UConn James

The trailer of this looked great. Wasn't expecting that level of cinematography or acting. It has quite a cast --- better than I would've thought considering many in Hollywood wouldn't touch this with 20-foot pole. Wonder how many theatres are actually going to show it.

That may be a valid opinion right now, especially given Purple's methods. As I remember, tho, seasons didn't usually get really interesting until the merge. Everything that has been on a low simmer in the camps starts to boil over --- fast. It begins the making and breaking of alliances. Backstabs, frontstabs, double-crosses, immunity challenges that have more meaning and see more effort. People start to root for their favorite player rather than a favorite group of players.

I think you may very well be the only viewer with that opinion. Redemption Island has been awesome, and allows someone who got completely railroaded --- like Matt or Russell --- an opportunity to stay alive. I think you're alone on this. I don't think there's a chance in hell that Philip doesn't align with Purple.... unless the combination of Rob's idol plus a personal immunity for a Rob-alliance makes it necessary for him to stick for pure numbers, and he can convince Rob to wipe out Purple first. Personally, I don't think that happens. I don't see how Philip survives next week.

Uhhh... Luke is deaf, not retarded. But, yes, that was a very heartwarming moment.

OK, I'm writing this post in Word as the episode is airing. If you don't like this, I don't know what to tell ya. Stephanie shooting her mouth off about her first food list: "You're killin' me, smalls!" Rob on Philip: "He's the most unaware person I've ever met." Well, it apparent that Rob has never met my mother. The tile-matching game on Redemption was sweet. The concept of this second-chance place is great. Stephanie had some very pertinent comments before she left. I never questioned her ability about strategy, just how she chose to play the game right at the start, which really haunted / screwed her over the whole time with Purple. Absolutely right what she said to Rob; Yellow or the merged tribe will be looking to take him out at first chance. I wrote the same thing last week. Now Philip has this seed planted inside him, as well as the two Purple members. Rob has got to be planning on targeting Philip right now. And yep... "If he asks me straight up who to vote for, I'll say, 'Yaknow what, Philip? *You're* goin' home. I'll front-side him!'" LOL! Purple started talking / dividing right away. Dave is on the outside looking in here at the start. We'll see how anything changes as the immunity challenge is played. If they do vote him out, Purple is continuing down the wrong road, and whoever is left is not going to stand a friggin' chance once the merge comes. I think Yellow might actually throw the challenge to get rid of Philip. Not certain, but it's possible. I think they could hold out another week with him, just to still be one-up on Purple. Sarita in the challenge... wow. Slowness on the first bag, then they recovered. Gotta say that my heart was pumping during that. Grant earned some more brownie points there. He is a serious competitor in the challenges. Makes me wonder whether Rob might go after him after (or before?) the consensus Philip, so as to avoid having to face him after the merge. Loyalty-wise, tho, Rob has him wrapped around his little finger. Rob getting and disposing of the clue --- LOL! The Yellows are very naive. Now there is some waffling on Purple. David or Sarita? Strength or loyalty? Wow, Ralph in the tribal --- STOOOOPID! Doesn't know what cohesiveness is, and would rather have guys who don't get along well but are individually strong. If they keep Sarita, they are done. "I wish I'd brought my stuff..." What a complete sh--head. Matt has almost a sure victory next week on Redemption. Merge apparently happens after Redemption next week. Now it's really on! This changes the whole dynamic up to this point. If Philip and Matt could be turned to the remnants of Purple --- not out of the question --- there's a HUGE target on Rob. Just like Stephanie said. The ace in his pocket is that he has the idol. But he has to know when to use it, and once it's gone, I imagine that people in Yellow are going to be a little pissed that he led them on, especially Grant. I think he has to tell Grant, at least.

Agreed, for the simple fact that it would much more closely establish a true National Champion, rather than depending on man, beast or computer to conjure one. No excuses, just win. But to think there wouldn't be just as much --- or a lot more --- shenanigans with the $ surrounding it is specious. The NCAA really needs to develop a plan for those athletes who don't care about school and would rather have remuneration instead of an academic scholarship. Or perhaps, set aside some portion of the profits that will be payable to players after their college career, or into a retirement account? It's sick that the kids who play the game get less and less a percentage back through tuition/room/board on what they produce for their U... while fat cat administrators/boosters/pols stuff themselves and get lap dances.

That Scum-Sentinel link upthread about Ponder had extensive clips of plays that went well, and ones that went wrong for one reason or another (often WR/TE drops, but a couple examples of throwing into coverage). I'd say that was about as extensive and fair a review as you're going to find. They have not done one on Gabbert, yet, but the Oklahoma LB they interviewed, Tom Wort, said that, no disrespect to Ponder, but Gabbert was a tougher QB to face b/c the system he was in was damn near tailored to him, along with the team he had around him. Take that for what it's worth.

Thank you for informing me about what my previously unstated opinions are. What are my opinions about refrigerator magnets? You olive bigot!

Watching that game film, there were a lot of drops where the ball was either in the numbers or entirely catchable and *boink*. On one of them, there was no one within 20 yards of one TE, it hit him in the breadbasket in stride and *boink*. That's very surprising for FSU, given their prime location to pick up WRs. Was it an issue of the stable being depleted b/c of Bowden's expiring time there... even with Jimbo in place as the heir apparent? That was his ugliest game. Then again, look to what the LB Wort said. It wasn't really anything Ponder himself didn't do. Oklahoma's (and BC's) defense knew exactly what was coming b/c of the simplicity of the Fisher's FSU O. Look at how Ponder did in the Senior Bowl, surrounded by quality players, and under a couple of weeks with Chan Gailey. Regardless who is picked (or if a QB is picked), it will probably be with a lot of input from Gailey and who he feels he can work with at the most important position. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt after what he did with K. Stewart, Thigpen, etc. If he put those guys in the best position to succeed and turned crap into gold, I'd like to see what Chan can turn silver into. Whether that's Newton, Gabbert, Ponder or some UDFA.... Not to mention what he can do with Fitz given the full calender (if there is one). Kaepernick is probably more like a 4th. I don't really care what mocks say. He needs a lot of work. Kids like him drop all the time.

Dexter, don't you have a soldier's funeral to picket?

There's an extensive write-up on Ponder (with video inserts) here. Sure, it's from the Scum-Sentinel, but nevertheless.... Basically says that Ponder doesn't have a world-class arm, especially after some injuries, but he's got enough to get it where he needs it (hence some comparisons to Chad Pennington); there are some durability issues. I don't know how much the injury status has changed in the past couple of months as he's healed fully, but he has shot back up the draft boards to rd 1-2 from rd 3 iirc. It's questionable whether he'll still be there at the Bills #2. His accuracy is better than most b/c of good footwork and balance... something this article suggests Kaepernick, who takes big strides for his throws, doesn't have. For a bigger kid, he can use his legs, and is very good at throwing on the run, in either direction. It's improved, but still needs work on pocket presence and ability to feel pressure. Florida State ran a pro-style offense, but it was a Jimbo Fisher simplification, so while he may be more prepared for the transition to the NFL than many of the other QBs, it's not like he's making a sideways move. Then again, Ponder graduated in finance in 2 1/2 years at FSU, so I think he's got it in him to be able to learn an NFL playbook. One of the LBs Ponder faced, Oklahoma’s Tom Wort, says that Ponder doesn't give away plays with his eyes or stare down his receivers until he's throwing. Said that the defense knew the plays from Fisher's simplified offense, rather than being able to read Ponder. Wort said that he suspects BC was able to do the same for Fisher's offense --- those refined defenses were FSU's two losses in 2010. Especially last year, he improved the ability to look off defenders. High character guy. Works on the areas that he's deficient, very teachable. Does need to learn to progress from his initial read and primary receiver. Will sometimes force throws into traffic. Ponder didn't have very good receivers at FSU, and in his sophomore season (his 55% completion year) didn't have a good OL. There have been other distractions at FSU in his time there, including a fight among coaches on a team plane after the Boston College loss amid accusations of racism. His toughness is not questioned; played through injuries, does not slide when running (this will need to change in the NFL).

Majority on court seem skeptical of supplemental campaign grants

Let me conjure Tom's replies.... Hamlet: If he'd formed a workable strategy, he'd be King of Denmark and be banging Ophelia. Instead, he couldn't make a decision and stick with it, so the idiot took a dirt nap. Lord of the Rings: Not more f---ing elves! 1984: I once knew a guy named Winston Smith. He was a dumbass. But at least he could afford razor blades.

Link There's too much machination behind these laws for me to be comfortable. When Malloy got the governor nomination in CT, the Dem legislature then increased the financing to $6M. What's to stop a majority legislature from increasing public financing by fiat? Beyond concerns for the application of the laws, why should taxpayers be forced to foot campaigns out of the general fund, especially now? This is like giving Pepsi money to run ads against Coke just because Coke puts money into its marketing dept. Based on the court's recent campaign financing rulings, it's tough to picture these laws coming out unscathed.

So the "ancients" had audio spectrometers that could detect specific measurements of wavelengths... but they were still wiping their asses with their hands. Hmm. Unless by "ancients" she means people from the commune she was at in 2004... who wiped their asses with their hands.

It's a lot more than frustrating, AJ. It's a serious physical challenge. Most of those cups were gone by the end, and some teams had gotten it very early on. I wouldn't be surprised if Luke had drank 200 cups. At that point, it's not a matter of having to pee. The body is not like a sieve where liquids go out as fast as they go in. I'm really not over-exaggerating the effects when I say people have died from excessive fluid intake, even over several hours. Most notably in the past few years was a radio station that held a contest for a Wii. I really hope AR had medical personnel on site who could regulate intake, but I'm really not sure of that. The Globetrotter and Mallory were actually being very smart about it, and they dribbled a lot of tea onto their shirts. In one shot, you could see the Globetrotter just spitting it out. Luke, otoh, was really drinking all the tea. For the groups who didn't get it right away, this challenge was right up there with the 'find the plastic food sample' challenge in Japan last season. That was brutal. But to top it here, you can't really puke up much water once it's in your system. Like I wrote, I really hope they had a medical consultant. Water is looked at as generally innocuous in the public consciousness. But like a lot of things, not getting enough can kill you but too much can kill you, too. But with it, comes the risk of getting lost. The elephant doesn't move.

How rude was it that ALL of the teams were commenting about still being in China? Several years ago, I got into the habit of 4 p.m. tea time with a British-emigre couple I worked for during a summer. Being of partial Dutch heritage also, it was a callback to time spent at my grandparents'. Since then I've often taken 4 p.m. tea as a kind of communion, and have gone from classic Lipton decaf to a green tea period and now I'm really sticking with a Celestial Seasons Vanilla flavor. Really, if I were only allowed one flavor to have for the rest of my life it would be vanilla. Ice cream (Hood Vanilla Bean; Vanilla Coke (THE best).... Rest assured though, that I would probably go as nuts as Luke if forced to drink that much. I mean, seriously, people have died from drinking excessive amounts of liquids. It was nice to see the Indian guys rally around Luke and cheer him on at the end there. It's something you see in this kind of show that the people who have to judge a challenge have to be kind of stoic and not play favorites, but that was a thing of basic humanity. How dumb was that of Jen and Kisha --- didn't even open the bottle! Also nice that now, right at the end, they just gave Luke a nice chance to sign his thoughts. It's really great that AR hasn't been afraid of casting people with disabilities --- showing proof positive that they can handle stresses that even "normal" people have a hard time with --- and then they haven't been afraid of holding them to the same standards of the Race that they hold for everyone else.

No, he didn't hold on FGs. Probably b/c he was kicking them. As I wrote, Henery did double duty --- punting and kicking --- at Nebraska. There is certainly a back-up holder. Can't find it anywhere but IIRC, it's Fred Jackson.

Hmm. I had seen him listed as a 3rd not too long ago.... Seems like any concern about his elbow injury later in the year is gone now. I wouldn't be angry if we spent the #2 on him and let him learn from Fitzy for a year or two. Speaks well of his ability to get a playbook that he graduated in finance in 2 1/2 years. Ponder is probably the safest bet of any of the QBs this year.

I'd posit Christian Ponder out of FSU. He worked very well with Chan at the Senior Bowl.

There are many compensatory picks allotted each draft, based on how many unrestricted free agents a team lost versus signed. There's a small group that determines the values of the loss (based on several factors, e.g. size of UFA contract, playing time during the year, etc.) and sets the comp picks accordingly. You get that Lynch was traded to the Seahags, right? No compensatory picks for trades, as there's already been compensation.

Yeah, since it's basically a way to ensure you get a chance at a player who might see a better opportunity elsewhere as an UDFA, I was thinking along these lines as well. I've heard good things about the kid from Nebraska, Alex Henery, who can do double duty as a kicker AND punter. He averaged 43.9 yards last season, and had 26 dropped inside the 20, and made 89.5% of FGs in his career. Even if he concentrates on just one --- punting for us, as Moorman has really hit a wall and Lindell has done a very good job including from 50+ the past few seasons --- it's always nice to have a backup if Lindell should get injured. There is the possibility that eventually, he may be able to do both and save a roster spot. That might be a little risky, but remember how Billicheat had that punter who was the 3rd QB? Would allow you keep an extra LB or OL. This kid is projecting to the 4th according to this site, but it's always a crapshoot when kickers or punters will be chosen. The kid from Ohio State a few years back was supposed to be the Second Coming of Nick Lowery, was taken in the 2nd by the Jests and did a lot of nothing. That may have put off a lot of teams from selecting a kicker until late b/c the transition to the NFL, to excuse the wordplay, is hit or miss. Even if it is, say, the 5th round I'd be interested in getting Henery just for those coffin corners and pinbacks. As much as he did for this team for 10-11 years, Moorman just didn't look like the same guy --- wasn't hitting on his placements, had several gimmes that went in for touchbacks and even the inside-the-20s he got were mostly just inside the 20. My overall recollection last season was him unbuttoning his chinstrap and angrily flinging it to the other side. The one area I'm loathe to let go of him from is holding for Lindell's kicks, but that's just not enough to justify his spot. Chan should bring in a challenger to camp, as is usual, and if we're doing that it may as well be someone who has a chance to unseat, rather than it being a courtesy to some local kid from UBuff or Syracuse.

No real conspiracy. They probably just watched and said, "This dude is totally batsh-- crazy. [pause] Let's cast him!" The challenges are really skillset-dependent. I wouldn't automatically count purple out. Once the merge comes, a number of the things that are simmering right now look like they're going to boil over. For one, once Rob uses that idol he's going to be a marked man and will likely have to win individual immunity. Grant, especially, is going to be pissed.

What does one have to do to get the title "futurist"?

Stephanie may talk a big game, but she really hasn't been very productive in the challenges. In the blindfold & word puzzle game, she had the main word minutes before Rob and couldn't come up with two small middle words even as Rob had a piece laying on the ground. Last night she was very unimpressive in deploying the ball. Yellow (Natalie) kept going to Grant, a former NFL player. Purple has their own former NFLer in Steve, and I don't think he wasn't even among her targets. Just from their configuration of who was placed where (they chose their pole assignments), purple had no chance in that challenge. I wouldn't have voted Sereta off just because she opted out, but that didn't help her case. Going into next week, her ability with her tooth situation is a concern.