R. Rich

Actually, we took Conlan 2 spots ahead of Pittsburgh, who took Woodson. The player in the middle of the two? The late Jerome Brown. RIP.

My memory isn't so great, either. I do remember that, going into the draft, I was hoping the Bills would get Woodson, but when they drafted Conlan, I was happy about it. For my favorite NFL team to draft a star LB from my favorite college team, I was good to go. I don't remember if a trade was involved, though.

...to one of your other posts about this topic, Darin.

True. Still, gotta love the effort he put forth. And I'm still on the lookout for a cord cap from the '86 Fiesta Bowl. I should've bought one when they were out; now I can never find 'em.

Yeah. I think the sim tries to be as close to the NFL stats as possible, meaning that even though I put a much better OL in front of him, he still got crushed. My fault for waiting so long to take a QB, but I had to make sure I got my defense set up the way I wanted it. Yeah, for all the good that did me. Conlan was okay. A bit overrated though, as every LB from Penn State is.

His mom was nice enough to send those emails lobbying for my Pro Bowl vote.

They were the best I could do @ the time. It's tough to get good LBs, especially ones that fit the 3-4 scheme. I think my front 7 was solid, but my secondary, except for SS Adrian Wilson, was bad. My corners (Sheldon Brown and Travis Fisher) weren't much to get excited about, nor was my FS (Marquand Manuel, after I benched Josh Bullocks). Also, my offense left a lot to be desired: LT Jones (good) LG Mulitalo (ugh!) C Meester (solid; Jake Grove is the backup) RG Snee (good) RT Barron (good, but young) TE Stephen Alexander (not much) WR Moulds (about 80 catches but only around 700 yards and 4 TDs) WR Mason (nearly 90 catches but just over 800 yards and 3 TDs) FB Pass (not bad, just wasn't able to use him as much as I wanted) HB Dunn (the bright spot of my team: over 1,300 yards and 8 TDs) QB Carr (Aaaaagh! Only 2,500 yards, 12 TDs, 15 picks, and sacked 63 times!!!)

What do I know? Not a damn thing. I say this because of the following: I have a team in a PC sim league (like a combination of fatasy football and franchise mode on the Madden NFL games). When we did our draft, I had 2 top 10 picks. The first one (6th), I used to take LT Walter Jones. The 2nd one (10th) I used to take RICHard Seymour. I made Seymour the pick w/ the intent on having my team play a 3-4 lineup. In later rounds, I added in LBs Bart Scott (man, does he look great in the early going of this year), Morlon Greenwood (solid, not spectacular) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (actually wasn't too bad; best coverage LB I had), not to mention the dynamic 3 of the Chargers, meaning DE Luis Castillo (good young player, nice compliment to Seymour), NT Jamal Williams (THE main reason my run defense gave up just 3.3 yards per rush) and the jewel in the crown, LB Shawne "Lights Out" Merriman (3rd in our sim league w/ 18 sacks). I thought for sure I was going to have a Steeler-like defense that would stuff the run, neutralize the pass, and create the kind of turnovers that would allow my offense to dominate. Well...... My record in our just completed year? 2-14 Obviously, I don't know jack about football.

Oh come on now, can't you come up w/ an original Star Wars reference or allude to how poor our OL has played lately? What's w/ the positive vibe here? Don't you realize where you are?

There isn't one player on that list I'd put above Seymour. As I've said before, he is the Pats' x factor. When he was out of the lineup (sacred cows Brady, Belichick, and Vinatieri were all still there), the Pats did not look good. Once he returned, they made a strong push for the championship that came up short in Denver. Unfortunately, people want to measure DL in terms of sacks, but there's more to it than that. Sorry, but I happen to believe that Seymour is indeed the top DL in football now, the Bryant Young of his era.

April show it is. Who knows? Maybe our paths will cross before then.

As long as it's not the weekend of the New England game (Oct 22nd), I'm down.

A very happy birthday to one of my best friends on the Wall. Psycho Ward 86 echoes my sentiments. Have "C Dawg" give you your spanking today.

You may live to regret that.

Good. I still owe you from your last year, so that'll give me a chance to make good. Section 123 Row 12? Wow, that's just one row above me. Damn, I wish I were going to that game now. Since you'll be there and will be part of the EZC, don't forget to pile on EZC for me.

Great tenor saxophonist. Other than Coletrane, I'd put nobody above him. Speaking of legends of jazz, I'm psyched to see Ahmad Jamal play live @ Blues Alley in a few months. He'll be there from December 26 through the 31st. Hey, if any of you plan to come to Baltimore for the Ravens game, and would be intested in seeing the show, maybe we could make a group trip?

I knew the Wall existed around 9/11, but didn't even look @ any posts here until around November of '01. Those were the days that I just checked Two Bills Drive for the latest Bills news, but didn't get into the message board thing. Once I started lurking, I started to like this place, then I registered a few months later, but still didn't post yet. My first post wasn't until about 4 months after I finally registered here. I wish I had known you guys back then. It would've been nice to have the support system then. Hey, my first post ever here!

Entirely too low. What's worse is the nonchalant way the public goes about it. Yeah, we want to skin Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire alive for using 'roids, but we don't care when guys like Lyle Alzado die from their use or when jerks like Bill Romanowski brag about using them.

Aaargh! I wish I could go, but I sold my Minny tickets. One of these days, we'll meet up. Maybe you can make it to Baltimore for the Ravens game.

Look forward to seeing you both in just a few weeks, William and Gerald.

Take it easy on him, Dean. I'll bet he's never been pulled over for DWB before, so how would he know?

Happy birthday, boss man. Maybe I'll have to drag you out of the house one of these weekends to celebrate.

I posted this over on BillsZone on Saturday: It was tough to see my squad get beat like this after waiting 14 years for this game, but I do take solace in the fact that we will get them @ home next year and our young guys will have more experience by then, so I expect a better game. After missing this one, I will be making EVERY effort possible to ensure that I'll be @ Happy Valley next year for the rematch!

O kay... 1 Day And Counting!!! 'til the season opener. Go Bills!! 15 Days And Counting!!! 'til the home opener!!

He's a young guy who is just coming into his own and realizing all the potential he has. Plus, he gets his All Pro center back healthy and adds another All Pro @ guard next to him. Given that, I fully expect McKinnie to have a Pro Bowl season for the Vikes.