Ramius

1987 Ford Ranger. 4-cyl standard. She ran pretty well for me all through college ('99-'03). I could beat anyone off the line in a drag race...up to about 25 mph. After that the acceleration went to hell. If i wanted to pass on a 55 mph 2 lane road (ie rt 11 on the way to clarkson), i'd need about a good mile of run up acceleration. She was one of those trucks that was about 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide so anytime you took a turn at over 40 mph, you'd feel her start to pull like she wanted to roll over. I gave it to my younger bro when i was done with it and he drove it for a few more years. Somehow, in '06, he managed to sell the damn thing (with almost 200k miles, all in NY and PA) for $300 with a flat, broken water pump, cracked oil pan and no battery. And i didnt see a dime of it, that bastard.

Rookies tend to be overated by Madden. They always have. I think Edwards' rating is pretty accurate. Look at his surroundings. There are 10-12 QBs solidly above him (the likes of manning, rivers, brees, etc), and a half dozen of so below him (the 49ers, broncos, browns starters). Edwards falls in the middle category with the likes of garrard, campbell, flacco, etc. All of those are guys that are still more potential than substance. If anyone on the bills really got a low rating, it'd have to be McGee. He should be in the high 80s as opposed to low 80s.

I'm with you. I dont bother playing online due to the prevalence of cheaters. I play against the CPU with the sliders all adjusted to fit what i deem a "normal" game. For example, i adjusted them so you can actually average more than 2.5 yards per carry. But, like you buftex, every year all 5 of my OL make it to the pro-bowl as starters. Perhaps the stretched ratings will finally have an impact. You do know they stretched out the ratings, don't you? Gone are the days of everyone being rated over 70. The new madden ratings have 70 as the average. Players in the 70s are basically average starters, 80s are good players, and 90s pretty much reserved for the elite players. I feel that most of the Bills players are rated right where they should be.

Here they are, courtesy of pastapadre.com. The ratings may change a little bit before the release, but these give a good barometer on what certain players should be rated this year. I'd post a link, but there isn't one, because EA requested pastapadre take the ratings down. (I think ESPN is doing some sort of ratings presentation over the next few days.) EDIT: link found... http://madden.easportsfans.com/?p=237 Position Name OVR SPD ACC QB T. Edwards 76 QB R. Fitzpatrick 65 RB M. Lynch 87 87 90 RB F. Jackson 77 87 91 RB D. Rhodes 74 84 87 FB C. McIntyre 70 WR T. Owens 91 89 91 WR L. Evans 85 97 96 WR J. Reed 77 78 82 WR R. Parrish 66 95 96 WR J. Hardy 61 82 84 WR J. Jenkins 61 87 88 TE D. Fine 67 67 78 TE S. Nelson 67 83 87 TE D. Schouman 66 69 78 OL L. Walker 78 OL A. Levitre 76 OL B. Butler 76 OL E. Wood 75 OL G. Hangartner 74 OL S. McKinney 71 OL K. Chambers 71 OL J. Scott 65 OL M. Philip 62 OL D. Bell 52 DL M. Stroud 92 DL A. Schobel 86 DL C. Kelsay 78 DL A. Maybin 78 DL K. Williams 76 DL J. McCargo 70 DL R. Denney 68 DL S. Johnson 67 LB P. Posluszny 82 74 80 LB K. Mitchell 81 78 88 LB J. DiGiorgio 70 63 78 LB K. Ellison 68 78 84 LB J. Corto 62 79 80 LB P. Thomas 58 75 77 LB N. Harris 56 77 84 CB T. McGee 82 92 95 CB L. McKelvin 78 89 93 CB D. Florence 67 83 85 CB C. Harris 66 85 86 CB A. Youboty 62 85 87 CB R. Corner 55 84 88 S D. Whitner 85 88 90 S K. Simpson 73 80 85 S J. Byrd 72 85 92 S G. Wilson 69 79 90 S B. Scott 64 74 79 S J. Wendling 64 80 86 K R. Lindell 79 P B. Moorman 89 You'll have to create Hamdan/S. Johnson. Looks like they took the spread out ratings to heart. Based on looking at the other teams' ratings, they are very scattered, and there's a huge difference in players. I saw a bunch of 50s rated players and even a few players in the 40s. Now we'll just have to see what effect this has on actual gameplay.

When did i say than < 30 passes a game was playing to JPs strengths? Playing to his strengths means calling the types of plays he was most successful at, not simply called tons of passes. I guess a dimwitted pats* fan like your self cannot comprehend any nuances of the game, huh? 2006 pre-bye week (7 games): 6 TDs, 6 INTs, 8 fumbles, 2006 post-bye week (9 games): 13 TDs, 8 INTs, 5 fumbles Even the most ardent JP bashers will tell you that his 2nd half of 2006 was much improved over his first half. He cut down on turnovers, increased TDs and started looking good as a QB. By denying the improvement, you validate by above statement by exposing yourself as someone who simply does not understand the nuances of the game of football. I suppose i should expect no more from someone who probably started following the NFL in 2002 after you got your tommie brady jersey.

Dick Jauron is capable of having a .500 record.

So what? People get excited about UDFAs because they are house money. When one turns out to be good, or even shows some glimpses, its very exciting. Its called positivity. Its more fun to get excited about the possibility of a UDFA turning out good. Besides, declaring a UDFA is going to suck and not make it is really going out on a limb.

Yeah, i can;t believe we wasted our time getting behind players like Jabari Greer and Fred Jackson. And i assume you guys mean Demetrius Bell? I thought Joel Bell was cut a few days ago?

Looks like you and her have something in common.

That was a hell of a final save by fleury. i thought that was a certain goal, but fleury came out of nowhere. Oh a side note, i have to at ty conklin. He's lost 2 straight cup finals. Thats what he gets for sucking balls on buffalo a few years back. on another side note: No matter what happened in the game, when gary bettman gets booed, everybody wins.

No drugs, they just dislodged his tampon.

Looks like crosby bruised an ovary. If Schittsburgh wins, the only question will be if their fans will be as obnoxious as bostonfan.

The media dragged the palin kids out onto the stage at the RNC? I'm all for leaving the kids out of it, but as was mentioned earlier, if you are going to put your kids front and center and use them to your advantage, dont be surprised when the jokes start flying. And no one thought it was about the 14 year old. The joke was bad simply because it was not very funny.

Just a question...why the hell would anyone go to KFC to eat grilled chicken? The entire point of going to KFC is to get nice FRIED chicken. The entire reason KFC is so good is because of the spices and crunch of the skin.

Those jerseys along with the blue throwbacks give me a tent in my pants.

Thank you for verifying that you don't actually watch the games. (But, the Bills are usually on the same time as your pats*, so i can understand why you don't see any). I guess he had trouble playing in the cold when we beat miami in buffalo and the jets in the meadowlands, huh? Both of those wins were in december. Blaming Losman for those 3 losses is the height of stupidity. Some bogus calls cost us the SD game. Robert friggin royal and his out of bounds feet along with jauron's idiocy (deeeerrr, what do you mean its 4th down, i dont have a play call) cost us the tennessee game. And the baltimore game, the bills were i run for the bus mode, kind of like 2007 vs philly.

Good thing it worked and our 2007 offense wasn;t erratic and sputtering. Seems like Jauron's over conservatism intentionally neutered the offense. We can't risk throwing TDs, because we might throw an INT. Sometimes its worth it to take a step back so you can take 2 forward. Jauron would rather run in place, forever at 7-9.

Part of being a good coach is coaching to a player's strengths and putting your players in a position to win. Fairchild never did this. This doesn't mean that JP would have been good had they done it, but the coaches did not play to JP strengths. One thing i have always wondered is why the Bills put the training wheels back on the offense in 2007. They took them off in the latter half of 2006 and JP showed some flashes that he could be a decent QB. But the second they restricted the offense, JP started struggling again. So why did fairchild/jauron force an offense on JP that wasn't suited to his strengths? That is where fairchild lost me. I also have a big problem with the fact that when we drafted him in '04, it was widely recognized that he'd take a few years to develop because he was so raw. Yet when push came to shove, the coaching staff(s) were not willing to risk it.

Kolb's perfomance in limited time last season should have prompted the Iggles to give McNabb a new deal a lot sooner. How long until LT "Lennie" get jealous of McNabb's new deal and starts to hold out again?

And playing around on e-trade doesn't qualify you as an economist. But i got it. I'll wait until i am done with grad school to call you a dumbass. Which is a bit closer to 3 weeks than 7 years. Maybe between now and then you can read a book on influenza, or viruses. Or hell, just start small and maybe look up the definition of pandemic so you don't look like a complete idiot on each and every topic you post about. Has James Hardy been arrested for gun charges yet? I was just asking, because you said he would be by last december, and you are the self-proclaimed prophet who is never incorrect.

As a bioscientist, i'm qualified to tell you that you're a frickin idiot and a nut job who belongs in the looney bin. Not to mention your grasp of science knowledge is on par with the average 7 year old.

Where's the Sage/Big Cat get laid option?

Its probably because cincy remembers when men were men and fought with swords and shields, and then the damn kids came along with their new fangled "thundersticks" and really ruined the neighborhood.

Yawn. Thank you for making it obvious you have no clue what the word "pandemic" means.

Having watched Brown for the better part of his 2.5 years of starting, my eyes would argue with you that everette doesn't have the moves and simply relies on speed. Maybin may be faster, but to say that Brown simply relied on speed is the height of foolishness and comes from someone who obviously hasn't much time actually watching him play.