KarateKen

Huge trade this morning as the Browns send star DE Myles Garrett to the Rams in exchange for LB Jared Verse, a 2027 1st round pick, a 2028 second round pick, and a 2029 third round pick, according to the LA Rams X page. Rams are all in on this year, adding a star pass rushing to a team that was in the NFCCG last season. Rams should be SB contenders. Good trade for the Browns who are not likely to be competitive, so collecting picks and planning to build a team through the draft is a good strategy going forward. Edit: After posting this I remembered that the Super Bowl is in LA this year, so the Rams are trying to become the first team to win the SB in their home stadium twice. They won it there a few years ago, and of course Tampa Bay was the first team to do it in the 2020 season, but nobody has won it a second time. Could we see an all LA Super Bowl in Los Angles? Rams vs Chargers anyone?? Second Edit: Another big trade just happened also. The Eagles have sent WR AJ Brown to the Patriots. Eagles get a 2027 5th round pick and a 2028 1st round pick, according to the New England Patriots X page.

Many contributions to the site over the years, @aurik. Thanks for your insight to the martial arts.

I fully agree with your Toastmasters comments. When I was in college, I was studying communication and wanted to become a better public speaker, and one my professors suggested Toastmasters. A couple weeks later I went to my first meeting, and I knew right away I was going to sign up. Six months later I was competing in speaking competitions and winning. Shortly after that I was club president. I got more out of my first year in Toastmasters than I did in all my college communication classes combined, where I finished at the top of my class in Advance Public Speaking. I owe a lot of that to Toastmasters. Not only did I get great experience, but a senior member of 20 years offered to mentor me on my first day. It is not just the experience and feedback, you will learn to master your delivery and give great speeches without using notes. It will push you to improve and you will. There was a night when someone who was scheduled to speak had to cancel at the last minute, and we were short a presenter. To remedy this problem my mentor pushed me to do an impromptu speech. Each member would write a topic down on a slide of paper and put it into a hat. I would draw from the hat and whatever topic I got I had to give a five-minute speech on. I had less than ten minutes to prepare. It was a lot of anxiety but I pushed through it and it helped me grow. Even though I have not been in Toastmasters in many years, if I had to give a presentation tomorrow, I would be using what I learned. Some of the best value for my time and money I've ever gotten. I always had text anxiety. What I found is that being prepared is the best way to manage it. There was no way for me to eliminate the anxiety, but with preparation it would reduce somewhat. Preparation and deep breathing were both beneficial to me. At least in my experience, instructors never allowed us to test until we were ready. It is not like school where the first day you learn the midterm is October 22, and you have eight weeks to get everything down for the test. In MA we were not given a test date until sensei knew we were prepared enough to pass. It is not a guarantee that you pass, you still have to nail the test, but they always put me in a position to succeed. The people there are rooting for you, and that helps too. Those are things you touched on and that was my experience as well.

Carolina opens as the favorite, and a fan poll of over 19,000 people voted 69% that Carolina will win the series. They will have home ice advantage being that they had the better record during the regular season. Hurricanes had 113 points in the regular season, most in the east and second highest total in the league. They have gone 12-1 in the postseason, have won their last four games, and dominated the past two games winning by a score of 10-1. They never fell behind in a game during the opening round sweep against the Senators. Vegas was inconsistent during much of the regular season and with eight games left were on the edge of missing the playoffs. Then they changed coaches, and since that time they have looked like a different team. They got hot and went on to win the Pacific Division. Hart and Karlsson, both who were injured for much of the regular season, are back and playing great. Vegas was a big underdog against Colorado and won in four games. They are 12-4 in the playoffs and are on a six-game winning streak. History says that this is the third appearance in the SCF for both teams. Carolina made it in 2002 and 2006. Vegas in 2018 and 2023. Both teams have raised the Cup once, Carolina in 2006 and Vegas in 2023. Carolina has a much longer history since they started in 1997, but actually 1972 because they were the Hartford Wahlers originally, then moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1997. Both teams are strong on defense. It could be a low scoring series and when that happens the team that scores first often has a big advantage. I am looking forward to it. Enjoy the Stanley Cup Finals!

I did not realize that @sensei8 had won Member of the Year three times in a row. That is amazing. Has anyone else done that @Patrick? Bob, you are clearly one of the core members of this forum and have been for a long time. Thanks for your contributions and be well sir.

That is groovy. Do you like em?

The Carolina Hurricanes finish off the Candianos in game five 6-1, outscoring Montreal 10-2 in the final two games. They will face the Golden Knights in the Finals. Here is the schedule for the finals: Game 1: Tuesday June 2 in Carolina (fun fact: June 2 is also the birthday of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) Game 2: Thursday June 4 in Carolina Game 3: Saturday June 6 in Vegas Game 4: Tuesday June 9 in Vegas Game 5: Thursday June 11 in Carolina Game 6: Sunday June 14 in Vegas Game 7: Wednesday June 17 in Carolina All games are at 8pm eastern time and can be watched on ABC. You can also stream them on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, and, I believe, ESPN+. Games 5.6. and 7, are if necessary, as always. The final battle for the 2026 Stanley Cup winner is set.

Hurricanes shut down the Canadians in game four, 4-0, and take a 3-1 series lead back to Carolina on Friday. A chance to win the conference on home ice and advance to play Vegas in the finals.

I had horrible text anxiety. Knowing I was prepared helped a little, but I was a wreck the night before and day of the test. Every single time. Though once the test started the anxiety disappeared quickly. Or maybe I just did not notice it as much after it began. That might have been it.

Happy one quarter of a century birthday. Does that make it sound older than saying 25 years?

Vegas Golden Knights can take out the brooms, they sweep the Colorado Avalanche in four games, and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Vegas wins 2-1 as Colorado made a push to tie it at the end, but the Knights hang on and advance. They now face the winner of the Canadians/Hurricanes series.

Carolina wins an OT thriller 3-2 in Montreal and takes a 2-1 lead in the series. Big game four on Wednesday, either the Canadians tie it up for the Hurricanes will be up 3-1 with a chance to close it out at home. STAY TUNED!!!!!

Welllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll....you didn't! Though it looked like it at first, Colorado scored three goals in the first to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission, but from then on it was all Vegas, Knights come all the way back and win 5-3, taking a 3-0 series lead with a chance to sweep it and win the Western Conference Tuesday night on their home ice. Entering this game Vegas was 0-19 all time in the playoffs when falling behind by three goals, Colorado was 74-1 all time in the playoffs when having a three-goal lead. What a shocking result and what a shocking series. What a game too, tons of action. Very exciting.

The Hurricanes win game two and have tied the series.