d-dave

Well, as we say about Tepper "not my billions." lol It remains to be seen. Can MS clean up the culture and improve morale the greater Activision environment? Can they take a franchise like COD, which sells millions of units each year and tons of microtransactions no matter the quality of the game, and keep it profitable on game pass without sales to Sony? That's why I think that MS is going to continue to push for Game Pass on Sony, while still allowing the sales of CoD and other activision/blizzard games on Sony products. Just add a Microsoft Game Studio in front of each loading screen. I'm very curious to see how it all works out. I've been an Xbox guy since the 360 (even though I had the PS1, PS2, and eventually the PS3 for the blu ray drive) so putting my not very rabid fanboi-ness aside, I really do want gaming to get better for everyone. The world sucks enough as is, I think we should all be able to escape into some gaming, regardless of platform.

There is no pitch for Rodgers. Matt Rhule has the ultimate ego, and he won't allow someone else to come in and interfere with his "process." So aside from all the other reasons Rodgers would never come to Carolina, Rhule and his ego would be one for sure.

https://news.microsoft.com/2022/01/18/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/ So this is kind of a major development. I've heard a lot of people talking about this, and some people think that Microsoft is going to make all of new games from Activision only on game pass. No future Call of Duty after 2023 on Playstation. I think that's a little short sighted. I think that MS is going to, at a minimum, still sell games to PS - but they will all have a Microsoft Games Studio logo and adds for Game Pass. I think the real thing that MS wants is to put game pass on the Playstation. I know MS wants a gaming future where you play their content wherever, and I think they are still going to move toward that. Also, how funny would it be for Sony to have to pay royalties to MS on games from their store? It's like MS could never really get a game identity. Like Nintendo has games that are authentically Nintendo. Sony has the market on 3rd person, epic and cinematic games. MS just wants to be the place for games. I really don't think they care about where you play because Game Pass is the end game for them.

Here's a good little pod about Kirk - http://tun.in/piBO0 Take it for what it's worth, but the takes on Kirk are pretty damning. I would hate to see the Panthers trade even more assets for a QB who won't take us over the top.

Read up on Cousins from Vikings fans. Not a pretty picture. On the surface, he looks good stat wise, but his teams have never gotten over the hump. Cousins is good for 7-9 wins a year, no more, and that's assuming everything is perfect. Look at what happens to the receivers where he was? In Washington, in Minny, great were chased off by Cousins and his crazy contract demands and his erratic play. He would absolutely be an upgrade, but he's not enough to see us to the playoffs and build sustained success no matter how good his stats look. we'd have to eat his $35 million cap hit, which would require us to off load Darnold. How is that going to happen? If he's cut, you know he's not playing for a "prove it" deal. He's going to extract every red cent he can.

Interesting 3rd hand rumor for sure! As far as Kubiak, I've read a lot that he's overrated and not much of an upgrade for us. Definitely a name, but not so much of a rock star. I'm much more interested in the Rams guy.

This made my laugh really hard. Thank you

I think this speaks more to the vibe in the building: Rhule is God. He has unlimited carte blanche to do what he wants, cut who he wants, and no one wants to get on his bad side and lose their paychecks.

In with the meme: "Don't know you all the players will be picked top 5!" nonsense! It's still a QB driven league, and there are still a lot of teams looking for their QB1. And there are two amazing pass rushers who could go top three. I have no idea what will happen, lol.

I have no idea what the future holds for Cam. Will he retire? Is he willing to be a QB2/Short Yardage back? He still runs very well. I did see him hyping up Sam and looks to be a great guy even on the sideline. Some of y'all have been super eloquent about what Cam has meant, and I appreciate it and agree! This team though, good lord what a poo show. I wish nothing but the best for Cam, either on or off the field for all the joy and excitement he's brought me.

Here's a thought, in the stream of "safe/unsafe" stories, one thing that stuck out was Rhule has to hire a real OC. What if he doesn't? What if Rhule isn't able to get anyone soon, and gets canned? I'm grasping for straws

I know. My parents were OG PSL owners. It sucks. Just sell your tickets if you don't want to go. That's what they ended up doing until they have to just give them up.

If you want to make a real statement, boycott the Panthers. No new Panthers licensed stuff, no games, no purchases, etc. That's about the only way peons like us can "take it" to big cats of the world.

Thanks! I am a pretty prolific reader. My poor sleep schedule! I also have started reading more in the daytime, like when my wife wants to watch her terrible 90 Day Fiancée Shows. I just put in my noise canceling headphones and I'm down for an hour of reading at a time lol. I also have a tendency to skim through crap. Like as soon as I see Rand start complaining, I skip to the last line of the paragraph to see if it's worth reading. LOL. Honestly, he's not a well written character at this point in my reading. I understand he goes through a lot of changes, but man he's whiney AF!

Too much dead money, too much for a team to pay, and his market is SO dead right now. CMC is going to have to come back and be a difference maker again. Then we'll see. As far as Rhule. Who knows? "be patient while I do impatient things."

Yes! I had to spend a LOT of time studying a map lol. Between WoT and the Witcher...so much fantasy geography!

Oh yeah, that was the weakest episode of the season for me. It was such a let down. The scene from the book is intense AF. I loved that part. I think they could have done something similar with the show, and keep the changes to Rand's exit.

I think the far bigger point is that Matt Rhule is a bad pro coach. He makes arbitrary decisions, and Matt Rhule being right is far more important than doing the right thing. Rhule's ego is enormous. It's costing the team, and will continue to do so.

That's the biggest thing for me. Imagine if they had 10-12 episodes? Sheesh, that would make life a lot easier. One of the best parts of the show, and what is so central to the story, is when the Emond's Fielders get to hangout. The chemistry of the cast is so good in those moments. In the books, that is one of the driving forces of the entire series. Seems that a lot of those moments were cut out of the show for the sake of getting the information across. My hope is that season 2 will have the time to adjust to the loss of the Mat actor and consequent recasting, and then be able to combine the main points of Book 2 and 3 (still working on three, but I have a good theory as I read it). Book 2 was entertaining, but way too long in certain aspects. There's a fair amount of fat to trim there. I saw on reddit someone say that WoT was a bunch of 800 page books that could have been cut in half. There is a bit of truth to that, and hopefully the showrunners will take the opportunity to showcase the important stuff without burying the story in poo.

Fun thought game, for sure! No idea what the Panthers will actually do. Here's mine 1. H. Reddick (OLB) - Got to think if Rhule is back, Reddick will be resigned. 11. F. Luvu (LB) - He's a must keep guy. He plays with so much energy! 2. S. Gilmore (CB) - No clue what he really wants, but I'd love to keep him as a vet presence and starter 22. M. Haynes (OLB/DE) - He's a good depth guy for sure. Though will probably get signed by Buffalo. 14. Z. Gonzalez (K) - Before he got hurt, he looks like the guy we need to be our kicker. 5. D. Jones (DT) - I'd love to see him back, very good mentor, but might get paid elsewhere. 15. A. Abdullah (RB/KR) - Loads of speed, I like him as a complimentary piece. 9. D. Jackson (CB) - I really thought he was playing very well. He might get a prove it deal, or he might leave for the paycheck. 19. B. Zylstra (WR) - I really like his utility. He's a useful piece and he should be pretty cheap. I love Cam, but this isn't the place for him anymore. Breaks my heart, but Cam either needs to retire or find a place that's going to be a better fit.

Ghost of Tsushima looks amazing! Since I upgraded my TV, I've noticed the new consoles really do bring that "extra" bit of polish and flair in games. I was messing around with Fallen Order the other day, and the train section in the beginning, where it's all wet and rainy was so pretty. The reflections, ambient light, etc. Super cool. I can't wait for more games to be "built" for these new platforms with their super fast SSDs and GPUs. I think we're all in for a treat!

After the first two or three episodes, I started reading. I finished the first book before I finished the show. You won't find any spoilers for the 2nd book in the first season. Really, it's more of a different kind of story-retelling, if that makes sense. It's adapted from the source material, but it's still fairly different, for some usually good reasons - some problematic.

The pro game is completely different from the college game, especially at BYU. That's why BC should have been starting and playing a LOT more. Another thing is the lack of communication. Without good communication, the OL will struggle. Because we've been playing shuffle the OL since August, there's next to zero chemistry, no one really knows what/how to communicate in our offense (that's a coaching issue). BC has to improve. But the only way that will happen is via reps and better coaching. Is he a better option than some of these other draft guys? Nope. I'd be thrilled if we could draft a true franchise LT, but it's going to come down to coaching, either way. Rhule and his incompetent staff need to go. Period.

So I was excited to see how Amazon took on an absolutely massive IP like Wheel of Time to bring it to the masses. I watched the first couple of episodes, then immediately ordered the entire series of books (they were half price in a holiday deal). I've been absolutely grabbed by both the show and the books for different reasons. I like the story the show is telling. The first novel, Eye of the World, is considered the weakest, and the producers were dealing with an actor who left before filming was wrapped. So the season is up and down. The meat of it was quite enjoyable. The last episode was kind of weak/hurried. They could have used 2-3 more episodes to allow the characters to grow and develop. The were some really rad moments in there, and as I start book three, there could be some super awesome stuff in store for the coming seasons. Anyone else? Thoughts? The first Episode felt like the MTV Shannara series - very TV hair commercial, but then it took that sheen off quickly.

I just got a Series X from Best Buy. I saw on Wednesday there was a restock so I tried it out, like I have but failed time and time again. This time, I got lucky. Not sure if they are using a lottery system or something like that, but because I used my BB rewards membership to log in and get in the list, it seems like it was weighted to give me priority over random folks over the internet. I played with it a little on Sunday (I picked it up at 1pm Sunday), and I love the speed of the SSD. Reminds me of playing on my laptop lol.