unclevlad

We already know you live in your own personal universe, man.

The rationale about the CAS decision is because she's 15, and therefore gets special treatment and less harsh punishment. Which I find utterly pathetic. The consequence is total chaos. Remember Serena's meltdown at the US Open against Osaka? It was horrible for Osaka; she did nothing wrong but it overshadowed the match and the title. That's what we're having here. It's also quite likely NOT the kid's fault; she's 15, she's probably not got a whole lot of independence. It darn sure isn't the fault of any of the other competitors. But it's a total CF. Another consequence is that the CAS itself is called into question. She might suffer irreparable harm? What about every other top contender, and the sport itself? I was waiting to see what the basis for allowing her to skate was...and it's BS. She should not be skating.

Good news. Daily new case rate is down 40% from the peak, 3 weeks ago. Bad news. It's still over 2 million cases a day. SURPRISING (to me) news. The daily death rate has started to drop (!!!). The peak new case rate was only 3 weeks ago; with prior strains, deaths lagged by, IIRC, 3-5 weeks. But the peak was Feb. 6th, and it's down 8% since then. Based on the WorldOMeters 7-day moving average.

7000 copies? Gut feeling is they could get substantially more than $30 a pop. I suspect this will sell out SERIOUSLY quickly. Certainly hope so, anyway. Very cool project and cause.

I did blank on them. But it's hockey, so who can blame me? That's my story and I'm sticking to it... But you can't say they've sucked long term. That's only been the case since the 2012-13 season; they haven't won a playoff series since, and missed the playoffs the last 5 years. But after the 2005 season with the lockout, through the 12-13 season...won 12 playoff series, won a Stanley Cup, made it to another final. Right now they're sitting 9th in the Eastern Conference, which means they don't make it, and they're 8 points back of 8th, while also having played 3 games *more*. There's still 30-odd games left but that's a sizable gap to make up, so it seems unlikely they'll make the playoffs this year either.

So now Djokovic is going the Kyrie Irving route altogether. Refusing to get vaccinated asserting personal choice factors, and if he can't play in the Slams, so be it. Far as I'm concerned, if he can never play in another tournament, I'm happy.

Goff wasn't exactly excelling with the Rams in the last couple of years. And OK, say Stafford's about #10 among QBs. Rans sent Goff, a pair of 1sts, and a third round pick. The third was in 21, the 1sts are 22 and 23. So push come to shove, Goff's valuation is...well...minimal. Would Stafford be worth a pair of firsts and a third, all in the same, current, year? That feels excessive, but let's say that would've been OK. So Goff is valued at no more than pushing those first round picks forward...and not all that far. Goff was rated #22 with the Rams in 2020...and start looking at the ones below him, it's hard to sink lower on a playoff team. Fitz, Tua, Dalton, Bridgewater, Trubisky, Cam, Drew Lock, Minshew, Wentz, Darnold. And from 2019: Ratings from NFL.com.

Cam anyone remember Detroit making moves to upgrade? Free agent signings or trades, other than dealing Stafford? I doubt it's coincidental that the Pistons haven't been higher than 8th in the East since 2007-8, the last good year for the Hamilton/Billups/Wallace lineup. And 8th in the NBA means you get the conference #1 seed. Yeah, they've been swept all 3 times. The Tigers were up and down there for a while in this stretch, but that's also baseball. So maybe the franchises are part of the problem...but one has to wonder if there's a negative perception about Detroit, disinclining players from going there. Especially to the bad teams.

I'd bet many of us have a fear of octopi. Maybe from bad horror movies as a kid? More likely the thought of some creepy critter dragging us off to a watery death. I do vaguely remember that one, with the octopi not going quietly into the night. How much seafood is handled raw? The shellfish are; IIRC crab goes south REALLY quickly if you don't deal with it; you don't keep dead, raw crab around. And it's that whole visual with octopus...even more than squid. I think I could break down a squid; octopus would be weird. I'll eat squid, from time to time, but it's not something I look for. Relatively bland. I don't recall ever having had octopus. Speaking of that, tonight and tomorrow is sockeye salmon. Looked decent. Kinda funny, too...there was a smallish tail chunk, and a larger, more complete one. Took the larger; looked like, and turned out to be, perfect size to make 2 pieces. I said I'll be cutting it, counter guy was going, most of my customers ask me to do that...they don't even have knives. We were both rolling eyes more or less.

From NYT: Study says they used tree ring data, and from that, the 22 year period from 2000-now is the driest since 800 AD, the limit of their data.

I'm retaining a shred of optimism.

Since this is about Trump, it's too inflammatory to post in news. From NYT: 2011-2020. No lawyer but this feels like it opens the door to a massive, in-depth re-examination of everything in them. Which may have the downside of extending the trial for a very long time, unfortunately.

Oh joy. And now MLB is seeking the power to reduce the size of the Domestic Reserve List, which says how many minor league players a team can have on its roster, at its discretion. This might not be a knee-jerk rejection, but it's close. Worse, it feels seriously antagonizing to the players, which can't make them more amenable to compromise on other things. Particularly after MLB just dropped so many minor league teams so recently. MLB claims they've got no immediate plans to reduce the number, but that's standard posturing. Like the Nets saying they weren't gonna trade Harden, a day before they did. The Orioles are the only team that hasn't listed their spring training dates as TBA...but since pitchers and catchers are supposed to report on the 15th...it's superfluous. Owners' proposals haven't addressed anything substantial, is the sense I have from the reporting. So at this point, I think there is no chance of a 162 game season. At all. And I'm not gonna be shocked if the 2022 season was roughly as long as the 2020 season.

"No, her score on the PSAT. She actually completed 11th grade." (Latter part? She did drop out of her senior year of HS.)

The first year shows were really stilted and formal...or maybe that was just the first few. Been forever since I saw them. My only issue is, they used insanely exotic, expensive ingredients to excess...just because they were there. Truffles or other exotic shrooms. Sea urchin roe. The Christmas battle where one of the chefs made a lobster broth using MULTIPLE!!! live lobsters. Just for the broth. The whole lobster. The meat got tossed. At the time, IIRC, the comment was he used $1000 worth of lobsters...in mid 90's dollars, mind. (OK, fact checking myself, it was the asparagus battle. Which makes some sense.) But hey, HIGH end dining has a fair bit of that. And it was fun, as were the earlier seasons of Iron Chef America. The latter years got rather gimmicky, and had several IMO incompetent judges at times. ICA's slide, as I recall, was largely a mirror of Food Network's slide.

Mr. P, I agree there's places where grass is impractical, or keeping grass in decent shape would be too difficult. I wouldn't support a complete elimination of artificial turf, ever. I've been wondering when golf courses might start getting significant review, but large-scale water conservation is complicated. LOTS of competing interests...do you value LA County golf courses or Imperial Valley (Palm Springs area) lettuce? Did you know that to grow a pound of almonds takes about 1900 gallons of water? And recreation and leisure need some consideration. The crisis isn't that far away; when it gets here, if it isn't already (reservoir levels are horrifically low)...the screaming is going to be from EVERYONE.

I'd love to see if the numbers cited in their movement: 28% more non-contact lower body injuries. 32% more non-contact knee injuries and 69% more non-contact foot and ankle injuries occurred on turf. can be verified. If so, these are clear-cut motivations for the NFLPA. The other factors are interesting, but not necessarily compelling to the league. (But I do like one: a single artificial turf field requires over 200 TONS of plastics. Presumably that's not just the top surface, but also the underlayers for padding and whatnot. That is a lot of material.) Whether it'd be practical everywhere...that's debatable. Whether it would be practical at SoFi...it's a fixed-roof stadium. Would the current roof allow the light in, for the grass to grow properly? And replacing the roof would likely be E X P E N S I V E!!!!!

What test? Every time he opens his mouth, he proves he has no cognitive capacity. The problem is that what he says is still accepted as truth by so many.

Yeah. Realize the path to the Super Bowl in the AFC. Mahomes, Burrow, and/or Josh Allen. I rather suspect that upgrading the O-line will be their #1 priority...especially since their first round pick is #31. Unless they have another pick from somewhere, of course.

Actually, based on being disruptive all game...I'd bet Aaron Donald gets the MVP.

OK, now we're sure. it was written into the network contracts. Every playoff game must have a lead change inside 2 minutes. And Cooper Kupp for MVP. In Kupp We Trust. Well, OK, if Burrow can't come up with a miracle comeback.

Click on the "watch on YouTube" link. But it's part of the halftime show, which I left Sound Off. No, not a fan of who they had performing. Not sure what Cyg meant with her comment, tho...

Or the cornerback's face mask can get yanked. HATE when a major game is so strongly affected by a missed call. WHOAAA...then a slightly mis-targeted throw to a pick... Oh my, da Bengals be roaring...

None of this, unfortunately, gets us any closer to a new CBA and a season. IMO this is also a HORRIBLE time to have a stoppage. People are Not Happy Campers, what with rising costs, continuing restrictions, and the general uncertainly many still face. People want Normal. Baseball is perhaps the quintessence of Normal, at its best. Millionaire players whining about billionaire owners never sits *well*...and right now, I think it'll lead to even more severe backlash than the last one in the 90s.

On the college front... Looks like this is gonna be one of THOSE years....anyone can lose at any time. Top ten teams losing *at home* to unranked...multiple times already. Houston and UCLA were both top 10...and lost 2 in a row. Churn in the top 25 has been massive. Very much looking like, for picking a tournament bracket this year...might as well throw darts, blindfolded. There will be numerous, significant upsets.