Spun

Don't worry! Your avatar more than makes up for it. Andre will get his day. It would be interesting if he went in by himself such as Reggie Jackson did in baseball but I believe football ensures that a certain number of nominees get in with each class. Andre in the Oilers comeback game was phenomenal.

I get chills just reading your post.

I am sorry to hear about your father-in-law. Oh yes, strong reactions can arise from the ex-Marine assessment. Retired or Ret. as I have learned.

Fifteen minutes goes to OT... http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Miss...own-Yanked.html

The rivalry between Graf and Seles was outstanding. Until that nut case stabbed Seles. Very sad.

A screamer...

Last night, I pulled up a chair in a San Diego sports bar. I was wearing my Bills hat. The guy next to me commented about my hat. He is a Dolphins and Hurricanes fan while I am a Buckeye and of course, a Bills fan. This guy has never accepted the Buckeye win over the Canes in the BCS a few years ago. Instead of dropping the gloves, he bought me a beer. He asked whether I was there to watch the playoff game. I explained that I was there for the other playoff game (Wings and Pens). The place was crawling with Laker fans and one of the bartenders is a Clippers fan. The conversation led to my take on basketball. Great sport to play, watch and follow. But rip a kid's franchise away and you lose loyalty to an entire sport. The only thing I liked about John Y. Brown was his wife, a former Miss America, Phyllis George. The guy sitting next to me at the bar is a standup comic. There was this lady sitting on the other side of him. They started talking, drank a couple of shots and ten minutes later, while the lady was in the restroom, he tells me in a concerned voice that the lady just asked him to take her back to his place. He sounded very unsure of what to do as she seemed a little unstable and certainly quick. I looked at him and I said "material just falls in your lap". Literally. The lady returned to the bar and not two minutes went by and the two were out the door. Sorry to work this into a thread about Randy Smith but it was funny. To finish this post on Randy and to add a little more humor, read this article about Randy in the Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/695174.html The part about the head shaving was hilarious! Can you imagine watching that? The story about Clyde's shoes (from Beerballs' link to Chuck Pollacks article) also was great! I wish we could see footage of that! Thanks Nervous Guy for the YouTube video. I forgot how smooth Randy was when he would pull back and pop his jumpers. The Braves eventually became very good while we had them. Randy Smith has to be Buff State's greatest athlete. Great memories!

The Penguin (Batman - TV series) Norman Bates Marnie (Hitchcock film - Marnie) Farmer Vincent (film - Motel Hell)

It is with great sorrow and disbelief that I heard of the loss of Randy Smith. For those who are a little younger and or don't remember, there was a time when Buffalo had an NBA team that was very good. There was a time in the mid seventies when the Braves, Bills and Sabres were all in first place in their divisions with players among the best in their respective leagues. In 1970, Buffalo began franchises in both the NBA and NHL with the Braves and the Sabres. I can't recall that ever happening before, two new franchises in one city, in one year, it is very rare. It was a great time. Although I had the early bedtime in 4th grade, I defiantly had the Sabres games on one radio and the Braves on the other. For a developing sports addict it was the best. As a kid, the newspapers provided the comic fix until sports kicked in. And kick in it did. Having two papers with generous sports coverage was great. And that included Buffalo college sports. Not only did Randy Smith of Buffalo State play in the NBA but also Bob Lanier of Bennett High and St. Bonaventure, Calvin Murphy of Niagara and Mike Macaluso of Canisius. If you ever get the chance, visit the microfilm section of the downtown Buffalo library and catch a glance of that era. I used to also collect those ticket coupons off the Dairylea milk cartons. Unfortunately, I was never able to use them as money and rides were always an issue. I did see a few games live. The first was aginst the Lakers in I believe 1971. The game ended in the Lakers favor 131-118 and was significant in that a collision between Bob Kaufman and Jerry West led to a very bad knee injury to West. I also once saw McAdoo score 52 points. I still have scrapbooks of newsclippings of the Braves, Sabres and Bills from those days. And of course, I still have my Braves pennant. It is ironic that we lose Randy during the aftermath of the last days of the Aud. I believe Randy was at this past Fall's Aud auction. It is fitting that Randy (and Bob McAdoo) were enshrined in the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. I do think it would be very cool if both Randy Smith and Bob McAdoo had their numbers raised to the roof of HSBC possibly with a tournament featuring WNY college basketball teams. I know the Braves never played at HSBC but that time (although way too short) was indeed sweet. I never recovered from the Braves leaving Buffalo. It was handled very poorly. The NBA owners had their hands in the franchise leaving. The NBA lost me as a fan. Clippers. Not. I never liked franchise shifts. Especially looming ones. My condolences to Randy's family, friends and fans! Rest well Randy Smith. Thanks for the memories! Everybody, live today like it is your last. 60 years old is way too young.

The Official Buffalo Bills VIP Lounge at the Erie County Holding Center. If it gets much worse, ECHS may have it's own Bills Wall of Fame.

I have been getting e-mails from the magazine for a while now. For those who enjoy trying to figure out francais the magazine is a good challenge. In the last issue that I received, there was also mention of three other sports sites en francais: sports.fr sport24.com (includes a tiny bit of hockey!!!) sport365.com (site was recently down and may no longer operate) Historians would know that the French were instrumental in helping the colonists defeat the Brits to form the United States. The French settled in the Buffalo / Western New York area on their way from what is now Quebec to New Orleans. One of the theories of the naming of Buffalo has to do with the francais expression "beau fleuve" (meaning beautiful river - the Niagara) which when anglicized sounds like Buffalo. And as far as I could tell there were no Buffalo native to WNY! This subject actually came up on the TV show Jeopardy! http://www.beaufleuve.com/history.html Some of the streets in Buffalo have French names, ex: Lasalle (also the Niagara Falls high school) , Lafayette (also the Buffalo high school) and Frontenac.

It was funny but it kind of dropped us off at the Buffalo point. I thought things were just about to roll when wham. They suddenly shut it down like pirated internet TV.

A great game to win against a very good opponent. Thanks for the win Sabres, I am sure the locals appreciated it and certainly needed it. I watched the game without audio. I could see the emotion in the crowd and also the anthem singer, Doug Allen. Marleau and Boyle had very good games for the Sharks. Boyles goal was incredible. The Spacek / Lydman defensive pairing was a little shaky. Miller was tough as usual in the SO. The Sabres can't let up. Canes and Flyers are up next week. The Sabres power play was much better last night.

Blackmail Day.

Sharks are up near the top again. Their four goal, third period comeback on the road against the Bruins in a high profile game, was epic. That is what the playoffs are about. The Sharks have been knocking at the top for a while. It could happen for them. The Sabres struggle against physical teams such as in the Western Conference. I will be watching in a SD sports bar. San Jose hockey fans are very different. Many of the Shark fans are just turning on to the game. They always have good questions about the game. I wish the Sabres still had Grier. This game lost it's importance for the Sabres side. Yes, going 1 - 12 on the power play and the injuries to players like Vanek hurt play on the ice. Tonight, I don't think either team feels like playing. http://www.buffalonews.com/515/story/578662.html http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/2009/0...lowe-and-boyle/

Columbus is still as conservative as ever. However, it is interesting to see how the locals have taken to the NHL Blue Jackets and the Crew. The rivalry between US and Mexico is intense. When they have games in the Southwest it isn't uncommon for the crowd to be mostly Mexican.

Thank you Tampa police.

Live it up a little. Dude...

One play that was especially painful for me was one that wasn't even in a Super Bowl but significant in that it prevented the Bills from possibly going to a Super Bowl sooner than they actually did in SB XXV. The play: the Ronnie Harmon dropped end zone pass against the Browns in the playoffs in 1989 or 1990. It was a soft pass right in his hands. Painful.

They are always incredible! http://www.hottestgirlsofcheerleading.com/...leaders-encore/ http://www.americasbestonline.net/cheerleaderusc.htm http://www.trojanwire.com/football/cheerleaders/

Have a look... http://www.chargers.com/charger_girls/

I did watch a lot of them and most were boringly uncompetitive. The other one that I thought was good was the Holiday Bowl (TCU - Boise St.).

I was very surprised that the game was so competitive. I said going in that if OSU was to have a chance at winning they would have to alternate their two qb's (Pryor the runner and Boeckman the passer). It worked somewhat but that is what OSU should have been doing all season especially after first implementing the strategy against SC. There were times when the two qb system seemed to be throwing OSU off more than Texas. Familiarity would have helped the Buckeyes if they had used the two qb system more during the season. I also said that if OSU (or anybody is going to lose a game, a fight, etc.), go out swinging until the end. I think the Buckeyes did that. Beyond that, what else could they do? It seems that Beanie Wells has some durability issues so declaring for the draft is probably a good choice. The thing about these bowl games is that there is so much time to scout each other. That is good if you can prepare your team to bring something new to match the other team's strengths. The bad thing is that the opposition is trying to do the same against you. If you can't adjust you probably lose. The Longhorns adjusted in the second half. I don't think the Longhorns were playing bad it was just that OSU prepared well for them. As for Colt McCoy and the Longhorns, I do believe McCoy should have won the Heisman and Texas should have been in the BCS Final. I think McCoy's dual threat of pass and run would have made a better matchup against Florida (even though the Sooners gave the Gators a good fight). Sometimes I look at a qb's stats such as when one throws more than 400 yards and I wonder where was the defense, where was the blitz? But the Buckeyes did blitz McCoy and he still was launching lasers. McCoy is probably coming back but he is ready for the NFL now. That was the best bowl game of this bowl season. Both teams put on an intense show as evidenced by the multitude of injuries. The hitting was vicious. Nice win Longhorns.

If you are dating at work realize that such closeness is a mistake and don't do it again. Keep the files separate... When things are going great it can be fun but when you need your space and can't get it, it is hell. When you see and hear each other constantly then it takes a stronger hold on your thoughts and emotions at the expense of your job. Not good. If you are young (you said around late teens, twenties?) move on. There are so many attractive options. Stay away from co-workers, neighbors, classmates, etc. The space between you and your girlfiend of the future is a good thing. Women are like a good vacation. You want to end your vacation wishing you could stay longer but not having stayed too long. In a relationship, you want to to crave seeing each other more instead of seeing each other too much. If you two are in different cities that is very good. Don't text, don't call, don't write and don't get into any more verbal spats. Move on! Speaking of vacations, take one to clear your mind a bit. Time heals and so does distance!

Pics... Have you checked out The Tilted Kilt yet? The one in downtown San Diego (next to the baseball park) is very nice! It rivals Hooters. Here is the website: http://www.tiltedkilt.com/ Pricey but very Scottish.