UConn James

Survivor: Wal-Mart

Until the 2nd half of the Cleveland game, the run-blocking and our "running game" did look like sh--. Some ado about the concussion among the worrywarts here and the chicken-littles in the Buffalo media. But, the posters here with the most credibility and among NFL people were not shifting blame. Go back and read Bill's 'Thoughts About the Game' and it's there in B&W... Trent had stretches of bad plays in a few games, e.g. first 3 quarters of the Browns game before he got it together and gave us a shot to win before Jauron and Turk went into a shell with 1:30 left. Rough patches happen to any QB (was that Trent's 'sophomore slump'), whether it's their fault or if they just aren't getting help from the other 21 guys. I'm not expecting perfection, I'm expecting progression. If you're so disapproving of a modified dink'n'dunk --- a scheme that's been proven to win in the AFC-E, like it or not, while the Bills have tried just about every other type of offense and had a whole lot of 3-4-5-win seasons to show for it.... If you are are ill for one or two of JP's longballs per game (mind you, this is against teams who don't have good CBs) in between awful pocket presence (exacerbated by his always looking for something to open up DEEP when that kind of time is not a luxury) and an erratic short-game.... Well, all I can tell you is to follow JP when he goes.

As an addendum to the post above: I'm going to be instituting our aged-nuclear-family's First (with annual intentions) Very Merry Pajama Christmas with parents, two brothers, s-i-l and nieces (one is scheduled for early Dec) and nephew. Terry robes, long johns, felted lounge pants, even red union suits! Have the wood stove going, make some Candian Bacon strata and homefries, pop in "Elf" and "...Grinch..." and make it less about presents than usual. That is my aim --- don't know if that's what's going to happen. When you gather too many people, things tend to go their own way.

All of those are possibilities. I think if he has any choice in the matter (read: if he gets offers from them), he goes to either Minnesota or ... wait for it ... wait for it ... The Jets. Consider that his style of play is relatively similar to Favre. Then consider the respect/manlove he has for Favre. Then consider that the Jets don't really have a QB developing under Favre, who's been downright bipolar re: retirement (I think he plays another year or two). I have nothing against JP except that he didn't/doesn't fit in the system here and that the game didn't 'slow down for him' in the pocket, as the phrase goes. Whether Mangini and Schottenheimer feel they can work with him is the question, but I think NY is JP's landing place.

I've been shaking my head over the commercialization for about the past 15 years. Knock off a 0 from your estimate and you'll be getting a close approximation of what I'll be spending per family member. And I try to make gifts practical. I.e. my brother's Sailfish rudder broke this fall when he was out with it, so I'm going to be getting a nice piece of red oak, and shave it down, stain to match, and polyurethane it. In the past, I've given car safety, jumpers and med kits, toolboxes and one of those nice stainless rolling racks for my other brother's pantry (has since told me it was the most useful gift he's ever gotten). No need to go big. The giving of gifts in the last week of the calender year was actually a Roman tradition --- they would give small tokens of coins, nuts, oranges, etc. --- that, like many customs (such as the Germanic one of evergreen trees), was incorporated and adapted into Christianity. I guess for the last 50-60 years, the Church of Retail Economics incorporated, adapted, and supersized from Christianity in that same vein, with exponential growth in ~ the past 20 years as more and more stores need a longer season to get them 'into the black.' Just another symptom of an economy that has fed too long on markup from selling other countries' goods and wares and producing less of our own.

I think they forgot to add the "This policy was bought and paid for by State Farm, Allstate, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield." Seriously, there's no limit to what insurance companies will do to sign people up for their grand Ponzi schemes. Make no mistake, it's them who've raised the cost of medical care in this country beyond belief. Only way it gets better is to take the leeches out of the picture, and then, have a setup where doctors actually want to cure you and never have to see you again. As long as it is the way it is, if they do solve what ails you, they lose a really-well-paying customer. I've seen the business end of this, as I'm sure most of you guys have. Went to an ENT recently for an ear problem that all the research and an RN I know with 30+ years experience tells me is fairly common Otitis media with effusion/'Glue Ear'. The doctor's had me in twice, pushed some allergy pills on me, and wants to run a brain stem test to check for an acoustic nueroma (~2000 cases per year in the US and requires pretty major surgery) vice everything else that's telling me a 15-minute typanostomy tube placement to equalize the pressure. What happened to the days of doctors who came to you, told you what was wrong, did what they needed to do and gave a bill that didn't look out of place next to a mechanic, etc. I paid $220 for a 20-minute visit, which I could tell he wanted to wrap up in 5 minutes but I kept talking and asking questions. You're treated like a money pinata. I stopped taking the allergy pills a couple of days ago and the ear feels so much better it's unbelievable. My problem is, I've still got no access to the tubes that'd prevent this from happening again (chronic). There's actually a device online that uses the Politzer method (pinch one nostril, send air up the other and swallow) to solve the problem... the EarPopper. Look on there and you'll read that in the US it requires an Rx, while people in most other countries can just order it. There's not a thing the AMA and the insurance companies don't have their fingers in. There are so many gateways put up in this country to real medical care and solutions that it's disgusting. And it's not so easy as going to another mechanic; you'd have to jump through more hurdles, wait a month for an appointment for all the other people the doctor can't/won't cure and then there's no assurance they'll do anything differently. There's too much money to be made off of people who're in such a position of pain that they'll pay anything.

If only the DEs had a good DT like Marcus Stroud, then we'd see what they can do! Then the High Motor Duo would be unleashed on NFL quarterbacks! Oh.... Wait.

So the problem is that Buffalo --- like the rest of the northeast --- is about 90-95% ethno-white. Maybe the feds should institute a forced relocation program like they do for school districts/busing. WNY/Buffalo's done their part by driving a lot of their population to the South. Where's the recipro, yo? Rueben Brown has stayed in WNY. I'm sure there's others. But, I think the point is this is much less about race than you make it out to be. It's an attitude/preference of the South & West's (and NYC/Boston) big cities vs. the collection of smaller cities and rural that you find in WNY. Some people like life in a smaller, slower community and some people don't. That said, even, the football season isn't that long. The rest of the year, guys can go wherever they like. I don't get all the potshots. And seriously, if they don't find places they like to hang out, why not invest in some? Why not build a hip-hop/etc. club in the city?

Herman Moore ate us up that day like cranberry preserves next to his Thanksgiving turkey.

Actually, there is an official transition office in Chicago. There's one in DC as well. As such, you can call it the office of the president-elect. Your problem is that they added capital letters? Dude isn't trying to horn in on the presidency and he made abundantly clear in the pressers that he's not president until 20 Jan. WhyTF are you complaining about everything? I didn't vote for him, but GET OFF HIS breasts!

Avg. career of a generic NFL player is a little over 3 years. Avg career of a RB is under 2 years. There's a pretty good reason for this. LT may not be done, but the mileage accumulates.

Read in an article (the Snooze, I think) that Turk was calling the game this week from the coaches' box rather than field-level as he's done up to this point. Wonder if this situation helped him see the field a little better, and see what was working from a high view. I think the play-calling saw some improvement, what with actual play-action being called, and the timing of when to run/pass seemed to flow better. They say that oftentimes you need to take a step back to see things more clearly....

You're laboring under misapprehension. I could give a sh-- about the angle of his arm, the sqaureness of shoulders, etc. JP, for example, might have fabulous mechanics on his deep passes. Doesn't mean he's got the fundamentals for being a good QB. Just means he's a specialty deep-passer. FYI, Jim Kelly had horrible mechanics. Fundamentals is being able to lead the team on drives, pocket presence, complete throws/putting the ball where it should be caught, and at times making the high-% option for the team and relying on your teammates to contribute yac. Fundamentals are less about technique and more about grit and determination. In other words, does he get the job done more often than not?

He's the closest thing we have to a #2. Sad that we didn't draft or develop a complimentary WR before this year. (Roscoe is not a #2).

That draft like the Cowboys did this year or last.... they picked two DEs in the 1st round? Yeah, we pretty much need to do that.

To be fair, four straight weeks where he wasn't a freaking hero like today. Weeks where it was definitely some of his fault and definitely some fault on the other 21 out there (ahem Robert Royal ahem). Weeks where coaching calls didn't help anything. Weeks where he still, at times despite it all, lead the team down the field in ways we hadn't seen in a while. Monday was horrible for him in the first 3 quarters, and then the last drive he finally hit some nice passes and get a rhythm before Turk went smallball. As often said, Trent/QB doesn't deserve all the praise, nor all the blame.

If it happened consistently, you'd begin to have a point. Seriously, you've never had one of those kinds of days? Some people measure progression on a larger scale.

Don't ever underestimate Bills fans' ability to eat our own. And they eat the choicest pieces first.

Don't ever say those words again. The proper phraseology in the situation is, "It's strategically important to the Bills for the ... to win."

~20 yard TD run for Trent. Dink.

20-yarder to the sideline on a right roll-out, perfect placement. Dink. To Royal with another 20-yarder. Dunk.

Leodis gets No. 2!!!!

He completes passes and moves the team. Some bad plays or, even, days here and there. Like I said, sh-- happens. I'll take this over one 80-yard bomb per game (vs. teams w/o good CBs) and a sh-- ton of sacks and 3'n'outs. This KC game may be just what he needs to get his mind right again. Nice 51-yarder to LE a minute ago. Heck of a dump-off, no? QB play is about #15 on the list of this team's problems.

Boo ya, haters.

Hey, Denny just got an Aaron Schoebel Special!