1984Echoes

There's a simple answer to that: If both Ukraine and Russia agree to those terms... You're in. Everyone would be on board. But you have to get agreement from the two key parties... and right now Ukraine is hell-bent on getting back ALL of their territory, to Pre-2014, not just to 2014 borders. That may change... but... we'll see... It's all on Ukraine and Russia right now though... to come to terms with what they can agree upon as a resolution to this war...

Losing to a better team... 4-1 now in the 2nd, Toronto...

I don't think that's a definite at all... Not with the way that Holmes drafts (meaning he can find productive players in later rounds, not limited to 1st rounders only...) I think Holmes would look at it as he's got 5 picks in the 1st 3 rounds and will look to add as much playmaking talent as he can. 5 picks and need to add (1) playmaking DL'man, LB'er, CB, RB (to back up Swift), and a QB if the right one falls to us into the right draft pick position. IMO.

The Ukrainians do not agree with your take. It's as simple as that.

Any war has a cost. You know, like... The American Revolution.

BINGO. https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-totally-misjudged-war-ukraine-094252667.html

One of the answers to "where are we going to get the lithium and rare earth metals that we need for future industry" is in our own back yard: https://www.yahoo.com/news/large-deposit-rare-elements-minerals-090500796.html With a very huge caveat that these potential windfalls need to get past the local & other environmental/ zoning laws. In these cases, I do not mind pushing for federal government interference due to national security concerns... although I do not believe that that will be a winning argument with anyone...

But even outside the 1st rounder, they could be at or near the top of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounds... Instead of the middle of those rounds. If the season is shot... they have incentive to IR guys who are nicked up, not play Stafford with concussion issues and a major investment in him (sorry MB, cribbin' ya'...), etc...

I could do that at the #2 or 3 spot... easily.

I missed a couple obvious (and pretty big) ones that belong along with their other military failures: Russian - Generals and other officers: FAILURES. Russian - military leadership philosophy: FAILURE. Russian - military training: FAILURE. Russian - Conscription process: FAILURE.

What a jackass. Typical.

And this is just personal projection... They were underperformers. There is no other reason whatsoever to assign to their release. They were subpar. (or at least candy was in 2022... in 2020-21 he was good...). But it doesn't matter if replacements are dirt cheap. Sift through cheap role players is just as significant a part of team-building as spending significant money on filling holes on the team (meaning FA's...).

I want to throw in my 2 cents here... My impression from Useful Idiot so far (over the past couple years) has been nothing but "Tigers Suck", "Tigers Suck", "Tigers Suck". Trolling. But I don't think this is that. At first I was thinking that... But this is different. IMO, UI is taking a stance here. A hard stance that no one agrees with... I don't agree with it... but this isn't trolling. He is demanding immediate player improvements. I don't see that happening... but I respect the position/ not trolling. Maybe I'll even convince him to give it a year... just one. If not... go for it UI... but I will guess that 2023 will be a disappointment for you... 2024 will be better... Just my 2 cents...

Yep... he was the one I was thinking of...

Antwaan Randle El was the other guy I was thinking of...

Kordell Stewart for the Steelers was one guy...

Out with the old, in with the new.

Damn Michigan!!! I was expecting a loss and a tenuous hold on the #4 spot if we didn't get usurped... But... damn!!! Watched some outstanding breakaway plays... SEVERAL!!! Very unexpected and... pleasing to see...! Now... FINISH IT! Go ALL THE WAY PLEASE!!!

I think how this works best is not how you have it described but, rather: A "Jack" QB (I just made that up... but I'm trying to remember a couple of QB's who played a hybrid RB/ WR/ QB (Jack-of-all trades) position... well. Hines Ward with the Steelers? Or was it someone else with the Steelers I think...? College QB, but came in and did every damn thing... Which I guess isn't Ward since he was 99% a WR and only did a tiny amount of running (reverses...?).

In Allen's favor, he doesn't look small and breakable like a lot of running QB's do... he looks more like a Cam Newton 2.0... but we'll see if he lasts longer than Newton because his career did end up shorter as well than a pure drop-back guy...

A subpar player squatting on a 40-man spot with zero chance he has any learning curve left.

No dime store mentality... I said this even before Avila was fired: They need 1 year to heal themselves. ONLY one year. This is not a 5-year plan. They need to fix the broken parts of the Tigers system (hitting coaches, developmental flaws, drafting criteria, proper analytics and proper use of analytics, etc...). They need to fix their health issues. They need to fix their broken pitchers. They need to fix their broken prospects. They need to broom out dead weight and/ or non-productive aging players. Etc. I'm implying one season only: 2023. After that point, I expect there should be an organizational understanding of their pitcher's health, the 2nd year adjustment of Eduardo, Meadows & Baez to their new organization, Kerry Carpenter's real/ not real status, Cabrera riding off into the sunset, Tork! is fixed or not fixed, all of Harris's organizational fixes to start showing effectiveness (especially hitting and health management fixes), known or at least reasonable expectations for what players may be able to provide in 2024 (including all of their pitchers, Tork! and Greene, Jake Rogers, Baez, Kerry Carpenter (real/ not real) and Meadows (back ob track/ fallen off the track), some of the other players that they are sifting through for other positions, and their top rookies close to MLB such as Olson, Wenceel, Dingler, Parker, maybe a couple others). It's just where the Org is at this year. This has nothing to do with some imagined 5-10 year plan that you think Chris/ Harris/ myself are planning... No. It's just reality. From now until offseason 2023-24: I expect Harris to make a boatload of transactions (all types) to move this team forward from today. But it won't necessarily be linear and it may look like they are doing just as you fear: throwing a lot of cheap controllable players out there. But that does NOT necessarily mean they are going backwards... It means they are EVALUATING (in my opinion only... or maybe a few others also believe the same...?) what they have/ don't have/ can fix/ still needs fixing over the 2023 season. "Real money" I don't believe will ve spent until offseason 2023-24. Again, that does NOT mean it's a 5-year plan... It's JUST ONE year. IMO.

I'm assuming analytics such as completion percentage by area (0-15 yards left, center, right; 15-30 yards, same, 30+ yards, same...) are available to teams. Or at least I hope they would be and the Lions look at stuff like that... Also can probably find that out in workouts to some degree (ability to be accurate the deeper the throw goes...). Didn't several QB prospects last year drop precipitously AFTER teams started doing workouts with all of the QB's...?

Let's check the scorecard: Russia - stated objective to replace the Kyiv government: FAILED. Russia - stated belief to swiftly defeat Ukraine: FAILED. Russia - stated objective to take control of the entire Donbas: FAILED. Russia - stated objective to absorb 4 Ukrainian oblasts (provinces) in their entirety: FAILED. Russia - stated objective to dominate the Black Sea: FAILED. (Lost their FLAGSHIP the Moskva) Russia - International reputation after their incessant occurrences of rape, torture, genocide, destruction of maternity hospitals and the bombing of newborns, and other infants, pregnant mothers, churches, museums, apartments, and hospitals and the kidnapping of a million Ukrainian children and other citizens: FAILURE. Russia - stated objective to push back against NATO: FAILED. (Sweden and Finland are no longer neutral and will shortly join NATO, and Ukraine is on the verge of obtaining a "roadmap" to join NATO... EXACTLY what Russia did NOT want) Russia - Putin's reputation: COMPLETE and TOTAL ABJECT FAILURE. Russia - China's "knows no limit" support of Russia: FAILURE (zero military or economic assistance). Russia - Military: FAILURE. Russia - military logistics: FAILURE. Russia - soldiers/ officers military competency reputation: FAILURE. Russia - reputation within it's own version of NATO (CSTO): FAILURE. (Kazakhstan - looking towards China and distancing itself from Russia in every possible way, the other "stans" - also looking towards China, Armenia - enraged at the lack of support against Azerbaijan's attacks against them) Russia - desire to weaken NATO. FAILURE. (NATO is re-arming itself, defeating Russia on the battlefield (NATO weaponry, Ukrainian soldiers), proving their weapons systems are superior, no longer taking Russia as a benign competitor but as an active danger/ threat against all of Europe, swiftly reducing dependence on Russian arms supplies (all of Eastern Europe...) since those systems are being sent to Ukraine and being replaced with Western weaponry and therefore, getting ALL NATO countries swiftly onto the same platforms, interoperability, etc...). Russian economy - damaged this year, next year, and for at least the next 10 years by Putin's stupidity. FAILURE. Russia's population - declining. And now worsened due to the war, and millions of young Russian men, and anyone with money, fleeing the country. This affects both GDP/ economy (with the brain and capital drain) and adds to their declining population problem. 120 million and counting DOWN due to the rampant fascism/ corruption/ war stupidity in their country. FAILURE. Russia versus Ukraine - the propaganda war: UKRAINE WINS. Russia versus Ukraine - Russia's ability to militarily win AND maintain control over Ukrainian territory: UKRAINE WINS 3 TIMES (Kiev, Kharkiv, Kherson). Russia versus Ukraine - Ukraine turns west (EU, potentially NATO) versus Russia forces Ukraine to fold back under Russian political control: UKRAINE WINS. Russia versus Ukraine - battlefield reputation: UKRAINE WINS. Russia versus Ukraine - current inventory of weaponry and the supply logistics to conduct war: UKRAINE WINS. Russia versus Ukraine - Moral compass or international moral reputation/ support: UKRAINE WINS. I think I have a few more but it's late and I'm getting tired... (of all this WINNING...) Good night, and good luck.

I'm still jonesing for Edvinsson to make it up here to Detroit and to get paired up with Seider... Actually... I don't think that happens this season... maybe next year in 2023-24...