CosmicBills

I love the picture of Kathy Bates ... she's going to be great as the new "Jan/David Wallace"

Prayers are with you, buddy. Glad to hear there has been some good progress today, that's a relief. Get better!

Yes. And it's an apt comparison. Hansbrough was a superstar talent (in college) on a national title winning team. Everyone loved his heart, his leadership, his durability, his intangibles. No one really talked much about his actual game. Because, his actual game wasn't that great. It was average. His heart and desire (as well as playing on a STACKED team) made up for the lack of basketball skill. Tebow was a superstar talent (in college) on a national title winning team. Everyone loves his heart, his leadership, his durability, his intangibles. No one really talks much about his actual game. Because his actual game isn't that great. It's average (or worse). His heart and desire (as well as playing on a STACKED team) made up for the lack of QB skill. All the Hansbrough supporters (and there were many) said prior to the draft that his lack of true basketball skill, his limited speed and suspect athleticism would be overcome by his leadership, his heart and his desire. So far, that hasn't been close to the case. All the Tebow supporters (and there are many) say that his poor throwing motion, his lack of playing in a pro style offense, his inability to read defenses and his so-so arm will be overcome by his leadership, his heart and his desire. See a pattern?

... And Tyler Hansbrough was a basketball player. Now he's a scrub on the Pacer's bench. THE PACER'S BENCH. Yeah. He's that bad. I said it in an earlier Tebow thread, Hansbrough is the best comparison for Tebow out there. He was a hell of a COLLEGE basketball player (player of the year). The media loved him, UNC fans adored him, he also had his share of haters. Like Tebow, he also played on a stacked team. And yet, despite his heart (and he has heart), despite him being a "basketball player", he is nothing but a scrub who comes off the bench for one of the worst teams in the NBA. Yeah. Tebow is going to end up just like that. Watch.

It's easy to look great when you play on a stocked team, for a game-changing coach, and rarely have to face competition as good as your team or better. It's VERY easy to be a leader and show heart when you win 99.99% of the time. I'm so tired of all this Tebow ballwashing. It's absurd. Even for TSW.

See ... you've just stated the biggest problem with Tebow. It's the tendency to lean on hyperbole when discussing the kid. You really have "never seen another athlete, pro or college, who is so revered by his teammates, coaches and fans"? Really? Because just off the top of my head I could name ten: Joe Montana Michael Jordan Derek Jeter Peyton Manning Jim Kelly Walter Payton Emmit Smith Mariano Rivera Magic Johnson John Elway Everyone of those guys were beloved by their teammates, fans, opponents, and coaches (or still are). All are Hall of Famers (or will be). A guy Tebow better compares to is Tyler Hansbrough. One of the greatest college basketball players in the past 10 years. Beloved by UNC, hated by everyone else. National Player of the year (twice I think?). And now? He's a scrub on the Pacer's bench. So, forget the hyperbole.

Just curious ... who exactly do you think he ran off?

You can't hate the guy for saying this. He got the shaft from the front office while he was here. Don't get me wrong, Gregg dug his own grave in many ways (airhorns and the like), but he was just not ready to be a HC quite yet. I know I'm not alone, but I've always thought he'd be a great HC down the line some day in his second go-around. I really believe that. And I don't take that as a dig against Buffalo at all. It IS cold up there. And we've gone 10 years without a playoff birth. Now he's in New Orleans and playing in the Super Bowl. He's not taking the piss. He's just stating facts. If anything, it's a slight at the organization, not the town.

The logic is that St. Louis won't pick a QB -- which I agree with. Suh is too good to pass up. They will take him, meaning one of the top 2 QBs will slip. That doesn't mean that he will slip all the way to 9 though. I think there's a very good chance that someone jumps ahead of Buffalo (but behind Washington) to snag whichever QB the 'skins don't take. I am by no means a draft expert, and I'd listen to Astro and others way before me on this subject, but I'd say the Bills have a decent chance of having either JC or SB fall to them at nine. Let's call it 45%.

Was the ghost a hamster? Possibly addicted to silica?

Oh, absolutely. I'm not saying a turnaround is impossible -- even a quick one. Lord knows that's what I'm hoping for. I just don't think it's possible until the front office takes an honest look at the state of the team. Which, I'm hoping Buddy Nix does but the fact that he was an in-house hire doesn't fill me with confidence.

Joe, I love ya, but this is the kind of thinking that has doomed the Bills for the past decade. You sound just like Ralph Wilson ... "We were close! We don't need any changes, just some better bounces." Yikes. This is the type of thinking that leads to hiring Dick Juaron AND retaining him despite an epic collapse after a 5-1 start. It's the kind of thinking that leads the hiring of Gregg Williams, Mike Mularky, Marv Levy as GM. All medicore coaching hires who were allowed to stay for far too long because "we're so close to being relevant". It's the kind of thinking that leads to sticking with Rob Johnson, Drew Bledsoe, JP Lossman, Trent Edwards, and Ryan Fitzpatrick as STARTING QBs for far too long because, "they ALMOST win games". As several other posters have already pointed out, this revisionist analysis of those 4 games is not just inaccurate, it's crippling to the team. Grant it, I'm exaggerating as it isn't crippling for fans to feel this way per say ... but it's clear the front office and Ralph Wilson DO feel this way and it's taken this once proud franchise and turned it into a cellar dweller. It would be one thing if it was a one year phenomenon. But it's been TEN YEARS of the same thing ... "ALMOST winning games". Ten years of saying the same thing. Ten years!!! TEN! At some point you have to stop looking at the team with that crippling outlook and take a REALISTIC view of them. The only way for the Bills to turn it around is to understand how bad they've become. Here are the highlights: 1. They have not had an elite QB, or even a winning QB, since Kelly retired with the possible exception of the Drew Bledsoe experiment. Right now, they don't have a starting NFL QB on the roster. Not one. 2. They have perhaps the worst offensive line in the entire league. Certainly the worst LT depth and one of the worst RT rotations. There is some hope with Levitre and Wood. But you can't win without a good offensive line. Period. 3. They have the worst LB corps in the entire league. When he was starting, Ellison was the WORST starting LB in the NFL. Maybe in the history of the NFL. Yet fans and the front office proclaim him to be good. 4. They only have one bonafide pass rusher on the roster, and he may retire this year. Those are four HUGE holes. And we haven't even talked about the coaching and front office. So, say what you want about how the Bills are 2-2 against the final four this year, but I think we both know that's not saying much. The Bills aren't close to competing for the wild card, let alone the AFC East. It's time for people to stop making excuses or playing the "what if" game and get real about the state of this team.

Actually, Wilson (and by extension you) are misinterpreting that quote. When Gailey said that he was referring to the Offensive Coordinator position. I forget the direct question asked by the reporter, but it was something along the lines of, "If you're going to be calling the plays how do you expect to hire a big named offensive coordinator to just hold a clip board" ... That's who Gailey is referring to in that quote -- the Offensive Coordinator. And that makes sense since Gailey will be performing that duty for the team as well as being the HC. He did NOT say, nor even imply, that the Bills were going to hire an unknown to be the Defensive Coordinator.

I didn't see this posted anywhere, forgive me if I missed it. King isn't a fan of the hire (shocker!) ... The only thing that concerns me, because I don't know much about Chan, is this quote: "The Cowboy incumbents hate Gailey's more conservative offense that he installed post-Switzer in 1998. If it was too conservative then, what is it with the widespread spread offenses 12 years later?"

Thanks for the good wishes all! ... Maybe it's good luck that Chan was hired on my birthday? ... a guy can dream, can't he?

... Because the special teams weren't that special this past season.

I thought it was funny ... and I'm sad to admit that when I read the first paragraph I panicked thinking it might be a real article.

The behind the scenes dirt on the original Leno/Conan move is this ... When Conan signed his latest contract he had a provision put in (based on Leno's decision to retire) that he would have to be given the Tonight Show by 2009 or NBC would have to pay a $50 million dollar penalty and buy Conan out. The network, not wanting to lose Conan to Fox or ABC, forced Leno out (who changed his mind about retiring at the 11th hour) to avoid paying the buyout fee. But then, Leno started taking offers from ABC and Fox to host a new late night show at ... 11:35. NBC decided to give Jay a prime time slot to keep him off the competitor's payroll and sacrificed a butt load of new pilots slated for 10pm (which, pissed off a lot of show runners in town). Now, Leno's show is getting horrible (and deserved) ratings, so the network is scrambling. They can bring Leno back (their ratings golden boy) and strong arm Conan out WITHOUT having to pay the $50 million buyout fee. So, to Conan's people and a lot of industry insiders, this looks like more of a calculated move by NBC to keep Leno at 11:35 without having to pay Conan -- and try to force him back to 12:05.

The whole situation with Leno's craptastic 11pm show has blown up in NBC's face, and now in an effort to appease Leno, they are proposing moving the Tonight Show back to 12:05 and letting Leno do his "comedy" show at 11:35. Ugh. Here's Conan's response: People of Earth: In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision. Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both. But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule. Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy. So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more. There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work. Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way. Yours, Conan Full Variety article here: http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801364...sp&nid=2854

Ugh

Come on, Pack! Get us that Russ Grimm interview!!!!

Holy cow. That was AWFUL. Arizona deserves to lose.

Oher still bugs me. Ngata too, but not as much.

The Bills traded up to grab JP in 04. Had they not taken JP in '04, the Bills would have been in position to draft Rodgers the following year. I made a post way back then that JP will be linked to Rodgers. Sadly, it hasn't turned out as we all hoped.

Right now, my list (in order of preference) would be ... 1a. Jason Garrett 1b. Russ Grimm 2. B-Shot 3. Fraizer 4. Rivera That said, I think there is a 0% chance the Bills can lure Garrett away from Dallas. I think Grimm would be a perfect fit in Buffalo as he would at the very least help rebuild the lines, but his name hasn't really been floated around too much in the papers (that I've seen at least) so I'm not sure how realistic of a candidate he is. B-Shot is a guy I'm starting to like more and more as I read up on him, but I really don't know too much other than his lineage and he is good with QBs. But having a QB mentor would be important if indeed the Bills grab a franchise QB in this draft or the next (which I think they'll have to). Fraizer scares me because of the Tampa 2 and the soft disposition he appears to have. He's respected -- but so was Jauron. Maybe I'm being gunshy since it's entirely unfair to compare him to DJ -- but the similarities are a bit frightening. Rivera is a dark horse for me as I always respected his defensive mind but he hasn't been able to nail down a HC job yet which makes me wonder what the rest of the league knows that we don't.