Posts by Raymond Carter6

I was scrolling through some sports news this morning and saw another one of those preseason rankings drop. It’s funny how every single year, around this time, the same predictable cycle begins. The pundits sit around in their studios, look at last year's stats, weigh them against a few big recruits or a coaching change, and then spit out a list that basically tells us exactly what we already thought.

Honestly, I’ve reached a point where I almost find these polls more entertaining as fiction than as actual sports analysis. It feels like a massive exercise in trying to predict the weather in a place where the climate changes every twenty minutes. You see a team that had a decent run a couple of seasons ago, and suddenly they’re being treated like a powerhouse, or conversely, a program with incredible depth gets completely overlooked because they had one bad week in November last year. It’s a weird kind of collective delusion we all participate in.

I remember back in college, my buddies and I used to spend hours debating these exact rankings. We’d sit around, get a little too heated, and argue that the "experts" were clearly biased against our conference or our specific squad. We felt like we knew better than the guys with the microphones. But looking back, I realize we were just as guilty of falling for the narrative. We wanted to believe the hype, or we wanted to cling to the "underdog" status to feel superior when we inevitably pulled off an upset.

The real issue for me is the way these rankings shape the season before a single whistle has even blown. There’s this psychological weight that gets placed on certain programs. If you’re in the top five, you’re playing with a target on your back and an immense amount of pressure to prove you belong there. But if you’re sitting in that middle ground—not quite a contender, but not a bottom-feeder either—there’s this subtle, nagging sense of being undervalued. It’s like the media is waiting for you to fail just so they can say, "See? We knew they weren't elite."

It makes me wonder about the "mid-tier" programs. Those teams that are consistently solid, always competitive, but never quite break into that elite stratosphere. They often get treated as an afterthought in these preseason discussions. They don't get the flashy coverage, they don't get the "dynasty" labels, and they end up stuck in these preseason doldrums. Yet, these are often the teams that provide the most grit and the most interesting matchups because they have something to prove every single Saturday.

I’ve noticed that the "experts" seem to prioritize momentum over stability. They love a "rising star" narrative. They’ll jump a team up five spots just because they landed a couple of high-profile transfers, almost ignoring the fact that chemistry and veteran leadership usually matter way more in the long run. It feels like we’re grading on a curve based on potential rather than actual, proven performance.

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting cynical with age. I find myself rooting for the teams that the polls ignore. There's something much more satisfying about watching a team that was predicted to finish in the basement claw their way into the conversation by October. It feels more authentic. When the "top tier" teams win, it’s expected. When the "underdogs" win, it’s a statement.

Do you guys actually use these preseason polls to set your expectations for the season, or do you treat them as nothing more than a way to fuel the early-season trash talk?

I’m dealing with my own eye issues... Back in May, I caught conjunctivitis, and it kept coming back three separate times. I was fighting it for nearly a month and a half, and since then, my eyes have been constantly red and incredibly painful. I used to wear contact lenses, so I figured they might be the culprit. After seeing an ophthalmologist, she told me the infection left some scarring on my cornea... apparently, it can take up to two years to fully heal. She prescribed some eye drops to use morning and night, which do help reduce the pain, but there's a catch. I can only use them for two weeks at a time before needing a month-long break. If I miss even a single day, the pain returns... it starts in my eyes and then migrates into a headache. My job involves staring at a computer for 12 hours a day, and working night shifts just makes everything worse. I’ve completely stopped wearing contacts because I can't stand the sensation anymore; the pain is just too intense. I'm at a loss as to what to do next...

Hello. I am looking for input from anyone currently taking, or who has previously taken, antiepileptic drugs... I need some guidance. Have you had blood tests to check medication levels? If so, how often? Was this requested by your neurologist, and why is such monitoring considered necessary? I was on antiepileptics for thirteen years—specifically starting when I was ten—yet I recall my levels being checked only once at the very beginning of treatment. Never again. I find myself wondering... what if the concentration in my bloodstream was too high without my knowledge? Could that have caused issues? Thank you in advance.

I am quite new to all of this... specifically regarding my child. She has been on an antiepileptic for about twenty days now. I inquired with her pediatrician about testing drug concentrations, and he explained that regarding her specific medication (she takes Lamictal), those tests aren't performed. I don't know anything else about it. 🤷
Move your question to the epilepsy thread on this forum... you will surely get more responses there.