JoeF

How's this for a form letter: Dear Mr. NFL General Manager sir, I am an unabashed (fill in name of team)'s fan. Thank you so much for your sage guidance in leading us to this year's (fill in team record) record. While I feel this team is very close to winning the big one with the simply awesome array of talent you have compiled and the manner in which Coach (fill in name) and staff are handling said talent, I do believe we have a gapping hole at the running back position. I have become familiar over the years with a running back from the University of Tennessee named Travis Henry. Mr. Henry is currently a member of, I believe, the AFC East's Buffalo Bills. Mr. Henry was rated as one of the top running backs in the league after the 2003 season. He lost his starting position due to injury and the need for Buffalo's General Manger (I think his name is Terry Donahoe or something like that) to justify spending a first round pick on Willis McGahee (you know that kid from Miami that everyone thought would be paralyzed after busting up his knee in the BCS national championship game in January 2003). Anyway, this Henry kid is the real deal--he can do it all -- run for 1500, catch passes, pick up the blitz and now he has a massive chip on his shoulder. I think you should immediately call this Terry Donahoe guy and offer him our first rounder for Henry. It will be great to see Henry in (fill in team colors) next year. Thank you so much for kind attention and your awesome performance as GM of the (Fill in team name). (Fill in team name) Super Bowl Champs 2006! Travis Henry Super Bowl MVP. Signed Name (Fill in team name) biggest fan

One of the things about this board is that we tend to attract the more fun, reasonable and polite (okay maybe not polite all the time) fans from other teams.. Bob the Jets Fan Foxboro Mike T-Bone (but of course if the Bills were in the AFC championship game--we would know where his loyalties would lie) Our resident Phin fans I actually like the dialog when opposing fans visit our board most of the time--the other boards the conversation almost always starts and ends with you suck, no you suck worse, etc, etc...

Downtown Raleigh to Crabtree Mall (about 7 miles for all you non - Raleigh folks)--just took me 3 hours. I am in a really special mood right now--time to have the kids brighten my day....

Reasonable view FFS--thanks for perspective.

So the players and owners are meeting tomorrow without Bettman and Goodenow (union chief). This is the most curious strike I have ever seen. 1) Most of the owners (like Pete Karmanos here in Raleigh) will lose less money if the season never starts. There are only a few exceptions to this rule -- Toronto, Rangers, Flyers..They are actually better off letting the strike go on and filing a motion to cease recognition of the players union with the national labor relations board. 2) There is no big TV contract revenue---limited financial upside for the owners, yet they continue to outspend revenues in almost all cases... 3) The players think this "in the red" operating model of most teams losing money is somehow sustainable. That their ownership group will somehow continue to want to lose money because hockey is their toy and they make money on other businesses (not realistic in most cases these days). 4) The players offer a substantial salary cut from this year's salaries but won't agree to a reasonable cap that will still keep average salaries high but allow for a more palatable financial model. Cap would rise as revenue rises. I guess this is like every other pro strike but this one seems so stupid--hockey has no honey hole revenue source like the NFL TV contract or MLB TV, radio and burgeoning internet rights...if you really want to save the sport and care about the fans you sit down and hammer out a reasonable cap and move on...maybe even purge some franchises that have no hope of making money (including our beloved Hurricanes in Raleigh)...am I missing something here or does the ego factor just cause this my opinion to be a too simplistic view of the world...

I think this is the one steve....great pic...who needs gum flapping BS when you have this. Pic 7 under the second Jets Game

I misread the title of the thread...thought it was Acornman -- thought it might be a movie for squirrels that I hadn't heard about...

Where's Chrissy Everett when you need him? Rome is a pretty darn good interviewer especially when you compare him to ex-Jocks who hardly ever are going to ask their peers the tough question or the ESPN guys or your local sports beat writer who lives and dies by locker room access. I don't like every aspect of the show -- particularly the self-aggrandizing half hours worth "pat Jimmy on the back" e-mails and calls he takes after every decent interview..but I guess that's part of the clone mystique. The Willis reference is exactly as bbb describes but its 2 years old now--give it a rest...So Willis isn't as engaging or storied as Michael Irvin--I am not sure I want him to be. He's just a hard-working, intense football player--who has overcome a lot to get back on the field-fits the blue collar image of the town he plays in...I think I like him that way...Don't really care what Romey and the clones think about his interview skills.

All the danish must have been gone when he got to work.....that would piss Lenny off to no end....akin to John Clayton running out of pocket protectors and propeller heads...

If your days are only 5.5 to 6.1 hours long--you must be well into the future by now...tell me do the Bills ever win a Super Bowl... You get a nice payback in the summer though AD...mostly beautiful weather and lots of daylight...

I like the overall strategy. We already have some high cap impact players (Bledsoe, Moulds, Mike Williams, Takeo, Milloy, Schobel) and we need the additional space to retain most of our own free agents over the next two years (Williams, Clements, McGee)..so the answer is fill several positions with solid players rather than break the bank on a LT. As to the player mix--that's above my competency level to determine--but I am not very concerned about the WR position--I know we are all down on Reed--but I think Aiken and Fast Freddie can fill the void if Josh fails to impress once again. I also see a pretty deep draft at RB -- we can probably get a back up to replace Travis in the 3rd round or below that will be cheaper over the long run than Famous Amos...Vernand Morency from Okie state comes to mind--he is a little older (25 when next season begins). TA Mclendon from NC State is a good back but he is very injury prone. Darren Sproles from K State is a quick sob who can help in the return game as well...all interesting guys... The rest look okay--you are right about Mike "Cat Scratch" Nugent -- he is a weapon...I don't think they are going to give up on Lindell though...the competition will be a street free agent and an undrafted free agent probably. Good job BGIM...

I am certainly glad Mora didn't like April enough to hire him as his special teams coach....

I think the use of Peter Brady is way off here. Tom Brady has graduated to Greg Brady status maybe even Mike Brady status..but he will never get to Barry Brady status....

Cisco Systems stock is going further in the tank--that is what my crystal ball is telling me---now everyone go buy as much as you can

I went the big doughnut hole--didn't even approach the Mendoza line.... Interested in my economic and stock market predictions for this year

I think I am wrong....good thing I am not a gambler....

The Pats are simply amazing...and you are right about the secondary CBB--its amazing how they are doing this..but I'll still stick with the prediction..I think #18 figures this out in one or two more series...plus that was pitiful three and out--he is going to be blasting his mates (including the liquored up kicker) on the sidelines...

Yep...looks nasty...I'll stick with it--particularly the Dillon fumble...I'm pulling this prediction stuff out my butt anyway...

One other note--a Colts win breaks a 19 game home win streak for the Pats....

Indy wins.... 1) NE front seven gets little pressure today 2) Peyton has success against a depleted secondary 3) A Dillon fumble kills a drive and changes the momentum 4) Brady has a serviceable but not a great day -- 60% completion rate, 240 yds, 2 TD's and no picks--and its not enough to overcome the juggernaut Colts... Colts head to the big ketchup bottle next week for what could be a truly classic AFC championship game...

The last QB with Kelly in his name was okay if I recall....Holcomb would be a good #2... Kelly's stats

Very good point FFS--the money the Bills invest in a vet QB has to be considered when calculating Drew's cap "savings"..that's true in any position a team cuts for which they have to find a replacement...we need 3 QB's on the roster--is that JP and two vets at $1.5 million or less (Shane Matthews and another QB from your list)...under a scenario like this--even with Drew's cap hit the Bills are probably spending less on the position than probably a third of the league...

Is that Carson Palmer kid staying at USC? Maybe if NE cuts Bledsoe we could get him..

John this is on the nose...but its not just TD seeing it. Its Mularkey, Clements and Wyche. The season has been evaluated in the last two weeks and its been determined that what we saw from Drew this year is probably as good as it gets and that there are three other things in play.. 1) Drew is taking up too much cap room for this level of play. 2) Putting JP on the field now won't be a substantial short term drop off, and will have obvious long term benefit. 3) there are plenty of back-ups out there who we can bring in to be #2 (including bringing Matthews back) This will sound strange -- but if Drew and Dunn refuse to renegotiate -- they may actually pay Drew the bonus and then cut him after June 1--it lowers the dead money from about $4.3 million in '05 to $2.9 Million in each of '05 and '06 this actually would free up a little cap money in '05 because Drew's base (as others have pointed out) would now be even more than the dead money hit.. ...We need to restructure Moulds to get $'s for LT, DT (either resign Jennings and/or Williams or their replacements) and to address other holes (TE, K(maybe), LG, OL depth)... I bet Drew rescinds a large portion of the roster bonus and stays with the team so he can compete for the starter's role. As other's have pointed out--he won't get close to what he is making the next two years with the Bills from anyone else--of course the guy is financially set--so having a legit chance to start may be the motivator--it will be interesting to see how this situation evolves...