Lori

Nope -- I have it on good authority that the panel is committed to making sure those players are honored here first. If Mark Gaughan goes to the HOF voters meeting next February and Bruce isn't on the Wall, I know exactly what the first question will be at the end of his presentation...

By the end of the year, more than a few of the people who do get to see all the games were wondering why Tripplett was still starting ahead of McCargo. Count me in that group. Youboty? Good play here and there, but he still hasn't managed to stay off the injured list long enough to make an impact.

First, let's revisit the criteria: Current inductees: Ed Abramoski, Joe DeLamielleure, Elbert Dubenion, Joe Ferguson, Kent Hull, Robert James, Bob Kalsu, Jim Kelly, Jack Kemp, Marv Levy, Patrick McGroeder, Andre Reed, Jim Ritcher, George Saimes, Tom Sestak, Billy Shaw, O.J. Simpson, Fred Smerlas, Mike Stratton, Darryl Talley, Steve Tasker, Thurman Thomas, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., and The 12th Man. So, like the title says, who's your pick? And do you think the committee will nominate the same person? For extra credit, show your work: don't just tell us who you picked, tell us why. Consider this your chance to give a nominating speech for your selection. NOTES: This is not a multiple-choice question, because several voters have made it well-known that they'd rather not "minimize" the honor by selecting more than one person each year. Also, Gilchrist and Saban remain on the ballot and you're welcome to vote for them, but do so knowing that neither induction is likely to take place any time soon.

Okay, if it's not just for posts and such, that definitely changes my answer.

Good point...

The Colts would have to skew heavily to offense. The Pats, with Brady breaking the bank vs. all those veteran defenders, I'm not so sure about. Giants, Ravens, Steelers, Bears would have to pay more on D, you'd think. With Dockery and Walker last year, Stroud and Spencer Johnson this year, we're making strides in the trenches. Is it enough, or should that #11 (braincramp in my first post, #12 was last year) go to another DT? You haven't quite convinced me of that yet, but you're getting closer.

Interesting that you cut it off at 15, seeing as how the Colts used lower first-round picks on WRs in 2001 and 2007. Should probably also note that six of the teams on your top list made the playoffs in 2007, and two of them have recently gone to a Super Bowl. I don't necessarily disagree with the point you're trying to make. Given my druthers, I'd rather trade down in the round than take a WR at 12, and I'd jump at the chance to pick a top defensive player that might happen to fall to us. That said, I'm not sure I'm buying this particular argument.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cl...,0,393161.story One of the all-time greats.

My Christmas present to myself was an almost-complete set of the Best American Sports Writing anthologies, so I'm working my way through them at the moment. Power, Faith, and Fantasy was an outstanding book. My non-sports read right now is Joseph Persico's Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour.

Nope. Because the Cowboys, needing an RB after trading Herschel Walker during the '89 season, would have either made a trade for one or just taken the next best one available. And behind that line, with Aikman handing off, Moose Johnston leading the way into the hole, and Irvin and Novacek providing a threat in the passing game, that guy might have ended up in the Hall of Fame instead. Rodney Hampton, anyone? Meanwhile, without Thurman's receiving ability -- although an outstanding runner, Emmitt never averaged over 8 yards/catch after his rookie season and scored on just 11 receptions in his 15-year career -- the K-Gun may not have existed in the form we all grew to love.

Ditto that. (And to clear things up a bit, I do still have the Word files for those previews, so I can always reload them into the archive if I want to...)

Would I like that stuff back? Sure. I probably had 50,000 words in the game previews alone. But is it really worth the recovery cost?

One would think. I'm on their list, and I haven't gotten anything from them since the "Welcome!" e-mail. Draw your own conclusions...

Go Rams!

Bob, Yesterday, Campy's post brought me to tears. Tonight, yours did. I only wish it had been for the same reason. Thoughts and prayers from all of us, man.

Have to admit, John, I liked the other thread title better...

If I remember his location correctly, DrDank would have had a REALLY good view of this storm, and not on a computer screen. Just sayin'. Stay safe down there, y'all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TT013NsSYc Raycom's broadcast from the Georgia Dome. You can hear the wind pick up in the background as it goes through.

Dank, I'm taking the "supposedly" out of your title. The hole in the roof of the Georgia Dome makes it a fact. CNN is broadcasting out of their International studio because the main one has sustained severe damage. One of the guys covering the SEC tournament was posting from press row about it -- if you were watching the game broadcast and saw Tim Brando hold up a washer that had fallen from the roof, the sucker bounced off the table next to him. Scoreboard catwalks were still swaying ten minutes later. Cell phones are fubared with everybody trying to get through.

Brushback.com/TBD? Like the idea... but I'm just one of the beat cops around here; you'd hafta ask the Chief.

How the F$&! do you "mistake RT for LT" ?!?!?!?!? Vendetta? That lifetime 3-7 record against Buffalo, with ZERO 100-yard-rushing games in ten tries, might have something to do with it. His last memory of "Bills Stadium" fans would have been watching us wave his sorry-ass team goodbye after a Flutie-led 34-11 beatdown in 1998. I'm sure some of those nasty e-mails came from here, and I have just one thing to say about that: keep up the good work.

WR 87 R.Wayne LE 79 R.Brock LT 67 T.Ugoh LT 96 K.Dawson LG 65 R.Lilja RT 99 E.Johnson C 63 J.Saturday RE 91 J.Thomas RG 73 J.Scott SLB 56 T.Hagler RT 71 R.Diem MLB 58 G.Brackett TE 44 D.Clark WLB 54 F.Keiaho WR 88 M.Harrison LCB 26 K.Hayden QB 18 P.Manning RCB 28 M.Jackson RB 29 J.Addai SS 21 B.Sanders TE 86 B.Utecht FS 41 A.Bethea Sorry for the quick-n-ugly cut/paste; I wanted a list to work from. Sounds reasonable -- all skill players on offense are Colts first-round picks except for Utecht, who Polian signed as an UDFA. Ugoh/Diem/Scott drafted. Saturday and Lilja FAs. Saturday was signed by the Ravens, but released in June of that year. Lilja signed as UDFA by Chiefs but waived in their final cutdown that year, signed by Colts before season opener. Defense: Raheem Brock drafted by Eagles, but released that July. Dawson drafted. Ed Johnson and Josh Thomas, the kid from Orchard Park, UDFA. Hagler, Keiaho drafted. Brackett UDFA. All four DBs drafted. So for the starting 22 (STs not included), the answer is yes.

Chris, that's... Wow. Room got dusty all of a sudden. Damn allergies... Fantastic news, man. Fantastic.

I'll second that nomination. I'll also agree with Bill -- Lot 1/Pole 65 ain't the same without you, big guy. Good to see you.

Interestingly, I'm told Michigan no longer has a journalism department... but I digress. I had to watch the rerun of TA, just to see for myself if it was as bad as y'all were saying. -Need a new left tackle: check -Fairchild did a good job with Edwards: check -Turk Scheiurnideuh putting in a new offense: check Great running back. Expert analyst, not so much.