Fan in Chicago

Almost everyone agrees that the clock management by the Eagles was horrid yesterday both at the end of the first half and the last 5 minutes of the game. The question in my mind is what suddenly happened to make the Eagles seem so lackluster at critical points in the game. The players are pros, the coach has been around for a long time. Did the call come that 'you are not supposed to win this game, now back off' ? How did McNabb who looked to have zip in most of his throws, suddenly throw back to back interceptions ? This one is killer - he throws one in the end zone to Harrison, has it called back due to a penalty on NE and promptly throws another one ??? WTF ? I really think this game smacks of fixing.

FFS - It has been bothering me that there does not seem to be a single QB who can be smarter than BB who jukes every QB. I mean, does every QB in a big game against NE go in with the slinking suspicion that BB is going to scr*w him ? Does that opposing QB lose before he starts the game ? Is it BB always or has he managed to get into everyone's collective heads that he is a genius so now the opposing QBs play to fulfil that prophecy ? Anyway, the point is that there must be some nemesis to BB that emerges and continually foils his plans in the big games. I remember someone 'reading BB's lips' during a preseason game (?) about JP that 'we have a player on our hands'. If my memory is correct and it was BB, then I certainly hope that JP is that nemesis. For those on this board, JP is now not a rookie QB. He will be in his second year - duh ! Before we start fantasizing though, remember that JP has to prove a strong work ethic. No amount of brilliance will compensate for the lack of hard work and dedication. Think Jeff George ... So, I hope JP has the ethic to go with his supposed talent. I say supposed because he hasn't proven anything yet but will have plenty of opportunity in the upcoming pre season. Let us see ....

Not really. Basic and extended (analog) cable through Comcast is $47 + $5 for 1 HD receiver + tax = ~ $55 I don't have to pay for more receivers as every TV has a built in tuner. No pay-per-view or premium channels for me. 3 TVs in my house. DirecTV = $39.99 +$5x2 = $49.99 with no local HD channels ! If you do an apples to apples (ie. take out the HD receiver I am paying Comcast for), it is the same price. So you don't need to have 8 TVs to make cable cheaper ....

Not sure this will give you any ideas. But here goes We have all Indians at the party so the menu - Veggies and dip - Nachos and salsa - Fried fish with red pepper - "vegetable stew" with toasted bread - Tandoori chicken (spice marinated, oven roasted) - Chicken biryani (spicy rice pilaf with chicken) - Assorted desserts And yes: - Michelob Ultra - Labatts Blue - Chivas Regal Scotch - Smirnoff vodka - Assorted wines

http://www.avsforum.com

38-m

AT&T gives about the same minutes as Cingular. As they have merged, I expect service to be betetr either way. Cingular has roll over, AT&T has the great phone deal (puts money in your pocket today !). So I guess you will do well either way.

You will not believe this deal. The Sony Ericcson triband camera phone T-637 gets you $220 back on Amazon. Have to sign up with AT&T. I did that for my wife 2 months back and worked out well. It is an excellent phone with great talk time, color, triband, bluetooth, internet etc. (We don't use half the features). Why buy when they will pay you to get it ? Obvious point I am assuming is that your contract with Verizon is up.

Send me the link also please !

There is something called the Bass Diffusion model that can predict the technology adoption of new products. Basically, you take the total size of the market. Then look at the closest technology over the past few years and calculate some parameters for their actual adoption rate. Use these for your new case and project a curve for how many pieces you can expect to sell over the first 5-10 years of a new products life. Ofcourse, it is subject to the reference technology that you use, but I used three to see a range and ~ 10 MM was the best case. I don't know what analysts say, but my personal opinion is that all analysts are biased in one way or the other. Remember analysts were saying that the new dotcom world has fundamentally changed the way stocks are valued ? How much bull**** was that ? Basics of long-term finance will not change no matter how much short-term shocks you see. Just a reality check - total automobiles in the USA are ~ 200 million. I doubt that existing car buyers will start replacing their radios in droves. So the best case is to put them in new cars which is what both the companies are trying to do. Even after all that, the analysts expect that 20% of these cars will have subscribers to XM or Sirius year after year ? DBS is quite one thing but in-car subscriptions ? Dream on....

I had written a paper for a business course a few years back. All the finance calculations have been good. Now let me give you a bit from the strategy and marketing side. Sirius and XM, like satellite will live and die by their subscription base and their ability to retain customers. This tie-up with several car manufacturers means a lot but ultimately may be a big let-down. Putting XM ready receivers in cars does not mean people will subscribe to the service or even maintain their subscription. The biggest investment has already been made - in the satellites which cost ~ $1.5 billion). With limited information, I had estimated that they need between 3.1 - 6.2 MM subscribers on an on-going basis simply to break-even. Problem is that I ran a variety of cases and figured that in the best case, the total subscribers of both XM and Sirius would be no more than 9.6 MM !! Ofcourse, this is just my paper and it may mean nothing. But I am fairly confident that what you saw was a stock price jump due to a mini-bubble ala the good old dotcom days. Eventually the market cooled down ... If anybody wants to read my paper, PM me and I will send a copy.

Works both ways. The big boys stop us consistently on offense thus tiring out the defense and nto allowing the D to shine through. If we hold on to the ball more with the Steelers and Patriots, I bet our D can be more aggressive and stop them.

QB - don't agree that we need to get rid of DB. Start JP but keep DB to a restructured deal as #2. He won't get a starting job anywhere and if we are fortunate enough that there is such a team, we should get some draft pick(s) in return. RB - If possible let TH run out his contract next year. Agree that Williams did well, but in the unfortunate event of a serious injury to WM, we need a solid back-up. Problem is, I am not sure TH's heart is in it anymore for the Bills. So maybe he should be gone. WR - Don't agree with shipping Moulds. He is not reliable enough to be the #1 but may be very good as a #2 or for spot duty. Restructure and keep him, get a veteran game breaker (like Lofton was). TE - We are okay here. We don't need scary players at each and every position. Shockeys and Gonzalez's are not born every minute so we need to keep what we have and concentrate on other areas of need. OL - This still may be the area of greatest need. Not sure how to shuffle players and boost it. Keep Jennings ? Not if he remains injury-prone. KICKER - We need to find a good, reliable and clutch kicker. Enough said ! In short, beef up the OL, get a new kicker, WR, switch at QB and we pretty much got a good to great team. I think MM is going to be one of the great coaches in the league. If he gets the personnel he needs in the off-season, the Bills-NE games will be a thing of beauty as two geniuses try to outwit each other. With DB not starting, BB will have to think hard at ways to beat the Bills.

That is exactly what I said after the NE loss. We expend too much energy around giving DB the supporting cast to succeed. Bill Bellicheck did not realize this until DB got injured and HAD to play Brady. He saw the results, got the realization you state above and canned him. I will go out on a limb and say that RJ would have performed better on average given the supporting cast. Not sure OL is that much of a weakness that DB's presence makes it feel.

Either way, we need to get a Lofton-type game breaker. Not sure if Evans is that guy, but if he is then a possession-type receiver will be needed.

Notwithstanding the poor games he has had, I think we need to keep him with a re-structured (read 'cheap') contract. We should use Moulds are the 3rd/critical/clutch WR and take away the responsibility as the #1 WR. He will perform much better in that role. And Evans should be #1 next year with a new #2. Cut Josh Reed.

If he is writing the same thing for 2 years, then it is time to admit he is right and the pro-Bledsoe lobby is wrong. The article exactly states how DB is as a player. This is the reason Bellicheck got rid of him. I think we are in the same situation that NE was before DB got hurt. That situation forced BB to start Brady and realize that DB's failings were dragging the team down. I don't believe BB was a genius for making the switch (else he would have pulled DB). The Brady experiment happened because of DB's injury, BB saw the light and decided to jettison DB. I firmly believe that a good QB would have done wonders with the talent that we have even given some shortcomings on the OL. A QB is called good when he does great when the rest of the team is having an off day. DB has not done that - he only wins when everyone around him plays well. Seattle game is an example - without our D, we would have lost that game.

ya - wouldn't have imagined being in this state of extreme anticipation, back in mid-November. I am soo happy, But, if we lsoe, you can bet your last chicken wing that ICE will be back in full force.

After his talk with Marvin harrison, I doubt he has any friends left in Denver....

Me: 38 yr with 2 kids. But I will be doing between d and e (party till 2 am). Would be later but the place we are going to has to close by 1:30 (stupid county laws)

Ok, I sure hope things continue to hum along as they have been for the past 6 weeks with all departments doing their jobs well. We have blown several teams out and I am not wishing or hoping for a blowout. My wish is that if we can blow out the StL, SF etc., we should at least be good enough to beat Pitts. On the one hand I am livid that I cannot see the game on TV due to a Bears home game. On the other hand, I am superstitious that we lose on every game I do watch on TV. I am so majorly tensed for this game that I can't sleep well for the past few days.

I am assuming you addressed this post to me. I was simply stating my deepest fears as, arguably, the QB and kicker have the greatest effect on close games. I am just praying that DB continues to play the 'percentage' game that he has been playing for the past 6 games. I don't care if he doesn't put Peyton-type numbers - just manage the game and let the other aspects work themselves out.

After the NE game, I also jumped on the JP bandwagon but obviously have had reason to eat crow since that time. Two things bother me - that DB may break our heart in a big game and Rian Lindell misses a game winning field goal. With their defense, you can be sure that Cowher/Lebeau will come at DB very very aggressively early in the game. How we pick up blitzes, establish the run or run a no huddle in the 1Q will determine the result. If Cowher succeeds in making us have to air it to win, I am afraid we will lose. WA (wild a**) prediction: Bills 24 Steelers 13 Jets Lose, Denver wins We win the wild card game and lose the next one. I would rather lose in the playoffs to the Steelers than NE 'cos I hate having to hear how 'Bellichik owns DB'.

Same here in Bears country - no other games are televised due to a Bears home game. I can't believe this cr*p.

But, but...I thought Patriots are a team with a lot of depth and injuries to starters does not matter ? I thought BB is a genius that can get backups play to starter level and scheme such that the rest of the team picks upt he slack. This is a team with no superstars remember ? So what is the loss of one Ty Law compared to the genius of the Borg ? Am I missing something here ? {sarcasm off}