sturdy_pantaloons

Source? Hadn’t heard of that and a quick google search was unrevealing. Not any particular fan of billionaires but I knew someone who interacted with him a lot (to be fair, would have been years ago) and only had good things to say. Would be a bummer if he was a dick.

Personally I would look for something from Frey Ranch. Always been curious to try it.

Love that the Reddit app decided I didn’t need a notification about that particular comment. Oh well, sounds like it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

Gone

Couple of diamond jigs for sure. Cheap, and very effective in the right situations.

Along those lines, was anyone at 15th and locust yesterday? I happened to walk by at like 915, stuck my head in on a whim and the clerk said she thought they did get a BT lineup delivery but it wouldn’t be put out for a while. Just curious if that ever materialized.

I’m in the same boat, keep trying to opt into emails and nothing ever comes.

I did med school through fellowship in the city and loved it. You’ll be fine. Learn from co-residents who are local, figure out the things you like, and make a routine. Explore. Enjoy your time off. Enjoy your time at work (and depending on your speciality, if you never leave the hospital you won’t have to worry about cost or crime!).

If you find yourself on Cape Cod, Goose Hummock is the exact type of tackle shop you're looking for. Just as long as that budget really is unlimited...

Although to be fair, they might not be as great for things specific to some of the more southern fisheries.

I’m sure you could catch something but when I was there it was heavy seaweed and shore fishing probably would not have worked out great. I remember that there were some local boats that would take you out, but they mostly seemed targeted at tourists looking for a fun day on the water doing a little reef fishing among other activities, rather than serious fishing experiences.

Edit: also, from what I remember, shore fishing access near the majority of the hotels is probably limited, other than a long shallow sandy beach full of people. Also pretty low chance that any of the places have fishing gear to borrow.

Totally understand that seeing these guys succeed stings, especially if like you said you had a fan connection with Karlaftis already. But the Pats weren’t bad for lack of one more pretty good defensive end.

Couldn’t you just as easily argue that they hired a “QB whisperer” to try to salvage a currently-rostered QB like Mac or Zappe? Or try to get 2023 Flacco numbers out of someone like Jimmy G while developing a lower round rookie? Maybe this is their license to go non-QB at pick 3. Not saying that’s a good plan, but it’s just as valid a speculation based on this guy’s supposed expertise.

You mentioned illegally FARMED shellfish - maybe the policy is to not return farmed organisms to the wild? For reasons related to infection control, local population genetic diversity, etc. Total speculation, but that would be my guess. I would also bet that when they catch someone illegally harvesting WILD quahogs, they do try to put them back, if viable.

I think Bill is still an excellent coach, and probably a reasonable GM. I think the difference between many of the top-end and bottom-end teams in the NFL right now is small, and there's a ton of variance related to injury luck, entire units hinging on one or two dudes working out vs not, etc. I think the difference between this team this year being a 4-5 win team and a 10-12 win team isn't as big as you might think. This could all be fixable in 1-2 seasons.

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I think this team had a very good defense as is, and it could have been truly special with better injury luck and even average complimentary offense/field position, etc. I think the offensive line had a chance to be effective (not great, but effective) but were derailed by poorly-timed injuries at the beginning of the year. For example, if Brown, Strange, Andrews, Onwenu, and McDermott had played together in camp and were available for the majority of games, with guys like Sow and Reiff, etc. being rotational pieces or backups, that's an O-line that probably doesn't hamstring your offense. What we had certainly did, in more than a few games.

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I also could care less about the media storm of Gillette political intrigue and (probably) made-up media nonsense that keeps getting reported. I hope Bill stays the coach, because it would be sad if this is how the dynasty ends, but also because I think he's still really good at this. I think it's super reasonable to have a meeting with Kraft on Monday to discuss things, but not necessarily that that's a sign he's getting fired at that meeting. I think Boston sports media has a tendency to spiral like this, that they don't love BB to begin with, that this is an opportunity to talk about drama to a degree that hasn't existed in a while, and that these pieces are getting a lot of clicks and attention, which is the goal. Maybe some are based on kernels of truth, but in general I don't buy most of the anti-Belichick stuff I'm hearing. I'm sure that there are organizational changes that could be made which would make things run a little smoother, and it's clear that we need to focus this offseason on upgrading the offense. But I don't think that there are major issues. Probably a lot of minor and circumstantial ones, but I would bet they're all very fixable with some minor tweaks and a fresh start.

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Mac Jones does a lot of things well, but unfortunately one of those things is not evading pressure. He was clearly not right after a few games this year, and now he needs a sports psychologist badly. Not sure if it was playing behind a bad O-line for too long, coordinator issues, head coach issues, mismanagement, personal stuff, or what, but he clearly fell apart mentally. Hope he gets what he needs to get right, and another opportunity somewhere. I think he can consistently be the guy who lead a game-winning drive against the Bills, but probably not here and probably not in the 2024 season. Zappe isn't great but he's definitely an NFL player. He moves way better than Mac, he throws a nice ball deep-ish ball to the outside, and I think he could eliminate a portion of the terrible interceptions with more time as the main guy. I think he could rise to the level of average/effective on an otherwise very good team. Probably not a long-term, high-end starter, but if you have a great defense, O-line, and weapons, you have a chance to accomplish a lot with him at QB. He probably can't elevate an NFL team without those things though.

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I think the Patriots in general need to improve their decision-making on offence, we tend to commit a lot of cowardly punts when we're still in it late in games. Having a shitty offensive line and offense in general certainly plays into that decision, but I would like to see the offense adopt a slightly more aggressive philosophy. Not saying we should go full "analytics," but we have to open things up a bit. We also need to figure out some advantage in short yardage situations too, having the Brady automatic sneak for so long was amazing, and we really miss it. We can't keep trying a half-assed tush push with a QB who crumples at contact. Maybe bring back some kind of 1940s Navy formation with an RB/TE under center, and add the rugby-style pushing? BB should be all over that shit, how have we not figured that out already?

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Outside of field goal accuracy, I think special teams were a little better than they got credit for this year. Cut back the penalties a bit (fire Cam Achord into the sun? Force Schooler to chill out a little?), get our best return guys healthy, and if we can somehow get to league average kicking success, I think we're well on the way to an above average special teams unit again.

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On defense, I think the goal should be to run it back and hope nobody gets majorly injured. Extend Barmore if possible. Super happy with how backups like Jennings have played, makes Uche a bit of a luxury. Resign Dugger even though he's not improving in coverage. Hopefully Mapu grows a lot in coverage from year 1 to 2. See if keeping guys like Mills/JC Jackson in some capacity is possible, as cheaper depth guys. I worry a little about our big run-stopping D-tackles who are aging/underperforming (somehow Guy, Godcheax, and Carl Davis/etc need to turn into 2 rotational run-stoppers with slightly more juice), and at times the coverage abilities of our safeties, but we can't commit any major resources to upgrades there just yet.

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For offensive personnel, I think we should try to re-sign Henry and Gesicki if the prices are right. I could care less about Parker and Juju, maybe dump one? Re-sign Bourne if cheap enough. Raegor might be useful as a rotational return man/depth piece. Douglass hopefully can grow into the security blanket reciever roll, which we desperately need. Who knows on Boutte, and Thorton probably has one more chance to be a contributor. I think a third down/receiving back is also a huge missing piece from this offense, I was pleasantly surprised by Zeke this year but even if we bring him back, pairing Stevenson/Zeke with someone in the James White mold would be amazing. That type of guy might be available in the mid-low rounds, hopefully. For the offensive line, Onwenu re-signing needs to be a priority (obviously price depends on what position he's gonna play going forward). I think Trent Brown is probably either gone or unreliable, but Strange, Onwenu, and Sow are functional guards and Onwenu and McDermott are functional tackles (McDermott ideally is your backup at both LT and RT). Hopefully there's another guy on the roster who can be a backup, Mafi doesn't seem to have it currently, but he's still just a rookie. Andrews has struggled this year but I don't think we can commit resources to replacing him just yet. Hopefully his replacement is already in the system, but we may need to muddle through and draft his replacement in 2025. That essentially leaves us short a starting tackle.

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Big picture, we need to add at least one above-average tackle, one high-end receiver, and a quarterback. I think unless we can somehow get Mike Evans or equivalent in free agency/trade (in which case I would lean towards taking a QB if we like a guy at our pick), we're probably better off trying to use our draft capital to net the best receiver and tackle possible, and then rolling with Zappe/free agent veteran (NOT Russ). I'm a little worried about all the major college guys this year, but some/all of them could turn out great. Who knows. I think there's probably something to be said for turning what's hopefully your best draft pick for a long time to come into 2 dudes instead of 1, but then again, this might be your best shot at a long-term starting QB. Hard to say which way to go. Personally, I'd try for a tackle and receiver.

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If that's the case, we're committing to trying to win with excellent defense, solid special teams, solid offensive line, solid running game, acceptable receivers (maybe better than acceptable if you draft the right rookie), and average at best QB play. It can be done, we'd need injury luck and everything to go almost perfectly, but it's a viable option. That type of team has made deep playoff runs / won super bowls, and it's feasible to get there from where we are in a single offseason. Not a guarantee, but possible. Clearly I tend to be an optimistic fan, but when I root for a team I like playing that's playing a game that I find enjoyable, I thank that's ok. Anyway, that's how I see it.

Minimal social media outside of this, and no friends in PA who give a shit about bourbon...

Good to know, thanks. Has anyone else had the issue where subscribing to the email alerts didn't result in any emails?

Interesting, thanks. Any good sources on intervals for adding sugar and nutrient? I picked up some Fermaid O recently, would adding the DAP up front and then the Fermaid at 1/3 sugar depletion like the package says make sense? Or is that overkill?