I was on vacation two weeks ago and last week had to take Thursday and Friday off for some medical appointments 5 hours away. This week Monday was a half day because the mother’s driving is iffy and Tuesday was an all-day meeting at an undisclosed location 3 1/2 hours away. Why don’t you train someone to do your job while you’re away so that things don’t fall so far behind?, you say, reasonably. But I’m the most important guy ever and no one could possibly do what I do, I reply.

/let’s switch to a better format

You: “But didn’t you say that no one is irreplaceable? Including yourself?”

Me: “How dare you use my own words against me!”

You: “Sorry Master, shall I shackle myself to the brick wall again?”

Me: “I’m feeling generous-shackle yourself to the feathered wall instead.”

/I’ve got me a few football opinions and here they are.

Look, Justin Fields is a serviceable QB. He was run out of Chicago (which doesn’t have a good reputation for developing QB’s) and then was jettisoned by the Steelers (which doesn’t have a good reputation for developing QB’s-think about the horror that is the post-Bradshaw and post-Ben eras) But Justin chose wrong, going to the dysfunctional Jets.([sighs] which doesn’t have a good reputation for developing QB’s) After he’s done there he’ll be a backup the rest of the way.

Cincy Ain’t Care: Part The Nth: The Bengals got a wee bit of goodwill when they locked up the best wr duo in the league. But dumb, cheap, intransigent tendencies die hard. Not only are they giving Hendrickson the business end of the contract stick but they’re also quibbling with potential star defender Shemar Stewart over silly language in a rookie contract that practically writes itself. It seems to be written into the organization’s DNA to take the hardest route to the obvious end point.

The Reappraisal: You and I both know that Jim Irsay was a trainwreck-a guy born into wealth and therefore allowed to let his addictions and bad-decisioning tendencies (perhaps the two were related? Only heaven knows) run wild. And yet there’s been a plethora of former employees that have come forward, making know how generous the man was with his time and money. The phrase “Player’s Owner” has come up a few times and I can’t say that I’ve heard that phrase very often, if ever. Huh.

Sprots Tonight: It’s closeout time for both the Pacers and the Oilers. I say Indy does it and Edmonton does it in six.

Have at it.