bartshan-83

Continuing the week of polls, when you hit the casino, do you have to stop by real quick and give the roulette wheel a play? Every time I go, I make sure I have at least a twenty left in my pocket as I'm leaving. I'll drop it on either red or black (I chose "it depends"...I go with what I'm feeling) and play one last bet. If I hit, sometimes I push it, usually I just take my $40 and smile on my way out. If I lose, eh, surely wasn't the first time that night/weekend. Do people have a steadfast color? Do you decide right before you change your money? Are you just sick of these !@#$ing polls? Let's hear it...

This kid will definitely win every time he is in a situation where a group icebreaker of "Say something interesting you've done" is played out. Oh you were a junior gymnast champion? You once met Carrot Top? You're fluent in sign language because of your deaf aunt? Well I once got wasted, broke out of my house, broke into someone else's house, unwrapped several of their Christmas gifts, found out one gift was a dress, put it on, and then wandered down the street ringing doorbells. Oh and I was 4. Game. Set. Match.

I partially agree, but I also have no desire for some of the mouth-breathers to come and turn it into a one of the many trainwrecks that occur on the main wall. We used to have a very good balance I thought. Several very active posters who all were pretty knowledgeable in college sports. There were some very good discussions about rankings, playoff systems, BCS, conference strength, and yes, even the great rise of Rutgers... Sometimes less is more. Unfortunately, lately it's been too "less." And I blame myself for that as much as anyone. I didn't really post much here at all except for the occasional ND-related topic. We can hope. I think we finally got our guy. First good thing he did was gut the entire staff except for the RB coach. The only one I'm remotely sad to lose was Polian as he had shown a real talent for recruiting. But he was entirely useless as a ST coach, which used to be a huge strength. I made excuses for Weis for the last few years under the guise of "these things take time." True, that sometimes greatness is achieved slowly. But Carroll walked into Southern Cal and turned 20 years of mediocrity into the best team of the decade. Urban walked into Gainesville and took a stocked cupboard to places they belonged. And Saban went to a rebuffed, undesirable situation in a jungle conference and immediately produced a winner. If Kelly is the real deal, we'll see things move fast.

I agree with this for the most part. I guess its all about how you define "fanboy" vs. "hater" but people who are excessively positive, pollyanna, rose-colored, whatever are far less irritating that people who are excessively negative and douchey. Take you, dog, for example. I find your recent posts extolling JP Losman to be a bit eye-rolling and tiresome. However, they are far better than the vitriol-filled responses which seem to pull no punches whatsoever. Denigrating him in every way is pathetic and far too common in sports. And often people who tear players down with every ounce of ammo they can think up are the same ones who act all betrayed when a player signs somewhere else. Now a "fanboy" for one guy can naturally become a hater against someone else. To me, that is just a hater.

These first three are spot on. I can tolerate "bad" drivers (usually meaning they have a different driving style from me) but inconsiderate, self-centered ones are unforgivable. The ones that say "I'm so concerned with myself, I don't have the time to give a !@#$ about anyone around me." You pull your car into a parking spot and you notice its on the line?....Get the hell back in and take 15 seconds to straighten it out. Maybe if you learned how to use a steering wheel when you were 16, this wouldn't be a problem in the first place.

I'd echo others that a good chunk of this thread is in extremely poor taste. It's one thing to carelessly speculate and sling mud before any solid facts come out (we're all guilty of that from time to time), but to do it on the day of his death? Grow up.

When I typed that, I thought for a second "Wait, this is familiar...maybe I'm stealing/butchering this line from someone else." Nice!

I've never agreed so often with a Michigan fan. It kind of weirds me out actually.

Disagree. The lane furthest to the left is a passing lane. You enter it to pass a slower-moving car. You pass said car and then you move back to your right. Riding in the left lane at a speed slower than the pace of traffic is dangerous and disrupts efficient flow. Especially when there is no car to your right to prevent you from getting back over.

Nice work! Just think all of this nonsense about golf balls and manholes and all it took was a little bit of Bailey's and beer to get on to Round 2. Good luck man!

Continuing the analogy...Fassel showing up to interview with Ralph, giving the pitch of his life, getting the job and then finding out later that Ralph is crazy and his hiring wasn't real.

I was thinking the other day how active this board used to be. Seems like no one posts much anymore...even Ed's ridiculousness was entertaining. I started reading some old posts and I ended up going back a few years. This was one of a few posts about Alabama and their troubles and coaching search. I just thought I'd dig it up because it drove home how impacting a big-time coach can be. Alabama is on the verge of another NC (What's this like #27 by bama fans' count, Cynical? I kid, I kid...) and it is crazy to look at where the program was just 3 years ago. Lost and battered in the middle of the brutal SEC with seemingly no hope for an immediate turn-around. RichRod rebuffing the offer was just icing on the cake to a disastrous stretch that as an ND fan, I can completely relate to. Fast-forward 3 years and it's hard to remember the landscape. That job was unattractive and I don't think even the staunchest Tide backers would have expected to be where they are now. The job Saban has done is incredible. It just put into perspective what the right guy can do even in the toughest of situations. Supposedly rock-solid excuses other programs use when a turn-around seems to be dragging out are rendered moot. I wonder what the landscape of Alabama and SEC would look like had RR taken the job. Where would Michigan be? Where would Saban be? Maybe I'm overstating the obvious here, but it was just something I thought was interesting...

I admittedly haven't seen a number of highly-touted movies but of the top of my head: Comedy - Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite, Bad Santa Action - The Dark Knight, Troy Drama - Gran Torino (although I think I liked it more for comedic value ) Other Categories: Worst - Birth (did anyone else see this one with Nicole Kidman? WTF?) Most Disturbing - Saw, Requiem for a Dream Guilty Pleasure - The Fast and the Furious Pleasant Surprise - World Trade Center Others I Could watch anytime they are on: - Snatch - Boiler Room - Joe Dirt - Anger Management - Super Troopers - Gladiator - Barber Shop - Superbad - Borat - Blood Diamond - Traffic I'm sure I'm missing a TON...can't believe its been 10 years.

I don't know what the big deal is....I thought it was a pretty good movie.

AHHHHHH! (Thanks, Beerball...)

Look, I am unabashedly pimping him here...I admit this. But as KD alluded to, you clearly didn't watch any of those games this year. Clausen, far from being the reason we lost or didn't blow out bad teams, was actually one of the few reasons we weren't embarrassed all season long. When healthy, he was the best player on the field in every game. If there is one knock on him, is that he stupidly chose Notre Dame over Southern Cal, where he surely would have won 10+ games and garnered far more national praise. As it is, he didn't lose much though as he will be the 1st QB taken, likely in the top 5. And the USC game, you definitely didn't watch that one...Clausen put the ball right where it was supposed to be and the receiver slipped coming out of his turn. If Buffalo has the good fortune to draft him, it will be the positive step out of this decade-long nightmare we've all suffered through.

This season.

Correct. This is a slightly different point, but the fact that Clausen was statistically superior to Colt McCoy in just about every QB category just goes to show how important W/L is to public perception. For all the supposed "ND Attention" Clausen received, the bottom line is he was not even considered in the Heisman or All-American discussion. All because ND's defense couldn't stop a high school team. And please believe, if ND had UT's defense, they'd be getting ready for Alabama right now.

The other issue (and its a big one) is $$$. The Big 10 needs to pull in another school that is going to bring in extra revenue. There is a great SI article breaking it down. Essentially, this entire thing may just be another power play for Notre Dame, which is in a weaker bargaining position than it was in '99. I can't think of another team from the Big East or Big XII (outside of Texas) who could bring in $22MM besides ND. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writ...sion/index.html

I'm sure there would be a lot of this

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?...t&p=1661790 PROS: - Strong Arm - Surgical accuracy - Cold-weather tested (sorry Senator... ) - Pro-style offense - 3-year starter - Moxie CONS: - He's from California so he's obviously the same as RJ, JP and Trent - He had spiky hair when he was 18 - He played at ND so he's obviously the same as Rick Mirer or Brady Quinn Bottom line, he is the most mechanically sound, pro-offense learned, spotlight tested, highest ceiling QB in this draft. If we have the chance to draft him, we do it.

You can laugh at it, and there is certainly no way of proving it either way, but I completely agree with the OP. I've never seen a team so shell-shocked as the opening day 2003 Patriots. The defensive heart of their team and possibly most popular player was cut days before the opener and signed with the Week 1 opponent. Setting aside the schematic advantage this gave us (which I'm sure was significant) the emotional gut-punch it gave the Patriots was crippling. Interesting how they went 17-1 the rest of the year (with the only loss by 3 points) and we went 5-10.

You covered it in your post, but I've heard speculation that Mizzou is the target and that TCU would be the replacement for the Big XII. Makes sense to me... There is just as much ripple if the Big East loses a team though. They would need a replacement to keep the minimum 8 teams for a BCS auto-bid. I would suspect a team like East Carolina would fill that gap.

Whenever I read one of these stories, I always wonder what the school administrators are thinking when they reach their decision. Shirley, they have to know the public relations hit they are going to take. Obviously their minds are on "what if we do nothing and worst-case scenario X happens", but still, isn't there a quieter, less public way to deal with this and still cover their asses? If the teacher asks the kid why he drew it, reports the picture and reason to the principal and they call the parents over their concern, doesn't this leave enough of a CYA paper-trail on the extremely remote chance the kid does turn out to do something stupid?