Bob in STL

I think they can be good but maybe a few playmakers from nasty. They might look good against our offense but that is not much of a measure. The bullets have not started flying yet and we do not have many proven front 7 players in the new 3-4 alignment. That should be a concern.

There will be no finger but I think he would like to show Shanny we have more talent here than mant people think. Both teams are rebuilding. Shanny took the glamour job and the big bucks. Can you blame him?

I don't know Lori like some of you do but I liked her posts and she was always a respectful poster with lots of facts and insights. The few times she answered my posts she was very nice and made you think. I really thought it was cool that Tim Graham spent time on this board. I can understand why a professional writer would get tired of it given some of the shots that he took. Two good people indeed.

True. Not sure about the clique stuff but there are lots of insults thrown around.

Buffalo had other weapons in the red zone which limited Reeds changes. Reed shared the spotlight and stayed cool about it. Imagine Reed's numbers in a nice comfy climate controlled dome like Carter played in? Reed gets my vote.

Nonsense. Reed was better because he worked harder and played better when it counted.

Are you kidding me? Florida is loaded with talent. The students come from other states to, but mostly the south.

Funniest post in a long time. I guess Lou "couldn't get it done".

1. They do not have their own building 2. They are not the Giants, just the 2nd fiddle Jets.

I too have mixed feelings. I think we has a very good player and he often played with a poor cast. I can understand his wanting to play for a winning team and all that stuff. At the same time he was a very well paid for a long time and maybe he could have done more to help us win the a few games we needed to make the playoffs. He is the long standing member of the playoff drought og the 2000's. Not blaming him, just a fact. He had a lot of sacks but lineman stats are not much use to me and really cannot be used to compare players from different eras. I would rank him high on the All Time Bills DE list but certainly behind players like Bruce Smith, Phil Hanson, Ron McDole and Ben Williams. He is not a Wall of Fame player IMO. I wish him well and don't care were he plays anymore.

Wow. Your right this is a serious issue here.

Lets start with this. He is 10 years old the focus should be FUN. Coaches should help with technique relative to holding the ball. The best rule is two hands (arms cradled) through the line and when in traffic (meaning around opposing players). Find out what the coaches are telling him and do not tell him something different. If you are asking this question then it is safe to assume they know more than you. You might be able to play a fun drill with him where he carries the ball and you playfully try to knock out. Let him win most of the time. Success breeds confidence. Get a good mouth gaurd at a good sporting goods store. They prevent concussions and are very important. Gloves - I would never recommend a 10 year old wear them. Gloves are for college and pro level. No gloves.

Great data jw. I don't think the Bills have a long history of holdouts although I can remember some bad ones in the 70's (Rudd and Cousineau). Spiller is slotted and he will be in camp soon. No reason to believe otherwise.

Great point. Time of possession is another factor. Our lame offense had trouble stringing together first downs. That really hurts the defense in the 4Q.

I will agree that Ralph is 100% responsible and accountable for the performance of his organization. But your example is a bit off. For example recall the case of the space shuttle. When the rocket blows up, maybe someone installed a bad part? Which also goes to show you that there may be more to the story than what appears on the surface.

Very impressive. I am surprised though that a man with your education and background would make a blanket statement that Mr. Wilson is a loser and base it only on his teams won-lost record.

The dead horse is still kicking. Like I said before, how can anyone be comfortable with this group? Bell, Meredith, Green, Chambers and Wang. Yuck! When I read reports that our DE's are dominating them in practice I worry. Yes, Nix should have done more.

Practices in pads and in the heat will make you tougher. Practices in pads and in the cold will also make you tougher. You cannot practice in the extremes to the point that you lose effeciencies and get very little work done. Gailey knows what he is doing. The get injured in shorts and they get injured in pads. All part of the game.

So you say Ralph is a loser. Now I say he has been cheap in the past but he is not a loser. I think Ralph has provided a quality product for many years ... not every year mind you, but many years. Sometimes we had losing seasons and we had exciting teams that played hard and were on the rise. Just curious, how do you rate yourself? What is your education? How many big chances have you taken? Did you start a business? Do people rely on you? Do you run any organizations? Written any books? Published any papers? Given speeches at any major universities? Are you responsible for anything significant? Wilson is quite generous with charities, what do you give back? What is you life sum total in accopmlishment? How do stack up against a poineer of the AFL and a NFL HoF'er? Can you give us an honest opinion on how you stack up against him? Just curious.

Buffleburgh Steebills.

I have heard that rumor and I hope it is true. I will take a lot of bread to make that deal.

I don't dispute you at all. He was very cheap at times. Wilson always was and always will be a business man first and foremost. He was frugal in the 60's although he had the money to bail out Oakland and Boston and keep the AFL and his other buddies from going under. His allegiance was to the league first, then his franchise, then his staff, and lastly his players. He was downright cheap in the 70's and ran a very erratic franchise. There are numerous examples of this, most of them I have posted on in the past. His cheapness in the 70's carried into the 80's until he stumbled upon Bill Polian. Polian was a low priced, unknown GM that turned out to be a diamond in the rough. Polian started to do great things and he hung in there until he could not handle arguing with Ralph's accountant, Mr. Littman, any longer. The dispute over the contract to Cornelius Bennett was followed by the Littman's refusal to allow Polian to renegotiate Will Woolford's contract. You see, Polian knew what was going to happen once free agency went into effect and he was trying to renegotiate the core players in advance. Littman stopped him. Ralph sided with Littman, and Polian bailed. All of these stories about Polian and Ralph’s daughter not getting along are secondary to this issue. Once the salary cap and free agency were established (something that Polian worked on with commissioner Tagliabue) Ralph initially had no problem spending to the cap and he enjoyed the fruits of NFL revenue sharing. However, he would never pay for an elite coaching staff or the other extras to help the franchise. Erie county and New Your State taxpayers have funded upgrades to the stadium, the practice field, the luxury boxes, etc. To my knowledge Ralph has put $0 into the stadium that bears his name, even though his financial legacy will be far greater than his heirs can absorb. Today he spends cash to cap only. In the decade of the 2000's he has changed coaches and GMs many times with no success as of yet. He spends less on salaries and bonuses than many teams, but not so much less as to prohibit being competitive. He spends much less on his coaching staff and front office personnel and this is where he fails to build a winning team. As always Ralph remains loyal to his inner circle of business associates. He is loyal to the city of Buffalo too. He has kept the team in place for over 50 years. I do not understand why he has not taken steps to preserve the franchise after he moves on? Maybe he has and this is his secret legacy to be revealed after he is gone?

Ralph was indeed very cheap in the 70's. The Ahmad Rashad situation after the 1976 season was proof of that. He wanted a $20,000 raise. OJ was upset as Rashad was one of his best friends on the team. That was a few years before Knox and Cousineau.

Adding in the fluff from that blowhard Fred Smerlas just makes it another "why did they hire Chan Gailey" piece, which has already been written a few dozen times. Sorry JW, nothing new here but you were fair in the assessment.