sullim4

+1 for the Chinese jerseys. I love my knockoff Jim Kelly Super Bowl XXV jersey!

Grew up closer to NYC than Buffalo actually... but for whatever reason became a Bills fan. I now live in the suburbs of Seattle. Seattle is an AWFUL, AWFUL sports town. I cannot reiterate that enough. The Mariners are terrible and haven't been drawing anyone to the games. Seahawks fans are only into their team if they're on a playoff run. People look at my fandom here and think I'm insane - I drive around with a "GOBUFLO" license plate, I have Sunday Ticket, etc. Some have even asked me why I root for the Bills when I don't live there anymore, and that I should root for the Seahawks. Hogwash. It's sad - but I'd wager to guess that the most popular sport here is actually soccer. The EPL is talked about more at work than the NFL.

This has the potential go to down in history as one of the best threads in TSW history...

Good job.

Linebacker? Tackle? No! Russ needs to sell tickets! Bring back Donahoe! Ralphie has flashbacks Wide right, damn that Norwood guy! Let's draft a kicker.

This guy likes to bang the table: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa9LNPwZIGA

I don't understand why any team deals with Belichick. The other team ALWAYS gets fleeced...

BUF @ KC OAK @ BUF NE @ BUF BUF @ CIN PHI @ BUF BUF @ NYG BYE WAS @ BUF TORONTO NYJ @ BUF BUF @ DAL BUF @ MIA BUF @ NYJ TEN @ BUF BUF @ SD MIA @ BUF DEN @ BUF BUF @ NE

A grand total of 0 national games. No surprises there.

I don't think the 30-year lifespan is really accurate anymore. Yes, that is the case with the stadiums built in the late 60s to the mid-80s. However, almost all of those stadiums were built on the cheap, were cookie-cutter, and complete eyesores from the get-go. The "I need a new stadium" era was really ushered in by the tremendous success of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. That facility is now 19 years old. I don't think anyone's of the opinion that Camden Yards is within 10 years of needing to be replaced.

I think the better question is what has Ralph done FOR the fans. Pegula's group has made it clear that they want to please the fans - from the alumni night, to the chats on the website, to having a "slug" appreciation day where they'll destroy all signs of the old logo, to the very clear mission statement of winning a Stanley Cup with no financial mandates. They've done things like fix hot water in the bathrooms and correct season-long issues with the scoreboards in a matter of days after finding out about them. When has Ralph done ONE of those things, let alone all of them in a period of six weeks? Combine this with losing a regular season game to Toronto, the fact that he was so embarassed about the team's performance that he called off his HoF ring ceremony in the middle of a game, and the constant threat of the team moving. It's clear to me through these latest PR moves that the Sabres are trying to demonstrate that they want to earn their fans' money, while the Bills ownership isn't doing very much to show that they care.

I know this has been discussed before, but I think the events of the past week or so warrant another look. In the past week, we've seen the Sabres do the following: - Fly in any and all of their willing alumni, all expenses paid, to the home finale for a fan appreciation night. This is supposedly one of the largest gathering of alumni for a single team in NHL history. - Their President chatted with fans online for THREE HOURS, literally taking suggestion after suggestion and answering question after question. - Send staff across the continent to Vancouver to nail down upcoming facility upgrades. - Vault from the NHL's basement to get into the playoffs. This is all on top of Pegula's statements to do literally anything he can to produce a Stanley Cup winning team on the ice. He has literally said everything a fan has wanted to hear, and so far, he's lived up to what he's said. I also think most will agree that the Sabres have played second fiddle to the Bills in Buffalo. I am beginning to wonder if the tide is starting to shift on that. Throughout their history, the Bills have largely ignored their fanbase, and at times, alienated it badly by doing things ranging from banning negative signage to giving off the impression that they invest the bare minimum amount of money into the franchise - just enough to keep it operating. Combine that with the lockout situation, poor play the past 10 seasons, and constant threat of the team moving... and it's making the Sabres look better and better. Now obviously it's only been weeks, and we have no way of knowing what's going to happen with the Sabres over the next few years. But I do think that the Bills eventually need to do something concrete to respond to this. Russ Brandon signing an overpriced aging free agent isn't going to cut it anymore. The bottom line is that the Bills and Sabres are competing for the fans' money. Buffalo fans haven't known an owner with Terry's commitment to winning before. Now that they actually seem to have one, and Ralph is looking more and more like a doofus, one can only hope that it serves as a wake up call to this horribly messed up organization.

I have cruised to Alaska, but not on HAL. We took Celebrity and had a great time. Based solely on the people I saw in port: - HAL passengers definitely were older than average. This really stood out. Their ships in Alaska also looked a lot older than the other lines. - Royal Caribbean seemed to have more families than average. - Celebrity had a good mix of people. I do know that they're the costlier division of Royal Caribbean, and yes, it did seem like the audience tilted a bit more affluent there. - Carnival only had one ship, and it looked nice, but never saw any passengers. Their reputation when I was doing research was that they skew younger, but Alaska cruises always skew older, so I don't really know what the Alaska experience is like with them. Edit: Oh, forgot about NCL, not sure why. The audience seemed similar to Royal Caribbean. They seemed to have at least 2 different ships in port when our ship was there. Honestly for an Alaska cruise, I wouldn't recommend them. Alaska caters to an older, more refined, traditional crowd than do other locations. NCL's "Freestyle Cruising" gets rants and raves... so if you're looking for set dinner times, non-buffet food, etc... look to a traditional line.

Pandora/Slacker radio + smartphone with data plan + AUX jack on the car = no need for terrestrial radio anymore! Slacker will even add DJs and hourly news updates if you want them to.

The question wasn't clear at all - they could have been only looking for explicit powers or implied powers. The ICC is definitely explicitly stated - but there are tons of powers via the elastic clause that are also reserved for the feds that relate to ICC. Patents, for example, would be one, even though the Constitution doesn't explicitly state it. Edit: FAIL on me. Apparently patents are stated in the Constitution. Serves me right for trying to be cute. The classic example of the elastic clause is the National Bank. Certainly allowed because it "promotes the general welfare", but never explicitly stated.

I hope the hamsters made it out ok. They can be very controlling.

They made it pretty clear he was going to crush all opposition. But They then disappeared. Where did They go?

President Pro Tem is the senior leader of the majority party the Senate, which is currently Inouye of HI. I originally thought it was Akaka, those two are easy to mix up... born within days of each other. And yes, I got 100% correct.

If any country was prepared to deal with a situation like this, Japan was it... and yet still look at how bad things are. It should speak volumes to how unprepared we currently are when (not if) a subduction zone quake hits Cascadia. The fact that they now have to deal with a possible nuclear core meltdown is just insane. Pray for the people of Japan - this is one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the world.

I realize it was a paltry $50k increase, but still, Evans triggered an escalator? Any guesses on what it might be - he didn't even start all 16 games!

I enjoy Tim's chips, the recently discontinued cracked peppercorn was great, no clue why they dumped it. I'd say my favorite now is the Sweet Maui Onion.

Actually the CBS point is an interesting one. In 1994, when FOX intially got the NFL rights, they grabbed almost everyone they could from CBS that did NFL work. Bradshaw, Summerall, Madden, Millen, and Stockton all did NFL work for CBS and were brought over to Fox. Buck started on the "D" team with Tim Green in 1994. Also recall that McCarver, who did work for CBS (with Jack Buck, incidently), came to Fox in 1996. He likely had a say in who he was going to work with. In fact, Buck didn't even announce a single football game for FOX in 1998, 1999, and 2000. In 2001, he was on the "E" team with Baldinger. The next season, he got promoted to the "A" team once Madden and Summerall were finished. Buck likely got the job by default in 2002 because he was the lead MLB announcer, and they wanted consistency across their brand. If it was strictly due to his performance, I would literally be shocked.

I disagree. Buck is completely out of his league as Fox's #1 announcer. Compare him to Al Michaels, Jim Nantz, or even Mike Tirico. Sure, Michaels is a jerk that's full of himself, but he's very good at what he does. Nantz is a Patriots* homer, but again, he has a good voice and calls the action well. Tirico has a good rapport with Jaws and Gruden, and since MNF has put the focus back on X's and O's, it's actually a really enjoyable broadcast to watch. Buck, on the other hand, has a voice that is almost a perfect monotone, only changing volume rather than pitch. His personality is as awful as Al Michaels'. I don't see him as a homer for one particular team, but he definitely injects a lot more negative opinion into his broadcasts than most. This guy was hired by Fox at age 25 with little experience other than announcing 2 seasons of Cardinals baseball with his dad. While I can't say with 100% certainty that Fox has him in that slot because of his father (or because he knows someone), there are only a few limited conclusions I can draw given his near universal dislike amongst MLB and NFL fans. To me, those are the two most likely.

Jauron was horrible for sure. But given the ownership situation, the front office, and the roster situation, do you really think McCarthy would have done any better? It's the same problem as the other thread. Had we drafted Rodgers or Roethlisberger they would have likely been the next Losman.

Done!