HopsGuy

Happy Happy. My b-day is on a holiday, too (7/4). It's nice 'cause no one ever forgets.

Mike Patrick: Belichick, in his most ingenious move ever, will have the wedge use Bruschi's corpse as a battering ram on this return!!! Joe Theismann: Belichick is taking a page right out of the playbook of Norman Einstein!!! Paul Maguire: You wanna take about a cadaver with desire... Watch this!!!

It's all cut & paste from a Bill Brasky site: ----------------------------------------------------- You know he jumped off the Empire State Building this one time and he only sprained his ankle. ----------------------------------------------------- Like an alligator he can fully digest a turtle shell. ----------------------------------------------------- I once saw him scissor kick Angela Lansbury. ----------------------------------------------------- So anyway, Bruschi would put on a white tie and tails and would walk his cobra through the park on a leash. He named the cobra Beverly, and he taught it how to fetch and dial a phone. But then one day it bit the maid. So with tears in his eyes Bruschi had to shoot the maid. ----------------------------------------------------- Bruschi would use his own thigh as an anvil. ----------------------------------------------------- You know it was the sight of Bruschi's naked body that drove Brian Wilson insane. ----------------------------------------------------- He showers in grain alcohol. ----------------------------------------------------- He uses a shroud of tourine as a golf towel. ----------------------------------------------------- He killed Wolfman Jack with a trident. ----------------------------------------------------- He drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls. ----------------------------------------------------- He makes every woman that sleeps with him refer to him as Bear Bryant. ----------------------------------------------------- He once ate the bible while water skiing. ----------------------------------------------------- Did I ever tell you he once had sex with a cigarette machine?! To Tedy Bruschi!!!

Yup.

I think karma is more of a "What goes around, comes around" type deal. I don't really believe in it, but I'd like to. I'm just trying to figure out what we Bills fans did as a whole to deserve this.

Did you know Tedy Bruschi is the godfather of my son? Well, anyway.. he shows up at the church in his golf pants, caked in mud. Well, ol' Bruschi pushes the priest aside and says, "I'll baptize that piece of calamari!" Then he pours Scotch all over my baby son and says, "There! You're baptized!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Did I ever tell you about the time Tedy Bruschi showed up at my daughter's wedding? Well, he's standing right between me and my daughter at the ceremony. He's got no right to be there, but he's drunk and he's Bruschi! Well, long story short: the priest accidentally marries Bruschi and me! We spend the weekend in the Pocono's - he loves me like I've never been loved before! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bruschi went public with his own buttocks and made 7 million. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ He orchestrated the merger between UNICEF and Smith and Wesson. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We once had a bachelor party for tedy Bruschi. He ate the entire cake, before we could tell him there was a stripper in it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- He has a toenail on the end of his penis. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruschi is ranked 8th in the AP College Football poll. To Tedy Bruschi!

Lighten up Francis. You probably want Carl Spackler busted for destroying Bushwood.

Sounds like a great get-together for your family. Enjoy all the memories!

While I don't disagree with you 100%, I'm a bit dubious when it comes to this sort of thing. Sure, Marv Levy and Wade Phillips had HC experience before becoming top man in Orchard Park, but Bill Cowher was given the reigns of the Steelers with no experience. Bill Walsh was an experiment for the 49ers. Who was Andy Reid? Houston went with Dom Capers for their 1st HC, how has that worked out for them? We all know the results of "The Dave Wannstedt Experiment" in Miami. For every success, there's a failure. This is true for both sides of the argument.

Bite the wax tadpole.

Jesse Livermore is considered the greatest speculator ever. He went broke at least 3 times and eventually ate a gun in the men's room of a hotel bar. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. IMHO, the people that are great traders are either lucky or a bit off. That is, they aren't normal in the sense that they don't get flustered by losing because they have some sort of chemical imbalance. I know two guys that are very successful (I'm in the business) and if you met them, you'd probably be a little creeped out after a few minutes. The things that make us human have been developed over millions of years of evolution (if you believe Darwin, which I do). Those things, specifically the fight/flight instinct are your enemies in trading. If you can overcome those deeply rooted instincts that are there to keep you alive, then you just might be able to make money trading. Otherwise, you'll need a lot of luck. That's my theory*, anyway. *This applies to straight trading. If you're privy to inside information, then you can make a fortune illegally. I've seen this, too. That having been said, read "Reminiscences of A Stock Operator" by Edwin Lefevre for the story about Livermore. It's the best book out there on trading. Ed Easterling's "Unexpected Returns" is a good one about the difference between absolute return vs. relative return. John Hussman's Market Commentary is also very good. Anyway, good luck.

Dead Flowers

I was a huge TW fan. The guy really seemed to be a leader in his bearing. I guess I was fooled. I read an article last year from an unbiased observer (I can't recall who it was) that outlined that Ty just wasn't that great a coach. He's a great person, but was lacking in the things it takes to win on Saturday. I'm pretty sure Dave Wannstedt's name was invoked. Weis seems to be the real deal to get the recruits. He has the NFL connections (not that TW didn't, but let's compare Denny Green vs. Bill Parcells/Belichick... thought so). He still has that huge trump card of "you're going to be on NATIONAL TELEVISION every week." I would say that Brady Quinn has the same Q-rating as Vince Young. Can you say the same thing about Tom Zbikowski vs. whoever returns punts for Texas? I can see the argument now... "Millions of people will be watching you play against Navy. Can you say the same thing about Miami playing Duke?" (Of course, your grades will need to come up).

I gotta like it when Jim Kelly mentions that Tasker was "the greastest special teams player in the history of the NFL" each and every time he gets the opportunity. You need cheerleaders when you're on the bubble. I don't think Andre gets in unless Art Monk gets in. I would draw the a corollary to baseball: Ritchie Ashburn didn't get in until Phil Rizzuto got in. The Scooter had a ton of cheerleaders.

I'll let you know once they start posting it again in South FL. All the signs have blown down. The places that have generators and are pumping have lines out the ying-yang. I'm good for another 4-5 days, 'cause I paid heed to the when they started warning that Wilma was coming.

I'll cut you some slack Dave. I was very lucky to get my power back after just 2.5 days. Looks like some will be without power for quite some time. My office (University & 595) is on generator and some rooms are at 87 degrees. Look at the bright side: With the lack of gasoline, those crazy neighbors won't be revving their engines.

I won a t-shirt at Cole's 12 years ago because I knew what year that album came out. It's a promotional shirt from Galliano, that says "Get High" on the front and has a recipe for a Key Lime High on the back. Still got it. Workin' double time On the seduction line She's one of a kind, she's just mine all mine Wanted no applause Just another course She made a meal out of me and came back for more Had to cool me down To take another round Now I'm back in the ring to take another swing Now the walls were shakin' The earth was quakin' My mind was achin' And we were makin' it and you... Shook me all night long And they said Dylan was a modern-day poet.

Yup, we're gonna ride out a hurricane this weekend. Can't do that in WNY.

With Wilma coming and a power outage likely, can you recommend a good book?

Until recently, I never would have believed that chiropractors were anything more than witchdoctors. For the last few years, I've had an on-again-off-again problem with a pinched nerved in my neck. A couple of months ago it got so bad that I could barely move. I knew that if I went to see a regular doctor, the recommendation would be for rest and if that didn't work, surgery. I figured that since there was limited risk, why not try a chiropractor? I gave it a shot, and while I'm not comfortable with the noises my spine makes while being "adjusted", I haven't encountered the pain since. I see the guy every two weeks just for maintenance. Who knows? Maybe the whole thing is in my head. The great thing is, the guy comes to the office in his RV. He's got the whole set up in the rig and comes twice/week. He's under our insurance and takes simply what the insurance gives him (no co-pay). His brother is a surgeon, so he doesn't pooh-pooh the whole medical establishment and say that he can cure everything. Go with KRC's advice on recommendations. Ask around.

I'd be interested in your statistical analysis. My friend believes that he can look at 3 stats in a game and tell you who won: turnovers, red-zone efficiency, and 3rd down conversion rate). I think that's probably true. Of course, I also believe that past performance is no indication of future results.

Out of chaos, patterns form. That's about it.

Gee, I hope it fits. The guy wearing it in that photo is awful skinny. Happy belated!

That's what I was thinking. I couldn't understand why they kept kicking the ball to him, (although he was stopped at the 10 on one play). I had visions of Bill McCartney kicking to the Rocket in that Orange Bowl. It was a real heartbreaker though. If they stop Leinart at the one on the last play...

3 All Pro Linemen: Marvel Smith, Alan Faneca, Jeff Hartings 1 All Pro RB: Jerome Bettis 1 All Pro WR: Hines Ward This is similar to what Jim Kelly had in during the SB years. Add in an imaginative OC (Teddy Marchibroda), and Jimbo had the qualities of leadership, physical ability and toughness to get himself to the dais in Canton. Although Big Ben has a way to go, hats off to the Steeler coaching staff for designing an offense that allowed him to succeed. If only Todd Collins had that instead of Dan Henning.