Guard Dog

Apathy is my way of life, man. You burned out early in life!

I hate the Red Sox. And the Yankees. And I don't think much of the Rangers either. But I hate the Red Sox.

Yeah, the first gunslinger novel was nice and concise. But later books fell into Wheel of Time / Fantasy Must be Longwinded syndrome (Note how the books keep getting thicker in that series) and I lost interest. Also, color me amused that Guard Dog recommends The Dog Who Could Fly I'm a sucker for books about dogs. That has nothing to do with my screen name though. That is an amusing story (IMO) that goes back to the big arguments over Bioware using forum members names in game as characters. Now reading The Drawing of the Three, the second book. Does King use LSD? This whole story seems like an acid trip. I still haven't decided if I like it or not.

I've found the only TV shows that hold my interest anymore are on Animal Planet, Nat Geo, or the History Channel. Or sports. I can always watch that. I think that means I'm getting old.

I had to google that. I've never seen that show. I am woefully ignorant on all aspects of pop culture!

Glen Campbell passed away at 81. I know he had been fighting alzheimers. The Wichita Lineman is no longer on the line.

watched ozark and learned hillbilly is a pejorative for redneck. who knew? HA! Good Fun! And all this time I thought it was the other way around.

SiriusXM Classic Rewind Ch 25. It is the greatest radio station ever. And it absolutely guarantees you never hear anything you've never heard before!

The St. Lucie Mets & Columbia Fireflies have both set attendance records this year. Gee.. I wonder why. http://ballparkdigest.com/2017/08/07/st-lucie-mets-set-new-attendance-record/

And another thing, they dropped the name Golden Company. That is a mistake. They never introduced any part of the the Blackfyre plot line from the books, Varys connection to it, or you-know-who who is with the Golden Company now. And there is not nearly enough episodes left to get it in now. D&D should have picked a different name for the mercenary company Cersi wants to hire. Just sayin'

I found it rather irritating that Dany kept strafing the supply wagons rather than break standing spear formations trying to hold off her advance. I mean if all you have is light skirmish cavalry and the enemy fields apparently disciplined, armored fighters with spears holding the line you should use your air support to break those. Before charging several miles at full speed towards them. Good thing horses don't get tired. And maybe if you also have a bunch of horse archers harry the enemy before charging in. It's not like a line of spears with no support is mobile enough to do something about it. Good thing that the Lannister army under superior tactical genius Randyll Tarly managed to forget to scout ahead while guarding a supply train. Imagine if they saw the Mongol Dothraki horde coming and had time to prepare. No kidding. Where were their outriders? The United States only exists as a unified nation today because two army generals John Buford and John Reynolds made smart use of cavalry scouts on July 1st 1863. At least in the books GRRM has a better grip on medieval tactics. If there is one thing TW gmes has taught me it's that charging spear formations with cavalry is stupid. Plus do you recall a story in the 2nd book of how 1000 Unsullied broke and entire Khalasar? They did it with spears and staying in formation.

Oh no, Don Baylor passed away. http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/former-cubs-manager-don-baylor-dies-at-68-from-multiple-myeloma/

I finished The Dog Who Could Fly last night after Thrones. That was a great book.

Yeah, it does. That's why I mentioned it so everyone can make of the info what they will.

Best line of the show: "Who taught you to do that?" "No one" Also for crying out loud, when air support assets are taking ground fire with friendly infantry on the ground mopping up a battle already won, remove them from the engagement. "We're taking AA fire, let's strafe the gun emplacement" said no pilot ever.

Former Phillies all star catcher Darren Daulton passed away. Cancer. That sucks. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/08/06/darren-daulton-dies-brain-cancer-obituary/512462001/

From what I've read on Bleacher Report and elsewhere Kaepernick is not interested in 3rd string money. His asking price was high enough it turned the Seahawks off. Whatever it is.

Apparently the Dolphins also considered Kyle Orton & Tim Tebow as well as Kaep & Cutler. The former is two years into retirement and the latter has a better than even chance of actually making in to the Major Leagues now (who woulda thought). I guess there really is not good option when you lose your QB in training camp. Just the least bad one. http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/report-dolphins-considered-tebow-before-signing-cutler/ar-AApyQLn?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp I just realized. That's a serious Denver connection there isn't it? They also called Payton Manning last season. While you're at it why not track down Jake Plummer or give Elway a call.

The Vick comparison is interesting, but there are a few key reasons why Kaepernick's situation is very different. First off, Vick had served his time and made the appropriate public expressions of remorse for his crimes. Kaepernick has done nothing criminal, but he also hasn't apologized for his "offenses" in a way that teams can sell to dubious fans. Second, the NFL hasn't spent the last generation tying themselves to animal welfare causes for marketing purposes. They have, however, poured a ridiculous amount of time and effort into field-sized flags, military color guards, celebrity anthem performances, F-18 flyovers, partnerships with military-related charities, etc. Patriotism is a deliberate marketing tool for the business that is the NFL. Third, racial politics weren't involved in the Vick thing. ​NFL ownership is keenly aware that they are a bunch of predominantly white dudes, making a lot of money exhibiting the talents of guys who are mostly black, to an audience that is mostly white. Open discussion of racial politics is very dangerous to this kind of arrangement. Lastly, Vick was sui generis. With Kaepernick, other players were following him. The incentive to squash this kind of thing before it spreads further is strong, in a way that wasn't the case with Vick. ​ ​As for the Cutler move, Miami just threw $10M away for fan morale. In reality, unless you've got a young guy on the roster who could surprise you with a Brady-like emergence (or even a Cassel-like emergence to generate some trade value), losing your starting QB to injury at this point in the year is a season-ender. Better to acknowledge it now than later. A 34-year-old, post-labrum-tear Cutler gets them maybe a couple more wins than going with Moore all year, and maybe they get the excitement of being in the wildcard chase late in the season. It's nice to have hope of finishing 8-8 instead of 6-10, but it falls well short of making them a legitimate championship contender, and you're giving up useful long-term resources (cap space and 2018 draft position) to do so. Good point, and very good point. Although I don't think Kaepernick has done anything he needs to apologize for. He's been a jerk in how he's handled this whole thing but that is no crime. I figured out a long time ago there are many people I root for in sports and other things whose company I probably couldn't stand if I ever met them. What matters is what happens between kickoff & 00:00 in the 4th Quarter. And his QBR has been in decline every year since 2012. He's had over 200 attempts in every season so it's a legit measurement. Starting in '12 we went 75.3, 68.1, 67.7, 46.5, to 45.5 last season. That number is heading in the wrong direction for all the other negatives about him, not the least of which (from what I've read) was his asking price. And I agree on the Cutler decision too. Matt Moore has been in the fire before. He's not spectacular but he's not a man who will make the big mistake. Why throw good money after bad? Besides, the '72 Dolphins, the '90 Giants, & 2000 Ravens all won the Superbowl with back-up QBs who stayed back-up QBs after.

That's a fact. When Micheal Vick got out of prison there was not a more reviled man in the NFL. Still, despite three years off he found work. Why? He could still play. Ability trumps politics every day of the week and twice on Sundays. If Kaepernick did not completely stink on the field no one would give a damn about his sitting, kneeling, or even Castro praising. Touchdowns mean more than protests.

Well Kaepernick's Fidel Castro fandom would not fly in Miami. I can tell you that for a f-----g fact. There are a lot of people there whose families were imprisioned or outright murdered at that monsters orders. So Kaep was a non-starter. After that who is there? RG3? That poor guy never had a chance with his bad knees. None of the other options are better than their own back up Moore. Speaking of Kaepernick his girlfreind called Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Biscotti a slave owner and Ravens HoF linebacker Ray Lewis and Uncle Tom. I really can't imagine why no one wants to sign that mess up and get a QB with a TQBR of 45.5.

The Dolphins signed Jay Cutler. I suspect they had better scout QB's for the draft next year. This Tannyhill thing is not working out.

I know Cornwell's secret. He's cutting and pasting entire chapters from one book to the next and changing a few words. I was a big fan of the Saxon and Sharpe series. In both of them book after book is essentially the same. How many times have Uthred and Harold had the exact same conversation about the Danes and about Christianity. And Sharpe, gets girl, loses girl, gets promoted loses promotion. At least that series was moving a little bit. King churns out very different books at least, but there is seldom a lot to them. A few of them are pretty good, like The Stand. The others he comes up with a situation and writes a 300 page book around it. Woman & child trapped in a car by a rabid dog. Got it. That's about 50 pages of story. Now add 250 pages of filler, sell the movie rights and count your money. Vampires hiding in a new England town. Got it. Repeat.