Kinetic

Shawne Merriman is an idiot. The short-term gain is so dwarfed by the potential long-term ramifications that I can't even believe that he's considering playing this year. It's not even just his football career; one awkward hit on that knee could severely impact the quality of his life after football, which could begin as soon as 2009. I'm starting to get the feeling that the Chargers are going to be somewhat less than advertised this season. Have you seen the way Rivers has been hobbling around in the preseason? Then again, there's no one in their division that could really challenge even a banged-up version of that team. Denver? Please. 10-6.

Pffft, yeah, in TNA. Whatever that is.

Sweet. Tonght's forecast for all Dallas/Fort Worth area titty bars: a 90% chance of rain. Especially this one.

Could be useful in celebrating any upcoming board milestones.

The Titans are possibly the dullest team in the league to watch. For as great as he was in college, Vince Young is kind of just a guy at this level. He doesn't seem to be progressing at all, either. The Titans have a good defense and solid running game, though. I'd say 8-8 for them.

Good call, Something Wonderful. I do get a little bit of a naked Marlboro Man vibe from Matt every now and then.

First correct diagnosis gets a copy of the piping hot new Jung Billz album. So I came down with some sort of illness in late June of 2006. Here's a rundown of my symptoms: Balance problems- I'm constantly unsteady on my feet and when walking will feel like the ground is sagging underneath me. This is worse some times than others, but is a constant issue. Digestive problems- I feel pretty nauseous most of the time. The consistency and color of my shit has changed entirely and I have frequent bouts of diarrhea. Eating will often worsen my balance issues. Cognitive problems- On a daily basis, I will experience a fog settling over my brain that makes it difficult to think clearly or remember anything. This usually only lasts for a few hours, but will sometimes continue until I go to sleep. Vision problems- My vision has become permanently clouded by a sea of flashing dots. Some are what are referred to as "floaters," while some are just tiny white flashing lights that never stop. I also sometimes experience double vision, particularly when listening to the Foreigner song "Double Vision." I'm starting to think multiple sclerosis. I'm not a doctor, however, and as I have no insurance and no money, it's unlikely that I'm going to get that verified by anybody who is any time soon. So what says you, TSM? EDIT: Oh, yeah, constant fatigue, too. Can't forget that.

No, I don't see any reason why New England would win fewer than 12 games this season. Easy schedule, dynamic offense, comprehensive library of opponent's defensive signals, enthusiastic fanbase...this team is built to win, baby. I hope they don't, though, I hate them.

With the bulk of the preseason games out of the way and the regular season less than two weeks away, let's assess what we anticipate our teams doing this year and what we would be willing to consider a successful season. I feel like the Bucs are poised to be exactly as good as they were last year, which is to say slightly above average. While the defense should be top five, the offense will likely be somewhere in the middle of the pack unless guys like Antonio Bryant, Earnest Graham, and Dexter Jackson set the world on fire, which I don't envision happening. One encouraging thing about the offense has been the play of the starting line this preseason, which should open holes for the backs and provide plenty of time for whatever washed-up reject we have starting at QB. So, yeah, I'd say above average team, good for anywhere between 8 and 10 wins. That might not be good enough in our division this year. It's really difficult to say what I'd consider a successful season, however, because the lack of youth in some fairly key areas suggests that Gruden and the FO think they're fielding a big winner this season. If it seemed like we were building toward something, I'd be totally happy with winning the division and making it to the second round of the playoffs. As it is, I'd have to say that anything short of a conference championship appearance will be a disappointment. As such, I'm prepared to be disappointed.

Just got around to watching this show. Really funny, I probably liked it better than The Office.

Fuck it, this song is awesome. But "the good old rock and roll boat show???" What? Nick Lowe's send-up of it is great, as well.

Some. I like Propaganda and Kimono My House a lot. I think I d/led the majority of their 70s stuff, but admittedly haven't gotten around to listening to all of it.

10cc, too. I was born about 20 years too late.

Holy shit. I was obviously familiar with this song before today, but I'd never really appreciated its greatness. It has everything I enjoy about music: wee little backing vocals, handclaps, awesome high-pitched 70s guitar solos, lyrics about staying in bed all day, etc. It's magic.

When not diarrhea, they will be thin and gooey. Never float, always sink to the bottom of the bowl.

And the bloody shit (which really only happened once, for the record) was the trigger for all of this. I was perfectly normal prior to that, but have been a dizzy, sickly mess ever since. But emphasizing this point at the doctor's office took me down the dead-end street of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which got me prescribed another useless medication.

Diet is a lot of sandwiches. Tuna fish. Burritos. Hamburgers. Not a lot of fruits or vegetables. Vices are smoking, drinking, and staring at myself in the mirror. No medications. Clean living conditions, although I lived in relative squalor when symptoms first presented themselves.

I took the anti-depressants for a while, but stopped because I didn't think I was getting anything out of it. They were useful in getting the panic attacks under control, but that was largely a "mind over matter" sort of deal anyway and I think I could have done it without pills. Yeah, MS, that's the Montel disease, right? So you can lead a normal life with it, maybe even host your own talk show. It is so like me to develop a chronic, incurable disease of the central nervous system. Just my luck.

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Well, the girlfriend has a cat and this all started long before we moved in together. I do have numbness, tingling, and other strange sensations in my extremities, as well as a lot of involuntary twitching of the limbs. If you go into a free clinic (or a nearly free clinic) with a laundry list of mysterious symptoms, chances are they're going to think you're either crazy or full of shit and just prescribe you some anti-depressants. This is what happened to me. All of my blood work came out normal, as did my shit and piss samples. So I don't know. I think I'm going to have to collapse before they'll do anything for me.

rainy day woman is my least fav dylan song from the classic era. the only thing close to a mistep on blonde on blonde, actually. I'm pretty lukewarm on "Leopardskin Pillbox Hat," although the lyrics are kind of amusing. I'm having a hell of a time coming up with anything for this thread. I mean, all my favored artists have songs that I'm not crazy about, but I can't think of any that I actively hate. I guess I've always thought that Bowie's cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together" was a wretched waste of time.

I rather like that one. "Lay Lady Lay," too.

Nice guy, though.

Longtime reader, first time poster. I found this place Googling around for a spot where I could talk wrestling and share photos of my dick with open-minded singles. So, The Smart Marks, huh? That's a pretty silly name, where'd that come from, huh? You guys like John Cena? I think he's all right, but "The Animal" Batista is my fave. I saw him at Kohl's one time, nice guy, even bigger than he looks on TV. Anyway, PM me if you want a picture of my dick. This board seems totally cool, really great, hope to be here for awhile.

I so desperately wanted one of those saggin' Bugs Bunny shirts in 1993. I thought that getting my ear pierced and wearing a hip-hop "Looney Tunes" t-shirt and a pair of jeans backwards would make me the dopest 10 year old in all of Winston-Salem. Looking back, I'm glad that my mother refused.