LongLiveRalph

Fuggin pathetic???? Yawn, another "not the way it used to be" post. You are a chef so you're probably a dweeb, and don't even know what you're watching. That's okay. I can't make it through two minutes of the food network. That doesn't mean I need to tell everyone that those people are pathetic and suck at what they do. Continue to feel free to ignore the USA playing a full-court trap, constantly pressuring the ball all over the defensive end, hitting the boards hard, and showing a genuine interest in winning the game (unlike their 19-point opening loss to Puerto Rico in '04.) I think the best basketball players in the world can be forgiven for trying to electrify a world audience with a few alley-oops when they're up by 27 points in a preliminary game. I think if they're playing Argentina for the gold medal game, and it's tied in the 4th quarter, it's not going to be shake-n-bake, no-look lob passes for dunks. People who understand basketball saw a motivated, unselfish, determined USA team. If you want to let a few dunks ruin it for you, be my guest. I realize you want to see short shorts, underhand free throws, and layups. You should watch Ivy League basketball. I hear that Brown-Cornell game that ended 46-44 was a real thriller.

I love how we're dogging Roscoe's 35 receptions, when our "elite" receiver Lee Evans caught a whopping 55 last year.

Says who? The guy on the French team? And define heavy favorites. The French swam it .009 seconds faster once?

I'd chalk it up to announcer fluff. Trying to build the drama. Any race that Phelps is in, he or his team is the favorite. FWIW, I was on the can this morning looking at SI's Olympic Preview, and they had the US winning the gold in that event. French silver. I don't remember who was bronze. The footnote said something like, "Suprisingly fast French team will contend." That's pretty much what happened. Add in there that some Frog talked smack, and suddenly it is the most spectacular event ever. I would liken this to Manu Ginobili saying Argentina was going to whoop the US in basketball. The US is down by 15 entering the 4th quarter, and win the gold on a buzzer beater by Dwayne Wade. Exciting? Most definitely. Unexpected victory? Not necessarily. Greatest Olympic moment? Not close.

I love that people are using great discretion in hurrying to call this one of the "Greatest Moments in Olympic History." PLEASE!!! Great moments in Olympic history? We're talking Jesse Owens, Wilma Ruldolph, Bob Beamon, Miracle on Ice, etc. Not Michael Phelps and three other guys we've never heard of and won't ever remember, who won a race they were favored to win anyways. How can it be one of the great Olympic moments if nobody will have any clue what you're talking about when you bring it up in December? Some French dude talked shiit. He didn't back it up. Yawn. I'm glad the US team battled hard and won the gold. But people and media are really reaching when describing the magnitude of this thing. I realize that whatever just happened is the greatest thing ever. It's similar to the calls after the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl that it was the greatest football championship game ever. It wasn't. The truth is, if Phelps wasn't involved it wouldn't be getting 1/10th of the attention.

Those winning Bills teams you grew up with routinely went 1-3 or 0-4 in the preseason.

The only thing this will likely do is urge an expansion of the NBA into Europe. David Stern has already been exploring that option, this will likely just expedite the process. I don't see how it would have a drastic impact on the NBA, at least as far as the American star players. If Lebron goes to play in Greece, it's likely going to be 1 year/$50M or 2 years/$100M. So he returns to the NBA at the ripe old age of 25?? The sole reason the big stars would consider it would be to expand their marketing power and global branding. I don't think any of them have dreams of hoisting the Euroleague trophy. It could hurt the NBA in this aspect, though: Losing top-flight Euro talent (Nowitzki, Gasol, etc.) and making teams weary of drafting European players high, like the Knicks taking the Italian kid 6th overall this past year. There's no guarantee that he will take a pay cut to leave the Italian league. The other impact could be seen in team's role players, their #6, #7, #8 players....If the Euro leagues want to pay these guys $9M a year, I think they'd have to take it. That could dilute the NBA talent pool. I think it is more a function of the economy right now, and the strong Euro, that these teams are able to offer these salaries. They also are offering to pay LeBron's taxes if he comes, and pay for his living expenses, so a $50M contract means he'll truly make $50M. I don't know how you turn that down for one year. But I definitely don't see it as doom and gloom for the NBA. The NBA getting rid of their salary cap would be much worse for the league, IMO. Maybe they could institute a "One player exemption" where you could pay a franchise talent X-amount over the cap.

Favre to the Jets reminds me of the scene in Major League with the Asian grounds crew: "They're still shiitty"

I have a good friend who's a Jets fan, and he's obviously excited about the Favre signing...Not so much for Favre, but just because he was SERIOUSLY dreading a full season with Pennington as the starter. While the Jets QB job was up for open competition, I know everyone in the Jets' organization was hoping that Kellen Clemens would have an incredible camp and grab the starter's job by the horns. Every report I read said that if the season started this weekend, Pennington would've been the starter. He was outplaying Clemens in practice and in the Green-White scrimmage, and Clemens had been generally awful. I don't think they make the Favre deal if Clemens had jumped up and won the job with authority. But maybe they do, who knows? Either way, Pennington would be a fine backup QB for a good team. I think if he had to come in for 3 or 4 games- say for a team like the Saints or Jags- he would certainly give them the opportunity to go 2-1 or 2-2 and keep the ship afloat. But Pennington starting for a bottom-rung team for 16 games? Not a recipe for success.

It was strange timing to make that change, too...If you have looked at the 20 guys dressing for the Sabres on any given night over the past three years, the majority of them were identified by the road scouts, drafted by the club, and brought up through the organization. Now, they take a formula that has clearly worked and helped them build a team that was mentioned among the best in the league, and they toss it aside? Just another log on the fire for the accusations that they are a cheap franchise. It's hard to come up with any logical reason why that operational change was made, other than cost savings. I agree, there's certain things that don't translate to video. Maybe a scout will be watching a specific player, and he'll see the kid sitting on the bench getting verbally hammered by the coach. Any good scout will pay attention to how the kid reacts, and it could tell a lot about the player. On video, the film is focused on the the play on the ice while the kid is on the bench. Little things like that- interaction with coaches and teammates, interaction with referees, body language- are all items that don't seem to translate to film study. I can't say for sure because I don't have access to these videos the Sabres are watching. But I find it hard to believe they're getting hi-def isolation video on a prospect from Flin Flan, Manitoba. I'm sure they have a decent grasp of what each player brings on the ice, but it seems that a lot of the intangibles wouldn't get picked up. The impact shouldn't be devastating for 1st-round picks, because those players typically have world-class talent that any chimpanzee could see on video. It could hurt in the draft's later rounds, when you're looking for the next Gaustad or Pomminville- guys who wouldn't necessarily jump off the TV as amateurs.

I love most all of the bits. I think the show is, overall, pretty damn funny. I love Stern, Artie, Fred...Robin is okay....Richard is funny and Sal, while latently homosexual, is good too. Baba Booey is classic and for all the heat he takes (the song parodies were HILARIOUS) he's great at what he does. It is very put-offish when they start talking about their visits to their shrinks, or Artie talking about needing drugs just to get through the day, or bitching about how crowded it was at some premiere they went to. It's not reality and I think they've lost touch and become less-grounded over the past five years. However, unlike some people here when they listen to Buffalo sports radio, I am able to just change the channel when I don't feel like listening to that stuff. Eric the Midget needs to fly with balloons and never come back.

Thank you. Favre was TERRIBLE in '05 and '06. He certainly found some magic last year. I find it strange that everyone is simply assuming that Favre will be the MVP QB he was a decade ago, or that his 2007 level of play is a given. Two of his most recent three seasons have been subpar. I wouldn't exactly pencil Sir Brett the Savior in for another 30TD 15INT season. Also, how do the Jets feel when Favre refused to consider playing for them? The Jets' offer was on the table the entire time, and I'm sure the Packers would've preferred to trade him there (out of conference, not a "contender" so to speak, they don't play each other) but Favre blocked the deal initially. Now, all of the sudden, Favre speaks to the Jets front office and he decides that the Jets are now worthy of having him throw passes for them. I know he will be embraced by the Jets locker room, every player just wants to win, but that angle or arrogance and flip-flopping is becoming typical of Favre. Anyways, Favre has been practicing with high schoolers, so joining the Jets shouldn't be too different for him...

Nah, didn't catch it today...I rarely listen to the replays when they are on one of their MANY vacations that Artie neglects to think about when he's crying, not to mention the four day work week @ 5 hours per day. It's tough listening to a millionaire B word about how hard he has it, when it's Thursday and I've already put in 45 hours that week!!!! I understand a major portion of the show is the TRUE lives of the cast, but I have to change the channel when all of them start bitching about nonsense in their lives that are "problems" most people would kill to have. I'm sure when they come back from vacation, Howard will be distraught about some mansion party in the Hamptons, and Robin will detail how her British Airways first class flight to Rome had an uncomfortable seat.

Do they refer to the bustling cities as the "slowest-dying"?

Artie is a hilarious dude, but he's also a fat whiney B word. When he's on his game, my stomach hurts from laughing. When he's in his "Woe is me" mode, it's pathetic. He's clearly got an addictive/excessive/self-destructive personality. Hopefully he can fly straight and focus on what he's good at. Unfortunately, a MAJOR part of his on-air persona is his honesty with is past (and present) and his "hard livin" lifestyle. Even at age 40, he definitely embraces the Belushi/Farley correlations. I fear he has under a decade left on this planet.

I wasn't there but it sounded loud as hell-- Sweet angle, the place explodes! The Rangers look beaten on the bench

No question Lynch has a dynamic skill set, and with a young QB who has a propensity for the dump off, this could be the year for Lynch to rack up some receptions. However, it seems like lately, it wouldn't be a Bills offseason if they weren't talking about how excited they are to get a RB and a TE more involved in the passing attack. I'm not holding my breath for the tight ends, so let's hope this is the year for Marshawn. Also, if last year is any indication, Lynch will be pounded hard again in the run game...I love Freddy Jackson catching that swing pass too, if it saves Lynch a few hits per game. Also- I agree about Rudi too, he looks like he's aged 8 years in the last 3... Westbrook is just awesome. Hate the Iggs but he's a joy to watch.

Well jeez pal, I think that's a given. Let's just say I consider 2-14 a successful season if both wins are over Miami. The Pats are certainly in the same realm of disgust, but those douches had to cheat to win. Something about the teal pants, the gay dolphin wearing a helmet, Isotoner gloves, and the sorry excuse for "fans" in Little Havana that just makes it extra special beating the Fins. While the home schedule does have a gaping hole in it this year (the season ticket book STILL doesn't look right) I'm happy we get to beat their ass internationally this year.

If they go 2-14 but beat Miami twice, I'll ALWAYS give them a pass.

The fact that neither King nor Youboty could beat out Kiwaukee "7-yard Cushion" Thomas speaks volumes about their talents, or lack thereof.

yeah, that was ridiculous! Hard to compare, I have been to quite a few big time college games, the Swamp in FL was probably the loudest...But the Ralph during the Super Bowl years was intense!!! About 7K more people than today, and EVERY SINGLE PLAY for the opponent's offense was deafening...And if you consider Miami games, playoff games, or ANY 3rd down, I can't imagine anything being much louder than that... Crossing spectrums, I remember feeling my whole body vibrate because of the noise at the old Aud...Especially in 1993, game 3 vs the Bruins (the game before the May Day game) my ears were on fire...And when Campbell DESTROYED Umberger in '06, that was by far the loudest I have ever heard the HSBC Arena.

"Self-destructive instincts run deep in this species..."

Wow...Just, wow...

Tough call. Something has to happen in that division, but I don't know what. You've also got Philly at o/u 8.5, NYG at o/u 8.5, and Dallas at o/u 10.5 It's going to be tough for all of them...They always beat on each other....

The only source of info in the article is the Sabres pro scout. He likely had a hand in selecting these players, and he certainly has a hand in developing them. Of course he's going to focus on the good.... Rather than a "company line" article, I tend to rely on the positives I saw out of Weber and Sekera last season, as clearly, the defense is the position in most need. As far as forwards, you only have to look at the current roster and see Roy, Pommer, Vanek, Gaustad, Stafford, MacArthur, Paille, Kotalik, Max, etc. as guys who were identified, drafted, and developed by the organization. I think they've earned the right to boast the potential of their prospects, at least a little bit, based on the success they've had developing guys from amateurs to solid NHL contributors....