Who is Malcolm Jones? Why is football culture related to prison culture? Why aren’t we alone in the universe? Is that whale shaking hands with that diver? Find out inside.
Alicia just got diagnosed with bronchitis today and she has a business trip scheduled for Monday. Other than some minor sinus issues, I’ve been fortunate not to get sick more than once every 4-5 years. When I do, I get whatever it is really bad. Even as a child, I was the last one in class to ever catch anything. Chicken pox? I was sent to numerous houses with kids with them so I’d catch them and get it over with. Not a thing for two months. Then three weeks after the last kid in our class got them, I finally did.
I can’t even remember the last time I was really sick – perhaps the flu 13 years ago? I don’t know. It is a good thing, but I feel it coming on so I’m making this week’s RLV a brief one.
Listens-Stefon Harris Quartet
Thank You
I get great feedback from readers of the blog, the RSP publication, and the work I contribute to Footballguys and Football Outsiders. I also get a lot of questions about fantasy teams and I’m not able to answer as high of a percentage of these emails as I used to. Sometimes I admit I can be terse with the responses I give – hopefully those don’t come off as rude. Even so, I appreciate the understanding nature you have and I want to thank you for continuing to read my work and communicate with me even if I can’t always communicate back the way I’d like.
Football Reads
- Tony Dorsett, Leonard Marshall, and Joe Delameilleure have CTE – I grew up watching these guys so it hits home for me. If you listen to one thing today, check out Delameilleure’s interview on ESPN in this link. Whether or not the NFL removes face masks from helmets is a good idea, it’s worth exploring. Lost teeth or dead brain cells? I’ll take the former, thank you.
- Grantland’s Brian Phillips with his piece “Man Up” – Amen.
- Former NFL Player on Bullying: I Was the Team ‘Wierdo’ on New York Jets – I’m a different bird by nature and I think I’ve always been identified as such by teammates in a variety of settings, but in a fun-loving way because I could handle the give and take involved. However, I never had to compete for a job and standing in an environment like my friend Ryan Riddle – a guy who only qualifies as weird if you count quiet, thoughtful, and able to communicate how he feels about deeper things. Riddle did a great job sharing common, everyday neurosis most people feel about even the smallest things and how they can be magnified in an environment like an NFL locker room.
- Martin walked into a twisted world – I’m a Jason Whitlock fan. I don’t always agree with his views, but in this case I think makes a good point about the parallels between locker rooms and prison culture. If you didn’t know, the U.S. incarcerates a higher percentage of its citizens than any country in the world.
- Zero Running Back and Anti-Fragile Rosters – I think Sean Siegele and I are on a similar wavelength about draft strategies here.
Listens
Non-Football Reads
- Five Things Successful People Do In The Evenings – While I tend to get up at 5 am to study games in the offseason, I’m a late-night worker at heart. My wife sent me this article in an email titled “You’re a genius (Who knew?). I love my wife – she knows when to lift me up and when to keep me grounded.
- The Surveillance State Puts U.W. Elections at Risk of Manipulation – Logical. Scary.
- How Big Campaign Donors Stay Anonymous – Sometimes I fear there’s a guy like Mel Gibon’s character in Conspiracy Theory reading the pattern of my posts and formulating a plan.
- Far-Off Planets Like the Earth Dot the Galaxy – We’re not alone, but we’re pretty isolated.
- The Man Who Would Teach Machines to Think
- Google-Doodle Celebrates The Father of Industrial Design – Good piece on Raymond Loewy.
- On Wild Horses: Secretary of The Interior Needs to Listen to The Scientists
Views – See the rest of the 50 Most Perfectly Time Photos Ever
