Mallory Anxious For Opportunity

     The NFL lockout is tough enough for athletes who are already in the league, but the plight is all the more challenging for unsigned free agents. That's what James Mallory is facing.

    Western New Yorkers knew the future was bright for  Mallory when the running back was just a freshman in high school. Now six years removed from his playing days at Kenmore West High School, Mallory looks to take the next step in his already impressive career-the NFL.

     When Mallory graduated from Ken West in 2005, he left for school at Central Connecticut State University. You may have never heard of CCSU, and many NFL coaches haven't either, which makes Mallory's road to the  NFL increasingly challenging.

    " It's a small school," Mallory  told 2 On Your Side's Stu Boyar.  "They always question the level of competition. You have to make sure you take care of your business when you are on the field, and I was fortunate enough to do that."

    Only one player before Mallory had ever rushed for more than 1500 yards in a season at CCSU. Mallory eclipsed the mark twice in his career. Mallory loved his time at CCSU, but his heart always remained in Buffalo. A tattoo on his left tricep says "716."

     " I love my city. I go anywhere and I tell them where I'm from. I love my city of Buffalo and I carry it on my back everywhere I go ."

     Though Mallory is from a small school, his goal isn't a pipe dream. He was invited to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' all rookie mini camp in 2010. 

     " The coaching staff loved me. Unfortunately, they had a lot of defensive players go down. Obviously, they weren't going to sign offensive players with defensive players going down."

    Mallory wasn't signed last season, but he used the year to get bigger, faster and stronger. He said he has gained 10 to 15 pounds since his time in Tampa Bay.

    Teams are still interested in giving Mallory a shot. He said that r ight before the lockout there wer e four or five teams that were showing a lot of interest.

Who makes Kenmore appliances – is it Whirlpool?

Which is better GE or Whirlpool appliances?Our dishwasher and are in need of replacement soon and I want to find a brand I like so eventually all the kitchen appliances will be the same brand. Currently have a whirlpool dishwasher that has been fantastic for over 13 years, and a GE stove honestly new I (mostly) like (the burners are so over sized you need a gigantic pan if you want to use the double burner feature or make pasta. I deliberate this a design flaw, as not all of us are cooking for an army crew!). I also considered Samsung (washer and dryer are Samsung and they are incredible) but don’t like their stoves (that super shiny top looks impossible to keep spotless ample to look decent). I did not deliberate KitchenAid as my last stove was a high end (ie expensive!) KitchenAid and it cracked 1 week out of warranty, at which time Kitchen Aid told me it was defective but I should have known to call them sooner….needless to say I won’t be buying any more KitchenAid, even though the KitchenAid refrigerator is 12 years ancient and just early to “groan” in defrost cycle. Any advice and guidance would be appreciated.

Check Consumer Reports before you buy anything. They are impartial and test all the brands far more extensively than any one person may possibly do. They issue a buying guide every year with the best appliances, you can check for that, or you can join on line for about $ 40 for the year. It is well worth it! We buy only the products that Consumer Reports says are the best and we have not been disappointed. They will alert you to products that are crap or that have low reliability history. We have used them for all from our vehicles to our dishwasher, washer and dryer, vacuum cleaner, laundry detergent all down to the brand of trash bag. I was exhausted of wasting money on crappy products. The one thing we got that was crap was a GE Profile Harmony washer. It was too new for reliability ratings. We still have the dryer but the washer died after a few years and we replaced it with top-rated LG.

So, check Consumer Reports for the scoop on which appliances you should get.

Kenmore and the Lewises

Printing art sample book

Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Buying Guide 2007

LIFE