74 thoughts on “February 25, 2014: I Collect Spores, Mold and Fungus”

  1. John Denney, Dolphins player rep, on the Incognito scandal:

    if you put an investigation on any of the 32 teams in the NFL, you’re going to come out with the exact same results.’

    I believe him. I also believe that's the most damning admission made yet.

    1. On Mike and Mike, he said it was true of any workplace with teams.

      "Remember that time in the break room where I threatened to rape your sister? Good times."

      1. "Football (soccer) is a gentleman's game played by beasts. Rugby is a beastly game played my gentlemen. American football is a beastly game played by beasts."

    3. It is a damning admission, but I don't believe you'd get "the exact same results". That's a very self-serving claim on his part.

      1. I'm at least as disturbed by this:

        Quarterback Ryan Tannehill said he’s confident the necessary changes will be made to ensure a healthy locker room environment. Tannehill made his first public comments regarding the 144-page report.

        ‘‘I saw a few pages of it,’’ Tannehill said. ‘‘I got overwhelmed by 140-and-whatever pages and skipped it. I’m just glad it’s out. The evaluations and summaries have been made, the points have been taken, and now we can move forward. There’s no more being anxious about it coming out. We’ve had the consequences and repercussions, and now we can put it in the past and move forward.’’

        So, "I didn't read it, but now that it's out we can stuff it back into a closet."

      2. Exact same results on all 32 teams is probably an exaggeration, but I'll bet you'd get similar results on a lot of teams. I think that's why so many players said this was being overblown. They'd all seen similar things before.

    3. I think my streak will end today. I'm going to think about it for a few minutes before guessing.

      2. Oh well, I'll just randomly say

        'Spoiler' SelectShow

        because I picture him doing something stupid like spelling his name like that and I can barely make that out in the last name of the bottom right. I think the streak is done.

  5. so, I get an invite from a (real) friend on the Bookface to "like" the Chazen Museum of Art in Mad-town. I look at their page and see this:

    The Chazen Museum of Art is a valued resource, presenting a significant permanent collection, compelling temporary exhibitions, and innovative programming. The museum, on the UW-Madison campus, offers something new and extraordinary every visit.

    Sorry, but I can't in good conscience "like" an art museum fomenting that kind of atrocious corporate strategic-speak.

      2. When the word "ideation" became part of the vernacular was when I through my metaphorical hands up. Literally.

            1. Heh, "Ideation" is what my company named the program they rolled out last year for "idea generation" between the plants and corporate. I despised the term even before checking out the Wiki page. Sheesh.

  6. As we slog to the end of the meteorological winter, I am reminded of my old saying that it's not January that determines how bad a winter is. It's always cold in January. If the other months suck that's what makes it terrible. Lo and behold, January, at 4.4 degrees, will be the warmest month of this winter [in Fargo].

      1. Normally, those are two day events. Snow and then it's gone. Last year, however, April's average temperature was 33.8 (the coldest April since at least 1942) and Fargo got 16.7 inches of snow. In other words, there wasn't much melting at all. The last few days, the temps shot up into the 70s. 19 days where the temperature didn't reach 40 degrees. Oy vey, that was something.

          1. We're coming up on OGZ's 2nd birthday (on Sunday), and I remember the weather was gorgeous. I check on the historical weather data confirms - we had 2" of snow for the beginning of the month with lows in the 40's by mid March. Somehow, I don't think that's happening this year...

    2. I'd say that meteorological seasons may be shorter or longer than the 3 calendar months given latitude.
      Sure, Dec-Feb may be good for Arkansas, but north of the 40th parallel, we go at least Nov 20-March 20.

        2. you can see that astronomical winter is shunted to the right a bit on the graph

          shunted is a Sconnie word.

  8. I'm working from home today. I actually left for work around 8:15 a.m. When I got to 610, it was backed up all the way from 252 almost back to 169 due to an accident (about a 4-5 mile stretch). So I get out of that parking lot and head back to 169 to try I94. Turns out the eastbound lane was backed up, stop and go, from 252/East River Road all the way out to Rogers! I got to the overpass and took a look each direction, took the exit and didn't even bother to merge onto the freeway, I just stayed in the ramp lane, turned around on 169 and came home. This winter can just blow me.

    1. Having said that, a guy who could catch and shoot threes might not be the worst idea as a backup for a certain upper midwestern club.

    2. that's one guy who consistently got waaaaay too much press coverage from the local guys. When your sometimes-third-string, sometimes-backup PG is getting a lot of mentions in game stories (and frequent photos and/or features) in the local press, (a) your team sucks and (b) WTF?

      He's the Tim Tebow of the NBA, but with less physical talent.

      1. Well, yes, he's not a good player. He had draft bust written all over him.

        But, if he could play for 10 minutes and shoot 2-4 from three (.493 on the season), I'd take that on this club.

          1. I should clarify. He IS shooting 49 pct this season from three, but SSST. He is around 40 pct for his career.

              1. 41 pct would put a guy in the top 20 in the league so far this year. Ray Allen is right at 40.0 pct for his career. So, yea, I over-spoke in my criticism.

                If Jimmer could contribute 40+ pct shooting from 3-pt range and launch 2-3 per game in ~10-15 minutes of situational play, he could probably be a useful player in the league.

                Steve Kerr is the career leader at 45.4 pct. In his prime with Chicago, he was playing 22-25 minutes per night, attempting 2-3 threes per game and shooting north of 43 pct (including seasons of 52.4 pct and 51.5 pct!!!!!1111one1111!!!!)

  11. I found a good Youtube channel for piano tutorials - Mario Ajero. I have the basics of "Falling Slowly" down, and now I'm working on "Someone Like You".

  13. I was in Sicily last year in September and was into Sicilian futbol.

    From Sicily, moving on up to Serie A is Palermo (Trapani just missing the cut):

    Italia Serie B Standings:
    CLUB P W D L GD PTS
    Palermo 26 13 8 5 17 47
    Empoli 26 12 9 5 15 45
    Cesena 26 10 12 4 11 42
    Trapani 26 10 11 5 8 41

    And moving on down from Serie A:
    18 Livorno 25 5 5 15 26 45 3 3 7 16 22 2 2 8 10 23 -19 20
    19 Catania 25 4 7 14 19 43 4 5 3 13 14 0 2 11 6 29 -24 19
    20 Sassuolo 25 4 5 16 25 54 3 1 8 13 27 1 4 8 12 27 -29 17

  14. Gophers have now won five straight home games when playing Top 25 teams. And yet, they have three home losses this season. Such is the life of a first-year coach.

    1. And Love is well on his way to his second career triple-double. It's nice to see him get those higher assist numbers, but would sure be a lot easier if he was passing to better shooters than DC and Brew.

  17. Man, I love that when Love is out on the elbow extended then Brewer back cuts for an easy lay up

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