leh-nerd skin-erd

I met George Carlin once. Nice, articulate guy who had his own way of looking at the world. Interestingly he didn't do his stand up routine when we were speaking, nor did he rant on about the military and/or the people who serve. None of the seven words came up either. I don't doubt he believed much, maybe all of what he said, but I'd bet you he would have had strong opinions on folks choosing him as their prophet to support opinions that appear to have strung together 5-7 minutes after a significant blow to the head.

I think it's possible to way over complicate issues like this. You mentioned that someone said her success was based on merit, I'd humbly offer that while probable, there is no way to know that. She could be the great grand niece of the founder of cbs, an alum of the same school as the guy responsible for programming, or the best candidate to ever walk in the door. It's possible, to, to consider whether being a pioneer in her field (from a gender perspective) resulted in both hardship and opportunity. I did the best I could...I watched and listened and moved on. I wasn't a fan at first, considered the experience a push by the end, though I'm usually not a fan of most broadcasts. I'm not a sexist, but I think I am an announcerist. I can live with that, and with the knowledge that not everything is a teachable moment for everyone.

Don't go half-way. I'm moving to Dunkirk.

And that would seem to be McDermott ball. I can't see him preaching anything other than discipline and giving it 100%.

you're right about the standard definition, but gronkowski's hit was egregious. it was not an extension of the play, a hit that drifted too high, or a shot that hit too low. it was, even by nfl standards, a nasty, viscous and crappy thing to do. he had time to think, he had time to settle down, and he chose to hit the guy. he expressed frustration that built up during the game because of the applications of the rules, and chose to act the way he chose to act. I've not seen one player for the bills, nor one coach, suggest that retribution was on the menu. so, adding subjectivity and the threat of a harsher penalty seems like a bad idea to me. i don't advocate targeting the guy, but it's a fine line between playing a guy like gronkowski to win AND having to worry that your shot to the shoulders can be considered retribution and or retaliatory. to be honest, they really should be watching gronkowski like a hawk to make sure he doesn't push the envelope.

no, I wasn't talking about an eye for an eye, I'm talking about the equal application of discipline and punishment. there is a framework for level of discipline, and it's been set at one game. the equitable punishment for someone following a similar course of action is 1 game. when you suggest a 'harsher' penalty should apply, you're adding a layer of subjectivity that need not be added. I have to tell you klos, I see gronkowski's actions as pre-meditated. the play was over, he looked at a guy laying on the ground and made a conscious decision to inflict pain on him. he was successful in doing so. on the other hand I can see you seeing it differently. reasonable people can disagree. if it's a game on the shelf, it is a game on the shelf, and the nfl has said quite loudly...that type of activity warrants a one game suspension.

after applying the same discipline to any bills player who loses focus this weekend, I'd be ok with that. you just can't afford to send two different messages, in a span of three weeks, with one application to one of the highest profile players in the game and a harsher penalty to a regular joe.

so we can agree to disagree on brady and his suspension. the ridiculous part of it to me was the implication that the nfl set up an elaborate ruse to accuse him of wrongdoing to get him off the field. funny thing is, the nfl could significantly impact a team's performance just by doing little things like suspending a player for a few games for clubbing a guy in the noggin after a play ended. the nfl has said nothing about screwing up the gronkowski suspension, they simply seem to think that was the right call for that type of play. you're advocating a new, different, and maybe even emotional response for the next guy, which is not all that different than the way some folks want the bills players to respond to the gronk cheap shot.

I don't know about "justify" or not, that's too deep for me. I would think Tre' White probably would be "justified" to respond, but that's an emotional response, not rational. I agree that retaliation via cheap shot is 100% the wrong way to go. I disagree though, with the premise that the nfl should hit a bill's player harder than they hit gronkowski. more than a few causal observers feel that gronkowski benefited from the pats treatment, that the suspension was unreasonably light because goodell et al wanted the money player back on the field as quickly as possible. personally, I believe that, because it's virtually impossible to justify a short term suspension for that sort of play given the talk about head injuries and cte. that said, the potential downside to penalizing one high-profile player on the highest profile team with one set of standards, and subsequently taking a harder line on a second player just because you can is substantial. with fans seemingly already staying away from games in large numbers, it sends the wrong message. add in other social factors, it could get ugly. btw--on that note, much was made of the suh punch to the side of tyrod's head. I get the concern, and think Suh is a dirty player, but felt the worst that should happen there was an unsportsmanlike penalty for clapping the guy in the head. Earlier in the game, though, another dolphins player sacked Tyrod and slammed his forearm into the back of tyrod's helmet. I believe I saw the official speaking to the fins player after the hit (he definitely spoke to a fins player, just couldn't see if it was the offending player) and got the feeling he was warning him. I can't imagine that not being penalized against an upper tier qb like brady, brees, rothlisberger etc and can't quite understand some of the things that go on with taylor. anyway, the nfl should follow their own precedent and not apply a sliding scale of justice.

be that as it may, the question was what the suspension should be. the nfl set the standard for deliberate hits similar to the gronkowski shot. since he got one game for completing a play, targeting the back of a guy's head for an elbow shot, I'd think the nfl should suspend a player who follows the course of action he did for one game. the fact that fans are out talking about it has nothing to do with the player. Tre White, for one, seems to have moved on, which is what most non-jackasses tend to do. that was the problem with the nfl response to begin with. the punishment did not seem to fit the crime, emotionally-speaking anyways. but, given that WAS the response, why would it be different if it happened again? does the nfl say...wait, now we're REALLY serious about this stuff. in the course of a play, throw the flag and hit 'em for 15 yards. for gronkesque wrongdoing...one game. for something worse---a second spitter targeting gronkwoski as he leaves the field---handle accordingly.

well, if they did it right, you wouldn't know it's pre-meditated, so that wouldn't seem reasonable given that they only suspended gronkowksi for a game for an obvious cheap shot after the play was over. I'd guess if it went down during a play, 15 yards and that's the end of it. If they lined him up after a play as gronkowski did, assuming no prior conduct issues, the appropriate suspension would be one game since the standard has been set. I don't believe there will be any retaliatory hits, I don't believe McDermott would approve of it and can't see a player being a douche just because gronkowski pulled a douche move. It's not the way professionals conduct themselves. The result is likely to be gronkowski catching 10 for 285. Just the way the world works, and one reason I'll skip watching it.

i'm reminded of the scene from Goodfellas right after Tommy is outsourced to the afterlife. A voice on the phone says..."He's gone, nothing anyone could do about it....". Why perpetually rehash the guys that have moved on? What's the point? Speculation that Tyrod was the missing chess piece that results in a w against the chargers is certainly fair, but ignoring the performance that lead up to the change is not. As for McDermott "owning" that move, geesh, good or bad he seems like a guy who owns everything about his role and wants to. As for his process commentary...McDonalds became a success in large part because of the process followed with the humble french fry ( not due to the Royale with Cheese as SOME people seem to think). One telling aspect for me is the reaction of a guy Shady seemingly all in. There is a guy willing to speak his mind, right wrong or other. 2 more games. Lets hope Tyrod can have a complete game, Brady struggles and Gronk, well screw him.

Wait, are you saying we have less more good players?

Initially I did not like the person announcing because ze sounded like ze was cutting a commercial track for a Fly Morning rush radio show. As the game went on I noticed I didn't notice that tendency from ze. I think it's because the bills won. Had they lost I likely would have wanted to smash my tv screen, which means the person was treated exactly the same as other persons.

Right. I was thinking McDermott, but personally he seems un-moronic to me.

Ok, Pegula loves McDermott. McDermott is changing the culture by jettisoning long term employees. Beane and McDermott spar. Some posters, haters here, will be happy because some long time folks will be gone. I'm not following you on "he gets beat up by the moron here". While it sounds a bit like a line from a Pink Floyd song, who is "the moron here"? Besides me, I mean.

After the ominous "Cathy is fro..." post I thought maybe they got to you. Then this post shows up! Is it you? Did they take you out and post this to throw everyone off the trail?? I swear to God you're a great poster. I'm on the edge of my seat you crazy SOB. I don't even want cousins (the player, not my actual cousins because I love them), but now I want him. Fascinating!!

Shame that your sister doesn't understand the process. I hope she understands why you can't hang out with her anymore. great write up. Fair analysis on the punt. Such an odd game with so many moving parts, between the weather, injury to NP, and Webbs pick at the end of the game. It worked, so the rest is just chatter.

but the problem is 'other teams' didn't tee off on White, Gronkowski did. And what you're suggesting makes sense emotionally, but you're assuming a guy not necessarily pre-disposed to blowing out a knee would suddenly become an assassin and risk his livelihood because Gronk is a d-bag. I'll say this much--McDermott took heat from some fans for his tepid response about Gronkowski, but he is who he is, and the response to the public made perfect sense even if he has a hidden agenda to blow him up next game (which, likely, he does not). Play the numbers...average career lasts $$$, average salary is $$$$, retaliatory hit and suspension costs a player $_____. The NFL blew this one, plain and simple. This hit was egregious, and by sitting him for 60 minutes they sent a message that is contrary to what they say is important. Personally, I'd say screw 'first offense' or 'first real offense' or 'no history' in the punishment phase. He should have receveived the maximum punishment available under the collective bargaining agreement, which likely is more than one game. If it was only one game, the statement from the league should have read "We would have suspended him more if we could have.". Res Ipsa Loquitor.

What a pathetic thing to see from a professional athlete. It's easy to be tough when you're winning, but when you show your true character on a national stage, in front of the people who live with and near your parents, brothers and sisters...and your true character is you're a guy willing to maim someone who is lying defenseless on the ground, you're just a bad guy. Then, given time to reflect upon your actions that literally scrambled a guy's brains, after talking to coaches and players about the unequivocal douchebag move you just pulled in front of a national audience the BEST rationale you can come up with sounds like it was written by simpleton...I mean, this moron thought about what he was going to say! All the fame and money in the world and he's basically just snakes guy who'd sucker punch you in a bar as you walked past.

I don't know about that. I'd fall into the old guy category, and spontaneous celebrations in the moment never bothered me. Signature touchdown moves never bothered me. I even liked some of the obviously scripted celebrations that were creative. My problem with it now is that when you need the lead choreographer from Hamilton to script it all out, and a brief intermission while other players on the team get into position while props are arranged, I think they look kinda silly. When you factor in that some of these occur on losing teams...blech. I don't know why some of those guys just don't join a synchronized swimming team.

it would seem he's the guy who needed the house, felt it wasn't wasteful at all, wanted more than 3500-4000 sf, and didn't see it as throwing money away.

that's silly. based on the trajectory over the prior two games, Tyrod was on track to go 3/9 for 22 yards in the air against the Chargers, with most of the 22 yards coming during garbage time. While certainly not the only problem, he was most definitely part of the problem. to be honest, it doesn't matter much to me whether we get steamrolled by the jets and saints with Tyrod protecting the ball, or steamrolled by another team because they took a shot on Peterman. Like most, I'll be happy as can be if they fixed the problems and Tyrod lights it up, but that seems to be a long shot.

Seems that is the way they saw it. I'll say this, I read the open letter to Bills fans and now I don't want him to fail another damn drug test. I just hate when the personal side of things gets involved, it makes me reconsider my angry bills fan yelling at the moon persona.