Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Trump's coalition of the Gulf states. He's not wrong.

- Meteor explodes off coast of Massachusetts causing loud boom.

- I'm an awful person for laughing at this.

- Really looking like the Bears may move to Indiana. This isn't calling a bluff - this is being stupid.

Some Memes You Might Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- A little archeology humor.

- Some NFL humor you might enjoy.

- Analysis true!

- The new kids are starving in Africa

Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Didn't take long to become a meme.

- I'm an awful person for laughing at this.

- Took a second

- Many a truth is said in jest.

Bill Belichick's Success and George Halas

If the New England Patriots beat the Chicago Bears tonight in Foxboro, Bill Belichick will move past George Halas into second place in all-time wins by a head coach with 325. It's certainly fitting that this could happen against Chicago - the place where Halas remains a legend.

Mike Reiss has a nice piece on how Belichick and Halas are more similar than meets the eye.

Meanwhile The Daily Coach looks at the two qualities Belichick possesses that any great leader must have.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Never seem to see this mentioned but Dwight Eisenhower was as much an outsider to the Republican Party before running for President as Donald Trump was. Ike also had no experience in elected office either... Soon - Soon... Once a week in NHL states that are still in lockdown and once the season starts - the local NHL team should host a game at an outside venue where some fans can attend. The Bruins, for example, could host a game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro... Jim Harbaugh eyes NFL return. What teams would be interested? The Lions, Jets, and Bears? This smells like something planted by Harbaugh's agent to build up interest in his client... Think it would be a mistake for the Bears to go with a college coach but there may be one exception. Think Josh McDaniels would be the best choice for Chicago... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This should put a smile on your face.

- Very cool interview with the Chicago Bears Mama Bear 96-year old Virginia McCaskey

- My first thought was "what a waste of books" but my second was "I want one but with a fire-pole"

- USC's penny-sized robotic bee. I for one welcome our insect sized robot overlords

- If you don't at least get a little misty watching this then I really don't want to know you

- Really great news about Alex Trebek

- Patients with drug resistant malaria cured with plant based therapy developed at WPI. Go Worcester!

Top 5 - Worst New England Patriots Losses

Disappointed in Sunday's Super Bowl loss but it is not close to the worst Patriots loss in my lifetime. Here's how I'd rank them.

1. 2007 Super Bowl loss to the Giants - this was supposed to be the "perfect" season. If this game is played 100 times the Giants maybe win once and guess what happens? Silver lining was that Tom Coughlan was respected in Boston by many for what he did for BC football so we felt good for him.

2. 2006 AFC Championship game 38-34 loss to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. This one really hurt. Indy went on to win Super Bowl LXI over the Bears. The Patriots would have destroyed Chicago.

3. Giants Super Bowl XLVI loss. Not only did it give Eli Manning and the Giants two Super Bowl wins over the Pats but believe it or not there was a bit of a vibe that the end of the road was near for Tom Brady. That was six years ago.

4. 1978 preseason game vs Oakland. This is the game Darryl Stingley was paralyzed by Jack Tatum. Don't even know if this was a loss on the scorecard but we lost Darryl Stingley. Am I a bad person that this isn't higher on my list?

5. Super Bowl XX 46-10 loss to the Chicago Bears. Every male in New England felt much less manly after that beatdown.

The loss to the Eagles Sunday doesn't come close to making the list. Philadelphia was simply the better team - no shame in losing to a better team. The most devastating loss in my lifetime was the 2003 extra innings home run by Aaron Boone off Tim Wakefield. The Yankees went on to win the World Series and the day after that loss I had to drive to NYC for business. When I got there I seriously thought about jumping off a bridge (I take sports much less seriously now).

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I find it hard to believe that the Founding Fathers who grew hemp did not know about the "medicinal" qualities of the female plant... I can't imagine the emotion the holder of this ticket experienced during and after the final play of Monday night's Chiefs game... Ornamental Gargoyles would be a good name for a band of ugly guys... Moving the Chargers to LA was a huge mistake... Too bad that Wrongheaded Mystical Enthusiasm is too long to use as a fantasy football team name... A buttload is an actual unit of measure. Who knew?... God bless Mitch Trubisky...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Republicans having to root for Donald Trump must be like Chicago Bears fans having to root for Jay Cutler... Kudos to Bob Cousy and Holy Cross... So is that DirecTV commercial implying that Lionel Ritchie and Peyton Manning are gay lovers? Why else would Ritchie be in Mannings' home first thing in the morning with Peyton's wife nowhere to be found... And yet Johnny Pesky is not in the Hall of Fame... Suzy Kolber's Mancave would be a good name for a fantasy football team... The truth is the truth...  When Scott Boras is trying to sign a new client - how long do you think it takes him to casually mention that he got JD Drew $94 million in career earnings?... Debunking the Aquatic Ape Theory... July was National Beer Month and August was National Anal Sex Month (seriously). They should combine those two and make September National Regrets Month... Interesting - why Obama won't pardon Snowden...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Outside Magazine comes out for GMO foods.

- Heh heh

- Andrew Benintendi made a spectacular catch last night. Is it me or does it see that there's been more unreal fielding plays this season than normal?

- What a great story!

- Most cartoons are better if you change the caption to "I'd like to connect with you on LinkedIn"

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Why peeing in your socks may save your life! I had to read the article and then was left thinking that those socks would really come in handy on the Appalachian Trail. Charge your phone and keep your location via GPS? Sounds perfect.

- Is the Flint water crisis the result of a stimulus project gone wrong?

- I don't think Amy Schumer is a joke thief

- They are like ninja eagles on stilts

- Heh heh

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- ESNet - the 100 Gbps shadow internet that only the Government has access to

- Raylan vs Boyd - the final Justified showdown

- Losing by 20 and you sack the back-up QB.

- This Jim Carrey as Matthew McConaughey Lincoln ad was great. Wish I knew who the writer was.

- A history of Ultron - the villain in the new Avengers movie

- Interesting - the football genius of F. Scott Fitzgerald

- Heh heh - funny because it's true!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations. This is fantastic. What makes it great is the fact that you could totally picture Jay Cutler bumming around with a butt hanging out of his mouth... On a related note - I would pay to see a re-make of the movie Barfly if it had Jay Cutler playing the Mickey Roarke role... What's the difference between nude and naked?... Stories about Mitt Romney's kindness and generosity have been popping up here and there in the media. How come we never hear from people Barack Obama helped when he was a community organizer? Where are those stories?... Bobby Valentine is just 16-20 in one run games and a miserable 2-8 in extra innings. If he was halfway competent he'd be back next year but he's not so it will be adios to Sideshow Bobby Valentine... If low calorie beer was called "skim beer" instead of "light beer" - I don't think it would be quite so popular... Heh heh - Tony Stewart - sneaky ass-grabber...

Was there a Bounty on Jim McMahon?

The whole bounty issue in the NFL has me wondering if Charles Martin of the Packers was paid a bounty for knocking Jim McMahon out of the game in 1986. This hit basically ruined Jim McMahon's career as he was never the same again. Notice the high-fives Martin is getting on the sidelines. Somebody should ask Martin about this. I'm guessing that enough time has passed that he'd tell the truth.

Jay Cutler

I've never been on the Jay Cutler bandwagon and I'm guessing today that the bandwagon is a lot more empty. When I saw Jay Cutler on the sidelines yesterday I thought he was doing his best Ladainian Tomlinson impression. Let's take a quick look at a comparison:

Jay Cutler 15 G/ 3274 Yds/ 23 TD/ 16 INT/ 52 Sacks
Kyle Orton 13 G/ 3653 Yds/ 20 TD/ 9 INT/ 34 Sacks

I wonder how many Bears fans would make a trade Cutler for Orton straight up this morning? I know that after yesterday I think Josh McDaniels was more than justified for looking at trading Cutler for Matt Cassel (small good that does for McDaniels). If you Cutler defenders are going to say that he doesn't have any weapons to work with keep in mind that the 3rd round pick Chicago traded away (along with two 1st round picks) went from Denver to Pittsburgh who used the pick to draft Mike Wallace.

Of course an even bigger question than "Does Jay Cutler have any guts?" is the question "Why is Todd Collins the Bears back-up QB?"

Just Saying

Here's a QB player comparison worth mentioning:

Player A: 3,023 Yards / 17 TD / 6 INT / 26 Sacks / 94.5 Rating
Player B: 2,064 Yards / 12 TD / 10 INT / 33 Sacks / 84.3 Rating

Player A is Kyle Orton while Player B is Jay Cutler (who has also played one less game this season). I point out this comparison because I firmly believe Jay Cutler is vastly over-rated and I also believe that if he was still in Denver there would be no end to his world-revolves-around-me whining and complaining.