LongLiveRalph

Clippers, I hear you, pal. Life is difficult. My father didn't start a business that I can take over. And he appears to be saving his money for himself and my mom in their retirement. We've had some great times in the past, and I have thousands of fond memories and enjoyable experiences. But, because of these recent developments in which I do not get what I want handed to me, I will be choosing a new father- Bill Gates. I love you daddy. At least until my MSN stock options go in the tank. Then I reserve the right to reconisder, and choose a new father who can provide what I need. I can't go back. When my real father passes on, and in his attic, paperwork is discovered that he owns the patent for conductive material used in all electric cars, and the family is rich and successful beyond all imagination, I get no enjoyment out of it. I do not get to celebrate this good fortune. Even as I try to wiggle back in to the family picture, deep down I know that all I have is myself and a trail of false loyalties. So good luck with the Seahawks. Say hi to Papa Gates for me if you see him in Seattle.

Quick note: JaMarcus Russell went 21-4 in college as a starter. Just an FYI on Ryan Leaf: He won a state high school championship. He went to Washington State, where he started 24 games (16-8 record.) His junior year, the team went 10-2, and Leaf threw for an average of 330 yds per game, a then-PAC 10 record 33 TD passes, and ended WSU's 67-year Rose Bowl drought by winning the PAC 10 title for the first time in school history. In Pasadena, they lost by 5 points to national champion Michigan. Leaf finished third in the Heisman voting behind Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning, and was a 1st-team All America. We all know how Leaf turned out. He was immature and volatile. But to say he wasn't a "winner" at the time he was drafted couldn't be more wrong. Either you haven't seen Locker play, or you haven't ever paid attention to an NFL draft. The kid is a 1st round pick, easy. Especially after he gets to the combine and the scouts get an up close look at his 6'-3" frame and cannon arm. NFL teams have slobbered over QB's with much less, just because of their combine workouts. At least Locker has a body of work on the field.

Sweet. Fitz sucks a little less than Edwards, who sucked a little less than Losman. Calling any of them 'backups' is generous. Where does all this get us, besides five years circling the drain??

I think everyone and their mother knows that the franchise QB wasn't on the roster coming into the season. Sullivan questioned continuously throughout the preseason why the guy who WON THE JOB last year wasn't given the opportunity to win it in the offseason. He continuously called it a "phantom QB competition." Now Gailey has proven him correct by starting Fitzpatrick and releasing Edwards. I don't think Sullivan ever said Fitz would make a Pro Bowl or even achieve a .500 winning percentage. He just said that we've seen enough of Edwards to know that he isn't the guy. Fitzpatrick played better and won more last season. Sullivan was simply asking a logical question. For a guy who is untalented and forgettable, Sullivan sure generates a lot of threads and responses on this site. Somebody is reading his work. Isn't it the Bills' fault that his articles are recycled? He could probably take any number of articles from the last 10 years, change a few names, and bang boom send it to the printer.

Pittsburgh is 2-0 with wins over two very good teams without a starting QB. It's VERY difficult to win a championship without a Manning-Brees-Brady type QB, but there are ways to be a competitive, playoff-caliber team. The Bills have failed at all recipes for success. You can't say they haven't tried to fill the QB gap. They just haven't been successful. The difficult part about not having a QB is filling the coaching gap. No coach with a successful track record, who is in demand, would come to a franchise where the QB situation is in doubt. You're stuck with second-tier retreads and young coordinators looking for a promotion. That's been their problem since 2001.

I think there's a few different lines that can be drawn. The USC issue, in my opinion, was a joke. Reggie Bush was by far the best player in college football that year. Where his parents were living had zero impact on his on-field performance. While it was certainly an "eligibility infraction" it had NOTHING to do with the competitive balance on the field. The same cannot be said for steroids, illegal video recording, etc. That is deliberate performance-enhancing cheating. The NCAA wouldn't have cared less if Bush's parents were sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge, as long as they could keep selling those red #5 jerseys and using his likeness on promos and publications. As an organization, the NCAA made hundreds of million dollars selling and exploiting Bush, and then determined it was appropriate to punish student-athletes at the school five years later.

Same with the Bills...

So his brother is gay?

I guess it doesn't have an "effect" I should've clarified. Players who say "That's for you guys to write and the fans to read, we pay no attention"....Obviously they pay attention. Whether or not they use it as motivation (and whether that even matters) is open for interpretation. King is a lazy journalist and writes favorably about the players and coaches who text him back. I like that Ronde spoke up. I'm sure King's "research" on Tampa consisted of the eight seconds it took him to type "2-14" while he used three paragraphs on Starbucks' fall menu, and then got back to texting motivational messages to Favre. Agreed...Predicting the future is not easy! Picking 32 records, you are bound to be wrong on a few. My post was less about King being wrong (that's not rare at all) and more about Ronde acknowledging it and calling him out. And yes, Tampa could be 2-3 after 5...But they do have Pittsburgh at home with no Big Ben, then a good (but not great) Cincy team, and then the Saints without Bush. None of them easy, but none as hard as they could be.

Last year in the preseason, the offense couldn't move the ball, couldn't score, and looked so pathetic they cut their LT and fired their OC before week 1. Then they went out, looked solid and should've beaten New England on the road on national TV, and then scored 33 at home vs. Tampa and were 1-1. This year in the preseason, they looked good...Offense moved the ball, Roscoe looked dynamic, Trent looked confident, and Spiller looked like a great pick. Then, they lay two eggs against real competition and are 0-2. Basically, THE PRESEASON DOESN'T MEAN A THING. The Bills knew this was a rebuilding year. They knew their line still had question marks. They knew that the decade's franchise QB wasn't on the roster. They knew the personell didn't quite fit the new 3-4 defense. Why didn't you know??? What were you expecting??? I realize fans were hoping for, at the very least, some competance on offense. But it's much easier to run offense when teams don't watch film or game plan for you. And we have had enough of a sample size on Edwards at this point to know that he doesn't have it. So...Did it go 'horribly wrong' or is it going exactly as expected? I say the latter.

Any of you Sports Illustrated subscribers out there may have noticed that in the NFL Preview issue, Peter King picked his record for each team, his playoff scenario, and Super Bowl champ. I fully realize it's all for fun, it's impossible to predict, and Peter King is a putz. However, his predicted record for the Bills was a lowly 2-14, tied with Tampa Bay for by far his lowest prediction (he had the Bucs at 2-14 also, with I believe his next worst team at 5-11.) Ronde Barber walked to the podium after Tampa's 20-7 win over Carolina, and without waiting for a question, said, "You all can go tell Peter King that we got our two wins!" Hahaha, I think it's great...So much for the players blocking out the "outside detractors." You know they read the press and you know it affects them. They'll use anything they can for extra motivation. Plus, I love when anybody calls out Peter King. This guy is so wrong, so often, and is unaccountable. If he was a GM he'd be Matt Millen.

Fireman Ed isn't allowed to get on his gay friend's shoulders anymore?

Beyond the usual, "These guys make so much money, why don't they just take a limo/town car when they're going out boozing"...The Jets organization also provides a Player Protection Policy, which is a phone number than any player can dial at any time day or night, to get a ride home, get out of a bad situation, etc. etc. No questions asked, nobody is going to report back to the GM or Rex Ryan that "I picked up Braylon at 6AM, he was wasted!" It's simply for the use of the players...The organization invested a lot of money and wants to keep them safe and out of jail. And this dumbass still got in his car and drove with a BAC at twice the legal limit. And there's no practice on Tuesdays, it's not like he would've needed his car! It's tough to fix stupid.

I no longer wager but if I was, I would definitely put some coin on the Pack. The Jauron Bills had a knack of hanging close and earning an ugly cover in a game that looked like an automatic blowout. But I have been very high on the Packers since last season, and think they'll be able to expose our defense in a big way. Rodgers is the truth and will make throws that Chad Henne can only dream of. Plus, home opener at Lambeau = NO LETDOWN. The place will be amped and so will the Packers. And while we can remember some ugly covers by the Bills, I also remember MANY ugly blowouts...Especially on the road. Put me in the 38-13 camp that was mentioned above.

I get the title, "Man vs. Food" But the spicy/gorging challenges are only segment, at the end of the show. The host usually visits 2-3 other restaurants in the city and tries to eat each town's signature dish. I have no interest in eating a 15 lb burger or setting my tongue on fire, so the challenges are not that interesting to me. But that's the angle of the show so they have to include that in there. I think it's a fairly entertaining show, especially if you've traveled/lived/ate at some of the spots they visit.

I'm cool as a cucumber my man. Sitting in shorts and flip flops waiting for the lil' lady to get home from work to start a long weekend of cooking, drinking, and lounging. No plans to speak of for four days, which is unheard of and incredible. I couldn't be less bitter right now! The guy started a thread about a show that's airing in the hometown of many posters here. He mentions the show in the thread title. If you think it's the worst show on earth, why bother wasting the 30 seconds to open it and reply? Just so we know that the show is below your elite standards? Might as well throw in a snow joke next time too. You don't have to like the show and you are welcome to reply in any thread. But it seems like a person with your self-proclaimed culinary expertise would be able to add more than "I hope he dies, that show sucks." At my current pace, I'll hit your current total of 15,000 posts in the year 2054. I suppose that then I'll have a difficult time remembering them too, but at least I'll no longer be a loser!!!

Wow bitter much? Thanks for the contribution. It's a pretty good show. Lots of interesting cities, some VERY cool restaurants, and the spicy/gorging challenge is only one part of the episode. But I guess a show about an unsuccessful chef who couldn't hack it and now wears Jos. A. Bank suits everyday would be better...

This censorship is an atrocity! You should formally petition SDS and demand a full refund on your membership fee. Swimming pools open to the public still have a dress code, my friend.

On this Bills message board, it's also ok to discuss the league's best players and teams, and the possibility that the Bills might have a hard time stopping some of the more dynamic offenses. Indy and Cincy's starters haven't had much trouble going wherever they wanted with the ball. However, for future reference: 1) You won't like every topic 2) You don't have to reply 3) I'm fine

Can the Bills hold the Packers under 50? Rodgers became a star last year and he is going to make the jump to elite this year. He's an excellent QB...To put up the numbers he put up last year, while getting sacked 50 times, was incredibly impressive. If they can find a way to block for him, that offense will be unstoppable. While it is only the preseason, they look to be clicking already. This could be an ugly one...Bills on the road, still tinkering with a new defense and personell playing new positions, against one of the league's best offenses...Home opener at Lambeau...Hopefully CJ and the boys can keep it close!

It's 2010 and the Bills haven't had a TE catch 35 balls since 2001. But I know the QB's have had nothing to do with that.

Okaaayyy then....He's awesome.

Unfortunately for the Bills, the tight end's routes were too short for Losman and are too deep for Edwards.

Wins since 2006-- San Fran 27 Seattle 27 Buffalo 26 Tampa 26 Washingon 26 Miami 25 Cleveland 23 Kansas City 19 Oakland 16 St. Louis 14 Detroit 12 And the Bills have had, for the most part, the same roster and starters since 2007, over which time they've won 19 games. It's not a roster of All Pros, but they are not fully incompetant either. Some Bills fans even say that the perpetual mediocrity mixed with flashes of good play are more tortuous than just having the piss poor season where they're near the top of the draft board. It's always funny to me how guys like LeBatard and McShay and Eric Casillias have them "on the clock." At least they have a few players who have some wins under their belt. Teams at the bottom of that wins list have taken losing to an embarrassing level over the last 3-4 seasons. In truth, there's actually very few GOOD teams in the league. Much of the NFL is middle-of-the-road, close games, both teams running essentially the same formations, plays, and schemes. Turnovers, penalties, and kickers often decide the outcome. I didn't make this list to brag...The Bills 7, 7, 7, and 5 wins the last four seasons are nothing to jump for joy about. However, it seems irresponsible to lump them in with the dregs. They can be a cupcake if you catch them on the right weekend, or they can give a team fits. They just don't do either one very well.

The main reason this is a story in Tampa is because they haven't had a blackout since Raymond James Stadium opened, back in 1998. Not even preseason games. So they're trying to gauge what to do down there. Sort of unchartered waters for them. The advent of ticket resale websites hasn't helped the blackout rule either. Why pay $40 at the stadium box office for a preseason game, when you can get them on stubhub for less than $10? It doesn't help the sellout, but that's the way it goes. I don't have time to research it, but I would love an update on the Jets and their seat license sales if anyone can find something. I remember reading an article back in June that they were struggling.