Miyagi-Do Karate

In my view, we dodged a bullet when Bojo was unreasonable on money. As we all know, he started off here really poorly-- with mistakes that went well beyond punting (bad holds, dropping snaps, kicks blocked). I think he seemed to turn it around a little last year-- but I am not sure anyone was super confident with him on the field. He has a big leg, but would outkick coverage; he was still prone to shank; and other than one absolutely gorgeous coffin corner kick, he wasn't great at pinning teams inside the 10. I also think his success last year was skewed a little given his sample size also shrunk. In the end, I think he was an okay option-- but I am much more excited about the new guy, who seems like a guy with much more skill and finesse in pinning teams deep (which, in my view, is more valuable that booming your occasional 65-yard punts).

I really like my Weber gas grill. But we have a small cottage and I am thinking of mixing things up and getting a Kamado grill for that place. I am curious if anyone has thoughts on these grills. I was reading consumer reports, and they rank the Vision Kamado s-series as their favorite. That seems like a good value too— not in the price range of a green egg or Kamado Joe. I also saw that you can buy cheaper non-ceramic ones, but not sure what the deal is with those. any thoughts would be appreciated!

thats a great idea. My kids go nuts When they file coins on the ground.

That was my first thought— something in the FO.

i would love to see Antonio Williams be a legit option for us. Given that he is undrafted though, he is really going to have to shine. Hopefully he is working on all aspects of his game— ST, receiving, blocking. It would be great if he could displace a guy like Taiwan, who only brings ST to the table.

small world! Thanks for the update! I grew up off Ayrault and it has been 20 years since I have been back there. I was thinking of making an upstate NY trip this summer to check out the area and show my kids where I grew up. Maybe we will give J&L another chance now that 38 years have passed since I tripped— haha.

have a story about this place. Used to go here as a kid. One day my mom came in with me to pick up the pizza and I tripped on my way in (back in the day, there was a huge step on the way in). And I fell down and hurt my leg and was crying. I think I was 5 years old. And the employees there (according to my mom) were all rude and put out by it. I faintly remember it. So she was basically done with them. We never went back. She would mention that every time we went by there. That must have been in like 1983! we used to instead go to a place up the road on route 31 called Perinton Pizza mostly. It was just okay. I am guessing it is no longer there. Been over 20 years since i moved out of the area.

this is like my wife. She buys the same cheap stuff as you and re-uses it. 😄 I made a decision a while ago that if I have tea, I am going to buy the good stuff I like (tazo, republic, or even occasionally mighty leaf), and use the bag once. It may cost me an extra $20 per year— but well worth it!

i hear you re shoes. I used to be so cheap re shoes. I remember in college I had a pair of Adidas soccer-type shoes I would wear. They got a big hole or crack in the sole and water would leak in. So every morning, I would put a wad of napkins in the bottom of my shoe. At lunch, with the rain or snow soaking through that, I would replace it with a new wad. Then would do it again at dinner. all of this to avoid buying a new pair of $20 shoes! Since then, I have changed my ways and get better quality shoes and replace them when needed! 😃

Amazing when you list them out like that. And that's not even including Alex Van Pelt! 😃

I agree that the Bills needed to be high on that list for that reason, among others. If you are looking at last year, it would be tough to get better production out of your top 4 (really 5, if you count McKenzie).

I have been thinking of doing a Chicago trip with my wife or the family. It’s a city you sort of forget about, but seems like a solid summer or fall trip. I have only been when I was in high school and then a handful of times for 2-day type work trips. Would like to spend some time there checking it out.

I assumed they were looking at WR corps from last year based on the debate. Hardman had like 40 catches and 560 yards last year— that is pretty solid in that offense with all the other options.

I am actually surprised that the chiefs didn’t get more love. If you are talking about last year’s team, Hill, Hardiman, and Watkins would seem to be a good combo (not sure you can include Kelce, who would obviously put them way over the top).

i was terrified when I got my JA jersey near the end of the year. But I just had to get one and wear it. I believe I got it before the last Miami game— so I had that win and two playoff wins under my belt. I believe that counteracts the KC loss.

i agree. I got super annoyed with it. They really ham up all the new age and crystal And vortex stuff. I had no idea it was like that before we went there, so it was surprising. But the scenery and hiking were great. It’s one of those places I can see going back to every 5-10 years or so— but probably not more often than that.

These early rankings every year are silly. They just pick the prior year’s successful teams and mostly pencil them into the top 5. For example, it wouldn’t surprise me that the Bills actually get a lot better this year (josh only sort of figured it out last year), and a team like the Bucs (with a lot of aging players and coming off a super bowl) takes a big dive. It also wouldn’t surprise me that a rising team like the chargers takes the next step and enters that top-5.

I defer to Draconator on any good bars. My wife and I usually don't hit the bars-- but I will say that we are mostly night owls with later schedules, and we would go to dinner sometimes later when we were out in Sedona--like 9:30 PM-- and places were closing down. So, to your point, it does seem to shut down early there. Don't get me wrong-- it is a great town and worth visiting. But I think the stuff to do is more nature-oriented and then the weird new agey stuff too. Let us know how it goes.

The biggest obstacle for undrafted players is the biases and stubbornness of NFL coaching staffs and front offices. There have been so many obviously great undrafted players and they have shined in camp, preseason, and even limited regular season snaps— but oftentimes they still never get a chance or they get their chance much later. I chalk it up to the biases in favor of playing higher draft picks. For example, there is no reason why Cameron Wake had to bounce around the CFL for 5 years before getting his chance with Miami. Kurt Warner probably would never have seen the field had Trent Green not ripped up his knee late in the preseason. Fred Jackson looked great for us as early as 2006, but really didn’t get meaningful carries until 2009. if more teams trusted their eyes, we would see more UDFA’s play and more high draft picks being benched or cut.

i will sometimes stir up an egg in mine. Drop it in there and stir it up near the end. Sort of gives it an egg drop soup vibe.

yeah, the views were great there. that said, the views are great everywhere! At the place we stayed at, after a long day of hiking, we soaked in the hot tub which overlooked a bunch of awesome peaks. Great way to end the day!

we actually ate there and it was the only good place we ate at. It was good, but a little over-priced for the quality of the food. Every other place was super mediocre (despite mostly positive Yelp and google reviews).

we did Sedona about two years ago right around this time It’s great. Blue skies every day. 80 degrees. I was really into hiking at the time, and so we spent the week hiking about 7-8 different trails (total of about 50 miles). Just really beautiful and interesting hiking and scenery— some hikes are mountain hikes, some are red rocks, and some are through valleys. we spent 5 days there and it was a perfect amount of time. We did a day trip to Grand Canyon too through Flagstaff. If I had to do it again, I would have spent a few days in flagstaff— super cool town and totally unexpected to see out in the dessert. forests, snow capped mountains, etc. Edit: my only gripe about Sedona was the food scene out there was very average to below average. A lot of tourist traps too. Wouldn’t trust Yelp reviews either since the yelpers are all tourists.

I suspect the free agent market here is going to be pretty full of meh RB’s here pretty soon. I think Sony Michel will be released too pretty soon.

This is maybe total wishful thinking, but I am going to predict that Epenesa is going to have at least 10 sacks and will be tough to keep off the field this year. He will be our best pass rusher. With that, I can see Hughes, Oliver, Rousseau, and Epenesa as the four on the field on 3rd down obvious passing situations.