MrLocke

I know Cowart got hurt in that game against Tampa, but I thought it was an injury on opening day against the Saints in Greggo's first season that messed his career and not the game against Tampa.

Someone with ESPN Insider please copy and paste the rest of this. Or just give us a summary. Thanks.

So I was at the YMCA (please no villiage people jokes) today I meet this guy from some where around London, Ontario, Canada and I'm from Sydney, Nova Scotia Canada. Here is a map to give you some idea where it is Sydney NS. Anyway I get to talkin to this guy and he was raving on about the tailgaiting at the Ralph and the wings and the deep fried turkey. Anyway as you can probably tell by my location I do not meet many football fans let alone Bills fans who I can have an intelligent football conversation with. Also where I'm from I don't meet alot of people who have been to the Ralph, I've only ever been to 2 pre-season Patsies game (several CFL games). Talking to this guy makes me want top get to a Bills game even more and I'm sure I'll get there at some point as I'm only 21. I had to post this story because this is really my only source of hard core Bills chat.

I think the politics of South Park are clearly Libertarian as Trey Parker is listed as a celebrity, but when I saw this book it caught my eye. Anyway I was thinking of purchasing it and I was wondering if anyone had read it and if so was it worth purchasing? Here is the Amazon review.

Did anyone go to see this. It would have been impressive if he had been able to do it. Here is an article on it.

I voted for Elway. He has the 2 rings, has many 4th quarter comebacks and could run when he needed to. I know he didn't get the rings untill Terrell Davis came along.

Thanks!

I have been reading most of the camp reports and maybe I just haven't been reading the correct ones, but I haven't heard any reports on Jason Peters. I was reading about his agility tests and he defienetly seems to have the strength and speed to play tackle. Also didn't McNally describe as "phenom". Should I read anything into the fact that Dylan McFarland was in at tackle for big Mike instead of Peters? Anyway I would apreciate it if someone could tell me something about Jason Peters.

The thing with o-line, atleast imo is that I think last season McNally justified people's faith in him, so I'm not really to worried about the o-line. I'm most interested in JP. I remember reading that RJ was a good practice QB, so I will want to see how JP does in a pre-season game. I'll also be looking to see what young players step up. The guy who have been on the roster for a few years like Ben Sobieski or Lauvale Sape. TE will also be interesting to see how Camobell and Euhus recover.

I've purchased Madden 4 of the last five years and I am not sure if I will purchase it this year. I've heard about superstar mode and the new passing mode, however I am wondering if Madden 2006 will just be a roster update from 2005. Do people around here plan on buying Madden 2006. If so why? If not why not? I am a huge fan of franchise mode drafting, hiring coaches and signing free agents and care more most about franchise upgrades and I haven't heard about many franchise upgrades. Anyway Are you going to buy Madden this year?

Talking about free ageny, the draft and coaching changes is great, but talking about what happens on the field is much better.

BuffaloBills.com is saying Roscoe Parrish is going to be #11 and I was wondering if anyone is planning on putting a Parrish patch over the Bledsoe one? (Yeah I know I said I didn't like the Parrish pick).

Gardner should solidify the Panthers at WR, as they already have Steve Smith and Keary Colbert was solid as a rookie.

I do not know if I can proove that TD forced Mularkey to hire Clements over Whisenhunt, but here is an article to back it up. Not the most objective source since Cowher is the coach in Pittsburgh and this is a Pittsburgh paper. As Far as TD being en egomaniac I think he got it right when hired Mularkey to be Head Coach, however I do think his ego has had some negative impact when he hired GW. I think TD wants to get the credit for the success of this team and that is why he has hired 2 coordinators with no Head Coaching experience in the NFL, where as if he had hired someone like Jim Faasel to be the Head Coach who had Head Coaching experience and the Bills had ended up having success TD would not have gotten as much credit. This all goes back to his time in Pittsburgh when he lost the power struggle to Cowher I think TD is scared of a powerful coach because he might lose another power struggle like he did in Pittsburgh. Anyway I hope TD and Mularkey do not go down the same path as TD and Cowher.

I think the whole thing with TD (myself included) is that everyone is starting to get quite impatient I thought last season is pretty good, but could have been great if the Bills snuck into the playoffs and because the Bills have yet to make the playoffs we want to point the finger at TD. Anyway I think for us younger Bills fan like myself (I'm only 21) we take the Bills going to the playoffs as a given. I think Marty Schottenheimer said last season that he always took for granted being in the playoffs. I think all that success in the 90s to a certain extent spoiled some Bills fan and we want to point the finger at TD because the franchise has not been as successful on the field as it was in the 90s.

I'm thinking about Parcells right now. I forget the exact quote, but wasn't it something to the effect of " If I'm the guy who is going to cook the meal I want to buy the groceries". As far as I'm concerned TD hires the chef or the coach and buys the groceries or the players. Anyway in those other years for Ozzie Newsome where the Ravens did not make the playoffs lets say he was maybe not as good those seasons not because he hired Brian Billick, but because he did not get Brian Billick the same quality groceries. As far as Gruden and Allen it wasn't Allen who hired Gruden in Tampa Bay it was Malcolm Glazer, because Rich McKay was the GM at the time and he wanted the Glazer family to hire Marvin Lewis. I guess the big point here is the more power the GM has the higher the degree of accountability. If the GM hires the head coach and is resposnible for player mangment then there is a high degree of accountability. If the GM just signs/drafts/releases plyaers and doesan't hire the coach a lower standard of accountability applies. Anyway you raise a good point in that Mike Shannahan has not been as successful lately as the back to back SuperBowls and he is the coach and has final say in personnel matters, but I do not think people would say he forgot how to run a football team I think a major factor we are not taking into account is luck. In all honesty do you think when the Patriots drafted Brady they thought he would be the QB that he is? I mean how often would a team think they could get a QB like Brady in the 6th round. Also with Shannahan when the Broncos drafted Terell Davis in the 7th round.

I know you mention it in your post, but your thread is misleading in that on the one hand you grant that Bellichick plays a major role in players accquisition and then on the other hand you want to compare TD and Pioli and Pioloi does not have nearly as much power as TD. The reason I think you can expect so much of TD is because he has so much power. Did you read this article You seem to want to say that TD is not responsible for the coaching, which I would diagree with on the grounds that TD hired the coach. Also it has been well documented around here about TD being somewhat of an egomaniac in that he does not want to hire a powerful coach because of what happened to him in Pittsburgh with Cowher. Also I think I read somewhere that TD forced Mularkey to hire Tom Clements over Ken Whisenhunt for offensive coordinator. Essentially I think TD has to be held highly accountable as these are his players and coaches. I thought I remember someone claiming that Ralph Wilson could be held accountable because he hired TD.

This team won 9 games with Bledsoe last season. When Mularkey and managment dumped Bledsoe they were saying they could do better than 9 wins and usually more than 9 wins is good enough for the playoffs. I forget what Buffalo News writer said this, but he said the Losman era should not start off with excuses. This is Donahoe's 5th season NO MORE EXCUSES! Now is the time to win.

I am incredibly torn on TD. On the one hand I think he and Modrak has assembled an incredibly talented team. On the otherhand this incredibly talented team has yet to make the playoffs. I just wonder what comes of Donahoe if the Bills miss the playoffs yet again this season because it is his team and he has had 2 chances to get the right head coach. I like Mularkey and co., but the Bills MUST make the playoffs this year.

I'm not too worried. TD has done a good job of getting the players into camp on time and usually first rounders are the hardest to sign and the Bills do not have a first rounder to sign. I say TD gets all the draft picks signed by the time camp starts. On a side note of all the first round picks on any team who do you think holds out the longest?

The buyouts should be interesting. I'm a big Canadiens fan and I think the only player they will buyout is Patrice Brisebois. Here is a nice list of what guys will count against the cap. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature.asp?fid=10414

Hahahahahahaha . What was Flowers problem anyway? Did he just lack talent and/or desire. I remember reading one time he didn't mind that someone in front of him was getting more playing, which seem to indicate he lacked desire. I remember after his first year playing in the 3-4 he wanted to switch to linebacker because he was undersized to play defensive end. So what was Flowers Biggest problem?

I was reading this artice and I asked my self; Is the jury still out on Josh Reed or can we consider him a bust for certain? I think the great thing for Josh Reed this year is that (imo anyway) the Bills do not need him to step up this year, as they already have Evans and Moulds, so they have some serious talent at receiver. Many people have claimed that there was too much pressure on Reed when he was made a starter in his second year and now he shouldn't have that pressure. Anyway hopefully we will get the answer to this question and many others when players report on Friday. Anyway Does Josh Reed finnally step up this year or is he a certain bust? and if he is a certain bust why?

Huge Fan of John Stossel. What I was getting at was given the success of Koppen, Hartwig and Ball I think there is a good chance Duke Preston could start. Here is a thread I started about it. Thread.