Down The Line Trash
This post is by bmaz, moved on top of the stub I posted while he slept.
Yawwwn. I would not even be up right now and making the trash, but for a very real fear Marcy would again post up her beloved Tom Brady soft porn video. But that fear is strong and real, so here I am. A blog slave. [Edit update note: My friend and colleague from the Pure Michigan state thankfully spared us Brady pro.]
All the Emptywheel wrenches have big college games going this weekend. Well, strike that, one of us, Roving Reporter Rosalind, already had her joy Thursday night when the Stanford Trees flat out waxed the Bruins from Ucla.
First up: Padre Peterrrrrr’s (think pirate, liker “Arrrrrrrr)
Mighty Fighting Journalists of Northwestern versus Herky Hawkeye. This probably unpopular round here, but I am going to take the Hawks here in what looks to be a very good game. It really may be Iowa that is the untold story this year and not Northwestern. That said, if the Fighting Journalists win, even though at home, that would be huge.
Next would come the dreaded Michigan/Michigan State rivalry. Man, I thought the UofA versus ASU rivalry was harsh. But those Pure Michiganders are bonkers. Once Magic was defaced, you know that Bigrodent in Ann Arbor had to be. You knew that. This game is in the Big House. The line is 6.5, which seems high. I’ll take Michigan, but only because of the home field; Sparty is still a better team.
How is anybody going to be still awake when the important games come on today? Such as Number 8 Florida at Number 6 LSU? I do not think the change to Treon Harris as QB for the Gators is that huge of a problem for the Gators so much as I think the Tigers are just a better team. Jim White’s crew may box in Fournette, but if they do it will open up the rest of the field. This is in Baton Rouge though, so I’ll go with the home team.
Masaccio Ed has a bit of a game too. The Domers are hosting the Trojans in their yearly grudge match. Honest question, Notre Dame doesn’t let USC bring that giant white horse and Tommy Trojan shit do they? Cause I saw that at Sun Devil Stadium once…and their band plays that relentless song…and I have basically been halfway to homicidal ever since. Notre Dame has every possible factor in its favor right now. So I like USC here. I have no clue why. But I do not think the coach thing will hurt USC so much as motivate them.The core kids are used to coaching turnover and Cody Kessler is not just a good and smart quarterback, he is a senior, and he and the Trojans need this. I think they will get it.
But, wait! There’s more! The ASU Sun Devils visit the inhospitable ground of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium. I would stay up for this game. The Utes are ranked Number 4 in the country and are an early darling in the NCAA football world. The Utes are big, fast and well coached by Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham took over when Urban Meyer left for Florida. Frankly, Whittingham may be a better coach than Urban. ASU has a crappy game day coach in Todd Graham. Runs a clean program, and is good at the PR shuck and jive, but he is really not so good by my eye on the actual game sideline genius thing. Still, ASU has, historically, had a thing for Utah. As in owning them, even when Utah is good. I will take the Devils here in the upset.
In the pros, every game this week seems exciting. Here in cactus country, there is big anticipation for Bruce Arians return, with the Cardinals, to Steeler land and Heinz Field. Tough game and place. Would not be surprised to see the Steelers win. But, the Cardinals are, and this is hard for me to say, pretty good on all sides of the ball. That’s as far as I am going to go. Don’t want to anger the Football Gods.
Then, of course, is the Pats at The Home Of The Asswipe #Deflategate Instigators. AKA the piss in their own pants snitch bitch Colts. Just a hunch, but I will take TOM BRADY in this one. How ya doin Roger Goodell?
And, then, there are the truly incredible games of the MLB playoffs. Wow, incredibly compelling. Unreal. Seriously great. Go Cubbies!
Music today by the one and only Stones Who Roll, with a chaser of the bearded boys of ZZ Top.
I’m placing this stub here until bmaz gets around to putting up Trash Talk. I literally begged him to get one up early so those of us worried about significant setbacks on far-better-than-expected seasons for our college team could work out our nerves. Michigan State v Michigan, but in the Big House so Vegas has the Wolverines winning. Florida wondering whether its great D will be able to stop LSU’s Leonard Fournette.
There are other games in the unpaid athlete league: Peterr’s Fighting Journalists look to rebound at home off their shellacking against a very good IA team. Ed’s Domers ought to have fun with a USC in transition. We can even talk about how Rosalind’s Trees turned into circus stuntsters.
But the really important games will be in Ann Arbor and Baton Rouge.
It was my 20 somethingth anniversary last night. AND I had major work junk all day yesterday.
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I tell ya, these blog work conditions are insufferable. I am having my agent seek a trade to a reasonable blog. Maybe Atrios or something….
Congrats to you and that nice lady who puts up with you!
Go on, admit it: you were hanging out with Mr. Football and his Colleen, giving him advice on how to act out his “I Wanna go fast” thing while keeping Colleen in the car on I-90. Speaking of which, what is a fall-semester senior doing in Cleveland instead of attending classes in Texas? She’s counting on Mr. Football’s career to help her avoid the Job Market for herself? Inquiring minds want to know. That whole driving thing isn’t working out too well for him (his theme music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5GwULPU90 ) and he’s getting serious talking-to from what passes for management at Brownie-central, so maybe she ought to recalibrate.
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So, now that we’re getting down to business, I have to say that for the first time in a long time I’m interested in Major College Football, in particular the Michigan-Michigan State game. I might even settle down to watch. But, at the same time, I have to worry about my garden, some correspondence that’s been hanging around too long incomplete, and just plain glorious fall weather.
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This time next week, the leaves ought to be off the trees. The woods will have opened up so grouse hunting will be more appealing than watching college football. But for now, I may sit down for the game. We’ll see.
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In pro news, I’m told that there is a significant belief in and around Patsies’ land that the Colts are afraid to say anything so they don’t piss off the Patriots. OTOH, I’m hearing that Biebs is no end of pissed already and intends to crush their souls, rip out their hearts and eat them along with a side of Giselle’s homemade leftover vegetable soup. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3276334/Gisele-Budchen-shows-vegetable-soup-meal-explains-leftovers-using-mom-s-recipe.html
The couple is making millions and probably can’t spend it fast enough, and they’re serving leftovers.
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We’ll see.
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It was gratifying to see my Stillers win the other night. It would have been more gratifying if they had won without the added impediment of screwed up officials and officiating yet again screwing up a game.
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Chase Utley made a baseball play and got suspended, enabling the Mutts to proceed. OTOH, earlier this season a Cubs player effected a similar takeout slide and broke the leg of Pittsburgh Pirates’ rookie star Kang, knocking him out for the rest of the season and significantly diminishing their offense. No one thought to even whimper about suspending anyone and no one was suspended. People think baseball can’t be fixed and, to a degree, there are too many variables to make it easy. But, there are ways. It has long been said that knowledgeable baseball people knew the ’99 Yankees could not lose, and the ’99 Braves could not win, the World Series that year solely because of the umpires selected for that series and the rotation they were placed in. In short, the rotation of umpires through home plate favored the expected Yankees’ starting rotation and disfavored the Braves’. This, because the way the umpires habitually called their games meshed with the strengths of Yankees pitchers and the way they pitched, and clashed with the Braves’ pitchers. Minister of Baseball Discipline Joe Torre, having spent over 50 years in the game in one capacity or another, surely had all that experience and knowledge of Inside Baseball and knew that bouncing Utley would facilitate the Mutts proceeding to meet the Cubs. Maybe not consciously, but he knew. After all, MLB loves TV ratings and NY is the biggest market there is for the game. Back when the Yankees were winning and winning, nothing got done in NYC the morning after a Yankee playoff game.
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That said, I have to believe that the gates are all lining up in such a way that the Cubs will proceed to the World Series and win it, probably in 6. With the exceptions of Cleveland and the Cubs every team with long-term curse of not winning the World Series has won in recent years. The Black Sox (1919 until 2005), the Red Sox (1918 to 2004), the Phillies (they were the first team to 10,000 losses, and went their entire history from 1880 to 1980 until winning a World Series. They then went another 29 years until their next win.) I have to wonder what Baseball will be able to sell once the long-term frustration of losing for decades is gone.
It was pointed out to me Friday at work that the film “Back to the Future II” foretells the Cubs winning the Series in 2015. Just sayin’ you might be onto something, scribe.
Happy Anniversay bmaz! I hope you and the Mrs. had a ball celebrating the occasion : ) Definitely worth being tardy for one’s morning chore of taking out the Trash ; )
(Catching up here . . .)
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My WAG is that you’ll get the same kind of trade offer that Bill Driscoll and his partner got in “The Ransom of Red Chief.”
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*grin*
Granted, I am aging and past my prime. But I can still bust out the big play every now and then!
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Have you seen the quality of legal analysis on teh innertubes lately??? I am still worth a couple of lower round draft picks.
Uh, bmaz? Are you familiar with that O Henry story? The kidnappers (Driscoll and his partner) end up paying the family to take the kid back.
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Oh, wait. It’s Marcy who has the literature background . . .
why yes, McCaffrey’s relative had a very good night.
All I saw was the razzle dazzle play.
Michigan is the center of the college football universe again this week.
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I’m gonna have to watch that game
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I took Boise State last night. Holy Smoke! That game was painful. If they ever want to torture any detainees, in a new way, at Gitmo, all they have to do is make them watch that game.
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And the most pressing question of all at this time of year — why does MLB hate it’s own fans? Geezuz Cryst, I couldn’t find the game anywhere last night. Why can’t the games be on any of the regular sports channels, or network tv. I’m starting to think the games are on OWN or Nicklelodeon, or VH1, or Animal Planet … ?
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Yes, it is indeed with much nervousness that I think about the Gators entering Death Valley tonight without their suddenly-turned-star quarterback. At least Harris also has experience and should be okay. Since Treon is better at the long ball, my prediction for the star of the night is Brandon Powell. LSU will be very concerned about playmaker wideouts Antonio Callaway and Demarcus Robinson, but Powell has the speed, moves and hands to make them pay for not keeping an eye on him. In fact, he might also finally have his breakout game on special teams tonight, too.
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Remarkably enough, should the Gators pull off the miracle tonight, they only need Bama to beat Texas A&M (not a stretch at all) for the Gators to be the only undefeated SEC team at the end of the evening. Never would have seen that coming before the season started!
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Should the Gators falter, however, all is not lost. There are two pork butts that smoked overnight patiently resting in foil wrap inside a cooler. We’ll have a house full of our daughter’s dorm mates this evening to consume pulled pork, maybe carve some pumpkins and watch the game. Should be fun.
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To JohnT: The game last night was on Fox on broadcast TV, believe it or not. I enjoyed it immensely as the Royals are my #2 team behind the Rays. (I was an undergrad at Kansas during the time Royals and Yankees seemed to meet every year in the ALCS in mid-70’s).
(assume you are spending the rest of the day covering the home improvements with a thick layer of visqueen)
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Not to worry. It’s an honors dorm, so they should be fairly tame. I’ll just make them leave shoes at the door.
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The pumpkin carving will be strictly outdoors, by the fire pit. Which is conveniently next to a large compost heap.
Ut oh! You’ve branched off from just grad students to a bunch of freshmen?!?! With twice the butts on offer?
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How could we say “no” when our daughter is actually willing to admit that we exist? And smoking two butts is nothing new. It all depends on the size of the expected group of visitors and my unbreakable rule that when making pulled pork for entertaining, large amounts of leftovers are a must.
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I really want to just spend the afternoon watching football, but I haven’t checked on the supply of the KC family recipe sauce…
Wait, the “stub” thread has now turned into the “butts” thread??
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No butts for the guy who is too slow generating trash posts!
I’ve just survived a teenage boy birthday sleepover . . . Thank God for the Royals, in that the broadcast tamed their energy for about three critical hours in the evening, and left them happy and content as they then turned their attention to World Domination in an all-night game of Risk. In past years, epic Nerf wars were the rule, but once the boys outgrew the parents, a ban on weaponry (real or imaginary) was put in place.
Speaking of the Royals, that’s all folks in KC can do right now. The Chefs ought to send the Royals a thank-you crate of champagne for taking the attention off of what’s happening in Arrowhead Stadium across the parking lot from the K. Ditto for Mizzou and KU football teams.
My favorite, though, is this from today’s KC Star:
Cue the priest knocking his head against the altar. “Dear, the once-in-a-lifetime experience you should be thinking about is your wedding, not the Royals in the playoffs. They were just in them last year, for crying out loud.”
Oh yeah.
This will be another good example of how great it can be to be a UCLA & Notre Dame family from Southern California — Stanford may have pasted my Gutty Little Bruins, but at least we’ll have the fun of watching the Poor, Rudderless Condoms get waxed by The Spouse’s Domers, so it won’t be a complete waste of a week even with the Dodgers eliminated and Mike Trout on vacation. Isn’t it snowing in all those other places, like where the elusive “Big 10” plays?
Oops, I did it again.
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But this time with, you know, feeling.
I noticed Johnny Football still hasn’t quite grown up.
That’s true, Johnny Football still hasn’t grown up. Along with most 22-year olds. But the mean time between incidents is increasing, so that’s a good sign. And his football skills are vastly improved this year. Anyhow, aren’t there other examples of NFL young-uns who at some point did clan up nice? (Gots to be, or my Brownies are scrod again.)
Alright. I think I’ve finally cleaned up our dupe posts, with only this comment from JohnT lost.
Gotta train bmaz how to work a stub post.
I thought you said “grub”, so I started eating.
I had a comment in that thread (in moderation – thanks, NSA!), with my picks for this weekend, which seems to have been lost, so let me try again . . .
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FJs over Iowa (which is not looking good right now), Sparty rains on Harbaugh’s parade, and LSU makes gator gumbo out of their visitors.
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As for ASU, when bmaz said “ASU has, historically, had a thing for Utah,” <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109686/quotes?ref_=tt_ql_3"why do I hear Jim Carrey talking to Lauren Holly in my head?
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Sorry bmaz, but it’s the Utes.
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In MLB, I’ll take the Cubs and Royals.
Grrr . . . I miss edit.
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Proper link here.
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Oh that’s what happened. I had another comment with my picks that disappeared
Finally the Fighting Journalists begin to threaten.
Cmon, Peterr, we can’t have IA run the conference…
They’re trying to make a game of it.
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Ok w/out my thought processes that went into the picks, I had …
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Boise – Houston – Baylor – East Carolina – Troy – Oklahoma – Florida – Temple – Air Force – TCU – Utah
Sorry. I thought I had closed off that thread and double checked everything before I nuked it. bmaz kept un-closing it. Ah well.
As Strother Martin said to Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, what we have here, I believe, is a failure to communicate.
Yes but. I called 2X before you finally answered the third time! And emailed!
I blame the celebrations.
Hey now, I did not specify where the failure occurred.
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I can neither confirm nor deny anything further (I haz Glomar rights too!)
In the tequila-sodden space between yer ears, that’s where.
You mean, the last of the wide open spaces?
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So, it was a Pat Haden trying to get ahold of Sarkisian scenario?
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PS WTF is with Baylor’s defense?
bmaz, thanks. Great Stones’ song, had never heard it.
I doubt their roster cares about Southern Cal firing the head coach, those young men are “playing for NFL contracts.” Beyond a weak offensive line, and Sarkisian, I don’t understand what problems their offense had the last two games. SC’s defense is young. The book on Notre Dame is to make the young qb, Kizer, beat you and tire out Day and Rochelle on their defensive line. If Kizer’s hurt, it’s a true freshman, Wimbush, or the DC’s son, Van Gorder, a walk-on.
Anyone know why the Trojans fired Sarkisian right after they put him on leave of absence? I understand they have a lot of dirt on Steve, that they’re going to pretend they didn’t know about, but doesn’t the in-season termination just give the new head coach’s agent more leverage?
I dunno, I think USC is running straight into a big ADA problem and/or claim. They gotta do what they gotta do, but why not simply suspend Sarkisian while you go through the motions to not look stupid in ejecting him??
I suspect that when he came clean, they felt they had to fire him immediately. Just a hunch that they found that he has serious problems they didn’t know about before.
The Fighting Journalists are bleeding ink.
Go Blue!!!
Another California state university is in a “fire the guy” mess. At Berkeley, an extremely popular math lecturer (!!) with no tenure who, he alleges, the other stick-in-the-mud professors couldn’t stomach. So, there’s a union grievance a-brewing. Just hope he kept good records of all the things they did to him recently. But, how many clients do that? Me, I always enjoyed math class, even with Mr. Bode for 12th grade calculus. It was 10th grade Government/Economics that I fell asleep in.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/17/berkeley-math-professor-alexander-coward-campus-battle
Not that it matters but the KY ‘Cats fell at home to Auburn Thursday night and travel to Starkville, MS next Saturday.
The Hilltoppers took care of bidness Thursday night but keeping North Texas winless 55 – 28 to become bowl eligible at 6 – 1 on the season. They now get to visit Death Valley down in Baton Rouge next Saturday and try to contain Fournette. Not holding my breath on that one but it would sure be nice to grab a win down there. Of course, if they do pull it off, it would mean Jeff Brohm is even more likely to be moving on up the NCAA food chain…
Ohhhh…..Sparty!
Wtf just happened in the Big House…? ;-)
Go Sparty…!
I didn’t see it, but I can imagine how it went. I hear the band playing on the sideline and the fans starting to sing “Hail to the . . .” when the music goes awry as the ball squirts loose and the Spartan scoops it up and lumbers into the endzone.
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Can’t say I’ve ever heard of this before, though:
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None of this helmet sticker stuff here – they’ll give him a
PurpleGreen and White Heart for his sacrifice.As I said above: UM earned horrible juju by defacing Magic.
Let’s hope they don’t make that mistake again.
Man. That just didn’t work out, did it?
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I would kill for video from the nanny cam at Magic and Cookie’s house. Earvin must have gone insane.
Either that, or he’ll look at his MVP award from the 1979 NCAA championship and just smile.
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And he’s got a helluva smile.
You saw my RT of his tweet? Yes, he was clearly happy with the way things worked out.
In an update: I think UM thinks they should follow MSU’s worst habits to turn around this series, and now they’re burning couches.
You guys better not burn down Zingermans!
“you guys”? I’m 2 hours away! 1 hour away from couch-burning central (and I bet THEY’LL burn couches once they get home.
You say that like couch burning is a bad thing. Think of all the stuff they’re keeping out of landfills.
Figuratively. And don’t you dare take less than two seventh round picks for me!
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Also, yes Peterrrrrr, I know O Henry, my mother, in her second career, was an American Literature teacher.
Fall Football – laughter, drinks, and your favorite team
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Speaking of lit, this sports lit piece was published October 17, 1949, by WC Heinz after the
Cornell-Yale game
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In the parking areas an hour after the game the cars still stood, congested. On some the luggage racks were still open, and the people stood around them, the evening starting to darken now, the people still laughing, the glasses again in their hands.
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The headlights were on by the time the last of the cars crowded out. In the West the dark clouds were starting to open, the sky to glow a little, the first star to show. The red tail-lights strung as far as you could see, the cars moving in a great company, the dead leaves swirling behind the cars, dancing in the headlights of the one behind.
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Those who heard the rumor had heard it right. The football season had, indeed, started.
Magic:
No, I didn’t see that!
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Fucking great.
F’g Mutts, distributing thundersticks. A true bush-league thing, right down there with the 2002 Angels and their thundersticks and rally monkey.
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The only thing that might be worse would be vuvuzelas. Not even compressed-air boat horns (remember when you could bring those into stadiums?) are that bad.
It is legal to shoot vuvuzela wielders, no?
It varies from state to state and season to season.
If it’s football (aka soccer) season, it’s fair game.
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I love the passion of the South African soccer fans, but there’s a special circle of hell for those who blow the vuvuzela. In my dreams, Sepp Blatter will spend centuries there for what he did with FIFA.
Florida ties it up on a punt return!!
Think I gotta root for them even if I’m grumpy.
Ruh roh, the Gators chomped on the fake field goal.
Well, I wake up in Norwich UK to find yet another win for the Irish. At least bmaz picked one right. Oh.
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Bmaz might want to think about giving the Domers some of that there R E S P E C T.
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The Gators played really well, but succumbed to trickery from the ole Mad Hatter. A flea flicker in the first half and fake field goal near the end proved their undoing (along with a defensive breakdown at the very end of the first half for another long TD pass). The gallant way they started the second half and re-tied the score when down 14 and LSU getting the second half kick showed a lot of promise for the future.
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The party went fine. Very polite group of kids enjoyed the pork (and we do have enough leftovers for a few meals) and carved some creative pumpkins. The only damage for the night came when Riker got keyed up and tried to leap up to a very high perch, knocking a glass off a shelf. Alas, that made the first gouge in the new flooring (the glass had a heavy base and it fell from about four feet up), but it’s back in a corner where we don’t venture often anyway.
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We seem to have inherited a ton of cookies, but we’ll try to send those back to the dorm when Katie comes by this afternoon to do her laundry.
Not that anyone else cares, but here’s a really good writeup on Alan page
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http://www.dailynorseman.com/2015/10/16/9558877/nfls-a-football-life-recalls-career-of-the-best-defensive-tackle-alan-page
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My picks – Vikings. I’m not being a homer, they are playing well – J-E-T-S. I’m gonna ride that defense until an opponent figures it out – The Niners. This isn’t so much about how the Niners are better, but how I don’t know what’s wrong with the Ravens – Patriots. Nuf said
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I want to take the Bengals over the Bills, but everytime I think the Bills should win they lose, and lose when I think they should win. And I wanna take the Browns over the Broncos, but … it’s the Browns. And I wanna take the Panthers over the Squawks, but they can’t win in Seattle
Alan Page was a year ahead of me at Notre Dame. I remember seeing him several times on campus dressed in the usual 60s style of flip-flops, madras bermuda shorts and a tee-shirt. Every time I saw him, he was laughing and joking with his friends.
Okay to follow up a bit on my mention last week of DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports). The big news came Thursday out of Nevada with the decision by the State Gaming Board there to regulate DFS. But the bigger legal news is absolutely the opinion that the Nevada AG promulgated, that was partially behind the Gaming Board action, but not released until after it, late Friday.
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The AG opinion flat out found that DFS was, without any question “wagering” and “gambling” and, in effect, is “almost identical to a casino”. The clincher was this line:
The AG opinion noted the Reddit AMA with Draft Kings CEO where he flat out admitted as much. Memo to dodgy legal gambling shops, Reddit is not your friend.
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So, as a result, DFS, including Draft Kings and Fan Duel, are now strictly illegal in Nevada unless properly licensed by the state, like the rest of the gambling industry in Nevada. Now it is easy to dismiss the NV opinion as simply being protectionist, and there is unquestionably some truth to that thought.
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But Nevada is, as of this moment, the one state where DFS could, unquestionably, be legal. Nevada has the one across the board hard exception to PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) in the country, and also has the most robust gambling regulatory structure. What NV says counts in this area of the law, by factors over pretty much any other state. It will almost certainly have a snowball effect on other states contemplating the legality of DFS. Including Florida where there is not only state gaming consideration, but a federal grand jury is considering actual criminal violations and charges against significant DFS officials. The GJ is considering whether DFS has violated the IGBA ( Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1970) through prohibited violations of particular state laws (a feature in the IGBA).
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Other states and the federal government are going to look to Nevada’s opinion here. It simply will carry a ton of weight on the critical issue of whether DFS is “gambling”. And the Nevada opinion is unequivocal on that.
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Frankly, I have been stupefied from the start that these billion dollar gambling businesses were built on the “exception” they claimed as “skill” games. Without more, that was simply absurd. To me, at least, it is patently obvious that what they were doing was gambling. And there were a lot of gaming and sports practitioners saying the same things if you are deep enough into their forums (which I occasionally am for a non-related issue). I think there was a reason theta Draft Kings and Fan Duel have spent more advertising money than any other concern over the last two months. They knew the shit was about to hit the fan, and wanted to inure the public to their product so as to make it ubiquitous and thus harder to take out of play.
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Here is a further little nugget to chew on: The quickest way to respectability and passing muster in other states (and getting a favorable look from Congress) would be for the DFS operators such as Draft Kings and Fan Duel to get licensed by Nevada. And the NV opinion crystal clearly left that option open. The problem is, Draft Kings, Fan Duel and the others cannot meet the strict burden for the NV Gaming Board while running pretty clearly unregulated and putatively illegal games in other states. It is a Catch-22 they can’t work their way out of and maintain their current status.
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There is also the immense scrutiny that NV inspection and regulation would bring, and the DFS shops show no current ability to withstand that given the behavior of their own DFS insiders. Oh, and in the meantime, the appearances seem to be that NV customers are still participating on Draft Kings and Fan Duel via patently easy workarounds to IP locations that are not being properly policed by the businesses. The Nevada Gaming Board will not like that much either.
Isn’t Nevada prejudiced due to the casino influence and competition. What is going on behind the scenes?
Sure. As I said, they are clearly engaged in protectionism. But they are by 10 light years the most influential and critical gaming regulatory voices. Their opinion is huge. And, by everything I can discern, exactly correct. It is asinine to not consider DFS to be outright gambling.
In this case, I think Nevada is simply calling a spade a spade, so to speak. They know gambling better than anyone else, and they aren’t going to be snowed by some fast-talking three-card Monte operator who tries to tell them that this little game isn’t gambling.
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And they are right.
Exactly.
Fuck, don’t take away my fun. Shit, playing the stock market is a form of gambling
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I’m in with this guy who wrote an op-ed on the NYT
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“the truth is, I don’t care. And I doubt most players do, either.
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Despite the legal fiction that daily fantasy sports is about “skill,” any rational person should know that it’s gambling, and any rational person is going to be in it for fun, not profit. Tsk-tsking a lack of transparency in an unregulated, billion-dollar industry is like going to a gentlemen’s club and being outraged that the dancers’ breasts are fake.
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Yes, I’d rather not have to beat DraftKings or FanDuel employees who might have access to confidential data. But even if the Ethan Haskells of the industry are all barred from the game, I’m still unlikely to beat the “sharks,” the hard-core players who have flowed into the game with sophisticated software to analyze lineups and make last-minute switches — and who are the real big-money winners, without a bit of insider information.
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I know that even for someone like me, with more fantasy sports experience than most, I’d need a miracle to win big. And every daily fantasy sports fan I know feels the same. For us, the “scandal” is a joke: While there’s now a glaring spotlight on the industry, and the big guys will finally have to get their houses in order, the only thing shocking about this whole story is that anyone could possibly be shocked.”
If this shit is legal, then there is no form of gambling that should not be legal. Sports or otherwise. There is no more “skill” in this tripe than there is in playing blackjack, pokey or craps. Skill helps in those “games” too, but they are patently obviously gambling. So too is DFS. If you find this junk commendable, then advocate for across the board legalization. But, until then, this is a fucking fraud. Is is pure and simple gambling within everything that has ever defined the term.
Wait a minute
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One man’s junk is another’s joy
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Lighten up. Do you gamble?
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It’s the legal community that’s playing voodoo
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I’ll admit it is gambling but there is a twist of skill involved, right
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What is the adverse effect of gambling in this case?
Do I gamble? No, except for casually when I go to Las Vegas. Do I think gambling can be as addictive and destructive as other vices? Absolutely. I am all for it if properly regulated and structured.
So yesterday I did my “LA hubris” thang of dissing USC because I went to UCLA and the spouse to Notre Dame. Then the Domers fumbled the ball away on the goal line and forgot to cover the deep guy, Troy wins.
So today I guess I’ll have to do the “other LA hubris” thang congratulating that great USC Trojan club because hey, they won and that’s all we really care about here. No wonder the NFL can’t risk putting a club in LA, lose a game and we ship ’em to Oakland or St. Louis and we watch the Super Bowl ads when it rolls around.
Oh, and indeed a great Stones video. The Whisky-a-Go-Go. In LA. For those wondering how the Laker Girls got their start.
Was there ever a better time than when you could go to the Whiskey, the Rainbow and the Roxy all just by walking a couple of blocks and seeing game changing name bands at all of them in the late 70’s and early 80’s?
And the last time I was there it was in 1998 to see Cheap Trick perform on the 20th anniversary of Live at Budokan. Somebody flicked a cigarette at my wife, she was not grateful for my having taken her there, though I still swear I meant well. Haven’t been back for some reason.
Ooof. Yeah. That I guess is not surprising. But, still, I’d go back just for old times sake. Maybe I’ll come over and we’ll do it. Pretty sure we could drag Jason Leopold out for that ramble.
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But, other than that, the Live at Budokan reprise had to be awesome, no?
Meanwhile, a friend who resides in one of the rude, thatched-roof crofters’ settlements surrounding the Summer Palace of King Roger the Clown sends this missive about how Patsies fans in that dark-red heart of the Patsies’ nation feel about going to Indianapolis to place the Colts tonight. This friend warns it’s NSFW. I listened and, yes, the body noises will get you in trouble.
http://wblm.com/wicked-pissah-comedian-prepares-us-for-pats-vs-colts-nsfw-video/
Something regarding how pissed the Patsies are, along the lines of “… Tom Brady is Uma Thurman in Kill Bill with a football for a sword….”.
And then there’s this, possibly even more NSFW: http://wblm.com/indy-bakery-selling-brady-cookies-photos/
I hope the nice lady courtroom artist who made that unfortunate drawing of Biebs back during the hearing this past summer has copyright counsel in Indianapolis. If not, I can recommend someone.
NB: I do like the Pats-themed mock jersey t-shirt bearing number “12.5”.
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Says a lot while not saying anything.
Don’t you think Irsay is a dick?
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Irsay said the Colts’ roster is as good as it was in 2012 when he team fell to the Ravens in the divisional round.
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“There’s no question in my mind, I really think our roster is as good as it’s been since 2012,” Irsay said. “People forget what an incredible job was done taking that 2011 roster — we knew it was an aging roster but we were all-in to win a championship ‘ and then to turn it around with Andrew as a rookie, Chuck’s [Pagano] first year, get in the playoffs right away, and with Chuck’s illness, of course. Look, the last four games (against the Patriots) have been big disappointments and for us, it’s about trying to win the division first, but we would like to be in the mix for fighting for home field advantage, and there’s no question, with New England and Denver coming to town, those are home games you’ve got to try to win.
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Brady throws 500 yards and eight TD’s?
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Possible?
Here is a question for you: Pot, cocaine, heroin, acid, crack, gambling, prostitution, usurious loan sharking…..which do you think ought be “unregulated” and what will you do to protect society from the deleterious results of that policy?
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And if straight up gambling should be unregulated and openly pervasive, then why not ALL forms of drug use, including narcotics and psycho-active compounds?
Good question.
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Crack and heroin are definite no no’s. Pot for medicinal purposes works for me.
Gambling is in a different category.
You are trying to legislate morality and it ain’t going to succeed.
You failed to mention drinking. I imagine we both like a few frosties so that’s off limits.
What about the boys on the 51st floor of Wall Street (see Michael Lewis).
Let’s legislate the legal fellas arguing that Corporations are people (loophole) and the denizens of the night who try to differentiate tax avoidance from tax evasion.
Quit picking on the entrepreneurs from Draft King that are just implementing their business plan like the good Unicorns they are.
Makes life more interesting when you throw a few bucks on your favorite team.
It’s a greedy, nasty world out there
FWIW (and I said this before the game, but was making pear gingerbread cake, so didn’t write it here), I’m not as confident as every single other Pats fan in creation.
Weird day for Cardinals. They have played mostly well, but little to show for it. Pittsburgh has done what they had to do. Congrats Steelers.
Thanks BMAz
Ol’ Noodlearm just threw a pick in OT to the f/g Brownies.
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Not for nothing, the Brownies are playing well without Young Mr. Football on the field. At some point, if this continues, they’ll wind up not needing Mr. Football.
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HA!!! Brownies being Brownies, they just took a sack that took them way, way out of FG range. A FG that would have won it. And now they have to punt.
Annnnnd Ol’ Noodlearm takes the Donks down the field and
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The Browns Lose again.
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This Steeler fan smiles.
Vick hurt. Stillers down to “What’s-his-name-again” at QB.
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What is wrong with your Kitties, EW? Did the loss of the Boy Named Suh make that much of a difference?
Remember we ALMOST beat the Squawks at home. But in doing so we hurt a ton of players. Plus, DeAndre Levy has played just one part of a game.
So yeah, losing Suh hurt, but pass rush/run D is one area where we’ve still been mostly very good.
Our O line sucks (That’s why we did well against the Squawks bc both teams’ O lines suck). Our secondary isn’t great, one of the LBs we got back isn’t all the way back.
Blah blah blah blah. Blame the snot nosed kid I used to hang out with (Lombardi) who STILL isn’t working this O very well.
Congrats to Lions fans.
“The Browns Lose again. This Steeler fan smiles.”
And this Browns fan is pissed. You don’t have enough great seasons under your belt to give us even one game?
No.
The Browns are 1-4 with Josh McCown as their starter, and he will never get any better. What’s the point of continuing to play him? All that crap about “He gives us the best chance to win” is irrelevant. The season is lost. Why not start playing Manziel? He will get better with more playing time.
Because Young Mr. Football will either stagger around the field like he’s drunk, show up drunk, or get hurt and further ruin your franchise. He is wandering around the league with a target on him and there are a lot of defenders who would be proud to hang his scalp from their belts. Your franchise has already staked entirely too much of its future on him and should not expose him to damage before it gets an offensive line that can play.
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Ow.
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Packers coach, giving the end-of-half sound bite, when asked what they have to do in the second half says “we have to play above the officiating.”
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Ow.
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King Roger pouts.
I know this is blasphemy here, but, that’s like ‘the pot calling the kettle black’. Seriously. Bad officiating in the Vikings Packers Monday night game in Favres last year is why there’s replay review after every TD. The refs gave that game to the Packers
I defer to your far superior memory (e..g., recent LeRoy Butler reminder), but in all fairness to McCarthy, I bet if you asked him he would tell you that the Pack has benefited from poor officiating, too (as you point out). I missed the game today, so I am agnostic on the officiating in this instance, but he may have simply been stating the obvious if the calls weren’t going their way today…
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So, why so cranky? Your Vikes won today : ) Admittedly against the Chefs, but still… ; )
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I guess I’m not a “real fan” to a lot of people because I don’t hate him or the Pack. If you remember, I wanted the Packers to win the last time they were in the SB
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I just hate hypocrisy
Well, I didn’t see the game or hear the quote directly, so you may well be right that he was being a hypocrite. And I truly appreciate the fact that you are gracious enough to be charitable where the Pack is concerned, a lovely trait in a Vikings fan : )
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Did I ever tell you about the time a Packer fan from the Eau Claire area gave me a hard time about wearing a purple shirt to work during the week before a Packer-Viking game? He was a little tightly wound. It can be a testy rivalry along the Mississippi ; )
Only one Packer fan gave you grief? The others must have been sitting back admiring the job that one was doing — because you KNOW there were others.
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They won’t assault you for wearing the wrong gang colors, as far as I know, but they’ll certainly make it clear that your fashion choices need improvement.
I think this is a testament to the awesomeness of Cheeseheads.
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Other fans might have been uncivilized.
Yeah, I admit Johnny F has some growing up to do, but you never know. Give him some time. Maybe by his third year he will almost kill himself riding a motorcycle, and a few years later he will allegedly molest some girls and be suspended and ordered to undergo a league-mandated professional behavior evaluation. Those would truly be signs of maturity.
I don’t understand the hatred of Manziel. Has be been immature? Sure. So what, it is innocuous stuff, even if stupid. Let him play, and let’s see what happens. Give him a real shot for the rest of this year and next. At least the rest of this year.
Tweet of the day comes courtesy of Tom Curran of Comcast Sports Net:
Brady and Belichick are that boss.
Praise the Lord! I get home and turn on the game and the Patriots are losing!
No F1 this week, so i found this… http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/concussion-watch/
steve spurrier has retired.
i have loved steve spurrier’s coaching his whole career. i don’t give a damn if he beat georgia 40 times in a row (i love my neighbors, but i road to georgia later in life on an economic rail. i got no dog in the ga-fla war).
spurrier did what he could for the redskins, but he was always a teacher-and-coach, the best kind of college coach, not a pro-administrator coach. plus he couldn’t trade snyder.
at florida he was a fine quarterback. he won the heisman trophy and then, uncharacteristically for those lads, had a competent pro football career.
at duke, florida, and south carolina, he was a caring coach- yes, caring, but also, surprise, winning. yeah, you can show one of those visor-throwing pictures, but you’d only be showing media stereotyping. despite the media claptrap about tempertantrums, spurrier was no bobby knight. look at the guy’s face – humor and kindness. and listen to what his players say about him.
steve spurrier as a coach and teacher was the leader we all could wish our presidents and presidential candidates were modelled after. i’m waiting, but not patiently – f– d– @#*&@ !!! slam!
if you don’t know the guy, here’s an introduction: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_spurrier
an introduction which includes what warrior-footballers would say was a fine epitaph:
“Blindfolded, with his back to the wall, with his hands tied behind him, Steve Spurrier would be a two-point favorite at his own execution.”[9]
in the event you needed to know, and had forgot denis mcdonough’s phone number:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/standings
Here’s a man whose brain has become unmoored from reality. “Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says that cell phone video recordings of police officers are interfering with the officers’ ability to do their jobs … and that is why the murder numbers are rising for his city.” Oh, yeah, right. Time to retire and stay home and watch football, buddy.
I always loved Spurrier, even if not always his teams. The man is an American original. Unique and special. Always interesting and worth watching, win, lose or draw. I will miss him on the sideline. Hope he is around being his unfiltered self on TV in some capacity. A good man and a great coach.
Agreed. Rahm is a cancer. Has long been, and most of the folks here have been saying just that for a decade or so. We are not always right, but THAT was a good call. Seriously, what a malefactor Emanuel is.
Well, for all you Patriots fans out there, know that there are fifteen other AFC teams and their fans that are goddamn sick and tired of their superiority. It’s great for you that your team is great, but the rest of us hate them. Hate hate hate. God why can’t they disappear from the face of the earth. So much of the world would be happier. Just go away. Who the _____ needs you.
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OT
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Enquiring minds want to know, since when did Draco Malfoy change his name to Trey Gowdy and become a politician?
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http://ak-hdl.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr06/2013/8/21/12/enhanced-buzz-27253-1377101277-30.jpg
Trash talk of a different kind – teaser at the LA Times site:
Jonah Goldberg
Hillary Clinton’s enabler-in-chief