leh-nerd skin-erd

Vet--who'd you want as GM?

i'm not sure who's legitimate, logical steps you're referring to based on your post. his, or yours? i don't doubt or question your passion, but it seems to me you're pretty worked up over every move he doesn't make. he told you his plan and as far as i can see, he's following his plan as outlined. not only that, but you've thrown everything that has happened in wny football over the last decade or so and BN had nothing to do with most of it. let him fail before you jump off the ship. i'll even jump with you when the day comes.

That's unreal. He may be the only black man who dances like a white man trying to dance like a black man. I swear---I have those moves, too.

our defense had the potential to be better than decent last year, understanding it was not an aggressive, attacking style. our virtualy lack of offense put very unneccesary strains on the d all year. the new orleans (three quarters anyways---) and jets #1 games were prime examples. in the end, fewell did a pretty good job given what he had stacked up against him. this year, having switched schemes, i hope schemes match players, that players perform well, and coaches have a clue.

exceptional post that points out what would seem to me to be the obvious point here. you have highly competitive people who covet the opportunity to lead a franchise. you probably have on average 2 or 3 positions available in a given year, you have former head coaches who want to coach again, you have college coaches who want to make it at the pro level, you have the hottest/shiny-new-penny def/off coordinators ready to step up. and to boot, you can make a few mill a year if you get the job. i wouldn't think you'd have to post it on monster.com to garner some interest. i think two issues are at play here. the media being the media, speculating on the front side about what someone may or may not be thinking (Shanahan would NEVER go to Buffalo!) and opining on the backside whatever way they want to spin it (Shanahan would NEVER go to Buffalo because _____). the second issue is that fans react emotionally to business decisions that must occur on the business side of the NFL, when all in all it's just business. True--some teams do it better than others (and Ralph hasn't done a great job blending business with wins), but Ralph would be a frigging moron to ever lose sight of the business of football.

Add in the "Hide in Plain Sight" strategy of Buddy Nix actually saying in a press conference "We're not looking for splashy free agency signings" (paraphrased, of course) and the space-time-continuum conspiracy of it being only 5 days into free agency and maybe, just maybe it does make sense. Or, they could have kept dick jauron and we would all be sleeping when they move to LA.

i find the board fascinating at times. i can be pretty negative as a fan, always waiting for the next shoe to drop, always wondering how the boys from buffalo will go awry. but compared to some folks, i'm downright sunny. i can reconcile suspicion, mistrust, and a "i'll wait until they prove something" without a problem at all. i get that---i'd have been waiting for cowher to have a heart attack right after he signed on, or shanny to get arrested for trasporting illegals in the back of his esclade. i just can't figure out why you'd jump on the new regime and the moves they make without letting it play out a bit. it's not like free agent signing XXX = guaranteed success. i'm happy to be as pissed as everyone else if it all blows up on 'em, but i'd at least like to wait until it fails. i'm hard pressed to kick a guy in the nads who hasn't been here the last decade.

i don't know why they stop at 5 or 6 examples of looking-back-can't-miss players. there are literally thousands of players that this and every team passed on that eventually were good to great players. list 'em all, keep 'em coming, the discourse is healthy. a friend of mine found out recently that a girl he really liked back in 8th grade really liked him. sure, he's 45 now, but it's all he talks about...

i think if you step back from the edge of the cliff, put the bottle of pills back in the medicine chest, and reconsider the needs of this team in total, you may find solace. nix and crew are going down the path they said they were going to follow. they are looking to pick certain players up at a salary they feel they can live with. perhaps, as professional football people, they feel that Green will work well in the system Gailey wants to implement, and may be better in that system than he was in Oakland. Or, maybe they feel that he's the best guy available and affordable to fit one of several needs they have identified. it's easy to knock free agent signings, easy to critique when they don't sign someone right off the rip, or sign the guy that someone wrote about as sucky. Mike Gandy's sucky days on the bills are long gone, and he has had a shot at Super Bowl hardware the last few years. And as for the inept moves the front office makes, this front office has made only one thus far, two if you assume that signing no one in days 1-3 was a bad move. I guess what I'm saying is---at least give these guys a chance to fail before you jump all over them. No downs have been played yet---and they picked up a team in turmoil.

I agree with you to an extent. He was overmatched. I think the most telling thing you wrote was "it was reckless". Here's where I'm different than some who post here...I'll admit that I have no clue what it takes specifically to build a successful franchise. I have opinions, ideas and thoughts along the way, and most are grounded in the traditional thought processes of the average fan. I think success starts in the management office with a sound approach to O and D lines. what I don't know is if Bell would have fared any better on a line that wasn't built 'recklessly'. i do known that chaos as a general business philosophy generally is problematic, and chaos reigned supreme for many reasons on our line last year. note--I'm not suggesting I think Bell would have been a top 10, 20 or whatever LT on a better team, but I know with certainty that a better team would not have had the chaos he dealt with. i also think it's probably statistically a bad idea to put a raw talent/project alongside guys unskilledin their respective position, at least if you're looking for successful line play. In the end, it's largely irrelevant because in football, at least as far as wins and losses, it matters who wins the most games. Jauron saddled his pony to what was ultimately a pig of a line, and he failed miserably. Come August, I'll keep a good thought that Chan has a better plan. If Bell is on the line, so be it. The proof will be on display each week as the season starts.

i'm amazed that someone at any organization needed a metric to tell the world what i found out just by subscribing to the nfl sunday ticket. the real question in my mind isn't that he graded out poorly on last year's line, because let's look at the facts: an ineffective offensive scheme devised by a first time offensive coordinator was scrapped and the oc fired just days before starting the season against a coach known for directing what many feel was the team of the decade. said oc was replaced by a brand new oc for the remainder of the year. the inexperienced oc's job was to put together a game plan that utilized the talents of 5 guys, none of which was playing in a position they had played at previously, at the same time doing so against quite literally some of the best athletes in the world. as if that's not bad enough, injuries ranging from nagging to career threatening changed the face of that line on an almost weekly basis. i hope to God that Chan Gailey can bring some m-f stability to this offense. i can't stand to watch another football game where a middle-aged guy who played no organized football can call the next play out before it happens.

one for each tater...

add to this the fact that Chan Gailey, Buddy Nix and Doug Wahley really had nothing to do with any of the past 50 years of heartache associated with being a bills fan. plenty of reason to be concerned that RW erred again, he's a pretty accomplished pooch-screwer. For me---it's fun to hope they might be relevant again, and thsi fact is irrefutable: franchise that needs to be turned around can't be turned around without change. Signed, Little Timmy, the innocent kid in every horror movie that gets slaughter due to his innocence (but I really am looking forward to it!)

no argument there. if the goal of the organization is to identify the direction they want to go, figure out the best way to spend organizational resources, and ultimately get into the playoffs (and perhaps even take a shot at the big game), they've fallen short there. that's a different argument than the one that he's keeping "your money".

i'm trying to get my head around this. when you give it to him, isn't it his? or have the bills been taken over by the federal government?

i heard his wife was a back-stabbin who'a, who cheats on him behind his back. it's probably because he's such a weather puss.

i'd have no problem with a 91 year old calling the shots, but 50 years of mostly poor decision-making is enough of a track record. and true about the trust funds.

i think it's fair to assume that the true measure of the toughness of this front office will be how they deal with ralph's meddling. perhaps the intersection of toughness in the front office and ralph maybe finally figuring he needs to let things go will equal results.

is marshall a 100 catch receiver in our offense over the past three years? assuming everything else fell into place for a trade as suggested, i just don't see it. terrell owens comes in as a hall of fame reciever opposite evans and was hard-pressed to catch as many as he did. it wasn't that our offense struggled, it was at times it didn't exist. i'd think that this type of chronic suckage is contagious, like the swine flu, ringworm, and pink eye.

I always like Hargrove's ethusiasm but jimming cripes, the late hit last night was hysterical. You got things going your way, you're on a path to win the big game, and you hit a guy a late when he's on the ground? they tend not to let those kinds of things go. ever. No sweat letting him go, it was the right move. Good luck to him.

trent edwards went 6 games thereabouts last year.

over a season, that's like 100,000 sacks.

i am heading to florida next week for a trip to the Florida keys (via Naples). i check the weather forecast daily in hopes of a major cold snap so I can get down there, bundle up and hit the sights. if it all comes together, we'll have cold weather, blustery winds will blow and those two red patches on either side of my nose will be raw. i love wny-----ny in general in fact, but routinely walk around mumbling "this s#it is for $#@!ing eskimos".

quick shot at the buddy haters due to his chargers-assistant-gm to bills gm ascension. i read a few posts that suggested that when nix was hired. i'm in the 'it's your show buddy/chan, deliver us some wins' camp. in fact, just like brangelina, i'm referring to the bills brain trust as ........Chuddy.

I want to go on record as saying if/when he gets an offer to be GM of a team in the future (bills or otherwise), there is no value in being an Assistant GM as all they are is nothing but glorified errand boys.