Quote from: OzJohnnie on May 25, 2026, 07:13:53 AMThe sequence 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 tells you the order in which the cylinders fire in the engine. It's a very well-known "secret handshake" among car enthusiasts, mechanics, and gearheads—especially those who've worked on Chevy 350s and similar engines. You'll see it printed on intake manifolds, T-shirts, mugs, etc., as an inside joke: "If you know, you know."

Yes, in addition to rockets, I am "that guy" with a garage full of "parts I'm going to use some day" surrounding my project car I bought in 1986 - a 62 Ford Falcon.

And yes, I have a black hoody with the "secret handshake" emblazoned on the front. It does generate conversations.

Quote from: OzJohnnie on May 24, 2026, 07:37:48 PMAny motorheads here?  Anyone who cares about Formula 1?  It's very popular in Australia.  I've tried to pretend I care, but I've never been into motorsports any deeper than the demolition derby at the Itasca fairgrounds.

18436572

Quote from: OzJohnnie on May 18, 2026, 10:27:09 PMSo... Art starts asking me about the Hawks, and they have three off weeks in a row, resulting in two losses and a draw.  Jinxed the whole damned operation.

I was hoping you wouldn't notice...

Whew - lots of rockets in the air today...

BU flew 10 times today - 7 certification flights (7 different rockets), and flew the team rocket three times (2 times is the minimum requirement to get full points in the contest). This gave the team a total of 9 L1 Certified fliers this year, and 2 L2 certified fliers this year.

We did ok against the 15 teams that actually flew a team rocket today. My guesstimate is that only half of the teams got the minimum two flights in. All teams have to submit their final report by June 1st. We'll know results 2 weeks after that. I am hopeful we'll be back on the podium in one of the top three spots - we'll just have to wait and see.

Quote from: OzJohnnie on May 14, 2026, 05:51:02 AMIn case you're looking for a new project idea, Art:

https://x.com/om_patel5/status/2054775403605086403

Ha! Love it! FWIW, that Pi is similar (newer) than the one I flew on my Level 3 Certification flight last year that went over 13,000 feet. Handy little computers.

Some non-football rocket news - here's the latest link about the contest if you want to follow along, or come out and watch us fly: https://www.mnspacegrant.org/high-power-rocketry-competition-set-for-may-16-17-2026/

Whoa - just realized a podcast dropped on April 30th - listening now...

Quote from: OzJohnnie on April 22, 2026, 08:50:01 PM

Quote from: art76 on April 22, 2026, 03:46:17 PMOz, haven't heard from you in a spell - checked out the Hawks and they held on this past week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J1OpmFNQ8

Yeah, the Hawks are going well.  They are 5-1 and have knocked off three competition leaders already - Sydney, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.  They play a fourth top team this weekend, the Gold Coast Suns, and are eight-point favourites in that game, too.  Let's hope the Suns don't put in a Herculean effort as Port did on the weekend.

They never trailed against the Suns and looked pretty good to this American who only watches the highlights occasionally...

Oz, haven't heard from you in a spell - checked out the Hawks and they held on this past week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J1OpmFNQ8

So, listening to the latest D3 Podcast which dropped yesterday, I was checking out the MIAC schedules and it appears only St. Scholastica is still lacking a non-conference game. I also noticed that they haven't yet reported confirmation of playing the Oles on the weekend of October 24th. Anybody aware of what's shaking up in Duluth?

Some more BU Football award winners: https://athletics.bethel.edu/news/2026/4/14/nine-individuals-land-spot-on-2026-national-football-foundation-hampshire-society.aspx

And in other BU Football news: https://athletics.bethel.edu/news/2026/4/9/football-albert-rundell-named-2026-division-iii-bobby-bell-player-of-the-year.aspx

Albert Rundell wins Bobby Bell award for D3...

Bethel finally posted it's full schedule - no real surprises, though I see they have a second night game at Macalaster on October 24th. This might be the first season in BU history with two night games - I wouldn't even know where to look to confirm that.

Also, the November games are now listed as 1:00 pm starts, but I'm fairly certain the MIAC starts at noon after Daylights Savings Time is moved back.

https://athletics.bethel.edu/sports/football/schedule

Lifted from my FB feed - posted by Frank Rossi:

"TESTING D3FB NPI OVER SIX YEARS: A REALITY CHECK THAT REQUIRES CHANGES

By Frank Rossi - "In the (D3FB) Huddle"

While the NCAA Power Index ("NPI") has been used for just two years of Division 3 college football playoff selections and seedings, we have the ability to look back MUCH further to see how the current NPI setup would have handled past playoff years and how it compares to the prior Selection Committee efforts used prior to the 2024 season. The report can be found here:
http://d3fbhuddle.com/NPI6Years.pdf -- it utilizes NPI data from our ITH NPI site that we have expanded back to 2019.

In this in-depth report, "In the Huddle" looks at the 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 D3FB seasons and explores how NPI would have performed in each year, whether or not the NCAA analyzed that data. What we learn quickly is that NPI has struggled mightily in identifying the top teams, sometimes in ways that make the prior system look practical.

The report takes an especially large look at the treatment of North Central Football over these six seasons, in which North Central has appeared in the Stagg Bowl every year. It also dives into conference inequities, examines the impact of strength of schedule ("SOS") and its interplay with the shorter football schedule of 9 or 10 games per season, and examines ways to change NPI to eliminate some of its biggest shortcomings in football.

This is not a short document, but it takes the largest in-depth look at football's version of NPI we have seen since its inception. Take a look at the report, and let us know what you think."

https://d3fbhuddle.com/NPI6Years.pdf

Hey gang, this month's podcast just dropped and AJ Parnell, the Bethel Alum QB and assistant coach, gets interviewed as the new head coach at Asuza Pacific.

Take a listen at: https://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/2026/03/29/atn-podcast-405-new-faces-new-places-in-d-iii/