Well Sully is dead on this week.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

He is very good at second guessing almost everything. It has gotten very old

 

Fixed

[Tarrytown]

He wasn't doing to bad until he started whining about Bell.

 

Every year no-name RB's tear it up in the preseason. And let's not forget everyone was all "OMFG - how can we have 3 talented backs??" and as soon as we get rid of one it's "OMFG - what did we do to our depth?" and "Bell might carry the rock 2 times this season for the Eagles because they have injured starters - oh noooeeeessss - what did we dooooooo?"

 

Spare me.

 

Totally agree here. I think getting rid of Lynch is fantastic....freaking beast mode my ass. Anyway, the point is Jackson is someone that adds to the team...they move the ball with him,, Spiller is only in game 3,,, give it time.

[8-8 Forever?]

Could be there is a damn good reason no one else offered him a GM gig before now as well.

 

There you go... finally someone is on to the reality of the situation. No quality GM or Coaching candidate wanted to come to the Bills. That's how we end up with the Gaileys and Nixs of the world. The Bills are the universal "last resort" team for guys looking to either extend their time in or get back into the NFL (Donahoe, Stroud, Florence, Kelsay, Jauron, etc) . Why would anyone work for an ownership about to change (and clean house again) unless they were your last resort? The Bills are screwed until long term ownership is in place. God love him, but Ralph is not long term. Sully sees these NFL hangers-on like Jauron, Gailey and Nix and just calls it like he sees it. Good for him. He cannot write the above story underlying WHY we are stuck with these clowns, so the fans get mad at Sully for being negative.

[8-8 Forever?]

No one is expecting a turn around in a matter of weeks, but after 10 years of futility, it is reasonable to want to believe that our current front office is competent. I understand that rebuilding the Bills is a huge undertaking, but we are not seeing any signs of progress, particularly on the field. We all knew the weaknesses going into the season, and if anything, we have more holes to fill now. Wanting to hear from the GM or the owner after losing the first four games seems like a reasonable thing to me. When we speak of accountability, most of us are not talking about firing Nix or Gailey, but the desire to hear that about the plan to improve the team, even if it is a repeat of prior statements. We also want to hear that losing is not acceptable, and resources will be made available to improve this team. Ultimately, we want to know that someone is in charge and that they care about the direction of this team and tne franchise. Buffalo fans worry about things that other fans do not need to think about (i.e., RW and the future of the franchise). More communication from the front office and the owner would certainly help.

Given the absolute fact that when team is sold the whole front office and coaching staff will be replaced (no one spends $700m without also bringing in their own people to manage it) why is it at all reasonable to believe the current front office is "competent" -- the current management/coaching team are "dead men walking" keeping the chairs warm for those who will replace them sooner rather than later. That's why the top GM/Coaching candidates avoid OBD. We do not have the best and the brightest at OBD.. just guys hoping to hang around the NFL a little bit longer...

[BillsVet]

There you go... finally someone is on to the reality of the situation. No quality GM or Coaching candidate wanted to come to the Bills. That's how we end up with the Gaileys and Nixs of the world. The Bills are the universal "last resort" team for guys looking to either extend their time in or get back into the NFL (Donahoe, Stroud, Florence, Kelsay, Jauron, etc) . Why would anyone work for an ownership about to change (and clean house again) unless they were your last resort? The Bills are screwed until long term ownership is in place. God love him, but Ralph is not long term. Sully sees these NFL hangers-on like Jauron, Gailey and Nix and just calls it like he sees it. Good for him. He cannot write the above story underlying WHY we are stuck with these clowns, so the fans get mad at Sully for being negative.

 

Homers don't see anything wrong with the current state of the team. They're rebuilding and it had to happen after 4 years of DJ. Of course, they said the front office had to be given time to change back then too and we know how that went.

 

As others have said, the burden of proof is squarely on the front office to prove they've corrected their ways, given the GM and HC the resources commensurate with succeeding in the NFL of 2010, and minimized interference from non-football people. It may not be able to be corrected overnight, but the early returns show that decisions are being made by less than adequate (based on resume) leadership and are merely reactionary as opposed to part of a long term vision.

 

Giving the front office the benefit of the doubt is something I stopped doing years ago. Sully ain't perfect, but he's a columnist in a town with 10 going on 11 seasons of mediocre to bad football. Gee, I'd wonder if something was seriously wrong with that track record.

[PromoTheRobot]

There you go... finally someone is on to the reality of the situation. No quality GM or Coaching candidate wanted to come to the Bills. That's how we end up with the Gaileys and Nixs of the world. The Bills are the universal "last resort" team for guys looking to either extend their time in or get back into the NFL (Donahoe, Stroud, Florence, Kelsay, Jauron, etc) . Why would anyone work for an ownership about to change (and clean house again) unless they were your last resort? The Bills are screwed until long term ownership is in place. God love him, but Ralph is not long term. Sully sees these NFL hangers-on like Jauron, Gailey and Nix and just calls it like he sees it. Good for him. He cannot write the above story underlying WHY we are stuck with these clowns, so the fans get mad at Sully for being negative.

So by your logic if someone doesn't achieve something right away, it's a clear sign they stink? Ask Fred Jackson if he thinks that's true. I mean who in their right mind believes that minor-league indoor football player could not only make the NFL but gain 1000 yards each running and receiving in a season. Anyone who thinks that is on drugs. Almost as crazy as a supermarket stock boy winning a Super Bowl and being named game MVP. Who thinks up of this crazy stuff?

 

PTR

[jahnyc]

For every Freddie Jackson there are five missed draft picks. Peters and Jackson were great finds as undrafted free agents, but our drafting has been horrible over the last number of years.

 

After 10 years of ineptitude, this franchise, including the current front office, does not get a benefit of the doubt. However, Nix and Gailey are the guys, so they will be given an opportunity to fix things, whether or not we agreed with their hiring. Not much we can do at this time, other than hope for improvement and complain when things go poorly.

[8-8 Forever?]

So by your logic if someone doesn't achieve something right away, it's a clear sign they stink? Ask Fred Jackson if he thinks that's true. I mean who in their right mind believes that minor-league indoor football player could not only make the NFL but gain 1000 yards each running and receiving in a season. Anyone who thinks that is on drugs. Almost as crazy as a supermarket stock boy winning a Super Bowl and being named game MVP. Who thinks up of this crazy stuff?

 

PTR

No. But the guys who have success in sports management and coaching generally have strong bloodlines. Players are different than management. Player talent is player talent -- not much else needed. Especially at RB, DB ,etc. Talent in management and coaching and QB play comes from great experience with winning coaching, organizations and ownership. Warner became warner because he was surrounded by Vermeil, Martz, Pace, etc. Gailey, Nix, Jauron, et al are not from these kind of organizations. They may figure it out on their own, but that will take a great deal more time than if we had Shanahan, Cowher, Wisenhunt, etc. these guys have already learned what to do and how to do it -- but we can't get those guys because they refuse to be exposed to the post-Ralph uncertainty.

 

And yes, the NFL is a win-now league, no question about it. If you don't have an organization geared to win and win soon, it trickles down to the players, as better ones leave in free agency because they want to win -- the $$ they can get anywhere,, top notch organizations are more rare.. so the situation in B Lo perpetuates itself.. until Ralph is gone and a new, say, Jerry Richardson-type high energy leadership committed to winning emerges. This type of leadership is unlikely to exist locally, as factory towns don't breed these kind of leaders. Therefore, hard to imagine the Bills re-emerging short of ownership change/move. Someone make a counter argument.. love to hear it...

[1B4IDie]

And yes, the NFL is a win-now league, no question about it. If you don't have an organization geared to win and win soon, it trickles down to the players, as better ones leave in free agency because they want to win -- the $$ they can get anywhere,, top notch organizations are more rare.. so the situation in B Lo perpetuates itself.. until Ralph is gone and a new, say, Jerry Richardson-type high energy leadership committed to winning emerges. This type of leadership is unlikely to exist locally, as factory towns don't breed these kind of leaders. Therefore, hard to imagine the Bills re-emerging short of ownership change/move. Someone make a counter argument.. love to hear it...

 

Stop taking a pragmatic and realistic view of the Bills organization.

It will only make you want to

 

What you're saying is likely true, so the question beckons, why are you here?

Why are you posting? Why do you care?

 

If you chose to believe there is no hope, why are you wasting your time with the Bills?

 

Its much more comfortable on the Steelers bandwagon.

[Fan in San Diego]

I agree with Sully that it appears Nix does not have a clear overall strategy and is just winging it. And yes I also agree that nothing will change until RW dies or hopefully sells the team before then. If someone wants to start a fund to put up a new billboard I'll contribute to it, if it says "RW just sell the team now!" or something close to that theme.

[DrDawkinstein]

My head may be up my ass for many reasons but not this. Let me lay the old timer trip on you. I didn't check how long you have been on this board or even a Bills fan but my hunch is that it's not as long as me. I'm guessing that you are fairly young (compared to me anyway) and you have yet to run through the 5 stages of Bills grief.

 

Yes the Bills deserve disdain for being a joke of a franchise, but rather than whip myself like some Shia Muslim over it I just accept it. Why? Because I'm not changing the fortunes of this team with endless repetitive rants. Meanwhile, as bad as the Bills are, the experience of going to games and being a proud fan is better than not having a team at all. In fact when people see my "DA'BILLS" license plates they know I'm not some front runnin' fair weather jerk off fan because my team BLOWS and yet I can still call myself a fan.

 

I'll let you in a little secret...until the Bills win it all, nothing will make the fan base happy. N-O-T-H-I-N-G!! I have lived through 2-14, 7-9, 9-7, 11-5 and so on, and the fans B word, piss and moan no matter what. It's all the same schitt too. Ralph's cheap, coach is clueless, GM can't find his ass with both hands, and so on.

 

So here is the choice...you either learn to deal with the disappointment or find another team. Simple. Because you know we aren't going to the promised land anytime soon, and no amount of bitching, from you or Sully, will change that fact.

 

PTR

 

Ive been staying away from this thread, but am very happy I decided to read through it today for no other reason than this post.

 

[Van_phelaN1]

He is right that the fans deserve some accountability. Given the amount of taxpayer money (to say nothing of mostly blue collar folks' hard-earned paychecks) that helps prop up this horrid product, fans are correct to demand some sort of explanation for what is going on. It's really not asking too much. If this were a public company with actual shareholders to report to (as well as bankers/lenders), you'd better believe that its executives would be taken to task on a weekly (if not daily) basis for what has been going on.

 

But it is not a public company. So your whole argument is pointless. The fans deserve accountability? No we don't! We deserve a better product. Buddy Nix doesn't work for us fans he works for Ralph Wilson. Now if want to say that Ralph owes us something then I might be more inclined to side with you there. At the end of the day, if you don't like the product, don't buy the merchandise. Nobody owes you anything.

[CodeMonkey]

Stop taking a pragmatic and realistic view of the Bills organization.

It will only make you want to

 

What you're saying is likely true, so the question beckons, why are you here?

Why are you posting? Why do you care?

 

If you chose to believe there is no hope, why are you wasting your time with the Bills?

 

Its much more comfortable on the Steelers bandwagon.

Why do some people think unless you are a full-on homer "19-0 baby" person you cannot be a fan of a team? Weird.

 

There is always hope that things can get turned around. But for 10 years the front office has been inept (and that timeline is very kind to the FO). It is far too early in the tenure of the good ole boys to call them a success or a failure. But so far what have they really done?

 

1) Released their starting QB (who many say should have never been in the first place) and are now starting the career backup. And they filled the void with a 7th round pick who was cut during training camp and not picked up by anyone else.

 

2) Traded one of their three running backs for a 4th and a 5th/6th conditional pick. And arguably one of the few players on the team in any position who is a NFL caliber starting player. Don't get me wrong, this was the right move in my opinion.

 

3) Switched to a 3-4 defense (on paper anyway, but they seem to play a 4-3 a lot still). Probably a good long term move, but they do not have the players to pull it off right now.

 

What else? Nothing really comes to mind.

I think almost anyone here could have figured out those 3 things before training camp started. Not 3 or 4 weeks into the regular season. To say I am underwhelmed so far would be an accurate statement.

 

I am a Bills fan, for better or for worse. If I choose to see the warts and talk about them makes me no more or less of fan than those that choose to billieve that Nix and Gailey are the best in the business and thought that the Bills clearly would have a better record this season than last.

 

Give the good ole boys some time. I think it is clear that they are not stupid when it comes to football. I for one will give them a fair chance. But at the same time I will not stick my head in the sand for 3 more years either.

[1B4IDie]

No. But the guys who have success in sports management and coaching generally have strong bloodlines. Players are different than management. Player talent is player talent -- not much else needed. Especially at RB, DB ,etc. Talent in management and coaching and QB play comes from great experience with winning coaching, organizations and ownership. Warner became warner because he was surrounded by Vermeil, Martz, Pace, etc. Gailey, Nix, Jauron, et al are not from these kind of organizations. They may figure it out on their own, but that will take a great deal more time than if we had Shanahan, Cowher, Wisenhunt, etc. these guys have already learned what to do and how to do it -- but we can't get those guys because they refuse to be exposed to the post-Ralph uncertainty.

 

And yes, the NFL is a win-now league, no question about it. If you don't have an organization geared to win and win soon, it trickles down to the players, as better ones leave in free agency because they want to win -- the $$ they can get anywhere,, top notch organizations are more rare.. so the situation in B Lo perpetuates itself.. until Ralph is gone and a new, say, Jerry Richardson-type high energy leadership committed to winning emerges. This type of leadership is unlikely to exist locally, as factory towns don't breed these kind of leaders. Therefore, hard to imagine the Bills re-emerging short of ownership change/move. Someone make a counter argument.. love to hear it...

 

 

Why do some people think unless you are a full-on homer "19-0 baby" person you cannot be a fan of a team? Weird.

 

There is always hope that things can get turned around. But for 10 years the front office has been inept (and that timeline is very kind to the FO). It is far too early in the tenure of the good ole boys to call them a success or a failure. But so far what have they really done?

 

1) Released their starting QB (who many say should have never been in the first place) and are now starting the career backup. And they filled the void with a 7th round pick who was cut during training camp and not picked up by anyone else.

 

2) Traded one of their three running backs for a 4th and a 5th/6th conditional pick. And arguably one of the few players on the team in any position who is a NFL caliber starting player. Don't get me wrong, this was the right move in my opinion.

 

3) Switched to a 3-4 defense (on paper anyway, but they seem to play a 4-3 a lot still). Probably a good long term move, but they do not have the players to pull it off right now.

 

What else? Nothing really comes to mind.

I think almost anyone here could have figured out those 3 things before training camp started. Not 3 or 4 weeks into the regular season. To say I am underwhelmed so far would be an accurate statement.

 

I am a Bills fan, for better or for worse. If I choose to see the warts and talk about them makes me no more or less of fan than those that choose to billieve that Nix and Gailey are the best in the business and thought that the Bills clearly would have a better record this season than last.

 

Give the good ole boys some time. I think it is clear that they are not stupid when it comes to football. I for one will give them a fair chance. But at the same time I will not stick my head in the sand for 3 more years either.

 

There is a difference between what 8and8 is saying and what you are saying.

8and8 post is hopeless.

My question to him is why bother?

 

My post definitely cannot be misconstrued as you're either 19-0 blowhard or you're nobody.

You're singing to the choir.*

 

*I wrote singing by accident, but I'm going to keep it. It seems even more pointless than preaching, why would you sing at a choir.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Levitre + Wang = Wood

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Why do some people think unless you are a full-on homer "19-0 baby" person you cannot be a fan of a team? Weird.

 

There is always hope that things can get turned around. But for 10 years the front office has been inept (and that timeline is very kind to the FO). It is far too early in the tenure of the good ole boys to call them a success or a failure. But so far what have they really done?

 

1) Released their starting QB (who many say should have never been in the first place) and are now starting the career backup. And they filled the void with a 7th round pick who was cut during training camp and not picked up by anyone else.

 

2) Traded one of their three running backs for a 4th and a 5th/6th conditional pick. And arguably one of the few players on the team in any position who is a NFL caliber starting player. Don't get me wrong, this was the right move in my opinion.

 

3) Switched to a 3-4 defense (on paper anyway, but they seem to play a 4-3 a lot still). Probably a good long term move, but they do not have the players to pull it off right now.

 

What else? Nothing really comes to mind.

 

OK, what else comes to my mind and it bothers me.

Off season signings on the OL: Cornell Green. A guy who can't block, but can hit the mother of his children with a mop handle and slam her against a wall. Nice.

Off season signings on the DL: Andra Davis, Reggie Torbor, Dwan Edwards.

Late summer/early season DL: Akin Ayodele TE: can't remember them all, that's how much impression they've made. OL: Craig Urbik

 

Urbik may be a good player some day. Davis, Torbor, and Edwards all seem to be solid workhorse players that could provide good depth. I like what I've seen of Davis, in particular. But none of them are difference makers on a "Mother Hubbard" D. Ayodele seems like another of these "coach killer" types, he was supposed to out-compete Torbor for ILB in Miami, and got cut instead?

 

Meanwhile, NE seems to have picked up two fantastic TE out of nowhere.

 

The release of TE and the trade of Lynch don't bother me. I can't blame a coach for wanting to see for himself when players clearly have the physical package and smarts.

If he didn't think maybe he could "fix" players, he wouldn't be much of a coach.

 

The off-season acquisitions do bother me. I really question whether these guys were the best available at their positions and whether their talent was objectively evaluated or whether they're part of the "friends and family" plan, ie Coach Edwards knew Torbor and Ayodele from Miami.

 

There seems to be a bit too much of that (bringing in players with some sort of connection to Nix's or Gailey's pasts or some other coach's past), and it's not the way to bring in the best talent. Do they even have scouts who are evaluating the talent around the league so they can swoop on someone who might become available?

 

 

Give the good ole boys some time. I think it is clear that they are not stupid when it comes to football. I for one will give them a fair chance. But at the same time I will not stick my head in the sand for 3 more years either.

 

I agree, they aren't stupid. And I'll give them time. I'm just not sure they're smart enough, or have enough gas left in their tanks to put in the extraordinary efforts it takes to really field a good team.

[Rico]

My head may be up my ass

 

PTR

Agreed.