Recent Comments
Its the small print under #1 and #2. Says "Anything after these are to only be considered when football has everything it needs and even #2 is only football specific"
Its unfortunate but is likely reality until 2030 when the next round of school moves are expected because of where ACC buyout drops to combined with SEC up for its new TV Deal.
And now Paige is resting, and Jesse has just pulled out. Both at 381 miles in.
This is correct.
I believe Jessie has also taken his 24-hour stop, but was a bit before hers. Looks like they've been consistently within a few miles of each other and Paige has been slightly faster when running.
And it's quite significant, given that she's already had her 24-hour rest stop. GO PAIGE GO!
Young has a laundry list of guys elsewhere having above average seasons.
That doesn't speak well to Young's coaching abilities. It's almost like he's not able to get the most out of his players.
Paige back in first for now, having just passed Jesse Holmes who has been resting for 1.5 hours.
Best my AI skills can do in 30 seconds.
to me this comes back to learning the system.... The guys who are in their 3rd or 4th year playing in CMY's system tend to look like they're relaxed and having fun. (unless on the court with multiple guys who aren't dialed into the system yet). Because they're comfortable operating the system and aren't having to spend a ton of mental energy deciphering what they're supposed to be doing. the ACC Champion team in particular looked very in sync and like they were having a lot of fun there late in the season.
and of course winning games is fun and leads to a positive attitude
"We pushed all our chips in on football"
Is this how the new funding initiative reads? I'm not seeing it... It just mentions football front office. Everything else seems general athletics.
- A new "front office" for football to manage recruiting, talent development and operations
- Resources to attract and retain talented coaches in a highly competitive market
- Additional operating support for athletics teams
- Investments in Olympic sports
- Infrastructure improvements to several facilities to improve the athlete and fan experience
The author got a FOIA response with the contracts expiring at the end of the month. These contracts have to be disclosed as they are public employees technically. I think its much more likely the coordinators expect deals on par with what the Hokies just gave out, which would be an almost 100% raise for all three coordinators. Hopefully it gets sporty and public if they dont get it. The problem for the coordinators at this point is where are they going to go this year? They needed to press for their raises while coaches were moving.
Rodney Brown maybe but Bedford basically filled his role. Put up 14/2/2 this season at Loyola-Marymount. Shot 38% from 3.
Young has a laundry list of guys elsewhere having above average seasons.
Tyler Nickel (13.7, 3.1, 1.2 at Vanderbilt)
Darren Buchanan, (8.4, 3.7, 1.7 at Rutgers as a defense first guy) GW used him as a 4 so his rebounds there were significantly higher. Rutgers used him as a 3 and D guy.
MJ Collins (17.6 ppg, 2.2, 1.7 at Utah State)
Rodney Rice(20 ppg at USC),
Rodney Brown (14 ppg at Loyola),
John Camden (13.9 ppg at Cal),
Rechsteiner (12.3 ppg at Colorado St)
This may have already been mentioned elsewhere, but Dallas Seavey was born in Virginia and has won the race more than anyone else. He makes Virginia-born mushers the third most winningest after AK and MN, per Wikipedia which is always 100% accurate.
"Yikes" indeed
HEY UVA
If true, I am amazed new jobs have not been announced for those coordinators elsewhere. I think in reality they have already been renewed but just not announced.
Thanks for sharing. Because I don't live in VA, don't interact with whoos often, and find uva football pretty boring, I don't really pay attention to them at all. So this was pretty wild. Seems pretty wild. I wonder if this is a budget/reporting thing or if they have a handshake deal in place that they are waiting until last minute to announce? That would be quite unusual though.
Also in that article (emphasis mine):
He's also navigating his way around the realization that UVA Football played wide receiver Jahmal Edrine all season after Albemarle County Police raided his apartment five days ahead of the 2025 season opener in connection with an investigation into an alleged rape and abduction for which Edrine was later indicted.
Yikes...
Analysts video notes how the next 2 runs - from the ghost town of Ophir to the ghost town of Cripple and then from Cripple to the village of Ruby - are both long sections. From Ruby through Kaltag the teams will be going down the Yukon River until Kaltag, where they will go over the Kaltag Portage to the sea coast at Unalakleet. Cripple is considered the half way point of the northern route and the first one to get there wins $3,000 in gold nuggets.
All teams must take a mandatory 8-hour break at one of the Yukon River checkpoints. Thought is that if the trail leading up to Ruby is bad and the team struggles, you do the 8-hour at Ruby. Most will want to go further and, as long as the trail is okay, will do so. Noted that 2 of the expedition mushers and a snow machine have gone on ahead and that should help pack the trail and make it better.
Bruce Lee (the former musher and analyst, not that other Bruce Lee) talked about what mushers and teams seemed to be doing well. Noted Jessie and Paige were both really mentally into the game. Pete Kaiser also there. Pete is laying back. Wants to take it easy with a lot of young dogs on his team, get to the river and see what he has then. Leading from the front is not Pete's method like Jessie and Paige are doing, but notes that Pete cannot let the leaders get too far ahead if he wants a chance to win. Although she is not one of the leaders and not an upfront contender, Brenda Mackey said she is really happy. Her dogs are running well and eating well.
Feels the real racing and strategy is starting now. What Bruce wants to keep an eye on is who is getting to Ruby at or near the front and where are they taking their 8-hour. Teams that get there at or near the front and are strong/push through without taking the break will be the contenders to win.
Yesterday, rookie and Alaska native Jodi Potts-Joseph had an encounter with a bison on the trail just outside of Rohn. As she was leaving the checkpoint, she noticed several of the "kids" (young mushers) getting booties on their dogs, so they were getting ready to leave. She comes across a bison on the trail and they start acting aggressive while her dogs are going crazy too. The bison charges and she attempts to shoot it with the pistol, but it misfires. The bison pulls up just before the dogs and is huffing and pawing but does not attack. Gun just going "click" while the bison keeps doing the mock charges and the dogs back off a bit.
Realizing the gun is useless, she gets off the trail behind a tree for protection and starts throwing sicks and things at the bison, but no effect. Finally, she remembers her mom's story of how her dad (Jodi's grandfather) was out hunting. Her mom was in the yard with other kids when a grizzly came in and was acting aggressive. Her grandmother got the kids in the house and her grandmother, supposedly went up to the bear and asked them to have mercy and go away and the bear did. The old legend is that the animals can understand their native language. Well, she tried it and the bison left.
Assumed the bison would not leave the trail and go into the deep snow. She believes bison are not native to the area and were imported for hunting and are not used to the deep snow. So she knew the gun was useless and decided to wait until the other teams, which she figured were right behind her, caught up. They did and they all had pistols so got the team untangled and went on together. Bison was still around and the caught up to it. Others fired warning shots and they eventually went away.
Thursday morning March 12 ~7AM east coast/3 AM Alaska
Teams are starting to come off their 24-hour layover while others remained camped. Standings are:
1. Jessie Holmes running 16 dogs 358 miles in/617 to Nome
2. Riley Dyche resting in Ophir with 16 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
3. Matt Hall resting in Ophir with 14 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
4. Lauro Eklund resting in Ophir with 15 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
5. Josi Shelley resting in Ophir with 12 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
6. Rookie Jessie Terry resting in Ophir with 15 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
7. Keaton Loebrich resting in Ophir with 14 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
8. Paige Drobny running 14 dogs 346 miles in/629 to Nome - Unless she decides to rest the team before or at Ophir, she should take over 2nd place fairly soon
9. Mille Porsild running 16 dogs, 344 miles in/631 to Nome
10. Michelle Phillips running 13 dogs, 340 miles in/635 to Nome
Rookie Richie Beattie is in the red lantern position running 11 dogs 297 miles in/678 to Nome.
EDIT: At 7:48 AM east coast the GPS now has Paige past Ophir and in second place again.
Interview with Paige earlier in the day at Takotna. Said she was initially planning on going all the way to Cripple before taking her 24. However, that was risky with reported strong winds up in that direction and -40 temps, so she decided to stay at Takotna. Said she feels the "normal tired" mentally that you have at this point in the race, but feels more sore than normal, especially her back. Not certain, but feels it may be because she has not mushed as much as normal due to the cancer diagnosis and treatment. Having to re-think her strategy after stopping well before Cripple.
Feels her team cannot outrun Jessie's, so she will have to "out-stratagize" him if possible. Asked what her favorite food was in her bags and she said she hadn't eaten any of her own food at Takotna because they feed the mushers there really well and she had just been having what the serve.
Wednesday night/actually very early Thursday morning ~12:45 AM east coast/8:45 PM Alaska, but I'm calling it Wednesday night.
Assuming all or almost all of the teams are currently on their 24-hour layover. Because some teams pushed further than others, the leaders are actually not the leaders as they will have to stay in place while the teams behind them get started. Makes the order funny, but that is the way of the Iditarod. Also, they add in the time that someone started earlier at. So the last person to start gets to leave in 24 hours, but if you started 10 minutes sooner than the last person to start, you go 24 hours + 10 minutes before you can leave, so you do not get a time punishment for having a higher bib number. Current leaders are:
1. Riley Dyche resting in Ophir with 16 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
2. Matt Hall resting in Ophir with 14 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
3. Lauro Eklund resting in Ophir with 15 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
4. Josi Shelley resting in Ophir with 12 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
5. Rookie Jessie Terry resting in Ophir with 15 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
6. Keaton Loebrich resting in Ophir with 14 dogs, 352 miles in/623 to Nome
7. Jessie Holmes resting in Takotna with 16 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
8. Paige Drobny resting in Takotna with 14 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
9. Mille Porsild resting in Takotna with 16 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
10. Ryan Redington resting in Takotna with 16 dogs, 329 miles in/646 to Nome
Of the 6 that pushed on to Ophir, would think Matt Hall is the only top team, although Riley Dyche has a top 10 finish.
Jessie Holmes will be eligible to leave ~10:30 PM Alaska time/2:30 AM east coast and Paige will be eligible to leave ~11:50 PM Alaska time/3:50 AM east coast. Both will need to have a little extra time added on. In contrast, Riley Dyche will not be eligible to leave until ~5:15 AM Alaska time/9:15 AM east coast.
Rookie Richie Beattie is in the red lantern position, resting in Nikolai with 13 dogs 263 miles in/712 to Nome.
CMY returned 4 players from last year, which is this day and age maybe about average. Have no stats to bolster the statement. But looking at last year's roster, which was bad, who else would you have kept if you could? Jayden Young was my only other maybe, and he became a 7-minute bench guy at UNCheat.
The Hokies are 1 of 6 to place all 10 wrestlers, joining Iowa State, Nebraska Ohio State, Oklahoma State, and Penn State.
Iowa and Rutgers placed 9
Illinois, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Wisconsin placed 8
Arizona State, Columbia, NC State, and Oklahoma placed 7
Wins matter, of course, but those all important bonus points are critical for higher placements.
I do think the Hokies have 4 poised to make deep runs, potentially a few Championship contenders.
I think another 4 or 5 have an opportunity to make it to Friday before dropping to consolations, potentially earning AA status.
The toughest run, I see is Mullen. I think he gets past Mueller, but Bastida is a beast. He should have an advantage on Friday morning against any of his opponents, but then he's gonna get the loser of Ben Kueler (Iowa) and Cole Mirasola (Penn State). I don't know if he could win that to stay alive. Ideally, he'd put together a few bonus points before then.
Also easy to be in sync when shots are falling. The ACC Champion run seemed as simple as Hunter and Storm started hitting shots...
But to your point - shots land when you're in sync, and it's easy to get in sync when shots are dropping