SirAndrew

Great movie in the dark “artsy indy” film sense. I thought it was a great portrayal of the northeast urban working class guy mentality, especially pertaining to sports.

I really thought this was going to be serious topic when I clicked. I actually looked forward to some legitimate responses. It could actually be a good topic in an alternate civilized universe.

I’ll listen to every Nickelback album.

Tanner Gentry and Jake Kumerow. They’re already been spotted at OBD with their lunch pails.

I get it, and it’s mostly why I watch. I particularly look forward to seeing highly anticipated rookies, and recent signings. Watching Trubisky in a Bills uni will be interesting, especially against the Bears. With that said, I still don’t enjoy the entirety of a preseason game. Coaches get to see their team in practice everyday. I think most personal decisions are based on practice more than actual preseason game action. I never feel like I’m watching something that matters in any tangible way. How many preseason stars get cut every season ? Peterman was a decent QB in the preseason, yet he barely knows how to play the game in the regular season.

I get your take, but what separates a “casual” fan from a “real fan” ? It’s not that I don’t watch the preseason, but I admittedly drift off once the second half begins. The quality of play is just difficult to watch. That doesn’t mean it’s not exciting to see rookie debuts and promising prospects, but the game itself is typically bad. Your take reminds me of music people who say you aren’t a real fan if you don’t love every album by an artist. I get what you’re saying, that most people are quite hardcore into their Bills around here, but I still can’t comprehend truly loving preseason football.

I’m surprised by all the preseason love around here. I don’t think hating preseason football makes one any less of a fan. Lets be honest, once the backups are in, the quality of play is worse than almost any college game.

Any idea why in the world Shanahan would be in LeRoy ?

He even has the WNY parking skills mastered with his tiny Toyota.

I won’t claim that mental illness gets people out of things. I simply have an issue with people publicly acknowledging their mental health issues AFTER some type of anti social behavior. Statistics show that mentally ill people aren’t more likely to engage in violent behavior against others than those without mental illness. Can mental illness be responsible for violent outbursts ? Of course, but not every violent behavior must be caused by mental illness. It’s not right for me to judge others, I can’t say whose behaviors are caused by mental illness, but I don’t like it as a catch all for negative behavior. Society talks about erasing the stigma of mental illness, but every single violent act, or act of evil is possibly wrongly labeled as mental illness. I wish public figures wouldn’t feel the need to address mental illness when they attempt half hearted apologizes for acts such as domestic violence. I’ll never dismiss the possibility that someone struggles with mental illness, but I don’t see the need to include it in apologies. It’s more the idea of using it as an excuse, no matter how valid. People who truly can’t control their behavior exist, but most people can, and not every crime or act of evil is mental illness imo.

I don’t know if he’s trying discern who has true mental health issues. I think he makes a valid point that every misdeed is followed by an apology that includes a reference to mental health these days. I’m not sure why people can’t issue an apology without, “I’ve been struggling with ….” references. Address your mental health issues in private, and just apologize for your actions.

I need to rephrase my statement, I meant that Big Ben was a terrible person. Haskins has just been foolish.

Comparing Big Ben to Haskins is a bit of a stretch. I mostly agree with your sentiment, but Big Ben likely serves jail time if he didn’t have resources/fame, Haskins has just been a goofball imo. I think I just felt the need to point this out because I can’t stand Big Ben 😆 Haskins hasn’t done enough to make my list of least liked NFL players yet. Big Ben was terrible off the field early in his career. I will agree that “distraction” is going to be viewed differently when you consider a star QB vs a bust like Haskins.

I don’t know if we have any Rochester people around here familiar with Brother Wease, but a Rochester DJ named Wease claims that DL actually stole it from him via Neil Young 😂

I see Southern Ontario often used to justify having a great market, but there are issues with that. First of all, it’s in another country, making some logistics and financial stuff complicated. Secondly, I’d like to know how much Ontario’s growth has increased interest in American Football. Ontario’s rapid growth consists of people from across the globe. I’m not convinced they’ve all warmed up to football yet.

That’s fair. I was genuinely curious what people see. I agree that he has brains, but who knows if he actually represented himself well in negotiations. Additionally, the self promotional stuff seemed bright, but how much was truly calculated? I never had an issue with Sherman’s on field antics, but find it amusing how many use his Stanford degree to justify it. Sherman has always been a calculated genius who does everything with a purpose. Other NFL players who behave the same are nothing more than idiots to the average fan. If we say he always seemed like an idiot, we’re crossing some invisible line. It’s amazing what a piece of paper can do for you in this country, as far as how people judge you. I’m not directing any of this towards your comments, just a general observation of how Sherman is viewed vs other players.

Please don’t take my question wrongly, I’m just genuinely curious. I see Sherman’s intelligence mentioned a lot. What about him struck you as being intelligent ? I just never saw it.

That’s a great question, I suppose I would, but I don’t know if that’s technically correct. Personally, I think they are all demented. Society tends to glamorize the gang/mob world, and it creates more sympathy towards those figures. I think we also view it differently, because we don’t see their “victims” as being true victims. We see the victims as having guilt, and don’t have the same sympathy we do for others. Tony Soprano was a demented character, but the show portrayed him as human in a way we could all identify, while others are portrayed as sub human. We’re all human at the end of the day, but evil is evil.

Welcome to college in the modern world. This is why I base genius on accomplishments and actions, rather than what school someone attends.

Yes they clearly are, but most people who are violent enough to kill are going to do it again if they don’t get caught. I’d consider any killer demented.

That’s only because all the others get caught before the serial part is added.

No one. I said that BB exposed the “absence of progressive coaching”. Meaning he became an all time great partially due to a lack of creative coaching around the league. BB took chances other coaches wouldn’t. Game plans that sometimes involved throwing every down, and going for fourth down in situations where the odds were in his favor. Most NFL coaches don’t accept data that supports more risk taking at the proper time. Coaching is coming around to new ideas, but my point was in reference to head coaching turnover. This is a fickle league, but coaches don’t do themselves any favors. You’ve got guys like Doug Marrone punting on fourth and one with mediocre rosters that need to take chances to win.

I’m over watching NBA players in the international game. The original Dream Team was one of my greatest early sports memories, but it no longer holds the same allure. It’s a lose lose situation for pro players these days. If they don’t demolish every opponent, it’s seen as a failure, but losing is the ultimate failure. Victories are the expectation, meaning that gold medals don’t feel like an accomplishment. I found it intriguing to watch superior pro players against inferior opponents with the original Dream Team. Now the gap has closed a bit, but we’re still expected to win. I no longer find it interesting without witnessing the pure dominance.

I often wonder if this proves how fickle the NFL is, or are NFL teams doing a bad job of hiring coaches ? I think it’s a mixture, but the NFL is full of stale ideas. The league recycles the same old coaches, while taking years to incorporate ideas that are proven effective, but aren’t old school enough. Belichick is the best example of a guy who exploited the absence of progressive NFL coaching.

Usually I forget why I hate the NFL during the off-season, thanks for reminding me 😆