MattM

My father owned a bar when I was a kid growing up, so I know from what I speak. It's funny you should mention "Cheers", 'cause I used to tell my friends who thought it was cool that my dad owned a bar, "it ain't 'Cheers'" and by that I meant that show glamorized bars and alcohol, which do indeed have their merits in moderation, but without showing the seamier side of that life, including, obviously, the effects of alcoholism on an individual and families.....

Let's see, a player clearly has a problem with alcohol (it turns out that Allen had at least 3 DWI's by this point), yet still owns a bar. That's some way to help yourself solve that problem. That's what it has to do with--how smart is it for a player who may well be an alcoholic to own a bar? Not very.....

I also thought I'd read elsewhere, however, that Goodell has typically not taken action against first time offenders, especially where there was no serious injuries involved.

If he was in such a "drunken stupor" how'd he get the car the rest of the way home? Blind luck? Autopilot? Let's stick to the most likely scenario since it is, after all by definition "the most likely". I've given my view of it above.

Jared Allen was given a 4 game suspension for 2 DWIs in a 2 month span (and he still owned a bar throughout the whole process--a regular Einstein). It was reduced to 2 games because he showed contrition (again, all the while still owning a bar). I think that if it's found that Lynch hit the girl, knew he hit the girl and drove off, then a fair punishment from the League would be the 2 games Allen ended up actually serving, but that's just MHO..... PS Not sure if Allen had a history prior to his events or not--if he did, then I'd reconsider Marshawn's punishment and go easier on him, as he doesn't have anything in terms of prior history while in the League (I don't count his getting shot at in a case of mistaken ID or the charges that were dropped against him by an ex-girlfriend, as those charges were just that--dropped.)

Bump, as I'd still really like to know the answer to this one, Clump (or anyone else, for that matter).....

What I did was take the FACTS we know (the nature of the injuries, where it occurred, etc.) and extrapolate what likely happened in terms of the physics of the situation. You and others act like he hit this woman head on doing 60, flipped her over the windshield, backed over her and then drove off with a maniacal laugh, when the FACTS show very much otherwise. It is possible that he knew he hit her and drove off, scared of being caught, but it is also possible that he hit her and didn't know he did so and just kept going, for the reasons I laid out. Why don't we wait until the facts come out before riding Lynch out of town on a rail? While he's following his attorney's advice now on keeping mum (which I disagree with for the reasons also mentioned above), eventually this will come out. If you've got a problem with my logic on the FACTS or how I extrapolated them, please correct me where I'm wrong instead of just coming in with a one-liner "you're wrong". Not a way to win an argument or convince people of your correctness.....

While I posted this in another dead thread, I think it applies to your question above, so here goes: "What I'm having real trouble understanding in all of this is how the driver could have hit her and she only suffered the injuries she did, namely a bruised hip and a cut, which was stitched up with a relatively minimal number of stitches (7) and she was released that day/night. If he hit her straight on, it would have been a lot worse than that obviously. It must have been a glancing hit, i.e., he was turning that corner (meaning that he was not going that fast (by definition) unless he was up on two wheels or something, which no one seems to be suggesting) and she was walking across the street and he clipped her with the right side of his car and she probably spun around and went down, taking a piece of the car with her (my guess is it was a piece of the mirror, since, again, it's doubtful that anything on the front of a car would fall off even if it hit a person straight on (which again, doesn't seem to be the case here). Not to be a Marshawn apologist, but in that case, isn't it possible that the driver of the car wasn't even sure he hit someone, since from a glancing blow there's not likely to be the "thud" you'd get if you hit someone or something head on? Folks here seem to have an image of this accident as he ran her over head on and then sped away. From the injuries involved, it really doesn't sound that way to me. In terms of Marshawn's not speaking to the police, I agree that being uncooperative looks bad. What I really suspect is going on here is that you have a pretty young and scared guy who knows nothing about these kinds of things, but is scared out of his wits as to what can happen to him in the justice and League discipline process and in such a case is just following the advice of his attorney instead of perhaps doing what a more mature person might do, namely exercising some discretion in the matter and telling his attorney he just wants to come clean and cooperate, which is also an area where his interest and his attorney's diverge since there's not much for an attorney to do if he just goes in and spills his guts (assuming his attorney is not doing right by his client in that regard). This is the easiest path to follow for someone in his shoes, although it may not be the best. Again, I think someone a bit older and wiser may realize that he's not helping himself by staying silent and just relying on his attorney's advice blindly. Remember, too, that Marshawn grew up in a neighborhood where the police were usually not your friends, no matter how some folks try to spin that on this board, which adds to the likelihood that he's a bit gullible when his attorney tells him he's better off fighting this than coming clean. Personally, I think that Marshawn would be better served coming forward, not least of the reasons for which is that it's the right thing to do. That said, I can understand why he may not do so, but that's worse for even him in the long run, as that doesn't look so good either to the Commissioner or the public. I also think, however, that a lot of folks here and elsewhere are blowing this a bit out of proportion--as noted above, based on the facts we have, it's possible that the driver of this care didn't even know they'd really hit someone. This is not a case of attempted murder or even attempt to injure. Even if Marshawn was the driver, I'd say that the sentence would involve no jail time (probation and community service) and from the League, the worst I would see as fair would be a 4 game suspension, reduced to 2 for contrition (if it's shown eventually), much like Jared Allen got last year for 2 DWI's in a short span of time (and for those who talk about Jared's "contrition", remember that he still owned a bar throughout all of that). I'm not even sure that's warranted for Marshawn here, personally, as this was really his first brush with the law (I don't count his being shot at in a case of mistaken identity and the thing with his girlfriend that was dropped--if it was dropped, I don't think it's fair for the NFL to use that against him, but that's just my view)." Call me a Bills homer, but that's the way I see it.

What I'm having real trouble understanding in all of this is how the driver could have hit her and she only suffered the injuries she did, namely a bruised hip and a cut, which was stitched up with a relatively minimal number of stitches (7) and she was released that day/night. If he hit her straight on, it would have been a lot worse than that obviously. It must have been a glancing hit, i.e., he was turning that corner (meaning that he was not going that fast (by definition) unless he was up on two wheels or something, which no one seems to be suggesting) and she was walking across the street and he clipped her with the right side of his car and she probably spun around and went down, taking a piece of the car with her (my guess is it was a piece of the mirror, since, again, it's doubtful that anything on the front of a car would fall off even if it hit a person straight on (which again, doesn't seem to be the case here). Not to be a Marshawn apologist, but in that case, isn't it possible that the driver of the car wasn't even sure he hit someone, since from a glancing blow there's not likely to be the "thud" you'd get if you hit someone or something head on? Folks here seem to have an image of this accident as he ran her over head on and then sped away. From the injuries involved, it really doesn't sound that way to me. In terms of Marshawn's not speaking to the police, I agree that being uncooperative looks bad. What I really suspect is going on here is that you have a pretty young and scared guy who knows nothing about these kinds of things, but is scared out of his wits as to what can happen to him in the justice and League discipline process and in such a case is just following the advice of his attorney instead of perhaps doing what a more mature person might do, namely exercising some discretion in the matter and telling his attorney he just wants to come clean and cooperate, which is also an area where his interest and his attorney's diverge since there's not much for an attorney to do if he just goes in and spills his guts (assuming his attorney is not doing right by his client in that regard). This is the easiest path to follow for someone in his shoes, although it may not be the best. Again, I think someone a bit older and wiser may realize that he's not helping himself by staying silent and just relying on his attorney's advice blindly. Remember, too, that Marshawn grew up in a neighborhood where the police were usually not your friends, no matter how some folks try to spin that on this board, which adds to the likelihood that he's a bit gullible when his attorney tells him he's better off fighting this than coming clean. Personally, I think that Marshawn would be better served coming forward, not least of the reasons for which is that it's the right thing to do. That said, I can understand why he may not do so, but that's worse for even him in the long run, as that doesn't look so good either to the Commissioner or the public. I also think, however, that a lot of folks here and elsewhere are blowing this a bit out of proportion--as noted above, based on the facts we have, it's possible that the driver of this care didn't even know they'd really hit someone. This is not a case of attempted murder or even attempt to injure. Even if Marshawn was the driver, I'd say that the sentence would involve no jail time (probation and community service) and from the League, the worst I would see as fair would be a 4 game suspension, reduced to 2 for contrition (if it's shown eventually), much like Jared Allen got last year for 2 DWI's in a short span of time (and for those who talk about Jared's "contrition", remember that he still owned a bar throughout all of that). I'm not even sure that's warranted for Marshawn here, personally, as this was really his first brush with the law (I don't count his being shot at in a case of mistaken identity and the thing with his girlfriend that was dropped--if it was dropped, I don't think it's fair for the NFL to use that against him, but that's just my view). PS My strong suspicion is that Pentium4EEE is really a Pats* fan here to stir up trouble--look at his join date. I've seen on their boards suggestions that they go onto other team's boards and pretend to be local fans during Spygate and suspect that this recent joiner is an extension of that failed policy.....

Anyone else have a bad feeling about this in terms of who was driving? I mean, if he wasn't driving or in the car, I'm sure we would have heard that by now. I'll wait to see what the "official" word is today, but you have to think that if he was not in the car or not driving it would have come out by now.....

Muchas gracias in advance, senor....

The stuff about the radios are not assumptions--they were reported as fact by at least two coaches, Jack Del Rio (in a playoff game, no less, if memory serves correctly) and Rod Marinelli. Neither is the stuff about HGH, as Rodney Harrison showed last year they've got at least one user on the team, and the only way he got caught was by being dumb enough to use his own address, as the NFL doesn't test for HGH. Ever see the size of the melons on Bruschi, Vrabel and Seau--each is so large that it has its own gravitational field, a known side effect of HGH use. Not saying they're users, but according to a power lifter acquaintance of mine, an enlarged head is a symptom power lifters call the "bloat", and they seem to have extra large noggins to go with their advanced age and athletic ability. They've also apparently been accused of a ton of things by their brethren--just read the article I linked to earlier. What say you to that?

Not to be too much of a downer, but unfortunately when the time comes, they're not going to need, or even ask, your permission to move the team.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/sports/f...amp;oref=slogin This article may answer some of it for you, apus. Seems that whenever the Competition Committee gets a complaint on cheating/unethical behavior by a team, it usually turns out to be the Pats. Some highlights: The committee heard accusations that the Patriots had taped opposing coaches’ signals, placed microphones on defensive players to steal quarterbacks’ audible signals and manipulated clocks and coach-to-quarterback radio systems. The N.F.L. team executive said the Patriots were the subject of most of the accusations discussed in the rules committee’s deliberations. The team’s recent success and tight-lipped approach, as personified by Belichick, has played a role. “They were the only team, really,” the executive said. “Clearly, they were the team mentioned far more than anybody else.” How 'bout that? Peter King had a similar article in late Feb., citing anonymous coaches and players he spoke to at the Combine, most of whom thought there was too much smoke around NE for there not to be fire (his words.) I, too, believe that these guys are up to more "no good" than we currently know. Anyone who's watched any of their games and the officiating therein has to wonder whether Bob Kraft has Mike Pereira (head of the NFL refs) on the payroll.....

Many thanks, Clump--I was interested in seeing who will be FA's in 2009 and 2010. Basically I'm curious as to how much of our team is locked up for the next two years or so.

The odds of that happening randomly are more than 4,000 to 1 actually....

Many thanks. While I'm in awe of Clumps detailed salary cap analysis (and always have been), it doesn't look like he has the information I'm looking for, namely, who we have signed through 2009 (and the length of our players's deals generally). I'd love to see what the roster's likely to look like for the next 2-3 years.....

Don't hold back, now, Colin, tell us how you really feel!

Looks like Joey's not with the NFL Program that "it wasn't a big deal" and "didn't affect the outcome of any games". Horsesh*t. When you know what's coming it's a heckuva lot easier to go where they ain't and run plays to counter what the defense is going to do. How folks can say otherwise defies credulity in my view.....

Anyone know where to find a page that show the current status of the Bills' players' contracts (i.e., how long they're each signed through)? For ex., I understand that going into 2009 our main unsigned players will be Evans and Crowell (absent extensions this year). Is that correct? I'd also like to take a look at how long we have the rest of the team currently signed through. Any help would be appreciated.....

Link on that? (Not saying I don't believe you, but would like to see where that was reported). I personally suspect BB and Co. did much more than what they've been caught at--for ex., remember how when they were caught last year they happened to have 2 extra radio frequencies on their headsets? Anyone who's watched any of our games with them over the last 10 years or so (overlaps a bit with Kraft's ownership, perhaps?) knows first hand that they've had the refs seemingly in their pockets in any game with them that was close (which is when the fix would show itself). I personally suspect that this is the tip of the iceberg and that may be another part of why the League just wants this to go away. I'm also still stunned that no major media outlet has picked up on HBO's statement that a Pats player confirmed much of Walsh's story, including that the taping really did benefit the Pats' offense greatly. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but that seems a bit weird to me, what with all the attention this matter is getting generally.

While I agree that the Pats' and the League's interests are aligned here on wanting this to go away, I'd bet that if it were a less influential team (like ours) we'd get thrown a little more to the wolves than NE and the Krafts have been. New England has always gotten better treatment than most teams in everything from the schedule (playing the same one of your better division opponents after a bye week 4 years in a row--odds of that happening randomly are over 1 in 4,000) to refereeing and I for one don't think it's a coincidence. Goodell was clearly the choice of the large market teams and Kraft was both on the search committee and a big backer, and the Pats have reaped some of those rewards, IMHO.

While I hate the Pats, I think that one is more of an issue for the players' union than the competition committee, so I must admit that I agree with Goodell that that one doesn't rise to the level of an additional fine or loss of picks.

I agree with that--every game they play the opposition is going to be jacked for a number of reasons, from Spygate, to rubbing people's noses in it last year, to the dirty play of Harrison and Wilfork, to their general arrogance. In fairness to the Pats, they faced that the last 5-6 games last year, when going undefeated was possible, but it's interesting that that was the stretch when they started to fall to earth a bit, having trouble with teams like the Jets, Ravens and Eagles, not to mention the Giants in the last game of the year. I don't think they got any better this offseason and in fact got older in some spots (WRs (Moss is now 31, I believe) and LBs' despite Mayo and Crable, the latter of which won't start) and worse in others (the secondary comes to mind, as does the LB corps with the loss of Colvin). A key injury or two (if I had to guess, the obvious choices would be Brady of course, and then someone else like Maroney or Wilfork (a little payback for Big Vince is coming at some point)) and this team will fall to earth in a hurry. I also predict that when the inevitable comes and this team does fall to earth, be it this year or another, you'll see some beat downs delivered to Belichick, as coaches have long memories in this league. I'd love to see us partake at some point.....

While he also mentions the Bills, call me a homer, but someone calling up Mouse McNally on their own and offering free pointers on his old team isn't so much a reflection on the Bills as it is on that coach. It's certainly nowhere near the level of what the Pats* did, IMHO.