Sports

[gardenman]

The thing with Josh Gordon is I think pretty much everyone agrees he's a great guy and a great receiver with an illness in the form of an addiction. I think the belief is that he's a good person and maybe he can overcome the addiction, but something like 85% of people fail at recovery from addiction. His potential and the fact that he's not a "bad" guy keeps getting him extra chances, but his options are running out. Addictions are powerful things and most people have a very hard time breaking free. 

If you can get him past the addiction, which is very, very hard, you get a pro bowl caliber star receiver. And he's reportedly not a knuckle-head with other mental health issues like an AB who keeps getting more chances in the league. Breaking that addiction cycle though is really tough for a lot of people. 

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

The thing with Josh Gordon is I think pretty much everyone agrees he's a great guy and a great receiver with an illness in the form of an addiction. I think the belief is that he's a good person and maybe he can overcome the addiction, but something like 85% of people fail at recovery from addiction. His potential and the fact that he's not a "bad" guy keeps getting him extra chances, but his options are running out. Addictions are powerful things and most people have a very hard time breaking free. 

If you can get him past the addiction, which is very, very hard, you get a pro bowl caliber star receiver. And he's reportedly not a knuckle-head with other mental health issues like an AB who keeps getting more chances in the league. Breaking that addiction cycle though is really tough for a lot of people. 

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@gardenman @teganslaw 

It's not the NFL's job to "babysit" these guys, they have to want to help themselves...that's on them to take responsibility......

You make some great points..... I have a friend that worked in a Rehab Hospital as a Psych Technication she administered psychological tests.....some really sad cases...  

When Cris Carter did a lot of Mike & Mike shows he would talk about his alcohol addiction, and even though he went through rehab and is now sober, how every day was a battle.....  And it doesnt help those struggling when you see social media/TV shows/movies that promote alcohol and the "fun" of doing drugs....and all those NFL alcohol sponsors....and then there's the commercials...

But I dont understand the NFL's facination with AB...and how they overlook all his serious mental issues and the fact he's still in the league..

[gardenman]

Merry Christmas, everyone! Welcome to game day number one of four this week. Today we find the Vikings taking on the Saints. In a perfect world, this would be a good, exciting, close, hard-fought game. Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world. I expect the Saints to roll over the Vikings. The Vikings could stay close as long as they run the ball a lot and keep it away from the Saints. And besides, how can you pick against a team of Saints on Christmas day? 

[teganslaw]

Merry Christmas! The Vikings have beaten the Saints in the playoffs, so this could be payback. With Dalvin Cook, I'm expecting a close game. It depends on how Cousins does. Brees was a bit rusty last week, so maybe he'll have a better day.

[teganslaw]

Cousins wasn't too bad yesterday; he played better than Brees. Then there is Alvin Kamara, who stole the show. He hasn't had many 100 yard games this year, so I guess he decided to make up for it. That was wild!

The Vikings won't like watching the tape afterwards. It might give them nightmares. 

The Saints have won their division, but if Brees doesn't improve, they might not go far in the playoffs. I doubt Kamara will have another game like yesterday. He might get a lot of yards, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime performance. 

[gardenman]

Gameday number two of the week. The Saints rolled over the Vikings yesterday. Coach Zimmer of the Vikings is likely ready to kill his defenders. A defensive coach whose team gave up 52 points is never going to be very happy. They've got issues they have to address this offseason. A game like that just kills a defensive coach.

On to today's games! We start out with the Bucs at the Lions on the NFL Network. This should be a fairly easy win for the Bucs, but you never know. The Bucs are on a two-game winning streak and Brady knows the value of carrying positive momentum into the playoffs. The Lions are on a two-game losing streak and don't know what positive momentum is. 

Game two is on Amazon Prime and features the Niners at the Cards. The Niners have been hit with the double whammy of the Super Bowl hangover and an absurd amount of injuries. The Cards are playing pretty good football. They arguably have the best receiving corps in the league and a good young QB. I suspect the Cards will take the win here, but it could be a fun game.

And game three today will be back on the NFL Network and will feature the Dolphins at the Raiders. Both teams are on the rise right now and should be fun to watch. I think the Dolphins will get the win, but we'll have to see. The QB situation in Las Vegas with the Raiders will be interesting to watch this offseason.

[Spurt]

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas......

@gardenman  @teganslaw 

GARDENMAN I know your a fan of Amazon Prime...but I think its a bit ridiculous that they are showing the 49ers/Cards on Amazon Prime only.... people are going to get tired of paying for all these different streaming services to be able to watch  stuff (even the cherished traditional Charlie Brown Christmas rights were purchased by Apple TV 😡) ....$12.99 here....$8.99 there...another $6.99 and on and on and on....or pay $120 for Amazon Prime---NO THANK YOU!!!....(And Im not a fan of Amazon as it is, so I don't even use them as retailer....I've had several bad experiences with them)....In the long run, I see this in the near future costing consumer's more than cable ever did, especially when you add in the cost of your high speed internet that's critical for these streaming services....They are just nickling and diming everyone to death....

I remember when the only way you could see NBA Spur's home games televised was to pay for a subscription and viewership plummeted and for the Spurs it became more trouble than it was worth so they started showing all the games for free again...and their viewership is one of the top in the NBA....making advertisers and sponsors happy.....

Thanks for letting me vent......

[luvmyteddy4]

I can't believe how well the Chiefs are doing this season! I hope we make it to the Super Bowl again in just 2 years. 

The game have been so exciting in the last 5 minutes of the game.

Go Chiefs! ♥

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

I tend to agree, but my cable company was nickel and diming me and giving me fewer and fewer choices all of the time. I think the extra charge by my cable company is now $15 a month in addition to the package cost to get the NFL Network. It's included in my $45 Sling package. I'm paying for high-speed Internet no matter what and Sling adds in no extra charges (cable box, remote, local broadcast fee, sports programming fee, etc.) Prime is an easy thing for me to justify as the free shipping saves me a fortune. On the very rare occasions I've had an issue with Amazon, it's been quickly resolved.

I was talking to my neighbor's daughter the other day and her cable bill is now over $235 a month for cable, phone, and internet. I don't pay close to that and I get more. My Internet is $55 a month. Sling is $45. Britbox is $6.99. Prime is around $10. You're looking at $117 for everything I'm getting now. I buy a new Tracfone each year and this year it was $89.99 for the year's service with a new phone so that's $7.50 per month, so my total for phone, internet and TV is $124.50 per month. I'd be paying the same for my cell phone and Internet regardless of how I got the rest of my TV services. It's not a bad deal. If anything goes up too much in price, I can drop it. I can add something new or drop something on a month by month basis if I want to.

If lower-cost 5G phones with unlimited service come along in the next year or so, that could combine my Internet and phone service at potentially a lower cost. Some of the unlimited 5G plans are reportedly as low as $35 a month. Anything under $62.50 would be a cost-saving for me. That's what I'm paying for Internet and phone now. 

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

@Spurt 

I tend to agree, but my cable company was nickel and diming me and giving me fewer and fewer choices all of the time. I think the extra charge by my cable company is now $15 a month in addition to the package cost to get the NFL Network. It's included in my $45 Sling package. I'm paying for high-speed Internet no matter what and Sling adds in no extra charges (cable box, remote, local broadcast fee, sports programming fee, etc.) Prime is an easy thing for me to justify as the free shipping saves me a fortune. On the very rare occasions I've had an issue with Amazon, it's been quickly resolved.

I was talking to my neighbor's daughter the other day and her cable bill is now over $235 a month for cable, phone, and internet. I don't pay close to that and I get more. My Internet is $55 a month. Sling is $45. Britbox is $6.99. Prime is around $10. You're looking at $117 for everything I'm getting now. I buy a new Tracfone each year and this year it was $89.99 for the year's service with a new phone so that's $7.50 per month, so my total for phone, internet and TV is $124.50 per month. I'd be paying the same for my cell phone and Internet regardless of how I got the rest of my TV services. It's not a bad deal. If anything goes up too much in price, I can drop it. I can add something new or drop something on a month by month basis if I want to.

If lower-cost 5G phones with unlimited service come along in the next year or so, that could combine my Internet and phone service at potentially a lower cost. Some of the unlimited 5G plans are reportedly as low as $35 a month. Anything under $62.50 would be a cost-saving for me. That's what I'm paying for Internet and phone now. 

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@gardenman 

I guess our area was lucky because an upstart cable company came in and offered us a nice discount to beat Spectrum, GVTC, and AT&T/Direct TV And the discount does not have to be re-negoitiated each year, they promise to always beat "the other guys". I pay only $4.99 for my Ultra Sports Package with the NFL Network, Red Zone, and NBA TV....My total is $155 package  (cable/internet/phone)......Im happy.....

I checked into Sling---with what I wanted Id have to get the Blue/Orange Package but a couple of channels I liked I would have to pay an extra $5 for the Hollywood Extra Package, and $5 for another package ..$5 for another to get equivalent channels and would lose internet bundle discount ....

My sister has Spectrum and is going to switch to YouTubeTV ....we will see how that goes.....