Michael Hopcroft

A student and fraternity member at UNLV lost his life last week after participating in a ":charity" boxing tournament organized by the frat to support a local Youth Boxing club.
 
As more details come out, it becomes clear that the organizers tried to take some precautions, but the unfortunate young man was in the ring with apparently insufficient training, with no ringside physician present.  He was wearing the standard protective gear of the amateur boxer, but it did not protect the face where he was struck repeatedly by an opponent of clearly superior skill (who will bear the memory of this event the rest of this life) . The referee was also apparently not adequately experienced.
 
No criminal wrongdoing is suspected -- the organizers checked all the boxes as best they knew, and it wasn't a hazing situation of the sort that has been threatening fraternity culture on a large scale in the US. But moral wrongdoing? That's another matter. Critics are claiming that college students should not be made or asked to go into combat against other students for the amusement of an audience, charity or no. This would normally raise the additional question of asking anyone at all to do it, but this is Nevada. This calls the value of youth boxing into question. UNLV is investigating, as is the Nevada State Athletic Commission (perhaps the most powerful regulators of boxing and mixed martial arts in the country.
 
Still, in this case I am thinking it was the attempt of the frat t do something good for the community -- and utterly failing.

"All the Young Dudes", by Cher

A hand-pie shell filled with a chocolate custard, peanut butter chips, and white chocolate shavings. I call it "devoured".
 
NT: Subtle signs the people you hired to bake your birthday cake do not have your best interests at heart.

Dolly is first-class in just about everything she has done in her career. She even satirized her image with considerable aplomb in the comedy 9 to 5, playing a member of the Dabney Coleman character's secretarial pool who everyone assumed was sleeping with the boss -- until she got wind of it and furiously threatened the manhood of the pool's tormentor. She did something similar in her role as a "respectable madam" in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. But obviously her main career was as a singer and songwriter.

Dolly is first-class in just about everything she has done in her career. She even satirized her image with considerable aplomb in the comedy 9 to 5, playing a member of the Dabney Coleman character's secretarial pool who everyone assumed was sleeping with the boss -- until she got wind of it and furiously threatened the manhood of the pool's tormentor. She did something similar in her role as a "respectable madam" in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. But obviously her main career was as a singer and songwriter.

Teach it Tic Tac Toie and see what happens.
 
NT: The Fictional Central Asian Republic of Gatchastan wants their own nuclear arsenal before those damn Laurelstanis get one. How do they go about this task?

It's always time for marble races.

In news relevant to RPG players, Paizo (the company behind Pasthfinder) has become the first RPG publisher to unionize. The weird thing is that the certification was voluntary.
 
Union recognition is almost never voluntary.

In news relevant to RPG players, Paizo (the company behind Pasthfinder) has become the first RPG publisher to unionize. The weird thing is that the certification was voluntary.
 
Union recognition is almost never voluntary.

Communism is just a red herring.
 
And as far as DI athletics goes ... I'm okay with it, as long as we're willing to call it what it is: a de facto minor league for the NFL, NBA, and WNBA. With recent NIL rules/legislation, the laughable illusion of the amateur student-athlete is rapidly diminishing. It would be nice if the colleges actually required them to go to meaningful classes, though (looking at you, North Carolina). 

Pioneering Disney animator Ruthie Thompson has died at the age of 111.
 

The Kraken, knowing they need to sell the Seattle market on the new sport in town, have prepared this handy-dandy resource guide to learn the sport, including videos.;
 
This should help too.

The Kraken, knowing they need to sell the Seattle market on the new sport in town, have prepared this handy-dandy resource guide to learn the sport, including videos.;
 
This should help too.

Hockey has started for real in the NHL, and the Kraken played their first game yesterday against the team that set the high bar for expansion teams -- The Vegas Golden Knights, who made the Finals in their first year.
 
The ESPN commentators describing the game thought the Knights were favorites to win everything. As for the Kraken, they said the new team in Seattle would he fighting for a playoff berth in the West, and might even win a series.
 
The game did no go against that assessment. Vegas won on a very questionable goal (The Kraken's coach thought he had kicked the puck into the net, which is illegal in ice hockey, but Toronto could find no hard evidence to overturn the call on the ice. Since that was the game winner, Seattle fans have every reason to be angry), but the Kraken showed skill and heart, coming back from 3-0 midway through the second to tying the game in the third and looking like they could score the lead goal. I imagine some of the the names on that roster will become familiar to me.

Hockey has started for real in the NHL, and the Kraken played their first game yesterday against the team that set the high bar for expansion teams -- The Vegas Golden Knights, who made the Finals in their first year.
 
The ESPN commentators describing the game thought the Knights were favorites to win everything. As for the Kraken, they said the new team in Seattle would he fighting for a playoff berth in the West, and might even win a series.
 
The game did no go against that assessment. Vegas won on a very questionable goal (The Kraken's coach thought he had kicked the puck into the net, which is illegal in ice hockey, but Toronto could find no hard evidence to overturn the call on the ice. Since that was the game winner, Seattle fans have every reason to be angry), but the Kraken showed skill and heart, coming back from 3-0 midway through the second to tying the game in the third and looking like they could score the lead goal. I imagine some of the the names on that roster will become familiar to me.

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing."
"You ate it, Ralph!"
 
"Plop plop! Fizz, ffizz! Oh, what a relief it is!"
 
"You asked for it!"
 
 

"My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance."
"I don't understand."
"Nor should you."

"My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance."
"I don't understand."
"Nor should you."

He had reason to be upset. On my one trip to NYC, it became apparent that nobody can cross the road in Manhattan.

He had reason to be upset. On my one trip to NYC, it became apparent that nobody can cross the road in Manhattan.

He had reason to be upset. On my one trip to NYC, it became apparent that nobody can cross the road in Manhattan.

I am celibate and not quite by choice, but I don't go around blaming women as a whole for my lack of romance. That's on me.Given my situatiopn it would besurprising that I would have received the soprt of attentions taht these guys believe is their birthright. Which makes cases like this all the more disturbing to me.
 
Women exist for themselves, not for so-called "men" who assume every woman who dresses "attractively" is on display for them. A real man understands that.

I am celibate and not quite by choice, but I don't go around blaming women as a whole for my lack of romance. That's on me.Given my situatiopn it would besurprising that I would have received the soprt of attentions taht these guys believe is their birthright. Which makes cases like this all the more disturbing to me.
 
Women exist for themselves, not for so-called "men" who assume every woman who dresses "attractively" is on display for them. A real man understands that.

I am celibate and not quite by choice, but I don't go around blaming women as a whole for my lack of romance. That's on me.Given my situatiopn it would besurprising that I would have received the soprt of attentions taht these guys believe is their birthright. Which makes cases like this all the more disturbing to me.
 
Women exist for themselves, not for so-called "men" who assume every woman who dresses "attractively" is on display for them. A real man understands that.