BrisbanePanther

I think this may be a little more precise lol.

So I'm just wondering how many of us would be offended if the Salvation Army bell ringer at Christmas didn't say , "Thank you" for the dime they manage to toss in the bucket. Or better yet, how would we feel if an onlooker who saw us donate looked us up and down with contempt and said, "That's all?" when we put a whole dollar in the bucket...while having a PS5 and TV in our shopping cart. That's the equivalent of griping about Tepper on this. Yeah he's got way more and could donate a whole country's GDP and not miss it. He didn't this time and if we're honest, the same people griping now would gripe then too just because.

Plus, all that stuff around his dad being a coach and his kids being athletes...he would have been a different kind of bad from Tepper. Tepper is making bad decisions because he sees every business like a hammer sees every nail. Navarro would have been micromanaging decisions just like Tepper and would have fallen back on his dad being a coach, etc.

Not sure what to think of the responses to this. It should be a subject that 100% agree is a good thing. Ironically (and maybe sadly), that would likely be the case if we had a winning team.

Strange how?

I think we should be balanced here. There seems to be a deference here to Texans wisdom and Panthers foolery when it came to these picks. But let's review, at draft time Caserio reportedly had one foot out of the door. McNair was in the same category as Tepper (people actually suspected he paid Buzbee to go after his own player, Watson). The fans were down in a football town in a football state. We are giving way too much hindsight credit to the Texans. At the same time, all we have to go by are reports from both teams and other media. We are being creative in saying "no one knows" what the Texans were thinking while being convinced that "we know" what the Panthers were doing. We have no access to either HQ, but people who do said that Houston wanted Bryce and also saud Tepper wanted Bryce. I also think any reading into the Texans not going to #1 has to also consider that they also ended up moving to #3. It's just as possible that the capital used to go to #3 would've been needed to go to #1. Winding up with #1 only or with #2 and #3 would be an easy decision.

Charlotte is definitely NOT one of a kind, but @dxpantherhas a point. BofA's location is quite unique for an NFL stadium when comes to connection with a downtown and surrounding complementary uses. Aside from the Superdome, pretty much all the other downtown stadiums are separated from their cores by big freeways or rivers, though Pittsburgh has good bridge connections. All these new stadiums with entertainment districts being built around them are actually copying what BofA already has. In this instance, maybe just take the win and acknowledge that Charlotte actually has this one right.

Foe sure. I lived in Charlotte and Houston for almost the same number years (5 and 6, respectively). Stroud would've been fine in Charlotte but he and Houston actually fit together like a hand in glove. He just works for that identity in that city much like Harden did for the Rockets. Houston is a big time, gaudy metropolis that's the geographic size of Massachusetts. Charlotte is more like a cute, pleasant, polite city who had a ton of pearl clutchers with Cam. It is what it is. Stroud was drafted and Paul Wall was getting him fitted for gold fronts. In hindsight, lol at the thought of Bryce in Houston and gold fronts. I love Charlotte, but he definitely fits that city.

I mean in this economy, companies have to be smarter with their spending. Sending reporters to Charlotte to cover a moribund, Pop Warner-level franchise is the ultimate waste of money that should get execs fired. If the media were being kept out, they'd report that--it's the most self-important profession in the world. Even for the locals who know "Panthers suck yet again" stories get them no clicks. Bottom line, no conspiracy here. They're just not worth covering.

Milroe will be that guy IMO--especially with Penix's old coach. I just hope the Bryce experience isn't enough to sour everyone on Alabama QBs. I mean, imagine if one reason Chicago didn't draft Stroud because they already had an Ohio State QB that they hated...

It's been a long-used narrative that Charlotte can't support a Super Bowl. However, it looks like after their new stadium opens, Nashville will work itself into the rotation. If Nashville can, Charlotte can. The main difference though is that Nashville is clearly an entertainment town with cross-section appeal now. Charlotte is all business.

That's fair enough. The station in Oakland (Emeryville, actually, which is a bit "better" than Oakland) is a filthy waste of space that put a damper on the trip. Oh and the tents and tarps in Sacramento were a wake-up call as well, unfortunately.

Thanks for the tip. Re Amtrak, I felt the same but gave the Zephyr a try. After some absurd confusion (where like 2/3 of the passengers didn't make the trip) it was totally worth it if you're not worried about a schedule and have a sleeping room. The piece from Denver westward is awe-inspiring (if nature is your thing).

All fair points, and ones that he would definitely focus on I'm sure.

Ok so, we know Reno, but what restaurant? Also, while not as good, you could also have a (much more average, but not terrible) steak while riding Amtrak from Reno to SF. If you haven't done that yet, you owe it to yourself. Especially in winter or early spring.