TC in St. Louis

I disagree, but agree with your right to feel that way. Come on in, Donte. We will welcome you. Just do it soon.

I never said I was a stoolpigeon, I never said I was a diplomat. Good catch.

Good point. And how can Scott not footnote Summerall whenever he uses that quote?

Yeah, I tossed that in just for fun. Just killing time till Whitner comes in. I believe the Bills will have a good season. That's my cliche, I say it every year.

I just read the article where they call Kyle Williams or whatever his name is a "rolling ball of butcher knives." That's the same words used to describe Travis Henry a few years ago. Anybody else remember that? Come to think of it, Stuart Scott seems to be attributed with creating the phrase "cool as the other side of the pillow," but I heard Pat Summerall use that many years before Scott was even on the air. I remember thinking, "good one, Pat, I know exactly what you mean." And when I hear Scott, I thought, "you hack, you thief. You tease, you flirt, you shine all the buttons on your green shirt." But the first time I head the word "plethora" was OJ Simpson on some football broadcast, I thought it was MNF, describing some dude as having a "plethora of moves." But OJ put the accent on the second syllable. It was that sort of misguided stab at literacy that led to his being improperly accused of attempted decapitation. I digres... go bills.

Exactly. Split the difference. If the guy was worth drafting at number 8, the money won't mean much over time. If he sucks, Levy and Co. won't want to talk about it anyway, and won't be bragging either way.

Marv saying that Whitner's chances of starting are in jeopardy for missing a few days of camp....that's really a moot point to Whitner, in my opinion. He is not going to leave any money on the table. The difference of "a few hundred thousand" would feed my family for the next 20 years. It's all about the benjamins. I think he'll be in by Wednesday. Starting by 3rd preseason game, if he's as good as they say he is.

I've been arguing this for months. We led the league in first drive ef ficiency, and then plummetted after that. Bon voyage, Mularkey. And because the offense stunk so bad, the defense was on the field an extra 5 minutes a game, which made their stats even worse than they should've been. There are at least 3 games we flat out should've won....which we lost. Go back to 2004....we should've beat Pittsburgh in the final game of the season. Mularkey couldn't get the team over the hump. We could have easily gone 8-8 last year. Had that happened, I think they would've kept Donahoe and Mularkey. We have added a lot of talent (return of Spikes, Everett, full season with Parrish, Peerless, new OL, and what looks like a pretty good draft) to an underachieving team. We've got solid, if unspectacular leadership with Levy and Jauron. They are trying to put together a team with talent and character. I think we will surprise a lot of people this year. It's nice to be in the role of underdog.

Takeo Spikes, Kevin Everett, full season from Roscoe Parrish, Triplett, Fowler, Bowen, Peerless, and the guys chosen in the draft. Having Everett and Parrish is like having 2 extra draft choices, except they've had a year learning the system. Add a veteran, smart coach and an explosive offensive coordinator. Subtract Mike Williams, Fat Sam, Moulds. Mularkey, whose play calling was horrible, with the exception of the first drives of the game....he's in Miami now. Cool. This team will surprise some people. We are very underrated.

Well, I wrote to the guy, and asked him exactly what he meant. Here is his response: Wow, an argument over the use of the word poignant. You guys have way too much time on your hands (chuckling). I'll admit I was looking to use it in less of the somber emotional sense (although I'm sure some of you are moved to tears about the QB situation) and more the zesty and spicy sense. However, now that I think about it the stirring emotional definition could work too. The issues that get Bills fans stirred up, issues that move them to actively think about what could happen with the team. Using pertinent is too easy. I don't make things easy on myself believe me. Now I'll never claim to hold any form of mastery over the English language. My English teacher used to kill me over commas, and grammar, but I'm usually dead on with spelling and have worked my way around a metaphor a time or two. Hope that settles the argument, whatever it was. See you folks at camp, well maybe not you Tom unless you're making one hell of a road trip to camp! C. Brown So. there you have it. By poignant, he meant zesty and spicy. Noted.

You and Holcomb are clearly the pick of the litter when it comes to dissecting the dictionary. I applaud your tenacity, and the wit with which you present your case. And I agree with your assessment. However, I don't believe this guy meant to use that word. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while. He made a mistake that turned out to be a non-mistake. Or a non-event. I am non-plussed by the nonsense of it all.

The other thing I remember about that 10-5 loss to Tampa is that we had some people over for the game, and this one girl walked over to our Christmas tree and snapped off a branch. Why? It was blocking her view. Could've moved her barstoll a foot to the left. I was thinking of a word to describe her, and it rhymes with something that Chris Mohr did for a living.

I remember that game, because I heaved my shoe through my dorm wall. Mercury Morris was hit by Tony Greene, I think, and he was actually upside down on his way to the turf when the ball popped out, before any part of his body hit the ground. The Bills recovered. The refs said, "no fumble," it was a horrific call. I was wondering if one of the veterans on this board would point that out. It comes up every couple years. Imagine had the Bills won that game, what a better world this would be.

Spit take with my beer. Don't know why that struck me as funny, but I'm still laughing.

When you are writing for the masses, you should use the common meaning of the term, lest you have people scurrying about for a dictionary. The order in the dictionary is not arbitrary. They list meanings in order of common use. Go to a Thesauras and enter the word. Here's what you get: 1. Exciting a deep, usually somber response: affecting, impressive, moving, stirring, touching. See TOUCH. 2. Archaic. Affecting the organs of taste or smell with a strong and often harsh sensation: piquant, pungent, sharp, spicy, zesty. See SMELLS, TASTE. No mention of football there. Look, obviously you guys don't get my point. The guy did not mean to use that word. If he was correct, it was not intentional. I'll write him and ask him what he meant. People make mistakes. I was trying to inject a little humor into a dull day. Sorry.

You get the point, don't you?

Nick, let's be fair about this. You did not include the entire definition, which illustrates the poignant point of the word. here's what it says: Profoundly moving; touching: a poignant memory. See synonyms at moving. Physically painful: “Keen, poignant agonies seemed to shoot from his neck downward” (Ambrose Bierce). Keenly distressing to the mind or feelings: poignant anxiety. Piercing; incisive: poignant criticism. Neat, skillful, and to the point: poignant illustrations supplementing the text. Astute and pertinent; relevant: poignant suggestions. Agreeably intense or stimulating: poignant delight. Archaic. Sharp or sour to the taste; piquant. Sharp or pungent to the smell. You have to get to the third definition of that word to make it apply here. Methinks the guy just picked the wrong word, rather than using the 3rd most common definition. When they call "Ernest Goes to Camp" a poignant love story, they mean that it is a touching, moving love story between Ernest and his counselor. And physically painful, because the subtext is "Ernest Loses His Cherry." and you'd probably have to scroll down to the 3rd or 4th definition of the word Cherry to find its application here. And the poignancy is probably sharp or sour to the taste as well.

I don't understand why people take our language so casually. Last week I posted on the Blues web page that the GM of the Blues had said, on the news, that he would not "settle for mediocrasy." That ain't even a word!! I got trashed on that board for criticizing. This guy at buffalobills.com is trying to be impressive, but poignant is not the right word.

According to the lead-in to today's story about the WR position, buffalobills.com will present each of the poignant issues facing the team daily in an effort to have you the fan primed for all the action at St. John Fisher. Don't stray far from buffalobills.com! I am wondering, what is today's poignant issue? Whether or not Peerless feels deep in his heart that his destiny is to be the number 2 receiver? Any other issues of poignancy today?

I just had a look at the depth chart at buffalobills.com, and I think on paper we look like a pretty solid team. Very good wideouts, potentially great halfback, vastly improved OL from last year, very good tight ends....obvious question at QB, but Holcomb can be good if Losman ain't ready. On defense, i think the whole thing collapsed when Takeo got hurt, and then we lost Edwards. We've got really good corners, and I like the safety position too (imagine if Whitner is worth the high pick). The linebackers are good, although I would rather put Crowell in Posey's slot, he's more productive. The DL may turn out to be really good if McCargo is as good as they think, and Triplett pays off....we've still got Tim Anderson....the DE position is solid. I like the coaching staff too. I just don't know why everybody seems to think this team is doomed. This could be a fun year.

Who's whining? Dude, you don't know me. I said was that it was a dumb rule. And I'm upset that the Sabres lost. The game winning goal took place during the ensuing power play. Carolina is loaded with talent, and their goalie was great since he came into the middle of Game 5. I think they'll probably win the Cup. I believe the reason the Sabres did not win is they were missing 7 guys. You may disagree. You guys had the best record in the league when you added Doug Weight. Your team is loaded.

My initial post was that it's a bad rule. I'll stand by that. Icing happens 20 times a game, and that delays the game too, and it's intentional. I don't see why tossing it over the glass should be any different. We had our chances, especially in Game 5 when we dominated the end of the third and all of overtime till that power play and lucky hop onto Stillman's stick. By the way, sitting here in St. Louis watching all those former Blues stick it to the Sabres....sucks. Stillman, Weight, Brind Amour. And in the west, Pronger, Roloson, Staios. Tired of that.

Hard to imagine a worse mandatory call than that delay of game last night. I can understand if it's intentional, then you are "delaying the game." What happens when you ice the puck? How come that's not a penalty? I knew they were cursed when Carolina scored the first goal off a guy's shoulder 8 feet from the goal. The guy didn't even know it hit him. The Sabres had, what, 2 power plays....and both were cut short by penalties...the 2nd one was a horrible call. I've read and heard enough about how the team was shorthanded by 7 players. It's no compensation to me. To have to wait another year and another 3 rounds of playoffs, with horrible officiating and all the b.s., I'm not sure I have the heart for this. I am proud of the team, and the effort. Carolina makes me puke, whiny bastards, and I'm not sure I can watch a minute of the finals. I'd like to see them get swept, although that might make people think less of the Sabres.

I remember standing in my living room taking a congratulatory call from my friend Todd, and saying, There are still 16 seconds left, there is time for the refs to screw the Bills. After the play, Todd said "that was a forward pass." He's a vikings fan. He was telling the truth. The play on Price was a joke. He caught the ball in bounds. Holding on a field goal? A gift. The spot on McNair? Another joke. That game was a classic, if not THE classic case of Las Vegas paying off the officials. No way that game wasn't fixed. No friggin' way. The fix was on.

They were talking about coaching changes, and he said that Jauron is a really good guy who stepped into a horrible situation. Very thin talent in Buffalo. The draft was horrible. Bills and Jets are going to struggle to get to 6 victories. I wish I could've called in. Nobody seems to notice Youboty and Ko Simpson as good picks. Everybody seems to trash the first two choices. Wonder how they felt about Andre Reed. Don Beebe. Darryl Talley.