Bill from NYC
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Posts posted by Bill from NYC
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This will be interesting. This "dissident" group seems to be far more interested in organizing non-unionized workers than in maintaining the status quo. Other large unions are said to be following suit.
I for one cannot understand why unions have not taken a more militant stance against Wal-Mart for instance. A national boycott would hit them where it hurts, and might actually force them to pay their employees a wage high enough to keep them off medicaid, food stamps, etc.
Union membership is declining, so I view this as a positive step for the labor movement.
I wish success to Andy Stern of SEIU, and the other unionists and congratulate them for having the courage to try a new approach.
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The OL does eat a big portion of the cap. I didn't know how much Teague earned; perhaps because his contract was backloaded as he is in his last year.
The safeties take up a ton of cap space as well. Hopefully, they will stay healthy this season.
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The lessening of the sacks number last year when we finally started to develop an offense was less a matter of talent on the line coming together, or Drew getting smarter and dumping the ball off quicker, or even Willis being a better blocker than Travis, although all of those are true and helped. The main difference was that MM and TC are smart (unlike Killdrive and GW) and they knew they had a problem, and they used the TEs and the RBs to chip the DEs and LBs rushing the passer on their way out in routes. This gave DB an extra moment to throw.
I'm sure they will do a lot of this and other things to protect Gandy. One of them, surely, will be a rolling pocket. Another of them, surely, will be bootlegs. Another of them, surely, will be rolling out Losman to his right, where he is very accurate throwing on the run. Another one, surely, will be screen passes and short dump offs to Willis to the left side, which Drew always struggled with, but when used effectively neutralize the strong rush. Those plays and ability to do that alone, regardless of who is playing LT, will retard the rush from the RDE significantly.
Ooops. I said retard.
You make some good, if not wishful points, but Mike Williams coming in out of shape had a negative impact as well. Remember, he was not playing all that well until 10/31, when he was given a game ball vs. the Cardinals.
I also agree that our present staff will be smart enough to adapt the game plan to our strengths. This is a good thing, but Brandon is right. It is time for the Bills to bring us more talent up front, especially at the LT position.
Although a dominant LT is not a pre-requisite to a superbowl appearance, it sure helps.
Giants (Elliot)
Bengals (Munoz)
Rams (Pace)
Ravens (Ogden)
Cowboys (OK, Tunei was no Pace, but the entire OL was great)
Raiders (Art Shell)
Titans (Hopkins in his prime)
Steelers (again, the entire OL was dominant)
The Redskins were so strong with the "Hogs" that they were able to reach the superbowl with qbs (Rypken, Williams) who were rather pedestrian.
Again, I am as pleased with the staff as you. I am thinking that MM will have a long, fruitful career as an NFL coach. I also think that the Bills will not be a complete football team until we can enter a season with a talented and deep OL.
The Bills are a blue collar, cold weather football team that needs to run the football. CV was simply a GREAT acquisition toward this end but there is more work to do, and LT seems to be the place in need.
At least there is good news. The Bills have an extra, hopefully early 3rd round pick in a draft said to be rich in LTs. When draft day 06 approaches, you will be glad about that; this I know.
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He's a good coach, but he's not a miracle worker. His final year with the Giants was awful. Was that his fault? No. He had nothing to work with.
Unless someone like Jason Peters steps up and suprises, most likely the LT position will be manned by someone who is adequate at best and a turnstile at worst. I've heard this crap about good coaching before and I'm not buying it. The players are the ones who take the field and if they've got no talent, no amount of coaching is going to change that.
This team has been cutting corners on the OL for the last 10 years with pitiful results. Donahoe has done a little better than Butler, but we're still relying upon other teams to do the dirty work for us. How many Bills draft picks are starting on this OL for '05? One. This team has done a pathetic job of developing OL talent in-house, and its largely because they don't even try. Odds are, we'll be debating next April which LT we need to pick in R1. Of course, you can bet the Bills won't actually do it, no matter how bad the situation gets this year.
Your post is sad, but 100% true.
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while it's all fun and games to speculate at this point, the truth is that none of us know jack schitt.
that said, i think four of the OL starters are pretty much set and there's not a whole lot to talk about:
RT - williams
RG - villareal
C - teague
LG - anderson
i just don't think the bills would put a rookie C out there w/ a 2nd year QB. too much inexperience at the two most important positions, communication-wise, on the offense.
at LT, the bills are saying it's gandy's position to lose. that may or may not be true. i'm looking forward to the first preseason game to see who trots out w/ the first unit.
Nice Post!!!
Using your exact intro, here goes....
LT: Teague
LG: Anderson
OC: Tucker
RG: Villarial
RT: Williams
Gandy? I want to see him make the team before I predict him to be the LT of an otherwise seemingly strong football team. The Bears were desperate enough for OL help to sign a clearly finished Ruben Brown. Why did they get rid of this guy if he can play?
McNally already convinced me that he is an extremely sharp coach; I will go as far as to label him a difference maker. If he can make a good LT out of Gandy, he is the best OL coach in the NFL, period.
Just my uneducated speculation.
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Hang tough, OK?
You will get well soon and the Bills will kick ass.
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Take it for what it's worth, but I recall hearing/reading that you shouldn't get gas from no-name places because it could be diluted and have more "gunk" in it.
Not to say you shouldn't go to discount places like Fleet Farm (gas is usually a few cents cheaper there), or other reputable places. But I'd personally avoid "generic."
EDIT:
Found some links contrary to what I said:
http://wcpo.com/external/dwym/7c0ef8.html
http://www.wpxi.com/automotive/2960370/detail.html
CW
Thanks. The top link claims that the off brands don't contain the detergents/additives.
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Where I live, many off brand stations are opening up, often replacing major brands. My question is....can the gasoline these stations sell possibly be the same as BP, Shell, Texaco, etc.?
Nobody I have ever spoken to seems to know the answer.
As for me, I only purchase from the big names. The price difference is usually approx. $.04 per gallon, and I would feel dumb if I screwed up an expensive car while saving fifty cents on a fill-up.
What do you guys buy?
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>>>>and tackle Mike Williams, the fourth overall pick in '02 who finally is living up to expectations.<<<<
That is news to me.
While there is no doubt that he improved in 04, does anybody think that MW is "living up to expectations" of a #4 draft selection?
I surely do not.
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No, it's not only about that. This isn't a momentary dip in revenue. This is a slow decline that is now an unstoppable avalanche. Kodak will continue to decline because there are too many people there who have no idea about innovation and what it takes to save a sinking ship.
This is about about Kodak - 15 years ago - not having the ability to start a wholesale investment in digital. It's Kodak - only 8 years ago - not having the ability to make a comittment to the switch to digital. When I worked there - even as recently as 3 years ago - there was still talk of "expanding the benefits of film." I saw it with my own eyes. It was amazingly retarded.
Finally, it's about Kodak still not facing the music about the switch to digital. Kodak is still a follower in the digital world. They aren't innovating, and they are still playing catch- up. I remember my last year there - 2003 - when all of the camera phones were coming out. People asked the then CEO Dan Carp about why Kodak wasn't ahead of the curve in that technology and Carp said "Well, we're not sure that this camera-phone technology is here to stay, so we're approaching it cautiously and we'll see how it shakes out."
Serously. That's what he said. It was then that I knew Kodak would never really change. There is a serious retardation in innovation at that company. They will never innovate. Ever. You can have the best R&D department in the world, but if the company doesn't point them in the right direction it doesn't matter. And at Kodak, the management direction is so piss poor it's too late.
This has nothing to do about outsourcing to India, it has to do with poor management decisions. Paying too much for unskilled labor and employee sloth played a part, but not as much as you'd think.
Can't say I'm not sad to see this happen to Kodak. I can say I'm glad I'm not there to see it and be a part of it myself.
Great post todd. What a friggin shame for the workers and their families.
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>>>>>“This really is a statement about globalization and equalization,” said Donna Fonda, of Webster who works in the company’s information systems department.
“It’s going to happen to all businesses.”
But, she said she believes the local economy is improving enough that “if people are willing to work hard, and for a different company, and for a lower salary, there will be things available.”<<<<<
Sounds like a plan.
Thanks to both parties for exporting our jobs, and importing illegal aliens to take many of the jobs that remain. Sad state of affairs.
My sympathy goes out to the displaced workers and their families.
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I agree with the move to cut Shaw as it coincided with a turnaround in team W/L results which indicated to me that for some players who needed motivation that they saw that if a vet player like Shaw could get cut because he was the 4th or 5th WR on this team they better get to work and produce on the field because the extra guys might be gone even if the team was already on the hook for a full-season's pay to Shaw after the second game.
I disagree with you however in concluding he sucked. In fact, I think he was still a good player who as an above post pointed out was still looked upon favorably in the locker room as a good guy and team guy.
If Shae had sucked I do not think this cut would have sent the right message to the players. It simply would have said don't suck and you will not be cut. It would have sent a message if he had been kept that even if you are a non-ccontributor to this team as a benchwarmer, that is OK if you are a good guy.
Instead, the fact we cut a good player who as recently as the year before had been the best WR on the field when Moulds got hurt and Reed developed the droppsies. The fact that we cut a good guy who we were already on the hook for a season's pay and might prove useful down the line if we had an injury problem at WR actually sent a message to all players that not sucking was not good enough. A clear message went out that the Bills demanded production from all players and being there just in case was not good enough.
To me, Shaw got cut not because he sucked, but because it became clear that Moulds was back and Evans was the real deal so #1 and #2 WR were locked up, Further, there were still question for #3 but between the fact Reed was not back to his rookie form but had overcome the bad form he showed with is droppsies, that Aiken had the potential to earn the #3 slot and that even Fast Freddy Smith show some capability that emerged late in the season on PR, it made even the best WR on th field in 2003 who had continued to get older but was not done yet a player whose highest and best use was to cut someone who did not suck.
I agree with the cut but disagree that he sucked. In fact, if he sucked or was a cancer there was little good message to be gained from cutting him.
Other than RJ, are you able to come up with any Bills player that in your opinion, "sucked?"
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I am not from WNY, and I have to admit to being psyched. Besides, it seems to be "confirmed" that he is a Bills Fan......one of us.
GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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It was an MM Move. Shaw missed two hot reads on blitzes. One each in consecutives games I believe. On one Drew hit him in the back with a pass. I think the message was--those who have their head up their ass during the game--will not be on my team.
I questioned the move at the time--especially with Reed hurt--but you can't argue with the results.
I once saw the Bills in a situation where they needed many yards for a first down. Shaw caught a pass for a gain of 6 or 7 yards (nowhere near a 1st down), and celebrated as if he caught the winning TD in a playoff game.
I'm with you.....he sucked.
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Just was thinking the other day that TD was heavily criticized for this and a lot of people thought it should have been Reed that got the ax. What is everyone's opinion on this move almost a year later? Did it help play a part in the turn-around of last season, or was it just a move to make a move to make it look like management was displeased with an 0-4 start?
I loved the move. Many here criticised TD for not getting something for him, but they failed to take into consideration the fact that Shaw sucked.
I would rather see the young guys get a shot.
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Guidelines don't necessarily apply. A two-time loser with a history of rape who tries to grab a child should be remanded to the custory of the court as a threat to the community. No bail.
That that didn't happen makes me wonder if either 1) the prosecutor at the bail hearing was an idiot, or 2) the priors couldn't be introduced at the bail hearing for some reason. I'm trying to verify that last one with my sister...but if that's the case, then $30k is actually a hefty amount for what amounts to illegal restraint of a minor...
Which brings up another point...Joe, what exactly WERE the charges he was arraigned on? It could very well be that the prosecutor, for whatever reason, arraigned him on lesser charges than he deserved that precluded a hefty bail amount...in which case you're probably still right to be pissed about it, but the target of your anger is misplaced.
Unless I missed it, we also do not know if he touched the child. If so, Attempted Kidnapping would have been a charge to consider.
If all he did was say words, it is a tougher case to prove.....BUT, if he testifies, the ADA is allowed to bring up his priors; which is why I think that he will cop.
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Perhaps since he's a repeat offender they'll confine him to home with a monitor.
Don't misunderestimate the ability of the media to freak everyone out. If the news hasn't been on TV and in the paper....call them yourself. The guy won't be able to go anywhere without being recognized.
Good advice, but I would be hesitant to give any info that might be incorrect. It would make more sense to call the media and refer them to the local police.
The press is entitled to know the names and even the addresses of those arrested, at least in NY.
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I don't know. Didn't Pataki once even address the team? Not that I am his biggest fan, but when he wore the sweatshirt, the election was over.
Lazio shook our hands at 1/5 (at that time 1/6) the year he was running. Too little, too late.
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Maybe so, but that would indicate that he and Schumer spoke about football.
You are probably right, but I sense that this man really is into it.
Pataki is a Bills nut. He wore a Bills sweatshirt the day after he beat Cuomo; yet another Bills fan despite coming from Queens.
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John Kerry says Roberts should release all records
in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
Posted
What pay raises?