MarkyMannn

If it was one factor, hard work and perseverance can over come that. Bills had a lot of issues. Yes bad managment and coaching. Ralph was cheap too. I think why he isn't today is because he has made his fortune, and dollars don't mean as much as intangibles, like Super Bowls before he kicks the bucket. Lastly, when draft day comes and the News publishes the Bills draft history, there are a lot of losers up until Polian shows up.

I was at that Raiders game 48-6, and coach John Rauch was fired that night. I don't know why, but I can remember the Ed Rutkowski play to this day. Yet I would not be able to tell you about the Cinci game last Sunday. Maybe it is an age thing. Today Rutkowski is second in charge of the NYS Parks system. Patronage...............

Here's another, 1968, the year the Jets win the 69 Super Bowl. Bills only victory in a 1-12-1 season is the Jets. We are at War Memorial where the Bills win 37-35 as Bills return 3-4 picks for TD's.

About 1974, Monday night game @ Rich against the Raiders, Bills down by 11 with 4-5 minutes left. My Dad, who always had to leave early every where to beat traffic, says "lets go". We are just outside the gates when we hear a crowd roar, the Bills are coming back. Score 2 TD's in that time and win by 3. We are in the parking lot. I want to say both TD's went to Ahmad Rashad, but that is just a guess. To this day, I stay at every game until the the clock says 00:00, win or lose

What about LOWER ticket prices? Everyone carries on about how much the players make and owners maybe losing money. Be sure to take care of the fan. Sure they'll bring in loser strike-breaker players, and knock off what, $5/ticket. I still say if the ultimate settlement doesn't include quality play and lower ticket prices for the fan, I don't care if or how it turns out

So if the Steelers win this Sunday, they have nothing to play for against us and Cowher sits everyone, we win, and make the playoffs!!! Of course we still need some help too Some how I don't see Cowher sitting his team. And the Bills better take the 49'ers serious now. If the Pats can loose, so can we

I'm in, section 204

NOBODY took more awkward tackles than Rob Johnson

Do you have one of those Honda SUV's that start on fire when you change the oil? I love car threads, almost better than football ones. In my opinion the high cost of owning a car is not the repairs, but the depreciation. That's the killer. I don't believe there is enough difference in the repair costs to let that influence your decision. Especially if you keep it like 5 years, 50,000 miles. SDS, watch out for that "discount". My son works at a dealership, not in sales though. This past month I have my eye on a car there. He talks to the Sales Mgr who says "come on down, we have been working on a special price for you, as a family member". So I go there, he writes down this special price for me that no one else can get. I'm all excited!!! I go out to see the car and there is a sale price tag on it $400 lower than what they quoted me!!! WTF!!!!!!!! :I starred in Brokeback Mountain:

If Jax was going to lose, yesterday was the game. Next week they host Houston. That may be our best chance. The last week they are @ Oakland. Raiders will probably fold the season that day. For the Bills, assuming we beat SF, we WILL be playing for something against the Steelers

Don't kid yourself, this game is going to be as tough as the Steeler game. Cinci can move the ball and put up points, and their run "D" has improved the last month. My opinion, if we cannot run the ball real well, like 150 yds on the ground, we will loose. Home field for Cinci will also make a difference. After all that, I say Bills 17-13, a game so close you will not be able to enjoy it until you watch the re-play later

I was checking out the Amerks' web site yesterday. Prices are 1/2 to 1/3 the price of Sabre seats. Looked like every game had some sort of promotion too. Seems to be a pretty good deal. A family of 4 could go to a game for as little as $44, and that's at full price. At a Sabre game, 4 drinks and 4 snacks is $44, never mind the tix and the parking. Think about it, a family of 4, parking, and consessions at a Sabre game and you are out up to $300. No thanks, not me. So if the players cave, and the owners get a cap, do I see ticket prices that are half of today's prices? Or is it just better profits for the owners? If it is the latter, then what the hell do I care if they EVER play again. As I see it, the fan has to ask, what is in it for me. OK, maybe the Sabres are more able to compete. But if it is a $300 night as stated above, doesn't help me. 2 nights at a Sabre game almost equals 2 Bills season tickets. Give me the Bills tix

A GOOD "D" woudl have held them to 16

The best recommendation I can give you is to learn as much as you can and make your choice. The internet has message and advice boards specifically about this. Most surgery centers have open houses on this too. If you go to the "BEST" surgeon, I don't think there is virtually any risk. Don't get CHEAP!!! PM me, and I can give you the name of who I believe to be the best in the Buffalo area, the only I would trust and send someone to. Don't let the idea of the surgery itself scare you. It is very quick and no feeling at all. Maybe 1-2 minutes per eye. If there is a common side effect, it is the halo everyone here mentions. It does subside with time, but won't go away. The amount of halo depends on the amount of correction. I had the surgery 2 years ago, the best thing I ever did. My situation was unique though. People here talk about being blind, 20/100 vision, 3-4 diopters, etc.......... I had them beat. I was 14.5 diopters, essentially 10/1000. That's not a mis-print. After sugery I ended at 2.0 where I've been since. I did know going in I would not get to 20/20 because of the amount of correction though. I only need glasses for distance now, and they are a sliver, the lenses that is Geez, this is a topic I could go on forever about

What's this fascination with Japanese cars? If you're comparing your 2 yr old HondaToyotaNissan to the last GMFordChrysler you owned in the 80's, that's not a valid comparison. Isn't it the Honda SUV's that are leaking oil and going up in flames? How about the Toyota V6's that are seizing up from oil sludge build-up. I had a 94 Taurus I took to 99,000 miles and had only one $50 repair, the rest was maintenance. OK, after all that, I do own a Honda ATV, and it is a well engineered machine

Greg Williams deserves a 2nd chance, hope he gets it. He had no talent his first year here, had a good second year, and the last year of his contract, TD drafts a guy who can't help GW that year. Hey Tom, thanks for the help

Here's the deal I have in front of me right now, so I'll take advice cause I'm not sure here what is the right way to go. My son works at a Pontiac dealership so I qualify for GM employees discount. I was looking at getting a new second car and love this 02 Gran Prix SE they gave me to test drive for 4 days. More car than I need for a 2nd car though. They have it really marked down at $9750 and that's it. I thought I drive it for 4 years and sell it for $4000. So it costs me like $150/month with finance costs, and of course there will be some repairs to boost that up. Option "B" is a 05 Gran Prix lease. $2400 down, 24 months, $75/month. So that's like $175/ month. That's a new car too!!! Like I said in my earlier post, I never liked leasing, but this isn't bad. But that's also if I get that employee discount. I also don't know what the exit costs are if I don't buy it 2 yrs from now Lastly, I have a van 2 yrs old, paying $350/month/5 yrs, on it as I financed the whole thing. Got all the cash back rebates and negotiated 2.5% rate. But if I went with the Gran Prix lease, I can have 2 cars for the cost of the one I pay today So give me your thoughts................

I'd never go lease...........having said that I am seriously considering it this time around. People say, llike this guy with the Malibu, he's paying like $125/ month and has nothing to show for it, flushing his money. If you buy it, you're paying probably double that, and it is depreciating $125/ month. What's the difference? Either way you are out $125 each month I guess GM sales were way off in Nov and they are really going to push incentives the next 2-3 weeks until year end

Grant Fuhr. What made him great was Oilers played no defense in front of him and he had to do it all. Of course the Oilers would score 7-8 goals a game

Another thing about Chryslers, seems everyone over 5 years old needs some sort of AC work that is going to cost about $1,000, usually evaporator cores. Including mine, I've known 3 others

When is the extra 1% effective? I'm looking at buying a car........

As Mark 6 says though, what about the other points. IE: Florida..........go to the Miami Herald web-site, there must be 4-5 murders a day just in Miami. Weather is great until the hurricanes stop by. I doubt housing is cheap there either

You saw the 70yd screen pass against the Dolphins. Called back for Teague holding, which was a BS call

That better not happen, because then all the progress the Bills have made over the last 6 weeks meant squat. Still, I hear ya, that could happen and yet it shouldn't surprise us then.

Strife doesn't weigh on McGahee BY JASON COLE jcole@herald.com Willis McGahee has this annoying habit during interviews. Or is it brilliant strategy? Whenever he is lost for words, McGahee quickly slips in the phrase, ''Ya know what I mean?'' In the space of an eight-minute conversation last week as Buffalo's new star running back talked about returning home to Miami to face the Dolphins today at 1 p.m. at Pro Player Stadium, he dropped it 23 times and tossed in another dozen abbreviated versions of ``Ya know?'' It is as if people should intuitively understand McGahee's struggle, such as what it is like to have your knee shattered like a piece of porcelain in the Fiesta Bowl almost two years ago. To sit in the University of Miami team bus afterward, the tears alternating between the personal sorrow of seeing your pro prospects plummet and the collective anger of having lost the national championship to Ohio State amid controversy. It is as if people should readily grasp the work you did in less than four full months just to be able to jog for NFL scouts and coaches before the 2003 draft. How you topped that off by still being a first-round draft pick. It is as if people should just get it when you say it is no big deal that you sat out your entire rookie season getting healthy, continued to sit the early part of this season and then finally broke through with a vengeance when you were allowed to play. SMART GAMBLE McGahee, the No. 23 overall pick in 2003, has started six of the past seven games for Buffalo. He is making Bills general manager Tom Donahoe's gamble on him look brilliant. In five of the starts, he has rushed for 100 yards or more. Last Sunday, he scored four touchdowns against Seattle and has 726 yards and seven TDs overall on 190 carries. He has turned Travis Henry, a guy who had more than 1,300 yards in each of the past two seasons, into a quickly fading memory. Ya know what I mean? Perhaps the point is that it is not so unbelievable when you really understand McGahee. When you get the point that he is not loaded down with complicated thoughts or internal strife. At least half a dozen people who know McGahee and some of the other former stars at UM say McGahee is as mentally tough as anyone they have met. ''To him, that's how you do it,'' Dolphins rookie lineman Vernon Carey said earlier this season. ``The thing about Willis is that he's really talented and he works really hard.'' The mental pain of his horrific injury against Ohio State was gone in about two days, McGahee said. He set forth to regain his form, just as he had earlier in his college career when he had another knee injury. If it was going to take a while, that would be fine. McGahee learned plenty about patience sitting the bench behind Clinton Portis and even, for a short time, Frank Gore at UM. Ya know what I mean? Waiting behind Henry was no big deal. McGahee knew he wasn't healthy last season. Even earlier this season, the rust still was on McGahee in training camp. It quickly is coming off. ALMOST THERE McGahee said he's about roughly ''95 percent'' of where he was before the injury. What's that other five percent? ''That long run, that 70-yard run, man,'' he said. ``It's gonna come. When it's gonna come, it's gonna come, you know what I mean?'' Based on McGahee's progress, likely pretty soon. ''For a guy who hasn't played much, he sees the field amazing,'' Dolphins defensive end David Bowens said. ``Most guys, when they're just breaking in, don't see all the blocks and how they're setting up. They'll be running an outside play and he already sees the cut back way on the backside.'' There also isn't any awe in McGahee. Earlier this season, he faced Baltimore and cornerback Deion Sanders. Sanders was McGahee's idol growing up. Was it fun to face Sanders? ''I would say . . . How do I say this? It was real good, buddy. It was real good watching him play because I always imagined myself just like him. I still got it in me,'' McGahee said. Did you talk to him? ''Nah, it ain't nothing like that,'' McGahee said, dismissing the notion of hero worship and then flattening it. Did he tackle you? ''Nah, he can't tackle me,'' McGahee said. EXPLAIN IT Finally, one reporter broke in and said, ``Honestly, no Willis, we have no idea what you mean. We've never played. Can you explain it to us? What's it like to be out there on the field?'' ``I can't. You can't explain it like that when you're standing out there on the field . . . Ya know what I mean? There was a slight hesitation before McGahee caught himself. ``I'm sorry about that, man.''