Dibs

I tried to not put a positive or a negative spin into this thread when I wrote it. I tried simply to place quotes from the book into appropriate topics. Since you assume a slant on my post I'll take the time to address yours. Marv has a small amount of GM experience but surely if you have worked for so long with GMs (which he has), he can formulate an opinion on what makes a good one. Most of us work all our lives under a 'boss'. We may never become bosses ourselves but would all feel quite qualified to put forward theories on what makes a good one or a bad one due to years of working under one. I stated his ideal setup for a young QB. He actually acknowledged in the book how free agency has changed the game & that his ideal setup is not usually achievable anymore. Big money! For a guy with “potential.” I'll put this into the context that was meant.... By 'potential' he was referring to the Ryan Leaf type of situation. The situation many teams find themselves in where they delay progression year after year 'waiting' for the potential of their 'investment' to realize. i.e. if JP shows little improvement this year & we persist with him because he 'could be great', we would be falling into the trap Marv was talking about. Marv may well prove to be a fool & your comments on his FA acquisitions my be very insightful, however, he just might prove you wrong. I don't know weather he will or won't but I sure hope he does.

Sorry AJ, I must have got the wrong end...

Hey Rico have you noticed how much this smiley... ....looks like your avatar? Just thought I'd mention it.

True....but I doubt they would have made the playoffs if not for Brady.

Hmmm, that maybe so but leading up to that first SB loss, Marv had brought in... Shane Conlan Cornelius Bennett Nate Odomes Jeff Wright He also had... Bruce Smith Mark Kelso Darryl Talley I'm sure there are other top talents that I've forgotten off hand that were on that team. He might have used the wrong defensive system but I don't think.... A) Anyone can say it wasn't at least a 'good' defense. B) If it was not a dominant defense, it was not for lack of bringing in good players. Remember how much he agreed to give up to obtain the #2 draft pick Cornelius Bennett?

I don't know. They do have an upgrade at O-line with Big Bennie now as the anchor....and it's not like DC horrendously hurt the leg he scrambles on(he scrambles with the left one...or is it the right?). Gee....when I think about it....I'd say you are underrating them.

Now I resent Brady & the Pats as much as anyone for being successful while we suck but you are not seriously implying that Brady is a 'system' QB are you? A blind man's dog can see that some of the poise & on field decision making that Brady displays is extraordinary. Yes, Brady didn't enter the equation. The Pats won 3 SBs because they dropped DB.

Um....you do realize that PG was saying we will be closer to 0-16 than 16-0 don't you?

This is my 500th post so I thought I’d put together something with a little more depth than a normal run of the mill post. I have recently read MARV LEVY: WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU RATHER BE? His autobiography for those wondering. There has been much discussion following his selection as Bills GM so I thought I’d supply some quotes from his book on relevant topics. Marv Levy: “What it takes to win is simple – but it isn’t easy!” PLAYER CHARACTER The stay-out-late guys are easy to spot. They show up at practice at the last minute, and they often doze through the team meetings. A general listlessness begins to dull their performance. They never reach their potential, and only rarely does this type of player ever mend his ways. How do you motivate a person like this? You don’t! I readily admit that there is a secret involved in how to motivate NFL players. It’s simple. Bring only intrinsically motivated players onto your roster. They hunger for guidance. They’ll observe, and they’ll listen when you show them and when you tell them how they can get better. I have found that the high lifers enjoy short careers. As I have often told our players, “You can’t hoot with the owls at night if you want to soar with the eagles during the day.” Bill(Polian) and I had both agreed that high character and good attitude needed to be essential ingredients in the makeup on any players brought onto the roster…Norm(Pollum) tried one last time. “Marv, if you take my guy, I guarantee you he’ll go to the Pro Bowl.” “Norm,” I countered, “I want to pick someone who is going to help us go to the Super Bowl!” Note:- Marv won & the player they ended up picking was Shane Conlan. PLAYER POTENTIAL Big money! For a guy with “potential.” That is too heavy a gamble to take. “Potential” is an imposter. Potential has gotten more coaches fired than injuries have. Potential has served to erode the credibility of many general managers. YOUNG QBs I cannot find exact quotes but Marv is clear in his belief that young QBs should be allowed to develop slowly. A year or three learning as a backup is his ideal setup for a young QB. Let him learn the ropes without the pressures of having to be the savior. TEAM BUILDING …any team that adopts the philosophy that they are “building for the future” is always building for the future. This next point is in reference to being HC not GM but I feel is relevant. …if you sacrifice this season in order to build for the future, what you are really doing is building for a future coach. GENERAL MANAGERING …a sensitive touch in dealing with the players…That is a trait that all good general managers possess. It is a difficult quality to refine, and there are many general managers – well qualified on every other count – who do not succeed because they come to be viewed by the players as being antagonistic. Those general managers who treat the players fairly, who tell them the truth, and who feel and display a personal interest in sincerely getting to know them individually are the GMs who succeed. This next is in reference to being both a GM & HC. Any coach who thinks he can handle all duties required by both of those positions is a fool. How do I know that? Because when I agreed to take on that additional role, I became one of those fools. Marv was both HC & GM of the Montreal Alouettes in 1974. DEFENSE WINS When an outstanding offensive team meets an outstanding defensive team, the defense will win every time. One of the reasons I believe so strongly in defense is that there is more consistency of performance. Offenses have off days. Freakish plays occur in the kicking game. But defenses tend to play at the same level, game in and game out. We were always desirous of increasing our depth and improving our talent along our defensive line… “Offense sells tickets. Kicking wins games. Defense wins championships.”

I fully agree with the premise of your post. I have some differing thoughts on the match-ups though.... Sun. Oct. 8 at Chicago 1:00pm I think we will lose this game but I don't put it into the certain loss category. The Bears were a winner last year due to a super Defense & a ball control Offense. Their starter for most games at QB last year was Orton....a huge surprise who (obviously) didn't lose them too many games. They will however be starting Grossman at QB this year(again). He is their JP. He has only played in 8 games & like JP was picked #22 in the draft. Like JP, he will be expected to develop into a star which means 'growing pains' or failure. Either way I expect the Bears to regress on Offense(if that is possible) while Grossman learns. They won't reign in the Offense like they did with Orton. The Chicago Defense was #2 in YPG Their opponents offenses in YPG were DET(x2) #27 WW GB(x2) #18 WW MIN(x2) #25 WL CIN #6 L CLE #26 L BALT #24 W PIT #15 L TB #23 W CAR(x2) #22 WL NO #20 W ATL #12 W WASH #11 L (Ramsay started for Skins in this match) SF #32 W I feel their Defense was over-rated last year due to the poor offenses it generally faced. Sun. Dec. 3 SAN DIEGO 1:00pm Again I look at the QB. Rivers has virtually no game experience. The Chargers are a poor team with a few superstars. I see no reason why they will not regress into sub-mediocrity. Sun. Oct. 1 MINNESOTA 1:00pm This is a bad team. Ranked low on Defense & lower on Offense. They have an old QB nobody wanted, no RB to speak of & lost their up & comming WR(luckily they have an OG though). Their 9 wins came against NO 3-13 GB(x2) 4-12 DET(x2) 5-11 NYG 11-5(what happened here?) CLE 6-10 STL 6-10 CHI 11-5(pointless week 17 match) If we are improved this year I'm looking positively at the SD & MIN matches.

I like your arguments. Hard to refute & totally unambiguous. BTW, I'm not an 'old fart' & therefore have only seen OJ from old footage but....why, if he was head & shoulders above TT do so many old fart analysts in the media rate TT so highly? I think there is perhaps a bit of "when I was a lad..." mentality going on with this topic.

I rank your post #4 out of the 16 posts on this thread.

All the sites have him listed as 6'2" but I agree with you...surely if 6'4" is prototypical(which I believe it is) then 2 inches shorter is not too short.

...and ends up as a pro-bowl starter. Damn those wascally Patwiots.

AAAAAAHAHAHAHA......22nd.......nearly into the middle third ranks. I knew all you 'DOOM & GLOOM' merchants were wrong. You all said we were the worst in the league. NEARLY MIDDLE THIRD!!!!!!! Oh happy days!

STARTING?

Looks like I'm in the minority but....sepia. To me, the sepia gives it an old quality which blends better with the obviously old boat. It has an 'atmosphere' to it. A historic feel. The blue IMO comes across a little washed...no atmos. It has the feel of just another boat on the water. Mind you, I agree with the previous poster saying the white in the sky on the sepia is a little bright. I don't know what I like, but I know a lot about art.

I don't know about 30th.....I can't be bothered looking through every team....but the gist of what ronbaskin was saying I generally agree with. I feel rb was leaving out the potential upside to our WRs. As a group, I think we have immense potential at the receiver position...perhaps top 3 potential but..... Until that potential is realized, we are(on paper) one of the cellar dwellers at WR.

If you don't mind me adding another point to your impressive list....not that you have much choice. On top of PGs points, I have not seen one person on this board say they were happy with the coaching, play-calling or general team effort on the field last year. In fact, even the biggest 'doom'sayers seem to make the point that those above factors cost us wins last year. With those factors (potentially) gone, improvement to the O-Line(if only by subtraction), TKO back & a few other (arguable) improvements, I cannot see how one can rationally assume we will have a worse record than last year. Especially considering the number of easy opponents we face. I would think 10 wins is obviously a bit optimistic.....however 0-4 wins is certainly a bit pessimistic. To be put on record, I am expecting 7 or 8 wins this year though I would not be surprised at fewer wins....& slightly surprised at more wins.

1. Evans 2. Price 3. Reed 4. Davis 5. Parrish 6. Aiken

Is there any point in ranking QBs? Unless your entire team is super solid your QB situation is either 'good enough' or 'not good enough'. 'Not good enough' means you are actively seeking to upgrade at QB or you are relying on young QBs to develop(hoping like hell). Most teams fall into the 'not good enough' category so does it really matter if you are ranked 32nd or if you are ranked say....14th? Both teams would be looking to upgrade.

It seems to me to be waaaaay too easy to get into the HOF as a HC. From past entries you would have to say the 3 Bills get in.....also the 2 Mikes.....& also Dick Vermeil. Plus Gibbs is 7 out of 32 (about 1 in 4.5). If those sort of numbers are extrapolated to players, it would mean each & every team would have over 5 future HOFers out of their 24 starters(kickers included). That would be over 170 future HOFers league wide. I really think coaches get a little over-rated. Based on this I would have only the Bills make it(with Cowher in only due to longevity consistency).

I've just finished reading his autobiography & he doesn't mention it at all. The only mention to anything of that nature is his views about hunting(which are negative). He mentions going out to dinner & eating a fair bit but no mention of excluding meat. He also seems extraordinarily fair minded. The sort of man who can argue fiercely on a topic yet walk away with respect for others views.