Nova Carmina

Relevant to MLB, as well, but is it time to rethink the value of winning a division? Some of them are quite weak, relatively, and while that changes over the years, maybe we just put all the teams into a pot and seed them 1-7? Looking at the standings Treeduck posted, all that would change at the moment is reversing the home field for the Eagles-Bucs, but maybe that's how it should be?

So that's a very good Top 6 (8?) -- but then how could it be otherwise, eh!?! (Excepting, I suppose, the True Fan who has "Half The World" at No. 1). The Cygni are a little high for me, both feel more indulgent that "La Villa," and that one's got it baked into the title, but it's not the sort of thing one shouts at strangers on the internet about. Good list! Maybe I'll pull myself together and post one of my own, since lord knows I've done enough sniping. Thanks for the effort and the discussion.

Four more dropped balls, though . . .

Only pretenders, after all . . .

Random comment of the morning: What the hell is with this pink kits that Fulham are wearing? They look like giant highlighters. No, thank you.

So far, I'd give the edge to Season One, but it's definitely worth the watch, yeah.

If he does go, you can hire Berube, be bottom of the league in January, and still win the Cup! Oh, wait, why would I want that for the Blackhawks?

I've never found "Subdivisions" as moving or meaningful as so many of my peers, so this is an overshot for me (not hugely), and I think "Freewill" is creme de la creme, but as an average, this group is spot-on.

I hope everyone took the over!

According to this article from Fan Graphs, this contract is both of the two things: The Dodgers will actually pay 700 million over twenty years (ten of two million and ten of 68 million), but MLB will only count 460 million (46 million per year) toward the CBT. That, friends, is some bullshit. I get that the players would not want a salary cap or caps on deferred money, but why should the richest clubs get what is effectively a tax dodge (no pun intended)? Bring me NFL-style revenue sharing, please . . .

Thought of you when reading this, from The Ringer: What a weird season for the Saints. They’re 6-7 and have a legit chance to win the NFC South, yet their fans seem to hate the team—and for good reason! Derek Carr got into a shouting match with center Erik McCoy during last week’s win over the Panthers. Those things happen, but they usually don’t happen this often. As this ESPN.com article by Katherine Terrell outlines, Carr went at it with offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael in Week 6 and was yelling at wide receiver Chris Olave in Week 7. Watching the Saints has been a mostly miserable experience this year. Rooting for them, I imagine, has to be even worse.

Hey! You keep fighting the good fight, and tell her (in a family-friendly sort of way, of course) to volunteer to stow it! Go 'Cats!

"The Spirit of Radio" suffers a bit from over-familiarity, but when I can actually listen to it, that's a great track. All these others are immaculate, and I'm loving the ranking of "Circumstances" and "Kid Gloves," an underrated gem I wish had been played more often.

I'd guess no. She was featured in Geddy's "Are Bassists Human, Too?" series, and that was the first time I'd heard of her, but she was the bassist in Hole for their one hit, and then toured with Smashing Pumpkins post-peak. In the show, she seemed like quite . . . a character.

Bye, bye, Berube, and thanks for the memories. Banners hang forever.

I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but I do just wanna get the boot in one last time before we all move on, shaking our heads about the world's absurdities: I think you and I agree on many things, and I am super sympathetic to the idea that at the root of every hoard there is a crime, but the Saudis are an especially egregious kind of awful: ordering murders, war crimes in Yemen, abuse and oppression straight out of the middle ages at home, exporting a particularly toxic and terroristic (and unrepresentative) kind of Islam in Wahhabi, not to mention environmental degradation; that's the list before we even get to the relatively minor issue of their sports-washing through the LIV tour, Premier League team ownership, and its quislings -- which brings us back to Rahm. All life may be a compromise with our principles, but it'd be nice to think that surely, at some point, enough is enough? Every moment like this one answers that question by saying, "Oh, no; there is no enough; there is no bottom; there is only falling."

So I need a TRF numbers guru to explain this to me: I keep reading it's not really $700 million because the owners and the MLBPA are using 4.46% as the "discount rate" (to pre-empt inflation?) and the annual average value of the contract is "really" about $46 million ($44 million + the $2 million per annum salary), making it a much more reasonable (!) $460/10 year deal. Most of the money ($680 million) is deferred for the length of the contract, so he'll get paid $2 million/yr for ten years and then the $68 million/yr for ten years after that. If the Dodgers are, in fact, going to pay him $700 million dollars, then only having to count $460 million for competitive balance purposes is some super shady shit, but are they, in fact, paying him the 700 (very) large? When I read summaries of it, they (like this one) seem to say two contradictory things (yes, 700; no, it's not really that much). Any help?

And then the Blues blow into town!

College students who can't tell the difference between noon (you know, 12 pm) and midnight (uh, 12 am). And then the whining.

If a couple of whiners get sent off and their side gives up a goal or two, that might have a very salutary effect. They'd learn to zip it PDQ. Can't say I'd be too thrilled with changing the time frame of the game, but if less time was wasted, the 90 minutes would feel more legit. I dunno about the mic'ing; that just sounds like more non-play time. When the ref makes the little air square and points to the spot, I don't need him to stop and tell me "VAR says it's a penalty" . . .

No, I'm sure there are some oddballs out there who don't (), but based on how loudly the crowds at Mizzou games finish the national anthem with " . . . and the home of the CHIEFS!" I'm guessing that the majority do, so I feel safe in saying the "average" fan does, based in mode, if no other aspect!

A big win! Finally! Everybody looked good. Dak for MVP!

I'm as happy as the next Missourian when the Chiefs win, but the officials have been directed to call that penalty more often this year, so what're they supposed to do? This is on Toney -- he can't see the effin ball from where he's standing? If I were Veach, the Chiefs' GM, I'd have cut that guy or traded him to the Panthers by 8:01 this morning.