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  1. Allred didn't take Pete Sessions seat because he was a dynamic and inspiring candidate. He hasn't changed. He is as plain as dry toast. He got elected by being not Pete Sessions. I've seen his ads. So, he's making a show on being tough on the border. I DON'T CARE. That takes away one of the few talking points that the Rs have or at least blunts it. He's not trying to get the men. He needs the vote from the suburban moms. So, don't be scary. Don't rock the boat. And be reassuring that you're responsible and want to 'tighten up the border'. It's all theater anyway. Beto fucked up royally by telling everyone that he was ready to take the AR-15s off the market and seize them. Was he right in wanting to do this? That's not the point. You don't get elected in Texas saying it. You can't do anything about it if you're not in office. The first goal is to fucking win and then do something about stuff what need to be changed. Beto fucked around and broke a primary rule. Don't say unpopular shit in your state. Don't come at me about guns. I'm on record around here as both a gun owner, hunter, etc and as dirty fucking lib that wants to see drastic changes in our gun laws. But, I am not trying to be a Senator. If Allred wins it's because he's bland and inoffensive and he's not the unlikeable and creepy Ted Cruz. I'm fine with his campaign. He's not trying to get our vote. We've either been written off as middle aged white guys or he knows we are going to vote for him because we can't fucking stand Ted Cruz.
  2. A new 6 year contract for Venebals after just one 10 win season before going to the SEC and their first schedule is aggy-levrl dumb. After 2 years of coaching they already extended the guy who didn't even win a conference title. Even we waited until Sark won a title before upping his salary. Jesus. They're even dumber than I thought. Is Bjork working for ou?
  3. Good news is I finally feel like we are going to win every game again. Even our "bad" bullpen arms are holding their own.
  4. Aggy gonna end up 4-8 and still make excuses. Elko just needs his guys, first year transition (didn't faze them about hemming and hawing about Sark going 5-7, only to keep ascending), they just aren't tough enough yet, next year the o-line will be up for the Joe Moore award, there's new frosh awe difference makers, these FCS transfers were overlooked and will make a huge impact, we don't need 5 stars, we just need lunch pail guys, guys that want to be aggys, we're a year away from winning the conference and making the playoffs, and their lies keep going and going for yet another off-season. Wash, rinse, repeat
  5. American Jews are too important for the democratic coalition. Biden isn’t going to rock the boat this close to an election. And say what you will, rank and file American Jews equate Israel and Jews as the same thing. An attack on Israel is an attack on all Jews. Whether it’s Hamas or American foreign policy. Even for a largely successful and educated bloc, nuance doesn’t really work bc identity and emotion is wrapped into it. The part that pisses me off is that Bibi uses this / knows this. In addition, the ‘center’ of Israeli politics is firmly on the right. Since the late 90’s Israel has been on a steady rightward track that hasn’t really stopped. If Bibi cuts a deal, his coalition falls as his nutty fanatics in his ruling coalition will bail. If he’s not in power, he’ll go to jail. There is not way off his ride unless he ‘wins’ the war. You can’t negotiate with someone who has no motive to concede anything. And like I said earlier, we aren’t going to take away guns or $ so he can keep doing his thing hoping to ‘win’ or just outlast the worlds attention until the next crisis.
  6. I'm guessing Turtle has passed around internal polling and it is not good. Sound the alarms https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4835774-senate-republicans-concerned-trump/ Senate Republicans are worried former President Trump could be blowing their chances of winning back the majority as he flails in his response to Vice President Harris’s surge of momentum, according to GOP aides and strategists. Harris has narrowed Trump’s lead in Republican-leaning Senate battlegrounds such as Ohio and Florida and pulled ahead in other states where Republicans have a chance of picking up seats, such as Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist and former Senate GOP leadership aide, said Republicans are “running into rougher terrain, because Democrats have a much more viable candidate at the presidential level” in Harris compared to President Biden. He said Harris’s record gives Republicans opportunities to go on offense over policy differences but warned that Trump has to focus more on policy and less on throwing red meat to his core supporters. “Trump is trying to get on message. In the last couple of press conferences, he’s started to talk about her policies, but he just can’t help getting the crowd responses by going after her personally. He can’t get away from it. It may get a great reaction from the crowd, but it’s doing nothing for independent voters that are looking for the contrast. They know who Donald Trump is, they’re trying to figure out who Kamala Harris is,” he said. A Senate Republican aide told The Hill that Senate Republicans aren’t thrilled about the trajectory of Trump’s campaign and worry what it will mean for Senate GOP candidates in key states. “You can start to feel trepidation. Like with Arizona, you get a sense in talking to folks that it’s not going as well as we hoped. In Nevada, it’s not going as well as we hoped,” the GOP aide said. The source said “there’s a legitimate gripe” that Trump “is not as aggressive [of a] campaigner as he could be,” referring to the amount of time that Trump is spending on the stump reaching out to voters in key swing states. Republican lawmakers fear that Trump’s personal attacks on Harris may only backfire with swing voters and put downballot GOP candidates in the awkward position of having to respond to Trump’s inflammatory statements. “There’s no question Trump is going through self-immolation. He’s killing himself. All swing states are won by independent votes, and he’s alienated the independent vote almost every day with some foolish statement that marginalizes him, and as a result the party — and the majority of independents are educated women, and they’re just turned off by the guy and what he says,” said former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a onetime adviser to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s (Ky.) leadership team.
  7. I find it somewhat bewildering that you give the entirety of the credit for the Biden administration to Biden, and essentially characterize Harris as an empty suit who did Joe’s bidding for four years, and who had no significant individual impact or influence on the administration’s success. I see her as an incredibly influential teammate of Joe who played a great role in the accomplishments of the Biden administration. I do not get how you credit the “Biden administration” and leave out Kamala’s influence and participation in that administration’s success - which you do by virtue of your suggestion that Harris could have an unsuccessful administration if she were elected….instead of Joe. if Harris wins, I think this country is going to go through some serious things. Some violent things. Things that require a young and healthy person to navigate the upcoming potential demise of MAGA, which will not go quietly or nonviolently. All respect to you, but when insiders right about this administration, they will say how great Joe is - and they will also perhaps comment on the behind-the-scenes story about Joe’s limitations, physically and mentally. I think it will be shown that he was a very old man with the limitations of a very old man - and that the level of success that he achieved as a very old man as president will become the stuff of legend. While she was not a co-president, I think we will find that she played a greater role in the administration than has been publicly admitted - all for political reasons, of course.
  8. I hear you. And I agree with a whole lot of that. My take on this is that the other side is pretty much baked in. I do not see any shit for brains Trump voter thinking that they would vote for Biden, but not Harris. I also think that an electoral shit ton of women, including a double shit ton of black women, are going to show up in numbers so great that it will dwarf any reluctant misogynist or racists. Misogynists and racists are already on team Trump. I’ve known for some time that the women of this country will be the saviors of it. The Democrats adding the abortion laws to all those ballots will create a blue wave of voters. I cannot guarantee you that it will be enough, but I feel 1000% sure in my gut that Kamala will be the catalyst that wins the White House. And if we win the White House, we are going to take the House. The Senate I’m not sure about, but don’t harsh my mellow. i’m thinking that the convention bounce will result in something like a 8 points Harris over Trump in polling (2 more than now). I do not think we’ve seen the zenith of weird deranged Trump behavior yet, but that being behind so much will make Trump behave in a manner that could push it to 10 points.
  9. Yeah not really. I explained just above. If we don’t win the house and senate I’m afraid the lone win we will have is beating Trump and I get that’s paramount, but fuck me I loved the progress of the last four years and I’m afraid a black woman with little congressional experience won’t get as much done. I hope I’m wrong but I resent the fuck out of our electorate that the best person for the job was run out of town. Yeah I get he’s old but fuck he was the most effective president in my lifetime and I’ll be damned if I’m the one that is just thrilled about the reality that he has to go and that we probably won’t be better because of it. sorry, it’s just where I’m at, and I’m extremely enthusiastic about Kamala’s campaign and I deeply hope that I’m wrong about her effectiveness. I just don’t think the otherside can stomach a woman leading the free world and a black one at that.
  10. All the smoke: UT Longhorns football star Kelvin Banks Jr. gets into the barbecue game Matthew Odam, Austin American-Statesman When 6’5” 318-pound Kelvin Banks Jr. approaches a barbecue restaurant, the staff’s eyes get big. His arrival means the cutting board is about to get a good workout, the business is going to make some money, and Banks is likely to share the experience with his thousands of social media followers. There’s also the star factor. The towering and seemingly immovable Banks, a junior at the University of Texas who has started every game at left tackle in his first two seasons with the Longhorns, is a pre-season All-American in many people’s minds, as well as a future potential first round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He might not get as much screen time as the quarterbacks whose blind sides he’s enlisted to protect (likely Heisman candidate Quinn Ewers and legend-in-waiting Arch Manning) or the running backs for whom he drives open truck-sized holes, but Banks has what many consider one of the most important jobs in Austin. And his profile is on the rise thanks to the Barbecue Tasting Series he started on his Instagram page over the summer. The graduate of Summer Creek High School near Humble has already filmed visits to Terry Black’s Barbecue, Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que and Rudy’s in Austin, and the American-Statesman joined him recently for his first experience at LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, which opened this spring in the Garrison Park neighborhood of South Austin. The soft-spoken Banks ducked to avoid a ceiling beam entering the main dining room. A smile spread across his face as he took in the smells and sites on his maiden voyage to one of the best in Austin. “Smells awesome,” Banks said. “I love the vibe in here. I’m getting excited just looking at the pictures.” After ordering enough smoked meats (including Banks’ first ever plate of beef cheeks) and sides to feed a Pop Warner team, Banks and I sat down for a conversation about barbecue, football and family. We were joined by LeRoy and Lewis chef and co-owner Evan LeRoy, who fired a warning shot at the Longhorns’ newest rivals. “I would stand to say we have some of the best pulled whole hog in the SEC,” LeRoy said. (Critic note: It might be my favorite dish at the restaurant.) The following are highlights from our conversation with Banks, edited for clarity and concision. You can check out a video from our visit on both the Austin360 (@austin360) and Banks’ Instagram (@thekelvinbanks) pages. What made Banks want to get into the barbecue content game? “I wanted to show myself and my character more and get myself more out there. I’m kind of a quiet guy, shy," Banks said. "I think it was a no-brainer. First thing when you think about Texas and food is barbecue. Who doesn’t love barbecue? How often does Banks eat barbecue? Probably two to three times a month before the series started, but now almost every week. When he walks into a place, do people recognize Banks? “Do you play football?” some people ask. “You guessed it,” Banks deadpans. Humbly adding, “I’m just a guy who blocks.” What are generally his favorite smoked meat dishes? Brisket, pork ribs and beef ribs. Was there grilling or cooking at the family home when Banks was growing up in Humble? Kelvin Banks Sr. grilled almost every weekend: Ribs, chicken, sirloin. “I grew up loving barbecue,” Banks said. Does Banks cook at home? “A little bit, not too much,” Banks said with a smile. He’s never attempted to cook barbecue, but LeRoy said if the lineman or any nascent cook made a first run at the cooking style that, “The easiest first thing you want to cook is a pork shoulder. Put a good rub on it, don’t get it too hot and just cook it till it’s tender. Wrap it up in foil. Brisket is a full commitment.” What is Banks' go-to stadium food, if he’s at a game as a fan? Nachos and Frito pie, the latter of which LeRoy and Lewis serves. How did Banks end up choosing to come to Texas to play ball? A UT fan for as long as he can remember, Banks says, “I guess it was a no brainer for me at the end of the day. My heart felt at home here.” Did Banks always play offensive line? Banks didn’t start line play until high school. He played tight end, quarterback and running back in his youth. “Two years in a row I was the only person who scored a touchdown,” Banks said. “And we won the championship both years.” With the Longhorns entering the season ranked in the Top 5 for the first time in 14 years, how does Banks feel? “It's a mix of excitement and pressure. As a football player there’s always gonna be pressure on your back, especially from expectations, from coaches to family to fans. And the fans put the pressure on you the most,” Banks said. Is there added pressure protecting the blind side of a Heisman trophy favorite (Ewers) and the heir apparent (Manning)? “I feel like whoever was back there, it would feel like a big responsibility,” Banks said. “I try to take every day as seriously as I can and understand that someone else’s career is in my hands. Basically, just trying to make sure I keep them as clean as possible.” Are there any SEC opponents he’s looking most forward to playing? “Any away game I’m excited about, just because it’s a different environment,” Banks said. He’s specifically fired up for the Arkansas game because he has heard from teammates the Razorback faithful are incredibly intense and will line the streets throwing out the “Horns down” sign from the trip to the hotel to the stadium. “It is what it is,” Banks said. “They can do it if they want to; we just gotta go out there and win the game and stop them from doing it.” What Longhorn teammate of Banks could wipe out the kitchen at a barbecue joint? Fellow offensive lineman, Neto Umeozulu. What does Banks like to eat after practice or a game? Not surprisingly, Banks said he and his family usually go to a barbecue spot or Pappadeaux. What is Banks' favorite dessert? Cheesecake (he was a big fan of LeRoy and Lewis’s version made with Tillamook cheddar and topped with apple butter and a cheddar crisp). Favorite candy bar? Hershey’s with almonds or Kit Kat. Does Banks have any hobbies outside of barbecue and football? Fishing on a weekend off. He and his dad and grandfather go deep sea fishing. If he wasn’t destined for the NFL, would Banks be interested in a career in food or food-related content? “The old me, no,” Banks said. “But me now, for sure.” What did Banks think of LeRoy and Lewis? He loved the wide variety of offerings, including flat iron, beef cheeks, onion rings (“Best I’ve ever had in my life”) and burger, adding that he could probably put away four of the burgers on an empty stomach. ““I love how you mix in so many different cultures into your food,” Banks said of the menu that features nods to Mexico (salsa verde on chopped beef), Japan (rice wine vinegar in the pork) and Korea (kimchi). I’ll definitely be coming back. I’ll probably be bringing some of the guys with me.” Kitchen staff, consider yourself warned... https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/smoke-ut-longhorns-football-star-170121617.html
  11. I think Sark saw it coming plenty early, but he (mistakenly?) has trusted PK to fix it. Someone pointed out that PK apparently doesn't long to be HC somewhere, and that may be so. It means to me that he doesn't have the attitude to be in charge of the entire Defense, either. Sark is a really, really high-quality Offense coach. Like a lot of the type, he seems to have a tendency to - I hate to say "ignore", but - not pay enough attention to the defensive part of the game. He has two full-time jobs, as both HC and being his own OC, so he simply doesn't have enough hours in his days to ride herd on the D as well. I understand his relationship with Kwiatkowsky goes back quite a way, but the fact is the D has not reached the heights that the O has. I also understand that it has certainly gotten better, and most of us believe it will be better still, this season. Is that enough? Maybe, maybe not. If the DB crew doesn't improve from last year, it appears to me we're going to see the same result: win almost all our games, but have one or two where we just can't stop our opponents' passing attacks, and if the O doesn't crush it... well, 12-2 is a whole lot better than we've seen in a long, long time. Season's getting close, and we'll be talking about coaching and play far more than we talk about recruiting. cantwait.gif
  12. Everything Texas A&M Football OC Collin Klein said during media day Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein talks offensive performance in fall camp during Saturday's media day. Andrew Hattersley78 mins2 With Texas A&M exactly set to close out fall camp on Sunday with its second scrimmage before turning their attention towards Notre Dame prep, the Aggies held a media on Saturday afternoon. Mike Elko met with the media as did offensive coordinator Collin Klein and Jay Bateman. With Elko confirming on Saturday that Rueben Owens will miss most if not all of the season due to a foot injury, Klein shared his perspective on the other backs in the room and also talked about a few other position groups with position battles ongoing. With 14 practices now in the books, Klein also gave his assessment of the progress that A&M has made so far on the offensive side of the ball in camp. Here is everything that he said during Saturday's media day. On running back room after Rueben Owens’ injury… "Yeah, no, absolutely. I think, first of all, I've had a lot of guys that have contributed well in that position through camp. With Le'Veon and Amari, obviously, heading point in his absence. Obviously, heart breaks for Rueben, all the work and time that he put in and was having a tremendous camp. Obviously, our hearts are with him, and we'll be with him through his recovery process. But I'm not worried about the position. Coach Trooper Taylor and Coach Lentz are doing a great job, so we'll be good." On bright spots on offense during fall camp… "No, I think collectively, I think have gotten a lot more comfortable with schematically the offense and what we're trying to ask them to do. I think our understanding of what we're trying to get done has definitely increased. I think the biggest thing that we're working on right now is just consistency because we've really had some good, some bright spots throwing the football. We've had a number of receiver step up. I know Jahdae Walker has really made some contested catches is. I know Noah Thomas is really stepping up and taking some leadership in that room and has made some huge plays for us. Obviously, Conner has shown and really stepped up and put the ball in some tight windows and giving them some chances to make plays. But again, consistency is the name of the game and being able to make sure that we can do those things, play in and play out, drive in and drive out to keep the thing moving how it should. But no, I'm really pleased. I think all the way around, I go to every area and, again, be encouraged with what the guys have done." On how he envisions utilizing tight end… "I think the tight ends have had a good camp. I think Tre Watson is really doing a nice job and runs great routes, has a good understanding of how he fits into schemes, has good ball skills. I think Theo has done some really good things at the point of attack and provide just some versatility there. Then Donovan Green coming back from injury and Shane Calhoun, our transfer, have both really done some nice things. I think we got a good mix of skill sets, a good balance of things that each one will be able to bring to that room and give us some advantages for sure, because it's a big part of what we're going to do." On Micah Tease performance so far in fall camp… "I really appreciate how Micah competes. I mean, he really competes hard every single day, every single rep. I think it was two practices ago, had a couple of really, really big time contested catches on some conversion downs in the red zone that keep you from kicking a field goal or in the two-minute situations we were doing or whatever, give you a chance to win the football game, and just does an unbelievable job competing and shows up every day." On Ar’Maj Reed-Adams… "Yeah, Ar'Maj, he is a competitive son of a gun now. I mean, he's got great energy every single day in practice. He's got a high level of physicality and is able to create movement on doubles and athletic and gives us some flexibility of where we can put people and really excited for him and the camp he's had." On Cyrus Allen… "Yeah, no, Cyrus has been really good. I think he's really got a burst to him. To where he gives you some chances to push the ball down the field vertically and stretch the defense. So he's done some really nice things." On how he sees offensive line room shaping up… "I think there's a lot of different combinations. There's a high level of competition in a couple of different spots. I think that'll carry on even over just even the next couple of weeks, but probably even into the early season of mixing and matching some combinations to find that right groove, keep people fresh. Thankfully, we've got a couple of guys that have provided us that versatility. It is a work in progress, but again, guys are doing a nice job." On center battle… Mark Nabou has done a really nice job, and Koli has done a tremendous job, and those two are part of that mix that he's talking about that we're trying to figure out. On E.J Smith and Anthony DiNota… "Yeah. No, E.J. he was a little dinged up this summer, so getting him back healthy, and I thought in the last week, has really turned the corner physically to where you can see he's really feeling good again. He's done some good things in the pass game and catching the football and has good ball skills, provides us some versatility to move him around the field a little bit. DiNota is just steady Eddie, man. He's a tough sucker and really does a nice job getting north and south on some of those schemes to get you those tough yards. He can turn a three into a five or six, which is huge." On Terry Bussey’s versatility… "I think we will be able to move him around quite a bit. He's even in a short time, shown really high capacity and adapted pretty quickly for the time and how things have transpired. I think his skillset is very diverse. He's got great natural route running ability. He's got really good ball skills on the move, but he's obviously big and physical enough to move him in the backfield and all over the field. I think it's going to be a pretty a diverse skillset for us. He's done a really nice job and made some big plays down the field attacking the football." On how he judges progress in first fall camp… "I don't know if it's probably even a question for Coach Elko. All of our heads, and my head has been down to the grindstone, trying to take one step at a time, one day at a time. I think I'm very proud of our guys and the steps we've made as far as on the big picture. We still got two more weeks to keep pounding away and get every inch that we can. I think some of the rotations and personnel in competition battles have made us better and solidified some things on the edge and inside. But again, just got to keep pounding away right now. We got two more good weeks to work before we kick this thing off. Really proud of our guys and how they bought in and attacked things, but we got two more weeks to work." On how deep receiver rotation will be… "I think we will be able to play a good number of guys. Probably depends a little bit on the week. I think probably anywhere from 4-6. We'll see time depending on on how things are going in that game. Probably 3-4, taking the majority of the load and the work, and then sprinkling in from there based on how things go." On implementation of offense... "Yeah, everything is in. Everything's been in for the last probably five or six days, minus some nuanced stuff and some special situation stuff here and there. Again, I think we've intentionally pushed them really hard and tried to build as broad a foundation as we can to make sure that we can build and use everything that we're going to need through the course of a long year. Really, really proud of them, how they've attacked it. Again, I think we're not as consistent as I would like right now across the board, but we've made great progress. They're making great progress and really excited for what this group is capable of." On working alongside Mike Elko, implementing his vision… "Yeah, I think everything has taken shape pretty much exactly as was projected and laid out by Coach and understanding that this a process that we're working through and staying consistent to that process. But it's been outstanding. I've really loved working for Coach Elko, and his vision and consistency, I think, is extraordinary. It's something we're just day in and day out, one day at a time, one play at a time, and having that type of mentality to fuel and direct that big picture vision of where we're going, I think, has held true from what I thought it was going to be.
  13. See new posts Conversation (((Tendar))) @Tendar The Ukrainian offensive in Kursk has been ongoing for 12 days and it is time to make an intermediate assessment on all levels. Spoiler: it is an Ukrainian success story. Please indulge me. When in the morning hours of August 6, 2024, the first news hit that Russian border posts in Kursk were struck, not many could imagine the scale of what was going on. Many had the small cross border raids in mind from last year when the Free Russian Legion was entering Belgorod and harassing a few border villages, but obviously that was not the case here. In order to summarize it properly, I will try to shed light on this on all relevant levels, tactical, operational, strategic and political. Tactical Level On the tactical level Russians were completely unprepared of what was coming. The border posts such as in Oleshnya were quickly overrun and the Russian conscripts in their posts surrendered fast. The initial response units of the Russian army were all but wiped out and even an Kamov Ka-52 chopper, which tried to interfere, was shot out of the sky. The Ukrainian strikes were coordinated on an extremely professional level, using artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, drones and other aerial vehicles. Communication and tactics showed that Ukrainian forces mastered what is commonly known as maneuver warfare. At no stage in this war Russians ever employed this kind of professionalism. In addition, the discipline among Ukrainian soldiers not to use mobile phones and disclose communication as well as gains in territory left Russians (and the OSINT community) relatively in the dark. The Ukrainian silence in preparation and execution of this operation might be the most astounding factor in this campaign. It almost flawlessly worked. Operational Level Aside from the tactical cleverness Ukrainians showed to us so far, it was and still is also the way they moved into the Kursk region. While Russian forces are infamous in trying to reach and overcome heavily fortified cities, towns and villages, Ukrainians rather bypassed larger settlements, cut and intercept the rear and encircle Russian troop concentrations, and by doing so staying even more in the shadows. This probably enabled the capture of large numbers of Russian POWs who found themselves quickly behind lines. Estimations go as high as 2,000 Russian soldiers being captured, an number so high that it might even be a strain for Ukrainian logistics. But it is obvious that this alone has already made the operation worthwhile. Russians, however, employed the same mistakes they made when starting the full-scale war back in February 2022. Some large columns which were mustered, were not only detected by Ukrainian forces, but as with the instance in Rylsk completely destroyed. This single event made an already difficult situation for Russian forces worse. It might turn out that this single event will be responsible for vast losses in territory, starting with Korenevo, which at this very hours is getting pounded and encircled. Overall, the whole Russian operational situation shows that they are only trying to stem the tide, without any short-term hope of dislodging the enemy. The Ukrainian Blitz has been an operational success, despite Russian resistance in some areas. Strategic Level Any tactical and operational planning and especially execution should follow an overarching strategy. We saw this when Ukrainian forces were successfully defeating Russian forces in Kyiv and the North in March 2022, and even more so when vast areas in Kharkiv and Kherson regions were liberated. Russians, on the other hand, lack a strategy. Other than trying to atrit the enemy, there is nothing what really resemblance a strategy, and this one is a questionable one for sure. The huge casualties in Bakhmut, Vuhledar and Avdiivka, where hundreds of thousands of Russians were destroyed, either by KIA or permanently WIA, didn't yield any strategic gain, neither in terms of territory nor in trying to disable the Ukrainian army altogether. It is obvious that the Kremlin was trying to perpetuate the illusion that Russia can do this forever. And this has been the Russian strategy ever since, combined with projecting "red lines" which aim to stop or at least slow down Western aid for Ukraine, in hope to force Ukrainians into a diktat peace which Putin could sell to his subjects. Ukraine could never allow itself to do the same for both, military and also humanitarian reasons. Since sending out countless of meat waves was never a lasting solution for Ukraine, the counter offensive in the South in 2023 got stuck, despite some notable successes in the Russian rear, especially in Crimea. It was clear that Russia and its lesser minions in the West would exploit this, but it was preferable to preserve the strength, rather than losing men for some fields in the south. A different approach was needed. The choice to attack Russian lands in Kursk, which were not well defended and even less expected by Moscow, made it an ideal target. And the successes speak for themselves. Ukrainian forces have achieved in 7 days more territorial gains than Russians in one year of attrition warfare in Donetsk. The best part is that this was achieved with minimal own casualties. Yes, there were some losses, especially with MRAPs and Russians will celebrate every one of them, but considering that Ukraine has thousands of them its armory and the Wests tens of thousands ready, it is not a serious concern. When playing the long game, it is imperative to use its forces and reserves in a most efficient way, targeting weak spots and force the enemy to lose more troops and driving them beyond capacity. In fact, Russia was wasting huge amounts of human material and hardware against what was a Maginot line in Donbas. Anyone who studied the history of wars knows that fortresses and defense lines are meant to be attacked, which should be actually a no-brainer. The trick is to bypass them and in doing so make them useless. Only when it is unavoidable you attack them. When German forces were bypassing the Maginot line in 1940, huge amount of French military investments evaporated. Later in the Africa campaign both, German and British forces understood that supplies and logistics outweigh any territorial gains. If you can use the vastness of the territory to weaken your enemy, then it would be foolish not to do so. You should assume that Russians understand at least this from their own history, but it is almost comical that in Ukraine Putin and his entourage completely disregarded that. You might assume that his resulted from their hubris and I'm sure that their arrogance did their part. However, when seeing how atrociously bad Russians operate in combined arms warfare, it is explainable why they chose this bad option, because they are simply not capable of doing it differently. Summarizing, you can only conclude that the Ukraine strategy is working. The breakthrough in Donetsk has been prevented. The Russian gains are small, even dwarfed by the Ukrainian gains in Kursk, which are still ongoing, and the Russian gains came for a horrifically high price. To call this pyrrhic, does not do the term justice, because even pyrrhic victory bears the term "victory". Russians are nowhere near to achieve even that and Ukrainian forces might cause far more damage in Kursk, if Russians are not relocating more troops to this sector, effectively dashing what they intended in Donbas. Political Level The political implications might be even the most disastrous for the Russian war effort. Having Ukrainians firmly entrenched in Russian lands bodes not well from a military point of view in itself, but the picture it projects is far worse than anything what Russians have experienced so far. Putin was so devoted to project that Russia is "strong again". He and his propaganda channels are going to great length to portray the 1990s and democracy as rule of weakness and in contrast him and his dictatorship the rule of strength and stability. Having this defeat in Kursk under his watch where Russia had to concede to a foreign force territory and allow them take permanent hold of Russian lands, is a situation which has never occured since 1945, not even during the 1990s. Ukrainian conquest of Russian territories are the latest signs, how weak Russia in fact is. When reflecting that the whole Russian economy has been relegated to sustain this war, it makes this embarrassment even more embarrassing. Russia is devoted to this war and cannot even hold the own borders, basically adding insult to injury. That will stick and not even Russia's propaganda channels are capable of fending this off. Putin's meek response speaks louder than anything else. The emperor's new clothes are exposed once again and he is more afraid than ever. Russia is vulnerable and it cannot be hidden anymore. Ukrainian forces firmly control the border areas in Kursk and god knows how many reserves are waiting for this or even another incursion. Even when it would be possible to stop the Ukrainian advance, it is unlikely to dislodge them before the end of this year, if ever during this war. This is extremely important to point out. Putin was already preparing to arm twist Ukraine into a diktat ceasefire. All what he needed is a steady even when slow advance in Donbas and Western governments in buying that he is going to sacrifice whatever is necessary. It was absolutely imperative for him to deny Ukrainians any kind of territorial successes. This was more important to him than his horrific losses, because he thought that he will reach a suitable point before his reserves are spent. This was emphasized when he and his lesser minions were always pointing out that Russia is advancing, ignoring that those advances are minuscule. With Ukrainians in Kursk, on Russian lands, this has shifted, dramatically. He cannot even think of ceasefire as long as Ukrainians control even an inch of Russia, but his problems are that he will need another hugely costly campaign, similar to what is going on since 2 years in Donbas, without even a sight of end. Russia already squandered huge amounts of human material and hardware and we all know that his reserves are burning down. Depending on analysts, the Soviet reserves are spent by 2026-2027. Russia cannot sustain this war forever, and Putin cannot allow Ukrainians on Russian lands. The planners in Kyiv skillfully recognized this and maneuvered Putin into a corner where his demise is expedited. They also exposed Russian weaknesses and presented their Western backers that Ukraine can win this war, if the weapons and ammunition are guaranteed. The West should take note of this success and draw the right conclusions. There are no Russian red lines, only bluffs. German-made tanks are in Russia, destroying Russians and we are all here. The bluff is called. This war can be ended quickly, either militarily or with a decisive Russian defeat, which will cause a political change inside Russia. The Kursk operation has laid this completely open and it is time to do some serious action in the West, in order to break Putin-Russia's neck once and for all.
  14. Hopefully Harris wins convincingly so we can continue to kick the can, but I still feel like at some point the empowered stupidity/hate that exists is going to have to be dealt with in a much more severe and bleak manner to really send it to the grave.
  15. Inside Texas' best college football preseason hot takes by:Joe Cook•about 12 hours IT member playawon got the weekend started right with a great discussion asking the Inside Texas Members Only board for their best hot takes and/or bold predictions ahead of the 2024 season. Here are some of the highlights from the almost 24 hour stream of takes. playawon This year’s Heisman Trophy winner is a Big 12 QB. Bolden leads the Horns in receptions and receiving yards. CoSLonghorn WE’RE WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!! rodofdisaster Dillon Gabriel will be a finalist. I feel confident in that. I know the competition is tough, but I feel like this OL could win the Joe Moore Award. I have a good feeling about individual awards. Ewers wins one. Perhaps a DB wins the Thorpe or Hill wins the Nagurski. dick fingers If a Big 12 QB wins the Heisman it’ll be Rising. Other varying hot takes: Michigan loses to all of Texas, USC, Oregon, and Ohio State UF does the unthinkable and beats A&M (hater take) A&M only wins 7 (hater take part 2) Jackson Arnold throws 16 picks bdwehner The ACC will be hot garbage and as a result, Clemson will be wildly overrated. theelusiveshadow There are usually preseason top ten teams that turn out not to be top 10 teams. For example, last year LSU started at #5, USC was #6, and Clemson was #9. My guesses for pretender top ten teams are #9 Michigan (will still be ranked at the end but QB will sink them in certain games) and… let’s say #5 Alabama due to some tough games. Other teams like Notre Dame and FSU have pretty manageable schedules, which will help their ranking throughout the season. Now watch both teams kill it with first year coaches because I said this. texaslove2 Florida gators 9-3. Kansas or Iowa St. in playoffs. gohorns8 This will be Deion’s last season in Boulder. Not sure how hot that is considering what is coming out about the program but yeah. STLaw QE wins the Heisman Texas beats Georgia by 10+ Texas has 3 first round picks We recreate the infamous scoreboard kick on purpose just to watch Aggieland burn after the game ABOESE Jaylon Guilbeau wins the Thorpe….. HornNRaiderLand Dillion Gabriel becomes a Heisman finalist for completing 10 yard passes and having a 70% completion percentage doing so 😂 justin1996 UF will win 10 games. Ohio State will lose 3 or more games. Milroe wins the Heisman. HornDPT I’d say a hot take would be 4 first round picks. Quinn Ewers Kelvin Banks Trey Moore Alfred Collins Isaiah Bond Are all candidates to go early if they have either the season they expect to or have an insane season Hooked#1 USC has 5 losses on the season LSU has four losses on the season Nebraska goes 7-0, then loses 5 straight tOSU has two losses, and nether are Oregon Dante Moore ends up QB1 for Oregon HornsWin Texas gets ranked #1 at some point. Colorado will be bowl eligible. JoeCook UCLA goes 8-4 and beats USC. The Outland goes to a non-Michigan DT. Texas has three first-team All-Americans. Bert Auburn wins the Lou Groza. Texas loses one staff member to a head coaching job after the season. TipOfTheHorn Wisner has a better season than Blue. judgesmalls Nico wins the Heisman. IMFletch USC has 5 losses and Riley is looking for a job. horns91 Sherrone Moore gets fired before seasons end. Trey Moore records 10+ sacks and becomes a first round draft pick. Quinn wins the Davey O’Brien trophy and leads us to a second consecutive playoff and we beat Utah in the playoffs to advance. kazooman Texas State makes the playoffs as the Group of 5 rep. Michigan underachieves, but gets it together at the end of the year and beats OSU. Ohio State fires Ryan Day. becook3108 USC beats LSU UF beats Miami A&M has 10 wins VT wins the ACC Colorado loses to NDSU Brady Cook wins the Heisman Texas goes 10-2 and Anthony Hill will take over as the premiere defensive player in CFB. Zombie_Slayer We beat Aggie by 21 on our way to the SEC title. BEHR Georgia does not make the playoffs. Losses to Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss, injuries, etc… 1benmike Oregon will not make the playoff eagleeye7277 North Carolina State plays for the ACC championship. Arnold is benched mid season. Colorado is looking for a new coach in the new year. Two different Texas players win a year in national position award. Florida goes over Vegas’s 4.5 wins and gets bowl eligible. jacoblangston1 Both the Big 12 and ACC win a playoff game 4e_horn A&M enters our game with them ranked in the top ten younghorn01 No one in the SEC and Big 10 makes the natty bvalday Nebraska contends for B10 Championship codeorange Lincoln Riley shows he can still coach and USC surprises to the upside. Texas handles Michigan easier than expected causing an overreaction by fans and the media. Michigan ends up losing 4+ games. 1NTXHorn1 The Heisman finalists will be Quinn, Jalen Milroe, Tetairoa McMillan, and Preston Stone Coolllllhhj USC will be the suprise team in CFB this year. Not maybe as good as Michigan in 2021 but a lot of similar vibes in that there is a coach going in with a ton of questions/hot seat, changes a lot of the coaches, and could play with a massive chip on their shoulder with as many people doubting them. I don’t see Riley just falling flat on his face And don’t forget their schedule sets up nice. They don’t play the top two teams in the Big Ten, no late cold November road games, get LSU who normally starts slow under BK and also Michigan breaking in a new QB/staff early and also get ND at home against a QB with injury history at the end of the year DocHorn11 Blue wins the Doak Walker Rusty Shackelford Arch ends the season as QB1 Paul Wadlington aka "Scipio Tex" Last season, Washington and UCLA combined for 22 wins. This year they combine for 11. Virginia Tech wins 10 Rutgers wins 8
  16. I’m taking all of this Bregman stuff with a grain of salt. But this is a much more complicated way of saying “dude has played in 116 of 120 games. We’re giving him the weekend off because we’re playing a team that will be at 100 losses with over an entire month of the season left.” But if going the “slept wrong” route is the way to accomplish getting him a break and keeps the white sox from throwing at our dudes (which is what they would have done if we came out and said “we don’t feel with need Bregman this weekend to be able to win 2 or 3 of 3”, then so be it)
  17. On Halloween day 1998 while watching Texas Nebraska, I turned to my girlfriend and said if Texas wins we can go to whatever movie you want. That's why I found myself later that night sitting in a theater watching the cinematic classic that was Practical Magic. I doubt I'll have another day of such highs and lows ever again.
  18. Daddy98 Posted on 23 hrs, V I P, It's been awhile. Been Busy. Let's cut to the Chase. How are we going to be this season? I am as bullish as I have been going into a season in some time. Why? 1: Schedule. This is the best schedule we have had in the SEC since we got here. No Ga, no Bama, No Ole Miss, and LSU at home. Are we Dreaming? Pretty close. that's a pretty sweet gig ND and tu at home. tu despite #4 ranking lost a lot of great players. Not good players, but great players and where are they the weakest? interior def line. When do they play us? At the end of the season. This will be a test to their coaches to see if they can battle the trenches all year long. That's always the hardest part about the SEC, it's not winning a game, it's the Gauntlet. You don't lose Byron (the Gigolo) Murphy, Vondre Sweat, X Worthy, A Mitchell rec, Jalen Saunders, Johnny Brooks, Keilan Robinson, Jaylan Ford, Ryan Watts, and Jordan Whittington and just Rock. It's hard to fix that. They picked up portal guys. I get it. That's really tough. and I imagine that rb with Baxter out has to be hurting because he's really good and lost 2 rb's including the #1 rb picked. That tells me Ewers will have a lot more on his shoulders. ND is built a lot like us except they are slower. They are going to have good linemen, good sound football. Good te play. They don't have scary players. They don't have the speed on offense and I don't think their secondary or def line is as good as ours is. Their ol is probably better but I wouldn't say it's great. The truth is when ND plays the good teams they tend to struggle. Hell they struggled with Duke last year and that was with scoring points. LSU at home. LSU lost Heisman guy and 2 first round receivers. We don't have to chase a 4.4 qb. We get a pure passer. We see that in practice. They will not be easy but this is the best chance we have had in some time to beat them. their def line is not mature and not great. Bear, what's your point? If you play good football, you can win a lot of games with this schedule. Johnny is sitting on his bar stool in his apartment somewhere, smoking a ciggie going, where was this when I played. Bama, LSU, Florida were littered with First Rounders. Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss had tons of first rounders 2: Let's pretend we are what we were last year. What were we missing to win? Crappy O line, okay, quitter rec, okay, qb hurt, yeah, but if A&M had 2 more starter worth corners, which games do we win? Bama, probably Ole Miss, Tenn, maybe LSU. Bama, every tough spot where they needed a play, it was pitch and catch to the lcb on Jalen Burton (3rd rounder). We tried Deuce (Doh), we tried Deberry (no), we tried Sam McCall. Can't do that. We have legit cover corners that can play and this should greatly help what we have struggled at against good teams. Pass defense. The games that have got ahead of us were because Ole Miss 6'3 receiver just worked us a new A hole. Well, Here's Sir William Lee 6'3, here's Donovan Saunders 6'2 4.4, here's BJ Mayes 6'1, Here's Dezz Ricks, 5 star Bama transfer and then we have 3 youts in Bussey, Bravvion, and JT. We should be able to play some coverage. If we can't, Fire them all. Because you can't coach. That's not going to happen. Having the element to cover just changes the complexity of the defense. You can be more aggressive with pass rush, you can bring more guys in the box. I don't see def line being any different than 23. Honestly, might be better. We lost Walt Nolen but we got a better player and he's an edge guy and he'll play through his last game. Shemar Turner is playing for big time NFL Money. Fat Albert Regis is playing as a 4th year dt, same as Regis, and we got King Kong Dindy healthy. And don't forget Shamu the killer Whale and Rodas johnson. We are still Jimbo strong with Big **** 300 lbers. Are we going to get pressure? I think we will. I like to see what Elko gets out of the boys. Shemar Stewart looks like a Freak. Can he play like one? Cashius Clay Howell is playing some edge. I'd still like to see Matrrell Harris #40 an undersized lb/de gets some opportunities because he's so fast. If we can manage to go from a good pass rush, to an outstanding pass rush the defense goes from Really good to elite. With Elite defenses you are in every game. This is the case in youth, it's the case in HS, it's the case in college, and it's the case in the NFL, but not as much. Bear, where's the strength of the team? the best players will be at def line, in overrall talent with depth, I'd say db. So many guys that can do multiple things. Who's the best outside cb's of Ricks, Bj, Donovan, Will Lee. Can Ratcliffe be used at 6'3 and rangy? can Bryce cover Single high with his 10.5 speed. Can Trey Young be the Enforcer at safety. Is Salty Daltie a true safety or a box guy. is Jadon Hill the perfect dime corner? and don't sleep on Chappy. This is just a monster secondary with tremendous versatility. I think the packages they might put in will be crazy. Could we use another lb? Lb isn't a critical position in Elko's defense but it's still one of the 11 and no ? we are missing Edge Cooper. he was our fastest lb and maybe defender and he was our best pass rusher. I do pray Elko' has a plan for guys rushing the passer. That was my biggest criticism of him here the 4 years and Durkin last 2. Too much 300 lb guys trying to rush the edge of the tackle. We will see. We have plenty of talented bodies and sometimes the cheat codes like Thick Nic Scourton make any scheme look good. What are we hearing on Crooting? I am seeing the little General JP showing he's on the fast track to becoming a DC. Why? He's working, he's recruiting. He's landing players at his position. Just ask Jefferson, what's the hard players to land on defense? Pass Rushers and Cover guys. It used to be Cover Corners but Safeties today are used so much in coverage that the days of Patrick Bates at 230 are getting more rare. you want guys that can cover Kadarius Toney on the Middle Verticals. Just at Leon. That kind of safety is going to be more and more rare. We need more JP's recruiting. 3: Where are we weak and what do we have to do to Mitigate? We are hearing a lot of negative on the offense and it's warranted but it's also not spot on. First off offense is always behind the defense and our defense is probably pushing Ga level good short a first rounder or 2 in back half. Everyone's offense is trying to get crisp especially with an entirely new offensive system, new coordinator, new qb (CW Was hurt), new terminology. This will take some time. Pee Wee, MS, HS, College, the defenses are typically ahead of the offenses. We haven't been ahead since Johnny's second year that spring. We learned Johnny was a star, and that our defense was porous that year. So it's great the defense is doing well. What I think we've heard a lot of negative on but I don't believe it is off line. I believe the off line will be a strength of the offense. I don't care what you read, or hear. There's too many talented players that have stayed around and matured and just like that year with Dan Moore and Carson Green and K Green where it just flipped on and we started mauling. There are too many bodies. We brought in 4 high transfers and 2 left. Why? Because they saw they weren't going to play. One appears to be a stud in Reed Adams the Desoto product. Big nasty. I actually think the biggest area of concern is getting the center right. Nabou or is it the Utah Transfer or possibly Dewberry pie? I D K Nabou is very talented. They love him. he's also very smart. I still see a little of Mako Shark in him in that I don't see a guy that looks like he understands the little things of the game. Meaning effective producing his blocks. I think he's the key. the 2nd key is Fatheree. You guys read Playmakers notes this morning after the Morning Conference call. I think the coaches can overthink sometimes. The games I've watched when healthy, he's the best pass blocker on the team. That's it. yes he needs to get stronger. But his feet, length, and ability to set is just unmatched on our team at tackle. That includes Zuhn and Crownover and Reed Adams. I am sure he's not practiced as well as some. Yeah, I am going off of game tape. When he came back in the Okie st bowl game at guard he looked really good. 4:Offensively from Studying Klein I don't quite have a peg on what exactly he does. He loves a lot of mis direction counters. I expect to see a lot of zone one way and then counters coming back on the run game and having play action passes off those 2 variables, mixed in with Screens. I think it's a very difficult offense to defend if the offense can execute and I think we will. I think a combo of why we are struggling is the guys haven't learning the nuance of the different concepts of each play. We will use a lot of screen game and I expect to see the ball to the running back a lot. I think Klein sees this as a good matchup. Most rb's are matched up on lb's and most lb's although athletic are 230 and rb's are 205 210 and that usually means not as fast. So he's going to take what the defense gives him. Receiver. We aren't good enough here but I do believe we have speed. We are much faster at wideout than we have been in some time. We have a lot of guys that can scoot. So if you are going to have a 3 to 4 star have one that can score from 60 out. Tease, Ernie, Noah, Ashton Bethel Roman, Izaiah Williams, Cyrus Allen have some very impressive track times. I think this is by design. Obviously possible the best receivers aren't those guys but notice who we are targeting in new pickups. Moose, J Walker, and Noah we are our vets. We need better ball from them. Getting back to the speed part, I think they want to use Receivers in the screen game and then try to get them free releases deep. and that combo opens up the middle of the field for the tight ends as the Receivers clear out the high safeties. The tight ends will be used. I think Klein and Elko see the TE as an forgotten man in today's game. I am sure their NIL deals are 1/5 of a top shelf rita receiver. I bet we use a lot of TE formations. 2 might be our base and I could see some 3 te packages. It's not always ideal but they will look for competitive advantages and there can be tremendous value. With Most Defenses including ours running mostly a nickel sub package base, it does create some mismatches. This isn't a mask for we absolutely have to get better at this position particularly we need a go to # 1 receiver. I think the key is getting Tight ends that can do both well. Not just receive, not just be a 3rd ot, but block and receive so that it stresses and strains the defenses. More teams in 5 db sets, the more blocking should be working in the run game. CWeigman to me is a gamer. I don't think he's a practice Champion. We haven't been hearing glowing reports but we will see more production and very accurate throws when he gets in. My biggest beef from the off season is not getting a qb that the more I see is a pocket passer than a play maker a true #1. As I stated, CW with time and receivers getting open can hit kids all day long. Where I am concerned on our offense is 3rd and 7, at the 40 of the other team, we need to get into true fg range or better yet a td. the defense brings 6 in the box, we go 3 wide, 1 te, 1 rb and the defense is showing Man coverage in press coverage. the ball is snapped and they are sending 6 that means you have to throw that ball in 2.5 seconds or less and you get time to look to a receiver and make that throw on that break praying he gets separation on that break to where the db isn't as good. I don't know we have that guy. I think Noah with more time (3 plus seconds) can get more into his route where the back shoulder or the fade can work, but when it's 2.5 it's got to be something that's open. I am not sure we have someone that can get open on a Ga/Bama 5 star db. We have not had many of these guys and none in the Jimbo era. We just didn't get the top shelf wideout that makes DC's chit in their pants and have nightmares. This greatly takes away CW strength. If you have a Johnny, well he just takes off and with every guys back turn he's running for 15. CW is fast but he takes some time to get going. He kind of scrambles like Champ McGee to me. So what's the point? I think we did limit his Ceiling by not getting him more weapons. I don't know if we just see the price on Receivers to not be worth what the going rate is. I D K, but this has to get mitigated fast. Running back no question hurts with Ruby out. We are min 1 rb short particularly a bigger rb to sub in for Moss. I expect EJ and Amari to be used a lot. Feel we are missing a guy. If Bussey is working here I think that's a good spot even if cb is his best long term spot. Laveon, we need you to stay healthy and be that horse.. Definitely a concern here that could come back to bite us. I don't know why we didn't recruit a rb for depth. But here we are, it's the roster. 5: a Key impact that Elko has shown and I think much of it has to do with using NIL properly is Discipline. Elko has a lot of Mike Sherman in him. Love Structure, doing what's required, eating breakfest, lunch, dinner together, studying together, strength training together. Well, for you guys that have heart burn over NIL contracts, well, we didn't have anyone get arrested this off season did we? WE had very few guys miss training. Why? Want to keep making that NIL payday. You want to get paid like a Professional, then we are going to require you to do your part like a professional. and I think this won't go unnoticed. We will play good sound ball. Again, I reiterate, it's landing the top shelf Heavy Hitters that will determine the long term success of this Regime 6: Recruiting and the portal. Elko uses a lot of analytics in how they look at players and transfers. He knows he has to get more first rounders (this has been mentioned to several people) that we had 1 first in 6 years and Bama and Ga have 15 to 20. First Rounders require performance and measureables. I think we are evaluating still going forward the best approach. One thing I pitched to some folks was that why even recruit HS Sr.s I've seen 5 star freshman and for the most part at best they are avg. you could have a roster of soph, jr's, sr's. Older, wiser, more focused. What's the issue with that strategy? A: hard to keep transfers on the bench. That's a big one. Can you have a roster of 85 or 105 with just soph jr sr? Probably not. Too many will leave B: Hard to develop transfers much since they are coming with their resume. There is a big deal that coaches want to shape players and culture to resemble what they want. Not sure how much of this luxury you have today. pros older, more mature, more data points on evaluations against real players Less wasted NIL capital. Freshman sitting on rears despite a nice NIL deal. I think this will be Elko's biggest factor going forward in determining his future success. We know we are going to have good coaching particularly on defense. How can we land enough difference makers? That's what we are missing on offense and even could use someone in back 7 on defense that's a first rounder type. I know our def line has the largest deals (and for good reason they are going to the NFL draft) but that tells you why they are our best players. the NIL budget contrary to what many think is not limitless. This is where seeing value in players is going to become the Holy Grail moreso than coaching. Just like the NFL, the GM and Scouting department is/are much more of the reason you win or lose. So I think this will be telling short of a White Knight coming forward and bring a lot of jack to the table what determines our Success. You also have to remember just like a NFL Roster, if player A is a JR and is going to be drafted , it's hard to give player B a freshman that just enrolled a larger deal than that kid when they've never done anything and never proven they can do anything more than drive in a parking Garage really fast. That is again how much you have to do today vs 3 years ago and managing little things like this can impact the morale of the program. It's just nuts. But make no mistake, we can't just be Walmart and Marshall Value Shoppers even if it's relatively a much better deal, we have to target and land more heavy hitters and we really got hit hard last NSD. We just didn't do For that reason, I expect the Portal to be used much more. I am still curious to see how much harder it is to land the super heavy hitters as much as it is to get them here as freshman, develop them, then keep them. If Elijah stayed, would Walter Nolen have stayed? I don't know. Great question. But I certainly wouldn't trade Nic for Walt. Obviously, at the end, the best case scenario is win, win a lot, and just like baseball it will come more. 10-2
  19. Olin opening: Faxinating. Let's get to these five reasons, my learned friend. [nobody needs to read the below] The above is ten paragraphs of Olin, so secure in his objectivity, explaining that, "No, really! I'm not a homer!" as he picks the Aggies over ND with reasons! Let's see number one non-homer reason the Ags prevail: Non-homer reason? It's a home game! But there is reasoning! The Irish won't mind the home crowd, they're used to raucous. Okayyy. The unimposing road team went 3-2. Olin omits saying who ND lost to on the road where they always face raucous crowds and usually a peak level performance by the team they're playing that day. Hmmm. Aggies usually like to compare losses to show their own true worth. They surely can't compare road wins. Wonder why famously objective Olin didn't go there. A&M was clearly better than ND because they had 3 road losses to ranked teams while the Irish have only 2. Advantage A&M. No need to show ND's road wins, I mean, should we count Notre Dame's wins over lowly Pitt and Stanford? I mean, they really just squeaked by. Clearly not a formidable road team. Kyle Field will be a high hurdle for the Fighting Irish. Location is working against ND. What about climate? There you have it. Gonna be hot. Can't argue with that. Heat will be an advantage for the team that's used to it. Nice one, Olin. But wait! No, it's not really the heat after all! Olin is so good at these reversals. Lay it on me, my man. Thank goodness they had the good weather for these games: They're losses otherwise. Reason number 2 is gold, Olin, gold! Fuckin' weather, again. So, what do we conclude, Olin? Wow. If you're not throwing picks to LA-Monroe and New Mexico, what hope does one of the top takeaway teams in the country have? Notre Dame better pray Touchdown Jesus comes through with some precipitation. Olin assembles a solid argument. Not bad. Your line should be more than good. I'm sure you won't miss linebacker Cooper who roamed the field like a bird of prey. That number 3 defense from last year don't mean shit if it don't rain or get cold! As for receivers and expecting improvement there? Thank goodness they got rid of Ainias Smith and Evan Stewart! No tint of Maroon in Olin's glasses!
  20. Asking rhetorically, but at what point do his supporters finally break out of their Stockholm syndrome? "Okay, last week we had to pretend not to understand how biracial people work to defend the shit he said. Yesterday, we had to go along with his idea that the stock market ebbs and flows based on whether it's looking likely he'll win the election or not. Today, we have to become photography experts to try to make his AI rant seem not so fucking stupid." It's got to be exhausting.
  21. Screw you Espada and your boyfriend Chas. We win anyway. This is how we are going to have to win more often than not because it’s 6 against 9 at the plate.
  22. I'm taking the family to the game on Friday night against the White Sox. It will be my kid's second Astros game, the last one was September 10th last year, when they used the Death Star lineup to score 12 on the Padres, so I'm hopeful they can get a 2 game win streak going. Probables are Crochet vs Spaghetti, so it should be interesting. We will be in the second row on that angled wall near shallow left field. Hope to get some foul balls for the kids too! 😁
  23. This might be the dumbest recap of a game I've ever seen on here, which is really quite the fete on the Football Board. Sark didn't choose to go away from the run. He was forced to because our RBs, you know the guys you say should have the ball more, fumbled twice in the second half. Sark was dead even on run and pass in the first half, and he even kept it equal after Baxter fumbled in the third quarter and we started to get behind. By the end of the third quarter, Sark ran it 21 times and passed 21 times, despite being behind almost the entire third quarter. It wasn't until Blue fumbled in the 4th quarter and we were down 13 with 12 minutes to go that Sark was forced to throw a ton. He ended up throwing 23 times and only running 7 in the 4th quarter because we were down double digits and running out of time. If our RBs don't fumble twice in the second half, Sark is never forced to pass almost exclusively and we stay balanced the whole game and probably win, but none of that was Sark choosing to go away from the run.
  24. I'm not sure what your beef is with either Belgium or even France, which just kicked the fascists to the curb (thank gawd). How are they even relevant? As Fantana said, this thread is really about Israel and not the protestors. However, I'll grant that they (despite their small numbers) have the capability of creating damaging optics and can potentially turn away some voters. So, I'm willing to discuss the topic if you articulate exactly what point you're trying to make, but I'll address what I think you want to get at. According to a survey I posted here or in the general election thread, only 1% of Americans have the war in Gaza as their number one issue. These, I guess, would be the single-issue voters, including those who are 100% opposed to American assistance and those on the other side who are 100% committed to Israel no matter what. We also know that 1.3% of Americans are Muslims, and 2.1% of Americans are Jewish. Combined, they comprise 3.4% of the total population. Without having other data and assuming that the 1% who make the war their number one issue is entirely comprised of Jewish folks and Muslims, that would mean less than a third of them could potentially flip votes or stay home based solely on the war. Based on exit polling, we also know that 80% of Muslims voted for Biden, as did about 2/3 of Jews, and those two cohorts are the ones Harris would be in danger of losing through them staying home or flipping to Trump. What percentage of American Muslims do you believe will a) flip to Trump from the Dem column or b) simply stay home over Gaza? What percentage of American Jews do you believe will a) flip because they suspect Harris won't back Israel enough or b) simply stay home? I guess what I'm getting at is that we're talking fractions of fractions. And, yes, in places like Dearborn/Wayne County, there might be a difference. Still, at the end of the day, I'm not sure there's anything Harris could do that would please 100% of both Democratic-supporting Jews and Muslims or that it changes anything in the grand scheme of flipping an entire state like Michigan, where Muslims are about 2.4% of the population. I think I worked out the math for Michigan and found that if 100% of previous Biden-supporting Muslims stayed home and everything else remained equal, she'd still eke out a win. The same math applies to her losing 50% of all previous Biden-voting Muslims to a flip toward Trump. Obviously, neither of those is going to happen, so I don't think she's in real danger of losing that state simply because of angry Muslims when the data implies the war could be the main issue for a maximum of about half of Muslims, keeping in mind that some of them still might see her as the best shot for Palestine (or lesser of two evils) even it is their main issue. That leaves her with the logical decision of staying out of it as best as she can during the campaign and risk only marginalizing a vocal portion of the Muslim population and any sympathetic hangers-on to avoid losing the support of the vast majority of Americans who don't make it their top issue or are strong supporters of Israeli actions in Gaza. Still, the dumbasses are going to continue to dumbass, no matter what, and she's still getting endorsements from other Muslim groups. So why continue to bring up the topic of protests unless: a) You just like making pro-Palestinian/progressive activists and, by extension, the Muslim community look bad or b) You simply want to sow division among the ranks of all Harris supporters? If either of those are your motivations, then I can't help you answer any of your questions and will just chalk you up to concern trolling.
  25. Murfree and Whitley being ready to go at the big league level around September 1 could hopefully give the 4 guys who have pitched a shitload this year some time to refresh before the playoffs. If we keep winning.
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