Looking forward to tomorrow's announcement of the ACC fall football schedule so I can start planning a few road trips... We find out this afternoon if Cal has any Thurs/Fri games-- hoping those don't kill any potential trips.
That's one of the games we have on our travel list-- PTO it is. We have plans with a good friend that is a Wake season ticket holder, know a chunk of his tailgating crew too so it should be fun. I've been to basketball at Wake, (Cal NCAA game in 97) but never football- looking forward to the pretty small stadium and hopefully a lot of loud Cal fans.
The above play is Marcel Dancy in the 2022 24-14 win over USC. To me, it looks like a weirdly designed play. Straight ahead blocking except for H-back who pulls right to protect Chase, who rolls to the right. Garbers is in the Pistol and immediately hands it off to Dancy. All the action is to the right and Garber's head is turned so he didn't even read USC's left side of the line post-snap. The OLB quickly sees the run and is unblocked, so should have a TFL 3 yards deep but Dancy x-for-spin-move his way for a big gain. Look at the WR in motion. He's wide open. You wouldn't waste a receiver being that wide open. Look again at the WR at the beginning of the play. USC is playing in Cover -1 with the safety cheated over to his left. As the WR goes in motion, the DB drops back to and yells at the one-high safety to reposition to be more center coverage. Notice that nobody follows the WR, which means USC is in zone. As the second man from the outside, the OLB has responsibility for the WR in motion. Notice where the WR is when the ball is snapped, which is next to the H-back roughly behind the tackle and guard. Notice where the WR ends up - unguarded. The hand off is so quick that the OLB quickly sees that its a run; the WR is a wasted man. Only a fool would run an naked counter right into an unblocked OLB like that on 3rd and 1. While Musgrave has his faults, I don't think he's that stupid. I think Chase Garbers called for the snap too early and the WR couldn't do his job of pulling the OLB away. Dancy's spin move converted a 3rd and short and the Bears won because of it.
I just saw them in a free concert. Really talented with wildly different styles/influences. The band's progenitor was Trucking Company - a Princeton NJ high school band started by Chris Barron and John Popper. The band broke up after high school - one starting Spin Doctors, the other starting Blues Traveler.
without getting into the usual discussion of what you order, just wanted to say that i am looking forward to some Top Dog next week since i am staying in Berkeley all week.
I was living at Unit 1 (next door) the night of that shooting. I was already asleep when the RAs ran up and down the stairs telling people to stay away from their windows and close the curtains. I figured it was an earthquake until they said to also turn out the lights. Apparently, the shooter was threatening to shoot at any light that was on in the Unit 1 dorms. Very scary night.
I remember BPD telling us to move to the other side of the building and hearing the poppoppop of gunfire. It was a LOT of gunfire. I remember hearing of the tragic outcome, but not a lot of details. The next week I saw a friend from high school that didn't go to UC Berkeley on campus. I was like, "what are you doing here". She was like "you didn't hear, it was my brother that was killed at Henry's". Then I noticed she was wearing black. I wanted to take my words back and disappear as to how careless I was to not know that my high-school classmate was killed.
Such a scary night. My roomate at the time came back to room directly from pushing her way out of the bar during the initial shooting. I knew several of the hostages, and some residual anxiety from that night pops up when I hear about mass shootings. Can't believe they are STILL happening.
The Kingfish has now become the bar of choice for members of a certain rugby club, of which my eldest is a member. I don't know if any of them are Old Blues.
Raleigh's/Intermezzo re-opened after the fire roughly 4 years ago (?). It's veerrryyy nice. Both are now more of a single place with a single kitchen supplying hot food for both. The back patio at Raleigh's is excellent on a warm evening.
Blake's/Pappy's is gone, but rumor has it that the family that owns Kip's might be taking over that space for a new restaurant/bar.
Kip's is still there last I checked, but upstairs only. It's been a minute for me, but last time I was there during the 2022 football season, it turns into somewhat of a meat market/dance club after dark.
Also, rumor has it that the family that owns Kip's might be taking over the Blake's/Pappy's space for a new restaurant/bar.
I am a bit weird in that I normally don't feel thirsty and drinking water does not bring me pleasure. And I'm so dehydrated that it's not good for my health. So I'm trying to gamify water drinking. I've bought 20 8-ounce glass bottles to stock up my office, car, bathroom, and kitchen. The point is to create more external cues since I won't get internal cues and see how many I actually drink.
When I used to go into the office I drank much more water than when I'm at home. Some of it might have been just to get up and walk to the kitchen to get a bottle.
while not technically a new years resolution, i have noticed that just working out is not making a dent in some weight loss. not that i am terribly out of shape, just a little better would be good for long term strength and fitness.
trying to eat less, eat out less, drink less, more discipline, etc.
I lost about 20 lbs last year, simply by portion control (measuring portions of whatever). so instead of an uncontrolled amount of shredded cheese, only an ounce at a time.
TIL: My kid got a fake ID through the dark web. It looks really good. I noticed that it has all the correct information on it except year of birth, including real name and address. When I asked why, kid said "if you get caught with a fake ID with your real name, it's a misdemeanor. If you get caught with a pseudonym, it's classified as identity theft - a felony in most states." I did some basic googling to see if this is true and it appears it is.
This is a state issue, because it's a state ID and I don't claim to know all of them. But for New York and NC, it doesn't matter if the person is real or not - it's identity theft.
If you were the one with the fake ID, would you want to gamble that you inadvertently used a real person's name and thereby earned yourself a felony charge? Be smart, go for the lesser exposure.
Appropo of this topic, Mrs Slug's driver's license number was used by an identity thief about 35+ years ago. Consequently, she got a new license number.
The thief was probably just using a letter and 7 random digits, but it raised all sorts of red flags when my wife tried to write a check at Safeway. The name used with the DL was also apparently a random name, not Mrs Slug's name.
Michigan's JJ McCarthy has had an eventful 3 weeks - wins a natty, turns 21, declares for the NFL draft where he might be a late 1st round pick, and gets engaged to his college sweety
Part of the financial woes are based on their online Ashford University acquisition, which closed last year. UofA tried to be more like ASU and develop a money-spinning online business. However, Ashford was kind of shady, so they're a lawsuit and some other problems stewing there.
UofA's former Provost and their former CFO were reportedly forced out, but it turns out that they just created new titles for them and kept them on in order to be able to tell the public that they were let go
UofA says they miscalculated their revenues by $240m - blaming a financial model software package - essentially 10% of revenues. This doesn't smell right.
I don’t even have a dog in the Giants-dodgers fight, but man I am rooting against LAD now! They have kind of taken over the evil empire mantle from NYY. Btw I think Cashman needs to retire, the game has seemingly passed him by
I am convinced that Farhan Zaidi remains on the Dodgers payroll and is a spy, aiming to destroy the Giants from the inside through incompetence and inactivity. That buffoon Larry Baer and the idiot Johnsons are enabling him to do so.
I don't think it's Farhan's fault. Owners who run their clubs like a business are different than those who are willing to lose money on vanity projects.
It’s not just an outlay of cash, LAD didn’t do much last year to get under the tax and go nuts this year. They’ve had this in the works for years I think, which as Jimmy suggests does make you feel like the Giants are playing checkers while the Dodgers are playing chess.
I will say though Jimmy, Betts is 31, Freeman 34, and Ohtani while younger at 29 has had two major arm surgeries. This is a fearsome roster in 24 and 25, but starting in 26 it will look old and overrated and overpaid. Maybe Farhan is playing for the future? Not an unreasonable tack…
Not at all happy, no. The Giants need star power if they’re gonna realistically compete for a title. All these trash moves on the analytics-margins that Farhan makes would maybe work if they had even 1 guy in the lineup that opponents feared. The Giants have zero players like that - none.
But the 5th most valuable franchise in the league could absolutely afford to sign players like that - they choose not to.
He was actually named after another ball player, an old reliever named Ryne Duren.
Ryno was my favorite player growing up! Such a slick all around player - 9 gold gloves, could hit for average and power. Clutch guy too - known for the Sandberg game in 84 when he hit a homer off Sutter in the 9th to push it to extras and then hit a walk off homer in the 11th to win it. Get well, Ryno!!!
Pretty low risk given the years and money and fact that he still throws 100. I bet they flip him for prospects in July. Contending GMs are always shitting themselves for bullpen help at the deadline
Jodie Foster is her typical cold-fish self who no one really likes…the fictional town (?) of Ennis, AK seems a very bleak place where there appears only a few things to do…drinkin’, fightin’ and fockin’…well, and killin’.
CAL
Go Bears! 🐻
Looking forward to tomorrow's announcement of the ACC fall football schedule so I can start planning a few road trips... We find out this afternoon if Cal has any Thurs/Fri games-- hoping those don't kill any potential trips.
Just announced: Cal @ Wake Forest November 8th - which is a Friday. I'm still going and taking PTO to go watch.
That's one of the games we have on our travel list-- PTO it is. We have plans with a good friend that is a Wake season ticket holder, know a chunk of his tailgating crew too so it should be fun. I've been to basketball at Wake, (Cal NCAA game in 97) but never football- looking forward to the pretty small stadium and hopefully a lot of loud Cal fans.
SHE BLINDED ME WITH
Why parrots like to swear and how a British bird sanctuary is dealing with the consequences
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/british-zoo-plan-rehabilitate-potty-171102665.html
SPIN
The above play is Marcel Dancy in the 2022 24-14 win over USC. To me, it looks like a weirdly designed play. Straight ahead blocking except for H-back who pulls right to protect Chase, who rolls to the right. Garbers is in the Pistol and immediately hands it off to Dancy. All the action is to the right and Garber's head is turned so he didn't even read USC's left side of the line post-snap. The OLB quickly sees the run and is unblocked, so should have a TFL 3 yards deep but Dancy x-for-spin-move his way for a big gain. Look at the WR in motion. He's wide open. You wouldn't waste a receiver being that wide open. Look again at the WR at the beginning of the play. USC is playing in Cover -1 with the safety cheated over to his left. As the WR goes in motion, the DB drops back to and yells at the one-high safety to reposition to be more center coverage. Notice that nobody follows the WR, which means USC is in zone. As the second man from the outside, the OLB has responsibility for the WR in motion. Notice where the WR is when the ball is snapped, which is next to the H-back roughly behind the tackle and guard. Notice where the WR ends up - unguarded. The hand off is so quick that the OLB quickly sees that its a run; the WR is a wasted man. Only a fool would run an naked counter right into an unblocked OLB like that on 3rd and 1. While Musgrave has his faults, I don't think he's that stupid. I think Chase Garbers called for the snap too early and the WR couldn't do his job of pulling the OLB away. Dancy's spin move converted a 3rd and short and the Bears won because of it.
Doctors
I just saw them in a free concert. Really talented with wildly different styles/influences. The band's progenitor was Trucking Company - a Princeton NJ high school band started by Chris Barron and John Popper. The band broke up after high school - one starting Spin Doctors, the other starting Blues Traveler.
class, five days a week
TOP
Wearing my Top Dog shirt as we speak…
Which reminds me, I got some Calabrese in my freezer. Imma go defrost it now.
i need to get one. need to check to see in HAG already got me one or not ..
I was given a top dog shirt as a gift from Koreambear who comes to the tailgates.
Gun
Dog
without getting into the usual discussion of what you order, just wanted to say that i am looking forward to some Top Dog next week since i am staying in Berkeley all week.
maybe some happy hour planning is in order ...
of the hill Daly City
6400 Mission Street, specifically.
Hilltop steakhouse, Saugus, Massachusetts. RIP.
of the morning to you.
Name a good "Cal" bar
Royal Exchange during Big Game week. Heck, there's even someone in a Cal jersey in their rotating pictures on their home page.
https://www.royalexchange.com/
two people with cal gear in their rotating photos
those people in the photos are the most millennial they could be
the old Bears Lair.
several of my profs (in Classics) would head down to the Bears Lair and buy us beers on Fri afternoons. good times!
Quarts!
I still miss Beat the Clock
Pre-shooting Henry's
I was living at Unit 1 (next door) the night of that shooting. I was already asleep when the RAs ran up and down the stairs telling people to stay away from their windows and close the curtains. I figured it was an earthquake until they said to also turn out the lights. Apparently, the shooter was threatening to shoot at any light that was on in the Unit 1 dorms. Very scary night.
I remember BPD telling us to move to the other side of the building and hearing the poppoppop of gunfire. It was a LOT of gunfire. I remember hearing of the tragic outcome, but not a lot of details. The next week I saw a friend from high school that didn't go to UC Berkeley on campus. I was like, "what are you doing here". She was like "you didn't hear, it was my brother that was killed at Henry's". Then I noticed she was wearing black. I wanted to take my words back and disappear as to how careless I was to not know that my high-school classmate was killed.
Such a scary night. My roomate at the time came back to room directly from pushing her way out of the bar during the initial shooting. I knew several of the hostages, and some residual anxiety from that night pops up when I hear about mass shootings. Can't believe they are STILL happening.
The Kingfish
The Kingfish has now become the bar of choice for members of a certain rugby club, of which my eldest is a member. I don't know if any of them are Old Blues.
The Come Back Inn
I always liked Raleigh’s but I think it burned down? Also Blake’s but I think also gone. Jupiter is also nice
Raleigh's/Intermezzo re-opened after the fire roughly 4 years ago (?). It's veerrryyy nice. Both are now more of a single place with a single kitchen supplying hot food for both. The back patio at Raleigh's is excellent on a warm evening.
Blake's/Pappy's is gone, but rumor has it that the family that owns Kip's might be taking over that space for a new restaurant/bar.
Kip's. It's dank.
is Kips still there? or not quite the same as it used to be?
i "might" still have a couple of the nice beer mugs from Kips.
Kip's is still there last I checked, but upstairs only. It's been a minute for me, but last time I was there during the 2022 football season, it turns into somewhat of a meat market/dance club after dark.
Also, rumor has it that the family that owns Kip's might be taking over the Blake's/Pappy's space for a new restaurant/bar.
Do you have any New Years resolutions - or perhaps just a goal that you've set for yourself this year?
Drink more water.
I am a bit weird in that I normally don't feel thirsty and drinking water does not bring me pleasure. And I'm so dehydrated that it's not good for my health. So I'm trying to gamify water drinking. I've bought 20 8-ounce glass bottles to stock up my office, car, bathroom, and kitchen. The point is to create more external cues since I won't get internal cues and see how many I actually drink.
When I used to go into the office I drank much more water than when I'm at home. Some of it might have been just to get up and walk to the kitchen to get a bottle.
while not technically a new years resolution, i have noticed that just working out is not making a dent in some weight loss. not that i am terribly out of shape, just a little better would be good for long term strength and fitness.
trying to eat less, eat out less, drink less, more discipline, etc.
i have noticed that i can easily skip breakfast. just coffee is probably fine in the morning.
I lost about 20 lbs last year, simply by portion control (measuring portions of whatever). so instead of an uncontrolled amount of shredded cheese, only an ounce at a time.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
US & UK hits Houthi targets. Two Navy Seals declared dead via accidental drowning during an interdiction of Iranian weapons headed to Yemen
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/22/houthi-yemen-strike-us-uk-red-sea-00137056
I don't really disagree with the motives behind these strikes, but I do wonder how much effect it's having.
It's having a fairly noticeable effect on the ones blown into tiny bits
SCOTUS rules that Feds can take away some razor wire from Texas/Mexico border as Amy Coney Barrett sides with progressive side
https://www.rawstory.com/sold-us-out-maga-explodes-at-amy-coney-barrett-after-her-deciding-vote-against-texas/
DBD STREET JOURNAL
Koch Brother(s) are Texas two-stepping the asbestos claims against Georgia-Pacific
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/22/koch-brothers-asbestos-georgia-pacific
Fed starts hinting a reversing its rate hikes in Q3
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/18/feds-raphael-bostic-expects-rate-cuts-to-happen-in-the-third-quarter.html
Treasury yield curve remains inverted, which is generally seen as an unfavorable sign for the economy's short-term future
https://www.gurufocus.com/yield_curve.php
Bitcoins are now traded via ETF. The price rebounded last year, more than doubling in 2023.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/23/bitcoin-breaks-below-39000-as-post-etf-tumble-continues.html
Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches record high - above 38,000 for the first time.
https://www.google.com/finance/quote/.DJI:INDEXDJX?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI3dPOy_ODAxWdFVkFHct6CfMQ3ecFegQIPBAX&window=MAX
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
TIL: My kid got a fake ID through the dark web. It looks really good. I noticed that it has all the correct information on it except year of birth, including real name and address. When I asked why, kid said "if you get caught with a fake ID with your real name, it's a misdemeanor. If you get caught with a pseudonym, it's classified as identity theft - a felony in most states." I did some basic googling to see if this is true and it appears it is.
interesting. But is identity theft only valid if there actually is someone with that name? (Identity theft is not a joke, Jim).
Could it be identity theft if there isn't anyone with that name?
This is a state issue, because it's a state ID and I don't claim to know all of them. But for New York and NC, it doesn't matter if the person is real or not - it's identity theft.
If you were the one with the fake ID, would you want to gamble that you inadvertently used a real person's name and thereby earned yourself a felony charge? Be smart, go for the lesser exposure.
Appropo of this topic, Mrs Slug's driver's license number was used by an identity thief about 35+ years ago. Consequently, she got a new license number.
The thief was probably just using a letter and 7 random digits, but it raised all sorts of red flags when my wife tried to write a check at Safeway. The name used with the DL was also apparently a random name, not Mrs Slug's name.
Michigan's JJ McCarthy has had an eventful 3 weeks - wins a natty, turns 21, declares for the NFL draft where he might be a late 1st round pick, and gets engaged to his college sweety
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2TtOO5rScw/?hl=en
On Friday August 30th, Sonny Dykes will play at Stanfurd, perhaps extending his losing streak
https://theacc.com/news/2024/1/22/week-0-season-opener-in-ireland-full-slate-of-football-over-labor-day-weekend.aspx
University of Arizona has major problems.
Part of the financial woes are based on their online Ashford University acquisition, which closed last year. UofA tried to be more like ASU and develop a money-spinning online business. However, Ashford was kind of shady, so they're a lawsuit and some other problems stewing there.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/financial-health/2023/11/16/university-arizona-miscalculated-cash-hand-millions
UofA's former Provost and their former CFO were reportedly forced out, but it turns out that they just created new titles for them and kept them on in order to be able to tell the public that they were let go
https://kjzz.org/content/1867904/university-arizonas-budget-crisis-just-got-more-controversial-tucson
UofA says they miscalculated their revenues by $240m - blaming a financial model software package - essentially 10% of revenues. This doesn't smell right.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/financial-health/2023/11/16/university-arizona-miscalculated-cash-hand-millions
UofA fires their Athletic Director - some say they helped create a financial problem, some say that he is the fall guy for the bigger problem
https://twitter.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1749585705146167703?s=20
We should be nice and lend them our AD. They can have him permanently if they like him.
2 things can both be true.
PRO
[ESPN] Terry Rozier to Heat. Charlotte gets Kyle Lowry and a protected 2027 first round pick
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39369373/sources-heat-acquire-hornets-terry-rozier-kyle-lowry-pick
Dodgers closing in on signing James Paxton, continuing the trend of signing everyone and leaving nobody for anyone else
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39367168/sources-dodgers-james-paxton-closing-1-year-deal
He would immediately by the Giants SP2.
But Farhan doesn’t believe in signing players that can help you.
I don’t even have a dog in the Giants-dodgers fight, but man I am rooting against LAD now! They have kind of taken over the evil empire mantle from NYY. Btw I think Cashman needs to retire, the game has seemingly passed him by
I am convinced that Farhan Zaidi remains on the Dodgers payroll and is a spy, aiming to destroy the Giants from the inside through incompetence and inactivity. That buffoon Larry Baer and the idiot Johnsons are enabling him to do so.
;-)
It's payback for special agent Ned when he went to the Dodgers. Got them to sign Jason Schmidt with the broken shoulder.
I don't think it's Farhan's fault. Owners who run their clubs like a business are different than those who are willing to lose money on vanity projects.
It’s not just an outlay of cash, LAD didn’t do much last year to get under the tax and go nuts this year. They’ve had this in the works for years I think, which as Jimmy suggests does make you feel like the Giants are playing checkers while the Dodgers are playing chess.
Ownership definitely is partially at fault, as there are too many partners, but Farhan’s Moneyball nonsense is also an issue. There all buffoons!!
I will say though Jimmy, Betts is 31, Freeman 34, and Ohtani while younger at 29 has had two major arm surgeries. This is a fearsome roster in 24 and 25, but starting in 26 it will look old and overrated and overpaid. Maybe Farhan is playing for the future? Not an unreasonable tack…
For instance I think in retrospect are you not happy that Judge and Correa signed elsewhere?
Not at all happy, no. The Giants need star power if they’re gonna realistically compete for a title. All these trash moves on the analytics-margins that Farhan makes would maybe work if they had even 1 guy in the lineup that opponents feared. The Giants have zero players like that - none.
But the 5th most valuable franchise in the league could absolutely afford to sign players like that - they choose not to.
Jared Goff has to play with Zach Ertz
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39363004/source-lions-reach-deal-veteran-te-zach-ertz
He has to throw to USC and Furd.
...aaaand USC and Furd has to receive from Cal.
Ryne Sandberg - 63 years old - has prostate cancer and a first name that some people aren't sure how to pronounce/spell
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39364181/cubs-hall-famer-ryne-sandberg-diagnosed-cancer
He was actually named after another ball player, an old reliever named Ryne Duren.
Ryno was my favorite player growing up! Such a slick all around player - 9 gold gloves, could hit for average and power. Clutch guy too - known for the Sandberg game in 84 when he hit a homer off Sutter in the 9th to push it to extras and then hit a walk off homer in the 11th to win it. Get well, Ryno!!!
Also signed initially with Wazzu to be a QB but went to MLB draft instead
At the last moment, Ron comes back and defeats Trump
https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/68049760
KAT scores 62 in loss. Rest of team gets blasted for their play by coach Finch
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39366606/chris-finch-loss-karl-anthony-town-62-immature-basketball
Embiid gets 70 for the 76ers
https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401585236
Chicago Bears hire Seahawks ex-OC to be their OC
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39362191/source-bears-hiring-ex-seahawks-oc-shane-waldron-run-offense
Aroldis Chapman to the Pirates for 1 year, $10.5m. Sometimes you got to gamble on a 36 year old guy who lives and dies by his fastball.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39365362/sources-pirates-aroldis-chapman-agree-1-year-105m-deal
Pretty low risk given the years and money and fact that he still throws 100. I bet they flip him for prospects in July. Contending GMs are always shitting themselves for bullpen help at the deadline
DBD AV CLUB
Am watching S6 of Better Call Saul (final season). Just want everything to work out for Varga!
fargo season 5 was stellar and wrapped itself up in a way that felt very satisfying
S4E2 True Detective.
Jodie Foster is her typical cold-fish self who no one really likes…the fictional town (?) of Ennis, AK seems a very bleak place where there appears only a few things to do…drinkin’, fightin’ and fockin’…well, and killin’.
Enjoyed the first two episodes.