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author

Alumni Wine Club followup. A couple weeks back, I posted about how the Cal Alumni wine club shipped their spring bottles with UC-Davis stickers. Over the weekend, I received a snail mail from the fulfiller(not from the Alumni association itself), apologizing for the error and including 4 Cal stickers.

Overall, I'm not impressed by this Alumni Association venture. Out of the 6 bottles we've drank so far, 2 have been very good, but 2 have been subpar. It's also not hooking me in to the Cal affinity aspect of it, quite yet. I'm going to give it another quarterly shipment, and hope maybe a summer in-person wine gathering may help.

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Buy some wine from me! I have 100's of bottles, went a bit nuts in 2020

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You silly

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French Laundry

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Once I'm employed again, it'll be on the list to make reservations. And eventually Noma as well.

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Thomas Keller is the chef of French Laundry. Keller acquired the restaurant, which used to be the Magnolia hotel in 1994. The restaurant is named after the "French Laundry" that used to be on the site when it was a boarding house run by John Lande. Sure, Lande was French - but also the term French Laundry has this meaning:

https://twitter.com/HowardKushlan/status/1515766701916229633

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Not terribly surprising.

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Oh that's horrible. I had no idea. I'm surprised Keller chose to keep the name.

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Quordle

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I still play them but I think I care more about Duotrigordle (solving 32 Wordles simultaneously) since they added clock. Came close (by about 11 seconds) but has not yet beat it under 4 minutes.

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Quordle and octordle both have me hooked. Wordle is for amateurs.

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Apr 18, 2022·edited Apr 18, 2022

I guess I'm an amateur then: I do kill at worldle at least. Also, I hate Scrabble.

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Just tried Octordle for the first time. Man that's a long page. I got 7 out of 8, but couldn't finish the last one.

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I haven't tried that but I think No 2 and 3 play them. Maybe I'll have to add it to hte list.

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I take finishing the Quordle more seriously than Wordle. I get frustrated when I can't get Quordle but not so much when I can't get Wordle.

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I have now played 971 practice games on Quordle and at 72%

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My current Quordle stats.

55

Played

87

Win %

6

Current

Streak

14

Max

Streak

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Daily Octordle #84

7️⃣🕚

5️⃣🕛

🔟4️⃣

9️⃣6️⃣

octordle.com

Not sure what happened in the two top right. 11 and 12.

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What's the difference between the practice games and the real one? I guess they just don't count?

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There's only 1 game per day, so I play the practice so that I can play more than once per day. They still keep track for all the practice games, but don't count towards the once a day game stats.

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ahh..separate counts. That's a good idea. I may have to try those.

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Almost hurt myself by word hunting. Got 4 of the letters correctly on the first guess and there were at least 4 other words that could be made by them. I tried to guess one of them but was wrong. Almost went for another guess before stopping myself and working on the other ones.

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GRA_E...took me 5 tries to get the one missing letter. I hate these.

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Wish we had a spoiler option. I missed on guess 1 and 2. Then went onto others. I think I ruled out everything but 2 words by the last 2 guesses so luckily I didn't need to guess between multiple words on the last guess.

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Signs

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Wisconsin couple's love of signs goes one too far

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/W6547-Woodland-Pass-Onalaska-WI-54650/210097330_zpid/

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I want to know about the supersized microwave.

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Oh wow I had to go back and see that. So I guess that's a 36 or 42" wide? Never seen that before.

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I can't find the sign, but that's an expensive house for Onalaska.

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Bedroom

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I see it now

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Took me a minute to find it, but it was well worth it

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Brush and Floss? ;)

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Heh, just inspired by Dallas

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Substack problems.

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Weird...may last few replies don't show up after I hit post.

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Although this one did. Maybe it was because I refreshed before posting this thread.

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Who was the last Cal player to be on an Olympic men's basketball team?

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Apr 18, 2022Liked by Ruey Yen, SGBear

I'm going to guess Max Zhang. Since the question doesn't specify for the US.

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Correct.

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What's he up to nowadays?

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Plays for the Tianjin Pioneers.

https://www.proballers.com/basketball/player/51202/zhang-zhaoxu

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Wow...34 years old.

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Wow...34 years old.

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Wow...34 years old.

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Jason Kidd?

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Who was Cal's only Pac-12/10/8 Men's Basketball Coach of the Year?

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Ben Braun

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I knew Braun had won it (and no one since), but I didn't realize that he's the only one to have won this.

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I would've thought maybe MM in 2010.

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I think Montgomery didn't get that much credit for Cal winning the Pac because Cal was the preseason pick. Jerome Randle was the Player of the Year though.

Looked it up, Herb Sendek got the award because ASU finished 2nd when they were preseason 7th in the Pac.

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Correct.

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Buick

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Is anyone buying these? I was thinking Matthew McConnaughey was the spokesperson, but then I remembered that was for Lincoln (another suffering old brand).

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Was it Shaq that was in Buick commercials? Or was it Tiger? I remember there was some athlete that was promoting buick but I think they showed up in an event and wasn't driving a Buick.

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It was Tiger. They paid him one zillion dollars to try to make the un-coolest brand of car cool. Didn't really seem to work out.

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I wonder how much longer they're going to last in the American Domestic Market. They're doing great in China, however, so they're probably not in danger of going under.

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The GL8 Minivan is synonymous with a luxury multiple person vehicle

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As long as GM can keep badge engineering crossovers they theoretically could keep plugging away here.

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Q

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in Star Trek Next Generation, played by John De Lancie. Saw him at Dino Computers in Pasadena. Wondered if his family was related to the street.

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I remember him in Days of Our Lives. My sister watched growing up and then I watched some with my ex between classes at Cal.

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Q - the gadget quartermaster of James Bond fame - was never in the original Ian Fleming novels. The character was created as a screen adaptation and was my favorite part of the Roger Moore era movies. "Pay attention, Bond"

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Anon

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Stripes

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A pretty good movie, parts of which have not aged well - saw it for the fist time a few years ago. And in general I find that watching a movie "out of its time" can be problematic.

Of course that depends on the movie.

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Do you like gladiator movies?

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I think you're the greatest, but my Dad says you don't work hard enough on defense. And he says that lots of times, you don't even run down court. And that you don't really try, except during the playoffs.

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Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes!

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The hell I don’t

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Now that one is timeless.

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The guys in the car club call me cruiser.

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Loved this movie when I was a teen. So many quotable lines.

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"That's a fact, Jack!"

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So just keep your meat hooks off. If I catch any of you guys in my stuff, I'll kill ya...

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My name's Francis Sawyer. But all of my friends call me Psycho. Any of you call me Francis, I'll kill ya...

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"Lighten up, Francis."

- Sgt. Hulka

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author

What did you have for Easter supper?

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Made fish tacos. It was my best job of homefrying the fish ever. I usually overcook it.

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Ham, mashed potatoes, corn, yams, peas, cranberry salad.

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Had planned on ham with roasted spuds, but had such a good seafood lunch we skipped dinner and saved the ham dinner for tonight (really good), an especially good decision since cold rain wiped out my umpiring assignment this evening.

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Roasted Pork Loin, with red onions & apples, sides of roasted sweet potatoes and a baguette with compound butter. Paired with a 2016 Vietti Barolo; Strawberry & rose macaroons for afters. First time my daughter has made macaroons in a while.

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Vietnamese carryout

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Smoked turkey breast. It turned out great, although next time I think I'd do a little less salt in the brine (it was a mix of pickling salt, pepper, minced garlic, worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar) or brine it for a shorter length of time (I had it in the brine for about 20 hours).

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Mrs Slug and I swear by kosher salt. It's very subtle but serves as a perfectly acceptable vehicle for the other flavors. Brine for 24 hours.

1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 gallon of cold water. Brown sugar sounds like an interesting substitute. We may have to try it for T'giving this year.

Our brine recipe also includes oranges, apples, celery, juniper berries, star anise, whole cloves.

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Pork chops marinated in pear juice, gojuchang, soy sauce, sauteed broccoli and tuna noodle casserole. It was a normal Sunday since we don't celebrate Easter.

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Quiche Lorraine which I prepared.

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DBD AV Club

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Watched "Dog" last night. Made (reminded) me to think about how the mind works after what both the man Ranger and the dog Ranger goes through some times.

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Watched Birdman Saturday night, I thought it was great - 17/19 WB

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Can you guess the last two films I watched based on a quote from each?

Film 1 "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter."

Film 2 "You know somethin', Utivich? I think this just might be my masterpiece!"

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1: Maltese Falcon - took me a while.

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Correct, the stuff that dreams are made of.

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2: Inglourious Basterds (a very quotable movie)

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That's a bingo!

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One of the single greatest performances of all time....Christoph Waltz as Col Hans Landa....just a surefire Oscar winner from the moment you saw the movie.

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Fuck Boston!

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Two presidents with their respective Easter messages in their own styles

https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1515720602010726406

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‘Defend democracy’: Dems launch massive recruiting push for local election officers

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/18/democrats-recruiting-push-local-election-officers-00025733

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PRO

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author

FIRST, HE JOY RIDIN' AN INURY CART. NOW HE RIDIN' A ZAMBONI THAT HE PARTIALLY OWNS!

https://twitter.com/NFLonCBS/status/1516066583206060032

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FTFSGB:

National Treaure, Marshawn Lynch: NHL team owner

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Roki Sasaki - 20 yr old pitcher in Japan, pulled after 8 perfect innings, 102 pitches. Why is that a big news? He pitched a perfect game just a week ago and this would have been two in a row.

The catcher is an 18 yr old first year rookie out of High School and the battery combines for 38 years of age. They received 38 boxes of Japanese snacks from the team's owner for the achievement.

https://the-ans.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/16002421/e4e50243784a7b8deb6dbc04df67ad82.jpg

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Filthy

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author

Sounds like a great promotional giveaway opportunity. First 100 fans get a free cat.

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Could take into the 3rd game to reach that quota.

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Jaylen Brown and the Celtics win a thriller over Brooklyn

https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1515814783756509186

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This was a great game. Celtics up big, Kyrie takes over and flips the double bird, and then good passing to get Tatum the game winning layup.

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Dubs cruise to victory in their playoff opener

https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1515528446486540289

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Man, what a find Jordan Poole has been. Between him and Kuminga it's looking like a nice foundation for the next good Warriors team.

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Moody also looks promising.

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Yup. And who knows, maybe Wiseman can get healthy and start giving them something. Some pretty good options for whenever Steph/Klay/Dray are done.

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Game #10: A’s hang tough despite errors in 4-3 loss

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/4/17/23029407/game-10-oakland-as-toronto-blue-jays-score-result

The Oakland A’s fell just short of a victory on Sunday, but they brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the 9th inning and came a few feet shy of some pretty fun deja vu.

The A’s lost 4-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays, narrowly dropping the series rubber match at the Rogers Centre. A couple of defensive errors by Oakland’s new infield helped make the difference on the scoreboard, but nevertheless the hungry club battled down to their final at-bat.

Like on Friday, this is the kind of competitive loss you can accept from a rebuilding team. A win would be even cooler, but the mistakes were more like growing pains and they did some good things along the way.

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Thairo Estrada (and the Giants) rout Guardians to complete sweep, 8-1

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2022/4/17/23029492/mlb-scores-recap-san-francisco-giants-cleveland-guardians

Some games are just absolutely perfect. They feature almost no mistakes from either the offense or defense. They’re the kind of lazy Sunday games you throw on in the background while meal-prepping for the week, casually following along on the radio without the same strict tension that might affect other games; the closer ones. You’re not ungrateful for the closer games that make your heart pound and blood rush, because they keep you alive, but sometimes, on a cold Sunday morning (first pitch in Cleveland was at 35 degrees), this kind of game is the perfect balm for the soul.

The San Francisco Giants beat the Cleveland Guardians, 8-1, off the back of another strong starting pitching performance from Alex Wood (5.0+ IP, 0 R/ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K). But the real hero of this game was the offense, and the real hero of the offense was Thairo Estrada.

A brief run down of Estrada’s season so far: he had a majestic home run in the first game of the season to tie the ballgame when the Giants were down in the bottom of the ninth. Since then, his bat had been rather quiet, his average dipping below .200 and his OPS+ down to 65 during yesterday’s game, but he’s made up for that with generally great defense at 2B. Estrada was acquired from the Yankees during the 2021 season for cash considerations after a DFA.

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author

What happens if you hang a change-up center-outside to Brandon Belt?

https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1515779865483567113

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Andrew Heaney’s strong performance closes out Dodger sweep over Reds

https://www.truebluela.com/2022/4/17/23029424/andrew-heaneys-strong-performance-closes-out-dodger-sweep-over-reds

When Andrew Heaney made his successful Dodger debut last Tuesday, it was fair to wonder how he would do now that his new slider was no longer a secret to the MLB world. After today’s start, you can put that worry aside for now.

Heaney continued the Dodgers strong starting pitching as he and the Dodgers beat the Reds 9-1 on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. The win gave the Dodgers their first four-game home sweep of the Reds since April 17, 1975, 47 years to today. It also extended the Dodgers winning streak to six games.

Heaney pitched six scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He walked three and struck out 11. If it wasn’t for Clayton Kershaw’s perfect seven inning start, Heaney would be the logical choice for Dodger pitcher of the week.

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Glad the rotation is looking better. Urias recovered from his disastrous opener as well. Also nice that the lineup is clicking.

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Although I will have to say that so far Heaney has pitched to two teams that don't seem to hit very well. Twins can't hit the lefty slider and the Reds just can't hit. His next start will be against the Pads so I think that will be where we see if he's for real or not.

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So far not a lot of power, but they're making contact and getting hits. Austin Barnes is the team leader in HRs!!

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Freeman is a notorious 2nd half hitter, as well...they're going to be so tough.

Toronto v Doyers would be a fun World Series

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Agree, Toronto is a team I'm excited about (and not just because I have family there).

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Doyers and Jays are really the only teams that can score runs.

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That back-to-back-to back was pretty sweet, though.

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Bellinger is really starting to look comfortable. As long as the pitch isn't up in the zone. Laying off pitches on the edges, for the most part.

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The NL West has 5 teams with a winning record. So does the American League.

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4 teams. Arizona does not have a good record.

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D'backs are awful. Watched the Mets game yesterday - never seen a team take so many pitches over the heart of the plate in hitters counts...it was unbelievable....have no idea what they're approach must have been.

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Counting is hard.

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Giants showing last year wasn't a fluke. The big surprise is the Rockies. Although I don't think they can keep it up.

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I like to give it to mid-May before I make any pronouncements. When you're only 9 or 10 games into a 162-game season, it's hard to make any definitive statements. Although, yeah, it does appear that the Dodgers and Giants have picked up where they left off last year.

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2 more months before the Padres fall hard.

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Apr 19, 2022·edited Apr 19, 2022

Isn't that about the time Tatis is due back from the IL?

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Their pitching has been better than their hitting so their problem seemed more solvable than the opposite. But, yeah, they won't sustain it.

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Elsewhere in college

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Apr 18, 2022·edited Apr 18, 2022Author

[BASE] #8 Virginia @ Pitt. Pitt up by one run in the bottom on the fifth. Bases loaded no outs with Virginia pitching.

https://twitter.com/UVABaseball/status/1515777867346432001

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That would be great if the 1B did that on purpose to get the runner on 3rd to run home.

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Seven college football coaches under the most pressure entering the 2022 season

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/seven-college-football-coaches-under-the-most-pressure-entering-the-2022-season/

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If Wilcox gets Cal to the ever elusive Sun Bowl, I look for Knowlton to offer JW a lifetime contract...

Gimme El Paso, damnit.

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Today in Covid

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Got the 2nd booster, since its been over 6 months since the last dose of Pfizer. Least amount of effects yet (and it hasn't been a problem previously for me).

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Got a firmwide email this morning from mgmt with a bunch of bright line stats on how we are doing adhering to our new RTO policy which has the word “flexible” in it but is all about making you come in the office as much as mgmt thinks they can get away with in the current environment. Orwell lives!

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An instant classic in the area of “how it started / how it’s going”

https://twitter.com/kgreifeld/status/1515740332469755914?s=21&t=p7OdurieFXn6Hz3Atd_UMQ

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I have Covid. Finally got around to testing positive yesterday, 'bout time.

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Feel better!

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CAL

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Go Bears!!!

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[Rugby] #1 Cal beats #7 Central Washington in the quarterfinals. Next up, Cal will face #2 St. Mary's on the 23rd. The Gaels squeaked past BYU. On the other side of the quarters, it's #3 Army vs. #4 Lindenwood.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/4/16/bears-defeat-central-washington.aspx

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Does #1 play #2 because they're trying to keep the quarters regional regardless of seeding? I think I remember hearing something about this.

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Yeah, they have decided to make it regional until the championship since the last time this championship was held (which was back in 2019).

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[SB] Bears win first two games of series, drop the finale to some private school in southeast Menlo Park.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/4/16/softball-cal-drops-series-finale.aspx

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[MTen] Cal loses 4-1 to some mid-Peninsula Junior University

https://calbears.com/news/2022/4/16/mens-tennis-no-45-cal-falls-in-big-slam.aspx

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[BASE] Bears (18-17) fall behind 4-1 in the sixth, come roaring back and win 7-4 to take the road series from Wazzu (13-21)

https://calbears.com/news/2022/4/16/baseball-bears-rally-to-take-road-series.aspx

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[MGym] Cal comes in fifth in NCAA Championship. Second through fourth place wer Nebraska, Illinois, & Penn State. Some school named after a robber-baron/racist-governor's dead child won the national championship and it wasn't even close.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=406062

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Cal is ranked No.9 in the country and finished 5th in the first of two sessions. Each session has 6 teams, so this is kind of right in line as the rankings (which is based on average team scores).

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[LAX] Bears trailed UC Davis 15-10 with 7:36 to go - come roaring back with six straight goals, including the winner with 40 seconds left to double their win total for the year.

https://calbears.com/news/2022/4/16/lacrosse-what-a-win-big-comeback-lifts-cal-over-uc-davis.aspx

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