Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Bill Belichick learned the hard way - the "Patriot way" doesn't work in college.

- Jesus Did Not... He also did not preach that priests should be celibate.

- The big holes in wearable heart rate variability and readiness scores.

- Michael Lombardi is now on Substack.

UNC Statement on the Football Investigation

May be wrong on this but it seems like an internal battle going on in Chapel Hill. Bill Belichick was hired without the administration's approval and this seems like a way for the administration to strike back. What is the HR department if not an extension of the administration? Please note that Mike Lombardi and Steve Belichick "resigned" and were not fired. Also the statement says the administration now considers the matter closed.

Well Mike Lombardi retained attorney Tom Mars and I'm guessing they are considering this far from closed. This may be just the first shots in the battle. Don't think this is just a Tar Heel matter either - this may be a canary in the coal mine battle for the control of the university itself. The sports programs or the university bureaucrats?

Bill Belichick

Been thinking a lot about Bill Belichick becoming the head football coach at North Carolina.

Have a new post up on Substack about the new Tar Heels head coach.

I fully admit that I'm optimistic about this move but I view success as 9 win seasons and a bowl game every year plus perennially being in contention for an ACC title. If you were a UNC fan wouldn't you have the same standard?

COVID, Sweden, and North Carolina

 As a reminder Sweden has suspended all COVID related restrictions and doesn't seem any worse for wear.

By population Sweden is about the same size as North Carolina. Also as a reminder, North Carolina has had 1,503,936 confirmed cases of COVID but only 18,431 deaths from COVID. That's a fatality rate of just 1.2% of people battling COVID. What's the justification for North Carolina having any COVID restrictions including vaccine mandates?

(Graph via) EDIT: Fixed some math

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Can we stop describing something as a "War on" (Drugs, Terror, etc.) or describing something as an "Apocalypse"  (remember the recent Bee Apocalypse?). Things described thusly always seem misguided or flat out wrong... In the Seven Years War, for every man who died in battle for England, an incredible 87 died of disease. If only General Fauci had been there and ordered them to wear masks!... Who had Mexico emerging as the voice of reason?... People tend to forget that India is a nuclear power and Beijing is well within range of New Delhi's missiles... It's been a year - wonder how Jeremy Roenick's lawsuit against NBC for wrongful termination is progressing?...  North Carolina also has a voice of reason... Analysis true: "It started out as a virus and mutated into an IQ test"...  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

What a horrible Final Four aesthetically. Blowout games plus a court and camera angles that literally hurt the eyes... The science of why you should spend your money on experiences not things... North Carolina opened as a 1.5 point favorite over Villanova. I like the points... JayWrightsSuits - what a great Twitter handle... How about this for a trade - Red Sox send Pablo Sandoval and Steven Wright to the Padres for James Shields. Let's get it done!...  Excellent video breakdown of the Celtics win Friday night over the Warriors... Just for the heck of it I'm going to start calling people "Sugar Biscuits". "Hey Sugar Biscuits - how's it going?" It's the little things that amuse me... Disappointed that nobody has compared the D'Angelo Russell situation with the Lakers to the Wade Boggs' "Delta Force" situation back in the day with the Red Sox... Rob Gronkowski is the best!... So one of the athletes named in that Al Jazeera report just got suspended 80 games for PED's. The HGH allegations against Peyton Manning are going to stick in people's minds... Win a $650,000 bet but almost kill yourself? No thank you...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I know that the 11th Commandment is "Thou Shall Not Tease" but I think teasing Seattle down to -2.5 and the Patriots to -1 looks like a pretty good bet today... David Mamet's brilliant memo on drama...  Jerry Coleman was such a great guy. I bet he never thought twice about doing such a nice thing for a stranger... With Rangers GM Jon Daniels saying it is "highly unlikely" that Texas would re-sign Nelson Cruz - I think the odds that Cruz will wind up in Japan just went to even money... Roy Williams had a player who couldn't read at UNC? Can't help but think Duke kids will have a field day with this... With apologies to Marshawn Lynch - whenever I see "beast mode" in print - my mind reads it as "breast mode". Once I realize my mistake I wonder why there's no breast mode. I want a breast mode... Heh heh - Mama Spike...   Not a fan of movie re-makes in general but is the idea of a re-make of Point Break any worse than the idea to re-make the classic True Grit? That turned out OK...  Holy crap - Greg Maddux is a sick bastard...

North Carolina Amendment 1

North Carolina passed their Amendment 1 by an overwhelming majority of 60-40. Amendment 1 basically outlaws gay marriage in North Carolina.

Let me say for the record that I don't have a problem with gay marriage. If two people want to commit to each other - great. No skin off my knees. If a gay couple wants to adopt - great. Better to have a kid in an environment where he's wanted.

The question I have is how will the Democrats handle the hypocrisy? A few years ago when Arizona passed a law that Democrats thought was wrong - they called for a boycott of MLB's All-Star game.  The Obama Administration so disagreed with the law that they had the Justice Department sue to try to prevent the law from taking effect.

Will Democrats now call for a boycott of the Democratic National Convention? To do otherwise would be hypocritical. Will the Obama Justice Department sue to prevent Amendment 1 from taking effect? To do otherwise would be hypocritical. The Democratic National Convention is as political as it gets. Every big name attending or speaking at the Convention better not have called for boycotting the MLB All-Star game or the MSM will surely expose their hypocrisy. To do otherwise would be hypocritical by the media.