Sundry Items

I know I've mentioned before that TMQ is the best online football column there is. This week's edition is particularly good. It includes praise for the BCS, a rare position these days. Constant whining about a playoff gets on my nerves. I'd like to see one, but I'm not a fanatic about it. The worst is hearing from writers and yodelers who watch baseball and basketball and the NFL all year long, pay little or no attention to college football, then start calling for a playoff in when bowl season rolls around. My position is that the BCS works: it does what we tell it to every year. It comes up with screwy outcomes sometimes because we give it screwy goals and instructions. It's not the system's fault, but the fault of the people who put it together.

TMQ also talks about fuel efficiency standards (a regular topic), rich people who call for higher taxes, and the Golden Compass movie coming out soon. Great stuff all around.

Slate recently had this article about the complexity of NFL offenses and how it may be hindering offensive productivity.

LSU will be playing in the BCS title game on January 7. I'm very happy. Surprised, but happy. I thought there were too many teams ahead of the in the standings, but I was ignoring the bias that many voters have against teams that didn't win their conference playing for the title. There is no rule against it, but it looks to have affected the voting. As Mark Richt put it, you can get disqualified by a rule that doesn't exist.

LSU started Ryan Perrilloux in the SEC title game due to an injury to Matt Flynn. He played well, much better than I expected. There's never been a question about his talent, just about putting everything together. Some observations:

I would not call him a "scrambling quarterback". I can't recall a play where he dropped back to pass and then ended up running. He moved around to escape pressure, but he would always look to pass first.

He doesn't just rely on his physical ability. His mechanics appear to be sound. I expected to see him try to throw on the move a lot, but he would also try to set his feet when he could.

I think LSU scaled back the playbook some to protect him, but I saw him make several different types of throws: deep ball, flare into the flat, slant, screens, outs. There didn't appear to be a throw he couldn't make, though I didn't see a lot over the middle.

He runs the option well and generally makes good decisions on when to pitch and when to keep. With four different backs with playmaking ability, the option could be a serious weapon next year.

He's good at finding the tight end as a safety net. Some young QBs either want to chuck it downfield or dump it off in the flat, with nothing in between. Perrilloux has done a good job in the two games he started of using the tight end, something I think is pretty important.

The biggest thing I would worry about on the field is that he doesn't seem to be aware of when the rush is closing in. This could lead to turnovers and getting beaten up as the game/season goes on.

Overall I think his skill set is a great fit for Gary Crowton's system, and that he can be more than just a manager in the offense. He can be a playmaker.

A hump like a snow--hill

I recently finished reading Moby Dick. Maybe you've heard of it. I think it's unique among all the books I've read. It jumps around often from subject to subject. Here's what the ship looks like. Here's what we ate. Here's a story about Nantucket. Here's a description about three crew members you'll never see again. Here's some facts about whaling. More about whaling. More about whaling. More about whaling. Here's stuff about Captain Ahab. Here's what the weather was like. It's like reading a blog. It seems like he didn't have an editor to tell him to cut back on anything.

Other things I noticed:

It's over a hundred pages into the book before they even get on the ship, and my edition showed page 595 before the title character makes an appearance.

Even though it's a hard read, I enjoyed it. It's an educational read if you can pay attention to the factual material. Melville makes many stirring observations about humanity and human nature. Exchanges between characters are often funny and/or fun. Some of the language is great, including in the climactic scene:

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but onconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

If you've got the patience for it, it'll be a good experience.