Sierra Foothills

It's an interesting question. I sometimes wonder how Ralph would feel about about Pegula's exploitation of child labor... specifically the drafting of Tremaine Edmunds at the age of 15.

"Hated" was not a word he used in that clip. Philbin said that he had a "vendetta against Buffalo" because they felt he was too small. That's the same reason he signed with the Jets instead of Detroit... because Detroit had some concerns about him playing D-line. Philbin played at 220 pounds when he was a senior at UB... his lack of size was a chip on his shoulder that motivated him to a great career... so when you say to the deceased, "we hated you too" please speak for yourself.

The day of Gerry Philbin's passing cannot pass without acknowledgement of his greatness as a player. His gridiron accomplishments: 4-year starter at the University of Buffalo Bulls Only the 4th UB player drafted by an NFL team and the first to play in a regular season game in the NFL 3rd Round pick in 1964 by both the NFL (Detroit Lions) and the AFL (NY Jets) AFL and Super Bowl Champion (1969) 2-time All-AFL 1968 AFL sack leader (unofficial, before they became a stat) with 14.5 in 14 games 66.5 career sacks (he's still 4th all-time in sacks for the Jets with 65) NY Jets Ring of Honor member Member AFL All-time Team as voted in 1970 (he and Tom Sestak were first team, Tom Keating and KC's Buck Buchanan were second team) John Schmitt, the center for those Jets teams of yore, reflected today on Philbin's toughness. "I do remember when we played the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoff game [after the 1969 season] — he had a separated shoulder. They made up a leather harness that was a half-inch thick that was wrapped around his chest, and they had chain-link fence holding the leather arm piece to the chest piece. You never saw such a barbaric thing. And he played the whole game against Kansas City. ... He was a damn tough player and I loved the man." "He was one of the best teammates I ever had with the Jets, and I played right beside him," said Ralph Baker, the Jets' left-side LB at the time. "I really believe he should've been a Hall of Famer. He was just a good guy, a regular guy who worked hard and shared his feelings. When teammates needed to be set straight, Gerry was the guy to do it." After his playing career, he sold real estate in Florida, moved back to the Northeast and to New Hampshire, then back to Long Island, where he owned a sand and gravel business, before returning to the Sunshine State and Palm Beach Gardens to be near to his children in his golden years. Schmitt, one of the on-field and emotional leaders of the Jets' Super Bowl era, put it well when he said of Philbin: "He was a man's man, he was a good father, he was a great teammate. And he was one of the leaders on our team." RIP Gerry.

Did he make any mention of the condition of his spleen?

Was that possibly Jordan Palmer?

Fixed it for you!

This is my last basketball post in this topic... I don't want to hijack anymore. To make the playoffs and advance in the NBA, teams absolutely have to play defense and to your point about 3 pointers, defenses know they have to defend the arc so they have more court to defend. If a shooter is left open from the arc, defenders have to closeout on the shooter leaving the entire team vulnerable to a drive. Even if the ball handler isn't someone who finishes at the rim, on a closeout play the shooter has the opportunity to exploit the mid-range. Besides having to be able to defend on the ball, teams now have to also be proficient at switch and help defense. Team defense is much more important and coordinated today than it was in the days of man to man defenses. JMO.

Did you guys know that a 21 Formation is thus called because it has 2 running backs and 1 tight end?

That's what the cougar said.

I have not yet begun to argue...

You were supposed to say "Git 'er done!!!" "Git 'er done Beane!!!" is also acceptable. Alternatively you can also make an incomprehensible remark about the spleen or the removal of the spleen, yours or someone else's. You're either part of the problem or you're part of the solution.

I've heard of him!!!

I said arguably... let's not pretend Jim Kelly is a good-looking guy either.

I'm saying that today's AHL players are better than the NHL's best players from 40 years ago. Puck-handling is much better these days. Controlling the puck with your skates is another way these guys are superior. You're seeing the influence of lacrosse and soccer crossing over into ice hockey. AHL Goaltenders today are much better than Grant Fuhr or Billy Smith. I understand people not agreeing with me but this is what I see.

Yeah, sorry about that DD but I have a real oversensitivity to that sort of thing. 👍

Your first paragraph ("top to bottom" i.e. - "depth") seems disconnected from your second paragraph which is talking about HOFers. Regardless, I disagree with you. IMO there's the same ratio of superstars to non-superstars but also, the non-superstars are better than they've ever been. Your discussion of effort is fine and I don't disagree but that's the way it's always been in the NBA. I don't think the effort's changed at all but I do think... That the players are better than they've ever been.

Your post implies that this was attributable to the New York Jets. Others came in to say this is from a fan site. Clarification?

Of greater interest to most of us, how is your spleen?

Not that I really want to know but there's at least 3 different liquids I can imagine that you're talking about. Just an observation... If you're saying that Elway was more of a sellout and that's why Kelly is more revered, I think you have to take into account other factors too. Kelly married a local girl. Kelly publicly fought for his son's life. Kelly is a cancer survivor whose fight played out in public. Those are all reasons why Kelly's revered around here. Whether you agree or not, Elway won 2 Super Bowls, was arguably more photogenic than Kelly, and a better speaker, and thus had more opportunities as a pitch man.

I watched it last night while falling asleep but I think Keon said he was playing well at the time of his injury but after the injury, the Bills changed up some things on the offense that started working well. He felt that when he returned, he never really synced up with some of the new things they were doing. Others might be able to add a bit more.

NBA players are no different than any other pro athletes... without exception today's pro athletes are better than they were 10-15 years ago and much better than they were 20-25 years ago. It's obvious. I was recently at an AHL hockey game and these guys were noticeably better than the dynastic Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders teams that I often saw live before my very eyes during the 1980s. It's inarguable. Being old, I remember that Randy Moss received scholarship offers from schools that were willing to allow him to play football and basketball. So that probably has something to do with something. 100% correct. The argument that NBA players are not as good as they used to be is silly.

I head that while a splenectomy has not been performed, it hasn't been completely ruled out either.

You haven't heard of him!!!???!?!?!

And then there's Dan Marino's Wonderlic score... but the NFL doesn't use the Wonderlic anymore.

Just a tennis spectators gif...turning their heads left and right while watching a back and forth rally.