Early notes on 2011:
* Congratulations to the NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks – at 7-9, losers of 7 of the last 10, officially the single worst playoff team in NFL history. And because all division winners are treated equally, they will host the 11-5 Saints on Saturday. Meanwhile, two 10-win NFC teams will be sitting at home for the crime of playing in the wrong division. The NFL is shit.
* The Redskins are worse shit, of course. With all the other 6-10 teams (there are at least six, maybe more, I lost count), the Skins wind up picking 11th in the draft, which will probably mean no Andrew Luck. Don’t know if I think anyone else is obviously worth a first-round pick (I don’t think the NFL will know what to do with Cam Newton and I don’t think he can be turned into a pocket passer given how much of his game is running) and not sure I trust the Skins to make good trades to get more picks and find gems in the lower rounds. I know this, though: Grossman is in no way materially superior to McNabb, there are no adequate replacements in free agency, and the odds of success with a rookie quarterback are nonexistent (even assuming we did a better job drafting than we did with Heath Shuler and Patrick Ramsey).
* The Kindle browser is quite effective with Wikipedia and IMDB (assuming mobile versions of each) and as such is the ideal thing to have while perched in front of the TV watching movies and sorting out obscure plot points or “hey-it’s-that-guy” identifications. That plus it fits neatly into the inner pocket of just about every jacket I own. That’s an end of using the iPhone as a Kindle, which will extend my daily battery life that much more…
* Looks like we’re going to use Tuesday as shutdown night. First attempt is in two days. Looking forward to it, actually.
* Starting the new year with a sinus infection. I could feel it kicking in about 8 PM last night and immediately started in on zinc and vitamin C and herbal remedies, but I’m not sanguine about the prospects for the rest of the week, especially being on call to start the new year…