Sunday, November 25, 2007

On the Couch, week twelve

PV's initial thoughts on the Viking win are below at "Trailing Clouds of Heaven: Vikings 41, Giants 17." "On the Couch" is a chance to talk about the rest of the NFL.

Eagles-Patriots
It means nothing. This means nothing. Tom Brady throws for 380 yards and the Patriots win a close game. Brady is brilliant when you spread the field, give him time to throw, and ask him to complete a lot of quick, short, accurate passes (isn't Wes Welker the perfect WR for Brady, perhaps even moreso than Randy Moss?). But this means nothing.

The Jaguars
In August, I thought the Jags made a bad move cutting Byron Leftwich. After Sunday's win, they are 8-3, and starting QB David Garrard hasn't thrown a bloody interception. Clearly I don't understand the first thing about football.

Frank Gore
214 yards from scrimmage and 2 touchdowns against Arizona? After last season's 1,695 yards rushing on a 5.4 yards per carry average, this is what fantasy rubes hoped Frank Gore could do.

Devin Hester defies logic.
Hester has to be one of the most feared players in the league: no matter what is happening in a game, no matter how well you are executing on offense and defense, Hester can destroy you. Ask the Broncos.

The Cleveland Browns
The Browns improved to 7-4 Sunday, and they are one of the year's big stories. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Braylon Edwards came out of college as highly touted, extremely talented receivers, and they've each come fully into their own. I still don't know what to believe about Derek Anderson. Another good out-of-nowhere quarterback? A fluke year? Beneficiary of Braylon Edwards? I have no idea what any of this means. I mean, if the Vikings could trade for either Anderson or Brady Quinn this off-season, I have no idea which QB I'd prefer.

Metaphor
I've been pretty critical of worn out metaphors on this blog. But Guy Deutcher's The Unfolding of Language features a chapter on how dead metaphor is pretty inextricably bound up in the basic makeup of language. Hey, since I've been reading this book (slowly, as anything I read for pleasure during a semester) I've already repented of my stance on "their" as singular. Is Deutscher leading me to give up my condemnation of worn-out metaphors?

No, not quite. It's fascinating to see the level to which dead metaphors infuse our language. But sportswriters using uncreative, unthinking cliches to try explain sporting events is something altogether different, and altogether worthy of scorn.

The Vikings blew out the Giants on the road.
Just wanted to say it again.

1 comment:

  1. Is "worn-out metaphor" a worn-out metaphor?

    ReplyDelete