PencilPusher

Just now catching up on this...my sincerest condolences to the Ehlinger family. What they have been through is hard to fathom. Over the last 12 months, I have experienced a lot of death on my circle, albeit none from COVID. My 15 year old has been hard hit for her age...one of her oldest friends was orphaned during this time and another friend in her circle died in a tragic accident on Good Friday. In trying to help her cope with something that kids her age don’t deal with often, it reminded me that there but for the grace of God go any of us and we all just need to keep livin’ man. Don’t let many opportunities pass you by, whether it is attending a kid event or drinks with friends or a once in a lifetime trip. Tragedy is inevitable it seems and we all need to get the most out of life and leave an indelible impression on those lives we touch most. Reading the comments from teammates above, especially DO’s, it sounds like Jake left that indelible impression on them. RIP 48 and prayers that the Ehlinger family can have a nice long run without tragedy for a while.

Just completed a trip to WDW for a cheer competition...second trip there in six months so was interested to see what had changed. Some observations Parks are definitely busier...believe Disney said they are at 35% capacity, but that is relative to max capacity. The reality is that the parks are probably 50-60% of what you would see on a typical summer weekday. Definitely felt more crowded than in October as no park was close to Disney's 25% restriction back then. Park hopper option is a must. Reservations for every park (except Epcot and some days with Animal Kingdom) are gone through the end of June (though spots can open up) and July will be gone within a week or two would be my guess. However, park hopping is working great right now. I think what Disney is doing is setting a max total parks capacity for any given day, then actually allowing fewer reservations for the busier parks (MK, HS, and to some extent, AK) and then flowing the excess to Epcot, which can be spread out more due to the World Showcase. At 2pm, park hopping begins and folks can flow to other parks. Disney says they will not allow park hopping to parks at capacity, but with the way they are managing it now, that has rarely happened. With longer hours (certainly longer than they were in October), it is pretty easy to get all you want in. We had a 3 day park hopper through the cheer comp and we easily did everything we wanted in all 4 parks with the hopper. What that means for planning purposes is that you can do fewer days with the park hopper option than buying single park tickets. 4 day single park option has similar costs to the 3 day hopper and with the reservations filling up fast, park hopper is the best way to hit everything. The only drawback is that if you can't score a reservation to Hollywood Studios, you won't be able to ride Rise of the Resistance as you can't get into the virtual queue without a HS reservation. The line situation has improved somewhat. In October, we were outside a lot (due to distancing) and early October is still summer in Central Florida so there were times it was oppressive and of course Disney was way more worried about you getting COVID than heat exhaustion or skin cancer. They've gotten smarter and made better use of space, including using closed restaurants and routing lines differently to take advantage of more shade when they can. Not every ride in every park is set up for that, but it was a lot better and it was certainly summer conditions (95 on Tuesday!) early this week, but I didn't feel as whipped from sun and heat like in October. As someone mentioned above, maskless pictures are now happening. We didn't buy any pictures in October because of the masks, but did buy some this trip. Dining is still a pain in the ass. Though the mobile ordering system isn't as glitchy as it was in October, they really didn't add any dining capacity since then either (or at least it appears that way-same places were closed as last time). During peak meal times, you are likely waiting 20-30 mins before you can order (either the queue time on the mobile ordering or waiting in a long line). Reservations are absolutely necessary at any of the full service restaurants and better be booked well in advance. There are virtual walk up waiting lists, but those disappear within seconds of them opening the lists and you have to be in range of the restaurant to get on the list. Epcot is the exception of course on the food front as there is always a festival going on plus more restaurants than say MK though you still need to reserve for the full service restaurants and not all of the full service ones in the World Showcase are operating. Basically, if you are a planner, it will be OK, but if you have kids accompanying you on the trip (or adults who act like kids 🤣), it can be tough to have a day fully planned out. While we were there, Ron DeSantis issued his edict regarding removal of all restrictions at the county/city level which sent Disney into a tizzy (based on the constant reminders on the app along with increased hypervigilance of protocols) because they no longer have the cover of government edicts standing behind their COVID protocols. They've already announced that temperature checks will be phased out (which were useless anyway), but it will be interesting to see what they do next. I think Disney will hold on to masks like a security blanket and it wouldn't surprise to see that extend in 2022, but they could use this as an opportunity to further fine tune their operations primarily by dropping the 6 ft distancing rule to 3ft (in line with WHO guidance anyway). Folks in line are already ignoring this for the most part anyway, but it would certainly help intra-park transportation as it takes longer to shuttle people in and out of parks at peak times as well as speed up ride loading. It might also help with the dining issues as you might now be able to get more tables in a restaurant and/or shuttle people through more quickly. I don't think Disney really intends to expand park capacity anytime soon as they are running the parks optimally and perhaps slightly profitably right now and don't want to add too many more workers to dilute said profitability. However, updating to a smaller distancing protocol now during reduced park capacity could ease the transition to more open parks down the road. My guess is that by September, Disney will increase to 50% park capacity as they think about full on open for 2022.

Used to have a client in Galway & Dublin so tripped to Ireland a fair amount then also took my dad there a few years back for his 70th. Based on your planned itinerary, some other suggestions In Dublin, someone upthread recommended the Merrion - great Victorian hotel and if you are there in shoulder season, should have really good rates. Around the corner from the Merrion is O'Donoghues which is a good pub known for having impromptu trad sessions from time to time. Also the Merrion has a bar that stays open 24/7 for people who are staying at the hotel. You never know when you need an irish whiskey at 4 am... Also, the revamped Jameson tour is good and I would also recommend the literary pub crawl if you are into Irish lit (or lit in general). Dublin is also a great city just to walk around in, get lost, and duck into a random pub in the middle of the day. Galway is awesome - i call it the Austin of the Emerald Isle (pre-California invasion of course). Great base to explore both the Burren, Connemara, and Aran Islands. The downtown area around the quays is always hopping at night and you can easily catch some trad sessions at some of the bars. I have found the West of Ireland to be the best if you are searching for more traditional Irish music as there are much more Gaeltacht speaking regions in the West. Dunguaire Castle in Kinvarra is worth a look as you transit between Galway and the Burren/Cliffs of Moher/Doolin. The drive into the Connemara is spectacular. I'd head out to Kylemore Abbey and then trip back through Cong on the way back to Galway. Another cool splurge if you don't want to do Ashford Castle in Dromoland Castle which is pretty close to Shannon Airport/Co Clare. Good stopoff point between Galway and Killarney area for a night or 2. Been there twice and it is superb. Hotel bar had a nice selection of Irish whiskey if memory serves. Ireland is one of my favorites places in the world. Hope you enjoy it!

I haven't waded into the CDC discussion and obviously the football hiring circus was just that-a circus (which is why we are even entertaining this discussion), but given that the AD at Texas (and most places) is effectively the CEO of the athletic department, I'd evaluate him on managing 2 areas, the front of the house (product) and the back of the house (administration). Primary goals as follows: For athletics administration, the goals are simple. Keep the money train humming and keep the department well in the black, raise capital for big projects as needed, don't add too much bloat-in fact get rid of it as needed, and don't fuck up the small stuff that annoys boosters and other stakeholders. Administration should help, not hurt your cause. Think for the most part, CDC is checking the boxes here though I suspect there are still a lot of things that could be done to improve. For the end product, the goals should be as follows: The absolute floor for performance should be to have the best program in the entire state for each and every sport we participate in. We're the best public university in the state bar none and should have all aspects of the University follow suit. That doesn't mean the best team every year but if someone says..who is the best women's soccer program in the state, the immediate answer should be Texas without anyone having to think about it. If we ain't there, we got a problem and the AD should be on the path to fix it. Win conference championships about 50% of the time. Especially in the conference we are in, this shouldn't be a difficult goal to achieve. Again, take care of step 1 above, Step 2 is a little easier to accomplish. Be in the hunt/discussion for national championships frequently. We should never miss a championship tournament in the sports that play them, at or near the top of the leaderboard in sports like swimming and track, and should always be in or around the discussion of the CFP annually. CDC's grade here is an "incomplete" so far, but given that we've turned over most of the "problem" areas over the last 3 years, we should have a good answer in the next few years. Early returns in things like softball and women's basketball are promising, but initial success does not a program make. That's how I'll evaluate CDC. Overall, I think things are going the right way, but we need to get FB and MBB back in the right direction-those clearly atrophied during the chaotic transition from Powers/Dodds to Hartzell/CDC which casts a pall on everything else.

One of my Christmas presents in 1983 were tickets to the 1984 Tx/Ga Cotton Bowl. Never been so excited to get tickets to any sporting event. Great seats too...30 yard line ish...which were right in front of where Craig Curry dropped the infamous punt. Had to have a perfect view of that. After the Nebraska loss, it hurt even more because Texas would have won the National Championship that year. Of course 13 year old me didn't realize that it would be 2 decades before we would be back in position to get a crack at a national title. There have been multiple other disappointments since then, but for a young me, that was the most stunning.

Had 2nd row center seats to a Van Hagar show at the FEC in the early 90's....can't remember which tour. The assholes behind us from the time the lights went down until the end of the encore could not stop shouting. "You're a God Eddie!"..."Eddie you're a God"..."You Rock Eddie"...ad nauseum. Can't really say this was assholish because the guy that did this was blitzed out of his mind, but was at a Widespread Panic show in NO in 1997 at UNO Lakefront Arena...Halloween weekend-Galactic opened. Of course the crowd was tailgating plenty before the show and we were all in costume given it was Halloween weekend. Group behind us piles in after the Galactic opener and the disheveled chunky guy at the end of the row slumps down in his chair and passes out. Sometime during the middle of Widespread's set, the specific song that was playing brought this guy back to life...so much so that he suddenly rises from his chair, turns around, unzips his pants, and begins to piss on his seat. He proceeds to zip up, turn back around, and recollapse back on his chair, oblivious to the sudden panic of our ladyfriends scrambling to avoid the wide and deep yellow river now moving swiftly down the rows of the UNO arena. When the show ended, the guy was still passed out despite the entire auditorium leaving around him and for all I know, he's still there today waiting for the right song to move him to begin relieving himself yet again.

It's rare that I get a chance to OD on a lot of NFL football on any given Sunday, but given it was week one and there isn't much else going on, it was a glorious day in that regard. Some off the cuff observations: The quality of play was better than expected given no preseason. So let the discussion begin on what to do with preseason. I say kill preseason, add the 17th game (which is the equivalent of what most starters play in the preseason anyway), expand the practice squad rosters (to make up for the development "lost" in preseason games) and lets move on. Could start the season 2 weeks earlier and add an extra bye week for everyone. The lack of fans made the atmosphere at the game feel like the Motor City Bowl between the MAC and C-USA (except in Los Angeles where that is par for the course). Fans will hopefully be allowed in at some level in most places later in the year, but there was a level of intensity missing at GB/MIN and TB/NO that would have made those games more entertaining. There is <20% chance (barring injuries) that the AFC representative in the Super Bowl is not Kansas City or Baltimore. Dear Progressive Insurance...please stop spending my premium dollars on commercials involving a scrub quarterback representing a shitty franchise. The AFC South is easily the worst division in the NFL and that's without seeing Tenn play (but they are a 9-7 caliber team that had to sign Ryan Tannehill to an extension). If Jax is tanking for Trevor, that is not how it is done which also probably says something about Indy. No need to discuss the Texans, a team that over a 6 quarter stretch was outscored by KC 82-14. Dear Progressive Insurance...if you are going to spend my premium dollars on commercials involving a scrub quarterback representing a shitty franchise, Gardner Minshew II should be your guy...fun QB and isn't a raging douchebag like your current spokesperson. Cam will be OK in New England, but New England's days of dominance are over for a while. They feel like 10-6 and a 2nd round exit in KC or Balt. Keep an eye on Buffalo in that division. If you told me Josh Allen would be the 2nd best QB in the 2018 draft, I would have laughed at you, yet Buffalo looks like they could unseat NE in the AFC East this year. The NFC will be a bloodbath this year. 3 of the 4 divisions look like they will be dogfights with the exception being the NFC (L)East division. Here's why I hate masks. How are we absolutely sure that it wasn't Jason Garrett coaching the Cowboys last night. It looked the same to me. I think Cowboys fans are stuck in some weird Christopher Nolan time shifting movie or something because the faces on the sideline changed, but the results were the same. Dallas should make the playoffs given the division they are in, but I didn't see the same quality as some of the other teams right now so the drought looks to continue in Dallas San Francisco will be the latest victim of the Super Bowl loser hangover. I get that Arizona is improved and Nuk Hopkins kept doing his thing for a new team, but that was the type of game SF won a lot of last year. The Niners have 8-8 and missing the playoffs written all over them. Give me 6 games before I can tell you if Tampa's bid to go all in this year has legs. Tough spot to open at NO and draw any long-term conclusions about whether this team is legit or not, but if they are 2-4 heading to Las Vegas to play the Raiders, we will know. Schedule is manageable with the toughest game over the next 5 weeks appearing to be a visit from Green Bay in week 6. Definitely one of the most interesting story lines to watch. Can't decide if the best QB performance of the day was Russell Wilson's gem or Aaron Rodgers gem but they both were sublime. However, in my wife's ladies FF league, Matt Ryan outpointed both of them because of a bizzaro rule that passing yards points double when you hit 300 yards and Ryan had over 450 yards. This is the same league that a few years back saw defenses as leading scorers most weeks because of bizarre double counting rules for defensive touchdowns and turnovers. The league champ had the Jacksonville defense of a few years ago that had something like 12 defensive touchdowns...it was obscene Speaking of obscene, the all ladies fantasy leagues that are in our neighborhood have some of the nastiest team names of any leagues I have seen, many involving current/past players. Putting faces/names to the nasty team names is always interesting, but I also would love to ask the husband of the team owner of "Kamara in my Face" if he actually gets to Kamara in his wife's face... Monday night Football Doubleheader tonight - I'll take "What are 4 teams that have no shot at the Super Bowl, Alex" or "What are 3 legendary franchises and Tennessee, Alex"

Think I know where she stole the idea from....

AND STOP PLAYING WITH YOURSELF! It is God...

The good news is that Summer Creek HS has a UT friendly admin and coaching staff (unlike Atascosita as everyone knows). In fact, SCHS has a "house" system named after Universities - the houses are Stanford, Texas Tech, LSU, Prarie View A&M, UT, and Yale. One big state school glaringly absent... If Banks does go to College Station, it won't be from undue pressure from folks at SCHS to go there.

Can see a coronavirus episode where this character goes around looking for TP...

My bitch better have my money. Through rain, sleet or snow. My whore better have my money, not half, not some, but all my cash. 'Cause if she don't, I'm gonna put my foot in her ass. -Fly Guy, Pimp of the Year circa 1970-something.

I met Little Richard once in an elevator in an LA hotel in the late 1990s. Was in town for business and had gone with some co-workers to Lakers/Rockets the night before and then out to some bars afterwards. Was riding down the elevator in a quest for some sort of hangover cure when the elevator stopped at the floor beneath mine and Little Richard and his posse get on. Little Richard immediately turns to me and goes. "Where you from young man". I told him "Houston". His face lights up and he goes "Houston! I just love Houston....I got my start in Houston way back in the 50s." (which I later read was true-he spent time in Houston very early in his career) He grabs my hand and goes. "You tell all my friends in Houston that Little Richard sends his love!". Then he proceeds to tell his posse to give me some of their religious materials (the same yellow colored religious materials referenced in the post above). As he walks off he says "God bless you young man". Although it was a 30 sec encounter, he was as nice and flamboyant in real life as he was on stage. RIP Little Richard. As everyone has said, much of the music I grew up listening to was influenced by him. I believe the 2 greatest muscial influences from the 50s were Elvis and Little Richard - wish I could have seen Little Richard perform in his prime. A Whop bop b-luma b-lop bam boom!

Frank: "George, we've had it with you. Understand? We love you like a son, but even parents have limits." Estelle: "The breakups, the firings. And every Sunday with the calls." Frank: "What my wife is trying to say is that this is supposed to be our time." George: "I'm not following." Frank: "We're cuttin' you lose." George: "You're cuttin' me loose?" Frank: "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make love to your mother."

Million to one shot doc...Million to one.

I SENT SIXTEEN OF MY OWN MEN TO THE LATRINES THAT NIGHT! They were just boys...

Ricky, we've been getting a tremendous response to your TR-6 mannequin. TR-6? I prefer to think of her as... Elaine. RIP Sam...

There I was on the steps of the 42nd St. library, a grown man, getting a wedgie. At least it wasn't atomic. It was.

Jerry, it's three-thirty in the morning. I'm at a cockfight. What am I clinging to?

WE WILL ANNEX POLAND BY THE SPRING AT ALL COSTS AND OUR STOCK WILL RISE HIGH!

I'll tell you what's going on..."JIMBO FISHER HAS BEEN STEALING FUNDS FROM THE TREASURY!!"

I mean...who isn't a fan of some of their early British invasion work...still waiting on Jazz Odyssey to drop though

In fact, OU has not developed a good to great college QB they've recruited out of HS since Sam Bradford. They've been the beneficiary of transfers the last 5 years that have worked out fantastically. That is an incredible run that is probably a statistical anomaly and 2 of those guys transferred when Stoops was still HC. Even if Riley knows Rattler is a headcase, he has to play the long game here otherwise he will never be able to sign top QB's in the future.

Wanted to check OU's schedule because I am not sure I would intially buy that they lose 3-4 games this year. I think they should be 4-0 going into Dallas as they don't have a particularly daunting non-con and yet again the conference sets them up with a nice home game before Dallas (unlike us). The last 1/3 of their schedule should also be easy as they play 3 of the expected conference dregs plus a revenge game at home against K-State. They probably win all 4 of these (though they will likely get a scare in Lubbock as they always do). So it comes down to the middle portion of the schedule in bold below. That is a tough stretch and it is conceivable they go no better than 2-2 in that stretch. So I think it is possible that they lose more than 2 this year but I am not sure I'll believe it until it happens. Texas should be one of their losses and it wouldn't surprise me if they got popped in Ames the week after. They'll still figure out a way to beat OSU though... Sep 5 (Sat) TBA Home Missouri State Norman Sep 12 (Sat) TBA Home Tennessee Norman Sep 26 (Sat) TBA Away Army West Point, N.Y. Oct 3 (Sat) TBA Home Baylor Norman Oct 10 (Sat) TBA Neutral Texas Dallas, Texas Oct 17 (Sat) TBA Away Iowa State Ames, Iowa Oct 24 (Sat) TBA Home Oklahoma State Norman Oct 31 (Sat) TBA Away TCU Fort Worth, Texas Nov 7 (Sat) TBA Away West Virginia Morgantown, W.V. Nov 14 (Sat) TBA Home Kansas State Norman Nov 21 (Sat) TBA Home Kansas Norman Nov 28 (Sat) TBA Away Texas Tech Lubbock, Texas One other interesting thing I noticed just perusing...anyone care to take a case at which OU game is showing the highest current ticket resale value after the Texas game?

Welp...you saved me from writing something similar in the 2020 offseason thread so have some rep thrown your way...