CosmicBills

No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. It's not plagiarism. It's inspiration. BIG difference. Please don't sue

It was sarcasm. I know reading is hard but you gotta at least put some effort in!

In my opinion that's because, on a purely stereotypical level, lefties are more vocal than righties. And, there are really only a few stars that can afford to be vocal about their politics from a career perspective. Clooney can say anything he wants and people will still go to his movies. If not, he's done pretty okay for himself. Same can be said with SJP, Sex and the City made her enough money to last four lifetimes. So they speak out for what they believe in, it's their right and their careers have afforded them the security to do so. But there are plenty of stars who lean right. Eastwood is a big republican, as is Sandler, Duvall, Dwayne Johnson, 50 Cent, Jessica Simpson, Stalone, Bruce Willis, Sellek, Kelsey Grammer -- those just off the cuff. There are plenty more. And most of the biggest righties in Hollywood are behind the camera, or more aptly put, have way more power and influence in terms of what gets made. Hey! It wasn't soft porn, it was Skin-O-Max. And I was hard the whole time. It's not my fault they needed the scene to be longer than 30 seconds!

:lol: Thank you for making my day. This is true. While my post was most certainly in jest, it surprises me that Petty isn't near the top of more people's list. His hit list has to put Petty up there in the upper echelons of Rock history. Doesn't it? Politics aside, the dude has made some great music. I would TOTALLY watch that show.

For some, sure. But not for most. There are more conservative leaning stars than people realize. And the real power players in Hollywood, the studio heads, network chiefs, the super agents, they slant hugely to the right. Those are the people that get stuff made and distributed. The notion that all of Hollywood pushes a leftist agenda is factually untrue. It's a nice talking point, but it's not reality.

You're right! Nothing good has ever been created by people under the influence of pot. Nothing whatsoever. If not for pot, we'd never have to suffer through the horrific noise created by so called "musicians" such as The Beatles, Led Zeplin, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Bob Marley, The Eagles, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Ray Charles, David Bowie, Grateful Dead, Stevie Vaughan, Tribe Called Quest, My Morning Jacket, Tupac, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Kings of Leon, Parliament, Tom Petty, Warren Zevon.... In a world without pot we'd finally get what the kind of music we all really want. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=447yaU_4DF8

Clearly you've never worked in Hollywood.

He made a pun. I'm a nerd, but it made me laugh.

I never said Hindus operated on a higher spiritual plane. Their religion and creation beliefs predates Christianity by thousands of years. Don't you think it's possible that there's something to be learned by studying a culture that was building massive cities, creating a written language and astounding works of art when most of our ancestors were still in the stone age? There's NOTHING of value in a culture and religion that predates our own by literally thousands of years? ...Besides, they also believed in Vimanas and extraterrestrial battles for control of Earth. Doesn't get cooler than that.

:lol:

Seguro que le puedo hablar de Mexico. Primero que nada, de usted vacunarse para no adquirir enfermedades venéreas. Espero que no piense ir a prostíbulos...

Good article. But I never said all you need is a QB to win. Of course you need to build a team around him. The difference now is that with the hard cap, shorter player contracts and more movement than ever before in Free Agency, you simply cannot build a perfect team. NO team can. You have to cut corners (no pun intended since corners are highly valued, more so now than ever before) and focus the limited dollars your team has on impact areas. It's not a run first league anymore. RBs have become drastically devalued to the point where they're no longer worth a first round pick. Run stuffing LBs who can't cover the TE are becoming situational and not every down players. If you don't believe me, go look at the list of the highest paid players in the NFL today. They're all related to the passing game: QBs, Pass Rushers, CBs, WRs and LTs. And, with the emergence of seam stretching TEs, it won't be long until they're on that list as well. And TEs have NEVER been on that list. It's a new NFL. You simply cannot win a title without a franchise QB. It cannot be done. It hasn't been done in over a decade. And, unless they change the rules again, it will continue to be that way. QB has always been the most important position in all of team sports. But now, they're more valuable than ever before. Every example you cite in your post comes from the NFL of yester-year. It's fool's gold to try to compare QBs of the ground and pound era and the new high flying NFL we're seeing today. The game has changed. It's a passing league now. QBs are putting up RIDICULOUS numbers. Why? Is it because these QBs are better than the Kelly's, Montana's, and Youngs? Maybe some are. But it has way more to do with the nature of the game. Kelly played in a time where a DB could literally rape the WR he was covering, punch his mother in face and still not get called for a penalty. Now, if a DB breathes on a WR it's an automatic first down. And it's not going to change. The NFL is entertainment. It's about what puts butts in the seats and eyes on the TVs. That means POINTS. Lots of points. With the violence of the sport currently being cut out, what makes highlights now? TDs. Preferably long throws or big YACs. It's not just the rules changes that have impacted the glut of talented passers in the league now either. It's starting earlier. QBs are throwing more than ever in HIGH SCHOOL. You have QBs throwing 40 times a game now in HIGH SCHOOL. Which has created a wealth of talent for the college game and, along with the rise of the spread, turned the NCAA into a pass first league as well. This creates more polished passers coming out of college who are better able to step in and immediately produce. Guys like Cam Newton, Stafford, and Ryan. Are they instantly Franchise QBs? No of course not. But the position is better scouted than ever before, the players better prepared and infinitely more valuable than ever because every GM knows you just cannot win a ring without one. Using Kelly, Marino, Young, or anyone from the "old" NFL is a useless exercise. The game has changed. What it takes to win has changed. It's still the ultimate team sport -- but the priorities and architecture of teams will never be what it once was. Can Fitz be a Franchise QB? While I don't personally believe he's capable of leading the Bills to a Super Bowl win, there are plenty here who believe he can ... and I hope they're right. But he's got one more chance. This team has to win 10 games this year AND make the playoffs. If they do that and Fitz doesn't **** the bed in the first round, he'll be around for a long time.

It's due, more than anything, to an attempt to curb piracy. Releasing the films early in markets prone to excessive piracy limits the interest and opportunity for pirates to press DVDs and sell them. Let alone upload them digitally. It's just the beginning. It will continue to favor foreign markets until piracy is better under control. There is too much money at stake.

1. This is certainly the biggest question and debate about Fitz. I don't think many of the serious critics on here are arguing that improvement overall isn't possible. Most are debating about whether or not he can improve his accuracy -- more than just completions, I'm talking where he's hitting WRs with the ball. Way more often than not, Fitz makes a completion on the wrong shoulder or high which wound up getting Johnson hit a ton. A QB has to be able to protect his guys as well as complete passes. Many people debate whether accuracy can be taught. A lot of coaches and Hall of Fame QBs believe that it's innate. Sure, with better footwork and technique you can bump your Completion % up 2-5 points, but 6-10 points? That just doesn't happen that often. To be an elite QB in the new pass happy NFL you need to be closer to 65% -- Fitz has only been over 60% once in his career (last season). He's a career sub 60% passer after 7 seasons in the league, 3.25 seasons as a starting QB. 2. This is incorrect. You simply must have a Franchise or Elite QB to win the Super Bowl in today's modern NFL. Doesn't mean having one guarantees you a ring -- but not having one diminishes your team's chances incredibly. You have to go back 10 years to find a team that won without a Franchise QB. Eli is not only a franchise QB, he's one of the most clutch players in the NFL. No one doubts his place on the list anymore, and anyone who was paying attention didn't doubt him coming into the season. He improved each and every year, is absolutely unstoppable in the 4th quarter and big games -- he's in the top 4 QBs in the league without question. 3. Fitz's career completion percentage is 59. He was 62% last year but a closer inspection reveals that number was incredibly inflated due to a hot start. In the first 8 games he threw for over 65% 5 times and over 70%, including a 77% game, 3 times. Those are phenomenal numbers. But over the final 8 games he was over 65% only twice (the highest being 66.7%) Was this due to the massive amount of injuries? Certainly possible. Or was this a regression to his career mean? Also possible. We'll find out soon enough, but the stats do show that he has struggled to be accurate. The game film even more so. 4.

I agree with you on almost everything here. To be fair, I'm one of the posters who have given Fitz a lot of grief -- but I've always been quick to point out I'm talking more big picture. I love watching the guy play. He's fearless and entertaining because you never know what the heck he's going to do. Sure I pull my hair out when he messes up (as I will do with every Bills QB), but I root and cheer as loud as anyone every Sunday ... it's just Monday through Saturday where the critic comes out. Call it a coping mechanism for the past decade and change

Not based on our conversations. But it's Monday. Have a beer.

I see what you did there ...

It varies based on region. For some it's a symbol of marriage and guardianship of family's wealth. For others it's a marking of an important chakra, marking concealed wisdom and experience.

:lol:

Or, you know, it was more like this. You still haven't answered. What's wrong with not having a problem with Hindus?

Kiss? Now, now, remember what the Bible says about kissing other men...

I don't know about that. You seem to take the cake when it comes to hating on religion. After all, you're the one who comes on here and claims that not having a problem with Hindus somehow makes one phony. You don't get much more ridiculous/hateful than that. But keep on spewing nonsense. It's entertaining for the rest of us.

Your first point is written with blinders on. Which is fine, we're all fans of the Bills and Fitz is, and deserves to be, the starting QB. But he's started 52 games in his career. That's over 3 seasons worth of starting football. Last year was his second year as a starter on the Bills and the second year in the same system. He's 30 and closer to the end of his career than the beginning -- which is basically saying "he is what he is by now." Can he improve? Maybe. I hope so. But last season was a microcosm of Fitz's entire career: flashes of brilliance thwarted by constant inaccuracy and boneheaded decisions at the worst possible moments. Did team injuries play a part in his second half decline? You could make a strong case for this. But you could make an equally strong case for the argument that the second half swoon was caused by Fitz regressing back to his career averages after a blindingly hot start. Anyone who says they know which one is the real answer is kidding themselves. But we WILL find out the answer this season. If the Bills don't make the playoffs, injuries or not, fair or not, it's going to land on Fitz. That's the QB's job. As for your second point, winning, more importantly winning championships, is the ONLY measuring stick for a QB's success. Everything else is meaningless. There are many people, myself included, who believe that the definition of a Franchise QB isn't found in stats, physical measurables, or how high they were picked in the draft -- but in that QB's ability to elevate the play of his teammates. Fitz has a lot of moxie, he's a team first guy and has the balls to motivate others with his play -- but so far that has not translated to either a winning record or a playoff birth. Until he proves he can bring a team to the playoffs it's silly to call Fitz a Franchise QB. He's just not there yet. As for your third point, I'm not a critic of the Bills just to be difficult. I'm a fan, first and foremost. I want to see this team win championships. Nothing else. And for the past 12 years this team has been poorly managed, poorly assembled, poorly coached and has been irrelevant outside of Western New York. Have I been hard on OBD for the ****ty product they've continually put onto the field the past 12 years? Absolutely. Do I think this organization made tremendous strides this past off season to put this ugly chapter behind them? Without question. But it's all still academic at this point. This team has the talent to be a playoff team THIS year. Not making the playoffs this year will be a failure. There are no more moral victories to be had. It's put up or shut up time for Fitz AND the Bills. Thankfully I believe this team has the talent to silence all the doubters. But it will inevitably come down to whether or not Fitz is able to consistently perform. So far in his career he has never been able to do that. Those are the facts. As fans you can either be honest about the facts or ignore them and blindly root for your team. Either way works.

This.

You are correct. In 2 seasons as a starting QB, the 24 year old Bradford has a winning percentage of 30% (over 26 starts). He has miles to go to catch up to Fitz's winning percentage of 33%.