192 Comments

Cal at UCLA Sunday Morning at 9 AM on FS1.

Expand full comment

This was a great solution. Who thought of this?

Expand full comment

The Bear equipment truck was probably east of LA on I-10 when the cx occurred. Might have hit a truck stop in Indio, and headed back to Pasadena.

Expand full comment

Stopped at the local In N Out for lunch before being re-routed to LA.

Expand full comment

Wacky

Expand full comment

The Bear-Bruin rivalry is salvaged after all!

Expand full comment

Paul Hornung has passed away. Bad year for sport icons continues to get worse.

Expand full comment

Retirement Investing - what do you guys do?

Expand full comment

marry someone solvent and hire someone to deal with the retirement money that's not in IRAs etc.

Expand full comment

couple things: CalPers (so not really the same, but will be a retirement when the time comes of probably about 55% to 60% of my final salary.

and IRA (which I need to up the giving too).

Expand full comment

i am now in the "eligible to make catch up contributions" club, the year that you turn 50

Expand full comment

100% invested in large cap -- about 75% in a single individual stock (stupid, but it has worked out amazingly so far) and 25% in some random large cap fund I couldn't tell you the name of.

Expand full comment

Buy real estate.

Expand full comment

how'd you save enough capital for your purchases?

Expand full comment

Eh, my plan only worked for me, because I made a career out of it. I'm what used to be called a syndicator, I put together deals, and develop property. I don't own anything without partners. For my share in my first deal I borrowed 25K from my Dad, and 25K from my wife's 401K, but also got a % for doing the development (which was a shit-ton of work). Then I plowed all the $$$ into the next deal, and the next, etc...

But, if you can buy a house, and rent it for more than the mortgage + taxes & something for repairs, I would recommend it, if it's close enough to where you live so you can keep an eye on it. My son has been trying to do this with some of his friends.

Expand full comment
author

1. Sliding scale for risk tolerance based upon age. Build your portfolio based upon that risk tolerance.

2. Get a good working understanding of investing and economics to look after your own interests

3. Do everything you can to buy your first house rather than rent

4. Max out company 401k in lowest cost fund (usually S&P 500 index)

5. If you're not good at investing, supplement savings by invest in low-load ETF baskets of asset classes rather than specific assets (eg, Vanguard's VTWAX).

6. Work/live in progressively lower less expensive markets

7. Either know when to sell everything that is liquid or else keep a cash fund. You make more money by avoiding dips and buying low than riding it out.

8. Never carry a balance on a credit card.

9. Since bonds are dead money due to the outlook for bond rates, look to eliminating debt as a replacement for bond investment. Real estate investment is also a proxy to fixed income.

10. Pay yourself first for investment, then keep yourself on a budget, and then save whatever left into savings. We have a saying "it is really easy to get used to spending money".

11. Investments should be a mutual decision that both people sign off on. Money can tear relationships apart.

Expand full comment

Got more info on #9?

Expand full comment
author

re: bonds as dead money

There is an inverse relationship between bond prices and interest rates. Wholesale rates (eg, fed funds) are closer to zero. I am getting a 30 year fixed at about 2.25%. That is a very low and very flat yield curve.

See graph of yield curve.

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/bond/tmubmusd10y?countrycode=bx

That is, rates can only go up. Granted, they are unlikely to go up quickly because of this economy, but they will. So bond prices - specifically bond mutual fund prices will likely stagnate or go down. Any interest you generate off of it is at risk to be lost through capital depreciation.

If you can't make 3-4% by owning a bond, the next best things is guaranteeing that you won't pay that much on your mortgage. This is especially true since house interest write-off is far more difficult now.

Expand full comment

i get that everyone's situation is vastly different, but this is what have done w/ 2 solid salaries over the years ...

- create some "financial plan" where you calculate how much per year or percent of salary you are willing to save and try to stick to it

- max out all the tax advantaged stuff and the rest in taxable accounts

- put things that generate capital gains in taxable accounts since it is a lower tax rate

- put things that generate interest and dividends in tax-advantaged accounts so you can defer those taxes

- diversify a lot and no single name stocks, i am generally pretty conservative w/ risk

- primary home is not an retirement investment. we have interest only loan and no intention of paying down principal. i figure you always have to live somewhere and it is only an investment if you downsize or move somewhere a ton cheaper in terms of cost-of-living.

for many years we more or less managed it on our own. some combo to brokerage accounts and robo-advisors. recently, to get more access to alternative investments and reduce stock/bond exposure we opened up a "wealth mgmt" type account at one of the big banks. the high fees are offset w/ increased tax efficiency and similar returns at lower risk levels.

Expand full comment

What's retirement investing??

Expand full comment

that doesnt apply to you (yet)

Expand full comment

or just investing in general

Expand full comment

Basically never really was able to with 1 income and 3 kids. The only thing I really did was a 401K and having the house. Never had any extra money for anything else.

Expand full comment

his 3 kids are going to take care of him (maybe ..)

Expand full comment
author

Superstition you still kinda believe (or at least don't want to tempt fate)

Expand full comment

the only religious thing i do ...

Saraswati, is the Hindu goddess of education and she dwells in all books (obviously)

so you are never supposed to step on or have your feet touch a book as that would be a sign of disrespect.

Expand full comment

Playing with your chopsticks is bad luck.

Expand full comment

I always stick the chopsticks up in the food so that they don't roll off the bowl. My mom always will take them and lay them down on the bowl.

Expand full comment

Oh yeah, that was another thing you weren't supposed to do, leave them sticking up.

In retrospect I think this is all something my Chinese grandmother just told us so we'd stop monkeying around at the dinner table.

Expand full comment

isnt that some sign for the dead in asian cultures

Expand full comment

maybe. I'm sure we've discussed this before on the DBD so that's probably what it is.

Expand full comment

Oh huh today is a Friday the 13th

Expand full comment

The Cal Band is NEVER to play Palms of Victory except right after a Cal win.

Expand full comment

I didn't put ANY champagne in the fridge until Nov 7th (even though it was super obvious by the 5th)

Expand full comment

I put it in the fridge on the 5th, didn't open it until the 8th!

Expand full comment

At least this year, I didn't wear any Dodgers gear during the playoffs, except for wearing a hat one day between series.

Expand full comment

1) never open an umbrella inside

2) never put new shoes anywhere other than the floor

Expand full comment

From when I lived in Hawaii as a kid...the night marchers

Expand full comment

There's a term a learned, but since forgotten, that is used for residents of Hawaii, but not necessarily ethnic Hawaiian...

Expand full comment

Holoe or something like that.

Expand full comment

Dang, just had to look below.

Expand full comment
author

Link for haoles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightmarchers

Expand full comment

thx

They march in darkness after sunset, and march as a group continuously until just before sunrise. Anyone living along their path may hear chanting, sounds of blown conch shell tones, and marching noise in the night. Mortals must go inside immediately, lay prone on the floor, and not look up to avoid notice from the Nightmarchers, in fear of harm or even death.

Expand full comment

in my case it is more like paranoia ...

i never walk under scaffolding in NYC. i feel that one of these days it will collapse on you even though i have never any stories like that.

Expand full comment

I don't have that concern but I can completely understand why anyone else would.

Expand full comment
author

Today in Covid

Expand full comment
author

I stopped by Costco this morning and they've brought back the big board of out-of-stock items. Everyone in there seemed to be buying toilet paper too. It looks like the latest explosion in cases may be driving some more panic-hoarding.

Expand full comment

jfc. did't people hoard enough in the spring?

Expand full comment

I got in the habit in the spring of always having a full one of whatever thing I'm currently using in the house, so I'm well stocked with a full Costco pack of TP, paper towels, and extra bags of flour and sugar. Bring on lockdown #2!

Expand full comment

I just went to Costco and they're all out of TP. Luckily I've got enough for at least a month so I can go early in the day early next week.

Expand full comment

without wanting to overshare, I've still been pooping since the spring.

Expand full comment

Hahaha, it is never a bad thing to have too much TP but it is a terrible thing to have too little.

Expand full comment
author

I did some panic buying 1.5 weeks ago in anticipation of the election.

Expand full comment

damn...I guess i should get some more TP.

Expand full comment
author

Florida being on brand today. Not sure if the arrested lady who came in a truck with a "Come and Take It" flag or the instigator with a "Vitamins not Vaccines" tshirt is better.

https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/upset-parent-gets-arrested-after-pinellas-school-board-extends-mask-rule-indefinitely/

Expand full comment

Florida never seems to disappoint. Their state motto should be “We Will Show you Crazy”. That poor young lady, with the “Vitamin not Vaccines” shirt, I believe is a student. Her parents have clearly failed her.

Expand full comment

Florida seems like a failed state in some areas.

Expand full comment

I wish sea level rise and climate change could only impact Florida.

Expand full comment
author
author

I guess Trump was right about turning the corner. Except we turned left when the road turned right and now we've fallen off a cliff.

Expand full comment

Trump's Covid effort is sisyphean

Expand full comment

That would imply he's actually trying, but it's clear he never has.

Expand full comment

I disagree - what ancient greek legend is it where the "hero" actively did things to make things worse?

Expand full comment

"In Greek mythology Sisyphus or Sisyphos was the king of Ephyra. He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity."

Expand full comment

Hmm, never heard of the term to apply to what Sisyphus did before being condemned to Hell, rather only to what his punishment was in Hell. Learn something every day.

Expand full comment
author

Daily death rates are 8x WWI combat deaths, >5x WWII, >3x Civil War. We are now exceeding the rates of the deadliest battles in US history. 4x worse than second Bull Run, 3x worse than Guadalcanal or Tarawa, 2x worse than Shiloh, worse than Gettysburg. We are now vectoring toward the most horrific events in US history - D-Day, Pearl Harbor and 9/11 -- but having one every single day. Those who minimize Covid are evil.

Expand full comment

Self-aggrandizement that leads to abject failure. Sisyphus was forced to roll a boulder futilely up a hill for eternity

Expand full comment

reminds me of Arlo Guthrie's Motorcycle song

I made a sharp turn off the road

Luckily I didn't go into the mountain

I went over the cliff

I was doin' 150 miles an hour sideways

And 500 feet down at the same time

Expand full comment
author

Elsewhere in college

Expand full comment

By this evening, the tally of ppd/cx games this week is up to 15, though with 1 creative addition. Just short of a quarter of all FBS teams impacted. An amazing number. Which will probably be eclipsed soon.

Expand full comment
author

They don't have a football team, but are in D1 in other sports. I would add the for-profit Grand Canyon University on my list.

Expand full comment

Good addition and I overlooked them because they don’t have a football team.

Expand full comment

Add Coastal Carolina at Troy to the ppd/cx list. That makes 6 ranked teams sidelined, and 11 total games, this weekend. The first time in quite a while in a week with something close to a full schedule (to begin with) with not one game between ranked teams.

Expand full comment
author

Now that we're hitting 150k cases per day, with much of it coming in the plains and midwest states, it seems inevitable that some universities will decide to forego the rest of the year. This thing isn't getting any better any time soon.

Expand full comment

The Pac-12 admits to and apologizes for testing protocol errors that led to Stanford's QB being held out of the Oregon game due to a false positive. and 3 others, including the Cardinal's best WR, due to contact tracing, also missing the game. Of course, now its too late to do anything about it.

Expand full comment

Wow! What if the Cal player was a false-positive???

Expand full comment
author

It's likely not. The Cal player had multiple antigen and PCR tests.

Expand full comment

Vandy has a rule that if you test positive they don't test you for 90 days. no 2's GF tested positive. He hangs out with her and her roommate most days. They do socially distance. Neither he nor her roommate tested positive and she was asymptomatic. I don't understand why they didn't re-test her at least once after a few days to see if she tested positive again.

Expand full comment

It's a conspiracy to give Oregon the W, maintaining the team with the best change for the CFP.

Expand full comment

Oregon probably would have won anyway, and this mistake could just as easily bit them, or anyone else, for that matter. The problem was exacerbated by the timing, coming on game day.

Expand full comment
author

Pruitt might take a permanent pay cut. He isn’t a very good coach and Tennessee isn’t improving much under him.

Expand full comment

I know that it said the head coach didn't take a pay raise when he signed the extension, I think they said he would've gotten 400K, it's still a bad look when he's probably making will over 1 million and your team is 2-4.

Expand full comment
author

Jomboy does the end of the WMU/Toledo game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0P8Smrdev8

Expand full comment
author

Which universities would you put in the third-tier of villains after Stanfurd and division rivals?

Expand full comment

You probably did not intend these as options, but technically USC and UCLA are not Stanfurd and are not in our division.

Expand full comment

Adding Northwestern to this list

Expand full comment
author

Fitz is a comically inept villain, but I really like Northwestern as a university.

Expand full comment

This is the first time I've ever heard of Northwestern being characterized as a villain. Kind of like declaring a small teddy bear a villain.

Expand full comment

Well it worked in Toy Story...

Expand full comment

NO!~

Expand full comment

Arizona, Fresno State, Texas, anywhere Mack Brown is.

Expand full comment

Funny, I can't hate Texas after going there, and winning that game. Texas fans were chill, for the most part (95%). OTOH Fresno State fans are assholes with a well deserved inferiority complex.

Expand full comment

I agree. I can’t really hate on Texas after Mack Brown left and we beat them. I don’t blame Texas for what happened, I blame Brown.

Expand full comment

Nah, with the scumbag football entitlement shared by the University of Texas and their fans, ya gotta root for them to lose weekly....I want them ALL disappointed. Sure barely beating them was nice, but nowhere near enough.

Don't let the Texas hatred wane - troubling sign. We must NEVER FORGET 2004!!!!

Expand full comment

As the resident Texas grad on the board, I have as much Mack Brown disdain as anyone but it was pretty comprehensively proven that the computers would've bumped Cal regardless of any lobbying. Beating Texas twice should hopefully expunge the pain. Cal wasn't staying #4 though so...

Expand full comment
author

Baylor, Texas A&M

Expand full comment

?

Baylor because of 2 losses in the 50's? (Well avenged by that 70-22 win in '02!)

A&M because of a 1 point loss nearly 40 years ago, twice avenged?

Expand full comment
author

Mostly due to villainous behavior in recent years at Baylor (the rape scandal) and the general weirdness of aTm: odd backwoodsiness and wannabe-militarism.

Expand full comment

aTm does suffer from excessive meddling in essentially everything. But those people do actually 1) have a stake and investment in things, and 2) actually do believe what they are doing is in the best interest of the program.

Point 2 doesn't differentiate them from random Ohio St./Texas/Michigan/Oklahoma/Washington/Alabama/USC program investor in any way.

Expand full comment

Have you met their fans? TAMU fans are the fucking worst, and their Hitler youth half-time show is beyond the pale - and we have to put up with Stanfurd every year. Baylor = rape factory.

Expand full comment

Actually, I have met a number of TAMU folks, with never any issue. While some of their band norms aren't for everyone, I've never understood translating jealousy (for straight lines and sound clarity in this case) into villainy. And its not like they don't acknowledge their own quirks.

And in case no one has noticed, Baylor has replaced the majority of the administration. I don't get hating people who had nothing to do with things that people who no longer have anything to do with it did. But then that is the basis for a lot of CFB rivalry animosity. Its usually reserved for actual regular or local rivals though.

Expand full comment

There are sane, rational TAMU fans but the majority of their football fans are atrocious. And their Corps of Cadets is disgusting.

Baylor though, most people in Texas dont pay attention to them but the ones that rub me the wrong way are the ones who deny that most of the rapes ever happened. Its sad and disgusting and there is a reason their new stadium is nicknamed "The house that rape built". Art Briles is trash...

Expand full comment

Eh:

"Actually, I have met a number of TAMU folks"

I assume that means real, regular life, not game day. Have you met their fans, at a game? because they are 90% scum.

Expand full comment

I think the issue with Baylor is the alumni who think that there was nothing wrong - a bit like the Penn State paterno apologists in that regard.

Expand full comment

Good ones

Expand full comment

ND, Texas (less so now that Mack Brown is gone),

Expand full comment

NO!!! Whenever your Longhorns hatred begins to subside, just reach out to Newellbany and ask him to tell you stories from Austin in the early 2000's....that fire will rekindle!!!

Expand full comment

Notre Dame, Penn State, Baylor, Liberty

Expand full comment

This + Duke for me.

Expand full comment

This is the correct list

Expand full comment

Agreed - ND needs to be on everyones list

Expand full comment

This is the way.

Expand full comment

This we can all get on board with.

Expand full comment
author

Duke, Liberty, ND, Baylor, Michigan, whoever employs Mack Brown (currently UNC)

Expand full comment

Liberty? The Flames have elevated themselves into a number of conversations where they weren't even an afterthought previously, but this isn't one that I was expecting to see them in. (At least until they beat the Bears in some bowl no one expected to see either team in.)

Expand full comment
author

Footloose-like social rules + segregated Lynchburg + lots of Confederate flags + Jerry Fallwell Jr + ethics of hiring Hugh Freeze + racists attitudes toward black players

Expand full comment

Outside the lines noise. About 6" onto the field, all that usually gets left behind.

Expand full comment

naw Duke is first-tier for me.

Expand full comment

the other choices all make sense to me, but why Michigan?

Expand full comment

blue and gold >> blue and maize ??

Expand full comment

Harbaugh hate?

Expand full comment

I would assume

Expand full comment

He's doing bad enough all by himself.

Expand full comment

Notre Dame? Clemson?

Expand full comment

I have a bit of a soft spot for Clemson as Dwight Clark's alma mater.

Expand full comment

We OWN Clemson

Expand full comment
author

Boise State crushes CSU despite being down 14 players due to Covid and having a short-week after getting blasted on the Smurfturf by BYU

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30306242/boise-state-14-players-vs-colorado-state-due-positive-tests

Expand full comment
author

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

Expand full comment

he's also going to keep the base on the they stole the election from us so that in 2022 and 2024 they'll go out and vote to take it back.

Expand full comment
author

TEXAS - YOU RE-ELECTED THIS GUY AS YOUR US SENATOR? J. F'ING. C.

https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/1326898457341276169

Expand full comment

not as bad as Tuberville in Alabama. Which admittedly is a really low bar but still

Expand full comment

I am more and more thinking there needs to be a fairly basic civics test that any potential candidate for Congress needs to pass in order to run.

Expand full comment

I thought for a second you were going to advocate for a test (and I assume a remedial class?) that any potential voter needs to pass in order to vote.

Expand full comment

I'm a bitch but not that much of a bitch. We all get to vote, even the dumbest among us. We don't all get to be employed in the government without knowing what the hell it is, however.

Expand full comment

If it eliminates drumpf supporters' votes, all for it.

Expand full comment

Off and on for a few weeks now there's been a guy who looks like the old guy from Duck Dynasty parked at Roosevelt Island. Idaho plate and a big American flag flying from his truck. This morning there was a similar looking guy in a truck along side his with a trailer and a four wheeler and an even bigger flag. Maybe in town for the pro-Trump rallies tomorrow. I plan to avoid downtown.

Expand full comment

BREAKING: Trump campaign gives up on its lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona, which NBC News has projected for Joe Biden. (h/t @PeteWilliamsNBC

)

Expand full comment

And now breaking, CNN just called Georgia for Biden. Not sure if others have yet. Also called NC for Trump.

Expand full comment

I'm fine giving up NC for getting Az, Ga, Pa.

Expand full comment
author

https://tenor.com/yvnB.gif

Expand full comment

Nooooooooooooo Biiiiiiiiiing Booooooong

Expand full comment

A law firm representing Trump in his attempt to challenge the election count in Pennsylvania has withdrawn from the case.

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur said in a court motion filed late Thursday that attorneys Ronald L. Hicks Jr. and Carolyn B. McGee would no longer be representing Trump’s campaign in the case.

“Plaintiffs and Porter Wright have reached a mutual agreement that Plaintiffs will be best served if Porter Wright withdraws,” the attorneys said in their motion.

The firm said Trump’s campaign was “in the process of retaining” other attorneys to represent it. Linda A. Kerns, a Philadelphia attorney who is representing Trump in a flurry of lawsuits in the state’s courts, will remain on the case.

Several law firms representing Trump in his efforts to undermine the result in battleground states have come under pressure to drop the president as a client.

WaPo

Expand full comment

I read an article somewhere about the lawyers arguing the case not lying because they could get disbarred. So they're responding to things like "not to my knowledge" when asked about proof of fraud.

Expand full comment

maybe it was from the DBD yesterday.

Expand full comment
author

CISA says there is no election fraud

https://www.axios.com/cisa-election-security-trump-a385868b-512a-4449-addd-4591829a4aef.html

In completely an unrelated move, Trump just forced two resignations - one from CISA and one from DHS

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/12/politics/dhs-officials-forced-resign-white-house/index.html

Expand full comment

White House is wreaking havoc on the Secret Service with the 'rona

https://twitter.com/robpegoraro/status/1327272930489851907?s=20

Expand full comment

It would be a real shame if the secret service weren’t able to provide adequate protection for trump and his family. A real shame indeed.

Expand full comment

Not sure if there's a point at which this thread crosses the line into paranoia, but it's well worth a read:

https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/1327253991936454663?s=20

Expand full comment

I am not a lawyer, but this doesn't sound like Alito is interested in calling balls and strikes:

https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1327055797176692737?s=20

Expand full comment

No, he's not.

Expand full comment
author

PRO

Expand full comment
author

Kim Ng, the first woman - let alone an Asian-American one - to be hired as Marlin's GM

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1327274674372419584

Expand full comment
author

She's been interviewing for the GM job since 2005, but never got the chance until now. Then again she's still just 51 years old, so certainly not too old to be starting this job. guess she was not able to overcome both sexism and ageism in the past, but now in 2020 is able to overcome just sexism alone (MLB has also been skewing younger in hiring executives for the past decade).

Expand full comment
author

Unnecessary reminder: Aubrey Huff is a piece of shit

Expand full comment

He also seems to be completely off his rocker. Like, he actually thought California could be flipped to a red state in this election.

Expand full comment

I saw the one comment in the thread about him.

Expand full comment

Did he say something about this? Not that I disagree, but this seems random.

Expand full comment

It’s a minority woman in a position of leadership with a MLB team, so of course he would say something about this.

Expand full comment

I'm not expecting a civil or nuanced take from him.

Expand full comment

I would have been more surprised if Huff said nothing at all than what he actually said.

Expand full comment

That's great. Ex-Dodger Assistant GM. Good luck to her.

Expand full comment

The Jared Goff vs. Russell Wilson match-up

https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-week-10-game-picks-colts-nip-titans-rams-top-seahawks

Expand full comment

Well, he has to start playing like an elite QB. Even at Cal there were some games where he put up gaudy numbers but still lost. Garbers is a winner, Jared not as much.

Expand full comment

Never thought I'd read the take that someone would pick Garbers over Goff.

No knock on Garbers, but there are big differences in our defense and the state of the other Pac-12 teams when he's playing vs. Goff's days.

Expand full comment
author

CAL

Expand full comment

Utah at UCLA just cancelled. Actively looking at having Cal play UCLA, possibly on Sunday.

Expand full comment

1 positive test this morning was the tipping point/last straw for Utah for this week,

Expand full comment

Go Bears...on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday!

Expand full comment
author

We should definitely know if we're playing ASU by Monday.

Expand full comment

I believe Monday would be the 14th day of quarantine, correct?

Expand full comment
author

Game officially canceled

https://twitter.com/CalFootball/status/1327295179208888322

Expand full comment

This is just funny now. Cal might play two games this season if we are lucky.

Just play Stanford, USC and ucla and call it a season.

Expand full comment

That would be my ideal season, TBH.

Expand full comment
author

Twist in the plot: It was ASU who didn't have enough players

https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1327295225497149440

Expand full comment
author

Another twist, they also didn't have enough head coaches...

https://twitter.com/bonaguraespn/status/1327295400148041728?s=21

Expand full comment

City of Berkeley just let out a collective sigh of relief.

Expand full comment

Uh-oh

Expand full comment