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statsman

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  1. I will share a more positive senior story. My dad enlisted in the army at 16, in 1952, going full active duty after graduating HS. At the time, the army said that if you enlisted, and retired, you would have healthcare for life at no cost. Not for spouses, just the soldiers. Of course, years later, Uncle Sam tried to claw that back. A MOH winner sued, and won: https://www.military.com/militaryadvantage/2012/05/is-there-a-promise-of-free-health-care-for-life?amp Retirees who enlisted before 1958 get free healthcare for life. It doesn’t have to be from VA system. When a doctor tells him he should go to the ER, Dad says, “Call an ambulance”. Everything is paid for. In an argument with him, my sister threatened to ignore his medical DNR preference and keep him plugged into machines forever, keeping those retirement checks coming while he is comatose (she was joking, … I think). He has a unique situation and we are grateful for it.
  2. Wow. I think you know- that is quite a commitment that you have taken on. You didn’t ask for advice, but I’m going to offer some (and it occurs to me, I need to start discussing this with my wife, about my MIL)- You mention not wanting to move her into assisted living, for fear that will accelerate the inevitable decline. I get that. There are different stages of decline, and different levels of assisted living to correspond: Medical help available Regular medical care provided Memory care My recommendation is that you decide now, while she doesn’t need to go into assisted living, at what point she will have to go. If you decide now, while there is no pressure bearing down, it might be easier to act on it later, when needed. And maybe your choice is that she never goes into assisted living. It’s your choice, after all (I assume you have POA). Good luck and God bless.
  3. MIL, as I mentioned, is almost 90. She lives 5-10 minutes away, by herself. We think it’s probably about time she stop driving. When we brought the topic up, she was not thrilled with the idea (plus, it will be a huge pain in the ass for us to drive her around. I’m not sure how she would take to Uber, but I’m not optimistic). At some point, she may need to move in with us. She is adamant about not wanting to move to a “rest home”, plus her income is about $5k per month short of what is needed for a decent one. She has some savings, but two years in a home will take care of that. (She has two other children. They are too finely attuned to their own lives’ needs to help). All of this is shared just to get to- “Thanks for this thread. It helps to see how others handle things.”
  4. Over 25 years ago, we all posted on the Austin360 board, with forums for Texas, TAMU and OU (a couple others), until each fanbase kind of peeled off on their own. On the Ag forum, there was this long form parable about how new Texas coach Mack Brown’s success could be likened to a new cheater moving into the neighborhood, taking away the honest earnings of a good kid (this would be Slocum), and how good would inevitably triumph over evil. It was hilarious. Especially if you knew that Slocum was the bag man for Ag recruiting in the ‘80s.
  5. My MIL is near 90. She lives in a newish house we bought for her, about ten minutes away. Nicest, sweetest lady in the world. She needed a new mounted microwave, so I ordered it and was there for the Home Depot installation. She just stood there and stared at those guys the entire time they were installing it, never looking or walking away. It was the damndest thing. I figured it was something her parents must have taught her about handymen or tradespeople many decades ago? I wanted to tell her that this did not have to be an adversarial relationship
  6. …ehhhh, I’m not 100% sure that it’s always a good thing if a player met you before and remembers you later…
  7. What pick 6 in the CB? The stadium or the CB game? Do you even watch the games? Bond spent the last few games giving up on routes and not blocking. Again, Sark deserves the criticism for not moving on from him, although we don’t know what was being said and done behind the scenes.
  8. Quinn gave us his best. I would criticize him for one thing only- if (and it is “if”, because none of us know) before the 2024 OU game, he overstated his health and readiness to play to Sark. That was the biggest decision to seal him as the 2024 QB, over Arch, but Sark was the one that made it. And I don’t really fault Sark. OU only had one loss, and you knew Venables was going to bring some crazy defensive looks, to take advantage of a freshman starter in a high pressure situation. At the time, we didn’t appreciate yet how awful OU’s offense was with Hawkins at QB (he was undefeated, 1-0, in conference). I understand why he would want to start the experienced guy in that situation. The next major decision point was the UGA game. We all know how disastrous that started. Klatt described it well- Ewers was rattled and Sark pulled him, to give him a chance to collect himself, but also knowing (as did Arch and Quinn) that if Arch played well, Quinn wasn’t going back in. Arch didn’t play well, and Quinn played a little better when he came back for the second half. At that point, Texas was 6-1, and needed to finish strong and make the CFP. No changes would be made unless there were injury or Ewers’ play falling off a cliff. A lot of people seem to be upset with Quinn for Sark’s decisions. I don’t blame anyone; they’re games and all I ask of players and coaches is that they do their best. Why aren’t more people upset that Bond kept his starting job so long after he stopped making good plays and effort? That, arguably, cost us the SEC CG and Cotton Bowl.
  9. We cried the tears We shed the fears
  10. Dude, Todd Dodge was picked up as an UDFA.
  11. It will be j treating to see if the games happen as planned. So often, the major programs asks for a change of venue, to a bigger stadium, closer to recruits, like Ole Miss (not sure they count as a big program) playing TT at NRG Stadium in Houston. (I think Tech was happy to play in front of Houston recruits, too)
  12. That was in 2023, but,…Oregon… I don’t know,…what are they without Knight propping them up?
  13. TCU is scheduled to host UNC in 2026. It was just announced that the TCU home game will be played in Ireland, as part of the kick off weekend. TCU fans have mixed feelings, but I see why they’re doing this- the league needs a unique time slot and to have the nation tune in. TCU has “hosted” a couple of major power non-conference games over the last dozen years- LSU and tOSU- with each game played in Arlington. Those teams want to play games in front of their fans and DFW recruits more than they want to experience Frog Alley. I got curious about other IR8 teams- how many major, national programs do they get to host, in non-conference? I looked at the last 50 years- 1. ISU: none 2. KU: none 3. KSU: Miami, USC (20-25 years ago) 4. TCU: none, unless you count the Arlington games 5. Baylor: Auburn (50 years ago), USC (40 years ago) 6. UH: they would play some, over 25 years ago when they played in the Astrodome 7. TT: UW (45 years ago), Miami (35 years ago), USC (30 years ago) 8. OSU:, UGA, UW Before, these schools could argue that they didn’t need to schedule major powers for home-and-home, because their league schedule was tough enough (plus, they typically had Texas and Oklahoma visiting in alternate years). Now, their league schedules are impressive, and they need to give home viewers a reason to dial in. Any big name visitor I’d uninterested with getting ten percent of a 48k stadium. I really don’t see many solutions for them.
  14. It’s coming together for Dallas to take Sandwrs, isn’t it?
  15. What does this mean? Is he saying that after no one else can enter the portal (presumably, any Longhorns would be in), Texas will address its needs in the few days left? Or that Texas will address its needs its needs after the portal period is over (How?)?
  16. I’m sure there are players in FCS, but it seems like it would be a more reliable source of guys that fill absolute holes in your roster, than a place to find stars for your team. Also, it depends on their goals. Two and three stars from high school rankings can make the NFL, but for guys like that, the most important choice to make is to find a program where they will play, rather than a program that’s a big name in a big conference. An overlooked guy at Oachita Baptist is better off going to Arkansas State (G5) and playing a lot, rather than OU, and competing for the second team.
  17. Crap. I remembered the Titans (TM), but brain farted and thought they were in another Tennessee city (I know, ridiculous) Still, the overriding point is that Texas and Ohio State (mostly Texas) are better situated than others to have payers paid to hawk cars and restaurants
  18. For industry marketing NIL opportunities, here are the top 50 U.S. municipalities, ranked by GDP. When you look at P4 college towns, and omit those that have pro sports teams, you have: 22. Austin 27. Nashville 34. Columbus, OH 38. Raleigh, NC OKC only has the Thunder, if you want to count them, and checks in at 48.
  19. https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/luka-doncic-lakers-lebron-james-00be8ea4?st=7NYBMc&reflink=mobilewebshare_permalink
  20. Honestly- credit to them. They had players injured; how could they not? They just didn’t stop playing (I remember Calmus playing half the season with a cast on his forearm?). Back to Burks- I hope this link works. Basically, he made most of his hay in 2023 against Fresno State and Indiana. Against Iowa, tOSU, Michigan, Nebraska- he averaged less than 8 yards per reception (and he didn’t have a lot of receptions). If, in his fifth year of college football, Burks performs at a level the Sooners expect, then he will have climbed to a level of performance that he has never approached before. https://purduesports.com/sports/football/roster/burksdeion/12167
  21. Great explanation- thx. My point was more that they were casting a wide net for talent in a year when they should be just filling holes, not rebuilding whole rooms. You’re right about that OU staff in ‘99 and the job they did. Years ago, I did a detailed look at quick MNC builds (2000 OU, 2002 tOSU, 2003 USC, 2009 Bama), and was struck by how in each case- EXCEPT 2000 OU- the new HC inherited a bunch of future NFL talent. I had heard for years about Stoops cashing in on the roster Blake assembled, and was surprised to see that Stoops inherited less high level talent than Mack Brown did from Mackovic. He got two key guys from JC (Heupel and Torrance Marshall), and moved a bunch of athletes to different positions. Plus, being an early Spread adapter helped. Overall, it was really a remarkable job of coaching. I really wish the BCS had matched them with Miami, instead of FSU.
  22. Yeah, I never understood the love for Burke. I figured him to be their “Neyor”- a key pickup, if healthy, who is just a sunk cost you absorb if unhealthy. Marvin Jones Jr. is on his third team at OU. Crazy. What OU is doing this year, hitting the portal hard for key positions and shuffling in dozens of new portal-ins from FCS (the “There is so much horseshit here that there must be a pony in there somewhere” theory of roster construction) is very reminiscent of Stoops year 1. That it is actually Venables year 4 is hilarious.
  23. Three of them have not even played yet for OU (Mateer, Ott and Jones). Also- is Fasusi not one of their top ten paid?
  24. Here is a moderator’s guess at their top ten NIL salaries (I think RSJ is Robert Spears Jennings):
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