UConn James

Jerry Jones apparently will not be satisfied until the NFL consists of ~8 teams that together, in his dreams, earn as much as the current 32 combined. That, to go with $50 8-oz. cups of beer and $400 pizzas. The day the NFL stops being widely geographic (and as such, there is a system in place to support this wide geography) is the day it starts to die. People do not cheer for/support sports teams far away from anywhere they've ever called home. Squeeze the neck on the goose Jerry. Keep wringing ever harder and it's sure to pop out golden eggs faster and more frequently.

Per a nuclear family member, at the police academy in CT, the instructors actually tell the recruits to never buy powered donuts. Something whereby the sugar powder stains in the uniforms/ties are very difficult to remove fully w/o washing. They recommend chocolate glazed. I have no idea whether this is correct, but since cops are the experts at everything to do with eating donuts....

I have usually re-watched the whole series in the run-up to new seasons. I think I may start at S3 this time. I can't watch S5 eps again online, so I've only seen them the one time. I too have been waiting for the DVDs. One more week. Then we'll wrap it back up, put it under the tree and say, "Oh, MY!" I have seen the featurette of a day of shooting with Nestor Carbonell. Really down-to-earth guy. That was actually rumored for last season, but didn't materialize. Everyone is waiting for it. I would imagine, too, that the S5 finale's opening scene with Jacob and MIB (and presumably the Black Rock) will be revisited. I have done a little reading ahead.... It's going to take a very different course, at least early on. At ComicCon, Cuse & Lindelof showed videos... OK, I'll yellow-font this (tho I believe I probably mentioned it in the end of the S5 thread): .... videos that show the 815 crash never happened e.g. an Oceanic Airlines ad citing a perfect safety record since its founding in 19__. I forget the year. Hurley featured in Mr. Cluck commercials with an Australian recipe he came up with when he was in OZ.... We also still know very little about Ilana, Bram, et al. One of the series originals, Maggie Grace (Shannon) has apparently declined to return to the show for guest star appearance(s). I can only say that this is pretty rude --- snubbing the show that put her on the map. If it were me, I would want to finish what this show started.

Latest Huckabee's damage control attempt: No distancing yourself, Mike. YOU own a sizable share of that failure.

Was nice to see Stupar get some action yesterday, after the preseason he had. Again, injury-necessitated.

Vouchsafe that CW realizes he needs to re-establish himself. He needs success in this next job. He was successful as an OC. Success as a HC is uncertain, and it leaves nowhere to go but down.

Instruct anyone to put 80 percent of their concentration and 30% of their total resources into the secondary, and you'll probably see similar results. Yes, we have pretty decent DBs. Yet, his manlove for DBs was the reason many other segments did not get reinforcement. And it's why our roster management is as screwed as it is, especially wrt LB depth, because these guys are barely more than Safeties + 5 pounds (which, in some cases, isn't much different from the starters). As a consequence to LB being maybe the most frequently injured positions in the NFL by the nature of the position, we have been railroaded most of the year.

I never thought that. CW is not stupid. According to the Peter Principle, he reached his level of incompetence as a head coach in big-time college. Stands to reason he would take a step back down to where he did have success. For the record, I would be ecstatic to have him as an OC. It would be interesting to see what he could do with Brohm, at the very least.

The commutations of serious, multiple-time offenders based on the recommendation of his preacher buddies was the biggest of problems I had with Huckabee, and it alone guaranteed my non-support. If Huckabee runs, this will be a major issue and in the GOP, there is no way it passes muster now. The catch-and-release system just boggles the mind.

The mentionings of the 'Big Least' have grown pretty quiet. Thing is, once things get good, they get raided. RR left for WV, Kelly will likely be headed to ND. This could have been an elite conference itself if Miami, VT, and BC had stayed. What could have been.... And I think it's coming to a head that ND will have to join a conference. Big East is right there waiting, they play in the conference for everything else. If some agreement could be worked out whereby ND can make its own television deal separate from the rest, and some laxity in scheduling.... That's been the biggest issue that's stopped them. Let's face it, their competitive level has dropped. But joining up would mean if they win the conference they get an automatic BCS bowl. If Kelly jumps, he might be able to convince the AD it's time.

Yes. That's probably why it's as effed up as it is. Cable companies are a patchwork of regulated monopolies. Certain areas are restricted to certain carriers. E.G. In my area, there is only Charter. Several towns over, it is only Cox. Congress could fairly easily order the companies to institute an a la carte system, or at least break it into smaller tiers. McCain, for example, supported this when it was facing scrutiny back in 2004-5. But... money talks, and big cable forcefeeds. Face it, many channels would not make it on their own if people were not forced into paying for them.

I think his biggest problem was not selecting enough Top-5-Pick WRs in the draft.

A tap to the gut and disheveling his clothes is almost on par with cutting four people's heads off, burning them, dragging them through the streets and hanging two from a bridge. America's bending over backwards stuff is all well and good, but I think we're bending near to the point where the head is actually going up the ass.

For the reasons written and more, no, he's not leaving. Yet. Jacobs: Edsall To Kansas Unlikely

And they're fining the least little disparaging remark about officiating. What was it, $30K a pop? Total censorship is the last defense of a broken system.

It is a failure of congressional regulation that there is no a la-carte system for cable. Set up a checklist for every channel offered, set a price for that channel, and then let customers pick what they want and pay for what they want. Cable's package deal is like a supermarket forcing you to buy 10 gallons of cod liver oil so you can get the pumpernickel bread that you really want. We quit cable 15 years ago and went OTA-only. I am miraculously still alive, and count myself the better for not being exposed to the utter dreck of all of these channels.

Building through UFA is generally wiser for teams that are "one/two player/s away" from seriously competing, and are willing to overpay to fill a weakest link spot. These players aren't the best, but they aren't the worst. The conclusion: teams continually try to move the bubble gum around to fix holes in the dike, and some teams are better at doing this than others. Other teams use UFA to boost themselves marginally in areas where they've screwed themselves by not drafting well. Case in point, for over 10 years now, the Bills have used UFA to sign (second- and third-tier) OL b/c for whatever reason, they didn't put much stock into it during the draft. Maybe they didn't like rookie starters... maybe they felt snakebitten by Mike Williams... maybe they knew the scouts for OL were sh-- (OL was Linda Bogdan's area for a while, but what were they gonna do about that?!). Who knows. But what we do know is that we had a string of UFA Centers with Teague, Fowler, now Hangartner. There was Panos, Reyes, Walker, Dockery, Gandy, forget the name but... the aging backup T from the Steelers. Bill in NYC oft laments the fact (yes, it is a fact) that the Bills do not put great importance on building the OL in the draft. Instead, we've spent lots of coin in UFA on scrubs who didn't last long. Sometimes, it's a good fit. K. Mitchell a couple of seasons ago pretty much fits the mold of the first paragraph... generally a good pick-up that held his own and made plays to keep the D more competitive than it would've been without him. Our LB situation was --- and remains --- ****ty. There is next to nothing for depth, Jauron-ball (but then again, it was trending this way before DJ) turned our LBs into thinner and faster coverage types ---basically Safties who weigh a little more) meaning we're weak against the run. I fully expect demand that the D (minus the secondary, which has had such high investment due to Jauron man-love) be largely scrapped under the next coach, because it is not built for Buffalo or the AFC East. If you can pick up a guy/s who will fit your system that you can't find elsewhere, OK, but I wouldn't say that this is the norm. Otherwise, teams who build thru UFA are just spinning their wheels. UFA often ends up with a player who wasn't what was expected, and who eats a sizable amount of cap. We got **** lucky with Paup and Spielman... but even that was short-lived.

Since he's dead, I'm quite at a loss wondering how they'd do that, or what tests could be done to that purpose. Ummm.... Phrenology?

It's the city that owns the land now. Essentially, they kicked out taxpayers in exchange for empty lots. Many of the residents in that neighborhood were aging/elderly, so it wasn't like they had kids in the schools, costing the city; their taxes were pretty much above-board. The local media are trying to put a smiley-face on the situation, saying, 'When the economy picks up again, it'll be a very attractive property.' And being on the Sound waterfront... maybe it will. When's the economy going to recover? NL is going to be in a bit of a pickle in the meantime. They might shuffle some things around so the books don't look as bad as they are, but... losing all those taxes has gotta be a blow. What has happened should serve as fresh notice that "even the best-laid plans oft go amiss" re: use of eminent domain for non-traditional public projects/uses. Since the Kelo case, CT and several other states have re-visited the issue of eminent domain. CT legislature narrowed its allowed use for economic development projects... but did not prohibit it.

:wallbash:

And he wouldn't even have that much coin out of ~ 2 1/2 years of being a starting NFL QB. His contract was about $450K/yr as a 3rd round pick, no? If he's still having effects or if it was another concussion, tho, then it seriously is time for him to consider hanging it up and putting the Stanford diploma to work. Especially in light of the recent reports on head injuries. Just not worth it to be a mouth-drooler by age 40.

I last played Super Nintendo during summers when I was in the mid-teens, and even at that, just Super Mario, Off-road racing, and Zelda. My nephew, 9, has every game console there is. I tried an ATV game and could barely make it around the track. The Wii Sports one was kind of cool, and was pretty easy. But beyond that, yes, there are too many buttons, etc. for me to do anything. They left me behind. Oh well. Not a big loss.

It'll be interesting to hear what Cowher has to say during tomorrow's pre-game show. We may get the flat-out, 'I have not been contacted and I'm not interested' that I expect from BC. It'll be the first time this year I'll actually be watching it.

Well, they can... but it'll cost 'em. Teams that don't are fined. And no one will grant an interview when they know full well that someone else has all but already been hired. Also, the denial may be a thin veneer for Fewell's authority over the next several weeks. Any person looking to coach here would probably be a little offput by an owner/FO who would at least say 'We're looking for a new coach now' publicly even as a coach has been named, interim or not. Everyone and their brother knows that the Bills are looking... it's just a little crass to talk about it openly during the season. The timeline is that you do this openly after the season. In this respect, RW is saying the right thing. But, I'm with ICE on this. I'll believe Ralph is committed to winning/isn't cheap/will stop his detrimental meddling when I see it. (The lame "But... but... but... We signed TO!" be damned).

If memory serves, Ralph had JJ in for a chat after one of the previous firings... I think it was either post-Wade or post-Gregg. Not a job offer by any means. Just discussing the macro-cosmic view of the franchise. Banter. One-day consultation. Seeing what's on the radar, gauging interest of people JJ talks to, finding out what other people have heard. Talk is kind of important at this stage, and any good search would mean talking to many people who are at the top of the profession. At the NFL level, it's pretty insular, and this kind of stuff happens frequently.