A full afternoon of classes. In my criticism class we watched three short pieces. Usually, on Thursdays, we settle in for a long documentary, but I wanted to try a few shorter packages. We talk about specific themes in all of these programs, but I wanted to hopefully make a point about how stories get necessarily compressed, and what might be accentuated, or omitted, in these shorter pieces.
So we started with Chris Nikic making history in Florida.
That one worked pretty well. And then we watched this NFL propaganda about new helmet technology, featuring former wide receiver Steve Smith Jr.
I thought that one was interesting because we spent a day earlier this term discussing the NFL’s CTE settlement, via a Washington Post story. It is interesting in a “how it’s done” way, but it is 100 percent a piece intended to make fans feel good about the what the league is doing for player safety. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not a subtle thing, either.
Then we ended with this public television package trying to understand and explain Philadelphia sports fans.
And that’s where I lost them. Not exactly sure how that happened.
But in org comm we continued our talk about ethics, which is always a really exciting time. Fortunately, we have a big gambling scandal in the NBA to talk about. I had them read this Joon Lee opinion column and we discussed several elements of that. I had them look up a few other interesting points for some more context. We talked about their own impressions about gambling in sport. And then we ran through some different sorts of hypotheticals. They were largely into it, which is a great result in a week when you’re talking about ethics.
In the office, way up high on the sixth floor, I noticed the trees were looking lovely.
Last week might have been the peak leaf turn here. Maybe it is this week. Probably it won’t be next week. Nothing about foliage fits into the old calendars anymore, but admire them when you can. And from above, if at all possible.
And admire Catober, while you’re at it. The month ends tomorrow. (But there will be some too-good-to-omit photos next week for a Catober bonus post.) You can see them all by clicking that link and scrolling through a month of cozy kitty photos.
