RuntheDamnBall

I'm not sure what you're getting at as this covers way more than just the DPW situation and I've never been critical of Paul's posts whatever I might have thought of his politics. He obviously was a smart guy in a position to know a lot more than most of us ever will. I don't think that makes this any less of an interesting read, one for me that tells a lot about a place that's an abstraction for almost all of us.

Times article

Also noted that the only 'big decision' player we have on our roster whose contract expires in '07 is: Willis. This is interesting. Again, thanks for the awesome work, CP!

I notice some potential cuts and hence savings on this page too. Tutan Reyes clearly didn't work out for us. Cutting him seems to save $750K. That's enough to bring in a vet role player. I could also see Mario Haggan being kicked to the doorstep for a savings of around $600K. This site also tells me that now is the time to renegotiate with Evans and JP. They are being under-compensated given their performance, especially if you take a look at Holcomb's and Nall's salaries. Time to tell these guys we believe in them, but also save ourselves the heartache of dealing with it next year. Offer them good-faith extensions. Edit: see we have JP and Evans locked up till 2008 and 2009, respectively. Didn't know this. Still, not a bad idea to float offers to them.

Bledsoe, Moulds, Mike Williams... you bet it has.

The Crowell re-signing was one of Donahoe's last moves, if I recall correctly.

One last quote from this and I'm done: Which makes this all interesting. If Dubai is really such a haven for hedonism and capitalism, it would seem to be an easy target. This says to me what I've been hinting at all along. The war on terror is not about religion -- not for its major players -- it is about power (and the use of religion to maintain a hold on and increase that power).

Also, a book alluded to in the article that is riveting: Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, by Suketu Mehta. I highly recommend it. The author spends time with some of the mob bosses and figures mentioned in this Dubai article (they were 'exiled' there), the law enforcement officials fighting them, and paints an amazing picture of what the nightlife is like there. It's as engaging as the Godfather or any kind of mob/crime drama, but not fictionalized. It's amazing the things we don't know.

If you guys can stomach that this is from a publication called the "New Left Review" you'll find that this is a pretty well-researched and eye-opening profile on Dubai. FEAR AND MONEY IN DUBAI

Zierlein indeed has left us for Pittsburgh. Wonder if Jauron will add another guy to the staff or if he'll just leave it as is. I have no idea what it would take or if he'd be at all interested but I'd love to hear if Kent Hull would take the job. That's a total shot in the dark on my part, though. Next thing we know PFT will be reporting this as a serious rumor based on my post.

Also, take advantage of summer sessions and I'll second the online education idea. You might be able to fit in more than 2 1/2 years of college education into the actual time frame by doing so. It can help you take on more than you thought you could. Obviously it depends on the instructor and how suitable the material is for online study.

She'll definitely fail the talent competition portion of the debates. Unless she plays piano or something.

You're on crack if you think we should keep Villarial. That guy is living in the infirmary, you can see him back up three steps to get an edge as soon as the ball is snapped, and he's slipped far below average for us. We can get equal performance or reliability out of Preston or another guy at this point. No looking back as far as I'm concerned. We have the new line that protected JP much better than the old line with Villarial, and you don't touch this unless you're making marked improvements in your additions -- Steinbach would be one. I'm not much familiar with many of the other candidates.

Another malcontent WR who hasn't shown much if anything in terms of production in this league. I'll pass.

When does somebody on that team finally say 'screw you, I'm not re-doing the deal'? I'm mystified as to how they are able to massage the cap every year. I can't believe for the life of me that they can get him with only $3M in cap space though.

You don't get thrown in jail for 10 years for being a 17-year-old who needs to learn some common sense, or for making the mistake of having consensual sex. Sorry. A probationary sentence would have sent the message to this kid. It's clear. If this were your kid you'd think this was the worst thing to ever happen and that kids make mistakes. That is hypocrisy. This law was not rightly fixed because the injustice was not fixed. They were exonerated in court. And I'm pretty sure they had comparatively GREAT moral compasses. They just had the good sense to hire a stripper.

I'm more interested in this question. Bush and especially Cheney like to pull out the war on terror as the trump card to any question on the amount of power they are trying to consolidate into the executive position. Once and for all, Bush supporters, conservatives, right-leaners (and I know none of these are necessarily the same thing): would you feel comfortable with a Democrat or a liberal having all this power -- power, essentially, to sidestep any legislation and even the constitution? If not, prove to me that this is not a hypocritical position.

Might seem like a dumb move but we were all snickering when the Jets hired an unheralded and inexperienced Mangini last year. Didn't turn out so badly for them.

"All signs point to yes.": Who invited the Magic 8-ball?

You're not kidding, man. I wish we had a guy who was so dangerous every time he touched the ball. He, Faulk, and Tomlinson have to be the best, most complete backs I've seen in my time. As a pure runner, I'd say Barry Sanders. But as a total offensive weapon, you have to go with one of these three, I think.

Guys have done it before. You have to remember it's not just leverage with the one player but leverage with the team as whole, which was in a fractured state after Mularkey and Donahoe left them last year. Marv had to build confidence in the direction of the team and the direction of the front office. That was not going to happen with one of the team's best and most talented players holding out. If it was the only way Nate would agree to play for us last year, it was the only way and I would rather Marv did that than played hardball. It could have been the difference in 2-3 wins, which is huge for a young and rebuilding team with a new staff. I don't want to lose him this year but that's a risk worth taking, I think.

They do, but the better context for this, as I believe Kelly pointed out, is how many players do each of these teams have under contract? And which major FAs do some of these teams have that they're yet to sign or tender an offer to? The Bills have Clements, Fletcher, Thomas, Gandy, a few others. But they also have Willis wanting an extension; Lee Evans and JP Losman not too far off. Do these guys merit extensions more than we can overpay for our in-house UFAs and guys from outside? It should be an interesting offseason, no doubt about that. I hope it's not remarkable for its inactivity.

Give Jim Kelly this offensive line in that game and you have JP Losman with no mobility. Did you actually watch that game? Kelly made tons of mistakes. And he had all the time in the world on a lot of occasions.

Right, because taking the plea and being branded a child molester, for having sex with someone two years your junior while in high school, is such an oh-so-fair option. It's bull sh--, Joe. You know it. They know it -- otherwise, why change the law? And why change the law and not have it apply to the very person the change was initiated for?

I never realized how much of a drive-killer Reed was in that game. I hadn't watched it since it happened.