Neo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Lion I read this in middle school a million years ago. Great book for “everyman” fans. Athletic culture, teamwork, personalities, and the real gulf between pro athletes and the rest of us.

I had two turtles I kept in one of those little oval turtle habitats with the plastic palm tree. They were named OJ and Sogge. Steve Sogge was the USC quarterback. That’s how big OJ was. Knowing he could be a Bill had a seven year old following USC’s college team.

Princeton’s finest!

There are few opportunities richer for inter-web flaming and faux outrage than those in which two things can be true at the same time. Choose one truth and launch into the other with not-so-clever rhetorical shading and misrepresentation. Shame, too., This story is perhaps the most remarkable of my life with regard to accomplishment, celebrity, failure and tragedy .. complete with charismatic and beautiful people. It is the closest thing to classic Greek Tragedy than anything else I can think of. There is a kingdom, ordinary people, a great king, jealousy, infidelity, a slain wife … wealth, power, fame, blood and gore and mystery. I hope all involved rest in peace, a sentiment that’s true at the same time as any recognizing dastardly evil.

Hornung and Kramer …

Because he’s put the best product on the field in thirty years.

Insight! I’ve said at work many times, the quickest way to go from “critical to our success” to “an under-performer we’ll replace and be better” is to resign. Add deadline pressure to your analysis. Reporters need to report NOW and often have to fill minutes or column inches regardless of the thoroughness of their investigating. That was true in the old 24 hour news cycle. It’s now minute to minute. A Buffalo Sports HOF reporter once called me with questions about something in the news. He told me what he thought he knew which was incomplete and, therefore, wrong. I told him I couldn’t / wouldn’t answer questions. He said something along the lines of “well, that’s what I have and I’m going with it” if I didn’t correct things. I didn’t He did.

I felt that as well. Frankly, the same thing happened here to the Diggs must go crowd in some threads. As an admitted non-capoligist with only high school football XandO knowledge, I get some snarky responses. Self awareness, I post some snark, as well. Life goes on! I specifically thought of you and your Vegas post at the announcement. @transient had a gambling insight with the Texans, also.

One that cures you of cancer and sends a down sloping diva to another time zone. I have more confidence in Beane’s ability to work with a complicated salary structure than a complicated head. One is predictable, dependable and adds up. One is unpredictable, undependable, and subtracts. The calculus here is as much “are 51 other guys better or worse with Diggs” as it is “are we WR1 better or worse with Diggs.”

If you’re on a team or in an organization, and Diggs is your “heart and soul,” you should run. We often allow destructive behavior to be cloaked by the adjective “passionate.”

Andre Reed and Eric Moulds say “hold my beer”. After that, Diggs is in the argument.

You’re missing a market. It would be a subsidy if the Bills couldn’t move. “You’re not allowed to go anywhere, but we’ll subsidize you with tax payer money.” It is a market because the Bills are able to move. “We’ll give you tax payer money to stay, knowing you don’t have to.” Municipalities without franchises are together part of the market. There are more than 32 cities that would like an NFL franchise. The “municipality” of NY State and Erie County “bought” thirty years of affiliation with NFL football in return for a construction and maintenance contribution. They paid fair market value. The Buffalo Bills most certainly are playing in a free market economy. They’re playing in one of the best of all. There is one thing that’s interesting to me in this supply / demand, hero / villain, tome. It’s the business strategy. By leaking section by section, highest to lowest, both valuation AND game theory come into play. This is a reverse auction disguised as a sale. Start with the highest price and bidders pass at their peril. Passers know they’re out of the current round but don’t know the offering (availability/location/cost) in the next round. ”Thank you for inviting me. I am unwilling to pay $100 thousand for my two seats as mapped into the new stadium. Can you tell me what will be available to me next, and at what price?” ”No, but thank you for coming, today. We’ll put you into a pool with others, not telling you how many, and offer you something later, not telling you what, for a price, not telling you how much.” I can assure you the sales team was briefed, trained and scripted on strategy and tactics. This, of course, happens everywhere and isn’t at all nefarious. The stakes are simply very high for passionate buyers.

Josh could be better. Anyone could be better. The media talking about a top five guy getting better in Buffalo is missing a more important conversation. Twenty one other starters and a coaching staff improving even marginally could make Allen among the best of all time. It’s like Da Vinci being told Mona could’ve smiled a little bit while he’s sitting next to me in my middle school art class.

I always went with the first, as well. I heard the second on a video last weekend. Thank you for your service .

Eloi, Eloi, Lama “Sa BACH tah ni”, or; Eloi, Eloi, Lama “Sabacht - ahni”? I hear both.