BobSaccamanno

The losing in Cleveland emanates from the owner on down. They have a losing culture. That’s the type of thing you can’t overcome. People underestimate the role of an owner. Bad owners have a knack for not ever winning,. A few years ago, the Browns has a ridiculous number of high picks and look where they are.

I’m not saying they are the same player but the same criticisms people use on Braden could just as easily be levied on Tom Covercharge. (Sorry, Billingsley that I stole your material.) All he did was win and bring toughness and competitiveness to the team. You could look at other guys like Aaron Craft, Kyle Kraemer, et al. the same way. Guys like that are key pieces on winning teams. Tough kids bring an edge and an extra competitiveness to the roster, especially in the day and age where you have other kids in the locker room with unrealistic views on how good they are. Kids can be the best player in a ten county region so they get an inflated view of themselves. Tough kids have a way of leading and getting the focus on tough, winning ball, not showcasing yourself, which is not needed and is counterproductive. If you have the physical ability and you know how to make winning plays on both ends, scouts see that and get it. I firmly believe that if a kid is willing to compete, play hard on both ends, be all about winning, etc, the NBA will take care of itself. It’s a life lesson. The same could be applied to any profession. The people who are selfish, complainers, etc, they lose in all walks of life. Heck, what did #23 average at UNC? And he gets it. The Bradens of the world get it and can help laser focus the other players. With 13 schollies, I think we have the spot for that tough Indiana kid type. Now, if Archie thinks he can’t do it physically, which I doubt, I trust the staff.

I saw that the Navajo Indians suggested a name. Something like code talkers. Speaking only for myself, I don’t think they need to use a Native American name. I say that with no slight intended toward any group. A clean break might just be nice. I love the Red Tails. I mean, I just love it.

Good points. I expect Archie to have two very capable point guards at his disposal at any time. And I think it will be successful. So much of sports is avoiding mistakes. Two point guards who keep things steady will lead to 40 minutes of competent ball and make it hard for an opponent since we will minimize unforced errors. Out of 80 guard minutes you could get a minimum of 40 top point guard minutes but maybe more depending on situations. This year with Lander and Phinisee will be instructive as I expect one to be on the floor 90% of the time and both on the floor a decent amount too.

I’m always a step behind. Every time I hear somebody mention the Lake Monroe incident, I keep thinking it’s the previous one. I am sure there will be a Lake Monroe incident post soon where I will immediately think it’s the boys from Deliverance again but it will be some other conflict.

Either way! I guess I prefer warm if I had to answer but cold works.

I’ve been living in Chicago a long time and can’t warm up to deep dish. I’m still a thin crust Indiana guy. Your lasagna comment is hilarious and true for me.

Deaths can be measured per total number of cases or per time period (per day, per week, etc.). The stats that are most meaningful to me would be deaths per time period and number of hospitalizations. Deaths as a percentage of cases might be interesting but not as meaningful as deaths per time period and hospitalizations. Deaths and hospitalizations per time period are most important to my way of thinking because they reflect the true effect to the country. For example, if this thing spreads so wildly that a large number are dying every week then it doesn’t really matter what the percentage per case is because the spread is so wild that lots of people die. For example, you could have ten deaths out of 1000 total cases for 1%. You could also have 500 deaths out of 100,000 cases for the same time period for 0.5%. We could be happy that the rate is only 0.5% but it would not take into account that the thing spread so wildly that you had 500 deaths. Hospitalizations could be measured similarly. The more that are hospitalized, even if they live, strains our medical system, including suffering, costs, possibility of further infection, compromising brave workers, etc,

By the way, and I mean this as an honest question, but why do the Indians, Braves, or Chiefs need to change their names? Those aren’t insults, right? If they somehow are, I have never been aware if it. It reminds me of the bit in the Office: Michael: Is there anything less offensive besides “Mexican” that I can call you? Oscar: “Mexican” isn’t offensive Michael: Stares blankly. Isn’t that the same issue with Indians, etc? Isn’t “brave” a positive idea? If anything, wouldn’t taking those names off be a negative for Native Americans because they wouldn’t be acknowledged?

Yes, I think Redtails has a good shot. Ron Rivera grew up in a military household and I think they want to honor the military with the new name. Also, I have family in DC and been there a lot. I’ve seen first hand that they have a huge African American fan base who would be proud of the name. I think the Tuskegee Airmen had a big DC connection in their ranks too. It just makes perfect sense. I was making the point that they are probably double checking it from every angle to be sure that nobody whines about it from some angle they are unaware of since complaining about everything is like the plague now.

Based on what Ron Rivera has been saying, I truly think this has a good shot to be the answer. They are probably vetting it from every angle to make sure there’s no way they get backlash since practically everything gets backlash these days, even if the intent is noble.

I like it when July 4 falls on a Saturday so that “Saturday in the Park” fits even better. The images captured in that song are spectacular to me. When I was a teen, I liked more classic rock but the fallacy I had was making fun or not respecting “softer” music. We all grow up and I realize there are different genres and it’s not good or bad, just different and depends on taste. The scene in Tommy Boy where they sang The Carpenters captures that concept exactamundo. I have no idea how to narrow down my favorites. I will forget a ton. Here are some The Beatles Tom Petty Mellencamp The Eagles Elton John The Police Chicago REO Journey Matchbox 20 Green Day

Johnny ”Lam” Jones, right? As I recall a first round pick who could run. Not remembering the other two.

I’ve got a great new name. The Washington Bullets. Now that’s a cool name.

I haven’t followed the debate and I’m not sure what everybody’s position is, but I will state my thoughts and see if I’m as neutral as Switzerland. 1. You would expect the death rate (as a percentage of cases) to drop considerably. That should be fairly obvious when you see we are testing more people and with how many young people are getting infected. In addition, we have experience with treatments, including certain techniques used in hospitals, e.g., how they lay the patients etc. We now have Remdesivir being used, as well as the steroid treatment. We also have the plasma treatments which I’m told are especially very important. 2. Will the weekly raw death number similarly nosedive? I sure hope so. Even if the percentage is lower and lower, if the infection spreads so severely, we could have the raw number of deaths per week be higher than it was. 3. While I agree that the raw number of deaths per time period is a very important statistic, so is the number of hospitalizations. It’s not just about deaths. To me, people gloss over that. Having a lot of hospitalizations puts tremendous strain on the medical system and personnel and is not a trivial issue. There are real people who are committed to helping and they are put under tremendous strain.

Bowie had some issues but if you talk just about voice, he would be very near the all-time top for me.

Cowboys owner Jerrah Jones 80s singer Howard Jones

Bert Jones was one tough son of a gun. One of the really good quarterbacks who doesn’t get mentioned enough.

Desmond and Molly Jones Did Quincy Jones get mentioned?

Shirley Jones from the Partridge Family

Caldwell Jones and then there’s this: Definition of jones (Entry 1 of 7) intransitive verb slang : to have a strong desire or craving for something he was jonesing for a drink

Somebody may recall the details better than me, but we’ve heard that Archie really likes him. I think the story was something like Braden visited for a game, and afterwards Archie said he liked him and didn’t care how tall he was. I have not seen the kid in person so it’s hard to get a good gauge on this from clips, but he looks physically strong and tough. It looks like his core is especially solid. My thinking is everything starts with the core, Being a tough, strong guard can be a plus. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and not everybody needs to be long, lean and an electric athlete. As for ranking, I truly don’t care other than a curiosity. I, like others, tend to think he won’t be top 150. The ratings “gurus” tend to overrate physical athleticism and length, and underestimate the “it factor” and the kid that just has that indescribable winning gene. There are plenty of good athletes that play basketball that end up rated 75 or whatever because they fit the profile. But they may not have what I referred to as the “it factor.” They run around, look good physically, but just don’t have the knack to make those winning plays.

Braden Smith gives me that “tough Indiana kid” vibe embodied in a guy like Tom Coverdale. Ranking is irrelevant. We win with those guys.

Good video. That would have been a fun matchup to watch. Both players look really, really good. Thanks for posting that.

Sounds familiar. Lol. Some things are universal.