about that quarterback rating nonsense

If you saw the Monday night game, you heard them go on and on about Drew Brees' perfect passing rating of 158.3. Bet you're wondering what that number means. Here's an equation for it, where C is completions, Y is yards, T is touchdowns, I is interceptions and A is attempts.

You can read more about the history of the passer rating at www.nytimes.com/2004/01/14/sports/pro-football-the-nfl-s-passer-rating-arcane-and-misunderstood.html.

Silly me. I always thought the best measures of a QB were a) making the plays when it matters and b) winning. Especially b).

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the saints and all dat

You won't hear the commish gloating about the Saints' perfect record -- 42 years of mostly putrid play will do that to a person. Besides, the commish married into a family that has a collective 15 Super Bowl rings (Steelers 6, Cowboys 5, Patriots 3, Jets 1). Still, it's somewhat salivating to think about New Orleans hosting a NFC championship game against Brett Favre and the Vikings, and then -- dare we dream? -- a Super Bowl matchup against the Colts and Peyton Manning, New Orleans-born and son of a beloved Saint.

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class reunion

Every 5 years, without fail, the Class of '74 from Ocean Springs High School gets together. (The older I get, the rarer I hear this is.) It's been somewhat of a tradition for the commish to write up a little something and share it with classmates. You can read this year's dispatch here.

Best exchange of the whole weekend, Friday night between the commish and a good ol' boy (we hung around together a lot in elementary school and junior high):

  Commish: You coming tomorrow night?

  Friend: Nah.

  Commish: Why not? It'll be fun.

  Friend: It's too deep.

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now that's just a crime

So two guys from western North Carolina were sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to charges of trying to buy, sell or transport a bear. Best line of the story: "Broom is also forbidden from owning a dog of any kind."

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no comment

ESPN college football TV analyst Bob Griese has been suspended for one game for using a racially insensitive comment toward NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya. 

During the broadcast of Saturday's Minnesota-Ohio State football game and after ESPN ran a promo for last Sunday's race, pictures were displayed of the top five drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings.

"Where's Juan Pablo Montoya?" announcer Chris Spielman asked of the Colombian-born driver who fell out of the top five last weekend.

"He's out having a taco," Griese replied.

Right before the broadcast went off the air Griese offered an apology. "Juan Pablo Montoya, he's one of the best drivers in NASCAR. Just want to apologize for the comment I made earlier in the ballgame," he said.

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once upon a midnight dreary ...

So in Baltimore on Sunday they buried Edgar Allan Poe again. Or rather, they gave him a more fitting funeral, since only a handful of people attended his services in 1849. Here is his obituary in its entirety as it appeared in The Baltimore Sun on October 8, the day after he died:

“Death of Edgar A. Poe. – We regret to learn that Edgar A. Poe, Esq., the distinguished American poet, scholar and critic, died in this city yesterday morning, after an illness of four or five days. This announcement, coming so sudden and unexpected, will cause poignant regret among all who admire genius, and have sympathy for the frailties too often attending it. Mr. Poe, we believe, was a native of this State, though reared by a foster-father at Richmond, Va., where he lately spent some time on a visit. He was in the 38th year of his age.”

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i'm with the band

You know your kid's a band geek (and happy to be one) when she buys a T-shirt that says, WHAT THE HECK IS THE FOOTBALL TEAM DOING ON THE MARCHING BAND FIELD?

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The night the ground shook

Turning your attention to the college game for a moment ... #1 Florida plays #4 LSU this weekend in Baton Rouge, where the crowd once got so loud that it registered as an earthquake.

Click here to see a video about the 1988 moment and here to read more about it.

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it's not how you play the game, it's how you look when you play the game

Favorite new obscure Web site: www.uniwatchblog.com, covering all manner of athletic wear. Click here to read about the author's giddy visit to the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum (inside the Heinz History Center). He's particularly fond of the gold shoes sported by L.C. Greenwood.

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it's been 15 years ...

... since Kordell Stewart's greatest play ever. Unfortunately, he was not a member of the Steelers at the time. Relive the "Miracle at Michigan" (September 24, 1994) by clicking here.

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note to our card-carrying member of the Southern Poverty Law Center

Among this year's recipients of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius" grants ($500,000, no strings attached) is Jerry Mitchell of the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, who has spent years reported on unpunished killings from the civil rights era.

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if you missed the colts-dolphins game ...

... you missed a strange one. Miami ran 84 plays to the Colts' 35 (just 14 of those in the second half). Miami rushed for 239 yards to the Colts' 61. Miami converted 15 of 21 first downs. The Colts had the ball for less than 15 minutes out of 60. What happened? Colts win, of course, on an 80-yard, 30-second drive late in the game.

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R.I.P. henry gibson

Known for his comic roles and light verse, he was also an environmental activist and former Air Force intelligence officer. And though he seemed to affect a Southern accent, he was born in Germantown, Pa.

THE THUMBNAIL
Did you ever stop to figure
why the thumbnail is so hard?
Well, it hasn't got much choice
with all that skin to guard.
It may look fat and pudgy
but its heart is good and true.
It's prettier than a toenail ...
and easier to chew.

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elsewhere in blogville ...

The blog we started at the paper to celebrate Southeastern Conference football has done pretty well so far -- we're among the half-dozen most-read blogs. While some locals have accused us of shoving SEC football down their throats (hey, that sounds like something Serena Williams would say), there's no shortage of Deep South zealots here in Charlotte. If you're interested in reading more about the realest football this side of Pittsburgh, click here.

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health care reform? don't worry, the insurance business will get along just fine

Click here to read about Fantasy Sports Insurance, which will reimburse a fantasy football player's entry fee if one of their players misses a certain number of games because of injury.

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Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sept. 19

"We have a plan in place for making this team competitive."

Whoops, wrong Pirates.

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the kennedy chronicles

Where Chappaquiddick was first mentioned in Ted Kennedy obituaries:

* Boston Globe -- 5th paragraph

* Wall Street Journal -- 6th graph

* Associated Press -- 7th graph

* Times of London -- 8th graph

* Washington Post -- 9th graph

* Boston Herald -- 10th graph

* Miami Herald -- 10th graph

* National Journal -- 11th graph

* L.A. Times / Chicago Tribune (same story) -- 12th graph

* New York Daily News -- 13th graph

* New York Times -- 14th graph

* New York Post -- 14th graph

* Reuters -- 18th graph

* USA Today -- 19th graph

* Politico -- 24th graph

* Roll Call -- 25th graph

* The Hill -- no mention

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best fantasy year ever

In 1961, playing for the AFL's Houston Oilers, QB George Blanda threw for 3300 yards and 36 touchdowns ... and also kicked 16 field goals and 64 extra points. Without doing all the math, I'm figuring that put him in the neighborhood of 20 points a game or so (it was a 14-game season back then).

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what passes for fashion in pittsburgh

Of the 25 top-selling jerseys between April and August, three were from the Steelers: Polamalu at #2, Roethlisberger at #3 and Hines Ward at #11. No. 1? New Chicago QB Jay Cutler.

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The Bus is back!

Not so fast -- it was just a wardrobe malfunction at the Redskins game.

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