Offside Number 76

Buffalonians eat a lot, drink a lot, and eat and drink WELL. There are hundreds of excellent local restaurants, depending on what you like to eat and what you like to spend. Pretty much great choices in any category you could name, and yeah, I realize I'm responding to someone who is used to a city with good restaurants. Give us an idea of what you like, and you'll have suggestions. If you've never seen Niagara Falls, as White's Bay noted, don't miss it on this trip. The view from the Canadian side is nicer, but the American side presents a much more natural picture, and we have a state park that lets you really wander close to the river and to the falls. If you gamble, well, you have outlets in NO for that, but there are nice casinos on both sides of the Falls. If you like modern art, we actually have a world-class collection--seriously, in Buffalo--at the Albright-Knox. (If you like older art, or (obviously) if you don't like art at all, this gallery will disappoint.) There are some great historic spots; we have a nice museum of local history (across the street from the aforementioned art gallery), the site of Teddy Roosevelt's inauguration, and a terrific military park on the waterfront that allows you to tour WWII-era naval craft (you can roam the boats). These are not very expensive. Live music, like food and drink, is lifeblood to Buffalonians (and I'm guessing you have no shortage of that at home, either). Let us know what you like, from polka to prog-rock, from country to crunk, and someone will clue you in on a couple of venues to check out. If you're staying with family, great; if you're looking for hotels, again, just let us know what you're looking for. The new Embassy Suites on Delaware is an excellent mid-priced hotel, as is the Hampton next door. (The "large" hotels downtown, the Hyatt and Adams Mark, charge about the same and provide less.) The Mansion on Delaware is our best high-end option. There are Comfort Suites, Holiday Inn, and Best Western in the city, and those are less expensive. Finally, like a lot of cities, we have an "alternative" weekly newspaper that lists a lot of goings-on in between its ranting about local and global politics. You may want to check out www.artvoice.com . I hope you enjoy your trip! And if you're after the wings, BeastMode is right: Duff's are the best around, but it's in the 'burbs; Gabriel's Gate has the best in the city. EDIT: How the hell did I forget the architecture? Several of Frank Lloyd Wright's works are here, including a couple of houses and a mausoleum. Delaware Avenue has too many historic mansions to count (including the Roosevelt inaugural site). Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building shouldn't be missed, and Frederick Law Olmstead designed one hell of a park system. Our Lady of Victory Basilica in South Buffalo is nothing short of breathtaking, no matter your religion, as are the two downtown cathedrals and our City Hall. If you enjoy architecture even casually, you'll have a fun time driving around the city.

I think that this is a factor, but I also think that what drunkenirishmann said is a factor, too.

Except for that random letter "L" in the last word above, I agree 100%.

Possibly because it's just a crappy town, with or without sports, and it does get tons of publicity because of that alone, but you've got a great point. Maybe it's because there are a couple of titles, in different sports, there? Or because neighboring San Francisco had some success (this now is what, 14 years old) in football? The Raiders have fans, but the As are the Pirates of the AL, and the freaking Warriors (yep, Oakland has an NBA team) are so far off the map that no one above even mentioned them. Oakland truly is a crappy sports town. And a crappy town, period.

Here's one reason why they do it: Some visitors to this board want to scan a list of topics, pick out three or four that look interesting, and read them. When many of the threads on the front page deal with the same topic, that's difficult to do. Especially when the starters of subsequent threads could easily have posted in the original one, yet they had something so important, so profound, to tell the rest of us, that they had to start a new one. This is even more frustrating after games, when people can't seem to contain their comments to a gameday or postgame thread; instead, we have to have six threads on Jauron's playcalling, four on the O-Line, and numerous threads labeled "yesterday's game--my take" or something incredibly similar. ("Your take" isn't that important. Really. Put it in an existing thread. Yes, this means you, too. And you.)

You forgot Travis Henry, RB, 2001 (Leavenworth). Kidding. Very interesting list. I'm not sure what conclusions to draw, or whether there are any, but hell, it's definitely interesting.

Well, I'm not going to stay with the game just to see who Tennessee's fifth-string QB is...goodnight, all.

Ch. 2 breaking in to tell me there's severe weather. Look, douchebag, just because I'm watching football doesn't mean that the windows in my house don't work anymore. I can see the weather.

They did.

Who doesn't love QBs from Tulane?

You forgot the MVP.

Reggie Corner, so far, the second-leading scorer on the team.

Right on.

For those who just lost broadcast: http://www.atdhe.net/

Storm just killed Ch.2 in Buffalo--someone please keep us locals up-to-the-minute with the third-and-long runs up the middle. Thanks.

You know, you can blame this on Jauron, and a lot of people will, and you can blame this on Brandon, and a lot of people will, and either way, there's no need for the Bills to pay for both of them to get back to Buffalo. It's someone's fault; figure it out and leave him in Canton. Or both of them.

He did trip. After Jenkins pushed him twice.

No question. Twice.

Jenkins, next time: Turn around, face the ball, and jump high and back. No penalty, and perhaps a touchdown.

That's how I saw it.

You're gonna be that guy who starts threads during the game all year, aren't you...

Dick's got a lot of work to do, if what I saw in the first quarter is really what this team is right now.

I get that feeling too. Bizarre. I wonder if Phillies fans still get that feeling when they see Joe Carter's home run, or if that feeling stopped now that the Phillies won a World Series.

I guess that's where we differ. Certainly, the NFL created a new Pro Bowl slot for special teamers just because of Tasker, and certainly, he was freaking incredible. But he didn't change the game. Too many teams are successful without some version of Tasker, and that's exactly why he didn't change the game. He changed more than a few Bills games, to be sure, but I don't think he changed the way football is played. That said, I will be absolutely ecstatic if he gets elected to Canton. Great player, and great guy (by all accounts).

So, if Canton called tomorrow, and said, "Hey, we're giving the 1990s Bills one more player, whom do you want," would it be Tasker? Hull? Reed? Talley? Someone else? Because the whole team isn't going in. For me, it's probably Hull or Reed. I really appreciate the way Tasker defined the coverage specialist position, but many, if not most, teams still play just fine without a coverage specialist who plays at that level.