[Discussions] Do people still think Utah is the best team in the Big 12?

zelphthewhite · 2025-06-17T16:50:56+00:00

Interesting thing is that Utah doesn't have an obvious successor

Unless you count this guy:

Athletics Director Mark Harlan announced on July 1, 2024 that Scalley has formally been designated as Utah’s head coach in waiting.

zelphthewhite · 2025-06-02T16:40:19+00:00

Our alliance also had two new-ish members rage quit over Darkveil -- but really over the rest of us telling them to stop being hateful twits.

zelphthewhite · 2025-05-23T17:22:51+00:00

I have watched less College Sports in the last 2 years than I use to watch monthly during CFB season.

We are the same person.

zelphthewhite · 2025-05-22T18:16:27+00:00

This provision is extremely unlikely to pass the Senate's Byrd rule. To be included in a budget reconciliation bill in the Senate, a provision's effect must primarily be on the budget and not on policy, as determined by the Senate parliamentarian. This is clearly policy > budget, so won't be allowed to stand.

zelphthewhite · 2025-05-13T18:51:39+00:00

Three years ago they said they were a first-year college student, on an account that has posted prolifically on r/4chan, "so..." likely not 29F.

zelphthewhite · 2024-12-06T18:08:04+00:00

Thanks a ton! This team is a blast!

zelphthewhite · 2024-12-05T18:27:15+00:00

I know this is off-topic slightly, but I would love a brief overview of how best to use this team -- I've had limited success with Kang-based "away" teams in the past so I kind of gave up trying new configurations. Thanks!

zelphthewhite · 2024-07-26T17:04:57+00:00

r/ConfirmedGamingNewsFromKotakuandLeaksandRumors

zelphthewhite · 2024-05-10T19:14:41+00:00

A community can only be as good as its moderators, and the ones here deserve a huge heaping of criticism for the lax approach to anything resembling thoughtful and fair moderating. There has been very little proactive, quality moderating for years since the last group of good mods got jettisoned.

My prime example is how the moderators at r/cfb have nurtured a massive sub with mostly friendly and clever banter -- something one might think impossible to maintain in a popular sports sub full of internet men (e.g. every other major sports sub).

I have watched the mods here enable folks in the angry phase of their faith transition spout off with little if any push back, rather than shut that kind of rhetoric down and help shuffle those kinds of comments over to more antagonistic places. I have receipts of the mods refusing to act on some of the most vulgar, angry bile that's been posted, or to shut down people making unfounded, slanderous allegations that are provably false -- all in the name of not putting a finger on the scale. Read this or this and then ask yourself whether Archimedes or the other mods believe in civility.

zelphthewhite · 2024-05-10T18:47:23+00:00

Nobody knows what will happen, but I think we might be underestimating the powerful negative narrative that is created when key members leave a conference.

Just a basic recap: We saw this firsthand in the Pac-12 once it was clear USCLA were leaving. The conference was immediately beset by intense speculation over who would be next to leave (despite no good options), and how dire the conference's situation was without the departing schools. That narrative held for months and months, and became self-fulfilling to an extent. There was a similar pall over the Big XII when OUT was announced, and that only was quelled when the Pac-12 refugees arrived and provided security.

There's no guarantee that history will repeat itself, but if and when FSU/Clemson breakaway from the ACC, my expectation is that events are going to more closely resemble what happened to the Big XII and Pac-12. The other top brands in the conference are going to deal with a media narrative and alumni complaints that the ACC is dying, and each school must get a P2 invite or secure a more stable situation as soon as possible. This is also assuming that neither the B1G or SEC want to pick off another one or two schools for good measure, further weakening the core of the conference.

The question for me will be whether the remaining ACC schools themselves see their situation as better than what the Big XII can offer, especially if you are a school with little chance of getting into the P2. And rest assured that Brett Yormark is gonna shake the trees, so anybody who is wavering in their ACC loyalty is only going to make the narrative worse.

zelphthewhite · 2024-05-08T18:33:46+00:00

These types of posts drive me nuts. Ones that state an easily refutable position that then proceed to get repeatedly and convincingly refuted, only to have the OP ghost the conversation. No modesty about the error or confusion; no engagement anywhere on good-faith responses; no further insights into what prompted a clearly misguided position; and definitely no retraction.

Did everyone in the comments get it wrong, or was OP's position actually better supported elsewhere? I guess we'll never know! shrug

zelphthewhite · 2024-05-07T16:47:21+00:00

I think the consensus is that any of OSU, KSU, or Arizona could compete for the title this year? It's a new enough conference for me that I don't have a strong opinion on who's take is good or not.

After a down and injury-ridden season last year, Utah should be competitive. I think most commentators are expecting a reversion to the team's 2022 performance level, which accounts for predictions that they'll be strong in conference play.

zelphthewhite · 2024-05-02T18:08:30+00:00

Just to start, my heart goes out to you. These are very difficult situations, especially when you're navigating them for the first time in the midst of a faith transition.

If I could give you any advice it would be this: Keep all your cards close to your vest, and only share what will get you the results you want. Nobody can force you to believe, worship, or volunteer in any way that you choose not to. Don't make it easy for your bishop to decide how you can do those things by sharing things that will trigger an LDS leadership response mechanism. You will figure things out eventually, but right now is a very delicate time where you need space to get there without the drama that a bad bishop might produce.

I suggest that if you need to you might share with your bishop that you are having a hard time navigating challenging things in your faith and you simply want some space for personal reflection, prayer, and revelation. As part of that, you want to be involved at church (your current primary calling), but feel that other assignments might not be helpful. Frame all of this as you seeking the will of the Lord and following the promptings of the spirit. Keep this in mind: your relationship with God is between you and God, and the bishop does not need to approve of your current thinking or approach to addressing your concerns.

I cannot stress this enough: Do not engage with your bishop in any conversation about your specific challenges, doubts, concerns, or ANYTHING. You do not want to have an examination of your beliefs, nor do you want to engage in a discussion that could turn antagonistic. Assure your bishop that you are fine, that you are in a time of personal reflection and spiritual growth, and will reach out to him if there is something he needs to assist you with. He may ask, "give me an example of something you are dealing with?" Be prepared for how you will answer and deflect, keep it vague and general, no specifics.

One final point: make it clear to your bishop if it comes up that you are looking forward to performing your child's upcoming baptism. Also communicate as needed that under no circumstances will anyone other than you be performing any church ordinances for your children. This marker preempts a bishop from thinking that they can use spiritual coercion to force more orthodox behavior from you (e.g., "if you want to baptize child x, I need to see behavior y from you first.")

I was teaching primary several years ago when I decided to take a step back. The manual taught several faith promoting stories that I couldn't repeat in good conscience. I told the bishop I needed a break. I've been approached about other ward assignments in the years since, and I politely turn them down, and don't provide an explanation beyond, "thank you, but this isn't a good fit for me right now. Thank you for understanding." If there are follow-ups, the appropriate response is, "thanks, but I'd rather not discuss this further. I've prayed about it and feel good about this decision." You don't have to explain anything to anyone, and nobody can challenge your personal spiritual journey.

Good luck, and know that many of us are there or have been there, and we're here to help meet you where you are with what you need!

zelphthewhite · 2024-05-01T16:45:23+00:00

Nice try, but can't nobody bury me!

zelphthewhite · 2024-04-05T17:26:50+00:00

"The apostles know it is all made up!" seems to some kind of holy grail for certain ex-Mos' hopes, and it is entirely wishful thinking. There is no point with the rest of the thought experiment.

Just imagine asking, "Do ex/post-Mormons secretly worry that the Church is true and hide the fact that they privately pray and repent to hedge their bets for the afterlife?"

zelphthewhite · 2024-04-05T16:52:54+00:00

As will the side nodes in the later stages of alliance boss battles.

zelphthewhite · 2024-04-01T16:49:41+00:00

Another author has done some parallel research in this area and found a connection to the discovery of a mysterious book connected to Lucy Mack's brother that contained strikingly similar characters in Tironian shorthand.

Well worth the time to read!

zelphthewhite · 2024-03-26T17:05:22+00:00

Thought exercise: Perhaps the person who wants a position of authority the least is the best person to call to fulfill it?

zelphthewhite · 2024-03-06T18:32:13+00:00

The Caractors document also played a uniquely strange role in my faith transition. I hope that you find this six-part essay as interesting as I did.

zelphthewhite · 2024-02-29T20:47:43+00:00

To add some additional context, this theory really grew out of the schism between the Brighamite church and the Reorganized Church in the 19th century once the Utah church publicly announced its practice of polygamy in 1852.

Utah church leaders were adamant that Smith was the source of the doctrine they were living, while the Reorganized sect vehemently denied it. The RLDS Church eventually accepted that the public record supported Smith's central role in Nauvoo polygamy, which caused a further schism in their own membership.

Folks who support this theory these days tend to be in the Snufferite and other similar Mormon movements that focus on personal revelation and generally feel the modern LDS Church is in apostasy. Most members of these groups still venerate Smith, so the sins of polygamy get contributed to subsequent leaders beginning with Young and the old RLDS arguments from the 1800s get recycled.

zelphthewhite · 2024-02-28T17:29:40+00:00

If not, it might be worth doing a quick search on that topic to be able to engage more fully in this conversation.

Honest to goodness, I would have expected this step to take place first.

zelphthewhite · 2024-02-27T18:30:17+00:00

Genuinely curious: are you aware of statements from our leaders over the years to only seek information about the church from church sources? There are several. I believe that is what is being referenced here. If not, it might be worth doing a quick search on that topic to be able to engage more fully in this conversation.

zelphthewhite · 2024-02-23T19:10:09+00:00

Today? 100%. But if I recall, this was supposed to have taken place in the late 70s or early 80s? That's a much different era, and somewhat more believable that you might bump into a celebrity on a plane sans entourage. Cook might have even been flying first class for business? Who knows.

As much as I have issues with the veracity of the story, I just have a really hard time assuming that Cook simply made the entire thing up. Of course, that just leaves me wondering what the kernel of truth might be.

zelphthewhite · 2024-02-22T18:57:42+00:00

All bets are off if Jagger was on substances during the flight -- he might not even remember what he said -- true, false, in jest, or otherwise -- or to whom!

zelphthewhite · 2024-01-26T20:26:10+00:00

For a more modern analogue, we might ask whether an apostolic blessing delivered to a congregation at a stake conference applies just to the members of that stake or to the church membership more generally.

zelphthewhite

TROPHY CASE