JohnC

From a legal standpoint it is still a domestic incident. In most jurisdictions if an assault takes place in a domestic situation the police are obligated to make an arrest. A woman can strike her husband and (she) be arrested. A man can strike his wife and be arrested. A gay person can strike his partner and vice versa and still be arrested. A female can strike her partner and vice versa and still be arrested. The sexuality has no bearing in a domestic law matter.

There was a good rational for not re-signing Levitre from a football and cost/beneift standpoint. The staff wanted to go bigger on the line and they weren't willing to pay a premium price for a guard. There is nothing unreasonable with the postion they took. My problem with the Levitre departure was that the front office knew way in advance that he wasn't going to be on the roster the next year. They ended up with Brown and Legursky as the potential replacements. Brown was arguably one of the worst starting linemen in the league. Legursky is nothing but a utility player who can fill in on an emergency basis at the guard and center positions. Not having a credible replacement was the major failing for the front office, not his departure.

What difference does it make whether a columnist offers a contrarian view to the organizatiion that is responsible for making personnel and contract decisions? Do you really believe that a reporter/columnist's opinion influences the decisions that the front office makes? Of course not. The SJ and Fitz departures that resulted in most of the dead money both made a lot of sense. Fitz didn't want to be here as a backup and SJ was not the type of person who could handle a demontion to a younger player such as Watkins and Woods. It was also apparent that Marrone was not too enamored with SJ and his tiresome diva act. With respect to the dead money issue I have no problem with the Bills having dead money. Situations change, and sometimems dramatically in one year. I'll take our present receiving corps with the dead money over having him in the starting lineup bumping out one of the other young starters. I'll also take a struggling EJ over Fitz as a starter under any circumstances. With Fitz you have no upside, mediocrity is mediocrity. With EJ at least you are giving a young prospect with potential an opportunity to develop. Even if he doesn't materialize as a franchise qb at least you gave him the opportunity to prove himslef. Fitz is already a known quantity. The bottom line is that you go nowhere with him as a starter.

What do you want the paying customers in the stands to do? Cheer bad performances? I watched the game on TV. Fan or not it is a tough to watch such low quallity of play. Players who play for mediocre teams should not be spending much time bellyaching about how they are unfairly being treated. It demonstrates a weak-mindedness. It is a lame response to a fan's right to react. There is an understandable restlessness in the stands. They see what is obvious to everyone. The level of play from the most important position is inadequate. I'm far from being categorized as an EJ basher. But unless there is a dramatic upgrade in his play then the ability to be a competitive team is miniscule. (I'm not talking playoffs this year because I believe it is out of reach.) If Manuel doesn't develop then what happens next year? In general I like Whaley. But there is no plan B at the qb position. In my opinion he has put this franchise in a very vulnerable situation without an adquate backup plan.

The team is going to go to the highest bidder.

Are you suggesting with your statistics that Thad is better than EJ? If so no one inside and outside the organization agrees with you.

Golisano calculated that the owners were determined to change the economic structure and ownership/player balance. Bettman in his solicitation of Golisano assured him that there was going to be a new labor/management balance and a more rational business model from an ownership perspective. I don't think TG would have invested in a franchise where the economic structure would make it impossible for this particular market to have a chance to succeed or at the minimum survive. Really smart business people such as TG separate themselves from the rest of the pack by envisioning where the market is going to be rather than where the market is currently at. He certainly did so in this case.

There is no doubt that Golisano was mostly interested in saving the franchise and keeping it in Buffalo. But he also is an astute businessman. He bought the team in a bankruptcy sale for a good price. He then stabilized the finances and established a financial discipline in the hockey business that didn't exist with the former owner who was comingling the team's finances with his own. The end result is that after stabilizing the franchise he sold the team for a very good profit. More power to him. When he sold the team he made a condition of a future sale by the new owner that the team had to remain in Buffalo. Pegula was more than willing to accept that term. Whoever buys the Bills will be making a profit. Without considering the Bills venture Pegula is heavily investing in the community because he sees that it is a good investment for him. That is terrific position for the community and him and his wife. Note: When Golisano bought the team from a bankruptcy sale he was not obligated to pay a certain category of vendors. He did so because it was the right thing to do. I salute him for that.

You are making an assumption that he is involved with the leaks. What's the basis of your opinion? Pettine isn't a fool. He knows that JM is going to start this year. If he doesn't start him sometime this season he will be out of a job. He also knows that JM is not ready to start. Most everyone understands that Hoyer is a pedestrian qb at best. Before a third of the season is over JM will be the starting time. Buying time for the rambunctious rookie to be better prepared is the smart thing to do. That is what is going on here. In college JM played a "play it by ear" style that doesn't transfer to the pro game. It is going to take time for him to learn how to play the more disciplined read type of game. The rampant instant analysis (not saying you are in that prejudicial category) that surrounds this lightning rod player is simply out of control and means little regarding how good or bad the player will actually turn into.

I would rather have a qb with tools who might develop and eventually succeed than have a qb lacking in tools who you know right from the start will not in the end get you anywhere. Qbs such as Kolb and Fitz are roster survivors who simply will be nothing more than good backups. When selecting qb prospects you never know for sure whether they will succeed in the pro ranks at their challengin position. What is obvious to everyone, including his critics, is that he is the type of person who has the character and work ethic to do everything that needs to be done to be successful. If it doesn't work out then at least one can say that he did his best.

The Arena project got partially financed by a private company for a return on a business arrangement. What is wrong with that? The bottom line is that it helped make the project viable. The end reslt is it helped to finance a project with less public money involved. If a major project can get built with mostly private financing then that is a positive thing. Jerry Jones privately financed his "palace" project with 75% private money and 25% public money. As you well know for the most part the era of stadiums and arenas mostly getting built with taxpayer dollars is over. So creative private financing is needed to get projects done that benefit the public and wealthy businessmen.

WEO, Taxpayer $$$ are used for all convention centerts. There comes a point when most facilities become inadequate and outdated. That is the case with the current facility. There have been studies that indicated that an enlarged and more modern facility could be located on a refurbished HSBC Building site which is nearly vacant. The location where the current facility is located can be sold and used for commercial development. http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2013/06/26/talk-of-new-buffalo-convention-center.html?page=all

In line with your approach to financing a stadium there are a number of ways that it can be done, not necessarily totally privately financed but significantly so. There have been very preliminary explorations by Jacobs that he would we willing to finance a new facility. It would be done with his company getting the concession contract. There is no doubt that if a facility is built the naming rights to it will be sold. That is another small slice of revenue that can go to the financing of the facility. The league offers low cost loans for new stadiums. That certainly is an attractive offer that can be utilized. I use to favor a full restoration of the Ralph similar to what was done in KC. Not now. The problem with the Ralph is that the concourse is too narrow and thus not amenable to a required upgrade. There comes a point that fixing an antiquated facility is simply not cost effective. However, the money spent for the Ralph's upgrade is not squandered money. It has allowed everyone the time to work on a reasonable stadium project. As others have stated it is not going to be a Jerry's World Gold Plated facility. It will be a functional building that is prudently priced and serves our needs.

Adding Jim Kelly to the Golisano bidding group adds nothing to it. JK has no $$$ to bolster the appeal of any group. If Gundlack wanted to join forces with Golisano at least he would add money to the pot. JK is not going to influence him to join with any other bidder because he can do it on his own without throwing a bone ($$$$) to JK as a finder's fee. I hate to say it but JK is looking foolish in this high stakes transaction. If you don't have your own poker chips then you can't play at the roped off velvet table with the exotic looking cocktail waitresses.

Being crassly manipulated is not in his own best interest and reputation. He needs to stand back and think more strategically. He's being teased with a business proposal that is not only unrealistic but is absurd. Being a HOF player on the field doesn't qualify you as being fit for this high stakes business transaction. In his case being an observer is better than being a participant.

He is coming off as a gold digging opportunist. If his terms for a 2% stake with no contribution from him and a say in the football operations along with his brother are true with the JBJ overture then his involvement doesn't put him in a good light. Jim Kelly has been a terrific promoter of the community and a sterling member of the community. He is risking his sterling reputation with his attempt to attach himself to an ownership group. I'm not criticizing him for wanting to be involved in one of the bidding groups. I am criticizing him for the manner he is doing it. He not putting any money in the pot and inserting himself into a football operation role seems too self-serving, especially at this very late stage.

NF is a wretched place to do business. There is no doubt about. Political corruption and ineptitude, union corruption and interminal in-fighting prevents things from getting done. Compare Niagra County with Erie County where there is an economic renaissance going on. You don't think that Mr. M. wasn't aware of that toxic mixture when he boughtall that land? The primary point of my first post is to point out that he has a history of strong arming people in his business dealings with suffocating legal challenges not for legitimate legal reasons but to use the legal system to intimidate and destroy people. When the NFL was going to deny him from being an owner because of history of misusing the legal system he offered to sign a statement saying that he would never sue the owners or the league. The league still wanted nothing to do with this character. The end result is that he ended up suing one of the bidders (the deceased owner's son)! So much for giving up the legal weapon to deal with people.The bottom line is that anyone who gets involved with Milstein in the business arena is getting involved with someone who is morally and ethically challenged.

There was more to Milstein's rejection than money. Milstein had a history of suing people to submission in his business dealings. He exhibited those suing tendencies when he owned the Islanders. He basically used the threat of litigation and actual litigation to intimate people he was involved with in the business world. His business practices were predatory. He is the type of person who instead of negotiating a fair deal based on compromise his approach was to overpower the opposition by entangling it in a legal morass and depleting its resources. He is a slimeball busnessman who is well educated andwears expensive suits. No one one should be fooled. He is a predatory shark with the morals of a swine. Niagra Falls thought they had a good thing going in getting involved with this very wealthy person. What happened? Nothing. A lot of empty lots that continue to lay waste.

The backup situation is inconsequential. The Tuel and Lewis duel has little impact on the team regardless who wins out. Mediocrity is simply mediocrity. The overriding issue for this franchise's braintrust is the starting qb issue. They gambled their future on a raw talent with good character and impressive physical traits who simply isn't ready. Instead of acquiring a Cassel or Schaub type qb to buy time for grooming their young qb they threw him in the fire and prayed that he would quickly come along. Please don't bring up that Kolb unfortuanately got hurt point. He was a hack qb who was plagued with concussion issues before he was even on the team. Whaley then doubled down and gave up next year's first round pick to move up a few spots in the hope of bringing in assets to help EJ. In my opinion he got it backward. In order to get a return on the huge cost for the sterling receiver he should have had a qb in place who could pass accurately enough to get the most out of his talented receiver corps. Anyone who thinks that the string of non-playoffs season will be ended this year is deluding themselves. I like Whaley a lot. But the way he has handled the qb situation, with no backup plan, is not only jeopardizing the the team's prospects but also his job. I don't want anyone to misconstrue what I am saying. EJ was a reasonable selection as long as he was handled in the right way. He was a raw prospect with talent who needed time to develop. It simply was too much of a risky gamble for an irrelevant franchise that has been out of the playoffs for 14 consecutive years, and still counting. And then giving up next year's draft to move up a few slots is a big risk for a franchise that can't afford to gamble away any of its future assets.

Your drafting approach is to put it mildly is very provocative. Manziel was the most compelling player in the draft. If you want buzz and the circus that goes along with it then drafting him would make sense. From what I read the Manziel pick was the owner pick (return on investment) and not a football staff decision. Call me boring but I believe that Carr and Bortles will be better pros without the naughtiness to go with it. Whaley learned from the Steeler model. EJ fits his preferred profile more than Manziel. Colt Lyerla is a talented athlete who has criminal tendencies. If he had cocaine issues when he had little money then what do you expect will happen when the street renegade has some extra coins in his pocket? Henderson was worth the draft risk while Lyerla is not worth the bother. As you noted there were so many different draft approaches to take in this talent rich draft. It's my view that when all is said and done if you make a pick that works out, regardless of position, then the selection was a good selection. Eventually the critical mass of talent will materialize into a roster that can compete.

The Kouandjious pick was the right pick. He came to the game late compared to most players. It will take him some time to adjust to the speed of the game but he'll come around. Some people criticize Whaley for the trade up deal to acquire Watkins. He is going to be a gem. When you have an opportunity to acquire a "playmaker" you seize the opportunity. Although understandably Watkins is the focus of Whaley's draft class the key to this draft is how Whaley's offensive linemen picks develop. Our OL was one of the worst in the league. There was a desperate need to address that problem. The wildcard in this draft is Henderson. If he can mature and exhibit more discipline in his life then this draft will be a major success. With most offensive linemen, especially those players not drafted in the first round, you don't get a significant return until the second year and later. At least with have some credible players in the pipeline. The biggest loss this offseason for this franchise was the unexpected departure of Mike Pettine. He did a masterful job of putting players in position to succeed. Hughes was a major beneficiary of Pettine's masterful play calling and usage of roll players. When you look back at the stagnant Levy/Jauron era and you compare it to the more modern Whaley/Marrone era there is a night and day difference in atmosphere. Back then you knew before the football was snapped that you didn't stand a chance against the competition. At least now you have the belief that you can compete. Without a doubt the product is not fully finished (it never really is) but at least it is at a stage of progress where there is a glimmer of hope.

Why would you have harsh feelings for Hogan. He is your typical fringe receiver who every year has to hustle to make the roster. What do you have against earnest functional players?

The trading of an underperforming Kelvin Sheppard from the Bills for an underperforming player from the Colts was a tremendous deal for the Bills. Whaley deserves a lot of credit for making that deal and Pettine deserves a lot of credit for putting Hughes in the best possible position to succeed.

Hughes and the other rushing lineman and LBers are the beneficiary of the double teams that MW draws. When our DBs shoot the gaps the lanes exist because a disproportiate number of blockers are focused on Mario. As far as not defending the run very well a factor in that weakness can also be attributed to the LBers, especially the middle backers. That is why Spikes was signed and Brown was drafted with a relatively high pick.

The owner is the boss. He structured the business in the way he wanted. There is no doubt that Littman was the most influential person in the franchise, as he was very influential in all of Ralph's businesses. Oberdorf's responsibility was to work within the budget established by Littman and structure the contracts to stay within the cash flow paramaters. When Littman and Polian tussled and it got out of control there was no doubt who was going to go. The core of the poisonous duels between them was money. Polian thought it shackled him and he couldn't contain his temper over his frustration. There are many facets to Polian's departure that had to do with his volcanic personality and the prickly manner he dealt with people, including the owner but the substative issue was resources and how Littman handled the finances. The owner was an astute businessman. He got very capable business advice from very smart business people, most notably Littman, and he not only trusted their judgment but took their advice. It's interesting to observe that within the franchise's long history the business people were anchors who didn't move while within the football side of the business the staff continuously turned over on a regular basis. The business side was stable while the football operation was very unstable. The bottom line is that the owner, the boss, established the structure of the franchise the way he wanted it and he stuck with it for more than a half century. In my view there is now hope because Russ Brandon represents a modern way of running a franchise, a refreshing change.