BillsFan4

Wonder if there's any possibility that they bring Gary Barnidge back in for another visit.

Damn, how stupid can you get? Recording and sending a video of that? Fun fact related to this video - Miami was once considered the coke capital of the US. I guess it's where much of the coke came into the country. I believe it is still the most popular drug in Florida, especially in southern FL.

Yeah I saw that when it happened! I rewound on my DVR just to make sure. What a jerk! lol

I really like the behind the scenes type pieces, that give us inside info about the team. Stuff that the average fan doesn't have access to. It so interesting to read about that kind of stuff in my opinion. That is a big reason why I read the Buffalo News. I'd love to see more of it. I also second all of those who have said lighten up on the negativity from some (Jerry and Bucky, I'm looking at you! lol) Edit - thanks for doing this by the way!

Beane was hired 2 months after free agency started. The majority of good players were long gone. Plus, he had literally no scouting or personnel staff when he first got here. They had all been fired. So he had to put together an entire front office, scouting and personnel staff from top to bottom. Then he had to start watching tape and evaluating the roster with that staff. How much time did that leave him to make legitimate improvements this offseason? He did bring in Jordan Matthews and EJ Gaine, while at the same time stock piling draft picks for next year to try and improve the team the way most great teams are built - through the draft. When a new coaching staff is brought in, there are many players from the previous staff that no longer fit. It happens all the time around the NFL. Instead of holding onto guys that don't fit and trying to force them into positions that could set them up to fail, Beane traded them for assets in return to rebuild this team. I don think he was trying to tank though. But I do think that the future takes priority over this season, which is actually really nice to see for a change. I'm willing to give him an actual chance before I make up my mind on him. Let's see what he does in the draft and next offseason.

https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf That is the ICA above, correct? I don't see where it says anything about the bolded statements you made. I don't see any mention of metadata or the GRU doing everything it could to mask their identity. I've read over it a couple times now. I don't see any mention of a lot of the claims you are making. Maybe I am just missing it? Or did they say it elsewhere? They don't really get into many specifics in that ICA. Saying they used "cyber operations" (which can mean a pretty wide variety of things) is about as specific as they get in most cases. Also, have they released the classified information they used to come to these assessments? How do you know the NSA's only piece of evidence is the metadata? I find that hard to believe. Just as one example, What about this leaked NSA classified document detailing Russian hacking efforts? (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766950-NSA-Report-on-Russia-Spearphishing.html#document/p1) the girl who leaked it was even charged by the DOJ for doing so (and is currently behind bars awaiting trial IIRC). Many of these conclusions seem based on assumptions of the hackers location, specific security measures used and specific method used to hack, none of which seems conclusively proven by this metadata. It seems like it amounts to one possible theory. There are many other possible explanations that are just as likely. For example, If it was copied earlier (which as I understand is a likely possibility) the download speeds are meaningless. They could have originally downloaded it at any speed then and analyzing the speed of the copy means nothing. When you have to qualify a statement with "if this, this and this happened" then it's not really proof, unless you can prove all those other things too. Even the forensicator himself doesn't make definitive claims about much of this stuff. He uses words like "assumptions", "likely", "estimated" and "the most probable interpretation of the metadata". From what I seen he never definitively says that it was an inside job or that it couldn't have been hacked. He even specifically says that he made no claim that the computer was connected to a DNC server or that the data might not have been copied earlier nor whether it might have been copied or leaked. He also said that the computer had eastern time zone setting in force (which can be done on any computer in any time zone). Here's a pretty decent independent review done on the forensicators analysis (posted on one of the original sites to run the VIPS memo)- https://www.thenation.com/article/a-leak-or-a-hack-a-forum-on-the-vips-memo/#independent-review And another - http://archive.is/t8DXQ Here's something from some VIPS members themselves disputing the original conclusions of that memo - https://www.thenation.com/article/a-leak-or-a-hack-a-forum-on-the-vips-memo/#vips-dissent Here is part of a statement from Scott Ritter, member of VIPS, in regards to some claims made in the VIPS memo (which he refused to sign) - "The analysis contained in the VIPS memorandum contradicts such an assertion (of the DNC hacking). Unfortunately, this conclusion is not supported by the data. I reached out to the forensic analysts (the forensicator and Adam carter) who conducted the analysis of the metadata in question. They have stated that there is no way to use the available metadata to determine where the copying of the data was done. In short, one cannot state that this data proves Guccifer 2.0 had direct access to the DNC server or that the data was located in the DNC when it was copied on July 5, 2016. These same analysts also note that the July 5 date that is pervasive on the metadata probably overwrote all prior modification times, meaning it is impossible to ascertain if there were any prior copy operations. The VIPS memorandum also speaks of the insertion of telltale signs into data copied from the DNC server designed to implicate Russia. I have reached out to the analysts responsible for this assertion, and it appears that they mistakenly attributed actual document manipulation from an earlier date to the July 5 data transfer event" The above articles bring up some very legit questions IMO. I'm no expert in any of this stuff, though. The thing is, there is a lot more in that ICA than just the DNC hacking, most of which the VIPS memo doesn't address. There is also a lot more to this whole russia investigation than just the DNC hacking. I do agree that they haven't presented the general public with much information. Everything of significance has seemed to have been deemed classified. Without seeing more of this proof ourselves, we don't really have much to go on but all their words. But there are an awful lot of people much more in the know than any of us that have seen an awful lot of evidence and believe without a doubt that a Russia tries to influence and interfere in our election.

The downside for me was losing Watkins for possibly nothing. The only way they get a comp pick is if they don't add more players in free agency than they lose. That possibly prohibits them from making moves to better the team next offseason. Plus even if they do get the comp pick, it wouldn't come until 2019 and would be a very late 3rd at best (technically it comes after the 3rd round is over and before the 4th round starts). Tagging him would likely cost around $15-$17M. That would take up more than 1/2 of their available cap space ($27M according to spotrac) There is also the stuff about Sammy's bad attitude. When you're in the fragile beginning stages of trying to rebuild a culture that's been broken for a long time, the new Bills staff may have felt keeping him around for this season wasn't worth the risk to their culture change (or something along those lines) especially when they could get pretty decent value back in return for him. So they traded him for a 2nd round pick in 2018 (that will hopefully provide more immediate help than a potential 2019 3rd/4th) and a pretty darn good starting CB. I don't like seeing such a talented WR traded away either and I hate the hole that it left on the Bills roster (assuming Sammy stayed healthy), but I can still see the downside of keeping him. I like that this front office isn't just thinking about this season, the future be damned. They are thinking long term. The Bills aren't good enough to be perennial contenders the way they are currently built, so the front office is doing something about that instead of just trying to constantly patch holes.

Oh man, you gotta be kidding me. I said I wouldn't freak out until he was starting regular season games. Well, that time has apparently come... lol I like our chances in this game a bit less now.

- the collusion case is still open. I thought Mueller had taken the lead on it anyway, no? But just to be clear I have never once said or claimed that trump was involved in collusion. In fact, I don't think he was. -They talked to a lot more people than just the ones who complied the ICA report. They said they interviewed 100 different people (sounds like they interviewed anyone and everyone with any possible info or ties to any of this and investigated many of their motives). They also went over every scrap of evidence that was used in the ICA as well as any other information that wasn't included in the assessment, much of it classified. How is that not an independent investigation? Had they only interviewed the people who put the report together, took their word for everything and called it a day, I would agree. But that is not even remotely close to what happened. What falsified evidence, impossible conclusions and forensic proof are you talking about? Are you referring to that stuff on Guccifer, the VIPS memo and "the forensicator" analysis of that metadata? That stuff about the internet download speed and eastern time zone stamp? If so, from what I have seen of it, it's is not really proof, forensic or otherwise. It basically amounts to nothing more than one possible theory of what could have happened and I've seen a number of experts refuting that theory. There really isn't any way to come to a definitive conclusion on some of that stuff anyway, not from the tiny bit of metadata that's available (at least the way I understand it). I'd be happy to go into more detail and provide links if this is indeed what you are referring to. If you are referring to something different please tell me and ignore the above... lol. I will say, without knowing what classified information they have, we really have no way of knowing for sure on any of this. But It seems like everyone (on both sides of the aisle) who has seen that classified information for themselves feels that Russia definitely tried to interfere in our election.

There is obviously a lot of different things that went into this trade, but I think Sammy's attitude definitely played some part in it. After hearing Sammy say this, McDermott's comments very shortly after the trade come to mind - "we ar trying to build a team, not collect star players". McDermott & Beane are very big on those total team first guys and it's really shown with the acquisitions and draft picks they made. If that's something they feel is very important, then they have to show it with actions, not just words (IMO anyway). I think It sends a message through the locker room when management gives a player a big contract. It says "these are the types of guys we are going to pay". When you have brand new coaches and management who are in the very beginning stages of trying to change a culture that's been broken for well over a decade, I think it's even more important to send clear messages. If they are preaching that they want everyone to have a team first mentality (etc) and then they choose to pay a guy huge money who has acted somewhat the opposite of that ("me first"), how serious is the team really going to take that message? If it were me I'd say "well it's just hollow words. They're preaching one thing and doing another". I'm also a strong believer that its best when your highest paid players are also good team leaders, and ideally they are the ones carrying the coaches message, too. Because, either way, they are probably going to be one of the guys looked at to set the tone of the team. We seen it happen here with Mario Williams. I think it's important that a team is very careful with who they choose to give big money to.

They actually already did that. Jacob Josefson, our 4th line center this year is ranked #4 in the NHL in active career shootout percentage. Shootouts are his specialty and a big reason he was signed. Pominville is pretty good in the SO as well. https://www.sportingcharts.com/stats/nhl/all-time/career-shootout-percentage-active/ Hopefully it'll improve as the year goes on. I'll cut them a little slack for last night since they were facing arguably the best goalie in the world. Honestly, I'm more worried about Lehner being unable to make a save in the shootout. His save percentage in the SO was damn near 0% last year (and for much of the year was truly 0%)

That's where I think you're getting confused. The senate intelligence committee didn't use their assessment. They examined it to see if it was truthful, reviewing every single person involved and every piece of information those intelligence officers used to make their assessment. They were examining the validity of that ICA and came away with a general consensus that they trust the conclusions it came to.

Huh? Would you rather they not examine the people who wrote the assessment they were reviewing the accuracy of? It's not like they relied on those interviews to get their information. The Senate intelligence committee is doing their own investigation. They talked to 100's of different people and reviewed every single piece of information, classified or otherwise, that went into the ICA and even the information that didn't. 100,000 pages of documents. They've been extremely thorough. I'd have been more worried if, in their review of the ICA, they hadn't examined the people who actually wrote it.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?435050-1/senate-russia-probe-expanded-looking-possible-collusion Full Press conference from the heads of the senate intelligence committee updating on the Russian election probe. I tried to transcribe the first 5 minutes or so as best I could, since it pertains to the discussion we were having here. It's probably easier to just listen yourself, but here it is anyway - They conducted over 250+ hours of interviews, almost 4,000 pages of transcripts, almost 100,000 pages of documents reviewed. It includes highly classified intelligence reporting, emails, campaign documents & technical cyber analysis products. They've held 11 open hearings this year that touched on Russian interference. Their staff has worked 6 to 7 days a week since January to get to the point they are at today. So far in the interview process, they have talked to everybody that had a hand or a voice in the intelligence community assessment. They reviewed all the supporting documents that went into it and in addition the things that were thrown on the cutting room floor that they may not have found appropriate for the ICA itself. They interviewed every official of the Obama administration. They interviewed individuals from around the world. They've come to a general consensus among members and staff that they trust the conclusions of the intelligence community assessment. But they won't close their consideration/investigation of the ICA yet in the unlikelihood that they find additional information through the completion of their investigation.

Yeah I knew it was an automatic loss once overtime ended. That's what I was originally going to post, but I went with "oh boy" instead, not wanting to jinx them.

Yup. Knew we had zero chance once it went to the shootout. Drouin made Lehner look freaking silly. Deked him right out of his pads. He was beat on the first shootout goal too, it just hit the post. I was hoping Lehner improved in the shootout but I knew it wasn't likely. He has sucked at it his entire career. Last I looked he was just about dead last outmof 90+ qualified goalies.

Welp, it's going to a shootout.... oh boy.

I'm good with this. No reason to force the C on someone. Let it happen naturally. I think Housley said they would rotate the 'A's, too. Also, I'm very interested to see how Eichel handles the #1C role. He damn well should be our #1C for that price tag... it's not like he hasn't already been facing the other team's top lines at times already. But I'm excited to see him take on the role full time. It could help O'Reilly too. Having him face more 2nd line competition could really give his game a boost. Bylsma gave him every single tough minute he possibly could. He kinda rode ROR and Risto into the ground. ROR had that back injury to start last year, too, yet Bylsma still had him taking like every damn face off. It's gotta be tough to heal from a back injury while twisting and contorting it to try and win a FO. I know he refused to use it as an excuse, but I honestly wonder if he was ever truly 100% last season. I'm hoping to see more of that ROR from his 1st season here. He was still great last year, but that first year he was unreal. Can't believe the Sabres season starts today! This is the best time right now. Both Sabres and Bills games on. I love it!

I like it. I want an even keeled coach that can keep a positive demeanor and inspire belief from his players even when things aren't going perfectly. Tyrod recently spoke about the different mindset of the team this year. Said that they don't let anything rattle them, even when things are going badly during a game. Said how they don't lose the belief/confidence that they can win if they just continue to stick to their game plan. I think much/most of that has to be attributed to McDermott. I think teams kind of tend to take on the personality of their head coach and in this case that seems to be a really good thing (so far).

Yeah I found that interesting. Especially because Housley just said this before the press conference - http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/housley-wont-rule-out-bogosian-thursday "We’re going to evaluate that today, we might have something tomorrow, but obviously we’re going to have to have captains tomorrow in our lineup and we’re going to evaluate that today and we’ll see where that leaves us tomorrow.” Left me a bit confused. lol I think it'll be Eichel though. He seems to be looked at as the leader. I think last year when the whole team asked Eichel to be the one to deliver their message to Tim Murray in season ending interviews, it spoke loudly to that. "He's the leader of this team and we're all really excited for him," O'Reilly said. "He's the guy that's going to help us do something special here for sure. He's a massive, massive part of it." http://buffalonews.com/2017/10/04/teammates-reward-eichels-new-deal-massive-dinner-tab-will-no-15s-plate/

IMO, this is Eichel's team and it will likely only go as far as he takes them. It only makes sense to name him captain.

I'm pretty sure Lehrer struggled with breakaways in general. I couldn't find the stats right now. I'll keep looking. But I'm almost sure that he was well below the league average on breakaways in general. I know he has always struggled with shootout's his entire career. As of last December he was ranked 89th out of 91 qualified goalies in career shootout save %. It's a shame because he is a pretty strong goalie otherwise. His save percentage was 12th in the NHL. He just seems to struggle mightily on breakaways and shootouts.

It's already on snopes. They believe it was a strobe light in the window. There's another video from 2 hours before the shooting that shows that same flashing light in that same window and a police officer confirms that there is some type of strobe light flashing in a 4th floor window. Plus, like bdutton said, the windows don't open and it wasn't broken out like the shooter's windows on the 32nd floor. Edit - here is the link with the video showing that strobe light on the 4th floor hours before the shooting and audio of the police radio talking about that strobe light. http://www.snopes.com/second-gunman-shoot-fourth-floor-mandalay-bay/

Not sure this is really the right place for this but I didn't know where else to put it. I tried to pick an article that wasnt just one sided (in either direction). http://www.snopes.com/2017/10/03/united-nations-ban-death-penalty/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social 'U.S. Votes Against United Nations Ban on Death Penalty for Same-Sex Relations The United States joined 12 other countries, including Saudi Arabia and China, in voting against a United Nations resolution condemning the use of the death penalty to punish blasphemy, adultery, and same-sex relations. “The Question of the Death Penalty” passed by a healthy margin anyway, with 27 nations voting in favor and seven abstaining. The members voting against were Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

https://mobile.twitter.com/GopherHockey/status/914882469001875457/video/1 Minnesota highlights. Has Mittlestadt's goal and 2 assists. That assist at 1:12, and the dangle & assist at 1:27. Wow! This kid has some sick hands.