Campy

The article only states that he had to take the test on the floor. I don't see where they threw the paper while he was taking the test. And even if they did, it was probably a one-off thing where the whole class lobs paper at him and it's done with, not that he's constantly being bombarded with paper. I just don't see where it's that big a deal. Certainly not enough to skip over 20 of 60 questions because of being "unnerved." And let me clarify, I'm not saying the teacher was justified, correct, or appropriate in doing what he did. What I am saying is that a young man of 17 shouldn't be "unnerved" to the extent that he was by taking a test on the floor, or perhaps, even having wadded up pieces of paper tossed at him. Perhaps I shouldn't judge him as strongly as I did. Perhaps he's one of those kids who gets "test anxiety." I honestly am not really sure how that can effect a person because I never had it. I sometimes feel anxious about tests, but never to the point where I lock up by letting anxiety control my emotions. But being in control of one's emotions is kind of what I stated in my very first post, wasn't it? For all of our sakes, let's hope that next year this kid isn't in the military, or planning on becoming a surgeon, or a bus driver, or a parent, or any other number of things that might cause him to be "unnerved."

Piss off.

Get real, he was made to take a test while sitting on the floor. Big deal. Remember, we're talking about a 17 year old kid, not a 4th grader. In less than a year he'll be able to vote. In less than a year he can carry an M-16 into combat. Yet he was so "unnerved" by sitting on the floor he left 1/3 of the answers blank? And the kicker was that the kids tossed (gasp) wadded up paper at him? What if it were my son? I wouldn't make excuses. He allowed outside influences to effect his emotions, and then he lost control of them. That's his fault, nobody else's. I'd hope that by the time he's that age I've been able to instill into him the lessons I learned from my father about such things. We've become a nation of wusses.

Do you want Scribo or me to call Jauron and tell him we have it figured out, or do you want to call him yourself and discuss DC candidates?

That's my first thought as well. I have some doubts it'd happen based on Jauron's propensity for a conservative offense, but Wyche is still a guy who commands respect, so who knows?

Hmm.. Maybe it's this part Or this part Or this part Or this part "Real, true life anguish"? Apologizing/commiserating with fans "whose hopes and optimism are crushed"? Why? Because their choice of coach didn't get hired? Because their football team might not win for a long time?

Bronco's fans are an ethnic group? C'mon man, the kid got his balls busted and he crumbled like a little girl. Somebody needs to make this into an educational experience for him. He needs to realize that he and he alone is responsible for his emotions. Nobody made him upset, he allowed himself to get upset. Thank goodness he didn't attend my rural WNY high school or he'd have been beaten for being a wuss.

I agree with you on that, but it doesn't make your original post in this thread appear any less pitiful. I, and appearantly many others, don't subscribe to this whole "woe is me" philosophy. It seems that many of us take the punch, get back up, and go in for more even more determined to make it work than we were before we got knocked on our arse. That is a blue collar mentality. I don't know you, you don't know me, so don't take this too personally, but man, you went more than a little over the top.

I didn't read the article, but I'd say KH is a safe bet. It seems to me that he can throw downfield, but he prefers the short high percentage passes. Jauron seems to favor a conservative offensive philosophy, so I think KH's strengths play to that more than JP's. Although JP does have a pretty mean stutter-step deke when he's dribbling the football...

I can't say I'm falling all over myself to have him come back, but in all fairness, he's done well with the players he's had. I don't care if you're Mouse McNally, Mike Mularkey, or Vince Lombardi -- you can't make chicken soup from... you know the rest. He had Chaveous, Cowart, Winfield, and Sharper on defense. All good to very good, but that's only 4 guys. Compare that to the guys on Bflo's '05 D that are good to very good: Shobel, Adams, Fletch, Clements, McGee, Milloy, Vincent, there's 7 right there, and I could have added Crowell based on his play last year. Cottrell's defense was middle of the road statistically in '05, ours was 29th.

That's what separates those of us who sat at Rich for every home game while watching the Bills put together back-to-back 2-14 seasons and people like you. But here's a little secret: When it was just us sitting there in the Ralph, it was actually more fun.

Yup. That makes perfect sense. Afterall, none of the players have changed over the past 7 years, only Donahoe and Mularkey.

Agreed. The best bosses I ever had let me know exactly where I stand at any given point in time. If you have to guess at your boss' perception of you, you need a new boss IMO. One of the recurring descriptions of Jauron's style is that he's honest and straight forward. I think most people, athletes included, appreciate that.

And some people think that espn's commercial is a negative portrayal of Bills fans?

Any defense that holds their opponents to 12 TDs over a 16 game season is pretty damn good. IMO, anyone who claims otherwise has an axe to grind. BTW, those "cupcakes" included a 12-4 49ers team (9th ranked rushing offense), a 12-4 Packers (twice) (4th ranked passing), a 9-7 Bucs team (5th ranked passing), and a 10-6 Ravens team (11th ranked rushing). The Vikes, who as a team struggled, had the 8th ranked passing offense, yet they only managed to score a total of 16 points against the Bears over the course of 8 quarters in 2001. I'm not saying that Jauron is the next (insert coaching legend's name here), but to be fair to the guy, those being critical of him should at least know what they're talking about.

They make the F-150s in nearby Norfolk, VA, so the coverage has been pretty thorough. They showed a list of sites to be closed and neither Norfolk's nor Bflo's plants were on it. There might be some lay-offs here, and that would stink for those guys, but I think our economy can better handle it than WNYs can, so here's to hoping that Bflo's plant has no layoffs. All of that said, I guess they (Ford) do reserve the right to change their mind...

It seems rather obvious to me that you don't fully understand the Yale-Harvard rivalry. My dad would bend over backwards to help out a fellow Yale alumn, a Harvard alumn, not so much. In terms you might better appreciate, what you're claiming is that a Bills coach is giving pointers to a Dolphins coach during halftime because both are chasing the Pats in the AFC East. Besides, if it was all about Marv's ego, he would have hired somebody who wasn't particularly intelligent, not a coach who appears to be pretty sharp, wouldn't he? On that particular tack, you're grasping at straws.

Offense: -Dump Moulds. -Talk Marv & Modrak into bringing in some solid OL via FA. -True open battles (not just lip service) at all positions, but more especially for the QB. Make JP earn it. -Someone to light a fire under McGahee's arse. He has too much talent to play as poorly as he did through much of last season, OL be damned. He was too Antowain Smith-esque. -Run the ball. Defense: -Dump Adams. -Dump Gray. -Dump Vincent. -Dump Posey. -Dump Clements. -Bring in a couple of mean and nasty DTs to plug the middle. -Stop the run. Special Teams: -If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think I'm the one who's asking too much.

I think there are probably many people who agree with you. As is the case in pretty much everything in life, the nattering nabobs of negativity tend to also be the most vocal. I would have preferred Sherman, but hey, nobody that matters asked me, so I'll pull for Jauron to have a second go-round like Shanahan did in Denver, Marv did in Bflo, etc. Besides, all the pissing and moaning isn't productive and life's entirely too short to be miserable. It may not always be fashionable to see the glass as half-full, but it's a lot more fun than borrowing worry about how soon it might be emptied. BTW, this is the first post of yours that I noticed, welcome aboard!

Thanks for that Keith, good work.

Someone needs a hobby... Just kiddin' - nice work on that. But Vermeil's success with the Eagles is "ancient history"? Dang man, I'm starting to feel old!

And here I was thinking that being told I have cancer or that losing my mother and father within a couple of months of each other was tough... But Jauron is the Bills' head coach? Oh, the horror. How will we ever recover?

Ambivalence -- I'm a lot less concerned with what other teams do than I am with what Bflo does.

That might be relevant if he was named our DC, but since he wasn't, it isn't. As a head coach, I'd like him to be an effective manager of both players and staff. I'd like him to have a consistent vision. I'd like that vision to mesh with the personnel department (drafting a receiving TE to play for a "smash-mouth" team is an example of what I don't want to see). I'd like him to hire an OC & DC that effectively use the talent we have - taking advantage of those players' strengths while covering their weaknesses. His record as a HC or DC for other teams (most of whom had nowhere the talent that I believe Bflo does) doesn't matter. I used to think it did, but Williams and Mularkey have convinced me otherwise...

I'm not saying I'm thrilled with the move, but what was Bellichek's record as HC prior to going to NE. What was Shanahan's prior to going to the Broncs? How 'bout Marv's before he came to Bflo? The point is that it is a waste of time to evaluate either Sherman or Jauron based on their HC record with a different team. I appreciate that it's the easiest way, but it's also the most worthless IMO.