Sound_n_Fury

I can't get too worked up over "conspiracies" about facing a rookie coach of our #1 rival at home and Marty Schottenheimer on the road....

He was making $3 million per season with the Bears. That's more than Nate Clements $2.5 million salary (yet another reason why Nate's upcoming contract will probably be too rich for the Bills...talentwise, McQuarters isn't even in the same area code as Clements). No thanks, unless he come in at the vet minimum.

Titans | Nash Sits out Practice - from www.KFFL.com Mon, 23 May 2005 15:22:34 -0700 Chase Williams, of the Titans Radio Network, reports Tennessee Titans rookie RB Damien Nash (knee) missed practice Monday, May 23 due to complications with his knee. "Damien's getting an MRI done on his knee, it's swelled up a little," head coach Jeff fisher said. "He had a previous condition with it, so we're just looking at the knee." Titans | Nash to see More Reps - from www.KFFL.com Thu, 19 May 2005 06:42:43 -0700 Jim Wyatt, reports for the Tennessean, Tennessee Titans RB Chris Brown's (hand) broken hand will mean rookie Damien Nash will see more reps in practice.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?p...7&notFound=true At Champps in Reston, general manager Kevin O'Hare described police as "antagonistic." He said they "pulled" people from their chairs who were making no commotion. "They're always welcome to come in anytime," he said of police. "It's not an issue when they talk to our guests. But when they actually pull people out of their seats, it is an issue. When it's borderline harassment, it's an issue." One man who was arrested during one of the police raids acknowledged having several drinks during the course of the afternoon, but said he was not driving or acting unruly as he sat at a table with several work colleagues. He had just finished singing "Jingle Bell Rock" on the karaoke machine when an officer asked him to step outside. He failed a breath test and was taken in a van to jail. "I've lived my life with tremendous respect for the rule of law," said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is contesting the charges. Now his respect is tarnished. "You could be anybody, anywhere, and they can take you out and throw you in jail," he said. ". . .I didn't do anything other than to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sounds like Virgina's the place where this is going on: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=30288 "Virginia statutes say any business with a liquor license is considered a public place; therefore, police are allowed free access. If they find someone over the legal alcohol limit of .08, or suspect a customer of being intoxicated while still being served or present in an establishment, police can issue a ticket for public intoxication." http://www.getmadd.com/BarsofVirginia.htm "But what exactly is illegal use of alcohol? During the raids the policemen used a BAC standard of .08 as grounds for arrest. The thing is, .08 is the level at which it is illegal to drive a motor vehicle, not sit on a barstool. Virginia law doesn’t specify what level of blood alcohol constitutes public drunkenness. " http://www.prisonplanet.com/a_crime_to_drink.html "If the law says that if you are in a public location and intoxicated, you are subject to arrest," said Lt. Tor Bennett of the Reston District of the Fairfax County Police Department. He said that in practice, people who are a little intoxicated but minding their own business are probably not going to be bothered by police. The person "must be drawing attention to themselves," said Bennett, who supervised the operation. "What drew their attention to Mike [Heidig] in this particular evening was not a fight or disruption out in the parking lot," Bennett said. "Mike happened to be wearing a Santa Claus suit and was seen with a karoke machine at the bar and that's how he got arrested." Under Virginia law, a restaurant or bar is considered a public space, and public intoxication is a low-level misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $250 and can also be punishable by a night in jail.

Name of town, please? I'd like to check out the newspaper account of this "sting."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/s.../fb/nfl/3192107 May 21, 2005, 12:19AM Tackle draws Texans' interest By CARLTON THOMPSON Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The Texans are among several teams expressing interest in free-agent left tackle L.J. Shelton, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals on Wednesday. Shelton, a first-round pick in 1999, was the Cardinals' starting left tackle for most of the past five seasons, but was benched last season after falling out of favor with coach Dennis Green. Seth Wand is the Texans' starter at left tackle, but often switched positions with left guard Chester Pitts during coaching sessions this week. The Texans signed veteran Victor Riley last week, and tried to trade for Pro Bowler Orlando Pace earlier in the offseason, making it clear the left side of the offensive line — more specifically left tackle — is unsettled. "Seth knows that we're going to try to put the best five guys on the field and look for the best combination of five guys," Texans coach Dom Capers said. " ... We weren't pleased with the amount of sacks we gave up last year. The whole goal is to come out with the most efficient five and the best five." Signability could be an issue between the Texans and Shelton, who was due a base salary of $3 million in each of the next four years and will command a lot of interest.

Hey, you stole my pick! Always go with the Rass-lers'

Bupkis. Buffalo's the 46th largest media market in the U.S. In a 32-team league, that means only 15 markets have more households: 1. Los Angeles......5,431,140 (failed home to two NFL teams) 2. Sacramento......1,315,030 (part of the 49ers marketing region) 3. Orlando............1,303,150 (not a football town) 4. Portland............1,086,900 (Go Ducks!) 5. Harford.............1,017,530 (part of Patriot nation) 6. Raleigh................966,720 (Panthers marketing territory) 7. Columbus............867,490 (Browns and Bengels territory) 8. Greenville............813,210 (Gamecocks rule!) 9. Salt Lake City......800,000 (Mormons could care less about NFL) 10. San Antonio.........748,950 (a possible relocation threat, but Cowboys territory) 11. West Palm Beach..729,010 (Dolfins territory) 12. Birmingham..........717,300 (who cares) 13. Norfolk.................707,750 (Redskins country) 14. Memphis...............658,250 (Titans marketing territory) 15. Oklahoma City......655,250 (Kansas City territory) http://www.nielsenmedia.com/metered_markets.html With the exception of LA, Portland and San Antonio (and maybe Louisville someday, but they didn't distinguish themselves with their XFL attendance), no city on this list has a better claim to having an NFL team than Buffalo. Throw in the 2.5 million household in the Toronto/Hamilton market that also get the TV signal from Buffalo and the Bills region looks even more attractive. New Orleans (675,760 households, 46th) is only slightly larger than Buffalo and Jacksonville (613,000, 52nd) is smaller, BTW. Green Bay, of course, is the classic small market anomally. As you say, TV revenue/ratings are the largest driver of the NFL's operating model. But ticket and merchandise sales are also important and the Bills do quite well nationally in these areas. Ralph's research on small market TV viewership is also interesting. Households in smaller markets (like Buffalo) tend to watch more Sunday and Monday night NFL games than those in large market, both on a relative and absolute basis. Here are the Top-10 Local Market Household Ratings (For all Super Bowl games since 1999) 1. Kansas City - 49% 2. Denver - 48.2% 3. Washington DC - 47% 4. Tampa-St. Petersburg - 46.9% 5. Atlanta - 46.7% 5. Dallas-Ft. Worth - 46.7% 7. Buffalo - 46.6% 7. New Orleans - 46.6% 9. Jacksonville - 46.5% 10. Pittsburgh - 45.9% 28. Boston (Manchester) - 43.3% 29. Philadelphia - 43% http://www.spectramarketing.com/news/p_2005_superbowl.jsp You're right, WNY would never get an expansion team today, if the Bills had never existed. We're just not a high-profile ("sexy") enough market. However, I don't feel the NFL has any problem keeping a team here, given the strong support year-after-year from fans within a 200 mile radius of RWS and all the former WNY-ers around the country.

Silver's only motivation is to make Pataki's life miserable (not that George is helping his own cause much). If the Gov was moving ahead strongly on Ground Zero redevelopment, 'ol Sheldon would be giving him grief about not supporting a new West Side stadium.

Actually, Henry's from Frostproof, FL (he's also a Vols' alumni, so the Titans would be a good fit marketing-wise). I always thought that a guy from a place called "Frostproof" would've been a big hit in Buffalo, but I guess it wasn't meant to be...

Up, up and away... http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumorm4.jpg

Cards MB chatter...what a hoot! http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=53862

Browns | Winslow Out for the Season - from www.KFFL.com Wed, 18 May 2005 16:34:17 -0700 Jim Donovan, of WKYC.com, reports Cleveland Browns TE Kellen Winslow Jr. (knee) will miss the entire 2005 season. His station, Channel 3 News, has learned that Winslow has a significant right knee injury. Results of Winslow's MRI have not been released, but Donovan is reporting sources told him the results show an injury to his ACL. The Winslow family will not allow the information to become public.

Actually, I thought Rice retired a few years ago. What we've seen has been a ghost moving slowly around the field. Unfortunately, he becomes invisible ten yards past the line of scrimage, so QBs have had a hard time getting the ball to him..... Hang 'em up Jerry, and start writing your HOF acceptance speech.

IMO, you've nailed the problem, Mr. Hammer! The only certainty in several decades of poor ticket sales processes are Jerry and the Mrs. While I admire Ralph for being very loyal to his friends, it's time to gracefully move this aspect of the Bills operations up a notch, or two. For folks bashing TD for any snafus, remember, the Forans are Ralph's people and Donahoe most likely has limited or no management oversight over their performance.

???? Are you saying Shelton's salary demands are going to increase now that he's on the street? Ah...I've got this big bridge I'm trying to sell. Do you think you might be interestedl!

I'm still confused. Was the problem with Ticketmaster or with the Bills ticket office at OBD?

"Losing is just not an option with me," he says. "Every play is like, 'We are not losing this game,' so you play every play like it's your last." All I can say is....Wow! It's been a long time since we've had that attitude around here from the QB position.

Howie Long! I've always thought he was the least deserving guy who ever made the HOF. But.....he's famous!! He's a pal of Bradshaw! http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=133

Sounds like Ticketmaster's the problem. Send em' a nasty e-mail! http://www.ticketmaster.com/h/management.html About Ticketmaster Ticketmaster is the world's leading ticketing company, providing ticket sales and distribution through www.ticketmaster.com, one of the largest e-commerce sites on the Internet; approximately 3,300 retail Ticket Center outlets; 19 worldwide telephone call centers; and a broad online and offline marketing network. Ticketmaster serves more than 9,000 clients worldwide across multiple event categories, providing exclusive ticketing services for hundreds of leading arenas, stadiums, performing arts venues, museums, and theaters, and sold 98 million tickets valued at $5 billion in 2004. Ticketmaster is headquartered in West Hollywood, California and is an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq: IACI).

I had season tix throughout the whole run and went to SB XXVI in Minneapolis. Despite the lossses, the Bills provided the best sports memories I'll ever have (and they only grow fonder with time). Enjoy the Eagles success while you can. It's likely to last a few more years...and who knows, you may win the big one yet.

Another thing working against Andre is that the Bills have had five guys inducted into the HOF over the past six years: Joe D (2003) James Lofton (2003) Jim Kelly (2002) Marv Levy (2001) Billy Shaw (1999) The selectors probably will want to take a break on the Bills players for a few years.

I think it'll be harder for the Bills to match the five inductees from the Vikes. (actually, it's six if you include Bud Grant). "Sports media" has become big business over the past decade and the selection process is more about marketing than ever. I don't think Krause (1998) would get in today, if he hadn't already made it. Tark was a media darling, so that added a lot of juice to his selection. Eller wasn't inducted until last year (26 years after he retired). Yary was inducted 20 years after he retired. Andre's best shot might come 10-15 years from now thru the veterans' committee.

Yep, I thought the same. I guess it's a wind resistance thing...