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i have never known the Bills fanbase to ever over-react. ever. jw

"Lifted" verbally. They are still present in writing. And that remains an issue with my bosses and the PFWA. jw

this. that's just it. the rules prevent us not only from tweeting, but also from reporting after practice. jw

i certainly don't trust em. jw

i'm not sure. i'm also not sure how what's tweeted or reported affects a player's performance. are kid gloves really necessary at this level? i do know that marrone, in his second season, banned the team's own website folks from reporting on or showing any footage of any interceptions that EJ threw. obviously, you can see how that worked. jw

thanks for the response. and kind words. i can say this, whether it's live tweeting or trying to put the day into perspective in a story post-practice, the rules have the potential of limiting what we can report. (the Bills note that we can write about interceptions/dropped passes now, but simply don't want a string of play-by-play, and yet they have not altered the actual verbiage of their policy). on paper, i would be prevented from summing up how the receivers did. though i don't keep a play-by-play log, i do jot down positive and negative plays that i might want to include in my story. as it stands by the exact wording of the policy, i would only be allowed to write Player X caught a deep pass by getting a step ahead of a defender. i wouldn't, however, be able to report, Player X dropped a pass while wide-open, and then had the next one go through his hands while cutting across the middle, and if that trend continued in following sessions. sure, it's one practice but it's what i see. it might not matter if it's an undrafted rookie. it might matter more if it's, say, Robert Woods. jw here's the distinction: the Bills rules go one step further in restricting the media from reporting on interceptions and dropped passes (which aren't noted in this policy). that's a big, big distinction. jw

keep in mind, though, what the potential effect of the policy might have, and that's steering fans directly to the "exlusivity" of reports posted on the team's official website without any way of providing any perspective or counter-balance from outside voices. if filtered information skewed through the lens of a team-sponsored report is what you want, well ... jw Why you ... jw

for what it's worth folks, the growing talk of Cassel being the front-runner for the job last training camp was sparked by those inside the BIlls organization and had nothing to do with which reporter was tracking plays. personally, i'm not a play-by-play tracker as the minute i'm distracted by a call or have to make a bathroom break or whatever, then the stats are essentially useless and incomplete. for those questioning why we in the media have our boxers/panties in a bunch, well, you folks rely upon us to provide observations from closed practices. and that's where many of these rules apply -- the spring minicamps, both voluntary and mandatory. if you don't want any updates on how players look during these few sessions, then fine then. i know many others do. that some might think our observations are off, well, i can't and won't apologize. they're mere observations taken during a spring practice session months before the start of the season. personally, i try not to make too many rash judgements at this time of year just because of that. but to suggest that these observations don't provide value or are meaningless is quite naive. it's what we do. and accept it or not, you folks -- the fans -- are the ones who consume it. willingly, i might add. jw

i didn't see their medical report on Shaq, so tough to say. that said, their track record has been suspect. jw my apologies. i'm on vacation so didn't have my sarcasm setting on for some reason. jw

not true. maybin was not at all ready. he missed the entire portion of training camp in Rochester before finally signing his contract with about 2 weeks left before the season opener. he was completely under-prepared once that happened and hardly got on the field. just because he was physically ready, didn't mean he was ready to play. jw

i swear, i didn't realize this had become a big thing. i read this thread earlier today and made a few calls to find out what was up. that said, i didn't take another look at this thing until just a few minutes ago and realized that it had become A BIG THING until it wasn't. it's not. jw

no. jw

Thanks to all. Thinking I'm going to close this thread, since it's been resolved. jw Wait: How do you close this thread. ... Suddenly, i've become a technological idiot.

well put. jw

It was. But also a good point. jw company phone.

to each their own, though it's too bad you look at the style and miss all the substance with someone clearly carrying the James Brown torch. let me ask this: is Mick Jagger less of a frontman because of what he does? did Hendrix not have a penchant for performing some outlandish things on stage? Bowie? The New York Dolls? Angus Young? I'm guessing you're also not a Michael Jackson fan, either. Or Sly and The Family Stone. by simply watching how in command Prince -- he and the guitar as one -- was performing in the rain during the Super Bowl halftime show in Miami is a testament to both his ability and showmanship. he simply breaths confidence without cockiness, which is also what made many of his songs powerful. dismiss "Purple Rain" for being a little overcooked, but it is the simple over-the-top approach that actually made it important and resonant. and then compare that with a perfect pop song on the same album, "I Will Die 4 U," and it's breathtaking how he made the difficult appear so seamlessly easy, joining pop, rock and funk into a fusion all of his own. won't likely convince you. not even sure why i'm trying. but your post here cannot go unchallenged. jw

Thanks for response, but I think the situation has been resolved. One of our technicians came back and suggested a hard reboot -- depressing both the top button and home button at same time. (I just did the extended hold-down-the-top button, thinking that would do it). Have run several tests and it seems to be working once again. For what it's worth, it's the 9.3.1 version. Again, thanks for responding. Much appreciated. jw It was. Thanks, good sir. I think it's been resolved. jw smart alec. jw

folks; little help here as i've spent half the day trying to resolve this. the text alert function isn't working on my IPhone. Not only that, I don't get a notice that I've received a text on the messaging icon. I physically have to open it to see if there's a new message. -- Yes, the ringer switch is turned to "on." -- Yes, i've quintuple checked the notifications and tested the alert. -- Yes, i think i've gone through just about everything, including restarting the phone, to see if that could fix it. Under notifications, I have: Allow notifications: On Show in Notification Center: On Sounds: "Updated" Badge App Icon: On Show on Lock Screen: On Alert Style When Unlocked: Alerts Show Previews: On Repeat Alerts: Once. -- Under Cellular settings, everything is on, except there is no "Messages" listed. (Should it be?) jw

no names, too many possibilities, including trade-down option to pin things down. jw

That is accurate. jw

ok, how many playoff games has Mario appeared in? jw

that's exactly what I heard. wish people would listen first rather than rush to write what they believed they heard. jw

yes. but he missed playoffs due to injury. jw

Really. People blaming Rex on Mario? How many playoff games has Mario won since joining the NFL? jw

Unless things have changed under new AD Greene, there is very little chance of a "shared" stadium happening unless it is on UB's campus. was told during the ownership search the only way a new stadium works for UB is if it's on campus because they have a captive student audience there. jw