Buftex

Yes, things were much better when nobody talked about things, or knew what was really going on! But I do agree...Fergy was great! Acutally, was going to mention Dennis Shaw...I was 6 when he QB'd the Bills, and as we shared the same first name, he was likely the guy most responsible for me attachment to the Bills. Dennis was not a very common name, back then, it seemed. Remember having a pair of Buffal Bills pj's, and one of my sisters, in sharpie, drew a "16" on the back, and Dennis across the top, for the name...but he was gone the next year...to play for the Cardinals. Though I was born in 1965, I consider my Bills years to have started in 1972. For some you old-timers, why exactly did the Bills dump Shaw after one, rookie of the year, season? I have never known. I realize, Fergy ended up having a much more productive career, in retrospect, but what was it with Shaw that made him so expendable?

Smerlas and Haslett, best buddys, were pretty legendary a-holes during their days in Buffalo...and Smerlas has pretty much bad-mouthed the city and the organization, consistently, over the years...he took a breather from it, when he was lobbying for Haslett as Bills head coach, and for himself as a Bills color guy on the radio broadcasts...but then, Marv was hired, and hired Jauron....honestly, in retrospect, would rather have had Haslett than DJ, but I get the feeling that Smerlas and Haslett were not like Ralph's long lost sons. I lived in Buffalo back in the Haslett/Smerlas days, had season tickets. Make no mistake, I thought they were both terrific football players (Has when he was healthy) but don't have a lot of use for either of them, beyond that. Have heard some pretty nasty stuff about Haslett during his time as HC in New Orleans as well...

Okay...I should know, what you think is going to happen, never happens on the best shows...but it sure seems like Pete might not make it to season six...

I am a Fitzpatrick backer...but Schaub is a bit more accurate than Fitz, and has a much stronger arm...it isn't even close. Schaub may have one of the strongest arms in the NFL... I think we all realize, Fitz doesn't have the strongest arm. Maybe it was the rib injury, but he can compensate for his lack of arm strength by throwing a more accurate ball...and mastering reading opposing defenses. It is that later category that gives me hope he can still show improvement. just as Fitz needs better talent around him to excel, he could help his receivers some by throwing fewer uncatchable balls. We have seen that Fitz can be good...I think he can still improve...and I think he will. Still not worried about the QB position for 2012. That isn't to say there is no other QB in the conference I would rather have...

Since this is all for fun (presumably), let me ask...how do Bruce Smith and Jim Haslett make you "least favorite" list as "dickheads", while Fred Smerlas is #4 on your favorites list? #76 was/is still a complete dickhead. I will give you, Smerlas was a pretty good, maybe even great, football player...but he was no Bruce Smith (DE/NT, I realize)...so if they are both dickheads, why not "like" the one who was better? Just sayin' Love the Chuck Knox Bills too...Cribbs was awesome...recently watched a couple of games from the 1980 season, hard to remember how potent that offense was. Cribbs was made it all happen. The 1980 and 1981 seasons were the first time in my life I ever "dared to dream" that the Bills could make it to the Super Bowl...those teams made a huge impact on me... softened the blow of losing the Braves (my favorite Buffalo team in the 70's), just a tad. Also, just watching a bunch of Ferguson for the first time in a few years, there was something about him that reminds me a bit of Drew Brees now...just something about the way he threw the ball...hard to explain...Fergy probably had a stronger arm.

Honestly, this is a very tough question...what criterion? Are we talking strictly for on-field play? Obviously, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Thurman, OJ Simpson, Andre Reed and Cookie Gilchrist are, if not the greatest Bills of all time, right up there... and I love all those guys (though I blot out 90's OJ, and Cookie is a little before my time)...but my favorites, just guys I always liked, even if they weren't necessarily all-timers? Even narrowing that down to 5 is tough, but here goes: Favorites: 1- Jerry Butler 2- Joe Cribbs 3- Steve Freeman 4- Robb Riddick 5- Joe Ferguson Honorable mentions: JD Hill, Bob Chandler, Jim Braxton, Ben Williams, Luscious Sanford, Frank Lewis, Charles Romes, Pete Metzelaars, Cornelius Bennett, Darryl Talley, Nate Odomes, Kent Hull, Kenneth Davis, Antowan Smith, Peerless Price, Travis Henry, Lee Evans, Takeo Spikes, Nate Clements, Fred Jackson, Kyle Willaims....sure I am leaving somebody out... Dislikes (hate is a strong word, for any Bill), is tough too...3 of my least favorite Bills of all-time, were very good, if not great players for the Bills, but I just never liked them personally, for whatever reasons: Least Favorites: 1- Fred Smerlas 2- Jim Haslett 3- Doug Flutie 4- Chris Burkett 5- Dick Jauron (since we are including coaches)

Don't forget Jim Dunaway (DE on Bills two AFL championship teams)...or did that happen after OJ didn't kill his wife? Of course, I blame Dunaway's issues on the years, after, that he spent as a Dolphin!

Promo- thanks for the link...been listening for the last hour or so, really digging it... the station I love here, in town, went dark... so far "Cold Shot" by Stevie Ray, "Just Like A Woman"...great so far! Saw the playlist that AJ posted...if they played "Another Girl", one of my favorite Beatles songs, ever, they must be doing it right. Now the Kinks "Sunny Afternoon"...awesome! Between this and Scott Shannon's "True Oldie Radio" I think I am covered...the Shannon station is really just late 50's to late 70's!

For me, "Mad Men" is as close as you can get to "The Sopranos" for just purely engrossing storytelling, vibe, and intelligence. There are a few really excellent tv shows in this century, but "Mad Men" rarely (if ever) hits a bad note, for me.... btw- Hollywood 101: the only way to give an "acid trip" scene a chance of working is to avoid using Jefferson Airplane or The Doors on the soundtrack. I loved the line last week (and I am ad-libing) where Roger says something like "You always think people are looking and listening to you, but they're not"....to which Don replies "lots of people who have never taken LSD already know that Roger." Just funny stuff...I think this may be the best season yet...

So, the Celtics hang around, and then, dominate in the crunch, and all the db's at ESPN can talk about is how badly the game was played, and how, basically, the Hawks lost the game...I am not usually one who gives a **** about what the media says about my team (especially when I know the kicked ass, and earned another win), and I know few here like the Celtics...but if you ever watch a Celtics playoff game on ESPN, there is a very strong anti-Celtics sentiment amongst their broadcast team. I like Jeff Van Gundy, quite a bit, but he takes every chance he can to bag on the Celtics...throughout the game... the only guy who ever gives them any respect, is Magic Johnson...but what he says is normally pretty flattering to every team. The Celtics have to be the least flashy team...Rondo has his occasional "magic" play, but they just play hard, and want to win...it doesn't get much better to me. Honestly, I thought that Atlanta coming back, and taking the game to OT was a bad sign for Boston...but they just dominated the game in OT...made Atlanta work for everything, put all the hustle in to make sure that got loose balls...it is no secret the Celtics are not a good rebounding team, but, as a unit, they can turn it on when they need to. I love watching Ray Allen get two big rebounds in OT, and actually just grab the ball, stand still, tuck it into his gut like it was a football, and just make damn sure the ball was his...it may be simple, but it is so fundamental, and something you just don't see guys do enough of. Okay...off my Celtics smooch-fest...Lakers/Nuggets up next...we know the Lakers will win this series, but want to see some good West Coast hoops...no blow-out!

Yeah, he is wearing what looks like a Catholic school uniform...

This happened today, just a few hours ago, a few blocks from where I work...luckily, this kid is okay...I just can't believe the stupid things "young adults" (and old adults for that matter) do sometimes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmX1nU-hIXw From what I am told, by students at work, having a "sword fight" in traffic, on what is a very busy street, on the last day of classes is some sort of UT tradition! Perhaps Bluefire can offer some insight?

Would be cool if the BN would hire Darryl Talley to coach the sports department, whip their asses into shape!

I am on the fence about Peters. You can never predict injuries, but I always wondered if he was the kind of guy who would stay motivated. He has played well in Philly, at times, but from what I understand, he has had his bad games too... I remember the season that JP joined the Eagles, they were playing on MNF. I was listening to the game in the car, and Boomer Esiason just cracked me up...Peters was having a rough game, and Esiason, always the straight-shooter said..."Jason Peters was an udrafted free agent tight end, in Buffalo...the Eagles signed him to a huge deal, the highest paid left tackle in the NFL..tonight, he looks more like an undrafted free-agent tight end...how much are they paying him?"

Point taken, but wasn't it ex-Sabre, Paul Gaustad, who finally reacted?

Haven't clicked on the link, and havent' seen that in some time...but just thinking of Andrew Peters trying to fight is enough to make me laugh! I am sure he is a nice guy, but I used to cringe every time he dropped the gloves...possilby the most inept "enforcer" in Sabres history? Or at least recent history...

"Cookie Puss" was the bomb! R.I.P.

I was at that game...that was the "Hurricane Katrina" game...the Saints played their home games at a tiny indoor stadium in San Antonio...we were litterally about 30 feet from where McGee got tackled...good times...we lost!

Maybe...he may be an insufferable douche (used to listen to his radio show...he was insufferable), but in some ways, I find it admirable that he gave up a show-biz career (more as as writer than actor), to follow his conscience.

Gotta say, Florence impressed me more for the way he appeared as a team leader, than he did on the field. He defitely had some good moments, but, IMO, was sub-standard last season...it may not have been all his fault, playing in an injury depleted unit, but he looked downrighht foolish out there at times...and the penalties! I think this may be an indication that, maybe, just maybe, in addition to having faith in their young guys, maybe the braintrust isn't as done with Leodis McKelvin as the fan-base seems to be. Honestly, I think the guy still has a lot of upside...if he doesn't return to Buffalo in 2013, I have little doubt he will make an impact (positive) somewhere in the leauge.

Franken is a bit of a blow-hard, but to you who only remmeber him as Stewart Smally, you are missing some great stuff...he was one of the orinal writers for the original Saturday Night Live, way back at the begining...his political "I'm Pete Tagliani" commercials were hilarious, and, unfortunately, kind of prophetic.

I'll drink a great big whiskey to ya!

My god, you could use that same argument/logic to diffuse about 2/3 of the issues on this board...