unclevlad

Super Bowl lines, yeah, but those are broader. Win totals get pretty specific. But hey, you might be right...bettors can bet on crazier things... But I'm not seeing them at 3rd worst. The most common line I'm seeing is +10000, or 100 to 1. Same as Steelers, +15000 is Giants, Titans, and Commanders; then Pats and Panthers have the longest. So, regardless, seriously unlikely. I would assume that cutting Wilson, and the timing thereof, was already factored in, as we've all expected it since he was benched.

There is no short-term solution to the tribalism, because it's been fostered, nurtured, and actively encouraged for a good 30 years now.

That was '08, and Obama didn't start out as the front runner. Heck, I didn't think he could win, because there would be too much racial backlash. By the time Obama had that position, I suspect it would've been too late to try to invoke the birther argument. Plus, the lines of political behavior shifted greatly. They didn't have (or at least, feel they have) the clout to make reprisal threats work. They DARN sure do now. Last, it's plausible they would never try to kick Biden off the ballot.....until the move to kick Trump off. That opened the Pandora's Box, so they can posture about it...even though the grounds for removing Trump are notable, while the grounds they invoke are fatuous. Besides, they don't need to win these sideshows. They think they'll win the general, so as long as there's no major disruption (a serious criminal conviction)...delay is on their side.

That is the flip side, and why, I think, the SC ruled unanimously that the states can't define the grounds on their own. Yeah, we pick on Texas...but hey, look what Tennessee is trying to do, right now. Even if it is only state office holders...where they can. On the flip side, could we really trust, say, Cali or New York to maybe try keeping a DeSantis off the ballot? There's no legal grounds to block him...but that won't be stopping people. It'd be part of the next wave of political polarization, I'm afraid...like the impeachment process.

I've heard high-end restaurant work was brutal for quite a while. The points about Yelp...my gosh, yes. Reviews generally have to be taken with a shaker of salt, but restaurant reviews are probably the most consistently off base. The most surprising point? Cooking school, by and large, is a waste of money. And their reasoning is sound; they're expensive, and they don't translate to better pay per se. A university hospitality program is more about getting into management...not about being a chef.

Youch. From the story: The '25 hit will be particularly onerous. They're still $20M over the cap now, too, so they're gonna be losing players big time. Strikes me as a good time to trade a couple players that'll bring back good draft returns, because the next 2 years are gonna be super-lean. We're talking just out of college, minimum wages with big student loans lean. EDIT: on the ESPN bottom line, it's pointed out that the cap hit is larger than the next 2 largest combined. Side thought...I doubt Vegas is making # of wins lines for '24 this early...there's little sense before the draft, if nothing else...but one can put a very qualified, very rough baseline. Broncos...5 wins?

Seriously worth reading. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/dining/chefs-state-of-the-restaurant-industry.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aE0.8FBB.XlztmqbXTU2j&smid=url-share

The Court was unanimous in the aspect that Congress has to set the rules by which the 14th Amendment could be invoked for a federal election. The states don't have that power. The dissents come in on whether the SC conservatives went too far past that.

Celtics have clinched a spot in the post-season...with just over 1/4 of the season left. They have 6 fewer losses than anyone else, East or West, to claim home court throughout, and 8 better than Cleveland for #1 in the East. The West, OTOH, has Minnesota (!!), OKC (!!!!), and Denver within a half game. OTOH...Washington's been bad all season. Their current 14 game losing streak has meant they've now got the worst record in the league...yeah, worse than those Pistons who lost 28 straight. In the West, the Spurs are a near-lock to be the first team eliminated, because the West has much greater depth. The Lakers currently hold the 10th and final spot at 33-29; the 10th spot in the East is Atlanta at 26-34. The Spurs are 12-48; the season's 82 games, so their elimination number is 2. (Detroit's is 7, Washington's is 6.) You may now return to not caring about the NBA....

BrainyQuote says it's attributed to Seneca.

But the damage they do...while gaining power, while in power, and while being ejected from power...is enormous. And "eventually" is a long ways off.

Mind boggling idiocy... https://swimswam.com/acc-champion-owen-lloyd-disqualified-for-his-post-race-celebration/

It's a negotiating move, I think...if they can't get this, then they'll continue the move to separate from the NCAA altogether. If you wanted to call it blackmail, well...that might fit too. EDIT: this was one of the other pieces from CBS on this... https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/big-ten-sec-power-grab-tough-to-stomach-but-difficult-to-argue-amid-college-football-playoff-negotiations/

But, the Raiders can sign Wilson to a 1-year deal for *league minimum.* And https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/las-vegas-raiders Cutting Jimmy G after 1 June saves $24M in cap space, and Wilson costs nothing. IF!!! you think Wilson can still play a mediocre level of QB, then spend the draft to get pieces, perhaps. They have 2 pretty good picks, 13 and 44, then #77 (third round)...and the rest are pretty much junk. (4 picks are between 210 and 227.)

Yeah but since that one failed, he may be untouchable now. And I'm with ya. We shoulda known it wasn't gonna happen.

The CDC is recommending another round of Covid boosters this spring, for people 65 and over. Which now includes yours truly.... https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/health/covid-boosters-spring-older.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZE0.dg2m.C7mbpGgr0W5R&smid=url-share

They could have, too...maybe. https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S3-5-1/ALDE_00013392/ Trump's lawyers picked a procedural ground that has not been addressed...the need to impeach first. On the Illinois ruling...much of it, to me, is trying to push the SC to decide. Early voting has already started...which might, unfortunately, push the SC to bar the states from kicking Trump off the ballots. Trump is a master at abusing the system's safeguards. The system's fundamentally set up to ensure that a defendant has every chance to challenge the allegations made against him. There's a very old philosophical contrast between --"it is better that a guilty man goes free, than to let 1 innocent man be falsely imprisoned" vs. --"it is better that an innocent man be falsely imprisoned, than to let a guilty man go free" The other concern is the abuse of power by the government. The direct abuse...improper arrests, star chambers, that sort of thing...were what the Constitution sought to avoid. What Trump does, tho, is to use that as the shield...to abuse power in other ways. Because the system's inherent inertia works in his favor.

Saw that score, figured you'd want the honors. INSANE year in college hoops. There were over 20 million brackets entered last year. Out of 1920 total points possible (10 points for each 1st round, 20 for each 2nd round, 40 for 3rd, etc...so it's 320 points per round)...2 people scored 1600. HEAVILY back-loaded...early misses, but on teams that fell relatively early on anyway. The winner missed 8 first-round and 6 second-round games...but 3 of 4 in the elite 8, both semis teams, and the champs. More broadly...20 million brackets, and only 45 of em scored 1500 or better. My feeling is, this year...it's gonna be worse. Mentioned earlier...Houston, UConn, Purdue, 3 losses today. They're clearly separate...because #4 through #17 all have at least 6...and South Carolina, #18 in AP/coaches polls...has a computer ranking of 58. It seems almost every night, there's an upset like BYU over Kansas...altho this one was exceptional because it was in Lawrence. The upsets have generally had the unranked teams at home. I'm still NOT expecting to do a bracket this year. The last few years, by and large, it's been like bowling blindfolded. There's no skill; it's guesswork. You HAVE to pick upsets, and you have to pick the RIGHT upsets. There's no pattern, no principle, and no rational approach. Yeah, sure, that sounds like sour grapes...but the results of ALL the brackets prove my point.

If you follow college hoops, you've presumably heard about the court storm after Wake Forest beat Duke, in which one of Duke's players accidentally got banged around and took an apparently minor knee injury. It's re-ignited the debate big time, including the issue that the ACC has no policy on court storms. So tonight, at the Kentucky-MIssissippi State game...with 5 minutes to go, MSU had a small lead at a timeout. During that timeout, the PA announcer told the crowd, "Court storms will not be tolerated." Jimmy Dykes went on from there and discussed the proposal that the Kentucky AD has....that if a school has a court storming, the next season, in that sport, they lose a home game. It becomes a road or maybe neutral site game. I love this idea. Feels perfect. Costs the school the revenue from a game and the promo aspects. And the cost to travel to the other site...which presumably would be mildly remote. If, for example, if UCLA or USC had one, the "remote site" wouldn't be any of the half-dozen other basketball arenas in the LA area. Punishes the fans, who lose a chance to see their team.

Same theme as the video above, but less about Cohen self-promoting... https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4490043-trumps-victories-overshadow-weaknesses-in-reelection-bid/ Let's also note that distraction has been a Trump tool for quite some time...altho I do agree there's a very strong likelihood it'll rise as the trials move forward.

I don't think Johnson would go that far, but...that's January. I worry more about the various 'irregularities' that will be asserted, starting even before election day...with early voting...and continuing through the entire process.

The most disturbing aspect of the Alabama ruling for me, was the clear refutation of church/state separation.

It'll be interesting to see how Fox handles this. An article in the Athletic noted that Olsen may be best served by waiting...cuz Brady has so many irons in the fire that he may well not last his entire 10 year contract. Olsen's young...if it takes 4-5 years to get back into the #1, and that becomes an almost unassailable #1...it's worth it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/nyregion/albert-einstein-college-medicine-bronx-donation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YU0.4Ced.9qIEppT9O4rl&smid=url-share

There's a heck of an analogy the guy uses...the current processes are like a painter doing a portrait. Time consuming, slow, EXPENSIVE, ergo extremely limited. AI acts more like a photographer. FAST, easy, relatively cheap barring extensive staging. A good photographer is skilled...but by comparison to someone who does portraits? Much less so. I also think the points about voice actors, and style designers...building looks for the characters...those will be hot jobs, but man, that's a MUCH smaller team, and it's a winner-take-all setup, much like writing original music scores. The top composers have all the work they can ever want. For short works, the point that anyone can do it...might well hold. I can write a good scene. I can write a passable short story. But the longer forms? Connecting things, keeping things moving, working through all the details? Not so much, cuz I just haven't had the impetus. I suggest, that'll hold true for video creators using AI.