Buftex

If you go back and watch a replay of the game, the camera showes Chan "discussing" (arguing?) with the official, about the time-out. You can clearly read Chan's lips "they said it was 4th down...that's why I called timeout!" It seems, Chan was lead to believe, by someone, either an official or another Bills coach (I will bet it was an official) that it was a Bengals fourth down, not a first down...he called the timeout, I believe, thinking he would make the Bengals punt back to the Bills, in hopes of getting a TD return...far fetched, perhaps, but Chan is pretty aggressive.

Honestly, when I saw it live, catch, no question. Then, the first replay they showed, for a split second I thought it moved, before realizing that it wasn't the ball moving, but it was Nate Clements pink glove, as he reached around and tried to strip Johnson of the ball...I thought then, "I understand the confusion, but upon further review, surely, they will get it right"...man was I wrong...are these the same officials that called the Syracuse game a few weeks ago? That was an awful call. IMO, the refs are either blind, or, they upheld the call on the field, to save face...terrible... I don't normally harp on officiating, because, normally it is a bit subjective, and the Bills do more than enough on their own to blow games...surely, they didn't play well, but I saw what you saww...constant holding, hands to the face...none of it called. The Bills had some major help in losing this game today...

I hear Cowherd about 30 minutes to an hour every day. I think he is just really awful. He changes his "take" on things over and over (hearing him talk about the "Heatles" last NBA season was maddening)...he insisted he the Bills would beat the Pats, just to be contrary, IMO, after interviewing Fitz...then of course, after they beat the Pats, when he is on with other ESPN "football experts" he gives the impression that he doesn't think the Bills are that good, Tom Brady just had a bad game, it was bound to happen...yadda, yadda, yadda...the Pats will improve, the Bills will be exposed...but he has to remind everyone that he picked the Bills. Perhaps Cowherds' worst offense, for someone on the air so long...he is absolutely, 100% not funny at all...his attempts at humor are just embarrassing. I mean, I think he is attempting humor... Cowherd and Gailey couldn't be two different types of people, from what I hear...didn't hear the interview, but I am sure it was riveting!

JW- have listened to the new Tommy Stinson record? Not bad...picked it up a week or so ago, been so busy, only had a chance to half listen to it...like what I heard...not as good as the first Slim Dunlap record, but not bad. Anything that's rock 'n' roll is fine...

Shat's album "Has Been" from a couple years ago (2003 maybe?) was a pretty masterful piece of work...Shatner finally got in on the joke, and ran with it...always kind of dug this tune, a collaboration with Ben Folds... a nod to bad parents everywhere, trying to make up for lost time:

Original article: mean spirited, pointless comments by some Bills fans: mean spirited, and embarassing coverage from Deadspin: Just what the "nation" needs... This is probably as much attention as anything this woman has ever written...

Not to condem you at all, or call in to question your "fandom", I understand what you are saying. But, for me, I have never understood how anyone can make a conscious decision to switch allegences to a team. I understand that it happens, just not sure how it happens. For me, the closest thing: growing up, I LOVED the Buffalo Braves, and HATED the Boston Celtics....when the Braves left town, I was stuck...I still loved basketball, but had no team. It was the early days of cable, the "superstation" we got with our cable in WNY was a Boston station, they showed every Celtics game. So, my choice was to abandoned the sport all-together, or to watch the only games I could watch, the Celtics. The fact that it was the begining of the Larry Bird era didn't hurt, but I just started loving the Celtics. Still do to this day. If we had only been able to watch Clevland Cavs games, I likely would be a Cavs fan today...it was all just circumstance. When it comes to the NFL though, I think if the Bills ever did leave Buffalo, I would likely still watch the NFL, but I can't imagine rooting for another NFL team.

One thing I think gets downplayed a lot, in reagards to Fitzpatrick, by Bills fans too: Fitz started 3 or 4 games as rookie for the Rams, and then another dozen or so games for the the Bengals. So, he had some seasoning when he came to the Bills. To me, last season, even when he didn't have great games, it was obvious that Fitzpatrick was very comfortable as the starter...I don't think I ever got that sense from JP Losman, or Trent Edwards. Both guys had their moments, but, more often than not, just didn't seem to be able to handle the position very well. Fitzpatrick is a shining example of how much a good mind can compensate for physical limitations, for a QB. Fitz is obviously a pretty good athlete, but he doesn't have the arm that Losman had, for example...but he has the confidence to make plays. If you go back and watch his first TD pass from Sunday, to Steve Johnson, it wasn't anything spectacular, but, Fitz let go of that pass well before Johnson had even made a cut...we haven't seen a QB do that in some time. Edwards would have held it till he was sure SJ was past his man, and Losman would have thrown it not to get intercepted, or caught.

Holy ****...you only have to read the first sentance.... So you are one of those who doesn't think that the government should assist people who suffer through natural catastrophies? There are wack jobs like that.. Or, did you just not read the article, and are trying to imply something?

I am so sick of hearing about the Bills...

Won't be a spoiler, but it seems like "Weeds" might be done...I don't think Showtime has renewed it, as of yet, and the finale certainly felt like a final episode...probably not a bad thing...as much as I have enjoyed that show over the years, this last season was a "hot mess"...MLP is always worth tuning in for, but the story was just all over the place, with no point...normally the show roams, but comes back to something you are familiar with...this season they just really seemed to be trying a little too hard to be "weird" or unpredictable...it just didn't work for season 7, IMO. Anyways, excellent take on Breaking Bad. The ultimate tragedy, Walt throws his good life away, for his family, certain he is going to die soon...then he lives, pretty much loses the family life he was trying to preserve(the way he was trying to preserve it anyways), may cause their deaths, and now, becasue of all of his "Bad" decisions, is, ultimately broke, without a loving family, and facing a violent death. This is one of the darkest shows ever, but it is so damn good...the concept of what it means to "break bad" is now very clear...you wonder how many criminals fall into this same trap...it seems like it always catches up to you. Ultimately, I think Jesse will come through for Walt, whether that means Walt lives or dies by series end, I don't know...but Jesse is not as dumb as he seems sometimes...he will realize, if this is what happens to "Mr White", his time is limited too.

Jones certainly has been erratic catching the ball, but I think, maybe, his most value to the Bills, is that he is a really fine blocker...when the Bills bunch up receivers to one side or another, if Jones isn't busting free, uncovered, he is making it possible for someone else to.

Didn't listen to him today, or yesterday, but I can hear it. He picked the Bills on Friday, which he will make sure everyone is aware of (I heard it, he did) but then he will just write it off as one of those things that was bound to happen, the Pats offense was bound to have a bad game, one of these weeks...this was the Bills Super Bowl, to the Pats it is just another game...yadda yadda yadda...Cowherd sucks!

To say that the Bills aren't getting enough positive coverage from ESPN right now, is just silly...I got my problems with ESPN too...I saw the highlight package that you (OP) were referring too, I remember, because, like you said, they went to Fred Jackson afterwords, then to Welker, then Brady, than back to Welker. But the highlights were pretty complete...if they skipped any Bills TD, I think it was the first TD pass to Steve Johnson...but they showed the rest...it seems like some folks are never happy...the Bills have been everywhere...Fitz has been all over ESPN, they just had him on live on SportsCenter, and George Wilson on another of their new, daffy, NFL shows. Don't let your resentment from the last 12 years cloud what you see...enjoy the coverage while we are getting it...a few losses and it all goes away...and lets face it, a bad game for the Pats, for whatever reason, is big news in the NFL.

Yeah, they were awesome...

I haven't read this whole thread, but doesn anyone have a link to what Bledsoe said, with him saying them? No offense to OP, but people here tend to hear what they want to hear... He was on ESPN on Friday, via phone, talking about the anniversary of the "hit" that started the Tom Brady era in New England....he said he was bitter toward the Pats for a while, but in retrospect, he wouldn't change anything that happened, because it gave him a chance to play for some other "great organizations". Now, he only played for Buffalo and Dallas, after New England, so one would presume he was talking about those two organizations...I can't believe how petty people are...

On ESPN Blitz, Berman called him "Ochodropo" Simple, but funny!

There is a web-site out there that specializes in photos like this...a few years ago, they had a picture of Keith Richards (admittedly no beauty), where they put fish-lips around his eyeballs, and little gremblin type thingys where his ears were...they did it very subltly, and the pic made the rounds as one of those "holy crap, how is this guy still alive" kind of things...but then, the original photo surfaced, and it was clear that somebody was having some fun with their photo-shop program.

Wow...have met her a few times, and I gotta ask what standards you are gauging her on, she is pretty damn beautiful.

A very good, old friend of mine wrote the screen-play for this...he hated it, but, like you, I thought it was really good...maybe not "favorite movie of all time good", but very underrated.

Shawne Merriman is Talley? I think not, at least yet...but a lot to like about this team.

I am far from a "Jesus freak", but that really has nothing to do with anything...in terms of football. Actually, I would say that Fitz has been very impressive for more than two games...he showed steady improvement all of last year, and has continued into this season...but keep in mind, it is one of the "legends of the game" who made the comparison, if you read the linked article: “I love the way (Fitzpatrick) is playing right now. He reminds me a lot of me,” Warner told “Around the League” Wednesday. “He’s a gunslinger, he’s a guy who attacks you, throws the ball down the field. Unfortunately, I think there’s going to be times this year where he takes a few too many chances and has one of those games with three or four interceptions. But right now, he’s making all the plays for this team. He’s been extremely impressive and exactly what that young team needs.”

Another thing that is sometimes overlooked, and is part of the leadership thing, both guys seem to go out of their way to be personable with all of their teammates, no matter what side of the ball they play, or where they are on the depth chart. And I don't get the sense, with either, it that kind of showy- Doug Flutie kind of "good teammate"... It sounds kind of corny, but, it is important, IMO, that everyone, the offense and defense, believing in a guy, and feeling like they have somebody to rally around...Fitz has that quality...and enough talent to warrent it. I never got the feeling that Trent Edwards, or JP Losman before him, instilled that aura of confidence with their teammantes. With those two guys, they were high draft picks who didn't, ultimately produce, but their careers started with much higher expectations, so I would imagine, their relationship with their teammates was a little different...they were handed things they didn't earn, while Fitz earned his way into a job (or Trent earned his way out), little was expected of him, but he grabbed the opportunity, and just seems to have a connection with his coach, that we haven't seen in Buffalo for a while. Everyone seems to be on the same page. It really is refreshing. Warner had that quality, and IMO, carried the Cardianls to a Super Bowl, on his back...without him, Larry Fitzgerald might just be another guy...lomg on potential, short on results.

I really dug the first 4 or 5 REM albums, and then, they just kind of became irrelevant to me...that doesn't mean to say they weren't any good...for me, the most important thing they did, was open up my eyes to some older stuff that I was only vaugely familiar with, like Velvet Underground...I remember seeing them with Dream Syndicate opening, at some club in Buffalo, very early on...Stipe came on in his skirt...they were good, but Dream Syndicate really blew me away. Also remember seeing Peter Buck play with the Replacements (my last favorite rock 'n' roll band of all time), which gave REM more credence with me. My sister is a big fan, and buys every album...she really liked the last one a lot, and, working part time in a record shop, I have heard from quite a few people that they were putting out good records in their later years...