Lori

Exactly. The CFL and NFL rules are so different, there's no valid basis for comparison. That came directly from Joe Horrigan at the HoF, when the question was raised in regards to Flutie. Besides, the CFL has its own Hall of Fame. Monk and Reed had comparable careers - great stats, but never known as "THE" stud WR of his era. Why is Monk on the lists this year, and not Reed? Seniority - Monk's already spent a good amount of time in the Canton waiting room. FYI: Steve Largent (who retired with the all-time receptions record) and Paul Warfield are the ONLY two modern-era WRs to make it on the first ballot. Dug this up from the archives: Post-WW II Hall of Fame WRs One further note: if the national voters aren't worried about Irvin's rap sheet, then Andre throwing his helmet isn't going to make a difference one way or the other. As I've said previously - he doesn't have an image problem outside WNY, and he'll make it (or not) based on his stats, not his attitude.

Ease up on Mark. Since Ralph didn't make the top 15, Gaughan doesn't even get the chance to make a presentation. He - and Felser before him - have done their best in previous years, but there are quite a few voters out there who don't believe in inducting non-players. John Madden is the only non-player on this year's finalists list, and even that wouldn't have happened without the Seniors Committee...

You really do have to see it to get the full effect. It starts with the family in their gloomy living room, the only light coming from the TV. When the Bills return the fumble, all of a sudden the room brightens, and even Grandma is dancing on the seat of her scooter. Cut to an outside shot - the sun comes out, the grass turns green, the flowers bloom... ...and then, as the announcer starts into the "wait-he stepped out of bounds" part, the sky clouds over, the flowers wilt, and a car crashes into the fire hydrant down the street. Cut back inside to the family as the light darkens, Grandma leaves the room, the son hides his face in the couch again, and Dad sinks deeper into the La-Z-Boy... Sounds a lot like this place lately. Yet still, we believe...

(boldtype added for emphasis) Ah... now we're getting to the REAL issue.... I'm still convinced Mularkey wants to run the ball; he's just lost faith in the line's ability to do so when needed. Just my opinion...

Jets need starters on offense more than they need depth on defense. Fabini's their LT if his knee is OK going into next season, but that's a big if. And they don't know WHAT they have at QB... or RB... or a couple of other positions on their aging line.

No surprise - Lord knows the Giants need a LOT of secondary help right now. (Well, not exactly right now; the performance of their defense on Sunday helped take care of that. You know what I meant, though.....) Agreed.

Be careful what you wish for..... Just my opinion, but I still prefer the guy whose offensive innovations included the 'sugar huddle' -- which spawned the modern use of the no-huddle offense (including the Bills' K-Gun) for something besides the two-minute-drill -- over a guy who, to the best of my knowledge, has never called a play in an NFL game. But as you pointed out last night, it's probably a moot point anyhow. Grimm's a good bet to get a HC job somewhere, and Wyche's cardiomyopathy -- he's got a pacemaker, you know -- would likely preclude him from taking a job any more stressful than the one he already has. (In response to another name mentioned in this thread: rumors have Heimerdinger reconnecting with Mike Shanahan out in Denver; he'll need a new OC after Gary Kubiak leaves for the HC job in Houston.)

Three seasons, 17 starts. Oh, waitaminute - that's how long his total career in Buffalo was, not how long before the 'bust' label appeared...

Jeez, ya got me there. One played for Joe Gibbs, and the other one was Joe Montana's position coach. That sounds roughly equal. But as much fun as this may be, I've got to cut it short for tonight. I'll be back in the morning, though, just to make sure you haven't gotten the last word...

Didja ever watch some of those Lions O-lines Sanders DID run behind? And yet, he still managed a career 5.0 yards/carry average...

Well, if you want to get really technical, I could include Wyche's assistant-coaching experience prior to his first HC job. You remember, don't you? The four years he spent (1979-82) as QB coach/passing-game director for Bill Walsh's first Super Bowl team in San Francisco? With all other things being equal -- in other words, if Wyche's health enabled him to consider the job -- I think I'd sooner roll the dice with someone who has an NFL Coach of the Year plaque hanging on his office wall. But then, that's just me...

When I read your post title, I thought "why the %$&! would I want to read anything about THEM?!?" But you're right - that was an instant classic. Thanks for posting it.

...for two of the worst ownership/management groups in league history. Don't forget that part. In his eight years in Cincy, Wyche had three losing seasons, two at .500, three winning seasons. Anyone care to guess when their next winning season was after he left in 1991? (Here's a hint: it ended yesterday.) As for Tampa, the Bucs went 7-9 in 1995, his last season there. Nothing spectacular... until you realize that was the first time they'd lost fewer than 10 games in a season since 1982.

I'm guessing it won't be with Cottrell, but would a shift to the 3-4 honestly surprise you? Think about it - it's what the Steelers ran when Mularkey was there, and I believe every one of Marv's DCs was also a 3-4 guy. Not saying it definitely will happen, or should happen - you're absolutely correct that the Bills have spent the last five seasons drafting/signing players for the 4-3. Just don't be too shocked if it DOES happen...

You mean, other than coach the '88 Bengals to the Super Bowl? (umm.. you were being sarcastic, right?) Of course, you're correct about the last bit - can't see his docs letting Wyche do anything more strenuous than the job he's got now.

In other words, you don't like the way the QB rating stat is compiled. Me neither, if that wasn't clear from the first post...

Kids picking on other kids is one thing. Teachers doing so is an entirely different can o' worms. Just my opinion...

And they both pale in comparison to the rating ##s RJ used to put up. In fact, Rob Johnson's career QB rating in Buffalo (85.5) is higher than Doug Flutie's, Drew Bledsoe's, and Jim Kelly's. The numbers never lie... but sometimes they don't tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, either....

One hopes that remark was made by a soon-to-be-EX-substitute teacher. No class should = no more classes.

oooh - shiny..... (Seriously, though, we'll see if that still applies After Donahoe and his plethora of crowd-pleasing P.R. moves. Okay, so we started the season with Greg friggin' Jerman as our #3 OT... but hey, aren't those throwback jerseys gorgeous? "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" ...)

Approximately 7,000 fewer seats to sell per game. Because of the trouble you mentioned with selling out an 80,000-seat stadium during the Super Bowl run, they didn't think twice about ripping out lower-bowl seats to add more suites. Every single game during that era would have sold out easily in the stadium's current configuration. So instead of selling upwards of 80,000 tickets far more often than not, the Bills are now marketing the heck out of the team merely to reach 73,000 on a consistent basis. Not by me, you weren't. Both you and the guy you were responding to can choose to spend (or not spend) your money however you darn well please. I was just pointing out that the line of replacements eager to "jump at the chance to spend money on the Bills" may not be quite as long as you might think... especially after a 5-11 season. Hey, whatever.

Me? Eloquent? Surely you jest. Wowie, we even get a first-round pick! Too bad I don't rate an invite to that soiree. (Hafta see if I can swipe one of my stepdad's tix for this year's, maybe...)

Not necessarily true. If it were, we wouldn't be worrying about whether or not the games sell out from week to week. And the guy in charge of boosting the season-ticket base 10,000 seats in the last five years just left town, if I heard right. (To the original post: yeah, I'm still enough of a 'fan' to enjoy those calls too. When I saw the number flash on the callerID, I figured that's what it had to be...)

Thanks for saving me the trouble. I like Sam, but 3-4 NT wouldn't seem to be his normal position.

Free-agent LBs can be found. Bigger problem might be, the Bills have been drafting 4-3 linemen for the last five years... not sure how many of them would be a good fit. Justin Bannan - the second coming of Jeff Wright? Yikes.