Formerly Allan in MD

And Gaye Stewert, Donnie Marshall, Dickie Gamble, Ken Wharram, Ed Slowinski. Anyone remember the Coal Truck?

I'd be surprised if Brees becomes available. That would leave the Chargers with Rivers and Dougie, a similar situation to what the Bills may face (although I think TD will bring in another veteran to back-up Losman, who may well be given the starters position). The difference is the Bills may be forced to deal with this situation, whereas the Chargers don't have to if they so choose. I just don't see Bledsoe as the Bills back-up, based on his pride and the Bills probable unwillingness to pay a back-up the money Bledsoe will be making. And I'm not sure many want him as the starter, at this point in time. Of course, all problems will be solved if TD signs three top offensive linemen and Bledsoe can thus have an inpenetrable wall in front of him.

If Favre does hang 'em up, someone tell the Packers we have a quarterback for them, whose name is not Matthews or Losman. Seriously, if Drew is going to go, one way or another, perhaps we can recoup something (it may not be much) for him by dealing with a team that may be in a real bind for an experienced starter, even if it is Bledsoe.

I will be up in the Queen shortly. When I was in last summer, I was not happy to learn that Pranzo, at the Airport Radisson, one of my favorite dining spots, was no longer around because the Radisson had closed. I know the people who ran Pranzo were native Buffalonians. Does anyone know if they have opened a restaurant at a new location? Thanks.

This is the new curse, not yet in book form (hopefully it won't play out like Colavito's did). Larry Dolan wanted to join the big boy MLB owners club. So he bought the Indians but immediately started dismantling that great team from the late nineties. He did it by refusing to spend the money it would take to retain free agents such as Manny Ramiriez and Jim Thome, and by trading away guys like Bartolo Colon, Brian Giles, Sean Casey, and Richie Sexson, primarily for kids. Some will say that the stock market went south shortly after Dolan purchased the team. Tough. Either play the game or get out of the business. Dolan is started to spend a bit. He's lucky he has a good, solid GM.

I half expected McShane to show up at the Golden Globes in his underwear. Hope he washes it for the new season. It looked pretty nasty toward the end of the first season.

No!

Glad to see there are some other died in the wool tribe fans on the board. They've been my team since the 50s, when all their games were broadcast in Buffalo (listened to every game in '54). I try to get to games at the Jake if at all possible (when I'm in the area). You are right, the tribe is looking interesting. They may surprise, despite "The Curse of Larry Dolan."

If Miami is the only team willing to give up a two, go for it!

Any Canadian League quarterbacks worth checking out?

Solving the quarterback dilemna is obviously the key to next season, no matter how much you beef-up the OL. My concern is that TD will go out and sign two stud free agent linemen and everyone will relax and say that Bledsoe will now be able to excel. That would likely be a costly assumption because you never know who might go down on that line, and you'd be back where you started from, i.e.where we are now. Banking on Losman to be ready, simply because he has nine months ahead of him, would be quite foolhardy., as well. Admit you made a mistake with Bledsoe, get a solid veteran, if at all possible, and see what Losman can do without putting all your eggs in his basket.

Yes

Whatever happened to Seth Marlor, who was a rookie kicker last year in the league (and may have gotten injured)? He was one of the best. most consistent kickers in the nation while at Tulane (w/Patrick Ramsey). Is he still in the league?

You are absolutely right about going over the middle. The Bills Super Bowl teams always had that threat and effectively used it. The problem with Bledsoe, as you say, is that if they don't come up the middle, they'll come from elsewhere; but they will come. No coach worth his salt would/should hesitate to take advantage of DB's glaring weaknesses. The sooner we get rid of DB, the better. And I'm not suggesting that Losman is the answer, yet. TD has to bite the bullet and admit he made a mistake. If you invest everything in figuring out how to protect Drew, you are going to short change yourself in other areas. Let's move on.

Today was a disaster in many respects. But it is beyond me why a team that has been consistently racking up points of late and getting the max from a very talented rookie receiver, chooses to totally go away from throwing up field, especially to the guy who has been scoring week after week. The one time they attempted to go deep, bang! Much too little, way too late. Speaking of receivers, Reed's apparent confidence problem is not worth keeping around, even as a back-up.

I like having London Fletcher on my team, generally speaking. He's a fine player and a leader. But during the course of this season, he has made some of the stupidest, costliest penalties at critical times. Today's was a perfect example. Do the positives outweigh the negatives? If they do, he needs to show some descipline, or be shown some.

The packaging makes sense. Or if someone is willing to give us a two or high three, I'd go for that. Otherwise, I'd keep TH. He should want to play well when given the opportunity, to make himself a more attractive free agent after next season

This concern is indicative of how critical it is that we go after some OL depth in the offseason. Hope we can do it by the free agency route. Next season needs to be a "go for it" season, not a developmental year.

How about old Kevan Barlow. His team is getting whacked 41-zip and he's prancing all over the field after he makes a five yard gain with minutes left in the game. If I'm the coach, I immediately yank him, chance to finally score or not. Speaking of the 49ers coach, isn't it great seeing that Ericson fool getting toasted. He embarrased the U. of M. with his recruiting scandals and got axed. And his current team in a pathetic blot on the Bay. The axe man commeth again, it would seem,E especially when you notice the almost empty stadium staring at the TV cameras mid-way through the third quarter.

The networks can never resist the opportunity to make a splash of the demise of anyone famous, no matter how repugnant the individual actually was. By the time the networks were finished with him, Richard Nixon almost sounded like a saint at the time of his passing.

Hey history buff, what forced exodus? If you're talking about 1948, the Palestinian exodus resulted from Palestinians racing around the countryside in loud speaker trucks urging Palestinians to flee their homes because the newly created State of Israel was about to be attacked, and "you guys are in the way." Comparing a murdering, duplicitous SOB like Arafat to a military man or statesman doing whatever is necessary to protect his people from genocide (within a few short years of the Holocaust), is the height of either stupidity, prejudice or both. Actuallly the two may not be mutually exclusive.

Belichick says that both Travis and Willis can get outside. Anyone watching Bills football knows that Henry continually tries to get outside, and never succeeds, while Willis makes it happen. Let's hope the coach is wrong about some other things, as well, on Sunday.

If the rule book says that when someone calls a fair catch, it's okay for someone else to catch the ball and run with it, something is definitely wrong with the rule book. Has anyone ever seen someone else catch a fair catch-called punt, run with it or not, before today?

Drew apparently went brain dead on the last play of the first half. If you're going to throw the ball, at least see if anyone is open in the end zone. Drew, overall, played a pretty good game. It shows that he still can be a winning QB if his OL is doing its job. Those two touch passes were beauties. But the stupid plays continue to raise questions about judgement. But in any case, if the OL continues to improve, who knows what can happen with this team.

Travis is a good running back, but: Willis is a more selective, instinctive, intelligent runner; Willis protects the ball much better than Travis; Willis can get outside while Travis can only dream about it; and Travis thinks a block is something very young kids play with. Hopefully, we will be able to get a high two, or if someone is really desperate a one for Travis. But I don't really see a one happening because Travis is now a back-up, in a sense decreasing his value; he's a fumbler; and in a few short years, he's put quite a bit of wear and tear on himself.