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statsman

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Everything posted by statsman

  1. They were named MNC by the Football Writers Association of America in 1958. It was awarded after the bowls, in a year where the AP and UPI awarded the MNC before the bowls to LSU, who then lost their bowl game. I’ll allow it.
  2. No sarcasm. More than anything, amazed that they have fallen so far behind. S&C is a science, and the very best are lifetime students, constantly trying to learn more. Madden wasn’t, and maybe Schmidt isn’t.
  3. I was listening to the Ikard-Lehman podcast, where they were discussing OU’s pro day. -don’t worry so much about the number of NFL scouts that showed, they said- you need a top QB and Edge rusher to get a bunch of them. -a lot of comments about players I rarely heard of during the season “maybe they get invited as a camp body, and anything can happen after that” - after discussing how much they like CB Woodi Washington as a person, they noted that his times would be good for a DT prospect - a lot of comments about players physically looking better now, than during the season. Is it possible that Schmitty, demonstrably better than Madden as a S&C coach 20 years ago, is demonstrably worse than Becton, now?
  4. 1942 Cotton Bowl (Alabama vs TAMC) watch. Has to be rare- rosters were smaller and there are probably a number in a bomber cockpit on the ocean floor, or in an old dresser in France (“some nice American gave that to Grandma for something”). Would trade for a Texas bowl watch I need.
  5. Deion really wanted CU to join the B12, because he thought he would have Texas as a recruiting territory. Turns out that with Texas out of the conference, exposure to Texas athletes (the best ones) is just a fraction of what it was.
  6. It could be worse. I was talking to a friend that went to the game in CS last November. He said he tried to get “Poo-oo-oor Aggies!” Going in the 4th quarter, and it just didn’t take. It is possible that, with a 13 year break in The series, younger Texas fans don’t know that we do that, when the win is almost certain? We need to do that next year, and remind them why they hate playing us so bad.
  7. You have to love holding both “sips are pathetic for getting excited about coming in third” and “hey, 2012 and 2020 were pretty damned great years” at the same time.
  8. You know who has been really serious about building their military? The PLA. I am of the opinion that the single most important strategic foreign policy goal of the US should be to deter China.
  9. The DOD and Commerce Department have a lot of laws limiting the sharing of IP, both for defense and dual use (commercial and defense). The U.S. spends 916B on defense, per year. The U.K., France and Germany, combined, spend $200B annually. Europe could increase defense spending by 50% (they are discussing increasing 10-20%, phased over three years), and their market is still dwarfed by the U.S. Remember- Russia invaded three years ago. That was not enough to make Europe get serious. In those three years, they have spent more on Russian energy than they gave (loaned) to Ukraine. The U.K. has about 70K active duty army troops. Do you think they are sending 20K to Ukraine? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-army-troops-ukraine-defence-b2701635.html Europe is showing signs of seriousness. They have introduced legislation in Brussels that would allow them to break debt limits for defense spending. That’s the first step. The second step is to dump the net zero mandates to allow production of weaponry.
  10. I think I would take Mateer in the Texas 2-deep. He has so much more playing experience than Owen- that has to mean something, right?
  11. Honestly, wrt Georgia and Crimea, the answer is we don’t have the reports of soldiers raping civilians, seemingly as a tactic, nor reports of mass graves of executed civilians. I think that’s a big part of it. And of course, that’s followed by the targeted bombing of civilian populations, and infrastructure. WRT Tibet, the PRC is much, much better at managing its image through pressure on western media companies and control of social media channels (how many here have TikTok on their phone? Ever query it for info about Tiannemen Square? It is no better than RT or Telegram, and probably worse. Cute videos, though). I mean- the PRC has ethnic concentration camps, race slaves, and credible reports of harvesting organs from living internees, and an income stream from sales of fentanyl ingredients to cartels, and there is no comparable western rage (our Europe allies all have national economic strategies of further engagement with the PRC). All I can figure is that they are much better at messaging than Russia.
  12. And that is less than half of what Germany paid Russia last year for energy (I know- that’s gross sales, not profit, but still,…in the third year of the invasion?) https://www.ft.com/content/81f60240-9f01-4dd8-85b0-1fec654a5257
  13. Reading comprehension. I said it was correct to blame Russia. I contrasted that with Russia’s ally, China, abstaining. Both votes are bogus, and maneuvers to try to be the broker of peace talks.
  14. Contrarian view: Trump did two things of note this past week, wrt Ukraine: 1. He had America vote against a UN resolution (correctly) charging Russia with starting the war. (Note- Russian ally China, also offering to broker a peace, abstained, instead of voting against. Wonder why?). 2. In the Oval Office televised discussion before the breakdown, he affirmed that U.S. weapon shipments, approved last year, would continue. Which of these actions is most significant, most telling? Zelensky wants guarantees of security. Trump has proposed a minerals deal for ores that are underneath the current battle lines, where commerce only happens in the advantage of US and Ukraine, if they are not under Russian control. I get that Zelensky wants his whole country back. He should. The truth is- no one has ever offered a plan or resources to accomplish that. Zelensky is not Churchill; he is Thieu, and he is balking at a deal that Thieu would have given his left nut for. He better hope that Budanov doesn’t start looking at him like Diem. Maybe Europe will offer a better deal. Maybe they will offer munitions and troops.
  15. He had some games like that late in the 2019 regular season, just incredibly efficient. I really believe that if he had not gotten hurt, he was going to Godzilla that playoffs. Remember, in the first round, Beverley explaining why they couldn’t stop him? “He’s Kevin Durant, man. He’s Kevin Durant”.
  16. I’m a novice. What do you think of WSJ article and its suggestions? Should I do this? Or something else? https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/taxes/tax-identity-theft-ip-pin-irs-ab021643?st=iEUkNq&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink
  17. The way to do it: Have the conference require a clause in every contract that states- “this contract not valid until approved by conference office”. Penalties would have to be different than they were in the past. Reducing scholarships hurts the players. Taking a team off TV hurts the paying customer that funds everything. They would have to be something like taking away a home game. That might get Auburn’s attention, if they had to play in Tuscaloosa three years in a row. But, I still haven’t seen any motion on this yet.
  18. A number of ways to game the system come to mind. For one, a backloaded two year contract, for that “must have” recruit when your budget is tapped out. Or, if $600 is the limit, a series of $500 handshakes. The only way this holds is if there are airtight rules, a strong auditing group, and conferences committed to enforcing. Lacking any one, it will still be the Wild West.
  19. Reviewing the first pages of this thread, it’s remarkable the B12 is doing as well as it is. When OUT was announced, most thought the B12 was dead- any teams that could would move on- ISU and KU to the B1G, OSU and TT (maybe TCU) to the PAC- and that would be that. Instead, the PAC went away. The B1G took the kill shot, by nabbing USC and UCLA (and the rich S. California recruiting grounds). I think a lot of the final winnowing was affected by the COVID year. As I remember, the PAC and B1G were ready to call off the season, until Ohio State and (primarily) intervened. It highlighted the PAC as a place that wasn’t really serious about football (you could say the same about the B1G, but it has just so much money). I also remember (correct me if I’m wrong), the B12 was the second conference to say they would not be canceling football. So, here we are: the B12 is still here, because it was serious about the game, the commissioner was a wizard at signing a media deal, and perhaps most importantly, the B1G and SEC didn’t want any of the programs left.
  20. Of course, this was an era when Texas was typically an eight win team. Texas offered the “prestige” of being a “name” program that was very beatable by the others. Also, I have to note that in 2020, the PAC and B1G freed up a lot of better time slots and premium channels for non-prime B12 games. I’m sure the networks understood that.
  21. Again, this is amazing (2020 numbers). Two factors, to explain the big ratings drop in B12 non-OU and non-UT games, and they may be inter-related… 1. When Texas and OU were in the conference, the conference (including games without Texas or OU) got more favorable time slots and channels, leading to better ratings. 2. A lot of Texas and OU fans would tune into other B12 games, out of interest in the competition. Now, they’re tuning into SEC games, instead.
  22. That OSU-Arky game was a function of an early week with few good games freeing up a nice major channel and time slot. Next season, KSU and ISU start their seasons with a special game in Dublin. I’m sure the coaches hate it, and Yormark loves it. The B12’s problem, and you hint at it, is that it doesn’t have popular “programs”. I bet if you asked Yormark whether OSU should play OU in football, he’d say, “Hell, yes”. In just a couple of years, the OSU AD will come around on that.
  23. https://sports.yahoo.com/big-12-football-on-tnt-new-deal-will-feature-13-football-games-on-wbd-channels-after-settlement-135956401.html
  24. ESPN is sub-licensing B12 football and basketball. Why do you pay a nice price for a product, and then sub-license it to a competitor? Because you realize that you paid too much and have to extract value, now, where you can. Again, it is not looking good for the next B12 media contract
  25. I was looking at TV ratings from the past few years, and noticed something a little surprising. In 2021, 2022, games between B12 rivals like, for example, TCU and OSU would be on Fox or ESPN and draw good ratings (around 2M). Now, they are on FS1 and draw about 450K. Significance? The B12 has a nice media contract, through 2031, even without Texas and OU. The ratings for non-OUT games from a few years ago support that valuation. The ratings from 2024 do not. Reasons? 1. B12 doesn’t have nearly as many games on the major channels as before? Has conference realignment allowed the SEC and B1G to schedule more premium games (I believe the conferences absolutely schedule with an eye to rival conference schedules), leaving fewer premium. Channel openings to the B12? Or, do the networks just believe the B12 games won’t draw as well? 2. Did Texas and OU have a “halo” effect, where fans of those schools would watch non-OUT games just to keep up with the conference they were interested in? And now they watch SEC games instead? Future- If new media contracts come out in 2031, and the SEC and B1G are making twice or three times what the B12 and ACC get, will the AD payments to players be affected? Aren’t they based on revenue?
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