— X — wrote:

I like this.

I’m an extremely flawed human being with lots of battle scars. And no matter how often I try to be someone else, I always end up despising that guy. He sucks and he’s boring.

Yay for Sarcastic Zooey.

I think its a big mistake
for Zooey to be himself.

w
v
“Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?”
— James Thurber

Agamemnon wrote:

That is indeed what the draft-watchers are ‘saying.’
Now how do you know its true? We wont have
any idea for two or three years, right?

How do you know there wont be MORE
gems found in rounds 4, 5, and 6
THIS year than in the last few years?

w
v

I can look at a pile of beans and say this pile is bigger than that pile without counting them. If you need an actual count, I can’t satisfy you.</span>

Well, noting that this or that class has more “third year” players
doesnt really tell you if more players from that draft class
ended up as quality starters or quality role players. Yes?

It just tells you that more third year boys entered the draft.

So, how would one go about researching which draft classes
were actually better than others? How would one do that?
And has anyone around here actually done it?
I would guess the answer is — no. 🙂

Agamemnon wrote:

you drop the top 8 or 10 players from last years class and drop the players from rounds 5 and 6 of last years class you have sort of a picture of this year’s class. It is not terribly bad, but in no way is it close to last year and probably slightly down from an average draft class.

That is the general consensus of this years class. Remember Snead saying that this is why it was such a good deal to get Barron last year for a couple of this classes draft picks.

That is indeed what the draft-watchers are ‘saying.’
Now how do you know its true? We wont have
any idea for two or three years, right?

How do you know there wont be MORE
gems found in rounds 4, 5, and 6
THIS year than in the last few years?

w
v

zn wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>wv wrote:</div>
Can Snisher find some of them? Can
they find another EJ Gaines?

I personally am not skeptical of those claims. In fact over the years they have held up. For example last year’s draft was said in advance to be one of the deepest in years. And sure enough that’s the draft they find a Gaines in round 6.

What evidence do you have that last years draft class
was “one of the deepest in years” ?

It would take all kinds of research to
compare every year’s results to the “consensus claims”
about those years…

And you have not done that research.

Ha.

I have run circles around you,
logically.

w
v

joemad wrote:

The Rams hosted the Washington Redskins during an icy day on December 16, 1945 for the NFL championship in front of 32,178 fans.

…The Rams managed to win the 1945 NFL Championship Game 15–14.[6]

There’s a silent vid of the championship game, but
this one from 1944 is way better. Gotta say though,
without the ‘horns’ it just aint really the Rams.
As far as I’m concerned the “Rams” began
with the Horns. Whenever ‘that’ was. I forget.

The commentary throughout this Vid
is priceless. Narrator is “Red Grange.”
THE Red Grange…? :

“….except for Army and Navy no other college team could come within 4 Touchdowns
of these two teams…”

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by wv.

Well, no new facts there. Just more opinions.

I think its still a fluid situation.

Wouldnt it be weird if the Rams won
the Super Bowl next year,
and…then left St.Louis.

w
v

rfl wrote:

I appreciate your honesty, Man. But consider this:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Winnbrad wrote:</div>
But nothing will change unless the players force that change. As long as they’re willing to cash the checks and bash their brains in, people are gonna watch.

See, I think this is backwards thinking. Checks will lead people to risk their lives. Indeed.

My point is the SOURCE of those checks! The checks arise from a massively consistent consensus in the football culture about what “we want.” Change the culture, and you change the source of the checks.

My question is this: are we willing to imagine a game that does less damage to brains?

It has to be far more than a few rules tweaks. They don’t work anyway. We have rules to “protect” QBs and they distort the game because they don’t change the fact that violent men armed with brutal weapons in the form of helmets are trying to stop the QBs. The rule can’t change that core reality.

The CULTURE has to change. That will change the source of the checks.

And it has to be done at a far more organic, core level than the play of the professionals in the league. Remember, tens of thousands of young men, many of them children, are affected by this. It’s not just NFL guys. Hell, I played a game mildly concussed once at Div. III level.

And that, really, is where change will have to happen. In a sense, I think it’s inevitable. There will be lawsuits involving Pee Wee leagues and school districts and gradually parents will demand change. Eventually, those changes at the grassroots level will change the game and people’s expectations.

Of course, all that will take time. A generation or more.

Which is American football’s existential threat. If changes aren’t made faster, there is a good chance that enough parents will sign their kids up for soccer or la crosse to undermine the football fan base. That actually seems to me to be a fairly likely scenario. I don’t think we’re all that far from a tipping point where we become a soccer nation. And parents of children will lead the way.

Well, the one suggestion you offered was a change in headgear.

And It might be interesting if the NFL tried some experiments
with that during the pre-season, but i have no idea whether
that would be safer. Maybe it would lead to some more deadly
or sudden-catastrophic types of injuries. I have no idea.

But I’m all for a National conversation about all of this.
I got no answers.

w
v

Thanks Zooey, i enjoyed reading all that post.

I thought the Pi Movie was excellent myself.
Mainly because of the Visuals. The way they
showed the ocean and stars etc. I thought
it was moving.

Interesting that he or his character
pokes at agnostics. I dont have any qualms
about agnosticism. Seems to me there’s no
avoiding ‘leaps’ no matter what you believe
or dont believe. Agnosticism to me is just
a leap that dont look like leap. But
what do i know.

w
v
“faith without doubt is addiction”
— Salman Rushdie

“Loss of faith is growth.”
Wallace Stevens

“Why do we people in churches seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute?”
― Annie Dillard

“She believed in nothing. Only her scepticism kept her from being an atheist.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre

“….Thus, I live with a paradox that I cannot escape: my body is me, yet not me. As Richard Zaner says, ‘Compellingly mine, it is yet radically other: intimately alien, strangely mine. Most of all, my body is the embodiment of that most foreign of all things–death.’ Yearning to transcend our mortality, we yet recognize the body as bearer of mortality itself. Human beings are, as Ernest Becker has graphically said, ‘gods with anuses.’…. ”
James Nelson

How is Ramben, doing?

You think the Rams have
finally turned the corner?
Is Year Four, the playoff year?

w
v

Zooey wrote:

I just finished teaching Life of Pi to my seniors. They wanted to have a pie day on Friday, but I’m too cruel. So, no.

And cheesecake is a pie according to the judges at our county fair at which I won Best in Division (pies and pastries and stuff) and Best in Show (all desserts).

Firstly….are you serious? Did you win a pie/dessert contest? What did you bake?
Did you bake a book?

Secondly, I listened to Life of Pi, on audio-book. And then, the audio-book
blewup with about fifty pages to go. I saw the movie but i dont know if
the book finishes up the same way. Anyway — my question — what do you
have to say about that book? And what kinds of ideas do you have about
Richard Parker? What he might represent, assuming we decide he’s not
a literal tiger (which i dont want to assume).

I know a squirrel named Richard Parker, btw.

w
v

Agamemnon wrote:

;What round will
you pick a goofy looking QB? Or aren’t there any in this year’s draft?

I’m thinking Bridge is a strong possibility.

He has the goofy face,
but I’m not sure about his
hand size.

w
v
==
STRENGTHS: Tall, narrow body type with athletic footwork and long-striding speed to pick up yards with his legs. Elite-level arm strength and release quickness with the ability to add velocity and extra RPM’s on his throws with ease. Not shy about testing tight windows and trusts his arm to make frozen rope throws and put the ball anywhere he wants on the field.

He has mobility to keep the play alive when the pocket breaks down, shaking off arm tackles and stepping up with his eyes downfield. Shows the ability to work through his reads and is a quick thinker to make snap decisions. Displayed outstanding toughness playing through an ankle injury most of November 2014.

WEAKNESSES: Bridge has improved field vision, but needs to develop his eye use and tends to stare down receivers, often leading defenders to his intended target. His receivers will struggle to handle his fastball at times and Bridge needs to develop a change-up and overall better touch to all levels. His mechanics and accuracy need refined, but neither needs an overhaul.

With only a dozen collegiate games under his belt, Bridge doesn’t have the ideal experience and might need a season or two to develop before he’s ready for consistent game reps, requiring a patient NFL team.

COMPARES TO: Colin Kaepernick, 49ers — Bridge is tall and lean with a rocket launcher on his right shoulder like the 49ers quarterback and has more than enough velocity on his passes to toss ropes to all levels of the field.

–Dane Brugler (12/4/14)
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1776297/brandon-bridge

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by wv.