Cal is the #1 public university in the country (arguably the world), situated in an economic powerhouse of a region, with a wealthy donor network and a sleeping giant of a fan base desperate for a reason to care. We excel at the highest levels across academics and athletics. Yet somehow, fielding a competent football product has remained an insurmountable challenge for decades. It’s frankly absurd given the resources and potential of this institution. The “reset” we were sold has clearly failed to materialize. Something needs to change, and fast.

Seriously, in my high school parking lot, the trucks had rifles in gun racks. Who else experienced that?

There you are, staring at the glow of a big screen TV on a Friday night, watching the Dawgs perform under the lights of Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. West Lafayette. You watch until the end. Washington 38, Purdue 26. A much-needed win. Elijah Brown slinging it around, surviving the turnovers, making plays to stave off a season that was in freefall. But throughout the broadcast, you can't shake the thought: "What on God’s green earth are we doing here? Why are we playing Purdue on a Friday night in a conference game?" It's an unsettling, alien twitch in the back of the ol' noggin. We don’t belong here. This isn’t about Jedd Fisch’s sideways passing charts or whether Washington can hang physically. The Huskies have the resources to compete. And they showed that last night, finally. No more excuses! No, it’s not about talent. It’s about the soul of the thing. How in the world are we playing Purdue in a conference game? There is no shared blood here. No lingering grudges born of rainy November afternoons in Pacific Northwest college towns. No memory of a despised white-haired coach in a sweater, stalking the opposite sideline, his recent insult calling your team "mercenaries" inciting the wrath of the Husky Stadium crowd. No middle-aged father of four sitting in the stands remembering a bitter pick 6 interception from 1994 that marked the end of one era and started another. No 70-year old from Cottage Grove, OR, telling his grandkids about the time in 1985 when a Seattle sportswriter called the Oregon State Beavers "The Barney Fife of College Football" and then, by God, the Beavs went into Husky Stadium and stunned the college football world! No, Purdue is just… a school in Indiana with a drum and a train. They belong to Iowa and Indiana and Illinois and Michigan. The Huskies should have been playing the Cal Bears last night. We should have been arguing about Adam Mohammed's transfer and how long is coach Tosh Lupoi going to survive in Berkeley before he returns to the warm, welcoming bosom of Sark's staff or else finds himself working some kiosk in a suburban mall selling cell phones. And then we should be spending all next week mapping out the drive down I-5 to Corvallis for a Saturday afternoon game against chippy Oregon State. That cool little freeway moment of camaraderie when you glance over at the car next to you, and some purple-and-gold jacket or adhesive in the back window signals the kinship, and maybe you honk and they honk back with the thumbs up. That was our life. That was our neighborhood. You knew the houses on your block, and you knew the families who lived in them, so to speak. Instead, the realities of college football have forced UW to mortgage their identity to become a far-flung western outpost in a television cartel, flying volleyball teams and tennis squads three time zones away to play Rutgers and Maryland like some traveling corporate circus. And why? For the money, they told us. For survival. The almighty television payout. But if you zoom out and look at fiscal realities, is this really sustainable? When you look at what’s happening right now with global bond markets and the "cost of capital." Borrowing money used to be almost free. It isn’t anymore. The real cost to build giant facilities and service old stadium debt has exploded. The Fed will probably raise rates again later this month. Can AI eventually make raising interest rates moot? (A conversation for another time). But Ohio State, Texas, and Alabama? Even they aren't immune to the current pressures of the bottom line. Sark's Texas Longhorns were $23 million in the red last year despite massive revenues. Ohio State and Alabama basically broke even. But for everybody else trying to keep up—including west coast athletic departments chartering red-eyes to Piscataway—the bill always comes due. When austerity finally crashes down upon our reality, teams like the Washington Huskies will be left standing in the cornfields, thousands of miles from home, wondering why we traded away our history just to play Purdue on a Friday night.

Who are the 14%?

Earth's climate system is rapidly destabilizing, according to the seventh annual report from an international coalition led by Oregon State University scientists.

Name someone smarter than Pete Hegseth?

Relief for America’s farmers! Last week, @POTUS signed his dyed-diesel Executive Order. Yesterday, @USTreasury provided important clarification on what that action means for farmers: ✅ No federal tax on dyed diesel used on the highway during the relief period ✅ No federal dyed-diesel penalties ✅ No federal on-road dyed-fuel inspections ✅ No new mileage tracking ✅ No additional reporting or recordkeeping just to qualify for relief For farmers pulling fuel from existing farm tanks during harvest, that means no new Washington paperwork, no tracking every mile, and more flexibility to keep crops moving. Thank you @POTUS, @VP, and @SecScottBessent, for delivering real relief for America’s farmers. irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provide…

It took me until 8 pm to realize, today is my 24th anniversary at @kxly4news. From reporting to anchoring to hiring almost 100 people (without the help of any corporate recruiters), it's been a wild ride. And here I am, still making holiday schedules.

We have three. Never really a problem priming. Been quite a bit better than the Dewalts they replaced

There's a new piece of hardware making its way into the WSU–OSU rivalry... and this one has quite the story. 👀🪨 WSU and Oregon State have been playing football since 1903, and now there's a new trophy on the line!

We’ll have thoughts about @KirbMoore on Tuesday and reasons to talk all of us off the ledge about @WSUCougarFB . Meantime, if you can go to Budapest, do it. I’ll be repping #WAZZU gear in Prague at my conference later this week. #GoCougs

Happy anniversary to my most wonderful ❤️🇺🇸

Best nickname in sports history. It has to be a real one. I'll start: The Refrigerator.

Hmm 😒 🤔?¿

Name a UCLA football player that only real Bruin ball knowers would remember! 🏈🤔 -like the the reply if you remember the player!

The critics of over-the-counter CGMs for those without diabetes make a few fair points. Panicking over a temporary glucose spike from a sweet potato or an apple is an easy trap to fall into. We shouldn't medicalize normal, healthy physiology. 🧵

lowa has corn, Georgia has peaches, Idaho has potatoes. What does your state have?

There’s nothing more bleak than seeing “future buckeye” or “he’s a gator” or “he’s gonna look so good in burnt orange” commented on posts highlighting your best players and coaches. Is this really what college sports are supposed to be?

Wtf is someone on Medicare supposed to do with $90 dollars?

“Vote for me and I’ll send you a check for $5,000” is a felony under federal law and a felony under every state’s election laws. It’s considered election bribery. One of the clearest violations in election law.