#Dillards Locations

[newsmarketreports]

Dillard's Locations: A Comprehensive Overview of the Retail Giant’s Presence

Dillard's Inc., a prominent American department store chain, has established a significant footprint across the United States. Known for offering a wide range of premium fashion, beauty, and home products, Dillard's strategically selects its locations to maximize accessibility and cater to a diverse customer base. This article explores the geographical distribution of Dillard's stores, highlights key regional markets, and examines the factors influencing its location strategy.

National Presence

Dillard's operates over 250 stores across 29 states, primarily in the South, Midwest, and Southwest regions of the United States. The company's emphasis on these regions stems from its historical roots and a focus on areas with strong retail demand.

Regional Highlights

Southern United States:

The South represents Dillard's strongest market, with a significant concentration of stores in states like Texas, Florida, and Georgia.

Texas, in particular, houses the highest number of Dillard's locations, reflecting the state’s large population and thriving economy.

Midwest:

Dillard's has a growing presence in the Midwest, with stores in states like Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The company strategically places stores in suburban areas and regional shopping malls to attract family-oriented shoppers.

Southwest:

Arizona and New Mexico are key markets in the Southwest, where Dillard's caters to both local residents and seasonal tourists.

The brand's offerings resonate with the diverse demographics of the region, including high-end and culturally tailored products.

Southeast:

In states like Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi, Dillard's maintains a stronghold, leveraging its legacy as a Southern-born retailer.

The company focuses on delivering a mix of traditional and contemporary styles to appeal to a broad customer base.

Strategic Location Choices

Shopping Malls:

The majority of Dillard's stores are located in major shopping malls, often serving as anchor tenants.

This positioning drives foot traffic and enhances the overall shopping experience for customers.

Standalone Locations:

While malls dominate, Dillard's also operates standalone locations in select high-traffic areas.

These standalone stores offer greater flexibility in size and design, catering to specific market needs.

Urban vs. Suburban:

Dillard's prioritizes suburban areas, where families and middle-income shoppers are key demographics.

Urban locations are less common but strategically chosen in cities with strong retail markets.

Expansion and Consolidation

Dillard's has adopted a measured approach to expansion, focusing on sustaining profitability and optimizing store performance.

New Openings:

While the company has slowed new store openings in recent years, it remains opportunistic, targeting high-growth areas.

Expansions are typically in markets with rising consumer demand and favorable economic conditions.

Store Closures:

As part of its strategy to maintain efficiency, Dillard's occasionally closes underperforming locations.

This allows the company to allocate resources to higher-performing stores and e-commerce operations.

Online Integration

Dillard's has also enhanced its digital presence, complementing its physical stores. The company’s omnichannel strategy ensures that customers in locations without nearby stores can still access its product offerings through an easy-to-navigate online platform.

Conclusion

Dillard's locations reflect a carefully crafted strategy that balances tradition with modern retail demands. By focusing on key regions, optimizing store placements, and integrating digital solutions, Dillard's continues to serve its loyal customer base while adapting to the evolving retail landscape. With its enduring commitment to quality and accessibility, the company’s location strategy remains a cornerstone of its success in the competitive retail industry.

[unsolicited-opinions]

Leftist antisemitism is a symptom - American Jews and the Illiberal Left

TLDR: I think we would be wise to stop regarding leftist antisemitism only in its own context and habitually recognize it is a part of a larger issue, the rise of the illiberal left.

Why are Jews are the most reliable supporters of Liberal policies and politicians in modern American history?

Haviv Rettig Gur seems to suggest that Jews in the US, recognizing that Liberal values resulted in their (imperfect but historic) emancipation in the US, became perhaps the most Liberal people ever. They understood that US Liberal values were what made Jews relatively safe in the US, and offered them opportunities which had been denied to them everywhere else.

When previously did a head of state speak to Jews the way George Washington did?

Gur suggests that this is why American Jews have historically been so invested in the struggle of black folks in the US. When I say invested, I'm talking about facts like these:

- Henry Moscowitz was one of the founders of the NAACP.

- Kivie Kaplan, a vice-chairman of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now called the Union for Reform Judaism), served as the national president of the NAACP from 1966 to 1975.

- From 1910 to 1940, more than 2,000 primary and secondary schools and 20 Black colleges (including Howard, Dillard and Fisk universities) were established in whole or in part by contributions from Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. At the height of the so-called "Rosenwald schools," nearly 40 percent of Black people in the south were educated at one of these institutions.

- Jews made up half of the young people who participated in the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964.

- Leaders of the Reform Movement were arrested with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964 after a challenge to racial segregation in public accommodations.

- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched arm-in-arm with Dr. King in his 1965 March on Selma.

- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were drafted in the conference room of Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, under the aegis of the Leadership Conference, which for decades was located in the RAC's building.

When I was a child and asked my mother why Jews seemed overwhelmingly to be Democrats, I was told "because of FDR and the Civil Rights movement." That's not wrong, in Gur's framing, but perhaps a more shallow response than the question deserves.

In Gur's framing, US Jews realized that the promises of Liberalism, over and over, no matter how much they delivered for other peoples, did not deliver for black Americans.

Gur suggests that US Jews worked to see that change for their black co-citizens because if American Liberalism didn't deliver for black Americans what it appeared to promise to all Americans, the sense of safety, security, and belonging which Jews felt in the US was an illusion.

US Jews believed that we had common cause with non-Jewish American Liberals. We thought non-Jewish liberals believed what we believed about universal civil rights, pluralism, enlightenment values and enlightenment reason. When Jews saw the "In this House We Believe" signs on our neighbors' lawns, We felt comforted because those beliefs are also our beliefs.

We thought, for instance, that our non-Jewish friends agreed that Liberal democracies were better for human rights than any form of government in the history of human societies. We thought they agreed that religious, racial, and ethnic intolerance were social ills which needed to be fought with information. We thought they valued data, reason, and reliable sources.

Since 10/7/23, we've been learning that we were mistaken. We've seen gentiles who we thought shared our values seem to discard those values.

We saw college educated friends share antisemitic (and alarmingly familiar) conspiracy theories about Israeli puppetry of US politics and the return of Nazi and Soviet antisemitic slogans/images.

We've seen highly educated "Liberals" preach ahistoric nonsense denying that the Jewish people are from the Levant and willfully ignoring the huge swaths of historical fact which don't support their favored narrative.

We've seen friends rage against "globalists" and "Zionists," when what they mean is 'Jews'.

We've seen people who we thought were allies against all forms of racism justify their racism towards Jews as righteous through specious reasoning like 'I don't hate Jews, just the 97% of Jews who believe that Jews should have self-determination in their homeland.'

We've been told that we cannot ask them to temper their use of antisemitic tropes, because doing so "weaponizes" concerns about antisemitism to obstruct them from their righteous crusade against the most evil nation on earth...which happens to be the only Jewish nation.

Despite this, about 80% of Jewish voters voted for Harris over Trump.

I think US Jews will continue to be Liberals, because Liberal values are dear to us and aligned with our values as Jews, as a historically oppressed minority, and as Americans who see more clearly than some others the gap between the promise of American liberalism and its long-delayed universal delivery.

The problem, I think, is in how many of our former friends simply aren't Liberals any longer.

I think Jews in the US need to spend a good deal more time scrutinizing the illiberal left.

Nine days after the attacks of 10/7/23, Jonathan Chait wrote:

Writers like Michelle Goldberg, Julia Ioffe, and my colleague Eric Levitz, all of whom rank among the writers I most admire, have written anguished columns about the alienation of Jewish progressives from the far left. I think all their points are totally correct. But I find the frame of their response too narrow. They are treating apologias for Hamas as a factually or logically flawed application of left-wing ideals. I believe, to the contrary, that Hamas defenders are applying their own principles correctly. The problem is the principles themselves.

...

Liberals believe political rights are universal. Basic principles like democracy, free speech, and human rights apply equally to all people, without regard to the content of their political values. (This of course very much includes Palestinians, who deserve the same rights as Jews or any other people, and whose humanity is habitually ignored by Israeli conservatives and their American allies.) A liberal would abhor the use of political violence or repression, however evil the targets.

...

The illiberal left believes treating everybody equally, when the power is so unequal, merely serves to maintain existing structures of power. It follows from their critique that the legitimacy of a tactic can only be assessed with reference to whether it is being used by the oppressor or the oppressed. Is it okay for, say, a mob of protesters to shout down a lecture? Liberals would say no. Illiberal leftists would need to know who was the speaker and who was the mob before they could answer.

...

One observation I’ve shared with many analysts well to my left is that the debate over this illiberalism and the social norms it has spawned — demands for deference in the name of allyship, describing opposing ideas as a form of harm, and so on — has tracked an older debate within the left over communism. Communism provided real-world evidence of how an ideology that denies political rights to anybody deemed to be the oppressor laid the theoretical groundwork for repression and murder.

There have been conscious echoes of this old divide in the current dispute over Hamas. The left-wing historian Gabriel Winant has a column in Dissent urging progressives not to mourn dead Israeli civilians because that sentiment will be used to advance the Zionist project. Winant sounds eerily like an old communist fellow traveler explaining that the murders of the kulaks or the Hungarian nationalists are the necessary price of defending the revolution. “The impulse, repeatedly called ‘humane’ over the past week, to find peace by acknowledging equally the losses on all sides rests on a fantasy that mourning can be depoliticized,” he argues, calling such soft-minded sentiment “a new Red Scare.” Making the perfect omelette always requires some broken eggs in the form of innocent people who made the historical error of belonging to, or perhaps being born into, an enemy class.

But more than three decades have passed since the Soviet Union existed or China’s government was recognizably Marxist. And so the liberal warning about the threat of left-wing illiberalism seemed abstract and bloodless. On October 7, it suddenly became bloody and concrete. It didn’t happen here, of course. The shock of it was that many leftists revealed just how far they would be willing to follow their principles. “People have repeated over and over again over the last few days that you ‘cannot tell Palestinians how to resist,’” notes (without contradicting the sentiment) Arielle Angel, editor-in-chief of the left-wing Jewish Currents. Concepts like this, treating the self-appointed representative of any oppressed group as beyond criticism, are banal on the left. Yet for some progressive Jews, it is shocking to see it extended to the slaughter of babies, even though that is its logical endpoint. The radical rhetoric of decolonization, with its glaring absence of any limiting principles, was not just a rhetorical cover to bully some hapless school administrator into changing the curriculum. Phrases like “by any means necessary” were not just figures of speech. Any means included any means, very much including murder.

Both Julia Ioffe and Eric Levitz have pointed out that decolonization logic ignores the fact that half of Israel’s Jewish population does not have European origins and came to Israel after suffering the same ethnic cleansing as the Palestinians. This is correct. But what if it weren’t? If every Israeli Jew descended from Ashkenazi stock, would it be okay to shoot their babies?

The problem is much greater than leftist antisemitism. The illiberal left has become nearly as great a threat to Liberalism as the far right.

It is often the case that a movement’s treatment of Jews serves as a broader indicator of its health. It’s not an accident that the Republican Party has become more attractive to antisemites as it has grown more paranoid and authoritarian. What the far left revealed about its disposition toward Jews is not just a warning for the Jews but a warning for all progressives who care about democracy and humanity. The pro-Hamas left is not merely indicating an indifference toward Jews. It is revealing the illiberal left’s inherent cruelty, repression, and inhumanity.

I'm annoyed that it is has taken me so long to catch on and alarmed by the implications.

I am, however, very proud of my 14yo, who sums up her experience trying to respectfully disagree with leftists this way:

"They're allergic to nuance."

[alex51324]

It's Almost Here! North American Solar Eclipse, 2024

As I mentioned in that other post, it will be visible as at least a partial eclipse to most of North America, with the path of totality cutting a diagonal from Sinaloa, Mexico to Newfoundland, Canada, including 15 US states from Texas to Maine.

Don't be fooled by how we just had one back in October, and another one a few years ago in 2017: total solar eclipses are rare! They only happen when the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up just perfectly--and only for a small portion of the Earth's surface each time.

It's a wild coincidence that North America/the US has gotten three in such a short span of time; the last one before the recent trio was in 1979, and the next one won't be until 2044. (We do have a big partial coming to us in 2033!) The Northeastern US won't see another until the 2070's.

(Note: If you are not in North America, you can use these maps to see when your continent will have its turn!)

This eclipse is also really special in that its path of totality sweeps across a lot of heavily-populated areas. About 31 million people live within the path of totality, and millions more are expected to visit.

So, it's a pretty big deal, and now's the time to get ready!

If you live in the path of totality:

Lucky you! Look up your location on these maps to get the exact time and duration of totality.

Be ready for extra traffic & crowds--especially if you live somewhere with stuff for tourists, or a place that people outside the immediate area will have heard of.

Totality times are in the afternoon, ranging from about 1:30 in Texas to 3:30 in Maine (local times), so if you'll be at school, or at work in a setting where you can't choose your own break times, now's a good time to talk to whomever you need to. It's not unreasonable to ask to step out into the parking lot for the three minutes that people will be coming from far and wide to see--but depending on your setting, it may take some arranging ahead of time. (If you're in school, hopefully your science teachers have already thought of this, but if not, ask them. And if your science teachers are jerks, try other teachers.

If you live near the path of totality:

Try to go! As the American author Annie Dillard says, "Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him, or as flying in an airplane does to falling out of an airplane."

(Link is to the Atlantic; if you hit a paywall, the 12-foot ladder works.)

Here's a map of approximate driving distances to the path of totality, in the US (from this page).

If you're close enough to think about going, here are some Google maps with eclipse overlays for more detailed planning. (I like the Xavier Jubier one.)

Once you're inside the path of totality, anywhere you can see the sun is a valid viewing location, but if you're making a day of it and you want to find a special spot, check local visitor's bureaus or tourism offices for the area you'll be in. They'll probably have a list of parks and other places. For instance, here's what Erie, Pennsylvania has.

Seriously, If you are able to drive/have a car, live within day-trip distance of the path of totality, and can be away from work/school without losing your job/being arrested for truancy, you should go. This is a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing, and there's still loads of time to plan a day-trip.

(Note: If you aren't in day-trip distance, but now you want to go, you don't have a lot of options: hotels and flights have been full for ages. However, if you're in two-days-driving distance, you might be able to find a Sunday-night base camp, from which you can get up on Monday morning and drive several more hours to the path of totality. For instance, in Pennsylvania, there are still reasonably-priced hotel rooms to be had in State College, which is--in normal traffic--three and a half hours from Erie. (You might even be able to get a little closer than that; I just checked State College because they have a lot of hotels for the Penn State football crowds.} So if you're coming from, say, Maryland or Virginia, that could work, and there may be similar creative options for other regions. Again, if this is something that's feasible for you to do, without bankrupting yourself, getting fired, or other long-term consequences, I would strongly consider doing it!

If you live in North America, but have no way to get to the totality:

A partial eclipse is still pretty cool! And again, it'll be a while before you have another chance to see one, so it's worth it to make the time.

All of the 48 contiguous US states will be able to see some amount of eclipse. So will Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and most of Canada and the Caribbean islands, plus a little bit of South America. (Alaska and part of the Yukon are SOL, but you will have your turn in 2033!)

Use these maps to look up the time and extent of the eclipse in your location.

As of this writing, you can still get eclipse glasses here, among other places. If you run out of time to get them, check for eclipse-viewing events at local parks, libraries, etc.--they may also have some to give away ahead of time, but even if not, if you go to an event, there will almost certainly be some to share.

The plus of a partial eclipse is that you have a fairly relaxed viewing window--as much as a couple of hours, depending how far you are from the middle of the eclipse zone--rather than a standout moment that you want to make sure you're in position for.

That makes it pretty easy to get a chance to see it even if you're at work--everybody can take turns stepping outside for a look. You can share eclipse glasses, too.

[quotelr]

In the deeps are the violence and terror of which psychology has warned us. But if you ride these monsters deeper down, if you drop with them farther over the world's rim, you find what our sciences cannot locate or name, the substrate, the ocean or matrix or ether which buoys the rest, which gives goodness its power for good, and evil its power for evil, the unified field: our complex and inexplicable caring for each other, and for our life together here. This is given. It is not learned.

Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters

[shadowbrightshine]

Dillard's "Living Like Weasels" (1982) is the most furry thing I've ever read that wasn't written by an actual furry. This woman had a chance encounter with a weasel, and couldn't stop thinking about how she missed her chance to stay in that animal's mind and live under rose bushes as a weasel too. It's been a full week.

She is writing pages of description of the location and about weasels because she saw one for the first time and they stared at each other for a minute.

This feels so furry. It's so well done.

Very good. Very furry.

[goodstuffhappenedtoday]

A Pie Shop on Chicago’s South Side Serves More Than Dessert

With her first brick-and-mortar bakery, Justice of the Pies, the pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard focuses on creativity — and inclusivity��for people with disabilities.

By Kayla Stewart

The South Side of Chicago brims with inimitable African American culture and history, and the pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard is adding her brand of sweetness to the place where she was born and raised. In June, Ms. Broussard opened the first brick-and-mortar store of her longtime delivery and wholesale pie business, Justice of the Pies. The shop, in a former dentist’s office in Avalon Park, one of the South Side’s many historic, predominantly African American neighborhoods, serves Ms. Broussard’s inventive pies and pastries, such as her calling cards — a blue cheese praline pear pie and a strawberry basil Key lime pie — along with unorthodox items like her salted caramel peach pie and a deep-dish chilaquiles quiche.

Ms. Broussard, who lost 75 percent of her hearing in a childhood accident, may be the industry’s most prominent hard-of-hearing Black pastry chef. She has gained a following for her pies through social media, pop-ups and appearances on the Netflix competition show “Bake Squad.” “I realized that being a member of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community actually gave me a superpower,” she said, “and that superpower includes a heightened sense of smell and taste.” Ms. Broussard chose her bakery’s location in hopes of encouraging other chefs and entrepreneurs to join her. “I want to force people who don’t look like me to come to the South Side if they want my pies,” she said. “I want to force people to come to a neighborhood that deserves private investment, a neighborhood that has a blighted corridor, a neighborhood that has empty storefronts.” Zella Palmer, an author and professor at Dillard University in New Orleans who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, said neighborhoods like Avalon Park deserve more inventive Black-owned businesses. “There’s a huge pride in the community to see this gleaming pie shop,” she said. “This is a pie shop that looks like it could be in Brooklyn, or on Magazine Street in New Orleans, but it’s here.”

Several of the shop’s counters are 32 inches high, meeting the height standards of the American Disabilities Act and making them accessible for wheelchair users. Each section of the shop has a different floor tile texture, which helps patrons with limited sight who use a walking cane navigate the store. “How can I be an ambassador for people living with disabilities and have a space that isn’t accessible?” she said. Signs in the shop carry Braille inscriptions, and language is designed to be inclusive, too. (In the bathroom, there are “personal hygiene products” rather than “feminine hygiene products.”) A service door that has a bell and a flashlight allows Ms. Broussard to remain aware of important deliveries.

more at the gift link

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Daniel Owen Stephens, Total eclipse, June 8, 1937

* * * *

“This is all I have to tell you. In the deeps are the violence and terror of which psychology has warned us. But if you ride these monsters deeper down, if you drop with them farther over the world’s rim, you find what our sciences cannot locate or name, the substrate, the ocean or matrix or ether which buoys the rest, which gives goodness its power for good, and evil its power for evil, the unified field: our complex and inexplicable caring for each other, and for our life together here. This is given. It is not learned.” — Annie Dillard, “Total Eclipse” from Teaching a Stone to Talk

[Alive On All Channels]

[madamlaydebug]

June 23, 1997 — Malcolm X's widow Betty Shabazz passed away today 🕊️

Born Betty Dean Sanders, she was an educator, civil rights advocate and the wife of Malcolm X.

Dr. Shabazz grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where her foster parents largely sheltered her from racism. She attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where she had her first encounters with racism. Unhappy with the situation in Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she became a nurse.

It was in New York that she met Malcolm X. The couple married in 1958.

Along with her husband, Dr. Shabazz left the Nation of Islam in 1964. She witnessed his assassination the following year.

MEMORIALS:

•In late 1997, the Community Healthcare Network renamed one of its Brooklyn, New York, clinics the Dr. Betty Shabazz Health Center, in honor of Shabazz.

•The Betty Shabazz International Charter School was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1998 and named in her honor.

•In 2005, Columbia University announced the opening of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. The memorial is located in the Audubon Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated.

•In March 2012, New York City co-named Broadway at the corner of West 165th Street, the corner in front of the Audubon Ballroom, Betty Shabazz Way.

PORTRAYALS IN FILM:

🎬Yolanda King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King, played Dr. Shabazz in the 1981 television movie Death of a Prophet.

🎬She was portrayed by Angela Bassett in the 1992 film Malcolm X.

🎬Bassett also played the part of Dr. Shabazz in the 1995 film Panther.

🎬Dr. Shabazz was portrayed by Victoria Dillard in the 2001 film Ali.

🎬Dr. Shabazz was the subject of the 2013 television movie Betty and Coretta, in which she was played by Mary J. Blige. #MalcolmX #BettyShabazz

[taravali-the-service-pup]

Puppy Adventure Checklist

Check your state laws to see if they cover public access rights for owner-trained SDiT. Some stores are pet friendly but always check with your local stores bc many vary by location.

Home Improvement Store w/ Garden Center // Lowe’s / Home Depot / Menards / Ace Hardware / Sutherlands /

Department Store // Home Goods / At Home / Kohls / Ross / Burlington / Marshals / TJ Max / Old Navy / Macys / Dillards / JC Penny

Tool Store // Harbor Freight Tools / Northern Tool & Equipment / Clark’s Tools & Equipment / O’Reilly Auto Parts / Advanced Auto Parts / Auto Zone

Craft Store // Michael’s / JoAnn Fabrics / Hobby Lobby / Blick Art Materials / Paper Source

Book Stores // Barns & Nobel / Books A Million / Half Price Books / Public Library

Tech Stores // Best Buy / GameStop / Office Depot / Office Max / Staples

Sporting Goods // Academy / Bass Pro Shop / Dicks Sporting Goods / Scheels

Misc Quick Trips // hotel lobbies / car wash / pharmacy / gas station / USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL / hospital parking lot & lobby / car, boat, RV dealership

Outdoor Locations // public playgrounds / accessible playgrounds / outdoor gyms / outdoor pools / parks with ponds, lakes or fountains / tennis & basketball courts / skate parks /

Beauty Supply Store // I personally don’t feel comfortable bringing a SDiT into a store with very strong smells. It’s overwhelming for me so I’m sure it’s very uncomfortable for them. I also avoid the isles with laundry detergent or bug killer of other stores for the same reason.

Grocery Stores // We wait until we have solid public access skills before we tackle places that sell a lot of food. Our grocery stores of choice are: Costco, Target and Sprouts. The HyVee & ALDIs in our city have tight isles that make it difficult to maneuver and get space as needed so I generally don’t go there until more advanced in public access. I personally avoid Walmart 100% of the time.

Other places too advanced for a young puppy include: museums, zoos, arcades, movie theaters, doctor appointments and any other place that is either too distracting/intimidating, you can’t leave immediately if your puppy gets overwhelmed or if the stakes are too high if something goes wrong.

[lichensings]

🌲🐺🍁🌕 for dillard?

okay so the funny thing is that dillard is the name of the town that my yearlong motw campaing was set in. second funny thing is that this campaign had its finale session five hours before you sent this ask in.

original character? no. original CITY. its heavily inspired (directly lifted) from the town i live in so i'm gonna be vague as hell about some things on here, and might just go on tangents about npcs when applicable.

🌲 - Do they have a favorite location to hang out in? Given that Dillard is a location itself i'm just answering this for the party. they would visit one member's arcane library (grad student office) every session to research the monster that week. my favorite location as the game master was the deep cavern under the city where a great dragon slumbers <3

🐺 - How does this oc deal with solitude? choosing to answer this from some npc's perpectives. first off the npc The Coyote bc of the wolf emoji for this question: likes it fine but CAN work with people. i just think its funny how when they went evil for a bit they were just hanging out and living in a mad scientists lab. there was a sitcom there off-screen i know it. also answering for another npc, destiny sr.: she doesn't like it. she's a professor who's been monster hunting for decades, and knows that safety in numbers is tried and true. when her last monster hunting bud was hospitalized she immediately recruited the party to try and help her. despite this, she is bad at talking to people and drives away everyone who cared about her who WASN'T in on the monster hunting (including her ex husband and daughter). she really should've gotten into rock climbing. it wouldn't have saved her (she totally died) but it would have been funny.

🍁 - What is this oc’s favorite season? since it's literally just the town i live but with magic and an excuse to make up buildings, MY favorite season there would be winter. summer so hot it kills you spring so pollen it makes your head explode. fall alternating between stupid hot and stupid cold. yes winter also sucks but its the most tolerable

🌕 - If this oc was an animal, what kind would they be? (if my city was an animal there is a clear answer but its so clear its personally identifying. so i shan't say.) OKAY SO. a dragon. listen in the worldbuilding dragons existed, but went exinct in the permian 250mya, and are insanely magic due to other worldbuilding (magical diseases and symbiotic organisms). one crash landed into the ocean, and the impact formed a cave where the dragon has just been hibernating for millennia, and throughout tectonic activity that area is now the town of Dillard. to me the dragon is the soul of dillard - its why there is so much weird supernatural stuff going on in there. and also if it ever wakes up and emerges that WOULD trigger the apocalypse. shoutout to the great beast pendragon ig

(this also makes the question below that one, "Very serious question… are they more like a dragon, or a unicorn?" very funny.)

[nickgerlich]

Looking For A Miracle

In the history of American retailing, there has never been a chain whose name became synonymous not just with an event, but an entire holiday season. While younger generations may not have the same level of intense memories as their parents and grandparents, it is still part of our fabric. It starts on Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is as much tradition as is the turkey that will be front and center on dining room tables later that same day. The parade dates to 1924, and it was a shrewd move on behalf of the department store to put its name on it. Little did they know then it would become synonymous with not just the parade, but also the day and the holiday shopping that would ensue the day after.

As if that weren’t enough, Hollywood picked up on this beautiful romance, and in 1947 released Miracle on 34th Street. It was almost like it was a 96-minute commercial for Macy’s as it spun the tale of a drunk man hired to play Santa Claus at their downtown store.

With all of that good fortune, it would be easy to think the company was set up for life. Alas, no one is immune to change, and even Macy’s, which continues to benefit from its association with the parade as well as the month that follows, is in trouble. They just announced 150 more store closings, leaving the chain with 350 stores. It once had many hundred more.

The news comes not long after Macy’s rejected a $5.8 billion buy-out bid. They must be feeling pretty confident that they can take it from here, choppy waters be damned.

But this does not address the elephant in the room, that being the one whose name is Change. Much has indeed changed in the century since the birth of that parade, when downtown flagship department stores were a matter of civic pride and family tradition. I remember my family always traveling to downtown Chicago to go to Marshall Field, then the leading store in the region. It was an event, complete with seeing Santa, dining in the restaurant, and shopping all day. Side note: Macy’s eventually bought Marshall Field and changed the name, but Chicagoans still refer to that downtown location as Field’s.

Today, department stores are in the throes of death, along with the suburban malls in which they reside. Whereas mall owners could once count on these anchor stores to attract the foot traffic that would keep the ship and its smaller tenants afloat, that is no longer the case. The US is littered with abandoned malls or those so eerily like a ghost town that you begin to wonder why we went down this road in the first place.

Of course, we can point to e-commerce as a big contributor for this decline. This includes Amazon as well as the upstart fast-fashion site Shein. But there’s more. COVID taught us that curbside pickup and delivery are also viable options. Mass merchandisers like Target and Walmart have upped their game, and provide more outlets for our shopping dollars. All of these have combined to create a perfect storm.

It’s not like Macy’s hasn’t mounted its own response with a reasonable e-commerce site. It’s just that through so many decades of focusing on its roots that it overlooked the need to grow in new ways. Worse yet, it has developed a rather stodgy image. Just like Sears did toward the end of its life, Macy’s is now where your old aunt shops.

Eeewwwww.

I have to wonder how much longer the chain will survive. I hope they do not face the same fate as Sears. For that matter, I would not wish upon them the challenges that JC Penney has faced. At best they can hope for the comparatively calm seas that Dillards finds itself in.

This is the challenge for every legacy retailer. You have to maintain relevance. And while an annual parade may stir romantic notions, I don’t think it is going to be close to enough to keep the company going for 12 months a year, not just one. I hate to rain on their parade, but it’s looking kind of overcast out there, and it’s time to reach for an umbrella.

Dr “But Miracles Do Happen” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[jules-has-notes]

Can't Believe It — VoicePlay music video

The guys met Emoni Wilkins from the group Ten during The Sing-Off and became fast friends. Being singers with family-friendly reputations, they made this club jam their own by implementing some strategic lyric substitutions and more complex vocal lines. What was once unabashedly sexual is now more playful and (pardon the pun) cheeky in its appreciation of the human form.

Details:

title: Can't Believe It (feat. Emoni)

original performers: Flo Rida, featuring Pitbull [NOTE: The original lyrics and video are a fair bit racier than VP's version.]

written by: Tramar "Flo Rida" Dillard, Armando "Pitbull" Pérez, Mike Caren, Luca Ciampi, Breyan Isaac, William Lobban-Bean, & Alexander Williams

arranged by: Layne Stein, Geoff Castellucci, & Hannah Juliano

release date: 16 December 2013

My favorite bits:

the boys giving Emoni a spaghetti western entrance sting

the staccato harmonies from Tony, Eli, and Earl, with Emoni's sultry vocalizations flowing underneath

Layne taking the drum line from a bouncy salsa beat to an electronic breakdown and back again

Geoff dropping it low with ⇘ ♫ "She got that" ♫ ⇘

Emoni's incredible riffing, all the way up and back down multiple octaves

♫ "Boop!" ♫

ending on that smooth minor chord

Trivia:

This video was filmed overnight in a local candy store called Rocket Fizz. The owners enjoyed watching the process and hearing them sing so much that they waived the location fee, and gave them free candy.

When Emoni joined the guys for the 2014 Sing-Off tour, they included this song in their set.

[thmgau]

CHAPTER 20 - A DAY AT THE MALL [wattpad link]

---

During the drive to the mall, Spring & Storm had explained to the group why exactly they were on Earth in the first place. Apparently, their father had told the girls about their mom running away to Mercury last night, when nov SHOULD have told them about it 2000 years ago. That was pretty much the gist of it, anywho. Now, Spring & Storm want to have a little fun on Earth before they deal with the divorce.

Cherry pulled her car into the parking lot. As everyone unbuckled their seatbelts, they hopped out of the car.

“Welcome.. to the mall.” Cherry said, gesturing at the mall. “Ta-dah.” “Oooh! It’s so big!” Spring gasped, in awe of the mall. “Man, I haven’t been to the mall in years!” “We literally went last month.” “Your point?” “What are we waiting for?! Let’s get in there already!”

The 7 of them walked into the mall. It was massive inside, as most malls are. Shops & stores were lined across the walls, with an escalator leading up to a second floor, with presumably more stores. In front of the group was a map of the mall, labeling where all the stores & exits were.

“Alright, mall time!” Kalani cheered. “Wait! Before we go anywhere,” Nora started. “It’s going to be impossible for all 7 of us to shop if we all have to stick together. I think we should form 2 separate groups.” “There’s 7 of us, yea? These groups are gonna be uneven.” “I for one approve of this group idea. Even if it’s uneven, it’ll be fun.” “Ok, fine. We can do groups.”

& so, the group strategically split themselves into 2 groups. The first group was Leslie, Spring, & Juniper, while the second group was Cherry, Storm, Nora, & Kalani.

“Alright. Let’s agree to meet back at the food court in.. an hour? Is an hour good?” “We can work with that.” “Alrighty! See you in an hour!”

With that, the two groups went on their merry way.

“So!” Nora clapped her hands together. “What store are we hittin’ first?” “I don’t actually know. We only went here because Leslie wanted to get a present for Natalie.” “We could.. go to Dillard’s? Have you ever been to Dillard’s, Storm?” “This is literally the first time I’ve ever left the Castle. I don’t know anything about your human locations.” “Yea, that’s.. fair, actually.” “I think you’d like it. C’mon!”

-

Leslie & Juniper found themselves inside of Old Navy. Juniper had asked where Spring wanted to go, & she spun around & pointed at the Old Navy. Leslie doubted it’d find anything Natalie would want in an Old Navy (it seemed like Spencer’s or Hot Topic would be more her style, anyway), but it could use a new pair of jeans anyway.

“Ooh! What’s that?” Spring asked, pointing toward a mannequin styling a blouse & a pair of leggings. “Oh, that’s a mannequin!” Juniper said. “People use them to model clothes & all that sorta jazz.” “That’s neat!” she hummed. “I didn’t know humans had different types of clothes.” “You- You didn’t?” Leslie questioned. “No. The only other human I’ve met is Betty, & she doesn’t talk about what Earth was like often.”

Betty.. that name sounded familiar. It was in the list of Celestials that Leslie & the group were reading just a week ago.

To avoid talking about Celestials in the middle of an Old Navy, the group decided to put the topic at rest & ask more about Betty later.

“Oh! These look cool!” Spring ran up to a pair of jeans with a flower embroidered on it. “Oh, that is cool.” Juniper nodded. “If it’s in your size, you could probably get it. What size are you?”

Spring turned to look at Juniper.

“Oh. Yeah. I don’t think Celestials know what pant sizes are.” “I mean, hey! If they’re too big or too small, we could probably get Natalie to fix ‘em up. She did make that villain costume herself, after all.” “Well, I’ve never worn pants before, so this’ll be an exciting experience!” Spring grinned. “I’ll take ‘em!”

-

“So what, this place just sells.. foot gloves?” “They’re called shoes.” “Whatever.”

Cherry, Nora, Kalani, & Storm were in Dillard’s, a very widespread department store. The group typically didn’t go in here often, but it seemed like a general enough store for them to go to for now.

“I mean, Dillard’s sells more than just shoes. There’s bags, dresses, jewelry.. I think this is where I got my first skirt, actually!” “Oh yea, this is where you got your first skirt! It was you & me & Sorrel, who had just gotten their driver’s license, & they took you here to shop around!” “Why did you tag along again? I always forget.” “I think I wanted to skip out on some event my mom wanted to take me to. I dunno.” “Can we just shop?” Cherry crossed her arms. “We are shopping! Look at all this shopping I’m doing!” Kalani grabbed a sweater off from the hanger it was on. “Look! Doesn’t this look cool?” “That does look.. kind of cool, actually.” Storm said.

The sweater was dark blue, with a yellow thunderbolt design crocheted into it.

“Oh, yea. Thunderstorms are kind of your thing, huh?” “Duh. Why do you think my name is Storm?” “I mean, if you want the sweater, we can get it for you.” “Really?” “Of course!” “Well, then.. I’ll take it.”

-

A feeling of dread & agony quickly washed over Leslie & Juniper when they saw what store they were headed to next. It was purple, bright, sparkly, & not a very good place to get your ears pierced (Leslie would know, from experience).

Claire’s.

Leslie was certain it wasn’t going to find anything here for Natalie’s birthday, & Juniper’s punky aesthetic clashed with the store’s vibrant colors. Nevertheless, this is where Spring wanted to go, & the two of them weren’t about to say no to a Celestial.

Spring was in awe of everything in the store. It kind of reminded Leslie of when they walked into Claire’s for the first time. They just desperately hoped Spring wouldn’t ask to get her ears pierced here.

“Ooh! Look at this!” Spring gasped, holding up a pendant with a little white daisy on it. “Oh, that’s cute!” Juniper smiled. “I think that’d be perfect for you!” “Really?!” “Of course! C’mon, let’s go pay for it!”

As Juniper & Spring went up to the front counter, Leslie looked at all the necklaces that Claire’s had to offer. It wasn’t sure if Natalie would like these necklaces, let alone want a necklace at all. If they had known it was Natalie’s birthday beforehand, Leslie could have made cupcakes for her. They sighed, holding a pair of BFF Yin & Yang necklaces in their hand.

Yin & Yang are, to put it in simple terms, opposites that are interconnected. Did Leslie & Natalie really feel interconnected? Without delving too deep into it, the two of them could be considered opposites. Light & dark, passive & active... All sorts of things that are together in some way. Leslie’s only known Natalie for a month, but she’s always been intertwined in their heroic adventures. Helping out with the bananapocalypse (as Leslie liked to call it), fending off Pim & The Auctioneer, & even fighting the puppets on stage. Despite only having a squeaky hammer as a weapon, Natalie might as well be just a part of the group as anyone else.

Leslie grabbed the necklaces off from where they were hanging.

-

“So.. how do I look?”

Storm stepped out of the dressing room. Instead of the dress & hood the group had met her in, she now donned the sweater from earlier, along with some ripped jeans & fuzzy boots.

“Oh! You look so cute!” “Fuckin’ awesome, girl.” “Thank you!” Storm spun around a little bit. “This.. ‘sweeter’ thing is a lot softer than I had anticipated, but I do like it. A lot.” “I’m glad you enjoy it! Clothes shopping can be so much fun sometimes. We really need to do this more often!” “Oh yea, totally. It has almost been an hour though, so we should-”

Cherry paused, spotting 2 girls entering the store they were currently in.

“Oh no.” “Huh? What’s up?” Nora asked. “My sisters are here.” Cherry shuddered. “Oh, Poppy & Carmine? We haven’t seen them in years!” “Yea, for good reason. Those bitches always got on my case for breakin’ the rules.” “Ohh, yea, now that I think about it, they were kind of dicks to all of us, huh?”

Poppy & Carmine turned around & spotted Cherry.

“Cherry!!” Carmine waved as the two of them walked toward the group.

Poppy & Carmine were dressed a lot more fancy than Cherry was. Carmine, the middle sister, wore a white tube top & red, baggy pants. Poppy, the youngest, wore a red dress with a white belt & an opal necklace around her neck. Along with that, Poppy also had a red headband keeping her hair behind her, & some fancy dangly earrings. If you put Cherry, Poppy, & Carmine in a line together, you wouldn’t be able to tell Cherry was even related to them.

Cherry groaned, stuffing their hands into their hoodie’s pockets. “Hey, Poppy. Hey, Carmine.”

“What a pleasant surprise running into you here!” Carmine grinned. “Hey, what’s up with the necklace?” Poppy asked, pointing at the red tie necklace around Cherry’s neck. “You didn’t have that last time we saw you!” “Jesus, you’re not even going to say hi?” “Greetings are reserved for people who don’t wear lame old hoodies & necklaces shaped like ties.” “Oh, whatever. You & Mom have always been on my case over what I wear.” “Well, we are Russells.” Carmine said. “We’re expected to be the example.” “Yea, & as the oldest out of all of us, you should know that the best, Cherry.” Poppy crossed her arms.

Cherry groaned. Nora & Kalani stepped back a little, Storm following along.

“Who cares about being the example or whatever?” “You know Mom only pays for you & your friends’ rent because she thinks you’re out wearing dresses & being fancy instead of wearing trash like this, right?” Carmine raised an eyebrow. “Of course I do.” Cherry lied. “You have a standard to uphold, Cherry. We all do. So you better start upholding it.”

“WELL THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT MEETING BUT WE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE!” Kalani grinned, pushing Cherry out of the store as Nora & Storm followed. “YOU TWO HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY! SPARKLE ON!”

As soon as the group was out of range from Poppy & Carmine, Cherry sighed, sitting down at a table in the food court (which just so happened to be nearby).

“God, I fuckin’ hate my sisters.” “Yea, they suck bad.” “They’re probably gonna tell my Mom about this encounter & she’s gonna stop paying for our rent. I honestly considered going into Hero Mode just to fuckin’.. stab ‘em with my sword or something. I don’t know.” “I don’t even think you’d need the sword, honestly. Haven’t you been working out? You could just beat ‘em up!” “Yea! You’re right!” “You are not going to beat up your sisters, Cherry.” “Well, duh. But I wish I could.” “Hey! Over here!”

The group looked up & saw Leslie, Juniper, & Spring from across the food court.

“Les! Juni!” Kalani waved.

The two groups ran over to each other.

“Did you all have fun?” “Yea, it was awesome!” “Storm, check out my new outfit!”

Instead of the yellow & orange dress Spring was wearing earlier, she now wore a yellow t-shirt with a pocket (a picture of a flower was on the pocket), some jeans with a flower embroidered into them, & flip-flops. A necklace with a white daisy on it was also around her neck.

“Woah, that’s cool.” “Thanks!” “Alright! Who wants lunch?” “Ooh! Lunch time!”

-

The rest of the day went as well as it could. After the group had lunch at the food court, they went to the park, which Spring & Storm had enjoyed quite a bit. Then, they visited the museum for a bit & got some stuff at the gift shop.

By the time the group made it back to the dorm building, they were absolutely worn out.

Cherry parked their car as everyone unbuckled their seatbelts & hopped out.

“Jeez, it’s getting late.” Cherry yawned, looking up at the sunset. “We should be heading to bed soon.” “What about us?” Storm asked. “Yea, where are we gonna stay?” “Oh, you two can stay in my apartment if you want!” Nora suggested. “Really?” “Of course, I’ve got plenty of room! Hope Sorrel doesn’t mind!” “Wow.. you 5 truly are heroes.” “I suppose we are!” Leslie chuckled. “& tomorrow, you 5 are gonna get our parents back together!” “Oh. I forgot about that. There goes my Saturday.” “I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Kalani said, a twinge of doubt in his voice. “Let’s just head to bed for now. G’night, everyone.” “Goodnight!!”

[jcmarchi]

Avid Announces the Next Generation of Web-Based Editing Capabilities Powered by CuttingRoom

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/avid-announces-the-next-generation-of-web-based-editing-capabilities-powered-by-cuttingroom/

Avid Announces the Next Generation of Web-Based Editing Capabilities Powered by CuttingRoom

Avid® announces it is partnering with Bergen, Norway-based CuttingRoom to power Avid’s next-generation web-based editor. Initially integrated into Avid’s Wolftech News product, Avid’s enhanced web-based editor uses CuttingRoom’s award-winning cloud native technology to deliver a significant leap forward in collaborative, browser-enabled editing that meets the demands of today’s fast-paced news landscape. It is being previewed in Avid’s booth (SL1516) at NAB Show 2025, in Las Vegas.

Avid’s powerful next-gen solution empowers news teams to capture, create, customize, and publish video content from anywhere. The advanced web editor solution delivers a streamlined, AI-enhanced workflow for video editing, audio design, graphical overlays, and social media reformatting – all within a web browser. Multiple users can edit the same timeline simultaneously, further accelerating production schedules.

“In a media environment driven by ever-faster turnaround times and the need to maximize resources, content teams require web-based and mobile-first tools to enable frictionless workflows that deliver more content without sacrificing quality,” said Wellford Dillard, CEO at Avid. “Avid’s next-generation web-based editor, powered by CuttingRoom, makes it faster and easier than ever for news teams to produce better, more creative stories from wherever they need to work.”

This initial release will feature unique capabilities through Wolftech News. Avid’s web-based editing capabilities will also be integrated into the Wolftech Go mobile app, which enables dispersed news teams to plan and collaborate from any location.

Key capabilities include:

Social media-friendly formats: Instantly reformat video content for any platform with simple aspect ratio conversion tools.

Easy graphics integration: Create sleek motion graphics or import After Effects templates – including animations – directly into the timeline.

Audio precision editing: Rubber banding and keyframe controls provide precise audio level adjustments to enhance storytelling.

Live delivery from the field: Capture and stream or upload footage directly from any location to the timeline via the Avid Reporter app – keeping everyone in sync.

Multi-user collaboration: Enable multiple editors to work on the same timeline simultaneously for faster turnarounds.

Script-to-screen AI integration: Leverage Wolftech’s scripting tools and AI-driven teleprompting through the Avid Reporter app.

“Teaming up with Avid, the industry leader in news and entertainment content, is a game-changer for CuttingRoom,” said Helge Høibraaten, cofounder of CuttingRoom.

Added fellow cofounder of CuttingRoom, Glenn S. Pedersen: “This solution brings together the best of both worlds – Avid’s integrated, end-to-end media workflows and CuttingRoom’s flexible, cloud-native platform. Together, we’re redefining how news stories are captured, edited, and shared on the go.”

Slated for initial release in June 2025, the new Avid editor features tight integration with Wolftech News and a unified user experience. Because both Wolftech News and CuttingRoom integrate with a broad range of partner solutions via open APIs, Avid’s next-generation web-based editor can be adopted by sites that do not include other Avid solutions.

Experience the future of browser-based news production at the Avid Booth (SL1516) during NAB Show 2025. 

Read the full Press Release from Avid HERE

Learn more about Avid below:

[ffccrxxxsss]

Fcdx babies f dx teenagers fcdxsz grown gvhbjn grown ups : marathon gas station : locations paid : deliveries charts : paid delivered carriers families: paid fcgv cargo paid maker Candace Marie Hughes paid loked pay checks paid guns fcdx manufacturer paid Candace Marie Hughes paid loked fcdx lay in fcgv Candace Marie Hughes guns solder paid loked fcdx pay checks association paid : loked fcdx age hi paid fc pay checks fcdx aged 3515 Dillard paid Memphis Tennessee paid loked gvfcdx lay paid fc age paid loked 130 dudes max : 453 plan alarmings must return to Candace Marie Hughes. On. Paid. Loked. Fcgv must return to lay paid loked on. Paid. Loked.

[coachrivero]

How can Tulane improve basketball?

Fire Ron Hunter. Take the program seriously and hire a young innovative coach

We know that simply isn’t going to happen, at least not this cycle. To be honest I’m not really frustrated that Hunter will back next season, like I was this time last year. I was flabbergasted when Tulane didn’t fire him last March following an extended tank in year 5. But here he is, unfired, most of that team is gone and he was awarded a clean slate to rebuild in year 6.

24/25 started off bad like you would realistically expect with a coach you should’ve fired and a ragtag roster of freshmen and transfers. Then Tulane got into AAC play and started winning a few games. Granted the AAC is weak as fuck. If you take out Memphis it is essentially the Southland. However, Tulane did start playing complimentary basketball and stopped losing Quad 4 games. The Green Wave finished with a Division 1 record of 17-14 (12-6 AAC).

Was Tulane good? No. We were definitely Quad 4 merchants. Went 12-2 in Quad 4 and 5-4 in Quad 3. Tulane had zero good wins in the eyes of the NCAA. 0-3 against Quad 1 and 0-5 against Quad 2

Using both the eye test and the analytics that the NCAA considers gospel, Tulane is a flawed basketball team. The NET is 145 which is slap in the middle of Division 1 basketball. They do play hard though and became fun to watch later in the year. I actually enjoyed watching them. Rarely have I seen a Green Wave basketball team compete like they did. That should at least count for something

To conclude the introductory portion I can at least rationalize bringing Hunter back for the final year of his contract given the moderate improvement of the team.

Now how does Tulane improve its program?

Cheat the Metrics

The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is the primary metric used by the NCAA to sort Division 1 basketball teams.

The NET is different from RPI which only factors 3 components, your winning percentage, your opponent’s winning percentage, and the winning percentage of everyone your opponents play.

The NET uses

- [ ] Game results

- [ ] Strength of schedule

- [ ] Game location

- [ ] Net offensive and defensive efficiency

- [ ] Quality of wins and losses

Basically, the most important thing the NET looks at is playing tough competition, especially on the road and neutral locations. It’s better for your resume to play SEC teams at their place and lose than play Quad 4 teams and win. Hunter is scared to play good teams on the road nonconference and get boat raced, but it’s more palatable in the eyes of the NCAA than playing cupcakes. We also have a bad habit of losing buy games so best to limit them as much as you can.

A quick breakdown of the Quadrant system:

* Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75

* Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135

* Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240

* Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353

Non Division 1 games are rightfully not recognized by the NCAA. The fans love beating Dillard University by 40, but it does absolutely nothing for your NET rating, so there’s no point to even play these games. It’s a waste of time

Admittedly it will be difficult for Tulane to get many Quad 1 games on the schedule, because these are likely serious programs who care about their NET and want to make the NCAA tournament. Also, if you are playing Quad 3-4 games, you better bully the fuck out of these teams. The NCAA selection committee frowns upon Quad 3 and Quad 4 losses.

So this begs the question. How does Tulane cheat the NET? Simple. Look no further than the Mountain West, who has been farming NET to get fraudulent teams in the NCAA tournament for years.

Schedule as many good teams as you can. Doesn’t matter if you play them home, away, or on the moon. Quad 4 games offer little upside and high risk. So avoid scheduling Southland, SWAC, and crappy online schools who have poor NET ratings. If you can’t get marquee matchups against SEC teams, then get as many Quad 2 games as you can. Play good mid majors on the road, or average teams who farm their NET with power conference games.

Tulane needs to be smart with the way their build their nonconference schedule in 25/26. The American Conference doesn’t offer many Quad 1-2 opportunities besides Memphis. Lazy scheduling and padding the win column with non-D1 games serves no purpose but to get to Cancun as quickly as possible.

But you do have to win at least some of those games against good teams

Be good at Basketball

The most important thing to the NCAA is metrics. A distant second is actually being good at the sport

Player retention is critical. Gregg Glenn running it back is cool because having an athletic forward who can handle the ball is important in Ron Hunter’s offense. The most important would be Rowan Brumbaugh, one of the best Green Wave point guards in recent memory. Defections will obviously happen, but I would make it a priority to retain him. The best way to construct a basketball roster is around great guard play.

Clearly Brumbaugh is the wildcard. If he bolts the team will assuredly be worse. Tulane might as well fire Ron Hunter at that point, like any other D1 program would have done on March 15th, 2024 at 8 in the morning

More production we should try to return. Asher Woods, Percy Daniels, and Mari Jordan. All of these players developed as the season progressed. Kaleb Banks and Kam Williams would be nice but I don’t see them returning. Banks likely has his destination lined up and Williams hired an agent so you know he’s about to pull a Mensah. In this day and age I wouldn’t be surprised with any defections including the aforementioned group. We’ll probably lose more players than we’re comfortable with. Hopefully not a mass exodus

The transfer portal works both ways also. We need to add talent. Contrary to the belief of the philistines in Tulane’s basketball fanbase, our 145 NET Crown Royal tournament team wasn’t that good. Tulane is unlikely to sign elite players out of high school due to the program being ass. Our bread and butter will be transfer recruiting. Perhaps we can entice some portal players over here for a slightly larger bag than they were making.

There are quite a few holes in this roster. I wouldn’t grade any specific needs over other ones because we could use good basketball players. Plain and simple. I would like to see Tulane add a wing who can shoot at least. Guard depth would be nice so we could hopefully run combo guard sets with Brumbaugh. Memphis killed the AAC with guard play behind foul merchant PJ Haggerty despite sleepwalking through conference. Another role player big doesn’t seem too much to ask for. We struggle in the paint defensively against teams with legit college bigs

You can recruit good players, but you also have to coach them up. Ron Hunter’s coaching performance in American Conference play was decent at times with the limitations of this team. I wouldn’t say great because the only “good” win was UAB at home. But he actually made some adjustments and got this team to defend and rebound. Hunter teams usually play zero defense and treat rebounding like a federal crime, so this was good to see.

Maybe I have become the very thing I hate. Maybe I am a glazer. Lifetime contract loading? 🔥

Invest in the program

Capital investment in Tulane Basketball is unlikely to happen. I can list several things more likely to happen, like me being elected the next Pope, or getting a lap dance from Kendall Jenner

I’m sure Tulane could invest in hoops. I just don’t expect them to randomly wake up one morning and pour resources into a sport they’ve been neglecting for the last 30 years

I should probably also not expect Ron Hunter to randomly wake up and say “Hey! I want a competitive schedule to help our NET rating!” Or Tulane players to say “Hey! I want to pass on a bigger payday and greater stage to help uplift this dormant program!”

Perhaps this is a fool’s errand, but investing in getting better is the best way to… get better. Memphis is good because they invest 3 times more than most other mid majors. Tulane is a place where success typically has to come first before investment (see football). So invest in a better basketball coach when Ron Hunter retires or gets fired next season.

The basketball arena is an interesting subject. It does provide a good home court advantage on the rare occasion it is packed. However, it is hella outdated and nowhere near standard should Tulane miraculously catch a break in conference realignment. Hold on I just got a snap from Kendall Jenner.

I can beat this dead horse until it’s barely recognizable that it was a horse to begin with. Bottom line is we need some kind of breakthrough to get the University, community, and students interested in Tulane hoops.

I always tell people this. You can’t make Tulane care, but if you care about Tulane sports give to NIL. Whether you give a little or a lot, anything helps the greenies win. Fear the Wave Collective works tirelessly to aid Tulane coaches in acquiring and retaining talent. I’m not the biggest glazer of Tulane. In fact I hate quite often, but I will glaze these dudes. Arata, Ordeneaux, and Comarda are the real deal.

It’s hard to make the NCAA tournament. To us it seems like a pipe dream, having not gone in 30 years and counting. I’m here to tell you it can be done. 64 teams do it every year. Some with less resources than us.

If Tulane aspires to do more with less, it would easily be an improvement over doing absolutely nothing. The only thing I can think of besides a complete overhaul of infrastructure (grabs nightstick again) is a young energetic head coach who will come here and absolutely kill it.

Carlin Hartman would be our basketball Jon Sumrall. Slam dunk hire that everyone wants. There are others too. Pick the best mid major coach and pay him a million dollars annually like Ron Hunter makes and they’re probably coming. Some suggestions: Robert Jones, Matt Langel, Bucky McMillan, Takayo Siddle.

Some form of institutional commitment would be nice. Always being cheap and taking the easy way out gets you 0 NCAA tournaments in 30 years.

Conclusion

Tulane fandom is not easy. That’s part of the allure why I continue to pull for the Olive and Blue despite having no real connection to the school. I would be a sidewalk LSU fan like everyone else if it wasn’t for my dad.

We all remember how hopeless Green Wave football was until it wasn’t. That’s what make winning here so special. Why we will talk about the Cotton Bowl for the rest of our lives. Because it happened and it was awesome. Despite how incredibly unlikely it was.

College Basketball, especially March Madness, is a big deal. It’s a huge stage for exposure and to uplift the profile of the school. Basketball is just a child’s game in which participants put an orange ball through a hoop. Sports are unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but they are the most visible aspect of your university.

Specifically, if Tulane aspires to join a P4 conference and be associated with greater academic and athletic peers. Men’s basketball is the next thing to fix.

For now, we exist in purgatory. An irrelevant program who was only good in the 90’s playing a bunch of NAIA’s and junior colleges in front of 300 people.

Putting down the nightstick covered in the now emulsified horse remains. We are playing in a postseason for the first time since 2014 (CBI).

This upstart consolation tournament is not an accomplishment but I’m not going to downplay it either. It’s Tulane playing basketball after the season ends which typically never happens.

You may say “hang the banner” (I’m sure we will) but I will be watching. Interested to see how Tulane does against a bunch of down-bad big conference teams.

I hope this isn’t the pinnacle. The basketball standards are too low. Personally I would consider qualifying for March Madness 30% of the time (3 out of every 10 years) with a floor of NIT/ Crown/ (whatever shitty consolation tournament) most years a good baseline for success. Going to the tournament every few years or so but at least being decent most of the time.

Essentially I think seasons like the one we just had should be the floor and not contract extension worthy

If Tulane football can do it why not basketball?

Thanks for reading. Roll Wave! 🌊