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Tuesday, October 31, 2017

The Writer's Life 10/31 - Do Over

I no longer watch NFL games. I'm not boycotting because of the asinine behavior of so many of the players. I've simply found a better alternative. I watch game highlights at youtube. Last year and at the beginning of this season, I was watching at NFL.com, but the highlights sometimes wouldn't load, which was annoying. Another plus to viewing at youtube has been the complete lack of even five-second ads, which precede every clip at NFL.com. I watch a few on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I watch The Patriots only when they lose, which they may not do again this season. Anyway, I'm fascinated by several aspects of the modern game. QB's constantly force passes into tight coverage - and receivers often make fantastic catches despite being blanketed. Defenders have become so proficient at ripping the ball away from RB's and WR's. The flight of many field goals are like knuckleballs, which makes the kickers' success rates amazing. Buffalo QB Tyrod Taylor is the most under-appreciated player in the league. Several GM's for teams in need of a solid QB must be kicking themselves for having passed on the Texans' Deshaun Watson, who lasted until the twelfth pick of the 2017 draft. The Browns, who have a major problem at the position and drafted first, opted for a DE. The Bears traded up to the number two slot to take QB Mitch Trubisky, who is struggling. The Jets took a DB at number six. As we used to say in Brooklyn when things weren't going right - "Do over." The pluses of watching highlights over actual games far outweigh the minuses. The segments are approximately seven to ten minutes and include all significant plays. Unfortunately, they sometimes include the insufferable post-TD celebrations... Also from the NFL - Houston Texans DE Jadaveon Clowney, the #1 pick overall in the 2014 draft, chose an interesting costume for a Halloween party - an orange prison jumpsuit! Recall that the Texans' owner recently caught heavy flack for saying: "The inmates have taken over the asylum." Clowney must be quite a character. I think it's a riot. Kudos. Wish there was a better pic than this one:



From an article at Yahoo Sports, edited by yours truly: earlier this month the NCAA allowed North Carolina to get away with years of gross academic fraud. Now it has been revealed that it penalized a player for actually going to class. Four-star PG Braxton Beverly must sit out the entire 2017-18 season because he attended a few weeks of summer school at Ohio State, from which he withdrew after the firing of head coach Thad Motta, who recruited him. He has since chosen to attend North Carolina St.. Even though he hadn’t played a single game for OSU, he was regarded as a freshman transfer instead of an incoming prospect. At least the organization is consistent in its lunacy. Maybe it's time to scrap the NCAA and find a governing body that makes common sense decisions.

My thanks to the elderly woman who purchased Nora Roberts The Hollow, to the two Asian woman who bought five kids' books between them, and to the old-timer who spotted Winning Blackjack for the Serious Player by Edwin Silberstang - and had to have it. We both agreed that the only ones who get rich from such books are the publishers and writers.

Happy Halloween.


Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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