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You can't walk into a room to negotiate - esp with Middle Eastern people, plop down a proposal, say take it or leave it, and expect anything positive to result. It just goes to show the depth of the ignorance of the people on our side about what they are doing. 1st rule, learn something about your enemy.

There were rumors at the time Pujols spent most of his day in his office watching the Weather Channel, not sure if they were correct or not

It was being discussed in the World Politics thread because it applies more over there, but I do think we need to think a little bit about the rhetoric leading up to this campaign and all of the fears that people had (not unfounded fwiw) about what Orban would do if he lost, or how he would steal the election, or how they would throw out votes, you name it. The election came, Fidesz got their asses kicked, and Orban and went out there and whined and cried but, in the end, conceded. The fears, legitimate as they may have been, did not come to pass. To be clear, I know there are differences. The biggest one being that Orban is a rational actor and Trump is not..., but there's a lesson here in that we all have anxiety about what the President or Republicans in Congress will do in the event that they lose in the Midterms. We create wild scenarios in our heads. Some realistic, and some less so.... but that fear and anxiety does not help, it only paralyzes. That's what Peter Magyar and the Hungarian opposition taught us today. People need to stiffen their spines and be vigilant, but not constantly in fear and not treating Trump like he's a force of nature that can't be reckoned with. And that politics are over and do not matter (they clearly did in Hungary under a much more consolidated authoritarian system). And, as I've paraphrased Ulysses Grant many times saying, we all gotta stop worrying about what *they* are gonna do and start thinking more about what *we* are going to do.

I won't waste time on charts, but WTI crude is, as I type, $104.95 the S&P (emini futures) are down a tad over 50. Back into the trading range from October of 25.

When you are a bulldog against sexual predators and all of that you have to be clean. If he was doing this stuff or even other things questionable then he’s an idiot. Of course those in power think they are invincible.

Baseball was my life for many years. I was a pitcher so my bias is there. I love to watch guys like Skubal. The battle between the pitcher, catcher, and batter (and how we are approaching this matchup), and of course the neutral party - the ump. Now maybe an electronic one. I'm old. I played in the day when they beaned people and didn't think a thing of it. But the game is still the same, they just don't do that anymore. 🙂 I watch the games with the sound off. Skub, with his unhittable stuff is so fun to watch. And he does some incredible stuff working the batters over the course of the game. Sends a guy to the bench a couple of times on low outside change-ups (and a dandy at that), then last at bat, this dude is looking for that pitch again - and he gets a 98 mph 4-seamer inside on the hands. Go sit down big boy. Someone said somewhere in the baseball stuff that pitchers were sadists. Yes, and we want them that way. Their job is to get you out. Period, end of discussion. Skub is a treat to watch. I used to love watching Kenny Rogers. He was the absolute master of his craft IMHO. IIRR, he pitched a beauty in one of Detroit's playoff runs. ON EDIT: forgot this. Skub and Kenny are two entirely kind of pitchers. Skub is a power pitcher, Kenny was a junk baller. Couldn't bust a window.

I like the way it lines up for Detroit. They sweep any of the 7-10 teams. Sweep or 4-1 Toronto. 4-1 maybe 4-2 against Cleveland. Then it's probably the winner of NYK-BOS. I think they beat the Knicks but Boston worries me. Two stars, great role players, excellent coach. That is a very difficult series. The Pistons can beat them, but I think I might Boston might be a slight favorite.

Lets still make game threads for Pistons playoff games and use this for everything not related to Detroit. Eastern seeds are set. West still has a few more games to finish up tonight.

Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Max Shulga. That was the Celtics starting lineup today against Orlando. The Magic were playing for position and played their normal lineup. They lost. What a dumpster fire.

I think Larkin has a full NTC through 2027-28. I think the chances of moving him before then are less than one percent.

That's the truest statement you can make about baseball.

Rory got it done. Fun to watch. Incredible golf course. Can you imagine the score us mortals would shoot there? I would need someone to deliver a box of golf balls about hole 7.

You can never have enough pitching. Ever. That is all.

Smith and Garner were fired the same day. They started 0-6 and the Monday after the first home series they made the move. DD assumed GM duties. Pujols was the manager but Alou was also there. He probably was the real manager.

NYT Story today that *50* ex-staffers signed a letter telling him to get out and calling for investigations. Whether he's guilty of the particular accusations at play here or not, how do you tick off that many of the people who have worked for you? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/12/us/eric-swalwell-staffers-campaign-governor-resign-house.html

I have zero confidence this FO could put together any trade that was long term net positive for the Wings.

He could be a good mentor for Arnold.

Here’s a random guys idea. Think both teams would welcome the switch.

I didn't see a 60 win season coming. Even with all the injuries, we just kept winning. The worse loss all season, IMO, was the loss to the Nets when they came back in the last few minutes. That stunk. But so many close game wins this season made it a very special year. 60 wins...

Well, there's one draft prospect you can take off our board.