The Big Cat

What music? What did they have to answer? What questions remained?

The relics that still exist in the local media had it EASY for much of their career. If a young writer like Dunne was as lazy as Sal up in Rochester, he'd be out of a job. He rose to the top simply because he had to just to survive. And in doing so he was heads and shoulders better than his colleagues who had been coasting for decades.

Right about what?

We're not disagreeing on whether or not the media should report on this stuff, we disagree on whether or not the Bills should be obligated to share sensitive information when the media wants it. Because if you're sympathetic to Sully's column, and all the rest of the incessant bitching from local media in the last 48 hours because they haven't been spoonfed information, you must think the Bills are obligated to share it. They're not. Period. And the media embarasses itself pretending like they are,

Well, if we're going to extrapolate yours, then in this case the local media is trying to dissuade fans from spending money on the team. Right? If the press in a democracy exists to give voters vital information for them to use when they cast their ballots, then the press in an entertainment scenario exists to give fans information next time they might want to buy tickets or a sweatshirt.

I also think you're naive to think that any organization with any kind of value doesn't see the press as the enemy and doesn't go to great lengths to conceal vast amounts of information from the public's consumption. Is that okay? Depends on whose side your on. Is that how the world works? You bet! It's human nature to protect your interests. Those interests are in direct opposition to the press's interests, rather consistently. Good reporters know this.

I suspect you and I fundamentally disagree on the role of the media as it pertains to a functioning democracy vs. an entertainment company.

Listening to it, he didn't struggle at all except for the part when Sully wanted to play Twister on some bull **** for the sake of embarrassing the new guy. The issue at hand: Who made the decision on quarterback: Obviously not a mystery to anyone by that point Why it was made: Never anything the organization, HC, GM, owner, ANYBODY would ever disclose, particularly at a press conference, to begin with These reporters continually show up at these press scrums thinking they're going to get an answer. They never do. Then the reporters B word about it. Here's an idea: may be do your !@#$ing job. If you think it's of vital importance to derive information from the organization to disseminate to the fans who invest time and money in following the team, then you're a !@#$ing hack if you think that information will be gathered at a press conference. DO YOUR JOB

Of course not. The Internet killed the corner market that local reporters had on information. They're careening into obscurity and everybody knows it. Obviously they're pissed because the Bills are making their jobs more difficult. Why fans think this has anything to do with them or with the team, I don't understand. When was the last time an embedded WNY reporter got a scoop? Their job is to show up with their recorders and get sound bytes when the team permits. You'll learn more about this team following the players on Instagram and Snapchat than you will by reading the **** they're obligated to say into a microphone.

The NFL has its own media. They call themselves NFL Media. The Bills have their own media. They have their own 'reporter' and they have WGR as their own mouth piece. TBN is the enemy. Zero upside, all downside. TBN gives the Bills nothing the Bills can't get on their own. In 2016 the Bills need independent outside media like they need a hole in the Pegula's yacht. They owe the media zilch. They need the media for nothing. The media is a liability for them. I don't think you could be more wrong in your take that the Bills were wrong here because they were compelled to provide information. They are not. May be you can help me get from point A to point B. Point A: Bills don't get out in front of the questions on HC/QB (to which zero answers exist right now and everybody knows this, but for the sake of this exercise...) Point B: This is bad for the Bills With zero home games for the next nine months, what is the consequence of not kowtowing to the media? Will this issue affect ticket sales next year? No. Attendance at training camp? Doubtful. Will the fans who are already visiting their websites and driving traffic cease to do so this offseason? Certainly not. Does it make the organization unattractive for FA's and HC candidates? Debatable, at best. Money walks.

So more outside media bitching that that Bills don't communicate what they want and when they want it. Also criticizing the FO for sending a guy out to answer questions above his pay grade. 1.) they don't HAVE to tell anybody anything about how decisions are made and this makes the media pissy pants (clearly) 2.) yes, the questions the media had WERE above Anthony Lynns pay grade...so DONT !@#$ING ASK THEM This was the normal Wednesday presser, this was not a state of the franchise confab, much to the chagrin of the media and to the fans who predictably throw tantrums when they're not told what they want to know when they want to know it. Is Byron Brown expected to answer to allegations of Russian tampering in the US elections? Hell no he's not so why would you show up to a budget hearing demanding that he is. This notion that owners and members of the front office are compelled to answer questions just because the media and fans have them is utterly bogus and so out of touch with reality. I respect the hell out of Wawrow, but get some perspective, man. Your interests as a reporter are not aligned with the Pegula's. never have never will be. So spare us the belly aching already.

Exactly how did Lynn bumble his presser? People saying Whaley should have spoken: did the LA Owner/GM or Jax Owner/GM rush to the mic when they let their HCs go before the end of the year?

For context: Leo is about as much of a bumbling, out of touch bafoon as they come. He manages to make even his colleague Sal seem level headed, hardworking and engaged.

The Bills have won more than half of their last 50 games, yet Timmah can't ever find a positive thing to say about them. And we're expected to buy his pleas for objectivity? Especially when he conducts himself like a thin skinned teenage girl...consistently? Guy is a joke.

As far as what you need to know about TG, that was the alpha and the omega.

I heard it live. Didn't seem like Murph was yelling at the kid, more like venting general frustration. But as it pertains to the Bills, Timmah doesn't normally deal in nuance when it comes to finding the negative angle.

Whether or not Carucci's report is correct, that you would anticipate/expect an apology from a billionaire to a sports writer (or any member of the media, for that matter) demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how the world works.

Billionaires apologizing publicly to sports writers. Yep that's something that happens in this universe.

Yep. See below. To an extent. Here's what the defense allowed: @Seattle: 28 points on 247 yards in the first half, 3 points on 54 yards in the second. @Miami: 13 points on 222 yards in the first three quarters, 14 points on 193 yards in the fourth alone. @Oakland: 9 points on 172 yards in the 2.5 quarters, 29 points on 230 yards in the last 1.5 quarters. To say they're flat hopeless against better teams isn't true. As Cash said, the level of inconsistency is so extreme that it happens quarter to quarter. That's absolutely the case.

I keep reading "Mike Francesca dead"

I've found that the hat throw is a great coping mechanism. But the getting up out of your seat to walk across the room to sheepishly retrieve your hat might be among life's most humbling experiences.

And before Sunday the response was easy: yeah but they sucked against the run. Well, amazingly--especially if you've watched this team closely for the last 12-15 years--this might actually be the worst run defense we've had. I think the difference in 2016 is inconsistency. Some of those other defenses sucked against the run week in and week out. We're good, then average, then great, then historically bad. And it changes week to week.

For the point gap to narrow from nearly 20 to about 5, with hundreds of votes cast...that's a pretty dramatic swing.

The one that was 20th in points, the much more important metric? Yes.

I remember a game sealing pick he had in his very first game. Week one against New England, 2006. Refs called him out of bounds on the return. He was a good two feet from the sideline. That was the game when the first play from scrimmage (for the season, mind you), was a sack/fumble/return for a TD on Brady. Spikes shot himself out of a cannon so hard he tore his damn achilles. We ended up losing. In large part because of the refs calling Lil Donte out when he wasn't. !@#$ me.