Cotton Fitzsimmons

Rex: "Now make sure you get a close up of those feet now!"

Did anyone else see this during the Jets/Pats* game on Sunday? http://www.thebillsblog.com/2011/10/new-york-jets-spygate-part-2.html What do you guys think they were up to? They obviously weren't trying to hide the camera, but wouldn't this be violation of NFL policy (ie Spygate all over again)? It wouldn't be beyond the Jets to do something unsavory... recall the sideline trip on that kick return from a year or two ago?

Tim Graham was just on with Howard Simon and said that about 4 years ago, the late "Hockey" Jim Kelley, had a conversation where Kelley had told him that he had heard from a very reliable source that Gillett was interested in buying the Bills. Interesting to say the least. However, given this guy's past financial failures on and off the sports field, I'm not sure he would be accepted by the league. The more I read about this guy, the worse he sounds.

I would hope so... I think a majority here thought he was going to make the squad. He played very well in preseason. I was hoping he and Naaman both would be on the squad. But they opted for Ruvy Martin instead.

I'm really disappointed in this tease from Buffalo Rising. First they say a current NHL owner was at the game. That led to the speculation about cross ownership issues and neutral territories. As it turns out that tweet was completely inaccurate as Gillett is not a current NHL owner. But, this article as a whole is just centered around tweets (ie Chad Kelly) that have already been analyzed to death. Also they add this, which smacks of George Seifert all over again: "Now, in addition to multiple sources telling us George Gillett was at the Ralph this past weekend, we've also looked into private aircraft travel into and out of Buffalo. On October 8, a Raytheon Hawker 800 departed the private air terminal in Denver, Colorado and landed at Prior Aviation at 12:48pm." From what I've read of Gillett I'm not too encouraged, if this is the case. What say you, gents?

I'm a little confused by some of the analysis you guys are posting about this game. I'm not saying this game will be easy by any stretch and we may very well lose. But that said, that Giants have not been running the ball well at all, and quite frankly the Bills have defended the run well. As far as Fitz being a sitting duck... that hasn't been the case all season. He's been sacked 3 times I believe all year. Those aspects I'm not all that worried about.

Apparently not Pegula either though. Here's the series of Tweets that started this whole firestorm of rumors (this rules out Pegula, Jacobs, and Gillett... who else would have connections to Buffalo and/or would Jim know?): @BuffaloRising Buffalo Rising A current NHL owner was at the Ralph yesterday with the Kelly family. And he reportedly met with Roger Goodell. More to come tomorrow. . . @BuffaloRising Buffalo Rising @DeuxMontagnes @lobiancg @buffalothreads Not Jeremy Jacobs @BuffaloRising Buffalo Rising @Tom_Elling NHL owner does not reference Terry Pegula. More details tomorrow. . .

Here's what I'm not understanding. The rumors are that a "current" NHL owner is the mystery man in question, correct? Gillett sold the Habs in '09, so he wouldn't fit this description.

This is really a major misconception. You say we are "eking out 4-12 season after 4-12 season" and squandering choice draft position, whereas Detroit is benefiting from this now. Counting this season (I'm assuming we'll end up with more than 4 wins this year), we've had only 2 seasons in the last 25 years where we finished with 4 or fewer wins. In fact, during this era of bad football since the playoff drought started, the Bills have averaged 6.4 wins per season. The difference between 3 and 4 wins and 6 or 7 wins is several draft slots. Conversely, when you take a team like the Lions, they've finished with 4 or fewer wins 7 times in the last 25 years. During the last 10 seasons while the Bills averaged 6.4 wins per season, the Lions have averaged 4.4 wins per season. The truth is the Bills have been mediocre for a very long time and have not really bottomed out. To some extent, that can lend credence to your point in that if the Bills did bottom out and have some 2 and 3 wins seasons they would be able to stack some top 5 draft picks together. However, on the flip side, when you're at 6-7 wins, you're not that far off and if you can flip 3 games that were losses you can get into the playoffs; especially if you're losing close games. Some teams don't have to bottom out, and I would prefer not to. I think this team is on the way up and will be a playoff team this year.

http://tdotsports1.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/250px-flutieflakes1.jpg

If the NFL were to reverse its policy to allow teams to offer public stock again, it would be a tremendous opportunity for a team like the Bills. YE OLE would be ready to pony up... make book on that, gents!

Indeed... that was the "25 million reasons to live" fiasco, was it not?

Mark it down, gents. This point henceforth... Von Miller is no longer to be considered "THE WHIP"

Agreed. This will change if the Bills continue to win. Later in the year, if they're duking it out with New England for the division they'll likely get flexed into some prime time games even. Bad coverage is the just the nature of being irrelevant to the playoff landscape for so long.

I didn't think they were overly biased. However, I did think their coverage was awful. Wrong names, the aforementioned random tangents that had nothing to do with play on the field, general discombobulation, etc. It was by far the worst coverage of a Bills game this year.

Offense MUST produce here. A nice long TD drive can put this thing away.

Ralph must be dealing with DHGate now to save money... what was that all about? That thing just shredded.

Scrappy, my good man, you commentary is sad, but true. Although this week they should gear toward containment vs. pinning their ears back against Vick.

Not very... If they don't get something going against the Patriots this week "Sexy Rexy" is going to start feeling the heat. Perhaps they were overhyped to begin with? They've made runs in the playoffs, but haven't won a lot of games the last couple of years. But as Green Bay proved last year, you can back in to the playoffs and go all the way if you get hot at the right time.

YE OLE concurs... awesome way to celebrate your Anniversary! You sir are THE WHIP!

We knew the media would start jumping off in droves at the first loss. This gem Cowherd put out on Twitter was amongst YE OLE's favorite barbs thrown at us: @ESPN_Colin Colin Cowherd Where did all the buffalo Bills fans go? Goggle the next eight games for Buffalo. 5-7 is just around the corner. 2 Oct via web Hopefully Chan and the boys "Goggle" the next eight games... DOOOOOOOMED!!!!

I think you hit the nail on the head here. By all accounts it appeared to be a good catch. It was initially ruled a catch until the back judge runs in and then there appears to be a mini conference of sorts. It would've been appropriate at that juncture for the Referee to explain what was discussed (ie "process of the catch" BS or whatever the explanation was going to be). It just wasn't clear why the back judge farthest from the play seemingly ruled it differently than the officials closer to said play. Then, even if the review wasn't conclusive, some explanation should have been given, just given the nature of the play. I've rarely, if ever, seen a crew so tight lipped about what was such a critical call in the game.

I think that's what gets so complex with these modern offensive schemes. One code word can mean x-number of things depending on what the defense is doing. The whole offensive has to be on the same page to make it click. I think that's why there's such a premium on smart players, especially at QB, who read defense quickly and efficiently vs. the old strong armed, drop back and chuck it types.

This is what sticks in my craw about this whole deal. The ref that was on top of the play called it a good catch, and the rest of the crew seemed on board with that. It wasn't until the back judge way down field comes running in and says NO CATCH. Now what did he see? These images don't show the ball coming loose.

These still frames of Stevie's catch were brought to YE OLE's attention... what do you guys think? http://www.thebillsblog.com/2011/10/stevie-johnson-catch-vs-bengals.html Just as a side note... it should have never come down to this one call. The Bills lost this game on several other levels. It's simply a closer look at this call, that was indeed pivotal in the game.