NoiseInsideMyHead

This guy certainly looks no worse for the wear. And he's quite a football player, and has Hot Legs at that.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I've merely provided a nuanced and informed, though perhaps inconvenient, translation. The relevant facts speak for themselves. Of course, your mileage may vary.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/new-und-student-body-president-vice-president-ready-to-lead-universitys-students-this-fall Hundreds of millions of dollars invested in the academic heart of campus. Brand new business school. Brand new memorial union built for - and paid for - by students. New student housing nearing completion. Countless aesthetic improvements along University Ave. And two prominent students - specifically the elected student leaders - chose this photo to submit to the Herald, and the Herald ran it. Backdrop is a 20-year-old hockey arena (albeit a really, really nice one), with the old (and endlessly controversial) logo plainly visible, with the very future of college athletics hanging in the balance. A campaign photo, most likely, which speaks volumes about how students still connect with their peers, and where their priorities lie. THIS is why progress is hard, folks. Re-branding UND post-Sioux is not a years-long, or even decades-long process. If moving on ever happens, it will be generations from now. Yes, a single snapshot - both literally and metaphorically - but one might wonder whether all the aforementioned campus improvements matter to anyone but the old folks, and whether the vast majority of students really view UND as much more than a hockey/party school.

The lack of first-day commits is due to: a) ND’s abortion trigger law b) Rydell not ponying up enough NIL cash c) In a word, Fufeng d) Aging facilities, small Jumbotron, and dated locker/weight rooms e) All of the above

Ice projection/animation equipment.

That's only part of the story, though. Those extra slots (as well as the "alternate field events" that run opposite WGC tournaments) make a lot of room for journeymen and guys trying to earn - or keep - their cards. The fact of the matter is that the stars only turn out for a handful of big events. For the Tour to piss and moan about LIV as if it's affecting the integrity of the fields week in and week out is pathetic. Before this year, the Tour never seemed to care what its players were doing on their many off weeks; many were allowed to freely play in Asia or Europe (and were paid handsome appearance fees to boot). If the Tour was serious about extracting value from its top talent, it would increase the yearly minimum number of starts to keep the stars in front of the fans. Or at least retool the FedEx Cup to place a premium on frequency of play. But that would, in turn, diminish opportunities for the other guys, and burn out the big guns (especially the aging ones). Golf is a funny sport, and nothing like, say, NASCAR. 160 guys from up and down the standings tee it up on Thursday, and there's still no guarantee that the marquee names (however many bothered to play that week) are going to be in the mix on Sunday afternoon. Which is why all the bellyaching about LIV is so sad.

Thanks for the share. Blaming "the NCAA" (which is 100% a member-driven organization but a convenient scapegoat) is short-sighted and petty, IMHO. Bottom line is that traditional amateurism doesn't sit well with today's rapidly-evolving cultural ethos and societal norms. Bastardized notions of fairness and equity, the cheapened value of educational opportunity, and athletic/economic woke-ism, are what's killing college sports. The only shame is that it took all these years for SMU (and other notorious visionaries and pioneers of 'rank corruption') to be fully vindicated in the court of public opinion. I predict the phoenix rising from the ashes will be a brand new (yet entirely familiar) amateur model, college-aged student athletes participating primarily in non-revenue and Olympic sports for the love of the game and scholarships, but not for a paycheck. And that, too, will last a long while before getting completely ruined.

PGA Tour: We cannot allow our best stars to moonlight in the LIV, that will hurt our product and is bad for golf. Therefore, they must be punished. Also, PGA Tour: We're staging an event this week on national TV that features only three of our top 20 players, and none of the top 7. (And only one of the top 16!)

So many opportunities here...

Stumbled upon this little gem...thank you, YouTube algorithm!

Father Time slapped the Ho.

Anybody watching the British Open? I don't want to say that St. Andrews is obsolete, but it seems that pretty much every Par 4 is drivable, and the tournament has been reduced to a strange putt-putt competition on the world's largest greens. Calm weather and non-existent rough makes for some ho-hum viewing. The pot bunkers are really the most entertaining aspect of the event.

Six missed cuts in a row. Brutal.

If you search "Travis Tritt Grand Forks" on YouTube, there are a handful of recently uploaded videos, some that show the front of the audience. Didn't see anything looking the other direction, though.

On a whim, checked out today's open homes listings over at Greenberg. This basic, boring, cookie-cutter split entry on a small lot is listed at $528,000. With almost $27k in special assessments. And plastic shower enclosures. https://greenbergrealty.com/buy-a-home/3001-44th-avenue-s-grand-forks-nd-58201/20220426182005898270000000 What are we doing? In no sane world is this sustainable. If you have younger kids, do you ever stop and think about what kind of life they can expect? Does this kind of stuff bother anyone?

Strange prediction. In this year's edition, the championship game went 2OT, and the 3rd and 5th place games each went OT, as did a consolation match. What's the correlation between the girls' game and being on-time again?

“Long run.” Some might say we are witnessing a death spiral and there is nothing “long” about this run for college athletics. Just wait until they achieve unionization or regular employment status.

ouch https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/thunderbirds-performance-canceled-due-to-high-winds Anybody make the drive out to the Base today?

R2D2's less famous cousin, and gender equality advocate for droids throughout the galaxy. PS - Superscript...neat trick! How might one pull that off?

It finally dawned on me that it's not really UND on trial here but the law firm that gave UND the legal advice prior to pulling the trigger. Any chance that it's the law firm that these lawyers are truly after, maybe some sort of personal vendetta or beef?

(Non LIV-related) STAT OF THE WEEK: Since winning at Pebble, and ascending to No. 2 in the FedEx standings, ND's Tom Hoge has logged finishes of: T14, CUT, T32, T33, T58, T39, CUT, CUT, T17, T9 (PGA!), CUT, CUT, and is in danger of missing the cut in this weekend's US Open. He has also settled back down to 11th in the FedEx Cup. Hoping he can recapture some of the early season magic, and a little more consistency. Still likely to be a factor down the stretch in terms of a high finish for the Cup.

No surer sign of the Apocalypse.

Let's unpack that a little bit. The PGA requires 15 events per year. Have you read the standard LIV contract? If so, please share a link, because I would love to. 14 events x 3 rounds each = 42 rounds = 10.5 PGA events "Something like 20 eventually" presumes that LIV will reach that level and still be in existence. If this year's LIV signees signed a 3-year deal (the number I heard commonly reported), that still might not be enough time for the LIV to reach maturation. The up-front and guarantee money is dollars in the bank. PGA tour events pay nothing if you miss the cut. So even a gradual increase in the LIV schedule is sure to be offset by an increase in compensation. Don't get swallowed up in the soundbites and the anti-LIV rhetoric...as with everything, there are two sides to the story. I suggest sitting back and enjoying the golf, politics-free.

I think the zoom lens is mind-effing us here. Took way too long to pick out the landmarks. The trees are creating some depth-of-field issues as well.

Threw me for a loop, too, but I think the frontage road near Wild Bill's? The dark brown building in the center is the fire station, right? And the white building with the dark red roof is at the intersection of Demers and Washington.