R. Rich

It wasn't Chitty Chitty Gangbang? I thought it was.

You've always been all talk, except for those couple of times we were together (in VA @ G. Host's place and in San Antonio). What great times those were! Man, I should've brought the video camera...

Don't be too envious. I'm wealthy in that I have a family (my wife and my 'furry children', meaning my dog and cat) plus we own a home and have other assets. Let's not confuse my situation w/ the Trumps, Buffets, Murdochs, and Gates of the world, okay? I 'borrowed' my brother's kids earlier this year for a long weekend. It was quite long, as it turned out.

I pay more attention to the credits, looking for a certain Lady Di. I hear she's a legend in the biz.

No, no; none of these will do. The all-time classic that will NEVER be trumped: Splendor in the A**

Too bad. I think you've been there every time I've gone. The streak ends. How sad.

Not to answer your question or anything, but... Yes, I am very wealthy. I travel a lot during the seson, becasue that's what I choose to spend my time and $$ doing. Other people take off on 1-2 week vacations during the summer. Me? I go to Bills games. How stupid, huh? No littles ones yet, but hopefully soon.

Yep, I'll be there.

Anyone plan on being @ Tahou's tomorrow?

It depends on what JoePa wants, in terms of scoring. When he gives Galen Hall and JayPa the green light, they can put points on the board, especially since we have an outstanding group of young receivers who can make big plays (and have done so) down the field. The only things I worry about are: (1) PSU's offensive line, which isn't as dominant as their lines have been in the past. If they give good pass protection, Robinson can get the ball downfield to guys like Butler, King, and Norwood, who all have game breaking ability (I won't even mention Derrick, but he'll have more than his say next season). (2) Robinson himself. If his head is in the game (as it has been for mosst of this season), he's very tough to beat. He does still have lapses where he'll miss wide open WRs though, and that's an issue that would really hurt PSU against a squad like USC (especially if the defense keeps them in the game, as I suspect they would). They would have to make good on their opportunities to score, and that would put the pressure on Robinson to do well. If Robinson handles the pressure well, and the OL gives him the time he needs, then Penn State can beat ANY team in the nation. Yes, even USC.

If by "catastrophic collapse" you're referring to the dismissal of Tom Donahoe, I'd have to agree.

I did.

Very debatable. Leinart has played w/ good poise, but Reggie Bush is the guy who can score for USC @ just about any time from just about anywhere on the field. It's tough for me to say that Leinart is even the best player on his team, let alone the best in college football.

As well as the PSU defense is playing this year, I'm sure they'd love to have a shot @ USC. I don't think USC is unbeatable this year. Were it not for the loss of so many defensive players, which has made their defense very ordinary, that might be true. Now, last year's USC team vs last year's Penn State team? That would be very ugly for Penn State.

His game isn't.

We have a bunch of those shows either on VHS or DVD. We usually watch them on Christmas Eve. When we were in Pittsburgh, we picked up Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas on DVD. That's my favorite of the Christmas programs.

Yeah. Of the 3, he was the one who wasn't just a total bust (Blair) or who ate his way out of the NFL (Enis). What a shame. After his '94 season @ PSU, I thought he would dominate in the NFL.

Vermeil is a very good coach. Hard to believe he was 'burnt out' enough to give it up for years and still hang around college football as an announcer. Wonder how 'burnt out' he'd have been somewhere other than Philly...

I'm just glad that Larry J has seemed to have broken "The Curse" that has plagued PSU running backs for years. There hasn't been a really good one in the NFL since Curt Warner's days in Seattle. Larry seems to FINALLY be the real deal after years of Blair Thomas, KJ, and Enis.

Aw man, that's a bummer. Well, @ least she's getting good care. Kennedy Krieger has numerous services for children that are highly regarded. Then again, Hopkins owns a large chunk of Baltimore, so I guess it isn't too tough for them. If you have to send your child here for treatment, you could do much worse, that's for sure. I hope she continues to do well; you have my prayers.

There's a few Bills Backers groups, but none that are as active as the groups in VA, NY, or NJ. One of them meets @ a place in Fell's Point called Fletcher's. That place is a dive, and I wouldn't recommend it. The Central MD group meets in Columbia to watch the games, I think. You may want to check w/ SDS on that, since he founded that chapter. I'll be @ the game this weekend. Otherwise, you'd be more than welcome to watch it @ my place. My wife makes a great homemade pizza and I make wings when we have the rare chance to be home together to watch the games on Sundays.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: all other coaches who have taken their teams to undefeated, untied seasons 5 times and have just 2 "national titles" (Why the quotes? No playoff!) to show for it, please stand up. Okay, Mr Paterno; we know about you. Anyone else? Anyone? Hello?? Echo???

Whitlock is actually a very good writer, but I think he's just a bit too hasty in playing the race card in this case. I think Ty was a victim of timing more than anything else. 'That team' had been on the decline, in terms of record, for a while and was losing many of the blue chip recruits they used to get regularly to the Florida schools (who are on every week, play in good weather, AND are close to home in most cases). I think Ty's weak finish there was the last straw and he would've been gone regardless of color of skin.

They mentioned that @ the end of the PSU-Wisconsin game. I am planning to be in South Bend for next year's game against 'that team', but if we get a shot @ them this year, that'll work too. They'd probably rather see PSU now while they have Quinn, but he'd still find it very tough to throw all day against PSU's defense. They're a very good pass rushing unit that also has one of the best secondaries in the country. PSU lost one heck of a FS in Andrew Guman and replaced him w/ Chris Harrell, who is playing even better than Guman did last year. The other starters in the secondary are all returning starters and are very good. It would be a great matchup, I think.

Be nice. Remember, attack the post, NOT the poster. As for your "USC is the best in college football" statement, that may or may not be true. It's hard to discount what Auburn did last year in THE most competitive conference in the nation, no less! To run the table in the SEC? That's impressive. As long as teams like USC and Texas can recruit well (and they can), they should be in the mix regularly, since the Pac 10 and Big 12 conferences aren't nearly as competitive as the SEC, ACC, or the Big 11. Personally, I think USC is among the best right now (considering they've won 2 "national titles" and have Reggie Bush, who is clearly the most dynamic player in college football now), but to say they have the best team? I just don't know. I imagine they'd have a much tougher road playing the tougher defenses in the conference I mentioned earlier than they would running through the Pac 10. Now, if they were playing those teams weekly and still put up the numbers they have been, then I'd say they're clearly the best in college football.