Preparing For A Change In Season.

The chills settle in quickly, as though they had been there all along, just waiting for the sun to finally, gently settle in the distance. 

At first the cool air breezes into the bedroom nights comfortably, almost soothingly.  The colors of leaves turning and falling, seems like a slow motion ballet of the universe, where we bear witness to another change of the season.

Then a rainy day comes and goes and you're able to see the leaves change.  The sun remains out but no longer carries the weight that it did in August and September.

As time passes a growing sense of anticipation of what comes next begins to settle upon the consciousness.

It sends a reminder to the soul that slight chills will become an outright cold.  That the need for warmth and heat will become paramount.  That the days will become filled with less sun, and more of a bitterly dark sky.

The pessimist in me, the depression in me, it all gives off a sense of dread that I know that I'll have to combat.

I think the best way to do that is to find the sunshine in the snow and to rely on the relationships of friends and family.  That despite the oncoming weather and grey skies, try and find the beauty and positive in it rather than focusing on the obvious negatives, and share your positive feeling with those close to you.

For example, while over the next week the weather calls for 50 degrees, clouds and off and on rain, my wife and I will be shopping for our first Halloween house decorating experience. 

This may sound small for you, but to us it's a big deal.  It will be our first opportunity to show our neighbors a bit of our own personality.  We want to be known as a great family-friendly place in our community and to enjoy the experience the same way we did when we were children. 

I have no idea what the costs of things will be, what ideas I can or can't execute.  I'm going through the process a bit blind.  For this reason it kind of excites me, that this can be its own little adventure to write and share.  How many skeletons will be in my yard?  Do we have power outlets to give off creepy lights, sounds or fog?  Will I go super adult and play a live part and try to jump out to scare the kids?

Later there will be Thanksgiving, Christmas, and I'm sure some birthdays to celebrate. The point being there will be opportunities to enjoy life despite the dropping temperatures.

The earth can be an unforgiving force sometimes.  The weather will undoubtedly have an affect on not only myself, but many others.  However it's important to recognize that there are things we can do about it to help ourselves through it, and when it gets cold, we have the options to become close to others and share in the warmth.

Why Saquon Barkley Was A Better Pick Than A Quarterback.

Saquon Barkley does not need me to write this article to validate him. 

He is, without question, already one of the most exciting players to watch, routinely making the national highlight reels game after game with plays that defy the imagination. 

While scoring two touchdowns, overlooked was a 30 yard run where he made two defender miss, explodes through two, would be, tacklers, before finally being tackled by 3 defenders.

He is leaping over linemen, juking linebackers and overpowering secondaries. 

He does not, however, play the most important position in football.  He does not play quarterback.

The question in the 2018 draft became what quarterback should go first?  The gamer in Baker Mayfield?  The groomed product in Sam Darnold?  The athlete in Josh Allen?  Maybe the prodigy in Josh Rosen.

Much of the talk surrounding the draft and post draft has been about whether or not Saquon Barkley will end up being a better pick than those quarterbacks, and really, if he's better than all of them. 

After watching the Giants first few games it has become clear to me that Eli Manning is on his last legs and that the offensive line is still a work in progress.  They have started 1-4 and in all likelihood will miss the playoffs. 

But I think they're turnaround will be right around the corner, especially when you look out west at the LA Rams as well as the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Those two teams are currently dominating the league thanks to a two pronged plan that balances a running and passing attack. 

Both have dominant young running backs AND quarterbacks.

I believe that Saquon is the best running back in the league, that if he played on a team with a dominant or balanced team, that there would be no disputing his talent.

If the Giants get their young quarterback next year, I believe they will be just one or two years from becoming a dominant force in the league for years to come.

I believe that right now the new crop of quarterbacks entering the league are far better than the ones exiting, and you are just as likely to get a franchise QB in next year's draft as you were in this one. 

For arguments sake, let's say the Giants miraculously turn around their season. There are at least six quarterbacks that potentially could be drafted in the first round.  Just like last year, it's still a bit of a crap shoot as to who will have the best career.

If the Giants finish with one of the six worst records in the NFL, then there is an incredibly high chance that they could draft a "Franchise" quarterback next year.  However there is not another Saquon Barkley.  There really isn't anything close.  His combination of size, speed, agility, hands and intangibles hasn't been seen in the NFL for some time.  Some have compared him to LaDainian Tomlinson and Barry Sanders. 

I acknowledge that quarterback is a more important position than running back, but I think it's also important to acknowledge that the position is far harder to grade than running back.  The closest thing there was to a first round pick was Peyton Manning and even in that draft some analysts thought Ryan Leaf was close to being better.

While players like Carson Wentz and Jarrod Goff look like MVP's over the past two years, neither looked good during their rookie campaigns. They were, at the very least, inconsistent.

My point being that QB's are as big a risk as ever in the first round and that you are just as likely if not more so to draft a dud in that first spot as you were to hit it big in the late first to early second rounds.

Nothing was closer to a sure thing than Saquon Barkley.  Time will tell whether or not he captures the Hall Of Fame career that many envision for him, but he's far closer to a sure thing than any of the quarterbacks that have been drafted over the past 4 years.

Documentary Review: Overturning Roe Vs. Wade

There is probably no more important documentary to watch right now. 

The story begins in a present day courthouse.  A woman is arguing vehemently about what motherhood has meant for her.  How beautiful the experience was for her, how incredible it made her feel. 

Here in the Texas House of representatives, it seems like the woman, will side with the men who hate the idea of abortions based specifically on religious grounds, and a graphic rhetoric for some late term abortions.

However in a turn of events, despite her strong feelings on motherhood, she insists that she does not believe that her situation needs to be the same as every other woman's. 

From there, the documentary takes off and takes us down the rabbit hole of the most divisive, and least spoken about issue today.

Historians, religious leaders, activists from both sides, and everyday people tell their versions of a law that is most certainly in jeopardy, that according to economists, may have helped solve the crime epidemic of the 1990's.


Incredibly profound observations from the feminist movement in the seventies.

It talks about how in the early stages of the issue, that Republicans thought that the Government had no vested interest in telling a woman what to do with their pregnancy.  They go on to explain as to why their politics would go on to change.

After about an hour we get to the essential argument of Roe Vs. Wade. 

While it gets to the crux of the argument it becomes clear as to why a conservative court would have a 7-2 decision in favor of legalizing abortion.  It is argued that the state should be interfering less in people's lives, that the state has no interest in controlling the population.

From there the story changes to the perspective of the religious right, it shows the anger of some people who became so filled with rage that they would go on to commit heinous crimes.

The story can be extremely personal, as a woman talks about caring a fetus to term that was going to be born without arms and legs, to the graphic imagery and language of "partial-birth"abortions, but through it all it manages to keep a professionalism through the story to tell it as objectively as possible.

The story comes together fully, with amazing footage and interviews that come across as unabashedly honest.  It tells as whole a story as you could hope for in a little over an hour and thirty minutes.

If you want to understand the issue of why the Supreme Court is so important today, please do yourself a favor and watch this film.

The Last Mistake Gets Remembered Loudest. Why We As Penn State Fans Need To Move On

Two minutes were left in the game that until this point had been one of the best games I had ever seen in person.  Both teams left everything out on the field.  The home team underdog was seemingly buoyed by one the loudest, most energetic crowds in the history of sports.  As Penn State came to the line of scrimmage, Ohio State calls a timeout, followed by Penn State calling one.

Then it happens so suddenly.  It's a draw play, Sanders gets tackled in the backfield, and all of a sudden this incredible game is over, and Penn State has lost.

The pain that every player, fan, and coach felt at that moment was real and identical.  That we felt like we had made just enough plays and that it was unfair. 

That we deserved to win that game. 
The last play, for it not to be in the hands of a player who, to this point, was the biggest reason for our offensive success, left everyone wanting more.  It felt wrong.

That last moment feels incredibly more important than all the others because it happens last, and for that reason it becomes overly magnified as the sole reason for a win or a loss.  There is no guarantee that if Penn State gets a first down, that in the next few plays they will win the game.  The likelihood obviously goes up, but again, a kick could be missed, or blocked, or a turnover such as a fumble or interception could still occur. 

This is a case of recency bias and it's important to acknowledge that while on its own, the call and outcome was far from what was desired, it was also just one part of a game that had several important plays go in the other direction.

No one has brought up the drop on the out pattern on a crucial third down, or the fumble at the end of the first half, or a missed field goal.  Or the overthrows, or sacks.  The plays that also contributed heavily towards the result. 

The missed tackles in the open field, the inability to consistently stop the run, getting gashed late into the game.

It all counts.

You almost can't remember the positives.  The one handed grab, the 50 yard scramble.  The stop on 4th down.  The interception.  The way the team prayed for their fallen teammate and celebrated together as they scored one last time in the fourth quarter, seeming to have gotten up enough to relax just a little bit.

It all played a role in what was really a very close back and forth game.

But we still seem to focus on that bitter, bitter end. 

It has probably, miraculously, made you forget about a well intentioned, but horrible, half-time show that had the Penn State theater group attempt to use microphones to add a vocal component to the blue band.  It didn't work.

I bring this up because I don't want to lose sight of the positives that have taken us this far.  I truly believe that this community's sports programs have done so well the last few years because of how we encourage one another, and we don't allow the negative energy of a loss, even one as devastatingly hurtful as Ohio State, bring us down.

That anger and divisiveness that stems from the frustrations of not winning two years in a row by a total of two points.  That feeling of wanting to assign blame for your frustrations.  It can be a feeling that can tear weaker teams apart. 

In this community for the past seven or so years, we have always responded with more positive emotions rather than bad ones.  We trust each other a little more instead of a little less.  We help each other a little more rather than a little less.  To make it blunt, at the times when we could say "We no longer care about this person or that thing because we don't like something" we instead choose an attitude that says "Let's get better, let's help one another."

Undoubtedly, I was not a fan of the last play call either.  But I refuse to let that moment of disappointment define how I feel about the players or the coaching staff that has time and time again brought the best out of each other and the community. 

Instead, it's time to move on to seeing what the team can do against Michigan State, and how we as fans get to look forward to an early October homecoming weekend.