Yeah, the arrow is up everywhere except the secondary, and I’m not sure about the LBs. I expect that if the Rams have a leak anywhere in the early going, it’s going to be back there. So far, Sensabaugh has been about as impressive as Finnegan in his second year. And while we know Gaines was good enough before his injury, he hasn’t shown it since coming back. And Agamemnon is probably the only person who knows who is starting at the 3rd LB and at FS. I don’t even know what’s happening there.

But everything else looks pretty good, and the injury bug has been quiet so far. So let’s go. No more 7-9 bullshit.

I think the Rams win, and I don’t think it will be close, but I don’t think it will be a dominating blowout, either. I just think the Rams will win solidly. With some mistakes, with some stuff that would cost them against a better team. But the 9ers OL is shaky, and the Rams DL is very good. The Rams’ secondary is unproven, but Gabbert is below average, and so are the WRs. And we do know Johnson and McDonald are good, and Joyner isn’t bad. I could go on, but the point is that the Rams are superior. Not dominant. But superior to the 9ers.

Just read that Shaun Hill has a higher career completion %, higher ypa, higher qb rating, and a better TD/INT ratio than Bradford.

zn wrote:

PA Ram wrote:

So WHO is the back-up center?

Rhaney.

Right, so why didn’t anybody say that? I was wondering where Rhaney was the entire 5 episodes. They put all the attention on the 3rd-string guy right from the beginning. I don’t understand why we got so much Austin Hill, either. I was wanting to stab myself in the eyes at the end of the final episode.

They picked guys to follow who were unlikely to make the team from the very beginning, and added a few guys – McRoberts, Joyner, the guy with the girl in his room, Hayes – when they made some kind of story splash. I would have preferred that they had followed Robinson, Quick, and Ogletree for their stories, Donald and Gurley for their potential star power. We got nothing on Brockers, Johnson, Cunningham, the TEs. I understand they can’t cover everybody, but why the hell did we spend 5 episodes on a bunch of guys who aren’t Rams any longer? Kush was a Peronality, but the other guys were drips.

And Seau must have no measurable personality at all, since we got his whole extended family frequently, but nothing of him except highlights from games.

I do appreciate Fisher a bit more. I admire that he handled every single cut personally, and all of his interactions seemed to be from a place of wise, experienced, and compassionate authority. He came across as trustworthy and respectable; firm, but fair.

Goff – still comes across as a kid. At least he doesn’t come across as an Entitled, Spoiled Kid, like Manziel. He seems solid. But there was also something kind of empty about him. Everything he said was what he was supposed to say. It’s like he worked harder on studying how to script saying all the right things than he did on hanging onto the football. He did not come across as “bright.” No interesting jokes or insights, or anything like that. Which isn’t a bad thing. I’m just saying. I mean…his idol, Joe Montana had no discernible personality, either.

I dunno. Not a fan of Hard Knocks, and as the Rams’ have used up their 15 minutes of fame on the series, I will never have to watch another episode of the show. I had to watch it. It was the Rams. But I am glad it was only 5 episodes and not the entire season.

Yes. Without any nail-biting.

zn wrote:

Zooey wrote:

Any tips? The best thing I’ve found there is to load up the kindling and use a gas torch to get the flames burning as quickly as possible.

One of my stoves is easy to light. Zoom–it just lights. The other is trickier. If I am not careful it will back smoke into the room. On that one, if I can, I burn candles in the stove for a while before trying to light er up. I always start slow with that one…doing bits of kindling first and then building up from there.

I have maple, ash, walnut, and oak.

I love oak. It burns slow and hot and burns down to nothing.

Cats, I find, burn too fast and don’t give off much heat. I prefer otters.

Candles, huh?

I got about 20′ of exterior stovepipe. I think I could put ten candles in there for an hour and it wouldn’t make any difference. I wonder about some kind of portable heater, though. Somebody must make a small propane heater for camping that would produce a bit of heat quickly.

I prefer oak, too, and imagine that’s what I will buy when I actually start buying wood. For now, I’m just burning the clean-up from my yard and my rental property. And the pine I got from the side of the road. The highway department, or somebody, dumps trees just off the freeway, and sometimes they cut them into rounds. Multiple sources tell me it’s all free for the gathering, and it was sitting there all summer, so I picked up a couple of trailer loads when my neighbor asked if I wanted to share a splitter. (I already needed one because of all the oak and elm on my properties). So I got nearly 2 cords of free pine. Apparently pine is not much in demand around here. Pine trees are practically weeds in this part of the country. The only firewood I see for sale is oak.

Dak wrote:

I’ve some trees cut from my property and my neighbor’s that I need to split. I will wait until year to do so. I’ll have to rent a splitter. So, how much is a cord. I know nothing about this stuff.

4x4x8.

Yeah, California is milder. And often nobody is home until the afternoon, so we tend to burn only from late afternoon until bedtime, then forget it. It is cold in the morning, but everybody is out of the house within 1/2 hour of getting up, and it isn’t bitter cold, so we just don’t bother. If it’s bad in the morning, we bump on the central heat because it spreads the heat faster than starting up a wood fire.

We trimmed up our American Elms this summer, and got about 1/3 cord out of it. I’ve never burned Elm before, but supposedly it’s okay. I will have to wait until next year to find out. I still have a lot of manzanita, about half a cord of cedar (which is also new to me this year), and a lot of oak and pine that has to wait until next year.

I agree that wood heat is better than gas or electric. Cozier. I do still get a lot a mornings when the smoke comes blasting into the room instead of going up the flue. Any tips? The best thing I’ve found there is to load up the kindling and use a gas torch to get the flames burning as quickly as possible.

wv wrote:

Winnbrad wrote:

Not worried at all.

12 months from now, if Goff still looks this bad, then yes I’m worried.

———-

I gotta feeling 12 months from now, the Rams will have a
No.1 WR for him to throw to, which should help.

One would think thats the no.1 need at this point,
anyway.

w
v

The Rams do not have a first round pick next year, so I don’t see how they are going to get a #1 WR.

wv wrote:

————-
Well but what if he is being interviewed for a Job as a cop. Can the fact he ‘believes’ in Nazi-like ideas, be a deal-breaker?

w
v

I would think so. But there’s nothing you can do about it if he gets the tattoo after he is hired. Except watch him carefully.

And I think that’s the consequence he has to pay. He is going to be scrutinized, the same as Kaepernick has to pay a price. Step out of the mainstream…it will cost you.

I thought Bradford had a one-year deal, and was a FA after this season. This is interesting.

And it seems like giving up a #1 for a one-year rental who will take a few weeks to get going is a high price. The Vikings must really believe they are close to make that move.

I gotta think the Vikes are not taking Bridgewater’s return next year for granted. And they probably shouldn’t.

Well, I hate their WRs. But I believe their OL is solidifying into a very good OL, and Gurley is possibly the best in the league, and his backups are as impressive a corps as I remember seeing. And the TEs look promising. So I’m going to say the Rams are going to move up to the middle of the pack in offensive competency this year.

Their defense starts off the season less cohesive than last year’s, but I think it will improve as it gels with the exception of CB which I see as a problem suddenly. I think Jenkins and McLeod were big losses. I think McLeod’s position may be easier to fill with what they have on the roster, but Sensabaugh is my least favorite Ram right now, and I am not confident about that.

I’m going with 9-7. 10-6 if they avoid their typical rash of IRs.