rockpile

Very good link to his career and accomplishments: click here

I MEANT Rick Danko! Helm is still playing the "Midnight Ramble" concerts, along with his daughter. Sorry.

without repeating others I have seen on the list, I would add: Richard Manuel Levon Helm John Entwhistle

Just sent the following to the Fergusons: Dear Joe Ferguson, I have been a Buffalo Bills fan since 1964. I always admired you as a player and role model. The following is an article I wrote several years back for Two Bills Drive, a web fan forum. Hundreds there are praying for you and your family. God Bless. Tom Benson www.twobillsdrive.com The Buffalo Bills Other Number 12 by Tom “Rockpile” Benson There should be no doubt in any long-time fan’s mind that Jim Kelly was the greatest quarterback in Bills history; all one has to do is scan the record book for proof. But there was another number 12 at the helm of the Buffalo Bills during some of their most exciting and most frustrating years who also had the heart of a lion, Joe Ferguson. Ferguson was drafted out of Arkansas State in 1973 in the third round, after leading the Razorbacks for three years. His college accomplishments include All-Southwest Conference quarterback where he passed for 4,431 career yards. He set a school record that still stands with 2,203 passing yards in 1971. He was Most Valuable Player of the 1971 Liberty Bowl. In his rookie year with the Bills, Ferguson became the starting quarterback and played in all fourteen games, but his role went from “Air Arkansas” to a role that mostly involved handing the ball to O.J. Simpson. He only attempted 164 passes that entire year (in one game at Arkansas he had passed 51 times!), but he was an integral part of the squad that helped O.J. get his 2003 yard season. Sometimes Ferguson looked at OJ and asked himself why he was needed in Buffalo. But instead of fretting over the lack of an aggressive passing offense, he concentrated on his primary role on the team - play every down, work hard, study the game - there is always room to improve and his day would come. In 1980, the Bills won their first division title in 14 years, and the goal posts came tumbling down! This led to a playoff game against San Diego that, for me, will always be one of the most memorable contests I have ever watched. Ferguson was playing hurt; his ankle caused him so much pain that he could barely stand. But he stood in there and took a pounding, unable to scramble and injured too severely to plant his foot to throw. The Bills held a 14-13 lead until late in the fourth quarter when an across the middle slant pass put the Chargers ahead 20-14. After the game was over, the ankle was examined again. It was sprained, torn, stretched, pulled, and had a cracked bone in the back. But the hardest part for Joe Ferguson was that he knew this was likely the closest his team would get to the Super Bowl. For his tenure with the team, in fact, it was. Ferguson was widely praised when the Bills won, and crucified when they lost. The biggest misunderstanding was his posture when he left the field after an interception, failed conversion attempt, or other offensive miscue. He would walk off the field, head down, which was misinterpreted by fans as hanging his head in defeat. But for Joe it was a personal statement: whatever play he was trying to execute had not worked and he was already concentrating on what he would do the next time he got the ball in his hands. Joe Ferguson retired in 1990. In all, he spent twelve seasons with the Buffalo Bills and six more with Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Indianapolis. During his NFL tenure, he passed for 29,827 yards and 196 touchdowns (27,590 yards and 181 touchdowns as a Bill). After his career in the NFL was finished, he worked at real estate for a while, and was a football radio commentator and pre-game co-host on Arkansas Razorback Sports Network. In 1995, he filled in for two weeks for an injured David Archer as a favor to an old friend, former Bills quarterback and head coach, Kaye Stephenson, then head coach of the San Antonio Texans of the CFL. Stephenson had tried to get him to commit to the entire season, but at 45, he and his family decided playing football was no longer an option! 1995 was also the year Joe Ferguson’s name went up on the Wall of Fame in Rich Stadium. Football was still in his blood, even if he was through as a player. He served as quarterbacks coach for Louisiana Tech in 1990 and 1991, eventually returning to Arkansas as quarterbacks coach for the Razorbacks. At the age of 47, he is back at his alma mater, 28 years after he first arrived. He and his wife Sandy have a daughter Kristen, 14, and son Trey, 11. He is in excellent physical shape and still looks like he could come out and take some snaps from center! He will always be one of the players I look up to; he made the most of every opportunity that came his way. He was never a quitter. Now he is teaching those same qualities to a new generation of college and NFL hopefuls - play every down, work hard, study the game. Copyright © 1997 Tom “Rockpile” Benson. All rights reserved.

If you remember that song by The First Edition, you either lie about your age, or are very retro!

I think he forgot to take his Valium!

That's not a picture of Dan Gross!

Yeah, when it comes down to it, I am a pretty simple guy.

I hope you do too! Both babyrock and pebbles will be at the tailgate this year, with the old Rock.

Imagine my surprise on Father's Day, when dessert was served and it was Strawberry Rhubarb pie. It is usually shortcake or regular cake. Turns out Nikki (my middle girl) made sure her siblings got this for me - special order from a bakery. She is finishing up in Brooklyn and could not make it home. Of everyone in the family, only she remembers my favorite pie. This is a special "kid" because that is one of her most unique qualties, remembering something special about the people she cares about, and tossing them a delightful surprise every now and then. The sun is shining, I am eating the last piece of Strawberry Rhubarb pie and for at least the next ten minutes all will be perfect in my world. Because someone remembered my favorite pie. Must be a lesson there somewhere!

There are only so many ways to reply to this thread (Prime Time), most of them begin and end with "this sucks". I have not even OPENED the Stern thread to read or comment. Stern does not interest me at all.

I was looking at LABillzFan's avatar and my mind went blank. I am a man, I was hungry, I saw ya-ya's See the Cat, See the Cradle?

Ya-Ya's work for me.

Best boss I ever had was a woman. Smart and took no sh--. Was fair and cared about her staff. Being a good boss has little to do with gender.

Happy Birthday to one waller I have met and another I hope to meet.

Back in 1973, me and a buddy walked about 90 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Vermont (Green Mountains) in nine days. It was in May and we were walking north. Everything we needed was in our packs, which weighed about 45-50 pounds.. You learn fast to eat the heaviest food first. It was warm enough by day but cold at night. Mostly we spent our nights in three wall lean-to shelters. We used to keep our canteens inside our sleeping bags because if we left them in our packs the water would freeze. We had wanted to walk all the way to Katahdin, but I ran out of money and my gear was not really meant for winter camping. So, when we got to Rutland, VT and heard that Memorial Day was a ski weekend in Killington, I was done. I used the last of my money to get a bus to NY City (my buddy kept going another 100 miles) and I called friends from the Port Authority to come get me. What a change that was -from the wilds of the mountains to the wilds of the city in a day. Our warm up hike was three days in the Allegheney National Forest. Some friends dropped us off with backpacks, geodesic survey maps, and compasses. We walked about 25-30 miles in a few days and hitch hiked home from Bradford, PA. Another time I did about 15 miles of the AT in New Hampshire, starting at Mt. Liberty. The Old Man in the Mountain is near there. It is a great feeling to be hiking above tree line with Mt. Washington visible (I think) about 70 miles away. A Walk in the Woods is a very accurate book on the joys and pain of backpacking, from an honest personal perspective. There is a zone you have to get into to backpack. Getting the "real" world out of your system takes 2-3 days. I still hike, but the Adirondacks and day hiking is all I can handle. F*ckng MS sucks sometimes. Good luck to your friends. If they are still walking a month from now they have a good shot at making it. Maine, the White Mountains of NH and then the Green Mountains are a very ambitious start! The Presidential Range is a ball buster.

There are more murders and rapes in Rochester, NY.

Brain Fart! It was TW.

That was a long reply!

Don't forget you had to preheat the oven.

SWANSON : 375 DEGREES : 45 MINUTES : TURKEY DINNER WITH STUFFING : OVEN TIMER DING!

How did you know when to start this thread? Did Lisa count FOR you? Bring it on Big Guy!

Maybe Hallmark has a card?

Note these were ALL at scheduled signings, not during their personal time. Phil Hanson - took the time to speak to everyone and even had free color photo cards he was signing. Smerlas - signed my jersey, a card, and a copy of his autobiography Thurman - was very short with fans after a taping of the TT show WAY back when it was filmed on Humboldt St in Rochester. Ten years later he was very nice at Eastview Mall Reed - was obviously bored stiff and had no personality. To be fair this was after a full day of practice and guest spot on the TT show. Ballard and Odomes - you handed what you wanted signed to a guy who handed it to the player, who handed it to another guy, who gave it back to you. One item per person - REAL personal. Both were gone as free agents soon afterwards Pat Washington - a real funny guy - joked with everyone Flutie - was very nice and took time to say a few words with fans, especially kids That's all I can remember for now.