biggentleben

Yikes, when it's unanimous on Twitter that PSU should not have scored that TD due to delay of game, it's a bad, bad call.

Good "since" post. Maroney was after me.

A couple recent examples have studied various angles on this, and I've been watching with some level of curiosity at both. The Atlanta Falcons offered significant food discounts to season ticket holders of any package recently and continued that this season with some modifications with how those food discounts would be handled for tickets acquired on the secondary market from a season ticket holder. The other angle that's been attempted is with teams that own the licensing/rental for all food and apparel vendors to greatly reduce ticket prices for certain portions of the stadium, lower or maintain rent prices but with the caveat that a percentage of food/merchandise revenue goes back to the team. I've not sat down to really study out which has born out better financial returns, but knowing a few minor league teams that tracked their attempts at both directions, I could make a few contacts and find out some info. All said, there's going to be major money spent when you go to a game. If you don't spend it to walk in the door, you'll spend it once in the door. It's really a sort of "six of one thing, half dozen of another" when it comes to spending with a family.

This turned into an owners vs. players thing quickly when in reality most of the people that were involved in the conversations that Alex referenced have multiple reports between them and the owner. Whether that's lazy reporting or Tony Clark trying to create a story, I'm not sure, but either way it flopped.

They have an awesome daily podcast as well that's 5-10 minutes long.

Prisons are filled with people like Josh for two reasons - 1) it makes money for the prisons to have as many people in them as possible, and those prisons often kick back a LOT of money to the government, meaning there's very little incentive to end that relationship; and 2) the ability to handle "difficult" mental illness/addiction/disability in our society is nearly nil. Polls, even in the most socially liberal areas of the country, strongly favor expansion of state hospitals over expansion of community-based programs, both of which are primarily taxpayer-funded, so the funding model is really not that different, but the actual recovery rates are significantly different.

Exactly the point I've been attempting to make. Rhetoric early in this post was interpreted to give up on Josh and throw him in jail as he's a lost cause. My responses have been in response to that, that he has dual diagnosis that he deals with daily, and thousands of people fall similarly every single day.

Cards Against Humanity released a few new expansions just in time for the holiday season playing with your fellow horrible relatives.

One of my co-workers at Prospects Live recently made an announcement: https://twitter.com/JasonPennini/status/1192480999008956416 Along with Manuel, it's a great sign that the Twins are looking for good eyes in all realms. It's also making me very aware that I'm in charge of the Twins top 30 list for Prospects Live now that JP has joined the club!

I asked Kiley in his chat yesterday at FanGraphs how long he saw the robot umps being implemented in minor league ball before making their MLB debut, and his response was a few years.

Josh Norris is very anti-automated zone. My co-worker who was with him down in Arizona said it got to be almost comical to listen to Norris rant on the zone during automated games. I'd trust that article about as far as I can throw it. Not saying all conclusions are biased, but from neutral co-workers that were at the AFL, that's not the overall consensus among players, umpires, and coaches.

One of my college teammates once referred to John Witherspoon as the "new Bill Cosby" as the father in multiple African-American movies and shows of influence in the late-1990s/early-2000s like the Friday series and Wayans Brothers. He passed on October 29 at 77.

You expressed my intent exactly. We can be supportive of the victim of someone's actions while in the throws of their addiction (or when not properly addressing other mental health concerns) while also having empathy and concern that the best be done individually for the person. I worked in a mental health delivery model that worked with those with extreme SPMI that were one step away from losing the ability to live independently. Those persons were seen often 3-5 times daily to assist with all things to do with their daily living activities. Many remain at that level of assistance for decades and never move to a less-intensive level of staff intervention due to the expedience of mania onset or psychiatric downslope when a person's chemical balance is out of sync. I've lived both sides of the issue, working with someone who was the kindest, most gentle person you could ever meet until his meds were off, but then he was willing to physically challenge me, a 6'3" former Gopher offensive lineman, leaving many incredibly frightened and at times leaving holes in walls or destruction on others' vehicles in his wake. He felt sincere remorse when no longer in the moment of a psychiatric "break" (I hate that word, but it's what is best understood for descriptive purposes) and would do all he could to repay financially any damage he'd done and apologize sincerely for his behaviors. Still, I'd hear often in public from those who didn't realize I worked with him that he should be locked up and the key thrown away. To address Hamilton, he has been surrounded in many cases with significant support, though what is reported as significant support and truly significant support for a person with dual diagnosis are two very different things. Regardless, what has been provided has obviously not been the right mix yet for Josh. Sadly, in the world of addiction, and especially in dual diagnosis, there is no blanket treatment, and each person will react individually, requiring a different mix of talk therapy, medication, social therapy (i.e. AA), exercise, diet, and so many other factors that play into finally finding what works...and even then, that could work for a season in life, not forever. One can support Josh not having contact with his daughter, think the actions are repulsive, and hope that his children and former spouse are getting the help they need while also at the same time avoiding quick assumptions that this is simply Josh's persona and not a sign of the need for a change in his present management system for his dual diagnosis.

I had good friends who were part of the Gopher basketball program during the Clem fallout...and he was still getting paid. I saw coaches that worked hard on my behalf lose their jobs with Mason, and he still got paid. These things happen at a big-time school. Nothing wrong with having an idea of reality while also celebrating possibility.

Been a rough offseason for former umpires.

Sadly, this only means that an NFL team or Florida State/Ohio State/Notre Dame level school will have to make an even bigger offer to lure him away, not that he's locked in. It also means that if things go bad, the Gophers have now locked themselves into 6 years of paying for a coach that could be coaching elsewhere.

If only life were that convenient for those with mental illness...

I'm still a fan of two responses to Penn State fans (and if JoePa had called me earlier in my senior year, I very well would have been at Penn State, so it comes from a place of pseudo-love): We are... Dan Nystrom The second one would require moderation on this board, and it's been shown to be something that happens in the Gophers athletics department as well (not coaches with boys, but inappropriate and/or undesired sexual contact all the same), so that one I've let fall by the wayside. A true Nittany Lion fan that has been a fan for a while when hearing the name Dan Nystrom will often curl into a ball, chanting odd phrases like "jump higher Arringon! Jump higher!" I was able to be on the field for that game and the Ohio State upset the next season. While being in a player/family section when the axe was won for the first time in a while was probably #2, the Penn State victory was by far my favorite Gopher football game I've attended.

Unlike Will Smith who is one of a few relievers who is truly elite on the market, Abreu is among a lot of guys who can do what he does offensively at a corner IF or corner OF position. Without elite defense at first (which he does not have at all) or significant youth on his side (nope), a QO in the current qualifying offer market is potentially hurting the player and also not getting you back a pick as well.

If he signs it, it'd be a bit nuts. It'd only give him one year of security. I would wager he'll make at least Adam Ottavino money this offseason. Even if it's less annual money, getting $40M guaranteed money over 3 years is much better for long-term security than one year of $17.8M.

No, there's not going to be a move to $200M+. That's not happening at all. What does matter is when you have a corporate owner and they have to have certain expenses on one fiscal year over another. The Braves have been making moves like this for years.

No, not at all. With dual diagnosis, you have more than the substance involved in a LOT of cases. Significant research has been done that would counter exactly that comment.

Once again, I'm not putting together an over-arching characterization of addiction. I spent nearly a decade working with dual diagnosis mental health and substance-addicted persons. Each person is an individual, and their response to addiction is different. I've had the opportunity to converse with a number of people who worked with Josh when he was in Texas. My comment about his persona with and without substances comes from that perspective. Josh has been diagnosed dual diagnosis as well, so it very well could be substances produce an imbalance with his mental health, which can often happen with dual diagnosis. I don't know his specific case, but based on significant experience and training with dual diagnosis addiction, it is quite feasible for someone with dual diagnosis to experience chemical imbalances when substances are introduced into the system, changing their "typical" behavior.

The original recipe I have calls for whipped cream and cream cheese, but I've put together one I can make with my wife, who can't do dairy, present.

I do a dessert one that is a huge hit that's a pretzel crust with strawberry gelatin (along with sliced strawberries) and a whipped topping. In the fridge long enough and it's a solid cut dessert, and it goes over huge. Gives options for those who are not pie fans.