Albany,n.y.

The only reason Ballard was an 11th round pick was because there were questions about his eligibility to play because he was looking for another year of college eligibility (& got it). We waited a year for Ballard, who could have gone back in the draft if he didn't sign by draft day & would have been no worse than a 5th rounder according to the draft experts back then.

Coy Wire

Didn't he sign with Tampa Bay?

I would compare the Moon situation to Rodney Peete coming out of college. Peete slipped to the 6th round in the 1989 draft, probably due to many in the league questioning the abilities of a black QB (ironically only 1 year after Doug Williams won the Super Bowl). However, Peete signed with Detroit, didn't go to Canada, and eventually emerged as the starter on Detroit. Looking back, Doug Williams getting picked in the 1st round was an abberation-no black QB was taken in the 1st round between Williams in 1978 & 1990 when Andre Ware was picked by Detroit. Between those years, few black QBs were selected, the highest being Randall Cunningham in the 2nd round in 1985. The breakthrough year was 1995 when Houston picked Steve McNair in the 1st & Pittsburgh took Kordell Stewart in the 2nd. By 1999, 3 black QBs went in the 1st round (McNabb, A.Smith & Culpepper) and Shaun King went in round two. After 1995, or at the latest, 1999, the race of a QB has become a non issue. The NFL has come a long way since the day the Bills drafted James Harris in the 1969 draft and (from Relentless) "...in the eighth round, they selected James Harris, a black quarterback from Grambling. A Buffalo Evening News headline read 'A 6-4 Negro QB, Harris, drafted 8th by the Bills.' The story said Harris 'is a negro, one of the few of his race to be drafted as a quarterback in pro football.' " Moon could have gone the Rodney Peete route, or even the James Harris route-he did end up a starter for the Rams, and played his entire career in the NFL. He chose not to because he didn't THINK he could overcome the bias against black QBs. He's listed at 6'3" in the pro football registers in the 1980s, which was only an inch shorter than Williams, so obviously he's lying about the height thing. Moon's career is not much different than Vinny Testaverde's and I doubt Testaverde will ever get very far in HOF voting. I wish Doug Williams hadn't jumped to the USFL because maybe he would have been viewed as the true trailblazer & been given the first black QB vote instead of Moon. Personally, I'd much rather see Doug Williams in the HOF than Moon.

How can you lock them up after you've killed them?

The real religious right, social conservatives who won't vote for pro abortion, gay rights etc will not vote for Rudy-they will stay home & not vote at all. Whenever the Republicans move to the left on these issues, their fear is not that these people will vote Democratic, they KNOW these people will not go to the polls when given 2 candidates with social records they don't like.

The team is going to try Walker, Pennington & Butler at RT, once a winner is determined, the other two will battle Preston for the RG spot, with Merz & Whittle also in the RG mix. This is the deepest O-line we've had in a long time. There are currently 8 guys who have started in the NFL, 9 if you count the start Merz had last year.

You never trade a player with no replacement already in sight. Talking about rookies that the Bills 1) know will not be there when they draft or 2) scouts may not consider the best player at a need position at 12 is just insane talk. If the Bills do trade McGahee in the next few weeks, they'll only do so AFTER they have agreed to terms with his replacement. Do you really want to go into the draft with (if he re-signs) A Thomas & S. Williams as the top 2 backs on the roster? If you do, I hope you go down to Miami & become an advisor to the Dolphins so they can never have a wiining season again.

I thought it was Andre when I read your title

They were in the same class-1978. The difference is that Doug Williams didn't flee to Canada before the draft & blame it on racism. Moon signed with Edmonton in March 1978, had he waited until the NFL draft, he probably would have been a mid round selection and he could have earned his way on the roster of the team that drafted him. Williams waited until the May 2, 1978 draft, was taken in the 1st round with pick 17 after Tampa Bay traded the top pick (Earl Campbell) to Houston. He was the top QB taken in that draft and a year later had Tampa in the NFC Championship game. Moon is a wife beating coward & a liar who does not belong in the Hall of Fame.

In the current NFL, you can completely turn a team around in 1-3 years. The players (like Clements to SF) named in those type of posts are signing multi-year contracts. They expect to be pieces of the puzzle that their new team is trying to fill. Just because the team was a loser last season doesn't mean they can't be a contender this year or next. If that was the case, nobody would ever sign with the Bills unless they totally overbid on the "money over winning" guys. Nobody knows for sure what their team will do after they sign-just look at Takeo-he left Cin for the Bills because he thought we were a Super Bowl contender and he has yet to see the playoffs.

Unless the team was hiding a season ending injury, I have no idea why he hasn't been cut yet. They benched him and didn't activate him after the bye- based on those actions and the three free agent signings, he's as good as gone. Why the delay in releasing him-it's just like the Bennie Anderson situation last off-season. Dump him now.

It's pretty obvious watching Marv operate that he will not give big $, long term deals to guys on the wrong side of 30. Every big contract FA he has signed is in his mid 20's. Marv doesn't want big contracts given to guys who may only have a year or 2 left. Since he's been here he's dumped or not re-signed Sam Adams (32), Matt Bowen (30), Mark Campbell (30), London Fletcher-Baker (31), Lawyer Milloy (32), Eric Moulds (32), Jeff Posey (31), Damon Shelton (34), Trey Teague (31), Chris Villarrial (33), and Troy Vincent (35). Once you hit 30, you're on the endangered species list. Holcomb & Takeo are next. Note that the only FA he's signed who is over 30 signed a 1 year deal for small $.

I don't see anything that says Plummer accepted the trade. It appears that Tampa Bay is willing to make the trade, see if Plummer changes his mind & go from there. The fact that the pick is a 2008 conditional, and they have Simms & Garcia under contract, makes me believe that TB isn't counting on Plummer showing up-but if he does & makes the team, and gets in some games, then TB sends Denver a pick. Denver has nothing to lose trading a retired player. TB doesn't have to do anything now to retain Plummer's rights & might even trade him again if he's willing to unretire & play with an interested team. With the 2008 conditional pick, TB has plenty of time to figure out what Plummer's availability is-they don't have to know by this April.

Considering his job from last season is gone & they signed 3 OL guys yesterday, have 3 guys they drafted last year competing for tackle & guard spots and have another 3 veterans who started last season, how much more obvious can it be that they're not going to make any attempt to sign him to compete for a probable backup spot when he can go elsewhere & get mid to lower grade starting guard $? Drew Bledsoe has a better chance of being re-signed by the Bills than Gandy does.

Things are good. I may switch to FIOS TV when they get it in my area because they carry NFL network. If that happens, I'm dropping Time Warner cable & internet & I'll be telling them that I'm sick of paying for channels I never watch, like the cooking channel. They even have a gay channel on TWC, but no NFL.

Don't complain-you're like a man with a meal who is complaining about the taste, while some of us (AKA Time Warner Cable subscribers) are over here starving.

That's the thinking of those around here who are on a daily death watch for both Marv & Ralph.

Brad Butler will compete at both RT & RG spot unless we sign Walker. He was not 100% for most of last season & McNally likes him.

From WGR broadcast

You can't claim the sales tax if you claim the state income tax. It's one or the other. As a resident of NY state, there's no way that sales tax is more unless one buys a car or an extremely high big ticket item that tax year. I believe Texas doesn't have a state income tax & that's why you benefit from the sales tax deduction.

If you have simple stuff (like me) then you should just do your taxes with a pen paper & calculator & you don't need to waste your money on a program at all. My tax return is quite simple. The only things I can deduct are taxes & mortgage interest. I picked up a $50 credit for my new furnace (it's only 93% so I got screwed out of the $150 efficiency credit & had to settle for only the $50 advanced fan credit) and $30 phone excise tax credit. Other than the 2 credits & knowing about them, I don't see how a program like turbo tax or even an accountant could get me an extra penny back. For me spending anything extra to calculate my taxes would be throwing money away. The only way I could get more back would be to make stuff up & risk getting in trouble for what would amount to only a little more than pennies anyway.

I just did the forms today, I'll mail them next week after payday since I owe the feds $371. If you have a long distance land line, make sure you take the appropriate credit (see line 71 form 1040) for the federal telephone excise tax paid. The standard credit is $30 for 1 exemption, $40 for 2 exemptions, $50 for 3 & $60 4 or more. If you have all your phone bills from 2/28/03 to 8/1/06 & you paid more than the standard amount, you can fill out form 8913 and claim the amount you paid.

I just checked out the pictures and if she doesn't get bounced soon, they'll boot her. The problem is, the more men who check out her pics, the more votes she'll get. So they'll have to find a way for her to have a graceful exit, before she starts getting enough votes to win the whole thing.

He was injured this season & it looks like the reason the Giants cut him is that he might not be ready for the start of this season. I read the Giants would consider re-signing him somewhere in the future. If we could get him at a reasonable price, if the medical staff thinks he'll recover by midseason at the latest, I'd say go for it. He was, after all, a former 1st rounder.