Where Are They Now?

Maurice Clarett, former Ohio State running back and briefly of the Denver Broncos, is blogging while serving a term in prison for a hold-up and police chase.   It's a pretty interesting read, revealing Clarett's own journey, presenting a look at life inside the prison system, and demonstrating new media's ability to share that information.

TMQ Shows Georgetown Some Love

In his lengthy, weekly column on the NFL, Gregg Easterbrook gives a shout out to Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz ('89):

Schwartz is one of the NFL's underappreciated figures: A smart guy who graduated from Georgetown University, Schwartz not only does a fabulous job but also belongs to that small club of NFL coaches who read the New York Times and books about intellectual affairs. 

Easterbrook runs the risk of being redundant--generally, "smart guys" (and "smart girls") tend to graduate from Georgetown--but still, always good to see Georgetown mentioned in a positive light.

On a related note to the title: the McCain campaign has been trying to say that Barack Obama is "flip-flopping" on his pick for the World Series.   Politico piles on, as well.  One problem: "showing some love" for the Rays, which is what Obama did at a rally the other day, does not mean what McCain and Politico think it means.  Easterbrook showed Georgetown some love in his article; he didn't say he roots for Georgetown football, think that Georgetown is the best school in the country, or anything like that.  Rather, he gave it the written version of a pound/fist bump/dap/terrorist fist jab.  Same with Obama: shaking hands does not equate to picking them, or even rooting for them to win, the World Series.  He's just showing some love.

Steagles

Writing about the Steelers and the Eagles, I was reminded of this great bit of trivia:

The "Steagles" is the popular nickname for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, during the 1943 season. The teams were forced to merge because both had lost many players to military service due to World War II.

D-Fence

Where has the defense gone in the NFL?* Using no statistics and only my limited observations, I feel like every other game is some sort of 41-35 shootout.  This could be the byproduct of rooting for the Broncos, whose defense appears to be holding out for better contracts this season.

*Yesterday's 15-6 war of attrition between the Eagles and the Steelers notwithstanding.

You Know You're in Law School When...

...you start comparing the instant replay/review controversy of the Broncos-Chargers game to civil procedure.  

Nerd alert.

Wild game, though-- Denver definitely had its lucky stars aligned to, um, sidestep the instant replay issues, but when it comes down to it, San Diego had two chances to stop Denver from scoring from the 10 yard line and another from converting the 2-point conversion.  Oh yeah, and they gave up 39 points in the game.  Norv Turner's indignation would be a lot more meaningful if their defense hadn't resembled a flag football team's.

It would have also been more meaningful if he had actively screamed at the referees during the game, rather than afterward.  However, given that yesterday's ref was Ed Hochuli, I can't blame him too much for waiting until after the game.

2-0! Go Broncos!