[washingtonismoney]

Chris McCain, the 59ers' returning sack leader, has been suspended indefinitely. Probably of the, "I'll punish you so severely, you're...going to be reinstated right before the opener! You think about what you've done young man, now that I've taken away ... very little of what you actually value."

But worth noting. This season could be awfully ugly in the East Bay.

http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/201...suspension

[washingtonismoney]

Chris McCain, the 59ers' returning sack leader, has been suspended indefinitely. Probably of the, "I'll punish you so severely, you're...going to be reinstated right before the opener! You think about what you've done young man, now that I've taken away ... very little of what you actually value."

But worth noting. This season could be awfully ugly in the East Bay.

http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/201...suspension

[71Bear]

This is all part of the weeding process.  CoachDykes promised to address the academic mess left by his predecessor and he is delivering.  McCain is not the only footballer that was removed from the squad recently. 

CoachDykes has a lot of work to do in this area so we know things will get worse before they get better.  It would not surprise me if there are more dismissals.

Having said that, color me skeptical.  I have seen blips of improvement in the academics of the program but I have not seen sustained success since the Willsey era.

[71Bear]

This is all part of the weeding process.  CoachDykes promised to address the academic mess left by his predecessor and he is delivering.  McCain is not the only footballer that was removed from the squad recently. 

CoachDykes has a lot of work to do in this area so we know things will get worse before they get better.  It would not surprise me if there are more dismissals.

Having said that, color me skeptical.  I have seen blips of improvement in the academics of the program but I have not seen sustained success since the Willsey era.

[terry]

71Bear, any idea what "indefinite suspension" means? Can he get reinstated if he passes a couple classes in the summer session?

[terry]

71Bear, any idea what "indefinite suspension" means? Can he get reinstated if he passes a couple classes in the summer session?

[Redrum]

...after passing ,like, zero units for one academic period?  Coffee is for closers and summer is for academic recidivists.  This should be a good test of the assertions that there's really a new sheriff in town.  I'll actually admire him if he is.

[Redrum]

...after passing ,like, zero units for one academic period?  Coffee is for closers and summer is for academic recidivists.  This should be a good test of the assertions that there's really a new sheriff in town.  I'll actually admire him if he is.

[71Bear]

Garvin - yes, but....  CoachDykes is addressing situations where guys may be teetering on the edge of retaining their status as students but are certainly not meeting the standards he has established for his program.  As you may know, Berkeley is on the bubble re: it's APR scores.  CoachDykes must resolve that situation immediately.  That means removing footballers from the roster who are problems.  The APR scores that will be released this week will be embarrassing.  CoachDykes is on point to improve them as quickly as possible.  If that means dumping guys who should not have been enrolled at Berkeley to begin with, so be it.

[71Bear]

Garvin - yes, but....  CoachDykes is addressing situations where guys may be teetering on the edge of retaining their status as students but are certainly not meeting the standards he has established for his program.  As you may know, Berkeley is on the bubble re: it's APR scores.  CoachDykes must resolve that situation immediately.  That means removing footballers from the roster who are problems.  The APR scores that will be released this week will be embarrassing.  CoachDykes is on point to improve them as quickly as possible.  If that means dumping guys who should not have been enrolled at Berkeley to begin with, so be it.

[71Bear]

Terry - I believe "indefinite suspension" is a kind way of giving the guy an opportunity to find a school that is more to his academic ability. 

IMO, this is an early litmus test.  CoachDykes will be sending all of us a message (either way) with this  case.....

[71Bear]

Terry - I believe "indefinite suspension" is a kind way of giving the guy an opportunity to find a school that is more to his academic ability. 

IMO, this is an early litmus test.  CoachDykes will be sending all of us a message (either way) with this  case.....

[71Bear]

Redrum - don't believe what you read on fan websites.  Had he not passed any units in a given semester, he would not have been eligible to play.  Period.

[71Bear]

Redrum - don't believe what you read on fan websites.  Had he not passed any units in a given semester, he would not have been eligible to play.  Period.

[Redrum]

that the stuff I read on sports websites isn't true?  Hah! Next you'll be trying to convince me that acai berrys aren't nature's own fat-burning miracle and that there isn't this one little trick that will allow me to buy houses in Piedmont for as little as $1,000.

BTW,  I saw your post on Bear Insider.  Does this mean your exile is over?  Napolean back from Elba and ready to party with his neighbors?

[Redrum]

that the stuff I read on sports websites isn't true?  Hah! Next you'll be trying to convince me that acai berrys aren't nature's own fat-burning miracle and that there isn't this one little trick that will allow me to buy houses in Piedmont for as little as $1,000.

BTW,  I saw your post on Bear Insider.  Does this mean your exile is over?  Napolean back from Elba and ready to party with his neighbors?

[OutsiderFan]

If Chris McCain is no longer on the Cal football team it is addition by subtraction.

For starters, he's had a bad attitude, openly picking a fight with the S&C coach and not doing the work he has been asked to do in terms of conditioning drills.  He's got grade issues.  And if that weren't enough, at 6-6 and 215, he has no position in Cal's new 4-3 defense.  He'd be easily pushed around at DE, and Cal has tons of LB depth better than him. 

The guy doesn't fit Cal anymore unless he were to start acting like he cares about the team concept, starts going to class, and switches to offense to play inside receiver.  None of these things would seem to have a very great chance of happening.

[OutsiderFan]

If Chris McCain is no longer on the Cal football team it is addition by subtraction.

For starters, he's had a bad attitude, openly picking a fight with the S&C coach and not doing the work he has been asked to do in terms of conditioning drills.  He's got grade issues.  And if that weren't enough, at 6-6 and 215, he has no position in Cal's new 4-3 defense.  He'd be easily pushed around at DE, and Cal has tons of LB depth better than him. 

The guy doesn't fit Cal anymore unless he were to start acting like he cares about the team concept, starts going to class, and switches to offense to play inside receiver.  None of these things would seem to have a very great chance of happening.

[71Bear]

Redrum - My absence was prompted by my extended vacation.  Having said that, I'll be posting there less frequently than in the past.  The site has been overrun by the lunatic fringe.  I suspect that Greybear is not as involved as he once was.  Too bad.  At one time, it was a great site with a variety of opinions and a real sense of humor.  Now, it is more like a poor man's version of Pravda from the 50's...

[71Bear]

Redrum - My absence was prompted by my extended vacation.  Having said that, I'll be posting there less frequently than in the past.  The site has been overrun by the lunatic fringe.  I suspect that Greybear is not as involved as he once was.  Too bad.  At one time, it was a great site with a variety of opinions and a real sense of humor.  Now, it is more like a poor man's version of Pravda from the 50's...

[Bruce Wang]

Now, it is more like a poor man's version of Pravda from the 50's...

I'm reminded of a Soviet-era saying about Pravda (which means truth) and Izvestia (news): "There's no Truth in the News, and there's no News in the Truth."

Edward Tufte, the visualization of data guru, also had this amusing point about PowerPoint and Pravda.  In a table of median number of data entries in data matrices for statistical graphics in various publications, at the top were Science (>1,000), Nature(>700), NYT (120) and the WSJ (112).  Second worst was 28 textbooks about PowerPoint presentations at 12.  Only Pravda with 5 was worse.

[Bruce Wang]

Now, it is more like a poor man's version of Pravda from the 50's...

I'm reminded of a Soviet-era saying about Pravda (which means truth) and Izvestia (news): "There's no Truth in the News, and there's no News in the Truth."

Edward Tufte, the visualization of data guru, also had this amusing point about PowerPoint and Pravda.  In a table of median number of data entries in data matrices for statistical graphics in various publications, at the top were Science (>1,000), Nature(>700), NYT (120) and the WSJ (112).  Second worst was 28 textbooks about PowerPoint presentations at 12.  Only Pravda with 5 was worse.

[Redrum]

Anyone who wages war on Power Point slide-ism is a demi-God worth following.

[Redrum]

Anyone who wages war on Power Point slide-ism is a demi-God worth following.

[71Bear]

Publius - How Orwellian........

Garvin - Nah, Stalin was a brobdingnagian fan of Moscow State.  The architecture of the campus building is very much like the Seven Sisters than Stalin had built around Moscow...

[71Bear]

Publius - How Orwellian........

Garvin - Nah, Stalin was a brobdingnagian fan of Moscow State.  The architecture of the campus building is very much like the Seven Sisters than Stalin had built around Moscow...

[Bruce Wang]

If Tufte is not a god, he is definitely what the Japanese call a Ningen Kokuhōa, a living national treasure.  I highly recommend his class.  Learned more in 5 hours than any other time spent I've in a classroom, and enjoyed the hell out of it, too.  The man is a product of Stanford, so what do you expect?

[Bruce Wang]

If Tufte is not a god, he is definitely what the Japanese call a Ningen Kokuhōa, a living national treasure.  I highly recommend his class.  Learned more in 5 hours than any other time spent I've in a classroom, and enjoyed the hell out of it, too.  The man is a product of Stanford, so what do you expect?

[71Bear]

Now that you mention it...  Both.

I have been subjected to quite a number of PP presentations that Orwell himself appeared to have composed.  The only thing missing was the earphones with periodic static and/or the strobe lighting focused on my eyes....

[71Bear]

Now that you mention it...  Both.

I have been subjected to quite a number of PP presentations that Orwell himself appeared to have composed.  The only thing missing was the earphones with periodic static and/or the strobe lighting focused on my eyes....

[Leftcoast]

You folks might like Amazon.  Over here the culture is anti-Powerpoint and many meetings and most large decisions require a well written white-paper.  Powerpoint shows up occasionally but is considered very "un Amazonian".

While I'm not a big powerpoint fan this still took some getting used to because the tool has become so pervasive over the last 20 years.

[Leftcoast]

You folks might like Amazon.  Over here the culture is anti-Powerpoint and many meetings and most large decisions require a well written white-paper.  Powerpoint shows up occasionally but is considered very "un Amazonian".

While I'm not a big powerpoint fan this still took some getting used to because the tool has become so pervasive over the last 20 years.

[washingtonismoney]

The best commentary on the PowerPoint culture was in Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Good Squad

[washingtonismoney]

The best commentary on the PowerPoint culture was in Jennifer Egan's A Visit From The Good Squad

[Nan3cy]

Tragically, the United States military is not immune, either.  There's a class of officer now known as PowerPoint Rangers.

A slight evolution from the days when the motto of the army's Adjutant General corps was allegedly "Retreat, hell. Backspace!"

[Nan3cy]

Tragically, the United States military is not immune, either.  There's a class of officer now known as PowerPoint Rangers.

A slight evolution from the days when the motto of the army's Adjutant General corps was allegedly "Retreat, hell. Backspace!"

[needle]

Goon Squad, WIM, though I mainly post to recommend the book. Oddly, that section had fallen out of my mind until you mentioned it, but it's a book designed for people to pick and choose that way, I think.

Yes, you can find the PowerPoint presentation in the book if you Google it, but I won't link spoilers here.

[needle]

Goon Squad, WIM, though I mainly post to recommend the book. Oddly, that section had fallen out of my mind until you mentioned it, but it's a book designed for people to pick and choose that way, I think.

Yes, you can find the PowerPoint presentation in the book if you Google it, but I won't link spoilers here.