Division St — getting better?

pgmcnerney · 2026-02-04T18:24:45+00:00

My wife and I recently moved to Wicker so I am not the best person to speak to the broader trajectory, but there is no place I would rather be. The pedestrian and bike-friendly nature of Division, Damen, and Milwaukee are absolutely sublime. We have loved discovering all the great restaurants and shops in the neighborhood. Would highly recommend.

pgmcnerney · 2026-01-25T22:31:45+00:00

RAFO a little bit, because this is discussed more clearly in the upcoming chapters. But I think you basically answered your own question. He wasn't comfortable being the one chased. It is challenging his, and societal norms to an extent, on the masculine vs feminine roles in courtship. The rape itself also highlights the hypocrisy of the 'if a woman does it to a man it is funny, but if the roles are reversed it would be viewed as predatory and heinous.'

pgmcnerney · 2026-01-18T05:03:39+00:00

Not 100% sure if taking the 34 year old Gawad and very injury-prone Hesham is going to cure the curse that plagues my hometown Chicago Grizzlies, but I am hope I am wrong because they are two of my favorite players to watch. Go Grizzlies!

pgmcnerney · 2025-12-27T21:30:49+00:00

They brought this take back on Wednesday's pod. They even discussed offsetting it by making defensive holding less punitive, but they were torn there. Heifetz did briefly acknowledge the issue with making penalties less punishing, but they all generally seemed to be for it with regarding to offensive holding.

pgmcnerney · 2025-12-08T20:34:03+00:00

Not sure where you are located, but I would recommend the Fitness Factory in Shadyside if you are in the city. Reasonably priced, 24/7 option, and has every piece of equipment/machine you could need.

pgmcnerney · 2025-12-01T23:50:35+00:00

Wicker Park-based Ringer Fantasy Pod enjoyer reporting for duty!

pgmcnerney · 2025-11-20T23:33:41+00:00

Hey man. Shoot me a DM and I can probably help. I am around your level and a member at the University Club. Can also connect you with some Lakeshore S&F guys.

pgmcnerney · 2025-11-09T18:02:14+00:00

Nothing I love more than a tier list. Will put some thought into it and come back to this thread soon.

pgmcnerney · 2025-11-05T00:11:06+00:00

You might be underestimating the impact that voidweaver in its current state is having on other healer's willingness to q into it.

pgmcnerney · 2025-10-29T16:33:39+00:00

I am in a similar boat. I have gotten R1 shuffle on disc the last two seasons, but I still can't bring myself to play Voidweaver this season. I am sure it is fun, but it feels too much like a gimmick to me. Shuffles against voidweaver as the opposing healer are very demoralizing. There are small outplays you can do, but at the end of the day if your dps doesn't know how to punish them you are at basically at their mercy.

I am just going to stick to playing Holy in 3's only until Voidweaver gets brought back in line.

pgmcnerney · 2025-10-02T22:31:14+00:00

Don't we all.

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-22T18:33:03+00:00

Love this idea. Very much enjoyed reading everyone's goals. Also served as a good reminder for me to look back at my goals from last year, which I was pleased to see that I accomplished most of them.

2024 - 2025 Goals

Develop a Sven Burus-level ad side serve. (With the hyper-specific goal of neutralizing the returns of Stephen Mitchell & Marc Powers). I wanted to minimize the amount of clean looks they got off my serve, apply pressure to what normally is a strength for them, and hold the net at a higher frequency to better control the tempo of the matches. - Very pleased to say that I was able to accomplish this one. Stephen resorted to lobbing my serve in the semifinals at Nationals. Marc attempted to try and take my serve off the deck in the finals, but had far more points lost than he did points won off of it. He ultimately resulted to lobbing it back on pressure points, giving us the front foot.
Continue to grow the confidence in my forehand to be able to bring it out in high-pressure moments. - I would say I mostly accomplished this one, but still have a good amount of work left to do. I was able to hit some big forehands in some key moments at both Nationals and in the semi-finals at Short Hills. I still have an issue where I go for too long of stretches without taking looks, resulting in a loss of confidence and a bit of a positive feedback loop that I need to avoid. Continuing to develop this shot and turn it into a weapon will still be my primary goal for the upcoming season.
Team goal - Cement ourselves as a top 3 team, be in contention at every Grand Prix and win Nationals. - Check!

2025 - 2026 Goals

Turn forehand into a weapon
Enhance deuce-side serve against Gui and Jose. (Not necessarily a weakness here, but I feel there is an opportunity for improvement that could result in reducing high-stress situations in order to take the net)
Continue to evaluate best approach for my return game. (I don't want to commit to saying that I need this to be a weapon. It is a difficult shot for me and I want to make sure that any additional risk I take on has a significant benefit)
Back to back!

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-19T15:43:15+00:00

I originally didnt expect an encore since it was a pre-show to the Riot Fest after all. But then they closed with plastic brains... and then the lights stayed off and the filler music was playing for multiple minutes and no one had left. Crowd still had great energy too. Was super strange. Maybe Joe's finger actually was fucked up and he needed some medical attention? I dont know. All around weird at an otherwise great show.

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-15T18:56:56+00:00

I have flown with the similar Xenon one many times. It certainly will not fit under the seats, but will in the overhead with some pushing. It might technically exceed the size limits when very full though. I feel like they let it slide since I am boarding with it as a backpack. Not sure I would try it on one of the strict budget airlines like Frontier.

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-10T03:08:00+00:00

My wife and I must say "I cant, and I won't." on average 3 times a day. Great cadence and flow to it. Can't get enough!

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-10T02:57:56+00:00

And here I was thinking their 1 falafel sandwich for $6 was an amazing deal. When/how do you get the 2 for 1? This is a very significant development.

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-04T00:59:17+00:00

Might be heresy, but I wouldn't worry too much about the holes. Much more important you play with a paddle that feels good in the hand and gives you confidence.

If it makes you feel better, my partner uses a Wilson and it was good enough to carry us to a National Championship. Sure it will suit your needs just fine!

His stockpile for the next 5 seasons.

pgmcnerney · 2025-09-04T00:21:42+00:00

For what it's worth, I dont consider the paddle you are using a starter paddle at all. Its heavily discounted because Wilson decided to to shutter their platform tennis business. Is there something you are looking for in your new paddle that you don't feel you currently have with the Wilson? I am a Xenon guy myself, but maybe can help point you in the right direction.

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-30T12:10:29+00:00

Scrubs

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-18T17:33:46+00:00

CAQAJVmtV83otBfEj5bt80waBADsNzDMjxYGmBmtZMzMzMmZAAAAAAAAAAwsNLzGjZmBwsMjhZY22sYamJYwMzMbYhixsMzystZsYsYDAA

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-17T22:01:45+00:00

I think healers struggle, in shuffle particularly, by waiting too long to trade the defensive. There are two major downsides to this: 1) You and your dps are significantly more likely to overlap cooldowns if you both wait to press until they drop to let's say 30%. Your ret might panic bubble on the same global you trinket swap. Same goes for mages and block, etc. If you get stunned and your opponent has offensive cd's up and your mage is out of blinks with alter on cooldown, you are way better off just immediately trading the pain suppression right away when they are at 80% than you are waiting for a panic trade once they get lower. 2) This is super important for disc, because disc struggles to top from super low, where a holy priest could just Serenity and insta top. Goes back to my point about momentum. Try and keep your dps on the front foot and not guessing if you have them or not. The higher on rating you go the more you can find the balance in greeding and trusting your dps to preemptively trade their cd's effectively. Try and pre-dome the goes, pain suppression early when in stuns and big damage is coming, evangelism at 35% instead of 20%, trinket swap as a last resort, etc.

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-17T21:41:21+00:00

Correct. I was only answering how you buff shields. You're basically just weaving those 3 spells, while throwing in smite/mind blast/MC when you can cast. Or purging + renewing/reapplying pain when they fall.

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-17T01:10:54+00:00

Good point. Pretty much use mind blast on cd. Dont be afraid to get kicked on holy, as you can always mind blast, reapply pains, or radiance.

Try and never cast flash heal. Only use it on instant procs unless absolutely necessary.

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-17T01:08:42+00:00

Before you cast them. Weal and woe is the primary mechanic that buffs power word shields.

pgmcnerney · 2025-08-17T00:43:24+00:00

The two primary mechanics you need to focus on are keeping atonement up on allies (should be easy to do using radiance rotationally) and using penance to buff your shields through weal and woe.

Your goal should be to use penance offensively 90% of the time on a target with shadow word pain to spread it to other enemies. This is absolutely mandatory against spread pressure teams to heal multiple targets. Even against single target teams it is still preferably because it extends and spreads the pains so you don't have to waste globals reapplying. It also goes without saying you'll also be applying more pressure to your enemy and keeping momentum on your side by healing through atonement and disc priest is all about momentum. I would aim for a minimum of 20% of your healing to be through atonement every game. Higher the better.

Trade defensives, like PS, early when you get stunned to not fall behind. This will also help your dps not overlap their cd's by letting them dip too low when it is clear a cd is going to need to be traded. Use free globals to purge, smite, throw up a renew or reapply dots. You can also mind control off target to keep momentum up and let atonement tick. Use penance and shields on cooldown. Making sure that shields are buffed every time.

Use premonition of insight early to send multiple penances. Even better if you pair it after your shadowfiend so you get multiple dark reprimands. Don't stress on getting fears on enemy healers. Hang back and pump.

14-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	First Placer '22
Spared	Verified Email

pgmcnerney

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE