SoTier

The "Fire McDermott Brigade" isn't interested in reality, so you are wasting your time and energy. It's members inhabit a fantasy universe in which replacing Sean McDermott with any has-been or never-was will automatically bring a Lombardi home to Buffalo. I suppose some these cretins would even welcome back Dick Jauron. I totally agree that defense wins championships. After losing the Super Bowl after the 2020 season and then losing the Conference Championship to Cincinnati in 2021 playoffs, the Chiefs retooled their defense to make it stronger, and the result has been back-to-back Lombardis. During NE's long run, most of their SB success stemmed from their clutch defensive play. I think that the Bills had a good enough defense to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs this season. After losing Milano and White early in the season, they regrouped and played strong defense the rest of the season with LB Terrell Bernard and CB Rasul Douglas being keys to the Bills great winning streak. Losing Bernard and Douglas in the wild card game probably sealed their fate against KC; they only had 4 LBs dressed for the Chiefs game, and they were forced to play backups to backups in the defensive backfield as well.

As Albany, n.y. posted, whether you pay tax on your SS will depend upon your total income including SS. NYS does not tax social security at all but the Feds do if your income is high enough, so you always need your SS 1099. If you live in New York and own your residence, then you need to file a NY state tax return in order to qualify for STAR regular and senior property tax exemptions even if you don't have to pay state taxes. If you have enough income from sources other than SS, pension, and/or retirement annuity payouts, you will also have to file a state return and pay taxes on that extra income.

I think it was simply that the Bills had a GM in place when they hired McDermott. Doug Whaley and Russ Brandon were best friends going back to their college days. Something went wrong in that relationship between McDermott's hiring and the draft. I think people assumed it was a power struggle between McDermott and Whaley but if Brandon still supported Whaley, there would have been no way for McDermott to win a power struggle. I think Terry Pegula stayed out of team politics after his insistence in hiring Rex Ryan turned out so poorly. I don't think we'll ever know exactly what happened. I will say that the best thing that ever happened to the Bills franchise in the 21st century was Russ Brandon being named head of both the Bills and Sabres. Brandon's sexual harassment of a female Sabres employee who complained to Kim Pegula led directly to his ouster from the Bills in the spring of 2018. Brandon's exit enabled Beane and McDermott to set the team on a path to success.

Diggs is irrelevant if your purpose is to troll. Ignoring White, Milano, and Dawkins also works for trolling purposes. Forgetting about White and Milano on the Bills and including HIll as a factor in the Chiefs' last 2 SB wins suggests ignorance.

So, your "point" is that you're either an ignorant fan or a trouble-making troll? ^^^ You are correct, but I think the idea behind it is solid: I don't think McDermott ever had complete control over draft decisions. He was recently promoted from DC to HC for the first time, so it doesn't seem likely that he would have been given complete control over the roster. After Beane was hired, Beane and McDermott worked together on personnel selection. I think this is partly true in that Whaley was definitely on the way out by the time of the 2017 draft. Was that because there was a power struggle that McDermott won or had Whaley and Russ Brandon, who had solidified his position under the Pegulas after the Rex Ryan debacle, had a falling out? Given Brandon's belief in "money ball" style of management that stressed maximizing profits, I think he would have been reluctant to draft another first round QB in 2017 after they drafted EJ Manuel in 2013 because he didn't want to pay 2 first round QB salaries. Whaley recognized talent. If he had truly been in charge of personnel in 2017, I'm fairly sure that the Bills would have drafted either Mahomes or Watson in 2017. I think that the Bills FO was in significant disarray in the spring of 2017. I think that it's likely Brandon decreed no first round QB and then left Whaley and McDermott or McDermott himself to muddle through. Whatever the situation was, the 2017 draft yielded three top players -- White, Dawkins and Milano -- for the Bills. I would definitely have preferred Mahomes at #10 in 2017 rather than Tre White but it doesn't matter at this point. The Chiefs have Mahomes. The Bills have Allen. The QBs are so close in talent and leadership that the real difference between the two franchises is in coaching and the level of team talent, and even there, the separation is modest. IMO, if the Bills had had Tre White and Matt Milano in the divisional game, they would have won the game. Hell, maybe if they have Rasul Douglas and Terrell Bernard in that game, they might have even won the divisional game. Manure happens. In this case, injuries to key defensive starters -- and then to the next guys up just before the divisional round -- probably sealed the Bills' fate against the Chiefs.

Who, exactly is this "we" you are referencing??? You're a well-known Miami troll, so don't come here pretending to be a Bills fan. You would just love for the Bills to deconstruct their team so that your sad-assed Fishies might have a shot at winning the AFCE.

Exactly. The next closest in my life time (I'm 74), was the Bills trading Daryl Lamonica and a WR to the Oakland Raiders for QB Tom Flores and another player in the 1960s. Lamonica took the Raiders to AFC championships and the Super Bowl. Flores and the other player were duds in Buffalo. You very conveniently cherry pick facts to fit your argument by mentioning some Bills mediocre draft picks while ignoring the better ones. The Bills drafted Tre White with KC's 2017 pick. White was an All-Pro CB before his injuries. They also drafted Matt Milano in 2017 who became an All Pro LB for the Bills as well as 3 time Pro Bowl LT Dion Dawkins. Suddenly, the Bills 2017 draft looks pretty good: 2 All Pros and a Pro Bowl LT. In 2018, in addition to Allen, the Bills drafted LB Tremaine Edmunds as well as DB Taron Johnson was 2nd Team CB in 2023. You also conveniently ignore that the Bills traded for Stephon Diggs in 2020. It's very interesting that you ignore the impact of KC's DC Spagnulo and All-Pro defensive players Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie on the Chiefs' back-to-back Super Bowl championships, but tout Tyreek Hill, who wasn't part of the 2022 and 2023 Super Bowl teams. Crafty propagandizing or simple ignorance?

Exactly. In general, teams find franchise QBs at the very top of the draft, ie, the first five picks. It's why teams like the Jests, the Bears, and the Niners have traded boatloads of draft picks since 2017 to acquire QB prospects in the top 3 picks, all of whom failed. The farther down in the first round a QB is picked, the slimmer chances he has of finding great success in the NFL. Only about half of all first round QBs make successful NFL starters (and not even necessarily a franchise QB). The 2017 and 2018 drafts were unusual because both produced multiple great QBs from outside the top five: Mahomes (2017 #10), Allen (2018 #7), Jackson (2018 #32), and Watson (2017 #12)*. Of the QBs who were drafted before these QBs, only Mayfield (2018 #1) continues to be an NFL starter and has a successful NFL career. Drafting a QB in the first round, even in the top five, remains a really big gamble. * I included Deshaun Watson for his outstanding play in Houston before his off-field problems and injuries. He seemed to be starting to get back into form with the Browns before his injury.

Sorry, but even in hindsight, there is no way that the Bills trading away the ninth pick in the 2017 draft was the "worst trade in NFL history"! It wasn't even the worst trade in the 2017 draft! The Chicago Bears traded four picks to the 49ers (#3, #67, and #111 in 2017 and their 2018 third round pick) to move up to #2 in 2017 to take Mitch Trubisky. In contrast, the Bills used KC's 2017 first round pick acquired to draft All Pro cornerback Tre White, and then used the picks they collected from KC in 2018 plus other draft capital to acquire Josh Allen (#7) and Tremaine Edwards (#16) in the first round of the 2018 draft.

I seldom have an issue with squirrels because there's not a large squirrel population in my neighborhood, plus I have a dog whose purpose in life is to protect his turf from intruders, especially squirrels and pigeons, but for most people, there are some types squirrel resistant feeders. For small birds, there are cylinders in wire-cages that will only allow small birds (sparrow size) to get to the feed. For other birds, there are both tube and platform feeders that are designed to close when heavier critters like squirrels try to get to the feed. Squirrels are notorious for defeating most supposedly squirrel-proof deterrents, however. Sometimes people will try to lure squirrels away from their feeders by feeding them corn, either shelled or on the cob. I think that preventing rats from scavenging among discarded seed is an easier problem to deal with than raiding squirrels. The most important thing to do is to feed quality bird seed without fillers. "Quality bird seed" is seed that birds will eat even if it falls on the ground since some birds like doves, juncos, and cardinals like to feed on the ground or close to it. The most common edible seeds are sunflower seeds, white millet, peanuts, and niger (thislte) seed. Cheap seed mixes have filler seeds like milo (grain sorghum) which most North American birds don't like so the ground feeders won't clean them up. You can also buy hulled sunflower seeds and millet so there's no debris on the ground. I feed black oil sunflower seed, hulled millet, and peanuts in shells all in separate feeders plus a mix of hulled sunflower seeds, millet, peanuts and chopped fruit in both a hanging feeder and a platform feeder on the ground all year. I also hang suet cakes in winter. If you are a gardener, planting flowering plants that provide birds with food will also attract birds. I don't hang hummingbird feeders because the hummer come to my garden to feed on the hostas, trumpet vine, and bee balm blooms. I scatter some left over sunflower seed on the south side of my garage to create a sunflower patch that attracts goldfinches in clouds. Chickadees feast on the echinacea (coneflower) seed heads all fall. When I had a choke cherry near my pond, I would gets dozens of birds feasting on the ripe fruit, frequently birds that only visited my urban yard for the fruit like gray catbirds. Unfortunately, I lost the tree in a storm a few years ago, and the sapling choke cherries at the end of the yard aren't bearing yet.

And that's not going to change with Woody Johnson as their owner. When an NFL team is a perpetual bottom feeder, the problem is with the very top leadership IMO, and Johnson's proven that for more than two decades. Johnson's handling of the Rodgers situation is a prime example of the owner's stupidity. Look at the Bills and Lions. These two franchises were synonymous for bottom feeders for most of the first quarter of the 21st century. It wasn't until the Pegulas purchased the Bills that the team started to turn things around. Sheila Ford Hamp, Martha Firestone Ford's daughter, took control of the Lions in June, 2020, and suddenly the Lions blossomed as a league powerhouse. It's not that the Bills and Lions didn't have some great talent -- on the field and on the sidelines -- over the years that they were bottom feeders but they never ever seemed to get their team acts' together well enough to win consistently. On the other side of the coin, you have owners like the Rooneys and the Hunts whose Steelers and Chiefs seldom fail to be decent, even when their talent is significantly compromised.

That's a barn owl, Muppy. They are common in California. American barn owl

In 1978, the bald eagle was listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the continental US outside of Alaska because of the effects of pesticides that had contaminated most of the lakes and rivers. In 2007, the bald eagle was removed from that list, and since then, its numbers have continued to grow thanks primarily to the decades of efforts to improve the environment. Seeing eagles in and around Jamestown hasn't become as common as seeing robins or cardinals or bluejays, but it's not that rare an event any more, either. At least one pair of bald eagles have been nesting in the Celoron area where Chautauqua Lake empties into the Chadokoin River for several years. You can frequently see one of the pair flying over the lake from the Lakewood boat launch. Tuesday I was out in a friend's backyard near Jamestown Community College, and heard a faint hunting cry of what was likely a hawk. I looked up and saw a dark bird circling around very high in the sky. As it turned, I saw its white head, and knew it was a bald eagle. It's apparent mate then flew into view at a somewhat lower altitude with both its white head and tail clearly visible. Eagles! We watched them until they disappeared to the west. This wasn't any exotic locale or even some rural area. It was a small backyard in a fairly densely populated urban area.

When I hunted up my old Backyard Birding thread that I started in 2020 to add a new post, I got a message that I should probably start a new thread, so here is Backyard Birding II. I thought that my original post remains a good starting point for the thread, so I included it here. A great hobby to start during this pandemic is "backyard birding" which is learning to identify the birds in and around your house and/or neighborhood. It's a great way to get yourself, your kids, your parents and/or grandparents interested in nature and science. It's inexpensive. It's not complicated. You don't even need a yard ... a neighborhood park or a cemetery or even a grassy median (like on Bidwell Parkway in Buffalo) will work. A window overlooking your neighbor's yard might even work. To get started, you need a guide to birds. I like the Audubon Society's Field Guide to North American Birds which I have been using since the 1980s. It's pocket size, comes with a plastic like cover, and has photos, maps, and info about each bird in it. Field Guide to Birds. It's less than $16. If you have a yard, you can buy a bird bath and set it up in a sunny spot that you can see from one or more windows or from a deck or porch. Even a cheap plastic one will work fine. In addition to seeing more birds, you may actually save some by providing water in dry spells. Remember to clean your bird bath regularly as when the birds use it, it will get messy. You can bring more birds into your yard -- and see more birds -- using bird feeders of various types -- and cost. Especially in the spring, migrating birds are towards the end of their travels and need ready sources of food. I feed primarily black oil sunflower seed plus suet cakes but I also feed a fruit/nut mix and peanuts. Don't buy those bird feed mixes sold in grocery stores as they have cheap filler seeds that birds won't eat and scatter all over the ground. Tractor Supply has a nice selection of feeders and bird seed. If you want some guidance, try the Wild Birds Unlimited on McKinley near the mall in Blasdell. There's also a WBU in Amherst ... on Transit I think. I have my tubular sunflower feeders out year around but that's not possible if you live in bear country. Raccoons can also be problems, especially in the summers when young ones go exploring. Many people have luck attracting hummingbirds with feeders or by hanging gaudy fuchsia pots on their porches. I haven't, probably because as a gardener, my hummers go for the hostas, bee balm, and trumpet vines planted in the yard. I also plant sunflowers -- generally by cleaning up the seeds/hulls from around the feeder poles and depositing that in a sunny spot along my side fence -- which attracts clouds of goldfinches when the sunflowers ripen. The great thing about backyard birding is that it's something you can do for the entire rest of your life, even when you are very old and not very mobile. My late step-mother, who suffered from emphysema, loved sitting on her back porch watching the hummers coming to her fuchsia plants or sitting at her kitchen table watching the chickadees and cardinals coming to her seed feeders.

Sore losers always cry foul. A Bills-Lions Super Bowl would be one of the best storylines in this century and would draw plenty of viewers, probably more than KC-San Fran. If the NFL fixed the results why have teams like Dallas, Miami and the NY Jets been absent from the Super Bowl in the last three decades?

Diggs caught 7 passes on 9 targets for 52 yards against the Steelers, with at least 2 of those passes crucial for the Bills keeping drives going. Kincaid was targeted the second most: 3 passes from 6 targets for 59 yards and 1 TD.

Tua isn't elite because he simply doesn't have the intangibles like leadership, ability to improvise, will to win, etc that separate QBs like Allen or Mahomes from other top QBs. That doesn't mean he's trash, but he's just not up there with the very best. He's a very good QB who excels when he's in the right offensive system, and obviously McDaniel's system is perfect for making Tua look like a star during the regular season. Unfortunately, McDaniel's system also almost guarantees that the Fins are going fail in the playoffs. McDaniel's system is to build an offensive juggernaut that depends on getting up on opponents early and often to mask the limitations of the talent limitations of the rest of the team. To that end, most of Miami's talent has been put into the offensive skill players. When the Fins can't get a big, early lead on opponents, they struggle which makes McDaniel's system a recipe for failure in the playoffs, especially in the AFC which is loaded with teams with smart physical defenses along with good offenses that frequently feature elite/excellent QBs and strong running games. IMO, the Fins need to change their philosophy -- and likely the people who who instituted it -- before they jettison Tua.

OP, I got your sarcasm -- and the point you were trying to make -- in your initial post of this thread. You should have quit then and acknowledged what you were trying to do. Sarcasm and/or irony frequently doesn't work well in a written format since both depend upon verbal and/or visual cues in the delivery plus many people are simply very literal in their interpretation of the written word. Your choice to continue your sarcasm throughout this thread makes you seem ignorant and classless, which from numerous other posts of yours I've read, I know isn't so.

The Chargers find new ways to lose -- and invent new ones when they need them. I think it's part of their DNA. They've spent most of the 21st century disappointing their fans. They wasted Phillip Rivers' prime years as a pro QB with their incompetence. They appear ready to waste Justin Herbert's best years as well.

Holy crap! Pick six!!!! Go Pack!

Maybe. The Phins are going to face a some serious cap problems next season which is going to limit just how much they can actually improve the team. There is also the very real prospect that the Jests will be much more competitive next seasons with a functional offense under Rodgers.

I don't think defensive injuries were an excuse. The Fins' defense didn't lose that game for them. They forced the Chiefs to kick 4 FGs! The Fins' offense scored only 1 TD. After Hill caught his TD pass, he never made another big play thanks to the Chiefs' DB -- McDuffie, I think. I think Waddle had one chunk pass play, and Wilson had another one. The Fins' run game was ineffective. The Fins didn't convert a third down until late into the third quarter, or maybe even into the fourth quarter. The Fins offense has disappeared in the second half against the Cowboys, the Ravens, the Bills twice, and the Chiefs yesterday.

I think it's less cyclical than a reflection of societal changes. In the 1970s, malls replaced the big downtown department stores that had dominated the retail landscape since the 1880s as well as the shopping plazas that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Now, malls are dying off and being replaced by "life style centers" (housing/retail/dining), large shopping centers (much like old style plazas), and on-line shopping.

I agree. IMO, Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber who killed 168 people, got off too easy. He was executed in June, 2001, just six years after the bombing. The victims' families and the survivors have lived with the horrors of McVeigh's act for almost 30 years.

I enjoyed the game. Watching the Fish get their collective butts kicked was certainly worth $5.99.