AKC

The word "proportionately" is in the dictionary. Let me know if you'd like me to pick you one up for Christmas- er, excuse me- "The Holidays"!

The problem with your postion is that I'm a down the center American voter, without an allegience to any political party. You're the participant in the conversation with a cross to bear, and from the middle of the political arena it appears to this centrist that you suffer from exactly the type of hypocritical blindness that has turned so many of us in the center away from supporting the left. Let me give you an example of your hypocrisy- you have the audacity to question the intelligence of the voters who re-elected Bush while your own party offers free doughnuts, bus rides and crack cocaine to convince your "base" to simply show up at the polls. Your "base" in this past election was provided with "instructional" demonstrations to explain how to use different voting apparatus on their way into the polls. Your own party apparently believes your "base" is a bunch of knuckleheads, slackers, and drug addicts yet you dare to question the intelligence of the red state voters? Hypocrisy at its purest IMO.

The string is veering away from my original conclusion, which was "While traditionally not much weight is given to the influence of the First Lady on voter tallies, it may well have been a big part in the outcome of this past election." It is that that the polls cited seem to clearly support. On the implication of the Harris poll it might be helpful to know that Hillary Clinton never cracked 50% with the exact same question asked. The darling of the Dems '08 chances looks to be exactly the type of unpopular pol that's killing the left.

If you'd like polls that support exactly the supposition I posed in the opening post, drop to "First Lady Preferences" on this link. FYI, Laura Bush in a Harris Poll has 81% of Americans saying she has "improved the role of the First Lady". I'm sure you understand the implication of that, but don't explain it to Mickey; if he understood what the polled actually meant it could lead to his burning the wet T-Shirt clad Hillary poster on his ceiling! http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=512

There is little more unAmerican or gutless than making broad challenges to the intelligence of Americans based upon their voting for someone they believe would better protect the liberal bastions of America. Proportionately the red states are overepresented in the body bags returned from all our modern conflicts. In the current conflict we face, one clearly against a religious culture centered in the Middle East, it is not the Tastee Freeze in Oldham, Alabama that is threatened, nor the Civil War Statue in Wickham, Kansas. What is threatened are the same cowardly liberals in our big cities who will hold their children out of serving in the military. How ironic that the finest among us, those who would go to protect the liberal cities like New York, could be attacked by those same gutless liberals for protecting them! You truly should reexamine your own inability to exhibit appreciation for this wonderful country we live in by showing- if not respect for those who would die for your right to whine- at least the self-control of not calling into question the intelligence level of those same heroes. One measure of Patriotism is showing the restraint to avoid insulting those in the military with more balls than you have yourself. If you excercised that a tenth as often as you do your right to B word about the unfairness of the failures of your political party of choice you might just begin to understand the reason why the proudest Americans live in those Red States you hate so much.

Run and hide if you can't face facts- it does nothing to save the diminishing significance of the Democratic Party. Try this poll from Seattle- last I checked hardly a bastion of right leaning politics: http://www.kgnw.com/poll/viewall.asp?ID=2863 As far as his first wife, I understand she was institutionalized and continues to suffer from mental health disorders. Here's the dictionary version to answer your question: lunacy \Lu"na*cy\, n.; pl. Lunacies. [see Lunatic.] 1. Insanity or madness; properly, the kind of insanity which is broken by intervals of reason, -- formerly supposed to be influenced by the changes of the moon; any form of unsoundness of mind, except idiocy; mental derangement or alienation. I think it's fair to say either of his wives pictures could appear after the definition!

You can hide from the truth, it's become a way of life for the left, but national polls show that Laura Bush is one of the most adored first ladies since numbers began to be taken for them (I assume you adore Jackie O, who had similar numbers?). One does not have to admire Karen Hughes and Dr. Rice to realize they are strong, stable and intelligent, not the kind of women who would prescribe gin soaked raisins for the arthritic! But hey, if you submit a resume early Shrum may have some openings for partisans in blinders like yourself- Good luck in '08!

Strong women may very well have held substantial sway in this past federal election, but what’s surprising is the difference variety of “strong” women in the eye of the hurricane. After reading some of the campaign accounts of both camps it strikes me that Bush probably gained 5 or 6 points among women by surrounding himself with strong, intelligent women like Karen Hughes, Condoleeza and his nationally adored wife while Kerry was apparently subjugated by a different strong woman, a wife who can accurately be characterized as a bit loony. There was also talk of bringing Kerry’s first wife into the campaign but wiser heads seem to have prevailed in keeping a woman who apparently been in “seclusion” since ’88 suffering from mental health issues below the radar. I’ve got to believe that this difference in the candidates own choices of the types of women they choose to surround themselves with was hardly lost on the female voters around our country, an area the Dems hoped to exploit but fell well short of pre-election expectations. While traditionally not much weight is given to the influence of the First Lady on voter tallies, it may well have been a big part in the outcome of this past election. Democrats may do well to rethink their own vetting process in the next cycle by looking at the totality of their candidate’s assets and liabilities.

Busby's on Santa Monica and Berkely in Santa Monica. Our home there is about 5 blocks from the Fox Sports Net studios where they film Best Damn Sports Show and we run into sports players all the time there. We got "well-lubricated" with Jim Kelly there this past summer ;-) To others points about the old rivalry, I actually told him that many of us realized the type of language being hurled his way in Buff and said the majority of the base was embarrased by a small number of our fans. He was very appreciative of that and mentioned that he thought we were one of the great fan bases in the league.

He's a surprisingly cordial guy who unlike a lot of former players likes talking about the game.

I'll tell you what's funny about that- Fletcher actually has a higher average than Atlanta's regular return man at 21.7 yards per return!

While McGee is doing a superb job as a return man, it's the blocking on return teams that has impressed me to a higher (or even much higher) degree. After too many years watching our return men running up the backs of their blockers it's clear April is absolutely solid on return timing adn the teaching of it, and given the better athletes the team has been willing to offer him on STs has made our return game very dangerous in short order. IMO if we brought in other return men to play in our unit we'd still be far more dangerous than would McGee playing behind, for instance, the Falcons return team. It's another example as far as I'm concerened of the fixation on the ball we all as fans find ourselves slave to at times. Now there's no doubt that McGee has an excellent shot at the Pro Bowl spot in the AFC, but like most of those before him he'd really be representing the blockers from his return unit in Hawaii.

One thing I suspect helps juice up the atmosphere at OneSimonDrive is the phenomenal display of instinctive pass rushing performed by one Lawyer Milloy the past couple Sundays. I don't believe I've ever seen any pass rusher coming from the Bill's D backfield who was that skilled at sliding off blocks.

It seems reasonable to throw out any insinuation that the mix of ST/D to offensive TDs is different over this 3 game stretch versus any in the past. Team scoring is the stat and the team includes all three phases.

Yee, the eternal optimist. Don't think for a moment that the same thought pattern you describe above is not continuing to rot in the bowels of 3 or 4 of TBD guests who believe the QB is fully responsible for all losses while his teammates conversely are the only ones capable of carrying the team to a W. But it is fun having a shot going into the home stretch, regardless of how much tripe we've been asked to inspect throughout the course of the season. We dodged a bullet today, a lot of it due to poor coverage team work. The season suggests that is not something we should expect to see in long stretches for during the balance of the regular season. I like it. So I'll officially adopt your level of optimism and buy extra wings for next weekend ;-)

I'll have to watch it again- I seem to recall his inertia was carrying him as much as any acceleration on his part and his body was a little high to get the scoop without falling over. I didn't really think on the first look that he was even in a great position to fall on it.

I didn't read it at all that way, although I realize the TV coverage team suggested it. When they came back and showed the angle from the lower corner of the field the ball looked like it was thrown away from the DB while leaving Evans in stride. A Raider fan watching the game with me said "That's just a perfect pass". I concur.

I agree completely- I remember how frequently the ball gets loose during fumble drills in football practice and the actual odds of his getting two (proven very good) hands on the sides of the ball and taking off versus securing it by diving on it might not be that far apart in probability. While there are many on the field whose hand reliability makes the dive and tuck the better play, with Nate his choice on this one looked like a decent decision. Had he taken the nose dive and knocked it OB I'll bet we'd be reading about what a poor choice was made for not just picking up the easy ball and running it in for a TD!

I get the feeling that as long as Lee is playing with one of the 7 or 8 QBs in the league who are capable at any time of setting a rainbow 60-yarder over his shoulder in stride he'll remain a significant threat. He's got awesome hands- I can't remember the last time I saw him letting a pass get through his hands to his body. He has a short game to be sure, but that seems predominantly set up by his threat to haul in that big pass. If the big pass were taken away I suspect he'd become a lot more mortal on the intermediate routes.

Jonas has possibly the best slide of any OT in the league, his lateral footwork in pass blocking is exceptional. This puts him in a pass-blocking class with few students and would make him a huge asset in a pass-first offense like St. Louis or KC. The other part of his game is his real achilles, he seems to simply be too top-heavy to be a good run blocker in space and he even has some trouble in hand to hand run blocking because he's fairly easy to get under with all that weight on top and proportionately thin calves. The overall package means his value to 4 or 5 teams is huge while that value diminishes for tohers, especially for a team running a play action offense like ours. If anyone in the league wants to pay him like a top 10 Tackle he should be allowed to go. His skills, and his fit in Buff translate more to maybe top 30 money. And since I haven't said it before FFS, if it hasn't been clear before today you're analysis of Coy Wire has been 100% on. He's playing more inspired ball on the "Special Forces" and he's become an asset to us, something that seemed "less than imminent" in his role in the Defensive backfield.

McGahee's college performances versus his pro performances will contemporarily and even inevitably be considered with his recovery as a bellwether, but I'm not so sure it's going to end up being an accurate way to look at those abilities. I don't watch much college ball anymore, but it's still clear when watching the college game just how common it is for a college back's skills to be a poor fit in the NFL. Willis is bigger now than he ever was in college. He looks to me as if he might just possess as innate a skill at understanding his blocker's field of opportunity and effectiveness as Thurman. He shows very good to excellent strength off a single set of hands, a dynamic that must not be overlooked in assessing his skill sets at this point in time. I have to believe his physical maturity and weight training over the course of his injury rehab have made him more dangerous in the step up to the NFL, a league that accedes the occasional play to speed but more often than that rewards the ability to bust off that first set of hands. Would he have been able to take his 225 pound college frame and done the same things he's doing in the big leagues at 237? The good news is it appears it's a study we'll have front row seats for.

I'm convinced those of you fanning the rumor of a Bill's move to Salt Lake City will end up disappointed.

We need to head right over to the Falcons board to explain to their fan base why Michael Vick is such an obvious recipe for disaster based upon this statistical analysis. There may still be time to save their season by getting Matt Schaub the balance of the team's snaps in '04.

OK, I'll bite. I don't have film for the frist itme this year because the little lady was in the hospital yada yada yada. On the one game view I was able to make Bledsoe sucked, the first throw to the middle fo nowhere was followed by even worse offerings. I thought early on the opportunities to move the ball on the ground (and especaily on the right side) were not well addressed by our linemen but I'll concede the point with no backup to review. Your call is that Bledsoe was unable to adjust personally to the scheme Belichick came to play, which was to overcrowd the line and bring it on nearly every play to confuse his former QB (and hide his deficiencies in the D backfield), and it worked perfectly. I have to ask you in your opinion how many times this season, previous to this game, was an opposing coach able to beat us by simply unvieling a strategy to befuddle our QB and having that strategy play out the way it was designed?

You wouldn't be talking about the same Joe Dufek that had a QB rating of 52.9 while playing for the Bills? The same Vince Ferragamo who posted a 50.8 passer rating while in a Bill's uni? And you can't possibly be talking about the same Rob Johnson who was too recently cut from our roster, are you? If you are let me share with you the wisdom of converting all your property and investments into Krugerands! And they're fun to polish too!