The Dean

I'm confused too (OK I admit I'm regularly confused). I'm not really sure what the quality of the opponent had to do with the cheating thing, and/or the margin of victory in those games. But one might think, perhaps, the better the opponent the more the cheating might make a difference in a 3-point game.Maybe. I really don't follow your point with this argument. And what about the rest of the, em, ur, "issues" surrounding that entire incident?

Can we talk? RIP, Joan I worked with a woman who looked a lot like Melissa. She was very hot.

You certainly can make that choice. And, trust me, as a Bills fan I understand. But seriously, why worry? In general, why worry? Worry accomplishes nothing---except for perhaps exacerbating a heart attach or nervous breakdown. Now, for things you can control, that's a different story. Pay attention to detail, anticipate, learn from mistakes, etc. But none of us have a lick of influence one way or another in this deal. So, my suggestion is, as ridiculous as it may sound, is don't worry. "Worry is interest paid on a debt, not yet incurred."--William Ralph Inge OK, I'm a little stoned.

Here's one of the reasons I think the cheating thing is so huge: According to many, everybody does what Belicheat did. And what he did, so they say, was really not an advantage in any meaningful sense. So: A. His level of cheating is something most/all teams do. B. His type of cheating doesn't give a team that much of an advantage. So Belicheat gets accused of cheating, and after an investigating (which IMO was rushed for an incident of this type...but let's just let that go), the league found against him. The penalty was assessed: $500.000 (largest fine ever against a HC at the time and the maximum allowed--same fine as Irsay's), Pats* fined $250,000, and the team lost their !st round pick in the following year. Belicheat* was not suspended. That penalty, at face value, DRACONIAN for an offense that: A. Everybody employs B: Doesn't give a team any substantial advantage. One would think that kind of penalty would only be assessed for a very serious infraction. Certainly it must have been something, and something big, no? The NFL isn't one to just go out of it's way for bad publicity. And one has to ask the question: If Belicheat didn't think his particular sort of cheating gave him any perceptible advantage, why did he bother to break the NFL rules and engage in it? Might the information you gather be enough for a 1st down, here or there? Enough for, perhaps, a three point advantage? In every one of the three SBs won by the Pats* while Belicheat was head coach, the margin of victory was 3 points. But there's more than meets the eye here. This penalty, while huge in theory, was virtually nothing in reality. Belicheat was find $500,000, a large amount to pay for most individuals. But I believe Belicheat was given a multi-million dollar raise just subsequent to that. Essentially, Kraft paid his fine (indirectly) plus a raise. The Pats* first round pick was as deep in to the round as it gets. A penalty? Sure. A devastating penalty for a team that has a championship roster? Hardly. Finally the $250.000 fine is of no real consequence whatsoever. Kraft is one of the few where even a $500,000 penalty hardly causes pain. This is against his team and is half that. In effect, the Pats* went virtually unpunished. Finally, all the tapes and all the evidence collected, was destroyed. What? Seriously? Belicheat, Kraft and The Patriots* agreed to accept the decision and let the evidence be destroyed. No appeal? That's it, trash the evidence. Let us never speak of this incident again. As I said earlier, I'm not one for conspiracy theories. But I am Sicilian. I believe I can recognize a situation where two parties, recognizing the best solution to a major problem...one that could cause both parties a ton of problems----is to A. One party pays a tribute B. The other party provides an easy way for that tribute to cause minimal actual pain C. Bury the bodies Burn the evidence. is Belicheat a great coach? Of course. Have the Pats* been a great team with Brady and Belicheat? Absolutely. Are their Super Bowl victories tarnished? Without question. I'm willing to hear other interpretations.

Well played, gents.

I like SDS's solution, too. But using your own logic, the prospective employer could eliminate a candidate using that strategy as they didn't follow the directions and indicate a salary. I could see the same HR drone who tossed out an application that asked for a salary that was a tad too high (and of course, with all the appropriate language that should be included with any salary requirement) deciding the SDS approach was too vague and was an attempt to game the system (the HR drone's system, that is). The big problem here is, much of this is being done by Human Resources, who IMO are, as a group, some of the most horrible people in any company. The are employment obstructionists. Maybe it is because my job was so unusual, they really had no clue how to evaluate resumes. I typically had to back door them, and contact the CEO or someone in upper management directly. If you can bypass them, you can pretty much talk to a prospective boss without worrying about games like this.

For the Bills? For Buffalo? Chamber of commerce video? You'll go crazy trying to make logical sense of videos like this.

Open bar, I assume.

Was that Bon Jovi making a cameo appearance? Pegula makes an appearance, too,. But what is this for, exactly? BTW, almost didn't even click on it because of the thread title. Thought it was some twitter garbage. But when I saw who posted it, I decided to check it out.

This is what I mean. You asked for more than they were offering, but got the job. Very rarely does asking for more than what is budgeted eliminate you as a candidate. Particularly when they are hiring someone fresh out of school. As long as you are in the ballpark for what the position pays (can pay) you should be fine. You can negotiate from there. And I love the 6 month review strategy. The same might not work once you are more established and you ask for a salary well above what they intend to pay. That can tell them you are looking for a different position than what is being offered. Saves both sides time and trouble.

The "Tiny Tot of the Kilowatt"? One of the pioneers of crappy sports talk.

Might Jimmy have cheated? Sure, it's possible. Did Walsh cheat? I doubt it, but he was never accused/caught/convicted. Make all the excuses for Belicheat you like. They guy was caught red-handed and the evidence destroyed. I'm not a conspiracy theorist kind if guy, but when evidence gets destroyed that makes me a bit suspicious. And the great Dallas dynasty was during the Landry years and lasted (arguably) from 1966-1985, before Jerry and Jimmy came on.

The best journalist, who regularly writes about the Bills, is John Wawrow. Hands down. Sully can write, but he knows squat about football. I thought he might get it after all these years, but it still isn't in his wheelhouse. He does know how to stir up controversy (real or imagined). He is a columnist, he's paid to stir up idiots. I guess he is pretty good at that.

The italics threw me a bit. But I had to stop reading when he mentioned some of the worst broadcasters in the history of sports: Art Wander, teh [sic] Coach, Shoop. teh [sic] Bulldog... I had to think, didn't this guy every listen to anyone with half a brain?

Bad enough this idiot basically stole JSP's username. What ever happened to him, anyway.

What if? What if? Yes, things turned out well. But don't think for a second the lease agreement was "luck". That, and The Trust directive to keep the team local, were planned. Someone would have stepped in if not Pegula or Golisano. Ralph made it near impossible for anyone thinking of buying the team to move it. No doubt that was intentional.

The Patriots* run is more recent, but for fewer years than that of Dallas or SF during their heyday. And, just so we are clear about this, neither the Cowboys nor the 49ers were convicted of cheating. In my mind, that's a huge blemish on the Belicheat era. One NFL has effectively covered up by destroying the evidence.

Why are you even bothering with this loser? It isn't as if logic will convince him. He has a simple agenda: Be a douche at every turn.

For first job, even though the salary was reasonable (I really didn't know wht to expect---no Google back then and I got a job that I didn't even know existed), I asked for a 6 month evaluation to revisit salary. I really had no idea what the hell I was doing, but it worked out.pretty good for me. Got a sizable raise after those 6 months.

I am love corn. Nothing like getting that fist job, I always say.

I like Vic's stuff. Good news. Welcome back, Vic.

Johnny Hammersticks has a lot of hot water. I'm sure he won't mind letting you use his shower.

I'm pretty sure Ralph signed that lease knowing exactly what he was doing.

I actually meant to mention the picture, then forgot. That is one creepy looking character.

It's a bit of a shame (taking the macro view here) to see these iconic franchises run into the ground: The Raiders, the Cowboys, The team from Washington DC had their serious issues for a while--and they may not be done...One could add The Bills to that list (not me, of course, but some other hypothetical person).