BarleyNY

Yeah, but you need to have continuity with the right people or you'll just be continuously mediocre or poor. The Titians are opting for continuity with Mularkey. How do you think that is going to work for them? I read a study about successful people awhile back. One of the main points it made was that they typically failed - and quit - a lot, much more than the average person. Two of their best traits were: 1) being able to identify ventures that were likely to fail early in the process so they didn't waste time and resources on them and 2) continuing to believe in themselves so they kept trying new ventures. Eventually something clicked and they made it big. In essence, they did the opposite of what is usually praised in this world. They almost never saw things through. Over and over again they quit, usually early in the process.

But of course!

Oh, so witted. And he's totally from Sardinia. Wasn't it obvious?

I think eball was just being sardonic.

Agreed. He'd have to run a much different offense in the NFL than he did at Baylor. Some team may give it a go with him, but it'll be a mistake.

Yeah, because problems usually go away when you ignore them. God forbid they actually get acknowledged and addressed. Hope the hole you keep your head in is comfy.

No. It's about a GM, HC and other team representatives doing things that people in their positions should know better than to do. Of course the media was going to run with Whaley's "violent game" comment. That shouldn't surprise anyone, especially Whaley. That's why GMs generally don't make comments like that. They are supposed to know better. And, again, it wasn't one comment - it's been a parade of issues.

The Bills look bad right now to pretty much everyone who isn't a Bills fan. Go ahead and stick your head in the sand or pretend that's unfair if you'd like, but I'd wager that if this was all happening with the Dolphins or Jets you'd be talking about how bad they looked. And you'd be right.

What am I overblowing? Sure, if - and it's couple of big ifs here - things settle down and the Bills get into the playoffs this season, then none of this will matter. But what if they don't? And what if the recent series of missteps is indicitive of deeper problems in the organization? That is what I'm worried about - and worrying about something like that (as opposed to insisting that it is definitely the case) is completely warranted here.

Obviously they have a lot of interaction with the man and I'm not hanging him here - plus there seems to be a lot more responsible parties than just him. I guess I didn't finish my thought on the Pegulas. They have to be concerned about recent events and I would naturally expect that to lead to them tightening the ship. That's what I'd hope would happen at least.

I'm sorry for your loss. It's never easy and you had a great one. My dog turns 3 today, which means it's been almost 4 years since our dog, Barley, passed away. I'm so sorry. Hang in there.

Each individual issue we've seen the last few weeks isn't a huge deal in a vacuum, but collectively they're starting to paint an ugly picture. How much stuff has Whaley, Rex and the team had to walk back lately? Just off the top of my head there's: - Whaley's comment regarding people not being built to play football. Walked back with a very league-approved "clarification". - Whaley's comment about getting 3 immediate starters from the draft (an odd thing for a GM to say since the coaching staff selects starters). D'oh! - Whaley's response that there was no concern regarding Lawson's shoulder when questioned about it immediately following his selection. Whoops! - The Bills immediately revising their new media rules when some of the dumber rules were questioned. - Rex's decision to introduce Trump at his WNY rally, which led the team to release a statement distancing themselves from his appearance at the event. The Bills have looked very incompetent recently. It's like no one is stopping to think before doing anything. I'd love to know how the Pegulas are reacting to all of this. It can't be good.

It is usually better to move on quickly from a mistake than let it linger. If Pegula does not think that Rex and Whaley can be successful, then why not move quickly? Just make a good choice so you don't wind up flipping coaches and GMs every season. And on a more depressing note, I see the fans on this board rip the Browns a lot as a horrific organization (and maybe I'm a bit sensitive to that since I'm from Cleveland). That's fair though because they have been so very bad for such a very long time. But the Bills are pretty close. Over the last 15 years the Bills have exactly 15 more wins than the Browns. That's an average of being exactly one win better per season than the team everyone uses as the reference point for being the biggest long term train wreck in the NFL.

I addressed my thoughts on this in another post, but I'll rehash it here since I cut my response to you short. I'd call their seats warm now, but that could change quickly. Another .500ish season probably gives both Whaley and Rex another year, but with very hot seats. A very bad season and we probably would see them get the boot. Texture is important. Are they competitive throughout the season? Does Rex still have support of his players? At some point things like injuries, lack of talent at important positions, etc. aren't excuses, they're self-created problems. However it works out, I'd expect Whaley and Rex to stay or go together. I think I was wrong about Rex. I really thought he was a good hire, but he really disappointed me with the way he handled the defense last season. He's going to have to fix what ails that defense to change my mind this season. Whaley is more interesting to me. He's done well with some things (Darby!), but is raw (see recent comments made to media as an example) and has made a fair number of moves that I really didn't like. Since Rex got here it sure seems like Whaley is shopping for the groceries that Rex is telling him to buy, but I don't think that saves him if the housecleaning happens. Pegula didn't hire him and there's a reason his extension goes through the same season as Rex's contract. Whaley might just need a bit more seasoning under a quality GM and I wouldn't be surprised to see him be a very good one down the road.

Players and teams sign agreements prior to players practicing. They state that if the player is injured during practices, conditioning or other team related activities they will negotiate as if the player had not sustained an injury. Teams have to honor those agreements or no player would ever practice again without a signed contract.

I agree with all of what you said above. Any "win now" pressure at this point is strictly "hot seat" pressure for the Whaley, Rex and other coaches and FO personnel. I don't see their seats as hot at the moment, but they're probably a little warm. As for the team, it isn't changing much in the coming seasons except via draft and small contract FAs. OTC summed it up when discussing Glenn's deal: "This contract moves the Bills into 3rd place in the Commitment Index hierarchy, which means that the team has the third least amount of future salary cap spending capacity. Similarly, the team ranks 5th in 2017 True Cap Space commitments. An extension for Stephon Gilmore or Tyrod Taylor would likely push the Bills to the top position in Commitment Index. None of this means that the Bills will necessarily be in a bad salary cap position over the next few years, but due to the true cap commitments made to the contractual core of Dareus, Glenn, Clay, McCoy, and Hughes, the team will have limited flexibility to add to or change the roster without moving sideways by losing talent currently on the roster." http://overthecap.com/cordy-glenn-contract-analytics/

Yeah, it's not an either/or situation. Signing Marlon Brown certainly wouldn't preclude bringing in a vet WR. Have you seen him play? Is there something that impressed you about him? All I see is his stat sheet and that the WR needy Ravens released him after 3 seasons.

Wow. A golden ratio reference. I'm floored.

Perhaps that's a function of Rex's defense putting a lot of pressure on the CBs? It's good at stuffing plays, but leaves the defense susceptible to giving up big plays. That would make sense.

He'd be the Bills #3 WR instantly. He's not a special player, but he'd be dependable. I don't know if he'd be better than Hogan or not, but that's kind of a moot point at this juncture.

Still only a 16 game regular season. I actually would love this kind of season. Healthier teams, more opportunity to see more teams play and a longer season. This schedule would have another big advantage - travel by international teams and US teams to international venues would be much more viable. International players would have longer seasons in other countries though. But they'd presumably get some more downtime at home during the season.

Here's an article from 2012 about agents who represent NFL players. It's interesting and there's a lot of misconceptions about the industry: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8681968/nfl-agent-life-all-glamour

It's a run oriented offense, but is that due to necessity or preference? It sure seemed a necessity last season, but I don't know if it was also what was preferred. What OC wouldn't want an offense that could do well both running and passing the ball though? At some points in every season a team will need to be able to pass the ball well to win. I see a problem with the team right now with packages that don't include a FB. Watkins, Woods and Clay are the top 3 targets, but what other WR or TE gets brought out with them? I understand that there's only so many picks and so much money to go around, but that's a glaring weakness as it stands. An injury to one of those three and things are looking pretty dire.

I feel bad for the gym owner and/or management that has to deal with crap like this. Crybabies are a not insignificant percentage of customers in any business that deals with the general public and I'd have to think they gym business has more than its fair share.

That's funny. Because when I say "it was a bad week" you seem to think it equates to "losing my schitt" or saying "all is lost". Maybe try a little perspective yourselves. Or even just a little reading comprehension.