The SS Empire Heritage, one of the largest ships sunk during WWII, went down with a massive load of tanks, supplies, and 112 of the 163 people on board off the northern coast of Ireland. “Years of wave action has smashed the superstructure,” says underwater photographer Steve Jones. “Sherman tanks lie entangled with trucks across the wreck.” At 225 feet deep, the SS Empire Heritage is only for seasoned technical divers.
For better or worse, Clinton ruined SOTU for me. He went on and on and as far as I can tell it hasn't gotten any better. Also, not a fan of the plants in the audience though I think I read they were not there this year.
I’m actually not surprised he’s back for next year, given the APR, the COVID year excuse & beating a horrible Furd team and an Oregon team that went 2-100 from 3.
Hopefully the buyout isn’t prohibitive. But he can’t recruit and he can’t coach offense. Bad combo.
I guess it depends on what the buyout is after each year. Maybe this still allows him to recruit next year because it isn't his last year (assuming next year was it). But the buyout allows Cal to cut bait when he is average after 1 or 2 years.
Before replying to GB49, tell yourself that he could be someone's beloved, aging grandpa. Then imagine the guy donning a Cal sweater with a knitted Cal scarf, with pair of Cal gloves, all to keep himself warm, even when it is 75 degrees out. You start feeling bad about picking on him, even if he does make himself an easy target.
I'm just sayin, his posts sometimes feel like the elderly person in front of you driving 20 miles per hour under the speed limit. Your initial reactions is to get mad as hell, then you realize they are just kind of old and maybe shouldn't be behind the wheel, so you find a way to just overlook it and just hope they make a turn soon.
or... just get the fuck out of the left lane and maybe stick to surface streets. I don't frequent the page with any regularity but when I do he is constantly derailing the topic at hand posting links to other articles and stats that may or may not be related to the WFC article., while demanding more or asking others to google something for him and post it in the comments section.
If only the value of your time could be deductible as a charitable contribution, I would recommend we set up a non profit to which we could log hours of our time to performing research and analysis per his every whim.
It is hard to resist, I totally agree. But I've seriously restrained myself on several occasions because I tend to think if him as a bit of a bumbling old timer who is trying to find community behind a key board, even if he isn't very good at it.
You are a very nice man. I think it comes down to lack of internet literacy. There's so much disconnect between him and the rest of the community, even though many of us are not even that young.
I once (or twice or thrice) wrote a long, thoughtful response to him explaining in simple terms the whole situation and why it was he was experiencing some friction with some people here.. and each time he proceeded to lash out and bite my head off. At that point I decided to just continue to go with the flow and have fun without being mean, and view it as a source of entertainment at no one's expense. A series of victimless crimes, if you will.
Hey, I give him props for being his age and knowing how to find CGB, create a profile and actually participate. Those Wikipedia links aren’t going to post themselves here!
I thought he was a troll as well. Him and Go Eat a Taco. I thought they were both trolls and possibly the same person with two different troll accounts.
I actually got into it with Calbear91 over the weekend over my posting style. He called me "nega-bear", which doesn't bother me. I am the first to admit I am not a sunshine pumper, and in fact make fun of those that DO pump sunshine (I'm looking at you EVERY AUGUST, Newellbany)...
But even with a more critical eye, I'm just as much Go Bears! as the next.
My best friend and his wife (who both smoke a lot of weed) are often convinced they are the only ones with an idea or who found something humorous. For example, they watched Mare of Easttown when it was new and they found the PA accents funny. Then SNL spoofed it, which they saw live on tv, and later my friend is telling me how their minds were blown by this cosmic coincidence that SNL randomly decided to mock the use of the accent in the show, which was an inside joke to them at the time. I mean the popularity of the show and the platform it was on didn't really occur to them, let alone the possibility that tens if not hundreds of thousands of people probably also found humor in the subtle absurdity of Kate Winslet et al doing the accent.
Point is, let's not rule out drugs from this whole equation.
Cal Falcons ornithologist Sean Peterson was working at his computer this morning around 11:30 when he saw on a stream from a UC Berkeley webcam that a bird was perched on the Campanile. And it was sitting in the spot where Annie, the campus’s beloved peregrine falcon that’s been missing for at least a week, liked to sit.
that happens to me when i try to swim. i cross one length of a 25m pool and have to catch my breath for at least a minute. repeat 8-10 times and i am completely done!
My nephew and his GF visited over President's Day weekend. For some reason they brought four rapid tests and left them for me. Not sure why since I've never had any symptoms or close contacts with someone positive. The GF works for an outdoor clothing company so also left gloves, mittens, windbreaker, and a pullover which will be of more use.
i have been on a path to lowering my cholesterol since last physical. but the cardiologist i signed up with wont order a new set of labs until meet the first time!
The prep definitely sucks, but Propofol is awesome. Best nap ever. I don't recommend Cologuard due to the lower accuracy. 13% get false positives and 8% receive a false negatives, the latter being the one that I care about. Wife took Cologuard. First one got lost, so she had to shit in another box. That test was inconclusive, so she had to get a colonoscopy anyways. She and I are only doing colonoscopies from here on out.
Same, I turned 40 last May and when I went in for my physical I asked my doctor about scheduling a colonoscopy and was surprised to learn that unless I had a family history of colon cancer, I didn’t need one until I was 45.
I didn't know the backstory of the actor Marcus Chong and how things quickly soured between him and Warner Bros. + the Wachowski's. After they turned down his counter offer for more money in The Matrix sequels, ensuing events escalated to Chong filing a lawsuit for defamation, claiming the producers were spreading a rumor that he was a terrorist, and him being arrested for repeatedly threating them over the phone.
Katie Meyer is the student-athlete that reportedly took her own life. She was the starting goalkeeper that led Stanford to the 2019 NCAA title, and was quite memorable for how over-the-top emotional she was during the PK. RIP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stGoDiiNarY
Haha! The discussion regarding Trump's own failure to use Truth is so gratifying: "Had he limited, or at least prioritized, his reactions to Truth Social, it would have caused every media outlet to mention the app." Instead, the Apps popularity is just below the Planet Fitness workout app. Haha!
UN Resolution condemning Ukraine invasion only has 5 voting No: Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Eritrea. China, Cuba, and most of the former Soviet Republics abstained. I'm surprised Serbia voted Yes.
No 2's GF is from Eritrea. I wiki'ed (thanks gb49) it to get more background last fall. Looks like they used to be governed by the Italians and the Brits. Then, like tbb said, they were part of Ethiopia, then independence. They also used to be on the US "Counter-terror Non-Cooperation List".
The House passed H. Res. 956 - Supporting the People of Ukraine by a vote of 426-3. No votes come from Reps Gosar (R-AZ), Rosendale (R-MT), and Massie (R-KY).
Also, the Oakland A's - hat in hand, are trying to get an extension on their revenue sharing income which allows John Fisher to not even try to field a competitive team. Just pocket $10-20 million in profits each season and neglect the fans, the players and complain about the small market of only 7+ million souls in the area. After all, the ownership group is known as Oakland A's Investment Group, L.L.C. - the market value of the team has soared to $1.13 billion, a high multiple of what he spent for the team.
Fisher annoys me. Clearly, he sees the A's as his piggybank and the Howard Terminal stadium is merely another way to create more revenue, much of it in real estate. This is why I don't want the Howard Terminal stadium. It's not going to be a good deal for Oakland, because the City is going to pony up money they will never get back for infrastructure, etc. Unfortunately, City Council hasn't got the guts to tell Kaval and Fisher to pound sand.
Did City Council really "lose" the Raiders and the Warriors?
Is it "losing" a professional sports franchise when said franchise is asking you to pay exorbitant amounts that you will never recoup? Kinda like extortion?
It did. And it's totally manufactured by the owners.
It pisses me off greatly that the owners have the logistical advantages in their hand. If not, the players should move towards making their own league and let the chips fall where they may. Same with the NFL.
It's almost like the COVID 2020 season showed the owners that they don't even need fans in the stands. It's nice to get the gameday sales, but it's gravy, especially if you're not having to pay the players.
The TV $$ from FOX/TBS is all they really want.
Depending on how you feel about it, but the 162-game season may be done forever.
Actually, I'd be fine with going back to 154 games, if they start in April 1st, since there's so much play-off time now. Be nice to wrap it up in October.
Expand by 1 team in each league or contract by 1 team in each league.
SCENARIO A - 16 teams in each league
Each league has 4 divisions of 4 teams.
26 games against each division opponent (78 games)
6 games against each inter-division opponents (72 games)
REGULAR SEASON = 150 games.
PLAYOFFS -
4 division winners, 2 wildcards. Seed the teams #1 to #6 based on W-L record; division championship is a seeding tiebreaker, maybe the last tiebreaker before coin flip. If two division winners end up seeded #5 and #6, so be it.
Top 2 seeds in each league sit out the first round
Wildcard Round, best of 5
Divisional Round, best of 7
League Championship, best of 7
World Series, best of 7
SCENARIO B - 14 teams in each league
Each league has 2 divisions of 7.
18 games against each division opponent (108 games)
6 games against each inter-division opponents (42 games)
REGULAR SEASON = 150 games.
PLAYOFFS -
2 division winners, 4 wildcards. Seed the teams #1 to #6 based on W-L record; division championship is a seeding tiebreaker, maybe the last tiebreaker before coin flip. If two division winners end up seeded #5 and #6, so be it.
Top 2 seeds in each league sit out the first round
150 games are still too many. MLB needs to cut their season to 120. A short season would also help keep some clubs still in the playoff/division title race.
120 is too small a number. Flat out too small, even with expanded playoffs. That's the same as cutting out 6.5 to 8 weeks of the season, depending on off days.
I can understand starting no earlier than April 1, but there's no reason to end the season in mid-August or even Labor Day weekend. Late August into late September is prime time for the stretch run. If the regular season ended by September 25, you could still end the World Series before Halloween.
Switched? More like expanded their watching to include CFB and the NFL. And it really doesn't begin in earnest until Labor Day weekend. Fans who would prefer to watch early regular season football games to baseball teams chasing playoff spots and the playoffs themselves aren't the fans I worry about baseball losing.
I do think that MLB is stretching the bounds of attention, though by pushing the World Series into November. They really run the risk of damaging the sport's status as the national pastime with a schedule that insists it owns the calendar into early November. That's just ridiculous.
But by no means is it necessary to do anything other than pull back the MLB calendar so that the World Series ends before Halloween.
The main difference between the NBA and MLB is that the latter has a lot more variance with regards to if the best team can win any given series (AKA the playoffs). NBA's focus on the playoffs have really killed the importance of its regular season with all the "load managements" in the past decade plus. MLB following that model will just result in more random teams winning the World Series (and thus the argument for any team to not really overspend because it's not worth it, I guess). It's sad that the owners and Manfred have so much power right now to kill the MLB regular season.
IMO, random teams winning the World Series would be a good thing. The WS shouldn’t just belong to large market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. I am not even talking about winning the WS but participating in it. Whether that is true or not, that is the perception of MLB and the WS.
Baseball is enlivened by small market teams making it into the World Series. Expanding the playoffs is a good move in that direction. Just don't over-expand to the point where a team with a losing record will make it into the postseason. 6 in each league should be about right.
The 162 game regular season is a grind and is a much better barometer for how good a team is, but people don't remember often who had the best regular season. And I don't just mean the casual fans who only follow the postseason either.
I definitely don't want to see the large market teams dominate the WS titles either, but MLB in the wild card era is already wild enough. I just don't think you should dilute the regular season more.
Related to this, a sub-162 game seasons means that the top players right now has one less shot at breaking a lot of the MLB records. Sure, some of those records have already been tainted by PED use, etc., but that's really a shame that MLB does not appear to care about this (or conversely, how NFL tried to celebrate a few "new records" that were set only due to the extra regular season game this year).
Start around April 1st, play 60 games and have the All Star break around Memorial Day weekend. Play the back half of the 60 games from June through July. Start playoffs in August and wrap up the World Series by the end of September/first week of October.
The short-term thinking of this group of owners astounds me. The national TV deals won't continue to be lucrative if fans are losing interest in your product. The regular season and being able to go to games is what maintains that interest for baseball (especially a sport like baseball where the fandom is so localized).
Poor, unsound management by a significant portion of the people managing professional baseball is a long standing and well entrenched tradition. I don't know why anyone would really expect anything otherwise to suddenly materialize now. It is still thoroughly disappointing, though.
In past labor disputes I think you could at least somewhat equally blame the players. In this case I'm not seeing it. It's pretty much all on the owners, working to ruin their own game.
YACHT WATCH UPDATE: Dominos are falling. Germany has seized the first oligarch yacht, the 512 foot Dilbar, in Hamburg. https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2022/03/02/germans-seize-russian-billionaire-alisher-usmanovs-mega-yacht/?sh=747ba89052dd
I bid, <checks pockets>, $25 for it.
crossword friends: just noticed this special series https://www.washingtonpost.com/crossword-puzzles/womens-history-month-crosswords/?itid=nb_crosswords_women%E2%80%99s-history-month-crosswords
Anyone watch or listen to the SOTU last night? Any reactions or hot takes?
For better or worse, Clinton ruined SOTU for me. He went on and on and as far as I can tell it hasn't gotten any better. Also, not a fan of the plants in the audience though I think I read they were not there this year.
Cal poised to extend Fox, per Letourneau & Twist. I quit.
Calbear91 and the parade of Rainbow Brites will be so happy.
10 year rebuild.
At least Knowlton is consistent on giving both the MBB and football coaches a 10 year rebuild.
Wilcox has at least shown to be solidly mediocre. Fox is just bad.
oh wow...I sure hope not.
Knowlton doesn’t care about winning.
Fox must have turned down…Oregon.
Well, the Chron totally whiffed on the Wyking departure. So hopefully their sources have not improved.
You never know. In five years, we might be good enough to beat Harvard at home.
(sad trombone)
pqtm (sadly)
I’m actually not surprised he’s back for next year, given the APR, the COVID year excuse & beating a horrible Furd team and an Oregon team that went 2-100 from 3.
Hopefully the buyout isn’t prohibitive. But he can’t recruit and he can’t coach offense. Bad combo.
I think giving him next year would be totally fair but to give him an extension just seems ridiculous.
Apparently, the extension will give him the stability needed to continue landing underwhelming recruiting classes.
I guess it depends on what the buyout is after each year. Maybe this still allows him to recruit next year because it isn't his last year (assuming next year was it). But the buyout allows Cal to cut bait when he is average after 1 or 2 years.
lol at GB49 on the front page claiming he created "TypiCal"
Before replying to GB49, tell yourself that he could be someone's beloved, aging grandpa. Then imagine the guy donning a Cal sweater with a knitted Cal scarf, with pair of Cal gloves, all to keep himself warm, even when it is 75 degrees out. You start feeling bad about picking on him, even if he does make himself an easy target.
i don't feel bad at all
I'm just sayin, his posts sometimes feel like the elderly person in front of you driving 20 miles per hour under the speed limit. Your initial reactions is to get mad as hell, then you realize they are just kind of old and maybe shouldn't be behind the wheel, so you find a way to just overlook it and just hope they make a turn soon.
or... just get the fuck out of the left lane and maybe stick to surface streets. I don't frequent the page with any regularity but when I do he is constantly derailing the topic at hand posting links to other articles and stats that may or may not be related to the WFC article., while demanding more or asking others to google something for him and post it in the comments section.
If only the value of your time could be deductible as a charitable contribution, I would recommend we set up a non profit to which we could log hours of our time to performing research and analysis per his every whim.
I get what you are saying. I'm kinda having fun. I don't mean any harm but I just can't resist pointing out his ridiculous comments.
It is hard to resist, I totally agree. But I've seriously restrained myself on several occasions because I tend to think if him as a bit of a bumbling old timer who is trying to find community behind a key board, even if he isn't very good at it.
He actually said something one time in a post that led me to believe he was much younger than I had thought....forget what it was, however.
I think he was a yell leader a few years around 1970, making him a few years older than me. So, around 70ish.
You are a very nice man. I think it comes down to lack of internet literacy. There's so much disconnect between him and the rest of the community, even though many of us are not even that young.
I once (or twice or thrice) wrote a long, thoughtful response to him explaining in simple terms the whole situation and why it was he was experiencing some friction with some people here.. and each time he proceeded to lash out and bite my head off. At that point I decided to just continue to go with the flow and have fun without being mean, and view it as a source of entertainment at no one's expense. A series of victimless crimes, if you will.
Yeah, entertainment. That's what it is.
Hey, I give him props for being his age and knowing how to find CGB, create a profile and actually participate. Those Wikipedia links aren’t going to post themselves here!
But he can't figure out how to retrieve his account and he had to create a new one and write "GoBears49" every time he posts.
The funniest parts about him writing “GB49” are the following:
1. We all know that Bob is GB49 so he doesn’t need to write that anymore.
2. Why does he insist on writing the whole “GoBears49” instead of using a short hand abbreviation.
When he first showed up, I thought he was a troll. But he's not at all.
I still think he is!
I thought he was a troll as well. Him and Go Eat a Taco. I thought they were both trolls and possibly the same person with two different troll accounts.
GEAT actually has a good point once in a while, even if he is a bit forceful in his posts.
He does but his posting style and some of his takes just seemed so trollish with its forcefulness.
I would be interested in knowing if others thought I was a troll or my posting style.
I never got the impression you were a troll.
I actually got into it with Calbear91 over the weekend over my posting style. He called me "nega-bear", which doesn't bother me. I am the first to admit I am not a sunshine pumper, and in fact make fun of those that DO pump sunshine (I'm looking at you EVERY AUGUST, Newellbany)...
But even with a more critical eye, I'm just as much Go Bears! as the next.
Are we talking internet troll or Scandinavian folklore troll?
I’m not ruling out that he could be both.
He's actually been saying frequently that he created it. No one seemed to respond to it until today. Lol
I saw that! I expect him to next claim he created Wikipedia.
Right. Because he hasn't seen anyone else use it.
My best friend and his wife (who both smoke a lot of weed) are often convinced they are the only ones with an idea or who found something humorous. For example, they watched Mare of Easttown when it was new and they found the PA accents funny. Then SNL spoofed it, which they saw live on tv, and later my friend is telling me how their minds were blown by this cosmic coincidence that SNL randomly decided to mock the use of the accent in the show, which was an inside joke to them at the time. I mean the popularity of the show and the platform it was on didn't really occur to them, let alone the possibility that tens if not hundreds of thousands of people probably also found humor in the subtle absurdity of Kate Winslet et al doing the accent.
Point is, let's not rule out drugs from this whole equation.
Point taken. From another old guy.
ha!
hahaha
https://twitter.com/AerialShading/status/1498715293215903745?s=20&t=DKMb7xPQJ-kmo0xhqX9FjQ
@AerialShading: columbo is for people who sleep like honk shoo honk shoo but poirot is for people who sleep like snork mimimimi
I guess I sleep like honk shoo honk, then. Peter Falk is great in that role. And there was some very good writing in a number of episodes.
Annie is Back. Back Again. Annie's Back. Tell a Friend.
Experts ‘flabbergasted’ as Annie the falcon calmly returns to Berkeley’s Campanile
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/03/01/annie-peregrine-falcon-returns-to-berkeley-campanile
Cal Falcons ornithologist Sean Peterson was working at his computer this morning around 11:30 when he saw on a stream from a UC Berkeley webcam that a bird was perched on the Campanile. And it was sitting in the spot where Annie, the campus’s beloved peregrine falcon that’s been missing for at least a week, liked to sit.
Scootie will be pleased with this news!
ANNIE ARE YOU OK
Can't a girl go out for a bit of nunya and not have a missing-bird report filed?
How is your health?
I went snowboarding earlier this year and was shocked at how unfit I was. I had to sit and rest after each slide down.
that happens to me when i try to swim. i cross one length of a 25m pool and have to catch my breath for at least a minute. repeat 8-10 times and i am completely done!
I took a COVID test this morning because I traveled to Seattle, and good news, it's negative!
My nephew and his GF visited over President's Day weekend. For some reason they brought four rapid tests and left them for me. Not sure why since I've never had any symptoms or close contacts with someone positive. The GF works for an outdoor clothing company so also left gloves, mittens, windbreaker, and a pullover which will be of more use.
I got a physical about a month ago and other than needing to lose some weight, I appear fine.
i have been on a path to lowering my cholesterol since last physical. but the cardiologist i signed up with wont order a new set of labs until meet the first time!
I guess fine, nothing new to complain about.
Ask me after my colonoscopy.
good luck w/ that. i read a long article about it the prep for it recently
https://annehelen.substack.com/p/welcome-to-colonoscopy-land
not the same accuracy, but there is non-invasive thing called Cologuard where you just poop in a box and they screen you that way.
Thanks. I already did the poop-in-the-mail screening through my PCP, which is why I now have to go full-on colonoscopy. Yippee!
The prep definitely sucks, but Propofol is awesome. Best nap ever. I don't recommend Cologuard due to the lower accuracy. 13% get false positives and 8% receive a false negatives, the latter being the one that I care about. Wife took Cologuard. First one got lost, so she had to shit in another box. That test was inconclusive, so she had to get a colonoscopy anyways. She and I are only doing colonoscopies from here on out.
https://www.cologuardhcp.com/faq#:~:text=False%20positives%20and%20false%20negatives%20do%20occur.,Cologuard%C2%AE%20Physician%20Brochure.
Also, colonoscopy has the advantage of being able to take small tissue samples if necessary, and fix minor things along the way.
Cologuard is probably best for people who would otherwise not get screened at all because they want to avoid a colonoscopy
Haven't had a colonoscopy yet, but my age is getting into the range.
Same, I turned 40 last May and when I went in for my physical I asked my doctor about scheduling a colonoscopy and was surprised to learn that unless I had a family history of colon cancer, I didn’t need one until I was 45.
Physical? Fine. Mental? I'm a Bears fan so.....
i just got a 1-yr post achilles surgery survey and checked off all the boxes saying i have no pain and not limited in any way.
been working out, playing tennis, riding my bike and skiing. so all good things ..
on the other hand i went to get a haircut today and noticed that "there were a LOT of white hairs"
Tank
yew very much!
less water heater
ini
Top
Girl
The operator onboard the Nebuchadnezzar.
I didn't know the backstory of the actor Marcus Chong and how things quickly soured between him and Warner Bros. + the Wachowski's. After they turned down his counter offer for more money in The Matrix sequels, ensuing events escalated to Chong filing a lawsuit for defamation, claiming the producers were spreading a rumor that he was a terrorist, and him being arrested for repeatedly threating them over the phone.
the Bear
McNamara
Frank the
Ukraine
Bringing your girl home to introduce her to her new NLAWs
https://twitter.com/NashaCanada/status/1498909963326050307
You know a lot of Instagram influencers are just trying to get to Ukraine right now to take a photo next to a burning Russian tank or holding a RPG.
Putin bans Russians from leaving the country with more than $10,000 in foreign currency
https://pragnews.com/vladimir-putin-bans-russians-from-leaving-the-country-with-10000-foreign-currency-in-hand
combining this with "tank," I have been entertained by the various pictures and videos online of Ukrainians making off with Russian tanks, APCs, etc.
Apropos: I'm learning lots of Russian curse words. It amuses me that "condom" is a vulgar insult.
please share more!
My favorite is "blyat" - a catch all word that is equivalent to the f-word, but doesn't necessarily mean it literally.
Here are two videos that use them nicely.
https://twitter.com/SmokeSinseLoud/status/1497609330149007377
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xADcMXHT3HA
Elsewhere in college
Potential rule changes include treating incomplete pass like a run out of bounds.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/potential-college-football-rule-changes-aim-to-limit-plays-and-exposures-while-shortening-the-game/
Condolences to the Stanford Women's Soccer Team
https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/01/undergraduate-student-dies-in-stanford-residence/
Katie Meyer is the student-athlete that reportedly took her own life. She was the starting goalkeeper that led Stanford to the 2019 NCAA title, and was quite memorable for how over-the-top emotional she was during the PK. RIP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stGoDiiNarY
[MBB} IUPUI starts conference championship play with only five players on their team.
https://brobible.com/sports/article/iupui-jaguars-horizon-tournament-five-players/
"Nobody foul out!"
UCLA football: Chip Kelly contract extension details emerge, per report
https://247sports.com/Article/UCLA-football-Chip-Kelly-contract-extension-details-emerge-per-report-183572601/
heh...they want to extend him? I thought they wanted to get rid of him...maybe that was just the ucla fans.
Chip Kelly must have turned down Oregon HC offer too and got UCLA offered extension.
pqtm
lets hope Wilcox can turn the tide on this 1-3 record against him
Gotta find an answer to 1. DTR and 2. the UCLA D.
Cal is one of the few teams that somehow can't seem to figure out either.
I doubt it. Chip has his number.
Today in Covid
"Commies giving away stuff for free. Let's go Brandon" - some guy somewhere, probably
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/politics/free-at-home-covid-tests-us-order-more/index.html
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Let's check in to see how TFG's Twitter-clone is doing. [pennywhistle downslide]
https://www.axios.com/trump-blowing-truth-social-launch-c2d4f1f0-5440-478a-acfa-b9462b64568c.html
Haha! The discussion regarding Trump's own failure to use Truth is so gratifying: "Had he limited, or at least prioritized, his reactions to Truth Social, it would have caused every media outlet to mention the app." Instead, the Apps popularity is just below the Planet Fitness workout app. Haha!
The launch itself was buzzy, with Truth Social shooting to the top of Apple's App Store (there isn't yet an Android or web version).
So trumpers use iOS not Android. Excellent.
UN Resolution condemning Ukraine invasion only has 5 voting No: Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Eritrea. China, Cuba, and most of the former Soviet Republics abstained. I'm surprised Serbia voted Yes.
https://twitter.com/EUatUN/status/1499066567824486402
WTF Eritrea? Anyone know the history behind that?
No 2's GF is from Eritrea. I wiki'ed (thanks gb49) it to get more background last fall. Looks like they used to be governed by the Italians and the Brits. Then, like tbb said, they were part of Ethiopia, then independence. They also used to be on the US "Counter-terror Non-Cooperation List".
But wiki has no mention of Russia.
Could it have to do with their conflict with Ethiopia?
The House passed H. Res. 956 - Supporting the People of Ukraine by a vote of 426-3. No votes come from Reps Gosar (R-AZ), Rosendale (R-MT), and Massie (R-KY).
https://twitter.com/HouseDailyPress/status/1499128674389569547
Snowflake offended by freedom of personal choice
https://twitter.com/EvanDonovan/status/1499086276519239680
How big a hack is Lindsay Graham?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lindsay-graham-calls-scotus-pick-radical-left-despite-voting-to-confirm/ar-AAUjgvB?ocid=uxbndlbing
Some grifty, dirty investigation into Manafort & Giuliani
https://www.propublica.org/article/lets-recall-what-exactly-paul-manafort-and-rudy-giuliani-were-doing-in-ukraine
Boebert and Greene heckle Biden during SOTU.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/gop-reps-greene-boebert-heckle-biden-throughout-sotu-address-n1290558
Why Didn’t Putin Invade Under Trump? It Wasn’t Personal.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/03/02/putin-invade-ukraine-trump-00012897
PRO
Packers' GM says not getting much interest in Q.Ron Rodgers. I'm skeptical about comments about negotiations done via media.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33399771/green-bay-packers-gm-brian-gutekunst-says-not-getting-trade-offers-other-gms-aaron-rodgers
NASCAR's Tony Stewart is selling his house for $30m and it looks like a Bass Pro Shop
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10285-W-Youth-Camp-Rd-Columbus-IN-47201/102834747_zpid/
Chelsea up for sale
https://www.espn.com/soccer/chelsea-engchelsea/story/4606808/chelsea-for-sale-as-pressure-grows-on-owner-roman-abramovich-sources
[TheAthletic] Lakers to cut Jordan
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1498452182865223680
Cameron Jordan was on the Lakers? I thought he played for the Saints.
No, it was Jordan Cameron.
M.L.B. Cancels Games, Delaying Start of Season
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/sports/baseball/mlb-baseball-season.html
Also, the Oakland A's - hat in hand, are trying to get an extension on their revenue sharing income which allows John Fisher to not even try to field a competitive team. Just pocket $10-20 million in profits each season and neglect the fans, the players and complain about the small market of only 7+ million souls in the area. After all, the ownership group is known as Oakland A's Investment Group, L.L.C. - the market value of the team has soared to $1.13 billion, a high multiple of what he spent for the team.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/194629/mlb-franchise-value-of-the-oakland-athletics-since-2006/
Fisher annoys me. Clearly, he sees the A's as his piggybank and the Howard Terminal stadium is merely another way to create more revenue, much of it in real estate. This is why I don't want the Howard Terminal stadium. It's not going to be a good deal for Oakland, because the City is going to pony up money they will never get back for infrastructure, etc. Unfortunately, City Council hasn't got the guts to tell Kaval and Fisher to pound sand.
They already lost the Raiders and the Warriors. They don't want to be also known as the group that lost the A's.
Did City Council really "lose" the Raiders and the Warriors?
Is it "losing" a professional sports franchise when said franchise is asking you to pay exorbitant amounts that you will never recoup? Kinda like extortion?
That's a good point. But still they left so will Oakland residents differentiate between the two?
I will be shocked if the season starts before Memorial Day.
Kind of felt like this was inevitable.
It did. And it's totally manufactured by the owners.
It pisses me off greatly that the owners have the logistical advantages in their hand. If not, the players should move towards making their own league and let the chips fall where they may. Same with the NFL.
I can’t wait to watch XMLB or maybe USMLB.
@maybe the players can start a league funded by the Saudis@
Too soon.
The last attempt at that didn't seem to work out so well.
It's almost like the COVID 2020 season showed the owners that they don't even need fans in the stands. It's nice to get the gameday sales, but it's gravy, especially if you're not having to pay the players.
The TV $$ from FOX/TBS is all they really want.
Depending on how you feel about it, but the 162-game season may be done forever.
It's super shortsighted view by the owners. Also, the TV $$$ are coming from ESPN for the expanded playoffs ($85 Million for the 12-team model).
Actually, I'd be fine with going back to 154 games, if they start in April 1st, since there's so much play-off time now. Be nice to wrap it up in October.
You can probably cut some of the interleague games...they've kinda lost the novelty.
Cut all of the interleague games. ALL. OF. THEM.
Expand by 1 team in each league or contract by 1 team in each league.
SCENARIO A - 16 teams in each league
Each league has 4 divisions of 4 teams.
26 games against each division opponent (78 games)
6 games against each inter-division opponents (72 games)
REGULAR SEASON = 150 games.
PLAYOFFS -
4 division winners, 2 wildcards. Seed the teams #1 to #6 based on W-L record; division championship is a seeding tiebreaker, maybe the last tiebreaker before coin flip. If two division winners end up seeded #5 and #6, so be it.
Top 2 seeds in each league sit out the first round
Wildcard Round, best of 5
Divisional Round, best of 7
League Championship, best of 7
World Series, best of 7
SCENARIO B - 14 teams in each league
Each league has 2 divisions of 7.
18 games against each division opponent (108 games)
6 games against each inter-division opponents (42 games)
REGULAR SEASON = 150 games.
PLAYOFFS -
2 division winners, 4 wildcards. Seed the teams #1 to #6 based on W-L record; division championship is a seeding tiebreaker, maybe the last tiebreaker before coin flip. If two division winners end up seeded #5 and #6, so be it.
Top 2 seeds in each league sit out the first round
Wildcard Round, best of 5
Divisional Round, best of 7
League Championship, best of 7
World Series, best of 7
150 games are still too many. MLB needs to cut their season to 120. A short season would also help keep some clubs still in the playoff/division title race.
120 is too small a number. Flat out too small, even with expanded playoffs. That's the same as cutting out 6.5 to 8 weeks of the season, depending on off days.
I can understand starting no earlier than April 1, but there's no reason to end the season in mid-August or even Labor Day weekend. Late August into late September is prime time for the stretch run. If the regular season ended by September 25, you could still end the World Series before Halloween.
By mid August and September a lot of sports fans have already switched to following CFB and NFL.
MLB WS should be done by October 7th.
Switched? More like expanded their watching to include CFB and the NFL. And it really doesn't begin in earnest until Labor Day weekend. Fans who would prefer to watch early regular season football games to baseball teams chasing playoff spots and the playoffs themselves aren't the fans I worry about baseball losing.
I do think that MLB is stretching the bounds of attention, though by pushing the World Series into November. They really run the risk of damaging the sport's status as the national pastime with a schedule that insists it owns the calendar into early November. That's just ridiculous.
But by no means is it necessary to do anything other than pull back the MLB calendar so that the World Series ends before Halloween.
I would actually cut it down to 120 games and only keep regional inter league games for rivalry purposes.
NBA and MLB could benefit from shortened regular seasons.
The main difference between the NBA and MLB is that the latter has a lot more variance with regards to if the best team can win any given series (AKA the playoffs). NBA's focus on the playoffs have really killed the importance of its regular season with all the "load managements" in the past decade plus. MLB following that model will just result in more random teams winning the World Series (and thus the argument for any team to not really overspend because it's not worth it, I guess). It's sad that the owners and Manfred have so much power right now to kill the MLB regular season.
IMO, random teams winning the World Series would be a good thing. The WS shouldn’t just belong to large market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. I am not even talking about winning the WS but participating in it. Whether that is true or not, that is the perception of MLB and the WS.
Good take.
Baseball is enlivened by small market teams making it into the World Series. Expanding the playoffs is a good move in that direction. Just don't over-expand to the point where a team with a losing record will make it into the postseason. 6 in each league should be about right.
The 162 game regular season is a grind and is a much better barometer for how good a team is, but people don't remember often who had the best regular season. And I don't just mean the casual fans who only follow the postseason either.
I definitely don't want to see the large market teams dominate the WS titles either, but MLB in the wild card era is already wild enough. I just don't think you should dilute the regular season more.
Related to this, a sub-162 game seasons means that the top players right now has one less shot at breaking a lot of the MLB records. Sure, some of those records have already been tainted by PED use, etc., but that's really a shame that MLB does not appear to care about this (or conversely, how NFL tried to celebrate a few "new records" that were set only due to the extra regular season game this year).
The 60 game schedule did prove the viability of this.
No, it didn't.
A 120 game regular season is an invitation to a death spiral for baseball. It's going too far in the other direction.
Start around April 1st, play 60 games and have the All Star break around Memorial Day weekend. Play the back half of the 60 games from June through July. Start playoffs in August and wrap up the World Series by the end of September/first week of October.
The short-term thinking of this group of owners astounds me. The national TV deals won't continue to be lucrative if fans are losing interest in your product. The regular season and being able to go to games is what maintains that interest for baseball (especially a sport like baseball where the fandom is so localized).
Poor, unsound management by a significant portion of the people managing professional baseball is a long standing and well entrenched tradition. I don't know why anyone would really expect anything otherwise to suddenly materialize now. It is still thoroughly disappointing, though.
In past labor disputes I think you could at least somewhat equally blame the players. In this case I'm not seeing it. It's pretty much all on the owners, working to ruin their own game.
Contributed to, in part, by the anti-trust exemption carved out by Federal Baseball Club v. National League.
A tradition…unlike any other.
CAL
Good things happen to those who can beat more than 25% of their conference opponents?
https://twitter.com/Con_Chron/status/1499086126736285700
Go Bears!!!