The Avenger

Just wondering if there is a place I can go to get draft updates sent to my phone this weekend. It looks like Sprint has some video coverage if you're a Sprint customer, which I am not. I know V-coach will send out an alert on any of the Bills picks, but I'd like to be able to see what happens ahead of us in case I'm not in front of the TV. Anybody know where to sign up for e-mail/text updates of the draft?

If you want instant impact you're probably not talking about the O-line - those guys seem to have the toughest time jumping from college to the pros. Very few offensive linemen have an impact thei rookie year. I'm not say it's impossible or that the Bills should address that need in the first 3 rounds, just trying to have people not get suicidal if we go OL and don't get a guy who plays well in his first year.

I don't think OPEC is worrying too much about cars that use ethanol. I saw a story last night on the news about E85 ethanol, the variety that's still 15% gasoline and is supposed to be the fuel of the future (excuse me while I have a hearty laugh over that one ). Of the approximately 165,000 gas stations in the U.S. only 600 sell E85 and this is projected to go as high as 1000 stations by the end of the year (again ). The stations that do sell it are reporting that nobody buys it. But the biggest joke is that ethanol producers don't own gas stations. You can make all the ethanol you want, but if ExxonMobil isn't going to put it into their pumps, what good is it? They may allow it some places so they don't look obstructionist (see E85 above), but they certainly aren't going to make it easy to buy a lower gasoline product as a whole. Besides, for every Prius or ethanol buyer overe here there are potentially another 100 new Chinese car owners who will buy a gasoline car, not to mention the growth in Chinese industry and it's need for oil (Chinese oil consumption has doubled in the last decade - astounding).

Forget gold - buy an oli/energy fund. I bought an energy fund 9 months ago and it's up 50% in that time. This is how I offset my gas price increases!

Yeah, but we already have plenty of FAST 5'8" WRs - this time we're going to take one who's a little slower - he'll be perfect to play the slot...

You got it - 40 WPM with almost no typos...

Aren't most of Andrea Bocelli's songs in Italian? For the first time I'm ticked that Bucky is gone - watching the car painter sing in Italian with a heavy North Carolina accent would have been awesome! Guess I'll have to settle for Pickler whose only experience with Italian culture is Elio's frozen pizza and Chef Boyardee min ravioli...

Yeah, that alert was almost as bad as the one last year that said something to the effect that "The Bills are planning a surprise" for the San Diego game. I like surprises as much as the next guy, but I was pissed that it cost me a few pennies to receive that text message...

Maybe he though we were going to draft Rick Gosselin - THAT dude's WAY too small to play in the trenches. On the upside, he had a good Wonderlic score and is a heck of a good writer - I hear he's got all the good on the Lions and knows lots about Detroit...

I think if you read the very small print at the end it says this mock is based on Ngata being killed in a bizzare gardening accident before the draft...

That was my EXACT thought when I got that v-coach...

Never say never - hell, the Bills could go get a 5'7" slot receiver at #8, but I don't see that happening either (and I'll save you the trouble of making your next post: the Bills won't draft a small slot WR at #8, unless they do).

???? I think they have their top guy in Brees, so they don't need a top QB this year UNLESS they realize Brees isn't healthy - that's the only way I see them picking QB with their first pick.

Sounds great, but I really don't see the Saints using a top 5 pick on a QB - they simply would have too much money tied into that position after signing Brees. Unless they realize that Brees isn't going to be healthy and they need another top QB I just don't see them going for that position so early.

Agreed. I'm more interested in knowing when the Bills fans turn into the Detroit Lions fans and revolt for lack of fielding a good team. It's not going to happen this year because we have Marv and a new coach and most see 2006 as a rebuilding year. I'm wondering if all hell breaks loose in 2007 if we are still rebuilding or if the fan base has more patience to go even farther into the future...

"That Just For Men hair coloring I used looks so natural - you can't tell I'm really all gray, can you? Man, I'm gonna get laid tonight!"

By contender I'd say make the playoffs - be one of the better teams in the conference. I'm not saying win the AFC East because much of that is beyond our control - how strong the other teams are.

Just wondering what the mood is here in terms of willingness to wait to be a playoff contender again. I see many people recognizing that 2006 will be a rebuilding year and that the playoffs, and perhaps even a .500 season, will likely be out of reach. By the same token, I see many people say, either expressly or implied, that the Bills will be over their rebuilding after next season. So I ask, do you really think the Bills will be in a position to be a playoff team in 2007? What if they aren't? What's your ability to continue to see the Bills not make the playoffs? Edit: By "ability to continue to see the Bills not make the playoffs" I mean "ability not to start bitching and calling for major changes" - the ability to sit back and live with the situation quietly.

I think the answer wholly depends on your outlook for this season and probably next, and your opinion of Marv. If you feel that the Bills have a shot at the playoffs or at worst finish 8-8, then I think you're calling for Marv and Jauron's heads because what you get isn't probably going to jive with your anticipated reality. If you feel that Marv is the savior from on high sent to lead the Bills to the chosen land and he doesn't part the Red Sea this season or next you'll probably also start screaming for changes. I think most people are anticipating a rebuilding year, so ML and DJ probably get something of a honeymoon. Unfortunately, the fans are tired of waiting and if the team had been managed better in its recent history the Bills would probably be at a peak now rather than a valley in the cyclical nature of today's NFL. I fear that the Bill may need more than 1 season to become a contender - the real question is what happens if we go 4-12 this year and don't break .500 next season - then its going to get ugly.

This just in - the Pinedale shopping Mall has been bombed by live turkeys... I was just remembering this episode on Sunday - we saw a turkey at the petting zoo and there was a sign talking about how wild turkeys can fly but domestic turkeys can not - instantly made me think of WKRP...

??? Not saying the holidays hurt anyone - I just think they're BS (sorry of you're a big Evacuation Day or Patriots Day kinda guy - perhaps these are Cinci holidays as well?). FYI - Evacuation Day was a holiday starting in 1901, and Patriots Day became an official holiday in 1969 (curiously, the third Monday of April, the date of the observance has had a Red Sox home game on this Monday every year since 1960).

Ah yes, the second of the BS holidays enjoyed by the folks here in the Boston area. When I first moved here I was stunned that these people "invented" 2 holidays. I called bullschitt on them then, and I call bullschitt on them today. For those not in the know, here are the BS Boston holidays: -Evacuation Day - Munipal holiday in the city of Boston to commemorate the evaction of British troops in the Revolutionary War. Washington's troops had the British directly within their canon sites and in those days you actually let your enemy know they were going to be blasted to kingdom come before doing it. The British promptly withdrew. The fact that this historic event happened on and is commemorated every year on March 17th by a city with a tremendous irish pooulation and just happens to coincide with St. Patricks Day is completely coincidental.... Patriots Day - Supposedly to commemorate the ride of Paul Revere, this holiday would be better named "Boston Marathon and Home Red Sox Game/Don't Even Think fo Driving Into Boston Day". Half of Boston is closed down due to the marathon, and those who do make it into work are busy trying to keep up with the Sox score on the Internet. A complete waste of a day, but I actually support this one as it seems pretty reasonable not to even attempt to make people drive into town on a day like today (seriously, even without a marathon or baseball game, getting into Boston is a nightmare - the roads were planned by cows). I'm thinking of running for office here so I can establish my birthday as a BS holiday - all I have to do is find something historical on "This Day in History" and make it a holiday...

Yep - a pretty scary time as a new parent when the little one cries like a banshee and you have no frame of reference to know if its normal or there is something wrong. No way around it - it's painful but you'll soon get to know what's normal and what's not. It'll also get easier to hear a cry and realize that its OK and she just has to cry - it won't break you up like it does now. Babies are amazing. I remember when my daughter had her first bath at the hospital - she was the "guinea pig" for the class they gave to new parents on bathing your newborn. Man - I have never in my life seen a kid scream so loudly or get so red (seriously - like the color of a Bills helmet!). The nurse giving the class said that was normal, and boy were we glad. Had we seen this reaction bathing her at home we would have thought we had scalded the baby or otherwise seriously hurt her. Despite what we saw, the whole thing was just how my daughter (and many other babies) react to teh situation - she was absolutely fine (but you'd never know unless the nurse had said it was OK). It's OK to be protective and not correctly interpret such things!

One other quick note: REMEMBER - ALL BABIES ARE DIFFERENT! What works like a charm for one may not do anything for another - there is no single solution. Part of the "fun" of parenting is learning what works/doesn't work with your kid. I see some people here saying things like vacuuming and the dryer worked for them - my daughter would have flipped out with anything like that. Both my kids tend to fall asleep in the car, but my brothers kids NEVER fall asleep in the car so that won't work for him. Good luck - you'll need it!

Wow - that's a loaded question. There are a million reasons why your daughter isn't sleeping, age being the main one in my mind. If your daughter is a newborn (less than about 6 months old), there may be absolutely no reason why she doesn't sleep at night except that she's a newborn and has no concept of day/night or sleeping for more than an hour or two at a time. Fortunately, they eventually outgrow this! Now if your daughter is older and one would reasonably expect her to understand night and sleep for multiple hours at a stretch, it could be all sorts of things. I agree with SDS - 9/10 time it has to do with not being hungry, not being wet/dirty, and not having any gas. It could also be whether she is congested (stuffy nose + babies = hell). My guess is that you just have a newborn who just hasn't settled into sleeping through the night yet - welcome to the club we call new parenthood. I had twins - imagine having TWO newborns who didn't understand "night" - even if you got one of them the sleep you stilll had to deal with the other and the chances of BOTH being asleep at the same time were almost nill. Fortunately my daughter started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks, and then things got easier - it will for you, too.