statsman

Yes. He talked a good game earlier, but in the recent deliberations, he was not one of the 17 GOP senators to vote for Ukrainian aid

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/how-putins-obsession-with-history-led-him-to-start-a-war-6732f619?st=ncjjnhwh4syir6p&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

Yeah, it’s kind of a screwed up operation when the people in charge of getting aid to the Palestinian refugees are also wanting to kill Jews.

Hidden deep below the headquarters of the United Nations’ aid agency for Palestinians in Gaza City is a Hamas complex that Israel says served as an important communications center for the Islamist militant grouphttps://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-military-compound-found-beneath-u-n-agency-headquarters-in-gaza-7e29c758?st=rzza1usv4q74mb8&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

You’re arguing against the point you want me to have made. Not you. I still don't understand what the point of Statmans post was. Seems like the BIG and SEC would be content having all the money, all the recruiting, all the prime TV spots, and 75% of the playoff spots. You’re arguing against a point you want me to have made, not one I made. Wadlington commented that the SEC/B1G are going to want 8-9 spots in a 12 team playoff. Thats all. The P2 have a lot of, well, power.

Thanks, and this all makes sense. But,…we know OU. They’re not the Ags, willing to be losers as long as they can feel they are victims. How will they respond to not winning big? In the past, it took just a few years of Gomer Jones before they hired someone willing to cheat outrageously. Then, after the Switzer scandal, they went about six years with a “clean-ish” program before saying, “Fuck it”, and hiring Schnellenberger and then Blake. It’s what they do. If they can’t win by the rules, they start seeking out coaches that will tell them they’ll win, and don’t look too closely at how they do it. Now, they’ve had almost a quarter century of exceptional coaching, to keep them on top, and if that’s ending,…how will they respond?

But, the supreme court said there is nothing wrong with “pay for play”. Quite the opposite. They couldn’t see justification for rules against it (on the conference and NCAA level. Obviously, a school could state that they are not going to pay any players).

He gave us this great bit of “stand up and take blame like a man”, when asked why he lied about SMU continuing payments after the first round of significant NCAA penalties- “I didn’t see a Bible in the room”.

This is horrible logic-“Once the strong programs are out of the PAC and B12, the remaining teams will have better records and look stronger.” What you’re describing is exactly why the SEC and B1G would flex.

This past year, in the final Dec. 3 rankings, FSU was ACC champ. Next ACC team was Louisville at 15 (not in). Highest of the new B12 was Arizona at 14. Notre Dame was 16. We have debated here- who is more deserving of an at large bid- a two loss B12 team or a three loss SEC/B1G team? The SEC and B1G are pushing their chips in.

No. The P4 conference champs are in. One G5 conference champ is in. That leaves seven at large. The B12 or ACC might get an extra team in, but not both. Baseline should be 8-9 SEC and B1G teams in 12 team playoff (oh, yes, and Notre Dame figures in)

The idea is-the SEC and B1G can split off and claim their playoff champ is the major college champ

On the IT podcast, Wadlington was discussing the SEC-B1G discussion. He said he expects the outcome to be- in exceptional years, the B12 or ACC might get two teams in the CFP, but not both in the same year. If FBS doesn’t like it, they’ll split off.

Yes, that is exactly what will happen

Sherwood Blount- theSMU bag man whose name I couldn’t remember. He played for SMU in the’70s, and used his bag man activities to make connections/network the wealthy SMU alums financing the Pony Express. It truly is amazing how much money the Mustangs were throwing around back then. They weren’t using the $20k in an envelope to sway a four star recruit into closing the deal. For a few key recruits, they were buying lifetime annuities.

The book about SMU Pony Express days cheating, “A Payroll to Meet”, describes how the payouts were funded by whales like Edwin Cox. Those guys never met recruits in person, had no formal connections to them. They met in person with the bag men, trusted younger grads close to the program, who would take the money and distribute it to desired recruits (names coordinated with coaches). I assume the modern dirty (pre-NIL) programs operate similarly. That level of giving, the “whales’” contribution, is built into their funding model already. Their new source for funds are the little guys, but you get a lot less from them (and have to work a lot harder). At Texas, Bellmont has been very effective at raising donations, for legit purposes. Texas’ whales have been giving to get suites, preferential seats, access, names on facilities, personal birthday notes from CDC, etc. Funding NIL requires them to either divert current donations or increase donations. Texas is lucky in that we have sucked recently, and that has suppressed recent donations below their maximized potential (when Texas is winning, the money it draws/makes is incredible). As for the small donors- few schools have as many as a winning Longhorn program. I would like to think there is a future where Bellmont isn’t going to the same wells, hard, as TexasOne, but it’s going to take some work to get there, I think. It’s unnatural for organizations like Bellmont to reduce begging because another part of the program needs the funds more.

They will scout some good prospects, and coach and develop them up. Then the P2 teams will grab those stars in the portal.

That is interesting. My guess is the NIL manager wants Sooner fans to believe they need to double their contributions.

It was remarkable how much the NIL manager was willing to mention other schools, in comparison, while never mentioning Texas.

This is an awesome listen: thoughts- -Their NIL collective is managed by a company that manages several schools’ collectives. I wonder if that is akin to an HOA managed by a company, vs. one managed by residents: the latter is always less expensive and more responsive -They have $4M for the roster, while average for the SEC is $8M. That’s a problem -the NIL manager was very comfortable talking about AD revenue and NIL as if the funds were fungible- spend less on “Olympic sports” regular operations and more on football NIL. That is a problem, to be discussing that this early. -His argument for a (wished for) salary cap, because the chaos demands one, reminds me of the investing saying- “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent”. -He said he advised Castiglione to stop hiring football analysts and instead direct that money to NIL. -Their strategy for overcoming shortfalls in NIL: leaning hard on their culture. Lol I would say that they may have made a huge mistake in joining the SEC, but I would never underestimate the lengths and measures OU will go to in order to keep winning.

Well, Iran is showing that it is in control of passage through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. The USN isn’t. Shipping may re-commence when Iran is satisfied with the ME situation. Thats how it is until something changes it.

Well, Iran told us to stay away from their spy ship, the one that gives coordinates of our outposts to the Houthis and Iraqi militias. So, I guess that’s that. We wouldn’t want to escalate.

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-privately-estimates-as-many-as-50-hostages-could-be-dead-a98a7feb?st=ycfjtoqtyok8xz5&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink

The Texas members of the Big 12 already said, “No way” to SMU.