Mark80

I was thinking "man this looks just like Gladiator" and then it says "from the Director of Gladiator"! I'm terrible at remembering who directed what!

What has he done to get their hopes up? It's been all assumption and innuendo on the part of the media really. All he has done is have his rep meet with the Cavs. That's it. I really think if he was staying in Miami he would have stated so already but on the flip side, if he's already made a decision at all, then why hasn't he said so already? Could he actually still be deciding? Is he waiting on a commitment from the Cavs that they have a deal in place for say Love? Is he waiting on a commitment from someone else (Carmelo out of nowhere?) to go somewhere else? It's crazy, anything could go down. I'm still thinking the Cavs though. Cavs forums are reading like the Mario Williams thread right now, it's great!

Understood. Had a bit of an argument with a buddy of mine over this a month or so ago. I said to him, "if you're not going to have hope now, then when are you? We'll have all October, November, December, and January to be negative!" Surprisingly, I think it actually changed his tune a bit (for now at least).

And you just said in the UB turf thread that you aren't a Negative Nancy. I'm really starting to see a pattern here bud.

Chris Sheridan (formerly of the AP and ESPN) reporting on his blog that it's a done deal. LeBron to Cleveland. 4 years ago he predicted LeBron to Heat pretty much before anyone else. This looks legit! Yahoo has picked it up as well. http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2014/07/10/sheridans-top-25-free-agents-july-10-edition-lebron-going-to-cleveland/ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-nba-insiders-hearing-lebron-135700439.html

Exactly!

Negative Nancy. Create a legit football program and that could generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the area. Major college football programs are just as (if not more) valuable than NFL franchises. Alumni (many of who live in NYC) would be thrilled to shed some dough on a legit program. NYC doesn't have a state school (or private school for that matter) that can have such a program. We are the focal point of the SUNY system, time to get some national recognition as the biggest state university in the 3rd most populated state. Time to knock off the 'Cuse as far as New York university athletics are concerned. Or, we could just not do anything and keep crying about NYC this and NYC that. I prefer change.

Best decision they have ever made focusing on the "New York" part of the University's name. Hopefully it becomes as synonymous with New York as Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan State, Kansas State, Florida State, NC State (well you get the picture) are for all of their states. Great move. It would be great to turn this into a legit program in a major conference in the coming decades.

Certainly have ran from some heifers, but never a bull.

I typically love most HBO series, but after two episodes I'm really not quite sure what to think of this one. I've found it pretty boring so far and am debating how many more episodes I'm going to watch before giving up on it. To be fair, I was pretty disappointed with True Detective at first as well and ending up loving it. So anyone else watching? Thoughts? Anyone read the book? Worth sticking around for?

Good call. Should have been a bit more specific though, I was more referring to teens / early 20 types.

“He was a very kind and sweet-spirited young man" "For residents of the neighborhood, it was difficult to reconcile the Sean Keenan they had known – a kindhearted young man who had participated in Boy Scouts fundraisers and played street hockey as a teenager – with the murder allegation and strange mug shot released by police." It seems like every article about a murder (especially a suburban one) has comments like these in it. Obviously he was not a kind, sweet-spirited, or kindhearted person. Why won't someone ever just say to the reporter "the kid just killed his father, obviously he was pretty f'd in the head."

Perhaps, but you have to start somewhere. Everyone who pays attention knows what you described is all true, but I didn't see you offer any potential solution. To me, it starts in the schools and in the home. Unfortunately, the schools are some of, if not the worst in the country. In the home? Well, that may be even worse. Kids with ill equipped parent(s) (probably directly attributable to their own upbringing and schooling) will grow up undisciplined, unmotivated, uneducated, and immoral. They will predictably fall into the patters of the majority of their peers and what they see going on every day right outside their doors. Gang life. Perhaps, just perhaps if you could curtail the violence, reduce the visibility of these gangs on the streets, make some meaningful crackdowns you could start the process of alleviating the core issues causing it. But until then, the cause may just be hopeless. IMO.

That city should seriously consider calling in the National Guard for some assistance.

Game 1: One or Two Drives Game 2: 1st Quarter Game 3: 1st Half Game 4: 1st Half Game 5: Depends, if playing well maybe a drive; if struggling then 1st Half Concerned with injuries? Well, as Ivan Drago would say "If he dies, he dies." No where for this scenario in voting, so I'm between 1 quarter and 1 half per game.

Maybe he saw ARod getting paid an average of $30M per the last 3 years while sleeping through the season and figured he could do it for a bargain price of only $10M.

Excellent performance. If he can dominate like this the rest of the way then I'll be happy with trade. He just makes me nervous with how he's fell off over the second half of seasons throughout his career. Impressive tonight for sure though. Go A's! Not sure why they optioned Milone though, he was throwing quite well this season. Hopefully they can move Hammel before the deadline for something. I really, really doubt his legitimacy for the long run.

Pitching was never the A's problem in the playoffs, it was the offense. Verlander has completely dominated them in 4 games over the last two seasons (although the A's won one of them 1-0). Scherzer dominated another game last season as well. They needed more offense in these games, not better pitching. I'm just glad that Verlander doesn't look nearly as dominate this season as he had in the past.

A's have made the playoffs the last 2 seasons in a row and 7 out of the last 14 seasons.

I think you summed it up already, when you said they are already pitching rich; you don't need to become more pitching rich. A low payroll team like the A's should not be sending off top tier prospects who they will have control over for 6 years after be breaks in (was supposed to be starting SS next season) for a guy you'll have for only 1.5 seasons and another guy who you'll most likely have for only 1/2 a season. They already have Sonny Gray, Kazmir, and Milone who are all solid. Plus a great season going for Chavez and Pomeranz (stupidly injured himself though). Not to mention they'll have Parker back next season who is probably better than all but Gray. Straily could have been used a filler until Pomeranz came back. I just don't see the logic in getting rid Russell for an unproven guy in Hammel and an inconsistent pitcher who struggles in the second half year after year (in the NL none the less). And on top of that Straily who dominated the minors but has run into some control issues that could easily be fixed, and McKinny who is no slouch prospect either. However, I'll readily admit that Billy Beane is much, much smarter than I am, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing! I disagree, 17 home runs last season as a 19 year old in only 110 games and 21 SBs and a plus fielder at a vital position. That is very good, especially for a SS. Top 5 prospects usually pan out. As I said earlier, if they wanted to trade him they should have went after Price. I think that package would have got him (or possibly adding in Olsen or Robertson instead somewhere). Finally, as I've said they've done this before. Trading away Carlos Gonzalez, Andre Eithier, Nelson Cruz (though not a high prospect at the time) and it has never panned out for them. Hopefully this time it does.

A's get Samardzija and Hammel Cubs get Addison Russell, Dan Straily, Billy McKinny As an A's fan I have to say that I hate, hate, hate this deal. Sure it looks good for this season but Samardzija has only a year and a half left on his deal and we all know the A's won't resign him for the money he'll want. Also, he notoriously struggles in the second half of the season which is what he was brought in to do, bring it home in the second half. Hammel is 31 and is having his first good season ever. Am I really to accept that he's suddenly just figured it out at 31? I don't think so. Not against the bats in the AL, and more specifically, the AL West. You simply just don't trade a SS prospect of Russell's caliber for these type of players, you don't, I'm sorry. This is bringing back horrible memories of the Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street for Matt Holliday trade. Holliday stayed for 1/2 a season and Carlos and Huston have been all-star caliber players ever since. I guess the A's are all in this season which I can get on board with, but man, I wish they would have got a better pitcher (David Price perhaps) for such a quality prospect in Russell. On the flip side, the Cubs are absolutely stacked in their system with offensive talent. It will be interesting to see what pieces get moved to add some pitching. Cubs fan's should be pretty excited with what they have brewing over there, even though I know it doesn't look very good right now on the MLB level. Kris Bryant is absolutely destroying the minors.

And to clarify, I'm not one the people who believe that, that was just my impression of them. To play devil's advocate they would probably say that we didn't offer them enough to come here. I can't remember what we offered them (or if it was even made public), but that would be the logic of their argument. I too, think it's unfounded and untrue.

I have one but rarely if ever use it. However, if I was in sales or looking for a job I'd be all over it.

Not that I disagree with any aspect of your post, I just wanted to say that I think the "bean counter" people are talking more about what we are willing to pay for top end Personnel and Coaching staff than the roster. Or maybe I'm wrong, but that was always my impression (at least the ones that know what they are talking about).

Even though I'm a mid 30s educated and employed person, my grandmother and aunts / uncles still are determined to give me birthday and Christmas presents even though I repeatedly asked them not to since my mid 20s. A few years back I came up with a solution. I asked them all to instead donate to the V Foundation what they would have been giving me as gifts. It's not a ton of money, but at least it's something. ESPN always pushes this fund and I like it because the Foundation has a big enough endowment to pay for all of their expenses and every dollar donated at this point goes directly to funding research efforts. There is no reason why we cannot cure many, if not all types of cancers in the next few decades. I implore each of you to take the time to donate any amount you feel comfortable with if you can afford it. Every little bit helps. Also, if any one knows of a better foundation for said same purpose please let me know.