UConn James

And with this sentence, ladies and gentlemen, the hammer hits the head of the nail.

Corrected.

There's been press this week. The creators/producers have been talking with ABC about setting a certain conclusion season to the series. Lindelof said he sees it as he saw the series' length at the genesis --- about 100 episodes, which would translate to about 5 seasons. They want to avoid the mistakes of X-Files, Alias, et al. According to Lindelof, setting this certain end will help viewers gain a little more perspective, as he says, similar to how JK Rowling announced the Harry Potter series was ending with this seventh book. I think it will too; they have promised that answers will come. They said an interesting thing also that people and critics are always discontented with the current season and nostalgic about previous ones; which is true about a lot of series. Also, they said next season will not have these hiatuses, which were caused by production realities and schedule conflicts. It will be a straight run from now on. This is probably the #1 complaint and the reason for the ratings dip, which is probably b/c so many people are just waiting until the DVDs come out to watch it all in one clip. Link. There's others around the Internets with interview transcripts, etc.

That is a woman after VABills' own heart.

Sez who? You?!

"It was a retirement gift from Ricky Williams, officer. Honest!"

Christ. Back when I was at the U (I commuted), there could be a full-on blizzard and it would take an act of Congress to close the place.

Which is like suing the town I live if I get burglarized by thieves who use copies of the P&Z board's blueprints, which they have for every building in town. Are we going to stop teaching video production to everyone and burn all textbooks so Ayman and Osama won't be able to use our infrastructure? Govt and agencies have gone overboard since 9/11 denying access to even some of the most basic public records. Stupid response to smart enemies when you tear down your own democracy of information for a little safety. I wouldn't begrudge the blurring/blacking out of the layout of the compounds, bases, etc. (it probably is already done for some sensitive sites in the U.S.) for security purposes, but I would be loathe to wipe out the purpose for all the legit usage of GE.

Who knows, but I usually of the belief that the morons on the Leno show are trying to act dumb so they'll be on TeeVee; if they answer correctly, they won't be on prime time, so they give the host what they want. Also, there's the rule where 99% of people lose all ability to think when there's a camera around. Their inner monologue switches to 'Oh my God, I'm on television! Try not to look stupid, Gordie! Suck in those cheeks and the gut!' Most people turn into morons just with a photographic camera; multiply it by 10,000 with video. Then again, some people are that dumb.

Lawyers and judges don't mind releasing criminals (especially the perverts and child rapists). It keeps them in a job when they strike again... and again... and again.

. NBC hired a consulting firm before they started airing the games, with an aim at delivering what the 18-34 male demographic wanted. It was mostly just a bunch of buzzwords like connectivity, multi-tasking and such, which I can only take as them showing fantasy stats even more than they currently do. This stuff wasn't really incorporated this season, they said, but it may eek into the broadcasts. I actually thought NBC did a really great job with SNF, Madden's Brett Favre pole-smoking aside. It was a very toned-down broadcast, and more traditional, in a mid-90s sense. The Pink intro was about my biggest qualm, which surely qualifies as a sorry-ass little First World problem. (but the mohawk... WTF?!?). The logistics can be as complicated or as simple as they want to make them, but it would be cool to have an original intro by a different artist/band each week. My nominee for a future BOTD is.... Jane Monheit.

Please highlight the pertinent sentence in my post that says that.

Could I get the lottery numbers for next week while you're at it?

For the life of me, I can't understand why NBC thought having her and her !@#$ mohawk sing the same song every week was a good idea.

The administration's abject refusal to consider this option is, in my view, the reason why Iraq is in the current mess it's in. A diverse, multicultural Iraq would be a great thing, in theory. But in reality, it has just fomented the civil war. What needed to happen was an initial separation into ethnic provinces, followed by a long period of cooperation and either a buildup of collective nationalism (i.e. through sports, a united Olympic team, media, etc.) or, if it's unfeasible, a permanent separation. One of the biggest reasons why this wasn't done was the challenge of how to divvy up the oil monies, i.e. which province gets how much, access, pipeline issues. In fact, tho, a de facto seperation is happening, as families are seperating into ethnic regions by themselves.

When is Bruuuuuce eligible? Next year? Rest assured his will be a first-ballot election.

Wash. Post link Well, it certainly doesn't help his campaign among people with the mindset that people who have ever used drugs are not fit for public office. But, I would say that ideal has changed immeasurably in just the last 10 years. It's no longer a deal-breaker as long as said politician has turned their lives around. Look at Bush --- while he hasn't out-and-out said 'cocaine' (except in his sister-in-law's book) but the common perception that he hasn't disputed is he did heavy drugs. Remember that Obama decided to run knowing full well what he wrote in the memoir and that it would become an issue. I think his credentials and actions since that time speak for themselves, as Marv's famous quote goes. It also shows his full honesty of having made a mistake and freely admitting it to any and all. (Also bear in mind that cocaine when he went to high school was prevalent/reputed akin to marijuana today, and that it was nowhere near as strong). It would have been a problem for him if it had not been in the open and it seemed like he tried to hide it, especially if it came out later. He can address it and get it out of the way a year before the primaries. Americans tend to be very forgiving people b/c many of us have made bad decisions our ownselves such that we realize that you can't change the distant past, only the ongoing present. The only people who will use this against him are his political haters and FOX News (redundant). I look forward to hearing what he (and all of the other candidates, Dem, Repub, Libertarian, etc.) have to say and what ideas he brings to the table to make this a better nation.

He would be going for a head coaching job, not OC or DC. One of his conditions for re-signing with the Bills last year was the title (and duties) of Assistant HC. It gives him a little more marketability for owners who might think ST is a small part of the game or that such a job isn't good enough for a promotion to HC. I hope he stays here for a long time, but the day will likely come where he gets interviews and a shot at HC --- hell, it might be this year --- and I'd wish him good luck (except against us).

We don't ask for much, tho I do think the requests for which particular helmet design is a waste of time. It'd be really simple to announce a change to the throwback unis and create a white away version and blue pants. Ralph's already paid for them; no more marketing concept teams, TV tests, etc. Just announce it, repaint the 50-yard-line logo and be done. For those of us who "root for the laundry" in this era of player-swapping, it'd be nice to have laundry that looks like old-school traditional football unis instead of circus tightrope performers. The football dept. of the Front Office would have nothing to do with a uni switch. As I understand it based on Marv's comments when he arrived, this is Russ Brandon's area. The team has had these Bronco/Titan/Patriot/Lion hybrids for the required 5 seasons b/w major changes, and can now petition/inform the league that they're changing. It would take all of about 2 hours, most of it for printing and faxing.

Aren't roofing nails galvanized?

I can predict boners. One for every time the BOTD thread is viewed.

Anyone take Advanced Cryogenics classes? Hey, Focker (ajzepp), get up there and gerentolo-gate!!

No sh--. Supermarket chains are rolling around screaming for joy at 1 percent net profits.

As I remember, during the American Bowl we played in Germany (Berlin?) against the Vikings, there were lots of Bills fans in the stands. Lots of Vikings fans, too, but you'll get that with over 100K capacity. I'd hate like hell to lose a home game, but then again, if it's against a team that will not draw a sell-out at the Ralph, I could see the wisdom in it. First, it would definitely be a prime time game. It would get the Bills brand name in Europe; increase support, sales, etc... (could get the league executives to further value the Bills and Buffalo with increased international fans). Bills would get 50% of the gate of 100K+ tickets. Several ways it could be a big positive and a small negative.

It would be cost-prohibitive to put a franchise tag on Samuel (or most any player) two years in a row. In the second year, they go from being paid the avg of the top-5 at their position, to being paid the avg of the top-5 salary among all players (which, by next year, I wouldn't be surprised at ~15M/year). As for the bolded part.... We're talking about the NFL, no? There's no shortage of teams who will pay top dollar for a malcontent, as long as they think he'll put up big numbers.