Lori

Not a bad call, Ned. I might vote for Namath's 2-for-25 performance in September 1974, though. Ferguson never completed a pass that afternoon, but the Bills still won ...

They do read 'em, GG. Online, for free, and still bitching about the ads. I guess that was your point, though ... Just one more thing to add: the future of Gannett

$62.5M was the total ad revenue, not the profit -- you can figure that out easily enough with the percentage, though. FWIW, although those moved quickly to wipe him off their sports page, Scott's blog is still cached at Google. As a friend said, he's way too good not to land on his feet somewhere ... but the D&C is a lesser paper for his loss. More room for preps and wire, I guess.

Funny thing is, Promo? The D&C turned a profit last year, as did most of Gannett's community newspapers: http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/do...git-profit.html And it still wasn't enough. Just got the news, and it was as bad as I expected. you, Gannett.

What the AP story didn't say: this is part of a nationwide hack-and-slash at Gannett shops, with the expected final tally somewhere near 3,000 jobs. The meeting's this morning, and I'm worried that at least one very good sportswriter is going to be out the door solely because he makes a decent salary. One he's earned, not that the beancounters care about that minor detail any more. I sincerely hope I'm wrong. And to be honest, ink -- whoever ends up on that list, I'm not happy about anyone losing their job three weeks before Christmas.

Before he focused strictly on special teams, April was a position coach on both sides of the ball -- several years on either DL or secondary at big-time colleges, three seasons as the TEs/STs coach with the Falcons.

As to the original question, Doc K, funny you should ask -- our man Graham did the math over on his ESPN blog yesterday: What's the opposite of momentum? (Well, he had the good folks at Elias Sports Bureau help him ...) Anyway, he/they discovered this was the fifth-largest dropoff since the merger in 1970. Not just bad, historically bad.

Oakland and Denver were both AFC Championship games, in two different seasons. The 51-3 game preceded Super Bowl XXV.

Seeing as how that quote was written in 1977? I see no problem with posting it in November 2008, or December 2008 for that matter. I think we're all familiar with Mr. Simpson's actions 15 years after Hessler wrote about him.

http://www.legacy.com/dailypress/DeathNoti...sonId=120787120 A bit out of date, but I just found out about it myself a short time ago. My apologies. For you young'uns: Before its untimely departure in 1982, the Courier-Express used to do daily battle with the Evening News. (And a long time before that, one Samuel Langhorne Clemens edited the Express for a spell. You might know him better as Mark Twain ...) Hessler covered the Bills during the Simpson years, then switched to the Sabres, before leaving for the Redskins beat at the Hampton Roads (Va.) Daily Press when the C-E went under. He was also the Bills correspondent for Pro Football Weekly during part of his stint in WNY. A column on the Juice, circa 1977: O.J. accepts ‘Impossible Dream’ Rest well, Mr. Hessler.

Here's the well-done King tribute to Zim: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ek13/index.html Be well, Paul.

Ask and you shall receive, but they don't put the precise questions on the quote sheets ... As for me, by the time Lindell nailed the upright for the second time, I already knew damn well that a Bills win would be grounds for a felony theft charge. Amazing. Run for a hundred-and-however-many yards, get inside the 20 four times (including first-and-goal twice), and score THREE POINTS. I find myself agreeing with Chuck Pollock's take more often than not, probably because I've been reading his columns since I was a kid. This week is no different, so I'll let him handle it ... This Bills loss should silence playoff talk It’s time Bills’ coaching staff got scrutinized

http://www.twobillsdrive.com/articles/game...me_day_preview/ Phew. Between the holiday schedule, and computer problems here at the branch office in Amherst, this one just barely made it online ...

Here, you'll like this one from a couple of weeks ago (the Pryor references): http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colle...500,full.column And this one from Ian O'Connor: http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8850052...USC-...-or-else

One wonders what source would be more reliable than Wawrow's expert opinion?

The Associated Press? Really?

Not sure where you're getting your info from. Bills injured DE Schobel resumes light workouts Associated Press ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Defensive end Aaron Schobel is on track to return within three weeks after the Buffalo Bills' top pass-rusher began light workouts to test his injured left foot this week, The Associated Press has learned. A person familiar with the injury told the AP on Wednesday that Schobel is scheduled to begin more intense on-field workouts next week with the possibility he could be cleared to play in Buffalo's game at the New York Jets on Dec. 14. The timetable fits the one provided to Schobel on Nov. 5 when he visited a specialist in North Carolina and had a cast placed on his foot to protect a sprained ligament to his big toe, the person said.

And Stroud didn't have the benefit of playing against Duke Preston and Jason Whittle in that game.

Good point. Lewis would have to kill Sharpe to get him to shut up. Preaching to the choir; I hate the guy too. If he ever gets in, though, it will be because of his work for the league in the 1960s, not the SBXXXV win with the cRavens.

Ray Lewis and Shannon Sharpe say hi.

Well, if he so much as made the gameday roster, he'd be an improvement over what they're currently getting from McCargo. Whether or not they want to cut someone to bring him in at this point is a different question ...

Passed on him more than once, in fact, IIRC. Of course, we do already know how they feel about McCargo, who's threatening to take over Victor Allotey's old "Captain Inactive" moniker ...

I remember your journalism background, James, but I'm not sure if you were in sports or news-side? Anyway, I flat-out HATE doing games from the sideline for exactly that reason -- you might pick up some interesting color down close, but you miss the big picture. So when I heard about Schonert's decision before the game, I thought to myself, "Can't hurt" ...

Instead of replying to that rant, I'll merely repeat this:

Probably Bledsoe, on two 1-yard sneaks forward falls. Edit: Now that I know the answer (and no, it's not Bledsoe), that's pretty cool.