Feb 06 2016

Cam Newton Named His Kid Chosen

With the Super Bowl coming up tomorrow, a little story about how Cam Newton named his kid Chosen. You know, to avoid the pressure of being named Cam Jr.

PLUMBBOB/NEWTON - September 16, 1957 - NEVADA ...

PLUMBBOB/NEWTON – September 16, 1957 – NEVADA TEST SITE — The fireball of the 20th full-scale nuclear detonation of Operation Plumbbob lights Yucca Flat. Code-named NEWTON, the device was suspended by a balloon at an altitude of 1,500 feet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The above photo came up because it happens to contain the word “Newton”, but it also is what happened to my head when I read this story. Don’t get me wrong. Cam can name his kid whatever he likes. However… “Chosen”? I assume he’s joking, at least a little bit, when he says it’s about avoiding pressure.

Father and son quarterbacks are certainly a thing — the Mannings being the easiest example. Peyton Manning will be playing in Super Bowl 50 against Cam Newton. Peyton and his wife Ashley have a son (part of a set of twins), so I guess it’s possible that kid could become a quarterback and Cam’s son could become a quarterback, and then they could play against each other in Super Bowl 75 or something. If so, you heard it speculated about here first.

In the interest of equal time, here’s a story about Peyton Manning doing something nice for a player on the practice squad who helped him with his rehab.

Go good game! Yay both teams!

Cam Newton Rocks Father-and-Son Dab Emoji Shirt Before Game vs. Seahawks

Cam Newton recently became a father, and revealed that his son’s name is Chosen. Why that name? In part, because Newton didn’t want his kid to have to live with the pressure of being named Cam Newton Jr.

Source: Cam Newton Didn’t Want To Put A Lot Of Pressure On His Kid, So He Named Him Chosen (Deadspin)


Feb 02 2015

End of Game Super Bowl Fight Totally Classless

I don’t use words like classless often, because the word is judgy in a way that I don’t like to be. I’m not against being judgmental; I’ve said many times that accusing someone of being judgmental is, in fact, judgmental. But what happened at the end of the Super Bowl tonight was absolutely classless.

 

The San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl XXIX troph...

The San Francisco 49ers’ Super Bowl XXIX trophy on display at the 49ers’ Family Day at Candlestick Park. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The Seattle Seahawks had lost the game, largely due to what basically everyone is referring to as the #WorstCallEver. (For those who weren’t watching, that refers to throwing a pass that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler instead of giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch at the goal line.) The Patriots were backed up into their own end zone, trying to avoid a safety, which would have given the Seahawks one last chance to win. The ‘Hawks jumped offsides, the Pats got five yards, and were a kneeldown away from victory.

Then this happened.

That’s just not cool. I’m sure the players were pissed off. They lost the Super Bowl. I’m not going to pretend I know what that feels like; I have one career sack and it was in high school during the Junior/Senior football game. (For the record, sacking the quarterback was really fun.) There are hamsters with more athletic ability than I do. Hell, there may be pieces of furniture with more athletic ability than me. But if by some chance I ever found myself on the losing end of a big game, even the biggest of all big games, I really, truly hope that I would show more class than these guys did. Good sportsmanship.

What does this have to do with parenting? Kids watch these games. Much like I prefer to avoid using the word classless, I also mislike the phrase “think of the children.” But here, I’ll say it. It’s not about being a role model. It’s about not acting like a big baby when you lose. Not throwing punches. No temper tantrums. Behave yourselves, guys.

For the record, here is a tweet from Seahawks star player Richard Sherman.

See? That’s classy. And Sherman was far from happy. Can I get a gif? Yes. Yes I can.

Richard Sherman reacts to Super Bowl loss

Super Bowl Fight! Super Bowl Fight! (Gawker)

USAToday.com FTW

 


Dec 20 2014

DaddyTips Comment 12-20-14 (Video)

The third DaddyTips Video commentary has arrived. Today, 12-20-14, I’m talking about NFL football.

DaddyTips Featured Video

Because this video is a little bit longer than usual (it’s about 3 minutes long; the other two have been closer to 2 minutes), and because I wrote it out rather than improvising, I’m going to include the full text here. It’s still faster to watch the video, unless you happen to be a speed reader. But if you don’t watch, you miss out on my stellar wit and brilliant facial expressions.

DaddyTips Video Comment

 

So here we go. This is fun. If you like the video, please share it with anyone and everyone.

Thanks for reading/watching/sharing, and most of all thanks for just being you. Happy holidays!

(Text of video follows.)

<singing>
The NFL, The NFL
Today I’ll be talking / about football-all-ell
</singing>

Today is Saturday, December 20. There will be 2 football games, billed as a special Saturday edition of Thursday Night Football. Despite the fact that that phrasing is a sign of the apocalypse – kind of like midnight movie premieres that are actually at 7pm – I like football enough that I’m going to watch the games.

Today’s comment is not about one of the Saturday games, it’s about the Bears/Lions game, which is on Sunday.
Apparently the Bears are going to start Jimmy Clausen instead of Jay Cutler. This quote is from an article on Michigan’s MLive.com written by Kyle Meinke, titled “Golden Tate hopes Jimmy Clausen ‘stays safe’ against Detroit Lions defense“.

“He may give us a spark. Who knows? We’re not sure, but I think it was a good time to take a look.”

That’s Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman talking about his decision to start Clausen instead of Cutler.

NFL coaches are an intriguing breed. Generally they live and breathe football. They spend endless hours studying tape, coming up with plays, and thinking of ways to motivate their players.

“He may give us a spark. Who knows?”

Compare this to Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, who, when asked if his team could win the Super Bowl with their backup quarterback, said yes. To be fair, he was ASKED. He didn’t make a proclamation like Rex Ryan, the sometimes crazy coach of the hapless New York Jets.

The Cardinals have suffered a pile of injuries to key players, including starting quarterback Carson Palmer. They are currently 11-3, first place in their division, the NFC West. They are also the ONLY team in the NFC that has clinched a playoff spot.

The Bears are 5-9. That’s LAST place in the NFC North. They haven’t lost their starting quarterback. Until Sunday, when they plan to put in a guy who hasn’t started a game since 2010. Because they’re out of the playoffs.

Maybe coaching does matter.

It was suggested to me by a friend that I end these videos with a Tip, since they are being posted on – wait for it – DaddyTips.com. My tip today is:
Be more like Bruce Arians than Marc Trestman. I don’t follow the Cardinals closely, but from what I’ve heard and read, Arians appears to do everything he can to help his team win, including convincing his players that they CAN win, no matter what. Trestman – you know, the guy who said “Who knows?” when asked if starting Jimmy Clausen would help the Bears beat the Lions, would seem to be cut from different cloth.
My point? Buck the odds. Say “why not me?” instead of “who knows?”

Happy holidays.

(Note: The music used at the end is “I Am A Bear In A Lady’s Boudoir” by Cliff Edwards, recorded circa October 25, 1933. It’s in the Public Domain and available for download at the invaluable Internet Archive.)

Previous DaddyTips Video comments:

DaddyTips Comment 12-16-14

DaddyTips Comment 12-15-14