Dennis in NC

If you want a different career later, would law school really be a black mark on your record? (Try not to insert lawyer joke here...) I know attorneys have a bad reputation in the general public, but wouldn't some law background be a good basis in business or marketing? If it really feels like the wrong field for you, maybe it is. Don't let family and friend pressure sway your decision. It's your life, dammit. College is a discovery process, anyhow. My brother had 7 different majors in his first 7 semesters. Then, he dropped out! He got a BA about 15 yrs later, though. Good luck with it. Changing direction need not be a bad thing.

Holy cow, I read your topic and thought maybe old "Statch-mo" got cut by the Cowboys. Thankfully, false alarm, he is still with the Boys. Looking forward to more stories about how the Cowboy players admire Drew's finely sculpted physique, and his ability to stay in one spot.

Man, you are doing an awful lot of THINKING!

On a related note, there was a very interesting program on NFL Channel, where Gruden was trying to teach Chris Simms the long stream of terminology for a play. Simms was not getting it, Gruden was pissed. That stuff sounds VERY complicated...

I tend to agree on keeping the 4 RBs. I think a TE can fill in at FB if needed. Or Gates or Lee could do some FB work. I agree Fast Freddie is gone, replaced by Haddad. Leonhard at SS? Maybe. I'll take Leonhard, the little guy with instincts and guts over the karate kid. I wish we could keep Woodbury, but PS elig is surely gone. DB to be "singed" later... Nice Freudian slit, oops, I mean slip!

The companies were unrelated. The families may have been distantly related. Bob Moog did live in East Aurora before he left WNY.

You are probably correct about the gelatin factory. The slaughterhouse thing may have been an exaggeration (that they told us kids), but there was definitely animal processing in there.

The factory was in Williamsville, in an old slaughterhouse at the end of Academy St. Then, they moved it to the GEX/Superflea site on Walden. I was an electronics technician there. When it was in Wmsvl, it was the most fun job I ever had. When they moved, they knuckled down to a big production environment, and took all the fun out of it. I remember attending the garage sale at Bob Moog's house before he moved to NC. Man, was that a wonderland of cool stuff for electronic music junkies!

That's funny, too, about the special teams. I keep hearing that as the reason Coy hangs on is his ST work. But I'm watching these games (and rewinding some ST plays just to see what new guys are doing what), and I don't see Coy out there on ST. Does anyone here know what position Coy plays, and on which units? He's seems to not be on ST much, or is that because they are trying out so many new guys? I've seen Lionel Gates and Tory Woodbury and Geo Wilson flying down there making tackles of the return men, but where is the "captain" in all of this? I realize they can't all be gunners, but I would expect the ST captain to have SOME visibility...

I was also very disappointed in Sam Aiken in the Packers game. Was it twice that he failed to come back when JP expected him to be there? (Or was it just once, but I watched the game twice?!) For all of Aiken's apparent skills (good size and speed), he seems to be underachieving. They can't all be Eric Moulds, of course, but I expected more from Aiken now in his 3rd (?) season.

I just watched part of the Green Bay game again, and Coy Wire was blitzing, and had his arms around the waist (?) of QB Craig Nall, but Nall got the pass away and was still standing after the play. It's not often you will see a blitzing safety NOT bring down a QB. There was no RB or OL helping the QB avoid the blitzer. Wire clung to Nall, just could not bring him down. Doesn't Jerry Gray teach fundamental tackling? And wouldn't he notice when one of his safeties does it very poorly?

This is not a matter of picking some underachieving player and making him a whipping boy. Watch the man play football, and see if you would choose him to play on your team. He may have led the Bills in tackles yesterday, but he probably had lots of PT in which to reach that milestone. In watching the playback, I replayed many of Wire's tackles. When Coy begins his tackle, the runner frequently gets another 2 or 3 yards just due to the nature of Wire's "drag 'em down by the leg" style. I know Antoine Winfield is an extreme example of a tackler, but when AW tackled you, you would generally get NO MORE YARDS! I don't expect any DB to match AW's tackling prowess, but the friggin' Jills could probably drag a runner down by the ankle once he has already gone by!

I watched the game, sort of keeping an eye on Wire, just to see how bad the guy really is. What I see is that he almost always tackles a guy (if you can consider it "tackling") by the lower leg. I'm trying to find any instance of the old "open field tackle" where Coy faces the man and wraps him up, taking him down! I'm not sure this is in Wire's repertoire. I really don't like to harp on a guy, but in this case, I think it is warranted. He is out of his league out there on the field. Let's hope cutdown day implements that "out of his league" thing. Led the team in tackles??? He was out there much of the 2nd half, and made some tackles (ankle tackles!). I recall hearing other DBs names called for making plays. Marvin Ward, Oglesby, and especially Jim Leonhard.

Sape showed some skills the other day, blocking the punt. Joe Burns has done well on ST, but fairly useless as an RB, IMO. Sobieski would be in the poll if anybody knew who the hell he was...

Absolutely! I love what Jim Leonhard brings to the team! I hope they find a spot for him. This kid is just an instinctive football player, who also studies his game! His punt returns tonight may help him land a spot. Check this story of how he studies punt returns. Leonhard as punt returner I LOVE THIS KID!

In the Colts game (I have not seen the GBay game yet), when the play was in front of him, he managed to whiff on the tackle. "Hey, can't those receivers run in a straight line??? Geez, how am I supposed to catch him if he's zig-zaggin'???" I was surprised to hear that the Bills had extended his contract thru 2006. I don't know when (or WHY) they did that...

I finally finished watching last week's game. It was SteveWin, I think, who mentioned that Coy is among the best... at leaping onto the pile. Wire played most of the 2nd half, and many times he was the 3rd guy in, sliding in on his knees to make sure the runner did not spring to his feet. It's just amazing how Wire has hung on, when he seems to have NO BUSINESS playing in the NFL. I would rather have Evan Oglesby or Marvin Ward get that roster spot. I believe Tory Woodbury would be a better safety that Coy Wire. Ple-e-e-e-ease, coach, make Coy Wire go away! I know he's a nice man and all, but he does not belong on this team. Thank you, SteveWin, for your campaign...

Oops, someone posted actual numbers, Bailey 7 yrs/63 mil. Even at "only" $9M/year, I don't think it is prudent.

Champ Bailey gets $63 for 6 years, I think. Nate wants more than that? I say, just franchise him and get a good draft pick out of the deal. The Chesapeake Basin Indiginous Peoples or some other team will pay him. $11 million per year for a cornerback? I would say NO.

Busy week, I finally got to watch the Indy game tonight. In the 2nd Q, Wire pushes a WR before the ball arrives. A penalty is called, but it's Pass Int on #57 (not sure if Stamer was on the field at the time). Anyhoo, the Indy announcers show the Wire replay, say it was an Unnecessary Toughness infraction. (slip of the tongue) I was amused, wondered if anyone else heard it.

After screwing around with guitar for decades, I took some lessons again last year. It's a lot of fun, but I think I'm a bass player at heart. I plan to buy a bass in a few months. It was good to read your words about the world needing more bass players! Bass players are sort of like the offensive linemen of the band...

Losman, thanks.

I saw the "Peas" on Leno a while back, and even if you are tolerant of people who think they are rappers, they completely sucked. Simply rubbish. They eked out one good song "Where Is The Love?", a Grammy nominee back in '04. What a fluke! They just suck. And the chick (who seemed like the least un-talented in their TV appearance) pees her pants on stage? Class-less, all the way.

I think there is more to playing music than just the "creative" aspect of writing your own songs, expressing your own feelings that way. That's a great aspect, but the cover band playing all your favorite tunes at a bar is important as well, at least to me. Mostly, Johnny, I wondered why the finger-picking of the bass irked you! Oh, well...

Have any of you bass enthusiasts in the Buffalo area come across a Gibson EB-O, single pickup with the original finish removed? It has a rather large crack in the peg head, so it literally has "a plate in it's head". It has an aluminum plate on the back of the peg head to compensate for the big crack. If anyone has seen this dear old friend, let me know, PM me or whatever. I actually purchased it at a pawn shop in the Augusta Georgia Greyhound station back when I was in the Army. It had no case, so I brought it home sticking out of my duffel bag. I sold/traded it back in the 80s, and wish I had not sold it. Such is life. I am thinking about buying a bass again some time soon.