1984Echoes

In other words: Trump is trying to turn our country into Russia because he wants to "BE" Vladimir Putin and bilk billions and billions of corrupt dollars into his own pockets. For life. Oh, and he also wants to execute reporters who say bad things about him. Just like Vladimir Putin.

The team keeps saying that he is "crushing it". That he looks like a monster. They're talking about putting him at one of the guard spots this year. If he ends up starting at some point, and... "crushes it"... No, not an overpay. But as you said... it's all wait and see at this point.

I'm looking only at draft positioning at this point. They're not yet good enough. Disappointing season. But we need some lottery luck to get my top target Porter Martone... top 2 pick in my opinion. Maybe we settle for 6'6" RHD Radim Mrtka?

shoot me but I loved the Bourne Identity car chases...

I would be happy with Porter Martone who hits everybody within reach, is a long lost Tkachuk brother, or cousin, or something, gets ALL the pucks at the wall and parks in front of the net with a dangerous stick, racks up the goals and points as a true 6'3" beefy power forward... and was made to win in the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Finals. Misa would be awesome. But I'm secretly hoping for Brendan Shana... errr, Parker Tkachuk... err, I mean Martone. But these guys are pipe dreams anyways because Detroit is not allowed lottery luck. Only lottery shafted... up the... Tailpipe.

I guess it's time to watch for draft position if we haven't been already... And... Lotteries suck ass. I hate them.

Yeah... I'm definitely not in the "all our eggs in one basket" camp. We're in the same "let Brad do all the magic he wants to" camp...

If Trump really wants Greenland, he should: 1) Carve out the territory that 95% of Greenlanders currently live in. That is a small strip of southwest coastland from the southern tip, and up about 1/3 of the coast. Call that "Independent Greenland" and they can decide whatever they want. Be a part of Denmark. Be a part of America. Be an independent country. Be a commonwealth similar to Puerto Rico, of EITHER Denmark or America... THEY get to choose. 2) Now, Greenland has a pop. of ~53K, of which ~50K live in this strip of land. Trump could take over the balance of Greenland for "security reasons" (our current military and space bases there...). But he can't just TAKE it. He has to make them "an offer they can't refuse". Think Louisiana Purchase. Or the purchase of Alaska. Just spit-ballin' here: $100 Billion to Denmark. $10 Billion to Independent Greenland? (The purchased portion would be called "State of Greenland" as part of the United States?) 6% royalties for ALL natural resources (at wholesale cost) mined or otherwise, from the State of Greenland for the next 100 years. 4% to Denmark, 2% to Independent Greenland residents? And a promise to develop anything within 10 miles of Independent Greenland (let's say Ports, Shopping Centers, Walmarts, anything) only with their approval. Some distance so they don't feel encroached upon. Also: All residents of "Independent Greenland" have passport/visa-free access to the State of Greenland. But I'm just Manifest Destiny'ing here...

He's been FULL of **** for over 40 years, closing in on 50. I guess MAGA never got that memo. Or they just didn't give a ****... that he's completely full of ****. Or... They really are ****-for-brains. Hmmm... "all of the above"?

Nothing is going to happen to ANY of these guys. Nothing.

Don't we have to let him graduate High School first before we send him off to Grand Rapids?

One last note on Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids... I believe Trent Reznor had already gotten ahold of this band by the time I was hearing them in the local clubs. Their early sound sounded a lot like Nine Inch Nails. I was in an "Industrial Dance" phase at the time, slam-dancing and all that. I was big on Nine Inch Nails and Front 242 and Sisters of Mercy and Nitzer Ebb at the time... but I never went all in on the Manson. Went a bit too far for me. Just a little extra commentary...

It takes two to tango. If a deal is there for Brad to do that, without overpaying (I don't remember any overpay that he's done... it seems like it's all been fair value or we got better "trade value" a bit...); then you may be correct. But I also know Brad places different values on guys then the rest of the league... So I don't know if that means he will get that trade up... Or a team who wants a 5th year on a QB (just for the extra year of control) could look to move up to the end of the 1st round. If Brad has a chance to drop to the top of the 2nd and gets a high 3rd with that (not just Tennessee after a QB but also Giants, Browns, Saints, and a couple other teams...). He might take that opportunity. It'll mean that he's eyed a guy that he thinks he can snag at the top of the 2nd. And he has two more players that he is eyeing at the end of the 2nd round/ start of the 3rd that he thinks will fall to that area and he wants them. He's cagey like that. He has a plan seemingly for everything. Even for trading down (Gibbs) and then back up (Campbell) in order to get the guys that he wants. And then did it again trading up for Brian Branch after using the extra pick gained by trading down from #6 to later select Gibbs... (2nd round #34 overall) on LaPorta. Guys... I'm going to just watch this MASTER dance all around the 2025 NFL Draft and see what he comes up with. I'm pretty certain I'll love it. Whatever dance he plays.

How about if we traded ALL of our 2025 draft picks and ended up with two high 2nds, two high 3rds, and two high 4ths? Wouldn't 6 high end (in draft position) picks be perfect for Brad to find exactly what he wants out of this draft? I could care less how we get there. Trade ups or trade downs. I identified 4 key needs this team could use a good player at and I'm sure Brad could come up with two key backups elsewhere to fill those 6 draft picks. I'll take whatever Brad gets out of this draft and expect those players to make an impact on this team. No matter how many there are. No matter in which round they are taken. And even if we don't actually see those 4th round and later players play as they develop and percolate under Campbell and his coaches' tutelage... I'll trust in Holmes' judgement thank you very much.

Haha! That's awesome!

Oh... Gene Loves Jezebel. I remembered. But I think it was two bands that night so now I've got to remember that other band too...

One of their songs was a cover (I'll remember that too... just give me some time...) and I told him they should include it on whatever album they were going to release because it sounded terrific. I think a Rolling Stones song... but he said "Royalty fees are prohibitive... sorry!" "Crap! But you guys really do sound awesome!!!"

No I don't want to say her name. I would say that she was a good Irish Catholic girl with a bit of a wild streak. We saw the Cult live, and then Marilyn Manson live in a dance club in Ft. Lauderdale and she yells in my ear (it was a bit loud...) "I used to date him." Matter of factly. After I picked my jaw up from the floor (he was already heavily made up and a bit androgenous as was the entire band...); but the music was exceptionally cool (at the time... and very, very, VERY hard-edged...) Talked to him a bit. He came by... a bit weird. Must've been around 1989 or so I think... But my memory is a bit hazy. Saw another live alternative band the following week with Karen and I don't remember the name of the band at the moment but it'll come back to me...

That's funny! I dated Marilyn Manson's ex-girlfriend (not in the same week) when we were in college and before Manson & the Spooky Kids hit the "big time" (for whatever that meant for those guys...).

We picked up Gamel for this instead. I agree with you 100% in what you are saying which is why I had posted that in the first place... Not much different than Moniak except he's 6 years older. I'd have preferred Moniak. But as a stop gap, expendable band aid... it doesn't really matter. They got who they wanted... specifically for this reason.

This administration is defective. Starting at the top.

Nope. Save the free agent dreams, and money, for power forwards... which we are basically devoid of. Call up the kids for defense and see who rises to the top and who gets stuck on the 3rd pairing. Sign a cheap FA (if necessary) for veteran defensive help as the 7th and/or 8th guy, as needed. Maybe even ASP makes it to the 2nd pair with Edvinsson and all of a sudden we may have fixed a crapload of defensive weaknesses. With growing pains included of course. Brendan Shanahan and Tomas Holmstrom FA types... please. Marner would be dreaming. But... Boeser? Or could we figure out a trade for a Mason McTavish or similar...? Just my 2 cents.

I would go get Moniak NOW. LH'er with .866 OPS against RH'ers in 2023 (has EXTREME splits so he sits against LH'ers and Baez can go play CF, at least until Wenceel heals up...); .660 OPS against RH'ers in 2024 (that sucks) but career .710 OPS against RH'ers along with a career OPS+ of 110 against same. He's worth a band aid platoon for a couple months, as a lefty, and I don't care if we turn around and jettison Margot, eating the contract. Moniak is actually a REAL CF'er. Just my 2 cents.

I think CF offers more "diving" opportunities than both LF and RF combined. But that's just a WAG. I think it's the "diving" plays that the team wants Greene to avoid most of all, more than "the Wall". Again... just a WAG.

And I see several "high level" needs for this team where I sorta wish we had (4) 2nd rounders as ATF alluded to: Starting LG. I'm good with Mahogany as RG and Glasgow as top backup for all 3 interior spots. But I think this is a good draft to get a starting LG. So many that would fit right in: Mbow, Ratledge, Savaiinaea, Booker, even Zabel as a Glasgow 2.0. And as the O-Line goes, so goes Goff and our offense. I don't want to take any O-Line need lightly. Starting DT. I think our interior line had as many problems as the Edge after all the injuries, especially after Alim went down. Reader is here for only 1 more year. If Kenneth Grant, who completely dominates the interior and also has some pass-rush ability (not a lot, but just enough... mostly collapsing the pocket...) is there at the #28 reason: Why would Brad Holmes pass on him? Imagine McNeil and Grant dominating every single O-Line...! And yes, a top edge prospect. Can Holmes find some hidden piece of gold in this year's draft that none of us are even considering? In the 2nd or 3rd round? I wouldn't put it past him. Does anyone in here have 100% comfort level with Jamo? I don't. I want a high-end X-Receiver simply to have "one more guy" that Goff can depend on. This could be any round though... 2nd through the 6th, just as a guess. I see 4 high level needs that are just high enough... that I don't want to strip Holmes of multiple picks to go up and get "one guy". If he can do it cheaply (which he's been able to do for the most part...) I'm ok with that. But not if it costs too many other valuable picks. And at the end of the 1st, sometimes there are very unique opportunities to trade down a few spots and gain another high value pick. If the draft falls just right... But I'm fine with whatever Brad does. In Brad Holmes I trust.