That Aud Smell

I will sh1t in my hat if that happens.

It will be a very close call, I think.

Amen. The reason Aretha's rendition of so many songs was/is so definitive is because she exalted and dignified the songs with the beauty and virtuosity of her instrument, but then she also brought the sound of the awful wrongs and the imposed sufferings on which the country was undeniably built. She somehow ... fused (?) those elements together. It's longer than a normal pop song, but ... her recording of Mary, Don't You Weep (which is before she went over to popular music?) is absolutely incredible. Listen to how it builds.

Gotta be. In fact, the original is probably in the 1st Ward (?).

Good point. It is. They still do a very good job. It's not what it once was, imo, but I consider them to be good to very good. Can confirm. Man, I forgot about Imperial. It's interesting how many of the best pizza joints are in South Buffalo/Lovejoy.

Good stuff -- and this is interesting. I agree that winter pizza rules. But is it because of the humidity? I hung out with a bunch of foreign nationals days gone by in connection with some graduate work -- most of them were from fairly arid climates (including ones where it got cold in the winter). They all said that the humidity of winter in this area was what chilled them to the bone. Nah, nah - that's okay too. When we were young, my dad would order a pie from the local place with the works. Some pepperoni in there, but also every vegetable imaginable (plus green olives, whatever those are considered). What a glorious mess those were.

Bella Pizza on South Park or Abbott in So Buff is outstanding. Picasso's has a few stores all over town -- terrific product. Also, Lovejoy Pizza and Carbone's Pizza are both in Lovejoy, and they are both excellent. I swear by Lovejoy pizza at the original store -- I haven't been to their new store (northtowns, I think). Shoot. Even Franco's, which is everywhere, is solid. Not outstanding, but consistently good. One last one: Leonardi's at the 5 Points intersection in Amherst (between UB South and UB North) is quietly among the best in the area.

I didn't disagree with a post-Embedded Tweet I saw to the effect of: "Um, guys - I think it was because of McDermott that the Bills won 9 games and squeaked into the playoffs last year."

I found that first (?) episode of Embedded to be good (I would not go so far as calling it great) and enjoyable. The production value is certainly there. And I appreciate that it seems to give a fair insight into what McDermott is trying to accomplish, and how he's trying to go about it. I especially appreciated his talk about how you build a team by supporting each other -- and that includes making an effort to celebrate with a teammate who made a good play. And he's all for people dancing out there, having some swagger. I mean, I'll say it: He comes off as a genuine leader.

Lovejoy Pizza -- the original store in/on Lovejoy. It is the gotdam truth.

I'll give the Embedded episode a B/B-. A good job.

He clearly wants to do more of it, too. For my taste: I think he's good at it - but not great.

Good stuff. Had never heard of them (or her).

I appreciate the article's ode to Buffalo's wonderful pizza culture. I *regret* the fact that the article gave rise to a fairly significant, and gravely stupid, backlash on Twitter from people who live in Buffalo (but were raised elsewhere) *and* from people who were born in Buffalo but now live elsewhere -- all of whom were heard to talk about how truly terrible Buffalo pizza is. I'm not sure why the Twitter algorithms ensured that I saw those Tweets. They almost made my head explode. Wait -- I understand now why that happened. That's Twitter's business model. Anyway. I've spent significant amounts of time in all kinds of regions of the country. There is a *lot* of bad pizza out there. I'm not sure Buffalo has the best pizza (whatever, it probably doesn't), but the pizza in our region is quite good and, at times, excellent.

Not sure how to link it, but the Bills had Eddie Yarborough (sp?) do an Instagram live (?) takeover of their account. Not a novel concept, sure. But it was fun. Good choice in terms of the player selected.

I guess? I like that sort of stuff to a point. But Ramsey's shtick strikes me as obnoxious (and fairly ill-informed). I mean, if I want that level of heel-ism, I'll watch pro wrestling.

That guy is a terrific talent. And, by all indications, an incredible as.shole.

Sorry to hear re Sekera. One of my favourite skaters to watch in the blue and gold, ever.

There's a report out there - AP, I think (so, Wawrow) - that, per a source, the civil lawsuit isn't going to affect McCoy's status with the team. I'm not sure whether the source is a team or league source.

When do the Sabres plan to celebrate theirs? During 2020-2021? I thought I'd read that there was a different way of counting things -- the number of season played, or the number of years in existence. Or something?

Good stuff @Eleven -- it does appear as though McCoy's fat has been pulled out of the fire, for the time being. Then again, Goodell has proven unpredictable in handing down punishments of his own.

Irrespective of whether theories differ, if the cops and district attorney are working toward an indictment, the civil side generally stands down.

McCoy’s former girlfriend has sued him and her alleged assailant for her injuries suffered in that home invasion incident. This development seems inconsistent with the existence of a robust ongoing criminal investigation. @Eleven: Nah?

I have no idea whether he's always just hitting his first read, or what. But given that he's officially been a professional for a few fresh weeks, and further given that patience has been preached for his development (long (enough) may that last!), might we pump the brakes on an apparent conclusion that Allen can't work through a progression?

That's an interesting observation. I can't imagine that the sorts of infamous killers you've identified above would ever become grist for the mill like, say, the Mansons have become. But, given the passage of time, who knows. In recent years, I've noticed that snarky jokes with a 9/11 theme are becoming more and more commonplace -- I still stop short when I hear them. I also don't think that any of the mass shooters of modern times resemble Manson, or Jim Jones, or other similar cult leaders, in terms of how they went about doing what they did. Do you think there are points of resemblance there?