That Scattered Thursday Open Thread

I took a look at one of my pensions today and they have me marked for death at 82! [looks up ‘Average Canadian Male Lifespan’] Well, Statistics Canada says that the average guy drops dead at 81.3 years so it seems like I’ll be spending my last few monies going to the funerals of all my old high school buddies. That’s a raw deal.

Thoughts and Stuff:

-Some years back I picked up a bookie-book by Rennie Airth with the title River of Darkness on a lark. I enjoyed the tale of a WW1 vet trying to wrap his noggin around the notion of a serial killer roaming about the English countryside. A few weeks ago I saw another novel of his by the name of Cold Kill-it started out with promise but the last quarter of his story was filled with so many contrived plot twists I-while reading in bed next to my wife-said out loud, “Aww, C’mon On!” Poor Rennie, he wrote himself into a corner and couldn’t get out without some ridiculous literary gymnastics. The quality between those two books is separated by light years.

-ESPN tells me that the Atlanta Falcons have interviewed live and on camera 14(!) different candidates for their various positions so far. Belichick has had a follow-up chat and my guess is that the GM spot is the sticking point. After all, he hasn’t reported to anyone else but the owner for years and years-must be hard to give that up. (*USA Today is saying that 21 minutes ago Raheem Morris was hired as coach)

-Tom Telesco landed on his feet with the Raiders: when was the last time a fired GM in the NFL was snapped up immediately after getting let go? Seems to me that the vast majority only get the one chance and then they move into broadcasting or consultancy work. Telesco brought in talent but a lot of folks are saying that they’ve underperformed-is that on the GM though?

-Another Harbaugh hits the league-it was just a matter of how far away he could get from the long, spindly arm of the NCAA and justice. [snorts] I guess it’s a good gig if you ignore the ages of Ekeler, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams (they need a GM with a good eye for skill position talent like…Tom Telesco) the Spanos gang, no home games and a garbage defense.

-All eyes in San Fran are on Deebo Samual and his not-fractured shoulder. Apparently he was ‘limited’ in practice today-I’m ‘limited’ virtually every day but you don’t hear me telling everybody about it, smgdh… Anyhoo, there’s a marked difference in the success of the passing game when he’s around. When on the field during pass plays the Niners Expected Points Added per play is .26, when he’s injured or on the sideline that drops to .06. I’m betting that he gets shot full of orangutan placenta and is a go on Sunday.

-Vic Fangio is gone from Miami. He was the one responsible for the Fins being 10th in total defense, first in QB hits and the franchise record for sacks at 56. They were also 22nd in points allowed and 28th in defending in the red zone. That D was wracked by injuries but someone has to be a scapegoat. Maybe there’s a wee bit more pressure on boy genius McDaniel? According to sports yappers, one of the guys being considered for new DC is [throws up in mouth] Brandon Staley.

-There’s a great tilt on tonight if you, like me, have somewhat recently started watching women’s college basketball. The game in question is undefeated South Cackalacky vs defending champ LSU.

-As far as the men are concerned there are a ton of games involving the lesser conferences and just the one ranked team-Arizonny-playing.

Jump in and join the fun.