Whites Bay

If you're talking about TEAMS against which I root, the list is pretty simple: Pats* Pats* Pats* Cowboys Raiders (easy target, but everyone likes to kick a man when he's down, and then urinate in his mouth) Georgetown in NCAA hoops (can't ever get over it, ever, ever, ever) If you're talking about PEOPLE against whom I'd root, the list is only marginally more complex: George "W." Bush (death's too good) Suze Orman Michael Jordan Oprah Winfrey Rush-the-Tush Limbaugh Shannon Sharpe (Speech lessons. Please.)

The young man has nailed it here, ladies and gentlemen. We've all become used to great returns and great tackles. Short fields for us and long fields for the opponent. That comes at a price, and that price has been a lot of people who are no longer here. Stop thinking "camp meat", and start thinking about reloading the gun.

You know what's really the MOST depressing thought about this thread? It's that it's a "double-banger". Not only am I never going to get back the 30 seconds that it took me to write this response, but I'll also never get back the 10 seconds that it took me to read the initial post. Who - in God's name - give's a rat's hairy ass about what this commentator thinks? I mean, you know, aside from the person who originally posted this? Jesus. Show up the Ralph on Sunday afternoon, and THEN talk to me about a bad sports town. Dope.

A million years ago, I had a wonderful female friend in college whom I'd always considered a FRIEND for YEARS. Period. It didn't stay that way, at least on my part - biology calls, and men answer. Things never went anywhere after I made a pass at her, and once we had our "meeting of the minds", we reverted to friends, and it stayed that way. It was, I'm proud to say, the single time I've been able to exert that level of self-control in an effort to preserve a beautiful relationship. I believe, however, that I'm an exception, either through good upbringing or cowardice. I never repeated the attempt, and things settled out. Until one night on mushrooms two years later in grad school. My point, young lady, is that it never stops. This guy had the hots for you, he has them now, and he'll have them in the future. A guy always carries the torch. Much of what you've read herein is fairly accurate. Keep the flirtation to a zero-minimum, watch the alcohol (or other mind-altering substance) intake, be cautious about putting yourself into not-so-accidentally-pleasantly intimate settings like walks on a beach, moonlight, close dancing. Because it never stops.

Shocked, stunned, amazed and thrilled to see the word "Jorma" on the board! The commencement recessional tune during my B.S. (no, not Bull Schit...the real deal in Biology) back a long, long, long time ago was "The Water Song". Its mild irreverance during such an austere occcasion still brings a smile to my face. I downloaded a few tunes a couple of years ago for a family reunion, and made sure it was included on one of the CDs. It came on somewhere after boating, prior to badminton, in the midst of "pre-barbecue warm up on a hot afternoon". You could watch the whole crew on the deck start groovin' in their chairs, and reaching for another beer.......

Well, I mean, you have to admit that she DOES clean up nicely. Just don't piss her off after the third glass of Chardonnay.

Hot damn! Am I the only one who gets this? Do you know who we have here?!? C'mon boys and girls....we have STABLER!!!! This is the second coming of the Mad Bomber! Turn on John Lennon, pop out the Tums, get ready for the bald spot and the high blood pressure............ ......and a Super Bowl ring. I'm thrilled beyond words. We have Stabler. Oh my God, we have Stabler.

My goodness, how times have changed! Three years ago you would have been shot, and your remains drawn and quartered, for having mentioned the Onion. Good on ya, mate! So it goes!

???? #1: I live over in the Mohawk Valley, so I'm kind of clueless on the local representation in Erie County. Louise Slaughter picked up part of the region when the Rochester districts were consolidated. True enough - she's a Democrat, and actually a pretty good legislator. But she's a Rochesterian, I believe (actually, I think she's a Southerner by birth - check out the accent), so she really isn't the heart-and-soul choice of Buffalonians - she was kind of "dumped" on Buffalo. But I thought the Big Cheese Congressman from Buffalo was Tom Reynolds, right? The Republican? The guy who had designs on House Majority Leader before it turned out that he was a lot more interested in raising money for the Republican National Committee than he was in protecting the safety of Congressional pages from another Republican, the sexual predator Mark Foley. I could be wrong on this, but I think this was how the lineage can be traced. ???? #2: Upstate New York has LONG been known as a "base" (if such a term can be used these days) of "MODERATE" Republicaninsm. Frank Horton, Amo Houghton...I mean, it's a pretty long list if I were to put some thought into it. And Pat Moynihan (yes, a Democrat, but work with me here) served as U.N. Ambassador under Nixon, didn't he? Correct me if I'm wrong on that one - I know that one's a reach, but I could take a couple of minutes to Google it if I had to. Anyway, he was from Oneonta, and was a great friend of Barry Goldwater, having reached across the aisle several times in the 1960s and 1970s (Goldwater was a little to the Right of the Death Squads, but had a lot of good ideas anyway). The point being that we have a long history of NOT being hardcore partisans on EITHER side of the aisle in this area. Frankly, the most partisan politician to come along in quite some time has been Reynolds, and he almost lost out this past time around. ???? #3: Fred Thompson? It won't happen, my friend. He's admitted he's "in remission" from cancer. So was Paul Tsongas. That, unfortunately, didn't last very long. The key/Achilles Heel to his candidacy (if he even decides to make a run for it) will be his choice of running mate. You'd better focus long and hard on that choice - you may need him sooner than you think. Anyway, go ahead and shoot back if you'd like. As for being a red-meat, red-neck conservative that blames all the limp-wristed nancy boy Liberals for all the ills of the world.....look, home dog, the problem is in YOUR mirror. It's been a Republican President, a Republican Congress, a Republican Senate and a conservative court for the better part of six (that's "6") years. How do you come off blaming anyone but yourself? Scream away if you must, but when I look in the mirror, I see a guy that says "I didn't vote for that idiot". And Olberman has a dry sense of humor that is probably lost on people like you who communicate in crayon.

"Not sure it matters much..." These are the precise words that I'd heard this afternoon in a conversation with a co-worker in New Hampshire - yes, a !@#$ing DIEHARD Patsie fan. We're actually able to maintain a level of civility....well, because I really can't shove it back in his face at this point in time. Urrggghh!!! Oh, if there is a higher being, we'll sweep these clowns, and there's a lot of humble pit to be eaten. This is total and utter ballwashing on the part of the NFL, and anyone who believes that this isn't manipulated REALLY needs to call 1-800-CHANGEMYMEDS. The day is coming. When I had season tickets for the then-L.A. Rams in the 1980s, I had to wait, and wait, and wait for that antichrist Joe Montana to retire or move on. Guess what? It happened. And his career ended on the cold turf of Rich Stadium when he was in a wheelchair for the Chiefs. So maybe there is a higher being. It just takes awhile for him to put his beer down and get around to doing what higher beings do.......

I had to dig for a minute to find this post from KensBills. Oh, wait a minute. Here it is: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHA. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHA. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeppers. That pretty much sums it up.

You bastard! And now it's IMPOSSIBLE to get "Trying to Grow Me a Chin" out of my mind! "Get the picture"??!!

Question for you. At family reunions, do people look out upon the gathering and see the same three chromosomes?

Thank you. Forget "Can we all just get along". How about "Can we all just try a little decaf?"

I couldn't agree more. If there's truly justice in the universe, he'd end up in Canton while he's still around to sit in the sunshine on the stage at the ceremony.

You know, I try to be erudite in this forum. But, Jesus, this post made me laugh. Ken, you couldn't have possibly described my reaction better.

A small bay in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario, up in Jefferson County. Up where the skies are clear, the air is scented with pine and cedar.....and the blackout rule doesn't apply, like it does down in Utica. Funny - I didn't realize Utica was only 75 miles from the Ralph......

I agree - Door Number Two, Bob. The one aspect that worries me in this scenario is the last one. I'm probably more sold on Yabouty than McGee as our #1 corner. I know, I know - Yabouty has played for three snaps or so (?). But I have nightmares of watching McGee getting torched/run over/outmuscled/toyed with against DETROIT! Detroit, for God's sake. The upshot is that I hope we pick up the best CB available with one of the 3rd rounders. At this point, I'm pretty much sold on Willis. Carricker is pretty interesting as well, but don't know what to give up to get to him.

Apologies for not being more clued-in, but could someone give their best guess as to the exact date/hour/minute that Marv and Dick will be pulling the trigger for the #12 pick? It looks like I have to drive to Montreal that day, and want to know how long to postpone the start.

Yes, but the problem in today's financial world of the NFL is that a proven performer at a "skill" position is simply going to break the bank when the contract comes to an end. Couple this with the increasing probability that said skill player is going to have a catastrophic injury the longer he stays in the league, and there's a law of diminishing returns that leaves a team hovering like a fly waiting for the windshield on the freeway. In other words - unlike divorce, it's not "cheaper to keep her". DUMP HIM!! There are exceptions at key positions.....but really, I think, only at QB! It makes sense to keep a truly great QB on the roster, and to keep interchanging the parts around him. RBs, CBs, LBs come and go, but there are only so many Favres, Kellys, Mannings and (this one galls me) Bradys.

Okay, I like that. Webster's 1979 edition (the 4-inch thick MF) spells it "Mobius", but the extra "e" is allowed if there's an umlat from the original German translation (and I don't know, so that's a mulligan). But that's pretty good. Using "Mobius Strip" on a fan board. That's pretty good. More to the point, however, I refer to another post. Is Brown going to get us there? How are the knees? This line's going to open some holes, but they won't all be SUV-sized - someone's going to have to cut.

I'll believe it when I see it. This having been said....if it happens, at least we won't have the opportunity for a "Revenge Bowl" (a la Travis Henry) for almost 3 years. Played the Ravens at the end of 2006, so we won't be seeing them until 2009 - and with luck, we'll be the home team this time. A lot can happen in the life of a running back in 3 years. That's a career in itself.

Well, I guess with a write-up like this, they won't be "under the radar" anymore. Wonder how many agents pimped their products for this article? My gut call is that the scouting staffs of this world aren't reading this information and shouting "Gadzooks! That's it!!" They already know it, just like Marv & Co. do. It's a matter of WHICH position is needed by WHICH team. Supply and demand, folks. I agree with the above comment - Steinbach isn't really "under the radar", is he? That's stretching things a bit.

Thanks for the voice of reason. I've held off with responses herein because this board is morphing into the suicide watch as both Free Agency and Draft Day approach. Jeez Louise, people, try some decaf. The Pats ARE winding down. Not next year, not overnight, but time takes its toll, and the gap is indeed narrowing. Even the JP-Haters out there have to admit the Bills played a damn good game in Foxboro - a stupid safety aside. What I liked about that game was that the Bills came in fearless, and couldn't care less about what the national media (or posters on this board) had to say about their chances. Next year will be better. Does Marv know what he's doing? No one on this board can realistically stand up and say that last year's draft was a bust. Anyone who does is merely arguing for the sake of being a contrarian. Just like everyone else, I choked on my Molson when Whitner's name was called. Hey Marv......nice shooting. My only hope for this coming draft is that I want to be thrilled with our first pick. Okoye? Super! Brown? Super! Just don't draft a punter....and I don't think he will. There's a reason those boys are doing their job, and the rest of us are posting on fan boards. Somebody on this board had a great statement along the lines of "Great teams are built in April, not in March". I don't care if FA comes and goes without a "splash". Keep the powder dry until April, and get your money's worth. And that means re-upping those like Evans, JP and Schoebel who have proven their worth.

Okay, showing off my nerdliness here, but a million years ago (about the time this shark was at its prime) I was an ichthyology major out on Long Island. I was even the curator of our college ichthyology collection numbering over 1,000 species....and I ain't never seen ANYTHING like this! This is ab-so-friggin-lutely fascinating! The gill structure, the lack of definition of a tail fin, the jaw structure...that thing is barely a step above lamprey. Man, what a snap shot of the past. Amazing those genes still generate offspring - amazing it finds a mate (is it hermaphroditic?). There's a snowball's chance in hell that anyone would be interested, but read "A Fish Caught In Time", a great recounting of the discovery of the coelocanth off the coast of South Africa in the 1950s. Another snap shot of the past. Sort of mentioned in the song "I'm Outlived by THAT Thing?" by the Crash Test Dummies in their 1996 album "A Worm's Life". Listen to it. Don't worry about "Man" having damaged that little beauty. There's a reason you and I haven't seen its ilk before. Newsflash - "It doesn't want to be seen". It doesn't live in our niche, it was sick as hell, but this one went "up" to us instead of "down" to six-feet-below-whale-turd. And we get to learn a little more about ourselves, believe me ("yes" to the fundamentalists - it's your daddy). As for destroying everything in our environment....well, you're right. And I'm not one of those pigheaded right-wing boobs that thinks it's okay to do so because I happen to reside at the top of the food web. Questions to ask yourself: Do I drive an SUV? (sadly, I do. But we have this stuff here in the Mohawk Valley called snow.......) Have I changed my light bulbs to flourescent? (Not yet, but it's going to happen this weekend. Screw you, National Grid ). Remember, it starts with the miserable bastard in the bathroom mirror.....