Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Letters to Ramon: Week 2
"UCLA - Tennessee. How can you go against the team that Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS fame once quarterbacked??? I am going with UCLA. Besides, he is married to Pam Dawber -- had a crush on her when she was on 'Mork and Mindy.' SEMINOLE FACT OF THE WEEK: They actually started the spear thing my soph year -- ride up, rile up the crowd, spear the turf, and ride off. Well for the Florida game that year he mixed it up just a tad.... he rode up, jumped off the horse, put the spear over his head, pumped it, turned around, pumped it to the other side, and then jumped back on the horse from behind on the horse's honches. That place was absolutely maddening. We kick off, Fla fumbles it, we get it in the end zone for a touchdown. We kick off, on their first play, fumble, two plays later touchdown. We scored again, 21-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. Ok, so it was 21-21 at the end of the second quarter but we did win the game. Stuff like that is what makes college football so much fun." -- J. Kriz
"Notre Dame - I cannot for the life of me believe I'm picking ND. I still hope they lose! I hate picking all favorites but sometimes that's the way the ball bounces when you pick 1-4 each week." -- Trey D.
"Crap - Trey picked the exact same teams I did, which means my picks are destined to be wrong! Thanks Trey!" -- B. Reynolds
"As always, my strategy this year is not to win the contest, but turn in a better performance than my dear friend Tom Huber!" -- The Bizz
"I don't know how much time you spend administrating the pool, but it seems like there would likely be a CHS alum who could build an online interface that would streamline the process for us. I'm thinking of a system that allows you to input the games of the week, then each of us simply fills out an online form, checking the appropriate team we think will win. Then, you would punch in the winners, and the system would automatically calculate the results for each player (and keep a running tab of the overall stats of each player)." -- Jeff D.
"Yeah, I’m an ND hater and proud of it. You can add to that list, in no particular order, the Cubs, the Cowboys, Tony Kornheiser, and Kyle Busch. I don’t like picking the Vols (unless it’s their women’s basketball team. Candace Parker can take me to the hoop anytime) but I just don’t see UCLA coming into Knoxville and doing anything. USC-Ohio State -- This one is not a gimme. SC lost a lot of talent on D, so we’ll see if Pryor can move the ball. If I’m SC, I sit back and make him throw. I don’t think he’s far enough along to make consistently good decisions yet. And yes, I like the Song Girls too. But they need to lose the tights they wear. I want bare legs – like Candace Parker’s." -- Jeff G.
"I have been looking at a way to modernize the pool entry (end make it a LOT easier to run). I found this software for an NFL pool and am working to adapt it to our needs. Check this out: http://users4.jabry.com/CerneyPool/userLogin.asp. I will need to strip out a lot of the stuff that may be good for the NFL pool but suck for our pool (like listing the open dates and evaluating the winner based on the spread). But it is a good starting point. Since we have such a hodgepodge of talent in your pool, do you know if anyone is an ASP programmer? I’m a techie and am stumbling through it. But a real programmer might have an easier time of it." -- Mike G.
"Thanks for the shout out this week. It's at least two more weeks before I drop out, though..." -- Hilary D.
"Ohio state - freshman qb... On the road... National tv... Game over..." -- Ryan H.
"Not drinking the kool-aid yet with the Hogs! It does look a little promising, but let me see how our o-line holds up and Mallett delivers against an SEC defense. We will be better, just not sure how much it will translate into wins. Right now I see 7 wins, but am on hold a bit to see the GA game." -- Ron R.
"I dislike Thursday games. And I double dislike Clemson -- heads up, I am picking against Clemson so they are guaranteed to win." -- Kate D.
"I'm going to call the upset in the UGA/USCe game on the side. TOBC takes this one close... but I don't have the balls to call it on the pickem at a record of 2-3. UGA should win but are poised to start 0-3 if they can't handle the pressure cooker they are already under. Look for Joe Cox to come out of the game at some point putting the game squarely on the shoulders of the D." -- Mike P.
"And who is this Jeremy Peppas character? I was checking out Poolsville and caught his 'Bits and Pieces from Saturday' that should have been titled 'Bits and Pieces of my Shitty, Uninformed Opinions from Saturday.' I was with him until I got to the kool-aid drinker part... did he watch the same game I did on Saturday? Has his head been in an ass the past 5-6 years? I'll be the first to say I'm a homer, but to say Mallet looked wooden (despite no sacks, and his running out of the pocket to throw a nice alley-oop pass for a nice gain), and to call Petrino a poor coach is laughable. His resume at Louisville isn't enough? And what he did last year with a new system, bunch of freshman, and player dissention? Wow, that dude is a Hog hater big time. Can't wait to read his future Bits and Pieces of Shit. :-)" -- Jim D.
"Having done so well last week, I think I'll rethink my method for picks this week as I get ready to start eating those 30+ pounds of shrimp we brought back from Gulfport. They are as follows: 1) Georgia Tech (we're the only real tiger paw town); 2) Michigan (Catholic education has all my money I can afford); 3) Tennessee (Glad I don't have to listen to Rocky Top at their stadium this weekend); 4) Georgia (but certainly not by much); and 5) USC (the Big 10 isn't your Big 10 of decades ago). I'll wave to you from our end zone when we outscore last year's team against State by scoring the first of hopefully many TDs." -- Oscar
"Ohio State defeats USC - I just think all the hype about Mitch Mustain is overblown." -- Glenn B.
"Hinchey better be right." -- O'Brien
"Making my picks from sunny central Florida. I may be on vacation from work, but I'm not on vacation on my quest to win another Escobar Championship." -- the infamous Jeremy P.
"I noticed that you ignored the classic Iowa vs. Iowa St. matchup..." -- Yo Sal
"Notre Dame - I cannot for the life of me believe I'm picking ND. I still hope they lose! I hate picking all favorites but sometimes that's the way the ball bounces when you pick 1-4 each week." -- Trey D.
"Crap - Trey picked the exact same teams I did, which means my picks are destined to be wrong! Thanks Trey!" -- B. Reynolds
"As always, my strategy this year is not to win the contest, but turn in a better performance than my dear friend Tom Huber!" -- The Bizz
"I don't know how much time you spend administrating the pool, but it seems like there would likely be a CHS alum who could build an online interface that would streamline the process for us. I'm thinking of a system that allows you to input the games of the week, then each of us simply fills out an online form, checking the appropriate team we think will win. Then, you would punch in the winners, and the system would automatically calculate the results for each player (and keep a running tab of the overall stats of each player)." -- Jeff D.
"Yeah, I’m an ND hater and proud of it. You can add to that list, in no particular order, the Cubs, the Cowboys, Tony Kornheiser, and Kyle Busch. I don’t like picking the Vols (unless it’s their women’s basketball team. Candace Parker can take me to the hoop anytime) but I just don’t see UCLA coming into Knoxville and doing anything. USC-Ohio State -- This one is not a gimme. SC lost a lot of talent on D, so we’ll see if Pryor can move the ball. If I’m SC, I sit back and make him throw. I don’t think he’s far enough along to make consistently good decisions yet. And yes, I like the Song Girls too. But they need to lose the tights they wear. I want bare legs – like Candace Parker’s." -- Jeff G.
"I have been looking at a way to modernize the pool entry (end make it a LOT easier to run). I found this software for an NFL pool and am working to adapt it to our needs. Check this out: http://users4.jabry.com/CerneyPool/userLogin.asp. I will need to strip out a lot of the stuff that may be good for the NFL pool but suck for our pool (like listing the open dates and evaluating the winner based on the spread). But it is a good starting point. Since we have such a hodgepodge of talent in your pool, do you know if anyone is an ASP programmer? I’m a techie and am stumbling through it. But a real programmer might have an easier time of it." -- Mike G.
"Thanks for the shout out this week. It's at least two more weeks before I drop out, though..." -- Hilary D.
"Ohio state - freshman qb... On the road... National tv... Game over..." -- Ryan H.
"Not drinking the kool-aid yet with the Hogs! It does look a little promising, but let me see how our o-line holds up and Mallett delivers against an SEC defense. We will be better, just not sure how much it will translate into wins. Right now I see 7 wins, but am on hold a bit to see the GA game." -- Ron R.
"I dislike Thursday games. And I double dislike Clemson -- heads up, I am picking against Clemson so they are guaranteed to win." -- Kate D.
"I'm going to call the upset in the UGA/USCe game on the side. TOBC takes this one close... but I don't have the balls to call it on the pickem at a record of 2-3. UGA should win but are poised to start 0-3 if they can't handle the pressure cooker they are already under. Look for Joe Cox to come out of the game at some point putting the game squarely on the shoulders of the D." -- Mike P.
"And who is this Jeremy Peppas character? I was checking out Poolsville and caught his 'Bits and Pieces from Saturday' that should have been titled 'Bits and Pieces of my Shitty, Uninformed Opinions from Saturday.' I was with him until I got to the kool-aid drinker part... did he watch the same game I did on Saturday? Has his head been in an ass the past 5-6 years? I'll be the first to say I'm a homer, but to say Mallet looked wooden (despite no sacks, and his running out of the pocket to throw a nice alley-oop pass for a nice gain), and to call Petrino a poor coach is laughable. His resume at Louisville isn't enough? And what he did last year with a new system, bunch of freshman, and player dissention? Wow, that dude is a Hog hater big time. Can't wait to read his future Bits and Pieces of Shit. :-)" -- Jim D.
"Having done so well last week, I think I'll rethink my method for picks this week as I get ready to start eating those 30+ pounds of shrimp we brought back from Gulfport. They are as follows: 1) Georgia Tech (we're the only real tiger paw town); 2) Michigan (Catholic education has all my money I can afford); 3) Tennessee (Glad I don't have to listen to Rocky Top at their stadium this weekend); 4) Georgia (but certainly not by much); and 5) USC (the Big 10 isn't your Big 10 of decades ago). I'll wave to you from our end zone when we outscore last year's team against State by scoring the first of hopefully many TDs." -- Oscar
"Ohio State defeats USC - I just think all the hype about Mitch Mustain is overblown." -- Glenn B.
"Hinchey better be right." -- O'Brien
"Making my picks from sunny central Florida. I may be on vacation from work, but I'm not on vacation on my quest to win another Escobar Championship." -- the infamous Jeremy P.
"I noticed that you ignored the classic Iowa vs. Iowa St. matchup..." -- Yo Sal
Pool Insider: Standings revision
So Texas Tech megafan John Sullivan sent me an e-mail protesting his 0-0 in the standings and claimed he sent in his picks on time. Turns out he was right... and he got a 5-0. He sent me an e-mail with a time stamp of "September 2, 2009 8:41:34 AM CDT" that asked if there was room for one more person in the pool and instructed me to send him a PayPal invoice. Had I scrolled farther down I would have noticed that his picks for Week 1 were included in that e-mail. The standings have been officially revised to correct my error, so make that four people with a 5-0 in Week 1.
Letters to Ramon: Week 1 postscript
"What is Auburn’s fascination with this Dyer kid? I am not sure the Hogs are even actively recruiting the kid. He may be a great back, but at 5’8” I assume he is more in the line of a Michael Smith than a Darren McFadden. I know Trey has an interest because Dyer goes to his kids' school so it's probably pretty cool as this kid has to be that school's first major recruit. I would be interested in how the kid would fare in the state’s upper classification." -- BR
"I sold my tickets for sixty a piece to a couple from Rogers only after getting two lectures. One from a cop for blocking traffic while I was negotiating with a car on the street from the curb; the other from a fellow scalper. A guy who chastised me for my asking price and then started telling me with his experience..... blah, blah, blah. I told him to shut the f--- up. I saw him on the other side of the street after I sold them as I was headed home and he hollered across the way wanting to know if I got $75. I told him a little lower and flashed him a peace sign. We were cool. I loved what you wrote before the standings, but I can tell you were never a gambler. I can't tell you how many times I lost money, sometimes good money, over games ending just like Fla. State/Miami. It would kill me for days. Bobby Bowden said he thought it was a great game, despite the loss, and was quoted as saying he knew that might sound strange. Yeah Bobby it sounded strange. Screw him and the Seminoles. I wanted to win. And should have. I'm pissed." -- LB
"I just wonder what my score would have been if I actually would have spent time instead of firing it right back to you 30 seconds after receiving it. I will study it this week and see if there is a difference in my score. The funny thing is that I did not even get to enjoy the Miami victory. I sent it back to you so quickly that I forgot that I picked Miami. I was pulling for Florida State even though I do not like them. Then I see the results today and think you made a mistake tallying my score so I go back to my sent mail and see that I actually picked Miami. This week I study for the test and bring my round table of consultants together for the picks. Also, there is a new cup that is a competition between the four Shields in the pool. The name of the competition between the Shields clan in the pickem is called 'You Owe Me Etouffee.'" -- BR
"Man, that sucked for me..... but what a great game that was last night!!! At least I did better than Ben! And i'm losing the Shields Cup!!" -- Beth S.
"I came out alright last week. That FSU/Miami game was a classic. One writer quoted Bowden as stating it was the third-best game he’d ever seen and that was saying something since Bowden had been around for 80% of all games played - ever. A couple of comments about the Oregon/BSU game. First, I was wrong about the Oregon unis – they looked almost angelic with the all-white and the wings on the shoulders. Speaking of angelic, as much as Blount is being demonized for his meltdown, you have to respect the one-punch knockdown. A co-worker here likened Hout’s performance to Glass Joe in Punchout." -- Jeff G.
"I sold my tickets for sixty a piece to a couple from Rogers only after getting two lectures. One from a cop for blocking traffic while I was negotiating with a car on the street from the curb; the other from a fellow scalper. A guy who chastised me for my asking price and then started telling me with his experience..... blah, blah, blah. I told him to shut the f--- up. I saw him on the other side of the street after I sold them as I was headed home and he hollered across the way wanting to know if I got $75. I told him a little lower and flashed him a peace sign. We were cool. I loved what you wrote before the standings, but I can tell you were never a gambler. I can't tell you how many times I lost money, sometimes good money, over games ending just like Fla. State/Miami. It would kill me for days. Bobby Bowden said he thought it was a great game, despite the loss, and was quoted as saying he knew that might sound strange. Yeah Bobby it sounded strange. Screw him and the Seminoles. I wanted to win. And should have. I'm pissed." -- LB
"I just wonder what my score would have been if I actually would have spent time instead of firing it right back to you 30 seconds after receiving it. I will study it this week and see if there is a difference in my score. The funny thing is that I did not even get to enjoy the Miami victory. I sent it back to you so quickly that I forgot that I picked Miami. I was pulling for Florida State even though I do not like them. Then I see the results today and think you made a mistake tallying my score so I go back to my sent mail and see that I actually picked Miami. This week I study for the test and bring my round table of consultants together for the picks. Also, there is a new cup that is a competition between the four Shields in the pool. The name of the competition between the Shields clan in the pickem is called 'You Owe Me Etouffee.'" -- BR
"Man, that sucked for me..... but what a great game that was last night!!! At least I did better than Ben! And i'm losing the Shields Cup!!" -- Beth S.
"I came out alright last week. That FSU/Miami game was a classic. One writer quoted Bowden as stating it was the third-best game he’d ever seen and that was saying something since Bowden had been around for 80% of all games played - ever. A couple of comments about the Oregon/BSU game. First, I was wrong about the Oregon unis – they looked almost angelic with the all-white and the wings on the shoulders. Speaking of angelic, as much as Blount is being demonized for his meltdown, you have to respect the one-punch knockdown. A co-worker here likened Hout’s performance to Glass Joe in Punchout." -- Jeff G.
Keeping with the T-shirt theme...
Here's the perfect shirt for Kirkules Wilson the next time he attends a contest involving the local sports team. Get yours at The Onion.
This week's games
We've got a Thursday night game this week, and it's your favorite kind -- an ACC match-up involving Clemson, which has a long history in the pool of being the most unpredictable team to pick, this time against rival Georgia Tech. Also debuting in the pool this week is Chris O'Brien's favorite thing about college football, the USC Song Girls, which he paid tribute to in the banner image he created for the Poolsville blog. The Trojans, not led by third-string quarterback Mitch Mustain, whose mom thought Little Johnny should have been getting more passing opportunities as a freshman instead of handing the ball off to future NFL stars McFadden, Jones, and Hillis, head to Ohio State to see if the Vest can figure out a way to keep it close this time. And, this week features the Notre Dame Factor, which is a theory some pool participants have that says you should always pick against Notre Dame because of the contingent of Irish fans in the pool who will always pick with them for fear of having to go to confession as a result.
So for $800 and the Ramon Escobar Trophy, which haiku master Doug Virden hopes will one day sit next to his 2000 Hardcore Champion Trophy, select your winners and e-mail them back to me by 6 p.m. Thursday. Remember, if for some reason you miss Thursday's game, you can still submit picks for the remaining Saturday games. (Note: All times Central.)
Clemson - Georgia Tech
6:30 p.m., Thursday, ESPN
Line: Georgia Tech by 5
* Underdog worth three points
Notre Dame - Michigan
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Notre Dame by 3
UCLA - Tennessee
3 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Tennessee by 8
* Underdog worth three points
The Border Bash
South Carolina - Georgia
6 p.m., Saturday, ESPN2
Line: Georgia by 7
*Underdog worth three points
USC - Ohio State
7 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: USC by 6
* Underdog worth three points
Good luck.
*****#*****
So for $800 and the Ramon Escobar Trophy, which haiku master Doug Virden hopes will one day sit next to his 2000 Hardcore Champion Trophy, select your winners and e-mail them back to me by 6 p.m. Thursday. Remember, if for some reason you miss Thursday's game, you can still submit picks for the remaining Saturday games. (Note: All times Central.)
Clemson - Georgia Tech
6:30 p.m., Thursday, ESPN
Line: Georgia Tech by 5
* Underdog worth three points
Notre Dame - Michigan
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Notre Dame by 3
UCLA - Tennessee
3 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Tennessee by 8
* Underdog worth three points
The Border Bash
South Carolina - Georgia
6 p.m., Saturday, ESPN2
Line: Georgia by 7
*Underdog worth three points
USC - Ohio State
7 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: USC by 6
* Underdog worth three points
Good luck.
*****#*****
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Post Fight Haiku
After the fight Thurs. night, I had to come up with a haiku for it.
A fight in Boise,
Did RAW move to Thurs. nights?
Player suspended.
A fight in Boise,
Did RAW move to Thurs. nights?
Player suspended.
Five Things
Brought to you by Five Guys Burgers and Fries, opening soon in North Little Rock (LR 1, NWA 0) ...
1. I think I'm conflicted about the University of Arkansas pay-per-views.
Once again, if you ponied up good money to watch a UA PPV, you were disappointed. If you were on Cox Cable, you missed the first 20 minutes of the game. If you weren't on Cox Cable, you saw a "Touchdown Falcons!" graphic after one Razorback score and a "Touchdown Cardinal!" graphic after another one. That's right, somebody with ISP put the names of Bobby Petrino's two previous employers into the graphics for the Arkansas game.
That said, the PPV does enable fans not willing to subject themselves to the hellhole that is War Memorial Stadium filled with drunks from Powhatan or Minturn on a water-logged golf course. So, the PPV has that going for it. But that ain't sayin' much.
2. I think that all football players should learn from the Oregon-Boise State debacle.
LeGarrette Blount's cheap shot of a Boise State player following the Fightin' Phil Knights loss on the Smurf Turf should be talked about in every college football locker room. No, the lesson is not "Don't let your emotions cause you to flip out, make a stupid mistake and ruin your career." It's also not "Fighting with your teammates is worse than fighting with the opposing team."
No, the lesson to be learned was taught by the punchee, Boise's Byron Hout, not the puncher.
Kids, always wear your helmet on the field. You never known when it'll come in handy.
Bonus Lesson: If you throw a blindside punch, make sure you knock the other guy smooth out. Hout immediately got to his feet and, if not for 50 people in the way, would have killed Blount.
3. I think this might be offensive, but it's too funny not to post ...
(Thanks EDSBS!)
4. I absolutely know ESPN/ABC will make me loathe Kenny Chesney.
Why, exactly, does college football need some popular musical act playing a custom song? Does anybody think "Holy crap, I wasn't planning on watching FSU-Miami, but gooooooolly there's Kenny Chesney!!!"
Now I know what you're thinking. Scott, you think, you already hate Chesney because you're a Parrothead and Chesney is like a mini-me version of Buffett with less talent and even less hair. He's drafting off Buffett's wake, so you hate him. Point taken.
But I'm also a huge DMB fan* and I abs-freakin'-lutely hate using music and video from the band's new album as bumper music.
What really hacks me off more than anything, however, is that I can see more music videos while watching 12 hours of ESPN college football coverage than I can in 24 hours of watching MTV or VH1.
I WANT MY MTV (Circa 1986, before "The Real World" started America on a downward spiral to reality TV hell.)
* - Who'll be at Dickey-Stephens for the show with Gregg Allman? Meet for beers at the Irish pub before the show? Also, note to Poolsville editors, "Five Things" will be a day or two late that week.
5. As always ...
Your weekly Pammy Standings from Awful Announcing are here.
The SportsJournalists.com Top 25 is available here.
M8B Prediction
Since Arkansas is off this week, we turn to the biggest game of the weekend: Will USC beat Ohio State?
(Views expressed by the Magic 8 Ball do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog, the blog owner nor this post's author. Advice from the M8B is for entertainment purposes only and not for actual wagering ... especially since Magic 8 Ball is 1-1 this season - though it still expects Shields to bring up the GSD before the month ends.)
1. I think I'm conflicted about the University of Arkansas pay-per-views.
Once again, if you ponied up good money to watch a UA PPV, you were disappointed. If you were on Cox Cable, you missed the first 20 minutes of the game. If you weren't on Cox Cable, you saw a "Touchdown Falcons!" graphic after one Razorback score and a "Touchdown Cardinal!" graphic after another one. That's right, somebody with ISP put the names of Bobby Petrino's two previous employers into the graphics for the Arkansas game.
That said, the PPV does enable fans not willing to subject themselves to the hellhole that is War Memorial Stadium filled with drunks from Powhatan or Minturn on a water-logged golf course. So, the PPV has that going for it. But that ain't sayin' much.
2. I think that all football players should learn from the Oregon-Boise State debacle.
LeGarrette Blount's cheap shot of a Boise State player following the Fightin' Phil Knights loss on the Smurf Turf should be talked about in every college football locker room. No, the lesson is not "Don't let your emotions cause you to flip out, make a stupid mistake and ruin your career." It's also not "Fighting with your teammates is worse than fighting with the opposing team."
No, the lesson to be learned was taught by the punchee, Boise's Byron Hout, not the puncher.
Kids, always wear your helmet on the field. You never known when it'll come in handy.
Bonus Lesson: If you throw a blindside punch, make sure you knock the other guy smooth out. Hout immediately got to his feet and, if not for 50 people in the way, would have killed Blount.
3. I think this might be offensive, but it's too funny not to post ...
(Thanks EDSBS!)
4. I absolutely know ESPN/ABC will make me loathe Kenny Chesney.
Why, exactly, does college football need some popular musical act playing a custom song? Does anybody think "Holy crap, I wasn't planning on watching FSU-Miami, but gooooooolly there's Kenny Chesney!!!"
Now I know what you're thinking. Scott, you think, you already hate Chesney because you're a Parrothead and Chesney is like a mini-me version of Buffett with less talent and even less hair. He's drafting off Buffett's wake, so you hate him. Point taken.
But I'm also a huge DMB fan* and I abs-freakin'-lutely hate using music and video from the band's new album as bumper music.
What really hacks me off more than anything, however, is that I can see more music videos while watching 12 hours of ESPN college football coverage than I can in 24 hours of watching MTV or VH1.
I WANT MY MTV (Circa 1986, before "The Real World" started America on a downward spiral to reality TV hell.)
* - Who'll be at Dickey-Stephens for the show with Gregg Allman? Meet for beers at the Irish pub before the show? Also, note to Poolsville editors, "Five Things" will be a day or two late that week.
5. As always ...
Your weekly Pammy Standings from Awful Announcing are here.
The SportsJournalists.com Top 25 is available here.
M8B Prediction
Since Arkansas is off this week, we turn to the biggest game of the weekend: Will USC beat Ohio State?
(Views expressed by the Magic 8 Ball do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog, the blog owner nor this post's author. Advice from the M8B is for entertainment purposes only and not for actual wagering ... especially since Magic 8 Ball is 1-1 this season - though it still expects Shields to bring up the GSD before the month ends.)
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