Closing time Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end I know who[m] I want to take me home I know who[m] I want to take me home I know who[m] I want to take me home
And there it is again. The first crack of thunder for this afternoon. It's gotten very dark and another afternoon with a thunderstorm. Looks like the worst in going to be just north of me. Yesterday's was about as intense as I've been through and rattled the windows. I heard on the radio this morning that it has rained 14 of the last 17 days. Fall can't come soon enough.
A lawyer for the famed all-girls Afghan robotics team has sent a cease-and-desist letter to an Oklahoma woman, telling her to stop taking credit for the girls’ escape from Kabul and warning that her numerous media appearances endanger their organization’s remaining members in Afghanistan.
The woman, Allyson Reneau, spoke last week to Today.com and then to several other media outlets, telling a story of her supposed involvement in the evacuation of several members of the robotics team, known internationally as the “Afghan Dreamers.” These outlets reported that she had “saved” the girls from probable oppression under the Taliban.
But a lawyer for the team’s parent organization, the Digital Citizen Fund, said that Reneau has overstated her role and has, in fact, put the girls and their families at risk because her repeated claims are undermining ongoing rescue efforts in the country.
The 8 month old pup was in the Simi Valley Kennel Club Dog Show yesterday @ Earl Warren, and won 2nd place to a serious hard-hitting veteran show dog, beating 2 other pups. Last week was his first show experience ever, and being an owner that knows nothing about dog shows save for what I learned from Eugene Levy in Best in Show, he has a ton of potential, apparently.
Dunno what the future holds for him in this arena (no pun intended), as it reminds me of my horse racing ownership/working days where there was always a lot of money going out the door with not much coming in. Still, it's exciting to have a potential Wander Franco-type phenom on my hands, and one that is currently pumped for his first Cal related road trip....
You guys are invited to come over to the Ft Worth AirBnB Sunday for NFL Opening Day. You can meet the little bastard then! I was gonna fire up the grill in the backyard and watch football while Newellbany spends the day with his in-laws...#wearewinning
That sounds good. Oh wow I didn't realize it was opening day.
Depending on the transportation situation (supposedly free bus to the stadium 1 block from my AirBnb), I may park my car at your place and walk over if that's cool.
It was so inescapable at one point in the 90s that even I heard it. The first project I worked on at [large consulting firm] in 1998, we were working in tandem with a boutique firm from the midwest in what it would look like to shut down a grants program, and I put together this really good deck with their grants lifecycles and projected staffing ramp down and they generated a report that was introduced with the lyrics to this song. I just about cried.
The year I started a software company with my other co-founders this song was ubiquitous (1998) to the point that it was burned into my brain. At the time I was up day and night working on the biz plan and investor pitch decks because we were going after VC funding. Got funded in December (finally). I think the band basically was a one-hit wonder.
She's badass. I love when bands bring kids out to play. I've watched quite a few Green Day concert videos where they've brought out kids to play guitar
Show I read about by the WaPo TV person – forgot her name, but she's meh on Never Have I Ever, which gave me pause – is The Other Two (HBOMax). S1 was on Comedy Central a couple of years ago. Quite funny. Another Lorne Michaels show with ex-SNL folks. But I'm looking forward to watching more.
As opposed to The Chair, which is supposed to be great, but I've watch the first three and not sure I want to continue. Bill was so lame at end of Ep. 3. How does anyone in this day and age think saying that is going to be sufficient (sorry, trying to avoid spoilers).
Replay Gain utility, which adjusts the volume of all of your music (up to 24-bit / 192kHz) to the same level, so one song isn’t quieter than the other.
I started watching "The Ottomans" on Netflix. Series is a couple of years old but a good docudrama about the fall of Constantinople to Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453.
I think Lasso is now heads and shoulders above B99. B99 makes too many apologies for the setting thus year and has kind of lost itself. They could really use Gina to scathe them a bit
The chronology of the episodes is kind of confusing- it feels like they're alternating between police union reform and Holt/Kevin reconciliation plots without leaving either in a good place. The very first episode of the season ends with Jake and Rosa clearly being uncertain where they stand but then it's off to the lake house for a (admittedly hilarious) completely unrelated episode.
I thought that the latest Ted Lasso was the tightest, best delivered one of the season. Much more like the better episodes from season 1, rather than the meandering unevenness of early season 2.
As I understand it, they got saddled with requests for additional "special" episodes this season (including a Christmas episode), so that might account for why the serial narrative isn't as tight. I expect it to pick up from here.
One thing I read about the S2 "narrative" is that most folks binged S1, so there was more flow. this season, people are watching one ep/week, so a diff experience.
Yeah, Lasso was great last night. Curious to see where Nick's ego is headed. Nice to see the (expected?) vulnerability of Ted. And Rebecca's Bantr guy? That's gonna get weird!
I know what you mean about narrative tightness in S2, but I really enjoy the Roy Kent character so have been cool with the diversions. OTOH going forward, if they do what they are teasing re Lasso’s love life, it will be really hard to pull off well
Does anyone have a friend, relative, neighbor with a C-57 license, a drill rig, and some free time? I'm having a devil of a time finding people to take our money here to install some wells.
Giants vs Dodgers September 3-5 at Oracle Park is shaping up to be an epic series.
Both teams are playing well, both have very good August records (5 and 4 losses, respectively), the teams are #1 and #2 in current MLB standings overall, and the gap between them is only 2.5 games. Also, both teams project to 100+ win seasons.
Whichever team wins the series will have momentum towards the NL West title and the overall best regular seasin in 2021.
What could be a better set up to a regular season series?
this is going to be a great series. Right now it looks like Price, Urías, Buehler. I really wanted to see Scherzer on Sunday so I could do the Cal game Sat and the Dodgers/Giants on Sun. I guess I'll just get Sunday tickets.
Remember yesterday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets? Remember how the Giants jumped out to a lead thanks to a Kris Bryant home run, then gave up that lead, then promptly got it back after the Mets took out their dominant starting pitcher, then clung to a lead despite allowing the bases to lead, to escape with a 3-2 win?
Yeah, that game. That game that was also this game, albeit with less Metsing than on Wednesday.
Just like on Wednesday, the Giants jumped out to a lead thanks to a Bryant home run. This one, like all the other ones Bryant has hit since donning a Giants jersey, was gorgeous.
Giants got robbed of a bigger inning after loading the bases. Next batter took a pitch 6 inches off the plate that should have been Ball 4 but was inexplicably called a strike. Then he grounded into a forceout at home. Then the ump started calling outside pitches strikes against everyone else after that and the Giants got no more runs.
After pushing the bullpen to its limit in a 16-inning triumph that ended in the wee hours Thursday morning, Max Scherzer provided relief for the Dodgers on Thursday night in a 4-0 win to finish of a three-game sweep on the Padres at Petco Park.
Scherzer struck out 10 in 7⅔ scoreless innings, his fifth double-digit strikeout game of the season and second with the Dodgers. He pitched into the eighth inning for the fourth time this year, easing the burden on a bullpen that used nine pitchers on Wednesday and had at least four relievers unavailable to pitch in the series finale.
Scherzer said he didn’t see the end of Wednesday night’s 16-inning win, as he was back at the hotel trying to sleep in advance of his start. He woke up to news of the win.
Major League Baseball and the players' association on Friday again extended the administrative leave for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer by a week through Sept. 3.
This marks the seventh extension while investigators check into allegations of sexual misconduct against Bauer.
MLB can unilaterally place a player on administrative leave for up to seven days under a joint domestic violence policy, but it must obtain consent from the MLB Players Association thereafter. Bauer hasn't been with the Dodgers since initially being placed on leave July 2.
NEWS: The Pasadena police department’s investigation into Trevor Bauer has been presented to the district attorney’s office. The DA will now decide whether the case will be filed or rejected.
I wonder if Snell has turned the corner? He looked really good two nights ago and apparently he's been pretty good the last few outings.
Darvish looked good early in the season but isn't great right now. I saw somewhere that he loves to spin the ball so he doesn't throw his fastball as much as he probably should.
Next year Clevinger will be trying to come back from TJ so I think he'll be limited in his innings. Unless the Padres try to go all in and have him throw 100+ innings.
Don't remember what Lamet's injury is. I wonder if he'll need TJ surgery, which they probably should've done at the end of last season as well.
I wonder how the starters will do next year with those 4.
Like many of the SPs that rely on spin, Yu is probably struggling with the Spider-tac ban. Plus, his back is an issue, which throws his mechanics off.
Lamet has an elbow/forearm, and I believe had TJ 2-years ago...who knows if he will ever be right.
Clevinger is a stud but will be on a strict pitch count.
Paddack doesn't miss enough bats.
Snell is what he is...check his career stats and you see that the Cy Young year is clearly a MAJOR outlier...there's ability and pure stuff, but he's always been a 5-inning guy that taxes and puts pressure on the bullpen. Occasionally, he'll throw up an effort like Wed, and in '18 he inexplicably put it all together, but he can't be consistently relied upon.
Snell: yeah that was one thing I noticed as well. Other than his Cy Young year, he's been a good but not great pitcher. I don't know if it's mental because obviously he has the stuff.
I think the Padres bought high on Snell and Darvish. We'll have to wait and see on Lamet.
1) Get a legit leadoff hitter, or at least hope Adam Frazier returns to his .300 BA/.350 OBP days of APR-JUL 2) Make Manny Machado give a schitt about baseball. 3) Fix Tatis' shoulder.
I watched through the fifth. Max is so fun to watch. I like how he doesn't reach in to get the ball from his glove but flips it from his glove to his pitching hand. Also like that little twirl he does sometimes like after the DP to end the fifth.
I did notice the ball flip in his first start. It's pretty cool. Like he knows he's in control and, oh hey, let's just playfully toss the ball and throw it by you.
Also Joe and Orel mentioned the strikeout prowl to the left when he sees the ball go by for strike 3 and the walk behind the mound when he's pissed at himself for making a bad pitch, like a walk.
I hope the Dodgers sign him for maybe 3 more years. 3/90 or 3/100? who says no? His current contract is 7/210.
Thursday night was the same game we’ve been watching for the last two months. The Oakland A’s were right there but fell just barely short of a victory.
This time it was a 7-6 loss to the New York Yankees, opening a pivotal four-game series at the Coliseum. The Yankees scored the first six runs, then Oakland battled back to tie it, but New York found the plate once more in the 9th inning.
Since mid-June the A’s are 6-16 in one-run games. That stretch began at Yankees Stadium two months ago, with the infamous triple-play game, and since then Oakland has gone 26-30. Most recently they’ve lost five games in a row, and four of those defeats included either a blown save and/or a one-run margin.
Unfortunately, Canha's just lost at the plate and is killing them at the top of the order. Tough when your OBP-machine leadoff man is hitting .141 for the month and getting on-base just 27% of the time, mostly due to HBP. With no power.
Need that catalyst at the top of the order to heat up, or at least get back to his customary, high-.300 OBP%....that hip probably still isn't right.
Should elevate Marte to leadoff, Harrison 2nd. OK with Lawrie at clean-up, though he has cooled off a bit. Still hitting over .350 with runners in scoring position.
Exactly. I love Canha, but would maybe bust him down to the bottom end...hit him 9th, and see if they can jump-start that OBP again. Get him right, then you'd get a nice jump on the line-up turn....
That's interesting, but the travel distance for Hawai'i coming to the mainland and the other conference members going to Hawai'i makes that a challenge.
Maybe it might work if they also invited San Jose State, Fresno State, and San Diego State. That mitigates the travel for the remaining Big XII members.
Sudden thought - West Virginia at Hawai'i or the reverse would be a tale of epic travel just to play a regularly scheduled college football game. It not as long a flight as Cal vs. Hawai'i in Sydney, Australia. But it is very long.
Big XII is in the unenviable position of trying to increase membership from 8 to 10 or 12. Furthermore, there's dilution of media content rights by adding schools that don't bring the eyeballs of Texas and Oklahoma.
There's a lot to sort out, but it will probably come down to eyeballs and expansion of the conference footprint. Wouldn't want to speculate. It strikes me as an exercise in teasing out small differences.
TCU Ticket update: I've never used Venmo but the wife has an account so send $ to @Michelle-Stephens-88. Tickets are $26.58 per and we still have 1 spare. Include your email info so I can send you the tickets (I assume Venmo has a message capability)
Ok, TCU kind of sucks. When I bought the tix, they said I could split out individual tickets and send them however now they are saying that I can just send the entire link and let people know which seats are theirs. Not dicey at all. Anyway, please start sending me e-mail addresses so I can compile a lit. I think I have Cugel's, Golden Oso's and HAG's
And there it is again. The first crack of thunder for this afternoon. It's gotten very dark and another afternoon with a thunderstorm. Looks like the worst in going to be just north of me. Yesterday's was about as intense as I've been through and rattled the windows. I heard on the radio this morning that it has rained 14 of the last 17 days. Fall can't come soon enough.
*happy to email a PDF of this article to people who don't have access*
Lawyer for Afghan girls’ robotics team tells Oklahoma woman to stop taking credit for rescue
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/afghan-girls-robotics-rescue-allyson-reneau/2021/08/26/7de4ba0c-05a7-11ec-a654-900a78538242_story.html
A lawyer for the famed all-girls Afghan robotics team has sent a cease-and-desist letter to an Oklahoma woman, telling her to stop taking credit for the girls’ escape from Kabul and warning that her numerous media appearances endanger their organization’s remaining members in Afghanistan.
The woman, Allyson Reneau, spoke last week to Today.com and then to several other media outlets, telling a story of her supposed involvement in the evacuation of several members of the robotics team, known internationally as the “Afghan Dreamers.” These outlets reported that she had “saved” the girls from probable oppression under the Taliban.
But a lawyer for the team’s parent organization, the Digital Citizen Fund, said that Reneau has overstated her role and has, in fact, put the girls and their families at risk because her repeated claims are undermining ongoing rescue efforts in the country.
I saw that article...crazy!
Paralympics
On one hand it's fortunate to have coverage at all. But, not surprisingly, it's even worse than the Olympic coverage.
I happened by coverage the other day and saw these guys in wheelchairs smacking into each other like a demolition derby. Wheelchair rugby.
If you thought it was exciting, watch Murderball, a documentary about wheelchair rugby. It's pretty cool
New Beginnings
The 8 month old pup was in the Simi Valley Kennel Club Dog Show yesterday @ Earl Warren, and won 2nd place to a serious hard-hitting veteran show dog, beating 2 other pups. Last week was his first show experience ever, and being an owner that knows nothing about dog shows save for what I learned from Eugene Levy in Best in Show, he has a ton of potential, apparently.
Dunno what the future holds for him in this arena (no pun intended), as it reminds me of my horse racing ownership/working days where there was always a lot of money going out the door with not much coming in. Still, it's exciting to have a potential Wander Franco-type phenom on my hands, and one that is currently pumped for his first Cal related road trip....
I hope he steps up and is able to support you in your dotage.
He still did well today, but no 2nd prize ribbon, as he was swimming in the deep end of the pool...little guy was up against it today.
Eugene Levy in Best in Show, that's a classic!
Nice that's awesome! Congrats
You guys are invited to come over to the Ft Worth AirBnB Sunday for NFL Opening Day. You can meet the little bastard then! I was gonna fire up the grill in the backyard and watch football while Newellbany spends the day with his in-laws...#wearewinning
That sounds good. Oh wow I didn't realize it was opening day.
Depending on the transportation situation (supposedly free bus to the stadium 1 block from my AirBnb), I may park my car at your place and walk over if that's cool.
Closing Time
This Song Exploder episode increased my appreciation for the song substantially: https://songexploder.net/semisonic
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
No I ain't seen my baby since the night before last
Gotta get a drink man I'm gonna get gassed
Gonna get high man I ain't had enough
Need me a triple shot of that stuff
Gonna get drunk won't you listen right here
I want one bourbon, one shot and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
Yeah
Scratch my back, baby
Ah
Now by this time I'm plenty high
You know when your mouth a-getting dry
You're plenty high
Looked down the bar I say to my bartender
I said look man, come down here, he got down there
So what you want this time?
I said look man, a-what time is it?
He said the clock on the wall say three o'clock
Last call for alcohol
So what you need?
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
No I ain't seen my baby since a nigh' and a week
Gotta get drunk man 'til I can't even speak
Gonna get high man listen to me
One drink ain't enough Jack you better make it three
I want to get drunk I'm gonna make it real clear
I want one bourbon, one scotch and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
I said "but I'm tired!" ...I've been walkin' all day...
One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer....
I do not care for that song.
I got sick of it for a while. Now I think it's fine.
I am unaware of that song.
It was so inescapable at one point in the 90s that even I heard it. The first project I worked on at [large consulting firm] in 1998, we were working in tandem with a boutique firm from the midwest in what it would look like to shut down a grants program, and I put together this really good deck with their grants lifecycles and projected staffing ramp down and they generated a report that was introduced with the lyrics to this song. I just about cried.
Many Filipino cover bands uses this as their last song.
Ubiquitous at one time and also commonly misattributed to Third Eye Blind
The year I started a software company with my other co-founders this song was ubiquitous (1998) to the point that it was burned into my brain. At the time I was up day and night working on the biz plan and investor pitch decks because we were going after VC funding. Got funded in December (finally). I think the band basically was a one-hit wonder.
The VC firm was DFJ.
One of those "you can't unsee it" things: all the talk about how this song is about being born
pqtm I knew Leland wrote this DBD when I saw the "who[m]" in the lyrics
DBD Test Kitchen
DBD AV Club
This is charming in its own way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsDgrKdczAE
She's badass. I love when bands bring kids out to play. I've watched quite a few Green Day concert videos where they've brought out kids to play guitar
Show I read about by the WaPo TV person – forgot her name, but she's meh on Never Have I Ever, which gave me pause – is The Other Two (HBOMax). S1 was on Comedy Central a couple of years ago. Quite funny. Another Lorne Michaels show with ex-SNL folks. But I'm looking forward to watching more.
As opposed to The Chair, which is supposed to be great, but I've watch the first three and not sure I want to continue. Bill was so lame at end of Ep. 3. How does anyone in this day and age think saying that is going to be sufficient (sorry, trying to avoid spoilers).
this is a really good EP: https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/binki-motor-function-ep-review-radar-3017670
I for one am up for a $2400 music player with a vacuum tube built in: https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/27/22644585/astell-kern-a-ultima-sp2000t-pmp-price-features-triple-amp
I'll pair that with my Sennheiser Orpheus to have the highest cost:tube count:sound quality ratio physically possible.
sounds fancy. in order to really appreciate it, one will have use higher than mp3 quality music files.
Now, THAT's important:
Replay Gain utility, which adjusts the volume of all of your music (up to 24-bit / 192kHz) to the same level, so one song isn’t quieter than the other.
I started watching "The Ottomans" on Netflix. Series is a couple of years old but a good docudrama about the fall of Constantinople to Mehmet the Conqueror in 1453.
Yeah, it was pretty good, not great, but catnip for history nerds like me.
Ted Lasso - still good. still emotional
B99 is improving after a rough start.
I think Lasso is now heads and shoulders above B99. B99 makes too many apologies for the setting thus year and has kind of lost itself. They could really use Gina to scathe them a bit
The chronology of the episodes is kind of confusing- it feels like they're alternating between police union reform and Holt/Kevin reconciliation plots without leaving either in a good place. The very first episode of the season ends with Jake and Rosa clearly being uncertain where they stand but then it's off to the lake house for a (admittedly hilarious) completely unrelated episode.
I thought that the latest Ted Lasso was the tightest, best delivered one of the season. Much more like the better episodes from season 1, rather than the meandering unevenness of early season 2.
As I understand it, they got saddled with requests for additional "special" episodes this season (including a Christmas episode), so that might account for why the serial narrative isn't as tight. I expect it to pick up from here.
The first three were planned to be released as a pack and the Christmas episode was filmed after everything else.
One thing I read about the S2 "narrative" is that most folks binged S1, so there was more flow. this season, people are watching one ep/week, so a diff experience.
Yeah, Lasso was great last night. Curious to see where Nick's ego is headed. Nice to see the (expected?) vulnerability of Ted. And Rebecca's Bantr guy? That's gonna get weird!
I know what you mean about narrative tightness in S2, but I really enjoy the Roy Kent character so have been cool with the diversions. OTOH going forward, if they do what they are teasing re Lasso’s love life, it will be really hard to pull off well
Trying to avoid spoilers, but I think that we learned yesterday that Ted's love life is NOT going where some folks thought it was going last week.
Our Crumbling Existance
https://twitter.com/cfishman/status/1430858213235306504?s=20
Yesterday, a federal judge in Michigan did something extraordinary & important.
Yes, she penalized Trump's election attorneys for their conduct filing a lawsuit to have Michigan's 2020 election results thrown out.
But she did something bigger:
Took the suit seriously.
—>
That tweet thread is phenomenal. Wow. The judge should've done a gavel drop afterwards.
Pentagon: Another terror attack likely in Afghanistan
Does anyone have a friend, relative, neighbor with a C-57 license, a drill rig, and some free time? I'm having a devil of a time finding people to take our money here to install some wells.
Today in Covid 19
Massive numbers of cases, 1,000 per day death threshold arrives once again...
Pro
Giants vs Dodgers September 3-5 at Oracle Park is shaping up to be an epic series.
Both teams are playing well, both have very good August records (5 and 4 losses, respectively), the teams are #1 and #2 in current MLB standings overall, and the gap between them is only 2.5 games. Also, both teams project to 100+ win seasons.
Whichever team wins the series will have momentum towards the NL West title and the overall best regular seasin in 2021.
What could be a better set up to a regular season series?
this is going to be a great series. Right now it looks like Price, Urías, Buehler. I really wanted to see Scherzer on Sunday so I could do the Cal game Sat and the Dodgers/Giants on Sun. I guess I'll just get Sunday tickets.
Giants once again take immediate advantage of the Mets taking out their starting pitcher
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2021/8/26/22643744/san-francisca-giants-mets-recap-kris-bryant-alex-wood
Remember yesterday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets? Remember how the Giants jumped out to a lead thanks to a Kris Bryant home run, then gave up that lead, then promptly got it back after the Mets took out their dominant starting pitcher, then clung to a lead despite allowing the bases to lead, to escape with a 3-2 win?
Yeah, that game. That game that was also this game, albeit with less Metsing than on Wednesday.
Just like on Wednesday, the Giants jumped out to a lead thanks to a Bryant home run. This one, like all the other ones Bryant has hit since donning a Giants jersey, was gorgeous.
Giants got robbed of a bigger inning after loading the bases. Next batter took a pitch 6 inches off the plate that should have been Ball 4 but was inexplicably called a strike. Then he grounded into a forceout at home. Then the ump started calling outside pitches strikes against everyone else after that and the Giants got no more runs.
All's well that ends well, I guess.
Max Scherzer provides relief as Dodgers sweep Padres
https://www.truebluela.com/2021/8/26/22643850/max-scherzer-strikeouts-dodgers-sweep-padres
After pushing the bullpen to its limit in a 16-inning triumph that ended in the wee hours Thursday morning, Max Scherzer provided relief for the Dodgers on Thursday night in a 4-0 win to finish of a three-game sweep on the Padres at Petco Park.
Scherzer struck out 10 in 7⅔ scoreless innings, his fifth double-digit strikeout game of the season and second with the Dodgers. He pitched into the eighth inning for the fourth time this year, easing the burden on a bullpen that used nine pitchers on Wednesday and had at least four relievers unavailable to pitch in the series finale.
Scherzer said he didn’t see the end of Wednesday night’s 16-inning win, as he was back at the hotel trying to sleep in advance of his start. He woke up to news of the win.
GBBR
GBBR
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer has administrative leave extended through Sept. 3
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32096030/los-angeles-dodgers-pitcher-trevor-bauer-administrative-leave-extended-sept-3
Major League Baseball and the players' association on Friday again extended the administrative leave for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer by a week through Sept. 3.
This marks the seventh extension while investigators check into allegations of sexual misconduct against Bauer.
MLB can unilaterally place a player on administrative leave for up to seven days under a joint domestic violence policy, but it must obtain consent from the MLB Players Association thereafter. Bauer hasn't been with the Dodgers since initially being placed on leave July 2.
https://twitter.com/Britt_Ghiroli/status/1431332474295046145
Britt Ghiroli
@Britt_Ghiroli
NEWS: The Pasadena police department’s investigation into Trevor Bauer has been presented to the district attorney’s office. The DA will now decide whether the case will be filed or rejected.
12:07 PM · Aug 27, 2021
Man, the Padres look like the walking dead at this point.
Their pitching is just not at the level it needs to be for them to win...for having such good stuff, Darvish has been incredibly pedestrian.
I wonder if Snell has turned the corner? He looked really good two nights ago and apparently he's been pretty good the last few outings.
Darvish looked good early in the season but isn't great right now. I saw somewhere that he loves to spin the ball so he doesn't throw his fastball as much as he probably should.
Next year Clevinger will be trying to come back from TJ so I think he'll be limited in his innings. Unless the Padres try to go all in and have him throw 100+ innings.
Don't remember what Lamet's injury is. I wonder if he'll need TJ surgery, which they probably should've done at the end of last season as well.
I wonder how the starters will do next year with those 4.
Like many of the SPs that rely on spin, Yu is probably struggling with the Spider-tac ban. Plus, his back is an issue, which throws his mechanics off.
Lamet has an elbow/forearm, and I believe had TJ 2-years ago...who knows if he will ever be right.
Clevinger is a stud but will be on a strict pitch count.
Paddack doesn't miss enough bats.
Snell is what he is...check his career stats and you see that the Cy Young year is clearly a MAJOR outlier...there's ability and pure stuff, but he's always been a 5-inning guy that taxes and puts pressure on the bullpen. Occasionally, he'll throw up an effort like Wed, and in '18 he inexplicably put it all together, but he can't be consistently relied upon.
Snell: yeah that was one thing I noticed as well. Other than his Cy Young year, he's been a good but not great pitcher. I don't know if it's mental because obviously he has the stuff.
I think the Padres bought high on Snell and Darvish. We'll have to wait and see on Lamet.
That's true, but they can't score either and I don't know what the excuse is for that.
1) Get a legit leadoff hitter, or at least hope Adam Frazier returns to his .300 BA/.350 OBP days of APR-JUL 2) Make Manny Machado give a schitt about baseball. 3) Fix Tatis' shoulder.
So do the A's.
<blue_broom.gif>
I watched through the fifth. Max is so fun to watch. I like how he doesn't reach in to get the ball from his glove but flips it from his glove to his pitching hand. Also like that little twirl he does sometimes like after the DP to end the fifth.
I did notice the ball flip in his first start. It's pretty cool. Like he knows he's in control and, oh hey, let's just playfully toss the ball and throw it by you.
Also Joe and Orel mentioned the strikeout prowl to the left when he sees the ball go by for strike 3 and the walk behind the mound when he's pissed at himself for making a bad pitch, like a walk.
I hope the Dodgers sign him for maybe 3 more years. 3/90 or 3/100? who says no? His current contract is 7/210.
A's fall into an 0-6 hole, rally to tie that game at 6, and give up the game-deciding run in the 9th
https://www.athleticsnation.com/2021/8/26/22644119/oakland-as-game-128-new-york-yankees-score-result
Thursday night was the same game we’ve been watching for the last two months. The Oakland A’s were right there but fell just barely short of a victory.
This time it was a 7-6 loss to the New York Yankees, opening a pivotal four-game series at the Coliseum. The Yankees scored the first six runs, then Oakland battled back to tie it, but New York found the plate once more in the 9th inning.
Since mid-June the A’s are 6-16 in one-run games. That stretch began at Yankees Stadium two months ago, with the infamous triple-play game, and since then Oakland has gone 26-30. Most recently they’ve lost five games in a row, and four of those defeats included either a blown save and/or a one-run margin.
Tonight is their Star Wars Light Show game!
I watched the ninth inning. Somewhat painful.
Unfortunately, Canha's just lost at the plate and is killing them at the top of the order. Tough when your OBP-machine leadoff man is hitting .141 for the month and getting on-base just 27% of the time, mostly due to HBP. With no power.
Need that catalyst at the top of the order to heat up, or at least get back to his customary, high-.300 OBP%....that hip probably still isn't right.
Should elevate Marte to leadoff, Harrison 2nd. OK with Lawrie at clean-up, though he has cooled off a bit. Still hitting over .350 with runners in scoring position.
Canha dropped to 7th tonight...watch him get going...
Exactly. I love Canha, but would maybe bust him down to the bottom end...hit him 9th, and see if they can jump-start that OBP again. Get him right, then you'd get a nice jump on the line-up turn....
WaPo profile story about Darren Baker. Complete with a picture of him in Cal uniform.
Link might help.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/08/26/darren-dusty-baker-nationals/
Other College
The Pac-12 does not expand
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/pac-12-football-expansion
I assume Big 12 picks off AAC members? Maybe MWC too?
Hawaii?
That's interesting, but the travel distance for Hawai'i coming to the mainland and the other conference members going to Hawai'i makes that a challenge.
Maybe it might work if they also invited San Jose State, Fresno State, and San Diego State. That mitigates the travel for the remaining Big XII members.
Sudden thought - West Virginia at Hawai'i or the reverse would be a tale of epic travel just to play a regularly scheduled college football game. It not as long a flight as Cal vs. Hawai'i in Sydney, Australia. But it is very long.
Yeah, travel is costly and not easy.
I actually think Pac12 should get Hawaii. Then we can travel to Hawaii. And it makes the most sense geographically. Add Hawaii and Boise State maybe.
Big XII is in the unenviable position of trying to increase membership from 8 to 10 or 12. Furthermore, there's dilution of media content rights by adding schools that don't bring the eyeballs of Texas and Oklahoma.
There's a lot to sort out, but it will probably come down to eyeballs and expansion of the conference footprint. Wouldn't want to speculate. It strikes me as an exercise in teasing out small differences.
I could see Boise State going but I don't think any other MWC team is good enough. Maybe Nevada or UNLV?
Boise State, UCF, Cincinnati and BYU make the most sense.
Cal
TCU Ticket update: I've never used Venmo but the wife has an account so send $ to @Michelle-Stephens-88. Tickets are $26.58 per and we still have 1 spare. Include your email info so I can send you the tickets (I assume Venmo has a message capability)
her last 4 digits of her phone number is 8040 if needed
Ok, TCU kind of sucks. When I bought the tix, they said I could split out individual tickets and send them however now they are saying that I can just send the entire link and let people know which seats are theirs. Not dicey at all. Anyway, please start sending me e-mail addresses so I can compile a lit. I think I have Cugel's, Golden Oso's and HAG's
my email is zstep123 at hotmail dot com
Go Bears!!!