It doesn't take 15% percent racist (or sexist) to get a 15% swing. If 8% who would have otherwise voted for the Democrat now vote for the Republican, that leads to a 16% swing. The numbers aren't likely to go that way, but it is worth keeping in mind.

King,

Are you sure that you didn't stop at 1990, to avoid looking at the 1989 draft. Believe me, as a Packer fan I hate to be reminded of it. That was the Troy Aikman, Tony Mandarich, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas draft. Obviously, Aikman and Mandarich wouldn't be too good for your argument, though Thomas would help.

King, I definitely agree that QBs are much harder to project than linemen, but they are also more valuable to a team. (See previous arguments about number of QBs vs. linemen in the hall of fame, for example.) SO though it is risky to take a QB high, the rewards can be pretty high as well. With that said, it does make more sense for a mediocre team or good team that had an off year (or a pick from a trade) to take a QB high than an awful team. Of course the PR problem with skipping an great college quarterback can also be touch for some teams to deal with.

Another key point in this analysis is the number of roster slots for each position. Teams typically keep 3 quarterbacks, but though they typically have three players than can play any line position, there really are only two slots on the roster for each line postion, and some of those guys get most of their playing time on special teams. Granted you don't expect a first rounder to be the second or third string for long, but for QBs a year or two of being a backup is normal. Plus because of the fragility and importance of NFL QBs, that backup QB spot is often an important one.

Punters and place kickers are, of course, the opposite extreme. Most teams keep one of each, though at times teams have kept separate kickoff and field goal kickers, or some guys can punt and kick. I bet that punters and kickers would do better in your rankings than QBs, but probably not quite as well as the lines, since they don't have other spots on the roster to slide into later in their careers.

Though I was a little worried this morning when I saw your shift in format, but I think that it will probably work.

Similar to what others have said, I hope that you don't feel the need to always have more than one post a day (Like War Room or HTWW). Some or best work has been longer format stuff - research driven columns and interviews i

particular - and I hope that doesn't get lost.

Thanks in particular for putting up this post, giving us a chance to get all meta on you.

As others have said it would be nice not to have to hit so many continue links, though browser tabs help a little with that. It would also be nice to be able to print things in bigger chunks.

Maybe your web monkeys could add a new feature. A new button that allowed use to print a day's worth of your posts would be nice. So if I went on vacation and wanted to catch on your posts, I wouldn't have to click 20 continue links. It would also help save paper and time for people who prefer to read your stuff off of hard copy.

You are a no hitter fiend King. Well palyed.

To paraphrase Peter Graham, the golden age of SNL is seventeen. Most who post to Salon had their golden age of SNL long ago. So now some of SNL will fall flat for you. That doesn't mean that SNL is worse than it used to be. It means you are getting old. Deal with it.

Pablo,

Did you mean to say that termites are frozen with liquid nitrogen? Because at carbon dioxide does not have a liquid form at normal pressures on Earth. As anyone who has played with dry ice knows it sublimes from solid to gas.

Douglas Moran

Hey, if we had 6 fingers on each hand, the milestone would be 480 (400 base 12); if we had 4 fingers on each hand, it would *also* be 480 (600, base 8).

Your bases aren't quite right there. 480 base 10 is 740 base 8 and 340 base 12, neither of which are very exciting in those bases. 400 base 12 is 576 base 10, while 600 base 8 is only 376 base 10.

Andrew,

There is at least one good aspect of the major airlines cutting back on flights, it should decrease airport congestion and help more flights be on time. Yes, we may end up with fewer choices for getting from point A to point B, but at least the chances that we get there on time (or make our connections) will increase.

Of course this is all more in Patrick Smith's wheel house, but so it goes.

Most of the contributor's that Clinton's fund raisers are going to hit up probably have hit the legal limit on contributing to her campaign, but still could contribute to Obama's campaign. Obama's campaign can legally help pay back Clinton's debt. So this makes for a nice loophole. Clinton supporters can give Obama money which he will give to her. The debts will be paid, and everybody an forget this silly squabbling.

It definitely pays to be careful when comparing monthly averages between years. There are a bunch of other factors to account for besides gas prices. One important one is always weather - bad weather, particularly in the winter, causes people to cancel a lot of trips. Another factor to figure in when comparing March and April is Easter. In 2008 Easter was in the middle of March, while in 2007 it was in the beginning of April. Shifts in Easter move school Spring Breaks around, which lead to changes in when people take long car trips, but it also shifts when people are commuting vs. staying home with the kids.