1984Echoes

You just regurgitated everything that I said... exactly.

Can he play SS?

Time to call up Kasper for a week or two... Even if he's on the 3rd line and the 1st two centers are Compher & Copp... Let's see how he handles the NHL.

I've come to exactly the same conclusion. I mentioned it earlier... We're saying the same thing but in different ways... Great minds and such...

AND... The past 14 years of super low-rates was a counter-response to Bush ****ing up the response to the 2008 housing crisis. Does no one remember? Yeesh.

I also don't get it. Gas has been roughly $3/ gallon since 2007/8. They dropped below $3/ gallon when: 1) The housing market crashed at the end of 2008. That lasted 2 years and then went back up to $3/ gallon 2) The Saudi's flooded the market trying to kill off our fracking drillers. That lasted 2015/16 but only slowly started to creep up towards $3/ gallon again when: 3) The Pandemic hit and gas crashed again in 2019/20 and half of 2021 before the economy kicked back in at full force after the pandemic and drove gas up to over %5/ gallon... before it settled back down to... $3/ gallon, again? So same or similar gas prices ($3 or so per gal) since 2007. That's 17 years of tight gas prices not varying much except under exceptional circumstances (as in 1/2/3 above...). I fricking hate Stupid Americans.

That it's TOO EARLY to consider the reliability of any poll...

American Voters = Stupid. Trump's preferred measurement on economic performance (last 6 presidents using Dow): George HW Bush, R - 4 years, total appreciation = 45.66% increase Bill Clinton, D - 8 years, total appreciation = 226.6% Increase George W Bush, R - 4 years, total appreciation = (21.8%) Decrease Baraq Obama, D - 8 years, total appreciation = 148.23% Increase Donald Trump, R - 4 years, total appreciation = 56.0% increase Joe Biden, D - incomplete, total appreciation = 25.2% increase

That's gonna hurt... (Both Literally & Figuratively...)

October will be an indication...

There's no "book it" with the Wings this year. They are still too unproven. When the math says they're in the playoffs, that's when they're in the playoffs. That narrative could change, but only if they go on a "hot run" that puts them so far enough ahead of their playoff competition that there's no reasonable chance of being caught. And on that, we have yet to do that... And... I don't see that happening. It'll be the last few games (5-ish or so, maybe less...?) that calculate the math either in our favor... Or out of favor.

But my point is... All they have to hear is... TRUMP! And a visceral panic will spread across most Americans' minds... Just by hearing his NAME. They will fill out a ballot as fast as they can with whomever is the Dem nominee, it won't even matter who... Even those paying zero attention to this right now. Hear "Trump" and the same visceral reaction I had 9 years ago "AWW **** NO!!!" Such is the visceral GAG REFLEX that just hearing his name should now engender.

He still acts like a ****ing moron on a daily basis, or worse. His name is also now synonymous with moronic **** show wannabe fascism. Even if a lot of people aren't paying attention right now... I don't think it will take much for people to motivate themselves once they hear, even once, in any manner possible, Donald Trump is on the ballot for President again. I hope their reaction is the same as mine when he announced himself as a candidate in 2015: "AWE **** NO! NO ****ING WAY! NO POSSIBLE ****ING WAY THIS GROTESQUE SCUMBAG MF'ER CAN WIN THE PRESIDENCY! **** NO!"

At some point he's just not going to be worth it and the team would be better off going to Kreidler or even Eddys....

I don't think we're disagreeing here. They may have thought they were covered with Mosely and Sutton and the other guys in the room, plus they drafted Branch. But they DID draft for need because Holmes specifically stated that he drafted those 4 guys with an eye on those guys "helping them make the playoffs". He ABSOLUTELY drafted for need, and for talent. But I think where I am emphasizing a lot and you might not be catching this is... they drafted those 4 guys on a HUGE basis not on talent or need... but on "football character". guys who love the game so much or are so high with leadership capabilities that they can carry a team upwards... I think we're saying the same thing but saying it differently: I don't agree that they ignored the CB position because they were looking at their position needs differently and therefore selected Gibbs, Campbell and LaPorta... I think they loved the talent level of Gonzalez & Campbell close to equally as you say, but put Campbell ahead (and therefore didn't trade up for Gonzalez as you pointed out) of Gonzalez because of his "football character". Leadership qualities, love of the game, whatever you wanna call it. Same with LaPorta versus Porter. It's not as if they're going to ignore the CB position... they're not (hence their trade up to get Branch... who they also loved his "football character"...). They're just hunting the football players they love best (not ignoring position or talent... I mean, they weren't picking a 1st round QB no matter who it was, per what they said... And... it's not as if they are picking a kicker in the top 3 rounds who has great "football character"...). And fill in their remaining needs through other methods (trades, late round picks, FA's...). Just my 2 cents.

Sorry... I don't see the loss. Does a good pass rush help a secondary? Yes. Does a good secondary help the pass rush with extra time to get home? Yes. Can a great secondary cover for a weak D-Line? No. Can a great pass rush make a crappy secondary into a good one? No. What I'm arguing is that it's easier to find ways to pass rush and harder to find high-level CB's. There are a LOT fewer high level CB's then there are pass rushers. My argument is: spend money on a CB in FA if you can find the right guy, even if it's big money. And... there's no NEED to spend big money in FA on a pass-rusher because there are multiple ways to find a pass-rush that can be cost effective. Lesser cost FA's and guys in the draft all over the place (just find the right guy, like Houston, or Crosby, or Hunter...). It's HARD to find good CB's. That's my logic and it's 100% sound and correct.

And I'll give you a flipside too: Did Kindle Vildor, or Cam Sutton automatically "get better" when Glenn started blitzing and our pass rush got significantly better the last half of the year? Because... no, they didn't. Sutton was still mismatched against #1 receivers, and Vildor still got burnt on a more-than regular basis.

Since when has Cam Sutton been a "bad CB". He was a #2 CB forced into being a #1 CB with the Lions. Has nothing to do with the pass rush.

"Other CB's" don't count. You're still not hearing what Holmes is saying. And they didn't "pass" on Gonzalez or Porter.. those guys were SELECTED a pick or two ahead of theirs so they went with their next guy...

PS: "Happens all the time"? Show me a bad CB that was covered up easily by a pass rush. If it happens all the time, then it has to be easy to find, right. I wan to see a crappy CB, who has really good stats because the pass-rush "covers him up", or, he instantly became better. I'm saying you won't be able to find that. A bad CB doesn't get covered up by a pass-rush... He loses his job to a better CB.

If the CB can't cover **** than the speeded up rush is still worthless. Receivers that can get wide open or at least sufficient separation with 1 juke because our secondary CAN'T COVER means the QB is still hitting guys all the way down the field. Unless you have an off-the-charts pass-rush that completely overwhelms O-Lines... And the Lions are nowhere near that. I'm not interested in trying to bandaid a bad secondary with a HEAVY investment in the front 7. I'm interested in the Seahawks Legion of Boom secondary. Shut down the receivers well enough to give the pass-rush an extra second to get home. AND I'm interested in drafting Danielle Hunter (3rd round)/ Maxx Crosby (4th round) types to build up our pass rush capabilities. IMO: Both are needed. But I'm looking for the best CB the Lions can get as a FA AND in the draft... while I think pass rush is primarily draft or secondary FA's. It's still easier to bandaid a pass-rush and nearly impossible to bandaid a burnt-toast-CB (unless you have a GOAT pass rush)... IMO.

I'd rather have Hanifan with Seider I think. Over Walman, even though I like Walman. What we'd really be trying to match up is Walman and...? Who as the 2nd pair? I can live with Chiarot-Petry as the 3rd pair. Too bad Edvinsson is not RH'ed. Or can Walman play on his off-hand? Or even Maatta on a temporary basis? I still like Maatta quite a bit as a 3rd pair or emergency 2nd pair guy.. but he's also LH'ed...

I'm thinking a guy who lives low in the zone (A) really needs to be able to get balls in on guys hands... middle-inside would seem to be OK I'm thinking, to go along with the bottom of the zone. (B) Change of speeds absolutely necessary. Without changing much in eye-level, a pitcher BETTER be able to offer changes in speed/ to throw off a hitters' timing... and (C) STILL would need to keep it out of the middle of the plate.

Eliminating the income cap would allow the overall rate to be reduced. But that equals lower taxes paid for lower-to-middle-incomes (more progressive taxes) and higher taxes on the top 10% of wage earners. Verboten since 1980.

This is the correct solution. And also an identification of the problem, reiterated by G2: Political Polemics.