Lori

Out: Tommy Tuberville. In: Gene Chizik. Cyclone fans are deliriously happy right now. Auburn fans, not so much. And you're not the only Bammer guy laughing at your cross-state rivals tonight, Cynical. Five years after his first attempt to oust Tuberville failed, Bobby Lowder (Google him and see what you come up with) finally got his way. But you know what they say about being careful what you wish for ...

You guys do good work, NYC. I have to get out that way one of these years ...

Except that giving up home field advantage for a division game is just a wee bit different than moving some practices in August ...

Gene Chizik? Really? (No link, just some rumors I read ...)

It was never about people from Buffalo making the trip north; the point was to further regionalize the franchise. We were told how many Bills fans there were in Ontario, and how grateful they'd be to have a game on their side of the border. Oops ... guess not, or at least not in my section.

No clue on the .tmp. It didn't auto-save a draft, or give you a restore option when you re-opened Word? (Apparently not, or you wouldn't be asking ...)

And Aussie, you're ahead of me on the bowling-ball shot. Never gonna happen.

No, because Polian spent a year as the NFL's VP of Football Development before going to Carolina in 2004.

Be that as it may -- and I agree, it would have been hard to imagine the Bills winning that game wherever it was played -- it's also hard to argue with Sal Maiorana's take: "They sold their soul for $78 million."

Bill (York, PA): Jerry Springer >>>>>>> Maury Povich. SportsNation Tim Graham: (4:56 PM ET ) No way. Springer is staged. That's like saying WWE is better than MMA. ------------------------------------------------------------- Jeremy (Davie): Do you ever feel Maury and all those shows have to be fake or is there really that large of an amount of whacked out people in our country? SportsNation Tim Graham: (4:57 PM ET ) I think Maury is real. And there is no shortage of half-wits out there. ------------------------------------------------------------- Andy (Albany, NY): Tim, you are... NOT the father!!! SportsNation Tim Graham: (4:58 PM ET ) I just jumped up and started shouting down my monitor. Now I'm waving my index finger at it. ------------------------------------------------------------- Jeremy: Can't wait for this Jan 25th episode of Maury. "My Fiancee Needs to Know... Her Mom Pays Me for Sex!" SportsNation Tim Graham: (5:00 PM ET ) You can't beat that ... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mike (FL): Are we really STILL talking about Maury? SportsNation Tim Graham: (5:02 PM ET ) I was done with it, but since you asked ... Bet you'll never, ever see that on anyone else's ESPN chat. Now, whether that's a good or a bad thing is open to debate. ***** And while I managed to sneak in a couple of one-liners, he didn't take the bait on Losman/Favre. Ah well ...

No. At least, not if you believe Ralph Wilson. He was asked about it when the Wall of Fame committee met the day before the draft, and according to several people in the room at the time, Wilson was adamant that he had nothing to do with which games were moved north. Again, believe it or don't (and I'm not entirely sure I do). Unfortunately, I lost our correspondence regarding this subject in a hard-drive crash, but here's what Chuck Pollock wrote for public consumption earlier that month: POLLOCK: Miami game to Toronto bad sign for Bills’ fans

Jaws grew up in Cleveland?!? Lackawanna gots' some 'splainin' to do. And since NBC took over the SNF games, they're now considered the premier showcase, with ESPN's Monday-nighters playing second fiddle. Look at this week: Madden and Michaels get Giants-Cowboys, while ESPN is stuck with Cleveland-Philly (and no way to flex to another game).

It was announced -- but curiously enough, not to the beat reporters, who found out about it when the BuffNews ran a story in the City/Region section -- at the same time as the scoreboard/ribbon-board deal, but the actual work was supposed to take place during this last offseason. At first, they said they were holding off because they didn't think they could complete both projects before the 2007 season started. (Later, when it came out that the scoreboard company was still waiting for payment from Erie County, it was suggested that Ralph wasn't about to put any of his own money into the plan, and the boards took up the entire county contribution for that year.) Obviously, that part of the plan never happened. Back in March, it was relayed to me that the idea was apparently being scrapped; my source was told that the cost of moving the press box would be prohibitive compared to the eventual revenue it would raise.

Tell you what ... When Graham posted this blog about J.P. Losman's admiration for Brett Favre, he didn't know about this little gem: Could be some fun to be had, there ...

Don't look at me -- Graham wrote that hed all by his own self. Not sure I'll be around for this one, but I'd be entirely in favor of a Christmas-movie chat-jack. How dare he dis "A Christmas Story" like that? And hey, it beats talking about this dog-ass team right now ... Edit: I just realized he didn't include a link to said chat. Epic fail. And just as I type that, the link miraculously appears upon refreshing the page ... http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=24081

$100: worth dying for? Discuss.

NYC Bills Backers

Solid logic ... except for the fact that the NFL, not the Bills, does the scheduling.

Already asked (by a TBD board fave) and answered: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-4-502...lls-choked.html

To be honest, I was just bustin' on you a little. Mostly. Serious answer to your question: You'll hafta ask Marc, because I have no idea why they chose it. Here's the thread announcing Jayden Paul's birth; he mentions the reason for the middle name, but not the first one.

Toronto is the only Canadian city that could, and would, support an NFL team. (THEIR OWN NFL team, not one that shows up for a weekend-long visit once or twice a year.) Montreal? They let the woeful Expos skulk out of town, and several CFL franchises have closed up shop there before the current one moved north from Baltimore. Vancouver? As previously noted, solidly in the heart of CFL country. Ontario is the only Canadian province where the NFL's popularity matches that of the three-down game. Other places in the True North? Not happening. They'd rather have their NHL franchises back first. On the U.S. side: San Antone and perhaps Portland would probably be my top two, with the caveat that maybe, somehow, somewhere, an L.A. ownership group finally gets its sh-- together. Don't hold your breath waiting on that one. Vegas? Over Roger Goodell's dead body. Good luck with the scope. Because of a strong family history of colon cancer (including a cousin who died from same when he was just a couple of years older than I am now), I'm on the every-two-years plan. Not a lot of fun, but it beats the alternative.

Sorry, Chef, but I couldn't even find CNN heds on that page. So, I went to the source. Lead story is Obama on the crooked Ill. guv'nor; here were the rest: No Britney, but I'll agree, some of those things are not like the others ... Other random thoughts: - For anyone inclined to rip on the name Jayden, LABills will kick your ass. (His kid owned it well before the Federlines hatched their brat.) I'll help. - Rich, if you can swing the trip, Toronto is a great place to spend a weekend.

You hit on part of it, Adam -- the fanbase has changed. However, I'm not sure the majority of fans back then could have told you the names of the starting front five; then, as now, the bulk of the attention goes to the skill positions. Remember Kelly riding into town in a limo ... and Hull following behind in the the equipment truck?

They're not the most talented roster in the league by any stretch of the imagination, but they're not all dogmeat, either. They remind me of a high school team I watched this season -- motion penalties, timeouts because kids lined up wrong, jumping offsides, out of position, etc. The difference? You kind of expect that from kids who are still learning the game. Professionals, highly paid to do this for a living? Not so much. Yeah, coaches can't run, block, throw, or catch ... but when dropped passes and dumb penalties become systemic, one has to wonder what they ARE doing with their time. And the clock-management disasters are so obvious that they need no further analysis.

Well, this one we can agree on.