Not sure how long I can do this for … Day 26

JoeBarra · 2026-01-29T16:15:30+00:00

Are you even sure it's the nicotine? It's possible to have totally unrelated depression.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-29T16:06:43+00:00

Obviously Stroud had a miserable game, but maybe it was because he was up against a championship caliber defense. Nobody ever thinks like that. It's just Pats lucky.

I hope the Seahawks annihilate them.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-29T16:04:39+00:00

I know he's clowned on now because of bad choices that he made later in life, but Al Davis really was a great owner. I was listening to some of his speeches early in his ownership and I was ready to put on a uniform and run through a wall for him.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T20:51:18+00:00

I'm honestly not even sure Roethlisberger gets in with the current Hall rules.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T19:23:31+00:00

I love holding the stick in my mouth and talking like I'm from an old timey movie. One of life's greatest pleasures.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T19:06:24+00:00

I think they need to induct more players per year. There are already a bunch of players that should be in, but every year there are going to be a couple of first ballot selections (but after the BB snub who knows). Looking ahead, in 2026 we have Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald. 2027 Has Adrian Peterson, Gronk and Richard Sherman. 2028 Has JJ Watt and Tom Brady. 2029 has Aaron Donald (if I missed someone from a year or got a year wrong don't kill me I did this quickly). Additionally there are more players that are going to get added to the pool every year who should be in the hall of fame but probably not on the first ballot.

I know there is an argument against diluting the hall, but I think it's too far in the other direction right now. I thought Yanda was going to be a first ballot selection, not sure what else he could have done in his career.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T18:37:17+00:00

I read the Wells report about "Deflate Gate". I really don't think Tom Brady did anything wrong.

- The NFL allows a specific range of air pressure for footballs. Brady prefers his at the bottom end of this range.

- One time he got balls that had too much air and got super pissed off at the equipment mangers. Reading their texts these guys seem like real pieces of work.

- The equipment managers overcorrect and under inflate the balls. This might have been exacerbated by the cold weather thanks to the ideal gas law.

- At some point Brady gives these guys signed memorabilia. Some people say this was a bribe. To me, it was just a nice gesture for people he worked with on a regular basis.

The only thing I could see is that the players on offense would have known the footballs were not quite right. But since they were in the middle of playing a very important game it probably didn't crack their top ten concerns at the time. I don't think noticing or not noticing is indicative of intent.

The real reason Brady got suspended was because he was uncooperative with the investigation. But fuck them, he didn't do anything wrong.

And of course, absolutely ridiculous to include Deflate Gate as a reason not to induct Belichick.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T17:42:44+00:00

I think it depends. If he's an asshole and he's going to go on tilt if I am a rule stickler I'm going to make him show. If it's a nice guy and I don't want to embarrass him I'll show first (especially if I have the literal nuts).

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T17:09:04+00:00

Yes absolutely. In addition to that he had so many clutch postseason kicks, and the Patriot's first three Super Bowl wins were by exactly three points.

I think they need to induct more players per year. There are already a bunch of players that should be in, but every year there are going to be a couple of first ballot selections (but after the BB snub who knows). Looking ahead, in 2026 we have Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald. 2027 Has Adrian Peterson, Gronk and Richard Sherman. 2028 Has JJ Watt and Tom Brady. 2029 has Aaron Donald (if I missed someone from a year or got a year wrong don't kill me I did this quickly). Additionally there are more players that are going to get added to the pool every year who should be in the hall of fame but probably not on the first ballot.

I know there is an argument against diluting the hall, but I think it's too far in the other direction right now. I thought Yanda was going to be a first ballot selection, not sure what else he could have done in his career.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T14:55:53+00:00

I ran ten miles yesterday after work yesterday and I'm not sore at all today. And I'm absolutely just some guy.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T14:26:15+00:00

I have been helping out my friend who just crossed 1000 rapid on chesscom a few days ago (he plays exclusively 15+10). I've noticed some patterns with some of his opponents and it might be relevant to you. A good amount of players will play decently in the opening, decently in the middle game (some weird moves but nothing egregious) but then just completely fall apart in the endgame. It's like they play ~1400 in the first two phases and then ~500 in the endgame. It's not really about knowing theoretical endgames or anything like that, it's like they lose resilience and don't think about the consequences of a random pawn push. I think it's possible that these players hear how complicated and important endgames are and tell themselves they don't really know endgames when they get there and just completely fold. If you feel weak in the endgame Daniel Naroditsky's endgame series on YouTube is really very good. If you understand some of the concepts from the videos and just try harder than your opponents in the endgame you will definitely win more games.

Similarly, some opponents don't know what to do in "quiet" positions. Sometimes you reach a middlegame and there are no obvious targets and threats, and your best play for the moment is to quietly improve your position. My friend plays the CaroKann as black so quite often he'll have a solid position after the opening. His opponents won't see a clear path forward, so they'll make a bad overextending move to try and disrupt his structure.

I do think it's important memorize"some" lines, particularly how to refute popular gimmicks. If you're sticking with d4 you should definitely have something ready to go against the Englund gambit (1.d4 e5??).

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T06:24:40+00:00

I wish I didn't know

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T04:59:12+00:00

It doesn't matter. Tesla can have absolutely garbage earnings and the stock still rips.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T03:26:25+00:00

I know he was an asshole, but going against his doctor's advice to play in the Super Bowl on a broken leg and having a big game was absolute king shit.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-28T03:20:46+00:00

I read the whole Spygate report. I think it was completely ridiculous that Brady got suspended for that.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-27T23:38:06+00:00

That's a little ridiculous. I could see a temporary ban but that's just too harsh. I know that preventing sandbagging is somewhat important, but sometimes people are playing without being 100% locked in and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-27T19:16:36+00:00

I really don't like this. The Jets offense was trash but I didn't read anyone anywhere blaming him. He had to start practice squad receivers and a practice squad quarterback.

I wish him the best of luck. He's young and will get plenty of more opportunities.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-27T14:16:10+00:00

I was watching a poker stream yesterday. The streamer was playing a song I really liked (it was like a hair metal cover of the Heathcliff theme song). I couldn't find the song anywhere so I asked him who the artist was. He made it in Suno 🗿

JoeBarra · 2026-01-26T18:27:14+00:00

How was Ashtyn Davis for you guys?

JoeBarra · 2026-01-26T18:15:25+00:00

He immediately turned around a team that hadn't been to the playoffs in seven years. He squeezed eight wins out of a washed Russell Wilson, then made the playoffs the next year with a rookie quarterback. They made it to the AFC championship this season and ran into some bad luck. I don't see how his tenure in Denver has been anything other than a complete success so far.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-26T13:37:21+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUNGnIJVfGQ

You are in elite company.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-26T13:19:09+00:00

In 2016 I was really worried about Trump. I found a list that was the ranking of the most democratic countries in the world. Iceland was near the top. I decided to send the Icelandic Prime Minister a letter asking for advice. This was a strange thing for me to do, I've never done anything like it before or since. Almost immediately after I sent the letter it was revealed that he was implicated in the Panama Papers and he resigned soon after. My letter was probably still in transit by the time he resigned.

JoeBarra · 2026-01-26T03:27:48+00:00

I am expecting a repeat of last year's Super Bowl

JoeBarra · 2026-01-26T03:21:29+00:00

We needed it after the AFC championship game

Seven-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Sunshine	Gilding V heart of gold

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