Bmwolf21

I don't disagree that Grier has value, as I said, in his role, he is fine - but there were too many times last year that he fumbled scoring chances, misplayed passes, or even stumbled and/or couldn't keep his skates under him. Maybe playing in Sn Jose's system, alongside guys like Marleau and Thornton - both really good to great players - suits him a little more than playing with a bunch of run-and-gun speedsters in Buffalo. He is playing a lot better this year, and is on pace to equal or break his career marks in goals and points. Would I rather have him than Peters or Mair in the lineup? Absolutely. I just don't want to see him slowing down a top scoring line - I think he is effective on the PK and banging bodies, and that's about it. All that being said, I am concerned with the team's physicality in the postseason, and I hope Mair & Gaustad are ready to step up their physical games - the Sabres will need them. And a much-improved Vanek + a healthy Connolly throughout the playoffs should scare the living crap out of whomever they face in the postseason...

Which Pyatt are we talking about - the 4th-line invisible man for most of his Sabres tenure, or the 1st-line scoring dynamo playing alongside the Sedin twins? There was no way Pyatt was staying here at $1M per to play on the 4th line and contribute 12 points and spend half the year in the press box... I was never a big fan of Grier, mainly because I felt he was dragging down the Drury line. If Grier was going to be a 3rd-line banger, working the PK and doing the grunt work, then I had no problem bringing him back. I just got tired of watching him mishandle the puck on odd-man rushes, etc - to me he was the Drury line's version of Adam Mair. Novotny, while frustrating at times, is still young and I have no problem being patient with him to see how he develops.

Obviously I am biased, being an FSU fan, but I would take Leon Washington over WM. But again, that's just me...

I don't think the blackout rule needs to be totally changed, but maybe some sort of exceptions can added or making the target number the average NFL stadium capacity number or something.

Chuck's no dummy, he knows that letting the NFL push around the Bills and letting the team leave on his watch isn't a very good way to ensure re-election...or further elections...all that being said, I am glad to see someone who seems very willing to butt heads with the NFL over the franchise's future in WNY, and isn't just giving the issue lip service...

Tim Tebow and the Gators...

Looks like that is true - no signing bonus for Mario. Found this copy of an ESPN Insider article on a Chargers message board: .

Royal...

I wouldn't mind seeing him in Buffalo next year...good size (6-3, 230) & speed (4.67?) ...this year had 5 sacks, 1 INT, 2 Blocked kicks (not sure if that includes the one from the Emerald Bowl the other night) and 18 tackles for loss...

When I worked at Disney (2003) the neighboring Osceola County sheriffs did something similar - but they dressed up as European tourists, complete with the backpacks, the "football"jerseys and the floral print shirts, and carried the radar equipment in the backpacks. Busted a lot of people early in the day but then the word got out. We all thought it was BS as well, especially our coworkers who got busted...

Screw the 'Phins. Between moving out of Orlando and getting the Sunday Ticket installed at my new apartment, I only have to watch Miami if I want to, and that doesn't happen often...

Anyone know how many tickets still remain for the 'Phins and/or Titans games?

I think Hatcher might be a good pick - his D-II championship was quarterbacked by former Nole QB Fabian Walker. Although it was a lower level of competition, Hatcher did manage to get Walker on the field and made him productive, something the FSU coaches couldn't do (Walker's shoulder surgery aside.)

Honestly, I don't remember. A lot of that happened after I left Tallahassee, so I didn't follow it as closely as I did when I went to school there. On a side note, there are a lot of window-lickers on the Warchant.com message boards who want to run McHale out of town with Sexton and Dickey, even though he's only been on the job about 18 months, and is in the process of installing a new scheme with new types of linemen.

IIRC, the talk about that was more along the lines of forcing Sexton into an admin job, and that he didn't want that. So I think Bobby backed off of that idea, but I could be wrong. I definitely think Sexton and Dickey are gone, one way or another, after this year, so I hope Bobby and Dave Hart make a concerted effort to find some good, no-ties-to-Bowden coaches to fill those spots.

It's just the 1st step - Darryl Dickey needs to follow Jeff, and maybe Billy Sexton as well. Once we upgrade those staff positions, then I'll celebrate. But for now, it's a good start...

Bingo. Ramius & I probably both saw enough of Willis at "Duh U" to know that pre-knee implosion, Willis was indeed much faster than he is now. Again, that should go without saying - his speed won't get competely back to where it was before, but he has gotten a lot of the burst back and definitely looks faster than last year. .

Looks like you're right. NFL.com and a couple other sites shows WM with having 16 GP and 15 GS; I assume if he is active for the game that he gets credited for a game played. I don't remember that game all that well, so it is possible he came in to spell Henry and just pass blocked or went out into a pattern or something, or he might have stayed on the sideline the whole game. With that info, it means that through their first two years, both guys played (as far as I can tell) the same number of games (31.) WM has the edge in yards rushing, while TT gets the nod in total yards from scrimmage. But for WM to be less than 300 yards short of TT's start is a pretty good start to his career.

You are totally misreading my response. I was agreeing with you that it's hard to tell a lot about a player's personality based on the way they play. As for the stats I fixed - I corrected the number of games played from your post - go back and look at my first post, and look at the bolded part of your quote. The rushing stats you listed showed their totals for their first two years, which for WM was 32 games, while TT played 31 (your original post had WM at 31 and TT @ 30.) Second, where did you pull the word blame from? I know TSW has some Gold Medal-winning conclusion jumpers, but seriously. All I was trying to do was clarify why I thought TT was the better all-around player, and how comparisons to a future HOF'er are unfair to the current player, whether we are talking WM and TT, or JP and Jimbo.

(Fixed the "games played" stats for you.) Not arguing your point about knowing someone's personality by the way they play, but just wanted to clarify a couple stats. First, through the first two years of their careers (31 games for TT, 32 for Willis) McGahee got 104 more carries than TT, which explains some of the rushing yardage discerepancy, but where TT pulls away statistically is his value as a receiver: Thurman: 78 receptions-877 yards - 6 TD Willis: 50 receptions-347 yards - 0 TD I think the biggest difference is when people think about TT, they remember his passion and how fired up he got for the game -I remember him yapping at RW during pregame warmups before a game against the Fish - and how much more laid-back Willis is, how he seems to play uninspired. That was one reason why I was excited to see him fired up earlier this year, yapping a little, giving the first down signal, etc. I am a huge fan of TT, but to hold any current player up to TT's standards is being unfair, especially since TT should be getting his Hall Call real soon.

Does he have a high motor?

I'm not a big fan of Clements, but if keeping him means we don't draft a DB on the first day, then I say lock him up now so Marv can concentrate on fixing the lines.

JP also started 3-4 for 26 yards until Shelton twitched to kill the 4th-down attempt on the opening drive; was 4-6 for 33yds overall until Price's crucial drop, after which the wheels came off. After the Peerless drop JP's next series went sack, inc, inc, 15-yards to Evans, inc, INT (1-5, 15 yds, INT, sack.) Both QB's faced tough defenses and a lot of pass rush pressure today. JP made some "young QB"-type mistakes, true, but I am glad that he struggled a lot and came back at the end to lead a garbage-time TD drive - to me it shows he didn't quit fighting and is still learning how to be a starting NFL quaterback and leader.

All good points, to which I can add: Can someone in a Bills jersey block anyone in a Bears jersey?

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while...