Tolstoy

Just curious if anybody has heard anything about the Cowboy's coaching position, especially after their trouncing at the hands of the Vikings (at home!). Will Jones keep Wade? If not, has Cowher perhaps been holding out for something like this? Sorry if I missed a previous post on this.

Good points. We can only hope that we don't squander this talent in the next five years. I was reflecting the other day on Moulds, who was a very good WR, but who played for the Bills after the SB runner-up era. His talent was, in a sense, wasted, in so far as he never contributed to a championship team. Maybe that is a bit harsh, but I think that great players become greatest only when they help the team become successful, and Moulds was unable to do that because of the team around him. So too, all of the talent we have now could theoretically go wasted in the next five years, unless the ownership, GM, coach, and QB situation works out (as well as a host of other minor items)! But thanks for responding. I am a little more hopeful than before, just not much.

I have been a Bills fan since the early 1980's, and can never remember the team's future being as dim and cloudy as it is now. Here are the reasons things look so bad (I am sorry if you have heard all this before): 1. The owner is aged, and the team very well could move out of Buffalo any year now (e.g., if Ralph, God bless his soul, passed away tomorrow, and the team were sold to a Toronto or LA group in the next six months, it could be moved for the 2011-12 season). 2. Even if Ralph lasts 5-10 more years (a big if!), the GM is new at the job, and relatively unproven. He very well could be over his head, and the Bills could fail badly at bringing in talented players and coaches over the next 5 years. 3. Even if Ralph lasts 5-10 more years, and Nix does well as GM (two big if's now!), we can't seem to bring in a quality head coach. WE DO NOT WANT ANOTHER UNTESTED COORDINATOR OR A FAILED RETREAD COACH! The reason for this is that we have gone this route and it has failed miserably. It could very well fail again (does anyone doubt that?). We do not want to go 3 or 4 more seasons rebuilding, with a new coach, with more 5-11, 6-10, 7-9, 8-8, or 9-7 (whoopee!) seasons, only to find that this coach didn't have what it takes, and start all over again. For the love of God, no more of this please! We need a proven commodity, a guy who knows what the hell he is doing, and can inspire confidence. That is why we were all rooting for Shanahan and Cowher. Maybe we still have a shot at a proven coach, but it appears to be dimming by the day, what with unproven guys like Brian Shot. in NY turning us down. 4. Even if Ralph lasts a while, and Nix is good, and we get a good coach (now three gigantic if's!), we will not go anywhere without at least a decent QB. I don't see anyone fitting that description on the horizon. A McNabb would be a good stopgap, but would not get us through to a championship in 2-3 years. We need to develop a good QB. How good have we been at that in the last decade??? So, even if the owner, GM, and coach situation works out, what are the chances that we will suddenly hit the jackpot with a good QB? Folks, the chances of this ship being righted in the next 5 years are really, really slim. I live out of state, and ask myself why I subject myself to the pain of being a Bills fan. I guess it is like family. You can't choose your family. If your father is an alcoholic, a criminal, and a deadbeat (BTW, my dad is not--he is a great man), he is still your father. So the Bills are still my team, and will always be so. But things look so depressing at the moment. Whatever glimmer of light used to shine at the end of the tunnel is no longer shining for me. The Bills tunnel has turned into complete darkness. Can someone give me any reason to hope?

Precisely. Bad franchises become sinkholes for promising young players (see Oakland, Buffalo, et al.). Conversely, good franchises enable even mediocre players to play at or above their natural talent level (see New England, Pittsburgh, et al.). Imagine that you were to come out of college and thrown into a job where everything is in disarray--no clear leadership, vision,and direction, and people are confused about their responsibilities, worried about their job security, doubted by everyone around, etc. Wouldn't that be a difficult environment for you to work in and develop yourself? Imagine now a well-ordered environment, where everyone works confidently in their own well-defined task, people believe they will succeed and are motivated to do so, and the leadership inspires everyone. It is no different in the NFL. On a positive note, I think the Sabres are one of those NHL teams which enable young talent to develop--such as Myers, Kennedy, etc. In fact, look at their whole roster--most of it is homegrown. Good franchise.

I haven't heard much about this possibility, but it seems reasonable that Cowher might be leaving the Bills hanging on any job offer because he is waiting to see if any other coaching jobs open up--specifically among the playoff teams. He might even have one or two teams in mind, such as Dallas (although it looks like Wade's job is safe now, as you note). I can't imagine another reason for his failure to give a definitive "no" to the Bills...

My read on Wilson's remarks: Possibility #1 (more likely) The Bills have more or less offered the job to Cowher, and he has not responded yet. This is both good and bad. It is good because if Cowher had declined, or if the Bills were not considering him for a job, Wilson would have said that Cowher was not in the picture. He did not say that. That means that Cowher has not formally told the Bills that he is not interested. It is bad because Cowher has not accepted the job, and Wilson's remarks about a "splashy name" suggest that the Bills are becoming discouraged with Cowher and (in the "sour grapes" mentality) suggesting they didn't want him in the first place. Possibility #2 (less likely) Cowher has indicated to the Bills that he is not interested in the Bills coaching position, but Wilson wants to let Cowher speak for himself on that one. I think this is less likely because this news would have been leaked in the last week. The lack of information about Cowher and the Bills is more consistent with possibility #1, than with #2. Just my read.

Precisely. To be human is to be mortal. Moreover, our mortality, as a limit to human life, gives shape and meaning to our lives, much like the limits and edges of a sculpture give shape and identity to the sculpture. Of course, it has also long been a fantasy of humans to gain immortality (which, as the ancient Greeks knew, was one and the same with becoming a god). This "cessation of aging" nonsense is merely another fantasy under the guise of science.

For me as well please. Snowed in in NH.

The Watergate source.

Ok, assuming it is still a possibility, let's shower Cowher with pleas and entreaties--as publicly as possible, to get him here. Any ideas? Here are some: -A visible billboard in Buffalo (or better, close to where he lives, so he sees it every day) -an advertisement in our newspaper (or his) -an e-mail blitz (assuming we could get his e-mail address) Or something more creative that would capture the media's attention: sit-ins, strikes, protests, etc. Don't underestimate the power of the people!

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see England do well in the World Cup (provided that the USA can advance with them out of group play). Despite my admiration for Rooney, Lampard, Gerard, et al. (I'd love to see any one of these players in American uniforms!), I am just not convinced that they have the attacking ability, creative ability, or sheer skill of the Brazilian and Spanish strikers and midfielders. Then again, the World Cup is won by whole teams, and requires chemistry, tenacity, aggression, etc. So--maybe England scores higher on those criteria then many other, more skilled, teams. You may be right about Germany, but I am constantly surprised at how well-prepared the Germs are in World Cup play. They are extremely efficient, especially in free kicks. I am still picking Spain to win it all this year (for the first time in history, I think). They do play a beautiful game. As for the USA, I would love to see us get a little better at two things: (1) developing a dangerous striker who strikes fear in the heart of opposing defenses (have we ever had that?) and (2) a creative midfield that can hold the ball and set up scoring opportunities in innumerable ways (not just the dump to the corner and cross method). The last such midfielder that we have had is Reyna, and I don't see anyone even close to his ability on the present team. As for the striker, I am still hoping Altidore can become world-class, but he is nowhere close to that yet.

I am not convinced that meazza's confidence is well-placed. England has played better, but they don't have the horses that Spain or Brazil has. Italy and Germany are very strong, and the Dutch team should not be overlooked. Other than South Africa, England was the team I hoped we were paired with. As for favorites to win, I would have to say (1) Spain (they have been lights out in qualifying), (2) Brazil, and (3) Germany (they always come to play-and no, King Kahn is done).

Are you confusing the national debt and the federal deficit? Both are relevant here, but I'm just wondering, so we don't speak past one another. BTW, what is PPP?

Actually, Connor is asking about the national debt, which I think was about 120% of GDP in 1946 (all time high). I don't know what the deficit was in 1945 or 1946. Connor is attempting, I think, to make the point that deficit spending is ok. Perhaps he is reasoning thus: since the debt in 1946 was nearly twice as high in percentage of GDP in 1946 (120%) than it is today (64% of GDP), and that led to a tremendous postwar boom, we can expect only good things from our present deficits and national debt. Or, perhaps he is arguing (ala Krugman), that we actually need not less but more stimulus and spending (Krugman calls for massive deficit spending) at WWII levels in order to generate a resurgence of our economy. I am not an economist, but I'm not sure that is a bad thing, since a majority of them couldn't see the recent collapse coming, and therefore seem to be lost in their theories ( I myself am an academic of a different stripe, and know how easily that can happen!). However, I know that even the most Keynesian of economists don't support long-term deficit spending, especially when it is not invested in infrastructure, industry, and jobs. So, when the war machine was ramped up from 1940-1945, we had a short-term infusion of $ into factories and technological development, all of which paid off over the succeeding 25 years when Americans were an exporting nation ("Made in America" was actually common!). That ended in 1975. Now we are spending borrowed money on...buying new cars in the Cash for Clunkers program (most of which are foreign made cars!--so much for investment in American industry!), stimulus checks that get spent at Walmart on Chinese made goods (Smart! We borrow the money from the Chinese, and then promptly send it back to them after we buy their goods!), and of course everything else in our yearly budget that counts as pork, a list of absurdities I need not try to provide here. In other words, this deficit spending does not count as a short-term investment that stands a reasonable chance of payoff. We are not investing in new industry: we are buying our milk and toilet paper with borrowed money, on which we must pay interest. Is that defensible Connor? Is it sustainable?

In my opinion, both parties share the blame here. While Republicans tend to preach fiscal conservatism, Bush failed to reign in federal spending. Democrats are traditional supporters of big government services and programs, yet Clinton did manage to balance the budget. Does it really matter anyhow? Every president who has engineered this train hasn't really cared about the broken bridge ahead, since they knew they would be no longer engineer by the time the wreck happens. No one wants to bear responsibility. As a result, our Republic is facing ruin, utter ruin.

Exactly.

A wire-haired pointing griffon. Yeah, I didn't know what it was either. Great hunting dog that a hunter gave away because his wife had twins. Unfortunately, I don't hunt. But, oh man, you should see her on walks in the morning. She thinks we are out on some grand seek-and-kill operation.

I am with you here. What we have, in effect, is an oligarchy. Our congressmen and federal reserve officials are well-heeled and well-connected. Do you think they worry about the train-wreck in waiting? No (except a few honest ones). They will be fine. They have big savings accounts, hard currency reserves, diversified stock portfolios, etc. The rest of us poor slobs (and our children)? We'll be working for them. Living in tents on parking lots.

Precisely. Don't get me wrong: I do think our health care system is broken--costs to much for individuals and employees, encourages waste (doctors charge per procedure, even unnecessary ones), and there are many deserving people who lack insurance. But for the love of God, how can we afford a program like this now?????????? Who are they kidding when they say that it won't raise the deficit?

I am really worried. Ok, the national debt is somewhere around 11.4 trillion ($39,000 per man, woman, and child), and the federal deficit for 2009 alone is clocking in at 1.4 trillion. It is projected to grow worse each year--and that is before any additional stimulus programs, entitlement programs (healthcare) etc. See yesterday's testimony before congress: http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/testim...ny_11_10_09.pdf Folks, why are we completely incapable of doing anything about this train-wreck in waiting? There will come a day, and it is no longer very far away, when we will have only two options: default on our debt, or monetize it. Under the former option, the dollar loses its status as reserve currency, trillions get dumped wholesale by investors, and rampant inflation happens. Under the latter, we print money like mad to pay our debtors, and rampant inflation happens. Either way, catastrophe. I think this is the fundamental problem with our democracy: no elected official (whether Republican and Democrat) has the political will to do the unpopular thing of cutting spending and increase taxes to reduce the deficit (and ultimately the rate of growth of the national debt). You would be virtually unelectable after doing so. With rampant unemployment already happening, all we can think about is juicing the economy. Perhaps the day is already here. The Fed is running out of tricks in its bag. It can no longer lower interest rates further, so it has to resort to more extreme measures of buying up its own Treasury bonds. The fact that it has stopped reporting the M3 (measure of the dollars out there) suggests that inflation may be around the corner. I am sorry for ranting on. I am really really worried, and blame both Republicans and Democrats equally.

This reminds me: why are all the roads to Paris lined with trees?... So the German soldiers can march in the shade.

You are probably right, as Toni and Ribery are better players. However, Podolski is gone, from what I hear (or is very soon to be gone), so Landon is probably the #3 striker. That is not a bad position to be in, since with injuries and good play, he could easily move to #2.

I am looking forward to the Mexico game as well: will we be bringing our European players back for that one? I know European leagues will be still playing, though perhaps they will take a week off for qualifiers. Dempsey has looked better this season--I hope he can keep it up.

Is he the real deal now? Or is he just a preseason wonder? See the best soccer blog on the net for videos of his latest goals: http://www.soccerbyives.net/ Someday, America will have a world-class striker that will put fear into the hearts of defenders. I don't think Landon (aka Landycakes) is that man, but maybe I am wrong!

Kaka, a world class footballer (soccer player) turned down 150 m. leave, presumably out of some loyalty to his club. You have got to like this guy, if you didn't already. Here are some you-tube clips of some of his goals: I think the Bills should make a bid for him.