CBS Sunday Morning Power Rankings

 Random Introductory Topic I could not begin to tell you how excited 2004-me would have been for for September 1, 2022. In fact, 2004 me did see both Spoon and Interpol live at the once venerable Newport, KY venue the Southgate House. Alas, what was once the Southgate House is now the Thompson House , and despite claims to the contrary, they no longer seem all that interested in putting on live music event. The spiritual successor, the Southgate House Revival , tries its darndest, but does not draw the acts the Southgate House could in its heyday. It seems to be good for at least one E6 show a year though, so that's something. Two things srike 2022-me about the situation. First, I could never be as excited as 2004-me would have been about this. I guess that's part of growing older. Two generations of hipsters have made of Boomers still shoveling out cash to go see Rolling Stones gigs, although I don't think you could classify Arena shows as gigs. Is it some sense subconsc...

If you're a regular reader of the CBS SUNDAY MORNING POWER RANKINGS (You aren't. I have the statistics to prove it. I'm just tossing a cliché out as a stylistic device.), you are aware I've essentially gone silent for over about a month. Nothing's wrong. I've half consciously/was half forced to rejigger priorities recently and since this isn't something I get paid to do, the POWER RANKINGS took the hit. I enjoy writing and get something out of it. Regardless of whether anyone is reading, I would like to continue exercising the muscle in one form or another. However, continuing to write several thousand words each week in a blog that is more for my own amusement over anyone else's is unsustainable. When it gets to a point where I have to chose whether or not to continue doing this over other things I enjoy and may have been neglecting (or getting sleep), I have to question the wisdom of how I am going about things. Anyway, I'd like to continue, but ...

Unexpectedly, improbably the Cincinnati Bengals are going to Super Bowl LVI. I was five years old the last time that happened. I was seven the last time any Cincinnati sports team played for a championship of any kind. I need some time to process this. This happened. I have two weeks to unpack this. Until then, I'll tie it into Sunday Morning by bringing up that Tracy Smith is from the Cincinnati 'burbs and currently based in LA. The Super Bowl is in LA. I don't know when she would moved away or if she's a Bengals fan, but Bengals fans/ Sunday Morning recap bloggers are clamoring for Tracy Smith-Joe Burrow interview to hype the game. I know that media rights pretty much prohibit because NBC is carrying the game this year, but crazier things have happened this year - see the above picture. Heroes & Villains Please forgive an obsessive tennis fan a few words about the Australian Open. Halfway through the Świątek/Kanepi quaterfinal, I texted the following to a friend...

It's Saturday night and I'm buzzing a little bit. The team of my youth, the hometown Cincinnati Bengals are going to play in the AFC Championship game. I won't spill many words about the game. It was a defensive struggle that the Bengals won on a walk-off field goal. I thought I had excised the NFL and Cincinnati Bengals from being a meaningful part of my life. But then... well, Joe Burrow is a special human being. I never played football as a kid. Well, I sort of did. Just not with other people. What sort of football can you play by yourself? You can kick and punt. I spent cool Saturday afternoons with a kicking tee and football, using our backyard swingset as makeshift uprights for kicking field goals. I taught myself how to punt a spiral. I remember the first time I punted a spiral while also making solid contact with ball and it rocketed off my foot in a way it never had before. It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. As such, my favorite Bengals as a kid were the kicker a...

In the interest of my own sanity, I really do need to get to a point where I can write up, edit, and post one of these recaps in less than 3 hours. This week my intro can be brief. If you read last week, you'll know I came down with a sinus infection on New Year's Day, so most of my week was trying to get over that. I'm finally to a point where I'm no longer coughing up or sneezing out phlegm, so that's a plus. (Too much information? My Mom always says TMI - parents attempting to use modern and even not so modern slang conversationally is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Of course if it were up to me, I'd box the ears of anyone that said the word "cheugy.") I decided I'd try to keep my weekly weedend ritual of running a 10K despite sitting on the couch (for the most part) all week. It may not have hurt while I was running, but I should have listened to the angel on my shoulder telling me to take it easy. When you've taken some time off, it...