NFL Week 13 Cheat Sheet -- "Pace of Death" Continues
I made mention in my last post about the Northern Virginia "pace-of-death."
The NOVA POD comes from the common nuclear family dynamic around here -- two working parents with kids overloaded with extracurricular activities. Everything is go-go-go!
And this week was Nutcracker week for us. Our girls were either doing a dress rehearsal or a performance every night this week. They would sprint home from school, drop bags and jump in a neighbor's car, execute a performance, and then come home to wash off makeup and go to bed. They had zero free time this week.
Along with wrestling practices, our son had two meets this week and WE MISSED BOTH(!!) due to work and Nutcracker commitments. Thankfully, we have carpools to help get everybody everywhere, and we had a relative send us video from the first wrestling meet. This weekend will include two more Nutcracker performances, repairs to the chimney flu, and a PTA event at the elementary school (in the middle of the 1 p.m. NFL games no less).
Earlier this week, I read a column by Omid Safi of Onbeing.org called The Disease of Being Busy. Safi's take is that we have overloaded ourselves with over-scheduling our kids with over-regulated activities, and never disconnect from the virtual tether of the workplace provided by our devices. He believes this disease prevents us from spending time in quiet contemplation, and "saps our ability to be fully present with those we love the most in our families, and keeps us from forming the kind of community that we all so desperately crave."
I agree with Safi in many respects. As much as possible, you have to leave work at work. So much of what our kids do is regulated by adults, and they are rarely off on their own in pretend play or sandlot games.
However, I think about President Teddy Roosevelt imploring the individuals of the nation to live a Strenuous Life. I am not certain, but I think Teddy wasn't much for quiet contemplation. He felt a "mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world."
I also think about my grandfather farming acres of Indiana soil from the Depression Era through the Nixon administration. I assume that his time for quiet contemplation was found while milking cows in the morning, riding a tractor in the afternoon, and during varied forms of strenuous labor long past an eight-hour workday. He probably had his Safi moments, but most often lived the Roosevelt way.
And you have to remember, none of what we are doing here can be compared to the strain of that farming life, where your livelihood and next meals were dependent on some serious manual labor, and a little help from Mother Nature.
We did have some strenuous moments this week, but I am not bitching about the "pace-of-death." It is what it is. I am real proud of our girls for hammering out the week.
Safi makes some valid points that can't be discounted -- a balance must be struck. A lot of what we have on our schedule is "busy work," because we actually have it so easy. I hope the extracurricular activities we take on, are the right ones that help prepare people for the time when real work is needed. If so, then we would have struck the right balance.
For now, though, I will keep leaning more toward the strenuous life (in our current context) rather than a life of quiet contemplation.
Let's contemplate some NFL games -- TO THE CHEAT SHEET!.
San Francisco 49ers vs. (-3.0) Chicago Bears: The Jimmy Garoppolo Era begins in San Fran. And that is about the only thing of interest in this game. Chicago has the 12th rated defense in the NFL, and they will make things tough on the 49ers new starting quarterback. -- BEARS
Minnesota Vikings vs. (-3.0) Atlanta Falcons: This is an evenly matched game that could go either way. The Viking have the 5th rated offense AND 5th rated defense. The Falcons bring in the 6th ranked offense and 10th ranked defense. Atlanta has problems stopping the run, and they have injuries to defensive backs Desmond Trufant and Brian Poole that will weaken their pass coverage. -- VIKINGS
Houston Texans vs. (-6.5) Tennessee Titans: Injuries have taken a toll on Houston as they have now lost four of their last five games. They just played a road game Monday night in Baltimore, and are back on the road again this week in Nashville -- that's a tough turn around for a healthy team. Tennessee generally beats the crappy and mediocre teams they are supposed to beat. -- TITANS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (-2.5) Green Bay Packers: Green Bay QB Brett Hundley has started to figure things out. He threw for 245 yards, 3 TDs, and an astronomic QBR of 134.3 last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tampa looks to return QB Jameis Winston to the lineup after missing three weeks to injury, but they have lost the last five games Winston has started. -- PACKERS
Denver Broncos vs. (+1.5) Miami Dolphins: If this game is televised in your market, I would make plans to do something outside, even if it's raining. Both teams are on substantial losing streaks. Miami has lost five straight, and Denver has dropped their last seven games. Greg Cote of the Miami Herald is picking the Dolphins, but I they will be missing two starting offensive linemen this week, and they haven't sufficiently replaced RB Jay Ajayi. -- BRONCOS
New England Patriots vs. (+9.0) Buffalo Bills: I was very surprised that the Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium last week. That was the first game in three weeks that Buffalo did NOT give up 30 or more points. New England QB Tom Brady is going to put up more than 30 points this week. -- PATRIOTS
Detroit Lions vs. (-3.0) Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore is currently the sixth and final playoff team in the AFC, and the Lions are the "first team out" of the playoffs on the NFC side. This game is huge for both teams. While Ravens QB Joe Flacco has been his mediocre self, but RB Alex Collins has put a charge into the running game. Flacco can dump off to TE Benjamin Watson as the Lions have a hard time covering tight ends (see Minnesota TE Kyle Rudolph two Thanksgiving Day touchdowns). -- RAVENS
Indianapolis Colts vs. (-9.5) Jacksonville Jaguars: An injury-riddled Jacksonville team traveled to Indy Oct. 22 and hammered the Colts 27-0. Kevin Bowen of 1070-AM out of Indianapolis sees reason for optimism, particularly on the defensive side of the ball for the Colts. He still predictions an Indianapolis loss. -JAGUARS
Kansas City Chiefs at (+3.0) New York Jets: Kansas City has totally fallen apart after a 5-0 start losing five of their last six, and they are losing to bad teams. New York is a bad team, too. The Jets win low scoring games at home, and the Chiefs offense is struggling mightily. -- JETS
New York Giants vs. (-9.0) Oakland Raiders: New York coach Ben McAdoo announced they would bench QB Eli Manning this week. Actor and New York City-native Michael Rapaport didn't like that decision. You have to respect the passion of a guy that says "you muthu fucka you" TWO times in a rant. -- RAIDERS
The NOVA POD comes from the common nuclear family dynamic around here -- two working parents with kids overloaded with extracurricular activities. Everything is go-go-go!
And this week was Nutcracker week for us. Our girls were either doing a dress rehearsal or a performance every night this week. They would sprint home from school, drop bags and jump in a neighbor's car, execute a performance, and then come home to wash off makeup and go to bed. They had zero free time this week.
Along with wrestling practices, our son had two meets this week and WE MISSED BOTH(!!) due to work and Nutcracker commitments. Thankfully, we have carpools to help get everybody everywhere, and we had a relative send us video from the first wrestling meet. This weekend will include two more Nutcracker performances, repairs to the chimney flu, and a PTA event at the elementary school (in the middle of the 1 p.m. NFL games no less).
Earlier this week, I read a column by Omid Safi of Onbeing.org called The Disease of Being Busy. Safi's take is that we have overloaded ourselves with over-scheduling our kids with over-regulated activities, and never disconnect from the virtual tether of the workplace provided by our devices. He believes this disease prevents us from spending time in quiet contemplation, and "saps our ability to be fully present with those we love the most in our families, and keeps us from forming the kind of community that we all so desperately crave."
Excerpt from Omid Safi's The Disease of Being Busy.
I agree with Safi in many respects. As much as possible, you have to leave work at work. So much of what our kids do is regulated by adults, and they are rarely off on their own in pretend play or sandlot games.
However, I think about President Teddy Roosevelt imploring the individuals of the nation to live a Strenuous Life. I am not certain, but I think Teddy wasn't much for quiet contemplation. He felt a "mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world."
I also think about my grandfather farming acres of Indiana soil from the Depression Era through the Nixon administration. I assume that his time for quiet contemplation was found while milking cows in the morning, riding a tractor in the afternoon, and during varied forms of strenuous labor long past an eight-hour workday. He probably had his Safi moments, but most often lived the Roosevelt way.
And you have to remember, none of what we are doing here can be compared to the strain of that farming life, where your livelihood and next meals were dependent on some serious manual labor, and a little help from Mother Nature.
We did have some strenuous moments this week, but I am not bitching about the "pace-of-death." It is what it is. I am real proud of our girls for hammering out the week.
Safi makes some valid points that can't be discounted -- a balance must be struck. A lot of what we have on our schedule is "busy work," because we actually have it so easy. I hope the extracurricular activities we take on, are the right ones that help prepare people for the time when real work is needed. If so, then we would have struck the right balance.
For now, though, I will keep leaning more toward the strenuous life (in our current context) rather than a life of quiet contemplation.
Let's contemplate some NFL games -- TO THE CHEAT SHEET!.
San Francisco 49ers vs. (-3.0) Chicago Bears: The Jimmy Garoppolo Era begins in San Fran. And that is about the only thing of interest in this game. Chicago has the 12th rated defense in the NFL, and they will make things tough on the 49ers new starting quarterback. -- BEARS
Minnesota Vikings vs. (-3.0) Atlanta Falcons: This is an evenly matched game that could go either way. The Viking have the 5th rated offense AND 5th rated defense. The Falcons bring in the 6th ranked offense and 10th ranked defense. Atlanta has problems stopping the run, and they have injuries to defensive backs Desmond Trufant and Brian Poole that will weaken their pass coverage. -- VIKINGS
Houston Texans vs. (-6.5) Tennessee Titans: Injuries have taken a toll on Houston as they have now lost four of their last five games. They just played a road game Monday night in Baltimore, and are back on the road again this week in Nashville -- that's a tough turn around for a healthy team. Tennessee generally beats the crappy and mediocre teams they are supposed to beat. -- TITANS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (-2.5) Green Bay Packers: Green Bay QB Brett Hundley has started to figure things out. He threw for 245 yards, 3 TDs, and an astronomic QBR of 134.3 last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tampa looks to return QB Jameis Winston to the lineup after missing three weeks to injury, but they have lost the last five games Winston has started. -- PACKERS
Denver Broncos vs. (+1.5) Miami Dolphins: If this game is televised in your market, I would make plans to do something outside, even if it's raining. Both teams are on substantial losing streaks. Miami has lost five straight, and Denver has dropped their last seven games. Greg Cote of the Miami Herald is picking the Dolphins, but I they will be missing two starting offensive linemen this week, and they haven't sufficiently replaced RB Jay Ajayi. -- BRONCOS
New England Patriots vs. (+9.0) Buffalo Bills: I was very surprised that the Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium last week. That was the first game in three weeks that Buffalo did NOT give up 30 or more points. New England QB Tom Brady is going to put up more than 30 points this week. -- PATRIOTS
Detroit Lions vs. (-3.0) Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore is currently the sixth and final playoff team in the AFC, and the Lions are the "first team out" of the playoffs on the NFC side. This game is huge for both teams. While Ravens QB Joe Flacco has been his mediocre self, but RB Alex Collins has put a charge into the running game. Flacco can dump off to TE Benjamin Watson as the Lions have a hard time covering tight ends (see Minnesota TE Kyle Rudolph two Thanksgiving Day touchdowns). -- RAVENS
Indianapolis Colts vs. (-9.5) Jacksonville Jaguars: An injury-riddled Jacksonville team traveled to Indy Oct. 22 and hammered the Colts 27-0. Kevin Bowen of 1070-AM out of Indianapolis sees reason for optimism, particularly on the defensive side of the ball for the Colts. He still predictions an Indianapolis loss. -JAGUARS
Kansas City Chiefs at (+3.0) New York Jets: Kansas City has totally fallen apart after a 5-0 start losing five of their last six, and they are losing to bad teams. New York is a bad team, too. The Jets win low scoring games at home, and the Chiefs offense is struggling mightily. -- JETS
New York Giants vs. (-9.0) Oakland Raiders: New York coach Ben McAdoo announced they would bench QB Eli Manning this week. Actor and New York City-native Michael Rapaport didn't like that decision. You have to respect the passion of a guy that says "you muthu fucka you" TWO times in a rant. -- RAIDERS
Actor and sports-oriented podcaster Michael Rapaport was not happy with New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo benching QB Eli Manning this week after 210 straight starts. Video is NSFW or sensitive ears.
Los Angeles Rams vs. (+7.0) Arizona Cardinals: I bet against the Rams last week when they beat the New Orleans Saints 26-20. The Cardinals got a spunky comeback 27-24 victory over the Jaguars last week, and are still in playoff hunt. Even with Arizona showing life and being at home, I am not betting against Los Angeles until they give me reason to do so. -- RAMS
Carolina Panthers vs. (-5.0) New Orleans Saints: The NFC South is where it is at! This is a matchup between the Panthers 2nd ranked defense and the Saints 2nd ranked offense. New Orleans is due for a bounce back after last week's loss to LA. -- SAINTS
Philadelphia Eagles vs. (+5.0) Seattle Seahawks: It is hard to believe Seattle is a five-point underdog at home. The Seahawks have actually lost their last two games at home, 34-31 to Atlanta, and 17-14 to the Washington Redskins. National panelists are split 6-4 in favor of the Eagles according to a Seattle Times article. Something in my gut though tells me that the Eagles winning their tenth straight, and the Seahawks losing their third straight at home are unlikely events statistically speaking. -- SEAHAWKS
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. (+5.0) Cincinnati Bengals: Cincinnati has won two in a row, and are still in the playoff hunt. Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger historically does not play as well on the road as he does at home. I would like to take the Bengals in the home underdog upset, but Roethlisberger looked great last week in a 31-28 victory over Green Bay. -- STEELERS
Time to put this post to bed, and string up some Christmas lights. Enjoy the games, folks.
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