Bill from NYC

What did he say?

This is a Bills board. "Homers" are to be expected, no? But when a team is losing for the same obvious reasons year after year, people who do their homework, or have even a miniscule clue about football are going to be able to see why. As bad as the Bills are, they are mine. It's ridiculous, but being a Bills fan is a part of my identity. I follow the draft, have social "Bills" events, and spend tons of money going to games. It is great to be a part of this because Bills Fans really tend to be cool people. But now, we are in an age where information is readily available. JW and NGU argued, but both spoke of football decisions being made by non-football people. What scares me is that even after we got rid of Levy and Jauron (two totally incompetent men), we continued to waste a HUGE pick on Spiller. Doing so followed suit. And, how good must this second round corner be to justify spurning numerous trade down offers (according to Nix)? Personally, I am OK with the "homers." But, a poster like Bills Vet is more likely to nail it than one who is starry eyed. As Bill Parcells said (paraphrasing), you are as good as your record.

But when they drafted MaGahee, they had to wait 16 regular season games for him to even take the field. and they KNEW he was hurt. Sorry, but imo, he was yet another dumb selection, especially with Steinback sitting right there.

>>>>>Q about ever being told by Ralph not to spend -- "don't know where stuff like that comes from" "it's the other way around" "i talk him out of [going after high dollar guys]" "that's happened more than once"<<<<< Do you believe the above? >>>>>OL -- "nobody will believe this, but we're much better in the OL, and better than people think we are" "depth is not good" "we're good in the middle" "only one backup T and he's a rookie, and that's tough" "[we hope] young will be backup at RT, hairston at LT"<<<<< Or this?

Good post Dave. Maybe this stuff is partially linked to the global economic collapse, but one would think that the people who would be least affected by it would be the rich NFL owners. And at his age, how could economic conditions matter to RW? The man is guaranteed a profit from the TV contract alone, no? And, WNY was already having tough times. I'm sorry to edge off topic. I'm still a bit dazed form the JW/NGU threads. And did you read the summary of the Nix interview that eball posted? It directly contradicts what these guys said. Who are you (and of course others) inclined to believe more, Nix or NGU/JW? As for me, I lean towards believing JW/NGU as far as the Evans trade being an economic decision, and the meddling by Mr. Wilson.

Good work, thanks!

Very good post and I do understand. I am hoping for big things from Batten. I liked the pick a lot last year and he was obviously hurt. I don't know how long you have been a Bills fan, but I am hoping he is not the new version of Dan Brandenberg. DB was an olb who in preseason looked like a fast Bryce Paup. I don't have his preseason stats but he was sacking qbs at will. In real games, he was absolutely terrible. He couldn't even play special teams. It was just that frustrating. I mention Batten because I actually expect a dozen or more sacks from a healthy Merriman. The Bears game was all I had to see. He was the real deal, of this I am as certain as one can be. If Batten is for real they can rush on some plays from both sides, and have Kyle Williams and my man Dareus up the middle. Offense is imo a much sadder story. I think that the player most capable of stepping up is Fitz. He is very smart and very mobile, and might survive behind our sub-par OL. If they actually decide to devote resources to the OL next year, the Bills could conceiveably field a respectable football team. It's possible.

Do you trust listed heights and weights? I have seen Pat Williams and Big Sam Adams listed at 340 lbs. Both of them were closer to 400.

I think that it is safe to say that I pay as much attention to blockers as much as anyone in the history of this board. The absolute worst player I have seen on this consistently sickening unit was Greg Jerman. In fact, he really might have been the worst player in the history of the NFL, and the Bills actually had him lined up for a few games at Left Tackle. This poor bastard was small, weak, slow, and had no balance and awful footing. He would get shoved to the turf, stomped, and the qb would get absolutely crushed from the blindside. On runs, he couldn't block a soul. He was so bad that as angry as I have been through the years about the Bills neglect of the OL, I remember feeling sorry for this particular player. I explored the possibility that I was being too harsh, but my thoughts were confirmed by Badolbilz, Lori and R.Rich. And these are people who I consider actual football experts and defer to in terms of their knowledge about the Bills. The players who made me the most angry were Ostroski and Spriggs. Ostroski sucked. He couldn't get out of his stance until after pass rushers were by him. He WAS strong, but it made no difference. He completely sucked at every phase of the game. Slow, no balance, just terrible. So what happened? He played out his option and got a big raise! He even demanded to be switched from OG to center, where he was simply awful and wound up getting cut in one of the better moves by TD. Spriggs? He made me the sickest of all. In a game against Tampa (we lost 3 or 4 players that game), a defender hit RJ a couple of seconds after he threw. RJ was laying on the field bleeding. Spriggs was right there and not only did he not retaliate, he walked away from RJ and didn't even lend a hand to pick him up. He had no talent nor any desire. He was completely worthless and yes, he too lined up at left tackle. One last thing.....Corey Hulsey was flat out awful. But, he was a man, and a great teammate. He too was small and slow, but if a player roughed our qb, he would attack him even if outweighed by 40 pounds or so. Corey, if you are out there, thanks for being a tough guy and backing up your qb and your football team!!! Sorry to ramble folks. I DO devote way too much time th ths s*#t.

Maybe it's me, but I am unable to set such a lofty standard for a part time player.

You might want to include Fitz in his first full season as a starter. Also, we could get lucky with Batten, Carrington and some others.

This makes me sick.

I want to give big time thanks to JW and NGU, and I do hope that you men can symbolically shake hands. The truth is, you have both validated claims that were being made on this board for many years. The inside info on Lynch, Levy, Mr. Wilson was priceless, and I believe every word of it.

John, he did say that the decision could have come from the owner. If so, Ralph wouldn't do it himself. In this sense, could you and NGU both be correct about the trade?

Agreed Dave. What should we discuss? Hey.....what's your favorite color?

What I like about the "Spiller is a bust" crowd is that they bring about debate, and are making predictions. Btw, I think that Spiller was a dumbass selection and that he will probably be a huge bust. He wasn't as stupid a pick as Maybin or omg Whitner, but close imo. I won't go into the times I was correct about Bills draft picks, but I openly admit that I thought RJ would be a fine QB, and that the Bills were right to cut ties with Pat Williams. Either way, the dialogue is a good thing, ya know?

If you are referring to Evans, he was a decent pick but very far from a home run. It wasn't the greatest draft, but we passed on Wilfork and Carey. Posters on this board were screaming for both of them, particularly R.Rich and BADOLBILZ. It will never cease to amaze me how year after year, posters on a message board have better draft records than the Bills General Managers. It would seem impossible.

Coach, I can only answer for myself. I was pissed the day he was drafted. I viewed him a another TD ego pick. He was a situational player on whom the Bills used their first selection of a draft (Round 2, but their first draft selection) and the team was, as always, weak up front. Since he was drafted he, despite so-so production, has survived 4 GMs (if you want to count the jackass Brandon). Now, you are correct. It certainly isn't my money. Because if it was, I would have let him play out his contract, and taken the bonus money he surely will get and increased my offer to Clabo. We just spent 15 or 16 million dollars on a gadget player, who by the way I predict will be a much better and more productive player than Parrish. Why on earth are they giving Parrish yet another extension given team needs? The JS thread about fans being divided is interesting. I don't think that we are. We all want the Bills to win, and I have never seen conflict at tailgates between TBD posters. On the contrary, we seem to get along quite well and I have made personal friends from this board. But imo the thing is, how can one look at moves like this and not see what at the very least appears to be more of the same idiocy? Isn't he the player who was walking out of his apartment, saw snow, and ran back inside? He probably weighs less than Uma Thurman. Should he really be a player around whom we build?

Yet Lossman was benched for him, and he actually won a lot more games than JP in fewer starts. Scary, no?

Yeah Promo, what a smart move to extend an under productive gadget player! You are right; everything the Bills do is great. Our dismal record is a mere coincidence.

Who won more games?

Bell won't be cut because he makes about 50 cents per year. My "surprise" cut is Parrish. One would hope that even the Bills can carry just so many gadget players. Plus, Parrish makes a few bucks.

I didn't say it was a salary dump. I do say that good teams try to re-sign their best players under any conditions (Williams, Johnson, Fitz, etc.). If they can get a blocker with they money they saved they will have in essence picked up a blocker and a 4th for Evans. We need to build this team, not count pennies.

I don't dispute the above Promo, but they traded Evans for a 4th and saved a good deal of money. I am not seeing where money should be an issue if a player can strengthen us in a weak spot and perhaps even win us a game.

I hope you are right. I am optimistic about every player you mention. Again, my sights are higher for Merriman, for whom I think that the possibility exists for him to be a superstar. We shall see.....