nfreeman

As to the first -- did Coller do anything to earn that treatment from Graham? As to the 2nd -- very nice.

Well, my wife and I finished "Stranger Things" on Netflix. We both thought it was excellent. I'm giving it a solid A.

It's coming this year if he stays healthy, which is unfortunately a huge if.

Does anyone here doubt that Karlos is going to get picked up and have a huge season while McCoy pulls his hamstring in week 2 and sprains his ankle in week 8, missing 6 games?

IMHO, some cities will always have an advantage in FA, but the list isn't much longer than NYC and LA. I also think there's quite a bit of irrational confidence around here about the Sabres' future relative to the Rangers' (who have made the playoffs 6 years in a row and 10 out of the last 11, including 3 trips to the ECF and one to the SCF in the 4 years before last season).

Very nice.

Well, the Sabres (and every other team) can only give him a 2-year contract at a pretty low salary, so not much of a bullet there. I agree that there will be a number of players looking to line him up for a big hit on the ice -- but I think the same is true of any hotshot rookie.

Good post.

Still defending Whaley, eh? How many non-playoff seasons is it going to take for you to change your tune on this? 10? 20? 100?

Well, it's been so long that you are forgiven for forgetting, but when the Sabres are good, the fans are quite lively (in addition to showing up, which they don't do in NJ regardless of how well the team is doing). And the only good era for the Edmonton Oilers was the Gretzky era -- but it was one heckuva era.

I'll say it again: there is NFW he is signing with NJ. They were well out of the playoffs last year, and no one who has attended a regular-season game in NJ would ever willingly sign up to play there. If he goes to the NYC area, he'll go to the Rangers.

NYC has: - the best food in the world, and it's not even close. - the best professional opportunities in the world in just about every profession other than manufacturing and farming. - the best nightlife in the world. - the best theater in the world (if you're into that sort of thing). - the best art, literature, architecture and public transit in the US. - the most international residents in the US across multiple professions and nations of origin. The above qualities are all more or less objective. Here's a subjective one: NYC also has the most interesting, funny, accomplished and ambitious people in the world. There are a million hassles associated with living in NYC, and it's certainly not for everyone. But pretending that it's just like any other big city is just that -- pretending. He did you hoser. Beat me to it. It's the "or at least the piece you want" that is critical here. I agree that you can find some measure of most (not all) of one or 2 of NYC's qualities in other cities. DC has great museums; Boston and Savannah have great architecture; New Orleans and Miami have great food (with limits on the types of excellent cuisine); LA has beautiful people; Chicago has a great lake front, etc. etc. But no other city comes close to combining all of NYC's qualities.

Indeed.

Except that he didn't -- he still has his $97MM contract, with $60MM guaranteed -- minus whatever the 4 game checks cost him. Dareus is fine. It's the Bills who are hosed -- and as a result of a highly foreseeable situation..

My wife and I watched the first 2 episodes last night and we both really liked it. Me too. As far as that goes, I started watching the ESPN documentary on OJ a few days ago. So far it is excellent. One purely football tidbit that I found interesting: during OJ's junior year, USC, ranked #4, played UCLA, ranked #1 and featuring a senior Heisman favorite at QB (Gary Beban, whom I don't think did anything in the NFL). UCLA took a 20-14 lead in the 4th quarter. USC had a 3rd-and-7 from their own 36 with 10 minutes to go and gave it to OJ, who took it 64 yards for the game-winning TD. The game is still regarded as the most famous game of the USC-UCLA rivalry and one of the best college football games of all time.

Here's the Vesey poll the unruly mob has been demanding. My responses: Sabres, 3rd line, 10-15 goals. Fire at will.

65 pages and we're still 2 days out!

I think it's gonna be the Sabres or Boston. If Detroit is too far, so is Chicago -- and he already rejected Nashville, which is in Chicago's division. Pittsburgh and the Rangers are possible but I think/hope he'll want to be in the same division as Boston and Toronto. If he and his family think he's better off being away from home, the Sabres have to be finalists along with the Rangers and Pittsburgh. And most Bostonians don't like NYC. C'mon Jimmy.

How about "when your employer pays you $97MM, you do what your employer asks, to the best of your ability, while maintaining a positive attitude and taking care not to do anything that would keep you away from your workplace?" As for Whaley -- a good GM figures out whether a guy will be a good team player and will keep his nose clean before giving that guy a franchise-crippling contract.

I believe I was a lonely minority in the wilderness when I spoke up last year against giving Dareus a fat contract. $97MM for the centerpiece of the 19th-ranked defense in the NFL last year, who BTW can't be bothered to buy in to the new coach's system or stop himself from getting baked. Classic Whaley-era Bills -- high draft picks, big contracts and zero meaningful wins to show for it.

Do you think that having a job (or being married to someone with an important job) means that a person automatically is good at that job?

Nice work, 11!

And yet you found Rust Cole's gibberish monologues in "True Detective" worthwhile. It's a free country.

You missed the joke you hoser.

I too am feeling this type of disappointment and pessimism about where this country is, now and in the next 10 years. I personally know at least 100 people on both sides of the political aisle whom I am certain would make better presidents than the 2 finalists.