Archive of January, 2010
| 1993 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | ||||||
| 2002 | ||||||
| 2003 | ||||||
| 2004 | ||||||
| 2005 | ||||||
| 2006 | ||||||
| 2007 | ||||||
| 2008 | ||||||
| 2009 | ||||||
| 2010 | ||||||
| January | ||||||
| Su | M | Tu | W | Th | F | Sa |
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | ||||||
| February | ||||||
| March | ||||||
| April | ||||||
| May | ||||||
| June | ||||||
| July | ||||||
| August | ||||||
| September | ||||||
| October | ||||||
| November | ||||||
| December | ||||||
| 2011 | ||||||
| 2012 | ||||||
![[Permalink 2010-01-25]](/images/fun_stuff/bfc_blueCream.gif)
Instant Replay
January 25, 2010:
(Non-football fans, come back in a month.)
I'm watching the NFC championship game right now, and the Saints just blew their second (and last) challenge on a fairly obvious good call. But it finally motivated me to write down my thoughts on the matter.
The current system requires coaches to lose a timeout if their challenge is unsuccessful, and they can only challenge at all twice in a game. (In the final two minutes of a half, review calls are instantiated by a neutral observer separate from the refereeing squad.) This was done because the original challenge system allowed the coach to call what amounted to an indefinite number of timeouts.
I agree on principle, but I dislike the idea of a coach only being able to correct two referee foul-ups. As long as he's fixing mistakes a coach should be able to challenge all he wants. And a coach that has used his timeouts shouldn't be at the mercy of a bad call with no means of correcting the problem.
So here's my idea. On a successful challenge nothing happens. If you can get a correction made every play, then more power to you. For unsuccessful challenges, there's a two-step progression. First, the challenging team may (optionally) use a timeout. If they choose not to burn the timeout, or have no timeouts remaining, the opposing team has the option to run 30 seconds off the game clock.
There's still a possibility of a coach using the "infinite timeout" model of replay requests, but it's extremely unlikely. The only time an opposing coach would opt not to run time off the clock would be when they were behind. And a coach who's ahead isn't likely to give the guys trying to catch him a bunch of free timeouts. In effect, the system should be self-policing.
Of course we also have the problem of refs appearing to blow more calls nowadays than they used to. I wonder if it's not time, especially for the playoffs, to do like baseball and add an extra couple of officials to make sure things don't get missed. But that's a lame idea for another day.
Be It So Resolved
January 04, 2010:
Missed posting my new-year resolutions on January first because I was complaining about my tooth (which magically got better on Friday). So here they are.
- Time to lose weight again, which may require exercise this time. Back in Pittsburgh, a friend of mine had what was basically a caliper brake that sat on the floor and turned a regular bike into an exercise bike. Now that I have a basement that may work. My goal is 175.
- Re-paint and re-floor the house. While it's nice that the previous owner opted for something other than the ugly beige the house started with, some of her choices were... questionable. And the carpets are irretrievably fucked after having 4-6 people and pet(s?) living here for however-long.
- Convert one extra bedroom into a library. The whole nine yards: Hardwood floors and in-wall shelves, which means a lot of woodworking and re-drywalling. This will either be completely awesome or a miserable failure.
- Pay off the second mortgage and the car, and maybe the credit card if I'm lucky.
I've put a bit on my plate this time around. The mortgage and the car will happen regardless, unless I really overestimated how much of the credit I'm getting when my taxs come back. The rest, who knows.
This Could Be a Problem
January 01, 2010:
My root canal decides to mess with me every once in a while. Nothing major, but it feels the need to remind me that I have a titanium screw embedded in my jaw. I go on with my day and pretty much ignore it.
I shouldn't have ignored the last one. Now my jaw hurts and I feel pressure in the hinge when I close my mouth. So I probably have an infection in there. Looks like I'll be calling the dentist on Monday.
BF Atom Feed