HarleyQuinn

Ugh... Governor Will Veto Anyway

Personally, I think it's a little short sighted in some respects. Slavery is clearly above and beyond what homosexuals have had to endure (as is separation during the 40's, 50's, and 60's) but homosexual persecution has existed for quite a long time as well. Even recently, it's just starting to change in some areas. See below. And it's not like all "homosexual" (i.e. sodomy) activity was decriminalized immediately in the 20th century. - Denmark: 1933 - Iceland: 1940 - Sweden: 1944 - Thailand: 1956 - Hungary: 1962 - England/Wales: 1967 - France: 1980 - Scotland: 1980 - Northern Ireland: 1982 - New Zealand: 1986 - Israel: 1988 - Western Australia: 1989 (South Australia: 1975, Victoria: 1981) - China: 1992 - Russia: 1993 - Germany: 1994 - USA: As of 2002, only 36 states had repealed sodomy laws. As of 2003, these were the penalties in some states. Following are imprisonment lengths. Keep in mind this was as recent as just 6 years ago. - Alabama: 1 year (only unmarried couples, i.e. gays) - Florida: 2 Months - Idaho: 5 Years to LIFE - Kansas: 6 Months (Same Sex only) - Louisiana: 5 Years - Michigan: 15 Years - Mississippi: 10 Years - North Carolina: 10 Years - Oklahoma: 10 Years (Same Sex only) - South Carolina: 5 Years - Utah: 6 Months - Virginia: 1-5 Years

I still think Stern deserves it over Bettman just for the referee scandal alone (and the fact that the refereeing still seems questionable in games I've watched). Donaghy BET on games for over 13 years while refereeing them. Are you kidding me? The bias there alone is amazing and Stern had no idea? The NBA also has market trouble (Charlotte and Seattle moved although Seattle IMO got fucked over, Indiana is trying to figure out how to survive. Memphis is the NBA's equivalent to Atlanta or Carolina in the NHL). As bad as Bettman has been for the NHL in terms of TV coverage, at least his game is mostly clean and he's been trying to clean up the game a bit more since the lockout (i.e. the new rules about staged fights). And the "poor" TV coverage is arguable as of late given the increase in ratings within local markets (even Atlanta was up 21% from last year). Also in regard to the Sharks. NBC will also be airing games 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 while Versus will get games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup.

It's Elementary is already a step towards homosexuality being taught to kids. The best part about the documentary, IMO, is that a large percent of the quotes come from the kids themselves and they make good and bad remarks. The innocence in their reactions is refreshing compared to the overzealousness of adults. I find the idea of disrupting the "traditional" household a laughable argument at best. What are gays going to do? Adopt children or raise kids from in vitro fertilization and actually *gasp* be their own families? Not to mention most gays and lesbians have females/males in their lives so it's not like their kids will be devoid completely of a female or male role model. While gays aren't being siphoned into their own bathrooms, etc. the attacks are still happening, sadly. Two guys beaten up in Oregon on Sunday Also the hate crimes support this, Anti-Gay Hate Crimes.

I need a mustache... CL/MR Dennis Eckersley At his peak, he was putting up ERAs of 1.56, 0.61 (Are you kidding me?!), and 1.91. He also went 37-18 with a 2.99 ERA in back to back seasons as a starter for kicks.

Fair enough but Forbes shows that some teams improved over last season. In terms of operating income, Nashville and Minnesota are doing quite decently actually. The NBA has 10 teams at a negative operating income. NHL has 12 teams but the disparity is that more NHL teams are losing 6% or more. What's more amazing is that in the NBA, they have games airing on TNT and ESPN. The NHL has Versus, local channels like NESN, and NBC once a week. Forbes on the NBA. No team in the NHL is as bad as Dallas (-13.6%) or Denver (-26.3%) in operating income. Carolina is the worst NHL team at -11.5%.

The thing with Bettman... I by no means like him but think some things should be pointed out. I also was the lone vote for David Stern, BTW. #1: Expanded the league from 24 teams to 30. #2: Implemented a hard salary cap and free agency after 7 years of service. #3: Signed a 5 year deal with ESPN & ABC in 1998 for $600 Million. It was the largest television contract the NHL ever signed. #4: ESPN declined the $60 Million option to broadcast the NHL in 2005. He then proceeded to sign a 3 year deal worth $207.5 Million with Versus. The question is the choice in network but they got a great deal out of it. #5: The NHL has been growing in revenue. $2.20 to $2.25 Billion in 2007

Stuff like this amazes me because it's obvious they can't put themselves into our (LGBT) shoes. Imagine the utter outrage if people said to a straight person that their marriage should be invalidated just because strangers they've never met didn't agree that they should be married. The funny thing is, the world hasn't imploded with Mass (and now Connecticut) having gay marriage. Anybody have statistical evidence that gays "prey" on children in these two states now? Sadly, that argument is still being used as a reason by certain nut organizations to avoid gay marriage.

Some Pro Day notes on Small School guys... I've found that small school WRs seem to have a knack for being great receivers in terms of catching the ball (see Marques Colston coming out of Hofstra). Random aside is that Jeff Fisher's son is a LB with Montana who'll be a Senior next year. McNeese State: On March 10, 10 team representatives, including Ravens offensive line coach John Matsko, attended. WR Quinten Lawrence (5-11 7/8, 190 pounds) worked out well. He ran a 4.42 and 4.43 in the 40, did 21 bench press reps and caught the ball extremely well, but did not do the jumps or shuttles due to injury. Central Arkansas: Four NFL teams sent representatives for Central Arkansas’ pro day, including Carolina Panthers tight ends coach Geep Chryst. TE Marquez Branson (6-2, 241 pounds). Branson ran 40-yard dash times of 4.55, 4.67 and 4.66. He ran three times because of the discrepancy between the first two times. He had a 36-inch vertical with times of 4.40 in the short shuttle and 7.29 in the three-cone drill. He stood on his results from the combine in the bench press and the broad jump. Abilene Christian: Three receiver coaches, including Rams assistant Charlie Baggett, were present. WR Johnny Knox (5-11 3/4, 181 pounds) stood on his combine numbers for the workout drills, but he looked great catching the ball in position drills. Northern Alabama: The headliner was WR Ed Gant. He measured in at 6-foot-1 1/2, 197 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 and 4.50 seconds, had a 32-inch vertical, a 10-3 broad jump, a 4.12 short shuttle, a 6.77 three-cone drill and put up 18 bench press reps at 225 pounds. This is the kind of player who shows so much athleticism he can be switched to defensive back if it doesn’t work out at wide receiver. Northwestern State: WR Dudley Guice put up some impressive numbers on the outdoor FieldTurf track. He checked in at 6-foot-2 1/2, 209 pounds and ran a 4.40- and a 4.43-second 40-yard dash. That time would have ranked him among the fastest participants at last month’s combine. He also had a 39-inch vertical jump, 10-foot, 5-inch broad jump, a 4.01-second short shuttle, a 6.61-second three-cone drill and 12 bench-press reps of 225 pounds. It is also noteworthy that he has 34-inch arms — a good measurement for a wideout. Liberty: Another player benefiting from positional coaches coming to watch him work out was Liberty’s Rashad Jennings, who also opened eyes at the combine. He worked out Tuesday in front of six teams, including the Panthers and their RB coach Jim Skipper. He worked out on an indoor track. He weighed 231 pounds, ran a 4.52 in the 40 and a 6.79 in the three-cone drill. QB Brock Smith was impressive in his workout and measured in at 6-1 7/8, 242 pounds. He ran 4.87 and 4.84 in the 40, 4.34 in the short shuttle, 7.12 in the three-cone drill and had a 29-inch vertical and a 8-foot, 8-inch broad jump.

Thought this was interesting to look at in terms of whether scoring has increased or not post lock out in terms of both teams topping 6 goals in games (i.e. 4-2 or 5-1 for example). I think it's interesting to see the drop as teams adapt to the playing style and learn how to defend it. 2003 Average Goals Per Game: 1 team at 6 GPG total (Ottawa led scoring with 3.20 GPG) 2005 Average Goals Per Game: 21 teams at 6 GPG total (Ottawa led scoring with 3.83 GPG) 2006 Average Goals Per Game: 14 teams at 6 GPG total (Buffalo led scoring with 3.76 GPG) 2007 Average Goals Per Game: 4 teams at 6 GPG total (Montreal led scoring with 3.20 GPG) 2008 Average Goals Per Game: 8 teams at 6 GPG total (Detroit leads scoring 3.74 GPG)

Oooh... I wonder how MFer's John McGraw will coach against player John McGraw!

2B Lou Whitaker

You pretty much said it yourself... #1: The Twists. #2: The Plot Development. #3: More so than the twists and the plot development was the fact that it was typical Joss. Interjecting humor, drama, action, while smoothly building up the plot and setting up future episodes without being beaten over the head with it. In terms of "game changing" as you called it, the best analogy I can come up with is that the previous episodes were all jagged lines and this episode was a smooth line. It not only was a "step up" but it showed the capabilities of what this show can be and could be from here on out. I'm not saying it was a 10/10 episode but it's a step in the right direction.

From what I've noticed... WCW really peaked from August 1997 through to April of 1999 looking at the Monday Nitro ratings. WWF really didn't start their run until April 1998 through to May 2002 looking at the Monday Night Raw ratings. Their real peak was March 1999 - September 2000 (when they switched to TNN). They were consistently in the upper 5's and 6's range. ECW's show on TNN even saw an uptick from December 1999 - February 2000. IMO, it wasn't really about what the wrestling shows were doing right or wrong in terms of promoting stars, running great angles, running great wrestling matches. It was more about the fix of the TV audience and that substantially changed in 2000 and 2001. As crazy as it is, shows (and reality TV) helped kill the interest in wrestling. - The Sopranos premieres on January 10th, 1999 - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire premieres on August 16th, 1999 - Survivor premieres on May 31st, 2000 - CSI premieres on October 6th, 2000 - The Weakest Link premieres on April 16th, 2001 - Fear Factor premieres on June 11th, 2001 - The Amazing Race premieres on September 5th, 2001 - 24 premieres on November 6th, 2001 - American Idol premieres on June 11th, 2002 And as much as it pains to say it, wrestling shows are essentially 3rd level TV shows ratings wise. At their peak, they're around 2nd level TV shows ratings wise (WWF was pulling in mid 6's and low 7's at their peak. For comparison, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's 3rd season in 1998 averaged a 5.3 on The WB). TV Ratings for 1998. Buffy was 120th so Raw would've been around the 110-115 range. Although it didn't help that the "stars" were disappearing too. Steve Austin was gone from roughly November 1999 - March 2000. Triple H was gone from May 2001 - December 2001. The Rock was gone for parts of 2001 as well. Undertaker was gone from roughly September 1999 - May 2000. Mick Foley stopped wrestling in 2000 to serve as Commish.

Not quite, Krankor. It looks like I still got the 8 Seed in part because of the 6 ties (and .512 win %).

looks like I'll at least get a bye to the semi-finals hopefully in the consolation bracket. Just a shame that my "run" came too little, too late to nab the 6th spot.

I've always been a fan more so of players rather than teams so I largely cheered a player but didn't really care if the team won or not compared to the Boston/New England based teams. Players - Deion Sanders (Early 90's with Falcons, '94 49ers, and Cowboys run) - Michael Jordan's run with the Bulls - Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace's run with the North Carolina Tar Heels - Colorado when Bourque (sp?) was going for his Stanley Cup - Wayne Gretzky's run with the LA Kings (Hated him when he joined the Rangers though)

Start with the 6th episode (IMO, it's the "turnaround" episode i.e. Surprise/Innocence in Buffy's Season 2 where things ramped up). Next week's episode looks like it'll continue to build off episode 6, which can only be good.

Finally! All the talking and hinting results in a kick ass, solid, good episode! I wasn't expecting and I almost cheered out loud when . Next week's episode looks like it might be continuing the "grown up" aspect of it and it really feels like the show has a better stride now on what exactly it's going for. You have . Positive Rating News from TV By The Numbers: Predictions of Dollhouse getting crushed did not come to pass. The much-anticipated sixth episode finally arrived and performed similarly to last week when it had 4.3 million and a 1.6 rating with 18-49s. Last night it had 4.13 million and a 1.5/5 (rating/share) with adults 18-49.

They've been consistent and have rarely allowed more than 3 goals in a game (mostly because Thomas and Fernandez are IMO, playing over their heads a bit). They're still right up there with New Jersey in terms of goals scored vs. goals allowed. Boston is 239/170 and NJ is 222/173. Past 15 Games: 47 goals (5 games with 5+ goals) vs. 40 goals (7 games with 2 or fewer goals allowed)

My guy's an interesting pick... SP Rube Waddell - Only 193 W but was roughly the first "modern" strikeout heavy pitcher coupled with a great ERA+ at 135 for his career. He also had back to back seasons with a .248 and .286 BA with 3 HR just to rub it in. Take that Mike Hampton!

I have no idea and wouldn't be shocked to see it "unofficially" canceled for some reason. I've given up on Ghost Hunters after the show, Ghost Adventures, premiered and was profoundly better (on all levels from evidence to provacation) on the Travel Channel IIRC.

Manager: Miller Huggins City: Boston Nickname: Red Sox Venue: Huntington Avenue Grounds (Ballpark from 1901 - 1911). Fun Fact: CF measured at 635 ft. in 1908

SP Kid Nichols 361-208 Record and a 2.95 ERA

I'm a fan of the show Eureka. I'll watch Sci Fi from time to time (i.e. any Twilight Zone marathon) although The Outer Limits reruns are disappointing because they came from HBO or Showtime IIRC