R. Rich

Come to think of it, he'd fit in well around here.

Skip Bayless is annoying. I remember him going on and on about how the West Coast sports teams are better than the East Coast teams and how they get no respect (night games are on EST rather than PST) and blah blah blah. Or, to sum it up, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!! He's one of those sports reporters who will go out of his way to make a shocking statement in the hopes he will be heard by all.

Hey Buckeye, I'm trying to help out a bit. I mentioned a few positives I saw (along with a few negatives).

I thought Fletcher played an okay game yesterday too. Spikes whiffed bad on a couple open field tackle opportunities; Vincent still looks a step too slow; Wire looks to be over his head at safety; and Kelsay looked better than Denney..........again.

That's good that Williams is doing well for Cincy. I got to see a fair amount of Terps games here, so I know he's a good one. Play real opponents? I don't know if they're ready for that yet. Then again, how else will you know if they're ready? One thing I've noticed is that PSU seems to want to make stars out of these teams' players: the Akron QB (Charlie Frye) the first week, the UCF RB (can't remember his name) last Saturday. Both of them ripped the Lions' defense up.

I think you're all clueless. BTW ICE, did you see my photos from last weekend? You're in a few of them.

Ohio State needs to get better play from Zwick. He's too up and down at this point. Besides that, they look pretty good. West Virginia looked pretty good in beating Maryland too. Then again, Maryland doesn't look as good as they did a couple seasons ago. Amazing what losing a few guys like EJ Henderson, Randy Starks, and Madieu Williams will do for a defense. Notre Dame could be the real deal, or they could be that team that got handled by the Cougars. We'll soon know the truth. Michigan still looks to be not quite ready to be a major contender. Sure, San Diego State is a decent team, but the Wolverines just don't look like a team ready to run away with either a Big 11 title or a national title. Good thing it's early on; by season's end, they'll be right in the thick of things again. Penn State.........my beloved Nittany Lions. As long as we can play the Akrons and Central Floridas of the world, we'll do just fine. Defense is still weak in pass coverage and also whiffed on a lot of open field tackles. Ugly! There's still work to be done, but they're on the right track.

I didn't know you were born in '69, nodbarb. Cool. Another member to the 1969 club!

Happy birthday! Can you fix the $565 million powerball lottery so that only I win?

I like your optimism, and we certainly could use more of that around here. I must point out, though, that it isn't as simple as just 'stop making mistakes'. Better mental preparation usually can come from good coaching, players working on their faults, and players becoming more and more familiar with each other and learning to overcome mistakes. That takes time. This is why I felt going into this season that we're about a year away from serious contention. We have a lot of talent here, but they still need to play together as a team and find ways to win games. People like to whine and complain about the Patriots' luck and all, but the fact is that they do find ways to win. Does anyone really believe that they would have blown 4 red zone opportunities like Indy did against them if they were in the same position? As the cliche goes, good teams find ways to win. We're still a work in progress: we have talent, now we need to find ways to come up on the positive side of situations like 4th and goal from the 1, or stop teams from converting 4th and 14 plays and keeping eventual game-winning drives alive.

I get the feeling I'll see a lot of that message today. I'll pop in again later to see if it's safe.

Same here. I probably should've taken more pictures at Danny's and on Sunday, though. Still, I did a good job of capturing the "essence of the tailgate", I think.

Uh oh. Whatever it is, I didn't do it. I wasn't even there. I have witnesses. Try to send the PM again.

I thought I had deleted a bunch of PMs that I already archived. I guess I'll have to try it again.

Thanks. We had a nice day together. Since we did so much the weekend before, we just went out for dinner. The leg is much better today.

Your tickets were mailed out today. Also, I thought of something that you may be able to use at the game. I'll mail it on Monday.

All 3 of the Chimays are on ice, waiting for the game tomorrow. I do need to get some good ol' fashioned cheap beer to stock up with. I'm down to about 2 or 3 Pilsner Urquells, those 3 Chimays, 2 Hoegardens, 1 Singha Gold, and 1 regular Singha. Too bad I live in MD and will have to probably go to some damn bar and overpay for some beer for tomorrow. If I have to go that route, I'll only get a 6 or 12 pack, though.

Sorry, Tom. Here's my email: RRich@GoBills.net

Cool shots. Next year, be sure to get the shot of my foot in your a** for not even coming up to me to introduce yourself at the tailgate!

Happy early anniversary to you too, rookie. BTW, thanks for taking us to that place w/all the beer (Mmmmm........beeeeeeeeeeeer!!!). As you said, it will now be a part of the routine.

It's the bald head. It's gotta be.

Yeah, you were wasted when I made it to the tailgate last year. Drunk a**. The beer I gave you was a Pilsner Urquell. Good stuff; a bit pricey at $12.99 a 12 pack, but good beer. Check to see if they sell it anywhere near you.

Same here, Guff. Thanks for the ride back to my car, too. My knee was still pretty sore on Sunday, and the ride did help. I owe you. BTW, I take it you and the Mrs made it back to the hotel room okay? It looked like she had a pretty good time at the tailgate.

Hahahaha!!!! Harsh man, harsh.

Who's Melissa?