SDS

So, you think the buck stopped at Jim Kelly? Were there any spectators on the sidelines that could have possibly had a say in this?

Who was responsible for that?

I'm reacting more to the excesses of the fans than anything. There is so much real stuff to criticize that it pisses me off to no end that we have to make up stuff just to pile on. Again, the GW situation is the classic example. People dump on a guy for being well-prepared when interviewing for a job. That is amateur hour at its finest. GW was an ass-clown, but people are going to mock him for the one thing he did well? Good grief. The problem I have with analyzing the situation, that apparently few others have, is that I have a woeful inadequate stack of facts to base decisions on. How much is TD interfering with coaches such as McNally? What IS the true sentiment in the locker room for MM, for TD, for TC, for JG, for certain teammates? How can anyone make rational decisions without knowing what goes behind the scenes? Are players correctly executing ill-conceived schemes? Are they incorrectly executing brilliantly devised schemes? I don't have that answer as I don't know what these players are told to do Wed-Sat. So, there are a million perturbations here based upon incomplete data sets. Personally, I believe perception is reality in the NFL and that we must clean house - if only because the expectations have been set by the paying customer. I don’t believe RW can just offer a sacrificial lamb and not get kicked in the teeth for 8 months. From that you need to pick a GM and I don't believe that experience necessarily trumps inexperience. The only experience that matters is Bill Polian type of experience. If a guy is available who has "done it" more than once with different teams/coaches/personnel then odds are he is a good football man. Same goes for the coaching staff. Beyond those guys, anyone is fair game. Let them make the player evaluations and then move on in a methodical manner.

Since everyone is taking aturn in interpreting his comments, I guess I'll give it a shot. Despite the poor record in the past 5 years, Chris is just trying to rightfully point out that not everything TD has done has gone badly. Just because a chick has hammer toes doesn't mean she can't have an ass to die for... The problem that I have seen from Bills fans is their willingness to turn everything into a negative whether it deserves it or not. Case I: People rag on Gregg Williams for doing well in an interview. WTF is that all about? The guy wanted a job and he came in well-prepared and somehow Bills fans across the world turn that into a bad thing. I just want to slap the people who come out with that. Case II: Marv Levy never did anything wrong and he was the epitome of everything a coach should be and his induction into the HoF is proof positive that he walked across Lake Erie to our fair city. Ok... whatever. Perhaps there are a variety of reasons that TD needs to go, but to insinuate that he is somehow the worst GM in the league or that he is clueless about football is just more BS from the black or white fanbase. If the fan base turns against you - even the look on your face is open for criticism. If you are embraced by the fan base, then strawberry yogurt flows out your ass. There is no middle ground.

Well, on the face of it - it doesn't seem so bad. But in the context of how this season unfolded, it is hard to point to the bounce of a pointy ball as the reason why we are 4-10. I don't see "bad luck" as the culprit as much as I see a bad football team.

Which is the mode I have been operating under for mucho weeks now... I expect good teams to beat the snot out of us and they rarely disappoint...

There was Relentless and Relentless II.... What about the story that covers 2000 and beyond? Resentment?

One of my many pet peeves in life are fans who comment on the precision of WR routes. 1. How in the name of God do you know what the WR was supposed to do on any given play? 2. Even if you DID know the answer to #1 - could you tell me where you bought your special TV that displays the whole field on every play? Mine tends to follow the ball and thus I miss 95% of what every WR does during the game.

Neither of them have ever been in my kitchen?

why is this so difficult to understand? If we were to win that game we needed 2 TD's and a FG. Therefore there are TWO chances to go for a two-point conversion. There is no reason to go for it on the 1st TD.

RP should not be "bashed" because he is who he is and he is doing his best... It isn't his fault the Bills selected him in the 2nd round. The anomosity towards him is really anomosity towards TD and company for making that selection. I feel bad for the guy and think that he may severely injure himself out there. He just doesn't have the size to play WR in this league.

BTW, there are only two remaining in the survivor pool. Going into week 15 is frickin' believable IMHO. I have prizes to give out for the individual winners in weeks 1-8. I'll have to see how that shakes with ties, etc... Prizes were donated by Sully's Stadium Sportswear with a lot of help from Hammered a Lot!

Since I have James and Smith... I hope team B blows it up this week.

WTF. Wade had to file a grievance to get paid from Ralph for his last year. Do you actually think he is going to come back here regardless if he walked on water?

But when he hired Wade, his charter wasn't "stability" it was "hire a DC"... Big difference. If you are suggesting that the coaching staff remains intact and just adding the aura of Marv around OBD, well, then I have no idea where you are coming from. How does Mularkey still get a vote of confidence? What has he done to deserve MORE responsibility? What about Clements? Gray? I don't see it... If you are going to bring Marv in to change something, well then - everyone is going to expect something to change more significantly. I think that goes beyond the war room and who brings in the free agents. Removing TD can't be THAT much addition by subtraction.

that success lived but a single season... The point is, there aren't 32 Mannings/Kellys/etc... to be handed out to every team. Sometimes you pick a Collins or Trade for a Bledsoe, or take the 4th QB out of a draft when your team needs help at QB. Clearly Donahoe has made mistakes. Maybe it will cost him his job. But he is not a dumb football man.

I know you are saying that in jest, but seriously - isn't it kind of stupid to make fun of a guy for being organized and for performing well in an interview? Do you want them to be unprepared and incoherent while applying for the job?

because, despite what suicidals say - building a football team isn't easy. You can't go to WalMart and pick out all the ingredients on their well-stocked shelves. Sometimes you address an area and the player fails. Sometimes the right guys are not available when you need them. Sometimes greatness comes from the darkness. Remember, Polian built the Panthers around Kerry Collins. Mistake? Yep. But that is who was available at the time. So, smart men can fail very easily in the NFL....

Well, it all depends on your definition of "prepared". We were never as prepared as our opponent in those 4 Super Bowls. In fact, the longer the "prep" period - the more we got hammered. But, yes - during the regular season our cast of Hall of Famers were prepared. You can call it backhanded if you want, but that is who he was. He was a head coach that players loved to play for but he is also the guy who stood and watched Jim Kelly throw pass after pass against the Giants in SB 25... Personally, I would have traded a little of the man love for Marv, for someone who was up the task on those January Sundays. The HC/GM dynamic is what you want to make of it. You can have administrators, personnel guys, money men, football coaches, or any combination in-between. As long as it works. The question is - who, after being out of the game for a decade, would he bring in to provide stability? Despite the constant pissing and moaning about cronyies - that is the name of the game in this business. If Marv's charter is to bring order to the chaos - then that is not done with new, unproven, unfamiliar people. That can only be accomplished by hiring friends and former colleagues you know and trust. So, who is in Marv's pool that is still alive, still available, and ready to work in Buffalo and for how long?

how is it that in one post he doesn't know anything about football, but in the next he was a very good football coach?

If you read into it a little bit and see what he has done in Indy then you can see hiring a Mora or someone else to bring stability and perhaps even some modest winning seasons (say of the 9-7, 10-6 flavor) even though they have never really been over the top successful. The key is then the "next coach", who takes the foundation and puts it over the top. The Colts built an amazing offense, but had no defense. Dungy was the perfect fit as he has always fielded great defensive teams, but couldn't tell you the definition of a forward pass. That well crafted combination might yield a perfect season... The question is - will this band of headhunters let a Marty, Reeves, Mora type come in to stop the digging, knowing full well they have a foot out the door?

Thanks for saving me the time. Yeah, what he said.

Fred Smerlas: http://www.twobillsdrive.com/articles/read...icle=1008245943

What would be the fun in believing that?

This analysis only works for cities in a small latitude/longitudinal range...