195 Comments

selling my road bike on Ebay. i have never sold anything of real value on Ebay before

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175453802143

Wilier Triestina GTR with Campy components - 2017

mostly posting because i will be sad to finally let it go. probably have spend more hours on that bike than almost anything else except my bed in the last 5 years.

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I've never sold anything on ebay. Bought plenty. Did you try CL or Facebook Marketplace? I wonder how many people go onto ebay to look for a bike.

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tried FB but it is mostly full of scammers. they say they are interested and have some excuse why their cousin will pick up the item but they will send you money later.

also tried the whole word-of-mouth and local channels first.

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Matchmaking... Have you ever successfully set up any of your friends?

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I introduced my college roommate to my brother and they've been married for 31 years now.

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The Furd brother? Why would you do that to her?

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Scootie's judgement has previously been established as superior to most in most situations. This bit of information does not detract from that assessment.

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AndyPanda missed the Furd confessions, clearly.

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Didn't miss it, but assumed there must have been overriding considerations, and the fact that its worked out for 31 years suggests it must have worked out pretty well!

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I was living in Bordeaux with another American guy and we threw a party. My roommate had been saying how he really wanted to meet a French girl. One of the first ppl to come to the door for our party was a French girl so I welcomed her and then turned to my friend and said “C, she is French!” And they ended up dating for many years

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My wife and I were quasi set up by her friend in college unbeknownst to us with the goal of getting rides off of campus to hook up with my then roommate. I say quasi because her approach was telling my wife "he really likes you" and then going to me and saying "hey she really likes you". We were aware of each other and found each other attractive, but I guess needed that push.

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Uh, no I guess, with somebody new, but I didn't pick them, but a couple of years ago on 4th of July (perhaps drinking a bit too much) I convinced a young tenant to break-up with her crappy, sorta fake boy friend, which was good for her because she then found a really good one!

But sadly he died about 6 weeks ago in an auto accident.

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Yes, but not on purpose. I introduced Danny and Cara (fake names, obvs). Months later, Cara told me they'd been seeing each other, which was a total surprise, because Danny was dating Alison. "I hope he picks me, though," said Cara. Compounding the surprise was the fact that almost everyone who met Danny thought he was into dudes.

Danny and Cara are now married, so he did, indeed, pick her.

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That is pretty wild!

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Crazy. I hope your story gets made into a Hallmark movie.

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Yes in college. They eventually got married. Then later divorced.

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My wife is trying to hook up her college roommate after divorce with one of my perennially single friends.

HAG is happy that I am not trying to do the same!

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Don’t worry about HAG. He’s got that TCU mom down the street. I hear she’s into butt stuff

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oh now I need to know who is being setup. Is he a prof?

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yup, my friend who is the astro prof at Ball St us getting set up w/ the only other person we know in IN, who is my wife's college roommate who lives in Ft Wayne.

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yeah that's what I figured. Let's see how well that goes.

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DBD AV Club

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The Watcher on Netflix - Bobby Canavale, Naomi Watts and a bunch of actors with literally 1000 credits to their name.

I'm 6 out of 7 episodes in...it's ok - could go either way, depending on the ending. Keep you posted...

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022

And the Wetcher and Wotcher...;-)

Canavale and Watts do wear same sharp looking outfits, I must say.

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Watched the first couple of episodes of S2 of The Mighty Ducks, Game Changers. I was wondering how they were going to handle Emilio Estevez's firing. Interesting so far.

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I've had it with these MFing snakes on this MFing plane!

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/snake-on-united-airlines-flight-newark/index.html

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Quarters

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...a great dive bar in Saratoga Springs, NY where Jimmy C hoisted a few in his day...

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isn't that in, like, a strip mall?

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I was never very good at flicking quarters off the table and into a pint of beer.

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I ruined my parents' kitchen table playing quarters, once.

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How is that possible?

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Oct 19, 2022Liked by SGBear

It was wood, and we put little nicks it in. I dunno, maybe we were especially aggressive with our quarters.

OK, fine. The rest of the story is that my brother and I were both home for a Cal game and our parents were out of town. We were both out of college with real jobs and whatnot and our dad joked "you kids don't have any wild parties, ok?"

But here's the thing: our parents never left us overnight with the house a single time growing up. Not once. So we called everyone we knew and had the party that we never got to have in high school. The kitchen table was among the lesser casualties.

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Or maybe the table was made from a soft wood, like pine. You could easily put dings and nicks in a tabletop made from soft wood by bouncing a quarter off it.

Added observation: I see that you and your brother were simply making up for lost time.

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Quarters!

AT UCSC, we played with short juice glasses. Some of us were very good. Some of us were terrible.

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The US Mint generated about $3b in funding via issuing the "States" coins - essentially getting Americans to collect them and not recirculate them thinking that they were somehow rare. And because of that success, you'll now start seeing American Women's Quarters.

https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters

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I think some people liked the idea of being able to get a complete set just by keeping an eye on their change.

It's me, I'm people.

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That totally describes me. There's no fun, really, in simply purchasing the set.

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My kids got at least a complete set of state quarters from my dad. No 2 and 3, as of a few years ago, still looked to see if some of the ones i had in the car were more rare state ones.

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Cookie Monster reminds everyone that his name is actually Sid.

https://twitter.com/MeCookieMonster/status/1580604727531692033

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2_MUD16EIk (@ 35 seconds)

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Florida

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Everybody I work with here in upstate NY has an aunt/parent/grandma with a condo in Florida, so they go there all the time. But nobody seems to actually like it. I think they're all just unimaginative when it comes to vacations, or cheap, or both.

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Much the same in Rhode Island and eastern MA, as I recall - to the extent that there are companies dedicated to moving stuff, especially cars, for the snow birds.

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South Florida and Miami are fun.

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I had a friend who went to South Beach for a bachelor party. HUGE mistake. No club is interested in a pack of 15 dudes at any price.

Eventually, they sent the most charming among them to talk to a pack of girls and he offered to pick up the girls' cover and whole tab all night if they just pretended they were with his crew of fellas at the door (they'd be left alone in the club). The girls said sure and that was the only club the bachelor party got into the entire time and it cost them thousands of dollars.

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that sounds terrible

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I have yet to set foot in that state.

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Only been twice, once as a kid to Ft. Lauderdale and all I remember is the pool. The second was for a CTIA conference in Orlando and boy was that place a stinker. The Peabody did have a procession of ducks though.

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Too flat, too hot for 80% of the year, and too weird.

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Too hot, way way too humid, and then the terrible thunderstorms hit. It's the only place I've seen where the outdoor pool overflowed from torrential downpours.

It appeals to 2/3 of the eastern seaboard and the NE only because they are terrible for months on end in the winter.

I own more change in elevation than there is in the state.

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Took our family vacation to Florida this past summer. Disney World --> St. Augustine --> Daytona --> Cape Canaveral --> Palm Beach --> Miami. Drove the entire trip. Other than the heat and humidity (which was oppressive at times), it was a lovely trip. St. Augustine was particularly nice with all of the pre-colonial history associated with it...and the World Golf Hall of Fame.

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The missus is from Florida, specifically Auburndale which is near Lakeland. Left when she was 12 never wants to go near the state again.

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Not worth going to. Been there for the Citrus Bowl and that was enough. Though I do have a business trip to Miami in Dec which I'm looking forward to. Thinking of renting a convertible and driving to Key West. Turo has a bunch of Aventadors, Ferraris, and MacLarens. Though No 1 found an Alfa 4c that I could get. I was looking for a 6 spd convertible and they only had Mustangs.

Oh and I guess the Florida game.

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I will have to say the Citrus Bowl trip with HSB was one of the best road trips. In the early 90s Amex had the student special where you could fly $99 on your side of the MS or $199 if crossing the MS. HSB had an AmEx so we did that but the closest we could get to Orlando was Pensacola. ATL didn't have flights either. So we flew to Pensacola, saw the US Navy Air museum, drove 8+ hours to Pensacola. A couple friends met us there and we did Epcot on NYE and then the game on NYD. And we smoked Clemson. Then had to drive back to Pensacola after dropping them off at the airport.

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The smashing of Clemson was fun. Most Clemson fans thought Cal = UCLA, and were confused by Oski and the darker colors. I remember micman Ken Montgomery (*cough*) predicting the final score to be equal to the number of Nobel Prize winners at each school, 19-0.

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my Amex cards still say "member since 1991"

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the US Navy Air museum was pretty amazing

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the other benefit of Pensacola was that it was about halfway between New Orleans (Sugar Bowl) and Orlando (Citrus Bowl) and we didnt know yet that we were going to get screwed out of the Sugar Bowl by ND that year.

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We saw all those Florida fans driving westbound with Florida flags. So we stopped off at a store and bought blue and yellow posterboard and made our own Cal signs for the car.

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my in-laws live in Orlando and extended family scattered all over the state. while i never desire to go there, i can usually find something interesting to do while i am down there.

on my last trip to Miami, played some tennis, stayed in a South Beach hotel, and had some amazing Cuban coffee and pastries.

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Man KW AirBnB places are a lot. I guess it makes sense. Looking forward to eating my way through Miami.

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any drive to Key West in any car is well worth it. KW itself is nice, but the drive along the causeway is pretty spectacular.

maybe i'll come w/ you.

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Sure. Come long and do the drive with me.

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022Author

Not only is turkey the worst meat, it's going to be more expensive this year due to bird flu

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/18/turkey-prices-up-and-might-stay-that-way-due-to-avian-flu.html

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If anyone is a devotee of Thanksgiving ham, Costco has Honeybaked Ham gift cards for $100 of value for $80.

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Alternative is chicken.

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...or almost anything

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Duck

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... floats in water [bread, apples, very small rocks, cider, gravy, cherries, mud, churches, lead]. If the woman weighs the same as a duck, then she is made of wood. The woman weighs the same as a duck. Therefore, the woman is a witch.

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It's a fair cop.

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Randy -

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Hair always gelled to the point that a full basketball game resulted in barely one strand out of place

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I remember the Late Night with Cal BB his freshman year. He won the slam dunk contest with a 360 and also had a chase down block, something he did many times during his career.

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Is the cost of duck also affected by bird flu?

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I'm not clicking that link

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Dumb design.

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I’m Jacks lack of self awareness

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ok what am I missing?

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What's a word that looks like it's spelled wrong?

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tongue

(I often type tounge)

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I always look at -ie- words and they just look wrong to me when I type or write them. Weird, friend, etc....

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"Weird" is weird to me because the "ei" combination makes me think it should be pronounced as a long "i".

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this is a UK usage but: catarrh.

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022

The word itself looks like it is congested.

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Bused

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As opposed to "bussed", which is the past tense of "buss".

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heh, my first thought was "what is boo-sedd?"

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Diarrhea

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aneurysm

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the signature experience for Cal football fans

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Rhythm

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It is gonna get you

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That's a word without one of the more commonly recognized vowels.

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Antidisestablishmentarianism

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Occasionally

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Nope

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???

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Well, I'm NOT a good speller (generally) but the 3 I put "nope" to are strangely easy for me.

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022

BTW, name four words that begin with "dw". Without looking it up.

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I assume you don't mean names, but dwight, dwayne are two.

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So, you're saying those words look correctly spelled to you, then?

I admit that they are spelled correctly. But I chose "occasionally" and "successfully" because they are unusual in the placement or frequency of double consonants.

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Successfully

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Nope

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???

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Necessary

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Nope

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Tent

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Flood

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PRO

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DeSean Jackson is back in NFL

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Baffled as to why Francona would stick with Aaron Civale (5-6, ERA of nearly 5.00, and owned by the Yankees) as the ALDS Game 5 starter following Monday's rain out. Civale hadn't thrown a meaningful pitch in nearly 2 weeks and was eminently hittable. The game was over after 4 hitters.

You got your horse and former Cy Young Winner available on 3-days rest...Biebs must have really not been up for it.

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Sharks 2, Islanders 5: Terrible Twos

https://www.fearthefin.com/2022/10/18/23393877/san-jose-sharks-at-ny-islanders-lines-how-to-watch-tv-broadcast-streaming-channel-start-time-radio

The old adage is “score early, score often,” and in the San Jose Sharks’ case one out of two isn’t enough to scrape together a single win five games deep into the season. An inability to score more than two goals and a series of terrible second periods have led to a pattern of wiping out any lead the team manages with striking first.

Nico Sturm scored the lone goal of the first period, adding to another trend of the team’s fourth line somehow leading the offense. Linemate Evgeny Svechnikov, the other Sharks goal-scorer, kept it going with a tying goal in the second period, as the team quickly found themselves down 2-1.

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Warriors beat Lakers. it was sort of back any forth in the first half but the Lakers seemed a little outmatched.

i was falling asleep in 2nd half and eventually went to bed when the lead hit 20 in the 3rd Q.

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It seemed like the Dubs were toying with them. Played even in first half and then put the hammer down on them in the 3Q like everyone knew they would, turning it into a laugher

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The most impressive thing is that pretty much all of the Warriors' young guys look really good. Wiseman seems to have made a leap.

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Kuminga looked horrible offensively. Hopefully it was just the jitters and he relaxes. The last 6 min of the game looked like an all-star game. I think the Warriors last 7 baskets before the scrubs came in was 7-8 on 3s and the Lakers hit a bunch as well. No D. I think Wiggs hit 3 and Steph hit a couple.

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Agreed, everyone but Kuminga looked good last night. It's also nice to confirm that the Lakers will likely not be contenders in the West this year. If they can stay healthy this year, this may be the deepest team the Warriors have had on the court. Investing in player development coaches and sticking to the "bridge to the next generation" plan looks to be paying off.

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I just realized Kuminga is like Jaylen Brown while he was at Cal. Can't create his own shot, can't shoot 3s, and not a great defender.

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They don't need much from Kuminga - he's probably the 11th man in their deep rotation. Just keep developing and I'll start caring about his production in about 2-3 more years.

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yeah, Kuminga will be a starter in a few years (or sooner, if Draymond is gone after this year or next). His offense was not good, but his defense was.

And he's still, what? 20? He'll be between 5 and 9 in the rotation in a couple of months (5 being the games when the starters rest).

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He's incredibly raw, but has plenty of tools. Give him time.

I thought Wiseman looked solid.

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I only saw the first quarter and a half. He passed up a couple opens shots so not very confident in his jumper.

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I thought he was forcing himself to try to play within the system and finally decided he needed to take a few shots.

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What happens when you give a limited NFL license to the same company that has roughly 40% market share of the e-commerce market? This, apparently.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1582436163628937217

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I don’t see a problem with this.

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Yep, I won't turn down the option of more NFL content on Amazon. It's better than the ESPN/CBS/NBC/Fox broadcasts

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I checked out a couple of the NFL games to see what the quality was in anticipation of it coming to the Pac-12's next media deal. Production quality was good, and at least in the couple games I've cgame, hecked out, the buffering and skipping problems that sometimes plague especially ESPN+ was not nearly as bad, for some reason.

It also solves the problem of the start of the game being overrun by the previous event, be it truck racing, a 4 1/2 hour Yankees game, or some Big XII game with a score of 56-55, or in the 3rd OT. Fox especially has been bad about laying out coverage windows.

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And with the decline of CFB rivalries due to conference realignment, CFB games on Friday are a bit boring and uninteresting.

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Pac-12 seemed to have more games on Thursdays and Fridays a few years ago, but not so much now. It was nice for increased visibility and some weekday Pac-12 After Dark nonsense.

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There will be some more coming up later in the season. Utah is playing WSU next Thursday night.

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That was another one of Larry Scott's brilliant ideas to draw more eyeballs. Fans hated it, especially those going to the games.

midweek games are for the MAC, not the Pac.

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Steeler QB Trubisky wasn't benched at halftime two weeks ago due to performance. It's because he got into a fight w/ WR Diontae Johnson.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2022/10/17/mitch-trubisky-has-a-chance-to-force-steelers-into-difficult-decision/stories/202210170037

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Johnson apparently went to grab a clipboard to hit Trubisky with, but dropped it, as he does.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022Author

Trump to be deposed today in the defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/19/politics/trump-deposition-e-jean-carroll/index.html

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"Hey Bob Woodward, wanna see some classified documents?"

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/18/politics/bob-woodward-trump-tapes-audiobook-recorded-interviews/index.html

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"Trump then instructed his aides to show Woodward his photos with Kim at the DMZ. “This is me and him. That’s the line, right? Then I walked over the line. Pretty cool. You know? Pretty cool. Right?” the president said."

Ummm they let every DMZ tourist do this, I have a photo with a North Korean guard in the UN room on the North side.

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Me, too! I got fairly close to a North Korean guard for a pic and someone was like “just don’t touch him!”

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Yep, that was the only rule, aside from be respectful because you are being filmed by NK

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I thought the difference between the North Korean and South Korean guards was interesting. The South Korean guys were just ripped and stood in a stance that looked like they were about to tear your throat out. The North Korean guys kind of skulked around smoking, holding their rifles, wearing their ill fitting uniforms. Kind of a weird contrast

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Same.

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Jeffrey Clark - the former DOJ attorney who nearly successfully went around his bosses' backs to convince Trump that he should be appointed AG because he would do whatever Trump wanted - is now in the process of being disbarred in DC. As an interesting side note, the DC Bar Association apparently does not have the jurisdiction to bring ethics charges against its members, so it's being prosecuted in Federal Courts.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-ally-clark-asks-u-213350381.html

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No matter how bad American politics get, at least we're not the UK

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/tory-mps-considering-reinstalling-theresa-may-as-pm-337120/

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they're dropping like flies! The odious Suella Braverman has resigned

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that's wild - I almost wish I had a UK account I could use to put a tenner on Theresa May

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Trump jacked up hotel rates for Secret Service's mandated stays at his hotel in DC

https://people.com/politics/trump-organization-overcharged-secret-service-for-mandatory-hotel-stays-report/

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Not that I relish defending Trump but I don't think he jacked up rates, he just didn't offer the government rate. When I traveled overseas for the government I stayed in lots of five stars hotels that the State Dept had negotiated the allowed government rate even though it was well below the normal rate. I'm assuming Trump just didn't reduce his rate to match what the government allowed. All that said, it was a grift.

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He chose to stay in his own places, which costs him nothing, and Secret Service obviously HAS to be in the same facility, not the Hampton Inn all the way across town, so he collects the full price. The man does not miss a $, no matter the lack of decency involved.

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Yep.

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One "boring" element of the corruption in the last administration is the extent to which members of the civil service signed off on things like overpriced rooms, sweetheart contracts, etc etc. All the things that regulations are supposed to prevent.

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Not surprised at all. He'll grift for all the money he can.

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GOP House leader McCarthy pledges to withhold aid from Ukraine if GOP wins back the House.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-donald-trump-humanitarian-assistance-congress-c47a255738cd13576aa4d238ec076f4a

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The GOP is fully pro-Russia now. Quite a turnaround from Reagan's day.

And basically all just to own the libs.

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I saw a couple of posts on reddit where someone had a raised truck, a thin blue line decal, an Army license plate holder, an infantry decal, and a large Russian flag. Many of the comments were that it was probably some army guy that was barely in, never saw real action, that was committing treason. Most of the army commenters that had been in a long time and saw action (they claimed) said that real army guys don't advertise like that. And 20 years ago they would've gotten their ass kicked for having a Russian flag.

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What a dick

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A stooge.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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Alabama WR Jermain Burton is caught on video striking a TN fan in the head. It's almost like AL is the most penalized team in America because of their lack of discipline. What happened to Saban's "win the day" mantra?

https://twitter.com/volcreatures/status/1582491287047254016

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CAL

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[WTEN] Alsola, Wiersholm Win ITA Regional Title

https://calbears.com/news/2022/10/18/alsola-wiersholm-win-ita-regional-title.aspx

STANFORD, Calif. – Jessica Alsola and Katja Wiersholm captured the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships on Tuesday at the Taube Family Tennis Center. The California women's tennis duo, seeded second in the tournament, defeated Portland's seventh-seeded Sally Pethybridge and Iva Zelic, 6-2, 6-3.

The two Golden Bears also came away from the Farm with a doubles berth in the Nov. 2-6 ITA National Fall Championships in San Diego by virtue of winning Monday's semifinal.

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[FH] Knipping Named AE Defensive Player of the Week

https://calbears.com/news/2022/10/18/field-hockey-knipping-named-ae-defensive-player-of-the-week.aspx

BERKELEY – For the fifth time in her career and first time this season, California field hockey goalkeeper Cato Knipping has been named the America East Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Knipping and the Golden Bear defense stymied rival Stanford on Friday, shutting out the Cardinal over four quarters, two overtimes coming out on top after a thrilling shootout to win 1-0.

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Being a Cal football fan is -- as someone mentioned the other day -- like being in an abusive relationship. There are occasional good days but mostly you're constantly being led on and let down. (Except with Cal football you get to see Oski and hear the Cal band.)

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And like in any abusive relationship, the abused should just leave. Really.

I wonder if there's a breaking point in football and basketball revenues for Chancellor Christ. I couldn't be bothered to give a rat's ass about what Knowlton thinks.

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That's me with Cal basketball. I've watched almost no Cal basketball since it was clear that Wyking Jones was going to be a disaster. I plan to continue investing no interest in the program until we get a new coach.

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Same

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Same. I walked away from men's hoops when Waking came on board, I hope to have a reason to return someday.

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At this point the only time I go is if I get free tickets or if the kids want to go over vacation when they're back.

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Same

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I don’t know if a breaking point exist but if one does, we might be close to finding out.

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022

Let me say this - 23,000 attendance at a home football game today does not have the same impact as 23,000 in 1986. It probably has more impact because (a) there is a huge amount of debt on Cal Memorial and (b) there is a much larger annual outlay in coaching salaries (even adjusting for inflation).

Most of football ticket revenues are already baked in: that's the effect of season tickets. It's the walk up revenues that are being forsaken at this point with poor team performance. The season ticket sales for next season, though, are affected by the team's performance now. If that number shrinks, campus support for the Athletic Department will probably have to expand to make up the resulting shortfall on the balance sheet.

EDIT: There will be a decision made based on attendance numbers and projected ticket revenue for next season. As someone in the DBD said some years ago (maybe during the later Tedford years), the AD does count in-game attendance, they just don't announce it. The number announced is derived from total tickets sold and distributed.

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I remember many years ago, I think one MLB league announced turnstile attendance and the other announced tickets sold attendance. I don't remember which, but I'd imagine some teams have at least a 5K difference between tickets sold and actual in the seat attendance.

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Should. I've managed to quit drugs, alcohol and later coffee, quitting Cal football is a bridge too far for me. Hooked for life. Plus you make a better quality of friend through Cal football than you do through abusing drugs.

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"You make a better quality of friend through Cal football than you do through abusing drugs." ??!!!

If that's Cal's new marketing pitch, you *Might* have a problem. (In Berkeley, I'm even not so sure that even holds true.)

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Oct 19, 2022·edited Oct 19, 2022

Then change the dynamic. Refuse to be abused. Do not get emotionally invested.

EDIT: I know, I know. Easier said than done.

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Actually I'm not overly invested emotionally anymore. Decades of experience have inured me to the pain, I've withstood all the blows Golden Bear football has meted out over the last half century. I don't pay a lot of attention to road games and don't let them get under my skin. Mostly I love going to Strawberry Canyon on game days, seeing friends, having fun. I'll never not go to home games. And the good times, like last year's Big Game, make up for a lot.

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Go Bears!!

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From the Front Page, Cal hires back Steve Greatwood as an OL analyst.

https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-football-hc-justin-wilcox-announces

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This news reminded of when I was teaching middle school and we'd have a conference with the parent of a student who was failing everything. So often the parent would promise at the end, "you Will see a change." And we didn't.

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Now we need somebody who can help with the play calling. By the way why is Musgrave on the sidelines instead of in the booth? You need some eyes up there to see what's happening on the field and then make some adjustments. That's the thing. There is no adjustment because of pre-scripted plays being run either good or bad (mostly bad).

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Maybe we will see Musgrave in the booth this Saturday.

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Hopefully in a phone booth calling his agent to find him a new job

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I pity the next team that hires him to be their OC.

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The first step in becoming a football powerhouse is complete. Analysts for everything!!

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