161 Comments

What’s with the SCCCCP flag?

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That is a very cute awesome baby!

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Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023

Being married

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I have never been married and think I would be terrible at it.

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I've been married for six months as of last week! Due to our job situations, we've been stuck living with her parents for the better part of a year. They're great people and it's a big house but we can't wait to go back to living by ourselves.

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Congrats!

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Congrats!

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My wife and I have been together for 17 years and married for 9. It has been great. I love her so much and she is my best friend. We have two beautiful children and a great little house that we own in San Diego.

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This is so cute. Congratulations on your happy situation.

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Married for 11.....

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A few bumpy years early on but for the most part it's been fantastic. It's all about meeting the right person at the right time and hanging in there win the inevitable squabbles come up.

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My mom’s favorite saying is that relationships are all about timing. So true!

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is HARD

it is our 25th anniv next month however this last year is as rocky as it has ever been. if you asked me 3 mo ago, i would have said less than 50% of making it to this anniv.

as of today, things are trending in the positive direction. we are somewhere in our 2nd or 3rd yr of couples therapy.

i have come to accept the each year is as hard as the last and it is an ongoing commitment that doesnt get any easier over the years.

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sorry to hear that...but great that you have a community here where you feel safe to share. which, in my experience, helps things get better.

I hope the upward trend continues :-)

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Team work makes the dream work.

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Well I would hope so!

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You are doing the work, though! Shows you guys care at least.

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On a 19 point scale, 19 being way over the top, how is your neighborhood's Halloween decoration efforts?

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9. New neighbors over the past few years. Newest neighbor has 13', talking Jack Skellington, and has inspired me to up my game. Just dropped $400 on lights and yard decor from Walmart.

Keeping up with the Jones.

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1 or 2. I live in a largely industrial area.

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0. I've seen literally no Halloween decorations so far on my street.

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0.

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It’s so dependent on the street, at least here in Burlingame. My street is like an 8/19, but there are some just a few blocks away that are 19/19. There is a 100% correlation between this and the amount of tick or treaters

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0

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4. A few inflatables, a pumpkin or two, and some low-effort decorations. I am bring the average down this year because I'm just not feeling it this year.

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12. Multiple houses have a variety of oversized yard decorations that are quite garish. That said, it is only a few houses and not "everyone" like freaking Xmas, which is redonk over the top.

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Probably about a 5.

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3, maybe. The next door neighbor has some stuff up. We used to when the boys were little. I don't think we get any trick or treaters at all. Our part of the neighborhood has no kids and it doesn't seem like older kids (teens) roam like we used to.

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I was going to say 0 because I don't think that any houses on the street have decorations up, but to be honest I haven't been looking and I haven't been up the end of the street where the families with younger kids live, so there might be a measurement issue.

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I have now been along the length of the street and there's nothing out.

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3. Pretty minimal. Our next-door neighbor has a small inflatable and some lights on the porch. A house down the street has some large inflatables. Otherwise, no one in our 10-house block has any decorations.

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Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023

decorations - 10 - fine but nothing special

number of kids - 18 (sometimes close to 200, because our neighborhood is one that people drive to)

adult beverages and food - 19 (people grill hot dogs, pass out jello shots, walk around drunk while their kids get candy)

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Good coffee

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i had white coffee for the first time in seattle two weeks ago, something i'd never heard of before: https://www.povertybay.com/coffee-blog/what-is-white-coffee

it was fine

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I make great coffee as well! I'm no half/half! Not an awesome at all!!! Lover!!!!

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I'm not a coffee guy, but I love the Mexican Mocha at Cole's in Rockridge. No 1 says that Red Whale in San Rafael is very very good. I've had their Mocha and it is really good. He also loves Trail Coffee, which is based in Stockton and used to be sold at Safeway but is no longer there.

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When you live within walking distance of the original Peet's location and prefer dark roast coffees, you have an acquired standard by which to compare all other coffees.

I came to understand a number of things about coffee over time that inform my preferences. I also realize that this is another area in which my mom greatly influenced my culinary preferences.

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for some mistaken reason, i used to think that the one across from the Claremont Hotel (Domingo Ave) was the original. that one had a nice vibe w/ lots of loose coffee all over the place. the smells were amazing, even when i was not a coffee drinker

we used to stop there many weekends so my dad could get coffee on the way to campus after coming down Tunnel Rd. we went to "Bengali school" every Sun for 2 hours in Albany or Berkeley for many years growing up.

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Also within walking distance near North Shattuck. Cheeseboard and Vine Peet's has made me a snob against all other coffee/bakery combos.

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OOOOoooOOOooooo great coffee as well, clade to hear what maximum fun it is!!!! Awesome!!!!

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currently stocked standard espresso is Jittery Joes Espresso Blend or Tour de Force out of Athens GA. some cycling enthusiasts decided to start a coffee operation.

locally, Joe's Coffee in NYC does its roasting out of Brooklyn.

overall, i try lots of different styles and blends, tending towards the darker espresso roasts. i usually buy 2-3 bags of the same one because it take close to 1/2 a bag to "dial in" the settings in terms of grind and amount for a new coffee bean.

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Our local roaster just down the road is Counter Culture. Their coffee is exceptionally good and available in about half of my local grocery stores. I really dig their "Big Trouble" roast and their single source stuff. An arguably better roaster is "Black and White", but they are hard to find - but people flying into Raleigh/Durham will be able to try their coffee starting in Spring '24 once their kiosk opens in the airport.

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i like Counter Culture. i didnt realize they were from RDU area. i like Big Trouble a lot.

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PRO

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Chargers need to fire their GM, coaching staff and start trading players for picks.

Herbert continues to regress.

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Can they fire the Spanish family too?

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Hopefully they can fire them into the sun.

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Despite sounding like he was having a complete meltdown every time his team radioed him, Max Verstappen won the Austin GP after winning Saturday's sprint race. Hamilton and Norris rounded out the podium

https://www.thedrive.com/news/verstappen-holds-off-hamilton-for-f1-us-gp-win

Max Verstappen has secured his 50th race win at the 2023 United States Grand Prix. In a Grand Prix dominated by pit stop and tire strategy, Verstappen held on to the win after a late charge from Lewis Hamilton who got within 1.8 seconds of Verstappen on the last lap.

Lando Norris led the race early on, followed by Charles Leclerc a few laps later, but Verstappen took a commanding lead midway through the first round of pit stops after starting sixth. It was a relatively frantic opening stint with an early incident that took Oscar Piastri and Esteban Ocon out of the race, but the field spread quickly after some battles.

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Hamilton's 2nd place finish was invalidated (as was Charles LeClerc's 6th place) because his car was too low to the ground

https://www.thedrive.com/news/hamilton-disqualified-from-2023-austin-gp-loses-podium-for-failing-plank-check

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oops

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Collin Morikawa wins PGA tournament in Japan. One and a half million dollars richer. Not sure why he insists on wearing a red shirt on Sunday.

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he hates Cal

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Rangers force game 7 vs Astros.

i only watched 8th-9th innings, but the Rangers late inning pitching was fantastic and then they capped it off w/ a grand slam HR in the 9th as the Astros bullpen melted.

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I tuned in just in time for the grand slam. It's always nice to see the Astros implode.

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Detroit is not in the same league as Philly and the Niners...the hype train this week was astounding.

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Rough - very rough

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Their O line, ordinarily one of the best in the league, was absolutely obliterated. Meanwhile they couldn't pressure Jackson and the LBs looked lost in coverage as TEs and FBs were constantly roaming free.

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their D sounds positively Sirmonian

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Lamar was in his bag.

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Mikayla Cowling severely injured at a night club in Poland. She was near the bathroom when a security guard punched her in the head several times and then kicked her when she was on the ground. She has a broken orbital socket. The attacker has been arrested.

https://apnews.com/article/poland-basketball-player-beaten-american-cowling-c174ba0a20aa6ef93c88afc9bbfb62ce

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Absolutely horrible :(

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What!!!!!???

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How was your bye-week(end)?

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Not great, the whole family is sick right now, me worst of all.

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Spent 3 days at the Miata Reunion. Had a car show on Fri, a parade lap around Sonoma/Sears Point Raceway, AutoX, and high performance track time on the track. I only did the parade lap. No 3 wants to do the AutoX next year. Looks like a lot of fun. There were probably almost 1000 Miatas. Some from Canada, Washington and Oregon Miata clubs, LA, SD, Arizona. Talked to a guy from Charlotte, St Louis. It was really cool.

You could hear the ones that were not from Ca since most of the other states allow major mods, like turbos and superchargers, etc.

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Turbo Miata sounds like a hell of a good time

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There were plenty of those. At least 1 V8 swap, and at least 3 K-swaps (Honda engine), and 1 S2000 swap.

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Fun fact: Sonoma Raceway used to be owned by a Cal grad, which is why for many years the checker pattern on the curbing was painted blue and gold rather than the traditional red and white.

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I spent Sat afternoon doing some long-overdue maintenance on some local trails: chainsawing through some trees that had fallen and blocked parts of the trail, clearing out leaves in areas where the trail was completely obscured, and marking it up with landscape flags.

Sunday we went to a local farm to pick some pumpkins. On a whim I bought a bag of apple cider donuts and they ended up being phenomenal.

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"I regret buying these apple-cider donuts"

- Nobody ever

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Sat rained all day.

Sun was nice. quick 5 mile hike in the morning to get out a little and see the leaves. and then had a face-stuffing dim sum lunch at our local favorite Chinese place w/ some friends.

colors were nice, but not as vibrant as other years

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eB73sDjWxWaVQGHH8

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Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023Author

Went to a nice wedding in MA. Tried to go to Salem but quickly learned that only an idiot would try to go just before Halloween. Instead, went leaf peeping as the trees were just about in the peak of their colorful glory. Wedding was a budget affair where the money was spent on the key items: good food, open bar with good liquor, a really good DJ, and post-wedding freshly-fried chicken fingers. 18 out of 19.

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Salem sucks. Beyond belief. I can only imagine what pre-Halloween looks like

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Yummmmmm....

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Sounds like the happy couple has their priorities in order.

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post-wedding food sounds fantastic

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DBD AV CLUB

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Wife and I are re-binge-watching Bosch (Amazon Prime video), so we can be up to speed on the overlapping plot lines presenting in the sequel/spin-off, Bosch Legacy. I also have started reading the books series that inspired it. The whole series shoots for gritty and authentic and, IMHO, achieves that 90% of the time. Love some of the less flashy, Hollywood-ee, LA-ee parts of LA that the show highlights.

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have read most of the Bosch books. the show takes liberties with them a bit – often combining two books into a season – but overall a great series. Legacy has been meh. Fewer regular characters, and the ones left aren't my faves. Plus Freevee :-/

that being said, I'm planning on watching S2E4 tonight...

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Yes, I hate when Hollywood warps the original texts, which is most of the time. We love original series and like the "Legacy series," but, yeah, don't love ads on "Freevee." I like that the actress that plays Maddie is not polished, which, IMHO, makes some of her reactions authentically awkward, which makes it all more real. Overall, the two series are a welcome break from tiresome Hollywood tropes.

RIP Lance Reddick, who we thoroughly enjoyed in the John Wick series, as well.

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killers of the flower moon was very good, currently also reading the book

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Operation Mincemeat (Netflix, 14/19 WB). A decent movie that is well acted and a balance between being a spy movie, romance, and historical period piece. It is a polished piece that is good all around without being great anywhere nor distractingly bad anywhere. It's a solid airplane movie - which is exactly where I watched it.

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WB... for a show about a corpse?

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I feel pretty much the same. I remember enjoying the movie while watching it and then quickly forgetting it.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Seeing how well went for Scalise and Jordan - 9 more GOP Reps have signed up to try to be the next Speaker of the House

https://twitter.com/RepStefanik/status/1716122991539409393

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Trump claims Sidney Powell wasn't his lawyer

https://www.rawstory.com/sidney-powell-trump-2666040697/

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Well, it's likely he didn't pay her.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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Liberty University receives a scathing Clery Report (ie, Federal report on campus safety compliance). Bottom line: Liberty did terribly and tried to cover things up. They have some time to dispute the report, but they are at risk for fines & even losing loan eligibility for Federal student loans.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/03/liberty-university-clery-act/

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Much of U Maryland currently without water due to water main break

https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/university-of-maryland-water-outage-after-water-main-break-some-buildings-closed/

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this is affecting things at work, i am not there this week, but that is company HQ for us

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Texas squeaks out a win over Houston 31-24, but loses Quinn Ewers

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38722343/texas-qb-quinn-ewers-expected-miss-ac-joint-sprain-throwing-shoulder

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Houston got robbed on a terrible spot that would have given them 1st and goal on their final possession.

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ASU got robbed on a flagrant PI call where a flag was actually thrown and then very suspiciously picked up against Washington.

Nobody got robbed more than Iowa though, whose game-winning punt return TD was taken off the board due to a phantom so-called fair catch signal that didn't actually happen.

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yeah that picked up holding flag was BS. He grabbed twice.

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UNLV beats Colorado State 25-23 on 6 field goals. Colorado State's leading tackler for the game was Chigie Anusiem

https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401532599

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He had to make those tackles bc he was getting burned

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Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023Author

Garbers and J. Mike Sturdivant beat Stanfurd 42-7. Femi Oladejo has third most tackles and the most turnover recoveries on the team so far this season.

*sigh*

https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401524036

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Trust me, it’s better that he’s gone.

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Why? With Sirmon injured, we could really use him.

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his off field situation was... interesting

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Spill the tea.

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He got mixed up with a cult and was giving all his money (scholarship stipend, NIL, etc) to the cult and he was actively recruiting other players. He was in a real bad headspace.

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#9 Oregon does enough to beat Wazzu 38-24

https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401524035

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Penix's Heisman hopes sink as he goes 27-42 for 0 TDs and 2 INTs. Huskies need a pick-six late in the game to win 15-7 over lowly ASU

https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401524038

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They really should have kicked the FG on that 4th down attempt.

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ASU was killing them on the ground in the second half and yet they decided to pass on both 4th-and-short attempts in the 4th quarter (one of which turned into that pick six). Just like the Cal game, the outcome hinged on their failed 4th down conversions.

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Utah down by 1 at USC's 45 with 16 seconds to go. Then this happens.

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1715932162883559781

Then, with no time left...

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1715933248365232174

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Riley needs to dump Grinch on the 405.

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I hear Justin Wilcox is an excellent DC who has spent time at SC previously

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I feel like that's the least we could do for you all

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UCLA owes us Calimony so it is only fair that USC gets rid of Wilcox for us.

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Heh, you sneak..

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Wilcox also has Big Ten experience. Time for a Lincoln Riley to bring him home.

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starting to think the defense might be a problem this season. Sadly I wasn't able to watch the game because my daughter and I went to see Atsuko Okatsuka, a much better use of my time.

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oh awesome, how was the show

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It was really good, although I could have done without the audience members who thought it was a collaborative effort

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I do dearly love watching U$C lose. Hope to have the pleasure in person next Saturday,

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Miami gets the ball back from Clemson with 1:26 left in the game at their own 28. The go 10 yards on 3 plays, using up a minute of time. They then decide to run the clock out to go to OT rather than try to get enough yards for a game winning FG.

https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1715930661524054190

Doesn't matter. Miami won 28-20, handing Clemson their 3rd ACC loss of the year. lol.

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If Montana State's punter/kicker was on the men's basketball team, he'd be the third tallest guy

https://msubobcats.com/sports/football/roster/brendan-hall/6149

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Nevada breaks their 16 game losing streak and earns its first win of the season behind Passing Coordinator Angus McClure's 9 for 22 passes and 98 yards. The Wolfpack beat SDSU 6-0 with Ashton Hayes and Keleki Latu not registering any stats.

https://nevadawolfpack.com/news/2023/10/21/football-nevada-breaks-16-game-losing-streak-beats-san-diego-state-6-0.aspx

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SDSU is really bad this season, especially on offense. Bradie Hoke might get fired, which would open up a great landing spot for Wilcox.

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Absolutely embarrassing. Hoke should absolutely be fired and probably never should have been hired to begin with.

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#24 Iowa is the gift that keeps on giving. Down by 2, Iowa gets the ball back with 90 seconds left via punt near mid-field and then this happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFw-MPzsqL4

They then go full-Iowa, lose some yards, and then throw a pick to lose the game - creating an exception to the "Punting is Winning" rule.

Iowa had 127 offensive yards, 3 turnovers, 10-28 on passing, 0.4 yards per rush, 9 punts, and almost won the game

https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401520338

https://twitter.com/SickosCommittee/status/1715885059507470707

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the Fake Brian Ferentz AI dealio is one of my greatest joys this season. Google "Brian Ferentz deep fake" and enjoy. Those things absolutely kill me

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Speaking of woeful offense, in pro football the Commanders were terrible in the first half yesterday. They had eight possessions with seven punts and one interception. They gave up five sacks and had 46 yards on 26 plays. Against the Giants who are not good.

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And I cannot understand why some portion of the fan base wishes for Ron to be Cal's next HC. It would be more of the same.

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And that is with Eric Bieniemy as OC. I'm not an analyst of football but my sense is that Rivera is not a great in game coach. I think he could excite the fan base coming home and may be able to do a good job recruiting given his resume.

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That was a creative interpretation of a fair catch signal

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I was wondering about that. It didn't look like he called for a fair catch unless it was before the camera panned over.

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Here's a story that gives a more complete explanation of the call. I talked to my sister who lives in Iowa for an hour last night and the topic didn't come up.

https://sports.yahoo.com/minnesota-upsets-no-24-iowa-after-officials-overturn-go-ahead-punt-return-td-in-final-minutes-232642726.html

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CAL

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That makes 5 in a row on Pac-12 Network, annoying for those of us without the channel...

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i found a bar in town i previously had never been to that has pac-12 network, what a find

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I even signed up for Sling to get P12 only to find that it is not on there anymore! What a horribly botched situation - these people are fucking idiots

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if you hate yourself, there are streams available online. Again, we must really hate yourself to do that

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Only a few more of those and then next year I'll be fortunate enough to tune into the ACC Network or CW or wherever they dump their unwatchable teams.

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Or a blessing for those of us without the channel.

This game might get UW ugly and be competitively over by halftime.

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Yeah true, I think we might get to see a lot of back ups!

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You mean because we're up 50 don't you?!?

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Oct 23, 2023·edited Oct 23, 2023

I hope it does. I have other shit I need to take of that weekend.

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On this day in 1937 in Memorial Stadium the Golden Bears defeated U$C, 20-6 before a capacity crowd. Cal went into the game ranked number one in the nation, the Trojans were 11th. Cal’s Thunder Team rose to the occasion coasting to victory behind two touchdown runs by Vic Bottari. The visitors didn’t score until late in the game and only against Cal’s reserves. It was after this performance that the nickname Thunder Team stuck. Cal would finish the campaign undefeated (with a tie versus Washington) and go on to whip Alabama, 13-0 in the Rose Bowl to earn a number two ranking.

DBD celebrates 100 years of football in Strawberry Canyon with this daily feature appearing throughout the football season.

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Go BEARS!

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[VB] Cal wins their first conference road match since November [checks notes]... 2019

https://calbears.com/news/2023/10/22/volleyball-bears-win-first-pac-12-road-game-since-2019.aspx

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