Virtual Memories

Several years ago, I had a Continental flight from O’Hare to Newark after  the annual BIO conference, an event once described to me as “a singles bar for governors and venture capitalists.” It’s very finance-heavy, and a lot of the exhibit hall space is bought by regional economic development groups that are looking to attract investment.

At the gate, the airline called all passengers with Elite Access status for early boarding. As God is my witness, only three passengers remained seated, while the rest of us got on line. “Sorta defeats the purpose of ‘Elite,’ huh?” I asked one of the money-people heading back to NY/NJ.

I was reminded of that this morning when I read John Clayton’s latest NFL mailbag column, which begins with Clayton’s take on the importance of “elite quarterbacks”. He offers up his criteria for “elite” and proceeds to name the FOURTEEN starting QBs who qualify. So, out of thirty-two teams, nearly HALF of them have “elite” QBs?

In case you’re wondering:

The elite AFC quarterbacks are Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco. In the NFC, you have Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Tony Romo, Donovan McNabb, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner, Eli Manning and Matt Ryan.

In other news, you are all beautiful, unique snowflakes.