San Francisco is remarkable

I am in the Bay area for a wedding this weekend, and, having not been here for about 30 years, I can fully admit that it's like the first time I've ever been. We flew into SFO and wormed our way north to Petaluma, where we are staying, meaning a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge, after a drive along the Pacific Coast.
One thing that really struck me is how confined by the local geography the region is. Sure, everyone knows that San Francisco exists at the end of a Peninsula that frames San Francisco Bay, and the waters of the Bay, and San Pablo Bay to the north require some serious feats of civil engineering to connect all residents of the area.
One aspect I didn't really appreciate, however, was the effect the topography has on the Bay area. Los Angeles is built on a coastal plain, while the Coastal Range is generally well inland, only approaching the coast up by Malibu, allowing the city and the metro to stretch out over a broad territory. The Bay doesn't give as long a runway to terrain changes as the Los Angeles area does.
It's flatter on the east side of the Bay, certainly, but the larger city, the hub of the metropolitan area is San Francisco. Even the narrow protrusion into the sea is riddled with hills. The Twin Peaks in the middle of the city have dictated the road ways while larger hills in the southern part of the Peninsula help to render the Pacific Coast and Daly City into a landscape that seems completely unfamiliar to the rest fo the city.
The hills and valleys and the waterways funnel the population, which makes traffic worse and lends to localized overcrowding, however the frequent hills and the variety of plant life that clings to them paradoxically can make a lot of the area seem almost rural, something that I never feel when driving through the suburbs of Minneapolis, and especially not as I get closer to downtown. And yet, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, or just southwest of the downtown area, it feels so natural and far removed from the hustle and bustle.
Not only does the terrain effect the anthropological variables in the region, it also has a great impact on the meteorology. People can make broad generalizations about LA, because again, Los Angeles is mostly uniform. Coastal Plains to Coastal Range, and generalizations can be made about it. The Bay is all about microclimates. The local meteorologists advertise their newscasts as "Microclimate weather." I've already heard people talk about the microclimate, and provide personal references, so I'll share a couple.
First, we landed in the fog in San Francisco, and spent most of the morning in the same. I told my wife that it would probably be different when we crossed the Bridge, and sure enough, the higher elevation north of San Francisco meant no low level winds and no sea breeze. Sure enough, from our side of the bridge, under low clouds and fog, we could see the sun shining on the hills across the Bay.
I also heard someone discussing the weather they usually saw in the Mission District, which sits between the Twin Peaks and downtown. Because of their location, they often miss out on the fog the rest of the city gets. The Mission is usually sunnier and warmer than their neighbors, which my new friend said was like having the opposite of a personal cloud.
It's an extremely interesting place, it's fascinating to learn about and take in first hand. I would love to be bale to spend more time here. But not to live. Property values in this little slice of heaven are through the roof.

The Blackburn Rovers and Stability

Way back in 2010, the Blackburn Rovers were a mid-table team in the Premiership under the leadership of venerable manager Sam Allardyce. Allardyce was so respected that he eventually went on to coach 4 other EPL teams, and even the English national team in 2016. Then, Venky's London, an Indian firm that got their start in chicken, bought the team and sacked Allardyce.
Within 5 years, and after 6 (!) managerial changes, the Rovers became the first team ever relegated to the third tier after once holding the Premier League title. Tony Mowbray was given charge of the team, and Blackburn immediately climbed back into the Championship, if not the top league in the country.
The Rovers had a little bit of a slow start this season, losing their first two matches and being assigned a 17% chance of relegation by FiveThirtyEight's soccer predictions. Since that time, the rovers have won 3, lost 1 on and drew with Cardiff. They've moved into 12th place after a dire start to the season, which had many fans ready to give up hope on this team again.
With their hotter stretch as August turned to September, the Rovers seem to be putting together a respectable season. In many sports, but particularly in European soccer, many owners can be quick with the trigger, and are liable to let a manager go after a slow start.
Blackburn has been patient in the last couple of years, finally. And now, in the past couple of seasons, they are moving back up the table and may actually be in a good position to solidify their spot in the Championship, if not the Premiership.
It's a good lesson for fans of not only the English Football system, but any sport, nearly at any level. It takes time to build camaraderie and cohesion on a roster, let alone develop an organizational ethos. It's easy to read into a couple of results and attribute the entire season to the first bit of data. It takes longer than that to build a team, especially when it's been razed just a few years before.

The Colts without Luck

Andrew Luck decided to retire. I've talked for years about how the Colts' failure to protect him for years would eventually have negative consequences. Luck missed a whole season two years ago because of injury, and despite one of the best O-Lines in the league, he didn't feel like he could continue. I don't blame him, and I'm glad he has his whole life ahead of him, hopefully pain free.
I also don't think that this was a total surprise to the Colts. After a season where he was hit very infrequently, Andrew Luck was still in pain. After coming back to training camp, he wasn't himself at the beginning of the season. This was a team that was set for success with or without Luck, though the levels of success may have varied. Well, they are going to do it without.
The Colts have already decided, even before the season started, that they would give Jacoby Brissett a vote of confidence, signing the pending free agent to a two year extension. People were talking about the Colts tanking this season, but that is obviously not the course Indianapolis will take.
As much as the Colts losing Luck will hurt, we need to remember that the Colts were among the favorites to win the Super Bowl. It's a hell of a lot easier to win the Super Bowl with a star quarterback, but you do need more to make it happen. The Colts have the same team, less the quarterback. It's still a good team.
Now, I never thought the team was going to be good enough to really contend for the title. They have a very difficult schedule after reaching the playoffs last year. The Jaguars should be better. The Texans should be healthier and the Titans are on the way up. While the Colts are a young, improving team, so is the rest of the division. It's going to be a battle to get to the playoffs, even with their quarterback of choice.
Oh, and that offense and improved defense? They were pasted by the Chiefs in the playoffs. The Chiefs are approximately the same as they were last year, and even they couldn't handle the Patriots.
Now, like I said, the Colts are a better team than one that should even consider tanking. They have assembled perhaps the best offensive line in the league, which will allow Brissett to succeed, or at least be more successful than he was when he started 15 games in 2017. Brissett was sacked more times than any other QB in the league during the games he started. The offense will be stable so long as the O-Line stays stable.
Then, there is the defense, long a liability of the Colts. Through two years of good drafting, the Colts have also developed one of the better defenses in the league. Most of the Colts' draft capital was spent on further filling holes on defense, and Justin Houston could ultimately be the most important signing the Colts made this offseason.
It might seem like I am arguing two different points. The schedule is tough, and the Colts won't do well. Their team is pretty good, the Colts will do well. I'm using those two ideas to make one conclusion. The loss of Andrew Luck doesn't hurt on the field as much as it seems, initially, because I don't think their ceiling was as high as some people believed, but also, their floor isn't that low without him. The Colts won't win the Super Bowl, but with a good break, they might make the playoffs. That's the same prediction I would have made before Luck's retirement.