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What are the news sources you pay for?

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NYT, WaPo, Guardian, Chron

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And Apple News, which covers other stuff

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CNBC Pro

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Washington Post, NYT, WSJ, LA Times, SF Chronicle

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Washington Post, NYT for Sunday paper, the Atlantic, does the New Yorker count? Also have an “all in one” sub for Apple services that includes their extended news app, which is how I read stuff from the LA Times and occasionally the WSJ (not the op-Ed section tho)

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WaPo, SF Chron, Berkeleyside.com. My Berkeleyside voluntary subscription is $5/month. Berkeleyside is hands down the best news source, right now, for what's going on in Berkeley.

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NYT, WaPo

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NYT, WaPo, Chron, Merc

Thinking about axing one of the first two.

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NYT, get the physical paper and digital.

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i sort of "pay" for NYT

i called to cancel my print subscription and they advised me to put it on an indefinite hold and get the digital sub for free.

i think that for them to say they have X million print subscribers on the books is still a valuable thing for selling advertising even if they don't collect any $$ from me.

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Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022

Even if you don't make a payment to NYT, you're still paying them for them to use you as a subscriber. I'd bet they're also mining data from their subscribers, of which you are one. So, yeah, you're paying for it.

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agreed. i am cool with that. data is a a legit currency

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in fact at Vox, i am always trying to convince people that we should offer a "value exchange" where we give them premium access or products in exchange for a free login. everyone else is caught up on actual monetary subscriptions.

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NYT, WaPo, and I mooch a Chronicle sub.

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Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022Author

NYT, WaPo, Bloomberg. Cancelled The Economist fairly recently. I should probably buy the local news.

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WFC of course plus NY Times.

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same .. plus VeloNews for pro cycling content

i get WSJ free thru my Cal teaching gig.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Madeline Albright has passed away at the age of 84 according to her family.

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1506702817439928322

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My favorite Albright story was my wife who was organizing a miniature walking meeting w/ her in Singapore that was to last until the elevator door of a building. The question was whether the meeting was just to the button push or until the elevator showed up. Her staff's response back was "Madam Secretary does not wait for elevators". We've been using that phrase ever since whenever there is expedited VIP service.

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That is great!

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Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) said that the states should have kept the right to ban interracial marriage. Tool.

https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1506375171455819777

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Braun gives the game away in his answer -

REPORTER: "You would be okay with the Supreme Court leaving the issue of interracial marriage to the states?"

SEN. MIKE BRAUN (R-IN): "Yes. If you are not wanting the Supreme Court to weigh in on issues like that, you are not going to be able to have your cake and eat it too."

In other words, Braun wants to have his cake and eat it, too. Never mind that the issue of interracial marriage is also an issue of equal protection under the law. You know, a constitutional issue under the 14th Amendment.

Some folks can't be reasoned with.

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Why not slavery?

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Bigots gonna bigot

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Mo Brooks sells his soul, still gets dumped by his crush

https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1506609819268042752

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Down on that thread is a video of Lindsay Graham asking Judge Jackson what her religion is, and when she says Protestant, he asks if she could fairly judge a Catholic. I'd be surprised if he asked Barrett or Kavanaugh if they could fairly judge a Protestant, or God forbid, a Muslim, Hindu, etc.

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Or Gorsuch, who went to the same Catholic prep school as Kavanaugh

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Mark Meadows is under investigation for alleged voter fraud because he claimed to live in a mountainside singlewide

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/23/debra-meadows-appears-have-filed-three-false-voter-forms/

https://www.evatlanta.com/listing-detail/1021748865/495

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I'm shocked that there's voter fraud!

oh, it's a republican, never mind.

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Paul Manafort removed from a Miami to Dubai flight and his passport revoked. Customs & Boarder Protection declined to comment.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/knewz-exclusive-paul-manafort-denied-flight-to-dubai-over-revoked-passport/ar-AAVnzeR

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What an arse. Send him back to jail!

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Dipshit 1/6 insurgent chooses to flee the US rather than face indictment. He gets granted asylum in Belarus. Good luck with that, buddy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60843262

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By Mr. Neumann's measure, anyone in trouble with the law for simple assault could claim political persecution.

What a maroon.

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Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022

Heh...good luck with that buddy.

He added that he has plans "to move my family here," but noted that the decision would ultimately be up to his wife.

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I'm sure she's "oh we'll move as soon as school is over" "ok, kids you are going to summer school this year"

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Ukraine/Russia

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40000 casualties for Russia. Significant attrition!

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Bach Cello Suite #5 in C minor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQHzO11LcKU

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What was Cal's equivalent of the Seahawks throwing on the 1 yard line with Beast Mode in the backfield?

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Burning Pat Barnes's redshirt

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Bob Effing Bockrath not extending Bruce Snyder.

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this was the worst. Cal is in contention for a Natty within a few years I think.

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Mac Brown

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Blocked PAT in the 2020 Big Game. Not the first time either, Stanford blocked a PAT to end regulation in 1988 to preserve a tie that kept the axe on the Farm for another year.

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Shaq Thompson 99 yd fumble for a TD.

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Kevin Riley...too soon?

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Mar 23, 2022Liked by BentPawn

I thought of this too, but the issue with the Seahawk play (for most people) was the play call. There wasn't really an issue with letting Riley try one more pass. The problem was his ad-lib decision to run for it.

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I agree the Seahawks play is really about the play call, not the execution, or any egregious lapse of judgment, situational awareness, or bad refereeing.

What immediately comes to mind to me were the play calls in 2004 vs USC from 1st and Goal at the 9. Watching live, I didn't like throwing into the end zone on 1st down and 3rd downs, and wasnt sure what the design was for the pass play on 2nd down that resulted in a sack. I would've preferred if the first 2 plays were designed to pick up 3-4 yards in bounds potentially to set up a goaline situation and use up some of the clock (or at least get USC to take some timeouts if they had any).

1st and Goal from the 9 yard line, 1:47 on the clock, down 6 points:

play 1 - pass into endzone incomplete

play 2 - sack ~5 yard loss

play 3 - pass into endzone incomplete

play 4 - pass into endzone incomplete (obv, no choice here)

All throws were into the endzone, and at least appeared that nothing was designed for a receiver or RB to get the ball in bounds and make a play with their feet. Then again USC's defense also had a say in the matter.

Don't remember much else from the game or USC's timeout situation. But I do remember that a day or so later after cooling down, I didnt fault Tedford for basically putting the game in Rodgers hands.

Series of final downs starts at 5 minutes here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJNXOr1qC2w#t=5m

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On that first play, it looks like there is an underneath route but it's covered (maybe #5 runs it a little too deep).

2nd down sack really hurts everything after that, looks like something busted on that play.

AR could have dumped it off on 3rd down to gain some of the yardage back from the sack, that may be on him.

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I would add that this game was perhaps the closest thing to our Superbowl in the modern era. I'm not much for hypotheticals, but win that game and we're probably outright Pac champs, playing in the Rose Bowl, and perhaps the arch of Tedford's tenure and the trajectory of the program itself looks different to this day..

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Winning this game wouldn't have sent us to the Rose Bowl, it would have sent us to the National Championship Game. We would have been undefeated in the regular season.

The other turning point is either of the two conference games we lost in 2006, Arizona or USC. Win one and we're in the Rose Bowl that year (since USC got upset by UCLA in the season ender). The many frustrations with that Arizona loss are also catalogued here.

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Yes, but I don't doubt that winning that game would've also changed the outcome of another game for whatever reason.. (i.e. we get cocky and end up getting upset by an AZ or OSU) (a butterfly flaps its wings, etc.) but we still wouldve won the conference outright. I think simply going to a Rose Bowl alone wouldve been seismic for the program, let alone the NCAA championship game.,

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This is the obvious best answer.

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I was thinking the same exact thing. Words and all.

So, no, not too soon.

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The other one I just thought of was Roy Fisher accidentally stepping in-bounds on an inbounds play with Cal barely up in Tucson. Ended up losing.

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More recently, Chase Garbers pass that was tipped and intercepted against OSU in 2020. Should have run the ball.

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It was DeSean, wasn't it?

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Weather

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Was high 50s at Northstar yesterday afternoon. Legit ski in a long sleeve T in the afternoon.

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Was at Tahoe Donner last Fr to Su. Fr was sunny, but icy. Sa was snowy and cold. Su was groomed fresh snow and sunny...perfect ski day!

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Hot hot hot, high 80s/low 90s all week, then rain on Sunday night and all day Monday

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been lovely here this week (if a bit windy). low 80s for the high. Unfortunately it is also allergy season now.

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We've had some pretty nice days but it looks like it's headed for a cooler, windier next week. I made my yearly visit to the cherry blossoms on Monday while it was nice.

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I heard Monday and Tuesday were peak bloom for the cherry blossoms. I hope the overnight freezes this weekend don't kill off all the blooms.

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DBD AV Club

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Why there were so many actor cross-overs by Cheers and Star Trek.

https://scifiward.com/the-surprisingly-strong-link-between-star-trek-and-cheers/

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For most of my life I'd only known Kate Mulgrew as "the ex-wife in Throw Mama from the Train." An underrated flick!

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Whoa <<mind blown gif>>

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Not sure if this fits, but we saw Dua Lipa at The Forum last night. We had floor seats and it was a great show. Both openers were boring, breathy, slow singers, but Dua Lipa put on a 1.5hr dance party with fun visuals and great dancers. She is not a great dancer, but the dance team that she had on stage was super talented, extremely diverse and on many songs stole our attention. One thing that was very evident was that she has bought in 100% on being an overproduced pop star, which good for her and happy for her success, but it came across a tad cringy and definitely corporate at times. She did sing all of her songs very well and boy is she an attractive human being.

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My brother is a fan, as for me, she's attractive enough, but the music's not my cup of tea.

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Applied for a sneak preview pass to see Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7978758/

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Interesting "research"

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The video box makes this film look like a sex romp. Anyone watching this film for sex alone is bound to be disappointed. This is a smart, sensitive film that deals with serious issues such as abortion, protests, independent living and moral conflict. One possible reason for this is "The Student Nurses" was directed by Stephanie Rothman, a woman. Therefore, it ends up being less sleazy and exploitative than if it had been directed by a man. Most exploitation films are sleazy, no brainers. It's great to see an exploitation film that makes you think when you finish seeing it.

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Yeah, but countless utterly rotten and atrocious movies have been made so I'd have some reservations about this one standing out from the rest, without even considering our esteemed colleague Mr. Cugel's thoughtful commentary that would disqualify it from such Hall of Shame consideration.

I'm more interested in this "novel research" cover story for a salacious pulp cinema bender.

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The films inspired by the box office success of this movie may be worse:

"The movie helped establish New World Pictures as a production company and kicked off a cycle of similar films about young women having adventures while doing a familiar job:

nurses – Private Duty Nurses (1971), Night Call Nurses (1972), The Young Nurses (1973), Candy Stripe Nurses (1974);

teachers – The Student Teachers (1973), Summer School Teachers (1974);

stewardesses – Fly Me (1973);

models – Cover Girl Models (1975);

actresses – Hollywood Boulevard (1976)"

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A quick wiki search says that the female director of this movie went to Cal (and studied sociology). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Rothman

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This discussion reminds of a long running discussion in MIT's student newspaper The Tech, back in the 1980s. Week after week after week of thoughful, passionate opinion pieces and letters to the editor probing the philosophical and moral implications of the film "Porky's".

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Porky's is on the short list of movies I inexplicably have never seen, given a certain personal history of revelry for a time. Animal House and Dazed and Confused being the main ones that draw ire from friends.

And then there's the Aykroyd-led feature Doctor Detroit, which only one friend insists I must see.

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I've never seen Porky's either (and am unlikely to) but Dazed and Confused is worth seeing, as is (if for anything cultural impact) Animal House, which is widely perceived as saving fraternities from disappearing.

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Magnetism

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Do women count?

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Mar 23, 2022Liked by SGBear

I know lots of women who are really good in math.

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*golf clap* Well played.

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Cats are sort of fickle to me. Sometimes they want to be petted. Sometimes not.

I don't have a dog but my niece has a Husky that always tries to lick my face.

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Mar 23, 2022·edited Mar 23, 2022

I would guess that most dogs and cats I don't know would give me a 14 or 15 WA (would approach). I know that our dogs and cats would give me a 17 or 18, at least the dogs would. I get howls of joy and back end wiggles from Tigger and Oliver when I arrive home after work among other displays of joy. Not woofs. Howls.

The cats actually want to be petted when I appear nearby, and they almost always purr. If I'm seated, they will often jump into my lap and demand to be petted.

Of course, I love 'em, too.

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Elsewhere in college

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[WBB] Syracuse seniors Chrissy Carr and Chrislyn Carr have entered the transfer portal. They are unrelated.

https://www.syracuse.com/orangewomen/2022/03/syracuse-womens-basketball-seniors-chrislyn-carr-chrissy-carr-to-enter-transfer-portal.html

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Looks like one of our TCU tailgate neighbors got to accidentally meet Arizona's Bennedict Mathurin a bit up close and personal.

https://twitter.com/KyleGAdema/status/1505766427902595073

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Mar 23, 2022Liked by SGBear

she should have thrown his shoes in the tree

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pqtm

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hahahaha

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USC eyes return to glory under Lincoln Riley with superstar transfers tasked to lead quick turnaround

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/usc-eyes-return-to-glory-under-lincoln-riley-with-superstar-transfers-tasked-to-lead-quick-turnaround/

Well maybe, maybe not...

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All these new assistants from OK are going to find the new reality that the players are not stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do when they are not tied down and gives them a much harder time to motivate them to work hard out of practice. "I'm doing my conditioning runs down at the beach today" (with a cooler and car load of coeds).

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University of Southwest Cottondale: Where Legends are Made

https://twitter.com/usc_fb/status/1506475209636790274?s=21

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PRO

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USFL adopting some Calvin Ball rules. Two forward passes from behind the line of scrimmage are allowed. A 3 point XP by scoring from the 10-yard line. Concussions will be a thing again on KO because they'll kick off from the 25, not the 35.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33576564/new-usfl-adds-3-point-conversions-best-three-rule-twists

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The two forward pass rule is dumb because it will make passing to the flats like half of the offensive plays. You'd run two QBs because it's a massive advantage.

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Long time flagship station will no longer carry Commanders games. Snyder is poison.

https://www.audacy.com/theteam980/sports/washington-football-team/team-980-will-not-broadcast-commanders-games-in-2022

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Jets and Dolphins are trying to trade for Tyreek Hill. I don't know if he wants money or championship, but that would be a sad trade for him.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33577941/sources-new-york-jets-miami-dolphins-trade-talks-kansas-city-chiefs-wr-tyreek-hill

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I want GB to get Tyreek and DK

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I can see why KC might not want to trade him to GB, but GB could use some receivers (and the Jets and Dolphins probably can use the picks more).

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Just confirmed Hill to Dolphins for 1st, 2nd, 2x 4th, and 6th round picks. Hill is going to get $120 million/4 years extension.

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That is a LOT of money. The curse of drafting great players. Chiefs probably did the right thing.

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[ESPN] '22 rules include 28 players for 3 weeks (Apr 7-May 1), runner on second for extra innings, and the Shohei Ohtani rule.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33574002/source-mlb-players-association-agree-rule-changes-including-keeping-automatic-runner-second-base-extras

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Ugh I HATE the Manfred Man.

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Boo to the runner rule in extra innings

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I thought that was going away. Boo indeed.

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It's only approved for this year (and only for the regular season), but they are changing a whole bunch of things next year (like the much larger bases...unless things go drastically wrong in the minors this year).

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I can understand why they want to do it to speed up games, but it seems wrong for baseball for some reason.

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They want to minimize the number of pitchers used, but the ghost runner just slows everything down.

The larger base is supposed to make stealing easier although the defense can also take advantage, so it's not clear it will have any of the intended effects.

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Didn't she do this before and went play some pro cricket?

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CAL

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In a blow to the women's basketball team, Daliyah Daniels has entered the transfer portal. As a sophomore last season she'd shown significant improvement.

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Go Bears!!!

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[BASE] Bears use some of their less frequently used pitchers against Cal Poly, the first eight not doing so well with a combined WHIP of nearly 3. Cal Poly wins 14-4.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/3/22/baseball-bears-drop-midweek-contest-to-cal-poly.aspx

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Anybody read the article on another Cal news outlet that Knowlton and Wilcox are definitely planning for the Rose Bowl? Maybe they are on psilocybin.

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Hey man, you gotta put it out in the universe first to manifest it, man

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Good point. Fake it til you make it.

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If you will it, it is no dream.

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pqtm

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I don't think it's at all unrealistic to plan a trip to the Rose Bowl for the 2023 season. We always play UC, Los Angeles there in odd numbered years.

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Heh

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Today in Covid

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the Metro-North (commuter train from Westchester suburbs to NYC) was surprisingly crowded today at 700a. people were standing!

a little bit of not-wanting-to-sit-in-a-middle-seat, but that is the first time i have seen that in coronavirus times.

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I've noticed more traffic when I'm out and about. I heard a story on the news that VA is bringing its employees back to the office. Subway has also been noticeably more crowded, but much of that is probably the cherry blossoms.

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Our county is finally down under 10 new cases per day per 100K residents.

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