This, That, and the Other....

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

• The Grandstander went 3-1 in his NFL Wildcard Playoff predictions last weekend, missing only the Packers win over the Giants.  In truth, none of he games were all that great from a competitive point of view, although I loved the non-competitive nature of the Steelers thrashing of the Dolphins.
• For this coming weekend, I give you this....Patriots over Texans (Joe Starkey suggested today that, somehow, the Pats managed to get another bye week in the Playoffs), Falcons over the Seahawks (the fact that Seattle let a lousy Lions team stay with them into the fourth quarter prevents me from picking them), Packers over the Cowboys (just gotta go with Aaron Rodgers over the rookie Dak Prescott), and Steelers over the Chiefs (not going to back down from my prediction of a Super Bowl win for the Steelers).
• I also missed on the CFP game.  Congrats to Deshaun Watson and all the Clemson players on their victory.  To their sanctimonious coach, Dabo Swinney, well, all I can say is that he is one of the few guys I can think of that would make me want to root for Nick Saban.
• Got a chance to watch this Ron Howard-directed documentary this week:

• If you are a devoted follower and fan of the Beatles, I am not sure that you will learn anything new about the band from this, but it does give you a chance to see the group performing live in their touring years.  As everyone knows, The Beatles stopped making live performances in 1966, so any chance one gets to see them perform like this is a bonus.  There is also some color footage of the group performing at a concert in England in 1963 that is astonishingly good in terms of picture and sound quality, and that is something that I, at least, had never seen before.  I rate this a solid three stars, and will say that any fan of The Beatles should add a copy of this movie to their Beatles Library.
• Those same fans might also want to download or buy this CD which was recently remastered and reissued in conjunction with the Howard movie:

• Last week's issue of Sports Illustrated featured a cover story about Ben Roethlisberger, whom that called the "NFL's most polarizing player".   I wish someone at SI would explain what the point was in publishing that story.  It broke absolutely no new ground.
• That same issue featured and "SI True Crime" sort about former Cowboys running back Joseph Randle.  "True Crime", apparently, is now going to be a monthly feature in SI.
• With both stories, I felt like I was reading the National Enquirer, and not Sports Illustrated.  
• Sports Illustrated also announced that US Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman will be featured models in its upcoming swimsuit issue.  Miss Biles and Miss Raisman have made this choice freely, and I presume that they are being paid handsomely for doing so, but I hope that I never hear them complain that they are not being "taken seriously" as competitive athletes, or that they are being "objectified", now that they have chosen to be a part of this issue of the magazine.  I wonder what a true pioneer like Billie Jean King would have to say about this.
• I guess that this is just what print publications have to do in an increasingly digital age.
• Finally, I am enjoying this short series from Amazon that was written and directed by Woody Allen:

• Allen also stars in the show that also includes the great Elaine May as his wife.  I had seen that critics weren't too wild about this series, but I think it has its moments.  I have not finished watching the entire series and will wait until I do to give my final judgment, but, so far, not bad.