The expected starter, Chandler Morris, actually beat out Duggan in fall camp last year. He’s really well regarded, and better suited to the offensive style Sonny likes. He’s looked good when healthy. In particular he was lights out in the 2021 Baylor game, but just hasn’t stayed healthy, getting hurt, IIRC, in the next game.
He got hurt again vs CU in the first half last year, and Duggan showed he’d improved dramatically. Those of us who’d been watching his career could see some of the same tendencies and temptations were still there, but not as bad and it let let his strengths stand out.
Eh, good for him. The market supports guaranteed contracts for top players, so this is a known business risk for the clubs. Same as with Bale. Their skills have a shelf-life, and the clubs are ruthless, so I generally understand when players use the leverage they have.
Seems to come down to whether your skills and appeal eroding during a year of barebones training are outweighed by the lesser but similar risk of playing in Saudi, combined also with uprooting your life for a year and assuming a higher risk of injury.
One thing I really liked reddit for was reading news and talking about it. I have stopped posting or commenting there now and am in the process of slowly wiping my posting history... but I still browse it for current events a decent bit as it's just a lot more active than over here....
Just in general if we want the Threadiverse to be viable, and by viable I just mean maybe 1% (or even 0.1%) as much engagement as Reddit, a larger percentage of "us" need to produce content, whether links, text threads, or comments. I try to post anything creative I've done (not much), try to engage in comment sections. I've got one community I try to make sure to contribute to daily ( @cfb and I absolutely use your tactic of porting over links, though I find I recoil from the bots who simply bring over everything), and another I mod ( @askamericans ). That last one, I may have sort of painted myself into a corner though, since as an American my questions are unlikely to sustain interest, but I and several others are there waiting to pour out the Cheese Whiz of our cultural knowledge for the benefit of any whose ballpark nachos are in need.
Gross. Once kbin stabilized after those first few days full of Reddit refugees, I stopped going to squabbles, but I made a point of deleting my account today. The dev was oddly secretive and non-collaborative, had a weird cadre of posters extolling his virtues, and his only presence on Reddit was half-baked shit in an entrepreneur subreddit. Now, I have to admit I was expecting a more mainstream enshittification as he tried to monetize, not a full-on (and super quick!) Voat situation.
First, thank you for helping me find victims for my identity theft schemeflair script.
Second, finally asking us to throw down and start some arguments. I like it.
Florida (7-5), and this is probably a bit homerish.
@ Utah - W. I think we might out-croot them in a sloppy opener where lack of depth won't kill us yet.
McNeese - W.
Tennessee - L. Closer than UTK would like, though.
Charlotte - W.
@ UK - W. Time to stop the bleeding.
Vanderbilt - W. If I can't afford a Vandy win, darlin', then I can't afford to dream.
@ SCAR - L. Rattler with hype has historically meant bad Rattler, but maybe he;'s really matured. This will be tough one.
WLOCP - L. Probably NOT closer than UGA would like.
Arky - W. I think Pittman's got a ceiling.
@ LSU - L. C'est la vie, ma cherie.
FSU - W, because fuck 'em, that's why.
TCU (9-3). A lot is dependent on Chandler Morris not shattering into a million pieces and the skill position pipeline continuing to hum, but I think they'll be better while doing worse.
CU - W. Buffs look good for a quarter and a half, but Frogs figure some things out and put them away.
Nicholls - W.
@ Houston - W. They don't have the talent yet, and Dana is past it.
SMU - W. It'll be way tighter than it should be though. Skillet is an underrated rivalry.
WVU - W. Morgantown is tough. Good thing this one is in Fort Worth.
@ISU - W. I don't see 1-8 in B12 play like last year, but they've got some shit to figure out in Ames.
BYU - W. No magic underpants will save you.
@ KSU - L. The balloon pops.
@ TTU - L. Tech made a sneaky good hire and they will have something to prove at home.
UT - W. I have doubts about Ewers and Sarkisian, and TCU just seems to have their number. Nice rebound game.
Baylor - W. Playoffs out of the picture, and CCG will be a tough ask. The Revivalry will be the Frogs' motivation game.
@ OU - L. Last year was a mess, but Venables is a good coach, they recruit well, and TCU decidedly does NOT have their number.
I used to do Scout camp outside Boone, NC. I love the Smokies. I actually applied to UTK for undergrad and law school, and one of my buddies from Florida did go to law school there. Awesome campus, and the hills will get your calves in good shape. Shame that they ran out of pigment before the orange could be the proper shade, though.
ACC considering adding Cal, Stanford & SMU or just Cal & Stanford, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st report by @RossDellenger. SMU has a $10 million exit fee to leave AAC w/less than 27 months notice so that number could double. In May, ACC source told @ActionNetworkHQ league had no interest in expanding. “We already have too...
I think consensus has swung over to the new adds needing to agree to the GoR themselves to even join. Tough with only a few leaked documents to go on, but the fact that FSU is negotiating in public and floating stupid shit like Private Equity investments instead of just leaving tells me that they're still scared of the amount they'd have to settle.
Thamel and others now reporting that it isn't happening. Pro rata increase only matters if the additions bring enough new revenue, etc., or if (like the B12) you have a reason to view growing the membership as worthwhile for its own sake.
I'm sure the academic prestige was factored in, but outweighed by the insane travel for Stanford and Cal and the pain in the ass travel for everybody else, and it's not like those two are bringing in NCAA tournament credits or CFP money.
If the two Bay schools weren't such snobs, they'd hold their noses, pitch 9 of 12 MWC teams to break their exit fees, then snag three AAC schools, maybe SMU, Rice, and either Tulane or USF. It wouldn't be a super impressive 16, but you take as many R1s (plus AFA) from the MWC as you can, take an elite research school in Rice, a highly regarded AAU school in Tulane (or a new one in a better market in USF), and an ambitious school in a good market like SMU, and it's not bad. Make sure that Boise is part of it, and you could maybe squeeze $10M-$15M out of Apple.
It's also not financially impossible like financing MWC defectors at $34M a pop, or joining the ACC.
So something like this:
PAC-4:
Cal
Stanford
Wazzu
OSU
MWC because football/friendship:
SDSU
BSU
Wyoming
MWC because undergrad reputation and/or R1 research:
I was thinking strictly along the lines of which nine they could actually convince Cal and Stanford to live with, allowing for the original members in the Rockies who seem to be inclined to stay together and could crater a dissolution vote in the MWC. It's very clearly suboptimal from a football perspective, with Fresno in particular being left out because it would be a second CSU school and this one in the Northern half of the state, and Rice being included at the expense of many better programs, being the closest thing left to an academic blueblood.
This situation is not going to go great for the PAC-4, financially or competitively, and they need to figure their shit out sooner rather than later. The Bay schools hemming and hawing may have already fucked the four of them out of several more millions of dollars if they have to go indy and force the PNW Ag schools to join the MWC or AAC on normal shares. I do think if Fox finds some money for Cal and Stanford to beg their way into the B1G, they and ESPN might also find a few bucks for WSU and OSU to take partial shares in the B12, if for no other reason than to avoid litigation. 18 is awkward to select a top 2 for the CCG (probably just punt to the CFP committee), but three pods actually works out quite nicely for scheduling (5+2+2).
'We got some dudes, man': Facing more doubts, new-look TCU is ready to write its own chapter (www.espn.com)
Honestly, this TCU team could be more talented while losing more games. Last year was crazy.
deleted_by_author
Kylian Mbappe: Paris Saint-Germain forward tells Ligue 1 champions he is not leaving the club this summer under any circumstances (www.skysports.com)
New idea I'm gonna try out
One thing I really liked reddit for was reading news and talking about it. I have stopped posting or commenting there now and am in the process of slowly wiping my posting history... but I still browse it for current events a decent bit as it's just a lot more active than over here....
Squabbles, another recent reddit alternative, seems to be taking the doomed "free speech" path (i.imgur.com)
Predict your team's record!
I mean this is always a fun one. Bonus points if you’re brave enough for score projections. I’ll start for Tennessee....
23 compelling storylines, teams, coaches, players that will dominate the 2023 college football season (www.cbssports.com)
A lot of love for Washington and Texas Tech, interestingly enough.
The actors who play James and Sam Kirk in SNW pose with the actors who played the same characters in TOS (startrek.website)
What a sweet photo, it’s nice so see all four of them still alive and healthy.
ACC Considering adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU
ACC considering adding Cal, Stanford & SMU or just Cal & Stanford, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ. 1st report by @RossDellenger. SMU has a $10 million exit fee to leave AAC w/less than 27 months notice so that number could double. In May, ACC source told @ActionNetworkHQ league had no interest in expanding. “We already have too...