He Knew He Was Right

Psst...there's now another good reason for you to stop by here from time to time. Now, you can do more than read about my bemoaning of the failings of Big Blue or my discussions of baseball, skiing, travel, and ancestry; and more than gaze at pictures of the general backyard landscape. You can come here to check the time. That's right, if you want to know the time, just look at that little Widget below all of the search labels to the right. And I don't mean approximate time. I mean official atomic-clock time, courtesy of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. If the clock on your computer shows a different time, it's wrong. If your watch shows a different time, you should reset it. This clock is spot-on accurate. Thank you, NIST friends. Hey, my computer clock is off by 4 seconds...

With all the snow we've had so far, and a brand new pair of skis to boot, it pains me that I have only hit the slopes once this winter. Or, maybe the pain comes from a few rounds of clearing the driveway, the steps, the walkways, the deck, etc. Just the same, here are some pictures from around the lot. I didn't take any after the storm that cut short my Christmas visits to family. That one dropped something like 15 inches around here. The ground was still mostly covered when we got hit with about six inches last Thursday night. I snapped this one after that: Here's a similar picture with a fresh foot on top of the snow that was already there: Moving behind the house, here's one of a junco (which for years I had been mistaking for chickadees), one of many birds that hang out near my deck, and obviously undeterred by a little snow on the handrail: Tomorrow, I'll be shoveling the rest of the deck, but at least I can get out if needed: And, I can get to the gr...

So, the playoffs start tomorrow, and Big Blue is not in the picture. They just didn't make the cut. I let my brother-in-law make the preceding post, and I can't say I disagree with him in that I don't blame the schedule makers. I don't even blame their bad luck in playing east of the Mississippi River. See, 7-9 records only work out west. But, regardless of any Tweet or Facebook post I may have made, that's not to blame. The schedule is what it is. I actually like its formulaic design, as it promotes great rotation. You know your team will get to play against every team at least every four years. That only two games (you know, the two games you have a tough time explaining to others when asked how the NFL comes up with each team's opponents) are specifically scheduled against teams with a similar division ranking is not remarkably conducive to parity, but it's a fine way to complete a 16-game schedule. If parity were the objective, maybe the schedule could b...

[You know you've hit the big time in the blogosphere when someone who's written for retrosheet.org and baseballpastandpresent.com asks to fill a page on your blog. The contributor is my brother-in-law, and occasional commenter here, "BB". And, I must say that I like that I now have four posts up so far in this young year; so what that one was borrowed and this one given...] Earlier this week, a post on this blog noted that the 2010 Giants’ then 9-6 record reflected who they are – a good, but not great, team. In fact the Giants added another victory and finished with a 10-6 record, and like their fans, they will be experiencing this year’s playoffs from the couch. Blame the players, blame the coaches, blame anyone else you care to for the Giants not making the playoffs this year, but don’t blame the schedule makers. They did their part. A closer look at the schedule the Giants played this year will put their 10-6 finish in perspective. First a note about NFL sch...

sliced tongue: YOU'RE GOING HOME If you're a child of the '70s a... : "YOU'RE GOING HOME If you're a child of the '70s and can claim to be untouched completely by Baker Street, well then you're a liar or someth..."

Dear Big Blue- I just said a few things to #82 that I hope you've already addressed. See, I simply think he's been too careless with the football lately. Yes, I'm basing that off of just a few plays, but we have so few players that are really good at hanging onto it that I hate to see another one fall victim to fumblitis. Now, what is up with this? Players go through it, I know, but to this degree? I remember when Tiki had his issues, and the problem got corrected. Why are the same players on this team repeatedly putting the ball on the ground? The extent to which Bradshaw fumbles is ridiculous, but even Jacobs is too careless with it. In fact, I knew he was in trouble on his breakaway run in the Packers game, and was hoping he'd turn out of bounds before it was poked away--you'd think the coaches might have the players prepared for situations like that. But, fumblitis is only half of the problem on offense, isn't it? What is going on at quarterback? Now, the mo...

Dear Mario- I know it's a little close to game time for you to be receiving this, but, well, I was hoping someone might give you that smack in the head the coaching staff clearly isn't. See, should Big Blue fail to make the playoffs, I will long remember how the season unraveled the second you dropped the ball along the sideline in the third quarter of that crushing loss to the Eagles two weeks ago. Yes, tons wrong occurred after that play, but, had you simply taken care of the ball, we'd have run some time off the clock, maybe a lot of time, and, who knows, maybe the Eagles would have taken Vick out at some point shortly thereafter. (And, even if that is unlikely, it is much more likely for time to run out before that infamous punt return.) Instead, there was that long TD run by the opposing tight end, the completely unready set up against the onside kick that followed, and, in a flash, score, score, score. Now, you're nowhere near the team leadership in the fumble...