RIP Pippin

Last year, Katie and I lost our cat Smokey.  Tonight, we lost our second cat, Pippin.  I've written about him before- he came to us in 2011.

He was the most dog-like cat I have ever met.  Friendly to everyone, always willing to come up and bonk his head against our leg.  Smokey hated him- but I think Smokey hated every other animal except Katie and (somewhat) me.  After Smokey passed away we picked up two new kittens, and Pippin (for the most part) got along great with Dashiell and Mystery.

We must have had a half dozen nicknames for Pippin- everything from "Golden Yellow Spider Monkey" to "Hipster Pipster" to "Bonk Shu".  He loved everyone, and he was loved.

I miss you, Pip.

Double Down, Sashi Brown!

The Cleveland Browns are 0-10.  They look horrible.  DeShone Kizer has thrown 14 interceptions and only 5 touchdowns, and has been benched twice.  Their analytics method has caused them to pass on Carson Wentz and DeShaun Watson- the former looking like a great QB in the making for the Philadelphia Eagles, while Watson looked fantastic until he was injured.  

The Browns seem like a mortal lock to finish 0-16 and with the #1 pick in the draft (along with the Texans, pick, like around #10).  There's a bunch of QBs in this draft that are likely to go in the first round- Sam Darnold of USC (if he doesn't stay in school another year), Josh Rosen of UCLA, Lamar Jackson of Louisville, Josh Allen of Wyoming, and Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma.  

Surely, the Browns should abandon this analytic approach, take a QB with the #1 pick.  Right?

My advice for Sashi Brown (the VP of the Browns)- don't draft a QB.  Double down on your method.

Which, of course, sounds insane.  Why double down on something that has led you to 0-16?  

Here's my reasons:

1)  Every single QB in the top tier has flaws.  Rosen supposedly isn't like by his teammates.  Darnold has not been impressive and may stay at USC another year.  Jackson has accuracy issues.  Allen is a project, as is Mayfield.  If you're grabbing a QB #1, that means that you think he's the best QB in the class- and none of them are standing out.

2)  The Browns do have alternatives to drafting a QB #1.  They could try to get a free agent (Kirk Cousins is on the market).  They could grab a veteran QB like Josh McCown (who has led the Jets to a 4-6 record to a team that was supposedly as bad as the Browns).  Or...

3)  They have a young QB- Kizer.  Yes, he's looked bad.  He also has had no wide receivers, a poor running game... and he's young.  Look at the improvement Jared Goff had last year.  Head Coach Hue Jackson is supposed to be a quarterback guru- let's put him to the test.

So what do you do instead?

4)  Grab Saquon Barkley with the #1 pick.  He's a RB and considered the best 'Sure Thing' in the draft.  

5)  With the Texans pick, grab one of the top two WR (Calvin Ridley or Courtland Sutton).  If both of them fail to make it, grab an offensive lineman or a defensive back.  But ideally, one of them should be available.

With that, you have Kizer with a year's NFL experience under his belt, a new RB, a new WR, Corey Coleman and Josh Gordon back healthy, and Joe Thomas back in the lineup.  

I think you have a better chance turning Kizer into a good NFL Quarterback than drafting a QB and starting over.

Do I expect them to do so?  No- I expect them to grab one of the QBs, start over, and then spend next year under a cloud of "Well, we should have grabbed (player X) or (player Y) or (Players A, B, C) instead."

Look- if Sashi Brown makes it to the draft, he only gets one more chance.  If you really think rookie QBs are overrated (and the way you traded down to avoid drafting Wentz and Watson, you do), then reversing course now is tantamount to admitting the last two years were horrifically wrong.  Stick to your guns.  It's not like you'll get another chance if you lead the Browns to a 3-13 season the next year.  Double down.  

Top 10 albums on a deserted island

And the music challenge was made- list ten albums you'd want on a deserted island.  No "Greatest Hits" allowed.

I muddled this in my mind for a week before making my selections.  In no particular order:

* Pink Floyd- "Wish You Were Here"
* Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers- "Damn the Torpedoes"
* SJ Tucker- "Wonders"
* The Connells- "One Simple Word"
* Daft Punk- "Random Access Memories"
* Soundtrack to "Final Fantasy VIII"
* Animal Logic- "Animal Logic"
* Peter Gabriel- "So"
* Bruce Hornsby & the Range- "Scenes from the Southside"
* Rush, "Moving Pictures"


Damn- And I'm sure I could have gone to 20 easily.