Indy Dave

And to make matters worse for us Yankee fans, Kevin Brown broke his (left) hand punching a wall in the clubhouse. I'd feel very discouraged if it were anyone but Boston chasing us.

Yeah, I kind of figured the Red Sox fans would start talking smack again. All we heard all during spring training and all throughtout April and May was Red Sox this and Red Sox that. Funny how most of the summer you kept your mouths shut. By contrast, I haven't posted a thing about baseball in weeks, probably not since the end of May. Being a life-long Yankees fan, I had every reason to gloat while the Yankees were pulling away from the Sox. You know why I didn't? Because there is nothing to argue about. When the Red Sox get to the World Series and WIN IT, then I'll be the first to tip my cap to the organization and to the long-suffering and loyal fans. Until then, though, zip it. The fact is, you're still 3.5 games out of first. And while the Yankees have some SERIOUS issues, there isn't a team in the Major Leagues that doesn't have one reason or another to be concerned about how they will perform in the playoffs. The rest of the games played in the Major Leagues this year will be played in months that end in the letter R. That alone alleviates my worries about what the Red Sox are going to do. Yankee fans have a pretty good idea how this is going to play out.

From the folks who already offer every NFL game... SIRIUS to Offer College Sports Aug. 31, 2004 SIRIUS Satellite Radio and College Sports Television launch SIRIUS College Sports Radio offering broadcasts from 23 universities. NEW YORK -- SIRIUS (NASDAQ: SIRI), the premium satellite radio provider known for delivering the very best in commercial-free music and sports programming to cars and homes across the country, and CSTV: College Sports Television, the leader in college sports coverage on-air and on-line, today announced the launch of SIRIUS College Sports Radio. SIRIUS will broadcast a comprehensive package of play-by-play sports programming representing top-ranked colleges from the greatest conferences around the country. As part of a wide-ranging advertising, marketing and promotional partnership between the companies, CSTV will provide college sports programming to SIRIUS and will create marketing and promotion programs that strengthen SIRIUS' position as the premier satellite radio sports broadcaster. SIRIUS will broadcast football, basketball and other events for, and become the Official Satellite Radio Partner of, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Colorado Buffaloes, Florida Gators, Iowa State Cyclones, Kansas Jayhawks, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisiana State University Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Missouri Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Oklahoma State Cowboys, South Carolina Gamecocks, Syracuse Orange, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M Aggies, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans and Vanderbilt Commodores. The schools are from college sports' most storied conferences, including the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East and Pac-10. SIRIUS College Sports Radio will offer such highly anticipated matchups as Texas-Oklahoma, Michigan-Ohio State, Tennessee-Georgia, LSU-Florida, USC-Notre Dame and many others. Mack Brown, University of Texas head coach said, "The University is excited to be a part of SIRIUS College Sports Radio. Texas has a huge fan constituency and their passion is Longhorns football. In keeping with the times and technology, Texas students, fans and alumni across the nation, regardless of where they are, will now be able to follow the Longhorns throughout the season." "The University of Michigan is excited about kicking off the new season and building on last year's Big Ten Championship," said Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. "This new initiative with SIRIUS Satellite Radio and CSTV will continue to bolster the fan base of one of the most popular football programs in the country. Now, Michigan students, fans and alumni across the nation will be able to follow the Wolverines." "College athletics is a huge passion for many of our subscribers, and it is my pleasure to announce relationships with many of the nation's most respected universities," said Joseph P. Clayton, SIRIUS CEO. "These schools boast millions of currently enrolled students and alumni located around the country. They'll be glad to know that they can stay connected to the school no matter where they are. Once again SIRIUS has asserted itself as the leader in satellite radio sports." "SIRIUS College Sports Radio creates another platform for CSTV to connect to the millions of college sports fans across the country," said Brian Bedol, President and CEO, CSTV. "Through our relationships with the top schools, conferences and alumni associations across the country, CSTV will provide SIRIUS with the same outstanding programming we offer on our network, on-line and through video-on-demand." "More than 120 million people attended college in the U.S., and college sports played an important role for many of those students," said Scott Greenstein, SIRIUS President of Entertainment and Sports. "Our agreement with CSTV and the most selective colleges in the US opens the doors for millions of students and alumni to follow their alma maters throughout the season." "Our mission at CSTV is to connect college sports fans with more games, from more sports, across more platforms, than anyone else," added Chris Bevilacqua, Executive Vice President and co-Founder, CSTV. "With SIRIUS College Sports Radio, fans from coast to coast will have the opportunity to enjoy games all season from the top athletic programs in the country, whether they're in their cars, their dorm rooms or at home." SIRIUS is also the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, featuring a programming package that brings subscribers live broadcasts of every NFL game. SIRIUS radios for the car and home are available at major retailers nationwide. For more information, go to www.sirius.com. -- Courtesy CSTV

Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com wrote this on his tip sheet. Is that better, smart ass?

The ol' "Tip Sheet" was on hiatus during our training camp trek but, while the whole Buffalo Bills tailback story is old news, we can't help take a look back at a situation that was (and remains) much ado about absolutely nothing. Why Travis Henry had to spout off about the possibility of losing his starting job to Willis McGahee is insane. Unless Henry is still rehabbing from the rib injury he suffered last week (which came after his public rant about wanting to be traded if he dropped to No. 2 on the depth chart), he is going to be the Bills' starter for 2004. The guy ought to listen to top Buffalo officials, who admire his toughness and productivity, instead of being so insecure as to create ghosts where there really are none. The Bills honestly feel that McGahee still isn't 100 percent recovered from his catastrophic knee surgery, and won't be until sometime around October. Henry is their guy and McGahee, who is still misreading some holes, will get "touches" as the backup. But once Henry went public with his conjured-up hysterics, the McGahee camp felt compelled to answer back. The so-called "source close to McGahee," who hinted that the former Miami star had requested a trade if not the opening day starter was, of course, agent Drew Rosenhaus. Unlike a lot of league people, we love Rosenhaus, and not just because he has always shot straight with us. Nope, the guy does his job, and sees part of that job as getting McGahee into the most advantageous position possible. Think part of the rationale in airing the McGahee trade story wasn't aimed at maybe trying to get the former University of Miami star dealt to the tailback-needy Dolphins? So we've got no quibble with the McGahee camp, other than the fact there really has been no demand for a trade. McGahee's day will come. Probably by 2005. If he demonstrates to the Bills that he is whole again, one of the two backs will be trade bait for next season, as general manager Tom Donahoe tries to recoup a high-round pick to compensate for the No. 1 choice in '05 that he spent this year to get quarterback J.P. Losman. But as for immediate impact, all the rhetoric did was spawn senseless stories for some media outlets desperate for a story.

2003 preseason: Anquan Bolden...4 catches for 44 yards. That clearly indicated to everyone that he was going to catch more than 100 passes for 1400 yards and eight TDs last season. </sarcasm> I admit that Lee's performance so far this preseason has been less than stellar, but let's see what happens during the regular season.

Well, since you asked, I voted for Dallas Clark in the first round and Anquan Bolden in the second round last year. That would have worked out quite well for us, no? But I'm not the expert. I also liked the selection of the little defensive end from Virginia Tech (Corey...someone help me out with the last name). I also supported Rob Johnson, and I thought Jay Riermersma would be a really good tight end. TD has picked who he has picked, and has traded for who he has traded, and we have these Buffalo Bills to cheer for, which I will do week in, week out and year in, year out. If, after the 2005 season, we are still where we are today, then it's time to start all over and pretend the first half of this decade never happened.

I certainly hope your post was not made in response to what I wrote last night when I got home from the game. All I reported was what happened. There were not many opinions...just the facts from one preseason game. I certainly don't have "the sky is falling" attitude that others may have. I just reported what I saw...a lousy outing by our special teams, a below average outing by our offense, and a pretty good outing by our defense. But like I said, it's only a preseason game, and other than the injuries, it all means very little.

OK...where to begin? Let me start with the special teams. They were just plain awful. Fumbles on returns, a blocked punt that they recovered for a TD, we allowed big returns, and did not get much from our returns. Special teams cost us dearly tonight, to say the least. What was most disturbing is that several starters saw action with those units. You'd think mistakes would be at a minimum. That wasn't the case. Oh yeah...Moorman was horrible tonight too. I think the blocked punt messed with his head the rest of the night. Hopefully he returns to his 2003 form. The defense was pretty good. The Colts could not convert a third down, and despite the fact that our special teams breakdowns gave a damn good offense great field position, the defense did not allow Indy to get into the end zone. The Colts had one good drive (60 yards) on our first defense. Most of the yards came on one big play, a 30-yard pass from Manning to Harrison on a play-action, fourth and 1 play. Clements nearly batted the ball away but the pass was perfect. Hey, it's the best QB and the best WR...stuff like that is going to happen. All in all, the defense played well enough to win. I'd take that effort against that caliber of an offense any day. Individually, Schoebel impressed me very much. I really hope we resign him. Denney and Kelsay, who I have always been down on, are not terrible. Hopefully they will continue to improve. Spikes is very good. Anderson will be a good backup. He is not very fast, but he makes plays and frequently beats his man. The young guys in the secondary played OK too. All in all, not a bad night for the defense....unless Lawyer is seriously hurt. As for the offense, well those of you who think Willis is better than Travis, let me just say, Um...no. He was pretty hesitant. He also lacked vision on a couple of runs, which was kind of disappointing. I had a good view of a couple of runs that I thought he could have cut one way and broke it into the secondary. Instead he put himself in a position to get tackled. The good news regarding Willis is that he did get stronger and more comfortable as the game progressed. It was his first NFL start after all. He will get better. Lee Evans...geez what a disappointment. Unless he was running a fly pattern, he could not get open. Twice he ran by the defense, just streaking down the field. But once, Willis made an errant flip to Drew on a flea flicker (still could have been caught by Drew, but it was a little off target). Later, Travis Brown was rushed and could not get near enough on the ball. But when Evans was running crossing patterns or out routes, he was nowhere near open, not when I watched him closely anyway. I would not cut Shaw...we may still need an experienced guy like him in our receiving corps. Josh is a good possession receiver, who is clearly best in the slot. We need Evans to develop. The offensive line. Ugh. Just cut Pucillo now. He played late and was getting beat by guys who will be working at Auto Zone in about a week. Had a penalty too...what else is new? No one distinguished themself as a solid starter on the line, but we have what we have. McNally is supposed to be a miracle worker. I hope he works one for us this year. This unit is not good. Drew....well, he has a nice arm. He moves as well as a fire hydrant. Still holds on the ball too long, but not near as often as he did last year. He's learning. Overall, the offense was pretty disappointing, especially considering the Colts aren't exactly the Monsters of the Midway. I just got the feeling that if the Colts' defense just stood on their sideline, our offense would still take five plays to score a touchdown. As for coaching, quite honestly, I was disappointed in that too. Too many times I was reminded of the dismal 2003 season. Trick plays that make you wonder why they were called in the first place, and then they backfired. Reminded me of the Miami game last year. Fourth and short from the opponents' 35-yard line and....punt? Third and 1....and stuffed for no loss. Hopefully, Mularkey and company are just keeping it simple and will wait until it counts before showing what we got. Hopefully Willis will get comfortable and more confident. Hopefully Travis will be 100 percent. Hopefully Mularkey is waiting to unleash Evans. Hopefully we get a decent backup quarterback off waivers. Hopefully Lawyer can play with a cast on his arm (if he needs one). Hopefully tonight will be a sign of things to come with regards to minimal penalties (4 for 35 yards). Hopefully the defense keeps making the big play. Hopefully the special teamers play 100 times better than they did tonight.

I've had the wienerschnitzel, and it is good. Just about everything I've eaten there is good. Anyway...I'm going to send you a PM with my cell number. Give me a call when you get the message and we will arrange the details.

I'm here Mark. Are you still here?

Maybe my station needs file video of Bills fans at the RCA Dome? If so, you know where some of us will be sitting.

My turn to bump.

Hey Mark...are you out there? Sorry, me and my wife went to the Rathskeller after work and just got home a little while ago. I still have the tickets. Respond if you are still interested. If you are logged off for the night, I will check this Saturday morning. I will stay on for a while tonight though.

Bump

Argentina 89, USA 81-- Final We never got closer than six.

Argentina is shooting lights out...58 percent at last check. Down 9 with 7:30 to go.

SPOILER... End of the third...Argentina 70, US 57 Ginolbi of the Spurs has 29 points, 9 of 11 from the field. We were down 58-42, went on a run to make it 60-54, and they hit back-to-back three-pointers to push it right back up to 12. Duncan picked up his fourth foul early in the third. We are in trouble.

I'll try and come over. I am in aisle 126, row 23. I'll have a red Bills hat and a blue Eric Moulds jersey on. Indy Mark...are you there? I have the tickets right here on my desk. If you are not going to the game or if you have secured other tickets already, let me know so I can return these.

Bump

Hey Mark. Sorry it took a while to respond. They are the last four tickets, so you are in luck. They are 20 bucks apiece. You still want them, correct?

A co-worker from Wisconsin (big Packers fan) bought 12 tickets to the Colts-Packers game on Sept. 26. But the Colts' front office made everyone who was buying tickets to that game also buy tickets to the Colts-Bills game this Saturday. So....she has 12 tickets she is looking to dump. They are $45 face value, but she will sell them for $20. They are in section 308, which is an upper deck seat. I told her I would see if there were any fans from this site who are planning on coming to the game on Saturday and who don't have their tickets yet. I already have my tickets and I'll be there. If anyone wants my take on the game, I can log on and post a message when I get home Saturday night. If no one gives a rat's ass, I won't bother. Send me a PM or respond to this thread if you are interested in the tickets for Saturday's game.