Rooting for Dolphins' Divisional Rivals in NFL

I was watching the Houston Texans (or is it the Texas Houstons) playing the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.  Normally I'd root against the Jets during the regular season as they are divisional rivals to my Miami Dolphins, but right now there is another "important" factor in play that compelled me to root for them instead.  Every year in the NFL, I go through the process of pulling against any team (other than the Dolphins, of course) that looks like it might go undefeated.  That's because Miami, back in 1972, was the only team to accomplish this feat, winning all of their games in both the regular and post-season.  The scariest moment I've had was New England's near perfect season in 2007, remedied only by the New York Giants' amazing last-minute come-from-behind upset of them in the Super Bowl.  This year only the Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Texans are left, and I want them to lose.  After that happens, they can win the rest of their games, for all I care (except when playing the Dolphins, that is).

Unfortunately, both teams won their games this past weekend and I'll have to put off my annual celebration for at least another week.  What struck me during the Texans/Jets game was how dominant Houston's defensive line was...except when New York (rarely) put in their backup Tim Tebow as quarterback.  Tebow would get in for a play, make a good gain, get everybody excited...and then leave.  After which starter Mark Sanchez would return and get overwhelmed by the Texas pass rush (especially by that incredible J.J. Watt).  And the drive would stall.  Once they were at the Houston goal line after Tebow had a big running gain.  They let him run just one more play, took him out, and the drive then stalled.  I don't get what the Jets coaches are thinking, anyway. Why did they trade for him if they are going to use this relatively expensive player so sparingly?

I recently had another curious situation when I rooted for a team I normally oppose.  This time I pulled for the New England Patriots, another divisional rival of Miami, against my new "unfavorite" team the Denver Broncos, with their Dolphins-rejecting star quarterback Peyton Manning.  Turn down an offer to play for Miami and you incur my wrath, dude.  Plus, I'm not too happy with the way Denver used Tebow last year to lead them into the playoffs and then eagerly dumped him as soon as they signed Manning.  Oh, let's see...so far this season with the great, exalted Peyton Manning as their starting quarterback, the Broncos are 2-3 (.400) while the "untalented" Tebow took them to the divisional title last year with a 7-4 (.637) record as starter, and with essentially the same surrounding personnel.  So I was happy (at least for this past weekend) to see the Patriots knock 'em off. May the "high" and holy Broncos finish DEAD LAST...

Road Birds Win One-Game Baseball Playoffs

After grinding it out for a long, 162-game regular season, two of the wild card baseball teams found themselves suddenly booted out of the playoffs after losing the one and only game they had against their opponent.  The Texas Rangers, last year's American League champion, and the Atlanta Braves, the team in the National League that I was pulling for the most, lost their respective games to the Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals.  So now I am left with trying to decide who to root for on the National side.  I think I'll pick the San Francisco Giants, who begin their series against the Cincinnati Reds today.  And my second choice will be the Washington Nationals, who are still trying for their first World Series appearance going back throughout the franchise's years as the Montreal Expos. They will be playing against last year's Series champs the Cardinals.

On the American side, my New York Yankees are going on strong and will begin their series against those Orioles tomorrow.  Meanwhile, the surprising Oakland Athletics will face off against the Detroit Tigers.  I like the Athletics here.

I am looking at potential World Series match-ups and see a few interesting possibilities:

New York Yankees vs. Cincinnati Reds: rematch of the 1976 Series swept by the Reds.

New York Yankees vs. San Francisco Giants: rematch of the 1962 series won by NY in seven games.  Also, the Giants, formerly in New York, have a Series history against the Yanks.

New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals: the Cards won an exciting seven-game series in 1964 against the Bronx Bombers, after which the Yanks hired the victors' manager and then went into an instant decline, not returning to the World Series until 1976.

Baltimore Orioles vs. St. Louis Cardinals: battle of the bird teams.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cincinnati Reds: rematch of the 1971 Series convincingly won by Baltimore in five games.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals: the I-95 Series, just a short drive down this road connects these two cities.

Detroit  Tigers vs. St. Louis Cardinals: rematch of the 1968 Series won by Detroit in seven.

Oakland Athletics vs. Cincinnati Reds: this would be the "rubber" rematch series between the two, with Oakland winning 4-3 in 1972 and Cincy winning 4-0 in 1990.

Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants: another match-up between two close teams, this time separated by a bay.

The Scariest Voters

Having deliberately avoided the Robamney debate yesterday, I still couldn't avoid the general media reaction, which was that Chameleon Mitt had won hands down, largely by deftly employing his Etch-a-Sketch strategy as he portrayed himself smack dab in the political middle after trying to out-extreme the extremists in his party for years.  (Nausea creeping in on me...)  From what I heard, Obama let him get away with everything he said.

I have long been a little scared at the people in this country who subscribe to politically fringe ideas.  The political left has its extremists, to be sure, but there seems to be an explosion on the right in the number of people walking around with a delusional view of the world.  I credit extremist/right talk radio, a regrettably highly politicized faction of evangelical Christianity, and conservative ultra-wealthy fatcat ideologues with much of this.  And this burgeoning number does scare me some.  But not as much as...

Not as much as the large number of people in our electorate who, after all these years of exposure to Obama and Romney and their views and actions, still haven't made up their minds who to vote for and are using these debates as a tool to accomplish this.  In other words the dude who gets in the most "zingers" gets their vote.  And the history of my country (and, to a great extent, the world) hinges on how millions of these morons decide to vote every four years.  Yes, to paraphrase Michael Corleone at the beginning of The Godfather, "They are very scary people." Al Pacino's character may have been referring to a single, terrifying person in Luca Brasi, but the cumulative effect of these easily swayed, shallow voters can be terrifying as well.  And in case you've haven't yet connected the dots, they are also the reason untold millions of dollars are being spent in this year's campaign, with more and more to come.  Just to persuade these knuckleheads...

The Day We've Been Waiting For

Well, finally, October the Third, 2012, has come, a day that people across this great nation of ours have been waiting for.  Yes, it is today that we can witness....the end of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season (what else would I reasonably be talking about).  Here are the teams that made the playoffs and who's playing whom:

American League
Wild-Card Playoff game (not series!!!): Baltimore at Texas
Then: Baltimore/Texas single game winner vs. New York Yankees (yippee!)
and Detroit vs. Oakland

National League
Wild-Card Playoff game (just one, unbelievable): St.Louis  at (my) Atlanta Braves
Then St.Louis/Atlanta winner vs. Washington
and Cincinnati vs. San Francisco

The wild card playoff games are both being held on Friday, which disappoints me greatly.  Surely, with only one crucial game to decide these worthy teams' playoff futures, they could have at least waited until Saturday to hold them, when more people would have been in a position to watch them.  But I know, it's all about money, and they probably didn't want to compete head-on with college football...

Major League Baseball Regular Season Nearing End

We're nearing the tail end of this 2012 edition of major league baseball, and there are still some positions up in the air for the playoffs.  The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles are IN, vying between themselves for the AL East championship with the loser being one of the league's two wild card entries.  The AL Central has the Detroit Tigers three games ahead of the Chicago White Sox, with three games left to play and thus on the verge of clinching that division.  In the AL West, the there are still three teams alive: the Texas Rangers, already in the playoffs but not yet champs of that division, the Oakland Athletics, with the inside track to the playoffs as a wild card team (they could clinch a spot with a win later tonight) and a chance to overtake Texas, and the Los Angeles Angels, just barely hanging on to a remote shot at the playoffs.

In the National League, the divisional winners have been decided: Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants.  The Atlanta Braves are also as the best wild card team, leaving the last wild card spot open between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The Cards, last year's World Series champions, have a two game lead over LA with three games to go.  But if they make the playoffs, St. Louis could go the distance once again, in my opinion.

My favorites this year are the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.  Not only are they my personal favorites, but they are also strong enough to make it to the World Series, for a fourth Series match-up between the Yankees and Braves (the last one being in 1996).  Then again, there are some other intriguing possibilities, which I may examine soon in a future article...

My September 2012 Running Report

September, 2012 saw me continuing to comply with my stated monthly running goals.  I barely surpassed my monthly goal of 100 total running miles with 100.9 miles.  I kept my personal record consecutive running streak going as well, now standing at 153 straight days.  My longest run was a measly 5.0 miles, but that's all right since I am now going for consistency instead of distance on my daily runs.

I had thought of entering two local running races in September, but other matters changed my mind and I let them pass by.  I'm still open to running in some events in October should the opportunity arise.

Hopefully, the cooler autumn weather will make my running more enjoyable.  I generally prefer outdoor running over the treadmill, but the combined heat and humidity has been pretty bad, especially for September.  Maybe we'll get some relief from that.

Hurricane Season Turning Mild...For Now

I just finished a phone conversation with my 86 year old father who lives down in Hollywood, near Miami.  He has been closely following this hurricane season, which started out with a bang but seems to be drastically slowing down...at least on the Atlantic side.  To be sure, they seem to be ticking off at a fast rate (what letter is it now, "N" or "O").  But almost all of the latest ones are purely Atlantic Ocean storms, hardly of any interest to us landlubbers in Florida.  This is in spite of the fact that right now is usually considered to be the most intense time of the season. 

Still, all it takes is for one strong storm to hit us and mess things up.  I don't think we're going to be presented with a hurricane threat, though, until it is later on, say in October, when the tropical storm pattern changes to storms developing in the western Caribbean and moving north into the Gulf of Mexico...

NFL Replacement Officials Offer Entertainment with Incompetence

Since I had last Monday night off from work, I happened to have my TV on ESPN, which was broadcasting the NFL Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks.  This was a pretty closely fought contest between two teams that I care little about.  But it was close, and that made the outcome somewhat interesting.  As well as the fact that the replacement referees, whom the league installed while carrying out a drawn-out labor dispute with the "regulars", were utterly incompetent throughout the game.  To me, that was entertainment in itself, much like watching the antics of the Three Stooges.  But I, like most other viewers, was completely unprepared for the game's closing play, a Green Bay pass interception of a desperation last-second Seattle pass that one official ruled as a touchdown, one ruled an interception, and the third in the vicinity just kept a distance from.  Ultimately the offensive receiver, who committed what was to me the most flagrant offensive pass interference penalty I have ever seen, was awarded the reception although the Packer defender was clearly in possession.  So Seattle was awarded the controversial touchdown and, as it turned out, the game as well, 14-12.

After the game, the media pundits were all abuzz about how bad this officiating was.  I agree.  But I remember a game back in 1980 between my Miami Dolphins and New Orleans and a similar scenario, this time with the regular officiating staff performing the duties.  The Dolphins were ahead, I believe, 21-16, but the Saints mounted a furious last-minute comeback. On the game's final play, the Saints quarterback heaved a clear touchdown pass to win the game, touching off celebrations on that side of the field.  But wait, there was a penalty flag and a New Orleans player was called for offensive pass interference.  Replay after replay of this play was shown on TV, with no hint whatsoever of the existence of this apparently phantom penalty. The game thus ended with a dubious Dolphin win.

So this sort of thing happens and is unavoidable.  Still, the replacement officials seem to be totally incapable of the controlling the game and are increasingly coming under the open scorn of both coaches and players alike on the field.  Not that I necessarily want them gone: this IS awfully entertaining, in a slapstick sort of way!

Bicycling to Work Again

Due to some transportation glitches in my family recently (due to good things going on), I found myself for the last two Thursdays with looking for an alternative way to get myself to my workplace besides driving my car there (or being let off by a family member).  The city bus, taxi, maybe asking a co-worker for a lift...these all come up as possibilities.  But instead I opted to return to an old tradition of mine that I had engaged in to a great extent in the late 1980's and early 1990's: I rode my bicycle the 7.8 miles to work.  I knew I would have transportation provided on my return home after work, so it wouldn't be quite as strenuous as the "good old days" when I would bike on a round-trip basis.

Both times I handled the ride quite well, stopping at a Panera's for lunch at about the 6-mile mark.  I'd get myself one of their wonderful hazelnut coffees (free refills) along with either a scrumptious cheese danish or a lunch special comprised of a sandwich, salad and (french onion) soup.  Panera's french onion soup and salad beat all, as does the friendly, helpful demeanor of their workers (at least that's the case in Gainesville's Panera). This may be the start of a new tradition...

This bicycle of mine is typical for me: I paid around $100 for it.  No, I don't plan to go into bicycle racing anytime soon, although I think it would be cool to make it through a triathlon sometime (without bankrupting myself buying an ultra-expensive racing bicycle).  Who knows what the future holds, right?

Bicycling does work out some muscles different than running, and I was a little sore after my rides (especially that first one).  But it surprised me how easily I took some of the rolling hills I encountered on my route, hills that seemed at times almost insurmountable back in years gone by.  So there is definitely an enormous crossover benefit from running to bicycling...

Cybersquatting Getting Old for Me

I'm sitting once again outside a Starbucks writing this.  This one is the closest of their stores to my house, and like most of the others this early Sunday afternoon, is packed to the hilt with "customers".  Most of them, admittedly like me, though, are what my local rag the Gainesville Sun has termed "cypersquatters" in a recent article.  These are people who avail themselves of the free wi-fi offered in coffee shops and pretty much camp out there, sometimes all day and/or all night.  Nothing bad about that except that soon there are no seats left and the circulation of new customers who'd like to sit a spell in the establishment gets stopped up. And explains why I am currently sitting OUTSIDE, at one of the few remaining available tables.  As for me, I almost never use my laptop in these places, rather taking along my portable AlphaSmart word processor, with no need for Internet service.  And although I may be here an hour or a little longer, I don't grow roots into the floor either like many of the others, some of whom I have noticed don't even bother to buy anything during their prolonged stay.

Actually, I have a perfectly good front porch to my house that can closely imitate this effect of sitting out in public.  I don't have to worry about not finding a seat, and I can save gobs of dough by brewing my own (better tasting) coffee.  And I have quick access to both wi-fi and the bathroom should the needs arise.  So what am I doing here at this Starbucks anyway?  Time to change my study locale, I think...

By the way, cybersquatting has a completely different meaning, apart from the Sun's particular application.  Parties who buy up web domain names just to make money selling them to other parties who would naturally be inclined to use them are called "cybersquatters" and are pretty heavily frowned upon.  Yeah, and I bet some of them hog up the space in coffee shops as well!

Assorted Comments Continue

More assorted comments...

--My two favorite football teams from college and the pros, the Florida Gators and Miami Dolphins respectively, surprised me this past weekend with two impressive victories, both highlighted by big plays, ball control, and surging from midway in the third quarter to the game's end.  And both teams have young, relatively inexperienced quarterbacks.  Yes, pretty impressive...

--Oh my gahhh, will this incredibly painful election campaign season EVER be over? I cannot stand watching the news anymore with all of the bull flying around...

--The running is continuing as usual, with me often resorting to creative means to get my daily dose of running in.  And I'm still on target for 100 miles this month, with no break yet in my streak, which stands now at 144 straight running days...

--No, I'm not writing much lately.  But maybe it's better that I draw back a bit instead of writing stuff on a daily basis that I don't have my heart into...

Various Comments

Some more mixed comments...

--The anti-American protests in various Muslim countries, along with their often very violent outcomes, strike me as being, at least to a degree, contrived and premeditated.  Events like these are often based on something that has been in the media or Internet for a while, and one can always find something there to get offended about if there is an agenda involved.  There are forces in some of these countries (like Libya, Yemen, and Egypt) who want political power and see using the United States as a scapegoat as a means of corralling popular support. And of course, there are the allegations in Libya that Al-Qaeda directed the attack on the U.S. consulate that killed our ambassador there...

--Hurricane season, at least for my home area, has turned into a big yawner.  Since I am no longer in grade or high school, I have no vested interest in one of them striking (and getting me out of school).  So I'm not exactly complaining...

--The University of Florida football team travels today to Knoxville, Tennessee to play Tennessee early this evening.  This looks to be a very even match-up between two teams, each of which sees themselves on the rebound after some disappointing seasons.  I have absolutely no idea, though, about how this contest will play itself out, and which Gators team will show up to play.  I'm hoping that what they did in the second half of the Texas A&M game last week will stick with them, as they dominated the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense and ran the clock out with outstanding ball control...

Assorted Short Comments

It's been a little while since I've written on this blog, but I think I'll give it a shot with some short comments on various topics...

--The presidential campaign continues its tedious journey toward the traumatic event (win or lose) on election day when one side claims victory and the other questions the validity of the results, crying foul.  You just know this is coming...

--The University of Florida football team under second-year head coach Will Muschamp has won its first two games, the last one an unexpectedly strong ball-control effort against Texas A&M on the road in the latter's very hostile stadium.  In my personal history of following my favorite teams during their "glory" years, the best teams always had a knack for controlling the ball on offense, and thus the tempo of the game, with long, time-consuming drives.  Being able to consistently get into third-and-short situations and then convert to first down is the hallmark of a true winner.  I'll take that over razzle-dazzle any day...

--I am currently in the process of reading several books at the same time.  They are scattered across my house and in my car.  And some I just read bits of when I stop by a store where they are on the rack.  This is probably not the best strategy in the world for reading, as I have the tendency to forget where I am in a story and what's been going on...

--My running continues as I attempt to reconcile some currently rather turbulent areas in my life with my need for regular routines.  Still, so far I have managed to keep my daily running streak alive, now standing at 133 straight days...

--Today marks the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in this country, and also lies on Tuesday, the same day of the week when they happened.  I wonder, after all this time, how far the rescue technology and procedures have progressed to save those trapped high up in skyscrapers during disasters...

--I was pleasantly surprised a couple of weeks ago when I tuned my radio in to 980/WDVH one evening and discovered they were broadcasting Alan Colmes' radio show.  Finally, at least one liberal radio talk show to stand up against the overwhelming number of conservative shows...

Blog Writing Slows Down for Now

I am currently in a period when I am not very motivated to write blog articles.  Sure, there are probably interesting topics to cover (as well many rather boring ones).  But I am feeling a bit introspective right now, and don't feel up to sharing my thoughts with the world.  We'll see how this plays out, but for now, don't expect very much here.  At least not on a daily basis...

My August 2012 Running Recap

This past month of August saw me continuing with my goals of consistent running over modest distance.  I met my monthly 100-mile target with a total of 109.48 miles.  I ran every day, extending my personal record streak to 123 days.  My longest run was 6 miles.  The running was split between outdoor runs in my neighborhood and the treadmill, depending largely on the weather and time constraints.

I intend to continue with my running goals in September, but, due to personal issues, may have a more difficult time meeting them.  Oh well, I'll do what I can...

Isaac, GOP Convention Stories

In the midst of two major ongoing news stories, namely "Hurricane" Isaac and the Republican National Convention, I find myself at a loss for words about them.  So writing ANYTHING here is a stretch. After all, in this day of almost instant information access, the idea of me using this forum to spew out redundant news makes no sense.  What's left are my opinions, pure and simple. So here goes...

There is no doubt that a storm like Isaac needs to be taken seriously.  But the news outlets, especially the Weather Channel, have gone overboard with their coverage and melodrama.  Isaac may have barely gotten into hurricane status just before striking land, and naturally there is always the damage caused by high winds, storm surge, and rain-induced flooding to take into account.  Not to mention the specter left over from 2005 with the catastrophic flooding caused by broken levees when Katrina passed by New Orleans. Still, the impression I got from the coverage of Isaac is that the media employees were overly anxious to cover a hurricane, and frankly, this year they weren't getting all that much...

As for the Republicans, I have been so dismayed and disgusted by the behavior on the political right against Obama for his entire presidency that it galls me that any of them would expect me to display any kind of respect toward their cardboard candidates should they (very possibly) get elected this November.  I have no desire whatsoever to watch Mitt "Etch-a-Sketch" Romney reframe himself as anything but a wealthy-coddling extremist on social issues after he went out of his way during his run for the GOP nomination to "out-right" his extremely ideological primary opponents.  So now I'm supposed to forget all that and think about the "human" Mitt, right?  I think someone from one of the major TV networks had it right, if unintentionally so, when she said that Anne Romney would have a big task ahead of her on opening night when she addressed the convention and tried to make her husband seem more "human".  Did she succeed?  Not with me, since this party has thoroughly blown any hint of credibility with me and I am boycotting their "rilly big shew". So screw their high and holy convention...
   
Gee, I guess I wasn't at a loss for words, after all.

Isaac Not a Major Disaster

Hurricane Isaac, which had already caused a lot of trouble in Florida earlier, has been sitting on southeastern Louisiana, dumping copious amounts of rain on New Orleans and surrounding areas.  But the levee that broke in 2005 under Katrina have been fortified and are holding strong.  That's not to say there isn't flooding: some areas still went under water.  But the situation is nothing like the scene there seven years ago...

Isaac Bearing Down on New Orleans

As I write this, Tropical Storm Isaac, expected to soon be upgraded to hurricane status, is bearing down on the New Orleans area of Louisiana, threatening to repeat the disaster of seven years ago with Katrina.  To be sure, Isaac will be just a minimal hurricane compared to its much stronger predecessor and the city seems to be undergoing a more orderly evacuation with the goal to avoid having so many trapped in massive flooding in an area that is mostly under sea level.  But forecasts have the storm slowing and even lingering there for a couple of days, dumping an enormous amount of water in the process.  Will the levees hold this time, or will they break once again and cause the city to go underwater? 

In the meantime, the Florida peninsula has been undergoing its own storms, as a huge section of Isaac seemed to separate and hang over the state just as its center turned westward toward Louisiana.  For the last couple of days, we have had copious amounts of rain, with more expected.  Still, the bulk of this stormy area has moved offshore into the Atlantic, sparing us extreme flooding.  South Florida seems to have gotten the worst so far; this is soon to change when the Louisiana coast and adjacent areas suffer Isaac's full onslaught...

70.3

Having completed both the half-marathon and marathon events in running, I feel a sense of connection while out driving when I see, on the back of a vehicle in front of me, a decal with the simple number of "13.1" or "26.2" on it.  For that means that the owner of that vehicle has run one of the two aforementioned distances, expressing their accomplishment, of course, in miles.  So the other day it intrigued me when I was on the road and saw a car with a decal that simply said "70.3".  Well, it took me a very, very short time to figure that this individual was referring to having completed a triathlon event (swimming, bicycling, and running), the total racing distance amounting to 70.3 miles.  H-m-m, maybe that's the Ironman triathlon I've heard so much about.

But after reading up on it in Wikipedia, I found out that I was only partially correct in my conclusion.  "70.3" is an Ironman triathlon, but not the full version.  No, this is an Ironman half-triathlon, with the distances covered breaking down to 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of bicycling, and 13.1 miles of running.  Sounds like something I could build myself up to, after the current medical issue I am facing eventually is satisfactorily resolved.  After all, I have run many, many half-marathons and I could train up to the other two distances.  But a full Ironman triathlon? No way, dude...

By the way, since it is a "half-triathlon", why not get cute and perform some arithmetic on it? Then it would be the three-halves-athlon, or the one-and-one-half-athlon. Oh well...maybe we should just name it like the decal does: "70.3".

Cryptowisdom

Consider this statement:

"The amount of satisfaction you get from life depends largely on your own ingenuity, self-sufficiency, and resourcefulness."

Such was the result of one of the relatively easy cryptograms I recently solved out of a puzzle magazine.  Usually the sentence I get is something silly or irrelevant, but this one give me some food for thought.  And the more I thought about it, the more I had to agree with Mr. Crypto...

It all arises from the need within all healthy human beings to feel that they have control over their own lives.  Having a sense of independence forces people to devise personal strategies for maximizing their opportunities to decide how their own lives are structured.  This doesn't preclude limitations and challenges; in fact, these tend to enhance the enjoyment of finally "solving the puzzle", much in the same way pleasure can come from decoding an especially difficult cryptogram.

Of course, if you are the type who spends much time blaming others, past and present, for your woes, then you probably aren't going to appreciate the above words of cryptowisdom.  I know people who can never let go of the bitterness contained within their memories enough to enjoy the present moment and its challenges and opportunities.  Such people seem to stumble through their lives, continually being "assaulted" by events that just "happen" to them.  I don't want to be like them.

No, instead it's much better to be rooted in the present and focus on thriving in it, like the puzzle says, through ingenuity, self-sufficiency, and resourcefulness.  Sure, sometimes you may need to ask someone for a helping hand, but that should only be seen as using the available resources, not as a personal surrender to passive dependence.