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Post by voiceofreason on Jan 4, 2022 6:48:39 GMT -5
The Bengals look like they are for real. Chase is so damn good and Burrow is going to be a top 5 QB if he's not already. Yeah Chase is a great example of what a truly dynamic #1 WR brings to an offense with the home run threat. Add that to an offense like the Patriots and it opens up all kinds of schemes for running the ball and the underneath stuff with D's having to double or run the risk of the big play. And to think the Pats could have had that if they didn't screw up the Harry pick with Samuel, Brown and Metcalf still on the board, oh well. Giving Mac that guy would be great for his career goes without saying. I was actually hoping to see this years Ernie Adams pick, Tre Nixon, with all the injuries at the WR position but we got to see Wilkerson instead. Nixon could develop into something, maybe Wilkerson does, but a true #1 would be making the team not going undrafted or going 242 overall. In regards to that though, do you remember all the speculation when Harris got a total of 4 rushing attempts his rookie season? Don't underestimate BB's ability to develop players at every position.
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Post by voiceofreason on Jan 4, 2022 6:27:10 GMT -5
And I'm pretty sure that Danny got involved to a point while not interfering. I don't believe coach, GM and owners operate solely in silos....and I wouldn't want them to. Yes, they all have principal functions and will not meddle, but in some sense, it is a brain trust. It should be a braintrust, the more eyes you have seeing something and collaborating should lead to better solutions. But having said that I would say owners should not really be part of that equation, they are not experts on playing the game. Just look at the Cowboys with Jerry Jones, he is toxic to the team with his involvement has been detrimental to say the least. BB would never work in that environment. Sure owners control the purse strings and are part of the equation but when it comes to x's and o's they should trust the people they have hired.
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Post by voiceofreason on Jan 3, 2022 7:11:19 GMT -5
I was watching the end of the Dallas, Cardinals game and how Kyler Murray was able to get 1st downs with his legs to run the clock out. I like Mac a lot and his game translates to what the Pats want from their QB but when a QB has that running dimension it is just so hard to stop. The defense can only account for so many things and it is just so hard on 3rd and short to contain a QB with great legs. And given the Pats like to methodically move down the field just picking up 1st downs it would be great to have a guy who added that option.
Hopefully Mac can also be Bradyesque and work hard on his body and athleticism to improve arm strength and maneuverability. I know he will only be able to do so much but incremental growth could add up over time. If Tom can be a better athlete at 40 than he was at 25 then I think Mac can improve a little yr to yr. He did have a good run yesterday and wisely went down a little early. I think that showed his football IQ as he got more than he needed for a first down and wasn't greedy about getting more yards.
On a different note Agholor is scheduled to be a 15 million dollar cap hit next season or the Pats can save 5 million by cutting ties and it will count as 10 million. Right now that seems like a tough decision but I think I would rather save the 5 million and let him go unless he would be willing to take a restructure.
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Post by voiceofreason on Jan 2, 2022 9:39:53 GMT -5
This really helps solidify the secondary moving forward and at a very reasonable price. It seems like he fills all of these rolls very effectively and makes big plays to boot. What makes this all the more important is the chances that Devin calls it a career. Maybe he comes back for one more year if he thinks they will have a solid chance of a Super Bowl run but he will likely retire IMO.
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Post by voiceofreason on Jan 2, 2022 9:27:54 GMT -5
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 28, 2021 13:31:39 GMT -5
I would really love a full-on discussion of whether we should have traded both Beni and Renfroe. Surely we have just scratched the surface of exciting, cogent and original arguments that could be brought to bear on these little-discussed topics. No one should hold back any thought that have ever had about either of these trades. If they have been mentioned before, they may have been forgotten, so it's best to repeat them again, especially if not everyone was convinced by them before. None of us should ever have to go to bed knowing that someone on the internet is wrong. Wrong? Even if you prove your point of view is correct, the person with the other point of view will NEVER capitulate whether it is baseball, religion, or politics. ….and sometimes it is less frustrating to not argue…. UMM, pretty sure that post was meant as a joke....
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 28, 2021 11:49:00 GMT -5
I know what you are referring to and I partially agree, I have seen it upclose on more than one occasion. Friends who were really successful, popular and charismatic approached to run for office by the local operatives. Sometimes by a party that they completely disagreed with, how ironic. People still need to vote though and the integrity of the vote is what must be protected, that I believe is what is important. That is what is being attacked at the moment.
The rich elite have too much to do with who gets elected for sure but that is why Citizens United needs to be revoked. If you take a look at who gets elected and who is pulling their strings it isn't easy to see the negative effects. I mean really is their any doubt that Madison Cauthorn, Lauren Boebert and MTG are in over their heads? I know this reads like I am a staunch Dem but I assure you that is not the case. If I was to handpick the 2016 President it would have been John Kasich. He has a great record as a politician that gets things done and is willing to work across the aisle to do what is best for the people. Something that is unheard of these days and much needed rather than than the sabre rattling of today. He wasn't elected because he lacks charisma, is too matter of fact and doesn't completely bend to the will of the GOP.
The fact is Cauthorn has never even had a real job and Boebert got her GED months before her campaign, they are simply electable mouth pieces. He is handsome and well spoken, she is attractive and promotes guns, that's enough to get those local votes along with the right people behind them.
I am friends with people who are high up on the list of political operatives in my area. I was at many political events for the candidates in 2016 as they were the ones putting them on. One is so influential she had many of these in her barn, it is no ordinary barn. I am only saying this as a way to say yeah I have had just a little bit of an upfront view of politics behind the curtain. And sure this has been going on forever.
But Jimed we have not lost, all is not lost. Once the GOP is not held hostage by Trump they will have the chance to rebound and be a serious party once again. And with the hope that Citizens United is repealed then maybe the playing field won't be controlled by big money interests quite as much. The important thing right now is the integrity of the vote, once that is lost then Democracy is on a very slippery slope.
Last thought in regards to your comment about banks is that white collar crime needs to be addressed. It is a huge problem and nobody ever goes to jail let alone have to truly pay for their misdeeds. That is another subject along with the politicizing of the Supreme Court, sure politics has always been involved but the Federalist Society has been working for 40 years to change the court. They have finally got a pretty strong hold on it and that is not a good thing.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 28, 2021 9:52:50 GMT -5
As I said before the last Bills game, stopping Allen from running the ball is what scares me. And luckily for the Pats in that game he didn't even try all that often but when he did he made things happen and that led to a long drive as Judon lost contain 3 times in that one drive.
Fast forward to this past weeks game. Yes he carved up the secondary but he also ran for 64 yards and got some crucial 3rd and 4th down runs to keep drives alive. That is a nail in the heart of a defense, they can do almost everything right and still give up a 1st down and that sucks as a player. This is what makes Allen so dangerous, his size and running ability on top of having a great arm. The Pats will have to face that for the next decade and it isn't going to be fun.
As for the Pats, this has been a season to build on. There have been some great surprises and a few disappointments, the pros outweigh the cons. But there are some definite holes to fill and they are exasperated by age and free agency going into next yr. Although I fully expect them to use the tag on Jackson so that solves that problem. Hightower has not been great but it creates another need.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 27, 2021 15:08:11 GMT -5
All the talk about facts, alternate facts, fake news and eliminating debate or even questioning anything is an assault on the freedom of speech. Either we can live in a world with state-sponsored media without ever questioning it, or we can be free once again. Facts that are actually facts, can withstand scrutiny. Same with science. If there are a bunch of corrupt liars telling you what the facts are, you better scrutinize it. I tend to question the 'truth' that is told by people who are fighting for the trillions of dollars and unlimited political power that are at stake. That is the exact place where corruption begins and absolutely anything will be said and done to make unlimited gains. Sorry, I was raised to question everything. On all sides. Even when it's uncomfortable. No one can tell me what the facts are without me doing my own research and using the critical reasoning skills that I have developed over a lifetime of questioning everything. What they do to people like me doesn't work because there are a lot more than two sides to absolutely every issue that they try to lump people into over. Or in other words, divide and conquer so that you fight with each other do not notice that the political and financial elite have destroyed everything for their complete takeover of the planet. That's the main fact. Also, things aren't going to be fixed by voting for a different person. They won't even get better. I do more reading and research than I should. I walk around the statue and look at it from all perspectives, reading many points of view. I hardly ever watch anything political as they are all slanted. I prefer to read and have a solid enough foundation of knowledge to know when I am reading something that is slanted or biased. And that goes for both the right and the left. When incandeza says their should be universal agreement that doing everything you can to overthrow an election and push for an insurrection there really isn't much to debate there. Period end of story. Of course this country is built on what you said about questioning, that is why there are checks and balances. As for the elite you are right, their greed is at the root of many problems. We are all entitled to opinions but it isn't our right to accept blatant lies that threaten the country. Like the Big Lie that has so many people on the right believing the election was stolen, it is planting seeds of unrest that could lead to doom. That is not ok. Every court in the land including every single GOP appointee has said as much.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 27, 2021 13:07:59 GMT -5
Apparently you don't care even if you do know. You dropped a turd in the punch bowl and want everyone to ignore it. You had 3 zillion different examples to choose from to illustrate an attorney advocating for a client, but you choose to use the most politically polarizing guy in our time. Brilliant. It baffles me why several posters here simply cannot follow a simple rule. The fifth time a moderator said to keep politics out of this board was not enough? Well now that this is an off-topic thread, let me go ahead and say that it's completely bananas to treat this question as "polarizing" - the question, that is, of whether the results of a presidential election ought to have been overturned, and democracy essentially ended in this country.
It's not actually the case that we never, or shouldn't, mention politics on this board. We can say that racism is bad. Or that it was good that the Allies won WWII. "Free and fair election results should be respected" ought to be one of those completely unobjectionable, uncontested statements. The fact that it isn't is what's so troubling.
You would hope that people would be big enough to admit they were wrong and the man is what his Chief of Staff General Kelly said he was, which is the most flawed human being he has ever met. Or his Secretary of Defense, 4 star General Mattis when he said he was a threat to the Constitution and the country bent on dividing us. Two staunch Republicans by the way. I consider myself an Independent and you are right, facts are facts they aren't debatable but that is what we have in America today, alternative facts. We should be able to discuss policy and people are entitled to their opinions but racism isn't a position that should be debated, their isn't really two sides. There is right and there is wrong. Morality is disappearing.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 27, 2021 12:53:07 GMT -5
Chris I don't know what kind of lawyer you are but there are many that are not the problem with this country and I'm going to guess that you are in that group. I knew you were a lawyer and was not in any way directing that comment at you.
Truth be told you know I am not wrong, lawyers are paid to represent one side in a conflict. That is their job, not working towards what is fair. The better they are at winning the more they make and they create demand for their services. The examples of "being too good" are endless but I get it, they are doing their job.
Keeping it to sports. It is going on right now in baseball but a great example is how they drove up the signing costs for 1st rd picks in the NFL, those guys were great salesman and negotiators. But it was terrible for the sport, terrible for the teams and the NFL did the right thing in changing the system. Bottom line is they used the leverage they had over teams to the extreme.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 19:29:54 GMT -5
Fairness and justice when there are attorneys involved doesn't happen. Lawyers are paid to fight for their clients regardless of fairness or justice and more often than not the deeper pockets win. Justice has become an oxymoron in our country. Just look at all the legal arguments that the Trump loyalists tried to conjure up to keep him in office, the law is forever twisted by the powers that be. But those arguments... failed. So where was the injustice?
Anyway, I am aware this CBA scenario isn't going to happen and lots of unfair stuff happens in society. But I also think we're too quick to put ourselves in a box of thinking in terms of what's feasible; too quick to adopt the cynical knowing stance that limits the scope of our imaginations. It's worth it sometimes to go back to first principles, if for no other reason than to remind ourselves that there really are injustices in the world.
(Okay, that may be a little too lofty an idea for a CBA thread. Consider it a cogitation for the holiday season.)
Take your second thought and apply it to your first. In the imaginations of those who push those lies they have planted a seed that has taken root in millions and are growing. To what end we have yet to see. I know no politics so that's the end of that. It is too bad that what is fair probably won't happen when it comes to the CBA.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 16:33:31 GMT -5
I think the only player that it could be said was good today is Harris. The Pats looked like the team from early in the season that could do very little well. They didn't win many individual battles today and that is disappointing.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 16:07:50 GMT -5
Given the terrible roughing call against the Pats the last time they played the Bills when Allen wasn't even out of bounds. Then the call taken back before the half that turned into 15 yards against netting a 30 yd difference and then what just happened on the roughing and Andrews gets called for jawing again.
BB should say the heck with the fines and call the league out, what a bunch of BS. One bad call after another all at the expense of the Pats.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 15:53:14 GMT -5
Such a soft defensive performance against a team that isn’t very good. In truth Allen is a great QB so they are good. But they haven't been able to put much pressure on him and it drives me nuts to watch him just sit back there. We need a turn over now.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 15:32:22 GMT -5
It's interesting to think about what would happen if a CBA were established based on basic principles of fairness and justice, rather than just an ad hoc jury-rigged legal contraption anchored to status quo bias and the power of ownership. Like what would the system look like if everything were based upon these two principles: 1) People should be free to enter into whatever sort of contracts they want (with a minimum wage floor to prevent exploitation and unfair advantage to players who come from wealthier families). 2) MLB should aim for competitive balance among all teams. First, institute a very high level of revenue sharing. Second, you'd get rid of the draft entirely. It's really an abomination from the perspective of basic principles of justice and fairness. Instead teams and players would be free to enter into any sort of contract they'd like. But to maintain competitive balance each team would be able to spend only a fixed amount of money. The total pool would be set by an independent arbiter based on the actual value of all potential free agents - not the current artificially suppressed draft slot levels - along the lines of something like this analysis. There'd be lots of interesting approaches to the amateur free agent market. Some players would prefer guaranteed long-term contracts (10 year/$2 million contracts, that sort of thing); others might want highly incentive-laden deals. Teams would want enough years of control to last into a player's potential major league career, obviously, but there would be endless possible permutations in how they'd approach it: some would go all in on a small number of guys, others would spread their money around, etc.
Extensions could be offered at any point in a player's minor league career so that they'd have a chance at more guaranteed money just by improving their prospect status. The art of team resource allocation would be fascinating. Having given this multiple minutes of thought, I'm convinced it's the only system that would really be fair, and would also be very cool from a fan's perspective.
Fairness and justice when there are attorneys involved doesn't happen. Lawyers are paid to fight for their clients regardless of fairness or justice and more often than not the deeper pockets win. Justice has become an oxymoron in our country. Just look at all the legal arguments that the Trump loyalists tried to conjure up to keep him in office, the law is forever twisted by the powers that be.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 15:05:53 GMT -5
This passing offense is just not good enough to win a game where you need to rely on it. That goes for all three parts of it—the blocking, the receivers, and yes, the quarterback. Obviously and very sad.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 15:04:57 GMT -5
Maybe they just read my post
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 26, 2021 15:04:17 GMT -5
If the throw by Brady back in the Super Bowl against the Giants was an intentional grounding that was too, he was in between the tackles. The refs are having an epically bad day.
Beyond that the Patriots are being out physicaled on just about every play at every position and nothing makes me wilder. They are showing zero fight.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 25, 2021 11:43:31 GMT -5
They could do something like the NBA does with Bird rights contracts. If there was limits to the caps and limits to the amount that didn't count against the caps it could be a solution for guys staying with their original team. If teams received compensation draft picks and something like the posting fee that Japanese teams get they could make it worthwhile for the small market teams. That along with a salary floor would help. It seems to me that owning a team is a cash cow of a business and some owners are just making loads of money without trying to field a competitive team. That is a problem.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 25, 2021 5:21:18 GMT -5
Admittedly, I'm terrible at predictions. But thinking NOBODY could possibly take me seriously when I suggested that the Cs trade Tatum if they don't sign Harry Giles, seemed like a sure thing. Alas, I was wrong again. Hahaha you got me!!
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 25, 2021 5:16:17 GMT -5
Here's a quote from player rep Max Scherzer: I'm impressed with the guy. He's gotten his contract, but he also has a clear understanding of what's needed if ownership truly expects to get more talent to sign up. MLB either wants to compete with other pro sport leagues or it doesn't. Stiffing young players and then casting them aside is not the route to that end. When he says competition I don't think he is talking about other sports. Wouldn't he be talking about competition in MLB?
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 24, 2021 10:23:56 GMT -5
With Enes Freedom now joining the Covid list (per Shams), not signing Harry Giles would be a clear indication that they don't like Jayson Tatum (or, quite frankly, me) and will be trading him soon. Trade Tatum??? For what the #1 pick in the draft plus another 2? And just start over again? I just don't see it, he is still only 23 and a couple years away from his peak. Not many guys accomplish what he has this early in his career and the ones that do go on to being top 5 players. For his age group he is top 5 right now and those guys don't come around very often. I might be giving up on this team this year but I am a long ways from giving up on Tatum and I don't think the Giles thing is a sign that the C's are either. Put a guy like Jimmy Butler on this team and everything changes, he wouldn't put up with the losing. It is a bit much to expect a 23 yr old player to be that guy yet. He can't yet demand the type of play that Butler does. Smart tries but he isn't a great enough player to demand what Butler does, he just doesn't have the cache and might actually be a big part of the problem. I wouldn't be surprised if both J's privately would like him gone.
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 24, 2021 9:50:21 GMT -5
When you say go for it I think, go for what? A playoff spot? Beyond that they aren't going for anything with this team. So I am looking at the future right now. Smart, Schroeder and Richardson would all help a contending team to one degree or another so they have more value to someone else than they do for us unless you are satisfied with just getting into the playoffs. Myself I would rather play the young guys and tank a bit to get into the lottery. If the pick needs to be included to get a potential 3rd star I would do that in a minute as I am tired of the maybe prospects in the teen position picks. Brown and Williams have both shown to have some health issues that could effect their careers. Anything to do with knees and legs this early in a career is cause for concern, for me anyways. No not a playoff spot, like a move that makes you a true contender. I don't see anything happening that would make them a true contender this year. What do you see that could actually happen?
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Post by voiceofreason on Dec 23, 2021 7:24:16 GMT -5
To both of you in regards to the late 1st picks. I don't see it that way and as I said in my original post it is still kind of a crapshoot. Heck the teens are also. Just look at all the C's picks from that bounty they had and what they have gotten. Like I said in the original post, if you have 3 you have a chance that 1 ends up being a real player or maybe 2 role players. This graph below supports that as it looks like 1 in 3 amounts to anything, . And if you are a really good team with aspirations of winning it all do you care about the 25th pick in the draft? no!! And the chances that player is going to be as good as Smart or Schroeder are about 15%. Read the comments in the far right column. www.82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm
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