1984Echoes

Say Ivey is still on the team after we trade for a 3 & D guy. Just for speculative purposes... And let's call him (traded for guy) a small forward. That would push Duncan to the bench and with him and Ivey and Stew coming in, that might just be a pretty dangerous bench... But we would require Duncan's replacement to have range, otherwise Cade will be suffering greatly with the starting 5... and he would definitely have to be better D than Duncan. (Hence 3&D (need)).

No. But maybe a 6th or 7th (draft pick... sorry if unclear...) from a desperate team down a goalie. And I think the team needs to turn over the 1A starting goalie position to Gibson (32 years old) and make that trade of Talbot (38 years old), even though I love what he's done as a Red Wing... to make way for Cossa as a 1B (for now).

"Pretend Christians"? To avoid being ostracized or persecuted...

PS: I have talked to several people who call themselves "spiritual." They could be pagan, or Buddhist without a belief in any god, or a believer in ancestral spirits, or believe that every living thing has a spirit in them, or that there "just has to be something greater than themselves" in the universe. None of these are theistic. Although "greater than themselves" comes close. But no god or gods... equals atheist. "Greater than themselves" I believe are those reluctant to commit one way or the other... But until they do commit I guess they could be classified as "undetermined" (theist or non-theist).

I look at this differently. Agnostic to me means unwilling to admit they are atheists because of family/peer pressure, or just plain fear (of Christian violence). "Religious unaffiliated" to me means non-religious. No religion. No theism. No god. Not even Zeus. Not Christians who are "non-churched" as CMR is asking. Besides, aren't there about 12 Christian categories in there? I'm certain the unchurched can find somewhere that they belong... I'm pretty certain any unchurched Christians did NOT choose religiously unaffiliated... as a guess... And agnostics are atheists IMO, with only fear of retribution or ostracization holding them back. IMO.

I believe when we traded down we got not only Gibbs but Campbell & LaPorta also... Or maybe there was 1 more maneuver to get all 3...? But at least two of them were attributable to the trade down... And yes, Carter had questions on him that I'm going to guess turned off the Lions brass.

28% and counting.... Soon to be a majority.

If the team deems McGonigle ready, Baez will lose his starting SS position. Hinch is perfectly fine, and I believe Baez is on board with this, playing Baez as the backup SS, at CF or 3B wherever and whenever he (Hinch) sees fit. Baez is not that type of concern anymore, and McGonigle has nothing to fear from him. He only has to prove that he's ready for MLB pitching, and that he's capable in the field, nothing more. And then he will be the everyday starter at SS, with Baez and McKinstry backing him up. The person who should be worried, IMO... is Meadows. If he's struggling, or nicked up, in the least... Baez or Vierling are getting the starts out there. He is far too often struggling to stay over the Mendoza line. IMO, I believe there will be less patience for that in 2026... But I'm just guessing.

So let's consider 2022 Top 10: Skubal and Mize had already graduated by then... So in 2022: Greene, Tork and Carpenter all debut. Keith is still waiting. Did Dingler ever break the top 10? This year preseason before he played a full season and lost "rookie" eligibility? 2022 also saw debuts or full seasons for all those pitchers listed (except for Flores). I think Manning had 86 innings the prior year. Keeping pitchers healthy nowadays sure sucks...

That seems like a pretty good guess... Because spring 2022 Top 10 would have had Greene, Tork, Carpenter (I think he broke top 10 before coming up to Detroit?), Keith, Jung & Flores might have been in that top ten but others vying for the back end of that might have been Faedo, Manning, Brieske, Lange and Foley. All of those guys, except Keith, Jung and Flores would have been OFF the preseason 2023, with only Jobe as a high level replacement. I believe...

That would be Max Anderson.

Losing 2-1 early in the 2nd... No more Lady Luck. They're outshooting us 22-7 so far... Might want to start there.

Gibson = faked out to the far right of the net = Hurricane missed the wide open left of the net. Again... thank you Lady Luck. Oh... and the Red Wings just scored! So SWEET! Ras scores...

Because it's still 0-0 after all those near misses...

Gibson looks like **** so far tonight. Multiple rebounds in which he had his glove on the puck but it squeaks out in front of him and somehow... 2nd and 3rd attempts are just... missing. Seider saved a goal with a redirect over the net. The side of the net saved us a goal. And Gibson scrambled for control back over those other squibbler rebounds. He needs to get on top of his glove/ puck control and stop relying on Lady Luck... Please. But... Anyways... Thank you, Lady Luck. Now can we go out and try to win this game guys?

He has experience as a fake businessman on The Apprentice... I'm on board with this! Tell him: "You're Fired!!!" And see if he pouts his way out of the White House and all the way over to HGTV... "They don't like me... I quit!" Works for me! I would LOVE him as a failed president with his own HGTV show!!! I promise... I would NEVER watch it! But that could be the new go-to TV program for MAGA to watch diligently...

If Meadow is NOT injured on opening day... I would see him starting there in CF... And Baez used wherever Hinch sees fit... SS or CF pinch-hitting and taking over when a lefty gets on the mound. If Meadow IS injured on opening day... Well, that's an easy call... start Baez in CF.

BINGO! I love this early call out on the OD lineup...!!!

1) Monty has a lot of great talent for a RB. 2) Our high-end O-Line, when functioning superbly (like last year) let our RB's produce. Monty/Gibbs had 2,185 yards last year with 28 TD's and an average 5 yards per carry. 3) Our O-Line has been a sieve this year at times, and spectacular at other times (freeing up both of them for some great runs). It makes it hard on all the RB's when they are a sieve... But still, Monty/Gibbs have combined for 1,750 yards this year and ~ 5 yards per carry, along with 21 TD's, with two games left still. 4) But other RB's do produce behind this line. For the past 3 years, Craig Reynolds has averaged 4.5 yards per carry. And in 2022 Jamaal Williams and Swift did the same thing as Monty/Gibbs: 1,608 yards and 22 TD's (mostly Williams), at 4.5 yards per carry. 5) Sione Vaki has explosive talent (or so the Lions and Holmes believe...); which, if he is healthy in 2026, and our O-Line is fixed... I believe he can produce at a very high level. I believe he will be able to produce at a higher level than Craig Reynolds or Justin Jackson. All of the above are true. So I don't discount Monty's talent. I just think the health/ competence of our O-Line trumps all. On a WAG, I'm going to guess a healthy Vaki could put up similar numbers to Craig/ Swift/ Justin Jackson in 2022 if he ended up with 150-ish carries, for whatever the reason (this is all faith in Brad Holmes speaking here) at 750-ish yards, high 4 to low 5 yards per carry and half a dozen TD's... Which doesn't say as much about Monty IMO (as you are saying) but I think says a whole lot more about the health of our O-Line.

The running game will be fixed when the O-Line is fixed/ improves.... And Monty and Sioke and Gibbs will ALL benefit... Because noone can run behind an O-Line sieve. And it won't matter whether it's Monty or Sioke... As soon as the O-Line is working, Sioke will be just as explosive as Monty (or even more so), able to gain the same tough yards, more catches out of the backfield, and still have some room for superior explosion run plays than Monty. IMO.

Also, if they play him "in-the-box" 99% of the time there is less deep threat exposure for him and he can work in smaller spaces (within 10 yards of the Line) as a box or strong safety. If he's at least 96% of his prior ability (I just made that number up), it may be good enough to be effective in a role like that...

"Does he think his supporters are stupid?" Absolutely.

Transition apartment since the divorce many years ago and I haven't purchased a house since... although I am looking for a permanent (house) spot in (or near) Lakeland Florida next year so... One day I may do a live tree again. Once I have a house instead of an apartment. But for the past few years, my small artificial tree (about 4 1/2 feet) works perfectly well. To Cas's consternation with live trees... no mess no fuss. And yes... spinning disc with several colors going through the fiber optic cables to light up the tree. SO... UNCOMPLICATED!!! And my daughter loves it!

The first one I got ("Oh stuff it!")... The second one I wasn't certain about... I couldn't tell one way or the other... But I am in a wonderful light-hearted mood these days so... Good all around!

Way too far into the past for me... 50 years or so... Besides... for some reason I guess they didn't actually stick... Oh well! Merry X-Mas, Festivus, Christmas, Hannukah, Solstice... Whatever works for ya'!!!