Spun

I haven't visited N.O yet but it is on my agenda. I am pulling for the Saints to take it all. That franchise has suffered dramatically for many years. Yet, the area has still supported the team. The NFL is rumored to want to rip the Saints out of N.O. for L.A. Saints and LSU fans are definitely great football fans. I hope the city recovers.

Ditto for the WNY pride. There are a lot of cool things about the area. As for some heritage, visit the Buffalo Historical Society. Buffalo's history is actually very interesting. The Native Americans, the earliest Euros (French, English, Dutch), the waves of immigrants that followed, the planning of the city parks and streets (Olmsted and Ellicott), the proximity to Canada, the Falls etc., all offer some interesting stories. The Bills and Sabres are part of that heritage. http://www.bechs.org/ Bigotry is still alive in South Carolina along with too many other places in the United States. It is such a wasted energy and it is pretty bad that people take such a careless attitude when dumping the problem of hatred on succeeding generations. This country (US) can do much better. And by the way, there are a lot of people in the North who can learn a thing or two from people in the South about coexisting with people of other races. Make it better, the kids are watching and listening. I don't care for hip hop but why should the NAACP have to explain the how and why of who listens to hip hop? To me hip hop is just the current day's disco. I do wonder why any of us listen to and adore some of the music that seems to glorify crime in the blighted cities. I would think that as a nation we should be asking why we are having kids we can neither afford nor spend time with. And as parents (the first teachers), why aren't we doing a better job turning our kids on to reading and libraries!

Erroneous face mask call against B. Smith in '88 playoff loss to Bengals. Ronnie Harmon end zone drop in '89 playoff loss to Browns. Could have been six in a row... The Stanley was in San Diego a few years ago. Went to see it from a distance but I wouldn't do the picture. Bad karma. Once the Sabres get their picture with the cup then I will reconsider. Until then, I have no business being near the La Coupe.

Very well written! Be done with the blot and the crumb. Be done.

I agree. The Bolts missing link is a big play, gamebreaking receiver. Among the starters, what else do they need? With Rivers only getting better, a speedster who can catch (like Lee Evans) might be what the Chargers need to win it. I hope they don't get it! One thing that the Chargers don't have is a cancer on the roster (WM).

Watch the game again. The Chargers lost because of their own miscues. Blaming the coach is simply just following past critiques. The Chargers had plenty of opportunities but they screwed up. What more can the coach say about the basics. Catch the ball. Use two hands when catching and carrying. No stupid personal foul penalties. Fall on a fumble don't try to pick it up. It is the same kind of stuff discussed in training camp, minicamps and in weekly meetings. It wasn't the coach, it was the players. Listen to what Charger players are saying, it was their fault. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/charg...s15chside2.html

Dennis Shaw?

Without Biron, who would be the Sabres backup?

Would it be 00?

The stat that concerns me most is that the Sabres are 8 - 7 - 1 against their divisional opponents. One win in their last five in the division. Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto all seem to be getting better. Last year we had an Ottawa problem and we fixed it. The next five games before the All Star game are key especially the game in Montreal on the 20th. The Sabres need to put some doubt into Montreal because otherwise they may be in trouble. Stop looking at October and November. The Sabres need to assert now! February will be a difficult month as the Sabres play Ottawa three times, Atlanta once, Calgary once, Jersey once and Toronto again. March isn't much better. Solve it Lindy!

Photos man, photos!

San Diego has a diverse fan base. There are a lot of fans from every other team. When larger cities play in San Diego it is not uncommon to have a large following of opposing teams fans at both Chargers and Padres games. This is especially true when the opponent is New York, Chicago, New England, Dallas and especially Oakland. Despite the limitations, Patriot fans will be there. There are too many Pats fans in San Diego as it is! That is assuming all those Red Sox fans are also loyal to the Pats. After three Super Bowl wins, I would say that it is the case. The Chargers franchise is in a very delicate phase right now as it is trying to get a stadium deal locally while the City of San Diego straddles bankruptcy. Furthermore, the Chargers have had spotty success over the last decade or so (like someone else I know). The Charger fans have come out and supported the team and the team wishes to reward their support and encourage more of the same. This may be the best Charger team ever assembled so it makes a lot of sense to get as many Charger fans in the stadium as possible. There is a lot at stake for the team and the area. By the way, in reference to the poster who wrote of the Pittsburgh Penguins, I hope somehow you get a new arena and save your team. The Penguins have a who's who of potential future hall of famers. It would be a shame to see a forty year franchise with a history that includes two Stanley Cups, Lemieux and Jagr to just leave to celebrate their success in another city just as Quebec left for Denver. Save your team!

The outcome sucks but Florida dominated all over the field. They had a great game plan. Mixing up the plays and flipping the short passes to speedy receivers worked masterfully. That was Parcells football. Losing Tedd Ginn Jr. was a major loss. For those that don't know, Ginn has been making plays like his return since his first stepped on the field as a frosh. If he wasn't double teamed most every play, Ginn would have been a finalist for the Heisman. I hope he slips in the draft so the Bills can get him. It is common to hear during the season, that a one week layoff can hurt (and sometimes help) a team. Imagine what seven weeks can do? The layoff seemed to help the Gators but the Buckeyes were flat as a tortilla. And the play calling simply reeked. Congratulations Gators!

The area east of HSBC has a lot of potential. Prime, affordable real estate. There was a huge, crime ridden project east of downtown that has been exterminated which helps a large area in and around downtown. What happens to that open space has yet to be determined. Who knows what can happen, good or bad? Remember Chippewa before it's renaissance? Who ever envisioned such a turnaround? Remember how that street was in the 70's? I used to work in the bus station during the early 80's. Sometimes, I finished work after the last bus had already left so I had to walk through downtown and up Elmwood to get home. This was when they were building the subway and Main Street was no longer accessible. It was very dangerous and scary. I still can't believe the positive changes. Put in some nice, relatively affordable condos and maybe some companies will decide that the trendy can be profitable and base themselves downtown. This may sound like a pipe dream (it is) but dreams of urban renewal have been realized in other cities such as San Diego. As for the All Star selections tilting towards the Buffalo Sabres... Like that happens every year? Or any year in the past? Or voters in other cities haven't supported their players now or in the past? Quit your whining wimpy! Theoretically, there are much larger populaces and fan bases than Buffalo's who can reap much greater havoc with the voting process. We aren't talking about a last place team stuffing the ballots because a bunch of teeny boppers like some players mullet. The Buffalo Sabres were in a very competitive Eastern Conference final last season and is among league leaders this season. I don't care to slam any other city or team to buttress my opinion. The system is broken because it allows ballot stuffing. But most any system will have snubs. If the author wishes to crusade, how about encouraging the NHL braintrust to reinstitute having all teams play home and homes with each other. That would do more for luring viewers away from their favorite programs than any All Star game. The idea is to establish continuity not a casual viewing of a single game that has little bearing on the standings. There is an entire half of the continent that would also like to see guys like Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin. What will happen if Pittsburgh does move to Kansas City or Winnipeg and the Northeast has no option but Versus and HNC to see some of the NHL's biggest young stars? Imagine if Crosby, Malkin and company no longer visit Montreal, Toronto, New York, Boston and all the other cities that have large hockey supporting populations? PR disaster. And by the way there is a loyal following of fans that miss having the Sabres visit the western side of the Mississippi , ex: Anaheim, L.A.and Phoenix.

Didn't Shane Conlan have a couple of picks?

Nice work Canada! Now play the anthem! http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/sc-cs/anthem_f.cfm#a8

Where's the beach ball?

Anybody know anything about this Buffalo native playing on the US junior team and on the London Knights in the OHL? He was the second leading scorer for the US in the tournament (nine points) and scored the first goal in today's game against the Swedes. He is second in OHL scoring as a rookie. Kane hasn't finished high school. Does anybody know his story? Where did he play high school? I believe he is from South Buffalo. Some research indicates that he may be a first round draft pick. http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/player.php?id=4581 http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/stats/s...ype=top_scorers

Bree Walker was on a San Diego tv station last night. She was going with his side of the story based on their marriage, Bree Walker and Jim Lampley, (supposedly) not having any violence. Bree Walker has done a lot for charities including the one related to her condition.

A few years ago a friend tipped me off on a kid in Rimouski named Crosby. In past years before the internet I would not have been able to learn a whole about him. But thanks to the web I was able to see a star rising. Visiting junior hockey, college and minor hockey sites one can learn a lot about who will be the stories of the future. Just like football with scout.com, there are sites like http://hockeysfuture.com/ to get coverage on the who's who of the stars of tomorrow. Following the tournaments isn't always easy as the attempts to accommodate different languages and time zones can be clumsy. And sometimes the results aren't posted in a timely manner. It is getting better. Sometimes I check the Canadian juniors (the QMJHL in particular) and the colleges (the CCHA).

In Buffalo, we called it pogeying. In NYC they call it skitching. Lookout for the man hole covers... We use to take ice chunks and knock out the plastic street lamp caps and the light bulbs. We would clear out a entire block. Then when the cars came down the street, we would bombard them with snowballs. People would get out of their cars and not be able to find us. Some close calls. Knowing the backyards and neighborhood hiding places helped. Street hockey was great. Hockey anywhere was great! Losing the puck or ball down the sewer grate sucked.

And Tony ended up taking Prozac. And Lithium? One of my sisters and a friend both had them. They were working too much and too hard with everything in their lives. They would come home from work and not shut down the work part. Sometimes something bad happens and it is hard to get it out of one's mind. We try not to think of the situation but we cannot get it out of our mind. I will sometimes have a bad moment with a co-worker or a client and it occupies my thinking. Learning not to take the job home with me helped. Relaxation helps. Whether it be exercise, traveling, watching a comedy or doing what makes me happy, I try to include the good moments in life to bring down the stress and keep the big picture in perspective. In our competitive society, we can be so obsessed with more, more, more. Control what you can. Sometimes when things seem to be piling up in life it is important to do one thing at a time. Do keep in contact with the Doc.

The game that broke the Oilers back.

It is probably a good day for you to visit Champs on St Laurent! Maybe a pregame meal of $2 chow mein from Parfum d'Asie at des Pins and St-Laurent? Or $2 death as some like to call it! Joyeux Noël!

One can easily get to Cleveland (approximately 126 miles) and Cinci ( approximately 107 miles) from Columbus in less than three hours. To get from Toronto to Buffalo is a major hassle on most any day because of the line at the bridges. It used to take two hours. The increased questioning and security is a major deterrent to coming across from Canada for Bills games or any other reason. It is a similar hassle to come across by foot, bike or motor vehicle from Tijuana, Mexico to San Diego. And when you consider all the traffic for last minute Christmas shopping, border crossing from Canada and Mexico to the U.S. is avoided this weekend by many. BTW, even though San Diego is considered the seventh largest city in the U. S., it is still called a small market. Go figure! Anybody from Toronto have anything to add?