unclevlad

And they're railing about a letter from 16 years ago...and in fact, Serena was having problems. December, 2005, she was #11. By March, #58. Bottomed out in July, #140. Ended the year at #95. From the French Open 2005 through the US Open 2006, she skipped 3, and didn't make it past the 4th round in the other 4. She'd pulled off the Serena Slam in 2002-3, but in that stretch, she was playing badly. So if anything, I'd read it as tough love, and entirely deserved. But we are all too aware that ANY criticism of an icon, justified or not, will be met with derision and denial, *forever*.

Well, if Scott's right, and we do know licensing fits Zaslav's pattern much better...it seems like there'll have to be a process before licensing for gaming. If I'm a gaming company exec, first, I want to know who's getting the comics licenses, and to which products. What's their production strategy? I need to look at the character bibles. I'd prefer to actually have some of their comics in production...and see what the sales numbers are looking like. If they remain as utterly disastrous as past posts here have indicated...I might not even want to commit to a development process, and for darn sure, it will impact the structure of any license fees. I'd also like to know what WarnDisc's movie and TV plans are, because the quality of movies and TV would seem likely to be strong influencers on game sales. This is not a quick process.

Ya gotta think Putin is irate, as this has blown past embarrassing, through utterly humiliating, and straight into a total debacle. Newsweek published a story that helicopters are being used to capture deserters in the Kherson region. It's not confirmed but given what we've been hearing all along, it certainly feels credible.

Deja vu. App State upends Texas A&M...so much for being #6. App State is much like Marshall...made a bowl game every year they were eligible (first time was 2015). Won 6 in a row before losing last year. Also 1 top-25 season. So again, a solid enough team, but a team you *have* to beat to stay high up in the national rankings. Gonna be one of those years in college football, looks like...an epidemic of upsets.

But watch out, cuz if that cat gets mad, that fire aura is gonna come out... <that really is spectacular coloring, even if it is perfect hellcat coloring>

Swiatek takes her 2nd major; after an absolutely historic run through the French Open, she'd had a tough summer, but came through in New York. She now has more than twice the rating points as second place...who happens to be Jabeur, and that's her career high. Also, this marks the first time in *ages* where the real-time #1 and #2 seeds have played in the both the men's and women's finals.

And elsewhere....Marshall just finished off Notre Dame, to make my weekend complete. 26-15. Marshall's not a bad team; they consistently make bowl games, but generally, we're talking those 2nd and 3rd tier games. They've only ended up ranked once in the last 19 seasons...and that was 23rd and 22nd. So ND is now 0-2, and this one's a home loss to an unranked team. Because it's Notre Dame...and IMO, only because...they may stay in the top 25, but they shouldn't.

Remember which thread we're in here, my friends. Oh wait, I know!!! Tribbleworld. Go back to sleep, you'll be able to escape next time you wake up. But speaking of alternate universes, this has to be a Bama from an alternate universe. TONS of mental mistakes...most penalties in the Saban era. LITTLE offensive punch for the first 50 minutes. I really, really hate to use the C-word, but it's that...or just assert the refs are having a horrific game. In favor of Bama, mostly. Egregious face mask on the ball carrier...missed. Bad PI on the targeted receiver...missed. Bama takes the lead back with 10 seconds left, but it's 20-19, not Bama -20. Desperation play for Texas after the kickoff, with only 5 seconds to go and needing 76 yards...and nope, doesn't happen. VERY much a game Bama deserved to lose...and there should be a good chance they'll lose #1, depending on how well the other top 2 or 3 do. Oh dear. Dropped over to CBS. Colorado vs. Air Force. Just in time to watch the replay, as Air Force scores on a 14 yard run. 33 seconds into the game........ Oh. Colorado QB doesn't look the snap in; it wasn't great but should've been handled. So, take the kickoff, then turn it over, and capped with a 1 play gouge. I think I'll go look for a different game. And look for Colorado in the Bottom 10 next week.

Yeah, in the minors when those restrictions were in place, I believe they said stealing was more prevalent. And the restrictions on throwing over will create some interesting dynamics. The other point brought up is, when the pitch clock gets down to 2 or 1, a runner on first can play head games back at the pitcher, because the runner has freedom...the pitcher doesn't. Some runners will start a touch prematurely and get picked off, but you can also expect a few more balks.

And down our way, I believe we've got a strong candidate for, if not the, Pillow Fight of the Week. Yes, indeed. In football, NMSU and UTEP do count as 4-letter words. UTEP is the one looking for redemption here...they're -17, so Vegas expects them to get it.

Tolkien Gateway noted there were some who didn't, but by and large, they did. The influence of Morgoth first, then Sauron, covered most of the First and Second Ages. And Numenor wasn't exactly coming in as liberators. 2 Wizards worked in the East. Apparently, late in life, Tolkien changed the story with these: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Blue_Wizards#Later_writings But still, it's a lot like the French Resistance under Nazi occupation...for millenia. Not sure there's a story there to draw a large crowd, particularly since there was no major event connected to it to serve as a point of reference/calling card. (As in "many Bothans died to get us this information.") If we constrast this with, say, the Second Age and the story they're laying out in The Rings of Power...there's a lot of spectacularly cool stuff to do, before things fall apart. I still have mixed feelings about watching it, but I'm more inclined to watch Second Age stuff than First Age. First Age is just disaster after disaster once Ungoliant poisons the Trees. (And it's probably too idyllic to be interesting before that, IIRC.)

I'd say that you were just being catty when you said "meat is evil!" then.....but that can't be, because cats are obligate carnivores. I'll see myself out....

But unfortunately, the much less important half. Good match, tho. And consolation prize? Highest stakes singles match in ages on Sunday afternoon.

I've seen shifts against certain right-handers. It's not common; generally it's the lumbering types, IIRC, who hammer the ball but also take forever to get down the line. Catchers, for example. They were talking about this during the games today, and afterward on MLB Network. A big factor was BABiP, batting average on balls in play...has been dropping, because the radical shift...SS or 3rd base 2-3 steps on the right side of 2nd, 2nd baseman 7-10 steps into the outfield. Note that also means the 2nd baseman's countering a number of fly balls, AND is allowing the right fielder to play deeper. So...yeah, I can see it. They were saying it was a pretty sizable drop. They also mentioned the immobile, or less mobile, 2nd baseman. This might be more common than one would think at first glance...because no slap hitters are allowed. So 2nd basemen today are...I don't think the size of 3rd basemen of 25 years ago, but maybe? Can't say as I really looked. We KNOW shortstops are consistently bigger...let's leave Oneal Cruz out of this for the moment, he's an aberration no matter what, but there's 9 shortstops right now with 15+ HRs. And base stealing is way down...that's another classic 2nd baseman angle. So, maybe the mobile 2nd baseman is much less common. I HATE the change because, as far as I'm concerned, any tactical choices should be allowed. Smart play...shifting properly...should never be banned. OTOH, I agree that the game is SERIOUSLY boring because there's so little action...along with, at times, horribly slow pace of play. I still don't know how much banning shifts will help, but clearly it will...or it wouldn't be league-wide. Oh, the reason why, I think, it's "feet on the dirt" is because without it, you would probably see quite a bit of pushing the limits...shortstop as close to 2nd as allowed, AND leaning towards 1st. (I'm not sure when the infielders are allowed to move, but I suspect it's when the pitch is released.) With the 2nd baseman in about his same position as npw, perhaps a step or two towards 2nd...he'll still get to many sharp 2-hoppers that get past the first baseman, he still covers the mid-depths, he still allows the right fielder to play deeper. Force his feet onto the dirt, and none of that's possible. I don't think the larger bases will make any difference on steals...at least not tactically. 90 feet is 1080 inches. We're talking 4 1/2 inches shorter, base edge to base edge, so that's 1 part in 240. If stealing a base takes 3 seconds, we're talking about 1/100th of a second. Yeah, on occasion, that will come into play, but tactically? Meaningless. Other factors will matter more...such as, if mobility becomes more valued, if the singles and doubles hitters' value increases, if the game moves away from "all I do is hit dingers"...steals will be more valuable. I believe there's been *some* move in that direction, by some teams, anyway. Another angle: the Yankees' major issues last year were: --all blasters, no one getting on base first (the Dodgers are THE model here) --serious defensive limitations, if not downright deficiencies. They'd seemingly addressed those when they were running away with everything...but more recently? No one's getting on, AND they're not blasting that much. Running creates more scoring chances, and it forces defensive mistakes. The analytics guys tend to miss that latter. Tell ya one thing my sadistic streak is looking forward to. The veteran pitcher who's never dealt with the pitch clock...who's done it His Way for 10 years...then gets called for ball 4 because he takes too long. I'm looking forward to the blow-up on the field...even if he can't argue, there's a real good chance it'll rattle him *good*...and then the post-game meltdown. BTW, this was, from reports, part of the reason why the players *didn't* vote for the pitch clock. Tough noogies, kiddies. Cope. This is in your control.

Alcaraz takes sets 2 and 3...6-1 in the third...but Tiafoe comes back. Forces another tiebreaker, and wins it...he is 8-0 in tiebreakers in this Open, a new record.

First crack is from Alacaraz. Double faults to drop the first set tiebreaker; Tiafoe, 8-6 in the breaker.

Heh. No, probably several years ago. The good news is, it's all labor, so...not exactly cheap but the estimate is manageable.

I suppose so, but on the flip side...who cares about em? That's not meant to be personal. It's just that there's no fan connection to them. Expanding on them is something world-building geeks like (yeah, I count myself), but the majority want to start from something familiar. Plus, here's the background info on the Haradrim: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Haradrim Dark skinned, barbaric, warlike, oppressed periodically, evil. What kind of picture does THAT paint? And what kind of reaction would be generated?

Meat is life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And in it now. Saved serve relatively easily twice to win the last set 6-2. Ruud technically takes over the #1 spot, but Alcaraz passes him if he wins tonight. The Ruud story is amazing enough...he started the year at #8. But Alcaraz started at #32...to vault SO much in a year is amazing. And it's not a 1- or 2-tournament result, as was Raducanu. Mostly it was a great clay-court run...won Barcelona and Madrid, quarters in Paris (losing to Zverev). But he did great on the Sunshine Double, Indian Wells semi and winning Miami. Those are both hard-court 1000s.

And if it is Ruud-Alcaraz, they're playing for #1 AND their first major title. First time for that; to start with, it's very rare for both players to be in that position. Ruud is up 2-1 in sets and a break in the 4th; Tiafoe-Alcaraz comes after it. Scheduled for 7 Eastern, but it's 6 now. IF this goes to 5 sets...ok, probably not, Ruud just got a 2nd break to go up 4-1 and about to serve...but if it does, that match will get started late. A question will be how much Alcaraz' marathon 5 hour match (that ended, IIRC, around 3 Eastern time on Thursday) took out of him.

The issue is the basis for the objection, and its highly subjective application. As a counter, tho, one can argue many of these took place before it was even a consideration, particularly during the heyday of the Hollywood star system. And figure, too: multiple centuries of Christian iconography present Christ as white. So...it's not as simple as the tweet presents. It never is.

What's scary as heck to me is that the Florida commission overseeing judges, went with (according to an NBC story on this) a $50,000 fine and 120 day suspension...backed up by a report from the Florida Bar Association. Another reason why this was egregious on the part of the judge...if anyone *needed* more...this is from the Bar Assoc's story https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/court-removes-brevard-county-judge-murphy/ That's rather damaging to those defendants. I don't think it's grounds to overturn any adverse finding down the line, as these are preliminary hearings, but it's really bad. EDIT: he agreed he botched that later.

So, hand washing glasses and plastic; not unusual. Hear a THUD!! What... The faucet's turning looser than it should... Wait...what's that big gap...... Cheapo home builders. Granite countertop, great! Undermount sink, fine. ONLY using glue to mount it...not so fine. The glue gave out. The better way is to support the weight; the glue will fail. It lasted for about 10 years, tho, so the builder's off the hook. And of course it's Friday afternoon. And these days, service people tend to be VERY busy. First countertop people said...late September. OK, that's not good. Next one said Monday. YAY! Can't figure they'll work weekends in any case, right? That'll get the sink re-mounted. There's a second part; they want to dismount the garbage disposal (understandable). So that'll have to be remounted...and reconnected anyway, so dismounting it is no big deal. They did point out, tho: the adhesive will need to cure. So I have the plumber coming in Wednesday. Ugh. Oh well. A few days isn't a crisis.

Note from the US Open. Tomorrow's Swiatek-Jabeur match is the first time since 2013 featuring 2 players in the top 10. One...sure. Serena, clearly, if nothing else. But that's how prevalent upsets have been for a pretty amazingly long time. What's curious is, it's happening now when the rankings for both men and women have been so volatile for the last couple years.