Buftex

Yeah, even if I don't watch the games that night, I often DVR the post-game show...TNT coverage is NBA is great... I like all of the guys, but Charles is definitely "the man". Well deserved, IMO.

It was before "rotating" stage technology would change the face of music forever! From what I have read, the set up for those shows, back in those days, was really sort of ramshackle...not a lot of soundcheck time...when they played at Shea Stadium, I believe, they ony had little speakers wired throughout the basball stadium, no big wall of sound speakers to get the sound out there...so many little girls screaming, nobody (fans or band) could hear anything.

I might trade his lot for mine...48 and never been anyting but broke!

Yeah, saw him in 1989. I enjoyed it quite a bit...he opened up with "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand", and, swear to god, every hair on my body (I was a lot harrier then!) stood on edge...but then he started doing some (much) lesser solo stuff, including "Ebony and Ivory" (just an awful song) which made me wish I had left early... as I recall, though, this was one of the very first live shows he had done in about a decade, and honeslty, I just don't think he was very in touch, at that time, with what his fans wanted to hear. As you said, he is likely the greatest living legend in pop music, so I can forgive him a misfire like "Ebony & Ivory"...but he has so many great songs...the set list I saw from Brazil has my mouth watering... he has been touring and doing live shows pretty steadily over the last decade or so, and I just think he "gets it" a bit more now. Every time I see him on some television special, I am blown away by how good he still sounds. Certainly one of the greatest rock 'N' roll writers of all time, and just as equally impressive a singer.

I agree with you, and I am pretty excited about EJ Manuel... but I do recall watching the "Gruden Camp" thing that ESPN shows, prior to the draft (not really imagining the Bills would ever take him), Gruden's biggest concerns about the way his undergarment sleeves clashed with his jersey (seriously, Gruden mentioned it like 10 times) and the way EJ handles the ball, especially while moving around in the pocket. I know, you were commenting specifically on his throwing motion (which I like too), but Gruden seemed to really be hammering home that he needs to protect the ball better.

Always loved how raw these live recordings sound...both Lennon and McCartney could really belt out a rocker.... Going to see McCartney next week...from what I understand, a show he did in Brazil a week or two ago, he is doing a lot of Beatles stuff that was never performed live by the Beatles, or him. Things like "Lovely Rita".... Also, "Juniors Farm" and "Girls School".... as long as he doesn't perform "Ebony & Ivory" I think I will be pleased...

It always comes down to a song for me...miss my mom, those who still have theirs, cherish them. Unfortunately, can't find a better sound quality of this song (the version on the album gets me choked up), so I will share the lyrics...I feel like I could have written this when I was a kid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuRQqnhsISk Mama's Heart (Those Darlins) Don't break my mama's heart don't make my mama cry When you break my mama's heart your also breaking mine (chorus) My mama's a sweet one you think she's meek and mild you push her around, you treat her like a child But if you don't give her everything she needs, your gonna have to answer to me (chorus) My mama's got a heart made of solid steel when her teardrops fall, each one of them is real She's strong as a mountain, she raised us children right So I don't want to see her crying when I get home tonight I dont' want to see her cry, I don't want to see no tears in her eyes There's nothing I won't do, to keep my mama from being abused (chorus)

I think that remains to be seen. The Sabres were 8pts over .500 with him at the helm...and as I have said, after listening to him quite a bit this past season, I don't think he is any Lindy Ruff clone...as the interim coach, with Ruffs' staff, taking over during a break-neck, condensed season, with very little practice time, I think you could make the argument (one which Pegula & Darcy buy apparently) that he did a decent job. Hearing him talk a lot, I get the feeling that he is a lot different than Lindy, has a lot of different ideas, and seems, at least, to be more comfortable with younger guys than Ruff was. If you take into account that when Rolston took over, it took the team a good 10 games or so to adjust... Like everyone, I would have liked a more exciting pick, but there is reason to have hope with Rolston. The roster, I am sure, will be younger next season. As much as I liked Lindy, the idea of him bringing along a unique talent like Grigorenko made me nervous. I think the kids who have been coming up from Rochester over the last few seasons, who were coached by Rolston, look pretty good. By all accounts, Rolston puts a lot more emphasis on the basics, than Lindy, and other NHL coaches seem to. Rolston could be huge here. We have seen Tyler Myers regress year after year under Ruff... it could all be just BS, but Myers loved the individual attention he got from Rolston down the stretch, and his play did improve a bit as the season wore on.

Rolston was 15-11-5 as the Sabres interim head coach. Not sure the details of the Sabres/Wild deal, but I heard the same thing...I think (kind of guessing here) that the pick the Wild had two first round picks...the farther they went in the playoffs, with Pomminville, the higher the Sabres pick would become...the chances of the Wild beating the Blackhawks seemed pretty far-fetched to me, so I didn't give it a lot of thought.

I won't be there (sorry fellas!), but would recommend the English Beat and Chuck Prophet off that list, along with the afirementioed Smithereens.

Before he actually re-signed with the Cards, one of the talking heads on NFL Network mentioned that Dansby had visited Buffalo and a few other teams, but that he (Dansby) was "being very picky" before deciding on a team. Which, I suppose, makes sense..but I translated that to mean he was going to go where the most money was and was using Buffalo, and the other teams, to create a market for himself... would have liked to see him in Buffalo, but whatcha gonna do?

Paul Hamilton said that James Patrick was very upset that he wasn't given the interim job when Lindy was fired. It may be nothing, but I think letting Patrick and Adams go is a good thing. Special teams were more atrocious than ever this year...and they have been pretty bad for a few years...I think Rolston may have a more distinctive imprint on this team than we saw this past season. Teppo Numenen (sp?) is staying, no word yet of Corsi, the goaltender coach.

I didn't see the actual show, only the "reaction show" afterwards....on it, Warren Sapp seemed incredulous that all the other guys on the panel seemed to think that CJ Spiller belonged in the Top 100. While the panel members allegedly don't know who is on the list, and in what order, they seem to know how many players at each position made the list. Obviously, Sapp, a paid NFL analyst (like so many I suspect) has seen very little of the Bills play, and doesn't pay any attention to them...Sapp claimed that Fred Jackson did all the running last year, and CJ can't get in the line-up...what a dope!

Yes, Moulds played for the Texans before he ended his career, as a Titan. When Moulds went to Houston, and Tennessee for that matter, he was a shell of himself. Evans missed, what, 3 starts as a Bill, but most of his only season in Balitmore injured. Sadly, he will be remembered, in Baltimore only for the dropped (or was it "not caught") pass in the AFC Championship game. I will admit, Evans is probably my favorite Buffalo Bill of the last 12 years (this dark period), and I honestly think, the years of futility took its' toll on him in Buffalo. If the Bills could have ever had a stable QB situation during his time, I think he might still be having a productive NFL career. I remember reading a story about him, during the hype for this years Super Bowl...it almost sounded like the years in Buffalo kind of snuffed his passion for the game. I just remember he said that his one year in Baltimore (essentially saying "playing for a legit franchise") kind of woke up his passion for playing, something that he thought had left him at the end of his career in Buffalo. I know that will likely piss a lot of people off, but I think it is probably more common than we know. Losing and ineptness are a slippery slope.

Agreed. Like I said, I really like, a lot, about half the tracks, but to me, it is just un-even. I think he can, and will, do much better records...he still kicks ass live!

I have been a big fan of Gary Clark Jr for the last 10 years or so, but, I was pretty disappointed with the new album, "Blak and Blue" I like about hallf of it, the rest (to my ears) is just generic filler. He has been playing in clubs here for years...I am hoping the whole "next big thing"/rock star ego thing doesn't swallow him up, because he is really talented... One of the greates live music moments I ever experienced (didn't put this in the appropriate thread!) was "little Gary Clark Jr" joining Chuck Berry on-stage at the Paramount Theater, about 7 years ago, here in Austin (sort of the Austin equivialant of Sheas) for a mind-blowing gutiar wank-off version of the Bob Seger song "Old Time Rock-N' Roll"...Chuck did his Chuck thing, but Gary Clark took the song places you never thought it could go, without losing the song...and the killer thing was, according to Gary, there was no rehersal at all...Chuck was appropriately blown away by the kids' playing.

Yes...i remember. There is a significant drop-off in the talent of QB's that Evans played with, from what Moulds played with. Moulds had, Jim Kelly, Todd Collins, Alex Van Pelt, Rob Johnson, Doug Flutie and Drew Bledsoe throwing passed to him over his career...Kelly and Moulds didn't hook up all that many times, and it was Kellys' final season..Todd Collins and Alex Van Pelt were pretty sub-par, while Moulds had very productive games during the Futie/Johnson fiasco, and put up elite (or near elite) in the final good year that Bledsoe had left in him. Evans had Bledsoe (in his worst year in Buffalo, 2004), Losman, Trent Edwards, Kelly Holcomb and Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing passes somewhere in his vicinity. Now, I won't make the rediculous claim that Evans was better than Moulds (he wasn't as versatile, but the offensive talent around him, I would argue was significantly worse..during Evans tenure he never had a legit complimetary receiver other than TO for 1 year, had good running backs with awful o-lines ), but it seems that people can't like one and the other...it has to be an either or thing. Also, not being taken into account is that they were two very different receivers in styles and stature. They aren't really comperable.

Hard to argue with any of the (serious) proposals, and just too damn hard to pick four...if I absolutely had to, it would be: Winningest coach: Marv Levy Greatest QB: Jim Kelly Greatest offensive player, non-QB: OJ Simpson Greatest defensive player: Bruce Smith

No bandwagon jumping by me...but the decision to bring back Darcy, in my mind, is the first possible mis-step by Pegula, or at leas the first one where that I can point to and feel like Pegula should have known better. I think Pegulas methodical nature, as you described it, can be used as an explanation as to why Darcy wasn't shown the door soonter, but no longer... Darcy is being given almost unprecedented time and opportunity in modern pro sports to clean up a mess that he played a very large in part in creating. He has been the Sabres GM for 17 years, and it will likely be 20 before any real consideration is given to replacing him...Darcy (and we as fans) really have very little to show for those efforts. I really don't have a major problem with Rolston, given the circumstances.

Moulds was certainly more producitve... as bad some of the teams Moulds played on, he had far better QB play than Evans ever had. They are two completely different types of receivers. Moulds was likely better, but I always thought EM could have been even better. I like the guy, but, honestly, after his huge year in 2002, I think it went to his head a little...he was a bit lazy after that. I can't even explain how much he used to piss me off with his half hearted efforts, and as I recall, he seemed bent on getting a pass interfernce call on nearly every play...flame away!

Well, no I didn't say that. And, I didn't say I agreed with all of Penn's politics...just that I trust him more to put out a good film, more than I trust Kid Rock to put out a good album. Penns' crowd is much different than Kid Rocks', and they communicate in different mediums. Rock blasted Obama at his concerts, but then scrambled around, afterwards trying to do damage control, because, right or wrong, he realized that he had turned off a lot of his fans. If that is the case, keep in mind, Kid Rock was the producer and co-writer for the film...Penn was only reading his lines man!

I am a big Lindy Ruff fan, but I do think it was time for a change in that area. Not blaming it all on Lindy, but something had to give. The team was playing about as bad as they possibly could have under Ruff. I am not inspired by the Rolston choice, but if they win, I will love it....as will everyone here. Under pretty trying circumstances, the guy did come in and coach this team to a record 4 games above .500. Also, listening to him over the course of his tenure as interim, I really get the feeling that he has some pretty strong opinions of some of the vetrans who are already in place...I suspect we are going to see a younger roster next year...the "core vets" that Lindy had just were not rising to challanges that a long hockey season presents. A few years ago, Lindy started to lose me a little when he seemed to start wallowing in excuses...that attitude seemed to trickle down to his players. It just seemed every time they had to win a game that could really put them on solid footging to go forward, they came up small, time and time again, under Ruff. And, it started to become acceptable. I blame Darcy for a lot of this too. I am not abondoning ship on the Sabres, as un-exciting as the prospect of Darcy returning to the helm is. I don't dislike Rolston, and his knowledge of the roster in Rochester may end up being a huge plus for this team. His perspective on players seems different that Ruffs. If Grigorenko is going to be a "franchise player", I am thinking that Rolston gives him a better chance of reaching that potential than Ruff would have. Rolston does sound a bit more analytical than what we had grown accustomed to with Lindy Ruff. This team needed a new approach...Rolston just might be it. If nothing else, this will be a very telling off-season.

I mostly agree here, but Rolston isn't really inexperienced. There may be no other guy available who has more experience with the players in the Sabres system, given his HC position with the Americans. That said, not a super exciting move, I agree.

Ultimately that is it. It is a low risk, possible high reward deal, for both teams.

I remember hearing someone talking, during the season (maybe it was Gailey, or maybe Nix) about Sheppard, saying that he had to "think less" and "react more"... having to think too much can slow a guy down. I don't think Sheppard was ever thought of as a real speedy guy, but, yeah, he was noticably slow this past season. I also recall Donte Whitner (everyones' favorite) making some comments about his playing days in Buffalo, suggesting that often the players could see that things weren't working on the field, as the coaches were calling them, and it was frustrating that they never changed up their approach...so players were often out on the field, not really buying into the scheme that the coaches were preaching. I relize, Sheppard and Whitner were here at different times, but I think we can all understand what he means. Just watching games over the years, how often did the Bills defense look woefully un-prepared, or out of place. Before Perry Fewell became a coahcing legend, he ran some fairly in-effective schemes with the Bills. Perhaps it was the scheme, or maybe it was the players...but it only makes sense if a player is out on the field, trying to do something he doesn't think he, or his teammates, can do, it just might affect his play.