joannes3000

Quote: I would tend to agree Troy...but we are three games into a one hundred and sixty two game season. (small survey sample) anyway - GO BRAVES!! Yes, but we are currently on pace to win 162 games.

I wasn't bashing the gore factor, as I can enjoy a good gorefest myself. In regards to Hostel, if they would've stuck with one aspect it would've been better, IMO. I liked the storyline for what it was, and it could've made for a surprisingly decent psychological thriller. Switching gears to the in-your-face shocker horror was definitely a change of pace and it was done well also. It was hard watching some of that stuff without wanting to turn away. Overall it was kind of like the remake of Hills Have Eyes. The storyline of a desperate situation gets punctuated by some ultragore, for better or worse. That movie, BTW, had possibly one of the most intense 20 minutes I've ever seen, when the family first gets attacked.

I think our bullpen moves will allow Hudson, and the entire starting staff, to perform at a much higher level. Instead of them having to limit themselves so they last 7 innings, they can get out there throwing aggressively because our bullpen can essentially make games a 6 inning affair.

I've got 1 and 2. The third one goes down a different path, IMO, leaning much more towards the gore factor than the other two movies. I liked the first one for the suspense it brought, but the remaining two seem to be trying too hard to shock you visually, ala Hostel.

McCann is looking as good as his contract advertises so far! Glad I have him on one of my baseball teams.

Because he doesn't want to lose to me. If I can pull another miracle.

As in the past two seasons, CMH looks great on paper compared to the competition. Of the 13 regular season games, I'm favored on talent alone in all but one of them; my annual showdown with East Texas Baptist (ETB). Talent is only half the equation, however, and with the influx of new coaches things will be interesting. These games can come down to coaching: Hampden-Sydney - season opener agaist a team on the rise Austin - defending CC Mary Hardin-Baylor - first real road test of the season, and against a proven coach Cal Lutheran - two great coaches, one being my mentor, makes for a tough matchup Mississippi - has enough talent to be a problem despite questionable coaching 10 wins is the absolute minimum I'll accept at CMH at this point. Even with one crappy class, we have enough talent and have practiced our offense and defense enough to compete with anyone. We should be in the running for a CC berth all season and it could very well come down to the last game of the season against Mississippi.

Quote: Quote: Needless to say, my recruiting efforts will be drastically different from this point forward. How so? Beforehand, I relied on hitting recruits early and therefore discouraging other coaches from wanting to spend money battling me. It's pretty common for coaches to steer clear of players that are already 'considering others' when they recruit. Coming off my 15 win season I locked up the #11 recruiting class with this method, so I stuck with it this time also. What I didn't realize was that while my recruit vision only dropped ~30 recruits from my 15 win season to my 10 win season, the LEVEL of recruits I was seeing had dropped drastically. When I landed that #11 class, I was seeing recruits that only the upper schools in CA were seeing - Chapman and Pomona-Pitzer. Menlo was so far ahead of the three of us that he was seeing even better recruits, effectively keeping that powerhouse out of my hair. This season, however, I was running into damn near every CA school - La Verne, Occidental, Redlands, Cal Lutheran, etc, on top of the other upper schools. I went about business as usual, but by the time I got responses from my recruits the damage had already begun. I lined up the 14 local players I liked, but only had about 3 considering me. Normally I get nearly all of them considering me right off the bat. What truly did me in, however, was my arrogance. I dove headfirst into those same recruits knowing that this could be a make-or-break year for me. Before the first day of recruiting had even finished I was down to 20k (from 50k) with only 6 or 7 recruits considering me. Several battles and several negotiated deals later, I had 10 recruits signed with about $500 in my pocket. I landed an 11th recruit out of sheer luck but was unable to sway the last RB recruit I had any shot at. ----------------------- From here out, I'm gonna do what got me where I'm at in the first place. I'm gonna wait a day or two on nearly all of my open scholarships, only targeting a small handful (1/3 at most) of recruits as must-have guys that I will attack early. I learned the benefit of getting recruits to consider me early a few seasons ago, and it wasn't until this disasterous recruiting period that I learned the benefit of remaining patient throughout the entire period.

Let me preface by saying that exhibition games hold little significance since teams usually don't have the depth that they'd have when rosters fill out with incoming freshmen. To me they serve no purpose other than to get a few games of individual and positional growth for the players. Onto the results: 3/29/2007 at La Verne 21-17 w 3/30/2007 Huntingdon 10-58 w 4/1/2007 Elmhurst 14-40 w One thing I'm doing differently is I'm not waiting for freshmen to report before I play my final game. I've dodged enough injury bullets and I can't afford to run any leaner than I already am this season. These games could possibly be a set schedule, with all three being against coaches I know. plburn at La Verne coached in the ASC recently and jumped at the chance to coach a Cali school. I can't say I blame him. My brother is the new coach at Huntingdon after I convinced him just how much of a regional advantage the school has being one of two schools in AL, allowing it almost unobstructed recruiting to FL and GA. 70blackshirt is someone I've given extensive advice to and he has an upstart team in a rough recruiting area. ------------------- And a final update to recruiting: Kevin Hoffman spurned us to play for a sim school... I'm not happy but I can't say that I'm surprised. We ended recruiting with a whopping $6 left over. Needless to say, my recruiting efforts will be drastically different from this point forward.

Quote: I boycott all media on this day and in three years of doing this I've never missed anything worthwhile. I would prefer that all April fools prankers be punched in the throat. I thought about it for all of two seconds before I figured it had to be a joke.

Quote: Is this an April fools joke?

Just heard it on 1080 The Fan. In 45 mintues the Yankees are having a press conference to announce the trade of Alex Rodriguez to the Angels. No other details were given but it's safe to assume it will be for pitching help at the very least.

This sums up how my recruiting efforts have turned out thus far - . Contrary to previous seasons, there was a GLUT of human competition for in-state recruits, which I failed to adapt to before it was too late. As we currently stand, we have 11 of 14 scholarships filled with a remote chance of filling one more. We will realistically enter the upcoming season thin at RB (5) and LB (4), which happen to be very critical to both my base offense (wishbone) and defense (5-2). The silver lining is that of the recruits we DID sign, several were highly rated prospects: I signed my #1 and #3 QB prospects, with the #1 being a local kid 26 miles away who will be competing for the starting job as a SO. (2/2) John Brown Jose Moore We also signed my #2 and #3 RBs, which was absolutely critical. They've been penciled in as our #3 and #4 RBs since they signed their letters of intent. (2/3) Jonathan Owens David Campbell On the OL we signed our #5, #6, and #9 prospects and given the amount of battling that position typically gets I'm more than happy with the results. All three will be key backups this year and will hopefully grow to be anchors on the line. (3/3) David Smith Larry Reynolds Frank Russell The one DL we signed was our #1 target and he comes almost as highly regarded as last year's #1 target, Thomas Brown. Like Brown, Eric Saunders will immediately start on our DL. (1/2) Eric Saunders A stroke of luck led to our signing of our #1 LB target, a kid 224 miles away that was being recruited by a top school from WI. Landing him almost offsets not signing our #2 target who was gobbled up by in-state rival Chapman. (1/2) Jeffrey Watson We aimed for the stars with our #1 DB target and landed him. Joseph Smith is our #3 overall rated prospect in our signing class. He will step in as our nickel or dime DB and will be a bonafide starter with near shutdown ability as a SO. (1/1) Joseph Smith Every 4 years we witness several things - the Summer Olympic games, a presidential election, and CMH signing a K/P. Joshua Hatch reminds many of a young Reggie Roby with a booming leg that should result in plenty of 50+ yard punts and made field goals. (1/1) Joshua Hatch The one remaining scholarship offer is for our #5 RB prospect. Anyone that went to Los Angeles HS or that has ties there should remind Mr. Hoffman that CMH has a budding tradition of stud RBs and his services will only not be appreciated, but they will be showcased! Kevin Hoffman

Oh how far we have fallen. A terrific 5-1 start to the season was completely done in as we Falconed our way to a 5-2 finish. No CC and certainly no playoff berth. You might say that a 10-3 season is better than average, and it is, but it was a major step back from our 15-2 campaign from one season ago. Our two losses were to highly motivated Louisiana and Austin teams. Austin ended up engineering a CC upset over East Texas Baptist, landing them (and ETB) into the playoffs. Louisiana, meanwhile, was the upstart team of the year having gone 5-8 last season and finishing 11-2, just missing the CC. I tried taking solace in the fact that we lost to quality teams, but losing is not something that I want to get accustomed to at CMH. As expected, my recruit vision was reduced due to the dropoff in our overall record but we still got to see a good amount of quality recruits heading into the offseason. With roughly 12k in carryover money, we set our sights high this offseason, looking to bolster the RB corps once again after losing 3 seniors. A quick sidenote - we will try to skate by with only 5 RBs this season, redshirting one, to avoid this annual depletion of talent.

1. No, but getting rid of Knapp was. And with him and Mora being such good friends, I think it was impossible to get rid of Knapp without getting rid of Mora also. I would've been fine with Mora as our HC, but only if we got a brand new OC and offensive playcaller at the very least. 2. Sort of. I would've rather had a proven NFL guy like Whisenhunt or Cameron if we were looking for just an offensive-minded HC. But in bringing Petrino, we get a great offensive mind and I think he played a major role in us landing Hue Jackson as our OC. 3. At least all of next season. 4. Best case - 11 wins and a wildcard berth. This will take much fewer injuries than we've had in the past two seasons and for Vick to have a revelation as a passing QB under Petrino/Jackson along with the WRs benefitting from Jackson and the presence of Horn. Probable case - 9 wins, no playoffs. Worst case - 7 wins. New offense, new faces in starting slots on both sides of the ball, Vick flounders in his first year of grasping the offense.

I'm starting to think more and more that we're gonna trade down as well. If Carr signs with Minnesota and they draft Landry just ahead of us, I could see us trading down just ahead of Jacksonville and Dallas which would ensure we get a shot at Nelson or Griffin to address our FS need. In fact, imagine if Peterson were available at #8. That would make Green Bay the perfect trading partner. We could move down 8 slots and pick up another pick while still drafting ahead of Jacksonville (17) and Dallas (22).

Okoye is great and he's only 19. If we get Ian Scott from the Bears, however, I don't see us going after another DT. If we address DL, it will be with Jamaal Anderson (no way Gaines Adams falls to us). Outside of Adams, I don't see anyone with as much potential at DE as I see at S with Landry. The Ed Reed talks are premature, but nobody's talking about anyone outside of Adams as being the next great pass rushing DE. Landry has been the top FS prospect since he ran the 40 at the combine, but Reggie Nelson was clocked with a 4.35 40 also at Florida's pro day. I still like Landry over Nelson, however, and if we go defense with our first pick I hope it's at S. No way we take Ginn unless he falls to the second round, period. CJ would be a revelation at the WR position for us and it's easy to fall in love with that, but the cost of moving up to draft him will make drafting him nothing more than a dream. Had we not lost Kerney and had Crocker panned out as a FS, then maybe we could entertain trading up. As it is, we're better off getting possible starters, at LDE, FS, and OL for starters. Don't forget we need depth on the OL and DL, LB, and DB.

Quote: If we do trade up I would rather see us get the Clemson D-lineman, whose name is escaping me right now. Gaines Adams. I think if we stay put at 8, we will have a chance at Gaines Adams, Jamaal Anderson, Laron Landry, Levi Brown, or possibly Adreian Peterson. Any of which can be expected to be playing a major role within 2 years. I don't see a need to trade up for anyone, CJ included, given tha we would be better off by doing the right thing - getting quality depth on both sides of the ball. If anything has been proven in the last two injury-filled years it's this: we relied entirely too much on our starters and when they got injured we were in no position to make any roster moves because of our cap situation.

Quote: Quote: Quote: With like 15 Braves! That's what all of you guys have to look forward to. Who's going to draft Barry? Can we talk about a Bonds exclusion. I think it would be pretty cool if no one drafted him! I'd be down for a Bonds exclusion. There is no practical way to do a Bonds exclusion unless: 1) everyone preranks and excludes him or 2) everyone is there for the live draft. Anyone who autopicks and doesn't prerank to exclude Bonds will take him automatically and probably not want to give him up without some real compensation. I think if we wind up with Bonds being taken as an autopick, that would be considered a moral victory.

Quote: With like 15 Braves! That's what all of you guys have to look forward to. Who's going to draft Barry? Can we talk about a Bonds exclusion. I think it would be pretty cool if no one drafted him! I'd be down for a Bonds exclusion.

That's a big first for Schuerholtz. Hopefully that points to good things in the future regarding our payroll situation.

We have far more pressing needs as a team to focus on drafting one player. Getting CJ won't make our secondary cover any better, nor will it help our defense's inability to stop the run. It won't help our OL pass-block better either.

Quote: This is a great trade but it doesn't make up for the debacle of letting Kerney slip away. I don't think that was a debacle at all. Kerney was approaching the wrong side of 30, and for an all-motor guy I wonder how long he will be able to hold up.

Let me lead off by saying that I appreciate being able to debate this issue with you, atlas. It's better than the pissing and moaning that I typically encounter. And I don't dislike Vick at all. I just enjoy challenging people's undying crushes on Vick (not saying you, in particular). I watched nearly every game last season and got to break them down a bit since they were DVRd. And yes, Vick did look better passing the ball this year, but is that really saying much? We're talking about a QB that's had a career high qb rating of what, 82? There's a million variables in any given season - our WRs can't seem to catch a cold, our defense causes our offense to play catch-up, our OL pass-blocks as effectively as our WRs catch, etc. My point in blaming Vick is to point out the fact that football is a game won by teams and not individuals. And IMO, Hall's off year was due to him having horrible coverage behind him. I wasn't saying that McNabb was any of the things that Vick wasn't. My point was that if you want to look at individual stats, Vick didn't come home with any trophies for individual effort; nor did he come home with any playoff bonuses either. So while I'm glad he set the record for rushing yards, what does that matter in the grand scheme of things? I'll be first on the bandwagon for firing Petrino because I agree that his hiring was an odd one. I was personally pulling for Whisenhunt or Cameron - someone with NFL experience. Didn't the Spurrier debacle in Washington prove this? Regarding the Manning/Vick comparison, I wanted to bring up the question of how we could do with a traditional qb and how Vick could do with able WRs. Even if Manning couldn't audible I still think he'd put up better numbers with our WRs and a restricted offense over Vick and Indy's offense with free reign to audible. I don't think Vick's velocity on his passes or the reverse motion of the football (him throwing left-handed) has anything to do with it, no. Again, I was bringing up the point of how a more traditional qb, one that can read defenses better, tends to outperform Vick. I saw us drop passes over and over again. I also saw Vick lock in on his primary target and never look defenders off.

Quote: Quote: Is it Vick's ability to read beyond his second receiving option? Is it Vick's abiilty to avoid locking into his primary receiver? You do realize that Vick wasn't allowed to audible under Mora/Knapp right? That means even IF he knew the defense, he wasn't allowed to change the play. That's horrible. And before you say "Oh it's because Vick isn't smart enough" or whatever, Knapp has NEVER allowed players to audible, and that's horrible coaching. Petrino has already said he will give Vick a lot more leeway(sp?) with the offense and that he WILL be allowed to audible. Don't you realize how horrible our receivers were last year? We had 3 receivers in the top 15 of most dropped balls in the NFL. And Vick STILL threw for 20 TD's (which is like top 10 in the NFL) and only 13 INT's, AND rushed for over 1000 yards, but yeah, it's all Vick's fault. Our defense was again horrible and BADLY injured, and DeAngelo Hall had a horrible season, but I think he'll come back next year refocused. Quote: You know, like what McNabb did in three years and what Vick has so far failed to do in six? Vick has actually only played a little over 4 years, he didn't play much his rookie year, and missed 13 games in 03-04. I'm not asking Vick to call better audibles, I'm asking him to make more/better reads in the plays that are being called for him. I'll admit that I didn't like Knapp's playcalling much, but it brings up a great point. Look at how willing we are (myself included) to deflect blame from Vick. It's his receivers dropping catches, or his OC drawing up a bad game plan, or our GM for being a bad judge of WR talent. Excuses, even good ones, are still excuses. And I don't have to say anything about Vick's intelligence when he said it best himself. Remember his infamous quote about his two weapons being his arm, his legs, and his brain? It's somewhat of a cheap shot, yes, but tell me you wouldn't mind having a bit more of a cerebral player lining up behind center. As for Vick's stats, this isn't baseball. For all that Vick did, he wasn't the MVP, he wasn't OPY, nor was he a playoff QB. We lost on both fronts there. And maybe I'm prematurely comparing Vick and McNabb. Hopefully this season we'll have a HC/OC that can utilize Vick the way he should be. Then it will be a better comparison. How about this, if Peyton Manning were our QB and Vick the QB of the Colts, who would have a better season? Another excuse I get tired of hearing is that our WRs are horrible. What about Tom Brady? McNabb? Brees?