dc.

It applies to every athlete. The only exception will likely be for those dismissed for conduct (arrest) or academic issues. But that's not the same as just cutting a kid. The other thing it probably doesn't guarantee is the right to play. You could come on basketball scholarship, get cut, and be guaranteed a scholarship but not a place on the team. That won't satisfy some when they get bumped

Maryland made a nice move today - both for athletes and their own reputation - all athletes at UMD will receive 4 year "lifetime" scholarship offers and guarantees. No more injuries ending scholarship offers. And if you lose eligibility before you graduate or move on before you graduate, they will allow you to return anytime on scholarship to complete you degree (assuming you are in good academic standing). More will move this way as NCAA has allowed schools to move beyond "one year" scholarships (most were unofficially four year offers, of course, but still). Being among the first to go this way is a good move.

31 is too many. But the nearly 300 people on death row found to be innocent... A drop in the bucket.

Crav, his point is if the road runs east west then it divides the state into north and south halves... So how can you be west of a road that runs west? The answer is that roads don't run flat latitude but the idea is correct - "west" of the highway really means north.

i-4 is on a bit of an angle... so I guess you can be west of it. But north would be a more accurate description.

"Sinkhole Swallows Woman's House." "Sinkhole Appears Next to High School - $400,000 in damage and repairs." My favorite... "Another Day, Another Sinkhole in Florida" - ABCNews. https://news.google.com/news?ncl=dCsphbUi-oA2DlMZHQYlci4QFD0iM&q=florida+sinkhole&lr=English&hl=en&sa=X&ei=15TwU-mEDJOtyATylYKQBw&ved=0CCkQqgIwAA And those are all headlines from the last MONTH

First - MD is only in the news because it's less expected and you've been looking at MD news. I had hardly heard of the one until you mentioned it. Second - Florida's are a natural result of the fact that most of Florida is a swamp. A water main is a common cause in other areas. In other words, ours are rare and caused by accidents. Yours are so common there not reported because every one knows they will happen based on reality. Crav, do you not remember the two in Florida in the last two years - one swallowed a guys entire bedroom - him included - and the other ate half a hotel near Disney.

Brady is certainly a good player and I wouldn't doubt a hard worker. But I have two problems. One - the article is a slightly more reporting-based fluff piece. I hate these. We get to read these every week on someone being hardworking or overcoming injury or having a bad life. I don't mean to be unsympathetic because I don't mean that these things aren't interesting. But they simply aren't credible in many ways because of how common they are. And to bring up an old discussion, I take a bit of issue with the idea of Brady ever being "mediocre." Perhaps he was, but perhaps he was simply overlooked forever. Why even spend a pick on a "mediocre" back-up unless you know there is something there that others don't see? It goes back to the problem with scouting and even coaching throughout this league - there is no truly effective measurement of player value or skill, especially for quarterbacks. We rely on magic and lore as much as anything else.

I only meant that last night this team scored 1 run. Davis' at bat isn't the cause of that alone.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11361102 Wait... so, when your offense is running on timely hitting only... and you trade away one of your premium power hitters... you mean to tell me you might suffer on offense a bit??? They are 7-8 since trading for Lester. Walks on offense are down to 4th worst in baseball. Slugging is down to 5th worst. I feel like some of us talked about this, no?

And don't forget... THEY'RE FREE!! Love this logic... The Federal Gov't pays probably 10s of millions for each of these things. Uses them... or doesn't. Some genius has a plan to mediate that cost by selling them off to other municipalities and governments. But then some other genius decides it would be nice if those groups didn't have to pay, so organizes a grant program to pay on their behalf. So really, instead of just giving these things away... we are "selling" them and accepting vouchers/coupons that we made as payment. And you're telling me there's no room to cut a few bucks from the DOD budget? Cut this program's grant operation alone and not only will we have fewer of these on our streets, we'll actually get money for everyone we DO sell.

But hard to put that on Davis not in this instance but because this team has done that so much all year. Last week, I forget which game, we had the bases loaded TWICE in the first three innings - both times with no outs. Both times we scored ZERO runs. Cruz whiffed. Jones whiffed. Double play balls. You name it, they did. And Davis was a part but hardly the only part.

I don't get why buck doesn't just rearrange. Why do we need anyone at the #2 spot between markakis and Jones? It's like when he had Pearce up there (before Pearce got hot) ... Its only pushing Cruz back a short and making it less likely her gets an at bat. But other thought... Hardy. Hitting for average this year and power coming back. Can't sit Davis without a replacement by the way... And Pearce isn't cutting it now either. Davis had a good (or better) home stand. This game can't be his final undoing. Not like anyone else was tearing it up for us last night

Florida- worst state for sinkholes. The entire state sits on limestone that will disintegrate. http://www.businessinsider.com/where-youll-be-swallowed-by-a-sinkhole-2013-3

Wow, Ferguson just can't get it together. Chief now days the original stop was unrelated to the robbery but about the two guys being in the street. He does add that after the original stop the office realized Brown had cigars and therefore could have been a suspect. To me this adds a bit more to the thought the office could have started to altercation, especially in a moment if, "oh crap, it's your!" As a side note, one thing I still can't get past is the number of people, including Brown's friend who start statements with, "we were just minding our own business." True and not.

Because there are no sharks in Florida waters? Want to compare but statistics? And how about gators while we're at it? I'd also like to compare sinkhole stats. Oh and "justifiable shootings"

Yeah that's the incident I referenced earlier. In their defense, they have improved since 2010 apparently. But still scary to think that in the 2000s a force like that doesn't even understand the value of personnel files! (Or didn't want to)

Under this logic, the police can justify militarization in any circumstance under "how do we know they aren't bad?" SWAT teams for car stops? They COULD be armed! The US system largely works under the other assumption - hence the need for reasonable suspicion and probable cause, not just generic fear. I like it that way. The police should have to have a very clear and specific justification for any violent act. Even serving a warrant. Because collateral damage is not an acceptable norm.

That's exactly the point. If the house isn't boobytrapped, why the door ram and bomb gear>

The docs (images and video to confirm) look legit. Surveillance of a guy that looks like Brown (and his friend) wearing what he was wearing. I had heard this mentioned the day of the shooting (or not long after), though never any confirmation. Further, it doesn't justify anything but STOPPING Brown. What's really sad/telling about this police force though is simply this - when they finally agree to release the docs on the shooting and the officer, the first ten pages of the packet are about the robbery. BTW - this story from Daily Beast is just beyond words. Arrest the wrong guy. Beat him in the police station. Charge him with "property damage" for bleeding on police. And worst of all, police admit at the time, there is no way to track which police have had complaints against them - no central system for that because reports are put with arrest reports, not with personnel files. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/15/the-day-ferguson-cops-were-caught-in-a-bloody-lie.html

And yet 10x more than a cop getting shot executing a search warrant we hear about innocent people - in some recent cases even children - getting attacked or gased or killed when cops enter homes violently only to learn the suspect isn't there. If we're talking about a legit "dealer" with known history of violence, then maybe those steps are necessary. But in many cases we're talking about guys accused of selling weed on a corner. Go watch those "SWAT" reality shows that were popular in the last few years - they spend an hour getting revved up, armored up, etc... storm in, knock down doors... and and and... nothing happens except slamming some guy's head into the ground. And then they wander around smiling to the camera about a 'successful operation.' I just don't buy that every warrant is a pass to knock down a door a flashbang a house. But some cops see it that way. What ever happened to knocking ON a door? By the way - don't hear much about local kids with assault rifles. Handguns? Sure. But there is a mythology to crime and criminals that I just don't buy. We know that the overwhelming crime is in located areas and, especially in places like Baltimore, related to drug/gang issues more than just attacks on citizens (though those certainly happen). But this mythology that all criminals have AR15s and hand grenades... that they get their weapons through crazy international arms dealers to avoid our laws (no, they actually just steal handguns from locals)... that they are all coming to break down our doors and steal our TVs and rape our children... I just don't buy it. The stats overwhelming refute all of those ideas.

Latest news is release of officer's name and also confirmation that Brown was suspected (based on appearance) of robbery in nearby convenience store. That was the cause of the original stop. Reports differ on how stop went - officer says Brown came to his car and began altercation; Brown's friend with him says officer called them over and pulled Brown toward car to start altercation. Either way the robbery is bad news. It will give those who want to defend the police their reason. Maybe the shooting was justified - though everything after the stop seems suspect - but the aftermath of the shooting has been anything but justified. Sick watching the police chief on Hannity the other night defending himself and even questioning the state trooper's roles. Dear dumbass, the troopers managed a night with no tear gas and no arrests! Tada!

I don't mean attack the GOP or even "conservatives" as a group - I try to avoid it. I'm not in any camp myself, really - like Papa said, I pick issue by issue. I certainly don't judge anyone just for being on one side or the other. My comment before was more about the establishment and public faces of these groups. As for militarization - is it necessary? Perhaps. But to what extent? Isn't a single state or regionally based unit more than enough? Does every small town need this? And even in response to the LA example, which was extreme, I think we have to consider costs vs benefits. The LA example is one of VERY few I can think of that would fall into needing this kind of presence. I am not convinced that those situations would become commonplace or even remotely more frequent if we didn't have this kind of response. In some ways I even take this - and others do as well - to issues of terrorism. Our response to 9/11 has been beyond extreme. One could argue that our safety since 9/11 is because of the changes to our society and "security measures." But there isn't much evidence to back that up. All the while, 9/11 killed about 3,000 Americans and about double that were killed by police in the decade that followed not to mention 10x as many killed by guns each year. That's not a call for gun control measures. It's just a call for perspective. Where are we putting our resources and energy? What do we fear? We fear the shocking and extreme and unexpected and spontaneous, even though such things are incredibly unlikely to actually harm us. It's no different than the reason people fear planes but not cars. Makes no sense based on the information we have about where you're likely to get hurt. We prepare for the worst but we ignore the everyday; the 'everyday' has become boring because we're used to it.

True libertarians are right on lots of things but even Rand is only a pseudo libertarian ( drones are bad - but he likes the image of drones gunning down burglars?) Most of the claimed libertarians of today - many who identify with the tea party - are really just small government supporters, but certainly not libertarian on social issues or even consistent in their belief of what small government and constitutional rights even means.

You know that's a thought that so bothers me. Where are our "constitution defenders" on these issues of police brutality and peaceful assembly?? Something tells me Alito and Scalia wouldn't have much sympathy for these protestors but would sympathize with the "need for order" by the police. I think it was Salon that had an article today about a "right to carry" march in Houston specifically going into minority neighborhoods (in part because the restaurants they used to match on are kicking them out). These people are carrying rifles and shotguns into hostile areas against community wishes... And being given permits. While Ferguson citizens are marching to ask about a dead kid and being assaulted. And again something tells me these right to carry marchers aren't exactly feeling the need to go defend their fellow protestors in Missouri.