136 Comments

Whew, it is HARD to make an eye appointment! None available at the Berkeley School of Optometry for the next three months (I was able to submit a request online for this Saturday morning, only to get an email saying that slot was no longer available).

-UCSF Berkeley Outpatient Center: earliest appointments in August

-Rockridge Optometry: earliest appointment in July

-Moderne Optometry: earliest appointment in June

(I was just going through the "premiere" options in VSP)

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My optometrist in Dublin went to Cal optometry. He's in the Ranch 99 parking lot. (no not that one, the other one closer to me)

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Cake

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Made a basque cheesecake for my mom for mother's day. I keep on adding a few drops of lemon extract along with vanilla extract despite my wife repeatedly telling me that the tartness, while not bad, does not lead to the best version of the cake.

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Lemon extract, in my experience, lends quite a sharp flavor to cheesecake. Try 2 Tbs of lemon juice next time (I assure you this leads to the best version of the cake).

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I once put lemon zest in some vanilla extract and I thought it turned out well. I wonder about the acidity of lemon juice in cake batter.

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Taking initiative: 19

Following instructions: 0

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had a very nice ricotta cheesecake in Brooklyn last Fri. indoor dining too!

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YES I AM HERE WHATS UP CUGEL

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Should I make another blood orange upside down cake? y/n?

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DO YOU EVEN NEED TO ASK

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this sounds like a maybe.

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Also, I learned my wife is not a fan of the spice saffron, I bought some Moroccan stuff some time ago, and she made saffron roast chicken thighs over potatoes & shallots with pilaf on the side; I thought it was great, but she was only so-so on it. Weird.

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A decent percentage of saffron sold in stores is not real saffron.

https://motherwouldknow.com/how-to-identify-real-saffron-avoid-fake-saffron/

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Oh, this was real

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It's what's for breakfast - my daughter had a really difficult time making this poppy seed- grapefruit cake for Mother's day, but it turned out really great. Yum

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Liking the citrus theme of this thread

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The tbb signal worked

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tbb: is this cake discussion going as expected? better? worse?

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In my new neighborhood I learned that I have a neighbor who has a home Russian baking business. I hope she's good--she charges $49 for a honeycake.

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You should do some research. For science.

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Let's keep it going! Tell me more about the ricotta cheesecake. I once had a ricotta cheesecake from somewhere in the East Village (I think) that was orange-scented and had an amaretti base. SO GOOD.

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Real Estate

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I guess I'm upsizing, not downsizing, as the ad below showed up in my Facebook feed. Also found out that Brit Hume of Fox News used to be a neighbor. Apparently he sold his condo in the building across the street earlier this year. I never saw him in the area.

https://willthomas.ttrsir.com/eng/sales/detail/279-l-905-r2knel/8334-alvord-st-mclean-va-22102?fbclid=IwAR3xI-juEo2bftF3-mCYM6wSkOD3BfvTvQbku8ZsJ-QTEi9gCkefD_pCJWM

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Oh man I would spend all my time in that sunroom with the fireplace off the living room.

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Whoever staged that house did a great job.

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for $6M I should hope so

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that's quite a lot to live in McLean. I'd feel the same way if it were a list in Potomac, just so you don't think I'm being rude about Virginia ;)

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13000sf is a lot of house!

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to my point of a moment ago - you know London far better than I ever will, but this is what I mean about spending similar money for the location: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/80114661#/ - not that London is where I'd spend the money but I wouldn't have the same "really?" reaction.

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That's just a couple of blocks from the first ScootiePad! I have never seen a basement dug out in a mews like that before -- it's really something. Even so, you're definitely paying for the toys there (retractable roof, car life, that weird lift that looks like the vacuum tube at the old bank drive throughs).

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it's all about the tradeoff between location and cost. It's a perfectly nice house if not my style, but there's nothing especially compelling about McLean at that price. I'd feel the same way about this place: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9219-Fox-Meadow-Ln-Potomac-MD-20854/37257221_zpid/ - similar size and cost

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A couple of mansions worth!

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TIL: Grapenuts ice cream is a Nova Scotia thing that has spread down the northeast US.

https://www.eater.com/2018/9/24/17887660/grape-nuts-cereal-ice-cream-flavor-history-explainer-recipe

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DBD AV Club

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Am trying to push through older French series (from 2015) Le Bureau des Legends - it's really good. It's a spy series that is heavy on cloak/daggar spycraft stuff. Like a Bourne tv show without a super assassin.

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It's Great! Best spy show since Sandbaggers - just started season 2 last night.

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New season of Lupin arrives June 11

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Looking forward to part 2. I also just watched the new trailer that dropped today. It took me several seconds of feeling weirdness before I realized that I watched the first part in original French with English caption thus I found the English dubbed trailer odd (because characters had different voices now).

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oh gross. I hope that season 2 is made available the same way as season 1

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I'm sure that's available for the show, but I don't think they offer different audio options for the trailer.

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Mare of Easttown (HBO)...whenever I start lamenting the state of the MBB program or the Rose Bowl drought, I watch the latest episode and immediately feel better about my life...it could always be worse...ie at least you’re not living Kate Winslet’s characters life.

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I have not heard of this show (not entirely true because I recall reading about Kate Winslet's love for Wawa while filming this a bit back) until the SNL skit.

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Exactly...the crazy former Mrs. Jimmy C & her rather messed up family is from that area of PA & I must say they really nailed the whole working class, rural, dysfunctional, blue collar life on the head. Just seems to be a miserable existence, despite the WaWa...

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Bad Batch, the new Stars Wars series on Disney+

this is very well done. it is animated, but have the look/feel of the Mandalorian.

new episodes released weekly

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Trying to finish both Rebels and Clone Wars simultaneously before jumping into this

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We're still on Clone Wars, season 5 - there been some great story lines. Also some clunkers.

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mostly good and a nice story arc. the final season of Clone Wars was very good, methinks

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Netflix's "Emily in Paris" sets of surge in Van Gogh exhibitions, including the "it thing" of the moment "Van Gogh: Immersive Experience".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/05/11/van-gogh-immersive-exhibit-ticket-confusion/

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I went to this in Paris (pre- Emily in Paris hype but it was already attended by both US friends on vacation and German collaborators). Echoing what Martin Scorsese said about Marvel movies but applying to this, I feel the Illuminated Van Gogh exhibits Aren't Art. It's like an amusement park.

I also can't believe that the US versions are charging $50 per ticket.

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I am on the list of those who get bombarded with ads. Still on the fence if I'm interested or not.

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Houston man accidentally lets his cat escape the house. The owner of the cat took him and drove off.

https://twitter.com/robwormald/status/1391579206262300674

There's more to the story if you've got a WaPo subscription. TL;DR: naturally, the owner is out on bail awaiting his 2017 murder charge. The owner also claims he didn't do anything wrong and denies driving away with the tiger, despite owning a tiger where it is not legal to own one, evading arrest, and video evidence of him driving away with the tiger. He was arrested earlier this week.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/11/tiger-houston-victor-cuevas/

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Rosefinches and other birds

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a good friend from HS spent a bunch of time in Siberia studying the migratory patterns of birds.

now he teaches at UBC (Vancouver) and does most of his field research near the Alberta/BC border where there is a gap in mountains that allows the birds to get around.

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Our Crumbling Democracy

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Arizona will purge 140k voters from rolls. Guess who sponsored the bill and guess who gets hurt?

https://twitter.com/AriBerman/status/1392198514365566978

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Virginia GOP nominated went crazy-pants - plain vanilla GOP candidate won. Changed from primary to convention. Picked a convention site without checking to see if they'd do it. They said no. Changed to ranked vote. Changed to a weird weighted vote system where really red counties got more votes. Trumper Amanda Chase came in third. She has yet to decide if she'll audit vote and then run as independent since she has said that she is convinced that there's stolen votes against her because she was winning in the polls she conducted. An independent Chase would likely hand election to Democrats. Also, the name Amanda Chase is not a joke from the Simpsons.

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yackety_sax.mp3

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Original hoped convention site was Liberty Univ.

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California reports a $76b deficit. Wait, no. A $76b surplus. Newsome wants to refund $12b of it to CA residents. The refunds should in no way be considered buying votes ahead of a recall election.

https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/05/10/california-has-a-staggering-757b-budget-surplus-1381195

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Hey, it's cheaper than borrowing to pay for votes

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I think he should be happy with the surplus and not squander the funds. After all, infrastructure in California needs an upgrade. If we have to float more bonds to pay for it, so be it. Muni bond holders should be happy that the chance of default is low.

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PA's teacher pension fund invested a whopping 51% into alternative investments (eg, bonds backed by Kurdish oil, for-profit prison pay-phones). They made a mistake in calculating returns, prompting an FBI investigation. Now 40% of PA active teachers have to pay more into their retirement fund for several years despite the current raging bull equity market. I think someone should go to jail because that is criminally negligent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/business/dealbook/psers-pennsylvania-fund-fbi.html

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that's nuts. i know that often these pension funds are among the larger investment operations, but it seems that they should have semi-strict rules about what they can invest in, sort of like insurance cos.

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For private equity folks large pension funds are the golden goose.

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Today in Covid-19

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CT is apparently booking 12-15 year olds for the Pfizer shot ahead of tomorrow's CDC meeting...NYS does not appear to be following suit.

hopefully it is just a matter of days before our 14 yr old gets vaccinated

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You're close to CT aren't you? Would they allow you to drive over and let your youngest get it?

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not sure if they will allow us to cross borders like that

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but apparently you can ...

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WHO: India affected by B.1.617 variant. More transmittable/communicable. Not enough data to determine existing vaccine effectiveness, but all vaccines should help reduce chronic effects.

https://www.news18.com/news/india/double-mutant-variant-in-india-more-contagious-but-not-vaccine-resistant-who-top-scientist-soumya-swaminathan-3724763.html

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I apparently did not provide a good enough quote to make the Washington Post article out yesterday about the DC area reopening. By pretending or really knowing nothing about the impressive space artifacts, the reporter got me to open up when I visited Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center last Thursday ahead of a Braves-Nats game. Then again, I also got the sense that I would have had a higher odds of making the article if my solo travel was due to reopening rather than something that I always do pre-COVID.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/05/10/dc-reopen-virginia-maryland-vaccine/

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I'm not really looking forward to the mask squabbles in the immediate future... although I'm writing that like I'm going to be out and about now 😂

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You see the NYT article today about masks outside? Kinda what I always thought.

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I did not. I've been wearing masks outside generally when in close quarters with other people, but not when say just walking around the neighborhood. My wife has a good friend who has been much more focused on wearing masks outside, but her husband has a serious liver issue so she was fine with overcompensating.

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Pro

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Man City with the Premiership with manu's loss to Leicester City. Apparently manu rested all of their starters for their fixture with Liverpool on Thursday.

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Robert Woods said he almost went to Cal instead of USC because he was such a fan of DeSean Jackson.

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/04/15/rams-robert-woods-desean-jackson-cal-usc-college/

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Woods was at USC 2010-2012. We would have had Allen-Jones-Woods in the first two years. While that's intriguing I would have been fine with just Allen and Jones.

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with Maynard as QB he would have been a wasted talent at Cal

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It would have been nice for Zach Maynard to have a third good receiver to throw an incomplete pass.

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That would have been a ferocious trio of receivers. Or it would be if we had a competent QB...

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Would have been great in Dykes' system with Goff but not with Maynard...

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A's face Boston this eve at Fenway. Looking forward to the series between two first-place teams.

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Every time they talk about MLB expansion or relocation I think the proposed new cities seem a bit underwhelming. Las Vegas would instantly be the smallest media market in MLB, and selling tickets for a hockey arena right on the strip or a football team that people will fly in to see on weekends is a very different beast from selling tickets for a baseball team with 81 home dates, including plenty on Wednesday nights or Thursday afternoons. You need a large concentrated population with a strong local connection to the team. Those markets are pretty much already taken.

Charlotte is actually probably the best candidate and I'm not sure they're ready to support a fourth major league franchise either.

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Maybe Portland also, but I can't imagine there being much political will there to spend public money on a baseball stadium right now.

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Gee thanks Jerry Brown.

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Dave Kaval email I just received says the A's will explore options to move to another market at the direction of MLB...

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The threat to move still sounds like a power move to get the Oakland city council on board with keeping the team. I still think Vegas will be getting an expansion team before 2030.

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Austin could use a team!

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YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH

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Austin Athletics has a certain ring to it

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I'lL CuT yOu BiTcH

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Giants win 3-1 on a solid outing by Alex Wood, an opposite-field homer by Brandon Belt in the 4th, and the throwing arm of Khris Davis. Check out the 22-second mark of the below video.

https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-05/10/20ce82b5-6cb0ea05-b2861a22-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4

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Giants also win 4-2 today.

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I don't know if I agree with some of the Giants fans that Gabe Kapler is actually a good manager now, but it also does appear that he's learned from his Phillies tenure.

By the way, I'll probably go to one of these weekend's games between the Giants and the Pirates.

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Dubs give their playoff chances a boost with a crucial upset over Utah

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1391977082100633602

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Oh man I thought they'd lost it after blowing the 18pt lead, but Steph gonna Steph

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While rallying the Wizards from a 20-point 4th quarter deficit, Russell Westbrook gets his 182nd career triple double, breaking Oscar Robertson's previous NBA record of 181. Washington fell 1 point short against Atlanta, however.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1391926998105305089

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Other college

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Colt Brennan (CU/Hawaii) has died. He apparently struggled with addiction.

https://twitter.com/HawaiiFootball/status/1392178924038279169

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He was in a bad car accident several years before so I think that may have contributed to his addiction.

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Womens Soccer Final 4: Florida State, UNC, Virginia, and Santa Clara

One team is not like the others lol but I'm glad my school is actually good at something because lord knows Herb Sendek aint doing a damn thing for mens basketball at SCU.

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Is Santa Clara the odd one here? No one can yet match UNC's success in women's soccer (they were the Cal Rugby of that sport back in the 90's and early 2000's), but I am also fine with Stanford's reign being over.

Santa Clara was not just the landing spot of Brandi Chastain after she left Cal, but also produced USWNT players like Julie Johnston Ertz (who apparently attended Stanford baseball games for fun and thus meeting Stanford alum Zach Ertz) and other NWSL players.

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While attending law school at Santa Clara, I resided in an apartment with a balcony with a direct view of SCU's baseball field. My last two days at that apartment were spent watching Cal beat Dallas Baptist in the first round of the tourney to advance to the World Series.

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Also, as SCU students we got free admission to San Jose Earthquake games. If I have to pick an MLS team, it would be them.

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Odd one in terms of branding and obviously the ACC vs WCC dynamic but yes SCU womens soccer does have a respectable history.

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Herb Sendek is the SCU head coach? Wow. How he's fallen from his NC State days. No offense to SCU.

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Oh trust me I know and just being hired for the SCU newspaper I will be sure to tell people that he is on the hot seat (simply because the standard needs to be higher).

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Cal

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Question for Cal FB/Memorial Stadium in the know.

Have been putting together the logistics for road games this fall and when I went to check on tickets for OSU@Cal, I find on both Stub Hub & Vivid a variety of tickets across ~3/4 of the stadium, but nothing on the "east end". (For years have got tickets in the N/NN/O section area, in part to be near the visiting band.) What is up that there are no tickets on the entire end of the stadium? Is Cal holding back that end for single game sales that maybe haven't gone on the market yet? Still several months to go, but I wasn't expecting Cal tickets to be a terribly scarce commodity.

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Single game tickets are never on sale this early, even in non-pandemic seasons.

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Dusty Baker was wearing a Cal baseball shirt in an interview segment during last night's Astros-Angels broadcast (his son plays for Cal). Normally I'd be glad to see someone repping Cal, but someone affiliated with Houston? Ehhhhhh

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Dusty wasn’t part of that mess and is a cool dude.

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he wasn't part of the mess, and I realize he's sticking up for his players, but when he says stuff like this it doesn't help. They did not pay the price for it. And what they did is not exactly the same as cheating on a test. Maybe cheating all the way through to get a degree. Dusty, the Asstrisks manager, can GFH.

“How many in the stands have never done anything wrong in their life? We paid the price for it. How many people have not cheated on a test or whatever at some point in time? I mean, it’s easy if you live in glass houses, but I don’t think anybody lives in glass houses.”

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Sure, agreed, he’s fighting for his guys...and the players getting no punishment is an absolute joke. That’s on Manfred.

But if Dusty wants to wear a Cal baseball shirt bc of Darren during an ESPN interview w/ Ravi, I got no issues...

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Oh yeah I don't have any issues with that. I was referring to his constant "stop taunting us" and "the crowd hurt our feelings" shit.

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Ya, that's a tired act...and I'm still irked he pulled Russ Ortiz...

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Reply to Dusty: I may have done a few things "wrong", but I never caused about $30 million to wrongfully go to my team instead of the deserving team.

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I recall similar words in a book my son read in middle school, Tangerine by Edward Bloor. A father is defending the thefts of his son, a star football player. Something like this: "He just made a mistake. Can none of you say you never made a mistake in your life?" Response from a neighbor: "I never broke into an old lady's house and stole her jewelry."

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Go Bears!

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[MBB] Cal schedules Dartmouth at home

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1392226303294808065?s=19

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