simpleman

Sorry, but you seem hung up on the oaths. The legal ramifications of the oath are more like a doctor's Hippocratic Oath, more of a moral, rather than a legal issue. I referred to case law, which is not just a moral issue, but a legal set of precedents and guidelines. The oath you quote reminds me somewhat of a boy scout oath. Nice sounding and all, but not binding in criminal law. Actually it sounds like the participants in the bar fight actually violated the morals of the oath by their drunken and disorderly bar brawling. It actually makes their actions look even worse, rather than making them seem less suspicious. Again, I'm not defending Shady here, just saying bringing the off duty police angle into this seems like smokescreen to protect the individuals .I see this as ultimately more of a possible reasonable civil law case, rather than criminal law case. As a criminal law case it seems weak at best, and I can understand the DA not wanting to play with such a weak hand, attempting to win in a trial could be a very risky gamble to his reputation and his record.

From federal law case books: “When off-duty officers act for purely personal motivations, courts have held that they are not acting as law enforcement.” “The mere fact that a person is employed by a police agency does not transform actions that they carry out which are of the nature that any private person might perform into law enforcement actions, even if they relate to charging a person with a crime or initiating a prosecution.” The individuals involved in this fight were clearly not acting "under the color of state law” and were acting as a “private person”

Maybe I missed something in this case. The "complaints" were private citizens hanging out drinking at a bar. They got into a bar brawl. They were off duty, not acting as public police officers at the time. How does the an organization that is subsidized by the taxpayers (at a minimum from a manpower standpoint ) have the legal right to act as lawyers for private citizens who were not acting as police officers at the time of the incident. Wouldn't the "complainants" as private individuals be the ones who have a standing to file a legal request? This seems a misuse of the system set up to protect police officers while pursuing their legally assigned duties. Something definitely does not pass the smell test, and it is not the DA's office. This is not, and should not be about anyone being a police officer. It is about two groups of civilians who got into a bar brawl.

I have asked this before in other related threads, but no one discussed it. I just read the article posted on his rehab. He has never really made enough of an impression on multiple coaching staffs as a WR. He is a good cover man on special teams. A good hitter, is big, tough, fast, decent hands, I assume smart. Decent qualities for a safety to have. We need quality depth at safety, especially if AW is forced to retire due to his injury. Buffalo has had some success at converting a WR to safety before. Could Easley play safety and special teams? Clearing a space on the roster and giving him more time on the field? It would seem a more efficient use of a roster spot than simply as a special teamer if he could be a decent backup safety.

Not defending Shady for losing control in a bar, but it happens when you drink too much. Everyone has blown up the fact that the "off duty" police were the other parties he was involved with. The fact that the other brawlers in the incident happened to work as police when they were not off work, getting drunk, being obnoxious, and fighting in bars. Any of us could get drunk, obnoxious, and get into a dispute if we made a habit of hanging out in bars, no matter what our occupation was I read the article posted here from the SQ. newspaper. Sounds like the politicians and the police in Philly have serious obnoxious attitudes and have a chip over Shady leaving Philly for Buffalo. Even though Shady was traded. It was not his choice, or his idea. He was not happy about it at the time. I have little confidence in their ability to be fair and professional. I wonder just how different the losing combatant's attitudes were, and just how innocent they were in creating the incident. Quoting the article: "Our guys look like they got the brunt of it, so we're waiting to see the outcome of the investigation," president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 John McNesby told Philly.com. "Maybe he should stay in Buffalo and carry on like an idiot in Buffalo." ( They were not "your guy's" that night, just drunken brawlers who lost a fight) "Meanwhile, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney wasn't too happy after seeing the video. "In addition to punches being thrown, there were some kicks that looked as if they were being leveled, and that's unconscionable and it's cowardly," Kenny told CBS Philadelphia last week. "If he wants to pound our officers and stomp our officers, then he needs to pay the price and answer for his actions." (They were not officers at the time, just drunken brawlers) This was a fight between drunken men in a bar. Someone usually loses a fight. The fact that the drunker losers happened to be police officers when they went to work should make no difference when at the time they are just drunken civilians who were stupid enough to pick a fight with monster pro athletes in better shape and probably bigger and stronger than them to get in a drunken bar brawl with. This had nothing to do with being police officers. The politicians and police spokesmen need to be pros and not be so biased and obnoxious, treating them as anything more than drunken bar brawlers who lost the fight.

Lawson is too expensive, but if there is a way to restructure him at a reasonable cost he should be brought back. I doubt anyone else would sign him at the level he will cost the Bills. I sure hope AW can come back and be close to his pre injury level, replacing him will be difficult. It will be expensive to replace Mario with anyone anywhere near his talent level.

I have always thought of Manning as a truely great QB ... in his prime. But yes, TT or any competent QB starter in the league could have won that game with the way that defense played in it. I can see bringing in some vet competition to challenge Osweiler, but honestly who could be that much better than him considering the cap restraints and the FA talent out there right now.

Maybe I don't understand the politics or the business relationship of the various owners of the teams. But the way JJ and other owners have thumbed their noses at the league, I got the impression the league really can not "pressure" the owners to build a new stadium if the owner does not want to. As an owner, even if I wanted to, I would be very cautious about forcing another owner to do something with his facilities unless they really limited the performance of visiting teams when they were playing there. Any precedent set could come back to bite the owners once they overstep their boundaries. When it comes to money, interfering with another owner beyond the overall shared income of the marketing of the game is bad business. I thought the income from things like seat licenses, parking, food service commissions, PSl, and local non broadcast game day income mostly stayed with the owners. I thought most of the shared income in the league is from broadcast rights and product licenses, endorsements type income. That was why owners like JJ wanted the income from game day stadium sources remain mostly with the team owner. They could invest in the frills to pad their share above shared income. I would say the choice for expensive frills would be mostly Pegula's decision, as long as the product on the field that is broadcast by the NFL is not negatively impacted and visiting teams have sufficient facilities. He is the one who can milk and profit from the frills on game day to meet his business needs and desires. The majority of such income remains with him. Am I misunderstanding the income sharing scheme in the NFL? The EGO of the NFL commissioner may prompt him to spout off, but the individual owners are the ones that make the rules and final decisions. And they make decisions based primarily on the $$$$ they can add to their pockets with the least meddling in their own individual business decisions.

Does anyone have a link to the study, not a biased media report on what it said? 1.) This team is a regional team. It is subsidized with massive amounts of funds from Erie County countywide and taxpayers from across the whole state. Just because some City of Buffalo residents think they deserve special tax subsidies to enhance their life does not mean that the construction of the stadium for their exclusive benefit does not mean they should get it. Development opportunities created in Orchard Park are just as valid as any created in the City. 2.) Location of the stadium near the water would increase the need for a covered stadium due to lake weather enhancements. 3.) The facts show that the economic benefits of football only stadiums nationwide that benefit the immediate surrounding area are very minimal in overall ROI. 4.) It is not just the cost of the stadium itself. The costs of infrastructure to support the traffic to and from it can be almost as much as the costs of the stadium itself. The current location already has had that infrastructure built and refined. Not so with any downtown location in the study. 5.) The current location provides the most readily available land of any of the options for any current and future expansion or needs. 6.) From what I have read the current location is the least expensive to the taxpayers.

Please explain what you read in the report that would exclude building a new stadium next to the Ralph.

As someone who enjoys watching the game of football, I can not be this forgiving. In Buffalo we have endured horrible football from "the home team" for almost a full decade and a half. I could care less about the owner's super inflated ego or the mega ego of the head coach he hired. I don't care if it is a "bad look" for his ego to fire a head coach who in just one year destroyed a top tier defense because of his own super ego. True football professionals respect just one thing, how successful are you at putting a winning team on the field. The money guys of the business just care about the bottom line. Ego is not about winning or loosing, or making money, it is all about the "I". To me an owner should have some type of responsibility to the community and the fans to create the best possible product on the field, while still making a reasonable profit. I don't give Pegula a pass just because he kept the team in Buffalo for at least a few years more. I still expect a real effort to put the best team on the field for the fans and the community each and every year.

Exactly. Mario was the scapegoat for the mess that Ryan has created for the team. This does not make the team better. Now we waste the huge dead cap money this year and don't have it to make the team better. We still have to spend cap money to get a much inferior player to replace a great one. The blame for this falls directly on Pegula, the owner. He made the horrible decision to hire Ryan, and instead of admitting his mistake and correcting it, he doubled up for next year. No blame on Doug. Maybe it was not a bad decision business-wise to use Mario as a scapegoat, maybe it is better for the bottom line. But as a football decision, the team performance on the field will suffer. The real problem remains. And Rex will continue to destroy a once top tier defense. Those out there may continue to worship at the alter of "Pegula the Savior" for keeping the team in Buffalo. But he has done almost nothing for the benefit of the fans since then. Business as usual from the previous ownership. Business first, quality on the field be damned!

I agree. Fitz is the perfect backup. Teams just keep trying to stretch him into the main guy. Which he soon proves he isn't. He always has had the knack of being overconfident when he is under pressure and the game is on the line, and throwing a pick at the worst times. He never has changed that habit, never will. But as a vet backup,name someone active better at that roll. You are not a backup if you don't have flaws that limit you from being the main guy.

I am wishing Manning could win and retire a winner immediately after the game. He deserves to go out on top. But i see no way he will be capable of beating the Panthers, his skills are too diminished. Hoping for a miracle, but not expecting one .

This statement shows your political agenda and bias. Let the rich billionaires scare the simple minded fans into spending tons of public money so the rich owners can get richer on the backs of the taxpayers. My bias is that it is time for the federal government to get tough with all the special breaks we grant the NFL owners, and force them to run their businesses with private money, not drink milk at the public trough. Ban public sports facility investments in private for profit sports ventures.

I would have voted for Kap, but there should have been an option to let him compete with TT. There should always be a battle to be the best. If he plays better than TT, then he starts. May the best QB win. Of course TT starts if Kap does not play more than marginally better than him. Kap has similar skill sets with TT and a history with Roman and his offensive system. Of course with Chip taking over in SF, Kap may be safe this year and not available.

The Bills front office would have made other choices to fill the gap at WR. No one could predict exactly what the team would look like at WR this year. The possibilities are endless. Without Sammy, the Bills could have drafted another WR who could fill the gap nicely in a year of such deep WR talent. As a result of drafting Sammy, the Bills then traded away a good SJ and got nothing that year in return. They then traded even further down further in the 2nd in a year of deep WR talent to make up for lost picks and got Kujo and Richardson, at present wasted picks. They then traded for a pick that they used on Henderson and got Bryce Brown. Neither is exactly a high positive impact player. After trading so much for Sammy, they completed a number of trades to compensate for the loss of picks in that year and last year. Overall the trades and the rest of the draft did not go well after picking Sammy. P Brown was the only thing close to a hit, and after this year, not so much. Who knows what talent they could have acquired if they had not done so many trades and maneuvers to compensate. And who knows who we would have kept at WR or brought in as a FA as WR. Not to mention how drafting Mack would have affected our choices in the draft in 14 & 15. Would we have used our picks on Brown, Johnson or Stewart if we had selected Mack? Would we have released Spikes? Who might we have chosen instead that could have caught the ball for us. To assume we would look exactly like we did this year at WR, just minus Sammy is false. We will never know what we would look like as a team or at WR if we had drafted Mack over Sammy. We might have been better, or we might have been worse.

Thanks for digging this up, a whole lot of crow to eat here, LOL! I loved the comment about Rex being a genius about defense. Love to hear some specific incidents of on the field brilliant play calls or in game decisions that have showed Rex's "genius" ; outside of lots of bravado and talk.

This team's defense was built and was primed to "Win Now" this year. Whaley even added in a big boost in the surprising rookie, Darby. Rex came in and castrated the D with his EGO. He felt his scheme was better, even though the team was at it's prime and functioning at the highest levels with a scheme that perfectly matched the talents and ability of it's members. Rex cares more about his ego and proving he is right than he does about winning the game and taking this team that was built and primed to "win now" to the post season. After having a year to mentally castrate the D players and force them to do it his way, even if it isn't better for the chances of the team to "win now", or for the players to do what they do best, he is now ready to really get down to business. He now has been given a free license by the ownership to physically castrate the "D" by reshaping the team to fit his scheme, cutting players and adding new ones. We are officially in rebuild mode and the D will take years to recover and reshape to fit his scheme. So much for a "Win Now" D for the next few years.

Sorry, but in my mind the jury is still out on TT. Yes, he should be the starter at the beginning of the season next year. But he still has not convinced me he is the long term solution at QB. He needs to play all he can and learn, so he can prove whether or not he can be a long term solution. Miller definitely is playing hurt, and should not risk holding back his recovery in a meaningless game. People are still paying big bucks for tickets to see a professional team playing the game, and they should see a real team of players doing what they are paid to do. There is always a risk of permanent injury in the NFL (re AW), but that is why the players get the big contracts they do. It is not like sitting players for the post season saving them for the soon upcoming playoffs. The next game is in September, so excepting career ending injuries, there is time to recover by next season.

Let's look at the facts. Not that some people "consider the Sabres one of the most talented young teams in the NHL", strictly opinion not backed up by the only fact that counts, your record. Pegula took over a Sabres team in mid season with a 43-29 record that went to the Quarter Finals that year. 10-11 43 -29 Pre Pegula 5 years 05-06 52-21 Conference Finals 06-07 53-22 Conference Finals 07-08 39-31 08-09 41-32 09-10 45-27 1st in NE Quarter Finals Since he has had the team for a full year, the record: 5 years 11-12 39-32 12-13 21-21 13-14 21-51 14-15 23-51 15-16 At present, 3rd worst team in the league Took control of Bills late in the season last year. Team finished the year top 5 defense and had first winning season in years. Players and coaches were already in place when he took control of team. First full year control of Bills. Defense falls drastically with almost same players. (Short of the decision to release Spikes) Team fails to have a winning record. Facts count, not hopes,opinions and excuses. That Gentle People is the record.

Facts not excuses. Only two teams have less points than the Sabres this season. Yes, that is a step up from his creating the lowest scoring team. Just how low should we have to keep our expectations? Looking back at the Sabres record in the years since Peluga has owned the Sabres, their combined standings have been lower than the combined standings of the same number of years previous to his ownership. The Bills will win less games this year than last. Is his rebuild plan for the Bills like his Sabres plan, on tanking under Rex to finally start a real rebuild for 5 years from now? Enough is enough, be competitive now, not for the next generation. That is his record. Of teams being worse under his ownership. Your hopes and fantasies of better days are at this point just fantasies, There is no basis in the records to justify them. After hearing almost two decades of new 3 or 5 year rebuild promises from the Bills, I am short on believing this new rebuild under Pegula will have any better results. Drink another glass of Kool-aide and put on those even rosier shaded glasses, maybe that works for you. For me, it is time to show me the results. I am not that gullible anymore. Consistency Ha, a consistent record of getting worse and losing.

Yeah, but as a speculator that bought for pennies and sold for billions I think of Ralph buying a team for thousands that sold for Billions. Winning might be nice for the ego and fan adulation, but as long as the NFL franchises increase in value I'm golden. And I own one of the rarest of assets, one of less than 3 dozen NFL franchises. As long as the resale value of that asset continues to surge upward, as a man who made his fortune speculating, I'm good!

Pegula was a speculator that bought a large number oil leases for almost nothing on questionable drilling sites that became valuable when shale oil drilling was developed. He then sold those leases to big companies who had the knowledge, the savvy, the skill, and the resources to make something of them. Whether he foresaw the boom in Shale oil injection drilling beforehand or just got lucky is the real question. He did not make his multi-billion dollars actually running a business or making a product. He was a speculator. Being a successful speculator does not automatically make him a smart businessman, just a good speculator, or one that just got lucky. And his track record with the Sabres and Bills does not show he knows how to create a winning sports team, in fact his record shows that after he takes ownership the teams have a history of backsliding in being successful on the field. Although like Ralph, they may be successful in their bottom line. As a fan who wants a winning and competitive team, it sucks for those fans.