Following the Compass - 2020

Every October 5th, I select my teams for the annual Following the Compass games. Rough recap, I draw teams, pick a game off their schedule for the next calendar, and try to follow their season and teams and if possible attend the game I selected. If I can't, I'll watch it and probably tell you about it.
This year marks a first for me. For the first time, I drew two teams from the same state. I've had some states repeat in being drawn, like New York, Illinois, Texas and Louisiana. I've even had the same nickname - Bears, Chicago and Mercer - show up in the same year, but never two teams from the same state. So which state is it?

That's right. Not only did I get the state of Alabama, but I selected the University of Alabama. While the school is known for their football team, I actually selected a game for their basketball team. Specifically, a conference game in Tuscaloosa on February 1st against the University of Arkansas. This will be the first time I have selected a game involving the SEC, though the next team I drew is from a conference I seem to have a knack for drawing from: The Sun Belt.

South Alabama has been a relevant, tournament team as recently as 2013, and the Sun Belt is a perennially dangerous mid-major conference. The Jaguars were above .500 for the first time since that 2013 tournament appearance, so this is a team on an upward trajectory. I drew game 8 off of their 2020-21 schedule, so not the coming season, but the year after. In 2019-20, their 8th scheduled game is game 3 of their Gulf Coast Showcase experience in Fort Myers, Florida, and last season, it was a home game against Florida A&M. South Alabama is a big enough draw that they aren't on the road the whole non-conference season, and when they are, it could be in a bracketed tournament. There is a decent chance that their game will be in Mobile, their home site. Along with Denver (formerly), Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, Arkansas State, Tulane, Florida Atlantic, Texas San Antonio, North Texas and Louisiana Tech, South Alabama is the TENTH Sun Belt team I will see in either football or basketball.

My previous trip to Alabama involved the SWAC, when Jackson State went to Alabama State in Montgomery to play an incredibly high scoring game. It holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first solo trip I took as part of this weird adventure. Perhaps another trip to Alabama is coming soon. 

Ba$ketball

The easiest sport in the world to negotiate the influence of money is basketball.  Players are generally healthier, so we don't tend to worry about long term effects, and the rules of the game are pretty well established. Fan interest is high, and we aren't concerned about attracting new audiences. Nope, the only thing that causes debate in basketball, aside from which team or player is better, is cash.
There are currently two enormous stories being slung around the world of basketball, and in their own way, are all about money. The most obvious is from the amateur world, where laws revolving around the compensation of college athletes for use of their likeness are being passed, much to the chagrin of the NCAA.
The NCAA stipulation is a foolish one, in my opinion. Amateurism is a fine and egalitarian goal, but the practice of it is poorly mishandled by the league. What other scholarship student is restricted from making money off of their talents? I agree with the opinion that education and boarding is a salary in it's own right, offered up by the school, and I don't necessarily agree that they should be forced to offer any more than that, however they certainly shouldn't be allowed to restrict a player's earning potential with above board sponsorship opportunities.
Think of it this way: A kid on an academic scholarship will not be prohibited from making money tutoring, so why shouldn't a basketball player use his God given talent to complement the stipend he gets for attending a particular school? The answer is fairly apparent. It isn't competition or fairness between schools. It's all about the money, as it often is.
Right now, endorsement opportunities are available to schools and coaching staffs, but not the players. If a company, say Rhino and Compass, wanted to affiliate ourselves with Purdue because their player, Ryan Henning was very popular, we could only sponsor Purdue and plaster our name over their facilities. We couldn't ask Ryan Henning to endorse our site though, even though paying him would potentially be more effective, and would likely cost our site less money. The endorsement opportunities for players would likely result in less revenue for the schools.
The professional ranks have an entirely different money related story. Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey spoke in support of protesters in Hong Kong, to which the Chinese government took offense. The NBA apologized, Morey deleted his tweet, and players distanced themselves from his comments. There was backlash in the United States, and now the NBA is trying to backtrack the backtracking.
China is a lucrative market that soaks up the NBA and is still growing. While the NBA was lambasted at home for kowtowing to the Chinese and showing how spineless and "anti-freedom" they were, they were really just adhering to the most capitalistic principles: Money over everything.
They were in even bigger trouble, of course, with the home crowd, who is nearly universally against China's humanitarian record, and supportive of Hong Kong, as Morey was, so Commissioner Adam Silver and the league had to do some double talk to make sure they weren't unpatriotic at home, and non confrontational overseas.
In both situations, the organizations look silly in their attempts to chase the dollar. Other leagues try to appeal to fans or simply raise prices to increase revenue. Basketball just finds trouble.

A Universe and a Galaxy

On my flight to San Francisco, I wanted to watch something fairly light that I didn't need to invest too much of my attention on, and I went with the 2nd Lego Movie. I'm a grownup. The movie lasted only 90 minutes of the 4 hour flight, so I vowed to watch something longer on the way home. I picked Avengers Endgame, and it worked out perfectly.
This is the second time I watched the movie, and was therefore able to absorb the details much more closely. (I was also able to watch it in one sitting this time, because my viewing partner didn't need to go to bed). The details, however, were more important to long time comic book fans. The coolest part for me was the coming together of all those storylines and all those heroes.
Undoubtedly, that was the pinnacle of the entire Marvel franchise to date, and will be tough to replicate in the future. Still, why would they feel the need to? On the whole, most of the characters in the Universe are part of their own story. They can keep telling Black Panther's story without Valkyrie flying in on a Pegasus. Captain Marvel will surely have some interstellar sequel that will be unconcerned about Spider-Man's pursuit of a high school diploma.
The other big franchise that is reaching its conclusion is, of course, Star Wars. Both franchises are Disney properties and make a bazillion dollars, chiefly on the backs of nerds, but that is about where the comparisons end, at least cinematically. The two biggest overarching difference revolve around the two points I made about Endgame, which made the movie so special for me and other viewers.
Star Wars is a 9 movie arc, telling the story of the same family, and those surrounding them. Those movies not of the main series are related closely to the so called Skywalker Saga. The culmination of the 9 movie arc will not result in some grand coming together of beloved characters from across the movies. There isn't a deep well of characters that will converge at the end of the movie. Instead, the end of the Rise of Skywalker will simply be the end of the story for several important characters, notably Kylo Ren and Rey.
While the end of December's movie offers the conclusion of a beloved saga, it does something that the Marvel Universe doesn't: It offers up an entire galactic playground for directors and film writers to work with. As we've seen from Rogue One and Solo, the feel and thematics are unconfined by the feel and thematics of the original anthology. There is another trilogy on the way, and it will be a complete surprise. The Star Wars Galaxy will live on, and we have no frame of reference as to how it will do so. Any movie can be made in the Star Wars Galaxy, and we won't be able to say if it's right or wrong.
Marvel's movies and Star Wars films appeal to a broadly similar fan base, but aside from the content of the films, they also have completely different circumstances surrounding them. The Marvel Universe is exciting, because we can see what we know come together, but Star Wars is exciting because there is a whole Galaxy to explore

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.

The Xcel Energy Center is resurfacing their plaza

Anyone who has walked across the Xcel Plaza knows that the stonework that abuts West 7th Street is an uneven nightmare for anyone riding a scooter, wearing heels, or simply doesn't enjoy turned ankles. Well, good news. The brick work is getting redone in an effort to create a level walkway.
It's a welcome change not only for pedestrians but also for fans, who will likely appreciate not having the little pits in the walkway that fill with water and freeze into tiny ice rinks every winter as people wait to get into the arena. Usually, the athletes are better on the ice than their fans.
This is likely the most visible upgrade to the always active arena this offseason. There don't appear to be plans for any internal renovations to the XCel, but this was definitely low hanging fruit. Re-bricking the plaza improves safety and the visual aesthetic, without costing much money, relative to other potential repairs.
Anyways, the rest of the Wild organization is an absolute disaster this offseason, so I thought maybe I would provide some good news.