Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Comparing Hall of Fame Quarterbacks

The table above shows how Dave King's career NFL statistics compare with those of several other Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the modern era. Quarterbacks are listed in order of career passing completion percentage.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Western Iowa Football - 1979 Season

One of the chapters in The All-American King opens with quarterback Dave King being interviewed about an upcoming game between his Western Iowa Falcons and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Heading into this contest at Falcons Stadium in Council Bluffs, Iowa, the Falcons were ranked #12 in the nation, while the Irish were ranked #9. Below is the 1979 Western Iowa football schedule, including the results of games played prior to the contest against Notre Dame.

September 8: Western Iowa 56 - Drake 0
September 15: Western Iowa 41 - Iowa State 13
September 22: Western Iowa 28 - Iowa 20
September 29: Western Iowa 23 - Penn State 17
October 6: Western Iowa 42 - Miami (Florida) 6
October 13: Notre Dame
October 20: at Army
October 27: at Louisville
November 3: Memphis
November 10: North Texas
November 17: at South Carolina

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Two-A-Days

Football season is less than a month away. Across the nation, high school, college, and professional teams have started their training camps. Thousand of players are now drilling and scrimmaging to prepare for the upcoming season. The field pictured is at Williams Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. That is the where the East High Scarlets play their home games. In The All-American King, Williams Stadium is where Dave King played his home games as quarterback for the Eastridge High Braves.

Blue 32, Blue 32, hut-hut-HUT

Saturday, August 8, 2009

An Expanding Problem

I’ve been eating too much lately. And not exercising as much. You know what that means. I could mope around lamenting this situation, or I could celebrate my added girth with a song:

I’m bringing flabby back (yeah)
Them other boys don’t know how to snack (yeah)
Is that a pie cooling on the rack? (yeah)
I want a burger gotta get it fast (yeah)

Take me to the fridge

Hungry babe (uh-huh)
You see the Snickers
Candy I’m your slave (uh-huh)
I’ll add some whip cream cause that’s what I crave (uh-huh)
Just don’t tell me yet how much I weigh (uh-huh)

Take me to the buffet

Come here fries
Go ahead, bring more of it
A pancake stack
Go ahead, bring more of it
P-I-E
Go ahead, bring more of it
Pink ice cream
Go ahead, bring more of it
Let me see what you’re cooking with
Go ahead, bring more of it
Look at those chips
Go ahead, bring more of it
Soup makes me smile
Go ahead, bring more of it
Julia Child
Go ahead, bring more of it
And get your flabby on
Go ahead, bring more of it

Get your flabby on

Saturday, August 1, 2009

A Farewell to Kings

It is Saturday. For the past several weeks the arrival of Saturday has brought a new episode of Kings on NBC. Last week, however, was the season finale. And since the network did not renew the show, that episode was also the series finale.

Premiering in April, Kings was an alternate reality drama based on the biblical story of King Saul and King David. I confess I had mixed feelings about it at first. It intrigued me, though I wondered if it tried to do too much with too many different elements. But the show held my interest enough to keep watching. Each week it drew me deeper and deeper into the story. By the middle of its 12-episode run, I counted Kings as one of the year’s best television shows. The writing, production quality, and acting were superb. More than once I had to rewind a scene to absorb the full power and beauty of Ian McShane’s Shakespearean dialogue.

Despite garnering much critical acclaim, Kings did not draw high ratings. So NBC pulled the plug. We will thus never know the fate of Silas, Rose, Jack, Michelle, William, and of course David Shepherd, who at season’s end, had to flee his homeland to seek refuge among his nation’s enemies.

Goodbye Kings. You were an innovative show that deserved a much longer run.

Maybe I should check out Deadwood on DVD.