Ned Flanders

That is the key: there is a history of success in Green Bay, three Super Bowls, and more than several NFL championships. Hey, if you're a Packer fan and can remember at least as far back as to when the Pack beat the Pats, everything else is just gravy.

I think it's safe to say, that I don't think a visiting team has been favored by such a large margin at Rich/RWS since 1985... These times they are a changin'....

Will check it out when I return for a game next year...or do they jack-up the prices ala that "tourist trap," The Tree, on home game weekends?

Get drunk faster: Watch the ESPN Sunday game and drink every time Joe Theisman says: "He did a nice job."

Good find! "...relocated to Utica, New York?" They need to update their tour sched...2004 is the last year on there.

Holy crap...loved OTGW! Saw them at the Arcade several times, always around this time of year when I was home for T-Giving/holidays. I'm thinking the last time I saw them was about ten years ago though...(or when I came up for a playoff game ) And yes, they were great...jeeziz, haven't thought about them in a loooooong time, wonder if they're still around? Another great cover band/act at the Arcade was Rob Levesque (sp?) who used to do great Howard Jones/Genesis/Phil Collins/etc

And another little known note, the Fish were three point UNDERDOGS to the Redskins in the Super Bowl... Link

But these are the type of people the NFL is after...17-24 year olds, still living with mommy and daddy and with plenty of disposable $$$. Seen a Coors Light ad recently? That video game LT is hawking? The louts are showing up in greater numbers in more and more stadiums, not just RWS. The Washington Post had an article last week on the growing number of drunks and fights at FedEx Field, of all places.

And that's the key...RW sits in his box, raincoat, tie, and baseball cap on, looks around, sees a stadium full of people while his offense is mustering a whole nine points, and thinks to himself, "I guess it ain't all bad." I re-read "Relentless" a couple of weeks ago and there is a quote from Ralph in there that read, to the effect, that the Super Bowl was actually anti-climatic, that winnning the conference was what it was all about...more than 10 years following the last SB loss, I think that statement still speaks volumes. Settling for second-best, settling for mediocrity, seems to be the Bills' way.

Nice Night Shift pickup!

This is an annual issue for Skins fans here in DC. Peter King is the one voter who has kept Monk outta the HOF. King gets up the day of the final vote and contends that when he was covering the Giants for Newsday, the Giants always feared Gary Clark more than Art Monk...he claims Monk's catches were no more than "seven yards and a cloud of sideline chalk dust." I dunno, but if you leave the game with the most catches all-time, why should you always be measured vs. Jerry Rice? Put the SU guy in Canton.

I'm sure I missed something, but did anyone hear during the game why it took San Diego THIRTY FIVE F'N years to recognize Lance Alworth? Bad feelings (ala Ralph and Cookie) or something like that? PS: Thought the single bar helmet at mid-field was a good touch (the only highlight of the day). Reminded me of the old KC Municipal Stadium, where in the AFL days, the groundscrew, led by legendary George Toma, used to put the KC and opponent's helmet at each 40 yard line.

There is no more "grooming" process in the NFL...there was a day where a QB, or any other player, could spend a couple, three years on the bench, watch, listen and learn. Think pre-free agency. Now, a player, whether drafted or FA, has to be plugged in immediatly. The learning curve is over. You're expected to show up in shape and contribute from the first day of mini-camp. Brees had a breakout year last season...he simply played his way into the Pro Bowl. Rivers will not be "groomed" for anything...he will likely be gone for a high draft pick after the season, ala "can't miss" Jacksonville backup Rob Johnson.

Said it after the Oakland debacle...it starts with Ralph and filters down to the hockey kids selling candy in the parking lots...they're ALL to be held accountable and forced to face the music. TEN years since a division title...(before anyone had cell phones) NINE years without a home playoff game...(before anyone had an e-mail address) SIX years without ANY playoff game...(Larry King was only on his third wife) We've become the Lions. Note to NFL: Schedule Buffalo to host a Thanksgiving game next season; we look so much like the Lions, we might as well act like 'em.

"We just have to execute better." To paraphrase the late, great John McKay: "What do I think of my team's execution? I'm all for it."

Saw a study a couple of years ago where Buffalo leads the NFL with highest percentage of homes with at least one piece (or something like that) of NFL-licensed apparel in the household.

Are you sure you don't mean Kenny STAPLER?

"There has to be interest in keeping a historic team like the Browns in Cleveland. With Akron/Canton and Columbus nearby, the team has to make its fair share of money. Sellouts are the norm, and the fan base is rabid, as I have seen..." I just tweaked your quote a little and made it sound 1995ish...little scary, huh? Buffalo is NOT safe by any means...with last week's announcement regarding LA, the Bills may not be the choice to move to Hollywood, but I fear, needlessly I hope, every year that the Bills will bolt for greener pastures.

Watched the ND-USC game at BTI the Saturday before the Jets game and a local was complaining about the prices being jacked up every home game weekend...stumbled across the street to Danny's around 9:00 or so and that place was a morgue, the eight of us doubled the population.

Jeeziz...it's been 25 years?!?!?

Thanks for the props, but I'm no longer on active duty....got out over 25 years ago. All the credit and thanks go to those currently deployed...God speed.

Which leads to the question: Did the AFL circa 1960-69, black-out home games, even if sold out? As you recall, the current NFL rules only go back to 1972...meaning prior to that year any game, no matter if it was sold out months in advance, was blacked out in that team's home market...Giants, Packers, Colts, etc fans only saw their team on TV if they were on the road. Hence, Ray Scott was the "voice of the Packers" since Packer road games only went to Wisconsin and various other markets...every market but the home team in many cases. If the Pack was playing the Bears at long-sold-out Wrigley, the entire country may have gotten the game, except people in Chicago! It took the Redskins' success in the Lombardi year, 1969, to wake up national politicians to pressure the NFL to televise sold out games. Skins games were sold out, like now, but you had to be in the stadium to see it. Pols were pi$$ed and put the heat on Rozelle and the black out rules as exist today, were born.

Pi$$es me off everytime I see it...like he's created some sort of a moniker for the winds I've only heard described as "Colder than a witches t_t."

“Word definitely got around: If you are going to shoot at the Marines, it's going to be the last day of your life,” Capt. Brian Gilbertson, outside Husaybah, Iraq

I have never heard anyone else but Dr. Z refer to the WNY November/December winds as "The Hawk." I grew up there, did I miss that day in school or something?