Fournette < Herschel 2

This past week the announcement was made with little fanfare: LSU running back Leonard Fournette’s career as a collegian had come to an end. Instead of helping his team win the bowl game, Fournette would begin preparations for the NFL draft. For the past three seasons Fournette had been compared to many great backs from the past, like Herschel Walker.

 

Almost exactly 34 years ago a similar announcement was made with great fanfare: Walker became the first junior to leave college early, signing a record deal with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL - a team that would eventually be bought by an investor named Donald Trump.  

Like most, Fournette failed to come close to Walker’s incredible three year college numbers. Note their three-year career totals below, compared with those of Christian McCaffrey, Nick Chubb, Todd Gurley, and Bo Jackson’s four year total.  

 

rush.TD.rec.rec.TD.return.TD.tot.TD

5259 49 26 0243 03 0247 00 5749 52 HW

3922 21 99 1206 10 1859 02 6987 50 CM

3830 40 41 0526 01 0625 01 4835 49 LF

3282 28 27 0331 04 0000 00 3613 32 NC

4303 43 26 0272 02 0317 00 4892 45 BJ (4 yr)

3285 36 65 0615 06 0422 02 4322 44 TG

 

This year Fournette was slowed by injuries, yet another reason for the junior to go pro. But beware: while many young running backs shine as NFL rookies (see Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott), sustained success isn’t quite as easy. Like many high draft picks, Gurley plays for a losing team – the lowly Rams.  

 

Leonard Fournette

0843 08 15 146 0 625 1 1468 16

1953 22 19 253 1 000 0 2206 23

1034 10 07 127 0 000 0 1161 10

3830 40 41 526 1 625 1 4835 49

 

Stanford’s McCaffrey quietly out-produced Fournette, gaining over 2000 more yards. In the past two seasons McCaffrey outgained Fournette 6191 to 3367. McCaffrey’s record-breaking sophomore season, surpassing the single-season totals of Barry Sanders, will go unrewarded.

 

Many will question whether McCaffrey can have a productive pro career, but many smaller players have succeeded in the NFL. Like every other player, much of his success will be determined by which team selects him. Rare are the players who shine on losing teams. Examples include Calvin Johnson, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and Herschel Walker.

 

Perhaps McCaffrey’s size will cause him to be picked later on in the draft, allowing him to be chosen be a more successful team. He’d be a perfect fit for a team like the Patriots – or the Falcons.       

Christian McCaffrey

0300 00 17 0251 02 0245 0 0796 19

2019 08 45 0645 05 1200 2 3864 15

1603 13 37 0310 03 0414 0 2327 16

3922 21 99 1206 10 1859 2 6987 50

 

Walker rushed for almost 1500 more yards than Fournette and 1400 more than McCaffrey. Herschel’s totals do not include his three bowl games. Back in the early 80’s teams played one fewer regular season games than today.  

 

Herschel Walker

1616 15 07 070 0 119 0 1805 15

1891 18 14 084 2 092 0 2067 20

1752 16 05 089 1 036 0 1877 17

5259 49 26 243 3 247 0 5749 52

 

Unlike Fournette and McCaffrey, Georgia’s Nick Chubb will return next year for his senior season. Should he have a monster year he could possibly break Herschel’s school record for most rushing yards, despite (1) getting off to a slow start as a freshman, (2) missing over half his sophomore season with an injury, and (3) a disappointing junior season. But with Sony Michel also returning, Walker’s record is probably safe.  

 

Nick Chubb

1547 14 18 213 2 000 0 1760 16

0747 07 04 032 1 000 0 0779 08

0988 07 05 086 1 000 0 1074 08

3282 28 27 331 4 000 0 3613 32

 

With just a decent year Chubb should be able to better Bo Jackson’s four year totals, which were almost one thousand yards shy of Walker’s totals for three seasons. Next week in the Independence Bowl Chubb should pass Todd Gurley for second place in career rushing yards at Georgia.

 

4303 43 26 272 2 317 0 4892 45 BJ

3285 36 65 615 6 422 2 4322 44 TG

 

While I wish Fournette and McCaffrey well – they are so fun to watch – it is highly unlikely they will come close gaining as many professional yards as Walker. After setting the college rushing records for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, Herschel gained over 7000 yards in his three years in the USFL, then added over 18,000 yards in the NFL – retired second all-time in combined yards in NFL history (and first among all professionals).

 

 http://thebiglead.com/2013/08/23/if-ichiro-suzuki-has-4000-hits-how-many-yards-does-herschel-walker-have/

History's Recurring Themes

Some notes from Anna's history paper, comparing four recurring themes in US history from 1865-2000.

 

4. Benefits and drawbacks of economic growth

Benefits: lower unemployment, lower interest rates(?), more spending = more taxes collected by the government.

Drawbacks to economic growth?  

 

3. The proper role of the federal government

...Always a tension between state's rights and federal oversight.

...Interstate commerce regulation Taft Hartley act

...To a certain extent the Civil War was about keeping the southern states as part of the USA as it was about slavery.

...Monitor trade with other nations

...Recent decisions concerning education, same sex marriage, gender equality, and religious liberty are greatly affecting economic growth in various regions of the country.

 

2. Racial conflict.

...The Civil War

...The Dread Scott decision

...The integration of baseball in the 1940's. Led to the demise of Negro League baseball.

...1960's MLK Jr. marches and assassination. Meant a great deal to erect the MLK memorial in Washington, and establish MLK day as a national holiday.

...70's Watts riots

...2016 black lives matter…important now because of all the unrest. As the middle class continues to disappear and the country becomes the rich minority and the poor majority, African American income and power continues to erode and disappear.

 

1. US role in world affairs: when and where the US should step in on issues

...World War One 1920's

...World War 2 1940's the US long debated joining in the fight in Europe before they did

...Korean War 1950's

...1961 Cuban Missile Crisis

...Vietnam War late 60's early 70's

...The Cold War in the early 1980's

...Gulf War in early 90's

...War on Terror since 2001

...The recent rise of Russia as a world power under Putin, and the volatile government in South Korea

...Current issues: Syrian refugees, whether the US will recognize the threat of ISIS, whether the US will continue to be an ally of Israel, conflict in the Middle East.

...Relations with China (1) as their economy becomes larger than ours (2) the trade imbalance making the US overly indebted to China (3) the possibility of China's government and military becoming increasing aggressive and volatile.  

...Foreign aid – the decades long debate of sending US money to help overseas even as the US budget deficit skyrockets. In the 2016 presidential election the two major candidates' viewpoint on foreign aid were polar opposites.    

 

US role in United Nations

1.Sometimes supportive (donating land, constructing UN headquarters in NYC, supplying a majority of the UN funding when many other countries fail to fund)

2. Sometimes not supportive (US unwillingness to lend troops to fight battles the US doesn't agree with).

 

Which is the most important, and why?  All four are vitally important. Today the US faces complex and dire issues in all four areas that will greatly influence the course of not only US history, but world history as well.  

Things to Not Reveal at Work

Things people shouldn’t reveal about themselves at work, another Travis Bradberry article for LinkedIn. I wanted to read the article to see what they were.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/things-smart-people-never-reveal-themselves-work-dr-travis-bradberry

 

Sharing the right things at work is an art. You can’t build a strong professional network without opening up, but revealing the wrong things can have a devastating effect on your career. Disclosures that feel like relationship builders up front later can seem like obvious no-no’s with hindsight. Such as:

 

Your political beliefs. Disagreeing with someone else’s views can quickly alter their otherwise strong impression of you. Confronting someone’s core values is one of the most insulting things you can do. Be willing to listen without inputting anything, even a disapproving look.

 

That you think someone is incompetent. Chances are everyone else already knows they’re incompetent. If you don’t have the power to help them improve or fire them, you have nothing to gain by broadcasting their ineptitude. Doing so comes across as an insecure attempt to make yourself look better.

 

How much money you make. This only breeds negativity. Salaries can never be allocated fairly. Even if they were, people won’t think so, or know all the factors. As soon as everyone knows how much you makes, everything you do at work is considered against your income.

 

That you hate your job. The last thing anyone else wants to hear is someone complaining about how much they hate their job. Doing so labels you as a negative person, who is not a team player. This brings down morale. Bosses are quick to catch on to this. There are always enthusiastic replacements waiting just around the corner.

 

What you do in the bedroom. Whether it’s good or bad, this can make most people uncomfortable or even offended. Gives you a bad reputation.

 

What you think someone else does in the bedroom. No better way to creep someone out than to let them know that thoughts of their love life have entered your brain. Kinda like the scene in the marriage counselor’s office in the move Old School. Bradberry says this talk can plant a permanent, negative seed, failing to catch his entendre.  

 

How wild you used to be. You past can say a lot about you. Just because you did something years ago doesn’t mean people will believe you’ve developed impeccable judgment since then. Behavior typical to a fraternity shows co-workers you have poor judgment and don’t know where to draw the line. Even teams of handlers and PR types can’t control the pasts of Presidential candidates. Better to keep your past to yourself.

 

That you are job hunting. All of a sudden you are waste of everyone’s time.

 

Interestingly, no mention of religious beliefs.

Craig Sager: RIP

At 8 pm Thursday night I was checking what was on TV and saw the NBA game starting on TBS, so I flipped over and saw Ernie’s retrospective on Craig Sager. Then Kenny and Charles spoke about him. From the pool pictures I’m guessing he lived near Indian Hills Country Club in East Cobb.

Maybe they'll donate all his clothes to the local Goodwill.

Thursday: Left work at six. C and M were shopping at Perimeter Mall. Anna rode over to the Avalon to see Emily. They came home and we ate a baked chicken casserole and salad. By then it was 9 pm, and we were all bushed. I packaged another eBay package. Cold!

 

Friday: slept 30 minutes late. Dreamed that C and I were going to this seminar. One guy from work was there that I knew. Seminar leader was a middle-aged guy with a beard. You could tell he normally didn’t wear a beard.

 

Running late, so I hit several red lights that I normally don’t get stopped by. Plus I had to stop by the post office. Was just 15-20 later arriving than usual. Not too bad.

 

You never know about people and their background. Crazy young co-worker Jane, an Asian-American, voiced her dislike for the over-commercialized Christmas season. Another co-worker insensitively challenged her “what’s not to like: the songs, the trees…” and Jane barked back: “I HATE CHRISTMAS! I love Jesus, but I hate Christmas!” That thought has been ringing in my ears.

 

Co-worker Brad’s youngest son just started working at the American Cookie Company. Every night they throw away everything not sold, so young Jake has been taking a bunch of it home. Some of the cookies are making their way to the office. Good, but not good.

 

Anna cleaned out her closet and designed a Christmas card, but they won’t arrive until late next week.

Bowl Picks: Part One

Celebration: #189 NC Central loses to #126 Grambling

 

New Mexico: #76 New Mexico beats #98 Texas San Antonio

 

Las Vegas: #24 Houston beats #55 San Diego State.  

 

Cure: #58 Central Florida beats #78 Arkansas State

Camellia: #50 Appalachian State loses to #47 Toledo

 

New Orleans: #113 Southern Miss loses to #104 Louisiana Lafayette

Miami Beach: #109 Central Michigan loses to #32 Tulsa

Boca Raton: #39 Memphis loses to Western Kentucky

Poinsettia: #31 BYU beats #71 Wyoming

 

Idaho Potato: #94 Idaho loses to #52 Colorado State on the blue field.

Bahamas: #110 Eastern Michigan loses to #84 Old Dominion in Nassau

Armed Forces: without a QB, #42 Navy is upset by #75 Louisiana Tech

 

Dollar General: #92 Ohio loses to #79 Troy

Hawaii: #108 Middle Tennessee travels halfway around the world to beat #120 Hawaii. The entire point of the Hawai’i Bowl is to indoctrinate the American public on the proper spelling of the Aloha State.

 

St Petersburg: #103 Miami of Ohio loses to #48 Mississippi State

Quick Lane: #80 Boston College loses to #69 Maryland

Independence: #46 NC State beats #54 Vanderbilt

 

Heart of Dallas: #105 Army beats #149 North Texas

 

Military: scandal-ridden #81 Wake Forest loses to #21 Temple.

Holiday: #35 Minnesota loses to #13 Washington State

Cactus: #77 Baylor loses to #34 Boise State. The Bears don’t want to be there, but the Broncos do.

 

My secret: I base all my picks on the Saragin power ratings.
The only exception this year is Navy.

December Hot Stove

Walked in the door to the Tallant Baseball Museum and was greeted by a stranger in a red UGA pullover and his father. The stranger was the night's speaker: Levi Hyams, the Braves 19th round draft pick out of UGA in 2012.

Levi started his talk by praising his father, for getting him started in baseball by tossing a tennis ball for the toddler to smack with his big plastic Mark McGwire bat. The elder Mr. Hyams instilled in Levi he drive and work ethic to succeed. His humble father, retired from the military, sat beside Levi and occasionally brought up topics for Levi to discuss. Host Johnny Tallant, who knows everybody, told stories of Levi's mother, an all-state high school basketball player in north Georgia back in the day.

Hyams briefly recapped his career, which has included stints in Danville, Lynchburg, Rome, Pearl, Greensboro, and Gwinnett. Stories of his host family in Mississippi: the bearded, gun-toting father and the breakfast-cooking mother, whose meals put 25 pounds on Levi's roommate, a pitcher from Australia. The booster club rising early to feed the team breakfast before road trip departures, and taking requests for each player's favorite snacks and lunches.

He praised excellent managers John Schuerholz Jr, Randy Ingle, and Brian Snitker ("so easy to play for"). Of bouncing around from team to team with just a duffle bag of five outfits, at one point having two cars parked in two different cities while he was playing in a third. Bunking on an air mattress in the living room in the apartment shared by Matt Marksberry and Terrell Jenkins. His brief spring training stint with the major league club, grounding out in his first at bat but then hitting a single, then standing on first all fired up inside - thinking "I'm batting .500!".

Levi mentioned the joy of getting to wear his pants legs long for the big club. This sparked discussion among the entire group. Us older gentlemen preferred a more traditional look, but Levi pointed out how comfortable it was not having the elastic of the pants leg bunched up around his knees - which can adversely affect performance. At this point our second speaker of the evening piped up. Former pitcher / current Rays scout Milt Hill seconded Levi's claims, and mentioned how the Rays' ownership changed their policy to allow their minor league clubs to wear uniforms the same way the big league club does - even allowing reasonably-trimmed beards.

Hill spoke at length about a variety of topics. He played four seasons with Reds, Braves, and Mariners. Graduated from Redan High, then played for Dekalb Community College and Middle Georgia College. Milt signed in 1987, right when the minor leagues added a pension. His time as a scout counts toward his pension. Next year will be his 30th season in baseball, making his pension one of the highest in history. Says he still loves baseball with a passion.

He pitched with the Reds' Nasty Boys. Redan boasts more MLB players than any other school in the state, including Wally Joiner and Brandon Phillips. Also kickers Kevin Butler and Chris Gardocki, receiver Terrance Mathis, and a few NBA players as well. The players he played with and against over the years have become trusted contacts throughout the Southeast: high school baseball coaches and the like. Whatever name someone mentioned, Milt was familiar with him.

The life of the scout: watching as many as three games in a day: perhaps a junior college game at 1 pm, a high school game at four, and perhaps a larger college at night. Levi and his dad had excused themselves after his talk. Later in the evening Milt was asked what Levi should do if he remains stuck in the minors - would Milt recommend scouting? Milt answered the question, but added that Levi should keep playing as long as possible. For the record: Levi had mentioned that after 2017 he would be eligible for the Rule Five Draft, where another team could steal any player who'd been in a team's minor league system for five years.

Says these days travel ball is "watered down" - "so many teams." Says Perfect Game is well organized. Some other tourneys might have incorrect rosters, making it impossible to scout players when he doesn't know their names. These days there may be only five or six summer teams worth watching, since good players play together, like on the elite East Cobb teams. Says kids playing 100 baseball games a year in the South may "flatline" / plateau - have a lower upside, while players in the north may play several sports due to the cold weather allowing for less than 40 baseball games. Said playing football on Friday nights under the lights before big crowds can help a player develop later on down the road when they out away from home for the first time, facing adversity in a minor league filled with players just as good as he is.

Last year local star Seth Beer skipped his senior season at Lambert High School and enrolled early at Clemson. He was the first freshman to win the national player of the year award. He was 19, so had he played another year in high school he would've been the oldest player out there. Milt said he'd made the right decision - had he stayed in high school all the other teams would've walked him every time. Milt said he will be a high number one draft choice.

Said the Mississippi State baseball stadium was nice. Several of the old guys looked at each other, saying they'd need to take a road trip. Milt said to buy their tickets early. The MSU head coach had the season ticketholders agree to be in their seats 15 minutes early, or their seats could be re-sold.

Thinks the Braves are making the right move building in Cobb County. Heard Mike Plant speak at a Braves alumni golf tournament. The decision wasn't made on a whim, but after years of study - and numerous development proposals all turned down by the city of Atlanta. When he played for the Braves, Hill would carpool downtown with Smoltz and Greg McMichael, meeting up with them on Haynes Bridge Road.

Didn't disagree with the trade of Terrell Jenkins, who is "at best a 5th starter or long reliever - not an impact player." Said the same thing about Aaron Blair. Praised last year's Rome rotation - all six starters are "top tier guys - number one, two, or three starters.

Milt told about his days playing for Calgary, when he was in the Pirates organization. During warm-ups the temperature would be 65. The team would go back to the clubhouse, then come out for the game and the temperature would be 40 degrees. Hill was on the Giants the year they were threatening to move to Tampa. Fans were livid. At the last game of the season the relievers were told to run from the bullpen in right field across to the clubhouse behind third base the second the game was over. Fans were cussing and throwing beer bottles at them.

Told a story about a minor league team with both young Josh Hamilton and Carl Crawford in the same outfield. There was a roster spot open, so the team signed an undrafted free agent out of the fine Mississippi State program by the name of Shane Kelly. After just a few days Kelly showed up early at the coach's door, holding his folded up uniform. He was quitting, because "I'm nowhere close to as good as Hamilton and Crawford." Neither was anyone else.

Once when Milt was backing up the batting practice pitcher Hamilton begged him to let him throw a pitch with the radar gun on. To avoid trouble, Milt said no. Hamilton hadn't even warmed up. But when Milt turned his back, Hamilton jumped onto the mound and fired a pitch - 96 mph. Few knew that early on Hamilton was injured in when a dump truck hit his car. That's when he became addicted to pain killers, which turned into a drug addiction.

Both Levi and Milt had attended hot stove meetings in the past. Milt laughed about two other players who'd showed up at Hot Stove in the past: pitcher Ryan Farnsworth from Milton High, and catcher Glenn Sutko - neither ever mistaken as Einsteins. Sutko, who appeared in 17 games for the big Red Machine back in the early 1970's, was married there in the Tallant Baseball Museum by justice of the peace Johnny. After the ceremony Sutko dug in his pants but couldn't find his wallet to pay. Johnny told him he didn't charge big leaguers. Milt said one time he was pitching in the minors. His catcher Sutko would put down a sign for a slider, then fail to catch the pitch because he was expecting a fastball - having completely forgotten the pitch he'd called for.

Attendance (17) was only slightly off from the November meeting. One of the hot stove organizers told how he'd mentioned to Milt he'd be attending a game in Tampa, and Milt set him up with primo seats.

Not So Fast

This week Sports Illustrated had three regional covers: #1 Alabama, #3 Ohio State, and #4 Washington. Seems like they left someone out. SI, like ESPN, has already decreed that the Buckeyes will beat Clemson. I could’ve predicted this weeks ago. Lee Corso will surely pick Ohio State, but I say “Not so fast!”
 
Lamar Jackson threw 9 interceptions this year. Deshaun Watson threw 15. But Watson threw for 500 more yards. Jackson rushed for 1000 more yards than Watson. I’ll make a note next year to see if Jackson’s 2 year total will be anywhere close to Watson’s. We already know Louisville cannot equal Clemson’s two year record of two playoff appearances. The Cardinals will have to go undefeated to equal Clemson’s three losses these past two years (assuming they don’t win the national championship this year).

 

Once again Christian McCaffrey led the nation in all-purpose yards per game – 16 yards a game more than his closest competitor. Justin Thomas ranked 5th in the ACC in total offense yards per play.
 
Georgia Tech had the least number of punts in the ACC.
 
Like everyone else, LSU RB Leonard Fournette was unable to keep up with Herschel Walker’s legendary pace. After the bowl games I’ll compare the careers of Fournette and Walker. This weekend I saw a video of Herschel being tackled by Colts All-Pro kicker Adam Vinateri.
 
UGA kicker Rodrigo Blankenship made the All-SEC freshman team. His .813 success rate was 5th in the conference, and was the highest nationally for a freshman. Tech senior Harrison Butker was 2nd in the ACC and 19th nationally. Georgia Southern kicker Younghoe Koo, a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, ranked 2nd nationally with a percentage of .950 – he made 19-20 field goals. Ole Miss kicker Gary Wunderlich led the nation, making 22-23 field goals.       
 

The New York football Giants? I like them, except for Odel Backham (though he does have a good commercial where he scores and thinks about that lady). Perhaps the Cowboys are overrated. Have they played anyone good? All the tabloids are saying Twitter is “blowing up” with tweets calling for Dak to be benched and Romo to play. Doubt that is really the majority opinion, or the opinion of the coaches. No telling what Jerry Jones is thinking.

 

Speaking of the NFL, I watched a video of Patriots owner Robert Kraft shopping for sneakers. He wore Nikes to the White House. He drew the line at letting players wear whatever shoes they want – for a good reason. NFL revenue from shoe contracts is shared with the players, and spread among all teams so you won’t have baseball, with the Yankees having more money to spend than the Pirates. Players wouldn’t get as much money if they were allowed to wear whatever shoes they wanted. In honor of Robert Kraft, Tuesday I wore a white dress shirt, black slacks, and my black wingtip spikeless Nike golf shoes.

 

Like Sunday, Dick Stockton was the announcer the last time the Falcons played the Rams in the LA Coliseum. It was like old times: the Rams in all white and the Falcons wearing red. Hopefully next year both teams will be wearing new uniforms.

 

 

Passion City Church is all right. Some wouldn’t like the music. But it’s great that everyone stands and sings, even more so than at North Point. I like how the words to the songs are on the screens. I focus on the words, and usually think about how even though they’re not traditional hymns, the words are biblical and focus on Jesus and God. Louie and Andy both preach on important Biblical/Christ-centered topics, knowing that with less than 50 sermons a year, there’s no time to preach on less important things. While Bryant’s messages are Biblical and point to Christ, “Unlikely Women in the Lineage of Christ” is not a sermon series you’d ever hear Louie or Andy preach about, especially in December.

 

I had an interesting Tuesday evening. Left work around 6:15 for my focus group. Every 30 minutes they were bring in 20 people to taste test sandwiches. You got the idea it was sponsored by Burger King. The first sandwich looked and tasted ok, but it was obviously a pre-processed (frozen) chicken filet, with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Size was ok but not huger. Price was $4.89 or $4.69, which to me is high for a fast food place.

 

The second sandwich was a normal Chick-fil-A sandwich. Over the past year I’ve wondered if CFA has been selling smaller pieces of chicken in their sandwiches, but this one last night was huge. And fresh, not frozen. Sell price was $3.19. Then they revealed the first sandwich was indeed Burger King, and the second CFA. To me there was no comparison: CFA was better. Not sure what BK was trying to determine. Maybe they’re going to come out with a sandwich exactly like CFA. A few years ago McDonalds tried to copy CFA, but you could tell the McDonalds’ chicken had been pre-processed and frozen. Also smaller than CFA (and more expensive).

 

On the way home I got gas and stopped by Kroger. Was almost 9:30 when I got home. I had to edit Anna’s 900 word essay, which took some time. She was driving home for fall break. C was watching the finale of The Voice, but went to bed at ten. Besides the essay, I had computer work I just HAD to do, plus package a shipment of bobbleheads. Was almost 12:30 am before I hit the sack.

Real Estate News

Article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle about churches selling their real estate. Rock Springs Presbyterian on Piedmont sold off a portion of their land. The Church of Christ Scientist at Peachtree and Stratford has their building up for sale. Wieuca considered selling their property, adjacent to Phipps Plaza. St Philip’s land is valued at $60 million (above), and Christ the King’s land is worth $10 million. No mention of SPdL, which might be a good thing. Leave it to the ABC for reporting the facts. The liberal AJC would’ve led with headlines asking why the churches aren’t paying capital gains taxes.

 

This is the time of year people at work love to say “Yep, after next Thursday I’m DONE FOR THE YEAR.” They don’t realize the majority of people are taking the same days off, and are also DONE FOR THE YEAR. Then these same people are the ones who call in when they’re off to see what’s going on. The few left at work have to cover for the many taking off. They don’t have time to chat. They’re so busy and say “I thought it was supposed to be slow!” Happens every year.

 

Like most Presidents, Trump leaves himself open to ridicule. I rarely post political stuff on social media, but yesterday I retweeted a good line from Conan O’Brien: “according to the25th Amendment, if the President is incapacitated, the Vice President becomes the executive producer of “The Apprentice.” All my Democratic friends liked the post. And Bruce, who apparently has a keen sense of humor.  

 

C was going shopping Friday night. I worked until almost six. Getting caught up on a bunch of stuff, and getting a little paperwork off my desk. Took the northern route home for the second straight Friday, and stopped by four thrift stores. M has been wanting to take up boxing, and I found a punching bag for him (and me) to use. Heated up some pizza rolls for dinner.

 

Saturday I cleaned a little upstairs, and took two eBay shipments to the post office. Came back home and worked on laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. C ran out to shop and get groceries. We watched the Heisman presentation and the Hallmark Channel.

 

Sunday JFBC had a baptism service. Lots of young teenagers and a couple of adults. They were running them on and off like an assembly line. Not as special or reverent as NPCC or PCC. PCC does them all together but makes each one a big deal. NPCC spreads it out, only baptizing two per service, to keep the sacrament out in the mind of the parishioners. NP has the built in baptismal. PCC brings in round tanks. Interestingly, JFBC built a baptismal font in their gym for the contemporary service. Sunday they also had a second casket-looking tub filled with water, to keep the production line moving faster.

 

Heather Swilley Taylor’s husband baptized their daughter. I noticed Bryant had his watch on for the first boy he baptized. After he dunked the boy you could see Bryant slipping off the watch and drying it off. One boy was baptized and came out of the water and shook his head, slinging water everywhere. Talk about your real estate. JFBC buys up adjacent properties as they come available.

 

Stopped by Trader Joes on the way home. I did more laundry, went out to get a haircut, and packaged another eBay item. Watched the Falcons beat the Rams, and later the Hallmark Channel. Listed more items on eBay. Ceil was baking cookies for school. Later she had to run out for more sugar. Taco salad for dinner.

 

Sunday night I was walking Barney around the front yard. He was sniffing around in the leaves. A neighbor was fast approaching, walking her black dog. Barney is the worst at figuring these things out. I just had him on the leash instead of the more controllable gentle leader. The lady said “what a pretty dog!” and I knew it – Barney went crazy. He bolted through the leaves and I had to grab him. Barney didn’t want any of that dog.
 

Monday I left work at six. Chicken quesadillas for supper. Jeopardy and The Voice and work on my laptop. Packaged two more eBay shipments.

 

Tuesday morning a fallen tree had my regular route blocked, so I had to backtrack. This meant I missed passing by the post office I had planned on stopping at. Had to go a different way to another post office near Norcross High, so my commute took much longer than planned.

 

Sitting at my desk as usual on Tuesday. All of a sudden I heard a crash, right behind me. Then the lights went out, and there was another crash. The rectangular plastic cover to a section of lights had fallen out. On its fall to the ground it hit the light switch and turned off the lights, because crashing to the ground and breaking into pieces. The piece of plastic doesn’t weight much, but could’ve cut someone had they been in the wrong place at the right time.

 

Lunch meeting Tuesday catered by Atlanta Bread Company. Tuesday night focus group sampling chicken sandwiches. Wednesday is the big Christmas luncheon at work, followed by the hot stove meeting up in Cumming.

 

I know some DJ’s here in Atlanta were trying to win the contest to host alongside Kelly Ripa. Lang would do a good job. I remember how good he did on the old VHS video we did at the Super Bowl Fan Fest back in the 90’s. He did his part professionally, and I went off script and twisted the video to say that the losing team actually won. I had to come up with what to say in line to match the video – all in my head since I didn’t have anything written down. A classic.

 

New Year’s Resolution: instead of talking, I’ll just go around honking a horn, like Harpo Marx.

'16 Final Total QB Rating

ESPN Total QB Rating for the 2016 regular season.

ACC: seven of the top 25.

SEC: four of the top 25.

 

1. 91.6 Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma: coming back next year

2. 87.0 Sam Darnold, Southern Cal freshman

3. 86.6 Lamar Jackson, Louisville sophomore

4. 86.0 Quinton Flowers, South Florida. Lost his coach.

5. 84.7 Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina

6. 84.1 Jake Browning, Washington (above)

8. 82.1 Deshaun Watson, Clemson: going pro

 

10. 81.8 Nathan Peterman, Pittsburgh

12. 80.0 Chad Kelly, Ole Miss. Injured.

13. 78.8 Deondre Francois, Florida State freshman

14. 78.3 Nick Fitzgerald, Mississippi State

16. 76.7 Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee: big comeback

17. 76.5 Jesse Ertz, Kennesaw State

 

20. 76.0 Wilton Speight, Michigan

22. 75.3 Jerod Evans, Virginia Tech

23. 75.3 Jarod Hurts, Alabama freshman

25. 74.4 Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech senior

26. 74.3 Greg Ward, Houston

27. 74.2 Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State

29. 74.0 Will Worth, Navy: injured, DNP vs Army

 

30. 73.5 Trevor Knight, Texas A&M

33. 72.3 Austin Allen, Arkansas

34. 72.0 Danny Etling, Louisiana State

35. 72.0 Sean White, Auburn

37. 71.2 Trace McSorley, Penn State

38. 70.2 JT Barrett, Ohio State

39. 69.9 DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame

 

40. 69.0 Tommy Armstrong, Nebraska

41. 68.6 Brad Kaaya, Miami. Injured.

44. 67.5 Seth Russell, Baylor

45. 67.2 Sefo Liufau, Colorado

46. 66.2 Stephen Johnson, Kentucky

47. 66.1 Daniel Jones, Duke: replaced injured starter

48. 65.8 Eric Dungey, Syracuse: faded

49. 65.5 Brett Rypien, Boise State

 

50. 64.4 Ryan Finley, NC State

55. 62.9 Taysom Hill, Brigham Young

59. 61.9 Kevin Ellison, Georgia Southern: much improved

 

62. 61.0 Kenny Hill, Texas Christian

64. 60.4 Josh Rosen, UCLA

66. 59.2 Drew Lock, Missouri

69. 58.0 Jacob Eason, Georgia: will he improve?

 

74. 55.5 Shane Buechele, Texas freshman

77. 54.9 Troy Williams, Utah

78. 54.2 Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt

79. 54.1 Mitch Leidner, Minnesota

 

80. 53.9 John Wolford, Wake Forest

85. 50.7 Mike Fafaul, UCLA: worse than Rosen

85. 50.7 Conner Manning, Georgia Southern

 

90. 48.7 Patrick Towles, Boston College

91. 47.5 Kurt Benkert, Virginia

97. 45.3 CJ Beathard, Iowa

98. 45.2 Christian Chapman, San Diego State

 

112. 36.5 McKenzie Milton, Central Florida

116. 30.8 Ahmad Bradshaw, Army

Overused Buzzwords

Buzzwords that make people look stupid, so says the venerable Dr. Travis Bradberry for LinkedIn. At first euphemisms surfaced in the workplace to help people deal with touchy subjects. Then they morphed into corporate buzzwords that took over our vocabulary. Everyday conversations now sound like we all work for NASA:

 

“Listen Ray, I don’t have the bandwidth for it with everything else on my plate, but ping me anyway because at the end of the day it’s on my radar and I don’t want to be thrown under the bus because I didn’t circle back around on this no-brainer.”

 

These over-used phrases make you feel clever, but they also annoy the heck out of people. Don’t think you can use these phrases without consequence. Pay close attention to how others react to your using them, and you will see these phrases don’t cast you in a favorable light. One of the biggest needs to most people is more social awareness. Most of us are so focused on what we’re saying (and what we want to say next) that we lose sight of how our words affect others.

 

See if you can catch yourself before you use these phrases again:

 

All hands on deck.

Apples to apples.

At the end of the day.

Back to the drawing board.

Bang for your buck.

Circle back around.

Elephant in the room.

Get my manager’s blessing.

Get the ball rolling.

Hit the ground running.

I don’t have the bandwidth (?)

It’s on my radar.

Let’s touch base.

Low hanging fruit.

On my plate.

Out to lunch.

Move the goal post (?)

No brainer.

Par for the course.

Ping me. (?)

Reinvent the wheel.

Synergy.

Take this off-line.

Think outside the box.

Thrown under the bus.

Win-win.

 

ME: This is bad at my office. I am certainly guilty, and some are worse offenders than others. Five overused phrases of my own:

 

As Christians we…

Awesome.

Body of work.

Head’s Up Play.

I’ll pray about that.

So blessed.

So grateful for…

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/buzzwords-make-smart-people-look-stupid-dr-travis-bradberry