Lori

Really? Just tuned in: http://player.streamtheworld.com/_players/.../player/?id=WGR Hmm. Streaming, but not live -- hearing Howard and Jeremy, who had the morning shift.

FWIW, yes, ESPN made Schefter an offer he couldn't refuse. Not sure whether his contract was actually up when he stopped appearing on NFLNet and he had to sit out a noncompete clause before officially signing with the WWL, or if they just mutually decided to part ways. And he was a pretty good beat guy before he ever signed up to do TV. Jasno La Canfora is stepping into some mighty big shoes. Brother Kawika, preaching the good word on Twitter:

Hmmmmm. Via Twitter: No details. Can't say for sure, but I don't think that notice was on the media homepage when I dropped by there earlier today.

Sam's inclusion on the Web site has to account for the difference, then. They've kept everything else up to date -- just added Neill's old No. 72 for Elimimian, in fact -- so I wonder why they haven't removed him? And I'm sticking by my suspicions about PFT's theory: they counted to 81 and didn't look any further.

I was going by this one: http://www.buffalobills.com/team/roster.html. Do the printouts they give you still include Sam?

Awesome.

PFT counted to 81, same as I did, but apparently didn't notice Sam's name. Officially, the Bills waived him from IR with an injury settlement on July 31.

Yeah, the thread-approval option suggested above might be a better option. Guessing my fellow mods will have me murdered for agreeing with that.

Not sure, but I did find it interesting that while they've updated to add Manalac, Etukeren and the rest, Sam's name is still on there. (Also, FWIW, I'm sitting here looking at a copy of the roster supplied to the media on the first weekend of camp. ALL the draft picks are shown -- remember, none of the other first- or second-rounders was in at that point, either.)

If you're talking about Ed's "horrible human being" thread, he didn't bolt. Last post was a couple of months ago: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?showtopic=88860

Interestingly, as pointed out to me by Mr. Wawrow last week, Maybin's name has been on the active roster since the beginning of camp. Also of note, while the active roster on bb.com does currently list 81 players, one of those names is PK Sam -- released by the Bills on July 31, and currently on the active roster of the Toronto Argonauts. There's your (or PFT's) roster move, long since made.

Thanks, John. The "still in Maryland" is an interesting add.

Because we live so far away -- before the four-lane section of 219, Rich Stadium was easily a two-hour trip from here -- we didn't go to many games. And you're right, I have far more memories of listening to Van Miller than I do of watching those home games on TV.

Lot of people in the industry are asking that. One of Chuck Pollock's many proteges, Rachel George, is a preps reporter at a decent-sized newspaper in the Southeast. I believe when she covers a football game, she writes, AND shoots some video, AND uploads the audio from her postgame interviews ... hearing that, I can't imagine how she has any time left to, you know, actually pay attention to the game. When Sal and I spoke shortly after the Dolphins game in Toronto, he listed his workload from that evening: gamer for the Web due at the gun, then a report card, short column, and 1,000-word gamer for Monday's paper. Assuming he actually hit the locker room and press conferences instead of relying solely on quote sheets, if he wasn't the last one out of the workroom (and sweating deadline by the time he finished), he had to be pretty close. Pollock also did the gamer/column/notebook trifecta (as usual), but for a Monday-afternoon paper, so his schedule wasn't quite as tight. What he said. McPaper (USA Today) be damned, the Democrat and Chronicle has always been considered the flagship of Gannett's newspaper division ... which means just like every other Gannett property, it's been hammered with layoffs and furloughs for the last year, while the corporate honks sail merrily on their way. CEO Craig Dubow's bonus last year could have paid the salaries of several layoff victims, including Scott Pitoniak. A few other notes: Someone mentioned Pitoniak not having a regular beat. This is true; he was promoted from the Bills beat to columnist/features writer in 1990. For 18 years, he performed the same duties for the D+C that Sully does for The News -- writing a regular column, reporting and writing feature stories (many of which ended up on A-1, because they were that good), plus covering multiple Super Bowls, World Series, and Olympic Games. Indeed, he was one of only seven writers from across the country sent to Beijing by Gannett News Services last summer. No offense to either Leo Roth or Sal, both of whom I like. But in my opinion, Scott was the best writer in that department ... and perhaps the entire building. (Whither Bob Matthews, you might ask? I have it on good authority that if Matthews set foot in the press box at the Ralph, most of the writers there probably wouldn't recognize him, his appearances in Orchard Park are so rare.) Twitter can be a useful tool. The ESPN bloggers have it set up to post a link each time they submit a new story, and also cross-post that tweet to their Facebook accounts, all the better to send more pairs of eyes to the dot-com. Still not sure what they've got Sal doing is the most effective use, but I'll reserve judgment on that. BTW, http://www.twitter.com/salmaiorana if you want to check it out for yourself. Others (copy/paste into Twitter's search engine): @John_Wawrow, @espn_afceast, @BuffFootballRep, @Buffalo_News, @DandC_Sports, @WGR550, @WECK, @writefielder (Pitoniak). One more thing: when I asked him a couple of months ago, Sal said covering the Bills was still his favorite part of the job ... just not the offseason stuff. (This was during the TO-looks-for-a-house news cycle...)

My source (the506.com boards) says the Chargers' last four blackouts were in 2004, but I've heard those same stories. In fact, a previous version of their lease with the city (1999-2003 is the period cited) included a provision that San Diego had to buy any remaining tickets, thus guaranteeing sellouts. So after residents got used to not having to pay to watch the team, it makes sense that the box office got hammered in '04. Also interesting to learn that one-third of NFL games were consistently blacked out even in the mid-90s.

The original story: Jaguars ready for string of blackouts Wow. For them to be sure that they won't sell enough tickets to hit what I believe is the lowest blackout threshold in the league, I can just imagine how low their season base must be.

Or perhaps not: http://www.powertrainsports.com/combine-training.php

Outstanding.

Sorry to spoil the fun, then, but I couldn't resist. And this entire thread is priceless. Close it, hell -- I may nominate it for the TSW Hall of Fame, if we ever get that up and running again ...

We do.

Tell me you didn't just ask John Wawrow whether or not he went to camp. And if that question confuses you, you may want to click this link: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/JOHN+WAWROW-a11079

Good points from both of you. I think by the time someone racks up 20 or 25 posts, the moderating staff has a pretty good idea of whether or not they're going to make the cut.

Works for me, although you might want to spellcheck "probation" in the tag. 200 might be a little high for Steely's suggestion (and I know we've previously discussed it). But keeping new posters from starting threads for the first 25 or 50 -- or perhaps restricting that privilege to the new-poster forum -- may well be something to consider...

Nick Mendola: http://www.wgr550.com/The-Gift-of-Life/5045390 (Hit his link for clickable donation info. Thanks.)

Oooooh. Why, I oughta ... Funny thing about names: Port had a senior last year named Damen. Decent wrestler, good enough in football to play in the Big 30 Game. And I swear, we were the only paper that had it right every time -- most called him Damon, a few Damien, some others messed up his last name. So when I pounded out the Big 30 gamer a couple of weeks ago, probably the last time I'll write about this guy after covering him for an entire school year ... Yup, first reference was correct, but the second one wasn't. Fortunately, I'd already told them I was going to give it one more proofread, so I managed to fix it with time to spare before the press rolled ... Like I said, it happens. And like John said, if they make it into print, those tend to sting for a while.