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znModeratorSouthern Nevada committee to work on funding $1.4 billion stadium
By RICHARD N. VELOTTA
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNALWhen the 11-member Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee begins
work Thursday on how to pay for a $1.4 billion, 65,000-seat domed stadium,
it will try to piece together a funding strategy that will keep everyone
happy with their return on investment.Don’t count on that being an easy task.
And don’t count on the stadium being a done deal.
Some critics of the stadium proposal already have made their position perfectly
clear — don’t contribute a single dime of taxpayer money toward a project that’s
bound to generate profits for developer Las Vegas Sands Corp. and the Oakland
— or is it Las Vegas? — Raiders.The pro-stadium side is equally passionate. An indoor football stadium is a
genuine need that can boost Southern Nevada’s tourism economy, they say. Southern
Nevada is missing out on many entertainment acts and athletic events because
of the lack of a large venue.A new stadium also would solve a longtime problem that has vexed the University
of Nevada, Las Vegas: the lack of a stadium close to campus that would boost
student support and advance the prominence of an athletic program with major-
conference ambitions.Attracting the Raiders to Las Vegas, in the eyes of supporters, would be icing
on the cake. The venue can be a success without an NFL tenant, stadium backers
say. But it sure would be nice for Las Vegas to join that elite club of cities
that have a team in the nation’s most popular team sports league.Steve Hill, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and
chairman of the committee tasked with forwarding recommendations on tourism
infrastructure improvements to Gov. Brian Sandoval, said the financing package
is so complex that he expects at least two more meetings after Thursday’s session
to complete it.OPTION CALLS FOR 54-46 SPLIT
When Las Vegas Sands and Majestic Realty rolled out plans to build a stadium on
42 acres just east of the MGM Grand at Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane, they
hired Conventions, Sports & Leisure International of Plano, Texas, to guide the
committee through possible financing options.Bill Rhoda, president of CSL, has presented details of those options and has
shown how stadium developers in other cities have financed their projects.CSL has worked on 31 professional football stadiums since its founding in 1988,
including the new homes of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings.
Closer to Las Vegas, the company also worked on Aces Ballpark, the minor league
baseball stadium in downtown Reno.On the table in Las Vegas is a public-private partnership calling for $750
million from the public and $650 million from the private sector, or a
54 percent-46 percent split.From the private partners would come a $500 million contribution from the
Raiders — $300 million of that in the form of a loan from the NFL — and $150
million from casino operator Las Vegas Sands and Majestic. The exact sources of
the $750 million in public money remains unsettled. That’s where much of the
detail work remains.The key question: Is the deal fair to all parties?
Rhoda identified 46 annual events at the stadium if the NFL is in the mix.
They include 10 home NFL football dates (two preseason and eight regular-season
NFL games), six UNLV football dates, two college football bowl games (including
the current Las Vegas Bowl), two neutral-site college football games, two soccer
events, four rugby events, three motorsports events and one top-draw boxing
or mixed martial arts event.Hill said the number of events staged will drive the economics.
“Do we think we can get to 46? What we’ll probably do is carve 10 events out and
see what that looks like and then carve another 10 out and see what that looks
like,” he said. “We have to stress-test the model, maybe take it from 46 to 20
or somewhere in between and get a range of potential outcomes.”Guessing right on the number of events the stadium could hold is critical to
determining return on investment and whether the amount of money plowed into
the facility would be worth it to taxpayers, who stand to see less money available
for schools, roads, parks and other projects tax revenues currently support.But the upside would be more money for those needs and projects if the stadium
does what proponents say it will.ANSWERS NEEDED BY JULY 31
CSL estimated an average turnstile attendance of 40,000 at those 46 events,
resulting in an estimated 1.8 million visitors and 845,000 new hotel room nights.The CSL report noted that spending by visitors at events consists of in-stadium
spending on tickets, concessions, merchandise and parking, as well as out-of-
stadium spending on lodging, food and beverage, shopping, entertainment,
transportation, gaming and other services. The report estimates per-capita
out-of-stadium spending by overnight visitors at $642 per person per day, and
65 percent of out-of-stadium visitor spending is considered “net new” — it
would not be spent without the presence of the stadium.When the committee meets Thursday, it will dig into four pages of detailed
questions the group wants answered before buying into public stadium support.
Among them: Is the UNLV site an appropriate location? What portion, if any, of
the cost should be paid by the public? What happens if stadium revenues fall
short? Is it reasonable to expect 46 events per year?The committee is working toward a July 31 deadline to make its recommendations.
A $1.4 billion Las Vegas Convention Center expansion project and several transit
proposals are also under consideration.“I think wrapping something up (on the stadium) before July is not possible,”
Hill said. “I’ve even asked the committee to reserve a date between the June
and July meetings to continue to work on it.”In addition to determining whether the existing tax structure pencils out as a
wise return on investment, the committee probably will look at whether the
Legislature should be asked to increase tax rates on existing services. Committee
members already have indicated they have little appetite for bumping up taxes
that would directly affect local residents, especially because locals would
pay more through the live entertainment tax if a stadium is built.WHERE DOES BURDEN FALL?
In theory, generating tax revenue through hotel room and rental car rates shifts
most of the burden to visitors, though residents occasionally rent vehicles or
land in resorts for “staycations.” But for entertainment events, there is no
chance for locals to dodge the live entertainment tax currently imposed.County hotel room and car rental tax revenue is expected to climb, as would
their corresponding state revenue: sales taxes, gaming taxes (officials anticipate
sports fans would tend to gamble) and the state modified business tax, since new
employees would be hired if the stadium is built and an NFL team were to relocate
here.There appears to be room to increase the room tax. Between the state and the
county, the hotel room tax is at about 12 percent, just under Orlando’s 12.5
percent rate and Phoenix’s 12.57 percent. And it’s well below New York’s 14.75
percent rate, Dallas’ 15 percent, Chicago’s 16.39 percent and Houston’s 17 percent.Committee members also could ask the Legislature to form a tax-increment
district. The boundaries of a special tourism taxing district would be open to
debate. Would it include only the stadium site’s 42 acres or would it include
property around it? And if so, how far from the stadium would the district extend
to grab revenues from businesses that would benefit from proximity to the stadium?The CSL report suggested a TID to last 65 years and feed a stadium authority, which
would operate much like the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, to build
and manage the facility.The committee will also look at how new stadiums have been funded. They include:
* U.S. Bank Stadium, which this year will open as the home to the NFL’s Minnesota
Vikings. About 45 percent of the 68,500-seat stadium’s $1.1 billion budget is
being covered by taxpayers, with Minneapolis residents seeing a half-percentage-
point increase in the sales tax and as much as a 3 percentage-point boost in
taxes on liquor, lodging and restaurants through 2046. The state also authorized
a tax exemption on construction materials for the stadium, which is also exempt
from property taxes.* Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where the public is contributing only 16
percent of the cost of the $1.5 billion, 71,000-seat home of the Atlanta Falcons,
to open in 2017. The Georgia General Assembly in 2010 approved the extension of
a 7 percent tax on motel and hotel rooms through 2050 contingent on 39.3 percent
of the revenue being used to build the stadium.* Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers and host of February’s Super
Bowl 50, cost $1.3 billion to build and seats 68,500. Only 1 percent of the cost
was publicly financed. The city of Santa Clara, California, contributed $11
million. Prepayment of luxury boxes supporting a Goldman Sachs-led loan from
17 lenders covered most of the bill.Examining those projects and others may generate new ideas, but the core issue
in Las Vegas is whether the stadium plan is fair and whether the public will
share the benefits if the stadium is a roaring success.“This should be a business conversation, an economic conversation,” Hill said.
:So far, what we’ve talked about is more conceptual than getting into real
detail — what’s the projected return on investment from the private side and
what’s the economic benefit to the community for the public side and how to
determine the definition of ‘fair’ and, separately, ‘smart?’ ““I think what you’ll find is that if we get 40 to 50 events, the stadium becomes
pretty lucrative for everybody involved. We have to ask the question about the
potential for the public to share in the upside. Early on, they (developers)
said no, but that needs to be aired because the truth is that if it’s very
successful, the return on investment will be very high. It would help to buy
down the public investment.”——————————————————————————–
——————————————————————————–Tim Leiweke’s NFL connections help Las Vegas’ case for a team
By MATT YOUMANS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNALhttp://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/nfl-vegas/tim-leiweke-s-nfl-connections-help-las-vegas-case-team
Everything unfolded in slow motion in Los Angeles, so Tim Leiweke is ready to
punch the fast-forward button.“I spent almost 10 years chasing the NFL in L.A.,” he said. “This is a guy who
got beat up for 10 years.”Leiweke laughed and called it “shocking” how quickly Las Vegas could land an
NFL franchise.In just a few months, with Leiweke in the middle of the action, the Raiders’
potential relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas has moved from an entertainment
topic to serious business. If a stadium is built and the whirlwind plan becomes
reality, Leiweke will play an integral role.Much of his career has been about making arena and stadium deals. The former
CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Leiweke led the Staples Center project
in Los Angeles before striking a deal with MGM Resorts International to construct
T-Mobile Arena on the Strip. He also had a brief run as president of Maple Leaf
Sports and Entertainment in Toronto before resigning.Leiweke, now the CEO of Oak View Group, an L.A.-based entertainment advisory,
development and investment company, adds credibility and influential connections
to the Las Vegas stadium drive, which will be discussed at 8 a.m. Thursday by
the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee at UNLV’s Stan Fulton Building.A proposed $1.4 billion, 65,000-seat stadium near the Strip would be funded
through a public-private partnership including the Raiders, Majestic Realty and
Las Vegas Sands Corp., which is using Leiweke as a consultant to help lead the
campaign.“There is such a huge need in the marketplace for a stadium. It’s the one thing
that city’s missing,” Leiweke said. “It’s easily justifiable. We’ve got to get a
deal that makes sense to everybody.“The deal can get done. It’s all sitting right there. It’s shocking.”
How well-connected is Leiweke? His younger brother, Tod, was named chief operating
officer of the NFL in July.Tim Leiweke also has years of experience working with NFL commissioner Roger
Goodell and Eric Grubman, the league’s executive vice president of business
operations. Grubman, who was intricately involved in the Rams’ relocation from
St. Louis to Los Angeles early this year, is closely monitoring the situation
with the Raiders and Las Vegas.It’s fair to assume Tim Leiweke’s connections could help Las Vegas gain favor
in the NFL’s front office.“It’s not just one relationship, and not just a blood relationship,” Tim Leiweke
said. “I have a very good relationship with Eric, with Roger and with a lot of
the owners. The NFL is more aligned with this than you would think.”Leiweke’s company played a role in a major venue announcement this week. Las
Vegas Sands and The Madison Square Garden Co. are partnering with Azoff MSG
Entertainment, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Leiweke’s Oak View Group to
build a 17,500-seat off-Strip venue designed for live music performances.As we navigate this whole stadium issue and the NFL, Tim’s input has been
insightful. He’s a real value add,”said Rob Goldstein, president and chief
operating officer of Las Vegas Sands. “He’s a straight shooter, and he doesn’t
say things he doesn’t back up. We think there’s a real chance this is going
to happen.”Las Vegas’ sudden emergence as a potential NFL city is not a mirage in the
desert. It was one of the biggest topics of the NFL Spring Meeting on Tuesday,
when team owners and league executives gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina,
to discuss future Super Bowl sites, rules changes and the future of the Raiders.Tim Leiweke’s focus is on the financing strategy for a stadium in Las Vegas.
He called Thursday’s meeting of the tourism infrastructure committee “critical”
in terms of advancing the project.The current proposal calls for $750 million from the public and $650 million
from private sources. The Raiders would contribute $500 million, including a
$300 million loan from the NFL, with Las Vegas Sands/Majestic Realty adding
$150 million. The revenue sources for the $750 million public contribution must
be decided by the Nevada Legislature.“My guess is this gets closer to a 50-50 partnership when it’s all said and
done,” said Leiweke, adding “there is room” in Las Vegas’ hotel tax rate of
around 12 percent to draw more tax money from tourists.“I think there’s a fairly reasonable concept on how to fund it, and it doesn’t
cost the people of Las Vegas any additional money,” said Leiweke, who is
assisting retired soccer star David Beckham in a plan to build a stadium
in Miami. It’s not increasing taxes on the people who live there.“The only way it doesn’t happen is if people turn down the deal for whatever
reason, and I don’t see that happening. There is real momentum for this.”Leiweke said he estimates the Las Vegas stadium could host “50 to 60, maybe
more” events per year, including eight regular-season games and two preseason
games for the Raiders. It also would be the new home for UNLV football.“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m actually really optimistic,”
Leiweke said. “I am pleasantly surprised. I think things are coming together.
There is a real opportunity here.”May 26, 2016 at 5:39 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #44796znModeratorGoff played in a no-huddle, spread offense at Cal, so he must transition from taking snaps exclusively from the shotgun formation to taking them under center and then dropping back for passes. Keenum played in a no-huddle, spread offense in college at Houston before signing with the Texans in 2012.
“It’s a tough adjustment, getting to that pro-style, huddle-up, under-center stuff,” Keenum said. “Jared’s done a great job already. It’s not an easy thing.”
it’s worth mentioning, that there’s more to it than just taking snaps and dropping back. Under center he has to make pre-snap reads and make adjustments. Dropping back means having your timing just right on the depth of drop to the throw, and pro-style play action means having to turn your back to make the fake and then turn back and re-acquire the defense. It;s an intricate little choreography and you have to do it all like it’s 2nd nature.
Snead once hinted that that whole complex of things about being under center is one of the items that tripped Foles up. That he had a hard time with it.
and not just your own timing. the way i understood it is knowing at each step where your receivers are supposed to be. being in sync with the entire offense. and then when you get to the proper depth you have to be decisive and get that ball out or the timing is all screwed up.
at least that’s the way i understand it.
And then Nick Wagoner chimes in too:
. Taking snaps under center is about timing and rhythm so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get him some work with first-team center Tim Barnes in order to get him acclimated to working with the top unit.
znModeratorCase Keenum Knows He’s Listed As Rams’ Starting QB – In Pencil
By Gary Klein
=http://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/la-sp-rams-case-keenum-20160526-snap-story.html
The trade to the top of the NFL draft did not unnerve him, the No. 1 pick was not a surprise and the aftermath, Case Keenum said, would not change the way he approaches his job.
Keenum was the Rams’ presumptive starting quarterback going into off-season workouts.
Nearly five months later, as the Rams prepare for the start of organized team activities next week, that status is tenuous.
After the Rams traded up from No. 15 for the top pick in the draft, the team selected Jared Goff. The next day, Coach Jeff Fisher called the former California standout the Rams’ “franchise quarterback.”
Keenum, relaxing on a bench at the team’s temporary Oxnard training base last week, recognizes the situation but sounds unfazed.
“I know nothing’s going to be handed to me,” he said. “Ever.”
Keenum was an undrafted free agent when he began his pro career with the Houston Texans in 2012.
Nick Foles, acquired in a trade for Sam Bradford, was the Rams’ starter last season until Fisher benched him in favor of Keenum.
Keenum completed 61% of his passes in six games, with four touchdowns and one interception in six games. The Rams were 3-2 in his starts.
Fisher and General Manager Les Snead publicly expressed confidence in Keenum after the NFL approved the Rams’ move from St. Louis in January but said they would seek to upgrade the position.
In March, after the Rams’ first team meeting in Southern California, the 28-year-old Keenum told reporters that he was encouraged by the coaching staff’s confidence in him.
“I’m looking forward to moving to L.A.,” he said, adding, “I’m ready for the city and just for the experience to blow me away.”
Weeks later, the Rams and the Tennessee Titans completed the trade that had been in the works since the NFL scouting combine in February.
The deal stunned many, but not Keenum. Not after the Rams ranked last in the NFL in passing offense last season.
“I knew they were going to draft somebody,” he said, adding, “You have to produce to keep your job in this business.”
For two weeks, the Rams kept NFL observers speculating. Would they draft Goff or North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz?
The day after the draft, Fisher said that he would not rule out the possibility of Goff starting the Sept. 12 opener against the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”
Asked if those comments added motivation, Keenum said he would be prepared for any scenario.
“There’s so much that can happen — you can’t look too far into too many of those little details,” he said. “If you start going down those rabbit holes and start thinking and speculation, that’s when you stop playing like you can play.
“That’s when you stop doing your job.”
Under Fisher, rookies go through an orientation and are mostly kept separate from the veterans during the majority of off-season workouts. Goff attended the Rams’ rookie camp in early May but was required to return to Cal until final exams were complete. He returned last week.
“He’s been out there a little bit and jumped right in,” Keenum said. “He’s a smart kid, fast learner and he can throw the football.”
Goff played in a no-huddle, spread offense at Cal, so he must transition from taking snaps exclusively from the shotgun formation to taking them under center and then dropping back for passes. Keenum played in a no-huddle, spread offense in college at Houston before signing with the Texans in 2012.
“It’s a tough adjustment, getting to that pro-style, huddle-up, under-center stuff,” Keenum said. “Jared’s done a great job already. It’s not an easy thing.”
Offensive coordinator Rob Boras and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke are Goff’s primary conduits for learning the Rams’ offense.
Keenum said he benefited early in his career from veterans who shared tips and experiences, so he will be available to Goff.
“My first job is to try to be the best quarterback I can be — and that’s hard enough in this league,” he said. “But I want to help in whatever way I can. I definitely want to pass on any knowledge that I have. That’s an important part of the position.
“He’s being a sponge right now. He’s listening to everything in the meeting room. Sometimes there’s a lot of voices coming at him so I don’t want to try to add to it because coach Weinke and coach Boras do a great job.”
When OTAs begin – the first chance for the Rams’ offense to work against the defense since last season — four quarterbacks are expected to participate: Goff, Keenum, Foles and second-year pro Sean Mannion.
Receiver Tavon Austin is eager to catch passes from each of them.
“I’m looking forward to working with anybody,” he said. “Right now, Case is our guy. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Foles’ status remains the most fluid. The market for a possible trade is expected to resume after training camp begins in late July if teams lose quarterbacks because of injuries or other reasons.
Depending on how quickly Goff progresses, Keenum could still open the season as the starter.
But he’s not looking too far ahead.
His focus, he said, would remain on improvement.
“I’m not too big of an ego to think that I’ve got it figured out,” he said, “because I don’t.
“I’ve got to continue to get better.”
May 26, 2016 at 5:25 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #44793znModeratorThings will speed up a bit for Jared Goff as Rams open OTAs
Nick Wagoner
The Los Angeles Rams are moving closer to the beginning of the final phase of the offseason conditioning program. That would be the time when all players can come together on a field and go through full-squad practices (with some limitations, of course): organized team activities.
The Rams’ first OTA is set for May 31 at their current temporary training facility in Oxnard, Calif. Before we get there, we’re counting down five of the questions we’ll look to get answered when the Rams get going again:
The question: The way the Rams operate, OTAs is the first chance for the rookies and veterans to come together for on-field activities. That means it will be Jared Goff’s first chance to go against NFL competition. How will the Rams handle Goff’s transition and what can he expect during OTA practices?
Outlook: Long before they moved up from No. 15 to No. 1 to draft Goff, the Rams were adamant that Case Keenum would be the team’s starting quarterback at the beginning of the offseason program. Even after drafting Goff, that’s likely to be the case. Rams coach Jeff Fisher has said repeatedly that he doesn’t intend to throw Goff in before he’s ready, though he’s also acknowledged that the hope is to have Goff working with the first unit “sooner than later.” So as the Rams open OTAs, it’s safe to expect Keenum to be working with the No. 1 offense. The only question is whether Goff will begin getting some reps with the starters right off the bat as well.
As it stands, the Rams have four quarterbacks on the roster, including Keenum, Goff, Sean Mannion and Nick Foles. They aren’t going to carry four during the season, so one (likely Foles) will have to go. When that happens remains to be seen, but in the meantime the Rams also don’t have enough practice reps to go around for four quarterbacks. That’s especially true because the Rams need to get Goff as much work as possible as soon as possible. He had the benefit of being the only quarterback at the team’s rookie orientation, but that’s not the same as doing it with the entire team present.
Goff is transitioning from Cal’s “Bear Raid” spread offense that had him playing out of the shotgun almost exclusively. The Rams will likely sprinkle in some more shotgun concepts during OTAs to help ease Goff’s adjustment, but they’ll also need to get him comfortable working from under center. Taking snaps under center is about timing and rhythm so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get him some work with first-team center Tim Barnes in order to get him acclimated to working with the top unit. Beyond the mechanics of that, Goff is going to have to adjust to the speed he’s going to see on defense. At his first press conference, Goff made it clear that he knows that will be one of the biggest challenges he faces going into the NFL. The guess here is that the Rams will have Goff working with the backups for the most part but also get him in with the starters on occasion in order to get him used to working with that group. And remember, while the Rams do go starters vs. starters on occasion in practice, working with the second team also yields opportunities to face the starting defense. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams isn’t one to go easy on his offensive counterparts, which means Goff will have some early struggles — but the type of struggles the Rams hope will pay off in the long run.
znModeratorCase Keenum’s 158 Passer rating is #1 All-Time #Rams for a regular season game…
Keenum also helped lead to Rams to a victory in Seattle for the first time since 2004…AND (though it has been said) all this makes CK the only (so far) successful Air Raid college offense to pro offense transition qb.
Interesting #2 & mentor for JG.
.
znModeratorIt’s simple. Said it before. They went 7-9 with a melted down qb and a young line…against a tough schedule, with one of the toughest if not the toughest divisions in the league. .
7-9 is better than you should expect from those circumstances.
If they had a decent regular starting qb the last 2 years then they are already a winning team.
znModeratorBoras, Groh and Goff…sounds like a law firm in middle earth.
May 26, 2016 at 8:42 am in reply to: Les Snead on Brian Quick "I was thinking Vincent Jackson." #44732znModeratorI just wasn’t impressed with his several-game-streak of catching
some balls. I mean, none of the catches made me go “wow, that guy really
did something special there.”w
That;s just chance. The point is, do you want a confident 6’4″ receiver catching 3-4 balls a game, which is what he was doing. And that was from Austin Davis. I will take not being wowed per catch and then waking up and realizing he had 900 yards for the season.
But…something happened to him last year. That’s the point.
May 26, 2016 at 8:42 am in reply to: Les Snead on Brian Quick "I was thinking Vincent Jackson." #44731znModeratorI just wasn’t impressed with his several-game-streak of catching
some balls. I mean, none of the catches made me go “wow, that guy really
did something special there.”w
That;s just chance. The point is, do you want a confident 6’4″ receiver catching 3-4 balls a game, which is what he was doing. And that was from Austin Davis. I will take not being wowed per catch and then waking up and realizing he had 900 yards for the season.
But…something happened to him last year. That’s the point.
May 25, 2016 at 9:50 pm in reply to: Les Snead on Brian Quick "I was thinking Vincent Jackson." #44702znModeratorWhy can’t he be good? Second year after the surgery…. He’s fully recovered now…. Is it a learning thing?
It was a massive injury, career threatening. Fisher I think it was talked about how after the surgery they had to pull and manipulate the arm to break up scar tissue—and you could hear Quick screaming when they did it.
So it could be a loss of confidence combined with trauma combined with a physical setback.
If that’s right there’s no guarantee he recovers from it.
…
znModeratorSure universities were around but not with $13.5 billion endowments earning 13.2% interest. That is due to capitalism. List the societies! 13.2%! At that rate these days I call complete and total BS on your assertion in your first sentence. List those “societies”. 13.2%. Wow.
What about me would make you think that I defend “conformity”? Especially here. Really? Other than an occasional poster chiming in I’m the only regular poster that essentially stands alone in regards to support for capitalism, Trump, defense of marriage, secure borders and against the religion of man made global warming. Plus I can’t stand StanK.
I look forward to you giving the examples Chomsky has that would replace capitalism.
Yes universities always had endowments. Endowments are private donations. They’re not profit. And societies in the present that are highly socialistic also have universities with endowments. And the societies surrounding those universities always include people that say don’t criticize the system, you are there because of the system, just go along with the system. It’s one of the things you can count on some people saying in both the USA and North Korea. Meanwhile, although it isn’t uniformly effective, the whole point of a university is to generate and sustain different ways of looking at the truth.
I wasn’t talking about “examples that would replace capitalism” btw…I was talking about specific policies. I also wasn’t talking about capitalism. As with all things, there’s more than one kind of capitalism too. Notice what I said instead was the mega-corporate oligarchic version of capitalism.
But either way capitalism will be replaced. Cause all systems are. Otherwise we would all still be living in the first system (at the level of a civilization, which is beyond tribes and clans, that probably means ancient “monarch as diety” style kingships).
And btw every single system that has ever existed claims it is natural, inevitable, the only real possibility, the only thing that works, etc. It’s a rule of human history–invent a socio-economic system and immediately people start going see, this is the way it was meant to be, nothing can change this, this is reality, nothing else exists or counts. That’s just the way most people in a particular civilization always talk about it. And…yet, all systems have always changed.
…
znModeratorMy perception of Sanders in the White House is him sitting there in a tweed jacket smoking a pipe with invited post grads philosophizing about all that’s wrong and what he “intends” to do
W to be fair that’s just you. And it’s the same stereotype you have had of the left the entire time you’ve posted in this forum (old and new incarnations). YOu are always just going to construe it that way.
It just means you have apparently no idea, for example, how Sanders behaved in Congress and the Senate.
All I see you doing is painting the picture W would paint.
That’s why, for example, there’s no real reply to an important point many posters made…that things you (and your articles) call “utopian” are all done, and done successfully, elsewhere.
May 25, 2016 at 7:04 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #44693znModeratorCoach’s Corner: Weinke’s First Impressions on Goff
Quarterback Coach, Chris Weinke, is ready to show Jared Goff what it means to be a leader in the NFL.
That was interesting, just to see what Weinke is like.
==
Goff played in a no-huddle, spread offense at Cal, so he must transition from taking snaps exclusively from the shotgun formation to taking them under center and then dropping back for passes. Keenum played in a no-huddle, spread offense in college at Houston before signing with the Texans in 2012.
“It’s a tough adjustment, getting to that pro-style, huddle-up, under-center stuff,” Keenum said. “Jared’s done a great job already. It’s not an easy thing.”
This has come up before, but, Keenum may be the only guy so far who transitioned from the Air Raid version of the spread to pro style offense.
So as much as CK downplays being a mentor, it’s interesting that Goff is learning behind CK.
Though they say the Cal version of the Air Raid had more pro-style elements in it.
Still, it’s worth mentioning, that there’s more to it than just taking snaps and dropping back. Under center he has to make pre-snap reads and make adjustments. Dropping back means having your timing just right on the depth of drop to the throw, and pro-style play action means having to turn your back to make the fake and then turn back and re-acquire the defense. It;s an intricate little choreography and you have to do it all like it’s 2nd nature.
Snead once hinted that that whole complex of things about being under center is one of the items that tripped Foles up. That he had a hard time with it.
May 25, 2016 at 5:01 pm in reply to: Les Snead on Brian Quick "I was thinking Vincent Jackson." #44680znModeratorVJ did emerge in his 4th year. BQ, for a bit there, in his 3rd. But, we all know about the injury…and then different people have different ideas about 2015.
Maybe BQ is a Kennison. Not in terms of style obviously, but after years of injuries and lost confidence, EK did eventually amount to something. In his 9th year.
So here’s hoping BQ is a fast-track version of Kennison, in terms of development.
znModeratorRubley saw action in two NFL seasons in 1993 and 1995. He started 7 games for the Rams during the 1993 season. With limited playing time and being waived numerous times by NFL teams, Rubley found success with the Rhein Fire of the WLAF and played briefly with Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.
I did not post that.
fixed
znModerator#1. Oh yes it is. It very much is. That $13.5 billion endowment is averaging a return of 13.2% per year! You can’t get that return on government bonds or notes! You get that return from CAPITALISM. The same CAPITALISM that created the endowment. Diverse ideas, please! Like the stifling of any dissent (supported by facts) regarding man made global warming?
#2. No, Chomsky needs to name his real world examples that solve the capitalist tendencies of mankind. Yes, scale does matter.
B, they have investments that earn interest in societies that are not based on the american oligarchic model of mega-corporate capitalism. Either way, universities, and what they stand for, existed long before the american brand of mega-corporate oligarchical capitalism, and also exist in places where that particular brand of capitalism does not hold sway.
And of course, either way, if the world always followed the entire “never criticize the powers that be” approach, we would all still be living under catholic-dominated medieval feudalism. So generally, you won’t hear people around here going for the “conformity is your first obligation” routine.
I can name all the real world examples of everything NC is talking about. And NC has thousands upon thousands of pages online. It doesn’t all rest on one article. In fact if you turn to print he has more than 100 books. So on examples, you could read more, or I can just tell you.
From wikipedia:
Chomsky was voted the world’s leading public intellectual in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll jointly conducted by American magazine Foreign Policy and British magazine Prospect. In a list compiled by the magazine New Statesman in 2006, he was voted seventh in the list of “Heroes of our time.”
He is the most widely read american author worldwide.
May 25, 2016 at 2:19 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #44671znModeratorCoach’s Corner: Weinke’s First Impressions on Goff
Quarterback Coach, Chris Weinke, is ready to show Jared Goff what it means to be a leader in the NFL.
May 25, 2016 at 2:08 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #44670znModeratorGoff Impressing Coaches with Work Ethic, Showing Early Progress
There’s some interesting stuff there.
Not that Simmons would ever write an article titled
Anxious Coaches Scramble to Update Resumes as #1 Pick Jared Goff Struggles Like a Clown in Quicksand
…
And as long as I am being snarky, here’s something for the Coach-Style Failed Syntax folder:
His best friend is going to be turning around and handing it to Todd.
So…they are using 2 qbs in the same backfield?
And what is Goff doing while his friend hands off to Gurley?
May 25, 2016 at 2:04 pm in reply to: Keenum will be the starter to open camp…how close or far is Goff? #44669znModeratorGoff Impressing Coaches with Work Ethic, Showing Early Progress
Myles Simmons
With the Rams beginning OTAs next week, No. 1 overall pick
Jared Goff will be on the field squaring off against a defense for the first time in practice. Because players are not in pads, the organized team activities are essentially a period of continued learning. And the coaches who work closely with Los Angeles’ newest quarterback — offensive coordinator Rob Boras and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke — are looking forward to seeing Goff progress on the field.
When the organization made the decision to trade for the first pick, it was clear there was a general consensus one quarterback appeared a cut above the rest. According to Weinke, Goff’s film was simply outstanding.
“The guy is just a natural passer of the football. You can tell he’s a natural athlete,” the QB coach said. “He was probably the smoothest guy that I’ve evaluated in a long time, as it relates to pocket awareness and pocket presence.
“Time after time, you’ve seen him make big plays,” Weinke continued. “And the guy made some ‘wow’ throws that not a lot of college guys have made — or that I’ve ever seen on film. You really put all those variables together, and he was a guy who kind of rose to the top and we felt like would be a good fit here in Los Angeles.”
But it wasn’t just about the throws. The fact that Goff helped bring Cal from an 11-loss team his freshman year to winning the program’s first bowl game since 2008 speaks volumes about his leadership ability.
“Collectively, you look at his body of work and what he did as a young kid going into Cal … not only physically, but mentally what he was able to accomplish, and truly be the leader of that football team,” Weinke said, adding to “go from 1-11 to going to a bowl game and winning is important, as it relates to the quarterback position and leadership ability.”
According to Boras, Goff has shown those qualities even in the short time he’s been a Ram.
“Watching him with the other rookies and just the leadership, and getting those guys out involved — it’s all the things that you’d hope for, and you heard,” Boras said. “But now to see it in person, it’s truly exciting.”
Goff’s strong work ethic has been well documented, but witnessing it in person has nevertheless been noteworthy for Boras and Weinke.
“The thing that’s really impressed me with Jared has just been his commitment to the classroom and his commitment to learn,” Boras said. “He’s been in there early for every meeting — I don’t mean five-minutes early. The meeting is supposed to start at 8:30, he’s trying to roll in and he’s always working.”
“The good thing about Jared is that he’s a cerebral kid,” Weinke said. “He’s very smart. He can absorb the information. In our research and our due diligence on him, we found that out — that this guy can take the information from the classroom and apply it out on the field. And that was important to us.”
Those factors have made the coaches comfortable with giving the rookie QB plenty to learn in the nascent stage of his career.
“We’re throwing a lot at him — probably more than you would throw to most guys,” Boras said. “We’re going to throw a lot at him right now, see what sticks, instead of just spoon feeding it along. Now, obviously, we want him to have success and feel comfortable, but we need to challenge.
“We need to raise our level of expectations, not just for him but for this entire offense. So we’re trying to put as much not only on Jared, but with all of these guys, as possible,” Boras continued. “So what maybe we would’ve taken the mid-OTAs to get to, we’re trying to get to now. And the more you hear anything — repetition is the mother of all learning. So the more that we throw and the more chances they have to hear it, the better it has to stick.”
Going along with that, Goff has shown a proclivity for asking relevant questions whenever he needs clarification. It’s a behavior the coaching staff has encouraged since his arrival.
“I think it’s important that you lay the foundation on Day 1 with a young quarterback — understand that there are no dumb questions,” Weinke said. “Understand that the more questions you ask, the better we’re going to feel. Don’t ever assume that you know the answer.
“And so [Goff’s] done an outstanding job of, throughout the course of meetings, whether it’s with coach Boras or myself, pausing and saying, ‘Wait, I don’t understand that. Explain that to me better,’” Weinke continued. “We’re excited about that. That means he’s not afraid to ask questions. And then when we do teach him something, he is absorbing it and understands it.”
Despite the staff’s ability to put a lot on Goff’s plate, there are ways within the scheme where they’ll look to smooth the rookie’s transition to the NFL — particularly with pass protection. Boras identified the understanding of pass-protection concepts as the biggest hurdle first-year QBs often face.
“The pass concepts don’t vary very much from college to the NFL — or really from one team in the NFL to another. It’s really the protections and knowing what your problems are,” Boras said. “If we can make the run game simple for them, if we can simplify protections — and by simplify, it doesn’t mean max protect necessarily. But just letting him know where his problems are, and if you have a problem, how do you fix it? And then once he gets accustomed to that, he’ll have the opportunity to go be himself and spin the ball like we know he’s capable of doing.”
Plus, the Rams have the reigning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year in Todd Gurley , whose ability to run the football inherently takes pressure off the quarterback and the passing game.
“That’s what coach Fisher told him when he first got here, and when we really first met Jared was, ‘You know who our running back is?’” Boras said. “And that’s what we can’t forget. His best friend is going to be turning around and handing it to Todd. And then whey they stack the box and try to take Todd away, we need to be able to take advantage of it through the air.”
And so as the Rams begin their OTA sessions next week, both Boras and Weinke are highly encouraged by the prospect of Goff learning and growing in his new offensive system.
“There’s bumps along the road, but he’s understanding the process,” Boras said. “And we’re just trying to make sure we’re building the foundation that will allow him to be successful on Sundays in the near future.”
“He’s, really, exactly what you’re looking for,” Weinke said. “Great clay to mold, and we’re excited about what he brings to this football team.”
znModeratorRubley saw action in two NFL seasons in 1993 and 1995. He started 7 games for the Rams during the 1993 season. With limited playing time and being waived numerous times by NFL teams, Rubley found success with the Rhein Fire of the WLAF and played briefly with Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.
The line between elite greatness and abject failure is just so…massively thick.
znModeratorWhy do the masses of voters and nonvoters allow that?
Ideology.
I suspect he pees in the very wheaties that pays his salary.
MIT pays him to be knowlewdgable and speak his mind.
Good universities are not real big on the “shut up and conform to the powers that be” routine. That would kind of defeat their purpose. Or, real purpose.
And there’s nothing Chomsky commends that isn’t being successfully done somewhere in the world.
That’s one of the things he’s paid to know.
#1, Yes his largesse is due to CAPITALISM. He does pee in his wheaties.
#2. Where are his examples? Would love to see something on the scale of a nation that spans a continent with a minimum of 200 million people of multi-racial multi-cultural make up. Scale is everything and that is where he fails.
#1. No it’s not. Not at a private university with a 13.5 billion dollar endowment, it’s not. In fact the reason we have such things as universities is so that not everything gets crushed down into the same “propaganda for the present system” sound bites. That’s because in a democracy, we’re NOT supposed to all think the same…or, it’s not really a democracy. Those who believe in democracy therefore actually value there being diverse ideas.
#2. Name a thing, I’ll name the example. Just don’t keep moving the goalposts. That way we don’t have to make up things like the idea (supported by nothing) that the larger the population the less you can deviate from mega-corporate oligarchy.
…
May 25, 2016 at 11:25 am in reply to: The 2016 Los Angeles Rams Need Rodger Saffold For Cohesion On The Offensive Line #44651znModeratorThe Rams could not get it together without Saffold. A handful of players, from Jamon Brown to Cody Wichmann, stepped in for Saffold throughout the remainder of the season. None of his replacements had sustained success,
I didn’t catch it if this guy said it, but while Wichman started out rough, if seems to me he settled down and was fine for his last few starts.
Wichman did not start until the Baltimore game. His first 3 games were rough (Baltimore, Cinn., ARZ). But it seems to me he was settling down by the time of the Detrpit game and continued like that through the last game (that last stretch would be 4 starts).
…
znModeratorThe Rams hired former Chicago Bears receiver coach Mike Groh to … become the new passing-game coordinator.
Just a note on this because I’ve seen different times when people wondered what a passing-game coordinator is.
First, he is not a co-coordinator with the Offensive Coordinator. The OC oversees the creation of gameplans (which are collaborative) and calls the plays on gameday.
The passing-game coordinator just contributes to developing gameplans. I would imagine he’s also asked to provide unique input from his area of expertize.
There’s also running-game coordinators out there.
Here’s two coaches with different teams who have those roles.
Denver: Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator – Greg Knapp
Carolina: Running Game Coordinator – John Matsko
znModeratorWhy do the masses of voters and nonvoters allow that?
Ideology.
I suspect he pees in the very wheaties that pays his salary.
MIT pays him to be knowlewdgable and speak his mind.
Good universities are not real big on the “shut up and conform to the powers that be” routine. That would kind of defeat their purpose. Or, real purpose.
And there’s nothing Chomsky commends that isn’t being successfully done somewhere in the world.
That’s one of the things he’s paid to know.
znModeratorI honestly tried to respond with an applause GIF
fixed
znModeratorWe can project that we have two thirds of a triplet, Gurley, Goff, and Gnobody
Go G’Rams
May 25, 2016 at 12:21 am in reply to: congressional study: NFL attempted to manipulate concussion research #44628znModeratormaybe the owners should go on a walk of shame.
shame! shame!
Now now. What’s the point of paying for scientific research if you can’t manipulate the results.
==
from “Miller’s Crossing”:
It’s gettin’ so a businessman can’t expect no return from a fixed fight. Now, if you can’t trust a fix, what can you trust? For a good return, you gotta go bettin’ on chance – and then you’re back with anarchy, right back in the jungle.
.
znModeratorCertainly didn’t post it to antagonize anyone. I disagree that it is racist. Blacks use that phrase about blacks who have earned it. No different than whites using it about whites that have earned it. And here both races use both.
You live in Maine. I live in Tennessee. Maine is 97% white, 0.5% black. Tennessee is 80% white, 16% black. I’ve also lived in Mississippi and I know what is said in mixed company as well as the intent. The use of black and white is descriptive not racist. So we definitely disagree but I will try to use trash as stand alone, here.
I appreciate your explanation and I get the point you make in the last sentence. So all is well. I think the matter is closed and we are just chatting now.
Just in terms of me and my experience, though, I don’t want to leave the wrong impression. I am originally from Canada. We moved to the states when I was 10 or 11. First it was Indiana. My first grade school was 90% black. My 2nd grade school was 100% white and so openly racist some teachers used overtly racist language in class as a matter of course. My high school was more mixed. Before college I lived in Chicago. I went to college in St. Louis. My neighborhood in St. Louis was 90% black. Since St. Louis, I have lived in Chicago (again), Claremont (outside LA), San Diego, SF, and Louisiana. The biggest portions of that were San Diego and Louisiana. I moved to Maine in my late 40s. So Maine is not my only experience of the USA and its demographics.
I think all I was saying was that online, in posts, people don’t really know who you are. (That’s the generic “you” not you personally–this applies to all of us). They don’t always know how we mean things. So it is always best to stay away from certain kinds of language that we know can be taken wrong. So I do appreciate you recognizing that in this case.
Given that kind of basic distinction, this board is built to allow people all kinds of freedom in what they say and how they say it. What interests me is that we regulars know that, and yet conflict is minimal. So I am proud of that.
May 24, 2016 at 11:36 pm in reply to: Tweets 5/24 – 2021 Super Bowl will be played in Los Angeles #44623znModeratorThat’s because Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke’s $2.6 billion stadium and development project will become the most lavish stadium project in North American sports the day it opens.
mmm…. is it too late for the rams to move back to st. louis???
The “most lavish stadium” thing is divisive. Some people like it, some people are kind of put off by it.
Fortunately, when watching a game, you (generic you not YOU) don’t have to notice either way, regardless how you feel about stadium lavishness.
…
May 24, 2016 at 10:30 pm in reply to: Tweets 5/24 – 2021 Super Bowl will be played in Los Angeles #44621znModeratorSuper Bowl LV just the beginning for Rams’ Inglewood stadium
Nick Wagoner
The NFL announced Tuesday that the Los Angeles Rams’ forthcoming Inglewood stadium will host Super Bowl LV in 2021. For anyone paying attention throughout the relocation process and, especially, during the team’s relocation announcement, that news didn’t come as a surprise.
That’s because Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke’s $2.6 billion stadium and development project will become the most lavish stadium project in North American sports the day it opens. Tuesday’s Super Bowl announcement was a mere formality, but perhaps more important, it’s also all but certain to be just the first of many such declarations in the coming years.
“Los Angeles is built to host the Super Bowl,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement. “We helped forge this great American tradition as its very first host in 1967 and now, at long last, we’re bringing it back where it belongs. L.A. is already welcoming a record number of visitors from around the world and Super Bowl LV will bring even more economic prosperity to our region.”
That prosperity figures to carry over to other major sporting events that the Inglewood stadium will be capable of hosting. Because of the stadium’s high tech, translucent roof, there’s nothing that it can’t host. Which means that the combination of the futuristic venue, the city’s weather and its abundance of hotel rooms is right at the front of the line to host everything from Final Fours to college football championship games to the Olympics to the World Cup.
With the first of what figures to be plenty of Super Bowls in hand, the Inglewood stadium is also throwing its name in the hat for the 2022 Final Four, 2023 college football championship game and is part of the city’s bid for the 2024 Olympics. If U.S. soccer puts in a World Cup bid for 2026, Inglewood’s stadium would also be a part of that proposal. WWE’s Wrestlemania event figures to be coming to Los Angeles at some point as well and the Rams’ pitch to the NFL also included the idea of hosting the Oscars at a theatre that will be constructed in the Inglewood development.
All of that, plus other NFL events like the scouting combine and NFL draft are possibilities for Kroenke’s palace and its surrounding structures.
“On the heels of the National Football League’s historic return to Los Angeles, the Rams are proud to be part of such a significant regional effort of teamwork, leadership and vision to bring the Super Bowl back to Southern California,” Kevin Demoff, the Rams chief operating officer, said. “We would like to thank the NFL owners for giving us this opportunity to host the nation’s biggest event in sports and entertainment at our world-class stadium, to showcase the great cities of Los Angeles and Inglewood and to deliver an incredible experience for fans from across the globe.”
Super Bowl LV will be the first hosted in the Los Angeles area since the 1993 edition pitting the Dallas Cowboys against the Buffalo Bills. It will be the eighth game played in the metropolitan area and also brings the league full circle as the Los Angeles Coliseum hosted Super Bowl I in 1967.
According to the Rams, the city’s Super Bowl bid included the promise of “60,000 hotel-room nights (with the possibility of generating up to 100,000 total room nights) as well as other official and unofficial events to be hosted throughout the region.”
Construction on the Inglewood stadium is expected to begin later this year with the opening of the stadium set for 2019.
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