cale

To be honest, I don't...I just remember thinking (before the Flutie play) WTF - my first game and we're gonna lose. Nowadays - even if we're down by 27 pts, I think well it's just a 4 score game...needless to say I end up being disappointed. ;-) I also remember thinking, man even the punters are HUGE! C

Jaguars vs. Bills - Doug Flutie naked bootleg - crowd goes wild - I got really, really hooked... Charles

Again, BRH - if you like something specific, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'd be happy to point you in the right direction. Spring is a great time to visit NashVegas. If you're into parks etc. Jump into a cab in the day time and head out to Centennial Park and take a look at the Parthenon. If you're into plants, trees & flowers - there's Cheekwood Gardens on the west side. I'm not a flower growy kind of guy. But Cheekwood is one of the most amazing botanical gardens in the Southeast or anywhere in the country for the matter. As for the country thing, you should feel free to hate country. But there's "good country" and "bad country" and sometimes stuff that "just isn't country being passed off as country." Just make sure you know what you're listening to before you decide. Enjoy! Charles

Just a friendly point - I used to live in Rochester. When we decided to move to Nashville - I had all kinds of stereotypes and perceptions about visiting and living in the South. Every one of those thoughts has been blown out of the water. Nashville isn't Hee-Haw. So I'd recommend coming with an open mind. When you get here pick up a copy of the Scene or the Rage (free) at the Hotel. Nashville is home to all kinds of music. Although what you hear on country radio isn't the best of what Nashville has to offer. So eventhough you "hate country music", I really would recommend visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame if you're interested in any kind of history. You said you'd go to BB Kings - Friday nights is a good time to go - cause a guy by the name of Billy Blocks hosts a show case there on Fridays that has good people performing. Also, I think First Fridays there is Girls Band night. So you may be in luck ;-) The Second Ave strip(where BB Kings is located) is where the tourist traps are. The shops and clubs are fun to visit but really nothing special. I'd take a walk down Broadway to Tootsie's Lounge to hear some balls to the wall honky tonk country (eventhough you hate it) just to hear what roots music sounds like. Again, this isn't the Top 40 Country Radio fare - this place is a legend. It's where guys like Hank Williams and Willie Nelson used to hang out before they took to the Opry Stage at the Ryman Auditorium. I'd recommend checking out the Ryman - it's a real cool building. If you like blues, the Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar is a better bet than BB Kings. Tomorrow night (Weds.& Thurs) _ Stacy Michart plays. This band rocks. Check em out. The Wooten Bros., funkiest, coolest band in town plays 3rd & Lindsley Weds night as well. If you like bluegrass - the Station Inn is a legendary venue. Check them out any night. If you like alt rock/pop - the Exit/In is another legendary rock club. On Thurs. night, Be Your Own Pet, one of the hottest rock bands in the country is playing there. Go see em if you can get tickets. BTW, they're still in high school. Your visit would not be complete if you didn't visit the legendary Bluebird Cafe and listen to some singer/songwriter types. Beth Nielsen Chapman and Melissa Manchester play there Thurs. night. One of the best restaurants on the planet - Zola's is off West End Ave. They do kind of a French/Mediterrenean/Fusion cuisine thing. Eat there some night. You really need reservations. Can you tell me what you're into and I can make more recommendations. Feel free to PM. Charles Link to the Nashville Scene Music Listings: Nashville Music Listings

Old Trafford to watch Man Utd play *any* game...

Fair enough - clarification is due. Like I said, I didn't care that JR was cut. It was just the venom in which he did it. I'm sorry I don't have all the "documentation" at hand for what he said at the time. But it was something to the effect of "we want players who want to be Buffalo Bills to be with us, blah, blah, blah" implying that if they didn't take a pay cut, their loyalty was questionable. Point in fact, he had just cut one of our LBs *after* he restructured. Can't remember now his name. Ended up in Buffalo West aka San Diego. JR said he would restructure but only if he had long term security in Buffalo. TD wanted to take away money that was already on table for JR - cut $$ and not extend years. He could have cut JR even if he restructured. However, TD had no leverage because cutting JR would have accelerated the cap hit and we couldn't afford that at the time. I understand wanting JR to take the pay cut. But I believe the "classy" way to treat the situation would be just to say we'll let him play out the year and see how it goes and then say goodbye. But TD kept using the media to fume at the situation. Couple of days after the season was over - bye, bye JR. He was just pissed he "lost" in the negotiations. Same thing with the Bledsoe deal, Patriots didn't want to let Bledsoe go for nothing less than a first round pick. TD thought well I'll just go over Pioli and Belichik and decided to fax Kraft. Kraft said something to the effect 'deal with Pioli/Belichik' It was just sophomoric stuff. Pioli was pissed. The same thing with Jennings and Williams. You hear him say one thing in the press and then someone counters in the press and then you get the whole story. As for the coaching situation, I think the Mularkey hire was good. The Gregg Williams hire was not. He merely didn't want to hire a more experienced coach (ie. more strong willed). To give you an example, we interviewed Marvin Lewis, John Fox, Jim Fassel and then last year we interviewed Tom Coughlin. We also could have Crennel or Weis after Phillips. Again, I like the Mularkey hire - but I would argue our program was held back for 3 years due to our GM's ego and insecurities.

Oh, really? Remember, Riemersma? He didn't get JR to renegotiate because he had very little leverage due to the cap hit for cutting him. For the rest of that season, he just had it in for JR. First opportunity, he got cut. Not that I care that JR wasn't re-signed. For that matter remember the Pat Williams non-deal? TD says all through the season, "We'll get it done." Then when PW says there was no talk between TD and his agent, TD says, "oh, yeah, we made them an offer the end of last summer - they didn't take it, blah, blah, blah..." I don't know - TD definitely is a tough negotiator. I'll give him that. But to say he doesn't put spite or gamesmanship above the club, is just nuts...He got screwed over by a coach and now he refuses to hire one with any kind of HC experience. Don't get me wrong, I like Mularkey. But to say he is immune to his own ego, is well, just unrealistic. Guy has a memory like elephant. No wonder they called him and the older Rooney the Pittsburgh Mafia... Charles

We have a golden ret./chow mix. Sweetest, smartest, funniest, prettiest dog I've ever known. She's real skittish around 5-6 year olds and fireworks since her 1st 4th of July with us. She was a rescue pup, so I don't know her history. But she is amazing around our 2 year old toddler. Very affectionate and protective. Our dog trainer/behavior expert says she'll grow accustomed to kids etc. She already is pals with our neighbor kids. Our DT says kids and toodlers walk funny so they freak her out. But she's learning that they're fine. Which I think is key. They can be trained and will die trying to please you. Biggest coward - but extremely courageous - she once stood between us and a building contractor and gave him a s**t scare. I think if we weren't there she would have ran up on the deck and hid. But because she felt *we* were threatened - she stood her ground. So she can fake being fierce but she really is chicken. Sheds hair like nobody's business - so if you hate vacuuming/cleaning this is not the dog for you. But if you like them smart and energetic this is a home run. She was super active, high energy the first year - so lots, lots of exercise. Now she's calmer - she's 4 yrs old. But, that first 6 mos. she was a challenge and I thought my wife was gonna give her to gypsies. Still your arm will fall out throwing her a ball before she tires of it. Bottom line - any dog can be trained to be well behaved - some are easier than others. I think being around dogs a lot - I can safely say these are your best family bets: 1) small dogs - pugs 2) mid - choc/black labs - yellows as well - but they're all hyper as pups esp yellows. If you can stomach the hair - golden retrievers are it on a stick. I think the AKC recommends them as best all around family dogs. 3) large - Great Pyrenees(sp?). One of my favorite breeds. Best combo family/guard dog in my book. They were bred as herding dogs and can fight off bears. Ask your local vet or trainer for more info. One more thing is depending on where you live, some breeds may not be good fits. So a Huskie in AZ is a bad, bad idea... Charles

I like Todd's analysis - great work, Todd. But I have to say - I'm on Kelso's side. The reason is this - the big picture - as you say Todd is this. If Teflon Tom (I'm liking that title more and more every day) is that if he was managing your mutual fund, you'd have his head. Great peaks every once in a while but overall your ROI is flat to underachieving. As the GM, he is ultimately responsible. One of his main strong points is supposed to be talent evaluation in the draft. Though they aren't total disasters, I think overall, they've been average. When you look at how NE, Baltimore, Tenn., Pitt - conspicuously productive, Jaguars, Texans and I think the most steady Panthers - that reputation has taken a beating. Where he's excelled in terms of talent evaluation is the "roll your dice, high stakes" variety. I have no problem with the Bledsoe signing, Losman trade, McGahee (in hindsight, still not sure if it was the best decision at the time) draft. However, I would argue that the reason, we needed to pull those high risk, high return shenanigans was due to a bed of his own making. More importantly the everyday bread and butter lower draft choices have not been as productive as his rep led us to believe. The salary cap is being used as an excuse for everything these days. But IMHO TD is overly frugal. I think the Jennings thing isn't a bad loss. But one of the things about O-line play is consistency. I fear our O-line is in rebuilding mode - again. I wished they had gone after Price. The Gandy signing is good - but he has been injured. So I'll wait on passing judgement. The Holcomb signing is brilliant - I'm still surprised he wanted to come here. But again, I'd argue that the need to sign him was another domino falling as a result of an earlier screw up. To me not seeing that RJ was a bust much earlier was a huge friggin domino. I liked the Bledsoe signing but letting people like Centers go and not adding a reliable TE to the mix was a *HUGE* mistake - given the circumstances. Is all this hindsight? You bet. But that's TD's job. But again no one is holding him accountable. The only place where his performance counts, at least to Ralph, is that the Bills are more profitable now. I think RW should move TD to marketing and let Modrak do everything with regards to personnel, draft etc. Charles

Now, now stop making me spit my chai on the keyboard... I love KTFBD but man, you know the market is what the market is - I don't want to mortgage our future either - but the strength of our team is that run defense. PW is a big part of that - God, knows we ain't got no pass rush. The only way this all makes sense is if TD is going after somebody like a Kevin Carter for less $$$.

Buy you know what though - would you want to deal with Donahoe after the way he's dealt with some of our FAs. I mean honestly - TD likes to flex his muscle in the offseason. Unless you're one of his "boys", he doesn't IMHO treat these guys with respect. I love the Bills but give me a break, I wouldn't want him as my boss...I had the impression guys would run thru walls for Butler - yeah, yeah, salary cap blah, blah, blah - but Butler and Polian had the guys' trust and respect. Can't say that for Donahoe. Charles

Oh, I don't know - Romeo Crennel who can get the water boy to suit up and play DT successfully - opted to let him go - so did Ozzie Newsome by the way. The way I see it - maybe he'll be revitalized playing for his old coach. But I don't see Tim Krumrie putting up with his BS. Just my 22 cents Charles

I hope he signs Williams - I just don't want a repeat of the whole Ted W fiasco. We never really, really replaced Ted W until years later. The huge diff here is that Pat is still young and productive and relatively healthy. My only concern here is that Angelo Wright is Williams' agent. What an ass...

Oh, yeah, I definitely think we should bring Phat Pat back. If for no other reason than that my daughter says, "Pat Back" everytime I put her to bed at night...;-) But, I was specifically thinking about Carter at DE - left side in a rotation with Kelsay...He knows Jerry Gray etc etc...(at least I think he does...) The Titans are gonna suck this year with all their FA and coaching losses...so he might be tempted... Plus he's been great for the Nashville community... But I also like the idea of the Pollard at TE signing... Charles

Kevin Carter - the guy is a monster and 100% effort guy. He can play DE and DT. He'd bring pass rush and rotational depth to our D-line - at least 1-2 years. Charles

I'm a semi-touring singer/songwriter type. 2001 Santa Cruz OM/PW with B-Band pickup 2002 Larrivee OMV-03R with B-Band pickup 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II Alvarez MSD-1 (big baby Taylor copy) Peavey Classic 50 Amp I'd love a: Ultrasound Amp Fender Telecaster Avalon acoustic --- Charles

I've always liked you, Marv. ;-) Maybe, if we used more Apple products in the Bills SB trips, we'd be telling a different story...

What's your platform? Mac or PC? I'm on OS X and it's a dream...iMovie is great but Final Cut Express is the bomb! Bit of a learning curve but just so cool...Then you burn with iDVD. Doesn't get better... Charles

I really like Norm Chow...I might actually have to start rooting for the b*8888ds...after the Bills of course...

I agree 100% - true, we have a salary cap. But TD is cold. I still miss Dwight Adams. Charles

I understand the anger...but 3 things: 1) Not everyone there feels the same way about everything. Their govt is not a referendum for the whole pop. Their govt., just like our govt. has it's own agenda. I don't think we should confuse the two. 2)If they refuse our help - which I still don't believe they are but am willing to concede some doubt - then the noble thing to do is to do our best and leave. 3) I am not sure whose hand is being bitten in this particular case. I'm not being sarcastic - just asking for clarification. Charles

That's the thing, I don't want to ever give the impression that I don't appreciate the sacrifice USMC or any other service person makes. But as Bear points out they aren't necessarily right about everything. And neither am I...But, man...

You're right - I never want to find out...But my point is simply that when the US military goes somewhere now there is baggage...Is it ignorant? Yessir - but you don't fight ignorance with ignorance - just dunna work. C

Calm down Helmet - read my initial post - read my follow ups and then if you still have issues. We can talk. C

Well, then, why not quote the quote correctly... I believe Patton said, " It's not about dying for your country. It's about having your enemy die for his." I don't know if that's what Patton actually said. But *that's* what has been popularly attributed to him. Then of course, George C. Scott said in Patton (which incidentally was a Hollywood dramatization of the events and naturally hyperbole), "Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. " So, I guess your definition of ignorance is in the eye of the beholder. It's either a quote or it's paraphrased. Can't be both. As for military people, taking crap - I agree. I have a brother in law who was in the Army. There's plenty of ignorance to go around. Not least of all by folks who don't understand the historical significance or involvement of the US in politics in that part of the world. Given that the CIA propped the politically corrupt Sukarno or Suharto regimes up against the majority of the people. Lookc- I'm not saying it's not short sighted or dumb to refuse help. But they're not saying they don't want help. They're just saying the shortest amount of time American military uniforms can be on Indonesian soil, the better for all concerned. The American State Dept rep in the story agreed as much. Nothing occurs in a vacuum. You have to take everything in context. If you go around saying some people are stupid or ignorant and not consider the facts, then, well, it just demonstrates your own ignorance. I also understand the frustration and anger of folks like USMCBillsFan - who think - wait, we're just trying to help, why are we getting this sh--? Don't seem to understand that in some cases, the US Govt. has knowingly or unknowingly subterfuged the goodwill and honest dedication of service folks like USMCBillsFan and others on this board for questionable motives and goals. They're innocent bystanders, of course. But that's not how people on the receiving end (like oppressed Indonesians, Vietnamese, add your own demographic here) see it. Seeing the opportunity, extremists step in take up the "cause" of the people. It's happened that way for centuries. In revolutionary and "civil war" America, in Ireland, in the Middle East, In Southeast Asia, in South America etc. The way the US went to war in Iraq hasn't done our country any favors either. Just today they've announced the end of the search for WMDs. And then when you say, this place sucks because they don't want American servicemen and women past 90 days and won't let us fly fighter jets over their air space, well, it just feeds into the ignorance spiral... I hope this makes sense, and if it doesn't - sigh... Charles ps. I agree with the firing of the clerk at the mini mart - ignorance and prejudice have no place anywhere in the world