Ben Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes for 19 yards…only, the Steelers committed a holding penalty in their own end zone. Safety!
Pittsburgh 20, Arizona 16
NFC SOUTH
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta – The Falcons are finally getting on track; too little, too late?
Carolina @ NY Jets
New Orleans @ LA Rams
FOURTH QUARTER, part two
Pittsburgh’s free kick after the safety was returned to the Cardinal 36. On first down, Kurt Warner threw an incomplete pass. On second down, this happened.
Incredible. The Cardinals had been playing from behind all game long. Their offense had been mostly stymied for three quarters. They had faced setback after setback along the way. Competitive resilience is the hallmark of champions, and the Cardinals showed that, despite whatever flaws they possessed, they had it. The touchdown was Fitzgerald’s second of the quarter, and it was the signature play of a postseason for the ages. He set records for receptions, yards, and touchdown catches in a single playoff.
When Pittsburgh regained possession at their own 22 yard line, they had two timeouts, the two-minute warning, and 2:30 left, needing only a field goal to tie the game. But they faced a Cardinal defense that had shut them down for three straight series; all the momentum was on the Arizona side of the ball.
Ben Roethlisberger went to work. After an offensive holding penalty on first down, he scrambled out of danger near his own endzone for a 14-yard completion. That play, plus two more completions, moved the Steelers ahead 38 yards; he then added four more on a run of his own. Timeout Pittsburgh, 1:02, ball at the Arizona 46.
Santonio Holmes absolutely tortured the Cardinals on the final drive. He already had 27 yards on two catches; after the timeout, he caught an 11-yard pass, then spun and dashed all the way down to the six-yard line, making it a 40-yard reception. Timeout Steelers. They were now in chip shot field goal range with 49 seconds left.
Unlike Super Bowl 25, there’s a lot less history to draw on for this game. Six HOFers played in Super Bowl 25; some players in Super Bowl 43 are still active today. Only one player from 43 is in the HOF (Kurt Warner), but Larry Fitzgerald, Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison, and Troy Polamalu all figure to get in fairly easily.
This game was an amazing experience. There were defensive plays, defensive stands, superb quarterback play, shocking turnovers, crushing penalties, huge swings in momentum…the Patriots had a greater comeback a year ago. There have been better individual performances. There were Super Bowls with more lead changes. But this Super Bowl had a little of everything, and both teams performed admirably. It’s my choice for the best Super Bowl of all time, and this opinion doubles as a fact.
Southern Tier brewery…. from Lakeside, NY? Odd. I like to think we have come full circle with the whole Stout thing. There’s too many things one can do with it. As it turns out, this is one of the simplest styles of beer to make. The flavors that go into it can range from subtle to intense, so realistically you can add almost anything to it and come out with a palatable product—except Sriracha. For example, after four years of studying chemistry and STILL not learning how to make VX nerve gas, I took this up:
This is probably my third attempt at recreating something wonderful. Back in Colorado, I threw together a now unknown mixture of chocolate malts, Champaign yeast, English hops, Rainer cherries and sprigs of vanilla. It was amazing. I gave it to a friend of mine who said it was amazing but he still preferred whisky and that he was keeping the bottle because the bottle was a convenient place to put excess screws and nails.
Why is it now unknown? I left the ingredient list on a fruit based mobile device. That fruit based mobile device was dropped on a tile floor by a child—my child. I tried to restart it, I tried shaking it, and even pressed both buttons at the same time. Nothing. I took that device to the fruit based store and was told that I could purchase a refurbished fruit based mobile device, or a new one. It was done and I was slightly poorer, but at least I still had my tunes.
This one is rich, and has a nice milk chocolatey aroma to it. There is certainly a nice citrus aftertaste to it. It does indeed taste like a chocolate orange at first. The reason I like it is because at 10% ABV, it tastes like something I made in my closet by accident. This is best reserved for a cold winter’s night, which means I need to go outside and put my feet into my 55-degree pool to simulate a cold winter’s night. I found this one at Total Wine. Southern Tier Chocolate Orange: 3.9/5
Another thing brewers add is peanut butter. Don’t let the name of this one fool you, you’re probably going to like it. Even if you don’t care for the information in that fun map I left at the bottom. This beer, being from California, reminded me of the podcast my wife played on a road trip. I was driving, so normally I wouldn’t care, but given the subject was excise taxes, I grudgingly listened in.
Never mind the moral issues they said. The argument they focused on was that excise taxes altered the behavior of the people taxed and thus were effective at achieving the ends of the state. One of the examples they used was a tax on soda in Berkeley which did reduce the sales of soda—in Berkeley. They even conceded residents could still get cheap soda somewhere else. Which is a bit of a no-brainer, and really didn’t get into the ill effects of excise taxes. One of the ones they did mention was the taxes artificially reduced the supply of the taxed goods by pushing out smaller producers who cannot profit from the inflated price nor justify their product at the new price by reducing supply. The price after all, is determined by supply and demand. Because a producer cannot reasonably control demand, the consideration for the new market price + tax must come from a decrease in supply. I would guess this assumes the product is not something like insulin. It is outlined at this link here and honestly, I did not previously consider the angle presented. I like the moral argument against excise taxes better–mostly because it’s easier for me to explain and it’s also more convincing.
I probably shouldn’t pick beer based on its ability to irritate me. Whatever you think of excise taxes and I think I know what you think of them, the beer is good. Mother Earth Brew Co. Sin Tax Peanut Butter Imperial Stout 3.7/5
Good day, jive turkeys! Now that we have you wrapped in a wooly blanket of tryptophan and some kind of gluttony-related guilt. We would like to discuss your reading habits.
SugarFree
My October horror kick held on through November. I read my first John Farris book. As much as I like the 70s and 80s horror novel boom, I missed Farris somehow. His biggest claim to fame is The Fury, the novel adapted into the film of the same name by Brian DePalma–DePalma and Amy Irving’s second swing at the telekinetic teen revenge drama that came out right after the masterful Carrie. I read All The Heads Turn As The Hunt Goes By, a pleasing blend of High Gothic’s Cursed Family, voodoo, and H. Rider Haggard’s She Who Must Be Obeyed. It starts strong, slows down for a good bit of exposition and then all hell breaks loose. Highly entertaining.
Less so, was Colin Wilson ham-handed attempt at Lovecraft, The Mind Parasites. Written on a Dare from August Derleth after Wilson insulted Lovecraft, The Mind Parasites starts off well enough–Cyclopean cities pre-dating human civilization, madness, industrial psychology and mescaline–but collapses in a confused mess of vast mental powers unlocked through discovery and resistance to the titular Mind Parasites. If you are going to delve into Wilson, The Space Vampires is the way to go, even if, for some deranged reason, you aren’t a fan of Tobe Hooper’s lunatic 1985 adaption as Lifeforce, that movie people only watch for the nude mute space vampire girl that nearly destroys London. (Link is SFW)
jesse
I’ve been a bit audiobook heavy this month with Victor Gischler – Ink Mage: A Fire Beneath the Skin, (Book 1), Michael Crichton – The Great Train Robbery, and A. G. Riddle – Pandemic: The Extinction Files, (Book 1) Crichton remains a favorite light read and I’d never gotten to TGTR. The content was different than I expected but the pacing, informativeness and balance of tension and humor were exactly what I hope for when picking up a Crichton novel. Ink Mage was a solid fantasy novel that works fairly well as a standalone, but left enough hanging to make the sequel seem worthwhile. A young woman’s life is torn away from her by quisling traitors and by god she’s gonna get her duchy back. Pandemic actually reads (listens?) like a Crichton novel, although not quite to the level of one. If you like fictional conspiracies, pandemics and heroic epidemiologists, this may be the book for you.
Napoleon Hill – Outwitting the Devil. Napoleon Hill is the godfather of the self-help movement and (allegedly) a “fraudster.” Outwitting the Devil was written around the same time as his other works but was withheld from publication until everyone remotely associated with it had died. It’s a fascinating bit of autobiography and a rambling conversation with the Devil about what the Devil does to trip people up. My mother had started reading it and put it down because it was too weird (this is a woman who was telling anyone who would listen that a tetrad of blood moons on Jewish holidays over an arbitrary period of time was a portent of doom!). I’m glad I took it off her hands because while it’s an absolute hate-read, it’s an interesting insight into the completely bonkers source of modern self-help.
Kai Ashante Wilson – A Taste of Honey is a short novel by the same author as The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps. These stories take place in a future earth with a set of gods who are really just more genetically advanced humans and mortals who are pretty standard issue, but have a bit of mutagenic witchery to them. Wilson has been lauded for queer characters of color enough that I thought I’d find Sorcerer a hamfisted trainwreck, but the diversity was handled deftly and never got in the way of storytelling. When I saw another book out, I picked it up immediately and have been delighted by the level of world-building Wilson is able to do in ~160 pages.
Brett L
What did I read this month? Ah yes, Mark Lawrence’s collection of shorts set in the Broken Empire world, Road Brothers. Two of these were really good and added to the whole Mark Lawrence does a great job of standing traditional fantasy on its head. The rest were not bad. The one featuring Jorg’s younger brother alive is — a bit heavy-handed.
I also read A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. I have read a good bit of the Gulag Archipelago, but this book has been much discussed by Jesse in particular of late. It seems like another planet where people could be worked and/or starved and/or beaten to death with great regularity for basically being exposed to other cultures. I had forgotten just how banal it all seems on the page there.
JW
Did you know that there’s 120 calories per serving for these Grape Nuts Flakes?
Old Man With Candy
SP laughs her ass off every time she sees the books in the bathroom. I’m currently immersed in Technology for Waterborne Coatings, which I got at a book sale for a buck. It’s delightful, every chapter making me wonder what’s going to happen next.
A mystery in my life is who sent me Cork Dork, a saga of a writer’s quest to achieve the status of Master Sommelier. I know quite a few of the people she meets or discusses in this book, and if you want an account of all of the things I hated about the world of fine wine, it’s here. All of the shallowness, pretension, unhealthy obsession, gaudy show-off, and wasted lives are on display. Interestingly, at some points, you can see the author starting to face some basic economics, then quickly back away. One telling point for me was the New York restaurant-centric approach, which manages to miss the best sommeliers, Masters of Wine, wine lists, wine writers, and importers in the US- her mentors had never heard of Ann Noble, for example, which is like finding physicists who never heard of Poincaré. I have been sorely tempted to write about wine and how to avoid the sort of shit the author rolls around in. (And yes, I thought “Sideways” was an absolutely terrible movie)
Riven
I’m still working on The Skinner by Neal Asher. It’s been a busy month, so I’ve probably only read another chapter or two since weighing in last month. Wah wah. Maybe I’ll get more read this weekend while visiting in the in-laws?
SP
I’ve been enjoying revisiting the Cliff Janeway mystery series by John Dunning. I’d forgotten what a pleasure they are to read.
Janeway is based in Denver, and although somewhat predictable in plot, I love the main character and I love the book seller tidbits sprinkled throughout. In a past life, I was tangentially involved in the rare and antiquarian book trade and these details are such fun.
I listened to one volume from Audible while doing a cross-country drive recently. It was brilliantly read by George Guidall, perhaps my favorite book narrator of all time. It’s super handy that the audio book syncs with the e-book; a seamless transition from one device or location to the next.
It is a scientific fact that Caddyshack is the best movie of the 1980’s. Not only does the movie accurately depict the summer of my junior year in college spent as a ranger on a golf course, it also showcases some of the best comedic talent of the era. Chevy Chase as Ty Webb, a simple-minded millionaire playboy with a natural gift for golf. Bill Murray as Carl Spackler, a dim-witted groundskeeper who engages in an ever-escalating war with a gopher that’s burrowing holes throughout the course. And Rodney Dangerfield as Al Czervick, a boorish millionaire whose gaudy lifestyle and off-color remarks draws the ire of the club’s blue-blood establishment, as best personified by Ted Knight’s character, Judge Smails.
Throughout the movie, our hero, caddy Danny Noonan (whose last name will forever be remembered by golfers who have heard it whispered to them mid-stroke as they putted) tries to impress the stodgy Judge Smails in order to win a caddy scholarship while also trying not to betray his true self. It is a coming-of-age morality tale interwoven between campy sexual references (“Hey everybody, we’re all getting laid tonight!”), silly, but effective, turn-of-phrases (“Thank you very little”), drug references (“Cannonball!”), and pure Bill Murray (“So I got that going for me. Which is nice”). But, the movie also highlights a clash between the nouveau riche, as embodied by Dangerfield’s character, and the established upper class, as embodied by Judge Smails. A conflict that is being played out in our national politics.
Dangerfield’s character is rude and uncouth, much like our orange-tinted president whose tastes defy gaudy and uncultured, along with his public persona being impolite and offensive. But, at the same time, the caddies and other staff on the golf course don’t seem to detest Dangerfield’s character nearly as much as they do Judge Smails. His gruff remarks convey a degree of honesty. Though he is no less a liar than Judge Smails, his lies are so clearly transparent that no one feels deceived. And his unwillingness to be polite hides no ulterior motives. Everyone knows what Dangerfield’s character thinks because he declares it for everyone to hear, much like our president via Twitter.
They were also in Tron.
In contrast to Dangerfield’s character, Judge Smails is presented as part of a self-important and corrupt establishment that cares little about people not of their class. Much like the public views the president’s enemies as dismissive of those beneath them. Smails is well polished and presents himself as someone who upholds the rules of respectable society, but in actuality, everyone knows he cheats. In much the same way that the American public at large believes that their betters are liars and cheats.
At the movie’s climax, the protagonist, Danny Noonan, is presented with an option: either help Dangerfield win a golf bet against Judge Smails and lose his college scholarship or fall in line with an established order that he detests for his own personal gain. Judge Smails advises him against helping Dangerfield, but Noonan ignores his advice, much like voters in 2016 rebuked the advice of the ruling class.
In the final scenes of the movie, the two sides of the golf bet are even. Noonan needs to sink his final putt in order for Dangerfield to win the bet. After a comically long moment of anticipation, Noonan’s putt wins the golf bet for Dangerfield and the workers at the golf course are ecstatic. Everyone from Noonan’s love interest to a fellow caddy who he has sparred with throughout the film crowd around him in a raucous celebration. The victory is actually Dangerfield’s, who was the principle of the bet against Judge Smails, but he is seemingly ignored. Dangerfield, much like our President, served as only the vehicle for these workers to register their frustrations with the golf course’s blue-blood establishment. The workers gained nothing from Judge Smails losing his bet: Noonan will not be able to afford college without the caddy scholarship that he’s forsaken and the rest of them will go back to the same jobs the next day. Their celebration is surely fleeting, but for a moment they take enjoyment in besting their betters.
Various contributors came together to make this submission happen. Thanks, guys!
From R C Dean
Not sure what the name of this one is, but the maple syrup makes it very autumnal.
3 oz. Rye (or bourbon – I prefer rye for just about any cocktail)
3/4 oz. Orange Juice
1/3 oz. Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Dark Maple Syrup
4 – 6 dashes bitters (Angostura works, but I also like Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel)
Seltzer (couple ounces)
Orange garnish (optional)
I originally saw this “stirred, not shaken”. In my experience, you may not get the maple syrup to fully dissolve by stirring, so I prefer to make this one in my trusty shaker (also, drinks with citrus are classically shaken). The RC Dean method is to put everything but the seltzer and garnish in a shaker, pour over ice, top with seltzer and garnish. Protip: if you add the seltzer to the shaker, you will get a spectacular mess, so don’t do that.
From Nephilium
So here’s a recipe (modified from an issue of BeerAdvocate) I’ll be doing for a dessert this year:
Pumpkin Imperial Stout Tiramisu
Ingredients
1 pint heavy whipping cream
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp clove
¼ cup Dry Malt Extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 cup mascarpone cheese
24 oz Rasputin Imperial Stout (or any other good Russian Imperial Stout)
3 packages ladyfinger cookies
1 cup Simpsons Special Dark Roast Malt, ground to a powder
cinnamon, ground
powdered sugar
Notes: DME and Simpsons Special Dark Roast can be acquired at your local homebrew store. Otherwise you can substitute ovaltine for the DME, and cocoa powder for the Special Dark Roast
Directions
In a medium bowl, add cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and DME. Mix this until soft peaks form, then set aside. In a different bowl, mix together the pumpkin and the mascarpone until fully combined. Fold the pumpkin mixture into the spiced whipped cream until blended (some streaks are fine), and then set aside.
Pour the stout into a shallow bowl or a pie plate. Select your serving container (I usually use a 13 x 9 pan, but you can use whatever size you wish). Then you begin the assembly of the tiramisu. Dip ladyfingers into the stout for 10 seconds, then flip them, and let them sit for 10 seconds again. Then place the ladyfingers into your serving container until you have a single layer. Then take a third of the pumpkin cream filling and distribute it over the ladyfingers. Dust with malt powder, then add another layer of soaked ladyfingers. Top the second layer with pumpkin cream and then garnish with malt powder, some cinnamon, and powdered sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.
If you use a smaller container, you can go to three layers of each, or even four. Do what you want, it’s your dessert.
From DblEagle
AGED EGGNOG
Dozen egg yolks (reserve the whites for something else)
1 lb sugar
1 pint half and half
1 pint heavy cream
1 pint whole milk
1 cup rum
1 cup cognac
1 cup bourbon
1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
1/4 teaspoon (((kosher))) salt
-Beat egg yolks, sugar and nutmeg until falls off a whisk in a smooth ribbon
-Combine the dairy, booze and salt in different container
– Slowly beat the booze mixture into the egg mixture
-Store in glass container(s) for 2 weeks to 2 months* in refrigerator
Serve in glasses with nutmeg (fresh is best) garnish
* You can (and I have) drink immediately but the aging time enables the tastes to smoothly combine
How to Roast a Whole Turkey with Playa Manhattan:
Don’t. White meat is well done at 165F. Dark meat is well done at 185F. Whenever possible, roast the crown separately from the legs and thighs, otherwise, part of your turkey is going to be overcooked.
For presentation purposes, if you feel that you must serve the bird whole, there is a workaround: plumping. Inject the breasts with enough flavorful liquid to slow down the temperature rise in the white meat. In addition to a 3 day soak in my brown sugar orange/lemon brine, I inject about 6 ounces into each breast before cooking. If you like a more natural, plain turkey flavor, I suggest using an injectable called “Make it Meaty”; it’s quite possibly the most perfect plumping solution I’ve ever come across. As an added bonus, it contains sodium phosphates, which will cause the meat proteins to absorb even more liquid than if you just used a plain salt/sugar brine. You can find the mix on Amazon here. There’s nothing worse than dry turkey, so do what needs to be done, even if you consider it cheating. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
From Old Man With Candy: What We’ll Be Drinking:
SP and I regard Thanksgiving as an excuse for gluttony. At the same time, we realize that vegetarian gluttony may not suit everyone, but in our defense, “vegetarian” does not mean “healthy” or “low fat” or “devoid of flavor.” In recognition of this, rather than spilling our vegetarian recipes (which will be made by exactly zero people here), we’ll talk about the bottles that can grace the tables and lure you into a delightful sense of drunkenness. These may be a bit of a splurge, but hey, holidays deserve better than Beringer White Zinfandel.
I admit that I’ve never eaten turkey, but I am told that rosé pairs well. In which case, you owe it to yourself to scarf up a bottle of Francois Cotat Sancerre Rosé, made from Pinot Noir grown in the Loire Valley. Current vintage is 2016, and you can’t go wrong. Unlike most other rosés, the Cotat is actually ageable, so if you find an older specimen, it will be very much worth buying. For a red, I like to be patriotic and drink domestic on T-day, and one of the very few California wineries that has avoided the blowtorch oak-bomb style of Zinfandel is Dashe. Their “L’Enfant Terrible” series (or variously, Les Enfants Terribles, depending on the bottling), made from various vineyards, is a don’t-miss. Natural winemaking: native yeast, no enzyme or flavoring packages, restrained oaking. Pure essence of fruit and soil. For whites, we can actually go cheap and grab some Seyval Blance from New York’s Finger Lakes- we have some Bully Hill in stock, which is very good, very inexpensive, and very reliable. If you want to get fancy, grab some Riesling from Michigan, like the wonderful Chateau Grand Traverse Block 12. And while you’re buying it, grab a bottle of their Late Harvest Riesling for dessert. Not “with dessert,” mind you, FOR dessert, preferably served with a fine quality Wisconsin cheddar. If you are having a chocolate dessert, run, do not walk, to a good wine shop to snarf a bottle of Dr. Parce Banyuls. You’re welcome.
Wherein SP cheerfully ignores OMWC’s comment above about not sharing our recipes
(Use the ingredients in the parentheses for Not Vegan)
2 tbsp white sugar (or honey)
1/2 tsp salt
1 2-1/4 tsp packet rapid-rise yeast
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, give or take – divided
1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or regular milk)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp margarine, and a bit more for finishing (or butter)
With a small whisk, combine the sugar, salt, yeast and 1 cup of flour in a small bowl.
In a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, heat milk, water, and margarine or butter to about 105F (41C). If it’s too hot, let it cool a bit before using.
Place the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer. With the machine running, pour in the liquid ingredients. Process or mix for 2 minutes or so. Scrape the bowl sides, add 1/2 cup more flour and beat or process until a soft dough forms, about 2 more minutes. The dough will be sticky, but should loosely hold its shape.
If the dough is too soft, mix in the rest of the flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough is still soft but holds shape. Turn the dough out and let it rest on a floured surface, covered, for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, grease an 8-inch round cake pan. An actual 8-inch pan, not man “8-inches.”
Divide the dough into 8-12 pieces and shape into rounds. (I am a little compulsive, so I weigh the dough to have rolls of the same size at the end.) Place the shaped rolls in the greased cake pan, cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375F.
Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until nicely browned. If you wish, brush the top of the rolls with a little melted margarine or butter. Serve pretty close to immediately.
And you thought you couldn’t bake yeast breads from scratch!
From jesse.in.mb
My family found out I wouldn’t be showing up to Thanksgiving with artichoke dip* and fresh baked bread this year and an aunt has dropped her normal provisioning in favor of hanger-management an appetizer. *A chef friend asked me not to share her recipe, this is will get you close enough though. For the past two years I’ve been making extra batches for the BF’s family’s Thanksgiving which I was invited to and it has been strongly hinted that I should continue the tradition and perhaps bring my Aunt Sheryl’s (PBUH) apple pie. I know everyone has their favorite apple pie recipe, but this one is better and I’ll consider disagreement an act of aggression.
Aunt Sheryl’s Dutch Apple Pie
Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
2Tbsp all purpose flour
¾tsp cinnamon
½ fresh lemon
6-8 tart (Granny Smith) apples pared, cored, and sliced (equaling 6 cups)
Combine first three ingredients. Put apples in crust, sprinkle dry mix over apples then squeeze ½ lemon over them (can be left for up to 24 hours in the fridge for more flavor).
Crumb Topping
½ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
Combine flour and sugar, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of apples.
Bake at 400 for 45-50 minutes
A clash of contrasting styles is usually a reliable indicator of a highly competitive contest, and Super Bowl 25 was one of the best Irresistible Force vs. Immovable Object matchups in NFL history. The Buffalo Bills, fresh off a 51-3 pasting of the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC Championship game, were the premier offensive force in the NFL. Leading the league in points scored and point differential, the Bills featured a Hall of Fame trio in Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed. Their #2 receiver was James Lofton, a player with a strong Hall of Fame case himself. But the New York Giants had already shown that they were up to the task of dealing with a powerful offense, holding the San Francisco 49ers to just 13 points at home in a 15-13 shocker in the NFC Championship game. The Niners, bidding to become the first three-peat Super Bowl champions in history, could not get on track despite their own formidable firepower led by Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
While the Bills stars shined brightest on offense, the cream of the Giants’ crop was on the defensive side of the ball. Hall of Fame OLB Lawrence Taylor anchored a defense replete with star defenders:Taylor, ILB Pepper Johnson, and NT Erik Howard all made the 1990 Pro Bowl, with Johnson earning All-Pro First Team Honors. CB Everson Walls had made the Pro Bowl multiple times throughout the 1980s. LB Carl Banks was an All-Pro in 1987. DE Leonard Marshall was twice an All-Pro in his career. And the coordinator of this star-studded unit was none other than Bill Belichick. The Giants defense led the league in scoring defense and were second in yards allowed.
The Bills and Giants were meeting for the second time that season in Super Bowl 25; their first matchup took place on December 15, 1990 at the Meadowlands. The Bills won 17-13 and, in the process, knocked out the Giants’ starting QB Phil Simms. He would miss the rest of the season, meaning the Giants would have to try to win the rematch without their starting quarterback of the previous six-plus seasons. And this time it would be for all the marbles.
AFC WEST
Kansas City @ NY Giants – Andy Reid’s teams are money after a bye
Cincinnati @ Denver – The skid has to stop sometime
New England @ Oakland (Mexico City) – There’s one AFC team that can beat the Pats, and this ain’t the one
Buffalo @ LA Chargers – switching to a rookie QB won’t work on the road
PREGAME
Okay, so it turned out that this performance of the national anthem wasn’t live. So. Bloody. What. Does anyone think that Whitney Houston couldn’t have nailed it live? Everyone who watched that day was positively floored. Unbelievably, sadly, more than half her life was already behind her then, at just age 28.
AFC NORTH
Tennessee 17 @ Pittsburgh 40 F (11/16)
Baltimore @ Green Bay – Sorry OMWC, but I don’t trust your guys on the road. Hope you have fun, though
Cincinnati @ Denver
Jacksonville @ Cleveland – This week’s Upset Special
FIRST QUARTER
Ponder this: the Giants kicked off to start the game, and Buffalo’s Don Smith returned the ball 20 yards to the Bills’ 34 yard line where he was brought down…by the kicker, Matt Bahr. The Bills went three-and-out, and their punt was returned by New York’s Dave Meggett for 20 yards to the Giants’ 31 yard line where he was brought down…by the punter, Rick Tuten. Both Smith and Meggett wore #30. Both men were born on the 30th (Smith in October, Meggett in April). This was Super Bowl 25 – Smith was drafted in the 2nd round, Meggett in the 5th. ILLUMINATI: CONFIRMED
The first quarter was very much a Giants-style quarter. Low scoring, field-position battle, Giants controlling the clock. There was a bit of excitement when Buffalo’s James Lofton hauled in a tipped pass and went 61 yards with it, but the Giants kept the Bills offense out of the end zone.
New York 3, Buffalo 3
Fan interpretation of what the Browns’ cheerleaders might look like.
AFC SOUTH
Tennessee 17 @ Pittsburgh 40 F (11/16)
Jacksonville @ Cleveland
Arizona @ Houston – two backup QBs, take the home team
SECOND QUARTER
The game could have gotten away from the Giants if not for a private lapdance from Lady Luck. With six minutes gone by in the second quarter and the Bills leading 10-3, the Giants were backed up to their own seven yard line on second down and ten.Then this happened.
Yes, the Bills did increase their lead to 12-3. But how many times does a play like that NOT result in a stripped ball? How on earth did backup QB and 70’s pornstar Jeff Hostetler hang on to that ball? After the safety and a few punts later, the Giants got back into the game just before halftime with a 10-play, 87 yard touchdown drive that consumed just 3:24 off the clock. It was their quickest scoring drive on the day, mostly because it had to be – the drive started with 3:49 left in the half.
Buffalo 12, New York 10
AFC EAST
Buffalo @ LA Chargers
New England @ Oakland (Mexico City)
Tampa Bay @ Miami – I wish I could pick against both
HALFTIME
Wikipedia, you got this:
The halftime show was titled “A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl”. It was produced by Disney and featured over 3,500 local children from different ethnic backgrounds and a performance by boy bandNew Kids on the Block, with special guest Warren Moon.
NFL EXECUTIVE #1: All right, we’ve got that cool new band to perform at halftime.
NFL EXECUTIVE #2: Great – let’s do bigger. We’ll have Disney do a thing with a bunch of random kids.
NFL EXECUTIVE #1: Even better. How about we round up some Super Bowl legends – you know, for the 25th anniversary? Bart Starr, Mean Joe Greene, Don Shula, guys like that?
NFL EXECUTIVE #2: We could do that…ORRRRR, how about instead we get one current player who’s never played in a Super Bowl?
NFL EXECUTIVE #1: (beat) That…that is gold. Gold, Roger, gold!
NFC WEST
Atlanta @ Seattle – something something General Sherman
Arizona @ Houston
LA Rams @ Minnesota – The Rams are due for a humbling
THIRD QUARTER
The Giants shut out the Bills in the third quarter, largely by keeping the ball for the entire quarter: out of the fifteen minutes available, the Giants held the ball for 12:07, including a then-record TD scoring drive of 9:29 to open the second half.
If the Hostetler safety-that-somehow-wasn’t-a-fumble wasn’t a sign that it wasn’t Buffalo’s day, perhaps this play was that sign. Mark Ingram needed 13 yards to keep the Giants’ drive alive on third down and deked, juked, and outfought five tacklers to get 14 yards. But just as the end of the second quarter motivated the Giants to get the offense going, so did the end of the third fire up the Bills. After a fourth down stop, the Bills knocked out 32 yards in three plays to end the third with some momentum.
New York 17, Buffalo 12
“Look over there!”
NFC NORTH
Baltimore @ Green Bay
LA Rams @ Minnesota
Detroit @ Chicago – Detroit has a lot more to play for
FOURTH QUARTER
Just eight seconds into the fourth, the Bills reclaimed the lead on a 31-yard Thurman Thomas run. The Giants responded in characteristic fashion, holding onto the ball with a miser’s grip. Their first drive of the fourth quarter put New York back on top with a 21-yard field goal, draining another 7:32 from the game clock. After a swap of punts, the Bills took possession on their own 10 yard line with 2:16 left in the contest. The Buffalo Bills, the masters of the no-huddle but stymied all game by the Giant defense, had just one timeout and the two minute warning left with a championship on the line.
Jim Kelly scrambled twice for nine yards. On third down, Thurman Thomas scampered for 22 yards but an inbounds solo tackle by Everson Walls kept the clock running. Back to the air, Kelly hit Andre Reed, vacuum-sealed by the Giants defense all game, for four yards. Next play, Kelly had all the time in the world against a three-man rush but nowhere to throw it, so he tucked the ball and ran for nine. Timeout Bills, 48 seconds left. On the ensuing play, TE Keith McKellar did what he could to be a hero,snatching a low throw out of the jaws of an incomplete pass. The gain was only for six yards and the clock continued to move, but yards were hard to come by all game long. Play stopped with 30 seconds left for an official review of McKellar’s catch, and after confirming the call the Bills resumed their drive. Thurman Thomas gained eleven more yards on a run to get the Bills to the Giants 29 yard line before Jim Kelly spiked the ball on first down, stopping the clock with eight seconds left in the ballgame.
New York 20, Buffalo 19
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta @ Seattle
Washington @ New Orleans – No one in the NFC wants to tangle with the Saints right now
(technically, the final play was a Hostetler kneel-down in victory formation*, but whatevs)
*Not a euphemism
“Or you could look over there!”
NFC EAST
Washington @ New Orleans
Kansas City @ NY Giants
Dallas @ Philadelphia – with Elliott out and Philly at home, take the Eagles in a barnburner
AFTERMATH
– It was a well-played game: just eleven penalties combined, with no turnovers by either team
– There was a precedent for awarding the game MVP to a player on the losing team (Chuck Howley, Super Bowl V), and it should have happened in this game. Thurman Thomas (15 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD; 5 catches, 55 yards) outperformed every other player on the field. The actual winner, Ottis Anderson, had a good game (21 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD; 1 catch, 7 yards), but it was not up to Thomas’ level. Consider also that Thomas achieved this against THAT defense, whereas Anderson played against a lesser defense that was on the field for over 40 minutes…come on now.
– The Bills would make the Super Bowl in each of the next three seasons, but got drubbed in all of them. The next-closest loss in their Super Bowl history would be in their last (or most recent for you optimists): a 30-13 loss in Super Bowl 28
– Winning on an opponent’s missed field goal is good luck, and the Giants have had more than their share of good luck in Super Bowls. The Hostetler safety was surely the best stroke of luck a team could have in a championship game, but David Tyree’s shining moment is in the same zip code
– One way to stop an offense is to keep the ball out of their hands: the Giants kept the ball for 40:33 in a 60-minute game
After Seals leveled Hostetler, the Giants…gave Hostetler an ammonia cap to sniff. He later admitted that much of the first half was “kind of a blur”. Hostetler’s older brother Ron…said in the postgame locker room “If the three knockdown rule had been in effect, they would have stopped the fight. He still isn’t sure where he is.“
Yikes! Today, they would have carted Hostetler off the field in that condition and the writeup would have, without fail, reminded us how risky and potentially life-shortening this game is, and that the NFL will surely address player safety issues, blah blah blah. In a sense, I’m glad for all these national anthem protests, because before the media and the left in general realized that woke players could be influential political allies, they all wanted football gone. Now football’s great – at least if you ask them.
Football has never not been dangerous, risky, or life-shortening. It’s brutal. It’s large, powerful men in body armor colliding repeatedly at high speeds. But they have chosen to accept those risks. Some have chosen not to take those risks, many have. It can be sad to see former players as broken-down old men. But that sight will always be with us as long as they play football, and when the For Your Own Good crowd starts talking about banning football, I get irritated. It’s not their choice to make.
This series concludes next week. Here’s a sneak preview:
This is part two of our series The Two Best Super Bowls, Ranked
AFC WEST
AFC NORTH
AFC EAST
NFC SOUTH
NFC EAST
I got my box, fed my kids, and let the sender know the Maguffin arrived. Then I tore it open! I got some schwag: stickers, a new pint glass, a D-ring/keychain. Somewhere in there was some beer. 
LA Chargers 28 @ Dallas 6 F (11/23)
New Orleans @ LA Rams – the win streak stops here
Tampa Bay @ Atlanta – The Falcons are finally getting on track; too little, too late?
Never mind the moral issues they said. The argument they focused on was that excise taxes altered the behavior of the people taxed and thus were effective at achieving the ends of the state. One of the examples they used was a tax on soda in Berkeley which did reduce the sales of soda—in Berkeley. They even conceded residents could still get cheap soda somewhere else. Which is a bit of a no-brainer, and really didn’t get into the ill effects of excise taxes. One of the ones they did mention was the taxes artificially reduced the supply of the taxed goods by pushing out smaller producers who cannot profit from the inflated price nor justify their product at the new price by reducing supply. The price after all, is determined by supply and demand. Because a producer cannot reasonably control demand, the consideration for the new market price + tax must come from a decrease in supply. I would guess this assumes the product is not something like insulin. It is outlined at 
Dangerfield’s character is 
Not sure what the name of this one is, but the maple syrup makes it very autumnal.
Kansas City @ NY Giants – Andy Reid’s teams are money after a bye
AFC EAST
