The Avenger

This guy has a stroke and now has a hole in his heart - unbelievable. These are problems you get when you're 75, not a young professional athlete. God bless to Teddy - hope he can fight these things off.

Is your neighbor David Ortiz? That guy looks exactly like Shrek except for the ears: David Ortiz Shrek

Blackjack isn't a good comparison to poker or sports betting. In blackjack the house makes money on the odds being better for the house. In poker the house makes money by skimming the pot. In sports betting they make money via the vig. Poker and sports betting make money by the volume of bets placed, blackjack is based on the odds.

Hamilton College - good school. I was just own the road at Colgate University ('92). Strangely enough, Colgate is located in Hamilton, NY but Hamilton College is located in Clinton, NY. You must have been ticked at the 60 Minutes story a few months back where they did a story about schools that just gave away degrees to anyone via mail - they highlighted a "school" called Hamilton University. I kept waiting for the story to point out that Hamilton University, while a sham, shouldn't be confused with Hamilton College, a very good school, but they never did. I imagine many Hamilton alums were ticked...

Now that Fleet Bank has been absorbed by Bank of America the Fleet Center (home of the Boston Bruins and Celtics) is looking for a new permanent name. They decided to sell the name on a daily basis - some kid had it named after him by Make a Wish, etc. They autioned a name on EBay and a NYC lawyer won it. His proposed name: Derek Jeter Arena. I'm a Red Sox fan and I hate the Yanks, but you gotta give kudos to to that dude - that's some great thinking. Derek Jeter Arena?

So you can't like the Red Sox because many of those baseball fans are also Pats fans? The way I see it, most of us Bills fans are fans because we have some connection to Buffalo (live/lived there, went to school in Buffalo, etc.). Buffalo has never had a major league baseball team - the closest thing was the Blue Jays. We should be allowed to root for any baseball team we chose because we don't have a team of our own. I guess by your logic though we should all root for the Jays as most Jays fans are probably Bills fans living so close to Buffalo. Funny how many people here are big Yankee fans even though they rail against NYC and how it kills the entire state of NY and should become its own state. I've never figured that one out.

This line sums it up: And if I offended you, Oh I'm sorry But, maybe you needed to be offended But here's my apology and one more thing...F**k you!

Big Dumb Sex from their Sub-Pop days - there's a song you'll never hear on radio...

I'd have to go with: Vote with a Bullet - Corrosion of Conformity (the opening to that song rocks - should be used as intro music for wrestling or something). I'M Broken - Pantera Just about anything else by Pantera including Walk and F'ing Hostile. You Can't Bring Me Down - Suicidal Tendencies

Thanks Rich for running the league! Sorry I haven't been around - my twins were born 12/6 and my son just got home yesterday after having heart surgery the day after he was born - it's been crazy to say the least! Looking forward to next season - by then my life should have some sort of rythem to it and fantasy football should be easier to keep up with (next year I'm not settling for second!). If it's not too late and OK with you can I have next year's entry fee deducted from any winnings coming my way?

I was able to find one on EBay last year and snapped it up. If you know what it is you're a serious Bills fan. I don't quite know how a littly plastic hot dog with a marble in it became the noisemaker of choice for the Bills - it didn't have any Bills logos or references and wasn't even in team colors (when did the Bills ever wear green and yellow?). Really a very bizzare item, but a must for hard core fans. As I understand it they were recalled because the paint on them was lead based - maybe that's just a myth?

I agree with Vic 100%. You get what you deserve and the Bills didn't play well enough for the entire season to be shoo-ins for the postseason. Playoff spots are awarded for your record over the entire season, not just the last 7 games. You simply can't drop games like Jacksonville and Oakland and expect that you deserve a playoff spot because you had a strong finish. I want the Bills to make the playoffs more than anything, but I have a nagging feeling that our inability to stop the Jags final drive in week 1 was the start and end of our season - that may really come back to haunt us.

Unfortunately, playoff spots are based on the ENTIRE season, not just the last 3/4 of it. The Bills have won convincingly recently, but the Jacksonville and Oakland losses really killed us. If we don't make the playoffs we have nobody to blame except ourselves and the inability to win those games early in the season. It sucks that even playing so well now we need help from other teams.

Just wanted to wish a Merry Christmas to all the folks out there who never get to take a holiday due to the nature of their work. My son (19 days old) is recovering from heart surgery in the hospital today and he has a great network of doctors and nurses who have to work today. While the rest of us can relax and spend time with friends and family, folks like doctors, nurses, police, firemen and soldiers are all on the job doing for the rest of us. If you're on the job today, Merry Christmas!

Let me start by saying I like Drew - I'm not a Drew basher at all and I'd like to see him succeed and lead the Bills to greatness. I agree that the Bills won the Seattle game in spite of Drew. The team, as a team, played a very strong game and it showed in the final score. However, any time your quarterback throws three picks, all of which were his fault (i.e. - not tipped by receivers) and you don't get hurt by them you have to consider yourself pretty lucky. Picks kill drives, but often time they lead to points by the other team. The Bills played well enough to ensure the picks didn't lead to points by Seattle, but that's the reason it's more than fair to say that the Bills won in spite of Bledsoe.

My take on the issue - you need to decide whether you're going to give yourself the best shot at the playoffs this year or enhance your chances of doing it next year. If you chose the former and want it this year Bledsoe probably gives the Bills a better chance to win now. The problem is that we would almost need to run the table and go 10-6 to make the playoffs and even 10 wins won't guarantee a spot in the AFC this year. If you decide you want to give yourself the best possible chance to make the 2005 playoffs Losman needs to see some playing time prior to next year. Not as a #3 QB where he'll only play in blowout games (good or bad blowouts). He needs to be #2 and at least rotated into the offense and see real time. Every rookie has their issues. Eli Manning looks bad now because he's a rookie making rookie mistakes. If you look at his fundamentals you'll see he's probably going to be a good QB once he gets some experience and stops making rookie mistakes. Same should go for Losman - he has to acclimate to the pro game by making and learning from his mistakes. He might be able to do that in practices as he rides the bench, but I think the best way would be to put him into some games.

My vote goes to Annette Benning - she was absolutely fantastic in American Beauty - one of the best performances I've seen in a long time. Go rent it - she's great.

The Macy's Thanksgiving parade - ugghh! That thing is like one giant halftime show on floats that just goes on and on and on... One Up With People! group of kids after another. B-List celebrities lip-synching to stupid songs - does anyone really want to see Raven Symone lip-synch on 34th street? My wife loves it so I can't change the channel for a few hours. Please, God, make it kickoff time, please?

You need to diversify yo' bonds, niggah..... Does Wayne Brady have to choke a ho?

Yeah - thought that was brilliant, too! An interview with a mystery person! Even the Buffalo News site (if you go to their page on the Bills) makes no mention of who is being questioned. Maybe it's a contest? First person to answer correctly gets to replace Drew Bledsoe as QB?

You have to look at what's growing and what's being taxed. In a 401k you are putting in tax free money and investing over a good deal of time (presumably you aren't doing this for just a couple of years before retirement). In a Roth you're starting with after tax dollars and letting them grow over time. Assuming you're investing for 20+ years, most of the money you get on the way out will be on the growth or your investment, not the dollars you're actually putting in (remember - compounding interest). It's far more advantageous to not be taxed on the growth (Roth) than it is to not be taxed on the dollars you put in (401k) if the money in the end is mostly from growth. That's why a Roth is great. The 401k is great because you have matching contributions from employers (free money) and it may put you into a lower tax bracket for your income taxes.

I'll take apple - mmm.....

This is where the game starts to get out of hand. Offense goes 3 and out and the D never gets a rest. Think the D is doing a poor job of stopping the run now? Wait until they're worn out because they are never off the field.

Exactly - if you give up the long drives and also give up big plays you're going to get thumped - we look terrible.

It's a political move by some stations. It's a way for them to proclaim that they are essentially barred from showing any sort of programming that might be considered controversial becaue there is no clear guidance from the FCC. There seems to be no distinction between a top notch movie tribute to veterans like "Ryan" and any sort of sitcom or drama with violence/sex/rough language in the eyes of the FCC - they refused to clear stations for showing it and seemed to take the approach of "if the public launches complaints about the broadcast we'll let you know if you're in trouble". I wouldn'tr anything I wasn't 100% sure I wasn't going to get in trouble for if nobody told me the rules ahead of time. All it takes is one person to file a complaint to the FCC and you've got a big fine (even if the network pays for it). The FCC should be forced to spell out exactly what is allowable/not allowable in such situations and then stations can make informed choices on what to air and what not to air. If the FCC is going to be wishy-washy and non-comittal this is what happens.