Johnny Coli

I wish the Bills had someone that had 1/10th of that guy's passion and talent. The guy has played his ass off for that organization during some pretty rough times. He's earned the right to want to be on the field with the freaking NFC championship on the line. I think this whole "it should stay in the locker room" crap is nonsense. Someone should have been in Jauron's face this year. Someone should have clocked Trent after throwing away the CLE game. No one on the Bills has any sack, and Bills fans shouldn't be ripping a guy who actually has a pair.

My wife really loves Joy Division.

Agreed. But he needs competition to see if he can legitimately win the job. Also, they need to prepare for the possibility of him never getting any better than he is right now after two seasons of starting a majority of the team's games. How many inconsistent QBs suddenly become consistently good, and how many flame out and either leave the league after a few years or end up as career journeymen backups? Really, more often than not an inconsistent QB ends up on the wrong side of that equation. I can live with one more off-season of "Bill Walsh says he's gonna be great" nonsense, but they better get someone else in here in case he strings together another 2-6 run where he throws for 6TDs and 8 picks.

I absolutely hate this argument, as it picks a single outlier and uses it to suggest that it could happen again. If we look back at the Superbowl QBs of the past twenty years the reality is you will almost always lose or never even get there with a "game managing" QB who also doesn't have some other major skill sets. They are listed winning QB/losing QB. 1988 Williams/Elway 1989 Montana/Esiason 1990 Montana/Elway 1991 Hostetler/Kelly 1992 Rypien/Kelly 1993 Aikman/Kelly 1994 Aikman/Kelly 1995 Young/Humphries 1996 Aikman/O'Donnell 1997 Farve/Bledsoe 1998 Elway/Farve 1999 Elway/Chandler (had a Probowl year) 2000 Warner/McNair 2001 Dilfer/Collins 2002 Brady/Warner 2003 Johnson (Probowl year)/Gannon 2004 Brady/Delhomme 2005 Brady/McNabb 2006 Rothlesberger/Hasselbeck 2007 P.Manning/Grossman 2008 E.Manning/Brady How many pure game managers without also having significant skills are on that list? Maybe five, and that's debatable. How many of them ended up on the winning side? The Dilfer example is foolish as that Ravens team had one of the top defensive units in the history of the NFL. Teams need a QB who is a leader and who also can put the team on his back and will them to victory over certain stretches of the season. You can't build a team around a mediocre "cerebral" QB and expect your defense to carrry you to a championship. A team might luck out and get there if every single thing goes their way, but in those very, very rare occasions where it happened the team lost. There isn't a single QB on the winning side of the past 20 Superbowls that Edwards will ever be better than. I just don't see it. In my opinion this team needs a legitimate franchise QB just to compete.

Cold-weather QB (Buffalo and from a HS in NJ) and supposed to have great leadership skills. Those are two things missing in our current QB. He had a bad bowl game, but IMO that doesn't detract from what he did in the previous four seasons. Looks like he improved his game from year-to-year, as well. I think it would be a great story and I think the Bills should take a shot at him. It would certainly fire up a very depressed fan base.

That was the first song I thought of. I love that tune. Another guilty pleasure song that brings a smile to my face is Kate Bush Wuthering Heights . She hits some ridiculous notes in that tune.

Another way to look at it is that Marshawn Lynch is surrounded by mediocre talent and has a mediocre QB whom opposing coaches know won't throw downfield to open up the running game. Comparing Trent Edwards to a QB who just won the Superbowl MVP a year ago is insanity. Tell me, how many coaches in this league would trade Eli Manning straight up for Trent Edwards based on what each has done so far? Some of you people really need to take an objective look at how bad Edwards was last season.

What's the deal with her swollen face?

+1

You don't even have to like the record to appreciate the subject or the author. The Celine Dion one, Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, written by non-fan Carl Wilson, has made a lot of "best book of 2008" lists. I'm definately picking it up.

That's a bummer, NG, but cool you made the cut.

Not sure if anyone has gotten any of these, but Continuum Books has been putting out short books about notable records from the last 40 years in their 33-1/3 series (easier list to follow, here). I’ve got a couple and they’re pretty cool. They’re all by different authors so you may like a writing style or hate it, but none-the-less its a neat concept. Anyway, towards the end of last year they put out a call on the 33-1/3 Blog for authors to submit proposals for another round of releases. They received 597 proposals, and they’ll whittle those down to roughly 100. The long list of proposals is here (looks like they received more than one for a few records...seven proposals for Slint – Spiderland!!!). Pretty nice list of proposals, and there are a few on there I’ll be pulling for to make the final cut. No way to tell if they’re good without seeing the actual proposal, but here are a few interesting ones I hope make the cut and into print (anyone who knows me can see there are clearly loads on here that I’ll get if/when they come out, but these are some of the interesting ones outside of the gimmes, IMO). Brian Eno and David Byrne – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Daniel Johnston – Yip/Jump Music Herb Alpert – Whipped Cream and Other Delights Johnny Cash – American Recordings Klaus Nomi – Klaus Nomi (Should be a freaking riot!) Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man Mick Ronson – Slaughter on 10th Avenue Modern Lovers – Modern Lovers Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Tender Prey Suicide – Suicide Various Artists – Let Them Eat Jellybeans (Not sure how they’re gonna do this one, but I hope they can pull it off.) Willie Nelson – Stardust Woody Guthrie – Dust Bowl Ballads Like I said, too many to list and the editor is going to have a tough time paring that list down depending on the quality of the writing and the research. Got any favorite records already covered by the 33-1/3 series, or any on that list you hope make it into the series?

They should pick a QB in every round and let'em fight it out in the camp/pre-season with Trent Christ. We all know that all the team's ills are directly related to the QB, so let's load up on them and increase the odds of finding the next franchise QB.

Edwards started 7 of the 9 losses the team had this season, Bill. He was also the QB of record when the team went on a first-to-worst slide in the division, and was the QB for 4 of their division losses. What is not to see?

2006 7-9 2007 7-9 2008 7-9 great point

There isn't a single sentence or quote in that article from anyone suggesting Google should be banned.

Insanity. Nothing like eliminating most of the people qualified to fill the position because you've already stated Edwards' job is (unbelievably) safe. Of course, you also exclude any candidate that would want starting-QB type money.

I've got a Technics SL-BD22 that I bought back around '92 or '93, I think. I've only had to change the drive belts once back in '01, and have bought a new cartridge a couple times. Great turntable for the money I paid for it. Technics makes some quality turntables that last, so don't be scared off from getting your hands on a used one. Just replace the old cartridge and it should treat you right.

Yeah, that one is pretty sweet!

The Dean put together a good list for you. One thing you should think about though is what you want to do with it in the near and long term. If you intend on ripping vinyl to digital easily, then definately get one that will have that added feature, like the Ion and Numark ones. If you only need a portable one with a speaker, then the Crosby's are pretty good. None of those will work in a component system, though, ie in a system with a reciever, CD deck, speakers, etc. Personally, I prefer the component system because vinyl should be listened to blasted out of a good set of speakers, but if you're not interested in that kind of an investment then go with the all-in-one route. One thing to think about, though, is if you already have a component stereo system you can get a decent turntable to just add to it for about the same price as you would pay for the Crosby or the USB-port turntables. Plenty of options. Good luck. Good to see people gravitating back to vinyl, a far superior format for music than digital, in my opinion.

Holy Cow! Happy Five-oh, Mr Ball!

Over the top, definitely, but totally hilarious (if you've ever worked in a lab). Highlights are the mouth-pipetting and the guy getting stabbed by the syringe in the garbage.

I was at a collector's shop in Maine just after Christmas and the owner wanted $35 for an original pressing of Wire - Pink Flag. I wanted it but thought that was too steep and the cover wasn't in mint condition. I bought a re-issue at Newbury Comics in Harvard Square for $14. I dig Wire and all, but I'm not over-paying for that LP. Some stuff, sure, but some stuff just isn't worth it.

Sure thing. I bought a ton of vinyl over the holiday. The prices are going up because vinyl is a hot item right now. Tons of fabulous reissues of previously out-of-print stuff coming out, and many come with a single-use password that allows you to download the mp3's. Pretty cool.

I rip a lot of vinyl and I use an elliptical needle. This is what I use: Ortofon OMP10 P-Mount Phono Cartridge I've been really happy with it. Will run you well under $100, or cheaper if you only need a stylus and not the cartridge. The Needle Doctor site says $84 for the P-mount cartridge but that seems a bit steep. Look around on the site if you want something less expensive, then head down to a local audio joint and they'll probably have one.