Buftex

My first preference would be the Bengals. I like watching that team...and I feel, as a BIlls fan, a certain kinship to the Bengals...a team that people generally thinks, sucks ass, and hasn't won a whole hell of a lot. Second pick would be Carolina...love watching Newton play. Otherwise, I could live with the Broncos (were always my second favorite team during the Elway era), Chiefs or Saints. Really, the only teams I would hate to see win it all would be Patriots, Seahawks, Cowboys and 49ers. The Patriots and Cowboys for the obvious reasons...and I just can't stand Jim Harbaugh or Pete Carroll...for the same reason...they both strike me as smarmy douches. I wish I liked Seattle more...my late brother in-law was a big Seahawks fan, so I have a bit of Seahawks gear....but the power of Pete Carrolls' smarmy douchiness is too strong...

Linda Ronsadt, back in her all-american babe days, did a killer cover of the Stones "Tumbling Dice" It one of my very favorite Stones songs, so not sure if I would say it is better than the original, but definitely a "good cover of a classic song"...not sure why, exactly she changed the opening lyric from, "women think I'm tasty, always trying to waste me" to "people try to rape me, always think I'm crazy", but whatever...I suspect it is one of the few (if not only) top 40 hits to have the word "rape" in it.....

The Stones in their prime, rocking up a Temptations' Motown classic! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kktm9rwz-dE

Probably the funnest game I have been to, in the last 15 years, was the Bills blowing out the Denver Tebows on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago...as you described todays game (I wasn't there, only watching on the telly), it was a small, but very loud, cold, crowd...it was awesome, and the Bills, god love em, came to play that day...a great Christmas memory to be sure. Sign of the day: a painting of Tebow on a cross, with the inscription "Tebow, your god has forsaken you ...today".... maybe a little sacreligious, but pretty funny, and prophetic, that day.

Okay...I get it... this is Iraq Vets' weak attempt at getting us all to pitch in and buy him season tickets! Seriously, IV, that is a great streak...closest I ever came was back in the mid 80's I went to 5 consecutive Sabres tie-games...that sucked!

Reminded me of another great one...a very original take on the old Left Banke hit, "Don't Walk Away Rene" by Billy Bragg and guitar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz8_H5m6ymAOn the anniversary of Joe Strummers death, was gonna post the Clash doing Bobby Fullers "I Fought the Law"...but realizing we have a lot of Cash fans....I submit this awesome Bob Marley cover of "Redemption Song"...fitting that it was one of the last things either men recorded.

I think EJ gets 6 games....the masses have spoken, EJ is a bust they say...they are never wrong.

High school football is serious stuff down here. "Friday Night Lights" is pretty realistic... in that regards.

I don't listen to Schoops collectors show religiously, but as a collector myself, I do enjoy it when I hear it.

This is one of my favorites... great singer, making a well-known song her own...and giving it a whole different, but respectful tone...

We still have people here who think JP Losman was a great QB just lacking in good coaching. Manuel has played 10.5 games. I am willing to give him a little more time before deciding he can, and never will be, a starting caliber NFL QB. To my eyes he has had two truly awful games (Tampa Bay & Steelers game), one outstanding game (2nd Jets game) and 7.5 games where he played well enough in spots for me to think he has NFL starting caliber talent. But, people obsess over the awful games...you know, the argument that is always so pervasive here that goes "take away all the good things he does, and he sucks!" By my grading (admittedly not scientific) he is about a C+ to B- performer. He is about what was expected, from my understanding before the season. A coachable project, with a lot of physical talent...lets let him play a season before we crucify him. I am not blind, I have concerns about his accuracy as much as anyone. However, I am not convinced that is not something that can be improved...his truly awful performances have come when the O-line couldn't protect him early in the game...and it snowballs. With time, and coaching, I don't think it is completely unfathomable that he can improve in playing better with against a strong pass rush. Honestly, my biggest concern is the knee injuries...more so than his play on the field. In those middle tier performances, where he did some good and some bad (even the first Jets game) I am encouraged that the team either won those games, or was in them until late. Of course, that is not all necessarily because of Manuel, just as I can't dump the entire blame for the putrid performance against the Bucs at his feet..a QB out of rhythm, feeling pressure, on a team that clearly, and collectively, was not mentally prepared to play football. I understand the frustration, and I understand the constant criticisms...it is the product of continual losing. I feel that too. I just really think a lot of folks are missing out on the bigger picture with this team. I have hardly been the cheery optimist about this team over the last 5 or 6 years especially (Dick Jauron nearly murdered my love of football), but I am honestly feeling a lot better about this team today than I have in a number of years. Manuel is a part of that, but not the only part. Cliche as it is, it seems to be lost too easily that this is the ultimate team game. Let this new group of kids breathe a little...don't blame them for the sins of the past..things are going to get better sooner than later. Good football analysis! Seriously, my gf, who uses the same criterion as you are using here, thinks RGIII is adorable...go figure!

Always wonder how chicken wings got so expensive. I remember growing up in WNY, you could get a bucket of 50 wings for 5.99, a pizza as 7.99. I realize, the price of everything rises, but you can get the same pizza now, for $10-16. I venture to guess, a bucket of 50 wings would cost about $40-45 nowadays...wtf?

Not that hard to understand really... most people (see TSW) are kind of douchey... and they make the same tired points over and over. When is the last time your Roberto Clemente card said something stupid?

Definitely win, win, win.... I am watching every second of those games, for a reason..to see my team win... no matter how insignificant the win may be, my week always goes better when the Bills win. These are back to back divisional foes...the Bills could actually finish with a .500 record in the division, or even better. Those disappointed with the season keep saying "I just wanted to see progress..." Well. that would be it. Going 3-3, or, dare I say it, 4-2 in the division would be huge progress for this team. EJ Manuel is a big part of our future fortunes, but he is not the only part. Besides, pick #3, or pick #10, or anywhere in between, there is no gurantee that the Bills will be any more successful in the draft. The guys on this team, now (not guys in the future) need to start knowing how to win, or get a tast of success n their veins. Its' gotta start somewhere...is there anything weaker than playing to lose?

Thanks PTR...somedbody has to keep the whiners straight.

Excellent. I think at this point, there is a growing contingent here that will only be happy with EJ Manuel if he does, indeed, turn out to be a bust. When he has an awful game, as in Tampa Bay, they are gleeful, because they can openly pile on him...he has a decent, not perfect game, the following week, the team wins a rare road game, and they complain about the way he celebrates a touchdown. It nornally starts out with a qualifying statement like "I hope I am completely wrong, but EJ sucks and will never be good..." Jeez...I understand how we got here, but I still hate it.

You are all so negative....this is, perahaps, the greatest non-traditional Christmas novelty record of all time..don't be fooled by the silly name....if you are at all a fan of the Doors, take the 2:35 out of your day to listen...great stuff:

What is kind of funny is that there are always one or two respected national pundits (Peter King, etc) every year who get hoodwinked, just like us, into thinking things are somehow a little different this year....these guys don't know anything about anything...I often wonder if they do it just to pander to our thin-skinned fan-base!

Agreed... people seem to want to draw a line in the sand as qucikly as possible. Yeah, I never for a second thought Kolb would be an upgrade over Fitzpatrick.

When people say things like that, they usually mean the opposite!

Or, if you, or anybody you know, is a UB alumni, check with UB alumni. The last two games I went to the weekend closest to Christmas, my sister got me tickets through them for dirt cheap...like $15-20 apiece. When the Bills rocked Tebow and the Broncos we had amazing seats, and paid close to nothing for them...and the Patriots game a year or two before that...of course, that was such an awful game, anything we paid was probably not worth it..but you know what I mean! The game won't be on the NFL Network, unless it is one of the two games they pick as an "NFL Replay" for that week...not likely to happen this late in the season when there are much better matchups on the slate.

Well, that is Fitz...a gambler who will dazzle you, but more often than not, will come up short... I like the guy a lot, and he is easy to root for, but he will break your heart at every turn... that int in OT last week was just brutal...and "so Fitzy!" Would still love him as a backup...I will say, after watching Trent Edwards for a few years, and now EJ, and their tentative, overly catious ways, Fitz willingness to chuck it up is kind of refreshing.

What? No EJ and TJ? The off-season is always on, here!

I agree with this. There are times when I have been frustrated with Hacketts pattern of obvious runs, but as bad as I might think play calling has been, I think he did a great job when Lewis and Tuel were starting. He seemed to call a game that played to their strengths as much he could...so maybe the bad play calling that we (or some) perceive when EJ is in there, is the product of EJ. He is really raw, and he does need to improve his mechanics.... would love to see them get a mentor for EJ. This hasn't proven to be a success in the past (Wyche, Schonert, Lee, etc) but they have a lot of their hopes invested in Manuel, why cut corners here? Hackett is very young, perhaps he could learn a thing or two as well, great coaching lineage and all.