nfreeman
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Posts posted by nfreeman
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4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:
It is true. I have never seen a QB run like Josh Allen. Lamar Jackson is the most special athlete I have ever seen play the Quarterback position, but his style, I have seen before. He is a better Michael Vick. Allen's running style it kinda reminds me of Eric Dickerson with that sort of upright style and the way he just runs over people.... but Dickerson is a HoF running back. Allen is a Quarterback. Unique.
I must disagree with the bolded. LJ is great, but pre-incarceration Vick was IMHO the best running QB of all time. He was the fastest guy on the field and incredibly elusive.
As for a historical comparable to Josh's running style, I'd suggest pre-knee-injury Daunte Culpepper, who was 6'4", 260 and pretty fast, although not as fast as Josh. In his 1st 5 years as a starter, Culpepper had over 400 yards rushing every year, including 1 year with over 600. JA is a better passer, but his running style reminds me of Daunte's.
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Soprano -- please keep posting. I enjoy it and for that matter I do believe you have a source.
Any info on specific terms of the deal?
Also -- any info on whether we are going to bring in another QB?
Go Bills.
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it's sad, actually. the buffalo media and fan base has become more abusive than i can ever remember, and that's gotta to be tough to deal with for anyone.
as for getting a new coach, great. let's get some assistant coach who's never done a goddamn thing and who no one truly knows anything about except that he comes from a vaguely defined "good coaching tree."
i hope mularkey stays. but given the espn reports, i seriously doubt that he will.
Dave, I must disagree. I don't think you can say the media or fan base are worse than any other NFL city -- and I think both are better than most.
Bottom line is that MM did a crappy job this year. I don't see how anyone could have watched this year's team and thought otherwise. 1-7 on the road? Losing every close game? The debacle in Miami? Getting completely blown out multiple times? Pulling out McGahee on every 3rd down? Throwing those GD screen passes to Shelton inside the 5-yard line instead of giving it to McGahee? Public blowups with Moulds and Adams? And why did Pittsburgh become really good after MM left? Are you kidding?
Your point about getting another assistant from a good tree is right on. That's been tried twice and failed miserably both times. I have a hard time believing that the Bills are going to go down that road yet again.
I was OK with MM staying, but that is just out of deference to Marv's judgment. If Marv's judgment is that MM should go, I will again trust him. If he leaves, I think it will be because the Bills want him to. This business about "family considerations" is nonsense. It's about negotiating a buyout.
I'd guess Marv will go with someone with experience. My first choice is Mike Sherman, then Steve Mariucci.
Go Bills.
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Marv is going to do a great job, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was with us longer than TD was. No matter how long he's the GM, I fully expect Marv to produce more than TD's 31 wins and to get us into the playoffs by 2007.
I think this is a great move by Ralph. I wouldn't have minded seeing Mariucci, Reeves, Fassel, etc. replacing Mularkey, but there is also something to be said for not replacing the coaches too often.
Marv knows what to do and he knows what we need. First order of business is a good DT, then a couple of O-linemen, then a sitdown with MM to make it clear that McGahee needs to get the ball more than 10 times a game and to stay on the field on 3rd down and on goal-line situations. No more Shaud Williams and no more GD passes to Daimon Shelton. We are not going to look like bozos next year -- or else MM is not going to last the year.
Go Bills.
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Freester, you are probably right about the pay cut but completely out to lunch on TO. Yet another one of your whacked-out predictions.
In any event, if Moulds does leave, I expect him to pick a playoff-caliber team with a good QB as his destination and to have a huge year.
Donahoe must go.
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He also interviewed Marvin Lewis, John Fox, Tom Coughlin and Charlie Weis and decided that Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey were better.
He also brought in studs like Teague, Villarrial, Gandy and Anderson to help out with the offensive line.
He also decided that Jeff Posey was such an incredible necessity that he signed him to a multi-year deal at 12:01am on Day 1 of the 2003 free agency period.
He also snowed you and everyone else in this town to the extent that season-ticket sales reached the level at which they had been during the Super Bowl years.
Also, you might not have picked the right day to include Adams, Fletcher, Clements and Schobel in your argument for the man.
I refuse to lump players like M. Williams, Reed, Milloy and Bledsoe in here...at the time that said players were acquired I don't think many Bills fans disagreed.
All I know is that this team is an absolute disaster. An embarassment. Garbage. A mess. They have not won a single meaningful road game since Donahoe has been here and their record since his arrival is 30-44.
Do the math.
right on. 0 and 5 on the road. the 4th pick in the draft, BENCHED for an undrafted free agent. heading for 5-11 or 6-10 at best in year FIVE of the TD project. A defense that is utterly helpless against a good offense -- can't stop a run on 3rd down to save its life.
It's not just the front office -- it's coaching too. Our best players on offense don't get the ball. WM gets 10 carries, even though we're starting a young QB on the road against a playoff team. How many times are we going to thow it to Daimon Shelton? How many chances is Josh Reed going to get? Would he still be on a Bill Parcells team? Too many GD trick plays that go nowhere, instead of lining up and pounding the run.
TD must go, and although I admit to liking him last year, Mularkey should go with him. This team has no guts.
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McGahee is much better than Peerless. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I don't think we should've kept Peerless at the salary he was looking for, and TD deserves credit for creatively using the franchise tag to get the #1 in exchange for him.
However, in deciding to let him go, we needed another receiver to replace him. TD figured we could just plug in Josh Reed -- much the same way he figured this year we could just plug in Ron Edwards and/or Tim Anderson for Pat Williams -- and the result was a disaster. The offense that year was unwatchable. There was no one to stretch the D, so everyone keyed on Moulds, and then he got hurt, and Bledsoe completely disintegrated.
Donahoe must go.
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If Williams was such a blunder, who would YOU have taken with the pick?
McKinney? The guy's terrible and has a bad attitude to boot.
Trade down? Nobody wanted to trade up because the draft was considered weak (stories said that TD tried to trade down but couldn't find any takers).
Trade up for Joey Harrington? Yeah, that would've been great.
So who would you take?
You can't say a pick was a blunder if there's no other options. Besides, MW (when healthy) has played pretty well and has been nearly dominating in the run blocking arena.
CW
Dwight Freeney was picked #11 that year.
Jeremy Shockey was #14.
Ryan Sims was #6.
Roy Williams was #8.
John Henderson was #9.
Albert Haynesworth was #15.
Javon Walker was #20.
Ed Reed was #24.
Kendall Simmons was #30.
So there were plenty of good players available. Obviously no one can predict the future -- or we would've taken Freeney or Henderson. But I am not making $1 million per year to take the right guy for the bills. TD is.
Mike Williams is probably going to get cut this year, after 4 years of waving to pass rushers as they sped by him into our backfield and $25 million or so of Ralph's money that could've been much better spent.
Donahoe must go.
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Not that anyone needed to be reminded, but I think we can now safely eliminate all doubt that the selection of Williams belongs on the list of HUGE donahoe blunders. In no particular order, this is how I see the list (keeping in mind that this doesn't include all the mediocre draft picks):
1. Mike Williams
2. Gregg Williams
3. Keeping Rob Johnson
4. Trading a #1 for Bledsoe
5. Letting Pat Williams go without an adequate replacement
Each one of these decisions has been a complete disaster. Cumulatively they have put on on an express train to a 5-11 season in TD's FIFTH year.
Note that I am not including JP on this list b/c it's too soon to tell. I am also not including other bad moves such as:
A. Bennie Anderson
B. Josh Reed
C. Ryan Denney
D. letting Peerless go without an adequate replacement
E. failure to bring in quality players at offensive and defensive line
F. keeping Gregg Williams around a year too long after it was clear that he was a loser
etc. etc. -- but only because I don't think the items on the 2nd list were individually as crippling as the items on the 1st list.
Donahoe must go.
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No, not an earth-shattering revelation, but I think DM's question is WHY aren't we as good as those teams, esp. the Chiefs and the Chargers, both of whom recently were mediocre? McBride's point about us being lousy 5 years into the TD program is right on. We are soft on both lines, aging rapidly on D and without an NFL QB anywhere in sight.
Next year, Clements will be gone, Spikes will be rehabbing an injury most don't come back from, and Sam Adams will be another year older and heavier. Fletcher, Milloy and Vincent will also be another year older. I don't see Tim Anderson or Justin Bannan (is he still on the team?) or any of the free agent castoffs on our OL morphing into good linemen. It's also quite possible that Moulds will get fed up with playing with a bunch of stiffs, they will ask him to take a pay cut, he will say no, and then he'll get cut.
The only hope we have to be in the playoffs anytime soon is of JP turning into a good QB. Notwithstanding DM's pessimism and the various comments we've seen here and there, there is just no way to know the answer on this yet. It's still a 50/50 shot. Elway and both Mannings all stunk their first years.
Bottom line is that after 5 years of TD making $1 million per year, we are in worse shape than when he took over. Remember Wade Phillips? He got run out of town after making the playoffs twice in 3 years and finishing 8-8 in his 3rd year. Would anyone here not trade this coaching staff, front office and team for Wade's/Butler's group in a heartbeat?
TD has:
1. hired gregg williams, wasting 3 years of everyone's life
2. wasted a 1st round pick on Bledsoe, when QBs of comparable quality (eg bledsoe himself, this year) are floating around in free agency every year.
3. wasted the 4th pick in the draft on Mike Williams, who is a lousy pass blocker and gets hurt every year.
4. drafted ONE starting o-lineman
5. drafted ZERO starting DTs (you can count Ron Anderson or Tim Anderson here if you really want to)
6. failed to address getting a replacement for Pat Williams this year -- somehow forgetting how bad we were against the run the last time Ron Anderson was starting (ie before Sam Adams arrived, when it was just Pat Williams). Did he think we were just going to "stop the run with numbers" to quote his protege GW?
7. drafted ZERO starting LBs
8. drafted ZERO starting safeties
9. assembled a team with zero mental toughness that gets completely waxed every time there is a road game of any consequence. I still can't believe how badly we lost to Pitt's backups last year when a win would have put us into the playoffs.
Note that the above list doesn't include the possible wasting of another 1st rounder and at least 2 more years of everyone's life on JP b/c I do believe it's too early to judge. On the other hand, it probably would have been wiser to not invest so much in a rookie QB and instead find a caretaker veteran QB (e.g. Brian Griese, who could've been had for a couple of throwback jerseys) and spend the money and the draft picks on lineman.
Donahoe must go.
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I will. I think he's a solid shut-down corner. Problem is that both cornerbacks, throughout the game, were playing 10-15 yards off the receiver and it was almost as though they were guarding against the deep ball. I was at the game, sat in the 2nd row and noticed this on each and every play.
It's easy to bash Clements on one bad game but overall, he is one of the top corners in the league.
Yes, one of the best CBs in the league, but not worth what it will cost to keep him -- esp. when it's obvious how many other crying needs this team has.
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Hold on, gentlemen. I completely agree that TD must go, and frankly, I won't be unhappy if he takes Mularkey with him. However, I can't accept Ralph-bashing. He wants to WIN, not make money. That's why he hired TD -- the person everyone said was the best football man available -- and stepped back to let him run the football operations. Ralph has ponied up huge $$ for Spikes, M. Williams, Milloy, etc. There is no cheapskate issue here.
Let's remember that the man could have sold this team anytime he wanted for a cool $750 million or more. Instead he has given the people of Buffalo an NFL team for as long as he is with us. There aren't many people who would have done the same.
As to the real issue: TD must go. He is accountable for putting together this pathetic, no-heart, soft bunch of losers. I look at this team and see no hope for the future. As lousy as it is, the D is getting old in a hurry, which means it's going to need a few new starters ASAP. The O-line is pretty weak as well. We have a big zero at QB, with no reason to think that a real QB will emerge from either JP or Holcomb.
There are no leaders on either the O-line or the D-line. Mike Williams is average at pass protection, way overpaid and gets hurt every year. Sam Adams is way overweight, so he needs a lot of rest, and throws too many tantrums to be a leader. Schobel, Kelsay and Denney simply aren't good enough players to have credibility as leaders.
Donahoe has assembled a team that is weak on both lines, has lousy quarterbacking and questionable coaching (once again, McGahee didn't get the ball nearly enough yesterday). THIS TEAM HAS NO HEART!!! How many times during Donahoe's time here have the bills gotten waxed on the road at a pivotal moment in the season?
TD must go.
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I think the 2nd part of the sentence is the telling part....Wilson is not going
to give out 30+M in signing bonus to two players.....especially if they are
going to keep aging players like Moulds/Milloy/Fletcher whose cap #s
keep getting higher the more deeper into their contracts...
Let's not take any shots at Ralph. The man is a prince. He has ponied up plenty of cash for bonuses and free agents. There is no cheapskate factor. If he was in it for the money, he would have sold the team for $750 million a long time ago.
As far as what do you spend the money on if not your own good young players -- I agree with this up to a point, but that point is below what it will cost to sign a top-tier DB. A DB just doesn't have that much impact on the game, unless he's Deion Sanders in his prime. McGee is good, and maybe even comparable to Deion as a KR (but probably not quite as good), but he doesn't shut down half of the downfield the way Deion did.
Again, I ask: who would you rather have: one of our 2 (admittedly excellent) CBs, or Bruce Smith or Ted Washington in their primes? There is no doubt, is there? A great D-linemen, which is what our D is crying out for, is just much more effective than a great CB.
I don't know who the top DTs/DEs/LTs on the market are going to be in the next couple of years. However, the bills shouldn't use up their cap space just because they have it -- this would preclude future steps down the road. There are always good veterans unexpectedly becoming available -- like Milloy, Pete Kendall, Corey Simon, etc.
And by the way, another expensive position that IS worth the money and that it is quite likely we will need to spend money on next year or the year after is QB. I hate to say it, but can anyone feel confident that this is not the case?
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Yes...we certainly won't lose both of them next season...unless McGee decides
to hold out......But we will have to chose to sign either McGee or McGahee to
a contract extension next year.....to manage the salary cap...I don't think
we will be able to give 15M+ signing bonus to two players.....
We will not lose both in the same offseason, but we will lose them one after the other. Believe me, I would prefer that this not happen, but I also don't believe in spending that much on a DB. Each of them is just going to cost too much relative to value to the team. You can't blow that much cap space on a DB.
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Good point, and what I actually meant originally. That's what TD does, put a dollar figure on players as to how much he thinks he is worth to the Bills, based on everything. AW was probably worth it to the Vikes, especially because of their cap situation, and even though he signed for like 36 mil he probably costs them only 2-3 mil a year on the cap, so he's well worth it now. Frankly, I am convinced they will franchise Nate. see what other teams offer him on a contract and the Bills on a trade. Otherwise keep him a year.
I agree completely -- TD has a number in mind that he won't go above. I also agree that this is the right way to run things. Bottom line is that the market today for top CBs is too expensive relative to value to the team. I don't think Winfield has transformed the Vikes' defense -- a DB just doesn't have as much impact as, say, a Bruce Smith or Ted Washington would have. In that regard, wouldn't anyone here trade NC or McGee for Bruce or Ted in their primes?
TD might franchise Clements and/or McGee when the time comes, but his goal in doing so won't be to keep him at $10 million for the year -- it will be to get maximum trade value. Nate is going to want a $17-$20 million bonus plus a good salary, and someone is going to give it to him -- but it won't be the bills.
Unfortunately, I think the same goes for McGee. He knows he's going to get a huge payday and is not going to extend for less -- ie he will play out his current contract. Regardless of whether he's as good as NC, he's at least a pretty good CB and a top 3 if not #1 kick returner in the NFL, which has significant value. I'd say he's better than Winfield right now. He's not going to accept Schobel money when Clements/Bailey money is out there.
I would love to keep both -- or either -- but I think this is going be a case of the TD revolving door of great defensive players, just like we saw when he was in Pittsburgh. Hopefully we can get good draft picks in trade and use them on good replacement DBs.
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I hate to keep saying this, but both Clements and McGee are gone. They are both going to command top-tier CB money, ie $17 million bonus or more. The bills are not going to go that high, and that is the end of the story. Enjoy them while they are still here and hope that we can keep drafting good CBs.
Note that the reason, IMHO, that the bills will not go that high is not out of cheapness but rather b/c TD doesn't believe in committing that much cap space to a DB, which I agree with. I do expect us to keep Willis around for as long as he's an elite RB, b/c it's a more important position.
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These numbers make it even more clear that our crying needs are QB and DT. JP may or many not be the answer at QB; all I am saying is that we need better QB play. Holcomb looks much better than JP but is not the long-term answer. I think he has completed exactly one pass that went more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage (yesterday to Campbell). Contributions from Roscoe and the TE from Miami would also help the passing game.
It would also be great if we could lock up McGee to an extension, since:
1. we are almost certainly going to lose clements
2. McGee, when he becomes a free agent (is it after next year?), will probably get an offer in the neighborhood of the one that clements gets this year. He's a pretty good corner and a huge weapon in the return game.
Moulds, btw, is playing great. It helps to have someone who can actually deliver a pass.
Holcomb will be the key to beating the Raiders. If we don't win that game we have no shot at the playoffs.
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I hate to say this, but I realized today that we are going to lose McGee also when his contract is up. He is going to get an offer in the ballpark of Clements', ie $15-$18 million bonus, the bills are not going to match, and that is the end of the story. Which means the bills are going to lose 3 outstanding DBs at their respective peaks in 4 years.
Clements is a somewhat better on D than McGee (although McGee is pretty solid), but McGee is definitely in the top 3 kick returners in the NFL and maybe #1. That puts them in the same contract ballpark, IMHO.
It really sucks, but I also think this is the right decision -- it's just too much cap space to allocate to a DB.
In the meantime, he is great to watch returning kicks, isn't he?
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I like Lindy too. Less sure about Darcy but not as down on him as some. It would have been nice to get something in return for Satan and Zhitnik (but I have no problem with not keeping either of them).
Bottom line on Lindy is that he got the team deep into the playoffs a few times with nothing more than a great goalie and a bunch of string and rubber bands. And I don't want to hear about Peca. He was decent, but not great. He stunk the entire year after we lost in the finals, and the team followed him right down the drain. Absolutely not worth $4 million per year. He didn't do anything for the Islanders and they have now unloaded him.
Given the Sabres' budget and the crazy prices being paid pre-lockout for the very few players who could score consistently, there was no way we could go out and get a high scorer. Then when Dominik left, Biron was a complete washout. I don't think any coach could've gotten more out of this team pre-lockout given the crappy goaltending and lack of scoring punch.
I think the way the Sabres have adjusted to the new rules speaks very well for Lindy and for the team's prospects this year. We have a lot of speed and youth, enough scoring talent and hopefully enough toughness and leadership with Gaustad and Briere. I'd like to see some more toughness on the backline, and I'd be quite happy if Brian Campbell disappeared. In any case if Miller is the real deal (and it looks that way so far -- his game against the Bruins was better than I have ever seen Biron play), we will be in the playoffs, and not just for a cup of coffee either.
Go Sabres. I'm getting one of those red jerseys.
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RIDICULOUS---Drew has some good stats...but he hasnt been that good for Dallas---...against WASH he throws a 2 yard pass on 4th and 4 to end thegame.1 loss on Drew. He throws a few good ones late against San Fran..big deal....--Last year DB was HORRIBLE--while the D was vailantly keeping us close in games.Sure---JP isnt ready---but we;d still be 1-2 with DB in there..espec ially with the D giving up GOBS of yards
Right on. Everyone is looking at a few Bledsoe highlights and stats from 2 wins against crappy teams early in the season and just forgetting how AWFUL he was for the last TWO YEARS in buffalo. TWO YEARS of watching that big tree trunk sit back there and get sacked out of field goal range. TWO YEARS of watching that rocket arm be completely unable to hit a running back in stride coming out of the backfield, like any NFL QB has to be able to do. Two years of my life that I'll never get back.
Drew was a great guy, and I still can't decide who else we might have gotten at the time that would have been better -- bottom line is there just weren't many good QBs available or for that matter have become available since then, although Drew Brees is one of them. But there were at least 6 games last year where no one watching him could have conceivably wanted him in the NFL, and another 6 where he looked like a bottom 5 QB. Remember the Ravens game (2 picks for Deion)? The Pitt game at home against Pitt's backups to get into the playoffs? Every Jets road game? Every patriots game? He only had one good game (vs Miami, which was terrible last year) the whole year. He was terrible on the road. There was no way we could bring him back.
JP is essentially a rookie and is going to struggle. That's how it is. We'll know by the end of the year whether he MIGHT be good. Not in week 3, 4, 5 or 10 for that matter.
I am having an increasing number of issues with Tom Donahoe's strategy and decision-making on building this team. Someone on another thread made a great comment a few days ago -- to the effect that the bills are built from the outside in, which is a losing formula, not the inside out, which is what teams like the pats and steelers are. It's clear to me that we need more talent on both lines, and that our drafting under TD hasn't produced much in the later rounds. In addition, TD has made a number of big mistakes -- Gregg Williams and probably Mike Williams among them. But letting Drew go was not one of them.
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I don't own it yet (but plan to eventually), but my understanding is that only 1 slingbox is needed, not 2. You don't need to travel around with it -- it just needs to be connected to your home TV. Certainly $250 is not a small sum, but it's a one-time cost (ie no monthly fees)
also, you are right about the high-speed connection on both ends, but my understanding is that a normal cable modem will do -- ie doesn't need a T-1 or anything like that. Although I'm sure the faster, the better.
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I park in the stadium lot for 1PM games and am always able to catch a 7:10 flight, with enough time to fill up the tank in the rental car and return it. The key is to hang out in the lot after the game until about 5:45 or so. All the traffic thins out and it's pretty easy to get out.
I take SW Blvd west, then a right on Brompton, which feeds into McKinley, right (North) on McKinley, right on Willet (which is where McKinley ends), left (north) on Abbot, right (east) on Ridge, Ridge to thruway north/east to 33 east to airport. By that time there isn't much traffic.
Also, the buff. airport is small enough that you don't need a full hour before your flight departure. No shuttle bus for rental car return --just a short walk across the street. Lines aren't bad at security on sun. night either.
I wouldn't wait until a 10 PM flight -- you'll end up having to kill 3 hours in the airport, which is pretty boring.
Also, there are always a bunch of bills fans on the 7:15 flight to NYC.
Good luck.
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Also -- if you have the game at home but are traveling (or have a friend who has it and is willing to do you a favor) -- there is a new gadget called a sling box that allows you to watch your home TV from anywhere in the world via the internet. There is an article about it in SI this week.
Basically, if you have a high-speed internet connection set up in the house where the TV is, you can install the sling box. Then, if you are away from the house, and you have access to a computer with a high speed connection (e.g. internet cafe, hotel, office, etc.) -- you can access the sling box and, using the computer screen, watch whatever is on the TV at that time. The really cool thing is that you can control the TV from your remote location with the computer -- change channels, Tivo features, etc.
Unfortunately, it's not yet possible to control JP remotely with the computer. But I think they are working on it.
Good luck.
Buying a generator…any suggestions?
in Off the Wall
Posted
I bought this one when my family and I were all working/schooling from home during Covid and the occasional power failures were really disruptive:
Westinghouse Outdoor Power Equipment 12500 Peak Watt Dual Fuel Home Backup Portable Generator, Remote Electric Start, Transfer Switch Ready, Gas and Propane Powered, CARB Compliant https://a.co/d/1b2Rg7w
I’m pretty happy with it. A few notes:
- getting the electrician to install the outlet that connects it to our panel was about $1200.
- it will power the entire house except the AC in summer.
- it’s really noisy.
- it needs to be outside because it produces carbon monoxide, but it’s also not supposed to get wet, so you need some kind of tent or awning or something.
Good luck.