kasper13

1968-1971 was worse than now. Dismantled the AFL Championship teams. Record was horrid. RW was looking to get a new stadium built and there was plenty of talk about the team moving if it wasn't. Even in late 1972, there was some doubt the new stadium would open on time for the 1973 season. Lou Saban bolted. Coaches were terrible. Lots of bad trades. 1976-1977 was worse than now. In my opinion, this was RW at his absolute cheapest. Go read "Relentless". Real bad economy in Buffalo at the time. Players were holding out and/or demanding to be traded because RW would not pay anyone. Ton of trades, mostly bad, strictly made because of money. Joe Ferguson played in the preseason without a contract. He wanted something like $70,000 while Bert Jones of the Colts was making $200,000. RW wouldn't pay him. Attendance was in the low 20's for some games. Not more than 50,000 for others. 1984-85 was worse. Attendance/season ticket sales were at all-time lows for Rich Stadium. Only game in two years that sold out was the Dallas game in 1984 and even that game was blacked out. Mid-season games in 1985 had 20,000 people at most. In fact, I lived in Cheektowaga at the time, we would leave for a 1pm game at noon. We could literally park right up front in Lot 1 and be in our seats by 12:45. Team was probably the worst on the field that it has ever been, especially in 1985. Although in 1985, we did have future stars in Bruce Smith, Andre Reed and Frank Reich plus Jim Kelly & Kent Hull in the USFL. Nobody knew what was about to happen in a few short years.

Bruce Mathison replaced Ferragamo after a few games in 1985. Who replaces Trent? Fitzpatrick? Sounds about the same. Only problem is Frank Reich is not the 3rd QB and Jim Kelly is not in the USFL waiting for it to fold.

Same stuff. Different year. How long does it take to eliminate the mistakes and clean things up? 11 years? Same old tired BS. Just another useless pile of cliches. It's the NFL. Don't make the mistakes in the first place. Of course, when you are a horrid football team, you make mistakes and take penalties. Edwards makes bad throws. Groundbreaking. That's all he ever does. Every week it's "We have to play better and eliminate mistakes. Watch film and clean things up" Blah Blah Frickedy Blah.

Lamest excuse ever- "It's only the first preseason game". That turns into "It's only 0-5"/"It's only mid-October"/"If we win 7 of 8 we'll finish at .500". For once they could play a decent game, preseason or not. They looked absolutley horrendous. Same old story.

Time to fire up the old excuse machine..... 1. Only the first preseason game. 2. New Defense. Will take time to jell. 3. Only two starters on the OL tonight. 4. New coach/staff. Will take time to jell. 5. Edwards first live action in a long time. 6. Redskins are trying to run up the score. 7. Night game. Bills used to day games. 8. Really humid in DC. 9. Basic game plan. Don't show anything too early. 10. Tired from all the physical practices. 11. Still learning the offense. 12. Still learning the defense. 13. Away game. Why show up? 14. They will be ready when it's for real. 15. Rex Grossman is a high quality backup. Pick and choose as you wish.

The Saints had a joint practice with the Saints? Someone was smoking joints and not for practice.

Last time I checked, he is under contract for 3 more years. I don't care what the money is. He's signed. Show up and play. If he doesn't like the money, he never should have signed the contract in the first place. I'd think about doing some pretty shady things for a million bucks. If I were the Jets, I'd tell him to either play for what you signed for or stay home. He is hurting himself and his team. It's the Jets so good. Heck, I'd trade him. Call Dallas or whoever and say I want a starting CB, some other player and a 1st round pick. One player is not worth $15 million per season. I don't think he is as good as he says he is anyway. No player is ever bigger than the team and any player can be replaced.

Why does everyone want another mediocre season??? 8-8? Come on. That's still not a playoff season. That's not bad enough to get a top 5 pick. That's been the problem for the last 10 years. Just not good enough and just not bad enough. They aren't making the playoffs so may as well finish dead last. 8-8 is just spinning their wheels which they have been doing for a decade and this is supposed to be the first year of rebuilding. Do it right and just suck bad. Any team can look good in camp when they are bad and practice against each other. Nothing to compare it to. With the QB's we have now, I'd say 6-10 is a reach. They are just not a good team yet but just not bad enough to be in the top 5 of the draft.

The Bills QB in 2011 is playing for the Washington Huskies this season. Bills are not winning the Super Bowl in 2010. They will not make the playoffs and will finish 4th in the division. Who cares who the QB is this year? They aren't going anywhere. Say what you want about SB XXV. Fact is if Norwood makes the kick they win. Everything else up to that point is irrelevant. Also hard to believe it was 20 freakin' years ago.

Bills are never moving to Toronto. $750 million for the team. Billion dollars relocation fee. Billion dollars for a new stadium. Untold millions for the litany of lawsuits that would be filed. Toronto draws next to nothing for the Bills games. Most of the tickets have been given away to fill the Rogers Center. The ticket prices are too high for the one game already. They don't count Canadian TV ratings in the USA. That would hurt advertising. Toronto wouldn't support a full time NFL team. I could go on and on and on. All that said, what I do so is the NFL going to an 18 game regular season and Toronto getting 2 regular season Bills games. That is the extent of it in my opinion.

SPORTS Talk is supposed to be Sports Talk. Not ridiculous nonsense that spews from WGR on a constant basis. If there is breaking Buffalo sports news or maybe national sports news, they give it some attention but that's about all until the season starts. Last night after Bills practice, driving home, figured they would have Bills talk on. Nah. They had on some national NASCAR show. Thanks for that. This morning. Two minutes on Schobel and then 10 on the Video Game Hall of Fame in Iowa. Baseball is a FCC fineable word to WGR. UB is non-existent because their games are on another station. I could go on and on. Sabres are rarely criticized and/or defended no matter how inane their decisions are. Why? Sabres games are on WGR. No competition and two lousy teams so this is what we get.

90 Degrees with high humidity. Players were complaining about it on Tuesday.

Gap between 8 and 10 is not big. Just split it and you come up with 34 million and 20 guaranteed. Throw in an extra million on the guaranteed and Bob's your Uncle. Not good enough? See ya'. Go back in the draft next year and see what you get with a rookie cap. Maybe $3 million guaranteed? Shouldn't be so hard unless the Bills are low balling him. Not that they would ever do that.

2010 Plan: Edwards/Fitzpatrick/Brohm= Epic Fail. 2011 Plan: 1st Overall-Jake Locker + Rookie Cap= Franchise QB & Future success.

One of two things. Either Spiller wants more money because he has to play here or the Bills are low balling him because they are cheap and don't believe in "slotting". Probably a combination of both.

He couldn't finish because his candy melted in his pocket. What did he already get from Washington? $32 million or something insane like that? I wouldn't show up in any sort of shape either. Football is hard and it's really hot out there. Already paid, don't want to play in that defense so sit around and eat for a few months. Show up at 500 lbs. and way out of shape. A professional athlete can't do two, untimed 300 yard runs? That's really sad. Redskins deserve whatever they get from this guy.

Good to see they are picking up right where they left off on the injury front.

Trent Edwards? Honestly? Best of the crap pile I guess. Going to be absolute torture watching this.

What about the other teams? Just look at the AFC East. Patriots? Can't beat them. Jets? Alleged to be a SB contender. Miami? Better than last season. Assume the Bills will be better coached, better conditioned and marginally better on defense - all maybes. The offense looks like it will be worse than last year. Intangibles? What if Spiller is a long holdout? You can rationalize, surmise, wish and hope for 8-8. Not going to happen. That has been the decade long problem. They have been just average or below average. Why do we want that again? They are rebuilding. Let them suck really bad and get the 1st pick. Trade some aging veterans for draft picks, dump some others that have never done anything. Really rebuild. Shoot for a contender in 2012, not for another 5-11 or 6-10 disappointment in 2010.

Jets - Emerson Boozer Patriots - Steve Grogan Dolphins -None. Ever. Bills - Jim Kelly Colts -Bert Jones Texans - None Titans - None Jaguars -None Chargers -Johnny Unitas Raiders - Ken Stabler Broncos - Someone from 1960. Chiefs - Len Dawson Steelers -Jack Lambert Ravens - None. Browns - Jim Brown Bengals - Ken Anderson Giants - Sam Huff Cowboys -Michael Irvin Eagles - Ron Jaworski Redskins -Bruce Smith Falcons - Tommy Nobis Saints - Archie Manning Buccaneers - Steve Spurrier Panthers - Julius Peppers Rams - Joe Namath 49ers - OJ Simpson Cardinals - Jim Hart Seahawks - Steve Largent Packers - Ray Nietchske Bears - Gale Sayers Lions - Bobby Layne Vikings - Fran Tarkenton

How does spending money equate to being a fan or not? I'm a Bills fan. Have been since 1977 and always will be. Just because I stopped buying season tickets and will not buy any merchandise for the time being, does that make me any less of a fan? I would never cheer for another NFL team. I want the Bills to win. I'll still watch every game on TV. I'll still take a drive to watch them at camp. I'm just tired of spending MY money on a losing team. No longer a good return on my investment. The #51 throwback jersey is still good, the zubaz have a couple good years left, I'm down on the team like tons of people are. I'm sick of the losing year after year like tons of people are. Doesn't make someone any less of a fan if they choose not to spend money on an inferior product.

2-14. Just because it's a new coaching staff doesn't make it a good one. Time will tell. Changing offense and defense without the players to do it. All of the draft picks other than Spiller will take time to develop. Not one will step in and contribute much this year. The biggest thing is still no QB, the three coming back can't get the job done and they have nobody to throw to other than Evans and now Spiller. 20 checkdowns a game to Spiller. O-line still needs time to develop. I do not see where they are better on the D-Line or LB than they were last year. Totally unproven players and aging veterans being asked to play a new system. That takes time. Schedule is brutal and then some. Have alot of young inexperienced guys and some older not so good veterans. I don't see where the depth has improved this year. Rebuilding takes 2-3 years sometimes more, not one offseason where quite honestly, they have not done all that much to improve for 2010. I think they will get worse before they get better. 8-8 would be a disappointment actually. I would like to see them have the top pick in 2011.

2011 NFL Draft will be absolutley loaded with QB prospects. Do some research. They didn't draft a QB with a high pick this year or trade for anyone because of next year's draft. The future franchise QB is still in college. (Top 12) 2011 Quarterback Prospects Jake Locker Washington 6'3" 226 Christian Ponder Florida State 6'3" 218 Jerrod Johnson Texas A&M 6'5" 243 Case Keenum Houston 6'2" 210 Ricky Stanzi Iowa 6'4" 218 Colin Kaepernick Nevada 6'6" 220 Pat Devlin Delaware 6'4" 220 Kevin Riley Cal 6'2" 220 Andy Dalton TCU 6'2" 215 Nathan Enderle Idaho 6'5" 227 Mitch Mustain USC 6'3" 220 Greg McElroy Alabama 6'2" 220 First nine are in the Top 100 of the preliminary 2011 prospect rankings. They are already saying 5 or 6 QB's could go in the 1st round next year.

Is it not a given then, if the nickname of the OL is the Cockblockers, that the QB we draft in 2011 has to be Jerrod Johnson from Texas A&M? Currently projected as a 3rd rounder in 2011. We'll have to see if Johnson goes up.

I knew they were not going to be good in 2010 before the draft. That should have been obvious to everyone. The draft just confirms it. Spiller was the flashy pick to sell tickets. The rest of the draft is filled with projects and future potential. If they hit on 3 or 4 guys then great. We won't know for a couple years. It's going to take another draft or two before they actually start to show improvement on the field. In fact, I think they will finish worse than they did in 2009. That's OK by me as long as they stick to their plan of building through the draft with mostly unknown, mostly small college guys with loads of potential. It doesn't sound like a great plan to me but nothing else has worked for the last 11 years. Looking at it objectively, they are probably a 4 win team- at best in 2010 and if the plan works, a .500 team in 2011 and a playoff contender in 2012 and a Super Bowl contender by 2013. They seriously need a franchise QB though and they do not have one of those right now. That is probably coming with a Top 5 pick in 2011. It's a rebuild from square one and it's undoing the mess Marv Levy and even Tom Donahoe left them with. That takes years, not one offseason.