Category: Uncategorized

Something (obvious) that occurred to me today is that, as I age, an increasing number of people that I’ve admired will die per year, people with whom I grew up, figuratively or literally. Two that passed recently were
Jack Anderson, a reporter so tenacious in his incvestigation of Richard Nixon’s Presidency that he made it onto Nixon’s Enemies List, which many considered a badge of honor, and

William Proxmire, Senator from Wisconsin, whose savage attacks on goverment spending, especially the military industrial complex, and his entertaining “Golden Fleece” award.

I certainly won’t note every significant passing, but these two giants, for this political science major, could not go unmentioned.

You can always tell it’s the holiday season: NFL games on Saturday. (Giants won!)

Some time ago, someone asked me, just how does that quarterback ratings thing work? Being a librarian in good standing, I had to find out. Since the regular season is winding down, I thought I’d share it with you.

But before I get to that, I want to be on record that I take no responsibility for this man wearing a brassiere on his head, just because I sent him two boxes of Royal gelatin, one cherry and one strawberry. Having said that, the headwear is quite becoming, and looks like one of those old-fashioned football helmets. It’s likely to become a new fashion statement, a retro look. You read it here first.
Lefty Brown: trendsetter
Kelly Brown: there to capture it on film
Roger Green: innocent bystander

And now those QB ratings-
Since it was a while back (2001), the records may have changed, but the formula has not:

NFL quarterback rating formula
The NFL rates its passers for statistical purposes against a fixed performance standard based on statistical achievements of all qualified pro passers since 1960. The current system replaced one that rated passers in relation to their position in a total group based on various criteria.
The current system, which was adopted in 1973, removes inequities that existed in the former method and, at the same time, provides a means of comparing passing performances from one season to the next.
It is important to remember that the system is used to rate pass-ers, not quarterbacks. Statistics do not reflect leadership, play-calling, and other intangible factors that go into making a successful professional quarterback.
Four categories are used as a basis for compiling a rating:
• Percentage of completions per attempt
• Average yards gained per attempt
• Percentage of touchdown passes per attempt
• Percentage of interceptions per attempt
The average standard, is 1.000. The bottom is .000. To earn a 2.000 rating, a passer must perform at exceptional levels, i.e., 70 percent in completions, 10 percent in touchdowns, 1.5 percent in interceptions, and 11 yards average gain per pass attempt. The maximum a passer can receive in any category is 2.375.
For example, to gain a 2.375 in completion percentage, a passer would have to complete 77.5 percent of his passes. The NFL record is 70.55 by Ken Anderson (Cincinnati, 1982).
To earn a 2.375 in percentage of touchdowns, a passer would have to achieve a percentage of 11.9. The record is 13.9 by Sid Luckman (Chicago, 1943).
To gain 2.375 in percentage of interceptions, a passer would have to go the entire season without an interception. The 2.375 figure in average yards is 12.50, compared with the NFL record of 11.17 by Tommy O’Connell (Cleveland, 1957).
In order to make the rating more understandable, the point rating is then converted into a scale of 100. In rare cases, where statistical performance has been superior, it is possible for a passer to surpass a 100 rating.
For example, take Steve Young’s record-setting season in 1994 when he completed 324 of 461 passes for 3,969 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
The four calculations would be:
• Percentage of Completions — 324 of 461 is 70.28 percent. Subtract 30 from the completion percentage (40.28) and multiply the result by 0.05. The result is a point rating of 2.014.
Note: If the result is less than zero (Comp. Pct. less than 30.0), award zero points. If the results are greater than 2.375 (Comp. Pct. greater than 77.5), award 2.375.
• Average Yards Gained Per Attempt — 3,969 yards divided by 461 attempts is 8.61. Subtract three yards from yards-per-attempt (5.61) and multiply the result by 0.25. The result is 1.403.
Note: If the result is less than zero (yards per attempt less than 3.0), award zero points. If the result is greater than 2.375 (yards per attempt greater than 12.5), award 2.375 points.
• Percentage of Touchdown Passes — 35 touchdowns in 461 attempts is 7.59 percent. Multiply the touchdown percentage by 0.2. The result is 1.518.
Note: If the result is greater than 2.375 (touchdown percentage greater than 11.875), award 2.375.
• Percentage of Interceptions — 10 interceptions in 461 attempts is 2.17 percent. Multiply the interception percentage by 0.25 (0.542) and subtract the number from 2.375. The result is 1.833.
Note: If the result is less than zero (interception percentage greater than 9.5), award zero points.
The sum of the four steps is (2.014 + 1.403 + 1.518 + 1.833) 6.768. The sum is then divided by six (1.128) and multiplied by 100. In this case, the result is 112.8. This same formula can be used to determine a passer rating for any player who attempts at least one pass.

This story begins: John Spencer is one of those actors whose face you recognize right away, but the name might elude you. Before his portrayal of wrong-side-of-the-tracks lawyer Tommy Mullaney in the last four years of L.A. Law, a show I watched regularly, that would be true for me. He was on the Patty Duke Show in the mid-’60’s as Cathy Lane’s boyfriend Henry Anderson? I watched that, too, but don’t specifically remember him. The curse of the working actor.

And spooky that his character on the West Wing , Leo McGarry, should suffer a heart attack, then John should die of one just shy of his 59th birthday.

He had a great fan base; in other words, he was a hunk to persons of a certain age. The picture above is from the John Spencer Estrogen Brigade. The inscription reads: “To my gals in the Brigade, all my best, John Spencer 1/02.”

If you would be so kind:

1. Tell Me What You Want, What You Really, Really Want for Christmas
(Oh, no! I’ve been posssessed by 90’s female singers. It’s a week before Christmas. I need HELP!)

2. Tell Me What You Realy Are Most Looking Forward to Giving This Year

3. A favorite holiday memory.

My answers in the response section.

(The picture e-mailed to me by a comic book artist. Actually, he sent me a dozen, only two of which were clean.)

Sometimes, time gets away from me, holidays and all. I’d planned a much longer thing. In any case, I really wanted to plug the second item, since it’s time-sensitive.

Superdickery: A site dedicated to the proposition that a certain Man of Steel is a… – includes comic covers that I find often rather funny in the “what were they thinking?” way.

Liberal Coalition Lefty, who is a member, turned me onto this blog some time ago. From there I found Neural Gourmet, which is currently doing a Carnival of Bad History 4 Call For Submissions

What is bad history? From the home site of the CoBH, it’s bad history whenever:

History is badly presented. This is usually in TV, movies or books. For instance, if you see a Roman soldier wearing a digital watch then you can be pretty sure it’s bad history.
History is badly used. Ever known a politician to draw unjustified historical parallels or even outright lie about a historical event? No? Your cable TV must be out! You need to be reading the Carnival of Bad History more.
Historians behave badly. While it’s unlikely you’re ever going to see a Historians Gone Wild! video, historians are all too human. Plagiarism, corporate sell-outs, frequent appearances on TV talking head shows… All bad history for the most part.
Deadline 12/22
Greg and other historians, submit! (I mean “submit ideas”.)

Golems of light endlessly toil and play,
waiting for instructions for another day.
Reminds me of what I think goes on this time of year at the North Pole.

Are electronic voting machines with proprietary software are inherently fraudulent? Probably.

Someone sent me this nearly year-old link about biometric payments only recently. The somewhat creepy animation got me thinking, though: How is

Piggly Wiggly different from

Porky Pig? It’s in the eyes, or more specifically, in the shape of the eyes, the eyeballs, and the thickness of the lines around the eyes. They both like bowties, though.

How Swearing Works, dammit!

Friend Bill writes: They Might Be Giants wrote and performed songs specifically about each venue they played on their last tour. Click on the Albany link for something I hope you’ll all get a kick out of. LINK. (As a bonus for all comix fans, check out the Dallas link for some Kim Deitch animation.)

The Official Reality Dot Appreciation Page

“You’re ruining your reputation/ And I can give two reasons why…” Indeed.
Hope y’all can play an mp3:
Worst song ever– I swear I posted this before, but I searched for it and could not find it.

Now I’ll go over to Burgas’ site and follow the rest of the links he posted last week.