super bowl
Bloggerhood Etc 2/3/14
Photo: Mike Siegel/Seattle Times
Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks. My daughter’s favorite NFL team are World Champions! Now on to a post-Super-Bowl best (and worst) of the week.
Biggest Blowout. “Breaking Madden: The Super Bowl in which the machine bleeds to death” by Jon Bois at SB Nation.
For this, the season finale of Breaking Madden, there will be bitter cold and heavy snowfall. There will also be, Lord willing, the most one-sided result in the history of sports. In the greatest American football rout of historical record, Georgia Tech beat Cumberland College, 222-0. I want to multiply that. I want a thousand points in one game.
This is how we’re going to try.
The Match Up?
Image: Jon Bois/SB Nation
The result?
Image: Broken Madden
“…the machine bled to death.”
And you thought yesterday’s game was bad. Now on to some good stuff …
Best Story. “Of Clouds, Quiet Tears, and Sunrise” by Ashley Larkin at Draw Near.
Best Article. “Rise of the Lean Artist—the Birth of Musician 2.0” by Michael Cheng at Medium.
Best List. “The 23 People You Meet at Every Super Bowl Party” by Spencer Hall at SB Nation.
Best Cause. “Saint G.K. Chesterton” by Dale Ahlquist at Catholic Exchange.
Best Parenting Post. “Having a Son Has Ruined Football for Me” by Scott Benner at Huff Post Parents.
Best Question. “Who is My Digital Neighbor?” by Stephen Okey at Millennial.
Best Poem. “Final Request” by John at The Beautiful Due.
Best Video. “Johnny T’s Guide to Attending the Super Bowl” by Glove and Boots (via YouTube).
“So you see a Jets fan, you be nice! You say ‘I’m sorry … that you’re a Jets fan.'”
Go Seahawks?
Anna is a Seattle Seahawks fan, and I am coming to terms with it.
They are the “local” team, so she’s not jumping on a bandwagon. And they are going to the Super Bowl for only the second time in their history. Win or lose, their success at this early point in her life will probably make her a fan for life.
I know. My passion for my favorite team is rooted in a Super Bowl appearance. It was January 14, 1973. I was seven years old (only a year younger than Anna is now) and was living in the D.C. suburbs when the Washington Redskins faced the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VII.
Two weeks earlier, the Redskins had beaten their greatest rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, in the NFC Championship game at RFK Stadium. Even though the Redskins were the home team and the NFC East Champion that year, the Cowboys were expected to win. They were the popular bandwagon team with two Super Bowl appearances, a Super Bowl Championship, and a winning legacy behind them. That game was my first definite memory of a Redskins’ triumph and still one of my all-time favorite games.
Bloggerhood Etc. 1/27/14
Image via SB Nation comments thread (origin undetermined)
Here’s my best of the week from around the Blogosphere.
Best Bad Dream. “Dreaming of a Greyish-White Super Bowl” by David Roth at SB Nation.
(T)he Garden State contains loud multitudes. There is a great deal of natural beauty and there also are desolate cities whose nicer neighborhoods could still be mistaken for Bartertown from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome; the state produces delicious tomatoes and corn and blueberries, and also generates richer, beefier Heavy Industry-Related Butt Smells than you can possibly imagine.
Best Guest Post. “Love Showed Up and Watched My Kids” by Addie Zierman at Leannepenny.com.
(S)he said, “I’m taking your kid this Friday,” and when I protested she held up a hand and said, “I’m taking your kid. You need time to finish your book, and I’m taking your kid. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Most Vulnerable. “Of Embarrassing Prayers and Naked Talks with God” by Natalie Trust.
God, how am I supposed to pray? How am I supposed to express day to day desires when the cry of my heart is to have some hope for a miracle of healing? My prayers today feel so trivial. On the scale of urgency and necessity: a new job for my husband or the life of my best friend. When faced with what to pray for, this doesn’t actually feel like a choice. And I’m kind of angry with you for how confused I feel.
Funniest Video. “More NFL ” by Bad Lip-Reading (via YouTube).
Best Take on a Classic Book. “What Charlotte’s Web is Teaching Me About Longing” by Ashley Larkin, guest posting at Moments and Invitations.
It’s partly the ache of childhood gone, and going. Partly the bursting bounty of flowers and drink. Partly the wondrous miracle of life in secret places. Partly the joy of bearing witness, like Fern, as everyday sacred plays out before our watching eyes.
It is all this and something more that continues stirring this longing, seeking home.
Best Bad Search Technique. “Google Searching for the Next Great QB” by Hughtavious Hill at Fanspeak.
Instead of relying on simple measurables and game tape, evaluators have started to learn and utilize the nuances of advanced metrics and statistical analysis. Draftniks continue to push the envelope to get smarter and smarter.
Which is exactly why we’re about to do the opposite. Everyone’s going smart, so let’s go dumb.
Best Muse. “In Which Ms. Frizzle is My New Writing Muse” by Sarah Bessey.
(O)ne of Ms. Frizzle’s favourite ways to teach is to drop the kids into the middle of the experience and say “Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!”
I love that.
Best Cover of a Cover (That’s Also a Medley). “Space Oddity” by Glove and Boots (via YouTube).
NFL 2013: Midseason Predictions
Met Life Stadium, site of SuperBowl XLVIII (Photo: Gabriel Argudo Jr. (CC BY-SA 2.0))
It’s midseason–give or take–and here are my updated projections, served with a side of crow to be enjoyed later, as always.
(Key: #1 SEED, Division Champion, Wildcard.)
AFC Standings
East
New England 12-4
NY Jets 10-6
Buffalo 5-11
Miami 4-12
What the hell is happening in New York (Part One)? Rex Ryan looks to save his job for another year and some team out there loses a great defensive coordinator. Meanwhile, the circus moves to Miami and another “Dream Team” bites the dust
North
Cincinnati 11-5
Cleveland 8-8
Baltimore 7-9
Pittsburgh 4-12
The factory of sadness temporarily moves to Pittsburgh, and life in Cleveland is just a little bit less hopeless.
South
Indianapolis 12-4
Tennessee 8-8
Houston 6-10
Jacksonville 1-15
Andrew Luck and the Colts are for real. Matt Shaub and the Texas are not. (And get well soon, Coach Kubiak.)
West
DENVER 14-2
Kansas City 12-4
San Diego 9-7
Oakland 4-12
I knew KC would get better. I did not expect them to get 9-0 better. But they still have to play Denver twice and we’re talking Peyton Manning vs. Alex Smith here. Reality check time.
Fatherhood Etc. 