Dr. Tyler; Captain America

I was indifferent about the Ruutu signing until I saw this clip:

whine The Steelers shouldn't be at number one because of the uncertainty regarding their offseason. Specifically, they shouldn't be at #1 until Ben starts throwing (next week) and shows he's got no ill effects from the wreck. They're not a legit repeat contender without him, but with him (and provided Holmes isn't in jail by the start of the season), they should be the favorites. Cowher, for once, has a Patriots-esque staff and he's actually deferring to them for the first time in his career. Whisenhunt is a wizard when it comes to game planning, and Ben is going into his third year in the NFL (compare to Carson Palmer, who absolutely exploded in his third year -- so did Manning, IIRC) and should finally be able to understand an NFL offense well. He was beginning to do that in the playoffs, SB notwithstanding. The running game should be upgraded now that they don't need to keep a roster spot for the Bettis Sympathy Tour. With a legitimate NFL runningback behind Willie Parker, they should have a significantly upgraded offensive attack this year. On defense, the concern has to be losing Kimo von Oelhoffen, not Chris Hope. Oelhoffen kind of made that defense run; by keeping a blocker out of Larry Foote's face, he made sure that Foote wasn't exposed. I'm worried that Kiesel might not be able to do the same thing, but he's got a lot of potential. If he can put on some bulk, he might be alright; he's tremendously athletic, and he showed some spunk when used as a spot rusher; against a starting LT, though, who knows. Hopefully he'll draw the double team and keep the linebackers running free. There's no real reason, aside from Ben, that the Steelers won't repeat. If he's healthy, I don't see why not.

Frankly, I don't think I give a damn what percentage of aid abroad goes into Israel's coffers. I used to be rather neutral on the Israel/Palestine issue, but really, it makes a ton of strategic sense to prop up their country. The present conflict aside, they're a very stable country that provides us with a lot of intel in a region full of countries that are hostile to us. If we could genuinely trust another country in that region, I'd be in favor of doing the same for them, but Israel's our best bet. So, if we have to give them a little more aid to make sure they survive, it's fine with me. If they need a few tanks to fight their World War III against countries that are a threat to us, even better -- as long as they win. Realpolitik is a bitch, if you think about it in black and white terms. We should be doing all we can to ensure that Israel overthrows Hamas and coerces Iran to intervene -- and then, we should ensure that Israel has the wherewithal to obliterate Iran and make a mockery of their little nuclear games. Probably won't happen, but it would be a nice thought; Iran and the rest of the Islamic world is never going to love Israel. so they don't have much to lose by doing that; we can play a game of good cop/bad cop with them and make Saddam-esque empty threats to them and, perhaps, win a bit of a PR war with the rest of the world. See, that's what I'd do!

Does it really need to be more complicated than that?

Go to Edmunds.com

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06181/702334-61.stm Goes on to say that Lange was offered Steigy's old job as the radio pbp man, and I hope he takes it. Lange is great.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/14/pf/autos/yoyo/index.htm

It's a well known scam. They DEFINITELY run your credit when you take it at first. Hold on, I'll find an article about it on Edmunds.com I saw a few months back.

Sadly, one of my favorite announcers -- Mike Lange of the Penguins -- just got fired. He wasn't a homer at all, seemed to call the games pretty well, and was just quirky enough to make you love him. I really despise the old ESPN Sunday Night crew, but thankfully, I think they're gone. I love to hear Al Michaels, even if he's ranting with Madden about some random crap. I really don't like many announcers, to tell you the truth; most of the CBS guys kinda suck for NFL, and though baseball announcers tend to be somewhat better, meh.

And I'm saying if JFK didn't get shot, he's a better president than LBJ. And, while this is certainly an opinion thread and not a debate thread, putting LBJ against JFK to indicate that LBJ is a great President is sort of strange, given that no legitimate political analyst ranks JFK anywhere near the top 20.

If you get rid of Vietnam, it's the same as saying "If we assume he didn't get shot..." so it makes the argument irrelevant.

Since I doubt anyone here is training for a sport, though, running is probably the best way to get your heart rate up. Generally. It seems like people really overthink it, when in reality, running tends to be the best way to get your heart up. I've lost more body fat running religiously than I did in four years of experimenting with biking, elliptical machine, etc.

Don't overthink cardio. Distance running's probably the best thing you can do. Start off as slow as you need to in order to get to a mile/2 miles/3 miles, then work your way up in speed as it gets easier.

I'm starting to think Obama's gonna run.

Tommy B might get in based on the Cups, but I never really thought of him as a HoFer.

Good one.

The idea was unpopular, not standard fare conservative, opinions.

Well, also, it removes the gay marriage problem.

Marriage should be privatized and all marriage tax benefits should be eliminated. Discuss.

...besides, if there's anyone who can help Crosby shed his diving reputation, it's Cuban!

For Pens fans, anyone who wants to make the team competitive is welcome.

I'm still not sold on Staal, but really, I suppose Shero and Greg Malone know more than I do. Good day for hockey Now, if only we can switch Crosby to defense...

Well, Crosby was a given... but I do see your point, haha. The difference this year is that I have no idea what they're going to do, because it's so wide open. Now that they've got a competent GM, it's going to be fun to watch. And, for what it's worth, an "asset" is probably just a mid-round pick to move up one spot.

As a Pens fan, this is the most exciting draft in recent memory. Right now, the rumors are swirling, with the latest one being that Ray Shero has decided on Jon Toews -- but Chicago wants Toews badly as well, and may be willing to give up some assets in a trade with Pittsburgh. If they do that, it would leave Shero free to both get an asset from the Hawks and then still make the Jack Johnson trade.

I was debating the grammar of that sentence, and when I was finally done analyzing it, I realized that leaving the modifier dangling was less awkward than say "Not a place to which I'd like to move" or "Not a place I'd like to move to". But, thanks for your vigilance, Czech!