RJ (not THAT RJ)

Do you suppose Mike T. made a few bucks scalping his tix to that as well?

Spending money on free agents does not guarantee anything.... Sometimes when you git er done, it still don't get done... Where are all the fellas who said that, with Phat Pat and Antoine, the Vikes were a SB lock?

Dude, the Jets were 3 for 10 on third downs. 3 for 10. Seems, nay I know not seems....

Or one could say that the Bucs continued success makes the Bills defeat at their hands appear less of an aberration.... Or does that make me a Kool-Aid drinkin' TD man?

It is not necessary to declare someone "ineligible." As far as I understand the rule, you need to have an eligible receiver at each end of the line, on the line of scrimmage, there is no rule against having two guys with eligible numbers lined up next to each other.... Any experts out there?

*LOL* Could be... though I think Mike may have a smaller stash than he thinks he does....

An excellent point! I was thinking the same thing; isn't it possible to say good things about holcomb without having to bash JP? Sheesh. Then again, the only thing that being a columnist has in common with being a cornerback or a major league closer is a very short memory... you forget whatever you wrote in the past lest it keep you from making directly contradictory statements in the future...

Ah, I do appreciate the reminders of Trusello's, which was just a block or so from my house growing up.... Loved the bread too... and laugh in retrospect at the utter disregard for safety and health regulations... Ever walk into that "store" and slip and slide on all the flour on the floor... not to mention the huge hot ovens... Ah, the innocence of younger days!!!

Ahhh... now I see. Thanks for the clip. I can never get enough of The Voice.

Thanks for the confidence.... This may be a reach, but is your name a reference to George Blanda's relief effort at QB for the Raidahs in the early 1970s?

Arrrr... another victim of the Curse of Logorrhea.... arrrr... me needs to use shorter words.... arrrr

Funny, I noticed that too! Obviously the folks at Sirius HQ do not know much geography....

I was actually thinking that this thread could be combined with the pirate thread by changing the title to "Everybody on them there knees!" I mean, at least then it would be closer to grammatical....

Fair enough. I for one was not trying to say that Lindell was "clutch," but I still think it is not the same thing to say Lindell looked shaky at times (true) and that his shakiness actually led the Bills to alter their game day strategy (not true... or at least, not proven). Of course Rian Lindell will not keep his job one moment longer than the Bills leadership thinks he deserves it. But that does not mean that the Bills leadership has or must have the same apocalyptic view of Lindell that many on this board do.

For the record, I am not asking for detailed stats either. My only point is that the impression that the Bills do not have confidence in Lindell and have altered game strategy as a result is just that, an impression, and a not-particularly well-founded one at that. The number of kicks tells us nothing because there is no context. FFS suggested that the game situations did not leave the Bills with many such chances, and I agree with him. The confidence thing is too intangible. Fans think that way, MM never has said it. While we are discussing impressions and what-ifs, remember that Lindell twice made 49-yarders last year that were wiped out by time outs. Of course if he misses a lot of key kicks he is gone, but the hand-wringing along the lines of "I'm sick of seeing the Bills forego figgies from outside 40 yards" is based on a mirage. All kickers can only be judged on what they do, and none are perfect. Heck, anyone remember Steve Christie missing a 42-yarder in 1998 on opening day in SD? Lindell is not perfect, but it is not as if the Bills are keeping him around for no reason either....

Exactly the question that I have been asking with no response.... What does a guy have to do to get involved in a conversation around here... move to Alaska, change my name to "JillWhoLovesCouchPotatoesPleasePMMe"... what? Edit: Thank you rjcojes!

That question cannot be answered without responding to mine, KH. I am still waiting for evidence that our staff altered strategy because of lack of faith in Lindell. Open minded, but waiting.... and so far no one has anything to say except to repeat the urban legend. Sure, we might not have faith in him, but have the coaches done anything to show that they do not...? Anyone... anyone? Bueller?......

Actually, he did sum it up in one para... that was the "Cliffs Notes" section at the top.....

You do put the "exhaust" in "exhaustive," FFS, but you also raise a question that has been bugging me for a while, which I posted in another thread, but that no one can answer yet, and that is: When have the Bills punted or gone for it rather than tried a FG of more than 40 yards since Lindell was here? It has become an urban legend that such is the case, and people cite his relatively few attempts from more than 40, but that proves nothing. All it proves is that the Bills O moved the ball well enough between the 20s that they rarely stalled out in long FG range. (In fact, the O's pathetic red zone performance last year is one reason why he had so many attempts from less than 40...) I think too many people remember Greggo punting from the NE 30 on the first drive of the second half of the first Pats game in 2002, and have somehow allowed that pain to merge with their Lindell hatred to create this legend, but I am still waiting for proof. This is not to say that Lindell is not still on a short leash for his key misses last year. I still worry about every attempt, but I have done the same with every Bills kicker since John Leypoldt (who, for all his success with the Bills, cost them at least two Miami games with missed PATs, not to mention the 1975 Giants game on MNF, but that is another story), so that's not saying much. Go Bills!

Wanda is funny... which is why she should have her own show and be in movies... but get the heck away from the screen... I want to see the plays of the week, listen to Harry Kalas or Jeff Kaye and all that cool NFL films music!

Inside the NFL went downhill once they stopped making the highlights the centerpiece of the show. Too many hosts, too many special features, too much lame infotainment.... ugh. Hey, you kids, get off my lawn! [rocking crotchetedly in my chair, shawl around my shoulders] Bring back Al Meltzer and Chuck Bednarik!!!

I know that Dickerson was an NFL coach, and thus might see some things others don't, but has anyone else noticed that it is a common strategy of know-it-all wannabe analysts to cite one member of an offensive line as especially good or especially bad? Doing so is essentially cost free, since most people do not focus enough on a single blocker through an entire game to be able to refute such arguments, and therefore they assume that the analyst must really know. I remain very skeptical, however, that anyone who does not have access to actual game film that zeroes in on the offensive line (watching TV replays that end up following the ball do not count, nor does the impressionistic feel of simply relying on what one sees at the game live) that anyone can accurately break down the play of any individual player. It is all a smokescreen, I think, and an attempt to bully anyone who might disagree by asserting knowledge that the bully does not actually have. I say this because Dickerson was famous in the past for hammering on one OL man at a time, be it Dusty Ziegler or Glenn Parker, so that he created an impression that the player was utterly useless (I believe he referred to Parker as "a big fat bag of pus" at one point). The fact that both men eventually left Buffalo and performed well elsewhere suggests that the Coach's verdicts were far from perfect. Thoughts? EDIT: Wow, FFS and I were thinking the same thoughts at the same time, apparently... spooky.

Actually, one suggestion did just come to mind... Try Frodo's Pizza, in the Cherrydale Shopping Center. Not quite Buffalo quality, but some good stuff nonetheless.

Great pics! Thanks for sharing them. The opening photo of Promo and Biff Beeper brought a tear to my eye.....

I am thread killer. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! Mwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!! [That, by the way, is a poetic way of saying, "Props to me, haters!" Which is perhaps the single greatest line ever typed on TSW. Hats off to JSP. ]