leonbus23

The defensive holding and pass interference penalties are the most disturbing aspect of this research. But as the previous poster notes, we should compare teams, etc. Do you get you data from prof football reference? Any advice on how to do this efficiently? I will put together the Bills data and we can compare.

I know. And even if we do get a player like Sammy in the draft, we will be confronted with the same question of whether to pay him at some point.

That's what makes this trade so confusing. At face value, it was an awful decision. But if any or all of those variables you propose are true, it would be great to know. Without that data, this is a terrible decision because most of those variables would have been answered this season, Risk Free! Ride it out on a guy we know is really good.

We will never know; but we wanted to know. Watkins was too good to not ride it through to the eventual outcome.

Agree. We throw in a 5th and they throw in a 2nd. To the future!

Agreed.

The innernette! Tim and Eric

I'm happy for Sammy. I definitely will miss him (despite the injuries, etc.). But he has a real chance to be a super star in a huge market city. He has more opportunity than AJ Green or Calvin Johnson, for example, because he is no longer stuck in a small market city.

Agreed. Maybe his agent. But yes. I think this may be the case.

Serious.

Probably the Bears since my wife is from Chicago. But they suck, too. Maybe the niners since I live in Cali. But they suck, too. My parents live in Vegas, so the Raiders. But always the Bills first even though they usually suck. Born and raised in Buffalo! My team.

What? A post with VPN instructions stays up? Weird.

I read through a few pages and I noticed that the discussion didn't descend into a series of ad hominem attacks on the OP or a series of snide and sarcastic remarks. This discussion sunk almost immediately. Imagine them writing "who fukn cares if the bills traded, you ashole." Followed by unfunny one liners and arguments. Perhaps the OP is sharing the opinion of fans on forums (like us) discussing our team. This offers some context and perspective. Why not discuss it. I found that their opinion closely mirrors the fans here. Some find it good; some not so good. It was a civilized conversation, though.

Wow! That was the first time I ever read a Pats fan forum. The members were decent and articulate people. I imagine they have a lot of trolls and argumentative members, but not in that discussion.

I think we need to define "Golden Age" is bit more clearly. Golden Age: A period of time when skill, popularity, and authenticity combined to create the best possible incarnation of something. This is off the top of my head. Anyway, a poster made a comparison to Rock music. I suppose the Golden Age of Rock was the late 1960s when the skill of Jimi Hendrix / The Doors / Led Zeppelin / The Who etc. gained mass popularity while remaining an authentic (less corporatized / commodified / electronic / technological) musical form. By the 1980s, that combination was virtually dead in Rock music. Record company control / greed, a decline in innovative or artistic playing along with fragmented fan bases who chose tamer lighter music (Duran Duran, The Smiths, & The Cure or Hair Metal, etc.). Anyway, perhaps the Golden Age of football has ended. Although popularity is as high as ever, skill may have been overtaken by speed, size, and violence. While the authenticity of the players and league seems to have declined to total commercialization and player pampering. Add the head injury factor and the exponential decline in youth participation, we may have witnessed the best the sport has ever offered. Again, to bridge this to rock, I do not think the youth navigate toward rock as much as during the Golden Age. Rap / Hip Hop / Electronic / and hybrid music forms appear to have gained the mass popularity and those who try to follow in the classic rock footsteps sound like copies of copies of copies. I am just speculating on this definition. But perhaps the OP has a point.

Exactly. I love the idea of consequences. Again, I totally agree with you. There should definitely be severe consequences for any citizen who has a dissenting voice. Again, you are so right that the business elite should enforce these consequences to those citizens who protest. It is a total equivocation of free choice and the consequences of protest. In a perfect world, the consequences for a citizen protesting will be total exclusion from the system and then we can only hope that no one will protest anymore. I'm with you T-Bom.

I agree with you T-Bom. I think that any U.S. citizen who voices a dissenting political opinion should be punished by eliminating the opportunity for that citizen to ever work again in their profession. I only hope that all the other professional football leagues prevent him from working. I hope all the football leagues in the world agree. That will prove a point to the people of the world. You speak up! You lose your career! And Sean Penn needs to keep his mouth shut, too!

It seems that there are a few different ways to get into the HOF. They include statistics, achievements and awards, personality, notoriety, longevity, and contribution to the league. It's usually a combination of these. Terrel Davis's career stats are not great, but he is a good representative of the league. Deion Sanders or Michael Irvin were pretty awful people, but gave the league notoriety and had great career stats. Jerry Jones help to elevate the league to a new level of business investment. Charlie Joiner hung around the league long enough to make all those catches, but never really had great individual seasons. So, players get voted in for a host of different reasons.

We are past the point of ignorance on the topic. We can at least suspect that brain damage occurs from football. However, I think the compensation for brain damage is built into the high salaries. The most honest thing for the NFL to do is formally admit the risks. Then it is completely on the player to take the risk. In the long term, I think we will see a more obvious correlation between economic status and people who take this risk.

Possibly. The central point is that the reason they do not have bilingual education is political. Completely political, not pedagogical. In terms of literacy development, all of the most recent research shows that dual language programs allow for a much faster and higher level of English literacy when taught with the second language. See Ofelia Garcia's research on translanguaging, for instance. My wife teaches at Cal State San Marcos in the dual language department and the overwhelming majority of scholars (including those at San Diego State) oppose a strict separation of languages because it actually inhibits the learning of the second language. In fact, that is why Prop 58 passed this year. In Miami, the mention of this research is controversial. See the research of Drs. Eric Dwyer, Ryan Pontier, and Phillip Carter, all of whom are on the Miami Dade County TESOL board.

I think what really helped both both Warner and Davis is that they are good guys. They represent the NFL as positive role models for a sport that has its share of players with negative behavior. Their performance on the field and formal achievements may not have been the greatest compared to others. For instance, Davis had a short career and didn't put up huge career numbers because of it. In Warner's case, his overall numbers are pretty average, as well (67-49 career record, for example). But, again, they're good guys. I think that helps their cause and kind of explains why Owens is not in. With that said, I really do not want to see Ray Lewis or Rodney Harrison inducted because they were suspect people. According to many sources, "Lewis got off with obstruction of justice for testifying against two people for the murders of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar, but not before he was tried for murder and aggravated assault." And Harrison, "developed a reputation as a dirty player while playing safety for the Chargers and Patriots, and that led to multiple fines that totaled more than $200,000. He was suspended for one game in 2002 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Jerry Rice, and again in 2007 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy." Admittedly, my dislike for these two players is skewed by being a die hard Bills fan (especially in Harrison's case), but if the NFL punishes Owens, why not Lewis and Harrison, as well.

Blue is liberal, not far left radical like Kaepernick. Furthermore, population groups who have very little power in Miami can still vote. The vote carries very little correlation to who actually controls the city. But I totally understand your point. I'll offer a quick example of how things work in Miami. The city has a massive Spanish speaking population, but the local government has done everything possible to prevent bilingual education in public schools, and support an English only curriculum. Again, no political statements here, just observations.

The Dolphins will not sign Kaepernick. I lived in Miami for seven years. Two substantial population groups, who carry substantial influence in Miami social, economic, and political life (Cubans & Zionists), absolutely hate far left wing politics. Kaepernick will only be signed by a team in a region where leftists are, at the very least, tolerated. I am not exactly sure where that place is, but it is definitely not Miami. As a side note, I am not making any sort of political statement, personal or otherwise. This is simply an observation based on my experience in Miami.

You inject right wing sarcasm into a football forum.

Probably not. He was injured. He was a high draft pick. He is young, and not much depth at the position. Even if he totally sucks, I think they'll still keep him.