No doubt Denver's D kept them in most of those games long enough for Tebow to pull yet another miracle out of his ass.  I certainly wasn't suggesting he get all the credit for what they accomplished last season.  Considering I'm not even a Broncos fan, I just didn't want to type out a full expose on their season, though statistically their D wasn't even ranked in the top half of the league.

As for the Ravens, anyone who QBs under Ray Lewis's watch is going to look good/succeed.  As for Dilfer, I enjoyed watching him as a commentator.  Amusing guy.

I still can't find any "new" TVC (or CW) figures, but I've managed to track down nearly every other new item (and extras) that I need over the past week: K-mart AT-ST, Maul Returns BP, TRU Speeder Bikes & add'l Ewok & Pilot sets, and the MTT at WM.  Nice to find some new stuff out there, but with the exception of the Ewok & AT-ST Driver 2-pks coming to K-mart soon, there's not much else on the horizon.  It looks like I'll probably be heading back into another 6 month dry spell now.

The numbers don't back you up.

No kidding.  Any football fan could tell you that.  That was indirectly my point.  Hell, no one has worse stats than Tebow, other than possibly Rex Grossman and a handful of no-namers.  Yet the guy could somehow, inexplicably, get it done when it counted, even in the playoffs for one game.  On the flip side, Cutler puts up strong numbers every year, but continuously fails when it matters, and does so with extraordinarily "unusual" flare.  Skills, obviously.  Mental fortitude and QB IQ, not so much - hence my "from the neck up" comment.  If I was a GM or head coach, I would never want a guy like Cutler leading my team, or even just it's offense.

I've been a big box score and league leader reading junkie for over 30 years, but occasionally the numbers don't tell the full story.

I decided I better stick something else in here quick before I get banned for that last post.  Probably my favorite hottie right now, even if Leo used her all up a few years back - Bar Rafaeli:



Not really going out on a limb with her being #1 on Maxim's Hot 100, I know, but still...

Thanks for the info guys.

That's pretty much how I feel, Chris.  I'm not interested in keeping a car for a good 10 years anymore, which would obviously be cheaper in the long run, I know.  I'm more around the 5-6 year range currently, but still manage to have the usual maintenance issues popping up within that range, and still hate to deal with selling the thing at the end, or even trading it in for peanuts (always less than KBB trade-in value).  I'd love to get down to 3 years per new car.

As for money, we've always put about half down up front, which would probably be much more (x2) than three of the smaller leasing down payments added up over the same 10 year stretch.  Our credit is like top 2%, so financing is always a breeze and practically immaterial for us.  However, you guys have pointed out something that I was completely brainfarting on: The probable increase in insurance.  Duh.  I'll have to get some more specific info and run some numbers to see what that comes out to in the long run, as that could be somewhat material (and a potential wash on the avoided maintenance problems).

I'm still interested to know how the timing works out at the end of the lease, as you're heading into a new one though.  Do you have to get something else lined up prior to the end of the current lease (assuming same dealership, of course).  Or do they give you a brief grace period to find something new?

Here is a good article on leasing a car.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/buying-selling/buy-or-lease.htm

Thanks.  Helpful read.

Read me

Um...  Thanks, again?   

You guys had one pretty recently.  He's a Bear now

Seriously?  I'd take Tebow over Cutler any day of the week, and 10x on Sunday.  Cutler might have more conventional QB skills physically, but from the neck up, he shouldn't even be in the NFL.  I can't think of anyone over the past decade whose professionalism has offended me more than him.

As unconventional and downright crappy as Tebow can be, it's been sad to see him get buried on the Jets bench, after creating some of the most exciting moments in the NFL last year.  At least Sanchez earned his starting job this week though, so that should keep the Jets fans off his back for at least another week or two.

Surprising upsets in Green Bay and New Orleans this weekend too.  RG3 looked pretty damned promising, and really kept his composure in his debut.  And the 49'ers D' proved it's not a flash in the pan either.  I thought last year may have been a fluke for them, but perhaps not.  Bad start for the Pack.

Good to see AP back (early) as well.  They need some decent running backs in this pass-happy league now.  Speaking of which, despite the solid pre-season, I wasn't overly impressed with Luck's inaugural outting.  They better find a way to hand the ball off a bit more, or that poor kid's arm is going to fall off at this rate.  I still think he'd have been better off with a year's tutelage under Manning, despite his maturity and intellect.  I guess it's hard to go that route with the rookie contracts nowadays though.  Manning sure showed that he's rounded back into form.  Hope the old man can keep it up, and avoid any further neck (or bodily) issues.

Weak start by the defending champs too, I might add.

My wife and I have been looking into getting a new car (probably Acura TL), but have been contemplating whether it'd be a better idea to start leasing.  We've always bought our cars in the past, but after 5 or 6 years it's usually a pain in the ass to sell the thing, and you don't get squat for a trade-in, so we were exploring the option of doing a lease this time.  I like the idea of getting something new every few years, with the far cheaper maintenance that goes along with that plan as well.  Does anyone else here lease, or have any thoughts on the matter, good or bad?  I'm aware of the limited miles issue, but that shouldn't be a problem, as we could just do our various longer road trips in the other car, if need be.

When a lease runs out, and you pick something new, is the timing at all flexible while you look around, or do you have to jump into something new on day 1,096?  Do they re-finance everything again, or do loyal (continuously leasing) customers get to keep their original (presumably) good deals each additional time (other than the down payment)?  I suppose we could just drag our butts into the Acura dealership to find out, but I thought I'd gather what insight I could before we eventually wandered over there, lest we become prey to those wonderful auto dealership types.