Quote from: faunch on May 26, 2026, 10:46:07 PMNot sure if there's an air conditioning contest but we turned ours on today at approximately 6:30 pm. Hot and sticky might be fun for some things but sleeping isn't one of them.

I had to turn mine on in March.  We had some days in the 90s which pushed the temp inside to the mid 80s.  It was brutal!  Just got my electric bill for May which wasn't terrible in terms of heat, but still over $250.  An electric bill in the summer can easily hit $500+ for a 2500 square foot home.  It flat out sucks.  I'll start reffing basketball in some gyms in a few weeks.  They tell me the gyms have A/C, but I am not sure it ever gets used.  I've been known to walk outside to cool off.  I leave the heat off for longer than most in the area.  Usually the house has to sit around 60 before I turn it on. 

What's everyone's favorite thing to hunt?  Love me some dove hunting.  High limits with lots of shooting.  If it flies and dies I am in.  Deer hunting is nice, but in Texas it's not the most sporting of activities in my opinion.  Hoping to do some hog/predator hunting with the thermal scope soon.

Thank you.  It would be just me moving from Dallas which makes it a little less attractive, but the housing prices are quite nice.  We have a few kick and shoot places around the state for pheasants, quail, and chukar.  Pheasants are great fun to hunt.  Almost bought a Franchi Instinct SL a year ago for those upland hunts, but decided to stick with my CZ for now.  Any of y'all ever done any sandhill crane hunting in MN?  Those are some big birds, and they are vicious.  Lots of fun to shoot.  Meat is a little overrated, but still very good!

Looking at moving back to Minnesota.  I haven't had my first $200 cooling bill yet, but the $500 one is coming!  Anyways I was asked about a job in Willmar.  I had some friends who were from there, but I've lost track of most of them.  Anyone know anything about the town today?

Also will have to do some research on hunting.  Most hunting in Texas on private lands where pretty much anything goes.  Deer and turkey hunting over feeders.  Not really the most sporting means.  Certain species you can hunt at night especially with thermals and night vision.  Also I don't remember there being a ton of dove hunting in MN, but looking forward to chasing some other wild upland birds.

Quote from: OzJohnnie on December 09, 2024, 11:20:57 PMHeh.  Dallas had a very Vikings finish. I enjoy watching the Cowboys lose games on bad luck plays.  Ever since Roger Staubach threw that Hail Mary to beat the Vikes I have got a thrill from a tragic Cowboys loss.

Don't hate on Captain America!  Next time tell your Fans to not run into each other. While flying up to MN last week I got to meet my favorite NFL player of all time Tony Dorsett. Super nice guy!  Always fun to listen to old timer stories. We joked about his run of 99 yards when the Cowboys only had 10 on the field.

I think most of DFW is enjoying Cowboys losses more than anyone. The story is becoming what need do they fill first. Unfortunately confidence is very low in our GM, and his replacement probably won't be any better.

Back from hunting and fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.  Fun times!

The founders of ESPN went to DePauw.  When St. Olaf played football at DePauw years ago there were several mentions about ESPN working to televise D3 games through some channel.  It was before there was a ton of streaming channel options if I remember correctly.  I've really enjoyed having ESPN+.  I get to watch several games that are not usually available in DFW.  I can't tell you the last time I have sat down to watch a DFW pro sports team outside of a World Series game.

I remember a few people talking about the quality of the St. Olaf broadcasts.  Having to produce our Christmas Festival every year allows us to use the same equipment which really helps.  Also selling our radio station around 2004 was a huge help as it allowed the college to move to more streaming options.  Selling the radio station was a huge issue on campus and with alumni.  In the end with the growth of streaming services it was clearly the right decision.

I think I'm disqualified with it still being in the 70s in Texas.

I'm still running the A/C. It was mid 90s when I went outside a few minutes ago.

St. Olaf has beaten some bad teams. I think you have to look at last year when they struggled. Either every team on their schedule is worse than last year or the Oles have improved significantly. I think it is more of the latter. I don't think this continues when they play better teams, but I do think there is reason for optimism.

Art: Glad to hear your wife is doing well.

Youth sports can be painful.  I ref quite a bit in Texas.  So many parents want their kids playing sports their kids just aren't ready to play.  Some of it is the bodies haven't developed yet.  Basketball can be absolutely brutal to ref.  If I called everything the parents call from the stands and bench the ball might move 10ft the entire game.  The main league I umpire we do machine pitch for our 1st through 3rd graders.  Once the kids start hitting it is fun.  It becomes more about fielding.  We had several parents request for the fall league to do machine pitch with the older kids so they could focus on fundamentals rather than trying to hit what can often be bad pitching. 

Good win by St. Olaf.  I know it was a blowout, but it was nice to see the Oles play well.  Luther looked bad.  Mark Gelle mentioned Luther was in a complete rebuild mode.  He also mentioned that for football the MIAC had to replace I believe 13 officials this year.  Wow!  I also really appreciate how the St. Olaf broadcast continues to improve.  The broadcasters are good, but the student workers are awesome!

Quote from: BiggieSmalls on September 10, 2024, 08:24:41 PM

Quote from: Texas Ole on September 10, 2024, 05:13:14 PMSt. Olaf had a nice win last week.  They have been down for a few years now.  As for this week I think the game will be close.  This is going to be a huge rivalry game for both Luther and St. Olaf. 

Honest question. Should Coach Killian and St Olaf have higher expectations? Their facilities are good and they provide a good education. What do the locals/admin think at this point? No disrespect, but competing with Northwestern and Luther seems like the Oles could be so much more.

I haven't followed the Norse in years.  Just looked at their record and yikes.  I think you are bringing up a very good question.  Two years ago we lost to Mac, but we did win in the aggregate.  It's been over 12 years since the Oles had a record over .500.  Prior to Meidt the Oles were about a .500 team.  I really think OJ had something going when he was the coach.  I know the school did not make it easy for him at times, but he thrived.  Losing him hurt, and the stories that I heard about the circumstances are quite frustrating.

What is St. Olaf in football?  The history shows them to be about a .500 team.  I can talk about academics and other issues around St. Olaf for football that make it a hard place to win consistently.  The truth is St. Olaf should be better in several sports.  That is going to take some serious commitment and planning by the stakeholders.  It has seemed for far too long St. Olaf wanted to try and copy every other school in how they operate hoping it would bring a measure of success to the programs.  What works at one school won't always work at another.  There is a formula for schools like St. Olaf to be successful, but I am not sure the leadership at St. Olaf wants to find that path.  Right now St. Olaf is without a permanent AD.  I think everyone knows that situation.  Hopefully the new one can find the right formula to guide the athletic department in the right direction.

St. Olaf had a nice win last week.  They have been down for a few years now.  As for this week I think the game will be close.  This is going to be a huge rivalry game for both Luther and St. Olaf. 

Quote from: faunch on August 12, 2024, 11:34:35 PM

Quote from: Retired Old Rat on August 12, 2024, 10:44:09 PM

Quote from: SagatagSam on August 12, 2024, 11:35:37 AMOther news and notes:

Playoff Adjustments: All playoff contests will be cashless in 2024-25 with admission conducted through HomeTown Ticketing. HomeTown Ticketing has a "HomeTown Fan" app available for download on mobile devices.

Football Travel Roster: Visiting team travel rosters will expand to 75. Host institutions are required to communicate facility constraints.

St. John's football season tickets are handled through HomeTown Ticketing.  If there is a surcharge it is buried in the cost of the tickets.

I just opened up the HomeTown app to review my season tickets.  I noticed that they are still taking "orders" for tailgate spots.  I think raising the price to $250 has caused supply to overtake demand.  In the beginning, at $100, it was the opposite.

I used to be critical of U$T raising ticket prices for the SJU game. SJU has become an equally hungry money grabber.
Another lackluster season and and they'll really feel the pain in the pocket book.

Looks like someone in the ticket needs to register for Econ 101.

That's pretty steep. I couldn't find the cost for TCU's spots, but it's one where if you have to ask you probably can't afford it. I did see that for SMU it's $1000 plus annual giving. No word if SMU includes the butler or you provide your own.

Quote from: carletonknights on August 12, 2024, 02:59:17 PMNot a fan of only one non-conference game, at all. Ideally, I think Carleton was going to be in a situation where they played a east coast and west coast team every year, alternating homes and aways. Which would've been cool to see.

Also do not like the cashless move. Everything is requiring me to download an app now. Shoot, there's at least 3-5 apps I have to use at work.

Don't forget the service fees all the apps charge for using them.  I had one that charged almost double if you used a credit card.  I tried using a debit card, and I still got hit with the fee! 

I think for some schools the single conference game will be good.  I am pretty sure St. Olaf will see a healthy dose of Luther for that NC game.  There is a large (usually older) group of St. Olaf alumni that view Luther as St. Olaf's biggest rival.  Do teams still get to have scrimmage in football?  I thought they did years ago, but I might be thinking of high school in Texas.

Also the basketball one is a little odd.  I know a few schools had JV teams for the men.  Always thought it was a little odd that colleges had JV/Freshmen teams, but I did feel it was good for the kids that wanted to keep playing.

I bought a CVA Accura about a year ago. It's been bore sighted at 50, but I haven't shot it yet. Was planning to use it where I was deer hunting last December, but the ranch required centerfire rifles with scopes. Got invited to take some older does off the ranch. Nice place with some axis deer and oryx.

Quote from: DuffMan on August 08, 2024, 08:17:54 AMI don't know many who hunt doves in MN--sounds like a great time, though.  I do have a dove sitting on a nest in my yard. 

Dove hunting in Texas is a national holiday!  The jokes really do write themselves. Basically sitting under a tree and shooting a shotgun while drinking with your buddies. I've got one dove hunt trip that has bar sponsors.

I've been working on my bow, and I need to shoot my muzzleloader. They just opened a new area for public hunting near me that allows deer hunting with archery and muzzleloaders/shotguns.

Too early to talk hunting season since dove season opens September 1?