“Here comes this nice old man in a white suit. Suddenly I realize that this is the Hannibal Lecter of chickens. I have the death of exactly one chicken on my hands, and this guy has a score of 10 billion. Yet everyone loves this guy, and hates me for being a chicken killer! The irony of the two of us being in the same room at the same time was not lost on either me or the Colonel.”
- Alice Cooper, on a chance meeting with Harland Sanders at a hotel in Amsterdam in 1974
The Pac-12 formalized what we expected, and announced this morning that the conference will return to its long-standing policy that was modified for last year, that will treat situations where a team is unable to play a game as a forfeiture.
The unusual circumstance I still wonder about is what if neither team can play? A forfeiture and a win for both teams doesn't seem to make sense, and a race to delay declaring you can't field the team so the other team can forfeit first would be an ugly situation. In those cases, a no-contest would seem to make sense.
Projects only 5 Pac-12 teams will be bowl eligible, which means he expects a lot of the middle of the pack teams falling 1-2 games short. I'll be surprised if the conference doesn't get 6 teams in, though I readily admit it could be any of a half dozen teams that gets there. Very possible the Cal-Nevada game turns out to be a play-in game in week 1.
Morning news on local P-5 school's flagship station declares that the "Black Lives Matter" movement is "flat-out communism and marxism". Going to be interesting to see how the next university email about diversity and inclusivity is squared with this.
I thought I saw a report early on where they did contact tracing for someone that got it and they determined they basically walked past someone that had it and that's how they got it.
Last weekend my sister went to a 50th anniversary party for an older couple she knows. Both of the couple had covid and were later vaccinated so finally decided to have their party. It was outdoors and they asked that only fully vaccinated attend. Sure enough a few days later my sister gets an email that one of the couple tested positive. My sister tested negative but will get tested again in a few days in case her first test was too close to possible exposure.
Son of a friend went to a wedding at which they asked that all guests be fully vaccinated. 140 people at the wedding, 50 positives so far.
I said I thought probably a lot of the people lied about being vaccinated. My friend doesn't agree, but that's an astonishing hit rate if they were truly all vaccinated.
Moreover: I'm hearing about lots of guys suddenly getting vaccination appointments af work. Many of whom have been walking around without masks since June 15.
SAN ANTONIO — At least two hospitals in Houston have been so overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this week that officials erected overflow tents outside. In Austin, hospitals were nearly out of beds in their intensive care units. And in San Antonio, a spike in virus cases reached alarming levels not seen in months, with children as young as 2 months old tethered to supplemental oxygen.
Across Texas, health officials warned of overloaded, strained hospitals, a growing crisis not seen since early February, when a late winter wave deluged the state’s health care system. More than 10,000 Texans have been hospitalized this week and at least 53 hospitals were at maximum capacity in their intensive care units.
“If this continues, and I have no reason to believe that it will not, there is no way my hospital is going to be able to handle this. There is no way the region is going to be able to handle this,” Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, a top health official in Harris County, which includes Houston, told state legislators on Tuesday. “I am one of those people that always sees the glass half-full, I always see the silver lining. But I am frightened by what is coming.”
presumably the ICU is full of unvaccinated people that got coronavirus. while there is always some risk, most vaccinated people who get it are not dying ..
The vast majority of the small number of those vaccinated who do still get it aren't even getting significantly sick. The risk of your having a serious medical problem because of some accident or other event having nothing to do with Covid and then not being able to get access to definitive medical treatment is going to be far greater than the risk of being vaccinated and still becoming seriously ill with Covid.
My sister in SD is fully vaccinated, but one of her elementary school-aged kids got it 2 weeks ago, and then they all did. Their quarantine ended yesterday. Kids had a cold/fever for a couple of days, she felt pretty schitty for a few, but no fever. She lost her sense of smell/taste tho...but all fine now.
Me and the pups are still road tripping to TX, but will bring a mask.
Nay. The crass commercialism of the event is all wrong.
First off, the movie is about making peace with oneself and with people who have passed on.
Second, it's also about second chances, and that includes old ballplayers who have since passed on, some of whom were members of the Black Sox. It's also a kind of riff on what an All-Star Game might look like if you included MLB ballplayers who played before there was an All-Star Game, though I think that most people who view the film don't get that aspect.
Third, it's about life choices and how things change your life and how there's no going back...except in a weird sort of cosmic way. And how it can seem to be an atonement for past transgressions.
There's a lot about the movie that the Field of Dreams event can't possibly capture. In that way, the whole thing smacks of desperation.
Great idea, beautiful park, but having the evil Yankees a part of it tarnishes it. This should be midwest, through and through. perhaps an inner-league rematch b/t White Sox/Reds from the '19 WS...
It does celebrate an old concept from an old movie, but its a new and different event. Kind of like the game at the LLWS. Fun for fans, popular with players.
eh, I tried watching The Natural, and didn't get past the 10 minute mark, Robert Redford was WAY too old for that role. I did enjoy League of Their Own, so I guess I'm susceptible... But it just sounded too hooky to me. I did enjoy Eight Men Out.
For the second day in a row, the Oakland A’s fell behind early but came back to beat the Cleveland Indians, this time 6-3 at Progressive Field. And for the second straight day, the same hitter drove in the game-winning run for Oakland.
In the series opener last night, the Indians took a quick 3-1 lead but couldn’t hold on. Wednesday brought a similar script, as Cleveland went up 2-0 in the 1st inning and 3-2 in the 7th inning only to see the A’s charge back both times.
The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday by a convincing score of 7-2 to sweep a two-game series. The concept of a two-game series is offensive, so let’s forget that part and just think about the sweep. Sweeps are good.
It was not an interesting game. Note that I said “interesting” and not “enjoyable.” It was definitely an enjoyable game. It was a very enjoyable game, assuming you root for the Giants.
It just wasn’t interesting.
They jumped out to a lead and held the lead, save for a very early hiccup. They rarely looked in danger of regurgitating their hard-earned lead, and even when they did it wasn’t particularly concerning. They didn’t allow for any theatrics.
73 wins. I think that's about the upper limit of what some prognosticators thought the Giants would win this year, in 2021.
We're only 114 game into 2021 and the Giants have those 73 wins with 48 games remaining. They will likely win more than 90, maybe even break the century mark in wins.
This assumes you had access to see the game; the BJs-Angels (Vlad Jr & Ohtani effect) and the riveting Rangers-Mariners were all that was available. But the fact that the Giants took care of business is still a very good thing.
Angels have Ohtani, who in fairness, is worth the price of attendance, but the Blue Jays actually have a whole team, which, in fairness, actually wins more games than not.
For some reason, MLB thinks there are actually people in what was and is a Giants hotbed going back to when they arrived in SF that actually have any interest in the Mariners, non-Griffey Jr, non-actually competitive baseball era.
I've had some weird behavior on my phone where sometimes Dodgers games are blacked out when they shouldn't be. On the phone the MLB app uses GPS to determine if you're in a blacked out area so maybe sometimes my phone GPS is not working? Even though when I open Google Maps it shows the correct location. I've also noticed that when this happens, I can connect to a Wifi AP and then be able to watch the game. It's weird.
As we've discussed, I have the MLB.com package here in Santa Barbara, and ALL Dodger games are blacked out due to some contractual issue...not so with the Angels on my Cox cable, who are on nightly...which begs the question, how do people in LA actually watch Dodger games. I chose against the VPN route.
Patience and persistence proved to be virtuous for the Dodgers in many ways on Wednesday, beating the Phillies 8-2 in another wet and wild affair at Citizens Bank Park.
That’s four straight wins for the Dodgers, and four straight games scoring at least five runs, with 26 runs during that stretch.
One night after rain halted play for one hour, 44 minutes in the series opener, the rain came a little earlier on Tuesday. The two teams only got two innings before the skies opened up, continuing a streak that covers every Dodgers game in the state so far this season.
My Grandmother's service was this past Tuesday, about 80 or so family members/extended friends were able to attend and celebrate her life. Many good anecdotes were shared during the open mic portion (myself included) and it was good to see picture boards and slideshows put together. She is now finally resting right along side my grandfather where we all made that same trek 15 years ago, kind of poetic in a way.
Also a side note: I'm aware that the DBD test kitchen is big here, I make a mean burger and set of brownies. I am selling cutlery so if any of you all need of that I am your guy.
In our latest reminder that QAnon is terrible:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/akgq9a/qanon-surfer-killed-his-children-in-mexico
The town is kind of stunned.
College
The Pac-12 formalized what we expected, and announced this morning that the conference will return to its long-standing policy that was modified for last year, that will treat situations where a team is unable to play a game as a forfeiture.
The unusual circumstance I still wonder about is what if neither team can play? A forfeiture and a win for both teams doesn't seem to make sense, and a race to delay declaring you can't field the team so the other team can forfeit first would be an ugly situation. In those cases, a no-contest would seem to make sense.
Are most players and coaches vaccinated for all 12 schools?
most. there appear to be a few holdouts. (see WSU)
venturing out into crowds ...
going to my first big event in a while, a rooftop concert on pier 17 in NYC.
a friend of mine from Cal who is a drummer is playing, so i figured i'd go and try to meet up w/ him afterwards for drinks.
never really heard of the band, but i figured it would be a fun night out.
https://www.pier17ny.com/events/pink-martini-featuring-china-forbes/
Bowl Projections
CBS Sports Bowl Expert Jerry Palm projects the matchups for every bowl game. (Cal is not on the list)
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/bowls/predictions/
Projects only 5 Pac-12 teams will be bowl eligible, which means he expects a lot of the middle of the pack teams falling 1-2 games short. I'll be surprised if the conference doesn't get 6 teams in, though I readily admit it could be any of a half dozen teams that gets there. Very possible the Cal-Nevada game turns out to be a play-in game in week 1.
Palm is an East Coast biased, SEC boob. So 7 Conference teams will be 5-7 or worse...negative.
Our Crumbling Democracy
Matt Gaetz's guy has surrendered thousands of photos and venmo transactions .
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/matt-gaetz-joel-greenberg-venmo-photos-video
Morning news on local P-5 school's flagship station declares that the "Black Lives Matter" movement is "flat-out communism and marxism". Going to be interesting to see how the next university email about diversity and inclusivity is squared with this.
Emails: Senior DOJ officials wrangled over baseless Trump voter fraud allegations
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/12/doj-officials-trump-voter-fraud-504031
Covid-19
Can you get infected by the Delta variant after just a second of exposure?...
The Good and Bad News About the Delta Variant
A leading epidemiologist answers my biggest questions about the latest Covid-19 threat.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-celine-gounder.html?searchResultPosition=2
I thought I saw a report early on where they did contact tracing for someone that got it and they determined they basically walked past someone that had it and that's how they got it.
There's that Australian case that has been discussed here. It's mentioned in this article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/COVID-live-updates-Latest-California-news-16272791.php
Last weekend my sister went to a 50th anniversary party for an older couple she knows. Both of the couple had covid and were later vaccinated so finally decided to have their party. It was outdoors and they asked that only fully vaccinated attend. Sure enough a few days later my sister gets an email that one of the couple tested positive. My sister tested negative but will get tested again in a few days in case her first test was too close to possible exposure.
Son of a friend went to a wedding at which they asked that all guests be fully vaccinated. 140 people at the wedding, 50 positives so far.
I said I thought probably a lot of the people lied about being vaccinated. My friend doesn't agree, but that's an astonishing hit rate if they were truly all vaccinated.
Moreover: I'm hearing about lots of guys suddenly getting vaccination appointments af work. Many of whom have been walking around without masks since June 15.
Not impressed.
I'm with you, Scootie: lots of people are lying about being vaccinated.
They don't care about possibly infecting anyone else because they are absolutely certain that COVID is a hoax. Misinformation at its worst.
Can I bring manslaughter charges against Tucker Carlson?
Sorry to hear. I don't suppose anyone was wearing masks?
She did say that people tried not to mingle too closely but I don't remember any mention of masks.
Texas Hospitals Are Already Overloaded. Doctors Are ‘Frightened by What Is Coming.’
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/us/covid-texas-hospitalizations-icu.html
SAN ANTONIO — At least two hospitals in Houston have been so overwhelmed with coronavirus patients this week that officials erected overflow tents outside. In Austin, hospitals were nearly out of beds in their intensive care units. And in San Antonio, a spike in virus cases reached alarming levels not seen in months, with children as young as 2 months old tethered to supplemental oxygen.
Across Texas, health officials warned of overloaded, strained hospitals, a growing crisis not seen since early February, when a late winter wave deluged the state’s health care system. More than 10,000 Texans have been hospitalized this week and at least 53 hospitals were at maximum capacity in their intensive care units.
“If this continues, and I have no reason to believe that it will not, there is no way my hospital is going to be able to handle this. There is no way the region is going to be able to handle this,” Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, a top health official in Harris County, which includes Houston, told state legislators on Tuesday. “I am one of those people that always sees the glass half-full, I always see the silver lining. But I am frightened by what is coming.”
Wondering if it's still a good idea to go to the TCU game. I guess as long as we're vaccinated and are careful that it should be fine.
i thought we were going to be naked and paint ourselves BLUE and GOLD
presumably the ICU is full of unvaccinated people that got coronavirus. while there is always some risk, most vaccinated people who get it are not dying ..
The vast majority of the small number of those vaccinated who do still get it aren't even getting significantly sick. The risk of your having a serious medical problem because of some accident or other event having nothing to do with Covid and then not being able to get access to definitive medical treatment is going to be far greater than the risk of being vaccinated and still becoming seriously ill with Covid.
My sister in SD is fully vaccinated, but one of her elementary school-aged kids got it 2 weeks ago, and then they all did. Their quarantine ended yesterday. Kids had a cold/fever for a couple of days, she felt pretty schitty for a few, but no fever. She lost her sense of smell/taste tho...but all fine now.
Me and the pups are still road tripping to TX, but will bring a mask.
this is true.
Pro
A's spoiler alert.
Do they have a closer? Only ahead 17-0 in the ninth.
I took a look at the box score and scoring summary on espn.com.
The A's scored -
7 runs when the bases were loaded, (HBP, walk, single, single, double)
7 runs when there were 2 men on, (grounder to SS, Sac fly, FC (to short), single)
1 run with 1 runner on, (double) and
hit 2 solo home runs.
The A's were 7-21 With RISP and left 10 men on base.
Cleveland's pitching staff hit three batters, issued 10 walks, and struck out only 4 batters.
That's a dang football score.
Whoa
Yeah. Just turned on the mlb network and they were going through highlights. Some highlights.
The trades certainly helped our hitting.
Field of Dreams game: Nay or Yay?
Nay. The crass commercialism of the event is all wrong.
First off, the movie is about making peace with oneself and with people who have passed on.
Second, it's also about second chances, and that includes old ballplayers who have since passed on, some of whom were members of the Black Sox. It's also a kind of riff on what an All-Star Game might look like if you included MLB ballplayers who played before there was an All-Star Game, though I think that most people who view the film don't get that aspect.
Third, it's about life choices and how things change your life and how there's no going back...except in a weird sort of cosmic way. And how it can seem to be an atonement for past transgressions.
There's a lot about the movie that the Field of Dreams event can't possibly capture. In that way, the whole thing smacks of desperation.
I think it's a good idea. Would be even better if the OF fence were just corn stalks.
Joe Davis said they're going to have the players come in from the corn stalks.
Aaron Judge is taller than the corn stalks....;-)
Great idea, beautiful park, but having the evil Yankees a part of it tarnishes it. This should be midwest, through and through. perhaps an inner-league rematch b/t White Sox/Reds from the '19 WS...
Yeah that would be cool. Or even the Indians.
Yay! Baseball needs injections of new and energetic. This is an interesting event.
New? Doesn't the idea/movie celebrate the old?
It does celebrate an old concept from an old movie, but its a new and different event. Kind of like the game at the LLWS. Fun for fans, popular with players.
Note: I have never seen it.
You should check it out if you like fantasy baseball movies that tug on your heartstrings...
eh, I tried watching The Natural, and didn't get past the 10 minute mark, Robert Redford was WAY too old for that role. I did enjoy League of Their Own, so I guess I'm susceptible... But it just sounded too hooky to me. I did enjoy Eight Men Out.
Game #114: Another comeback victory! Another Lowrie game-winner!
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/8/11/22621244/oakland-as-game-114-cleveland-indians-score-result
It’s deja vu all over again.
For the second day in a row, the Oakland A’s fell behind early but came back to beat the Cleveland Indians, this time 6-3 at Progressive Field. And for the second straight day, the same hitter drove in the game-winning run for Oakland.
In the series opener last night, the Indians took a quick 3-1 lead but couldn’t hold on. Wednesday brought a similar script, as Cleveland went up 2-0 in the 1st inning and 3-2 in the 7th inning only to see the A’s charge back both times.
Also, we shouldn't call them the Tribe anymore, but what would the nickname for the Guardians be?
I thought Guardians is the new nickname. Are you looking for a group plural? Kind of like a murder of crows, a gaggle of geese, a school of fish?
I think it's their new name, next year.
Well, that's true. So, what's your question, then?
The Tribe was a nickname for the Indians - just trying to think if there's some sort of logical nickname derived from Guardians.
Fun game.
Lowrie with a huge AB...great to see!
Giants sweep D-Backs by playing better baseball and hitting more home runs
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/8/11/22621322/san-francisco-giants-diamondbacks-recap-buster-posey-brandon-crawford
The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday by a convincing score of 7-2 to sweep a two-game series. The concept of a two-game series is offensive, so let’s forget that part and just think about the sweep. Sweeps are good.
It was not an interesting game. Note that I said “interesting” and not “enjoyable.” It was definitely an enjoyable game. It was a very enjoyable game, assuming you root for the Giants.
It just wasn’t interesting.
They jumped out to a lead and held the lead, save for a very early hiccup. They rarely looked in danger of regurgitating their hard-earned lead, and even when they did it wasn’t particularly concerning. They didn’t allow for any theatrics.
73 wins. I think that's about the upper limit of what some prognosticators thought the Giants would win this year, in 2021.
We're only 114 game into 2021 and the Giants have those 73 wins with 48 games remaining. They will likely win more than 90, maybe even break the century mark in wins.
This assumes you had access to see the game; the BJs-Angels (Vlad Jr & Ohtani effect) and the riveting Rangers-Mariners were all that was available. But the fact that the Giants took care of business is still a very good thing.
Angels have Ohtani, who in fairness, is worth the price of attendance, but the Blue Jays actually have a whole team, which, in fairness, actually wins more games than not.
Screwed by MLB blackout rules?
For some reason, MLB thinks there are actually people in what was and is a Giants hotbed going back to when they arrived in SF that actually have any interest in the Mariners, non-Griffey Jr, non-actually competitive baseball era.
I've had some weird behavior on my phone where sometimes Dodgers games are blacked out when they shouldn't be. On the phone the MLB app uses GPS to determine if you're in a blacked out area so maybe sometimes my phone GPS is not working? Even though when I open Google Maps it shows the correct location. I've also noticed that when this happens, I can connect to a Wifi AP and then be able to watch the game. It's weird.
You don't think the weird behavior is tied to your phone's area code and prefix, do you?
As we've discussed, I have the MLB.com package here in Santa Barbara, and ALL Dodger games are blacked out due to some contractual issue...not so with the Angels on my Cox cable, who are on nightly...which begs the question, how do people in LA actually watch Dodger games. I chose against the VPN route.
That, and MLB Network's poor decisions (contrast with last year's better, and much more extensive game coverages).
MLB's media decisions are inexplicable. They don't seem to realize that Internet streaming exists and people expect to be able to see what they want.
Also there are plenty of streams out there if you don't want to pay for MLB.TV
Dodgers patience pays off on another rainy Pennsylvania day
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/8/11/22620704/cody-bellinger-home-runs-foul-balls-dodgers-bullpen-rain-delay-pennsylvania-phillies-recap
Patience and persistence proved to be virtuous for the Dodgers in many ways on Wednesday, beating the Phillies 8-2 in another wet and wild affair at Citizens Bank Park.
That’s four straight wins for the Dodgers, and four straight games scoring at least five runs, with 26 runs during that stretch.
One night after rain halted play for one hour, 44 minutes in the series opener, the rain came a little earlier on Tuesday. The two teams only got two innings before the skies opened up, continuing a streak that covers every Dodgers game in the state so far this season.
Getaway Day. 10 AM PDT game today.
It did not go well.
Nope.
Cal
Go Bears!!!
here is a nice write up of Prof Miller
https://greekreporter.com/2021/08/11/archaeologist-stephen-miller-nemean-games-revival-father-dies/
Thanks, that's a great article. Another great professor, of history, Leon Litwack just passed away at 91.
Colonel Sanders the embodiment of the South
My Grandmother's service was this past Tuesday, about 80 or so family members/extended friends were able to attend and celebrate her life. Many good anecdotes were shared during the open mic portion (myself included) and it was good to see picture boards and slideshows put together. She is now finally resting right along side my grandfather where we all made that same trek 15 years ago, kind of poetic in a way.
Also a side note: I'm aware that the DBD test kitchen is big here, I make a mean burger and set of brownies. I am selling cutlery so if any of you all need of that I am your guy.