Cynical

The greatest Canadian Football player in the history of the CFL (initials being DF) played in the NFL. And all he did was supposedly was "win". How did that NFL career work out?

Finally. Somebody that can give a Texas perspective. Didn't realize the Big 12 TV deal was that bad. The talk is beginning to make sense now. IIRC, the Big 10 splits money evenly among the schools. If so, Texas would not get more money than Perdue. However, even getting Perdue money would be an increase for Texas. As for recruiting the Big 10 area, I will assume you meant they would have a bigger presence than they do now. I would find it hard to believe given the visibility of the Texas program, UT is not recruiting the entire country like the other big schools. I wonder if the Texas gov't would attempt to force a package deal. You want UT, aTm comes along for the ride. Rumors of Colorado leaving the Big 12? Wow. Any rumors to where they would go? Any thoughts where the other schools would go to? Assuming Mizzou was asked to join the Big 10, Colorado bolts (WAC, Mountain West, PAC 10?), thus forcing Texas to jump ship: Would the Big 10 take both Texas AND Mizzou? (Thus creating a 13 team conference) Would the Big 10 consider revoking the Mizzou invite and take Texas instead? (The PR would fall out would be nasty) I would assume the PAC 10 takes Texas as long as another school came with them. (or already joined) Then again, Texas could "come to it's senses" and ask to join the SEC. The SEC would then have to find a school for the East division. Among Bama fans, there is definite interest in WVA, USF, and Louisville.

They can rumor it until they are blue in the face. IMHO, it will not happen. The blog you linked (and the article the blog references) talks about how snagging Texas would be great for the Big Tenleven. At no point does the article state how Texas would benefit from such a move. The last time the Big Tenleven tried expanding, everybody was certain how Notre Dame would be great for the Big 10+1. Problem was, everybody forgot to consider how ND would benefit. As we found out, ND had no problem telling the Big 10+1 "NO". There are about 4 paragraphs in Kansas Lawrence-Journal World I find interesting: (my comments are in italics) "Getting TV sets in the massive state of Texas tuned to the Big Ten Network would qualify as a home run for the Big Ten." (Again, expansion talk in terms of how it benefits the Big 10. How does it benefit Texas?) Texas already receives the most TV money in the Big 12 because of its frequent national network appearances, but the source said Texas still thinks it can get a better deal for itself and is considering forming its own state-wide TV network. (These 2 items cannot be ignored, and to some extent, are in direct contradiction of why Texas should join the Big 10. Do you honestly think the Big 10 will allow Texas to keep all that money to themselves?) Geographic concerns don’t carry the weight they once did because TV revenues have grown so much, and this wouldn’t be the first time Texas has considered such an odd geographic match. Before joining the Big Eight with three other schools from Texas, the Longhorns looked into joining the Pac-10." (And the author fails to point out the reason Texas was looking to join the PAC-10 had more to do with the failure of the old Southwest Conference, than Texas looking to jump ship) And: “No one seems to recognize the genius of this suggestion, which may be evidence of its genius,” DeCourcy wrote. “Everyone else seems to be thinking small and boring, but as I suggested not long after the Big Ten Network was conceived, Texas is the one program that could dramatically expand the money-making power of the league's cable operation.” (Once again, expansion in terms of how well it benefits the Big 10.) Link to LJ World article

Maybe because their products were garbage? I used to work at a multi-line dealership group, and one of the makes the group used to carry was Renault. I talked to numerous techs, and hands down the Renaults were the biggest POS they had the "pleasure to work on.

Sorry, I meant to say there was no ODI (NHTSA) action number. Without an action number, there was no investigation by the feds. (Just to clarify, all recalls, voluntary or not, are monitored by the NHTSA-ODI, and will show up in their database.) Just off the top of my head, the 2010 Ford F650/750, the 2010 Jaguar, and the 2010 Land Rover have no action numbers (that I could find). With no investigation, how do the feds force the recall? In comparison, the 2010 Toyota Prius, in regards to it's braking problem, does HAVE an action number (PE10-006), meaning an NHTSA-ODI preliminary evaluation investigation was opened (on 2/3/2010). Linky Note, it is a preliminary evaluation investigation meaning the feds received enough complaints to take a look at the problem. Interesting, Toyota issued a voluntary recall of the Prius on 2/9/2010. Visit My Website And no, I do not believe the feds "forced" Toyota into a recall.

Are you sure those are all federally forced recalls? Just for giggles, I checked out a couple of them. Like most recalls, the ones I checked were voluntary. In fact, there was no ODI regarding the defects. With no active investigation ever taking place, how does the feds or NHTSA "force" the companies to comply?

Nice choice. Pair 'em up with the Hip ...

Creed and Limp Bizkit. Maybe we will finally see that boxing match.

Besides the tubing, need to include some of this: Crashed Ice / Ice Cross

Brohm was drafted in April 2008, and participated in the Packers 2008 and 2009 training camps and preseasons. In both instances, Brohm ended up on the practice squad after being released by the Packers.

In order to be on the practice squad, the player has to be released from the team. Any player on any practice squad is considered a free agent, and can be claimed by any team.

And that's the thing people love to gloss over. Brohm was waived ... twice. Yeah, maybe Brohm had no shot in GB with AR already starting, but it does say a lot when the "highly touted" second rounder cannot beat the lowly seventh rounder drafted the same year for the back up spot. For all the people who like to cling to Brohm being "highly touted" 2-3 years ago, might I remind them that JaMarcus Russell can probably be had cheap.

While the K-Gun is a spread formation, it also should noted it was not the only offensive formation the Bills ran. The K-Gun revolved around the tight end, and was so named after the Bills Tight End, Keith McKeller. Like most "spread offenses" in the NFL today, none are run as the base offense, but are incorporated as part of the teams overall offensive package. Even the Senator's examples show the spread offense only being used as one tool in a teams offensive arsenal. This no different than how the Wildcat was going to "revolutionize" the NFL. After 2 years, most teams have figured out how to add it to their offensive package, but no team in their right mind is going to run it as their base offense. If people want to know what a full time base spread offense looks like, and how well it would operate in the NFL, then they need to look no further than the "Run 'N Shoot" (a/k/a the "Chuck 'N Duck", thank you Buddy!) The Run 'N Shoot was the last spread offense in the NFL designed to be run as the entire offensive package. IMHO, not without competition. Handing the starting QB position to a third string practice squad player is a disaster waiting to happen.

MaxPrep Top 25

MaxPreps 1. Florida 2. Texas 3. USC 4. Oklahoma 5. LSU 6. Penn State 7. Notre Dame 8. UCLA 9. Alabama 10. Michigan Others 18. UGA

ESPN 1. Florida 2. Texas 3. Alabama 4. Awbarn 5. Oklahoma 6. Florida State 7. USC 8. LSU 9. Tennessee 10. UCLA Others: 11. Penn State 12. UGA

Scout 1. Florida 2. Oklahoma 3. Texas 4. Alabama 5. USC 6. Awbarn 7. LSU 8. UCLA 9. Penn State 10. Florida State Others 21. UGA

Rivals 1. USC 2. Florida 3. Texas 4. Awbarn 5. Alabama 6. LSU 7. Oklahoma 8. UCLA 9. Tennessee 10. Florida State Others: 12 Penn State 16 UGA

Since NSD is now over, some people are probably interested in how their teams/school did according to the rankings. I went and retrieved the top 10 from 4 ranking services (Scout, Rivals, ESPN, MaxPreps). If anybody knows any other lists or services, feel free to add them to this thread. Based on the 4 rankings, looks like Florida has the #1 recruiting class. From an SEC standpoint: Awbarn landed a pretty good class this year, and may have been helped by the situation and "going ons" at UGA. Georgia still has no DC (Kirby Smart from Bama has declined the position until this point), and Richt's position as HC could become unstable if his team has another lack luster year. Richt built a pretty strong and competitive program, but in the last couple of years, his teams have drastically under achieved. Yes, the Bulldawgs went 8-5 last year (with a bowl win), but the Dawgs went 4-4 in the conference, and 2-3 in the East division. They got whipped by Tenn and lost to Kentucky. That will not earn you lots of love in Athens. LSU landed another top 10 class (and the early 2011 class is also looking good), thus proving Miles sure knows how to recruit, but still leaves people questioning his ability to coach. Les has made some made major coaching gaffes, and it has cost his team. While I do not think he is in trouble this year, another year of questionable decision making leading to losses could have the higher ups in Baton Rouge deciding what the limit is on stupidity.

You're right. But this recall is the 6th largest in the history of the US. Toyota can spin all they want that the suspension of sales was voluntary (It wasn't), but the suspension of production indicates a much more serious problem than Toyota is willing to admit. You don't stop producing 8 car lines because of "faulty" floor mats.

Afternoon.

Wow. In terms of ignorance, this post ranks right up there. Just because somebody took "a few hours of classes" doesn't mean they automatically are filing business returns, or anything remotely complex. To do that, experience, more class time, and testing is required. Do you have any clue who works at the local H & R Block office? You would be surprised at who you might find there. You might find a retired IRS agent, possibly one or more enrolled agents, tax accountants, and yes, even CPA's. And regarding those few hours to learn about taxes, H & R Block had to institute a clause in it's basic training contracts. Turns out independent tax return companies and "tax pro" CPA's were sending people to the H & R Block classes for training. If you feel confident in your abilities, go for it. Just be aware like any computer program: garbage in = garbage out. More ignorance. Most people I know in the tax return business wish those tax return loans would go away. The stupid things are a PITA, and cause more headaches than they solve. Unfortunately, a lot of clients WANT those loans, and will seek out those companies that do it. H & R Block itself does not do the loans. HSBC handles the refund anticipation loans for the Block. And I'm guessing you believe when you go to a CPA to have your tax return done, you actually believe the CPA does your return.

Actually, they already tried that. Then they tried blaming the floor mats. Take out the floor mats, problem still happens.

IIRC, I thought NBC got busted with the GM gas tank brooha.

Possibly. And it should be noted most recalls are NOT ordered by the NTSB. As for Toyota taking action, they have no choice. They have been trying to bury this problem for a while, and it keeps popping up to bite them in the ass.