Playoffs?

Dearly Departed
Yesterday the NFL and the world lost a very talented young man in Redskins safety Sean Taylor. I am a devoted hater of everything that is the U. It took me 4 years to start to warm to Roscoe Parrish, and I still say pretty nasty things about Willis McGahee. It brings me great joy to see them lose 48-0 in their last game in the famous Orange Bowl. However, some things in life are bigger than sports and this is one. Sean Taylor was an incredible athlete and within the next year or two could have become the most feared safety since Ronnie Lott. That man brought the lumber to every game and it is a terrible thing that happened to him. I'm going to avoid voicing my opinion on the matter due to the "too soon" factor. However, I suspect this is going to be a very very, sketchy situation unfolding in the next few weeks. My thoughts go out to the Redskins who will play my beloved Bills as well as all of Taylor's friends and family.

Business as Usual
One of my least favorite things about players today is celebrating a routine play. This is a totally mind blowing thing. I can not stand players who get up all fired up after making a routine play. I don't mean lighting up a receiver after a 10 yd slant when they manage to hold on to the ball or catching a clutch first down. I'm takling about getting up all pumped after making a routine tackle after a gain of 6 yards or a shoe string play 10 yards down feild then getting up and going wild or being pumped for picking up 3 yds on first and 10. This is the same as doing a lavish endzone celebration when you are down by 30 with 4 minutes left. Junior "Say Ow" is a consiment pro for 18 years and after tackling Brian Westbrook after a 6 yard catch got up like he had just made a game winning sack. I'm all about getting pumped up and showing emotion. But that to me, is the equivalent of me jumping up and down after I make a copy at work or create a spreadsheet. It's part of the job description and making a routine play should not be calls for celebration. It's embarassing. I played organized football for 10 years and did my fair share of celebrating. However, even as a junior in HS i knew not to get pumped on plays that were unnecessary. Stopping a back for a loss or sacking the qb or picking up the big gain or making the huge play was acceptable. But when you make a routine play after a gain of 7. Get up and go back to the huddle Seau, and stop embarassing yourself, you already did enough of that by signing with New England in the first place.

We can't do Diddly Poo...
Fans of Buffalo, Shut the Hell up. Thank you. We all know that JP Losman as underacheived while he was here in Buffalo. I'm a JP supporter and do not agree with the Edwards switch. Without Marshawn Lynch the Bills would have suffered the same fate with Edwards. We are a running team and the A-Train had lost a serious burst this season. Watching him fall forward into holes instead of making simple cuts made me sick. Watching our Defense allow 36 points to a ball control offense by running Tampa Two against inferior receivers made me sick. Yet the blame falls on JP. Yes I feel JP is a huge head case and has a problem letting things brush off him like most good QBs should do. However the constant "we love you now we hate you" attitude of Bills fans is the thing that makes me the sickest. Our Defense and Marshawn kept us in games with Trent against the Cowboys and won us a few games against really bad teams (Jets) and everyone thinks he is the second coming of Christ (or in our case Jim Kelly). I'm just excited to see that if Marshawn doesn't play and our defense gives up big plays to Portis and Cooley and McCardell how the fans will react if Trent can't pull it out. We are a running team with a bend don't break defense. Unless it's Brett Favre or Peyton Manning behind center it won't matter who our QB is if we don't change our identity and the play calling of the timid Steve Fairchild.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa...
Is the home of Coe College. The alma matter of Bills legend Marv Levy and Rookie RB Fred "Fast Freddy" Jackson. I mention this because I feel that Fred Jackson earned himself at least consideration as the starter this week if Marshawn is unable to go. Jackson cuts upfield, doesn't dance around and has a burst 10x that of A-Train. He is a screen pass threat and a big play threat. I feel he is our best option this week to spread the defense and hope to win.

Fav - re?
I get it, Tom Brady is gonna break all the records. He's having the best season a QB could ever possibly have. He dates a super model, he plays on the most dominating offense in the history of the NFL. However, he IS NOT the league MVP. Argue with me all you want. I gaurantee you that with the Patriots line, Lawrence Maroney and the league's best wide out Randy Moss, Todd Collins could put up 35 touchdowns. Brett Favre is the MVP of the NFL this season hands down. He is doing something that Tom Brady could never do. Brady could not move around and improvize to make things happen. If you put Brady on Green Bay they are 2 games above .500. Favre has far less talent around him and yet the Packers are 10-1. This why he is the leagues MVP. Sure he doesn't date supermodels or act like a robot and dress like GQ model in post game interviews. He may be reckless sometimes and make poor decisions. But Brett Favre goes out every game and has fun. He's ALWAYS smiling and is an American Icon. He had the game of his life the day after his dad died, and the second best after he found out his wife had cancer. He's 38 years old and playing and acting like he's 25. He makes football fun to watch and that makes him the MVP of his team as well as the MVP of the NFL.

D3 Blotter,
My alma matter St. John Fisher Cardinals will travel to Alliance, OH this saturday for the regional final against Mt. Union College, in a rematch of last years national semi-final. Nice to see a program that 7 years ago was 0-10 turn around to make the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years and give Mt. Union it's closest game last year in the previous 3 years. Let's hope they can capitalize this year and end the streak that is now at 20 some odd games. If Turner Gill leaves UB, I nominate Paul Vosburgh for the next Head Coach of UB.

- DG1