Rubes

So your interpretation is that he was whining at the sidelines because Tuel couldn't get him the ball? I see. Not that there couldn't be several other explanations for what you saw.

What makes you conclude this is what he was doing? I've watched the replay several times now, and I didn't get that impression at all.

Loved it. Thanks for putting the time and effort into that.

Thanks, Bill, great stuff as usual. On another point, I thought the kickoff coverage unit was pretty darn awesome. Holy hell those gunners were getting down the field fast and making good solid tackles. Oh, and no comments about Hopkins? Sure didn't help himself out with those first few kickoffs.

You mean we can't do both at the same time?

Point well taken! That is precisely what I intended to imply.

It's DNR and DOA, baby. Now somebody get me a drink!

Portland's a nice town. Spent a couple days there not too long ago and I enjoyed walking around it. Nice to hear there is a BB club there. As to Nanker's point, I'm really waiting for the day Brady retires, if not just to see how quickly Pats* fans find something better to do on Sundays.

I have to admit, you lost me on that one. Regardless, I am actually contractually bound to a single mea culpa per thread (it was a special addendum to the TBD terms of service that Scott had me agree to, as quid pro quo for my signing bonus), so you and the rest of the denigrated masses are, as a matter of fact, out of luck on this one.

No kidding. What, one mea culpa isn't enough for this crowd?

Fair enough, although Lucas is credited with the story (not necessarily the screenplay). I suspect this is the way of representing the influence and final say he had over most aspects of the story. Lots of people like V, and think its the best of the series. I'm not saying I didn't like it, but there are parts of the story and dialogue that are irritatingly simple and shallow, which I guess is my way of saying childish. Every interaction that Luke has with Yoda makes me cringe. V was the movie where R2D2, C3PO, and Chewie began the transition from real characters into toys. Personally, I never liked the way they handled the Lando character (way too shallow), or they way they handled dead Obi Wan (just let the character die gracefully, please). To me, all of those facets of the story were like they were written by an adolescent. That's just my opinion, though, and I recognize that there are good parts to V, and that many people liked it a lot. Hell, I liked it. It's probably a bit much for me to characterize it as "childish," I'll admit, like VI certainly is. Maybe better to say its "adolescent."

We're not going to let this go, I see.

To be fair, the article does name "any team from Florida" and does discuss the Jags.

Fun read, thanks. I think for them, like it is for most teams I suppose, it comes down to the line play. Their O-line needs to give Tanny time or, like you said, he implodes. I recall reading a story online a week or so back that talked about how Martin was not doing well for them. They need him to step it up or they have some big problems. Same for their D-line -- they really need them to be stout against the run, or they're in for a long season. But I suppose none of this is great insight that doesn't apply to anyone, really. One thing you could say for the Bills is that at least we have a QB that can make something out of nothing if the protection fails.

NFL Network reporting Geno limped off the field with a right ankle injury. This qualified as Breaking News.

I had no idea the Bucs had 6 out of their 8 home games blacked out last year, and 25 out of the past 29 overall. That's impressive.

In case this hasn't been posted already. All times Eastern. Aug 11 1:30PM - Bills at Colts (LIVE) Aug 18 10:00AM - Vikings at Bills Aug 24 4:30PM - Bills at Redskins (LIVE) Aug 31 7:00AM - Lions at Bills

Ah yes...my fix for the day. I'd be a mess if it wasn't for Astro.

I've always wondered by Boba Fett is such a popular character. You're right in that he was a complete mystery, did almost nothing, and probably spoke what, three lines total in V-VI? I think he was just a fascination for people; evil, hidden face, mysterious. I don't consider him an important character, though -- in fact, if you think about it, he's probably the shallowest of characters, and in that sense about equal to Darth Maul, who was another complete mystery who did little to nothing, said even less, and somehow earned the fascination of the public. I say it's because of his makeup. As to your point about Star Wars being for kids -- I would say that I disagree in that SW IV was not necessarily for kids at all. It was great storytelling that connected with people of all ages. Once Lucas got past his first movie, though, it most definitely evolved into a series and franchise targeting kids, starting right with V, and really hitting stride with VI. I don't know if that was entirely a purposeful marketing move, but it certainly suited him. I see where you're coming from, but I can't really agree with it. I don't think it has to do with growing older and more cynical, or being less willing to engage with a fantastical story. I mean, I was already old enough and cynical enough when the Matrix came out, and I was transfixed. I still experience that with movies, even if they require a major suspension of disbelief, but only when there is a solid story, good storytelling, and a focus on the goals and emotions of characters that are nicely fleshed out. Lucas became childish in V and VI, and by the time I-III came about the storytelling and character development took a major back seat to the technology and marketing. The story throughout I-III is horribly convoluted, and he cut all sorts of corners with the storytelling and character development to the point where it's just a bunch of cardboard characters spewing silly dialogue while they run around doing a bunch of things that either don't seem to make sense or I can't seem to care about. I don't necessarily agree with this, either. We knew the end point of the story, but we didn't really know the story at all. All we knew is that some dude named Anakin, who was a good guy, fell into darkness and became an evil guy, and a couple of kids were involved. That actually has all the makings of a fascinating tragedy, even if we already know the ending. I mean, Titanic is one of the most loved movies out there, and everybody already knew how that one was going to end. There's plenty Lucas could have done with that storyline that could have allowed for discovery, fascination, and elicitation of emotion. Instead, he settled for something incoherent and silly. Great actors can take good characters and make them iconic. Almost nobody can take a crappy character and script and do much with it. Actors like Ewan MacGregor, Samuel Jackson, and Natalie Portman are all very good actors capable of elevating characters to high levels. Each, however, was dealt a hand of **** and found out there's no bluffing in Hollywood with a pair of two's.

Too many to name, really...but I'm interested to see if Hughes can really bring it in this defense.

This is amazing stuff. I am forever grateful.

We could always grind it up and slide it down a feeding tube.

I can't figure out if I'm supposed to be nonchalant or really ticked off at this development. Will someone please tell me what I'm supposed to think??

Basically, you could just substitute "Star Wars" for "the Matrix" in your statements and it would apply perfectly. The problem with the SW prequels, as I see it, is precisely what you say: they would have been great if they could have tied a better story to the incredible effects. The story in the prequels was so convoluted and incoherent it had no flow and made little sense, and on top of that the dialogue is so bush-league it's embarrassing. Contrast the prequels to the original SW movie -- in the prequels, there are no characters that draw our attention and emotion. Who are we supposed to care about? The guy who we already know is going to become a ruthless villain, acted by a horrible actor with the worst lines of dialogue quite possibly ever written or delivered? The young Obi Wan, who runs around doing...something vaguely political and confusing, while spewing grade school dialogue? The "queen"? Really? Everyone else is just a cardboard cutout. The problem with both of these series is that the writers and directors tried to do far too much with the sequels, to the point where it just seems like (1) they're trying to cram far too much material into the allotted space, and (2) they're trying way too hard to come up with creative, complex explanations for all of the cool things in the original films that made them so fascinating. The great things about both The Matrix and SW:IV are: (1) they tell simple, classic stories in the context of cool sci-fi settings, and (2) they focus on a small number of clearly defined characters. Neither the Matrix sequels nor the SW prequels followed this formula -- they both evolved from simple to complex, and from few interesting characters to large numbers of characters that I couldn't give a crap about. Not that there is anything intrinsically wrong with complexity in movies or stories, of course. If you're going to do it, though, it has to be done carefully and gracefully. Both the Matrix sequels and SW prequels come across as anything but. I'm not sure any actor could overcome the horrid dialogue in those movies, but good points. I mean, I consider Samuel Jackson and Ewan MacGregor to be pretty solid actors, and even they are forgettable in these roles.

Thanks so much, this was gold.