Thursday November 12 Links and Banter

Good morning good morning good morning, all. For those of you that had to work yesterday, bummer, that sucks bro. For those of us that had a midweek mini weekend, welcome back to work (BOOO) and to the daily thread (YAYYYY).

First off: donations close on the $5 Bits of Broken Chair fundraising on the 17th during the Minny/Nebby volleyball match! Minnesota is leading right now; Wisconsin, can you abide that? Iowa, will you allow such effrontery to stand? Minnesota, will you let those outsider interlopers carpetbaggers steal your lead? And remember, both links below (for Nebby and Minny, respectively) are for absolutely wonderful causes to combat childhood cancer.

As always: Fuck Cancer.

(A small plug for the OTR interview with the Chair-person of the trophy from last year. Fun one!)

Secondly, but relatedly! We're rapidly approaching Sherman Grants time. For new folks, this is a project that we've done for the last two years here and at the Other Place. The idea is straightforward: you propose charities that matter to you, that are local, that do good and need help. We vote as a republic of sports-addled online weirdos to choose one charity to support together. The winning proposal gets donations from our community, and we get to fight over which fanbase gives the most money.

In 2024, we raised $4,601.35 for the Damiano Center in Duluth, MN (thank you to Wacker Era Survivor for nominating!), which provides meals to those who are hungry and clothes to those who are cold, among so many other programs. And we shall never make Buttgers jokes again, for one immensely generous Scarlet Knight alum donated $1,869 to call out the original game of football in 1869.

Last year, we raised $5,036.19 for Origami Rehabilitation, a Lansing, MI-based organization that helps support people of all ages in their rehab from neurological and mental health injuries and illnesses. A huge shoutout to OTR stalwart Wankerman for proposing Origami and repping the Republic at a recent Origami event! And many thanks to the Oregon Ducks fans for their $2,000 Nikebucks, which led the donation table by a wide margin (although we had 16 of 18 fanbases represented).

Think about charities in your area that matter to you. We can do some good together. I can't wait for year three.

And with that, let's hit a few links.