Typical Phenom

I like the Pack this year. McCarthy's system is what Brett is familiar with, it's the same west coast system Holmgren had and the 49ers before that, it's proven effective and Brett's shown he can work with it...he won an MVP in it. The pickup of Charles Woodson gives you a lockdown corner and, now that he's somewhere he wants to be rather than forced to stay in Oakland, I expect him to be back to #2 pick form. AJ Hawk, Nick Barnett, and Ben Taylor are a nice linebacking crew who can pursue the run and play the pass. Might run into an issue with the defensive line, but as a whole, I like what they bring to the table this year.

I never said that, but at the end of last year I believe Bonderman was 11-13. I never said Verlander wouldn't contribute, I was simply saying that the Tigers brought him up from the minors and put him in the rotation. Hence why I said new pitching acquisitions Rogers and Verlander.

I respect Leyland, but he's getting way too much credit. Alan Trammell had this team ready to turn around and they started it last year. He built the team along with Dave Dombrowski and has put in a lot of time on the developmental side with Gibson that goes un-credited. Had Trammell not been given the shaft, I think the team would still be in a similar position this year. How can you say Bonderman and Verlander weren't supposed to contribute as much? At the end of last year, Bonderman was being considered one of the best young pitchers in baseball. And Verlander was the #2 overall pick in 2004, he came with a lot of expectations, though I will say I didn't expect him to fulfill those until next year. And as a lifelong Tigers fan, I was there for the 84' ALCS against the Royals...yes, the Royals...I couldn't be any happier to see them finally having success. I still miss Tiger Stadium though.

That looks like it. So it's just an Ali G character that they're making a movie out of?

When I went and saw The Omen when it first came out, there was a preview for a movie involving a middle eastern foreigner making the trip to America. The whole theatre practically erupted in a cheer when they saw the preview start, yet I had no clue who it was or what it was. I hadn't thought about it again until now when my boss told me he had the same experience at the Omen. Any info on what this movie is or why it would have gotten cheers like that?

By week 8, Bush will take the #1 RB spot from Deuce. Until then, he'll spend more time catching the ball out of the backfield than anything. Marcus Vick has 1st round talent, that's what someone mentioned earlier. I've never seen it. He's undersized with a strong, but very inaccurate arm. He's fast but not exactly agile. He's never been a leader, which is a must at the QB position, and beyond his namesake, I don't see any reason to talk about him as a great football player. What's the difference between him and Adrian Macpherson? Macpherson's probably a better athlete and definately a better QB, but has the same leadership issues and look where he's at, strugglin to maintain the 3rd QB spot in New Orleans. The best undrafted free agent? Jai Lewis. Has a football background, has great size for TE or DE, played both positions, has incredible hands and surprising agility. Give him two years under Strahan and the Giants got a steal.

Not sure if this should be in computers or web design, but since it's involving coding for a website, I'll assume here. Feel free to move it though. I just need to figure out how to embed mp3's into a flash player so as to save on bandwith. I've found decent tutorials, but most still require a working knowledge of flash, which I don't exactly have. If anyone can help, or direct me to someone (somewhere) who can help, I'd be most grateful. Thanks.

There's no question that Bush is the most talented player in the draft and should go number 1 To me, the second best talent in the draft is D'Brickashaw Ferguson followed by Michael Huff, but talent doesn't dictate order. If the Jets trade up to get Reggie Bush, then the Texans must pursue Ferguson. They have Moulds and Johnson at wideouts, Carr's still a good quarterback with incredible fundamentals, start building up that protection for him. This is Gary Kubiak's team now, not Dom Capers, the focus will be on the offense first. Michael Huff should drop to the Lions. The Raiders are going to have a hard time passing up whichever quarterback is available, either Young or Cutler. Cutler fits the prototypical Art Shell quarterback more than Young, but it'll be whoever's available. And if Vernon Davis somehow slips this low, they may snatch him up. Aside from guessing who's going to trade up to the number one pick (should be Jets since Texans can't drop lower than 4th and still plan on getting Ferguson), there's not a ton of intrigue to the draft. Look at the coaches, look at the connections, the schemes, and players start to fall into place like a well worked puzzle. Off the wall prediction? Vikings move up to #6 and take a QB, more than likely Cutler, throwing off the gameplan of everyone 7 and under while giving the 49ers more draft picks. 49ers just took Denver's first rounder, they can afford to give up the 6th overall, it'd be more beneficial to them.

First off, Mooch deserved the axe and as a Detroit native, I'm glad he finally got it. With three recievers who were top ten picks, the running back he wanted, a top tight end, and plenty of money spent on defense, he has no excuses left. Harrington's not a bad quarterback, he just never had the confidence of his coach and therefore never played with any confidence. Even when Mooch put his own QB, Garcia, in, the results were less than satisfactory. As far as the Colts, I don't think the Steelers stand a chance at all. They can match-up defensively against Indy's offense, but Indy will still get their points and Pittsburgh doesn't have the firepower to match points against the Colts defense. If Indy loses this year, it'll be to the Seahawks. Hasselbeck can strike quickly, plus Alexander will grind out the clock. Not to mention, that Seattle defense has played great.

I like both signings, especially Shyne since I'm a huge fan and now I know that nobody's going to set limitations on his album. Could this have anything to do with the fact that 50 briefly went at Shyne? So Game decided to unify troops, so to speak? And yea, 50 threatened Dre or whatever, but nobody said Dre gave a damn.

Definately not mad at the concert, looked to be a hot show and there's another one coming up in Philly. Diddy performing with The Lox is crazy to me. I'm glad he's trying to unify the east coast, should make for some good music and hopefully a Jay-Z/Nas collabo.

Another rumor says that The Lox and Fat Joe may both be on stage with him, which supports the "50 as target" theory. There's been a lot of talk about Nas having patched up his beef with Jay and wanting to come aboard to Def Jam since he only has one album left on his Sony deal. Obviously Lil Wayne is a favorite of Jay-Z's and he's been sporting that G-Unot shirt lately. Also, don't forget about Ja Rule and how he's supposed to be coming back as Loki, the Greek God of something or other. Even in a drop Ja cut for us over the summer, he referred to himself as Loki. He also told us that the beef with him and 50 was only going to get worse, could this be what he was talking about? Imagine Nas, Jigga, Ja as Loki, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Game, Wayne, all on stage spitting anti G-Unit bars...that's some tough stuff.

Nas vs. Lloyd Banks Ja Rule vs. 50 Wayne vs. Youngbuck Game vs. .. Olivia? Eminem vs. Jay-Z Haha.

Hasn't necessarily done anything outside of the ordinary, but here's the quote from when Jay went on one of NY's hip hop stations about a month ago, talking about the whole concert. “I gotta put [my adversaries] in the choke hold, the Boston crab. I gotta smash a couple of people. ... Everybody better make up and be my friend." 50 and G-unit are just the top names being speculated, he could be Declaring War on anyone, that's what's got me so intrigued. If only I lived on the east coast, I'd be at the Continental Airlines Arena tonight.

I'm surprised nobody's brought this up, but is anyone else anxious to see what actually goes down tonight? I know there's going to be a ton of hip hop artists in the place, a lot of em will probably even be performing. If I had to take a guess, I'd go with the most popular rumor, that he's going to call out 50 and G-Unit, but nothing's ever for sure. What do you think will happen and what do you think the repricussions will be for both Jay and whoever he calls out?

A look at the inside of a sportsbook agency. Pacino plays the head honcho, Matthew plays a former football player who's become perfect at handicapping football games. He makes Pacino millions of dollars, but doesn't get his fair cut. Then he starts losing and all hell breaks loose from there. Should actually be pretty good, this thread is the only place I've seen people hating on it.

I think it sums up a lot of things. So what if he's not media friendly. He's out there to play baseball, not kiss your ass.

You gotta figure that the success of the 18 and 19 year olds this year played into her own decision quite a bit. Players are getting better and younger each year, so if she puts off turning pro til she's 22 and out of college, there's no telling where she might stand. More than likely, she'd be in a top position still but you just never know. Take advantage of your opportunities while they're there.