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OnWis97

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Posts posted by OnWis97

  1. 11 hours ago, Germanshepherd said:

    The dark blue part is subtly the shape of Minnesota. That’s actually pretty good. 

    I think there was consideration for an asymmetrical one that had the "point" lower to look a bit more like the state. I'm glad they went this way...I prefer the subtlety with more of a conventional "flag" look.

     

    I'm starting to warm up to it, though seeing it match with the other state flags, I do think the version with the green stripe would have set it apart better.

    • Like 1
  2. I don't know whether there was a connection but some in Minnesota were melting down that the one with green had a resemblance (if you really wanted to see it, which they did) to some subdivision in Somalia. 

     

    I think it'll probably pass the legislature, though if the GOP members hear enough about how woke it is to change the flag, I suppose this could go in the direction of a straight party vote. The Dems have both houses but I could see a few citing the process or the fact that one party should not make the decision. So it's not 100%.

    • Yawn 1
  3. It's probably the most popular college sport right now after football and basketball. It seems to have come on very quickly over the last couple of years. A regular-season Wisconsin vs. Minnesota match was shown on Fox a month or two ago in the late afternoon on a Saturday (following a college football game). That kind of exposure seems like a very new development.

    A couple of years ago I bandgwagon-watched Wisconsin win the national championship and was blown away by the intensity of it all. I also caught the end of a regular season loss at Nebraska this season and the intensity was still impressive (i.e., doesn't only apply to national championship).

    That all said, I don't anticipate becoming a frequent viewer because it's not like I don't have enough sports to waste time with already.

  4. There were some others early on that I liked better but when the final six were announced, this was probably the best one.

    I really don't like the white being at the top...I hope it ends up in the middle. Overall it's been pretty disappointing. The state pulled the old "your reward is the exposure" thing and then seemed to rush through the process.  The state seal ended up being really nice, in my opinion. The flag redesign is kind of working out like a less-successful version of Utah's change.

     

    There have been times I've suspected that the group (I really don't know who they are) is "throwing" the process with the objective of keeping the same flag. That's not what I think happened, but I do think they should have slowed it down at some point.

     

    Despite the arguments a couple of pages ago, I generally favor separating ourselves from the other blue / seal flags and am glad something is happening.  As a bonus the same crowd of people who adopted William McKinley as their favorite president a few years ago is suddenly really attached to our "blah" flag. It's fun seeing them melt down over something they don't actually care about.

    • Like 2
  5. I'm generally indifferent to the in-season tournament and I'm pretty much waiting until at least one of them is completed to make judgements. I'm generally curious to see how the winning team reacts. My guess is with a little more excitement than after any regular-season win. Will there be a banner (please, no)? T-shirts (probably but I'd never get one)? Will it last? Will it become big enough to water-down the actual championship (I doubt it)?

     

    There are some T-Wolves fans that are upset that the team with the best record in the West didn't get in. I personally don't care; in fact, I'm kinda relieved they won't have an 83rd game. (and I also understand, and accept, that there's a randomness to using four games to go from 30 teams to eight). I choose not to nit-pick the fact that these were the only games where margin of victory matters. I am not too into the nuance that the Wolves, not used to success, could have used the "playoff atmosphere." Meh. They got that last year when they gave Denver a couple of games. At no point have I ever invested in the in-season tourney. Also, though, I don't see it as problematic or something to have angst over. 

    • Like 1
  6. 12 hours ago, BBTV said:

    I'm curious what message boards would have said about 1994 undefeated B1G champ Penn State not having the opportunity to play undefeated Nebaska, who was simply awarded the title.

     

    Anyway, back to 2023.  There are no rules.  There are rules within the conference, but this playoff thing is a made-for-tv show.  It has no obligation to codify how it chooses, and it's just a room fool of good 'ole boys who are beholden to TV networks and ratings, so they can do whatever they want.  They're playing by the rules, not breaking them.  It's an entertainment show, not legitimate competition.

     

    While I agree that the whole system is completely absurd, it always has been, and in a way, they're simply honoring that time-honored tradition.  They're actually heroes!

    I was pretty upset at the time. A few years later Nebraska beat out undefeated Michigan. I remember complaining about the "tie goes to Nebraska rule." It was why I was happy about the BCS; I felt the traditional Rose Bowl tie in was doing the Big Ten a disservice.

     

    One of those two Nebraska wins (I think it was the Penn State year), there was a split in the polls. Then Penn State made the mistake of taking their foot off the gas against Indiana or someone and won by a lesser margin. From that point on, Nebraska had full control of both polls.

    In the Michigan year, Tom Osbourne announced his retirement mid-year.  That effectively served as tiebreaker.

     

    Quibbling over #5 is better than quibbling over #2 (BCS) and #1 (old system). I look forward to quibbling over #13; that'll better-resemble the quibbling over #69 in basketball where once the games start we forget about it.

     

     

     

    • Like 2
  7. It's almost like a four-team playoff doesn't work when there are five big conferences.

     

    I'd have preferred to see FSU in over Alabama, even though Alabama's probably the better team. I still think Georgia's probably better than Alabama. But they lost, just as 'Bama did to Texas. FSU never did. And if you're going to consider their QB situation (which is like the NFL booting the Eagles out of the playoffs if Jalen Hurts goes down), then I think it's fair game to consider the miracle Alabama needed to beat a team that had just been smacked around by New Mexico State.

     

    Anyway, I prefer resume/body-of-work to projection. And if you're going to project, may as well go:
    1. Georgia

    2. Bama

    3. Michigan

    4. Washington

     

    Anyway, Bama's going to win this whole thing, obviously.

    • Like 4
    • Love 1
  8. 17 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

    The Wolves are 8-2 with KAT. Why move him?

    I can’t see why they would do that barring a surprisingly, generous offer. Yesterday, Edwards didn’t have a great game and KAT grabbed that win for them.
     

    I am usually a big Steve Kerr fan, but I was a little disappointed in his comical defense of his player and suggestion that Gobert did the same thing. L O L.

     

    I think Green might tone his act down if someone popped him in the jaw.

    • Like 2
  9. 46 minutes ago, oldschoolvikings said:

    Wait … who exactly is America’s team, here?

    It’s my (admittedly hyperbolic) label for them after the NCAA apologized for slapping them on the wrist. US sports media clearly wanted them to remain a power and while it’s not as much the case today, they felt like America’s team for a few years.

  10. The Timberwolves have beaten the Celtics, Nuggets, and Heat (albeit on "Player Rest Day" for Miami).

    And they've blown a 20-point lead to Atlanta. This team could probably skip the entire play-in that round that they're becoming mainstays in if they could just figure out how to hold leads against non-elite teams.  They'll probably miss the six seed by two games after going 1-5 against Charlotte, Detroit, and Washington.

    • Like 1
  11. As playoffs have expanded over the years, it gives more fanbases to pay attention well into the season, which is good for getting people to the games.

    However, the World Series ended up giving us a couple of teams that I think were not very well known to many fans. Given the somewhat random nature of who wins a short series, by enlarging the playoff field, the likelihood of a team that didn't spend much of the season on the radar going to the World Series increases. It's a bit of a double-edged sword I suppose. I suspect Atlanta, who is known as being really good and has more notable players, would have bumped the ratings some.  Maybe even a Baltimore, who isn't as well known but was recognized as having had a great year, may have helped. 

     

    I know there's a chance that I'm projecting here as it is probably the World Series for which I knew the fewest players since I was about eight years old. I did not find the matchup particularly compelling.

  12. On 10/26/2023 at 10:06 AM, BeerGuyJordan said:

     

    For the bulk of the year it's usually in the 7 to 12 degree Farenheit difference range, if both have similar weather. Tucson is currently 10 degrees cooler.

     

    You do see more monsoon activity in Tucson, and on those days the difference can get close to 20 sometimes. That's typically only about 3 months (July, Aug, Sep). 

     

    It's primarily because Tucson is about 1,600 feet higher in elevation. 

    I recall when Wisconsin played at Arizona in football maybe 20 years ago they were in a flooding locker room waiting for a torrential downpour to end. I thought it was a huge anomaly.   I'm actually going to Tucson for the first time ever in early December. I'm counting on some nice weather.

    But that 7-12 degree difference would not do it for me. I don't think I could spend time in either place in the summer.  During one of D-Back home games last week I was disappointed the roof was closed but then I found out it had hit 100 that day. It was October 20 or something. And it's not going to get better...(Of course where I live winter is like seven months...)

  13. I actually think liking that blue/gold Astros look is popular. The color scheme obviously fits with the name and the streaking star was unique.

    I feel like I have the unpopular opinion in that it was easilly my least favorite of their looks. I realize the earthy look didn't fit their name and was probably a mistake, but I thought it looked so good I didn't care. That all said, I think they look great now (minus the ginormous "Oxy" patch). I'm glad the Astros look like they originally did (post Colt .45s).

    • Like 1
  14. 10 hours ago, GDAWG said:

    Bruce Bochy was a surprise hire, but it was a good hire at the end, no matter what happens in the World Series.  He should win AL Manager of the Year

    I think that's voted on at the close of the regular season so I'd suspect Brandon Hyde will win. That said, Bochy may be second and if he does win, I will have no problem with it.

  15. I assumed that going back to E-W would be unpopular because people seemed to like it when it came out, but maybe it's growing stale. I prefer it simply because I know who's playing on which team. I also don't find the whole "all-star draft" compelling in the least. I hope they go back. While nobody cares about the conferences they way we used to care about the AL and NL, nothing about East/West was the reason the game stinks.

  16. 7 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:


    Hot take: seeding should be done by run differential, not wins. Run differential is a better indicator of what teams are better than others. It’s also why I maintain that the 1987 Twins were the worst team to win a WS.

    As a Twins fan, I say "How dare you...speak the truth." 

     

    I will say one thing for your run differential idea...you'd probably see fewer position players pitching, which is a good thing.

    That said, I think the optics of making the playoffs on W/L and then seeding on run differential would be strange optics. It's almost an admission that Team A made won the division despite being worse by an official measure than Team B, which had a better run differential but one fewer win.

    I'd also add that run differential can be impacted by that one 17-1 game where things just got out of hand. (i.e., the existence of blowouts can inflate run differential to the point that I'm not even sure I agree with your notion).

  17. I think the performance of teams with byes is something to watch.  It worked out in Astros Twins (the only series I followed closely) as Houston's rotation was set and the Twins had to pick up in the middle.

     

    My gut response to byes was "no." Having a bye following a three-game series with no off day, however, seems like a reasonable enough compromise.

    That said, if the best teams continue to "not play well enough" to beat the lesser teams, then maybe there's something to the idea of a bye being a disadvantage. The only team with a bye that is going to the LCS defeated the worst team in the playoffs that historically serves as a bye-in-uniform.

     

    I think it's reasonable to question the format.

    • Like 2
  18. Regarding re-seeding, it's a pretty quick turnaround from wild-card to LDS.  My guess is re-seeding is off the table because suppose Texas swept Tampa Bay but the Twins and Toronto had gone to a 3rd game. Then Texas has to wait for the result of that game before they know where to go. Add the possibility of rain and it's probably not worth it logistically. I suppose you could argue that the Orioles have earned the right to play the lower seed and tough crap to the wild card team that has to wait on its travel plans but I don't think that's a great approach (add to that that the Twins actually have the worst record of the bunch and then we'll start splitting hairs on how they seed and argue whether the O's have the right to face them or if their division championship gives them the right to skip the O's and we'll soon see that we may as well pick seeding out of a hat).

    • Like 1
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