Sunday Superfluity

Although I doubt he or anyone in his life is reading this, I offer best wishes for a swift and complete recovery to Tua Tagovailoa, Alabama’s star quarterback who suffered a serious injury (a dislocated and fractured hip) in yesterday’s game. One thing I wonder, though, besides whether he should have even been playing in a game Alabama would have handily won without him (he recently had surgery to “repair” a high ankle sprain): what would the College Football Playoff committee have done if Alabama had defeated LSU, Tua had been injured the next week, and Alabama went on to be undefeated SEC champ? I’m virtually certain Alabama would have made the playoff, but where would they have been seeded? A minor question, no doubt, but my brain doesn’t always prioritize well.

In recent years some college football players who were certain to be drafted very high by the NFL have stopped playing for their college team before the end of their last season so as not to risk an injury that could damage their professional prospects and potentially cost them millions of dollars. None of those players “suffered” in terms of where they were drafted. In other words, NFL teams don’t seem to downgrade a player who “abandons” his college teammates in order to protect himself for the NFL. By the way, I don’t really think the college players are abandoning their teammates. If you don’t look out for yourself it’s highly unlikely anyone else will. Besides, the game itself is just a game, but the chance to be financially secure for life is not one to be squandered without much consideration.

Do any of you have any comments about this topic?

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Some recently hung items although purchased awhile ago:

 

 

As I have written before, my father and I had a complicated relationship, but I wanted to pay homage to him with this Flying A wall. After all, without his involvement with automobiles I highly doubt I would have ever had any interest in them.

 

 

Unfortunately, it was impossible to get both items in the picture without making the “Corvette Parade” on the left difficult to read. OK, here is a shot just of the poster:

 

 

Yes, I took the photo in a less than straight configuration. Sue me…

 

 

My extreme fondness for the 1963-65 Buick Riviera is a matter of record. I purchased the painting during the Elegance at Hershey this past June. Sadly, the event will not be held in 2020. Thanks to my wonderful wife for helping me hang these (and other) items yesterday.

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On this day in 1986 Georges Besse, CEO of Renault, was assassinated outside his home in Paris. The anarchist group Action Directe claimed responsibility three months later as “retaliation” for Renault having laid off a large number of workers. Two women were charged with Besse’s murder, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Two other members of the “group” were convicted as accomplices and given life sentences.

Many automotive journalists and historians have blamed the eventual demise of American Motors Corporation (by way of its purchase by Chrysler) to Besse’s murder. You see, Renault owned about half of AMC by the early 1980s. Besse was a believer in the company and knew that Jeep was at the forefront of the market move to SUVs. Without Besse, Renault just wanted to wash its hands of AMC and sold the company to Chrysler in 1987.

I am very reluctant to write this, but I am actually surprised that the US has not seen more acts of targeted political violence. Anyway, a photo of my favorite AMC car:

From classiccars.com a picture of a 1968 AMC Javelin. By the way, classiccars.com is a great place to find automobiles like a 1962-64 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk for sale.

 

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