Bad Reporter

The title of this post is not only the name of the FX sitcom I am writing about my time in journalism, it is also true of my general failure to blog.  However, the fact that I rarely write on here is not because interesting things are not happening.  It is a lot of fun to watch Ada grow and learn new things.  We are able to communicate with her, although there are times she may be just ignoring me. Most NBA coaches get at least two years before Ric Bucher starts reporting that the players are tuning them out, but I did not even get that long.  Of course, Ada and her mother are both quite adept at pretending to listen while I go on extended one-person exegeses about such topics as the parol evidence rule, replacement referees, and advanced baseball statistics.  And I, of course, love them for even bothering to pretend.

It has been great fun taking Ada out with us on bike rides.  We have a seat for her that is interchangeable between my bike and Kat's bike, and Ada seems to enjoy the rides.  I have to commend Kat for how well she has succeeded at integrating a tiny person into the stuff we like to do. Basically I'm thanking her for the fact that I have not had to sacrifice any of the fun I get to have even though I also now get to hang out with a pretty cool kid who likes to watch football and golf.

While it is not all fun and games, it is quite an interesting experience.  I'm excited for Elliott and Katie to have some of these experiences soon with my nephew, Jones Alvin Gautreaux.  (That might not be his name, but that was the boy name Kat and I were going with, although we were going to use the middle name of Elliott.  Anyway, we won't be using it and it is too good not to share.  But geez, if the actual parents want to choose the name, I guess I'll leave it to them.)

I will be in attendance in the club section today's Miami Dolphins-Buzzsaw that is the Arizona Cardinals tilt.  I'm not certain that the quarterback play I will see today will be better than what I used to see on Thanksgiving Day at Gerald Rinne Field at Mildred Rinne Stadium.  I am going with a co-worker who is a TAMU grad and actually believes that Ryan Tannehill is an NFL quarterback.  I have told him all week that Tannehill is simply terrible, which probably guarantees that on Monday, after Tannehill torches the Buzzsaw for 350 yards, Peter King will be writing something gushing about how Tannehill learned to throw by tossing hay bales on a Texas ranch.

I said the Cards would go 4-12 this season in the season preview I wrote for Street & Smith's magazine (oh, you didn't see it?), so a win today means they must close the season on a 12 game losing streak.  But Arizona teams do not handle success well, so I am expecting a close contest today.  I'll be live tweeting all of the amazing perks that go along with the club section under #53percenter.

Good win by Nebraska last night, although I only saw parts where they played terribly. When the only player you can trust on the entire team fumbles after running into his own teammate, that is not a game your team will normally end up winning.  So for the Huskers to come back is pretty impressive.  However, Wisconsin might not be any good.

I'm reading a book called Who Gets What by Kenneth Feinberg.  It is about his work as a special master distributing large settlements in mass tort events, like the 9/11 Compensation Fund.  If you enjoy mass torts - and if I know my audience, they do - it is an interesting read.  However, I think it is hampered by the fact that so much has to stay confidential.  I'm similarly hampered in telling Kat what I think are funny stories, but she has informed me that these stories are not actually funny.  Anyway, if you are interested in further reading on mass torts - and I know you are - I can also recommend anything by Richard Nagareda.

In summary for those who don't want to read all of this: Ada is a good kid, football, football, mass torts, summary.