His name was Dayle Tate, he was from Springfield, Va., and he looked like this:

This picture (photocopied from my decaying edition of the Penn State football media guide) was taken in 1979, which accounts for both the plaid sport coat and the Larry Wilcox coiffure. Heading into that season, Tate was the de facto starting quarterback for the Nittany Lions, who came six inches and an Alabama linebacker from winning a national championship the year before. Dayle Tate was a god-fearing young man who dreamed of becoming a preacher, and it was through him that I had my first intimate experience with the allure of the backup quarterback.

Posted at 10:57 AM

My favorite Jim Thome story isn't about watching Jim Thome. Not live, anyway.

Posted at 5:15 PM

There have already been a few whispers of quarterback controversies in Seattle (Tarvaris Jackson vs. Charlie Whitehurst), Minnesota (Christian Ponder vs. Donovan McNabb, at least according to Ponder), and Miami (Chad Henne vs. whomever the Dolphins are trying to acquire on any given day). But the most mystifying is the one taking place in the Rockies, between Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow, for the chance to be the Denver Broncos' QB1.

Posted at 3:46 PM