The Dean

Based on a quick first look I can almost guarantee this website didn't get a real usability study.

What? That's not splitting hairs at all, IMO. An above average NFL starter is far different than an above average NFL player, especially at the QB position. I wasn't dissing anyone, or pulling a "gotcha", if that's what you thought. I was just trying to clarify what I was reading in various posts.

You've spelled out the reasons why Buddy and Chan LOVED Clausen and believe he is likely to be a quality NFL starting QB? I must have missed that. If you have any indication or evidence that they really liked him and believe he was likely to be the guy, I wish you would share it. I think the fact that Chan has yet to name a starter, or even make much of a distinction between the three, shows he doesn't have a QB he truly believes is The Man. You think he was convinced Clausen would be The Man and passed on him anyway?

I think the chances that Buddy and Chan LOVED Clausen and thought he would likely be a terrific NFL QB and also passed on him twice are close to nil.

Three Rivers may not have been a dump, but it was a soulless, cookie-cutter stadium. Forbes Field was a great place to watch baseball. Three Rivers was just a place.

Campbell is not an above average NFL starter, but he is certainly an above average NFL QB.

Let's try this again. Classy NFL execs rarely openly admit they don't like a particular player. By passing on Clausen twice, when QB is a position of need demonstrates they didn't like him enough to draft him in either position, IMO. They certainly didn't like him as much as they liked Troup or Spiller. Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, Chan said something to the effect that he believed the QBs available when the Bills picked weren't significantly better than those currently on the Bills roster (or something to that effect). Would you use a 2nd round pick to take a QB you thought was no better than Trent, Fitz or Brohm? As has already been said (and said better), if you really think a QB is going to be your guy you take him in the first round. If you don't think he's likely to be the guy you don't waste a 2nd round pick on him. By their actions and statements I think it's clear the Bills thought Clausen would simply be another QB "in the mix" and didn't believe he was likely to be better than what they already have. I call that "not liking him", you can call it something else, if you like. Add to the mix the possibility that he let it be known he didn't want to play in Buffalo. Would you use a 2nd round pick to take a QB you don't really believe in and who says/acts-like he doesn't want to play for your team? I think you can fault Nix/Chan for mis-judging Clausen's talent, if you really think the kid is the real deal. But I don't think you should fault him for not using a 2nd round pick on a QB he clearly wasn't "in love" with.

I worked at Channel 5 in Boston way back when. One of our promo campaigns used the saying "We give 105%". It regularly pissed me off, and I was not shy in saying so at dept head meetings...or pretty much anywhere. My feeling was, not only is giving 105% impossible, it is LESS than the standard 110% which is regularly used by moronic marketers and sports announcers. There was even an antiperspirant commercial at the time that claimed it gave 110%. So we, in effect, were giving less than underarm deodorant. I guess it seemed to me that, if you were someone stupid enough to be swayed, in any way, by the claim "We give 105%" then you might likely conclude we were downright lazy!

How much liquid is in a watermelon?

I guess it is, now.

The NFL Raiders drafted him. They own his NFL rights. If he plays in the NFL he plays for the Raiders, unless they cut or trade him, until the Raider's rights expire. In the CFL, Hamilton drafted him. If he choose to play in Canada (let's say he gets cut by Oakland and no other NFL team signs him) he plays for the Tiger-Cats unless they trade or release him, until their rights expire. The Omaha the Omaha Nighthawks drafted him as well. Same thing applies should he end up playing in the UFL.

I know that place! Yes that sounds pretty embarrassing.

My advice Drink the beer. Save the bottle.

I know nothing about any of this, so take this with a huge pile of salt. But shouldn't a full accounting have the value of the unsold inventory somewhere on the page? She showed you the value of the sold inventory but I have to assume she has a store full of unsold inventory, too. Is that inventory worth $50K+?

That

Good word. I also tend to like many high alcohol beers. Beer Advocate is what it is, and people have different tastes. I usually tend to agree with "The Bros" ratings, though.

I don't KNOW, I said "I don't think", and we know that's true. Golden Anniversary as in Koch's Golden Anniversary? Terrible sweet beer. But one of my best friends really liked it. Never had The Laser.

I don't have any experience with ThreatFire, so I don't know how good it's protection or warnings are. But if you have a spare 10 minutes, you might want to do a quick scan with a pretty decent cloud malware scanner, Hitman Pro. Just download Hitman Pro 305 from here: http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro It is a very fast scan. If it finds anything (it will likely find tracking cookies unless you uncheck that option in the configuration/settings area before you scan, but don't worry about them) have it clean the infection. It will ask for a registration number, but also gives you a fee trial option. Check the free trial option and clean the infection. It may want to restart your computer and scan again...that's fine. My advice is to uninstall it when you are done. Obviously if it finds something really bad, or many infections you need to do further work, be it thorough cleaning or reformatting and reinstalling. But it is pretty good for piece of mind in situations like this, IMO.

I can't fathom how one can get through life without one of those.

Kelly was one of the top prospects in a draft class that was (and is) widely seen as having a number of great QB prospects. He was picked #14 in the first round, the 3rd QB picked. SIX QBs were picked in the first round in 1983 (and there were only 28 teams then). Clausen lasted until the 2nd round in a draft class that was considered extremely weak at the QB position. The quality and expectations of these two coming out of college isn't remotely comparable.

Never heard of it. Just googled it and it seems like pretty interesting stuff. Not too sweet, is it?

Wow, this thread about a poorly written puff-piece has some legs. Whouldda thunk it?

So, just a tad smarter than Jimmy Griffin?

That's really the most you can expect, I think. Back when it was initially being planned, I think it was reasonable to expect some traffic from central and southern NYS and southwestern PA and maybe Ohio as well as some Ontario action. But then the plan was to make it bigger (I think) and there weren't so many of them around. I expect the competition was appreciative of the happy ending. I said it before and I'll say it again. I'll believe Bass Pro opens in Buffalo after it happens.

You understand when you say "literally tastes like ass", you are admitting to having tasted ass. It isn't great, that's for sure. But honestly, I don't think it is THAT bad. I'd rather drink SR than any lime-flavored beer, Coors Light, Ultra, or any number of weak/flavored beers or most malt liquors. In my most desperate times, it pulled me through. When you have little/no cash, a 24oz SR for $1 is a big bang for the buck. That's about the same amount of alcohol as a 6-pack of Coors Light, I think.