Buftex

Showtime, for me, has picked up its' game a little...but sometimes I find their series to fall into the "edgy for edgy sake" to the detraction of the story. I know that "Homeland" is considered by many, the best show on tv right now...but I don't get it...may just not be my cup of tea, but I think it is just kind of silly, and very unrealistic. As a movie it might work for me. Showtime has a tendancy to let their shows run way past their prime..."Dexter", "Californication" (despite its' awful title, it started out very good but is just trash now) and "Weeds" are all shows that could have ended a few seasons earlier than they did. Only "Nurse Jackie" seems to get better with age.

Have to admit, the ads did nothing for me...it just looked like kind of a brainless action show...but I have heard good things from a few people...of course, I realize, everyone has different things they look for in a show. When the Sopranos was new (you already know the high esteem with which I hold it) and at its' peak in popularity, there was always an element amongst fans that complained that "nothing happnened" (ie: nobody got "whacked")...to me those "nothing happnes" episodes were what made the show so good. All of the PR stuff I have been reaiding for "Ray Donavan" seems to be implying that Schriever/Donovan is the new Tony Soprano. I will watch the first episode, and if it intrigues me enough, keep watching, unitl it doesn't. Normally, it seems, the first episode or two of most new shows is not typical of the way the show will play out on a week to week basis, only sets up the situation for the characters. Watch "Rectify"...

Hmmm...may have to check out "Ray Donovan"...might be good filler between "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad"...all the reviews have been pretty positive, though I get a little nervous when they start comparing something to the Sopraonos right out of the gate. I think Shriver is a really good actor too. If anyone has not seen "Rectify", I would highly recommend it as well. It had a short, six episode, first season on the Sundance Channel It is excellent, from some of the creative people who work on "Breaking Bad". Amazing acting, great dialouge... it is about a guy, in deep Georgia, who gets let off of death-row, after 19 years, when DNA casts some doubts on his guilt. It may not sound earth-shattering, but I can't recommend it enough. Even though the first season ended (picked up for a 12 episide season 2), they re-run it quite a bit, on Thursday nights I have noticed. As for "Dexter", last night wasn't bad. I must say, I have watched from the begining, and my excitement for the show has dwindled a little...but I will see it through... Charlotte Rampling might make a good foe. To me, the show never has matched the early tension of the first couple of seasons when Dexter was playing cat and mouse with Doakes.

Yeah...I couldn't tell from the timbre of the article if Weiner and Chase got along... it always seemed like they did...but the article made it sound like Chase was hard to please...maybe it was Weiners' "inside joke" to fellow Sopranos cast and crew...Chase, btw, always raves about "Mad Men".

You haven't read the Mario Williams "trend developing?" thread, I take it...there is a ton of news!

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz............

I hate this thread...I wish I hadn't opened it...

You should do yourself a favor, and not visit the PPP...you'll be better for it.

Great story on this kid. Would love to see him turn into something for the Sabres. We will probably won't know for about 3 or 4 years.

I have met tons of Bills players over the years, but rarely, that I can recall, in what would be considered "odd places". Closest I can think of is sitting at a Bills bar I used to frequent in Austin and sitting next to Ahmad Baker, former Texas Longhorn, who had been let go by the Bills the year before...he still followed the team...also, similar experience with the great Kwam Cavil. Ditto for Fred Jacksons' father...was wearing a Fred Jackson jersey before they would have been trendy... And, like you, ran into Jevon Kearse at a mall in Nashville while helping to open up a Tower Records store in that city. My sister, who had a job at the DMV in Buffalo a few years back would always get me autographs when guys would come in..she told me that one day, JP Losman and Craig Nall both came in to get motorcycle liscences... said they were both very cool..

Did you happen to catch any of the "job interview" specials that ESPN did for the NBA Draft? They were trying to kind of emulate the "Gruden Camp" specials...they were awful... it was Simmons and Jalen Rose talking to the upcoming top prospects...Simmons sounded like a complete idiot. I used to read his columns religiously, but the transition to tv personality is not a good one IMO. Rick Reilly went through the same thing...only difference is, I never liked Rick Riley in any medium.

Funny... I was reading a story about James Gandolfini and David Chase from the latest GQ (coincidentally hit the news stands just days before Gandolfini passed) where it was mentioned that this "back of the head" shot was Matt Weiners "friendly" "FU" to David Chase...it seems that when he worked on The Sopranos, Chase loathed any shot that showed the back of an actors' head....

As a big Celtics fan, I agree...I liked Simmons more as a writer than a TV personality. However, I think his point about Doc Rivers was on target.

Didn't think of that...but it makes me wonder why they would hire Kidd, if they thought he needed that much help...they hired some very experienced assistants for him...if anything, I think the Jason Terry throw-in was a nod to Kidd. Not only does it trade a big salary from one team to another (Terry for the Nets' Wallace), but Kidd won a ring with Terry back in Dallas. But, to your point, the Nets just got three great leaders...KG is kind of a Ray Lewis type...even if he doesn't have as much game as he did five years ago, he makes sure that everybody is giving it everything they can. Pierce was a really good player before KG got to Boston, but KG made him that much better...just by challanging him to be better defensively. PP even admitted it himself...."you don't KG to get in your face for dogging it". PP went from a mediocre/bad defender to a really good one...remember how he shut (or slowed) LeBron down the year they played the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals? That is the Garnett influence, and why, even at 37 he still has a lot to offer a team. The way he played in playoffs the last couple of years, with all the injuries, was pretty inspiring, even for a couch potato like myself! Pooj, you are a 76ers fan, correct? They had a good day yesterday!

Okay, I realize I am talking to myself at this point...indulge me...it is cathartic... Love Chirs Rocks' take on the trade of KG and Pierce to the Nets, essentially saying what I said earlier: "So the Nets have given up their future, for a legit chance to move from the 4th seed in the east to the 3rd in the east for the next two years?" For the Celtics, Rondo is the only thing left.. Ainge says "he is not looking to trade Rondo", but insiders seem to think he could be dealt. I love Rondo, but I wouldn't be opposed to moving him, if the Celtics got a real, tangible asset for him. Having six first round picks over the next three years does not excite me in regards to the NBA. The Celtics would be lucky if two of those guys ended up being serviceable, productive parts of their future. It also occurs to me, 2013 is the year of major change and overhaul for the three teams I live and die with...Bills, Sabres and Celtics. C's had been my one reprieve from the misery of endless losing... but now, ironically, I feel best about the immediate future of the Buffalo Bills!

I knew it was coming...but this last week has been tough for us Celtics fans....see ya PP & KG...thanks for everything.

Garnett and Pierce to the Nets for two middle of the road players (Gerald Wallace, Tornika Shegala (sp?), and garbage Kris Humphries )...but three first round picks? Hate to see KG, and especially Pierce elswhere, but that would be a good trade for the Celtics...I imagine they would end up trading or cutting one or two of those guys...a roster-full of small forwards isn't going to cut it.. From a Nets perspective, I think it is a terrible trade...sure, they get two big name players in KG and Pierce, but they are 37 & 35 years old, with lots of tread on the tires..it would give them an identity, but a short lived one...silly. That owner seems desperate. If I were KG or PP, and I was resigned to the notion that I was leaving Boston, I would be encouraging the Celtics to find a trade partner in the western conference...the Nets might be a little better than Boston at this point, but they aren't making past the Heat in the playoffs next year...they aren't going to be younger...go west, take less money, go to a Western Conference contender and hope you make it back to the finals. The West is better top to bottom, but the Heat will dominate the East for another year or two. And, as usual, if rumors about Dwight Howard not wanting to return to the Lakers are true, the Lakers come out smelling like roses once again.. Dwight not returnig will be the best thing that could happen to them next year. As disturbing as it might be for me (all bets are off now) KG could help the LA Kobes' a lot more that Howard for one season...

When I was very young (pre-6 year old), the only sport I cared about was basketball...but my dad and older brother were into football...they lured me in, sometime in 1971..my folks got me a pair of Buffalo Bills pajamas...my first name, being Dennis was somehow linked with Dennis Shaw...so he was my first sports hero...didn't matter if he was good or not... started tossing a ball around in the yard by myself..."Dennis passes it to Shaw"... part of family-lore, after Shaw was gone it became "OJ passes it to Simpson"...what a dip-****!

All those Texas abortion oppenents had to cheer themselves up somehow.... http://www.theonion.com/articles/texas-abortion-opponents-to-cheer-selves-up-with-e,32973/

I have been at my current full-time job, in one form another (swithced positions) for 11.5 years...at a part-time record store job for 13 years! I have a tendancy to stick around...just talking about this with an old high-school friend I recently re-connected with on Facebook... we have both been in the work force, as full-time employees for 27 years...he has been with Boeing for 25 years... I don't know that I know anyone my age (I am 48) who has been at a job that long.

I think it was sarcasim PTR! Either way, it was pretty funny!

Good interview...status update, and his opinions on EJ and KK. Thanks for the link!

Yeah, he said he had lost 14 pounds since the surgery. At one point, he kind of gestured to his face and said that all the pain was "here" and it was constant, and there were just a few moments where you can see the pain in his eyes. He said that they had removed a significant portion of his upper jaw, and most of his teeth...sounds painful For me, I one time had a tooth-ache (chipped back tooth with exposed nerve) and I swear, it was the most painful thing I have ever been through....just constant pain, no sleep...I can't even imagine the kind of hell he is experiencing. Just watched my gf's mother battle lung cancer most of last year, before finally succumbing during the holidays...just tough to watch. Glad Jim appears to be doing well...good care indeed!

Although I am a huge Celtics fan, I hate all of the other Boston sports teams... so I don't mind it one bit! New England sports fans had a great decade or so, time to pay the fiddler!!