Hi Folks,
We do a ton of insightful, thoughtful and serious features here at Footballguys with smart people thinking deeply for you.
This is not one of those features.
This is Random Shots and it's a few pages of me downloading my goofy and dysfunctional mental hard drive that gets stuffed with way too many random items from too many hours watching, reading about and listening to football every weekend and throughout the week. It's the only way I manage. Here's hoping it has some value for you.
We'll see. Now let's get to it.
J
Y'all. Can we talk?
I wrote about this last year and with the midterm elections next week, it seems like the right time to say it again.
I've been writing Random Shots a long time now and lots of you have been reading for a long time. I'm grateful and appreciative for you being a part of this goofy column. It's maybe way too idealistic of me, but I feel like we have a connection. You to me and me to you. So I hope you'll hear this as if it came from a friend. And not your crazy uncle on Facebook.
These elections and the political climate, in general, is a thing.
It's complicated. It's important. It's passionate. It's frustrating. It's personal. It's confusing. It's uncomfortable. I get it.
My friend Doug Farrar reminded me of a Pete Townshend line, "The simple things you see are all complicated". I think it's true here.
I'm also well aware you don't need another voice smugly telling you what to think. That's everywhere. And a huge part of the frustration.
Instead, I've got an idea of what you should do. And it comes from Pete Carroll with this line. "There's an empathy that needs to be understood if we're going to make any movement forward".
The operative word is "empathy". It means trying not just to understand, but to feel where the other person is coming from. And why they feel the way they do. It's more and deeper and more difficult than "sympathy".
Stephen Covey wrote about this when he said, "Seek first to understand. Then to be understood."
The second important part is "moving forward". I don't think anyone wants to stay where we are. And we have a choice. We can let things take us wherever the chips may fall. Or we can try to do what we can to move in the direction we think is best. I believe the latter is preferable.
So do something. Seek out a person or persons who feel differently than you on things. If at all possible, do it in person. You be the one to take the first step. Instead of snarky jabs or angry soundbites, ask them humbly with open hands, "Can you help me understand?". Then do something almost as important as the first step: Shut up and listen. And try to put yourself in their shoes. Don't object and don't argue. Let them fully explain why they think what they think. Ask questions to clarify like, "What I hear you saying is _______. Is that right?" Or, "Is it fair to say you think ______?" But don't argue or make assumptions and don't put words in their mouth.
Once you've fully heard and fully understood them, if they're as mature as you, THEN you talk about what you feel. If they're not as mature as you, then maybe they don't want to hear or understand your side. This is not about you. And that's ok.
And to be completely clear, I'm talking to all "sides" on this. I have good people I know and love who're all over the map on things.
And to be even more clear, this isn't hippy-dippy everything's groovy stuff. This is loving your neighbor stuff. This is the "At the end of the day, we're just walking each other home at night" stuff I talked about before.
I believe no matter which "side" of an issue one falls on, realizing this is bigger than yourself and trying to understand another person is going to be the key to moving forward. Maybe that's too idealistic. But that's what I'm going with. I hope you'll come with me.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming...
New York Giants backup quarterback Kyle Lauletta was arrested this week after recklessly driving his car.
The crew at NFLMemes identified the arresting officers.
That's pretty funny.
Soccer note for this week.
He's a little big for soccer. But the kid's got the intangibles.
Some things you just can't coach.
Thanks to Footballguy Daniel Simpkins for that one.
How popular would the London games be if we sent them good teams? Through 24 games, we've yet to have a matchup featuring both teams with winning records.
Thanks to Footballguy Mike McGough for that one.
I love this guy guessing the NFL Logos. When he starts off with New England as the "Russian Spies" you know it's going to be good. I think my favorite part is how pleased he is with himself at the end.
Stay Strong, Pittsburgh.
Thanks to Footballguy Daniel Simpkins for that one.
I love Pittsburgh and have lots of family there. On a lighter note, a couple of random Pittsburgh thoughts.
I wish more cities followed their lead with consistent colors across the teams.
Wikipedia says they're the only city in the country where all the pro teams share the same colors. So you know it must be true. Here's more as I know you guys need to know this kind of thing:
"The flag of Pittsburgh is colored with black and gold, based on the colors of William Pitt's coat of arms; Pittsburgh is the only city in the United States in which all professional sporting teams share the same colors. The city's first National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, the Pittsburgh Pirates were the first to wear black and gold as their colors. The colors were adopted by founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney, in 1933. In 1948, the Pittsburgh baseball Pirates switched their colors from red and blue to black and gold. Pittsburgh's second NHL franchise, the Pittsburgh Penguins, wore blue and white, due to then-general manager Jack Riley's upbringing in Ontario. In 1979, after the Steelers and Pirates had each won their respective league championships, the Penguins altered their color scheme to match, despite objections from the Boston Bruins."
Boston Fans objected to another team using Black and Gold?
My second thought is few cities have more pride for their teams than Pittsburgh. I was out to dinner in Pittsburgh one Monday night a few years ago and Dallas - Washington was on Monday Night Football. I wanted to catch the game so I'd made sure the restaurant we picked had televisions. The place had tons of televisions all right. And every single one of them was tuned to the Penguins hockey game. This wasn't a sports bar catering to serious fans. This was a regular restaurant and without question, every person inside had more interest in a regular season Penguins game than they did for a big game (at least to me) on Monday night football. Up till then, I'd always thought of Pittsburgh as a "Steelers town" or more broadly a "Football town". Pittsburgh is a "Pittsburgh town". Respect.
Rock on, Pittsburgh. Stay strong.
Adrian Peterson. Still good at football.
My favorite part is at the 58-second mark where you see his head dip twice as he hits the next gear right about midfield. He needed a burst to squeeze through the two defenders. Dug deep and delivered. Love it.
Saints coach Sean Payton said he loved the fact New Orleans was playing in the afternoon game on Sunday as it would give the fans time to recover from the LSU game on Saturday against Alabama. He refers to LSU fans as "we".
“When that game is over with, and hopefully we get the result we’re looking for, we (the fans) need to get some rest,” Payton said. “Fortunately, our game isn’t until the second slot, so that’ll allow them to sleep in and a much easier double-header.
"I get concerned when it’s an LSU night game and a Saints noon game. But, I like the time slots.”
Gotta love a pro coach that understands SEC.
These guys make a lot of money. These guys earn a lot of money.
Sunday saw a Sports Equinox in Los Angeles. The Dodgers, Kings, Clippers, Ducks, Rams, and Galaxy all played at home on Sunday. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, that has never happened.
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.
I'm cheering for Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi. The Black Eyed Joe's All-Name team needs some QB Depth.
Thanks to Footballguy Jeff Pasquino for that one.
This might be the only way to slow down Tyreek Hill.
Called it.
More from some of the Shaquem Griffin talk last week. This is gold.
Tom Herman with the Double Up.
Not only did Oklahoma State spank his Long Horns during the game. He got owned by Mike Gundy afterward.
OSU rocking the sweet Barry Sanders 1988 Throwbacks was almost unfair.
DeAndre Hopkins' Halloween Game is strong.
Thanks to Footballguy David Dodds for that one.
Never let it be said, Brian Hoyer, Michigan State alumni, doesn't pay his bets.
He might want to pick someone besides Tom Brady to bet with though.
I don't know enough about Baseball to have an opinion on Manny Machado.
But I know he's good for Random Shots material. So he's good with me. Game on the line and he's blowing a bubble running to first base.
And here's the video.
One of many reasons the fans love Cam Newton.
Washington tackle Trent Williams is one of the best players in the game. But can we slow the roll a little about a 310-pound guy taking out a 190-pound Janoris Jenkins? This was mostly physics.
I don't care if you were drafted in the first round, this will get you benched.
Kareem Hunt. You're kind of ridiculous.
Hockey Note for the week.
I think it's rad the best player on the team is the coolest guy on the team.
Rock on, Alex Ovechkin.
Oakland's Daryl Worley with one way to stay out of his coach's doghouse.
I wrote last month "Time Is A Flat Circle" for Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Here we go again.
Kevin Clark nailed it here.
I'm the first to admit I'm tough on Odell Beckham. But the guy can play.
This Washington streak of mediocrity is getting kind of crazy.
Here's what's not mediocre - The Washington rush defense.
Thanks to Footballguy Clayton Gray for that one.
I guess there are limits to Fitzmagic. He tried to affect the field goal attempt to no avail.
That's two good 26s there.
I love all this.
I love Peterson taking the time to talk so long to the rookie. I love Barkley's eyes and showing the respect to Peterson and seemingly soaking in the advice.
The video is awesome too with Peterson encouraging Barkley to stay at it and telling him the "Sky is the limit for you".
This is why the league protects quarterbacks and sets the pass interference rules the way they do. Fans love offense. When a defense dominates the game, you get this reaction.
Baker Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes II are playing each other for the first time in the NFL.
The last time they played each other was Oklahoma vs Texas Tech.
With a final score of 66-59. Mahomes threw for 734 yards and 5 touchdowns and also had 2 rushing touchdowns. Mayfield threw for 545 yards and 7 touchdowns. They play defense at the NFL level but still, let's hope for fireworks.
Thanks to Footballguy Dan Hindery for that one.
A Rams game the day after a USC game is tough on the groundskeepers.
You know it's on when the eyes roll back.
Ok, then.
Congratulations to the new All-Time Points Leader, Adam Vinatieri.
Vinatieri's former teammate Jeff Saturday, was on ESPN Radio Monday morning talking about how one of the remarkable things about Vinatieri is how was different than normal kickers. He talked about how he wanted to be a "football player". Saturday said for Training Camp, it wasn't uncommon for the kickers to show up to camp with their golf clubs and such while the rest of the team was working hard. He said Vinatieri was never that way.
This made Morten Andersen's message even more fitting.
Music Note Of The Week. Band of Skulls is a fun band with the distorted raw sound you know I love if you've read many of these. Death By Diamonds And Pearls rocks. Play this as loud as possible.
Adam Thielen is open even when he's covered.
Rodgers with a promotion...
Todd Gurley does not care about your fantasy team.
Good.
Parenting is about Teachable Moments.
Thanks to Footballguys Taylor Green and Ryan Reed for that one.
Baseball Note This Week. Congrats to the Red Sox on the World Series.
Here's a fun way to wrap the season.
Last thing - Get out and vote. This handy link has info for your area. I couldn't care less who you vote for. I just urge folks to let your voice be heard. It's a big deal.
Thanks to Footballguys Keith Overton, Clayton Gray, David Dodds, Mike McGough, Daniel Simpkins, Jeff Pasquino, Dan Hindery, Taylor Green and Ryan Reed for the help on this one. If you've got a Random Shot of your own, shoot me an e-mail at bryant@footballguys.com.
No soapbox at the end here as I did that at the start. I'll just leave you with the urging to be kind to one another. Thanks for playing along. I hope you make the most of whatever you're doing in your life. Love your neighbor and stick together.
Peace and Grace to you.
J