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Two NFC teams were hit hardest by injuries last year. One already set the AGL record in 2016, while the other has a coach with the worst AGL since 2002. Also: the Rams' incredible bill of health in L.A., and Tampa Bay's questionable injury reporting.
17 Aug 2006
Bill: You know, Ian, part of me wonders why this column is named Scramble for the Ball. Does the randomness of a scramble for a loose ball, the utter ugliness of it all match the depravity and sometimes nonsensical beliefs it takes to be successful at fantasy football and gambling? Is it an XFL reference? I really hope it's an XFL reference.
Ian: You bet it's an XFL reference! For those that never saw, in lieu of having a wimpy coin toss to see who gets the ball first, instead the ball was placed at the fifty yard line, and one player each from the opposing teams would scramble from the thirty yard line at the sound of a whistle to take control of the ball. It was so excellent, that a player got seriously injured on the first week of the season and missed the XFL entirely!
I'm still sad that the XFL didn't make it. Its two biggest problems: 1. No hit protection for quarterbacks. The talent level was low enough for the league; with half the starting quarterbacks getting knocked out due to injury the play for most of the league became downright terrible. Possibly more importantly though, 2. Saturday night? Saturday freakin' night?? Football fans are willing to give up their Sundays for the love of the game, but not their Saturday nights. Viewership was quite low, and it was no surprise.
I'll always miss the XFL, and I'll never forget the people that started up Fantasy XFL Keeper leagues. Hope they weren't too attached to the concept. Anyways, on to the football we care so much about…
Bill: This week, we return to the second division of football. We start with the team that was a reason to commence the relegation system in American sport if there ever was one…
Bill: On one hand, the 49ers were terrible last year. Absolutely awful. They were last in offensive DVOA and next-to-last in defensive DVOA. Their performance, according to DVOA, would've estimated that they won 1.6 games. 1.6. Keep in mind that the Texans, who beat them to the first overall pick by, well, losing to them in Week 17, had 3.6 Estimated Wins according to DVOA. This offseason, they let the player they designated as their Franchise Player in 2004, Julian Peterson, leave for Seattle, and used their top pick to select tight end Vernon Davis, who plays a position where the injury-prone but undoubtedly talented Eric Johnson already plies his trade. While Davis may or may not be an improvement on Johnson, let's just say there are a lot of places that could've used the help outside of tight end. Quarterback, for one, although the 49ers weren't about to draft Matt Leinart. All these things point to the 49ers' remaining miserable. On the other side, well, there's the whole regression to the mean thing. I hate -- hate -- to say that teams that are so bad aren't going to improve enough to escape that extremely poor level of play but, well, there's so much evidence pointing to an awful season that I have to go Under here.
Ian: The 49ers may be in a rut lately, but let's not fold them from the NFL -- they have one of the strongest histories of any franchise, and it wasn't that long ago that they were in the playoffs.
That being said, things are certainly looking bleak. Alex Smith may develop into a quality quarterback, but it looks like he'll continue to be a Loser League All-Star for a little while before ascending to the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks. Last season's numbers -- one touchdown, 11 interceptions, and 11 fumbles -- are no way to lead your team to victory. Antonio Bryant is a decent receiver, but he's no number one. Arnaz Battle isn't going to do much to draw attention away from Bryant. And neither will do much to draw attention from the running game, which is a shame, because Frank Gore is a terrific young running back.
All that being said, this team, quite simply, can't be as bad as last year. Alex Smith's best two games of the season last season happened to be the two at the end. Bryant Young is a terrific defensive player. And Norv Turner has been brought in to help out.
Wait… Norv Turner? I'm going Under.
Bill: Happy Scrappy Hero Pup Brett Favre tells me that this is the most talented team he's ever played on! How can I argue with him? Over! OK -- maybe not. I still do think they will win more than six games, but there are other reasons. The Bears should regress to the mean. The Vikings are not going to be any good. The Lions should improve but, well, they're a mess. I don't think the Packers are going to run away with the division or anything, but they have more of a shot than people realize. They have the second-easiest schedule in football this season, drafted the most NFL-ready player available with the fifth overall pick and filled a need in the process, and spent second- and third-rounders on a center and guard to hopefully improve what was a morass in the middle of their offensive line after Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera left. Throw in the signing of the underrated Ryan Pickett at defensive tackle, and I see an eight, maybe nine win team. Maybe Brett is right.
Ian: As much as I'd enjoy seeing Brett Favre go out on a high note, I don't see it happening. The biggest area of concern is the offensive line. This unit has gone from great to below average with the departures of Mike Wahle, Marco Rivera and Mike Flanagan. The Pack drafted to address the need, but it will take a few seasons for all the new faces to gel. Pretty much every Packers running back is coming off injury, so the running game is unlikely to take the pressure off Brett. This is a big problem, since Brett's biggest problem is his tendency to force the ball when he needs to make something happen. I anticipate this will be the case often.
There are certainly things to like on the defensive side of the ball. Pro Football Prospectus cover-boy Al Harris shut down virtually everyone last season, and Aaron Kampman is a terrific playmaker. There's not enough elsewhere on this team to earn seven wins though, and I'm going Under.
Bill: I think the team with the most variance for their win total has to be the Lions. Really, how can you predict how they'll perform? They have the third-easiest schedule in football this year, which is great, but they haven't actually been very good themselves for a while now. Replacing Joey Harrington with Jon Kitna helps, but I'm not sure how suitable he is for the Mike Martz system. Of course, Mike Martz isn't sure how suitable any of the wide receivers are for the Mike Martz system, depending upon how much you believe the reports out of camp. I'm not particularly confident in the Lions offensive line being good enough to keep Kitna afloat, either -- remember, a few years back the Rams had what was regarded as a very good offensive line, anchored by the best offensive tackle in football, and Kurt Warner was still destroyed. Pro Football Prospectus 2006 has the Lions' Mean Projection at 7.8 wins. I believe in you, brave little book that can. Over.
Ian: It's always tough to be confident on an under pick when the line is as low as this one. That being said, I'm confident in the Under here. Jon Kitna had one strong season in Cincy, but he also had two mediocre seasons as the starter in which he couldn't throw more touchdowns than interceptions. Roy Williams looks like he's in line for a strong season, but Charles Rogers can be found in the dictionary next to "bust" and Mike Williams looks like he's still a season or two away from being an impact player. Not that it matters much, since Kitna is unlikely to find much time behind a decidedly below-average offensive line. There isn't much talent on the defensive side of the ball this side of Shaun Rogers. I just can't see this team winning seven games. It's not gonna happen.
Bill: There's no way you can perform any sort of objective analysis on last year's Saints team. So then, throwing that out of the way, we have a team whose offensive and defensive lines are in relative disarray, and whose biggest additions in the offseason were a pretty good quarterback (to replace their overrated, mediocre quarterback) and a pretty good running back (to replace their overrated, injured running back). Unfortunately, their biggest losses were their best offensive and defensive linemen. Of course, we'd all rather have Jeff Faine than LeCharles Bentley now, but he's not going to be able to anchor a porous offensive line. The Saints will be a fun team to play as in Madden, and they may have their skill position players put up some big fantasy numbers, but they're not going to win very much. Meet the new Saints, same as the old Saints… Under.
Ian: The Saints are looking pretty weak at offensive line. The early picks they've spent on defensive linemen haven't produced the expected results. Their secondary doesn't intimidate anyone. Who knows how much longer they'll actually be in New Orleans? That being said, there are things to like here. Reggie Bush. Joe Horn. Drew Brees. And, oh yeah, Reggie Bush. Reggie is simply a playmaker; the kind of guy that can make something out of nothing. For those who are wondering, he will be a worthwhile fantasy starter this season.
Despite the strong skill position players, a team starts with its offensive and defensive lines, and there just isn't enough talent here. Throw in the fact that they're in a division full of strong defenses to keep their offensive talent in check, and I'm taking the Under.
Bill: Here's the thing with the Rams. They didn't win seven games last year. While they signed Will Witherspoon, they're moving him to the inside -- I don't doubt that he'll be able to make the switch, but I don't think he profiles as someone who is going to retain all his value after making it. Replacing Ryan Pickett with La'Roi Glover was amusing in that their rate stats in PFP 2006 are eerily similar, but Pickett was involved with 64 plays according to our Game Charting project, while Glover only made it to 27. I don't think their defense is going to play much better than it did last year. When it comes to the offense, they're going to be taking the parts from a Mike Martz offense and applying them to a totally different scheme -- guys like Torry Holt and Steven Jackson will be able to advance, but I don't think that the interior of their offensive line will be able to. I just don't see good value here betting on them to win eight games this year. Under.
Ian: I'm also going Under. Taking a quick peek, it seems I'm taking the under on everyone so far. The way I see it, the NFC is full of the haves and the have-nots. And we're still (barely) among the have-nots.
Seattle swept them last season. Arizona split their two matchups, but I'm pretty high on Arizona and think they'll beat St. Louis twice this season. Even the lowly 49ers swept the Rams last season! I don't expect that to happen again, but I do expect a 1-5 divisional record, which means that to win 8 games they'd need to go 7-3 outside the division. Fat chance.
Father time finally caught up to Marshall Faulk, and it's knocking on Isaac Bruce's door. There's still plenty of talent on this Rams team. Steven Jackson has shown his fair share, Torry Holt is still elite, and the newly-acquired Corey Chavous should help stabilize the secondary. It won't be enough though. I'm not seeing a terrible season in store for the Rams, but I'm not seeing a seven win season either.
Bill: The Cardinals are another hard team to call. If you've read the site at all this offseason, you've heard talk of how Edgerrin James will have to overcome the worst offensive line in football. If you bought the book, you've seen how KUBIAK projects Larry Fitzgerald to be the best receiver in football. If you've watched the Cardinals play in the last two years, you've seen how good Adrian Wilson is. That's about all we know. I would say Neil Rackers will be worse, but, well, all bets are off on him. He might actually be ROBO-KICKER.
Will Kurt Warner play 16 games? Will Matt Leinart play 10? Which would be preferable? Most people agree that Clancy Pendergast is an effective defensive coordinator, but does he have enough to work with? With this many questions, I'm going to look at the context. They have an average schedule, but with the Seahawks regressing to the mean, and my low opinion of the Rams' and 49ers' performance this year, well, someone has to win some games in this division. They play at San Diego in Week 17, a game that I think won't matter to a team that will have already clinched a first round bye. That will be the Cardinals' ninth win. Over.
Ian: Now we're getting to the "haves." The Cardinals made one of the biggest offseason splashes in acquiring Edge, and while I recommend letting someone else overpay for him in fantasy leagues, he will certainly bring the Cardinals' rushing attack to respectability. The threat of play-action is something that's been missing in Arizona, and it can only help an extremely potent passing game. The Cardinals will be putting a lot of points on the board this season. They even have quarterback depth -- something becoming a bit of a rarity in the league.
There's talent to like on the defensive side of the ball as well. Chike Okeafor, Karlos Dansby and Adrian Wilson provide playmaking at all depths of the defense. They're not part of one of the better defenses in the league, but they should help keep other offenses in check. That's all it will take to let the offense handle the rest, and handle things they will. This is a playoff team. Over.
Bill: OK. Must not offend large Falcons fanbase. At same time, must not offend Dr. Frankenstein. Hmmm… Let's all agree that Brian Finneran's loss hurts this Falcons team. We can't argue that, right?! A team is better with a productive wide receiver healthy instead of injured, right? OK. Baby steps. John Abraham's acquisition was a great idea for a team at this point of the success cycle, in a similar fashion to Denver's acquisition of Javon Walker versus drafting a wide receiver. Good. Ed Hartwell coming back is another good thing. Good. This defensive backfield is a little sketchy. Wait -- wait Falcons fans. I'll say another nice thing. Hmmm… Oh. The offensive line is real good. Yep. I'm not even going to accuse anyone of cheating. No sir. See, look -- I went an entire Falcons offseason review without even discussing Michael Vick. Oops. The Buccaneers' regression is to the Falcons benefit. Over.
Ian: How to follow up that cutting edge analysis? Look, the Falcons season is largely dependent on two things: Can Michael Vick become a more accurate passer, and can Michael Vick stay healthy? If Vick developed Donovan McNabb's ability to throw accurately while on the run, this Falcons offense would be virtually unstoppable. He can make time by scrambling around in the backfield, but he doesn't deliver the ball well under pressure, so the extra time only helps when he pulls down the ball and runs. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you, but imagine trying to defend him if he could pull up and deliver a strike to receivers who'd used the time to get open? Brian Finneran, their best possession receiver, may be out, but Alge Crumpler does a great job of getting open past the sticks, and now the Falcons will have a lot of speed at the wideout spots (though they're a bit raw on talent).
The defense is a solid unit, and Warrick Dunn is terrific at making whatever yards are available. Michael Vick is the key though -- I don't believe any other team in the NFL is as dependent on the performance of one player as the Falcons are. So will he do it? Will he develop into the unstoppable force he's capable of being, while retaining the intelligence to get out of bounds and stay healthy? I say "no." He is what he is -- a running back playing quarterback with an inaccurate cannon of an arm. Having to start two inexperienced receivers won't help their biggest problem area from last season. If any team needed the talent of Terrell Owens the most, this was it. Regardless, until Vick shows me he can deliver a consistent, accurate pass, I'm not predicting a strong season for Atlanta. Under.
Bill: First off, I just want to applaud the Vikings and Seahawks front offices for their offseason charades with Steve Hutchinson and Nate Burleson. As a man who has held many an unnecessary grudge in his lifetime, I am always happy to see some childish fighting amongst professionals. Sadly, I am not anywhere near a good enough writer to actually pull off my "Great Poison Pills in NFL History" column idea.
That being said, I'm not particularly confident in the Vikings' performance this year. While their offensive line should be among the league's elite, particularly after the Hutchinson signing, they don't appear to have real strong players at the skill positions. Mewelde Moore may be great at about 85 percent of the Brian Westbrook role, but he doesn't have the running skill that Westbrook has. While the Vikings previously had some serious depth at running back, they are now down to Moore, Ciatrick Fason, and free agent signing Chester Taylor, who isn't the new Priest Holmes.
Brad Johnson's not a very sturdy bet at quarterback -- our new quarterback injury projection system pegs him with a 21 percent chance of suffering a major injury this season. Mike McMahon isn't exactly someone you want in the lineup, as Lions and in particular Eagles fans will attest to. He may end up playing the same role this year. While Burleson didn't perform particularly well last year, Troy Williamson simply isn't ready to be a number one wide receiver. This offense needs to be blown up. Under.
Ian: In the NFL, just about every quarterback has a decent chance of getting injured. It's just the way of life (and one of the reasons they deserve every penny of the excessive salaries they receive). Thankfully, Brad Johnson's strongest point is his ability to simply take what's given and not force the issue, including throwing the ball away rather than getting killed in the pocket. Give him some capable receivers and a running game, and this offense will do a decent job moving the football, while rarely putting its defense in tough spots.
Given the talent spread out throughout the Minnesota defense, a weak division, and a great-looking quarterback replacement waiting in the wings (no, not Mike McMahon-- Dynasty leaguers, take note of Tarvaris Jackson!), and I'm going with the Over here.
Chris C. in Charlotte, NC: Love the column, I'm a third year fantasy player who is just now stepping into a Dynasty Style keeper league (as in, you keep every player every year). We're drafting fresh this year, so this is pretty important. Anyways, like I said its the first time I've don't this style, what are some tips? Do the same strategies work? What rookies should I bank on and how much do younger guys increase in value? I know these are generic questions, as of now I'm just hoping for some general guidance. Thanks.
Ian: Howdy Ryan. Nothing beats the inaugural draft of a keeper-league team. Always fun to build a franchise from scratch.
Certainly, a lot of the league rules will impact your draft strategy. Is it 6 points for a passing touchdown or 4? Do you get 1 point for every 10 yards rushing/receiving or every 20? With 6 pts for passing TDs, top quarterbacks become a lot more valuable. With just 4, you can easily wait till late to grab a solid QB. Philip Rivers is a good late choice; we at Football Outsiders think he'll have a strong season this year and beyond.
As far as how the dynasty league format impacts your draft choices, it's definitely worth looking towards the younger players who'll have more years of servitude on your fantasy roster, especially when it comes to running backs. Guys like Laurence Maroney are definitely more valuable than guys like Jamal Lewis. I'd rather have Cadillac Williams than Tiki Barber. At running back, they take so many hits that it's very common to see a sharp decline as their age nears 30.
In other positions though, this isn't as much the case -- I'd just focus on the best players available for wideouts, tight ends and whatnot. Since they don't take the beating of a RB, they can be effective for far longer than their tailback counterparts.
Quinn Broda: I am in a keeper auction league. $50 salary cap, 50 cent minimum bid, all bidding is in 50 cent increments. I was just wondering how I would use your KUBIAK spreadsheet to generate proper values for all players. The league settings are: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR,1 TE, D, K; roster size from 16-22. I assume it would take something like assigning, for example, the 20th best QB as 50 cent value and then using that as a baseline for the value of all other QB's. If you could point me in the right direction, I should be able to figure it out. Years of reading Baseball Prospectus has helped.
Ian: Preparing for an auction can be tough. When it gets down to it, you really have to do two things: Overpay for the guys you want, and get lucky with your $1 fliers near the end of the auction. But how much is reasonable? Who's to say if Larry Johnson is worth $50 or $70?
Unfortunately, there's no good "system" for determining auction value. So much of it depends on what your other owners are willing to spend. I spent hours tinkering with the KUBIAK spreadsheet to come up with a magical formula, but nothing quite cut it. In lieu of such a tool, here's some good advice:
1.Only spend more than the minimum on a kicker or defensive team if you have more money than you expected to have available after drafting your early targets.
2. Be prepared to overspend! I've seen many websites indicate that top running backs are worth between $50 and $60. In my yearly auction league, the top three running backs all went for over $70! Then, because the scarcity of running backs dwindled, the other players were forced to overpay for the second tier of running backs. And the third tier. It may seem smart, then, to only buy cheap running backs and get top players everywhere else for good prices. Trust me, this never works. And to top it off, you'll have leftover money at the end of the auction with nothing to spend it on, while wishing you'd spent it on better starting running backs earlier in the auction.
3. Arrive at the draft with an "outline" of what you want to spend on which positions. In baseball, this may seem hard to do, because there's so many players involved. In football, the prices drop off quickly. An example of this for your league might be: QB -- $2, RB -- $20, RB -- $15, RB -- $3, WR -- $3, WR -- $2, WR -- $2, TE -- $2, K -- $0.50, DT -- $0.50. (Of course this wouldn't leave you money for enough bench players, but you get the idea.) Then list a group of players that fit in each pre-priced slot for you. Hopefully you can get one of those names. If you get one for cheap, upgrade another spot on your roster. If all the names are evaporating, be prepared to overpay for someone and adjust on the fly. The good thing about the outline is that it helps you to not leave unspent money at the end of the auction. It also prevents you from freezing up at inopportune moments because you have little prep-work and don't know how much you want to spend on the players you like.
4. It's just not worth spending much at all on a quarterback this season. The top quarterbacks will go for a good chunk of money, and won't be all that much better than the guys you can get for $1. There's a tremendous number of serviceable quarterbacks this season. In case you didn't get the hint earlier, spend that money on running backs!
5. Call out the names of the players you want early. This seems to go against conventional wisdom, as usually you want your opponents burning their dough on guys you don't want. This will leave less money to fight you for the guys you want, right? Sorry, it just doesn't work that way. There's always plenty of money floating around, so you're not going to get a surprise bargain. When your guy does get called though, he's more likely to be among the top names left on the board, and there won't be much left behind him, so you can easily get into an unwanted bidding war for his services.
At my auction last year, it's a league that awards 1 point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving (in addition to 6 for touchdowns). For this reason, I was rather high on Warrick Dunn. He won't win you weeks on his own, but is good for a solid 10 points week in, week out, and doesn't cost very much. So I called him out very early. I got him for only $14, as other players wanted to save up for the remaining big names on the board. I outbid them for Shaun Alexander anyways, and while I had a superstar running back and a solid second starter, they were left to overbid for who was left.
When it comes to auction drafting, a little bit of preparation can go a long way.
60 comments, Last at 25 Aug 2006, 7:12pm by Pat
Turn your smilies off. Everytime the article tries to say (o/u 8), the last bit turns into sunglasses dude.
Best Gil Thorpe ever. Though now I'm wondering what the original strip was about.
Re: Look, the Falcons season is largely dependent on two things: Can Michael Vick become a more accurate passer, and can Michael Vick stay healthy?
The latter part of the statement brings up a good point. If Vick can stay healthy, the Falcons have little chance, and I gotta go with under sunglasses smiley. If Vick can't stay healthy and a guy who is actually capable of passing the football like Matt Schaub gets starts, then the Falcons have a good shot of going over sunglasses smiley.
Re: He is what he is — a running back playing quarterback with an inaccurate cannon of an arm.
Perhaps, but that running back would be a smaller, more injury-prone version of Michael Bennett with even less blocking, receiving, and tackle-breaking ability. Can you say CFL?
2: I'm pretty sure it's panels from four different strips, but with Gil Thorpe, they all seem to be assembled randomly (the actual comic, not the Jason Beatie remix).
No way that Minnesota, Atlanta and Arizona all win more games than the sungalasses wearing smily face.
Please stop telling everyone to spend their money on RB's until after 4:00 this Saturday.
Thank you.
Sunglasses smiley as records? What is this, hippie NFL?
"The NFC North makes the Bears feel (alligator)."
Turn your smilies off. Everytime the article tries to say (o/u 8) , the last bit turns into sunglasses dude.
My guess is that the Vegas linemaker went blind from watching last season's Arizona Cardinals footage. That guy might be smiling on the outside, but it's all a show. He really misses his eyesight.
Aw, heck, a review like that just invites comments.
The key to the Falcons season is whether or not they can stop the run, not whether Michael Vick improves. Two years ago, they were decent against the run and won their division. Last year, they were horrible against the run in the second half of the season and finished 8-8. This year?
Also, I won't say I've charted it, but to my eye Vick appears considerably more accurate on the move than when he stands still.
As for Schaub, well, we'll see. His one successful game was against a New England team with a decimated secondary featuring Duane Starks in all his glory. He wasn't exactly wowing anyone against the Patriots' second team last Friday.
Finally, our OL run-blocks OK, but couldn't keep a toddler out of the pocket.
bill - you think the chargers will be one of the top 2 afc seeds??!
Or insert an empty tag between 8 and ), for instance (o/u 8) rather than (o/u 8).
#9 - You are FAR too well-spoken and thoughtful to have been one of the Falcons fans from 2005.
#10 - I reviewed them in our previous Scramble for the Ball, which you can read here.
Oh, I was here then, Bill, I was here. Just submerged in the noise, that's all.
Zac, shouldn't that over/under be 8) ?
I think 7 (or 8) must be possible if Vick stays the QB he is.
If he only learns to throw, 9 must be possible (at least more than 8).
Brian Finneran, their best possession receiver...
Do you mean he's... white?
Ugh. I didn't even know this thing supported smilies. I'd turn them off in a heartbeat if I knew how. In the meantime, I just cheated to fix them. I blame the NFL's parity for all these teams with over-unders right at 8.
Oh, I forgot to mention:
I'll be bold and say San Francisco's a dead-lock over. They rolled over Chicago in the preseason, and while that doesn't mean that they'll beat Chicago in the regular season, it means that 1) Chicago will have to work to win that game, and 2) San Francisco is capable of rolling over a team. Any team. Last year, they couldn't - not in the preseason, not in the regular season did they win a game by more than one score.
If they win tonight at Oakland, it's even more of a lock. I'd say Oakland, Detroit, New Orleans, Green Bay, and Minnesota are easy wins. They'll probably win 2 out of 4 with St. Louis/Arizona, so I'd say 7-9 is a good bet.
I'll but the over/under of SF wins before people stop making fun of the team losing to SF at 5.
Fnor, was that an Arrested Development reference? Awesome!
The panels here, like most of my creations, are from 4 different Gil Thorp comics throughout the past year. The original storyline featuring students dressed up like hoboes was as you might guess, incredibly awesome. In fact I've become obsessed enough with Gil Thorp that last month I started a blog about the daily strip...Click my name if you want to check it out.
Oh and #16: Two packs tropical fruit, one pack original.
San-Francisco-Oakland is Sunday, not tonight.
Wasn't it a crocodile, not an alligator?
i read it bill, and i agree with what your wrote then. however, i will respectfully raise my eye brow to the chargers being one of the top 2 seeds.
chargers as a playoff team? good chance. top seed? too many good afc teams for my taste. so it could happen but i wouln't bet my money on it!
I have no idea if it was crocodile or alligator. I think the line was "Just because you got an alligator in spelling," though I could be wrong. Just reminded me of that episode.
It's possible the Niner's could improve a lot just from an improved offensive line and from Alex Smith's development. I remember hearing when he was drafted that Alex Smith took a while to get comfortable with the Utah playbook before he truly started playing well; if the same thing has happened in the progame there could be a remarkable improvement.
And heck, the Niner's could see remarkable improvement in their offense just by having their quarterback play improve from "An abomination to the football gods" to "Meh, he's sort of mediocre".
As the guy who followed the "buy cheap running backs and top wide receivers" strategy in the auction last year, I'll second Ian's statement that it doesn't work. Especially when one of those top wide receivers is Terrell Owens.
From Packers camp these are the recurring themes:
Second round wide receiver Greg Jennings will be starting come the first game.
Punter BJ Sanders will be cut.
Defensive tackle Colin Cole has taken a step forwrd in his development.
AJ Hawk looks ordinary. As in VERY ordinary. As in DEFCON 5, WTF(!) ordinary.
Scott Wells looks better then ok at center.
Favre has had a terrible camp. Velocity is great. Everything has gone to sh*t.
Just thought this would be the place to pass those tidbits on to the masses.....
I don't want to sound like one of the jackass falcons fans spoken of around here, but I've heard most of Ian's criticisms before (interestingly, Bill floated more than a few observations that I would've liked seeing expanded upon), and the logic of them never really gelled with me. I'll try to explain why without getting too defensive.
The Falcons offense has been pretty productive under Michael Vick. This site had it ranked 11th overall for 2005, which is solid. It's not a terrifying, well-oiled machine like that of the Colts or Seahawks, but as a unit they rarely have trouble putting up points (btw there's a lot of bitching by falcons fans about how horrific greg knapp's playcalling is, make of that what you will). They made it to the NFC championship game with a pretty similar offense and a much better run defense.
What I'm getting at is that it's more than fair to observe that the Falcons' success depends on Vick's play, but the conclusion often drawn from this - that his *improvement* as a passer and decision maker is the very fulcrum upon which their season rests - is historically unsupported. There are a lot of fair criticisms that can be levelled at Vick, and he certainly has room for improvement, as does the entire unit. But the undertone of this message is usually that his performance thusfar has hindered the offense more than it has helped, which I think is just patently untrue. The fact that the offense has been pretty consistently succesful and that the team's record has risen and fallen in accordance with the quality of the defense (particularly against the run) seems to serve as an indication of what the team's needs are, yet every evaluation of the team seems to begin and end with a dissection of #7's flaws. It makes it seem like the writer's primary interest is in ragging on one of the team's most beloved players, and I think that's why the fans have become so defensive. Which isn't to say that he should be exempt from criticism or that he should get special treatment because the fans like him, it's just that the pretenses under which he is critiqued often feel disingenuous.
That was probably a lot more longwinded than it needed to be.
You made your points well, and that kind of intelligent discussion is always welcome. To "sound like one of the jackass falcons fans spoken of around here", you'd have to say something like "Flacons rool and your all a bunch of nerds."
Yeah - I mean - really, I should've just asked you to write the Falcons section. Geez! I'll never complain about people disagreeing with me (or Ian) if they can at least form a coherent argument. Especially if said argument is more coherent than my piece to begin with.
Re #9: Finally, our OL run-blocks OK, but couldn't keep a toddler out of the pocket.
Welcome to the joys of the Alex Gibbs blocking scheme. Great for running plays, but the undersized linemen tend to get pushed around a bit in pass protection unless you get some serious studs (like Nalen, Zimmerman, Lepsis, etc).
Seriously, head coaches aren't stupid. Everyone wonders why they don't all just go to a zone-blocking scheme if it works so well. The answer is that it works great when you're running, but has some definite disadvantages when you're dropping back. That's one of the reasons why Denver's playbook is so full of rollouts and bootlegs and the like.
Interesting piece by Pete Prisco (did I just type that?) on zone/cut blocking here.
Hmm...switch the original to sour, and you've got a deal!
Flacons rool and your all a bunch of nerds.
Given that, the Falcons will be a playoff contender as long as Vick is lining up behind center. The offense continues to be among the league leaders in rushing year after year, and Vick will never put up good passing numbers as long as the Falcons throw the ball as much as the Steelers.
The big difference IS the run D. The common theme in every Falcons loss was an inability to stop the run, something ignored by the media and fans who cant wait to jump on Vick. The Falcons conceded over 100 yards to the other teams starting running back in Every. Single. Loss. Cadillac and Deshaun Foster combined for over 600 yards alone.
The defensive line is built full of pass rushers with Coleman, Abraham and Kerney. The Falcons have had big problems filling the hole at nose tackle, hopefully Shropshire can prove his ability as a run stopper. It would be nice if Ed Hartwell steps up and shows why we spent the big money on him as a run stopping LB.
ATL - judging from the Run D in the first preseason game. J.A.F.F. and I are in for another season of torment. The most painful thing to see in football is consistent 7-8 yard runs against your team's defense. Under sounds about right.
Unrelated and completely irrelevant - Is J.A.F.F. a lawyer? Long sentences suggest no. But I've never heard a non-lawyer use the word "patently."
(pot, meet kettle)
Maybe it would be more accurate to say, "the Falcons passing game won't improve until Vick is able to improve his throwing accuracy."
Then we can have arguments about whether or not it's possible to have a top-flight offense with just a good running game and sub-standard passing.
Or just ignore me, I'm a Packers homer and I'm bitter that the running game will probably still suck even with zone-blocking.
Oakland, New Orleans, Minnesota, Detroit and Green Bay are easy wins for San Francisco?
I bet those teams are counting on SF being an easy win for them!
Re: 40
And those teams (except maybe Minnesota, imo) are going to be disappointed.
I'm doing a mini-piece of research for next week's column analyzing whether completion percentage has much to do with a team's performance. It won't answer the Vick question, but it may shed some light.
It's also worth noting that the Falcons rushing DVOA over the Vick era:
2001: -11.7% (22) Vick 1/2 year
2002: 6.6% (9)
2003: 3.7% (9) Vick 5 games
2004: 17.8% (2)
2005: 14.8% (5)
And those teams (except maybe Minnesota, imo) are going to be disappointed.
Absolutely. Any team whose offense can beat up Chicago's defenders, even without them blitzing, is at least an average offense. You've gotta figure that a vanilla Chicago defense is still an average defense.
The 49ers largest victory last year, preseason or regular season, was against Oakland in the preseason, by 8 points. And their preseason first half point differentials last year were -6, -3, 7, 0. Quite simply, they never looked as good as they did against Chicago last week last year.
Repeat after me: "It's only preseason. Good teams don't care at all if they win in the preseason. Arizona went 3-1 in preseason in 2005, and they still sucked."
Good teams don't let themselves get blown out in the preseason first half by bad teams. They can sometimes get blown out by good teams (see Cincinnati/Indy last year), but not by bad teams.
There might be, just might be, an article about this on here. It could've, y'know, been written by me. San Francisco meets Chicago again in the regular season. 64% of the teams who were up by more than 7 points in the preseason at the half won their rematch, and over 80% of the teams either won or were within a score by the end of the game.
Arizona, first half point differentials, 2005: 7, -10, -2, -7. Two of their wins in 2005 came in the second half. They won none of their preseason games convincingly.
I don't believe wins and losses mean anything in the preseason. I do believe that performance still means a lot.
Pat, it's not like the Bears did that great against the 49er's last year. Everyone only remembers Vasher's freak 108 yard return. With out 50 mph winds, maybe last year's Bears lose that game at home.
The 49er's were in it for one of the Seahawks games and the Buccs too. But they're still a giant mess.
Pat, it's not like the Bears did that great against the 49er's last year. Everyone only remembers Vasher's freak 108 yard return. With out 50 mph winds, maybe last year's Bears lose that game at home.
Even if the 49ers would've won that game, it wouldn't've been by that much of a margin. Maybe 12-10.
Let's put it this way: Alex Smith had the best passing half of his career, preseason or otherwise. I'm not saying that they'll beat the Bears in the regular season, but it'll be a closer game than people think.
What made the 49ers so bad last year was their offense. It was far and away the worst in the league. The fact that Alex Smith can put together a half like that at all is a major, major improvement over last year. Last year.
Last year, the only game that Smith started where he didn't throw an interception was against St. Louis, the 5th worst pass defense in the league. I don't believe that Chicago's secondary - even their second team secondary - is worse than St. Louis's secondary.
Hey, I'll eat my words if come Sunday he looks like crap against the Raiders. But I doubt it.
It's quite possible to take 1 game to mean too much. I'll pick a single example (I'm not trying to claim that there's any sort of trend here, so no lectures about picking a single data point).
In 2003, the first game of the season (the regular season, not the preseason, so the teams were actually trying), the Bills whupped the Patriots 31-0. Did that mean that the Bills were a good team? Apparently not - they finished 6-10. Did that mean that the Patriots were a bad team? Apparently not - they finished 14-2.
You stated that "Good teams don't let themselves get blown out in the preseason first half by bad teams." It should follow then that good teams don't let themselves get blown out in the regular season first half by bad teams (when the teams are actually concerned about the outcome of the game). But sometimes it does happen. You just can't take a single game and say that it's definitive evidence of a team's ability.
Until I see more evidence to the contrary, I have to assume that we saw a Chicago team that just wasn't ready to play and that's the reason that SF looked good against them.
And to respond to your 64% and 80% numbers: how do you know that SF isn't in the 36% and 20% of teams whose performance in the regular season rematches go quite differently than the preseason?
And of course, you pointed out those games as outliers in your article. I want to make my point clear: I think that this SF-Chi was an outlier. I think that if you believe otherwise, you're ignoring too much evidence that SF is just a very bad team.
The Bills/Patriots rematch isn't just an outlier. It's the largest outlier in the past 6 years. Those sort of things happen, but they happen in a "once in a blue moon" timescale.
Yes. It happened. And it could happen again. And I can do you one better than that example: The best example I can think of is San Diego with Ryan Leaf in 2000, where San Diego outscored San Francisco 23-6 in the first half in a preseason game. They lost in the regular season to them by 28 points, on the way to a 1-15 record - though FO shows them to be probably one of the unluckiest teams in history, with 4.6 estimated wins, and only 1 win.
I don't doubt that it can happen. But the question isn't 'what could happen.' The 49ers could end up the 20th best team in the league, and go on to win the Super Bowl.
The question is 'what's likely to happen?' and it is more likely that the 49ers will play well next time against the Bears than not.
I think that if you believe otherwise, you're ignoring too much evidence that SF is just a very bad team.
I think you're ignoring the point that I'm making. SF likely is a bad team. But they played in preseason last year, too. And they sucked then. They were terrible all last year. That first half was the best half they've put together at all. If nothing else - that game shows that they've made significant improvement.
I'm not saying San Francisco is even likely to beat Chicago in the regular season. But I would bet that they'll be on the 'over' side of 5 wins - especially with the schedule they have.
My pet theory on Vick is that he experiences a greater variation between playing good and bad defenses than most QBs. His sheer athleticism makes bad teams unable to stop him at all (Falcons/Saints games tend to just be depressing). But on the other hand, with his inability to really be much of a passing threat the Falcons offense has a one dimensional aspect that better teams manage to exploit because they have the personnel to "make him beat them with his arm" (no, a 250 yard passing game does not mean you've done this, Mikey). It was like the difference in the playoff games versus the Rams and Eagles. They'll be trapped in "good but not SB contender" mode until he can burn teams for daring him to beat them with his arm.
Hey Guys,
I'm sorry if this has been addressed in another column, but I was wondering if the "Loser League" will be back? One of my favorite things about FO. Thanks.
Still standing by your statement re: the 9ers after their poor showing against Oakland?
I mentioned it several times in the Week 2 preseason thread: I still think the 49ers are going to be better than last year, but I think they're probably going to be #1 in DVOA variance again.
It's not because Oakland was playing more "real" defense or anything like that: a good number of the mistakes were purely execution problems. The mistaken backwards pass, the delay-of-game penalty, the interception. Like I said there, I don't know how you go from playing a flawless game against the Bears to playing a totally flawed game against the Raiders.
But I will point out again: Frank Gore again had a strong showing, running at a 6 yards/carry clip. Even if Smith is a total bust, it looks like Gore could be a heck of a running back, and that might be enough to carry them over 5 wins.
#20, if you think the worst team in the league posting a 7-9 record this year is a good bet, we should play poker sometime. As the french say "you are on le cracke".
Depends on the odds you'd give me. 6 wins is probably better than 50/50. 7 wins requires Minnesota getting worse, which I think they will.
The 49ers were the worst team in the league last year. Two weeks ago they posted their best offensive performance ever. If they do that every other week, they'll go 6-10.
#58, you are proving my point. You are saying that they need to post thier best offensive permoance ever, every other week, to get to 6-10.
So why is 7-9 a "good" bet. It sounds like a "crappy, delusional, wish it was early 90's again" bet.
#58, you are proving my point. You are saying that they need to post thier best offensive permoance ever, every other week, to get to 6-10.
I don't think the Bears game will be their best offensive performance of the year. I think they'll bounce between that and last week's.
I'd say this week is a good test. I'll start feeling the first week is a fluke if they just constantly make mistakes against Dallas.
So why is 7-9 a "good� bet
Depends on the odds - if an over/under of 5.0 is 50/50, 7 wins would be what, something like 5 to 1 or 6 to 1? I think they've probably got a 30-40% chance of 7 wins with the information I've got now.


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OBAMA: Where's outrage over president's corruption?
I am amazed by the deafening silence from my progressive friends on the outrageous actions by President Obama of late.
Obama uses an executive order to implement immigration reform and bypass Congress; his Department of Justice shields Attorney General Holder from having to answer for his contempt of Congress; and the president asserts executive privilege to hide the truth about "Fast and Furious."
Obama's Health and Human Services requires employers to cover contaceptives, abortifacients and sterilization in the health insurance they provide their employees despite their religious objections. He refuses to enforce immigration laws and defend the Defense of Marriage …

subset: commoncrawl


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I am from Spokane, WA and I've been a Club Horse member for 9 years, 10 months and 22 days
Nicknames: Reg- Willie Be a Dream Willie Beans, Whimpie Willie, Whino Willie, lil man
Age: 20 years old
Gender: Gelding
Breed: Pinto
Height: 15 H
Color: Chestnut Tobiano
Type of Riding: We'll just do good plain trails :)
My Horse's Achievements: He stands now! he hated standed still at the hitching post, but yay! he's doin it nicely now... and same on the trail, he knows "stand". ...yippee....
My Horse's Favorite Treat: Anything so far :) he's not fond of his apple flavorite lickit though.....
My Horse's Favorite Things To Do: Right now eating good food!! He needs to gain some weight poor boy :(
Pet Peeves: standing- and leaving the herd when he gets bored he's an air sucker (not cribbing persay, just irritating air sucking)
My Horse's motto: Hmmm...is it worth the effort?
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After too many rides gone bad with Emily- my friends and fam convinced me it was time to let her find someone more experienced, and get a horse that I could handle easier - I looked at several horses and many ads and nothing clicked- I found Willies ad and just loved him even before I saw him! Ironically my best friend and I go on walks right by his old home so we'd seen him before too! And when the old owner rode him with a piece of twine.... I was sold :) I just wanted to get him some good food and treats and brushed up ASAP! Its obvious he hasnt had the best of life, at least the last year or so- he's a lil skinny, has a deformed lip from a past injury and and an old injury on his neck. But he even with all that, he still has his manners, and his trust, which is all Im asking. He's 1/2 arab 1/2 paint.
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"Hi After having surgery you should feel sore but definately not flu like symptons after 2 weeks. I know many friends plus myself who have had implants and 1 of them had symtoms like yours and it turned out she was allergic to the me..."
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Gordon Johnson, Extension Vegetable & Fruit Specialist; email@example.com
There is still considerable acreage of watermelons, sweet corn, pumpkins, beans, cabbage, potatoes, and other fresh market vegetable crops in the field on Delmarva. On the processing side, the majority of lima beans have yet to be harvested and there are significant acres of pickles, snap beans, and other processing crops in the field. Many of these crops will be at risk in the coming days due to hurricane Irene.
A late summer hurricane or tropical storm with both wind damage and excess rain can cause major issues in vegetable crops, most notably:
● Damage due to flooded soils in all vegetable crops
● Increased disease incidence in all vegetable crops
● Lodging damage in crops like sweet corn
Other articles will address diseases in with excess rainfall. I will focus on flooding effects on the physiology of vegetable plants.
Flooded and Waterlogged Soils
In flooded soils, the oxygen concentration drops to near zero within 24 hours because water replaces most of air in the soil pore space. Oxygen diffuses much more slowly in water filled pores than in open pores. Roots need oxygen to respire and have normal cell activity. When any remaining oxygen is used up by the roots in flooded or waterlogged soils, they will cease to function normally. Therefore, mineral nutrient uptake and water uptake are reduced or stopped in flooded conditions (plants will often wilt in flooded conditions because roots have shut down). There is also a buildup of ethylene in flooded soils, the plant hormone that in excess amounts can cause leaf drop and premature senescence.
In general, if flooding or waterlogging lasts for less than 48 hours, most vegetable crops can recover. Longer periods will lead to high amounts of root death and lower chances of recovery.
While there has not been much research on flooding effects on vegetables, the following are some physiological effects that have been documented:
● Oxygen starvation in root crops such as potatoes will lead to cell death in tubers and storage roots. This will appear as dark or discolored areas in the tubers or roots. In carrots and other crops where the tap root is harvested, the tap root will often die leading to the formation of unmarketable fibrous roots.
● Lack of root function and movement of water and calcium in the plant will lead to calcium related disorders in plants; most notably you will have a higher incidence of blossom end rot in tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, and several other susceptible crops.
● Leaching and denitrification losses of nitrogen and limited nitrogen uptake in flooded soils will lead to nitrogen deficiencies across most vegetable crops.
● In bean crops, flooding or waterlogging has shown to decrease flower production and increase flower and young fruit abscission or abortion.
● Ethylene buildup in saturated soil conditions can cause leaf drop, flower drop, fruit drop, or early plant decline in many vegetable crops.
Recovering from Flooding or Waterlogging
The most important thing that you can do to aid in vegetable crop recovery after floods or waterlogging is to open up the soil by cultivating (in crops that still small enough to be cultivated) as soon as you can get back into the field. This allows for oxygen to enter the soil more rapidly. Nutritionally, sidedress with 50 lbs of N where possible.
In fields that are still wet, consider foliar applications of nutrients. According to Steve Rieners at Cornell "Use a low salt liquid fertilizer to supply 4 to 5 lb nitrogen, 1 lb phosphate (P2O5) and 1 lb potash (K2O) per acre. Since nitrogen is the key nutrient to supply, spraying with urea ammonium nitrate (28 % N solution) alone can be helpful. These can be sprayed by aerial or ground application. Use 5 to 20 gallons of water per acre. The higher gallons per acre generally provide better coverage". As with all foliar applications, keep total salt concentrations to less than 3% solutions to avoid foliage burn.
Tags: 19:23, abiotic stress, flooding, vegetable crop management, vegetable crop nutrients


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02 February 2016
HoW College students help lay down the law
Students from the Heart of Worcestershire College have helped lay down the law thanks to an on-going partnership with Worcester Citizens Advice Bureau, Worcester Housing and Benefits Advice Centre and Worcester Municipal Charities.
Six students from the College's law school have been working alongside Worcester CAB & WHABAC as part of a unique scheme, launched in 2013, in response to government reductions in legal aid.
The project, which is funded by Worcester Municipal Charities, has seen students from the College undertake a summer of training in welfare and benefits casework, before taking on a number of cases providing vital advice and assistance.
Speaking about the opportunity Farah Afshan, a student from the Worcester Law School, said:
"Working with Worcester CAB & WHABAC has been a great and challenging experience. This is something that I have always wanted to do after admiring the services of the Citizens Advice Bureau and I feel extremely lucky to have been selected for this opportunity."
Brandon Birmingham, a fellow student, added:
"This opportunity has been challenging but also really helpful to gain an insight into this field of work, interacting with clients and doing more than just paperwork. The project has really suited my needs and my ambitions for the future and I would definitely recommend it to future law school students."
Geraint Thomas, Solicitor at Worcester CAB & WHABAC explained:
"This has been a very successful project. Last year 175 new cases were opened by volunteer student caseworkers and their supervisors, 55% of cases closed resulted in a financial benefit to clients of on average £5,000 per annum. The project was launched by Worcester CAB and WHABAC in early 2013, in response to reductions in legal aid and has ensured that a benefits advice casework service has continued to be provided for people in Worcester. Key elements in the success of this project have been the partnership with The Worcester Law School at Heart of Worcestershire College and the financial support from Worcestershire Municipal Charity'.
Previous students who have participated in this service have gone on to find work within the legal sector thanks to invaluable experience gained throughout their time with Worcester CAB and WHABAC.


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Program Request
Hey, does anyone know of a program that you can use to make a huge multi-page poster? Say I have a picture I want to blow up into like 12 full pages, but they have to be assembled you know? If anyone has a program like that, please let me know. I want to use it to play a joke on the people here at work.
Re: Program Request
photoshop can do that. you'd need a plotter to actually print such a huge thing in one piece though.
Re: Program Request
No, no. I want to just do it on a page by page basis.
Re: Program Request
try Adobe Acrobat. I think you can do tiling...
Re: Program Request
i think illustsrator or photoshop should have a plug in or way to do that. Maybe even in the basic printer settings.
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Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez Dinner with Friends -Benihana Restaurant LA
20/11/2012 | 8:35 103 Posted in Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez
Justin Bieber and his on-and-off again girlfriend Selena Gomez grab dinner together with friends at Benihana restaurant on Monday night (November 19) in Encino, California.
Before dinner, Justin donned red shorts while heading for a workout session at Equinox gym in Los Angeles.
Earlier in the day, Selena was spotted exiting a hospital ER room in Los Angeles.


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International Trade Working Paper
- 2413-3175 (online)
- http://dx.doi.org/10.14217/24133175
Harnessing the Caribbean's External Trade Partnerships
Opportunities and Challenges
- Author(s):
- Edwin Laurent
- 21 Dec 2016
- Bibliographic information
- No:
- 2016/26
- Pages:
- 16
- http://dx.doi.org/10.14217/4a01dfb8-en
In a dynamic, rapidly liberalising and fiercely competitive international environment, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries see the pooling of their national efforts through the Caribbean Single Market and Economy as a central plank for overcoming their numerous constraints and advancing their economic growth and sustainable development. However, to succeed in the often challenging and fiercely competitive international setting, strategic and supportive external partnerships are vital. The region has therefore been exploring new relationships while it seeks to strengthen and deepen those that have existed for some time, to ensure that they make the intended contribution to helping the region achieve its goals.
Caribbean countries are pursuing their trade and investment relations with their established partners while also expanding economic relations with hemispheric partners and other emerging global players. The shifting global trade landscape, however, has implications for the region and for its trade and economic policy.
This discussion paper undertakes a preliminary exploration of some of the initiatives and relationships, both new and long-standing, that have an impact on the region's trade and economic performance. These include the European Union and its economic partnership agreement with the Caribbean Forum, the USA (Caribbean Basin Initiative) and Canada (CARICOM–Canada free trade area negotiations). It will also look at the shifting global trade landscape, including the emergence of mega regional trade areas such as the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement.
- Keywords:
- Caribbean Basin Initiative, Brexit, trade partnerships, CARIFORUM-EU EPA, Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
- JEL Classification:
- F13: International Economics / Trade / Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
- F15: International Economics / Trade / Economic Integration
- F6: International Economics / Economic Impacts of Globalization
- R11: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / General Regional Economics / Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes


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Not sure you want to major in Psychology? You can always consider a minor. The minor is also available 100% online for those students who prefer online courses.
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Ghana defender John Mensah boosts his World Cup chances with second straight match in Slovakia
John Mensah
By Ameenu Shardow
Ghana defender John Mensah boosted his chances of making the Black Stars World Cup squad in June as he made his second successive start in the Slovakian top-flight on Saturday.
Mensah, who is recovering a serious back operation which forced his one-year absence, was in action in FC Nitra's 2-1 defeat to Senica.
His continuous playing time for the Slovakian side will boost his chances of gaining the needed fitness for him to play for Ghana at the World Cup.
The Black Stars defender was playing his second straight game just under a fortnight after joining Trograri on a short-term deal.
Mensah however suffered another defeat with his new side who are facing a battle to stay up in the Super Liga.
The Black Stars defender was substituted in the 73rd minute after Senica had pulled even.
Kostelny had given Nitra a third minute lead which was cancelled out by Opiela in the 68th minute.
Senica left it late to win the match as Piroska struck in the 80th minute to clinch all three points at stake.
Despite the defeat, the gradual playing time for Mensah bodes well for Ghana as he could gain full fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Do you think Ghana should take John Mensah to the World Cup as part of the Black Stars squad? Make your views known in the box below:
CommentsThis article has 9 comment(s), give your comment
Ghana is my land says:March 15, 2014 09:24 pmWow,he looks smart in this pic.Hope he regains his top form back before AA names hos final squad.
nana boahen, Hamburg says:March 15, 2014 10:10 pmGood to see u in action and hope the Almighty God bless all ur endeavours.
selfmade says:March 15, 2014 10:17 pmAn injury free mensah is a beast!! Match fitness is regained by playing two or three matches!! He is back!!
selfmade says:March 15, 2014 10:19 pmHe is back!! An injury free john mensah is a beast!!
Kwabena says:March 16, 2014 12:08 amThis guy is just aiming at the appearance bonus! He is now broke for divorcing his wife. You just put him in the squad to Brazil and he will start throwing his hands in the air just after 45mins of the first game and that will be it for the tournament. He will then tell Ghanaians that it is not his making that he is injured. Harry has advised him to take up a business and he better take heed to that and leave our BS for us. He has finished contributing his part and we appreciate that! Do not be greedy, man!
kantoose says:March 16, 2014 06:27 amPeople are being paid to kiss John mensahs nyash or what? As if when he plays we never loose. the rock is slow and old face it people!!! Even currently in Nitro or Nitra as a defender are strikers not getting past him to score? Is his team not loosing in the unknown slovakian league? 'Mo ma y3 aso nko adidie.'
Onyx says:March 16, 2014 07:11 am@kantoose, u might be right but i hope u know what is team Work
keith from germany says:March 16, 2014 07:28 amFrankly speaking i dont think it will be a good idea to bring back john mensah. The john mensah we used to know is not the john mensah now. I personally think kwesi appiah has to motivate and install confidence in the players he has. John mensah is an injury proned player who always gets injured and that will be a big risk of taking john mensah to the mundial at the expense of a hundred percent fit player. John boye from my own perspective is a very good player eventhough his form has deeped down. AA is too quiet as a trainer for my liking. He has to motivate the boys and when the going gets tough he has to come up with a plan. But we dont see that from him i have to honestly admit. Guys believe me john mensah has past his prime because he aint that sharp anymore. For me personally its about time players like john mensah,john pantsil and richard olele kingson call it a day. Guys let me give u a good example german national team trainer Joachim Löw made micheal ballack and Thorsten frings quit their national team career because he proved to them that he dont rely on them but rather he wants to give young guys like khedira and özil their chance and we all know what happened. Kwesi Appiah must be bold because he sometimes makes me feel he is not in charge but rather ppl are dictating for him. Thats my opinion so if you dissagree bring on a constructive arguements
selfmade says:March 16, 2014 11:59 amAn injury free john mensah is better than all the average central defenders were are taking to the tournament! He ll regained his fitness by playing constant and i believe AA ll take him to Brazil!!! Our defence is too weak and high school defence!! We need stability and AN INJURED FREE JOHN MENSAH LL BRING EXPERIENCE!!


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Nurses working at Youngstown's Northside Medical Center rejected a contract Tuesday that hospital officials said was their final offer.
The voting took place over the course of three sessions on Tuesday at the Teamsters Union Hall, not far from the hospital. Vote totals were unavailable, but a union member said 90 percent of the members voted the contract down.
The union also voted to authorize a 10-day strike notice if it is needed.
"The nurses overwhelmingly authorized us to give that notice in the event that the negotiating teams feels it's necessary to do so. Again, it's not our intent to rush out there to do that. Our intent is to get back to the bargaining table and it's always our intent to reach an agreement," said Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association president Eric Williams.
WKBN obtained a copy of what hospital management said was their final offer for the approximately 400 members of the bargaining unit. It was sent to those members late last week, with claims the two sides had reached an impasse in their negotiations.
The deal called for a 2.5 percent pay raise and health care contributions of 17.5 to 22.5 percent of the insurance premium. Also, nurses would have had the opportunity to volunteer to stay home on days when staffing levels are adjusted. The voluntarily furlough days was one of the main sticking points, union officials said.
"Our registered nurses are valued colleagues who play a critical role in our work to provide patients with quality, personalized care," said Trish Hrina, Vice President of Marketing for ValleyCareHealth System of Ohio." While it is unfortunate not to have resolution with the O.N.A., we are committed to continuing in a productive, mutually beneficial and respectful relationship with all of our employees."
Williams said earlier in the day that hospital management has refused to listen to the nurses' concerns regarding patient safety and quality of care, noting patient care is the "union's number one priority."
Executives with ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, which runs Northside, are accusing the union of trying to discredit the hospital and engage in what's being called "regressive bargaining."
The letter sent to nurses states the hospital also has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union. The letter came just a day after executives announced a series of layoffs at Northside last week.
ValleyCare Health System of Ohio announced last week they are laying off the equivalent 77 full-time positions as they make a $29 million investment in upgrades to the hospital on Gypsy Lane.
Nurses at Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland and Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, the other hospitals in ValleyCare's system, have reached three-year work agreements with Community Health Services, ValleyCare's parent organization.


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A small Catholic university sued the Obama administration Tuesday over the controversial order requiring that insurance companies cover birth control.
The suit was filed on behalf of Ave Maria University in a federal court in Florida. University President Jim Towey, who led the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives during the George W. Bush administration, said the pushback against the White House's policy will keep growing.
"I just think its getting started now," Towey told reporters.
He said Catholic institutions held their fire while they waited to see the details of the revised contraception mandate. Now that they've had time to digest the policy, more employers will use political pressure as well as the courts to challenge it, he predicted.
He said the federal government has "bullied" religious institutions into a choice between breaking the law or violating their core beliefs.
President Obama recently announced changes under which employers like Ave Maria won't have to include contraception benefits in their healthcare plans or directly pay for those benefits. Employees will get birth control from the insurance company without being charged a co-pay.
"It was little more than a shell game," Towey said. "They can say it's free all they want, but if these drugs cost money today, they'll cost money tomorrow."
Towey said he would quit offering healthcare benefits to university employees rather than "comply with an unjust, immoral mandate." Ave Maria provides healthcare coverage to 129 employees at an annual cost of about $1.7 million, he said.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ave Maria by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has already filed three other challenges to the contraception mandate.


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Raytheraym said...
Mar. 24, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Mar. 24, 2011 at 4:19 pm
I really like this picture. I like how the sun flare kind of makes it look like the picture's burning and how the sepia color gives it a feeling of nostalgia. Very nice. :)
Ahnieeex3 replied...
Apr. 22, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Apr. 22, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Why, thank you! :D


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Avocado Mcdonough GA
Mcdonough, GA
(770) 898-6731
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(770) 898-3593
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Mon-Fri:8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sat:8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sun:8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Pharmacy #
(678) 432-2258
Pharmacy Hours
Monday-Friday: 9:00 am - 9:00 pm Saturday: 9:00 am - 7:00 pm Sunday: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Locust Grove, GA
Bakery, Deli, Floral
Store Hours
Open 24 Hours
Mcdonough, GA
Mcdonough, GA
Mcdonough, GA
Bakery, BJ's Gas(R), BJ's Optical Department(R), BJ's Propane(TM), Delicatessen, Rotisserie Chicken, Tire Center
Store Hours
Mon. - Sat.: 9 A.M. - 9 P.M.Sun.: 9 A.M. - 7 P.M.
Locust Grove, GA
(770) 288-4186
Stockbridge, GA
(770) 474-1822
Avocado Stuffed with Turkey, Healthy Recipes, 1stholistic.com, Holistic Living
A great recipe that takes advantage of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other occasions.
2 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken
Preheat oven to 350'F (175 deg C).
In a medium bowl combine mayonnaise, onion, celery salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in turkey. Mix well.
Sprinkle each avocado half with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Drain any excess lemon juice. Fill the avocado halves with turkey mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.
Arrange filled avocado halves in a single layer in baking dish. Pour water into the dish to a depth of 1/2 inch.
Bake filled avocado halves 15 minutes or until cheese melts.
Garnish with chives, if desired.
Makes 6 servings
[ More Recipes ][ More Great Reading ][ Holistic Living Home ][ Holisticonline Home ]
1stholistic.com and Holisticonline.com are developed and maintained by ICBS, Inc.
Click here to read the rest of this article from 1stholistic.com


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Andrayah Adams of St. Paul Como Park
1. Adams stands alone
Coaches of seven of the field's eight teams reported at least one player who surpassed 1,000 career points. A fun coincidence saw Hutchinson senior forward Erin Corrigan and junior guard Tori Wortz reach the milestone in the same game this season. When talking points, however, St. Paul Como Park senior guard Andrayah Adams dominates the conversation. Adams, who will play at St. John's University (N.Y.), has more than 3,000 career points and led the Cougars to their first state tournament appearance. She averages 25.1 points per game this season and went to another level in the playoffs. Adams dropped 34 points on Hill-Murray and 35 on DeLaSalle.
2. New champion assured
Two-time defending champion Park Center moved up to Class 4A, leaving a throne for the taking. No. 1 seed Hutchinson has not reached the title game in five previous tournaments. Programs hoping to add to the trophy case are No. 5 seed Holy Angels of Richfield (1975), Marshall (2001, 2002) and Becker (2007). No. 4 seed Marshall, led by seniors Marah Mulso and Lexi Saugstad, is motivated after placing second the past two years.
3. Favorable matchups
Hutchinson is positioned for a deep tournament run. The Tigers must tame Thief River Falls and Ms. Basketball finalist Meleah Biermaier in the quarterfinals. If successful, they would play Marshall or Holy Angels, teams they defeated four days apart in early December. A late surge allowed Hutchinson to upset top-ranked Orono in the Section 6 final and advance to the girls' basketball state tournament for the first time since 2012.


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The 31 floors below Sky Lounge constitute 'the tallest student accommodation in Europe'; rent for a single room within begins at £280 per week. It's safe to say there's no one scraping by through their studies up there.
It's generally accepted that bar prices rise with building height: true here, but in this case quality remains at basement level.
Sky Lounge is kitted out in Ikea-style furniture and is unflatteringly lit. The drinks list is uninspiring; when we visited, food, which the website promises could be West Mersea oysters or a sushi selection, was limited to a wavy ceramic plate of standard nibbles. For £6.
The view, of course, is amazing, but there are far better places to drink at height in London (the nearby Vertigo 42, for instance). If you're looking for somewhere to hire out for a corporate event, you'll find Sky Lounge suited to your needs. Couples or groups of drinkers should look elsewhere.
After one drink, our bill was brought unbidden: the staff must have read our minds.
Not to be confused with the similarly-named Skylounge.
|Venue name:
|Sky Lounge
|Cross street:
|9 Frying Pan Alley
|Opening hours:
|Open 5pm-midnight Tue-Fri
|Tube: Liverpool St tube/rail
|Do you own this business?
You may be interested in:
Average User Rating
1.3 / 5
Rating Breakdown
- 5 star:0
- 4 star:1
- 3 star:0
- 2 star:1
- 1 star:13
DO NOT GO! If you are planning to get there with a voucher they don't tell you that you can redeem it only on Wednesdays and Fridays from and only in defined time slots. I took me 4 days and 6 emails to redeem my voucher. In fact they manage to answer emails only after 1am. The day before the booked day the sent me this email: "Due to unforeseen circumstances we have to cancel you booking for Friday, We apologize for any inconvenience caused." No further reasons were given, nor alternative dates. Nobody answered when called to the number on the website. DO NOT GO!
We made a booking with the limited availability given by the merchant We turned up on the time of our agreed booking, only to find that the evening had been cancelled by Jadvents (merchant). We had not received any correspondence or email from them to advise that it was cancelled. I struggled to get a hold of the merchant and was sent a text message saying that ALL people affected were emailed of the cancellation [after realising that their contact number on their website was incorrect…deliberate ploy maybe!!). I responded and requested that they forward evidence of this as I never received an email and other people who had bookings also were not advised of the cancellation as they too had turned up at Sky High only to be advised it was cancelled. I am yet to receive any evidence or apology or anything else. We had some very important guests of some media companies with us and they were gobsmacked!! This place should be closed down!!
I totally agree with the other disppointed reviewers and only wish I had read them before buying the voucher from Time Out. Even at the discounted price of £20 this was a rip off! 4 cocktails and 6 canapes somehow translated into poor quality bellinis (no other cocktails available) and a plate of 2 water biscuits, a few slices of processed cheese, a blob of Hummous, 3 grapes and 2 slithers of warm quiche. Staff incompetent. Call me back when I've finished laughing and take me off the mailing list now! If I could give this place 0 points I would. Oh, did I mention the appallingly uncomfortable seats?
On reading reviews before we went for dinner I was little concerend as to what we would encounter, but knowing that we had spent our money on a discount voucher, were were prepared for whatever came our way..My wife and I went there for our wedding annivesray, we had brought a voucher from one of those discount websites ( Can't rememebr which one) On arrval the recpetionist was very polite and made us feel very welcome. On exiting the lift we were greated by our waitress who lead us to our table , even while we hopped from table to table deciding on the best place to sit she remained polite, patient and humoured us. The decor was minimal and simple which we liked. The menu was simple but nice and we agreed that the prices per dish were not that bad and we would be more than happy to pay the normal price for the meals. The service only faultered once it became busier. This would be my only critism I think a few extra hands on deck would help solve this problem. The mamangement were polite to us as were the other members of staff who served us. I feel that the recpetionist who was serving us was put under alot of unnecessary presure due to lack of staff. the only downside of the evening was that sat behind us were two of the most disgusting girls I have ever encountered! from the outset we could hear every word of their conversation which basically consisted of thm conspiring to get free drinks and a refund for their voucher by complaining! They were served by the same waitress as us, and treated her so badly for their own personal gain that she was a nervous wreck afterwards. We told her what we heard and she inturn told her manager who politly asked them to leave. For anyone wishing to visit the Sky Lounge, please remember that this only a simple place , just because it is on a floor overlooking the city don't expect to much especially as majoriy of people who have slated it have paid a discount rate anyway. I for one would would be more than happy to visit this establishment again and feel that we treated in a very professional manner.
Don't waste your time or money (even if getting what seems to be a reasonable voucher).. EXTREMELY RUDE STAFF who were unreasonable to a friend when she politely asked if she had to pay entrance at 6pm even though she would not be claiming her "free drink".. Totally unprofessional- especially manager Dean!
Went to sky lounge last night. Views are pretty awesome, considering London does not have an abundance of sky scrappers it is good to see the view from the top. Canapes were laughable and a bit strange, though i had prepared myself for this by reading these reviews. They are also extremely small - around the size of a pound coin each. Be prepared to go for dinner before or afterwards because you will be hungry. Drinks were fine, bellinis are just glasses of cava with fruit puree but the beer and wine were good. For £20 you can't complain too much, you can do much worse in London. The drinks were cold, the atmosphere was fairly good and the views are awesome, especially if you can catch a sun set.
Absolutely awful. I never write reviews for anything but I really feel I have to for this place because it is just so awful. They advertised a deal with "cocktails" and "canapés" - when I got to the bar I was told I can have beer or cheap sparkling wine with a raspberry in it. To me this is a very loose use of the term "cocktail". The food only added to the disappointment. I received 6 pieces of bread the size and shape of a pound coin, each with an inedible looking paste on top. The staff were rude. The place feels small and cramped. The view is OK but nothing special and certainly does not make up for the lack of charm and cheap tacky furniture this venue offers.
Went to sky lounge last night. View was amazing. The atmosphere made us really uncomfortable, drinks were average and the canapé which was part of the offer was the smallest food I ever seen, each individual thing around the size of a button. would only recommend this place for the view, I would eat and drink Elsewhere!
Wish I'd seen these reviews earlier. Bar staff incredibly rude (to me anyway, apparently very pleasant to the female friend I went with...). I asked politely for our canapés only to be told to 'go away'. When we eventually got them, they were tiny and very average. Both of us agreed our peach bellinis were undrinkable - never had a drink that smelt and tasted so foul. To their credit they agreed to change them for wine. View was good but everything else about this place was dreadful. Have no intention of returning or suggesting anyone else goes there either.
The view is good but everything else was a bit rotten. Snooty staff, the worst cocktail I've ever had and warm budwisers to select from didn't help. The canapés were edible but small and uninspiring. The only reason we went was that timeout had an offer saying £20 for £80 worth of stuff (4 drinks and some canapés) but drinks were £5 each and canapés were £6). What a pity as the previous timeout vouchers have been good but this was a complete letdown.
Visited the Sky Lounge on Thursday 12th July after purchasing a Time Out offer for drinks and canapés for two... Printed off the vouchers (we bought two as we were taking friends) but arrived to be told it was closed...!!! The bar is in the same block as student accommodation (...there were lots of students running about screaming, shouting and wrestling each other to the floor when we arrived!) and the security staff didn't seem to know why it was closed but didn't seem surprised... All in all I'd say it wasn't the best experience and slightly embarrassing as we'd taken friends, dragged them round in the rain for half an hour as we couldn't find the place as it's not sign posted and they we arrived at student accommodation... Not where I'd usually invite friends for a supposed "stylish" night out!!! ...refund please!!!
This is advertised as drinks and dinner to the value of £100... what they should say is £10 and even so there is no way the pathetic plate of "tapas" we got is to the value of £10 nevermind £100. The drinks weren't great either. The staff are miserable, the bar area is small and there isn't enough window space to get a good view. An absolute rip-off and a massive disappointment! Don't go!
by far the worst tapas/drinks in town. the only thing worth going to the 32nd floor is the view. AVOID.
if i could rate this 0 starts I would. Just dont go.
Went here the other night - what a complete disappointment! Worst mixed drinks ever... "delicious sharing plate" was inedible. the view is great but that is where it stops. Service was bad, atmosphere was terrible, full of old people clogging up the windows and drinking off cheap ikea furniture trying to look classy. Avoid!


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By Miguel Rivera
WBC International Silver junior middleweight champion Jorge Paez Jr. (32-4-1, 19KOs) will face welterweight contender Charlie Navarro (22-5, 17KOs) on October 20th at the Calafia Bullring in Mexico. The initial opponent announced was former champion Steve Forbes, but it was later revealed that Forbes never actually accepted the fight. In recent years Navarro lost decisions to Thomas Dulorme and Vyacheslav Senchenko.
Tags: Jorge Paez Jr.


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Bottle gourd- Guard against diseases
Lauki, dudhi or bottle gourd holds pride of place in the Indian Ayurvedic medical system. Here is why our ancestors included it in their regular diet, and why it still makes sense to do so.
Lauki is 96.1% water, so is light on the stomach and aids digestion. A 100 gm serving of lauki contains just twelve calories and is ideal if you are watching your weight.
Health benefits of lauki
- Cooked lauki is cooling, calming and acts as diuretic. It makes you relax after eating. But don't eat the vegetable raw as it can harm the stomach and intestines.
- It plays a very important role in treating urinary disorders. Prepare a glass of fresh juice by grating lauki and then mixing it with limejuice. Drink it once a day to combat the burning sensation caused by the high acidity of urine. It can be had along with sulpha drugs to treat urinary infection as it acts as an alkaline diuretic.
- Lauki juice is an excellent remedy for excessive thirst caused by diarrhea, over consumption of fatty or fried foods, and diabetes. Drink a glass of this juice with a little salt added to it to treat this condition.
- A glass of lauki juice with a little salt added to it prevents excessive loss of sodium, satiating thirst and keeping you refreshed in summer.
If you are on a low calorie diet, suffering from digestive problems, are diabetic or convalescing, then lauki is must for you as it is easily digestible and low in calories.


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If you're just wanting to get a ready-made Metatrader script that closes all trades per chart or for the whole trading account, then follow the links and download the MQ4 script file of your choice:
There are many ways to write a script that closes all orders in MQL4, just as there are many ways to accomplish virtually anything via code. However, if you've taken the time to look at the code for any of the various Close All routines that can be found on the various sites on the WWW, you will notice some striking similarities. Before you can close all orders, you must first learn how to iterate through all the open orders and learn something about how MT4 (Metatrader 4) handles orders.
MQL4 has a simple way to iterate through all open orders for a given account by using two simple functions. The
OrdersTotal() function help file states that it returns, "market and pending orders count." By orders, the creators of MT4 really mean orders such as stop orders, or trades such as buy or sell trades. The other little tidbit that the MT4 help file leaves out is that all orders and trades for the current account will be checked with this function. A simple loop to iterate through all orders and trades might look like the following:
for (int i = OrdersTotal(); i >=0; i--) {
// Do something here
In the code above the (int)eger i is declared (
int i = OrdersTotal();) or in other words i is set to the total open order count.. The line termination character in MQL4 is the semicolon. The loop continues while
i >= 0 or in other words until no orders are left. When
OrdersTotal() returns -1 there are no orders open. (This is an undocumented return value that you may want to make note of.) The integer i increments down by 1 each time (
i--). This is the basics of a "for" loop. The variable names can change (i was used in this example) but "for" loops follow this basic pattern every time. Curly brackets start and end a block of code, in this case a for loop.
Next you need to select the orders by using the
OrderSelect() function. This can be done as follows:
OrderSelect(i, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES);
In the MQL4 code above, orders are selected one at a time, using i as the reference number. Orders are selected by position. The two ways to select an order are
SELECT_BY_POS which will give the index of total open orders, starting at 1, and
SELECT_BY_TICKET which will return the actual order ticket number. When
SELECT_BY_POS is used, a optional pool index may be entered with the default being
MODE_TRADES which returns order index numbers of open orders and trades, while
MODE_HISTORY will return the index numbers of closed and cancelled orders.
If you wish to close all open orders, you should use
MODE_TRADES, which will select trades by index number so
SELECT_BY_POS is used for this example. Putting the code together, you have the following:
for (int i = OrdersTotal(); i >=0; i--) {
OrderSelect(i, SELECT_BY_POS, MODE_TRADES);
You will learn how to close an order using
OrderClose(), and how to use the
OrderType() function to differentiate between buy and sell orders in MQL4.


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Hi Guys,
Please help me to find the best way to handle the following implementation
1.Fire multiple mysql queries in parallel on different mysql DBs located on different server locations.
2.Fetch the data and aggregate the data grouping on a specified column.
3.Mysql DBs contain same DB tables but with partitioned data.
Any java/j2ee technologies are fine.
Thanks in advance,


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ACT research says prices for used Class 8 trucks are going up
Data from ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles, indicates that the average retail sales price of Class 8 used vehicles sold in September was up 3 percent from August at $42,100.
in the NewsUPS announces new additions to Marketplace Shipping solution Attendance soars for spring's Pack Expo East INTTRA expands ocean carrier network with NAMSUNG Shipping FedEx fiscal second quarter earnings top Wall Street estimates Latest ProGMA video highlights loading dock hazards More News
Data from ACT Research, a provider of data and analysis for trucks and other commercial vehicles, indicates that the average retail sales price of Class 8 used vehicles sold in September was up 3 percent from August at $42,100.
The firm also noted in its "State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks" report that while the average retail sales price was up, the number of units sold declined by 5 percent from August, with dealers reporting tightening supply of late-model equipment.
ACT officials said that having fewer than necessary trucks of the right specifications is exacerbating the shortage of equipment and helping to drive up prices. And while the number of transactions was lower compared to August, all three used truck sales channels—auction, retail, and wholesale—are ahead of 2009's pace year-to-date. ACT added that the used dealer industry is cautiously optimistic about future prospects, with freight, trucker profitability, and new truck demand improving.
In an interview with LM, Steve Tam, vice president-commercial sector at ACT, said that as available truck capacity continues to tighten on a sequential basis, freight hauling capacity is modeled by ACT as what he described as an active population, which examines the current state of freight hauling capacity.
"We think that pretty much all of the vehicles that are in operation on the Class 8 side hit a 'balance point' in the middle of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter," said Tam. "We don't think there is much, if any, excess freight hauling capacity…out there right now."
Even with a lack of capacity, Tam said that does not mean the trucking industry is using 100 percent of its available fleet. He added that 100 percent capacity utilization is not an ideal situation for shippers and carriers, as trucks need maintenance and re-positioning.
According to ACT estimates, total active Class 8 utilization at the moment is in the low-to-mid 90 percent range, which is the ideal amount for full utilization on an ongoing basis. It the economy was doing better, Tam said this rate could be bumped up a few percentage points.
"For where we are at, we are already starting to see—as a result of being at that level—some incremental demand for new purchases coming in," said Tam. We saw some nice increases on a sequential basis for new Class 8 orders coming in for October, and that is where things start translating through on the used trucks side."
Conversely, used truck sales have been beset by what is happening on the new truck side over the last three or four years, according to Tam. Putting fewer new trucks into the marketplace means that fewer used trucks are being manufactured as a result, he noted, as Class 8 sales are well below average replacement levels of roughly 15,000-20,000 trucks per year.
Contracting the size of the new fleet, coupled with carriers holding onto trucks for longer periods of time is also slowing the flow of trucks into the used truck arena, said Tam.
"We have contracted the supplies over time to a point where we just don't have much late-model, low mileage, desirable equipment in the used truck marketplace to choose from," said Tam. "That has the net effect of putting more upward pressure on prices, as we have seen a sequential increase on average prices this year."
What's more, Tam said that in the past the 'perfect' used truck was a four-year old truck with about 400,000-to-500,000 miles, whereas now it is a five-year old truck with 500-to-600,000 miles, adding that that standard for used trucks has changed, although they are commanding a higher price compared to a year ago.
About the AuthorJeff Berman, Group News Editor Jeff Berman is Group News Editor for Logistics Management, Modern Materials Handling, and Supply Chain Management Review. Jeff works and lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where he covers all aspects of the supply chain, logistics, freight transportation, and materials handling sectors on a daily basis. Contact Jeff Berman
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Article TopicsACT Research · Class 8 Trucks · Trucks ·
Reverse Logistics in the "Age of Entitlement" Logistics Management's Viewpoint on E-commerce: Leveraging available tools View More From this Issue


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18 CFR 153.21 - Conformity with requirements.
(a)General Rule. Applications under subparts B and C of this part must conform with the requirements of this part.
(b)Rejection of applications. If an application patently fails to comply with applicable statutory requirements or with applicable Commission rules, regulations, and orders for which a waiver has not been granted, the Director of the Office of Energy Projects may reject the application within 10 days of filing as provided by § 385.2001(b) of this chapter. This rejection is without prejudice to an applicant's refiling a complete application. However, an application will not be rejected solely on the basis of: Environmental reports that are incomplete because the company has not been granted access by the affected landowner(s) to perform required surveys, or environmental reports that are incomplete, but where the minimum checklist requirements of part 380, appendix A of this chapter have been met. An application that relates to an operation, service, or construction concerning which a prior application has been filed and rejected, shall be docketed as a new application. Such new application shall state the docket number of the prior rejected application.
Title 18 published on 15-Jun-2017 04:02
The following are ALL rules, proposed rules, and notices (chronologically) published in the Federal Register relating to 18 CFR Part 153 after this date.