Mike In Illinois

Jim has mentioned in the past that when something bad happened to him (shoulder injury in college, for example) one of his brothers or a parent would say, "You're a Kelly; you're a fighter. You can overcome this." - No doubt this will be a tough fight but one this Kelly can overcome and win. Best wishes, Jim.

He did have major dental surgery a couple of months ago for a cyst in his mouth. He was scheduled to be the guest speaker at an FCA event here in my town in March shortly after the procedure and he wasn't sure if he would be here due to the discomfort recovering from the surgery. He did honor his commitment and didn't sound too bad, just talking a tad slower.

Does anyone else remember the early days of the World League?

Finally got a copy of the photo taken last month.

If my math is correct you would have been about 4 years old when you saw The Dead in '93 (You say you were a senior in HS in 2007)? That's a pretty serious musical addiction!

Check out Balboa Stadium inside Balboa Park if you want some AFL history. It's where the Chargers used to play from '61-'66. Three AFL Championship games were played there, including the '65 game the Bills won via shutout. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa_Stadium

I haven't seen the movie yet but The Big Chill's soundtrack is a classic (not including deluxe editions): Side One Marvin Gaye (1968): "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (extended version) (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) – 5:03 The Temptations (1965): "My Girl" (Smokey Robinson, Ronald White) – 2:55 The Young Rascals (1966): "Good Lovin'" (Rudy Clark, Arthur Resnick) – 2:28 The Miracles (1965): "The Tracks of My Tears" (Robinson, Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin) – 2:53 Three Dog Night (1970): "Joy to the World" (Hoyt Axton) – 3:24 Side Two The Temptations (1966): "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (Whitfield, Edward Holland Jr.) – 2:31 Aretha Franklin (1968): "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Jerry Wexler) – 2:41 Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (1967): "I Second That Emotion" (Robinson, Al Clevland) – 2:46 Procol Harum (1967): "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (Keith Reid, Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher) – 4:03 The Exciters (1963): "Tell Him" (Bert Berns) – 2:29 Extra CD tracks The Four Tops (1965): "It's the Same Old Song" (E. Holland, Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland) – 2:45 Martha and The Vandellas (1964): "Dancing in the Street" (Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson) – 2:38 Marvin Gaye (1971): "What's Going On" (Gaye, Clevland, Renaldo "Obie" Benson) – 3:52 The Marvelettes (1964): "Too Many Fish in the Sea" (Whitfield, E. Holland) – 2:26

The Falcons are trying to create cap space to extend Matty Ice.

My first guess for #3 was the long German name but someone guessed it before I could. The next three guesses from the audience: Jimmy Johnson, Dennis Erickson, Marv Levy. Then I guessed correctly. As for #1, I was clueless. I know Bills history and a lot about Jim Kelly but I didn't know.

Thanks for the feedback, it was a blast! Being a life-long resident of Central Illinois it's very rare to have one of your all-time favorite Bills come to town. You have to take advantage of those opportunities when they happen. I'm glad my brother-in-law sponsored a table so I could attend and the friend who got me into the meet 'n' greet before the dinner. In the past they've had Colt McCoy, Kurt Warner, Tony Dungy and Bobby Bowden as guest speakers. EDIT: Here's a quick TV report on his appearance. Most of the video is file of Jim in practice during his Bills career. The TV station didn't stick around past the 6pm news for his part of the banquet. http://www.wics.com/sports/features/headlines/stories/vid_591.shtml

(Long, sometimes rambling so beware) Great event tonight; I had a lot of fun. My friend (whose Father-In-Law sponsored a table at this FCA event) scored three passes to the Sponsor Meet and Greet before the dinner. So I brought along my bobblehead I bought at Jim's HOF induction weekend in 2002 and grabbed an old Pacific trading card of Jim to give to my friend's son to have autographed (he brought a friend who had a used football to have signed). It only took us a couple of minutes to get up to Jim and meet him. For the two kids (around 10-12 years old) he had them go out for a short pass before autographing their items and taking a picture with each of them- the photographs were done by a professional photographer. When my turn came he complimented me on my retro Nike Polo (standing Buffalo) and thought for a moment where to sign on the bobblehead. After the dinner they had a few area high school/college athletes and coaches talk about their FCA involvement before they handed out two scholarship awards. After that was over Scott Hanson introduced Jim and they began to set up a table and bar stools for a Q & A. Before they started the talk Jim had some autographed footballs to give away to people who answered trivia questions (I'll leave them unanswered to see who knows them): 1. Who was Jim Kelly's backup quarterback at the University of Miami? (Hint given by Jim, he is an SEC Head Coach) 2. Who was the last QB taken in Round 1 of the '83 NFL Draft? 3. Who was Jim's first Head Coach at the University of Miami? (He gave us three hints for this one. I stood up and guessed correctly on the third hint) In order to receive the footballs the person with the correct answer had to catch the ball thrown from Jim. I was the farthest away so he asked me to come down to the center aisle to catch the ball. His first throw was wide right, skimming of the hands of people at the table near me and landing on the table behind it, knocking over drinks and plates and silverware. He asked for the ball back and threw the second one in front of me. I was really nervous trying to catch this ball in front of 1,000 people and could hardly move so the ball landed in front of me. I threw the ball back again and Jim jokingly waved me off ("Get outta here!") so I started to head off. He told me to come back and threw the ball a third time which I finally caught. I was so nervous and excited all at once that my hands didn't stop shaking for 10 minutes afterward. the last football was given to the lady with a birthday on or close to Valentine's Day (Jim and Hunter's birthday). Then Jim and Scott talked about his life and career, then discussed his retirement, Hunter's life and all the struggles he and Jill had until Hunter's death in 2005. It was about that time Jim turned his life around and dedicated himself to being a better man/father/husband through the help of his wife and God. He also talked about all the work they've done for Hunter's Hope and working to get comprehensive testing for infants. I think his portion of the night went for 2 hours. Jim recently had oral surgery so it was a struggle for him to speak sometimes but he did well given the circumstances. On each table they had a complimentary copy of his current book "The Playbook for Dads" so I scooped it up. After the dinner he was signing more autographs and taking pictures so I went up, shook his hand and thanked him for coming here and for all the years of joy he and his teammates gave me as a Bills fan. This night was one of the highlights of my life and I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet Jim.

Jim Kelly is scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet here in Springfield, Illinois Monday evening: http://www.centralillinoisfca.org/home-team-banquet The event is hosted by Scott Hanson of NFL Network, who got his break anchoring sports at the local TV news station. A couple of years ago it was Kurt Warner, fresh from his last Super Bowl appearance with the Arizona Cardinals. I'm keeping my optimism tempered but I hope I get the chance to meet him. I'll talk the man's ear off about the team, his playing days and what the future of the franchise holds (and what in the world are they doing in Free Agency?). I'll try to report back and post a picture or two in the Gallery and in this thread if I get the opportunity. I think I may take my bobblehead they had for sale Induction Weekend in 2002 at the Hall of Fame in Canton and see if he will sign it.

Probably for the better. Just some stupid kids connecting you to The Vatican so they can record the conversation about offering you the Papacy(?)

Let's not forget Buddy's sweet circa 1976 tan leather pimp jacket as he strolled into Tempo with the rest of the crew.

Don't forget about the other Gold Medal USA Hockey team: 53 years ago today in Squaw Valley http://deadspin.com/5987589/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow Behind 4-3 five minutes into the 3rd period the US scored six goals in the remaining 15 minutes of the game to beat the Czechs 9-4 in the last game of Round Robin play, earning the Gold Medal.

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

Blake is riding a wave of popularity because he's on 'The Voice', IMO. I agree that a lot of the "Country" music on-Air is just a pop sound with a hint of Country to keep it honest. I think the pop count sound has evolved from the early-90s breakthrough of Garth Brooks, Travis Tritt, etc. I'm not a Country fan but I do like the Southern sound of the Zac Brown Band. They were influenced by the Eagles in their ability to harmonize and I like it.

The Decatur Staleys were from a town 40 minutes east of where I am. Created by Papa Bear Halas, they later moved to Chicago, played as the Staleys for one year then changed their name to the Bears. Some of the history of the Staleys can still be found in Decatur. When I worked at the TV station in Decatur we produced a special (60 minutes) on the Staleys that aired leading up to the Super Bowl in 2006-2007, the year the Bears lost to the Colts in Miami. I have a DVD copy of the special and we contacted the Pro Football HOF to see if they were interested in the show for their Archives (we actually spent a day in Canton to videotape some of the still photos they have of Halas and the Staleys and to get video of the historical landmark in downtown Canton that recognizes the location of the founding of the NFL. I highly recommend scheduling time to visit the HOF archives on your next trip to Canton). We never got around to sending the disc to the Hall yet but I may have to make a road trip over there and hand-deliver it soon! Would there be any interest for me to upload the special to YouTube under a private link and share it here?

If you have a Twitter account you can view the articles the reporters (Tim Graham as an example) link to in their Tweets without counting against your 10 free views. Just click on the link inside the Tweet.

I think there's a lot of people on this board who may be more disappointed than Callahan at the outcome of Super Bowl XXVII.

I don't buy that Callahan sabotaged the game for the Raiders. He'd never work in the NFL again, let alone football, if he pulled that kind of stunt and so many people knew about it. There's too much to gain from winning a Super Bowl. No way Callahan throws that away intentionally. Maybe Timmy was mad he only had a single catch in the game for 9 yards? A Super Bowl he'd worked his whole career to reach, only to be shut down and embarrassed after such a strong regular season? If the issue is the offensive play-calling, can't the quarterback audible out of the plays to some degree (depending on on-field personnel)? Oakland was playing one of the best defenses in the League and against a coach who knew their tendacies. Also, the Raider defense did give 27 points on their own (three touchdown drives and two drives that led to field goals; excluding the THREE pick-sixes in the second half). I do buy into the hope that Brown's accusations turn some Hall of Fame voters off to him and maybe re-consider Andre Reed's legitimacy as a Hall of Famer.

If they can a la carte sports (in theory) they should a la carte ALL channels on television. I know of many channels on my DirecTv package that I don't want and would rather pay for something I do want. It may never happen because the networks make the carriers place some of these cr@p channels on air as part of a packaged deal. A lot of these channels would disappear or alter programming if it were a la carte and the consumers who chose that channel for their package controlled the market. I would pay for sports, depending on price. However, I'm just as comfortable listening to a hockey game or baseball game on the radio as I am watching it on TV. Most of my favorite teams are local to me so I can hear them on radio; the Bills can be found on my smart phone through Tune In Radio (does the Bills App carry the games?).

"I swear to tell the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me Manti."

Good luck to the Sabres this season and to all you Sabres fans. I follow the Blues and I'm optimistic about their prospects for the season. Having two very good goalies (Brian Elliot, Jaroslav Halak) should be beneficial in a compressed season; they should be fresh by splitting duties. They've added a couple of young kids: Vlademir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz (has a sister Mandi who died from Leukemia). Tarasenko will be on the roster; Schawrtz will be up-and-down from their minor-league club in Peoria, IL. The question is if they will get enough scoring and have a physical presence when it's needed (playoffs).

MadCap's questions appeared in my quiz, too.