Simon

Considering it was going on throughout last year as well, nobody should be surprised.

No argument with your first statement. But regarding the guys you listed, I think we have a purty good idea of what we're likely to get out of all 6 of them. Brown, Washington and to some extent Miller all have some wild card in them and are going to have a significant, ongoing cumulative effect on how this season goes in those parts of the field that count on every down. Hope yer all clean and dry down there, boss. (wait, are we still doing phrasing?)

I think the Bills have three tells that could give us a very good idea of how this season is likely to go. Tomorrow might be a good day to keep a close eye on Zach Brown, Adolphus Washington and John Miller.

This is a gorgeous cover with a female vocal and an acoustic arrangement that far outstrips the original one hit wonder. There's also a DCTommyTutone cover on the same album; sort of pedestrian but pretty unique.

Damn man, wherever you're at sounds a lot like the tiki deck at my camp on a Saturday afternoon.

A Greasy Granny came up on my Ipod when I was cutting the grass this afternoon. That's as close as I can get.....

I think that was the working title of their third single as well. Skip the singles and check out stuff like Gorilla Boy and Cleopatra's Cat. Some solid writing with a skilled and very tight band.

You should consider giving some of their stuff another listen. I always considered them some gimmicky pop band but a couple years ago a bass player I respect talked me into reconsidering that stance. They might not be your cuppa, but there are a couple serious musicians in that band. A live taste from a few yeas ago

If it was in PPP I wouldn't have touched it. If it was in OTW and it was going political I would have moved it over here. I would only use the lock feature for redundant threads or new threads during games. Maybe I was high and hit the wrong button. Sorry about that Chief, errrrr Chef.

I don't recall that at all. It doesn't strike me as something I would have done (at least the locking the thread part), but if that was the case, I apologize.

Many of these posters are a microcosm of our society at large. They are frequently reasonable people who self-identify as conservatives, yet still take an outsized joy at the excesses of the state. When the reasonable members of our conservative class place more value on playing the role of culture warriors than they do on defending the American tenet of personal liberty, I think that is absolutely symptomatic of the ongoing decay of a republic that claims to be based on the ideal of freedom.

The slavish devotion to Draconian law enforced upon the "other" is a potentially interesting debate. But the fact that so many of y'alll take such glee in it is a troubling symptom of a theoretically free republic.

Yeah, minus several hundred dollars worth of his own property.

Sorry you had to deal with that horseshit. Maybe someday the rest of these big motherment communists will remember they're Americans and defend to the death your right to smoke it, regardless of whether they agree with what you smoke.

If guys were making Pro Bowl votes based on 34 criteria, I know you know he would have made a whole lot more of them. I'd take a consistently Pro Bowl quality DLineman around the #20 spot every single time.

As much as I loved the guy's game, he probably wasn't all that scheme diverse. He was a perfect fit for what Lebeau wanted to do on the edge, but he would have been pretty pedestrian as a 4-3 end. He would probably been effective as a DT in some 4-3 Unders and that's about it. But he wouldn't likely have been the same kind of impact guy he turned out to be. I see Lawson as the same kind of great fit for Rex, but with some added potential to be used in other roles. If Rex pukes on his shirt and is out of here in the next year or two, Lawson could probably still be effective in 3 different roles of virtually any 4-3 you want to run. He's strong enough at the POA to play outside or inside at anywhere but the Nose and he's going to be a handful for one guy in most passpro situations. He's not likely an athletic enough closer to put up big sack numbers but I think he'll be a factor in moving QB's off their spot and forcing them into more difficult throws; which could be a boon for a dangerous Bills secondary. Setting edges upfield is likely to be his forte, but if it came down to it, kicking him inside next to Dareus could still be a great tandem to build out from. Aside from the physical fit, I think you should give more credence to the fact that guy has great motor and really seems to take pride in winning physical battles. He's exactly the kind of ballplayer Whaley wants to stock this roster with and if he stays healthy he could spend years dominating matchups at a few different positions.

I think the Suggs comparison is wishful thinking; Lawson is just not carrying that kind of obscene natural ability. I guess neither is anybody else for that matter. I think the Bills view him sort of as a more versatile and athletic Aaron Smith. And if they can get Aaron Smith quality play out of him for the next 8-9 years, I'd call it a pick very well spent.

They were just as pumped with Washington still being available as they were with both of their first two picks being available. They think he might end up being one of the steals of the draft. I don't know if I'd go that far but I will say that the handful of times I watched OSU this year, Adolphus Washington was all over the freaking place blowing shlt up.

They're actually pretty close with Gilmore. Both sides get along well and are on the same page as far as expectations. They've just got to inch a little closer together and this should be done sooner rather than later. I think everybody involved would be stunned if it didn't work out.

I look at this as one of the most potentially interesting offseasons in Buffalo sports history. With that kind of wiggle room for the Sabres, that kind of burgeoning young corps and the number of legitimately good veteran players who are likely to be casualties of other teams' poorly thought out salary structures, there is actually potential for this team to go from historically bad to a divisional champion in just two seasons.

I guess for me it comes down to what his talent actually was. Was he a talented guitarist/musician? Sure. But I also think there are literally millions of musicians who are equally as or more talented. The idea that he was some sort of generational musical talent is wildly off the mark, imo. Now if we're talking about him being a uniquely talented performer/artist/dramatist/stage presence, then sure that is a worthy debate. But for those of us whom that sort of thing does not resonate with, his standing becomes greatly diminished, imo. Maybe you shouldn't believe everything you read on social media And the fact that people keep linking to a middling George Harrison inspired guitar solo as the apex of his musical skills says as much about my point as anything else. James Brown had one of the tightest bands to ever walk the face of this planet. Hendrix was an otherworldly guitar player regardless of what type of acid-induced mania he was compelled to on a stage. Sly also had a great band, but I don't consider any of the others you mentioned to be incredible musicians. I've never actually watched a halftime show so I can't comment on Prince's. The electrosynth pop stylings of "I would die for you" show exactly zero of any musical talent he had.

If it fits for you, great. Like I said, more power to our individual tastes. But maybe people should reconsider before suggesting that others are clueless for not recognizing it as great music

Yeah, but you think everyone is dopey. How the hell do you differentiate?

I stayed out of the Prince thread because I didn't want to be disrespectful, but this is not the Prince thread and this statement perfectly sums up how some of us feel about musical "performances". A lot of us couldn't care less about clothes, make-up, hair, art and how much a performer emotes for his audience. Every time I ever saw Prince do anything it was always about 90% style and 10% substance. I view him in the same category as a Madonna and would have walked out of either of their overwrought performances in under 15 minutes. I have to chuckle a little when I see people falling all over themselves about his big guitar solo covering George Harrison, when the truth of the matter was that he was doing nothing more than a little run that 2 million other guitar players could have done wearing a blindfold and Isotoners.. But he was twitching around oh so dramatically, so it must be great, right? Some of us just don't give a crap about his drama. I see it like painting flames on a Honda Fit and then trying to tell me it's a race car. I could sit for hours and watch a guy like Eric Clapton by himself sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar playing nothing but 12-bar blues standards without moving more than 6 inches and be utterly blown away by his talent. But watching Prince's posing and tawdry histrionics is boring to the point of being almost embarrassed for him. You all are welcome to your art, fashion and drama; more power to each of our individual tastes. But don't try to tell the rest of us that those things somehow make it great "music".