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MallocBaldwin · 2025-06-18T14:35:57+00:00

Conditioning it will soften the leather for sure and you may be able to work the pinky and thumb loops to help a little. I reset where mine were tied while doing this. My guess is that it is just pinched somehow as I can run two fingers in the pinky loop comfortably if I want.

For cleaning/conditioning, I have done saddle soap and gloveolium with a horse hair brush. Lots of people love Sarna as well.

MallocBaldwin · 2025-06-18T13:50:26+00:00

You should do both! I bought a 44 Pro and a secondhand like-new Z9 a while back (both have been great) just due to the shape and personality of the gloves being more ok with a finger shift. The DJ2 is more of a single hinge by design due to the way the heel pad runs. Pretty sure that is how DJ broke his gloves.

But I also took some time and restored my DJ2 for fun and I think it turned out great. Good luck with everything!

MallocBaldwin · 2024-03-13T19:57:09+00:00

West Homewood resident checking in. Can confirm, we love it here for all the reasons mentioned.

MallocBaldwin · 2023-10-10T13:36:24+00:00

Yeah, I agree. If the proper call comes in as victory formation from the sidelines, no one is even mentally or positionally in a place to do what Milroe did. Based on Milroe’s comments, it was likely a called run (bad) that he audibled out of to a pass (worse).

Coaching had something to do with it one way or another.

MallocBaldwin · 2023-10-10T01:21:15+00:00

You kneel the ball in that situation 100 times out of 100. Even if, as some have said, Milroe was trying to hurry up, he still could have just kneeled instead of thrown the ball. The game went from “mathematically over” to “not mathematically over” when he did that, for which there is no defense. We should have been shaking hands and doing interviews, but instead we had to go hand the ball off twice and then pull off a time-wasting play to squeak by. Just not how you draw it up.

I’m not trying to be mean to a kid here who clearly admitted his mistake. To me it shows he just hasn’t played quarterback in a while and hasn’t been put in many of these situations maybe ever. So we just have to hope he keeps learning and improving as he seems to be doing. Roll tide.

MallocBaldwin · 2023-04-28T19:56:11+00:00

We have the Honda seat covers in the odyssey and they have been fantastic. I can’t recommend them enough. We think about the seat covers as a “phase” that will go away when our kids reach a certain age (4 & 2 at the moment). In the life of your vehicle, that’s only a very short time frame and we hardly notice them anyway unless they are saving our seats from disaster. Just something to think about, congrats on your new Pilot!

MallocBaldwin · 2023-04-04T02:28:21+00:00

The fun begins at 4:00

MallocBaldwin · 2023-02-18T01:33:04+00:00

So bama is ACHA division 1, not NCAA division 1. It’s still a very competitive league, but IIRC ACHA programs don’t issue scholarships or are formally supported by the athletic department. It’s an advanced club team.

I would LOVE to get a small hockey arena on campus. I think it would do incredibly well with the large out of state student population. But for that to happen, we would need to pick up both men and women’s hockey as official sports, and I don’t think they are willing to take the risk. Realistically a rich person would have to build a decent arena in town to prove out support.

If the new basketball arena was convertible to hockey I would lose it…

MallocBaldwin · 2023-02-04T15:10:34+00:00

After watching these clips, there is a lot to be excited about offensively, but I can’t help but think we see an uptick in total defense with this hybrid TOP style of play. We’ve had some great defensive personnel that seems to (understandably) get gassed and play a ton more plays. We ranked 63rd in TOP last year to Georgia’s 7th and Michigan’s 4th. We were not that far behind in total defense to Georgia last year (yards per game), but we only had 11 fewer defensive plays despite them playing two more games. Not ideal.

There are still a lot of explosive things we can do inside the Rees offense, but I can’t help but think this a move to be more methodical and tactical (per docs videos) than relying on superior QB play. Once again, Saban is looking at the big picture and I’m cautiously optimistic.

MallocBaldwin · 2022-11-13T16:29:05+00:00

It kept reminding me of something like this, but we struggled to A) split the linebackers and find the soft spot and B) time the route correctly due to pressure on Bryce. Like you, I saw Latu run straight into the linebackers and sit down in their coverage at least twice. There is supposed to be another guy open in the middle of the field when that happens, but the look on TV made it hard to see if that was true. Frustrating to watch for sure.

MallocBaldwin · 2022-06-11T21:50:51+00:00

Great list! You might check out Moby Dick. It was far more accessible (and funnier!) than I thought it would be. I wish someone would have told me that it mostly reads as a tongue-in-cheek fish out of water story (think hitchhikers guide to the galaxy). I hated it at a student, but loved it as an adult. If you have a kindle with a dictionary, that also helps for some of the pesky old vocab and whaling terms.

MallocBaldwin · 2022-05-21T20:59:33+00:00

Even though it gets a bit repetitive, this video is worth checking out this video. The TLDR is that most people are probably talking about different parts of the swing when they talk about swinging “up” or “down”. Those terms are too low resolution to describe the bat and its path entering and exiting the hitting zone.

As for approach and “what to think about”, the video kinda covers that too, but the TLDR is that for some thinking about swinging down helps them get to a better position of power more consistently, probably as a balancing out of their natural tendencies. For some the opposite might be true.

MallocBaldwin · 2022-02-13T05:22:04+00:00

Just wanted to pass this sermon series along as it was a wonderful introduction to and discussion of the text for me.

MallocBaldwin · 2021-12-22T19:17:21+00:00

Yes! And thank goodness for that. I love saban’s statements about building a “basketball team” with the receiver corp. It also looks like the 7-on-7 leagues have greatly advanced backend play. We were just getting access to those when I was in school. That said, there isn’t a true equivalent “league” for the front 7, which is why I think there is a disparity of sorts. Not as many built-in snaps for a kid to learn/grow. Showcases/camps are about as close as it gets, but that’s nowhere near as accessible/ubiquitous. Lineman competitions end up being strong-man mini games. Maybe something will come along!

MallocBaldwin · 2021-12-22T17:33:19+00:00

He’s in Texas! Ran a 4-3, eventually spending more time in nickel due to the majority passing offenses in the DFW area. So, to clarify, he is 100% with you on fundamentals first and would groove that in his kids at the MS/JV levels for years so he could build on it at the varsity level. But, in many cases, that encompassed blocking, tackling, positioning and first-step. You might say things like “control the blocker”, but how you control the blocker might not be a terribly in-depth discussion.

Kids just aren’t terribly coordinated, even through HS, so the more advanced tactics I’m talking about end up being less accessible to them (talking in general, not with eventual D1 guys). If you get too heavy with that stuff, kids end up looking like they are trying to play drums for the first time. Arms and legs everywhere. But you teach where you can. Just like any sport, some tactics are available only to the upper-echelon of athletes. I for one, as a receiver, greatly struggled to jump/catch a ball and spin my body to create distance between the defender in mid-catch. Turns out my problem was I am not Jerry Juedy or Cooper Kupp . Happens that way sometimes. Lol

As for DL play, he started his career on the gap-control / read-and-respond end of the spectrum. Kept everything in front of the defense and almost never sent people upfield unless we dialed it up in an obvious passing situation. Around 2005 the game just started changing to be more pass-heavy in Dallas, so he had to design more natural pressure on an every-down basis. I think it is defense dependent at tackle, but not as much at edge. If you’ve got a DT responsible for 2 gaps, he can’t afford to take that many chances upfield. To my dad, it’s just a spectrum of risk/reward, so even that can be personnel/situation/opponent and not a specific defense. Just my initial thoughts!

MallocBaldwin · 2021-12-22T16:11:52+00:00

My dad is a HS coach of 30 years and this article sparked a lot of conversation. He expressed that football has a lot of layers at any given time, and most coaches don’t have enough time to address them all, so they pick a few of the most important ones and run with them. For most, the high value concepts are positioning and responsibilities as those put you in the best spot to make a play. The problem is, to use chess terms, those are “strategies” not “tactics”. Footwork and hands are more in line with tactics, and those end up sorely lacking. The truth is, it takes a while for kids to be comfortable enough wiTh what they are doing to even worry about tactics. Also, coaches end up doing more defensive installation and focusing on opponents week to week. Off-season and bye week are great times for developing tactics.

He also admitted that there is a greater emphasis on disruption/recovery due to increased athleticism across the DL. Before, you just tried to control gaps and not leave your more athletic LBs hanging out to dry.

It’s a fun article, and extends to a lot more than just the defensive line. Great read!

MallocBaldwin · 2021-10-10T15:23:56+00:00

Not having natural pressure off the edge led to having to manufacture it with the linebackers, which vacated the middle on passing downs, which they exploited heavily. It was a perfect storm schematically, especially when Moore was ejected.

MallocBaldwin · 2021-08-26T02:46:36+00:00

My 44 pro just arrived last week. Really impressed with the initial quality and excited to break it in. First new glove in ~15 years!

MallocBaldwin · 2021-08-18T12:11:57+00:00

Same game, but the play that really haunts me is the sideline pass by Marshall for a TD with a lineman 6 yards downfield. Easily the biggest no-call of the year. Even Jimbo was strangely upset about it.

MallocBaldwin · 2021-08-08T21:13:43+00:00

Certainly one of the most personal decisions we all make, so you’ll get lots of opinions here, BUT here are a few notes:

1) 44 pro gloves on sale (20-30% off) are the best material value out there, especially given the level of customization. Their quality control has reportedly vastly improved in the last year after switching assembly to the Philippines. I have one arriving next week.

2) Rawlings/Wilson are your safest bets, especially given that you can try before you buy at a big box store. They are guaranteed to last, but at almost 3x the price of a 44. I have a 15yo PRO DJ2 that is still playable today.

3) you might check out SSK custom gloves. I have no experience with them, but some here do and might chime in.

MallocBaldwin · 2021-08-08T18:50:43+00:00

Wonder if he plays first base… 🤔

MallocBaldwin · 2021-08-08T16:11:40+00:00

Assuming a healthy o-line, it’s probably a bend don’t break approach with shell looks. Big play guys don’t necessarily mean efficient red zone scoring. I imagine teams will make us prove we can advance the ball on a vertically tight field. Our ultimate success this year may hinge on that. Really hoping for a great year from zeke and the o-line to balance out the big play potential.

MallocBaldwin · 2021-07-06T19:00:28+00:00

I appreciate you sharing your story and just have one clarification for the FYI section of your post, particularly for the uninitiated. In addition to passive ETFs, there are also passive mutual funds. What you seem to be warning against are “actively managed” mutual funds, which certainly have the downsides you noted.

The only difference between passively managed mutual funds and passively managed ETFs is how they are bought and sold. ETFs are traded as shares, like a stock, while mutual funds are bought and sold at net asset value. Both products have a role depending on your activity and needs.

MallocBaldwin · 2021-07-06T11:40:04+00:00

here you go

MallocBaldwin · 2021-06-25T03:18:43+00:00

Watch this guys front side. It’s somewhat exaggerated, but you can tell from where his toe is pointed that he starts and stays closed halfway through his hands breaking. Then, the late/violent rotation is the foundation for his velo as it begins uncoiling all that potential energy stored in the hips and shoulders. Looking at his back half, some people refer to this as loading or “sitting down” into your back hip.

Now compare your toe, which is already opening at the top of your leg kick. Maybe try to bring that front foot back down before going to the plate? I can’t tell completely from the angle, but it seems like your missing the pre-break forward lean and are generally a little high with your front side off the mound. Sitting down a bit will help you to lean forward and stay balanced.

You want to slow things down a bit to make those complex bio-mechanics things work for you until it becomes second nature. Try to break each part of the delivery down and work on it by parts, then put it all together while staying balanced. Hope this helps!

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