UConn James

You forgot the part about turning the Gatorade in wine.

Yeah, I don't think the humble pie taste was quite out of his mouth. And that's something I'm happy to hear. Also, it kind of goes along with Marv's ol' "Act like you've been there before."

I'm not a Kool-Aid drinker, but... Talking about a QB who "won't throw the ball deep," you don't mention that the alternative is a QB whose only trick is to throw the ball deep (and by the camp reports I've read, he's still in this sole mindset), and who gets sacked a good deal waiting for his receivers to get deep/separation. It's nice when it works and it'll get you a lot of oohs and aahs, but when you live by the deep ball, you die by the deep ball (or, the lack of it once you face teams with talent at CB). In itself, it is not a winning phenomenon in the NFL. I don't know about Edwards... we're gonna see what he's got and there's probably going to be a few minor bumps in the road. But I know enough about JP, even tho he may have gotten a raw deal with MM, that's not something for which we need to spend another season to be "fair" to him, whatever that means in the league of Not For Long. He's a great option as a reliever, but you need consistency in a starter. Should we follow you to the office on Monday morning and criticize how slow you are to file those papers... and, Christ, what about all those coffeebreaks!?! Maybe your company should hire a real professional like Tim the intern who may not have sh-- for know-how, but he sure has a lot of pep. Way to treat Edwards the same way you lament that Losman was treated a few years ago.

If it were me, instead of laughing it off, I would have finished the anthem myself at the top of my lungs. It's not right to just let it die off like that, uncompleted at the most important part. Maybe Phelps is a little embarrassed by his voice... Last Olympics he had those Invisaligns(?) and despite that company's ad copy, he sounded just like he had a mouthful of plastic. Listened to some of his interview and it still sounds weird.

Fixed.

WHAM 1180 audio link.

The feed just cut out to some fool who's desperately trying to keep on those people who were listening to the game. I guess they don't have rights to air the game. Try this. WHAM 1180.

Fez, everything I've seen indicates this, too, was a random attack by a madman. He killed one male relative of a volleyball coach, and wounded an accompanying female relative as well as the Chinese guide. It may indeed have been predicated on some ultra-nationalist going after Americans before he killed himself. Chinese media has been doing a lot 'Us vs. Them'-type stuff. I don't think it was a predatory, tho, just opportunistic for a loonie, and more evidence that people who rely on police to keep them safe (even at the Olympic levels) are just as loonie. Police get there after the fact --- personal protection is mostly self-help. Strange, there was a time when you went abroad that being an American meant no one f---ed with you, especially in the Ford years. I forget where it was, but a country had abducted a group of Americans and Ford had the diplomats in the Oval Office and gave them 24 hours to release them. In 24 hours, the diplomats came back offering some deal or other and Ford said it was too late. One of our warships came in, guns blazing, teams worked through the city shooting anyone who raised a finger, got the hostages and shot all the captors, got back to the ship, and as they were leaving the harbor with everyone safe on board, they dropped bombs and laid waste. For quite a while, few people f--ked with the Americans. Today, wherever you go, it's as if we have to apologize for our mere presence.

Speaking as someone in a family with quite a few police/LE.... sad to say I agree. You grant a lot of leeway for actions that come out of the heat of the moment encounters/real jeopardy for personal safety. But more and more, as power has gone a little more unquestioned and employment standards have dropped, we see the kind of results. Cops firing tasers it seems more to try out their new toys than as a next-to-last means (have heard several of those relatives, including my brother who's a cop in a fairly large city in this state, say, 'You just wouldn't believe how many sh--heads carry a badge, many through nepotism.'), several in this region recently who have chased motorcycles (when many depts' policy is no-chase, for good reason) and wound up killing innocents in wrecks, the beatings that you can recall from videos (not nearly always the full story, but the breadth of the beatings goes overboard), pumping suspects with 100 bullets. This is yet another example... quite similar to what happened in Ruby Ridge with the ATF. And the officers who conducted this raid were 100% unapologetic. Shot a dog in the back as it was running away! (If it were my dog, it would take everything I had not to respond in like kind). Sorry, but the Constitution doesn't grant this kind of power that has only gotten more brazen b/c it goes largely w/o consequences other than big municipal payouts b/c it's attributed to the chain of command or something similar to the 'fog of war.' True, they have a tough job with a lot of stress. Most truly care deeply about the community they serve. And don't expect it to get any easier for police as times get more and more desperate. But it's the aggregate of sh-- like this that doesn't help their cause. My brother has seriously thought about quitting --- the daycare bill for two children is $640/week while he makes $700/week. After taxes, car, insurance, gas, etc. it actually costs money to go to work. Only way you can get slightly ahead is massive amounts of overtime, and you kill your marriage/family life that way.

I could find no references to Ted Thompson's dog being killed by angry fans. I did, however, find that such was the story for a long time about Dan Devine's dog, a Packers coach in the '70s. This article tells the real story. It was "bastage," you dunce!

Everywhere he's gone since the Pats (and he even did it there to a degree), Parcells has done the whole "Hey, let's get the ol' band back together!!" thing. There's times it worked and many more times where trying to recapture the past blew up in his face. Chadwick is "a QB who doesn't make mistakes"... until you lay a finger on him. My-yami's gonna suck so bad! 0-16 is possible.

Ark, You might start here. Fill in your street address and it will give you a read-out of the digital channels that you might expect to pull in. (In my experience, antennaweb is a little on the conservative side... I'm in NE CT in a "low signal spot" and for some stations/directions that's true, but I get in some Boston stations all the same). With an indoor antenna, your range is somewhat limited, but roughly, the Rochester stations' towers are ~7 miles away and broadcasting 7 stations, so it should be OK with just the rabbit ears... in fact, being so close, that's probably ideal; a larger outdoor antenna can overload your tuner. 'Course, every place's reception is different, but in WNY, it starts getting flatland-ish, which is ideal. I started a thread in the consumer forum about my outdoor antenna odyssey. ("Digital is a finicky B word!") The digital transition is pretty sweet in a lot of ways and it has a lot of promise (esp. if/when companies put out more sensitive tuners rather than the cheapo "tin can" CECB ones they're using to get rid of their old stock while silicone tuners for some time now have been shown to be much better for signal). For people who just want a clear picture but don't really care for the content or cost of cable, it does the job. Do post your results here.

Granted. But their biggest problem on O the last several years has been the weakness at QB. Everybody knew that if you hit Chadwick, he got rattled and his play suffered. And if you kept hitting Chadwick, he'd go in a shell to try to protect his va-jay-jay. Jests still lack a breakout RB, but it's much easier to produce that with a good OL like they've built. This is the scenario I worried about. Addition of Favre doesn't automatically mean we lose, especially since it's a 22-player game, but it doesn't make it any easier. We went from knowing exactly how to shut down their O to having to beware a gunslinger who can damage you when he's on his game.

I've said before so I'm not going to waste time on a troll, but, probably all of them. There's been a chorus line --- one after another --- of posters who come here, spout pretty much the same drivel with the same tactics, make an idiot of themselves or get banned. Note, curiously, how there's always one poster at a time (despite such shakeup) that bears the standard at PPP for out-and-out socialism. ----- Interesting article in the NYT about something that is concrete. Voting registration change in the past four years. Link. Can't say I'm surprised by this. The pendulum has swung back a little bit, but even then many voters are just going unaffiliated b/c they don't fundamentally identify with either of the Big Two. And yet, they just pick and choose among those rather than support third parties, b/c they don't identify with them either. Some readings: 1. Bush and 'socially-conservative/financially spendthrift' Republicans have really screwed that once-proud party. They now stand for so many things that they don't stand for anything: 'Illegals Out!' vs. 'Illegals provide cheap labor'; Tax cuts in an era of deficit finance vs. financial responsibility; et cetera. 2. The time is ripe for a third party that can actually build a consensus, but they've got a tough row to hoe in getting choked out by the media and fund-raising. There's a lot of people who just want govt to function w/o having to donate millions just to be heard. Fat chance of that! And so, we've got a lot of people who have been disillusioned and that anything just short of armed revolution can't really change the labyrinth that is the federal govt, no matter what letter is next to the leaders' names. I think at his point, they're working 50 hours a week, coming home, eating, watching AI, going to bed, wash, rinse and repeat. That, or waiting for a "MARS ATTACKS!" scenario: "They blew up Congress!"

Just some constructive criticism... the echoing is really off-putting.

Here's a virtual round on me! It's also Marv Levy's natal anniversary. HB, Marv-elous! BTW, does anyone big on horoscopes? Was just reading some this a.m. for sh--s and giggles. I've never fit the Leo mold --- 180 degree opposite, in fact --- but a lot of things in sidereal astrology (where I am a Cancer instead) make total sense. I mean, a lot of it is just general stuff that most people can be simultaneously. But the 'silver and emerald' bit (as opposed to gold/ruby for Leo) was a bit of a moment b/c it has real meaning. I don't mean to get deep into this b/c it's probably mostly hooey anyway, but just found it interesting.

This is an important point about our young starters. We've got maybe a three-year window to make a playoff push with the nucleus we have now, and then it will be a crucible to see which of them we get to keep under 'cash to the cap' unless new ownership comes in with a different tack. Ralph seems intent to ride out this wave that Marv helped generate. Of course, it will be worlds different three years from now. We'll have three drafts (hopefully spent on players who'll fill the holes the FO anticipates/coordinates). Some of the higher-priced UFA mercenaries will surely have moved on (Mitchell, Fowler, possibly even Dockery & Walker if we ever draft an OL-man again (the ghost of Mike Williams haunts this franchise --- but it goes back much farther than that, doesn't it?). Whatever LE's deal is compounds with whatever Edwards and Lynch will command. Indy manages to do it, tho, so let's just hope that some other method of dealing with the cap is in place by then (I think some playoff appearances might justify a change), whether Ralph stops squeezing the nickel 'til the Buffalo sh--s or if it's a new owner. To be more accurate with that metaphor, each player is in different boats, grouped in separate pools according to their position. They're not bothered when other guys get fat contracts b/c that 'rising tide raises everyone's boat' in that pool. Most players & agents realize the timing factors that they could get more in two years, but now is now. I also think most will accept that guys signed via UFA make the big $ --- that's just how it is and they have to wait their turn. But there's always a special situation, or an anxious player or agent who feel enough inequity that they take drastic measures. But make no mistake, this is not off the cuff --- they have orchestrated every move they take. I don't know what mindset JP took in this push for a new deal, but it all ends with, he wants more bones and the Bills want more bones to be able to give to their other guys from a league- and self-limited stash. Right now it's a game of chicken; if it remains this way come late this month, then it becomes a problem.

I second the 'Looks good!', night owl.

Well, that's not good enough. It is outrageous that people are denied the right to effectively defend themselves and others when something akin to this happens. A madman knows he can get control over an area and no one can stop him. I don't advocate the OK Corral, but fer Christ' sake! Police, fully 90 percent of the time, show up after the crime is committed and/or the perp is gone --- that includes property crimes and violent crime. Average violent crime is over w/in 1m30s of onset; police response times average several minutes at best. They cannot protect you. Security, by and large, is self-help. Some people live in a dream world and just don't get this fact. After this state had a couple of home invasions where families were killed, more people have been getting permits and taking marksmanship classes. You can only hope that the Harper govt ends the abject failure that is the handgun ban (a ban that came after the Canadians required registration but said there wouldn't be a ban; the same series of events as in Germany such that people couldn't fight back when that govt took too much power --- make no mistake, America, your rights are taken away in small steps). Only thing it does is make the criminals more brazen b/c they know they'll have a time window where they can do whatever they want and no one can easily stop them. A year and a half after the VT shootings and there has not been one measure of protection taken anywhere that's worth a warm bucket of sh--. Colleges have compiled 'watch lists' and set up email/cellphone notifications. Doesn't do a damn thing when a madman bent on destruction is 20 feet away. The tragedies happen piecemeal and after a few days on the morning shows with sobbing sweatshirt-clad students, America's attention span is sapped and everyone goes back to watching Idol. Rinse, wash and repeat.

What'd the Irish ever do to her?

Link Still, my alma mater managed to get 9 votes. The system is seriously incestuously FUBAR, tho, and everyone knows it and doesn't do a thing about it, year in and year out.

Macrocosmically, maybe not. But the kid has talent that could have contributed to the team, especially on ST. Maybe whoever replaces Bowen lets a KOR slip by b/c he's just a bit slower. It's all the microcosm that puts together that macrocosm, you know. And you have to feel for the kid on a personal level... unless your heart is a stone and you had no empathy for Kevin Everett either. The annals of NFL rosters are filled with guys who never really make it back from this kind of injury. He went from a possible diamond in the rough to now having a major row to hoe in rehab for coming back next year. That's why what you said is pretty sh--ty.

As said, there's nothing wrong with it in the foreign relations scheme. People burned paper with 8-point font text. Big whoop. Same reaction I had when someone shot and flushed the Quran. It's the Muslims who got outraged and used that manner of story as a pretext to behead people. And now it's the Jews who are burning the bible. A curious thing to be sure to spit on many of the hands that try to help them in defense and civilian projects. Even then, tho, it doesn't represent mainstream Israel. This is just another of many extremist groups with a niche cause who want their time in the spotlight; I don't care a whit that the media, for once, didn't give it to them.

TBD Terms of Service Grab your popcorn, ladies and gents. I think we're about to see a live execution of krazykat. (Probably not his first).

No sh--. Like that wasn't publicized to death, like, last week?! And the difference b/w Peters & Butler/Williams is that they've shown they want to be part of this team. Peters can be there or he can not be there. His choice. It doesn't make much of a difference. I'd rather have someone at camp 100% on board than someone who'll take plays off and get our QB killed b/c he's disgruntled. I tell ya, if it goes on much longer, I'd like for the team to say he can go f--- himself, sit on a couch and amass $15,000/day fines for the next 3 years. I second that motion.