RkFast

In my opinion, the whole saga of OJ Simpson is one of the most tragic and sad stories in American cultural history.

Unless Im WAY off, the purpose of the PSL is to finance the construction of the Stadium. And a sports team...last I checked...needs a stadium to play and in this day and age thats a lot more than brick steel, toilets, grass and some seats. Also, you act like sports teams are the only businesses that get tax breaks. Ever hear of IDAs? You also cant compare a fast food franchise to a sports team and how they operate and are financed. Come on.

How does "greed" comes into play here? Name me a business that DOESNT pass at least a significant portion of the cost of doing business on to its customers in one way, shape or form. Until Im shown that team ownership is soaking the fans in this new building and charging prices with a very very high markup, the "greed" argument just doesnt wash.

Then a boat. Or putting a pool and patio with kitchen in your yard. Or maybe a second "hobby" car, like a Vette or some classic car. Or if youre me and really into cycling, a pro-level road bike ($12-$14K). A PSL is no different than stuff like the above in that its part of the "cost" of the thing that one enjoys for recreation. And if youre one of those folks who make going to Bills games 8-10 times a year and doing the tailgate in OP a priority in your life for fun and rec time, this is the current price of participation in 2024.

Fans: "We need bigger buffaloes!...We need top of the line amenities!...We need a bigger buidling!....we need a roof!...we need beer and food stands every ten feet!....we need a thousand TVs in the building!." Ownership: "OK, this is what that will cost to build and provide all that and what we will charge our customers to make it happen" Fans: REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The organization sent out a multiple page survey to all season ticket holders and then expanded the survey to the general fanbase. It was several pages long and covered multiple topics from tailgating preferences, to where the building should go, to what it should be like inside, to what flavor the urinal cakes should be. Did you not complete the survey? You should have completed the survey. FWIW, I picked "chocolate chocolate chip" on the urinal cakes flavor multiple choice question. Also...if you read my rant to the end, you would have noticed it had a happy ending. https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/survey-shows-what-bills-fans-want-for-new-stadium-in-buffalo/ https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/07/06/Facilities/Bills-stadium-survey-fan-experience.aspx https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2022/05/07/bills-release-new-survey-asking-for-input-from-season-ticket-holders

The funny thing about the "Giant Buffaloes" is that NOBODY knew or cared about giant buffaloes until they showed a single, grainy, VERY preliminary mockup of a stadium CONCEPT that had giant buffaloes. Talk about mob-mentality. On the issue of the stadium, itself....having gone through this when the Mets moved from Shea to Citifield, I can sadly say the next fews year will be downright intolerable. Everyone is going to B word and complain and be miserable and nitpick the hell of of everything from the color of the seats, to the size of statues to the proposed flavors of the urinal cakes. The blather will drone on and reach a fever pitch around the first pre-season game when they let the unwashed masses into the building the first time, at which point everyone will REALLY lose their minds. "When I sit in my new seat, the beer stand is 6.78 meters further than it was at the Ralph!!!!! AARRRRRGGGHHHHHTSKLJFSHSLK!!!!!!" But then....guess what? Unless they seriously screw it up (looking at YOU, MetLife) after like Game 5 EVERYONE will forget what they spent the last few years gouging their eyes out about, will settle in to their new digs, and will absolutely love the building. Also...and this is the most important part...if things are discovered that really need to be tweaked in the new buidling after the org learns how things work and flow in real life on gameday....they will make those tweaks. And the place will be even better.

Today Im in the office and when we do the typical 10AM "hows it going" gathering with my company owner and a few colleagues Im going to steer the convo to our primary competing agency and will say out loud "This place is pretty good, but its really my dream to work there." Wish me luck.

I’m not gonna lose sleep over it, but that’s a pretty tone deaf comment from Hamlin. Kinda disappointed. He should not be saying that out loud. Buffalo bled for this guy last year and to say it’s a “dream” to play somewhere else? Yeesh. Also…we can’t be two faced here (but we will). DIGGS says anything outside of “I want to be in Buffalo forever, this place is better than utopia”…if he even HINTS one day he will be somewhere else…and people lose their minds. But Hamlin outright says he wants to play somewhere else and it’s “no big deal” and “understandable?” Can’t have it both ways, folks.

Lane can also actually play drums these days.

Im of the opinion that if every commerical is going to have some old (usually washed up) stars humiliate themselves to grab the nostalia angle, then they should integrate some old (and definitely washed up) porn stars to the mix.

Awesome. They could have gravity drained to dirt but the pump should be fine. Mine's 10 years old and hasnt failed. Remember above where I said you need to replace the media in the neutralizer? Well, now you have to clean the pump, too. Again, not a huge deal. Its a DIY job and Ive done it like three times in the ten years Ive had it. Just regular maintainance....no big deal. If you have baseboard, you may indeed need to go hotter on the heat water temp. At least 160, most likely. Mention to your plumber.

How did it go?

They would probably run the line to a slop sink if you have one or configure a new drain direct into your house sewer main with a trap or tie it into your central air condensate system with a pump somehow. Ask them. And make sure they arent using any metal fittings on it! And ask them about the neutralizer.

Can someone explain how needing all these apps, and having wifi all set and needing all these logins with all these different services and most imporant, all these different subscriptions to manage is "better" than cable TV where I had everything in one place all run through one service?

Oh...believe me I get it. Thats what we do "space" for!!! Just not feeling it, myself. Im sure it will be a real good time for those who go.

Dead and Company is doing a residency there next Spring/Summer. Tempted but going to pass. Saving my pennies for Bills tickets which aint getting any cheaper (Im downstate, so any game involves travel and hotel). Plus...call me old school but when I go to a show I want to see...THE BAND. Unless Im sitting far far away I try to ignore all the lights and hokey graphics and I focus on the band playing. So a giant light show doesnt really appeal to me. YMMV. That said...a little fungus in that joint...yeesh that would be something.

I have a Navien. I like it. A few thoughts. 1. Have someone experienced do the install. I would suggest you go to their website and find a certified installer in your area, at the top of the list. I think its NSS certified or something like that. These things have to be installed just right and the plumbing run for water AND intake and exhaust air done just right, or you will have issues. It then needs to be tuned to what youre using it for in terms of heat (forced air, radiant, hot water, etc.). I dont think they can used for steam heat, if you have that. 2. They are quiet and efficient. But they still require yearly maintainance that can run several hundred dollars. You have the flush the heat exchanger, clean the unit and change the media in the water neutralizer (more on that in a sec). 3. They emit very little in terms of out the chimney exhaust, especially if configured for max efficiency. My exhaust is on the side of the house and I can stand right next to the unit while its running and put my nose close to the pipe and smell virtually nothing. The tradeoff is that instead of combustion by-products going out the chimney, they are partially condensed into water vapor in the heat exchanger (the "condensing" technology). And that makes that condensate VERY acidic. So much so that it will irritate your skin a little and most important rust and corrode any metal in site FAST. The solve for this is that the condensate runs through a PH neutralizer which is just a small chamber with limestone in it and then off to the water drains in your house. That limestone needs to be changed every few years. Its not expensive...like $50 and its a DIY thing if youre handy. 4. From what I heard Navien is not the best player in the market in terms of quality. THey used to be BAD but over the last 15 years they got their act teogther. Plumbers do like them becuase they are fairly easy to work on and their tech support is very very good.

Listen...I LOVE youth sports overall. My boy does all of them, except lax and while hes not a top athlete, hes serious about play and dedicated. I do enjoy a lot of it. Im just saying that..for me anyway...that the stuff that bothers me and it does so more than the fights! And its def easy to get "caught up" in it all. Its a ton of time, its a ton of money and its your kid up there! Thats enough to put any parent on edge!

The politics of which kid gets on a team, closed off in secret tryouts, whether a kid even gets a tryout or makes a team because of who the parents are "friends" with, kids making (or not making a team) depending on mom's looks, clinics and offseason workouts held in secret, rec leagues put on pause so travel teams get priority with field use and access to league funds, lesser kids kept out of clinics becuase they would "prevent the better kids from learning more", the cliquish and elitish behavior on the sidelines, on and on. THATS what Im talking about. Witnessed (or heard about) ALL of this stuff. Im sure there are plenty of cases of really bad phyisical behavior. But that stuff is few and far between. However, the list of stuff I provided above is common and regular. The fights are bad...dont get me wrong. But the underhanded stuff just makes my skin crawl.

Last year didnt bother me for a second. The Bengals were the better team in every way and blew the Bills' doors off. 13 Seconds and this year are both heartbreaks. I DO have to say that 13 seconds was a heartbreak but wasnt a shock, nor should it have been for anyone who lived through the Music City Miracle. THAT debacle taught me to NEVER raise your hands in celebration until either the team is in victory formation or there are triple zeros on the clock.

Not to be contrarian (ok, just a little), but Ill take a few parents popping off every blue moon over the underhanded, toxic, and at times downright evil nonsense that constantly goes on behind the scenes and in whispers in youth sports. Thats the REALLY bad stuff...not parents getting a little mouthy and pushy shovy on the sidelines. 99.99% of kids and parents will laugh off a screaming match or even some pushes and shoves by the time the game is over...especially if proper apologies are made. Those who have "been there", especially with the travel leagues, know EXACTLY what Im talking about.

This is accurate. But...its still good to see the old man Weir up there and the double drums behind him. The shows are fun, its still a "Dead Show." Been to about ten of them. And Mayer rips. And....now that Jay Lane replaced Billy, the percussion DOESNT sound like a four year old banging on a fisher price kit. Sorry not sorry...Billy was donezo. Also..while Im on a bit of a rant...I got ZERO use for Oteil. Some of his solo singing is good. His rendition of Fire on the Mountain at Citifield last Summer melted my brain. But in general he plays with the enthusiasm of a 10 year old boy playing violin at his winter concert at Quohog Elementary. All that said, I aint going. No interest in Vegas, I just bought a pro-level road bike I have to pay for (Enve Melee, SRAM Red, SES wheels and kit w/power meter), and having to choose between tickets to see a Bills QB in his prime or seeing a band that was in its prime during the Reagan Administration, Im taking the former.

We already knew Rogers was the defacto HC, GM and PR guy. Add OC to that list. No wonder that team is a disaster.

Bill Belichick was notorious for only keeping "his guys." The last two years of his tenure in NE aside, how did that work out?