RuntheDamnBall

From the looks of it they replaced it with 'Spending Time on The Stadium Wall 101.'

And no one in the world is more than slightly disturbed by the fact that they're just whisking outside consultants into the bunker, and that a member of the cabinet's missing for nigh on an hour on a day a NUCLEAR FRICKING BOMB has exploded? And they're letting Joe Minor-staffer in with the President in a high-security situation? I have been about to ditch this show twice already this season. If next week is this off-the-charts loony I am going to find another series.

If I lived in Buffalo, or even within 200 miles of the Ralph, I'd buy seasons. As it is, I pay to fly back every year for at least one or two games with my dad and sometimes the whole family. What I will say is that the turn-off at the game is the gaggle of belligerent drunks more than the product on the football field. I enjoy my beer, but I have been sort of floored at how negative the atmosphere is, and that's saying something considering this is Buffalo. Love the town, love the team, but some of the people could use a major attitude adjustment. The way this team was run off the field at the last (Titans) home game was unacceptable considering they did give us more fun than we perhaps expected. Perhaps we'll be losing some of the people who perpetuate this attitude. Or, perhaps their seats will be filled with more people like them. Hope not. Really looking forward to the next season, though.

Trust me, their financial rewards far outweigh some silly statue. Let the guys and girls who actually craft the movies have their due. Besides, it's a moment in which you don't have to complain about some movie star.

They probably don't need to give the sound editing award on TV (not that interesting to a lot of people) but as a sound editor I would be pretty pissed if they didn't give out the award. And you would be pretty pissed if every movie you watched sounded like ass. It certainly makes a big difference. A fun note for me was that a director I worked with last year was up there as winner of the best short-form documentary (for "The Blood Of Yingzhou District," a doc on children with AIDS in China) -- it looks very good and should be on HBO sometime soon. It's a trip when you see someone you've spent a lot of time with up there speaking to millions. I loved the way they presented the screenplay awards with the directions being read along w/ dialogue, and the editors/cinematographers etc. speaking about their work while the scenes rolled. I also must say, "Pan's Labyrinth" looked great, but "Children of Men" had some really incredible shots. It's absolutely worth seeing for the visuals alone.

Preee-cisely. Nice post. It costs us next to nothing to do this and dump him in camp if that's the best course of action. Lotta Henny Pennys floating around here for it being February, otherwise known as still the same month in which the previous season's Super Bowl is played. There will be time to address these concerns. Crikey.

LSI, pardon me if I'm not taking the concern too seriously after the "Let's draft Brady Quinn at all costs" talk turned to "Let's go JP" in the course of 4 weeks. You haven't shown us that you're a guy who sticks with his players through thick and thin. When the going gets tough, you're usually calling for someone else. (Reminds of the crowd chant of "someone else! someone else!" from the Simpsons.) Look at hockey over the past few weeks. Every 'good' team save for the Devils, pretty much, is winning a lot of 5-4, 6-5 games. The game has changed. What's important is making the big stops. Marty and Ryan have both made a fair share. Would we be better off with Brodeur? Possibly. But I like the guys we have for the game we play. You also gotta learn how to accept the highs and lows, especially in a long-season sport like hockey. Unless you're the kind of guy who clamors for a trade every time a hitter hits a slump. In which case I'll be ready to whomp you in fantasy baseball.

Thinking we're going to get whatever we want for guys we don't feel have much value is indeed Madden-esque. Feel the way you want about it, but I just would take caution with the idea that the Bills are absolutely going to get their way with a draft-day trade.

We need a backup QB, perhaps Billy Joe Hobert is available. Would that be a fair trade?

If I can phrase this correctly, I am shocked at the folks who will be shocked if we don't deal down (as we didn't last year). The Bills certainly haven't been afraid to deal. But the Bills would be stupid to make a trade for the sake of making a trade, and unless the right player is there, so would any other team. This is what i mean about finding a willing partner. I'm even more shocked that you're willing to predict they absolutely will do it. If Okoye or another right player is there, or the deal is bad, they won't and shouldn't pull the trigger on a move down. And as Ramius says, the Madden-esque nature of these predicted trades is no less than madden-ing.

Gilbride is missing from your nice little equation. His contribution to the mess is generally exponential.

That's awesome. Should be easy because I'm certain we'll be flooded with offers. It's hilarious that nobody seems to realize that trading up or down requires a willing partner offering to pay the right price, and it's not that easy. If we're looking to trade down on draft day, it'll likely be because we don't want to be in that position, and that's a position of weakness. Doesn't usually make for the best deals.

This was the Washington Post article on the "Other Walter Reed" where injured soldiers, casualties of the Iraq war, have suffered extreme difficulties in getting care after serving this country. An example of how good our wounded heroes have it: It gets worse. The treatment of amputees and people suffering severe psychological issues post-war has been laughable. Plenty of suicides to go round. Yes, our government and our military support these heroes. *cough cough* Meanwhile, those at the top promise 'the best of care,' have the gall to accuse others of not supporting these guys, and meanwhile get top-notch medical care themselves. I'm sorry, I've sooo had it with these hypocrites. Apparently this will go 'under review' with the goal of changes. I'm sure that more bureacratic turnings of the wheel are just what these guys need. I'm sure in the end the real story here will turn out to be that the Washington Post is bad for reporting this.

I'm pro-nuclear, so you can scratch that one off. And what you're told about liberals, and how all of them actually feel are not one and the same. I don't want to regulate everything. I do want to regulate business to the point that they cannot be harming the people that are keeping them going, i.e. their consumers and the people who live in the localities in which they operate. Businesses are not people. If they are going to be given the rights of people they should be given the responsibilities of people. If I can't take a dump on your front lawn, why can a corporation? I, too believe in entrepreneurship. That's why I believe that subsidies and fat gifts for companies that are trying to exhaust resources using the status quo should stop, and that at the very least the playing field should be leveled for people who are trying to come up with truly new solutions to problems. If you believe anyone can make it here, all they need is a good idea and sound management, that's a fool's world. There are plenty of interests in the way to stop it if it hinders the ability of a powerful system to make more money. If you can't see that the caribou are part of a healthy ecosystem, you're lost. And slavery and child labor were once vital parts of a booming economy, and it was argued that ending them would do a lot of harm. We were able to adapt. It's that the injustice of ruining the environment is less plainly noticeable and it's slower and less immediate damage. It is damage nonetheless and I am thankful for any efforts to stop it.

And during Browns minicamp, Nate will trip over his wallet and suffer a career-ending knee injury.

Amazing how many 8-8 teams there were. Yes, we did lose to the Lions, but if we hadn't grown after that I'd be more worried. Plus, Villarial is gone and that counts for something.

1) Science works with many 'theories,' numbskull. It doesn't mean it's not science. You might think it's bad science, and Tom might agree with you, but it doesn't make it non-scientific. 2) I agree that Gore and any other liberals who own a lot of property and resources should take a good look in the mirror. I hope that he's considering all he uses and doing the best he can to compensate for that. Is he, I'm not certain. It doesn't mean that it's an excuse for us all to waste, and let's face it, the waste of all Americans, that contagion, is far worse than what any one person can accomplish. It's systemic. That's why someone needs to be out there cautioning us to change our ways. Like you, I'd be far more comfortable if this was someone who was completely living his message. At the same time, it doesn't make the message out-and-out wrong. 3) Evangelicals are on the board with climate change initiatives. Your statement about church-going is not only wrong, it's stupid. I and many other liberals go to church, I just don't feel the need to wave it in anyone's face like so many on the right. Religion is a personal endeavor for me and it's between me and god or whatever faith I have chosen to follow given my rights in the constitution. 4) You can divorce global warming theory from the fact that we are being very, very poor caretakers of this planet. And by 'we' I mean humans, not Americans. I mean Chinese, Indians (I've seen it firsthand and it's bad), Africans, Europeans, all peoples of the world. I intend to live life on this planet like someone who's giving a gift to his kids. I don't plan to ruin that gift. It's too bad your short-sighted political views trump that mentality, as they do for so many in this country.

anuther drrrrrrrrink, Tarrbenderrr...zzzzzzzzzzz

The future looks good. And the present looks awesome. And despite the fact that the refs tried to gift-wrap this one for the Sens, we got it. What a win!

SUUUUUUUCKS. ARGH. Can we go through ONE game without injury? I know the Sabres were the thugs in that fight but it was awesome. And deserved on the part of the Sens. You go after a guy, who happens to be the team's captain and leading goal scorer, when he doesn't have the puck, and you should pay the price. This is why you have Andrew Peters on the roster, whatever a tool like Deluca might have to say about it. Very nice to see the rooks playing with passion out there, too.

Reagan and Goldwater had something stolen from them by FDR. That's novel. And contemporary American conservatives have sold out the neoclassical liberal wing by pandering to a religious right that is only mildly vested in their interests but commands voters. It's not a natural alliance. Re: Who will enforce "this vigilant environmentalism"? Yes, a powerful authority, but one given power by people and held in check and guided by the rights of people, namely, the right to clean water, air, etc, and not the rights of entities that believe their interests trump the rights of every citizen.

Oooh, Wacka strikes again with another awesome soundbite attack. Why don't you call Rush and see if he approves of this one?

OC, I think we're on the same page in that the real problem is parents that don't care or are inattentive or unwilling to see that their kids are in trouble. The educational system is full of good-hearted people who don't want to let these kids slip through the cracks, and that's a great thing, but it's not enough and it's not in the job description. It's going above and beyond the call of duty. It's taking on the role of a parent -- the hardest job in the world, so yes, I would argue that it's a harder job than many others. Parents who don't care produce kids who don't care, who, all too early, will become parents who don't care. This is at the root of a lot of liberal ideas (sex ed, programs, etc) -- I don't know that it's the only solution but unless you teach kids that they are part of something beyond themselves, and that includes, potentially, a family, it doesn't appear that they're going to get the tools to make the right decisions in the future. They're certainly not going to get it at home. How you give them that without appearing to let off the parents who don't give a sh--, I don't know. I also would caution on the idea of 'results' where the kids are a factor in an equation and, if the equation is correct, they can be plugged in and it all works out, little Johnny is a productive citizen with a good job. The job of education is to help produce people who can make good decisions, solve problems on their own, to give them tools (and a significant part of this is a parent's job). 'Results'-based legislation is not a good idea, imo, and in the long run it produces nothing other than drones who can perform certain actions really well, but can't adapt to others.

I think the private jet thing is ridiculous but he is at least buying credits to cover his emissions. Do you suggest that he doesn't travel at all or that he flies coach? This is a tangential thought but flying JetBlue last week gave me the thought that those planes are wasting billions of gallons and dollars in jet fuel idling on the tarmac. I believe Richard Branson (Virgin) was making some moves to counter this.

Can we dispel some of this myth outright? Certainly there are parents who are in troubled situations that don't give their children the proper attention they should get with regard to school. There are also children of privileged parents who can't be disciplined in schools because (according to the parents) their kids can do no wrong. The teachers can't firmly grab a kid's arm without fear of getting sued. Let's not pretend that rich kids are any better than poor kids in school. It's just that one side gets a blind eye turned to bad behavior and another is told from day one that it's likely to go to jail or some other dead-end. As usual with teachers, the answer is somewhere in the middle. I have seen good teachers not get tenure because a school board member didn't like that their kid was graded tough in the teacher's class. I've also seen teachers dogging it because they've got their tenure and are untouchable. Tenure with review/probation/release stages seems to be the answer. Revoking it outright just puts all teachers, especially ones who want to challenge kids to be better, at unnecessary risk, and will make it even harder to find good ones. I know the pay is good but it is thankless. My best friend is teaching at a school in the Bronx and he is exhausted. He needs the two months off. He comes up with new and challenging lesson plans only to find his kids are three steps behind. If people are really doing their jobs it's a hard job. For people who aren't, it's a cakewalk and they should be challenged by a review. I also would like to caution anyone who thinks that things proceed much differently in the 'real world.' How much time are we all wasting here online anyway? Are we all working nose-to-the-grindstone those extra two months? Good questions.