More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Norway then immediately invested $18 billion in oil and gas.

- TIME on how Andrew Huberman got America interested in science. I'm a fan and regular listener to the Huberman Lab podcast. Also amused that TIME can't help being TIME.

- Dan Wetzel on the passing of coach Ryan Mallett. It is sad that it takes a death to realize how special a person was.

- Balaji Srinivasan on the potential RFK Jr. / Peter Hotez debate. Fan of Balaji's writing but this debate is not happening. 

Red Sox Magic Number - 73


Going into the All-Star break and the unofficial half-way point of the season, the Red Sox magic number stands at 73. Going into yesterday's game with the Oriole the magic number was 74 and after the 8-6 victory it was 73. Both numbers remind me of football - a thought compounded by the fact that there will basically be no games today or Wednesday to make me think of anything else.

The number 74 makes me think of quarterback Ryan Mallett who was taken with the 74th pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. Mallet was supposed to be a 1st round talent who somehow slipped to the 3rd round into the Patriots lap. I don't know what to make of Mallett. If he came out for the 2010 NFL Draft everyone says he would have been one of the top picks yet his Senior year stats would have seemed to have done nothing to damage his status. He has a strong arm, throws accurate passes and played in a pro-style offense - yet he dropped to the 3rd round. Why? And why does he need that extra "T" at the end of his last name? Like many Patriots fans I'm curious to see what the team has in Ryan Mallett but the only place we want to see him play is in preseason games for obvious reasons.

The number 73 reminds me (and many Patriots fans) of retired legend John Hannah - the man once acclaimed as the best lineman of all-time. Hannah and Leon Gray remain the gold standard for guard-tackle combinations in NFL history. Too bad that for many people when you say John Hannah they think of the guy who played the brother in the movie The Mummy.

So you have Ryan Mallett, potentially the future of the Patriots and John Hannah who represents the best of the past. The only thing missing is the present. I'm sick of so-called news about a labor deal. Just get it done and get me my football back.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Little known fact but by tradition at the after Royal Wedding reception whoever catches the new princesses garter becomes the ambassador to Sweden... I think most Patriot fans were braced for Bill Belichick to trade the pick that ended up being Ryan Mallett to a team that needed a QB but ended up being very happy when the Pats actually took the QB for their own. That happiness was compounded with the realization that the move basically came down to trading a pretty much washed up Randy Moss for Ryan Mallett (the Pats used the pick they got from the Vikings to pick Mallett)... Wow - this is a pretty cool move - Bose Founder Gives Majority of Company to MIT... If the Reds Mike Leake was a normal guy I could see doing the diversion program which will get his record wiped clean as 1st time offender. However, given the fact that I'm doubting that he'd be this stupid again and that nobody is going to forget he stole that T-shirts - the program probably isn't worth the time... In my opinion Roy Firestone getting Rod Tidwell to cry in Jerry Maguire still greater than Suzy Kolber getting Mark Ingram to cry at the end of the first day of the NFL Draft... The only question I have regarding the Royal Wedding is whether Richard Petty invoked his right of prima nocta.