Bob in STL

Yes. I ALWAYS want to win. There will be a very fine player sitting there at #6 and also at #13.

I am here in Missouri and I don't see see him as worthy of #3. Mid-first round at best. Since teams are dying for the "franchise" QB, he will be taken sooner. Buffalo should go low risk and grab Dareus or Von Miller. Fairley could have fantastic upside too.

That would be great. I know they drafted Troup (rd 2) and Carrington (rd 3) last year but man this team needs help on the front 7.

Wow. I cannot comprehend why you would put the most dissappointing moment in franchise history on your arm? Oh well enjoy it. I do commend the loyalty. Thanks for sharing. Although I am not a "tat" fan the artwork looks great.

Very inept reporting. As some of you mentioned, James Harris was drafted out of Grambling way back in 1968 or 69. The Bills were pioneers to some extent. What the article can correctly state is that the Bills have been very poor at drafting QBs period, black or white is not the issue. I guess that would not add enough shock value to the story.

'More liked' means more popular. Hockey is not a sport for 70k to watch at one time ... it is not a TV friendly game like football either. Hockey os better in a close intimate setting. Football plays one game a week and will get huge crowds for it. TV coverage for football is awesome, actually better than live except you miss the awesome stadium experience. They are totally different games so judging popularity by attendance for one game is not a good way to go. All I am saying is thet the Sabre were more popular in Buffalo than the Bills in the 70's. Sabrees tickets were hard to get and highly disired, Bills ticket were not. I was there and I saw it. I will not speak for the 80's but obviously the Super Bowl era Bills changed things in the late 80's. Losing NFL franchise's have failed in Los Angeles (several times), yet the Kings and the Ducks are still there. I think Ralph has tried to take care of the fans. Like Pegula is doing now, Ralph has done a lot to maintain a bridge to the past as well (other than his personal feud with Lou Saban). Yes, he has bungled many decisons related to how the team is managed, he has put an inferior product on the field quite often since 1960, but has never purposely put the hurt on the fans. He tries to do the right thing and he does it his way ...like it or not.

I would absolutely hate this draft. Gabbert should not be taken in the first round by any team. Major reach. We need to stop the run and rush the passer. Troup will take a step forward but counting on Carrington, Batten and Moats is crazy. This is a great Draft for DL. Load up now.

We are talking about the Buffalo fan base which includes Southern Ontario, not the US national fan base. When the Sabres came into the NHL in 1970 they were the hot ticket. They quickly rose to a top team, made the playoff in three years and the finals in five. They had some of the best players in the NHL and they were exciting to watch. You could not get a ticket. The Sabres sold out all home games for about ten years, maybe more. In the 70's the Sabres were more popular than the Bills, even during the OJ years. I was there in my prime high School and College years and attended games of both teams. You needed connections to get a Sabres ticket. Bills games ... well, most of the time you could buy tickets at the gate on game day. Chuck Knox's teams put the Bills back on the map. Of course the Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith years made the Bills a nationally known and followed franchise. In summary, I think that the newly restored Sabres can and will overtake the Bills in popularity. This is not a concern, it is a good thing. The Bills front office needs a wake up call.

If I am Buddy I improve the defense by drafting front 7 players that can play in our 3-4, 4-3 hybrid. DE, OLB and ILB are great needs. I also pick an OT and a QB if good ones are there in round 2-4. I would try to trade down a few spots and acquire picks. We need help on this team and an extra 2nd rounder would be huge.

No, I would not say that Pegula is responsibile for it all, or that Galisano was a bad owner. TG was a good owner and he saved the team. But his committment was to making money first and if they can win while doing it then that is great too. Pegula is going to take this team to new levels. Would this team have held it together to play 15-4-4 in the Pegula stretch? We will never know but I will say that the team is much more inspired right now and hockey is fun again in Buffalo.

It can happen and I have seen it. 92 is very old indeed but some men can maintain all faculties right to the end. Take care of your body and your mind. Take care of others and they will take care of you. Don't drink too much, don't do drugs. Eat well, exercise you body and your brian every single day, and sleep well. Do things that make you happy. Be with people that make you happy. Genetics play a huge role in how long you live but if you do the things above and you will live well for whatever time you have. Ralph is actually a guy that gets it. Sure he has money for great health care but he is still spry and functional for these reasons. The younger we are the more tendency we have to think that the aged are not competent. As you age you see that it is possible to age with vitality and that process starts the moment you realize it.

What Terry Pegula has done so far is bring the same energy, enthusiam, and leadership skills to bear on the Sabres that he did in his other businesses. Using the past to inspire the future is an effective tactic, as is recognizing that things need to change and commiting to make the right cganges. So far his actions back up his words. Pegula is pushing the right buttons, he is a fantastic leader and inspires others around him. Prior to Pegula the Sabres already had a few star players (Miller, Vanek and Myers) and they have some decent role players (Boyes, Stafford, Gaustad, McCormack) and some promising young players (Sekera, Ennis, Gerbe, Enroth). They also have a fantastic coach. Because of this they are in much better shape than the Bills which have had abymsal talent on the field and in the front office for a long time. My point is it would be hard to take what Pegula has done with the Sabres to date, apply it to the Bills, and get the similar results in such a short time. The Bills still need a lot of work. Pegula will succeed because he is committed to winning. He does not need the money. His plan to build a Cup winning machine is just getting started and it may still take a few years to get all the pieces in place. There have been periods of time in Buffalo were the Sabres were #1 and the Bills #2, but you are right, for the most part the Bills have been #1 to the fans. I do see that changing. I expect that Ralph will plod along with Brandon, Nix, Modrak and Gaily. Ralph has the money to spend to do the same things Pegula is doing but I don't see it happening.

He was a monster. He wore the old style two-bar face mask with the U bar over his nose ... which looked like he broke about five times over. Big bad dude that Csonka.

Not saying we will improve because of Troup and Carrington alone. All of the factors that I listed will be additive. Troup played quite a bit and he will be better this coming season, wait and see. Carrington is still more of a project to me. DW will be a great addition and will help Edwards. If you have issue with Edwards so be it, the point is Nix and Gailey improved the defensive coaching staff greatly. Now they need to draft a few solid players to shore up the front 7.

? What did they do?

You guys crack me up. Chan is not the type to put his friend, Edwards, in a "pull the plug" situation. He is bringing him help, not threatening him. I think Chan believes in him. The defense will be improved because of the following reason: 1 - Last years rookies will improve (Troup, Carrington, Moats and maybe some help from Batten) 2- We will draft some more help this off season 3 - DW will help a lot 4 - Players will be more familiar with assignments 5 - Edwards will be more experienced too 6 - Last years level was so poor in comparision.

Great post and information. Could it be that the Bills were giving them that play while taking away something else? I suspect that our lack of talent had a lot to do with not being able to stop the play just as much as the scheme. I bet that we did not adjust because we were taking another potential big play. Given we held them to 10 and took the game to OT, I would say that it was a good defensive effort for us overall. Do you go to Lester's (Clayton Rd in Chesterfield) and watch the games with the St. Louis Bills Backers?

Pittsburgh started the year with a very good OL but they were devastated by injuried. Experience, a winning culture, a top notch QB, and a world class defense enabled them to overcome the problems on the OL and make it to the Super Bowl. Green Bay invested their #1 pick on OL and they were able to shore up a big weakness. Drafting OL in the first round is a not a bad way to go.

He was a 12th round draft pick that turned into a very good player. RIP

Can't blame him.

I agree but first things first --- Awesome avatar. Next --- So Stevie gets credit for: (1) no drugs in the video; (2) parking lot not a night club; (3) dropping a TD pass so that we lose the game and get a better draft pick; and (4) learning humility as a third year professional. So that is where the chinning bar is for today’s athletes? OK. I see a lot of debates on these boards where the older guys (like me) get dissed for voicing opinions about today’s player and I don’t want to go there. I like Stevie but the video, not so much. That said I am not a real big fan of rap either but I do have two sons in college and they have turned me on to some rap that I like. It is not all bad IMO.

We will never ask him to "short shuttle" in a game. Contain the end on running plays and abuse the QB on passing plays. That is his job. How you play in the game is more important than those tests.

To win more games we have to improve in two areas: 1. Stop the run, and 2. Rush the passer. Our LBs are very poor and DE is an area of need as well. I would not pass up a DE at #3 overall, even though we drafted Carrington last year in the 3rd round. I would be very happy if three of the first four picks addressed DE, OLB and ILB. We also have needs a RT, TE and QB. This rebuild will take time.

Your avatar looks familiar?

Nope. Replacement players will get scarce crowds, just like back in 1987. Even worse, TV ratings will sink after the first few weeks, the curiousity will be over. Even though it would be interesting to see what the next 1,000 players looked like. Pro Football fans are not the same as College football. College football fans are loyal for different reasons. Fans of both will attest to that. The Brady example is another bad example. The pats* were still on contender without Brady and they play in a large market that has had so much success they will sell out for years to come no matter what.