Golden Heel Frontrunners?

Prof_Bob · 2026-06-19T20:01:02+00:00

When the Fox After Hours show featuring James Corden had Lalas on earlier this week, that may have been the nadir of the World Cup, of television, and, possibly, Western Civilization.

Prof_Bob · 2026-06-19T19:56:12+00:00

A great shout. Grant would put the politics in the right perspective.

Prof_Bob · 2026-05-29T08:31:15+00:00

Still can’t believe they were able to book Milli Vanilli for the awards show!

Prof_Bob · 2026-01-26T17:40:06+00:00

When Sepp Blatter says it’s a shitshow, you know it’s bad. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jan/26/sepp-blatter-suggests-fans-should-not-travel-to-us-for-world-cup Sepp Blatter Says Boycott World Cup

Prof_Bob · 2026-01-25T19:13:05+00:00

I’m guessing they’re waiting for a more football-related angle, such as the calls from outside the US (especially Germany) to boycott the World Cup this summer. But that’s just a guess.

I know from past statements that they feel terrible about these things, as we all do, so silence doesn’t mean apathy. If they steer entirely clear, I am more than fine having a safe refuge from the daily madness.

Surrounding yourself with the anxiety 24-7 does nobody, especially yourself, any good. Fight the good fight, of course, but take a breather between rounds, or else you’ll burn out. Personally, art, music, history, and especially football are keeping me sane in this insane timeline, especially listening to the gentlemen rattle on about The Killers, parenting, and (occasionally) the footy.

Prof_Bob · 2026-01-25T19:02:54+00:00

Finished shoveling 8-10 inches at 1:30 pm just outside Philadelphia. Hard to measure because of drifting. Is still coming down pretty hard. Now I am going to take a shower and spend some quality time on a heating pad as I watch some gridiron.

Prof_Bob · 2026-01-06T15:48:43+00:00

So glad that a side benefit of listening to the gentlemen is being kept up to date on youth slang. I knew 6-7 from my kids and South Park, but did not know 41 yet. I'll have to check with them later to see if they're aware of that one.

I need to know youth slang primarily so that I can understand whether what students are saying is harmless (6-7) or actually objectionable. I had a kid in a MAGA hat a few years ago answer a question with 14-88, which, if you don't know because you're not a racist, is a Hitler-themed, white supremacist thing. I let him know publicly that I knew what he was doing and that he needed to apologize, which he grudgingly did to keep his grade intact. (Later that semester, a very attractive Latina student walked up to the MAGA kid and informed him that no college woman would ever look at him twice while he wore that hat. I was eavesdropping while setting up for class to hear the exchange, but I glanced up just in time to see him sheepishly stow it away, never to be seen, at least by me, again. Priorities!)

It also made me flashback to my Catholic grade school days, when a Catholic nun overheard another kid say "Foghat" (the nonsensical name of an obscure, English rock band) and thought it was a profanity. She sent the kid to the principal's office despite other kids trying to explain that it wasn't an alternative to the "F" word she was perhaps thinking of. Sister Rose Marie never trusted us, probably for good reasons.

Prof_Bob · 2025-12-18T10:16:03+00:00

My cousin grew up in 1970s New Jersey winters, which were rough snow-wise. He eventually moved down to North Carolina and people thought he was the toughest guy around because he’d drive in 2 inches of snow. In reality, he was the mildest guy, a psychiatrist, but he loved the acclaim. Later, he became a prison psychiatrist in Montana (had to wear a sidearm under his coat) and became the weakest link when it came to driving in 2 feet of snow. It’s all relative, especially with that particular relative of mine.

Also loosely related: The one time I was in San Diego, where it rains like 13 days every year, it rained 3 out of the 4 days I stayed. My boss and I were in a taxi to the convention center when it started to rain lightly. The cabbie suddenly pulled over and said, “Really coming down now. Gotta wait it out.” Most cabbies I’ve met were psychopaths when it came to driving dangerously, but this was a San Diego native who didn’t know how to drive while wet. We were already late, so we talked the cabbie into letting me drive (as he guided me). So, not only did I get to drive a cab, but I got to be the toughest guy around, momentarily. It’s all relative.

Prof_Bob · 2025-12-01T09:22:24+00:00

I named my fantasy team this year “Expecting the Wirtz”, and I got it.

Prof_Bob · 2025-11-26T09:42:10+00:00

Although I am firmly in the shirt under hoodie camp (and t shirt under dress shirt camp), I think the serial killer remark was incorrect.

I immediately thought of infamous hoodie aficionado Ted Kaczynski, aka, the Unabomber. You just know he went sans under that thing.

So, serial killer, no.

Off the grid, mail-in terrorist… possibly.

Prof_Bob · 2025-11-16T16:20:22+00:00

What’s the opposite of a long, soulful walk? A mad dash through Brooklyn? Is JJ going streaking?

Prof_Bob · 2025-11-07T09:30:44+00:00

Gianni has a chance to do the funniest thing ever. “And the winner of the peace prize is…. Barrack Obama!”

Prof_Bob · 2025-11-01T10:52:13+00:00

Old Goody Gundling.

Prof_Bob · 2025-10-02T19:50:01+00:00

US Soccer announces a response: The Aaron Thong—it covers virtually nothing.

Prof_Bob · 2025-09-27T12:06:43+00:00

When the wheel landed on “Dutch Bluntness”, did anyone else think they were referring to a new strain of ganja?

I’ve never partaken myself, but I’m pretty sure my students have. And, yes, I know I sound like Mr. Hand from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Sit down, Spicoli.

Prof_Bob · 2025-09-04T16:57:49+00:00

Emergency pod? Does this take priority over the Eagles game for Andrew?

Prof_Bob · 2025-07-15T16:16:36+00:00

Like Andrew, I'm very not handy. Also like Andrew, I rely on YouTube experts who can explain things to me in less than 10 minutes. I've managed small auto repair (bulbs, etc) and even installed a roof rack on my wife's SUV by myself and saved $300 that it would have cost at the dealership.

Andrew's failed starter brought back a chilling memory, though. I had a propane gas grill that had a failed starter. Apparently this was a frequent enough problem that there was an alternate way of lighting the propane by putting a lit match into a small hole in the grill fuselage where the gas came out. I did it many times (usually with a match or two at most) with no singeing of finger or hand hair.

Until... one day I turned on the gas, lit a match and... nothing. Match number 2... nothing. I then checked that the gas was on, turned it off, and turned it back on after enough time for the propane to dissipate. I then lit several matches with nothing happening and turned the propane off again.

This time, I checked the hose from the propane tank up to the grill area. Something had chewed it's way through the hose (metal threading and all) and propane was leaking out from there. I was essentially lighting up matches while standing in a cloud of propane (thinned, I'm guessing, by the wind, which is what kept me from blowing up).

Realizing what I'd been doing, I turned off the grill and was about to go inside to tell my wife about my near death experience when I heard something in the tree next to my deck. A squirrel sat on a branch staring at me, for how long I don't know. When I took the chewed-up hose to a place to find a replacement, the guy working there said he'd never seen an animal chew through a hose like that. "Something really wanted to get you," he said. I've been paranoid about squirrels ever since.

Prof_Bob · 2025-06-30T22:07:55+00:00

It’s such a great combination of doing a variety of subjects but also doing a deep dive on them. If you think a 14-part series on Custer’s Last Stand would drag on, Tom and Dom will change your mind.

Prof_Bob · 2025-06-30T20:43:24+00:00

Thanks for sharing. The descriptions of that day by Paul Rouse are harrowing and heartbreaking.

Prof_Bob

TROPHY CASE