125 thoughts on “November 19, 2012: Money”

  1. I've been ranting since I returned to these shores about the opening of stores at 9pm on thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday because there is no pressure to give / get / spend anything on anything other than a meal. Is one day off from consumerism too much to ask? I guess so. Now get off my lawn.

    1. Our company is one of the few that didn't decide to open early. I'm very happy with them for that, and I hope the employees of other companies that claim they'll be boycotting the 9pm openings follow through on it. Even midnight is ridiculous. 5am is what it was when I started in this company, and there was nothing wrong with it. Now we have these strangely dead hours from 3am-6am when the rush is over but the normal people haven't woken up yet. Our numbers haven't really changed, so I see no benefit to the midnight opening.

      Also, here's a sad truth for you: our first people for the Black Friday line showed up yesterday. Yesterday.

    2. Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday because there is no pressure to give / get / spend anything on anything other than a meal.

      It's only pressure if you allow it to be. I will be naïvely digesting, tyvm.

      1. I disagree. We're bombarded with advertisements and images of what a 'correct; christmas looks like from the beginning of October though the 25 of December. We've always made gifts and toys for the nieces and nephew, but now they're demanding store bought items. I simply can't compete with the advertisers when it comes to supplying artificial happiness. I tire of the race to have 'the' thing, and even tire of the conversation of what to buy for my brothers and parents every year. Hell, I even tire of the question, "what do you want this year". What I want is to hang out with my family, shovel a little snow, play a board game or two and drink my dad's good whiskey.

        1. I simply can't compete with the advertisers when it comes to supplying artificial happiness.

          so true. Kids watch too much TV, and "failure of consumer sovereignty" is a feature-not-a-bug with kids. Advertising really does change their preferences, in ways that are (somewhat) less true for the average adult.

          meat, don't give up. the nieces and nephews will eventually realize that hand-made gifts from their quirky artist nuncle are worth their weight in gold. and then they will invent memories of how awesome you were when they were little.

          1. What bS said. Don't give up. Be an example that it's okay to refuse to do something just because "everyone else does it." and it's okay not to have something just because "everyone else has it". They probably won't appreciate that now, but they very well might later.

            1. I definitely agree with meat's point that the culture of Christmas gift-giving makes life difficult on those who don't wish to participate. I try to scale back gift-giving every chance I get, but if, say, my mother-in-law insists on getting us gifts for the holidays, I feel obligated to reciprocate, otherwise I am essentially picking a fight that I'd rather not pick.

          2. The only TV my kids regularly watch is Qubo.
            Every Christmas, their TV wish list is basically every item advertised on Qubo.

          3. Kids watch too much TV, and "failure of consumer sovereignty" is a feature-not-a-bug with kids. Advertising really does change their preferences, in ways that are (somewhat) less true for the average adult.

            I used to not believe much in the power of advertising, but now I've seen the power that Dicknbert have over Twins fans. I think it's in our nature to want to believe what we hear, it's even stressful to disagree often with things you hear.

        2. You are singing my tune, brother. I have long advocated no gifts at Christmas (if I could make my own gifts, that would be a different story). My siblings and I haven't bought each other gifts for decades now, but there was pressure to buy a gift for each kid (there are 12 of them, one of which is mine). Two of my siblings are on board with this, but one of them isn't and she (I don't want to give it away, but I have one sister) insists on buying for everyone. That makes it a pretty untenable situation, so I end up buying crap for kids that they don't really want or need because one of my siblings hasn't figured out that she is driving that boat.

          Ultimately, just saying no to the bullshit marketing event that is the "Christmas season" is a difficult thing to do. Some folks will not understand and may become offended. Hopefully, they will eventually understand exactly what you re saying no to.

          1. We've gone the "godparents give gifts to godchildren" route for nieces/nephews on one side, and on the other side where not everyone does the baptism thing we just draw names. I have never felt any compulsion to give gifts to nieces or nephews otherwise, but I came from a big family, and that kind of thing would have been absurd long before I was born.

            I very much love gift giving at Christmas, but I'm also usually buying for a small handful of people (13 children in my family + 7 spouses, of which I get one drawn name; 6 children + 3 spouses on my wife's side, of which I get one drawn name; Philosofette, my kids, folks), and usually am not buying anything that has been advertised (tickets to see the Wild, German-style board games, specific books and music with personal meaning, jewelry from local art shops, cedar chests, etc.).

            I've somehow gotten myself into a very good place where I'm able to largely ignore the consumerism, and enjoy the aspects of the season which consumerism otherwise distorts.

            1. we did the "draw a name" thing in the Mrs's family for Hanukkah for years, until her sibs got around to having kids. Now we've mostly transitioned away from gifts for adults. Hurrah!

            2. I tried to go the way of godchildren, but some of the kids have godchildren that are outside of our immediate family, so they wouldn't have gifts to open at the big opening event. And, of course, my sister has flat out said, I'm not going to limit myself to just my godchildren. My two brothers do not have the financial means that she has, so they cannot reciprocate without it hurting. I have tried to explain this to her, but she's not budging, so I give up.

              My brother is my daughter's godfather. He is a divorced father of seven (!!!!) and he effectively has sole custody. I do not freaking want him wasting time buying some junk for my daughter. I do not want that! She has all she needs and then some.

              I realize that sometimes we have to go along to get along, but suffice it to say that whatever day that we have this Christmas gift opening event is the least favorite day of the year for me.

          2. I would understand the gift-giving more if people were able to give really meaningful gifts. I would say that it's probably difficult to give a meaningful give to 12 different kids, even if you're related to them. I am with you and the guys, one gift for each of the 12 kids should work out fine.

          3. Some of my Aunts and cousins with kids in the same geration as mine buy gifts for my kids each year.
            We've once expressed that there's no need to do that and that we won't reciprocate, but the gifts keep coming.
            They're not that substantial and many go to "bless others".

            1. Festivus seems to come earlier and earlier every year.
              Pretty soon stores'll set out the aluminum poles before Armistice Day decorations are taken down.

        3. When I say there's no pressure, I'm referring to shopping early on Thanksgiving, not on Christmas shopping period.

          Since it's Thanksgiving season, I'll say that I'm thankful that my daughter is old enough to appreciate what she gets, and wants necessities and not frivolous stuff (okay some is frivolous, but not throwaway crap at least). For years now I've bought the beautiful $5 calendars that UP puts out each year and given them as gifts to my siblings, father, and my friend / daughter's godfather / railroad fan. They know they're getting this from me, and if they want to give a gift at all (I certainly don't care if they do), it's up to them what they want to spend.

          I still shake my head when I get a gift from my parents each year and it contains a CD of the Three Tenors, Pavarotti, the Mantovani Collection, or something similar that my mom somehow thinks I'd like. I don't even know who I could re-gift them to.

              1. I'm just arguing her point.
                1. You like film scores.
                2. Film scores count as classical.
                3. Ergo, you like classical.
                4. Three tenors are classical.
                5. Ergo, you like Three tenors.

                1. I doubt that she knows I like soundtracks. She does know that I like classical. I think you can just start at step 3. I'm not saying it's flawed logic, I'm just saying that I don't know an easy way to tell her I have 5 years of gift CDs still in their shrink wrap.

          2. Right.

            I went to Home Depot yesterday and they had a Christmas tree that played music. OMG. No way in hell I let that into my house.

    3. Hey, I'm right there with you, man. I recently got into an argument with my wife and sister-in-law about how much and why I effing hate Christmas, mostly because of the obligation gift giving has become and because I have no spiritual reason to celebrate.

      Now Thanksgiving, there's a holiday. Cook and eat good food and have a good time with friends and/or family? Sign me up. I can't think of another day that manages to retain some semblance of holiday purity, though like you said, that sounds like its slipping away.

      1. I solved the problem by hanging out with the Tribe 😉

        more seriously, my family was never all that materially oriented to begin with. Christmas was more about eating mass quantities at the grandparents' houses. I did get a couple of memorable (albeit relatively inexpensive) gifts from MY favorite uncle back in the day. But mostly I remember hanging out.

      2. Thanksgiving and 4th of July are my two favorite holidays because of the "Cook and eat good food and have a good time with friends and/or family" aspects.

            2. I grilled last night - merlot & garlic marinated goose breast. It was wild goose so I let it marinate for nearly 2 days...still didn't quite smooth out the "gamey" taste. Plus, goose should be prepared medium rare but that's hard to nail on a grill in the dark & in 40 degree outside temps. My wife took one look and decided to eat leftover pizza. I choked it down on principle.
              Tangentially - I love to hunt waterfowl, but I still haven't found a recipe (marinade or preparation) that makes duck and goose palatable rather than simply edible.

              1. have you tried confitting bird pieces?

                I've never cooked with wild game, or goose period. But duck breast...mmmmm.

                is there enough fat on a wild duck to get the properly crispy skin on the breast without drying it out?

                1. I have not tried confitting as I was led to believe that the fat was what imparted the "gamey" taste. On further investigation, I've come to learn that it probably has more to do with diet and age. We target mallards, woodys, teal and pintail which mostly eat grains and seeds and we look for smaller, "younger" birds. If geese are dumb enough to fly over a duck spread, we take them too...

                  Farm raised duck breast is indeed "mmmmm", I've just never had "mmmmm" wild duck. But then, it's taken some experimentation to learn what I do know and I've only succeeded in making it edible. That doesn't really compel a cook to try more.

                  Most wild ducks have pretty good fat reserves, especially the late, northern birds. As I alluded to, medium rare is the best way to keep them from drying out. Overcooked they take on a strong, liver taste and the texture of a $2 steak.
                  Thanks for the response - I think I'll give this a try.

    4. I convinced my family last year to knock everything down to one gift, and save multiple gifts for the young children. It had gotten to the point that we'd give each other lists of the movies/CDs/games we wanted, and we were basically exchanging Best Buy gift cards. My extended family also started to draw names so everyone got one gift only, which was a blessing. I'm lucky to not feel any obligation to spend a lot of money anymore.

      Hand-made or surprise gifts are the best. If I know my wife might love something, I generally don't wait for a birthday or anniversary or whatever. I just get it and give it to her on a random Tuesday. It still works.

    5. Ive been boycotting 'Black Friday' (really, thats a stupid name for a day) before it was cool. But that was because I hate shopping at crowded stores.

      1. I think that initially it was a popular day for shopping because people had the day off and Christmas was around the corner, so you might be able to "beat the rush" by shopping early and avoiding the weekend. Now that "Black Friday" (agreed on the name) is the rush, I'm with you--the crowds are obnoxious and waiting in line to shop is not very high on my list of priorities these days. Anecdotally, I've found that going in the afternoon is usually not a big deal--with some stores maybe even a little more empty than usual--if there's something you need to pick up. (Laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc.)

        2. Since I was curious:

          The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.[4][5] Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".[4][6]

          I'd known about the "in the black" part, but the true origins are news to me.

  3. the Boy does not return from college until friday, having weaseled his way into an invite to a classmate's house (along with several other classmates, including The Girlfriend!!!!!!111one1111!!!). So, the Girl has asked for a Vegan Thanksgiving.

    on the menu (so far): pav bhaji, latkes (eggless, but, presumably, still including a little knuckle blood), homemade apple sauce. I haven't decided what else yet, because this clearly is insufficiently gluttonous.

      1. possibly. I've never made it with coconut milk, but this might be the year.

        also, pie crusts are a problem. They require solid-at-room-temperature fats, preferably ones that taste good. My mom always used Crisco, but we all know that butter and lard are the ways to go. 🙁

        1. Well, it may not be the best option, but graham cracker crusts aren't terrible if you need to go that way.

          1. I'd consider just going crustless. No crust > bad crust. Or graham cracker. Cheap ain't wrong about that.

              1. Pumpkin pie flavors can be put into cheescake. Just sayin.

                Crap, that makes it less vegan. You're between a rock and a hard place here, doc.

                1. Yes, yes I am.

                  On the other hand, I made Thai Red Curry Squash Soup last night for dinner.

                  It. was. awesome.

                  I made some minor changes to the linked recipe. Namely, I didn't have lime leaves or lemon grass, and I didn't pay attention to the crispy ginger garnish instructions. I used my vegetable peeler to take the rind off of a lime and added that to the pot with the onions, 3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed and chopped), and about an inch of ginger (peeled and chopped). I also supremed the rest of the lime and added the sections. I used a quart of good-quality vegetable stock (the one from Pacific is quite good) in place of the water. I used a whole butternut squash (peeled and cubed).

                  for the garnish, I roasted the squash seeds (mixed with a little olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, and cumin) and (for me and the Mrs.) I sauteed some jumbo shrimp.

                  the Miracle Machine made this a velvety-smooth soup, but your blender or food processor could probably produce an excellent result as well.

                    1. almost forgot. AFTER blending, I added a pile o' sliced mushrooms to the reheating soup, so that it had a little textural component. Num num.

                      *also also: I added two tablespoons of brown sugar AND A CHOPPED JALAPENO along with the red curry paste at the saute stage, rather than following the recipe's suggestion of adding the sugar later. Also, I may or may not have added a couple tablespoons of fish sauce. Is rotted baitfish juice vegan?

                      **alsoX3: I added a handful of chopped cilantro stems to the pot at the "add the coconut milk" stage, and had chopped cilantro as an additional garnish. this was my feeble attempt to substitute for the missing lemongrass.

            2. I would also advocate for ditching the crust, perhaps ditching the pumpkin as well. There seem to be plenty of good vegan desserts out there since sugar and fruit are in play.

    3. I would vote for loads of sweet potatoes and squash, perhaps with brown sugar. Of course, I would also vote for a delicious pasture-raised turkey, so my votes may not count. 🙂

          1. Dude, don't step in that turkey pie!

            mmmm, turkey pie

            In the Modern American Free-Range Poultry Production System birds are much less crowded and freer to practice normal bird behaviour than in any other pasture based system.

  4. The results of the investigation into my workplace complaint are in. Long story short, I thought I was the victim going to testify for the prosecution. Turns out I was the defendant and never got a chance to confront the witnesses against me.

    Fortunately, there was a second meeting with my new supervisor, the entire meeting of which consisted of "here's problem X with your work" and me and my new supervisor jointly saying "yeah, that's not really a problem any more, or never was."

    So going forward, it looks like there's a chance that things can be better. At least, there would be if I had any faith in the organization generally. But after the way they handled the investigation, it has become even more obvious that protecting senior staff is far more important than client service.

    1. at least you got a new supervisor out of the deal. Best wishes for a new, healthier work environment!

      1. Well, actually... the new supervisor was appointed a few months ago, before I raised the issues. In fact, her promotion over me was one of the decisions that was made that I considered hostile. I do think it speaks volumes though that, despite that initial tension (and it went both ways, to hear her tell it), we've developed a good working relationship and she's convinced that the problems I allegedly have don't really exist.

  5. Maryland to the Big1T?en. Rutgers will likely follow. Millions more households with B1G network thrust upon them. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Can we all agree that this is ridiculous, bordering on disgraceful?

    Note: all the blanks were created by a series of dollar signs. Just so you know.

    1. for Maryland, no. They cut 8 sports programs because they dont have any money and that sweet sweet Big Ten money will help balance some budgets.

      and from reading around, some academia types like this move because the Big Ten and the University of Chicago apply for (and get) mega dollar grants for research and they share all the information within the alliance. Because College Park is so close to Washington DC, the U of Maryland gets a lot of research money for things like science, and health. And NOAA is building a huge center on campus.

      but, is this a power/money grab by the Big Ten? absolutely.

      2. I know what you're saying, but the only reason Maryland doesn't have any money is because they've decided to spend millions of dollars on coaches. I wouldn't really trust them to spend the Big Ten money any more responsibly than they've spent the money they already had.

        Doesn't it also seem odd that sports conferences would have anything to do with grant money? I don't doubt your claim, it's just a strange, strange situation.

          1. From the link:

            Given Maryland's financial problems, this amount of money is not chump change. Maryland's overall budget last year was only $57mil itself, after all; adding another $7-to-$10mil in revenue would be a foundational, radical change to the department. Cynics say this would go toward ego: bigger weight rooms, redeveloped A.D. offices, things that don't really matter. But with Maryland, a department well and truly on the brink, trying to pay off massive debt, shedding programs just to retain long-term viability, I doubt it. Given their situation, this is the type of money that means improving facilities instead of cutting sports, hiring elite coaches instead of settling, cutting coaches loose instead of holding on due to an inability to pay their buyouts.

            Madness! Just madness. I swear I'm not a total GOML guy (look, just today I've suggested completely remodeling the way that college football is structured, I don't mind change!), but this guy's line of reasoning escapes me. I am a cynic, and I think that improved athletic facilities and elite coaches are precisely the sorts of things that don't really matter. The money spent on improved facilities is largely for show--to get better recruits. I don't think this would be such a big deal if teams didn't have so many football scholarships. USC can bury great players on the bench--players that they attracted with shiny facilities, amongst other things--players that would be contributing for other teams if USC didn't have so many scholarships to hand out.

            Coaching matters a lot for success in the NCAA, which is why I think that the NCAA should impose term limits on coaches in the revenue sports, especially in light of Penn State's recent fiasco--JoePa was bigger than the program, but no one is bigger than the program if they can only be the head coach for five years. Also, if you paid your coach so much that you can't afford his buyout, you paid him too much. The real lesson here should be that paying a coach a lot of money doesn't guarantee success, but this blogger's take is what Maryland really needs is to throw more money at a new coach.

            Given the current system, I understand that this works out well for Maryland, but I don't understand how 80% of the ADs in the country aren't going to, say, Congress to complain about the race to the bottom in collegiate athletics. It shouldn't be so expensive to run a sports team. High schools run great sports teams on fractions of a fraction of what top D1 schools pay. And if sports programs aren't bringing in enough money to even keep other sports alive, I don't see what financial value they really bring to universities. The return on investment has to be terrible, but everyone feels that they have to keep up with the Joneses.

        2. Make no bones about it, moving to the B1G is all about TV $$$ but there is an academic component to it too. Academic was actually an important piece behind Nebraska's somewhat easy willingness to jump as they wanted to be associated with some of the academical programs that come with the B1G. Besides athletics, the B1G has a number of academic associations with it too and is highly regarded academically.

          1. I am not claiming that the academic associations don't exist, I am saying that the academic associations are bizarre. Why should academic alliances have anything to do with sporting alliances?

            1. In this case, I think it is more about serendipity. Most of the B1G schools are leading research institutions; and, of course, U-Chicago has an historical link to the conference, which it has maintained on the academic side.

              1. From dw's link above, it seems like the Big Ten is the only conference that has such a significant academic arm. I think that if Maryland really wanted to just join academically, they could have found a way. Maybe this is good for everyone involved on the academic side, but it's clear that it's a side effect. Perhaps it is appropriate that sports come first and academics maybe come along for the ride--that seems to be the case for a lot of men's D1 football and basketball professionals student athletes.

            2. I agree it's a little bizarre but there are actually a bunch of alliances both academic and administrative. All the B1G energy managers get together every year to talk about ways to better heat and cool their buildings, there are other alliances among food service, residential life, and public safety. There is also the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) which includes all B1G schools and the University of Chicago. It's a lot more than serendipity, it's a concerted effort and a part of the B1G membership.

              Here's the link on the CIC:

              http://www.cic.net/Home.aspx

              EDIT: I should have mentioned that Nebraska wasn't automatically granted membership in the CIC, they had to make promises on committing more dollars to research, something that the academic community was very supportive of. Like I said above, Nebraska joining B1G was of course driven by TV $$$ but also by others who wanted Nebraska to become a higher quality academic institution.

              1. this is perhaps a good place to mention that I have friends who are (former) faculty members at Nebraska (both tenured and not tenured while there). They have, umm, not been complimentary in the past about the administration and the commitment to academics or graduate education in that institution. I am not yet convinced that things have changed for the better.

                on the flip side, my grandfather and uncle both got their M.D.s there and were longtime pillars of their community in NE Nebraska, and I am aware that there are some very good programs at the university. I hope free is right.

              2. Right, when Nebraska was admitted, my parents were thrilled because it meant the value of their degrees would rise with the tide. (They also appreciate the yearly chance to watch the Huskers play the Goofers in football.)

    2. As I noted below, the NCAA is just proving that it's a terrible governing body of sport. Everyone seems to act like polls are inevitable in college football because they can't play very many games. It would require a shift in paradigm, but they could really organize such a better system--I think they are even probably leaving money on the table.

      As far as I can tell, the main constraint on D-1 football seems to be that they can only play 14 games per season. Given that constraint:

      1) Organize the country into 8 geographic regions. Group play should not require excessive travel.

      2) For the first year, select the top 9 teams per region based on some flawed poll. They are in Tier 1, the second 9 teams in each region are in Tier 2.

      3) Each team gets 3 non-conference games of their choice. These non-conference games have no bearing on the post-season, so teams can feel free to use these games to schedule traditional rivals that got stuck in a different region, big-name schools that will bring in money, or small schools that they can beat the crap out of to boost their ego.

      4) Each team then plays 8 regional games (4 home and 4 away) and gets 1 bye. The top team in the region advances to the 8-team knockout tournament. Those teams play a max of 14 games. If you are really that worried about losing bowl games, allow 2 teams to play 15 games and expand the tournament to 16 teams--the top 2 in each group. Urgency for winning the group would still be provided by having the top seed host the first round of the playoffs.

      5) The 8th place team in Tier 1 hosts the 2nd place team in Tier 2 for a spot in Tier 1. The 9th place team in Tier 1 hosts the 1st place team in Tier 2 for a spot in Tier 1. These are the promotion/relegation games.

      In the end, you'd have 31 post-season games--16 promotion/relegation games and 15 games in the knockout tournament. There are currently 35 bowl games, but I'd bet pretty big that the 31 games would net more money for college football than the 35 bowl games. The NCAA could institute revenue sharing so that the money generated from the postseason was distributed evenly amongst Tier 1 and Tier 2 schools. Teams could be punished for recruiting/booster/academic/etc violations by getting sent to Tier 2, which would force them to play their way up to Tier 1. If there are enough schools to support it, you could add a Tier 3.

      1. You could also do this for college basketball (changing the numbers somewhat--say 10 teams per tier and 18 games in the regionals--play each team home and away), and I'd argue it would make for a better tournament, although they probably would lose money, at least in the beginning.

    3. Note: all the blanks were created by a series of dollar signs. Just so you know.

      That would be due to MathJax. I decided to disable it for now. I think I will adjust its settings so it won't try to generate anything when it sees $$.

  6. Assorted college football thoughts:

    - Did teams from the SEC really schedule cupcake games this late in the season just because the (human) pollsters view a late loss as worse than an early loss? Yes, I believe they did. Maybe college football doesn't need a playoff, but any system that depends on polls leads to absurd crap like that.

    - Severe punishment update: Ohio State is undefeated. Penn State is 7-4. USC is 7-4. It really is too bad that the NCAA ruined these teams with their severe punishments.

    - Mike Leach update: 2-9 overall, 0-8 in the Pac-12.

    - Not feeling this from Poz. A playoff wouldn't preclude excitement like that. The NCAA should really just organize the D-1 football season as a tournament with a group stage (the "regular season") and a knockout tournament (the "post-season"). There would still be weekly drama because with 7-9 games in the group schedule, very, very few teams would clinch their group with more than one or two games left in the group stage.

  7. On a day when the B1G is about to scoop up another $50 million* a month on cable subscriptions, there's this.

    *Just guessing

    1. Yes, there is. Stick's link is to the news that John Gagliardi is finally retiring. It was a good run. End of an era.

      How many other Johnnies are around these parts of the web?

      1. Gagliardi is a legend for so many reasons. I laud him for building a successful program while minimizing contact during practices. Plus, the "beautiful day" drill. I used that when I was coaching li'l girls' soccer. (that and the hokey pokey, but I don't think the Johnnies made the hokey pokey a regular part of practice).

        His legendary list of no's, as well as his success, has drawn countless amounts of national media attention over the years. The Johnnies do not tackle in practice, there are no whistles or tackling dummies, and his players do not refer to him as coach - rather addressing him simply as John.

        There have been no team captains; That honor has been bestowed upon all the seniors on the roster each season. Gagliardi's teams eschew the traditional calisthenics so common to the sport, instead employing such routines as the "beautiful day drill," in which players drop to their backs and gaze up at the sky.

      4. from that strib article comes perhaps the LTE of the year:

        truthhurts73
        Nov. 19, 1211:17 AM

        Funny, when the going finally gets tough, the stadium is deserted and the coach quits. I guess that pretty much sums up Johnnie football for ya. Who is the Strib going to kowtow to now that the most overrated coach in NCAA history has finally retired?

        I can't tell whether this person is being ironic or clueless.

        1. I'm guessing the later. Probably someone who was burned by SJU football in some way or another.

          My cousin is an assistant coach of some sort or other (and the head wrestling coach) at SJU. He's offered some interesting assessments about why the team has gone downhill. Sounds like it's actually Gagliardi's lack of involvement (and thus his son's significant involvement) that's been doing the most damage.

          Also, I'm probably going to go re-read The Sweet Season now. It was written while I was there, and I met Mr. Murphy on a couple of occasions, including a fairly lengthy tailgating session at their last national championship game. It's not fantastic writing, by any means, but it's the kind of thing that makes you appreciate the heck out of the important things in life.

      1. What concerns me is Roy was brought in to score and there are not exactly a bevy of two guards available who can do that. Ideally when Love comes back scoring isn't going to be a concern-- but do you know what is? I HAVEN'T HEARD A SINGLE KEVIN LOVE UPDATE SINCE HE WAS INJURED! As ct says below, sometimes no news is good news but when it comes to injuries, or more specifically coming back from them, any news is good news.

        As far as the two guard rotation goes however, I think Shved is better served as a sub and I wonder if Coach is going to play Luke at that two once JJ comes back. We know he will see action at the two when Rubio gets back.

        The Wolves have a chance to be a good team this season for sure. They are going to need more players at the wing thank AK though to make any real waves. I am hoping for the best but it doesn't take Dr. Jack to know they need healthy players.

        1. After spending 10 minutes at Canis it would seem that I have a lower opinion of Derek Williams' trade value than others.

          1. If reading VoodooMagic's posts is what gave you that impression, I wouldn't take it to mean much. That guy has always had an inflated opinion of Williams.

              1. Most of those trades are kinda of bonkers, for sure. Josh Smith? Come on. The Magic trade for Redick is an absolute best case scenario in my mind.

                1. I don't think VooDoo is a pothead, but he might as well be given how most of his proposals are nothing but pipe dreams.

                  1. You've seen the offers I have been putting together. And I feel guilty even asking for a microwave oven.

                  2. The fact that Williams is pretty useless is just bad luck. He was the consensus #2 pick, and he's a bust. I mean, the Jonny Flynn travishamockery is one thing, but this is what really sucks. They got a high pick, they took the guy they should have taken, and he can't play.

                    1. I think most reasonable fans are in agreement with this. With that said, I think it is best to cut bait, especially in a time of need, before we have to give away first round picks to find a taker.

  9. I'd hoped to get somewhat caught up on winter baseball today, but for a variety of reasons it did not happen. I will now be leaving for a few days. We'll resume the process of catching up upon my return.

  11. Not to go all Forbidden Zoney, but fears that China (or North Korea, as the new Red Dawn would have it) is going to conquer 'merica are all hogwash. Why? Because we control an essential strategic resource:

    In the ultimate irony, China, Japan and Korea now import chopsticks from a manufacturing plant in Georgia, stamped “Made in U.S.A.”

  12. Greetings from my front yard. I am waiting for my daughter to come home and man is it beautiful outside. This is the middle of November? It is hard to believe.

    1. Heavy rains in Seattle--definitely November here. I'm not really complaining, though, this time of year rain in Seattle means snow in the mountains and skiing around the corner.

      1. it has been raining off and on here, which is a bit unusual. We normally get the vast majority of our ~20 inches of annual precip during December-March.

        I pulled most of my tomatoes and my green beans out a couple of weeks ago. The green beans were still producing, but I couldn't get anyone to pick them (I get home too late). The tomatoes were not producing all season. I left one Super Sweet 100 plant in the ground. It IS producing a few tomatoes still.

        Oranges are now fast-tracking from green to orange and should be ripe for the picking around New Year's. They do best after a few nights in the 30s.

    2. 60ish for a high tomorrow, 65 for Wednesday. wow

      the weather has been fine, but I wouldnt mind a 3 days rain that drops 5 inches, or a big ole snowstorm. the ground is very dry and would hate for water restrictions to start taking place (Fairmont has some, and Mankato is asking big water consumers like factories to cut back)

      1. also, I went to Mankato on Saturday and was shocked how low the rivers were. The Blue Earth is basically a giant sand bar with a ankle deep stream in it, the Minnesota River looked like it had no flow to it.

        1. Yes, driving along the Minnesota from Mankato to the Twin Cities last week, it looked like you could walk across portions of it near St. Peter.

  13. Okay, no hockey so far this season. Whenever they come back, the league will likely change in some way. Here are my unsolicited suggestions:

    1) Make league standings based on wins. If tied on wins, then break ties based on the number of games tied. If tied on wins and games tied, then break ties based on shootout wins. This way, ties and shootouts can only help you if you're winning games in general.

    2) Adopt a college football-style overtime--alternating power plays. If tied after 60 minutes, flip a coin, and one team decides whether they want to get the man advantage first or second. If tied after two 2-minute periods of 5v4, then move to two 2-minute periods of 5v3. Unlike a traditional power play, the advantage remains if a team scores a goal. The point is to break the tie by encouraging a high-scoring environment while still doing something that resembles hockey more than a skills competition. Hopefully this breaks more ties than previous overtime methods.

    3) If still tied after the two 2-minute periods of 5v3, go to a shootout.

    I would also say they should consider fewer games to give players more time to heal up nagging injuries, but I know that's not going to happen.

  16. it was 30 years ago when little ol Chaminade beat #1 ranked Virgina in Maui. Its not that level, but D-2 Chaminade beat Texas by 13 points. Chaminade shot 37% from the field. LOL

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