zonabb

For every one that moves back, 10 leave! Just look at the numbers, we're shrinking. And by the way, the homes developers and builders build (not the customs, but the cookie cutters) are junk, not nice. Sure, they're cheap, but garbage. If you like poor craftsmenship, poor, second-rate materials, and boring, landscapeless subdivisions, the burbs are perfect.

Well, this is all common knowledge, at least to me being an urban planner and having an education that included public policy. But what I will say, since you're obviously a Republican or at least anti-Democrat is that despite your claim that no Democrat you know cuts spending, the current Governor, a Republican, can't claim it either. In fact, during his reign of terror, we've increased spending continually, raised SUNY tuition to the point where our local high school students now actually can attend private schools with even the most minor scholarships because SUNY costs are so high. Oh, and you can thank the governor and his staff got the 35% raise the NYS Troopers got since 9/11. You'll be happy to know that in two successive contracts, the 5-year trooper salary went from about $48,000 a year (very high for upstate based troopers) to $73,000. That's a lot of money to patrol the back woods of Orleans and Genesee county at 3 a.m. No degree required. So imagine who else got whopping raise. I can sum up the waste and stupidity of NY in one example.... we have crew that mow and spread weed killer along all our major highways. Saw them putting weed killer down this morning along all the guard rails just east if the Williamsville toll barrier. Yeah, that's money well spent. One guy in a $100,000 tractor spraying weed killer every 20 feet while one guy in a $100,000 dump truck crawls behind with blinking lights. Very cost effective. Because when I drive the thruway at 65 MPH, I want a freshly mowed median and no weeds. And I want a union guy with a GED making $30 an hour to do it. Everyday I look for a job out of state, someday soon, I'll leave this wasteland behind as I encourage every single NYer to do.

Ahhhh... I love incorrect Census analysis! Unfortunately, you can't truly judge population loss with that simple analysis. I understand the intent, it's the methodolody that's wrong. Basically, comparing the same population range for two different time periods will always result in a change, obviousl, because you're actually analyzing two entirely different populations. The key is to account for the 10-year period in which you're using as the time of change to analyze the same population. Basically, if you want to show population loss of the most important demographic in any area (18-34 year olds), you have to use the previous Census data and their age 10 years earlier, ie, if you're looking at that population in 2000, you need to check that population in 1990, which isn't 18-34, it's 8-24. That's how you show how we're losing that demographic. Unfortunately, the Census has a real issue stanardizing it's age ranges from Census to Census, at least from 1990 to 2000. But we can make a good enough analysis for this exercise. The 1990 population of 8-24 year olds was 86,271, but unfortunately based on age ranges, that included 7-year olds, due to the way age groups were broken down differently in each Census. In 2000, when that population was then 18-34, it numbered 75,176. If we just conservatively then divided the total population of 7-9 in 1990 by 3 (the number if ages), we'd get around 4333 7-year-olds. Subtracting that from 86,271, we'd get an adjusted population of 81,938. Subtract the 2000 number from that and the difference of 6,762, or 7.8% loss of that population, not the 26% used in the above analysis. Sure that 26% does have significance (in simplest terms, it's showing that we've lost significant numbers of child bearing people in the past, which then can be parlaying into this analysis showing loss of this population), but it's not the right number to show actual loss of a single population because it's analyzing two different groups of people. As you can tell, I hate misinformation and misleading analyses.

I didn't read all this but I will say that I'm as opposed to tax breaks for billionaires as the next guy strictly on principal. But when you dig deeper you can see benefits to the community as a whole to BRING a company hear. However, to keep one here is tougher to sell. For instance, I know that Ford was granted $1 million to upgrade it's machinery at its Hamburg plant some time back. Are we supposed to be providing this? Are we to believe they'd move over $1M? It's ransom. That being said... as long as they're paying $60M to lure Bass Pro, they have no legs to stand on when it comes to the Bills, nor are the Bills wrong to ask for it. Why? Because they're a business too with a economic benefit. And if we're giving money (grants) to the BPO, Shea's, etc. how can the line be drawn at the Bills. Believe me, it pains me to give them a cent. But the reality is, they're operating as a business in a state the regularly gives millions to highly profitable companies. And I just read the state is giving the Mets money for their new stadium. So it'll happen, guaranteed.

Two things.... 1. Build a better product. People want a good product and loyalty and patriotism are meaningless when you're shelling out $30,000 for a car. You want the best and that's all that matters. 2. Unions have killed the American manufacturing economy. The average employee at Dephi is making $27 an hour to do the work a robot can. Is that conducive to a making good, affordable vehicles? These labor high costs mean they have to reduce quality to stay competitive. And don't give me the "that's what the bargained for" or deserve. How can you not pay the ransom demand of thousands of employees when you're threatened with a strike that could cripple your business, cost you a lot of sales and hurt your market share forever? So when that business struggles, are you saying only the employer should take the hit, not the employees. BTW, I recently leased a Chevy Equinox for my wife, after owning nothing but Honda's and Nissan, and the thing is a pile! Can't wait for the lease to expire, another Honda will follow. Best car for the buck and my 1997 accord is a better car than her 2005 Equinox.

The one word I think everyone is missing here is "maturity." You find good players that are professionally mature, you're chances of success increase. Maturity means being accountable and responsible for yourself, your teammates and your coaches. By the way....... the Bills teams of the 90s won exactly zero championships, so let's not say they "won" or were "winners." Maturity also means going to the Super Bowl to win it, not party and drink your face off.

Believe what you want about Wonderlics and what they mean. I’ll take the guy scoring in the 20s and 30s any day because history shows it those are your best chances to win. Not a guarantee, but your best chance to win. Of the Super Bowl winners I found since 1990, here are the scores: Roethlisberger – 25 Brady – 33 (3 titles) Dilfer – 22 Favre – 22 Aikman – 29 (3 titles) Elway – 30 (2 titles) Young – 33 Couldn’t find Montana Hostetler Brad Johnson Warner Rypien Here’s a blurb from NFL.com “The score is the total number of correct answers. The average score in the United States is 22; 17 equates to about a 100 IQ. The median score is 31 for a chemist, 14 for a custodian ... and 21 for an NFL draftee. Most team officials will tell you that they want quarterbacks and offensive linemen to score at least 25” Of the last 17 Super Bowl, 10 times (at last since I don’t have the other 5 games) if was won by a QB who scored 25 or higher. I’d bet the other 5 guys are at or above 25. How do some of the current QBs rate: Alex Smith - 40 Rex Grossman - 29 Kyle Boller - 27 Carson Palmer - 26 Drew Brees - 28 Vick - 20 Bulger - 29 Culpepper (3 scores) 18, 21, 15 McNabb (2 scores 16 and 12 Matt hassleback - 29 McNair - 15 Collins - 30 Bledoe - 37 A nice mix around the "magic" number of 25. How’s our custodian looking now?

You don't "fix up" a $720,000 home that's BRAND NEW and you're the first owner. It is what it is. Is has a home theater, massive kitchen, an office (I doubt Mr. 12 on his Wonderlic will be putting books on those shelves), monster 1st floor master. So it can't be fixed up. So the person who did buy the most expensive house on the a street made a mistake? Yeah, that makes sense. I hope you're not a real estate agent, developer, urban planner or financial analyst!

Same paper said sometime ago that Erie County and its municipalities shouldn't share in low cost electric from the power authority site in Lewiston? Not sure if this story, since I didn't open the link, was a resident letter to the paper or from a reporter. So if this is from a reporter or editorial, what a hypocritical stance, although not suprising coming from the media. Morons... every last one of them who writes for the media.

Been in the house, for reasons I won't identify. Nice place, but I think it's odd he bought the cheapest one on the cul-de-sac (one was sold for close to 2 MIL)!!! I actually posted this news in a WM post yesterday and said now everyone can overanalyze it.

FWIW, Willis just bought a house here. So over-analyze it.

Yeah, I know this is a football board but I have to take my shot here. Yesterday, someone posted about Kobe's 81 and how awesome it was. I replied that Jordan's 69-pt game was better for many reasons, most importantly Jordan had 18 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kobe had 2 assists (remember, he's a point guard) and 6 rebounds. But what kills me are all the media guys saying this is the best thing to happen since Wilt's 100, in fact even better. Mainly because these guys need to drum support for this league of degenerate, selfish, gun-toting, fan-beating, violent, a-holes. The league sucks. I was a fan a long time ago and enjoyed the game but it has turned into a league of clowns, dunking and then pointing fingers in each others faces. Somehow, the art of basketball has been lost for a highly-priced version of streetball. So, I say this to the guy who posted yesterday and all the people who think Kobe is going to save this league. Forget it. This league is it's own worst enemy. One of it's biggest degenerates, and it's hard to pick one, has whined and complained and foirced a trade, and then when it was made, he opined that he wasn't going where they wanted to trade him. So sandwiched around the 81 Kobe (he's no angel, let's remember the aldutery and sodomy he got off of) was a guy going into the stands for no reason and this lastest black eye for this league. Oh, and let's throw in LeBron's mother getting picked up for DWI. So, enough already. The league is irrelevant. It's socially-disconnected and lacks players people want to like. Sure the NFL is hardly the angels league, but man, compared to this group of criminals, immature high schoolers, and crybabies, it's like a church choir.

Holy Doomsday Batman. This board has been an absolute joke the last week. What a bunch of drama kings and queens. I've never heard so many people with so little background and experience in a field (professional football) have more opinions based what they've read and heard. The bottomline is, this is a business. It, like all business, does what's right for itself first and foremost. They then provide a product to consumers they feel is in their best interest. In the case of this football team, that's a winner. And therefore, as soon as the team wins, everyone buys. It's a rather elementary concept you learn in business 101. Don't like, it, don't buy it. By to not go to a game or back this team because of who was hired it ridiculous. Not a single person against this guy has probably met him. No one surely has worked with him, been coached by him or spoken with him in detail regarding anything. So the basis for the anti-Jauron faction's hatred is based solely on second-hand information and a losing record on a crappy team. Talk about being simple! Use you heads a little. So, where is the paralysis by over analysis of the annoucement that the CEO of Nike has left? Come on people, you buy the product, shouldn't you have a say in who runs the show over in Oregon? Let's all stop buying Nike. I love the product but hate the people. Make sense right? Idiots.

Wafflers. That's what that duo are. See, Mr. Verbosity hadn't the guts last week to say who he thought was the right guy. Kept saying "I'm glad you can..." And FatBoy was all for Sherman. And now they're OK with it? Yeah, that lends them more credibility, right. I admit I force myself to listen because I usually catch an interview with someone with credibility or actual contacts. But those two, alone, disgust me. I guess it's that football is so unimportant and they are so disgusting opinionated about it that I have to laugh. God, we need better radio than this. Again, like the paper, it's a one outlet town. We listen (and read) because we're interested, not because we have a choice in who we get our news from.

Yes. And here's why... Compare that 81 to Jordan's 69. Jordan had 18 REBOUNDS in that game with 6 assists and 4 steals. Kobe had TWO assists (remember, he's a point guard), 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Jordan shot better from the floor and from the line. Look it up, I did because Marc Stein on ESPN was kissing Kobe's rear-end like only a reporter wishing people read his stuff can. It's in his best interest to make statement saying this is the best game ever so people read it, which I did, and found laughable when you consider only one stat, total points. The NBA rots. The guy is an overrated, ball-hogging, back-door penetrating (not in a basketball kinda way), adultering, prima dona. Oh, and I hate basketball. But I love when people mis-use stats to make a point.

Well, ESPN just posted on its website that the reasons were all PROFESSIONAL and not family. MM didn't feel like this situation is conducive to winning!!! Again, In think it's more RW than ML.

Laughable. How can Levy, a guy admired for his leadership, abilities and tgrack record, be someone Mularkey couldn't work with? I think maybe, if anything, its RW that he has an issue with. Maybe RW is exerting to much control. And not being able to find the right guys for the job. Give MM some credit, he had the guts to walk away from something most would continue on with little or no desire or passion.

Not to mention the new team would have to pick up that nice roster bonus, which I doubt he'll recoup in a signing bonus. I think this guys attitude and continued problems, despite his ability, makes him unwanted by the vast majority of teams. And those that would want him, surely don't want him under his existing contract. They would likely want a contract laden with clause regarding his behavior and have them tied to the team's ability to recoup any signing bonus. He's a nightmare. I wouldn't take him no matter how badly I needed a WR. Guys like that don't change, ever. When you're 32, you're attitude and characteristics are what they are. He won't change. He promised change in SF and Philly and it was only to get a fat contract. Would you rather have free agent Reggie Wayne or this malcontent? And don't say "Well, Wayne's a no. 2 and doesn't have prototypical no. 1 size. He's Peerless Price." I'm not saying based on production, I'm saying on everything. Leadership, production, in the locker room, dollars, etc. I think not. That being said, he'll get a disgusting contract from some idiot team.

Well, WM isn't the most determined back on the field and rarely runs with attitude, determination and bad intentions. And if you're gonna say you're the best, I'd expect to see you gutting it out, even when you're tired, and running like you're hair is on fire on every play. He didn't, plain and simple. I'm not saying he's Travis Henry or trying to compare the two but TH ran hard and seemed like he was trying to make something happen every play. Can't say that for this kid. I don't particularly like his attitude, I guestion his heart, and that 12 he pulled on the Woonderlic tells me maybe he doesn't get it! And by the way, Barry Sanders consistently had a brutal OL. Ever think for a moment that he was ahuman highlight reel because he had to make his own room to run?

If these idiot went to work one day and his direct boss was no longer in charge and a new boss was in his place, that's be a great deal of chnage. Same goes for myself and anyone else who's employed. When a new MANAGER comes in, it is a change. So all Sullivan and other people are crying about is that the change wasn't to his liking. Welcome to the real world.

I've been a pretty big critic of this hack for some time on this board. And it all boils down to this... if you're going to criticize someone for not being the most accomplished person in their field with the vile and whiny disgust that you do it with, then you should be considered among the best in yours! When you work in the 49th largest media market at a sole source paper, you have little to hold your head high about with an attitude like that. It's spoiled grapes. He'd get eaten alive anywhere else where competition among papers actually takes place.

THANK YOU! It's been my biggest contention for a couple years. This team is filled with mental midgets. I've said it here before, I'd love to see the average team Wonderlic scores around the NFL. I'd bet the Pats would be up near the top and this team near the bottom. I believe discipline plays a role, but brains can't be discounted. I thought I heard somewhere that Roscoe Parrish scored in the single digits! Yeah, that should make his transition to NFL WR real easy, along with his size. You can teach someone with less physical skills to play in his position and where to be, thereby allowing him to overcome a lack of speed or other phyical tools. But if a guy is a moron, you have a harder time getting him to play in his position. There has to be a site for Wonderlic scores.

It's so easy to be Sullivan. Always pointing fingers and and playing General after the war. And then come forward with vague ideas of how to fix problems with nary a shred of "guts" to actually say something that shows he put even a minute of thought into his analysis. Stats, oh how I love stats. I love when morons like Sullivan use rankings like 29th and 30th. What does it mean Jerry? How about some quantitative analysis to show how bad they were. Those mean nothing without some further review. Like, how many standards deviations from the norm were they? That would tell us how bad those rankings mean. For all we know, there was only 500 yards separating 1st from 30th. I doubt it, but without that info, who's to know. The guy is a hack. He'd be out of a job if this town had more than one paper because a real sports journalist with less anger and self-doubt would eat his lunch. So here's a coupe numbers for you Jerry.... 49, as in the numbered market you work in. So Jerome, if you're going to sling your BS at football players and managers and hold them to the fire professionally (it's sports afterall), what's that make you? 5, number of the market you WISH you had the ability, skill, personality, etc. to work in. 1, newspapers in this town that makes your job a joke

I agree more about the "best chance to win" BS and that JP and Holcomb were about the same. I think JP should have played as much as he could when healthy. He can't get better on the sidelines. However, I can't see where his accuracy has improved. Since stats are a huge part of my job and education, I know they can tell any story you want them to. And the yards, TDs and INT stats make your point somewhat valid. BUT, for the sake of stats......... JP had a 49.6% completion percentage compared to KH 67.4%. JP was sacked 26 times to KHs 17. Again, JP has a long way to go in his development but he needs to be on the field.

I wouldn't go saying one of 16 games shows the real Willis. The real Willis was the guy we saw throughout the year, and that was a guy who didn't seem to try to hard, lacks the burst of speed he once had, can't hit a hole, and most importantly in this league, can't make many guys miss. I saw one great move by Houston today near the line and thought, If only Willis could make that move to get into a hole. He's was overrated coming into this season. And his "showing up" today against a 4-12 team is hardly reason for optimism. He's a decent back, but he's not an elite back. If given the right OL and an attitude adjustment (something he never got at the "U" and something Mularkey can't deliver) this guy could be a 1300 back every year with 10 TDs. But if you think he's ever scoring 20 and getting 1600+ yards, you're kidding yourself. He's no Tomlinson or Alexander.