A friend of mine in college and I had the same roommate in successive years from Dubuque. You remember that Churchill quote “a modest man with much to be modest about”? He didn’t realize he should be modest. Stiffed me on money at the end of the year, the bastard.
One of my employer's largest locations is Des Moines. We employ something like 5 or 6% of all the adults in greater Des Moines. Therefore, occasionally, I have to show up there. I can't say there's anything to recommend it, but it's not the worst place I've been either.
Not particularly either. Lots of various functions -- loan underwriting, product management and development, data centers, call centers, financial advisors, you name it. The business is super distributed -- I think there are 5 cities with more than 15,000 employees in them.
My grandfather was in the US Army when WWII broke out. It was the reason why my grandfather, grandmother, my dad and aunt were not sent to an internment camp. He was assigned to work at a POW camp for Germans soldiers in Iowa. We have a small envelope of wartime currency including Nazi Reichsmark and some currency from the occupied territories across Europe. I don't know much about their time there and everyone who was there has passed. I do know that my grandmother was miffed because she had to ride in the back of the bus in Iowa because they were "colored" in Iowa, but not in California.
Don't know why but I often find myself rooting for Iowa in football and basketball. Usually I have a reason for liking a team but not with Iowa. Maybe it's the unis.
Hmmm. A solidly competent and mildly boring state school. Occasional windows of being elite, never bottom-of-the-barrel. Excels at a few other the lower-tier sports. I think we'd all take that right now.
I went to Des Moines once for business, meeting a friend-of-a-friend. The odd part was that we both lived in Singapore, so setting up a meeting in Des Moines was... beyond weird.
Drove through twice going eastbound across the country. The 2nd time No 1 and I stayed in Iowa City. Seemed like a nice town. No 1 was offered full funding for MA and PhD but opted to go to Western MA college for MA and ended up at UPenn for PhD. So I guess it worked out better??
Heh, as were mine - spent a few awesome summer vacations on the grandparents farm. Hacking new trails, building bridges, catching frogs, learning to use the lathe.
Cal shows up as part of March Madness-- with Oski in a co-starring role in a mascot-based Marriott Bonvoy commercial. Loved getting to see his high-step walk center stage at the end. Must be a Cal grad high up in the Bonvoy marketing group!
Agreed. I feared it might be the case, but remember thinking there was a cool scene in the tv preview, and I didn’t have time for Team Edward Batman...that’s next up!
NASCAR going to enter a next gen stock car into Le Mans. Last time NASCAR raced at Le Mans in 1976, they only lasted two laps and were in second to last place before blowing a piston.
Bummer. I watch the recent Big Game there after not stepping foot in that place for years. It served a particular function. I guess the kids still have Kip's for making bad choices.
Innnnnteresting. It says the former owner is now the owner of Cornerstone, which is the only music venue where I had tickets that canceled a concert during Covid and refused to issue refunds.
Eh, they must have been responding to something, but it's just BS for SFGate to label the place without any explanation at all. As though it's just "understood".
"The bar also been marred by plenty of controversy in the past decade, including accusations of discriminatory hiring practices and losing its liquor license after multiple reported incidents of selling alcohol to minors in 2018."
I really like Wilcox and hope he leads us to the promised land but still don't understand the length of the extension we gave a coach who's got a .500 record in four full years and under .500 counting '20.
So as I understand it, most programs do at least four-year extensions for existing coaches unless they're planning on getting rid of them soon. The reason is that it hurts recruiting if it looks like the current coach is about to be out the door. When it comes time to fire him, the donors just buy out the rest. This is standard; same thing happened with Dykes.
If you don't think Wilcox is good or think he should be paid less, that's one thing. But I don't think the length is unusual.
Looking at some of the other conference salaries for context, but that would put him in the range of where Cristobal was last year and above Henning. Put up or shut up time. It's wild just how much of a gap ($3 million) there is between Shaw and the next guy (Kelly).
Good to know we have that kind of scratch. I like Wilcox, but I will need to see more. And this kinda makes me wonder if we couldn't / shouldn't be a little more ambitious with this position.
My problem with that approach is that it sounds like just throwing money at hot names in the hope that the program takes off. The problem since 1952 has been, and remains, the restrictions that the administration puts on football. If the administration decided tomorrow to get out of the way of the football program and actually supported it with robust academic support, facilities, and faculty who aren't hostile to athletics, then you might see a program that could realistically become a perennial Pac-12 contender.
Cal has made vast improvements in facilities in the last twelve years. The SAHPC is a world of difference from what Cal had in Tedford’s earliest years, to say nothing of what it was like for Bruce Snyder. But even so, we still don’t have multiple fields to work with and we don’t have a covered facility, which many perennial national contenders do have.
Wilcox fits the model of a head coach desired by Cal’s administration both from a PR perspective and from a competitive perspective. If he ends up having the success of Tedford (from ’02 through ’08) or Snyder (’90 and ’91), that will be all gravy.
I don't disagree with you about the impediments to success and I'm not advocating to let go of Wilcox or anything like that. I like Wilcox and what he represents and I want to see him be "the guy". But with each of these cycles, we're generally mining from a very limited pool--not only because of fit (is he the type of guy that can stay content with all of these limitations and bureaucracy?) but also because of perceived penury. There is always risk of in hiring a coach, but if you can sets your sights higher, you may be able to limit at least some of that risk theoretically. We're now paying Wilcox like he's an established winner. Whether he becomes one I think is still very much a role of the dice. We know he can represent and deal with the frustrating peculiarities of this particular post, and I agree that counts for quite a lot. But I'd love it if during the next coaching cycle--whether for football or basketball--we maybe not limit ourselves and be stronger out of the gate with resources if there are coaches we may want to engage with in a tier above what we are generally accustomed.
Knowlton and the administration apparently view winning as an ancillary benefit.
I also like Wilcox as a person, and am seriously rooting for him...I have serious doubts about his ability to achieve even Tedford-level on-field success, however. There’s nothing dynamic about anything he does, on either side of the ball.
If he starts signing the occasional elite player and begins landing classes in the top third of the P12, he may eventually build a consistent winner in the style he has chosen to play, but he has yet to show that he’s capable of that, especially on the offensive end. His style relies on winning the battles in the trenches, at the LOS, and his kids have yet to show they can do that. Hope something changes, but a couple of plays every year figures to be the difference between 5-7 and 7-5...
I think the defense has been pretty dynamic at times. I think our model is probably Utah and Stanford. Not saying we'll get there, but you can have success playing that style. If we trend up even a little in the win column, I think we could get a little momentum on the recruiting trail, but I have reservations that will translate on the offensive side of the ball unless/until we show we can win with some consistency.
Nothing as stereotypical as y'all, cheddar & beef pie (daughter made the crust) paired with a 2014 Fonterutoli Chianti Classico, various Islay scotch afterwards (starting with Talisker).
Irish themed dinner - boiled cabbage and potatoes w/ some arctic char baked in butter paired w/ a stout from the local brewery since i didnt go get Guinness.
I really enjoy arctic char, but I don't often see it in grocery stores around here. Before we left CA our local Trader Joe's always had it, so it was part of our regular rotation.
Iowa
A friend of mine in college and I had the same roommate in successive years from Dubuque. You remember that Churchill quote “a modest man with much to be modest about”? He didn’t realize he should be modest. Stiffed me on money at the end of the year, the bastard.
One of my employer's largest locations is Des Moines. We employ something like 5 or 6% of all the adults in greater Des Moines. Therefore, occasionally, I have to show up there. I can't say there's anything to recommend it, but it's not the worst place I've been either.
Is it a call center or something like that? Or a payment processing place?
Not particularly either. Lots of various functions -- loan underwriting, product management and development, data centers, call centers, financial advisors, you name it. The business is super distributed -- I think there are 5 cities with more than 15,000 employees in them.
Is this heaven?
No. It's Iowa.
My grandfather was in the US Army when WWII broke out. It was the reason why my grandfather, grandmother, my dad and aunt were not sent to an internment camp. He was assigned to work at a POW camp for Germans soldiers in Iowa. We have a small envelope of wartime currency including Nazi Reichsmark and some currency from the occupied territories across Europe. I don't know much about their time there and everyone who was there has passed. I do know that my grandmother was miffed because she had to ride in the back of the bus in Iowa because they were "colored" in Iowa, but not in California.
One of the 4 states I have not been to.
I traveled through Iowa on an Amtrak train (California Zephyr) out of Chicago during Spring Break 1984 (I think). It was during a snowstorm.
Don't know why but I often find myself rooting for Iowa in football and basketball. Usually I have a reason for liking a team but not with Iowa. Maybe it's the unis.
Hmmm. A solidly competent and mildly boring state school. Occasional windows of being elite, never bottom-of-the-barrel. Excels at a few other the lower-tier sports. I think we'd all take that right now.
Are you a Steelers fan?
Nope. Niners.
"Iowa" - an exceptional song by Dar Williams.
"But way back where I come from, we never mean to bother,
We don't like to make our passions other peoples concern,
And we walk in the world of safe people, and at night we walk into our houses and burn."
Iowa drivers acronym == Idiots Out Wandering About.
Growing up in Nebraska, we had plenty of lame Iowa jokes.
https://www.raygunsite.com/products/ohio-1
My maternal g'pa was raised in Ft. Dodge and went to Iowa on the GI bill. They were regularly our second rooting interest behind Cal as a youth.
I went to Des Moines once for business, meeting a friend-of-a-friend. The odd part was that we both lived in Singapore, so setting up a meeting in Des Moines was... beyond weird.
Drove through twice going eastbound across the country. The 2nd time No 1 and I stayed in Iowa City. Seemed like a nice town. No 1 was offered full funding for MA and PhD but opted to go to Western MA college for MA and ended up at UPenn for PhD. So I guess it worked out better??
Both of my parents were born and raised in Iowa. Spent many, boring summer vacations there visiting grandparents.
Heh, as were mine - spent a few awesome summer vacations on the grandparents farm. Hacking new trails, building bridges, catching frogs, learning to use the lathe.
Where my sister lives. Only place out of the area I've visited since covid took over.
Ukraine
Meanwhile, in Russia
https://twitter.com/EJ_Burrows/status/1504810608927121425
An interesting follow-up by the BBC
https://twitter.com/BBCWillVernon/status/1504838568514052098
A No-Fly Zone has been created over Ukraine... by Russia
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1504719563723878400
pqtm
https://twitter.com/RobbySlowik/status/1501248222265843716
Oh Lord
https://twitter.com/benlewismedia/status/1504048686766211073
That is the absolute worst thing a peaceful person could do. No empathy, no attempt at helping refugees in the here and now, simply unbelievable.
Today in our crumbling brackets
USF put up a great effort but fell to Murray St. in a very entertaining game.
Is it just me, or have the basketballs been an unusually bright orange in this year's tourney?
This was the moment they trained for.
https://twitter.com/CBSSports/status/1504620851903180818
Save the cheerleader, save the game.
I saw this and it's been the best moment so far.
Matt Bradley throws up a brick on a one-and-one with 6 seconds left, SDSU loses
Today in our crumbling democracy
Cal shows up as part of March Madness-- with Oski in a co-starring role in a mascot-based Marriott Bonvoy commercial. Loved getting to see his high-step walk center stage at the end. Must be a Cal grad high up in the Bonvoy marketing group!
Link for the lazy: https://twitter.com/MarriottBonvoy/status/1504161794469859337
House votes to suspend normal trade relations with Russia, 424-8. The eight are Boebert, Massie, Gaetz, Biggs, Greene, Bishop, Roy and Grothman.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5006540/house-votes-suspend-normal-trade-relations-russia-424-8
I'm too lazy to research on my own. Do they give a rationale for their vote?
Russian $$
I take that vote to be good news. The lunatic fringe of the GQP is being isolated. Or at least I hope so.
A fifth column to be sure....
Under Trump, DHS directed to probe bogus claims about voter fraud
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/18/trump-dhs-bogus-claims-voter-fraud-00018365
Elsewhere in college
[WBB] Oh sheez. Howard Bison vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401414482
DBD AV Club
Went to my first movie in 2 years...experience was the same...movie was kinda lame.
What movie?
Uncharted...Tom Holland & Mark Wahlberg.
It fit the time slot. Not a whole lot of movies are even available to be seen before 4 pm in Santa Barbara...kind of a bummer.
I was gonna say, probably not the greatest of choices for your first movie back.
Agreed. I feared it might be the case, but remember thinking there was a cool scene in the tv preview, and I didn’t have time for Team Edward Batman...that’s next up!
Pro
Deshaun Watson traded to Browns, every penny guaranteed.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1504911016139841538?s=20&t=3_PwyZGv9mXuyE0XjcF1Ng
NASCAR going to enter a next gen stock car into Le Mans. Last time NASCAR raced at Le Mans in 1976, they only lasted two laps and were in second to last place before blowing a piston.
https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2022/03/17/nascar-hendrick-motorsports-team-up-for-special-le-mans-entry-in-2023/
Bills improve their Covid mitigation chances by releasing Cole Beasley.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33526606/buffalo-bills-release-wr-cole-beasley-not-finding-trade-partner
Devante Adams trade to Raiders. The only thing that would make this more delicious is if the Packers drafted another QB.
A COMMITMNT TO EXCELLENCE
Untraditional Excellence
[Wojo] Steph Curry out for rest of regular season
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1504492653425086470
Cal
Pappy's is no more.
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/controversial-Berkeley-bar-Pappys-closed-17010012.php
Bummer. I watch the recent Big Game there after not stepping foot in that place for years. It served a particular function. I guess the kids still have Kip's for making bad choices.
Controversy?
I, for one, raise an eyebrow if someone unprompted says that they're committed to diversity.
Innnnnteresting. It says the former owner is now the owner of Cornerstone, which is the only music venue where I had tickets that canceled a concert during Covid and refused to issue refunds.
Eh, they must have been responding to something, but it's just BS for SFGate to label the place without any explanation at all. As though it's just "understood".
There's explanation in the piece though.
"The bar also been marred by plenty of controversy in the past decade, including accusations of discriminatory hiring practices and losing its liquor license after multiple reported incidents of selling alcohol to minors in 2018."
Some of my best friends raise an eyebrow.
Some of my best friends are diverse.
Go Bears!!!
Wilcox' $4.75 million annual salary revealed...
I really like Wilcox and hope he leads us to the promised land but still don't understand the length of the extension we gave a coach who's got a .500 record in four full years and under .500 counting '20.
Isn't the length pretty standard for current head coaches?
If so that still doesn't explain how Wilcox warrants it.
So as I understand it, most programs do at least four-year extensions for existing coaches unless they're planning on getting rid of them soon. The reason is that it hurts recruiting if it looks like the current coach is about to be out the door. When it comes time to fire him, the donors just buy out the rest. This is standard; same thing happened with Dykes.
If you don't think Wilcox is good or think he should be paid less, that's one thing. But I don't think the length is unusual.
Makes sense.
Looking at some of the other conference salaries for context, but that would put him in the range of where Cristobal was last year and above Henning. Put up or shut up time. It's wild just how much of a gap ($3 million) there is between Shaw and the next guy (Kelly).
Yup. Methinks this is a very generous compensation package given the lackluster performance in conference play.
Good to know we have that kind of scratch. I like Wilcox, but I will need to see more. And this kinda makes me wonder if we couldn't / shouldn't be a little more ambitious with this position.
My problem with that approach is that it sounds like just throwing money at hot names in the hope that the program takes off. The problem since 1952 has been, and remains, the restrictions that the administration puts on football. If the administration decided tomorrow to get out of the way of the football program and actually supported it with robust academic support, facilities, and faculty who aren't hostile to athletics, then you might see a program that could realistically become a perennial Pac-12 contender.
Cal has made vast improvements in facilities in the last twelve years. The SAHPC is a world of difference from what Cal had in Tedford’s earliest years, to say nothing of what it was like for Bruce Snyder. But even so, we still don’t have multiple fields to work with and we don’t have a covered facility, which many perennial national contenders do have.
Wilcox fits the model of a head coach desired by Cal’s administration both from a PR perspective and from a competitive perspective. If he ends up having the success of Tedford (from ’02 through ’08) or Snyder (’90 and ’91), that will be all gravy.
I don't disagree with you about the impediments to success and I'm not advocating to let go of Wilcox or anything like that. I like Wilcox and what he represents and I want to see him be "the guy". But with each of these cycles, we're generally mining from a very limited pool--not only because of fit (is he the type of guy that can stay content with all of these limitations and bureaucracy?) but also because of perceived penury. There is always risk of in hiring a coach, but if you can sets your sights higher, you may be able to limit at least some of that risk theoretically. We're now paying Wilcox like he's an established winner. Whether he becomes one I think is still very much a role of the dice. We know he can represent and deal with the frustrating peculiarities of this particular post, and I agree that counts for quite a lot. But I'd love it if during the next coaching cycle--whether for football or basketball--we maybe not limit ourselves and be stronger out of the gate with resources if there are coaches we may want to engage with in a tier above what we are generally accustomed.
Knowlton and the administration apparently view winning as an ancillary benefit.
I also like Wilcox as a person, and am seriously rooting for him...I have serious doubts about his ability to achieve even Tedford-level on-field success, however. There’s nothing dynamic about anything he does, on either side of the ball.
If he starts signing the occasional elite player and begins landing classes in the top third of the P12, he may eventually build a consistent winner in the style he has chosen to play, but he has yet to show that he’s capable of that, especially on the offensive end. His style relies on winning the battles in the trenches, at the LOS, and his kids have yet to show they can do that. Hope something changes, but a couple of plays every year figures to be the difference between 5-7 and 7-5...
I think the defense has been pretty dynamic at times. I think our model is probably Utah and Stanford. Not saying we'll get there, but you can have success playing that style. If we trend up even a little in the win column, I think we could get a little momentum on the recruiting trail, but I have reservations that will translate on the offensive side of the ball unless/until we show we can win with some consistency.
Spill. What would be more ambitious?
I haven't really thought about it, but every coaching cycle we write out guys who we perceive are too expensive. Turns out they're not really.
I like him too. I just hope he gets us to the Promised Land
El Paso, TX on New Years Eve Day = Promised Land
$28.5 million pay package in total, not including many bonus opportunities
DBD Kitchen
Spaghetti and meatballs last night (sauce from a jar with homemade meatballs, we were in a hurry due to an after dinner event)
Nothing as stereotypical as y'all, cheddar & beef pie (daughter made the crust) paired with a 2014 Fonterutoli Chianti Classico, various Islay scotch afterwards (starting with Talisker).
Smoked sausage & four fingers of Irish whiskey. No vegetables. And, yes, I was home alone last night. How could you tell?
Last night: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, Irish soda bread. I'm looking forward to a corned beef on rye sandwich for lunch later today.
Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Potatoes last night.
Making use of a slow cooker has revolutionized my approach to St. Paddy's dinner.
Every year, I get corned beef & cabbage AFTER St. Paddie's Day. They go on sale and it's still delicious.
We have, probably, 7 corned beef briskets in our chest freezer. We're also partial to Reubens. Some things are just too good to not plan for.
Just picked up a Snake River Farms corned beef at Costco this morning!
Good idea.
Yep. I love corned beef, so I may need to stock up.
Irish themed dinner - boiled cabbage and potatoes w/ some arctic char baked in butter paired w/ a stout from the local brewery since i didnt go get Guinness.
was surprisingly good and easy.
I really enjoy arctic char, but I don't often see it in grocery stores around here. Before we left CA our local Trader Joe's always had it, so it was part of our regular rotation.
A Whole Foods around here has it about half the time I go in.
Whole Foods is definitely your best bet for Arctic char
i wasnt sure i would find it either, but there is a nice fish monger inside Grand Central Terminal that has some good variety.