maddog5

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Date	Title	Body
2 years 16 weeks ago	this all but kills	the suspense around Selection Sunday. I'll be curious what they can do to rebuild the hoopla around that. If they must go this route, they should have some kind of play-in among the additional 32 (is it?) teams. If it's just more of the same with less attractive teams wtf. (Apologies, there's lots of talk elsewhere about expansion as if it were a foregone conclusion; I thought I was responding to a thread about that. Assuming these thoughts still apply, tho.)
2 years 16 weeks ago	few outside observers would agree	w. your list of wins, much as I would like to. Most or all would place MSU and UConn in toss-up territory, don't you think? So to me that looks like three more or less guaranteed wins. Of the second group I think Indiana and Purdue look good, but--again--an independent analyst might call Purdue a toss-up, too. But give us those two and throw ND back in the toss-up column, esp. since we play them away. That might be five likely wins for an outside observer (don't think I'm overplaying the Devil's Advocate role here). Give us one of my three hypothetical toss-ups and RR has improved on last year, to six wins. Give us two--not hard to imagine--and we are 'on the road to recovery.' I don't see much more; it seems quite possible that we could be 5-7 again (games should offer a whole new dimension in nail-biting, with the O racking up big scores, the D showing flashes of sorta goodness and nasty breakdowns). But given that changing horses in midstream is a particularly difficult proposition with RR's offense--i.e. you go out and wait another three yrs. to get pro-style guys back in--I'm pretty sure we've got him for another year. And I do believe that 2011 will see us fielding a fine squad.
2 years 16 weeks ago	interesting take, but	does "greed" really describe the actions of a 17 year old? I'm not sure. I'm not sure most of us even now how the deal went down. Or is there some part of the story I have missed?
2 years 16 weeks ago	appreciate it	Not sure why I got a minus; I was trying to show how this word 'entitlement' tends to get used by people, sometimes in a manipulative way on one side, more recently on the other. Not sure I care that much, but there's a certain cowardice in negbanging someone w.o. coming out and stating your gripe--like cold-cocking somebody in a bar fight, then running for the exit.
2 years 16 weeks ago	re: entitlement	re: Webber I always loved the guy, and while I would love it if he finally came clean and expressed remorse about what happened, I'm probably a little biased in his favor. re: "entitlement" The term became popular during the Reagan era, when first efforts were being made to end welfare. (During the Nixon period, Republicans were still FOR welfare, generally; Nixon RAISED welfare payments during his time in office; then Clinton all but ended it). But the argument became politically popular that poor people had come to feel 'entitled' to welfare benefits. . . . (Sometimes it's applied to black people, sometimes to all poor people.) I grew up among a lot of middle class black people (MIT grads; Bell Labs execs). This argument about entitlement--of course--tends to piss them off pretty good, since a lot of them had to go through more hells than you and I can imagine to get where they got. Reagan used to like to talk about 'welfare queens,' for example; it got pretty ugly. . . More recently, this argument has begun to come from the other side. At a time when the gap between rich and poor is more skewed than it has ever been, liberals have begun to complain that the rich feel 'entitled.' This argument has esp. been made about bankers and their feeling of 'entitlement' to million-dollar bonuses, or the way they refuse--some say unpatriotically- to pay taxes, squirreling their money away offshore. Anyway, it seems like a stretch to me to say that the Webbers felt 'entitled;' it's like stretching the notion about poor (black) people to middle class people. (In my years of teaching, I've come to believe that middle class people of all races are more alike than different.) The idea that there is a pervasive corruption in the sport--ongoing--seems much more convincing to me. Although people like Rush Limbaugh complain about the "thuggery" in the NBA (for ex.), you'll find that a lot of these players have 100s of people who are dependent on them and who they help, along w. sizable charitable giving, etc. (This would be the opposite of 'entitlement,' right?) A lot of people are often waiting on that talented kid to cash in so they can start living better. . . and there are a lot of hangers-on, inevitably, pressuring them further. In the end I don't think you can say much about WHAT the Webber family felt or thought, unless you have some privileged insight about them.
2 years 16 weeks ago	really not set up	very well. I have scratched my head over the thing more than once through several iterations.
3 years 25 weeks ago	hope Weis stays, too--	figures of such (Rabelasian) fun don't happen along all THAT often. The guy is worth both the popcorn and price of admission.
3 years 25 weeks ago	didn't look anyone up, not sure	what you're on about--Grace Paley was an acquaintance, and that is a line from one of her most favorite stories. Anyone who had read it would know I am also making fun of myself, but. . . in the interests of T'giving comity I rescind my mouthy response to Brian's post. Gladwell is more popstar than deep thinker, howeva.
3 years 25 weeks ago	this 'smarter than you' meme	is played. And Malcolm Gladwell is a one-note Johnny; his new book is pretty much his old book, and it sucks. And my test scores place me in 'certain circles,' as a much smarter person--Grace Paley--once said. Don't make assumptions, especially tired ones.
3 years 25 weeks ago	fantastic post	Well thought-out, gives me both perspective and lots of hope. Judging from the Arizona video LLP just might be quick enough--here and there, he shows some afterburners. Makes good adjustments, too. Confidence is everything, and a lot might depend on the way the rest of the team is feeling him in practices.

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