Dr. Who

Ahh, well, one of my best pals is from Cincy. Nice town. I think they're less inclined to gripe. I'm just so annoyed that we seem to have to play KC every year at Arrowhead. Besides, Mahomes runs like a girl, but is slippery as an eel, and their online fans are often so juvenile -- altogether I find I don't mind them being discomfitted.

If the stipulated teams all win, Bills are #2 by winning percentage. I see absolutely no reason to proactively offer to take third seed. Further, the hell with that hypothetical. Let's go Buffalo. Let's go Raiders (for this week).

Dawgs have been subpar on D the last two games. I think that will change. I think the SEC prevails and I expect it will be easier than the semifinal games, but there remains perhaps a 20% chance it's close. One thing for sure, Kirby Smart is ten times the coach Harbaugh is, so TCU will not benefit from a series of inexplicable decisions.

If they play that on a jumbotron where the Bills are playing, I pity the poor fools that have to face the Buffalo Bills.

He was a very strange fella, but also quite talented. Taxi is one of the great sitcoms of all time, btw. Just an incredible combination of cast and writing along with one of the best theme songs of all time.

I think that's an easy enough move, because the logistics don't realistically work and the NFL is probably going to go with no contest regardless.

Good grief. Gunner is one of the best posters on this board. Colloquial language about performance does not amount to venomous denigration of character. And the inference about Elam is likely true and interesting.

I am somewhat sympathetic to your views and generally like your posts. However, just as a matter of lifelong observation, when Mom and Dad disagree, the fella almost always loses.

Unless there were really good news coming out sooner than seems plausible, I can't imagine the players being anywhere near wanting to play.

Somehow I suspect the Bengals will show more dignity, compassion, and basic human decency and refuse the forfeit. As I and others have suggested, the best feasible response is to cancel the game and figure seeding by win percentage.

Maybe the NFL should see who was leading after ten minutes in every game and readjust the results. It's not "fair," though it may be expedient.

The ESPN Bills reporter gave a phone interview. She was quite emotional and humane. Crisis reveals character.

It is the most prudent decision which is not the most perfect but the best of what is possible.

I'm too old for fun. Stress is my version of fun.

I like this plan/prophecy.

Unlike last year, I surmise this view has become the consensus on the board. If Oline and WR are not given priority, most folks will be upset. (All that said, I'm worried they want to go safety in the first.)

It obviously does, but the premise of the comment you are disputing is focused on the #1 seed and that is uniquely within the control of the Bills.

I live near Athens. You may conclude my own sympathies . . . and if you look at the early recruiting results, Bama and UGA were #1 and #2 on five star recruits. I think Alabama got 22, Georgia 19. I can't remember how many OSU got, but Michigan I believe had 5. There's just a tremendous imbalance there, so it's an uphill battle for the non SEC Conferences. The transfer portal has balanced things out a bit, but it doesn't obviate the recruiting advantage: college football is king in the South.

Yes, it's too harsh on Day. Dawgs brought their C game on defense, but part of that was OSU had them flummoxed for much of the game.

Yes, I suppose that is possible. It implies a radical disjunction between an "inner core" and "public ministry." All that is psychologically plausible, though the metaphysics of nature and grace that ought to ground Catholic anthropology should posit greater synergy, imo. Happy New Year.

Understood. I was just trying to find a sacramental analogy that might suggest a way to look at it.

Did you have a special name for Confirmation? In the Bible, Abram becomes Abraham after spiritual initiation into a new mission. Christ names Simon Peter. Those are just some scriptural precedents. The idea is that one would choose some saint or predecessor whose mission spoke to you as one enters into a deeper sense of vocation. Surely none of that equates to a witness protection program -- consider that identities are more than the modern sense of what it means to be an individual. The person is constituted as much by relations to the other as by an inviolate and incommensurable "substance." As opposed to a kind of buffered, atomized self separate from other equally isolated selves, person is more porous and historically entangled. In that respect, choosing a new name is also recognition that one's actions participate in that of others who have helped frame one's understanding and future hopes.

He was a fine pope who solidified the legacy of John Paul II. As a person, he was a kind man, intellectual, and he liked cats. Those who consider him a villain are welcome to their opinions. That, too, is evidence of character, and I return the compliment.

So unfortunate and sad.

Excellent points. Like your Meditations as well.