gusbuf

Mods, if this is not acceptable, I understand and just let me know if you remove this post. No worries. No hard feelings. Always much love for TBD! Hopefully it is ok. I have been a member of this site for years, mostly lurking and reading, with not much posting myself. But I enjoy this site immensely. One of my nephews is a current freshman at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. For his fraternity's upcoming Dad's weekend, they are accepting donations to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Our extended family in particular have been severely affected by cancer, and very recently, unfortunately. My parents, who are my nephew's grandparents (Nonnie and Boppy), both died from cancer, in 2020, and in 2023. My cousin, daughter of my mom's sister, who is only in her thirties, was just diagnosed with cancer and just had surgery. My wife's two uncles and her grandfather all ied from brain tumors. All were long time Bills season ticket holders. My dad even attended games at the Rockpile when he was much younger. Our whole family are die-hard Bills fans. My wife and I are 24yr STHs as well. Even though my nephews live in Chicago, we turned them into Bills fans! Given that the Bills Mafia are the most generous and philanthropic fanbase in the world, I figured I would come to you directly. Thus, if anyone could spare even a dollar or two to donate to this cause, it would be greatly appreciated. My nephew's name is Jesse. Here is the link to donate. If anyone does donate, when they ask for your name or if you want to remain anonymous, please just write "Bills Mafia" or "Go Bills." I think they will figure out who its from. Thanks to anyone who reads this post, and double thanks if you decide to donate to this cause. Much love. And, as always, GO BILLS! https://zbt.crowdchange.co/44719

Leonhard di not prove he was a good HC. Granted, he didn't really get a real opportunity to do that in just a handful of games. But AD Chris McIntosh thankfully was looking at the big picture and where he and every Badger alum want this program to go. That meant starting over with the McIntosh/Fickell Era, rather than continuing with the Barry Alvarez tree. Barry is a living legend at UW, but it was time for a new direction. Leonhard was offered the DC job by Fickell, but I don't blame him for rejecting the offer. He would have had to swallow some major pride there. Leonhard will land on his feet with a great opportunity. He loves the college game, but if he takes a DC position in the NFL, and has a lot of success early, he will get both college and NFL coaching offers. Fickell may only be at UW until he Lans a true blue-blood position like OSU or similar. So be it. As long as he is at UW, I know the Badgers are in great hands.

Loyalty is great, but not to a fault. And JL leaving has led to Graham Mertz leaving, which is a major addition by subtraction. Most overhyped "5-star" QB recruit ever. Had one good game his whole career, and it was his first game. Good riddance.

As a Badger alum who literally watched every game Leonhard played in and more recently, coached in, I have to give my two cents on this. First off, Jim Leonhard is a brilliant DC. His defenses were always at the top of the Big Ten and more often than not, top 10 nationally. This was with mainly 3-star recruits, with just a sprinkling of a few 4-star recruits thrown in. Wisconsin didn't get the 4 and 5-star recruits. Paul Chryst and his staff were not the best recruiters. But they were good at getting hard nosed kids who would run through a brick wall for the opportunity to be a Badger, and there are a number of productive active NFL players now who recently played in Leonhard's D, especially at LB (Watt, Biegel, Van Ginkel, Sanborn, Cichy, Chenal, Connelly, et al). But big picture, the program HAD to move away from an internal promotion. They needed new blood and a new direction. As much as I loved JL, it was time to move on from the Alvarez era (JL played for BA, Paul Chryst coached with BA on his staff). AD Chris McIntosh, a former Barry Alvarez academic all-American OL, took over last year. He made the right choice and went and hired, arguably, the best HC available. Fickell will have the Badgers back atop the Big Ten West in two years, and will have them legit challenging OSU and UM for the Big Ten title. There is always the fear he moves on to bigger and better things, but that is the price a program pays when their HC is successful, and there are bigger, better things out there (back to OSU). If he is with the Badgers for 4 or 5 seasons and then OSU decides they had enough of Day and make a move for Fickell, so be it. It means the Badgers under Fickell were really, really good. Jim Leonhard is a fantastic DC and deserves a shot as a HC at some university. He will probably get it too. Or, at the very least, he could move to eth NFL as a DC. He turned down the Packers once already to stay at Wisconsin. I will say, though, that Wisconsin did Leonhard a bit dirty with their hiring decision. All signs pointed to Leonhard being hired. However, losing to your two biggest rivals in the same season - Minnesota and Iowa - is not a good look. Fickell seems like a great person and his coaching record speaks for itself. Haven't been this excited about the Badger football program since Russell Wilson transferred to Wisconsin from NC State back in 2011. If Leslie Frazier gets a HC opportunity after this season, the Bills would be wise to at least interview Jim Leonhard. Heck, he played for the Bills, so there is already that connection.

Well respected Jets beat writer Manish Mehta leaked the Jets full schedule, so it truly is Bills at Jets week 1.

Looks like Russell Wilson enjoyed his visit with the Bills. http://twitter.com/#!/DangeRussWilson/status/187593664321691649/photo/1

Looks like he tied the knot this past weekend. Congrats to Russellmania! http://www2.timesdispatch.com/lifestyles/celebrations/2012/apr/08/i-do-i-do-ashton-meem-russell-wilson-ar-1818238/ Russell Wilson's trip to Gruden QB University on today on ESPNU http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/146854245.html Another good scouting report, this one from ROb Rang at CBS Sportsline. http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Draft-Buzz-Offense/0928a7f0-e78f-4d1c-b2a5-65f3c4ef4ffe

As a Wisconsin alum, I watch every game the Badgers play. Am I a bit biased? Sure, what alum isn't biased about his school's star players? Regardless, I can say without hesitation that Russell Wilson is the real deal. IMO, if he was 4" taller, he would be THE #1 pick in the draft. He's got a very strong arm. He's very accurate. He routinely makes something out of nothing. He has a great awareness of pressure and where to move to get away from it. He's extremely bright, and actually graduated from NC State early, which allowed him to play at Wisconsin the same year he transferred. He is very mature and is engaged to be married soon, if I am not mistaken. After being at Wisconsin for only the summer before the 2011 season, he made a big enough impression on his new teammates that they named him one of the team's captains for the season. Bear in mind, he came in knowing no one on the team, yet in just a couple months, easily won them over with his leadership skills, personality, and of course, his play on the field. Those of you concerned about his height. Sure, it would be great if he were 6'4. But he played behind a huge OL last year, and somehow managed to complete well over 70% of his passes with over 30 TDs and very few INTs. In fact, the Badger OL in 2011 would have been among the 10 biggest OL in the NFL. I believe they averaged about 325 lbs and 6'6" in height. Sure, there are really tall NFL DLs who will also be jumping up and waving their arms to knock down passes. But Wilson has the unique ability to create his own throwing lanes ala Drew Brees. IMO, if the Bills get him in the 4th round it is a steal. The guy has star written all over him. He has all the tools and all the intangibles......except for the fact that he's under 5' 11". But to me, a good scout will look beyond that and see if the guy can play, and Russell Wilson can flat out play. If the Bills draft him, he's immediately penciled in as Fitz's backup. And if he shows some serious skills in the preseason, he'll have the Bills brass feeling confident and feeling good that they can get out of that new Fitz deal after only three years. Its time for some RUSSELLMANIA in Buffalo! Go Bills! Go Badgers! Danny O'Brien FTW!

When was this article written? The top team on the list, the Phoenix Coyotes, left Phoenix and are now the Winnipeg Jets. Me thinks this may be an article from a couple years ago. My bad! I thought it was Phoenix who moved back to their original home in Winnipeg, when it was actually the Atlanta Thrashers.

The price is NEVER the price for Sunday Ticket if you know how to play the game. Call Directv. When the automated voice asks you the purpose of your call, say "cancel service." When she asks you to confirm, say "cancel service" again. This will take you to customer retention. They are much more willing to deal to keep you happy than are the regular, foreign-based CSRs. The list price of $335 is outrageous, especially in this economy. But I would say you should be able to get a discount if you hit the right CSR, and you are EXTREMELY FRIENDLY AND NOT PUSHY. Just state your case about the ads you saw for the premier package with free Sunday Ticket. Tell them you simply cannot justify keeping Sunday Ticket at the current listed price, and that ST is one of the things keeping you with Directv. They know that there are deals for Fios and cable in mailboxes, all over America, every mail delivery day. So as long as you truly do have a good history with them, you should do a lot better than the asking price of $335. Good luck.

Roscoe's score of 10 on the Wonderlic makes him look like a genius compared to another graduate of THE U, RB Frank Gore. Gore scored a wopping 6, yes S-I-X 6!

Love Matt bernstein. He is a beast. Known to Badger fans as the Hebrew Hammer. He is coming off a serious sports hernia that kept him out of 80% of last season, however. When healthy, he may already be better than Shelton.

Two confirmed UDFA's are 1) Rob Lee, a CB from Northern Illinois, and (2) Jim Leonhard, a safety from Wisconsin. I know nothing about Lee. As a Wisconsin alum and avid fan, I know a little something about Leonhard. He is undersized, but plays big. He is a ball hawk and graduated as one the Big Ten's all-time interceptions leaders. He also excelled at punt returns, returning several for TD's over his career. Caomparable to Mark Kelso, just a bit smaller and faster, minus the Great Kazoo helmet, of course! I would not be surprised to see him on the 53 man roster if he has a very good training camp.