San Jose Bills Fan

January was at the tail end of last season. Since then the Bills have enjoyed approximately 420,000 new paying customers. Is it too hard to believe that things have changed in the last 11 months? They are privately held so there's no way for us to verify it. It would be pretty damn easy for the Bills to verify as the vast majority of season tickets and single game seats are paid on a credit or debit card and not with cash. BTW, why do you theorize that Russ is lying about this issue? LOL Yep. He made good on his promise to establish analytics. The team appears to be more talented than they were a year ago. And Brandon adopted a Belichickian approach to Nix's future so as not to tip the hand of the organization. "Objectively" speaking, why would anyone not trust Russ?

"Don't ever get old, man"

Done. All 4 votes. It took about 30 seconds. I'll vote again every day until the polls close.

Chandler would make an excellent complimentary tight end. As it is, he's better than average as a receiver but below average as a blocker. Ideally the Bills have a starting TE who's better in both areas. As for team needs, I wholeheartedly agree with Whitewalker Merriman. After quarterback, pass rusher is always the biggest need IMO. Yes Kyle and Dareus are excellent inside rushers and Mario and Hughes are good edge rushers, and Pettine can create pressure schematically. But to become an elite defense, the Bills need an edge rusher who is a factor on every play. They don't presently have that and in spite of leading the NFL in sacks, there are still too many passing downs where the team doesn't get enough pressure. With a truly great edge rusher the Bills could kick Mario inside (he already disappears for long periods of time unfortunately) where he can use his athleticism against guards and use his height and ranginess to block out throwing lanes. I also agree with Machine Gun Kelly who listed needs but mentions that who the Bills pick at each spot will be based on value. It's great that the Bills have reached a point talent-wise that they can really start drafting best player available.

Wow. The world has really changed since then. Can you imagine a company hiring a theophile in this day and age?

Great idea! At least for a topic. :worthy: :worthy: Please this is a family board. Especially in this thread I think it would be appropriate to use the euphemism angus. Yep. Fifty caliber Sharps rifle. :lol: :lol: Actually that theory is Beau Fleuve. Beautiful river.

So in other words you didn't listen to the interview. Also he complied with the team's workout regimen this offseason. How did that work out? To the bolded, you'd have a very hard time finding someone to agree with you on that. There's a few people here that don't like me (ie - Rico) but even people I've had heated debates with wouldn't call me a contrarian. There are people here who disagree for the sake of argument but I'm not one of them. I do find your criticism of me to be quite ironic though. Regardless, you continue to ignore the fact that Stevie worked out this offseason exactly as the team wished him to and it hasn't helped him avoid injury. Rather, you continue to argue that he's injury prone because he doesn't work hard enough. But I'm the contrarian. Also, being the literalist that you profess to be, Marrone has said that Stevie has been working hard since he took over so hopefully you find a way to reconcile that statement with your belief that Stevie's not a hard worker. A reasonable person would say that Stevie, a former 7th rounder turned star receiver, is a hard worker who happens to also be injury prone. But I'm not holding my breath.

Interesting. A shootout approach to OT. Buffalo Barbarian loves the kicking game. He'd love this. I don't disagree with your opinions in the last two paragraphs. However as GG has pointed out, the bolded above is an apples to oranges discussion. Football is not comparable in any way to hockey or basketball but is somewhat similar to baseball in that the possessions are very well-defined. And of course baseball in theory gives each team an equal chance to win.

Obviously you haven't "followed the conversation" because I addressed your take that Stevie didn't train hard in the offseasons. Thus you incorrectly assumed that I wasn't following the conversation and you are actually guilty of what you accused me of. And when I mentioned the "other stuff" you mentioned I was talking about the aspects of this conversation that I have not participated in and don't care about. You're going off on a lot of tangents.

1) There is no perfect solution 2) The new rule is better than the old rule, IMO. 3) Tucker's piece is basically an op-ed and he uses no stats to back up his opinion and kind of ignores the fact that under the old rule, teams could play to a tie. The relevant question to me is this: Under the old rule, how many times did the team winning the coin flip win the game? Thank you. I think Tucker is wrong.

LMFAO!!! "I can't help it if I was born with a band's name" It's been mentioned numerous times in this thread that the story comes up every year during Toronto week. Your snideness aside, what makes you think there will only be one interested buyers group?

I posted this: And you replied with this: You don't understand. I believe Stevie is a hard worker. You don't. I'm not sure why you're including all the other stuff in your reply. I don't believe you know how I feel about Stevie although you write as if you think you do.

The Bills current edition is one of the better O-lines in the NFL, definitely top 3rd of the league and arguably top quarter of the league (top 8). To the subject: 1) If you follow the NFL closely you'll know that there are numerous truly horrific O-lines out there and that there are many fanbases who are dissatisfied with their team's offensive line. 2) There is not one single great offensive line out there right now and in fact this has actually been the case for several years now. 3) The biggest factor in offensive line success is having a great quarterback who understands protections, makes the correct protection calls, audibles into successful plays (pass or run) and gets rid of the ball on time. Funny how few people here seem to comprehend what a huge advantage it was having a QB like Ryan Fitzpatrick last year as opposed to essentially having 3 rookie starters this year. 5) Having a great offensive line featuring numerous highly-drafted players is a very rare occurrence both historically and in the present day. Most of the great offensive lines in history featured a mix of high draft picks, low draft picks, and unsigned free agents. 6) Offensive line play is as much about toughness, intelligence, and teamwork as it is anything. 7) The offensive line of the Buffalo Bills is not in any way limiting the team's success and is better than O-lines on teams which have recently won Super Bowls. 8) This offensive line didn't allow a single sack to the (then) highest sacking team in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. This offensive line has played against some of the best defensive fronts in the NFL. When this team gets better QB play, only the O-line fetishists will still be clamoring for an improved offensive line.

LOL Anyone that names a band after himself definitely has a lot of delusional self importance. For any group considering stadium locations, I think the Canadian market will weigh in that decision. Also you bring up an interesting incentive for NFL owners: the sale of Canadian TV rights fees. Isn't this a possible gold mine for the league (independent of a Bills move)?

I love reading your stuff too, Bill. My only point was that I believe Stevie, despite all his flaws, is a hard worker and I seriously doubt that his injury history is due to laziness. The discussion about his character, his hands, etc. have nothing to do with me. I think that he tries hard and that he cares.

Dibs said the objectivist would say "let's wait and see." You're criticizing his view of an optimist, not an objectivist.

That's what I believe and what I was trying to express. Thanks Dibs.

Interesting. Was the reading in Western New York? If not, that would make it even more bizarre.

? I brought up the 7th round issue to illustrate that he had to work hard and overcome the bias against lowly-drafted players in order to establish himself.

Hey AJ, when and where was this reading done? Plus his username is The False Wanka. Yep. There was literally a stream of shyt flowing down the concourse. And those concourses are pretty narrow. And the restrooms are pretty substandard. Hey, you're the FunPolice!

So your assumption is that a 7th rounder who became a star receiver isn't a hard worker? Okay. 1) We have no idea of how hard Stevie works. You choose to believe that he doesn't work hard enough. His ascendancy as a 7th rounder made good would seem to indicate the exact opposite. 2) Do you think everyone can simply emulate Jerry Rice and thus ward off injuries? 3) You ignore the very real possibility that in a league of workaholics that Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver ever to play, was a physical freak. Do you also think that if everyone worked as hard as Jerry Rice that they would also have 20 year playing careers? 4) The first point you ignore is that injuries can just as easily be a function of overtraining as they can undertraining. 5) The second point you ignore is that some players will be injury prone regardless of their training methods. You and Badol are ignoring the truth that every individual has different genetics.

Why is that sad? People who are wrong shouldn't have credibility. That's something that you should be happy about. I reject Badol's notion that the pessimists are "more objective" than the optimists. There's no logical argument to back it up and it's certainly not what I've witnessed on this board. That's like saying there are more good people who are Christian than there are that are Atheists. It's like saying there are more good people who are liberals than conservatives. There is no basis in fact for these beliefs. From what I've seen it's pretty equal and you're better off taking things on a case by case basis as opposed to sweeping generalizations with no basis in fact. I'm done hijacking this thread. Believe what you want.

Twenty thousand posts indicates that may not be the case. :lol:

You mean the "shooting fish in a barrel" crowd? BillsVet is no more accurate a prognosticator than any of the solid posters on this board. Yes I said he's a solid poster. And I can name about 50 solid posters on either side of "the aisle." Don't pretend that being a Bills pessimist or optimist has any correlation with having accurate football takes.

Well I'm gonna view it from the standpoint of a 7th rounder who became one of the better wide receivers in the league. In other words, I think his work ethic with regards to physical training is just fine. I'll stick with my suspicion that he's one of the many players who struggles to withstand the physical rigors of the league through no fault of his own.