It was my birthday yesterday. 42 years around the sun for this Golden Bear. Now if only this May gray would go away and we can get some nice sunny days!
happy bday. hope you did something fun to celebrate.
it was my wife's 50th bday as well. i planned a surprise weekend to some spa/lodge type place in the Poconos in PA w/ 8 of her closest friends. seems like everyone was happy.
Texas AG Paxton impeached by the Texas House on 20 different articles and temporarily suspended. His wife is a state Senator. She'll get to vote tomorrow whether to permanently expel him from office based on those charges, some of which relate to bribery that she benefited from and one related to hiring his mistress so that she could be closer than San Antonio so that they could hook up more conveniently.
But I wear (lightly) mirrored sunglasses. My first pair was too dark, took it back to the UC Berkeley Optometry and the nurse agreed that they were too dark - got lighter pair.
Finished up the last 4 episodes of Barry. The couple of episodes leading up to the finale were a little weird. At first I thought it was a dream sequence.
So do people believe that tomorrow night will be the series finale for Ted Lasso? Will Ted leave the UK to go home? Will the show try to continue on without Ted, similar to The Office without Michael Scott?
Paul Blackburn made his season debut, and Ryan Noda homered again to help the Oakland Athletics to a 7-2 win in their series opener against the Atlanta Braves.
Blackburn needed just one pitch to retire Ronald Acuña Jr. in the first, but a pair of ex-Oakland A’s quickly had him in a tough spot. Matt Olson walked and then advanced all the way to third on a single by Austin Riley. Sean Murphy then guided a grounder back through the middle to score Olson to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Blackburn finished the inning strong though striking out Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario to end the frame with no further damage.
The San Francisco Giants are now 13-7 in the Casey Schmitt Era or 8-3 in the Patrick Bailey Era, depending on how you want to see this new and exciting team that’s come of age here in May. The Giants trounced, bounced, blew out and/or scuttled the Pirates, 14-4 today thanks in part to this burgeoning young core.
To me, youth on a baseball squad is an ingredient but it’s not the whole meal. A diversity of skill set and experience has proven to be a really strong measure of how good a team’s going to be now and in the future and for a very long time now, we’ve watched the Giants’ core grow older and older without much youthful energy surrounding them.
The San Francisco Giants are now 13-7 in the Casey Schmitt Era or 8-3 in the Patrick Bailey Era, depending on how you want to see this new and exciting team that’s come of age here in May. The Giants trounced, bounced, blew out and/or scuttled the Pirates, 14-4 today thanks in part to this burgeoning young core.
To me, youth on a baseball squad is an ingredient but it’s not the whole meal. A diversity of skill set and experience has proven to be a really strong measure of how good a team’s going to be now and in the future and for a very long time now, we’ve watched the Giants’ core grow older and older without much youthful energy surrounding them.
I texted my brother over the weekend "the only downside of all this winning is that I might have to stop saying 'fire Farhan' and I really like saying it"
Schmitt's arrival has coincided with a massive turnaround in performance by the bullpen, along with a major heater by Michael Conforto...getting the Marlins, Twins, Brewers, Phillies and Pirates all at the right time helped. Now this weekend they'll get a Baltimore team that lost it's heart and soul to a right abductor injury yesterday...the schedule is breaking right.
Unlike Heliot, Schmitt's production and positional versatility has given Kapler no excuse to platoon him, which is a positive.
Though neither starter will pitch in this series, May gray came to Dodger Stadium Monday thanks to the cloudy sky overhead. Dodgers pitching has been murky lately, but they’ve found a semblance of stability in rookie Bobby Miller, who impressed in a second straight start to beat the Nationals 6-1 in the series opener in Los Angeles.
Miller went six innings, mixing in almost as many non-fastballs (42) as fastballs (45), the latter split between his two-seamer and four-seamer. Just like his major league debut last Tuesday in Atlanta, Miller allowed one run, and allowed no more than one batter to reach base in any other inning.
In the end, the former won out. Everton beat Bournemouth, 1-0, on a single, priceless goal by midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré, rendering the results at Leicester City and Leeds United — the two teams that were hovering, waiting for Sean Dyche’s Everton team to slip — irrelevant. Leeds lost, Leicester won; both were relegated anyway. Everton, for the second time in two seasons, clung to its place in the elite by the quicks of its fingernails.
The only downside of Everton avoiding the drop is that they won’t be clearing out everyone who fucked it to the point that they’ve had to dodge relegation two years in a row
Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) comes back to win on mountain time trial over Geraint Thomas (Wales).
but in an amazing move of sportsmanship, on the final day w/ sprint finish in Rome, Thomas rides in front for countryman Mark Cavendish (Isle of Man) to help him win in final year before retirement. normally people from opposing teams dont help each other out.
also, due to crashes and COVID, Cavendish had few teammates left, and Thomas was already consigned to 2nd place no matter the outcome.
I seem to recall the Tour of California running at the same time as the Giro d' Italia. I hadn't realized that TOC is no longer in existence. It seems that mountain biking and the downfall of Lance Armstrong has obliterated what interest remained of cycling in the US.
I didn’t even realize the Giro was running, and I used to follow pro cycling closely, attended a few stages of the TOC in person, etc.
For me the thing that killed my interest was lots of news sources going behind a paywall (looking at you, Velonews…) or going offline (steephill.tv). Without a steady drip of news I’ve lost track of when the races are happening and even who the new generation of racers are.
for those who don't know, LUG would literally type minute by minute commentary on all the grand tours and many of the big races. you could watch the races on Italian or French feeds and get English text commentary on the side.
i have enough streaming services to watch all of it, but i appreciate that following the sport for free is nearly impossible. even the news articles and race recaps are behind paywalls.
after this year most of the old-guard will be gone. Nibali and Valverde retired last year. Sagan and Cavendish to retire this year.
The history and setting of cycling in Europe make it a sport that will always thrive there. The blip of interest and enthusiasm in the US in the mid-2000s seemed like it would finally catch on here. I'd add that part of the problem in the US is just how damn dangerous it is to cycle on US roads and the demographic of haters that intentionally buzz you or try to intimidate you while riding. It is why I quit. It is also an extremely elitist sport, even at the amateur level. I dabbled in racing in the 2010s and cyclists were some of the biggest jerks I'd ever met, so uptight and full of themselves.
i used to have BeIn for cycling. now i have GCN which shows the full race live. that works out fine for me because i can just have the race on in the background on weekday mornings till about 1100a. and if it gets exciting, you dont miss the good stuff.
but the good thing is that GRAVEL biking is taking off in the US more than other places. and we seem to be the best place in the world to do that, even at a pro level.
i was just getting into the whole gravel bike thing before my untimely crash and retirement.
HAMILTON, Bermuda – The Cal field hockey team embarked on its 10-day foreign tour to Bermuda this week. The Golden Bears arrived in Bermuda on Thursday afternoon local time, and the last three days have been spent immersing themselves in the local culture and sightseeing before getting ready for the first of three competitions against the Bermuda National Team.
The trip began in earnest with the Bears enjoying the Bermuda Day Half Marathon. The team participated in the relay portion of the half marathon. The Bermuda Day Half Marathon is as popular in Bermuda as the Boston Marathon is in Boston.
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The No. 9 California Golden Bears women's rowing team finished in eighth place with 89 points at the NCAA Championships at Cooper River Park on Sunday morning with the varsity four capturing a win in its Petite Final. The second varsity eight finished third in the team's sole Grand Final appearance while the varsity eight came in sixth in its Petite Final. The Bears have now finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships for the 24th straight year.
"Two of our three races today were exceptional," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "Unfortunately, we needed all three performances to get to where we ultimately wanted to go. The second varsity eight and varsity four clearly had their best and gutsiest races of the year. It's a young group with only four rowers graduating from this championship squad. Hopefully, this team can celebrate our successes from this year's eighth place finish and learn the important lessons from what we didn't get right. We're very proud of this team and what they represent. We couldn't be more excited about what's possible next year."
SACRAMENTO – California track & field attacked its top-10 lists with a vengeance on Saturday as it closed out competition at the NCAA West Preliminary, setting three new marks in the program record books and qualifying those athletes to the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. With that, the Golden Bears are set to send their largest group in program history to the season finale, with 17 total competitors (including pre-qualifiers and alternates) set to make the trip.
Cal's first qualifying performance of the day came in the 4x100m relay, which featured the school-record squad of Jada Hicks, Jordyn Grady, Makhaila Mills and Aysha Shaheed which captured the Bears' highest-ever finish at the Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago. Saturday's race showed that they have no intentions of slowing down, as they beat their own program record by 0.06 seconds to claim their heat's third qualifying spot at 43.75. Three of the four – Hicks, Grady and Shaheed – were part of last year's NCAA-qualifying relay squad, while Mills will experience the Championships for the first time in her collegiate career.
It was my birthday yesterday. 42 years around the sun for this Golden Bear. Now if only this May gray would go away and we can get some nice sunny days!
Happy birthday! So you were Class of 03 at Cal? At least you missed some of the Holmoecaust! I was 01, pretty painful…
Actually class of 04. My parents moved a bit when I was younger so I ended up repeating 1st grade when we moved to a better school district.
Happy Birthday dude
Have a good one!
It's not the gray overhead, it's the gray on your head that you really want to go away.
happy bday. hope you did something fun to celebrate.
it was my wife's 50th bday as well. i planned a surprise weekend to some spa/lodge type place in the Poconos in PA w/ 8 of her closest friends. seems like everyone was happy.
Many happy returns. You're just a kid.
Happy Birthday!
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Heck's Angels
https://twitter.com/ChristnNitemare/status/1663572091147354113
Texas AG Paxton impeached by the Texas House on 20 different articles and temporarily suspended. His wife is a state Senator. She'll get to vote tomorrow whether to permanently expel him from office based on those charges, some of which relate to bribery that she benefited from and one related to hiring his mistress so that she could be closer than San Antonio so that they could hook up more conveniently.
Won't any votes be later this summer?
"Rot in jail, Trump" - Biden, in a way, kinda
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1663263310261698580
But I wear (lightly) mirrored sunglasses. My first pair was too dark, took it back to the UC Berkeley Optometry and the nurse agreed that they were too dark - got lighter pair.
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE/HIGH SCHOOL
Check out this box score.
https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1662560176807747585
DBD AV CLUB
Succession Finale
I feel like this was exactly the ending that "should" have happened even if it's not the one you saw coming.
I really wanted at least one person to die a terrible death. Didn't much care who (except it should be Ken)
I didn't expect any further deaths after Logan.
Finished up the last 4 episodes of Barry. The couple of episodes leading up to the finale were a little weird. At first I thought it was a dream sequence.
I give a lot of credit to Bill Hader for following his own weird muse to its natural conclusion.
Yup. It definitely was not your standard ending.
So do people believe that tomorrow night will be the series finale for Ted Lasso? Will Ted leave the UK to go home? Will the show try to continue on without Ted, similar to The Office without Michael Scott?
Heard that show won't continue as a series, but that they haven't ruled out doing Ted Lasso movies (a la Downton Abbey).
I think I'm about 4 weeks behind. I think the last one I watched was the Amsterdam episode. Maybe I'll binge a few episodes this afternoon after PT.
Yes yes no
Agree but I think they do a spin-off, maybe with Roy Kent?
Every-fucking-where, a travel show in the vein of Cunk on Earth
I watched two Apple TV movies over the weekend:
1. Tetris - this movie was a lot of fun and both my wife and I enjoyed it. I would recommend it.
2. Sharper - a very well done con/mystery movie. I would also recommend giving it a watch.
Liked first episode of "Platonic" - fun and cheesy also watched first episode of "Deutschland 83" - lots of British sound track from '83, we liked it.
Deutschland 83 is so good - give it like 2 or 3 eps. Agree the music is good too!
Platonic is funny, altho bit of a drop from the pilot.
What/where is Deutschland 83?
Drops of God on Apple... really good 17/19 wb
Good to hear
PRO
Aaron Rodgers is a Swiftie
https://twitter.com/kellykeegs/status/1662849225237962753
Bob Meyers to step down. Press conference at 1 PM. Does he not want to be the one to have to decide which player is going to be traded?
The new CBA is going to make it hard for the Warriors to go forward with their top 6 + Poole. Someone's gotta go. Who should it be?
Poole is the easy answer.
Klay is the hard one.
Draymond for sure. i get that he is the heart of their D, but they need to move on.
while it may not make financial sense for immediate future championships, it is always nice if Klay/Steph can finish with one team if they choose to.
Ryan Noda homers, A’s snap losing streak with 7-2 win over Braves
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2023/5/29/23741772/braves-vs-athletics-final-score-ryan-noda-paul-blackburn
Paul Blackburn made his season debut, and Ryan Noda homered again to help the Oakland Athletics to a 7-2 win in their series opener against the Atlanta Braves.
Blackburn needed just one pitch to retire Ronald Acuña Jr. in the first, but a pair of ex-Oakland A’s quickly had him in a tough spot. Matt Olson walked and then advanced all the way to third on a single by Austin Riley. Sean Murphy then guided a grounder back through the middle to score Olson to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Blackburn finished the inning strong though striking out Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario to end the frame with no further damage.
Rookies back vets to explosive 14-4 win over Pirates
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2023/5/29/23741476/giants-pirates-how-to-watch-anthony-desclafani-rich-hill-or-dick-mountain-if-ya-nasty
The San Francisco Giants are now 13-7 in the Casey Schmitt Era or 8-3 in the Patrick Bailey Era, depending on how you want to see this new and exciting team that’s come of age here in May. The Giants trounced, bounced, blew out and/or scuttled the Pirates, 14-4 today thanks in part to this burgeoning young core.
To me, youth on a baseball squad is an ingredient but it’s not the whole meal. A diversity of skill set and experience has proven to be a really strong measure of how good a team’s going to be now and in the future and for a very long time now, we’ve watched the Giants’ core grow older and older without much youthful energy surrounding them.
The San Francisco Giants are now 13-7 in the Casey Schmitt Era or 8-3 in the Patrick Bailey Era, depending on how you want to see this new and exciting team that’s come of age here in May. The Giants trounced, bounced, blew out and/or scuttled the Pirates, 14-4 today thanks in part to this burgeoning young core.
To me, youth on a baseball squad is an ingredient but it’s not the whole meal. A diversity of skill set and experience has proven to be a really strong measure of how good a team’s going to be now and in the future and for a very long time now, we’ve watched the Giants’ core grow older and older without much youthful energy surrounding them.
Maybe the Giants' front office and coaching staff were not as inept as some people here led me to believe?
I texted my brother over the weekend "the only downside of all this winning is that I might have to stop saying 'fire Farhan' and I really like saying it"
Well, it's a long season! You might get your wish and they will start to suck again.
Schmitt's arrival has coincided with a massive turnaround in performance by the bullpen, along with a major heater by Michael Conforto...getting the Marlins, Twins, Brewers, Phillies and Pirates all at the right time helped. Now this weekend they'll get a Baltimore team that lost it's heart and soul to a right abductor injury yesterday...the schedule is breaking right.
Unlike Heliot, Schmitt's production and positional versatility has given Kapler no excuse to platoon him, which is a positive.
Bobby Miller, Dodgers offense roll sixes to beat Nationals
https://www.truebluela.com/2023/5/29/23741818/bobby-miller-quality-start-dodgers-offense-big-inning-nationals
Though neither starter will pitch in this series, May gray came to Dodger Stadium Monday thanks to the cloudy sky overhead. Dodgers pitching has been murky lately, but they’ve found a semblance of stability in rookie Bobby Miller, who impressed in a second straight start to beat the Nationals 6-1 in the series opener in Los Angeles.
Miller went six innings, mixing in almost as many non-fastballs (42) as fastballs (45), the latter split between his two-seamer and four-seamer. Just like his major league debut last Tuesday in Atlanta, Miller allowed one run, and allowed no more than one batter to reach base in any other inning.
In a bit of a shocker, Jimmy G's time with the Raiders may already be over.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-rumors-jimmy-garoppolo-failed-163856029.html
And Tom Brady will become a QB-owner.
Antonio Brown was a hot mess at the end of his playing career. He continues that trend as an arena league owner
https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/porcelli-one-game-albany-empire-head-coach-18124642.php
USA hockey crashes out of Ice Hockey Worlds again, doesn't medal for the second straight year
https://www.espn.com/olympics/hockey/story/_/id/37746762/latvia-defeats-us-ot-win-bronze-ice-hockey-worlds
Lonzo's season may already be over, if not his career
https://larrybrownsports.com/basketball/troubling-report-about-lonzo-ball-surfaces/615660
Yankees gift the Padres a Little League homerun
https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1662882805053890560
Padres continue to disappoint and their season looks to be slipping away.
Did the one kid make another World Series youtube video?
I guess it was the Crying Kershaw meme that did them in.
Why is Cole standing on the mound?
Leicester goes full circle in 7 years - elevation to Premier League back to being relegated
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37747713/leicester-city-relegated-7-years-premier-league-title
Sigh, Leeds is out 😢
In the end, the former won out. Everton beat Bournemouth, 1-0, on a single, priceless goal by midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré, rendering the results at Leicester City and Leeds United — the two teams that were hovering, waiting for Sean Dyche’s Everton team to slip — irrelevant. Leeds lost, Leicester won; both were relegated anyway. Everton, for the second time in two seasons, clung to its place in the elite by the quicks of its fingernails.
The only downside of Everton avoiding the drop is that they won’t be clearing out everyone who fucked it to the point that they’ve had to dodge relegation two years in a row
A new statue of Argentinian football coach Marcelo Gallardo has been erected. Inspiration filled sculptor Mercedes Savall's cup and the finished product is the complete package. https://twitter.com/DoentesPFutebol/status/1662584536620838912
Giro d' Italia
Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) comes back to win on mountain time trial over Geraint Thomas (Wales).
but in an amazing move of sportsmanship, on the final day w/ sprint finish in Rome, Thomas rides in front for countryman Mark Cavendish (Isle of Man) to help him win in final year before retirement. normally people from opposing teams dont help each other out.
also, due to crashes and COVID, Cavendish had few teammates left, and Thomas was already consigned to 2nd place no matter the outcome.
I seem to recall the Tour of California running at the same time as the Giro d' Italia. I hadn't realized that TOC is no longer in existence. It seems that mountain biking and the downfall of Lance Armstrong has obliterated what interest remained of cycling in the US.
I didn’t even realize the Giro was running, and I used to follow pro cycling closely, attended a few stages of the TOC in person, etc.
For me the thing that killed my interest was lots of news sources going behind a paywall (looking at you, Velonews…) or going offline (steephill.tv). Without a steady drip of news I’ve lost track of when the races are happening and even who the new generation of racers are.
agreed. i miss LUG, the Live Update Guy
for those who don't know, LUG would literally type minute by minute commentary on all the grand tours and many of the big races. you could watch the races on Italian or French feeds and get English text commentary on the side.
i have enough streaming services to watch all of it, but i appreciate that following the sport for free is nearly impossible. even the news articles and race recaps are behind paywalls.
after this year most of the old-guard will be gone. Nibali and Valverde retired last year. Sagan and Cavendish to retire this year.
The history and setting of cycling in Europe make it a sport that will always thrive there. The blip of interest and enthusiasm in the US in the mid-2000s seemed like it would finally catch on here. I'd add that part of the problem in the US is just how damn dangerous it is to cycle on US roads and the demographic of haters that intentionally buzz you or try to intimidate you while riding. It is why I quit. It is also an extremely elitist sport, even at the amateur level. I dabbled in racing in the 2010s and cyclists were some of the biggest jerks I'd ever met, so uptight and full of themselves.
I was able to follow the Giro because BeIN Sports is part of my cable package and it showed two hours of the race every evening.
i used to have BeIn for cycling. now i have GCN which shows the full race live. that works out fine for me because i can just have the race on in the background on weekday mornings till about 1100a. and if it gets exciting, you dont miss the good stuff.
pretty much.
but the good thing is that GRAVEL biking is taking off in the US more than other places. and we seem to be the best place in the world to do that, even at a pro level.
i was just getting into the whole gravel bike thing before my untimely crash and retirement.
Celtics get crushed in game 7.
despite all the storylines, Miami just played better. Boston was just jacking up 3s most of the game w/ little chance to them going in.
This Celtics team was so maddening. A furious comeback to force a Game 7 and then . . . that.
Brown had a historically bad game, was probably pressing too much knowing it was mostly on him with Tatum’s ankle injured
Kind of reminded me of the March Madness game in 2016. I can't believe I drove from Portland for that game. What a horrible day.
So, so dumb at the end...
As I am first today I'll start us off by saying, "Go!"
[FH] Bears In Bermuda: Day 1-3
https://calbears.com/news/2023/5/28/field-hockey-bears-in-bermuda-day-1-3.aspx
HAMILTON, Bermuda – The Cal field hockey team embarked on its 10-day foreign tour to Bermuda this week. The Golden Bears arrived in Bermuda on Thursday afternoon local time, and the last three days have been spent immersing themselves in the local culture and sightseeing before getting ready for the first of three competitions against the Bermuda National Team.
The trip began in earnest with the Bears enjoying the Bermuda Day Half Marathon. The team participated in the relay portion of the half marathon. The Bermuda Day Half Marathon is as popular in Bermuda as the Boston Marathon is in Boston.
[WROW] No. 9 Bears Finish Eighth At NCAAs
https://calbears.com/news/2023/5/28/womens-rowing-no-9-bears-finish-eighth-at-ncaas.aspx
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – The No. 9 California Golden Bears women's rowing team finished in eighth place with 89 points at the NCAA Championships at Cooper River Park on Sunday morning with the varsity four capturing a win in its Petite Final. The second varsity eight finished third in the team's sole Grand Final appearance while the varsity eight came in sixth in its Petite Final. The Bears have now finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships for the 24th straight year.
"Two of our three races today were exceptional," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "Unfortunately, we needed all three performances to get to where we ultimately wanted to go. The second varsity eight and varsity four clearly had their best and gutsiest races of the year. It's a young group with only four rowers graduating from this championship squad. Hopefully, this team can celebrate our successes from this year's eighth place finish and learn the important lessons from what we didn't get right. We're very proud of this team and what they represent. We couldn't be more excited about what's possible next year."
[T&F] Bears Secure Most NCAA Qualifiers In Program History
https://calbears.com/news/2023/5/27/track-field-bears-secure-most-ncaa-qualifiers-in-program-history.aspx
SACRAMENTO – California track & field attacked its top-10 lists with a vengeance on Saturday as it closed out competition at the NCAA West Preliminary, setting three new marks in the program record books and qualifying those athletes to the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. With that, the Golden Bears are set to send their largest group in program history to the season finale, with 17 total competitors (including pre-qualifiers and alternates) set to make the trip.
Cal's first qualifying performance of the day came in the 4x100m relay, which featured the school-record squad of Jada Hicks, Jordyn Grady, Makhaila Mills and Aysha Shaheed which captured the Bears' highest-ever finish at the Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago. Saturday's race showed that they have no intentions of slowing down, as they beat their own program record by 0.06 seconds to claim their heat's third qualifying spot at 43.75. Three of the four – Hicks, Grady and Shaheed – were part of last year's NCAA-qualifying relay squad, while Mills will experience the Championships for the first time in her collegiate career.
some kid of a HS friend is part of this squad (i think)
https://www.si.com/college/cal/other-sports/garrett-macquiddy
Cal Track & Field: Miler Garrett MacQuiddy Joins The Exclusive Sub-4 Club
The junior became the 10th Golden Bears runner and 713th American ever to break the barrier.
Bears!!!
Go ..
Bears!!!