94 thoughts on “February 6, 2017: That’s Five”

    1. Saw something like this on twitter last night:

      Warriors: we pulled off the greatest choke job ever!
      Falcons: hold my beer.

      1. certainly the worst since "The Comeback" on Jan. 3, 1993 in Buffalo. But that was just a playoff game. But Houston led 35-3 after a minute and a half of the 3rd quarter. Buffalo won 41-38.

        1. Well, the Gophers had a 21 point lead going into the fourth quarter against Michigan about 12 years ago, scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and lost. But, the stage was not quite as big.

          1. Eagles blew 23-0 lead to Vikings with 11:33 left in 1985. Wade Wilson started in place of injured Tommy Kramer. Wilson was benched for Steve Bono, who played so bad the Vikings had to reinsert Wilson, who then threw 3 TD passes in the 28-point fourth quarter. Final TD scored with 1:11 left, so that was 4 TDs in 10:22. IIRC, one came on a Pick 6. My memory was of 4 TDs in 8 1/2 minutes, but that might be time starting from when the first TD was scored.

            1. 1 Eagles Paul McFadden 29 yard field goal 0 3
              Eagles John Spagnola 28 yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Paul McFadden kick) 0 10
              2 Eagles Paul McFadden 33 yard field goal 0 13
              Eagles Mike Quick 9 yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Paul McFadden kick) 0 20
              3 Eagles Paul McFadden 25 yard field goal 0 23
              4 Vikings Allen Rice 7 yard pass from Wade Wilson (Jan Stenerud kick) 7 23
              Vikings Willie Teal 65 yard fumble return (Jan Stenerud kick) 14 23
              Vikings Anthony Carter 36 yard pass from Wade Wilson (Jan Stenerud kick) 21 23
              Vikings Anthony Carter 42 yard pass from Wade Wilson (Jan Stenerud kick) 28 23

            2. I remember Tommy Kramer having some sort of miracle comeback early in his career. Yep, here it was. Kramer, as a rookie, replaced Bob Lee in the fourth quarter and went 9-13 for 188 yards and 3 TDs and the Vikes beat the 49ers 28-27 after trailing 24-0 in the third quarter.

              Kramer was a hero and started the next week against the Raiders. Not. Good. 16-34 177 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT.

              The Vikings have been Vikinging for a very, very long time.

              1. My Dad talked about that game when I was kid. One of two Vikings games he ever went to. For a while I thought he was exaggerating as he usually does, but nope, it was real. He commented on how empty the stadium was and how friggin cold it was (12 degrees).

              2. That game was a little before my time. The Wilson comeback was so amazing not just because of how much they were down and how little time was left but because of how bad they were before that. Wilson was so bad in the first half, they benched him for their third-string QB, who then was horrifically bad. Wilson comes back in and suddenly, they can't be stopped. The fumble return certainly was the biggest play, but the offensive turnaround was stunning.

              3. The story I remember most about Kramer was him being in rehab for alcoholism and he was trying to stay in shape, so he would throw to other guys in rehab. The story was that many of them would have little Xs on their chest from the point of the football because Kramer was throwing so hard to them. I have no idea if this is true, that's just the story I remember from my youth.

              4. An ESPN alert I just got on my phone is predicting the Vikings in the Super Bowl next year. Somehow, I don't think it will be necessary to plan on buying tickets.

            1. I do recall an anecdote from the Army days in which cold war Soviet documents (maybe German, WWII) described part of the difficulty of fighting Americans was that we didn't read our own field manuals and didn't follow our own procedures.
              So..."Fed'ration, fuck yeah!" or something along those lines.

    2. I guess I don't know (or care) if he's a douchebag, unless he's a wifebeater or child exploiter or something. It's just endlessly amusing to me to listen to guys at work who live and die by these conversations because they have nothing else.

  1. RIP to former Gopher play by play guy Ray Christensen. I think most everybody over the age of 35 heard him on WCCO call games.

    1. I can remember when he called Twins games in the early seventies, although he obviously is known for a lot more than that.

    1. Rest In Purple
      First year I couldn't say "Prince would have been better."
      Someone on FB praised the Gaga show, and all I said was "Wasn't Prince".

      I had little opinion on it, but wanted a "Lady Gaga has left the building" after she fell off the stairs at the end.
      Sometimes we need more cliches and tropes. (Which would that be?)

  2. Today, I'm exactly as old as Nicole Brown Simpson was the day OJ murdered her.

    (h/t Chris Jaffe)

    1. Today, I'm exactly as old as Abraham Lincoln was when he took the oath of office and assumed the presidency.

  3. This is the first year that I pulled off watching zero of the game. The wife and kids turned it on for the halftime show (meh). I'll admit I did watch a highlight package just so I can function in the usual outstate Minnesota small talk situations.

    1. This is my sixth year in a row of watching none of it (ok, I accidentally caught some out of the corner of my eye because every tv in the curling club had it on, but that was in the midst of an intense baseball discussion with one of my teammates.) My strategy the past couple of years in the usual small talk situations is to bluntly say how much I hate football and that I avoid it as much as possible. Then I can just be left alone about the stupid thing!

      1. We were down at my MIL's this weekend. I was hoping to get on the road before it started, but no luck. I saw part of the tribute to America/The Flag®/veterans or whatever nationalist nonsense it was before removing myself from the room after the Johnny Cash "Ragged Old Flag"* voiceover began.

        'FZ' SelectShow

        * When stripped of its context, "Ragged Old Flag" may be Johnny Cash's most regrettable song. Setting aside all the other songs Johnny Cash wrote about America's problems living up to its ideals, I wonder how many people watching last night realized it was followed up by "Don't Go Near the Water" on the Ragged Old Flag album.

        1. Dumb local ad.

          Re: Google Trends - my favorite on the list is #3. How many quarters are in a football game?

    2. Last year I was avoiding it, having watched none of the season.
      Then the priest mentioned it in his homily and the kids begged, and we had no snack food or anything.
      My wife said I should let them watch it.
      The kids enjoyed it.

      This year, I mentioned it a few times and bought snack food the day before. (I should have gone to Target... quantity vs price seems so off when not shopping at Costco.)
      I hooked up the antenna we've used on the small TV to the new large TV.
      The priest didn't mention it.
      HPR got himself in a fury of Falcons pride as early as the after-church donuts (as Zee can attest).
      The girls all got bored like I was watching a slow nature documentary.
      Once the kids went to bed, I turned it off.
      HPR was distraught this morning when I told him the result. We did not respect his feelings.

      As soon as I turned on the TV, it was a commercial for Ghost in the Machine with Scarlett Johansson* dressed as naked and I had to explain she was a robot. Then her face came apart.
      Just about all of the commercials that seemed to be anything notable I had already seen.
      *probably spelled differently

      1. I can attest.
        Mine had decided somewhere along the way that Tom Brady was a criminal and did not take the "loss" well. Hell, he didn't even take it poorly. He was in a mood to start with and was trying to do the homework we were giving him a hard time for not having finished prior to the game and he sucked the life out of another quiet family evening and if I don't end this post it's going to turn into a FKB.

        1. and if I don't end this post it's going to turn into a FKB.

          Hahaha! We watched part of the game with my parents and their neighbors and dinner was served late, thus we were late getting home and late with bedtimes. The jalapeno decided he wanted to watch videos when we got home and had a meltdown when he found out that wasn't an option.

          1. The tyranny of staying up late!
            I know it well and do my best to avoid it.
            Overtired toddlers and preschoolers aren't good at reasoning the exchange, even if they were told about it and have a choice.
            Watching videos isn't an option, but this is also why I still have Sandra Boynton books right by the little ones' beds.
            90-second books beat 15-minute tantrums. I'll even let them pick which Boynton book (of four).

  4. I actually am "meh" on Brady, especially since I gave up on football, but there are two interesting things about this win.

    This is the first Super Bowl that Brady has won by more than 4 points (three SBs by a field goal, one by 4 points), and it took OT to do it.

    Trent Dilfer and Rob Johnson both have larger margins of victory in their Super Bowl titles than Brady does combined over 5.

    1. That second one, I think, is more flukey than anything. But I'm sure one can read into that either "Brady is lucky/not dominant/squeaks by" or "Brady knows how to win close ones" as one prefers.

      1. If Viniateri had missed a couple kicks years ago, the narrative would have been "Why does Brady come up short in big games?"

    2. UPDATE: Thanks to Stick for catching my error. The table is newly updated.
      UPDATE 2: I had the winner and loser backwards on SBs 49 & 50. This will address the Cam Newton thing. Also added a # of starts under "Count"

      All Time Point Differential Totals for all SB starting QBs

      QB Margin Count
      JOE MONTANA Total 76 4
      TROY AIKMAN Total 62 3
      Jim Plunkett Total 46 2
      BART STARR Total 44 2
      Jim McMahon Total 36 1
      Doug Williams Total 32 1
      Russell Wilson Total 31 2
      ROGER STAUBACH Total 30 4
      TERRY BRADSHAW Total 30 4
      Brad Johnson Total 27 1
      Trent Dilfer Total 27 1
      STEVE YOUNG Total 23 1
      Phil Simms Total 19 1
      KEN STABLER Total 18 1
      Drew Brees Total 14 1
      Mark Rypien Total 13 1
      Tom Brady Total 12 7
      Ben Roethlisberger Total 9 3
      JOE NAMATH Total 9 1
      BRETT FAVRE Total 7 2
      Eli Manning Total 7 2
      Aaron Rodgers Total 6 1
      BOB GRIESE Total 3 3
      Joe Flacco Total 3 1
      JOHNNY UNITAS Total 3 1
      Jeff Hostetler Total 1 1
      KURT WARNER Total 0 3
      Colin Kaepernick Total -3 1
      Donovan McNabb Total -3 1
      Jake Delhomme Total -3 1
      Boomer Esiason Total -4 1
      Ken Anderson Total -5 1
      Matt Ryan Total -6 1
      Bill Kilmer Total -7 1
      Steve McNair Total -7 1
      Earl Morrall Total -9 1
      LEN DAWSON Total -9 2
      David Woodley Total -10 1
      Neil O'Donnell Total -10 1
      Matt Hasselbeck Total -11 1
      Rex Grossman Total -12 1
      Vince Ferragamo Total -12 1
      Cam Newton Total -14 1
      Drew Bledsoe Total -14 1
      Chris Chandler Total -15 1
      Joe Kapp Total -16 1
      Ron Jaworski Total -17 1
      Daryle Lamonica Total -19 1
      Joe Theismann Total -19 2
      Craig Morton Total -20 2
      DAN MARINO Total -22 1
      Peyton Manning Total -23 4
      Stan Humphries Total -23 1
      Kerry Collins Total -27 1
      Rich Gannon Total -27 1
      Tony Eason Total -36 1
      FRAN TARKENTON Total -45 3
      JIM KELLY Total -66 4
      JOHN ELWAY Total -74 5
      1. That Elway total cannot be correct. He lost a Super Bowl by 45 points! Also, Cam Newton in positive territory, huh what?

        1. You're right, my bad.

          I have my Super Bowls in descending order, but my QBs in ascending. I'll flip them around and fix it.

    3. Brady's obviously a great NFL QB, but I wonder how much he owes to Belichick. Had Brady been drafted by Minnesota, or Detroit, or Cleveland, does he even become a starting QB? More than in other sports, or even other positions in the NFL, it seems you have to appeal to the tastes of the coach wherever you land if you want to ever get a real shot to prove what you can do. Or you need some lucky break where the QB ahead of you gets a long-term injury and you get a chance to step up. And then, even if you get a chance and you're good, you need to hope that coach can put together a good enough defense for your offensive contributions to matter.

      1. I read the opposite suggested on FB. Something about Belichick being under .500 w/o Brady? I didn't look it up further.

  5. the joys of home ownership. We are pricing replacement windows for most of the south side of our house. We have baseboards and sills pulled up in multiple locations, laminate floor pulled up on a quarter of a family room, big-@ss holes cut in our drywall, plastic taped up/screwed to the outside of several windows, and rags lining several places inside (where drywall has been cut out) to absorb what's been getting through. Oh, and it's supposed to continue to rain all week.

    On the bright side, the drought is mostly over.

    1. It only took a year and a half from when they installed our windows until we were able to close the project as being satisfactorily completed. So, yeah. Enjoy the process, my friend.

    2. A lot of our windows need repairs. The storm windows need caulked on a lot of them. And a lot of the springs holding the uppers up are shot too. I'm gonna try to see what I can do myself.

  6. sean signal: every time I try to open the tri-tip article, it opens briefly, then I get a screen that says that Chrome ran out of memory while trying to display the page. Only on that page. [edit: seems to happen as I scroll down to see the ginormous picture? Nope. Happens when I navigate to the article too.]

    1. Can I resize the jpgs after I upload them to WGOM or do I have to do prior? Also how do I resize on Mac?

      1. Resizing photos/images on a Mac is pretty straightforward – you just use Preview. Here's a tutorial of several of Preview's image manipulation tools. I believe you can also batch resize multiple images by opening them all in one Preview window and then using the Edit > Select All feature. (Of course, you'll want to make sure they all need to be resized into the same dimensions.)

      2. When resizing them, based on the dimensions of your images, aim for around 33% in each of the dimensions. That will cut down on the size by about 88%, allowing the gubmint to view them again. Your images are 3264x2448 so the new size would be 1088x816.

        1. Is there a general guidance for image width (larger/smaller than 1024?) in posts that won't break the sidebar/gutter?

          1. They should work fine now. This theme will cap their size so they don't stretch too wide. They'll still look huge on desktop because many people, including myself, have the browser maximized or much wider than the 1000 pixels. But on mobile, they will be automatically resized to fit the smaller viewport.

            My guidance is more about the number of bytes in the image. Keeping the maximum dimension at about 1000 pixels limits the amount to download (we don't all have fast broadband) and memory (mobile and old computers).

  7. I used to be more militant about my non-NFL stance. I've moved to the point now where I just don't care. Caught a tiny bit of it because the TV at the skating rink was tuned to it. But, watch it or not watch it... who cares? I spent the later part of the game helping my daughter with her piano practicing. I'm in charge of the metronome, which is an App on my phone run through a $19 bluetooth speaker that I bought online. Works great!

    Brady's won 5 Super Bowls and has played in 7. That's pretty amazing as far as that goes. If someone says he's the best QB ever, um, hard to argue. He's got the rings, the numbers, the longevity and he's still an elite QB, maybe the best in the league, at 40 or so. That's a pretty impressive resume.

    But, there's basketball to be played and my daughter and I are going to her first NBA game on Friday.

    1. But, watch it or not watch it... who cares?

      The reason I care and feel so strongly about my anti-football stance is that I have a son and he's not playing football no matter what. I want to be on the outspoken forefront of taking the sport down, something that, based on hearing people around me complain about a crap on-field product, I believe is starting to work.

      1. We used to feed the coatimundi's by our house in Albrook Air Force Base in the Canal Zone. I even had my finger bitten by one (mom freaked out about rabies, but don't remember ever getting the shot - back then it was like a needle in the stomach).

        Funny story, while we were in Panama a while back, I took NBBW back to show her the old neighborhood - we were walking around and I was telling her about the coatimundi's, and she pointed and said 'like that one there?' (It was standing in a nearby driveway).

    1. If on your vacation you happen to meet an American named Gary and his wife Jess, say hello for me. Apparently the both of you are in the same general location.

    1. Very nice. I think this is my favorite sentence:

      'Spoiler' SelectShow
  8. FZ Ranting and bad language SelectShow
    1. I assume he's from my new home city, so I'll also assume that he's lived in a bubble of self-righteousness inside an echo chamber lined with cash passed down from generation to generation. I'll guess he's also a member of my institution.

      1. Nope, worse. He's from Texas oil money and works about one day every five years to put together an oil deal and then drinks at the rest of his life. The Man has definitely held him back in life.

        1. I should add that this gentleman, who has overcome so much, despite not residing in your hometown, flies to visit his barber and eats at Galetoire's at least twice a month.

          1. ... missed it by that much ...

            flies to visit his barber and eats at Galetoire's at least twice a month.

            Oh, mama.

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