TheBrownBear

What a picture of her and Damar! I'm not a particularly religious person, but those are two, honest-to-God, miracles. She clearly has a long way to go in her recovery, but it's so heartening to see her out in public again.

The anonymous exec was Brandon Beane himself. Keeping Josh humble, and can reference it in Josh's next extension negotiation. 4D chess, ya see?

This is correct, but I chafe at the idea that they are either/or, or that one is inherently good and the other inherently bad. Sometimes circumstances demand one type of governmental intervention over the other (or even both at the same time). And while Biden is generally more of a demand-side intervention type, the Third Way democrats (Clinton/Gore, Obama) were generally pro-business and minimal regulations (i.e., supply side) guys. I'm not saying you're explicitly doing this here, but just wanted to point out that there is a lot of nuance when it comes to economics that goes over many people's heads.

I agree that unions are far from perfect, and like any large organization/bureaucracy are susceptible to corruption and pure incompetence, and the tendency towards preserving itself as opposed to focusing on its stated founding principles. And I do believe, as my retired labor leader Dad often complains, that they lost focus on their overall goal of protecting and expanding workers' rights, in favor of targeting their resources towards getting Democrats elected, regardless of what said Dem actually promised and delivered for workers. I do understand that instinct, however, since Republicans have long been completely oppositional to rights for your working Joe. But in doing so, they also opened their leadership doors to Leftist ideologues to organize and run their political efforts - people who never broke a sweat in their lives and often viewed the people they were meant to represent with disdain.

First off, just to declare my political positionality - I'm a registered Dem and have pretty much voted straight Dem in every election since 2000 outside of voting for one Republican for a state controller position, and voting Green a few times. I'm an economic liberal, social libertarian, but very much anti-identity politics/new-Left. With regard to Vance, history will eventually tell the story, but I don't buy him to be a pure "yes man." I think he shrewdly (or cynically) played the Trumpian angle for political access and power, and he can justify it to himself because Trump, at least in rhetoric, has positioned himself as a working class populist politician. I see him, essentially, as a "Blue Dog" Democrat. I grew up in Buffalo in a working class family that slowly rose up the economic ladder in large part because of good union jobs, so if Vance can actually shift Republican policy towards a more pro-union position (or at least not the traditional knee-jerk oppositional stance), I consider that a good thing for your average American in general. Overall, I'm intrigued by the potential realignment of the Republican party, especially if/when they can rid themselves of Trump and deranged sh*t-stirrers like the MTGs and Boeberts. Holy cow, brother. This couldn't be further from the truth. Your average union worker isn't looking to increase wages so they can jet-set and buy boats and fancy cars. They just want to be able to buy a small home in a safe neighborhood, not sweat every essential payment they make, afford to take care of themselves or loved ones should the worse happen with regards to their health, and maybe, just maybe retire in dignity by the age of 70.

Correct. The mistake is made when you choose to drive your automobile to a place where you know you are going to be drinking. If I know I might have a drink or two, I leave the car at home and take an Uber or the trolley (here in SD).

I'm over it. I really don't give a flip about the national narrative at this point. We know our guy is a generational/GOAT-level talent. We just need the entire team, particularly the defense and coaching, to sack up and help him get it done in the playoffs for once.

I've got to be honest, I've never really liked many players who weren't Bills. As far as guys that felt like "must watch" entertainment to me: Barry Sanders, LT, Bo, peak Randall Cunningham, Neon Deon, Randy Moss, early Jevon Kearse, Faulk, Jerry Rice, Favre, peak-Gronk. One guy I always admired was Troy Brown. Got a lot out of his abilities.

11th??? Poor guy. Can barely afford the greens fees at Pebble Beach.

And opposition kickers actually made 95% of kicks in Orchard Park, and all of them from 55-65 yards.

Josh and his new no. 1 receiver building on field chemistry.

I agree. I like Kincaid and Shakir, but I'm not bullish on this group. But...you can only do so much when you're in cap hell. Beane at least attempted to address the boundary wide receiver issue with the drafting of Coleman and signing of MVS and Claypool. These guys might all end up sucking, but he didn't ignore it completely. And I'm guessing Beane is sort of rolling the dice this year with plans to address it in 2025 when we have both draft capital and cap room to work with.

JuJu was coming off his age 26 season when the Chiefs let him walk. Chase Claypool is entering his age 26 season. You're right that JuJu wasn't anything special with the Chiefs, and they were smart not to re-sign him. Even then, I'd be ecstatic if we got similar production from Claypool this season (950 yards, 3 TDs). And if Claypool does that, given his past issues, you let him walk as well. One (or both) of two things need to occur for me to consider re-signing Claypool in 2025 (assuming he even makes the team): He puts up legitimate top-10 receiving numbers and shows elite, difference-making talent on the field, OR he puts up solid numbers and he really proves to the staff that his attitude is a thing of the past and he emerges as a beloved teammate and team leader in the receiving room.

His smoothness as a route runner and receiver is his elite skill. When he's locked in, it's a beautiful thing to watch. It made his lapses last year all the more frustrating, because we know how elite he can be in this department. Last season was in no way average. 1500+ yards (4.7 ypc, 10+ ypr) is elite in this day and age for an NFL running back.

My initial reaction was, "Shaw, my man, you are insane", but I somehow overlooked that he racked up 1500 yards and was third among running backs in YFS in 2023. Those are some very impressive numbers. I'll still say no, for now. He needs to put together at least one more season in the 1300-1500 range and prove his durability. I think he's a nice player. Smooth catcher of the ball (when he isn't dropping gimmes). Nice speed at the second level. But nothing about him particularly stands out to me as special compared to guys like OJ, Thurman, Cribbs, Henry, Lynch, etc. Cook's about on Spiller's level at this point.