UConn James

For the same reason why this is also called the 'Land of Steady Habits.' Connecticut Nicknames

That's an 'Oooo... I didn't think of that' on the Jin-Charlotte Korean thing. Then again, in her intro-short the girl at the dig site exclaimed that Charlotte was reading the news of the 815 recovery in every language she could find. As for the planes, that's not what Lapidus said when he called the 815 hotline. He said that he was supposed to have flown that plane, and that he knew the pilot "and that's not him" b/c there was no wedding ring. Also, the recovery video showed the Oceanic logos on the plane. But, yeah, add this in to why I think Lapidus is on the island.

As I've written before, Ralph is not going to make wholesale changes with this franchise. No talk of a new stadium, no naming rights deal, not even a full-time uniform change to the throwbacks which they already have (it would necessitate changing all signage, letterheads, business cards, the field logo...). This is for same reason why people in their 90s generally don't fix their houses beyond simple knick-knacks and emergency repairs. Why bother, just to have the new people come in and change everything themselves. Ralph is waiting to die.

Between sessions of covering my ears and loudly singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" whenever that c--- Eleanor Clift was speaking (often), on the "McLaughlin Group" over the weekend, someone made the great point. I think it was Monica Crowley. I think Holder did have a valid point, even if "cowards" was too strong a word for it (I see it more an uneasiness). If America wants to have this discussion... really wants to have this discussion... then there's got to be an end to politically-correct backlash whenever someone says anything. If you want honest discussion, you need to stop slapping wrists with rulers. The Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons of this world need to stop showing up and crying 'You're a racist! Where's my $500M!?!?!' and then have the kind of standoff as what happened with Imus on Sharpton's radio show (the one where on every station break, Sharpton went into the control room with the same look as a boxer in the time-out corner and got fluffed by his staff). When someone makes an apology, accept the apology and move on "with malice toward none." Otherwise, thought stays secretly inside of heads, is never shared, and is never experientially changed by real interaction. If it's going to be real, this stuff needs to stop. Personally, I don't think this country is ready for it. A huge step was recently made. (A step that I think America had been ready for, for awhile but only lacked a decent candidate not rooted in the '60s mindset who could build and walk across the bridge rather than just set up a first pilon). We need to take some smaller steps now before we take another big one. We need to settle into the Obama presidency a little, and he needs to really fill the office. And as I said above, I think the 2010 census will have a lot of interesting things to show.

When my father's company went out of business after he was there for 35 years, he was the warehouse manager (it was industrial supply) and was the last one on the payroll. The owner did the liquidation of barrels of chemicals, solvents, cleaning solutions, abrasives, etc. My dad got it all on the trucks, then cleaned everything out of the building that had accumulated in ~75 years there. Metal racks, filing cabinets, desks, chairs, you name it. We took an old 1 1/2-ton diamond safe home and he uses it to store his gun collection (all legal). His old coworkers knew all this --- hell, he told them. To a man (and woman), they weren't pissed at him, they weren't even pissed at the company president. What's the use of blame? What, do you think if this guy hadn't left, CC would still be going strong!?! So, the liquidation is being conducted a little differently, necessarily b/c it's on a much larger scale... it's still a liquidation. CC is out of business. This is a fairly sizable life event for you, and a stressful time that's probably going to linger for several months. Dude is trying to work for some cash while a job is there b/c come July, who knows, where he moved to might close too. If you talked to him instead of projecting your feelings onto him as an explanation of his actions, for the average person, you'd probably find out that he's only human too. You're w/in rights if he's a grade-A *-hole --- and even at that, it's almost always better to just let the 'friendship' die of its own weight than to burn bridges for everyone to see the smoke --- but don't hate on a dude for doing a job while it's there. What's done is done.

Another quirky connection thing... He'd been forced to buy another seat on 815. On 316, he bought the remaining seats willingly, b/c he didn't want people to die in a crash. I'm also now of the firm opinion that 316 didn't crash, the Oceanic 6 (and the things they touch) were just kind of lifted from it, not unlike how the remaining group on the island has experienced the flashes. I wonder, tho... For the original 815 seat, was someone supposed to be in the seat that Hurley had to buy? (Perhaps the "my condolences" guy?) Coming back to this.... Yeah. With Jin in the new mini-bus, looks like their last landing spot was with the early DI period. And also looks like that's where the season premier's first scene where they discover the wheel came from... Faraday has to find a way to get all of them back to the right time of 2004. I'm backtracking on my thinking that the O6 will become an alternate string of reality. I don't think it's necessary, or even possible, according to The Rules for that not to happen. If they're taken to 2004 by Faraday, they need to let the O6 leave the island again for them to be able to return.... and this all has happened anyway --- even tho it maybe hasn't happened --- and there's no way to change it... if anyone follows this. (Getting this from how Faraday hadn't yet warned young Charlotte in his personal memory, yet Charlotte has that memory --- it hasn't hasn't happened, but it will and always has. Reference back to Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" and the Tralfamadorian concept of time). In the 'real world' it may be assumed that all of the O6 were perhaps flying to a reunion or something --- the powers that be with the Others outside network will cover it up. I wonder if Lapidus is back, too. I think he is.

I'm sure it ran along the same vein that Jack had to bring something of his father's to put in the coffin. As Eloise Hawking said, they had to re-create as many things of the original crash as possible. They had to bring items that the (maybe especially the missing) people have some connection to. Hurley brought a guitar case, as Charlie had with him on the flight. Sayid, presumably, had handcuffs on under the coat, as Kate had originally. The more I think about the Walt situation, I guess it wasn't imperative for him to come back to stop the time flashes. They were happening b/c the O6 left. Walt had left (and was allowed to leave) some time before that. His case is unconnected with "Because You Left." Tho, I'm sure he will be back at some point. I'm just wondering why Aaron didn't need to come back, as he did leave the island out of utero --- but then again, Claire's apparition told Kate to not take him back, and seeing as she was with Christian et al., I guess that's the way they desire it.

Was really beyond me why he needed to say this, especially at this juncture. This conversation he wants to foment is stupid. And I think we're all going to be more than a little surprised at what the 2010 census tells us regarding this, vis-a-vis interracial marriage, dating, paternity, etc. --- provided it's written even halfway intelligently. Nevermind that, yaknow, Mr. Holder, I think we've got bigger !@#$ problems than this 'Woe is us' crap right now. Get Bernie Madoff behind !@#$ bars, dude.

The "my condolences" guy played the terrorist cell leader in "Vantage Point" which starred Matthew Fox. I would say that it's a pretty good bet that he might be one of the people who were shooting at Sawyer, Juliet, Locke, et al. in the canoe. Especially given the water bottle with that airline's logo. That was pretty weird how the plane doesn't seem to have crashed. However, they were in 2007 and if the island was still in 2004 as they flew over, maybe it'll play out that the Oceanic 6 never existed... so the plane never existed. Or... The plane did exist, but the flash just plucked the O6 out, and whatever they were touching (as has been the case with the group left on the island)? Maybe I'll just pose the question... what's happening with the Others through all of this? Their story was just dropped mid-season last year. Does the Temple offer a sanctuary from the temporal shifts? Kate's reaction there near the beginning was pretty odd. That if she agreed to go, that Jack could never ask what she did with Aaron. Following, of course, from her dream where Claire told her, "Don't you dare bring him back!" I'm sure we'll find out. My guess is that she either gave him to Claire's mother, who was in LA... or... as the psychic said he found a couple in LA who could raise him. I think he wasn't lying about that, it just wasn't as direct a route as he made it out to be... but I think Kate may have given him to Hurley's parents. They're really the only ones left who fit that bill. Or am I wrong? I never noticed about Christian's shoes. Pretty sure, thinking back, that it was pointed out and it just sifted right through the filter. If I remember rightly, there were a lot of scenes when Jack was first on the island ("White Rabbit" especially) where Christian's ghost had his head dropping down over his chest --- Looking down at his shoes? I dunno. I'm just seeing Ben differently now after these episodes. He's still a weasel, of course. E.g. his "Who cares?" attitude when asked what's going to happen to the other people on the plane. This is not a man who believes in the Categorical Imperative. And he lied again... said he learned to read from his mother. It was a quip, but... still, his mother died at childbirth. He has such a neurosis about needing his story to match up with what appears to be some kind of prophesy, even tho it's a lie. Jin in the van surprised me as well. I thought it was going to be Horace. We don't know what year it is on the island, but that thing is in like-new condition. This may be the point where Faraday shows up at the orchid and delivers his message to Charlotte. Found this Lost "316" : Yeah. Looks like Ben followed Desmond, since he probably learned that he and Penny were together. I don't think we're going to like him when we find out what he did... and it may be the final straw for him re: the audience wanting to see Ben die. There's a lot of goodwill for Penny, we are protective of her, especially as mother to Charlie, and it looks like he did something pretty bad. I was a little surprised that Walt wasn't on board. But I think he will be getting to the island.

Dude, I don't want to sit here and debate qualifiers on what makes certain ground 'hallowed.' It is special ground for 50 families. Is that not enough? How many people need to die at a spot for it to hold special significance? This is like asking how much a human life is worth. What needs to be the manner of death? Who is the arbiter of deciding this? Looks like you've appointed yourself. At the site of the RI nightclub fire, where ~100 people died, there are plans to eventually have a memorial when enough funding is raised (kind of sad that it's still basically a mud pit with privately placed wooden crosses and flowers, but then again, it took ~60 years and Tom Hanks' pleading for the WWII memorial to be built). What a proper memorial is for that, for this crash, or any site of tragedy, is to be determined by those most affected. Not some dude on an Internet message board.

I am assuming that Walt's appearance to Locke came during a time-flash.... Walt has been curiously absent for awhile. Perhaps Ben and Eloise already have him on board? Hmm. Something to keep in mind.

Absolutely. And I'm sure that's what will be done, with a memorial. It's hallowed ground now. Before starting this up, people might have waited for what the family's wishes are. It comes from the best of intentions, but it's help that may not be wanted. EMHE doing a project like this would be the ultimate 'jumping the shark.' I just don't think they should, nor might they probably even want to attempt this story --- it's too big and too deep for reality teevee. That's just my opinion.

You have an overly high opinion/expectation of press releases. Just like you don't have to consent to a search, they don't have to release all information of their own initiative. Rest assured, more info will be trickling out.

Could have been for any number of legitimate reasons --- traffic-related, non-functioning light, spot check, someone not wearing a seatbelt, among many others --- but could also unfortunately be DWB. 'Til it's known, probably shouldn't be speculating; and if that is the case, ML's lawyer will have his say. If the police asked to search and were given consent, that's admissible. You can refuse permission, but a lot of people, even when they know they have incriminating items, grant permission, or don't not grant permission. If so, it's their problem, not the cops' (And for anyone reading this --- if a police officer ever asks to search your car, say no. It's a lose-lose situation --- it can only be bad for you. You can say 'No' to the police. And if they say they'll be back with a warrant, tell them that anything and everything listed on the warrant be it drugs, guns or a dead stripper in the trunk, had better be in the car or your lawyer will be salivating). Also, if the weapon was in/came into view of the police during the stop, it's within their power to then request info about it (same as if there's an open container, it opens another level), or make an arrest depending on the wording of concealment laws. Regardless of any criminal outcome, what's done is done, and Goodell will likely be taking a look into it... and what with the incident last year, might now be more inclined to send a message.

One other thing to keep in mind when thinking about the value we're going to get from #11... WRT Raji, our DTs play in heavy rotation, meaning that he'd be on the field for just more or less than half of the plays. I just think it's something of a waste to pick a guy so high who'll be on the sidelines that much. What's the drop-off in waiting until round 2 or 3 for a DT... in a deep draft... at a position that's been called one of the easiest transitions into the NFL. I mean, we can all have the delusions of grandeur of Raji and Stroud in the middle of the DL. But real-world, how this team/these coaches use the players, that's not going to be happening nearly as often as you'd like. I wouldn't be disappointed if we were to finally get a very good TE to give the QB --- and this goes especially for Edwards --- a safety valve. I'm tired of having TEs who are either great blockers or good receivers, but not any kind of combination of both. Derek Fine raised my eyebrows a few times this season in the limited time he had, but we need another TE anyway. But that gets me to C. Doesn't do much good to have a TE when the middle of the line caves in on most plays. We need a guy who can handle the AFCEast NTs --- you know --- the ones who've given Edwards and our offense fits. It's convoluted to me to think that a QB who operates smoothly and looks good against 4-3s suddenly looks like sh-- against 3-4s. More likely it is someone in front of him who can't do their job against the changed variable of the behemoth NT. In my mind, all the indicators point to Mack as the guy who can solve this problem. He is a big boy who's shown he can hold his own physically and maybe more important, the dude is intelligent. Giving the QB more time will let him use the skill players we already have. The center is not on rotation shift; he's out there for every offensive play. When I think value, when I think impact, I think here. It may not be as sexy as a shiny new DE, but we need to get the best center in this draft who can handle all kinds of DTs and NTs. Now if that's Mack (which seems to be the consensus, tho lots is yet to see) and some people are saying that he can be had late-first, then fine. Wait until the dust settles and trade down into a spot where we can be certain to get him, and pick up some more picks in what's been called a deep draft. Great, so much the better. He could just as easily shoot up the board. The pike is a long drive from here to April and we'll see how it all plays out.

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Well, given the givens, the D didn't do too badly last year, even w/o Schoebel for most of the season. As you write, it's the Offense that has "been stagnant" for awhile... and I don't think that has everything to do w/ the skill players that are on the roster. Scoring points is something we should be doing.

Not to mention that one drive where Duke Preston was flagged twice for false start. False start on the center! On the first one, the announcers were saying how rare that is. And then a minute later he does it again. WTF, he should know exactly when a play begins --- he snaps the ball! Make no mistake, people. Center is 1A; DE is 1B.

Lines like this is why Letterman > Leno. Leno's just too nice and campy to say anything like that to someone's face. Letterman called it like he saw it. Remember kids --- look at Uncle Joquain --- drugs won't hurt you! . I hope he gets it back on track.

OK, from Charlotte saying that she remembers Faraday from when she was a girl, it would appear that the time travel interactions did happen the first time around. B/c Faraday hasn't done it yet... yet it happened. Also, with Charlotte having left as a girl and told the island never happened, I think we can safely assume that she was Annie, the girl who gave Ben the statue. Goes a little deeper into his psyche of the women in his life leaving him/the island and the complex that caused in his personality.... He feels he needs to scheme everyone into doing what he wants, and he needs to be the Guy, otherwise, everyone will leave him. Saw a glimpse of it when he shouted at Juliet, "You're MINE!" when she asked to leave. I'm absolutely sure we're going to be revisiting Young Charlotte and Young Ben again. Danielle, over the course of 16 years, likely came to believe that Jin had been an Other infiltrator. And you know how memory is --- it gets shifted and resorted in your brain, things are added, subtracted, sometimes you remember things that never happened and forget details of what did. I don't remember if she had direct contact with Jin in 2004 that might've jogged her memory... but then again, by that time she's also gone batsh-- crazy on top of it. Here's a screenshot of the Temple wall hieroglyphics. Not much to be gleaned there.

It seems that Rousseau's crew was... possessed by the smoke monster. We've seen before how it downloads memories, so it's not too far toward implanting some or even taking complete control. That structure appears to be "The Temple" --- where Ben told the Others to go to when the Lostaways were going to the radio tower and later said that this place was only for the Others, not for small-o others. The monster protects the Temple, but we still don't know what is there or what happens there. Anyone get a look at the hieroglyphics, or a link to what they said? The theme of sacrifice came up strong again tonight, and if you go back and read early on in this thread where I posted about Christian Shepard and how I think he was aware of his fate coming up (kind of like a slow-burn version of Michael's off-island experience) that led him to drink and basically give up trying.... I don't know if I specifically posted this, but I think that his 'sacrifice' was dying off-island so that Jack would have to go to Sydney, etc. That was the part Christian was always moving toward/waiting for. You either have a big part (how Jack has often been called a 'great man' and other stuff of this category) and how other people have smaller --- yet integral --- parts in the story. See Michael being told he "can go now" Widmore telling Desmond that the only great thing he'll ever do is push that button, etc. The thing I question is whether people make that sacrifice out of free will or if it's guided / soft- or hard-determined for them to make it. I don't know if the above statement is why Christian couldn't help Locke up --- that it had to be entirely Locke's doing... his choice... to 'sacrifice' himself, but my guess would be that he physically couldn't. (On edit: Wait. Christian picked up Aaron in the woods. Nix that "physically couldn't"). The Eloise Hawking speculation is now confirmed. Funny how Ben pulled over the van as Jack was going to reveal just how low Ben would go to get everyone back. Following what Christian said, it seems that Ben wants to be The Guy so badly that he messes everything up and causes a lot of pain along the way. Ben even screwed up turning the wheel by slipping it off its axle, which seems to have caused all or most of the 'temporal displacement' problems for the group. I just love that concept of the wheel... it's so cool. What else...? Daniel having shown up when Charlotte was a girl on the island... a 'creepy old man' (is "old" relative in this sense?) that told her that coming back to the island would mean death. Can we suppose that this is connected with the opening scene in the premiere? And also, I guess it showed that creating new pasts during the flashes doesn't affect what eventually happens on the island --- the effects seem to be real-time implanted memories that don't bear fruit b/c e.g. by the time Charlotte 'remembers' it in near real-time, it's too late to do anything about her being on the island. There goes Daniel trying to screw time. But it also explains Daniel's first appearance on the show... where he's crying before the Widmore crew was assembled and he doesn't know why he's sad. Well, now we know, tho it may not be the end. Also... sorry... about 'sacrifice' I just want to reiterate Jack's position. He was so hell-bent to get off the island and when Ben told him a few episodes ago that he wouldn't ever be returning to the 'real world' Jack says, "Good." Just.... Wow. And we still don't know what Ben had in that box. Let me also say that this is without a doubt the best teevee show I've ever seen. The quality of this at every level is just awesome. When this is over, I'm going to have nothing left to watch....

The situation with Peters was much of his own doing, then he didn't help things by coming in and dogging it 75 percent of the time. You could almost read the 'The Bills don't care 'bout me, I don't care 'bout them!' on his lips at times. That said, I think his thing may be rectifiable, if the FO pays him enough. And, that said, I hate having a guy with that mindset on this team... but what's done is done. Butler may well have been the team's best OL last year. When he was hurt, Jim Kelly was dead right when he said that hurt big-time. Butler is big, nasty and dedicated and if we had 5 guys who play football like him across the line, it would be lights out. But, hark! Some schlubs on these message boards blame BB for all our problems... wait... it's Chris Kelsay (well, he is a problem, but not the problem)... wait. Now they blame Lindell.... OFF WITH HIS HEAD! Our center situation last year was totally fubar. I can't say it much plainer than "Duke friggin' Preston was the best this team could front." To me, Center is A1, and I'd rather see it filled in high in the draft. Find out who the best guy is and get him and finally solve this problem of being blown back into the QB's face every play. I don't care how. Just friggin' do it, Linda. And if she's too much of a c--- to take a good chance when it looks her in the face, I hope Tom Modrak uses his new inner circle status to tell Ralph what's what, even if he doesn't want to hear the truth about his daughter.

Just that day in that ICU room? I guess that is what you call a "perfect stroke"....

This only proves that the perpetual FO shunning of the OL is about on par with fans' thinking. Success requires investment. Getting OL via UFA is uber-expensive to the point of neglecting other areas, and signing retreads means you'll have a crap line which means you'll have a crap offense w/o being able to tell if your skill players were any good. So, those choices both being the 'Building an OL for Dummies' method.... that leaves actually giving a crap about your lines when you're drafting. And maybe if you finally have a complete OL, the skills players the Bills already have --- and most here are clammoring to cut all their heads off --- will be able to do their jobs and have some time rather than reacting to shouts of 'Busted play!' etc. Then again, Linda Bogdan, Ralph's daughter, is the chief OL scout. Let's make it easier on her and just not draft OL besides the 6th or 7th, ever. Don't wanna put her on the hot seat. We'll just make up for her inability to spot a good player/take pretty good odds on someone like Mack, and instead spend $100M on two schlubs in UFA and have John Guy eat the sh-- sandwich. As ever, the way Ralph runs this team is its biggest problem.

Non Sequitur - 10 February