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ahhh yes the grammar police. I've fixed it for you... now anything to add to the discussion?

alright I know it's not as much as the last bid but I can't believe no one has put one in yet. I'm poor right now as I'm getting married in August so I apologize if some are offended but I will start the bidding at $100. *I'll add the caveat that if this is to low send me a pm and I will remove it. Not trying to offend anyone especially for such a great cause. (I'm just poor)

The thread that won't die got me to thinking has any coach ever been considered "great" without having a great qb? Belicheck was horrible in Cleveland then a genius with NE* (and Brady). Shula was an excellent coach but had Griese and Marino. George Seifert was amazing in sf (to the tune of highest winning percentage in history) and not so much in Carolina. Even our own Marv was not thought of to be good until Kelly came along. My point and question is this can you name an NFL coach who transcended the qb position and rose above mediocrity form that position to be considered great? I can't think of one but I am sure there are a select few.

I thought it was a pretty clean game from all aspects. I was happy to see fouls called without the ref feeling like he needed to card everything. I couldn't believe Italy took the lead as Germany had been dominating up until that point. Then when the second goal went in I knew it was a wrap as Germany had a hard time taking advantage of any of there numerous opportunities. Feeling pretty good about Italy right now. They should have beaten Spain in the qualifier on top of the pressure Spain has to pull off the 3 championships feat. Can't Wait!!

Joe I agree with you about not playing for the home team. In many ways it adds much more of a burden to the athlete as the hometown pressure, your "boys", extended "family", etc.. There was a short on ESPN about dwill possibly going back to dallas and joining the mavs. Some ex-athletes were warning that it wouldn't be a good idea because the outside pressure can be to much. Cleveland is not a desireable city for a pro athlete (especially an nba player), and it was difficult to lure anyone there. If the cavs had pulled the trade for amare at midseason instead of holding onto jj hixon(!!) I think LeBron may have re-signed. He saw the writing on the wall and it was that he couldn't do it alone and he needed more players around him, which wasn't happening in Cleveland. NoSaint I agree with your premise but his options were limited in that capacity. Signing with Lakers would get a response from America like crayonz gave (and I know it was tongue in cheek but others wouldn't have been). Also the alpha male Kobe I don't think would have allowed it (added to the fact they had no cap room to make it happen). The only other legendary team in the NBA is the Celtics and they too didn't have the cap room. Add to that the fact that they had(are) his nemesis and it would have been tough for him to join up. The only team I think people wouldn't have had the blowback for is the Bulls. LeBron grew up a Jordan fan and all of the Jordan fans that had stopped watching the NBA when he retired would have been brought back. That could have been the growing up in the driveway scenario you were talking about imo. As for signing with the Heat I don't think it was a bad move. He gets to write their history books. They had 1 championship and it wasn't exactly a glory years type run. They got shaq, he had one good year, left, they won, and returned to mediocrity. This team can put together a dynasty type atmosphere where every year they will be the favorites. That said... the reason I originally came here was to talk about the draft last night. Sucks to see a couple of cuse players go to the celtics but then again I don't expect much from them. Fab is an excellent defender (when he can camp in the paint and play zone - not sure how that translates) and Joseph hasn't been the same player since that nasty spill he took 2 years ago. Waiters on the other hand is as exciting on the floor as any college player i've seen (in this years draft) and Cleveland has built themselves a nice little nucleus. I'm not big on Zeller but in the last 2 years they have gotten themselves 4 young starters. Like the lakers pick up of Johnson-Odom too. Was hoping for a Pau trade but there is still time for that - they just won't end up with kidd-gilchrist like I wanted (pipe dream I know).

No reaction to yesterday?! No go blue for today?!

So completely staged...

Bump so new era can see this

I wanted to bet this and had my uncle who lives in vegas look for these odds and he couldn't find them. IIRC you live in vegas what casino did you place this bet at? Any poster know of any casinos taking these bets? I want to lay 100 on it but cant find a spot to take it. Any help will be appreciated.

You really think this is the first team players have done this? This has gone on long before lebron and will continue long after. Your Miami and lebron hate is clear but it's clouding your arguments. Do you really say they finally won a championship?! In year 2?!?! That's finally to you?!?! Let alone the fact they made the finals last year. It's cool you hate lebron... Hate and fandom are what drives sports but I ask you to just look at him now, last year humbled him mightily. So yes he might've been a douche for the decision but he learned from his mistake. Is it really fair to bash someone 2 years later? At what time can you move on from that? He's never been in trouble with the cops, he's not an absentee dad with tons of baby mamas, and he's not a dirty player. I'm a lakers fan as I've stated before and all bc of magic Johnson. His passing and joy were what drew me to them. Lebron does a lot of the same things but I still didn't like him. Thought he wasn't clutch, thought he was a douche for the decision, hated the idea of him joining up for the big3. All of it. This years playoffs though changed everything. He was amazing from game 6 against the clerics on and carried them after they were losing against the pacers. That wasn't the change though. His quotes were; " you've got to want it as bad as your next breath" showed a level of care I hadnt seen from him. "I joined up with these guys because I realized I had to to beat the celtics" showed a humbleness not only in reflection but in making the choice to begin with. Add it all to the fact that he was a humble and gracious winner I've done a 180 on the guy.

When children are put up for adoption who gets all of the fees? The reason in asking is because I got to thinking maybe she was just trying to cut out the realtor. You know for sale by owner instead of adoption agency. This post is madely firmly tongue in cheek but I think it is an interesting discussion none the less. Any legal experts willing to weigh in and explain the differences? I would imagine agencies do back ground checks on potential adopters but what is to stop a mother from doing the same thing with the same steps taken? Is it an accreditation issue? Is there any way a mother could do this legally? Fwiw I don't agree with this mothers actions but just got to thinking about these questions.

Stop it lebron did kill them 1 on 1. He got a triple double in the last game. He carried the heat while bosh was out an while wade struggled throughout. Nobody threw this series. I get it you don't like lebron but this playoffs he dominated throughout. He proved this year he could win the big one. Game 6 in the Boston series was an amazing performance... And please don't get confused I'm a lakers fan.

Except Derrick rose isn't going to be healthy because he tore his acl in the playoffs. Lebron came into his own this year lockout or not.

I loved this and am glad others saw it. Everything I hate about sports journalism was highlighted by Cuban. These reporters aren't watching games they watch highlights and look at box scores. Cuban absolutely owned them and did it one at a time. Absolutely awesome television. As for skip you could see it was hard for him to swallow his pride. It'll be interesting to see what he has to say a bout lebron next season. The heat are def in a position to repeat.

tgregg is prob the best example of this for me. He used to have the guy with the weird face and I always wondered if it was really him. It was impossible for me to take any of his points serious either

the Chicago blues is by far my favorite! I don't want this thread to die without a mention of Luther Allison. I'm on my phone so I won't embed but YouTube bad love and see if it's your style. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWwSvqo1TIw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I think you need to read the entire article before posting it to help your argument. At the bottom it states that it is purely satire. Not saying your point is wrong (even though I remember any issues it doesn't mean there weren't any) but this is not pod proof of your point.

:lol: I'm finding that out

I know I know but I let the Rush lovefest go on for too long Much like the poster above I also feel to each their own. I have a rather eclectic musical taste and don't need to convince others that my music is "right" or better than others, and am glad you agree. I was nervous posting what I did because I know many are insanely defensive of their favorites. I hadn't heard any Rush since the 80s as I think it scarred me Much better singing imo! I always respected them musically as I find them very talented. I often get tricked into listening to Tom Sawyer during a solo if I turn it on then remember how much I despise Geddy's singing. On a side note I'm loving off the wall during the offseason. Good topics and people seem to be more fun/rational here. I'll still avoid the PPP as I don't think they are ready for liberal/socialist agenda

Okay I swear this isn't a troll post.... I can't stand rush. Musically they are amazing - yyz is a great tune. Geddy lee however is nails on a chalkboard to me. I can't stand the high pitch singing and often used to confuse them with heart. I understand there is an extremely loyal fan base and they get rated high by many on the all time great list but not for me. I can't be the only one but I will be the one to break up this rush lovefest. (great place for the devil emoticon but they aren't available on my phone)

sure but how many stars don't get that call when Durant was clearly fouled by LeBron at the end? The Heat definitely out played the Thunder for a majority of the game and deserved to win don't get me wrong but I was shocked they didn't give Durant the star treatment there (esp since he actually WAS fouled). On a non conspiracy note LeBron got away with one of the worst travels I have ever seen in the NBA in the first quarter taking by my count 4 full steps before passing the ball!

wow that was an instant classic! You know why you work for tips? Cause no one will give you the whole thing! I almost got busted at work watching this because I was laughing so hard! :worthy: :worthy:

Not trying to be rude but I'm not following your response. The first one says that it would take many people and would be impossible to pull off, then you turn around and say a small group of people could pull it off without it being a league wide conspiracy. Oh nevermind I think I just figured it out . So I guess my question becomes does it matter who is doing it if it is happening? If it isn't the league themselves but say the mafia or some other group? I think it would be worse if it was a league conspiracy but either option sucks. wow that is a statistical anomaly for sure. Another interesting read thanks for posting the link . I always wondered how refs were unbiased in their position. It would seem to me someone would get involved with reffing/umpiring because they had a love for the game but couldn't play it. A love of the game would lead me to believe that at some point in time they had a favorite team which would be hard to be unbiased towards. Imagine if any one of us became an NFL referee, wouldn't it be difficult to impossible to not favor the Bills if you worked the game? I met a girl in high school who's father was a major league umpire. On her birthday he got Jeter to meet with her and give her some autographs, pics, etc. Shortly thereafter he was involved in a controversial call which benefited the Yankees. The umps name was Ken Kaiser and when I heard his name on sportscenter all I could think about was his daughter telling me about how awesome Jeter was and how happy her dad was that he had made time for her. Here is the link for the game: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-07-05/sports/1998186116_1_orioles-umpires-yankees

No not every ref/umpire would need to be in it just a select few. A select few that are loyal to the brand and maybe even receiving extra payment. One ump or ref in a crew could very easily make the difference needed to swing a game. As for writing a book, they would be admitting to cheating as well as breaking the law. So not only would they be disgraced but they would end up in jail. Then the league would say there were rogue and the league had no knowledge of this happening (see Tim Donaghey sp?). I encourage you to read the original article that I linked. It is well written without being accusatory or too far out there and also just a plain old good read. I want to be clear though that I don't believe all games and leagues are fixed just that if they were this is how I would/could see it happening, and it wouldn't apply to all games just one's that mattered if it were indeed happening. I don't think the NFL cares about a Bills-Browns game but I could see them caring about a Pats-Bills game if playoff births were involved (ahem*just give it to them*ahem).