MaroonMage

It's my wife's birthday this weekend so we're going out with a bunch of friends. This is extra special because we scored a babysitter for our one-year-old, and we haven't really been out together much since he's been born. We're gonna go hard.

That, and Helldivers II, if the servers will let me in.

...though sources say that even before Majors’ conviction, the studio was making moves to minimize the character after Quantumania underperformed, grossing $476 million

Jonathan Majors-related stuff aside, this sentence makes me shake my head.

Why does it seem like Hollywood always takes the wrong lesson from box office results? Quantumania isn't well received, and instead of assuming it's because of the bad script or bad story or rushed CGI, their impulse is to retool their entire franchise to minimize a character? Especially a character who people were generally into (at that time, at least...again, Majors stuff aside).

People disliked Quantamania not because of Kang, people disliked it because it wasn't a good movie. Maybe if you tie good stories and good filmmaking to your multi-billion dollar franchise and stop plopping out half thought out turds, then people will go see your movie.

I'm playing on Steamdeck. It has options for controller support, but I'm mostly using the deck's track pads as a mouse replacement because I find it easier to control the cursor that way.

I was playing Inscryption, but needed a break.

I started playing Hardspace: Shipbreaker and I am absolutely hooked.

Nice to see that what should have been (in my opinion) the four playoff teams are the top four in our poll. I am curious what the poll would look like now after championship week is done.

This week's ballot. Computer poll, resume-based. The top two are basically interchangeable, then there's a huge drop after No 7 Alabama I'm surprised that Texas jumped Florida State, but that may change during championship week.

1. Washington | 12 - 0 | LW: 1 ( - )
2. Michigan | 12 - 0 | LW: 2 ( - )
3. Georgia | 12 - 0 | LW: 4 (+1)
4. Texas | 11 - 1 | LW: 5 (+1)
5. Florida State | 12 - 0 | LW: 6 (+1)
6. Ohio State | 11 - 1 | LW: 3 (-3)
7. Alabama | 11 - 1 | LW: 7 ( - )
8. Oregon | 11 - 1 | LW: 9 (+1)
9. Liberty | 12 - 0 | LW: 8 (-1)
10. Oklahoma | 10 - 2 | LW: 12 (+2)
11. Penn State | 10 - 2 | LW: 10 (-1)
12. James Madison | 11 - 1 | LW: 15 (+3)
13. Ole Miss | 10 - 2 | LW: 13 ( - )
14. Iowa | 10 - 2 | LW: 16 (+2)
15. Missouri | 10 - 2 | LW: 14 (-1)
16. Tulane | 11 - 1 | LW: 18 (+2)
17. LSU | 9 - 3 | LW: 17 ( - )
18. Louisville | 10 - 2 | LW: 11 (-7)
19. Toledo | 11 - 1 | LW: 19 ( - )
20. Troy | 10 - 2 | LW: 20 ( - )
21. Notre Dame | 9 - 3 | LW: 22 (+1)
22. NC State | 9 - 3 | LW: 26 (+4)
23. Oklahoma State | 9 - 3 | LW: 25 (+2)
24. Arizona | 9 - 3 | LW: 24 ( - )
25. Kansas State | 8 - 4 | LW: 21 (-4)

26. Utah | 8 - 4 | LW: 29 (+3)
27. Clemson | 8 - 4 | LW: 30 (+3)
28. SMU | 10 - 2 | LW: 35 (+7)
29. Oregon State | 8 - 4 | LW: 27 (-2)
30. Kansas | 8 - 4 | LW: 31 (+1)
31. Memphis | 9 - 3 | LW: 32 (+1)
32. Miami (OH) | 10 - 2 | LW: 34 (+2)
33. Tennessee | 8 - 4 | LW: 33 ( - )
34. UNLV | 9 - 3 | LW: 23 (-11)
35. North Carolina | 8 - 4 | LW: 28 (-7)

My poll this week. Thoughts first:

• Teams 1-3 are clustered close together, then teams 4-6 are clustered close together, and there is a Big drop after No 7 Alabama.
• My spreadsheet doesn't take kindly to late season cupcake games; Florida State, Alabama, Ole Miss all fell despite their wins.
• Welcome Arizona (my wife's alma matter) to my top 25 for the first time this season
• JMU stumbled late to perennial giant slayers App State. Does Liberty have what it takes to go the distance?
• Biggest loser this week was Georgia Southern who dropped 17 ranks after losing to Old Dominion. Biggest winner this week was the aforementioned App State, who rose 16 ranks after topping JMU in overtime.

1. Washington | 11 - 0 | LW: 1 ( - )
2. Michigan | 11 - 0 | LW: 2 ( - )
3. Ohio State | 11 - 0 | LW: 4 (+1)
4. Georgia | 11 - 0 | LW: 7 (+3)
5. Texas | 10 - 1 | LW: 6 (+1)
6. Florida State | 11 - 0 | LW: 3 (-3)
7. Alabama | 10 - 1 | LW: 5 (-2)
8. Liberty | 11 - 0 | LW: 10 (+2)
9. Oregon | 10 - 1 | LW: 9 ( - )
10. Penn State | 9 - 2 | LW: 12 (+2)
11. Louisville | 10 - 1 | LW: 13 (+2)
12. Oklahoma | 9 - 2 | LW: 14 (+2)
13. Ole Miss | 9 - 2 | LW: 11 (-2)
14. Missouri | 9 - 2 | LW: 16 (+2)
15. James Madison | 10 - 1 | LW: 8 (-7)
16. Iowa | 9 - 2 | LW: 15 (-1)
17. LSU | 8 - 3 | LW: 18 (+1)
18. Tulane | 10 - 1 | LW: 17 (-1)
19. Toledo | 10 - 1 | LW: 20 (+1)
20. Troy | 9 - 2 | LW: 19 (-1)
21. Kansas State | 8 - 3 | LW: 25 (+4)
22. Notre Dame | 8 - 3 | LW: 23 (+1)
23. UNLV | 9 - 2 | LW: 31 (+8)
24. Arizona | 8 - 3 | LW: 33 (+9)
25. Oklahoma State | 8 - 3 | LW: 29 (+4)

26. NC State | 8 - 3 | LW: 32 (+6)
27. Oregon State | 8 - 3 | LW: 24 (-3)
28. North Carolina | 8 - 3 | LW: 22 (-6)
29. Utah | 7 - 4 | LW: 21 (-8)
30. Clemson | 7 - 4 | LW: 39 (+9)
31. Kansas | 7 - 4 | LW: 26 (-5)
32. Memphis | 8 - 3 | LW: 27 (-5)
33. Tennessee | 7 - 4 | LW: 30 (-3)
34. Miami (OH) | 9 - 2 | LW: 36 (+2)
35. SMU | 9 - 2 | LW: 43 (+8)

And here I was sharpening my pitchfork for nothing

That's lame. Who would possibly care enough about an unofficial non-professional message board cfb ballot to want to brigade and skew the results? Some people, I tell ya...

I figured they'd give him at least 2 seasons. He inherited the program after a tragedy, which couldn't have been easy, and was trying to completely overhaul the offense, which takes time.

Him getting the boot less than one season in tells me that there were some higher ups at MSU that didn't like him being promoted to head coach from the get-go.

A&M vs MSU claims the jobs of BOTH head coaches. I can't think of another game where that's ever happened before?

That is interesting, although I don't know how that would work in the "fire, ready, aim" world of D1 football coaching. It seems like it would require a structural change to how contracts are written, or at least people in charge with cooler heads.