UConn James

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.

From Jeff Probst's blog: Purple is definitely in trouble now. Obviously, if they can't win challenges.... This is the point where the Big-6 alliance has to break apart as it forms sub-groups that Krista pointed out at tribal last week. They're all going to have to work it to set some things up in case they lose. Yellow pretty much knows who it's going to vote off next (Philip). The day before/of the challenge is going to be critical for purple. Those divisions can really creep into how the tribe performs for immunity --- for good or bad. The circumstances of Russell's departure did play into it; it would be foolish to say otherwise. But I also think that wasn't where purple went wrong. Nor could it have been different based on the personalities they have in that tribe. As I believe AJ wrote, the only avenue Russell has left for any future Survivor is in an All-Stars edition. His reputation is an albatross that needs to be among other people with albatrosses to have a fair shot. I'm not sure why he agreed to appear in a season with a bunch of noobs. Rob has managed to control his group so far, perhaps b/c it has a number of somewhat naive youngsters. Neverthless, I think their unspoken strategy may well be that once the merge hits and it's "every man for himself," they take out purple's remnants and then backstab Rob the first chance they get. His idol has some significance, and the fact that he's managed to keep it secret so far is very much in his favor. As soon as he hears whispers.... Probst also defends "spa day" in this post.

As Matt and Christa were reading their bible, Natalie and Ashley were THIS ][ short of breaking out into soft-core porn. Philip had a big problem with this. I say, "Shut the ---- up, Philip! Grab a water, sit back and enjoy!" Instead, it's up to Rob to explain, "They're girls!" That's kind of sexist of him (OK, at least it's less sexist than what I just wrote...). Meanwhile, Sereta was apparently dumb enough to brush her teeth with a stick. You really can't go 39 days without brushing? Grant was the man in the challenge --- showing what got him into the NFL --- while the other dude was ripping his shirt off. What the hell was with that? Stephanie was trying to finagle her way ahead of Sereta in the pecking order. It didn't work. So apparently, purple is willing to take an injured player into the next challenge. They had been playing smart right up until tonight. Now there's division in their ranks, ostensibly with the Sereta voters vs. Dave. Matt again survived on Redemption Island. Really strong player, and I'll take odds that he's going to get back in, probably at the merge. But at that point, he may well have to ally with Yellow again.

Also, I caught "Limitless" a couple of days ago. It was entertaining enough, but it got a little draggy. I don't understand why the character doesn't go to Vegas and clean up instead of borrowing cash from a Russian mobster, but then that would preclude an action plot element. Its ending was morally bankrupt. Pale-fonted for spoilerage: He faced no prosecution for possibly killing the model (says he doesn't remember b/c he was on the ZMT(?) --- yeah, that's a great excuse!), he's ostensibly on a cleaner/purer version of the drug (that makes it OK to use drugs?), and worst of all [shudder] --- he's running for the U.S. Senate!

I'm a picky eater myself, but I'd be OK with the popcorn in a bag if it were unflavored or something like kettle corn. But, yeah, the butter mixture they put on that stuff is highly suspect in a LOSTian "DHARMA Ranch Dressing doesn't need to be refrigerated" kind of way. On the relatively rare occasion I make popcorn here, it's the Boy Scout plain kernels in the hot air popper, with some melted butter (real butter from a stick like Julia Child), some black pepper and a bit of Kraft parmesan. I don't like anyone eating on the sofa, tho; that's the reason it's rare.

I'm sorry, but you can't write something like that and then not offer an explanation (or expect that one will not be demanded)!

Cara was a tough read. I wouldn't say that I didn't like her. Her personality was pretty much subsumed by Jamie's.

Democrats were against "offense is the best defense" before they were for it.

I've only caught the odd episode and the finale in the past couple of seasons....

Or, his tantrums and unawareness will cause actual bodily harm. He nearly closed a car door on Christina's legs last night. I'll agree on your first two, and then go with LaKisha and Jennifer --- they've been quiet so far (not a bad thing) and I don't recall them doing badly on any challenges. How was that with the Cowboys last night, dead-lifting the solar panel boxes at both ends, one in each hand. Very obviously, none of the other teams was acquainted with manual labor. The Globetrotters strapped 'em on their backs in a way that just invites injury, and the others had absolutely no idea how to move heavy items. Need to squat and lift the weight with your thighs! What'd Jed/Cord say --- 'Control that burn!'?

Lot of stuff went down in this ep --- too much for me to even want to try recapping. It's hard to even keep track of who was in what place last time and where they are now. Not a fan of the "you're still racing!" concept. So in the aftermath of the continuation, all hell breaks loose. Kent and Vixen went from almost hopelessly last to contending. That really sucked that they used the U-turn... but I understand it strategically. Such bad luck for Jamie and Cara to have their driver stop for gas to really screw them over for the second time to end a race. If they aren't delayed there, they don't get U'd. But it may not have made a difference given the last task. But I can understand what aj (I think it was aj) wrote at the start that Jamie loses some of her allure when you see her personality. I realize that travel and a race like this can bring out a lot of stress, but there's just the little brusk / offhand comments from her. Also come to realize just how much of her from, say, that recent NFL photo set, is artifice. That dinosaur skeleton challenge was a toughie. Those just seemed too large for one person. Greg and Mallory made exactly the right choice to use the express pass on it.

Umm... you realize that Ghadaffi/Kaddafy/Cadhaphi/Kedafe/Quadaffi/Gedaphfi (Who knows. One (or all) of these may be correct) is still in power over like 90 percent of Libya, right? And that this action is not intended to remove him? If we're intent on protecting these people in these few areas, we're going to need to be there for the rest of Ghadaffi/Kaddafy/Cadhaphi/Kedafe/Quadaffi/Gedaphfi's natural life, and his sons'.

Looking at it again, I can see the point. But he's still a sh--head. Here's an actual case of an elk poacher in the Montana section. So, he committed the crime in Montana, was tried and convicted in Wyoming federal court. The appeals judge in this case acknowledged the conundrum, and then basically told the defendant 'tough sh--.' Unless it's taken up by the Supreme Court, which is highly unlikely, the Congressional bill stands and this case serves as an established precedent of jurisdiction for all Yellowstone cases to be tried in Wyoming federal court. Even if this poaching case or a theoretical murder case were taken up by the Supremes and overturned, the solution would ostensibly be to move for a change of venue as DC Tom wrote, which most any judge will grant, and try in either a Montana or Idaho court.

Then again, I wouldn't go mocking whether seismic activity interferes with whales' innate migration sense. We've just scratched the surface on marine studies. It has been shown that earth's magnetic fields are used by many species as a guide in migration. IIRC remember NOVA showing an experiment involving a pod where scientists attached some kind of magnetic interruption devices to whales, and they went off course in a parallel shape to their normal migration pattern. There is some data that suggests earthquakes are preceded by electromagnetic anomalies. I really wouldn't dismiss it. And by some strange coincidence, 'THE-SKY-IS-FALLING!' earthquake reporting has grown by leaps and bounds as the 24/7 media has become more prolific. Huh... That's weird.

That was a comment based on previous BUSHBAD postings.

I think Tom was going for sarcasm there....

You just admitted you created redundant threads. And just because some other people do it, that makes it all right. BTW, one of the threads doesn't mention a state in the headline. This is like posting one topic as "Senator calls for stricter nuclear regulations" and then starting another as "Lieberman wants tighter nuclear regulations." And next week, it'll be "Kerry, Chambliss look to increase nuclear regulations"? It clogs up the board. But, I'm sure the mods have NOTHING better to do than merge threads for people who can't organize two similar thoughts in their dope-ravaged mind.

Until sometime down the road, this comes around to bite us in the ass when we least expect it, when Ghadaffi/Kaddafy/Cadhaphi/Kedafe/Quadaffi/Gedaphfi or one of his sons, say, orders the bombing of another airliner, or worse. This won't ever be forgotten. Whenever they can get some blowback in, they won't hesitate a second. As you know probably better than anyone here, the idea that we can be involved like this and not get our hands dirty with our drones or jets is the height of arrogance. Our defenses still aren't tight enough to catch everythng, even 10 years on. One might argue they do this anyway behind the curtain. And that was before the $36B in frozen personal assets. Unless Libya never sells another drop of oil, there'll soon be enough money to start some fresh havoc.

In Gene F. style, maybe tomorrow I'll start 50 separate threads on how much each state is in debt or in surplus (if there are any) for their upcoming budget. I'll dedicate Nevada and Delaware to you, Tom.

Well... so much for connor/Frenkle/etc.'s 'At least Obama won't drag us into war with another country!'

In the TBD Terms of Service, under the DO NOT POST section: "posting the same information/opinion in an excessively repetitive manner." So, you're just going to crap all over the board and leave the moderators to clean up after you? Nice. This place depends on us following the rules and keeping discussions grouped accordingly. There's no exemption b/c one person wants to bring more attention to a particular cause.