Buzzyblog Twofer Tuesday and with the College and the NFL playoffs both about to commence, lets look at two brothers who have gotten their teams into the playoffs – the Harbaugh boys John and Jim.
In the first round of the College Playoffs this coming weekend, Michigan is an 8 point favorite as they square off against TCU. Michigan is coached by Jim Harbaugh who stands to gain $1,000,000 incentive money if he leads the Wolverines to the National Title. (They have to beat TCU and then the winner of the Georgia/OSU game for Jim to cash in.)
However, even if Michigan and Jim come up short in their quest for the National Title, Jim will still realize approximately $3 million in incentive money on top of his $7 million base salary (click here.)
He has received incentive money for winning the Big 10 East title, winning the overall Big 10 Championship, for being selected Big 10 Coach of the Year, and then for leading Michigan into the College playoffs. Not a bad run, even if he doesn’t land that other million dollar incentive for winning a National Title.
Coincidentally, Jim’s incentive-stoked salary for this season will approximate what his brother John makes as the Ravens head coach. Having just clinched an NFL playoff spot on Saturday, the Ravens will be playing in the first round the weekend of 14 January. (Note that exact salaries and incentives for NFL coaches are unknown because they work for private companies and hence are not subject to FOIA requirements. John Harbaugh however, is the third longest tenured coach in the NFL and his salary is estimated to be around $9 million/year (click here.)
John has a Super Bowl win under his coaching belt as his Ravens defeated Brother Jim’s 49ers in the 2013 game now known as the Brothers Bowl. (It has also been referred to as the Beyonce Blackout Bowl but that’s another story for another day.)
Switching gears a little (but hang with me as I do so), the best gift that one receives on Christmas of course is Just being alive and here to enjoy another Christmas. The next best gifts are the ones involving the gifts of time and love for your family and friends. Those really are the best gifts of them all and guess what – they cost you nothing at all to give them away. (Reminds me of a so-so joke: how can you tell how heavy a red chili pepper is? Answer – give it a weigh, give it a weigh, give it a weigh now.) If you don’t get that reference (click here.)
As for the best material gift that I received this Christmas however, it was given to me by my daughter Reagan: Bruce’s 4 CD box set titled Tracks. In that collection, Bruce includes an early version of his classic Viet Nam-tour-tune Brothers Under the Bridge which I thought to include here. It is worth a listen to, so click on the link and check it out if you care to do so.
However, Bruce’s “other” Brothers song/video (below) seems a little more in line with where I started today talking about the Harbaugh brothers. Too, it makes me think about my brother Stevie and wish that he too could have been here to help celebrate this holiday season with us.
