statsman

This was great, because it showed how lost OU is right now. Who is their QB next year? Hawkins? Someone else? Who is their OC next year? What offensive scheme? Do they have the personnel for the desired scheme and OC? Who is their HC in two years? There may be answers to these questions, but they won’t be easy, and they’re killers if they get them wrong.

But, why? What problem does this plan solve other than “How do schools like Baylor get high profile games of national interest and stay in the big time?” It doesn’t solve Texas’ problem of “How to turn its blue blood status into competitive advantage and more revenue?” Or “How to get high profile games of great stakeholder interest?” It doesn’t solve the broadcaster problem of “How to get games with greater appeal (and advertiser revenue)?”. They would rather broadcast Texas-Arkansas than Texas-Baylor. This plan just re-established a status quo that Texas wanted to break.

Washington

May need a little help. The ticket transfer just isn’t smooth. Does anyone know where the StubHub pop up office is for the game, if there is one?

I listened to the Sooner ON3 podcast wishcast how Texas is worse on offense and defense than last year. Here is how: 1. A lot of guys on offense drafted. 2. Ewers and OL no better than last year (“We handled them before! We’ll do it again”). 3. A lot of guys on defense drafted. 4. New guys and returners aren’t better because…”I don’t think they’re better”. 5. Also, Michigan losing to Minnesota means the Wolverines suck. Of course, this analysis method requires you to ignore Texas’ performance to date (such as only one TD surrendered in the first half through five games).

UN peacekeepers? What’s their mission? Keeping Hezbollah from firing missiles into northern Israel, so the 100,000 displaced Israelis can return home?

What does the PE bring to the table? Access to capital? It’s like they don’t know what university presidents do for a living (it’s certainly not tending to academic standards. It’s fund raising). Ideas? Universities have sharp people all over the place (along with a bunch of educated idiots, granted)

As far as the private equity group proposing it: the B1G and SEC don’t need a private equity group in order to get more money. They can do that on their own. Their games are that desirable. It’s the Mid2 schools that are interested in private equity. They need more money, and now.

We don’t want to play in the SWC anymore. The networks don’t want us playing in the SWC anymore. The only ones that want us playing Baylor, TCU, TT and UH are … Baylor, TCU, TT and UH. Their votes don’t count. There is too much money in having Texas play bigger programs. Make no mistake- Arkansas is a bigger program than anyone in the IR8.

Are “two-bite” laws (two police reports of a dog biting and the dog is taken away to be euthanized) ubiquitous? I think all serious dog bites (not counting the tiny dog snap that doesn’t break the skin) should be reported to the police.

Can anyone say what this decision will mean for the Texas One fund?

Yeah. House rules. Easiest way to stay out of trouble is to not post in DT.

Nm

Posted here, rather than in DT, because the linked story is from opinion page. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-yazidi-woman-is-liberated-from-slavery-in-gaza-connection-isis-hamas-jihadists-3e94060e?st=WDWonf&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/texas-christian-university/article293368134.html

Ok. We have to talk about Fletcher’s. I understand if you want to neg me; let me have my say. At the RRS, I have always made sure to get a Fletcher’s corn dog. There is always a huge line, and when the middle was not hot (even cold), I have just attributed it to a busy staff running them through the frier too fast. I took my daughter and her friend today, and decided to get a Fletcher’s, figuring it should be perfect, without much of a line. The first couple of bites were perfect. Then,…not hot. Not lukewarm. I may have to just hit Hans Mueller or get a turkey leg from here on out. It’s sad when legends fade.

You know, every SWC school had at least one legendary coach- Neely for Rice, Yeoman for UH, Bell for SMU, Meyer and Martin for TCU, and so on. About ten years ago, I did a spreadsheet comparing achievements of coaches at schools, in comparison to the school’s performance without that coach. Royal still ranked very high, even as a UT coach. No one ranked higher by that metric than Patterson. I think Patterson’s first 15 or so years, along with their steady climb back to P5 status, convinced TCU that their program had achieved a new level, that they were no longer a SWC also-ran, that their floor as a program was a full level higher than it was from 1963-1999. Then, after firing Patterson and seeing Dykes take the team he inherited to the CFP CG, they felt affirmed. Right now? It’s looking like TCU, as a program, may be a Big XII also ran. (Cautionary tale for OSU).

Is the 14.5 point spread quoted everywhere for real? Or an outlier being used for dramatic effect? Sagarins indicate Texas should be a nine point favorite. I’m pretty sure no one in the program is treating this like anything but a total effort game.

It’s crazy how much career boost Harrell got out of the throw to Crabtree. If Gideon had caught that duck a couple of plays earlier, would he have half the recognition?

Official? By who? Hamas (who counts all dead as civilians and refuses to count any as militants)? Or the UNRWA (with members in Hamas)? (Edited- I see your source article gets the data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, in other words, Hamas) The IDF says they have killed 20,000 Hamas militants. I recognize they have a bias (I assume they are possibly victim to the same counting issues the U.S. had in Vietnam). Who is official? Should we accept both? 41,000 dead, 20,000 of them Hamas militants, and 21,000 civilian Gazans caught in the (literal) crossfire? (Which is awful, but nowhere near as bad as civilian casualties in every other urban conflict, almost as if Israel really isn’t trying to kill civilians as it pursues Hamas through the towns and cities it bases in) Does Israel get any credit for warning civilians to leave areas? Is that “wanton”? I get that there is another interpretation, that Gaza is not distinct from Israel, that Israel has jurisdiction over it, and responsibility for the Gazans. Per this argument, Israel should treat the Hamas matter as more of a criminal issue, and address it more through policing, with utmost care to not harm civilians or their property. Israel rejects this argument, though. Does Egypt get any blame for refusing admission to fleeing Palestinian civilians? Isn’t that wanton? (Definition- “deliberate and unprovoked”) This war, I believe, is a serious issue, and I don’t think hyperbole in pursuit of a moral equivalency is helpful. As for war crimes, that is a real topic. It affects all armies. What differentiates them is how they are handled (or not handled, as the case may be). There are four U.S. servicemen, for example, imprisoned in Leavenworth, who will never again see the light of day as free men. They raped and killed a young Iraqi girl, and murdered her family to cover it up. I’m sure Iraqis think the punishment too lenient, perhaps rightfully, but there was a formal investigation and trial. As an American, I’m ashamed of these soldiers, but not ashamed of their handling and disposition. Similarly, the IDF has a formal process for investigating proposed war crimes. Do you believe it inadequate? How do you think it compares to the other belligerents in this conflict?

That is a pretty damning claim. I have reviewed offered data from Hamas, and from IDF, as well as reviewed data from U.S. actions in Iraq, and data from the Syrian civil war on civilian deaths, and can’t say that I agree that Israel killed dozens of thousands of civilians, let alone “wantonly”. What is the minimum number that meets the threshold of “dozens of thousands”? Given that Hamas bases in civilian population centers, do you attribute any Gazan civilian deaths to them? Can you share your calculations and sources? I am open to being persuaded.

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/film/intercepted-review-eavesdropping-on-evil-in-the-ukraine-war-c667578e?st=WmXxgK&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

The B12 schedule was very much targeted at having marquee games on dates where they could get good exposure.

It’s funny how much of this is generational. When I was a student, 40 years ago, there was a dude with a megaphone yelling on defensive stands, “Hold ‘em, Horns!”, and the stands would yell along with him. I notice that, as I yell “Hold ‘em, Horns!” On defensive stands now,…no one else ever yells it. It’s like I never got the memo…