You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
#1571 Re: The Garden » The NFL 2007-08 Season thread » 921 weeks ago
Celizic: NFL should scrap playoffs, go with its own BCS
In a season where Pats, Colts class of league, have them play in Super Bowl
OPINION
By Mike Celizic
updated 4:08 p.m. ET, Tues., Nov. 6, 2007
Regular visitors to this space know that I have less use for the BCS than King Tut has for sleeping pills. If you gave me a choice between getting rid of the BCS or world peace with universal health care, unlimited free energy and dues-free memberships at Pine Valley, Augusta National and Pebble Beach with a Porsche Turbo-Carrera GT thrown in, I'd have to ask if I could sleep on it.
But I've finally come to see a most excellent place for the BCS. The NFL.
Have you looked at the standings recently? (If you've just eaten, don't look now unless you want to lose your lunch.) Almost every one of the eight divisions looks like the National League West, with a few opting out for the NL Central paradigm '” no team over .500 need apply.
You've got five teams that seem capable of distinguishing the difference between a gameplan and a grocery list '” the Packers, Cowboys and Giants in the NFC and the Patriots and Colts in the AFC. You've got a couple who are scratching at the door begging to be let in, but that group includes the Lions, and they've got a lot to prove before we'll take them seriously. It also includes the Titans, who would be a serious threat if they weren't playing in the AFC, where nobody's beating Indy and New England.
If the NFL had a weekly poll as college football does, you couldn't even fill out a Top 25. And you'd be done with the Top 10 after listing seven teams.
I'm sure there's been a worse season than this, but it's hard to remember one. We've got a handful of teams that have dared to be competent and a whole lot of teams that can't decide whether to make the effort to pull themselves out of the muck of mediocrity in which they are mired or to just bag it all.
If ever there was a year in which an 8-8 or even a 7-9 team makes the playoffs, this is it. And let's face it, none of them are going to have any more chance of winning than Britney Spears has of not going clubbing.
So let's forget the playoffs this year. Let the best of the bumblers play a series of exhibitions for three weeks, take a week off, and then play the NFL BCS championship game.
We already know who's going to represent the AFC '” the Patriots. The Colts had their chance at home with Dolby Surround Sound and couldn't get it done.
So even if the Pats take a week off and get beaten by someone, they've got the head-to-head edge and they're in the title game.
The NFC's a bit dicier. If we voted today, I think we'd have to go with the Pack, if only because there's nothing better than seeing Brett Favre running out of the tunnel in Phoenix to air it out in one more Super Bowl.
Cowboy fans wouldn't like it, but does anyone else care? But lest they think I'm dumping on them, the Cowboys have their fate in their hands, as do the Packers, because on Nov. 29 '” Thanksgiving Day '” they meet in Dallas. The winner takes over the top slot in the NFC polls, and the loser gets to play the Colts in the Consolation Bowl.
(Quick aside to that game: Unless you have the NFL Network or spend the holiday in a bar, you won't be able to watch that game.)
And event that could change because of the Lions and Giants. The Giants could beat the Cowboys and tie for the division lead, and the Packers could beat the Cowboys but still lose to the Lions. Meanwhile the Giants, who have already lost to the Packers, have to play the Lions, so things could get confusing by the end of the season.
But that's what polls and computers are for '” to sort those sorts of things out. And when you come right down to it, if we were doing this strictly by BCS rules, if all of those teams end the year with two losses, they're not going to the Super Bowl anyway, the Colts are.
That really would be best. Indianapolis played the Patriots close with a depleted lineup, and in a year with very few big match-ups because there are so very few big teams, that's the game we want to see anyway. And think of the ratings.
It's really the only way to go in this year of awful teams. Take a poll, send the winners to Phoenix, and we can start Super Bowl hype the first week of January.
So who do you like for the Heisman? Has to be Tom Brady, no?
Mike Celizic writes regularly for msnbc.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21655025/
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2007 MSNBC.com
#1572 The Garden » Man Shot, but walks away with only a bruise » 921 weeks ago
- Tommie
- Replies: 3
Man shot in city, walks away with bruise
BYSTANDER SHOT
But bullet left only a bruise
A York City man carrying Sheetrock into a home was shot by a man whose car had been vandalized, police said.
But Lt. Ron Camacho said the bullet went through three pieces of Sheetrock before hitting Raphael Santiago, which slowed the projectile enough that it didn't pierce Santiago's skin.
Santiago, 28, of East South Street, escaped with just a bruise, Camacho said.
According to the lieutenant, Santiago was working to the rear of a home in the 500 block of South Duke Street around 3:15 p.m. Thursday when a car drove through the rear alley.
There was a group of people hanging around the area and one of them shot the passing car with a paintball, police said.
The driver became angry and got out of his car, yelling at the group and demanding to know who shot his car, Camacho said.
The driver pulled out a handgun and the group scattered. The driver fired a shot at one of the fleeing people, but the bullet instead went through the Sheetrock and hit Santiago, Camacho said.
Detectives are now searching for the driver, who fled the scene. He is described as a heavyset black man in his 20s, 6 feet tall, with a beard. He was driving a medium-size pinkish-red sedan, possibly a Hyundai, Camacho said.
Anyone with information about his identity is asked to call city detectives at 849-2219.
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/yd/local/ci_7351580
#1573 Re: The Sunset Strip » Screencap Game » 921 weeks ago
Cant believe I didnt recognize Stir Of Echos, that movie scared the bejesus out of me when I first saw it.
#1574 Re: Management » Chat is open » 921 weeks ago
nevermind guys... i'm sure it was just on my end.
#1575 Re: Management » Chat is open » 921 weeks ago
Anyone else having any problems with the chat? The other day when I was in it, I kept getting an error message. Now today, it was lagging really bad, and when it finally accepted what I typed, it put it in the chat four times. Not sure if the problem is just on my end, or if anyone else is having the same stuff happen.
#1576 Re: The Sunset Strip » Favourite Comedy/Comedians » 921 weeks ago
Jim Norton was always hilarious on Tough Crowd. God I miss that show.
#1577 The Garden » Indian Girl Born With 8 Limbs Undergoes Risky Surgery » 921 weeks ago
- Tommie
- Replies: 2
Doctors began operating Tuesday on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in an extensive surgery that they hope will leave the girl with a normal body, a hospital official said.
The girl named Lakshmi is joined to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.
A team of 30 doctors was removing the extra limbs and organs. They have separated the fused spines and the next step will be to separate the extra limbs and then the rest of the "parasite," said Dr. Sharan Patil, the orthopedic surgeon leading the operation.
"As of now, the child has been responding very well," Patil said several hours into the operation.
Lakshmi is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, and some in her village in the northern state of Bihar revere her.
"Everybody considers her a goddess at our village," said her father, Shambhu, who goes by one name. "All this expenditure has happened to make her normal. So far, everything is fine."
Others sought to make money from Lakshmi. Her parents kept her in hiding after a circus apparently tried to buy the girl, they said.
The complications for Lakshmi's surgery are myriad: The two spines are merged, she has four kidneys, entangled nerves, two stomach cavities and two chest cavities. She cannot stand up or walk.
"It's a big team effort of a lot of skilled surgeons who will be putting their heart and soul into solving the problem of Lakshmi," Patil said earlier in the day. "It's going to take many, many hours on a continuous basis to operate on the baby. So, these issues definitely make it complex."
Patil put the risk of losing Lakshmi between 20 and 25 percent.
Doctors at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore, where the girl is undergoing surgery, said she is popular among the staff and patients.
"She's a very cute girl," Dr. Patil Mamatha said. "She's very playful and gets along well with others."
The hospital's foundation is paying for the operation because the girl's family could not afford the medical bills, Mamatha said.
The couple, who earn just $1 a day as casual laborers, were keen for her to have the operation but were unable to pay for the rare procedure, which has never before been performed in India.
Many villagers, however, remain opposed to surgery and are planning to erect a temple to Lakshmi, who they still revere as sacred.
After Patil visited the girl in her village from Narayana Health City hospital in Bangalore, the hospital's foundation agreed to fund the $200,000 operation.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308439,00.html
follow the link for pictures
#1578 Re: Management » GNR Evolution » 921 weeks ago
Exactly, I truthfully dont see him even getting the site back up. Even if he does manage to bring it back online, I wonder how long it'll last.
#1579 Re: The Sunset Strip » Favourite Comedy/Comedians » 921 weeks ago
Denis Leary is by far my favorite. No Cure For Cancer, and Lock N Load are two of the best standup routines I've ever seen. I highly recommend them both. Lock N Load is probably a little bit better though.
heres one of his songs about religion...
#1580 The Garden » Another really sad story. (this time from my town) » 921 weeks ago
- Tommie
- Replies: 4
Identity of siblings killed in fire released
The parents of two children killed Saturday night in a Swatara Twp. house fire that might have been started by a candle had been selling belongings for money to restore their electric service, a neighbor said.
Outside the boarded-up house in the 900 block of Main Street in Bressler where 2 year-old Britton and 18-month-old Onna Donachy died, several brightly colored plastic toys still sat on a wooden chair Sunday atop a hand-written yard sale sign.
In addition to investigating the fire, Dauphin County District Attorney Edward M. Marsico Jr. said authorities are looking at whether to accuse parents Ryan and Deb Donachy of child abuse or neglect.
'There apparently was beyond-deplorable conditions inside that house,'' Marsico said. 'The cops who were there were saying they've never seen anything like this before, and that says a lot.''
Deb Donachy, 24, and her 5-month-old daughter, Autum, were badly injured in the blaze and are being treated at the Lehigh Valley Burn Unit. The hospital would not release their conditions Sunday night.
As for what started the fire, Marsico said investigators believe it might have been caused by a candle. PPL officials confirmed that power to the house was turned off Friday morning.
While police said some drug paraphernalia was found in the house, Marsico said the investigation is focusing more on the children's welfare.
According to authorities, the mother was asleep with the three children when the fire started. It was reported that Ryan Donachy discovered the fire around 7:30 p.m. when he returned home, and he got his family out of the house.
Emergency workers tried to resuscitate the two children, who later died at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, police said. Deb and Autum Donachy also were taken by ambulance to the center and later moved to the Lehigh facility.
Neighbors who gathered Saturday night as crews responded to the blaze said the family had been using candles since their power was turned off.
On Sunday, Karen Perrelli said the Donachys were selling toys, a television, stereo equipment and other belongings for money to pay their electric bill.
PPL spokesman Joe Scopelliti said he cannot discuss why power is turned off to a house because of privacy regulations.
He said PPL tries to work with customers before their power is turned off. The company gives customers repeated notifications of plans to turn off electricity, including two notices within 10 days of the termination, he said.
He added that PPL also offers assistance.
Perrelli said she and another neighbor called the authorities this year about living conditions in the home but nothing was done.
Perrelli said she called police in June about the smell of urine and feces coming from the house and the dirty diapers and trash strewn over the floor. Because of the conditions, Perrelli said she prohibited her 17-year-old daughter from babysitting the Donachys' children and her 11-year-old from playing at the house.
'The house was disgusting. I even told them they need to clean up,' she said. 'It was raunchy.'
Township administrator Paul Cornell confirmed that Swatara has an open file on the property, but said he did not know the details of the complaint.
'It's probably tall grass and weeds. That's generally how these complaints come in, but there is not much we can do on the inside of the house,' Cornell said. 'We can't go inside unless we are invited, have a search warrant or have a credible source, like a
police officer or firefighters, saying there's a problem.
CARRIE CASSIDY: 255-8244
or ccassidy@patriot-news.com
-------------------------
This shit went down about two minutes from where I used to live. I went up to Harrisburg yesterday to visit family and I drove by this house that had a news crew filming and the windows all boarded up. I asked my grandmother what had happened and she basically told me everything that was in this article.