R. Rich

Not as sold on VY as VY appears to be. Dissing the combine may be a smart move, or it may be a huge mistake. I hope his entourage isn't in over their heads.

My response wasn't directed @ you personally. I know you're just looking for info on the guy. What irks me is when someone says stuff like that in response to a question like the one you posed. Example: [question] "Is Hawk really that good?" [answer] "He's just another Katzenmoyer wannabe who's blah blah blah blah blah...".

Meissner is a Baltimore gal. I know this because the local media won't STFU about her.

Well, if we go by past history and all, maybe we can get a deal like this for our #8 pick...

That's the thing w/ variety being the spice of life: there's a little something for everyone. Just as there's a generation of fans who didn't experience the Bills' "0 for the 70s" against Miami and more easily remember the recent, embarassing losses to the Patriots more (thus, in their minds, making the Pats a bigger rival), there's also those who are a victim of whatever region they live in. What I mean is this: people in the NYC area might think of the Jets as a bigger rival due to the obnoxious fans they deal w/ there, or VA residents may dislike the Redskins w/ a heated passion, or MD reisidents may despise the Ravens, PA residents may hate the Steelers-though they shouldn't hate-and so on. For those folks, Miami is a big rival, but if they don't have to deal w/ it as often or as intense as they do the "locals", they may be more inclined to dislike some other team more. Whatever the case, for those situations, it will always be about the team and not just the players. In those cases, the fans perpetuate the rivalry, regardless of who the players are. Conversely, there's a lot of people who do believe that w/ player movement being the way it is, rivalries don't necessarily matter as much any more. Personally, I don't agree w/ this, as I still stronly dislike Miami, but I can see where people can form this opinion. It's hard for some to root for their heroes, only to have said heroes up and leave for greener pastures (and bank accounts) some time later. Those folks tend to get jaded about the whole thing, thus condemning free agency and the effect it has had on the NFL. I think there's more than enough fans to support any side of the argument, meaning the rivalries will still be there, just like there will be those who feel free agency is ruining the game also. Plenty to go around for all. Variety.

Other than both players attending Ohio State, there's little that Katzenmoyer and Hawk have in common. Of course, it's the easy way out to compare them, just like I see people comparing Jonathan Scott of Texas to former Texas OL like Big Mike Williams or Leonard Davis, even though they're nothing alike other than choice of school. Less work, and it's fun to come up w/ oh so clever remarks about them. Anyway, Hawk is the real deal @ linebacker. He's a very intense player who is a solid tackler, great hitter, and adept @ read/run on the fly. He does get a bit aggressive @ times and can be fooled on play action and such, plus he needs to work on his coverage skills some. Even still, I saw him do quite well in coverage in spots this season, so even that isn't as huge a concern as some may think. Many people believe he's the best defensive player available in this draft, and I'm not sure I disagree w/ that sentiment.

Thanks to all of my friends here. I appreciate the well wishes. My birthday was nice, as I not only got to spend the day w/ my wife, but it was also the first day of my 6 day winter vacation.

I'm not real familiar w/ the Annapolis area. In the Baltimore area, if you like good seafood, the place I love is called G & M Restaurant, and they have the best crab cakes in the area. When it comes to seafood, scallops are my favorite, and they have wonderful scallops as well.

Yeah, but they were exceptions, not the rule. Basically, if a guy doesn't show his stuff after a year, he sucks and is hopeless for the rest of his career.

You can more than likely rule out any of the top 5 on that list. Most of those guys could go in the first round @ some point. Whitworth might still be on the board, and I've mentioned him before as a guy who's not bad.

What's wrong w/ his post? One year is more than enough time for a QB to show what he's got. I can't recall any examples of QBs who have had success after a less than stellar first season.

How DARE you rain on everyone's parade! No optimism allowed here.

It's still my stadium.

Or, in the immortal words of Sir Andrew of Sheppard: We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.

Happy birthday. Hope to see you soon. Hopefully, they'll have another draft party this year.

Colledge isn't bad @ all. I would hope we could land a guy like Jonathan Scott in the 2nd, but his draft stock seems to be improving to the point where he's been mentioned as a potential first round pick.

Whoever.

Considering the fact that I've hardly posted outside of the college football/draft forums recently, I don't believe you need to hide from me.

I guess I can see why.

We sure do.

Happy belated birthday.

Order one online. They should have some in stock, I think.

Anyone have any sleepers they've become aware of that could benefit the Bills? There's a few I've watched, but here's two that come to mind quickly: David Pittman, CB, Northwestern St After a pretty good showing in Mobile as a late addition to the Senior Bowl, Pittman might not be much of a sleeper, but I still don't think he'll go really high in the draft. If he's around in the 4th or later, man would I like to see the Bills draft him! Bio From NFL Draft Countdown Will Allen, G, Texas Not a sleeper in the traditional sense, but not as highly regarded as many of the guards in this draft. I watched his Senior Bowl performance, and I thought he did very well. I saw him get out on a really nice block on a screen, and I saw him handle some pretty tough DTs inside, holding his ground in pass protection and getting good push in run blocking. Both of those things are weaknesses I see many of the draft sites highlighting as reasons Allen will slip to around the 4th round. If his Senior Bowl (not to mention his peformances in both the Red River Shootout and the Rose Bowl) performance is indication of his "weakness", I'd say he's well worth the gamble in the 4th if he's there. Bio From NFL Draft Countdown

It's been fixed, thanks to ~NG~.

It's not a private deal @ all, Chuck. It was set up a few years ago as a way for some of us displaced Bills fans to get together to hang out. Usually, a small group of 7-10 of us end up hanging out in Baltimore, and we try to do something different each time. The first time, we spent the day @ the Inner Harbor, the next time, we did the Inner Harbor cruise (a lot of fun). Last year, I tried to set up a picnic-type affair where people could bring their families and we'd get some space @ one of the area parks to grill some food, maybe play some games, and just hang out. That's also the plan for this year's get together, which I am working on. It would be nice if you could make it.