Safe but Expensive

A list of the 31 safest cars in America from the latest tally of crash test results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 

All of those cars cost at least $25,000.00 and most sell for well over $40,000.00. To a major of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, buying a car based on it’s safety rating is nothing but a pipe dream. Most middle class Americans can no longer afford a new car. Millions of cars are on the road are over ten years old and lack more current safety features like airbags.

Subaru Outback (1) Impreza (9) XV Crosstrek (11) Legacy (27) Forester (32)

Lexus CT 200h (2) RC (12) NX (16)

Toyota Camry (3) Highlander (5) Prius V (7) Prius (14) Sienna (30)

Acura RLX (4) MDX (13) TLX (15)

Mazda 3 (6) Mazda 6 (24) Mazda CX-5 (29)

Hyundai Genesis (8)

Infiniti Q70 (10) Q50 (23)

Mercedes E-Class (15) M-Class (19)

Audi A3 (17)

Volvo S80 (18) XC60 (21) S60 (25) V60 (28)

BMW 2 series (20)

Chrysler 200 (22)

Honda CR-V (26)

Mitsubishi Outlander (31)

The number in parenthesis is the rank for that model.

Brady Proved'em Wrong

Good NFL Network show on the six QB’s drafted ahead of Tom Brady. He actually wept when remembering how supportive his parents were during the draft when virtually unknown QB’s were being drafted ahead of him. The Browns drafted Spergon Wynn from SW Texas State, who hadn’t completed 50% of his college passes and had thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Also the oft-injured Chad Pennington by the Jets, washout Tee Martin by the Steelers, and Mark Bulger by the Rams. Bulger made a couple of Pro Bowls due to the potent Rams offense. The 49ers drafted Giovanni Carmazzi from Hofstra and he never played a regular season down.

Chad Pennington (Marshall) by the Jets, Round 1 Pick 18

Giovanni Carmazzi (Hofstra) by the 49ers, Round 3 Pick 65

Chris Redman (Louisville) by the Ravens, Round 3 Pick 75

Tee Martin (Tennessee) by Pittsburgh, Round 5 Pick 163

Marc Bulger (West Virginia) by the Saints, Round 6 Pick 168

Spergon Wynn (SW Texas St) by Cleveland, Round 6 Pick 183

Also watched the Marinovich Project – a good story that Ceil and Will got interested in.

Chapel choir reunion – I missed the last reunion several years ago. I’m just happy they’re having it. I guess by having the time to chat before the choir singing it will cut a lot of the chit chat up in the choir loft. If there are problems the reunion could be moved somewhere else. Rick Statham is the pastor of the church in McDonough where John Condra is serving as interim minister of music. Miriam Crumpler is his wife. I bet Rick and Miriam would let us have the reunion at their church and meet any demands of the disgruntled. Or Peachtree Presbyterian staff members Mark Crumpler and Marnie Mullen Crumpler would let us have the reunion there. Scott Atchison is at Peachtree Road Methodist. Scott and Robin Condra and Jim Watterson and John Adair (and Claire) are at Johnson Ferry. Don Head could open up his church. Or Marty Watts – is he still down in Griffin?

Slow weekend. Can’t remember Friday night. M had a late guitar lesson and he and C stopped by Publix on the way back, so I beat them home. Had hot dogs for supper along with cole slaw and baked beans.

Saturday and Sunday morning I cleaned upstairs and took over a hundred photos for eBay. Sold a Talbots blouse and got a bid on a pair of Pumas, plus three watchers on my old Mickey Mantle baseball glove. Thought about selling my old Hawks Pac man sweatshirt but Will wanted to wear it. Ceil finished painting the kitchen/den. Saturday afternoon I worked on laundry and watched some NFL Network. Ceil wanted to watch “Legally Blonde 2.”  For supper Saturday night C and A had baked potatoes and mixed vegetables and I ate a grilled chicken breast. M went out with friends. Saturday was a RARE weekend day when none of our three cars moved an inch. Usually we are driving all over town.

Will came home Sunday morning but left for Athens after lunch (pork tenderloin, stir fried vegetables, and wild rice. Ceil went to the 1230 service and I drove M down to PCC for youth group. On the way back I found four bobbleheads for only ten dollars. After church M ate at Chilis. Anna had gone down to Grace Midtown downtown near Northside and Howell Mill for most of the afternoon and the evening service. Someone busted out the windows on five cars, including Anna’s Jeep. Nothing was in there to take, but it messed up the trim around the window.

GT/BC: sounds like I didn’t miss much yesterday, but still sorry I couldn’t go. I listened to some of the game on the radio. Couldn’t believe Mitchell didn’t score in the first half – he’s just about their best player. Jorgenson should be playing more minutes and given the green light to shoot whenever he wants. I doubt they can get the Hawks coach.

Over the Top

Top Ten Over the Top Advertisements
in the Fox Theater Playbill

10. Veni Vidi Vici restaurant

9. Chateau Elan Winery & Resort

8. Serendipity Vintage Furniture

7. High Meadows Private School

6. AM1690 voice of the arts radio

5. www.PoshDealz.com   

4. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

3. Lexus NX Turbo SUV

2. Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

1. Jet Linx Atlanta private jets

GT NE UGA

All college apparel is not created equal. There’s a reason why few good Georgia Tech items can be found: their followers just don’t buy it. While students will grab all the free T-shirts they can, Tech alumni seem quite happy with the odd rugby shirt or stocking cap they’ve had since their college days. It still fits, and is only worn a few times a year – so why buy something new every year? That’s not logical. Confession: I am guilty of letting my same Tech stuff hang in the closet for years (most bought in second-hand thrift stores): navy Russell Athletics jacket and gold GT cap with the Russell logo. In 2013 Reid gave me a nice GT T-shirt that I wore at the beach. Back in the late 80’s I bought a great looking white GT fitted cap with a gold bill. It’s a little snug but still nice.

But over in Athens and Auburn and Tuscaloosa and Clemson many fans have a different mentality: consumption. They want the latest team logo fashions: oxford cloth buttondowns, Columbia PFG shirts, boxer shorts, different colored caps, belts, golf shirts, golf jackets, golf balls, Christmas ornaments, bumper stickers, window stickers – I could go on and on. Alabama has houndstooth hats. Tennessee bluetick hounds. Autumn Saturdays are indeed fall fashion shows – no fan in his right mind wants to be caught without the latest outfit or accessory.

  

Last year a sports blogger wondered why such devoted college football fans in the Southeast didn’t flock to games in team logo T-shirts. How could he not know that southeastern fans tailgate in much more expensive apparel than mere T-shirts? Obviously not much of a fan – perhaps a northeasterner. Coeds go to games in dresses and boots – no jeans and T-shirts for them. Some fans wear expensive jerseys, but those are mainly worn by young boys. My favorite are the Bama fans wearing number 44 jerseys with GUMP on the back.

There are exceptions. A few holdout UGA and Clemson and Auburn fans didn’t get the memo. They’ve saved their rugby shirts and worn out snapback mesh caps (which came BACK into style) and wear them with bluejean shorts or overalls. And there are one or two fashionable Tech fans (in addition to yours truly, of course).

When Penn State holds a white out game 99% of the fans wear solid white. When Georgia Tech announces a whiteout alumni sound like they heard Chinese. “Our color is gold!” they say – and refuse to participate. In so many areas Tech people just don’t get it.   

Not sure if the shillsters sell this same crap for other schools, but I am offended by this sweatshirt being sold on Facebook - though it does accurately capture the better than you mentality held by many Tech students and fans.

Also not equal: Kiss Cams. At Braves and Hawks and UGA and Auburn games the students and fans generally know what is expected when they’ve been captured by the kiss cam. Once the great thespian Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were caught on the cam at a LA Kings game, and they dutifully obliged (above). Usually even casual friends will exchange a peck on the lips or cheek in the spirit of the crowd.  

Not so at Georgia Tech. Students will hoot and holler when the obligatory elderly couple shows up on the Kiss Cam. Many times older fans aren’t even aware of what’s happening on the jumbotron. They’re watching the teams huddle on the bench or chatting or reading the program (how old school). Other old Techsters are checking their smart phones and don’t notice. But those oldies who do notice usually don’t mind exchanging a quick kiss, to the delight of the crowd.

But turn the camera on two students and the tension can be cut with a knife. The kids have no idea what to do. Awkward city. As the camera lingers it just gets worse – like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. After an eternity the camera mercifully moves on (or the game resumes).

Yet when the Tech band launches into Sonny & Cher’s “When You Say Love” (aka the Budweiser song) those same awkward students transform into worldly partiers, bobbing up and down and shouting GO GEORGIA TECH – WHEN YOU SAY BUDWEISER YOU’VE SAID IT ALL! Tech fans who’ve sat the entire game and not cheered a lick suddenly come alive at the sound of dear beloved Budweiser. Party animals are they.

Same with the recent addendum to Tech’s longtime fight song “Up With the White and Gold” which concludes with the GO JACKETS! cheer. Seems as though hard partying Tech fans have now added GO! FIGHT! WIN! – followed but some obscene command so rude I shut it out of my mind. Party animals are they. It’s as if they’re proud to be more obscene than anyone else. At the Tech Clemson game this year a young alumni woman stood up and screamed the GO FIGHT WIN nonsense. Everyone around her looked at her like she was from another planet, but she was damn proud.

And people wonder why I’m not a big Tech fan.        

Gomes It Is

Another typical Murphy family Wednesday on the go. Ceil ran errands while M studied with a friend near North Point Mall. When they got home C fixed BBQ and cole slaw. Then both C and A went to art. I worked til six and got home at seven, and really didn't do much except clean the kitchen and play on the computer. Watched a good episode of Duck Dynasty episode that I hadn't seen before and researched baseball stats.  

Sounds like the SPdL Chapel Choir Reunion is set for February 21. Kelly Vonefeld and Gayle Suggs seem to be organizing the thing. Fred O has a wedding and can't attend.

Matthew's small group is going to the Hawks game next weekend. They usually go to one or two a year. Both he and Anna had sleepovers last weekend – but Will had come home from Athens for the holiday. He is graduating in December. Wants to work in a hospital this summer and after graduation to get experience for PA school. Monday I checked out the UGA calendar and plotted the August dates Anna would be moving to Athens…as well as December 18 – the date of Will's graduation ceremony. I'm writing Anna's senior biography that will be in her graduation program on May 15. In addition to the impending graduations, etc Anna gets her braces off next month (why she's been waiting to take senior pictures) and all three kids need their wisdom teeth removed. Anna needs glasses. I'm that dad on the riding lawnmower again: "someone help me."

No big plans for the weekend. Lots of laundry piled up. My eBay business has slowed to a trickle, and I need to ramp that up. Honestly eBay has slowed due to the crappy things I'm selling – nobody wants a Terry Bowden autographed Clemson football. I do have more inventory to post that should sell quicker but I haven't devoted the time I should. I've fallen into a routine of working 7-6. Things are busy and picking up. I get home at seven and after the dishes done get done its after eight I'm kind of bushed. In general nothing is going on except housework so I have time available. I need to exercise either before work or at night but haven't started.

Someone pointed out that the pitcher the Nats threw millions at had the same 2014 record as the guy he's replacing. I still say the Yunel Escobar signing can't be an overall plus. Zimmerman may move to first, but the loss of Adam LaRoche is just one more hurdle they'll have to overcome. Perhaps Miami will swoop in and take the division. I was disappointed that Todd Cunningham had a lackluster 2014 season. Funny how people think Minor is some Rocker-like troublemaker for rejecting the Braves offer and going to arbitration. Shows you how valuable lefthanded pitchers are. Will used to play with a little lefty who finally "grew up" to 5'10". As a freshman last year he pitched for a college in their final year of existence. This year he's down at a small school in Florida. His dad says he's hoping to be drafted, so we'll see.  

The Giants, Cardinals, and A's seem to be good at only asking a player to do things he's good at, with good results. I have no problem with platoons. While I remember the Ortiz/Obama selfie, I was not aware of Gomes' red, white, and blue jacket until I looked him up on Google images. Gomes would be a great bobblehead candidate. After Will's longtime teammate Tanner expressed his love for Gomes I checked out his career, which resulted in my blog post / Facebook post. Tanner is a sucker for any bearded / tattooed / outlandish "slugger". Of course I was wanting the old over the hill Ichiro. If we're gonna lose 110 games like everyone says we might as well have a little fun.

ROB (last week): I would have already signed Ichiro.  That would allow you to bat Markakis cleanup and give Freddie a little protection in the 3rd spot.  However, I think they are high on Zolio Almonte, the AAA outfielder they signed out of the Yankee organization and Toscano the Cuban they signed.  It is interesting that Almonte and Joey Terdoslavich have similar minor league numbers. I hate to disappoint the "fans" on social media, but we will not lose 110 games (or 100 or even 90).  I know people want to compare this team to the bad teams in the 70's and 80's, but (barring injuries) this team's pitching will be too strong.

(today) It seems like the Braves brass believes they have something in Almonte and want to give him +/- 400 PA's in a platoon with him batting left handed (he is a switch hitter, but it sounds like they think LH is his strong side).  If you sign Ichiro for a platoon, that scenario with Almonte does not work. I like the idea of platoons in positions where you do not have an above average everyday player.  I believe a platoon does 3 things:  1)  it puts a limited player in a better position to succeed (i.e. Chris Johnson has a better chance to be successful only hitting against LHP, 2)  if forces management to build a stronger bench, since essentially your bench are part time players and 3) it keeps the bench players sharper since they are part time players with more AB's.

I think the non-pitchers part of the roster will look like this:

C - Bethancourt and AJ

1B - Freddie

SS - Simba

2B/3B - Callaspo, C Johnson, K Johnson, & Peterson (acquired from the Padres)

RF - Markakis

CF - BJ and Opie Cunningham

LF - Gomes and Almonte

It sounds like they will give Cunningham a chance if BJ continues to struggle.  The only chance Terdo has is if Almonte has a horrible spring and he (Terdo) has a great spring.

I agree that the last thing the Hawks need to do is to make a major trade to disrupt team chemistry.  At most, they need to pick up another C/PF type to come off the bench and bang and foul the other teams bigs.  Right now Elton Brand is the only one who can do that, however he can only do that in limited minutes.  In a 7 game series against the Bulls, with a healthy Noah and Gasol, we could use someone else to come in the game and foul them.

Gomes or Ichiro?

The Braves are looking to sign an additional outfielder for the 2015 season. This offseason new GM John Hart has gone to great lengths to reshape the team from a swing for the fences league leading strikeout team into a high contact line drive club like the past few World Series winning teams of the Giants and Cardinals. With hotheads Chris Johnson and AJ Pierzynski on the roster, the addition of a veteran leader / example would be most helpful. Two of the top free agent outfielders still available are 35 year old Jonny Gomes and 42 year old Ichiro Suzuki. Both have spent most all of their careers in the American League. I knew little of Gomes so I looked him up. Below is a comparison in several key analytics as well as their 2014 season statistics.

PL.YR.AVG.OBP.SLG.OPS.AB.BB.SO

IS 2014 284 324 340 664 359 21 68

JG 2014 234 327 330 657 273 35 88

IS life 317 360 411 771 8964 565 944

JG life 244 335 442 777 3231 386 1007

Home runs should not be a deciding factor for either player. Gomes hasn’t hit 20 home runs since 2009 and has only hit 20 in three of his 12 seasons – and those were totals of 20, 21, and 20). A more likely deciding factor for the Braves is whether they most need a left-handed hitter (Ichiro) or a righty (Gomes).  

PL..H...R.2B.3B.HR.BI.SB.CS

IS 102 42 13  2   1  22  15  3

JG  64 28   8  0   6  37    0   0

I don’t know what kind of fielder Gomes is, though he did DH a lot. Ichiro won the Gold Glove ten straight seasons.

Batting average the past 4 seasons:

IS 284 262 283 272

JG 234 247 262 209

The last thing the Braves need to do is to pay millions for someone to compete with BJ Upton for the lowest batting average on the team. Ichiro is motivated to reach 3000 hits – he’s only 156 away. Adding his 1278 hits in Japan, Suzuki is close to passing Pete Rose as the all-time hit king - only 134 hits to go. He only needs 67 hits to pass Ty Cobb for second place.

Games played the past 4 seasons:

IS 143 150 162 161

JG 112 116  99 120

The drop in Ichiro’s games played last season could have been more a factor of the Yankees wanting to try out other players. The former MVP may be 42 years old but he keeps himself in great shape and works harder than anyone else in the game. His work ethic and wisdom would be a great example for young players like Andrelton Simmons and Christian Bethancourt.

OPS the past four seasons:

IS  664 639 696 645

JG 657 771 868 714

Last year Gomes struck out 20 more times than Ichiro - in 86 fewer at bats. Gomes career strikeout rate of 31 times per 100 at bats is three times that of Ichiro and higher even than Dan Uggla (28) or BJ Upton (30). This stat alone should be the deciding factor.

 

While Ichiro could possibly sport the Braves’ classic striped stirrups (last seen on the legs of Andruw Jones), Gomes made his own White House fashion statement by wearing a red, white, and blue blazer.

 

Alas, the Marlins just offered Ichiro a one year two million dollar contract, so the Braves would have to act fast. Atlanta could offer more playing time than the Fish have available. Baltimore is also in the running for Suzuki.

Unfortunately, Hart has given no indication that he is even interested in the seemingly best available option. Though he did not share them with me, I’m sure the experienced Hart has his reasons. With over 70 days before opening day, there’s no need to rush.

Newsies at the Fox: a Review

After being on Christmas shutdown for the past month my customer started back production Tuesday and it was immediately busier, especially in the afternoon. The normally 15 minute meeting lasted over an hour. Since I had gotten to work 40 minutes early I left work 30 minutes early. Drove down to Howell Mill to eat dinner on the trendy Westside. We figured Taqueria would be crowded and we were in a hurry, so we ate next door at Yeah Burger.

Yeah Burger is supposed to be a healthy burger place, so I shouldn’t have been surprised at the bland French fries and onion rings (we shared a combo side dish – smart idea). Not oversalted for sure. The onion rings were fresh and lightly breaded, allowing for the sweet onion taste to come through – but it didn’t. Each burger was built with two small grass fed beef patties, which did provide more flavor and plenty of meat (Ceil took out one patty before chowing down). Plenty of pink on the inside of my medium well patty, though the outside was almost crunchy around the perimeter. Even with plenty of meat the “Artisian white roll” bun was much too big – some bites were like eating plain bread. Ceil’s wheat roll was smaller, but I was shooting for the tastiest burger possible. The service was relatively fast, considering we had to wait behind a mom with her two young daughters. For the price Yeah Burger ranks behind Fuddruckers, Moxie Burger, Smash Burger, Cheeseburger Bobby’s, and even Flip Burger. On par with Red Robin, but healthier.

Left the Westside at 6:45 and cut through Tech to North Avenue. Traffic wasn’t too bad past the Varsity, and we found plenty of parking spaces on West Peachtree. Got behind some slow walkers, but had no problem getting my tickets at the Fox Theater will call. Made it to our seats in time for the organ sing along. The Fox looked to be 80% full for the first of six shows.

NEWSIES encountered just a few Opening Night snags. In the first number one actor accidently dabbed shaving cream on another actor’s mic. In the first act most musical numbers featured strong vocals from the ensemble, but I noticed that in comparison the lead actor Dan DeLuca’s singing voice was relatively weak. Otherwise his performance went well. But during intermission it was announced the lead role would be played by the understudy Jon Hacker in the second act. Not sure if DeLuca got sick or was pulled like a quarterback for a poor first half performance. Based on the plot (newspaper delivery strike) I was surprised the AJC would ever sponsor a Broadway show like Newsies.

   

Didn’t feel too well earlier in the day – headache. Could be due to a tooth. Maybe today will be the day I make a doctor’s appointment (I did – next Thursday). Good having Will home some this weekend. He mulched the yard and blew the driveway. He went back to Athens this morning but will be back this weekend for his roommate’s bachelor party – burgers Friday night, breakfast buffet Saturday morning followed by a trip to that new golf facility in Alpharetta and dinner at Bones.

Anna came home from her two day sleepover and washed her Jeep – a first. She and M backed the cars into the garage so all four cars would fit in the driveway. Ceil cooked spaghetti and meatballs for dinner – one of Will and Matthew’s favorite meals. I did a little cleaning and worked on the computer. W, A, and C watched The Emperor’s New Groove – a good movie but I wasn’t in the mood, so I went to bed early.

Phone rang at 5:30 am – a problem. Should’ve been detected yesterday afternoon but wasn’t. Arrived at work at 6:25 but it took almost an hour to solve the problem. Will be leaving work early today – I won tickets to tonight’s opening night of the Broadway musical Newsies at the Fox.  

Championship Sunday

SEATTLE / GREEN BAY: Flipped on the game and was surprised to see the Packers finish the first half up 16-0. During halftime I went out and carefully finished trimming the hedges without further incident. I knew it would be hard for the Packers to finish off the Seahawks, and sure enough the momentum swung Seattle’s way. I wasn’t surprised with the first Russell Wilson touchdown. With 2:09 remaining and only one Seattle time out left, Green Bay was in decent shape. But the Packers’ failure to cover the onside kick was horrendous. After Wilson’s scramble down to the 30 and out of bounds with 2:01 remaining I thought the Packers might adopt the Paul Johnson strategy of letting Seattle score quick to give themselves more time to score. The two point conversion was key. What looked like a broken play and desperation heave was actually a planned play. The only thing that would’ve made the game better would’ve been had the Packers intercepted the pass and ran it back for two points of their own.

PATRIOTS / COLTS: The Patriots blowout in the rain was anticlimactic. It was the first time since Tuesday I was able to get on the computer, and I had a lot of catching up to do. Couldn’t believe Brady stayed in the game taking hits as long as he did. Aside from a few less than cerebral defenders like Ray Lewis, Brady might be the most competitive player in the NFL. He also carefully handles the press, artfully handling the postgame interview with Jim Nantz with a wide smile on his face. When Lewis said Brady was only known for the tuck rule play, the former Super Bowl winner / MVP did not respond. Supposedly Brady is on Facebook, but his post right when the game ended (before the postgame on-field interview) was obviously not from him.

Good call by the NFL to admit that the Calvin Johnson catch/no-catch rule was too complicated – that if fifty drunks in a bar can see an obvious catch then it’s probably a catch. The officials have a tough job and have to be careful and judicious.

Many said that in the Dallas / Detroit game Dez Bryant should have been penalized for illegally (1) coming off the bench (2) without a helmet (3) to argue. Not sure how often that penalty is called, like it is in the NBA playoffs. Is Bryant even a team captain? The NFL usually doesn’t allow such anarchy. Will be interesting to see if Bryant is fined for his actions. Still thought the NFL should’ve upheld Suh’s one game suspension for twice stepping on Aaron Rodgers.

I do like the Lions (Stafford and Calvin Johnson – NOT Suh. Over the years I have liked the Cowboys but not this incarnation. Not a huge fan of Jerry Jones and Tony Romo and especially Dez Bryant. They are a hot team, so you have to give them that. The Lions had a tough task beating Dallas. They did well in the first half but couldn’t hang on.

Interesting the debate over the Lions Cowboys game. Even the venerable Tony Dungy took offense with the Dez Bryant non-call.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nbc-yahoo-sports/dungy--pass-interference-non-call-was-bad--dez-bryant-non-call-was-worse-180929142.html 

Golfer/Cowboy fan Jason Dufner pointed out that in golf the rules are rules. A penalty is a penalty and flags aren’t picked up. You may not always go for it – sometimes you lay up. Even so it is sad to see Dufner use such street lingo in his tweets.  

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2015/1/5/7493545/jason-dufner-twitter-cowboys-lions-penalty-wild-card-2015 

What I hate are fourth down plays taken from the shotgun, where the running back has to run 5 yards to get back to the line of scrimmage. Those plays develop too slowly. Better to have a quick hitting handoff so the defense doesn’t have time to penetrate. I suppose offensive coordinators want the RB to look for a hole but on a short yardage play the defense is going to fill all the gaps.

Near Death Experience?

Friday night C wanted to go to IKEA to look at a sofa. Anna stayed home but M tagged along. M and I were starved. We went to the IKEA café but I didn’t see anything good. He ate chicken tenders and fries. I went downstairs and ate two fifty cent hot dogs. M ate an ice cream cone. As usual Ceil took forever and we didn’t leave until nine. M wanted to drive around Atlantic Station. Seemed like I got stuck at every red light. While waiting at one all I could think was that it was 9:30 and I hadn’t been home for 15 hours, so I took a right on red and headed for the highway home. Had to stop by Kroger on the way, so it was after ten before we got home.

Ceil was going to paint the kitchen/den on Saturday. There was so much stuff piled up everywhere that didn’t need paint all over it that I spent several hours cleaning and organizing and moving stuff out of the way. Later I ran errands: the library, thrift store, return a RedBox movie, make a deposit at the ATM, and get the oil changed in the Civic. On the way home Ceil needed a spotlight from Home Depot. Then she needed light bulbs. Then she called needing a roller brush. Then it was the entire roller. While looking at the rollers half the light bulbs fell and broke. When I got home I cleaned out the garage. Also re-watched The Blind Side and unsuccessfully tried to debug Anna’s laptop – guess I need an expert.

Later C drove M to the new Avalon in Alpharetta. A gang from school was supposed to hang out but it turned out to be only one girl, MacKenzie. M made it clear that it wasn’t a date, though she was a cutie. They ate at Whole Foods – he ate a burrito. I had to go go pick him up later. Lots of people eating and shopping and going to movies at the Avalon place. Caroline Hargreaves family was out of town so Anna and several friends slept over there both Saturday and Sunday night.   

Sunday morning I drove C down to Passion City Church. John Piper (above) was speaking. With no second service we knew there would be a crowd. I dropped C off and parked up at the old Gold Club. The short bus ride didn’t take long. Piper delivered a wonderfully passionate, biblical sermon – even commenting on and adding to a church leader’s short pre-offering testimony. On the way out we ran into Mary-Clayton’s family and met her sister’s new boyfriend. C and I walked back to the car. Ceil kept looking for acorns off the fir trees, so this took a while. Then had to stop by and pick up a phone charger for M.

By then it was 1 pm. We’d been gone four hours for one church service and I was stir-crazy and starved. The line at the Pine Straw Plaza Willy’s was long and service was slow. When it was our turn they were out of their main dish – chicken. When I paid the amount seemed high and when we got home I figured out why: they’d duplicated M’s burrito order. Not sure if C confused them or if we got someone else’s food, but at least we didn’t pay for something we didn’t get.

C drove M and a friend down to PCC, leaving me at the house alone. It was too windy to rake so I trimmed the hedges with my new hedge-trimmer (my old one I had inherited from my grandfather had been mysteriously lost after 28 years). I trimmed and trimmed. At one point the clippers slipped out of my hands and sliced a deep cut at the base of my left hand. It didn’t go straight down but in at an angle – otherwise it might’ve cut a vein. I held up my hand and went inside. By then there was lots of blood to wash off. I was kind of in shock, but not shock shock. A close call. Had it been worse it would’ve been hard to drive to the hospital. During halftime I went out and carefully finished trimming the hedges without further incident.

Needed gas on the way to work this morning. Went Old Alabama to fill up at a BP with usually low prices – but gas there was $2.099. Took Jones Bridge over to Old Milton and saved twelve cents a gallon. My BP card discount made it an incredibly low $1.309 per gallon. Filled up my tank for less than $15.00.

The Lion

Anna's new Bible is illustrated - by her.

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now

With Perry gone from 680, that Home Team guy has stepped up and started talking like an expert instead of a guy just recently promoted from reading the updates every 15 minutes. I’m sure Home Team lives, eats, and breathes sports and has a relatively informed opinion, but one thing he’s bad at is listening. As always Chris Dimino brings an informed, considered opinion. Home Team is an idiot for disagreeing. He spouts his own not thought through that much opinion and thinks it holds up against Dimino’s more considered opinion. Like this morning Home Team thought Ohio State could only benefit from having three great QB’s and did not think about the OSU players pulling for one QB over another could divide and tear apart the team. Dimino brought that up. If this keeps up Dimino could turn against Home Team like he did Perry.

Ohio State QB Cardale Jones has wisely determined that his three games in college were not enough experience to jump to the NFL, so he will return to the Buckeyes next year. Cardale sounded intelligent and engaging at his press conference, quite different from the teenager who once tweeted “we ain’t come to play school“. 

Two time Big Ten player of the year Braxton Miller may not return. Since Miller had been shrouded in the jerseys for tattoos contraversery, perhaps FSU would be a good fit for him. Not sure about Miller, but Jones was raised in poverty with no authority figures to teach him right and wrong. The father of former Buckeye Ted Ginn Jr runs a charter school/football factory for boys like Smith. Even then Cardale was a slow learner in both high school and when he matriculated to Ohio State.  

That’s one thing about America today. The black leadership is more interested in lining their own pockets and mooching of the system and avoiding paying tax bills than mentoring the next generation. Children are left to fend for themselves, more worried about their next meal and yearning for affection and attention than planning a life and career. When I have a hard time getting motivated to be a good husband and provide for my family and lose weight and serve others and all the other things that I should be doing, it is kinda hard to dump on poor people for not doing more than what everyone else around them is doing.

MARIOTA: CBS broadcaster Gary Danielson is saying that as a result of the national championship game Marcus Mariota’s draft position has fallen into the second round. I love Danielson’s analysis on SEC games but I think he’s way off the mark. After the Rose Bowl all the supposed experts were talking about how great he was. What I want to know is who these so-called experts picked in the Sugar Bowl – probably Alabama. They had probably picked Oregon in the national championship game – the Ducks went in as a seven point favorite. Probably sour grapes on the part of the experts, who are mad at Mariota for making them look bad. 

Just another reminder that all this hype is meaningless. That expert wasn’t breaking new ground with his second round prediction. Last August Sports Illustrated ran an in-depth article about how Mariota would project as a pro, contrasting him to several past Oregon QB’ how flopped in the NFL.

Adios El Oso

No shock about the Evan Gattis trade. I loved watching him play and loved his story. But his outfield defense would’ve made for a long season. Gattis missed parts of the past two seasons with injuries. Wouldn’t surprise me to see the White Bear on the AL All-Star team this summer. Now that the Braves need an outfielder will they go after the good hit / good field small ball former ROY / AL MVP unsigned free agent outfielder? I hear Ichiro can be had on the cheap.

The Braves 2015 playoff chances skyrocketed this week with the Nationals’ acquisition of shortstop Yunel Escobar. With all the roster turnover it’s no wonder the bobblehead schedule has yet to be released. Besides Smoltz possibilities include Markakis, Teheran, Minor, Wood, and possibly Bethancourt.

ROB: I have mixed emotions about the Gattis trade.  I sort of wanted to see him play LF everyday and hit 30+ HR's, but I was also concerned if he could stay healthy enough to ever do that.

By the time we move into the new ballpark, we could have a roster of young, controllable power arms in addition to an infield of Bethancourt, Freeman, Peraza, Simmons and the kid Rio they got from Houston.  It is too early to project the OF, but ultimately, you can go out and buy outfielders. I don't think I truly realized until now just how much the misses on Uggla, BJ, Heyward and Johnson set back the franchise.  They have too much pitching to be truly awful (90+ losses) over the next 2 seasons.  However, I don't see where the runs are going to come from.

Are you ready to jump on the Hawks bandwagon yet?

ME: Definitely on the Hawks bandwagon. I’m a typical fan who knows little about the team. Glad they are winning the Spurs way, playing team basketball without a star. After hanging out in a Phillips Arena luxury suite during the Passion Conference Ceil said she could stomach attending a Hawks game – as long as she got to sit in a luxury box. Did you read the long Hawks article I posted on Facebook? Interesting all the thought processes they’re going through to boost attendance. Guess I am an Alpharetta unicorn. I stumbled across that article on Uni Watch because the article had one sentence mentioning possible new uniforms (which I would be in favor of). I wonder if the rebranding of the Hawks led to the jersey switch from HAWKS to ATLANTA. 680 is worried about a trade messing up the chemistry of the Hawks team. Not sure a trade is needed.

TUESDAY: another slow night. Left work at six. Ceil cooked breaded boneless chicken, baked potato wedges, and salad. As usual I passed on the potatoes. C watched a British midwife show on Netflix and I watched a MLB Network show about Bruce Bochy and Tim Flannery. I put off doing the dishes until later.

WEDNESDAY: A few days ago I was looking at the parking receipt from last week and noticed the time stamp read just after 6:30, so it took us 30 minutes to drive the 5 miles from SPdL to 10th Street. Saved some time this week by taking Piedmont to Monroe to Tenth. I thought it would be funny to take an orange to the game and when you were getting a picture with the Orange Bowl trophy pull the orange out of your pocket and start peeling it. 

The GT / Notre Dame game was OK. Tech shot 54% in the first half, building up a 13 point lead - and then 26% in the second half. Could be a long year. Too long a line to get my picture with the Orange Bowl Trophy, but no big deal. Most of the football team did leave after halftime. QB Justin Thomas stayed – hopefully he’s keeping his grades up. I tweet from Tech games with the hope of having the tweet displayed on the jumbotron. Guess my tweets Wednesday night might’ve been too sarcastic for publication. Driving home from the game I made all the lights from the Buckhead Loop up 400 and Abernathy / Johnson Ferry and made it all the way home without stopping one time.

THURSDAY: Augusta trip went ok. Picked up Chickfila breakfast on the way out of town. Ate lunch at Applebees with the customer. Had a grilled chicken salad. Got caught without a book on CD so I was at the mercy of the radio. Drove back in the rain and took my time, stopping at five thrift stores. Only found one bobblehead. Got caught in the 400 north / Sandy Springs traffic. Ceil cooked baked chicken for supper. Also rice, grilled brussel sprouts, and mixed vegetables. I skipped the rice. Watched American Idol.

JT O'Sullivan's NFL Record

Instead of assuming that Deion Sanders holds the title for wearing the most different colored face masks I tried to do some on line research. This was not easy. When I would search for which player had played for the most teams Google would instead tell me which player had the most arrests (Adam Pac Man Jones).

A good guess of which player had played for the most teams was journeyman backup QB JT O’Sullivan (above), who played for twelve pro teams in an eleven year time period. Along the way JT wore helmets with eleven different colored facemasks – far more than Deion. No one trick pony he – O’Sullivan earned a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix along the way and even gave the commencement address at his graduation ceremony.

94-97 high school

98-01 California Davis grey or gold

02-03 New Orleans Saints black (1)

04 Green Bay Packers dark green (2)

05 Chicago Bears navy (3)

05 Minnesota Vikings purple (4)

06 New England Patriots bright red (5)

06 Carolina Panthers black

07 Frankfurt Galaxy orange (6)

07 Detroit Lions blue (7)

08 San Francisco 49ers dark red (8)

09-10 Cincinnati Bengals black

12 Oakland Raiders grey (9)

13 Saskatchewan Roughriders bright green (10)

14 Saskatchewan Roughriders white (11)

Doug Flutie played for nine pro teams in 17 years but only wore five different colored masks. Interestingly, in over twenty years in college and the pros Flutie never wore a traditional grey facemask. He was featured on three Sports Illustrated covers and in 2005 converted the only successful drop kick in the NFL since 194 (above).

77-80 high school

81-84 Boston College dark red (two SI covers)

85 New Jersey Generals white

86 Chicago Bears navy

87-89 New England Patriots white

90-91 British Columbia Lions black

92-95 Calgary Stampeders black

96-97 Toronto Argonauts white

98-00 Buffalo Bills white (SI cover)

01-04 San Diego Chargers navy

05 New England Patriots bright red

HOF Hope for Herschel?

This weekend the NFL Network aired a 30 minute show naming the 2015 finalists for the pro football hall of fame. The show was poorly named – something about the gold jacket. I stumbled across it by mistake. Not sure how many times it had been rerun – I think these finalists were named back in November. The baseball HOF inductees were profiled on ESPN – beforehand the MLB Network had broadcast an hour long roundtable discussion on who should be voted in. Junior Seau should get in to appease all the concussion advocates.

The finalists: Morten Andersen (K, above), Tim Brown (WR), Don Coryell (HC), Tony Dungy (HC), Kevin Greene (DE), Charles Haley (DE), Marvin Harrison (WR), Jimmy Johnson (HC), John Lynch (SS), Orlando Pace (OT), Bill Polian (GM), Junior Seau (LB), Will Shields (OG), Mick Tinglehoff (C), Kurt Warner (QB), and Ron Wolf (GM). Also running backs Jerome Bettis and Terrell Davis, whose stats I will compare with potential HOF RBs Watters and Walker:

Jerome Bettis – 15111 yd 94 TD in 13 yr (1162 per year)

Terrell Davis – 8887 yds 65 TDs in 7 yr (1270 per year)

Rickey Watters – 14891 yd 91 TD in 10 yr (1489 per year)

Herschel Walker – 18168 yd 84 TD in 12 yr (1514 per year) not including his monster USFL stats

After the gold jacket show the NFL Network reran an old NFL Films show counting down the Top Ten Players Not in the Hall of Fame. Honorable mentions included Drew Pearson, Clifford Branch, Kevin Greene, Randy Gradishar, Jim Otto, Otis Taylor, Tommy Nobis, and others – but not Hershel Walker, who retired ranked third on the all-time combined yardage list. Herschel also had more receiving yards than any other running back in history. His career NFL stats were comparable to many other HOF RB’s. The ten:

10. Ken Anderson: Great stats. Lost but never won a Super Bowl.

9. Steve Tasker: should a mere special teams player be elected to the Hall? Special teams is a third of the game.

8. Alex Karras: Great or lousy? Suspended for gambling but so was the golden boy Hornung.

7. Ricky Watters: great stats but didn’t give his all, and said so.

6. Ken Stabler: are Raiders didn’t shut out of the Hall?

5. Tim Brown: great stats catching passes from 18 different QB’s. Never on a big winner.

4. Jim Marshall: an ironman run over in four Super Bowl losses. Often mentioned is his long wrong way fumble return against the 49ers.

3. Jerome Bettis: a cog in the Steeler machine?

2. Charles Haley: if he was so good why did the 49ers trade him?

1. Jerry Kramer: what holds him back is that so many Packers have already been enshrined.

Another sports website listed the top nine not in the hall - and listed nine of the ten in the NFL Network list. I logged on and voiced my displeasure, and put in a good word for Herschel (above).

NOTE: There is a NFL.com article listing five players who should be in the HOF: tackle Tony Boselli, safety Tim McDonald, special-teamer Steve Tasker, RB Ricky Watters -  and Herschel. Perhaps there is hope after all.

Ranking Gurley With the Greats

Watching Todd Gurley singlehandedly take over the second half of this year’s Tennessee game showed me that he was the most dominant running back to play at UGA since Herschel. While I have not been a serious student of college football nor the SEC in particular, I may have as much experience or more as many of these wet behind the ears yahoos writing for the bleacher report and other on-line rags. George Rogers had a good year for lower South Carolina and Darren McFadden showed greatness during an injury plagued career at Arkansas. Emmitt Smith could not raise Florida to national prominence. 

To be counted as one of the all-time greats a college running back has to remain healthy, put up huge numbers for three or four years, and lead his team to championships. Despite the hard running and determined look in his eyes Todd Gurley is destined to drop into the second-tier of great SEC backs due to numerous injuries and his four game suspension, and that is a shame.

This year Gurley rushed for 911 yards in six games. At that pace he would’ve rushed for 1974 yards in a full season, besting Hershel’s top season by almost 100 yards and placing Gurley within 900 yards of Walker’s three year total. While playing running back in the NFL is a different animal these days, here’s hoping Gurley is able to recover from his ACL injury and have a great pro career.

No essay about UGA backs is complete without mention of freshman sensation Nick Chubb, who tied the great Garrison Hurst for the fourth highest rushing total in school history. Chubb averaged 165 yards in the last eight games. Had he played enough in the first five games to achieve that pace he would’ve blown away Herschel’s single season rushing record. Chubb’s 1547 yards outpaced fellow SEC freshman Leonard Fournette, who only gained 1034 yards for LSU. Chubb outrushed Fournette in eight of the 13 games, including a string of six straight and 7 of the last nine. Despite his prolific year against defenses stacked up to stop the run, as a freshman Chubb ran too straight up, was less punishing, and fumbled more than Gurley. Chubb should only improve over the next three years. Should Nick stay healthy and continue at his current pace he could very well finish with 6000-8000 career yards.

Here’s how four of the greatest running backs in Georgia history rank alongside a few of the supposed greatest in college history. Barry Sanders was elite, but he only started one season. Ron Dayne was a four-year plodder. Melvin Gordon only had two good years. Like Gurley, Bo suffered through numerous injuries. While Bo was special, in both college and the pros Herschel achieved far more.

YPG/games/career yards

159.4 33 5259 Herschel Walker, Georgia

155.6 22 3423 OJ Simpson, Southern Cal

151.6 47 7125 Ron Dayne, Wisconsin

138.9 47 6526 Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh

136.5 46 6279 Ricky Williams, Texas

126.7 31 3928 Emmitt Smith, Florida

120.8 38 4590 Darren McFadden, Arkansas

119.0 13 1547 Nick Chubb, Georgia

118.5 30 3556 Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State

111.1 40 4443 Earl Campbell, Texas

109.5 30 3285 Todd Gurley, Georgia

109.2 45 4915 Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin

100.2 48 4810 Marcus Allen, Southern Cal

097.9 33 3232 Garrison Hearst, Georgia

095.6 45 4303 Bo Jackson, Auburn

079.5 13 1034 Leonard Fournette, LSU