The Burrow

That's what I saw when I walked into the service department at the VW dealership this afternoon.  I couldn't resist what came out of my mouth; something about under-inflation and trustworthiness and should I really leave them my car?  The service advisors' reactions were muted; they'd heard it all before... all day long. Bill Belichik's been accused of leading a team of cheaters, once again.  Briefly, for those of you who rely on The Burrow for all your sporting news, footballs are checked by the officials 135 minutes before the kick-off. In the interim, they are returned to the safekeeping of each team's equipment staff.  In last week's playoff game, 11 of the 12 balls in the Patriot's care were found to be underinflated to a level below that which is mandated for game play use.  Underinflation makes the ball easier to catch, to carry, to throw.  It makes it harder to fumble.  Tom Brady, Belichik's golden boy quarterback, prefers a softer ball....

Caution: Sports esoterica is ahead. You can try to go with the flow, or come back tomorrow for something less arcane. It became apparent to me, early on in our relationship, that in order to spend any time at all with TBG I was going to have to learn to watch sports on tv. That's a very different set of skills than learning to love sports or playing sports or attending live sporting events. I had to become adept at sitting and staring at men (always men until the Title 9 girls grew up) moving in patterns which were obvious to TBG and a total mystery to me. My earliest memories of Zaydeh, G'ma's father, involve watching baseball on tv. Bouncing on his shoulders in front of the black and white Zenith in the living room while he hummed Zionist pioneer songs as his Brooklyn Dodgers went about their business. I'd probably have grown up loving baseball as much as Doris Kearns Goodwin except that I was only 5 when the Dodgers made Zaydeh cry. After they left, he lost his pass...