Another Stunning Sunset in Hillsborough

There was another truly spectacular sunset that I saw while out walking last evening in Hillsborough, New Jersey (where I live).

In the not so distant past, I already shared some pictures of a really pretty sunset or two. But this one was very nice as well, and seemed worth sharing.

Enjoy!

NFL 2022-23 Thursday Night Football Week 4 Preview: Tua Tagovailoa Seems Okay

     

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Cincinnati Bengals 27, Miami Dolphins 15

On this day, after this game, there really is mostly one story that we all seem to be talking about. Obviously, that would be the concussion injury to Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Anyone watching would have to concur that it was a scary moment. It happened after he was sacked late in the first half, as the Dolphins were trying to get into scoring position to close the margin with the Bengals. Tagovailoa was slammed onto the turf, and then immediately brought his hands to his head. The replay of this was agonizing, and the way that his fingers were bent was evidently indicating of head trauma. Then Tagovailoa lay there for a long time. Players from both side of the field came out, crowding around the injured player. Tagovailoa was carted off, and to their credit, the Bengals fans in attendance showed class by chanting "Tua! Tua" as he was carted off the field. 

That part of it was rather touching. I have seen some fans (I am embarrassed to say that Giants fans were among them) who actually cheered when a player on the home team was injured. This has happened a few times that I can remember. It happened to Terry Bradshaw in Pittsburgh, and as I understand it, he still to this day refuses to return to Pittsburgh as a result of this. It happened to Kyle Boller in Baltimore. Philly fans infamously booed not an injured player, but Santa Claus. And it happened to Phil Simms at the Meadowlands, when Giants fans booed him.

So at least Cincy fans handled it with real class.

That said, somebody missed something here. The guy was knocked onto his back and hit the back of his head last weekend. He did get up, but then he collapsed back onto the ground - albeit briefly - moments after that. He was taken out of that game, at least briefly. But his injury was apparently labeled as a back injury, although it sure seems like it was not that, but a head injury. Why he would have been cleared so quickly to play in this game - and it was a big game, so they wanted him to play - is anyone's guess at the moment. My guess is that somebody will get fired for it.

It was very scary to watch. I do not remember seeing anything quite like that. I've seen extreme injuries, and still cringe even thinking about the Joe Theisman injury. But this was different. Admittedly, I am a medical moron, but I began fearing that he might never fully recover.

However, he evidently was doing well. He had full range of movement in his extremities, which is very good news. He was conscious shortly after the hit, an was cleared from the hospital and has returned back to be with his family. He even traveled on the plane with the team back to Florida, evidently. So again, that is very good news. And I, like everyone else, wish Tue the very best.

Understandably, there is no timeline for when he will return to the field. Not sure at this point if he even should, and I am not trying to be cruel or anything in saying that. Quite the opposite.

In any case, as far as the game went, the Bengals won a close one. They were able to expand their lead in the fourth quarter, first with a field goal to make it 20-15, and then with a touchdown to make it a two-possession game, with time running out. And time ran out on Miami.

The Dolphins suffered their first loss and drop to 3-1, while the Bengals have now won two straight and improve to 2-2 on the year.

My pick: Accurate

Article Warns To "Beware Who You Worship"

To this point, I have not been doing a bang up job, admittedly, of keeping up with this NFL season. There have been three weeks fully played, and I really only reviewed one of them fully, and another review was just of the two games involving the Giants and the Jets. I will try to get better.

However, I ran into this NFL-related article, and thought it would be worth sharing. It is about the conduct of many NFL players, particularly (but certainly not exclusively) the high-profile ones. Because there seems to be a certain level of exemption that many sports stars seem to feel that they have from the consequences of their actions. Perhaps they begin to believe that they truly are as great and exceptional as people encourage them to believe they are.

In this particular article, quarterback Brett Favre is singled out as one of the prime examples of somebody who as admired for his athletic abilities on the football field during his playing career, but who's conduct off the field frankly leaves a lot of be desired. 

Remember, particularly back in the nineties, Brett Favre was regarded as a hero, as a "gunslinger" style quarterback who epitomized what football was, and was supposed to be. John Madden in particular really seemed to like him, but he was very, very popular. Everyone seemed to heap nothing but praise at him. He had that mischievous, "little boy" smile. He was a warrior, probably could have played linebacker, and many of the other cliches that the announcers and experts and pundits all agreed made him special. Everyone admired how tough he was, how he played through pain, and how his presence automatically seemed to make whatever team he played for a contender.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not criticizing his play. Granted, he made some questionable throws at times, most memorably the interception against the Saints in the NFC Championship Game following the 2009 season, when his team, the Minnesota Vikings, were in position for a realistic field goal attempt to win it with just seconds left. I still feel that the Vikings robbed themselves of a real chance to be in the Super Bowl, and possibly, to win it, as a result of that. But that's just part of the game, and part of what made Favre...well, Favre. He made a decision and went for it. Sometimes, it worked out, sometimes it didn't. When it worked out, he was glorified. When it didn't, he was vilified. Sometimes, I have felt that he robbed the Vikings of a chance to be in the Super Bowl, but then I remember that without him, the Vikings probably would not have made it anywhere near that NFC Championship Game to begin with. 

So I will not question anything that he did, or did not do, on the field of play. His career statistics match up better than almost anyone else in league history, and he gave his teams a real chance to be successful. He did this with how he performed on the field.

Off the field, however, he seemed like....well, frankly, a real prick. There was the harassment of the New York Jets cheerleader during that one season when he came to play for Gang Green. There was his transparent sense of entitlement when the Packers did not bend over backwards to accommodate Favre after he flirted with retirement, and then decided to keep playing. There was the bullshit with him being friends with Donald Trump, playing golf and shooting the shit with a traitor who tried to overthrow the American government, and democracy itself. 

Now, Favre is in legal trouble for illegally funneling money to himself, basically, using the millions of dollars in funds from taxpayers in Mississippi that was supposed to help poor people to benefit himself. Favre's welfare fraud is just further proof - as if any more proof were needed - that there is nothing nearly as impressive in how this man conducts himself off the football field as there was with how he performed on the football field. If he once had a stellar legacy - and she sure seemed to for a long while there - that is now long gone, buried by one proven instance of horrible conduct after another. 

He is just one of many examples of spoiled rotten athletes who's conduct away from the spotlights of public attention focused on their athletic abilities proved to be anything worth admiring. Yet, many of these athletes are absolutely beloved during their playing careers and, in some cases, even after it has been proven that their conduct away from their sport is, in fact, horrible, if not criminal. Think of Ben Roethlisberger. How sickening was it to watch all of those people publicly heap praise on him as his football career came to an end, even when it was known that he conducted himself in a manner with condemning away from the football field. Michael Vick was another example, although he actually did serve prison time for his trespasses. You have to wonder what the reason was for why one was given a prison sentence, and the other got away with bad conduct, twice. Many people would cite the most obvious seeming reason. And while I suspect that there is indeed something to that, it is a point that I will not get into right now, because this particular blog entry is not about that. This is about mindless hero worship of people who, in fact, sure seem far from being actual heroes. And the problem for many of these athletes is that they are indeed encouraged to believe that they are above the law, that their star power grants them certain privileges, such as getting away with very bad, indeed criminal, behavior. 

So yeah, be careful who you mindlessly heap praise on and/or hold up as role models.  Or as Brian Murphy, the author of the article (see the link below) that got me on this topic in the first place suggests, be careful who you worship. These days, that seems like sound advice generally, and not just regarding athletes, either. In our celebrity obsessed culture, we seem to never go long before headlines dominate news cycles about some celebrity or another - again, not always sports-related - conduct themselves in a pathetic, if not even a criminal, manner. 

Brian Murphy: Favre, Peterson are reminder to beware who you worship "Beware who you worship," writes Brian Murphy. BRIAN MURPHYSEP 16, 2022 7:15 AM EDT

https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/vikings/brian-murphy-favre-peterson-are-reminder-to-beware-who-you-worship

NFL 2022-23 Thursday Night Football Week 4 Preview: Dolphins Try to Stay Unbeaten in Cincinnati

     

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Miami Dolphins (3-0) at Cincinnati Bengals (1-2)

Okay, this one is coming in quite late. The game has already started and, in fairness, the Bengals are winning the game, 7-3, as I write this. 

Still, I am going ahead and making my predictions for this game. After all, it is hardly decided yet.

The Bengals, I believe, are better than their 1-2 record might suggest. I know that I likely say this every week during these previews, but it bears repeating: Cincy almost won the Super Bowl last season. Just nine or so months ago, in fact. So whatever the problems that they have been facing - and there are admittedly a number of them - they nevertheless are a talented team, and have some serious experience, as well. 

Meanwhile, obviously the Dolphins are an improved team. The fact that they are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the league coming into this game should clearly attest to that fact. That said, I believe that they might not be as good as that 3-0 record would suggest. Or rather, since they deserve credit for having won those three games and not dropped one yet, they did earn it, but they are not a typical 3-0 team. Personally, I believe that they ave more vulnerabilities than their unblemished record might suggest.

And so that is why, despite a much worse record, I believe that the Bengals will come out with a big win this weekend, and get right back into the AFC North race that way. As or the Fins, they will remain atop the AFC East, at least tied for the lead after this week. But their period of exceptional, stand out play is likely coming to an end at some point soon. They really do not strike me (yet) as a team that is actually ready to leap into the ranks of the elites.

My pick: Cincinnati

James Earl Jones Will No Longer Be the Voice of Darth Vader

 

Picture courtesy of Global Panorama's Flickr Page - Star Wars Logo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/14137284401

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Sad news: James Earl Jones will no longer do the voice of Darth Vader again.

He was surely the most distinctive voice of the Star Wars franchise, and one of the most distinctive voices in movie history more generally. But he signed over the rights, and has officially retired from being the iconic voice of Darth Vader, one of the greatest, and most complex, villains in popular culture history.

Below are the links to these stories:

James Earl Jones Signs Over Darth Vader's Voice Rights, Retiring from Star Wars BY JOEL ST. PETERS PUBLISHED 2 DAYS AGO James Earl Jones, the iconic voice of Star Wars' Darth Vader, signs over the character's voice rights after 45 years, thus retiring from the role.

https://www.cbr.com/james-earl-jones-darth-vader-voice-rights-retires-star-wars/?fbclid=IwAR11478Vv569U34oNq3N38zct8zE8W_S_U0Fj8vmRBVK3oDa2vjtRYJXq4I

James Earl Jones Officially Retires As Star Wars' Darth Vader BY GRANT HERMANNS PUBLISHED 1 DAY AGO James Earl Jones is officially retiring as the voice of Star Wars' Darth Vader as he signs over the voice rights to Lucasfilm and Respeecher.

https://screenrant.com/star-wars-james-earl-jones-darth-vader-retirement/?utm_campaign=Echobox-SR-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1ug2V-ta7TEGdG6xOM71WoBVC58IzQsFdjc01i3sjMGYZQL4YEaMktVO0#Echobox=1663979041

New Rule: Let the Population Collapse | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

In just a few months, in November of this year, we are evidently going to reach the 8 billion mark in terms of world population.

Some are welcoming this, even celebrating it. 

There really is not much to celebrate about it, however. Overpopulation is a huge problem, and it already is starting to show catastrophic consequences, particularly with climate change, but also, arguably, with some other sad news trends and societal failures that we are forced to endure and live with.

For the most part, I agree with Bill Maher in this piece, even if I do not necessarily agree with everything that he has to say. For example, unlike Maher, I am no big fan of Elon Musk, and do not believe that he is qualified to be taken very seriously on world issues, simply because he managed to make a boatload of money.

In any case, this is food for thought, and seemed worth sharing.

Enjoy!

Calgary Flames Made Some Bold Moves During Offseason. Will It Pay Dividends?

The NHL preseason just started.

I know, it's hard to believe that it is that late in the year already, right? But it is. Time really does seem to fly, does it not?

In any case, one team that garnered a lot of attention with their offseason moves, and who figure to be one of the top contenders this year, would be the Calgary Flames. They enjoyed some success last season, as the Pacific Division champions. They had the third most points of any team in the West, although ultimately, they fell short against their cross-province rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

However, many expect them to go further than that this season. Some even expect that they have a real shot at the whole thing.

That would be nice. It has been far too long since a team north of the border has hoisted the Stanley Cup. But it feels a bit premature yet to make any such predictions. Personally though, it would be refreshing to see it happen.

Let's see what happens. in the meantime, here are some of the articles that I ran into which rave about the many moves that the Calgary Flames made during this past offseason. 

Below are the links to the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry:

The Calgary Flames have two years to win a Stanley Cup alt PHOTO CREDIT: SERGEI BELSKI-USA TODAY SPORTS  Robert Munnich By Robert Munnich 2 days ago

https://flamesnation.ca/news/the-flames-have-two-years-to-win-a-stanley-cup

5 Reasons the Flames Will Win the Stanley Cup in 2022-23 September 10, 2022 by Rob Couch

https://thehockeywriters.com/flames-reasons-will-win-stanley-cup-2022-23/?fbclid=IwAR1MLDnTMoFEda3e0PZi-Qz6RC0sCi17kcwHF_gzs9HeiqzaCMCtzHM0hvs#sq_h62z6fj4jm

NHL BURNING QUESTIONS: CALGARY FLAMES The Calgary Flames had a wild off-season, to say the least. Adam Proteau gets the season geared up by looking at the team's top burning questions. ADAM PROTEAUSEP 9, 2022

https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-burning-questions-calgary-flames?fbclid=IwAR1HPO8mBNAa7ejAU6z4C6vk6AcwmMb-iMsHPq9V-Q2WVLwB9__puYWzRWs

Updated Pictues From Our Recent London Trip

Hard to believe, but it has been one month to the day since my son left London, which more or less marked the midway point of our trip.

Since then, I have done just a little bit of work on some of the photos. Not as much work as I thought, and not nearly as many pictures as expected. Still, I did do some.

And here is proof. These are some of the pictures from our trip to London that I specifically made a point of trying to work and improve. Hopefully as you glance through these pictures, it will become obvious why, or else I did not really do nearly as good a job as originally imagined.

In any case, my own belief is that some of these shots came out rather well. Take a look through them and see if you agree.

Enjoy!

Scattered and Random London Shots

These are some updated pictures from the trip to London that my son and I went on last month, before he began school. It was a beautiful city, and we were both excited to finally see it.

As I usually do after trips, I worked on some of the pictures a bit since, and believe that these photos, which I worked on and tried to improve, were definitely worth sharing.

Enjoy!

Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings

Tower Bridge

Methodist Central Hall

The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster), which hosted the first ever meeting of the United Nations in 1946. 

Buckingham Palace