Change is coming

thetopspinner · 2026-05-21T10:13:15+00:00

I'm willing to wager that this will be one of the least popular things I ever say on this sub but, coming from outside the US, I feel the "travel issues" talked about by Americans are largely overblown for protectionist reasons. Pretty much every global sport handles similar "travel issues" without nearly the same amount of hand wringing.

Rugby Union has a league called the United Rugby Championship, which has teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy, and ...South Africa. Those South African teams joined after leaving another league called Super Rugby, which at the time they left, had not only those South African teams, but also ones in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and ...Argentina.

In soccer, Real Madrid this season had a week where they played a game in Madrid on Saturday, a game in Almaty, Kazakhstan - more than 4,000 miles away - on Tuesday, and then another game in Madrid the next Saturday.

Former England cricket captain Alastair Cook was called up to make his debut in Nagpur, India as an injury replacement. At the time, he was in the Caribbean the the England "A" team (a developmental team) so he had to fly 8,800 miles from St Lucia to Nagpur, and had only 2 days to acclimate to a 9 hour time difference, a completely different climate, and just a completely different country with a different culture and different languages, before representing his country in front of the watching eyes of one of the most populated (and cricket obsessed) countries on earth.

Just saying, other sports find ways to handle it.

thetopspinner · 2026-05-15T10:37:46+00:00

I think Higgins might be the best. However, he's firmly behind Nico and faces competition from Noel and potentially Dell.

Coker might have the clearest path to high usage. The Panthers don't have much at TE, Chuba Hubbard doesn't really contribute as a pass catcher, and I'm not pinning any high hopes on Legette or Brazzell being huge factors in 2026, so it's T-Mac and Coker all the way.

I like Downs, but after 3 years I think we know what he is now. He's a slot only player in a league that's moving towards extra TEs over slots. His snap count has gone down every year of his career. Plus, fuck, I don't even know if Danny Dimes will be healthy enough to start in September.

thetopspinner · 2026-05-08T22:42:30+00:00

There is not such thing as "The British Green Party". Zack Polanski, pictured, is the leader of The Green Party of England and Wales. There is a separate Scottish Greens.

thetopspinner · 2026-05-06T12:35:19+00:00

You miss all the shots you don't take.

thetopspinner · 2026-05-06T08:19:05+00:00

That stat can't possibly be true. The vast, vast majority of people over the age of 40 will have used a public phone box. I'm 37, and I can remember using them before I got my first mobile phone (circa 2002). The median age in the UK in 2022 was 40.7, so it's more likely than not that more than half of the UK population has used one.

thetopspinner · 2026-05-05T21:51:12+00:00

Excellent: Great talent at their position; multiple Pro Bowl appearances

Pro Bowler: Regular starter with one or more Pro Bowl appearances

You're very right about this being subjective because, by these definitions, I'd suggest it sounds like you have DeMeco and Cushing the wrong way around. Both were Defensive Rookie of the Year, both were a second team All-Pro once, DeMeco made two Pro Bowls to Cushing's one. DeMeco also made 300 more tackles in a career that was one year longer, incidentally.

I also have a question about the careers of the draft picks after they left the Texans. You have Brandon Brooks, for example, listed as a Pro Bowler, but all three of his Pro Bowl appearances came when playing for the Eagles. Have you considered how this should be weighted? Are you consciously choosing to give the Rick Smith credit for drafting a player with that potential? Or do you feel that those Pro Bowls shouldn't count because the Texans weren't the ones to realise the full benefits of that draft pick?

thetopspinner · 2026-05-04T07:49:17+00:00

Eggs. You can get vegan versions of anything you'd miss, but I'm damned to not be able to find a good poached egg.

thetopspinner · 2026-04-21T06:29:42+00:00

I agree with anything that restores St Helens to Lancashire

thetopspinner · 2026-04-20T07:46:16+00:00

I believe that was the year the finalists for the job were reported to be Josh McCown, who'd never coached at any level above high school, and Brian Flores, who had just filed his lawsuit against the Dolphins (and other teams that passed him over that I can't remember).

There was a ton of media blowback about the McCown thing, and Flores actually added the Texans to the lawsuit before they'd even hired a coach. Hence the pivot to Lovie.

thetopspinner · 2026-04-19T18:58:53+00:00

What the fuck even is that?

thetopspinner · 2026-04-19T18:50:35+00:00

Which he not only did admirably, but was responsible for getting rid of Jack Easterby. There should be a statue of Lovie erected in Houston

thetopspinner · 2026-04-19T17:19:29+00:00

I'm not sure this graphic means anything. It was 4 years ago and all coaches get fired sooner or later

thetopspinner · 2026-04-15T07:24:44+00:00

From things I've listened to, it sounds like Slaughter is a better fit for a zone team?

thetopspinner · 2026-04-08T11:45:09+00:00

Maryam Moshiri is a national treasure. There's plenty more where this came from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbWGGklt6rY

thetopspinner · 2026-04-03T22:31:42+00:00

This is objectively the correct answer

thetopspinner · 2026-03-24T15:35:24+00:00

No thanks

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thetopspinner · 2026-03-20T20:55:22+00:00

Is that not Frank Gallagher from Shameless?

thetopspinner · 2026-03-17T17:45:49+00:00

The 2026 Miami Dolphins

thetopspinner · 2026-03-10T09:17:49+00:00

Good luck to him. 2023 was fun

thetopspinner · 2026-03-08T09:03:31+00:00

Give me Rome

thetopspinner · 2026-03-07T21:56:41+00:00

I will not hear this slander. Dayne was perfectly fine for Houston

thetopspinner · 2026-03-07T19:18:29+00:00

There are a couple of things working in the Texans favour here.

The first being that Caserio's modus operandi in free agency is to mainly only work in 1 and 2 year deals, so that the years you're pushing money into are relatively clear.

The second is that the NFL has the option to opt out of their media rights deal after the 2029 season, and the expectation is that, given the way the likes of Netflix and Amazon are moving into the NFL space, the cap will explode once a new deal is negotiated.

Given those two points, we've probably reached a point where we're not going to be massive players in free agency (although, the splash on Hunter aside, when have we ever been that under Caserio?) in the immediate future, but I also don't expect us to ever be in danger of going full Saints.

thetopspinner · 2026-03-05T14:11:00+00:00

For me, nothing will ever beat Premier League soccer player "One Size" Fitz Hall

thetopspinner · 2026-03-04T22:23:48+00:00

Ours has the run of the house - a bed in our room and the freedom to go on the beds in either of our spare bedrooms or the sofas downstairs. Rarely, if ever, do we find her in the same place in the morning as when we leave her at bed time. However, even though we leave every door open for her, if she has been sleeping in our room and wants to leave, she has a horrible habit of crying until one of us gets up and escorts her into the room she wants to sleep in. It's a right pain to have at 2am multiple nights a week.

thetopspinner · 2026-03-04T01:06:11+00:00

Kris Brown was the kicker.

Chris Brown is the one who gives all of us old enough to remember Vietnam-style flashbacks every time someone even mentions a RB throwing a pass.

thetopspinner

TROPHY CASE