todd utterback

slow jogger | fast eater

engineering leader at a startup

[todd utterback @tsmells]

@davidsven @Segway You have my full attention.

[todd utterback @tsmells]

@teddyferrin @CadeKrueger I’ve been called tall.

I’ve been called exceptional.

Wanted to see if i was exceptionally tall.

[todd utterback @tsmells]

Mastery in any domain. So compelling. Love listening to master teachers and coaches explain complex topics at that master-level.

[Coach Dan Casey @CoachDanCasey]

If you want to understand the level of detail required to Run the Football effectively in the NFL, watch the next 131 seconds from Sean McVay.

[todd utterback @tsmells]

@teddyferrin @CadeKrueger How tall is exceptionally tall? Asking for your tall friend (me)

[todd utterback @tsmells]

@geoffjBYU The town installed a little traffic/car speed radar on our street a few weeks ago. I ran past it a few times and touched 16mph. I felt so alive.

I could hold that, maybe, for 20-30 meters. These guys are doing that and a little more for a mile. Its a beautiful thing.

[todd utterback @tsmells]

Absolutely ELECTRIC RUN

A World Record
A National Record
Like 6 Personal Bests, a Season Best.

The whole field was on fire and Josh Kerr absolutely torched the world record. Incredible run!!! Track!!!

[todd utterback @tsmells]

@BlakeMcClary Great personal project!

[todd utterback @tsmells]

@davidsven This is the way

[Charles Fain Lehman @CharlesFLehman]

Yet another paper finds that decriminalizing drug possession in Washington and Oregon caused an increase in overdose deaths.

"Synthetic-control estimates show that both decriminalization regimes sharply reduced drug arrests and were followed by sustained increases in overdose mortality relative to matched counterfactuals. The estimates imply approximately 1,186 excess deaths in Oregon and 1,895 in Washington from 2021 through 2023. We also revisit the role of fentanyl supply shocks. A fentanyl-share control may partly capture enforcement-driven declines in non-fentanyl NFLIS reports, while alternative fentanyl measures leave positive overdose effects."

https://t.co/0f5Trsm5pr

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

Why is it ‘cancelled’ in the U.K. but ‘canceled’ in the U.S.?

Because we gave them that L in 1776.

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

Me and the boys pulling up to FIFA HQ to file the Balogun appeal

[todd utterback @tsmells]

No alarm could wake me up as fast as the sound of my dog dry heaving

[David Hoffman @TrustlessState]

If USA beats you in the World Cup

That country has to call it Soccer until the next World Cup

New rule I just made up

[todd utterback @tsmells]

I ordered a couple of Chipp dog ties after you sent this out.

Paul Winston (Chipp Neckwear) called me this morning. The tie business has slowed down. He gets 1-2 orders a day for the ties. He woke up this AM to dozens of tie orders. He called me cause I'm close to where he has lived for decades. He wanted to know why there was a sudden surge in orders. I confirmed I wanted the order (he worried about fraud), I told him about the tweet, and then we spoke for 20 minutes! He talked to me about some fun men's fashion history and a great story about Tom Watson (IBM).

[todd utterback @tsmells]

My wife, watching me write "H.A.G.S" on all 10 graduation cards after she bought the cards and gifts and wrote personalized messages on each.

[Bob Elder @southernphd]

I never met Gordon Wood, but I have a story about him.

In one of my grad school seminars, we read Wood’s Creation of the American Republic. The sheer erudition and evidentiary depth of the book bowled me over.

Back then, before kids and before life accelerated to warp speed, I used to call my mother every Sunday to catch up. Lots of times, we ended up talking about what I was reading that week in my grad seminars or for leisure. Mom had an omnivorous mind, and she was always looking for something else to read. She was a true intellectual—curious about almost everything, always eager to integrate new arguments or ideas into her existing schemas of how the world worked or to have those schemas challenged and changed.

When we talked that particular Sunday, I think I tried to describe to her part of Wood’s argument about the relationship between the state constitutions during the Articles of Confederation era and the federal Constitution. Maybe I was tired, maybe I didn’t completely understand her questions, but the end result of the conversation was that Mom had questions about Wood’s argument that I didn’t answer satisfactorily. I told her that she should probably just read the book, and we said goodbye.

She did eventually read the book, but the next Sunday, Mom started our conversation by saying, “Well, I had a lovely conversation with Gordon Wood this week.” For a split second, I thought she was joking, but then I remembered who I was dealing with. I started to sweat. “How?” I asked. A whole variety of unlikely scenarios in which the foremost historian of the American Revolution and my mother, who lived in Wichita, Kansas, might have met ran through my mind. “Oh, I just looked up his office phone number on Brown’s website and called, and he picked up!” Mom said. I decided I would have to find another profession.

As it ended up, Gordon Wood spent about an hour on the phone with my mother answering her questions about the Constitution. Ever since, I’ve had a soft spot for the man when I imagine him picking up the phone in Providence and finding Becky Elder from Wichita on the other end of the line. His generosity in that moment spoke very well of him.

Rest in peace, professor.

[Puppies & Positivity @Puppieslover]

Me: Stands up

My dog: You son of a bitch I’m in

[todd utterback @tsmells]

👏 👏 My goodness!!! A few paragraphs in and I’m a huge fan of Keldon Johnson. I love it. Perfectly framed a tough situation and the choice he always had.

Gotta print this one off for the kiddos.

[The Players’ Tribune @PlayersTribune]

Keldon Johnson on his role with the @spurs: “I remember a couple years ago, I had a hard conversation with Pop. One morning, we were getting ready to play Dallas, and he pulled me to the side and told me that he thought it would be best for the team if I started coming off the bench. I said, ‘Yeah, of course. Whatever’s best for the team, I’ll do it.’ And I truly meant that, too.

But I’m also just human, man. And I was like 24 years old. If I said that I fully bought into this role from the jump, I’d be lying. I had averaged 22 points in the NBA. I’d won a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics. So I just didn’t understand. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. And ultimately, I didn’t take it well. I sulked. I let the outside noise affect my play. I didn’t present the best version of myself as I was coming off the bench for the rest of that season. And I knew that I was much better than that.

I’ve been reflecting on that part of my journey a lot lately, with the position we’re in right now.

To backtrack a little bit…. When I was drafted in 2019, that was probably one of the most stressful nights of my life. I’d had a great year at Kentucky, and I thought I was going 9 or 10. In my mind, my floor was 15 to Detroit. The crazy thing is, I didn’t even work out for San Antonio. We talked a little bit on FaceTime, but I honestly didn’t think I’d still be on the board at 19 when the Spurs picked. Definitely not at 29, where I ended up going. I don’t know why I slipped so much, but thank God I did, because I landed at a proven organization with vets who could mold me.

That situation could have gone one of two ways. Thankfully, it went the good way.

Dejounte was young, too, but he knew the ropes better than me, and he made sure that I did everything the right way. I can’t thank him enough to this day for how much he’s helped my career. Same thing with DeMar DeRozan. Those guys really embraced me and took me under their wing as a young guy, and showed me how it was done. I feel like I had such a great group of vets, whether it was LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay — all those guys went out their way to make sure I was solid. I feel like they knew how good I could be before I even knew how good I could be. They didn’t let me skip any steps, which was huge for my career early on.

And yeah, fast-forward to summer 2024, and I got to thinking back on my first couple years here in San Antonio, and how I could get that spark back, get back to being me. That’s when I started to see the bigger picture. We had picks. There were all these signs that we were building something that was gonna be special, all these bright green flags.

But there was this one red flag.

Me.

In that moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror. And man, I just got embarrassed. I hated that feeling — the feeling that I had let my vets down, and especially let my younger teammates down.

This organization believed in me since day one, when Pop and our GM at the time R.C. Buford took a leap of faith on a player who was sliding in the draft and didn’t even have a workout at their facility. They had a plan, and I was a big piece of that plan. I just needed to get out of my own way. Period.

I knew that I could either be the person who tries to fight the change, who makes it about them and their ego, and tries to do everything their way (which never really works). Or, I could trust the process. And the Spurs never gave me a reason not to trust it. So I bought into my role, and I put my best foot forward each and every night. Whatever I had to do to be the best version of myself, I did it. And I feel like this season has been a testament to that.

I’m just really at home here. I think that’s probably obvious, right? The cowboy hat isn’t a gimmick. San Antonio is all me. Being a country boy, that’s just a part of who I am. From Huntington Prep to Oak Hill Academy to Kentucky, I feel like I just carried that country boy vibe with me everywhere I went.” https://t.co/WnVP4cXPll

[todd utterback @tsmells]

The perfect baseball stadium giveaway doesn't exi....

[Eat DC @eat_dc]

Friday is Hot Dog Day at @NationalsPark. The first 20,000 fans get this sweet hat, and franks will be $5 all night. A live counter will track the number of glizzys sold, with additional concession deals unlocked as the crowd downs dogs. There will also be specialty items. See👇🌭

[Scott Wessman @scottew]

BYU Honor Code: