UB2SF

Props to the OP for such an insightful post. (Depressing as hell, but still very insightful.) Good job! Not bad for a UDFA.

My family has been through it too. PM me if you ever need anything. (You too, CableLady!)

This thread is totally fascinating to me. Kudos to the OP for such a polarizing topic! Without trying to rehash anything mentioned thus far, I will add... Green Day

Bingo. (Or... I guess for you, Dog... I should say B - I - N - G - 0 !) Unlike our past coaching regime, Chan will use play-action fakes to freeze the rush and buy Trent an extra second or two to make the throw or at least avoid the big hit. Spiller is probably Trent's best protection.

With the O-lines that Trent has played behind with the Bills and Stanford, that's like saying that Evel Knievel was made of glass because he broke a lot of bones riding motorcycles! Sure, he has been oft-injured, but he has been oft-CRUSHED by DTs, DEs, LBs, CBs, and safeties running at full speed like a bull through a bullfighter's cape. It's fair to say that he is frequently injured, but I don't think it's fair to say that he's been easily injured. But your underlying point still holds, Tgregg -- it's a matter of him staying on the field for a full season.

Under the true definition of hatred, I would have to say the entire Dallas Cowboys offensive line in the 1970s, because of the way they would get into their three-point stance during the snap count -- hands on knees, then quickly stand up straight and bend over into the stance. This elicited feelings of hatred every time I saw it! Gotta give props to the OP for this great topic!

I have a few questions upon further reflection. (Please keep in mind, per my earlier posts, that I was in the too-many-unanswered-questions/complainer camp, but came to realize that the actual problem was me: I had not invested enough time and neurons to index all the facts and conjecture, so the questions seemed unanswered when they were actually resolved or resolve-able through inference.) Anyway, here are a few things that still don't make sense to me: 1) Why did the smoke monster need to change human forms? And was one of his forms Christian Shepherd? And/or anyone else other than MIB and Locke? 2) What happened when Jughead was detonated? Why didn't the Lostaways die? Was there a time flash that took them away from the actual detonation? Or were they immune to it because they couldn't be killed by a non-candidate (Juliet)? 3) Why/how was Sayid revived from death? And why did Dogen subsequently tell Sayid that he had the "wrong kind" of energy based upon the torture test? OK, that's it for now. I appreciate everyone's knowledge and wisdom, and have hereby sworn off claiming that there were too many unanswered questions!

Fair enough, Doctor. I certainly does seem that everything I label "unanswered" is actually something that either 1) has actually been answered, or 2) could be answered by inference, or 3) would be put in the "just let it go" category by the Lost faithful. I guess that's what's frustrating for me: the show was so dense with intricacies that it often left me feeling dense as a viewer. The precious few neurons that my daily life could afford to devote to Lost were overwhelmed with the endless barrage of facts and conjecture. Any answers would quickly be obscured by new questions, as the relentless throughput invariably shorted the neural circuit of those precious few neurons. So I am fully willing to accept that my complaint about unanswered questions is really just a complaint about my own inability to find and/or retain the answers. In Lost terms, I would have wound up as a whisper on the island rather than being among the group at the church -- I'm apparently not worthy! Thanks for offering to answer my questions -- I genuinely appreciate it. But I'll pass. It would only prove the failure of my neurons, and at my age, there are plenty of other things which do that every day. I think I just have to "let it go."

I've been wanting to post something all day, but I was kind of scared off by the enthusiasm that has pervaded most of the posts today. But hey, we're a community and differing views are accepted, right? Even if it's "my fault" if I wasn't satisfied? Anyway, I was thoroughly frustrated by the finale and with the series in general. I loved the characters and the acting was superior to anything I've ever seen on TV, but I can't help but feel that the time I invested in the show has been badly wasted. As I've posted over the years, I grew weary of the impossible ratio of questions to answers, but I continued watching in the hope that the ratio would be reversed in the end. But we are ultimately left with way more questions than answers. I would like a cosmic refund of all the hours and neurons I spent crawling down plot-line worm-holes that ultimately served no purpose. Today I'm left with a profound feeling of symmetry between being a Lost viewer and being a Bills fan. "They're all dead" = yet another losing season. And the flaming will begin in 3... 2... 1... <I BETTER PUSH THE BUTTON!>

I need help with a question my wife and I were pondering last night. A seemingly simple question. Like everything on Lost, the fact that we were unable to answer the question left us simultaneously frustrated and amazed/amused. Maybe our confusion was due to the intricacies overwhelming the big picture; maybe it was due to the "answers will be questioned" approach of the show; maybe it was due to the numerous micro-brew IPAs that were consumed prior to the viewing! Anyway, what we're trying to figure out is why the episode was called "What they died for". Was that question ever answered? If so, what's the answer? (I feel dense asking such a basic question among the TBD community of Lost wonks.)

From the late, great RJD himself: DIE YOUNG (from Heaven and Hell) Gather the wind Though the wind won't help you fly at all Your back's to the wall Then chain the sun And then it turns around and face you As you run, you run, you run! Behind a smile There's danger and a promise to be told You'll never get old Life's fantasy To be locked away and still to think you're free You're free You're free! So live for today Tomorrow never comes Die young, die young Can't you see the writing in the air? Die young, gonna die young Someone stopped the fair Gather the wind Though the wind won't help you fly at all Your back's to the wall Then chain the sun And then it turns around and face you As you run, you run, you run! So live for today Tomorrow never comes Die young * * * * * RIP, Ronnie.

According to Chris Brown, even though Spiller's Twitter username is still Lightning28, he is now signing off some of his posts with "Go Bills #21" Inside the Bills 5/14/10

Ah yes, this illustrates the other absence-of-correlation phenomenon: effort versus output. One of the reasons I bought Marshawn's jersey was that his running style seemed the embodiment of effort. But more often than not, behind our rag-tag offensive line, Marshawn's effort translates to two broken tackles, three jukes, and one spin for a gain of minus two yards. With Spiller, I see the raw gifted freakishness to explode beyond the inevitable scrum of tacklers rather than to be swallowed whole by it.

Don't be sorry. I actually agree with you with regard to the absence of correlation between character and output. I guess that's exactly it: I sincerely believe that CJ will have better output than Marshawn, so the fact that his character is clearly superior to Marshawn's just makes me like this pick even more.

I just watched the Chris Brown interview with CJ Spiller on bb.com. At first I thought, "well, this is just your basic boring run-of-the-mill draft pick interview"... until my mind flashed to the first interviews I saw with our last first-round RB, Marshawn Lynch. Then I realized I was seeing something more important than just football cliches from a nervous young adult. Let's compare: CJ -- appears humble and soft spoken Marshawn -- appears to be a character on the Chappelle Show CJ -- stayed in school to finish his degree; earned Dean's List Marshawn -- went to school miles from his hometown; left early for the cheddar; earned respeck from his homies CJ -- idolizes Warrick Dunn because he was as great off the field as he was on the field Marshawn -- idolizes... um... himself? CJ -- 3-time All-American in track and field Marshawn -- 3-time subject of felony charges Now that CJ is here, when will Marshawn go? Not soon enough. Disclaimers: - facts cited in the above comparisons might not, in fact, be facts - I am a Bay Area guy with a Marshawn jersey in my closet; it hurts me to say these things

This quote is classic. My wife and I watched Tuesday's episode on the DVR last night, and as they cut to one of the commercial breaks after a typically WTF moment, I looked sternly at my wife and said your quote in my best network-voice-over voice. She laughed almost uncontrollably as I fast-forwarded through the commercial break. And yes, I gave you credit for the quote.

Bills New Orleans Saints (not a bandwagon thing, either!) Golden State Warriors Oakland A's San Jose Sharks Oregon Ducks football George Mason Men's Volleyball (two of my nephews are on the team)

The one that hit my computer was also a trojan. My advice is to call in a professional! And also update your virus software -- the tech that helped me recommended WebRoot, which is specific to trojans and spyware, and runs in addition to a basic package like Symantec.

I had a similar situation recently. In my case, my computer was able to successfully connect only to secure sites (those with an https address instead of http address, such as my company's secure e-mail portal). After monkeying around with a bunch of stuff to no avail, I called a local house-call tech service for help. The guy determined that a virus had changed some of my settings. He restored them to the proper settings and voila, the problem was fixed. Not sure if this is your situation, and obviously I can't tell you how to fix it, but the cost of the on-site visit was worth every penny because it saved me the frustration of trying to fix it myself.

Randy Rhoads in "Over the Mountain" by Ozzy Osbourne. While Rhoads had a number of spectacular solos before his untimely death, it was Over the Mountain that seemed to fully infuse the new wave of early-80s metal with classical-influenced modes and picking techniques. Rhoads claimed something to effect of having ripped off Vivaldi riffs in many of his solos, and Over the Mountain displays this perfectly. Give it a listen and picture a violin virtuoso shredding on a Stradivarius instead of a shaggy-haired guitarist with a Jackson V guitar. Amazing.

We don't actually know that Jughead was detonated, do we? I personally think the apparent detonation was a red herring by the writers, and that it was a time-travel flash that occurred rather than a nuclear explosion.

Not sure if this has been discussed somewhere else in this thread (or the other seasons' threads), but I'm curious about the parallels between MiB/Jacob and Widmore/Ben. Both pairs appear to be playing lifelong games with unwritten rules and sometimes dire consequences. Anyone have any insight on these parallels? Forgive me if this is obvious or already resolved... this show leaves me a bit... well... LOST.

I'm pretty sure our defense was on the field more than any other team's during the 2009 season, so "production" numbers for our defensive players should be taken with the caveat that they simply had more opportunities than players on other teams.

I agree that Edwards is probably gone. Just curious what you've seen that indicates that he's turned on the city. Do you mean "turned on" or "turned on"?! It's a serious question, though.

I'd add Robert Royal for lack of agility. No ability to adjust his route or his body to make a difficult catch, and when he did make a catch, he'd usually just fall down with the ball rather than attempting yards after the catch. And how about Chris "he's not a punt returner but more of a punt catcher" Watson?