Done despite, Aquaman = Superman?, Fantastic Foles
So I took off Friday because I wanted to get my two chicken area construction projects completed, building a small, moveable pergola for behind the coop and modifying the chicken playground so I could attach roof panels to it to provide additional cover. Unfortunately nobody let mother nature know of my plans. All day long the weather was unstable with bright sun followed by periods of intense wind and rain. I stopped and started the project no less than four times. The end result was me not getting done as much as I hoped but I did at least get the smaller pergola completed.
I threw some treats under there so the hens realized it’s use. Before long they were all hanging out under there which made me smile. They obviously were happy to have a low ceiling area to hang out in both for shade and safety.
Since I didn’t spend as much time outside as I originally planned I also tackled indoor tasks while I dried off in between downpours. One of those was reseating the bead once again on one of the Minipro tires. It’s a very aggravating task that I accomplished by using a ratchet strap to squeeze the oversized tire onto the rim tightly so the bead would seat when inflated. I got it around my seventh or eighth try. Oh, I forgot to mention, I got my 13 lap run out of the way first thing Friday morning as well.
On Saturday the weather was better but quite chilly with daytime temps not exiting the 60’s. We went out and ran some errands early to give the air some time to warm up before I resumed chicken work. We grabbed a few things I needed at Home Depot including some MORE Xmas decorations. We bought some LED snowman stake decorations to replace our 5 year old versions that were falling apart.
When I got out in the chicken area later I went into pure “let’s get shit done” mode. As is almost always the case I had no formal plan for the project, just a mental outline that I improvise along the way. I built a roughly 8′ x 8′ pressure treated frame that I mounted the corrugated roof panels to. I incorporated a downward pitch to the roof so water will drain, I also attached hinges to the higher side so I will be able to clean out under the shelter, unlike under the coop, the whole reason I am doing this.
I worked for between two to three hours until I had it as I wanted. The finished project resembles the original vision in my mind but the way I got there was totally different from what I imagined at the start, a normal series of events for me. I again threw some treats under there when I was done to lead the chickens to their second new hangout spot. If chickens could smile, they would be ear to ear.
Saturday night Cindy and I went out to see Aquaman. I didn’t have sky high expectations based on the reviews I heard and the fact that it is a Zack Snyder movie. His movies are famous for being very strong on crazy visuals but weak on story telling, dialogue and plot. But hey it’s a super hero movie, I am going to go see it.
The first thing I had to get around was this iteration of Aquaman, Jason Momoa. He is the exact opposite of the Aquaman I knew as a kid in both comic books and the Justice League Saturday morning cartoon series. The hero I knew was a blonde haired, blue eyed squeaky clean type of character, something Momoa is anything but.
It reminded me of the adjustment I had to do with the Han Solo movie where I had to accept someone other than Harrison Ford playing Han. It took some time but I eventually let that prejudice fade away. I’m not sure if I ever got to that point with this Aquaman but I just rolled with the flow. Not only did they totally flip the script on the look of Aquaman, they made him much more powerful than I ever knew him to be. He was basically Superman that could breathe underwater. He took amazing amounts of punishment yet emerged from it all without even a limp.
I thought the movie was a little too long with them jamming in the Black Manta villain in a way that seemed forced and secondary to the plot. However Zack as always delivered with amazing visuals and tremendous action scenes which was enough for me to push it to B+ material for me. I’m fine however with this being a one and done series. DC movies just can not come close to matching Marvel when it comes to creating compelling super hero movies, worthy of multiple installments.
This morning after chicken duty and paying bills I decided to knock off some server work at the office that I originally planned to do on Monday. It was too cold to ride PEVs in the morning with temps in the low 50’s. I figured getting this work done opens up my Christmas Eve to do more of whatever I want. I had to upgrade our firewall appliance which I had been putting off for a couple months due to it’s requirement for the work to be done after hours and on premise.
The firewall is a HUGE part of our network infrastructure since we run so much of the office on the cloud nowadays, so the upgrade had me a bit nervous. I backed up the configuration, just in case. The upgrade procedure included an upgrade of the OS version on the server so it took longer than I expected. I brought Elsa along to keep me company as I waited for the final reboot. In the end everything went well and the firewall came back online without issue.
I got home a little before the Eagles kickoff. I had seen something during the week that made me think they were putting Wentz back in there, which I did not want. With his back problems he has not been effective overall, especially in the last couple months. The team was not playing with any sort of confidence, something that magically appeared when Nick stepped in against the Rams last week, leading the team to an improbably win on the road.
When I flipped on the game I was happy to see Wentz wearing sweats and a baseball cap, meaning Nick was starting. Nick started off the game with a bang doing something that I am not sure has happened all year long, leading the team straight down the field on their first possession for a TD. It was the start of a historic day for Foles, the magical savior that lead the Eagles to their only Super Bowl win last year, as a backup.
Nick had a couple mistakes including a fumble deep in the Eagles side of the field that resulted in an immediate Texans TD and a INT that didn’t result in points. Other than that, he was just crazy good. So to me the difference between him and Wentz is pretty clear, Nick makes decisions faster. Consistently he is getting the ball out of his hands were Wentz would still be making a decision which far too often would result in missed opportunities. Foles also appears to be more able to not lock in on just one target, spreading the ball around in a better manner than Carson. These abilities allow the offense to actually sustain drives, keeping the mostly awful defense off the field, something that is crucial with this years squad. The offense under Wentz had far too many 3 and outs with horrid time of possession numbers.
So anyway, the Eagles followed a blueprint they have used many times this season, build a sizeable lead in the second half and then play the hated and horrible prevent defense. They have given up big leads in a hurry this way all year long yet there seems to be no deviation from this strategy. I know the personnel in the defensive secondary is bad but come on, their play in the soft zone is miserable. Time and again with seven guys back there Texan receivers were able to run free with little to no resistance. The plays they allowed Watson, the Texans QB to make were crazy.
So despite the typical prevent defense collapse allowing a quick TD to get the Texans within one score, the offense under Foles direction was mounting a much needed, time consuming drive. However that came to a screeching halt when Josh Adams fumbled, giving the Texans the ball near midfield. I am not a big fan of the rookie Adams, despite him putting up some half decent numbers. He seems slow as shit and doesn’t appear to have any fire in his belly, the polar opposite of Darren Sproles.
So the defense once again falls flat on it’s face and allows the Texans to drive down the field easily, scoring a TD that gave them a one point lead, courtesy of Jake Elliot missing an extra point earlier. Last year Elliot was a key component to the Eagles success, he was money, making clutch kicks all year long. This year he has struggled to the point where I feel each kick is a coin flip with him. The only good part about the Texans scoring was there were two minutes remaining and the Eagles still had two timeouts.
Early in the drive it didn’t look good with a 3rd and 10 facing Foles deep in Eagles territory. He managed to connect to Ashlon Jeffrey, who made an amazing catch just as Nick was speared to the chest which knocked the wind out of him, forcing him to miss a play. When he came back in to thunderous applause he continued his surgical dissection of the Texans, moving the Birds down the field to the point where Elliot had a 35 yard field attempt to win the game with a few seconds remaining.
He had his chance to atone for his XP miss. Cindy and I held our breath but the kick was a no doubt about it variety, straight down the middle. I held up my hands in celebration as a I yelled in unison with the fans on the screen. What a game. The Eagles under Foles leadership just won two games, against two teams that are leading their divisions. Both games I was sure they would lose three weeks ago, before Saint Nick came to town, again. The fact that he is winning games with a defense that has absolutely no answer to stopping the pass makes the wins even more impressive.
His performance was historic, setting an Eagles record for most passing yards in a game. He also became the first Eagles QB to throw for 400+ yards in four games in his career, passing Sonny Jurgensen. The guy just gets it done and that attitude rubs off on everyone around him. I am not sure if there has ever been an Eagles QB in my lifetime that I have had more confidence in with playing well in the clutch.
So despite these two improbable wins, the Eagles still need help to reach the playoffs. Not only do they need to win their remaining game, they also need the Vikings to lose their final game of the year to get in as a wildcard. The good news is the Vikings are playing the Bears in that game, one of the best teams in the NFC. I can’t imagine any scenario where Wentz sniffs the field next week and if the Birds somehow make the playoffs, Foles is my guy, without hesitation. Realistically with the defense being so poor this year (3rd worst in the league), I have little hope of any end result coming close to last year but even making the playoffs would be a huge deal with as dark as this season was a month ago.
I’m sure it is tough for Wentz to see the team transform offensively for the better with him out of the lineup. Hopefully he uses it as an opportunity to identify the holes in his game that will help him down the road. If somehow Foles manages to lead the this team deep into the playoffs however, I might have a hard time not jumping on the Foles train, permanently.
Tomorrow for Xmas eve we are hosting a meal for Cindy’s family which will be action packed for sure. I will be well prepared with alcohol as needed, a welcome aid in my social interactions. I hope it will culminate in an epic Christmas morning where giving outranks receiving on the enjoyment meter by a ton.