CohibaLady76

Dems will have some internal fighting on whom to get behind depending on if they keep going far left or try to get more moderate....

Newsome (far left)
Pritzker (far left and money)
Shapiro
M. Obama
Hakeem Jeffries (their B. Obama 2.0)
Andy Brashear

GOP will largely depend on how good Trump/Vance do and the midterms. If good then Vance will pick a VP and to be safe it should be someone independants, moderates, women, can get behind and the left can't easily bash with BS on women's rights, civil rights, etc.

Next 4 years of GOP control is critical and will be impactful long term, but if it could end up being 8-12 years of GOP control then just about the entire supreme court would be GOP picked and maybe 75% plus of all lower federal and appeals court judges. The GOP and its super pac's really need to start putting money into local politics for a real long term grass roots establishment (DA's, council members, mayors, even school boards) as that is were Soros has long been trying to destroy this country.

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I've also heard of couples who eloped and decided to renew vows later, just as an excuse to have a proper celebration with loved ones.

If they had a traditional wedding and reception though, three years is ridiculous to renew vows for.

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Inside of 10-15 years this is what I've seen that made sense. Eloping / courthouse marriage along with the whole Covid shutdown thing causing very small formal weddings, in prison marriage, and Vegas drive thru weddings.

If its 5-7 years after marriage and not one of the above, someone cheated or complete attention driven most likely. Traditionally it should be for the 25, 35, 50 year anniversary type things as part of entering a new chapter in their joined together lives as both probably have changed a lot by then.

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The early 2000s were so good we didn't even take them for granted back then. Especially after 9/11 when everyone was high on Americana. It blasted through 04 and started declining at the start of election season ahead of 2008.

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Facebook and Twitter started being a big thing around 2007-2008. I would say those 2 items almost single handedly started the major downfall for America and people started being more about themselves rather than a community, not to mention being a vehicle for tribal esq ignorant followings of whomever posts the most crap.

Guess his agent was right, wanted $2M and got $2M. I don't see him worth it but KSU is desperate to field a good team and he does help with that. I could see $500k, maybe even $1M for this dude...but $2M?! He isn't a lottery pick type talent.

It is depressing....this NIL stuff is ruining college bball and will only get worse, $2M this year will be $4M in a couple years just because the agents involved. Not sure how that is economical even with a sweet 16 run. Football is big dollars for TV and bowl games especially playoffs, but basketball isn't raking in that kind of money. Its a sad day when you have to have $5M-$7M to pay for your top 7 players especially when the vast majority are almost interchangeable outside of 15 or so kids a year.

Would be a huge get but unless his price has come down over the past couple weeks I don't see LSU being in his wheelhouse for NIL value....After withdrawing from the NBA draft his agent reached out to let schools know he’s looking for a pay day on par with Great Osobor (reported $2 million).

He has eliminated all B10 and Big East schools in addition to other P5 schools that aren't competitive in football. You would think the SEC in general and LSU football does give us a nod there regardless of NIL top dollars.

Its possible he waited too long and all the big money is allocated at other non-Big 10 or Big East power schools. Osobor is ranked #14 overall by On3 while Hawkins is at #17 overall so is a pretty close comparison. Osobor may have the advantage of having 2 years remaining and a strong in the paint game while Hawkins has a more rounded game and better passing.

NIL budgets seem to be closely guarded and is still a big mystery. I have heard rumors that LSU this past year was around $1.5M - $2M on the high side for men's bball. Also heard that CMM prefers to allocate fairly evenly across the roster, at least across the top 7 or 8 players rather than a sliding scale. That in itself has some pros and cons. It would be nice to shell out a big chunk to bring in a game changer surrounded by the rest of solid to good players, but CMM's philosophy is to not get in a bidding war and create unbalanced pay to play, keeping most of the squad on the even with some adjustment based on experience to the team.

Kentucky was operating with $4M this year, and heard various places that Arkansas, Tenn, AUB, and Bama were around that $2.3M - $3M range. One requirement for Coach Cal to take the Arky job was to guarantee at least $6M to be top in the conference. The Waltons, Tysons, and Jones family among others were eager to put that in.

There are always exceptions but from what I've seen, allocating $150-$250k on a player seems to get you solid to good players, though not blue chips and one and done elite talent. Think HS recruits between #30 and #100 and portal players ranked between #40 and #150. That does seem to fit what CMM has been doing and not able to be doing relative to recruits.

Raynaud is returning to Stanford unfortunately.

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Arizona big man Oumar Ballo enters the portal. Most coveted big in the portal yet

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Not quite the most coveted - On3 has him #2 behind Raynaud, but probably also over rated compared to Omoruyi ,Garrison and Goldin. Depending on what they rank Bradshaw as (PF or C), he could be above him as well.

BUT would be a really good fit for LSU. Definitely a traditional Big. 2 time All Pac-12 and also an all defense team in there. Doesn't shoot alot but makes 65% when he does. Solid rebounder and rim protector, not as good defensively as Omoruyi, definitely not as good offensively as Raynaud, not as well rounded as Goldin, but can play and has 5 years of experience with his RS.

The 6'8 PF M. Brown from Syracuse is a top notch defender and rebounder that would be nice but given our current roster makeup with Collins, Reed, Chest, Fountain, and Miller I think the 7' center from FAU would be a nice piece, very good analytics tied to both offense and defense. The Rutgers guy is choice #1 but he isn't coming to LSU.

There are still 2 (Zachery, Dondaldson), maybe even 3 or 4 (kid from N Tex and FAU) nice PG's out there, not including Sears, that have 2-3 years experience and well rounded offensively and defensively.

Must admit I'm a little worried about the "motor" and "toughness" associated with both Reed and Miller if they are to be counted on for heavy minutes at the 4 and 5 so we really need a dog vet down low. And most definitely need a vet PG to go along with Givens / Stewart (if he stays). Sears in Cook 2.0 - horrible on D and me first player on O which is not good for lead guard.

I respectfully disagree on Cam Carter regardless of the home state ties. He's a black hole, shoots too much and NOT a good shooter (38% FG / 31% 3Pt pretty much over 3 years of the same), doesn't distribute the ball much and turns it over quite a bit without making up for it in steals.

We can do much better than this.