Typical TBD Guy

I found this related link interesting: Fredo Laponza reference from Average Joe On the subject of signing Verba, I hope TD is seriously looking into it. We should be able to sign him for a relatively cheap, low-risk contract with bonus incentives contingent on him not getting into any serious legal trouble. For those not wanting to even entertain the thought of signing Verba, I politely request that you put down your crack pipe and go check out our OL roster. It's a horror show. We have only 3 players that are legitimate starters in this league - Williams, Villarial, and Teague.

Hockey players in speedos???

Now that Henry and his salary cap space are likely on their way to Jax or Tenn, can we do this? In this thread, feel free to discuss the following: 1. Ty Law's injury status 2. The likelihood of resigning Nate Clements 3. Other competition for Ty Law's services 4. Ty Law's probable contractual demands -KH

I respect your opinion, Bill, but I REALLY think you're underestimating the number of injuries that will likely happen to RB's throughout pre-season. It's all about supply and demand; once the NFL supply of RB's starts dwindling, suddenly those same GM's that frowned upon Henry's fumbling in 2002, his poor 2004 season, his pouting after McGahee's arrival, his learning disability, and his various youthful off-the-field discretions will start to focus less on these and more on Henry's two 1000+ yard, Pro Bowl alternate performances in '02 and '03. It happens every pre-season...

Here's what I think would be fair for both parties, the Bills and the other team: Trade Henry for a 4th next year, which can conditionally escalate to either a 3rd (if Henry leads his team in rushing) or a 2nd (if Henry rushes for over 1,000 yds) or a 1st (if Henry makes the Pro Bowl). I'm especially interested to see what VABills and Bill from NYC have to say on such a trade. If Henry is as bad as they say, and if all other 31 GM's agree with these two, one still has to admit that losing a 4th rounder in next year's draft (a draft pick that couldn't contribute to THIS season) is a perfectly acceptable risk for a team that may be very desperate to replace an injured starting RB in August/September (and that may not be able to afford more expensive RB's like James or Alexander).

I'll add my $0.02 on this debate: 1. No way do I think TD & Co. originally drafted Mike Williams to be a RT. What happened was simply that MW didn't have the LT position's necessary foot speed that TD's scouts unfortunately projected for him. 2. Arguing that having an overpaid RT is OK as long as you have a cheaper LT is wrong. Starting-caliber RT's are much much easier to find in the NFL than starting-caliber LT's. If you're lucky enough to find a good and cheap LT, then you can still land a good and cheap RT and reserve the extra saved cash for other roster positions. 3. I'm not convinced that Mike Williams was a better pick than McKinnie. Maybe McKinnie has had his similar share of growing pains like MW, but at least he plays LT. 4. I'm also not convinced that MW can be declared a "bust." He's certainly overpaid for his current productivity, but then again so is Eric Moulds, Troy Vincent, and...yes, even JP Losman. And unlike other 2002 draft picks (Ryan Denney, Josh Reed, Coy Wire), MW has at least been a steady contributing starter with noticeable improvements made each year. While I'd still rather have McKinnie than MW, MW under McNally's tutelage could very well become a Pro Bowl regular at RT. Not bad when you consider the frequency of busts that have been made in the top 10 draft slots over the years (best case example: Cleveland Browns).

If more RB's go down to injury this August, we may very well see a trade package like that. I know you think Travis Henry is the worst RB in the history of the NFL, but most reasonable Bills fans still remember his toughness and high productivity in 2002 and 2003.

Whatever. I don't feel like arguing over the semantics of "movie star," "actor," and "leading man." My general point is that his reputation and popularity are much larger than his raw acting talent. You may also find this amusing: Tom Cruise among 100 greatest Americans ever, per Discovery Channel poll

1. Tom Cruise is widely considered by the media to be among a select handful (top 5-10) of best male American actors in Hollywood history. By that standard, I find him overrated. He's a good actor, but I wouldn't necessarily say great. Sure he's been in a lot of entertaining movies, but so has Keanu Reeves... 2. You seem to want to shift the blame completely off Tom Cruise and completely onto the media and onto the everyday people that buy into Cruise's drivel. It doesn't work that way. Cruise knows full well how the media functions. He's working them to his advantage; they are the conduit by which he's preaching his "scientific" beliefs to the public. And while I agree that the media does deserve some of the blame, as well as the adults who would actually buy into his nonsense, you have to understand that famous people unfortunately DO have a significant impact on the minds of kids - ESPECIALLY kids with abysmal or absent parenting. If you ever knew anyone under 18 who had committed suicide and had never sought prior medical help, maybe you wouldn't be such a Cruise defender. 3. Scientology IS crack-pot science. Its mental healing methods are effective for general well-being (although you shouldn't have to join a church and pay a fee to practice these methods), but not for such mental illnesses as clinical depression, biploar, schizophrenia, etc... Contrary to what Tom told Matt Lauer, chemical brain imbalances do exist. Dr. Cruise may be an expert in psychiatric history and on clearly inhumane though outdated practices like electroshock therapy, but can he rationally explain the vast scientific journal evidence of serotonin and dopamine deficiencies in patients with mood disorders? I think not. Dr. Cruise is right in that modern psychiatry is not 100% effective for everyone, but for some reason he wants to throw the baby out with the bath water. And that reason is nothing more than EXTRA PUBLICITY. 4. This isn't a response to anything you said, but I don't think Katie Holmes is at all hot. There's a big difference between "cute" and "hot." Holmes is cute and very bangable, but anyone who thinks she has movie-star beauty needs to get out more.

Haha, Devil's Advocate, thy name is Roscoe, indeed! You're mostly right, Roscoe. No, graduating from high school and/or pursuing biology are obviously not the most important things in life. People can do whatever they want that makes them happy, so long as they are not hurting others in the process. For many people, a high school diploma and mastery of biology are not prerequisites for happiness. So if looking good and banging hot chicks and making money is all that matters to someone, it's none of my business. But here is where Mr. Cruise bothers me (he also bothers me because he is a horribly overrated actor that is capable of only playing the generic Top Gun hero character type - but I'll save that discussion for another time, if ever): Tom Cruise, because he is famous, is in a much greater position of influencing the minds of easily impressionable adolescents than any other Joe Schmoe arse-clown with an opinion. Mr. Top Gun should therefore have a much greater sense of responsibility when shouting opinion. It comes with the territory of being an adult. In real life, when the rest of us spew nonsense about stuff we know little about, we get called out on it by other adults. When grown adults tell children that black people are genetically inferior or that gravity is not real, the rest of us have our own obligation to call these a-holes out. And what makes Cruise's position much more dangerous - in my opinion - is rooted in the fact that depression and mental illness have become an epidemic among America's impressionable adolescents. Many young kids today don't get the proper treatment that they need, and this is due in part to the general ignorance of mental illness among the American public. High rates of teenage suicide are the result. So when Mr. Cruise talks of psychiatry as a pseudoscience and as a waste of resources, then these impressionable kids (mainly the kids with poor parenting and/or poor health care coverage) are at a greater danger of not seeking out the proper medical treatment they could need to get better. A combination of drug therapy and talk therapy is the best means for treating mental illnesses, as opposed to paying a small fee to be a part of this fake Scientology bullstevestojan Church. Virtually 100% of trained medical professionals agree with this view, and the scientific evidence is there to support them. Peace out, -KH

And that's all that matters in life, right? Making money, looking good, and banging hot chicks? I smell something burning, so go check on your Hot Pocket before you reply.

Amazing how a high school flunk-out can lecture the rest of us on neuroscience/biochemistry/psychiatry. Only in Hollywood...

Are you overweight? You sound overweight.

Entonces soy "loco." The UN is only useful as a forum for Western European nations to feel important. In matters of actually resolving international conflicts, it is utterly devoid of relevance without the monetary and military resources of the US. Trust me, I'm right. And you're wrong. There are a lot of people in Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia who would agree with my point of view. That is, the ones still alive...

Blonde bimbo worm food??? Wow...

No, S%R doesn't need advice from Ed, whose girlfriend is most likely swapping fluids with other dudes behind his back. "Following your heart" is probably the root cause of virtually all ruined relationships/marriages. I would recommend using the brain first to logically analyze the circumstances of a relationship. Only after your brain gives you the green light should you "follow your heart." It sounds like S&R's girl wasn't all that great a match for him to begin with, so I'd recommend he forget her altogether and move on by searching for girls who are more compatible with his interests. And in the midst of his search for "The One," it doesn't hurt to pass the time with some good old-fashioned "hogging!" Yee-haw!!!

Or rather, keep your eyes up towards the ceiling at all times. Gravity has not been kind to Tater's body....

Yeah, because football GM's never lie to the media reporters...

So...I guess I'm the only one who finds LL's new "cross-country runner" look attractive??? <crickets chirping>

Good post, Navy! The 1992 Bills could have come to my house immediately after that (second) Oilers game, kicked down my front door, raided my fridge, pissed on my dog, stevestojanned on my carpet, raped my mother, gangbanged my sister, broke all of my new Christmas toys, and I still would have loved 'em. They were something special. They were, dare I say, "America's Team?" At least they should have been and not those Dallas Convicts.

FYI: this franchise DID exist in the 20th century and there WERE much worse Bills drafts than 2000. Walt Patulski, anyone??? Anyway, here are my individual grades: Parrish, 2nd: D+ Everett, 3rd: A- Preston, 4th: C- King, 5th: B+ Geisinger, 6th: A Gates, 7th: A I thought TD and Co. did an overall "B-" graded job, considering how poor the general talent pool was this year and also how low we were forced to pick in each round by virtue of finishing 9-7. However, my overall offseason grade for TD is a "D+" so far; we better make a splash in the UDFA rookie market and especially in the June 1 cuts, because right now it seems like all of our immediate competitors are getting better while we are stagnant (or maybe even worse off than last season).

So if thousands of illegal immigrants were arriving in Canada daily, plus you had recently had a 9/11-like attack within your borders, are you telling me that you would not complain like we are? F'ing Canadian. Go buy yourself a clue. Or better yet, some expedient health care. Or even better, an army that could actually defend its own borders without outside (i.e., US) help. P.S. Your French Canadian forefathers didn't exactly treat Native Americans with the utmost respect, either. P.S.P.S. Canada sucks.

For some reason, offensive linemen traditionally have the highest average Wonderlic scores among all other positions. Anyone know why that might be?

I would only welcome MC as an undrafted free agent. His character flaws are too large to even waste a 7th rounder, IMO.

TD has drafted 21 players in Day 2 since April 2001. 11 of them are no longer with the team (LB Brandon Spoon, T Marques Sullivan, SS Tony Driver, TE Dan O'Leary, CB Jimmy Williams, WR Reggie Germany, DT Tyrone Robertson, G Mike Pucillo, WR Rodney Wright, FB Jarrett Ferguson, and LB Dom Stevenson). 10 are still with the team. Of those 10, 1 is a starter (CB Terrence McGee), 6 have made contributions of some significance (DT/G Justin Bannan, CB Kevin Thomas, TE Tim Euhus, WR Freddie Smith, WR Sam Aiken, and MLB Mario Haggan), and 3 have done stevestojan so far (T Dylan McFarland, G Ben Sobieski, and DT Lauvale Sape). Make what you will of these facts. In general, I would say TD is doing an average/competent job at drafting in Day 2 - clearly not in the class of the Patriots, but not exactly Code Red disaster either.