Yoho

Yet the scouts are able to pull out the Eric Crouch's of the college world and accurately predict that they do not have the arm for the pros. How can they not tell the system QB's from the genuine talents?

Most of us here get really interested in the draft and some of us actually believe we have insights based on the analysis we read, about what players we should choose and who will be a successful pro. Yet Akili Smith was mentioned in equal terms with Daunte Culpepper and Donovan McNabb. Recently he was dropped to third string in NFL Europe and cut by Tampa Bay. What did the scouts miss? How could they get it so wrong? You would think that 4 years of college film, all-star games and individual workout would give you a reasonable idea about who could play in the NFL but Akili is living proof that it is just all a giant spin of the roulette wheel. What a difference it must be between the NFL and the college game that the scouts can be so wrong.

Don't know you, therefore this is just a theory. But I am a VP at a fairly technical organization and I am not that much of a technical guy. They keep me around for other purposes. Sometimes, the real good techies forget that not everyone can speak their language. They try to tell you about a problem but they do it in an unclear and jargon full way that leaves you scratching your head. Someone else comes along and describes the problem clearly and you make a decision based on that clear input. I can understand the frustration of the first guy, buy sometimes "what we have here is a failure to communicate". Again, this may not be your problem at all, but ALWAYS, think about your audience when you are trying to explain a problem Don't expect everyone to know what you know.

All the research shows that children have a huge advantage if they grow up in a stable household with good role models. I hope your kids are a wonderful exception, but if I were you, I would think about cutting back on the aphrodisiac.

Actually, that reply tells you all you need to know about how seriously he takes creating kids that will start at a serious disadvantage by growing up without stability. That is why some of us are "LOL" at your predicament.

I am with you. Here is an approach you might try. 1. Make a committment to the person that you have a child with. 2. Don't have children until you make enough money to support them. 3. If you are not ready for 1 or 2, use a condom, no use 2 condoms.

These stories get a lot of people totally paranoid about strangers randomly kidnapping people. Yeah, it happens, but at least half of these turn out to be fake. Just somebody looking for a way out of one of life's dilemmas. It is like the kids on the milk carton. It is very rare when one of those kids have been kidnapped by strangers. The vast majority are parental right disputes. Between this stuff and CSI-Duluth, many live in much greater fear of random crime than reality dictates.

What the heck happened to poor Booker Edgerson?

I believe it is mostly frustration from reading posts that declare next season a disaster while it still April. If you want to point out shortcomings that need to be fixed, fine, I can see quite a few myself, but these outright declarations about how bad next season or what a knucklehead Donohoe is, gets really old, really fast. Let's get to the end of training camp, see who we got on the roster and how they are looking and then assess our chances. I just don't understand the joy in giving up on the season in April. As Darrin pointed out if you lived through the 70's and 80's Bills, you would not be so ready to declare next season a disaster with the talent on this roster.

This one seems real easy. Keep Travis unless we get a deal that makes sense (better than a 3rd rounder). I am much more worried about guys with long-term contracts having attitude problems than bankrupt guys in their option year. He has no choice but to come to camp, show good attitude and contribute. It is completely in his self interest to do so. Anything less and he is just another fumbling headcase that no team will give top dollar too. Is he going to be a "locker room problem"? Not if Willis is performing. He wont have a case to make. I don't understand at all the philosophy of "let's just get rid of this guy". If we could sign a 1300 yard, 27 year old running back to a 1.5 mill contract to back up Willis (who we all know could get hurt again), we would banging on Donohoe's door to get it done. Travis signed the contract, there is no provision that he MUST be the starter. Let him hold out from the mini-camps. It allows him to save his pride and we will be running a similar offense as last year. He can pick it up in the real training camp and he will, because he can not afford not to.

Pretty much explains a lot of things.

My predicitons- Nadia - will do well if Bela will allow her to do the double flip on the vault. Puberty may be her enemy. Anwar - is amazing considering he was shot and killed over 20 years ago. Hope he sings Old Man River Scott - if he makes the 48 yard field goal and does not go wide right, I will call in and vote for him for the next ten years. Let's see what happens.

Not sure about that. When I was a kid, I needed to replace tubes to watch television. Now, I just turn it on and watch and buy a new television when the old one breaks. If you were a college kid of the 80's you probably never had to deal with vacuum tubes in television. Are you missing out on anything? Technology moves on and skills of one generation are useless to the next. It sucks to be a blacksmith these days. Welcome the world of the last generation.

I would recommend you talk to your lawyer. You have ther right to remain silent while you are waiting for your next post. If you do not decide to remain silent, you have the right to read Ed's posts for the last year. Anything, you or Ed said can or will be held against you, unless the Bills go 4-0 behind Losman, at which point all is forgotten. If the Bills start out badly and Bledsoe does well, all previous posts will be used in a court of law. If Ed marries Brittney Spears, all rights are forfeited and you can flame away without consequence. I hope this is clear now.

How can you people care so much about this? This is just Star Search with voting that you have to pay for. Help me here. Why do you care? Read a book. There are a 150 channels, there has to be something more interesting than this. I would rather do endless debates on whether Jabari Greer eats asparagus than discuss whether Heather from Toledo's version of "Stairway to Heaven" was worthy of coming back next week. How did we get to this point?

Ok, technically, you took the preemptive 2nd shot but before he had responded to the first shot. That makes you officially an accessory to the first shot once removed but still not in a position to respond as an aggreived party in the first course. Got it?

Sorry, you took the first shot. He does not need to back up anything.

Now I am just a neutral observer here but I do some arbitration. I have to say that you took the first ballbusting shot and he responded in ballbusting kind and you took it to the next level. You want to bust him, you got to let him bust you. It is the way of the jungle.

Actually, I basically discount all posts that begin with "dudes" How did this happen?

Every football personnel decision ever made has a risk associated with it. If you have the 23rd draft pick in the first round, you probably have about a 1 in 10 chance of picking a pro bowler. It is so stinking easy to judge these things 3 years later. If the guy got hurt - bad decision If the guy can't adjust to the pro game - bad decision If the guy becomes a marginal starter - bad decision If the guy becomes a solid starter - Of course he should be a starter he is a first round pick. Pick a draft, any draft and go down the list of first rounders and how successful they were. There are some gems, some marginal and some busts and they come in no particular order. No GM ever consistently hits on all of his draft picks, even in the earlier rounds. The good ones just have a higher average than the rest. From my viewpoint, Donohoe has a pretty good average compared to most and that is why we have been improving each year.

Bob, thanks. I guess that one thing that comes from age is that not only does your hair turns grey, but the black and white view of the world changes that way as well. It truly takes historical perspective to take the last 4 years and understand why many of us are not ready to start over again with the later day John Rauch, Stew Barber, Hank Bullogh or many of the other incompetents that we have lived through. We have made our way through cap hell and are serious contenders. Good enough for a life long fan like me. Sorry, if it is not good enough for the got to have it next week fans.

William Demerest and Gary Coleman

You can't be serious with that argument!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe you just made my point about overreaction to Flutie.

I keep seeing this and I admittedly do not have any info on this. Are the other teams he has torn apart in Canada? San Diego? His early years in the NFL. I keep seeing the contention. Just wondering about the evidence. Thanks.