Disqus - Latest Comments for talaya7

Re: 5 Reasons Americans Are So Wrong About Major Economic Facts - Derek Thompson - Business - The Atlantic

talaya7 — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:48:29 -0000

It seems to me that the public is answering rationally, although not with the 'spin' that Derek Thompson wants.

1. Most americans don't pay income taxes. There was a reduction of payroll taxes - not income taxes. The public's response to the poll question is rational.

2. The economy has been growing slower than the rate of population growth. So per capita economic activity is lower and if poll respondants see less economic activity in their daily life, then their response to the poll question is rational.

3. Tarp is just one of many different bailouts and quanititative easing. Will the govt. get back the billions paid to Fannie/Freddie? Probably not. Will the Fed be repaid for all the bonds they are purchasing in their money printin? Probably not. True, the specific program called "Tarp" may be repaid, but most of the bailouts will not. Again, the public's response is rational.

Re: Greivis Vasquez is starting to generate some NBA draft buzz

talaya7 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:40:36 -0000

"I think of him as a rock solid sixth man in the NBA, sort of an updated HAvlicek."

This comment begs for the retelling of the story from GV's frosh year. GW told GV he was going to be his 6th man and cited Havlicek as how a great 6th man can be valuable. GV's deadpan reply: "Who's John Havlicek?" ....a tale of the perpetual generational divide!

One way or another, I'm hoping that GV finds his way to a championship contender.

Re: Greivis Vasquez is starting to generate some NBA draft buzz

talaya7 — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:46:44 -0000

I am floored that GV is not a top 10-15 pick. He was the PG of the year! In addition to GV's outstanding college career, the NBA GMs gotta be looking at Steve Blake's career and thinking some of the same Maryland Magic has rubbed off on Grevis. Also, they know that Maryland and GW also turned out a PG named Walt Williams who had an awesome pro career.

My theory is that GV's flying under the media radar, and the GMs don't want to let on how highly he's rated cause they want to sneak in and pick him early. In fact, it would not surprise me if GM Larry Bird grabbed him at #10 for Indiana. Memphis also picks at #12 and #25...if they like GV, they may not wait till #28 to grab him. Boston at 19, San Antone at 20 and Portland at 22 also seem like reasonable homes for GV.

Re: Texas Staying Put; NCAA Landscape Stabilizes (for now)

talaya7 — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:30:16 -0000

Discussion has been painfully slow lately....let's see if any of my midsummer musings stick....

I don't know a thing about the incoming Frosh, so I'm gonna sidestep that angle. It seems to me that we think Williams has all the tools and work ethic to be a greeat player. It also seems to me that we pretty much know what we are getting with Dino and SM next season. They are very good players and will be solid around Williams.

Three players (Padgett, Cliff and AB), however, have either played too little or too inconsistently to gauge. Based on his limited playing time, I tend to think Padgett is going to be a monster on the glass next year. This may free BW for a scoring bonanza!
AB has improved every year, and I have no reason to think that trend, but I just don't see him (yet) as more than a 15 minute a game guy. CT is the real question mark. Will he be the guy who hit the buzzer beater against GT and scored 25 against UNC? Or will he be the guy that disappears for stretches unless he's committing TOs.

Unless one of the frosh emerges as a prime time scorer, I think the difference between 9 ACC wins and 12 ACC wins will be on which CT emerges.

Re: Colorado to PAC-10, Texas and Texas A&M to Big-10, OU to SEC

talaya7 — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:58:38 -0000

It seems to me that for every sport beside football, a 8-10 team conference is the way to go. This size allows home-home scheduling in most sports and allows geographic rivalries to grow.

Football is unique cause of the TV revenue.

So if the only reason this is being done is for football, why can't two or three or 4 conferences form a football confederation - just for the sake of a TV contract? The idea is that the ACC, Big East, SEC, and CUSA all stay the same. But the 4 conferences agree to a football playoff to crown a Super-East Champion in Football.

That seems like it makes a lot more sense than jacking with everything!

Re: Colorado to PAC-10, Texas and Texas A&M to Big-10, OU to SEC

talaya7 — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:23:02 -0000

The only reason for a college conference to have more than 10 schools is a football TV contract.

I say, 'screw it.' Let the ACC shrink to 8-9 schools and get back to a home-home schedule in basketball (and every other sport).

Re: Welcome Bino Ranson

talaya7 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:30:09 -0000

College presidents over the past three decades have not managed their costs, but the cost of sports is just a piece of the larger problem. Overall costs have increased everywhere (both in curricular and extra-curricular programs) and most universities are struggling mightily to remain solvent. That's why tuitions keep going up faster than inflation.

A 4 year degree now costs as much as a house and students borrow money to pay. Now, the graduating students are having a hard time finding a job and paying the cash back. Higher Education is a big bubble (like the 90's stock market and the recent housing boom) that's about to burst.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1...

It'd be pretty funny if congress had hearings on sports programs without examining the overall issue of out-of-control college costs. In fact, congress preaching to anyone on out-of-control spending would be funny. But it'll happen soon.

Re: Welcome Bino Ranson

talaya7 — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:28:31 -0000

a couple of typos above....apologies...I'm not drunk this early in the morning!

Re: Welcome Bino Ranson

talaya7 — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:26:45 -0000

Hmmmmm....As the Big 12 dissenegrates, the one school to keep an eye on is Texas...will they gow West, to the PAC 10, or will they go Eash to the SE Conf, or North to the Big 10?

Re: Is Eric Hayes Going To Get Drafted?

talaya7 — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:25:50 -0000

Everthing about Wooden was/is awesome. I'm a tough grader on these things, and Wooden is a great man.

When he passes, it would not surprise me if the NCAAT is somehow renamed in his honor.

Re: Is Eric Hayes Going To Get Drafted?

talaya7 — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:20:39 -0000

Like you, my interest in the NBA is limited to seeing how Terp Alums are doing.

I perused 6 or 7 web sites and was pissed to see GV only going in the middle of the 2nd round. Meanwhile, no-heart ACC big men (Aninu, Davis and Favors) were all 1st rounders. That's what got me to do the double check and not see Coleman on any of the lists. Now, maybe I was just checking the wrong mocks and others have him in there, but he was on none of the ones I saw.

Re: Is Eric Hayes Going To Get Drafted?

talaya7 — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:55:56 -0000

EH's chance of getting drafted is close to nil. Landon Milbourne has a better shot than EH of being drafted.

That said, Eric could develop into a Steve Kerr kind of NBA player, but he'll need to prove himself in Europe. Kerr's game, if you recall, wasn't at all complete, but he could nail 3-point daggers when they counted. I see EH with the same potential.

BTW #1 - Aubrey Coleman (from Houston) was the absolute best player that Terps played against last year (better than Davis, Aminu or Favors, who are all projected 1st round picks). Coleman may even be more NBA ready than GV. I raise his ghost cause Coleman, like EH, is not projected to be drafted either...which is nuts.

BTW #2 - IMO, any team picking after 10 that does not choose GV is being stupid. GV will have a good NBA career. Manu Genobli reincarnated....

Re: Calipari Goes For Three-peat

talaya7 — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:28:47 -0000

"women who act as though their vaginas are their own pots of gold"

Wheels beat me to it, but I must pay respect to Hartz for the quote above too. Brilliance!

Re: 68 teams

talaya7 — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:39:15 -0000

If you recall, Lefty D. always had that "Aw Shucks" attitude. He intentionally downplayed his savvy. It was part of his charm and helped him break down communication barriers with all the recruits that he landed.

To anyone who underestimates Chuckie, I think you might want to consider that - perhaps - Chuckie inherited the "Aw Shucks" gene from Lefty. It's a part of his personality that makes him an effective recruiter. Don't mistake that for being a dofus.

Re: Greed Strikes Again

talaya7 — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:33:30 -0000

In support of your argument at the professional level, MLB is basically unwatchable anymore because of the dilution of pitching talent. Also, I agree with you that for B-ball (and any other sport beside football) it will do more harm than good.

That said, forgive me for playing the contrarian, but....

1. You ask, "Came someone name an expansion / realignment in the last 30 years that has benefited any sport?" I would say that the NFL expansion (adding Baltimore & Cleveland most recently) has been a success. I would also argue that the Big East Mens Basketball Conference creation/expansion has been a success.

2. This 'superconference' idea might make sense for Football. Each superconference could have a four team play-off and then a subsequent 4 team playoff afterwards might determine a NCAA championship.

Re: The End Is Near

talaya7 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:17:25 -0000

Jacob,

I'll take a stab at talking about a move to Big 10....I think the potential impact is different, depending on the sports.

The one sport that matters above all others, is Mens B-ball. Just thinking about B-ball, UM will never leave the ACC. There is too much ACC tradition and rivalries that would take generations to replace if there was a move to the Big 10...so it ain't gonna happen.

In Terms of Football, however, I think a move to the Big 10 makes sense..the N. Carolina Schools and UVA suck at football. Also, I don't sense the same rivalries in football that exist for b-ball. If we could just move the football team to Big 10, I might be for that.

There are many second tier sports (womens b-ball, soccer, lacrosse and baseball) that have more of a championship tradition in the ACC than in the Big 10. This is another reason to NOT support a move.

Then there are the 'other' collegiate sports - like field hockey, etc. - that I don't really care about. For these sports, I would think travel budget is the most important thing...I have no idea which schools would be better for that.

All in all, I'm against it.

On a reverse side of a similar topic - I would, however, like to see Syracuse recruited into the ACC. I'd be willing to trade Miami to get them.

Re: The End Is Near

talaya7 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:22:17 -0000

IMO, the shift to the 96 team field will make the Cinderella stores a thing of the past....

For example, last year, Ohio beat GT in the opening round. Ohio played great and GT came out flat. Really cool. Next year, Ohio is going to have to beat a Va Tech type team before playing GT. Maybe Ohio still 'surprises' VT, but there is no way they'll get two surprise games back-to-back.

Bottom line - the shift to 96 teams will result in the big conferences pushing the small conferences out of the competition.

Re: Rodney King Part Deux

talaya7 — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:45:44 -0000

Can't we all just get along

Re: Reflections of the Seniors: Landon Milbourne

talaya7 — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:50:54 -0000

JonbB, I'll echo your thoughts on Dickerson. He's a good man and a good coach. It's too bad that he did not have more success at Tulane. I'd take him back if needed a job, but he may be better served by working elsewhere.

GW seems healthy to me and seems like he's still enjoying his job. He's got at least 4-5 years left in the tank...maybe more. So talk of his successor is premature.

That said, ya know who I'd like to see groomed as GW's successor.... Steve Blake. The guy's a winner. The only problem there is that Blake's NBA career probably has a year or two left in it. The LA Clippers got him as an afterthought from Portland, and now he's starting for them. At every level, on every team, the guy outperforms expectations.

Re: Reflections of the Seniors: Landon Milbourne

talaya7 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:13:10 -0000

My only thought on last night's game....

I'm biased (pun intended), but Len Elmore is about 10x better than Clark Kellogg as an announcer.

Re: Reflections of the Seniors: Landon Milbourne

talaya7 — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:27:26 -0000

GV winning the Cousy award is a heck of an accomplishment...it certainly adds to the argument, when the time is right, about where GV fits in the Pantheon.

Re Landon - He will be missed and he certainly provided steadfast leadership this season. I credit James Gist for helping Landon (and James Burney) understand how hard one needs to work to succeed in college hoops. It's good that Landon passed down that work ethic to JWill, Padge and Mosley...that means a lot to the program.

Ironically, Landon's on-court memory may be a victim of his own successful leadership. Padge is gonna be a very good #4 next year. (that observation/prediction is not meant to take away from LM, but to add to his legacy)

BTW - I am not so quick to dismiss the notion of LM making an NBA roster. LM will project as a 2/3 in the NBA and he is certainly more skilled than Chris McCray (who cracked the Milwaukee Bucks roster) and I would also rank his skills a little higher than Daryl Strawberry's. That said, he's not as skilled, IMO, as Gist, who has yet to make an NBA roster, but who is a 3/4 tweener. We'll see, but I wish him the best of luck in doing it.

Re: Terps Returning Frontcourt – An Analysis

talaya7 — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:59:15 -0000

Ahhhh - JWill will be a rebounding machine, but he can't improve his scoring by his lonesome. LB had Stevie Franchise in his backcourt as a frosh and the Dixon/Blake combo as a soph. That had to be comforting for a center. I don't yet see where JWill's top-tier backcourt support will come from.

Padge is a better b-ball player than Milbourne. If you recall, Padge was the one bright spot from Hawaii. IMO, Padge deserved more court time during the ACC season, too, but he had not yet learned the offense well enough to unseat LM or Dino (it's a part or GW's bias towards uperclassmen). So my gut says the 4 is an upgrade next year.

Good summary on Dino. I love having him on the team, but he's a better player off the bench, where his hustle shines, than starting.

eddienj - I think your point about the backcourt defense is a good one. Mosely/Bowie/Tucker have not yet proven themselves as comparable to GV/EH on the offense, but they are better defenders.

Re: Gary Williams Reflects On Greivis’ Career

talaya7 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:20:04 -0000

I'm finally able to come out of my shell. The world was a dark, dark place last week.

I'll ditto all the kind words to EH, GV and LM. It was a great season.

I'm kind of jazzed for next season. I know the team is losing a lot, but there is good experience returning, too. All the returning players had to sit through the heartbreak in the locker-room after that MSU game. They will all be thinking about what could have been - what if they just hit two more FTs, what if they just avoided 1 TO, etc. I think that'll be very motivating for the returnees. Plus we got a solid class of frosh.

The turtles will be picked to finish 7th in the ACC, again, and win 12 anyway.

Re: Picking up the Pieces

talaya7 — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:12:14 -0000

Answer - Just 7 months!

That loss stings now, but the sting will fade. It was a great season!

Next year has lots of promise. JWill, Mosely, Dino, Bowie and Tucker are returning. Padgett will be a monster. The incoming class has lots of potential. We are looking forward to a good year.

Re: Picking up the Pieces

talaya7 — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:04:32 -0000

How long till Maryland Madness?