Whites Bay

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.....

Um.....well, THAT'S not the first thought that came to mind, but now that you've mentioned it............. It IS rather busy, and you wouldn't be able to pick up the details on the helmet from a distance. I remember the Chiefs putting something together about 10 years ago that had a full Indian head dress with feathers, war paint, etc. Looked like someone had rammed their head up the back end of an ostrich. Just a little "OTT".......

A co-worker (who may post on this board....you know who you are) has sold me on Levi Brown. I was solidly in the DT-First camp, but I'm not sure there's a DT on the board worth a 12. I'd take Brown in a heart beat in the first round, and he'd fit. I guess that means I'm not sold on Okoye (although I'd crack open a Molson in celebration if we got him). Your sequence of choices, quite frankly, leaves me drooling......but in 2008, not 2007. I believe you're right in the longer term. One can almost hear choruses of "F-U" !! from that OL down after down after down after down. The NFL wouldn't want to mike that group. Especially in the fourth quarter.

One of two outcomes: If the Pats have a close lead with (e.g.) 7:00 to go in the 4th quarter, watch for the Colts' collective lips to turn blue as the Pats squeeze the Colts' collective throats and grind out one of those patented oxygen-depriving, game-killing 6:00 minute drives. Game over, and you know it. We've all seen it one too many times with the Bills. "The clock.............ticking......" (spoken by a Pats fan sitting in front of me at the Ralph at the end of the 2002 home game - bastard). Alternatively, the Colts come in fearless, play their game, and simply whip the living snot out of the Pats. whose age finally shows. We all know THAT is coming as well, despite great coaching and personnel selection. Time eventually taps every team on the shoulder, gently undoes the belt buckle, and leeringly whispers "Who's yer daddy?" in the ear. Right, Buffalo? Right, San Francisco? Right, Dallas? The Pats are no exception, and it would be interesting to see if the team has the character to play its best football in the face of defeat, or whether they react like a car careening onto a sidewalk crowded with pedestrians...... In other words, the Colts won't win a close one. They'll either beat the Pats like a rented mule, or lose yet another heartbreaker.

I don't know if it's going to be a WR, but you're right - it's going to be a friggin' curveball. I'm still cleaning the cushion on the sofa from the "Bills select Donte Whitner" stunt. Don't get me wrong, good draft pick...but talk about left field. Who's that tight end from Iowa? They won't pick him in the top spot, but hoo boy would I like to see THAT drop into our lap in the third round.

Based upon long-term hates from the early childhood days, it would have to be the Cowboys. Hated 'em back in the 60s, learned to hate 'em even more in the 90s. Now that they're laughable, it makes for good television. The true hate of the modern era has to be New England. Best part about a New England game is the self-immolation that occurs when the calls don't go their way, or they haven't paid off enough refs. Watching the stands at Foxboro when things go against plan is like dropping hamburger into the piranhas. After that..... Friggin' hate Oakland. See Point 1 above about being laughable, and making for great TV bloopers. Jets fans represent a lower form of life, but that can't be helped. Snyder bites the big green weenie, and he is indeed ruining the game. See Point 1 again. The Titans may represent a new form of Antichrist. Any team that has stooped low enough to sign Terrell Owens for a few weeks.

Brutal. Just brutal. The house shook all night from the wind down here in the Mohawk Valley - it sounded a LOT worse than last week. Is their kicker and their punter worth their respective salaries? Because they're going to earn them today.

Oh, bite a fart, Peter King.