Buftex

You never know where "Mad Men" will take you...Julie Ormond giving head to Roger Sterling was not one of the places I expected...another great episode.

Honestly, that is the first time I ever heard that version of things. Even so, I got the feeling that Drury, in a way, mentally checked out on the Sabres (for whatever reason) before the playoffs started. I guess we will never know for sure (though your version makes some sense), but given the fact that Briere is still going strong, and Drury did little in New York, and is now retired, tells me that he was already at the "washed up" point in his career, or just lost some of his love of the game. Make no mistake, I don't mean to sound like Drury is a p.o.s, cuz he served us well for the most part...but that whole summer left a sour taste in my mouth...maybe the fact that our front office, still in place, couldn't land their guy has me placing my anger in the wrong place... or not enough places! At the time, when the whole issue of the un-signed contract came up, I remember the question coming up of, "well, if he agreed to a deal, and they never asked him to sign it, whey didin't he push the issue, if he really wanted to stay?" I remember Darcy kind of, "limply" taking the fall for the whole thing, saying something like "maybe I assumed too much", or something along those lines. Now, next topic...did Ralph order Wade to put Johson in over Flutie?.........

Not sure what part they would disagree with. I do remmeber, being very surprised, around early March of that season, Paul Hamilton saying that team co-captain, Chris Drury, "seemed miserable", and was having issues with Lindy Ruff's constant line changing. He (Drury), Hamilton said, thought it was keeping the team from getting in their (or maybe his) offensive groove, and when one guy went down, it meant too much upheavel with all of the lines. Drury "was just tired of it". I was shocked to hear this, particularly from someone in the Buffalo media, because you almost never heard any real meaty behind the scenes stuff with the Sabres. I really had a bad feeling then, that Drury was a waste of time for the Sabres, and they should make Briere their #1 priority. I also thought Drury was pretty bad, particualarly in the playoffs that season...and it pissed me off, after they got bounced by the Rangers, that he was ripping into his teammates for their lack of toughness...I didn't see any of that kind of fire from him on the ice...IMO, he decided he wanted out, sometime betweeen that supposed January verbal agreement, and the begining of the playoffs.

And, as I recall, the Sabres had pre-determined that they were targeting re-sgingning either Drury or Briere (not both) and then work out a new deal with Vanek, before somebody else made a crazy offer...they banked on Drury (stupid), but waited too long for him to actually sign the contract that he had verbally agreed to. Drury had agreed in January, never signed the contract, and then pulled the rug out from under the ill-prepared Sabres, once the free agency period started...Briere was all over the place, almost crying, saying he wanted to stay in Buffalo, loved being a Sabre...but they had already made up their mind, it was Drury, even though (IMO) Drury's mind was elsewhere before the playoffs even started, that year. By that time, Briere was so pissed, he said, once free agencey started, he was done with the Sabres....he was begging them to make an offer...they didn't... still one of the most inept periods of sports mangagement I can recall in Buffalo...meanwhile, Edmonton, desprate to be relevant, made an offer the Vanek (an up and coming "superstar" type) that the Sabres, from a PR angle, had no choice than to match.

Interesting first weekend of NBA playoffs...feel bad for the Bulls. Rose out for the playoffs really makes it all that much more inevitable that the Heat are back in the finals...grrrr! My Celtics got beat by Atlanta..the team I least wanted them to play in the first round...not that they are a great team, but a good team, who just match up very well with Boston. Johnson seems to be one of those guys who can consistantly keep Paul Pierce in check...and please, Boston, how the hell can it be that Rajon Rondo is still the only guy on this roster who can get an offensive rebound? If Rondo is suspended for bumping the ref (he should be, and he will be, just not sure how long...it was a terrible call though!), the Celts likely fall 0-2, unless Avery Bradley has a monster game...he could, but it is not a given. And, likely, no Ray Allen again...we could be cooked...I thought we could win at least a series, maybe two...not feeling so confident now! The Lakers looked really good...Bynum is kind of immature, but really talented. The Lakers are fortunate that the trigger was never pulled on any of the zillion rumored trades surrounding Bynum over the last two years. If healthy, he might be the best true center in the NBA...that includes you Dwight Howard. I have a begruding respect for the Lakers, or maybe it is a love/hate thing for them, but they are built for playoff basketball...be curious to see what a new head coach can get out of these guys in the playoffs. Pissed that I gave up on the Clippers game before their 27 pt comeback against Memphis, last night..."Mad Men" was caling, on what looked like a lousy basketball game. I want to like the Clippers more than I do, but maybe this is the year that the Buffalo/Boston/San Diego/Los Angeles Braves/Clippers finally break through! Kind of flipped back and forth between NFL draft and the Knicks/Heat game on Saturday...I got a feeling the Knicks are going to get swept...but this is one of the rare times I am pulling for them! Biggest surprise of the weekend, for me, was Magic beating Indiana. I know, it is only one game, but maybe Stan Van isn't such a bad coach after all?

John Beck?

The QB that GB just stole, that we could have developed.

Nix is an idiot! WTF was he thinking?

One of the NFL Network guys bagged on the Glenn pick pretty hard...said he could be a dominant NFL guard, possibly a Pro-Bowl right tackle, but not an adequate left tackle. I only heard, did not see, but I think it was Mayock...the ESPN guys, for the most part, didn't think it was a bad pick, though Kiper thought there were better options at the position, at that point, than Glenn...who knows how any of this stuff will pan out...good coaching/schemes could be the difference maker with so many of these guys. I don't follow the college game like you, and so many others here, all that close...though I do watch the big games when I can...I can't say that I have seen any of our first three picks play...but I like our coaching staff!

I remember the Bills getting criticized pretty heavily for the Maybin pick...both here, and nationally. I am not one of those who thinks that Maybin has saved his career (yet), but I do think he was criminally wasted, by two Bills coaching staffs. There was never any question about his effort, but he just never got to play. For whatever reason, you would think a franchise would owe it to themselves to see a 1st round pick in action a bit more, before cutting ties, even if it was the "previous administration" who picked him. He not only didn't get to play, but barely dressed for games when Gailey took over...I like Gailey alright, but sometimes I think he is a little too stubborn on some things. It's not like giving Maybin more snaps would have hurt them in the win-loss column...just a very odd situation. It almost sounded like it was more of a personality thing than a talent thing. Last year, Spiller would get a few carries, look good, and then you wouldn't see him the rest of the game...a couple of times, Chan said "we weren't runnig the ball as well as I would have liked..." or something along those lines...I always wondered what the hell he was talking about.

Thing is, with McCoy, did anyone ever seriously view him as a "franchise QB"? I think, like Weeden, he was one of thos guys who was drafted higher than he should have been, because all the real "franchise QB's" in that draft were gone...like, I think Weeden will end up. Colt is a good kid, a hard worker, and could probably have a decent career in the NFL, but he is not what you (or, okay, I) would think of as the traditional "franchise QB" type. He is like a Brian Griese kind of guy (though a good guy, not a jerk)...decent, but not likely to take a team over the top, without a lot of other advantages.

Yeah, I remeber the JoJo White game too, Braves got jobbed big time by the officials. Incidentally, if you are an old Braves fan, I recommend this book "Home of the Braves"...it is comprised of articles from the Couriour Express, and interviews with players, coaches and writers from the Braves...awesome book! It is sort of limited edition, and you often see it on Amazon for, like $80...go to Ebay, you can normally pick one up for closer to $30...well worth it. Got one for me, one for my brother, and one for my best friend from Buffalo...here is a sample, reflecting on the infamous JoJo White game: http://www.timwendel.com/buffalo__home_of_the_braves_65990.htm "Despite the disappointing loss, being ousted from the playoffs, the chaotic scene afterward in the bowels of the old Aud still brings a smile to McAdoo’s face. “I did get a kick out of Paul Snyder pounding on the referees’ door after it was all over,” McAdoo said. “There he was, still trying to get the call changed. I always loved that.” I hate the Miami Heat so much, it kills me to see McAdoo on their bench every night...would love to see him get a shot as head coach, at some point...seems unlikely to happen though.

I wanted Gilmore all along, even though I never heard of him until a few weeks ago! I like what the Bills are doing on defense too. I am not one who flipped out when they picked Spiller in 2010 first round, but I was afraid that it was an indication that the Bills, with Gailey, were going to focus too much on offensive wizardry, and have one of those wretched "bend but don't break (until crunch time)" defenses at best...for whatever reason, having a defense that can shut teams down (hopefully) excites me more than the prospect of a team that can lose a bunch of 38-35 type games...I'm old school...defense wins championships! Really excited to have all this great young talent, and to have a legit, proven, DC for the first time in about a decade, in a basic defense...

Thought that was odd too. Heard the Browns beat reporter from the Cleveland Plains Dealer on the radio this morning saying that they told Colt McCoy that they would not be drafting a QB during this draft, as early as yesterday morning. Then, they draft Weeden, and the GM announces to the local media, that Weeden will be the #1 guy,and McCoy could be traded...maybe the Browns know something we don't know (okay, I will admit, they more than likely do) but who were they trying to beat out to get Weeden? Anyone for Colt McCoy?

I think Beerball needs an "additude adjustment"...anyone with me?

As a kid, the Buffalo Braves were my #1 team...the Bills were 1-A, and the Sabres #2. The main reason being, while I played all sports (except ice hockey) basketball was the only one I ever experienced any sort of success at. I was a "big" kid (tall, and fat) and had an edge on other kids my age...I loved playing the game...still do, but my knees suck...got to go out to the basketball camps at Darien Lake a few times, met McAdoo, Jack Ramsey, Ernie D, Randy Smith, Jack Marin, Dale Schluter (he was a terrible basketball player, but he was kind of a goon, one of my favorites), even Tate Locke...and of course the "Big E" Elmore Smith. When the Braves left town, I was devastated...I was too young to know (or care) for all the reasons behind it, I just knew that John Y Brown was a bad guy...being young and stupid, I even looked his name up in the Buffalo white pages, and begged him, over and over, not to take the Braves away from us...of course, I had no idea that I wasn't talking to that John Brown. Poor guy kept saying, "kid, you got the wrong guy...leave me alone"...the good old days, when nobody had caller ID! My brother and I drank so much freaking Dairylea milk, to save the carton vouchers, so we could go to as many games as possible. I still have all my ticket stubs, and though I don't remember it all, I saw most of the very greatest players of the 70's... So (sorry to ramble), I really tried to follow the Clippers when the team moved to San Diego...it was impossible in those days. The NBA was barely on national tv at that time, and trying to follow a west-coast team, while living on the east-coast was impossible. So, I picked a new team. I had been taught, as a kid, to hate all the New York pro-teams, so I was never a Knicks fan...my brother, 8 years older than me, had been a Celtics fan, before there was a Buffalo Braves...I hated them when the Braves were in Buffalo (and I really wasn't aware, back then, of the role the Celtics had in the demise of the Braves), but in 1979, I picked the Celtics...it was a combination of things...first, my brother was a fan, so I had been surrounded by the shamrock all my life...they had that Irish thing going on (my family has a large Irish strain), Larry Bird was just starting his phenomenal career, the team was really good, and, that was the year my family got cable television...we got the Boston "super station" which showed all Celtics games...and, the cherry on top, Bob McAdoo was a Celtic that year...Lew Alcindor, Pistol Pete...good times. I have taken a lot of **** for being a Celtics fan, after falling in love with the NBA as a Buffalo Braves fan (particularly from Exiled In Illinois), but I have always been an NBA fan....and to Mark Miller who says "shame on you"...get over it...I love basketball, and despite all the criticisms of the NBA (mostly from people who preface that they haven't watched since the Braves left town), it is a far better game than the college game, to me. Sure, there are too many games (I loved this shortened 66 game season) but the playoffs are pretty damn entertaining, and regular season games, when the "titans" clash are usually a good watch. And, for all the crying about the Braves (and I know, I was one of them) I recall going to many games at the Aud which were sparsely attended...their departure was inevitable. No telling how many tickets the Braves were giving away, either. At that time, despite the fact that the Braves had some really good teams, they were overshadowed, in Buffalo, by the Sabres, who had so much early success...Buffalo was Sabre crazy after that run to the finals against Philly. OJ Simpson was burning brite in the middle of it all. The city was already falling on hard times financially...as was the NBA itself. If the Braves hadn't left town then, it would have happened shortly after...and that is the reality of it. Sorry, what was the question again? ps- btw- John Y Brown wanted to move the Braves to Florida. At that same time, then Celtics owner Irv Levin, a California businessman was itching to own a team in California. Given the Celtics prominence in the NBA, obviously, the league wasn't going to allow Levin to move the Celtics to the west-coast. So, he and Brown, essentially, swapped franchises, so both businessmen could get what they wanted...Irvin got his California team, and Brown got one of the all-time great sports franchises, where he could make a profit. It wasn't happening in Buffalo. When Brown (originally an ABA team owner) purchased the Braves from Paul Snyder, he gutted the team, because they weren't making any profit...he got rid of the best player, in McAdoo, Ernie D, everyone except good old Randy Smith.

When I was in 9th grade, they gave us a list of songs to use as our big dance song (at a JR high, not a prom, but whatever you want to call the last dance for 9th graders)....there was a space on the ballot for a write-in. The winner was "Another Brick In the Wall"....but they stuck us with "Up Here Where We Belong"...middle-class suburban white kids, being supressed, once again!

The money is the real issue. If it wasn't, I would trade the #10 pick, for Bowe, and, say, a 3rd rounder. You have to consider, few WR's are productive their first two years in the league. Bowe has already played, and succeeded in Chan Gailey's offense, so I would think that would give him an edge, for a team that seems to feel they are ready to make a move in the standings...but, if Bowe seems to want to get paid, large. In retrospect, the Bills got a steal in the deal they made with Steve Johnson...Bowe doesn't appear ready to "settle" for something more in line with what Johnson agreed to...that would be too much money tied into the WR position, IMO. IMO, the only way the Bills could screw-up tonight, keeping realistic scenarios in mind, would be drafting Tannehill with the #10 pick.

I hope to god, this isn't true...I don't think it is...but what do any of us know...please, let Miami take Tannehill...

I have always hated the Flyers and Bruins more than any other NHL teams. But, last year, while watching the finals, while intending to root for the Canucks, I found myself hating them, and kind of admiring the Bruins style, ignoring the fact that it was Bruins. Then I realized, that is the kind of team I want the Sabres to be... As for the Flyers, I hate them for the 1975 finals, but, like you PTS, I like Briere that much...hard for me to root against him. Even that fateful summer when the Sabres had to make that "either, or" choice between keeping Briere or Drury, I was fully behind keeping Briere. To me, Briere was under-appreciated or underrated as Drury was overrated. And, Briere really wanted to stay in Buffalo...he was pretty emotional about it. Sabres treated him like ****, IMO, because they were putting all their eggs in the Drury basket...in the end, as we all know, the Sabres were left for nothing, and have never really recovered from that disasterous off-season. Everytime Briere does one of those goal celebrations, even in a Philly sweater, to me it is a big "FU" to Sabres ownership (Golisano), Darcy and Lindy...not Buffalo. Another reason I have gained some begrudging repspect for the Flyers, in the time that the Sabres have struggled to recover from losing Briere/Drury, the Flyers have built, and re-built themselves into one of the top teams in the league every years...if you recall, the Flyers, with icon Bobby Clarke at the helm, trying to invoke images of the "Broadstreet Bullies" were the laughing stock of the "new NHL" while the Sabres were taking bows for being forward thinking and collecting small, speedy players....Flyers adapted fast, and still managed to keep their back-bone...Sabres still trying to get it right.

Is it possible for the off-season to "jump the shark"? Or, should I start a new thread for this? Please discuss.

Okay, my second favorite scene, from one of my very favorite movies of all time, the original "Planet Of the Apes"...my favorite scene was the first appearenc of the gorrillas on horses, hunting the humans down...scared the **** out of me when I was a lad...but for some reason, can't find that clip anywhere on youtube...so have to settle for this, iconic scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muEnLlycOn4&feature=related

I'll be ther, if you can put me up for a few days! Seriously, would love to go...used to love pioking out a Bills road game to go to every year, one in a city I wouldn't necessarily go to otherwise, you know, no relatives or friends. But, it is just getting too damn expensive to do that kind of thing anymore...I live in Austin, so I will be going to the Houston game (could do that in one day), and then, maybe the opener in New Jersey, as I have family in NYC. Would love to go to San Fran though...haven't been there in about 15 years, and never for a Bills game...only a Giants/Astros game. Have fun! Be careful...San Francisco fans are getting a nasty reputation.

Figures, a Raider...come to think of it, I think I may have seen footage on one of the AFL anniversary specials of Biltenikoff smoking...Madden as well...what a different world we live in, huh? I loved Chandler as a kid too...one of the saddest memeories I have of the whole OJ Simpson murder saga, was the footage of Chandler standing outside the gates of the crime scene, with others, being interviewed about his old friend. He seemed truly distraught over the whole thing. As I recall, that was right around the time Chandler was starting to battle lung cancer.