Red

Born in Kenmore in '74. Lived in North Tonawanda for the first 25 years of my life. Went to NTHS, NCCC, UB, Buff State, and entering my last semester at Canisius. Left Buffalo in '99 to move to CA. Then moved to FL. Now live in Northern VA in metro DC area. Wife and moved back to Buffalo to give it a try, but it was a miserable year. Unless the politics/ job climate of WNY/ NY changes or we become wealthy, we probably will not be returning to Buffalo to live any time soon.

I agree with this. I too, originally thought Jones was just a donkey of an owner. A real self-righteous SOB, my poop does not stink, lick my boot heels, kind-of-guy. I had him up there w/Davis in Oakland and Snyder here in DC. But he's better than those 2. Heck, even Snyder seems to have finally seen the wizard and gotten a brain- hiring Allen as GM and Shanahan as coach, trading away Campbell to Oakland...getting McNabb and trading for a LT. The 'Skins seem to be getting it together as well.

I would agree and say that we finally have a front office w/a clue. Our team was close in many games last year. That and $1.00 will get you a bottled water. But, they had even the Super Bowl champs bottled up and off the score board for practically 4 quarters. Now w/Allaire gone and a real strength program in place, it will be interesting to see if the injuries cease. That, and bigger bodies and a better overall scheme should help keep players out of position, too. I'm excited to see who can be the #2 WR, if Spiller can have the impact we all hope that he does, I'm hopeful Roscoe bounces back in the return game and finally becomes a threat in the slot, and if Trent can pull through. The defense should be more solid- IMO- and w/veteran help of Davis and the other LB from Miami I think we'll be in good shape. My only question is at the LT position. If they could only pull off a trade for McNeil, I'd be feeling really confident for their chances this upcoming season. IMO, that is the only hole still present on the team.

I have long grown tired of millionaires having television shows doing nothing but talking about themselves.

Does not seem like the kind of guy to do that. You'd need a Frohawk and a name like Aaron to do something stupid like that...

What, did Miami go and hire Allaire as its strength coach?

Tragedy for Dennis Green. Terrible, terrible thing.

I feel bad about this one. It's a perfect example of the horrific picks under Donahoe and Modrak; as the franchise would most likely be in a much different situation had Big Mike actually panned out. He was unmotivated and soft when he played for us, went down to Jacksonville where I think he became a joke, left the NFL, then came back with the Redskins last season. Living in DC, I get the 'Skins games by default, and I would occasionally check in on him and London Fletcher (should never have let him go). What I could say, when Williams was in there at Guard he was solid. Tough, actually. Physical at the point of attack, and seemed to play w/somewhat of an attitude. I was actually sitting there at some points last season wondering if the Bills could have only gotten him to play like that, I wanted him back (never publicly stating that), etc....

He does not seem fluid enough and comes across as way too stiff in the hips and slow in the footwork to be an effective linebacker.

And this is the answer to all of the naysayers. They have been mediocre for a number of reasons. Frequent injuries and playing in an offense w/no identity, and a defense built to small at the point of attack, IMO, all add up to not being able to hold up in the 4th. Changing coaches, getting an offensive ID, bulking up the D, and finally getting a real strength program all should help turn those 4th quarter L's into W's.

God Bless you, H2O, and congrats on turning away from that type of life. That has always been my point on Vick, too. Though I have never sold or used hard drugs, I can say that I too, at a stupid young age, would party and I drove home once or twice when I should not have. As a kid, I too caused typical trouble around the neighborhood. I've done stupid things, and I think everyone has. The key difference though, is that at some point the light comes on and a person realizes that this behavior is counterproductive to me; i.e. if I keep this up, I'll be dead, or in prison, or killed in prison, etc. If you were to place a table full of millions of dollars in front of me and tell me that I was risking that for idiotic behavior, I would change said behavior in a heartbeat. And I don't buy the societal excuses. There are scores of inner city kids who do make it out and make something of themselves. That do succeed. Just because he may have been brought up to think nothing of this stupid behavior, does not mean that he has to perpetuate it. His athletic ability has granted him enough to transcend any difficulty or societal excuse. But instead of using the ability to help other out, or improve the lives of others, he continues to destroy the blessings he has inherited. Ah, well....

There could be several reasons for this. In all fairness, and I don't know how old you are- but I grew up and was in high school when the Bills were going to all of the Super Bowls in the early 90's. that makes me all of 35 years old. I started following the Bills in '88. My point for bringing this up is that I was spoiled early. Larry Felser wrote at the time in the Buffalo News, to enjoy it while it lasts, because we won't ever see this type of talent under 1 roof ever again. At the time, that was a very bittersweet pill to swallow. On the one hand, I knew he was right. But it was just so much darn fun, I did not know why he had to rain on the parade. His words ring too true today. Despite this article and my understanding that all things don't last forever, I came to expect the Bills to "circle the wagons" if behind. To win the game again, and again, and again. When that gradually began to stop happening, and really crashed at the start of this decade, I could not figure out why we could not just make some corrections and change course. Now I get it. My expectations have been a factor- though I don't consider myself a pessimist of the Bills or anything else. I dare say that the overall culture of Buffalo may contribute to this. I grew up in Buffalo, went to college there, and even returned with my wife for 1 year to see if we could give it a go. Since leaving Buffalo, I lived in Los Angeles, Tampa, and Washington, DC. Buffalo is a small town, with a small town mentality, and small town politicians. Mind you, that is not a slam on the people of Buffalo- but I noticed how things (and people) always leaves WNY, but not too much (if anything) comes TO Buffalo. Business has exited the community for decades now. Not too much replaces it. Jobs are hard to come by. Housing bubbles come and go, yet WNY remains in some sort of mediocre limbo. This mediocrity, IMO, is hard to shake off. When my wife and I moved back, at first we were all gung-ho. Within a short period of time though, we were both infected with the negativity or mediocrity or inferiority complex that seems to permeate the general populace. And again, that is not an insult to the hard-working people of WNY. But more, I think, a result of decades of losing everything.

Exactly, Nate. I don't want to get into another colossally brain numbing argument with bone heads who defend Vick with ridiculous logic, because you said it all. He was the ringleader. He provided the property. He allowed the dog carcasses' to be hung from a tree in his backyard! I mean, talk about savagery. Dead dogs dripping blood, hanging from his tree!! He allowed them to be buried in his yard. And to show callous disregard for it all; Vick is the true animal. And for all of you single-brain cell Vick defenders, that was not a compliment.

I agree with everything except for your reasoning as to why Vick continues to choose this self-destructive decisions/ associations. You contend it is ego. I say he's stupid. If losing poster boy status with arguably THE premiere sports league along w/kazillions of cash wasn't enough motivation, then spending hard time in prison certainly should be. A typical player has a career that lasts what, 2-3 seasons? Vick lost 2-3 seasons because of his bone-headed decisions. He aged, and may never recover what limited passing skills he had.

Exactly, Doc. And wasn't it Scott last season who made some sort of dumb comment to that effect? While he was a member of the Bills, he excused his poor play because of the bad breaks, overall losing, or something like that. Maybe somebody here can help me out...but I know it was Scott that said something similar last season.

Yes and no. If it was you or me, and we spent time in jail as a convicted felon, you know that our respective employers would not be opening the doors to welcome us back anytime soon. As more to your point, he is in the NFL. He also has a record. And he is on thin ice. If he wants to continue attempting to comeback in the NFL (he still hasn't, BTW), he needs to steer clear of ALL trouble. Who was on his party guest list? Some of the same scum bags that were part of his dog rings? Whether or not he was there, or he did it, at this point he will be suspected even if he was at home with his mother. If it was me, I would be eating, sleeping, and pooping football. I'd go out for church, and then if I wasn't lifting weights, studying the playbook, or working on passing, I'd be eating or sleeping at home. Let's face it, he's a target. If he doesn't clean out the scum bags he associates with, they will clean him out (birds of a feather...). Peyton Manning seems to be doing ok without needing to "live life".

AAAAA-men! I have 2 thoughts on this: 1.) the Eagles have come out and issued a statement that this is balderdash. Now, teams do this and then low and behold, a couple days later said player is cut. It could happen. But at this point, the team has said it has no intentions of cutting Vick. Nothing thus far indicates we should not take them at their word. and 2.) Have we all not had enough of Vick already? I mean, the guy is making more plays to be in jail than anything on the football field. Whether or not he was involved, at what point is the drama,...well....too much drama?

I wish the Bills would reach out and grab Garcia for 1-2 seasons.

Kinda like Duke Preston when he left? HE's sure making alot of himself these days.... As far as the "winning" mentality, success begets success. That is not to take away from what you have said, but if I must remind you...nobody wanted to play for the Bills in the late 80's and early 90's. Jim Kelly elected to play w/the Houston Gamblers of the USFL over playing for the Bills. Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett all balked about coming to Buffalo. However, once winning became the order of the day, nobody was complaining anymore. And isn't it rather ironic that a Bills castoff is talking about winning mentality? I mean, if he had it, would he be in Pittsburgh?

Honestly, I can't say that I have watched much of Marcus McNeil to know if he is worth it or not. IF he is an improvement over Bell and Meredith, then I say do it. But if it's more of the same, then that money can best be spent elsewhere.

That's a pretty good summary. I think the one true trait of the Bills teams this past decade is that they have always been chasing their own tail when it comes to building a team. What I mean by that is just what you said- they had pieces of an offense in place and then failed to capitilize. Instead, they then turned their attention to improving the porous defense at the expense of improving the offense. Top it off with all of the terrible drafts we have had this decade (about 25% of the 1st round picks are still around, drafted 50 players in 2001-2005 and only 5 are still with the team, drafting Whitner instead of Ngata, drafting Maybin instead of Oher or Orakpo), and horrendous free agent decisions (signing Royal, Dockery, Walker, Triplett...letting Pat Williams, London Fletcher, and Antoine Winfield walk) and one begins to get the understanding that the people calling the shots are the ones who have been handicapping the team.

I don't know. Why is somebody else's 3rd stringer now somehow our starter? What has Troy Smith done since coming to the NFL? What, his upside is supposedly better than what we have on the roster right now? No, if we need to make a trade it should be for a starting caliber LT. I think veteran Jeff Garcia would have been an amazing signing, because despite his age and the debacle in Cleveland, he has lit it up wherever he has played. We could sign him for a 2 year deal, and draft the real QB of the future in the next draft. I really don't see Troy Smith doing anything to bolster our QB ranks.

I agree with your assessment. What I think is most telling is that for the past couple of years, the Bills have hung tight in just about every game, losing in the closing minutes or in the 4th quarter. They were trading blows with the Saints last year until things unraveled. They had the Patriots dead-to-rights IN NEW ENGLAND...ON PRIME TIME...before blowing it in the closing minutes. The thriller against the Cowboys a couple of seasons ago. The reason I bring that up is not to forget that, yes, the Bills did lose these games (and more), but the FASHION in which they lost them (close) suggests that they are not that far off from turning it around. I don't like to try to predict win-loss records. So I won't. Losing Schobel hurt. But I think we have had 2 solid drafts now, a front office in place that has been quietly savvy in signing experienced vets (Green, Davis, Torbor, Simpson, Matthews, Edwards, that WR from New England), and finally, FINALLY an offensive philosophy that appears sound and a staff, strength team, etc that knows what it is doing. And we have DeHaven back! We have direction, a solid strength program, better depth, and maybe even some sensational players (Spiller, a revived Parrish, perhaps a surprise rookie WR). Do we have holes? Absolutely. I'm still not sure about our LT position. It also does not sit well with me that no QB has come out as the leader thus far. I'm excited for this upcoming season! GO BILLS!!

I don't know if he should be retained; as I was calling for his ouster to go along w/John Guy prior to the season ending last year. If his job is solely to compile the recommendations of players we should draft AND the coaches took this advice, then I believe that this past decade has been more proof than anything anybody can say to the contrary that Modrak should go. He is, after all, a Donahoe guy. I could see if he was hitting home runs in every draft, but it's been the exact opposite. The problem is that we, as fans, don't truly know the inner dealings of the Bills draft rooms this past decade. Was Modrak overruled in the Maybin pick, when somebody like Oher or Orakpo would have been better? Hasn't it been said that Mauron was the one pushing for Maybin? Who had us choosing Donte Whitner instead of Haloti Ngata? Wasn't Whitner a Levy inspired pick? My point being if Modrak is the sole reason for the busts of the past decade, then YES...he needs to be kicked right out of town ASAP! But with the examples I provided, it becomes murkier as to what role his suggestions truly played in draft day decisions.

That was '90-91 dude, when we went to Super Bowl 25 (if you want to talk about ditching something, how about the NFL ditching the roman numerals for Super Bowls. Talk about old....) I was at the game, and I can remember not sitting for the whole thing. I think that you really hit on something though- that song came up when the Bills were coming up. Kelly, Smith, Reed, Conlan, Wolford, Talley, Tasker, Bennett, Lofton, Davis, Thomas....there was a euphoria with the song because it was attached to the winning. The Bills were a laughingstock for so long, and now they were dominating! The SHOUT song encapsulated those sentiments. We were PROUD of our team and we're going to shout about them!! So, do we throw the baby out with the bathwater? I think if we were to recapture the winning ways and watching the Bills became fun again, the song would be a welcome part of Bills pride.