Diontae Johnson, who got cut twice this season for being a pouty diva gets resigned with one of the old teams. And it's not for what he can do for them, it's because what he can indirectly give them through a draft rule
(1) What am I missing about the "Modell Law"? Quoting the article -
The state law says any professional sports owner who uses a tax-supported facility for home games and gets funding from the state or a political subdivision can't leave unless it gets permission to play elsewhere or gives six months' notice.
Didn't the Browns give more than six months notice? If the Browns won't move until the start of the 2028 season and they gave Cleveland notice in October 2024, isn't that nearly four years notice? Which leads to my question - what am I missing here?
(2) These kind of shenanigans will continue until the public tells its elected representatives to stop this nonsense. It's been going on for decades and will continue to go on for decades more until the electorate puts a stop to it by voting the rascals out of office.
Things were different for the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night. They took a 21-point lead in the first quarter and this time, only lost nearly all of it before Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins won the game for them down the stretch.
Cal overwhelmed by UNC in the last 13 min of the game to lose 79-53. Crossed off a bucket list to watch a game in the Dean Dome. Before the game I guessed we would use 80-60, so not too far off.
HSB and I met SGB for lunch at a good Turkish place. Cal definitely looked like a bunch of mid-major players against quicker D1 players. Stojakovic definitely looked slow compared to some of the Tarheels. He just couldn't get spacing to get his shot off. Tried backing down players but his handles weren't good enough and he couldn't elevate above them to ge this shot off.
It's huge. Holds 21K plus so more than the Chase Center. Lots of Carolina Blue. I thought it was pretty cool. On the roof they have images of NC and Jordan. Lots of banners for ACC champs, final 4, nattys, players, retired jerseys, etc.
It opened in around 84 and they want to either build a new arena somewhere either in a UNC parking lot or off campus, or renovate the Dean Dome. They don't have a scoreboard that hangs down center court but they have 4 large video boards around the top that shows score/stats/videos. It'll be interesting to see what they end up doing. I'm guessing it will be state of the art with huge videoboards similar to the new Clippers arena.
But he looks so much older than in the mugshot, and it was only 18 mos ago! How have we gone from one clueless grandpa to another? It is like we are trolling Baker’s Square at 4pm to find our presidents. He just looks so old and frail and embarrassing - not great for a Head of State, someone whose job is literally to be a figurehead!
"My clueless grandpa is better than your clueless grandpa!"
Need I say more?
I appreciate the concept of the eminence grise as much as anyone, but there is a limit to what we should expect from greybeards. And that goes for party leaders as well. We need a good solid political reckoning in this country that retires the old-style leadership of trying to appease or ameliorate the hard right. It's like trying to be Neville Chamberlain at Munich and has been since 1980.
I know that, at the least, Aaron Sorkin agrees that Dems shouldn't allow Republicans to define the terms of the debate.
Context - discussion with Sam Seaborn, Bruno Gianelli, and Connie Tate on the idea of soft money in campaigns and what are the magic words that define a soft money ad from a hard money ad, from The West Wing Season 3, Episode 6, "Gone Quiet":
We all need some therapy because somebody came along and said liberal means soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on Communism, soft on defense. And we're going to tax you back to the stone age because people shouldn't have to go to work if they don't want to. And instead of saying "Well, excuse me, you right-wing reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun Leave-it-to-Beaver trip back to the 50s", we cowered in the corner and said, "Please. don't. hurt. me."... Let's have two parties
I did my final wave goodbye to Biden. As I left mid-day to go to the store his motorcade went down the street in front of our building. He had been at the military base at the end of the street. First clue was when the U.S. Park Police helicopter was circling overhead.
Because politics, schmolitics, and Netanyahu was playing it to keep out of prison. I also think that Netanyahu believed he could get the president he wanted (Trump) if he kept the Gaza War going.
That is my suspicion. He kept the war going until he knew he'd have a more pliant US government who would let him keep taking more of the West Bank without objection.
You've hit the nail on the head. Israel's government is expansionist, not merely seeking to coexist with its neighbors. If Netanyahu's government were to seek to truly coexist with its neighbors, it would treat them as humans, not as obstacles to be corralled and controlled. Instead, the history of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and treating Gaza as an open-air prison pretty much is eloquent evidence of the fundamental mistrust the Israeli gov't has of its Arab neighbors. It's a short hop, skip, and a jump to a far worse view.
College Hall of Fame will induct the VRBO spokesman, a guy who likes checking the oil levels on things that aren't his, a dog killer, and someone with imperfect dental vibes
The economics of modern football: there is a subset of players who will max out their college days because they will make more money in college than pro
I landed on the Paul Finebaum show while finishing lunch. The topic - how the Big 10 is advantaged because it has more money than everyone else. Specifically pointing to Oregon, tOSU, and Michigan. Boo hoo.
I cannot stand to watch that guy. There is something about his smarmy overconfidence on subjects that are inherently unknown factors makes my skin crawl.
I have never watched Finebaum, but have been turned off by the internet articles that claim that he has this view or that and why such-and-such a coach will implode in the next year. I really don't pay attention except he continues to pop up in my feed.
I think the lawsuit will kill or cripple the eligibility rule. Admittedly, I know nothing about the lawsuit or its particulars. What I do know is that the eligibility rule in the era of the transfer portal and NIL makes NO sense. What's the point of a clock if schools no longer have the ability to determine whether an athlete can move elsewhere?
Bonus Oski Disciple question: Why is the DBD consistently being exiled to the archive? What are the authorities afraid of? In what ways are we a threat to the ruling class? This outrage will not stand!
Not only "Archive", but never in "Latest" unless we post enough. I can't figure out if it is visitor traffic or comments that gets us promoted to the front page.
It’s time for another edition of Oski Disciple’s Question of the Day. If you ask someone what’s new and they respond “same ole, same ole,” is it legally permissible to punch them?
PRO
Diontae Johnson, who got cut twice this season for being a pouty diva gets resigned with one of the old teams. And it's not for what he can do for them, it's because what he can indirectly give them through a draft rule
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43429044/sources-ravens-claim-wr-diontae-johnson-waivers
What is it with youngish receivers in the NFL these days? I'm thinking specifically of Diontae Johnson and George Pickens.
Lion's backup lineman now bathes in the aftermath of the unusual pinnacle of his career
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43427114/detroit-lions-tackle-dan-skipper-unlikely-phenomenon-2024-nfl-playoffs
5'12" Chris Paul shows basketball IQ as he forces 7'5" Wemby to put his hands on 7'4" Zach Eddy to make a jumpball competitive
https://x.com/NBA/status/1879713150121152618
A heads up, hands down play.
I always hated CP3. Last year all the stuff that I didn't like about him was tolerable. But, he is a very smart player.
I like his pace and steadiness, such a nice player
An interesting article on the Grizzlies offense
https://www.theringer.com/2025/01/15/nba/memphis-grizzlies-ja-morant-offense-style-statistics
Sacramento A's pay a record amount of money for a player to play for the Las Vegas Aviators
https://www.mlb.com/news/shotaro-morii-signs-with-a-s
Because the A's officially do not have a city (!), it's also acceptable to use "Sackamenna A's" when referring to the Athletics.
Cleveland sues the Browns of the owners attempt to move away from The Mistake on the Lake
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43425506/browns-sued-cleveland-proposed-stadium-move-suburbs
Two comments -
(1) What am I missing about the "Modell Law"? Quoting the article -
The state law says any professional sports owner who uses a tax-supported facility for home games and gets funding from the state or a political subdivision can't leave unless it gets permission to play elsewhere or gives six months' notice.
Didn't the Browns give more than six months notice? If the Browns won't move until the start of the 2028 season and they gave Cleveland notice in October 2024, isn't that nearly four years notice? Which leads to my question - what am I missing here?
(2) These kind of shenanigans will continue until the public tells its elected representatives to stop this nonsense. It's been going on for decades and will continue to go on for decades more until the electorate puts a stop to it by voting the rascals out of office.
RIP Mr. Baseball
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2025/01/16/bob-uecker-milwaukee-brewers-radio-voice-and-mr-baseball-has-died-at-age-90/75592190007/
Will his casket actually be in the front row during the service?
He will be laid to rest just a bit outside
Curry out duels DiVincenzo late as Warriors hold on to beat T-Wolves
https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2025/1/15/24344985/curry-out-duels-divincenzo-late-golden-state-warriors-beat-t-wolves
Things were different for the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night. They took a 21-point lead in the first quarter and this time, only lost nearly all of it before Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins won the game for them down the stretch.
CAL
18th ranked women's basketball team visits #16 Duke today at 4:00. https://calbears.com/news/2025/1/14/womens-basketball-no-18-cal-hits-the-road-at-no-16-duke.aspx. Go Bears!!!
Cal overwhelmed by UNC in the last 13 min of the game to lose 79-53. Crossed off a bucket list to watch a game in the Dean Dome. Before the game I guessed we would use 80-60, so not too far off.
HSB and I met SGB for lunch at a good Turkish place. Cal definitely looked like a bunch of mid-major players against quicker D1 players. Stojakovic definitely looked slow compared to some of the Tarheels. He just couldn't get spacing to get his shot off. Tried backing down players but his handles weren't good enough and he couldn't elevate above them to ge this shot off.
The best thing about the Cal game was the leftovers from that lunch. Well, apart from seeing you lads, of course.
Thoughts on Dean Dome experience? Anything strike you as different than you thought it would be?
It's huge. Holds 21K plus so more than the Chase Center. Lots of Carolina Blue. I thought it was pretty cool. On the roof they have images of NC and Jordan. Lots of banners for ACC champs, final 4, nattys, players, retired jerseys, etc.
It opened in around 84 and they want to either build a new arena somewhere either in a UNC parking lot or off campus, or renovate the Dean Dome. They don't have a scoreboard that hangs down center court but they have 4 large video boards around the top that shows score/stats/videos. It'll be interesting to see what they end up doing. I'm guessing it will be state of the art with huge videoboards similar to the new Clippers arena.
Go Bears!!!
SHOW
Star Wars: Goonies does not seem like it will get a second season
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/01/15/bad-news-for-skeleton-crew-season-2-which-doesnt-deserve-it/
Hmm, I thought its viewership had improved by a lot over the holidays? Maybe not.
Too bad if not, it's a really delightful show.
RIP David Lynch
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-dead-director-blue-velvet-twin-peaks-1236276106/
Twin Peaks was the best TV in its day.
"How do you like your coffee?"
"Black as a raven's wing on a moonless night at midnight."
Sherilyn Fenn had the look back then. As she has aged, she has morphed into looking a lot like Diane Feinstein.
I haven't seen any recent photos of Sherilynn Fenn, but I do remember thinking that she was rather attractive.
Sherilynn Fenn, Madchen Amick, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joan Chen, middle-aged-but-still-hot Peggy Lipton. Lynch knew how to pick 'em.
Now that you mention it, the least attractive female characters were Nadine and the Log Lady.
It's pretty amazing that something like that was allowed to exist on network television in 1990.
Good grief. Has it really been 34 years?
POLITICS
Congrats, rural voters, you voted for this
https://www.newportnewstimes.com/news_free/u-s-house-fails-to-reauthorize-20-year-old-bipartisan-bill-to-fund-rural-schools/article_b50bb5f3-77ab-565c-8c73-c0b3b288c670.html
Hmmm, people voting agains their own self-interest, sadly not new.
Trump leans into his mugshot persona and mimics it for his official inauguration photo, including menacing underlighting.
https://bsky.app/profile/bnonews.com/post/3lftd6hqxck2y
Such a tough guy.
I'm surprised he wore a blue tie in that shot.
But he looks so much older than in the mugshot, and it was only 18 mos ago! How have we gone from one clueless grandpa to another? It is like we are trolling Baker’s Square at 4pm to find our presidents. He just looks so old and frail and embarrassing - not great for a Head of State, someone whose job is literally to be a figurehead!
"My clueless grandpa is better than your clueless grandpa!"
Need I say more?
I appreciate the concept of the eminence grise as much as anyone, but there is a limit to what we should expect from greybeards. And that goes for party leaders as well. We need a good solid political reckoning in this country that retires the old-style leadership of trying to appease or ameliorate the hard right. It's like trying to be Neville Chamberlain at Munich and has been since 1980.
I know that, at the least, Aaron Sorkin agrees that Dems shouldn't allow Republicans to define the terms of the debate.
Context - discussion with Sam Seaborn, Bruno Gianelli, and Connie Tate on the idea of soft money in campaigns and what are the magic words that define a soft money ad from a hard money ad, from The West Wing Season 3, Episode 6, "Gone Quiet":
We all need some therapy because somebody came along and said liberal means soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on Communism, soft on defense. And we're going to tax you back to the stone age because people shouldn't have to go to work if they don't want to. And instead of saying "Well, excuse me, you right-wing reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun Leave-it-to-Beaver trip back to the 50s", we cowered in the corner and said, "Please. don't. hurt. me."... Let's have two parties
—Bruno Gianelli
I did my final wave goodbye to Biden. As I left mid-day to go to the store his motorcade went down the street in front of our building. He had been at the military base at the end of the street. First clue was when the U.S. Park Police helicopter was circling overhead.
It appears there is finally a deal to release hostages and end the war in Gaza, which is good news.
Why this couldn't have happened months ago is a pretty big question.
Which Biden did and Trump promptly took credit for it
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-biden-credit-gaza-hamas-israel-ceasefire-2015576
Because politics, schmolitics, and Netanyahu was playing it to keep out of prison. I also think that Netanyahu believed he could get the president he wanted (Trump) if he kept the Gaza War going.
That is my suspicion. He kept the war going until he knew he'd have a more pliant US government who would let him keep taking more of the West Bank without objection.
You've hit the nail on the head. Israel's government is expansionist, not merely seeking to coexist with its neighbors. If Netanyahu's government were to seek to truly coexist with its neighbors, it would treat them as humans, not as obstacles to be corralled and controlled. Instead, the history of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and treating Gaza as an open-air prison pretty much is eloquent evidence of the fundamental mistrust the Israeli gov't has of its Arab neighbors. It's a short hop, skip, and a jump to a far worse view.
DBD AV CLUB
RIP David Lynch. Silencio….
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-dead-director-blue-velvet-twin-peaks-1236276106/
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
College Hall of Fame will induct the VRBO spokesman, a guy who likes checking the oil levels on things that aren't his, a dog killer, and someone with imperfect dental vibes
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43428165/saban-meyer-vick-strahan-headline-college-football-hof-class
The economics of modern football: there is a subset of players who will max out their college days because they will make more money in college than pro
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2025/01/13/quinn-ewers-nfl-college-football-decision-money/77667652007/
I landed on the Paul Finebaum show while finishing lunch. The topic - how the Big 10 is advantaged because it has more money than everyone else. Specifically pointing to Oregon, tOSU, and Michigan. Boo hoo.
I cannot stand to watch that guy. There is something about his smarmy overconfidence on subjects that are inherently unknown factors makes my skin crawl.
I don’t like watching him either but it was fun to see him and his guest whine while trying not to whine.
I have never watched Finebaum, but have been turned off by the internet articles that claim that he has this view or that and why such-and-such a coach will implode in the next year. I really don't pay attention except he continues to pop up in my feed.
There is another ongoing suit that challenges the NCAA’s 5 year eligibility rule. That would be wild if it went away
I think the lawsuit will kill or cripple the eligibility rule. Admittedly, I know nothing about the lawsuit or its particulars. What I do know is that the eligibility rule in the era of the transfer portal and NIL makes NO sense. What's the point of a clock if schools no longer have the ability to determine whether an athlete can move elsewhere?
There definitely have been players that have stuck around for a 5th year because they would get more NIL money than G-league or overseas.
#1 college golf player gets an exemption to play in a pro tournament - is tied for first after the first day
https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/43437776/us-amateur-david-ford-tied-lead-star-studded-dubai-desert-classic
Bonus Oski Disciple question: Why is the DBD consistently being exiled to the archive? What are the authorities afraid of? In what ways are we a threat to the ruling class? This outrage will not stand!
Not only "Archive", but never in "Latest" unless we post enough. I can't figure out if it is visitor traffic or comments that gets us promoted to the front page.
It’s time for another edition of Oski Disciple’s Question of the Day. If you ask someone what’s new and they respond “same ole, same ole,” is it legally permissible to punch them?
When it's your personal boxing sparring partner?
An eyeroll is sufficient.
What if they respond "same olé, same olé"? Do they expect you to run through the towel they're holding up?
Matador response, as it were.