bartshan-83

Nice job compiling that list. I've discussed this with friends before, but that NBA list is just NUTS. Besides the Heat winning in '06, those 5 teams are the only teams to win NBA championships in the last 20 years. 5 teams won 20 of 21 championships. Back it up a little further and only 8 teams have won since 1980. And it's very likely (if not probable) that one of those 8 teams will win again this year. Truly the league of Dynasties...

1. Institute experience-based salary tiers like the NBA so that we would never again pay the Mike Williams' of the world $50 million to eat donuts before they ever stepped on an NFL field. There is no way the top 10 picks should be making what they make. The trade-off for the players would be 3 year max contracts so they would become restricted FAs after their 3rd and free to earn their money after their 4th. I really believe this one change would make the sport so much better and would help ensure its longevity. 2. Decrease the amount the salary cap goes up each year. Adjust for inflation like the rest of us schmoes and maybe a larger increase every now and then so that the owners aren't just sucking down extra cash like krispy kremes. 3. Reduce the preseason to 2 games and possibly add those 2 games to the regular season. 4. Seed the playoffs 1-6 in terms of record or at least do like the NBA does and keep the seeding in tact for matchups, but give homefield advantage to the better overall record. So if a 9-7 division winner plays a 12-4 wild card, the game is hosted by the 12-4 team. Winning a division in which you play 6 games each year is a meaningless award and should not be rewarded with a playoff advantage. 5. Institute a 5-yard roughing the passer and late hit penalty. It makes my stomach turn every time a team is penalized 15 yards because a 300 lb. lineman couldn't stop his full momentum at the exact moment the RB stepped on the white out-of-bounds line. Not only is it physically impossible, it goes against the spirit of the game. How are the defensive players supposed to know the guy is going to cut out of bounds? What if he's like Peterson and decides to duck his shoulder in and pick up 3 more yards. Should a LB have to be thinking about this each time he chases a guy to sideline? Fck NO. If the tackle happens to be 4 inches out of bounds, I'm sure we'll all live. Same goes with roughing the QB. I'd still hate it if we got a 5 yarder every time Kelsay sneezed near Brady. But I'd hate it a lot less than if it was 15 yards. 6. Let guys celebrate TDs however they want. But if they are not back in their bench area by the time the XP units are on the field, ejection. 7. Offensive face mask. As much as I loved it when he was here, there is no reason why Willis McGahee (or anyone) should be able to grab a defenders facemask and yoke his head to the side. If you're gonna call it on the defense, call it both ways. 8. Eject Rodney Harrison and take away his paycheck every time he dives into an already tackled player 4 seconds after the whistle. 9. Let Brandon Jacobs gouge Vince Wilfork in the eye AFTER JP Losman gets a free swing at his knee with a 3-iron. Wash, rinse, repeat every time this POS pulls another stunt.

One of my funniest memories and the weirdest ticket experience I ever had was a week before I left for college. I lived in a pretty rural part of PA near Delaware and I never saw a cop within 2-3 miles of our house in the 13 years I had lived there. However, we were near a lot of Park/Preserved Land so there was a Park Ranger who would show up every now and then in his Jeep. So I'm heading to a friends house about 2 miles away to go swimming at around 1-2 pm and it's all back roads. I blow through a stop sign that no one ever stops at (middle of nowhere) and out of the corner of my eye, I see that damn Ranger about 40 yards down the intersecting road. I figure "Maybe he couldn't tell I didn't stop" so I floor it (in my oh so fast '85 528e ) and figure maybe I can get to my friend's house before he even realizes what I did. I get about a mile down the road when I see him flying up behind me with his lights on. Now we are on a country road surrounded by farms and nowhere to pull over. So I knew there was a parking lot for the park about 100 yards up so I signaled my hand like I would pull in there. He gets on his loudspeaker and says: "PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY...DO NOT GO INTO THE PARKING LOT" So I'm like wtf....so I just pull off onto this guys lawn and put it in park. That's when I realize I don't have my license because I was just going swimming and didnt think to bring my wallet. As I'm searching around, he gets on his loudspeaker again and says: "STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND PUT BOTH HANDS OUTSIDE OF THE WINDOW!" I freeze and glance in my rearview and see that the guy has his hand on his gun. I'm like "uhhhh what's this crazy park ranger want??" So I'm comply and wait for him to cautiously approach my car. He asks me what I'm doing, where I'm from, why I'm not wearing a shirt and then finally for my license. So I explain to him I left it at my house a mile down the road and I can go back with him if necessary. He informs me that "if he felt like it" he could bust me for running a stop sign, reckless driving (65 in a 35) and driving without a license. Fair enough, I did all those things. So I tell him "Look, I'm leaving for college tomorrow, I'm sorry I messed up, just let me go and I promise you'll never see me again." So he stands back and stares at me pondering. Here's where it gets funny...He says "OK, I will let you go this one time, but now YOU are going to do something for ME." Now I'm a little freaked out....I keep waiting to hear banjos in the background. He says "I caught some of your friends in the park last weekend" (apparently all teenage males are "my friends"). He goes on "They had 'the pot' and liquor on them. I busted them good and now they are in a heap of trouble. You kids might have been able to pull that sht on the LAST park ranger, but not on my watch. So here's what you are going to do..." And then, I swear to God, he leans in close and pulls his shades down and bit and half-whispers: "Tell your friends about me. You tell them the Park Ranger's coming for them." (sounded just like Michael Keaton in the opening scene of Batman). :worthy: I did everything in my power not to laugh and said quickly "yes sir, thanks again" and drove off as quick as I could. I never did see that guy again, but I will never forget him as long as I live.

Agreed...on pretty much all counts. People took the amazing prices we had for years for granted. I used to always say "At least we're not in Europe" everytime I saw a noticable price increase. Five years ago if you had told me that gas would be 4.00/gallon, I would have told you that people would have totally changed their behavior towards fuel consumption. And while it has happened to some degree (hybrids finally becoming mainstream, SUVs littering the classifieds, etc.) it really isn't the anywhere near the level I would have expected. I guess I just underestimated the price that would represent a breaking point. For all I know now, people won't stop until gas reaches 7-8 dollars/gallon....maybe more. Until then it's just another thing we deal with that has gotten more expensive.

Wow, Kev...really? You know I respect you and think you're a pretty smart guy, but it's sad that you've managed to miss the point TWICE in this thread. First, you equated someone who said "it's a great time to be in the top 1%" with "its not worth it to be alive otherwise." Brilliant. Then you think I was whining about gas prices when I was just laughing about you and LA (both otherwise reasonably intelligent people) blowing that statement out of proportion with your hyperbolic bullsht. I could give a sht if gas goes to $10/gallon. Like Stojan said, it doesn't change how I drive. I was just commenting on how crazy I think it is that a vehicle that cost $40 to fill 16 months ago costs $70. And where did I say I own a gas guzzler? C'mon you're better than this...

Wow this thread sucks I nominate LA and KD for the "ummmm where the fck did that come from?" award and Joe for the "I quit cigarettes cold turkey and never complain about anything either" award. Keep up the good work fellas!

Sebring: 45-47 Ranger: 70 It's ridiculous...

I think if you are looking for closure on this issue, then you are doomed to be forever disappointed. It's shtty what the Patriots did. They broke rules repeatedly and continued to do so until they were turned in by one of their own former coaches. However, if you're looking for some new justice, it's not going to happen. Like others have said, this evidence is not new. Even if you think it makes their crimes more egregious, in the eyes of the NFL, it is only confirmation of what they told us they knew. There won't be any new penalties; lost draft picks, fines, suspensions, bannings, etc. Anything negative the league will do to the Patriots has already been done. Sad, but true. However, I'd suggest that you take solace in what has really happened to them. Yeah it would be great I guess to see them lose another 1st rounder or read about Kraft paying out another 500,000 in a tax deductible fines, but we have already been given something much sweeter than that. Not only will the validity of their dynasty forever be tainted (on a sliding scale depending on where you sit), but I will always believe that the timing of Walsh's revelation played a part in their Super Bowl choking. Announcing that possibly damning evidence is surfacing during the WEEK of the biggest media feeding frenzy of the year turned the heat up on that team about 1000 degrees. Now I will never know if it truly did distract them enough to make a difference, but I do know this. The most celebrated and dominant team of our era came into that game as a heavy favorite and walked out as the biggest choke artists in the history of the Super Bowl. Maybe the Giants did just have the right stuff, but I believe if that game was played 9 more times, the Pats would have won 8. So while it sucks that we may finally be coming to the end of what has been a joyous trek though the ruination and embarrassment of a hated rival, take solace in the fact that they have already lost what they wanted most: The chance to be remembered as the greatest team of all time. And they'll never get that back.

My best friend from college is from south Texas and he saw Ced play in high school a few times. He said he was the best football player by far he'd ever seen. But there were rumblings even back then that he didn't have the desire and would skate by on his ridiculous talent when he got to UT. I don't know...I really thought he was going to be one of the best backs from that draft. But maybe he just doesn't want it that bad...

Perhaps...but two things: 1. That didn't quite help the Nuggets during their 1st round sweep. 2. I seriously doubt he would be getting 24-25 per game on Detroit and the difference between his defense and Tay's would cut into that even more.

Good one...a lot of "blasts from the past" in that thread actually.

While that is a black mark on his record, it is nowhere near the catastrophe people make it out to be. Passing on Carmelo wasn't the problem, it was the fact that Darko turned out to be a piece of sht. I never understand why people think Carmelo would have make the Pistons better. That team does THREE things very well. 1. Rebound 2. Play D 3. Play smart and under control Carmelo, while a very talented scorer, has yet to do any of those things in the last 4-5 years. Of course it's a little skewed because he now plays for a coach who wants a run-n-gun style, but the fact remains that his style of play is a complete mismatch for the brand of basketball Detroit has been so successful with. What has Carmelo done that indicates the dude will be a winner in this league?

yayo?? you get down like that? learn something new everyday...

I'll reserve judgment on either side, though neither version of the truth would surprise me. I do have one question though: Why did the girl call her dad and ask that he call 911 instead of doing it herself from the phone in her hand? The only thing I could think of was that she didn't want the boat police hearing what she was doing....but still a head scratcher to me.

As a sixers fan, I harbor no love for the pistons, but I do respect the success they have had for the better part of a decade. Joe Dumars might be the best GM in the sport and if they had a coach better than Flip, then they might have been able to make a real run last year and this year. Chauncey is one of my favorite players in the league. Sheed is a pain in the ass, but when he wants it (about 20-40% of the time) he is probably the best player on the floor at the time. I used to love Rip, but I've lost respect for him over the years as his athleticism has worn down and he has had to rely on his karate chops on every defensive possession. The guy is becoming like Bruce Bowen. Tay looks like he's one hard foul from being broken in half, but he's hung in there and is probably one of the most underrated players in the league. And while I'm probably in the minority, I have no problem with the style of play they (or the Spurs) employ. Sure its not as exciting as watching the Suns or the Nuggets, but it is smart basketball at its finest. Ironically most of the ex-NBA fans who whine constantly that the sport is all dunks and no defense are the same ones that turn around and say teams like Detroit and San Antonio are too boring. That being said, great win for the Magic tonight! Love Dwight and Jameer and any team that keeps JJ Redick buried 12 deep on the bench for two years is alright by me!

Yeah book me a ticket too.

Cool video...but I wish they hadn't put any clips from the Cowboys game on there. It's like watching one of Thurman's great runs from XXV. Too painful...

The old Weathervane...he was a character. My favorite moment (if it is even possible to pick) was when he detailed his "encounter" with Tom Donahoe. After months/years of mercilessly ripping Whitey for every decision he ever made, he runs into the guy at some pre-game function and asks him some questions. Apparently the one line responses he received in what had to be a 3 minute conversation was enough to alleviate months worth of deep-rooted doubts and hatred. He comes to the board the following Monday to tell us about his "meeting" and proceeds to tells us that our GM's talks reassured him completely and now he was on board. After that point he would passionately defend the teams management....and I'm not sure at what point he switched back. I've heard he's a real nice guy in person, but he was definitely a crazy mfer on this board. Though for all the lunacy he caused around here, you'd never have people like "Expert Opinion" and the like if he was still posting. All these lesser crazies who come to stir trouble never stood a chance to the frothing, dominating personality that was ICE.

You have ADD?

Terrible what has happened to the guy who blew the whistle on what truly was a heinous and despicable plan. And even more terrible is the twilight zone culture of NCAA coaches that breeds this attitude. Stories like these are why I roll my eyes whenever I hear big-time coaches chastise players for not living up to moral expectations or the like. A bit of a long read, but very informative. I just hope some college gives this dude a chance. Abar Rouse: Blackballed from Coaching

"The word lesbian has only been linked with gay women in the past few decades. But we have been Lesbians for thousands of years," said Lambrou... Gold, Jerry, Gold...

I'm probably in the minority, but I enjoyed both Mummy flicks. I saw them as like Indiana Jones-Lite. Nothing terribly great about them, but they were kinda funny and entertaining. Brendan Fraser seems to be widely maligned, but I've always liked him too. He's no Pacino, but he fits the roles he's given. I probably won't see it in the theater, but I'll def check it out when it hits DVD.

And lose his post count?? Apparently you missed the devastation the board crash had on his life when he realized he lost thousands of posts. LSI would rather die than start over. Happy birthday Nick!

He mentioned how college "ruined his life" while he was walking around with a buddy putting up concert fliers? Something there seemed weird....doesn't really sound like his life was ruined, especially given the accounts from others that he was a normal, likable guy. Not like the VT kid who seemed to freak out everyone and anyone he had contact with. Of course I obviously have no idea what was going on in his head or what events might have "ruined his life" during his two years of college...maybe it was serious. Sometimes I wish I had gone to UT and had my life "ruined" with a bunch of sorority girls in Austin instead of freezing my balls off in South Bend watching a "legendary" football team hire 4 coaches and win about 20 total games. But I digress... It really is a touchy situation now. If he DID end up doing something terrible, then this evidence would have been used to absolutely CRUCIFY the school and others who did nothing to stop it. People are so afraid of what will happen if they don't act that they seem to go into immediate CYA mode. Not saying it's a bad thing to err on the side of caution, but it does tend to blow some things out of proportion.