Posts by Paul Jones7

casualmaker13 said:So, he’s finally saying his goodbyes. And what does he leave us with? A massive $40 million hole in the budget that we’re stuck paying off. Just a real lovely parting gift for the taxpayers. 😁
If there had been even a shred of actual benefit to all this, I might not be so annoyed...☕
But honestly, it feels like a total wash.

Wasn't it just recently mentioned that we're looking at 14 million, not 40? I think someone might have just been talking nonsense with that first number.

Who even talks about the heart versus the mind anymore? 😉

The real issue—and I guess this applies to pretty much everything involving how we conceptualize or actually live out our lives—is this weird divide between what we call "reason" and what we call "heart." It’s like we pretend they’re at odds, when in reality, they aren't mutually exclusive at all.

I’ve always felt that the "right path" is really just finding that sweet spot where your head and your heart finally start singing the same tune. And honestly, life has a funny way of teaching you that through trial and error—you know, those moments where you follow your gut and completely ignore logic, or when you get too caught up in being practical and totally lose sight of what you actually feel.

Forgiveness... well, it sort of breaks that mental loop of holding onto a grudge.

I don't really get those Liverpool FC fans... I mean, do you actually care about the club, or do you just love football? 🤷 It feels like you can't really have both at the same time.

Personally, I'm just in it for the beautiful game, which is why I tend to steer clear of MLS as much as possible.

Emily Thomas64 said:Hey there, I can't seem to find ESPN. When I run an automatic scan, it only pulls up about 6 channels, but nothing like ESPN or local news stations. Has anyone else dealt with this, or does anyone know how to fix it?

It’s probably just a signal strength issue—nothing too crazy, I guess. You might want to grab an extra (or maybe even a better) amplifier. The ones that work best are usually mounted right near the antenna, where you just run the power up through the coaxial cable. Personally, I manage to pick up something like fifteen or more channels, easily.

Casey White13 said:And honestly, I’m kind of with whoever said that above regarding people who just want all the premium matchups handed to them for free. 🤣

I mean, plenty of commercial networks out there broadcast their prime programming for free—whether it's sports or anything else. Hulu is a commercial network, after all. So, I don't really see what the big deal is.

Personally, I’m totally fine with a focus on American sports and American athletes, but I don't see any real reason why the lineup should be exclusively limited to that. There's no need for it, especially since they have so much airtime to fill. Plus, obsessing over niche regional leagues isn't exactly riveting stuff anyway.

But I suspect things will eventually balance themselves out, because Hulu is a commercial entity and its whole plan is to survive on advertising revenue. And since ad money follows the eyeballs, I assume the end result will be that this channel ends up broadcasting whatever content pulls the biggest ratings—regardless of what that actually is. At the end of the day, the audience is going to be the judge.

Of course, for that to even happen, the programming needs to actually gain some traction first—build up enough space in the market, etc.—so that those financial injections can finally allow them to negotiate for more attractive, high-end content.

Joshua Scott said:He was actually runner-up for the white jersey last year—you know, that one awarded to the top rider under 35. Word is he’s stepping up as team captain for a bunch of races now, maybe even at the Giro, and if you look at the current roster for unnamed, he and unnamed are easily their strongest climbers right now.

Anyway, we're off-topic now. What really matters is that the local cable provider suggested they cover more niche sports—cycling, specifically—which I think would actually fill out the programming quite nicely.

Well, that sounds pretty good, I guess 👍 though I'll admit I haven't really kept up with everything since last season

And I'm honestly wondering if the sports network will bother covering American athletes who are competing at a high level globally. Like tennis players, for example. I'm a bit skeptical, though—American broadcasts tend to be cheaper to produce. We'll just have to see.

In the world of pro cycling, you just don't get elite-level racing without doping. I mean, if you're looking at massive tours like the Tour de France or some big unnamed race—it’s basically impossible to maintain that kind of pace without it. Cycling has always been this gray area—actually, let's be honest, it's more of a black hole when it comes to performance enhancers. You see those occasional busts here and there, but most of it is just based on what people suspect rather than actual testing results. Those big anti-doping sweeps? They feel more like marketing stunts to show they're doing something, even though everyone knows the reality of the situation.

Now, track and field definitely has its fair share of doping issues too, but you still see incredible athletes who stay clean. Take someone like Simone Biles, for instance—she proves it can be done. But in cycling? Honestly, you can just forget about it.

There’s just no doping in American cycling🙂

As for the stuff those guys doing it abroad get up to—well, that’s a whole different story entirely.

Steven Long23 said:I honestly feel for you guys in the cycling threads if Paul Jones7 decides to start lurking around there too...

Paul Jones7 used to be into cycling.

Joshua Scott said:and Kišerlovski's little crusade against the white jersey

Are you actually being serious right now?

I mean, he’d probably need another few years of experience before he was even ready for that kind of drama—not to mention, I don't think he's even officially become the lead driver for his crew yet, right?

Everyone loves money, so I wouldn't exactly bet my life savings that a sports network is going to stay non-commercial forever—but hey, it’s good they finally got it off the ground.

Carl Brooks22 said:I'm really curious about our offensive efficiency when we have the man advantage—like, what was our actual conversion rate, and how many times did we actually make it count?

...and I guess more importantly, how many times did we just completely fall apart?

Michael Martinez86 said:Brotherhood and unity is slowly—but surely—making a comeback. Though, I suppose, it’s mostly just happening between guys sharing towels at the gym...

hahaha... alright, you got me there. 👍

I mean, what can you say? Brotherhood is a guy thing, I guess.

What a joke of a victory. I mean, we haven't actually beaten a single powerhouse team yet. If we end up dropping one to the Americans—which, let's be honest, feels pretty likely—then we might as well just pack it in.

frozentiger6 said:screw them both.

just speaking my truth, I guess.

🙏🙏🙏

What can even be said about us after all that...

- Coach was basically just drilling defense, and honestly, that defense fell apart against pretty much any respectable national team—huge issues there; those guys from Sweden were slicing through our line like it wasn't even there, just cruising through from every single position.

- Every time they threw that 'French-style' defense at us—you know, the one with the packed middle, cutting off the passing lanes with an extra guy, and hacking the perimeter players early—we just ended up settling for bad shots during live play.

- Our offense was way too passive, almost zero movement without the ball.

- We leaned way too heavily on Balić, maybe not enough people coming off the bench to really disrupt their rhythm.

- Just didn't feed the wings enough.

- Overusing the spearhead player who, let's be honest, really only knows how to drive to the hoop if you leave a gap open for him.

- Total brainless shooting from the outside, just firing it right into the zone where the goalie is already waiting—like when the Swedes did it: a mid-height shot from a wide angle.

- We’re lacking a top-tier goalkeeper. Alilović hasn't really performed like a true number one for most of these tournaments; he’s fine as a backup, I guess, but we desperately need a legitimate starter.

I mean, yeah, the refs really got under my skin—changing the criteria mid-game and being subtly biased toward the Swedes right when things were heating up—but the truth is, our own play, both on defense and offense, just didn't force them to make any big calls. We weren't even in a position to complain about being robbed. We just weren't.

Anyway, Sweden isn't a bad squad at all. Their wings are great, Ekdahl and Du Rietz (or whatever his name is) are stellar, they've got a solid keeper, and the rest of the team is smart. They're organized on offense, disciplined on defense, and their game actually makes sense.

frozentiger6 said:Why does everyone keep insisting it’s "just Argentina"? I mean, they beat Sweden and Slovakia, they only lost by one point against Poland—they’re playing great. Plus, even that young, mid-tier fullback just signed a deal with Real City...

Look, they aren't bad, per se, but their tactical prep for this match was honestly a disaster. We basically caught them totally napping—caught them with their pants down, I guess—and now they’ve finally realized how much width you actually need in handball. Honestly, any other team could probably use this exact same playbook if they just watched this game closely enough.

Alexander Campbell7 said:The Mexicans are probably going to be brawling with the Poles tomorrow—they know only the top seven make it to the Olympics, so honestly, this works out fine for us.

And I guess we’ll be getting into a scrap tomorrow too, though at least today wasn't such a struggle... it's a good thing we didn't run that 3-2-1 setup, otherwise we would've been in real trouble.

Gregory Ramos3 said:Then you end up with all these Tax issues and some Swedes getting in the way ☕

I've got my calculator out—honestly, I'm already crunching the numbers here. If we lose to Sweden tomorrow, they'll be sitting three points ahead of us. But if they beat the Mexicans, and somehow we manage to take down the Poles... well, then the Swedes are looking at a spot in the semifinals.

Anthony Wilson4 said:Guys, what actually happens if we lose to the Swedes tomorrow and end up facing the Poles instead? I mean, wouldn't the Danes have had to take out Sweden first, right?

If we drop the game against Sweden, we're basically handing the semifinals over to someone else anyway.