UConn James

I'm really not meaning to make a big deal of it, but leaving out the apologyin the second sentence would've made for. much stronger statement. I mean... these guys know what's it's like on a Day One thing when you go to a new team. You're busy doing admin stuff. You don't need to say you're sorry.

No, Shep can't do that. We're seriously going to need three or four LBs, and that's supposing he keeps Barnett. Besides QB, this was the weakest link of the team. Unless Marrone shifts to a contain-D, it would seem like Chris Kelsay's time with the Bills is finally done, too. When your offense is based on DL shock-and-awe and blitzing, you can't have a guy who has lost two steps and whose only move is to swing wide of the OT like a bull-and-matador, run 5-10 yards downfield and then work his way back to the LOS. If we lose Byrd, ehh... it'll suck but it's not the end of the world by any means. Front-7 matters way more. If we lose Levitre, that'll be about it for the line and another rebuild there. He is the rock there. Pay the man!

By the end of this, I'm 67.4% sure that we'll be interviewing Chan Gailey for the head coach spot.

I find it a worthless comparison b/c Beane/Epstein et Al's mantra was to "buy statistics" rather than take the vague words of scouts. I'm unconvinced that the largely individualistic stats of baseball can be transposed to football, and therefore, be some kind of predictor of production/wins. In baseball, it's cut and dried --- this guy hits this % against lefthanders/righthanders at 60/70/80/90/100mph curves/sliders/fastballs high and inside.... The variables for football are so widespread, I don't get how you can take the number of catches by a TE at Notre Dame, divide by however you arrive at a metric for how good the ND QB is, multiply how good your QB is, factor for the differences in quality of defenses, and arrive at some number that you think quantifies a football player. A play can go wrong for SO many reasons that would be totally unrelated to one individual. Baseball and other sports like tennis, etc. are mano-a-mano, largely with no one else responsible for the important parts other than the dueling pair (besides fielding errors and such). And while I'm sure there probably are sophisticated rundowns of everything and everything, football is so much more a team sport that applying a numbers game loses a lot of its wind.

There's no laws being broken. What right do you have to make a scene of it? If you don't want to see it, change the channel, move your seat, etc. You don't have the right to not be offended.... frickin' deal with it.

Everyone said that in 2004... in order to win the presidency after they couldn't even beat GWB at the height of unpopularity, the Democrats would have to become more centrist, more conservative on economic matters. In 2008, they nominated someone who was even FURTHER to the left than Kerry. All the bluster from one side commenting about what the other needs to do in order to win is typical BS. It means nothing. It's a cadre of pols saying that you need to sell out what you believe in and become them. Obama won because incumbency is powerful. He didn't have to face a primary and getting belted in the face by numerous people in his own party up until about 5 months before the general election. Are there problems in the GOP, sure. They DO need to stop talking about abortion as anything other than being settled by the highest court and now it's about changing hearts and minds of individuals - women - who are making their choice, as most Republicans that I know actually do, rather than being pigeon-holed by a few pols who sound off like crazy Baptist ministers. I can tell you that Christie here has done himself no favors within the party in his Storm Sandy actions, both cozying up with Obama just before the election and now decrying Congress because some members and leadership might think they can get a better bill. It's stevestojanny that it came to this, because if it had been confined to recovery money for Sandy rather than becomi the pork-fest omnibus that it did including tens of millions for Alaska fisheries, etc. (read the dedicated thread for detailed discussion), it would have passed right away unanimously. Anyway, getting back to Christie, he has no chance in 2016. The GOP is not going to nominate another northeastern management-type Republican. Not for a long time, I'd say. Nominees will be coming from the South and the West. (I'd actually like to see one from the southwest with Gov. Susana Martinez, who got an Obama-in-2004 style keynote at the RNC that introduced her on the national stage and raised a lot of eyebrows in the party.)

Reminds me of the one where the accountant advises the cathouse owner to only buy properties that are one-level ranches. "Why's that?" the pimp asks. "Then you won't have any f^ing overhead." In all seriousness tho, it doesn't look good, but I hope she recovers. Lots of people do jobs they may not be totally proud of, but everyone's got bills to pay and $ doesn't flow easy and now Uncle Sam is taking more of them. Workplace injuries and accidents of any kind are truly a 'There but for the grace of God go I.'

Who the hell was the Michigan OL blocking that was so important that Clowney went totally unblocked? In the replays, it looks like the OL was pushing air to his right, rather than blocking an actual defender. Piss-poor blocking scheme. Would that OLs did that with MD or MW... they'd look All-Millenium every week.

Can't divide loyalties in the locker room. I don't really care if Fitz says he's on board with whatever. This would be like Captain Hindsight trying to remain "just friends" with his ex even tho he still had "feelings" for her --- it can't be done in the real world with much degree of success. Symbolically and emotionally, you've gotta make a clean break. If we're going to draft a QB or get a FA to start fresh, then it needs to really be fresh. The next coach will have his offense, and his idea of a QB. And, hopefully, that idea doesn't include a guy who doesn't have much throwing strength, is erratic in accuracy and has turned gunshy by going to 2-yard options on 3rd and 14.

It's apparently $620B in tax increases, $15B in net spending cuts (net... b/c there's quite a bit of spending in this bill). [sound of one hand clapping] SMH. I hope the House doesn't pass this just to say they passed something. http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2013/01/01/senate-fiscal-proposal-620b-tax-hikes-15b-spending-cuts#ixzz2Gild5sSM I'm sorry, but it's time to get 99ers+ off the dole, by whatever means necessary. (And not just so they can apply for SSDI.)

It appears that a deal has been reached in the Senate to avoid the fiscal cliff's spending cuts for another two months, with a 50-50 mix of cuts and revenue increases to bridge that time period. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/01/us-usa-fiscal-deal-idUSBRE90001H20130101 A vote isn't expected to take place in the House until Tuesday, after the midnight deadline. So, technically, are we going over the cliff? I dunno. We'll see if the House passes this measure and kicks the can down the road... and in two months, we'll be right back to this point again.

In addition to the older defections, leaving are: SU, PITT, WV, Notre Dame (in non-football sports, football has always remained ind.), Rutgers and Louisville to the B10 and ACC, and the Catholic schools leaving the basketball conference.... Now, the ball has dropped that Boise State is pulling out of joining in 2013, and will remain in the Mountain West. http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-huskies/hc-big-east-boise-state-0101-20121231,0,5092038.story Lands a blow to the idea that the conference could weather the storm by simply signing replacement schools from all over the country in a bid to get a coast-to-coast league that could sell a network an entire day's slate of games. I would expect many of them to also drop out now (TCU also dropped out earlier this summer) that the gravitas of Boise State football is lost --- I think that was haymaker of the revamped conference. So... now... my alma mater is literally left twisting in the wind, pretty much just waiting until the ACC calls. This whole situation just royally, royally sucks. Feels like there aren't going to be any seats left when the music stops.

I'll drink to that.

Those are nothing to shrug off. She's getting good treatment and I hope she gets well soon.

FOIA does not inherently extend to ALL govt records. And it doesn't grant the release of information about private citizens. Go ask your local Animal Control officer to show you a complete list of all the dogs in your town, owners, vaccination records, etc. Go ask a govt funded AIDS clinic for a list of patients. This is a gross invasion of privacy.

I believe the intention would be for him to control his message and image, without a lot being lost in the disarray that is a real-time speaking event. Even for people far younger, smarter, more tactful, and telegenic than Ralph is, pulling off a good impression and getting out the exact message you want to have heard during a live presser is damned difficult. I make no guff in how Ralph decides to present his message, what format it's delivered in, how it's produced. What matters is its content. If rumors are to be believed, then this would likely be his final appearance where a lot of people are going to be watching. I would want strict control over that as well, if it were going to be the parting impression on a group of people that would in large part be determining my legacy. It's tantamount to how Pres. Reagan bade farewell to the nation on one of his good days.

You don't wear gloves all the time for that stuff?! What, because they're not tactile enough? I sometimes work with stone in various construction stuff, and that's a problem I have with ones like these http://www.lowes.com/pd_184240-76744-LO9131_4294763928__?productId=3111013&Ns=p_product_avg_rating%7C1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_avg_rating%7C1&facetInfo= . These regular leather gloves are very unwieldy... like trying to pluck a stray hair with a pair of kitchen tongs. Try a pair like these. I use 'em all the time. Tight fit, surprisingly durable, and the rubberized grips are really handy for even fine motor task stuff. http://www.constructiongear.com/dewalt-rubber-work-gloves.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=54438971730&utm_content=pla&gclid=CNKNkYiGxLQCFYuZ4AodGSkAiA

I'd be all right with it. I would want to see Pete Metzelaars retained as TE coach. Chandler took another step this year and Lee Smith looked decent at times. This season wasn't Pete's fault.

This kind of evil has always existed in the world. Et ego in Arcadia vixi. = There was a serpent even in the Garden of Eden.

Remember this story from last week? The RPG turned in at a gun buy back program in Los Angeles? It was a non-functional prop from a film set. That was my first thought when I saw it, just by seeing the story's dateline location. You can see the labels in a different photo: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531851_10151254285122758_1230744598_n.jpg?dl=1 And the stevestojan of it is that the Law Enforcement people who held a press conference to showcase this KNEW it, lied bald-faced straight into the cameras, and were trying to sell this canard to further a political objective. In a just world, they would be fired. Not that it matters now. It's in the collective mindset. Just like the 1% tip for the waitress that was an OWS fake, the far left knows they only have to trigger an initial story where a sympathetic-cause reporter will swallow everything. In the resulting walk-back when the truth is revealed, only a certain percentage of the people who saw the original story on page A1 will see the correction on page G16, and the liberal cause is advanced.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/sean-payton-new-orleans-saints-contract-extension-bountygate-bounties-suspension-roger-goodell-122812 There's one domino out of the mix...

Whaley has been with the Bills forever?? Dude came here from Pittsburgh FO (remember the pornographic email that he mistakenly sent all around the league including to Goodell?) after John Guy was shown the door.

The judgement-call no-review is an issue I've written about many times here. It's shameful that a single play that can result in anywhere from 15 to 80 yards+ is not allowed to be looked at by the booth. I'd also say to remove the referee entirely from the review process. While it's quaint to believe that they will be noble and not simply back their crew every time, I've seen some doozies here just this year that make me fundamentally question the integrity of the game. Above all, there needs to be consistency. And especially in PI calls, there is none. One guy gets mauled, no flag. Another guy merely gets breathed on and it's 40 yards. In combination with all the other stuff going on WRT health effects / brain injuries / violence issues, the quality of officiating and the rules changes that give defenses little chance to compete only furthers the question of whether I want to keep supporting the game with my viewership and dollars. I can watch majors tennis and be sure that Hawkeye gets the line calls absolutely right, and know that it's highly unlikely that anybody is going to be concussed. The NFL has got to clean up its game.

Well, at least the undesirables aren't being deported to Dachau and Auschwitz this time.... That's progress, I suppose.

That's my reasoning. He (or, more likely, the BuffNews beat reporter who made the case for Reed) could know how many votes Andre had, who returning voters are, who new voters are and how they're going to vote from private conversation. Unless it is a radio or teevee show, this would be my best guess.