By Ronald J. Granieri, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET  Ron Granieri: Rebuttal #4
[The RP’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Rod Jetton’s Rebuttal #2; John Y. Brown, III’s Rebuttal #3]
I have to admit that I have had a serious bias against Tim Tebow since his college days, a bias that has its roots in a fundamental theological difference.
You see, everything about Tim Tebow is an affront to my deeply held beliefs, as communicated to me through the Church to which I have belonged since birth.
I am referring, of course, to the Church of the Classic Drop-Back Quarterbacks.
How well and with such joy I remember sitting on Sundays in The Church of the Three Holy J’s [Jack, Joe, and Jim—three names holy to all Western New York football fans] as the priest opened each service with the Sign of the QB: “In the name of Unitas, and of Starr, and of the Perfect Spiral, Amen.” I can still recite entire passages from Scripture, such as this from The Sermon of Yankee Stadium, 1958 [John 19: 82]:
“Blessed are they who, when the game is on the line, can stand in the pocket and deliver the ball, for they shall win The Greatest Game of All Time.”
I also clearly remember the passages from the old Baltimore [Colt] Catechism:
Q. Why did God make the Quarterback?
A: He made him to read the defense, to identify the open receiver, and to lead that receiver to the End Zone with an accurate throw.
For one whose beliefs are as deep and traditional as my own, Tim Tebow’s style of play is nothing less than blasphemous. Of course, I am used to having my beliefs insulted by both players and an elite sports media that has rushed time and again to declare my beliefs antiquated and ill-suited to the present. How often have we been told that the “Quarterback of the Future” will be more mobile, less reliant on the Deep Out? Who after all can forget Sports Illustrated crowning Randall Cunningham as “The Ultimate Weapon,” the infamous “Slash Heresy,” or even the outburst of Flutopian Enthusiasm in my own home region? Of course, in each case, I have watched those heresies flower and wither, as championships continue to be earned by classic quarterbacks such as Brady, Rodgers, Warner, and Manning.
Read the rest of…
The RPs Debate Tim Tebow: Ron Granieri Rebuts
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jan 23, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET  John Y. Brown, III: Rebuttal #3
[The RP’s Provocation; Artur Davis’ Rebuttal #1; Rod Jetton’s Rebuttal #2]
To paraphrase George Burns, I’m at an age that if I kneel down to do “The Tebow prayer” I ask myself “What else can I do while I’m down here?”
So, for me, there is a practical, functional component that no one else has alluded to yet.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jan 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET I friggin’ love traffic jams.
L-O-V-E love ’em.
It wasn’t always this way, however. I use positive affirmations about being stuck in traffic to change my perception.
If you still get irritated with traffic jams, do like I did and think of the top 10 positive things you enjoy about being stalled in traffic.
Here’s my list that I keep handy so I’m not a grumpy guy just because a little traffic sets me back an hour or two:
- Patience. Traffic jams are a golden opportunity to practice patience.
- Fitness. I get to accelerate my heart rate by by 30% while sitting still and do so for a sustained period of up to an hour.
- Feeling Superior. I get to see people in other cars who have lower frustration tolerance thresholds than I do. (And sometimes wave to them. While smiling serenely.)
- Fun and Games. I make a game to see if I can get across the bridge before the song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida ends.
Read the rest of…
John Y.’s Musings from the Middle: Traffic Jams
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET My complete Bucket List
1) Don’t Die
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By Patrick Derocher, on Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 9:15 AM ET Yesterday, of course, was a semi-official protest day against the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, the House and Senate versions of a bill that would, in an effort to protect copyright owners, severely clamp down on websites that reproduce copyrighted materials. The reactions were many, ranging from the juvenile to the nuanced, from the cosmetic (Google blacking out its logo) to the Earth-shattering (fortunately for this blogger, French Wikipedia remained active). Attached is a personal favorite from comedy site “The Oatmeal.” (Warning: Very funny, but borderline not safe for work.) [The Oatmeal]
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jan 18, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
Golden Globes photobomb [.gif]
Men in the baby food aisle. [picture]
Moray Eels [picture]
If it’s stupid and it works, it’s not stupid. [picture]
All hail the mini canon! [Koreus]
Good to know. [picture]
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jan 18, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET A young friend on Facebook (age 25) asked me what –if anything–is there to look forward to as we grow older.
I gave the standard lines that you 1) worry less, 2) have fewer people to impress and 3) regret not enjoying your youth more than you did.
It seemed like a good answer at the time. Upon reflection, though, it’s really not. I actually don’t worry less.
I’ve just become use to worrying–become inured to it. It’s like becoming use to having 3 or 4 pebbles in each shoe. It’s annoying at first. But after 20 years, you really don’t even notice they’re there — and may even miss them if removed.
Same with impressing people. The stakes are even higher now, and I actually worry more. I can’t claim youthful indiscretion or ask for a second or third chance at my age. I just figure if I blow it and end up ruining my reputation, I don’t matter as much as I used to imagine —and that would make accepting my life as an utter disgrace a little easier.
And “regretting that you didn’t enjoying your youth more” is not something that makes the aging process somehow better or easier. That part of my answer makes no sense.
I guess I’ll wait until the morning and correct my answer that there’s nothing to look forward to as you get older and to please stop asking such offensive and idiotic questions.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jan 16, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET Martin Luther King, Jr in his own words.
Historic words that changed a nation and defined an movement one afternoon not too many years ago. Words were MLK Jr’s weaponry.
He proved that the pen can indeed sometimes be mightier than the sword (or gun, or burning cross or fire hose, as the case may be). But only if the words are borne of conviction, selected masterfully, and used in the service of a calling.
Which brings me to my oddest but personally important lessons from MLK Jr.
Years ago when I was in college I read somewhere that MLK Jr used to be caught reading the dictionary. He loved words…and saw early on the power and force verbal persuasion can have on a nation.
It encouraged me to “read” my dictionary. My old college Merriam-Webster dictionary, by the time I finished college, was the one book in my library that left no doubt that the owner had gotten his money’s worth.
Read the rest of…
John Y’s Musings from the Middle: What King Taught Me About Words
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jan 12, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET Earlier today I had an incident stuck on multiple automated call loops trying to get a simple question answered.
I know how it is and that these services help reduce time spent by employees dealing with routine questions but…… I had a simple but non-routine question and spent, on and off, 2 hours trying to get through. I finally did but the person kept referring to me as Mrs Brown until I corrected him–using my Barry White voice. But that’s another story.
So, as always, I tried to come up with a better way, a better mousetrap, a “big idea” to fix this commonplace problem.
But I couldn’t come up with anything beyond, well, hire live people to talk to live customers. That just doesn’t seem practical. And it’s so 1970s.
So, I griped a bit and then came up with what at the moment seemed an innovative and workable new approach that would decrease the “aggravation factor” for customers calling.
What was it?
Read the rest of…
John Y.’s Musings from the Middle: Automated Call Loops
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET
There is one presidential candidate we have not talked about enough up to this point: Vermin Supreme. [YouTube]
In today’s WWG we bring you more hilarious pranks! [.gif]
Free Shrugs. Love that kid. [picture]
This has got to be one of the best Twitter accounts out there. [Twitter]
Hitler’s mom – Michael Cera. Just saying. [picture]
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