zonabb

Give me a break. I won't waste my time reading that. Between the family and his lawyers, they all agreed he was guilty and knew an agreement would cut his sentence and put him back on the field to make more money because I'm sure, either throw a legal agreement or on the side, he paid that family. Meanwhile, if it were me, I'd be rotting in jail right now thanks to a horrible defense from some careless public defender because I couldn't afford that type of legal counsel.

I worked with Dave briefly as a reporter. Great guy, straight shooter and didn't mesh well with the mentality at the Gazette, which is a testament to Dave's belief in what it means to operate a newspaper and cover news, not just sell ads and kiss the collective arse of politicians and businesses who buy ads. Good on ya Dave, wherever you are!

Just got it as I came into this thread! And yes, I've been getting it for a few days now. Annoying and a waste of time and money trying to sell season tickets to people who are already likely to buy them. Maybe the ads should be floated on some other non-Bills related sites. It's like trying to sell bibles at a Catholic Church... everyone already has one.. or ten!

Let's not confuse arrogant with confident. I'd prefer a confident QB over an arrogant one anyday. The difference is, confident people can be taught and in most cases the confidence is borne out of learning and overcoming and achieving. Arrogance on the other hand is borne from the idea of entitlement and things being easy. I just was at then local bookstore and reviewed some players in the PFW draft guide (very thorough but at $20 they can have it!) and the negatives about Claussen was his attitude and maturity and they stated that he's in the mold of Rex Grossman and JP Losman, arrogant guys who came into the NFL and divided lockerrooms with their arrogance, not to mention never backing it up on the field. So with that being said, I'm not sold on Claussens maturity and attitude but I like his skills and his college pedigree and experience and would venture a guess he'll be better than Losman and Grossman but not necessarily a Pro Bowler. If the guy can take criticism and use it to learn and get better, he'll be fine. However, everyone always assumes that players want that and act like that but it's not the case. Walk into any professional office and you'll find a-holes like that,l who are never wrong, who feel like they know everything and don't need to be taught or mentored. Pro football is not some specialized business where personalities are all the same and at the same time markedly different from people in general. As for everyone saying Kelly was arrogant, I only have this to say.... Bruce Smith. Kelly got here and Smith was here, a number one pick and bone fide stud, arrogant in his own right. That creates a situation where the rookie comes in and is checked and then motivated by a guy his equal in talent. Pretty sure Kelly, in the lockerroom, had his ego checked pretty quickly and was never the bona fide top dog on that team, despite his position. Who is that player on the Bills now?

That assures he goes nowhere. Why do people bother making such "rankings." Morons.

ESPN is about ratings. Ratings mean money. Ratings are aatined by getting people to watch. Dallas, Washington, New York and Boston have large populaitons with loyalty to their football teams and thereby equate to more people who CAN watch so by focusing on this cities, more people WILL watch, hence ratings go up, ad revenue increases and capitalism survives. My guess is, in an attempt to act like they are not in bed with the NFL and to somehow try and put up a front of unbiased commentary, they have no problem slamming a small market team like the Bills because the loss of potential viewers in minimal. Or put another way, when was the last time you can remember a concerted, sustained slamming of a team on par with the Bills that resided in say a 10 top market? Hasn't happened and wouldn't. The NFL has significantg power and some individual owners have power as well to control and manipulate the media and ESPN. Access to players and personnel is one way to control the media. Threats to cut off advertising is another. So the bottonline is, like everything, follow the money. The NFL as a game is fun for 3 hours 16 times a year (since we don't make the playoffs we have to accept just 16!!), the commentary and business of the NFL is a disgusting travesty. To be honest, I get read nothing and watch nothing that's not reporting, like scores. I haven't watched an NFL pre or post game show in 10 years. I don't watch ESPN. In don't read Jerry Sullivan's or anyone else's columns. But I will read on this board what idiots say about the Bills and chime in!!!!!! Oh, and I have to agree, Ralph's problem is his medlling and cheapness, 100%. He's old and off his rocker to boot. The guy is basically the old dude Elaine dated in a Seinfeld episode and had to feed Yankee bean soup to! The reason why Mort didn't slam the Dolphins or Jets for their inpatience was...... it worked! WINNING CURES EVERYTHING!

I think a lot of mid- and low-level college talent never get drafted because of where they play. The reasoning is, you have to be totally dominating at your level and show you're head and shoulders above your competition, which scouts and teams then can say "Man, this could should be playing at Penn State, not Buffalo." When they make that determination, I think then they get drafted. And I will say this, stats are somewhat meaningless in that comparison. Game tape is critical to determine a WR's abilities to shed coverage, make tough catches, run precise routes, etc.

Man, everyone kis missing the obvious point here. It's simple economics. They have Michael Oher who is a LT and future Pro Bowler there. Gaither is a very good LT& in his own right and has more value to the Ravens in a trade than at RT, where he'll demand LT money at the RT position when they could pay half that price tag for a very good RT and be fine. Gaither was never intended to be the LT, he was a place holder for Oher. Now, they got lucky and Gaither has proven too good to play RT and has more value as a LT and trade bait.

A second and a third for a QB on the downside of his career who continues to exhibit quationable decision-making for a team not on the cusp of the playoffs. Yeah, that's why you do what you do and GMs are GMs.

Seems like a good ranking right? I'd like to point out aside from the cost of tickets being low and that having an impact. Let't not foget it's one of larger venues. But I think the most important and telling stat is the percent attendance. Take that ranking and Buffalo falls to 22. So with a large than average venue and one of the lowest ticket prices, the team had the 22nd ranked attendance. Not a great sign, but.... when you consider the playoff drought and another horrible season, it does show some serious fan loyalty.

The most disgusting point that everyone is missing is that you can clearly see on the scoreboard the names and logos of major sponsors, so this was not just marketing tickets to you, they're using product placement as well, probably as stipulated in the contracts with these sponsors. More proof that the NFL is becoming a turd faster than Aaron Maybin and reasons I get less and less excited about football. I haven't renewed my seats and I haven't got that sweet pic yet either.

I usally reply to any Wonderlic post, particularly regarding QBs. I'm not going to restate all the info and data again but only this: the Wonderlic is by no means a predictor of guaranteed success. However, a low Wonderlic score by a QB does predict one thing: with statistical significance a QB with a low (sub 20 I believe the number is) will not win a Super Bowl. Sure, not all great QBs in Super Bowls, but the ones who do usually score at or above the reported scores of Tebow. I think Favre had the lowest Wonderlic of all the QBs whose scores I could find and who won a Super Bowl. I don't feel like digging up my data. For me, someone who puts a lot of stock in intelligence, the Wonderlic for a QB is critical, as are the physical tools and track record.

Makes me really want to re-up my season by tomorrow's deadline for a small savings they offer. They've really wowed the fan base with this one.

+1 I've been slamming this tool for a good bit of time now. He's Donte Whitner Jr., all talk, no game. I don;t care what you say on your stupid twitter account or what you look like (A WR in my opinion), you get judged by your play, not the frequency of your tweets and the number of times you engage in self-hype. He's Erik Flowers with a personality.

Awesome. The Bills continue to fall further behind, if that's at all possible. Call me cyncial, but a team with as many needs as this one can't expect to turn around its fortunes based entirely on the upcoming draft when they have more holes than they do picks. Not mention that even some starters that are serviceable are truly backups on most teams. I had until March 9th to secure my discount on my seasons, and I half expect the team to use that date and the free agent bstart date of today to show some movement to entice people to renew. Not so much. Yeah, yeah, it's about 24 hours in but this team has some scrubby OL coming in and that's it. Hardly progress.

jw, I agree wholeheartedly on the line issue. I will maintain as long as I watch football that good teams are based on solid offensive and defensive lines. It's a pretty simple concept to grasp, expect it seems for the Bills. But I couldn't disagree more about the draft. Not picking in the top 5 accounts for only one pick a year and discounts the other absolutely abhorrent picks this team made outside its top pick. It also makes a major assumption that you have to have a top 5 pick to build a team. This team has habitually, not once in a while, but habitually made absolutely horrible picks that were panned when they were made and proven to uphold that distain over time. But most important, any argument about the randomness of the draft and that its a crapshoot discounts the success other teams have had in reducing the odds of bad picks and making great selections all over the draft. I would be willing to bet that the Bills would be in the bottom 5 teams in the league in terms of games played, Pro Bowls and the average number of years in the league for all picks by all teams in the last 10 years. That is what the real world calls systematic corporate failure when your competitors dominate you. Out of curiousity because Dansby is a hot commodity today and I heard he was a second rounded, I looked at the 2004 draft, which was when he was selected. The Cardinals, a perpetual loser draft that year picked Larry Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett with their first, second and third round picks. That team was in the Super Bowl last year and those 3 players from one draft class (two have been pro bowlers) were major contributors. That example from just one draft from one team shows the important of the draft. How are Evans, Losman and Tim Anderson looking right now? Just to hammer home my point, Tim Euhus was picked 109th overall in the fourth round. Jared Allen was taken 126th. Sure, at that point its probably need and a little luck but the odds should nbe in your favor to hit more than once a decade on a second day pick.

Young chronologically and emotionally. The guy is a stereotypical self-promoter who things that by talking the talk and saying the right things, that people besides himself will believe it. Come on, everyone has worked with someone who talks and talks about how hard they work and how good they are and everyone but that dude knows he sucks and is all talk. And if this self-hyped moron is still hangin at PSU and chasing tail there, he's worse than I thought, if that's possible I said it last April and I'll say it until he's cut... he's a bonafide bust in waiting. Undersized, one-year wonder. Throw in questions about maturity and work ethic and it's a matter of time. Lot of those guys dominated in the NFL right? I'll say it now.... the over/under onm sacks for this guy will be three. He was owned on the field constantly last year and is obviously unable to adjust. And I bet they draft an OLB in the first 3 rounds to give this guy a kick in the arse.

Responding to the post proves they have not "jumped the shark" or are "overplayed." Overplayed is when no one cares and no on responds and they die on the vine, like any post about RJ. Responding that you think they are overplayed doesn't in anyway mean they are to overyone.

Polamalu without question. He's in his prime and a defensive game changer. He plays the pass tough and the run tougher. He makes offensives unsure of themselves and gets them to alter their approach. Hands down the the one player I'd pick. Go back and watch the opening night game and his play until he tweaked his knee. Dominant.

Very well reasoned response to this thread. Kudos to you for what you've managed to add to this discussion. I mean, you swayed me. No way Bradford at #9. Never has so much been said by saying so little. This board gets worse everyday. Now it to the point where people are responding to other people's ideas and posts with not even a single counterpoint, just a "Because you say so?" I think we should consider a board like Sons of Sam Horn, the invite-only Red Sox forum. This board has lost the majority of its value.

A Grammy Party!!! No wait... that's just as lame.

Jets and Giants makes sense with the new stadium. Said it here many times before, up the Bills tickets $10 minimum across the board and show the next owner we can support them. I'm a season ticket holder and I'd support it.

We have one simple trend in the last 10 years... bad OL play and bad QB play and there is a definite correlation. I think you build an OL first, get a stop gap vet QB and draft someone to develop and build from your lines out. It's simply a question of how an offensive system functions. An offense functions first with the OL. Success and failure in the run and pass game is predicated on that group. A bad group and no matter who your QB is, you're going to struggle. A good group can help mediocre teams do well. Any rookie QB behind a shoddy OL is going to struggle. Sorry, but the game is as much mental as physical and when you don't get time to throw, don't get time to survey the field and get physically abused, it changes the way you play and you lose confidence and regress. We've seen it with all the young QBs we've had. If you look at the Jets and Sanchez, they had an OL that gave him the opportunity to not lose games, which is different than making him try to win games. You can develop a rookie QB behind that kind of line and with a good running game. Ball control and first downs will help overcome the bad TD:INT ratio that Sanchez had. Let's be honest, the guy was average and they won with him being average because they had an OL with skills and Pro Bowlers that opened holes for the RB and kept Sanchez upright enough to make some plays when he had too.

Well, I think some gratitude and an attempt to ensure the team has a legit shoit to stay would be a good way to go. Does he owe it to us to make the team stay? No. But he's taken, I would guess, in excess of $100M in taxpayer dollars for stadium construction, upgrades, maintenance and operating costs. If its not a civic endeavor, then give us our money back and instead of making $25M a year, you can make $22M. As soon as its funded by taxpayer dollars, it's a public-private partnership with the assumption that our taxpayer dollars are for a community good. The guy has turned a $25,000 investment into a $900M entity and Erie County/NYS supported it by building a stadium and giving him money. How come we as taxpayers (and season ticket holders) invested in this business, helped make it what it is but we get not even a reach around when this moron dies? It's so easy to be simple and say he owes us nothing, but that's a simple answer to a complex question involving more than some simple "free market" analysis of business.

I'd bet my house this team is gone after he dies*. Anyone who says they're staying has a poor understanding of fundamental business economics and the concepts of debt and return on investment. The NFL, despite what your heart wishes, is not a band of merry owners looking to win, they're investors looking to make profit first, and win second. * The caveat is that his family sells the team. They're not dedicated Buffalonians like the Rooney clan are Pittsburgers (is the right?)!).