SoTier

Do Pitties set up their own fighting rings????

I'm glad you brought up mastiffs because they seem to be the favorite "guard dog" of new generation of sickos and/or criminals seeking to weaponize dogs. Lots of dog breeds have less than ideal temperaments, but it's the owners/handlers/supposed trainers who make individual dogs dangerous by their mistreatment.

Dogs, like people, are individuals with different temperaments and personalities. Some are stubborn, some are very smart, some are possessive, etc. Most dogs in the US are the descendants of dogs purposely bred to do certain jobs, and that human intervention in their ancestry often shapes their behaviors. Some of the traits that are useful for a breed's original purpose can make a dog a difficult pet when they no longer have real jobs. Working dogs like border collies and aussie shepherds, etc are notorious for getting into trouble because of their high energy. Small terriers can sometimes be aggressive because they were originally used to hunt rats and mice around homes and farm buildings. More importantly, when some breeds become popular, puppy mills and backyard breeders get into the mix and frequently fail to breed for good temperaments. If the dog is the right "look" or size or color, they breed that dog to make money. People tolerate small dogs like dachshunds and chihauhuas that have bad temperaments. They don't tolerate bad temperaments in large dogs, however, Great Danes, Newfies, and Leonbergers are among the gentlest of dogs. Unfortunately for pit bulls (officially American Staffordshire Terriers), their strength, tenacity, and loyalty attracted criminal elements involved in dog fighting and drug trafficking back in the 1980s, and the breed became synonymous with viciousness. It's important to keep in mind, however, these facts: All dogs have a prey drive, some significantly stronger than others. Even golden doodles can chase and attack what they perceive as prey, especially small furry things like cats and smaller dogs but sometimes small running children. All dogs are territorial, again some individuals more than others. They also express their territoriality in different ways, most notably by barking at intruders to their space, but jumping at windows and fences are common, too. Dogs are pack animals. They need a "family". Most dogs, especially in one dog households, bond to their humans. In multi-dog households, the dogs bond to each other as well as to their humans. Dogs that regularly go to dog parks or are walked often with the same group of dogs may form packs with their besties. Like teenagers, alone each is good but two or three or four together can breed real trouble. The same with dogs in a pack. Any dog that's mistreated or frightened or "mistrained" can bite or maul a person. All breeds have a range of temperaments, too. How a dog is raised and treated has much more to do with its behavior than its breed. It's the responsibility of owners to train and socialize their dogs to make them good citizens. Dogs need to respond to basic commands. They need to come when called, walk on a leash, not jump up on visitors etc. Socializing dogs gets them used to dealing with other people, other dogs, new situations, etc so that they behave in situations outside their homes or yards. Not all dogs have temperaments or personalities that enable them to go to dog parks or doggie day care, but they still need to have some new experiences. Keeping dogs locked in a yard or tied on a leash, and only taking them to the vet maybe once a year can reinforce territoriality, pack mentality and fear aggression.

More importantly to the idea that the Bills need 2 legit TEs, when Knox was injured this past season, the offense struggled, including Kincaid. When Knox came back, the offfense improved significantly. The Bills want to run a lot of 2 TE sets so that they can run or pass with the same personnel on the field, making it harder on defenses. They need to have two legitimate pass catching TEs.

Or, maybe, the Eagles are suffering from "Super Bowl loser syndrome": the team that loses the Super Bowl struggles the next season, frequently even not making the playoffs. Of the last 10 Super Bowl losers, only the Seahawks and Chiefs made the playoffs the season after their SB loss. XLVII - Broncos XLIX - Seahawks L(50) - Panthers LI - Falcons LII - Patriots LIII - Rams LIV - 49ers LV - Chiefs LVI - Bengals LVII - Eagles

Generally, DTs like Oliver take longer to come into their own than DEs simply because the learning curve for interior linemen tends to be longer than for the edge rushers; there's more to learn in the pro game than in college. That doesn't mean that Rousseau can't improve his sack numbers, but it seems that he's not real likely to do so. However, that doesn't bother me much because he's a good DE against both the pass and the run.

I can still remember those words and the hockey stick flying into the air as the buzzer sounded. After that, the final game, a few days later (when Team USA actually won the gold medal), was anti-climatic. Beating the Russians in 1980 was like the UB Bulls beating the Bills, and to do it in Lake Placid, their "home ice", was magical.

I have always loved raptors, going back to when I was a kid growing up in the country and would hear screech owls in the nearby woods. They're my favorite birds.

The Bills use a DL rotation so their best Dlinemen don't get as many reps as the best Dlinemen on teams that usually only sub when necessary. That can certainly impact sack stats, especially for guys who miss a couple of games or who play hurt for several games. I don't know which philosophy is best, but the Bills system works for them with the players they have and seem to like; they had a sound defense this past season despite suffering key injuries on defense. It may be that Beane and McDermott envision a defense where the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. As for the draft, I doubt that the Bills draft a DE in the first round simply because the edge rushers with 1st round grades will be long gone when the Bills get their shot. I wouldn't be surprised to see them use a later pick on one, however. When they realized that Edmunds wasn't going to be the guy at MLB they drafted him to be, they drafted Bernard in the third round in 2022.

While walking my dog this morning in Bergman Park, I spotted two hawks (possibly red-tailed hawks) hunting over a large grassy field of 4 acres or so. Their calls alerted me to look up. Just as I located them, a crow showed up to harass them. Mr Crow was soon joined by 3 compatriots and the hawks departed. The behavior of crows and other smaller birds harassing raptors is called "mobbing".

Sacks aren't the only measure of a DE's pass rushing ability. Rousseau does get after the QB. He not only had 18 QB hits in 2023, but he also disrupted passing lanes, forced QBs to hurry passes, and knocked down passes. More importantly, Rousseau is a good all-around DLer who plays the run well. Teams need those kinds of DEs as well.

Why do fans have to be "concerned" about Greg Rousseau at this point? He's a good young player with 2 years left on his rookie contract at a bargain price for the level of his play if the Bills pick up his fifth year option (which they would do if he continues to play at his current level). If Rousseau improves, then the Bills will extend him. If he doesn't, then they'll let him walk so somebody else will overpay for him. That's exactly what they did with Edmunds -- and i don't see how that can be seen as a "problem" since the Bills had Terrell Bernard ready to replace him. FTR, most first round draft picks don't become "difference makers", especially those drafted late in the round. Getting a good starting quality DE at the end of the first round who plays for five seasons is not a "miss", especially for a team that has to pay a veteran franchise QB.

I totally agree, which is why I didn't participate in the poll. Having the Bills always being a serious contender for the Super Bowl is infinitely preferable to having them struggling to win even half their games. Losing in the playoffs hurts terribly for a little while, but it's not the soul-crushing misery that came from watching the Bills regularly miss the playoffs season after season because the ownership and front office didn't make winning football games their highest priority. Been there, done that too much in my 60+ years as a Bills fan, so I will continue to enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts, even if it each season eventually ends in disappointment.

I remember the moment I heard the news from Kent State just like I remember the moments I heard that Kennedy had been shot, that the Challenger had exploded, and that a plane had slammed into the World Trade Center.

Some other memories of the 1970s ... - on May 4, 1970 four students at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, were killed when National Guardsmen opened fire on a crowd of students protesting the US bombing of Cambodia. The US interference in Cambodia led directly to the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot ruling the country and the death of more than 2 million Cambodians. - Secretariat's magnificent 26 length win in the Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1948. Time Magazine featured him on their cover as "Super Horse" in June, 1973. - the resignation of Richard Nixon as POTUS on August 8, 1974, in order to avoid impeachment for his role in the Watergate scandal - the chaotic scenes of the last US helicopters departing Saigon in April, 1975 - the Blizzard of 1977, infinitely worst than our recent blizzards IMO because of the breadth, strength, and duration of the blizzard conditions as well as the extreme cold (Blizzard of 1977). Surprisingly, 23 people died in this blizzard in all of WNY -- in an era before 24-7 weather, storm warnings days ahead of the event, weather alerts, cell phones, etc -- compared to about 50 in the 2022 storm. The Bills were 0-for-the-1970s against the Fish. When the Chuck Knox-coached Bills beat the Fish 17-7 in Rich Stadium on opening day, 1980, the fans tore down the goalposts. The celebrations for the Bills making the Super Bowl a decade later probably wasn't as great as that moment.

You know this how, exactly? Even if you were a black person, how can you claim to speak for all blacks who have lived in both places? Aside from that, most states are large enough that there are huge differences between various regions within each state. My guess is that the Gulf Coast is significantly different from the Delta just as Long Island is almost an alien world compared to the Adirondaks.

As long as Purdy can play for Shanahan or a Shanahan disciple, he'll probably do well. I'm not sure he would be very good playing for many other coaches.

Didn't Bortles derail his career with too much partying? I thought that was the story going around when he failed so miserably in several spots after looking so promising early in his career.

First round QBs who bust generally have the physical tools to be good NFL QBs but lack the " intangible" talents/skills that even adequate NFL QBs need to be successful. They frequently fail to make good decisions, process what they see fast enough, learn to read defenses etc. They keep getting chances, however, because they look so good in practice that coaches are convinced they can do the same for short stretches in real game time. Mitch Trubisky is a good example. So is Gabbert. Successful backup QBs tend to be less physically gifted but make up for that with being better with intangibles. Frequently, they learn the nuances of the game so that they know what to do in most situations. Just as frequently, though, they don't have quite the physical talent to play consistently. Some are good enough to even making low-end starters -- at least for a while. I think QBs like Case Keenum and Brian Hoyer are examples of this. The Bills don't need a backup QB to inspire anyone. They need a reasonably priced backup QB who can come into a game on short notice and not lose the game with stupid plays. I'm not sure that they will be able to find one.

Gabbert or Jones, just say no to first round QB busts.

When I lived in the Town of Colonie outside of Albany, the Skunk Capital of the Civilized World, in the 1990s, the tried and true solution was Scope mouthwash. I cannot speak to its effectiveness as my German Shorthaired Pointer was way too smart to mess with skunks.

^^^ ^^^ Bull manure. Read the two posts above from GunnerBill and Billsfanatic. They are spot on. Allen wouldn't be Allen in the Shanny system. He'd be Brock Purdy or Jimmy Garappolo or he'd be on another team. Andy Reid had a Purdy lookalike in Alex Smith for 5 years. He made the made the playoffs 4 of those years but never got beyond the divisional round. Reid never hesitated to send Smith packing after he acquired Mahomes in 2017. Mahomes has turned into the best QB in the NFL under Reid's tutelage. I think Mahomes and Allen would have developed into great QBs under either Reid or McDermott, but neither have would developed into anything special under Shanahan. He wouldn't have given them the chance because they simply aren't his kind of QB. The very traits that make Mahomes and Allen great -- that separate franchise QBs from game managers -- are the very ones that Shanahan dislikes. It would be a disaster for everybody involved. Football players and coaches are people not robots. The traits and philosophy that Shanahan has made Purdy into a pretty good NFL QB, but would diminish the effectiveness of Mahomes and Allen. The traits and philosophies that Reid and McDermott have wouldn't work with Purdy but have enabled Mahomes and Allen to find greatness. If the Bills played in the NFC and the Niners in the AFC, I doubt you'd could say that. At this point, I'm not sure I'd call Belichick and Carroll has beens but I think that they should both just call it careers as HCs. How many brilliant OCs or DCs have turned out to be crappy HCs? Probably more than have become great IMO. The track record of "great" collegiate HCs successfully coaching in the NFL in recent years has been dismal. So, what's the point of firing McDermott if you don't have somebody better to replace him? Change for the sake of change makes no sense in any endeavor. You make a change when you have a realistic expectation of improving not when you would just be throwing manure at a wall and hoping what sticks will be better than what you've got now.

My thought exactly! What's the point?

The "Fire McDermott Brigade" isn't interested in reality, so you are wasting your time and energy. It's members inhabit a fantasy universe in which replacing Sean McDermott with any has-been or never-was will automatically bring a Lombardi home to Buffalo. I suppose some these cretins would even welcome back Dick Jauron. I totally agree that defense wins championships. After losing the Super Bowl after the 2020 season and then losing the Conference Championship to Cincinnati in 2021 playoffs, the Chiefs retooled their defense to make it stronger, and the result has been back-to-back Lombardis. During NE's long run, most of their SB success stemmed from their clutch defensive play. I think that the Bills had a good enough defense to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs this season. After losing Milano and White early in the season, they regrouped and played strong defense the rest of the season with LB Terrell Bernard and CB Rasul Douglas being keys to the Bills great winning streak. Losing Bernard and Douglas in the wild card game probably sealed their fate against KC; they only had 4 LBs dressed for the Chiefs game, and they were forced to play backups to backups in the defensive backfield as well.

As Albany, n.y. posted, whether you pay tax on your SS will depend upon your total income including SS. NYS does not tax social security at all but the Feds do if your income is high enough, so you always need your SS 1099. If you live in New York and own your residence, then you need to file a NY state tax return in order to qualify for STAR regular and senior property tax exemptions even if you don't have to pay state taxes. If you have enough income from sources other than SS, pension, and/or retirement annuity payouts, you will also have to file a state return and pay taxes on that extra income.