NFL News:

• No doubt in response to DFO’s expert analysis, Packers president Mark Murphy said Wednesday he’s not firing anybody.
  • His answer takes a shot at some teams: “Well, if you look across the league, when those individual owners do things like that, it usually doesn’t turn out very well.”
• Injury bug:
  • Gronk – out another week
  • Luke Kuechly and Ryan Kalil – held out of practice
  • Stefon Diggs – questionable
  • RGIII – returning to full practice, but still not starting
  • Chris Johnson – season-ending IR
• Really unhappy with his 10-game PED suspension (with 4 games left to serve), Lane Johnson is taking both the NFL and NFLPA to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), hoping he can find their negotiated language around the issue invalid, thereby waiving his sentence and possibly qualifying him for back-pay.
  • Kind of a smart move, going around the courts and into the realm of the bureaucrat. Having had to defend a teacher’s union contract before (as local president), you never know which way a panel will go.
    • Courts tend to stick to the letter of the agreement; government panels look for “intent” and “interpretation”.

Super Bowl ticket packages of just tickets & field access went on sale today via NFL Ticket Exchange. At present, they have three tiers:

• Captains – starting at $6000
• Legends – starting at $10500
• MVP – starting at $11500

Is it possible to hope both Cowboys fans & Patriots fans pay maximum money for maximum disappointment?

Finally, nfl.com has a delightful short piece on Steve Smith and what keeps him going. “Generational ass whoopings.” It seems Smith wants to keep playing until his son is ready to play in the NFL, so there will be players both will have played against, “and [he can say] my dad beat you like a drum, so I’m going to beat you like a drum.”

ESPN follows up with a longer story about trash talking, which includes this bit that boils Steve Smith down:

“I’ve had two rookies that unfortunately, they have lost all respect for me, so it’s been really keeping me up at night. It’s tragic. I’ve been losing sleep. With all the lack of sleep, I know we lost, but I was almost unable to send my cleats and gloves all the way to Canton because of the lack of the sleep thing.”

As is tradition, I’m going to celebrate US Thanksgiving in the usual Beerguyrob ways:

• teaching
• bitching about how I have to try and sneak viewings of the game while teaching
• laughing at the carnage of Black Friday news reports on the teevee

Oh, and marvelling at the traffic chaos. Mom tried driving from Palm Springs to Cabazon yesterday, and it was so bad she felt the need to call and tell me about it. While it isn’t I-10, here’s what I-405 looked like last night.

Looks like fun. I don’t love family that much.

What’s a true shame is that the two day games (West Coast = Best Coast) actually seem like worthwhile contests. I can count on CNN to interrupt their stop-motion coverage of the pending Trump-ocalypse to give me people stabbing each other over $100 flat screens in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

While on the topic of Thanksgiving, year-end brings the onset of many “best-of” lists. Of the few that mean anything to me, one involves the naming of The Whisky Exchange’s “Whisky of the Year”. For 2016, that means it’s the “Machir Bay” by Kilchoman.

“Named after the most spectacular beach on Islay, Machir Bay is the flagship of the Kilchoman range. It’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels, which brings out vanilla and toffee sweetness, then finished in ex-oloroso sherry casks, adding fruit and spice. If you’ve never tried an Islay whisky before, you must give this one a go – it’s fresh and fruity with a rich layer of wood smoke adding character and complexity.”

I’m not an Islay drinker, but that does look like a sexy dram.

In comparison, the Whisky Bible named Booker’s Rye “13 Years, 1 Month, 12 Days” its World Whisky of the Year.

“Booker’s Rye 13 Years, 1 Month, 12 Days began life as an experiment by Booker Noe – grandson of Jim Beam – at the family distillery in Clermont, KY, shortly before his death in 2004. After he passed away aged 74, son Fred kept an eye on his casks – and the result is pure liquid gold… [It’s] a staggering example of a magnificent rye, showing exactly what genius actually means. A very big, unforgettable whiskey from a very big, unforgettable man.”

That might be worth crossing the border for this weekend, exchange-rate be damned.

Tonight’s sports:

• NBA:
  • Spurs at Hornets – 7:00 PM | ESPN
  • Raptors vs. Rockets – 8:00 PM | TSN
  • Timberwolves at Pelicans – 9:30 PM | ESPN
  • Lakers vs. Warriors – 10:30 PM | TSN
• NHL:
  • Leafs at Devils – 7:00 | Sportsnet
  • Jets at Wild – 7:00 | Sportsnet360
  • Flyers at Lightning – 7:30 PM | NBCSN
  • Blackhawks at Sharks – 10:00 PM | NBCSN

South Park is dark again this week, so I leave you to find the movie marathon of your choice. If all else fails, remember – TOMORROW WE (i.e. – you) FOOTBALL!