iamshack

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 03:41 PM) It also sounds like Dallas is planning on keeping Jason Garrett. Probably another good move.

I really hate these home video-style NFL commercials showing Saints' fans celebrating their SB win. Surprised they show the one with the one fan bodyslamming the other too...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 03:34 PM) The Vikings are expected to make Leslie Frazier their permanent coach as early as this week. That's the best move for them.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 03:32 PM) Is Maryland really a notably better job than UConn? The only reason I would think it could be is because TCU is going to the Big East and so UConn has some big competition for the automatic bid now.

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 03:28 PM) Practicing game situations. Or maybe the field is bad and they don't want to mess around with the kicking game. It was 4th and 16 and they ran it. Or else maybe they think kicking the field goal would be running up the score and they would just give them the ball back instead. Crap, I dunno.

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 03:22 PM) +1 Now they just went for it on 4th and 16 from the 19.

The Pats are up 31-0 and still going for it on 4th down at midfield. Bellichick cracks me up.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:57 PM) Actually, it's the sound that the word ends with. Say it to yourself, "Dem-o-Crat", you almost have to push it out hard, while you have to move your voice back up to add the extra soft "ic" at the end. BB, you never cease to amaze me

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 12:35 PM) Because polling data actually shows it has more of a negative connotation. I think it's more because "Demorcratic" has a positive connotation; it is evoking thoughts of our system of democracy, whereas "democrat" evokes thoughts of the actual party.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 02:34 PM) I hear ya, I modded by 37 up to 350+ hp and have been driving like a maniac on the chicago highways for quite some time. Once I totaled it last week I knew that I needed to tone it down overall or I would kill myself, in fact I should have already. My next car is going to be a much safer ride hopefully. I got pulled over going 133 mph in my TT at 2 am on I80 near Tinley Park a few years ago. I had never seen a cop in the stretch I was on at that hour in like 10 years, and sure enough, THE ONE time I open that car up and actually get it into 6th gear, there is a cop sitting right there.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:30 PM) The other part of that is...the obvious landing place if it wasn't for history for Pavano would be the Yankees, and that would probably already be done. But no one really knows how to evaluate the market for him without the Yankees involved, and so that makes all the other #4 starting pitchers able to say that the Yankees have interest. Yes, very true. The Yankees don't have the will to sign Pavano right now, and I doubt Pavano even wants to go back there anyways, now that he already has a bunch of their money.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 02:23 PM) Why does it seem Audi likes to underpower their cars? Several years ago they seemed in step with the BMW releases and have fallen a bit back. Maybe they spent all their energy in making that ridiculously awesome R8? I really don't know. It is especially prevalent in the TT models. I'm not sure if it has to do with wanting to meet certain MPG benchmarks or what. I'm not one to really insist on max performance, as in my experience it's just not worth the $ unless you are immune to traffic tickets or you take it to the track, neither of which apply to me. But on the other hand, you can't have a car that looks a certain part but just doesn't hold up it's end of the bargain. I'm really leaning a bit towards the S5, because it has a V8 with a manual 6 speed, but I am going to give these second gen TT's and the TTS a chance before I make any decisions.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:16 PM) You'll see from my posts way back in this thread that I was not one of them. TCU always scared me as an opponent because of the way they are coached and that I believe they pull from a great talent pool for a school of 9k kids. Texas is rich in football talent and not every one of them is scooped up by the big boys. I still think BSU just doesnt have the raw physical tools to stick it out through a full season in an AQ conference. I really wish they would have jumped to the B12 or P12 Yeah, I know. And I don't have the energy to fight this battle anymore anyways. Just wish Boise could have played Oklahoma or Alabama yesterday instead of getting stuck with a lame Utah team on Dec 22.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:18 PM) Before I got my g37 I looked hard at the A5 and left downright unimpressed, of course then they released the S5 and I was pissed. A buddy of mine has one and they are great cars though slightly overpriced. I still took him pretty easily with my 37 though... I havent driven the new TT's yet, didnt they add some high end trim levels as well? Well, they are always adding some bs trimlines, but they made a TT an "S" car with the TTS model. It's got 265 HP and a lot more torque. Some new suspension modes and the dimensions are slightly smaller. It's definitely the closest a TT has come to being a serious sports car thus far, but soon there will be an RS model released that will have 340 HP, but also will be about $65k, which is waaay more than I want to spend.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:31 PM) And the market has borne that out over recent history. Once the new year hits, the money starts dropping quickly. Everyone is waiting for Pavano to sign, then the dominos will start falling again.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 02:10 PM) Go with the S5 you little girl, TT's are for women ;-) Hey watch it, I have a TT now... The new TTS's are much more performance-oriented than the previous gen TT's were, and a bit more so than the previous 3.2 liter engine in the first versions of the second-gen TT's. I love the S5's, but they are so damn expensive...not sure if I want to have a $600 car payment...

Now Brady is back in. Weird.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:08 PM) Well TCU is always going to have more talent than Boise, thats why its great they are joining a decent conference. I honestly wish they would have joined something a little better than the Big East though, I am excited to see how they fare. The Nevada thing you just mentioned has nothing to do with MWC vs WAC at all. TCU has a harder road than BSU, and thats why the Broncos are jumping ship. TCU simply plays against more talent week in and week out than BSU. Nevada does not. Yeah, my bad about the Nevada thing, although I still think Nevada has a great offense. This still doesn't change the fact that most people thought Boise was better than TCU prior to the loss...and honestly, after seeing both of them, I think Boise is better as well.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:07 PM) Nevada plays in the WAC. You're right, Alex. My bad. I got confused because UNLV plays in the MWC and play Nevada-Reno every year, but that's just an intrastate rivalry.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 02:03 PM) A decent chunk of the answer comes about in what kind of vehicle you're interested in as well. You're absolutely right, but in almost every vehicle, there is a very substantial depreciation in the first 2 years.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 02:00 PM) Cars are depreciating assets. Any way you can buy a vehicle at a low cost before it takes the largest losses you are in better shape. I personally really like new cars and not dealing with repairs so I have been leasing. Of course this was before I totaled my 09 G37x coupe last sunday and now I will be buying a car because of the mileage I have been racking up. I am looking at 1 or 2 year old cars because I feel the value is better. For example I just test drove an 09 SUV that was down over 20k from its sticker price when it was new. That to me screams value. Yeah, this is mainly what I am seeing. Jason pointed out some things such as the rising price of used cars and the differences in financing last time this thread came up, so I thought I would revisit it. I'm finding that I can save $8-12k, prior to whatever the difference in financing (probably $1k or so) between buying new and used, so I'll probably try to find an 09'-10' low-mileage model and go with that. Looking at Audi S5's and Audi TTS's.

Certainly respected more than Boise...but the funny thing is most people across the country seemed to think Boise was the better team this year prior to the loss to Nevada. I also caught a lot of flack for pointing out that TCU had some decent NFL prospects on their defense, only to have people point out after the victory that TCU spends a lot and recruits well in Texas. Then I pointed out that Nevada-Reno, the team that beat Boise, had a top 5 offense in college football, only to be told that that is nonsense because they play in the Mountain West conference, but then an argument for TCU's legitimacy over Boise was that TCU played in the Mountain West conference. Just pointing out a bit of the hypocrisy around here over the last month or so....

Ack. You were right, Wite. Pats pulled Brady.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 12:45 PM) Good news for you, the Browns don't care about winning this game. They just proved it with that field goal; Mangini just didn't want the shutout on his record for the year. I would have rather they went for it, actually. That entire drive was lucky play after lucky play. I would have taken my chances on one play from the 2.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 2, 2011 -> 01:42 PM) Roethlisberger might well have uncorked the best throw I've seen all year to start off that game. Yeah, that was a thing of beauty. The other thing is the safety came over but got inexplicably turned around and took himself out of the play.