Hozz

So I read a ton of negative stuff from very butt hurt Tolkien purists and was expecting to not like this. Not that I am a Tolkien purist but I do prefer adaptations to stay faithful to source material. I watched both of them back to back this afternoon and probably would have gone another two rounds if they had four episodes out. The pacing was great, it never felt slow to me and in fact the time flew by. The sets and CGI are top notch. I thought they laid on the girl power a little too thick especially the Galadriel ninja vs troll scene and it was not super believable that the village healer and her bastard son could take an orc down. I thought the casting was pretty solid for the most part. The male elves annoyed me, Elrond and his buddy look too similar and they just walk across the continent to show up at a dwarf door? No mounts, no party, just two dudes with what they have in their pockets taking in the countryside. I was very worried there were going to be some Witcher or worse, Wheel of Time, level diversity hires that took away from the show, but there weren't. The dwarf wife was the only real casting miss IMO and after the initial 'what' from seeing her, she held her own in the scene IMO.

I'm liking the show but their bar was S8 GOT which is about as low as you can get. The end battle of S1E3 felt like something out of S8 GOT. Super lazy script and just wholly unbelievable within the context of the setting/world. And the crab guy is dead already? lol he's been hanging out there for years wreaking havoc and we know nothing about him except he's a torso now ironically feeding crabs.

Is FSU supposed to be good this year? They have sucked shit through a straw for like 5 years across 3 coaches. LSU being only a 4 point favorite in Death Valley, at night, seems like free money. What am I missing? edit: Ok so its Superdome and not Tiger stadium...but still

Every system gets better than the last but it's crazy it has taken 130 years or so to get anything resembling a real post season like every other team sport people care about has had for most of our lifetimes. I would have gone with 8 if it were up to me. 5 P5 winners and top 3 ranked at large, no carve outs for G5 or Independents. I could be convinced this format is better than that though. The first 2-3 years I expect blood baths in the early rounds, the way 1v4 and 2v3 has mostly been in the current CFP. I do think this format *eventually* (along with a mature NIL landscape) leads to a better talent distribution nationwide where 3-4 years in, the top 4-6 have a legit shot instead of how it has been. Also 12 vs 8 means a fuck ton more money for the sport. I'll take anything that gives me more ranked matchups especially when they are likely to be inter conference.

Backyard Brawl and whatever Penn St-Purdue is called were both really good games. Tonight looks mostly shitty and man they didn't even try with the Monday game.

Sark Sept 1 Presser

Nike Week Zero shoes are apparently coming out in week 3...9/14.

Alabama. Loaded. Returning Heisman winner and potential Heisman winner on D. Certainly motivated and pissed off about losing to UGA for the title game where they lead in the second half. I like them to beat the shit out of everyone they play this year (except us!), but especially the ags after Jimbo's public tantrum. They have made the playoff 6 of the 7 years. They are currently -255 to make the CFP and +150 to win the title. I like both of those bets frankly but I should stay away from gambling. Ohio State. Also loaded. One tough OOC game to open the season, favorable scheduling for the most part in conference. Plus the program seems to have a deal with Satan as in my 49 years of life they have had exactly two losing seasons. I am lot less confident outside of those two and frankly I don't think the other 2 teams matter, I don't see anyone else having a chance. That said...my last two would be: Clemson. People like to shit on them but they had a pretty good year last year. Lost to the eventual CFP winner and two conference road games. 10-3. Also I bet they got their hands on some new experimental drugs to make up for losing their DC to OU. Utah. I think they have an easy road. USC isn't back. Oregon isn't great. Other teams I have seen picked: Ags. I always think they will be worse than they are. HOWEVER, I think they are hugely overrated and anyone picking them to come out of the SEC West is crazy. King sucks and he won't make it through the season anyway. Their off season coaching hires were not good. Reshuffling the offensive coaches a month or so before the season? lol. As good as their 2022 class was rated, how many wins will it translate to? 8-4 here we come. Maybe they won't forfeit their bowl this year. ND. I don't like this team and never have so I would never pick them to win shit. Too many ND fans all over the fucking place. OU. Lincoln Riley is the guy who would lock his best friend out of a bunker to have a few more weeks of food and water. I believe he saw the writing on the wall and got out while the getting was good. ACC teams that aren't Clemson. I just don't think much of them, that said I watch very little ACC football outside of Clemson. Big12>SEC>Big10>ACC>Pac12 is about the order in which I consume college football and even watching 5 games a week there is not much room for me to watch ACC up and comers. Texas. I want to believe. In the 40 years or so I have been following the team I am pretty sure this is the best top to bottom skill position roster we have had, just in terms of average player quality. But man 5-7 last year and the way we lost most of those games, I just don't think you can blame that all on players not being bought in. I hope I am wrong because I think the Big 12 is ripe for the taking.

EPA not going to be happy.

Stolen election!

I still watch Gameday but not live and I skip at least half of it. It started going downhill when they added the third hour. Big Noon Kickoff is the better pregame show.

Herbstreit put his head in his hands laughing when Howard was announcing his CFP bracket. Also Howard needed to have the graphic up in order to recite his 'picks'

Finished this a while back. This game deserves all the high praise its gotten and then some. It's really like nothing I've ever played. Genuinely moving at times with an amazing 'script' and voice acting.

https://www.outkick.com/house-of-the-dragon-premiere-ratings-10-million-hbo/ Very impressive launch considering the steaming pile of shit that was GOT S8.

FCB...but also Klatt so that should balance the scales.

San Antonio here. I went to Tesla's site and they don't directly serve my address but they referred me to PEG Energy...very appropriately named for Surly. Anyway, they came back with an online quote for my home based on the past 12 months of CPS electrical usage data I sent them. It was for a 11.6kW panel system, no powerwall. 27.5 after the 30% tax credit and $2500 CPS rebate. They offer 12 year/0%, 20 year/1%, or 25Y/2%. They provide some questionable math that shows saving around 24K in 25 years if energy costs go up 2% a year. Adding 2 powerwalls to the design completely blows up the numbers. Cost after incentives goes to 51K and change. Looking through this thread, this seems high. Does anyone have any recs for San Antonio installers?

I have no idea but casual google for the 2022 list shows it coming out in 4 parts, last one looks like Feb 2021...so it would seem he's running a bit behind.

Was pointed out in the replies of the tweet but any data showing Syracuse as a top 16 CFB team is probably fucked up.

Looks promising.

Cold blooded.

Man that thread, what a bunch of classless cunts. First of all, I would never in a 1000 years take in an aggy practice, in any capacity. So, there's that. Second, if I had a good enough friend who invited me to watch big brother's practice on the sideline (assume this is what he means by field access), and I was of a mind to go, I certainly wouldn't entertain any of the cunty behaviors they are proposing in the replies.

The most hilarious part of the clip is at the very end when she displays her complete ignorance by proposing the OU-OK St analogy and both dudes are like "YES!". Clearly she has benefited from hot girl privilege. If she was average looking she'd be a suburban house wife married to an insurance agent.

I got a parking ticket during my time on campus and I didn't even own a car. I was sick as shit one morning and borrowed my roommate's car to drive to the clinic on campus. Had no idea I was parking illegally.

My guess is the latter. I'm sure the biggest issue with returns in that bracket are overclaiming credits. Still. It's a fucking incredibly stupid system and I stand on doubling its size is not good for the average person.

Doubling the size of the IRS is bad for everyone. Tax payers and tax cheats included. It blows my mind that anyone could have a different take on that, unless they work for them or at another alphabet agency. Look into who gets audited, they already go after poor people and the people least likely to put up a fight. You think these new 90K guys are being hired to fix that? Haha.