Buffalo Boy's Blog
Giving You More Than Just My Two Cents
December 2008 Archives
2nd Anniversary
Happy New Year!
Today just also happens to be our second wedding anniversary!
My beautiful wife Sandie and I will be headed to the Seneca Niagara Casino and spending the night at the hotel which we have never stayed in.
Two years and still going strong and I still to this day have to ask, how did I find someone so wonderful? She puts up with my stubborness on a daily basis and still loves me for me. Thats a rare quality! That and did I mention she is beautiful?
For the last year or so since I started this blog Sandie keeps asking me, "Why don't you write about me, Im your wife" Well, for the last week and a half I have been thinking, what a perfect time to write about my wife.
So Happy Anniversary! I love you Sandie!
Happy New Year to the rest of ya!
Category: Happy New Year 2009
Taking A Break
There will be very little bloggage until after the New Year. Tonight and tomorrow night I have a swim meet after work at the Town of Tonawanda Aquatic Center, New Years Eve is my second wedding anniversary and New Years Day I will probably recover.
So I will be off a bit at least until New Years Day probably more likely Friday.
Before I go, I would just like to say that I watched the entire Bills game Sunday and it solidified my stance. Jauron must go. He can not run a football team. Yes there are talent issues, but lets face it, if this organization didn't have bad luck with finding quality coaches, they would have no luck at all.
Lastly, have a happy and safe New Year and I will write again as of the first of the year. In the meantime, This is the readerships blog, so if anything comes up, post it in the comments section of this post for me and we will get back at it in 2009!
I'll leave you with some 5440:
Category: Blogging | Miscellaneous
Sunday Retro
Today we look at a bit of early 90's British retro. The group Candy Flip back in 1990 did a cover of Strawberry Fields and you couldn't get away from the song it was every where. It was on alternative radio, top 40, rock radio.
Last night on Radio Nigel, I heard the tail end and went about looking for the video and never realized how incredibly lame the video is. Nevermind the fact that the video at various points looks very similar to the Police's Wrapped Around Your Finger. You'll see both videos have candles placed in strategic patterns and feature knocking down those candles.
Some songs could go without the video and honestly, sometimes I could go without seeing the artist behind the music. It keeps the music relevant. After watching this video you will see why, I still like the song, but the video takes a little of that away:
The Police, Wrapped Around Your Finger:Category: Sunday Retro
Sabres 4, Islander 3
Up 3-1 with minutes to go in the third period this one should have been locked up. Instead, I watched in disbelief as this team choked away a two goal lead and allowed this thing to go to overtime and eventually a shootout.
The worst team in the league, the New York Islanders came back from two goals down in our home building. I'm not putting down the Islanders as much as I am the Sabres. Who are these guys? They obviously are not that good.
On home ice a two goal lead with minutes to go in the third period against a bad team should be a given. Lock it down and win it in regulation. Instead, they coughed it up. Gave up a point to a bad Islander team and were lucky at best to come up with 2 points.
This wasn't a pretty win by any means, it was ugly. Even when they were winning they had their moments when it didn't look overwhelmingly good.
Coughing up leads, losing close one goal games and more importantly, having a record at home just one or two games over .500 means that this team is not a playoff team. They don't belong in the top 8 in the Eastern Conference.
Some bright spots: Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville look like they might be starting to come out of their respective slumps.
After a game like today though Im not taking anything for granted. They have to start playing a full 60 minutes before this thing is over. There have been too many lapses and weak play in their own zone in key situations. No matter what the result of tonight, this is still a mediocre team at best until they prove they can win at home and protect leads late in games.
Christmas is over, I predict some changes via trades are on the way.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
This is Coming To Buffalo
This is a preview of the type of hockey that is coming to Buffalo in 2010/2011. John Tavares, at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, scored this awesome goal by juggling the puck on his stick and knocking it in out of mid-air. Easily the goal of the tournament. Only one problem, It was pre-competition play. The actual tournament starts tonight. He is expected to go 1st or 2nd overall this year in the NHL entry draft so I have an idea. The Sabres tank the rest of their schedule and win the draft lottery and draft this kid.Category: Hockey
The Hippy Hippy Shake
This song got a lot of airplay over the holiday as we tried to come up with the original artist who wrote it. The most popular version was the Beatles 1963 Live at the BBC cover of the tune. It had been done no fewer than three times before that.
The original was done in 1959, come you know the guy, he goes by Chan Romero, perhaps you know him by his other name....Robert Lee? No? Don't feel bad because neither did anyone else who was sitting around on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.
After that? Little Tony, I couldn't find anything on him but apparently it was a moderate hit in Italy and the UK. Then the Swingin Blue Jeans in 1963 did their version. This version actually did a little better. It made the British top 5 and went to number 21 here in the US. Then in the same year (1963) Live at the BBC featured a version by the Beatles which is the one that is best known: There was more.....The Georgia Satellites gave it a shot as well in 1988 on the soundtrack for the movie Cocktail: Oh but there is more, check out this song by the B 52's called Dance This Mess Around. It keeps repeating phrases from Hippy Hippy Shake. "Hippy hippy forward, hippy hippy hippy hippy hippy shake" referring to the Hippy Hippy Shake: Now you have the complete history of the song Hippy Hippy Shake. Who knew it had all that history to it. I believe Chan Romero is actually in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a rock and roll pioneer.....I'll have to verify that one to believe it. The song has been used in various movies including Uncle Buck, Cocktail and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.Category: Music
180 Million More Reasons To Hate Them
I just hope Uncle Don realizes how hard it is to put a hat on in tribute to him a day after the fact that they signed another player to a ridiculously, irresponsible contract.
Mark Teixeira signed an 8 year $180 million dollar contract. Where does it end? Word has it they may go after Manny next. Are there enough positions on the field for all these players, never mind the egos that are filling the clubhouse. If this madness continues I have a great idea for Major League Baseball, its called a HARD SALARY CAP! $50 million a team ought to do it. You go over that cap and we not only penalize you dollar for dollar the amount you go over, but you also must cough up your first, second and third round draft picks in the following years draft to the last place team overall. Sure the players won't like it, but what the hell. If they can find a league that is willing to spend $50 million per team on its players go play for that league, in the mean time, I think MLB is the highest paying league in the world even with a hard cap and the players and Yankees can go screw themselves if they don't like it. No, buying a World Series like the Yankees do every year doesn't guarantee them anything, we have learned that this past year with the Tampa Bay Rays making it to the World Series and the Florida Marlins winning two World Series. But what it does do, is it gives you a chance every year. It makes those roster mistakes like Carl Pavano or an Injury to Cheng Ming Wang seem easier to swallow because they can absorb mistakes and injuries that their $250 million annual payroll provides them in organizational depth that no other organization can afford. Behind one all-star is another all-star. Behind Mark Teixeira is Nick Swisher at first base if Teixeira should go down. They have replacements for the replacements who are not just AAA kids, they are proven veterans and in many cases all-star caliber. Name another team in the league that can boast a catching tandem of Jorge Posada and Ivan Rodriguez? Two hall of famers who with rest and split duty will more than definitely put up huge numbers as a platoon. Its time for the hard cap, Mr. Selig needs to recognize this and do the right thing for the sport and for the interest of fans. If you are a fan of 75% of the teams in baseball, you look at the offseason and automatically eliminate the top 10 free agents because your team can not compete payroll wise with the top five teams in baseball. So 25% of the teams are basically allowed to spend while the other 75% of the league watches as they grab up any talent that is worthy of buying tickets to go see. Every once in a while you'll get a team like Atlanta, Detroit, or Anaheim that will step up and grap one guy, but for the most part, its the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs doing the buying. That makes for a rather boring and uncompetitive offseason for the rest of the fans of this sport.Category: Sports
Remembering Daddy
Last year on Christmas Eve was not the best of news around here. Our good friend Don Simmons passed away. We called him Uncle Don, he was like family and always will be remembered as such.
One year after he is gone and some things still don't seem the same. This year, we will remember him by doing what he would want us to do, have a good time and enjoy life. Especially days like today when family time means so much to us.
It was the one time last year that I wore a Yankees hat, in tribute to Don, he was a huge Yankees fan and maybe Ill see if I can find that hat again today as a tribute to Daddy as we all called him.
Category:
Joe Strummer 1952-2002
Yesterday, December 22nd would have marked the 6th anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer. At the age of 50 he was in the midst of a comeback and on the verge of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of his bandmates from The Clash.
My parents had John Lennon, my generation had Joe Strummer. This is a video featuring him and his new band with whom he released quite a few records with that are as good as anything he did with The Clash musically and they were really just starting to gain world wide recognition as a legitimate project for Joe.
This is them doing one of my favorite Clash tunes Bankrobber, the man was born to perform:
Hell, lets throw in another, White Riot, again with the Mescaleros, notice how about 5 seconds into the song he loses a guitar string and the thing is in shambles by the end, yet he continues on and doesn't miss a beat and adds new twists to a Clash original 25 years after it was written with a five string guitar. Simply one of the best showmen in all of rock and one of if not the best song writer of all time:Category: Music
The Difference Between Toyota and the Big Three
Toyota is about to post its first annual loss in 70 years. Yes they had a bad year but when you look deeper, there are clear cut differences between them and the big three US car makers.
More people are buying Toyota's world wide than people buying US cars. There is no denying that difference. Toyota is going to pass GM as the worlds leading car manufacturer. 70 years of profits for Toyota and they like the majority of companies, car or otherwise, are having a bad year. One bad year out of 70 isn't too shabby I'd say.
The other difference between Toyota and GM, is that Toyota builds cars people want to drive that are higher quality and last longer than US cars.
What should be alarming to US car makers is that in Toyota's worst year, they out sold all other auto manufacturers. Toyota will reinvent themselves and comeback with new and improved models and when the economy bounces back, Toyota will still be on top and they will be hard to compete with especially on a global scale.
GM and the other US carmakers have been having problems for years now and couldn't seem to reinvent their industry. They didn't change to meet the times and when they started to try, they came out with pieces of crap like the Chevy Cobalt and the Ford Focus which are garbage cars.
They continued to feed us the SUV's and trucks despite higher gas prices and a consumer demand for smaller, more fuel efficient alternatives. They failed. Toyota has had huge marketing success with the Toyota Prius and the Yaris.
Its going to be a long way back if they can get back into it at all, loan or no loan, the big three have some tough competition from Toyota and other foreign makers for that matter. The US is no longer the best in the auto industry. There is a new top dog now and they are Japan. Will it motivate or will US car companies die a slow painful death? I think it will be the latter. They have done too little to win new consumers and there are those like myself who have always bought foreign and quite honestly, I have never had a problem with any of the three foreign cars Ihave owned.
Category: Miscellaneous
Penguins 4 Buffalo 3
Well another loss and another pity point. Another game with Max in the line up and though he didn't do much to hurt the team, he did nothing to help either. He has done nothing all season long and until they take him out for good and trade him out of Buffalo, I will continue to drop meaningless Anti-Max stuff in my Sabres' posts every game they put him on the ice. That is because he is pretty much meaningless right now. I'd rather have a role player or some hungry young kid up from Portland, Mark Mancari for instance.
But, I digress. For the second game in a row they blew a lead. Two leads actually. A two goal and a late game one goal lead. Up 2-0 they squandered power plays and failed to put away a Pittsburgh team that was ripe to be beaten tonight considering they were bused into Buffalo today because they couldn't get a charter in the air.
Jochen Hecht is another player I feel the need to vent about. He is a shadow of his former self and has become excessively lazy. How can a stead player like him go sour so fast? Actually, this down turn dates back to last season. Its becoming more and more apparent that there are glaring needs and even more importantly there are several players that stand out on this team that need a change of scenery making it easier by the day for Darcy Regier to go out and shop these guys for a deal.
I know Max is at the top of everyone's list of players that need out but right now what could you reasonably expect in return? Leftover Christmas cookies and a glass of milk? You'd be lucky to get that milk cold right now for Max straight up.
The last two games the Sabres have gotten points in yes, but when they squander three leads against the Canadiens and a two goal lead against the Penguins, two teams you have a realistic shot at catching, you are coughing up points against important conference teams that you still have a reasonably good chance to catch.
Buffalo had 6 power plays tonight and scored on one. They out shot the Penguins 35-22. Max and Hecht had a grand total of none of those shots despite both having time on the powerplay. The point here is that they had absolutely no finish, no drive, no interest in sending in a second, third or fourth attacker to the net to drive in rebounds and pay a price in front of the net. Sure there were a few swipes but no one to go in there and really take on opposing defencemen in the crease.
There is a Christmas break now and coming out of the break the Sabres face off against the Capitals, another team they could catch in the standings. After Christmas, time believe it or not, is not on this teams side anymore. January quickly turns to February and before you know it the playoffs are here and a point squandered here and another given up there quickly lead to another lost season and a 10th place finish.
Finish.....Thats what this team has to start doing. Finishing.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Mandatory Music Monday
Finally, got around to a Mandatory Music Monday on a Monday. Snow Removal Machine was a song parody that Freddie P did way back in the 80's. It fits the weekend we just had and the season in general. Hope everyone has dug themselves out and hopefully, you all had a Snow Removal Machine. Freddie of course does this to the tune of The Cult's Love Removal Machine, check it out:Category: Mandatory Music Mondays
Habs 4, Sabres 3
Last night was a bad way to lose. The Sabres were never behind last night and gave up three one goal leads including a 3-2 lead late in the third period only to lose in the 5 minute overtime with less than a minute to go.
You could tell by the end of the game the Sabres were on their last legs from playing last night but when you have a lead like that with five minutes to go, someone has to step it up. You have to find some energy and get the legs going. The overtime goal was the result of some lazy skating by Buffalo as well that resulted in the Montreal powerplay.
Max was back, Mair was still playing on the powerplay. (Sigh.....) Next up Pittsburgh on Monday before the Christmas break.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
The Last Season
One of my favorite shows over the last few years has been Survivorman. Les Stroud who is "Survivorman" is 47 years old and has recently said that going those 7 days at a time without food and water for extended periods is too tough on the body to continue to do the show in its current format.
Here is an interview with The Hour on CBC that is pretty interesting and some of my favorite clips from over the years. One of the best things about his show, he has always been alone. He does all the filming himself, carrying all the camera equipment with him in addition to any survival gear he and his crew allow him, unlike Man Vs. Wild who actually stays in hotels and has a camera crew with him:
Canyon Land (Western US) Amazon AlaskaCategory: Television
Retro Sunday
One of my top three Christmas songs of all time, Ill post my top ten Christmas Eve. Today's Retro Sunday is The Pogues with Kristy MacColl and Fairytale of New York, Merry Christmas!:
Category: Sunday Retro
Sabres 5, Kings 0
Mark the date, yesterday, Ryan Miller finally stood on his head and won a game for the Sabres last night. Miller made 40 saves as he watched his team put on what would have ordinarily been a rather poor offensive display with only 23 shots.
It was almost the opposite of the Columbus game I went to a few weeks ago that saw the Sabres lose 6-1 inspite of outshooting Columbus 37-25 and literally dominating in the Columbus zone through the first two periods of that game.
LA last night controlled the game both the tempo and the physical play. They could have and should have won that game if not for Ryan Miller and a lot of lucky bounces. Yes they won, but it was not a happy win. Sometimes you have to be lucky instead of good and last night Buffalo was lucky.
Drew Stafford kept up his recent surge and Derek Roy had three points. One final question, can anyone tell me why Adam Mair who has had a total of 27 goals over his career was on the power play?? Tonight against Montreal, they have to be good.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Digging Out
I didn't get to posting yesterday because by the time I made the trek to Niagara Falls to work, back to the city of Buffalo for more work and then home, it was 4:30 and the next obstacle was how the hell to make it so we could get our cars out of the street and into our driveway.
We rent for the time being, have one shovel, no snow thrower and no plow service. So, we had a 3+ foot wall of snow at the bottom of our driveway, me and a shovel. Apparently, I have to go through this again Sunday. I ended up taking a drive around and got the number for a plow service but that is $50 a pop and they can't get the whole driveway because the plow won't go further than the back edge of the house we live in.
So, they plowed with some noticeable divots to the front lawn which will need replacing in the spring. The better option will be the snow thrower.
The driveway is about 100+ feet long and they way the wind blows, it creates multiple big drifts especially at the side door where we enter. Does anyone have a snow thrower we can buy cheap, like for under $100? Ill come pick it up! For all you White Christmas people, is this enough? A dusting would have sufficed, but no, we want a WHITE Christmas! Got to make sure everything is covered! Jesus was born in the desert, he didn't have snow on his birthday!
Category: Miscellaneous
Perfect Choice
Caroline Kennedy is a perfect choice for New York's vacant senate seat. Yes Brian Higgins would be a decent choice, Byron Brown would be okay as well, but not perfect. Brown is working and doing well at getting the city of Buffalo turned in the right direction, he belongs in Buffalo and should continue his run as mayor. The last thing we need in Buffalo is a change, just when things could start going right, especially for all the downtown projects.
Brian Higgins is a Washington insider which in this time of change, is exactly what we don't want. Keep him local as a congressman.
Kennedy on the other hand, despite her critics claims, has the experience to do the job as senator and would be a refreshing breath of fresh air and would fit the mold of change in Washinton. Kennedy while still involved in political causes, as been involved from the outside looking in with various non-profit organizations.
She is president of the Kennedy Library Foundation, an advisor to the Harvard Institute of Politics and from 2002-2004 she served as director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Eduction which she took a salary of $1. She raised more than $65 million for NYC schools.
She is also an attorney and serves on the Commission on Presidential Debates. Her books she has authored include In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action and The Right to Privacy.
She is perfect. She has experience, on the outside of Washington and by life experience has already been molded for the job practically. She is not biased and won't be influcenced by dirty money or lobbyists. She really may be another honest politician. The other being Obama.
Category: Politics
The Beginning of the End
Is it just me or with Chrysler ready to basically shut down all its plants Friday and Ford ready to close down 10 or so plants, should our "leader" be a little more visible? I know he is busy in Iraq getting shoes thrown at him but shouldn't he be here?
I mean I know we are getting close to the time where we can kick him out the door of the White House, but considering that he screwed up the first 7 years and 11 months of his presidency, he could at least make the last month a better one.
Supposedly there is going to be a bailout coming from the White House and with each passing day, Chrysler comes closer to collapsing and realistically, if one of the big three go down, they are all going to go. The suppliers will have their income cut by a third and add to the fact that Ford is shutting down a lot of its plants for a while, those same suppliers will basically suffer from having 2/3 of their business taken away for the better part of a month and a half. If it comes to them shutting down, they are not coming back. That is just my prediction.
So, President Bush should be more visible and reassuring right? I haven't heard one peep out of the guys mouth. Is he packing already? Maybe the shoe did some damage....Maybe instead of concentrating on Iraq right now and traveling to the middle east to say good bye to his oil buddies, he could be here, in his home country making sure that we don't go belly up and our auto manufacturers and the millions they employ don't lose their jobs.
Instead he is over in Iraq making stupid ass good bye speeches to Arabs. Nice Mr. President. Who''s working on the loan for the big three? Probably no one, because why finish with a positive when the whole damn 8 years has been a steaming pile of crap. If you are going to be bad, might as well make sure you are bad right up until the very last day. The best way to do that would be to ignore the problems here, go overseas and maybe you won't have to use your little brain to figure this problem out.
Maybe, if you ignore this domestic problem it will pass you by and someone else can clean up your mess like you have left with education, healthcare, Wall Street, Iraq, the national debt and every other domestic issue you have managed to screw up or completely ignore.
Why not just step aside now, voluntarily, we wouldn't even call it a resignation or impeachment, we would simply call it.....a willingness to let the smart guy take over..... and let Barack and his team start early. I guarantee you that if you did that, Barack Obama and his team would be more prepared than you and your administration ever were to handle any domestic problem we have had in the last 8 years. One thing is for sure, they wouldn't lie and cheat their way through these problems, they wouldn't put inept people in charge of things like FEMA, and they certainly wouldn't be overseas when the biggest problems are right here at home.
Category: Politics
Oil Prices Dropped?
The bastards in OPEC did not get the desired results after cutting a record 2.2 million barrels. So either the markets during the summer were full of crap and was all spectator driven BS or the economy is so weak that it just doesn't matter anymore what OPEC does.
Oil fell below $40 a barrel today which as long as we are on the subject, why are prices around here not yet in the $1.50 range? I have asked why before and I really think its time for New York State or the Feds to step in around here and put a cap on how much gas station owners can charge for profit on a gallon of gas if that is in fact the problem.
It will be interesting to see what happens for a full day of trading after this news. Today may not have been the best day for them to do it market wise. However, the US dollar also fell in value today which also has traditionally coincided with a rise in oil prices.
Maybe, the markets are not ready to over react to bad news and instead have a wait and see approach on what it does to world supplies.
Category: oil/gas
The New Bisons Logo
As much as I don't like the NY Mets, I do like the new Bison's logo. Pretty sharp and a refreshing change from the cartoon Bison holding the baseball bat we have had with the Indians. I wonder if they will change Buster's appearance?
A decent logo helps and I can at least go to the games and not want to throw up because I am constantly reminded of the Mets. Look at it this way, it could be the Yankees.
Category: Buffalo Bisons
Blake's Shootout Gem
I rarely am impressed by a shootout goal but Jason Blake last night was pretty sweet. He hasn't had a great year to this point but this could count as one of his few highlights:
Category: Hockey
Ahhh, Baseball in December......
Smells like spring! Okay not quite. It hasn't exactly been a banner offseason thus far for the Toronto Blue Jays. They can essentially say that they lost their number two pitcher in AJ Burnett and other than that they signed Matt Clement to a minor league deal. He has been out of baseball the last two years with injuries.
So, this recent article addresses something I have been thinking about since he got released. Daniel Cabrera, a towering 6'9" right hander that the Baltimore Orioles decided to part ways with, not for injuries but because Cabrera can't seem to throw strikes. He would definitely be a reclaimation project and most importantly...Affordable.
Cabrera has ace type stuff if he could only locate his pitches. He would be a great project for Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg who seemed to be able to reinvent AJ Burnett only to see Burnett walk.
If you can get him relatively cheap with an incentive laden contract, go for it. There are a few other potential suiters like Carl Pavano out there as well. Low risk, high reward. Thats what this offseason has to be about. Cabrera would be a nice addition assuming they get the high reward.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Mandatory Music Monday (On Tuesday)
Mondays and Tuesdays are turning out to be extraordinarily busy so if I miss Mandatory Music Monday I will make it up on Tuesdays with a little something extra. Last week, I played an old CFNY clip of Dave Marsden's Twas the Night Before Christmas. So to make up for not posting much yesterday, I give you a 12 minute Marden Christmas clip and continue the old school CFNY doing Christmas as only CFNY could do it back in the day. Im still waiting to get my hands on the drive that will allow me to start doing the really good stuff. Its still on back order.Category: Mandatory Music Mondays
About Me Is Fixed
The stubborn Google Ads script that caused some issues a few months ago with Maple Music came up again. Apparently, according to Mike Boon that part of the site didn't get republished when Google Ad Sense was removed.
I want to get Google Ad Sense back but, getting ahold of customer support at Google isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Before I put it back up, I need ot find out why my site was redirecting everyone to Maple Music. The answer lies within the Google Adsense script. In the mean time, if you have been to the site recently for the first time and wanted to read the "About Me" link on my sidebar, have at it, its back and running normally again.Category: Blogging
Elf
I have been catching Elf on TBS a lot the last few days and I can't get enough. Easily Will Ferrell's funniest movie Christmas or otherwise. Before Elf, there was one other Christmas movie that I could watch no matter what time of year it is. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the other.
I would have to rank this one as Christmas Vacation's equal. The more I watch it the funnier it gets. This is one of my favorite scenes:
Category: Christmas 2008
Damn, He Missed
This guy at a George Bush press conference had the right idea except he should have kept his shoes on and aimed at W's ass. That and he missed, Damn! Maybe a MLB team would sign him considering the Yankees and Mets are signing all the good pitchers.Category: Miscellaneous | News | Politics
Jets 31, Bills 27
Now the bad, they suck. As if we didn't know that. At this point why bother playing JP Losman. He is playing for selfish purposes. Why not give third string quarterback Hamdan Gibran a shot. See what he has and if he can reliably back up Trent Edwards next year.
JP proved yet again that for every good play he makes there is one bone headed one waiting in the wings. With 2:06 remaining, JP had the team in line to beat Brett Favre and the Jets. Instead, on a simple bootleg, JP fumbled the ball. He had to know the pressure was coming and instead of doing the simplest possible thing, tucking the ball away and taking the sack, he held the ball out for all to have a go at it. The result, another way to lose.
I put this one squarely on JP's shoulders. It was a much better coached game than recent games, though by no means am I sticking up for Dick Jauron. His job to me is still on the line. Especially after his comment after the game:
“Of a number of heartbreaking losses that was the worst to this point,”
No Dick, that is your name isn't it? Dick.... The most heart breaking was losing to Cleveland because of your horrible coaching calls. Losing to San Francisco and failing to look like a team that had any serious hopes that were still lefl, not looking like a team interested in winning a Miami game last week. Those were the most heart breaking moments. The cake had already been baked before today, This was just the nasty, too sugary icing on that cake.
Really, coaching was awful even before this game started. Everyone including JP knew that he was playing this for his own selfish goals. He was playing this to remain a viable option for other teams in the league. The announcers said it all game long that JP's intent was to build a "video resume". Knowing that, they should have never put him on the field today. At least with Gibran starting, people may have actually watched. We are all about the underdog in this city, after all, we have stomached this team as an underdog every single week since Jim Kelly retired.
Up until that fumble, JP's resume might have been decent enough to warrant a team giving him a shot after this season, now forget it. He had better hope there is a team looking for a quarterback in the CFL (no offense to CFL fans).
Knowing the history here, this team will play the last two games and win them convincingly, giving what fans are left who actually watch the two remaining games false hopes for next season and convincing their senile owner to give their inept coach a contract extension.
Category: Buffalo Bills 2008
Sabres 4, Devils 2
First the good news. The Sabres bounced back after a difficult loss to swallow against the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before. I don't know what the record is in the second game of back to back games but I bet that the record isn't stellar. To bounce back against New Jersey made it even nicer.
New Jersey is a team the Sabres need to catch if they have playoff hopes and before going into that game even with the loss to the Leafs, I felt like they had to at the very least split the two games they have coming up against the Devils. Don't lose any ground. They are guaranteed the split now.
New Jersey without Brodeur, though still tough, is much less intimidating than they are with Brodeur in net. Thomas Vanek scored two to give him 24 on the season and the two goals actually put him ahead of Alexander Mogilny's 76 goal season pace.
Patrick Lalime also came out strong after his longest layoff of the year and proved that he is definitely an upgrade from Jocelyn Thibault. Next up is New Jersey again on Wednesday and realistically, at home against Jersey, a win could put them within two points of second place Montreal. As bad as it was, it could be better soon.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Sunday Retro
This week its a little 90's Christmas Retro. The Barenaked Ladies have been doing this song for some time in a live setting every Christmas and it was only until a few years ago that they released it on their Christmas CD.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen with the beautiful vocals of Sarah McLachlan accompanying them. With any luck I will have a rare live version of this recorded at a Toronto tavern at about 9 AM in the morning with a very popular former Toronto morning show before Christmas. Until then, this version will do:
Category: Sunday Retro
We Need To Be Free From Foreign Oil
Regardless of how this auto bailout goes or how the economy does in the short term, we need to make concerted efforts to get off the black sludge called oil.
Maybe speculators aren't manipulating prices as much these days but OPEC can and will manipulate the price we pay at the pump directly by decreasing their output, which is exactly what they are planning on doing. Not the best medicine for a global economy that is struggling at best.
Our leaders need to get off their collected asses, get this bailout thing done and address energy efficiency near term and then energy alternatives long term. By long term I don't mean 20-30 years from now, I mean 5-10 years. Short term is like 1-2 years. OPEC has stated in recent months that they want oil at $100 a barrel. Screw OPEC, we need to keep working on ways to use less. Whether its turning off lights you don't need on because they will burn more oil/gas at the power plant, turning your oil fueled heater down a degree or two, driving less, purchasing a more fuel efficient car. Regardless, OPEC controls the energy ship until we get our asses in gear and so far, we have had way too many distractions since prices were $4.20 a gallon and if there is one thing about this country, our memory is very short term.Category: Energy
Good Riddance
Good bye AJ Burnett. You weren't worth but a third of the contract that you played for with the Toronto Blue Jays and with your history, you won't earn a quarter of the obscene money the Yankees are paying you now.
The Evil Empire just signed another over priced and for the most part during his career a mediocre pitcher in AJ Burnett. I hope the Yankees miss the playoffs again with their gigantic payroll and I hope they keep spending money like idiots. Can you hear MLB ringing up the cash register for the luxury tax the Yankees will have to pay?
If you include the luxury tax, it has to be well over $300 million. Just insane. Good luck NY, good luck Joe Giradi keeping the egos in check, good luck keeping AJ healthy, good luck keeping the rest of the team healthy.
The good news is, AJ is off the payroll and we will get two compensatory draft picks in the first round from the Evil Empire.
Category: Sports
We Will Help The Foreign Car Companies
Look at who voted against the Auto Bailout and its mostly southern, republican senators. The south is about to win the civil war about 150 years after it ended. The republican senators won't vote for a LOAN to save our domestic, AMERICAN car companies but they sure as hell will give money to Toyota, Volkswagon, Honda and other foreign car makers to build plants in their states.
Pennslyvania was the first state in 1978. That ended with labor problems. Then came the real foreign stampede. Honda in Ohio in 1982. Illinois gave a $249 million package to Mitsubishi to build a plant. In 1992, South Carolina gave a package to BMW worth $150 million. Mercedes Benz got $258 milion from Alabama in 1993, in 1999 Honda got $158 million from Alabama plus another $90 million and $33 million in tax breaks to open and expand their plants there, in 2000 Mississippi gave Nissan $295 million to set up shop there, Hyundai got yes from Alabama, $252 million to move in.My favorite part of this is this direct quote from this article:
"It is only a matter of time before the other states that have given nine-figure subsidy packages to foreign carmakers also begin to wonder if they made the right decision for the long-term prosperity of their citizens. They may also realize that giveaways are ultimately work against future corporate investments. A sign of this came in 2005 when Toyota rejected several subsidy-laden deals from U.S. communities and instead decided to build its next assembly plant in Ontario. The decision was said to be made because of the higher quality of the workforce in Canada."
They gave subsidies with these car companies really not even needing them. Toyota, built its latest plant in Ontario because THE WORK FORCE WAS BETTER. I bet a big part of that was because in Canada, Toyota doesn't have to pay healthcare cost.
So who voted against the bailout in the senate? 31 republicans: Senator Allard, Colorado, Senator Barasso, Wyoming, Senator Bennett, Utah, Senator Bunning, Kentucky, Senator Burr, North Carolina, Senator Chambliss, Georgia, Senator Coburn, Oklahoma, Senator Cochran, MISSISSIPPI*, Senator Coleman, Minnesota, Senator Corker, Tennessee, Senator Crapo, idaho, Senator Demint, SOUTH CAROLINA*, Senator Ensign, Nevada, Senator Enzi, Wyoming, Senator Grassley, Iowa, Senator Gregg, New Hampshire, Senator Hatch, Utah, Senator Hutchinson, TEXAS*, Senator Inhofe, Oklahoma, Senator Isakson, Georgia, Senator Kyl, Arizona, Senator Martinez, Florida, SENATOR MCCAIN, ARIZONA* (Sorry Joe Autoworker, guess McCain doesn't support you guys), Senator McConnell, Kentucky, Senator Murkowski, Alaska, Senator Roberts, Kansas, Senator Sessions, ALABAMA*(Surprise Surprise, the foreign car capital of the US), Senator Shelby, ALABAMA*(Shocking! Both republican senators from Alabama, how much money did they give to foreign automakers to move to their state? Lets add it up), Senator Thune, South Dakota, Senator Vitter, Louisiana, Senator Wicker, MISSISSIPPI* (Okay theres the second Miss. repuke senator). 8 republicans did not vote including Senator Hagel who almost certainly would have voted for the bailout because he is essentially a democrat disguised as a republcian and Senator Stevens because he is too busy being indicted. Two voted yes, Senator Lieberman and Senator Sanders. Ladies and gentleman, when the economy crashes and the big three automakers are down to the big one assuming Ford survives the chaos, you have your republican senators above to blame. They will give money to the foreign companies to build their plants here but when it comes time to save the American companies, the American workers, piss on em.Detroit Mayor Was Awesome
Detroit Mayor Virg Bernero was awesome this morning on The CBS Morning Show. He left no stone unturned as he attacked the US Senate for not passing the bailout and called on President Bush to step up and do something. It seems President Bush is too busy passing his midnight rules and regulations to rape the earth of its natural resources and pollute our rivers/waterways before he leaves office. Have to take care of the mining companies first eh Georgy, still have to make sure you cement your place as worst environmental president of all time. He has no time for middle class, blue collar workers who could end up out of work just before Christmas.Watch CBS Videos Online
Ridiculous Contracts
The New York Yankees and New York Mets continue to prove why Major League Baseball needs a hard salary cap. Its gone beyond reasonable, its fucking insane. The Yankees officially made the same mistake they did with A-Rod by signing CC Sabathia to a contract that he will never earn or live up to. The Mets followed suit and went out and replaced the former best closer in the game with not one of the best but two of the best closers to replace him in JJ Putz and K Rod. Why do you need two closers?
I have almost run out of the energy to comment on this kind of ludicrous spending in Major League Baseball anymore. It has gotten to the point where you can't expect a team other than the Yankees, Mets or Red Sox to acquire the best players in free agency anymore. Beyond those two teams, there are few others who are willing to spend the money because they just don't have it.
CC Sabathia is going to end up a huge mistake by the time his contract is over. I heard rumors that he didn't even want to sign in NY but the players union inisisted he did because of the fact that the market was looking weak and they wanted to drive the rest of this years market. Gee, in anyother atmosphere, that is colusion is it not? The players union is greedy and the owners of those above mentioned teams are even greedier. Nothing would make me happier than to see CC Sabathia throw out his elbow on the first pitch of the first spring training game he appears in. When will the Yankees learn? Signing players to ridiculous contracts does nothing but hurt the rest of the league. The league is worse off for it.
Omar Minaya the Met's GM made the most ridiculous statement I have ever seen saying that there is plenty of financial parity in baseball and that there must be 10 teams with payrolls over $100 million dollars. Yeah and there are two with payrolls over $200 million. That leaves over half the league that can't even touch $100 million. You have teams out there that have trouble making $50 million payrolls. There is not parity, he's full of crap. So, the Yankees must be done right? Nope, they are going after AJ Burnett with a five year deal now worth around $80 million. AJ Burnett wasn't worth his last contract with the Blue Jays. The Yankees would pay him about $16 million a year for five year. Prepare for five injury filled seasons. He had one good year with the Jays and that was a contract year. He had one good year with the Florida Marlins, that was a contract year. That is a warning sign and that my friends is why there is no parity. When teams like the Yankees and Mets can afford to make $80 million dollar mistakes with average players, there is no parity. The next industry looking for a bailout will be The New York Yankees.Category: Sports
Hip For The Hell Of It
For this version of HFTHOI we are going back to Roxy & Elsewhere. On the Roxy & Elsewhere bootleg there is a version of one of the Tragically Hip's signature songs, New Orleans is Sinking. Its famously known amongst Hip fans as "The Killer Whale" version.
I played that one on my first Roxy post and tonight Im sharing Blow at High Dough off that bootleg, the other signature song of the Hip, what I love off all the songs on this bootleg is how raw they sound. They were pretty much recorded and left in their original form. I wonder if this was done originally by the group and just never officially released in stores?Category: Hip For The Hell Of It
Obama Helped Blagojevich
For those of you who are not Obama fans, you are probably looking for any reason to hang the guy. Well, this is not your chance. Barack Obama may have helped with the Blagojevich scandal. He helped take him down indirectly.
Blagojevich in his last ditch effort to extort a few bucks out of the system he calls a government elected to go through with the scam of having candidates for Obama's senate seat pay for consideration.
Well, Obama three months ago, placed a call to get an ethics reform bill through in the Illinois senate whose purpose was to limit the influence of money in Illinois politics.
After his call the Illinois State Senate overrode Blago's veto of that bill. That led to Blago deciding to take advantage of his position to get a few bucks out of the empty senate seat before that very bill that Obama made a call about took effect.
Its weird with Obama isn't it? After all these dishonest, lying, cheating politicians, we may actually have an honest one in the White House come January 20th.
Category: Politics
Bailout Plan Stunk From The Beginning
Back in September when this whole Wallstreet bailout came out, I called it. It should not have been done without government oversight. It probably shouldn't have been done period. Let AIG go down in flames, they did it to themselves. As it turns out, the money being used as part of this $700 billion dollar bailout is not being used the way it should have been.
It was supposed to free up the credit markets, help the banks to prevent people from foreclosing on their homes and help keep the over all health of the loan market somewhat stable.
That however, has not happened. Some executives at AIG are getting $3-4 million dollar bonuses. I want to work there. You get $3-4 million for running your business into the ground? Nice business! Sign me up.
Congress grilled Neel Kashkari who is the "interim assistant treasury secretary" said this about the bonuses:
"When asked if Treasury believed that level of executive compensation was appropriately curbed according to the stipulations in the bailout bill, Kashkari said that it seemed excessive, but he could not give an assessment of individual bonus levels."
Seemed excessive? A bonus of $3 million is excessive for an executive of any company much less a failing one. This is probably going to be the result of this failed economy. CEO salaries are going to come down. I don't think we are going to see Obama be the one redistributing the wealth, Americans as a whole are sick of seeing $3-4 milliong dollar bonuses paid out to CEOs who fail their companies. Hell, Americans question CEO salaries regardless of the health of the company.
Im impressed though. Congress is following up and they want answers and proof of where this money is going. Barney Frank, D. Mass. is the leader of the committee who is asking those questions and having become familiar with Barney and watching him on Real Time and on AM 1520, I can tell you that if there are answers to be had, he will get them. He's a firey bastard and I can only imagine his outrage.
I was even more impressed with Donald Manzullo R-Ill who threatened Kashkari with his job. Why shouldn't they threaten his job. There is no answer as to how effective this thing is, it was a $700 billion check to no where and its allowed the very financial institutions that were failing before, to fail for a little longer and the next time they fail, they aren't getting a cent.
This is so far just the first half of the bailout. There is still $350 billion to go that Henry Paulson has not asked for. I think its going to be a tough sell for congress to allow that money to leave the taxpayers hands. They should take that money off the table unless Paulson and the treasury come up with a plan that will inform everyone from the president to each and every single American citizen where that money is going and to whom, and then what it is to be specifically used for when it gets there. No freebie hand out after this. This next half comes with strings or let the economy hit rock bottom.
Budget Cuts Hurt
I know that Governor Patterson warned everyone about the New York State budget cuts and how everyone will feel the pain, however, the pain that he is pushing is a little much.
Im all for budget cuts if they make sense. Cutting education and healthcare does not make sense.
At a time when children in our schools have made so much progress and have so much more progress to make under the horrendous No Child Left Behind Act, now is not the time. Cutting the state budget will mean less teachers, which will certainly mean less help for the students that really need it. Education I'm sure has some budget fat that can be cut at the state level without damaging the local districts.
Healthcare like education Im sure also has some fat that needs to be trimmed. However, it should be done with care not to take funds away from the programs that really need it. Meals on Wheels is one program that delivers meals to the elderly and the disabled and essentially, keeps those individuals from needing more expensive nursing home care. Im sure there are some people on welfare/medicaid that don't deserve to be on right now who are milking the system. Cut that before you cut vital, volunteer programs like Meals on Wheels.
Governor Patterson has a handicap himself so he of all people should be approaching both education and healthcare with a bit more altruistic and sensible eye. How about cutting lawmakers salaries too. No mention of that in the state budget. How about laying off some of our state senators. Haven't heard that option yet.
Sabres 4, Penguins 3
Okay, two wins in a row now and here we are in mid-December and we really still don't know what kind of team this Sabre squad is. They have shown now two times in a row they are good enough to beat Pittsburgh. They have also shown they are bad enough to lose to Florida. So which team are they?
Drew Stafford and Derek Roy are both on point scoring streaks and Thomas Vanek scored his league leading 20th goal. The win was also a come from behind style win which is always a good sign that maybe, just maybe, this team is starting to come out of its funk.
Still though, they could come out and stink it up agains Tampa tomorrow. I don't think so though, Im predicting a hat trick from Nathan Gerbe.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Mandatory Music Monday
Dave Marsden used to do an overnight shift back in the day at CFNY 102.1 in Toronto and every Christmas he would do a special Christmas Eve show. This was one of his best, Twas The Night Before Christmas like only Dave Marsden could do. The old school CFNY listeners will really appreciate this, even if your not, have a listen:
Category: Mandatory Music Mondays
Sabres Being Sold?
Tell me I was imagining this. Apparently on the news this morning, Tom Golisano has the Sabres up for sale. Interested buyers? Jim Balsillie. Apparently this will be in the next issue of Western New York Hockey Magazine.
Thats fine, Balsillie could be a good owner, hes knowledgable, there had better be a clause stating that he can not relocate the team to Hamilton.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
They Suck
On behalf of the Buffalo community I would like to apologize for that steaming pile of crap that was disguised in Bills uniforms. You guys were lucky though, You got to at least watch it indoors. Bills fans who are crazy enough to want to watch that garbage have to sit out in 9 degree weather.
If Dick Jauron is not fired at seasons end for this mess I don't know what would or should get a coach fired. No other NFL owner would put up with this. No other NFL front office would stand for the ineptitude that this coaching staff displays from week to week.
I could not believe that with 3 timeouts and 21 seconds left, they didn't at least try to throw downfield at the end of the first half. That to me just said that the coaching staff had no confidence in the players to try to win this game. You have the strongest arm of your quarterbacks out there at least let him try to throw downfield to Lee Evans. With three timeouts you could have gotten three or four plays in. Hell, even if you throw three times and have three incomplete passes the clock stops after an incompletion. Piss poor management.
Then, first and goal at the three yard line and lets see, I think the worst decision in the world was to throw. And it results in an interception. Why, at the three yard line and first and goal do you throw the friggin ball? Put Marshawn Lynch in, you know the supposed number one running back on the team and let him fall forward three times. Oh wait, I forgot, he must have reached his 20 touch quota for the game, can't burn out Marshawn because we wouldn't want to tire him out for his early offseason in three weeks! We need to save him so he can be ready for mini-camp, because he won't have to be ready for the playoffs.
It was the worst excuse for a football team. A team that was 5-1, obviously now we know they were 5-1 by accident. The 16 points allowed was a lot worse than it looks. This defense can't rush the passer to save its life. Ryan Denny and Chris Kelsay only get sacks if the opposing quarterback falls down and they are the first there to touch them. They certainly can't break through an offensive line.
Today was proof that this team is awful. The players played flat in a game that should have displayed the best in Buffalo Bills football for the city of Toronto to see, after watching that, I can't imagine them wanting to see the rset of the games in this Buffalo-Toronto series.
Category: Buffalo Bills 2008
The Bills in Toronto
Well, here we are, its the Bills day north of the border and the talk all revolves around whether or not they will leave for the great white north. Why are we already placing the nail in the coffin for the "Buffalo" Bills.
Yes they have a bad team but they aren't going anywhere, at least not for the next 5 years. Thats when this 8 game deal in Toronto comes to a close.
So lets focus on the game today. This game would have been so much more interesting had the Bills won one or two of their other games coming in and been say, 7-5 coming into todays game and at least tied with Miami. That said, a win today and they are all of a sudden potentially tied with Miami and the Jets and possibly with a New England loss one game out of first with games to play against the Jets and New England. The injuries are a major factor, but lets not give up just yet.
That said, since they are the "home" team and the roof of Roger's Centre does open why can't they have the roof open today and expose the Dolphins to the elements? Thats the whole purpose of a home game in December for Buffalo, to have teams come in, in December and be exposed to bitter wind chills and snow so the Bills can pick them apart. Has that question even been asked to Roger's Centre to have the roof open today to greet Miami? What is stopping them from opening the roof and having a true December home field advantage?
I would think thats the least they can do for the Bills since according to the doomsday people out there they will soon be the Toronto Bills.
Category: Buffalo Bills 2008
Sabres 4, Lightning 3
Finally a win. It doesn't matter how ugly it was, because watching it was frustrating at best, but in the end, the final score counted and the Sabres came out with a win.
Drew Stafford had a very good game, probably his best game of his professional career with a goal and two assists and Derek Roy had a goal and an assist. Two guys, if this team plans on breaking out of this slump, that need to be on the score sheet more often than not.
The ugly part? Giving up three one goal leads within a minute or so of scoring the go ahead goal. That has been a very nasty part of this teams game lately. Laying back after scoring and giving up quick goals. I question Lindy Ruff though on this one. Has anyone else noticed that he always keeps the line that scored out for the ensuing faceoff regardless of how long they were out there before they scored? Whats wrong with a fresh set of legs out there after a goal? I know Lindy wants to reward the line that scored and keep their energy out there, but if they are tired, get them off. That is probably a big reason for that. Am I the only one who noticed that?
Once again Max Nation skated around like a blind man and I continue to question the loyalty being shown to him by Lindy Ruff. One goal and a -10 so far this season is not worthy of being in the lineup. When you go back to last season, Max is a -26 since last year. Mark Mancari is a better player than Max, yet he was sent back to Portland. My only guess is they are stuck with him until he either A) starts scoring and they can impress upon another team he is worthy of a trade or B) until his contract expires. If its B, buy him out and cut your losses.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Sunday Retro
This week is a little Christmas retro and why not. The snow is flying and for the first time since Thanksgiving, I actually feel a little festive today.
This song has been one of my favorites, if not my favorite Christmas song period since its 1984 release. Christmas at least for my generation would not be complete without this song. Do They Know Its Christmas Time by Band Aid.
Band Aid was a super group formed by Sir Bob Geldof (of The Boomtown Rats) and Midge Ure (of Ultravox who are currently reforming for a 2009 tour). They had no more than 24 hours to get everyone into the studio to record and mix the song.
This is the list of all who participated:
Freddie Mercury (Queen), Phil Collins (Genesis), Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats), Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet), Chris Williams (Iron Static Overdrive), Chris Cross (Ultravox), John Taylor (Duran Duran), Paul Young, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran), Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats), Marilyn, Keren Woodward (Bananarama), Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Jody Watley (Shalamar), Bono (U2), Adam Clayton (U2), Paul Weller (The Style Council and The Jam), James "J.T.:" Taylor (Kool & The Gang), George Michael (Wham!), Midge Ure (Ultravox), Martyn Ware (Heaven 17), John Keeble (Spandau Ballet), Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet), Roger Taylor (Duran Duran), Sara Dalin (Bananarama), Siobahn Fahey (Bananarama), Sting (The Police), Peter Briquette (The Boomtown Rats), Francis Rossi (Status Quo), Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & The Gang), Dennis Thomas (Kool & The Gang), Andy Taylor (Duran Duran), Jon Moss (Culture Club and Adam and the Ants), Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats), David Bowie (contributed a recording that was mailed to Geldof and mixed onto the single), Boy George (Culture Club), Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), Paul McCartney (Also mailed in a recording that was mixed onto the single by Geldof), Stuart Adamson (Big Country), Bruce Watson (Big Country), Tony Butler (Big Country), and Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
What is sad, is that very world they are singing about still exists today, 24 years later.
Category: Sunday Retro
UB 42, Ball St. 24
The UB Bulls yesterday beat Ball St. easily. They capitalized on 4 fumbles and Drew Willy played a flawless game. Ball St. was ranked 12th going in despite really playing no impressive opponents throughout the season.
Their perfect record carried them to the 12th spot and after watching the game yesterday, UB could easily be a ranked team right now. Look at the Bull's schedule, they had no. 5 Missouri and no. 12 Ball State as well as Pittsburgh, Temple, UTEP and Army.
So, like the Bills, UB will also be playing in Toronto in the International Bowl and dare I say, the better team is not the pro one. UB is an exciting team to watch and have a few potential pro players on their roster including Willy.
Category: UB Bulls
Ruff May Have Been Harsh
Lets face it, Lindy Ruff was a little harsh with Ryan Miller the other day with his comments and Ryan Miller has every right to be upset. At himself. Miller let in two goals the other night. Should he have been perfect, absolutely not. But, he did give up two soft goals that an elite goalie should have made.
Ryan Miller wants to be considered one of the elite goalies. Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek or Martin Broduer make at least one of those two saves and on most nights, they make both and get the shutout, especially with a relatively light workload of only 25 shots on goal in a game in which your team dominated the action.
When was the last time Ryan Miller carried this team? Pretty much, he hasn't. During the two big playoff runs, this team scored lots of goals and Ryan Miller didn't have to be perfect to look good. Now that his team is struggling, his flaws are more apparent. He is not an elite goalie, he may not even be a great goalie at this point. He is a good goalie on an average team. That is not good enough.
I can see where Ruff was coming from and its becoming more and more obvious that no player on this team is safe right now save for Thomas Vanek. Ryan Miller is not an untouchable, especially when it comes to the critique from his head coach. If its not obvious to the players right now, Ruff is an untouchable. He is the coach for as long as Darcy Reiger is the GM and Ruff is an elite coach.
Some of the players on this team, especially the younger core group seem to be playing as if they are bigger than their coach and above the system. That would be a huge mistake.
Miller, well, if he wants that elite status better take that criticism from Lindy Ruff, get mad and play a stellar game tonight against the Panthers. Anything short of that could land Miller in Ruff's dog house. And lately, that house is getting pretty full. Ruff thinks they need to work harder and after watching the last 10 games, I couldn't agree more. This team out shoots their opponents on a nightly basis but the same group of players refuse to put that extra effort in to chase down their rebound and pay a price to finish off their chances. If those players don't want to change, its time to ship them out and bring in some players who will. Miller included.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Satriani V. Coldplay
Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay for plagiarism. Apparently Coldplay's Viva La Vida is very similar to a chord progression in Joe Satriani's If I Could Fly which was released in 2004.
I know you can plagiarize a melody but a guitar solo? I am trying to be impartial here. I am a huge fan of Joe Satriani and I do like some of Coldplay's stuff but I have had trouble trying to get into Viva La Vida, I keep thinking of Ricky Martin's Living La Vida Loca or what ever trash that Ricky did.
I'll let the readers judge the extent of the plagiarism, in the mean time I think if anything Coldplay should be guilty of naming their song after a Ricky Martin song.
Category: Music
The Dara Story Continues
Dara Torres inspired many around the world this past summer. At 41 and nearly 8 years removed from her last Olympics, Dara came back and swam in the Olympics in Bejing and accomplished something few could even dream of. She captured silver in the 50 free and then came back in the 400 meter freestyle relay and swam the fastest split ever.
You would think after that, she would be happy. She was successful in her comeback, she could move on and continue being a great mother and inspiration to her daughter.
Well, she's not done. She is going for the 2009 World Championships in Rome. She will be 42. She continues to train 5 days a week and continues to amaze everyone. 2008 has truly been a banner year for US swimming. Michael Phelps won sportsman of the year and if I had my pick, Dara would have Sportswoman of the year.
Stay tuned, because this truly inpiring athlete is still in a position to provide some special moments in the sports world. As nice as Phelps story is, Dara's is one that rivals Phelps.
Category: Swimming
Panthers 2, Sabres 1
For the first time in my hockey watching life, which began sometime in the 70's as a young boy watching a young Sabre team, I am without answers as to how a team that looks so good at times can be so unlucky.
Tonight was a mystery to me as I watched them. Here is a question: How do you outshoot your opponent 46-25, score only one goal and lose? Just ask the Buffalo Sabres.
Craig Anderson looked like a Vezina Trophy winning goalie tonight for the Florida Panthers, but it wasn't so much his ability to stop shots as it was Buffalo's unwillingness to go to the net and pounce on rebounds. Buffalo shot the puck from every possible angle, every time they could, because they refused to pay a price, they scored one goal on 46 shots.
Ales Kotalik was the only one to net one of those 46 shots......Where we go from here? I would say the effort wasn't there, or that they played a poor game but 46 shots speaks for itself. Can you ask Ryan Miller to be anybetter? He only gave up two goals. At some point the team has to score more than 1.
Well, Im glad Im not Lindy Ruff. I expect what little hair he has left to be gone by game time Saturday when they play Tampa. This is not a slump that Ruff should be held responsible for. The players need to figure this out. Simply going out and shooting the puck from every place on the ice isn't cutting it, someone has to pay a price to score goals. If those players are not on this roster, then maybe some veterans need to be moved and some hungry younger players need to be moved into those places.
Category: Buffalo Sabres Hockey
Hip For The Hell of It
The best thing about being a Hip fan is I don't think I could find one song on any one of their releases that I dislike. I have my favorites as any music fan would, but there is no one song that I would hear that I would turn off upon it coming on my stereo.
Fiddler's Green was a song that they broke out of the vaults on the World Container tour and its one of those obscure tunes to the casual Hip fan but over they years, and being a fan whose first exposure to the Hip was on their Road Apples record, this song was a major treat to see them do live.
I saw them in Rochester and we didn't get Fiddler's Green but the Buffalo show back in March of 2007 got it. This is not the Buffalo version. Its the Calgary version and its pretty good quality.
Category: Hip For The Hell Of It
Buy GM and Chrysler
So, the auto industry wants all these billions of dollars and it seems like everyday they ask for a little bit more. What would be wrong with buying them outright?
They want some $30+ billion right now as it is. Their stock however is only worth $3 billion. So why should the taxpayers shell out $30 billion for something that is only worth $3 billion?
We shouldn't. Michael Moore on Larry King presents a great plan. Buy them. Buy GM and Chrysler. They want $34 billion but with assets they are only worth $35 billion. That way, when the feds buy them they can guarantee the workers who are the innocent ones in this, don't lose one more job.
Meanwhile, the feds can put in a viable business plan and put the company back out in the market place once they are re-organized.
One thing I do agree with, you cannot let this industry fall flat on its face. The job losses that would be incurred would be staggering.
Category: finance
Stinky Grammys
I was reading about the live Grammy Nominations and to be honest...Im not impressed. If the Jonas Brothers win best new artist after they have already released three CDs what does that say for the state of the recording industry.
There are some bright spots but they come from grizzled veterans like Radiohead who should be there but, where is the youth of rock and roll?
The Jonas Brothers are not a Grammy worthy act. They are an act for the 5-14 age group. They can not be the best new act. Not after releasing three CD's already. If thats the case lets nominate some other artists who have only released three CD's. I nominate.....Hot Hot Heat or Sam Roberts.
Also, someone please explain to me the difference between Album and Record of the Year. Are they not the same exact thing?
The Grammy's are no longer about the best artist, they are about the highest selling artist. That said, it makes it pretty impressive that Radiohead made the cut considering they basically gave away their release when it first came out.
There are other artists that deserve to be mentioned this year that are not on the lists. James made a comeback this year, though they have yet to jump across the Atlantic and do a North American tour. Matthew Sweet has also released some new material this year. You could also throw the Cure in there and Morrissey for artists that could get in for Album/Record of the year. The Police came out with a great live audio/video package from their reunion tour that should be mentioned.
I guess thats why I don't watch the Grammys. They are never about the fan, the artists or the music. They are all about the money.
Category: Music
Stop Opposing The Casino
How stupid are the people who are opposing and thus trying to halt gaming at the Buffalo casino? I can see being against the project and thus just not going to it but to be opposed to and filing papers to have a project that is going to provide the area with a $300 million investment and 3000 jobs is just plain ridiculous.
You don't want the casino or don't support it, fine stay home, don;t go. Go to a friggin movie. But who are these people to say what can and can't be built in the city of Buffalo. Who are these people to say that 3000 jobs, 3000 much needed jobs can't be provided in a struggling economy.
The Seneca's for all the bad that comes with a casino, do a lot of good that really, if you go to the Niagara Falls casino, they do more good than bad. Its well set up, theres not immediate danger to anyone in the area immediately around it, and little or no crime around the casino in the Falls.
They want to take a piece of land in Buffalo and turn it into a luxury casino/hotel which, is a lot better than the alternative. An eyesore.
So, if you know someone who is part of this group, take your hand, slap them in the back of their head and tell them to stop their opposition to it and get on board with something that will ultimately provide more positives than negatives.
Still Over $2
Okay, yesterday, oil dipped to a 4 year low and could go under $40 a barrel. What is wrong with the WNY gas price scenario? I do think that we haven't seen the last of $4 gas and beyond because there has been some disturbing news of declining production in some key countries like Mexico and in the Middle East but thats beside the point.
Gasoline futures due to the decline in oil are currently at $1.01 a gallon. So, is that then to say that we here in WNY pay over $1.20 in taxes on a gallon of gas? I don't think we pay 120% in tax on gas. So why are we still seeing $2.25-2.35 a gallon where ever you go? I saw a $2.19 yesterday and that is the lowest I have seen so far.
We should be under $2.00. We should be way under $2 and if we are not under that by Christmas, questions need to start being answered and fast. This is pathetic that we, one of the more economically depressed areas even before the recession, are hit with the highest prices in the country, by far. Just about every where you look, gas has gone well below $2.
It would be nice to get a break with prices around $1.50 a gallon for a while. The oil companies, traders and the industry as a whole owe that to the consumer after the huge price spikes of this past year. They will make their profits still, it just won't be in the billions of dollars.
Category: Energy
Ted Rogers
Ted Rogers, owner of Rogers Communications in Canada and owner of the Toronto Blue Jays passed away yesterday at 75 years old. I can't comment on him being a great Canadian, Im sure he was. What I can comment on is that he saved the Blue Jays at a time when their ownership wasn't very stable.
That to me is enough and for that alone he earned my respect over the years. The Jays have been stabilized under his ownership and though they have not made it to the playoffs yet, he has increased the payroll and provided positive changes for the franchise both on and off the field.
Ted Rogers will undoubtedly be missed in Canada and especially Toronto where he has left his mark on the Toronto sports scene, including bringing the Bills to Toronto for a series of regular season games. The Bills are there this weekend and its unfortunate he didn't get to see the results of his hard work.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Wall Street Mess Goes Back 20+ Years
This Wall Street mess goes back a lot further than most of us would like to know about. As far back as the mid 1980's the same coorporate insanity was taking place. This latest meltdown is the end of a process that started over 20+ years ago.
Author Michael Lewis writes about it in the above article and in his book "Liar's Poker" that tells about his time working and being hired in the mid-80's with absolutely no experience and being paid a six figure salary to play with other peoples money. He left after three years because he figured that the money train would end and people would be wiser to what was going on. Little did he know that he could have gotten away with so much more for 20 more years before the shit really hit the fan.Just a Few Things
Before I leave for my third last day of student teaching I had to just write about a few quick things that I will expand upon later today.
First, Dan Plesac, you know him right? The lefty relief pitcher who at one time saved like....30 games in a season, okay maybe he had 40 one year, Im not looking at stats right now, but apparently, hes on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame.....this is a problem in both the NHL and in MLB, nominating mediorcre players for the sports highest honor. Dan Plesac was a Blue Jay, Dan Plesac was a good lefty out of the bullpen when he was at his best, but he was no where close to being great. If he's on the ballot, Tom Henke, Duane Ward, Dave Steib and Jimmy Key should all be getting second looks.
Second, WTF was that hockey team doing last night. It was possibly the worst game I have ever had to watch, period. Two days in a row, two games that it was hard to even watch. The Bills made me want to throw things, the Sabres made me want to sit in a corner in a possessed state eating spiders. Time to get the heads out of the asses boys. Again, Ill expand more on last nights game later.
Third, I am going through some things right now and the process in order to complete some of these things is ass backward, why do things that could be so simple have to be made so difficult. I was in downtown Buffalo yesterday not once, but twice. Once at City Hall which was fine, but then, I went to not one police station, not two, but three. The third was Buffalo Police Headquarters to get a background check. Their explanation as to why you can't get at any Buffalo station? They don't have the same computer system at all stations.........WTF!
Catch ya all later
Category: Miscellaneous
Did Jesus Exist?
I am never the religious type. I don't believe in God or religion, I go to Church once a year and thats just because I have to make my wife happy on Christmas Eve.
This video probably won't win me any religious friends but like Bill Maher's Religulous, it brings up some very good points without the sarcasm from a Bill Maher produced documentary. This film is strictly about presenting the evidence.
The other difference is that this film is trying to make a case that Jesus probably didn't exist, at least not how current Christians portray him and that the modern day Catholicism and Christianity is probably more full of shit than it has ever been.
This film was made by a former Christian who "saw the light". I present to those who are curious enough to watch it regardless of their faith or lack thereof, Brian Flemming's The God Who Wasn't There.
The Great Robbery
The republicans continue to blame the unions for the financial meltdown we are having. This editorial by Brent Budowsky hits the nail on the head.
How can you blame unions for the mess when who is getting the majority of this bailout money? $7 trillion has been spent and most of it has gone right into the hands of the richest CEO's in America only to piss it away again. Detroit has already gotten $50 billion, AIG got two bailouts....Its "socialism for the rich" as Budowsky puts it. How can you blame hard working, average Americans who are just trying to pay their bills. When you don't have unions you work for a minimum wage that hasn't gone up nearly enough to keep pace with cost of living over the years. You get companies that ignore their employees healthcare needs and schedule employees for far longer hours than they should and don't provide workers with nearly enough sick and/or vacation time. As unions die so too do workers rights to healthcare, fair pay that adjusts for cost of living. Its pathetic how easy it has been for Republicans to blame the worker instead of blaming the CEOs and Wallstreet executives who really got us here.49ers 10 Bills 3
Its over. If you can't beat the lowly 49ers at home in late November its over. Pack it up. I hope the folks up in Toronto who paid an average of $250 a ticket realize the only team they will be watching with a chance for the playoffs will be the Miami Dolphins.
The Bills essentially have to win the rest of their games and then pray like hell. Its not going to happen. It is also becoming painfully obvious that this team needs a quarterback. Edwards is not going to cut it and for those who half way through were thinking JP should get another shot you are wrong. JP was just as bad.
How can you not score more than 3 points against a team who allows 28 points per game? Ryan Lindell had a horrible day and really its turning into a horrible season for him with the Cleveland game. I never liked Lindell anyway, it has always seemed like he had a shaky leg.
So, after a 5-1 start we thought there is no way they could blow it.....they blew it. Really if you look at the wins, they beat cream puff teams. Kansas City? Seattle? You add San Fran to the list and you have the three worst teams in the NFL. One of whom they lost to.
This is not a playoff team. Even at 5-1, they were not a playoff team. Once the competition stiffened up so did they. They were a disappointment waiting to happen.
Category: Buffalo Bills 2008
