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I am 53 years old, have a combined $210,000 annual income, live on Long Island, NY, and work as a Project Coordinator

First, I'm sorry this is so long. Second - please be nice. We have debt, bad habits, and are Catholic. So if any of those things are going to get you spun up, just skip this one.
Section One: Assets and Debt Use this section to explain your current financial picture at large.
Everything here is joint – “M” and I have been married 22 years and we’ve had “smashed money” that whole time (and really for about a year before that).
Retirement Balance (and how you got there): Approximately $500,000 in a variety of IRAs and current 401(k)s.
Equity if you're a homeowner (and how much you put down and how you accumulated that payment). Bought our house in 2001 for $239,000 with 20% down (some aggressive saving and a gift from each of our parents). We refinanced, took some cash out for some home repairs, and reduced it to a 15-year loan in 2009 – our current equity would be about $195,000, but similar homes in the neighborhood are listed at $475,000-$525,000, so if we ever sell, we’re probably coming out ahead.
Savings account balance: $6,000
Checking account balance: $6,500
Credit card debt (and how you accumulated it): I hope you’re sitting down. Approximately $40,000. Yes, you read that right. How we accumulated it? The house is 90 years old and constantly falling apart, so we’ve had to charge things that needed to be done (some we wanted to have done, but some – like the time our oil burner stopped working in December – were needs). We had two dogs with numerous medical issues – I don’t want to calculate what they cost me, but they each had surgeries that were about $5,000 (each), plus other chronic and acute medical issues. And yes…for a while, we were doing and buying things we probably shouldn’t have (not bad things, just vacations, clothes, and non-essential home improvements) So…when I’m 100 and greeting people at Wal-Mart, I’ll at least have some good memories. That said, I can’t tell you the last time I used credit – if we can’t afford to pay cash, we don’t do it (and I say that fully realizing most people would feel that I shouldn’t do anything).
Student loan debt (for what degree): None – my husband went to the military and then to work after high school and I went back to community college later in life and paid as I went.
Anything else that's applicable to you: If my ex-husband dies before me, I’ll have about $6,000 in a money market that he must have forgotten about. When we divorced, he was supposed to liquidate all those accounts and give me half. He was an accountant and a SOB, so I never knew exactly what we had, but what I got seemed accurate (it paid for furniture, my wedding to M and part of this house, so I was OK with it). Lo and behold, a couple years ago, I found out we still have this money market account in both names. I tried to find him so we could liquidate/split it, but he’s missing. I get the statements here now, and the good part is he’s older than me, so I’m holding out hope he predeceases me and it will be mine.
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I've been working in my field for a year and a half, my starting salary was $100,000. I did a salary story with the entire progression – long story short, I’ve made more, and I’ve made less, but this is probably about the average of the last five years.
My husband has been at his job for 14 years – he started there making around $75,000 and now makes $110,000. They usually give him a $10,000 bonus at the end of the year, but are always crying poverty if people ask for a raise. Prior to that, he worked for a company that paid very well and he had a 15-minute commute, but he got out one step ahead of their bankruptcy.
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
Me: $5,152
J: $6,230
Side Gig Monthly Take Home:
M is paid $1,300/month by our parish for serving as Youth Minister.
Any Other Monthly Income: $16.00
I get quarterly dividends on stock I was given when I was born (I may not have been born into money, but apparently my grandparents had friends who thought this was a good baby gift). The last few were around $50, so I divided by 3.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent / Mortgage / HOA fees (please specify how you split it if living with a partner): $3,043, which includes the property taxes and homeowner's insurance
Savings contribution: $500/month without fail (my bank transfers $100 if we get over $500 in, so once each paycheck and once when we put the church check in). More if I feel the savings needs a boost.
Debt payments:
Donations: OK – anyone who isn’t screaming because I owe $40K is going to start now.
Electric: $110
Gas (stove/hot water): $50
Oil: $250/month in the winter
Wifi/Cable: $179
Cellphone: $252 for both of us (I get mine expensed except $26 for my phone payment)
Subscriptions:
Car payment / insurance: $295/month for my car (leased). My husband is driving a 10-year old car that is paid off. $128/month for auto insurance
Lawn care: $50/month
Commuting: Now that we’re in COVID times, I’ve been buying a 10-trip off peak railroad ticket every five days for $78.75. Pre-COVID, M and I each bought a monthly ticket for $270, and I took the subway most days for an additional $100/month. I fill up the car about once a month (~$36) and M fills his about every other week (~$70/month)
Saturday, September 26, 2020
7:45 am: Up and at ‘em! I get up, get coffee, check emails and social media and start the day.
8:00 am: M leaves the house for a long list of errands, the payment for which will be shown below. I put in a load of laundry and discover…a leak! There is a large pipe between our powder room sink (which I used when I woke up) and the outside world that runs through the basement and is apparently leaking. Yay whee. If you get one thing from this diary, let it be these words of wisdom – don’t buy an old house! No beautiful feature is worth the aggravation! I get the water (I hope it’s water) cleaned up, a load of laundry in, take a shower, do some picking up around the house, get dressed in a Rangers t-shirt and cut off distressed jeans, do my makeup (Olay microsculpting serum and Miracle Blur over the bottom of my face, pink, gray, and violet eyeshadows, a swipe of foundation under my eyes, black eyeliner, black mascara, and dark brown eye pencil. This is standard everyday makeup for me and will be repeated each day. I put volumizing mousse in my hair and blow dry it (also routine).
In the meantime, M gets a haircut ($30 including tip), sets up the video equipment at church, goes to CVS for passport photos that he needs for an application ($18.87), and goes to the religious goods store for a book of the Liturgy of the Hours ($42.31). He is starting formation for the diaconate (the process of becoming a Deacon in the Catholic Church) today, and they said he’ll need that book. He also needs the photos for his application, and he stops at the bank for two money orders – one to send with the background check request and one for his high school transcript ($26). On the way home, he picks up breakfast (brunch?) for us – classic New York BEC, SPK (bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll with salt, pepper and ketchup) for him and egg whites, turkey and swiss cheese on a whole wheat wrap for me ($10.78), as well as cigs for him and vape cartridges for me ($36).
The washing machine isn’t causing any additional leakage, so I move the wash to the dryer and start moving the winter clothes from the portable closet in front of the leaking pipe upstairs (they’re not wet, but we’re going to have to move the closet when the plumber comes).
After eating the egg sandwiches, we get changed for deacon class – I look like a good church lady in black slacks, a black and white flowered shirt with a black tank underneath, and black sandals with a chunky 2.5” heel. M goes with the classic golf shirt and dockers. While we’re getting changed, he mentions he needs new underwear, so I whip out the phone and order him some ($18.64).
6:30 pm: Home from deacon class and Mass and the groceries show up! I ordered them yesterday, but I don’t think the charge went through till today, so here goes. Asparagus, broccoli, celery, bananas, cucumber, lime, grape tomatoes, peaches, carrots, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, zucchini, frozen burgers, ground turkey, chicken breasts, whole chicken, fried chicken and a pot pie for J’s lunches, yogurt, sugar free pumpkin spice creamer (YES! I’ve been looking for it for weeks!), milk, heavy cream, OJ, k-cups, frozen green beans, cauliflower rice, stuffing mix, microwave rice, cake mix (the good ones were on sale), chicken broth, potato chips, and trash bags. Spent $154.95 including delivery, saved $14.50 (very low for me), tipped the delivery guy $10.
7:00 pm: After putting away all that food, what do we do? If you guessed order dinner, you’d be right! I don’t cook on Saturday unless we’re having company. We order from a new taco place – three each and “Mexican wings”. The wings were meh, but the tacos ranged from good to outstanding. $53.78 including tip. After dinner, M starts post-production of the Mass video and I do some laundry, watch the NASCAR race and the hockey game, and play games on my iPad. Remember, you’ll be old someday too!
11:00 pm: I go to the basement to pick up laundry and remember I wanted to order a new garden flag (this isn’t as random as it sounds – all my seasonal decorations are stored in the basement). I have had a cart set up for days with two garden flags ($6.99 each) and four magnetic mailbox covers for my parents for Christmas ($11.99 each) – they’ve talked about having a different one for each season, and I saw them when I was looking for a garden flag. Total with tax and free shipping: $61.94. I love Christmas and generally spend way too much on gifts so I’m trying to start shopping before December and at least spread out the pain. We went to a crafts fair a few weeks ago and I picked up a few things and now I’ve got this done – go me!!
12:30 pm: The hockey game is over (2 OT!) and I go to bed. M is napping waiting for his video production to finish.
Daily Total: $463.27
Sunday, September 27
7:00 am: The alarm goes off – ugh. It’s the first day of Religious Ed (virtual, but I have to do a 9:45 zoom with my 4th graders). Coffee, social media, shower, dress, makeup. Put on a black eyelet dress because we’re going back to church today so M can videotape First Communion. Do the usual makeup/hair thing.
10:30 am: My 4th graders are great and we’re ready to roll (M has on a shirt and tie in honor of the First Communion), and we’re off to Mass. Drop off the food I bought for our food pantry last week and help him video. Of course, the kids are adorable!
12:00 noon: We’re starving after church, so we stop at our favorite local pizza place on the way home. Get a variety of slices for $22.62, including a tip (we’re getting it to go, but I’m tipping everywhere, because I know restaurants have been hurt badly by the pandemic. These folks are in NYC and still haven’t opened inside dining.)
1:30 pm: Ate, ran more laundry, changed into the jeans I wore yesterday and a Yankees t-shirt and call the nail place. Of all my expenses, nails are probably the most non-negotiable – I’ve been getting my nails done for 40 years, and when I couldn’t do so during the lockdown, I was miserable. They can take me right away, which makes me happy.
3:00 pm: All 20 nails done – gel on the fingers and a regular pedicure with callus removal ($75 plus $15 tip = $90). I went with an autumn theme and got copper on the fingers and bronze toes – the nail polish looked in the jar like it would match the toes, but it doesn’t. Stop at CVS for eye cream (Olay for tired eyes) and mascara (L’Oreal Voluminous) - $27 with coupons. M asked me to pick up cigs on the way home, so I do, as well as vape cartridges, which I don’t technically need yet, but it will save a trip later in the week ($36).
3:30 pm: While at the nail place, I saw that one of our favorite local restaurants had a fire, which consumed an entire block of restaurants and small businesses. The Chamber of Commerce is doing a GoFundMe, and I donate $25 to the cause - $28.75 including the charge. I also notice that the weekly charge for my church donation went through ($75).
11:30 pm: Took a quick nap (the highlight of my week every week), put some fall decorations out, had our family Zoom call, laundry, got the end of the winter clothes moved upstairs, had dinner (roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus), made an apple crisp (I’m not a huge dessert person but M is and I like making desserts, so it works), watched baseball, football, the NASCAR race, and basketball, and took a quick shower. Bring a Light & Fit Toasted Coconut Vanilla yogurt (the best!) to bed, finish my book (“Next Stop, Chancey”) and find the next in the series on my iPad – I’ve read them all before, but I’m in the mood for something cozy, especially after reading about the Current Occupant’s taxes – ugh!) , and turn off the lights around midnight.
Daily Total: $279.37
Monday, September 28
6:45 am: I work from home M/W/F and so I can sleep in. Relatively speaking, anyway. Get dressed in a sleeveless top and shorts (despite the fall decorations, fall nails, and roast chicken/apple crisp, it feels rather summery out there), do makeup, have some coffee and scroll through emails/socials, move yet another load of laundry (I’m trying to get it all done before the plumber comes), find the number for the plumber and give it to M to call, get the trash out, and boil some eggs for breakfast this week. I’m sitting in front of the computer by 8:15, which is ok (technically, my hours are 8:30-5:30 – it’s usually more like 8:30-6:00, and on WFH days, starting at 7:30 is not unheard of). M drops off the car at the shop – I think I forgot to mention this, but he mentioned yesterday that when he was driving around Saturday, there was a grinding noise when he backed up. More joy to come, I’m sure.
9:45 am: I hear M on the phone with the garage – apparently, they can get a used part and do the job for $450. Not great, but it’s better than it might have been! He works from home basically every day except when he has to see customers, but thankfully we’re separated enough that we can hear each other but it’s not intrusive.
10:30 am: Between cursing at people on the phone, M calls the plumber and I grab some cheese and more coffee! I’d tell you about my job, but honestly, it’s not worth talking about. Basically, I go to meetings, take notes on meetings, and send follow-ups (I do other things, but that’s most of it). When I get off my 11:00 am meeting, I’ll find out when the plumber is coming. You guys are getting a much more exciting week than I expected!
12:30 pm: What a miserable day – it seems like everyone is annoyed! Take a break to eat a slice of leftover pizza and a Diet Coke (M finishes some rotisserie chicken from last week). He says the plumber may come today to look at the situation but can’t do the work till tomorrow.
6:00 pm: Keep my head down and get some work done in the afternoon and knock off for the day. Run downstairs and make dinner – “tacos” with strips of beef grilled with Korean barbecue sauce, shredded cabbage, cheddar cheese, pineapple salsa, cucumber slices, and lime inside warmed tortillas. Delicious, if I say so myself!
7:30 pm: I get on a Zoom faith sharing meeting and M gets on a Zoom religious ed class.
11:59 pm: Contemplated Sunday’s Gospel with my small group, watched Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup, took a shower and set clothes out for tomorrow, and off to bed. M picked up the car after Religious Ed.
Daily Total: $450.00
Tuesday, September 29
5:45 am: Ugh. Up and out – I’m wearing a green dress with a black jacket and have black slingbacks in my bag. I have to walk 30 short blocks and five long blocks once I get off the train, so I’m traveling light. I used to take the subway to my office, but since COVID, I try to limit that as much as possible.
7:45 am: Off the railroad and walk uptown. I actually don’t mind the walk, because when I WFH, I walk very little – at the beginning of the lockdown, I had a nice walking routine, but lately the work seems to start the minute I wake up, so walking to work takes care of getting in those STEPS! I forgot my boiled eggs and I’m starving, so I end up buying an egg sandwich. $5.43
12:30 pm: Because I only go to the city twice a week and I have to walk uptown with all my work stuff, I don’t bring lunch often (pre-pandemic, I used to bring breakfast and lunch every day, but I also took the subway). Decide to run to Pret and my boss and co-worker both ask me to pick something up. Of course, no one (including me) has anything but a $20, so they both say they’ll get me next time. I get my favorite chicken parm wrap and a Diet Coke. $32
12:45 pm: I look at my personal email and discover that J’s car registration needs to be renewed. Hop on the DMV website and take care of that. $158.50. I also realize I never took out the sausages for tonight’s dinner and call M to ask him to do so. He mentions the plumber has still not shown up.
5:45 pm: Leave a little early to get to the Fed Ex office and make my train home. I’m a little later than I’d like to be and it’s raining, so I get the subway, which is thankfully empty, reasonably clean, and quick. $2.75
7:15 pm: M picks me up at the train station and mentions that he was so busy working that he didn’t take the sausages out. He asks me what I want to eat and we end up at Wendy’s. Cheeseburger, fries, and (surprise, surprise) a Diet Coke. He gets the same thing, but bigger. $19.75
11:30 pm: Avoid the debate by watching the Yankees pound the Indians. Usual routine (plus ironing a shirt for J, because he has to go to a customer tomorrow) and off to sleep. I’m up to Book 3 in the Chancey series, for those keeping score.
Daily Total: $218.43
Wednesday, September 29
5:30 am: Double ugh. Woke up to use the bathroom and couldn’t get back to sleep, so here we are. Get dressed (long-sleeved Yankees t-shirt, straight leg jeans), do the face, have some coffee, and try to avoid the fact that my boss sent me an email at 11:00 pm last night looking for changes to a document, which I said I would do today. Get the trash out, pick up a little around the house, and get to work by 7:00. OH, and despite the lack of plumber and his lack of general motivation, M moved the plastic closet…in front of the washing machine! Glad I bought him underwear, because I won’t be doing laundry any time soon. Now I’m wondering if he looked at the menu (I am an obsessive meal planner and post it on the fridge weekly) and that’s why he didn’t take the sausages out – he’s avoiding zoodles! He can run but he can’t hide – I have zucchini and I’m going to spiralize it sooner or later!
8:00 am: The document my boss needed is out, the agenda for our 9:00 am meeting is done, the morning emails are sorted (for now), and I got a link to our parish survey up on the Facebook page, so I make an egg and cheese on a tortilla and eat at my desk.
12:50 pm: Wednesday is conference call hell – I have recurring calls every Wednesday at 9:00, 10:30, and 11:30, and the added fun today of a 10:00. There’s also a webinar every Wednesday that I try to tune into. Grab some chips and a Diet Coke and go check it out.
2:15 pm: Still no damn plumber, but I’ll let M worry about that when he’s home tomorrow. My garden flags arrived, so that’s good. Hoping to get out and put the pumpkin one out before it gets dark, but the way today is going, that might not actually happen. However, I realize I never put dinner in the crockpot. Luckily, it only takes 3-4 hours on high, so I take care of that. It’s Tuscan Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. By 2:30, I’m back at my desk with another Diet Coke and hard at it. Nightmares of rescheduling meetings, missing documents, etc.
6:45 pm: Still at my desk! OK, I took some time to send an email to the parish webmaster about the survey, update this, and read the R29 money diary of the day. But overall, I’ve been working with no apparent end in sight – I could easily be here all night, but I won’t be because (a) I’m falling asleep at my desk and (b) I have a 7:30 Religious Ed teachers meeting. Hopefully I won’t fall asleep during that. Make a list of things for my boss and I to review tomorrow and finish prepping dinner.
7:15 pm: Dinner was delicious – we had the chicken with rice for M and cauliflower rice for me, sautéed broccoli, and a basic salad (bagged spring mix, cherry tomatoes, cucumber). Now off to Zoom!
11:45 pm: The Yankees game is still on, but I’m showered, my clothes are set out for tomorrow, and I’m fading. Turn off the light and hope for a win.
Daily Total: $0.00 (bet you didn’t see that coming!)
Thursday, October 1
5:45 am: You know it…ugh. Get up, coffee, very quick scroll through the Yankees score/e-mail/social media. Get dressed in a black v-neck sweater, black and gray plaid skirt, and black jacket (not the same one I wore the other day). Am grateful the skirt fits – I gained some weight and am trying to resist buying clothes. Make sure I have the right shoes in my bag – I’m wearing high-heeled gray suede Mary Janes today.
8:15 am: At my desk and ready to go – I remembered to bring 2 hard-boiled eggs today, which I eat with coffee while looking through emails.
12:30 pm: Call after call after call, but I have a half-hour to eat. Run to the fancy buffet place that just re-opened for 2 meatballs, brussels sprouts, broccoli, salad, and the inevitable Diet Coke ($15.75). Manage to eat before my 1:00 pm call – go me!
3:30 pm: Leave to go to a job site and pick something up that has to be shipped to Italy. Something that's almost as tall as me, but thankfully not heavy. Taxi down there because I’m in a hurry and I can get reimbursed ($14.04, including tip), expensed.
4:00 pm: I get a cab to the Fed Ex office – thankfully the first one I see is a minivan, so I fit in just fine ($12.74, including tip), expensed.
5:30 pm: Well, that was harder than it needed to be – the Fed Ex office I went to didn’t have a box that would fit the item, so they suggested another Fed Ex office about 6 blocks away, so I had to walk through midtown Manhattan carrying an object almost as tall as me (it's 5' long and I'm 5'3" tall) while dodging oblivious people. Thankfully, the other office had my box, and they were super-sweet and helpful, but it took them forever to get it done. Bought the box and bubble wrap, which will be expensed (I brought the Fed Ex label, but I don’t remember the account number) ($43.54). Get a nice early train home, though!
6:45 pm: Wow, we’re eating when I’m usually getting the train! Cheeseburgers, tots (tater for J, cauliflower for me), green beans, and vinegar coleslaw with the end of the shredded cabbage. Get the kitchen cleaned and the dishwasher run and settle in to watch the Jets – I’m not holding out much hope, but you never know!
11:30 pm: I’ve showered, set out clothes for me and M (he’s seeing customers tomorrow), I prepped for Youth Group, which I’m leading because he’ll be working, and the Jets are winning, so I decide it’s time to sleep. Up to Book 5 of the Chancey series. I find series usually go downhill after about the third or fourth book, but I’m not sure what I feel like reading, so here we are. OH, at some point M must have gone to the convenience store, because there are vape cartridges on the table ($36).
Daily Total: $122.07; $70.32 expensed
Friday, October 02, 2020
6:00 am: Wake up, grab coffee, find out the Jets lost after all, do the morning e-mail/social media scroll. Leaving early to deal with that work errand has left me with a ton of stuff to do, so I get dressed (long-sleeved v-neck gray t-shirt, white tank because the v-neck is halfway to my belly button, dark wash skinny jeans), put out the trash, peel two hard-boiled eggs, and head to my desk.
12:30 pm: As always, call after call after call. Plus a bit of aggravation when my boss asks me at 10:30 for an agenda for the 11:00 call, which I sent him at about 7:30, and which he returns at 10:59 with the formatting looking like nothing on earth. Yay whee! And a project was mentioned that he forgot to tell me I’d do. So in case I thought I’d have nothing to do (that never happens on Fridays), that’s not happening. Anyway, between calls, I run downstairs for the lunch of champions – a Hot Pocket and a Diet Coke. Just that kind of day.
6:15 pm: Realize I have to run Youth Group at 7 and I haven’t even done my haimakeup. Get that done, heat up some frozen cauliflower rice/broccoli/cheese combination and add some leftover chicken. With a green salad on the side, surprisingly yummy.
8:15 pm: I am not a good youth leader…couldn’t get anyone talking about the subject of the day, which I thought would be a good one. I did make them laugh a few times, so that’s something.
M is going to have some expenses because he went to see customers today, but I don’t know what they are and his company will reimburse him, so I’m just leaving them out.
Daily Total: $0.00
This is the Week That Was:
Food + Drink: $326.06
Fun / Entertainment: $108 (if people can put drugs in as entertainment, I’m putting our nicotine in)
Home + Health: $61.94
Clothes + Beauty: $165.64
Transport: $638.03 (some of it will be expensed)
Other: $234.47
Lastly, reflect on your diary! How do you feel about your spending? Was this a normal week for you? Has this inspired you to make changes or has it given you a “wow I’m doing pretty good” confidence boost? Is there anything you’re actively working on? No need to answer any or all these questions but just use this space to write any thoughts you have!
This was a fairly normal week except for the car breaking and needing to be registered – we're saving some now that we WFH more because M will not bring food from home, but I used to bring breakfast and lunch at least four days a week. I know we should make changes, but I also know we don’t want to – honestly, if you looked at the way I lived 15 years ago, I’ve made a lot of changes already. We’re working on the credit cards – I’ve gotten rid of several already (paid off, not just moved balances around) and we don’t use them at all anymore (I can honestly say I don’t remember the last thing I charged). The bad news is that M’s car is on its last legs, and so I see car payments in our future. Hopefully, he’ll get something used – we have my car when we want to look good going somewhere (mine isn’t super-fancy, it just wasn’t hit by a bus and full of stuff for his job).
OH, and the plumber still hasn’t shown up! But that will be for next week’s expenses.
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Memorial Tournament Preview Blog

Since Riggs, Trent, and Frankie have turned their golf positions at Barstool into less blogging and more playing with themselves and selling $50 cases of soda, I decided to take a dull, butter knife stab at a preview blog for this weekend’s Memorial Tournament.
Last Week
Real quick let’s talk about how much we should all hate the PGA after Sunday’s off-air debacle, and then about some questionable feature groups this week. For weather reasons on Sunday, the Workday final round tee times were moved up so players could finish before incoming storms. Great, that all makes sense. But somehow the PGA was not able to broadcast the round on TV, and when they did have to kill the live broadcast, they didn’t even mention where to go watch the rest of the tournament. THERE ARE NO OTHER FUCKING SPORTS ON, WHAT COULD CBS HAVE MADE PRIORITY OVER THIS FINAL ROUND? No seriously, someone please tell me because I would love to know what aired on CBS from 11 am to 3 pm instead of live sports. Can we also talk about how terrible the Thursday/Friday coverage is every weekend on all networks? You usually get 2-4 featured groups you can stream online from 9-3 (even these groups you often need NBC Sports Gold to watch), and then get maybe 3 hours of full coverage in a TV broadcast. There is legitimately a channel called the Golf Channel, who are airing a shitty preview/talk show while you are missing coverage. Here’s a fucking mad idea - put live golf on the golf channel before the major networks get prime coverage.
Then we got a look yesterday at the featured groups for the Memorial. How do you fuck this up? If you are younger than 70 and even sporadically watch golf, you could do this job better than whoever does it for the PGA. Here’s the formula: Brooks Koepka makes a joke about Bryson Dechambeau using steroids one week ago = you put them in the same group. Golf has so little drama because all these guys are friends and making millions of dollars even when they aren’t winning. Fans need these storylines/rivalries to be buffed up, not ignored because they might hurt Bryson's feelings.
This Week
As far as a course preview, we get a strange twist this week with the players coming back to Muirfield, who just hosted the Workday Charity Tournament. I’ve been watching golf for a long ass time and cannot remember the last time this happened, but it’s not a major headline at all so maybe this does happen on occasion. Either way the setup this weekend will look different than last weekend, with much faster greens, thicker rough, and some changes in tee box locations. I think we see some youngeinexperienced players struggle with the change in green speeds, especially since they just played these same greens and they were rolling like carpet (stimpmeter will go from 11 to 13.5). My gut tells me the winner is either a veteran or someone who didn’t play here last week. This would rule out guys like Hovland, Burns, Merritt, Niemann, etc.
Finally, we have to mention that Eldrick Tiger Woods returns to the field this week. I’m looking at his +2000 odds and hate the value because we have no idea where his game is at right now. That being said, Tiger has won the Memorial five times and placed T9 last year, and T23 the year before. I will root for Tiger to win every tournament he enters, but I won’t look at a future for him at these low odds, and for his first post-break golf since The Match.
Now let’s go over wagers this weekend and what you should look for. I am usually not a fan of betting on outright winners, before any golf has been played. The odds always look so good but you will rarely have a profitable year trying to bet winners every week. That being said, here are some of the best value picks IMO.
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My pick: once again reiterating I will likely not bet on a Sunday winner before Thursday starts, but if I was I would put my money on Justin Rose +4500 or Xander Schauffele +2500.
Thursday Matchups
Easily the best way to bet on golf, and in my experience the most profitable. Here are a few picks I’ll be making before Thursday. Currently I am 4-2 betting matchups (last 4 PGA events) and I’ll track my picks moving forward. If I get to Jack Mac or Reags level of bad betting, I promise I’ll retire and not pretend I know what I’m talking about. I’m only going to pick matchups in the featured groups for Thursday. Nothing worse than betting on someone like Marc Leishman, and having to refresh the golf cast simulator thing instead of watching live play.
Dechambeau (-115) over Thomas (-105): everything is so planned out and calculated with Bryson, and his sit-out at the Workday feels like a part of his plan. Fucking hate rooting for this kid, but I see him coming in fresh against JT who blew an enormous lead last weekend.
D. Johnson (even) over Morikawa (-120): my favorite first round matchup bet. It seems counter-intuitive going against the guy who won at this course a few days ago, but don’t forget the major change this week will be how the greens roll. And Morikawa is 150th on tour in strokes gained with the putter. Lock it in.
Take a flier - round 1 leader
I don’t think I’ve ever bet this prop but I’ve also never written a golf blog before so let’s take a shot here. I’ll put a half unit on it as well: Rickie Fowler +4000
Rick's finishes at the Memorial the past 3 years: T14, T8, solo 2nd. In 2017 when he placed 2nd, he shot an opening round 66. I also feel like I see him in the mix a lot in early rounds, but can’t quite put together those low weekend rounds.
That’s all I’ve got. Sorry it’s not funny but it’s better content than we’ve gotten out of Foreplay.
Let’s make some money and blow off work Thursday and Friday.
submitted by -elbisreverri- to barstoolsports [link] [comments]

How to Survive Camping: I still love Bryan's dogs but omg

I run a private campground. Last post I was like, “Oh I’ll just go talk to the fairy! I’m sure they’ll be able to help! It surely won’t end with me running for my life through the forest because fairies are capricious little shits!”
I didn’t even get a solution to the bad year, either. I just have more problems now.
Anyway, if you’re new here, you should really start at the beginning and if you’re totally lost, this might help.
My first attempt in finding the fairy was just wandering through the campground. This had the added benefit of giving me an opportunity to also find the lady with extra eyes. Unfortunately, we’re in the middle of a big event, and while I’m not letting people camp in the deep woods they’re still going on walks through there and I had to deal with people instead. People that didn’t recognize me as the camp manager and wanted to ask why the solar showers hadn’t been cleaned yet (there’s a schedule) or to complain about the potholes (you shouldn’t be driving fast through the campground anyway) or to ask what happened to that one food truck they liked (they failed a health inspection). I’m a little afraid of what would have happened if they did recognize me, I probably would have gotten a lot more complaints. Regardless, I could only take so much of that before I had to abandon the idea and try something different.
Also I have reason to hurry things up.
Those spiders that were in my house? It could just be my imagination, but I swear they’re still there. I keep glimpsing movement in the corner of my vision. I’ve looked and looked and put out various spider repelling remedies, but I haven’t found any concrete evidence that they’re still around. Could just be paranoia. But I swear the other night I woke up and just as I was about to nod off again, I saw a spider crouched on the edge of my nightstand, watching me.
Of course it wasn’t there when I sat up.
It bothers me, though. I’m worried that the lady in chains had another ally than just Jessie and that they’re still out there and that the spiders answer to them. Since the lady with extra eyes isn’t willing to see me yet I can’t ask her to maybe call them off, please? Perhaps she can’t. Perhaps that’s why she doesn’t want to see me yet. Cursed or not, she caused me a lot of suffering and that’s not the kind of guilt you easily get over.
Although guilt is a foreign concept to most of these inhuman things. They aren’t like us. I think the lady can feel remorse, at least.
If she’s not going to see me then I need to be more aggressive about getting my answers in other ways.
I called the old sheriff first. He refused to help on grounds of “my wife is giving me that look again” and so I left it at that.
Then I went and found Bryan. I’m not sure what kind of relationship he and the fairy have - if they have one at all - but I figure since his family is originally from Ireland he’s my best bet. And Bryan… well, he lectured me on folklore. Me. I mean, he wasn’t wrong, but it was a bit galling I have to admit. I guess I’ve been getting spoiled by just putting out a bottle of booze and having the man with the skull cup show up.
Speaking of him, Bryan also let me in on something he’s noticed that concerns him. The appearance of the man with the skull cup changed for him. He didn’t realize it at first, as he saw him from a distance and wasn’t certain if he was carrying a skull or something else. But then he described him and I was able to tell him that yes, that was the man with the skull cup.
His appearance has changed to match what I see.
I am rather alarmed by this and am wondering if there’s side-effects to whatever bond I created between us.
Bryan is going to ask around the staff and see if they’ve noticed the same thing. In the meantime, I get to deal with the fairy, and the method of finding them seemed very obvious when Bryan pointed it out to me.
Fairies show up when you need them - if they care to. They’re a bit unreliable. Otherwise you have to go searching for them and merely wandering through the forest until I get annoyed at my campers isn’t enough. I had to really search. The one story I’m thinking of had the hero searching for years. Reluctantly, I went back out into the forest and this time I stayed out until I felt I would collapse and then kept going. I was out until dawn the first night. Did it again the next. Then, after a few days of this, I saw a light approaching between the trees. I was hesitant at first, because it could also be the lights, so I waited for it to come to me. That’s a good way to tell if it’s not rule #3. Rule #3 will lead you somewhere. If it’s something else, it’ll come to you.
Granted, it still might be something unpleasant, but at least on my campground the odds are it’s either the fairy or another camper with a lantern, in favor of the latter.
I lowered my gaze respectfully as they approached. The deer paused a few feet away and I stared down at its slender hooves, listening to its heavy breathing. It wasn’t alone. It was surrounded by the sound of rapid panting and I raised my eyes slightly to see a myriad of paws, covered with shaggy black fur.
The fairy had Bryan’s hounds with them.
“You sought me out,” the fairy said.
“I did. This is a bad year.”
“It is. But it is not the first. What do you want from me?”
I had to do a bit of thinking on what I would ask them. This is not the sort of entity that you can just sit and theorize with, like some of you do in the comments. I had to be precise. One question.
I asked what causes bad years.
Not this bad year in particular. All of them. Why they happen at all. Why all the creatures on my land suddenly develop this hunger that can only be sated by predation on my campers, my staff, or my family.
Certainly, more specific information on this particular bad year would probably help me solve it quicker, but sure would be nice if I could help out whoever comes after me as well.
The fairy considered for a moment and said that they could certainly answer this, but that they didn’t think I wanted to be in debt to them for the information. Better I pay upfront, so to speak. I asked what they wanted. They made a show of considering, as I have no doubt that they knew exactly what to ask for even before they approached me. They probably thought it up days ago, when I first started searching for them. When they spoke again, it was evenly and deliberately enough that I knew this was not some answer given on a whim. They had a plan.
They wanted entertainment, they said. This land was dull, so far from home and kin, and the lesser creatures that shared the campground were uninteresting. It wanted a hunt.
And I guess I didn’t really get a choice, because no sooner had they said it than a shiver ran down my spine, I closed my eyes on reflex, and when I opened them again my perspective had shifted. My line of sight had changed. I could see more of the world around me and the colors were different. I can’t say how they were. They were just… different. I don’t think there is a way to translate how I perceived the world into human terms. I just remember that I saw two things of importance - the threat behind me and the escape in front of me.
I’d been transformed into a white doe.
And now the hunt was on.
The dogs like me. I give them treats. Okay, sometimes I get upset with them when they dig up the horse bones but that’s because I bring them bones from the butcher but nooo those aren’t good enough for them, they want some dirty bones that have lain moldering in the ground for I don’t even know how long. Otherwise, we get along. I give them ear scritches and they lick my face.
However, when the fairy gave the command to chase, it was like I had never existed. They broke from its side, paws churning as they ran, jaws dripping saliva as they opened their mouths to bay with the excitement of the hunt.
I ran.
There was little thought to it. I just... ran. I didn’t think about the past, I didn’t think about the future, my mind was utterly focused on only what was happening right now. Running. The movement of my legs. The beating of my heart. There was a peace in it that I don’t think I’ve known for a long time now. As I write this with my human hands, I feel the fear of death, as the little girl cries at my window. I feel the weight of my responsibilities - not just dealing with the inhuman things, but things like whether my budget was correct and if my campground will survive this year or if I can put off barn maintenance and if not, who I will hire to do it. As a human I feel slow and tired and I wonder how much of this is just because I hate running and how much is because I’m weighed down by all these fears and thoughts.
As a deer, I could just… run.
I’m not sure how long the dogs chased me. I remember some close calls, having to change direction in a split second as a dog’s jaws snapped at my neck, of having to jump as a dog grabbed for my leg. And the presence of the pursuing rider behind me, ever a distant concern in my mind no matter how close or how near it was. I never checked to see if the fairy was gaining or spared a thought to wonder what would happen if it caught up. There was only flight. Nothing else.
Then I hit something.
I can say I’ve never experienced this, but there it was a sensation like what I imagine running into a wall of Jell-O would be. I sank into it, my body slowing and the air in my throat felt thick and for a brief moment I felt like I was floating, like I wasn’t inside my body. The pressure stopped me but the deer kept running. It burst out on the other side and kept going and the hounds maintained pursuit, with the fairy on their steed bringing up the rear. Then they were all gone, vanishing into the trees, and my body was my own again.
The pressure was gone. I stumbled and looked down at my hands - I was human once more.
And the world around me wasn’t quite the campground I knew so well.
They were my trees, but they were the color of slate. The ground beneath my feet was like ash and the sky was the color of an overcast day, but not a cloud was in sight.
I was in the gray world.
My mouth felt dry. Was this what the fairy had intended? To send me here, of all places? Or had it just been dumb luck in evading the dogs? Regardless of how it happened, I had to focus on getting out. My uncle’s story about that creature that pursued him was at the forefront of my mind.
Seek the highest hill. I mentally took stock of my surroundings and tried to think of where the nearest hill would be. My entire campground can actually be divided into three parts. There’s the top, which is the crest of the hill and has some of the steepest slopes. We use it for parking. Sometimes if it rains too much the cars slide down the hill and then we have to get the truck to tow them out.
Don’t bring a nice car camping. It’s just not a good idea, regardless of where you’re going.
Then there’s the fields and the start of the forest, which is all roughly on the same plain. Head deeper into the woods and you go down another hill and you’re at the lowest point, which is why the deep woods tends to turn into a mudhole during rainy years.
I was still in the deep woods. There was a lot of hiking to do if I were to make it to the highest hill - if it actually worked that way. My uncle found the master of the gray land just by going up one hill that led from the deep woods to the fields.
I would go up the same incline. It was the fastest route to the highest hill.
I found the missing golf cart and four-wheeler at the base of it. They were covered in rust and their paint was peeling off in big gray chips, curling back like dried leaves. The metal was breaking apart in some places as well, cracked and flaking like dried mud. Turning to ash. The vehicles were dissolving. I thought this seemed reasonable. They were human things. They didn’t belong here.
And I wonder where that thought came from.
I went up the hill and it didn’t stretch on eternally, as it had for my uncle. I reached the top and beyond that was a small field that currently housed a cluster of camps for our big event. Their tents were visible like gray blankets, hanging limply in the still air. No people were visible. Just their belongings, washed of all color. I recognized the senior camp off to the left, just after the car-eating ditch that someone gets their tire stuck in every year.
I was halfway through the field when I felt like something was watching me.
Uneasily, I turned around. In the distance, at the crest of the hill, was a cluster of lights. They were like the glow of a candle, but more golden, and they drifted lazily in a tight knot. I felt dread knot in my stomach as I stared at it, unable to make out any details. I kept walking, to the edge of the field and where the forest closed in again. Then I turned around.
They were halfway across the field now.
No, they weren’t the lights. The lights don’t pursue people. This was something else.
I quickened my pace a bit and when I turned around again, I found that they had matched it. I tried slowing down. Again, it kept the same distance from me. This was a little reassuring - it wasn’t trying to catch up. Perhaps it was just a curious observer. I kept walking, periodically glancing behind me, and then when I reached the large field where the forest stopped entirely I found that it had remained behind, staying in the trees.
I walked through the silent rows of tents, making for the highest hill in the campsite. There were more woods up there, a cluster that covered one side of the hill and half of the top. I’d circle around those, I thought, and stay out of the trees. Just in case. So I took the steep route to the top of the hill and the only reason it didn’t leave me winded was because I’ve hiked this damn hill way too many times in my life.
At the top I found a tree. A single tree. The forest was behind me and I felt disoriented for a moment, because wasn’t it to my left? Wasn’t I not yet at the top of the hill? And yet here I was, standing at the highest point, in a clearing with a single tree and the forest encircling me.
There was a creature in the tree. My uncle never described it clearly and neither did any of the campers that encountered it and I think this is because it can’t be described. The human mind is not equipped to experience it. Like a false memory or an impossible color, a thing that the mind invents because we were not given the tools to understand what is before us.
I perceived it as something immense. Something that towered to the heavens and beyond, something that consumed all available space in the world. And yet it sat nestled in the branches of the tree before me.
I approached it and asked if it was going to tell me how I died and then give me the choice to stay. It said it would not.
“It would not be an honest offer,” it said. “You cannot stay.”
Because I was the camp manager? No, it said. Because I would die. And it looked at something behind me and I turned around to look as well.
Something was coming. Something immense, a black stain on the clear gray sky, a pair of massive wings, the feathers tattered and trailing like smoke. I felt fear twist up inside me. It was like watching doom approaching, like watching the apocalypse descending from the heavens. Like the end of the world was drawing upon me, an open wound in the sky that winged ever closer.
“I would keep you to shelter you from your death,” the creature sighed behind me. “But that which follows you is persistent.”
I asked if that thing was causing the bad year. It said it didn’t know what I was speaking of and I had the feeling that it didn’t know what a year was. So instead I asked what that thing was. The wings looked like feathers, I said.
“That?” it said and it sounded dismissive. “No. It will consume everything when it gets here, but it is not what pursues you.”
Slowly, I lowered my gaze. Those lights were once again visible in the forest that I had left behind. It held motionless. Waiting.
“I - I need to leave,” I stammered, suddenly terrified.
I don’t know what they were. I just know I was deeply shaken by their presence, afraid of them in a way I haven’t been afraid before. I fear death. I fear the beast. I know that fear. But this… it was like standing on a precipice and wondering what comes after the fall.
“Indeed you do,” it said. “None of you belong here.”
I opened my mouth to ask what it meant by that and then I found myself back in the forest. At the top of the parking lot hill, where I’d hiked to in the gray world. I was, thankfully, still human and somewhere in the distance I could hear the barking of the dogs. I shuddered for the white deer, for I knew in my heart it wasn’t going to end well for it.
Or perhaps it has no notion of a good or bad death. We are all born to die, after all.
Either way, I had no desire to intervene on its behalf. One narrow escape was enough for me. I returned to the house and the first thing I did when I got home was call Bryan. Yes, it was four in the morning. I didn’t care. I woke his ass up and asked if he was aware his dogs weren’t at home right now. He was. The fairy had asked to borrow them. Was there a problem?
I took a deep breath.
“Do you… often loan the fairy your dogs?” I asked, trying to stay calm.
“Oh sure. Why, is there a problem?”
At which point I said something like ‘holy shit Bryan they about murdered the fuck out of me tonight’ and he was appalled and deeply apologetic and I don’t think it was just because I have the ability to fire him and he said he’d ask the fairy what they wanted with the hounds next time and make sure it wasn’t ‘to kill your boss with’ or anything.
The fairy came and found me the next day. During the daylight, thank goodness, so I didn’t have to stay out all night again. It was right in the middle of the road, too, but the campers staying here just walked right past, oblivious to us both and the giant deer upon which the fairy was mounted.
“Did you mean to send me to the gray world?” I asked.
“I have no control over that. Nor was it my intent.”
“Does our bargain still count, then?”
It did. They were at fault, they said. The transformation may have drawn me closer to the gray world. Besides, it was a good hunt. They were entertained. It would answer my question about the bad years.
They told me that I was correct in that the boundaries are weakening. This is normal. There is a cycle to old land, moments of time when the balance of power is in flux and those affected by it can reassert their authority. An upheaval in the unwritten treaty that they’ve all established, essentially. This is the cause of what I’ve been calling ‘bad years’. A cyclical phenomenon.
It is not entirely voluntary. Even the creatures that normally wouldn’t care to hunt feel it, down to their bones, and their hunger compels them.
The chains. Those damned chains. The lady was trapped by them. I’m sure of it.
“The land is forcing everything on it to pick a side,” the fairy told me. “Yours… or their own. And for most of them, your side is not an option.”
I repeated everything the fairy had said in my own words to make sure I understood it. The fairy waited patiently which I think is a lot more generous than every other entity on this land. Looking at you, man with the skull cup. The bad years are part of a natural cycle that happens on old land, then, and the balance of power between the inhabitants is thrown up in the air for grabs. The humans get caught in the crossfire because this power struggle makes them all hungry and if they kill the current owner of the land they get, what, bonus points?
Close enough, the fairy said dismissively. Enough to suffice.
“But the man with the skull cup chose my side?” I asked, incredulous.
“You offered. He accepted.”
I’d refilled his cup. An offering.
“And if he’d refused?”
“You would have died by his hand, as payment for disobeying his warning and emptying the cup.”
Cool, so I guess I owe a life debt to him? That’s another thing I can add to the list of worries keeping me up at night.
“So what happens if I survive the bad year?” I asked.
“The cycle starts again.”
I asked what would happen if I died. They looked at me for a long pause and I thought they weren’t going to answer at all. Then…
“It depends on who kills you,” they said. “It would have been disastrous for your kind if the man with no shadow had succeeded.”
I don’t want to even contemplate what would happen to this land and the town if he were the dominant creature around here. But I have to admit it makes a lot more sense what he was trying to do now - he probably couldn’t take most of the creatures around here in a straight fight and so he opted to take over the land through deceit by being the puppetmaster of the current manager.
Ngl I’m a little sad we didn’t get to see the man with the skull cup - or heck, anyone - kicking his ass. In my head I’m envisioning it like chasing down the shitty kid from school and sitting on his back and shoving snow down his shirt until he cries. Not that I know what that looks like.
....I probably should have been suspended at least twice as a kid.
“And you? Whose side are you on?” I asked of the fairy.
It’s a reasonable thing to be concerned about. They hefted their hunting spear and turned to their mount.
“No one’s,” they said. “I don’t care who controls this land. I am not some lesser creature to squabble over scraps.”
I can’t help but feel a little offended to hear my land referred to as scraps, but this is also a fairy we’re talking about. However, it does confirm what I’ve wondered about for a while. The fairy isn’t here because this is old land. It didn’t seem to care about that. It’s here for some other reason.
I am deeply suspicious of Bryan and the fact that he’s my employee is what’s keeping me from publicly speculating right now.
I’m a campground manager. But heck that was a lot more than I bargained for. I mean… what is going on with the gray world? Was any of that normal? That’s a rhetorical question, there is literally no way any of us can know that, though if you’ve been to the gray world please message me because I’m at a loss here.
Otherwise, I’m a little disappointed with the answers, because it means that this isn’t something I can actually stop for good. It’s going to keep happening. I suppose all I can do is prepare for it. Though it does have me wondering - which creature came out on top the last time this happened?
I’ll be honest: my money is on the thing in the dark.
The fairy had said that most of the creatures on this land can’t choose my side. Not all, though. I think… when I next see the lady with extra eyes I’m going to offer. I saved her from the chains. Perhaps that is enough to bring her to my side and give me another inhuman ally in this bad year.
But I’m also going to bring a gun and that knife. Just in case.
I’m not about to let myself become some inhuman thing’s extra credit. [x]
Not that they aren't gunning for me.
Read the full list of rules.
Visit the campground's website.
submitted by fainting--goat to nosleep [link] [comments]

Forretress: Championship-Winning Pokémon (A Comprehensive PvP Analysis)

With apologies to the band "Dead Or Alive", let's have a musical intro!
🎶 All I know is that to me,
♭ You look like you're lots of fun!
♬ Spinning, spinning, while you farm
♭ Watch out here it comes!
🎶 You spin me right round, Forret
♫ Right round, take me into orbit
♭ Circle Worlds round round
🎶 You spin me right round, Forret
♬ Right round, like a record, tore it
♭ Open at Worlds now....
So this past weekend was easily one of the most exciting and rewarding yet for fans of Pokémon GO PvP, as the second season of The Silph Arena concluded with an action-packed World Championship round robin tournament between the final four competitors. Now if you are not particularly a fan of The Arena, don't just tune this out... I HIGHLY recommend you check out the recording of the livestream. If you enjoy PoGO PvP play in any form, even if you've only ever done GO Battle League or battles with friends, I promise you, you will still enjoy the clips. This is the pinnacle of PvP play, and it was an absolute delight to see the best of the best going at it with teams resembling something you would actually see in GBL. Check it out if you haven't already... you won't be disappointed, I guarantee it.
But this is not a promo for The Arena. 😄 I'm here because in chat during the tournament, in discussion servers since, and even in private messages directly to me, everyone is suddenly asking about the mascot Pokémon of the championship winning team that was a key part of carrying SpeediestChief to victory in Continentals AND at Worlds... and that Pokémon is Forretress. And so today, in honor of Speediest's impressive sweep and to directly address all those many questions, we're going to take a comprehensive look at this surprising superstar and examine its merits in open PvP (read as: GO Battle League). Does this Spinning Golf Ball Of Doom have a place? I believe the answer is "yes", but of course the devil is always in the details. So let's dive in!

FORRETRESS

Bug/Steel Type
Attack: 111 (109 High Stat Product)
Defense: 142 (144 High Stat Product)
HP: 128 (132 High Stat Product)
(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-9-15, 1500 CP, Level 25.5)
There are many Steely Bugs in the game now, but it's easy to forget that Forretress and Scizor used to be the only ones we had at all. Their arrival in GO was exciting at the time, with their long list of resistances--Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Steel, Bug, and double resistances to Poison and Grass--and only a single weakness (a double vulnerability to Fire damage). In a way, this puts Steel Bug on par with the infamous Mud Boys, who also have but a single (albeit 2x) weakness to be exploited and stand up pretty well to most everything else.
Forret also has bulk akin to some of the more famous Mud Boys, roughly equal to both Whiscash and Quagsire overall. (Lower HP than both, but also significantly higher Defense, so it all basically evens out in the end.) As we'll see in a moment with a look at Forret's moves, Forretress is not as spammy as, say, Whiscash with its blindingly fast Mud Shot/Mud Bomb combo, Forret can hang in there just about as long, or often longer thanks to having nearly twice as many resistances. There's a reason its name is so close to "fortress"!
We're off to a good start, with Forret having both favorable typing AND a very favorable PvP stat spread... high bulk with enough Attack to still do some work. Let's see what it has to work with....
Fast Moves:
Bug Bite (Bug, 3.0 DPT, 3.0 EPT, 0.5 CoolDown)
Struggle Bug (Bug, 3.0 DPT, 2.67 EPT, 1.5 CD)
So the choice here is rather obvious... it's Bug Bite or bust. Struggle Bug is just worse in every way... slower, no better in damage, and less energy gain. You could say that trying to use it is a... struggle. 😅
Bug Bite is a very "blue collar" move... it doesn't do anything complicated, doesn't "wow" you, but it reliably puts in good work day in and day out. The game NEEDS moves like Bug Bite: average performers that trail other options in their typing, but also make you appreciate "average" in comparison to other lackluster moves. You know how Water Gun applies consistent pressure with things like Rainy Castform and Blastoise, and Lick builds up to moves for Snorlax and Munchlax sufficiently enough to make their Body Slams feel spammy? Well Bug Bite is an exact clone of each of those moves (save for typing, of course). It has exactly average damage output and energy generation, but the fact that it does both acceptably and doesn't sink below 3.0 in either makes it a fine move. Nothing to make any headlines, but good enough.
So a quick note on what being a Bug move means, especially since the only Bug damage Forretress can do is with its fast moves. Bug moves have a reputation of being generally poor, and one can see why by looking at the things that resist it: Fighting, Fire, Flying, Poison, Steel, Ghost, AND Fairy. Ouch, that is a long list. But what people miss, I think, is what Bug is super effective against. Grass is well documented, but also Psychic AND Dark, making Bug the only type in the game that hits both of those super effectively. And THAT has value when you consider the number of impactful Darks and Psychics AND Grasses around. And fortunately, Forret has some charge moves that help make up for those resistances too....
Charge Moves:
Mirror Shot (Steel, 35 damage, 35 energy, 30% Chance to Decrease Opponent Attack -1 Stage)
Sand Tomb (Ground, 25 damage, 40 energy. Decreases Opponent Defense -1 Stage)
Heavy Slam (Steel, 70 damage, 50 energy)
Rock Tomb (Rock, 70 damage, 60 energy)
Earthquake (Ground, 120 damage, 65 energy)
Return (Normal, 130 damage, 70 energy)
I bet most of you had no idea that humble little Forretress had such a wide array of charge moves. Prior to Speediest's big run, Forret's last moment of really being in the spotlight was at the tail end of The Silph Arena Season 1... and Season 2 just wrapped up. And back then it was basically stuck with Earthquake and either Heavy Slam or Rock Tomb... aka, no real bait potential. You basically just hoped Forret could hang in there long enough to reach a couple charge moves or Bug Bite something down, usually Grasses in the Cups where it made a splash thanks to its double resistance.
These days, though, Forret packs not one, but TWO potential bait moves with built-in stat reducers that can swing the game in your favor even when they're blocked. Sand Tomb comes with a guaranteed nerf to the opponent's Defense, which is fantastic on 'mons with high damage fast moves (Torterra and its Razor Leaf being a shining example of how brutal Sand Tomb's nerf can be), though perhaps not quite so much with Forret's average Bug Biting. It also shares a typing with generally preferred secondary move Earthquake, providing no additional coverage with its damage output. Perhaps more interesting--and the bait move selected by SpeediestChief--is Mirror Shot, which probably needs little introduction for anyone that has faced the incredibly annoying (sorry sorry, bias showing through there... but I HATE facing this 'mon! 🤬) Magnezone in GO Battle League. Not only is it a decent little bait move, tied for cheapest charge move in the game at only 35 energy, but it at least deals some damage, and of a useful typing: Steel. That means that despite Bug Bite being resisted, straight spamming of Mirror Shot gives Forretress wins over every Charmer in Great League, including Wigglytuff, Clefable, Gardevoir, and Togekiss (which DOUBLE resists Bug Bite and resists Forret's Ground moves as well). Mirror Shot also aids against Ghosts that resist Bug Bite, such as Froslass (who is actually weak to Mirror Shot's Steel typing) and Sableye. And while Bug Bite alone is not quite enough to do in very bulky things weak to it, like Umbreon and Defense Deoxys, the extra chip damage from Mirror Shot flips both Umbry and DD to wins. Heck, it even very nearly beats the likes of Altaria, Dewgong, and Lapras (and that last one can flip to at least a tie with good IVs on Forretress). In fairness to Sand Tomb, it shares several of those same wins (and uniquely can beat Ferrothorn), but Sand Tomb doesn't get Sableye or Froslass and only barely beats the others Mirror Shot wins, especially versus the Charmers... WAY too close for any kind of comfort! Mirror Shot seems a better move overall, being both cheaper than Sand Tomb and having a more useful typing.
So then, as mentioned above, the "standard" second move to run on Forret after that is Earthquake. It lacks STAB, but it's just a very good move for the cost and a nice "catch all" that hits all the things that resist Bug Bite for at least neutral damage except for Flying, and hits three of the four typings that resist Mirror Shot (Steel, Fire, and Electric) not just neutrally, but super effectively (the fourth, Water, is hit for neutral). Putting it all together, Bug Bite and Earthquake combine to hit everything that isn't Flying for at least neutral damage, and Mirror Shot can chunk Flyers (as seen with Altaria above) well enough to at least maim them on the way out.
So putting that all together shows a potentially godly performance in Great League that probably has folks saying louder than ever "why doesn't anyone run Forretress in GBL!?!". You'll see Dewgong and Lapras flip to full-on wins, as well as Ferrothorn and other Steels Bastiodon, Melmetal, and Galaraian Stunfisk, plus regular Stunfisk and fellow Electric type Alolan Raichu, and even bulky Munchlax and Whiscash. The big caveat--and the reason that Forretress hasn't popped up left and right--is that many of those wins I just listed require baiting a shield with Mirror Shot and then sneaking an Earthquake through unshielded. Not ALL are that way, though. Forret's bulk allows it to hang around to actually perform decently enough without any baiting at all (just straight Earthquakes), still getting Grasses and Charmers and big Psychics (Cress, Hypno, AhChu) and Darks (Umbreon and Zweilous), and really, that's not a bad group and would have been good enough to STILL earn a spot on SpeediestChief's winning team based on several of those listed being key pieces of opposing teams (especially his eventual opponent in the final match: Ventuski, with his Hypno, Umbreon, AND Venusaur all being directly countered by Forret without the need to bait). All that said, though... yes, Forretress can do several very good things with just Mirror Shot or even with just Earthquake, but to truly excel requires the proper and precise application of both, and THAT requires logging some practice time. BB/MS/EQ Forret represents the most ideal Forret available, which is why the Silph Arena Season 2 champion rolled with that himself, but it's more of a scalpel than a machete. There are some things it can just bowl over, but it's much better used only by someone who knows--REALLY knows--what they are doing. If you want to utilize it when Great League returns to GBL, then don't wait... start practicing now!
And just for comprehensiveness, I checked out #1 IV Forret and there are no new wins, just more effective wins against much of what "default" Forret already beats. And as for alternate shielding situations...
We aren't quite done, though. I know what some of you are already asking: what about Shadow Forretress? Weeeeeeeell... it's worth pointing out that Shadow Forret can take out Registeel on the strength of its boosted Earthquake, and beats Dewgong with notably more breathing room, but overall, it's not a great picture, honestly. Shadow Forret cannot reliably overcome Whiscash, either Stunfisk, Sableye, Melmetal, or Froslass, all things that normal Forretress is able to pull off. And Shadow Forret is not appreciably better in shieldless or 2v2 shielding scenarios either (really dropping off in those 2v2s, potentially gaining Medicham, which is good, but dropping the Charmers, the Stunfisks, Umbreon and Whiscash, which are all very bad). Shadow Forretress may give the opponent pause, but really, you're probably better off with regular ol' Forret in Great League.
But there's still more, as there are a couple other moves to consider, at least briefly. What of ol' reliable Heavy Slam, the cheapest move Forret had in days of yore when it was making a bit of a name for itself in early Silph Arena play? Well, perhaps the easiest way to tackle this one is to directly compare it to the other Steel move, Mirror Shot. So starting with the standard 1v1 shielding matchups, Heavy Slam shows a unique win against Air Slash Tropius... but uh, that's it. Mirror Shot matches all of its other wins, beats things like Venusaur and Zweilous and Meganium and Abomasnow with 30+ more HP remaining (and never trails Heavy Slam by more than 14 HP in shared wins), and tacks on the already-noted win against Sableye. And as the final nail in the case for Heavy Slam, it simply does not have anywhere near the same "ceiling" as does Mirror Shot when paired with Earthquake... it just cannot set up Quake nearly as well as Mirror Shot can. I don't see much of a case for Heavy Slam Forret anymore, honestly.
We already kinda looked at Sand Tomb, but just a reminder that it offers nothing in terms of unique coverage, and therefore does okay with Earthquake, with a win over Registeel to its name, but Mirror Shot can get Munchlax, Dewgong, and that Sableye win that keeps popping up instead, and almost always comes out of wins with more remaining HP than does Sand Tomb. I really think you're better off with the coverage, speed, and slightly better chip damage of Mirror Shot.
That just leaves the long-forgotten Rock Tomb. The clearest case for it is obviously protection against Flyers, giving it a tie with Altaria, as an example, while it DOES still hold most Grasses, Psychics, and Darks you care about as well. But it does absolutely nothing to help Earthquake, and while you CAN just replace Quake with it and try to bait it out with Mirror Shot, there is really no appreciable difference between that and just going straight Rock Tomb. You still only manage to tie--not defeat--Altaria, for example. Rock Tomb is even very disappointing with shields down, getting Mantine but STILL failing to take down Altaria or other notable Flyers. Booooo.
And I won't blast you with all the sims, but yes, I did again look at Shadow Forret with each of these, and no, it really isn't any better. No crazy edge cases here that make these other moves work... sorry!
So, the final FINAL thing I'll look at: what about Ultra League? Yes, Forret tops out below 2300 CP, but there are some Pokémon in that range that still find a way to compete at that level. Can the Golf Ball Of Doom join their company? Well, it's at least viable. It still chews through all the Grasses, including Ferrothorn now, as well as Charmers (well, aside from Togekiss that just out-tanks those Mirror Shots at this level of play). Forret can still beat Cresselia and Lapras, beats Melmetal, beats fellow Steely Bug Scizor, and can take out Ice Fang Feraligatr, Armored Mewtwo (even with Dynamic Punch), and Alolan Muk as well, and can outlast Shadow Snorlax too (no matter how S-Lax plays it). It's not a super expansive body of work that catches your eye, but I think that kind of performance could fit very well on some teams.
Okay, yes, that's finally it. I'm done rambling now! I did say "comprehensive" when I kicked this all off, if you remember. 😁 Here's your TL;DR: Forretress is a tanky little guy in Great League that terrorizes Grasses, Charmers, Psychics, Ices, the big Darks, and even both Stunfisks. It very much has a place in Great League, but requires some degree of finesse and experience to achieve peak potential. If you're looking for something different and surprisingly potent when Great League returns to GBL, give Forret a...well, a spin! It even makes a case in Ultra League, carving out a niche role, but a very good niche role that could fit like a glove on teams weak to Grass, Psychic, Charm, and even some Steels and Ices.
As always, the simulated battles above from my go-to simming resource at PvPoke.com are a good start to the story, but they are certainly not the whole story. Run some sims yourself, try out Forretress in GBL yourself, and please: discuss! I always love to hear your feedback and any discussions that come out of these deeper dives.
Thanks for reading, and I sincerely hope this and my other writings are able to help you in your own PvP journey!
Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for near-daily PvP analysis nuggets or Patreon if you want to reach me more directly.
Good luck out there, and stay safe, Pokéfriends!
submitted by JRE47 to TheSilphRoad [link] [comments]

I’ll say it right off the bat, I was drunk in my last two posts about this game, before the update, but now that we have the update....now it’s really fucked.

3 holes? What happens to 9 and 18 holes?
Wtf. Quick match 2-4 player, but it’s only 4 holes?
I’m at my wits end. When golf club merged with 2k I honestly thought it would be awesome. But nope. It’s honestly the worst thing to ever happen to the Golf Club.
On Ps4 pro, I’ve only been able to play 1v1 head to head. With the new update I thought they would actually fix some online issues, but nope. Instead of fixing the online shit, they just added new bullshit game types that nobody wants to play lmao.
It’s a fucking golf game! We want to play 9, or 18! 3 hole stroke play? We literally spend 20 minutes in a lobby, if we can even find a game, and play 3 holes in 15 minutes. We spend more time finding a fucking game then we do playing online with people.
Like god damn. This is honestly up there with when I bought No Mans Sky and returned it as soon as played it. Fallout 76. Physical copies. Bought of course I bought this digital cause I thought it would be amazing with 2k servers and online.
Nope. It’s fucking trash. I’m so fucking dissappobteld in this shit. Go back and play golf club 2. Worse graphics, but it was so much better when it came to online play. WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU ADD 3 HOLE GAME TYPES!? It’s fucking golf! 9, or 18 holes.
Good god. Make high rollers 9 or 18 holes, not just 3 holes, same with quick match 2-4 players, make it 9-17 holes. WTF were you thinking making it 3 holes?
Jesus. Rant over. I’ll still play this fucking game, but I have no clue what they were thinking. This isn’t fucking golf clash on mobile, we want to play 9 holes or 18 holes. Double the bet for 18. Fuck 3 holes.
I love playing 3 holes and spending more time in loading screens than actually playing golf lmao
Like wtf. Maybe next year they will learn from this and 2k21 will be better. I’m just glad this fuxking game doesn’t have pay to win like the other 2k games.
submitted by SneakyPanduh to pga2k21 [link] [comments]

Under The Lights: Forretress

With apologies to the band "Dead Or Alive", let's have a musical intro!
🎶 All I know is that to me,
♭ You look like you're lots of fun!
♬ Spinning, spinning, while you farm
♭ Watch out here it comes!
🎶 You spin me right round, Forret
♫ Right round, take me into orbit
♭ Circle Worlds round round
🎶 You spin me right round, Forret
♬ Right round, like a record, tore it
♭ Open at Worlds now....
So this past weekend was easily one of the most exciting and rewarding yet for fans of Pokémon GO PvP, as the second season of The Silph Arena concluded with an action-packed World Championship round robin tournament between the final four competitors. Now if you are not particularly a fan of The Arena, don't just tune this out... I HIGHLY recommend you check out the recording of the livestream. If you enjoy PoGO PvP play in any form, even if you've only ever done GO Battle League or battles with friends, I promise you, you will still enjoy the clips. This is the pinnacle of PvP play, and it was an absolute delight to see the best of the best going at it with teams resembling something you would actually see in GBL. Check it out if you haven't already... you won't be disappointed, I guarantee it.
But this is not a promo for The Arena. 😄 I'm here because in chat during the tournament, in discussion servers since, and even in private messages directly to me, everyone is suddenly asking about the mascot Pokémon of the championship winning team that was a key part of carrying SpeediestChief to victory in Continentals AND at Worlds... and that Pokémon is Forretress. And so today, in honor of Speediest's impressive sweep and to directly address all those many questions, we're going to take a comprehensive look at this surprising superstar and examine its merits in open PvP (read as: GO Battle League). Does this Spinning Golf Ball Of Doom have a place? I believe the answer is "yes", but of course the devil is always in the details. So let's dive in!

FORRETRESS

Bug/Steel Type
Attack: 111 (109 High Stat Product)
Defense: 142 (144 High Stat Product)
HP: 128 (132 High Stat Product)
(Highest Stat Product IVs: 0-9-15, 1500 CP, Level 25.5)
There are many Steely Bugs in the game now, but it's easy to forget that Forretress and Scizor used to be the only ones we had at all. Their arrival in GO was exciting at the time, with their long list of resistances--Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Steel, Bug, and double resistances to Poison and Grass--and only a single weakness (a double vulnerability to Fire damage). In a way, this puts Steel Bug on par with the infamous Mud Boys, who also have but a single (albeit 2x) weakness to be exploited and stand up pretty well to most everything else.
Forret also has bulk akin to some of the more famous Mud Boys, roughly equal to both Whiscash and Quagsire overall. (Lower HP than both, but also significantly higher Defense, so it all basically evens out in the end.) As we'll see in a moment with a look at Forret's moves, Forretress is not as spammy as, say, Whiscash with its blindingly fast Mud Shot/Mud Bomb combo, Forret can hang in there just about as long, or often longer thanks to having nearly twice as many resistances. There's a reason its name is so close to "fortress"!
We're off to a good start, with Forret having both favorable typing AND a very favorable PvP stat spread... high bulk with enough Attack to still do some work. Let's see what it has to work with....
Fast Moves:
Bug Bite (Bug, 3.0 DPT, 3.0 EPT, 0.5 CoolDown)
Struggle Bug (Bug, 3.0 DPT, 2.67 EPT, 1.5 CD)
So the choice here is rather obvious... it's Bug Bite or bust. Struggle Bug is just worse in every way... slower, no better in damage, and less energy gain. You could say that trying to use it is a... struggle. 😅
Bug Bite is a very "blue collar" move... it doesn't do anything complicated, doesn't "wow" you, but it reliably puts in good work day in and day out. The game NEEDS moves like Bug Bite: average performers that trail other options in their typing, but also make you appreciate "average" in comparison to other lackluster moves. You know how Water Gun applies consistent pressure with things like Rainy Castform and Blastoise, and Lick builds up to moves for Snorlax and Munchlax sufficiently enough to make their Body Slams feel spammy? Well Bug Bite is an exact clone of each of those moves (save for typing, of course). It has exactly average damage output and energy generation, but the fact that it does both acceptably and doesn't sink below 3.0 in either makes it a fine move. Nothing to make any headlines, but good enough.
So a quick note on what being a Bug move means, especially since the only Bug damage Forretress can do is with its fast moves. Bug moves have a reputation of being generally poor, and one can see why by looking at the things that resist it: Fighting, Fire, Flying, Poison, Steel, Ghost, AND Fairy. Ouch, that is a long list. But what people miss, I think, is what Bug is super effective against. Grass is well documented, but also Psychic AND Dark, making Bug the only type in the game that hits both of those super effectively. And THAT has value when you consider the number of impactful Darks and Psychics AND Grasses around. And fortunately, Forret has some charge moves that help make up for those resistances too....
Charge Moves:
Mirror Shot (Steel, 35 damage, 35 energy, 30% Chance to Decrease Opponent Attack -1 Stage)
Sand Tomb (Ground, 25 damage, 40 energy. Decreases Opponent Defense -1 Stage)
Heavy Slam (Steel, 70 damage, 50 energy)
Rock Tomb (Rock, 70 damage, 60 energy)
Earthquake (Ground, 120 damage, 65 energy)
Return (Normal, 130 damage, 70 energy)
I bet most of you had no idea that humble little Forretress had such a wide array of charge moves. Prior to Speediest's big run, Forret's last moment of really being in the spotlight was at the tail end of The Silph Arena Season 1... and Season 2 just wrapped up. And back then it was basically stuck with Earthquake and either Heavy Slam or Rock Tomb... aka, no real bait potential. You basically just hoped Forret could hang in there long enough to reach a couple charge moves or Bug Bite something down, usually Grasses in the Cups where it made a splash thanks to its double resistance.
These days, though, Forret packs not one, but TWO potential bait moves with built-in stat reducers that can swing the game in your favor even when they're blocked. Sand Tomb comes with a guaranteed nerf to the opponent's Defense, which is fantastic on 'mons with high damage fast moves (Torterra and its Razor Leaf being a shining example of how brutal Sand Tomb's nerf can be), though perhaps not quite so much with Forret's average Bug Biting. It also shares a typing with generally preferred secondary move Earthquake, providing no additional coverage with its damage output. Perhaps more interesting--and the bait move selected by SpeediestChief--is Mirror Shot, which probably needs little introduction for anyone that has faced the incredibly annoying (sorry sorry, bias showing through there... but I HATE facing this 'mon! 🤬) Magnezone in GO Battle League. Not only is it a decent little bait move, tied for cheapest charge move in the game at only 35 energy, but it at least deals some damage, and of a useful typing: Steel. That means that despite Bug Bite being resisted, straight spamming of Mirror Shot gives Forretress wins over every Charmer in Great League, including Wigglytuff, Clefable, Gardevoir, and Togekiss (which DOUBLE resists Bug Bite and resists Forret's Ground moves as well). Mirror Shot also aids against Ghosts that resist Bug Bite, such as Froslass (who is actually weak to Mirror Shot's Steel typing) and Sableye. And while Bug Bite alone is not quite enough to do in very bulky things weak to it, like Umbreon and Defense Deoxys, the extra chip damage from Mirror Shot flips both Umbry and DD to wins. Heck, it even very nearly beats the likes of Altaria, Dewgong, and Lapras (and that last one can flip to at least a tie with good IVs on Forretress). In fairness to Sand Tomb, it shares several of those same wins (and uniquely can beat Ferrothorn), but Sand Tomb doesn't get Sableye or Froslass and only barely beats the others Mirror Shot wins, especially versus the Charmers... WAY too close for any kind of comfort! Mirror Shot seems a better move overall, being both cheaper than Sand Tomb and having a more useful typing.
So then, as mentioned above, the "standard" second move to run on Forret after that is Earthquake. It lacks STAB, but it's just a very good move for the cost and a nice "catch all" that hits all the things that resist Bug Bite for at least neutral damage except for Flying, and hits three of the four typings that resist Mirror Shot (Steel, Fire, and Electric) not just neutrally, but super effectively (the fourth, Water, is hit for neutral). Putting it all together, Bug Bite and Earthquake combine to hit everything that isn't Flying for at least neutral damage, and Mirror Shot can chunk Flyers (as seen with Altaria above) well enough to at least maim them on the way out.
So putting that all together shows a potentially godly performance in Great League that probably has folks saying louder than ever "why doesn't anyone run Forretress in GBL!?!". You'll see Dewgong and Lapras flip to full-on wins, as well as Ferrothorn and other Steels Bastiodon, Melmetal, and Galaraian Stunfisk, plus regular Stunfisk and fellow Electric type Alolan Raichu, and even bulky Munchlax and Whiscash. The big caveat--and the reason that Forretress hasn't popped up left and right--is that many of those wins I just listed require baiting a shield with Mirror Shot and then sneaking an Earthquake through unshielded. Not ALL are that way, though. Forret's bulk allows it to hang around to actually perform decently enough without any baiting at all (just straight Earthquakes), still getting Grasses and Charmers and big Psychics (Cress, Hypno, AhChu) and Darks (Umbreon and Zweilous), and really, that's not a bad group and would have been good enough to STILL earn a spot on SpeediestChief's winning team based on several of those listed being key pieces of opposing teams (especially his eventual opponent in the final match: Ventuski, with his Hypno, Umbreon, AND Venusaur all being directly countered by Forret without the need to bait). All that said, though... yes, Forretress can do several very good things with just Mirror Shot or even with just Earthquake, but to truly excel requires the proper and precise application of both, and THAT requires logging some practice time. BB/MS/EQ Forret represents the most ideal Forret available, which is why the Silph Arena Season 2 champion rolled with that himself, but it's more of a scalpel than a machete. There are some things it can just bowl over, but it's much better used only by someone who knows--REALLY knows--what they are doing. If you want to utilize it when Great League returns to GBL, then don't wait... start practicing now!
And just for comprehensiveness, I checked out #1 IV Forret and there are no new wins, just more effective wins against much of what "default" Forret already beats. And as for alternate shielding situations...
We aren't quite done, though. I know what some of you are already asking: what about Shadow Forretress? Weeeeeeeell... it's worth pointing out that Shadow Forret can take out Registeel on the strength of its boosted Earthquake, and beats Dewgong with notably more breathing room, but overall, it's not a great picture, honestly. Shadow Forret cannot reliably overcome Whiscash, either Stunfisk, Sableye, Melmetal, or Froslass, all things that normal Forretress is able to pull off. And Shadow Forret is not appreciably better in shieldless or 2v2 shielding scenarios either (really dropping off in those 2v2s, potentially gaining Medicham, which is good, but dropping the Charmers, the Stunfisks, Umbreon and Whiscash, which are all very bad). Shadow Forretress may give the opponent pause, but really, you're probably better off with regular ol' Forret in Great League.
But there's still more, as there are a couple other moves to consider, at least briefly. What of ol' reliable Heavy Slam, the cheapest move Forret had in days of yore when it was making a bit of a name for itself in early Silph Arena play? Well, perhaps the easiest way to tackle this one is to directly compare it to the other Steel move, Mirror Shot. So starting with the standard 1v1 shielding matchups, Heavy Slam shows a unique win against Air Slash Tropius... but uh, that's it. Mirror Shot matches all of its other wins, beats things like Venusaur and Zweilous and Meganium and Abomasnow with 30+ more HP remaining (and never trails Heavy Slam by more than 14 HP in shared wins), and tacks on the already-noted win against Sableye. And as the final nail in the case for Heavy Slam, it simply does not have anywhere near the same "ceiling" as does Mirror Shot when paired with Earthquake... it just cannot set up Quake nearly as well as Mirror Shot can. I don't see much of a case for Heavy Slam Forret anymore, honestly.
We already kinda looked at Sand Tomb, but just a reminder that it offers nothing in terms of unique coverage, and therefore does okay with Earthquake, with a win over Registeel to its name, but Mirror Shot can get Munchlax, Dewgong, and that Sableye win that keeps popping up instead, and almost always comes out of wins with more remaining HP than does Sand Tomb. I really think you're better off with the coverage, speed, and slightly better chip damage of Mirror Shot.
That just leaves the long-forgotten Rock Tomb. The clearest case for it is obviously protection against Flyers, giving it a tie with Altaria, as an example, while it DOES still hold most Grasses, Psychics, and Darks you care about as well. But it does absolutely nothing to help Earthquake, and while you CAN just replace Quake with it and try to bait it out with Mirror Shot, there is really no appreciable difference between that and just going straight Rock Tomb. You still only manage to tie--not defeat--Altaria, for example. Rock Tomb is even very disappointing with shields down, getting Mantine but STILL failing to take down Altaria or other notable Flyers. Booooo.
And I won't blast you with all the sims, but yes, I did again look at Shadow Forret with each of these, and no, it really isn't any better. No crazy edge cases here that make these other moves work... sorry!
So, the final FINAL thing I'll look at: what about Ultra League? Yes, Forret tops out below 2300 CP, but there are some Pokémon in that range that still find a way to compete at that level. Can the Golf Ball Of Doom join their company? Well, it's at least viable. It still chews through all the Grasses, including Ferrothorn now, as well as Charmers (well, aside from Togekiss that just out-tanks those Mirror Shots at this level of play). Forret can still beat Cresselia and Lapras, beats Melmetal, beats fellow Steely Bug Scizor, and can take out Ice Fang Feraligatr, Armored Mewtwo (even with Dynamic Punch), and Alolan Muk as well, and can outlast Shadow Snorlax too (no matter how S-Lax plays it). It's not a super expansive body of work that catches your eye, but I think that kind of performance could fit very well on some teams.
Okay, yes, that's finally it. I'm done rambling now! I did say "comprehensive" when I kicked this all off, if you remember. 😁 Here's your TL;DR: Forretress is a tanky little guy in Great League that terrorizes Grasses, Charmers, Psychics, Ices, the big Darks, and even both Stunfisks. It very much has a place in Great League, but requires some degree of finesse and experience to achieve peak potential. It even makes a case in Ultra League, carving out a niche role, but a very good niche role that could fit like a glove on teams weak to Grass, Psychic, Charm, and even some Steels and Ices.
As always, the simulated battles above from my go-to simming resource at PvPoke.com are a good start to the story, but they are certainly not the whole story. Run some sims yourself, try out Forretress in GBL yourself, and please: discuss! I always love to hear your feedback and any discussions that come out of these deeper dives.
Thanks for reading, and I sincerely hope this and my other writings are able to help you in your own PvP journey!
Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for near-daily PvP analysis nuggets or Patreon if you want to reach me more directly.
Good luck out there, and stay safe, Pokéfriends!
submitted by JRE47 to TheSilphArena [link] [comments]

Clubhouse Games: 34 Frustrations

The more I play Clubhouse Games the more annoyed I get over how phoned-in it is. It looks great but I’d rather have worse graphics if it meant better gameplay.
I have about 80 hours in the game so far. I’ve played everything at least a few times: online and not, with friends or strangers. At a certain point, the novelty of the game wears off and your left with something incredibly subpar. Nothing about this game really feels broken but nothing feels incredibly polished either (except for the graphics but they’ve even managed to mess those up). I know I’m about to list off a bunch of minor annoyances but I don’t think expecting a first party Nintendo game to feel like it’s worth $40 is too much to ask.
I am interested in people’s opinions so I’ll try to keep things organized.
Clubhouse Games
  1. There are no global options whatsoever, and individual game options need to be set and reset often. You can’t change the volume for sound effects or music, you can’t turn the announcer off. It’d be nice to be able to disable intros, set all games to the hardest difficulty, or set favorites. Things like that wouldn’t be all that difficult to put in and would only make the experience better for everybody.
Single System
  1. Why does the game start with the worst possible UI option? Unless you love mancala, having games set up in a line isn’t useful (and even then you may want to play something else from time to time). You have to press X to change the menu every single time. The line is a cool presentation but it shouldn’t be the default.
  2. There is no way to sort games. They are not arranged in any particular order. It’d be cool if they were organized alphabetically or by age or region or players or game type but instead we get them loosely thrown together.
  3. Just to get this out the way now, there are not enough games for 3 or 4 people, despite a lot of these being games that support that many players.
Dots and Boxes
  1. Full analogue control is unnecessary. There should be the option to use the D pad to navigate the grid. Also this is an incredibly bare game for what is essentially color and paper. Being able to change the size and shape of the play space would be nice, as would different visual options.
Yacht Dice
  1. Mostly fine, the fact that it doesn’t snap to the category with the most points is weird.
Hex
  1. Same aesthetic complaint as D&B. Otherwise it’s fine and the grid based movement feels way better.
Hare and Hounds
  1. Why is there no option to randomize which player is which? That’s literally what happens online.
Chinese Checkers / Ludo
  1. Why can’t you pick your own color?
Shogi / Mini Shogi / Hanafuda
  1. Why aren’t Global and Classic purely cosmetic? Like, why do both players have to use the same setting? Just make it so each player can use the version they’re most comfortable with in the same game. This is a bigger problem online where they’re considered two different games.
Last Card
  1. The option to draw 1, or draw until you have a matching card should be in here, which is a pretty common house rule.
  2. Where you sit at the table doesn’t change nor can you can’t change the total number of players (uno itself can support up to 10 people). This makes friend matches somewhat boring because you’re always seated next to them.
  3. Declaring last card and playing the selected card should be the same action. It’s not like people still wouldn’t mess it up.
Blackjack
  1. This game is broken. You can go negative, which means there’s no incentive to place a reasonable bet. Why not just start the player with 500 if they can rack up debt? This is especially strange because in Texas you lose if you run out of money.
Texas Hold ‘em
  1. The betting system is better but it’s not great. Why can’t we choose how much we want to bet?
President
  1. Are five rounds necessary? The only thing that matters is who wins the last game so why not have a one round option?
Speed
  1. The selection mechanic doesn’t make sense and doesn’t always cooperate, which is problematic for such a high intensity game. Why not map the four cards to buttons and put the deck selection on the triggers?
Matching
  1. Same as #5. There’s no advantage to full analogue controls here.
Takoyaki
  1. Combos should snap to the appropriate card automatically. You get nothing from having to cycle through to each card.
Pig’s Tail
  1. Analogue makes a little more sense here but digital should still be an option (or at least give us cursor sensitivity options).
Golf
  1. A practice mode would be nice, or the option to undo your last stroke at least.
  2. Unlike other golf games, your ball wont bounce across the hole if you putt too hard. This makes the final putt unexiting and almost useless.
  3. It’s not clear how high your shot arcs in relation to the rest of the field.
Billiards
  1. Why does aiming and shooting suck so hard? Why not map aim to the shoulder buttons and give us a power meter like Carrom?
Bowling / Darts
  1. Why aren’t more than 2 players supported? These are the party games.
Toy Curling
  1. Worse than pool in that aiming and power are the same action. Makes the game imprecise.
  2. We don’t need to be reminded how many shots are left every turn. “Last three” is sufficient.
Toy Baseball
  1. I have never had a successful match with this game against another person. Maybe it’s just me but the controls don’t work when playing against a human who will use every trick under the sun to strike you out. They should’ve just put NES or Wii baseball here.
Slot Cars
  1. Analogue sticks are not precise. I get why they’re here but buttons or even RC cars like in Mario Odyssey would feel better.
Fishing
  1. Have we learned nothing from Mario Party or Smash 3DS? Turning the stick in a circle like that isn’t fun or comfortable and I don’t want to give my joy con a reason to start drifting again.
Shooting
  1. Also broken. The fact that there’s nothing stopping you from just spamming shot takes any fun or challenge out of the game once you play against other people. Even limited ammo would work here.
Piano
  1. A wasted opportunity. Why aren’t any keys mapped to buttons?
Online
  1. This game, like the NSO libraries, runs poorly for no reason. I have a friend in Australia (which has a poor internet infrastructure). We can play more demanding games like Splatoon and Minecraft just fine but this online is almost unplayable.
  2. Players with poor connection should be locked out of the action games.
  3. There should be a way to quit out of a game without quitting the whole app. There’s no consequence for it—on anyone’s end because they just replace you with a CPU anyway—so why not.
I know I didn’t get everything but I’d like to hear your thoughts. How are you getting along with the game? Are these problems starting to bother you? Do you have different problems that I didn’t name? Let me know in the comments.
submitted by mierecat to NintendoSwitch [link] [comments]

Box of Cubans

"Hey, Yo, Let's Make a Bet"
I got started playing GC by a friend that had recently lost a bet to me (Super Bowl) and he had to fork over a box of Cuban cigars. It was a great set of stogies that my friend hand delivered to me in my home town. At the start of COVID lockdowns in March, my friend came up with this idea to win a box of Cubans back from me. This time around, the bet was a best of 5 matches and each match was best of three games on GC. "GC what is that?", I thought to myself.
Even though I had never played the game, I took the bet. Needless to say I had to scramble to learn the game and build some skill. After a week I was quickly down 0-2 in matches. To my surprise, I was not losing straight up and we often went to shoot outs to settle each game. After a couple weeks, we were all square 2-2, and the games for each match were closely fought shoot outs. In the end, I lost the very last game and I had to fork over a box of Cubans. But I didn't care because I was hooked on this damn game, Golf Clash.
Fast forward a couple months and by the end of June I am Master level 1 and competing in Tour 8 games. I actually thought the game was easy. I maintained a 58-59% winning percentage and was rocking along. I got SO into winning, getting promotions and collecting trophies that I didn't think twice about playing the game every free moment. When I closed out Tour 8, I was on a win streak that I haven't seen since and amassed almost 2500 trophies. Then I hit the GC BRICK WALL. I started losing to everyone I played. I dropped down to Tour 7 and the losses continued. I dropped down to Tour 6 and the losses continued. Before I knew it, I was winning 1 in 3 games. Every loss was a tough shoot out and I couldn't find a way to win.
Then I found this sub and started reading some of the guides. I learned that trophies were not your friend. I read u/Professor_Phipps Bankroll Management post and realized I had flown through the tours too fast and hadn't managed my coins well or collected enough cards in the right tours to set up sweet bags. Then I read u/MangDynasty 's Guide to Clubs and realized I was setting up my bags with the wrong goals in mind. I thought power and accuracy were the only thing that mattered for all my clubs. I was that idiot always pressing hard and over-powering too many shots. I had completely ruining my main account and I was depressed.
"You Mean I Can Have an Alt?"
About a month ago, I decided to bite the bullet and start an alt account. I took what I learned from Mang and Phipps and I have been building spreadsheets on bankroll management and bag management. I learned to harvest coins in a maxed out Tour and I set goals for myself to determine when the right time was to allow myself to start playing new tours. The psychology built into this game is to entice you to progress too fast and I wasn't going to fall for it again.
I set limits on how I played to force myself to not take any shortcuts. Here are the boundaries I have set for myself:
  1. Free to play account with Golden Shots being the only exception
  2. Basic ball ONLY for normal game play and power balls are reserved for Tournament play
  3. Play by feel, Clash Caddie app is not allowed on this account
  4. Learn the wind by feel to keep the pressure down and not get too mechanical with the game
  5. Try to hit every shot with the ball dead center in the adjustment ring to prevent over power shots
  6. Caveat to rule 4 is use curl by feel since rule 2 is still in play
  7. Try to hit every shot perfect and learn course management like a PGA player to prevent high pressure, over-power shot situations
  8. Starting a new tour can only happen once I've hit an albatross on the current tour
Results
My alt account is so much more fun to play. I think I played close to 100 matches on Tour 1 before I could start Tour 2 since I had to score an albatross on the one Par 5 on that tour. Tour 2 was obviously more fun with the hole variety and learning to play Santa Ventura and Juniper Point with a basic ball. Tour 3 has been fun recently and I maxed out those trophies in a massive 12-game win streak a few nights ago. Harvesting coins on a maxed out tour is so much easier when I force myself to follow the rules above and I only upgrade clubs when I know I need to spend the coins on a better club for my bags. Game play is so much more fun as I don't feel a ton of pressure to win with Phipps' coin management strategies in play.
Here are my stats so far:
The best thing so far about following the rules is that I am already at level 5 on my Extra Mile driver and level 3 on The Horizon wood and I haven't started Tour 4 yet. I played my first tournament yesterday, Sakura Hills 9-hole Cup, and qualified first in my rookie 2 flight with a -12 score. The next few months will be fun to see how things progress and if I can keep the winning percentage and coin management going. The long goal is to be able to play into Tours 9-12 without worry of the entry fees. I'll see you all on those tours soon!!
submitted by BuzzDefender to GolfClash [link] [comments]

Wagering on GOLF to consistently make money

This needs to be said as PGA handicapping interest seems to be growing on here:
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For anyone newer to PGA betting, DO NOT TAIL ANYONE. No matter their record on here or them throwing their twitter handle out for you to easily follow. I know that sounds ridiculous to start with, espesually for someone starting new who has only been wagering on golf for a couple of years. You think.. Obviously they know more than me and have put more time into this than me right? Maybe. But to learn how to make money betting on golf you honestly need only one week to figure it out and that's all. Honestly it takes one week to understand VALUE and OPPORTUNITY and how to do it on your own. You need to be in control on your money and earn and lose it on your own conscience after doing your own due diligence.
You will find plenty of people online posting their expert picks. Some are very knowledgeable. Some are not. Where as some are playing the numbers and betting 10 outright, 10 match-ups and multiple daily leaders and each ways per tournament, there is nothing wrong with this. Although this style of investing in golf handicapping is no different than betting a ML on another sport. If this style of handicapping makes you money, stick with it. Just beware of people advertising their picks online in this format. Of course its easy to say "I've hit the last 4 or 3 winners" when they bet 15 Outright's that are all below 66/1 a week. Keep an eye out for this if you do follow. They are in deep with value plays to the point where their odds are diminished to even or slightly above. And that is up to you to decide if the choices are worth it over the money line in any other sport.
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I'm not saying pick one or even only two players a week but never too many low odd players that diminish our winners when they do hit.
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I've won 5 of the last 6 tournaments.
I'n 6 Weeks I've turned $200 into over $20,000. That's with never upping my unit amount.
Last year I ended the season at +$16,000.
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Last 6 weeks:
Nick Taylor at +10000 for $7500.
Adam Scott at +3300 for $3300.
Patrick Reed at +4000 for $4000.
Sunglae Im +3500 for $3200.
(profited -$400 less as I put money on Fleetwood on Sunday as insurance.)
Tyrrell Hatton +5000 for $2500.
note: I also bet $1-200 total each week on other players which are -$ against the wins.
Was there a formula for each win? Not exactly. I won off of Value bets as well as Opportunity bets. We are here to make money and There never should be only one way of making that happen.
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​
So if you read this far, let's get to how you can make your own money in a few weeks, possibly without even knowing anything about golf.
Easiest way (OPPORTUNITY):
The very first thing you need to do is get with a book that has Live updated odds during all the rounds.
Opportunity.. I'm sure everyone in here is betting with money they worked hard for. Remember that. So put that same time into your wagers as your daily work. Specifically Thursday and Friday Live Bets hold a ton of value. A lot of my winners are Value bets (We will get into) but for instance my Nick Taylor bet at +10,000 for $75 into $7500. or my Adam Long bet last year for $20 into $5000 are opportunity bets that just make absolutely too much sense not to take stabs at. Do these always hit. Obviously not always but, do they always make sense.. absolutely.
But when I placed the live bet is whats most important to how I make money.
Let's say its Thursday or Friday and you're home watching the tournament. Keep your favorite friendly gambling website(That offers live betting on PGA) open on your computer or phone..
Oh.. Wyndham Clark is on the broadcast and at -2 on the 12th. The leader is at -5 in the clubhouse. Wyndham JUST stuck his 2nd shot to 5 feet ... He has a 5 footer for eagle. This is where you should have already be signed on. and you rush to place whatever responsible amount you are willing to lose on a longshot. Lets say $20. You see him at +15000 and Hammer it for $20. Boom. He hits an easy 5 footer and now his odds are are +60/1. He has 6 holes remaining.. You know 2 of those are birdie holes. As long as you know your golfer and chose someone respectable he will at the very lease gain one more stroke before the clubhouse. Now you are going into the weekend with a $3000 opportunity that is at the very least tied for the lead off of a $20 bet with 2 days to go. Does that guy buckle to Rory.. or Phil? Sometimes. But sometimes..... Nick Taylor outlasts Phil Mickelson. Sometimes... Adam Long hits an amazing 2nd shot against a 3 way playoff to beat Phil Mickelson.
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But if you don't know if this golfer named say Joel Dahmen who is about to putt for Eagle and at the very least make birdie with 2 birdie holes remaining, a quick google search to see if they have firstly a winning mentality or chance to win is important. Don't wager too much on a guy who can't finish if betting for the win. Their current form, their play at this tournament the previous couple years as well as their play at comparable courses (Extreme weather history is to be ignored but also remembered for who did well in this situation. Leishman, Lowry, Hatton...)
​
Value(Pre-Tournament):
At this point I don't care if I'm betting on Rory at +400 or a +50000 rookie. It is completely statistical opportunities that we are looking for. Example is Adam Scott at 33/1 at a course he has been dying to win, he said it in every interview but no one gave much attention. He technically won here on a short week because of weather. As well as he's coming off a win. But then a multi month break which scared betters and the books off... Also the previous win wasn't an important tournament. Yet it shows me he was and is in form.
And once you start to gain more understanding of the wind speed, grass type, who is in form, putting surface, shots gained on approach.. you begin to give yourself a damn good chance. As long as you keep to your money management throughout.
​
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Some friends who don't know much about handicapping ask why I don't up my bet after winning $3,000-$8,000 the week before. And if anyone reads any of this post I want them to read this: Trust me... Bankroll management is the difference between making money to buy what you want as a side income and just losing a few hundred every day/week. That is honestly the hardest part of making money off of handicapping. You don't need to hit 65% of even money bets. All you need is to be smart about handling loses and that's all. Don't chase. Know that you can make the picks and wait till the next day/tournament. Don't chase on women's Czech tennis live at 2AM. Don't drunkenly bet! This is not how you earn money, this is how you lose it. Remember that next time you're tempted.
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I just want to say I'm open to any questions anyone has in here or PM. As well as any criticism anyone might have as I am always interested in hearing another point of view on the matter of how we can all make money. $ Cheers.
submitted by vince24L to sportsbook [link] [comments]

My best friend is turning away from me and I don't know whether or not to end it

Throwaway because it's a rather sensitive subject, for me at least. ENTJ if that's to some kind of help.
It's a long story since I've never talked about these kinds of things with anyone and all the context need to be understood. It's a fucked up situation embedded through years and I hope you've strapped yourself in, I'd appreciate anyone who would take their time to read as I've been struggling with this for quite some time and I don't really know what to do about it at this point.
When I was 11-12 I was bullied in school by a gang of classmates, we'll call their leader Franklin. In that school I had one friend who we'll call Thomas. Thomas was troubled, he had asperger and severe AD/HD not to mention OCD and there was a lot of times that he wasn't in school, but we remained friends as we had been since we were babies.
We all moved school and in the new school I got tons of new friends and things went along well for two years, I turned into a rather devious kid. This is where I met Adam (ENTP). Adam and I hit it off almost immediately and we quickly became best friends. My devious side faded and me and Adam became very close. We shared our interest in Video Games and played together almost all the time, even with Thomas which is how they became friends. I introduced him to history and before we knew it, we went off to High School where we all met new friends but always remained best friends. He introduced me to some of his friends and him to mine. During High School, however, I was almost in a constant toxic environment where power games, violence and drugs were more or less present all the time between the class, bare knuckles into the last round.
My now ex girlfriend told me about it but of course, though I didn't see it at the time. High school changed me, but my girlfriend made me happy and I always stayed away from the drugs but it was clear I had become darker. I know some consider ToXiC mAsCuLiNiTy a meme but the way it changed me wasn't. To be clear, I wasn't a victim of the problem, I became a part of it even if I did hate it. Nevertheless, I persisted. I found my calling and began to study university-level business and economics, being the earliest of my friends to study "further" as we call it here in Sweden as my ambition drove me to. As I had all my friends still here in the city, I remained and studied at the collage in the city (where there isn't much "life" within the collage itself). The first year was great and I began to move on from High School even if parts of me were still a bit toxic but always with good intentions, I met some new people but Thomas and Adam were always my closest and those that I loved the most. Life was good.
The summer of 2019 is where things began to go south, however. Adam and Thomas began to hang out with Franklin, of course, they invited me along at first. It was rather clear though, that I hadn't forgiven Franklin for the way he used to bully me back in middle school, so Adam and Thomas began to party with Franklin without me, barely even speaking to me. This caused some Paranoia as it made me feel abandoned and lonely. It was then the big truck hit as my girlfriend of 2 years at the time left me as well. She had her own problems that she had to deal with but I became a wreck because, to me, that was a blow too much and one I couldn't handle (first relationship and first heartbreak didn't exactly help). The thing that I remembered most was that in panic I left the apartment, going against my pride and walked to Adams street, asking him over text if he could come out and talk. He denied me, despite that this had happened before but where the roles were switched. I called my other friend from high school who was studying in Barcelona. He already had a distaste to the way Adam had been treating me and he bought me a plane ticket there taking off the very next day.
I took that hit, tried to move on and it went rather well, I suppose. Adam was still working and I continued my studies pretty quickly. The following semester I grew a lot as a person. I had cut the contact with most of my old classmates from High School with the exception of two and hung out mostly with Adam's friends from High School which were great people. The next semester I met many new people and studied hard with results I could be proud of. I developed a dream and even a small company in finance with a great vision (this was started in high school but it only became serious here).
Covid hit and we began to have our finals at home. I didn't have a printer and we had to print out this document that we had to sign that basically said "I've not used cheats". We didn't get the PDF file we had to print until the finals had begun, however, so during the test I called him up and asked if he could go to the city library to print it out for me while I was doing the test (we live rather close to eachother). I thought he'd do it for me, as I would've done the same for him (he wasn't working at the time) but as it turned out, he refused. He hung up the phone but I managed to get a Tinder match I had never met before to deliver me it from the far side of town so it worked out in the end (yes, we began to date). It wasn't this event that dissapointed me, but more of the principle. I know it sounds stupid but it made me remember the time I tried to talk to him after my ex left me but it didn't phase me too much.
The summer of 2020 was the best summer of my life. I convinced Adam to pick up golfing and me, him and his two friends from High School played almost every weekend. At one party, however, he was talking about Franklin and his tales with him, about how he bets in sports. I quickly commented that turnover wasn't the same as profit to which he came quick to defend him "No, you should see him, it's crazy". I didn't think much of it and I shrugged it off, this comes in later. At another party, however, I foolishly lashed off in a drunken stupor at Adam and all the things I was displeased with. We agreed to have a talk about it to figure things out. We talked and it felt good to get everything out, he admitted that perhaps he hadn't treated me the best but we also pointed out my paranoia from 2019, concluding that I had low self confidence (which really wasn't new). We moved past it and whenever we finished golf we decided that me and the two friends of Adam from High school would take a roadtrip down to the city where Adam would begin to study to hang out. Adams other friend from high school had also begun to date a mutual friend of my ex, causing me to text my ex and see if there was, and if so, straighten out any bad blood between us so it wouldn't be emotionally should our friend groups collide. She never even opened it.
The semester begun this fall. Me and Adam still talk but lately he's been undermining my dreams and visions while I've always supported his. It feels like he thinks what I study, what I do, my dreams and ambitions is just "a hobby" and a joke, a phase. I suddenly remember that never has he supported my ambitions and dreams but as soon as I make a comment to Franklins hobby, the man who used to bully me, he jumps to defend it. This week, his friends from High School left for the city where he studied without me, I didn't even know they were going. They're all hanging out as we speak with the mutual friend of my ex. I broke down earlier this week and even suicide has been on my mind for the past few months. I don't know how severe those thoughts actually are but the fact that I am thinking about it has to be a sign that things NEED to change. Now or never.
I understand that this perhaps isn't that big of an issue, compared to other things. I've talked to my sister as she's the only one I could turn to. She told me to talk to Adam but I don't know if it's even worth to persevere the friendships at this point. Since last we talked in the summer of 2020 he hasn't really changed much towards me. Should I talk to him about it? Or should I end it? Should I do something else? Please, help.
submitted by HoratioNelson123 to Advice [link] [comments]

Mike Tyson’s Left Hook Analysis – Boxing Lines - Predictions and Bonus Offer from MyBookie!

Mike Tyson’s Left Hook Analysis – Boxing Lines - Predictions and Bonus Offer from MyBookie!
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Promo Code - THEMAC

Mike Tyson’s Left Hook Analysis – Boxing Lines - Predictions and Bonus Offer from MyBookie!

Claim a $1000 Deposit Bonus - MyBookie is giving you a 100% matching deposit bonus up to a GRAND! Look, this is because they are giving you the cost to acquire, in other words they rather give the customer the cash rather than some schmuck ad company. So be sure to check out the odds and contests at MyBookie and their sister sites XBET and BETUS
11/28 - 10:00 PM - BOXING - Nov 28
Mike Tyson -180 (MAC's Not Going Against The MAN)
Roy Jones Jr +150

Mike Tyson’s Left Hook Analysis – Boxing Lines

One of the most devastating punches in boxing is the left hook. As you might expect, Mike Tyson had one of the best. But to throw the perfect left hook, which Tyson did many times, one must have excellent technique. Iron Mike’s left hook devastated opponents before he forgot feet placement and body movement. Check out why the young Mike Tyson’s left hook provided such a powerful punch so you can keep on planning your bets against our Mike Tyson Odds.

Breaking Down Iron Mike Tyson’s Left Hook

How Iron Mike Tyson threw the perfect left hook

  1. Tyson set his feet perfectly
Tyson created the perfect base, left foot forward and right foot back. That’s the way to get ready to throw the left hook. More importantly, he started with his weight on his backfoot.
  1. Mike dropped left shoulder to get ready for the punch
Tyson then dropped his left shoulder. Dropping the left shoulder means Mike twisted his body so that all of his weight was towards the left.
  1. When Tyson threw his hook, he had awesome hip rotation
Iron Mike then rotated his hips on delivery. Rotating the hips is the best way to deliver a powerful hook, left or right.

Specific things Iron Mike did when throwing hooks that differ from most boxers

The three things listed above are a part of any great left hook. Most boxers who did those things threw a decent left hook. Only a few boxers can master the left hook, though. Mike Tyson was one of those fighters who became a black belt in left hook throwing.
The key to any powerful punch is to relax the shoulders and back muscles. Power comes from hip rotation, much like how a golfer like Tiger Woods uses body movement to get the most out of a golf swing.
The second part of Tyson’s left hook that differed from most other pugilists’ involved arm and hand placement. The best left hooks arrive at a 90-degree angle. Iron Mike lifted his arm, made it a 90-degree angle with his body, like the width and left length of a square, and then let his hip rotation power the arm. Doing so allowed the muscles in his back to work more efficiently. Tyson’s back muscles snapped into the punch. His latissimus dorsi muscles didn’t expend energy until the actual punch happened.
The final step involved raising and twisting the left foot to get even more speed and weight behind the punch. Here’s the steps in order to throw the perfect left hook.
  1. Place feet.
  2. Dip shoulder and twist to the left.
  3. While raising body to throw the hook, place arm at 90-degree angle.
  4. As you rotate into the punch, twist left foot to get even more power from the punch.
One thing many don’t remember about the young Iron Mike Tyson is that his right hook was as devastating as the left. Before getting into why, realize that many boxing trainers don’t teach the right hook to orthodox fighters.
Twisting and lowering your body, dropping your shoulder to the right, exposes the entire left side of your body to your opponent’s right. That’s not a good idea. Tyson got away with throwing a right hook because he was better than most everyone of his opponents during his first few years as a pro.
Mike’s right hook had as much power because of feet placement. He did what boxers call a switch. Tyson switched his feet, put his left foot behind his right foot, and then used the techniques described above to land a right hook.
Iron Mike, when he threw the right hook, became a southpaw. Tyson was so adept at switching that he could throw left hook, right hook, left hook, and switch his feet on every punch. No other boxer in history seems to have had the ability Tyson did when throwing left and right hooks.
More Mike Tyson Vs Roy Jones Jr. Boxing Odds - HERE

BOXING - Oct 9

MIDDLEWEIGHT - 10 ROUNDS THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Gonzalo Gaston Coria +650
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly -1400
SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT - 8 ROUNDS THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Cameron Krael +850 (MAC's Money Moon Shot)
Elvis Rodriguez -2500
LIGHTWEIGHT - 6 ROUNDS THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Bryan Lua -3500
Nelson Colon +925
FEATHERWEIGHT - 12 ROUNDS THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
THE BUBBLE, MGM GRAND - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Emanuel Navarrete -275 (MAC's Red Alert Boxing Action)
Ruben Villa +180

BOXING - Oct 10

HEAVYWEIGHT - 10 ROUNDS @ BT SPORT STUDIO - STRATFORD, LONDON, UNITED KING
@ BT SPORT STUDIO - STRATFORD, LONDON, UNITED KING
Richard Lartey +550
Nathan Gorman -900
MIDDLEWEIGHT - 12 ROUNDS @ BT SPORT STUDIO - STRATFORD, LONDON, UK
@ BT SPORT STUDIO - STRATFORD, LONDON, UK
Andrew Robinson +1300
Liam Williams -5000
submitted by TheMACSPicks to SportsReport [link] [comments]

Battle for hope island Ep18: Eight! Nine! Ten! Let's stare!

Pencil: This is an intervention! Naily: What is it this time? Pencil: Help me rejoin BFHI! When the next rejoin episode comes up, please make the viewers like me more! Eraser: Hey, what about us? Pencil: I can't hear you! Eraser: You clearly heard me, or why else would you reply? Pencil: Oh, did someone say something? I couldn't tell since I didn't hear anything. Hence by the lame replying. Naily: Whatever! Until the next rejoin, let's start each episode with a scene in the TLA! Announcer: Yes, we can arrange that! We have to get a note from the producers though. Book: Okay, go have a talk with them, then do Cake at Stake. Announcer: Okay (Leaves)
(Cake at stake) Barf Bag: You're late for Cake at Stake. Announcer: Sorry, I had a talk with the producers. Anyways, the One Alliance, who currently has the most points, is here to vote one of you out! Would you like to use your Bottle, Balloony and Black Hole: No Announcer: Okay. Match: Like, I'm voting, like, Gaty. She's so uninteresting! Gaty: Hey! Flower Neckle: Yeah, me too Gaty: Stop it! Announer: That counts as two votes! Gaty: No! (Ice Cube votes Blocky) Ice Cube: Revenge! Braceletty: Me too! Needle: Not sure who I'd vote for... I'll vote for Black Hole. He gives this team an advantage Lollipop: Sure. I'll go ahead Snowball: Gaty! She doesn't even have arms! Tree: Me personally, I would go for Blocky Loser: 4 votes Gaty, 3 votes Blocky and 2 votes Black Hole. Everyone but Gaty gets a cake, which is now a cracker Match: Ohh! Cracker at Stake huh? Sounds delicious! (Everyone receives a cracker) (Gaty gets teleported to the TLA) Winner: Now for the debut!
(Cake at Stake) Announcer: Hello, everyone Everyone: Hello! Winner: So, out of the twenty-six of you, only 2 of you got votes. So, you all have no chance of joining the game. Conch Shell: So, who's are the two with votes? Winner: 9-Ball and Onigiri Price Tag: Wait, where are you sending us? Loser: You'll be sent to the Terrible Losers Apartment, just like everyone else (Everyone besides 9-Ball and Onigiri gets teleported to the TLA) (Scissors sidesteps the LPTD) Announcer: As for you two, you both got one vote each. Loser: We must settle this with a tiebreaker
Announcer: 9-Ball and Onigiri, whoever jumps the ledge first is safe and the other one is eliminated. Go! (9-Ball jumps but he didn't reach the other side) 9-Ball: (Falling) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (9-Ball hits Laddy and launches Scissors into Hammer and Ropey) (Scissors cuts Ropey and Hammer hits Onigiri to the other side of the ledge) Announcer: Onigiri wins, so she gets a cracker piece... (Onigiri swallows the cracker piece while still floating from Hammer's attack, screaming, which made her choke) Announcer: ...And 9-Ball is eliminated. (9-Ball gets teleported to the TLA mid-fall) Announcer: Also Scissors, what are you doing here? (Scissors gets teleported)
Announcer: Welcome to Battle for Hope Island, Onigiri. You'll be competing for Hope Island Onigiri: Don't I get a prize for joining the competition? Announcer: You get this Yellow Tomato Onigiri: Oh, cute! Anyways, which team do I join? Announcer: You'll be joining the One Alliance! Onigiri: Oh, cool!
The Collectors -583 The One Alliance 821 The Other Alliance -365 A Name Really Fast 650 Team Fork 362
Basketball Pencil Remote (Y) (R) (P) 8-Ball Bomby
Blocky Match (F) Leafy Golf Ball (F) Gelatin
Pen Ruby (I) Pin (Y) Tennis Ball Woody (Y)
Eraser Bubble Firey (A) (A) Saw (C) Puffball
Bottle (W) Ice Cube Coiny (Y) (G) Taco Fries
Donut Braceletty Liy (A) (W) Clock Nickel
Gaty Needle (R) TV Fanny Rocky
Lightning Lollipop Robot Flower Marker Pillow
Balloony (C) Flower (I) Roboty Teardrop (Y) David
Barf Bag Snowball (I) Grassy Cake Dora (Y)
Black Hole (S) (W) Tree Firey Jr. (F) Pie Spongy
Onigiri Cloudy
Match: Like, welcome to the team, Onigiri Onigiri: Call me Nigi-nee Flower Neckle: Sure thing! Match: Anyways, I'm Match! Flower Neckle: I'm Flower Neckle! Ice Cube: I'm Ice Cube, call me Icy. Braceletty: I'm Braceletty! Not Ringy! Needle: I'm Needle Lollipop: Lollipop's the name. I prefer not to be called Lolli, but you can if you want. Snowball: My name is Snowball. SB if you want Tree: And I am Tree, or Treeyee. But please don't Announcer: Anyways, let the games begin!
(Intro)
Announcer: The eight- 8: Hey guys Announcer: Let's make this quick. What can you do? 8: Pause time! Announcer: What? (8 pauses time with the Announcer) 8: This will only last for eight seconds Announcer: I see (Time unpauses) 8-Ball: Wow! Eight! Announcer: Anyways, the 18th contest is a staring contest. Each person must do a staring contest with Winner. One point for every second you last against her. If Winner blinks first, you are automatically immune for elimination. If at least half Winner: Basketball, you're up first
(Basketball stands for 17 seconds for blinking) Winner: Next is Blocky! (Blocky kicks Winner and she blinks) Loser: Blocky is immune from elimination! However, he only receives 1 point. Pen: Now it's my turn (Pen stares at Winner) (After 123 seconds, Winner blinks) Winner: Okay, I'll have to give it to you. You're really good! Pen: Thanks! (Bottle lasts 6 seconds) (Lightning lasts 33 seconds) (Balloony lasts 15 seconds) (Barf Bag lasts 12 seconds) Black Hole: Now it's my turn (Winner stares at Black Hole for 1 seconds) (Winner blinks) Winner: Yeah, this is stupid. Announcer: So, Blocky, Pen and Black hole get immunity for the episode. And a grand total of 208 points gets added to The Collectors' score.
Announcer: Now it's the One Alliance's turn (Match lasts 47 seconds, and Winner blinks) Announcer: Wow! 47 seconds! Impressive! Flower Neckle: Now it's my turn! I was the staring contest queen! Well, Flower was. (Flower Neckle stares at Winner) Match: Wow, she's good. 2: I think it's the result of the combinedness. When it appears Ruby is about to close her eyes, Flower opens up her eyes and vice versa. That way, at least one of them has their eyes open and therefore, the greater whole has her eyes open (One hour later) Winner: (Thinking) Wow, this is so hard. Winner: I give up! Announcer: An impressive 3620 points that get added twice onto the One Alliance's score. (Ice Cube stares at Winner for 33 seconds) (Winner blinks) Ice Cube: Yeah! Braceletty: Oh yeah! Now it's my tur- (She gets hit by a meteor) Announcer: That was 0 seconds! (Needle lasts for 12 seconds) (Lollipop lasts for 22 seconds) (Snowball stares for 99 seconds and wins) (Tree lasts for 19 seconds) Announcer: Onigiri, this is your first challenge: A staring contest against Winner. Think you're up for the challenge? Onigiri: You bet! (Onigiri closes her eyes, then opens them at Winner) (...) (After 77 seconds, Winner blinks) Announcer: Congratulations! You're safe! Announcer: All in all, Match, Ruby, Ice Cube, Flower, Snowball and Onigiri are immune from elimination. 7549 are added to their score Everyone who isn't from The One Alliance: WHAT?! (The scoreboard breaks from having 7549 points added at once) Announcer: Oh.
Announcer: Anyways, Remote. You're up next (Remote stares for 29 seconds, before shooting a laser from her eye) Announcer: Remote receives immunity! (Leafy stares for 44 seconds and Winner closes her eyes) Announcer: So does Leafy. (Pin lasts 11 seconds) (Firey lasts 14 seconds) (Coiny lasts 14 seconds) (Liy lasts 22 seconds) (TV changes his screen to his face) (After 134 seconds, Winner blinks) Winner: Wait, you cheated! TV: Sorry. (Winner blinks) Winner: Anyways, TV, you can leave now because Robot Flower is up next Robot Flower: Yeah! This is going to be so fun Announcer: Three, two, one, Go! Stop! Robot Flower: With a score of -10, Robot Flower has immunity Robot Flower: Wait- Grassy: I'm Grassy! (Grassy lasts for 41 seconds) Firey Jr.: Now me! (Firey Jr. lasts for 38 seconds) Announcer: So, Remote, Leafy, TV and Robot Flower wins immunity. And 337 points are added to The Other Alliance's score. Loser: This is our replacement scoreboard. We're gonna use this until the other one gets fixed. It can only hold 2 digits though. (From -375 to 75, From 8370 to 70, from -365 to 65, from 650 to 50, and from 362 to 62) Announcer: Now we'll add the 337 points, or rather, the 37 points (37 points get added to the Other Alliance's score to make 2 points) The Other Alliance: What?!
Announcer: Now it's A Name Really Fast's turn. Let's do this really fast (8-Ball lasts 18 seconds) (Golf Ball lasts 28 seconds) (Tennis Ball lasts 23 seconds) (Saw lasts 31 seconds) (Taco wins in 55 seconds) (Clock lasts 11 seconds) (Fanny lasts 9 seconds) (Marker lasts 33 seconds) (Teardrop wins in 112 seconds) (Cake lasts 20 seconds) (Pie lasts 20 seconds) (Cloudy lasts 43 seconds) Announcer: So Taco and Teardrop have immunity, and A Name Really Fast receives 403 points, or rather 3 points.
Announcer: Finally, Team Fork. Bomby, you're up. (Bomby lasts 33 seconds before blinking) Announcer: Next is Gelatin (Gelatin throws a fork at Winnner causing her to blink) Announncer: Gelatin receives 0 points, yet receives immunity. (Woody lasts 22 seconds) (Puffball lasts 12 seconds) (Nickel lasts 43 seconds) (Pillow lasts 29 seconds) Announcer: Dora, you're up next (Dora glares at Winner) (She blinks) Announcer: Dora receives 4 points, and immunity! Spongy: Now it's my turn (Spongy lasts 55 seconds before blinking) Announcer: Well, that wraps the challenge up. Gelatin and Dora receive immunity, despite their limited contribution to their team score, which is 198, or rather, negative two. (2 points get subtracted from their score)
Announcer: Flower Neckle, for lasting the longest, she gets a Theft token. Flower Neckle: Yeah! Two tokens in a row! Announcer: So these are the current scores
The Collectors 75 The One Alliance 70 The Other Alliance 2 A Name Really Fast 53 Team Fork 60
Basketball Pencil Remote (Y) (R) (P) 8-Ball Bomby
Blocky Match (F) Leafy Golf Ball (F) Gelatin
Pen Ruby (I) (T) Pin (Y) Tennis Ball Woody (Y)
Eraser Bubble Firey (A) (A) Saw (C) Puffball
Bottle (W) Ice Cube Coiny (Y) (G) Taco Fries
Donut Braceletty Liy (A) (W) Clock Nickel
Gaty Needle (R) TV Fanny Rocky
Lightning Lollipop Robot Flower Marker Pillow
Balloony (C) Flower (I) (T) Roboty Teardrop (Y) David
Barf Bag Snowball (I) Grassy Cake Dora (Y)
Black Hole (S) (W) Tree Firey Jr. (F) Pie Spongy
Onigiri Cloudy
Announcer: Also for winning the challenge, The Collectors receive Yellow Tomatoes as well! Basketball: This will make an interesting addition to the collection
Loser: Vote in the comments using letters in square brackets unto who you want to be eliminated from BFHI. The person with the most votes leave
(Credits)
Fries: So, how do you like it here, PDA PDA: It's not much, but it will have to do Bubble: Where's Pencil (Pencil is riding then sun at sunset) Pencil: Well, the horizon. Here's my stop! (She gets off)
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Is Matched Betting Still Worth It In 2020? - YouTube Betting On Golf Each Way Oddshero and Matched Betting Explained in 1 minute Matched Betting Explained In 12 Minutes! - YouTube Is Matched Betting Still Worth It In 2019?

If you’re new to matched betting, this is a term used to describe when a bookmaker has made your account ineligible for any future promotions (aka free bets) and/or restricted your account – in other words, limited you to only being able to many tiny bets of, say, 10pence. Match bets: This is betting on which player will shoot the lowest score in a two or three-ball group, or betting on who will perform better between two individual players. Top Nationality betting: Select which player will achieve the best score in the tournament from a specific country. Golf betting glossary Generally, Golf isn’t one of the most popular sports when it comes to matched betting. However, the numerous major tournaments a year are a reason for bookmakers to run offers which means there is an opportunity to make a profit for matched bettors. The most popular betting offer on Golf is extra places and in this […] This golf betting guide explains the rules of the sport and covers the basics of how to bet on golf. ... The most common form of golf is stroke play (counting the total number of strokes per round), but there is also match play - this is when two or more golfers score each hole individually and the game is decided by winning the most holes. Another way to make money betting on golf is to focus on match bets. These can either be bets placed on who will shoot the lowest score out of a two or three ball group, or a virtual match up between two individual players who are playing the same course but in different groupings. This can be an interesting alternative, and although it doesn't ...

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Is Matched Betting Still Worth It In 2020? - YouTube

How to bet on Golf each way on Betfair. Daniel Negreanu BLOWS Phil Laak's MIND - High Stakes Poker Cash Game - Duration: 11:55. Doug Polk Poker Recommended for you Matched Betting works by placing a bet on each team to win the final. The bets are placed at two different bookmakers. Regardless of who wins the game, you don’t lose any money. In this video, Caan Berry shares some thoughts about Matched Betting and Sport throughout the recent Coronavirus problems in the United Kingdom. "Sappheiros - Dawn" is under a Creative Commons ... Golf Betting Strategy and Tips: Betting Head To Head Match Ups in Golf - Duration: 5:46. WagerTalk TV: Sports Picks and Betting Tips 858 views. 5:46. This is something I recorded last year too, discussing whether matched betting is still worthwhile this year. You'll hear my thoughts on how long matched bet...

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