Dr. K

I love this anecdote from the Bob Decesare article in the News about How Wyche treated J.P. on the day of the game: "That's the thing about quality teachers. They never cease being attentive students themselves. They're always striving for effective ways to deliver the message, to position their students for success, such as when Wyche approached Losman for a quick conversation Sunday morning with the anticipation mounting. "'I went in and gave him the first three plays,'" Wyche said. "'I said, "You just think about these first three. Forget everything else. There's nothing else in the universe, just these three. And then when the other ones come along you'll remember them and we'll run 'em. But you just concentrate on (the three).' He executed them perfectly and fell into the flow. It wasn't any brilliant coaching move. It was one of many ways to approach a game, and it worked.'" "Losman had a dynamic first half that exceeded expectations based on his uncertain, oft-time ineffective preseason performances. He was expecting Wyche to meet him in the locker room at intermission and nit-pick his work, as he'd done during the exhibitions. But there's a time to ready a quarterback for the season, and then there's a time to grant him independence." [/color=blue] This strikes me a brilliant coaching. J.P. had to have a thousand things flying through his head the morning of the game. Wyche gives him a simple task to focus on, and then doesn't hover over his shoulder every minute trying to micro-manage. This method works well in other kinds of teaching, too, and bespeaks a real understanding of human character. It makes me feel that J.P's development is in good hands. Whoever had the idea to hire Wyche was thinking real smart.

No question he played a good game against a good opponent on the road. Some of the passes he completed to K. Johnson were highlight material. More power to him, though I hate to see the Cowboys win, and I still think the Bills were absolutely right in letting Bledsoe go. I am convinced he was not going to take the Bills to the Super Bowl, even if they managed to make the playoffs. We shouldn't obsess on how ex-players do, crowing because Travis Henry played mediocre for Tennessee or sour because Bledsoe played well. They did what they did for Buffalo, and some of it was great and some was frustrating, but that time has passed. I'm much more interested in watching this new version of the Bills develop. I loved seeing the o-line play a good game, and Losman find his rhythm, and the defense flying all over the field.

Its a strange and scary world.... Peace and safety to all.

He thinks he's so infallible, he wants everyone to call him John Paul III....

rim-shot

I'm not against taxes. Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society. I pay a lot of taxes. But I'm against taxing lower income people more so that rich people and the children of rich people can pay less. I believe in government (at least potentially) as a force for good, that it's what separates us from the war of All against All that Hobbes wrote of. I don't believe in utopia, but I believe we can do better than we are doing today. I am a progressive small-d Garrison Keillor democrat.

And to add a further complication there are many on the left who feel that Jesus was the most "radical leftist" of all. Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God; sell all you have and distribute to the poor; if you have a cloak, give it to the poor, and the shirt off your back, too; hanging out with prostitutes and tax collectors, etc. etc.

Ah, now I see. No wonder you guys hate me, if you equate all of the "left wing" with Joe Stalin. I do not equate all of the "right wing" with Adolf Hitler.

I agree, things are not black-white and right or left only. That's what I thought I said in my last response. The question I have is this simple one: why do you object to someone calling you "right wing" when you say yourself you are a "Libertarian or old-school conservative"?

Both of which are varieties of right wing, though libertarians take positions on some issues (like drugs and censorship for instance) that sometiimes ally them with the left. Methinks thou dost protest too much. I for instance, have no use for the kind of Democrats who vote for abolishing the estate tax or the recent abominable bankruptcy bill, or who supported Bush on his Iraq adventure. I suppose I could insist that I'm not a Democrat, though if I have to choose between them and the Repubs, I invariably vote Dem. I have my own libertarian streak. But it would be dumb for me to insist I am not left-wing, though I do not agree with all people who say they are on the left, or with all policies labelled "leftist."

He didn't say Republican. He said right wing. Are you not?

Give me a call when Bush walks on water and brings the dead back to life. I'll make it easer--give me a call when he or anyone in his administration demonstrates accountability for anything they have screwed up.

I'm not complaining about him going to the site. I'm pointing out that he and his people are using firefighters for a photo op. You think that's the best way to use their volunteer services? You think that shows them or the people Bush is supposedly helping any respect?

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197 "There are all of these guys with all of this training and we're sending them out to hand out a phone number," an Oregon firefighter said. "They [the hurricane victims] are screaming for help and this day [of FEMA training] was a waste." Firefighters say they want to brave the heat, the debris-littered roads, the poisonous cottonmouth snakes and fire ants and travel into pockets of Louisiana where many people have yet to receive emergency aid. But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.

Sorry. I missed the thread below.

Have the Bills cut John Dorenbos as long snapper? The current roster lists someone named Mike Schneck as long snapper. A pickup from Pittsburgh? When did this happen?

This makes some sense to me, too--or at least not going into a run-on-every-down shell. That's a prescription for eight in the box, third-and-eights, and three-and-outs. Losman and the offense have to be able to keep them honest.

This post is an almost perfect example of what George Orwell called "duckspeak."

great post

Of course both parties are corrupt. But one party has complete control of this government, and its track record on its decisions, foreign and domestic, is so far abysmal. At this point it's not even so much a case of idrology as basic competence. If you think Bush and his administration represent good government, then we don't have much to talk about. Remember when Bush was asked last year if he had ever made a mistake, and could not answer. What kind of leader is that?

January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.

An article from a year ago from our local (NC) INDEPENDENT WEEKLY that warned about what we are facing today. http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2004-09-22/cover.html

It wasn't a throwback! It was a forward lateral!

I didn't see the game--it wasn't available in Raleigh--but I've followed the talk on the board. Some here say Reed's dropping a TD pass means he should be cut. He may well be cut, I don't know how that will play out. Buthe did catch a pass on the very next play for a first down. Haddad apparently fumbled a punt for a turnover, but a penalty erased that, and on the re-kick he had a good return. So both of them screwed up and then made up for it on the next play. Why more attention to Reed's drop than Haddad's fumble? I'd like to see the Bills keep both of them. But I trust the coaching staff to keep the top six receivers and will accept their conclusion.

Fair enough.