That Aud Smell

Fair deuce. They probably feel like they've got a few different paths available to them -- and maybe much depends on what Brees is doing, in terms of health and contract demands.

His value will be higher if/when a starting QB for a contender goes down. My question is why the Jets didn't see fit to hold onto him until then. It might have to do with wanting to make straight the paths for Darnold. Well, wait a second. Their signing of Bridgewater looks super shrewd at this point. Spend a few bucks, get a 3rd round pick.

That's my sense. The Jets were ready to part with him at this point and a 3rd sounds good. The Saints must be looking to move him mid-season, and get a 1st or multiple 2nds.

No bueno.

The Church needs heroes, for sure.

Yes, yes. That's true. And fair. But, for present purposes, you do need to cut the cancers out. And then keep identifying and cutting them out. And then: Getting women and laity into meaningful positions of leadership is the only way forward for the RC Church.

A tangled bit of business, that. Chelsea's been good so far, yeah?

I think one of Francis's chief failures as a pope has been his inability to get his head wrapped around the nature and extent of the sexual abuse problem in the RC Church. But I think he's shown signs of being able to learn and admit mistakes. Which country was it - Chile? - where he initially expressed skepticism over claims of abuse and then later came back with a big ol' mea culpa. There have been several Chilean (?) bishops who have resigned in the wake of the allegations being investigated and validated. I'm really not sure what to make of the Vigano stuff. It feels political. For my own part, I want every last one of the abusers and enablers out on their fuc.king ears. Out. Get the fu.ck out of my Church. There's a natural, almost inevitable fraternal sense of loyalty that priests develop for each other -- it's not unlike what cops experience (blue wall of silence, etc.). So many priests end up with a sense of superiority over lay people. A sense of entitlement because they sacrifice so much (and, honestly, so many of them do). Anyway, priests often become "churchmen" -- devoted first to the preservation of the mother Church's order and hierarchy. Well, fu.ck that sideways. Time for change, motherfukkers. I don't begrudge anyone who feels differently -- that the Church's culture of abuse and enabling abuse is a bridge too far -- but, for my own part, I have such a stake in the thing that my reaction is to tell them to get out -- I don't want to leave because they're there. They are like intruders in my home.

GTFO. Really?! Christ. No wonder he incurs those high ankle sprains.

HIYO!

I legit can’t recall seeing worse O-line play from the Bills. And maybe the Bengals D will be good?

I did one in that super wacky lot ~8 years ago. The non-Bills lot where the really weird stuff goes down. My younger cousins helped me out. That table was rigged. There were about 8 sh1tty beach towels underneath it. I had about 4 blue lights and 10 oz of rye, and launched from the bed of an F150. *CRASH*. Shoulder (and hip) bruised and sore, but no worse for wear.

@Eleven the key for a recreational table smasher, in my experience, is for the table to be prepped to give way.

That’s a link to episode 1. Here’s 2: Not sure what they’re getting with Murphy — sounding like he needs some sort of sports hernia surgery, to me.

I don't disagree. Btw, this sort of response is consistent with what had elsewhere been reported (forget by whom (it was a national reporter and in connection with the ROR trade)) that the veterans on the Sabres had a bit of an eye-rolling-heavy-sigh-get-a-load-of-this-effing-kid reaction to Eichel when he first came into the league. By way of context, the full passage re Okposo: Veteran forward Kyle Okposo paused when asked by The AP what he would like to see out of Eichel this year. Okposo then proceeded to discuss how Eichel can be better by keeping his emotions in check. “He’s an extremely, extremely passionate guy. I just want to see him maybe not internalize his emotions, because I think that does help him in his play, but ...” Okposo said, pausing once again in search for the right words to say. He agreed when asked if he wanted Eichel to harness his emotions. “Yeah, that’s a good word, harness, maybe harness it a little bit and just try and not have them be so prevalent,” Okposo said. “He takes this franchise on his back, and he puts a lot of pressure on himself,” he added, hoping the new additions will relieve some of that pressure. “He’s a very special talent. I’d just like to see him put his head down and work,” Okposo said. “You’ve got to let those emotions out sometimes, but I think his work ethic comes first.”

When I heard Hamilton interviewed by WGR hosts after he spoke with Eichel, Hamilton said there were a bunch of kids at HarborCenter looking for Eichel and that, after the interview, Eichel obliged and was visiting, talking with them.

Wait a second. I think capable is a notch or two above adequate. Don't move those goal posts on me. A' frickin men. I was gonna respond with words to this effect. The fact that Cleveland decided Taylor was a good option for a bridge/mentor QB isn't really an endorsement of any kind. That same Cleveland FO tried and hilariously failed to secure McCarron for what would have been a similar role -- I'd read it was because they were too busy chest bumping each other and such. So, basically, Cleveland's incompetence led to the Bills' having opportunities to sign McCarron and secure the 3rd round's top pick for Taylor.

My disagreement aside, I do think "unwisely" is what's needed there. The level of regret that can be summoned over moving on from an (allegedly) "adequate" quarterback is mystifying to me. Not for nothing: What did we do with that 3rd round pick? Move up to get Edmunds? If he progresses the way he should, the Taylor deal cannot help but be remembered fondly.

Doc Sullivan’s is on Abbott. Terrific wings.

I feel you. Someone just posted a comparison of EJ’s preseason stats and Allen’s. EJ’s were better. Slow the roll, I’d say.

I was confused for a while by the reference to a 2005 Stanley Cup. Anyway: It's 05-06, for sure, for me. That was the team's year. It just didn't happen because of bad luck.

the WYTS articles are getting a little thin in spots, but magary is always able to bring it for the Bills -- because the team, town, and fans give him so much material. i LOL'd in a quiet public place at this passage: Your coach: Camo-hat humper Sean McDermott. This man is a mystery to me. One second, he’s holding intensely intimate meetings with players and having them bare their souls to one another, which makes sense on some level because Buffalo itself is like if you made a whole city out of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Players need to cope, and I salute McDermott for recognizing that. But then he handles his own QB situation with all the gracefulness of a Twitter executive. His team also tried to trademark Respect The Process, because trademarks win championships.

True, true. But at least if the guns are gone, his capacity to maim and kill is lessened.

To say nothing of their morbidly obese O-line coach who hates that players take time to stretch. I keep seeing this sort of sentiment on the interwebs. From all appearances, this is not a situation where Richie just needs to pull it together. This appears to be a situation where Richie needs to be declared mentally incompetent and placed in an institution -- before he hurts or kills a bunch of people. FFS -- at least make sure he has no access to firearms.

That's a lot of what I'm getting at. There were knocks on Allen's mechanics and accuracy. It's fair to evaluate whether he's made progress on those issues in the context of preseason games. And, yes: It's a different story once the proverbial bullets start flying for real. But is it "without value" to assess how Allen's coming along with certain isolated physiokinetic (maybe a made-up word) aspects of his own game? I keep reading Twittersphere people who hated the pick saying "well, I'll grant him this: His footwork is way better than it was. And it's resulting in some better accuracy." Is the theory that all such improvements could vanish once he gets in a regular season game? I don't buy it. He will almost certainly struggle mentally in those situations, but if his mechanics care getting fixed, then they're getting fixed.