Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
znModeratorYou can’t wiggle away from that fact. When you want to change something that I can do now legally to make it illegal you are denying me the freedom I had before.
No.
You are limited when it comes to doing THAT anymore (though actually this one was banned before it was permitted.)
That does not mean your freedom IN GENERAL has been curtailed.
So the fact that they lowered speed limits nationally does not mean you leave in a dystopian slave state. And this is from someone who grew up in the country and used to drive more than a 100 on empty freeways at night while hanging out.
We dis-permit things all the time. Marijuana used to not be illegal. Now it is tenuously partly legal. Laws change on specific things without altering general freedom. Same with speed limits. I once drove cross state at 110 mph. Now I can’t.
One is not the other. Permitted to buy item X is not “freedom” writ large. (Unless it
s books I guess.) As I said equating the 2 is a logical fallacy called equivocation.znModeratorYou think you are the judge and jury.
One more personal remark and I will be forced to consider closing the thread.
We all get warned about personal remarks now and then in this forum…it includes a lot of emotional topics.
But I can’t in good faith offer more than two warnings and not act. It comes with the job description.
znModeratorI respect “freedom” greatly. But I don’t respect people who radically twist and distort what it means in order to pursue an agenda that greatly benefits the gun industry. I don’t respect people who radically twist and distort what it means in order to pit Americans against each other, with the very real possibility of violent opposition in the mix. I don’t respect people who radically twist and distort what it means in order to win votes and increase their political power.
I don’t think bnw’s twisting and distorting, which is an intentional effort to cloud the discussion.
I think he believes what he’s saying.
Now I don’t believe what he’s saying for a minute and in fact think it’s a huge misconception.
But that’s not the same as intentional distortion.
znModeratorYou are essentially wanting to take away something which is permitted.
“Something permitted by law” is not human existential freedom in every single instance. In fact that’s a classic case of logical equivocation—the fallacy where a word is misleadingingly used with more than one meaning or sense. Like Abbi Hoffman’s defense of shoplifting (which is ironic so it’s a joke about equivocation): “my daddy told me america is free, and `free’ means you don’t have to pay.”
We were once permitted to drive over 65 on the freeway. Now, rarely. My “freedom” was not altered by that. Not in any other realm of my existence. I still do what I want, I can still be who I want, I can still vote, I can still say what’s on my mind.
So being permitted by law to own something or to have its ownership regulated is quite simply not the same as “human freedom” in general.
Besides, in the case of assault weapons, it was banned before it was permitted. They let the law expire.
So yeah…you will keep saying it IS about freedom, and I will look at every single argument you make about that and just say “sorry I don’t believe that.” You are only speaking for a belief, and that belief is quite simply not a truth. And more importantly, not everyone shares that belief.
…
znModerator. You’re too convinced of your superiority as a “freedom” fighter to see the truth.
That;s gettin a bit personal. We can make the same points without that.
Fair enough?
znModeratorOTAs in Oxnard helped Rams evaluate progress since move
Joe Curley/Ventura County Star
Veterans have scattered around the country, the rookies are completing their professional orientation and the Los Angeles Rams are once again packing up.
The team’s three-month pit stop at Oxnard’s River Ridge fields was declared a success Thursday, when the NFL team completed its unique organized training activities.
“For me, most importantly from an organizational perspective, this was a normal offseason,” Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff said. “Everybody can evaluate where the team is now versus where it was when we started the offseason program.”
So where are the Rams today, as compared to when the team left St. Louis for Southern California in March?
“Considering everything that we’ve gone through,” head coach Jeff Fisher said, “I feel like we accomplished a great deal through OTAs.”
If the Rams are going to finally end their 12-year playoff drought, they are going to have to improve the worst passing offense in the NFL.
That’s why general manager Les Snead packaged so many assets to move up to the first pick in April’s draft to add quarterback Jared Goff.
The former Cal star made his first steps as a professional during the team’s time in Oxnard.
“He’s done a nice job here over the last week or so,” Fisher said. “We’ve moved him up. He’s gotten some reps with the first team. … I think he’s flourished in that environment.”
Part of that process is being able to compete against the first-team defense and be able to bounce back from a misread or an interception.
“It’s definitely different for us and me as a rookie, seeing so many looks right now,” Goff said. “But I think, in the long run, it’s going to be very beneficial and something I’ll look back on and be thankful I saw all of that early on.”
Asked Thursday if Goff was on track to start the regular-season opener in San Francisco, Fisher turned away the question.
“We’re going to coach him to be successful,” Fisher said. “We’re not going to put him in with a chance to fail, that’s the most important thing in developing a young quarterback.”
Hammering the point home, Fisher then named veteran Case Keenum the starting quarterback entering training camp, which starts July 30 in Irvine.
“Case is our starter right now,” Fisher said. “Case needs first-team reps.”
But quarterback isn’t the only position the team needs to improve if it’s going to perform better than last in the league in passing rating (74.1), completions (273), touchdown passes (11), first downs (241) and total offense (297.6 yards per game).
The Rams have taken steps to improve the receiving corps, using four of their six draft picks on potential targets. Although rookie tight ends Tyler Higbee and Temarrick Hemingham spent much of the OTAs open to the media rehabbing injuries, rookie receivers like Pharoh Cooper, Michael Thomas and Westlake High product Nelson Spruce had their moments in camp.
“I expect that he’ll be a household name at some point because he’s a good player,” Fisher said of Cooper.
Receiver Tavon Austin and tight end Lance Kendricks figure to be focal points of the passing attack. Austin was called a “special playmaker” by offensive coordinator Rob Boras. Kendricks, who started 12 games last year, is poised for an even bigger role with the team moving on from Jared Cook.
The offensive line is young and has the opportunity to grow together, although its growth was slowed during OTAs since starters like Rob Havenstein, Jamon Brown and Rodger Staffold were in various stages of injury rehabilitation.
“We kind of learn from each other and we know what to expect from each other,” Brown said. “Moving forward, we’ll know how to handle those situations when we face (them) again.”
The defense, especially the defensive front, remains the strength of the team.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is optimistic of the unit being even better in his third season with the team.
“It’s been a very good camp,” Williams said. “You can see how much farther ahead we are then possibly on the other side of the ball because we’re not inventing new things.
“We’re getting faster and faster in what we’re doing. We’re getting a few guys moved around in some spots. I’m really pleased at this point in time.”
Adding defensive end Quinton Coples and defensive tackle Dominique Easley to a strong front that already included Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and Robert Quinn added strength to strength.
“This team could be really special,” defensive end William Hayes said. “We just have to continue to keep pushing forward and trying not to have any down days.”
Williams said he was especially pleased with Alec Ogeltree’s transition to middle linebacker and he praised defensive backs Lamarcus Joyner, Coty Sensabaugh, EJ Gaines and Marcus Alexander, who will be important to plugging the holes left by the free-agency departures of safety Rodney McLeod and cornerback Janoris Jenkins.
“We’re going to be fast, I will tell you this,” Williams said. “We’re going to be one of the fastest teams in the league.”
znModeratorNo, it is about freedom.
To you.
We get that you think that.
The rest of us (from what I can tell) don’t think it has anything to do with “freedom.”
So, you can repeat yourself from your own “place” as if you were speaking for a truth.
Or you can realize this is a clash of different viewpoints. You see the whole thing one way. Many of us simply do not see it that way. We see it an entirely different way. Not only do we NOT think the gun control debate has anything whatsoever to do with freedom, we kind of don;t get why you DO think it does.
Anyway. You insisting it’s your way is only that and nothing more…that;s just you clinging strongly to a particular opinion and calling it a “truth.”
Well I for one (and many of us) don’t share that opinion and sure don’t think it’s a truth.
To go back to an analogy I used earlier, it’s as you’re saying to me “the sun god requires of you a sacrifice.”
To which I say “uh, but there’s no such thing a sun god.”
It doesn’t change anything if you then keep insisting “yes there is!”
..
znModeratorSounds good.
Haven’t heard much about the tight ends.
We will need someone to step up and replace Jared Cook’s drops this season.
only ota’s but definitely not bad news.
and i agree. i wanna read and hear similar things about the rookie tight ends.
Well but, we haven’t heard anything about any of the other WRs either. So out of all of them–the 6 new WRs, the 2 new TEs–we’ve really only heard things about Cooper.
I take it that means he’s being exceptional (to this point anyway).
So one exceptional guy gets buzz, and that doesn’t mean the others are lagging. Maybe some are, maybe some aren’t. We don’t know and it is probably too soon. BUT it is rare and interesting that Cooper is being so exceptional he stands out at this point.
In short, I don’t think Cooper being exceptional tells us anything about the others one way or another. In fact it would be kind of a miracle if they had 2 rookie WRs/TEs who were THIS exceptional.
…
znModeratorOne person’s view…from off the net
Che Brandes-Tuka
So after a couple of days of reports and testimonies, we know the following about the Orlando shooter:
He was a child of immigrants, born and raised in the United States.
He pledged allegiance to Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda AND ISIS, 3 organizations that are de facto at war with each other, showing he was ignorant about all 3, let alone politics in the Middle East in general.
He knew practically nothing about Islam and according to his wife, father and community he was not religious in the slightest.
He struggled with his toxic masculinity, had an alcohol problem and beat up his wife for which he was never charged.
He was racist towards Blacks, Latin@’s and other minorities and in the shooting killed predominantly queer people of color.
Despite his own alleged queer inclinations, he was a homophobe in a country where still 1 in 5 LGBTQ people are victims of hate crimes and there are more than a 100 anti-LGBTQ bills (from anti-gay marriage to bathroom bills) pending in dozens of states.
He beat juveniles in detention centers over the head for a living as he worked for and got his training from the private security firm G4S, which is not only one of the foremost stakeholders in the Prison–industrial complex, but is also invested in mass deportations as it runs immigration detention centers and participates in the occupation of Palestine, training other mass killers in Israel to target and imprison Palestinians.
He staged a mass shooting in a country that has seen a 1,000 mass shootings in the last 1,200 days.
Sorry folks, but your supposed “Islamic radical terrorist from Afghan” is as American as apple pie made with homegrown apples and baked in an American made oven.
znModeratorOr do they mark the families to be spared when the aliens come?…
Uh…yeah. They’re ornamental. That’s it. Purely ornamental. Nothing but ornaments. From France.
znModeratorRams’ outlook matches L.A.’s weather: Sunny and bright
Gary Klein
http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-commentary-20160618-snap-story.html
The Rams worked out under sunny skies this spring in Oxnard, a fitting weather backdrop for a franchise that returned to Southern California after more than two decades in the Midwest.
The sunny disposition of nearly all players, coaches and front-office personnel is expected to last at least through mid-September.
That’s when the Rams, who have not finished above .500 since 2003, will open the season against the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”
Not surprisingly, the Rams recently wrapped up three weeks of organized-team activities full of optimism.
Whether that demeanor is warranted remains to be seen.
Non-contact practices are not much of a barometer for predicting NFL success or struggles. They revealed positive signs but also left unanswered causes for concern.
Coach Jeff Fisher, entering the final season of a five-year contract that pays him $7 million annually, was lauded by players for his handling of the franchise’s move from St. Louis and the atmosphere on the field and in meetings.
Fisher publicly embraced the arrival of “Hard Knocks” cameras that will roll into overdrive during training camp.
But can he guide the Rams back to the playoffs for the first time since 2004?
The defense under coordinator Gregg Williams is clearly ahead of an offense that coordinator Rob Boras is installing with a staff that includes three new assistants.
Much will depend on quarterback play, and during organized team activities, top pick Jared Goff showed flashes of the skills that prompted the Rams to give up so much to trade to the top of the draft.
Goff did not consistently sizzle, but at times, he demonstrated good decision-making, a strong arm and good touch. He also made numerous mistakes and had multiple passes intercepted.
In short, about what one would anticipate from a rookie quarterback, regardless of buildup and expectations.
Meantime, Case Keenum performed efficiently. Public confidence boosts from Fisher and General Manager Les Snead aside, the Rams view the career backup as a bridge to the start of the Goff era, whether that begins in the opener or sometime during the season. To his credit, Keenum handled constant questions about Goff with humor and an edge of confidence.
And with Nick Foles absent while awaiting a possible training-camp trade, Sean Mannion took advantage of increased snaps.
Fisher limited the reps of star running back Todd Gurley, a prudent decision on several levels. The Rams cannot afford to lose last season’s NFL offensive rookie of the year because of injury, and Benny Cunningham and Malcolm Brown benefited from the work.
The receiving corps remains a question mark. Tavon Austin looked the part of a multidimensional threat, and rookie Pharoh Cooper showed signs of becoming an impact player in his first season. But veteran Kenny Britt did not participate in team drills, and Brian Quick still must show he was worthy of the prove-it deal he signed in March.
The offensive line got a chance to improve communication, and Rodger Saffold and Jamon Brown continued their comeback from injuries. Left tackle Greg Robinson remains the key. If the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft improves, so might the NFL’s worst passing offense in 2015. If he struggles …
It’s too early to evaluate Alec Ogletree as the new middle linebacker, but he appeared to line up the defense with few glitches and commands the respect of teammates. Williams and starting linebackers Mark Barron and Akeem Ayers complimented Ogletree for the long hours he put in to become the leader of the unit.
E.J. Gaines was held out of team drills while continuing to recover from foot surgery, so Lamarcus Joyner and Coty Sensabaugh worked opposite Trumaine Johnson to fill the starting cornerback slot that opened because of Janoris Jenkins’ free-agent departure.
With Rodney McLeod leaving to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles and T.J. McDonald absent, Cody Davis, Christian Bryant and Maurice Alexander got most of the work at safety.
The Rams reconvene for training camp in late July at UC Irvine.
The forecast, no doubt, will call for more sunshine. The mood will be upbeat, players and coaches full of hope.
At this point, that’s what the Rams can sell.
znModeratorAlexander hopes to replace McLeod at free safety
OXNARD, Calif. — Two of the biggest Los Angeles Rams shoes to fill from last season were also among the most vocal. When starting safety Rodney McLeod left for the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent, he took more than his hard hitting and ball-hawking skills with him.
It also meant the quarterback of the back end of the Rams’ defense and one of its most vocal leaders needed to be replaced.
A few years ago you would have been hard-pressed to think Maurice Alexander would have the skill set, let alone vocal chords, to be the man the Rams entrusted with that responsibility.
Back then he was an essentially football neophyte that Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams literally had to construct from the ground up. Alexander was basically new to the defensive back position, having played just one year at safety at Utah State, and wasn’t ready to make the transition to the NFL.
But with the backing of Williams, who championed Alexander’s cause in the 2014 draft and basically demanded his bosses pick him, the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder has developed into someone the Rams are growing more and more comfortable with as the potential replacement for McLeod.
Alexander, in turn, has backed up that conviction with a solid performance thus far in Organized Team Activities. So much so that it’s hard not to imagine him as one of the starting safeties to open the season.
“It’s been a great OTA for me, I’ve been learning and a blessing to get an opportunity to be with the (first team),” he said. “It’s been a great process.”For Alexander, it’s payback for Williams’ support two years ago when the veteran coordinator stuck his neck out for him even though, by all accounts, Alexander was far from a finished product or sure thing.
“That was the beginning for me. Greg showed a lot of interest in me, and I set a goal to be better every single year,” Alexander said. “To get better every single time I’m out there. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
Alexander started five games last year at strong safety in place of injured starter T.J. McDonald and finished with 27 tackles and two sacks, and though he projects more at that position than at the free safety position McLeod manned, Williams and the Rams’ defensive staff have been creative with the defensive backs so it’s not a stretch to believe Alexander can’t make the transition.
He’s competing with Cody Davis and Christian Bryant for the spot opposite McDonald, although with McDonald out of OTAs dealing with legal issues, all three are getting chances to mix and match between the two safety spots.
One of them will have to replace McLeod, though. And Alexander hopes he gets the call.
If so, he says McLeod deserves some of the credit.
“I love Rodney, he’s a great player and a great teammate and he left great footprints behind,” Alexander said. “And that’s why I’m a better player now, because of someone like him looking out for me. I’m a player the coaches can trust right now.”
znModeratorI dont agree with their gun-love in response to that fear…but I’m more understanding about it than others.
Do you think it’s a reasonable fear?
…
znModeratorI think that sums up your view (and many others) accurately. I dont view your notions as ‘alien’ just different than mine. Your view is dominant here in WV, btw.
First off I live in Maine. There’s more deer than people here and we actually have hundreds of square miles of wilderness. Hunters are a norm. I remember a case where a hunter who accidentally shot a woman in her own yard because he thought he saw a deer got off on a jury trial. The speculation was that hunters are so common that he got the support, not the family of the woman he killed. Plus I grew up in Manitoba, near western Ontario, which is a sportsman’s paradise, and my father and all my uncles and cousins were and are avid hunters. I knew about rifles before I knew about bicycles (my father had an old 30-odd-6 [.30-06]…same rifle Hemingway used. Friends of mine hunt. Heck I bet friends of mine online hunt, or have always been around it like for example ag or SD). I sometimes have full grown enormous white-tail deer in my own backyard (along with red foxes and wild turkeys). Ever seen a full glory white-tail? I mean the big ole magnificent Last of the Mohicans bastards. Yeah, backyard.
I have no hostility toward the hunting world, none.
Second, here’s what’s alien and you tell me if you feel the same. The idea that the 2nd amendment represents freedom, and therefore any effort to control guns is actually an attack on freedom itself.
I didn’t say that view was uncommon. I said the thinking behind it does not compute. Does the thinking behind that compute to you? I didn’t say you don’t hear it a lot. Of course we hear it a lot. But does it compute to you?
Does it make legal, rational sense to you that the 2nd amendment is taken as representing democracy and freedom?
AND on top of it, is THAT how you see the gun control debate? That it is a choice between freedom and safety? In other words, the “freedom/safety” dichotomy does not apply to national security issues and surveillance or the like, but to whether or not people have unrestricted access to weapons? Do you accept that argument?
And in terms of our own priorities, well, gun control debates are not going to get rid of economic inequality, lower the stranglehold corporate oligarchy has on democracy, defuse racism or sexism (both of which at their core are related to class), resist climate change (btw I live near the ocean), increase the democratization of news and information, end american neo-imperial domination of parts of the third world, eliminate homophobia, and so on.
But as long as we’re here, granting there are many other things to discuss too, might as well do the topic justice.
My reasonable view of gun control includes this: advocates of restricted access are quite simply NOT the opposite of the view that the militia amendment represents democracy and that any efforts to restrict access opposes freedom.
Similarly, when someone says, whoever believes Jared Goff is a worthy pick hates the Rams, I don’t believe the opposite of that. To me, that whole way of framing the issue is just not reasonable in the first place. I don’t believe that rejecting Jared Goff means you hate the Rams, or embracing Jared Goff means you love the Rams…I simply don’t participate in that way of framing the issue at all. It’s not that you’re blue and I therefore am orange, it’s you;re blue and I drink coffee and don’t think colors have anything to do with it either way.
And it is a reasonable challenge to say to someone, can you even name the opposing viewpoints accurately? Or do you honestly believe that someone who does not share how you frame it thinks the OPPOSITE of you? Because the latter is a blindspot.
No the various advocates of gun control, with their various beliefs, do not think the 2nd amendment has anything to do with “freedom” either way.
Here’s my own position on gun control. It is a completely irrational topic (I share that with Zooey). Those who believe it has something to do with freedom either way have no basis for that. It’s just a crazy belief that infected the USA, like for example the belief that gays and transgender people are an abomination before god. BTW when my father the hunter moved to the USA he thought american ideas about guns were so over the top that he gave his rifles away to canadian family. He just wanted nothing to do with those beliefs and attitudes. And in canadian terms, he was a conservative and in fact he resented the fact that Nixon was made to resign and looked upon my little high school anti-war activities with a very cold eye. So that’s sort of my background on this.
My view on gun control is that it is reasonable to discuss controls and restrictions. It’s no different than cars. When people say to me I am choosing against freedom, I regard that whole view as no different from religious ideas that make no sense to me. So I have been told that it is wickedly sinful not to abominate gays, and I have been told that a more or less pragmatic idea about regulating access to weapons means I hate freedom. Well no I don’t think either thing.
And real debate means everyone gets to speak their mind, including bnw, and including me.
…
znModeratorI’ll stop the world and melt with you…
-Nick Foles 2015
And yet, ironically, Foles was NOT The Cure.
.
June 18, 2016 at 12:05 am in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #46475znModeratorJune 17, 2016 at 11:13 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #46474znModeratorJared Goff still saying all the right things, but he’s not the starter yet
Dylan Hernandez
http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-rams-hernandez-20160617-snap-story.html
As Jared Goff addressed his status as the face of an NFL franchise in the country’s second-largest market, he sounded awfully similar to the most dominant athlete in town.
“I’m very honored that they decided to do what they did, trade the picks to take me with the first pick,” Goff said. “I don’t take it lightly at all.”
But …
“I want to win some games before I worry about all that stuff,” he said.
This was a classic Clayton Kershaw delivery, a polite acknowledgment of public sentiment while simultaneously informing fans of his main priorities.
Seven weeks after Goff said all the right things at his introductory news conference, the rookie quarterback was still saying all the right things Thursday in the Coliseum at an unofficial welcome-back party for the Rams hosted by the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission.
Goff came across as polite but serious, guarded but honest. When asked light-hearted questions — about his interactions with one-time social-media nemesis Yasiel Puig, for example — Goff offered respectful but short responses. His most expansive answers pertained to the work he would put in to become the quarterback the Rams envision.
He went out of his way to mention that he plans to live north of Los Angeles, the implication that he wants to be close as possible to the team’s training facility in Thousand Oaks.
“I’m not naïve to the fact that I need to be able to play well and win if I want to enjoy this city and whatever comes with it,” said Goff, the son of former major league catcher Jerry Goff.
The kid projects a confidence that indicates he knows where he wants to go and has a general idea of how he plans to get there. He might not light up a room, but he should command respect, so long as he performs.
While his measure as a quarterback won’t be known until he is hit by an NFL defensive end or linebacker charging at him at full speed, his demeanor continues to inspire confidence.
Goff is already the story of this off-season.
“Focal point,” said Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who is intimately familiar with the role.
Dickerson was one of the guest speakers at the Coliseum on Thursday, along with the likes of Jim Everett, Jeff Fisher and Les Snead. Even in this company, Goff was the star in the eyes of the fans who paid $550 to enter the gates of the stadium.
The question on everyone’s mind was about the 21-year-old.
More specifically: When will Goff replace Case Keenum as the Rams’ starting quarterback?
Fisher offered no clarity, probably because he couldn’t.
“It’s play them when they’re ready,” Fisher said. “You can set them back if you play them too soon. When that is, I don’t know. That may be the opener, that may be some time after.”
Only so much can be revealed by practicing in shorts without pads, as Goff and the Rams did in their recently completed organized team activities in Oxnard.
That being the case, Goff should be under great scrutiny in training camp, which starts late next month at UC Irvine.
The NFL’s preseason is generally unworthy of significant attention, but that won’t be the case here. Goff’s development and readiness will be measured in these exhibition games.
“You still have to connect brain tissue to athletic ability and that takes time,” Everett said. “There’s no substitute for experience. I have a feeling that Jared, just like Troy Aikman, just like some of the other young guys, like myself in my first year, will have to learn on the job.”
Especially when lining up behind a young offensive line.
But Everett acknowledged that learning curves for quarterbacks are shorter today than when he played.
“They don’t get hit as much,” Everett said.
In addition to rule changes, Everett mentioned how quarterbacks are now protected from late hits by the various cameras that are set up around stadiums.
“Back in the day, if the ref didn’t see it, you got away with it,” Everett said.
The Rams play their first preseason game Aug. 13 at home against the Dallas Cowboys. Their first regular-season game is Sept. 12, on the road against the San Francisco 49ers.
“The No. 1 thing is they need him,” Everett said. “They really do need him and they need him to play at a higher level early.”
Los Angeles will be watching.
znModeratorMaybe not for OC?
I don’t know, it depends on guys like Kush. They actually have 4 centers behind Barnes—Rhaney, Kush, Folkerts, and Arkin (who is a kind of C/G type). I read around on Kush and there’s some buzz with him.
I don’t know about Rhaney. As in, I have my doubts.
The other 2 I literally know nothing about either way, though one (forget which) was actually a practice squad raid, not just a “ronin” type budget pick-up.
…
znModeratorI meant to highlight Richardson, not Dahl.
Turner and Richardson played better in 2012 than they had before or since.
I think it’s the same with Williams and Smith.
Barksdale played better since but not before.
They actually cut Ojinakka before the season in 2012 and then had to bring him back anyway because in week 1, Wells got hurt, Turner shifted to center, Watkins replaced Turner at guard and got hurt, and so they lacked a guard. They had Smith, Barksdale, and Williams but had signed them after the season started so at that point they couldn’t play. Saffold got hurt too, so in the 1st 8 games, they had 3 different LOTs: Saffold, Hunter (who then got hurt), and Barksdale.
In the 2nd half of the season they eventually got back Wells and Saffold, but Dahl got hurt. They replaced Dahl with a rotation of Wms and Smith. So just Dahl getting hurt meets my definition of “relatively healthy.”
In the 2nd half of 2012 they played pretty well in fact.
I think Hunter and Richardson played okay. Of the ones you highlight, the real dogs were Ojinakka and Joseph (though Joseph had his moments). So I said there was just one dog, and there were 2.
.
.
June 17, 2016 at 10:07 pm in reply to: Fred Dryer speaks out on the great Rams horns design controversy #46467znModeratorI don’t have an opinion on the raging issue of
“how many inches of horn-separation should their be?”I think they cover that in season 9 of Game of Thrones.
..
znModeratorThose that support the 2nd Amendment want freedom. Those that don’t support the 2nd Amendment want perceived safety. I see no middle ground.
And the gun debate to me boils down to the difference between people who see it the way you just said you see it, and the rest of us.
I don’t see it as being anything even remotely the way you describe. Not even a tiny bit. I take your description of the discussion as this completely alien viewpoint.
It has nothing to do with “freedom.”
And all over the world, there are societies with different forms of gun control that are ALSO completely democratic–frankly, in a lot of cases, more than we are.
So here is what you have to get used to, IMO.
For the rest of us, your way of seeing the DEBATE is alien. I don’t mean your position on guns etc. I don’t even see the DEBATE ITSELF as being about the same thing you do. We see the DEBATE differently. That means we are not the opposite of you, it means we come from a position that does not even see the DEBATE the way you see it.
That leads to 2 choices.
1. Block out and fight with everyone who doesn’t even see the DEBATE the way you see it. That’s the stubborn party-liner approach.
2. Actually try to find out what the other side thinks the DEBATE is even ABOUT. Cause, frankly, right now, I don’t think you can do that. That’s not personal–it refers to your position in a discussion. I don’t think from your position that you could post an accurate description of what the rest of us even think the debate is ABOUT.
For one thing, most of us do not equate the 2nd amendment with freedom, and never will. In fact to me that’s so foreign it sounds like someone stating as solid real truths some religious beliefs I don’t share. So to me we are not choosing between “freedom” and the militia amendment…that has nothing to do with it. To me, there is no such choice. It’s as if you asked me to choose between eating my vegetables and sacrificing to a wrathful sun god. I just go “uh, there is no such thing as a sun god,” and keep eating my vegetables.
Really. It gets down to that. You and I don’t even define what the debate is about in the same way.
So like I said there’s the 2 choices.
znModeratorRams wrap up organized team activities in Oxnard
Gary Klein
http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-mini-camp-20160616-snap-story.html
Phase one is complete.
The Rams finished organized team activities Thursday, all but ending their temporary stay in Oxnard.
Rookies will be around next week for some NFL orientation business, but veterans prepared to exit after the ninth workout while support personnel continued packing boxes.
The Rams will reconvene in late July for the start of training camp at UC Irvine. The final phase of their return to Southern California will come in September when they move into a training facility at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, their temporary home for at least a few years.
Coach Jeff Fisher, preparing for his fifth season with the Rams, said that despite the logistical challenges posed by the move from St. Louis, the OTA workouts were “the best since we’ve been here.” He added that the noncontact workouts were “one more step” toward the franchise’s first season in Southern California in more than two decades.
“Considering everything that we’ve gone through, I feel like we accomplished a great deal through the OTAs,” Fisher said.
So did players.
“I felt like we’re light years ahead of where we were last year,” said defensive end William Hayes, who at 31 is the oldest player on the roster.
Said linebacker Akeem Ayers: “We progressed a lot. We had a lot of changes, especially on the defensive side. … We got better.”
Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ executive vice president of football operations, said the players and coaches adapted well despite the move and temporary facility.
“It looked and felt like any other off-season program that the other 31 teams were having,” Demoff said, adding, “First and foremost from an organizational perspective, it was making sure that Oxnard gave our team the best chance to be set up to win games this fall, and I think it accomplished that.”
On Thursday, quarterback Jared Goff again took first-team reps, but the rookie struggled at times and had at least four passes intercepted.
Despite a less-than-stellar finish, Fisher said the top pick in the NFL draft “flourished” since he began sharing first-team snaps with Case Keenum last week.
Keenum entered off-season workouts as the presumptive starter, and he will apparently keep that designation going into training camp.
Fisher reiterated that Keenum was “our starter,” but that status remains fluid as Goff is expected to continue taking snaps with the starters during training camp.
“I got a lot more one reps than I ever have during a spring so I think that was really good for me,” Keenum said.
Keenum, Goff and other players said they would be in Southern California before the start of training camp to continue working together.
“Nothing against St. Louis,” Keenum said, “but it’s easier to get guys to stay around here in L.A. than, say, somewhere else.”
Making an impression
Receiver Pharoh Cooper, a fourth-round draft pick, got extensive work with the first-team offense throughout OTA workouts.
Fisher said the former South Carolina star has “a good feel for the inside stuff” and makes plays after the catch.
“I expect that he’ll be a household name at some point because he’s such a good player,” Fisher said.
Keenum said Cooper has “a little shiftiness to him” and expects him to contribute this season.
“He’s made a few mistakes along the way,” Keenum said, “but he’s learned from them and hasn’t made them twice.”
Quick hits
Cornerback Trumaine Johnson sat out the final week of workouts. Johnson, who rode a stationary bike Thursday, was involved in a collision with a receiver during a drill last week. Fisher said Johnson suffered a laceration and “his jaw got rocked.” But he said Johnson would be “fine.”
znModeratorWhat we learned after Rams OTAs and minicamp
Vincent Bonsignore, Los Angeles Daily News
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160617/bonsignore-what-we-learned-after-rams-otas-and-minicamp
OXNARD — As the final horn sounded Thursday to wrap up the Rams’ offseason workout program, it was impossible not to look ahead.
The next time the Rams gather as a team, it will be at training camp in late July in Irvine.
Two weeks later, they’ll open the preseason against the Dallas Cowboys at the Coliseum. A month beyond that, they’ll kick off their first season back in Los Angeles against the San Francisco 49ers.
It’s full steam ahead, to say the least.
But depending on which sideline you stood during the Rams’ Organized Team Activity practices, it’s either moving too fast or not fast enough.
Despite parting ways with veteran leaders Chris Long and James Laurinaitis and losing starting cornerback Janoris Jenkins and safety Rodney McLeod to free agency, the defense looked deeper, younger and more agile.
The offense looked like a work in progress under new coordinator Rob Boras in his first full season in charge. With a new playbook, trying to get rookie quarterback Jared Goff up to speed, and new faces in the wide receiver and tight end corps, the offense looked uncomfortable and tentative at times.
That said, here are some observations out of OTAs and some issues to keep an eye on moving forward:
DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD LOOKS FINE
There were legitimate concerns upon losing Jenkins and McLeod. Privately, though, the Rams expressed confidence not only in potential replacements, but also in development and scheme to adequately replace them.
That confidence so far has been justified by the numerous interceptions the defensive backfield forced over the three-week session and the emergence of certain players.
Lamarcus Joyner appears poised to take a step forward as a slot cornerback. E.J. Gaines, on target to be ready by training camp, is expected to start alongside Trumaine Johnson. Free-agent pickup Coty Sensabaugh provides veteran leadership.
At safety, Maurice Alexander drew raves from defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and will compete with Cody Davis and Christian Bryant to replace McLeod. And when T.J. McDonald returns during training camp, the back end of the defense will be that much stronger.
ALEC OGLETREE MAKES SMOOTH TRANSITION
The Rams felt so comfortable about Alec Ogletree making the move from weakside linebacker to inside they released Laurinaitis, their all-time franchise-leading tackler. Nevertheless, Ogletree’s transition was worth monitoring during OTAs, especially the added responsibility of communicating alignment and defensive calls to his teammates. If any concerns lingered, the fourth-year veteran from Georgia eliminated them with a sensational offseason that drew praise from Williams and head coach Jeff Fisher. The Rams could have a star at middle linebacker.
PHAROH COOPER IS DYNAMIC
The Rams were ecstatic when South Carolina wide receiver Pharoh Cooper fell to them in the fourth round. His performance during OTAs explains why, and it had Fisher predicting Cooper will soon be a household name. Cooper is a bigger version of slot receiver Tavon Austin, and while he might not be as fast and quick as Austin, it’s more than adequate to make an immediate impact in the NFL. Cooper impressed with his ability to pick up the playbook, and was getting first-team reps by the second week of OTAs. Cooper and Austin on the field at the same time won’t just take some pressure off Goff or Case Keenum, it will mean more room for star running back Todd Gurley.
JARED GOFF HAS A WAYS TO GO
“Concern” might be a bit strong considering Goff is a rookie quarterback just finishing his first OTA session. But if anyone thought the top pick in the draft would just waltz in and assume the starting job, the last three weeks quickly proved otherwise. Goff finished OTAs with four interceptions in the final practice, three of which looked entirely on him as he overthrew one receiver, threw to the wrong shoulder to another and didn’t see a lurking Joyner as he threw to what he assumed was a wide-open receiver.
It was a disappointing finish to an uneven OTA session. While Goff flashed the strong arm, quick release and great footwork that made him the top pick overall, it’s clear it will be quite the process making the transition from Cal to the starting job.
Which is why Fisher reiterated that Keenum, not Goff, goes to training camp as the starting quarterback.
DEPENDABLE DOWNFIELD THREAT NEEDED
The Rams have been seeking a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver almost as long as they’ve been looking for their franchise quarterback. They hope they have their quarterback in Goff, but the search continues for the wide receiver.
They’re set in the slot with Austin and Cooper, and dependable possession receivers should emerge from Kenny Britt, Brian Quick and rookie Nelson Spruce. But no one seemed ready or able to step up as a dynamic, sure-fire, go-to threat who can command the red zone or take the top off a defense. There is hope rookies Mike Thomas and Duke Williams can develop into that sort of threat, but it will take time for either to get there.
HOW GOOD IS THE OFFENSIVE LINE?
Given the lack of full pads in OTAs, it’s difficult to assess the offensive line. For now, the primary positive takeaway is third-year left tackle Greg Robinson reported no concerns with the lingering foot issue that affected his 2015 season, and left guard Rodger Saffold was mostly healthy after returning from shoulder surgery. That said, with the offensive line being counted on so heavily as difference maker, it’s going to be a while before we get a definitive answer.
Will Robinson emerge as the dominant tackle so many predicted when he was drafted second overall in 2014? He and a healthy Saffold can solidify the left side of the line and make life easier on Goff or Keenum and Gurley. With Tim Barnes solidifying center, Jamon Brown returning at right guard and Rob Havenstein building off his All-Rookie season at right tackle, the pieces are in place for an average to above-average line. Now the group must stay healthy and show it on the field.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Rams, like every other NFL team, are officially off until training camp in late July. But there is one key difference: While the 31 other teams have a workout facility players can utilize for conditioning, weight training and rehab, Rams players will have to find alternative sites. The Rams have to clear out of their temporary practice site in Oxnard on June 24, and their in-season practice facility at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks won’t be up and running until after training camp begins. It’s one of the challenges for a team moving across country and setting up shop in a new city on the fly.
znModeratorowh, Mom!!
I think we’re all adults here.
I have moved past the point of attacking people about their views; I’m now attacking the views.
If you ever disagree, please move the post, but I think it is important to continue a dialog on such an important subject, especially when we are getting input from someone who thinks differently than most of us do.
For the most part, all I do is caution people to keep within bounds in terms of not being personal or taking it outside the lines toward being antagonistic. In fact I have been cautioned about that myself and I know it can be a fine line. Actually I really couldn’t tell if that was happening in this case, but I just find it’s useful to put up a reminder now and then, even if it’s premature.
BUT–the subject matter, the ideas, the things people need to say about a topic…that is always up to the individual.
Yes opposing views are fair game.
znModeratorI can;t tell. Is this gettin a bit edgy and personal?
Many people have affirmed recently that we should stay within the white lines.
I know it’s a profoundly emotional topic, but still.
June 17, 2016 at 4:21 pm in reply to: Fred Dryer speaks out on the great Rams horns design controversy #46443znModeratorwhat’s going on? are they changing the helmet design?
Who knows. Dreyer is complaining about the current design.
znModeratorIt seemed that far a long time, the 5th starter on the line was somebody’s scrub player
Depends. Boudreau used guys that might be called scrubs, but he made something out of them. There is a long list of players who others cut who played better with the Boudreau Rams than they ever had before. A lot of them never played as well since, either (with others). Some were out of football after PB. One or two continued to do well after PB (Barksdale). I can think of only one real failure with that bunch—Joseph.
znModeratorThis is the most optimistic that I have been about the offensive line in a long-long time. Granted, the bar has been set pretty low in the last decade.
I disagree, a bit. The issue has always been injuries with the OL (and injuries past the NFL norm).
Just in the last few years, when the line was healthy from 2012-13 it did play well.
Unfortunately what hit it was injuries. The big injury periods are the first 8 games of 2012 and the last 4 or so of 2013.
2014 was a different animal. They got hit with injuries at every level and in the end were fielding a line with injured players, plus a green Robinson.
BUT when they were NOT massively over-injured, that 2-12=13 veteran OL performed pretty well. Numbers back that.
And I assume that this time, instead of a veteran line bought through expensive plus budget free agency, this new mostly young OL will have the same fate: when relatively healthy it will do fine. If it starts getting mowed down like the opening scenes from Saving Private Ryan, then…not so much.
Having said that yeah you are right. They added 8 young linemen from 2014-5 and I think this year that starts paying off…again, assuming they remain relatively healthy.
…
znModeratorI keep hammering on this but IMO it means something. I did some of these numbers above but now I include the defense.
Last year, ostensibily, the Rams offense was rated <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>29th in Scoring. They clearly sucked on offense. BUT the Rams were 29th in offensive scoring last year because of a terrible stretch of 4 games by Foles. It’s his last 4 games. At the same time, that’s in the period when they were hit the hardest by OL injuries.
As I already said, in the final 4 weeks the OL settled down after the injury stretch, and Keenum started.
Take those last 4 games … how would the Rams offense have ranked in terms of scoring?
In THAT stretch they averaged <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>22.75 points a game. That would have <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>ranked 16th in the league.
In other words, it’s the old problem—season long averages can often disguise the real story. Because seasons include different moments. The Rams with Foles in meltdown mode in his last 4 games (where they averaged 10.25 points a game) is NOT the same animal as the Rams with Keenum.
And of course Keenum is no franchishe qb. He was just more competent and effective than a melted down Foles.
Plus of course the more settled down OL of the last 4 games was STILL a young, less experienced line. Now they are much more experienced plus will have a 2nd training camp under their belts.
And yet, in those last 4 games, the DEFENSE, with Quinn and Ogletree and McDonald missing, plus Jenkins missing at least 1 game, <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>allowed 18.25 points a game. In season-long terms that would have been ranked <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>5th.
In the previous 4 Foles meltdown games, the defense actually <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>allowed 29 points a game. In season-long terms that would have been <strong class=”d4pbbc-bold”>ranked 31st.
SO, not just in general but in directly relation to the Rams, offensive scoring (apparently) bolsters the defense too. If that’s just a truism, fine, but it is nevertheless one that plays out dramatically with the Rams last season.
It breaks down this way:
GAMES 9-10 & 12-13, FOLES IN COLLAPSE:
Offense: avg. 10.25 points a game In season terms, ranked below 32nd (looking back the closest I could find to that bad was Oakland in 2006, which allowed 10.5 a game)
Defense:avg. 29 points a game In season terms, ranked below 31st.GAMES 14-17, KEENUM STARTING:
Offense: avg. 22.75 points a game In season terms, ranked below 16th
Defense:avg. 18.25 points a game In season terms, ranked below 5thNow none of that PROMISES anything for 2016, BUT, it certainly bodes well. No question.
I submit that what we see from that is that with just decent quarterbacking and the Rams offense and defense BOTH do better in terms of points for and against.
Just some more things to develop the point.
Last year, even though CK played effectively (not GREAT but effectively) in the last 4 games, this is what they DIDN’T have then that they will have now:
* a Keenum who has actually taken reps with the 1st in the off-season…he has actually never done that before in his career
* a healthier, more experienced OL
* some kind of improvement at WR/TE though it’;s hard to say how much
* a Gurley who is a year away from surgery and therefore 100%
* an off-season with Boras & company coaching the offense (last year of course Boras was an in-season promotion, he did not have an off-season to do it his way)
So IMO Goff can take his time.
He will start, I don’t doubt it, but he does not have to be rushed into action.
June 17, 2016 at 10:14 am in reply to: Powerful interview with a young survivor of the massacre. #46426znModeratorYou have NO PROOF that Omar Mateen was radicalized in Saudi Arabia. None whatsoever. You are clinging to that desperately because that fulfills your world view.
Not only that, but, Saudi Arabia is one of the least likely places TO get radicalized.
That’s a fundamentalist police state that absolutely cracks down on extremist dissidents.
That would be like going to the Soviet Union in the 80s to get invested in neo-liberal capitalist economics.
As in, not bloody likely.
And the Fox-type sources who claim that Saudi Arabia is a place someone could get radicalised are just demonstrating that they have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about.
With the Tsarnaevs, who did the Bostom Marathon bombing, you can clearly trace the porcess of radicalization. They were not american born and their parents were divorced. In personal crisis, they developed very clear pro-jihadi views and left a record of it. Their online activity showed it. Their conversations with friends showed it. With them, to see how they got to where they got, there is no guessing or mystery or leaping to conclusions or making stuff up out of nothing. You can see it, it’s empirical. It’s there, it can be seen.
Just saying Mateen went to Saudi Arabia–a police state that closely watches signs of radicalization—says nothing. With the Tsarnaevs, there’s no doubt what happened.
…
-
This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by
zn.
-
This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by
-
AuthorPosts
