cooperstown

I want a job as a weatherman. I mean, seriously, what other job exists out there that you can be so consistently wrong and keep your job? Not only that, but it's generally just accepted by everyone that you suck at what you do. Could you imagine if you showed up at your job, generally did very poor and inaccurate work, your boss knew in advance you were going to do a poor job, and still get to show up day after day after day? Look at their prediction for Tuesday - sun, clouds, rain, and snow. I'd say they have all their bases covered on that one.

It is open. We drove past it this past week. Unfortunately, to be able to use their pool you must stay at their place, which looks very nice. We prefer to stay in a chalet, so it didn't work out, but next year we may add a day on to our trip and stay a night there.

No excuse for Pike to not have scored on the bootleg. I was actually cheering for a second when he got around the corner, as it looked like a sure-fire TD. Took an impressive lack of effort on his part to not get in. Compare that with the TD run by Taylor in the 2nd quarter when he absolutely undressed Manalac and then humiliated Smith. Two of about 200 missed tackles by the Cats on the night.

Just got back yesterday from 5 days in Gatlinburg with the family. We took a short trip right after X-mas last year also. We rented out a very nice chalet and spent a lot of time inside watching movies, playing pool/ping pong, board games, and in the hot tub. Some great places we've eaten include: Alamo (awesome steakhouse!), Peddler (another awesome steakhouse, but I give the edge to Alamo), Apple Barn (it's in Pigeon Forge), Pancake Pantry (downtown Gatlinburg), and Best Italian Restaurant (also on strip in Gatlinburg, but you'll have to look for it - incredible pizza). Some ideas for entertainment: Really enjoyed the Magic Show with Terry Evanswood (in Pigeon Forge), Ripley's Believe It or Not (good, not great), Comedy Barn, Aquarium (great, but not as overwhelming after you've been to Newport Aquarium), Ober Gatlinburg (take tram up mountain and ice skate/ski/Alpine Slide at top), Go-Karts (Pigeon Forge), lots of little wedding chapels (I surprised my wife with a vows renewal ceremony last year and our teenage kids loved it!), and definitely go to the Knifeworks!! Been down to Gatlinburg many times and have never gone to Dollywood once! Also didn't go into the Park either time the past two years, but our chalet was high up and had an unbelievable view. BTW, I highly recommend Jackson Mountain Realty if you want a chalet. Used another company last year and were equally happy (tried to get same chalet this year, but it was booked), but can't think of the name right now.

"Throwing him under the bus" or speaking the truth? I think it's apparent that quite a few Jets' players were very frustrated in the way Jets' management handled Favre and the manner in which Favre himself interacted (or failed to) with his teammates. If Favre did not have the word "FAVRE" sown on the back of his jersey this year, he would be universally declared a below-average QB and the major cause for the Jets not making the playoffs. It is time for Favre to go and I think you are seeing his teammates hoping like heck he does just that.

Totally slipped my mind! I'm was just doing them off the top of my head. Highlands should be solid, though they did lose their two top players last year. But with Liggett, Watson, Sainola, Rizzo, etc.. - as well as a very good new head coach - they have plenty of talent. On my list, I think I'd put them 8th and bump out Boone.

1. CCH (no excuses for them this year) 2. NCC (have to give props to the returning 9th Region champs) 3. Conner (pitching of Shuttlesworth and Samad will be solid; Brake is fun to watch hit) 4. Holy Cross (Roenker/Stewart might be best 1-2 pitching combo in NKY) 5. Bellevue (they might well be the surprise of the 9th) 6. Ryle (could be higher, could be lower - all depends on pitching behind Etscheid) 7. Beechwood (lost fair amount of talent; is Slusher playing?) 8. Dixie (solid pitching; Klei, Popham all solid position returnees) 9. Campbell County (Estes and Coffman will determine a lot for this team) 10. Boone County (very thin on pitching, but return some solid position talent) No disrespect meant to Brossart - just don't know much about them.

I would submit that the top of the A-10 cannot usually or consistently compete in the better big conference teams. Outside of Xavier, there is not an A-10 team that would consistently finish above .500 in the top power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, SEC). A-10 provides a nice, safe ticket for Xavier to make the NCAA tourney and get to 20 wins and I give X credit for scheduling some solid out-of-conference games, but as a whole, the A-10 is weak. Right on par with Conference USA and Horizon - go take a hard look at the "quality" of teams in those conferences.

Since the 95-96 season when Xavier joined the A-10, that conference has had a total of 4 spots in the Elite Eight. 13 NCAA tourneys - a total of 128 possible Elite Eight slots - and the A-10 has managed to claim 4 spots (two of which were Xavier). Not impressive. And they (currently) have 14 teams in their conference, the second largest conference in the country. Yep, occasionally Temple and UMass are good, Dayton has its moments, and so does St. Joes, but this is overall a very average (at best) conference.

It's a very average conference that does little to prepare their teams for a serious run in the NCAA tourney. Take a look at some of the schedules their teams play. Xavier is clearly the exception and stands out as being the best of this lot without question. But not being forced to play a day-in-and-day-out grinding conference schedule hurts them when it comes time to play the best of the best.

A-10 gives Xavier the illusion of being better than they really are. It's the 9th rated conference in the country, just slightly ahead of Conference USA, and have only one other team besides X in the Top 40.

I agree that Forte has a little better receiving numbers (Johnson - 43/260/1; Slaton -45/341/1; Forte - 60/452/4), but is also averaging a full yard less per carry than the other two. But I do agree that he or Johnson have the numbers to win it - and just might.

Maybe so, though not sure Larimore has yet to establish himself as a "stopper", but that's not enough of a resume to qualify for a pre-season Top 25 state ranking.

Based on what?

Yeah, Slaton's numbers are absolutely right there with both Johnson and Forte. Plus, the guy helped out my fantasy teams immensely this year! His numbers would have been even better had he not given up some carries to Ahman Green earlier in the season. Of course, the same can also be said for Johnson, as Lendale White scored 15 TD's this year. From a pure statistical standpoint, one of the 3 RB's is probably more deserving than Ryan, but being the leader of a team that was expected to be a league laughingstock will earn Ryan some big voter points.

I was a very average (at best) student in high school, as sports was by and large all I cared about. In college, I got far more serious (had to use my own money to pay for it) and finished with a 3.98 GPA. I had only one "B" in 4 years, given during a Phys Ed class because I got into a fight during a basketball game. But the pressure I put on myself the last year or two of school - because I was intent on making Summa Cum Laude - was too much and almost not worth it. Whether I got a 3.98 or 2.98, my employer would still have hired me. Your goal - like most things in life - should be to make certain that you gave your best effort and got the best grade that was attainable for you at that time. If that's a "C", then so be it and be proud of it! But if it's a "C" because you left something on the table, put a plan in place now to fix it and improve upon it the next semester.

I can't see Flacco being a real consideration. He's been serviceable, but really hasn't been asked to do much more than make sure the Ravens' offense doesn't prevent their defense from winning games. He's only thrown for more than 200 yards in 4 games this year, not had a single game of 300 yards, has only thrown 14 TD's, and has a QB rating of 78. Not horrible by any stretch, but not even remotely close to Rookie of the Year level. Both Chris Johnson and Matt Forte have ROY-worthy stats and I think one of them will win it, but I'd give it to Ryan because so little was expected out of the Falcons this year and he was such a huge reason for their success.

The AFC team, besides Miami obviously, most surprising to me is the Ravens. Coming off a 5-11 season, with a rookie head coach, a rookie and a very average starting QB, a starting RB that has done next-to-nothing and forced to use a FB as their main rusher for most of the season, below average WR's (Mason is tolerable, but hardly an elite NFL WR) and disappointing TE, a "washed up" Bengal on OL . . . and yet are still on the verge of the playoffs with only five losses (3 of which were very close games). They have a very solid (and young) OL and of course a standout defense led by veterans Lewis and Reed that keep the Ravens in almost every game. Man, what must it be like to have a defense consistently carry a team???

As I was telling my wife about this thread, we started reminiscing about some of the craziness that we've gone through with all my stones over the past 15 years. I had forgotten about one incident that made us laugh (now, not back then ). Normally, when you go to the ER with kidney stone pain, they get you back fairly quickly so that they can hook you up to the IV and administer the pain meds. One particular occasion, I got sent back fairly quickly as usual, but had this nurse who took her sweet time getting back to me after her initial visit and was not particularly friendly nor sympathic to my misery. I was rotating between going to the bathroom (not really doing anything, just kept feeling like it) and laying curled up on the floor. The nurse finally came back and wanted to get my vitals. I played along for a few minutes, but started getting a little irritated and my wife noticed. She said, "I think he really needs to get some pain medicine." The nurse replied, "Well, first I need to get a urine specimen so we can test for blood in his urine." I said, "You've got to be kidding me! What? You think I'm acting here so I can get some meds? You're out of your mind." Well, she didn't relent and handed me the little specimen jar. I was so mad and could have strangled her. I went to the restroom and, with all my might, managed to get out a decent amount of urine - which was bright red. I don't mean somewhat red - it was about as red as if I had slit my wrists and bled into the cup. It actually kind of freaked me out for a second, but I knew what was going on. I was just about doubled over in pain, but managed to get back to my little room, whereupon I handed the cup to the nurse, and said, "Here's your (insert the grand tamale of all curse words) specimen. You happy now? Now go get my (repeat of the same word) pain medicine Nurse Ratchet." My wife's eyes got about as large as saucers, as I cuss very infrequently and certainly don't use that word very often and never twice in one sentence. :lol: She immediately tried to apologize for me, at which point I told her stop and then added, "By the way, if you're not going to get me my pain medicine, could you at least go find a real nurse?" She (nurse) left without saying a word, returned with another nurse about a minute later, hooked up the IV and gave me my shot and all was right with the world. Except for my wife, who I think wanted to re-use the needle to stab me in the throat. Which she would have been welcome to do at that point because I couldn't have felt it.

Probably not your kidney that's sore. More likely residual spasms in the ureter from where it was scratched by the stone. I like to consider myself a kidney stone expect. Plus, I did sleep at a Holiday Inn once . . . . You going to get it tested? They say you should, though it's almost a certainty that's it a calcium stone. Other than increasing your intake of water, not much you can do to prevent them. Some people are just lucky . . . . :madman:

We have a small 1/4 acre pond in our backyard and within 2 days time it has frozen over. It usually does every winter, but it's unusual for it to happen so quickly. You may not be able to tell from the picture, but that's ice on top.

Injuries certainly had an impact, but I am concerned that excuse will be used to explain away too many of the woes affecting this team. This team fully healthy would not have been a .500 ballclub. They are looking at some serious issues regarding their offense for next season and you can be certain that the Bengals coaching staff and management will have no logical plan in place to address it.

Yeah, it's kind of frustrating following pro sports in Cincinnati from September to January, but sheer joy from April to September . . . .

Andre Smith is now an afterthought . . . . .

Actually, most woman who have experience a kidney stone say that the pain of passing a stone (perhaps not one as pathetically small as Sticky's :lol:) is much worse than childbirth. :eek: