RichUT

And: Still Austin Bookers/Little Book Barrell Remus Repeal Michter’s Not to mention all the usual suspects. I really only steer clear of Jack Daniel’s (the 12 year is good) and anything Elijah Craig.

And a year or two ago you were unlikely to find it more than 2-3 weeks after the drop. The "gotta catch em all" mentality definitely needs to be broken. That's the kind of shit that leads to all the hoarding and secondary market shenanigans. When it comes to Discovery, there is a finite amount of it they can make given that it's 100% sourced. So the line expansions of products that have comparable quality help to increase aggregate supply. You seem to view this as a problem, where I view it as ideal. Sure, you have to do a little bit of homework to figure out which one bottle to buy, but at least you have options.

Most bottles at that price point are "shelf turds" right now, but that's a byproduct of recessionary fears and a pull back in discretionary spending vs. the whiskey not being good. BTW, the shelf turd mindset only proves the argument for intentionally making a product scarce. People are such fucking sheep. If it's hard to find it's because everyone else wants it so it must be great, which only perpetuates something being hard to find. If there is plenty of supply, it must mean that people don't want it so it must be a turd and then it sits around. Other than number 5, I've never had a Disco I didn't love.

Isn’t it like a $50 bottle? What are we really worried about at that price point?

But at least he scored?

This is a wild take. And that's really saying something on this board. Arterio was incomplete and inconsistent (as many freshman are) but he never full on sucked at any point this season. His defense was above average throughout the year and if we're grading his D on the standard freshman guard curve, it was damn near elite. The last time I checked, playing D was at least half of the job description, and his play on that end of the court never once approached sucking. His offensive game didn't match, but he also rarely received the kind of run he needed to get into the flow of the game. He essentially approached every game with the understanding that he'd have a 5-7 minute window to show if his shot was falling and potentially earn more play time based on having the hot hand. That's not an ideal scenario for optimal performance for any athlete. I'd be super bummed to see him move on, as he seems likely to make a leap in year 2.

Jesus Christ. This isn' that hard. The perception was that he wasn't good enough for the job before. New shit came to light and there is a solid chance that perception was wrong. While a vocal minority (and a bunch of trolls) are saying he's the wrong hire, most people (myself included) see the hire as rationale and defensible. However, recency bias is a very real thing. Therefore, it's normal for people capable of critical thinking to point out that just MAYBE that original perception will be proven right. The net here is that most people understand the decision to hire RT, but there is no need to deny the fact that it carries a level of risk. Some folks that support the hire want to discuss that risk, which should be totally fine.

There are two discreet points here that, while conceptually related, are not directly linked nor at odds with each other: Point 1 - Prior to this past season, there was nothing in Rodney Terry's job history or performance that would have resulted in him being a credible candidate for the head coaching job at the University of Texas. While that is technically a subjective statement, only the biggest of idiots would suggest that he would have received any consideration. Point 2 - Based on his body of work THIS SEASON, Rodney Terry was a credible candidate to be our next basketball coach and arguably the best/right choice given the lack of a "sure thing" candidate like Billy Donovan or Jay Wright. Both points can be and are true at the exact same time. What allows that to be case is the passage of time between the two reference points. Both points are also highly relevant as it relates to projecting Rodney Terry's future ability to build a successful program over an extended period of time. It's fair to project risk based on Rodney's previous stops as a head basketball coach. It's also fair to project optimism based on what we just saw play out this season. Continuing to spam this board with the question of "well who would be a better choice?" is neither insightful nor helpful.

That’s not the point being made here. There are fair and valid criticisms of RT’s career trajectory to be made that don’t preclude him from also being a reasonable and defensible hire given his body of work this season.

Why do we care? CDC has proven a level of competence where I have no level of curiosity on details like that. Here’s one thing I am certain of: We can afford it.

There is nobody blindly defending Terry, regardless of how much you want that narrative to be true. The sentiment of the majority is that 1) there is no slam dunk hire available and 2) RT is as defensible a hire as any of the other flawed candidates that are actually available. Blindly supporting RT would entail saying we should hire him over Billy Donovan and/or saying he is absolutely destined for greatness. I don't see any of that happening. Almost everyone here is being an adult about where we are at and how we got here. And then there is you.

How many of the other Top 8 teams finished Top 8?

Why are people hung up on the “safety” of a shorter contract to begin with? It makes almost no sense. Give him a deal that sends the right message to recruits and portal targets. In ~3 seasons we’ll know what we have. He’ll either get extended or fired, but at least he’ll start off Day 1 with the best chance to succeed.

History is also filled with examples that prove hiring D1 coaches is hard in general. There are very few sure things, which is why coaches that fall into that bucket set the top of the market. There is no evidence that RT is being offered the job in lieu of a sure thing, while there is evidence that other credible D1 schools would be interested in hiring him if we didn’t. CDC used his option value period and made a reasonable call with the information he has. He had no reason to make a decision before the season ended and he collected a lot of additional data during the process. He got the most data on RT, while also getting data via the tournament on a bunch of alternative options. Time will tell how this plays out, but the data supports the decision.

This is correct. If CDC offers RT a 3 year deal, it should make everyone question if CDC is the right guy to be our AD. All evidence to this point says that he is, so I expect a 5 year deal at the market rate.

Aren’t you the guy that was convinced we weren’t getting out of the first weekend alive? Your post intimates that you’re including yourself in the “intelligent people” bucket, but there is very recent evidence that you shouldn’t.

I was indifferent towards the BiB the first time I had it. I didn’t come back to the bottle for a month plus, and poured some last night. I don’t know if it was just a matter of opening up or if my expectations were too high initially, but I found it to be damn good. Tons of vanilla and a bit of cherry. It’s a damn good flavor profile for a $50 bottle. I don’t believe in having a daily drinker, but I can totally see where this one would fit that bill for a lot of folks.

OWA if they were selling to you at MSRP. At those prices, I’d go Larceny BP.

It’s very different. Our group was excited to pick one up and nobody liked it. It’s great on the front palate, but the finish is where all the grapefruit and walnut notes appear and it just didn’t work for me. I flipped our opened bottle for a WFP and ER store pick combo.

Well I included the picture from the rear because people are going to see a lot more of that end vs the front. [emoji6]

Took possession on Thursday. This car is incredibly fun to drive. I’ve got to get her in for ceramic and full frontal PPF to protect the matte finish.

You could stay in South Lake Union or Queen Anne and accomplish your goals. SLU will feel more city/urban whereas Queen Anne will feel more like the experience of living in Seattle. Hotels are easy to come by in SLU but I’d suggest going VRBO/AirBnB if you want to stay in Queen Anne. August is awesome, so long as there aren’t any smoke issues from wild fires in neighboring states.

You do you, but THH drinks much more like a bourbon (and a damn fine one) to my palate. I’m sure the 51% mash bill has a lot to do with that.

Speaking of Woodford, I picked up a bottle of Double XO Blend in Heathrow on my way back home Friday. It’s in the current Master’s collection bottle. The bottle claims it’s finished in “heavily toasted & in XO Cognac casks”. I don’t think there is a US release planned but it’s one of the better Woodford products I’ve had in a minute.