power rating - playing rubber bridge w/ friends in grad school.
since the cards and score for playing rubber bridge at home is somewhat random and depended on the luck of what cards you get .. we decided to come up w/ a scoring system to keep track of bidding, over/under performance, defensive stats and combine them into one "power rating" that we could brag about.
it was also a fun way for me to learn to code up my first website using Perl!
My dad and his friends had a trophy made of a taxidermized bullfrog that was standing on his hindlegs and flipping the bird. It went to whomever was winning at cards that month.
Ok, thanks. During my time there, I was never a Dorque, but I was roommates with 3 of them. Possibly Bowlesman80 knew some or all of them. Back then, the consequence of having the Thing found was always a mandated streak. Generally a few others joined the Dorque in the streak.
The trophies of a prognostication league focusing on NFL games.
The oldest trophy is a coconut mounted on a tripod of brass rods (approx. 1/8" diameter and 6" long each) on top of a nondescript round piece of wood about 4" in diameter. The Coconut is awarded to the Points Champion each year. I won the Coconut in 2000.
The younger trophy is an NFL football in a polycarbonate case on a wood base. I created this trophy for the league in This is awarded to the prognostication playoffs champion after the Super Bowl is played. I have won the Football award in 2001 and, I think, in 2005.
Ex-Producer on the first two seasons of "The Apprentice" goes on long-form via Slate after his 20 year NDA expires to say how messed up Donald Trump is, including confirming that the yet-to-be-President resisted his Producers recommendation that Kwame Jackson (who is an African-American) be crowned the winner over Bill Rancic because "would America buy a n— winning?". Omaroso also wrote in her book that there are tapes of Trump using the N-word to slander her in 2018, to which Trump directly denying he ever used the word. Only Mark Burnett knows for sure since he owns the tapes.
Combine two of baseballs bottom ten offenses and you’ll get an eight-hit three-run barn burner. Exhibit A was last night where the A’s thankfully scored all three of those runs en-route to an impressive road victory.
For those who celebrate: Happy 7th Anniversary of Bryce Harper’s and Hunter Strickland’s infamous dust-up!
What lit this epic collision of stupidity aflame?
A long-dormant ember that had sat cocooned in cool ash for nearly three years, initially sparked by Bryce Harper lifting a homer off Strickland that the reliever thought he “pimped.”
At least this time Sabol came out and headed off Harper. If I remember, when Strickland did it, Posey just kind of stayed in the crouch for a while before heading out to "show support". I think Posey just staying in the crouch letting Harper run out there says a lot about Strickland.
Following a doubleheader, both teams were going to need some maneuvering to get Through Wednesday. With each team having a blowup inning, the Mets paid the price with a far worse one, allowing six runs in the eighth while the Dodgers only conceded three in the bottom of the fifth, winning the series finale 10-3 to complete a three-game sweep at Citi Field.
You know who had the worst day? Mets reliever Lopez had a terrible relief appearance, got ejected for arguing a check swing, tossed his glove into the stands in frustration, called the Mets "the worst team in MLB" in a post-game media appearance, and now is reportedly getting cut.
[Ross Dellinger] The NCAA rules committee meets next week to discuss permitting schools to display corporate logos on fields and, perhaps, patches to jerseys. A year out from implementation of a revenue-sharing model, the commercialization of college athletics is here.
Penn State loses employment case, ruling that the University retaliated against the football team's doctor after Coach Franklin overruled the team doctor
Maybe the fact that the NIL collective indicates that certain folks seemed to feel the campus administration wasn't responding fast enough to the changing landscape in college football and college athletics more generally.
But the campus-administered NIL may be able to offer tax deduction benefits the other one cannot (?). Don't know. Just spitballing.
If he schitt cans Knowlton in the relatively near future, Lyons will immediately be on the shortlist of greatest Chancellors in the history of this planet…
From an ESPN.com. article titled: "Classic matchups and wild bowls between college football's new conference rivals"
Duke 22 Cal 22 at CMS in 1963: A madcap game between two teams that would finish a combined 9-9-2. Future top-five pick and Super Bowl winner Craig Morton ran for one Cal touchdown and threw for two, including a 31-yard jump ball to Jack Schraub to tie the game late. Duke was preparing for a game-winning 30-yard field goal but forgot the kicking tee (a legal thing then). When a coach threw it in from the sideline, the Blue Devils were penalized 15 yards for "coaching from the sideline." (Yeah, I didn't know that was a thing either.) They then missed the ensuing 45-yarder. Delightful.
Personal note: that's the second Cal football game I remember going to. The first was against Missouri the year before.
I remember AJ Ellis, a Dodgers catcher in the 2010s, was on Intentional Talk a few times. One time his nipples were showing through his shirt and Kershaw came up and put tape on his shirt over his nipples.
I would not be opposed to your malicious compliance via a Borat-style mankini. If women can wear those thong things that force me to look at the ceiling while working out, HSB should be able to wear a mankini while doing a spin class
No profanity. Over the last few decades I've been a member of three different gyms and I've only rarely heard any "inappropriate" language. Kind of like the DBD.
I don't think we have a no profanity rule on the DBD. It's just that people don't use it much on the DBD. I think there has been profanity in the past.
Questions: Why is the 5/28 DBD still on the main page? Yesterday's never made it there and today's is only found in archive too (at least for me). Asking for Oski.
Answer: someone in the W4C staff [not me] had pinned it to the Front Page. I unpinned the old one and pinned this one. Someone had proactively noticed that the Substack algorithm rarely promoted DBD to the Front Page, so was trying to promote during quiet days. However, pinning is a manual process and requires someone to do/undo it.
This is why you use wheel chocks
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2xxzx61005o
I empathize with these guys. Although I am not sure if I'm the front or back one.
https://twitter.com/corvidresearch/status/1542497620844654594
What would you like to celebrate?
I would like to celebrate the GUILTY verdict on all 34 counts of a former president who shall remain nameless.
I'm only sorry Cugel didn't live to see it.
Finding a publisher for my third novel. I'd like to but I can't because it hasn't happened yet. I remain hopeful.
my mom and sister just arrived at our house in NY for the weekend and we are celebrating my mom's 80th bday this weekend.
Fri night- jazz @ Lincoln Center which actually means Columbus Circle.
Sat night - dinner at my uncle's house in CT
Sun afternoon - a private chef is making dinner at our house
Happy birthday to Mama Bear!
in other birthday news
oldest child turns 20 today! that seems like a lot of years to be a father ...
It doesn't end. My oldest turns 31 (!) in August.
That number seems a little bit surreal.
No 1 turns 30 in Nov.
Kind of a weird milestone, isn't it?
What’s on the menu Sunday?
Whipped ricotta board
Beet phyllo cups
Lobster rolls
Head on prawns with anchovy butter
Lechon in a filipino style
Miso cod
Crab tahdig
Grilled Chinese broccoli with sauce
Rice cakes with sauce
Assorted pastries and strawberry shortcake
HSB: "What kind of cuisine are you preparing?"
Chef: "Yes"
we tried to have a theme but it all sort of broke down. i am just hoping the chef has some way of tying it all together
Tell the DBD about a gimmick trophy
power rating - playing rubber bridge w/ friends in grad school.
since the cards and score for playing rubber bridge at home is somewhat random and depended on the luck of what cards you get .. we decided to come up w/ a scoring system to keep track of bidding, over/under performance, defensive stats and combine them into one "power rating" that we could brag about.
it was also a fun way for me to learn to code up my first website using Perl!
My dad and his friends had a trophy made of a taxidermized bullfrog that was standing on his hindlegs and flipping the bird. It went to whomever was winning at cards that month.
The Bowles Hall Thing. But this goes without saying.
It needs to be said because I never heard of it.
https://www.bowleshall.org/post/a-strange-thing-about-bowles
Ok, thanks. During my time there, I was never a Dorque, but I was roommates with 3 of them. Possibly Bowlesman80 knew some or all of them. Back then, the consequence of having the Thing found was always a mandated streak. Generally a few others joined the Dorque in the streak.
The trophies of a prognostication league focusing on NFL games.
The oldest trophy is a coconut mounted on a tripod of brass rods (approx. 1/8" diameter and 6" long each) on top of a nondescript round piece of wood about 4" in diameter. The Coconut is awarded to the Points Champion each year. I won the Coconut in 2000.
The younger trophy is an NFL football in a polycarbonate case on a wood base. I created this trophy for the league in This is awarded to the prognostication playoffs champion after the Super Bowl is played. I have won the Football award in 2001 and, I think, in 2005.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Ex-Producer on the first two seasons of "The Apprentice" goes on long-form via Slate after his 20 year NDA expires to say how messed up Donald Trump is, including confirming that the yet-to-be-President resisted his Producers recommendation that Kwame Jackson (who is an African-American) be crowned the winner over Bill Rancic because "would America buy a n— winning?". Omaroso also wrote in her book that there are tapes of Trump using the N-word to slander her in 2018, to which Trump directly denying he ever used the word. Only Mark Burnett knows for sure since he owns the tapes.
https://slate.com/culture/2024/05/donald-trump-news-2024-trial-verdict-apprentice.html
PRO
A’s lose 4-3 on a walk-off single
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2024/5/29/24167523/as-lose-4-3-on-a-walk-off-single
Combine two of baseballs bottom ten offenses and you’ll get an eight-hit three-run barn burner. Exhibit A was last night where the A’s thankfully scored all three of those runs en-route to an impressive road victory.
History nearly repeats itself in loss (Giants lose 6-1 to Phillies)
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2024/5/29/24167600/mlb-giants-phillies-5-29-2024-recap-bryce-harper-kyle-harrison-hunter-strickland
For those who celebrate: Happy 7th Anniversary of Bryce Harper’s and Hunter Strickland’s infamous dust-up!
What lit this epic collision of stupidity aflame?
A long-dormant ember that had sat cocooned in cool ash for nearly three years, initially sparked by Bryce Harper lifting a homer off Strickland that the reliever thought he “pimped.”
Harrison throwing up and in AFTER Harper barked at him despite iffy command was certainly a choice.
At least this time Sabol came out and headed off Harper. If I remember, when Strickland did it, Posey just kind of stayed in the crouch for a while before heading out to "show support". I think Posey just staying in the crouch letting Harper run out there says a lot about Strickland.
Although I guess it really wasn't heading off Harper since Harper just kind of stood there miffed.
Dodgers offense bursts through to finish sweep of Mets
https://www.truebluela.com/2024/5/29/24167494/will-smith-home-runs-miguel-vargas-shohei-ohtani-mets-sweep
Following a doubleheader, both teams were going to need some maneuvering to get Through Wednesday. With each team having a blowup inning, the Mets paid the price with a far worse one, allowing six runs in the eighth while the Dodgers only conceded three in the bottom of the fifth, winning the series finale 10-3 to complete a three-game sweep at Citi Field.
You know who had the worst day? Mets reliever Lopez had a terrible relief appearance, got ejected for arguing a check swing, tossed his glove into the stands in frustration, called the Mets "the worst team in MLB" in a post-game media appearance, and now is reportedly getting cut.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40242808/mets-say-jorge-lopez-post-ejection-glove-toss-not-acceptable
I think I saw that he got DFA'ed within a few hours of his interview.
DBD AV CLUB
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
[Ross Dellinger] The NCAA rules committee meets next week to discuss permitting schools to display corporate logos on fields and, perhaps, patches to jerseys. A year out from implementation of a revenue-sharing model, the commercialization of college athletics is here.
https://x.com/RossDellenger/status/1795955468864512184
No, the commercialization of college athletics is now more brazen.
Pac-12 MBB player of the year Caleb Love withdraws from the draft and is returning to Arizona next season
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/40241376/caleb-love-withdrawing-nba-draft-returning-arizona
Penn State loses employment case, ruling that the University retaliated against the football team's doctor after Coach Franklin overruled the team doctor
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/40242103/penn-state-scott-lynch-doctor-james-franklin-verdict
That just confirms what all of us have known for a very long time about college football and the NFL.
CAL
Go Bears!!!
Cal launches Golden: "the official NIL for Cal Athletics". How this differs from Cal Legends NIL group, I'm not sure.
https://x.com/calathletics/status/1795883770534412445
Isn't Cal Legends NIL not under the auspices of the campus administration?
Seems to me that Golden *is* under campus administration.
Sort of begs question of why have two?
Maybe the fact that the NIL collective indicates that certain folks seemed to feel the campus administration wasn't responding fast enough to the changing landscape in college football and college athletics more generally.
But the campus-administered NIL may be able to offer tax deduction benefits the other one cannot (?). Don't know. Just spitballing.
Rich Lyons doesn't start as Chancellor for another month, but he's already one of the all time greats
https://x.com/richlyons/status/1796195401122415042
If he schitt cans Knowlton in the relatively near future, Lyons will immediately be on the shortlist of greatest Chancellors in the history of this planet…
From an ESPN.com. article titled: "Classic matchups and wild bowls between college football's new conference rivals"
Duke 22 Cal 22 at CMS in 1963: A madcap game between two teams that would finish a combined 9-9-2. Future top-five pick and Super Bowl winner Craig Morton ran for one Cal touchdown and threw for two, including a 31-yard jump ball to Jack Schraub to tie the game late. Duke was preparing for a game-winning 30-yard field goal but forgot the kicking tee (a legal thing then). When a coach threw it in from the sideline, the Blue Devils were penalized 15 yards for "coaching from the sideline." (Yeah, I didn't know that was a thing either.) They then missed the ensuing 45-yarder. Delightful.
Personal note: that's the second Cal football game I remember going to. The first was against Missouri the year before.
unwritten rules of the gym
You can't say no to "can I work in?"
no nipples
i used to attend SoulCycle classes a lot in person. in an effort to keep guys from taking off their shirts there was a "no nipples showing" rule.
the loose fitting, baggy tank tops were considered acceptable.
I remember AJ Ellis, a Dodgers catcher in the 2010s, was on Intentional Talk a few times. One time his nipples were showing through his shirt and Kershaw came up and put tape on his shirt over his nipples.
https://i.imgur.com/tAjOj0C.png
I would not be opposed to your malicious compliance via a Borat-style mankini. If women can wear those thong things that force me to look at the ceiling while working out, HSB should be able to wear a mankini while doing a spin class
No profanity. Over the last few decades I've been a member of three different gyms and I've only rarely heard any "inappropriate" language. Kind of like the DBD.
i didnt realize we had a "no profanity" rule on DBD. makes sense though and everyone is so nice ...
We f*cking well better or we'll get all kinds of *ssh*les talking sh*t here.
F*** YEAH
I don't think we have a no profanity rule on the DBD. It's just that people don't use it much on the DBD. I think there has been profanity in the past.
I am rather profane in my normal, day-to-day life, but prefer “schitt” on the DBD, out of respect for my fellow Bear fans…
Questions: Why is the 5/28 DBD still on the main page? Yesterday's never made it there and today's is only found in archive too (at least for me). Asking for Oski.
Answer: someone in the W4C staff [not me] had pinned it to the Front Page. I unpinned the old one and pinned this one. Someone had proactively noticed that the Substack algorithm rarely promoted DBD to the Front Page, so was trying to promote during quiet days. However, pinning is a manual process and requires someone to do/undo it.
That day's conversation was just too good.
EDIT: But seriously, I do notice that a few recent articles just don't show up on the home page, including Avi's farewell to the Pac-12.
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/until-we-meet-again-pac-12