Sports Blog: 12/01/21 – Radically Rational

Sports Blog: 12/01/21

It’s December. All respect to any high school football team that is still playing boys varsity tackle football. Football is always hard. It gets really hard in December.

Urban Meyer says he is not leaving Jacksonville. That statement has set off mass depression among the citizenry of Jacksonville.

The Steelers are 5-5-1 and looked and smelled like a bucket of warm, week-old puke last Sunday in a 41-10 loss to the Bengals. Steelers WR Chase Claypool says the problem is that the team doesn’t have music playing during practice. Chase says it would be a whole lot more fun with music. He said that. Really. He did.

Somewhere, Pete Rozelle is smiling. After 12 weeks, 21 NFL teams are within a game of .500, and 25 games have been decided on the final play.

The Cowboys have dropped three of their last four. The Saints have lost four straight. Both teams lost on Thanksgiving. Slump vs. Slump tomorrow night at Superdome. Taysom Hill gets the start at QB for New Orleans in place of Trevor Siemian. But to me the key here will be the availability and effectiveness of Zeke Elliott and Alvin Kamara.

The Cowboys may have an advantage in that Mike McCarthy will not be there to mismanage the clock.

Michigan looked great on Championship Saturday in rolling the Buckeyes. Absolutely great. But would it really surprise you if the Wolverines screwed the pooch against Iowa?

Don’t you be getting all smug, Cincy. Who would really want to play a very talented and loose Houston team that has exactly zero pressure on them?

Sonny Cumbie is the new coach at La. Tech. Good get.

Kentucky has signed Mark Stoops to an extension through 2027. Good keep. Little Stoops has done a helluva job in making Wildcat football something other than the autumnal appetizer to hoops.

I’m a UTSA fan. And I’m not a bandwagoner. But I’m not getting a good vibe…at all…about Friday night vs. Western Kentucky.

It’s Watch Yo Ass Wednesday!

The afore-mentioned Roadrunners might wanna check their backsides. That also goes for Michigan, Cincinnati and Okie State.

Georgia? Nah. The Tide can’t block that front. Bulldogs’ asses are currently secure.

You know a game I really want to see? The ACC Championship between Pitt and Wake. My two favorite quarterbacks in the country in Kenny Pickett and Sam Hartman.

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Paul's Bio

I clearly have the attention span of your median fruit fly.Look! Airplane!

Sorry. I’m back.

It’s both a curse and a blessing. I’ve never bought this stuff about, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But I do think that a wide range of life experiences helps us grow as people, and helps us better relate to other people. I’ve been fortunate. And I am beyond grateful.

I show up on time. I go like hell. I’m a good listener. I hold myself accountable. I own my mistakes. And I have a natural and an insatiable curiosity. I’m never afraid to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t. But then I try to find out.

The flip side is I’m a lousy ballroom dancer and my clothes sometimes fit me funny.

Stuff matters to me. I care. But while I take that stuff seriously, I try hard to never take myself seriously. As a result, I have sometimes been told, “Paul, it’s hard to tell when you’re serious and when you’re just having some fun. Which is it? Serious or fun?”

My answer is “yes.” But I think that is a legitimate criticism. I promise I’m going to work on that.

This has been the quickest and strangest half-century I’ve ever experienced. During that period, I’ve been afforded amazing opportunities in news and sports journalism across all platforms. I have taught wonderful students at the high school and collegiate level. Always, I learned more from them than they did from me. I’ve been a high school administrator. I spent ten seasons as a high school varsity football coach. I’ve been an advertising executive. I’ve hosted nationally syndicated television entertainment shows. In maybe the biggest honor I ever received, I was selected by NASA to be “Chet The Astronaut” for the “Land The Shuttle” simulator at Space Center Houston. (All I can say there, is “Do as I say, not as I do.” I put that thing in the Everglades more often than not.) Most recently, I just wrapped up a decade as a television news director, during which time our teams distinguished themselves in holding the powerful accountable, achieving both critical and ratings success.

What does all that mean? It means I am profoundly grateful. It also means I’m ready for “next.” So here we are. Radically Rational. It’s an idea I woke up with in 2017. I scribbled “Radically Rational” on a piece of notebook paper and used a magnet to stick it on our refrigerator. I saw it every day, and it just would not leave me alone.

I am second in charge at Radically Rational, LLC. My wife, Jo (also known as BB), is the president. Clearly, I have failed in my attempt to sleep my way to the top of this organization.

I hope you will learn that I’m loyal as a Labrador. But I will admit that this doggie can bite every now and then. My promise to you? I will show up on time. I will go like hell. I will listen to you earnestly and attentively. I will hold myself accountable. I will never be the least bit hesitant to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t.

But then I’ll try to find out. Let’s do it.