CheezWizHed

Agreed. That is what I meant by thrower. He has a bit of "effectively wild", but he is still learning to trust his stuff and put it where he wants it. Looks great tonight...

1/10th is a bit harsh. Personally, I think Gallardo was more of a pitcher and Freddy has more arm talent (i.e. a thrower). Over the years, we have seen Freddy grow as a pitcher. Struggled in the pen a few years ago... decent in the pen last year... now I'm hoping that he can command a few more pitches than just the FB he can start trusting his stuff and put together a decent starter.

Touche'!

[sarcasm]The second best team in the tourny![/sarcasm]

The 2nd and 4th round picks for Darnold are next year, so it would look more like a 3rd, 5th, and 6th this year. That has to equal about a mid-2nd overall? Honestly, I was curious if Darnold was really a wash-out. He has barely plaid and was for a terrible team. Sounds like this might be a good trade for him.

Come on... I think we all know Rodgers will never hit the entertainment value height that Favre reached in "What about Mary?"!

Especially when he can get a massage at work for free.

Woohoo! Its game day! Rev up the engines and get it started!

Will that include a 12 game slide at the end of the month as well? [sarcasm]What you are you basing that on? After such a great start, how could a team fall off so poorly? [/sarcasm]

I used to live in Winona, MN (small college town with 30k residents including college students - less than 20k without). I was flying home one time and talking to the guy next to me. He said that he was a salesman for a flour company. Their biggest customer was Little Caesar's pizza. Odd facts that you find about your community without knowing... I have no point, except that it was my convergence of flour and pizza story. .

Wow. That is both sad and a bit amazing at the same time. Sorry for your loss!

When did "proofing" become a US English term? I was watching a British cooking when I first heard it then suddenly it pops up everywhere.

I was trying to cheer for Michigan, but it is really hard. I actually like Howard (at least my favorite of the fab-5). Still didn't hurt to hear that they lost. Granted... I don't care to see West Coast teams look so much better than the Big10 either...

Well, given how well Rodgers played last year, it is possible that he could regress. Hard to see him playing better. Adams has pretty much peaked also. Not saying I think either one will have a huge step-back, but it is hard to see them go up. But as HAT mentioned, there are a lot of players improving, including a number coming back from injury. I have a feeling the Barnes and Martin at MLB are going to be a big step-up difference this year. Second year jump at a glue position on the defense. Thus if anything (just looking at it now), I could see some regression on offense and progression on defense. New talent at OL and WR would help mitigate any regressions/FA defections, while depth/starter competition at CB/DL would help the defense.

So now that the Bucks can play big or small ball...what is our preference? Probably depends on how PJ meshes with the team, but I'd imagine playing big would be our default? Meaning if we match up with another team built to go big/small...I'd assume we'd prefer big (Brooks)? Mainly because of familiarity?

I didn't realize it, but I've been preparing for this my whole life!

Has someone leaked that Boxberger will be added or just people's hunch? I realize Topa's injury changed some things, but we just released him and signed him to a new minor league contract. Personally, I'd hold on to that flexibility and see what opportunities present itself on the waiver wire.

I'm pretty certain anyone that is able to hit triple digits has huge upside. That doesn't mean he doesn't have risk nor that he can fulfill his upside. Speed isn't everything but it helps. I'm pretty sure everyone saw him as a high risk/high reward pitcher.

I'm thinking Houser in the starting rotation has much more to do with what there is behind the scenes in evaluating SPs than what we see in ST. As we always note, ST results are a pretty sketchy way to make decisions. Perhaps he has been working on things he wouldn't normally try in a game? Or perhaps the heavy wind (as CC mentioned) makes it hard to evaluate him. His "stuff" certainly seems to be starter level, which is why I think he made the rotation over others. He definitely has more upside than other options.

Texas Roadhouse atmosphere is one of the worst, IMO. I guess if you don't want to speak to anyone you are sitting with, it is great (way too loud - and yes, I know it is a roadhouse). I do agree on the sides, however. Those tend to be hard to make in smaller batches. But I keep experimenting with those, too. I've looked into dry aging my own beef. There are some interesting traditional and new techniques (one-way plastic bags?). But I tend to purchase my beef by the 1/2 cow from a farmer I know. The butcher hangs it for 2-3 weeks - not quite the same as an aged steak process - but the results are way better than store-bought. I have a nice balance of effort and result that beat anything less than the linen restaurant experiences.

We will start off 13-0. That includes a miracle victory on Easter Sunday where Garcia hits a game tying grand slam and followed up by another HR by Urias to put them in for the win. Peralta surprises by throwing a no-hitter. Manny Pina (who catches the no-hitter) goes on to have a long TV color commentary career and relives that day through its retelling during numerous broadcasts. Bob Uecker, who calls it for radio, continues on calling games for 35 years until the next Brewer no-hitter. But that is just my guess.

Now QBs are ready early, and the way contracts work, they are cheap when they are young. I don't think QBs are any different now compared to before - nearly everyone takes some level of development. Some more than others. Since 2000, 6 QBs have won the Super Bowl on their rookie contract. Three of them were on the last year of the final year of their rookie contract, 2 were on the 2nd to last year and the last was Tom Brady (who one it twice on his rookie contract). - Caveat - I'm going on memory for the years they won the SB. I looked up the information a bit ago, but didn't write this part down. I know nearly all of them took 4-5 years. Contracts are certainly different so that teams aren't forced to push a QB in before they are ready. In the cases I mentioned before (Brooks, Detmer, Hasselback, Brunnel), each only had a year or so of their rookie contract left. But since none of them "broke out" before the trade, I believe each signed a pretty minimal deal a year or so after the trade. I think Hasselback and Brunnel each got bigger deals later, while Brooks and Detmer fizzled out. So technically the trading team got each QB for a number of years on a cheaper contract. Love/Rodgers situation is very different however. If Love sat for 3-4 years behind Rodgers and showed enough to increase his trade value from a late-first rounder, we'd just keep him as Rodgers couldn't have much left even if he was playing at an MVP level. And I doubt he will increase his value in one pre-season set of games. My guess is that we keep Love on his rookie deal to replace Rodgers whenever he hangs up the cleats (or we trade him). Edit: Detmer wasn't traded, but signed as a FA with Philadelphia.

Wolf was pretty infamous for this. Drafting and trading Brooks, Hasselback, Detmer (or did he leave in FA?), and Brunell. They were all lower draft picks, however (4th, 6th, 7th, and 5th if memory serves) and not 1st round picks.

What I've read about Rivers sounds pretty much like what they needed (size at PG, decent 3pt shooter, good D - able to switch). So I'd say they got better by plugging a hole - he might not elevate the team, but playing a replacement level backup is an improvement.

For the same reason you pick up food/drinks/etc. anywhere else....convenience and not needing to spend $50+ for all the supplies. You could cook up your own steak for a fraction of the cost versus what Texas Roadhouse charges (and make it taste way better), but there is a reason the Texas Roadhouse parking lot is always loaded when I drive by. Why pay $3 for a soda from McDonalds when you could almost buy a 12 pack for that at the store? I don't remember the last time I've ordered a steak at a restaurant as I'm always disappointed. On a business trip, I might do a very high end place, but never something like Texas Roadhouse. FYI, I have my own branding iron with my initials for my steaks (pretentious, yes, but it was a gift from my wife).