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11 day extravaganza in New England starts tomorrow. Having lunch with dmoney and the d honey on the 2nd

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Tell D$ that the goons from the DBD say hey

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Did they get married yet? I think they were engaged but I didn't get invited to the wedding so I'm assuming they aren't married yet!

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Two week bout of COVID ended a week ago - man, that was brutal.

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Glad you are feeling better. I had it for the first time at the end of June. Pretty mild symptoms. The worst part occurred as the symptoms faded, the histamines came on causing me hives for about 7 days. That was miserable.

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Had about three days of severe fever that had my wife concerned about going to the ER. Also severe headaches, sinus congestion, weakness, and fatigue. The second week, the fever broke but the rest of the symptoms remained, but milder.

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Were you boosted or double boosted? If so, I guess the vaccines aren't as effective against the current strains.

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double vax, single boost

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DBD test kitchen

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Pork, bacon, nectarine & red onion brochettes with rice pilaf, very tasty, paired with a single vineyard 2018 Crozes Hermitage. Dessert of madeleine cake with mousseline cream with ripe cherries.

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Nut/seed flavored ice cream

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Jul 25, 2022·edited Jul 25, 2022

No. Oh that's not quite true -- peanut butter, and only peanut butter.

I make a phenomenal peanut butter ice cream pie in a chocolate cookie crust.

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sounds yum

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I love getting the toasted almond at Fenton's

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Pistachio ice cream. I love the spumoni ice cream at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

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I used to enjoy pistachio ice cream as a kid, and thought it was a mature ice cream meant for older people

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Best pistachio ice cream I've had was a French version of a nutty buddy in Toulouse. Packed with flavor!

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Best I've had was pistachio gelato in a small town in central Italy - La Dolce Vita IIRC.

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does peanut butter (with chocolate) count?

have had sesame seed ice cream, which can be pretty good

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Peanuts are a legume, but I'll allow it.

Love the flavor combo, by the way.

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yeah, I was hoping for that mulligan ;-)

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The black sesame flavor that Japanese street vendors sell is 🔥🔥🔥

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I feel like you're singing the song of my people, as chocolate + peanut butter is always referred to as Buckeye flavored in Ohio.

Also, in Taipei, there's an ice cream parlor called Snow King Ice Cream. They have the vanilla and chocolate flavors that Americans might expect; red bean, taro, and sesame flavors that are popular in East Asia; tea and alcoholic flavors like oolong and kaoliang; and then savory flavors like pork floss or tofu, which were originally developed so diabetics could get ice cream there too.

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nothing better than PB+choco!

have had to train my daughter to take the reeses from the buckets on halloween...I think she finally learned last year ;-)

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DBD AV Club

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The World According to Jeff Goldbloom on Disney+. Wow, that dude is weird, if that's really his personality.

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I finished The Bear and the first season was fantastic.

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Watched The Gray Man on Netflix over the weekend. Had low expectations after reading some reviews, but it was still a fun (although extremely predictable) action movie with some fun one-liners for Chris Evans as the main villain.

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I enjoyed it - good clean dumb fun

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Watched the Summer of Soul on Saturday, which was truly great. Enjoyed Sly and the Family Stone - so I started DJing with them on Sunday night.

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Nope-

Absolutely worth a watch. Certainly not a perfect movie but it's ambitious and pretty well-executed. Very thematically rich with some nice character studies. Even if you've seen every trailer, you haven't been spoiled.

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Finished S1 of The Old Man...found it predictable and just ok...

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I agree. May pass on season two.

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Whoa, I just finished the 2nd episode last night, I find the direction, acting and cinematography to be great. Worried that the wife wouldn't want to watch as the first episode was a little too violent for her taste.

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I really enjoyed the 1st few episodes as well…we’ll discuss in South Bend.

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Yup, started like a house afire, then....

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This is a disappointing. I’ve finished the first 4 episodes and I have enjoyed it so far.

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You might like a lot more than I did. Wasn't awful, just -- for me -- a disappointing direction.

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Watched some of the Newman/Woodward documentary on HBO Max. Comments from Ethan Hawke (producer), etc.

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How was your weekend?

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Lots of fun. Beach party with a lot of my old Cal friends to celebrate another Cal friend turning 41. Lots of pool time with the kids, dinner with my grandpa, daughters classmates 4th birthday party.

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Hiked about 50 miles in the NE corner of Yosemite. We lucked out and had zero smoke, fantastic weather, and of course, lots of gorgeous meadows, valleys, and passes.

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Fine and yours?

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Not too shabby. Threw a mini-birthday party for SGB2.0, but had to stay inside because it was 96 degrees. Sunday I went out for a pizza in Manhattan and took in a showing of Moulin Rouge off-Broadway. Very easy to consume because it is 100% snippets of modern cover songs - and that's the catch to it. Good singers, costumes, and set. Above average, but not a must-see . (14/19 WB).

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Warm. Worked 5 games in a youth softball state championship tournament, including the championship game plate. Fortunately, temps topped out in the low 90s, vs heading for 100 all this week,

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Hosted a house concert of a decent little folk band...very nice.

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Who?

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A wife/husband team known as Ordinary Elephant. They just got selected to play the Americanafest in Nashville come September.

Delightful.

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Never heard of them. I see they are coming to my area for a festival in October, I'll have to check them out.

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For real, I thought you meant a band of little people. Like Mini Kiss or something like that.

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Good. No 1 flew back on Fri for a few days. Just dropped him off at the airport for a trip to Australia and New Caledonia to look at art. He'll be back in a few weeks then his GF flies in for about 10 days.

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Not too shabby. Went from Kobe to Tokyo (with a stop for lunch with friends in Nagoya). Staying at friends' place in Tokyo. Hot and humid, but still fun.

Yesterday went to TeamLAB Borderless – a small portion of which was at the SF Asian Art Museum late last year. The full monty is pretty wild! Great place for kids...we went with a couple of families with kids between 5 and 9.

https://borderless.teamlab.art

Flying back to the cold tomorrow...

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I went to Borderless when I was in Tokyo right at the end of 2019 and that was pretty cool. I can only imagine how much better the experience is now with fewer people.

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was still relatively crowded (but perhaps/probably was more so for your visit)

didn't know it'd been around that long. closes in a month, I think.

the whole Odaiba area there is changing. Zepp Tokyo is in the process of being demolished.

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A good drink with dairy in it

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White Russian

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Milkshake

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Brings all the boys to the yard

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Taro milk. Papaya milk.

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Fenton's chocolate milkshake.

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Oh, Thai Iced Tea. I like the one at Feng Cha Teahouse, just down from Top Dog.

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Jul 25, 2022·edited Jul 25, 2022

A mocha or latte

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chai latte

calpis

earl grey with milk and sugar

royal milk tea

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Ruby

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Bridges

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My daughter's name.

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Don’t take your love to town...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbVdRGev6r8

I got a girl and Ruby is her name

She don't love me, but I love her just the same

Ruby Ruby how I want you

Like a ghost I'm gonna haunt you

Ruby Ruby when will you be mine

Each time I see you baby my heart cries

I'm gonna steal you away from all those guys

From the sunny day I met you

Made a bet that I would get you

Ruby Ruby when will you be mine

I got a girl and Ruby is her name

I'd give the world just to set her heart aflame

Got some lovin' money too

Gonna give it all to you

Ruby Ruby when will you be mine all mine

Ruby Ruby when will you be mine

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My birthstone.

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Kit

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Uniform/logo that would never fly today: The Houston Colt .45s

https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/list_by_team/991/Houston_Colt_45s/

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In a similar vein, so to speak, the Baltimore Bullets.

https://www.toddradom.com/blog/sports-logo-case-study-3-1954-baltimore-bullets

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I will go with pictured expos hat! Always liked their logo

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How about the powder blue unis of the Houston Oilers?

https://twitter.com/nflthrowback/status/1111810742854914048

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Jul 25, 2022·edited Jul 25, 2022

Great ones.

Shame we had to trade these for the current Titans and Texans looks (both mediocre).

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This is a great one.

I also liked the Minnesota North Stars logo and uniforms as well.

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That is one of the best ever.

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That one is cool, never seen it before.

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Too soon to say California Golden Bears?

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Are you referring to the national champion ultimate frisbee team or the American football team that disbanded in 2023 right before the Second Civil War?

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Elsewhere in college

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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PRO

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Celtics trying to trade Jaylen Brown + picks for Durant. I'd assume they need to include someone else as well.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34291954/boston-celtics-teams-engage-talks-brooklyn-nets-possible-kevin-durant-deal-sources-say

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Dumb move IMO

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Mark Canha had a hilarious on-field interview with ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

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Go Bears

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YES! Huge wine & food fan as well.

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Champagne with ever meal.

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Warriors sign Mac McClung to a one year, non-guaranteed deal. He gets a chance to make the team. I remember the viral video from his high school game against a Louisville HS, Fern Creek. The Fern Creek coach trash talked him during the game and basically said, you're going to Georgetown to sit. He went off and put up 44 on them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPwcMYPoUI4

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Game #98: A’s lose series finale to Rangers 11-8

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/7/24/23276539/game-98-as-lose-series-finale-to-rangers-comeback

The A’s lost the series finale on Sunday afternoon, losing to the Texas Rangers 11-8 to ruin a chance at Oakland’s first sweep.

Oakland’s lone All-Star wasn’t very All-Star-y today as he was pummeled by the Texas bats in his toughest start yet. The bats finally got going when the A’s got into the Texas bullpen but the Texas lead was just too much of a mountain to overcome.

Blackburn’s worst outing

In his first start for the A’s in the second half, the All-Star was anything but that today. Texas scored three times against Paul Blackburn in the first inning, capped by a two-run home run by Adolis Garcia. That was only a taste of what was to come.

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(S)wept

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2022/7/24/23276826/mlb-recap-san-francisco-giants-los-angeles-dodgers-alex-cobb-darin-ruf-clayton-kershaw

I was tempted to copy-and-paste the recap from Thursday’s game here for today’s 7-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was its spiritual twin in many ways: decent but strained starting pitching, missed scoring opportunities for San Francisco, an inability to finish opposing hitters in 2-strike counts or close out innings, a dramatic Darin Ruf home run to tie the game and offer a flash of hope for Giant fans, a lead briefly held, a defensive miscue, a bullpen pitcher unable to hold the line in late-game tie.

Play with the order a bit in the sequence of events, but the series finale that capped the four game sweep in Los Angeles had it all in 2022 San Francisco Giants bingo.

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<<blue broom.gif>>

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Dodgers sweep in the second half with 7-4 win over the Giants

https://www.truebluela.com/2022/7/24/23276000/dodgers-sweep-in-the-second-half-with-7-4-win-over-the-giants

The Dodgers have started their second-half with strong performances and timely hitting as they completed their first four-game sweep of the Giants at Dodger Stadium since June 1995. Another late rally gave the Dodgers a 7-4 win and put them a season-high 34 games over .500 and sent the third-place Giants to Arizona 16½ games behind the Dodgers.

The Dodger bullpen did the job today, with five relievers getting the final 14 outs with nary a man on base. Evan Phillips was the one who got the win and Craig Kimbrel recording the save.

Manager Dave Roberts gave Will Smith the day off and with Justin Turner still on the mend, he put out a lineup that had Jake Lamb, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy and Trayce Thompson following the familiar top three. And it was those four who provided the key hits today for the win.

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It was a dominant statement by the Blue empire vs Giants. And a disappointing one for all Giants fans.

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Jul 25, 2022·edited Jul 25, 2022

The Giants lineup Sunday v Kershaw was pathetic....just embarrassing.

Slater, Flores, Ruf, Mercedes, Estrada, Villar, Gonzales, Wynns, Bart? Not an everyday player among them.

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I wouldn't say dominant. Giants gave away a couple of games with their poor D and one bad hanging curve (which was actually the 2nd hanging curve of the AB). In all games, they were in it in the last few innings.

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This series really crystallized the issues with the Giants this year (especially as compared to last year): their top-line offense and starting pitching is actually pretty good, enough to be competitive with the top clubs. But they have been losing badly at the margins: defense and relief pitching. They get into the late innings and give it away.

Which, honestly, is where it felt like they "should" have been last season, but they got unexpected performances from a bunch of aging veterans and had a miracle year. That's not happening this year.

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Not sure they have what the Nationals want for Soto.

I think Preller is going to sell the farm (what do they have left) and some major leagues to try to get Soto to save his job.

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I'm not sure top-line offense being pretty good is accurate. But they can hit mistakes, like Ruf's grand slam on Thurs and HR off Kershaw yesterday.

I think everything went right last season and like you said, this year is regression to the mean.

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They're 5th in MLB in runs scored per game. Offense is fine.

They're only 13th in runs allowed, but a lot of that is affected by the bad defense. By fielding-independent pitching stats they're 4th.

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CAL

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Just took a quick glance at the fall Cal Volleyball roster. In addition to losing a lot of seniors (on an already bad (0-20 in Pac-12 play) team), Cal also lost Bella Bergmark as a graduate transfer to Texas and Katarina Pantovic (who starred for also a bad Cal team when Mima Mirkovic chose Beach over Indoor two seasons ago during the delayed season) is off the roster. Pantovic (who was a star for Canada U-18 before Cal) didn't play last year, so this might be a medical retirement situation. Cal does have a lot of freshmen and a few of them will be counted on to be game changers (if the Bears can compete this fall).

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Yikes. I fondly remember their final four team with Carli Lloyd and Tarah Murrey. What on earth happened to this program?

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Repeat 0-20 incoming

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@Just wait 2 seasons when we'll be the class of the WCC or MWC@

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Go Bears!!!

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Remember that giant 300 pound 14 year old rising sophomore? He's taking an unofficial to Cal tomorrow

https://twitter.com/SSN_California/status/1551667318262042626

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The California Golden Bears Football Program. All that's left with FOX/ESPN destroying the Pac-10 is rearranging the chairs on the Lido Deck.

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How did UCLA get so badly in debt in the first place? I always thought they had kind of a sweet deal, not having to have a football stadium

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Larry Scott and the Conference Presidents/Chancellors deserve the William Wallace treatment.

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Positively. The question now is: Does Chancellor Christ and AD Knowlton have what it takes to insure Cal Football comes out of this intact?

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or tarred and feathered.

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Man, that was gonna be my line! ;-)

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We'll have to wait and see what happens with Newsom and the Regents censuring UCLA. It appears that once the 30-day exclusive negotiating period the Pac has with the cable providers expires in a week or two we'll have more info. Right now the come to Jesus moment is two years away.

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The come to more #Pac12AfterDark moment is coming sooner than that.

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Also. the Pac-12 Network will be featuring Cal and all of the other football teams on Pac-12 media day kicked off by George K. on Friday (29th of July) morning. I wasn't sure the Pac-12 network was still around, but I guess so. Not sure when the Cal segment will run but it's going be Wilcox, Cindric, and Daniel Scott.

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If so it will just expose how made-for-TV football really puts fans on the back-burner (not that this is any surprise).

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