The Dean

Nice! How was the crowd at The Star last Sunday? Ed still bartending on Sundays?

Unfortunately I typically only make it back one a year. Every summer I to go to a cottage in Canada with a bunch of friends (40+ years at the same place). But I really like the winter. I LOVE blizzards. I like cleaning the snow off my car in the morning (OK, I prefer the afternoon to tell the truth). I'd snow blow the entire block.

I haven't spent enough time in Chi-town to judge. Makes sense, though. Milwaukee was decent from what I remember, but I wasn't there long enough and out late enough to judge.

We felt your pain, Tom. Are you at least going to take a week or two off before staring the new gig?

I'll pile on here, too. You can get Buffalo wings most anywhere. You can get edible wings most anywhere. Many places have flavorful wings---some even interesting. And the longer you are away from Buffalo, the easier it is to get seduced into thinking the wings you are eating are authentic---until you go back to Buffalo. Then you realize you have been eating imitation Buffalo wings all along. We have some places that have good wings. Best in the area. In truth, wings that are close to genuine. But in Buffalo these same places wouldn't be--well, a place where you would order wings. So you can make them at home and get them right, but for a single guy, that's a big mess for a few wings. Beef on Weck is another thing that places just don't get right. There is a guy from Grand Island who has a beer bar in downtown St Augustine. On Sundays he serves beef on weck. I was VERY excited. This sandwich was so bad, he should have his WNY birth certificate burned. An embarrassment to the beef-on-weck. HORRIBLE!!!! Wrong beef, bad weck roll, dry, cold---absolutely nothing good about it. This was 4-5 years ago, and I'm still pissed off about it. I had a similar experience at a restaurant in Orlando. Except in this case, the beef was OK as was the roll. But they didn't dip the beef in any au jus, or gravy...or anything, So it was cold beef on a dry roll. I tried to send a bit of advice to the kitchen via the server, but she really didn't give a damn. One of the few places I have had a decent beef on weck (not counting homemade of course) was at a Bills bar in St Pete. Buffalo City Grill (I think). Great place to watch a game and eat beef on weck--- but the wings were just OK. Also there is a new restaurant in World Golf Village that has (or had) beef on weck on the menu but I haven't had the nerve to try it yet. Maybe next week. Pizza is a tough call. First of all, being from Niagara Falls, I never thought that highly of Buffalo pizza. But clearly is is better than the local pizza in most of the country,. (BTW if you can eat the national chain stuff, and refer to it as "pizza", you have no place in this discussion.) But like craft beer, REAL pizza seems to be available in more and more of the country. Thin crust, coal or wood burning brick oven places are springing up all over the country. Some are better than others, of course. I will try any local place, no matter how dingy it looks, before I get Dominoes/Pizza Hut/Pappa Johns/etc. I've had decent pizza in the oddest places---but you have to eat a lot of bad pies to find a good one. One thing I'll give Buffalo is the stuff is consistent. Another thing about WNY food is, you can eat whenever you want. Hungry at 2 am? No problem. Driving in the middle of the afternoon and craving a slice? No problem. Boston, San Francisco, LA---they have great restaurants. But try eating late at night (if you aren't near a Chinese restaurant.) Try walking down a street KNOWING there will be a place for some quick hand food (slice, taco, etc) that will be good. Good freaking luck. Only NYC delivers quick, quality (and relatively inexpensive) eats better than Buffalo.

JetBlue does, but not broadcast networks. They have ESPN and ESPN2 (or ESPN News, I forget). I agree with the rest here. Wifi and stream the audio. It used to be WGR had an alternate feed on the website during the game. Not sure if that's still true. But I almost always found another station on the Bills Radio Network where I could listen online.

Indeed. If this turns out to be true, then TXBILLS deserves the credit for delivering the news way before it actually happened. Bravo!

The girl I'm fuc#ing?

No doubt on the wings. Pizza? Depends on where live, IMO, Way better than St Augustine, that's for sure. But the best place in the area, is out in the country a way. But it is owned by a family from Buffalo. Easily the best pizza in the area. I've live in Boston, NYC area, LA area (Manhattan beach was nice enough), San Francisco, St Augustine and spent a few months in Milwaukee. SF is easily my favorite place to be. But after that, it's WNY, (Milwaukee is comparable) I'd move back in a heartbeat if I could (family obligations keep me here).

Sure, blame the board. I guess it's better than blaming Jay.

????

I was asked to do something similar once (except to our new President of the company, by the GM). I walked out of the meeting, and my job.

Hello one and all, was it you I used to know? Felonius my old friend, step on in and let me take your hand A world become one of salads and sun. Only a fool would say that Your everlasting summer, you can see it fading fast I hear you are singing a song of the past Any news was good news and the feeling was bad at home Who are these children who scheme and run wild? It's a beggars life said the Queen of Spain, but don't tell it to a poor man I never seen you looking so bad my funky one Savoy Sides presents a new saxophone sensation Rose darling come to me, Snake Mary's gone to bed Kids if you want some fun, Mr LaPage is your man Lost in the Barrio, I run like an Injun, so Carlo won't suspect something's wrong here While the music played you worked by candlelight Cold. Daring. No flies on me Babs and Clean Willie were in love they said And they wandered in from the city of St John without a dime Down at the Lido they welcome you, with sausage and beer In the corner of my eye, I saw you in Rudy's you were very high Up on the hill, people never stare. They just don't care This is the day of the expanding man Hurry the bottle mama, it's grapefruit wine Drive west on Sunset to the sea Way back in 'sixty seven, I was the dandy of Gamma Chi The wind was driving in my face. The smell of prickly pear Johnny's playroom is a bunker filled with sand One plush summer you came to me ripe and ready I was grinding at my day gig, stackin' cutouts at the Strand Bad news breaking in 18A, Missy's kitty turned inside out she say It must have been my lucky Thursday, your daddy went on that spree Teddy's rolling now most every night I'm working on Gospel time these days Attention all shoppers, it's cancellation day In the beginning we could hang with the dude My coat is black and the moon is yellow, here is where I get off Our man Abu squeezes off twenty tracer rounds, and that's where she jumps the turnstile It's high time for a walk on the real side -Fagen and Becker

So you are saying you work with as# kissers?

Hey, why not?

I don't want to speak for Kelly, and he does a very good job of speaking for himself, but nothing in that post suggests he believed Polian and France were "equally qualified" to be a consultant. That was a product of your imagination, or poor reading comprehension. As we have no idea what exactly Pegula might be looking for in a, hypothetical consultant, it's hard to say who would be a good/best choice. This also demonstrates the shallowness of your thinking. Simply because Condon is a more successful agent, it doesn't automatically make him a better choice for some hypothetical position. Being a successful agent may be the only thing Condon brings to the table for whatever, again hypothetical, position Pegula has in mind. Maybe Pegula believes, from knowing France, he helps Pegula make better decisions, for whatever reason. It isn't obvious to me that France would make a good GM, team president, etc. Maybe he would, but I doubt that is the position he would have for France. But I understand I might be wrong in this. A person who has dealt with him over the years, perhaps in many different situations, just might be a better judge of that.

My first thought, actually. Sully is a clown who knows nothing about football. Perfect choice for his plan! I'm thinking that makes us a great fanbase. It is fine to question, and when necessary, criticize team management. But true fans support the team, no matter what. Right?

Can't say for sure if it is true, but that's the way it worked in my family. My mother, who was very tiny, was a relentless critic of my weight and that of my father and all my siblings. It worked in reverse for us, that's for sure. I'd often asked her what she thought she was accomplishing given the results. The funny thing is she always served us fattening foods, and lots of sweets. If she asked if you wanted more, she didn't even listen to the answer, just piled more on your plate. Not an excuse, as I feel we are all responsible for what, and how much, we eat. But she sent a lot of mixed signals. When I had to move back in with the parents, to help take care of my father at the time, I gained over 60lbs in short order. Since she moved into an assisted living facility (my father has passed) I've lost over 40 lbs.

That's pure evil, Tom.

Nice!

Listen. Jump on a moonbeam and ride.

Dancing madly backwards...

The Steelers are my 2nd favorite team. Way behind the Bills, of course, but pretty far ahead of the rest of the pack. I'd be a bit worried about playing the Ravens, this week, at home. I think it is possible the Ravens take their frustrations out on the field this week. Sometimes these things have a way of focusing a team and igniting a fire. Of course, it could be a distraction. Wild card. I don't like wild cards. Go Steelers!