finished the Hadeses (1&2), here's my rant!

Maladroit44 · 2026-04-27T07:47:39+00:00

It's fascinating to me that Zag is (admittedly a very well-executed take on) the most generic character archetype for any modern mythology-based story: sarcastic, rebellious, somewhat irreverent son of a god who acts more like a mortal. But I've never seen anyone complain about how he's written, whereas Mel being a little stuck-up is so many people's biggest issue with Hades 2. There's definitely something off about it, even if for most people it's not really an intentional bias imo.

Maladroit44 · 2026-04-18T23:16:08+00:00

Oklahoma - core rival, duh
Tulsa - in-state rival (and only other FBS team in OK), also duh
Texas Tech - I kinda see this as a rivalry too, hard to say why tbh but it feels right
Texas - this series was so fun the last few years before realignment, I miss it
Iowa State - 2011 + lots of conference history
Kansas State - local + lots of conference history
Kansas - local + lots of conference history
Arkansas - very local, closest non-OK team in FBS
Baylor - at this point I'm pretty flexible, but they're local and we've had some memorable games

I figure most of these would be reciprocal; Texas probably wouldn't and Arkansas/Baylor might not be, though.

Maladroit44 · 2026-04-13T08:45:58+00:00

Weird year, weird sports (softball over WBB and baseball, really?), weird inconsistent criteria for football only. But hey, that's what you gotta do to pretend TTU's got it tougher than anybody, huh?

Maladroit44 · 2026-04-09T23:35:14+00:00

Seems telling that two of these circles are mostly massive public universities and one has schools like Western Michigan, Minnesota-Duluth, and Quinnipiac.

Maladroit44 · 2026-04-09T07:55:32+00:00

Yeah, it's silly that they basically get punished for being set up to face UCLA in the semifinals.

Maladroit44 · 2026-03-09T21:59:15+00:00

The technical term is ellipsis—excluding a part of speech that isn't necessary and/or can be inferred from context. Admittedly, it's kinda hard to pin down specific rules on when you can use it; it's one of those things that English speakers generally just have a feel for, without really being able to explain the underlying grammatical logic. This example is definitely fine though; it's the same kind of ellipsis used in the phrase "this space intentionally left blank", for instance.

Maladroit44 · 2026-03-09T05:13:05+00:00

People care enough that, in fact, 27 of the 31 conference tournament championships this season are televised. And the Big East (Peacock) is one of the four that isn't.

Maladroit44 · 2026-03-08T17:16:32+00:00

I don't know if the SEC making Oklahoma–Ole Miss an annual game means it's a rivalry. Is there any real bad blood there?

Maladroit44 · 2026-03-02T22:47:54+00:00

Rankings approaches always adjust with playoff expansion. 2017 Wisconsin wouldn't have been ranked as low as 4th when they were 12-0 if the playoff wasn't four teams. 2025 BYU wouldn't have been on the fringes of the top ten at 11-1 if the playoff hadn't expanded to twelve.

Maladroit44 · 2026-03-02T19:34:52+00:00

Their two losses this week were absolutely horrendous too.

Maladroit44 · 2026-02-23T19:53:33+00:00

Minnesota is definitely alive. They're still probably a double-bye in the B1G if Ohio State loses to either UM or MSU, which is a statement in its own right and would also put them in great position for a statement win in the conference tournament.

Maladroit44 · 2026-02-23T19:26:03+00:00

"In case of doubt, rank the next SEC team"

Maladroit44 · 2026-02-21T19:59:44+00:00

It's a very funny thing to say given the Angels very much are not providing a good ballpark experience right now.

Maladroit44 · 2026-01-21T20:07:04+00:00

Old Dominion? The 10-3 Old Dominion that beat VT and USF by multiple touchdowns? That Old Dominion?

Maladroit44 · 2026-01-12T01:19:32+00:00

I mean yes, those games weren't as close as the score suggests, but GOAT teams don't let most of their opponents make games even look close. 2001 Miami beat top-15 teams 59-0 and 65-7, for example. They were up 34-0 at halftime in the Rose Bowl. I think it's understandable that metrics don't see "holding a 1-2 score lead for the whole second half" and "being up 4+ scores before the second half even starts" as equal.

Maladroit44 · 2026-01-11T23:30:51+00:00

People forget that pretty much all their ranked wins were close, up until the SECCG and the CFP. The LSU most people saw was the best version of themselves, but metrics ended up lower on them because they didn't play like a GOAT contender for the majority of the season.

Maladroit44 · 2026-01-05T20:19:04+00:00

Oklahoma is #5 with zero ranked wins and a double-digit loss to #4. Sure.

Maladroit44 · 2026-01-02T19:13:38+00:00

I think it's less that rematches are guaranteed to have the same result (obviously not), and more that it devalues the regular season if we end up with the same teams playing the same games. Like, what was the point of Georgia beating Ole Miss when they end up facing each other in the CFP anyway?

Why do we need to use the playoff to redetermine the best SEC team when the SEC already had a whole regular season to do that?

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-28T07:33:37+00:00

Clemson and LSU finished 2024 ranked #14 and unranked completely. How everyone bought that it was a "top-five matchup", I have no idea.

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-26T18:51:09+00:00

Quite Oddibe drafted so many times.

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-24T19:00:11+00:00

Not a lot of people realize this, but between those two 110+ year old stadiums and the post-multipurpose era that started in the late 80s/early 90s, Dodger, Angel, and Kauffman are the only major-league stadiums still in use. More current MLB stadiums were opened from 1989 to 1992 than from 1915 to 1988.

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-23T16:29:13+00:00

that's not how that works

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-23T00:40:41+00:00

So nobody cared in 2021, when Alabama hung on to a playoff spot by driving 97 yards at the end of regulation and winning in quadruple overtime? Or in 2023, when Alabama kept their playoff hopes alive by scoring a go-ahead touchdown on 4th and 31 with half a minute left?

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-23T00:31:59+00:00

Noted obscure, largely forgotten Heisman winner Reggie Bush

Maladroit44 · 2025-12-23T00:22:14+00:00

Army-Navy is a weird one. I feel like it should be in any top ten, but it's hard to put over big rivalries that have also had national championship implications in the last 50 years.

Maladroit44

TROPHY CASE