Iuz the Evil

Would’ve been cool to show him in the audience of the musical

That was amazing. Spectacular even. 😀 Didn’t love the ending, but overall it was one of my favorite MCU movies. Probably top 3-5. Up there with Endgame, Winter Soldier and Guardians. So well executed.

Yeah that’s pretty much exactly what I think. The historic “blue bloods” who have big money donors and television contracts are going to get a new tool to leverage their position. I am not personally a fan of this, as I miss the faux commitment to traditional matchups, but it seems inevitable at this point. There’s maybe 10-12 schools that can just go crazy with this, I think. They’ll be largely the same ones that occur to everyone. There may be some consolation of changes: Nebraska for example likely won’t get a big bump from this. But overall it’ll just solidify the long standing trends. No idea what it’ll do to the other tiers but that’ll be interesting. I agree with that too, need to wait and see. https://www.on3.com/news/smu-alumni-contribute-over-1-million-annually-nil-pony-up-program-paul-loyd-texas/?fbclid=IwAR34AzcGrXa_rnsue-Nwifot0L02RWt-oWpSryLgo97fqflOuwj8VwvZbuo Check out SMU though. It’s going to get pretty strange I think.

Yeah, I don’t think that’ll be a trend. Texas just put that nonprofit in place to pay their O Line $50k (plus I read somewhere another $100k matching from non University affiliated sources) per year. That’s going to test NIL in a big big way. If it stands, maybe a big if, is going to just make it very unlikely to see that kind of thing in my opinion. I cannot fathom attending college with $50-$150k per year with my living expenses covered and no tuition. That’s a crazy draw.

Sure, but it’ll be a sea of Crimson & Cream at the Alamo Bowl. 7 hour drive or a hop/skip/jump by plane from Norman, there’s just a couple folks in that town who remember Oregon from 2006 also. PAC refs or BIG XII refs, bleh. Pick your poison. And Oklahoma has never played in the Alamo Bowl. I work that day, so not sure if I can watch the game but I’ll want to. It’s a fun matchup. I like that one, even not knowing how it will go at all. https://www.crimsonandcreammachine.com/2021/12/5/22818672/oklahoma-sooners-football-oregon-ducks-2021-valero-alamo-bowl-san-antonio-bob-stoops

Kind of looking forward to watching Bob Stoops coach against Oregon this year, crazy. I am not sure how that game will go, but the Oklahoma fans are going to care about it. Curious if Venables will be there, I don’t know the rules around that. Way more fun than I expected as of a week ago Sunday. That’ll work for me.

So the “Brent Venables to OU” rumor mill is grinding at about 100mph this weekend. I would be pretty happy if that happened, was starting to think that the rumors about some sort of high conflict interaction with big money donors in Brent’s past were going to derail the process, and I do have some concerns about his passion and intensity overriding his ability to dispassionately evaluate during games, but he’s a great defensively minded coach. This would in my opinion be a great hire for OU if it happens. I’ll be pretty disappointed if it doesn’t. We need someone who has a proven track record in his area of specially (defense), and need to hire a good OC to support them. I’m deeply tired of winning 55-48 or 64-56, let’s get some goddamn stops out there. The last time Brent Venables played texas as part of the OU staff the defense out scores their opponent team by 21-17. Clemson has a pretty decent defense even this year, and he’s a great recruiter. Could be happening soon. We will see what unfolds.

Cannot believe the PAC-12 has their conference championship on a Friday night…

Yeah, it’s a good market for college coaches with a winning record right now.

If they manage to keep Williams from following as well, it’ll be okay. Sounds like the replacement might be Venables?

Reportedly $12M per year. I don’t even know if I believe it, but that would make some level of sense. Much bigger loss than last night’s game.

Good for Oklahoma State, that takes them up over 16% wins all time against the Sooners in 116 meetings. Breaks a losing streak against Oklahoma since 2014. And they will appear in the Big XII Conference Title game at the very least. Huge win for their program. Bless their hearts, I hope they savor this victory and the memories. So I’m guessing Cotton Bowl for OU? 10-2 and puts eyes on the screen. Be interesting to see how it all shakes out, I hope very much that it is four atypical teams as I mentioned before. It’s better for the sport to mix it up occasionally.

Boring. Alabama pulls it out.

Probably Notre Dame, I would guess? It’s an interesting scenario - a college football playoff with none of the usual suspects. Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Georgia? Cool, I would watch that

So Michigan is in if they win out (and they should, but who knows?). Georgia is looking like a lock for the SEC. Two left to argue about, really. I’d like to see Cincinnati and someone other than Alabama or Clemson. Let’s get some new faces in there.

Happy Thanksgiving to you! Just pulled the Turkey Breast from the brine and dried it off. It’s resting in the refrigerator to dry further, I’ll be peeling potatoes next. Two pies in the refrigerator (pecan and pumpkin). It’s going to be a feast.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes. 🤨

Well that’s that. Bummer, but there’s still 2 more games to play and OU can finish in pretty decent shape. Nice being undefeated while it lasted, I am somewhat looking forward to seeing how they handle the adversity. Will say a lot about next season and Williams’s future as the starting QB.

Well, the Pubs will be feeling emboldened. Everyone knows that the Dems are going to lose Senate and House seats next year. Possibly even lose both. So… Practically, accomplish anything you can. Centrist? That’s just what you can get done realistically. If that can’t be pushed through, then you cannot effectively govern. There’s no real party coalition. This is makes me lament about “why do Democrats excel at policy debates and lose elections?” You also have to appeal to emotion, and have something to show at the end of your term. These are difficult days.

So that just happened. I hope there’s some serious soul searching among the party leadership… but more likely they’ll throw around angry accusations of “isms” and double down in “preparation” for next year’s mid term elections. It would be so very easy for a moderate to generate substantial appeal right now, if only either party was even remotely willing to let that happen. Ugh. Meanwhile let’s consider this a stop along the way to inevitable escalation? We have got significant problems right now, in this country, and are very divided. I fear it is going to get much more difficult before there’s any chance of improvement.

I have been reading up on Secretary Wyman, she seems a woman of personal integrity and strong conviction regardless of her party. Given the enormous pressure exerted by the current incarnation of her party, I’m reminded of: ”When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree by the river of truth, and tell the whole world 'No, You Move.” Good for her, we need more politicians like that.

When you are governing with a very slim majority (and votes determine that, this is a very divided nation), if you cannot form coalitions with the more moderate elements of your own party you are not going to govern for long. 2024? There will be no more majority in 2022, historical precedent and a bunch of problems (only some of which are the responsibility of the current governing majority - but for sure all are their responsibility to address) will see to that. Sinema and Manchin may get voted out, as some folks are advocating for. They will not be replaced by more progressive individuals. One of them flips the Senate back the other way. It is all very frustrating to watch for both more progressive and more moderate Democrats. But I’m pretty confident at this point the mid terms, even a year away, are going to be a bloodbath for the governing party. Edit: it’s interesting that I used to describe myself as “way way too socialist and left leaning to run for office”. My positions haven’t really changed, but I’m definitely moderate now… new issues and far more progressive stances than my own leave me wondering what is going on. Guess I just got old and they moved further on and added new issues that don’t appeal to me as much.

Oklahoma isn’t going to make it through the season unbeaten, unless they get some of those injured DBs back. Cannot stop the pass, at all. The replacements are hot garbage, and it exposes a very very thin depth on defense. Offense is going to be erratic, with a freshman QB. They’ll be world beaters and then he’ll make mental mistakes. He’ll be fine, but not if Kansas can get 400+ yards. Oh well, there’s free shrimp this week in the 8-0 lounge…

Totally. I mean, it’s not like Spencer Rattler got 2 cars from a local dealership because he was the starting quarterback for Oklahoma. It’s because he’s so recognizable. 😏 The narrowness of the position is hilariously out of touch with reality. I strongly suspect that “name, image, likeness” will somehow result in higher payment if you go to Alabama than if you go to UAB.

NIL is going to be a thing, but it’s still a learning curve for sponsors. You think that car dealership wants their vehicles back from Spencer Rattler? Does he have to give them to Caleb Williams now? I know Caleb likes mustard on his (insert local brand of hotdog)… that was the first commercial I heard about from the new QB. It’s a very weird time.