Lori

He has to rest up for the Pro Bowl, you know.

Last four Pats-Bills games in Orchard Park, the combined score has been 150-40. That works out to an average of 38-10. Hell, I'm thrilled when a coach gives me something other than sunshine-and-lollipops 'coachspeak' during an interview, so I'll be the last one to dog Harbaugh for having the 'nads to give an opinion a lot of other people would be afraid to voice. That said, if he's still coaching in Baltimore the next time the Bills play the Ravens, I do hope someone makes a note of this ...

Because Cleveland (2) and SF(3) gave up 300-yard passing games on a consistent basis. Miami actually did allow 300-yard games five times this season ... but won two of those games (despite passing for 300 yards in neither one), and lost another on a last-play TD. Top five passing teams, 2008: New Orleans, Arizona, Denver, Houston, Indy. Saints and Texans are done after Sunday, and there's a strong likelihood that the Broncos will be joining them. Arizona has the top WR combo in the league and a former MVP throwing the ball. Indy has a first-ballot Hall of Fame QB and WR, along with two other first-round picks at wideout. (Three, if you include Dallas Clark.) Buffalo can match neither of those rosters in talent. Top five rushing teams, 2008: NY Giants, Baltimore, Minnesota, Carolina, Atlanta. If the Ravens and Vikings win this weekend, all five of those teams are in the playoffs. I know which list I'd rather be on, which is why I'll B word more about the four games -- all losses, of course -- where the Bills ran the ball fewer than 20 times (including two games where they were averaging more than 4.5 yards per carry) than I will about the quarterback's passing yardage.

Got some nice stuff, including a badly-needed new desk chair and my Bonnies season tickets. But the best gift I received? A scrapbook with a bunch of newspaper clippings taped inside. Yeah, unbeknown to me, my mom has been saving everything with my byline on it since I started at the paper in July. Now, I'll be the first to admit that Best American Sports Writing it ain't. (Please understand that I'm insulting my own halting attempts at wordsmithery here, not her scrapbooking talent. I wouldn't mind having a second chance at a few of those pieces ...) But when you see your name on a story, yeah, it's a cool feeling. So when I think about the time and effort -- and love -- she put into doing this for me, "It's the thought that counts" couldn't be any more of an understatement. Love you, Mom. The second-best gift? The smile on her face as she snuggled with her first grandchild (my nephew), on his first Christmas.

Yup.

Actually, those are precisely the two names I would have guessed.

An exciting loss.

Based on last year's results, Jim Boeheim would probably say that Rhody and UMass don't suck. And if you're going to toss out the "especially the Bonnies" canard to try to piss me off, it won't work, because I've seen Fordham play. To answer the earlier question, I was born just down State St. from the SBU campus, still live half an hour from there, and have season tickets. Oh, and my stepdad used to recruit for them -- signing Paul Hoffman, one of the players on the 1970 Final Four team, among others -- and one of the current assistants used to coach high-school ball with my stepbrother.

Umm ... what? The quote: "The way I see it, a fan of the Patriots who intends to go to the game - and a lot of them usually show up at the Ralph - could make the drive out the Buffalo a few days early, shovel off his own seats, make some beer money and enjoy the game in comfort while Bills' season-ticket holders wonder why their own seats are still buried in snow." Classless? Really? Uninformed, perhaps, since Mr. Farinella apparently isn't aware that the Bills' snow-removal plans -- unlike the Patriots -- actually do make a point of clearing the entire stadium. But if you see a cheap shot at Buffalo in that graf, you're looking too hard. Seriously. Add: No, if you want some bulletin-board fodder from "Fearless" Farinella, you either need to look deeper in that column -- where he bitches about having to come to Buffalo this weekend -- or go to his blog: "The Patriots will not know if they've made the playoffs this Sunday until three hours after they defeat the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium (and does anyone really doubt that they will?) because the NFL is moving the other key games affecting their playoff fate to the 4:15 p.m. slot." And I kid you not, the guy blogs about hotel soap. Of course, working at an 18k shop, that may be part of his benefits package ... One more thought: GW, although I'm not going to defend Farinella, the size of the shop doesn't always indicate the quality of the writer. One of the best newspapermen I've ever met works at a small-town, sub-20k daily, choosing to stay there because he likes both the job and the area. There are other options beside chasing a pro beat 24/7/365.

Doesn't hurt. All right, I'll admit my confusion here: I'm not quite sure what this has to do with my response to Adam, which was meant solely to rebut his contention that the Miami o-line has been a years-long work in progress. In my view, Parcells/Ireland did three important things when they took over: hired a competent coach, got rid of the captains from last year's team (an effort to change the mindset in that locker room), and blew up the OL. Oh, and lucked into getting Pennington. They're not 10-5 with any combination of McCown/Beck/Henne.

Actually, they didn't, unless you consider "a few years" to equal two. The Fins' OL starters this season: LT: Long (2008 draft) LG: Smiley (2008 FA), Alleman (2007 draft, waivers-Saints 8/31/2008) C: Satele (2007 draft) RG: Thomas (2008 draft), Ndukwe (2007 UDFA, signed from BAL practice squad 12/26/07) RT: Carey (2004 draft) Vernon Carey is the only O-lineman on the current Dolphins roster who was on the team before the 2007 draft, and he and Satele were the only two on the list to suit up in that gag-inducing aqua-and-orange last season. I should probably note that Long (1st overall), Carey (1st round), and Satele (2nd round) were all first-day Miami picks, and Smiley was a second-rounder in San Fran. Hmm ... I sense a trend developing ...

New name, same rant. I should've guessed ...

My Bonnies still have a ways to go, and your Purple Chickens look like the class of the MAAC. Don't know how Mihalich keeps doing it ... but somehow, he does.

Still had two of them in the pressroom at my current shop, way back when I started hanging out there as a snot-nosed kid. Long gone, of course, as is the shop itself. Our paper is now printed two counties away from the town listed on the nameplate.

For us ... one that ends up with a combination of , , and . That's the normal result these last few years, no? But when you typed those three names, I actually let myself imagine the possibilities for a second. It was nice.

If they brought in those three, I'd settle for Hojo and Woody playing wideout.

And this time he should be cheaper!

That's about where I'm at, too.

You shouldn't hate on Steve like that ... (Good to see you, Steve, and have a wonderful Christmas. And if anyone doubts his tale of woe ... don't.)

Funny you should mention that line of thinking ... POLLOCK: Time is right to announce Dick’s future

Funny you should mention that line of thinking ... POLLOCK: Time is right to announce Dick’s future

True enough, although there are a few controls (the board monkey/call screener, the hosts' dump switches, etc.) But yeah, I don't envy anyone who hosts a postgame show -- in fact, I stay away from here most Sunday nights for pretty much the same reason.

IMO, Schopp can overwhelm that pairing at times. Although Parker is the supposed "voice of the fan," he's been doing this for a long time. (In fact, I think he and Howard Simon worked together at WBEN for a while, back in the '90s.) Anyway, when Brad used to fill in on afternoon drive, he and Parker seemed comfortable playing off each other, and I enjoyed the program a lot more. Again, just my opinion.

FiC: Yup. Any FFL geek can tell you how risky it is to depend on a rookie WR, and Hardy and Steve Johnson were the only offseason additions to the offense. (I'll even be generous and add the half-season from Fine.) Bryant Johnson may not have done much for SF this season, but it would have been nice to have someone like him on the roster when Reed went down. KD: Well played.

Yeah, but that was when the Jets had Pennington ...