Thwomp!

Man, I just stepped out of the shadows and I'm already in debt to you and shrader. :thumbdown: (Another couple emoticons for you :P ) Yes, I like Columbus for the most part. Big city, but small town feel. Always something to do and the economy in Central Ohio is doing well. Thanks for the welcome.

I think that Trump is the personification of how "average joe" conservative voters act and speak . They love the fact that he'll publicly say what no one else but them and their conservative friends will say to one another. And I firmly believe that Trump knows this and plays off of it. The more he talks, the more media coverage he gets and the better his poll numbers get. The media coverage of him is bordering on unbearable already and we've got 14+ more months until the actual presidential election :wallbash: Speaking of which, similar to alot of other things, elections in America are "big business". There is no way we should have 18+ months of campaigning prior to an election. It's insanity.

Well said and completely agree with you!

One of my favorite threads here! I have a couple small politics-related personal "highlights" If any of you are familiar with it, I was in attendance at the John Kasich "calling a cop an idiot several times as a sitting governor" event that gained some national coverage a few years ago. The video took several months to come out, and it got to the point where I thought it wasn't ever going to be shared with the general public. Candidate Obama waved to my family after a campaign rally in Columbus in June 2008. We attended the rally and as we were leaving we saw his bus coming so we got as close to the road as we could and waved as the bus drove by and Obama waved back to us. Unfortunately I much prefer candidate Obama to president Obama, but that's a different story.

s Ah yes, the esteemed county seat. Went to the fair many times and my mom worked in Bath for many years. My high school, although much smaller, had quite a rivalry with Bath in boys soccer for a few years. Thanks for the welcome! I always enjoyed Hammondsport except of course when we played them in basketball. I spent a couple weeks every summer in a cottage on keuka lake, which was very enjoyable. The finger lakes is one of the things I miss most about home. I always bring some wine home to Ohio when I visit my family in ny. Welcome! I'm happy you're here. I'd like to think my decidedly progressive points of view inspired you to post. This place really hums when we're talking hockey (I'm mostly listening). I share your enthusiasm! Chime in early and often. I do read your posts. I think we disagree on the definition of "progressive" however (supposed to be a smiley face but I'm using my phone and it's not cooperating).

The check is in the mail. I put it in a Publisher's Clearing House envelope (or was it a car dealership envelope with a fake key included? I forget) Besides I thought the fee was waived if I changed my profile pic from the dreaded Connolly default before posting? ????

Greetings everyone! Very long time lurker and first time poster! I visit multiple times a day and pretty much read everything. I definitely have noticed that I share a lot of political and general views with some of you, but not so much others ;) Hint: I'm about as liberal as can be and am a HUGE Bernie supporter. Plus I live in Ohio, so my presidential vote counts more than most others! :P About myself...I live on the far east side of Columbus, OH, originally from Steuben County, NY (middle of nowhere). The user name comes from an inside joke between my wife and I. The far east side of Columbus isn't the nicest area generally and our street is very busy with emergency vehicles, sirens, and house-shaking bass most of the time. We do have an in ground pool, however, so one day I named our pool the east side oasis and it stuck. Someday, we'll have a sign made! :w00t: I was solidly pro-tank and am therefore looking forward to this season and (hopefully) the fruits that begin to grow from the manure of the last couple of seasons. Did a lot of research and decided on hockeystreams.net and bought a year membership so my family of 4 is ready to go. I'm not sure how much I'll post or add to the conversations, but I've been wanting to join the fray for awhile. I'm not the most knowledgeable fan, but I keep up as much as I can. I'd like to thank you all for many hours of entertainment and :doh: But overall, GO SABRES! I can't wait to be competitive again. It's seemed like a very long time so here's for a very bright future! :beer: