Lori

Age: 40. Fan since: 1986, although I went to several games before that. Outlook: Resigned to mediocrity. I feel your pain, Dave, and I think there were two components in the "something" you mentioned. The second-half swoon was bad enough on its own, but seeing the Bills play a "home" game in Toronto brought home the reality that the team might not always be here. That made for a lethal combination.

By the way, that was another unattributed cut-and-paste (this time from Sully's latest column), not Skoob's personal opinion. Here's an alternative view from a friend:

No. 46, one of my favorite players back when I was still a Raiders fan. (Don't ask.) Todd Christensen

Yeah. Darian Barnes and Corey McIntyre. They also talked to TEs Ben Troupe and Alge Crumpler, but ended up signing the dangerous downfield duo of Courtney Anderson and Teyo Johnson instead. sigh ...

You assume those players would draw the same paycheck in a different city. Not sure anyone else was lining up to give Dockery (for example) the contract he signed here ...

http://gizmodo.com/5121822/official-fix-for-the-zune-30-fail Better get a new one before Dec. 31, 2012, though.

Better bounces? Good coaches prepare their teams well enough that they don't have to count on "better bounces." And weren't you the one who wanted MadMikeMartz? Yeah, there's a plan.

And probably by the author of said article, who happens to be a longtime member here ...

No, now he's a second-year player who didn't show much as a rookie, AND he's coming back from a late-season ACL tear. I repeat: Great ....

Now, see, I'll go at that from a different direction. Give me a No. 2 WR to take some heat off Evans -- Hardy doesn't count, because Eddie Royal and Marques Colston are the exception to the rule where rookie WRs are concerned -- and a legitimate NFL-quality TE for the first time in forever, and Turk automagically becomes a better OC. So it's New Year's Eve, and we're already looking forward to free agency and the draft. Again. Great ...

I think the residual discontent over the Toronto deal has to be a contributing factor. Ralph has made noises about looking elsewhere before, but actually taking two games north of the border was concrete evidence that the franchise's future in WNY might not be all that stable. Add that to the longest playoff drought in team history, and it's no wonder people are feeling a sense of detachment ... or worse, outright anger.

That's essentially what I said in response to Gerry's column, and it worries me. If people don't care about the game itself, how many of them will still come?

I don't personally fault him for his performance in the media room, because I'm not in there and don't have to deal with him. (The day I get a credential at RWS, you'll know they've really lowered their standards for access.) I do think, however, that his demeanor signals an unwillingness to bear down on his players when necessary. Who knows, maybe I'm reading too much into it, and he cracks a whip with the best of them during practice ... but I doubt it. There seems to be no accountability for errors in this organization. Just my opinion ...

I'm not sure about that myself, although one of his blog posts did suggest a new "sense of urgency" among the players and coaches. (Gee ... that's something they could have used in their two-minute drill this season, no?)

Pennington was a massive upgrade, to be sure, although some here mocked that possibility when he first went to Miami. But there was also an overhaul in the team's philosophy from Cameron to Sparano. Not only did TS reverse some questionable decisions by the previous regime (playing Joey Porter over the TE?), he let the players know that if they didn't perform, he'd find someone who would. That would be a refreshing change here, where Jauron's "well, we'd rather be 12-0, but we're not, oh well, maybe next week" postgame pressers have become a running joke. You know, I'd be all right with this move, but for one thing: I'm damn sick and tired of the completely inexplicable gameday breakdowns on the Bills' sideline. Is competence too much to ask for?

April has the Assistant Head Coach title here. He can't make a lateral or downward move.

If you knew Sal, and it's obvious you don't, you'd realize just how far off the mark your analysis is. But, whatever ...

He's been stating his case against Jauron, both in public and in private, for a while now. November 21: November 18:

As I told him a couple of weeks ago, I'm glad the D&C and BuffNews are both letting their beat guys blog. It's good to finally know what the reporters closest to the team really think about what they're seeing, unconstrained by the boundaries of their normal job descriptions. Wilson and Gaughan have both uncorked some strong opinions in their recent live chats, as well. That's one line (the division between reporting and commentary) I don't mind seeing blur a little.

Yup. In fact, I'm not on the "all about the contract extension" bandwagon. I truly believe that at his age, Ralph just doesn't want to deal with the thought of starting over yet again. And how predictable: Adam thinks that yet another writer is an idiot.

Are You Pumped For Year Four of Jauron? Plenty more where that came from, if you haven't been reading "Ebenezer's" blog this season ...

Good stuff, Tony. I was waiting for that, after reading a couple of your posts last night.

When I talked to John Guy in November 2007, he said that while he and the player personnel dept. are responsible for bringing players in, Jauron and the coaching staff make the decisions on who to sign. This couldn't have been more evident than in the Teddy Lehman fiasco. We talked about his long history of injuries when the Bills first signed him, but he played for Jauron in Detroit, so in he came ... only to appear on the injury report in four out of seven games, missing two of them.

Bastard. That thought just made me punch my monitor.

And with that post, you just moved closer to taking a vacation from this private forum. We follow our own Terms of Service here, not the First Amendment, and we don't look kindly upon people who threaten other posters. In fact, this entire thread has become a case study in fail. We're done here.