Cynical

Blow up the picture and look at #47 left leg. Looks like its chopped off right below the knee. Can't tell if he tucked his leg back under the bench, or if something has been removed.

This post alone defines why the Big East will continue to be known as the Big Least, and somewhat of a laughing stock WRT college football. Big red flag indicator of how everyone thinks of the Big Least, including coaches. The conference is not considered to be "elite", and therefore is seen as nothing but a stepping stone for those who desire access to bigger and better opportunities. The biggest issue in stopping ND from playing football in BE conference play is the weakness of the BE conference, and ND's ability to manipulate that weakness. IMHO, the Big East needs to grow a set of balls, and inform ND that ND football will start conference play in 2011, or ND will be thrown out of the conference for all sports. I wonder how much exposure ND basketball will generate as a independent program?

[1] He was an uncontested first ballot hall of famer because he sucks? [2] Funny, Kelly supported Johnson, Edwards, and Losman when they first got to Buffalo. If he was really concerned about his past "glory", why would he do this? [3] Unless I missed something, Kelly did not "move back" to Buffalo. Once he got here, he never left. Are you confusing Kelly with Thurman Thomas, who did move back to Buffalo?

Oh, goody. If we are going to run some kind of gimmicky option offense, we might as well go for broke. Do whatever it takes to sign Urban Meyer, and give up all our draft picks to ensure we can draft Tebow. Johnson and Vick?

How can Ralph be in the competition for something he does not want?

Comparing NHL post seasons activity to NFL post season activity is laughable. Why? Because making the playoffs in the NHL is a joke to begin with. In the NHL, you have 15 teams vying for 8 spots. That means each team has better than a 50% chance of making the playoffs. In the NFL, you have 16 teams vying for 6 spots. That means each team has about 38% chance of making the playoffs.

Why do we "have to"? The last time the Bills "had to" turned out to be a disaster. You remember, it was after the 2005 season, the last time Wilson "cleaned" house. The Bills just finished going through their second first time HC. Knee jerk fans started running around screaming how the Bills just "had to" sign an experienced HC this time. No more first timers. They were disasters waiting to happen. And Ralph agreed. How about we hope the FO picks a competent person to run the football operations, who in turns hires a qualified competent HC, regardless if the coach is a first timer, experienced, well known, or not.

You sound just like a Jauron apologist. Dead Dick apologists were quick to find "reasons" (a/k/a excuses) why he was unable to produce the desired result (a winning record), and none of those excuses were due to Dick. And now you are doing for Chokenheimer. Marty has a 5-13 playoff record. Your rationale? Not his fault.

I got to admit Shanahan was one of my top choices, but after reading that, it would not hurt my feelings if the Bills said no.

The wife made one year a few years back. It was actually pretty good. Would we do it again? Nope. It was a PITA to prepare You better have a large party to feed, or there will be some serious leftovers Since then, we tried a couple of mail order / pre made ones, and were not impressed at all.

That's because you just want to see the Bills make the playoffs. But after about 6 years of seeing the Bills consistently losing in the first or second round of the playoffs, that tune will change. Chokenheimer is the classic underachieving tease, with the key word being underachieving. Stop settling for 'good enough', and especially 'good enough for now'. Demand more.

No we don't. Just say no to Chokenheimer.

Oh hell no. In fact, I think it is absolutely refreshing not seeing his name mentioned. Jauron has a better chance of producing a winning season than Chokenheimer has of reaching the SB. And IIRC, Marty has already said he has no desire to be coaching again.

While nobody has come right out and said it specifically, IMO, it is pretty evident why: leadership. The players have lost faith in Trent's ability to lead this team. As bad as Fitz is, the players are responding to him. Just in this game, the cameras showed Fitz, TO, Reed, and another player (Evans?) huddled together discussing a play. In the 2.5 years Trent has been here, have you EVER seen Trent do that?

God, it just feels better with him NOT being on the sideline. It was one of the worst times in my life. The guy just sucked the life out of this team, and any hope I had for them. I hear you loud and clear. I can remember when Saban left the Dolphins to be the HC of Bama. The amount of BS that spouted from the pundits, analysts, and other 'sports' people was terrible. They bashed Saban, they bashed the school, and some were even bashing the Tuscaloosa area. One AJC columnist referred to Bama as the third best program in the state (behind Auburn and Troy). But guess who is laughing now? Now that dead Dick is gone, let the rebirth begin. Let those f***tards laugh and bash. Looks like Ralph is serious about turning this franchise around. And those f***tards are going to look really stupid when the Bills start winning again. You know who will have the last laugh? We will. The Bills are coming back. And those !@#$s are just going to have to deal with it.

Trent may have a better skill set than Fitz, but the difference in leadership is blatantly in favor of Fitz. And the players are reacting to it. So unless Trent figures out how to be a leader, his career is destined for back up status.

Can't speak for everyone, but I felt better after this loss than any other in the past 2.5 years. Looking back at the NE game this year, and difference is stark. In the NE game, on the last drive, Trent took 2 sacks, and overall looked lost and unsure about what to do. In this game, on the last drive, Fitz looked in command of the offense, and knew where he was going.

Here's hoping and praying.

Why is it mean spirited? Seems every time Trent's play slips it's due to a concussion, both real and if needed to cover up reality, 'phantom' ones.

Aack. I could have sworn Dick Jauron was coaching LSU based on the ending of that game. Nope. Great examples. You could include UConn - ND.

I fall in and out of gaming, all on PC. Games I have played and do like: Myst series Syberia series Call of Duty 1 and 2 Tomb Raider series Presently playing Trackmania, an arcade type racing game. There is a free version available, and even the free version allows players to play online against people from all over the world. I have met numerous 'older' players who play this game, ranging anywhere from their mid 30's to 60+ You might want to poke around here: http://www.theoldergamers.com/

Rich Rod gets another year. He originally signed a 6 year contract which is a significant commitment to a coach and his system. However, the Michigan faithful are going to want to see some major improvement next year in order for Rich Rod to see year 4 of the contract. Weis is gone, with the possibility of one exception. The ND AD thinks Weis has done a good enough job with the talent he has been able to recruit. But I wouldn't bet on it.

Completely agree. Unfortunately, some people have hitched their emotional wagon to a particular player and they cannot/will not accept the reality their 'chosen one' actually is not good enough. They will seek out any excuse, look for any 'rationale', or cling to any conspiracy that allows themselves to believe the reason the 'chosen one' was benched was due to something else besides their natural inabilities or out their control.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? To answer your question, IMHO, both are needed. However, a good coach should be able to reproduce (or at least come close to reproducing) the same results with different (good) personnel. Other than Billick, the rest of those coaches did. Dungy had TB and Indy. Gruden had Oakland and TB Holgren had GB and Seattle (took Seattle to the SB with Hasselback) Shanny had Denver (first Elway, than used Plummer to reach the AFC Conf Champ) Cowher reached the SB twice with essentially 2 different Steelers teams