Lori

Patriot Guard Riders. The WBC loons decided to show up at a local soldier's funeral. The Guard did NOT do what you'd call a "counter-protest"; they merely showed up in enough force that when they lined up side-by-side and held up American flags, they shielded the mourners from any sight of the WBC's incendiary signs. Off-topic: the Westboro nutters' protests have nothing to do with abortion.

Aw, why not? Make it like Little League -- EVERYONE gets a trophy! (Before your head explodes, you know I'm kidding about that.) My thoughts on the Class of 2010: Emmitt and Rice are locks. Seniors candidates: Lebeau has a good shot, but if Little gets in, I guess we need to go back and start looking at every RB who ever had a 1000-yard season. (See: EVERYONE, etc., etc.) Carter>Brown. I'm willing to argue Reed's record against CC's, but Mr. "He Just Catches Touchdowns" has more national support. If one WR/TE gets in, it'll be Carter ... unless he's nudged out by Shannon Sharpe, and I'm not sure I'd have a problem with that. Four-time All-Pro, three Super Bowl rings, and the only TE with 10,000 yards; if you want to contrast/compare with the other TEs already in the Hall, he matches up well. (Plus, it might shut up the Broncos fans who will whine about Little's rejection. Don't discount that.) Others: Year by year, Dent and Grimm have been inching their way closer. At least one, and possibly both, finally make it. I'm personally in favor of Coryell because of his impact on the game, but the lack of a SB ring may keep him out. ...and yeah, that doesn't leave any room for Andre. Someday, I think, but not with the current logjam at WR.

Yup, that timeline looks accurate to me (although I'll have to defer to your knowledge on Wade's daughter). To emphasize the Ronnie-Jones-as-Wade's-crony bit, Wes Phillips was the West Texas A+M QB coach during Jones' less-than-stellar stint as a HC there. (Got fired from that job, too, after going 5-27.)

Considering that Ryan already had it goin' on with the Fins vis-a-vis the smack war with Channing Crowder, not really sure how much more fuel that fire needed. Between this and the "I'm not kissing Bill Belichick's Super Bowl ring" stuff, it's entertaining having him in the division, no? Now if the Bills could just improve enough to be relevant, maybe we could get in on the fun ...

It's based on gross revenue, and yes, the Bills are well toward the bottom of the league in that respect. Some of the boilerplate from the amended CBA: the Special Master's ruling NFL Constitution and Bylaws (1995 Resolution G-6 on p. 166, 2006 Resolution MC-1 on pp. 278-283) The NFL's take: "In the 2006 Collective Bargaining Agreement that expires in 2011, the NFL clubs also agreed to a small percentage of additional revenue sharing because of the new CBA's significantly increased salary cap. The agreement calls for no salary cap in 2010 and that additional piece of revenue sharing to which the clubs had agreed in 2006 is therefore no longer required in our view." Think about that. If they get what they want, there's no limit to what the "High Revenue Clubs" can spend on players, AND the lower-revenue clubs don't get the extra revenue sharing. As a previous caller mentioned, Ralph SHOULD be happy with the ruling, and so should fans of every team that draws money from the SRS pool.

Controversy? What controversy? I just took a spin through the NFL sites -- ESPN, SI, NFL.com, AOL Fanhouse, to name a few -- and had a difficult time even finding the original AP report. Hell, even Vac chose not to columnize it. (Put it in Monday's Whacks on his blog, said it wasn't the brightest thing Ryan's ever done, but it certainly proves that the guy's not a phony. That was it.) So the Post had some fun with the back cover. That's their shtick. Controversy? AP and the Jets beat guys will report on any fines/discipline because it's part of the job, but everyone else has already moved on. (Disclaimer: I haven't checked the Dolphins' message boards, which are probably plotting their revenge, but I don't really care what they think anyway ...)

Saw the report of their scheduled protest on a blog over the weekend, followed by Twitter's address for those who might want to "go taunt the nutters." Glad to see that message was received and acted upon ...

Yeah, pretty much. And I guarantee that most Jets fans love the guy for doing it, no matter how much $$$ it costs him. (BTW, per the NYPost, the digit was allegedly accompanied by a "go **** yourselves" in response to the Dolphans telling him the Jets sucked.)

Thought it was kinda funny myself, but it does fall under the personal conduct policy, which holds representatives of the league to a higher standard than merely avoiding criminal acts. Goodell can take that to mean almost anything, under the vague "conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs, or NFL players." And he will, because it's not the wholesome image he wants to portray. "Protect the Shield" and all that. Ryan signed onto the policy as part of his contract, so while most reasonable folks would agree that it wasn't a big deal (and that the rotten Finfans undoubtedly deserved it), he'll end up writing a check.

Thread wouldn't have been complete without it ...

I'll keep tossing this link in every couple of pages, in case anyone hasn't seen it yet: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnniche And yeah, getting rid of that endotracheal tube is very good news -- plus, it'll be a massive relief for John. They serve their purpose, but they sure aren't much fun. Yo 'Sphere, keep getting better. Place ain't the same without you ...

If I get advance knowledge of Favre's intentions, I'll do just that. Oh, wait. Don't even need a new one. I'll just go back and find one of last year's "Favre retiring" threads. Or the year before that. Or the year before that ....

At a minimum, I'd say the people who have been discussing the topic for the last six pages. And you, since you bothered to click on it. Cheerio ...

Kellen Clemens? Really? Browning Nagle for the 21st century.

That's where he played juco -- Lackawanna CC -- but he grew up across the river from Philly.

How you figure? He's from New Jersey. Only time he spent in Pa. was for JuCo.

Debatable. As Doc pointed out, NFC tackles were a mediocre lot this season. The top four vote-getters on the AP All-Pro team were all from the AFC (Ryan Clady, Joe Thomas, Michael Roos, and Jake Long). But if you're looking for a Bills connection, McKinnie was tied for seventh on that list with Michael Oher, who they could have drafted last year, and one vote behind Jason Peters, who they could have kept ...

Supposedly, McKinnie himself cared enough to openly campaign for the honor. Guessing the other players might not be in the mood to vote for him again ...

McKinnie dismissed from the Pro Bowl Okay, not that I take the game seriously to begin with, but c'mon, Bryant. If you're going to tell them that you're playing, at least show up for more than one practice ...

Boise's field IS bad. Makes me think there's something wrong with my television, or my eyes. This would be ten thousand times worse.

Yeah, really. Thanks for dropping by, EII. And if Denis posts something about the Bucs, you can take it as fact -- the guy (literally) wrote the book on "McKay's Men." It was a pleasure meeting him at the most recent PFRA gathering, and I look forward to seeing him again in Canton next June. (Which reminds me, time to renew my membership ... check will be in the mail soon, KRC.)

That's a rhetorical question, right?

"His guy," eh? http://www.canada.com/sports/story.html?id=2501492

Think we've been doing a pretty good job of keeping it bumped up at the top of the page ... but sure, that can be arranged.

Right now, they're just asking for thoughts/prayers/good karma/whatever you've got, Deano. And for those who missed Aussie's link on a preceding page: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnniche