Eli's YouTube Show

I watched Eli Manning’s YouTube show, based on the New York Giants. Watched several episodes. Guests included brothers Peyton and Cooper, Michael Strahan, Bill Murray, and comedian Kevin Hart. Eli said he’s been so busy working for the Giants, taping his shows for YouTube and ESPN+, and Monday Night Football that he hasn’t had time to golf.

Eli and Bill Murray went out to Brooklyn, where Murray spoke French with tourists from France, and posed for pictures. The tourists had no idea who Eli was. Murray said a good thing for tourists to do was take the Circle Line cruise around Manhattan, as you can learn a lot about the city. That’s where Murray sends all his tourists. Murray said on many of his movies, especially the early ones, he ditched the script and made up almost all his dialog. When he was stuck in a cab taping a movie in korea he had the driver teach him how to speak Korean.

Also on Eli’s show: a lady from Food Network introduced The Inflatium, a blow up stadium that holds snacks for football parties. At Party City or Amazon. Look it up. You need one for your Super Bowl party !!! I’ll come !!!

Watch those games yesterday? Both teams I was rooting for won. When the offense substitutes players, they have to wait until the defense has time to substitute and get their players off the field. In those cases the referee will stand behind the center and tell him not to snap the ball until the referee says so. Teams love to substitute based on the situation. Plus the QB wants to wait until the defense gets set, so he can read the defense to see what they’re going to do, based on all his film study, and based on what the defense has been doing earlier in the game. The better QB’s are not the most athletic these days, but the ones that can best read the defenses.

Meanwhile the QB ought to notice when a defense isn’t ready, and get the ball snapped. But that might throw off the rest of the offense, who are waiting for last second signals. Sometimes a QB can just look at his WR and they’ll know what to do.

My beef? What I hate is when its third or fourth down with inches to go. Some QB’s don’t know how to take a snap from under center, so they have to snap the ball back five yards – so the QB or RB has to run six yards to gain the one yard needed for a first down – at the same time the defense is penetrating the line of scrimmage. On a short yardage play it seems obvious you want a quick hitting play, not a slow developing play.

Yesterday I heard that on short yardage plays Joe Burrow had gained the necessary yardage 28 of 30 times. Of was that Matt Stafford? More than once with the Lions Stafford would call a running play, then keep the ball himself, faking out his own tem in addition to the defense. One time he scored the game-winning touchdown on the last play of the game by keeping the ball and jumping across the goal line instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock.

This weekend’s golf tournament was indeed moved up because of football. They were saying Jim Nantz flew from golf to KC then to NYC for an appointment today, then out to Pebble Beach for this week’s tourney. I haven’t been watching much golf lately, but will watch Pebble Beach. 

Okie brought Shivonne his play toy bottle.

Friday evening I worked past six. Slept a little late Saturday morning. Cleaned upstairs, than did laundry downstairs, and helped with more decluttering. Not quite the carload to take to Goodwill, but close.

Later we drove down to Westside Provisions. Ordered my new glasses. Checked out Velvet Taco but ate at Taqueria del Sol. Spoke with the old guy who wrote the cookbook. Then we took Ponce out to Dekalb Farmer’s Market. Didn’t get home until well after eight.

Sunday School and worship. Live and in person. Made black bean quesadilla for lunch. Napped and watched football. Later C cooked meatballs and rice, and fresh green beans.

Today is the last day of the month, so plenty to do. Small group tonight. 

DAVE PARKER  [SABR Bio] On 17-Oct-1989, as McCarver was breaking down tape of Parker’s G 2 double off Rick Reuschel during ABC’S pre-game show for game three, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck. Parker was credited with his first major league hit three months before his major league debut. Parker’s major league debut came on 12-Jul-1973. He appeared as a pinch hitter and singled in a game at Wrigley Field that had been suspended on April 21st and resumed on July 26th, two weeks after his debut. His six blasts were enough to win the first All-Star Home Run Derby - the 1985 ASG HRD in Minneapolis. Even though he led National League right fielders in errors seven times, he is best remembered for two throws he made in one game. Parker gunned down Jim Rice and Brian Downing in the 1979 ASG.

Anna on her ski trip in Boone NC. 

Shiv: Three Months

Shivonne turned three today. Three months.

Watched Finding You last night, starring newcomer Rose Reid. Highly recommended.

Saturday morning eggyboy sandwich.

Went to Westside Provisions late Saturday afternoon. En line at Taqueria del Sol Ceil spied the author of their cookout, used so much by C and M. A few minutes later Ceil had a nice chat with him. He made a point to speak to me as well, as did the manager.

I had the brisket enchilada in the red meat sauce. Ceil a chicken enchilada in the lemon cream sauce.

Back in the day I bore a slight resemblance with ebullient tight end Russ Francis - a.k.a. Gronk 1.0. 

Back in the day Chris Collinsworth made a spectacular catch in the Super Bowl against the 49ers.  

Off-season Bay Area roller derby between the 49ers and Raiders. Hall of Famers Hugh McElheny (39) and Tom Flores (15) rocking their game uniforms.

Before playing Gabe's wife in Welcome Back Kotter, Marcia Strassman played Nurse Cutler on MASH. 

Bart Starr holds. Paul Hornung kicks. I loved the old skinny pants stripes. The Browns were still wearing numbers on their helmets. 

Born in Hungary, Pete Gogalak played soccer at Cornell. Spying an American football, he approached it from the side as he would a soccer ball. After leading the Ivy League in scoring he was drafted by the Bills in the 12th round. As a rookie Pete led the old AFL in scoring, and later helped start the bidding war for players with the NFL - which led to the merger.

Today's NFC / AFC championship game matchups.

On Twitter someone mistakenly thought Jack Lambert had appeared in The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds. The movie debuted during Lambert's rookie year with the Steelers.

Of course it was Packer great Ray Nitschke who played the corrupt prison guard.

Lambert did bear a passing resemblance to Nitschke. 

In fact Lambert was the 70's version of the 60's model Nitschke.

Ray stares down Falcons QB Randy Johnson.

After winning a championship Nitschke appeared on What's My Line, but hardly fooled anyone.

Some people are so miserable, they aren't happy until they drag everyone else down to their level.

Two GOATS

Bruce took Mary Hubert to a political rally last night to meet a candidate running for the US Senate – Herschel Walker. Not sure if David tagged along or not.

For some reason my daily emails from Bruce's former neighbor Jim Denison quit coming. I’m sure my blog readers are thrilled. Guess he heard me talking about how hard they were to digest. I will have to sign up again.

Augusta National is looking to hire a landscape architect to oversee changes in the course. Zane should apply. Or Will.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.golfdigest.com/story/augusta-national-golf-club-hiring-for-most-pressure-packed-job-in-the-world__;!!AE29DT8V!A-LQTKd5knPRC9dyfGHTfVj7DihT6Og1kiQ6mqdIvIiwBts1cWayatQZSFXDFtbUJHU$

Wednesday supper: picked up pizza at Pizzeria Lucca near the Roswell Square. C tossed a salad. M joined us. Not my fave.

CHRISTIAN YELICH  [B-R Bio] is the most recent National League player to reach the 30-30 club. He hit 44 HR and had 30 SB in 2019, joining the 30-30 club two weeks after Ronald Acuna. Yelich is the only player to collect two cycles against the same team in one season, on 29-Aug-2018 and 17-Sep-2018, both against the Reds. He was the last batter to ever face Roy Halladay. The Phillie great walked Yelich 23-Sep-2103, then walked off the mound with an arm injury.

Voters are starting to wake up to what’s going on in our government.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/25/when-will-people-finally-see-the-obvious/__;!!AE29DT8V!Bbb-mtFWu0fjVZjbgQpTiPIVWKxRbZaTrbHNFsCv7aH-TgeDCfmY7J5DHfelwwHjs7c$ 

Saw video of Anna skiing in North Carolina today. She's a natural.

Every CookOut Milkshake Flavor, Ranked

CookOut milkshake flavors, in order of my preference. Cheesecake milkshakes can come with Chocolate Chip, Caramel, Strawberry, Cherry, or Blueberry.

1. Butterfinger x

2. Heath Toffee x

3. Reese’s Cup x

4. Snickers x

Oreo x

Cheesecake x

Peanut Butter Fudge x

Strawberry x

Chocolate Malt x

Hershey’s Chocolate x

Double Chocolate

Caramel Fudge

Oreo Mint

Choc Chip Mint

Peach Cobbler x

Peach x

M&M

Choc Chip Cherry

Choc Cherry

Caramel x

Blueberry

Vanilla x

Mocha x

Orange Push Up x

Pineapple x

Banana Fudge

Banana Pudding x

Cappuccino

Red Cherry

Peanut Butter Banana

Banana Pineapple

Banana Berry

Banana x

Egg Nog x

Banana Nut

Walnut

Watermelon x

X = I’ve enjoyed one of these.

Don’t you hate seeing those “Everything Ranked” clickbait articles online?

Fast food apps are not all created equal. McDonalds is king. There are always plenty of decent deals to use. Often you can spend a dollar on a soft drink or McChicken and get a large Frappe or Chickfila type sandwich – deluxe if you like. The Wendys app is okay but doesn’t work all the time, like when you’re at the restaurant. Chickfila app is good, but doesn’t have as many deals as it used to. RaceTrac app is good – you get a free drink every month. Buy gas there and rack up easy points for ice cream or drinks or gas discounts. Taco Bell app doesn’t offer much.

Thursday: grabbed a banana shake from CookOut. Left at 5 pm to head home. Spent most of the drive home on work phone calls. Was all talked out. Missed my 630 meeting at church (and the BBQ). Ceil cooked meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

There are movies I often cry at the end every time I watch, like Field of Dreams. Actually I teared up a little last night during Heartland.

Spinning my wheels at work on Friday. Wasted 1-1/2 hours on one stupid phone call.

REID: Ralph Langley used to say that you take family problems to the grave. Funny story. Back years ago, I had a men's Sunday School teacher, Ed Dudley who was a referee for college football games. One Sunday, all the guys wandered into the room, but there was no Ed. We all had a seat and about 5 minutes later, Ed comes rushing in saying that he was sorry for his lateness but had just come in from out of state where he was refereeing. Then he told us that he had not had time to prepare a lesson to teach, but instead was going to give us a talk on Bear Bryant's Four Keys To Successful Coaching. Immediately, all the guys began scrambling to find a pen or pencil and paper to take notes. It was so funny, because nobody ever took notes in his class.

The four keys were:

1. Don't go into it, unless you can't live without it.
2. Surround yourself with good people.
3. Know how to pick a winner.
4. Have a plan for everything.

One of best Sunday School lessons ever taught !!!!

ME: Ed Dudley was a SEC referee and SPdL member. His daughter Margaret grew up at SPdL and is now at JFBC. Her son knew Will at UGA.

WILLIE McGEE  [SABR Bio] was the first National League rookie to hit two home runs in a World Series game, on 15-Oct-1982. He was once traded straight-up for a pitcher who never appeared in another major league game. McGee was traded by the Yankees to the Cardinals for Bob Sykes on 21-Oct-1981. Willie hit for the cycle in “The Sandberg Game” on 23-Jun-1984.

Dramady Tonight

So many sitcoms today don’t appeal to me. The Neighborhood started off good but went downhill, like so many shows. I like most all the main characters in Young Sheldon – the boy, his siblings and parents, grandmother and her friends: legendary stars Annie Potts, Craig T Nelson, Reba, and the squirrelly little man from Princess Bride. 

Not a fan of the preacher. Mom works at church, and there are several storylines that involve religion. Most times “religion” is ridiculed but in the end principles like Jesus, love, and faith shine through. Sheldon doesn’t believe in God, but his arguments don’t hold much weight. He respects his mother, who is often seen praying for her family. Before meals there is a blessing.

Young Sheldon is based on the boyhood of the main character in Big Bang Theory, another show that started off great, but devolved when it added additional characters like girlfriends for three of the four main characters.

New sitcom about a car company is terrible. Comes on after Jeopardy. No other shows that I watch besides Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady. I think I’ve watched all those shows. Ceil’s Heartland, a Canadian show about people on a small horse ranch, is good. 15 seasons to watch. She is re-watching White Collar, the FBI show that’s okay.

I need to watch The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was just before my time. King of Queens, The Office, and Parks & Recreation are other shows I need to keep watching. Ceil was goaded by her friends to watch some PBS show, but it wasn’t to my liking. Don’t think she liked it either.

There used to be a Saturday morning cartoon called Johnny Quest. Just learned Johnny was voiced by actor Tim Matheson when he was a boy. He was also on Leave It to Beaver, and a contemporary of Kurt Russell. Russell was once on Gilligan’s Island, as well as several Disney movies. They don’t make those like they used to.

The old funny papers. Used to read The Phantom all the time. Finally started reading Steve Canyon after several years of passing over it. Dick Tracy, Peanuts. Never could get into Little Orphan Annie. Her eyes freaked me out, and I was scared of Daddy Warbucks. Now he’s my favorite character. Terry and The Pirates wasn’t in the Atlanta Journal or Macon Telegraph. Don’t remember it being in the AJC on Sunday.

My monitors at work are hard to read. Not sure if it is the brightness or what, or if I need new monitors. I need to swap them out, but I hate messing with all the wires. I can adjust the brightness on my laptop but not when it is plugged in at work. Also need to make my little cursor arrow thing more noticeable. I move it around but can’t find it on the screen.

Sol Catering ? I had to check out their website. Looks good.

Drove Anna to the airport Wednesday morning early. Left home at 5:40 am. Picked her up at 6:20. Dropped her off at the South Terminal well before 7 am for her 8:10 flight to Denver. Made it to work by 7:20, a trip of 75 miles. One hour 40 minutes.

Anna and one other lady are attending the Outdoor Recreation Show at the Denver convention Center with the husband & wife owners of High Country. So Anna will have input on what the store sells for the next year. She flies back on Friday and then travels to Boone NC to snow ski.

Tuesday: work wore me out, but I managed to keep going until 5:30. Made several stops on the way home: Goodwill to (1) drop off a bunch of giveaways and (2) quickly browse the store, (3) the bank ATM that wasn’t working and (4) one that did, (5) McDonalds for a chicken sandwich, and (6) a convenience store.

Ceil was at her ministry, so I watched Jeopardy and Young Sheldon, then Heartland later.

McDonalds is coming out with a Chicken Big Mac.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/mcdonald-s-has-a-new-take-on-a-classic-that-could-be-a-global-hit/ar-AATaenV?ocid=entnewsntp

CARL YASTRZEMSKI  [SABR Bio] was the first American League player to collect 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. Had 3,319 hits and 453 HR (since joined by Cal Ripken and Alex Rodriguez). Helped that he also racked up the most at-bats in American League history - 11,988 career ABs. Despite his power, he needed 2,294 games finally to clout three home runs in one game. His grandson, however, only needed 70 games to accomplish that. Yaz’s first 3-HR game was 19-May-1976; Mike Yastrzemski’s first 3-HR game was 16-Aug-2019.

Andruw : HOF Case

 

Andruw Jones fell short of the hall of fame again this year. Every other player with ten gold gloves and 350 home runs were first ballot hall of famers: Mays, Schmidt, Kaline, Griffey, and Bench.

Here’s a comparison with Kaline, Harold Baines, Tony Oliva, and Dale Murphy.

BA.OBP.SLG.OPS

254 337 486 823 Andruw Jones

297 376 480 855 Al Kaline

289 356 465 850 Harold Baines

304 353 476 830 Tony Oliva

265 346 469 815 Dale Murphy

Andruw had almost 25% fewer plate appearances than Kaline and Baines, but had more home runs and stolen bases, and a higher ratio of doubles, RBI, and walks. Not to mention his defense.

YR.games.PA…runs..hits..2B...HR..RBI..SB

17 2196 07599 1204 1933 383 434 1289 152 AJ

22 2834 11597 1622 3007 498 399 1582 137 AK

22 2830 11092 1299 2866 488 384 1628 034 HB

15 1676 06880 0870 1917 329 220 0947 097 TO

18 2180 09041 1197 2111 350 398 1266 161 DM

Harold Baines of course won no gold gloves, and only made one more all star team in five more seasons of play. Condensing their stats into a 162 game average, Andruw bested Kaline and Baines in HR, RBI, BB, and SB. Not to mention his defense. Same with Tony Oliva, whose 304 career average paved his way to Cooperstown.

..G..PA.run..hit..2b..hr..rbi.BB.SB

162 637 89 143 28 32 095 66 11 AJ

162 663 93 172 28 23 090 73 08 AK

162 635 74 164 28 22 093 61 02 HB

162 665 84 185 32 21 092 43 08 TO

162 612 89 157 26 30 094 73 12 DM

Andruw wore out his body providing elite defense during his peak years while he was also an all star offensively. Then voters point out the tail end of his career while all but ignoring his peak ten plus seasons. Ozzie Smith and others made the HOF for their defense. Andruw was the greatest defensive centerfielder in history and hit 434 home runs. Perhaps more than Dale Murphy, Andruw deserves to be in the HOF.

Anna went back to Taqueria last Friday night.

Left shortly after 5 pm Monday and headed to small group. First time I had left work with the sun still shining in several days. Stopped by the Dollar Tree and library on the way. Hopefully I finally got my library card fixed.

Finished The Lincoln Conspiracy, about the secret plot to kill Lincoln in Baltimore as he traveled to Washington for his first inauguration. Now to finish 1944, about FDR.

Got home and tried on the five pairs of new glasses frames I had sent in for me to try out. Two look promising. Also received my new watch that I had ordered with focus group money, to replace my old broken watch.  Had to upgrade my phone’s operating system. Ate black beans and rice, and green beans.

Frantic day at work.

I do want to try the new Coca Cola beverage that has coffee in it.  Was tempted to get a McDonalds Frappe after work, but will try to be good. My weight loss has plateaued, and I eat more on weekends than at work. So this week I’m trying to buckle down. Hit the ten pound mark today, my lowest weight in years.

I hate hard erasers on pencils. I use a little school eraser here at work. Pencils can get old, especially the eraser part. The pencil I use at work is a Bob the Builder pencil we got when the kids were young, well over ten years ago.

Was trying to fix a paper jam on the printer until a younger guy stepped in to save me.

Top Burgers

Steak Shapiro's top Atlanta burgers (updated). I've only been to six of the fifteen. C&A just tried out the NFA Burger.

1. Bocado Old Milton Parkway or Westside

2. Cattle Shed Wine & Steak Bar Halcyon Way Alpharetta

3. Chops on West Paces Ferry

4. Evergreen Butcher & Baker on Hosea Williams Drive

5. Fred's Meat and Bread Krog Street Market

6. Grindhouse on Piedmont

7. Hero Doughnuts and Buns 33 Georgia Ave Summerhill

8. Holeman and Finch 675 Ponce

9. Houston's

10.Lucky's Burger & Brew in Roswell

11. Muss and Turner's 1675 Cumberland Pkwy

12. NFA Burger 5465 Chamblee Dunwoody in Dunwoody

13. Paige's Bistro & Pastries food truck in Triton Yards

14. Slutty Vegan

15. The Vortex in Little 5 Points

https://www.atlantaeats.com/blog/top-fifteen-burgers-in-atlanta/

Love me some Grindhouse. I try to meet up with Anna on Tuesday evenings when C is at her ministry, but for some reason Grindhouse is closed on Tuesdays. 

 

Atlanta Eats: healthy restaurant chains

1. True Food Kitchen

2. Flower Child

3. Seasons 52

4. Snap Kitchen

5. Zoe's Kitchen

6. CAVA: tried it, didn't like it.

7. Chipotle

https://american-eats.com/national/healthy-restaurant-chains-to-try-this-year/

Coworker Crazy John snuck a famous photo of Ben onto some of the signage around the office. I was first to notice.

First Bite: Ponko Chicken

Saturday night we ate at Ponko Chicken near downtown Alpharetta. VERY GOOD. Five delicious chicken tenders. The side salad was huge. Lots of fries. Other sides you can get include excellent green beans, white of brown rice, cole slaw, Japanese potato salad, or sweet potato fries. The chicken comes as boneless tenders or in tacos, sandwich, or salads, with three kids of sauces: ponko, spicy, or BBQ.

We went with three other couples, and sat in the back room at a large table. Ponko is located in The Maxwell, a new development on Highway 9 just south of Old Milton Parkway, next to Fairway Social, the place with all the golf simulators. Other Ponko locations include 4279 Roswell Road in Buckhead, downtown Decatur, the Marietta Square, 915 West Peachtree in Midtown, and Chamblee.

Saturday night I was the last one to finish my food, out of all eight people. By a longshot. I was the last one to get my food, though I was the second to order. I didn’t complain, because they were juggling eight orders at the same time.

One of the guys we ate with on Saturday night is a real foodie. Eats Thai and all kind of foods and loves the BBQ. Like me he doesn’t see the point of eating chicken wings. Too little meat for all the effort.

Friday afternoon I worked past 6 pm. Ceil made homemade pizza for me and M.

Saturday we cleaned out lots of stuff piled up in Anna’s bedroom. Loaded my car with stuff for Goodwill. Lots of trash. Was able to put some in the attic, and also pulled some winter clothes from the attic. Hope to get new floors in the upstairs.

Also got a haircut, gassed up C’s car, ran into Kroger, and made a pickup at Office Max. Missed all the Saturday football and basketball.

Sunday School and worship. Yesterday and for the next three weeks JFBC is rolling out their new five year plan, which includes a new mission statement: “We exist to help people find truth, belonging and purpose in Jesus. The plan includes (1) starting up two new church plants, both probably south of the East Cobb location closer to downtown Atlanta. Also (2) sending out 35 missionaries and (3) training one thousand discipleship leaders. Also a multimillion dollar renovation of the three story church atrium, Johnson Ferry's Main Street, connecting the gym/worship center to the education building.

C fixed me a quesadilla for lunch. Later I fixed a similar one for supper. C had a meeting at The Table for most of the afternoon.

I watched the movie Serious Moonlight, a 2009 thriller starring Timothy Hutton and Meg Ryan. Also the Rams/Bucs. Wild that all four NFL games this weekend were decided on the final play of the game. Hoping for a Rams/Bengals Super Bowl.

I saw that snap get past LA QB Stafford. That was the part of the game when everything was going Tampa’s way.

After the game Tom Brady rebuffed reporters’ repeated questions about his future. Sad that the reporters can be jerks, asking over and over again, but if a player were to smart off back to the reporters, that’s all that would make the news.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/reporters-asked-tom-brady-if-he-s-retiring-his-response-is-a-lesson-in-emotional-intelligence/ar-AAT5kEl?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531

I don’t care much for the NFL teams remaining either. Might watch a little next week if there’s nothing else on TV. C may go out of town. Might play golf later on in the day since it will be in the 20’s in the early AM. I would play with temps in the 20’s but the course doesn’t open until the temp warms up, opening at 10 am.

Did y’all hear that John Adair Sr has been in the hospital? Also Jere Goldsmith Sr.

LEE MAZZILLI  [SABR Bio] was manager of BAL in 2004 when AL MVP Miguel Tejada had 150 RBI, the single-season record for the Orioles. Mazzilli was invited to train with the U.S. Olympic speed skating team, having won eight national championships as a youngster. He declined the invitation to focus on baseball. He set a minor league (perhaps professional) record when he Had 7 SB for Class A Visalia on 08-Jun-1975, just two years after being drafted in the 1^st round by the Mets. On 26-May-1977, 18-year-old Rickey Henderson stole seven bases against the Fresno Giants, setting a California League record that still stands.