Sierra Foothills

I met Coach Levy a couple of times. No mortal has the ability to look into and understand every corner of another person's soul... but there's zero doubt in my mind (or really, anyone else's) that Marv is a very fine person of great character.

It's only collusion if a critical mass of the agents spoke with each other and agreed to a course of action (or in this case, non-action). The landscape was so obvious that no communication was necessary. The problem created by the first few 2nd round signings was an obvious signal to the players and agents to play the waiting game in order to exert pressure on the clubs. The owners don't want to give up anything but if they do, it'll be over their dead (or dying) fingers. As I posted in another topic, a higher percentage of NFL contracts are guaranteed every year. This is incrementalism at work. Some day, the NFL will not be the only major North American sports league without guaranteed contracts for all players. As to your point, there's a salary cap... whatever more it costs to pay 2nd rounders will simply come out of some other player's pocket. I don't think golden goose is an accurate characterization. This is one of a few existing unresolved areas of the CBA with regards to rookie contracts and like rainwater finding a weakness in the roof, it was inevitably going to be tapped for that extra bit of money that it changes in each contract. This is not a windfall development. It's incremental. Exactly. The percentage of fully-guaranteed contracts in the NFL will continue to increase as it has over the last several years. Considering NFL players have the shortest careers, the largest chance at catastrophic injury, and the largest chance at post-career medical disabilities, their contracts should be fully-guaranteed. Sanders' contract ends up being 94.63% guaranteed. I wouldn't be at all surprised if at this time next year, all 2nd rounders will have fully guaranteed contracts and as @Thurman#1 implies, the next battleground will be the 3rd rounders.

The question is whether he chose to resign rather than fight to maintain his position. Considering his track record I find it very hard to believe that he's simply doing the honorable thing.

Also, the spelling coach. You didn't hear? Bosa is "mentoring" him. Especially when combined with jet skis. Well that's a relief... now maybe I'll be able to sleep at night.

Yes, the crown was absurdly high to the point of probably not being orthopedically good to play on. I’m wondering if part of the consideration for the elevation of the playing surface is related to the water table for the new grass field.

At the anticipated concessions prices, one less beer shouldn't be a problem. They're already taking proposition bets in Vegas on this. The over/under is halfway through the first quarter of the first exhibition game.

He turned 19 on May 2nd.

Why do you have to be such a... you know... Richard Noggin...

Firstly, the Executive Director of any labor union should always publicly cite any wrongdoing or bad faith tactics by management. He does this by bringing the wrongdoing to light and making it a part of the public record so that it can be leveraged when necessary in litigation or as a bargaining chip. His job is to police and call out these transgressions, not sweep them under the rug. Not only did Lloyd Howell not do this but he also failed to represent the findings to his members in an accurate way. In this regard, he abdicated his two most fundamental duties. This does not mean that Howell should disturb labor peace. It does not mean he should overplay the issue. It does not mean that he should make a mountain out of molehill. But Howell was not doing his job and his non-actions violated his duty to the thousands of players he represents. On a different subject, the biggest unresolved issue in the current NFL CBA is guaranteed contracts. Ultimately like EVERY OTHER MAJOR NORTH AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS LEAGUE, the NFL should have guaranteed contracts. Especially because these players have a much higher rate of catastrophic injuries and also shorter careers. They also have a higher incidence of post-career debilitating conditions. Their contracts should be fully guaranteed. To those saying that it can't be done, or that doing it would cause an untenable situation for owners, that's untrue. Already the percentage of guaranteed money in NFL contracts (for both veterans and rookies) has been increasing over the years. 1st round draft picks now have fully guaranteed contracts and I believe it won't be long until all rookie contracts are guaranteed. The current impasse with this year's 2nd round picks is because of this very issue. Ultimately I see all NFL contracts being fully guaranteed and this is being achieved incrementally, allowing the owners to moderate and mitigate the effects of those guarantees. The NFL owners are purposely dragging their feet (colluding) on this issue because any money saved now is more money later on via the maturation of their investments. It's the same reason that legacy industry leaders drag their feet on those new technologies which threaten their primacy... to delay the inevitable in the name of squeezing a few more million/billion dollars until they can no longer hold back the prevailing industry tide. When all guarantees are fully guaranteed there will be foreseen and unforeseen consequences such as smaller contracts, shorter contracts, less dumping of injured players (if you have to pay them, you might as well rehab them), less dead money, etc. I think ultimately players will have to decide whether they want to trade the potential for higher earnings in exchange for income certainty.. smaller but guaranteed sums of money. To that tradeoff I refer back to the saying, "one in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Spatter of hot wax from the candles = 3rd degree burns = Non-Football Injury List

I was there too and was very engaging and affable... willing to talk to anyone who wanted to talk to me. But no one really wanted to talk to me. Some of the people actually seemed annoyed when I asked them if they'd like to take a picture with me. Overall a very rude bunch of people IMO. Also I'd heard that when visiting OJ on his deathbed in SoCal that Rosen vowed to OJ that he'd help to find Nicole's killers. Yes, Josh Rosen is enrolled in the MBA program at Wharton... one of the Big 3 programs and the school which graduated Elon Musk, Donald Trump (though his transcripts are sealed), and many highly-successful people that we've never heard of. Even spotting the other QBs in his class hundreds of millions of dollars, Rosen has a chance to rival their wealth over the course of a lifetime.

At the "Return of the Red and Blue" event a few years ago I yelled out to Josh from the upper deck and he didn't even turn in my direction... so I'm really not convinced that he's anything special as a person. Seriously though, on the idea that one should never meet his/hers heroes, a common thing that happens to most people who were big sports fans as kids is that you age out... you get jaded and maybe a bit cynical and the way you view the big stars is less as heroes and more as mercenaries. It's partly losing your innocence, partly the pervasiveness of media coverage exposing the flaws and tearing at the mystique of these guys... partly being older than the rookies instead of younger than them... there's a bunch of factors. And yet I know that many of us feel about Josh, the same way we felt about about the iconic superstars of our youth, which is to say as a hero in the eyes of a kid. In today's world Josh is almost unique in that regard.

You're certain Spencer Brown will be listed but uncertain about Dion Dawkins? That's interesting. I'll eat crow if necessary but I just don't see Brown being higher on the list than Dawkins.

If Beane's invited as a guest on Barnwell's podcast, he'll likely go all WGR on Barney. The fact that Barnwell's only counting the top 5 skill position players on each team definitely works against the Bills. I think it's reasonable to say that the Bills have good to very good depth at WR, TE, and RB but this exercise discounts depth in favor of top-line starters. I've noticed some here have poo-poo'd the Bills' free agent signings at WR and I understand that after the Trent Sherfield/Deonte Harty play 2 years ago but I'm in agreement with those who are optimistic about Elijah Moore and Josh Palmer. Hell, I'm optimistic about Curtis Samuel and Keon Coleman too. And we know who Shakir is. I agree with the comment upthread that some/many are sleeping on the Bills WRs but I also understand those who are taking a wait and see approach.

I watched what you posted (thank you) but I don't agree with the conclusion (bolded above). It seems like maybe about 35-40 throws in the video? I saw maybe 5 poor throws. There were also some throwaways and some 50/50 balls that I don't consider bad throws. My impression is that the bigger issues on these throws are a lack of separation by the receivers and also, drops. I agree with this as far as the really deep throws (not just 20 yards downfield). The home run throws are one area where Josh still needs more work and I agree that a lot of it is footwork. That is the one and only area in which Jimbo is clearly superior to Josh. Jimbo threw a beautiful bomb. As far as Kincaid, I'm hopeful that he'll show that he's worth his draft position (he hasn't yet IMO). I'm more hopeful than I am confident.

Deek, you're trying make a one-size-fits-all, definitive judgement. That's not the world we live in. Firstly, every situation is different... what if as a result of the incident, your daughter suffered PTSD, went sliding down that slope and struggled with trauma, shame, and depression every morning she woke up? What if she couldn't function and struggled to remain employed because she was driving an undependable junker because of her sporadic employment caused by her mental condition? How does your new car sound now? And of course that question disregards the myriad of related factors that make your question unanswerable including but not restricted to what kind of new car we're talking about... would you agree that your daughter buying a Nissan Versa would be different than her buying a Cadillac Celestique? While you're pondering your response, remember that the alleged victim in the Hairston case had to transfer from the University of Kentucky... Hairston remained at UK. BTW do you think she's enjoying the reprisal of this story? Secondly on a broad scale, in cases where an individual did in fact cause damage and harm to another, then I think it's appropriate for that person to pay a price to the victim... whatever that price is. From the standpoint of justice we would all hope that the punishment fits the crime but we would never know that, even in cases where we're directly involved. Only an omnipresent, omniscient, all-knowing, all-wise entity could answer the question(s) you're asking. I'm moving on...

I wonder if he wears short pants... 🙃

Deek... imagine this happened to your daughter. Now tell me what you would advise her to do... file suit or don't file suit?

There's an ages old saying that "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." In modern times it's more common to say that "Luck is the residue of design." Regardless of the above, there is an element of true, random, uncontrollable luck involved in sports... which have black and white outcomes. And no one will argue that the Bills have been the more talented team compared to the Ravens. I agree that the Chiefs will win the West... but at what cost? Will a more rugged and challenging division create regular season hardships and injuries that will affect them come playoff time... or will better competition actually make them a better team? That is the question.

Turning the discussion to a slightly different perspective, the subject of employment insecurity was touched on earlier. I've been in the workforce for decades in a few different industries and there definitely are: 1) some workers/employees that are nervous taking time off from work... even family leave... sometimes for good reason (see below). 2) some employers who will view time off from work negatively in their evaluation of an employee. On the subject of baby names (Seymour, Northrup, Chuck, Action, Fort, etc) I'm thinking if it's a boy that the either the first or middle name will be Lucas.

Well if nothing else, I'm glad I was able to enlighten you as to the actual meaning of the phrase, "money grab." I understand that many people these days couldn't care less about how they characterize things. I'm not one of those people.

I'm not sure who you're quoting but I can assure you it's not me. But if you think differently, you can copy the URL for each post or even simpler, just tell me what page number this quote is from. None of us know anything about this case. If you've been following this topic that's pretty clear. It's my opinion that the filing of the civil suit is not a money grab but rather, an action by someone who is seeking justice.

Actually, No. A civil suit is not "at its essence" a money grab. noun. plural money grabs. : the greedy pursuit of an opportunity for making money especially when done without regard for ethics, concerns, or consequences : cash grab. If he had sold out and made a money grab, much of what he stands for would have been diminished. The essence of a money grab is that it is an unscrupulous act.

Let me point out what was posted two pages ago...

Agreed. Ultimately the whole toe thing (or "foot thumb" if you prefer) brings into question his sense of commitment. Hard pass.