1984Echoes

Here's the funny thing: Hamas IS the Palestinians. What? Do people think Hamas is imported from Egypt or something? The IDF estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Hamas armed terrorists in Gaza. Those 30-40K Hamas...? ARE Gazans (Palestinians). They are not Saudis, or Turks, or Egyptians, they ARE Palestinians. Hamas RECRUITS Gazans (Palestinians). Hamas is MADE UP of Gazans (Palestinians), in Gaza, (can't say outside of Gaza, or top leadership which could come from any Palestinian camp or Gaza or West Bank...). Palestinians (at least those in Gaza) are not a "third" side. They are deeply intertwined with Hamas, and ARE Hamas.

Still in the process of watching all of Fargo chronologically.... some notes: To Rob - just to reiterate, you do NOT have to watch any of the previous seasons to understand season 5.... these are all stand alone seasons and movie. Tonight at 10 on Fx is season 5, episode 3... hope you were able to catch ep's 1 and 2 which were shown on the same night and reprised this past Saturday night in case you missed Tuesday... Chronologically it goes: Season 4 Season 2 Movie Season 1 Season 3 There is very little connective tissue between seasons but it's definitely not zero. The timelines are so far apart is what makes each season a standalone, for the most part. I've really enjoyed this, chronologically, it's the first time I've tried it as such... The minor connective tissue, for those interested, is: Season 4 begets Mike Milligan (just a child here...). Mike Milligan plays a key role in Season 2. Which begets Molly Solverson (just a child here). The movie begets a suitcase filled with $1M (less the $80K removed), and a car winter-window-scraper. Season 1 Molly takes center stage, the suitcase and scraper are minor (but not unrelated) storylines. Season 1 begets Mr. Wrench. Season 3 Mr. Wrench plays a minor, but very interesting role.

You're discounting whether other teams made players available (Danielle Hunter, Maxx Crosby and Patrick Surtain III were NOT available) or whether we wanted to spend the cost (a 1st rounder for Sweat in order to beat the Bears 2nd rounder) for a pending FA or whether a problem case (Chase Young) was even wanted here. They made their decisions. I can live with those decisions and see what they have up their sleeve in the offseason to make further improvements. As stated by others, the Lions window is JUST OPENING, not at the end of their window in which you make last gasp efforts to continue the run... The Ken Holland reference is not appropriate IMO.

There are quite a few of us on here (to my surprise...) that have a dislike of adult fairy tales...

They are what their record says they are. A quality playoff team. A very good team. Above average, above the mean. But after the Ravens game, I asked the question: What will it take to get us to the Elite Teams level...? Because we're not an elite team. We're a very good team with a very good record that is a playoff-level team. It's not as if they can't be beat. They can. Obviously. But I'm looking forward to them getting so far above the mean and into the upper echelon, that that kind of talk becomes moot point. No more regression to the mean talk for me. I'm not interested. They need a few more playmakers to get there, all on defense. Here's to hoping Holmes is able to find those guys...

Shouldn't. But it appears that it does make a difference.

Love that song...

Which goes back to the health of the O-Line, IMO. We need a healthy Jonah Jackson. Imperative... IMO.

I believe posting fees do not count at all against luxury tax. Just call it a sunk fee in "cost of acquisition" but it doesn't count against salaries or luxury taxes...

But YOUR argument is that Ilitch would NOT even spend that money. Now, you're changing your argument? PS: One player? Like Javier Baez?

The hitters are **** this year. There are no good $15M hitting options. So... Pitching.

But also... A winning/ playoff-potential team will... Bring in LOTS more fans, all season long. So... not necessarily independent between winning and more fans (which you pointed out, so I'm agreeing with you... but I didn't want to undersell the impact of on attendance of simply being a winning team... especially in Detroit with their rabid fans...).

Do you mean like how Chris Ilitch spent $25M (per year) on Baez, and $15M on Eduardo Rodriguez, and $15M on Jonathon Schoop, and $10M on Robbie Grossman... ALL in the SAME YEAR? But somehow... that means that Ilitch WON'T spend: $12M on Maeda, $15M on Imanaga, and $25M on Yamamoto...? Because... reasons...? MIguy... you're reasoning is FAULTY.

Isn't it add BOTH of them and the payroll is STILL below $125M? I say... Add them both.

On board with this... wanna see a complete game dismantling of an inferior team. The only thing I would disagree with is that I don't believe Green Bay is an inferior team; so it wouldn't be back-to-back... I think Green Bay is like we were last year, up-and-coming and... dangerous. I think that's what caught the Lions, players and coaches, by surprise last week. They were surprised at how dangerous these new Packers are... I mean, I know they prepare fully for each team so that there are no surprises, or shouldn't be... But the Packers "Out-Lined" them, both offensive and defensive lines. The same thing that the Ravens did earlier in the year. That was a... surprise. IMO.

So I think Imanaga is an important step two. Not just because he's a lefty and looks like a mid-rotation type of guy... And that he's Japanese, and that he and Maeda could settle the back-end of the rotation and also be useful elsewhere as needed (IMO). But if Maeda AND Imanaga sign with Detroit... then it starts to look very attractive to Yamamoto to join the Tigers bandwagon with a signed contract. Mostly, I like the top end talent that allows a team to get to the top or to at least have a chance at the very top (championship(s)...). There's... A lot of IF's in there...

PS: Wins over Jersey and Boston are definitely sweet...

Also going out on a limb (but not really, in my mind...): This team is capable of making the playoffs. I know there are ups and downs (we've just been through a few weeks of those...), breaks and bad breaks, and injuries and such... But this team seems to have the right amount of depth and talent to make it that far. If we struggle a bit, Lalonde can just juggle lines, or goalie schedules, or call up Edvinsson or one of a few others ripening at Grand Rapids... So... we'll see. But I'm optimistic for the playoffs after this nice response to the doldrums of the past few weeks. It's just this type of adjustment(s), and getting some wins after a rough patch, that makes me believe we can make it.

Step 1.

I would look at Imanaga as a long-term starter and Maeda as a short-term 1 or 2 year guy. I also really like that he's another lefty, with high potential to jump right into the rotation. But I would also look at Imanaga as a "glue guy" and wanna use him wherever he fits best. I agree he should start as a starter and only lose that spot based on the rest of the rotation being stout(er). That also forces the other guys (Manning and Mize in particular) to both make huge strides and if they can't, they don't beat out Imanaga. Maybe Mize spends a year rehabbing and fine-tuning in AAA. Or Manning gets pushed to AAA. Or maybe Imanaga beats out Maeda and it's Maeda that become the jack-of-all-trades guy. I just think overall, it simply makes our pitching staff stronger, however that works out. Based on that, I don't think that contract for Imanaga creates problems for the Tigers, even though I also agree that if he's not actually in the rotation then it's quite a bit pricey.... but I think everything else that's added, including him taking over Maeda's rotation spot later if not a rotation spot immediately, is a huge positive for the Tigers pitching staff.

I'm actually doing the opposite: The seasons are stand-alone but I'm going to make a recommendation: I am binging Fargo because it's caught my fancy again after watching the 1st two episodes of season 5 (and I purchase complete seasons on Blu-Ray to watch at my convenience...). So... I started with season 4 because it was the least familiar to me, as I think I only watched this season once (I remembered everything as I watched it but there were still some surprises due to limited familiarity...). I don't get the 3.5 stars you gave as I thought this season was brilliant. And... As it begets Mike Milligan... I am now watching Season 2. And then Season 1. And then Season 3. So basically, chronologically. And I like how it's going so far... following the chronological order... It rolls nicely...

I thought Rodman was 6' 9". Probably 6' 8" without shoes...

Maeda is the oldest at 35 so he is rumored for a 2 or 3 year contract. Affordable. Imanada, at 30, is projected at a similar contract as Kodai Senga (5 years/ $75 mill) so that seems also affordable. Yamamoto, 25, would be the only long-term big money contract at his projected ~$250 mill... I think it works.

Go for the Japanese Trifecta: Maeda - back of the rotation and attracts Yamamoto (along with the promise to target Imanaga as well...) Yamamoto - Tops the rotation along with Skubal Imanaga - Lefty, could be a jack-of-all-trades as a spot starter, lefty middle reliever, etc. in 2024. Could take over Maeda's spot after a year or two in the league to get acclimated. Or push Maeda (as a RH'er) into this spot if he acclimates quickly. Just a thought...

Damn... Yeah...