AKC

Yeah, Villarial's play put him among the top 15 OGs in the NFL last year by anyone who studies line play but he's one of Weiler's disasters in waiting. Let me guess that Weiler regularly obsesses about the QB position too. Yawn...

Not only can't they sell out a home game, they were ranked 31st in attendance last season, just ahead of the Cardinals. Long ago the vagaries of syphilis appear to have led Al Davis to trade a stong local following for the enticement of a move to LA. That forever lost him the full allegiance of his original market, which just so happened to be better then the one he ran to save for the ability to sell jerseys and flags. Now he's crawled back and still has awful attendance while selling lot's og gear to the both markets he's snubbed. Go figure. If that makes you popular I'd be happy for a quiet non-descript existence that includes some attention to loyalty.

You're betting the natural cycle against a guy who's beat if for a couple of seasons. IMO the strength of their team isn't in the players overwhelming opponents like some of the the dominant dynasties in league history but instead has been the ability of the strategy to teach and implement the strategy to players in many cases either very green or considered lesser talents by traditional methods of rating player ability. That indicates the smart money would not be on the Pats taking a dive due to the personell hits they're taking right now. On the other hand is the strategy either tied up to a significant degree in the performance of their coodinators or is it too reliant on keys that other teams might be breaking down now only to use to exploiut the Pats in coming years? Belichick sure seems to be in a good coaching rythym so I'd discount #2 there, so if you're relying on something hurting them I'd think the target of your confidence would probably be on the management side and the fact that good coordinators make Head Coahces into "geniuses". On the Raiders- they're a team with no soul and the wheels have been coming off for a little while. It's hard for me to imagine some miscreant like Randy Moss coming into their current situation and doing much more than gaining some bad behavior press while the team continues to struggle. The Moss problem with any adversity in a mild blue collar media area like the Twin Cities will only be exacerbated in the Bay Area climate. Hence my answer to your question would be that even a lot of the league gets better at competing against Belichick this season I wouldn't be betting any of my own money that the Raiders would be one of those teams.

Yeah, that extra win for adding Moss puts them at 6-10. I now see the wisdom of ABCs strategy ;-)

And just how is it that the pathetic 5-11 Raider franchise gains the priviledge of a Monday Night game? ABC apparently learned nothing from their ratings disaster of last season that offered two Fish and three Cowboy appearances.

OK, Mr. Henry- your audition for Buffalo Bills GM is complete. You can go home now and a representative of the Wilson family will review your credentials and call you back if the team is interested. Allright- who's next here- is Mr. Doody ready for his reading?

While I wouldn't argue against the proposed 15 yard non-flagrant PI call to replace the spot foul as an improvement to the current system, we once again find the league protecting the Zebras when the technology to make a quantaum leap in getting PI calls right goes unused. If we're going to keep Instant Replay it's shamefull that the league refuses to let it be used to review the most devastating bad calls every Sunday, calls that in many cases go against defenders making superb plays on the ball. If it's good enough to be used to determine nearly meaningless fumbles on 4th down plays, why the continued resistance to employ it on 70-yard outcome impacting plays with the game on the line in favor of the half-measures they're currently suggesting?

I'll avoid the merits of a Buff style menu out here in Loo Loo Land but I will tell you how to blow the doors off anyone's wings this side of the Mississippi. A) Buy the right oil- you want a commercial blend that incudes a good percentage of Beef Tallow. PM me and I'll provide you with a manufacturer who will ship it to you. B) Use wings that have been kept above 26 degrees, or the USDA designation "Fresh". Don't buy "frozen" or "previously frozen" chicken- it tends to almost always have a tougher density when deep fried. C) Sauce it with 1 part butter to 2 parts Lousiana Hot Sauce; Franks works but there are many others that you can substitute. I like Rooster, it's less expensive than Franks and IMO superior to it in flavor. The key to the sauce is to simply improve the heat index with something flavorful- for me a batch of sauce using a stick of butter and two of the regular bottles of hot sauce benefit from the addition of one chopped Serrano Chile and 4 or 5 chopped Thai Bird Chiles. One other thing that helps is to let the sauve sit on low heat for an hour or two- it thickens just a little and helps to stick to the wings. Then simply avoid oversaucing the chicken and let the games begin. If they're tossed right the empty bowl/plate should not have wet sauce left over. I'm a Bobby McGee's alum along with Kelly The Dog- I'm sure you'll see us both at your restaurant- good luck!

My money's on TK ;-)

McDougle is a physical specimen who has never played to his assumed potential. I remember John Butler commenting that he was the most cut big man he'd ever seen at the combine. One thing for sure, Mariucci would fight and claw over a solid player at LT, my guess is he's most likely to end up a career underachiever.

I wouldn't have picked him out for it, although I'd guess a pretty substantial percentage of NFL players do use banned products. My recollection of CB is that he was leaner than the model I think of when I assume someone's "getting some extra help".

I ran into John Salley at a winery in Santa Barbara Saturday and we talked about how drunk we got Jim Kelly last year in LA. He strikes me as a pretty gracious guy; he didn't even grimace when my little lady told him he "should play basketball". His taste in wine though is a little dicey ;-)

I used to go to a bar just off the campus there- I think it was called the Wheelhouse? Cool bar full of orally inclined female students.

I've been bringing meat to room temperature for a long time, one thing I notice about it is that there is a point where the meat, and especially red meat, reaches a degree of relaxation where it begins to give up some blood. There's a lot of variables that lead to that point but if you can get the meat on the grill just before that it's phenomenol how much more tender and juicy it ends up. And on Bistecca- I can't believe I never had the awesome combo of cold greens topped with hot steak until about 15 years ago. It's a regular now around our place now- we should hook up midway in downtown LA for a "Tagliata Florentine" some time, I'll bring the wine (A huge tannic Cab ;-)

Poojer- If you're interested in a meal to impress for Italians you should look at this Tuscan variation on Bistecca- very easy to make but one of the great dishes you'll ever put out- You need a New York strip steak for every diner, buy Choice or Prime NYs and they should each be around 8-10 ounces minimum. A portion of arugula, basically a handful for each plate. A teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice per plate with 2 teaspoons of good olive oil. Get a very hot barbeque going while pan searing some fingerling potatoes in 1/4 cup of olive oil, a little rock salt and a couple twigs worth of chopped fresh rosemary leaves. Do it at a high heat to crust the potatoes before putting that pan in a hot oven, about 400 degrees. As the potatoes get close (about 40 minutes) throw the steaks on thye grill at higyh heat- you want to really sear the stevestojan out of them and limit your flips to one time ideally. Side one should take almost three times as long as side two- the trick it to cook them not any longer than medium rare, rare is even closer to perfect. Toss the arugula with the lemon and olive oil at 2 parts OO to 1 part lemon, plate the tossed arugula with some fresh ground pepper and after allowing the steak to cool down for 5 minutes cut it in 1/4 inch strips against the grain. Fan the steak over the arugula, surround the whole thing with the spuds on the plate edge and serve it. Get ready for your guests to inquire as to the status of your beatification.

Stop making sense. Even among the better lines in the league it's not uncommon for them to be looking at one or two new starters next season; Green Bay, Indy, New England, Pittsburgh and Philly come to mind. With arguably our best fitting 3 linemen returning to play in the Clements running scheme our position might even be considered desirable by most league standards. Our failure to participate in the high FA bidding for the pieces we do desire might most accurately be recognized as a testament to TDs good discipline- imagine if we were looking at the hefty Rivera (a guy whose skills I liked a lot for us) contract along with his disc surgery? The Donahoe detractors would be grinding their tooth nubs right to the gum now had we gone in that direction. Wahle's cap hits over the next 3 years would kill us somewhere else- probably TE- and this offense will not be playoff-ready without a superior run blocking TE who can make some third down grabs. Campbell had developed very good technique and feel for the offense but he's a mid-level contributor coming off a very bad injury for his spot on the field. I think the complaints right now are merely due to the lack of a media friendly signing- but it was just a year ago that the Villarial pickup drew virtually no positive media and TSW attention yet he was one of the best value prop FA signings of the '04 off-season, in fact for my money Villarial was the single best FA siging last off-season. I credit the guy smart enought to make it happen in a workable cap scenario. I'm watching intently to see how he trumps that work.

But Villairal can move his feet- Tucker is more like a big Weeble on the field. It's hard for me to imagine having an interior running game with Tucker doing the defense's job of plugging up the middle.

Translations: >>2. May shift Teague back to LT. All depends what happens in Free Agency. It's an option. We're still desperately in the hunt for a LT and we strategically have to suggest Trey playing well out of postion there in a power running scheme simply to make us look less desperate to any FA prospects. >>3. Justin Bannon will continue to get some work at OG, where he looked good in short yardage and goal line situations. We're trying everything we can to squeeze something out of the 5th round pick we spent on Justin but the reality is he's got no chance at all of ever starting full time at a OG spot in this league. His Turk may not wait for Thanksgiving. >>4. Jason Peters will resume his conversion to OT. When Special Team drills end we don't want Jason to have too much down time so we're keeping him occupied with line practice. See item #9. >>5. Talks about the versitility of many lineman - Gandy can play OT and OG, Tucker can play C and OG, McFarland can play OT and OG. None of these guys are skilled enough to be considered "good" at any one position so we'll justify their roster space my pointing out that they can play multiple positions. Mike Pucillo was versatile too. >>6. No mention of moving Mike Williams to LT. Williams is looking more and more likely to end up at LT. >>8. Bills will probably look at more OL after Womack. Pork Chop's merely here because he heard good things about the wings. >>9. TD suggested they would like to see some of these Lineman play a couple positions in spring mini-camp and then decide where to place them, going into camp. TD's interested in Anderson and Edwards getting the feel for blowing up lots of different inferior players in practice. Now let me go find a good cat thread to distract me from my regular work schedule and I'll prepare for the 2006 season, the one our management appears to be targeting to actually try and contend for something.

I'm fairly sure the decision is still in the air at OBD at this moment. I'm also inclined to concede the LT/RT model is becoming far more amorphus in this age of flexible packages and line roles on the defensive side of the ball. The days of the best big athlete for the defense playing at the RDE position have changed enough that both tackles need to cover well laterally in pass protection and defensive overloads on running plays are as likely to happen on one side as the other. The bottom line in the NFL today is that short of a physical anomaly restricting play to one side or the other, a good OT should be able to man either spot.

He started 8 games for the Seahawks last year, giving up 4 sacks while being assessed one holding call and one false start. He played on a line that was one of the least effective in the league in short yardage rushing and probably the worst sign is that the right side of Seattle's line was far and away the least productive direction for their backs to run.

That's the same conclusion I've reached as contract numbers have been made available for our need spots- watching OGs signing 4.5 million dollar a year contracts does nothing to excite me about making that type of investment when our OL coach is sure to know some of the players who will end up loose in June. While we might not expect equal quality, we might very well expect to get near quality at 1/3rd the price, allowing us to focus our cap space on other need areas. I also would be surprised to see us making any short term moves, the management appears content to make 2006 a year they expect to make a run and the cap strategy seems especially friendly to that 2006 season at this point.

Dominick Denucci and Chief White Owl cage match with Cin as the ring girl?

What did I miss that they'd just push him out of Pitt? Post Gazette Plaxico

I'm looking back into your posting history and nowhere at all do I find you extolling a 9-7 winning record for the 2004 campaign. Am I to assume that all your posts predicting how we would win more than 9 games have been deleted, or should I simply recognize that statements like the one above are indicative of the accuracy vacuum in everything you post?

No doubt he has straight ahead, single plane speed that his size suggests against- it's when he's asked to apply it in football terms that it looks to me like it changes completely. In some ways like Antonio Brown, a guy who had this tremendous movement straight ahead but if he was asked to make the slightest adjustment laterally he became a regular Joe. On STs that one way speed makes Peters a big contributor, and probably one of the keys to our resurgent coverage units, but from scrimmage he hasn't shown any sign of the type of movement you want a TE to use to shake a defender, instead he's been very utilitarian. Maybe getting down to the upper 200s in weight would help him, it surely wouldn't hurt his ST game at all.