Sporting Chances

Accolades

The NFL playoffs begin today, but by virtue of their 12-4 record and AFC West Division Championship my beloved Kansas City Chiefs earned a bye for the first round, and will host a playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium for the first time since 2010 next weekend.

Meanwhile, however, the team continues to obtain individual honors based on their fine season.

On Thursday rookie WR Tyreek Hill was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for his stellar performance over the regular season's final five games. On Friday it was announced that Tyreek was also a unanimous selection to the All-Pro Team.

Also selected as First Team All-Pros were TE Travis Kelce, S Eric Berry, and CB Marcus Peters. Only the Dallas Cowboys had more First Team All-Pro selections than the Chiefs.

"When will we know who they play at Arrowhead?"

We won't know until tomorrow...if Skip's Pittsburgh Steelers win at home tomorrow, they'll play the Chiefs next...if they lose to the Dolphins, the Chiefs will face the winner of today's Raiders-Texans game...

Goodbye, and Good Luck

It is always difficult to say goodbye to a player, especially one who has been with the team for several years, but yesterday my beloved Kansas City Royals said goodbye to reserve
OF Jarrod Dyson, trading him to the Seattle Mariners for P Nate Karns.

Jarrod played an important role on the 2014 and 2015 American League Champions, and the 2015 World Series Champions as well, but a 32-year-old player whose primary value is defensive is less valuable to a team with lots
of outfield talent than a 29-year-old starting pitcher with a power arm.

Of course Royals fans are grateful for Jarrod's contributions over the years, and we all hope he enjoys success with the Mariners.

Buck up, old friend...it's the nature of the game these days...

Oops!

"Remarkably, this overpriced POS never caught on!"

People who know me know that
I am no fan of Microsoft or its software products, and I came by that disdain honestly. Every so often, though, we get a reminder of just how inept the company can be when it comes to creating hardware products as well.

On January 7, 2003 Microsoft rolled out a new product which had been code-named "Mira," called Smart Display for its commercial release.

It was, in almost every regard,
a colossally stupid idea, and to no one's surprise it was a dismal failure. It quickly vanished from the tech marketplace.

Before the Deluge

From the droll comic strip Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

During the course of my play-directing career I never had the opportunity to produce any works by celebrated playwright August Wilson, nor did I ever have occasion to use his material with my contest speech students. Nonetheless, I have been an admirer
of Wilson's writing for many years, and as a baseball fan as well I am really looking forward to the new motion picture based on his Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama Fences, which opened in theaters on December 16.

In accordance with the late playwright's wishes, the film's director is black. Denzel Washington not only directed the movie but plays the lead character. The last time Denzel wore both hats was in 2007's The Great Debaters, which
is one of my all-time favorite films.

I had an opportunity to listen to
the film's score before my Amazon Prime membership expired, and that is what led to its being selected as the Music Recommendation for this week.


Composer Marcelo Zarvos does a splendid job of blending his own understated orchestrations with some classic period blues and gospel music.

Today's send-off is the subtle and evocative title track. Enjoy...