[BASE] Cal sweeps Utah (13-1, 18-2, 9-8), securing a berth in the conference playoffs. This, plus an ASU loss vs. Wazzu means the Bears are a six seed and will play #23 UCLA, not an eight seed vs. #3 Stanfurd. Double-elimination tourney in Arizona starts on Wednesday on Pac12 Network.
Church of Latter Day Saints updates the 1833 Doctrine and Covenants - the list God sent the Mormons of foods and substances that were bad to consume. They clarified that green tea, fancy coffee drinks, and vaping are prohibited because tea, coffee, and smoking are already prohibited. Surprisingly, they said medical marijuana is okay. To be clear, the Mormon Church does not prohibit caffeine - hence why Coke and Diet Coke are fine.
I was helping Mrs Slug's sister & BIL move (this was the late 80s/early 90s). A neighbor helped out. I offered him a glass of cold iced tea. He declined, saying, "I don't drink."
I didn't get it immediately, but it stuck with me all these years.
Southern Baptist Church releases big report about how they hid/protected sex abuse by clergy, resisted reform/reform, and lied about their ability to keep a database on clergy offenders.
Good leaper, battled in the air, great body control, giant sticky hands. Even on a 2015 team with Darius Powe, Bryce Treggs, Maurice Harris, Trevor Davis, Steph Anderson, Ray Hudson, and Chad Handsome - he was red zone receiver #1. His highlight reel backs that up.
Gotta love those bittersweet Dykes era passing game highlights, when they flash the score after a nifty touchdown and reveal that the other team is still ahead.
I was gonna add Dawkins. Was the Battle for the Roses the game against the Huskies? If so, I recall a ball slipping through Mike Caldwell's hands in the end zone on our last drive.
And he might have even been short of the goal line, even if he came up with it...Huskies doubled Dawkins...wanna say it went off Treggs' fingertips at the 2 or 3 yardline....
Made Anne Burrell's pasta bolognese over the weekend, about the 10th time or so I've used this recipe. This is easily the best bolognese recipe I've tried. So good with a side of crusty bread.
It seems very simple, but the flavors truly develop over the course of a couple hours. I mix the meat types to get to the 3 lbs...this time used chuck and mild pork italian sausage.
Smoked a brisket yesterday. I'm coming to the conclusion that I prefer beef cuts smoked to lower temperatures (e.g. eye of round, pulled around 130F) over higher temperature cuts of beef (brisket, pulled at 200F).
Not exactly cooking, but I just finished lunch with English muffins and peanut butter. Only to check the WaPo website to see an article that the peanut butter I used is subject to a recall because of a possible salmonella issue. I've used up about a third of the jar and haven't had any problems before so hopefully no problem now.
Peter Pan is better than both. Although they had their own recall from Sam's Club on their huge (like 96 oz) tub. We had one and had most of it done and didn't get sick so I think we just finished it.
My saving grace is that Safeway gave me full retail credit and I'm pretty sure I bought it on sale. Also had used about 1/3 of the jar w/out any ill effects.
kids wanted meatballs and spaghetti so i cooked up some everyday good tomato sauce that consists of onions, canned San Marzano tomatoes, a little red wine and some random sprinkling of herbs and spices.
i think that the simmering for 30-60 min is what makes it good regardless of the specific ingredients.
Wife made Arroz con pollo y chorizo - I paired that with a 2013 Waters Forgotten Hills Syrah that was amazeballs (first time I've had this wine). Daughter made two desserts since she wasn't happy with pound cake she made fresh cherry cobbler w/ whipped cream.
Love Death + Robots S3 (Netflix) - (18/19). Knocked it out of the freaking park. Nine different stories - some funny, some gritty, some Heavy-Metalesque over-the-top. I really loved The Very Pulse of the Machine, Swarm, and Mason's Rats.
I was very happy with this season of LD+R. This was an improvement over season 2. I really liked the ones you mentioned and would also add Bad Traveller to that list. I was surprised to see a continued storyline from season 1 but it was funny and enjoyable.
They also closed with a cover of Ziggy Stardust when I saw them the previous weekend. At some point mid-song Peter tripped over the mic stand and fell, then quickly got up and triumphantly kicked the mic stand over. Then once they closed the show and everyone left the stage, he came running back out and said "Remember, it's not how you fall. It's how you get back up"
Enjoyed the George Carlin documentary on HBO over the weekend. As the cliche goes, he might not have been in a class by himself but it didn't take long to read the roll.
I went in cold, and was mostly mystified about why a convoluted, but easy to follow revenge tale was peppered with all of these random mystical happenings. Afterwards I read about it and then went oh.
It's definitely a movie that's helped by doing a bit of research. I did find it visually compelling the whole way, though. Eggers is an interesting filmmaker.
A fan at an Arkansas baseball game caught a racoon barehanded. Oakland Colosseum officials were reportedly unimpressed at the meager amount of fauna at the game.
Notice the lady with the white blouse and faded jeans. She sees the raccoon being held out in her direction and says, "I'm outta here! Get that thing away from me!"
“There are some concerning trends. We're not seeing name image and likeness activity — we're seeing just straight payments. And I think it's important that we re-center ourselves on what's supposed to be happening here and the desire to keep that activity out of recruitment to benefit young people economically but to do so in a healthy way.” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey
Saban is just mad that his boosters aren’t doing a better job of exploiting NIL. He isn’t against NIL, he is just upset that Bama boosters are falling behind.
Given the new NIL era, I feel like the fiscal capacity of Southern California is one of the reason why Lincoln Riley chose USC. Bama can't compete with that.
Just because USC hasn't been able to maximize the effectiveness of their resources lately doesn't mean their history of doing so multiple times before won't be repeated.
I love the press release announcing that an A&M commit from Philadelphia is not allowed to play in an All Star game because of his NIL contract with A&M. Ummm, I thought NIL contracts werent allowed as an inducement to get players and werent allowed til the player set foot on campus? Barring the states where high schoolers are allowed to do this independently. Pennsylvania is not one of them at present. Awkward....
Milan Lucic - a player with a reputation for nasty play - got 5 minute major for this play. It's debatable whether it was worthy of a 5 minute penalty - but there's no doubt that he violated the unwritten rule of "don't hit the goalie"
They just added two bars in the outfield "riverwalk" this season. It's actually kind of shocking how they did not have that there before this season and only had bars without views before. It's also easier to hang out on top of the bullpen area (and it's just first come, first serve for seats). The concessions under RF are new this year and offer fancier but pricier food. Primanti Bros is a solid choice if you don't already plan on going to the ones in town. The Pulled Pork Pierogi Hoagie is kind of unique but I personally find it to be too much dough (then again, the Primanti bros sandwich has fries in it). Manny Sanguillen has a BBQ place with his name and he's often there if you care to get his autograph (like planned ahead and spend $1 for his old card on eBay).
There are a tons of ticket offers, many with concession values included, there are essentially half-priced tickets (for all except the super premium and club seats) for every game other than Saturday. You can also pretty much move around all over the lower bowl without any ushers bothering you. Parking is cheap and easy on just nearby streets (on both sides of the river) and it's free to park on the street after 6 pm and free on Sundays (most games now start at 6:35 pm) so just pay up to then rather than more for a lot.
Last time I was at PNC Park, I brought back two cups of beer from the concession stand. Wife asks what I got, and I said "Iron City Light." Dude next to us says "you're gonna get the shits" and the guy in front of us turns around to say "yuuuuup." It was peak Pittsburgh.
Whatever. I found it to be delicious and never got the shits. So my recommendation at PNC is to have a goddam Iron City Light. Cheers.
I would love to see a game there. No 1 and myself drove by during covid when I was driving with him back to Philly. Since it was Covid we couldn't go inside and watch a game. However, the stadium looks great. We just stopped by the stadium and Costco to get gas and grab a slice of pizza so I don't have any food recommendations.
If the Dodgers do a Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philly/DC roadtrip I'll fly out and check them out.
Aside from Wrigley and Fenway, which are the absolute gold standard given their tradition, for my money, PNC is at the very top of the list of current MLB ballparks, just ahead of Pac Bell...
He looked like he was having a pretty rough time of it during the 3rd round. The cold weather certainly didn't help. I still don't know how he is able to play 1 round of professional golf, much less 3, after what he went through.
Three goals in five minutes late in the game turned the match - and the title race - on its head as substitute Ilkay Gundogan scored two, either side of Rodri's strike. Liverpool's late win over Wolves meant that only victory would have been enough for City.
It was an extraordinary way to do it, almost as remarkable in its own way as events a decade ago when Sergio Aguero won the title in stoppage-time. City had looked a beaten side when Philippe Coutinho added to Matty Cash's opener midway through the second half.
In a helter-skelter Barcelona race packed with incidents from start to finish, Leclerc had held a comfortable advantage out in front before the pole-sitter suffered a race-ending Ferrari issue on Lap 27.
"No! No! No power!" cried Leclerc on team radio before being called back to the pits.
Verstappen still had a lot to do from there - having dropped down the order following an uncharacteristic early spin before frustration over DRS problems and battles with George Russell - but he overcame the challenges to eventually go on a characteristic charge after three pit-stops.
He finished ahead of Sergio Perez in another Red Bull one-two, although the Mexican was disgruntled over team strategy.
"We'll speak later," Perez told his team afterwards, Perez was unhappy that Verstappen had been put on an eventually preferable strategy, while he was also told not to hold him up when leading in the closing stages.
The gripping Spanish GP also included an impressive podium for Russell in the Mercedes, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton produced an epic recovery drive to fifth following a collision and puncture on the opening lap.
Saw most of the replay, though I missed seeing the opening lap chaos. It was an interesting race on a number of levels, especially for the often formulaistic Formula 1. I'm really coming to appreciate George Russell, and Hamilton proved he can really drive with that surge. I would like to have seen what would happen if there had been a full course caution to get Hamilton a little closer. What they did was more than just their admittedly better than most equipment.
My wholly uninformed opinion is that Russell was doing better than Hamilton in previous races partly because he’s more used to driving bad cars and partly because he’s younger and could better cope with the pounding that the Mercedes was handing out - I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Hamilton was hammering out fastest laps 70% of the way through the first race after they got the porpoising fixed. The various mechanical problems across teams are at least keeping things interesting
Wiggins MASSIVE DUNK over Luka ... enroute to 3-0 lead.
that was one of the most impressive things i have seen in a while. add in a couple timely long distance 3s from Curry and Poole, and it looks like the W's are well on their way to the NBA Finals.
not sure if Boston or Miami would be a better matchup. looks like a toss up right now.
I was so happy when they reviewed the foul, Wiggs did nothing with his off arm, it was just right in front of him. Also Wiggs playing like the All Star he was in the first half of the season is great to see. Locking down the biggest offensive threat throughout the past two series.
Mavs' have pretty good 3-point shooters across the board - but you can't win if you have four guys combining for 82 minutes, 0-15 3-point shooting, and only 2 points.
indeed. i was expecting those shooters to be hitting 3s all over the place given that they were playing at home
i know that other people/friends criticize the Warriors for this new era of basketball where you only shoot 3's but the rest of the league has gone bonkers and it seems that the Warriors w/ the ball movement and sharing are "old school" now.
What the Mavs do is way more inspired by James Harden's tenure on the Rockets than the Warriors system. One guy creates shots for everyone. The Warriors' system is more about generating dunks and layups for everyone (first and foremost), and if that doesn't work you also get open threes.
The Heat don't have enough offense to stick with the Dubs over seven games IMO. Boston is scary, but I don't know what happened to them the other night. That may have have cost them. Good performances across the board from the Dubs in the second half last night. One of the more comprehensive team performances by them in some time. A little vintage-y.
I think Boston will win that series still. Agree they are the tougher opponent if we make the Finals, even though I think Butler is the best player in that series
Boston would definitely be the more challenging opponent IMHO. They have incredible D and a potent O and they match up pretty well up and down the roster. IF (and it's a big IF) GPII is available, they have a much better shot. I haven't watched enough of Miami, but they seem to be rather mercurial, so I don't see them hanging with the Dubs over a seven game series. However Bam and Jimmy can take it to another level any game.
Wiggins is under contract for '22-'23 for $33.6M...maybe I'm wrong but when he signed the deal in '18 at 5-$147M, it was the maximum, but could be wrong tho.
I think the dicey thing that figures to come into play is Jordan Poole, who is eligible for a max extension off his rookie deal...not sure how they can sign him AND keep Steph, Klay, Draymon and Wiggins...Bruce Jenkins apparently wrote an article about it this weekend but it's on an SF Chronicle paywall...
Dude dude dude dude. That dunk was so awesome!!! Holy f—king s—t. My kids and I were going nuts. I noticed that made writers take notice more of Luka’s defensive weaknesses, which I don’t recall making their way into articles much in the past.
My family is Slovene, so I do like Luka, but in this series eff him, Go Dubs!!!!!!
That is a good comparison but I think he is better than Harden because he also facilitates, gets guys involved. He’s a much better teammate than Harden and less reliant on BS foul calls.
Btw, that rule change plus the effects of age have just absolutely nuked Harden’s career. I can’t recall seeing someone dropoff that quickly except in cases of severe injury like D Rose or something
I was listening to the Dubs podcast and they were talking about how amazing Wiggs and Looney have been showing up, but Steph is still the MVP so far because he is expected to do so much more than those two and has been checking all the boxes. Still waiting for Draymond to show up in the series, he has been making some really bone-headed TOs, if he gets it together before the finals they will be very difficult to beat.
I'll give Draymond credit for trying to score more often, going back to the end of the Memphis series. He doesn't have to score a lot, just be a threat to drive and score. Keeps everyone honest.
Yes, and he even hit a couple threes (in different games), it's really the TOs that get me, so many passes just a little too far out in front of the guy cutting
I think Boston is tougher because they have more talent all around; their athleticism would be hard to deal with in half-court offense. But Miami is better coached and Spolestra will probably have better adjustments if the series goes deep.
It took me over a week to install three different flower beds and plant flowers that I nurtured from seeds. I am annoyed that on Saturday, it was 95 degree (record high heat for that date) and then it hailed an inch of gob-stopper sized hail - almost completely wiping out my poor flowers.
The seedlings in our vegetable garden seem to have survived the heat, though we were spared the hail. We already had one die-off among the first round of seedlings due to the unusual weather.
Sewer rehab project in the neighborhood. The contractor is blocking most of one block of the street with 12" pipe. The pipe is also blocking my garage which is at the end of the block.
by Berkeley bicycle riders who ride on the sidewalks when people are about and run lights and stop signs when pedestrians are in the crosswalk. Several people from other bike-friendly locales say Berkeley is the worst for this.
i have some outdoor speakers that arent working because a couple small wires are not making the connection. however there is just not enough wiggle room to get my fingers in there and fix it w/o making big holes in the wall and extending the wires.
Can you splice in a longer piece of wire? I had to do that on a boat where a speaker was lodged into a section during a headliner replacement and can no longer be pulled out to connect the wires. I was able to add ~6" of wire and then was able to connect it to the terminals "blindly" with the help of an iPhone camera
Yes, although the versions that I had played in (as ice breaker activities within the department or dorm in grad school) allow one to "kill" via other methods such as opening a card that has the word poison on it, etc. I think the ones that I have done, water guns were not allowed because we were all "more mature".
CAL
Go Bears!!!
[BASE] Cal sweeps Utah (13-1, 18-2, 9-8), securing a berth in the conference playoffs. This, plus an ASU loss vs. Wazzu means the Bears are a six seed and will play #23 UCLA, not an eight seed vs. #3 Stanfurd. Double-elimination tourney in Arizona starts on Wednesday on Pac12 Network.
https://calbears.com/news/2022/5/21/baseball-souto-walks-off-on-senior-day.aspx
Former Cal star Geoff McArthur hospitalized with cancer GoFundMe
https://www.kron4.com/sports/former-cal-football-star-geoff-mcarthur-hospitalized-with-cancer-gofundme/
Last pay phone booth removed from NYC
https://twitter.com/duty2warn/status/1528763874089922560
Internet access points became the new phone booths, and former mayor Bill de Blasio put them up all over the city - thousands of them.
Surprise, surprise! People just used them for watching porn on the sidewalk. They're now all just video ad boards.
failing to see the problem here...
The scourge of slivovice consumption amongst youths
http://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/05/20/big-drinking-czechs-bid-to-tackle-problem-of-underage-drinking
Religion
Church of Latter Day Saints updates the 1833 Doctrine and Covenants - the list God sent the Mormons of foods and substances that were bad to consume. They clarified that green tea, fancy coffee drinks, and vaping are prohibited because tea, coffee, and smoking are already prohibited. Surprisingly, they said medical marijuana is okay. To be clear, the Mormon Church does not prohibit caffeine - hence why Coke and Diet Coke are fine.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/08/16/no-more-green-tea-vaping-or-drinks-ending-ccino-mormon-church-tells-members/
I was helping Mrs Slug's sister & BIL move (this was the late 80s/early 90s). A neighbor helped out. I offered him a glass of cold iced tea. He declined, saying, "I don't drink."
I didn't get it immediately, but it stuck with me all these years.
It is a slippery slope from ice tea to crack cocaine.
They weren't (coke) allowed when I was a kid - only non-caffeinated soft drinks were available in Utah.
interesting, my Mormon cousins weren't allowed to have caffeine growing up
Southern Baptist Church releases big report about how they hid/protected sex abuse by clergy, resisted reform/reform, and lied about their ability to keep a database on clergy offenders.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/05/22/southern-baptist-sex-abuse-report/
shocker, the Baptists...
Who is Cal's greatest red-zone threat of all time?
Kenny Lawler Jr?
Good leaper, battled in the air, great body control, giant sticky hands. Even on a 2015 team with Darius Powe, Bryce Treggs, Maurice Harris, Trevor Davis, Steph Anderson, Ray Hudson, and Chad Handsome - he was red zone receiver #1. His highlight reel backs that up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6kHzDgVpi8
Gotta love those bittersweet Dykes era passing game highlights, when they flash the score after a nifty touchdown and reveal that the other team is still ahead.
Ray Hudson had stone hands
Definitely Kenny Lawler.
I want that QB in the video
Sean Dawkins, which makes the last minute heave to Brian Treggs in '91's Battle for the Roses that much more frustrating...
I was gonna add Dawkins. Was the Battle for the Roses the game against the Huskies? If so, I recall a ball slipping through Mike Caldwell's hands in the end zone on our last drive.
The last play in the 91 UW game was to Treggs. That was frustrating.
And he might have even been short of the goal line, even if he came up with it...Huskies doubled Dawkins...wanna say it went off Treggs' fingertips at the 2 or 3 yardline....
Chuck Muncie was money in the bank.
Kevin Riley
Depending on what you mean by "threat"
TOO SOON!!!!
Marshawn Lynch?
PC disagrees
Remains one of the worst calls in Super Bowl history....
Russell White
i was going to say that too. plus he was fun to watch ..
DBD Cooking Academy
Made Anne Burrell's pasta bolognese over the weekend, about the 10th time or so I've used this recipe. This is easily the best bolognese recipe I've tried. So good with a side of crusty bread.
nice .. seems like such a straightforward recipe. but i am sure the balance of flavors is important
It seems very simple, but the flavors truly develop over the course of a couple hours. I mix the meat types to get to the 3 lbs...this time used chuck and mild pork italian sausage.
Smoked a brisket yesterday. I'm coming to the conclusion that I prefer beef cuts smoked to lower temperatures (e.g. eye of round, pulled around 130F) over higher temperature cuts of beef (brisket, pulled at 200F).
Agreed. I always struggle with brisket...it often comes out too tough.
Not exactly cooking, but I just finished lunch with English muffins and peanut butter. Only to check the WaPo website to see an article that the peanut butter I used is subject to a recall because of a possible salmonella issue. I've used up about a third of the jar and haven't had any problems before so hopefully no problem now.
This is why Skippy is superior.
Peter Pan is better than both. Although they had their own recall from Sam's Club on their huge (like 96 oz) tub. We had one and had most of it done and didn't get sick so I think we just finished it.
My saving grace is that Safeway gave me full retail credit and I'm pretty sure I bought it on sale. Also had used about 1/3 of the jar w/out any ill effects.
homemade tomato sauce.
kids wanted meatballs and spaghetti so i cooked up some everyday good tomato sauce that consists of onions, canned San Marzano tomatoes, a little red wine and some random sprinkling of herbs and spices.
i think that the simmering for 30-60 min is what makes it good regardless of the specific ingredients.
Wife made Arroz con pollo y chorizo - I paired that with a 2013 Waters Forgotten Hills Syrah that was amazeballs (first time I've had this wine). Daughter made two desserts since she wasn't happy with pound cake she made fresh cherry cobbler w/ whipped cream.
2x desserts sounds amazing. was the pound cake any good?
I don't know, was not served.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) publicly says that Trump lost the election. Scott voted to overturn the election.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/05/rick-scott-admits-biden-won-2020-election/
Australia rejects Conservative party and its adoption of American-style culture wars. Labour Party back in power after more than a decade
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/22/australia/australia-election-results-new-government-explainer-five-things-intl-hnk/index.html
I read that a lot of it had to do with the lack of any response to climate change by the Conservative party.
Oracle's Larry Ellison participated in Nov 2020 call that planned to contest/overturn election
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/larry-ellison-oracle-trump-election-challenges/
TIL: Larry Ellison owns 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai
Those wacky billionaires
Flori-duh updates its state teaching guidance to prohibits "social justice" in its textbooks and classroom topics.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/05/florida-desantis-ban-social-justice-textbooks-critical-race-theory-oppression/
Why the hell was CPAC held in Hungary? I mean, apart from the obvious?
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gzvb/cpac-hungary-orban
The People's Convoy implodes. After falling apart and getting evicted they pull a Trump and declare victory.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-peoples-convoy-now-claims-theyll-silently-ambush-dc
https://news.yahoo.com/im-not-babysitter-peoples-convoy-180530416.html
DBD AV Club
Love Death + Robots S3 (Netflix) - (18/19). Knocked it out of the freaking park. Nine different stories - some funny, some gritty, some Heavy-Metalesque over-the-top. I really loved The Very Pulse of the Machine, Swarm, and Mason's Rats.
I was very happy with this season of LD+R. This was an improvement over season 2. I really liked the ones you mentioned and would also add Bad Traveller to that list. I was surprised to see a continued storyline from season 1 but it was funny and enjoyable.
Saw Bauhaus last night at the Masonic in SF. 20/19 WB
That sounds good.
Fantastic show. Peter Murphy's voice just kept getting stronger throughout the night and they closed the show with a cover of Ziggy Stardust
They also closed with a cover of Ziggy Stardust when I saw them the previous weekend. At some point mid-song Peter tripped over the mic stand and fell, then quickly got up and triumphantly kicked the mic stand over. Then once they closed the show and everyone left the stage, he came running back out and said "Remember, it's not how you fall. It's how you get back up"
Dang, sorry I missed that.
We watched Big Trouble in Little China for the first time this weekend, what a goofy, funny insane movie - so perfectly 80's.
so much fun
A girl with green eyes...
Kim Cattrall's buddy Margo in BTILC (Kate Burton), has 110 credits to her name and showed up recently in Hulu's The Dropout...
don't panic -- it's only me, gracie law.
I always thought it was hilarious. Seems like it should have a cult following.
It does.
Hah! yes I see now. I forgot that Kim Cattrall was in it! But I did remember James Hong, who has been in every Chinese American movie ever made.
Enjoyed the George Carlin documentary on HBO over the weekend. As the cliche goes, he might not have been in a class by himself but it didn't take long to read the roll.
Been enjoying the season ending episodes of several series, including This is Us, Young Sheldon, Wonder Years.
The Northman .. i thought it was going to be a Vikings/GOT/Last Kingdom style movie, but it was strange and convoluted in mostly a good way.
i wouldnt recommend it unless you like mystical Norse religion stuff, which i sort of do.
i loved it
It is what you would expect if you saw the directors previous two movies: The Witch and The Lighthouse.
I was rather disappointed with The Lighthouse.
I went in cold, and was mostly mystified about why a convoluted, but easy to follow revenge tale was peppered with all of these random mystical happenings. Afterwards I read about it and then went oh.
It's definitely a movie that's helped by doing a bit of research. I did find it visually compelling the whole way, though. Eggers is an interesting filmmaker.
Elsewhere in college
A fan at an Arkansas baseball game caught a racoon barehanded. Oakland Colosseum officials were reportedly unimpressed at the meager amount of fauna at the game.
https://twitter.com/mattwoolard/status/1525301485155893248
Notice the lady with the white blouse and faded jeans. She sees the raccoon being held out in her direction and says, "I'm outta here! Get that thing away from me!"
“There are some concerning trends. We're not seeing name image and likeness activity — we're seeing just straight payments. And I think it's important that we re-center ourselves on what's supposed to be happening here and the desire to keep that activity out of recruitment to benefit young people economically but to do so in a healthy way.” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-commissioner-on-nil-deals-were-seeing-just-straight-payments-174126956.html
Boy, who in the world could have seen this coming ;-) ;-)
Saban is just mad that his boosters aren’t doing a better job of exploiting NIL. He isn’t against NIL, he is just upset that Bama boosters are falling behind.
Given the new NIL era, I feel like the fiscal capacity of Southern California is one of the reason why Lincoln Riley chose USC. Bama can't compete with that.
Just because USC hasn't been able to maximize the effectiveness of their resources lately doesn't mean their history of doing so multiple times before won't be repeated.
Holding my breath until the conference comes down hard on the violators.
Oh, gawd...
Violators? It's a new world.
I love the press release announcing that an A&M commit from Philadelphia is not allowed to play in an All Star game because of his NIL contract with A&M. Ummm, I thought NIL contracts werent allowed as an inducement to get players and werent allowed til the player set foot on campus? Barring the states where high schoolers are allowed to do this independently. Pennsylvania is not one of them at present. Awkward....
PRO
Milan Lucic - a player with a reputation for nasty play - got 5 minute major for this play. It's debatable whether it was worthy of a 5 minute penalty - but there's no doubt that he violated the unwritten rule of "don't hit the goalie"
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1528568901965164545
The Pittsburg Pirates have had 7 runs scored against them 30% of the games this season, including this last one 18-4.
https://twitter.com/Pirates/status/1528452539078873088
Likely going to our first game at the Pirates' stadium this June. Any stadium location/stadium food recs?
They just added two bars in the outfield "riverwalk" this season. It's actually kind of shocking how they did not have that there before this season and only had bars without views before. It's also easier to hang out on top of the bullpen area (and it's just first come, first serve for seats). The concessions under RF are new this year and offer fancier but pricier food. Primanti Bros is a solid choice if you don't already plan on going to the ones in town. The Pulled Pork Pierogi Hoagie is kind of unique but I personally find it to be too much dough (then again, the Primanti bros sandwich has fries in it). Manny Sanguillen has a BBQ place with his name and he's often there if you care to get his autograph (like planned ahead and spend $1 for his old card on eBay).
There are a tons of ticket offers, many with concession values included, there are essentially half-priced tickets (for all except the super premium and club seats) for every game other than Saturday. You can also pretty much move around all over the lower bowl without any ushers bothering you. Parking is cheap and easy on just nearby streets (on both sides of the river) and it's free to park on the street after 6 pm and free on Sundays (most games now start at 6:35 pm) so just pay up to then rather than more for a lot.
Last time I was at PNC Park, I brought back two cups of beer from the concession stand. Wife asks what I got, and I said "Iron City Light." Dude next to us says "you're gonna get the shits" and the guy in front of us turns around to say "yuuuuup." It was peak Pittsburgh.
Whatever. I found it to be delicious and never got the shits. So my recommendation at PNC is to have a goddam Iron City Light. Cheers.
pqtm
I would love to see a game there. No 1 and myself drove by during covid when I was driving with him back to Philly. Since it was Covid we couldn't go inside and watch a game. However, the stadium looks great. We just stopped by the stadium and Costco to get gas and grab a slice of pizza so I don't have any food recommendations.
If the Dodgers do a Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philly/DC roadtrip I'll fly out and check them out.
Aside from Wrigley and Fenway, which are the absolute gold standard given their tradition, for my money, PNC is at the very top of the list of current MLB ballparks, just ahead of Pac Bell...
Were did you pet Petco? Just below Pac Bell?
My personal top ten:
Wrigley
Fenway
PNC
Comerica
PacBell
Petco
Camden
Dodger
Busch
Target
High…Petco is a gem. But I love the parks that highlight the water. Major whiff in Cincinnati - they’re right on the river but you can hardly feel it.
Tiger Woods withdraws from PGA Championship. It seems that he's still pretty hurt.
https://twitter.com/yugtahtmai/status/1528004554243067904
https://twitter.com/drosssports/status/1528163468385193985
If he had been in an equal amount of pain, but in or near the lead, he would have played on Sunday.
He looked like he was having a pretty rough time of it during the 3rd round. The cold weather certainly didn't help. I still don't know how he is able to play 1 round of professional golf, much less 3, after what he went through.
You know what made the difference in Baltimore, Maryland? Early Voting.
https://twitter.com/NBCSports/status/1528151878994907136
Down 0-2 with their title hopes rapidly dimming, Manchester City staged a remarkable comeback to secure the Premier League crown
https://www.skysports.com/football/manchester-city-vs-aston-villa/446666
Three goals in five minutes late in the game turned the match - and the title race - on its head as substitute Ilkay Gundogan scored two, either side of Rodri's strike. Liverpool's late win over Wolves meant that only victory would have been enough for City.
It was an extraordinary way to do it, almost as remarkable in its own way as events a decade ago when Sergio Aguero won the title in stoppage-time. City had looked a beaten side when Philippe Coutinho added to Matty Cash's opener midway through the second half.
Mechanical issues, searing heat, and turbulent gusts combine for a chaotic Spanish Grand Prix
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12516/12618871/spanish-gp-max-verstappen-wins-thrilling-race-after-charles-leclerc-engine-failure-lewis-hamilton-recovers-after-first-lap-collision
In a helter-skelter Barcelona race packed with incidents from start to finish, Leclerc had held a comfortable advantage out in front before the pole-sitter suffered a race-ending Ferrari issue on Lap 27.
"No! No! No power!" cried Leclerc on team radio before being called back to the pits.
Verstappen still had a lot to do from there - having dropped down the order following an uncharacteristic early spin before frustration over DRS problems and battles with George Russell - but he overcame the challenges to eventually go on a characteristic charge after three pit-stops.
He finished ahead of Sergio Perez in another Red Bull one-two, although the Mexican was disgruntled over team strategy.
"We'll speak later," Perez told his team afterwards, Perez was unhappy that Verstappen had been put on an eventually preferable strategy, while he was also told not to hold him up when leading in the closing stages.
The gripping Spanish GP also included an impressive podium for Russell in the Mercedes, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton produced an epic recovery drive to fifth following a collision and puncture on the opening lap.
It was a more interesting race than I was expecting tbh
Saw most of the replay, though I missed seeing the opening lap chaos. It was an interesting race on a number of levels, especially for the often formulaistic Formula 1. I'm really coming to appreciate George Russell, and Hamilton proved he can really drive with that surge. I would like to have seen what would happen if there had been a full course caution to get Hamilton a little closer. What they did was more than just their admittedly better than most equipment.
My wholly uninformed opinion is that Russell was doing better than Hamilton in previous races partly because he’s more used to driving bad cars and partly because he’s younger and could better cope with the pounding that the Mercedes was handing out - I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Hamilton was hammering out fastest laps 70% of the way through the first race after they got the porpoising fixed. The various mechanical problems across teams are at least keeping things interesting
Wiggins MASSIVE DUNK over Luka ... enroute to 3-0 lead.
that was one of the most impressive things i have seen in a while. add in a couple timely long distance 3s from Curry and Poole, and it looks like the W's are well on their way to the NBA Finals.
not sure if Boston or Miami would be a better matchup. looks like a toss up right now.
RIP Luka
https://streamable.com/bdwvtf
And Luka with the major flop when he wasn't even hit in the head.
He did use the off arm a bit, but not enough to throw him to the floor.
I was so happy when they reviewed the foul, Wiggs did nothing with his off arm, it was just right in front of him. Also Wiggs playing like the All Star he was in the first half of the season is great to see. Locking down the biggest offensive threat throughout the past two series.
Made up for Klay being really off
Also, like Steph pointed out, replaying it 800 times in Luka's home arena. Over and over and over.
Steph trying to dap half the Warrior's bench before the ball even goes in...
https://twitter.com/warriors/status/1528557175315918849
Mavs' have pretty good 3-point shooters across the board - but you can't win if you have four guys combining for 82 minutes, 0-15 3-point shooting, and only 2 points.
indeed. i was expecting those shooters to be hitting 3s all over the place given that they were playing at home
i know that other people/friends criticize the Warriors for this new era of basketball where you only shoot 3's but the rest of the league has gone bonkers and it seems that the Warriors w/ the ball movement and sharing are "old school" now.
What the Mavs do is way more inspired by James Harden's tenure on the Rockets than the Warriors system. One guy creates shots for everyone. The Warriors' system is more about generating dunks and layups for everyone (first and foremost), and if that doesn't work you also get open threes.
It's crazy to see sometimes, they will literally drive, have a good look and pass out to a contested 3. Live by the 3, die by the 3
The Heat don't have enough offense to stick with the Dubs over seven games IMO. Boston is scary, but I don't know what happened to them the other night. That may have have cost them. Good performances across the board from the Dubs in the second half last night. One of the more comprehensive team performances by them in some time. A little vintage-y.
Do the W's get home court advantage v. Miami (both were 53-29)...assuming they would get it v. BOS.
Yes, they get home court in both scenarios.
I think Boston will win that series still. Agree they are the tougher opponent if we make the Finals, even though I think Butler is the best player in that series
Boston would definitely be the more challenging opponent IMHO. They have incredible D and a potent O and they match up pretty well up and down the roster. IF (and it's a big IF) GPII is available, they have a much better shot. I haven't watched enough of Miami, but they seem to be rather mercurial, so I don't see them hanging with the Dubs over a seven game series. However Bam and Jimmy can take it to another level any game.
they picked a good time to have one of those vintage-y games.
For the first time in his career, including at Kansas, Wiggins is playing Championship caliber basketball and is earning that max contract.
Agree, he has played really well. Can the Dubs give him a max deal? The NBA cap stuff is so complicated; I confess I do not really understand it.
Wiggins is under contract for '22-'23 for $33.6M...maybe I'm wrong but when he signed the deal in '18 at 5-$147M, it was the maximum, but could be wrong tho.
I think the dicey thing that figures to come into play is Jordan Poole, who is eligible for a max extension off his rookie deal...not sure how they can sign him AND keep Steph, Klay, Draymon and Wiggins...Bruce Jenkins apparently wrote an article about it this weekend but it's on an SF Chronicle paywall...
I think if they're willing to pay the tax, they can. But they still have to decide who to bring back. GP2? Porter?
Dude dude dude dude. That dunk was so awesome!!! Holy f—king s—t. My kids and I were going nuts. I noticed that made writers take notice more of Luka’s defensive weaknesses, which I don’t recall making their way into articles much in the past.
My family is Slovene, so I do like Luka, but in this series eff him, Go Dubs!!!!!!
Luka is the euro harden.
Oh, come one. That is disrespectful to Luka.
That is a good comparison but I think he is better than Harden because he also facilitates, gets guys involved. He’s a much better teammate than Harden and less reliant on BS foul calls.
Btw, that rule change plus the effects of age have just absolutely nuked Harden’s career. I can’t recall seeing someone dropoff that quickly except in cases of severe injury like D Rose or something
Agreed, better than Harden.
https://twitter.com/JpMavroudis/status/1528598428774563841
I was listening to the Dubs podcast and they were talking about how amazing Wiggs and Looney have been showing up, but Steph is still the MVP so far because he is expected to do so much more than those two and has been checking all the boxes. Still waiting for Draymond to show up in the series, he has been making some really bone-headed TOs, if he gets it together before the finals they will be very difficult to beat.
I'll give Draymond credit for trying to score more often, going back to the end of the Memphis series. He doesn't have to score a lot, just be a threat to drive and score. Keeps everyone honest.
Yes, and he even hit a couple threes (in different games), it's really the TOs that get me, so many passes just a little too far out in front of the guy cutting
I think Boston is tougher because they have more talent all around; their athleticism would be hard to deal with in half-court offense. But Miami is better coached and Spolestra will probably have better adjustments if the series goes deep.
So yeah, kind of a wash.
Annoyed
It took me over a week to install three different flower beds and plant flowers that I nurtured from seeds. I am annoyed that on Saturday, it was 95 degree (record high heat for that date) and then it hailed an inch of gob-stopper sized hail - almost completely wiping out my poor flowers.
The seedlings in our vegetable garden seem to have survived the heat, though we were spared the hail. We already had one die-off among the first round of seedlings due to the unusual weather.
Well that sucks
Can’t type for shit today, it’s really bad, all day taking me twice the time to get things on screen with all the letters in the correct order
I understand this. I've got a new keyboard (the old one has sticky keys and a dead space bar). Just not used to it and my typing is shit today.
...with the City of Berkeley.
Sewer rehab project in the neighborhood. The contractor is blocking most of one block of the street with 12" pipe. The pipe is also blocking my garage which is at the end of the block.
by Berkeley bicycle riders who ride on the sidewalks when people are about and run lights and stop signs when pedestrians are in the crosswalk. Several people from other bike-friendly locales say Berkeley is the worst for this.
Waste Management - always
Not annoyed...yet.
i have some outdoor speakers that arent working because a couple small wires are not making the connection. however there is just not enough wiggle room to get my fingers in there and fix it w/o making big holes in the wall and extending the wires.
Time to teach one of the girls how to solder.
Use wire nuts, not electrical tape.
Can you splice in a longer piece of wire? I had to do that on a boat where a speaker was lodged into a section during a headliner replacement and can no longer be pulled out to connect the wires. I was able to add ~6" of wire and then was able to connect it to the terminals "blindly" with the help of an iPhone camera
Needlenose pliers won't help?
Less than 100 days to football season
senior assassin game ...
my daughter is armed w/ a water gun and trying to avoid her friends in case they water-attack her. is this a thing people have heard of?
Yes, although the versions that I had played in (as ice breaker activities within the department or dorm in grad school) allow one to "kill" via other methods such as opening a card that has the word poison on it, etc. I think the ones that I have done, water guns were not allowed because we were all "more mature".
because we were all "more mature".
They obviously don't know us too well...