Rocky Landing

After growing up in Rochester, then living briefly in NY, then briefly in San Fran, then for 23 years in Los Angeles, and visiting Rochester every year, I have decided it's best to steer clear of Rochester Chinese food. But there used to be a really great place with terrible Chinese food and excellent tropical drinks, and a tiki theme with a volcano behind the bar. I think it was in Pittsford. Maybe it was called the Aloha, or something like that? Is that still around?

Jeez, I was just making a joke. I'm sure Brett Favre, and Terrell Owens are nice people, too.

Is that all that coaches do? Give tips on circuit training, and running and blocking? Give me a break. Are you suggesting that 33 pages of texts were non-football related? Are you suggesting that 33 pages of texts were sent in the capacity of something other than as a head coach? Can you think of nothing else, outside of circuit training, running, and blocking that could be sent that would constitute "coaching?" Do you believe that there is nothing to be gained from coaching your players during the offseason- even if it is via text? Is any of this making sense to you?

I don't see a link?

I'll be in my room...

I actually agree with you that this is not really a "cheating" issue. But, let's look at it from a different angle. BB has texted AH 30 times in the offseason. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that all those texts were related to his training, and other football related activities. Now, multiply that by dozens. If BB is texting all of his players, monitoring, and perhaps guiding their training, practice, film study, workouts, etc. Is that not coaching? Hmm. maybe I don't agree with you after all?

But, will the world be ready for a 60 year old cheerleader?

I'm 50, and I think she's pretty hot.

Are you crazy? I'm a father of two, and if it meant a view from the sidelines, I'd be swinging around those pompoms and wearing a miniskirt!

The quarterback rating is a pretty useless stat on its own, but I think it's especially useless in this context. The formula doesn't take into account the level of play any other player on the field. Certainly, we had a better team than the Jags last year. But, Jaw's list of quarterbacks, isn't a list merely based on qbr. As mediocre as Henne is, his play has been consistent throughout his career. Even when he was being openly booed in Miami by his own fans, during games and practice, his play remained consistent. (I found myself respecting him for that.) What we had last year from Manuel, was ten starts, inconsistent play, with a truncated playbook, and three knee injuries. And, yes, those injuries are certainly going to play into an objective list of starting qbs-- especially regarding one that has only played in one season. I believe that EJ will climb that list significantly. I believe he will have progressed substantially from last season. But, if he hasn't progressed from last season, and if it turns out that he doesn't have the ability to play the entire season, no objective observer is going to rank him higher than 27th. This ESPN/Jaws list is based on what has been seen on the field. I'm neither surprised by EJ's low rank, nor am I discouraged.

I live and work in Los Angeles in the television industry (set lighting), and I've actually done a fair amount of work for Fox Sports. Here's the thing: if you look closely, you will almost always see an earbud in their ear. This is so the directors/producers can feed them information. With few exceptions, these guys don't write their own material, or do their own research. This clown is certainly no exception. Jaws is just spouting a crafted version of conventional, network wisdom. And, I'm sorry to say, of course, conventional wisdom is going to place Henne, a proven, albeit mediocre (if you want to consider #27 even mediocre) commodity. We all have high hopes for EJ. But, at the moment, that's really all they are-- hopes. EJ had some good games, and he had some bad ones. Henne is consistently mediocre.

We'r just going to have to agree to disagree-- strongly-- on that one! Good to know! I'm going to be back on August 10th. Can't wait!

Sorry, but finishing your post with, "end of story," does not make your post even remotely definitive. Personally, I could not disagree with your sentiment more, and quite frankly find it offensive.

What happened is that places like Pizza Hut, and every other national chain selling wings drove the price WAY up. I was surprised that the owner kept the Mt Hope location over Monroe Ave. I guess the overhead was a lot lower on Mt. Hope.

I cried when they shut down their Monroe Ave location.

Genny Cream Ale! Tastes like high school!

Nothing to see here. Hernandez was probably just asking his coach for advice on how to dispose of a dead body. Perfectly innocent.

I don't think it will, either. But, I think it's interesting. I had never bothered to look at the NFL geographically in that way before. I hadn't really considered how isolated the Seahawks are from the rest of the NFL. Honestly, I'm fairly ambivalent to the issue. I think there are several cities that could support a team. I think there's an upside to expanding. And, as I mentioned in another thread, there are ways the league has changed over the decades that I lament. It was once much more of an everyman's blue-collar game. (I think) Maybe I'm just being sentimental. Good post. Some context to the geographical perspective.

Just for some perspective-- a map of NFL teams. The Seahawks sure look lonely out there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:NFL_Labelled_Map

Born and raised in Rochester, but moved to the West Coast in 1990. I still go back once or twice a year to visit family. Courtyard by Marriot in Penfield is a great choice. But, and I cannot stress this highly enough: COUNTRY SWEET CHICKEN AND RIBS. They used to have three locations, but they're now down to one, on Mt. Hope Ave in a rather sketchy part of town. But, man are they addictive!. Totally worth the risk of bodily injury, and gastrointestinal discomfort. Sometimes, when I land in Rochester, I stop by for a quick Wing and Mac Snack before I make it to my parents.

And, if so, by how much? How many teams? To where? Europe? Mexico? Just the U.S.? This was brought up in another thread, and I thought it might deserve a thread of its own. Should the league expand? My initial thought is, sure, why not? But, there are plenty of things to consider. As I see it (and I hope others will add to this list) the pros, and cons are as follows: Pros: 1) Longer playoff season! 2) Immediately gives a boost to whichever local economies get a team. 3) There are few downsides to having an NFL team in your city. 4) Helps assure that the Bills never leave Buffalo. 5) Something else for billionaires to spend their money on. 6) More parking lots for people to tailgate in. 7) Potentially moves the NFL back in the direction of local pride, and hometown heroism. Cons: 1) Could more than 32 teams be too many teams? 2) For several years, at least, the newly formed teams would be at a disadvantage. The league would become more lopsided. 3) The overall skill level of the league would be diminished, or diluted. 4) Would lower the percentage of elite players. 5) Too many teams to keep track of. 6) Brett Favre, or Terrell Owens might come out of retirement. 7) What if Paris gets a team? Could there be anything more obnoxious than a French football fan?

You know, if they have that cute little guy on the sidelines during games, eventually he is going to drop a "brown" on the field. And, when it happens, the media are going to go nuts. I predict it will get more coverage than Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend. And that will be the last we ever see of Swagger.

What a morbid thread... Be that as it may, I have to question the wisdom of having an actual dog as a mascot when your team is named "The Browns." Who picks up after that thing, anyway?

I've never even considered the idea that the talent level of the NFL has been diluted. In fact, over the decades, I think it's certainly gone the other way. We now have high schools dedicated to churning out professional football players. I haven't done a search, but I also suspect that over the years, the average size, and speed of an NFL player has gone up. It used to be an everyman's, blue-collar sport. I love that there are elite players, but there's a line between elite, and elitist. Sometimes, the NFL reminds me of what's happened to the America's Cup in sailing, where it went from a millionaire's sport to a billionaire's sport. I think there has also been a slow shift, over the decades, away from football being a source of regional pride. Hometown heroes are a rarity. That didn't used to be the case. The question also is: should football expand internationally? Honestly, I don't think I could care less about that. The London game just annoys me-- I'm not sure why. And, just how diluted would the league become? 53x8=424. There are, what, over 300 million people in the U.S.? Sure, there would be a lower percentage of elite players. But, the dispersion of elite players to piss-poor players isn't a straight line. Thee are many more average NFL players than there are elite players. Obviously. I pretty much just rattled this whole post off the top of my head, so I might change my mind. Interesting topic, though. Maybe it deserves its own thread?

I might be completely alone in this sentiment... but I will miss his antics. And, I suspect the locker room will, as well. The penalties? No. But, I personally find the league's current allergy to anything resembling emotion in the end zone to be a downer. And, let's face it, it's gotta be pretty hard to keep up morale as a Bill. One of the things I appreciated the most about Steven Johnson, was his dedication to having fun.