Besides, what’s actually difficult about playing the system just a little? If you're buying a larger quantity for yourself, why not just order something and grab stuff for four friends too? You all head down to the nearest USPS together, and suddenly you've managed to buy goods worth up to $500 without ever touching customs—provided you aren't in the mood for actual smuggling...
I mean, I'm not going out of my way to cause trouble over a measly $17 difference... not when I can easily save over $100 by being smart about it. Why wouldn't I?
And even on those products where you do end up paying customs, you get a tax refund the next time you go, so it still ends up being cheaper and better than anything we find locally....
I’ve been looking into some of this pro-athlete supplement stuff... specifically Labrada's Elast Joint $47... it goes for about $35 here... then there's Supercharge at roughly $80... which is about $45 locally... and honestly, who's the fool now? It’s a no-brainer; I'll be ordering from them again the second I need anything rather than handing my hard-earned cash over to these local scammers. ☕
Paul Miller64 said:Just order it from somewhere across the border, have it shipped to some tiny town near the state line, and then just drive over to pick it up—it’s not exactly high-stakes smuggling, and I’m actually heading out that way tomorrow on my bike to do just that.
There isn't even a need to resort to anything shady... if you bring three friends along and tell the guys at the duty-free counter that you're all splitting the bill, you won't run into any trouble... you could easily drop $400 without a second thought... even if a customs agent tries to give you a hard time...😁
I’ve reached my limit with buying supplements locally; there is absolutely no way I am ever stepping foot in GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, or any other domestic fitness boutique again.
Cheers to the guys across the border and their big-box retailers...👍
I’d much rather give my money to them at reasonable prices. For instance, I can grab about half a kilo of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey for roughly $5 when you look at the bulk pricing on a large tub. Just recently, I picked up a 5lb tub of Nutrabolics IsoBolic whey for $45, and next week I’m grabbing 2kg of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey for $70. Honestly, no matter what I need, I’ll just order it online and pick it up at a local FedEx or UPS hub. I have no intention of feeding these local shops and their predatory markups.
On a side note—I found Supercharge over there for just $32, while our local shops are charging $153....
As for this particular website, I wouldn't touch it even if someone offered to sponsor me with a fat stack of cash.👎
Honestly, who can blame Magic Johnson for being a bit too flashy? It’s not his fault hockey was just too physical for his style.😁😁 As for tennis, he was never built to be a graceful dancer like Roger Federer or some towering, silent powerhouse like Carlos.😁
Does anyone know how much they're charging for a whole grain meal these days?
George Robinson43 said:Here is another perspective.
Alex Ovechkin on the Washington Capitals is sitting on a $124,000,000 contract. To put that in context, Ovechkin’s career earnings alone could arguably fund an entire group of elite handball players for their whole careers, or perhaps match what Roger Federer makes twice over. We are looking at a sport that doesn't have the global footprint of handball and carries a much smaller player base. The reality is quite simple: it is massive in the US, where sports are inextricably linked to a colossal business machine. You see the exact same dynamic with tennis. If it weren't for the American market, professional tennis wouldn't even exist in its current form. However, since tennis isn't quite as dominant in the US as hockey is, you end up with a single player like Ovechkin pulling in as much as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal combined.
How many years is that contract actually for? Once you factor in the taxes and all those other deductions, how much do you honestly think he walks away with per season?
Adam Collins4 said:Roger Federer is a machine... one that performs flawlessly, provided every single condition is met perfectly...
Oh, please, give me a break...🤣🤣
If you're only judging by the win column, then do us all a favor and actually watch the matches instead of just following the wind; FedEx has slowed down quite a bit after years of total dominance, yet everyone is suddenly acting like he’s nothing more than a machine that only functions when everything goes his way.
As for the claim that there's no imagination or flair in his game, I'll just let myself have a quiet laugh at that one.😂
George Robinson43 said:I’m not entirely convinced it’s actually harder. Tennis players compete in a non-contact sport where actual effective play accounts for maybe 20% of the time on court; the remaining 80% is just an endless cycle of breaks between serves and games. The only area where tennis players have it worse is enduring those punishingly high temperatures during the summer heat at the US Open. On the other hand, in handball, you deal with constant physical punishment—broken bones, torn ligaments, and spines that are essentially shot—just look at cases like Mocsai and others. You simply don't see that level of carnage in tennis. That kind of brutality is more characteristic of Australian rugby or similar contact sports. Top-tier professional handball has morphed into a brutal game. Beyond elite conditioning, a player has to be prepared for hands to the face, elbows to the solar plexus, grabbing, shoving, and praying to God they don't snap a bone. Then you spend Sunday recovering from the beating, only to face a new one on Wednesday—and this cycle repeats for 5, 10, or even 15 years.
That all makes sense, but when you consider the sheer depth of competition and how much harder it is to succeed in tennis compared to handball due to the massive pool of talent... plus the astronomical amount of luck required to win a single Grand Slam... it changes the equation.
Adam Collins4 said:Less than ten? Let’s start counting then...
Let me clarify; I didn't mean strictly fewer than ten, though I suppose I was exaggerating a bit... and perhaps not by much, but the underlying point remains valid. I am not attempting to diminish the skill of handball players—truth be told, I actually prefer it over tennis, find it far more engaging, and even played it back in my younger days—but I have to say, it is just harder for tennis players. It isn't a massive chasm, but there is certainly a distinction to be made.😉
Adam Collins4 said:Do you really think you can be the best in handball without hitting over 85% across the board? I mean fitness, court vision, shooting, defense... everything.
That’s precisely why Karabatić remains at the top right now; he’s just a hair more prepared than everyone else—much like the entire French national team, which possesses elite vision and shooting, not to mention a defensive presence that hardly needs explaining, provided you consider what they're actually allowed to get away with on the court...
I don't see how comparing the two even makes sense, given that one is played at a high level by fewer than ten nations globally, whereas tennis is a universal pursuit where succeeding is significantly harder than anything you'll find in handball.
wiredmaker18 said:Plyometrics combined with Olympic weightlifting—snatches, clean and jerks, power cleans—is how you build that explosive verticality and starting speed. Take that guy with the 52-inch vertical, Earl the Goat Manigault. He once hammered home 36 consecutive dunks behind the back just to win a fifty-dollar bet; he’d dunk with one hand, snag the ball out of the net with the other mid-air, and go right back up again in a single motion, all while ripping twenties off the rim that were stuck there with gum. There's actually a movie about him called Rebound, which tells the legend of Earl the Goat Manigault, starring Don Cheadle. The man was barely 5'10" and maybe 130 pounds soaking wet, so you try to wrap your head around what kind of vertical leap that requires. It's pure, unadulterated explosiveness. It's like he's got a jet engine strapped to his ass.
There’s an old story floating around from back when Scottie Pippen was still playing for the Bulls... apparently, they had this training setup where a ball would be perched four meters high, and you had to jump to reach it. Anyway, Michael Jordan went up for it once, but then some random kid shows up and starts jumping up there repeatedly, completely effortless, like it was nothing.
Jeffrey Long said:Take another look at what you just wrote..😲 Sure, someone making $667 a month could get hooked, but anyone can read between the lines here..🙄 Addiction usually implies a period of heavy, frequent use, doesn't it? 😉 And when we're talking about cocaine, maintaining that kind of habit requires a certain level of financial cushion!!
Look, maybe someone has a buddy working as a dealer who's constantly footing the bill, and suddenly—boom—that guy is hooked. Besides, for someone dealing with this stuff daily, handing a friend a gram here or there isn't even a thought, especially if they hang out in circles where money flows freely and nobody gives a damn about whether they're being treated to a line or two or a couple of grams... before you know it, you're addicted without ever realizing it happened. The line is incredibly thin, and it all comes down to your headspace—how easily you're swayed and, as someone else pointed out, your actual character..
frozentiger6 said:They’re playing well, considering everything they’ve been through.
If Nikola Jokić joins us next season, this roster will be legitimate championship material.
It’s unlikely Lackovic will make the move, even though Washington, D.C. is desperate to sign him. He’s got the Portland Trail Blazers, FC Barcelona, and the Kansas City Chiefs all circling, bidding against one another, and frankly, I highly doubt Washington, D.C. has the capital to pull off both Luka Modrić and Blaze at the same time.
Didn't that goblin mention a five-million-dollar budget for next season??😁
Is Ambien basically like drinking... I took half a pill and was out like a light, but my friend took a whole one just to get some rest and slept like a baby... and he’s always struggled with insomnia.
I wasn't planning on adding much to this thread, but I suppose I should say my piece now...
So, the question at hand: should he try drugs or not?
Given how young he is, my advice would be a firm no—at least not right now. If he’s going to explore that path eventually, he should wait until he's 19 or 20; he’ll have a bit more maturity and foresight than a 17-year-old who’s still basically a child in the eyes of the world.
I’ll speak from experience. Up until I hit 20, I hadn't touched anything besides alcohol. From then until about six months ago, I experimented with just about everything except weed, pills, and the endless variety of synthetics you see floating around these days. I’ve cycled through ecstasy, speed, cocaine, mushrooms, LSD, meth, its various derivatives, all the way up to pure MDMA. There were stretches where I was hitting the coke, speed, and various uppers hard on a daily basis. Surprisingly enough, I turned out perfectly fine, without any lasting psychological or physical damage. Mostly, I just stopped because I lost interest; I don't feel the need anymore, nor have I ever really felt it. Considering how much coke I used to crush regularly, I almost wonder how I didn't develop a dependency, but I suppose that's just life. It's in the past now.
Aside from that, I don't drink or smoke; in my entire life, I haven't even touched a cigarette or a joint.
It seems the kid has already made up his mind to try something, and I see plenty of people here shouting nonsense. My recommendation, if he's hell-bent on doing this, is that he waits until he's at least 20. He’s far too green and naive for these kinds of games right now.
I’ve been there, I’ve done it, and I came out the other side intact. I also know plenty of people who stayed relatively stable and sane. Ultimately, it comes down to the individual; how drugs affect a person depends entirely on who they are.
Don't go there... you might as well just start asking questions... this bus just lost its last shred of dignity and any sense of free time we had left...
Charles Morales10 said:I’m still leaning toward the opposite view. Cardio won't actually speed up your metabolism; it only spikes it during and immediately following the workout itself. If you want a sustained metabolic boost, you need to build muscle mass. The more muscle you carry, the faster your body burns through fat.
That wasn't my point... I was saying his diet would be what speeds up his metabolism... you just missed it because I wrote it poorly.😉
Charles Morales10 said:I’d actually suggest his first priority should be putting on some muscle mass to kickstart his metabolism. We're talking five or six high-protein meals a day paired with some decent complex carbohydrates.
Good grief, the kid is only fifteen... he needs to drop the excess weight first just to have a fighting chance at building any actual muscle. If he tries to bulk up now, the scale is only going to show him gaining more weight, because let's face it, muscle weighs significantly more than fat.
Focus on quality nutrition first... get that metabolism moving through steady walking and eventually running... once the weight starts coming down, then you can worry about the gym and building muscle. This entire transformation shouldn't be rushed; it needs to take at least a year.😉
Rushing anything is a recipe for failure. Slow and steady remains the only real formula.