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Western Carolina

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I am seeing pictures and videos of western Carolina and the devastation is so sad. The areas got 1-2 feet of rain in two days. Asheville is along a river; it's River Arts district and Biltmore Village district were essentially destroyed. The town of Blowing Rock was swept away. So many places where I have fond memories no longer exist.

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Mrs Slug just told me she's trying to get in touch with friends who moved to Asheville. So far, no luck. I have a hunch that with communications being vastly affected in that region, it's going to be a while before we hear from them.

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I have some friends who live in Asheville who were out of the country until yesterday and they're now staying with friends in Charlotte. They've heard from neighbors that their house is okay but there's no electricity or gasoline anywhere, so there's not much point in going home until conditions improve. A bunch of us stayed at their rental property along Lake Lure last year--they have no idea how that one fared during the storm.

The whole situation sounds terrible. I had no idea the devastation would have been this bad. Helene initially seemed like a fairly ordinary hurricane...

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I think it's the dreadful combination of how hard inland hurricanes hit mountainous areas with lots of rivers / relatively narrow valleys (see Hurricane Irene in Vermont in 2011) with just ludicrous amounts of rain before the hurricane arrived - iirc some parts of NC netted over a foot of rain in just over 48 hours, the ground was completely sodden even before the worst of it arrived.

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A seemingly unlikely confluence of factors that gave rise to the devastation, then? I've noticed an increase in devastating events over the last 20-30 years. Literally, within my kids' lifetime.

During the day last Friday I noticed three different "imminent" dam failures pop up in my news feed while I was at work from 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM PDT. This is clearly atypical. Weather is becoming more extreme and conditions are becoming consequential.

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As I understand it, both Vermont and interior North Carolina's previous "holy shit" storms were both hurricanes that went well inland, and both were nearly 100 years ago - but I suspect that the combination of storms carrying more water and water management infrastructure that wasn't built for that kind of stress will make these disasters more frequent... especially because there are thousands of dams that are near end of life in the midwest and east.

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You touch on a critical point that's often overlooked: facility life cycle. And with dams it makes an immense difference in how the facility performs under stressful events.

Another critical factor is facility capacity in terms of volume that can be handled. I doubt that when most dams were designed and built that the anticipated maximum weather events ever envisioned something like Hurricane Helene.

And dams aren't the only feature that's at risk in this event: it's literally the geography of the affected areas. Saturated soil can't hold any more water than it's already holding.

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Wow, that's hard. My condolences on the losses.

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that's rough.

i really like that part of the world, especially a little town Brevard where i would meet my cycling coach and go for long hard rides up to the Blue Ridge Pwky.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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#4 Alabama beats #2 Georgia 41-34 in an exciting back and forth game

https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay/_/gameId/401628374

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I watched picked that one up in maybe the late third quarter when Georgia had come back to life and it was very exciting

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#21 Oklahoma only had the ball for 24 minutes and had 291 yards with only 11 first downs. But that doesn't matter when you play Auburn as they win 27-21 thanks to a Payton Thorne who - ahead by three with four minutes to go on the OU side of the field - gifted a pick-6 to a dropping ILB

https://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay/_/gameId/401628375

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that was a BRUTAL pick six

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ACC:

#7 Miami beats Virginia Tech 38-34

#16 Notre Dame beats #15 L'ville 31-24

#17 Clemson beats Stanfurd 40-14

BC squeaks past Western Kentucky 21-20

NC State squeaks past NIU 24-17

Syracuse smokes FCS Holy Cross 42-14

Duke beats UNC #21-20

SMU smokes FSU 42-16, making Cal loss to Seminoles look worse

Louisiana beats Wake Forest 41-38 as Bachmeier drives the length of the field with 52 seconds left but they miss the game-tying 42 yard FG with no time left

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FSU was supposed to go undefeated for the rest of the season and make our loss to them look negligible.

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It’s unfortunate that we left some meat on the bone there in Tallahassee…that was a winnable game.

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Yeah, a big "what could have been"

Surprisingly we still got the College Game Day to come to Berkeley, and we are still in it for a memorable season.

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Crazy, overturned-Hail-Mary finish in the Miami-VTech game

https://x.com/CJVogel_OTF/status/1839870562329370974

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I still think the refs should have let that stand

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PAC-12 alumni:

#8 Oregon beats UCLA 34-13

Arizona beats #10 Utah 23-10

#25 Boise State beats Wazzu 45-24

Rutgers beats Washington 21-18

#13 USC beats Wisconsin 38-21

Colorado beats UCF 48-21

Oregon State, ASU, & Cal had bye week

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I'm really enjoying the fact that UCLA and UW are struggling. If only U$C could drop a few more games....

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For whatever reason I don't have much ill will towards UW, UO, or USC (well, no more than usual), but I am thoroughly enjoying UCLA's losses. They deserve every bit of it after abandoning their UC brethren

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There has to be some satisfaction watching them get trucked knowing that they have to sign the Cal-imony checks.

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i wonder if the College Gameday pick to host at Berkeley is in any way swayed by the dissolution of the pac12.

it still seems like it was a bit of a stretch to have it in Berkeley given that we lost last week and havent shown any particular amazingness (yet)

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it's new and different though, and it's not like there's an obviously better choice for next week

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Boise State's Ashton Jeanty has 13 TDs. Compare this to UCLA's offense [4], both in four games.

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Watch Jeanty. He is astoundingly good

https://twitter.com/dpbrugler/status/1840390413145788854

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I read 13 TDs and thought he was a QB, but saw the tape and found out he was a RB.

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He is generating numbers and highlights on the level of Barry Sanders in his Heisman year, but with more power to boot.

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[OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD]

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Very much the end of an era at multiple levels

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PRO

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Giants fire Farhan Zaidi, promote Buster Posey to PBO

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2024/9/30/24258515/giants-farhan-zaidi-buster-posey-president-of-baseball-operations

In news that is simultaneously shocking and not at all surprising, the San Francisco Giants wasted no time shaking things up this offseason. Less than 20 hours after their season ended with a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the team announced that they had parted ways with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi ... and replaced him with franchise legend Buster Posey.

Zaidi’s departure is hardly surprising, especially with how many rumors and reports had surfaced in the past weeks and months. And especially after the Giants failed to secure a winning record for the fifth time in his six years at the helm. But Posey’s elevation to the top executive role is certainly a surprising one.

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THIS IS GLORIOUS.

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Now Cal just needs to be in the Sun Bowl...

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We have a great chance to get there eventually, actually.

El Paso is the armpit of America and truly an awful town yet it is my Graceland!

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There are a Lot of places far worse than El Paso.

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Wow. I just assumed that Farhan would sail into 2025 as his make-or-break season. I really hope Buster is prepared to take over the reins. I don't want to see him fail.

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At first I thought he was the GM which I thought would be a bad decision. But I guess we need to see who his GM is. I assume he's known for a little but that he was going to be the new PBO and he's already put feelers out for potential GMs.

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RIP. He was a fantastic and charismatic player. I loved the finger wag

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he was good. wasnt he the guy w/ the LONG FINGER that wagged when he blocked shots?

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Apparently, the NBA got tired of his finger wags and he was T'd up more than once because of it.

Seems to me some folks could get a life.

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i guess he was

Dikembo Mutombo, who ranks second all-time with 3,289 blocked shots, became well known for his playful wag of his right index finger following those blocks -- a gesture that endeared himself to others even after his 18 NBA seasons.

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Due to two rainouts last week from hurricane Helene, the Braves and the Mets have to play 2 games today before wildcard games start tomorrow. They're effectively tied with the Dbacks. If the teams split, they both go to the playoffs. If one team sweeps, they go along with the Dbacks and the other team is out. Will they conspire to play hard the first game and then the winner doesn't play hard and let the other team win? If so, do the Braves pitch Sale to ensure they have a great chance of winning game one but not have him for the WC series? Fascinating decisions.

Also, if they do both agree to split the series, does what happened between the Raiders and the Chargers happen? If they tied in the last game they both go. They were tied with time running out in OT, the Chargers called TO, so the Raiders kicked a FG to win the game.

https://youtu.be/NCwMsSS-CIk?t=3006

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Braves up 2-0 mid 5th.

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3-0 with a Laureano HR.

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Mets take the lead in the top of the 8th .. 4-3

i am sure it will get more exciting ..

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in case you wanted a score update ..

Braves score 4 runs in bottom of 8th to go up 7-6

Mets score 2 run in top of 9th to go back up 8-7

stay tuned

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Mets win 8-7.

the most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heartrending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of ...

kidding. it wasnt. just a fun game to watch especially as a Mets fan.

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Jets lose a wet soggy affair to Broncos w/ lots of missed FGs. final score 10-9.

we went to this game and had a great tailgate experience and it more or less rained the ENTIRE time despite there being little rain in the forecast.

Rodgers had a pretty mediocre game somewhat hampered by the weather

“I think we were kind of killing ourselves,” Rodgers said. "I can’t say I had a spectacular game. I missed some throws. “The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws.”

some photos i took

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gEubAqgAz7x2yyhT6

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3 quick takeaways from the 49ers 30-13 win over the Patriots: It was a big-time bounce back game

https://www.ninersnation.com/2024/9/30/24258165/3-quick-takeaways-from-san-francisco-49ers-30-13-blowout-win-over-new-england-patriots-bounce-back

The San Francisco 49ers bounced back in a major way on Sunday, swiftly defeating the New England Patriots 30-13 at Levi’s Stadium to improve to 2-2 on the season.

It was a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, as the 49ers were able to run the ball effectively, create explosives in the passing game, and force turnovers defensively in the blowout victory.

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Yup, though on the other hand . . . the Pats stink.

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2 things can be true simultaneously.

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Raiders-Browns recap: Battered Las Vegas guts out victory

https://www.silverandblackpride.com/2024/9/29/24253579/raiders-browns-recap-20-16-week-4

No Maxx Crosby, no Davante Adams ... no problem.

The battered Las Vegas Raiders battled to win a a back-and-forth battle with the battered Cleveland Browns 20-16 on Sunday.

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Athletics drop season finale, fall to Mariners 6-4

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2024/9/29/24257877/athletics-drop-season-finale-fall-to-mariners-6-4

That’s a wrap everyone. Our Athletics finished off their season in Seattle this afternoon, putting up a fight but ultimately falling to the Seattle Mariners 6-4 in the final game of the season that marks an end to baseball season for A’s fans. Next time we’ll see our guys in uniform will be Spring Training. Let the winter slumber begin.

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80-82 (Giants lose to Cards 6-1)

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2024/9/29/24257947/mlb-giants-cardinals-9-29-2024-recap-hayden-birdsong-michael-mcgreevy-80-82

The San Francisco Giants 2024 season ended on a weak liner to third off the bat of Tyler Fitzgerald. The 27th out in a 6-1 loss to the Cardinals ensured the Giants have come up a game shy of the .500 mark they’ve been chained to all season.

For both clubs on the field, Game 162 had little to do with the 2024 season, but proved to be an exciting teaser of what was to come in 2025.

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Welp. Could of had a 0.500 season, but fitting that they come up short and have a losing season.

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Dodgers finale features a Chris Taylor home run & a game-winning balk

https://www.truebluela.com/2024/9/29/24257280/dodgers-chris-taylor-home-run-game-winning-balk-rockies

Major League Baseball’s season is a long one, a daily grind for 186 days, and sometimes even a little bit longer. It’s a daily grind, but that also provides opportunities to see things quite unusual. Like in Sunday’s season finale, when the Dodgers scored the go-ahead run on a balk in the eighth inning to beat the Rockies 2-1 in the last game of the regular season.

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There's the wrong way and then there's the...

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1840482766338593001

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Trump literally suggests "The Purge" - a one-day no-holds barred violence spree against criminals.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/trump-violent-day-policing-crime-00181619

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These guys are so good at finding their backbone after they're out of office.

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because they want their grandkids to talk to them.

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Flake flakes on flaky flakes.

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CAL

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Kingpin no longer makes almond bearclaws. Seems like a wasted opportunity.

https://www.kingpindonuts.com/online-ordering/kin-pin-donuts-menu/extra-fancy-donuts

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those were GOOD

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Wow, that's really digging into the past. Not since the 1986 Big Game (Kapp era), IIRC, has Cal worn Bear Claw helmets.

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Yup. 1986. The claw got bigger over time and this logo is the smallest of them all, if accurately depicted.

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I suddenly realized that I have a Bear Claw helmet at home.

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I hope we wear gold jersey

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Our colors are blue and gold not gold and blue. We should always wear blue jerseys at home.

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[MTEN] Bears Complete Play In Davis

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/29/mens-tennis-bears-complete-play-in-davis.aspx

DAVIS – The California men's tennis team completed a long week of competition when three Golden Bears competed on the last day of the Aggie Invitational at UC Davis.

In extra singles matches, Cal sophomore Alex Aney defeated Cal Poly's Bastiaan Westrate 6-2, 7-5, sophomore Jonathan Irwanto fell to Sacramento State's Henry Lamchinniah 6-3, 3-6, 10-5, and freshman Bernardo Munk Mesa lost to Santa Clara's Lukas Maskow 6-3, 6-7(4), 11-9 at the Marya Welch Tennis Center.

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[WTEN] Bears Capture Singles, Doubles Titles In Cal Fall Invite

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/29/womens-tennis-bears-capture-singles-doubles-titles-in-cal-fall-invite.aspx

BERKELEY – The California women's tennis team closed out its annual fall tournament in style, capturing top-flight titles in singles and doubles on the last day of the Cal Fall Invitational. Three of the program's youngest players won Sunday, with sophomore Tiziana-Marie Schomburg and freshman Naomi Xu taking the doubles title and freshman Sophie Hernandez winning the singles crown at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

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[WSOC] No. 22 Bears Pick Up 10th Win

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/29/womens-soccer-no-22-bears-pick-up-10th-win.aspx

BERKELEY - The No. 22 California women's soccer team defeated visiting Miami 3-2 Sunday afternoon in the first ever meeting between the two programs. Two Golden Bear defenders, Miriam Hils and Malia McMahon, found the net for the first time this season in the high-scoring affair.

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[FH] Cal Earns Shutout Victory Over UC Davis

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/29/field-hockey-cal-earned-shutout-victory-over-uc-davis.aspx

DAVIS – The California field hockey team (6-1) defeated UC Davis (2-6), 4-0, on Sunday at Aggie Field Hockey Facility in Davis.

"It's a good result," Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey Shellie Onstead said. "We have a lot to work on before our two conference games next weekend."

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[VB] Bears Fall To Notre Dame In 4 Sets

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/29/volleyball-bears-fall-to-notre-dame-in-4-sets.aspx

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – California volleyball closed out its first weekend of ACC play against Notre Dame Sunday afternoon, hoping to bounce back after a tough loss to No. 5 Louisville two days prior. Ultimately, however, the Golden Bears lost in four – 20-25, 25-13, 16-25, 15-25 – at Purcell Pavilion to fall to 8-6 (0-2 ACC) on the year.

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[WGOLF] Cal Returns To The Molly

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/29/womens-golf-cal-returns-to-the-molly.aspx

SEASIDE – The California women's golf team takes its full roster into the Molly Invitational at Bayonet & Black Horse on Monday and Tuesday, returning to the course where it set multiple program records and won its first of three straight competitions last September.

The Golden Bears came out on fire in last year's opening round in Seaside, with Constance Fouillet tying the program's all-time best round at 6-under-par 66 over her first 18 holes. Cal eventually shattered its previous 54-hole record, shooting 28-under 836 as a team to tie then-No. 2 Oregon for a share of first-place honors.

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[MSOC] Cal Falls 2-1 At No. 3 North Carolina

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/28/mens-soccer-cal-falls-2-1-at-no-3-north-carolina.aspx

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The California men's soccer team held a 1-0, second-half lead over third-ranked North Carolina on Saturday night on the Tar Heels' home field. But UNC scored the equalizer eight minutes later and netted the deciding goal in the 80th minute to send the Golden Bears to a 2-1 defeat.

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[WTEN] Alsola, Mushika Fall In Doubles At ITA All-Americans

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/28/womens-tennis-alsola-mushika-fall-in-doubles-at-ita-all-americans.aspx

CARY, N.C. – The run by the California women's tennis duo of Jessica Alsola and Mao Mushika came to an end Saturday at the ITA All-American Championships, with the tandem losing in the doubles semifinals at Cary Tennis Park.

The 16th-ranked Golden Bears fell to UCLA's 15th-ranked Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle 6-3, 6-2.

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[MTEN] Bears Fall In Doubles Quarterfinals At ITA All-Americans

https://calbears.com/news/2024/9/27/mens-tennis-bears-fall-in-doubles-quarterfinals-at-ita-all-americans.aspx

TULSA, Okla. – With berths in the doubles semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships and in the NCAA Doubles Championship at stake, the California men's tennis pair of Alex Chang and Mikey Wright competed in a tight quarterfinal match Friday at ITA All-Americans at Case Tennis Center. But the Golden Bears, ranked 13th in the nation, lost to Baylor's 26th-ranked Devin Badenhorst and Zsombor Velcz 7-6(2), 7-6(3).

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Cal field hockey player chronicles her recovery from scoliosis surgery. https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth.edmonston/?hl=en

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Go Bears!!! Beat the Canes!

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WAKE UP, BABE! NEW W4C SONG DROPPED!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmHeuS4Uqcg

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A great stand-up comedy special

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I don't watch enough to really have an opinion, but I have enjoyed Taylor Tomlinson's netflix specials.

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Anything by Gabriel Iglesias. He's my spirit animal.

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Mitch Hedberg only did one special and he is one of the greatest short-joke guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrIw2i4WtA4

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i am guessing this mostly means TV and I dont have a good one.

the best comedy that i remember seeing was the SF Comedy Competition at the Rheem Theater in Moraga way back when. Ellen Degeneres was the host and there was a good lineup that night.

if i am getting any of the details wrong, HAG can correct me.

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I don't remember who was in that show. We also went to the finals at Davies in the city that year.

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DBD AV CLUB

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RIP John Ashton, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Actor (76)

Mr. Ashton was most widely recognized for his role as Sgt. John Taggart in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/29/arts/beverly-hills-cop-john-ashton-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Ok4.WLQ5.6SbOfS93_GBG&smid=url-share

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He wasn't looking too good in the last Beverly Hills Cop movie that came out on Netflix earlier this year. 15/19 for nostalgia's sake.

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RIP Maggie Smith (89)

https://ew.com/emma-watson-honors-harry-potter-costar-maggie-smith-8720028

Emma Watson honors 'legend' Maggie Smith: 'There were a lot of male professors and by God you held your own'

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i thought that her acting in Downton Abbey was amazing and good part of what made that show great.

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Mrs Slug, ever the Downton Abbey fan, loved the Violet Grantham character. She said the character reminded her of my beloved great aunt. Similar wit and occasionally acid observations.

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RIP Kris Kristofferson (88)

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I had never seen the circa 1971 film Pat Garret and Billy The Kid which I believe was his first. Watched it several weeks ago. Not bad.

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