BuffaloWings

The whole story....which to me is that he left a life of being wealthy and playing a game for a living to defending his country for almost nothing. That's how Pat Tillman should be remembered.

I wondered myself whether or not this should even be a story...who's reporting it is irrelevant. Some people are just too focused these days on questioning or criticizing authority in order to expose a "wrongdoing" and say they were the first to report it. I'm waiting for the day when a major news outlet claims to be the first to report the 9/11 attacks....enough already. Pat Tillman's story is one of a kind and should be passed along for many lifetimes after ours, especially to young sports fans. Let's leave it at that, please.

At the time, the Mike Williams pick was the absolute right selection. The Bills needed a dominating OL to move forward and it seemed that it was just a matter of either Williams or McKinnie. TD made the wrong pick, but I don't think you can fault him for this at all. The rest of the draft is another story....

Albert Pujols. He befriended a young girl in St. Louis who was pretty sick (I think MS, not too sure) then developed his own charity foundation to raise money for that disease. Then he paid for the girl's entire family to go to Disneyworld. Right now, he's one of the truly good guys in MLB.

I think this is a topic where longevity should have a lot to do with it. Parcells and Cowher have been doing it for a long time - taking teams from nothing to the playoffs and/or Superbowl. Belichick hasn't been doing it quite as long with the Patsies, but his recent track record should leave no doubt. That said, I'd probably put Cowher in the same group with the Mikes. There are enough negatives for me to not put him in there just yet. Shanahan hasn't yet proven he can take a non-Elway team to the big game (if he had won the big one last year, then I'd consider him more seriously), though he's kept Denver competitive for years. Holmgren would be more likely to go in than Cowher and Shanahan, but I just don't quite see him there just yet. But hey...if Marv is in, then Holmgren probably should be, too.

That's exactly why....because it happened this week. Even ESPN doesn't throw it in like that. They may do a Top 10 on Sportscenter about the all-time greatest chokes, but they probably wouldn't put Phil's choke in the top 5.

But being three outs away from the World Series in *Game 4* and ending up losing the series constitutes a choke job to me. I'm one of the biggest Yankees fans you'll find, so I'm with PTR...26 rings doesn't make 2004 any better to me.

No offense, buftex, but there's nothing bold about that. I've always agreed that Bledsoe is not nearly as bad as people made him out to be. He got lambasted here because of his weaknesses, which I thought was unfair as he played behind a bad OL. I remember some Patsies fans telling me shortly after the trade that Bledsoe - while a good QB - would never lead anyone to the Superbowl again. I didn't understand why for the first half of 2002. I can now understand why they said that, but he was missing a few pieces in Buffalo.

For what...the HoF? I doubt that. There are too many arguments *for* Thurman to be in the Hall than otherwise.

I think the whole argument about whether or not a player should be in the HoF depends on the player's overall success, be it championships, numbers, or intangibles. That's not very scientific, but I don't think a formula can be generated to determine a player's eligibility. Some examples: *Warren Moon should be in because of the numbers he put up. Every time the Oilers went onto the field, they had a chance to win with him because of the offense he generated. Same can be said for Dan Marino. *Terry Bradshaw should be in because even though he didn't put up the stats that Moon did, he did lead his team to 4 Superbowl wins. *Brett Favre should get in solely based on the fact that if Green Bay had someone else as a QB instead of him, they probably never would have had the success they did over the past 15 years. This is why he won those MVP awards. I used QBs for my examples, but I think this can apply to any position. If you think about a specific player, my first inclination is whether or not the opposing team had to take that player into account when developing their game plan, be it regular season or playoffs. If they did - over the course of many years - then that player should be a HOFer. Stats and championships help that, but I think that's the underlying theme I'd go with.

Chemistry. Just look at the 1998 Yankees. They didn't have the superstars they have today (excluding Jeter and possibly Rivera) and they all played for the team, not themselves. Yes, the talent level of those players in baseball may be better than the existing talent level of the Bills in football, but if the Bills have the right chemistry and play for the team to win - instead of worrying about reaching individual goals - they'll be in the playoffs.

I don't think it's even that good. He was wrong about Jim Haslett, then Mike Sherman, then about the Moulds trade until the day before it was announced. ESPN seems to pay him just to guess at the next move.

No kidding....that's pretty pathetic for an operation such as ESPN is.

Agreed...this guy is just a bitter fan. His mistakes (GW as offensive coordinator, *Ray* Sherman instead of Mike, etc.) are small ones, yet still lend no credibility to himself. Get the little facts straight before I can respect you, please. Maybe it's SOPRANO who wrote this.

Since Winfield is a CB, I don't think that quite qualifies here. Winfield's a great tackler - makes the play in open-field situations and defends the receiver well - but he was never one to get the INT when the situation presented itself. I'd expect that more of a safety (tackling and the occasional INT) than a CB. Thus, if Whitner does exactly what Winfield did here, I'll be happy. I'd agree with the Polamalu/Williams point. Polamalu had an outstanding year and while Williams occasionally shows up in the highlights, he's a solid defender that teams try to stay away from. If Whitner can get close to that level by late in year 2, I'll be happier.

I agree....the OL was the most underrated part of the Superbowl teams and Kent Hull was probably one of the best in the game at the time. This lead to a lot of good things by the offense - Kelly having time to throw, Thurman running through holes, etc. As far as Mangold goes, he may be good, but we don't know how good yet. Give the Jets a year or two and see how well their line holds up *with Mangold running the line*, then we can re-assess. As has been pointed out before, you never know how good your draft is until 3-4 years later.

Besides....half the world won't even relate Gary Glitter to the song if they heard it. I don't see many (if any) teams pulling the song.

I don't see how this is a "holier than thou" act at all. I believe that a team needs a guy like Troy....as a player, he can help along the rookies and youngsters while showing them on the field how it's done. It's better to have a veteran doing something like that than just doing his own thing and protecting his future. Remember that he did the same thing with Lee Evans a couple of years ago - he worked with him outside of the minicamps and training camp and I think Lee has turned out ok so far.

Wow...someone must have slipped him a happy pill or something. That's an anti-Sullivan article if I've ever seen one.

Well, doesn't someone have to be "retired" for at least 5 years to be voted in? I know that's true for players, but is it the same for coaches?

It's about time Peter King said something worthwhile.

I think I saw a couple of cases this year where the ref let it go because the clearing attempt hit the boards/glass and somehow deflected into the seats. But if the puck goes from the stick to the stands - intentional or not - it's a penalty. Campbell knew it right away and didn't argue.

It's these types of things that make me want to jump over the Falls, but here goes... My #1, also....I'm tired ofhearing about it, really. Triple OT, actually. I remember Lindy tried arguing vehemently to the officials, but they didn't even bother as a whole slew of photographers and reporters were on the ice. And Bruce DeHaven was made the scapegoat for this...go figure. Didn't an RIT professor prove that there was no way the throw could have gone backward? This bugs me the most - and it would be up there as 2 or 3, but the stakes weren't quite that high (first round of the playoffs and Philly was clearly the better team that year). BUT, Hasek and 2 other players actually showed the torn net strands to the official and Darcy Regier showed it on the replay to the NHL officials upstairs and NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT IT. I think replay was in its infancy then, but I don't even think it was reviewed at all. Since then, the NHL started the "war room" in Toronto to look after every goal in every game. A bit too late, guys. This game stands out moreso to me because of a phantom defensive holding on Buffalo that led to a Miami TD and a 10-point lead and Reed supposedly not getting into the end zone and supposedly bumping the official that led to a FG and not a TD. This game was part of the reason the NFL went back to replays. Once again, a bit too late. You can make the excuse that 3 inexperienced defensemen helped the lead go away, but that's now what I saw. Carolina had been pressuring them all night and they seemed bound to score at least once. This is a game that showed how Buffalo never seems to get the bounces at the right time (see: Carolina's first goal) and that they can't finish - Afinogenov should have scored at least twice. This hurts because of every other bad thing that hasn't gone Buffalo's way is all just adding up now. If E$PN does some stupid Top 10 about Buffalo's bad breaks, I'm cancelling my cable. Let's also not forget the "Just give it to him" game against New England in 1998. What looked to be a game-ending, incomplete out-of-bounds pass on 4th down that would have given the Bills a win was just given to the Patsies for a first down. This led to a hail mary and a phantom interference call in the end zone and a subsequent game-winning TD. Had the officials done their job correctly in this game, the playoff game against Miami would have been in Orchard Park and could easily have been a different outcome.

I don't know about shambolic, but they had a group of nobodys that none of the "experts" thought would amount to much. They just turned out to be just as good as the best team in the East (Ottawa) and defined a true team in every sense of the word. Lindy Ruff is an underrated coach and if they can hang on to guys like Jay McKee, Chris Drury, Mike Grier, Daniel Briere, and Ryan Miller, the Sabres will be around for a while.

Never mind....just found out he has an infection from a cut on his leg. This can't be happening...