unclevlad

MLB wants Judge in a major market, but they're not gonna worry about *which* that much. Plus, is anyone else really viable? How many teams can afford him? And what would be wrong with Boston? Hey, the buzz!!!! Reverse-Ruth man!!! Dodgers are likely out...not necessarily, but with their massive payroll already, the luxury tax hit would be crushing. Cubs, no. I don't see Judge going there, but again...MLB would be happy. Big PR there. It simply does not make enough difference that MLB would risk the *entire integrity of the sport* to do this. If anyone could PROVE MLB was complicit? My god, it would make Black Sox look like tampering over a minor leaguer. It would be a crushing blow that would damage the game for *years*. A recurring comment from the people on MLB Network has been that the managers have little or nothing to do with the game, on most teams. All decisions are driven by the analytics people. I'm an analytics guy. It's just way, way too easy to fall into traps...in basketball, the Rockets fell into the massive trap in the past, of layups or 3-pointers only. They don't realize that the mid-range threat improves the 3 point looks. In football, it's stuff like the pitch play in the FSU-LSU game that gave LSU the ball back. In poker, always making the mathematically correct play does NOT win...because it gives too much info to your opponent when you fail to vary your play. Analytics can be extremely short-sighted and miss nuance because it fails to shape the question properly.

ohhhh my..... did not expect that one, altho Rafa's health and state of game are obviously question marks, and according to the NYT, he was having physical problems. American tennis is making a comeback...even bigger on the women's side overall. Obviously Serena's been dominant, and Venus for a good decade, but now there's 4 in the top 20, and 2 more in the top 35.

If everything is at megascale, then nothing is at megascale. You've simply redefined the fundamental scale What Grail and I are saying is that you simplify EVERYTHING in the rules by making this even more fundamental...change the scale and DON'T use Megascale, which is supposed to be very much non-combat. Your combat speed is 36,000 km/turn...which, BTW, is 0.01 C, 1%. C is 300,000 km/sec, so .1 C is 30,000 instead of 3,000. That's why I say, DON'T specify. It just comes back to bite you. But that's your combat speed, so changing the scale fully leaves you within the combat rules. And another advantage is, you don't have to pay extreme costs for your sensors, since MegaScale would triple THEIR cost. Same with the weapons. You get to express everything in much simpler terms. Hex is fine, in fact a WHOLE lot easier, but 50-100 km is not ship scale, not even at 0.01 C. That's eyeblink scale...you cover 100 km in 1/30th of a second. The point that the computer controls everything's a given. There is no choice at the speeds involved. Human reaction variation is much too high. Maintaining suspension of disbelief is hard enough for direct-fire weapons like phasers, shooting at a 1 km-sized box or so, from 10,000 km away, when that box is moving at 3000 km/second. The accuracy required is *obscenely* high. Humans process information and react 2-3 orders of magnitude too slowly, at least. So this is just a given.

Pretty good bet that Oregon will, because they love to lampoon a team. Navy...maybe, maybe not. Delaware is FCS, sure, but they were top 20...now they're top 10. So expected to be pretty decent. Altho, this may be another poor year for Navy so they might get in. BTW: here's ESPN's for week 0; looks like these are dropping on Tuesdays. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34488025/college-football-bottom-10-zeroing-worst-teams-country Yep, we're already #3 with a bullet...and that was before the Thursday beat-down. Oh, and UNM was in there too...making New Mexico the ONLY state with 2 teams in the bottom 10! WOW!!! End of FSU-LSU was....week 1. Got to give a degree of tolerance; situational football likely hasn't seen much work yet. And good gosh, there was a bunch of poor situational play. Muffed punt by the LSU returner...coaches are gonna have to talk to the kid, he was crushed. 3rd down at the 2, minute and a half, FSU's already forced LSU to burn one TO...and they run a PITCH PLAY? A kneeldown would've given a chip shot FG, after forcing LSU to burn another TO. In the overwhelmingly likely case it works, it's a 2 score game. Pitch play is riskier...and it burned them. The pitch was a bit behind the back...just a bit. Manageable. Back didn't focus on it; he never had it in his hands. On the ground, LSU recovers. Then of course, they execute a very nice drive, ultimately aided by a horrific review situation. The receiver running down the sideline, at the 2, has a first down so it'll be first and goal...did his knee touch down or did the ball go OB first? It matters because there were only gonna be 1 or 2 seconds left. Call on the field was, ball went OB...in which case, the clock starts on the snap. In fact, the receiver's knee went down in bounds. First down rule...clock starts on the ready for play. LSU had no more TOs. Now, if it's going to start on the ready for play, they'd have to get set and GO!!! right there. On the snap, they can settle, run a little motion, do whatever. The replay took FOREVER. It shouldn't have. It was a totally botched call; the knee was down in bounds, and the shots were very clear. HOWEVER, because of the replay, the other team's allowed to run their play...the clock started on the snap. ARGH!!!!! To make it worse, this seemed to take a good 10 minutes. I mean, SERIOUSLY long. So LSU executes the play, finds the receiver, back of the end zone. TOUCHDOWN!!!!! Crowd goes wild. Cool, OT coming...they're kicking. OK, no real argument with that. Especially at home with momentum. But the kicker......................... <sigh> Bad technique or just poor execution, but the kick's SUPER low...and blocked. Credit to the FSU kick rush, but it was also really clear, that kick was a line drive. Not what you want on a 20 yard kick.

Got one too. I don't use it as much because it's just me, and doing up a big ol' chunk of pork shoulder...that's a lot to go through. But, yeah, do it right and yummm........

Yeah, well, conspiracy theorists mold any piece of information to fit their narrative, regardless of the Rube Goldberg nature of some...like this one. Judge is getting his homers when no one's on, from what I've seen. Altho you may also be right that he could get walked more. EDIT: and here's another case. Judge nails a 2 run HR, bottom 6th, tie game. So another possibility is that the stats guys HATE!!!!! giving bases up, HATE!!!! putting a runner in scoring position. (There was a runner on first.) And there's a massive weakness with analytics people: failing to go past the surface implications. The numbers are versus average hitters......not Aaron Judge. Watching Twins-Yanks right now. Interesting stat...on this day in 1918, Babe Ruth threw a shut-out in game 1 of the World Series. Ohh...ok. 1918 was the year the US entered the European War, and Labor Day was the original deferral date given to MLB players for enlisting or risk being drafted. So the season was shortened. Still, looking over the schedule played...and then checking 1923...the opening date was mid-April. They still got the games in...because in part, double headers were VERY common. July 4th, 1923...every team played a double header. Obviously, the 4th, and the biggest holiday of the season. But you can find QUITE a few scattered through the schedule, particularly in the summer with the longer days. Oh, BTW: Judge only leads the AL by 20-something. He only leads the majors by 18......<snark off> I don't pay that much attention to those things, but this wouldn't surprise me if it's the largest margin for the homer title ever. VERY likely in the modern game...call that post-1958, when the Dodgers and Giants left their tiny ballparks in New York. There's a note I found about the 1899 season, where one player hit 25...the next best was 12. But one of the fences was less than 200 feet from the plate. In 2010, Bautista had 54, Pujols had 42. In '65, Mays had 52, McCovey 39. That looks to be the largest margin since WW II, unless I messed up clicking through the Baseball Reference numbers...

Let's hope. The same writer penned an article about Biden's speech; the link is in there. One quote from it: Elsewhere.... They aren't? It's not easy to inflict a deep or dangerous wound with a knife. It can happen, yes, but it's not easy. Granted, many gunshot wounds will be in relatively low-lethality places, but any torso hit has a much higher chance, I believe, of requiring emergency surgery. A physically non-threatening person with a knife...yes, they're still likely non-threatening. But a scenario where a substantial percentage is carrying? How many of them have good training, not only in weapons operation, but in practicing good fire discipline, in keeping a cool head? Suddenly you have several people brandishing a gun, say right after shots are fired. Who's the shooter??? I'll grant that this spiraling is probably quite unlikely, but if it does happen, it may well be seriously bloody. And you're only looking at the defensive side. An attacker with a knife in most situations can be dealt with. He has to close. Perhaps there are items nearby for defense...even a chair. If the attacker focuses on on one person, others can often scramble away. It will take more time, which should generally lead to lower injuries and casualties before responders can arrive. None of this holds true when the nutjob has a gun, or worse, multiple guns a la Uvalde.

What Grail said. Redefine a hex for ships. To go a step further, don't bother specifying it, like 1 hex = 10,000 meters. A core mistake in sci fi is over-defining; it just comes back to bite you with inconsistencies. Space is HUGE. 1 astronomical unit (AU) is the distance from the earth to the sun, 90 million miles or 150 million km. So to cross 1 AU per hour, you need to move 2.5 million km per minute, or 500,000 km per turn. That's not meters, it's km. Let's say SPD 5 for the ship, so it's 100,000 km per phase. So you're looking at +2 Megascale, 1" = 10,000 km unless you want to assign a really large base level. And that's just 1 AU per hour. The problems get even weirder if you insist on megascale for the ship movement and the weapon ranges, because you kick in the combat penalties for noncombat movement...OCV 0, DCV half. Oh, and if you use it...the ships have velocity-based DCVs from hell. DCV 1/2 has the nasty aspect that you do it absolutely LAST...so that cuts the DCVs down, but they're crazy high to start with. MegaRange takes care of the range mods, but velo DCV is meters per turn...and our 1 AU per hour pace shows that's 500,000,000. 500 is 7; x1000 is +20 (10 doublings). So it's DCV 47. Nooo thank you. Redefine and abstract. Sci fi does it all the time. Military sci fi may not...but e.g. Glynn Stewart's ship combats include "we'll know in 15 minutes when the missile salvos reach"...and that doesn't work for a game.

And Kyrgios takes a 24 point first set breaker...then the match in 4 sets. Medvedev loses the #1 seed; Nadal takes over as things move forward, obviously subject to change. Medvedev would drop to 4th if Ruud and Acaraz win their next matches. Standard wisdom is that Nick can beat anyone. His worst enemy has been himself throughout. He's not blowing up now...or not nearly so much. And now he's got to be considered a serious title contender. He's also moved back into the top 20 at 18...and obviously threatening higher. Maybe some people just take a while to grow up...

So instead of 10 dead and 15 in the hospital, which is horrible enough to be sure...you'd rather it was 20 or so dead, and who knows how many in the hospital? Secondary: how many mass stabbings have there been, versus mass shootings? A stabbing event will almost always be more contained. This one is horrific...and probably wouldn't be as bad had guns been used. Knives do tend to be quieter. But it's an aberration among mass attack, I think. Pre-dawn, planned, one might think targeted. You'd think this would be a more contained, targeted incident. Sounds like the cops suspect there were specific targets, and the rest were "hey, while we're at it...." Now, if your point is that gun control is not the be-all and end-all...I completely agree. The point of gun control is to make it less easy to pull off a Pulse, Mandalay Bay, or Parkland. That when guns are in an incident, lethality is FAR higher...the damage to any target tends to be higher, and more victims can be targeted in a short period of time. It doesn't address the root causes; it simply hopes to disenable them to a degree. Trying to actually prevent incidents like this in the first place is far, far more difficult. Who knows when someone transitions from frustrated and angry to murderous? Presumption of innocence is a MAJOR problem here. What constitutes sufficient cause to detain? And, a really, REALLY cynical perspective? Some Republicans love these. Adore them...in private. Because they advance the progression to a police state that they want.

Fair enough...and sound argument for the Republicans generally. For Trump specifically? I always look for the convoluted, self-interest rationalizations over long-term tactical thinking.

We don't. Because as bad as this would be in many ways, let's face it...I figure he'll do a dozen things that are FAR worse in the first year.

Yankees pulled out the win today, but not in a confidence-boosting way. Up 2-0, top 8th...runners on 2nd and 3rd with none out, they don't score. Continuation of massive offensive drought. Bottom 9th...double, fly ball deep enough to let the runner advance to 3rd. Single, scoring. Line out. Double, so winning run in scoring position...and the run didn't score because the ball was pulled down 3rd, hit the seats down the foul line, and bounced back into the field. Let that ball go into the corner? Runner would likely have been sent, and I think he would've scored. So, 2 outs, the count gets to full. Last pitch is called a low strike...but it was down. SHOULD have been a walk. So they escape, but nothing about it was great. In other news, it's possible Dallas Keuchel's career may be over. Fifth in the Cy Youhg as recently as 2020, but since then...a disaster. DFA'd by Texas after 2 disastrous starts, it's the 3rd time this year. 14 starts, 9 ERA, 2-9 record.

I'd forgotten that. From https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/politics/donald-trump-voter-fraud-popular-vote In hindsight, this is more interesting than we realized. Trump holds grudges, and they're largely the only things he really holds onto. (Well, ok, and his self-aggrandizement.) So one wonders if his railing against voting machines maybe has its roots here. It's twisted logic, I'll grant, but if his opponents *liked* the electronic votes, then....how can he? And he definitely seems the type to dwell on insults. It could simply be that the OBVIOUS result...he's the most popular person in history, how could he NOT have won the popular vote???? Then bring in the Green Party's challenge to his win. If Trump gets the nomination in '24, we're so hosed. If he wins......unmitigated disaster. Doubt anyone here will argue that...only the level of the wreckage. BUT, even if he loses, we'll be in for a potential constitutional crisis. Will states refuse to follow the popular vote? The volume of litigation and push for recounts will keep the issue on the front burner WELL into December. How many local and state elections boards will refuse to certify? How much intimidation...perhaps not just threats, but actual violence...will election officials feel? Even on election day, voting will, in places at least, be SERIOUSLY uncomfortable, as Trump supporters attempt to intimidate, and in places, actively interfere? The '20 election cycle was bad. Locally, since we elect the governor, it's bad; the Republican campaign is its usual. But if Trump's running again in '24, it'll make '20 look like as polite as a little girls' tea party.

In Arizona, Kari Lake was pushing election fraud even after she won. Part of this is Republican fearmongering at its finest. Take an issue they can rant on, and even when it doesn't apply, bring it forward to reinforce the position.

Interesting analytical piece from FiveThirtyEight: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-trumps-presence-in-the-midterms-is-risky-for-the-gop/

Sorry, my bad, Alaska. I would expect that when you have that large a slate, you use 2 rounds. First round reduces from X to something manageable...3-5, I'd think, if there's no clear choice.

Holy epic collapse, Batman! Rays have pulled to within *3* in the loss column to the Yankees, winning again today 2-1. The offense has been anemic...and they put Benintendi on the IL today with, IIRC, wrist inflammation. The saving grace for them may be that the Rays have 9 against the Blue Jays and 6 against the Astros...and that they have 18 games in 17 days...3 with Yanks, 9 with Jays (including a double header), 3 with Astros. Then 1 off-day and finish with 9 on the road...Cleveland, Houston, Boston. AL East has an amazing # of division games left. Baltimore and Toronto have *10* against each other.

I believe it's top 3, from what I saw.

Sorry, I phrased that badly. I was linking that school of yours and Oregon in my mind.

As opposed to your school, with its affiliations.....

Well if Bama rented that mule, they're not getting their deposit back...but I know a glue factory that might be interested.... I note you dodged mentioning that OTHER Pac-12 school from your state......fair enough, they don't warrant mention. Ohio State starts slow but they're pretty much taking the Irish behind the woodshed in the second half. Most excellent. Even had some high hopes...North Dakota was tied with Nebraska well into the game at 17. Alas, that was the end of my dream.... Skullhead, it wasn't the way you spent the afternoon...no deck here or, who knows, I mighta done the same...or that we *know* your biases. You guys had a nice scrimmage. UTEP's perennial Bottom 10. EDIT: oh, my. Fowler dropped a nugget. Ohio State's closing out the 21-10 win...apparently in front of 10, 5-star, *uncommitted* recruits. Along with a bunch of alums, this guy named James and his kid, and all the recruits who've committed already. This is how the rich grow richer. (And by getting a sweet paycheck for being ESPN's primetime national game.)

As a one-time courtesy to Mr. P, I shall refrain from reporting the score of the Alabama game.

Slept in my Pet Benatar t shirt and hit wuthering heights....

Works for me, particularly if they're just normal wolves, and preferably NOT near their den...and therefore cubs. But if it's in their den, and they've got cubs? That's trickier.