The Frankish Reich

True. Well, probably true. Plus this: Jimmy G arrived in SF in 2017. Since that time - - Record with Jimmy starting: 22-8 - Record with other guys starting: 7-27 He's the example of "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." He's a good QB. I'm not scared of him, but I don't want him anywhere near the AFC East.

EJ Manuel vs. Kevin Kolb! That was 8 years ago, which is "a while" I guess ...

😁 On the subject of poor Mr. Hilton ... would it have killed the Broncs to have activated him from the PS to play WR/punt returner in Game 16? The kid went out there and took the hit for poor Broncos planning, looking like some kind of high schooler playing QB in an NFL game. Karma, Broncos. Karma ...

I like Bridgewater. He's a fine NFL QB, kind of in that 25th-30th best QB in the world, in kind of a no man's land that guys like him inhabit. Sometimes a bridge (hah!) starter, sometimes a really good backup in waiting. When he started for good teams he was good. 5-0 with the Saints in 2019, 100 QB rating, etc, etc. When he started for bad teams he wasn't good enough to make them playoff-competitive. So he'd be a really nice addition to some teams, but ... not the Broncos. Oh sure, if he plays he'll take that team - which does have talent - all the way from 5-11 to 8-8. Maybe even 9-7! But that's not gonna get them past the Chiefs unless Mahomes is out, and probably isn't gonna get them past the Chargers either. And that will have the Broncs picking somewhere between 15 and 23 next year or some such thing. It's called QB Purgatory (thanks for that one, Doug Whaley) and we all know how it feels ...

Well, somehow the federal government's gonna raise money to pay for operations, even if those operations are the kinds of things you probably agree are necessary: the military, border protection, etc, etc. So you've got the usual ways that all countries use: - customs duties (the oldest way in the USA) - estate taxes - capital gains taxes - income taxes - a VAT (never been tried in America) My point isn't about the size of the federal government (I think it's too big by the way), it's about using imagination and economic analysis to determine what blend of these at what rates is optimal to fund the operations our Congress, in its, umm, wisdom, has decided to require.

You know what's depressing? The only Presidential candidates who've proposed a radical reworking of how the government funds itself in the last quarter century are fringe guys Steve Forbes and Herman Cain. Neither of them were even going to get elected (and for good reasons), but you'd think that some mainstream candidate would've picked up on at least some of the various ideas kicking around the think tanks and universities? I guess we are doomed to this cycle in which every Republican administration cuts the estate and capital gains taxes and the highest marginal rate, and every Democratic administration immediately undoes those cuts.

Hey, don't get me wrong - I never hated Fergy. I guess I was thinking more like this: guys I dreaded seeing trot out on the field because they just weren't competent players either in general (Maybin) or not anymore (Fergy).

I'm gonna give some of the youngsters a little history lesson. 1970s: I was a little kid. I loved everyone in a Bills uniform. Dennis Shaw was my first legit football hero (yeah, really). I couldn't stand Wayne Patrick, the fullback. I just had in my mind that he fumbled every game. And you know what? I think my 8 year old brain was right on the money. I looked it up. He fumbled 18 times in 264 carries. How is that allowed to happen? How does this guy start for 4 years? I think the term "Billsy" should have been invented for things like this, sticking with a guy who has proven time and time again that he just shouldn't be in the NFL. 1980s: hey, I liked Joe Ferguson as much as any Bills fan back did back in the 70s. But has any team ever stuck by a mediocre QB longer than the Bills? He was acceptable when young, with a great running game. He was still our QB in the mid-80s, well into his 30s, on terrible teams that should have been rebuilding. Not really his fault; management's fault. But still seeing him limp out there every Sunday was a sign of how lost his franchise was. Thank goodness the USFL failed and Jim Kelly was forced to swallow his pride and come to Buffalo. 1990s: Todd Collins. Yeah, it's never easy following the legend. But still ... not the guy, and it was obvious from the start. Frank Reich kind of sucked when he got a chance to start elsewhere, but Bills fans being what we are, I always wanted him to get a shot with us. So Collins is my whipping boy. Sorry, Todd. 2000s: Aaron Maybin. Didn't come till the tail end of the decade, but still: I don't think I've ever seen a guy less interested in becoming an NFL player. He's certainly an unusual personality, and I actually have a grudging respect for him deciding that everything that goes with being an NFL player (including what you have to do to your body) just wasn't for him. But maybe you coulda come to that conclusion in, say, 2008, before the 2009 draft? 2010s: Brad Smith. Another "not really his fault" guy, but another sign of what was wrong with the Bills for two decades. I dreaded seeing him trot out to run the wildcat. Did it ever work? I mean, really work? It was a copycat thing after the Dolphins started it, and we did it with no element of surprise and in a klutzy manner. (Erik Pears, honorable mention, in the grand tradition of "how long do we have to wait before the coaching staff gives up on this guy?" See Patrick, Wayne.) 2020s: Hey, everything is awesome. But I can see myself turning on Tremaine Edmunds really fast if we get off to a slow defensive start again ...

Nope. In Colorado we were first, and the black market essentially disappeared other than for shipment out of state to mostly ... you guessed it ... NY. I was in favor of legalization but I wasn't really happy about Colorado becoming the test case. And there were problems with being the trailblazer (blazin' it I guess). But now that California (the big one) and NY (the second big one) have joined the party, I don't see much of a future for all the National Forest illegal grows that popped up around the state. Face it, we're not really the right climate for it. Welcome to the party, NY. Now let's get federal law in line with the clear majority of the people in all of the legalized states.

Mental illness that renders a person susceptible to the grand conspiracy theories of the Nation of Islam, or QAnon, or the International Jihad, or whatever the flavor of the month might be in your particular country and culture. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/noah-green-capitol-attack/2021/04/02/74f75802-93fe-11eb-a74e-1f4cf89fd948_story.html It's a sad story, and it's starting to sound like a suicide-by-cop. This kid was bright, a good athlete, and seemingly poised for success. And then it all unraveled. He started accusing college football teammates of drugging him with Xanax. He started watching Louis Farrakhan videos. He apparently threw himself in front of a car in a suicide attempt. He left his home and family to move to Indianapolis (?) because his warped version of faith somehow called him there (Indianapolis??). His brother tried to help him; he failed. And then he attacked Capitol Police with his car and a knife for no apparent reason, or at least no reason any sane person can discern. Mental illness, toxic conspiratorial philosophy/theology ... to me it doesn't matter much which toxic conspiratorial theory "explains" the behavior; it only matters that we have these ideas that egg on unstable people rather than trying to help them.

Yep. I stand corrected. That's not much of a rap sheet for a guy who's only 31. 🤪 Who among us doesn't deserve a second eighth chance?

Without going beyond his wiki page ... seriously? On January 28, 2012, Smith was arrested for driving under the influence in Miami Beach, Florida.[33][34] On June 30, 2012, Smith was believed to have suffered stab wounds when attempting to break up a fight at a party at his Santa Clara county residence. Two other people were shot in the incident.[35] On October 9, 2013, Smith was charged with "three felony counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon" relating to the stabbing incident. The charges were later reduced to misdemeanors.[36] On September 20, 2013, Smith was involved in a single-vehicle accident in San Jose, California. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. After the loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the third week of the football season, he voluntarily entered a rehabilitation facility, to be put onto the non-football injury list with an indefinite leave of absence.[37] On April 13, 2014, Smith was detained and arrested following an incident at the Los Angeles International Airport in which Smith became belligerent and uncooperative with a TSA agent, who alleged Smith claimed he was carrying a bomb.[38] After interviews revealed that Smith did not clearly state he was carrying a bomb, the Los Angeles City Attorney decided to drop the charges. Smith was suspended for nine games for the 2014 season. On August 6, 2015, Smith was arrested in Santa Clara, California, for an alleged hit and run after driving under the influence, and vandalism charges.[39] He was released by the 49ers the next day as a result.[20] On March 9, 2017, Smith was a passenger with a friend driving to Smith's house at 12:00 AM, when the San Francisco police department found out both Smith and the driver were under the influence. Even though Smith was not the driver, both Smith and his friend were detained by the San Francisco Police Department for questioning. The next day, Smith and his friend were released. No arrests were made.[40][41] On September 23, 2017, it was announced that Smith had agreed to plead no contest to hit and run in the 2015 incident in exchange for the DUI charges being dropped. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail. During his sentence, he was ordered to attend a treatment facility, and undergo anger management classes. After his release, he was prohibited from entering any bars or other establishments where alcohol is the primary commodity being sold.[42] On March 3, 2018, someone called the police from Smith's home and reported that he had consumed multiple bottles of tequila and then bit her wrists. Smith reportedly fled the home before police arrived. San Francisco police did not comment on the specifics but did state that domestic violence of a "non-lethal" nature had occurred and they were seeking out Smith for questioning about the incident.[25] On March 23, 2018, Smith was arrested for violation of a court order, where he was ordered to stay away from a woman he assaulted earlier in the month. The woman was revealed to be Smith's fiancee. This picked up from a previous incident that occurred on March 3, where Smith pleaded not guilty on four misdemeanor counts, including domestic violence, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, false imprisonment, and vandalism.[43] On April 8, 2018, Smith was arrested for violations in conditions to his bail.[44]

Here in Colorado we just had a memorial service for the cop killed in the Boulder grocery store shooting. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/30/us/officer-eric-talley-funeral-colorado/index.html By absolutely all accounts, a fine and decent man who brought honor to the phrase "to protect and serve." And who went in to that active shooter situation to save more innocent lives. He became a cop at 40 after working in IT for all the right reasons: he felt that it was important to serve his community. Watching some of this trial I'm struck by the contrast. Guilty or not (or, to be honest, guilty of what level of offense is the only question in my mind), I just keep thinking about the contrast between Chauvin and Officer Talley in Boulder. And maybe we should take a moment to think about what it means to honor that badge.

He was the chief clown of a clownish operation, yet somehow was able to sell himself over the next 3 decades as some kind of ultra talented practitioner of the dark arts.

Good post and summary of the article. I think Sanders has still got it, and I actually think he's a slight upgrade over Brown for 2021. Sanders doesn't have the speed he used to have (neither does Brown), but I love the versatility and the continuing ability to get separation. Do I still want the classic speed burner on the roster? Yes. But do I like the overall skill set of 34 year old Emmanuel Sanders more than that of, say, 24 year old Marquise Goodwin? Definitely.

https://www.theonion.com/recession-plagued-nation-demands-new-bubble-to-invest-i-1819569940 Change the headline to "COVID shutdown-plagued nation" and this says it all. The Financial Times (London) used to do a series called "This is nuts; when's the crash?" I think they stopped it because the crash still hasn't come. I say it's time to bring it back. EDIT: it never went away. Just scroll the headlines. You don't even need to read the articles to see how nuts these investment bubbles have become. https://www.ft.com/stream/090289f0-a94f-3225-b2a4-69558bbbfa39

Agreed. Not to go all feminist theory on folks, but really - a guy like Watson would have tons of opportunities to engage his, umm, sexual desires in a completely consensual manner, and the fact that he allegedly has settled on this pattern instead - setting up massages with legit female massage therapists, then trying to get them to do what illegitimate massage therapists do - is just creepy at best, criminal at worst. As everyone says, we'll see how it plays out. But I just can't see any team wanting to take on this baggage unless/until he's somehow cleared.

Agreed. It would, however, work better as Washington F.C. Washington F.T. just doesn't work. Whenever this comes up it causes me to think about the absurdity of our football team's nickname, I mean, not out of any PC thing, but it's just out of sync with all other nicknames. It's as if the Vikings were named the Minnesota Fats. Maybe we should be Buffalo F.C.

If Bills Blitz is not a "reasonable person," what does that make Deranged Rhino? If you haven't already, you should watch the HBO series on QAnon. It's all there. DR's anti-gravity machines. Flat earthers. Anti-papists. The extraordinarily creepy Watkins boys. And this is now all integrated into the Party of Lincoln.

Hmm, allow me to rack my mind for, oh, about 2 seconds ... ... KC, with perennial HC candidate Dave Toub as Special Teams Coordinator for the last 17 seasons. I seem to remember them winning something recently, or maybe defeating some other really good team even more recently ...

Just a couple years ago, my hope for Josh Allen is that his Year 2 would be similar to Trubisky's Year 2. And it kinda was ... ... but then Trubisky's Year 3-4 were garbage, and Allen's Year 3? Well, we all know how that went. Trubisky is kind of an Allen (Super)Lite for me. I like having a backup who has a similar skill set as the starter. I mean, he's far from having Allen's talent, but he's closer to Allen that any Barkley or Fromm will ever be. If (heaven forbid) Allen were to miss 6 games, I could easily see Mitch go 3-3 or 4-2 at the helm. That's kind of what a backup is supposed to offer. I hope he sticks, at least for this year.

I ought to know better, but when I saw the post the first thing I thought of was "Isaiah McKenzie retired? Is it because of concussion risk, etc." Glad to see that missing hyphen didn't mean anything like that.

You make a good point in a humorous manner. We all accept some limitations on what "arms" people are allowed to bear under the 2nd Amendment. You can't have your own personal nuclear weapon and (perhaps paradoxically) some states/municipalities have banned less lethal weapons like tasers. Scalia's critical 2nd Amendment opinion in Heller kind of skirted that issue, noting that the core of the 2nd Amendment is the right to bear arms to defend one's home; maybe the right extends beyond your home, maybe it extends to all manner of weapons unknown to the drafters of the Bill of Rights or the people (umm, white men) operating through their elected state representatives who ratified it.

I am soooo disappointed. Sydney and her friends Lin Wood and My Pillow Guy promised us they wanted to be sued so they could get discovery against Dominion and prove the big vote-shifting voting machine fraud that got Biden "elected." Now the allegations are wild hyperbole that "no reasonable person" would conclude are "truly statements of fact." Dominion, don't settle for some kind of statement that she'll immediately start disavowing. Let it go to discovery ... depose her, Wood, Mr. Pillow, maybe even Trump himself ....

True, but ... Trump apparently kept his hands to himself while in the White House. I mean, he didn't have much choice since all eyes were on him, but still ... Cuomo violated the classic rule of "don't crap where you eat."