MattM

Here's a few more: http://helmet2helmet.net/2012/05/27/ochocinco-raffling-off-custom-lamborghini-for-charity/ From March--raffling off his custom Lamborghini with a portion of the proceeds going to Feed the Children who he's apparently supported before; like here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chad-ochocinco-and-degreer-men-ask-america-to-rise-to-the-challenge-and-donate-to-feed-the-children-80929667.html http://onthesideline.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/some-athletes-are-good-people/ http://voices.yahoo.com/we-more-professional-athletes-like-chad-ochocinco-5726186.html?cat=49 "His charity work is often publicized in a grand way, like when he raced a thoroughbred racehorse to raise money for charity in 2007. Yet he is continually criticized for being so open about his charity work, like he is showing off. From his twitter account or his website, www.ochocinco.com you can learn about his charity, Soldiers for Giving, and that they went on a four day charity bus tour in January of 2010 from Cincinnati to Miami and he chose 10 lucky fans to go on his tour with him to spread the love. Ochocinco spends a lot of his time helping charities especially "Feed the Children", he helped out for Haiti, as a matter of fact if you google the name Chad Ochocinco and the word charity together, your results will be endless. It looks as if it's his part time job. He matches any fines he gets on the field and donates it to charity, when the home games in Cincinnati are not sold out and a blackout is lingering, Chad with the help of businesses, will buy out the remaining tickets to the game, once it was 1200 tickets, he then turns around and gives the tickets away the day of the game, 600 pairs. Who else does this kind of thing? No one I've heard of. He cares about his fans more than any other player I have seen. He is a twitter addict and is constantly tweeting and interacting with his fans. This is what a superstar should do, give back and interact." Life is complicated, as are people. There certainly are parts of this guy's act we've all grown tired of, but to me at least, it does sound like he does more than most in his position to give back. I see no takers on that positive comments on the Bills, so I had to come up with the Pats* to help you out, otherwise it would have been ALL negative.

I'm not touching the "getting laid" part, but I'd be curious if anyone else can ever remember him actually being positive about anything, in particular any move the Bills have ever made. I personally don't recall it, but I obviously don't read everything written here. That said, I honestly can't remember offhand any single positive post the esteemed Senor WEO has ever made on this board, about anything (except perhaps the Patriots*)..... http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Chad-Ochocinco-makes-one-young-fan-s-dream-come-?urn=nfl,244600 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-57390696-10391697/chad-ochocinco-sprayed-by-lion-at-charity-event/ http://voices.yahoo.com/chad-ochocinco-does-charity-work-5344599.html http://www.carbonated.tv/blogs/charity-bull-ride-does-chad-ochocinco-have-more-substance-than-we-thought http://www.feedthechildren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=usw_ochocinco This is all from a very simple Google search of Chad Ochocincho and charity. This from the first page of 412,000 total entries, but you get the picture. Say what you want about the guy on the field or the fact that he may not be all that "booksmart" bright, but it's pretty clear that his heart's in the right place and does give his time, money and name to charity, unlike many other players in the League (and, to be fair, like many others as well).....

Have read a number of places over the years that despite the image he's actually a really nice guy. In fact, I'm spacing on who it was but there was a sportswriter just recently who listed him on his Top 10 "good guys in the League" list and said he's very different in private than his public showboating image. (it was the guy who wrote the "top 10 jerks in the League" article.) And wrt WEO's comment above on "public vs private" charity, how do we know what in fact he does privately since, by definition, that's private? Personally, I'd wager that he does a good bit that we don't read about based on what I've read on him....

NYC Bills Backers are planning a trip to the game I believe, as well as a tailgate. They also mentioned something in a recent e-mail about buying a block of tickets together via the Jets. I may try to get in on that, or just Stubhub it like I did to the Giants game last year. Tickets can be had for as little as about $65 each there and despite being in the nosebleeds you can still pretty much see everything, so a pretty good deal (for NY!). Best of luck and maybe I'll catch you there!

I hope you're right about TO and suicide, but I'm not so sure. As you may recall, there was already that incident several years ago when he "accidentally" ODed on sleeping pills and they had to call EMT's to his home if I recall correctly. While I'm not a medical professional (and I don't even play one on TV), it does seem at times like he's got something clinical going on.....

That's what you'd think would make sense, but that's the LAST thing the owners will want to do....

Very sorry to hear about your dad--may you cherish the memories he left you. I'll keep him and your family in my prayers....

It's interesting that you pick the Stillers for the biased officiating and then give the Cheats* a pass on Spygate, when it's been the Pats* who've benefitted by far the most from poor officiating over the last decade or so, to the point where it's not even close....

And the teams playing on the short 4 day week will be playing another 4 day short week team--that's really the key, the differential in time off....

Not to bring back the massive thread on this from April, but I disagree on the value to NE* of playing us over and over again. First off, like this year, a number of those years the Bills were considered the most likely divisional rival team to try to knock the Pats* off that season. Secondly, division games, no matter who they're against, are the most important games of the year, as they determine the vast majority of potential tiebreakers to make the playoffs. Third, the years that the Cheatahs* did not get to play us they in fact often did get other "high value" games after the bye over the last ten years (Miami, Baltimore, Denver, Dallas and Pittsburgh come to mind, but I'm too lazy to check).....

Who here believes things like this (or the Pats* playing divisional games or other key games after a bye year after year after year) happen by accident? If so, have I got a deal on a bridge for you...... Only slightly more seriously, what are the Bills going to do about it? Personally I'd make sure the NFL front office know that we see what they're doing each and every year until this "evens out". Statistically speaking we shouldn't be playing the Cheats* again after a bye until about 2050-something even though we play1/8th of our games against them.....

And they didn't make the playoffs, right? Since that team went 18-1 the year prior, an argument can be made that Brady alone is worth 5-7 wins a year. Guess we'll find out in 2-3 years won't we? Maybe sooner if Mario gets to him this year. Bet you can't wait....

Did you read your own link? Sounds to me like it proves my original point about who was exempted. You can make up your own mind about motivation. He clearly thought he was talking to David Koch if you've listened to the audio link. On 3, what harm are they trying to prevent? Bear in mind that the end result of those policies will very likely be that hundreds or thousands of eligible voters without ID will be turned away. Doesn't it strike you as scummy tt then close DMVs in poor areas while extending hours in favorable districts? Finally, you seem to conveniently forget the part about then destroying as many copies of the paper with the negative op-Ed as they could find, usually by stealing all copies out of news dispensers. Problem is, he doesn't publicly take that position. In fact he's publicly said the opposite. On RTW....

How is it left wing propaganda when, as noted above, any of us can actually take 20 minutes and listen to Scott Walker gush over "David Koch" and tell him how he plans to bust unions? As also noted above, please go ahead and feel free to prove any of the other facts I laid out as wrong if you'd like. I have an open mind if I'm wrong on something, but I must admit, on this one, I haven't heard much from credible sources that can get Walker over the sleeze hump I felt in listening to that call or seeing him in another video tell another out of state billionaire (Diana Hendricks) about his plan to "divide and conquer" the unions (public and private presumably) to turn Wis. into a right to work state. This statement was made a few months before the public union brouhaha. Or a news story on that one in which Walker gets to defend himself (poorly)--I'll link to that one below, since the system is telling me I have too many video links to post at one. Looked to me personally like he's lying in that one--you can judge on your own, once again, since you can see his original conversation with Ms. Hendricks (another out of state billionaire) in both vids. Anyone else get the impression that this guy only tells "the truth" when he's talking to his big money donors? That's what Barrett says in the local Fox news piece, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. Sure sounds that way to me based on the primary sources.... As promised:

Not really. Here you go: 1. I listened to the "faux Koch" audiotapes--you can, too, at: Always great when you can get to a primary source like actually listening to the phone call between Walker and a guy he thought was one of the Koch brothers, no? 2. The stuff on the firemen, police, EMTs has been reported all over from the beginning ad nauseum--so no real need to link that. Please feel free to link something showing I'm wrong on that; and 3. I've also read the DMV stuff in a number of places--the one I'd love to link to, but it's tough to find in retrospect via Google, is an essay penned by a 30 year Republican Congressional aide who was retiring in disgust at what his own party has turned into. He used the Walker example on DMVs as an underhanded trick that his party was all too often engaging in these days. Very well thought out and sad piece, unfortunately. Basically, the guy, who sounded like a good soldier sort, was quite upset that his own party was attacking his and his co-workers' integrity with their recent anti-govt diatribes. Here's another article on the DMV stuff--after this guy spoke up, Walker scrapped the plan to close a bunch of DMVs: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OKSP800.htm 4. The personal stuff is, as noted, rumor on the cheating bounce. I think I have read in a few spots about the student govt. scandal--here's one thing easily accessible via Google for a local Wis. paper: "Actually, we need to start before Walker was elected governor -- specifically 1987, when Walker ran for student body president at Marquette University. During that campaign, he was found to be in violation of the school's campaign rules, including engaging in door-to-door campaigning, which was strictly prohibited. Walker was ultimately described to be "unfit for presidency" by the Marquette Tribune. When the Tribune endorsed Walker's opponent, Walker's supporters destroyed as many copies of the newspaper as they could find. This provides a window into our governor's character. Unfortunately, this incident received only cursory media attention during Walker's bid for governor." http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=35966 How's that? Any answer to my original question other than throwing aspersions on my sources? Just because you don't want to believe something doesn't always make it so.....

Serious question--not trying to be political. What do people think of Walker exempting firefighter, EMT and police unions from his law (unions that either supported him or whose members typically vote Republican)? Or his attempts to require voter ID without any history of electoral fraud in his state and then trying to close down DMVs in urban areas while extending voting hours in suburban DMVs? Apparently that was only stopped from happening when a Democratic legislator noticed it and publicized it. Anyone else listen to all of the "faux Koch" audiotape and come away absolutely convinced that govt was indeed for sale and feel like they needed to take a shower with how obsequious Walker was being to someone who wasn't even a resident of his state? I actually agree with some of what Walker is trying to do--public pensions are no longer market standard and need to go down, for ex., and state workers need to pay in more for what they get in terms of benefits--but this guy is just such a personally flawed standard bearer for any kind of message of change that even if I were inclined to support his positions I'd hesitate over supporting such a scuzzball, but that may just be me. (This is all not even mentioning his being bounced from school (rumors of cheating) or banned from Marquette Univ. politics for dirty tricks.) BTW, dirtballs exist on the left, too, and I wouldn't support them either. On Memorial Day Richard Blumenthal's "stolen valor" claims of serving in Vietnam come to mind, for ex.....

Interesting. It may be an age factor thing, as I seem to recall another article on the Reuters poll describing it as a poll of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, which would skew younger, where Obama has more support. He does horribly in the over 60 white male demographic--the guys who were subject to a draft, so that there was a much wider number of vets per general population in that age range. Which reminds me--slightly OT, but I was at the gym today on a treadmill when the President a Panetta were giving their Memorial Day speeches at Arlington. I noticed that I was the only one in the whole place actually watching that those speeches on my mini-TV on the treadmill. Literally all 20 plus other people were watching everything from MTV to HGTV to reality TV drivel, all this while there's a war on. Just odd....

Oh, believe me, I was on the phone complaining to them every 30 minutes for the rest of the day when the service tech didn't show up (i.e., 5-10 calls each time). It's all how you value your time. Personally, I don't care if they give me $60 worth of crap when they screw up and I have to waste an entire day (usually of limited vacation or weekend time) waiting for them. If they want add a zero, then we can start to talk.....

I have to agree with the sentiment on their customer service. Not once, but twice,I had appointments to have them come and do work and had them not only be late, but simply fail to show up at all that day despite in one case having an 8-12 appointment and in both cases me calling their dispatcher every 30 mins after they were an hour late. Inexcusable in my book, especially when they require someone to be home at the time (ie., take a day off). I'm only there for the Ticket (although when we moved two years ago my last installer was pretty competent and timely....

"The Super Bowl winning quarterbacks from back-to-back Super Bowls XLVI and XLVII having a chat...."

Oh, I agree about Giants fans versus Jets fans. I went to the Bills-Jets game in the Meadowlands about 10 years ago and ran into more than my share of jerks. That said, I'm debating taking my wife and kids to this year's opener in NJ, maybe with my bro-in-law and his family, as he's a big Jets fan, but am still a bit up in the air on it....

We must be about the same age--I went to my first game the last year of the Rockpile when I was about 7 (Colts blanked us under Johnny U, 17-0, as did Miami the next year at the Ralph--my first two games and I never saw us even score!). My dad and I never had a problem, but I must admit that when he took my younger sister at age 6 she nearly got trampled by a bunch of rowdy drunks and that was the last game she went to. From then on, it was "boys only" for the next nigh 40 years. I took my kids to the Bills-Giants game last year in NJ. My daughter just turned 8 ("her" birthday present--more like dad's) and my son was 3. All 4 of us wore our colors and had no problems--may have helped that the G-Men beat us, but still. Either home or away, you just need to be aware of your surroundings and steer yourself and the kids clear of any real problem areas. All in all, I've found that almost everyone is nice to little kids at a game, thankfully, but every now and then you may run into one of the "real beauts" as my father used to call them....

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing them do something like cut D. Edwards (since we're incredibly strong at DL right now) and spreading that savings around to someone like Shiancoe at TE, Burress at WR and/or Farrior at LB (strictly for leadership and depth at this point), but I agree that that's not likely. In fact, I suspect that from a budget perspective the Bills already plan on seeing how guys like Edwards and Kelsay in camp with the idea that at least one of those two (and their salary) will for sure be gone before the opener....

Any suggestions? I took my wife and kids to the Giants game here last year and it was fairly easy, as the G-Men opened up a block of individual game seats and we got them directly from them. So far, NFL Ticket Exchange on the Jets website has some crappy seats (nosebleed endzones--where we sat last year for the Giants game) starting at $120, but I wasn't sure if there was any better option. I suspect not, but figured it's worth a shot asking....