RuntheDamnBall

I've got an idea. Let's not give a sh-- what Osama bin Laden thinks and instead consider what the Muslim world (you know, the people we're trying to "liberate") might think. But then again, everyone on this forum already knows about your ridiculously narrow and extreme views. Sorry, I forgot to get with the program. Democrats = Islamic extremist terrorists! With us or against us! Clinton bad! Anything else you care to share with the class?

You should visit a frat, I mean business school.

You know, I agree with you there in a sense. However, I think an inner city kid who works his ass off should not be penalized by being born there. Just as I think the kid who is gifted/privileged and lazy, and will likely end up succeeding anyway, shouldn't be given carte blanche.

By the way, sounds like you're blissfully unaware of all the people out there who are ridiculously dumb yet fabulously wealthy for some reason. Your equation of smarts with wealth is dubious at best. If it were the case then the whole concept of education would be worthless -- the best and brightest would NEVER agree to a career that pays as poorly as education, because smart people = rich. At the same time, we'd be educated entirely by a crop of dopes. Not the case. Many people are just satisfied with a station in life, whether it's laying tile or managing a staff of hundreds, or teaching a kid to read for around $30K a year. Your equations don't add up.

Possibly, but there are often people who work harder than those who are gifted. They are/should be just as likely, if not more likely, to suceed.

Bull sh--.

Why not just come out and say that you support an aristocracy? That you're an elitist? Because that's exactly what it sounds like. It's idiotic to condemn a child's future due to accident of birth.

Let's not forget either that Haslett, like our friend Gregg, chose Mike Sheppard for OC.

Brilliant.

I'm not sticking up for or fighting against Jauron, but Millen's Lions record is far worse. That team is an unmitigated disaster and it starts with the front office.

I have mixed feelings about the union structure -- it's got its strengths in protecting teachers from witch hunts that do indeed happen, but obviously it's problematic as you've detailed. I think tenure's an extension of that. I think it should probably be revised, with some kind of challenge process for teachers that are not meeting the needs of their students. 3-5 challenges and you have to be reviewed, re-tenured or let go, something to that effect. But not something where one parent or a group who are influential with the school board could just have their way with any teacher. Some parents actually go after the teachers who challenge their students! And that's a problem. In fact my wife's mother had that very problem -- she was too strict (!) -- and was not tenured when she went back into teaching after being a stay-at-home mother. And you've said often here that anyone can make it in America. Doesn't the idea of segregating the schools run counter to that, ie you're saying some kids just aren't going to succeed? I do think that talented, bright kids need different challenges and I agree with you there. Vocational education is key. It works, and I would probably include business education along with it, practical mathematics and such, so that someone who gets into a vocation like hairdressing or auto repair, which can be quite lucrative actually, is well equipped to start their own business once they make something of themselves. One last thing I'd propose is some kind of valuable work experience for kids who are middle school age. Kids can be so nasty to one another at that age and no one is really comfortable with who they are and it's a tough time to learn anything at all. If they were engaged in some kind of successful team project for at least part of the school year, like working for Habitat for Humanity, it could make a world of difference and be a real supplement to an education.

Joe, you remind me a bit of the President on 24 who screams from the top that he "wants results!!! doesn't care how!!!" Teachers should be teaching. When they have to be surrogate parents also, it brings everyone else down. That is definitely happening here in New York. In NY state, teachers have to have a master's degree and undergo a pretty strict certification process. It's no quick decision on the part of most of these folks to become teachers to get the summers off. It's tough work, and the less it's appreciated the harder it's ever going to be to get good people to teach. I have several good friends who are young, teaching, have invested tens of thousands of dollars and unfathomable amounts of time in their profession. While they get great marks from their superiors and are good teachers (I've seen them in action), the unprecedented amount of help these kids need -- they are not prepared for LIFE, let alone fractions -- has a few of these friends wondering if they want to commit to this, even though it's what they've always believed in, what they've always believed they wanted to do. There is only so much blame you can place at the foot of the teachers. Kids may spend a lot of the week in school (still, 8 hrs a day is not a majority of time) but they will spend more of their lives with their families, and those families need to provide preparation, encouragement, discipline, and care to their kids. If the kids don't get it at home, the teachers are left holding up a hugely unfair portion of the equation.

That's unfortunate. And not because I believe there's a current minority candidate that is better, but because of the perception it will generate. This team already looks bad enough to a lot of the NFL.

Good, rational post.

But seriously, if they need to hire someone, and fast, to look at talent for the Senior Bowl and hire assistants before they dry up, then time is running out and they don't even have a lot of time to schedule a "courtesy interview" with a minority candidate, as awful and patronizing and antithetical to the minority hiring process as it sounds. The last thing this team needs is to be perceived as racially unfriendly and get fined by the league.

Wonder what the plan is there...

We traded two additional picks to get Losman. Think about it this way: we dealt 2 other "players" in this trade, not 3. Otherwise it was like swapping firsts in '04 and '05, which is fine since '05 was QB weak. People can't seem to get this. It was a fine strategy that was hindered and somewhat altered when TV broke JP's leg.

The Packers owe him 3.2 million, less whatever we pay him this year. Makes it a little easier to swallow, I think.

Man, nobody respects the Patriots [genuflect].

Hint: If you don't like being generalized, don't do it yourself. I imagine you probably have visited a little of Manhattan and not much of Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx, also parts of NYC. They're pretty working-class, by comparison.

I could see Jim Bates wanting the job bad. The guy has been overlooked, his players like to play for him, and he established quite a resurrection for Miami in the interim position. They just had Saban on the radar from the get-go. It'd be nice to have a guy who believes in good defense and is old enough not to be threatened by bringing in top talent to coach the offense.

For the record, this is hilarious.

I'm guessing, but perhaps he's talking about regulation of diseases/symptoms (drugs -- more profitable) vs. cures (less profitable)?

Well, if the Steelers win, it becomes more interesting. We don't have to have an OC as immediately as the Lions need a HC. Also sounds as though from the interviews that Grimm is raw and could use a successful post as an OC first...

Really? He coaxed good totals out of Travis Henry, whom according to some here is the dumbest man and most worthless RB ever to set foot on a football field.