Spun

No big deal. You have the spelling of Montreal wrong but as some of the Quebec locals would tell you, pronouncing it without the "t" is the only way to say it! It is sad to see the demise of the Expo franchise that once was very popular. MLB execs wakeup, you are losing fans in the smaller markets. As for bringing in the D.C. crowds, here is one way: http://www.redskins.com/cheerleaders/ Wow! Weren't they the show last night?

You got Marv's point. It has less to do with hats worn backwards and more to do with mindless conformity - that perpetual human quality to "be a somebody". Yes, it happens frequently when young and it is pretty harmless. It is nothing new. I do salute the freedom to be different and people being themselves if that is what they are doing. I think Marv was also ridiculing the tendency of some, to do what they think is cool in order to bring attention to themselves. I have seen that "act" expressed on the football field quite a few too many times. Although I am not a fan of the tattoo and piercing "fads", I must say Mike Tyson's tattooing his face took some guts.

Jacksonville is 3 - 0 and the Raiders 2 - 1 so maybe you are on to something but... The Pats... Yikes! Jacksonville has been very impressive. Their coach, Jack Del Rio said something along the lines that they are a team..for 60 minutes! The Bills can't look back, they have got to focus on getting better. I did enjoy seeing Miami tank again. The only good thing about that game were the shots of the cheerleaders.

Hockey cartoon from the Montreal Gazette: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgaz...islin/0923.html

A few points some of which have already been made. Minnesota will not lose their team again unless their owner punks the city like the North Stars owner did. It wasn't that they don't love hockey and won't support the game. It was the fans who collectively didn't wish to be held hostage to the man. Minnesota has great college hockey - they had an alternative. I did read that Minnesota didn't sell out all their games for the World Cup. Is that true? I lived in Columbus when you couldn't even get the scores on the 11:00 news. Now, even though Columbus has a very bad team, it is supported by the community. The downtown arena is great and it has served as a catalyst for downtown development. As for Florida and Carolina there are a lot of Northeast transplants in those areas who still support hockey. Hockey doesn't have anything to do with the desert but Phoenix has not done that bad. Winning changes a lot. While parity can seem dull on the surface knowing one's team has a chance at the championship maintains interest. If you look at the NFL during the last few weeks of the season there is always a handful of teams that have a chance at getting in and doing something with the opportunity. Go with the salary cap. The owners and players need to wake up. But mostly, the players need to realize that a salary cap is good for the long term growth of the sport and the sustenance of all the teams. Canada would be better able to keep its teams with a cap. And yes, Canada keeping it's teams is good for the sport. Once the players start aching for $$$, they will cave. In the meantime support college, minor league and junior hockey.

Mike: Do the obvious, root for Iowa to beat Michigan and for Pittsburgh to beat the Dolphins. Be happy the Buckeyes are 3 - 0, it wasn't easy.

Sorry for the novel Marine. That is five days of posts to read. I wish I had the time to read all the other posts but I don't. It has been a work filled week for me. As I am sure, you get quite a few of those weeks yourself!

Some would say that thanks to the large gang member demographic we got the Bills Raiders on SD TV. Just kidding, Raidas' fans! So last night, I finally replayed the game. Some observations: This was another game the Bills as a team, let get away. Last year I complained because the Bills would line Bledsoe up at center without a running back so he would get pummeled. No running back? Hmmm...Immobile QB must be passing. Sunday 3 of the 7 sacks were when Bledsoe was in the shotgun. Sometimes it was the linemen who were manhandled, other times the backs missed blocks and other times there was no one open. On at least three occasions Bledsoe had underthrown his receivers but there was a defensive back hovering closely in each. Still, make the throw pleeeeaassee... Every team has penalties but some of those called on the Bills were simply due to a lack of focus. Illegal motion on Eric Moulds? Nate Clements has a beautiful punt return for 62 yards only to have it called back because of a holding penalty on Mario Haggan. Please, was there any need to hold? What was this guy doing, going for the block? No. Travis Henry slipping like he was should have alerted the team to possibly switching the guys shoes. Travis missed some blocks and dropped some balls. We know Travis can do much better. Use McGahee more. The Raiders have the ball 3rd and 27 from at around the Bills 40 yard line, hmmm, maybe they really will go for the first down instead of the long bomb to the end zone, right? I am sure it has been a tough week for Rashad Baker after getting toasted like that but man, if there ever was a time for the prevent. It was good use of the pump fake by Gannon, Drew Bledsoe take note. Neither team was effective at running the ball. Credit the defensive efforts of both teams. Statistically the Bills turned things around for the better after halftime. The Bills outpassed the Raiders 141 - 32 in the 2nd half (although a big chunk was in the long bomb to Lee Evans). And overall, the Bills outgained the Raiders 182 - 70 in the 2nd half. 3rd downs really hurt the Bills. They couldn't stop the Raiders who went 8 / 15 for the game and the Bills couldn't execute them offensively going 4 / 13. And we know how 4th down went. The thing that is bothering me about the passing game other than the lack of protection, sacks, short passes (yuck), is that speedster Lee Evans has three catches for the season. And Reed and Shaw have to step it up by holding on to the ball. Daimon Shelton missed a few crucial blocks but he also had some nice ones and he made a couple of nice grabs. Maybe, and I mean maybe, he can be used a little more and a little better. Shelton is in his 7th year so he also needs to step it up. A few things that I liked included the balanced attack, 24 rushes and 25 pass attempts. In the second half the Bills seemed to mix the pass attempts spreading the ball around to Reed, Shaw, Shelton, Campbell, etc. One guy who seemed to have a solid game defensively and on special teams was Terrence McGee. Nice tackles, a sack and very solid returns. One interesting dimension to Drew Bledsoe's game that I can't remember ever seeing very much of was his rollout on the touchdown. He actually ran, rolled out, threw a touchdown pass (albeit a lucky grab by Moulds). The Bills should roll him out a little (or a lot) more. Move him towards the sideline so that he can throw the ball out of bounds if he has to and / or run (stumble, stagger) out of bounds if he needs to. Remember how Dan Marino had the long streak of not getting sacked because he knew how to get rid of the ball quickly and legally? Tom Clements: break out some old Marino tapes for Bledsoe to watch. Yes, I know. That was Marino. Last week, after the winnable Jags loss the critics were slamming Bledsoe and Lindell. Lindell wasn't the target this week at all. Bledsoe shares the blame but this one is on the team. A few less mental breakdowns, some better play calling (4th down) and the Bills could have had this one. Take nothing away from the Raiders, they played an a great game. But the Bills could have and should have won this one. Again. The team looks improved over last year. But, if there ever was a time to play their lights out it will be against the Pats.

Long Island girls... "oh my gawd, that is sooo hysterical..."

Mike, I went to OSU around that time. Ohio is a great football state - from high school, college and the pros. What the league allowed to happen to the Browns was a spike in the heart of NFL history. Check this link out: http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20040920/1044579.asp

That is what should have been done when a journalist interviewed bin Laden a while back.

Well, until today internet users didn't think they were getting graded for their English. They let themselves get sloppy with their grammar and spelling probably because they are hurrying or at work or the kids are screaming or they can't type, etc... It happens to a lot of us. Merriam-Webster helps: http://www.m-w.com/

I was bartending for a private New Years Eve party in San Diego one night when this little kid comes up to the bar. He wanted a coke. He was wearing a Bills hat so I asked what the story was. He smiled and said he was a Bills fan and he started rolling off a bunch of facts about the current players at the time (Kelly, Reed, Thomas). It turned out the kid wasn't even from the Buffalo area but was a native Californian. The kid got free cokes all night long. I was in Key West for Spring Break . This guy was selling fight posters for the upcoming Leonard and Hagler fight. The guy saw my Bills hat and gave me a substantial discount on the poster. Another time I walked into a Columbus, Ohio bar the night before the Bills were going to play the Bengals (late 80's). I got a loud ovation. It turns out the ovation came from a bunch of Browns fans. The Browns-Bengals rivalry gets vicious. One thing about the Browns fans is that there will be an exhibition game going on and the sports bar parking lots are full. The Bengals fans wait until regular season to make a large showing. Also in a Columbus bar, I was wearing my Bills hat when Jamie Mueller's (fullback late 80's) brother came up and started talking Bills.

Has anybody seen this guy play? A high school defensive lineman: 6-foot-7-inches, 257-pound, 4.7-40 time http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20040920/1044579.asp

Stick to your guns. You are free to like and dislike whomever you want. If others can't deal with it, good. So now they have a tough life. There is a lot to be said for resilience. Bills fans get kicked a lot. But sometimes people stop and notice that Bills fans don't hide in the corners. I remember after one of the Super Bowl losses the "comedian" Carrot Top came on stage one night with a Bills helmet that he had made into a kleenex dispenser supposedly to cry away the tears from another Super Bowl loss. The audience found it funny. I was left wondering what I would like to do first, body slam or hip check.

Some people are going to hate this but on that 4th and 1 is when we could have used a Flutie scramble to the flag. That is why the Bills drafted McGahee. He has the wheels. Even if Henry didn't stumble, I don't believe the hole was there. Sapp and Washington were. By the way Flutie did scramble for a 6 yard touchdown late in the game against the Jets. SD has some serious QB probs. The irony is that Drew Brees supposedly had better numbers after the onset of his concussion. Where do the Jets get the right to go 2 - 0? The nerve.

It's the offensive line... http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=240919013 4th and 1. 0 points. It smells.

I believe the drop that you are referrring to was McGahee's. Drew showed some bawls in making that play. The Bills are two plays away from being 2 - 0. At least we haven't seen the blowouts of last year (yet). But the offense still is not producing.

Don't depend too much on scrambling ability. Michael Vick scrambles all over the place and it is fun to watch but he is going to get wacked again. Scrambling is a nice complement to a passing game but only a short term alternative to passing first and scrambling second. I am eager to see what JP can do. Bledsoe is not why the Bills are 0 - 2. Bledsoe has made his mistakes especially against the Raiders but he did get the Bills in range for what should have been 10 more points than their final total.

Many of your suggestions have to do with fixing what has been neglected, that being the offensive line. The one good thing about Shelton is he picked up some defenders today who otherwise would have wacked Bledsoe. Give McGahee and Evans more action. They are both burners.

The Bills lost another game that they could have won. That is obvious. They played better in the second half but the penalties killed them. Any team worth a bunk can get the ball in from the one. Was a reminder needed that Washington and Sapp play in the middle? I agree that running McGahee wide on that play was a better call. For the most part I think Bledsoe had a fair game. He is getting the ball away quicker but there was too much zing on short passes one leading to an interception. Eric Moulds was a non factor all game meaning he was probably being double covered. So why didn't they throw to the wheels - Lee Evans? The offensive line simply stinks. Mike Williams was getting tossed out of the way. When in field goal range the line collapsed forcing Bledsoe to get sacked out of 3 point range. The Bills could have escaped with a win but once again they are saddled with a stinging 13- 10 loss. I do have one question. On the play when Bledsoe sacrificed his body to throw a catchable ball for a first down only to have it dropped, who dropped the ball? Was it McGahee? That first down would have put the Bills close to the red zone again. Another question. Are the Bills getting better or worse?

Thanks Marc! There seems to be condos popping up all over Centre-Ville. San Diego is doing the same thing but the prices are astronomical. I am considering a place that is safe as I would be a part time occupant. One difference is that the Canadian Post Office charges $3 per week to hold one's mail. Not a bank breaker of course but an interesting difference. Oh yeah, good luck to your Montreal Impact in the championship! http://www.montrealimpact.com/news.asp?no_id=318 One more thing Aussie, I don't know if you are a runner or not but there is this beautiful park, Mont-Royal that offers trails to walk or run (uphill). The park is on the west side of l'avenue du Parc (Park Ave.) between l'avenue du Mont-Royal and l'avenue des Pins. A good starting point is right next to a statue / monument of Sir George-Étienne-Cartier. The park is very close to Champs. Marc is right about Old Montreal, it is worth checking out.

Which Division / Conference names? They have had a few... The one Change that I would like to see is getting rid of the point for overtime losses. Lose the game and the loser gets 0 points. As for the play itself, I would like to see more offense based on stickhandling and quick passing as opposed to dump, chase, muck, stall, etc...

I remember this one. I think tackle is putting it mild. Kelly blasted him. In my mind, that hit is a large part of Jim Kelly's legacy.

I forgot, unlike in the rest of Canada, in Quebec you can buy beer at the corner stores and the grocers. I recommend Labatt's Wildcat available in stores in 1.5 liter size and at potencies of 7, 8 and 10%. Then again there is always Molson Brador. Also, there are Tim Horton's donuts... Donuts, beer and the Bills.