Sketch Soland

It depends what happens on draft day before our 12th pick! How's that for an answer!

Maybe you should take all of the above with a grain of salt. I heard he also doesn't hold the door open for old ladies and hates Seinfeld with a passion but I'm not asking whether or not he'll be the next "Erik Flowers" in March before he is even drafted.

The more important question is: Is he the next Johnny Carson?

it's amazing that people find reading and thoughtful analysis to be so distasteful.

Carr actually had a decent year for most of last year. I think he could do something behind a good oline and a new change in scenery. He's always had a shiity oline and no running game and one receiver. not a great recipe for success... The irony of going to the raiders, however.....

Carr will start somewhere next season. It is pretty much laughable that anyone would think we are interested in him for any reason, considering that the trade bar is being set as "trading a starting QB". It will be interesting to see what he can do behind a decent o-line.

We will never draft Soliai because he is not a Cover-2 DT, 1 tech or 3 tech. If we wanted a 340 lb. guy, we would have brought one in already. The fact is, the cover 2 defense, even the 1 tech DT, must be able to move and penetrate and stresses quickness in all of its players.

Budweiser

It makes perfect sense. Any ideal, in order to be implemented and blossom within society, must have firm roots in the here and now and must be able to marry itself to a solid, pragmatic core that can be enforced on a daily basis in our societal institutions. I don't mean to suggest that there shouldn't be harsh penalties for violent acts of intolerance. I just think we should view (necessary) punishment as the starting point for a greater approach that is actively moving through our society through time as our children and ourselves grow older. It is not just a matter of laws; it's a matter of philosophy, active participation, and wielding the all important tool of rational discourse. Rigid laws that just enforce a punishment do not have the necessary capacity to address the root reasons that intolerance flourishes and is taught, especially to children. It is not just a matter of punishing someone and they magically become tolerant and therefore do not indoctrinate their intolerance into their children. Implementing a penalty is merely the most immediate (and pragmatically necessary) facet of actively promoting the overall goal of excavating the roots of intolerance and keeping them in the limelight of the day so that they wither in the sunlight as opposed to fester and grow in the darkness, so to speak. Vigilance is not just implementing a penalty; it can be a lifestyle lived daily and constantly by society and the individuals that are its lifeblood. A lot of people might say that is exactly what we do right now, and we do, to a degree, but we are short shrifting our own efforts by often being afraid to bring intolerance into the spotlight and thereby steal the thunder and fuel of the intolerant. We are afraid to really talk about it, show it openly, and thus allow the seeds of greater understanding to take root so that they may more blossom fully in the future. People today would much rather sweep bigotry under the rug by locking someone away and hoping they don't commit a violent act again than constructively examine the reasons why generation after generation are indoctrinated into a narrow-minded intolerant worldview. We need to find a way to break this cycle of intolerance that is (inadvertently or not, depending on your specific bent) reinforced by the implementation of justice in the short term. A specific punishment may justly fit the crime, but does it help prevent violent acts of intolerance in the future? Does it make those who are punished even more bitter and intolerant at the system and thus more willing to commit another act and/or indoctrinate their children into their myopia? Does the penalty, after the punishment has been rendered, actively continue to extend its feelers into the future so as to bring other facets of intolerance to light to benefit us all as a whole? One only has to look at the widespread existence of intolerance in the world today to see that punishment, penalties, and repression of intolerance are not enough by themselves to transform this cycle that is perpetuated through the generations.

I think in the long run more hostile environments in society are created by repression of expression of ideas. In other words: banning expression of racism does not eradicate racism. It just represses it underground, where it boils and ferments and later explodes in a more cataclysmic and violent manner, the cycle starting all over again. When you ban something or tell someone that an idea can not be expressed, you are essentially justifying whatever myopic viewpoint they are expressing and giving it a certain legitimacy, which further emboldens them to express and fight for whatever viewpoint they are espousing because they believe opposition proves they are in the "right". This is essential to their blind zealotry; they always must believe that are in the right, otherwise there is no ground for them to stand on. So, in their mind, because they are further "repressed" by the powers-that-be, the powers-that-be must be afraid of and scared of the viewpoint, which to, a KKK member, for example, means that their very way of life is being threatened. They believe there very bloodline is being threatened! It is almost fundamentally impossible to convince someone who feels that there very way of life is being threatened that they should not fight for their life. People, especially myopic, brainwashed people, completely shut off whatever small part of their brain has a capability for rationality when they are fighting for what they feel is their "very existence". I understand the short-term consequences of a more radical interpretation of "freedom of expression". Allowing a neo-nazi kid to where a pro-holocaust shirt, for example, and causing violence to break out in the school because of it, is not something I would ever stand for or allow to happen. It certainly does not promote a safe and nurturing educational environment. A more far reaching and thinking ideal such as the one I am advocating must always be balanced against the more immediate practical concerns of the moment for it to be properly implemented over time. I certainly also am not advocating "accepting" racial, homophobic, or other violence in schools in the short term for the benefit of the long term. But we can't forego pursuing the ideal because we live in a pragmatic world; we can't not address the roots of intolerance even though no one can go back and rewrite past events to create an ideal tabula rasa to implement a completely idealistic philosophy. What I'm saying is that, in the long term, the way to address intolerance in any form is to make it as radically exterior as possible, to show its ugliness and hatefulness in the light of day for everyone to see so that it is not allowed to go back underground, ferment, grow stronger, and reappear in the public arena at a later date where it will inevitably cause more harm and damage than it would have if it had been exposed to the microscope of open-mindedness since day one. There must be a balance somewhere between maintenance of order and exteriority of expression that allows civility in the short term to be maintained while in the long term allowing all expression to be made public so that it can be transformed by all of us into something more pure and thoughtful. How exactly this is to be accomplished is the burning question of the day, imo.

They should be allowed to wear the t-shirts because it is freedom of expression, imo. It's also a good way to show the other kids that amazingly narrow minded brainwashing does exist, can be expressed, and can be debated intelligently by free-thinking people. It does not good to "ban" the shirts because that is only promoting those who wear them to become more incensed and staunch in their advocacy and they will focus all their energies on "fighting" and not discussion. Wearing the shirts promotes open discussion between all sides, which is the only way for people to learn about each other, no matter what positions they aspouse.

No problem. Everytime I saw one of your posts I just wondered.

put [/b] at the end of the sentence and you're gold

I'm curious. Do you realize that you can close that Bold Tag in your sig and actually make your sig BOLD or is it just an inside story that you had to be there to understand?

A very negligable comment. Obviously Ramius isn't putting him in the HOF. And you or I have no idea how much, how little, or how hard NFL teams are interested or fighting for Turner. You and I also have no idea how much A.J. Smith is holding other teams feet to the fire to ring out the best deal possible. Just because a deal has not yet been made does not imply that there is little interest in Turner. It just implies that the right confluence of need and availability has not yet happened.

Lots of interesting arguments in this thread. Marv is many things and one of them is straight forward. If he is targeting a RB in the 2nd-3rd round, he will take a look at his draft options and his possible trade options and analyze them on the same playing field, so to speak. In other words: how does a Michael Bush, Antonio Pittman, Irons, etc. stack up against Turner (or other trade option) and then how does each player's specific qualities relate to and fit within the system that we are trying to run offensively? Who we take, or trade for, will be the guy we want because 1) he has the individual athletic, mental, and character qualities necessary, and 2) Because of one, he seems the best fit for the offense we are trying to run. Marv is not swayed by sexiness and flash, imo. He's just assessing the situation and going with what he deems the best fit (which it seems like he does after a wealth of input from his staff and coaches). If Turner is this guy, and they believe that, then they will pull the trigger for a 2nd or 3rd and bypass the rookies. It is that simple. Having said that, my hunch is that we do not trade for Turner. Somehow, I'm beginning to think we do not even draft a RB in the first two rounds, as we have a sense of a player that we feel is the best fit who will drop lower than the 1st 2. As many have said, RB, especially this year, is a position where value can be had in lower rounds, whereas LB this year, for example, shows a much larger dropoff between the top talent and the rest.

I think Barber is going to take more of the load and can handle it. The guy is money imo. The combo of Jones and Barber is also money, I think more so if Barber becomes the 1a and Jones becomes the 1b, which I bet happens this season.

The only real problem with your hypothesis: Marion Barber

I like your style.

I believe we will see a surprise pick at LB in the 1st round, whether we stay at 12 or move somewhere else in the round. This is my hunch. I just don't see us going into this upcoming season without a young stud LB in the mix. Now who we pick, I have no idea, but it will not be someone expected to go at the spot or someone that is widely prognosticated to go at the spot that we pick him.

yes, he definitely ran a 4.5 at the combine.

it was merely an attempt at a compliment to the old guard. there will always be the clueless kind, but as long as there are those who hold to a more intelligent and playful sense of discourse (as benedict very nicely stated), then this board will be fine. benedict is right; it is all shiits and giggles in the end. it really doesn't matter but it is fun to believe that it does because it establishes a sense of community that can be rewarding in often unexpected ways. especially by those of you who know each other outside the board and have gained from those experiences.

We do when it is part of the joke

Oh the irony of the old and wise noting the flippantness and arrogance of the oversimplifying youngsters with a virtual smorgasboard of one-line cliches!

Only in real life. I'm a PI. That's all I can say, really. Just go about your normal day-to-day routine