That Aud Smell

Got your trip to Altoona lined up ~14 months in advance. Nice. (More seriously: I wholeheartedly recommend dinner and beers at the Knickerbocker Tavern. They do pub grub, but in a "leveled up" sort of way. And if the weather allows, I recommend sitting in the courtyard.)

A very occasional - even "out of character" - fight is indicative of someone who's willing to put it all on the line for his teammates.

Road trip to Altoona. LFG.

I do not intend to give oxygen to reply-guy-a.ssholeism ... but, like some of them, I am prompted to wonder: Why is an international exhibition game against Germany the first time I'm seeing Tuch in a scrap?

Has Tuch ever dropped the gloves when playing for the Sabres? I can't recall.

This is more than fair. These things exist on a continuum. If the same accusations were being made against a highly-prized prospect at a premier position, then the team's response is apt to have been different.

This is the right take. The Bills were not and are not in the business of taking self-styled principled stands in opposition to the social forces that created this scandal and controversy, as has been suggested upthread. The Bills are in the business of making money, preserving and promoting their brand, and winning football games. In light of those priorities and what they were dealing with, they had no choice but to part ways with the player. I hope everyone involved in this unfortunate story is able to get on with the life that awaited them before these allegations came to light.

Agreed

Reassigned?

Almost as if -- their wealth of knowledge and analysis notwithstanding -- it's a coin flip. Are their sites out there that have aggregated and graded Kiper's (or other leading experts') hit rate for the top, top tier of prospects?

Mel also promised to retire if … was it Jimmy Clausen (?) failed to turn into a good NFL starter with a long career.

I feel like this is demonstrably false. Were that the case - given his baseline physical traits (bonkers) - he would have gone 1.1. Anyway, I hope the kid from Florida works out. EDIT: From the Walter Football draft profile (I’ll take a pass on digging more because, presumably, Walter’s legitimacy will be questioned): In speaking with a few team sources, I said to them that Allen is more of a skill set than a quarterback at this point of his development, which they agreed with. They also thought my analogy of him being like a young pitcher called up to the big leagues who is more of a hard thrower than a pitcher was accurate. Some team sources who are skeptical of Allen compare him to Kyle Boller as a quarterback with big-time triangle numbers plus athleticism and major arm strength. They do have concerns about the lack of production against good opponents and not delivering clutch performances against better teams. Not every evaluator in the NFL is buying the excuse of a poor supporting cast, and they think that there is some danger to Allen as a prospect.

As I recall, he was a boom/bust prospect. Could be a home run. Could be an embarrassing strikeout.

The 5th round workout warrior is a fun prospect to think about. It's sort of a variation on the approach they took with Allen -- take a big swing for the fences and hope that the upside and attitude pays off. (As to attitude, he's got the inevitable chip on his shoulder.)

Shits isn't filtered? Nice. I understand the curiosity about taking a peek at some ancient rituals. The TikTok app has made me aware of all kinds of super weird ass customs that exist in continental Europe. Like these guys (there's no connection here to the U.S. hate group that uses the white pointed hoods, by the way):

I am disappointed for Dahlin. He deserves this recognition. However, as a Sabres fan, this works out well. A snub like this should help ensure that Dahlin continues an upward trajectory toward a final form that will be incredible to behold. He's still getting better, folks.

Oh it’s absolutely about antipathy for the monarchy. It’s just interesting to see how playing their anthem is causing a controversy.

I think we have occasionally debated whether the national anthem(s) should be played before professional sports games … in North America. The fact that English soccer Twitter - specifically Liverpool FC Twitter - is having an absolute meltdown over their home stadiums’ decision to play the English (British?) national anthem before this weekend’s matches - in honour of the coronation - is really something. This follows chants of “You can stick your coronation up your arse” at certain British stadiums - notably Celtic FC in Scotland. Life in the UK is sorta wild.

This was welcome news. The kid's already a good one - he's gonna be great! wait - for real?

I do.

No guarantees on how it works out, but, in the abstract, it is always fun when your hometown team is among the teams where coveted FA's sign for less because they want to chase a ring. Plus: The guy is bowling ball shaped and his name is Poona.

a typo, i presume.

This is really great - you probably have to click through to a browser to see the video.

Not my joke, saw it on Twitter, but it was something about how Snoop's definitely in because you know he loves smoking those Leafs.