BuffaloWings

I missed something....what's wrong with McKee?

Congrats on the bundle of joy! Considering the time he was born, he might be a sign that good things are happening. But I have to burst your bubble...the new logo (since the Sabres have been wearing it) is indeed 1-1 in Game 7s, but I believe the one they won was at home vs. Ottawa in 1997. The other Game 7 was the loss at home vs Pittsburgh in 2001.

Theismann is still (and always will be) a dweeb....however, I agree with him to an extent. I don't see how anyone should be given more than a couple of chances, especially Ricky. He made his own bed by dumping his teammates for his love of pot, then getting himself into serious debt. If he doesn't want to play football, then fine - figure out a way to pay back the debts. He shouldn't come back and give a half-assed effort at the expense of the league and its fans...no matter what team he plays for. Theismann didn't have to go all out and claim Ricky was a disgrace to the game, but his point that he doesn't need another chance is probably right on.

Wide Right was just bad luck. 'No goal', 'Just give it to him', the goal in Philly that went *through* the netting, and the official getting in the way of Andre Reed in Miami all were Buffalo getting the shaft by the refs. So, there's more history of getting screwed than just bad luck at the worst possible time. That said, I'm still positive and confident about Game 7. The Sabres have been coming from behind all year long and playing like a team should play - together. I have every reason to believe they can win tomorrow night.

I was torn between tagging/trading Peerless and drafting McGee, but I'd have to say McGee right now. So far, he's earned his worth as a KR and is getting better as a CB. The #1 pick we got for Peerless (McGahee) is right up there, but I'm not so sure of Willis as a mature player just yet. I'll give him 2006 to really judge him, but I have a feeling he won't be in Buffalo once his contract is up.

At the time, I don't think that hiring GW was such a horrible move. Yes, Fox and Lewis were the "hot" coordinators, but I heard that Lewis had zero interest in Buffalo and there were too many players for Fox to outbid Buffalo. At the very least, TD was the only GM who waited until Fox and Lewis were available after the Superbowl. It was probably an "interesting" choice at the time, since not many people outside of the inner NFL circle knew of GGW. Hindsight says that he's a *good* coach and will probably learn from his Buffalo mistakes and make a good HC when the time comes. I think the worst move (of the given choices) was not signing Pat Williams. He was already an established DT who - with Sam Adams - was great in stopping the run. This was well-known throughout the NFL and TD still let him go. There's one thing to be said for giving the draft picks a chance and saving cap money, but Pat was still young and is still playing well. TD should have forked over the cash and kept him.

I don't know if we should worry an awful lot about veterans missing minicamps in May. The minicamps should really do no more than evaluate the newcomers and where they'll fit and allow the coaches to start working on the overall plan of the team. Yes, it would be great if *everyone* was there, but that's just a bonus in my mind. As long as there is continual contact between the players and coaches, I think it's ok to miss a minicamp or two. Hell, they have about 10 or so between March and July, anyway. That said, all of the players really should get together...and fast. There's a lot of work to do to turn around this crappy 5-11 team and having Willis and anyone else do their own thing doesn't really help. I also took DJ's comments as him being annoyed that everyone wasn't there and I don't blame him. If I were him, I'd tell everyone to get your a$$ up to Buffalo if you want to play in September.

I completely agree about Primetime...especially how the highlights of each game changed dramatically over the years. The year they went to a 30-minute show, they condensed the highlights to get all the games in. The NFL then let them start the games at 8:30 (to accommodate an hour-long Primetime), but the highlights were still as condensed and not nearly as thorough. It seems as if the "lesser important" games got the least attention. The biggest problem with ESPN as I see it now is how they really just talk about and show highlights of the sports they cover (NBA, MLB) and give less attention to things like the NHL. This was no more evident than last night during the 11:00 Sportscenter...baseball for about 20 minutes - including idiotic stories about Barry Bonds *not* playing - until the Mavs-Suns game ended, then extended highlights of that, then to the post-game press conference in Dallas, then I turned off the tv. All I wanted was the Sabres-Hurricanes highlights so I could go to sleep. Unfortunately, it's all about what they think the majority of the public wants - and that's still basketball. They don't worry about losing 100,000 people on a night to keep 1 million. I'm with Kelly...I do love how ESPN exists, but if they really are the worldwide leader in sports (as they have always claimed), they'd give a little more focus to intense, exciting playoff games than a story about how a steroid-laden baseball player sat out of a game.

Tallinder has probably been the best player since the beginning of the Ottawa series. Losing him AND Teppo hurts...if they had just lost one of the two, it would be more tolerable. I thought Jillson played well last night and likely earned some more shifts, so I'm not worried just yet. But I'd really like to have Teppo or Tallinder playing tomorrow night.

This is the type of thing that Marv is looking for - not someone who will claim he's a "lockdown corner" (I hate that term) then get toasted more than a marshmallow at a campfire.

Nor did he think a QB was necessary. Leo hit the nail on the head talking about the Bears 1999 team - bad offense, but the defense wasn't letting anyone past the line of scrimmage. The Bills have enough to work with on offense (though I'm still concerned about the OL), so it was time to get the defense in order.

That's probably a bad example....I mean, look who's running the Lions. That said, everyone will get crap if Leinart gets to Pro Bowl form by his second season. It'll be all over ESPN how Detroit, Buffalo, the Jets, et al, passed on him.

The two words I'm most sick of..... Mel Kiper

That's a good point - he's like Thurman in that he can catch the ball, adding to his value. I didn't see him enough to see how well he blocks and/or picks up the blitz, but I'd still take a chance on him. I still think he'll be gone by mid-second round and the Bills need other help before they can consider Calhoun. Knowing our luck, he'll end up in Patsie land.

If they went with a RB early (though I can't see why they would just now), I'd love to see Brian Calhoun from Wisconsin. Good runner, doesn't do anything fancy - just runs downfield, has speed and toughness. He might need to be a bit bigger, but this guy would be a steal in round 2 or 3. I imagine he'd be gone by then, but if he's still available in the 3rd round, I'd say pick him up right then & there.

He did...and I think Jerry Colangelo - at one time - owned the Diamondbacks and Suns (maybe even the Coyotes, too).

I know this has been asked before, but I never saw the answer...are there issues with one individual owning an NHL and an NFL franchise? I know others around the country had owned multiple teams, but didn't know if there were any anti-trust laws against it. There are 4 things I like about Golisano - he seems committed to WNY, he can sympathize with the "average Joe", he runs his businesses intelligently, and he's got the money. I don't think that just having the money suddenly made the Sabres into a winning team. I think Lindy Ruff should take a lot of credit for turning this into a true *team* and having the right players blend with each other helps, as well. That said, I think Golisano is a perfect fit to buy the Bills. If he's getting thank-yous on the street from fans for "saving the Sabres", imagine how mobbed he'd be if the Bills started winning after he bought them?

We should be focusing on who *Marv* takes. Donahoe is gone...let's move on, please.

Sure we can. The OL is way more pressing than the LB corps. I'd hate to pass up on someone like AJ Hawk, but there's far too much of a need to get a solid OL to warrant skipping Hawk.

I wouldn't be surprised if the large market owners (Snyder, Jones, etc) whipped up this CBA not realizing how it could hurt the smaller markets - as opposed to an intentional shot. They probably realized the system worked well enough for them, only to find out that it would more than likely hurt the smaller markets than help. Nonetheless, I see both sides of this. I can understand why Ralph is upset about the CBA and that he has a legitimate gripe, to an extent. On the other hand, he does need to adapt and find new ways of bringing in revenue, even if it does mean selling the naming rights to the stadium ("Topps Field", anyone??). He's right in that guys like Jones and Snyder are not like the old guard, but as businessmen, they're doing what they're supposed to - looking out for their own company first. Bottom line....Ralph has to be sure he gets more revenue outside of the existing NFL revenue sharing. I didn't read the article, but the Norwood comment was unnecessary and unprofessional. Clayton lost my remaining respect for him as soon as he insisted Jim Haslett would be the new head coach.

Well, I remember being annoyed that the Sabres didn't sign anyone big and look how they've turned out so far. Yeah, yeah...the NHL and NFL are different, but this doesn't mean it can't happen. The players can buy into the coaching schemes and work as a team and be successful. It's not all that far-fetched.

All I'm saying is that he voted against this on principle, despite how he sounded saying that he didn't understand it. Knowing that this is an extremely complicated deal (which other owners admitted to) and that he had 45 minutes to decide the near future of his franchise, he wouldn't do it. This is where I think he was smart.

Here's the thing... Ralph says he didn't understand it, but the whole deal is too complicated for an actuary to figure out. He was one of two owners to vote against something that was almost incomprehensible for the time they were given to consider it (45 minutes). Not to mention, this is something that would affect his business for the next 10 years...if I were a CEO in that position, I'd vote it down purely on the basis that I wouldn't want 45 minutes to decide my company's fate for the forseeable future. When I also hear that other owners voted for the proposal just so they wouldn't look like jerks, it makes me respect Ralph a little more. Get past the fact that he just *sounds* like an old coot...I think he's a little smarter than some of us think.

Wasn't Matthews going to retire...again?

It seemed evident to me that a deal might be done soon when they moved the start of free agency. If I understand correctly that the "getting under the cap" deadline was also moved, I think they're close to a deal. Wasn't it about a year ago that the NFL looked like the most competent organization on the planet?