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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
crumley
Published Letters: 237 Editor's Choice: 52
King,
How do you see see this new letters system working compared to the current Tabletalk system? Do you see the use of Tabletalk related to this coulumn going down? Do you still plan to do chats on Tabletalk?
I suppose it depends on how people end up using these things, but how do you picture it working?
This new letters system seems to be very popular so far, though, which is encouraging.
jgale,
I know what you are getting, about it being nice that there won't be any teams from the East or West Coast in the World Series, but if Houston makes it there calling it a "Heartland" Series would be a stretch.
First off, though I am no fan of the term "Heartland", Houston is both literally and figuratively at least as far away from the "Heartland" as Atlanta. Second, Houston is more or less on the south coast of the US.
King,
On the third paragraph from the bottom of the first page you say, "The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the ninth", when of course it was the top of the ninth when the Astros tied it.
King,
The Packers certainly aren't a good team, but they aren't really hideous. How many 1-5 teams have ever had greter Points For than Points Against (144 vs. 118). Of course that's due largely to the 52-3 blow out of the Saints. But even if you just look at their losses, 4 of the 5 were by a field goal or less ( the other was by two touchdowns). With a little luck the Packers could be 3-3 or 4-2.
Anyway, the Packers are definitely light on talent this year, but I have been surprised by how well they have played, and how bad their record is.
King,
Another nice article.
I have got another minor correction for you, though.
You say:
The Chiefs are eighth in the league at 68 percent. The Raiders defense is 19th in the league in such situations, stopping the opposition 65 percent of the time.
For the Raider's statistic, it seems like you must mean "failing to stop the opposition 65 percent of the time" or something to that effect, since stopping the opposition 65% of the time would be phenomenal.
King,
First, off I had the Packer's last week, but that's not saying much because I have had them almost every week. Insert some comment about a stopped clock here.
As I said a few weeks ago (and was smacked down for), the Packers are better than their record. Somebody at Fox even did the research for the statistics I mentioned weeks ago. Apparently the Packers are the first 1-7 team ever to have scored more points than they had scored on them. And by last week they had moved up to 21 in the footballoutsiders.com efficiency rating. Not great, but they're out of the bottom third of the league.
Against the Falcons the Packers played about the same as they had the past month or so, but for once they got a decent share of the breaks. My guess is that the Packers will end up in second place in the weak NFC North, but considering their remaining schedules there is still an outside chance that they could catch the Bears and win the division on tie breakers. Yes, I am an unrepentant fan.
I think that Matt Millen is proof that the minority interview rule should be extended to include top front office executives as well as head coaches. I am sure there are even fewer minority executives than there are coaches.
Patrick,
This was another fine article. I love the way that you cut through the muddy thinking behind much of our current air travel security policy.
I was also happy to see you quote Bruce Schneier and Beyond Fear. I remember thinking about your post 9/11 columns when I read that book. I think Bruce and you should co-author a book on air travel security. Maybe the topic is a little narrow, but I would buy it.
Well, I guess that I have found one good thing about King being on leave. We get a good soccer article. Thank you.
King,
I love this newest addition to your list of things to change about the NFL that is never going to happen. Limited substitution would lead to a very interesting game, but I don't see it ever happening with the NFL - there is no way to get there from here. My guess that is one of the things that people like about Arena football, though personally I am only reminded that the Arena Football League still exists once or twice a year, so I can't really say.
Also, I have a possible correction. Near the bottom of the first page its says, "But the age of specialization has led to players who do nothing other than block on the offensive line, or clog up space in the trenches as an offensive tackle." Did you mean to say offensive or defensive tackle at the end? I guess that it makes sense either way, but defensive tackle seems like a better fit since defensive tackles tend to be gigantic as well.
I thought of a way to move toward football players playing both ways. Allow separate defensive and offensive player, limit substiturion of those offensive and defensive players. This wouldn't do as much to tackle the weight problem, but it would do quite a bit. Many teams now have run blocking specialists and pass block specialists on their offensive lines, pass rushing specialists and passing rushing and run defensive specialists. If those type players were required to stay on the field for entire offensive or defensive series, the type of player who succeeded would change over time.
This method also has the advantage that it would not put anyone out of work immediately, so the players' union is less likely to stop implementation.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
