185 Comments

Re the mystical, mighty Portal — is it just my skewed perception or has Furd lost more than most?

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022

It seems like they have the biggest exodus of any Pac 12 program this cycle.

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Shaw is a spent force and they are circling the drain. He needs to leave because I think they are going to be in 3-9 to 5-7ville from here on out

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022

I agree about Shaw finally being a spent force but I hope he does stay well past his expiration date and extends their stay in 3-9 to 5-7ville.

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agree and with the silly money he is being paid allegedly, I wouldn't think he would leave voluntarily

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Travis Dye to USC now too....

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Hide your kids, hide your wife, SC is taking everyone in the portal.

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022

bay area ...

just landed in SF .. it is NICE here. temps in low 60s but you could DEFINITELY wear shorts.

sat outside and a masala dosa w/ my sister. not the sort of thing you have for lunch in NYC too often

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Where’d ya get the dosa?

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Madras Cafe in Sunnyvale

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oh, thought you were in SF proper. but you headed south.

but it is mid-60s here in SF, so perhaps shorts are doable...

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It was beautiful today. Went for a walk around 3 in just jeans and a tshirt.

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I wish I'd gone for a walk. Have essentially not been outside. I have 0 exercise minutes (but 2/3 of my Move circle and all my stand circle!)

Usually, if I walk my daughter to and from school (two round trips), I easily close (my admittedly low target) exercise circle. But did neither trip today :-/

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Meatloaf

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HEY MA! Th.... THE MEATLOAF. WE WANT IT NOW!

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What's she doing back there....I never know what she's doing....

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Meat Loaf

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Had one for dinner a couple weeks ago, and had meatloaf sandwiches for lunch the next day.

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(Oops! Thought this was the DBD Kitchen topic of the day.)

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The passing of the singer was announced on Facebook today. While no official reason was given, TMZ reported that he was battling Covid.

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I can't think of a single song by him.

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Paradise by the Dashboard Light?

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad?

Bat Out of Hell?

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Nope

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Alrighty, then.

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Same as me. Almost. Besides Rocky Horror, isn’t he the one who won’t do an undefined thing for love?

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Same. I've known about him for ages, but I can't recall any of his work. Maybe I'd know something if I heard it?

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I loved the big fella....Bat out of Hell was a great album...Paradise by the Dashboard Lights is a classic & features Phil Rizzuto on the play by play!! Two out of Three Ain't Bad, You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth also good...

He was Eddie in Rocky Horror as well...

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“Whatever happened to Saturday night…”

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Don't remember him, but then again, it's been decades since I've seen that.

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You all have definitely heard the famously ambiguous "I would do anything for love, but I wont do that" song. It's been a running joke over the decades about just what is it he wouldn't "do."

I grew up for a time close to where he lived in the 90's and have a friend who became related to him via marriage, who says he was a really foul person, haha. Some unsavory details.

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You’ve also noted the “what won’t he do” aspect ;-)

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Do spill that tea…

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I remember he had the comeback album, maybe 10 years ago? I never really had heard of him until then.

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"I want you, I need you but I ain't ever gonna love you. Now don't feel sad 'cause two out of three ain't bad." Dylan-esque quality there!

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I guess we finally have an answer to what he wouldn’t do for love…

Get vaccinated.

I actually don’t know if he was unvaccinated or not.

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My buddies and I always speculated that the answer to the question of what he wouldn't do for love was really simple: oral... duh! ;-)

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What?!? I suppose that would make sense if he truly is an anti-vaxxer.

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His name was Robert Paulson.

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Seems like a strong anti vaxxer name.

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I love it.

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An over-rated brand

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probably Yeti, but I still want to own their fancy coolers and stuff (but without paying for them)

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I have a Yeti cooler. Much like the US flag, it seems like MAGA supporters have co-opted the brand. Same goes for Carhart, they make great jackets.

It is probably the heaviest and best cooler I’ve ever owned. I can see the appeal to having them if you’re over landing or camping. I wouldn’t and don’t recommend using it as a beach cooler.

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Carhartt is the correct spelling.

It is the brand of choice for work clothes for much of our field staff because it is very durable.

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They also were destroying their coolers bc yeti stated they no longer wanted to do business with the NRA. And as someone dating somebody with a teenager, the Gen-zers are co-opting the shit out of carhartt right now.

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Did you see Carhart is catching a lot of negativity by the MAGA crowd for still requiring it’s employees to get vaccinated. Which, makes sense and aligns with the companies goals of keeping workers and people safe while doing their work.

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Once they came out with their coolers everyone started to copy the design. Now it seems like that's the only style available.

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yeah, i've wondered if there are copycats available now that are less expensive but just as effective, and its become more of a status/brand name thing.

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Some copycat/similar products are similarly effective, others no where nearly so.

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Justin Wilcox

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I'd be willing to wager that Wilcox took a modest salary increase in this latest deal, because he knows what it takes to win at Cal. If a preponderance of the new money is going to assistant salaries as suggested, that's the way Cal can build a wining program. Cal is a 3* school. We need to bring in those kids & coach them up & hope they turn into good to great PAC-12 level players by their junior year. Cal will never get the 5-stars, and only a sprinkling of the 4's. I hope Plummer gets beat out for the starting job by a Cal project. The one year grad transfers and assorted sprinkling of portal imports is not the way to build a consistently winning program. Great assistants who earn enough to stay with the program long enough to develop players is the only way.

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I think the grad transfers and portal imports are important to build a consistently winning program. Don’t take my opinion, just look at the programs that have been utilizing it and their success: Alabama, Oklahoma, SMU.

I think the portal and grad transfers help fill unexpected roster holes that can appear due to player injury, players unexpectedly flaming out of the program due to grades or off the field issues, early NFL departures, or players that just don’t live up to their potential.

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Prior to NCAA free agency happening in 2021, Alabama had won HALF of the national championships dating back to 2009. I'm not taking your word for it, and I am looking at the programs and it's not true. Prior to 2021, a school couldn't pluck a player out of the portal & fill a hole, they had to sit out a year. My point being Cal is different. Those 3 schools can bring in athletes that Cal cannot admit. We have to do it differently.

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The better point is Alabama is different. They have been successful beyond all peers under different player acquisition models not because of the model, but because they have demonstrated they are better at what they are doing.

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 22, 2022

My point being that despite all of Alabama’s advantages, money, success, they have still adapted their model to include getting players from the transfer portal. If the most successful program in the land is using it, we would be a fool not to do so as well.

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The bluebloods always seemed to have a player get his waiver approved (i.e. Justin Fields at Ohio State).

Of all the schools in the country with similarly stringent academic restrictions, Cal is close to the bottom from a success standpoint, right down there with Vandy, who at least has the SEC hurdle...whatever different way Cal is doing it does not seem to be working....

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022

This right here is why I like the transfer portal because it basically already existed for the blue blood programs. Like you said, OSU/Fields are a great example of the double standard. OSU/Fields for a waiver asap but Cal/Modster sat in ncaa purgatory for what reason?!

The transfer portal has finally created a more even and fair playing field now with transfers.

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Oklahoma had 3 QBs win the Heisman and take them to the playoffs. All three of those QBs came via grad transfer or the portal.

Alabamas leading WR and LB this season were from the portal.

UCLA’s leading rusher was from the portal.

Michigan States leading rusher and workhorse RB was from the portal.

Wilcox was slow to react and use the portal. Chances are we just our starting QB and a starting DE from the portal this year.

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And... if you are one of those players, how likely are you to choose a Cal, Vanderbilt, Rice, etc over those schools? Charbonnet, maybe, but I'm sure Chip Kelly promised him the rock & Wilcox would have told him he'd have to compete. Just because the coach wants them, or jumps on them early doesn't mean they're coming.

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I disagree with this. To be overrated, he would have to have a higher national profile or coaching at a bigger and more successful program. Few people outside of the Pac 12 even know who he is.

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Disagree with your disagree. Wilcox gets glowing mentions on national broadcasts all the time

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I agree that he is overrated by the Cal fanbase.

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Flip the two USC wins and two Big Game wins to losses, and he's probably out of the job. Those four wins have bought him a lot of goodwill with the fanbase and helped minimize some consistent issues during his tenure (like the inability to develop a consistently functional offense)

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The fanbase should demand more. I cannot wait for this boomer mentality of 1-11 is ok as long as we beat Stanfurd to die in a fucking tire fire.

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Flip every win to a loss, and he's the losingest coach by percentage in Cal history!

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I mean, it's true that the rivalry wins help in this case, but given the short schedules, I think a lot of college coaches would be fired if you converted two wins into losses in any given season.

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I agree that those wins bought him sometime and goodwill. He is fortunate to have caught both those programs while in decline.

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Dik Dik or other wildlife

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So no one pic'd that little dik?

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The Parus genus is one of the most numerically common birds in Eurasia. There are several species within Parus, but they are collectively known as tits.

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The great tit (Parus major) is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa where it is generally resident in any sort of woodland; most great tits do not migrate except in extremely harsh winters.

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If you see a mated male and female together, you can scientifically observe a pair of great tits

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speaking of harsh weather, it's blue tit weather today

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I just took the dog out for about ten minutes and it's so cold that my hands actually hurt by the time I got back in. Thermostat says its 22 out there.

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It is. When I was out this morning a friend who I've always seen running in shorts finally put on sweats. I was fine while I was out but the nice hot shower after sure felt good.

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Going to be a mostly dry weekend in the NW, with mostly clear skies. Temps soaring into the upper 40s. Spring MAY have sprung!

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A booby is a seabird in the genus Sula, part of the family Sulidae. Boobies are closely related to the gannets, which were formerly included in Sula

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I haven’t seen one in person since COVID began...the mythical booby might as well be the Phoenix... ;-)

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DBD Not Official Financial Advice

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SP500 inching toward correction territory.

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Buying things on sale is fun.

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DBD Test Kitchen

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Going to be in Berkeley to get fitted for skis. What should I get for lunch?

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Pick up some bread from Acme

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I was thinking Picante since I'll be on Gilman. Also going to get Happy Donuts.

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Go to El Patio and get arepas.

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I saw this after I ordered food at Brazil Cafe. They're closed until 4. Looks good tough.

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Picante is a solid choice

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I would go to Raleigh’s for lunch and a pint.

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The old Raleigh’s maybe

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I’ve been to the new Raleigh’s once and that was back in 2018 for the ASU game when we were ranked and undefeated but I enjoyed the new Raleigh’s.

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Same. The backyard situation is great.

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Oh that's just up the street from where I'll be. Their menu looks great.

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DBD AV Club

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Season 1 of Wheel of Time (Amazon) felt like the Shasta Cola equivalent of LotR. Engaging enough to casually watch, but the season finale made me realize I didn’t care whether any characters survived. 11/19 WNB

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Ouch, I thought the world building was interesting and different enough, but I found it somewhat lacking as well. 14/19 WRB

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Off topic, but what does the “R” stand for in “WRB”? “Reluctantly” comes to mind, but I’m guessing it’s something else.

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That was my guess.

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No, you nailed it.

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Reluctantly

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Is nailed = banged?

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PLTM

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It's very clearly still finding its footing, and adapting the first book can be particularly tricky since it's such a knockoff of LotR. The show tried to make it more of an ensemble show but overcompensated by making Rand, the only real PoV in the book, an incredibly bland character.

I'm willing to give it another season or two to figure things out since imo it's rarely actively bad.

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they've changed some stuff and are trying to jam a lot into very few episodes...we'll see.

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I watched three episodes and don't care enough to continue.

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Ozark S4 eps 1-7 dropped today on Netflix...

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Downloaded and ready for my flight to Austin.

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I'm all about it. Optimistic the long wait will have been worth it.

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wrapped up the Netflix series Gloria I mentioned the other day, last episode was a bit rushed. Can't tell if things were left unresolved to justify a second season or if it's "well life is like that."

Started watching the most recent Narcos: Mexico, interesting enough. I will be muttering "pinche cabron" under my breath for the next several days.

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Narcos is such an amazing show. I could binge watch but the wife will not let me. Still working through the latest season and will be sad when I get to the end. I am contemplating re watching from the beginning, starting back to Colombia.

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I feel like doing the same and rewatching the series. I had a thought that it would be cool if Netflix reorganized the episode series in some sort of chronological order that they would have been happening in real life. So kind of a zipper order of all the episodes where you jumping from Pablo to Cali to Mexico.

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As did I, it seems like the series has come to an end.

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Our Crumbling Democracy

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022

I guess it's been a while since anyone paid attention to him and his former hotwife. If he really wanted to be a portrait in courage, he would clean a pistol in the Capitol where it's banned.

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022Author

With a straight face and no sense of irony, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO, BA History 2002 Stanfurd) said this:

https://twitter.com/michaelsluciano/status/1484320935968526336

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He is a quintessential Stanford douche. It’s fitting that these populist pols (Trump, Cruz, Hawley, etc) are all elite guys slumming it and pretending to be men of the people.

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In one way, it isn't all that surprising. Elite white men need to get the middle class and the regular people to hate a "lower" class so that their ire isn't directed at the elite.

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With a punchable face.

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Today in Omicron

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Local flagship station purports to feel bad for the kids (a couple of local schools had to shut down totally due to the number of staff & students out ill, and there have been multiple game and event postponements due to Covid outbreaks). This after spending much of the morning (like most mornings) trying to undercut all health & safety guidance at every turn, even though the result of that is what necessitated all the disruptions in the first place.

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Curious, what kinds of things do they do to undercut health & safety guidance?

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Declare on the air that masking and social distancing is ridiculous. Declare omnicron as being nothing but a head cold. Declare that health mandates and guidelines are nothing but an attempt to control people, that it has nothing to do with health. Encourage people to push back against guidance, not complying unless explicitly prompted to do so (and then complaining about it). Push back on distance/remote learning under any circumstances. Support the school board (whose' most vocal member is a major advertiser for his business) that fired the superintendent who developed a plan for remote learning because she did that, even though it had to be used when the patient count made on-site instruction impossible. Etc.

It's all the standard stuff, but after a while, in a dominated market, it numbs some, and resonates with others. Especially when throwing in the "feel sorry for the kids" line, even though promoting (and living) the very acts that exacerbated the problem. After all, you can't be wrong if you say you feel sorry for the kids, can you?

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That is fucking insane, but then again, so many people are receptive to this.

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While I disagree with the value judgement positions, what really makes me nervous is the lunacy approach that follows, which will continue to perpetuate, and cause further problems. One can make a different values-judgement about what their priorities are than others, probably including most of those that might be here. And disagreement about relative values will follow.

But what makes no sense is once any given priority/position is adopted, the course of actions then taken (and promoted) is one that absolutely guarantees that the stated priority/position can not possibly be achieved, and virtually assures that the very circumstances stated to be avoided above all else are almost certain to eventuate.

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Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 21, 2022

Totally. Like, I actually agree with a general position against remote school (especially for elementary school kids), but I'm not so hard-line about it that I'd demand they remain open when there are too many staff/students out sick. And I'd want some safety guidelines in place to hopefully head off such a closure.

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Well, that all sounds nuts.

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It is, but its also reality.

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Sounds like a Sinclair network

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Bicostal, but its 95% the local station, which has free reign to take whatever editorial/content position they want/can get paid to air. The sister station down the road doesn't resemble the local one in ANY way other than both run Fox Sports feeds instead of ESPN ones.

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Pro

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As sensitive as a six-year old girl with a toothache.

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Ottawa Senator's Tim Stützle involved in the best hockey trade of the year

https://twitter.com/NHLGIFs/status/1484327682519171076

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[Golf] When sponsors make you do dumb things for publicity

https://twitter.com/collin_morikawa/status/1484561012439326725

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Mon Dieu! MLB rejects Rays' plan to split home games between Tampa and Montreal.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33109350/tampa-bay-rays-say-split-season-plan-montreal-rejected-mlb

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It is not a real long term solution to split between cities so distant. They should really just move altogether if they are unable to build a park in TBay.

Related point, I agree with Cory Booker that public subsidies for sports stadiums should be banned. The owners make so much money on enterprise value alone, and typically also enjoy the cultural status associated with owning the team. Deeding them a free stadium paid for with taxpayer dollars on top of all that is frankly offensive.

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wasn't there a story earlier that MLB considered nashville and montreal were candidates for expansion teams?

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Given the added hastles and potential for travel-related issues re: Canada, I wonder if this still would have been a no go in a non-COVID world?

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IIRC there was a plan in the early '90s to split Mariner home games three ways between Seattle, Portland and Vancouver.

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Other College

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Stanfurd RB Austin Jones commits to USC

https://twitter.com/rockwitaust/status/1484262877498273793?s=21

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Oregon's Dye also transfers to USC

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Stockpiling of talent? Sounds like the old SC with layers of 4 and 5 star recruits playing 2nd and 3rd string.

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It's like they think they are the powerhouse of college football.

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Austin Jones' time as lead back in South Central lasted 12 hours...

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Heh

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I fear our own dabbling into the portal is completed, and if so, the lack of players on offense is troublesome...

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Yeah, main impression seems to be the QB get was uninspiring, and I wasn't expecting them to get another one after that. I do like the prospects of the DE from Utah developing into a player for us, but wish we could have gotten a couple more high end players, particularly on OL or DB.

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I actually like Plummer, and think he'll be solid...his film from Purdue showed a decent release for a big guy, and he throws a nice, catchable ball. Seems like a decent enough game manager...

But they could've used some experience at OL, RB, WR and maybe another TE....hopefully there's more help on the way....

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Yeah I dont think negatively about Plummer.. my concern is just that a game manager style of QB is going to mean "more of the same" for this offense, and I want to see what more of a gunslinger type of QB would do to open it up. But, hopefully, simply having a QB with a better arm will open it up.

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It remains to be seen if the QB was responsible or a drastically conservative offensive scheme.....

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I didn't know he was that good.

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he isnt

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my policy of not paying any attention to other teams in college football has left me somewhat unprepared to deal with Riley's aggressive roster management via transfer.

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USC generally appears to have been following that policy pre Lincoln Riley. Which is pretty much what necessitated Lincoln Riley's presence.

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the key change is that now there are inbound players.

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Cal

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Go Bears!!!

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Cal gets a 2022 PWO commit - a local TE Jack Endries. He spurned 16 scholarship offers to walk on. 6'4" 230 lbs, 4.68 verified 40 and 37 inch vert.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JackEndries/status/1484631924744146946

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