UConn James

As I wrote in the Off the Wall thread last night: Being a life member of the NRA (tho I haven't done target-shooting or hunting for quite a while) it hurts all the more to know that on top of the personal tragedy and loss, this is going to be used by gun-banners as a political argument. Chris's father or an event allowing this is one of the all-time bonehead things I've heard of. But it's done and you can't take it back. First, I'd just say it reflects on a culture we now live in that children are being forced by adults into grown-up situations earlier and earlier --- this runs the gamut from suggestive clothing targeted to children and allowing 10-year-olds to dress like sluts on Halloween, children having so much influence on family purchasing, and here, using a !@#$ Uzi when even just 10 years ago, that was the age when you learned to safely handle and shoot a BB gun. Everything has to be more, faster, better, and bigger these days, and it needs to be pushed earlier --- that's the mindset. Someone said, "The most important question of our day is 'How much is enough?'" It's like a competition of who can push their kids to grow up fastest. And I think this stems from that oft-discussed break-down of the authoritative parenting style that would put a check on stupidity and providing guidance and smart family leadership, and its replacement to this thing of being your child's best buddy, as if you're still a child, only with car keys --- parents who grew older but didn't grow up. In some form, I think this is also connected in with the epidemic of child molestation. Diddlers thinking of themselves in a way as still being children, forming a connection and then taking advantage of that child-like situation and after it goes through some kind mental warp zone that I couldn't begin to describe, fulfill adult desires. Sorry if that paragraph might be a bit ambling, my thought process is working in tangents a little today. Certainly, there needs to be new rules instituted for the safe handling of guns. At the few shows I've been to, there've been no-ammo-on-premises policies openly stated --- if you're interested in buying but want to test-fire, it's something you'd have to arrange with the vendor off-site. As for age when handling firearms and a proper progression, I don't know, that's something that'll be discussed, but for sure, something needs to happen there --- you'd hope this could be self-regulated, but reworking of laws is probably on its way, and probably deservedly so. Laws that allow for an 8-year-old to use an Uzi.... Laws aren't a substitute for common sense, tho, and we're living in an age when common sense is not common.

Sometimes I think "LOST" is the only thing keeping me from saying, "Screw all these stupid people around me!" growing a beard and becoming a mountain man. Just have to wait about another year and a half.

When I first saw the story, I was a little stirred that it'd happened relatively close. And then, come to find out this afternoon that the child was actually from my town in northeast CT. My nephew was in the same class with him last year and played with him at recess on Friday. This is always the sort of thing that happens somewhere else... and then it hits closer to home than you could think. You have to wonder what this does to the kids to be exposed to death so early of someone they know. This is a nephew who refused to say goodbye to my dog (whom he played with a lot) when we had to put him down earlier this summer. This is going to be a difficult and tenuous next few weeks. I'm reading through some of the crap here and I'm just appalled at some of your comments. But I guess this lack of decency, black humor, and flip attitudes are the times we live in. Doesn't seem that way here in town today, tho. It feels a lot like just after 9/11 when people were nice to each other (which lasted for about 4 days), said hello and asked how you're doing and really meant it. I think the politics can wait.

This is not a politically correct exercise with panning and pawing about 'measured response.' In my purview, when it comes to any QB, but especially Chadwick, a hit is a hit. As stated, and as historically proven with CP, you need to hit him to get him off his game. I really don't care where it comes or who it comes from or if it's legal or not. They put him anywhere but behind an OL, they'd better be ready for any consequences that come. You may call hitting 'the p---y way', I call it football. It's called sending a message that the nancy sh-- stops NOW, and we're gonna roll right over you on the way to next week. We lack fire and grit; we try to do things with finesse and scheme rather than a punch to the mouth --- we haven't seen that kind of Buffalo spirit since Sam Gash and Spielman/Paup. We also haven't seen the playoffs since those days. Coincidence? We need to start knocking people on their asses and stop apologizing for making people's bodies hurt.

I will continue to preach that one of the main reasons for the loss was not putting any heat on a QB with a long history of getting rattled and folding when you hit him. Such a hit is not done for that play. It's done for every play that comes after it. I wouldn't mind taking a couple of 15-yarders when it means that Chadwick's va-jay-jay is hurting and he doesn't want to be out on the field the rest of the day. You mean like getting concussed or getting free shots like on that pass to Evans? Here's a news flash. Other teams already take liberties on our QB. Time we put notice that we'll do the same damn thing.

As I asked in the chat room... Who's saved by zero? The customer or Toyota?

If you think that's bad, you should see what we do to people with Syracuse University stickers! Whoever was stupid enough to park that thing on campus, and then, during basketball season, and then the week we were playing them.... well, I don't think they'll ever be doing that again. (Note: I was not party to the destruction of the vehicle, nor do I condone such activity --- just saw the results as I was walking to my car after a night class.) Politically, tho, up here in NE, it'd usually be the other way around if/when stuff like that does happen. Have heard from relatives around the state of cars with 'W' stickers being keyed, tires spiked or deflated, etc. That phenomena does seem to be confined to cities and large towns rather than suburbia and the sticks. Out here the most I've heard of is the taking down of lawn signs. Just isn't as fervent, at least in the Quiet Corner and even up into Mass. (Edited)

Is the answer to this supposed to be

Buffalo PD released an all-points bulletin. Missing person --- Marcus Stroud.

Bingo. By now, someone might've learned that you need to knock Pennington to the ground. Rattle his cage, and he folds. Didn't happen. Keeping McGee in there was maybe the stupidest thing I've seen PF do. Despite all that, they kept us in the game. 'Course, that was only half the problem. Offense was sloppy and starts at the top. As much praise as Edwards has gotten, he deserves a hearty today, most for the second half. Had some great looks and the 30-yarder to Lee where he got drilled made you hold your breath. Wasn't enough to overcome the slop. Better learn from this, Trent. I didn't have such a problem with the O play-calling. Execution was piss-poor. And to round it out, even ST was a disaster. Wild snap from Neill and he doesn't have weather to blame this time. KOs and punts are getting nothing with this supposed demon McKelvin who isn't seeing the holes or hitting them fast enough.

I think this is a situation like Bobby Shaw a few years ago. Guys need to know that the coaches ain't gonna put up with this sh--; produce or you're gone. This has been a historical problem with Royal. He's dropped TDs that cost us games in the clutch. He failed to get both feet in on a TD that cost us a game. I'm sick of this. See what Shouman and Fine have, b/c we know what Royal has. By far, he wasn't the only thing that sucked today, but let's start with the obvious.

We need to hit Pennington. I don't care if it's a 15-yard penalty hit. He needs to be hit. Then he turns into a little girl.

McGee is playing, evidently?

Ask me before what's gone on this year, and I would've had a wait-and-see approach to DJ and let the contract play out. Right now, I'm OK with giving him another 3 to see where this thing goes now that he's got some solid players. My only problem with him was his reticence to fire Fairchild when it was patently obvious that the dude was failing. He wasted most of a season to give Fairchild a sympathy f--- in the form of a college job. The change to Turk could have happened at the bye last year and we wouldn't've skipped a beat. On the Haslett situation, if he proves a good fit in STL and it's all but a given that they'll hire him, I'd be surprised if any minority coaches agree to interview, b/c they think it's a token sit-down & a waste of time. That happened on another team and they were fined (I forget how much, but it's considerable), even tho they invited just about every minority candidate they could. IMO, there should be a stipulation for a situation like that which penalizes a team b/c of collusion among candidates. The Rooney Rule was established so more minorities would have to be interviewed, but not that they'd have to be hired. Teams hire a guy based on a lot of factors wrt: fit in the system, rapport with existing staff, credentials / what they've done in the league, all leading to who can win them the most games. Skin color in this day and age has nothing to do with it. Sh--, we're about to elect a black president! Just b/c one guy, like Haslett might have a foot in the door doesn't mean that everyone else's odds are 0; like Gretzky said, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

Paulson has gone on the record that no matter who wins, beyond anything to do with a smooth transition, he will not be staying on.

On I-90? If so, I never noticed it. Such a situation may need to be rectified. Tho, perhaps it's been attempted and the Mass DOT just pulls it off. How big is the sign and what color (so as to determine best size and visibility)?

That was a nice win last year, wudn't it? Now that they have Pennington, we've seen him enough by now to know that PF just has to knock Chadwick around a bit --- even if it's with a late hit, say, when they're deep in their own territory --- to get him distracted and start playing like a little girl. Hope Schoebel's absence doesn't make this harder, tho we've got a few other guys who can get in there. It's Miami Week! P.S. Lori, thank you for posting that "in-game moderating policy," I think coming on the heels of my post in Bill's Few Thoughts the other week. Seriously, I think most people just didn't know about it b/c it had never really been stated anywhere, officially. I hope it helps out Simon et al from having to delete threads and take a lot of bs. All the mods'/admins' work is much appreciated.

The nail just got struck on the head. Ben and Jerry (of ice cream fame) were on CSPAN many moons ago, and had a bar graph diorama set up, using Oreo cookies as the bar, of where the federal budget goes. DoD spending took up about multiple columns with the cookies piled so high they fell over --- there must've been about 200. The rest of the departments had single columns, with the next-highest getting seven or eight cookies, Medicare/ Medicaid had one cookie, etc. Our military is so unorganized it's pathetic. And you know why they are? B/c they get so much money, they don't have to be organized. Maybe instead of slash'n'burn, tho, for reasons you write, we're going to have to do a gradual decline of 2% per year, while instituting better accounting and methodology. Step 1 would be to pretty much copy Walmart's computer system and how they track inventories. Chide them all you want otherwise, but Walmart can literally tell you how many boxes of Strawberry Pop-tarts they sell in areas where Level 3 hurricanes are three days from impact. Ask someone in the Air Force how many C-130s are currently in the fleet and they wouldn't know whether to sh-- or turn purple. The most basic tenet of organization and efficiency is knowing what you have vs. what you need.

We started with a post about JM's asshat of a brother who apparently doesn't know what 911 is for and who says, "F--- you" to 911 operators.... and it turns into a sh--fest about who cares less about different branches of their family tree, far and wide, and vagaries about tax policy. In these last couple of weeks, this campaign is going to be dirty. A lot of the dirt coming from one side in particular as they get desperate. And it's not the heads of the campaigns that are doing or ordering this... it's just ordinary people who get caught up in the bullsh-- and fear-mongering and voice their opinions sprinkled in with a few things they think they know. They get pent up with endorphins and righteous indignation and there it spews in public for all to see. 'Obama's going to take away our dogs, our guns and give all our money to crack whores!' or 'McCain's going to start WW3 and nuclear winter, take away everyone's health insurance, and insult little children!' These emails try to plant a seed and see what grows. Everyone's trying to be a proselytizer, converting others for the generic values of their 'side.' You know, I normally love politics, but in this timeframe I'm going to refrain from talking about it in the course of my walking day, maybe other than to correct anything blatant, that if they don't like either of the candidates then don't vote for either, and then steer the conversation away. This is all getting to be too much. Let other people make up their own minds about these men, and woman --- b/c it's been shown in many studies that no matter what you say, they're going to vote the way they vote anyway. Bear in mind that whoever gets voted in still is just one person and they will not change the fabric of America very much or very fast. Keep a level head.

Mort is like the retarded kid who doesn't know he's retarded.

In something that was in an article a few months ago, Jim McNally, while he was in Buffalo, got a call from a coach who'd been fired the week we played them (I want to say Arizona in the last go-'round). We won that game pretty soundly. Does it violate the gentlemanly nature of the game and how it should be in a better world, sure. But, if you don't want people dishing on you as revenge, a) don't run them out of town and piss them off, at least during the season, and 2) change up at least some of your play-calling or formations game-to-game. And, then again, I find it a little dubious that so much could be gleaned that the coaches couldn't see and gameplan for themselves. There's nothing to investigate. Sharing information isn't against the rules. That said, Favre does come out of this looking like a world-class peckerwood.

Well, the truth hurts sometimes.

Regardless of the 'Everyone gets a golden star' attitude you're taking, Dean, I'll ask.... You're saying it's never possible to have a time when a great team can be dragged down by one poor performer (and, at such a key position)? All I know is, I watched the game last week and thought to myself, especially late in the game, "I've seen this movie before." Three-and-outs, sacks, fumbles.... In a football game, each play is built on the foundation of the plays that came before. There's something that happens when JP steps into that huddle that he's looking to play his game, which is long-ball to Lee first, anything else............ second. Far be it from me to second-guess the coaching staff that's playing the guy they're stuck with, but JP is not a good fit for this offense. Trent comes in today with virtually the same roster (actually, a weaker defense/ST) and manages the game, doesn't make stupid mistakes, and keeps their offense off the field. It's a completely different style of play that impacts everything else that's happening and that the team is able to thrive in.

And if there were a new stadium, guaranteed that the infrastructure around the stadium would have been upgraded. Nevermind that it probably would be near Buffalo waterfront, and not in OP.

If something had been done to construct a new stadium --- as has been discussed for how long? --- this doesn't happen. Ralph is doing the whole laissez-faire thing and letting the next owner do what they want. It's a perfect metaphor for an old couple who doesn't want to do repairs on their old home because... why bother? They're not going to recoup the investment and they'll be too dead to care.