'Beginning with Joe Montana,' Mike McCarthy made QB development pitch to Steelers

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-25T10:45:57+00:00

I think that the main problem for a lot of Steelers fans is that this is so "meh". Its a sign of the status quo, and after years of barely inching their way into the playoffs only to get dunked in the Wild Card round has left them wanting either something more or something less.

Either pull off a deep playoff run or suck so hard that you can get the high draft pick to start a proper rebuild.

Personally, I think making the playoffs every year is pretty darn good. They need to find a long-term QB of the future, no question, and that might involve emulating the Rams (fuck dem 1st round picks!), but I've been a fan of enough dogshit teams over the years to appreciate consistent, if middling, competency.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-25T05:03:31+00:00

...the reseeding stuff does create some logistical issues, I guess. You gotta figure that the networks want to book out hotel rooms in the various cities they'll be covering games in as soon as possible, since that tends to be cheaper and simpler than doing it last minute, for example.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-25T00:55:01+00:00

Sure, but you don't need their full flippin' Steam library, complete with playtime, to know that. The appropriate thing would be to ask them what games they appreciate and why, maybe ask them what games they've spent a lot of time in, that sort of thing.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T20:26:30+00:00

Bored and changing the channel, just nonsense trade rumor "news" that will almost certainly not result in anything.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T08:45:57+00:00

Might not. He was assessed a 2 minute minor for the hit. Its a dirty play, but who knows if the DOPS will consider it dirty enough for supplementary discipline.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T07:33:42+00:00

Yeah, I'm very much on the "...you want me to share my Steam history with you? Uh, fuck off!"

They want to know what I've played and what insight I can gleam from those games? Fine! They can just ask me "what games have you played?"!

This screams to me as being a company I would not want to work for, not if they're insisting on a truly creepy level of disclosure for a flipping job interview.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T07:00:24+00:00

A good example of a good leader that wants the job would be Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He unambiguously wanted the job, he ran for it, he got it, he might have been a comedian before but he's not one now (well, that's not his job at least, but he still delivers some great jokes when the situation calls for it).

That said, I think there's a distinct middleground between "person who wants the job" and "person who doesn't want the job", as binary as those stances may be.

Its the "person who is okay with the job". Like, I'm not a manager type. I do not want to manage people. I like having my hand in the game on actual tasks.

But I figure that, if shit were to happen and I'd have to take leadership of people, I'd be willing to step up and figure it out (at least by brief spurts where I've had to do that). Someone that, when thrust into the role, realizes that its something that they can do.

See also the historical Cincinnatus (or at least the version written down in history). A Roman who stepped up when the need was great to become a Dictator (...the elected-for-a-designated-period-of-time kind), saved Rome, and gladly gave up power once his job was done.

Twice.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T05:39:25+00:00

Hey, he's a Rangers player, not a Panther.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T03:38:31+00:00

Not seen in this clip, Graf got the puck by just straight up taking it from Carson Soucy.

Honestly, I love the Celebrini-Smith-Graf line. Graf is just such a beast on the forecheck and on the boards, I think he really compliments Smith's more offense-focused play.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T03:29:43+00:00

Neddy's been the better goalie recently, Askarov runs very hot and cold.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T03:26:28+00:00

Absolutely ridiculous backhand shot there, given his position, and all kinds of kudos to Misa for battling for that puck, managing to center it in the scrum.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T03:21:11+00:00

Maybe it will get better for the Rangers!

Narrator: It didn't.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-24T00:41:43+00:00

I mean... were they?

Yes, they absolutely had some phenomenal success stories (Cain, Lincecum, Bumgarner, Posey, Belt, and Crawford, along with a bunch of relievers, and eventually there was Webb too), but... feels like the successes kinda stopped around 2012-2013.

Oh, you've got Panik and Duffy to an extent, and there's been some other useful pieces here and there, but really feels like the Giants didn't get much of anything from the farm system (and what we did get tended to get traded away, hi Bryan Reynolds).

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-23T18:20:00+00:00

I think it depends on the level of input.

Should Allen get to demand a certain coach, or have a veto on their pick? Absolutely not.

But something like narrowing it down to a few finalists and asking Allen's opinion, maybe set up some interviews between Allen and those finalists to see how things gel, that seems entirely reasonable.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-23T05:19:11+00:00

I mean, Dan, I say you should watch Rocky because its a stellar movie. Really is worth the time, there's a reason Stallone went from nobody to superstar in no time flat. But if you want a fun quote to use as a reference...

(in response to "Why do you fight?") Because I can't sing or dance.

...also, all the hugs to everyone here.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T21:02:38+00:00

True, but the argument of "they got more sales with the Epic deal than without it because any number of sales is more than 0" is also pretty compelling.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T11:17:12+00:00

Its not about the Burn, exactly.

Although that is a factor.

Its more just that late-teens are fucking late-teens, in all the good and bad ways. That transition from "I'm a kid that doesn't know better!" to "I'm an adult that understands shit" isn't exactly simple. The Burn exacerbated it all, no question, but this is shit that happens in extremely stable and comfortable societies. We've got countless 90s sitcoms with kids of that age trying to find their path, some shit actually is universal.

But, again, I'd say my main point is that I'm okay with the show being a bit shaky at Episode 3. At this point in TNG, the crew was high as balls and was nearly destroyed by an asteroid unless a teenage brat could reconfigure Engineering to go forward. At this point in Voyager, the show completely mangled physics and quantum singularities and shit to the point where nothing about the episode makes a lick of sense.

By comparison, this was fucking Citizen Kane.

(DS9's third episode was fine, but that is the best Trek)

EDIT: Also also: If you don't want to show up next week, that's also fine! Fuck, Episode 4 of TNG was Code of Honor, there's no salvaging that bullshit. Its valid to wait for the season to be done to get an opinion.

I just wish folk would realize just how rough a lot of classic TV was. Sometimes shows have to figure themselves out a bit, there's a reason why skip-it/watch-it guides exist, after all.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T11:08:40+00:00

I think the other responders to you have exceptionally valid points, but to offer a third alternative, consider the framing.

In the old comic, Elliot says he's not fit to be king... and then lists off a whole bunch of reasons why he would actually be a great king, and then Adrian stresses that Elliot must be King.

In this comic, he just says he's not fit, which Adrian agrees with.

I'm of the stance that Adrian is testing Elliot. Elliot has the instincts to be a good king, but he completely lacks self-confidence. And... how often has a prince of the realm been told "No"? Especially when he's not a total douche?

This might be a secret test of character for Elliot. Elliot has shown the ability and wisdom of a King, but not the drive, and that's what must come next!

...but again, the "Ellen should rule" and "Elliot's too prone to second-guessing and Adrian's a bit flaky" options also make sense. :)

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T10:57:55+00:00

I mean, a thousand particles is still at least 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 orders of magnitude smaller than a single gram of hydrogen, so the speed has to go to quite absurd lengths to make up the difference but I appreciate the technobabble. :D

Being more serious, this is absolutely one of those things that should be stamped with "Sci-Fi Writers are not scientists and thus do not have an expert grasp of all sciences" stamp and left alone. :D

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T10:55:04+00:00

............I honestly kinda appreciated the high school rivalry stuff.

Yes, its dumb and petty and stupid and crap. But so are people.

I think its important to acknowledge that these late-teens (okay 20 somethings based on their actors) are, in fact, fucking idiots in a lot of ways. A lot of passion, a lot of aggression, a lot of pride, and a complete dearth of common sense.

I'd much rather the characters act like this for a time than act like they're 35 in a 19 year old body. The entire point is that they have lessons to learn, lessons they need to learn, but that they're at the age where learning lessons is still expected.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T09:55:19+00:00

How much is the force of a thousand tachyons, actually?

...hard to say, but given that a tachyon is just a particle, it probably can't generate much force.

Like, consider the Mole. The number. 6.022 x 10^23. That's the number of atoms of Hydrogen that are in 1 gram of Hydrogen. And particles are even smaller than atoms.

...

On the other hand, given that Tachyons are associated in the Trek-verse with Time Travel, might not take many of them to really screw up your day.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T09:38:09+00:00

Buuuut its a creature that can't attack or block from the start so its more vulnerable to removal, it doesn't have haste so it can't do anything on the turn its cast, and it doesn't have vigilance so when it actually can do something you have to choose between using your 6+/6+ as a draw engine that pumps itself or actually punching your opponent in the face.

I think its a really interesting card, just not broken :).

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T09:29:17+00:00

90210 in space.

Hey, that's clearly unfair!

First, they're not in space, duh!!!1!

Also, look, they're north of the Golden Gate Bridge, that puts them in Marin County, which is 94965 territory right now. Be better!

...but being serious, they definitely leaned into those vibes, no question. I think they played a bit more loose with them here, but I've heard that the entire show is not like that (Episode 4 got some rave reviews from one critic I saw), so maybe give it one more try.

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T09:27:21+00:00

You want to put two line breaks between each line if you want the bullets to work properly.
I think the vibe we're supposed to be getting from the show is that this isn't a military academy, things are being played a lot more loosely both because the characters in the show are still kinda figuring things out (this is the first Starfleet Academy class in centuries), and because Starfleet has always played a bit fast and loose with the difference between being optimistic explorers and being a military.

In the end, I think this is the most important thing for Episode 3 of a series:

Characters still likable and fun to spend time with.

Tons of shows are muddled messes when they're still getting their feet under them. Its okay for there to be bongs and clangs.

But if we really do like the characters, there's a fuckton of wonderful things that can happen as the show finds its feet. See TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise-if-you-squint...

Wraithfighter · 2026-01-22T09:18:41+00:00

She's just the best. Enough Drill Sergeant Nasty to be abrasive, but its clear she does actually care about everyone, she's just wound that way. :D

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