CodeMonkey

Also ... 1) Already used to game planning for twice a year meetings with the fish and the pats*. 2) Who better to game plan against the jests for those 2 games a year? 3) Should be a big help to the OC for planning against the jests as well. Plus as you mentioned, almost anything after the dismal failure that was Wanny would be an improvement. There are potential red flags, but my feeling is the potential upsides outweigh them.

I personally am ready for the end of an era. The last 13 year era of futility.

In the south it is insane. I was in a town in Texas some years back and people on Friday told me if I wanted to eat dinner that night I would probably need to go to the high school stadium (and yes indeed it was a stadium). Not much else was open during a home game. It is crazy popular down south.

Very well stated. My 6th grade daughter has a gift when it comes to basketball. The high school coaches noticed her at the start of this years travel season, the JV coach has been working with her individually and the varsity coach invited her to play on his 8/9/10 grade AAU (similar to the club teams you mention) this past Spring. Now that she is playing at this level doors are opening and I am seeing numerous opportunities for her that I never even knew existed before. It is very easy to get caught up in it all and forget that she is still only 12 years old. We are limiting her summer basketball to *only* 2 camps and 2 summer leagues. It is amazing how much is out there. I agree with you that kids sports have changed over the years. The top kids programs have cuts as young as 4th or even 3rd grade now. If you don't start them playing practically at birth any more they are at a big disadvantage. And coaches tend to discourage participation in other sports if your child wants to play at an advanced level in their sport, as early as 4th or 5th grade. My daughter has been skiing with her mother from about the time she could stand. She loves it. You should see the looks on the basketball coaches faces when that subject comes up ... priceless Kids, here at least, still play pick up sports. The local basketball courts are generally well used, kids also play street hockey, lacrosse, and soccer for example. We used to play street football when I was a kid but I don't see kids in my neighborhood at least playing that. I think if there are enough kids of roughly the same age in an area, they are still likely to play pick up sports of some kind. The trick a lot of the time is getting them together and having some place to play.

There has to be a lot of down time at camp. Seems like a good way to relax and get to know your new teammates to me.

They probably already are ... insight into the Jests offense in general and Sanchize in particular. I agree that is was a good move for them, as much as saying that makes me want to wash my mouth out with soap.

A sign of a good father I agree that is how it is today. Not to say it will be that way in the future. I think it will change. Of course my crystal ball is not always accurate.

Everyone is different. For example I find baseball excruciatingly boring to watch at any level.

Pettine is out on his own now. It won't take long to see what he is made of.

Minor sport? Don't get outside the US much I gather Actually calling the MLS a minor league is overstating the quality of the MLS in my opinion. And that clearly has to change if it is going to catch on in the US. Agree completely. I don't think MMA has any gratuitous violence, it just is violence in a raw form. Boxing is as well, but just watered down. I can't watch very much of either. Boxing I generally find boring, and MMA is just guys brawling. The only link to Martial Arts in it is a few of the submission holds that they use. But, if one of the competitors becomes defenseless they stop the fight immediately. Which was my initial point.

MMA doesn't allow free and clear shots on a defenseless competitor either.

I understand your point. However quality soccer in the US is about to get a boost in TV availability. http://sportsillustr...bc-tv-coverage/ Basically NBC airing every game of the upcoming English Premier League season. The next step is going to have to be getting quality professional soccer in the US. MLS is a joke. But hey, it's a start

I think 20 years is too soon unless something catastrophic happens. But football is not getting more popular. The trend is that fewer kids are playing nationwide and that is likely to continue. As they grow to adults it is likely that football will get less popular. And it is only popular in the US to begin with. However I don't think it will ever die completely so long as there are parents willing to let their kids play (Texas and Oklahoma for example where high school football is a religion). It will probably just drop behind some of the other sports. Also, I feel it is almost inevitable that the US catch up to the rest of the world when it comes to playing and being fans of soccer (real football). My prediction, FWIW, is that football (soccer) will eventually surpass tackle football for popularity in the US. For that to happen in 20 years, as I previously stated, seems unlikely without some big event happening.

So he was at all the workouts without his contract signed? Is that normal for rookies?

I see what you mean now and agree. But blackouts are just a sore spot for me in general

Exactly.

I disagree completely. As long as the team gets tax breaks, governments pay for stadiums, or supply police or any other perks given to NFL teams free of charge, the people paying for all these perks via their taxes should have the right to watch the game on TV if they so choose even if the local team is selling less beer due to empty seats in the stadium.

It's a business decision pure and simple. Byrd needs to maximize his money because as eball rightly points out, this is more than likely the most important contract he will sign in his professional life. It has nothing to do with being an a-hole, or not a team player, or a locker room cancer or any of the other clichés often thrown around. It's simply business.

Though based on last years play it seemed that may have been Wannys pregame speech

Why not. They already have a coach for every possible position. Why not a head coach - coach.

What's next .... a no underwear rule to prevent underwear bombs? What are they really trying to discourage, people bringing in their own food and beverages?

To me this is just that they do not believe Geno will be ready to start on week one. So they will use Sanchez at first and Geno for some situations/packages. Then as Geno catches on and gets more comfortable the situations/packages he is in for grows until Sanchez is holding the clipboard. If it was the Bills doing this, the thread would be about how Marrone was a genius for bringing EJ along slowly

I agree with you about the commish. He definitely is on a crusade.

This post strikes me a monumentally naive. Say a team, for example, goes 13 years and counting without making the post season. If it happens again the next season and the GM goes to the owner and says "yes we were out of the playoffs yet again, but we have all character guys with no one being arrested, or accused of beating their wives and that is the important thing". Will the owner, or for that matter the teams fans, give that GM a pass or do they give him the boot? Character and ability are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But even so, you still have to remember that this is only football. A game where big strong fast men run around and violently knock each other down. There is no reason, in my opinion, to expect and certainly not demand that they live their lives by any ones measure other than their own. As long as what they do does not affect their ability to perform, their lives are their lives. And a team, and without any doubt the teams fans, have no right to expect any more than that. For some reason there are people that put football on a pedestal and think everyone involved needs to be Mother Theresa off the field. News flash, they don't. And this silly (again in my opinion) expectation is what needs to change.

I can see Mr. Wilson now ... "He did not dress for even 1 game and I gave him how much money?" A strange situation to be sure, but at the end of the day I have to believe that Kolb + EJ > Fitz + Pigpen so it's all good.