Fresh8686

@Skinsinparadise

No doubt and I agree that those players would have had a better chance here based upon their internal make-up. For the record I actually don't think Geron Christian will succeed to the point of ever being great and I'm just hoping for Donald Penn level production or better, because at this time he seems to lack the requisite level of mental and emotional intensity despite his physical gifts.

Psychology was my major in college as well and I've spent the last ten years building a movement based model of the internal systems/structures behind consciousness that describes and explains why people are "wired" certain ways and how that can change or not and how things actually internalize within people and the chemistries that go into effect based on the type of internalization, it's depth, and it's level of system-wide inter-connectivity, which then has a determinant effect on our personality, beliefs, and capabilities. It's a system I draw upon in my player evaluations for the draft thread and use to self-heal nerve and muscle damage in my own body and even have talked a little about on Michael Gervais' page who is the Seahawks Sports Psychologist.

Anyways, the only minor quibble I have with what you wrote above is that you seem to be selling support network's a little short or maybe not considering how brutal life can be without shelter, especially as a kid? Also, support networks are more than just social networks and include the things you mentioned, plus more basic levels of shelter, nurturing, and exposure to cognitive nuance/depth, plus the quality of the very environment one is in at a given time.

I think we are on the same page, but I want to make sure we are threading the needle in that we agree we need people/outside stimulus to be and become in a healthy way, while also needing to develop ourselves and individuate through self-derived means and consistent action. Even guys like Tom Brady or other self-driven people need others and the right kind of environment to succeed. They especially need others, because that type of intensity needs to have other people around to counter-balance it so it doesn't lead in unhealthy directions. Humans are dynamic creatures, but the range for humanity is so large, that we need a diversity of others to counter-balance and reflect to us the unique feedback we need to progress properly so we all fit together in harmony like shiplap panels. And when we don't get accurate or healthy feedback it ****s us up as people and slows us down, especially as kids, because then we got to spend all this time deprogramming ****ty internalizations and replacing them with healthy ones.

Anyways, thanks for the cool convo man and sorry for the delayed response.

Giants getting hit with some injuries

@Skinsinparadise

I feel you and don’t disagree with anything you said. My comment was more about reacting to/moving the conversation out of possible binary roads and being able to speak about the entire system of which both internal and external motivation play a part in a bi-directional feedback loop that creates interconnected layers of nature and nurture internalizations over time with relative levels of effectiveness. 

Internal motivation that is an identity level internalization, as in a part of who you are and interconnected with a well practiced value system will near always be the most sustainable and consistent foundation. But even that is based on your level of individuation and support network when trying times depress the reactivity and combustion that is what inherently gives motivation its energetic “lift”. 

Thats also how certain kinds of depression work by the way. It hustles people to internalize depression with a hit of comfort, kind of like people dealing with long term cold exposure wanting to fall asleep in the snow. And then that internalization numbs the reactivity of certain internal systems to stimulus which causes both pain/stress and saps the motivation to easily do anything about it. 

Eh, the correct answer is it's always a dynamic mixture of both external and internal, and motivating and demotivating factors. Long-term steady state Internal motivation takes time to develop and it's quality depends on the flavor of internal motivation chosen and invested in and the inter-connected value systems it draws it's energy from. Terry McLaurin is an example of someone who shows long-term practice and development of the "something bigger than yourself" flavor of internal motivation he got from his parents and Chase Young is an example of a "chasing greatness" flavor of internal motivation paired with an understanding that work leads to that greatness ever since his parents showed him the true grind of necessary for success as a kid.

A lot of kids don't have the benefit of external inputs and modeling to form the base needed for long-term steady state internal motivation and have to learn and build up those characteristics within themselves. Geron Christian seems to be lacking in the development of the extreme levels of internal motivation that Chase and Terry show, but the external motivation of a closer proximity to a "shot at greatness" is pushing him to develop. Hopefully, that external motivation can get him strong enough to take the job and succeed, so the positive feedback of success begins to fuel the internal side of that "shot at greatness" based flavor of motivation.

I hate when humans get into a back and forth on one pole position versus another, when the correct answer is always a best of both worlds mixture of the two poles that is relative to the context of the moment.

I hope I live to see the day Putin has his Qaddafi like moment. Where he's deposed and dragged from a drain pipe he's been hiding in, to face the music, like the smirking little **** ****roach he is.

1 hour ago, Die Hard said:

 

Yes, you understand the scorpion for what it is.... based on what it does (not on the story/narrative it speaks). But you always have your own narrative.... you don’t give that responsibility away. And our job is not to change the scorpion - it can’t be anything else other than what it is. Our job/responsibility is to adapt to our environment to survive/thrive. As in nature.... it isn’t always peaceful course.

Yup and being ready for the "it isn't always peaceful" part and integrating that into a healthy way with our boundaries so they have an edge is a key part of being able to thrive that people in general sometimes miss. Peace is determined by Trust and the absence of it in an interaction leads you to a three pronged road of change, contain/exile, or destroy when having to reckon with scorpion like people and the degree of damage giving them unearned trust and access might impart.

1 hour ago, Die Hard said:

Remember the story about the frog and the scorpion?

 

You let the scorpion be the scorpion - it exists because nature intended - but you have a responsibility to protect yourself from it. 

I would also add that you adapt and make sure that you don’t allow the scorpion to control the narrative and act like it’s principled, healthy, and anything but a scorpion. 

It’s crazy that we will have over 200,000 dead in less than 30 days. 

2 minutes ago, Burgundy Yoda said:

This is what I was curious about. Which player said they felt the practice tempo increase? 

It's even better. Ron said it in his presser. He even told the reporters that if it is not up-tempo, keep him accountable and tell him and he will correct it, IIRC.

Quote

A fitted N95 mask, which is used most commonly by hospital workers, was the most effective, Warren said, noting that the mask allowed “no droplets at all” to come out. Meanwhile, a breathable neck gaiter, well-liked by runners for its lightweight fabric, ranked worse than the no-mask control group. The gaiter tested by the researchers was described in the study as a “neck fleece” made out of a polyester spandex material, Warren said.

 

“These neck gaiters are extremely common in a lot of places because they’re very convenient to wear,” he said. “But the exact reason why they’re so convenient, which is that they don’t restrict air, is the reason why they’re not doing much of a job helping people.”

Man, I was happy as hell to hear about a tangible up-tick in the temp of practice, especially compared to last year. Practice fast, play fast.

6 minutes ago, OVCChairman said:

 

 

I REALLY REALLY hope we use him right.  I want him EVERYWHERE.  Get that man the ball and let him work.   I dont want to stick him opposite Mclaurin and expect him to run 4 routes and be effective.  As frustrating and vanilla that last season was, I liked some of the aspects of how Sims was used.  Jet sweeps, reverse, bubble screen, KR/PR, Slot, X, Y... ALL of it.  Move him around and get matchups. 

By all accounts that's exactly what they are doing thankfully. Both him and Mclaurin seem to be saying that one of they're main priorities for off-season work was expanding their route tree and Sims mentioned in this interview IIRC that they had him working the same stuff as last year, plus on the outside and even single receiver sets.

19 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

I listened to an old pre-draft podcast on TDN where Lance Zierlein talked about how he thought Chase Young doesn't even really have any good counter moves or know how to use his hands yet, and he still piled up 16 sacks and 21 TFLs.  Said he was such an overwhelming physical force and that if he gets better with his hands and learns "one good counter" that he could be the next Julius Peppers.

 

Let's concede that Zierlein is right and that Chase is not a skilled rusher yet.  How crazy is it that he was so dominant off of nothing but athleticism, motor, and instinct?  What is this guy's ceiling?  Listening to that take has made me simultaneously temper my expectations for his rookie season because, yes, he's going to need to learn a lot and it is daunting, and also cause my imagination to run wild because he has so many higher levels he can still reach.  He truly could end up being an All Timer.

Yup, if I’m remembering correctly the things I’ve seen/read that he could improve on is converting speed to power with a strong bull rush especially, developing a spin move and just overall a greater variety of pass rush moves and counters, and finishing with a rip move in some cases to turn some of those pressures into more sacks. 

The bottom line is the guy was so dominant in so many different basic, but lethal ways that he didn’t have to develop a greater variety and manufacture uncertainty to win. He didn’t give a **** if dudes were so scared of his inside/outside scissors that they’d drop their hands and expose their chest to a bulrush. He’d still do his same technique and win off superior burst, balance, bend, and strength. He’s amazing, because it’s not that he can’t do all the things people are saying he hasn’t developed yet. He just hasn’t faced a challenge yet that’s pushed him to adapt. I can’t wait to see how he faces adversity and grows as a result. He can and will develop, everything I’ve seen about him says he’s built to face and climb that wall. 

9 minutes ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said:

my wife and I started watching New Girl, about to finish season 4.  Funny shiw, Schmidt is by far the best character on the show.

We've been watching it too and while Jess is annoying as ****, the other characters are hilarious. Season 5 and what we've seen of 6 have been our favorite so far.

It’s nice to hear that they’re expanding his playbook. He said they still have him running sweeps and playing the slot, But they’ll also be splitting him out wide and having single receiver packages for him as well. Makes sense that there are times when he’ll be playing Z with AG flexing to the slot. 

Watching that Randy Jordan presser was worthwhile. I didn’t realize Antonio Gibson used to play QB, that bodes well for holistic thinking when it comes to his various positions and how they work to setup and attack the defense.

I’m really excited to see what he can do in this offense, especially because the second thing that was valuable to learn was about the new complexity of RB route concepts. Which switches the route of a given play based on man/zone coverage and leverages of the defense while depending on the qb and rb to be reading the same thing and adjusting accordingly.

So basically our rb’s will be running a **** load of choice routes and Dwayne is the kind of guy to get off on having that level of dynamicism to attack a secondary with. There will be some growing pains but I’m starting to better appreciate what they’re trying to put together. 

1 hour ago, Rdskns2000 said:

Del Rio just needs to stick to coaching.   Let the focus be him turning around our defense.  Waying into non-football stuff is nothing but a distraction and NFL coaches hate distractions.

 

Rivera is the man.  There's a reason he picked us and decided not to make himself available for other opportunities.  Dan has given him the power.  Riverboat Ron maybe the most powerful Team coach ever.  He wasn't likely to get the power he has here than with the other teams that had openings. 

 

He has unfinished work.  The NFL is littered with coaches who either didn't do well their first time around and won superbowls the next time around.  See, Shanny and Bellichek.  Also, NFL is littered with coaches who did well the first time around but didn't win a Superbowl. On their second team, they finally won a Superbowl.  See, Reid and Shula.

 

If things go well, I see Rivera joining Reid and Shula eventually.  The key to Rivera being able to do that, depends on the QB position.  

This is the most optimistic post, I've ever seen you make. I hope you're right, not just because this is our team, but because it would be awesome to see a genuinely good man have success in this place again like Joe Gibbs Part 1.

One thing, I'll be super interested to see this year is how much of a polymath AGG truly is and how that will positively affect his learning curve amidst all the other challenges unique to this season.