UConn James

Well, I suppose that this is in the same vein of what you expect's going to happen when the obese children stop getting ice cream after every meal....

Seconded. (And that's as someone who hates the genre.) "If you're naked in there, I'm definitely going to look!" Great humor infusion from David Tennant.

Picked up loose items, dragged the kayak up under the deck, and took down the rooftop antennas. There's about $500 invested in my antenna system, as we are in a deep fringe/low signal area. There's also a huge red oak with branches that nearly touch it that we were going to take down this summer, but haven't gotten to it yet. Plus, with 75-90 sustained winds and harder gusts predicted, I just want to avoid that much strain on the lag bolts into our rafters (They're 2x6" spaced 16" which the GC in the '70s said you could drive a truck across) and keep the antennas from getting pummel by swaying or falling branches. Maybe I'm playing it too safe. But hey, it only took ~10 min. to take it down. Put up a small one that I made from copper wire awhile back that I won't be over-grieved to lose. Went inside to try it out and I'm getting a few channels (a CPTV that could probably be picked up with a paperclip) to keep up to date with the storm and have something to watch. That's the first time I've ever heard that particular proverb.... And I worked summers on my grandparents'/uncle's dairy farm! What's the meaning there? Rain coming from all directions?

Right. But they may need to run more lines. And at 10 years old, for co-axial cable, that's about 2/3 of its suggested lifetime. If you're uncomfortable with touching that kind of stuff, then do call someone who knows what they're doing. (BTW, the cheapest way would be to cut your cord and go antenna-only.)

Wait... from where? The U? (Isn't move-in this week?)

He means Maxine Waters, not Maxine, your octogenarian female attitudinal soulmate.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul....

Depending how it tracks and how strong the winds are as it comes up the coast, I may be taking down my antenna pole (~12 feet with a two-antenna set-up) on Saturday.

So, because it's been said before, it no longer applies or is untrue? Fans like you who are willing to let Ralph sweep his dookies under the rug and tolerate his cheap-bastard approach are part of the problem.

And "Wild, Wild West" about 10 years ago. Perhaps that was the death knell for Western/Sci-fi crossover genre, at least? But... probably not. Wait another 10 years, they'll make another with Orlando Bloom as a gay cowboy who has to fight time-traveling robots bent on the destruction of earth because we're causing a global warming epidemic. In all seriousness, though, while Hollywood is on a known-quantity/sequel kick, I'd love to see a "Starman 2" where they can get into what happens with the child. I recently caught the first after seeing that Jeff Bridges "American Masters" program on PBS, and found out he got an Oscar nod for it. Imagine where they could take it today, given the right story. And seriously, tgregg, if you write this, at least let me proofread it. I graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa Journalism/English.

Well, what with Twilight, etc., you've gotta take into account the demand price for false fangs and theatre glue....

Taxpayers Should Be Leery Of Warren Buffett's Faux Noblesse Oblige

The returning competitors are 'Coach' and... some other dude. As I mentioned in last season's thread, I didn't watch Survivor past the second season and then I got drawn in.... probably by a mix of Natalie's yellow bikini and the fact that there doesn't seem to be much else on antenna teevee worth watching. I don't watch any other "reality" stuff (I have never seen one minute of American Idol) but I think I'm back onto Survivor. As much as some (aj) will decry it, it would be totally moronic if the tribes don't mutually kick out the returners, especially --- from reputation/word of mouth only --- Coach. Rob seriously controlled that game from start to finish last season. I really liked the Redemption Island angle, and it was good to hear that they'll continue it, only they won't let it get backlogged --- it will be 50-50, one-on-one, two-men-enter-one-man-leaves. When they had 4 of them competing, in the same way that one only has to be the second-slowest to avoid being eaten by the bear, that was a bridge too far.

As a UConn alum /fan, I'd be lying if I didn't say that several one-liners instantly spring up, but I needn't share them. On a personal level, I hope her doctors can provide effective treatments to slow the progression.

Actuallky, I think most would. It's kind of a natural human social trait to help, even if reaction time just leaves you grasping air. There's usually at least an attempt. Don't you mean, "Dave in Nor Fu--"?

Does this marginal difference even matter, really? It's just another schmoe who, by a rather small-percent chance, if he does pan out within 4 years, the front office probably won't be allowed to re-sign. The new CBA's rookie contract rules are going to absolutely kill any last iota of hope this franchise has under Ralph Wilson's ownership.

Overdorf was hired to do what he's told. Even if it's a vague intimation without names of specific players being mentioned (which I seriously doubt). If you think Ralph isn't still meddling with the team, no matter what his physical health is, you're sorely mistaken.

More marketing and having a fall guy to impale on the sword when the natives get restless. Like that line in "Clear and Present Danger," Jim Overdorf can't tie his shoes without say-so. He was hired to do what he's told. I can't personally put all the blame on him for that. He may not have a clear "cut/trade Player X" but he definitely has a hard number that he needs to reach below. We finally need to identify and speak against the root of the problem rather than hacking at the branches. And in no uncertain terms, the root is Ralph Wilson's method of ownership.

Craig Ferguson (of the Late Late Show) had a standup bit where he posed his methodology for broaching sensitive subjects. 1) Does this need to be said? 2) Does this need to be said by me? 3) Does this need to be said by me now? Any journalist worth his salt knows the fine line of when to pull back on his/her punches, but it's inexcusable to not ask the question and not tell your readers what you've found out. Now, your coverage subject(s) can think what they want about it, they can be whatever degree of angry they want to be that JW disclosed that the Evans move was a salary dump commanded from higher up and executed by Overdorf (it just had to be at the instigation/blessing of any combination of Littman or Brandon as the go-between for RW) rather than it was a strategic FO move by Nix or a competitive football move suggested by Gailey. And even if Nix didn't want to say anything beyond what he did so as not to piss off the natives who bankroll and whose asses are in the seats of the sports entertainment franchise he's a part of, we've all suspected this for a long time. Correction: we've known this for a long time, unless you were a complete moron or living under a rock. Now it's down in black and white. But how pissed off can they be when they know it's true? This did need to be said, it needed to be said by someone in the Buffalo media to finally, definitively call a spade a spade, and it needed to be said now (in fact, it needed to be said 8-10 years ago) because Ralph ought to have a glimpse of his final legacy --- as the cheapskate owner who kept the Bills in town, yes, but who slowly skinned the buffalo alive so he could sell the hide piece by piece. With the league politics, the increasing on-field interferences with what used to be a wonderful game, and the fact that there are 11 minutes of action in a 3-hour game, last season was the first where I skipped watching several games, did something productive with my afternoon instead, and didn't mind a whit. This team gets this year and next offseason to prove to me that they give a **** about winning. If I don't see much indication of it, I am through with spending any coin or any time on this team until it has new ownership.

To be more precise... Ralph Wilson's pinch-the-nickel-'til-the-buffalo-***** economics. It's been said before, by me and by others. This team won't be allowed to get better until Ralph dies and his bean-counters are gone. Whatever happens with this team post-Ralph, I'm at the point where I just want it to happen and to be done with this limbo.

It's par for the course of how the entire organization is run. Whatever talent this team manages to find and/or nurture goes elsewhere, they can't attract (or for whatever reason, do not want) talent in free agency (and when they do spend, overpay for known mid-grade mediocrity), and so far it's been a landing spot for college coaches looking to get re-acclimated to the pros because actual winners don't want to work for someone with Ralph Wilson's ownership style. You know, people get mocked here for suggesting that Ralph doesn't like to spend. And whatever rationalization you want to make for why he doesn't spend money getting talent is crap --- at the start of the season, the fact remains that we don't have talent. And it's not only about the $. I wish that were so, because then $ would solve the problem. The problem is the mindset of how the franchise is run. That if the basics are set up --- not the worst, but not the best, something will provide the spark. We've been waiting on the spark for 11 years now, and the only thing they're doing is continuing to wait, hoping that talent will somehow create itself. And the worst thing is how they're screwing with what good we do have on OL. Wood and Levitre are something that should have been built around where they were. Instead, yet again they have to try to make chicken salad out of chicken ****. So you go ahead and respond to this post with a snarky "Ralph is cheap" response, but the fact of the matter is we are the NFL's version of the Kansas City Royals / L.A. Clippers, and he's done little or nothing to change that.

Buried in the piece: Dude, off. OK? Just off. I thought you and your ilk believed in the liberal utopia Ponzi scheme called Social Security. You want everyone to collect from it, but don't want everyone to fund it? Gee, that's a surprise....

Link I really feel for the people with severe conditions who actually need SSDI --- those who are actually physically incapacitated and can't earn an income. But what we're seeing here is only (possibly) the last vestige of a program where people look to suckle at the teat of government. I'm not going to say it's collapsed entirely because of illegal immigrants who are coached on every in-and-out of collecting checks from the U.S. Treasury, people who file fraudulent claims, greasy SS lawyers, people who file for conditions that make you want to slap them across the head --- as if getting a stipend that allows one to remain a shut-in will cure depression or PTSD. (Not that some cases of depression, PTSD, etc. aren't serious, but conditions where the person can physically function should not be covered by SSDI!)... But all of this **** surely hasn't helped. What really sticks in the craw, though, is this: This system is probably going to go bust, followed relatively shortly by the Social Security that we all know and love and/or hate. But they're quick to want to siphon money from the one where citizens pay in and half-expect vaguely hope to receive some portion of again... someday. (After having been taxed when they earn it, then taxed again as they receive it, but that's another thing ). Now, I understand that Social Security is a third rail of politics. Touch it at your peril. We all knew these days were coming. And it's time now for this program to be fundamentally overhauled or start de-accessioning it, reducing the amount people of these later generations pay in, and reducing the amount people who have paid in collect, and when. I ain't a good judge on how, but that would seem to be a more fair option than it just ending abruptly when the money runs out (or worse, putting yet more $ on the federal credit card to continue this government-run Ponzi scheme). And then, when FDR's liberal utopia dream finally has its headstone carved (because, to be expected, pols couldn't keep their grubby hands off of all that money that was just sitting there, literally begging to be spent on other crap the govt "needed")... keep some % of the SS tax in place to fund a tightly-controlled SSDI-like program.

Reading some of the comments here, I find it funny that a lot of you still don't realize that we are the Kansas City Royals of the NFL.

Kinda odd how the college board gets short shrift WRT proper moving of topics.... There's been hella more on OTW and TSW than here. What gives? Anyway.... UConn: Realistic ceiling of 6-6. Borderline minor bowl. Why they will: The lines - The overall structure of the trenches, which bred several 1,000+ RBs while Randy Edsall was coach remains in place. Run blocking was very good, pass protection was decent enough to get us to the Fiesta Bowl with the Big East's BCS berth. Paul Pasqualoni - While some people seem down on PP, he saw a lot of success at Syracuse and until he was lured here, he'd been coaching in the NFL for a few years. He's a change-up to Edsall's run-first, run-second, run-third style (which changed last year under a new OC who was given more of the reigns). Hope this means a more exciting offense that will not be so predictable. Edsall raised the baby from our entrance into D-1A football for the first 10 years, but after a few seasons of departure speculation, he felt it was time to move on and for some, the feeling was mutual. Edsall helped lead the campus through the senseless murder of CB Jasper Howard outside of the Student Union just a few hours after a game in '09. After something like that, there's two possible reactions. While I thought he might stay to see that whole group of guys through, it seemed like Edsall gave that group another year because he owed it to them. Still, he was jumpy all season, and it culminated in a terminally abrupt departure that left a bad taste in many a mouth in CT. (While he forced RB Jordan Todman to reveal plans to declare for the NFL Draft immediately after the Fiesta Bowl, he said nothing of his own plans, which was a flight to Maryland a few hours after the game and an introduction as their HC the next day). We've lost several in-state prospects (e.g. Aaron Hernandez who went to FLA) because of a perceived lack of connection with the tri-state area high school coaches. One of the oft-derided selling points was that PP has a solid history; boosters might deride it all they want, but it's damn important to know people when vying for recruits. Seems to have paid off already, as he's got a commitment from an in-state 3-star HS junior QB for next season. Also, I look for games to become fully 187% more watchable now that we have a head coach who doesn't crouch on the sidelines under the guise of seeing the field better, but really as a way of showing off his package (this is a tame photo). Seriously, Randy? Seriously? No one wants to see that. QB - In what PP has described as almost a dead heat between 4 guys, two freshman (one red-shirted), a sophmore who took ~ a dozen snaps last year, and a junior who was a viral video star this known as the "Trick Shot Quarterback" this past winter/spring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WMd0Y6hIw If this kid can do all the other things a QB has to do when 300-pound DTs are chasing him and the bullets fly for real, his accuracy can only be an asset for a program that hasn't really had a feature QB since Dan Orlovsky. The last time PP was this unsure of his QB so late in camp, Donovan McNabb took the field for Syracuse and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm certainly pulling for MacEntee. Why They Won't RB - I'm really not sure who they have to replace Todman in a northeast offense that's used the running game as its bread and butter for a while. This becomes important as the weather turns. The biggest holdover I remember was D.J. Shoemate, a touted commodity who for some reason transferred from the sunny climes of USC to Snorrs, CT. He had a case of fumblitis in the Michigan opener last year when we were in prime position for an upset, which let the Wolverines back in the game... and afterwards, he became a ghost. In order to have any chance of a balanced attack, they have to find a successor for Todman, and quickly. QB - Yep, you're not seeing things, QB is in both. As everyone knows, the position is key. If Pasqualoni can't deliver a starting QB from among this group of untesteds, it's going to be a very long year. Institutional Change - As regimes change, coaches are pretty much forced to put square pegs in round holes. Rosters aren't tailored to their liking to any degree. There's an entirely new playbook/terminology to learn, a loss of unspoken understanding, and new relationships to manufacture. We also add in the spectre of UConn's AD Jeff Hathaway getting the boot by the new university president Susan Herbst (and Jim Calhoun, whose rocky relationship with Hathaway... well, let's just say they tangled a--holes a few times, and it's not a wise idea to do that with a HOF, 3-time National Championship coach.) Pasqualoni was Hathaway's hire, so there's that, yet it seems like whoever they're going to bring in as AD will be required to be comfortable with the current big 3 coaches. So, it's shake-up all around. Sometimes it can work for a program. Usually, it doesn't. Most are picking UConn to finish last in the BE. I put 6-6 as the ceiling. If things work out for them, especially at QB, it could be so. The schedule starts out pretty light, so there will be some acclimation time before the conference games begin. Not expecting much this year. It's an introduction. I'm actually more interested/worried WRT the conference musical chairs. It's really up in the air, where if things start to go down, we may get pushed in one of several places... either as a ACC-North or Big(12)10 that could feature an intriguing blue-white vs. blue-white with Penn State, or as a part of the remainders of the Big East after it's been raided. The pull of the strong B-Ball teams will help, but football is what drives realignment. After investing quite a lot in the program, it will be very unpleasant if it all goes to crap.