Shaw66
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Posts posted by Shaw66
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2 minutes ago, Punt75 said:
Good write up! Question - why is Tolbert playing so much? Cadet seems to offer the same type of game as Shady.
In the snow, Tolbert's a better choice. Straight ahead power may help.
Cadet's style is like Shady, but not his ability. In that mess today, Cadet couldn't do what Shady did.
My opinion.
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I don't know if it was the right call or not. I'd like to know the probabilities of winning on that decision. Go for it and don't make it, you're giving the Colts the short field with the wind. They gain 25 yards and they have a shot at a field goal. They gain 15 yards and punt and the Bills are pinned deep. I think if you calculate the probabilities of winning, McD may have made the right decision.
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The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66
Lake Effect
The Bills beat the Colts, 13-7 on Sunday. That’s what the record books will say. The game was a good example of why the score tells only part of the story.
Played as a major lake effect snowstorm poured off of Lake Erie, the game featured basic football – blocking and tackling. Sophisticated passing techniques were useless – quarterbacks couldn’t count on their receivers executing timing routes, sharp cuts, or pick plays properly. Running the ball was the order of the day.
Still, many of the big plays were pass plays: Peterman’s sideline completion to Benjamin, followed by the TD throw to Benjamin. The Colts’ crushing drive as time ran out. Webb’s masterful 34-yard throw to Thompson, and Thompson’s outstanding catch. And, of course, the HUGE offensive pass interference call that saved the game for the Bills.
The Bills needed the win to preserve their slim playoff hopes. They get credit for winning. But to say they just barely won is an understatement. They won by the narrowest of margins, and for the past six weeks they haven’t looked like a team that can win consistently. Granted, the conditions guaranteed a low-scoring, close game, but through 60 minutes the Bills had exactly one offensive possession that looked like they were imposing their will. The Colts also had exactly one. Then, in overtime, the Bills had one more, and the game was over. So they get credit for winning, but not for making anyone think the Bills are going places.
Random thoughts:
1. I love seeing one of those games every once in a while. Reminds me of backyard games we played as kids. And there always are some funny plays.
2. I assume Taylor was a reasonably healthy scratch. If so, McDermott dodged a huge bullet with that decision, because he didn’t have the sub he wanted when Peterman went down.
3. Of course, McDermott figured that no one would get injured in a game slowed down by the snow. He didn’t plan on his rookie QB diving headfirst into a tackle. That was a stupid play by Peterman. The penalty should have been called, but your QB can’t do that.
4. On the other hand, Peterman’s two big throws to Benjamin were beautiful. Big-time throws.
5. When the Bills traded for McCoy, I watched a lot of McCoy highlight videos on YouTube to remind myself what the Bills were getting. Every video included some great runs in the snow in one or two games. Just like the runs we saw in the snow against the Colts. I keep saying it because there’s not much else to say: Shady is an outstanding running back. He gets important yards on important plays, and he makes big runs. Really fun to watch.
6. When McCoy broke the TD run to win it, he had a great hole. When the Bills needed it most, they ran behind Incognito, who didn’t disappoint. Double the DE, then slide to the second level and seal the linebacker. Shady did the rest. Beautiful.
7. Were the Bills lucky? They certainly made enough mistakes to lose, most notably Tolbert’s fumble and Webb’s interception; either one could have lost the game. When they could have won the game, the defense collapsed and allowed the tying TD. MAYBE the offensive pass interference was a legit call – I think it was borderline correct but easily could have been let go.
8. Were the Bills resilient? They made some big plays, for sure. And the defense made the stop the team needed in overtime.
9. Tre’Davious White looked like he was doing some serious cheerleading. Someone has to tell him that he can’t play 10 yards off his man on third and 10. He gave away a first down on that play.
10. Is Benjamin brittle or is this just bad luck? I think bad luck, and maybe a nagging injury that needs the off-season to heal.
Another snow day next week wouldn’t be the worst thing. Another “must win” game, but I’m not a believer.
GO BILLS!!!
The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.
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10 minutes ago, Foreigner said:
Most people on this board and the media have been saying this year that TT is slowing down the Offense and
is failing to move the chains, but here are the top QB passers on 3rd down in the NFL this year.
Completion % Yards Passer Rating
Josh McGowan 70.8 1,043 103.6
Drew Brees 67.5 859 94.2
Carson Wentz 66.4 1,043 125.7
Tyrod Taylor 65.4 707 88.0
Case Keenum 64.9 771 86.6
All of the top 5 QBs have played in 12 games I believe except Taylor who has been in just over 11(injury last week and
Peterman game.) Looking at these figures, it would seem our problem is more on 1st and 2nd down, so place
the blame where you wish.
League avg is 59.7 % and 81.5 rating.
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Finally looked this up:
When the Saints got in trouble for putting bounties on players, to my recollection no opponent ever was injured. In addition I don't recall that any Saints player during that time intentionally hit another player in a clear dead ball situation. The NFL handed out punishments an said this:
"We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game. We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities," said Goodell.
Penalties? Payton and Gregg Williams suspended for a year each.
- Vilma was suspended for the entire 2012 NFL season.[5]
- Former Saints defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove was suspended for eight games.
- Saints defensive end Will Smith was suspended for four games.
- Former Saints linebacker Scott Fujita (then with the Cleveland Browns, now retired) was suspended for three games.
Gronkowski got one game. It's ridiculous.
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I drive over six hours to the game. By the end of the Pats game I had decided that I'm shutting it down for the season.
Anyone want two tickets, for free? PM me.
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2 hours ago, ShadyBillsFan said:
Crush? imo that's a bit harsh. Crushing would have been 45 to 3. Limiting Brady and co to 2 TD's was actually a good effort.
Fair enough. Some of what you say is true.
However, I said Crush for two reasons:
First, I wanted a reference to the Gronk play, and I think it's fair to say he crushed White.
Second, although the score was relatively close, the Bills essentially never were going to score. The Pats crushed the Bills' offense. The only reason it wasn't 45 to 3 was that the game was 60 minutes long. 100 minutes and it would have been 45-3. 200 minutes and it would have been 90 to 3.
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2 hours ago, Albwan said:
I feel like at any time the nfl should roll out second, third and fourth place prizes
in each division so no one will really be losers. Everyone will be a winner! We should
just offer a lifetime contract to tt, he can stay as long as he likes...
There fixed it and made a nice safe space for all !!
Merry Xmas!!
Over MY head!
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On 12/5/2017 at 12:31 PM, BadLandsMeanie said:
Ok, Peterman did make some bad decisions. But I disagree about the timing, I think. For me as soon as the team was out of the playoff picture to a 97% certainty, I would have Peterman in there for on the job training, this year. I think he needs the training and we also could use it to evaluate how the other players are in that style of offense.
There were some dropped balls in the west coast style pass attempts. Will that continue with some of these guys? They don't have to catch many of those with Tyrod in.
Can the line function when the offense moves that fast?
What is to be gained when we are out of it, by continuing on with an offensive style that we do not intend to continue?
On another point you raised of Zero Tolerance, do you think a one game suspension is appropriate?
I don't. I think if the league wants the players to let them handle the discipline, rather than responding with brawls, then the players have to trust that the authorities will give firm consequences. I don't think the authorities did.
With respect to Gronk, I don't think the penalty was large enough. I look at it several different ways, and I come out at the same place. Sean Payton created or tolerated an environment where he or other coaches encouraged players to injure opponents, and he got suspended for a year. I don't believe there was evidence that any player was actually injured as a result. Gronk actually intentionally injured a player in a totally unambiguous dead ball situation and he got a game.
Guys get suspended for four games for doing drugs but get suspended only one game for intentionally injuring an opponent?
If the penalty for an illegal hit during a game that injures in a player is one game, shouldn't the penalty for an illegal hit that injures a player when the game is NOT in progress be larger? During the game, there's at least an argument that the hit was intended to be legal but the guy came in too high or something. There is NO defense when you just hit a guy when he's lying there helpless.
And I completely agree with your point about mob rule. We've already heard it from Tre White. If the league isn't tough enough on plays like that, there will be retaliation. The league can't afford to have mob rule on the field. I suspect that unless McDermott is really, really clear to his team about this, someone is going after Gronk's knees in a couple of weeks. Or Brady's. I also suspect that the NFL already has warned the Bills about retaliation. Why would they warn the Bills? Because they know the punishment was strict enough.
Think about it. Steelers and Pats play in 10 days. If I know I'm getting only a one game suspension for taking out Brady's knee, why would I do it? It would mean I'd be back for the playoffs, and Brady wouldn't. You can't have that kind of calculation going on in players' heads. They need to know the penalties for intentional illegal actions will be severe. And it shouldn't depend on WHETHER the target gets injured; it should solely depend on whether it's a dead ball intentional act and had the potential to injure.
As for who starts, I simply think that a coach who doesn't play his best player at any position loses his other players. My coach expects me to play to win, every play, every game, but he puts in a game who isn't as good as the guy he replaced, what does that mean to me? I'm supposed to play to win but he isn't? I'm supposed to risk injury now so that some kid MIGHT learn something that will make him a quality player a year or two from now? I probably won't even be on the team then, so why should I should do it? Last game of the season, maybe. Or in a totally lost season like the Giants, maybe. But when you're playing .500 ball and you could make the playoffs, I don't think a coach can do that to his players.
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12 hours ago, BadLandsMeanie said:
Oh I misread your text.
Ok. Well, we scored 3 points. Threw for 60 -ish yards with Tyrod in there I think.
So he can't be all that clearly better.
Except in the Chargers game he sure was. So overall yeah I agree but there hasn't been all that much game time to compare them on.
12 hours ago, Jay_Fixit said:Peterman attempted throws Taylor hasn't attempted all year within his first 2 attempts.
i see upside with Peterman, but he has a lot of work to do.
Yeah. I don't disagree about upside. Until you see a guy fail consistently he has upside. I just think that he's shown that he isn't ready yet. He needs more practice and more learning so that he doesn't bring so much downside onto the field with him. Yes, he looks and throws quickly, but he doesn't know what he's looking at. Sunday he threw quickly into triple coverage.
He needs some more cooking on the practice field before he should get thrown out there. If I'm McD and I'm done with Taylor my plan is toget rid of Taylor in the off season and go all in on Peterman or a new guy.
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6 minutes ago, BadLandsMeanie said:
Boy I tell ya. I don't see your guys viewpoint at all.
We got a guy who has played 3/4 of a game who is as you say, nearly as effective as Taylor has been.
My jury is still WAY out on him.
I think his style is risky for sure. All the quick passes in traffic. Probably not going to go so well at first.
Did I say nearly as effective? I don't think so. I think Taylor is clearly better. If it were close I'd play Peterman.
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18 hours ago, BigDingus said:
So you're still of the belief that we can make the playoffs with a Tyrod-lead offense?
I'm not. In fact, after today I'm certain we won't. Combined with how every team we needed to lose ended up winning, I can't see it happening.
I rather see Peterman get stomped each week, take his bumps, and see if there's any hope in the guy over seeing more of what we already know from Tyrod, still lose the games, and get nothing.I didn't say the Bills were going to the playoffs. I don't think they are. They certainly aren't good enough.
But you definitely must play your best players at each position, and if he's healthy that's Taylor. The coach cannot ask all his other players to play they're best when the coach isn't putting the best players on the field.
If Peterman is the future (in doubt it) they'll install him in the off season.
14 hours ago, y2zipper said:It's nice to see the defense back, but Buffalo's starting QB for 2018 isn't on this roster now. Peterman doesnt have the arm talent and the gap between he and Taylor isnt really that big.
Whatever culture change McDermott is trying to implement isn't going to change the results until they get a better QB talent.
I agree about Peterman. Not a good arm. Maybe he will improve. Clearly doesn't see the field well.
But in any case he is t nearly as effective as Taylor has been.
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6 minutes ago, BillsFan692 said:
Lot of patriots love going on in this post... they looked human to me today. We had a real chance to win if we had any sort of offense at ALL!
Agreed, on both points.
I live in New England, and I have an enormous dislike for many, many Patriots fan. But as a football fan, I have enormous respect for the Patriots. What they've done in era when parity rules is truly remarkable.
And yes, the Bills could have won.
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1 minute ago, Happy Gilmore said:
NE got 0 points off passing, all their points were FG (9) and rushing (14). Overall, the defense did a good job getting to Brady. He was 21/30, 258 yards, 0 TD 1 INT, and a passer rating of 82.4, which is well below his career passer rating of 97.9. I don't think you're giving the DL enough credit this game; they outperformed expectations.
Tyrod had a terrible game, as you pointed out. Possible the injury sustained early in Q1 had something to do with that, but this was certainly one of his worst games this year.
Pressure is more important than sacks. The Bills got three sacks but very few pressures. The Pats got double digit pressures. There's a big difference.
But I agree with your basic point. The defense played well enough to win. Pass defense was better than the run defense. Pats completed several passes where you just had to shake your head at Brady's accuracy and the receivers', particularly Gronk's, ability to catch the ball every time. And even the run defense was pretty good except on the few plays where they totally lost containment.
As has been the case often this season, the offense lost the game, not the defense.
2 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:Shaw,
If TT is healthy should he start against the Colts?
Yes. He's better than Peterman. Peterman is altogether too green.
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10 minutes ago, BadLandsMeanie said:
I thought you went to the game?
Are you home already? or did you stay the night?
Bravo. Nice post Shaw.
This part was an especially good insight I think. I hadn't considered that.
"Taylor’s made a career, so far, of not taking risks with the ball and avoiding interceptions. When you don’t take risks, you don’t learn the difference between good risks and bad risks. Taylor clearly didn’t understand the difference on that play."
Thanks.
Spending the night in Binghamton, so I wrote while watching the Seahawks.
To that particular point. It's something I talk about from time to time. You can only be good at taking risks if you learn how to do it. Only way to learn how is to take the risks. So that throw was part of Tyrod's education. But he should have made that mistake two years ago and learned from it.
Highlight of the day was going to the CBS broadcast booth before the game and chatting with Jim Nantz for five minutes. Incredibly nice guy.
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The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66
Pats Crush Bills
Things we learned (or already knew) watching the Pats crush the Bills on Sunday, 23-3:
1. The Patriots are really good.
2. The Bills aren’t as good as the Pats, but they aren’t the abomination that took the field against the Saints and the Chargers.
3. The Pats are as fundamentally sound as any football in memory, and they’ve been that way for a decade and a half or more.
4. The Bills are not a playoff team and THEY’VE been THAT way for a decade and a half or more.
5 The Pats have a Hall of Fame quarterback, and the game looks easy when you have one of those.
6. The Bills don’t have a Hall of Fame quarterback. On Sunday, the Bills would have been in the game if they’d had an average NFL quarterback. They didn’t have one of those, either.
In other words, it was a slow news day at New Era Field.
Taylor’s interception on the first possession may have been the worst throw in Taylor’s professional career. Taylor’s made a career, so far, of not taking risks with the ball and avoiding interceptions. When you don’t take risks, you don’t learn the difference between good risks and bad risks. Taylor clearly didn’t understand the difference on that play. It’s a completely different game if the Bills score 7.
Taylor made several poor throws to receivers who were closely covered. Accurate, well-delivered balls would have resulted in completions. His throws were at the feet of receivers, behind receivers, over receivers, just not good enough.
Taylor was injured on the first offensive play. Did the injury impact his play later in the drive and later in the game? Maybe, but it doesn’t change the conclusion. Taylor had a bad day in a game that a good quarterback could have won.
Could have won? You bet. That game was closer than the score. The Bills ran the ball effectively. The Bills were 15-34 passing, and with good quarterbacking could have been 25 for 34. It’s easy to see the Bills scoring a couple of touchdowns if their passing game had been as effective as their running game.
Would the Bills have won with better quarterbacking? Probably not. Why? Because the Bills’ front five on offense and front four on defense just aren’t good enough. Brady had all day to throw, and the Bills’ quarterbacks were under pressure constantly, including on Taylor’s interception. It’s too easy for Brady when he can wait and wait and wait for someone to get open. And it’s too hard for anyone when he’s at risk of getting hit on most pass attempts.
Among the things that amaze me about the Patriots are these two:
1. Patriots are always physically tough. They take hard hits on offense without fumbling. They take hard hits and break tackles. Over and over. Their offensive scheme involves a lot of finesse, but there’s no finesse involved when they hit you. They hit hard on defense, every play.
2. On defense, they rarely are out of position. They got fooled when Webb overthrew Cadet, but that was about it. Receivers may get open and make the catch, but the defender is in position to make the tackle. Running backs may find a hole, but they don’t find 30 yards of open field – a defender is always in position to make the tackle, to limit the damage. And these aren’t shoe-string tackles; these are straight on, drive the shoulder into the runner, wrap him up and take him down tackles.
The Patriots are really good. They always are.
A note about Gronk. The game was over, so an ejection wouldn’t have mattered. He’s probably correct that White was guilty of pass interference. That’s all beside the point. The point is simple: This is a violent game in which players are at risk on every play. In that environment, there must be zero tolerance for intentional violence inflicted on a defenseless player in a dead ball situation. Zero. Players trust their opponents not to do that. Gronk broke that trust. He could have broken White’s neck. He should be suspended for a game for the hit, and if White is injured or in the concussion protocol, he should be suspended for a second game.
Gronk apologized, and I believe he’s sincere. That has nothing to do with it. Would Gronk accept the apology of a linebacker who took out Gronk’s ACL on an intentional late hit to the knee out of bounds?
Zero tolerance.
GO BILLS!!!
The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.
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5 hours ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:
...being in the .5% negative percentile, I vow to try much harder.............
I'll let you know when you're slipping up.
3 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:There was a lot more thread changing over there. The same threads will stay on page 1 here for days. Over there you would be lucky to get a full day of the same idea on page 1. The news seemed to flow in a lot more frequently over there as well. It was certainly growing chaotic towards the end. EJ Manuel pretty much ruined the last year or two. It just seemed like you could get ideas out individually without being merged. A lot of times here, very specific POV’s are merged into a very general topic. It makes it hard to get read. I have grown fond of TBD and it was a nearly seemless transition. I appreciate the general hospitality but still tend to take slight exception towards the negative comments about BBMB. It was a very solid message board and the non troll lifers that made it home, were often times very insightful and die hard Bills fans. This place has been a very soft landing spot and it is nice to not get blasted by a mod every time you push the vocabulary limit. If this first season here ends the drought, then the BBMB will serve as a sacrifice to the football gods. Go Bills!
There are pluses and minuses everywhere. Forums have personalities and cultures that are defined by their users and their moderators. It was different at BBMB. Some people liked it better there, some liked it better here.
I'm glad this place was here so that we had someplace to land.
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1 minute ago, BadLandsMeanie said:
Anyway I do wonder why the closed it so abruptly. The Jags for one example gave a good long notice before they closed thiers.
I think they did it abruptly for a couple of reasons.
First, if they'd given notice, they would have been getting phone calls and emails and stuff asking them to reconsider. They didn't want to waste any time on it.
Second, I think they figured it was easier to just do it and live through the cries of outrage. They probably had a pretty good idea of how long the outcry would last, and then it would be over. Like a week. And there were only 2000 members, so what would you guess - 50 complained to the Bills. Maybe 100. No more. I didn't bother, and I think most other people didn't bother, either. So they got 50 irate emails and a few phone calls, then it was over.
If they'd given notice first, they weren't going to change their minds, and then people would have been pissed that no one did anything about their complaints.
SO they just pulled the plug.
Is my life different today because of it? No, because I started coming here more regularly. I"d been a member for a while.
And if this place pulled the plug? Then I'd have no place to go and I wouldn't waste so much time.
4 minutes ago, JMF2006 said:Who cares? let it go.
I don't know if anyone cares. But it's something to talk about while we're waiting for the game. Better than some thread about whether McDermott should have started Peterman.
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Nice story. I like it a lot.
Still have to be able to coach.
We'll see.
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57 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said:
He ruined a lot of people’s enjoyment due to his “principles.”
He had his own COC. (Btw, he would have removed that last comment. For example).
Anyway, it’s in the past.
I won't argue with any of what you say.
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1 hour ago, Drunken Pygmy Goat said:
I figured that with the Bills having new owners, and after Boyko was hired, that it was only a matter of time before it was shut down. The Sabres official site message board was suddenly shut down a few years ago. Transitioning into new NFL owners on top of being rather fresh as NHL owners probably delayed the process a bit, but i felt it was inevitable, especially when Boyko was hired.
The BBMB was probably a RB and company idea. It was created back when the internet (and interactions there) weren't quite as saturated as it is now with Facebook and Twitter, etc. MySpace probably didn't even exist yet. Interactions with other people across the internet came from message boards. Anyone with any niche could suddenly mingle with many others with the same interest at once, whenever they want.
Adding this feature to the Bills main site likely increased the amount of traffic to the site over time, increasing revenue. But 15+ years later, the internet is different, and people are much more openly vulgar and hateful towards others, and the players on the field are the focus of much of that as well. You could google something Bills related, and several threads from the BBMB would come up, many of them filled with misinformation and the hateful comments. If you're the "new Bills", you don't want anything like that associated with and representing your business. All those leaks and speculative reports that came out of Buffalo late last year was the straw that broke the camel's back IMO. The BBMB had already became a cesspool, and even though traffic may have still been higher for the site, it was just ugly all the way around. Besides, the we're very, very few informative, good "football" type threads, and too many beaten horses. And the traffic on team sites now comes more from video contact that is now more available and easily accessible than ever before.
I know there are many "fugees" here and at least one former mod (I'll read through later to see what they have to say).
This is mostly speculation but I think a reasonably good take at what was going on at OBD.
Simply put, the message board generated no revenue for the Bills. The front office may or may not have liked what was said on the board, but I know for a fact that they paid attention to it generally only when a problem arose, like when someone who had been banned complained to OBD about it. And when that happened, OBD always stood by the fan, which wasn't good for mod morale.
I'll give you some other speculation. I think there was a time last spring when someone, Russ or Terry probably, met with the publisher of the Buffalo News and told the News that it was time for them put a leash on Sully on the rest of those guys who were engaging more or less nonstop bashing of the Bills. I suspect the Bills made it clear to the News that certain companies that advertised with the Bills and also in the News didn't like having the Bills, their advertising partner, bashed by the News; i'.e, clean it up or some of your advertisers will leave you. The Bills and the NFL are more powerful, by a large measure, than the News.
One reason I think this happened was that when Rex was being fired, Anthony Lynn had his famous press conference, all that, the News was ripping the Bills horribly. "Dumpster fire" was a frequently used term. I know for a fact that the Bills had plans at that time to deal with the News.
The News did change. Some people left, others came in, and the reporting has been more balanced since the spring.
The fact that it was around the same time that the BBMB went down that makes think that OBD was paying more attention to the negative content about the news that was appearing in their market.
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1 hour ago, Jay_Fixit said:
Hey buddy. So you can agree that T&C was the worst mod in the history of the internet right? Because I’d love for him to know it.
I was a mod and I sometimes communicated with T&C because I thought his take on applying the rules was stricter than it needed to be. But I'll say this in his defense: He had principles and he stood by them. He had good reasons for why he saw it the way he did, and he stuck by his guns. He may have been the hardest working mod I saw on that board for the 13 years I was there.
It wasn't an easy job.
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24 minutes ago, Billsfansinceday1 said:
This has come up a number of times both here and on other message boards so I thought I would chime in to answer some questions and perhaps correct some misconceptions. On the BBMB, I was known as MASH/BFID and was one of the mods for the last 3+ years of the BBMB's existence. I registered here under a new user name, to get a new start, but have been "outed" previously so I am comfortable stating the following things as far as I know them to be true.
1. The mods had as much advance notice of the closure of the board as everyone else (ie none).
2. With #1 stated, it was pretty clear for a very long time that OBD had lost interest in the BBMB. There was no support at all from OBD and tech support was non-existent. As a result, spambots were rampant. Being the early bird mod, I would routinely ban 50-100 spambots every morning so they could infect the board with trash or porn or whatever.
3. The mods were not picked per se nor were we compensated (we did receive signed mini helmets one year from Gregg Pastore...mine is here on my desk signed by Kyle Williams). Mods did come and go for a variety of reasons and one was even banned for being so extremely abusive (Teratoma, who was before my time as a mod). Essentially, we volunteered and had a clean posting history, and there was a need for additional support.
4. The BBMB was certainly read by some at OBD, although, we really didn't know who. I receive the Bills Digest and the last page of every episode was all quotes from members of the BBMB with comments from OBD staff to summarize the view of the topic from the top. They obviously knew who was good and who was bad.
5. There are a lot of comments here about the degree of moderation and I tend to agree with a lot of it but not all of it. Early on, I talked at length with Robyn (WYO) who was the lead mod at the time and the co-author of the Code of Conduct. Tom Donahoe, the previous Bills GM, was a regular reader of the BBMB and despised all the negativity toward him and the organization...to the point that he threatened to shut it down. As a result, a fairly stringent CoC was written to ensure the survival of the board.
6. Regarding #5, was there some abuse by mods, sure. Personally, I started out being too adherent to the CoC and infracted or banned some people who shouldn't have been. As time went on, I tapered my moderating style while others may not have. WYO tended to advocate for the "scalpel" approach rather than the "hammer". Once she was gone, we migrated toward our own personal styles for better or for worse.
7. Some members there did get extremely personal and abusive, especially on game day and around the draft. If it carried over, they may have gone away, many who returned under another name.
8. There was a fair amount of disagreement behind the scene about some of the infractions and bans, some of it quite accusatory. Without a strong lead mod, there was no "referee" so things tended to get more personal and vindictive, or at least that was my impression. Others would probably disagree with this, but se la vie.
9. I am not aware of any new member being banned, unless their IP address was that of a PBU (Previously Banned User) or an address identified as a spam address.
10. It was stated here that mods had 2nd accounts. The only occasion that I can think of was when we needed to test a new feature and needed an account other than our main user name.
11. I am also happy to be able to type "vague" without it hitting a language filter. No idea how that happened, but it was clearly unintended consequences.
That's about it. I really did enjoy the BBMB and there were a lot of very valuable contributors there, many of whom are now here. I do enjoy it here and appreciate the discussion.
Edit: Bills Chick was a mod.
Excellent, Fancy. I agree.
Mod s did tend toward more of a hammer approach toward the end, and some posters didn't like it. They thoightnoy was necessary because of the Spanish, pbus, etc and it was. But some of it was just unnecessarily harsh.
Being a mid is thankless. I always likened mod decisions to a nearsighted football ref making out of bounds calls without his glasses. If you went near the sidelines you were going to get some bad calls. But most of the posters anywhere stay near the middle ifnhe field and even nearsighted refancan tell they're in bounds.
A lot of people were happy at bbmb. The quality of discussions was excellent several years ago. It deteriorated some I've the years but there still were plenty of good threads.
This place is well run. Without the Bills looking over their shoulders the mods have more freedom to shape it the way they want. I have my quibbles with it, but that's just the near sighted ref problem - no place is.going to run exactly the way each member wants.
4 minutes ago, JoeF said:Tom Donahoe -- isn't he the one who drank babies blood?
The additional input and perspective have been great additions for the most part, even with the occasional Nate Peterman bad half posters...I bet it feels nice for the BBMB folks to be on freer site. Kudos to Scott again for giving us all a home.
John From Hemet...Kim Pegula is attractive and Terry is a lucky man. Like me -- he out kicked his coverage but he is making do....
I would bet that people aren't freer here. The fact that the Bills wouldn't give the mods the technical ability to truly ban bad actors meant that moderating over there was a constant guerilla war with some people who were just jerks. Here you have well behaved people posting - they feel free because they don't live in fear of being banned. At bmbb people were paranoid with good reason - the mods were tough. But you have to remember that the mods got rough because they were in this constant battle with a lot of.peoblem children they couldn't get rid of.
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2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:
It's been quite some time since the Buffalo Bills Message Board was shut down. In fact, that's how I landed here. My question is - how did it all go down. From my understanding the moderators were all volunteers and the head moderator was named Z-man. How they became moderators and who made them moderators? I have no idea. I believe that Chris Brown oversaw the BBMB at one time but had very limited involvement with it.
From what I can surmise, the board went down very shortly after Derek Boyko was hired. So my guess is that he evaluated the website and decided the website had to go. Clearly this was one area that Scott Berchtold must have not really paid much attention to.
All I know is that one day, I went to log in and then there was a message that it was gone.
Here are my questions:
- Who was from the Bills organization was responsible for the BBMB?
A guy named Gregg Pastore
2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:- Who picked the moderators?
I think the other mods with Gregg's approval.
2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:- Did anyone from the Bills even know or care that the BBMB existed?
They didn't care much. I think they considered it a nuisance. It just caused problems. Didn't earn any money.
2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:- Who were the moderators exactly?
It varied overr time. Mods dropped out, became disinterested. I think once in a while Gregg wouldn't move a nod if he thought the mod wasn't doing a good job.
2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:- How did the death of the BBMB occur and why was the decision made?
I think they just got tired of it and someone decided it was time. I don't think any event caused it.
2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:-Who made the call and how were the moderators notified?
Don't know who made the decision. I was a mod and wasn't notified. There was usually a volunteer mad who was in touch with Gregg more than others and whoever that was may have gotten advance notice. I don't know.
THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Lake Effect
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
Very true. Good point. Benjamin is one reason to look forward to next season.