unclevlad

Got together with some old work buds...we were hoping to have the game on in the backgroud. The place didn't have Prime. No loss. Old Man's giving the game way too much credit. I missed the entire first half but all indications are, this is *barely* better than Broncos-Niners. EDIT: and here we go again. Hackett's gonna get RIPPED cuz he gets pushy and gets picked...leading enough time for a BAD Colts offense to get a tying FG. I'll give Ryan a pass on that 3rd down, at least to some degree. The refs blow the whistle when the Colts are at the line, and about the snap the ball with 3 seconds left on the play clock. They order a player off the field, I presume related to possible concussion. Turns out, the rule is to reset the play clock to 10 seconds...not 25. No, I didn't know the rule either, as I've never seen the player pulled that late in the play clock. Colts go back into a huddle, and yeah, delay is inevitable. They might well have gone to the end zone anyway given the time, and they hit the chippy FG, so it didn't hurt. Hackett's calls, OTOH...short FG is in hand to take the lead to 6 when the Colts have done *nothing* all game. Defending the end zone is much simpler. But no, we won't run out the clock. We'll have another red zone turnover. And on a *terrible* throw. This game deserves to end in a tie, or alternately something like a pick-6.

Whenever I see a line like "but there's so much no one's ever explored!!" my only response is, then you aren't gonna do Tolkien. You're just going to slap the name onto a series to draw the people in, but it's gonna be based on the writers' and producers' notions, with little real connection. The story said one of the pitches was to do Aragorn's wandering days. Really? From the books, it was...very low-key. He was learning to command, learning the pains of the world, developing the empathy. But that was, IIRC, 50 or 60 YEARS long. And Gandalf might be compared to, say, a Belgarath, where he worked very quietly, mostly behind the scenes for centuries at a stretch. Tolkien doesn't have lots of good dramatic story. The First Age is all tragedy. The Second Age is, IIRC, largely dull. The Third...yeah, fine, they're there, but again in fits and starts. Lots of it is slow decline, a la Arnor. So in the absence of something dramatic...the writers come up with their own, from nothing. <sigh> That's where the fans' complaints come from because, well, you HAVE to bring in the recognized names even if they don't belong.... Yeah, I think Netflix' idea would've bombed. Still haven't seen RoP...been a bad few weeks. Plan to.....

That's gonna get seriously more dangerous pretty soon. As in REAL soon. By the end of October, the day length is only 8 hours. The red dot is where Gambell is. Still a couple degrees below the Arctic Circle...63.8 degrees north. But still. Even that alone, and figure, the sun's never very high or bright, so on the water, if there's any haze, visibility would be really bad. That's not even counting any difference in weather as full winter hits. OTOH, the most northerly peninsula of Russia has its southeasternmost tip only about 50 miles away, so the trip could be done in a few hours. But God help you if you run out of gas or the motor breaks down. And that's even assuming the weather lets you even consider it. Hope they get a warm welcome, they bloody well deserve it.

It is appalling that the NWSL scandal seems to me to be on par with the Catholic Church's scandal...institutional coverups, failure to report, and widespread. It is horrifying to me to say...it's not that surprising. https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4761896/yates-nwsl-abuse-fallout-playerssponsors-speak-execs-fired The section about the response of sponsors...significant ones have withdrawn from the 3 organizations at the center of this storm, others have said "fix things meaningfully or we are out." We'll have to see how things work out in the long term...first, what measures are put in place to try to ensure it never happens again (it's not possible to say more than "try to"...think the Tua fiasco); then, what the teams' responses are (I think the owners will likely have to sell), and then, if things aren't moving that well, what do the sponsors do? Both the current ones and new ones. I actually think that separation from those 3 teams is easier than a larger franchise.

What makes things so hard to gauge is...that was only 6 games out of a playoff spot. Now....granted, that's probably not the measure you want to use. I think you need to measure against the Braves or Mets...forget trying to measure against the Dodgers right now. But if you can get to the point of the Braves or Mets, at least you should have a decent shot. The Astros are +160 to reach the WS; the Yankees are +210. The Dodgers are +140, the Braves +225, and the Mets +400...they have to play the Dodgers if they win the first round, so that for me would be a hard sell. After that, Toronto's +600...and after that, the odds get longer fast. Seattle, Cleveland, and Tampa Bay are all +1000/+1100; Cards are +900, Padres are +1200, and Phillies are +1600.

Google is your friend. And I'm a professional leisurist, so I have time to fact-check. And honestly, I think I confused the two of em when they were both playing.

Nope. Bortles was Jacksonville. Kap was the Niners. But that's OK, cuz Kap's replacement was the equally forgettable Blaine Gabbert. Bortles did actually replace Gabbert in Jax. Gabbert's had a nice time riding the bench ever since, save for taking over for Kap for a bit, or starting a few games when the #1's been injured.

Actually, I know in the past that Boulder was a tough sell to recruits. It had a nasty rep for liberal snobbishness. It's 90% white...and only about 1% black. It's EXPENSIVE!!!! Cost of living index is 167, altho the worst part of that is housing, because Boulder's *sharply* limited new housing development for decades now. I also wonder about facilities issues. The campus is tightly constrained, and it's atop a hill. Not easy to get new facilities; the base of that hill is Boulder Creek and its walking/riding trail. Facilities are a huge selling point.

I'd consider the kitten but my yard's not big enough....

For M....Mad World. Gary Jules' version. Describes despair perfectly, IMO. EDIT: and <WHAPS SELF HARD> for not thinking of Jeremy sooner.....good gosh, half that album fits this category.

Look up his contract history. He won *big time*, all things considered. Looks like he's had time to come to terms with his career basically being over. Granted, that would be a nasty gut punch, but hey, if he had an ounce of sense, he should be...rather well off. That tends to ease a good deal of pain.

I think the writer isn't a fan of his...........

Yep. Launched it. Rangers fans gave him a very nice ovation. He's 4 points behind the in the batting title race with one day to go; that's the only thing of interest. The playoff matchups are locked in.

Ah, but you see, that's where campaign limits come into play. It's legal under one aspect...but not ALL aspects by your campaign rules. OR, use the rule related to Normal Characteristic Max...you can exceed them, but it costs DOUBLE. Even if you buy them as powers. But note that buying an Aid will also allow the base OCV to exceed NCM. That means you'll want to examine it closely, and potentially not allow it...especially if the character has stuff like Fast Strike as a martial maneuver, which has +2 OCV. The rules are extremely flexible, but that also means, HIGHLY abusable. Things like "30 AP for powers" includes a 2d6 HKA...which can be improved with martial maneuvers, or Weaponsmaster, or Deadly Blow. I tend to worry somewhat less about power APs, and more about damage classes *overall* with whatever they're doing. Focusing only on APs can create tunnel vision. You want to look at the final result, which has broader implications.

Oh, good. Then maybe we can add some kind of endangerment charge to go with the fraud. You'd think the combination should be good for a nice long stretch...

Complete list of projected win totals for every NBA team Houston Rockets 23.5 games Indiana Pacers 23.5 games Oklahoma City Thunder 23.5 games San Antonio Spurs 24.5 games Utah Jazz 24.5 games Orlando Magic 26.5 games New York Knicks 28.5 games Brooklyn Nets 29.5 games Detroit Pistons 29.5 games Sacramento Kings 34.5 games Washington Wizards 35.5 games Charlotte Hornets 36.5 games Portland Trail Blazers 39.5 games Chicago Bulls 42.5 games Los Angeles Lakers 44.5 games New Orleans Pelicans 44.5 games Atlanta Hawks 45.5 games Cleveland Cavaliers 47.5 games Toronto Raptors 47.5 games Dallas Mavericks 48.5 games Minnesota Timberwolves 48.5 games Memphis Grizzlies 49.5 games Miami Heat 49.5 games Denver Nuggets 51.5 games Philadelphia 76ers 51.5 games Golden State Warriors 52.5 games Los Angeles Clippers 52.5 games Milwaukee Bucks 52.5 games Phoenix Suns 52.5 games Boston Celtics 54.5 games These are *seriously* debatable in some spots. Celtics lose their coach. Suns are a wet mess off the court, how will that affect things on the court? Have the Lakers really fixed their issues? Granted, 44 wins is probably out in the first full round of the playoffs, but that roster could still completely bomb.

I bet he still remembers 2001. It was definitely an odyssey... Speaking of the Jazz, yeah...the predictions for win totals are not auspicious for them. Rockets, Pacers, Thunder: 23.5. Spurs, Jazz: 24.5 Nets: 29.5. Love seeing this. Bookies are NOT expecting they can work together. The Athletic this morning had a similar point. In LA, if the Lakers flounder and Westbrook can't fit in? He's likely traded by the deadline. In Brooklyn: Back to the actual subject...nothing major. Judge can't get 62 today...goes 1-5. Arraez leads the AL at .315 and he's out with an injury; Judge is down to .310. There isn't that much time left to pick up 5 points at this stage. Toronto's locked into the top WC as was noted. NL, Mets are leading the first game of the doubleheader, trying to keep pressure on the Braves. The problem for the Mariners is they'll have to go to Cleveland or Toronto...both of which have been playing very well recently. And as the road team for all 3 games, they'll be substantial underdogs to win the series.

CBS bottom 25 just out. CSU #1, Colorado #2. NMSU is only #5...but they do have a win, even if it's over #3 Hawai'i. And 8 of the 12 MAC teams made it in...ouch. The truly mind boggling? Their full ranking is out. CBS puts Ohio State #1...fair enough for now. But KANSAS is #13. Yeah. One of the most consistently bad Power 5 programs is #13, in the top 25 rather than the bottom. Not too surprisingly, Oklahoma crashed. Down 22 spots to #40. Red River Rivalry game is to try to remain relevant this year...both of em are 3-2. Obviously if Oklahoma loses, they're well into a freefall. 0-3 in the conference, with 2 more games against ranked conference opponents, threatens sub-.500 conference record and possibly falling out of all the conference's automatic bowl slots. Texas needs the win because they've got OK State, Kansas State, TCU, and Kansas later on. If they can't beat Oklahoma, the Alabama game will look like nothing more than a fluke.

Because there was money on the line...quite serious money. So these guys are stealing from the other fishermen. Hope they got enough to carry them through for awhile, cuz they're going to be blacklisted forever, insofar as pro fishing goes, and quite possibly arrested for felony fraud.

Heh...yeah, he'll catch some grief for that one. Interesting link after that story, about Andrew Luck's decision to retire, written by another former player. It's 3 years old, but well worth a read. https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2019/8/26/20832198/why-andrew-luck-retired-rehab-injuries TL;DR...

So what's been more destroyed...the Broncos, or the Rams tonight? How did the Niners lose last week? I bet they're asking the same thing.... Hey, ya gotta admit, Broncos-Colts is an entirely fitting game for TNF. The Game No One Wants to See, a TNF specialty.

I have yet to go back into a theater since the...slight problems...arose. I think that's likely to change in mid-November.

Well that's because they abandoned you, I suspect. Playoff picture is almost locked in. Mets needed 1 to be in great shape...2 to all but clinch. Instead they get swept by the Braves, giving Atlanta the tie breaker and a 2 game lead with 3 to play. Milwaukee's technically alive, but Philly's magic number is 1 because they have the tie break. #1's are set; Yankees and probably Braves are the #2s. The 3rd division winners are set, they'll host. The WC order's a bit flexible. Toronto's 2 up in the loss column with only 3 to play...but the Mariners have the tie break. Mets are the #4 barring a very long shot turnaround. The 5 and 6 slots aren't all that different; on the road throughout.

We're talking serious sports titles. Soccer's a sport but MLS is AAA-level at best.

And Baker Mayfield isn't doing a whole lot better. The Athletic's morning report pointed out that under Matt Rhule, when giving up 17+ points, the Panthers have lost 24 in a row, and are 1-26 overall. Translation: no offense. Back to back 5 win seasons, and #31 in this morning's Sporting News power rankings, says the rope he's hanging onto is fraying.