There's No Place Like Home

So, last night I was watching the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Detroit Lions football game (Go Steelers!).  And at some point I was remembering the old Silverdome, the former home of the Detroit Lions.  I had an opportunity to visit the Silverdome back in the 1990's (but not during an event).  I remember thinking it was pretty far from Detroit......  Which got me thinking about teams that are near and far from their "homes".

So, ever the engineer, I decided to do an analysis.  Using google maps, I checked the driving distance from each team's stadium to the city that is home*.  What did I find?

Well over 1/3 of the teams (12/32 = 38%) are within 1.5 miles of city center.  That's within measumemnt error, IMHO.  Over 1/2 the (18/32 = 56%) are less that 5 miles away, and over 2/3 are within 10 miles (22/32 = 69%).  pretty good.

So, the most local are:
Vikings, Browns, Lions, Saints, Bengals, Colts, Panthers, Seahawks, Titans, Jaguars, Steelers and Ravens.  Interesting, that includes all of the AFC North Division.

And the least local?  Well, there are currently 6 teams that are over 15 miles from home.  And one of those (Chargers) are onlt temporary.  So, here's the bottom 5:

• San Francisco 49ers - 42.7 miles
• New England Patriots - 27.8 miles
• Dallas Cowboys - 18.3 miles
• Arizona Cardinals - 16.6 miles
• Miami Dolphins - 16.3 miles

Now, you may ask me "so what?"....  And I don't really have an answer. Besides I rather like it when a team is closely aligned with their town.....


* -  Some teams have regional names, like New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.  But we all know that's really Boston, Nashville and Charlotte).

Sometimes You Can Put It Out - Genius!

I have a Love / Hate relationship with my iPod's genius function.  I don't really use it very often, and the results can be hit or miss.  But letely it has been doing pretty well.  I'm part way through a playlist today that is based on the song "Sometimes You Can Put It Out" by Rossington Collins Band.  I'd say that's moderately obscure....

Here's what it came up with (in the random-by-song):

• Sometimes You Can Put It Out - Rossington Collins Band, from Anytime Anyplace Anywhere - 1980.  The first album from the remains of Lynyrd Skynyrd...
• Where A Country Boy Belongs - Marshall Tucker Band, from Where We All Belong - 1974.  nice selection, not one of their "hits"... 
• None Of Us Our Free - Lynyrd Skynyrd (post crash) , from Twenty - 1997.
• Feel the Heat - Henry Paul Band, from Feel the Heat - 1980.
•  Red Hot Light - Artimis Pyle Band, from Nightcrawler - 1983. 
• Welcome Me Home - The Rossington Band  -1986.  d.
• Fall Of The Peacemakers - Molly Hatchet, from No Guts No Glory - 1983. 
• Getaway -Rossington Collins Band,  from Anytime Anyplace Anywhere - 1980.
• So Long - Henry Paul Band, from Grey Ghost - 1979
• No More Dirty Deals - Johnny Van Zant Band, from No More Dirty Deal - 1980
• One In The Sun - Steve Gaines, from One In the Sun - 1988 (recorded in 1975)
• Commitments - Allen Collins Band, from Here There And Back - 1983
• Baby Blue - Blackfoot, from Strikes - 1979
• Chicken Tarin - Ozark Mountain Daredevils, from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils - 1973
• Lover Boy - Outlaws, from Bring It Back Alive - 1978 (originally from Lady In Waiting - 1976)
• Hearing My Heart Talking - Outlaws, from Hurry Sundown - 1977
• Road Fever - Blackfoot, from Strikes - 1979
• Grey Ghost - Henry Paul Band, from Grey Ghost - 1979
• Blue Ridge Mountain Sky -  Marshall Tucker Band, from A New life - 1974
• Big Apple - Molly Hatchet, from Molly Hatchet - 1976
• Searching - Lynyrd Skynyrd (pre crash), from One More From the Road - 1976  (originally on Gimme Back My Bullets - 1976)
• Makes More Rock - Artimis Pyle Band, from A.P.B. - 1981
• Fla. - Lynyrd Skynyrd (post crash) , from Edge Of Forever - 1999
• Next Phone Call - Rossington Collins Band,  from This Is The Way - 1981
• Ready To Move - Allen Collins Band, from Here There And Back - 1983

I've actually seen just about every band on here, or at least members of the band in other versions ()

So I've seen:
Blackfoot
Henry Paul Band
Johnny Van Zant Band
Lynyrd Skynyrd (original)
Marshall Tucker Band
Molly Hatchet
Outlaws
Rossington Collins Band

I did not see these specific bands, but did see the key folk in other bands:
Allen Collins Band
Artimis Pyle Band
Lynyrd Skynyrd (post crash)
Rossington Band
Steve Gaines

I've not seen, any any context:
Ozark Mountain Daredevils

Martavis Bryant

I'm not sure I've ever posted a sports rant here, but I'm going to now...

Folk who know me know that I'm a die hard Steeler fan.  From the glory days of the 70's through some lean years...  and back into recent success.  And the Steelers sit atop the AFC North today, with a 5-2 record.

But there is drama.  Their wide receiver, Martavis Bryant is increasingly vocal about his dissatisfaction.  He doesn't feel that he is getting sufficient opportunities, and that the Steerlers need to use him more or trade him.

Well, ever the engineer, I decided to see what the numbers say.  Using ESPN as my reference.  To keep it simple, I looked at the stats for the top 5 receivers (by yards) for each of the teams with a 5-2 record or better (KC, LAR, MIN, NE, PHI, PIT). That's 30 receivers total.   Not an inclusive sample, but these are the top guys with the top teams.  And what does that tell us?

1) How often are you thrown to?  I looked at each receivers number of targets vs total pass attempts for the team.  By  that measure, Bryant ranks 18 of 30.  And 3 of 5 for Pittsburgh.  Hmm...  While I can see a player wanting to be higher than mid-pack, it's not like he's at the bottom.  And within the context of the Steelers, he's behind 2 of the best offensive weapons in the game (Antonio Brown and LaVeon Bell).

2)  How about yards per catch?  Well, Martavis ranks 17 out of the 30 players...  again, mid-pack.  But his 13.0 yds/catch isn't so much worse than Antonio's 14.7 yds/catch or JuJu Smith-Schuster's 13.6 yds. per catch.

2) So, why isn't Bryant getting more chances?  I mean, other than the fact that he has two superstars ahead of him...  Well, I think a key here is effectiveness.  How well does he do when the ball is thrown to him? And I think there's two big measures of that:

2a)  First, let's look at Catches/Targets.  And by that measure, Martavis Bryant ranks 29 of the 30 players I looked at.  He has only caught 50% of the balls thrown his way.  By contrast, Antonio Brown has caught 62% of the balls thrown his way and LaVeon Bell has caught 79%.

2b) How about Yards per Target?    Her, Bryant ranks 25th of the 30, at 6.5 yds /target.  Brown is at 9.5 yds/target, JuJu Smith-Schester is at 8.6... 

Really, if you're the Pittsburgh quarterback, who are you going to throw the ball to?  The guy how is going to catch it.  The guy who is going to accomplish the most with it. Seems pretty simple to me.

Last game, Martavis Bryant got the first offensive touch of the game, on a reverse run.  He gained 2 yards.  Subsequently he was thrown to twice.  He gained 2 yards on a red-zone catch, and seemed to give up on a long bomb (perhaps he lost it in the lights?)....

If Martavis wants to see the ball more, he needs to get open, make plays....  And perhaps be a good teammate. 

He's not helping himself.  He's not helping the team.

Quotated - In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp ...

How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

John Burroughs

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This is from the film days, pre-digital.  Scanned from a 4x6 print.  If I recall correctly, this was taken in the parking lot of the Girl Scout campground on the north-east side of Edwardsville, off Fruit Road.  Way back in the 90's.  Not sure if it is still there or not.  It's absolutely a Girl Scout campground, though.

This Path...

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame - 2018 Nominees

Well, the RRHOF has announced (October 5, 2017) its nominees for the 2018 class...  Here ya go, with ranked by representation on my iPod.  I'll withhold further commentary for now, please let me know your thoughts in the comments!

So here ya go:

• Moody Blues: 52 songs
• Dire Straits: 27 songs
• The Cars:  21 songs
• J. Geils Band: 17 songs
• Bon Jovi:  10 songs
• Kate Bush:  1 song
• The Zombies: 3 songs
• Rufus featuring Chaka Kahn: 2 song
• Eurythmics: 1 song
• MC5: 1 song
• Link Wray: 1 song
• Depesh Mode: 0 songs
• Judas Priest: 0 songs
• LL Cool J: 0 songs
• The Meters: 0 songs
• Radiohead:  0 songs
• Rage Against The Machine: 0 songs
• Nina Simone: 0 songs
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe: 0 songs

And yes, I know that representation on my iPod doesn't necessarily correlate with validity as a nominee for RRHOF.  But it ought to give you a pretty good idea of my opinions....

And who do I think ought to be nominated?  Here's a quick 3, I can do detaield justifications, if you want.  Again, ranked by songs on my iPod...:

• The Monkees: 161 songs
• Doobie Brothers: 92 songs
• Weird Al Yankovic: 31 songs

Quotated - I'd rather sit on a pumpkin...

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion"

Henry David Thoreau

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Capped

Just a little something seen on an afternoon walk at work.  There;s a little pond in front of our building, with the road looping around.  It takes less than 10 minutes to make a quick loop.  A nice "study break" from work.

Anyway, I noticed this flattened bottle cap last week, and once you see something like that, you see it every time you pass by.  Or at least I do. So last week I stopped long enough to capture the image for posterity.  All the while hoping that none of my co-workers would look out the window at that moment and notice me stooping over the road!

Anyway, it was a bright mid-afternoon, so the image is a touch contrasty.  I di dwhat I could to even it out.

Quotated - October is the fallen leaf...

 (from 265project, 2016)

October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again.

Hal Borland

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