Talking sports

Reverse psychology: This blogger suggests starting the backups in NFL preseason games and bringing in the "starters" for the second half. A Modest Proposal to Improve Football is an interesting idea, but it'll never go anywhere. Too good a chance to get regulars hurt.

Playoff, schmayoff: The essayist for Few Are Cheerleading for a College Football Playoff obviously doesn't think a college football playoff will happen anytime soon, if ever. I concur.

Thanks, Yanks: Yes, I read a lot of stuff on NYTimes.com. Lou Gehrig is one of my favorite players of all time, and Derek Jeter is about to pass him as the N.Y. Yankees' career hit leader. Here's an essay called Did Gehrig Care About Records? Of Course He Did. I think Gehrig and Jeter would have gotten along well; I just hope for a better ending for Jeter.

Looking forward: I found a story on Bleacher Report called 100 Predictions for the 2009 NFL Season. Some of them are interesting. I hope he's wrong about the Dolphins.

Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com.

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 12-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing