The GPR and Other NFL Reflections

The Grandstander Power Rankings following the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs....

1. Packers
2. Chiefs
3. Bucs
4. Bills

• The Chiefs fall to Number Two due to the uncertainty surrounding the status of Patrick Mahomes.
• The Packers looked unbeatable after thoroughly dismantling the Rams.
• The Browns won the opening coin toss, and deferred, thus putting the ball into Patrick Mahomes' hands to start the game.  Why in God's name would a team do that?  (Mahomes proceeded to  lead the Chiefs on an a TD drive to begin the game.)
• A case can be made for anyone of of these teams being ranked in any order.  From a field of fourteen, the NFL ends up with the four best teams, I think.  They are most certainly the four best teams that started out in the Playoffs.

A few words about Tom Brady.  He (and a very strong TB defense) won that game over the Saints on Sunday, and he is going to his FOURTEENTH Conference Championship Game on Sunday.  There really are no words to describe all that he has accomplished.

Nobody living today, I am confident in saying, ever saw Babe Ruth play baseball, but we are all getting the chance to see Tom Brady do things that can only be described as Ruthian, football-wise.  You may not have to like him, but you have to like seeing what he has done and continues to do on a football field.

Oh, and if you don't like him, look  up the video of him talking with Drew Brees and his kids on the field of the Super Dome long after the game ended on Sunday.  Might change your mind, if even only a little bit.

(At this point, I was going to write something about the news that the NFL this week welcomed into its Head Coaching ranks none other than Urban Meyer.  Have decided to defer that unpleasant topic to another day.)

Now it is on to what might be my very favorite day of the year on the sports calendar  - NFL Conference Championship Sunday.

An old school AFL Match-up between the Bills and Chiefs with two dynamic young quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.  A Packers-Bucs Match-up with two dynamic old quarterbacks,  Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.  Like I said earleir, I don't think that the NFL could have scripted it any better.

Predictions will come later in the week.

What Can We Do?

Tomorrow, a new President, Joe Biden, and Vice-President, Kamala Harris, will be sworn in and will take control of the Executive Branch of the United States government.   When that happens, it is my intention to scale back on political commentary both in The Grandstander and on Social Media.  I never wanted the aggravation that comes with political discussions, but events of the last four years that culminated in a rancorous 2020 election, and the seditions actions of the 45th President and his enablers in Congress compelled me to get into it over these last several weeks and months.  "Silence is assent" after all.

Here's to hope that an administration comprised of decent people will enable me to retreat back into the world of sports, movies, books, and fascinating obituaries.

But I raised the question, "What Can we Do?" in the future to make sure that the lessons learned in recent months do not recur.  One thing that I plan on doing is contributing money in the future to candidates that will run in opposition to those members of Congress, the "Sedition Caucus" who boldly attempted to subvert the Constitution of the United States, which they took and oath to uphold and defend, by seeking to overturn the results of a valid and legitimate election.  It may only be a small and nominal amount, but it will be something positive that I can do to oppose these people who in large part inspired the attempted coup that took place on January 6 at the Capitol Building.  This is not an original idea of mine.  friends of ours told us that they were going to do it, so we are as well.  If you are of like mind, you may wish to do so as well.

Here they are, the Sedition caucus of the United States Congress.

US Senate (Next election)

Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, 2022

Mike Braun, R-Indiana, 2024

Ted Cruz, R-Texas, 2024

Steve Daines, R-Montana, 2022

Bill Haggerty, R-Tennessee, 2026

Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, 2024

Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, 2026

John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, 2024

James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, 2026

Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, 2024

Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, 2024

Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, 2026

A thirteenth Senator, Kelly Loeffler, was also a part of this group, but she has already been shown the door by the voters of Georgia, but remember her name in case she ever tries to regain her seat in the Senate.

House of Representatives

One hundred and forty members of the House joined in this act of sedition as well.  I will only list those from my home state of Pennsylvania.  If you are not in Pennsylvania and would like to do this as well, it will be easy enough for you to find this House members from your home states who felt is was okay to undermine the results of a free, fair, and valid election.

John Joyce, R

Fred Keller, R

Mike Kelly, R

Daniel Meuser, R

Scott Perry, R

Guy Reschenthaler, R

Lloyd Smucker, R

Glenn Thompson, R

Remember their names.

And never forget these images from January 6, 2021.

Alabama Wins the CFP

It recently dawned on me that I never commented upon Alabama's 52-24 victory over Ohio State in Monday night's CFP Championship game.

At one point in the first half, after Alabama's third (or was it their fourth?) touchdown, a pass from Mac Jones to Najee Harris (or was it Devonta Smith?) for his second (or was it his third?) touchdown, ESPN play-by-play guy Chris Fowler said....

"It's just too easy."

Yep.  That summed it up.

I have also devised a betting strategy for the 2021 season.  Bet on Alabama. Every game.  Regardless of point spread.  I am convinced that you will never go broke by betting on Nick Saban.  He's the best.

Two Books to Start 2021

 Time for the first book reviews of 2021....

This book as Christmas gift and it is loving memoir of the fifty year relationship between the famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden and his greatest player, Lew Alcindor, soon to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  This is not necessarily a sports book, although there is some basketball in it, but more the story of the relationship between two men.  A relationship that began when one was a middle-aged square of a midwestern white guy and the other a teenaged Black kid from the heart of New York City.  Abdul-Jabbar writes of how meaningful that relationship was from the start, and how it developed as he, Alcindor/Abdul-Jabbar grew and matured. It is about friendship, mentorship, and mutual respect.

I know that in his later years, Abdul-Jabbar has turned to writing and has written several books on different subjects.  I have read several opinion pieces that he has authored over the years, so I was very impressed but not necessarily surprised with how well written this book was.   It makes me want to seek out some of his other books.  And as a happy coincidence, when Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year issue arrived last week, the article on LeBron James was written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and like this book, it was an exceptionally well written piece.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

This book was also a Christmas present.  Not to me, but to my friend, Dan, who then lent it to me.  First written in 1959 and reissued recently, it is the story of the incredible journey - it took seven years from the germination of an idea for the show to Opening Night on Broadway -  of Meredith Willson and his writing of the beloved Broadway musical, "The Music Man."   Let me say right off the bat, if you are not a fan of Broadway musicals in general, and "The Music Man" in particular, this book is not for you.  Don't bother with it.  However, if you are a fan of this show, you really might want to read this one. I mean, look, whaddaya talk whaddaya talk, whaddaya talk where'dyougitit whaddaya talk?  If that last sentence made no sense to you, then you REALLY don't want to bother with this book.

Broadway shows don't just happen, and this book tells all about how one such American classic came to be.  Willson's insistence on using his folksy Iowa dialect throughput the narrative in the book got a little wearying, but other than that, The Grandstander gives this one Three Stars, but like I said, it's only for diehard fans of a two-bit thimblerigger named Harold Hill.

End of an Era?; Playoffs Thoughts; CFP Prediction

Wow. Just wow.

The Steelers were behind 7-0 fourteen seconds into the game, 28-0 after the first quarter, 35-10 at the half, and ended up losing 48-37.  They put a scare - maybe - into the CleveBrownies with an abortive comeback effort, they had closed the gap to 35-23 at one point in the third quarter, but in retrospect, the game was over when Maurkice Pouncey's first snap of the game sailed over Ben Roethlisberger's head and turned into a Cleveland touchdown.

Lots of introspection needs to take place, and lots of questions need to be asked as the Steelers begin to move on and prepare for 2021, but here are two of them:

1. The team at one point stood at 11-0 and then lost five of their next six games, and looked very bad in doing so.  What in the hell happened and why?
2. Was last night the last time we will see so many Steelers in Black & Gold, including their seventeen year veteran Hall of Fame quarterback?

These and other questions are best encapsulated in the photo that is atop this post.

********

Other observations...

Bills 27 - Colts 24.  This first game of the six game weekend was easily the best of the bunch.  Buffalo now becomes, to me at least, a sentimental  favorite to advance to the Super Bowl.  And was this game the Last Hurrah for 2004 Draft Class QB Phillip Rivers?

Quarterbacks Standing Tall.  Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, and, most improbable of all, Taylor Heinicke of the Washington Football Team.  For reasons I won't go into here, the WFT has become a team of interest to me, and I have recently become friends with many fans of the team. Their performance against Brady's Bucs on Saturday was a valiant one, and while Heinicke probably isn't a long term answer for them at QB, he played one hell of game on Saturday.

Quarterbacks Coming Up Small.  Russell Wilson, Ryan Tannehill, Ben Roethlisberger, and Mitch Trubisky.  I was planning on going into a full scale rant about the awfulness of Trubisky and the Bears, but in light of the Steelers performance last night, I figure, screw it, I have no room to talk.

Resting Players.   Last year, the 14-2 Ravens rested Lamar Jackson and other players in week 17, had a bye week, and then came up well short in the opening round of the Playoffs.  Last week, the Steelers treated their Week 17 game with the Browns as a pre-season game, resting Roethlisberger, Pouncey, T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and others.  Now there were many reasons for that awful performance last night, but you will not convince me that taking the week off, essentially, last week wasn't among them.  Clearly, they certainly didn't gain anything by resting those guys.  It will be interesting to see how the Chiefs and Packers come out of the chute next week after their weeks off.

Okay, now who do I root for?  So the Steelers are out, so what team(s) do I attach myself to for the duration?  In no particular order, I'm going to be rooting for these teams going forward:

• Chiefs - How can you not root for Patrick Mahomes?
• Bills - They've been down so long you just got to root for them, right?  And a $20 bet on them winning the Super Bowl made a few weeks ago at 12-1 odds is a pretty nice incentive, too.
• Packers - Aaron Rodgers. Like Mahomes, how can you not like the guy?  Plus, an historic franchise, and my new Wisconsin friends Steve Ozbolt and Karen Kaminsky.
• Ravens - Yeah, I know that they are a bitter rival of the Steelers, but I like them (now that Ray Lewis is gone).  A solid organization, a good coach, and another really good and charismatic QB in Lamar Jackson.
• Sorry, like the Bills, the Browns have been down forever, and they also have a charismatic young QB, but I can't bring myself to root for them.  I just can't.

Good for what ails you.  At halftime of the Steelers game last night, when all hope appeared to be lost, and a feeling of doom pervaded, I took myself to the kitchen and fixed myself one of these.

Yessir! A root beer float can cure a lot of ills!

********

A terrific football weekend comes to a conclusion tonight when #1 Alabama meets #3 Ohio State in the Championship game of the College Football Playoff.  In trying to come up with a prediction, it comes down to the question of which Buckeyes team shows up.  Will it be the one that looked good but quite ordinary in beating Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship game?  Or will it be the team that thoroughly thumped and eviscerated Clemson in the CFP semi-final?  If it's the former, then it's an easy call for Alabama.  If it's the latter, then it becomes a bit harder, but on the theory that you can't ever go wrong by picking for Nick Saban, I'll call the game as a win for the Crimson Tide.  They are 8.5 point favorites, and as of this writing, how I'm gonna bet on it becomes a closer-to-gametime decision.

On The Events of January 6, 2021

The United States Capitol under siege 

January 6, 2021

 

sedition (noun) - conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch. (Oxford Langauges dictionary)

Sedition is a serious felony punishable by fines and up to 20 years in prison and it refers to the act of inciting revolt or violence against a lawful authority with the goal of destroying or overthrowing it. - criminal.findlaw.com

When this blog came to be back on January 8, 2010, the intent was that it would be something to fill up my time retirement, would be light hearted and fun, and, above all, would avoid political topics, because, like I said, it's supposed to be lighthearted and fun. With the approaching end of the Administration of the 45th President, I had been contemplating writing some of my thoughts about, not so much his policies and accomplishments, or lack of same, but more upon the utter bankruptcy of him as a human being.  "Silence is assent", or so the saying goes, and I didn't want to be silent about what we have witnessed these past four years.  Still, I wasn't totally sure about doing it, and then I, along with a shocked nation and world, saw he events that took place at the United States Capitol yesterday, January 6, 2021.  Events that were fomented and encouraged by the President of the United States himself.

Back in August, 2016, I watched the candidate make his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention.  When the speech ended, I said to Marilyn "That speech was about nothing but anger and hatred."  That is how he conducted his campaign in 2016 (and in 2020), and that is how he has conducted his administration.  He used anger and hate to split the country, fire up his base constituency, and never, not once, sought to lead by unifying the country.  It began with his "good people on both sides" reference to neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, VA in 2017, and it has gone on from there.  One horrifying statement and position after another.  The list became so long that our minds got numb to them.  It got to the point that you forgot the awful thing that he said on a Monday, because he did or said something worse on the following Wednesday.

Perhaps the worst thing that he did was his questioning of a legal and valid electoral outcome.  The 45th President sought to disenfranchise American citizens, and cynically use the Courts, with "his" judges, to overturn an election.  His refusal to accept a defeat at the polls and his fight to overturn the election struck at the very heart of American democracy.  His incitement of his "Proud Boy" and white nationalist base culminated in what we saw yesterday.  A charge to his thugs to march upon the Capitol and take back "your government."  You all saw what ensued:  an invasion the United States Capitol Building and an attempt to take it over.  It was an assault on our institutions, our elected Senators and Representatives, and an assault on our Constitution and the very heart of our democracy, and the flames for it were lit and fanned by the President of the United States.  "We love you. You're very special" were the words he used in his attempt to quell (wink, wink) the rioters.  (See definitions in red at the top of this post.)

The President of the United States takes an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."  Yesterday, the 45th President made a mockery of that oath.  There are reports that discussions took place yesterday within the Administration of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove an obviously unhinged President from his office for the remaining thirteen days of his term.  I am certainly in no position to opine on that, but I will say that Noon, January 20 cannot get here soon enough.

If you know me well enough, you know how I lean politically, and there will be some out there who will dismiss this as just the ramblings of a sore loser Democratic lefty snowflake.  Let me say this:  policies of politicians and governments come and go.  They charge every four or eight years.  But who are the people implementing them?  No, I never voted for Ronald Reagan or either George Bush, but I never doubted for a moment that each one of them wasn't a good and decent person who was trying his very best to lead a unified nation.  I also have no idea what kind of President Joe Biden will prove to be, but I know that he, too, is a decent man, and by his words since the election, I know that he, too, seeks to unify and lead this country.  The same cannot be said for the current  President.  He is, simply put, a bad guy, a bad human being.  But don't just take my word for it, look up what Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican Presidential nominee, has had to say in recent days on this topic, including his remarks last night on the Senate floor.

History will be the 45th President's ultimate judge.

This Just In - Tanya Roberts Is Not Dead!!!

Tanya Roberts

Stayin' Alive!

In a first in the eleven year history of The Grandstander, I need to post a retraction to an Absent Friends post.  Apparently,  reports of the death of actress Tanya Roberts were greatly  exaggerated, as Mark Twain might put it.  Or, as Chevy Chase might put it, Tanya Roberts is still alive.

It's kind of a bizarre story:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/04/entertainment/tanya-roberts-update/index.html

As the story reports, Ms Roberts is still alive, but not necessarily kicking, as she is said to be in critical condition in a Los Angeles hospital.

We all, of course, are hoping for the best for the one time Charlie's Angel.