Bob in STL

I know Buddy has a sense of humor and likes to play the "I'm just a simple guy" thing. I cannot laugh at Buddy's schitck until I see some results. Still waiting on that. If we draft Jordan at #3 I would say at least we addressed the right position. From what I have seen he looks very good but I am no draftnik. I suspect there will be many that call it a reach but I would be ok with it.

Very sad news. I was there in the Aud for all the great moments of the French Connectionand those fantastic teams of the 70's. Rico was one of my favorites. RIP.

For a lot of poeple it is more than a game and many of us plan our weekends to include football. Sports, like music and art, like food and many other things, is part of what defines our culture. Football is uniquely American and part of our culture, whether you like it or not. Same as music - such as blues, jazz, rock n' roll, hip-hop, etc.

^ Some good points made here. It will be difficult to "roll up" the financial results for the league when the teams are all run as separate businesses. It can be done, but it is not like this information is sitting in a file somewhere. I just hope this ends soon with no shortened season and no replacement players.

Exactly right. The players can ask to see the books. No law prohibits that as part of the negotiation. The owners can choose to share them or not. They can lock the players out and bring in replacements too. I will NOT attend an NFL game played by replacements and more importantly I will not waste a Sunday afternoon watching replacements on TV. If the TV the sponsers believe that the majority of the fans will not watch the games on TV the owners will come back to the table. The problems is the owners can sit it out longer than the players. They have more $$.

John C, Did o see this quote from Goerge Wilson? link "In order for us to make the best decision for the game and the players moving forward, we have to have all the information that we can like those audited financials so we can make a sound decision," Wilson said. "And basically the owners are telling us to trust them and have faith that they are going to treat us right. But right now the NFL is suing about 300 guys on workers compensation issues, so we can't just take your word because you say, 'Trust us.' This ties right into what we talked about.

Financial statements are audited to prove accuracy to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Are there cheaters? Yes of course there are (See Enron, etc.), but for the most part I have to believe that the large majority of companies follow the laws. The Jobs salary example does not apply to the NFL salary. His compensation from Apple is disclosed as it should be. Of course we can assume he is "pulling in" much more money just by considering interest on his current wealth. Steve Jobs is more concerned with Apple being a most innovative company that leads the market, growth of his personal wealth does not appear to be his priority. Relative to the NFL --- The question is not how much salary any NFL owner pulling in. The question is how much revenue does the league make? What are the operating costs? How much did they earn (profits)? I just read an article in the newspaper this morning and the writer said the NFLs total revenues is $9.2B a year. Lots of numbers flying out there. We already know we cannot trust the owners. They agreed to the current CBA two years ago and look at them now. Bottom line is the players want to know and tossed it back to the fat cats. Good for them.

Thanks. I basically feel that the players have a responsibility to get the best deal they can and in turn, there is a responsibility to support the players of the past that are in such need. The financial resources are there. I clearly understand that today's players know what risks they take and sure, they make a lot of money to play a game. Still, with so much money being made on both sides, it would be fantastic to see a little help provided to the players that did so much to build the league. Many of my favorite players from the 70's were fantastic ambassadors for the game and now they have serious health issues to overcome with very little means to do it. Joe D may not have the best skills to negotiate this point but his point is still very valid. I find it hard to support the owners. They hasitly botched the last deal and now they are bringing it back to the table. Owners like Jones, Synder and Kraft have no interest in what made the league so great in the past. The NFL will become like baseball if these guys continue to sway the others. They will ruin the game if left unchecked.

With all the switching between 3-4 and 4-3 fronts I cannot tell exactly what player is the best fit but to me it is obvious that the run defense was very bad and the pass rush was just as bad. That spells DE and LB. If he is happy with William and Troup at DT that is great. Now please draft someone that can play DE in a 3-4. I am not sold on Carrington, Kelsey, Moats, Dwan Edwards, or Spencer Johnson. Get someone that can play with an impact, that can stop the run and rush the passer. PLEASE. Look at the logic they used to draft Spiller when we already had Jackson and Lynch. Just because we drafted two DLs and two LBs last year does not mean we should not draft more this year. In addition, the LB crew we have is very poor across the board and counting on Merriman to return to past form is a big risk.

Publicly held companies (companies that trade shares in a stock exchange) like Walmart, IBM, Apple, etc., disclose all information yearly in their financial statements. If you have ever owned stock in a publicly held company you would know that because you would have been sent the financial reports for the year. The NFL teams are private, except for Green Bay. I do not think they are obligated to report to the same level as a public company. However, in the case where their employees are requesting the information they can either provide it or not. This disclosure can be part of the negotiation and apparently the players want to see it.

And how about the "professional" owners and their lawyers. They hastily took the last deal and they are backing out of it. The players are not as well organized but the seem smart enough to not make the same mistake the owners did. They have time to get comfortable with the offer. You have the right to do that. It may not be your best move. The players must feel that they have nothing to lose buy requesting the additional information. Do you? Well said John. I cannot understand why the people on this board are against the players getting comfortble with the deal. For decades they have been shorted. The next step is to improve the pension fund for the players from the 50's, 60's, 70,s and 80's. Talk to Joe D about this. some of the great players are broken down and poor. I doubt this will ever happen but I think it should.

What about Saprano?

I did not see this. I certainly did not see the O-line play better with Wood at center. The last two games of the season, against division opponents, were atrocious and show how much work we have to do to compete. I can recall that Chan called Wood out a little bit during the season and then after the season he gave him props. I think Wood can be an excellent center, just didn't see it last year. He played injured and he played next to a revolving door at RG. Until we stop the run, pressure the passer and block better on offense we are destin for the bottom tier. This draft cannot be wasted on luxury picks like Spiller. We need to build both sides of the trenches and we NFL caliber LBs. Despite Buddy's rhetoric, we need LBs. This years draft has plenty of DLs and LBs ... go get us some good ones Buddy. Ah yes, the good old days --- 1963 thru 1965!

Why do you say that?

AAFC - you got me there. My memories go back to 63 - 64. I would think most centers played MLB as well? I recall that EJ Holub of the Chiefs played both in the early to mid 60's.

Happy with our OLBs? That is our weakest area? I hope this is not true. I also hope the Kelsey OLB experiment is over.

Yes - Ralph has messed up some things as you state. I could add even more but lets look at everything, lets look at his entiree career. Ralph did some exceptional things for the AFL and the NFL from 1960 to 1975. He financially bailed out the Raiders and the Pats* in the 60's to keep the AFL afloat. He help negotiate a big TV agreement for the AFL that put them on par with the NFL in terms of TV revenue. He also was a huge advocate for small markets from 1985 to present time. He was considered the conscience of the NFL for a long time, trying to keep ticket prices reasonable for the "average fan" rather than selling out to corporations. For as much money he made in Buffalo he could have bailed and made lots more (see Irsay, Bidwell and Modell). Had the "young gun" owners listened to Ralph a few years ago we might not be looking at this new CBA and possible work stoppage that we are today. Knox's was a very good coach indeed, but his Hall of Fame resume pales in comparision to Ralph's ... which is why he is not in.

So if this is a "Ralph is cheap" post we know that he has, at numerous times in Bills history, made blunders when it comes to paying people -- or paying the right people. That has been covered in detail. If it is a "biggest bust" post then I say Patulski and Miller don't make the list. At least Patulski played, and started, for a few years. As did Miller who had one 1,000 yard season and then flamed out. Perry Tuttle, Booker Moore, Phil Dokes, and John McCargo --- these guys could even get on the field as backups. As for Cooz - he regrets his Pro career and he has gone public on the negotiations. The Bills were probably as dysfunctional as he desribes but Cooz had a bad attitude from the start. When he signed with the CFL he said Montreal had "better looking women". He quickly turned the negotiations into an ultimatum. He wanted to be a super star before he ever played a game.

Well said JohnC.

Both parties need more people like Kemp. The polarization between the parties has never been greater than it is now, at least in my lifetime. I cannot support either extreme.

Nice diversion from CBA, the draft and free agency? This man was great for more than just football. My link

This topic is a triple wallbash. There.

buddy and Chan have alliuded to this as well. As long as wood can handle center, one of the five will be the RG. they even looked at Wang at RG. We really need a RT.

I tend to agree. I would like to get Whitner back as a reasonable price.

Welcome aboard. I agree that there are risks with Cam, just like most players, and that we really neeed to pay attenttion to that awful front 7 that we have. You could have just said. I am with the Jerry Sullivan school of "losing on purpose" so we can get the lowest draft picks possible club.