Daily Archives: June 6, 2017

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After watching the highlights from OTAs, I have seen Laquon Treadwell has been lining up against Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes a lot. In your opinion, is this a good sign that he will be lining up as the WR3 on game day? From the highlights, it seems like he has taken a very large step forward offseason. -- Theron Merrick

The coaches have given Treadwell an opportunity to win that job and hes done a good job of taking advantage of that opportunity. Theres no doubt that, for me, Treadwell has been a standout in the first six OTAs. Hes getting a lot of reps with Sam Bradford and he is usually the third guy in three-receiver sets. Hes had some great battles with Rhodes, too, which will only help him as he tries to take a big step forward in his second season. The arrow is definitely point up for Treadwell.

In your observations of rookie Dalvin Cook, what do you feel his greatest physical strengths will be running or receiving? Also, how would you rate his intellectual capabilities as a player? How well is he learning his roles, the playbook, etc.? -- Phillip Taylor

Cooks main contribution to the offense will be as a runner. I dont know if hell wind up being the lead back at some point this year, but he has all the makings and completely looks the part of a back who can be the lead dog. One of my favorite traits of his is his vision; he seems to be decisive in his cuts and hes rarely running into blockers or tacklers in practices. The speed with which hes playing tells me hes picking up the playbook just fine; he doesnt look like a guy who is out there thinking too much because hes overwhelmed by the mental part of the game.

Do you see any surprises so far in camp from the third or even fourth team in terms of players who might make the team based upon what you have seen? -- Bob Holan Jacksonville, FL

Take this with a grain of salt because weve only had six OTAs and these guys are running around in shorts, not pads. But Ive been impressed with DE Tashawn Bower, an undrafted free agent out of LSU. He has great size (6-5, 250) and length, and reminds me a lot of what Danielle Hunter looked like as a rookie. TE Nick Truesdell has made a lot of plays, as has rookie receiver Rodney Adams.

Since Cordarrelle Patterson has left, are there any rookies who might lead in the competition for the gunner spot on the punt team? -- Steve Wodke Woodbury, MN

A question about the competition for a gunner spot on the punt teamVikings fans are awesome. I love it! Steve is totally dialed into the team with that kind of question in the early part of June. This will be interesting to watch because weve seen Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer get creative with his gunners. Everson Griffen played gunner at one time, and of course Patterson emerged in that role last year. Marcus Sherels is one of the gunners, and hes the best gunner in the NFL for my money. A guy like Jerick McKinnon wouldnt surprise me, given Priefers creativity and McKinnons willingness to do whatever the team asks of him; he also has a great skill set for that kind of role. At this stage, though, its too early to tell and I wouldnt rule anyone out given Priefers creativity.

What player who was on the roster last year but is not on the roster this year will be the biggest void to fill? -- Kevin Willier California

Patterson has been the best kickoff returner in the NFL the last few seasons, so one could argue that position right off the bat. Id say Captain Munnerlyn in the nickel role and Chad Greenway as a starter at outside LB in the base defense is a big void, too. Given how often defenses are using a sub package in todays game, Id argue the nickel CB vacancy is the biggest void to fill, but Id also argue the Vikings have a great plan/contingency plan in place to fill that void with second-year player Mack Alexander and veteran Terence Newman in the fold.

With Sam Bradford healthy and Teddy rehabbing, what is the QB2 spot looking like? And QB3 for that matter? -- Blake Dufner Richmond, MN

Case Keenum was signed this offseason to be the backup and it looks for now as if hell be able to secure that job. Three-year pro Taylor Heinicke and undrafted rookie Wes Lunt are the other two QBs on the roster and Id guess Heinicke will go into training camp ahead of Lunt for the third quarterback job.

More here:

Monday Morning Mailbag: Treadwell's Progress, OTA Standouts, More - Vikings.com

Until the 19th century, technological and economic progress advanced inch by agonizing inch.

The fastest transportation in A.D. 1776 was the fastest transportation in 1776 B.C. the horse.

Maritime commerce flowed to the fickle rhythms of wind and tide, as it had since the opening chapter.

Life was intensely agricultural.

Night was lit by candle and torch to the extent it was lit at all.

And economic growth?

The Western worlds annual growth rate through 1820 averaged a millimetric 0.06% a year, according to Angus Maddison, economic historian.

Thats 6% a century.

The history of global GDP per capita, 15002003:

The chart reveals three centuries of economic dusk.

Then in the mid-to-late-19th century, a light bulb flickered on literally

An unlikely series of inventions came along in the mid-to-late-19th century that raised the curtain on a golden age of technological and economic progress an era of such razzle-dazzle that had no equal in history.

The electric light bulb turned night into day. Electric power brought progress on a thousand fronts.

The railroad, steamship and internal-combustion engine finally put period to the homely plod of hoof and sail that paced transportation for millennia.

The telegraph, telephone and radio unhorsed the twin tyrannies of time and distance.

Industry exploded. So did populations. And cities.

The result was a special century of technological and economic progress, 18701970.

These inventions were so thunderous and so transformative that some argue their impact can never be equaled.

Robert Gordon is an economist at Northwestern University.

Last year he wrote a book called The Rise and Fall of American Growth. From which:

The economic revolution of 18701970 was unique in human history, unrepeatable because so many of its achievements could happen only once the revolutionary century after the Civil War was made possible by a unique clustering, in the late-19th century, of what we will call the Great Inventions What makes the period 18701970 so special is that these inventions cannot be repeated.

With a few notable exceptions, Gordon adds, the pace of innovation since 1970 has not been as broad or as deep as that spurred by the inventions of the special century.

It seems theres justice in this view.

The light bulb can only be invented once.

It can be improved, refined, brought within sight of the perfections.

But not reinvented. Edison remains on his throne.

And is it coincidence that broader American prosperity began petering around 1970 as the great inventions ran their course?

It is by no means the only answer. But perhaps a partial answer.

What truly astounds is the pace of it all.

They crammed more technological progress into that one special century than a previous dozen combined.

Man walked this ball some 40,000 years before he took his fledgling flight above the dunes of Kitty Hawk in 1903.

The 12-second flight managed about a dozen feet of altitude and 120 feet of distance.

Sixty-six years later, man was rocketing to the moon.

Impossible but there it is.

Has there been progress since 1970?

Only a fool would argue there hasnt.

But it seems more a progress of the margins a progress of efficiencies.

They can build a more efficient jet, for example.

But the jet that whisks you across the ocean at 563 mph is no faster than the jet that whisked your father across the ocean at 563 mph in 1958.

Its true they can make a better, faster car with every whistle and bell.

But cars had air conditioning as early as 1933. They were going over 100 mph by the end of the 1930s.

Progress at the margin.

In no way do we deny the reality of progress.

But we havent hatched the equivalent of the internal-combustion engine or the telephone not to mention electricity.

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel lamented in 2012 that:

Whether we look at transportation, energy, commodity production, food production that with the exception of computers, weve had tremendous slowdown.

Thiel concludes, pithily:

We wanted flying cars. Instead, we got 140 characters.

We cant help but agree.

Its a counterfeit progress when someone in Kathmandu can follow the capers of Kim Kardashian on Twitter but burns the same gasoline that powered a Model T.

But is all this about to change? Are we in for another great technological revolution?

Some argue the worlds perched on the bleeding edge of revolutionary breakthroughs in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), computing and other technologies.

They claim the decades ahead will rival if not excel the special century.

German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab said the coming revolution will be bigger than anything the world has seen before It will be a tsunami compared with previous squalls.

A gust of rhetoric?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

James Altucher pins his hopes on the technologically based innovation economy currently taking shape.

Here is the future, James argues. Here is salvation.

In fact, he argues, The world will be fixed by the next generation of the economy.

Time will tell of course but we hope hes right.

Lord knows nothing else seems to be working

Regards,

Brian Maher Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning

Continue reading here:

The Hard Limits of Progress - Daily Reckoning

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien shares a laugh with San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey during Bay Bridge Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, March 31, 2017.

Oakland Athletics' Marcus Semien shares a laugh with San Francisco Giants' Buster Posey during Bay Bridge Series at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, March 31, 2017.

As Marcus Semien is making progress, slowly

Shortstop Marcus Semien, who had wrist surgery April 18, began hitting off a tee on Monday, but he might not be back with the As this month.

Semien will need plenty of time to work his way back from a hairline fracture of the scaphoid bone, and when he goes on a rehab assignment within the next few weeks, it wont be just two or three games, according to manager Bob Melvin.

Position players can spend a maximum of 20 days on a minor-league rehab assignment, but Semien isnt expected to need that much time. A happy medium of a week or two is likely.

Melvin said that Semien is allowed only to hit with a light fungo bat so far, so hes searching around for the biggest fungo he can find, trying to simulate a bat. ... Its going to be more about holding him back - hes got a target in his mind when he wants to be playing. Hes eager, he wants to be moving along. He wants to get out there as quickly as he can.

Semien is eligible to come off the DL on June 14, and Melvin said Semien really would like to be back for the Marcus Semien action figure giveaway night, which is June 18. Thats when he wants to play but I dont know if that will be the case, Melvin said. I hate to put a number on it but I would say June is probably going to be tough.

Melvin said that starters Kendall Graveman (shoulder) and Chris Bassitt (Tommy John surgery) are improving but neither has resumed throwing.

Reliever Bobby Wahl (shoulder) said he is not yet throwing, either, but he is getting treatment and is strengthening the shoulder and hes feeling much better. Initially, he was having trouble even washing his hair, but he said within a week of going on the DL last month he was able to do all everyday activity.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser

Read more from the original source:

A's Marcus Semien is making progress, slowly - SFGate - SFGate

Charlotte Observer

Will Donald Trump halt progress on slowing abortions? | Charlotte ... Charlotte Observer The Trump administration is poised to undo what it believed it accomplished on behalf of conservative Christians when President Donald Trump appointed Neil ... and more »

Link:

Will Donald Trump halt progress on slowing abortions? | Charlotte ... - Charlotte Observer