LongLiveRalph

Bush could have the same script in front of him and would make a mockery of it. "Putting on the show" is a big part of being President. Sad but true: "Acting" presidential is almost more important in today's world. Bush's presence, public speaking, and general mannerisms are quite frankly, embarassing. Watching Bush speak at a podium next to a polished professional (say, like Tony Blair) is an absolute joke every time. I agree, Obama hasn't done much other than make grand-scale promises to achieve end results, without much substance of a means to those ends. But he commands respect, and it will be a welcome change to respect the man in the White House again. I hate cringing when I hear that Bush is making an overseas trip to meet with [insert world leader here] because I'm nervous about HOW HE WILL REFLECT ON AMERICANS LIKE ME. The big knock on Obama is lack of experience, especially on the world stage....Well, Bush surrounded himself with some of the most experienced leaders and politicians in the world- Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell- and look how they bumbled their foreign policy for eight years. I'll take prudent judgement over the media talking point of "experience" any day. It is sickeningly overrated. As for McCain, there's not much to say. People don't want to vote for Obama because of superficial reasons like "He attended a Muslim school?" That's fine, that's why we all get a vote. My superficial reason for not voting for McCain is age, and age alone. I do not want an 80-year old in the White House (which is what McCain would be if he spent 8 years in office) and I prefer that my President can put his own shirt on. McCain cannot.

Ha! No doubt...Sad but true... Seems like a bit of an NYC backhanded compliment here...Like low rent is something to be ashamed of; instead, we should insist on getting dragged over the coals for a closet-sized apartment??....And while $800/month is above the median in Buffalo, there are about a dozen new downtown buidlings with renovated lofts that are comparable with high-end living in other cities. They EASILY exceed $800/month. good find, good article.

I'm voting for the young buck because angry old people are a dime a dozen. And we already elected a stupid hick (twice) who are also a dime a dozen. Dime a dozen guys aren't the answer, and neither are 72-year old career Washington insiders whose claim to fame is getting shot down in an airplane. A young, fresh, black man has NEVER failed as El Presidente de Los Estados Unidos. Plenty of crotchety old white men have been bad presidents. I would prefer if the spokesperson of my country could actually carry respect in today's global marketplace. It's been 8 years since that has happened. Obama has my respect and he seems to have the respect of the leaders and people of the world. McCain? I respect his military and public service, but his Republican nomination seems like he has outlasted them with failed presidential bids in the past, to where they said, "Ok, let's give it to this old guy, I can't really think of anyone else..." The headline in the London Times the day after the election in 2004: "How could 62 million people be so stupid?" Well, you'll have to answer that for yourselves, people.

About 30 years, and the ability of one guy to put on his own pants...

Yep...Must be me...

Discrediting real military service seemed to work well in the last election. But you're right, getting shot down in a plane is certainly automatic presidential material.

A Subaru shaggin wagon, bought it with 98K miles as a senior in HS and had it for a few years. Summer before my senior year in college, the Subaru was officially dead and I bought a used Jeep Wrangler. Still have the Wrangler to this day, got 160K miles on it, just use it in the summer as a field car, doing some mudding!

Moore is legit, no doubt. But he has had one incredible breakout season...The year before that, he started just 4 games as a sophomore. Mays has been a freak of nature since he arrived in LA, starting from day 1 on one of the best defenses in the nation. He had a tender ankle for the majority of his sophmore season, which likely affected his ball hawking. I'm sure he's poised for a big junior year, much like Moore had in his junior year in '07. Both are the "hybrid" type safeties (linebacker size and hitting, CB speed and coverage) that every NCAA and NFL coach is dreaming about at the moment.

Oh yes, definitely agree...I'm far from writing them off, I still think they win the east...Brady is the key cog, obviously...

Their starters looked great. They'd play one series and stuff the opponent's offense...Then Kelly would lead an 8-play, 76-yard TD drive in 3:07, and they'd be up 7-0 and all take their pads off. The Bills would lose 27-10. Who cares? Nobody was worried about the losses because the PLAYERS WHO WERE GOING TO PLAY looked good. That's not the case with the Patriots.

If you could pick one team who would lose on a last-second, heart breaking score in their home opener, who would it be?

I don't think anyone is really concerned about the record. The games are typically won or lost by 3rd and 4th stringers who likely won't even be on the roster. When your team enters halftime two weeks in a row down 24-3, it might be cause for alarm. That means the 1st stringers on both sides of the ball (and possibly special teams also) aren't getting the job done. They could go 0-4 and lose every game 31-10, but if they are up 10-0 after the 1st quarter, they'd feel fine.

I think Carrie is a beautiful chick...Just gorgeous in a classic sense. Jess seems like you could really talk her into some crazy shiit in the sack (especially if I told her I would put her in my movie,) definitely a little more ditzy. I'd give Carrie the face, Jess the body (see: juggs) I'd like to take Carrie to Xmas dinner. I'd like to rail on Jess in a drunken, wild one-night stand. Bottom line: Good for Romo. He's doing what any NFL QB (especially Dallas) should be, and using his fame to score hot pussey.

UB is -3.5 point favorites for the Vegas crowd....

Wow Rich, great info...I feel like my general team knowledge is decent, but I certainly defer to your knowledge of players. Well done. A few thoughts/questions: -You seem to like the Big East, with two teams in the top-10 and Pitt squeaking into your top-25 (including BOTH WVU and USF ahead of the AP #1 Georgia.) You really see USF as a top-10 team, huh? -Is ND "that school"? Are you ranking them top-20 because they can't help but win 8-9 games due to their high school schedule? -I have trouble buying into ND, Pitt, and Florida St in the top-25 and Fresno State not there. I think they will be legit. We'll find out in week 2 vs. Wisconsin. -I love Florida's team but hate their schedule. They seemed to forget last season that they won in '06 with DEFENSE...They should still have the high-powered offense, but they aren't going anywhere if they give up 26 pts/game again this year. -You think Moody will have a big enough role in the UF offense to earn 2nd-team all conference? It'll be interesting how they use him. A big 3rd & 3 just HAS to be Tebow, right? -USC may struggle at QB and is young at WR, but McKnight should be electric, and that defense is LOADED -No love for UNC sophomore safety Deunta Williams??? Not even 2nd-team all-conference??? Dude is a BEAST -Are you going to post your overall conference-to-conference rankings? -My thoughts on Preseason Polls- LOVE 'EM!! They generate excitement, get people talking, spur debate, and give a level of importance to these first few games. The impact of the preseason polls is DRASTICALLY overrated, in my opinion. If you win, you move up. If you lose, you move down. How many teams REALISTICALLY have a shot at winning the national title anyways??? The one year it was a real stink, Auburn started out ranked #16 and made it up to #3, but couldn't jump OU or USC. Well, even if they started the season at #3, they STILL wouldn't have jumped either of those teams, as they both went undefeated also. Last season, we entered the first week of December without knowing who was going to play in the BCS title game. A bunch of teams had chances at #1 and #2 throughout the season, and they lost. Can't blame that on pollsters. Awesome job, thanks Rich.

It does read a bit like a vendetta piece, but it's hard to dispute any of the claims made in the article. Weis is an extremely arrogant man. You can't state at your opening press conference that your team will have an "X's and O's advantage" over every team in the country, just because you've arrived. Last time I checked, football is still a game, and there are some EXTREMELY talented coaches in the NCAA ranks. Geniuses work for NASA, they don't stand on a sideline while 20-year old kids tackle each other. And when you are a pompous prick, and your best "win" is a loss, and you've been handsomely rewarded for that "win," it's hard to feel sorry for the guy. Not to harp on the spygate thing, but I can't believe that wasn't investigated further. The NFL seemed to say, "OK, we've confirmed they were cheating, they've been punished, that's the end of it." In my opinion, it should've gone a level deeper. The guy who was taping- what did he do with the tapes? Who did he give them to? Were they discussed in meetings and gamplanning sessions? Was Weis and Belichek and Brady in on these meetings? It's possible the the supposed abilities of someone like Charlie Weis (and the reason he got hired for BIG money) were based on false pretenses and illegal activities. Anyways, ND needs to perform this year. They have a CAKE schedule, with Pitt probably being the 2nd best team they will play behind USC. As it stands right now, the Irish will probably be favored in 9 of their games...And with that "X's and O's advantage" (wink wink) they should have no trouble.

Perhaps the use of videotape will help Weis to know what defense is signaled in, so that he just happens to call a perfect screen pass to the side of the field where two defenders are blitzing. That seemed to happen A LOT in Foxboro in the early-2000's.

Holy shiit I think the Ravens were losing in every highlight in that clip. AND they lost to the Dolphins. Unreal. Do they have ANY chance at winning 7 games this season???

My personal view: They are pros at hitting a golf ball. They should focus on hitting a golf ball. Who cares what language they speak, and who cares if the soundbite is delivered by a translator? Hell, the LPGA should just tell the translators to give their own interesting answer if the player's answer is boring. My real world view: Money talks like usual, and if there were no sponsors, there'd be no tour. If the sponsors put pressure on the LPGA to make their players "relate" more to Americans, I completely understand why the LPGA would do this, and I'm sure the foreign players understand also. The truth: The foreign players know the deal, and they'll adhere to the governing body on this one. They don't have much choice. Either fall in line and do what the LPGA says, or go find another job.

Ha! clever...

My preference (no practice views, games only) would be Jenkins over Johnson...Wouldn't think twice about that decision.

Couldn't disagree more with this sentiment. The wings at the Bar Bill in East Aurora, NY will show you the right way to do wings, BIG juicy wings with plenty of flavor and spice, and absolutely NO drenching or pooling of sauce. I like hot wings, and I can't stand when places think that by "hot," it means just dump twice as much medium sauce on there. Dripping wet wings are disgusting, IMO.

FOUR OBESE AND THE MISSING PIECE

Hey Tim, thanks for the ESPN blog and AFC East updates. I think we would all love to see Bills coverage maxed out, and the decline of in-depth coverage in the long-standing newspapers is a shame. That said, there are more avenues than ever before to pursue coverage of one's favorite team. Personally, I can't say I've ever had an issue with getting my Bills news fix. It's possible that in the "On Demand" information age that we now live, the demands are greater than ever before . People see Langston Walker get injured in the 1st quarter, and they want updates by halftime. In the old days, you'd wait until the Thursday newspaper recapped the coach's Wednesday press conference. Now, if the information is not instantaneous and easily available, people are up in arms. As for online fan posts, they can be very difficult to gauge. Most are emboldened by the anonymous nature of online posting, and will say things that would never be uttered in a conversation, or even in a signed "Letter to the Editor." It's a strange era that is very young. People have opportunities to engage in the discourse that didn't exist a decade ago. Fan sites and the blog world have increased, while many columnists have been let go. Criticism of the traditional media can be scalding and is sometimes just fans making themselves feel better by anonymously tearing on others, without presenting alternative ideas for where media coverage can be improved. It should also be considered that players, coaches, and franchise public relations people have become EXTREMELY careful in the news that is released, how it is released, and when. They know that any seemingly minor utterance is immediately picked up and splashed across the WWW for commentary, speculation, and criticism. The trust that perhaps once existed between the podium and the beat writers is no longer there. Thanks again for your ESPN work, and your time in Buffalo. Looking forward to continued reading.

I think the preseason should be two games, maybe three max. That said, I would play the starters for a quarter in this final week. It just sucks when the "any play" injuries like Umeniyora's or Langston's, have to happen in an exhibition game. I realize those things are a bit freakish and could happen at any time, but at least you'd like to see them happen in a game that matters. -At the other end of the spectrum- What about teams like the Giants and Patriots playing all of their players right through Week 17 last year and having success in the playoffs, while other teams like the Bucs and Cowboys rested players in the final week(s) and laid an egg in the playoffs??