The Idaho press is saying the current COVID outbreak on the UI campus is linked to a couple of frat houses, and that there have been Greek-linked outbreaks after every holiday weekend or major snowstorm. Seems plausible there is overlap between the team and said houses. Hopefully nobody from Davis gets sick, and I hope anyone involved does not experience serious symptoms.

In my area they are noting huge upticks in senior citizens who have been vaccinated kind of leaving caution to the wind and resuming normal activity without precautions. They’re calling it things like “revenge tourism”. A dangerous game for sure, and to those of us patiently waiting our turn feels really unfair.

perhaps two other factors mixed in were somewhere during the transition were 4 years of championship ineligibility, which probably dampened recruiting and became a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. And then the economy turned south at just the wrong moment that we probably weren’t funding anything fully when we needed to spool up, including a half-done Aggie stadium. Upward transitions are hard in the west. Sac and Poly have taken 20+ years to have much to show.

haha, all good. It’s fun that you guys do a fan podcast. Good luck at Northern Arizona. I’m thinking you guys handle them, but that elevation factor hurts if you don’t get some of your depth back.

RE: the tubscast... the guy in the upper right corner reminds me of a drunk loudly talking to himself in a sports bar bathroom stall about dropped long balls. Pull it together, man. Not sure if I understand the allusion of “trick” plays being unfair, especially when Hawkins is known for them. TBH, we burned ourselves on complicated trick plays as well. It stinks to have starters out, though it sounded like several were on special teams, which played fine. Idk if the 9 out had COVID or were just potentially exposed, but it’s a lot and maybe should have been being more careful. Hopefully didn’t cough on our guys. But, it’s Monday, so on to the next game!

I watched the Pluto feed with the Idaho broadcasters but tuned into KHTK stream for pregame and post game radio show. They mentioned they were broadcasting from “Scott Marsh Studios”, so I’m guessing they were doing the call remotely from Scott’s house? At any rate, DK didn’t sound well and was slow getting his words out. Hope he’s doing ok. Wonder if Scott and DK will be on the call for the home games or if the TV station will have different talent.

Idaho wore all white at home last week. Not sure if that was a one-off or if that’s their normal home look. Anybody know what uniform combo this week? Always partial to the classic colors, though I think I heard we have names on jerseys.

I don’t want to wade into political waters but I absolutely agree with you. The narrative that those with graduate or professional degrees will land huge salaries right out of school and payoff the debt no problem is false for many. I wish there was an easy answer as to why education is so overpriced. It’s easy to point at chancellor pay and dubious make-work departments, but I fear it’s more complex than that.

call the exchange of money what you will, you are correct that the cost of college has gone up dramatically since the 70s at a higher rate than incomes or inflation. Today, about 60% of UCD students receive “free” base tuition from the regents based on income... a value of about $12k per year, and a figure the brass like to tout. But that doesn’t make things affordable, unless maybe you live with your parents. Books, food, fees, rent... dorm contracts alone are pushing $20k per year now. So not the kind of thing the 15 hours a week at Unitrans will pay for. The rub is that if you go out and write your essays and earn scholarships, the regents reduce your tuition waiver by that amount. So in essence you can’t start to cover your non tuition expenses with scholarships until you’ve earned at least $12k. Donors should be aware that most students benefit from a $500 Safeway gift card under the table more than a $1000 scholarship through Dutton Hall.

Good points, all. I also think you need at least 10 years to get the retiree health package, unless this is somehow negotiable for executives. Anyhow, didn’t mean to start politics about pensions. Probably lots of reasons why Humboldt doesn’t get long-tenured visionary executives these days. At any rate, it’s kind of a shame that D2 west of Texas is basically gone. CA high schools probably generate enough players to stock a D2 conference and at least one more FCS team, but I guess there’s not a good financial model to make it work.

agreed. Not sure if it’s our eyes or the LED headlights that so many new cars have. Nothing like getting blinded in all three mirrors at once.

The stuff from ski shops comes on wipes. It leaves a slight haze but I used it for years on glasses under goggles. RainX leaves some slight speckles but also helps liquid sweat roll off. Learned this from storm troopers. Apply to both sides of lenses. No idea if this voids lens warranty so maybe try it on an older pair of glasses first. FWIW, I had been considering laser surgery for years and finally did it a few months ago. I don’t regret it at all. You might consider it if your doctor thinks you’re a candidate.

I can relate to fogged glasses. Ski shops sell anti fog treatments but a hack long used by entertainers in full body costumes is a little RainX on the glasses and it works beautifully.

Yeah a lot of Eastern fans are screaming about the refs. The FG was probably a botched call but ultimately irrelevant because it was a 7 point game. The rest of the game the officiating wasn’t perfect but it was consistent and balanced with generous spots and an eye for PI. Eastern’s defensive strategy is holding and PI to the max and they didn’t adapt to refs that are going to nail that. Barriere only put up 14 (7 scored on defense), so despite Idaho having an immobile QB with <.5 pass completion rate, their offense made 2x the trips to the end zone. One poster questioned if they have too many DBs turned WRs who can’t catch.

SUU and NAU were close. EWU and Idaho were close. My guess is a lot of parity between all four but I guess we’ll find out soon enough how we stack up. I’m thinking Weber may be the toughest.

I’m sure nobody at NDSU is celebrating right now, but I remember after we played them tough there were some comments on their board that they needed more tough wins and some losses to make it interesting again, as the feeling inevitability had stated to become boring.

I watched the EWU-Idaho game. Lot of parity but Idaho pulled it out in the 4th quarter. Idaho maybe seemed better than previous years but their QB transfer from UConn is no gift. On the EWU side it was just normal EB3 but not as explosive offense of previous years. A one-trick pony mobile QB that Idaho adjusted to at halftime. I think they have young guys up front. Most amusing moment was when EWU missed a well aimed field goal attempt that hit the ceiling and bounced out of the uprights. Kicker threw a four alarm tantrum that it should count but they couldn’t review because none of the cameras had the top of the goalpost in frame.

no doubt. I’m hoping for a dual threat QB. Our blind spot has been eloquent passers that need a ton of time and space in the pocket to work their magic, a luxury that Midwest corn-fed teams won’t give you. Looks like some young talent coming in on the line. I had to read twice, there are two freshmen, one OL and one DL who are around 360. They got 100lbs on some guys. Those are big men.

Fan and athlete sportsmanship is kind of interesting how it ebbs and flows. Montana and Sac State have long proud histories of being low-brow. I've been up to Eastern for games (fog-out game 2005) and it used to be pleasant there with nice fans. Then they won a championship in 2010, painted the field red, and the athlete and fan behavior changed for the worse. There are few keyboard warrior Eagles fans that would do well to put the Natural Ice down and step away from the internet. Coincided with the Beau Baldwin years and has continued under Best. Not sure to what degree the fan culture is on the coach, but hopefully Cal Poly doesn't trend that way under Baldwin. I can remember in the Ellerson years, the Cal Poly stadium experience had kind of become a pit of frat boys throwing cans the way Hornet Stadium was in the mid-90s, but in the Walsh era became a more family friendly experience, at least from this visitor's perspective.

UCD has opened vaccines to all employees now, so presumably the coaches and staff have or shortly will have the ability to receive it. So a step in the right direction.

Yep, that's the season! The first time we played EWU, their athletic QB rolled us. But in the quarterfinal game, we had their number and then let a 4th quarter drive get away from us with a gassed defense. I of course hope we win out this year. Hard to say how anyone compares at this point some, so I'm not sure how well I could predict outcomes. Possibly the team I would most hope to beat is EWU because I really do not like Aaron Best & Co's attitude and lack of sportsmanship, but I will never overlook a win over Poly. Looks like all the games are noon or 1pm. Good for me watching in eastern time but it's a bummer to have nothing under the lights. March might be brisk, but mid-April in Davis can either be winter or summer weather.

By sitting out, this may be Northern Colorado's best season in FCS yet. At 0-0, I suppose that will put them at 50% for the first time.

I think what made 2018 feel so good was that aside from Jake, the team was primarily Gould recruits. It kind of proved that we had the talent all along and it was in fact a coaching issue that was now solved. We were quite likely one missed tackle away from going to Frisco, which stung even more when we played NDSU tough in 2019. But the rest of 2019 was so inconsistent. It might have been time for some fresh ideas on offense, so we shall see what Cody brings. As long as we break from the tradition of 32-second drives against teams with pass defense defined by 2 incomplete passes, a power run up the middle for 1 yard followed by a punt.

Perhaps the unanswered question is if the 2018 campaign was a flash-in-the-pan fluke or the new normal. 2019 was comparatively uninspired; was THAT a fluke or just regression to the mean? Turnover of key athletes and assistants is a routine test of an HC’s reinvention and pick ‘em skills. I’m not sure we will have a definitive verdict this year, because win, lose, or draw, 2020-21 will have an asterisk by it.

I’ve heard the national average rejection rate is around 30%, so if UCD health is inside 10%, that means some other hospitals must have a lot more refusals to pull that average up. I wonder if patients have the right to demand to only see providers who have been vaccinated or to know what percentage of staff have been vaccinated? I guess we don’t know for sure if the vaccines prevent transmission, but if we find out they do, I would certainly rather go to a well-vaccinated hospital than the alternative. Also, did anyone else find the nurse’s voice a little grating?