His first and surely preferred choice is to persuade Mr Putin that letting him serve another term would suit everybody in their clan.
But Schilling would have surely preferred to avoid the spotlight that he was under on Friday after declaring that his career might be over.
For all of Kerry Collins's durability over five seasons -- he also led the Giants to one Super Bowl trip -- Coughlin surely preferred to build his Giants around a younger, more mobile quarterback with All-Pro potential.
If the articular cartilage is to suffer a lethal insult, a congruent reduction is surely preferred over any residual stepoff to minimize wear of the opposing joint surface.
Disney would surely have preferred that Moore and his team have asked for permission before making the film.
Ms. LuPone would surely have preferred to prepare for a role of this stature unencumbered by the strain of a nearly yearlong run in a Broadway musical.
While the Giants would surely have preferred that Manning be able to take the practice snaps Wednesday, Carr said he had little concern that Manning's play on Sunday would suffer because of a missed workout.
Then, too, Mr. Huang's music probably did not sit well with the authorities, who, in a throwback to actions against progressive composers like Shostakovich in Soviet Russia, would surely have preferred a simpler, more overtly melodic style.
Although he remains a thuggish autocrat whose power-base is mostly in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east, he has long since fallen out with Mr Putin, who has criticised Ms Tymoshenko's conviction and would surely have preferred her to win the presidency last year.
It may be that Leeds United are better off without distractions as they fight to overcome the 15-point deficit imposed on them by the Football League, but they would surely have preferred to go further in the FA Cup than Harrogate Railway.
