unclevlad

Ehh, one never knows when esoteric knowledge can come in useful, like conceptualizing a (literally) fusion-powered character. Or going into Wild and Crazy Matter...the central thesis being the character has 3 levels of shrinking...with the Normal Mass advantage. (So rough density...500. 24x the density of platinum.)

The harp seal.

They won't move a weekend. They won't introduce a gap week. Not a chance in...that place. Zip. Nada. The reschedule is already announced; Washington-Pitt went to Monday; Ravens-Cowboys is Tuesday. Moving the Super Bowl is the absolute NIGHTMARE. The absolute, complete, worst case sort of cancelling it...they might move it, if the local area's outbreak becomes too severe. That's possible. But it's blatant now that the #1 priority is to get a result for every game, while holding to the schedule generally. Mmm...a parallel nightmare is, a team has a very large outbreak a la the Ravens, while in the playoffs...the later, of course, the worse, but any time after the first-round games are played is VERY bad. One of the guys on NFL Live posited that the importance of the Ravens-Steelers matchup was why they first shifted it. They *did not* want a lousy game on Thanksgiving night *at all*. So figure how much worse it would be if it was a playoff game. Since then, it's been "we will do ANYTHING to try to get the game in" as the outbreak in Baltimore has spiraled. I concede the point that the NFL looks ridiculous making all these delays, tho. But they're intransigent. Booger McFarland twice commended the league and NFLPA for getting all the games in; that's pretty much a mindless platitude that fails to consider issues like the Denver game. Then again, he's an ex-player so he's inclined to read the situation that way.

Another way to do this is to leave your STR alone, and buy a 3d6 HA with double knockback. You have to determine the damage added from STR because the double KB affects that; here, it'd take the normal 9d6 and drop it to 6d6...which, with the HA, means it's a net 9d6. Reason for doing this: the double KB, if it's applied normally to your STR, technically impacts END even when it's nonsensical, such as lifting something. Player can choose to use an adder or not at whim; but an advantage always affects END. An alternative would be to make the Double KB a Naked Advantage on your STR, but a naked advantage can't be included in a framework. Finally, if you define it as an HA, you're getting a mild cost break. From a pure design standpoint, I'll add that the exponential growth on lifting STR has never sat very well with the very slow increase in damage. I basically always buy either 1d6 of HA, or 1 martial arts HTH DC, for every 5 points over 20. YMMV.

Of course, colleges shouldn't be playing at all, IMO. Not right now. From GopherSports.com:

Adam Shefter just said he talked to a player who didn't want to get onto the plane, which is pretty much the same point. With as many positive cases, darn straight. And yeah, ok, there's the opt-out, but at this point? The optics are terrible *this late* into the season. The whole situation with the Raves-Steelers game has now passed far beyond ridiculous, IMO. I don't disagree that the Bronco game could have, and probably should have, not been played...but there are 18 Ravens players who've tested positive. Cripes, that hammers the 53 man roster down to 35. This could make the Saints win look like a nail-biter; I wouldn't be all that surprised if its 31-0 at the half, honestly. IF it gets played. This game should be cancelled, but the league seems dug in: THE GAMES WILL GO ON!

Oops. I lost track.... Oh well. Latest updates show even more how great the farce is.

OK, so the league is turning up the dial on the farce meter. Ravens-Steelers postponed AGAIN until Wednesday. So at this point, my take is both the Broncos and the league botched that game. 3 delays is ludicrous. Asking the Ravens to play a game with NO practice time *in over a week" is ludicrous. I think at this point, we can accuse the league of major wishful thinking...that things would go well, and not enough planning for entirely foreseeable situations like this took place. And with respect to Pariah for considering the Packers' and Seahawks' issues with giving the Saints a freebie...here, you have to consider the impact on the Steelers. Wednesday, then Sunday. Not just standings, but health...I hate TNF because the turnaround isn't long enough, and Pittsburgh is being forced into that position. And even if the game *doesn't* get played Wednesday...a massive, desperate money grab...the Steelers have lost all prep time for Washington.

Uh oh....next up on Scandal NFL...Uniformgate!!!!

Ahhh. I remember that now; that was during Gary Barnett's tenure. Of very bad memory. You're right; she did. The young lady from Vandy was the first female to play in a Power 5 conference game. (The Power 5, for our non-American contributors, are the SEC, Pac 12, Big 10, Big 12, and ACC. They basically own college football, and dominate college basketball. They were expanding into other sports too, such as lacrosse, before this year.) EDIT: worst uni's...now there's a fun poll. I saw chunks of that South Florida game; the green doesn't bother me as much, altho, yeah, it's pretty bad. Worse than Oregon, tho, IMO...is Baylor. Especially their basketball uniforms. ARGH!!! They're the worst eyesores for me, that I can recall offhand. You will, I trust, forgive me if I don't try too hard to remember many others......

On the flip side, tho, what options did the league have? Postpone...until when? IIRC the protocol is 5 days for contact violations. Contact included Friday, I believe, so that means Wednesday *at the earliest*....and now you're well into interfering with week 13's schedule. That spreads the mess. So some of this is timing, if you're contrasting this with the Ravens. The Ravens were supposed to play on Thursdays; slipping those back to Sunday doesn't create a ripple. Sunday to Tuesday...I think the difference is the degree of spread. The Ravens closed their whole facility for Friday and Saturday. I don't believe the Broncos did, so the rest of the team was nominally prepared. And, last: the Denver QBs tried to cover it up. That's a major amplifier, almost always; it's taking it from negligence to willful recklessness, on the reasonable assumption that they were hoping to skate through and play. So, yeah, I get that Green Bay and Seattle fans/teams can be a bit upset, but it wasn't about the Saints, or the indirect impacts. The Broncos fundamentally were forced to forfeit because their players broke the rules. The league took the most commercial approach to doing so, to be sure; that can't be ignored. This might be construed as the most expedient solution...but it's a plausible one, in my book. Valuing expediency isn't horrible here. EDIT: hoo boy, it's possible the Ravens-Steelers game will STILL be called off. Ravens not practicing today. Ravens have at least a dozen players who've tested positive...so that's the longer quarantine. And if I caught the Bottom Line flash, 18 players will be unavailable overall. So that's probably even more crippling than not having a QB, because it means *every* unit is probably going to be screwed up.

Yuma is a little worse than Phoenix. But it's kinda splitting hairs. I've been in Yuma in....June, IIRC, and Tucson in August. Phoenix, been there but don't recall the months. They're all insane. Vegas a couple times, but always in the fall. And of course there's Palm Springs, but I haven't been there. It's a bit higher still. It's bad enough down here in southern New Mexico...and we run 10 degrees cooler. 105 is average for Vegas or Phoenix in July; it's exceptional for us. Not close to a record, but we don't get that hot more than a few days a year, and reasonably often, don't see it at all. 102 is quite bad enough for me. It does get notably cooler here in winter, but it's still not bad. Doesn't drop much below the upper teens regularly; single digits is *rare*. Of course, I was here in Feb. 2011, when it hit the deep freeze...for areas like this anyway. But that was a major freak. Rolling blackouts throughout town because the power plants were having trouble running. Wasn't a fun few days.

So, this was news to me. SI reports this: So one of the Broncos was asserting the league was punishing the Broncos by making them play today. Yeah...I can believe that. And support the league doing so, overall. Follow the rules, kiddies, OR ELSE. Broncos should dock all 3 QBs the game check. Of course...even having someone who is nominally a quarterback...and has, in fact, started numerous games...doesn't imply competency. Just ask Bears fans.

Doug Marrone may now be considered a dead man walking. GM Dave Caldwell got axed; 10 straight losses tends to do that, with all the other personnel mis-steps. So Marrone goes at the end of the season, after the new GM's picked. And goooood grief Charlie Brown, someone teach Carr to get rid of the ball on HIS terms...rather than the lineman stripping it. Raiders are the most *wildly* inconsistent team this year. Falcons have life after Quinn's departure but....43-6?

Mostly lauded, that I saw. She's the goalie on their womens' soccer team, and walked on as a kicker, so it's logical enough. Plus, she only got into the game for 1 play...the second half kickoff...and the team tried a middle kick...try to get the ball bouncing behind the front line of blockers, but well in front of the return men. Slight chance the kicking team can recover it; if not, it doesn't give the receiving team particularly good field position or much of a chance to return it. I suspect she was told "get off the field" after the kick...let's get real, most of the guys would outweigh her by *at least* 100 pounds. And it was, apparently, necessitated because the normal kickers were down due to covid or contact tracing.

Albums: Dire Straits, Communique; Knopfler and Harris, Real Live Roadrunning; Queen, greatest hits vol. 2; the Fantasia soundtrack; DG recording of Berlin Phil performing Beethoven's 9th Movies: Magnificent Seven, Doctor Strange, Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, and...hmmm...how about The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Books is tough. Ender's Game. Gaiman's Neverwhere. Stranger in a Strange Land. A double pick that's still a bit of a cheat...Bujold's Penric stories. I think it's up to 6 but most are novellas.

I *think* the reason the Broncos are stuck trying to play today is that their outbreak is narrower. The killer is...where it hit. I agree that from a competitive standpoint, the game's a farce, but we all know the league cares far more about getting the games in the books than anything else. I think if it was an NCAA game, it wouldn't have been played because there's roster size *and* positional requirements. I'm glad I'm not watching; CBS has KC-Bucs and that's the only game on. Because...ok, I don't demand pass-happy, but I strongly suspect this game is setting a record for fewest net yards passing combined. 1 yard. That's with a minute left, and the Broncos about to get the ball. They're 0-6. So, hey, could be 2 records...fewest completions in a half. Guaranteed to tie it, if they don't complete one in the last minute. OHHHH my...no, they don't throw incompletions...they throw a pick........ And the Saints throw a 20 yard completion...so that probably kills the combined net yards...

He's at Iona. That's pretty much run off to the boonies.

Oh man... Cause of death was not listed specifically; it was only reported as "a short illness." But he was 85, so any illness is serious.

"But what is truth? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths, are mine the same as yours?" Pilate to Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, the Trial before Pilate This is the root problem. You've merely increased their antagonism because their truths are not the same as yours.

It's more basic than that. The stolen election is simply *one* of the narratives. They have to be re-engaged more basically. The election is simply the next in line, after climate change is all BS, coronavirus isn't all that bad, etc. etc. The urban/rural worldviews are probably as diametrically opposite as the black/white perceptions.

So you're suggesting all those fake fur pieces are actually tribble?

But there might be a big opportunity here, with minks being destroyed for carrying a mutated form of Covid....

I wonder if Vegas has taken this game off the board.... EDIT: nope. Line went from Saints -5.5 to Saints -14.5...one of the biggest spreads of the year. Over/under went from 45.5 to 36.5...and the writer suggested the under at that, which I think is right. I don't think there will be many plays; the Broncos will seemingly have to try to run the ball, ergo, darn near running clock as long as they have the ball. I'm thinking something like 23-6...which is comfortably under.

There is a difference between playing, and playing competently. The league isn't concerned with the latter, only the former. Oh yeah, and I forgot to note...local rule in the county is no contact sports, trying to prevent the spread. Also impacts Stanford. If things get uglier with the feared post-Thanksgiving surge, local restrictions like this could easily pop up in many areas.