The Frankish Reich

You're welcome, Frank. 😃

https://gogriffs.com/honors/hall-of-fame/frank-swiatek/78 ?

That taunter really should have been the tauntee. Dude just took your hit and made the catch. Idiot.

I said it before and it wasn't well received: squint hard enough and you can see the 2018 Bills in these 2021 Jags.

But as soon as you go through that Brandenburg Gate to East Berlin, I hear it's a different story. It's kind of like the Twilight Zone, where you suddenly find yourself in 1989 being watched by snipers if you ever try to return.

Quaint, yes. Model for the rest of Canada, much less for the rest of the world? Umm, not exactly. https://www.mtlblog.com/quebec-was-voted-worst-canadian-province-for-handling-the-pandemic https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1739152451667 And it's not just about handling of the pandemic. Quebec is the "leader" in lots and lots of things you don't want to lead in: https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/yes-it-s-true-caa-study-confirms-myth-quebec-has-the-worst-roads-in-canada-1.5367906 https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/illiteracy-in-quebec_n_8100450#:~:text=Approximately 19% of the population can't read or write.&text=In recent years%2C the,until age 16 since 1988.

Ahh, Godwin's Law. And it only took 165 pages. Really, this is the most trite, lazy response imaginable. And it's not limited to the right wing. We also have these oh-so-clever "just like 1942 Germany." Funny, when I've traveled abroad I pretty much always have my passport on me, even when I'm in somewhere like the UK. But I guess they must be closet fascists. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/31/547510929/show-me-your-papers-law-temporarily-blocked-by-federal-judge https://www.mira-mo.org/show-me-your-papers-law

Oh yes they will. If we make it to the Super Bowl, and especially if we win a Super Bowl. Ask yourself: did KC get a lot of media attention, a lot of prime time games when they were a really good team, losing playoff games with Alex Smith?

I'm sensing a pattern here. You and me both ...

When I was younger, back in the (gasp!) Bills Super Bowl runs, I didn't live in Buffalo. I rarely watched Bills games on TV. There was no internet. I watched ESPN highlights. Actually looked forward to Sports Center. And I read newspaper and magazine summaries about what happened in yesterday's (last weekend's game). Like, really paid attention to some reporter's description of how the Bills converted on that critical 4th and 3. When I was younger still, there was no ESPN and Sports Center. There was only the newspaper and, later in the week, Sports Illustrated. Or if my folks took me to the part of town with the good drug store with the news stand, The Sporting News. I devoured those columns about what happened in last week's game. And there was an art to the writing: setting the scene, describing what actually happened on the field, not just writing some meta-story about how "what happened on the field" means something bigger, or shows some moral fiber or some moral failing. Who on earth would read a description of what happened today? I'll watch the clips. Or if I really care about a team, I for damn sure will watch the game as it happens. So the art of descriptive reporting has fallen into decay. Nobody wants to read it, nobody learns to write it. Roger Angell, the New Yorker baseball writer, was the last of the breed. He'd do World Series summaries a full two weeks or more after the fact. They were beautifully written. He's 101 years old. I last remember reading one of these about 10 years ago. I think he gave it up at about 93 ...

This is turning into a fantastic draft year for Beane. Rousseau is already a major contributor. Spencer Brown - a 5th round small program guy - cracked the starting lineup in the first month. Basham is older, obviously more limited than Rousseau, but was ready to fill a rotational role. It's rare to find 3 immediate contributors in the draft for a team that was already in the conference championship game, hence one without many glaring weaknesses.

I loved Smoke. But ... he was always the classic speedburner receiver, and that speed seemed to be in decline last year. He did a great job transforming himself into a possession receive in the first half of last season. But I'm not sure he ever broke free long all season. So Beane did his homework - Sanders is 3 years older, but he's got more left in the tank than Brown. And he was an overall better receiver throughout his career. Bottom line: Brown is still looking for a job.

Well, I'm not about to defend all of the Dems' policies, both enacted and proposed. But ... 1. Consider for a moment Trump's tariffs. And yes, Biden has pretty much kept them in place. 2. Consider for another moment Trump's (and, in turn, Hillary's and then Biden's) opposition to free trade deals. 3. Consider for yet another moment the fact that we no longer have a party that is even officially (if not in practice) committed to reducing the deficit and reforming entitlement spending.

How quickly we forget. Jim Schwartz's D Line rotation in 2014 made us think guys like Stefan Charles and Manny Lawson and Jarius Wynn were starter quality. He actually played the D line rotation like hockey lines. It was super effective. My analogy: one of the great insights of the baseball stats geeks is that even an ace starting pitcher becomes no better than a mediocre pitcher the third time through the batting order. Hence starters getting pulled in the 5th inning in the playoffs. (Whether this has made MLB a better or worse experience for the spectator is another question.) Same thing on the D Line. Even a dominant D lineman like Marcel Dareus (at the time!) was a worse option when tired than a fresh mediocrity like Stefan Charles. O Lines are more of a unit and aren't easy to sub in and out. Fresh D lineman over the course of a game win the war of attrition. Beane got the depth. Frazier is using it beautifully.

He's the one that's owed an apology. Knox dropped some big catches. Sanders? Allen overthrew him in Game 1 and everyone was saying that means Sanders is done.

Where will I go to post my "We don't get no respect" comments? I am deeply disturbed by this development.

And that's the kind of reporting I have come to expect from Joe B.

It's just getting good now. Hagrid's big pet spider just showed up. I may stick with it.

Hah! Back when I watched a lot of Cubs games I used to know the suspended game rules (no lights at Wrigley). I think you play with the active roster you have when the game resumes.

Columbus Day for those of us in non-commie states.

My wife just switched to a Harry Potter movie. Seriously. I go to the bathroom, come back, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is on.

I see they put him with his good side facing the camera.

It worked for Ted Lasso.

tomorrow before MNF. I think I'd actually like that. Let's do it!

EJ! The King of the Class of '13.