RJ (not THAT RJ)

Gosh Mister, thanks so much for settin' us all straight! I know that you will be all pleased an' proud when the team you allegedly cheer for stinks, so you can run around to all of us ig'nant fans all a-shoutin' an' a-pointin' an' a-sayin' "See, I was right to be gloomy i'm so frickin' smart an' prescient an' stuff!" And then we will all lift you onto our shoulders, praisin' your immense football knowledge.... I see the light now... we suck, and will always suck... I can start plannin' my Sundays differently...! Yay, hurray for Badolbilz.... [/sarcasm] Is that what you are looking for? Obviously you seem to think you are doing us all a favor with your reminders of gloom, not considering the possibility that many of us are going to wait until they actually play the games to write off the season.

Amen! I don't know if you are serious, but this is exactly what I think.

I bet his pants were on fire when the dancer started workin' it...

Ohhhh... I like it!

Oh you have the 80s covered... it's the late 60s and 70s you are missing... great names such as Dan Darragh, Kay Stephenson, Ed Rutkowski, Mike Taliaferro, Dennis Shaw, Gary Marangi... Or, in pre-Kemp days you could add Warren Rabb, Tommy Green, Richie Lucas.... Ah, memories.....

Glad to know someone else has a sense of humor about the endless recitation of obscure college player names... I have been curled up in my spider hole with every college media guide I could find, and think that the Bills would be dooooomed if they didn't draft the following players: Chukkin Muthafukkah QB Earhole State Holly Cowthatboyisquik RB NW Chinstrap Tech Gray Bigoload FB Harvard Trey Grand Avoirdupois OT Grenoble Augustus Gloop DT Friedrich-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and of course, everyone knows that no team would be complete without Slash McWidebody WR/OG/DE Coe College Go Bills!!

Babatunde Oshinowo? Please tell me you made that name up! If not, I demand the Bills draft him... I can hear the crowd chanting his name already... Babatunde.... Babatunde... Babatunde....

Amen, brother! Posts like these and others in this thread keep me from despairing completely about the Children's Crusade that is threatening to storm TSW..... Go Bills!

Clements man, that Tecmo screen shot avatar is, as the kids like to say, Da Bomb. I'll never forget the season I played where "QB Bills" had a 100% completion rating, and the Bills crushed everybody they played.... in between chapters of my dissertation. Ah memories...

I'm with you there.... Go Bills!

This question sums up a lot of the discussion on this board. Without criticizing anyone in particular (and certainly not 30 dive) I want to ask the board: Do you really think that Marv and the brain trust do not know that the O and D lines are important? Many posters want to suggest this, and I find that hard to believe, based both on the statements from Marv and generally because I do not think a single football-related thought expressed on this board (including this one) has not already been thought and thought by football professionals already. I am not preaching blind allegiance to the OBD brain trust, but really, does anyone actually believe that the reason the O-line has had problems is because no one has wanted to do anything about it? Could it be rather that building an O-line is not as easy as signing every available free agent, or even by drafting an O-lineman in every round? Look at the great O-lines in the league over the years; they are collected from a variety of big-name draftees, no-name late rounders, the occasional free agent (street or big name), mixed with intangibles such as good coaching and good fortune. Even with the most advanced scouting, there is no way to predict the future, which is why they play the games. Take a look at the line that protected Jim Kelly, for example, and tell me that it was obvious that every one of those guys was going to be great... My point? That every fan is entitled to be either gloomy or happy, but it is a waste of time and brain cells to assume that anyone on this board possesses the philosopher's stone, or that the people in the front office are somehow missing an obvious football truth.

It is funny, since the other owner to vote no was Mike Brown, who used to be a major whipping boy of the media when the Been-gals were awful, but now that Cincy is a media darling he is getting a free pass. Oh well, winning salves many a bruised ego. If the Bills want respect, they will have to earn it on the field, which is where it matters most. Go Bills!

I'm with you there. Ralph, like any CEO (or President of the USA) should be more careful in front of open mikes. Not many people are as good off the cuff as they think they are....

Bang is a genius... if only for the funniest two words in all of internet animation comedy: "Lance Pants!"

Good points, and I would add another: He knew the vote would be positive, but he and Brown decided to make a statement on behalf of small market teams. In any electoral process, it is quite possible to vote no but still be willing to accept the result, and it is also important to avoid unanimity, lest people forget that there are still contrasting opinions. The important thing is that the negotiations resulted in an agreement, and a catastrophe has been averted To my mind, the people who have their panties in a bunch over Ralph's comments and no vote are indulging in a favorite WNY pastime, snatching gloom from the jaws of relief. Go Bills!

Interesting write-up, but yet another alleged "expert" who does not know that the Bills drafted Everett last year to be their playmaking TE.

Interesting... it certainly provides further evidence for Jeff George's shortcomings....

Exactly. Vince Young is walking with a big flashing sign over his head: "NFL Bust.... GM Killer..." He is an amazing athlete, but his skill set right now (delivery, ability to stand in the pocket) means he is far from being ready to be an NFL QB.

Glad to know we are on the same page... Sorry for the misunderstanding. Go Bills!

Not sure if you are serious... but yes, in a way. Switzer won with the team of HOFers he inherited, then succeeded in running the team into the ground. So much for the genius of Norman!

An excellent point, Lori. JJ was a very good coach who enjoyed great players at Miami U thanks to the iniquities of college drafting, and at Dallas thanks to the Walker trade and the bonanza of good young players that emerged from subsequent drafts. Sure, a worse coach might have done less, but it is nonetheless important to remember, as you point out, that a transferable football (or sports) brilliance separate from specific circumstances is so rare as to be virtually non-existent, even as desperate teams look to hire former geniuses to rebuild their programs.

All good points, but I still think the parallel is worth considering. Not because I am saying that Buffalo made a mistake letting either man go (Bowman was not as good a GM as he thought; his later success came with him mostly just behind the bench again, and TD took too many risks that did not pan out), but rather because I think both cases show that there is no such thing in sports as a "genius guarantee." Success in one place, even over time, is a sign that a person has skills, and also had some good fortune. (Jiri Dudacek might have been Alexander Mogilny avant la lettre, for example, but in 1981 the iron curtain was less permeable; Mike Williams looked good on paper, but was really the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man). Thus, hiring the "big name" guarantees nothing but a few years of "wait, wait, he has earned our patience..." Sometimes it works out, more often it does not. I have another metaphor for you all: The Bill Parcells Curve of Diminishing Returns, viz: Giants: 2 Super Bowl Championships Patriots: 1 Super Bowl visit, no championships Jets: No Super Bowl visits, 1 Conference Championship game Cowgirls (thus far): No championship game visits, 1 Playoff appearance, Is Parcells a good coach? Certainly. An excellent football mind? I will grudgingly agree. But he also benefited from having a few great players at the right time (LT, for one) and also had the cards fall for him at the right time (who knew Hostetler would hold onto the ball in the end zone, or that Stephen Baker would become Mr. Untackle-able?). In later jobs, a little less fortuna with the draft or in certain games, and the results have declined. I figure if he leaves Dallas in a few years (with no more playoff visits if the pattern holds), the next team to hire Parcells has a good chance of one over-.500 season.... One could conduct a similar study on Jimmy Johnson, whose genius quotient dropped quite a bit when he was no longer coaching Aikman, Irvin, and Smith... but I do not want to wander in to Pyrite-iana with lengthy posts. [Disclaimer: I am a historian, so this is not a prediction of the future, but an analysis of the past that should help students understand the present and possibilities for the future.] Go Bills!

Oooohhh big honest man. I'm so scared! Seriously, give us all a break with the "Only I see the reality" BS. Yes, the Bills have problems, but no one knows exactly how things will turn out next year. No one. If so, why not live in hope? Or is it really so much more fun to choose to be gloomy?

Two words people: Scotty Bowman. Donohoe fits the profile... big name guy with lots of national success comes to Buffalo, out-thinks himself, leaves with tail between his legs. Marv was the mirror image: weak national image, he rose to the occasion as coach. Maybe he can do it again?

Well put! At least you know that your tuition dollars were well spent!