Catwhoshatinthehat

Neither can I. If reports are true it sounds like his tenure in Sacramento has been unraveling for a while now. That said even if he played his last game there that doesn't mean Sacramento lets him go cheaply. He's signed for 3 more seasons making an average of 15.8M a year which is a great deal for one of the best C's in the league. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is I just hope the Lakers don't trade the pick and at least one of Randle and Clarkson (possibly both) for just Cousins. I think it's fair for Sacramento to want that I just think the Lakers have way too many needs. They have money and picks and can rebuild other ways.

Cousins is only 24 and is one of the best C's in the league. To his credit he's matured but some of his prior antics still worry me because he's going to be a max deal player barring injury or a major regression. Any player can get injured after signing a guaranteed contract and there's insurance for that but the ones that are malcontents worry me because you could be stuck paying someone who isn't a good fit (see Josh Hamilton). If they somehow come away with Cousins and the #6 pick I'd be much more comfortable seeing the Lakers trade the #2 pick and Randle and/or Clarkson. If Karl and Sacramento really want to move him then the cost may be worth it.

I'd rather keep the pick than trade it along with 1-2 young guys for Cousins. As to Wade no thanks. Signing him for 2-3 years isn't going to hamper the team financially but it's also not making them a contender and he's averaged 59 games a year the last 4 years. they don't need another overpaid vet who is an injury concern on the roster.

In regards to unseen injuries you can say the same thing about every other player in the draft. If a player passes his physical and doesn't have a history of injuries any concern or worry about what may happen to them in the future is a waste of time. Some guys come out and play long careers with few injuries like Duncan while others become draft busts like Oden (had injury concerns coming out) because he couldn't stay on the court. As to the second comment every team wants their pick to work out. There's no Lebron James or Tim Duncan in this draft and those types of players who are considered safe picks or sure things are few and far between.

There was a 30 for 30 or documentary about Sam Bowie since he's the guy taken in front of MJ. It was quite good and he's an interesting guy who has gone on to have success off the court with race horses. He's also very down to earth and doesn't focus on being the guy taken in front of Jordan. Anyways he had knee concerns coming out of college and those issues plagued him during his career. When he was able to stay on the court he was still a good player and he was a stud in college but of course no one thinks of him that way. Point is he was a big man who had question marks about his knees coming out of college and currently neither Towns nor Okafor have those concerns. As to Olowakandi that guy came out of a small school during a weak draft on paper. There were major question marks about him coming out but he was drafted because of his size, athleticism and what he may become. It was almost like drafting a European player who hasn't been tested much because of potential. Okafor at 19 is way ahead of Olowakandi when he came out in terms of experience (played in big games), talent and ceiling. If you don't want Okafor I get that but I think you're reaching for a reason with the comparisons. He went into the season being a projected top pick, helped lead Duke to a title and will be a top pick and deservedly so. There's no guarantee he will be a stud but Towns offensive game had a ways to go as well.

If a confederate flag, racist jokes and creepy looking white guys are red flags then the South is in a lot of trouble. Terrible situation anyway you look at it.

No but if he wanted to hurt and/or kill a large number of people he could do so without a gun. Plenty of wackadoos out there own guns legally, have passed background checks and could pass psych checks.

I don't recall seeing this law passed on anything I've voted for. I get what you're saying though about the whole "it doesn't impact me" mantra but this is something that you would hope would have been addressed by the courts by now as being unconstitutional. Hell I'm as guilty as most everyone else of standing idly by but it really comes down to choosing your battles. I've only got so much time, energy and money to keep myself afloat and would go broke and insane trying to right all the wrongs in the world. Makes me appreciate those that try to that much more.

I get that I just don't understand how a law meant to go after drug dealers, gang members, mobsters, etc. is warped to the point it's used as a reason to not only take cash off regular people but allow local cops to keep a cut. Even if someone is a suspected drug dealer after so long if nothing can be proven the property should be returned. If cops are allowed to take things without proving anything illegal has happened how long until they take other liberties? Oh wait we've seen that happen sometimes violently and in some of those cases little or nothing happens to the cops. Scary times we live in and some of that fear comes from the power those who are expected to uphold the law wield.

I believe you MT and I've seen some of the articles/clips you've posted before on civil forfeiture. I just tend to say something like "if true" when posting since some information you (general sense, not you specifically) come across online is sketchy at best. I still can't wrap my ahead around what kind of law or ruling made this okay. I mean what kind of thought process legal or other would lead anyone to believe this is okay or should be allowed to happen is beyond me.

"Through a legal doctrine called civil forfeiture, police can seize cash or property if they suspect it's tied to an illegal activity — even if the owner isn't even charged with a crime." "Renée Flaherty, one of Clarke's attorneys, says that civil forfeiture laws incentivize police seizure of cash and property as state and local police receive a percentage of forfeiture proceeds in exchange for referring seized property to federal authorities." If this is true I can't even wrap my ahead around what kind of rationale allows this to happen. The only thing this guy and people like him (i.e. those not charged with a crime) are guilty of is carrying cash. Meanwhile both the feds and local police benefit from it. So the people who enforce the law can seize your cash when you've done nothing wrong and unless you can get a good attorney you may never see it again. **** that.

I'd gladly take Butler for 2-3 years at the amounts being discussed. If he doesn't turn into a max deal player than you aren't on the hook long term and if he does then you decide whether or not he's the player you want to offer a max deal to. That said I can't envision the Bulls not matching an offer sheet but you never know. No thanks to Porzingis. There's just been way too many busts out of Europe when it comes to guys who get hyped up shortly before the draft. Obviously there's plenty of players from the US who are busts but when picking at 2 I'd rather go with a more proven (still young but more footage on and played against guys here who while not as fundamentally sound as Europeans are generally stronger) guy like Okafor, Towns or even Russell. If it was a thinner draft class or the Lakers were picking in the 5-8 range maybe you consider it depending on how the draft plays out and how much you like the guys upside. Right now I'm leaning more towards Okafor because of his offensive game but I could easily change my mind before the draft. The only downside is that if he's average at best defensively he's being paired with Randle who is also subpar defensively while also being a bit undersized. If you've got above average defenders at other positions and/or a very good offense it's less of an issue but only time will tell as the Lakers roster will look very different in the next few years. As I said more than once though I'd be happy to see the Lakers end up with either Towns or Okafor.

I was terribly let down by Steve Miller Band when we saw them at the fair maybe 5 years ago. They spent 90% of the time playing new(er) crap they were trying to sell and only played a few riffs from their well known songs. Even the AARP members we talked to on the way out felt let down.

Of course and while I don't share their opinion he had to know some parents being unhappy or flat out pissed off was the likely outcome. There were other ways he could have addressed the issue that didn't involve reading the book he chose that would have been less divisive.

I don't think it had to do with an agenda rather he was trying to use it as a teachable moment. If this had been about race (i.e. racial slur used by a student) instead of sexuality how angry would the parents be if the teacher read a book about a mixed culture family? To be honest though reading something like that to 9 year old children who aren't yours isn't likely to go over well with at least a few parents.

I've always liked Tool (awesome videos, unique sound) but they were never a band I listened to regularly. I remember when APC came out and some of my friends swore up and down they were one of the greatest bands around. A buddy tried to get me to go to a concert of theirs and I politely declined because I couldn't justify spending the money when I wasn't into them. I think as far as the sound of Tool and APC go they're unique and I have nothing but respect for their talent. I also like the fact that when one of their songs comes on the radio even when it's new you could tell it's their song because of the sound. That said I just never got into them like some of my friends did but then again my musical tastes haven't changed much over the years. I've always liked and respected FF but they've never been a band I would listen to a full album from. I like the fact that Grohl and the rest of them still seem to be down to earth and do it because they enjoy it not because they want the money. Grohl is one of those guys that if he were an ass you'd be more likely (or at least I would) to say look at his body of work if anyone can be an ass it's him yet he still seems like a guy who enjoys it as much as some kid starting a band in his garage.

The current top 4 expected picks will all be 19 when the season starts. Any team drafting them is going to be counting on them to continue to develop. What scouts like about Okafor is that he's one of the best true C prospects in years with great footwork and an offensive game with his back to the basket. Initially the Lakers were said to want Towns, then it was reported Minnesota wanted Okafor and now there's reports saying the Lakers do. For all we know it's the Lakers throwing out a smoke screen. I'll be happy with whoever the Lakers get as that player will be a part of the rebuilding process and hopefully a step towards the playoffs in the next few years.

I was planning on going but then I heard Soto was going so I'm out.

There are obviously some fat jokes but that's to be expected and the same thing you saw for comedians like Farley, Galifianakis, etc.. This movie was far more Bridesmaids than Identity Thief (assuming Tammy was like IT based on what I heard) and it wasn't even close. There were a few parts were they overplayed the crass fat girl bit but again that was in a screener that I want to say was close to 2.5 hours while IMDB is saying the released version is 2 hours. My girlfriend dragged me to Identity Thief because like Brandon mentioned she hoped it was Bridesmaids part 2 and instead it was just foul mouthed big girl McCarthy overplaying the role. After that we said we weren't going to pay to see any of her movies and never had interest in seeing Tammy because it looked like the same thing as Identity Thief. We went to the screener for Spy because it was free and local and quite frankly when I found out who was in it I expected to be disappointed. We both left agreeing we would gladly pay to see it in theaters and may do that just to see the finished product.

Saw a screener of it last year. No idea what they'll end up cutting but it was damn funny.

It goes even further than that. There's a South Park episode that was made in the last few years that makes fun of people who watch youtube channels of some person who watches other people play video games and comments on it. Back in my day we just played the video games ourselves...

All the talk of his catch and contract remind me of a posters signature (maybe MHD?) of Matthews Jr. making that catch except instead of him catching the ball it was a bag of money. I saw the guy at the gym one time when he was out of baseball but still getting paid by the Angels and thought what a great gig. Getting paid millions to not play, living in OC and people still went up to him and wanted to meet him because he had made it to the highest level.

So far it seems like every soft pass or touch across the middle by Chicago finds another Chicago player but not so much for the Ducks. They need to come out and not play like shit like they have in the second period most of this series.

I don't believe anyone aside from the family and possibly the church (family brought it to their attention, son was interviewed) have all the facts since it was never properly reported to and investigated by the authorities. What has been reported is that it happened multiple times to girls as young as I believe 5 who lived in the house spannning from at least March 2002-March 2003. There's no mention that I've seen discussed of what happened to the victims. I think that's one of the biggest problems some people have with all of this especially given how women are viewed and treated in this particular religious sect.