DJ V Lawrence
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Everything posted by DJ V Lawrence
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Ah, the milking of America As I said before, it's literally word on the street. Quick question: If you had bad healthcare in Canada, or no healthcare in the USA, which would take longer for medical treatment, and which would cost more? I'm not trying to be cheeky; that's an honest question. I'm not too aware of Canada's health benefits. Also, if you don't mind me asking about your insurance, AETNA. Was that provided by your job, or is that seperate from your job's benefits?
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I just read the rest of that article on Washington. D.C United's plans for their new stadium sound reasonable and impressive. It would currently be the biggest MLS stadium around (hopefully until Dynamo come into the picture). The Redskins, though? Their new stadium is only 10 years old this year.
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Word on the street has it that everyone in Canada and other certain countries have some sort of health care provided for by the government. Either they're doing something right, or our country's doing something wrong...
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Does it matter? I thought Dungy and Lovie of the Bears and Colts broke that barrier already. Whatever race our coaches or players are, if we end up with a worse record than last season, I'll be equally pissed...
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He looks like he's at head-level with the people in the row behind him
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Just for that, I REALLY hope we land the Penguins. Teach Pittsburgh a geography lesson
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I'm asking about Domanick Davis/Williams
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Looked like he was ready to block Congress itself
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I think it may soon be neccesary to have it mixed-use, and also around the Downtown/MMP area, and if not, any neighborhood or area along light rail (Midtown, Reliant, etc.) I hope and think it will happen. Why? Chances are higher that we'll be landing an NHL francihse in Toyota Center. Even if the Penguins don't move here, there's plenty of other teams who may be looking for a new owner or city (case in point, the Florida Panthers). Toyota Center would then have three professional teams playing there, and possibly a minor league team too if the Aeros stayed there. Concert space at the new Dynamo stadium would make the stadium highly occupied when it wasn't gameday. That's also why I hope they go retractable roof. Say they make a stadium between 25-40K seats. That'd still be perfect for events non-soccer. They wouldn't have to worry about the unpredictable weather during those events. Have outdoor events like motorcross, and indoor like the ones at Toyota that may not come here because of lack of 15,000+ seating. MMP and Reliant are aight 4 concerts, but not as good as Toyota. Perhaps we could pull it off with the Dynamo project. And I think it should be part of a bigger development project like the ones in Washington and NY/NJ. Have that project across from MMP, or at the old Astroworld site (where they already announced they plan a major urban development there), and it would do wonders for both the city and the team. We can lose if we do that, and MLS will be growing in attendance and quality. They're not going anywhere anytime soon.
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I enjoyed five parts of GWB's State of the Union: 1) Dikembe Mutumbo getting recognized, then standing up beside Laura Bush to show he's twice her height 2) All the coughing during the speech 3) When they showed John McCain in the audience. I swear he looked like he was sleeping 4) When they showed Condolezza Rice. Talk about a woman's scorn. She looked like she was ready to battle in a UFC pay-per-view. That was a bad camera angle on her. Looked like you could fight an entire war using her forehead as a battleground. 5) Seeing Nancy Pelosi and Dick Cheney behind Bush. It made the speech so much easier to follow. If Cheney stood up, the Republicans agreed with Bush. When Pelosi stood up, the Democrats agreed. When Pelosi stood up faster than Cheney, she was turned on by Cheney. It's obvious she loves Dick. (whoa, keep your mind out da gutter. That's the VP's name, yo)
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Yo check this out. http://web.mlsnet.com/t103/stadium/poplar_point/ DC United's new stadium is part of a mixed-use development. New York Red Bull as well...
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Is Alexander looking to buy the Penguins, or are the Penguins looking for a good lease deal with Toyota Center?
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Americans love having the best quality behind their sports. We have the best American-style football in the world. America isn't the best in baseball, hockey, or basketball right now, but we have the strongest baseball, hockey, and basketball league avaliable on the market right now. Regardless of how much I love soccer and enjoy watching MLS, it's not even in the top five in terms of best quality soccer-football on the planet. It's getting there, though. More people are taking MLS seriously talent and fan-wise, and more people are interested in watching soccer in America in non-World Cup years than at anytime I can recall in my lifetime (I'm 24). I think that's a safe assumption.
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I don't think there's a debate there; football is definately more complicated. The ways you can score, the penalties that can be called, and the amount of positions on the field far outnumber soccer, and any American sport I can think of at the top of my head. Strategy wise, I'd say football and soccer use just as much. The difference is the fact that football is a game of battles. Make a play, playing stops as both teams plan the next play, then make the next play. There's timeouts, stopping the clock in numerous ways, four quarters, coaches' challenges, and a two minute warning timeout per half, while during all that time, the commercial guys can do their thing, and the analysts and fans can try to guess what will happen next. Soccer is a flat-out war. The clock only stops at halftime. Play only stops when the half finishes, or when someone's injured or fouled hard enough. The strategy being called sponteneously throughout the game, and each player with the ball is their own QB.
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Not sure how else to look at it. I can't remember the last time I've heard of an American sports stadium built within the past 20 years sell it's naming rights for less than 50% what was spent to build the stadium (correct me if I'm wrong there. I just can't recall it happening). This stadium cost $1 Billion. I thought the naming rights contract would have been higher than the Texans' naming rights contract for their complex. Granted, we have a couple big-name buildings involved with Reliant Park, but I was expecting Jones to demand at least $15 to $20 million a year for 30 years for the deal. I expected a bigger bidding war that would have ended up with the sale around that figure.
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It's not insulting at all; I see where you're coming from. The problem with American soccer isn't the fact that we have a lack of fans. They're here just like anywhere else. But similar to what you said, the quality of our biggest soccer league is not the same or better speed/quality of other soccer leagues worldwide that have been around longer and have their fanbase set up already. Our national team is really improving talent wise because half the players are playing in the top European leagues, while the other half play in America's MLS. I think MLS can eventually become as prestigous as the Premiership or other European leagues, but I think we all agree that it won't happen overnight, with one big name signing, or one year with a big tournament. Even if we won the World Cup and proved we were the best in the world, MLS will still need to keep growing. As MLS keeps increasing it's level as it has, it's fanbase will grow along with it. Every demographic, too.
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According to ESPN, there's an estimated 60 million soccer fans in the United States. Sounds like a lot to work with.
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Not neccesarily. Two reason why that may not be the case: 1) More concert space is available downtown than before, and 2) Houston Dynamo is still looking to build a new stadium. Most MLS stadiums are built as concert space. Say they were to build within 5 minutes of downtown (retractable I hope ), and an NHL team moved here, The Dynamo stadium would be the perfect alternative venue for major concerts. Everyone benefits.
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Sounds like a bad deal. The Mets and Nets both have 20-year, $400 Million leases for their new stadiums. My team, the Texans, are part of the biggest naming rights contract ever of it's time. Not, the Cowboys' best deal would be a $300 Million over 30 years? $10 Million a year? When a baseball and basketball team both have $20 Million a year for 20 years? Isn't Jones' stadium a $1 Billion dollar facility? But it won't even have the biggest naming rights contract in the state much less the country? What's the point?
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My goodness, it sounds like a perfect match, doesn't it? Almost like everything may be falling in place for Houston. There's no city looking for an NHL team with a better arena already built than Houston and the Toyota Center, Alexander already stated a long time ago that he want to own a team in Houston, and Pittsburgh may not get a good stadium deal off. Plus, we don't have to spend anything because the world-class arena is there to use. That plus the fact that Hilton may soon officially buy the Comets and lease from Toyota Center?! That's three professional teams in one arena. Over 120 days a year when the arena would be used for sports. Then there's the other events. If they were to move to Houston, I'd say the Toyota Center deal was a major success!
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David Beckham signs with LA Galaxy!
DJ V Lawrence replied to DJ V Lawrence's topic in Sports and Stadia
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6395470 Dude, check this out. Oguchi Onyewu, the NFL-built defender of the US national team and current defender for club Standard Liege of Belgium, is in a bidding war with some of the most famous teams in sports. He's turned down playing with Fulham with Dempsley and McBride, and also turned down Beckham's current team Real Madrid. He may either wind up with defending French champs Lyon, or Chelsea. Either way, he's calling the shots. His goal is to strengthen his game and expand his brand in the U.S. The amount of international attention our players are getting in Europe because of their style of play is a real positive. We may see just how much that experience helps the team when we play Mexico next month. Either way, Beckham's signing, our rudeboys in Europe's top leagues, and the increase in competition for MLS's clubs may all pay dividends come 2010. The U.S. needs a permanent coach before Summer though. No more interim. Either keep the staff U have, or get that foreign coach, and keep Bradley as an assistant with the rest of the coaching staff. Just get that finished with. -
I wasn't aware of the fact that Anschultz owns the Kings. Good point. Also remember that Beckham's recieving around 20% of his $50 Million from Anshultz, and $400,000 from MLS a year. MLS certainly isn't breaking the bank for this deal. They're gonna make MAD bank. I think with all that money behind Beckham's $40 Million a year endorsement contracts, you'll be seeing a lot of him on television for the next 5 years. Univision has also jumped on the bandwagon with ABC, and both ESPN for MLS games, but that may also be because of Superliga. Here's the million-dollar question though. Will Superliga become the next UEFA Champions Cup in the world of sports, or will it become meaningless?
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Reminded me of high school in Alief...
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I think my favorite Real World season was Real World Hawaii.
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The 2008 Presidential Race thread
DJ V Lawrence replied to DJ V Lawrence's topic in National Politics
That's probably how Hannity and Colmes end their day. Tom and Jerry, too... I agree with U with everything U said there about the Democrats. The Republicans, however, that may be an issue. Something's gotta give. The Republicans, just like the Democrats, want to win that office more than anything. Giuliani, McCain, and Romney are probably the Republicans' best chance of winning, and I think it's pretty much because of their stance as not being too far right, which is not too popular right now because of Bush (reflective off his approval ratings). They'll have to stand behind any of these three or try to bring someone else into the race with name recognition to up their chances.