unclevlad

I'm holding off much comment until I see what the NBA decides...but I'm hoping it's 10+ games. Decision is expected to be in time for their game tomorrow night.

One trick I've seen for speedsters is a lot cheaper: Invis. They're simply moving too fast to be targeted. Desolid is just too much of a PITA. (And your suggestion wouldn't be legal.)

Mark Davis is likely to own the team for longer than that.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/opinion/texas-abortion-ban.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Fk0.eUTo.SsvblYcxDvwD&smid=url-share

Justin Herbert had to have surgery on his fractured finger, and is out for the season. Another SI story points out, his Cheap Contract period is now done. https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/12/12/chargers-wasted-justin-herbert-rookie-contract Harsh forecast there.....

From SI's NFL power rankings...

Well, well, well....not often I say, Thank you Giants! At least when they're not playing the Cowboys, but hey, I'm more likely to be the next King of England than the Giants beating the Cowboys right now... Also, ESPN is showing that the Niners have clinched a berth. And what just happened in Miami....????? Wow. This is one they can't get back. BLOWING a lead late and losing to a 13 point dog.................... And Miami likely NEEDS home field for the playoffs. Their passing attack, in bad weather?

Gee, I love how you translate what I said into "my character must be more powerful than yours." Several of the concepts I mentioned, like the speedster, are well known in comics. If your concept is a comic book speedster, you can't do it.

The woman at the center of the Texas abortion firestorm has left the state to have the procedure performed elsewhere. The only downside is, this may render any further legal action with regard to the questions about the Texas law, moot. That said, she and her doctors may well feel that waiting *at all* is just too risky/painful. EDIT: the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her this evening anyway. Now I'm worried that the woman and her family are going to face significant persecution/shaming, and maybe lawsuits based on the stupid Texas laws? Not sure about that. But I'm concerned she's going to be forced to relocate to another state.

Jack Smith is trying to get the Supreme Court to immediately take up the question of Trump's immunity, rather than wait for the Court of Appeals to rule. Basically, shortening the timeline, as we know that Trump's team is trying to stretch this out as much as possible.

Clinches start this week, and a few more eliminations. Niners, Eagles, and Cowboys all clinch spots with a win. Assuming Miami beats the Titans tonight, they and Baltimore might clinch with wins; more likely, with that and perhaps certain teams losing. Titans may be eliminated. Chargers, Raiders, and Jets might be eliminated as well, if things go Just Wrong...starting of course with them losing. The Cards are likely eliminated. OTOH, I don't believe Washington or the Giants...even at 4-10...would necessarily be eliminated.

Yeah, I think we've made this point, but it's worth repeating. 5E somewhat, and 6E *definitely*, is VERY hard to take in initially. I was cross-checking the Mind Scan point above? So I have the PDF open. The Mind Scan text takes up 5 pages. That counts the tables, but not the illustration. In Champions Complete, it's about a page and a half. Some of that is layout-related...the 6E book has excessive margins that cramp its text columns, for example. Particularly the outer page edge, where the chapter number is located. But that sheer Wall Of Text is intimidating, and makes finding some things very difficult.

There's areas where it can. 1. The concept is implicitly fairly flexible. Say the concept is "weather control." OK. Blast (or RKA), electrical. Maybe Cold-based, too, maybe with RedPen. Change Environment...wind speed, temperature, visibility, laying down an ice sheet might be movement impairment. And most of these are AoE, so building everything in as 1 power might be VERY expensive. Maybe an MP...but at least you're throwing in the slot costs. You'd also be limited to what you could do at one time. Likely some extra senses...partially penetrative on sight group, to see through fog or snow or the like. 2. Related but not quite the same...where you're looking at an expensive power that's somewhat outside the norm. The Change Environment above. Or, when you need to use 2 fairly expensive powers together...Mind Scan + Telepathy, for example. Drop the scan, you lose the mental lock, so you need to have both active at the same time. Clairsentience and Teleport is another. The concept is something like the Correspondence Mage...distance is an illusion. Well, that Clairsent is gonna need Targeting, and maybe a few other things...gets pricey fast. And you've got to keep it up while you teleport. 3. The concept in the source material makes SERIOUS use of authorial fiat. Lots of low-defense martial arts types never get hit. Well...in game, a 7- attack roll still succeeds 1 time in 6, so the defenses can't be SO low that the character gets clobbered when it happens, because it will happen. Decently regularly. 4. The concept doesn't translate very well to phased combat. Speedsters, high mobility types generally. Someone who can lay the smack and move away...that's hard to balance. I'm sure I haven't exhausted the list...

It also points out that KC's run has hit some serious speed bumps this year. And the league's overall mediocrity. 13 teams are 7-6 or 6-7 (counting the 6-6 Packers playing tonight). If the Packers lose to the Giants tonight, then 2 of the NFC playoff spots would currently be held by teams under .500. The Athletic noted that the Pats are mathematically eliminated now.

And I expect you caught the same note I did. That used to be given a warning...and I do remember seeing the wideouts appearing to be warned, and step back, in the past. BUT NOT NOW. That penalty's been called 11 times this year, according to NBC's rules guy. Illegal formation is another. You line up to run plays over and over and over. By gosh, tight ends and wideouts HAVE to know what, in any given formation, they are...the widest guy on a side has to be ON the line, the rest have to be OFF the line. And, ya know, forgetting the snap count...happens sometimes. Yeah, it *shouldn't*...but it does. It's a brain cramp. But lining up like that? He never looked. One peek as he set up, that's all it should take. And he was just off the edge of the line, it's REALLY easy to see it. So, yeah, this goes down as one of the worst flags I can recall too. Oh, hey, there's one called against the Eagles! Well, Cowboys have beaten a good team now. Interestingly, Philly still has the inside track...because of tiebreakers, and because they have the Seahawks, Giants, Cards, and Giants left. Win out, they win the division. And has anyone noted how many 60 yard FGs have been made? One tonight, AND a 59 yarder. It's the 5th so far this year...by 5 different kickers.

Somewhere around that long. Easy to look it up..... Another way to look at it...the average value of his contract is $70M. For that? You can have almost a hundred MLB players making the rookie min. It's also more than the entire 2023 payroll of the A's, and basically equal to the payroll of the Orioles. Note, that includes EVERYONE...including injured players. Ya want worse? As of today, it's as much or more than the 26 man roster for 2024, for *8* teams...the usual suspects. Cleveland, KC, Miami, Milwaukee, Cincy, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Oakland. OTOH, the Mets, Phillies, and Yankees have broken $200M already, and Atlanta is $195M. Dodgers are listed at $131M...but that does NOT include Ohtani. The contract details must not have been filed yet. Oh, and Rangers and Astros are at $191M and $188M. OHHHhhh...and looking at the Yankees, this DOES NOT include a BUNCH of contracts...like Soto, Torres, Cortes. They're shown with various arbitration codes. Sports contracts are weird.

Wow. You just don't associate KC with so many terrible mistakes. Kadarius Toney was *clearly* lined up in the neutral zone, and that just killed it. Latest in a long line of problems. The Broncos are a game back for the division..............?????????? BUT, KC holds the divisional record edge right now.

And Denver slaps the Chargers with a 75 yard, 7+ minute TD drive to slam the door. The Vikes currently hold the #6 playoff berth alone, as the Seahawks lost.

Looks like it now, as the Raiders just threw a pick. They've only got 1 TO left.

Drat. Vikes kick a FG coming out of the 2 minute warning....

Stroud's concussion would likely happen on grass. Hit the ground, angled back, with the hips first? Forces the back and therefore neck to whipcrack down. Mmmmmmmm.....THRILLING OFFENSIVE SHOW in the desert today!!!!!!!!!! Can we have a 0-0 tie? Please? Pretty please? Just for the humor value. EDIT: Herbert out, down 17-0...this is likely the Chargers' swan song for the season if they can't somehow come back, especially if Buffalo holds on. 4 games left, 2 back of just too many teams. They can't all fall apart.

I'm rooting for the Niners, Giants, and Raiders to win...because that sets up, count em...a 7-way tie at 6-7 for the 2nd and 3rd WC, and the NFC South...Falcons, Bucs, and Saints are all in this group. In the AFC...Buffalo and Denver wins give, as I noted...9 teams within 1 game. For *5* slots. Ravens struggle but an OT punt return TD gets them to 10-3, and a 3 game lead. Dolphins should match them...they're 5-0 at home, Titans are 0-6 on the road. Otherwise...break out the dart board and the blind fold for the rest.

If this was a D&D game and the GM pulled this out, saying "and coming from behind the gravestone, you see the following creature....medium sized, dirty, and a putrid stink you can still smell even tho the wind should be wafting it *away* from you..." Party: RUN AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

<sigh> I'm stuck with the stupid Jets-Texans game, cuz the CBS station's in El Paso.... 0-0 at the half... Of course, as soon as I write that, the Jets open up the 2nd half with a long TD drive..... EDIT: and it would've held up, but the Jets have an offensive explosion...3 TDs. 4 1/2 left in the 4th, 3 score lead, and Stroud is heading back to the locker room for a concussion check. OK, just reported, in the protocol. Browns lead Jags, Bengals are taking out Colts. 2 teams at 8-5, 4 teams at 7-6, if those hold. IF the Bills can beat the Chiefs...it'll be 8 teams within 1 game, and the Broncos could make it 9. And Detroit apparently can't handle prosperity.

It does seem like ARod's, but he wasn't nearly as marketable as Ohtani, as slik notes. Plus, remember ARod's contract was with Texas. They didn't have the market base, and probably not anything like the media rights deals. One thing with the Dodgers is, they own Dodger Stadium and everything around it...lock, stock, and barrel. So they get all the ticket sales...all the parking revenue (and you HAVE to drive to Dodger Stadium), all the concession rights, all the in-stadium advertising. And the Dodger ticket prices are the MOST expensive in MLB...while drawing 3.8M fans last year, about 600,000 more than anyone else. Sportico gives the Yankees the highest revenue at about $700M; the Dodgers are next at $600M, among MLB franchises. The salary inflation I'm thinking of tho.... https://www.stevetheump.com/Millionaires.htm Kevin Brown was #1 in 2000, at $15.7M. He dropped a bit in 2001 in salary...but also dropped to tied for 8th. We'll see.