Mumblings of The Village Idiot

Years ago, when I was active on the message board at Jaguars.com, I existed under the screen name of TVI...The Village Idiot. I had been looking for a reason to use that name after first seeing Woody Allen’s Love and Death. Now, given the medium, you will suffer not only its rebirth but also my football, and non-football, mumblings.

If you are here for deep philosophical insight, it is probably not coming from me. With any luck you will get it in the comments section.

• Maybe you are like me...someone who looks for the right song for the right situation. With all the hope and promise left on the field in Foxboro, MA, I turn to the Old 97’s and their classic “Murder (or a Heart Attack)”. We question if we are ready for success, well in the name of Ahura Mazda I am opening myself to the potential joy and suffering.

And I may be leavin’ myself open

To a murder or a heart attack

But I’m leavin’ the back door open

’Til you come back, ‘til you come back

• An article on SBNation was written a few weeks ago that rated uniforms, with the Jaguars new rags on the list. In the comments section we were graced with the observations of “masculine colors”, and specifically about the Chargers powder blue. How could anyone say that about the best uniform every?! Since we are out of the dead zone I opted to not go full article on the topic, but here I’ll be brief. In 2008, with my 13 year old son beside me, a Ravens fan shouted to me that teal was a gay color. Classy. Pink was once considered a masculine color. Color, as masculine, requires qualities that are seen as masculine. Rugged and strong are masculine. Sweet and romantic are feminine. At least historically. If some guy wearing teal is kicking your ass, then maybe you should consider teal masculine. Or just stop considering that which is feminine as a negative.
• Teal tops. White bottoms. MAKE THIS PRIMARY!
• If you are a fan of English Premier League football, you may be aware of the great satan that is Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley. With arguably one of the greatest football minds in the EPL in Rafa Benitez, Ashley refuses to invest in Newcastle’s youth development, and further promises money in the transfer window that Rafa never sees. It makes one appreciate Shad Khan that much more. Having invested in his EPL club Fulham, which is back in top flight football, and for what he’s done with our beloved city of Jacksonville, we are reminded of what happens when you have a business owner focused on profit heading a sports business, where profit is just part of it.

• Before pads, scrimmages, pre-season games, my gut tells me this is season is solely on Blake Bortles. I simply do not see another season where the defense is obligated to hold the field while the offense looks for its lost contact lense. Blake has to make the move to owning the game, and not managing it. Part of Blake holding his public Stoic persona is surely grounded in a clubhouse that is giving him space to gather the bricks. Five minutes from tasting the honey, and seeing the offense go conservative, Blake has to take those bricks and build the bridge. Do not expect the defense to be so patient this time around.
• I think it’s great that folks are talking up the receiving corps, but count me as someone who puts the receivers in the same bucket as offensive linemen. Show me what you have in pads. When one is also focused on getting hit. When it is not just running and catching. This game is 90% mental. Maybe 80%. Honestly, I’m just making up numbers.
• There was a really good conversation on Frank Frangie’s local Jacksonville radio show this past Friday. The topic was players kneeling during the National Anthem. Frank was telling the story of meeting a soldier who recently served, detailing how he was in the field, got injured, then went back in. The soldier said it hurt him that folks could not see standing for the Anthem as a means of honoring those who serve, and to Frank’s credit he acknowledged the players who kneel are not bad people. This is a sensitive subject, and as a veteran myself I can appreciate both sides of the argument. If you see either side with malice and animosity it would do you well to investigate the strongest arguments of each position, and not focus on the extremes that get media attention. Hays Carlyon, local sports writer who is on with Frank, argued that maybe players should not be on the field for the Anthem or it should not be played. While those are also valid arguments, it was the point Frank brought up that really hit home, courtesy of the aforementioned soldier. Is there a way to protest that respects those who serve? It’s but one of many perspectives, but one can be sensitive to the core reason the players are kneeling, and be sensitive to how some view what the Anthem is about. Respect is something absent from the conversation in general, and we should not expect the corporate behemoth that is the NFL to care about respect. We, as fans, players, and as simple citizens, carry that torch. It starts with refraining from vitriolic language, and respecting the other person.
• Miracle is streaming on Netflix. There is no other sports movie that motivates me like it does. I’d like to think Tom Couglin requires every Jaguars player to watch this movie before, during, and after the season.

• Because sports is about fun.