Realist

Hey, Thats me!!! I still love hockey and can't wait until the season. Two sports to look forward to this fall.

Add my best wishes to the list. Take care Puhonix.

I wouldn't call it the worst thing. The fans here in Carolina were amazing when they made their playoff run a few years ago. Thats all anyone wanted to talk about was hockey. To get the fans interested again that would be a great thing for hockey here in Carolina. But to get fans around North America excited about hockey, I do see your point. It would be good for the NHL if he went to a big hockey market. However, if he doesn't go to the Sabres, I would love to see him here in Raleigh. Yes, I'm being selfish.

When you're talking about over and under rated players, you have to talk about established veterans. 2nd or 3rd year players can hardly be considered in that light. I would have to say Most Overrated would be Eric Moulds, there has been a drop off in his play the past couple of years. The most Underrated would be Brian Moorman, its just shocking to see that he is left off all the media's lists as one of the top punters in the league.

I checked out Geico about a year ago. I would have ended up paying $250 MORE if I got the same coverage.

McGahee

Words to live by.

If you're looking at just stats, yeah, I'd be happy with that. But as far as team record goes, if he had those stats, the record should be a lot better than the Bengals. Considering how good the Bills Defense and Special Teams are in comparison with Cinci's, I would expect a much better record. And that should easily get us into the playoffs. All of the "professionals" like to compare JP's first year of starting with Palmer's but what they forget is the other two parts of the team. So as they say anywhere from 5 to 8 wins, I would expect more like 8-11 wins.

I've actually been hit by a dog before, too. I was on my way to the office one morning, driving down 55 (an extremely busy 2 lane highway during rush hour). Well, they are widening the road and a construction crew was out there and one of the idiots finds a 30 foot space between me and the car in front of me, so he sprints across, as I'm cursing him for taking that chance. He must have had his dog with him, because before I knew it, a dog hits the side of my car. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. The poor thing went under my rear tire, he must have hit the bottom part of the door and straight down. Other than that, a couple of rabbits, birds, squirrels and you can run over frogs just going out my driveway on a daily basis.

In the beginning its going to Blitz galore against JP and th Bills until they prove they can stop it and JP proves he can beat the blitz.

You're probably right about that. It all depends on who the guest is.

Without a doubt JP will struggle in the beginning. If the Bills are to get out of the gates on fire it will be up to the defense and ST. JP will have to get used to the speed of regular season NFL football. Its one thing to study on film and quite another to out there when everything is coming right at you. The Bills will not compete with the Pats for the division title this year (unless the Pats themselves struggle with two new coordinators). I agree with others here that the Bills will be a lot like last years Bills and finish with nearly the same record.

I believe you are legally allowed to remove it.

Normally, I'd agree with that. But this case is not normal. TH is bitter at being demoted to number 2 and doesn't want to play here. Its all in TH's hands really, if he's willing to be a team player, just play out the final year of your contract to the best of your ability and get your cash in Free Agency. But he's going the other way and whining about it, so we are best off just trading him away if the price is right.

Is Mark's attempt at turning this thread back to FAT working?

I still don't see how Travis could divide the locker room. Everyone knows that McGahee is the clear cut starter; the fans, media and players. Henry will only be a backup for the Bills and nothing else (barring injury). If he starts bitchin' the players will either ignore him or tell him to 'shut the !@#$ up'.

IIRC, they do have to pay to enter each tournament, plus all of their travelling expenses. Granted the stars of golf make millions, but the guys way down the line don't make as much as people think.

Prep/Jock/Cheerleader 63%

You got it!

Roenick is the guy that helped get the Union to accept a salary cap. He's been trying harder than any player to get this thing resolved. From the Philadelphia Enquirer this was also the article that was in the News and Observer, I pasted it because you have to register to see it.: NHL | Roenick: There was more to his rant "The media picked out the negative stuff," the Flyers center groused. He said he complained to ESPN. By Tim Panaccio Inquirer Staff Writer Jeremy Roenick said yesterday that audio/video "snippets" in which he said hockey fans can "kiss my [butt]" were taken out of context. The Flyers center was quoted over the weekend at Mario Lemieux's charity golf tournament outside Pittsburgh. His remarks about the fans made national headlines. "Before I went into my rant, I was talking about the game of hockey, about getting it back on the ice, about what we have to do for the fans and telling people it's not about who wins or loses, it's about the game," Roenick said. "But the media picked out the negative stuff... . Don't show snippets of the interview; show the whole interview, the whole message. My message during the interview was: How do we make the game more appealing to the fans?" Roenick said his rant began when someone suggested the NHL lockout was the players' fault. "That got my gall," he said. "We gave more back to the owners in this deal than any other sport has done. Before that question, I was talking about the game, how it was important to make it up to the fans and do something for them, and then that question came." A partial video clip from TSN.ca shows Roenick talking very calmly about the game of hockey and even apologizing for its absence. In the clip, Roenick talks about how much "the players have hurt" hockey and "might not have been right" in the lockout, a position that certainly won't please the NHL Players' Association. Roenick says the new deal has to allow "the owners to make money." He then says that "fans should realize how much the players gave up" before blaming them as being spoiled. "We're going to make the game better for the fans," he says in the video clip. "If you don't realize that, then don't come." The next clip jumps to his rant. Roenick said yesterday the question that provoked him was whether fans should blame the players. In February, Roenick, Robert Esche and Chris Pronger attempted to salvage the season when they asked the union to consider a reasonable salary cap and mustered support for it behind the scenes. The union eventually conceded on the salary cap. "If the fans think Jeremy Roenick didn't try to get the game back on the ice, as some of us did, that is simply not true," Roenick said. "I'm not spoiled. I was reacting to a question. What I was saying was that if fans don't think that I care about hockey, care about the Flyers, then don't come out to see me. That's what I was talking about." Roenick said he left several messages with ESPN yesterday demanding to know why the network didn't show the full video clip of what preceded his rant. As for the proposed collective-bargaining agreement, he said: "It's not a great deal. But it gets the game back on the ice, and that is the most important thing."

There's an article in this morning's Raeleigh News and Observer that Roenick is pissed that what he said was taken out of context. He called ESPN several times to complain and ask why they didn't show the entire interview, but ESPN never took his calls or called back. I think you should know the whole story before you B word about what one guy says.

Its actually been hotter in Buffalo the last couple of days than it has been here in Raleigh. Last week I was in Phoenix and it topped out at 114*. And to tell you the truth, it really wasn't that bad.

You're being a bit of a homer, but I like the way you think. 1st place is pretty much the Pats this year unless they take a major turn for the worst. I don't think the loss of the coordinators is going to hurt them that much. Although, I will be rooting for a 2-14 season for them. 2nd place is up for grabs by the Bills or Jets, both teams have question marks, but I think both are pretty solid. Whoever gets second will probably be one of the Wild Cards too. Dolphins will be in last place again, but don't think teams will just roll over them like last year. They'll be much better and a lot more competitive, but still finish behind Buffalo and NY.

AFC New England Indianapolis Pittsburgh Kansas City San Diego NY Jets NFC Philadelphia Carolina Minnesota Arizona Green Bay New Orleans

Wow! That filled up quick. There's only one spot left.