Defenseless

The NFL is considering removing the kickoff from football (due the high risk of head injury). Mike and Mike this morning had a long discussion about other potential changes, their pro's and con's etc. This included discussion of what a "defenseless receiver" is, and invented the clever pun that the newer rules just cause there to be "less defense".

Also today, I found myself comparing the referee process for grants and papers. In both cases the panel of reviewers is essentially three people. In both cases it is anonymous. In both cases there is some luck in the choice of panel - you might get buddies or out-of-field reviewers, nice-guys or jerks. The difference is that if you end up with the latter for your journal article, and get a negative review from an out-of-fielder, you can defend yourself. If they say this has been done, or can't be done, or doesn't make sense, you can respond (typically explaining the difference between your work and what has been done, that you have in fact done it, and here is how). For grant reviews, you can't respond. If you have bad luck with reviewer, they are free to defame as you come over the middle. You are defenseless.