Gordio

What you just described would be a great scenerio. It is just do you feel like taking a chance about waiting on Barkley. I am going to go on record & state that I think he is going to be the best QB out of this bunch & will be a franchise QB for some team. This kid is a coaches dream, his intangibles are off the chart. No he does not have the greatest arm, but rest assured he will be able to make the throws he needs to make. 4 year starter, ton of experience, numbers off the charts. I hope the Bills find a way to get him. I really do.

Gino Smith - Buffalo Cordarrelle Patterson - San Diego Tyler Eifert - Giants Luke Joeckel - Oakland Dion Jordan - Philadelphia

Yeah all drafts are not created equal. With that being said the Maybin pick was horrible. Orakpo should of been the pick. I knew it, 80% of this board knew it, hell even my dog knew it. Maybin was a one year wonder who would of never even saw the field that year except some special teams play if it wasn't for some unusual circumstances that happened @ State College in the offseason. Even then he only had 2 or 3 good games that year against the weaker competition on the schedule. My friend who went to PSU & follows the team religiously called me right after the pick & said this guy is going to be the biggest draft day bust by the Bills since Big Mike Williams & he was right. I still can't believe the bills were dumb enough to pick him. Actually I can believe it & that is the sad thing. Pretty sad isn't it when some of the guys on this board know more about kids coming out of college then the Bills brass. I also loved Kapernick(my uncle lives in Reno) & Wilson going into the drafts. When the Bills traded up in the 3rd round I looked at my son & said sweet, where getting Wilson. Sure enough TJ Graham was the pick.

It was a different time back then. You got a kid for the full 4 years & you could really build a team. now it is tough sustaining that success with kids leaving so early. Michigan is in good shape for the next few years even if Burke leaves. They should be ranked in the top 5 next year & be one of the favorites to win it. I love Belien also. I was at Canisius for grad school when he took that team to the tournament that got beat in the first round to Utah when Van Horn was playing there. That is also a great point. That was before my time but the tournament was not the 5 headed monster that it is today.

& Rodgers has a cannon for right arm, which Kolb does not. Please don't compare Kolb to Rodgers, that is just being silly. Rodgers makes throws that no other QB in the league even dreams of making & he gets away with them for the most part because he is that talented. I am honestly starting to think also the Bills are going QB @ 8 & I think the guy is going to be Nassib.

Your one of the few posters on this board that actually know what they are talking about when it comes to Manuel. Thanks. What I would love to see is one of 2 things. The Bills stay @ 8 draft the BPA(there is going to be a good lineman on either side of the ball available @ 8) & then trade back up in the 1st round to draft EJ. Or see if we could do a trade down & grab Manuel & possibly pick up an extra 2nd round pick where we could go WR & LB with the 2 picks. With that being said, I would not be totally disappointed if we stayed @ 8 & drafted Manuel/Smith/Barkley. I think all three of these kids could be franchise QBs. What did Ernie Accorsi used to say. If you pass on a franchise QB in the draft you spend the next decade regretting it. I know people are down on Barkley(he is not t-shirt & shorts QB, meaning he is not going to wow you in any pro day & throw 50 yard lasors from his knees thru the Goal Posts like Kyle Boller or J Russell) but he is a game day qb which means he is best on Saturdays. Look at his numbers they are terrific. & more importantly the kid has got a good head on his shoulders. I could honestly see him becoming a Drew Brees type QB.

I got to catch this story. He was one of my favorite Bills even though he only played here for a few years. A poster prior said it best. This guy was born to be a football player.

Everybody mocks Buffalo for getting a ton of snow but Syracuse gets way more then us. When I lived in Syracuse for 4 years back in the 90s I remember it snowing just about every day for 2 months straight. One year I think if memory serves me correctly they were approaching 200 inches of snow. I thought it would never melt. Buffalo @ the airport this year I believe has only gotten 57 inches & last year it was only 40 inches. We don't come close to Syracuse(although our spring so far has seriously sucked).

I don't know about that. Not sure if you had a chance to watch the tape but it was pretty bad. Whipping basketball at guys heads, calling them every name in the book. This guy is going to have to do some major damage control to ever get another chance at coaching, even at the high school level. My guess is if he does get back into coaching, it will be at some obscure CC & then it will take years to rebuild his reputation. Can you imagine him having any success trying to recruit a kid now. If your son was a basketball player, would you ever let him play for this guy? Plus he is not even that good of a coach. The AD should be fired also imo. I understand that. I played football in high school too & the coaches were pretty harsh sometimes. My basketball coach in high school one time at half time(we were losing at home by 8 to the worst team in the league) threw a metal chair at a kid. Luckily the kid ducked or it would of hit him right in the head. We ended up winning the game by 3 in overtime. That whole week, our coach made us practice 5am for 2 solid hours before school started doing mostly wind sprints. If a coach did that now I guarantee he would be hearing from the school board or at least some of the parents. None of the parents complained. In fact my dad actually applauded the coach & told him nice job this week at the next game.

At least the Bills in Toronto is financial windfall for the Bills(or at least it was in the first contract, not sure how this 2nd contract shakes out). What does UB get out of playing at the Ralph. & why are the students off in November Promo? Is that Thanksgiving weekend? Okay, I just read the article. I guess being Thanksgiving weekend they have nothing to lose. I doubt they get 10K people there though. The atmosphere is going to be pretty bad not that it is all that great at the campus anyways.

This is a bad idea. That place is going to look like a ghost town & it is going to make UB look bad. I could see if a high profile team was coming in. Someone like Alabama or LSU(not that they would ever agree to come up here) but to put a team like Bowling Green @ the Ralph makes no sense. The students don't even show up half the time when the game is on campus at Amherst, what makes them think they will take the 25 minute drive down the 90 to Orchard Park to watch their team? Even if they get 30K people there(which I highly highly doubt) that atmosphere is going to look pretty stupid. Bad idea all the way around. Worry about filling your own stadium first(which is half the size of the Ralph) before you make a plan like this.

Look, I am far from a fair weather fan. I have been following this team since I was 7 years old back in 1980 & have had season tickets for the better part of the last 2 decades. I am just not drinking the kool aid anymore. I want to see some results. The time for talk is over. Let's see some wins on the field.

That is not true. If we start winning you will see a more positve attitude. It is 13 years of garbage football that has made the fans so jaded.

So will anybody else they draft if they turn out to be good so what is the difference?

You should of PM me last Saturday, I went 11-0 won over $700. Had a rough day Thursday (went 3-9 lost $175) & broke even Friday & Sunday. I will tell you who I like right now for Thurs/Fri games. I think Indiana is going to do a number on Syracuse(& this is coming from an SU alum). They got the guys that could bust up that zone in Oledipo(sp) & Zeller. Indiana had their scare Sunday. I think they are ready to roll. I like Duke over Mich St -2. Duke is going to be a tough out. They are 20-1 with Kelly in the lineup & their one loss was in the ACC tournament to more motivated maryland team. I don't put much stock in that game. Tough to go against Izzo this time of year but I just think Duke is a better team. The other game that sticks out to me is Oregon over Louisville +10. Yes Louisville is rolling & are the number one seed & the favorites to cut down the nets but Dana Altman is one of the best coaches in the country that nobody knows about. He is going to somehow find a way to keep this game close & Oregon has the guard play to neutralize Ville's backcourt. I also like Michigan +2 over Kansas. Kansas was the most overseeded team in the tournament. They are not playing at home now & even though they are going to be bringing more fans it is neutralized by the fact they are playing in the huge Jerry Dome. The fans are not going to play a factor in the outcome. Michigan has more options to score & better guard play. If they could contain Whithey & keep that big sucker off the boards I think they win this game going away. I like Lasalle over Witchita St +4. Lasalle should be able to dictate the tempo & create easy buckets in their transition game. The other 2 games Miami/Marquette & Florida/Florida Gulf not sure. Gun to my head I will take Miami -5 although Johnson is not playing which concerns me & the over on Florida Gulf/Florida which I believe is in the 130's. Gulf likes to run & I got to imagine Donovan will oblige them. Just got to hope the shots are falling. I also like Arizona +3.5 over OSU for the lone reason that line seems awful low to me & has dropped during the week(I think it started at 4.5-5). Something strange is going on which tells me Arizona is going to win this game.

It is definately not for everybody & if you do not like gambling & drinking Vegas is probably not the place for you. I go there Super Bowl weekend every year & believe it or not I rarely gamble in the actual Casino. I usually just stay in the sports book. That Saturday there is basketball games on all day & I love it. I gave up at the Casino 5-6 years ago. It is really hard to win money there. Even in the table games where your supposed to have 50/50 odds or close to it(Black Jack/Craps) I found myself always chasing my money. Now my friends & I when we go there usually just hang out at the sportsbook all weekend. I love the energy of the book. We bet quite a bit which is to say I will bet probably $1,500 - $2,000 each day I am there on sporting events & I usually do pretty good. I follow college basketball religiously so I usually do okay betting on that. My wife always makes fun of me saying you go all the way to Vegas to do something that you could here but I know, it is just different, the comraderie, the different section of fans cherring for different teams, high fiving guys & doing shots with them after just met 5 minutes ago & the only common denominator that you share is that you had money on the same team, getting down to the book at 8am & knowing you got nothing to do that day except watch college bball & drink for the next 15 hours, the good looking cocktail waitresses(although we spent the Saturday at Harrahs sports book this year & they had some real hags on the floor), cashing in that winning ticket the moment the final buzzer sounds & of course getting more then enough drink tickets to fulfill your drinking needs for the whole course of the day. It is a rush like none other. I love it. Can't wait to go next year.

I went down to Vegas 2 years ago for business. We only stayed 2 days & it was hard. Try being in meetings all day when all you could think about is boozing it up & hitting the blackjack table. In one of the meetings the one gentleman pointed to me & said "this guy isn't even listening, all he could think about is the Casino." One thing that surprised me was our coworkers that lived in Vegas that we had meetings with told us they never go down to the strip. Man, if I lived there I would be down on the strip every chance I got(part of the reason I don't live there). Luckily my boss who I went down there with is just as much of a boozing degenerate as me so we kind of saw eye to eye on the work part of the trip.

I guess you could look at it that way, or you could look at as it is socially acceptable there to be binge drinking at all hours of the day, gambling at all hours of the day & just a short cab ride outside the city limits to find legal prostituition. What more can a guy ask for?

I guess if you got the time to kill & want to see the country driving is the way to go but no way in hell I would ever drive to Vegas. After you added in gas it probably cost you more driving then it would flying. I go to Vegas once a year & have never paid more then $300 for a flight. You just got to look around & look early. Anyways, Vegas is awesome, my favorite place to go. I love it there.

Pretty interesting first weekend. I don't think anybody saw Florida Gulf Coast coming & the West bracket has blown up. I too can not stand Craft, Ohio State got bailed out by a bad IMO. UNC had their chance against Kansas but unfortunately could not knock down their shots.(If they did the way KU played in the first half they could of been up by 20 + points at half time). As much as I hate to admit it I think Duke is going to be a tough out & look for them to advance against Michigan St. I like Michigan over Kansas, Indiana over Syracuse, Arizona over Ohio State & I kind of like Lasalle over Witchita St.

So you basically want the Bills to ignore the QB for yet another year. Brilliant. If Smith or Barkley are there @ 8 then you take either of them, no questions asked. If their not, take the BPA & then in the 2nd round you take the QB who is available that you are highest on. It is as simple as that. One more thing, there will be no trade down as there are no teams that would be willing to trade up. Millner would be the only prospect he will be gone by pick #5, mark it down. I believe Mayock said this draft there is really no difference in picking from around the 6 spot to the 25 spot, the talent level is comparable as there is a lack of Blue Chip propspects this year. That is not saying you can not get a good player, just that this draft is not really high on blue chips. I too think Smith does not get by the Eagles, but I think Barkley has a chance to be there.

I have heard all good things about the Red Rock. Never tried it because we don't get a car & always stay on the strip. Maybe next year we will cab it over there for the Saturday games. When I go I rarely play in the Casino & I usually just stay in the sports book. @ Harrah's on that Sat/Sun we did not pay for a drink. I probably bet about $1,500 in games that Saturday. Like I said, Harrah's not the best sports book for watching the games(not even close) but you could go right up to their bar inside the book & use the drink tickets. Mirage made us go thru a cocktail waitress which got frustrating at times.

Good call on the Monte Carlo/Cosmopolitan. I don't like paying for drinks in Vegas so I look for the books that are most lenient with the drink tickets but that weekend I heard some of the books you need reservations & the drink service is horrible due to the crowds inside the sports books. @ $6 a beer you guys will have no trouble getting your money's worth those days. Agreed, since they went to the 4 guard lineup & bumped up Hairston's PT they are a different team. If their shots are falling this weekend watchout. Although beating Kansas in what amounts to a home game for them will be extremely difficult.

That is awesome, I always wanted to go to Vegas for the first weekend of the tournament. I usually go super bowl weekend but my friends & I have talked about changing it up one of these years. From what I hear the books are crazy. I would get there early if I was you(like 7:30am or so). We usually end up at the Mirage but this year we hung out at Harrah's sports book. It is small & is not the best but 2 things I like. We got a nice pub table in the back, they were really lenient with the drink tickets & you could walk up to the bar inside the book & order a drink with the drink ticket & not wait for a cocktail waitress to come around every 45 minutes to get a drink. Mirage you can not do that. I like VCU & they create all kinds of matchup problems. That VCU/Michigan 2nd round game should be a good one if it happens. I think Kansas got a horrible draw with playing UNC/Villanova in the 2nd round. If the heels shoot the ball like they did on Sunday, they could beat Kansas. Hairston was unconscious for most of the game.

This my favorite sports week of the year, the opening weekend of the greatest sporting event of the year; The NCAA Tournament. With no dominant team this year, it looks like as wide open of a tournament as I could remember. Some of the things the committee did especially with the seeding baffled me. How does Oregon end up as a 12 seed when they beat out UCLA in the Pac 10 Tourney & UCLA ends up with a 6 seed. I think UNC got jobbed getting bracketed in the dreaded 8/9 slot(got to play the 1 seed the next round). I really don't have a problem with some of the teams that were left out(Kentucky/Tenn/Virginia/Maryland). I would rather see some of the mid majors in there to see what they can do. I got Louisville coming out of the Midwest, Gonzaga coming out of the West(this is Few's best team I think he is due to breakthru & finallly get that final 4 appearance), I got Miami coming out of the East(I love their guard play & their average age is like 22/23 years old) & I got Michigan coming out of the South. Not crazy about that pick, but Kansas has been inconsistent all year, Gtown has such a hard time creating offense sometimes & Florida has shown time & time again this year that if you could get those guys in a close game they usually lose. Taking off Thursday & meeting some friends out at Wild Wings & then Friday I have a party over my house. I tap the keg @ 11am sharp & friends(some that I don't see all year) start trickling in shortly after that. I get the deep fryer going throughout the day & then throw some steaks on in the evening before the night games start. It is always a fun time. Really looking forward to this weekend. Anybody else got any special plans for this weekend?