bartshan-83

I'm not sure if this site is well-known, but there is a really cool spreadsheet on this USA Today page. It contains all draft picks since 1988 and allows you to sort them in a variety of ways. The main purpose is to show where NFL talent is coming from in terms of high school states and colleges (i.e. which state produces the most first round DTs, etc.) But it's also a very smooth way to view and sort draft picks over that span in a variety of other ways. After wasting a few hours looking at it last night, I thought about comparing our drafting tendencies over the past decade to a few of the teams with the most respected GMs and front offices. I picked Indianapolis, New England and Baltimore and started in 2000 since that was Belichick's first year with the Pats*. I just thought it would be interesting to contrast the styles considering how we've floundered over the past decade and most of the blame seems to fall on our method of building through the draft. The biggest beef seems to be that we draft too many skill positions (RB + WR), too many DBs and not enough big uglies (OL + DL). So checked up on that: 2000-2010 BALTIMORE 1st Round Picks: 11 (2 QBs, 2 WRs, 1 RB, 1 TE, 1 OT, 1 OG, 1 DT, 1 LB, 1 DB) Total Picks: 88 OL: 15 (5 OC, 3 OG, 7 OT) 1st: 2 2nd: 2 3rd: 3 4th-7th: 8 DL: 12 (5 DE, 7 DT) 1st: 1 2nd: 4 3rd: 0 4th-7th: 7 DB: 12 1st: 1 2nd: 1 3rd: 3 4th-7th: 7 INDIANAPOLIS 1st Round Picks: 9 (2 RBs, 2 WRs, 2 DEs 1 TE, 1 LB, 1 DB) Total Picks: 90 OL: 15 (4 OC, 6 OG, 5 OT) 1st: 0 2nd: 2 3rd: 0 4th-7th: 13 DL: 15 (10 DE, 5 DT) 1st: 2 2nd: 2 3rd: 2 4th-7th: 9 DB: 25 1st: 1 2nd: 5 3rd: 7 4th-7th: 12 NEW ENGLAND 1st Round Picks: 10 (2 TEs, 2 DEs, 2 DBs, 1 RB, 1 OG, 1 DT, 1 LB) Total Picks: 100 OL: 17 (2 OC, 4 OG, 11 OT) 1st: 1 2nd: 3 3rd: 1 4th-7th: 12 DL: 19 (9 DE, 10 DT) 1st: 3 2nd: 3 3rd: 0 4th-7th: 13 DB: 18 1st: 2 2nd: 4 3rd: 2 4th-7th: 10 BUFFALO 1st Round Picks: 13 (3 RBs, 3 DBs, 2 DEs, 1 QB, 1 WR, 1 OC, 1 OT, 1 DT) Total Picks: 93 OL: 16 (2 OC, 5 OG, 9 OT) 1st: 2 2nd: 1 3rd: 1 4th-7th: 12 DL: 18 (10 DE, 8 DT) 1st: 3 2nd: 4 3rd: 3 4th-7th: 8 DB: 19 1st: 3 2nd: 2 3rd: 2 4th-7th: 12 To me, what stood out incredibly here was the tendencies of the Indianapolis Colts. I'm sure I'm not alone in the opinion that letting Bill Polian go was the biggest kick-in-the-nuts mistake this franchise has ever made (at least in my lifetime). I'd spend a year locked in room listening to Willis McGahee recite Shakespeare to have him back as our GM. But it was shocking to me to see that his drafting trend over the past decade not only fell in line with our seemingly backwards strategy...it SURPASSED it! The man has drafted multiple "flash positions" (RB and WR), TWICE as many 1st day DBs as us and has neglected the OL in a way that makes us look gluttonous at the position. In 11 years, he has spent TWO 1st day picks on OL. Besides Ugoh, he hasn't drafted a Tackle before the 5th round. Maybe I'm in the minority, but that floored me. Anyway, the site is really cool...a lot of ways to look at the data. Enjoy. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...ory-graphic.htm

Nah...Te'o put that off after the season...perhaps indefinitely. I'd bet he cans it all together. Supposedly he looked real good in the Blue/Gold game this weekend...as did Steve Filer. Filer is guy who could blow up because he is just a monster athlete who was undoubtedly being misused in Weis' disaster of a defense.

What are you referring to?

No problem. By the way, I cut you a break and only billed you 0.2 hours for that. When you get a chance, feel free to PM me your address where I can send the bill.

Agreed...on all counts.

I understand...I think you're saying "We have a problem, it would be too difficult to get rid of the current cause of that problem, but let's at least not add to it." I guess the thrust of my argument was that if you felt that potential driving impairment was serious enough of an issue to justify keeping MJ illegal by itself, I would think that you wouldn't dismiss making alcohol illegal so easily. Sure there are monumental obstacles to doing that, but if it was important enough... But I get you.

Jimbo... If I follow correctly, it is your stance that: - MJ is impairing (agreed) - Legalization will lead to wider-spread use (agreed) and consequently a higher number of impaired people (agreed) - Even ONE more impaired person is unacceptable (eh...agreed...in a vacuum, but I get your point) It is clear that the issue of impairment is very important to you and therefore is strong enough to justify keeping MJ illegal. Where you lose me, is your seemingly arbitrary distinction between marijuana and alcohol with regards to legality and danger (impairment). You concede that alcohol is just as (if not more so) impairing than MJ but the only reason you don't object to it, is its current status of being legal. You said you "don't want to make legal things illegal, but you also don't want to make illegal things legal." It seems to me that since you feel strongly about the impairment issue, that you would logically have just as much desire to eliminate a currently legal danger (alcohol) as you would to prevent a currently illegal danger (MJ) from adding to the problem. If there was a robber inside your house and another one outside your house trying to get in, wouldn't you want to get rid of both of them equally? **And to be clear, I'm not debating MJ vs. Alcohol as to which is worse...that has obviously been covered.

As a "scumbag lawyer" (although by no means an expert in Intellectual Property), I'd say Tom's description of the situation is the most accurate. Buried somewhere in the link that KD provided, you'll find Section 106 of the Copyright Act which basically says that it is the exclusive right of the copyright owner to make copies of his work and redistribute them. You are obviously free to sell, lend, giveaway the copy you legally purchased...but you are not allowed to burn a CD for a friend. Also as Tom said, consideration is not an issue; you don't need to charge for your copy for it to be an infringement. There is a lot of litigation history on this issue...just never aimed at consumers until recently. And it's likely always been a cost/benefit analysis. Until recently the "consumer" has never posed a significant enough threat to the copyright owners to warrant expensive, individual litigation.

Yeah, my fault...should have linked it. It was in the NY Times the other day. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/sports/2...l?th&emc=th It's crazy to even think about such a situation...I think the NCAA is largely an ineffective cesspool of corruption and greed, but I also wonder if any alternative would be better (or worse!) There is also the issue of cutting out the other 50+ Division I-A teams from any football championship format and cutting out the few hundred ones from basketball.

We're not out of the woods yet...but there is report that leads me to believe that ND has finally sacked up and said NO. Not a major news outlet, so take it with a grain of salt. The multiple-team expansion seems to have been the most likely scenario for a little while now...assuming ND was not coming. I read an interesting article a few days ago where the former long-time Syracuse AD Jake Crouthamel predicted that the ACC, Big Ten, PAC-10 and SEC might expand to 16 teams each and LEAVE the NCAA!! Sounds crazy, but not impossible. This new coalition would then make their own basketball tournament and football system. But back to real life, I was thinking ND might cave, but assuming they don't, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Big East teams named make the jump.

To KD's point, Kelly is definitely the X-factor. He is going to make a lot of players looks really good if he can do his job as advertised. Michael Floyd is the most likely to become a big name (if he's not already). He's an animal...injuries are the only black mark on an otherwise dominant 2-year career so far. Supposedly, Kelly wants his weight down...I'm curious to see how he looks in the new offense. Plus, our QB, Dayne Crist, is a question mark. 5-Star recruit, minimal experience, coming off ACL, new offense to learn...he is truly the key to the season...and to Floyd's success. And on D I'm excited to see if Te'o is ready for the next step. He was moved inside where he can have the most impact and expectations are high.

There will be no youtube footage of Bills fans celebrating a Super Bowl win because no cameras will survive. They'll have to dig one out of the rubble, Cloverfield-style.

Christ...I click on that (knowing full well what it was) thinking "I'll just re-read the first page or two." I was on page 9 before I had to slap myself and close the browser. It's like catnip.

Nice! I wonder how many flat screens got shot up in the Bayou that night.

What an awesome video! I had no idea how bright it got. Thanks for posting...incredible!

It all starts with protection but if you want a QB who is lazer accurate and has no fear whatsoever trying to thread a pass into a 4 inch window, there is one available in this draft. Oh yeah, but he's from California so it won't work out...

This is what happens when you make over-the-top, indignant reactions inspired by nothing but political gain. You end up looking like an idiot when caught in your own hypocrisy. Actually believing people will buy your explanation is just icing on the cake. Sarah is becoming quite the politician...she may just have a future in DC yet.

The man's back in town! But I'll be honest...I have a sneaking doubt this isn't you. These last few posts are just...I don't know. The Beerball I remember wasn't nearly this pleasant and polite. I hope 10 days in the joint didn't soften you up. I'll give you a few days to shake the cobwebs, but if the sarcasm hasn't returned by then, we're sending Steely to Dallas. Good to have you back, bro.

Seeing that I knew I'd be snowed in today (25 inches at last check) and wanted to do a nice hearty, winter meal, I decided to go with Matty T's suggestion and do a Guinness Chili. I found a recipe online I liked and modified it a bit. Just finished my first bowl after 6+ hours of slow-cooking. Not bad at all. I'll definitely bring the rest to the in-laws tomorrow (if we get can get out). Anyway, here is the recipe: - 1 lb. stew meat - 1 lb. ground beef (the recipe called for 97/3 but since the crazies were in full-effect at the grocey store, all I could get was 80/20) - 1 lb. smoked sausage - 1 white onion (chopped) - 6 oz tomato paste - 48 oz canned diced tomatoes w/ green chilies - 1 can black beans - 1 can red beans - 1 can kidney beans Rub - 1/2 T paprika - 2 T chili pepper - 2 T chipotle seasoning - 3 T cumin - 1/2 T crushed red pepper - 1/2 t black pepper Drain and rinse the beans and soak them in a pint of Guinness overnight Brown the ground beef cut the sausage into small pieces and then put the three meats into a pot and soaked in another pint of Guinness for about an hour. Mix in the tomato paste until well-blended. Add the rub mix and remaining ingredients Mix well on medium heat for about 10-15 mins and then bring to a low simmer and cook for several hours. Stir occasionally. Pretty awesome so far!

You know that's a good call. I'm a big fan of ground turkey breast in general as a beef substitute. I agree that the salt can get overbearing when combing it with the chips. Still great though... I know, right? I hate it when that happens...

That's a lot of research...good for you. Thanks. I live in Bear, DE. But I appreciate the google map and wikipedia article confirming that it exists. The original article (before it was edited) called Bear a county. I (half-heartedly) ripped the author for not doing a little research before he published an ESPN release. Just a pet peeve of mine. Didn't realize people would lose their minds over this. But go ahead and give yourself a gold star for the day...you've earned it.

Even better...seeing that these look like 1/4" jacks, I was hoping Nickelback could just plug their instruments directly into my walls. Please tell me this is possible.

Thanks, bud. We're pretty excited...been in the apartment for too long. I may have to revisit all of those audio/video/home theater threads now that I actually have some space.

Notre Dame: Rivals: 14 Scout: 19 ESPN: 21 Where did you find the max preps list? I couldn't find their ranking...ND's seem's absurdly high.

You had to ruin it for me didn't you....