Day: September 25, 2019

Daniel Jones. He’s the savior! Maybe. Honestly, Daniel Jones is fundamentally the reason why the Giants offense will work moving forward, even without their pro Bowl RB for a few months—even the reason why, once he returns, they’ll be playoffs dangerous. Daniel ‘Dimes’ Jones displayed and represents an aspect of the offense that the Giants have been missing since Hostettler departed for warmer shores. He represents a threat to run from the QB position.

Everyone knows Manning cannot run. He is worse than Brady in that respect (okay, in every respect). Because his mobility is so limited the line has to be far more secure than it can be. Defenses can pin their ears back and flat out bring it—leaving 3 linebackers in space to deal with the RB. That changes with Jones back there. If they over-pursue then Jones is free to escape and possibly score as he did twice last week against Tampa team that plays some legit D. Will this work all season? No. He is going to make rookie mistakes and fumble and have issues with picks down the road, but he is going to do enough to take pressure off the secondary so they can actually have a few weeks to get their crap together and learn how to play together. Yeah, hope springs eternal.

The same can be said for my fantasy life. Hope springs eternal in each league with a series of recent wins and picks that solidified my lineup—for now. I’m still streaming, btw. In the money league I go week to week at multiple positions, but the goal is to lock myself into the playoffs and then find the players who can carry me through. That is, again, where Jones comes in.

I am entering into a brand new teaching unit where I compare information to a virus and discuss the way this contagion is spread and how to combat the spread of malicious ideas. I am doing this because it is necessary and also because it is interesting. Years ago I read a book called Thought Contagion. That in addition with a handful of books about reshaping undergraduate writing and research led me down the path towards having student explore the idea of truth and the idea of ideas overall. Today we started talking about the ‘bad ideas’ they wanted to combat with these new skills and I think I am in love with this strategy.

The world is full of ‘false facts’ or even ‘alternative facts’. What I did was allow the students to pitch the ones they heard and that mattered to them and form groups based on selection of ideas. Thought memes (once upon a time there was no other kind) became a kind of cause for them. They really got into the idea of challenging commonly held beliefs in a way that allowed them to get not only to the root of the truth but to start to understand why people are susceptible to belief and how to use that understanding in order to communicate with audiences.

Some Thoughts:

1. Not a lot to say today. I’m headed out to a concert and hope to have an amazing experience. Early date night!
2. Speaking of early, I am early into my film study of this week’s opposing team and I am looking forward to the opportunity to have a piece of mind on the sideline as I explain to the players what they should expect and what to observe and look out for in particular when they line up on both sides of the ball. Should be another really fun weekend of games.