d-dave

Man that is very interesting for Saturday morning twitter Is it realistic? That's another matter. While there are a lot of egos and money involved in the NFL. Could some that be true? Sure. But we won't really know because of the fraternity of the NFL. If it's at least partially true, then Rhule won't finish the season. On the flip side, if the Panthers win Sunday, then this gets swept under the rug for another week.

I think most of us would be glad for the win, because when your sports teams win; it feels good. That's fine. But I don't think there would be too much optimism. The reality is we had a full team, Bozeman being the only real injury issue. What a fortunate camp! We had a defense that had weeks to prepare, to have schemes and plans to stop power running teams. We have a new OC and system, but that OC is recognized for being at least decent. While the "glass is always full of piss" crowd will never ever be happy with the Panthers, even if they win a Super Bowl, there wasn't a lot to celebrate other than the fighting back. Fighting back means the team still gives a poo. Rhule has earned a LOT of poo for being a terrible game coach, weak at Xs and Os, but his players play hard for him. That was still showing in the 4th quarter. The problem is that regardless of the score we gave up TONS of rushing yards, bounced off running backs, missed tackles, and allowed a backup QB to play a turnover free game. Our only sack came on a blitz, and pressure was always late. He had it easy to hang back, find his spot and rip it. Thankfully he missed some big throws. Others, he did make some good throws that are hard to defend. He's an NFL QB for a reason. But we should have played better on offense. Several 3 and outs in the first half gave Cleveland the ability to control the clock, even if they didn't light up the scoreboard. Even if we'd have won by the skin of our teeth, games like this are untenable for the rest of the season.

Let's not get lost in the weeds here. We played like crap. There's no way around that. That's a coaching issue. When your team has months to prepare like we did and they can't find their way around a snap, run defense, helping out a rookie with one of the best DEs in the league; it's a coaching issue. Now it's great they fought back. It would have been really helpful to get an ugly win under their belts. But they didn't. That stinks. Teams know we just can't stop a power run game. So the Panthers D to me is built to protect a lead. They SHOULD be able to get a stop in a close game, but ideally they want to rush the passer. When we've had times to do that over the past couple of years, we've had some pretty decent success, especially last year. But again, our coaching is not up to snuff. That's what's really getting me. After three years, this should be a well oiled machine. They should be able to come out and run their system. Instead, we've kept changing things because of poor choices and we've had two first years out of the offense, which puts all the pressure on our light and fast defense. PFF grades are fine. But at the end of the day, the team has to be coached better.

I was very disappointed during the game. They had three weeks to basically game plan how to deal with and attack Cleveland's defense and pressure their QB. That shows how poorly coached this team is, IMO. This is the 2nd time in two years Bill Callahan has dominated our Run D, just abusing us. Why wasn't that addressed? That's just unacceptable. BUT - I did feel better seeing the team keep fighting. Baker and Robbie made a heck of a play which seemed to lift the entire team. That's great to see from the players. The defense had moments where it played really well. I feel like Baker will help us content in the South. Which is something we didn't imagine would happen with Darnold. That's my hope. But the issues with the defensive line, with the offensive game planning, the development of Icky are going to determine our fate.

I still get excited for the games, and my after loss brooding has shortened to less than 30 minutes. The reality is that I have ZERO impact on the team. It's no use to get incredibly upset or overjoyed over the games. I will always try to enjoy it, one way or another. Life is too short to drown in needless sorrows. Be like Elsa and let it go

I'm very curious to see how well "complementary" football is going to work. Will the offense be able to sustain drives to let the defense rest? Will the defense get people off the field on 3rd downs? Can we limit our turnovers? I'm really excited because it's Panthers Football period. I always get excited, I'm all full of hope, and I'm willing to place my faith in the team. Will I be disappointed? I'll let you know this afternoon, ha ha. Let's Go Panthers! Let's see what kind of team this is!

Do you get the feeling like someone in the Panthers is trolling the world with that? It's a cut. Not sure why they felt like they had to note that while he was a 100% participant...

Draft pedigree has a lot to do with 2nd chances and getting cut. Guys who were hurt, but just more talented players stick around. Nixon seems like a great value pick, but he couldn't do much before he got hurt. This preseason, he just hasn't looked good. We were much more willing to give Vernon Butler opportunities because of his draft position. It's not the end of the world.

Big Nerd Hat Time: At the time of the Fellowship, Galadriel was about 8,000 years old. She was born in Aman, the Undying Lands in the time of the Two Trees. She was amongst the oldest and most powerful of all Elves living at the end of the Third Age. She fought throughout the First and Second Ages. She spent the last thousand or so years of of Third Age as the Lady of Lorien. I just think angry kids of the internet are mad because they are always mad when their expectations aren't met. The new character of Elrond(played by Robert Aramayo) has just enough smug that it's believable he could grow into the Hugo Weaving, stern, serious leader Elrond. It's also a dude. We all know how the internet handles strong females of any type! I rewatched all of the preview trailers, and I am SO STOKED for the rest of the season!

Oh, just read an article about how Galadriel was in fact a total badass. I have just forgotten. From her days in the undying lands, she was a beast. She also fought in the first kinslaying wars of the elves as the Teleri elven ships were stolen by Finrod and the other Noldori elves. Yeah, she should be one of the greatest living elven warriors. Jackson missed a cool opportunity there. so my inner fanboy was wrong. God that’s nice to put him down a bit more!!!

OK, finally got to sit down, watch and think on the two episodes. First off, my point of reference is that of a guy who read The Hobbit, LOTR, and Silmarillion annually until I got hooked on GoT and other stuff. I'm a BIG fan. BIG BIG NERDY fan I'm completely hooked as well. At the end of the day, it's a universe I LOVE that shaped me even to this day. Is it going to be 100% accurate? No, it shouldn't be. It's an adaptation, which is great. The process of adaptation isn't some kind of word for word nonsense angry internet fanboys cry about. It's about making choices for your end game. In this case, it's a monument to the legacy of Tolkien, Jackson and our own collective imaginations. At first, when I saw how the story and Galadriel had been changed, I was like WTF? Then I sat my entitled fanbutt down and had a quick chat. It's more Middle Earth. It's bringing Middle Earth to the 21st century. it's bringing Middle Earth to more people. After I slapped my internal fanboy, I was just engrossed. It looks like a billion dollar show. The cast we've seen thus far is amazing. You can tell that no expense in time or cash was spared. I'm in love. Will that remain? I have no idea, but I'm so excited for this future. Lady Desi is my favorite character so far. She stole the scenes she was in, and it was wonderful. The kids playing in the heads was hysterical. Frankly, I love seeing the liveliness of the Dwarves since there was so little of it ever shown. Even my 10 year old got into it, and he's been very much "I won't watch new things unless it's a cartoon" lately. So there's that!

OMG! I can't wait to get home today and watch it!!!! Damnit work!

Regardless of the draft picks and what not, I feel bad for Corral. This a major blow to his career. 1. If he was healthy, he could have played at the end of the year if we were stinking it up to get some quality reps. 2. If Baker does well, he's getting an extension and Matt's career is as a backup at best. 3. If the Panthers stink, a whole new staff comes in, and they won't want anything to do with him. He's going to have a very hard time finding his way in the league now. While he's a millionaire now, I do still feel bad for he competitive kid he is.

I was in my first apartment. My roommate and I were just watching the game, drinking, snacking etc. Then that play happened and we lost our poo! Jumping, screaming, and generally upsetting our neighbors. Yeah, we were totally excited and happy jerks

Great point. You can only base things off what's happened. As far as Bozeman, he was a good player for a complicated running offense, which is what we want to be. I don't recall any health concerns. I'm in a wait and see as far as it goes, but I'm going to allow myself to flow with the HOPE-ium. It's more fun that way.

C'mon, it's preseason! How many teams look like the best practice teams then get shanked in the regular season? If we get handled once we start game planning, then I think we can start the panic. Right now, I'm not stressing. Certainly, we know that Jordan is not a good guard at all, but I don't make that choice. That's on Rhule, and if we have a poop year, then he's gone, and we get to start all over again. I just don't think the preseason is a time to get all worked up over PFF scores. Now if it comes out that we look like wimps in the joint practices, then that's something else ENTIRELY.

Man, it's a good thing these preseason games are full of well game planned, maximum effort players!!! It's been a hot minute since I posted mostly due to the fact that I wanted to enjoy my summer Huddle gunna Huddle. Overreact to EVERYTHING. Let's not get all wrapped up in preseason performances. Let's look at things after the first 4 games of the season. I'd call this all rehearsal instead game play.

Well now. This is quite interesting. At least it gives us something to talk about (36 pages in 4 hours, nice!). Will we be better? Who knows. Really. Total crapshoot here. But it will be something to watch, that's for sure. Either Baker comes in and plays well and is able to rehab his image and career, or Rhule gets fired. Not the worst outcome.

I am having a hat issue. I have some fitted hats with the elastic band that has gone all wonky. I do sweat a lot, so I'm trying to figure out what I can do to prevent this in the future or fix my current hats. I've attached an image of my issue. Any tips or ideas?

I think it's the human element. When we think about giving machines more and more responsibility in our day to day lives (consider how much they already run things), we need to be careful. I ended up learning a fair amount about these kinds of jets as I've learned what I can about that thing in Europe. An Air Force works like a big organism with a lot of moving parts that do very specific jobs. Like you wouldn't ask a bomber to win a dog fight. Or a fighter to attack ground based radar targets. Each of these multi-million dollar machines has a very specific job description. From an attack stand point, a fighter jet is going to attack anything in the air. From bombers, to radar craft, to other fighters, escorts, whatever. That's their job. Why not just use drones? I think it comes down to a few things: situational awareness, latency, and overall investment. As awesome and advanced as our computer systems are, our brains are just better at filtering data and making better decisions. I mean, look at Tesla's Auto Drive system.. Even with a person behind a joystick, looking at data and projections and cameras, it won't be the same as the butt in the seat. Also, think about latency. That's the time it takes for a command to go from an input to an action. Like in playing an online video game - your latency affects everyone else's game experience. So modern gaming displays can translate input in 10-30 milliseconds. And you're usually within a few feet of your display. Change that to hundreds if not thousands of miles... I just don't think that works. Why is the US Air Force the best in the world? 'Cuz 'Murica? Or because we spend so much money on not only the best tech, but the best possible training. Putting the best tools in the hands of our best pilots is going to give you the best outcomes, even accounting for human error. That's what tends to happen in any career or task - give the best trained/most skilled person the best tools for the job, and they will do an incredible job. Sorry for the long treatise. I'm not a pilot or military guy. I'm just a dude who thinks too much, and tries to learn as much as I can. Folks in the know are more than welcome to correct my idiotic mistakes and mischaracterizations!

Yesh, I haven't been disappointed with TCL TVs. Had one in the playroom, and my inlaws bought a 625 a few years ago. The only thing that got me was the motion/color performance. That's just a me thing though. I was considering the 648 (the Google TV with mini-LED back lighting), but I didn't want to spend a $1200+ on what is still an unknown commodity for me. I don't blame anyone for making their choices. Just be happy That's the biggest thing when buying a TV, just be happy with your purchase and don't stress afterwards with FOMO.

I saw my sister do that to both of her kids. My nephew in basketball (because he's like 6,10 at age 21) and my niece in softball. It's so crazy. Both of her kids told her when they grew up how they wanted to just be normal. So she stopped it. Now my nephew only plays basketball for fun, and my niece is only on her school team with her friends. The reality is there are so many parents that way, who want to force their kids into sports or activities because they fugged it up when they were kids. My son has dabbled in sports and activities, and will continue to do so. He's 10 so he's still figuring out what he wants to do, and who he wants to be. There's nothing wrong with that. We're going to see what sport he wants to try in the fall. Hopefully something that's not too expensive lol.

I agree a lot with @onmyown here. When I was shopping or my TV, I spent a long time getting reviews from as many different sources as I could. I read up a lot on Rtings before it became premium. Lots of Whipserstatus74 on youtube as well as Stop the FOMO. I like how they are true tv nuts and can cut through the marketing speak to give you solid opinions. In the age of plasma versus LCD, I helped a lot of people buy TVs (not as a store employee, but as someone just waiting for my wife at Yankee Candle). I've always been a TV nerd. In the days of 4k and different imaging engines, things have changed a LOT in the ensuing years. You have to look at your budget and room space. Some folks have the room for an 86" TV, so great! There's where they should look. My room/TV location had enough room for a 65" TV. So then I looked at what was the best TV for less than 1500. After looking at a ton of reviews, I wanted a LG C1 to replace my aging 50" Panasonic Plasma. But my wife like to keep all of the windows open during the daytime. We also have a tendency to leave the TV paused for extended periods of time (marriage problems lol). I love the look of an OLED but we didn't have the budget (they were still like 1800 at the time we bought) and our room situation wasn't great. So then we started looking at the LCDs. A couple of years ago, we bought a Samsung 43" TU7000 for the bedroom. It's been OK, not great for HDR, but find for watching Discovery+ is fine. While the TV performance was fine, the OS was annoying. We didn't like it. But we have gotten tired of the ROKU death cycle - where a Roku seems to die out of the blue only to work again in a week. So the smart TV system was important. That brough us to TCL, Hisense, and Sony. The internet smart guys said that the TCL and Hisense (whatever their top tier, FALD backlit tv was) were the best value. But color and motion are important to me. The Sony X90J meet my budget and the all important color and motion requirements I needed. Man, that was a lot of typing. So the TL/DR - figure out your budget, what features mean the most to you, look around at a variety of reviewers, and buy what you feel is best.

Man, that sucks. As far as a gofundme, the reality is that children are incredibly expensive. Those children are going to need income to survive, even in a family's care. I have no problem with it. We don't know the details of their lives, and that's a much bigger issue at hand. As far as Matt's money, outside of his signing bonus, which is going to have to repay his agents and lots of post college draft prep, he's not as rich as we all think. There's also no certainty that Matt gets that big second contract. Heck, that he starts anytime this year. Yeah, losing family is horrible.

It does, but I've been doing a lot more creation focused work lately. Some games, but not near enough, ha ha.