Cup of Coffee

February 20, 2019: Let it–NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

25 Comments

Y'all, I am done with snow days. I'm making French toast, which sounds like a treat for my kids, but really it's just because I want it. Stay safe if you have to drive, and good luck to you if you're home all day with your children.

(Stop laughing, bS.)

25 thoughts on “February 20, 2019: Let it–NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

    1. You know, I am not 100% on board with the Row the Boat captain, but Jerry Kill just needs to shut up. The U of M mishandled a lot, but Tracy Claeys did as well. I was fine with the U going a different direction. Every new coach comes in and talks about changing culture. I get that Kill is loyal to his old staff, but let it go.

      1. I tried to imagine what would have happened to me if an employee under me had been suspended by upper management for a suspected sexual assault and I had come out publicly in support of the employees/against upper management. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have lasted through the day.

  4. I watched the end of the Baylor-Iowa State men's basketball game last night. There was a player on Baylor that had transferred from Carleton College. I looked him up. He only played 18 minutes per game his freshman year. He was 2nd team MIAC all defense his sophomore year. Now he is starting for a nationally-ranked Baylor team.

    I have so many questions. He's 6'8" and weighs 240. Is this a Devean George situation where he grew 6 inches when he was 20? How do you go from 2nd team MIAC all defense to starting in the Big 12. How did he end up in Baylor? How is a guy that big not just dominating the MIAC?

    The announcers kept talking about the fact that he transferred from D3 but never got any deeper than that.

      1. I still have so many questions. Have you seen MIAC basketball? Not too many 6'8" athletic kids. Why Baylor? How wasn't he dominant at Carleton?

        1. I think the piece is pretty clear. Limited experience. Huge strides from freshman to sophomore. Huge strides during redshirt year. And he's not a scorer now. He's an opportunistic scorer, not a go-to guy.

          1. You say that like it's common. 2nd team all defense MIAC to a very good top 25 team. I can't think of a single example of that ever happening.

            1. No, not at all. Emphasis on "Huge strides...[and] Huge strides...."

              There probably are a good handful of D-III guys in any year who could be role players for decent D-I teams. That's what he appears to be -- a role player. I have no idea what his ceiling is, but role players are relatively easy to overlook in the recruiting process. Committing a scholarship to a guy who might not contribute for 2-3 years is a big investment in a world that emphasizes short-term payoffs.

              Devean George and (even more so) Terry Porter are huge outliers. George was a go-to star in D-III who clearly was good enough to have been a quality scorer at the D-I level had he transferred. Porter was a guy who steadily progressed from not good enough for D-I to getting invited to the Olympic Team tryouts to getting drafted to becoming an NBA star.

              1. slightly apropos, I knew a guy in high school, a year behind me, who was not a starter on (our very good) h.s. team. He ended up walking on at Iowa Because Reasons. I think he might have made their traveling squad for a year.

                Sometimes, kids just want to pursue their dreams, no matter how unrealistic. I bet there are several D-III to D-I transfers each year that we never hear about because the kids never get off the bench. This one is A Story because he's become a contributor in games, not just a body in practice.

                1. ...we never hear about because the kids never get off the bench.
                  That was my point. It's extremely rare. There are very few D3 players that could be contributors for a good D1 team. Carleton to Baylor is not a typical path.

                  1. well, then, we are making the same point. I never suggested that his was a typical path.

                    I just said that I thought the piece was pretty clear about his path and why he wasn't dominant in the MIAC, but still had ended up becoming a contributor at Baylor. Huge strides + huge strides + role player.

  6. Snowiest Feburary on record in the Twin Cities now. Piled past the old record by four inches and still a week to go. Looking good for setting a big number.

    1. been snowier here is Southern Minnesota. Driving down Main St of my town is like driving through a canyon.

    2. For u VJs out there. Has anyone played "snow days" by Trip Shakespeare? If not, this is my official request.

      1. Not sure if there are any Trip Shakespeare versions out there but I’m pretty sure a New Standards version could be found.

    1. The snow here defied all rational shoveling strategies, and I spent several very frustrating hours outside this afternoon while my children enjoyed unlimited screen time. (The peperoncino did come out with me for a while, and his main contribution was to eat a lot of snow. The jalapeño is normally a reasonably helpful shoveler, be he managed to sprain his knee at the after-school child care program yesterday and is on crutches.)

    1. We have single stream for our city. After reading that and other stories, I think we should go back to making us sort into two or three streams.

  9. First spring training game is tomorrow. The Twins first games are Saturday. They play a couple split squad games. If you have MLB.tv, the first Twins game against the O's will be on MASN.

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