5 Things on a Friday: Titans, Jeter, Rush

By the time you read this, I will be on my out to Colorado to ski with my buddy Brian.  Yay!

Alright.  Let’s do it.

1. Previewing a 2020 offseason that will be filled with critical decisions for Titans GM Jon Robinson (Music City Miracles)

• The Titans have about $60M in cap space to work with.
• They can clear up to about $80M if they want to release Walker, Lewis, Wake, and Succop along with possibly restructuring deals for Casey, Jones, and Butler.
• It’s not a question of if they can afford to bring back Tannehill, Henry, Conklin, and Ryan... it’s a question of whether they see those players as good values at the prices they demand.

MCM’s article is a detailed look at the Titans' offseason and salary cap situations after the AFC Championship.  Despite all the calculations, author Mike Herndon comes to roughly the same conclusions I did when I wrote about the Titans on Monday morning.  

It's good to be right, I guess.  

That said, Herndon lists backup running back as non-dire need when, in fact, the Titans need a high-quality #2 to spell Derrick Henry, like, right freaking now.  Otherwise, they’re going to both run their best player into the ground and see diminishing returns from his play over the course of his future seasons.

2. A Show of Hands (Spotify)

I had the same experience with Rush that everybody has.  Dave Ghrol talked about it in his speech inducting the band into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.  You see the naked guy standing over the pentagram and then open the album cover, and there’s the band posed in white kimonos, and you think, “This is some heavy shit.”

I was driving to a swim meet with my buddy Rob as a high school junior.  I knew Rush, but I wasn’t, like, a fan.  He said, “Hey, do you mind if I put on 2112?”  

And that’s when it happened.

I’ve been a big fan ever since.

Anyway, I’ve been listening to a lot of Rush, much more than usual, since virtuoso dummer/lyricist Neil Peart died.  I knew that they had a huge music catalogue, but it wasn’t until this week that I realized how many live albums they’d put out.  There must be ten at least.  It turns out that my favorite of these is 1989’s A Show of Hands because it has my all-time favorite rendition of my favorite Rush song, Mission, along with a bunch of really cool b-sides like Manhattan Project that I like quite a bit despite the band’s playing them but rarely.  Alas, the album doesn’t have 2112 or Working Man, but what can you do?

Honorable mentions include Rush in Rio and R30, though I wound up putting my own 33-song live playlist together yesterday morning in an attempt to cobble all my favorites together into a single spot.

3. Stratford, Conn.: A Welcoming Shoreline Community (NY Times)

Stratford’s motto is “Offering more from forest to shore,” and indeed there are several Sound shores, among them Short Beach, with sports fields and courts and a nine-hole golf course, and Roosevelt Forest, the only town-owned forest in Connecticut. In between, there are salt marshes, wetlands and parks, like the 30-acre Boothe Memorial Park, where an eclectic collection of structures includes a windmill and a defunct tollbooth.

Residents meet up at town-sponsored events like the Great Pumpkin Festival, a summer concert series in Paradise Green and Blues on the Beach, at Short Beach. Activities for all ages are held at the public library and the Sterling House Community Center. Shopping is plentiful, and culinary options include Jamaican, Latin fusion and Mexican, as well as seaside restaurants and four breweries.

Long Beach, Stratford, CT

Yay!  Our town made the paper!

4. Why baseball needs Derek Jeter today as much as ever (ESPN)

Maybe you had to be there every day to understand it. Maybe it has to be our little secret in the New York market. But Jeter was every bit the titan he was made out to be, and a Yankee worthy of the blessing granted by his fellow shortstop, Phil Rizzuto, who wasn't afraid to summon the name of his teammate, Joe DiMaggio. "Derek is very comparable to DiMag in that they both have that sixth sense," Rizzuto once said. "They both play the game so naturally and beautifully. ... Joe never made a mistake, and Jeter doesn't either."

This was a great read.  Well worth the time if you just need a pick-me-up later in the day.

5. NYC Photography

I took these Wednesday afternoon on the banks of the East River in Long Island City looking back towards Manhattan.  I took all the shots on my phone right before an after-lunch meeting.  The first is the most processed because I shot it through a -- dirty -- window and had to then find some way to enhance the colors while hiding the smudges.  For the rest, I tried to enhance colors without losing too much resolution, with varying degrees of success.

The U.N. & Midtown East as seen through a dirty window.

More U.N.  This wasn't quite the shot I had in mind, unfortunately.

More East Side.

This is probably the best shot.  Totally not what I was looking for,
but I think it came out the best.

That's all I've got this week.  Enjoy the weekend!

* * *

P.S. LaGuardia is the roach motel of NYC Area airports.  This terminal has exactly one coffee shop and zero places to get an actual breakfast, and when I go to check in my bag this morning, the guy at the curb sticks out his hand and says, "I take care of your bag, you take care of me."

Translation: "Gimme $5, or you'll never see your snowboard again."

Ugh.  Everything is a shakedown in this city.  100% of the time.