May Day 10

i think brady knows he is toast without belichick. wouldnt be surprised if he would call it quits as well

Its touching that a player of that stature and 'celebrity' gets it. He has really impressed me overall off the field.

I dont think that is what he was going for? He did provide Gronk an opportunity to display a little humility, empathy, and compassion.... and instead, just displayed that he is the mentally fragile rock-head that we all know he is. For that, I appreciate Sullivan's effort

spoiler for Game of Thrones The 'Red Wedding' was absolutely brutal for the "hopeful" reader/watcher. It changed from the story of a Son with an army avenging his father's death, removing the king (who is one of the most repugnant characters ever), and building toward the confrontation between Rob and Joffrey that seemed inevitable since the scene early in the 1st book in Winterfell... to a story of an unforgiving world that sucks. It was the biggest gut punch. spoiler for Oz Adibese was a tough loss. He was the primary baddie, the ringleader for most things, and the symbol of how brutal the prison is. He died just past the midway point of the series and his absence deflated the show just a bit. While the Red Wedding didnt hurt the quality of the story (actually enhances it), Oz lost a bit of quality when Adibese died (although still a terrific show)

i love week 4 of the preseason. cant get enough.

the appeal to the masses, is generations-old tribal identification with ncaa and nfl teams... and fantasy football/gambling. quality of play is secondary and is often mistaken for high scoring. he is going to throw these things in large markets where they will struggle to get people's attention. imo a "foolish club" type of model with a modest start in modest sized markets... that promised to empower players (no zero tolerance for crimes or expression, and pay model based on winning), would stand a chance

what money is the xfl going to bid with? not unionized, no pension.... one strike and youre out, mcmahons history of keeping his thumb on his talent. plus he already touted his "get paid more if you win" model.

I would say Brandon, Wilson, Jauron, Moorman, and Nix

This. He has been a great Buffalo Bill and he really "got" Western New York and our fanbase, which is generally not easy for a highly paid person to do.

is he good/competent enough? I just remember the disaster of the center position before Wood took it over *shudder

Eric Wood would hurt as well. I know he is up there, but making center an immediate need is a tough one.

Yeah, I dont like Sal either. His delivery of yelling grates on me.

ugh, I hope its nothing really bad (I mean for the long-term health/life of a human).

Too bad Moorman is down south. I would think he would be perfect if he wanted to get into broadcasting... Jones was kind of bad, but seemed to work at it and improve, which I respect and appreciate. Seems like a great guy and I wish him luck. The dynamic between him and Murphy was often times off.

Yeah, I agree,.... maybe Dawkins would suck the most? It would be kind of frustrating/a bummer to lose Benjamin. McCoy would throw out competing in 2018 probably and add pressure to a potential rookie QB.

the existence of russ brandon in his various roles was a major factor in the existence of the drought. and as far as marketing whiz? i dont believe he invented cheap tickets and lawless tailgating. also, watch the mass exodus of sabres sth this summer

its a joke. Being the sole investor and starting a league he hopes competes with the NFL with $100 million is a clown show. Especially since he already crapped on his hypothetical players.... cant protest, payment based on winning, and zero tolerance for any criminal record. He isnt going to be able to maintain control and domination over his "staff" like he does in WWE. No NFL player will willingly leave the NFLPA and the pension for this. start it in 4 cities in the same region, with modest venues and build it from there. Best case is it becomes AAA football The NFL can pee through $100 million in 10 seconds. You need front office staffs for league/teams, medical staff, training staff, grounds crews, etc. Not to mention pay rent to use facilities and possibly share overhead. Im sure most of the production will be done internally as well.

i think he is really good and its a loss for the program/event

similar to jauron and gailey's genious on 3rd and 10+. draw up the middle and hope for a facemask?

i was at a pearl jam concert and they brought out donna grantis. i guess she was in prince's band. she rocked solos in rocking in the free world

ZOLTAN!

Philly is pretty bad sports-fan wise. I get all stadiums see fan on fan violence at times... but at Philly sporting events, there is a large number who take pride in being violent to opposing fans. I was at a Philly/LA NLCS game once and saw an old man, maybe 70 years old in a dodgers jacket getting physically pushed around and intimidated by a group of 20-somethings in a bathroom. There is also a level of 'bailing' when a team is down and latching onto the hot/good team(s). Check out the Phillies attendance.

I really think the 'huge fan of the Sabres' thing was kind of overstated. He really has never seemed knowledgeable at all, other than being able to identify who the French Connection is. He also bungled the Bills'. A fairly similar situation... however, he did have 2 factions here vying for 'continuity', and he selected the wrong side. You had Marrone who was going to bring in Polian as a consultant who would have likely re-organized the FO and found a GM.... vs team Whaley and Brandon. Pegula chose Whaley/Brandon and went on to hire Rex which history shows was a series of incorrect moves. The events of the last quarter of 2016 and early offseason were humiliating. Maybe they hit it with McDermott. I like McDermott's attitude and attention to detail. I also like what Beane has to say and his professionalism... but they still have a lot to prove. The playoff berth this season was great, but it wasnt 'resounding'. As was mentioned, it could have happened in various other seasons in the drought if the atmospheric conditions of the AFC were this optimal... but they were in a 'transition' year, built up assets and got more out of the team anyone expected.

This falls on Terry Pegula. The organization was stale and in need of change when they bought the team in 2011. He decided to stick with the status quo, and threw money at problems that only magnified and compounded them. Then, they decided to embark on a 4 year master plan. Liquidate the team, tear it down to the studs, maximize assets, build through the draft and prospect pool, and manage the salary cap. Then we had a series of half-measure management changes. Lindy Ruff was fired 2 months into a season after an extended lockout offseason. Then, the following year, Regier and Rolston were fired, again less than 2 months into the season (see: mid-stream), in favor of Ted Nolan and Pat LaFontaine (and Craig Patrick). Not long after that, LaFontaine hires Tim Murray. There seems to be some degree of misunderstanding in delegation of responsibility and influence because LaFontaine resigned in the midst of the trade deadline. That left Tim Murray who was clearly in over his head to run the entire operation. (IMO, LaFontaine intended on Murray being a 'head scout' type of GM, while he had final say in a lot of matters such as trades). Murray later fired Nolan (who had his AHL-level team over-performing). They failed to get Babcock to come here. "settled" on Bylsma (while spending a 3rd round draft pick on him). You also have had various comings and goings of upper management there in Black, Brandon, Patrick, etc... So you have this 4 year plan, and compulsively change various levels of management at numerous times... then wonder why things didn't work out. Im also nervous about going with rookies in the GM and HC roles. They really could have used some experience there.

bob kraft: “Well, whatever I can do, you know,” Kraft said. “In life, you know, the hardest thing is to surround yourself with quality people, even in a marriage if it’s your partner, and then having continuity. Life is difficult, especially if you’re doing things at a high level. … There’s a lot of strong-minded people, but when you have something good going, everybody’s got to get their egos checked in and try to hold it together.” to me, that indicates there is fire where all that smoke is. who knows if they still keep it together or not... but i think that article was mostly (if not all) factual