The Price of Sanctity

I've become engrossed in the presidential race.  Not the candidates, really, but the way campaigns are run.  I find myself fascinated by all the rules and the strategies and the analysis of the debates and primary results.  It's so entertaining that I have to remind myself that this is actually a process to select the leader of our country, and that I am responsible for participating. [Note to self: Put down the popcorn bucket and start paying attention.]

I'll vote when the time comes, but in the meantime I want to get in on some of the fun political shenanigans.

The Tebow Conundrum

Malcolm Gladwell's recent compilation What the Dog Saw includes a 2008 article examining what he calls "the quarterback problem."  This phenomenon refers to the difficulty NFL scouts have predicting which college quarterbacks are most capable of succeding at the professional level.  Quarterbacking is so different between college and the pros--more drastically than is the case for any other position in football--that even some of the most talented, highly-touted quarterbacks in college football history have proven incapable of making the adjustment. Gladwell's observation is that there is no sure way to know how a quarterback will perform for an NFL team until they are given the opportunity to do so, because there's really no relevant track record to evaluate.

There's a recent, curious case that I'd love to hear Gladwell's take on: Tim Tebow.

Tebow is only in his second season, so the jury is still out on whether he's a legitimate franchise quarterback.  But what he's demonstrated so far has been nothing short of baffling.

"In your name..."

Comedian Brian Regan recently posed an interesting question:  How does one compose a thank-you note for gifts given to charity (rather than the recipient)?  In other words, if you receive one of those, "In lieu of a gift, we have made a donation in your name to [the human fund]" cards, what is the best way to respond to the giver?