I’m not going to follow this story, really. At least I’m not going out to read about it. Whatever I overhear, or catch from headlines will be sufficient because I don’t care. That cheating is widespread, and goes to the top, is not surprising to me, and not much of a concern, either.

The problems are deep and complex, and there are no ready solutions, and I think we are forever going to have issues with college ball no matter what. Even if they allowed students to get paid something beyond scholarships (food allowance, books, travel expenses, you-name-it), there is always going to be somebody trying to sweeten a deal for a kid to beat out the other recruiters. Because all these kids are literally free agents.

wv wrote:

Hmmmm. I dunno. I suspect the D wont get fixed this year, and i am skeptical they are even gonna get much better at all this year.

Somethin just looks ‘seriously’ wrong to me.

I have that fear, too.

I sure hope I’m wrong.

But it looks like Giunta. Big holes, and sloppy tackling.

Should an American soccer player who plays for, say, AC Milan stand during the Italian national anthem? Should he put his hand on his heart? Should he sit?

I wonder how Trump is taking this past weekend. I can’t imagine he was indifferent to that display. Pretty sure he’s happy when he is bullying people who are outnumbered and powerless, but that was a very public demonstration of direct defiance of Donald J. Trump, and the whole country saw it happen.

It’s been suggested he was deliberately divisive with his comments (I’m not sure; he reportedly went off script), but the motive behind divisiveness is to create a larger “us,” and a smaller “them.”

And…yeah…the owners are probably happy that the kneeling has just been largely neutralized by this. At least as a liability.

InvaderRam wrote:

either way i hope they wear each other the crap out.

no serious injuries but i hope they’re both just exhausted at the end. let arizona soften them up for the rams.

Define “serious injury.”

Would a high ankle sprain for Prescott be a problem?

Yeah, I would prefer both teams to lose, but since only one loser is possible, I guess it’s better if Arizona loses.

And, seriously, I don’t know how anyone can support a football team that can’t put up at least 100 points in its first three games in the modern NFL. There should be a lot of fans with bags over their heads.

zn wrote:

All valid, but a hesitation. The Rams have always played Wilson and the Carroll Seahawks tough because of a great pass rush. It remains to be seen if the Rams still have that. I know the Seattle OL is a poor one, but, to what extent can the current Rams D take advantage of that?

Let’s fast forward 2 weeks and find out.

What has Kroenke said?

zn wrote:

I agree and I like Bradford.

The next question is how he (eventually) compares to (alphabetical order) Bulger, Everett, and Warner.

Anyway, like all Rams fans, I can only hope that he turns out in the long run to be AT LEAST as good as Austin Davis.

…

I liked Bradford, too, and thought trading him was a mistake – though I get why they did it…and we’ve covered that a few dozens times.

Yes. Clearly, our next comparison platform is Bulger, Everett, and Warner, but we are a long way from that. Those guys all played in big games, and in the playoffs, and that is a completely different story, so…I guess we have to wait until January for that.

Skip Bayless, Cowboys fan, on the Rams.

Loads of players took a knee in the London game, and I expect that will continue all day long.

DJT has just legitimized this form of protest. Ironically, this probably opens up the door for a team to sign Kaepernick now.

Yeah…Al Davis burned bridges behind him in Oakland.

Then went back.

The fans may not like Spanos, but as far as developers and the city is concerned, his money is as likable as anyone else’s. I don’t buy that as a reason. And the fans won’t desert the team because of its owner. There are plenty of historical examples to prove that.

I think the problem is that San Diego just can’t do it without a bigger nugget to offer. Now a SD offer has to somehow make Spanos richer than Los Angeles makes him. It’s the overall value of the franchise that interests him, I’m sure.

I think Collinsworth mentioned it during the broadcast, but they never went back to it.

Nothing stops anyone from suing. The question is, “would they have a winnable case?”

I don’t know, and I’m not an attorney, so I can only guess. And my guess is that to win that lawsuit, they would have to prove that San Diego moved to LA just to prevent the Raiders from doing it, and meant to return to SD all along. And I don’t believe that’s a Thing. There is no provision in the terms of the LA deal that would cover a temporary move to LA, and a change of heart.

Secondly, the Raiders would then face a lawsuit from the Las Vegas entities because THEY have a deal. Then…there is the NFL. The owners voted to approve the move to Las Vegas. I can’t imagine they would be interested in turning around to vote on cancelling that move, and voting for the Raiders to move to LA instead. The Raiders could argue in court that their move to LA was already approved in the event San Diego did not exercise their option, but that’s more litigation, and litigation against a likely hostile league.

I think it’s too late for the Raiders to change course at this point, and if it isn’t yet, it soon will be. I don’t know if they have actually had groundbreaking at the Las Vegas site, but…. I don’t think the Raiders, at this point, would be interested in getting all tied up in that mess.

But – in the end – I don’t think San Diego returns without a stadium deal. So that has to happen. And talks about a stadium deal will leak eventually, and Don Banks doesn’t say those are even going on. Just that the league isn’t happy with San Diego’s reception in LA. Right now, this is just stating the obvious, imo. The league isn’t happy with the Chargers’ occupation of LA AT THIS MOMENT, and San Diego is the preferred city from their point of view. That’s really all that’s being said, and I don’t think that’s any big revelation.

There is no revelation until there are stories about a stadium deal in San Diego getting serious discussion.

I happen to think – on the basis of zero evidence, but just that corner of my brain that tells me that businessmen keep their options open – that there is likely some conversations happening about a stadium possibility. Does the reality of the Chargers playing in LA increase what San Diego is willing to put into a stadium? It might. Would Spanos and the League prefer the Chargers to be in a swanky new stadium in San Diego? I think the answer to that is Yes.

zn wrote:

49-yard pass to Watkins.

My favorite play of the night.

I’ve had a crush on Sammy Watkins since Clemson. I wanted the Rams to draft him.

I cannot believe they got him.