Lt. Dan's Revenge

I know that there are a decent amount of sports gamblers on this site that will be putting a lot of action on the big game Sunday, and the Super Bowl usually tempts the non-addicts out of the closet for a day to do some betting too. Most places have the line at Green Bay -2.5, with the Over/Under at between 44 and 45. Who is everyone liking to cover on Sunday? Thoughts on the total points? Any good player or team prop bets that you like? I am already on the Pack -2.5 for a pretty good amount, and will add a bunch of prop bets before game time to have a little more fun with it. I think Green Bay is going to abuse the Steelers offensive line, especially without Pouncey, and Rodgers and the Packs' playmakers will take advantage of a Pitt secondary that is very shaky right now IMO. I do not think Polomalu has recovered from the achilles injury quite yet. Don't know about the over/under. I like both offenses, especially indoors and on turf, but the long two week layoff generally favors the defenses due to all the time to game plan and the offenses usually start very slow. The recent BCS Championship is living proof of that. Those are some of my thoughts so far. Still 6 days away to confirm or second guess everything a million times though. What is everyone else thinking about wagering Sunday?

6 days! Got a big poker tournament at noon at a local bar/restaurant that a friend of mine owns, then continuing the drinking, eating, and gambling all the way through kick off. One of the best days of the year, I just wish I had next Monday off.

I worked for Pizza Junction in NT for a few years back in the day. It is a pretty good example of a "Mom and Pop" place that has had a a lot of success in the pizza business locally. From my experience, I can tell you that it will take a lot of hard work and dedication from not only yourself, but the people that you surround yourself with at this new joint. The quality of the workers that you hire will be extremely important to maintaining a quality product and keeping your own stress-level as low as possible. That being said, like many others have said previously, quality ingredients are everything in the pizza-making business. At Pizza Junction, they have always used the best ingredients possible, and loaded up their pizzas with more of them than most places in WNY. However, the prices have always been a bit higher than other places due to this. Even so, business is still booming because once people get a taste for a certain quality of pizza, wings, subs, etc. they will shell out a couple extra bucks to place an order once every week or two. Good luck, and I hope its a successful venture!

LeBron is a joke! That is all.

Wowwww. Now I feel like an idiot. Not the first time. Maybe it's because my Red Sox are out that I had a lapse in sanity there. Revised DS predictions: Yankees in 4 Rays in 5 Phillies in 4 Giants in 5 Apologies!

Major League Baseball playoffs kick off on Wednesday, and there are some real interesting first round matchups, with the Reds in for the first time in over a decade and the Twins finally getting a home field advantage against the Yankees. Predictions anyone? AL Yankees over Twins in 6 Rays over Rangers in 7 Rays over Yankees in 7 NL Phillies over Reds in 5 Giants over Braves in 7 Phillies over Giants in 6 In a 2008 WS rematch...Phillies over Rays in 7

Thanks a lot for all of the input guys, it's been extremely helpful to gain so many options. Always know I can count on the OTW crew to provide some good info. on all topics from new teacher/student sex stories to travel tips. I will be leaving in just a few short hours and my trip will be better because of all of this! Lt. Dan will be sure to have a few shots for you guys while in the Windy City!

Lt. Dan is headed to Chicago for the first time this weekend with some friends, and am looking for some last minute tips and information about where the best places to drink, eat, and have some fun are throughout the city. We are all in our low-20's if that helps. Will be there all weekend with only one Dave Matthews Band concert at Wrigley on the agenda, so we will have a lot of free time on our hands to explore the city (and it's women ). Any help from people with some Windy City knowledge would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

So, we didn't stand a chance the last two times we opened a season at home when we blew out the Seahawks and lost to Denver on a, literally, last second field goal?

I know many of you will be making the short or long (depending on who you're speaking to) trip to Orchard Park come Sunday morning, and I have one thing to say. LET'S GET LOUD IN THERE! I'm talking playoff game loud. I want Chad Henne to have no idea what state he's even in mid-way through the first quarter. Let's make sure the 12th man is a factor Sunday, it's worked many other times before, especially against those pansies from Miami. This is a huge game in the grand scheme of things this year, and I don't believe we've started off with a divisional home game since 31-0 happened, have we? I can't wait for Sunday!!!

Is it sad that I am having a debate in my head right now over whether I'd shoot myself quicker while listening to the Beach Boys or Nickelback? Is that a reflection on how lame the Beach Boys are, or just my own Labor Day weekend?

Not always, but it definitely translates IMO. You can't gain a true appreciation of this off a studio album, listen to a good live album or go see a Dave Matthews Band concert personally, and I have a feeling you wouldn't be disappointed at all with the quality of the band as a whole.

That's the beauty of this thread.

I concur with: U2, Springsteen, Kiss, and The Who, all of whom were previously mentioned as being overrated. However, although Bruce Springsteen shouldn't really be considered a "band" (Which leads me to my next point), he is probably my least favorite artist of all time. I completely agree with this, which is why I believe that it's crazy to include Rush on this list. I also think it's equally as crazy to include Dave Matthews Band. Some people might not like Dave himself, but to say that Dave Matthews Band as a band in general is overrated is damn near inconceivable, IMO. Carter Beauford on drums, Boyd Tinsley on violin, and LeRoi Moore on sax (RIP) were all considered among the most talented at their respective instruments for many, many years. Beauford and Tinsley still are. If you don't like Dave Matthews himself, that's fine, but you can't discredit the entire band because of that. Dave is a damn good guitar player, lyricist, and performer himself, IMO.

Great work as usual, Mike. I was there yesterday too, and the only thing I disagree with you about is the play of Reggie Corner. I thought he did great work in team drills as far as always being in the right position and making plays on the ball. You're absolutely right that he has terrible hands, and that's a concern, but I really like the way he played yesterday otherwise. We obviously saw the play of Chad Jackson in the same light yesterday, he played extremely well.

Unfortunately, I do not, and now that you mentioned this I hate myself for not snapping one when I had the opportunity. Thanks for ruining my day! lol

Lieutenant Dan finally made his way to St. John Fisher yesterday and I wanted to share some quick observations with the TBD family. It was a no-pads practice, but still a very lively one with a lot going on, and I took away quite a bit from watching it. - Lets start off with Trent. He was VERY impressive during the 7 on 7's and first set of 11 on 11's. Looked decisive and very accurate on all the routes he threw, including a perfect deep ball to Lee for a would be touchdown. However, during the last round of 11 on 11's, the wheels kind of fell of the wagon for him. It might have been just as much to do with the defensive play, because they really started winning battles and collapsing the pocket, but Edwards became very indecisive and slow to make reads. He threw one pick, took multiple would be sacks, and threw multiple bad balls during the latter part of practice. Bottom line: Very, very good practice for TE up until the last round of 11 on 11's which was the complete opposite. Tough to figure out. - Overall, the starting offense dominated the first set of 11 on 11's and the starting defense had a stranglehold on the second set. Trent had time to pick apart the defense all over the field initially, but then the D really started bringing the heat and forced a lot of mistakes. I guess it's nice to see one side win the first time around and the defense respond the next time out. - To me, Chad Jackson was the most impressive player on the field yesterday on either side of the ball. He was open all day during team work, and caught everything thrown his way. All of the quarterbacks looked to him often because he always got himself open, oftentimes on routes where he would settle into the middle of the field, provide an excellent target, and make a tough catch in traffic. Another thing that was encouraging about him was that he as on the field getting loose 45 minutes before the practice, which shows some dedication. I expect big things from him this year. - Arthur Moats was the other guy on the field was Jackson before anyone else yesterday, and I tried to keep my eye on him a lot as well. The guy can hit, there's no question about that. He absolutely killed the sled in drills yesterday, more than any other linebacker out there, and looked very good in every tackling drill they went through. Problem is, Moats is clearly not picking up on coverage techniques at all, and that will probably keep him off the field for much of this year besides ST. I noticed in the pre-season so far that he seems to not be able to cover worth a lick, and it showed yesterday as well in all of the team drills. The coaches, especially George Edwards, were on him big time for it, which was nice to see because it's obviously a problem. Hopefully that can improve because he can be an impact guy if he figures it out. - Are Aaron Maybin and Donte Whitner the same guy...? They both seem to have the same lackluster attitude in practice, and it shows on the field. Whitner dropped at least 3 balls in the JUGGS drill the DB's were doing, 2 of them simply because he was trying to put on a show rather than take the drill seriously like the others. He was also late on coverage in two deep routes in the 11 on 11's. As for Maybin, he was pretty much invisible all afternoon. I don't remember one pressure coming from him in any of the team work, let alone a would be sack. Yet I had the opportunity to be very close to the players, and he and Whitner were still having a damn good time before, during, and after practice, even though they struggled mightily at times. Seems like they both have a problem with prioritizing. - Reggie Corner might be the smallest guy on the field, but he was making plays all over the place yesterday. Probably had about 5-6 pass deflections in 7's and 11's, 3 of which should have been interceptions if he had any hands at all. He gets great breaks on the ball, and is so fluid in doing so. I think he's a lock to be our 4th CB. - CJ just plays at a different speed out there. Its obvious during any drill that they are running. You see any other guy on the team moving around with the ball, and then you see #21 and you always notice it, it's uncanny. I think last game is a good preview of what we'll see from him this year. A few no-gains or losses, and then, pop, he'll go for 60 yards. - David Nelson and Marshawn Lynch were doing a lot of side-work together on the back field with the trainers, and they seemed as if they were progressing nicely. Lynch especially was moving around real good on his ankle during drills, which was nice to see. I can't imagine a scenario where a guy who was running through the drills the way he was yesterday would miss the opener on September 11th. - Ryan Fitzpatrick might have the hottest wife on the team. Guess going to Harvard AND becoming an NFL quarterback really does have its advantages. - All in all a good practice to watch. A ton of drills on all sides of the ball, the coaching seemed very in tune with teaching at all times, there was no wasted time what so ever, and the team played pretty well overall.

What a terrible incident. It's especially surprising considering it occurred just outside a pretty classy restaurant like that. Pretty scary. To the deceased, RIP.

Hope you guys stay dry and give us some updates in the morning!

Man, I almost forgot how ugly that was. Huge moment in the game too. That highlight has is what has been wrong with recent Sabres teams in a nutshell.

I agree that it probably was about money, that's why I said that I obviously could be wrong in hoping that it's not. Overall, it's a fine hockey move, but it brings up questions about the way the organization is run internally, as usual. My guess is that Quinn/Golisano are to blame for strange money moves such as this, if that's what this is, more than Regier.

You can waive because he simply isn't a very good hockey player. I hope it was about that, and not the arbitration money, but obviously I could very well be wrong. Either way though, I'm not losing sleep over it at all. Insert any other player in the system into his spot and do you really think you're going to lose tangible production? Good kid, hard worker, but not a full-time NHL player IMO.

I just saw it last night at a local theater that had it on an IMAX screen, but of course, the last two tickets to the IMAX were sold immediately in front of our group. Seeing what was going on during the film on a normal screen would lead me to believe that it would've been a much better experience on an IMAX, and I wish I would've been able to do so. The sound effects throughout the movie, even more than the visuals, would have been incredible and much more profound in an IMAX theater. I thought they were amazing on a regular screen. That being said, it was a very good - not great - movie as a whole IMO.

Stevie Ray and Jim Morrison.

Bingo. That would be my answer too. Awesome stuff.