Dan

Ticks and spiders can be very serious, especially Brown Recluses. Although, living in the Chicagoland area, brown recluses should be very rare given their establish distribution in the US. Alot of people think they see brown recluses, but most of the time it's some type of wolf spider. Not that I'd want to get bitten by either one! Brown Recluses like warm, dry areas. So, you most often see them in attics or garages (especially in more southern areas). You'll have more of problem with black widdows in your area. They like dark, sheltered places though. ...and don't even get me started on ticks!

Most excellent point that I forgot. You can definitely transfer the oil from tool to tool for quite some time. I'm not sure how long the oil can pesist and still cause the rash, but I'd wager its a considerable length of time. I've seen the same thing as well, if you have work pants; you can transfer it from day to day if you don't wash your pants daily or just toss them into the laundry with your normal clothes. You can get it later, when you do laundry. Good point, as well, late summer and fall is when the plant is excreting the most oil. So, it can be quite serious. Again, different people have different levels of reaction. So knowing how serious your reaction is, should determine how serious you need to be about avoiding exposure. (I write all this with several fire ant bites on my ankles and legs and poisong ivy rash on my right forearm - and the smell of caladryl lotion in the room. It was a fun week.)

And post one moronic post after the next driving the collective intelligence and civilty of the board down a spiraling path of self implosion resulting in the loss of insightful participants and comments in the process.

I think the high salaries and, subsequent, high ticket prices are here to stay regardless. There are most certainly a few sticking points in any new CBA discussion. If you limit rookie salaries, how do you guarantee that the money saved goes to the veterans? So, essentially, the player salary pool stays the same; they just shift it away from rookies and more toward veterans. What would be the length of rookie contracts? 6-7 years is a little much for most all players, I'd imagine. For the bulk of players that would mean one contract. I'd guess 4 years is more appropriate, but the players would probably prefer 3 years. How does this all affect free agency? Are rookies RFA or UFA after their initial contract? If all rookies have a 3-4 year contract at relatively low prices and then they become UFA; small market teams could very well become the farm teams of the NFL. Imagine all these great draft picks emgerging and in 3 years getting to go to the highest bidder. Dallas and Washington would hoard talent like no one else. So, it seems you have to add some sort of RFA clause to each rookie contract. Of course, you need to cap/limit the signing bonuses. As well as add some sort of guarantee into each contract. You can't have players or owners backing out of contracts/demanding more money just because they played really well or had a season ending injury in year one. Lots of sticking points. And I'm sure I've barely hit the tip of the iceberg.

Just saw this thread and read through it... sounds like you did the right thing. Poison Ivy can cause some pretty serious allergic reactions. In some people it can be life threatening. In more severe cases (like it sounds like you had/have), prednisone is almost always the remedy. I'd be hesitant to go to the doctor every time though, because taking steriods all the time is not that good of an idea. Some people are more allergic to it than others; hence, the varied amount of "cures" working on some people and not on others. In the future, when outside doing work, if you think poison ivy is around, wear pants, long-sleeved shirt and gloves. Yes, it's hot. But, get the oil on your cloths and you can remove them and wash them (not with all your regular clothes). That's better than getting it on your skin. When clearing brush and such, sometimes you can actually inhale the oil and then its really bad. For that reason, if burning brush where PI is present; never stand in the smoke. What I've found that works best, from bug bites to ivy, is Caladryl Lotion. Don't get the clear stuff, not only is it for sissies, but it doesn't work as well. I work outside all summer doing field work and get all sorts of rashes and bug bites and Caladryl has always worked the best. I even travel with it. Again, though, if you're highly allergic - like it sounds you are - you'll need to take extra precautions. Trust me long-sleeved shirts and pants are your best friend in the summer if you're out and about.

How bad is it when we're all surprised to see play action passes? It's been a loooong few years. If you have any pull at those camps... tell them to try some slants next. If I see slant patterns in your future reports, I won't know whether to erect a shrine to you or scoff in disbelief!

welcome back.

Thanks so much for these reports. I know you hear it alot, but really, thanks. There really is no better source to get a feel for what is happening at camp. to you. I have no idea how you keep such detailed notes and relay all that information each day; but I think you made a few serious errors. You mentioned play action fake type pass things. Now, we all know that kind of play doesn't exist. So, please check your notes. Good job otherwise.

Story of my life.

bb.com video, I assume. Chan Gailey on first night practice, AM scuffle

And had Maybin and company been stuffed all day by Bell, would the defense be really bad? A good day for the defense doesn't necessarily imply our offense is doomed.

I completely disagree. "Have some humility, have some respect..." Why? I'm so tired of this team being full of pansies, with no contact, no emotion, no nothing. They need to stop with all this respect and humility crap and start punching people in the mouth. I suppose everyone likes quotes like this from our QB: "Asked what it means to get the nod from new coach Chan Gailey to start camp, Edwards said: "Honestly, it just means I'm working with the ones right now." No emotion, no excitement. Just a well I'm just here doing my job routine answer. Will he ever show emotion? Will he ever actually act like he cares about winning... anything? I'm sorry, but I like that Maybin is hitting. I like that the offense is giving it back to him. I hope this continues into week one.

Many of the posts in this thread are proof that some people care more about being right than they do reality. So, let me get this straight... dude is missing a mandatory practice because he's out of shape and that's OK? On the other hand, if Hardy or someone on the Bills looks out of shape (heavens, please don't let them miss a voluntary practice for personal reasons), they're a bust or at best aren't committed to the team? Any way you slice it, he's a rookie that just showed up to training camp out of shape. There's not a planet in existence in which that would be acceptable.

Well played!

Your scouting ability is astounding. Brohm got one start and was dreadful (17 for 29; 146yds; 0 TD; 2 INT; 2 Sacks). Trent in his last start was pretty dreadful as well (18 for 28); 185yds; 1 TD; 1 INT; 2 Sacks). The primary difference? That was Brohm's first game in the NFL, while that was Trent's 30th (more or less) game in the NFL. Furthermore, that's pretty much Trent's career average. So, it's not like I've cherry-picked Trent's one bad game. So what kind of rejuvination are you expecting? He's never been a 300yard/game passer. He's never been a 3-4 touchdown per game passer. He's never been a strong leader that could put the team on his shoulders. He's is what he's been - average. So, you're really hopinig we have an average QB? I've given Trent 3 years to perform and in the last 3 years, I've never seen him take the field with a look of confidence. I've never seen the team rally around him - actually quite the contrary. It seems the team rally's around any QB but Trent. I'd be willing to give him more benefit of the doubt if he'd been pulled in and out of the lineup; but he hasn't. He's been the unquestioned starter for nearly 3 years. And he's done nothing with it. I'm sorry, but it's time to move on. Brohm may very well be a bust. However, with 1 game's worth of footage on him; I'd say that book is far from being closed. I have no reason why other teams passed on him; don't really care. But, he's here and has a chance to finally deliver consistent play from the QB position for our team.

As Doc asked, on what are you basing your opinion of Brohm? He's played next to no regular season games. So how can you make such definitive statements?

I agree. But, Chan has said he'll have a "pecking order" once camp starts. By that, I take it to mean someone will be getting more first team snaps. The OTAs were definitely equal; but will the camp practices be just as equal? It'll certainly be interesting (1) to see who get the initial nod and (2) does he get initial reps than the other two? But, maybe all 3 start out equal; then it becomes more and more slanted? Interestingly, in a recent Buffalo News article, Chan was reported to have said the "both preseason games and camp practices will weigh heavily into the QB decision." Does that mean he intends to make his "final" decision after the second preseason game? There are going to be several interesting camp battles, but none more important than the QB battle.

That might be the prudent decision. But, I've seen several years of actual game footage on Trent and Fitz. A few practices aren't going to convince me of anything. I'd make Brohm the starter from day one. If he screws the pooch; then you can always plug Trent or Fitzy in and say, it was open competition from day one. But, I'd want to give Brohm all the opportunity possible to succeed; and that, for me, would be naming him #1 in the pecking order. The bottom line, if Trent really is our best starter; we're screwed. The fact that he's got 30 starts under his belt and is still in the middle of a 3-headed race to win the job, says all you need to know.

That's pretty much what he has said in several interviews. He was accustomed to being the starter and just expected things to come easy in the NFL, as it did in College and HS. When that didn't happen and he was competing for a backup spot; it seems his confidence was shot and/or depression set in. By all accounts, Brohm is saying he's over that now and looking forward to getting his shot in Buffalo. If so, he could become a true steal. My question is, if you're Chan and sense that about him, do you keep making him work through training camp and preseason to prove he belongs or do you make him number 1 in the pecking order starting this weekend? The first path could make him work hard, but it could also backfire and destroy his confidence even further. The second decision could inject him with confidence and self assurance, but could also make him feel he doesn't have to work as hard this season. For me the answer is easy. We've seen Trent; we've seen Fitzy. They're backups at best. Brohm, by all accounts, was starter material coming out of college. Let's see what he can do - it'd really hard to believe he could be worse than what we had last year and the injection of confidence could be just what's needed to turn the guy into a true leader.

Care to plow the road?

I love watching Lynch run. The guy is brutal. But, you're absolutely right. He hesitates and stutters rather than just go. Add to that; he decides to put on weight last year. WTF? Now, he's hesitant AND slower. However, I think most, if not all, of his problems can be fixed with proper coaching. It's astounding how poorly coached this team has been. If he comes to camp at a better weight and actually gets coached, I think Lynch can have his best season yet.

IMO, saying that the Bills are facing a 3-4 year rebuild is a bit premature. The problem, as I see it, is we have a lot of players that have had little playing time due to injuries. So, it's really hard to determine how good or bad they really are. Pretty much the entire team (expect the rookies and newly acquired FAs) have seen significant time missed, which makes it hard to draw and firm conclusions for me regarding guys like, Poz, McKelvin, Wood, Bell, Hardy, etc. So for me, one of the key things this season will be to see how healthy the players can stay; then how talented they may or may not be. So it'll be mid-season, probably longer, before we can say how long this rebuild is going to take. Two things, however, I think we can all agree on right now - the OL and QB need upgrades. The question regarding the OL is are our current guys the future backups or starters? It's a little of both, I'd suggest. With the QB, I question do we have someone serviceable until the future is drafted or are we completely screwed? Every other position, IMO, is up in the air until we see how they play this season.

This poster included!

From the Cowboys, to the Bills... to the Rams. Seriously, I'd just retire. Talk about circling the drain.

Never tried it, but I'd start here: 5 ways to copy music OFF yor iPod