Kipers Hair Posted October 3, 2005 Author Posted October 3, 2005 So, go ahead and throw your juvenile rant. See where that ends up, because if the fanbase starts thinking and acting liek you, that is EXACTLY what will happen. 463232[/snapback] Is not a jouvenile rant!!! Now you say - Is So!!!! I really believe that the team faces the all too real threat of leaving WNY. I do not want it to, but I learned many years ago that some times you have to move to do what best for your family...And that's what the Wilsons will do....(That is sold and allowed to move...).
BB2004 Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 In August, there were a small group that believed the Bills were a 5-11 to 7-9 team at best due to the change at QB, the lack of OL development and ignoring the loss of Pat Williams. After witnessing yet another beating at the hands of a mediocre team, is everyone finally gettig comfortable with the fact that the Bills are still at least 2 years away from being a contender? IF JP is to be the next Eli Manning or as some like to believe Carson Palmer - that won't be until next year or later in Palmer's case. Maybe, (hopefully), the game will start to slow down for him, but we're going to need another 10 starts to determine if that will happen - will TD, (who's seat must be getting warmer by now), hang in there and give him the opportunity to play to see if he has what it takes? If it's about survival - we won't know if JP can play this year... The O-Line needs another year to plug in talent, (not on today's roster), and heavy prayer that the line will meld quickly. Face is, our OL Coach wonderboy might be good, but he can't make Wayne Gandy into O Pace, (or even a Glen Parker or Dusty Ziegler by the looks of it). Just as troubling - There is currently nobody on the roster to replace Pat Williams. With an honest eye - how's how next year will play out - we will draft a big man for the O or D line next year, (it will be a top 5 pick and Donohoe will take the riskier of the players available...because "he's a gutsy genius"), and get the other starters in Free Agency as we let Moulds go...(the spin TD put's on it is that his skills are deminishing...even though Jerry Rice would be a failure with JP throwing it to him). TD slaps the franchise tag in Clements - telling the fans he is committed to winning. The Bills retain his services for 2006 only as Clements will not sign a long term deal and will be gone in 2007. TD let's Fletcher walk, moves Spikes to the middle and tells everyone that this is an upgrade...fans hail TD's creative genius. TD signs some mediocre free agents, drafts a high motor white guy or two from a Big Ten school and the Mountain West, and signs an undrafted free agent who wowed everyone at the combine. We again read how JP is studying diligently and working out like madman..."boy, he looks like a linebacker"...The Buffalo News writes a couple of feel good stories about his family in CA standing by him through thick and thin...The fans go wild when JP sits in with the Lowest of the Low at Thursday in the Square... Camp opens - Willis is in Miami, holding out because he wants a long term deal. TD plays hardball and starts extolling the virtues of Shaud Williams - "Look at the stats last year...he averaged 4 yards a carry...". For security, TD brings in Marcell Shipp. TD spins his magic and the fans hail this visonary GM and start to talk of Executive of the year. We assuredly will be in the Superbowl this year...What with JP studying film and working out so much, our depth at RB, high draft pick talent at DT, (never mind they need 2-3 years in the league to develop), and all those free agents. Season ticket sales again grow...Face it, all TD does is put people in the seats...not winners on the field. We will never win with him at GM and Ralph in the owners box. Now go ahead - start throwing out your "doomed" lines or whatever other gibberish you have concocted, but realize, all of the cheering has still landed one victory so far. Keep settling for this swill TD is serving and nothing will improve... 462790[/snapback] Some how or another, I'm not sure TD can get the job done and that is incredibly disapointing. The overall record doesn't lie. We didn't replace Jennings or Pat Williams. Did we not want to spend the money? And what are we saving the money for? If we don't resign Clements, then what was the point of drafting all of these players?
VABills Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 BINGO. Think coaching doesn't help.....see Charlie Weis. Think great defenses don't win games despite having no offense....see Baltimore. 463261[/snapback] We have a local boy coaching the oline. So what, just because he is from Buffalo doesn't make him a God send. We have had a Tenny D coordinator who is a damn good DC but not quite ready for HC and a couple of Pittsburgh rejects come in here.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 What??? All the teams have the same salary cap. We can spend as much or as little as rules permit. This team has spent plenty of money bringing in some top tier talent (Spikes, Bledsoe, Fletcher, Milloy, Vincent,etc...) What we haven't done is spend the money on top tier coaching. We need to have the staff consist of the Walshes, the Fishers, etc... not the Pittsburgh connection rejects. 463259[/snapback] Bledsoe, Milloy and Vincent were (and are) all over-the hill. Add Sam Adams to that list as well. You can't bring in vets of THAT stature. Fletch and Spikes were good additions. Posey was well, Posey. TD's not gotten the green light from Yoda to persue greater things in FA. The owner can't sign a top-tier guy, the GM can't do diddly.
kasper13 Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 So it's keep on paying for a garbage product and continue to fill the stadium week after week or the team moves to LA? Bills fans deserve much better than that.
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 So it's keep on paying for a garbage product and continue to fill the stadium week after week or the team moves to LA? Bills fans deserve much better than that. 463273[/snapback] That's the real world, Kasper. This is big boy stuff here. Don't like it? Tough. Ask the fans in Cleveland or Baltimore or Houston what happens. Buffalo's a lot smaller than any of those three places.
VABills Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 Bledsoe, Milloy and Vincent were (and are) all over-the hill. Add Sam Adams to that list as well. You can't bring in vets of THAT stature. Fletch and Spikes were good additions. Posey was well, Posey. TD's not gotten the green light from Yoda to persue greater things in FA. The owner can't sign a top-tier guy, the GM can't do diddly. 463271[/snapback] What top tier guy would you have wanted. With the signing bonuses Fletch, Spikes, Milloy and Vincent got, they were upper tier. There is noone that we could have had to fit under the cap that would have helped. I contend we have some decent talent, poorly coached, and defensively we have good talent starting but the backups suck for the most part. Oline sucks, but who was out there to sign? You throw stones, but I don't see anyone really available. However coaches can be had, and we have not gone there. We have small market coaches.
AJ1 Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 Hope you enjoy seeing the Bills move to Los Angeles and suddenly winning a Super Bowl, then. 463210[/snapback] Hey, I see the Sunday gatherings as an excuse to get liquored up, have a picnic, and meet old friends. The attraction can not be to watch good football. So like the old HS gathering spot in my hometown, long after it was demolished, kids gathered there as in the old days. So shall it be with the Ralph. Why does Western NY need a football team to conduct the 'normal' activities on gameday? Just rerun some of the past glorious games on the Jumbotron; most of the crowd won't even notice.
Guest BackInDaDay Posted October 3, 2005 Posted October 3, 2005 I hope other fans are like you...but come Thursday, the bandwagon will be rolling again with visions of some great run and a fruitless sacrifice by TD...Until TD is gone, we'll suffer the same fate every week... 463181[/snapback] You need to seperate the business from the sport. Never stop rooting for the team to do well, regardless of what may lie beneath the decisions that fielded a particular team. RW hired TD to clean up the franchise, financially speaking, and make it an economically viable option for prospective buyers. That's obvious. TD's personnel decisions have always been 'best bang for the buck' compromises. From the coaching staff, to the equipment manager. Bargain coaches and players can carry enough promise to lure a loyal fan base into believing that management is putting the best product possible on the field. They can also perform well enough, at times, to seduce us into believing that promise will be fulfilled. Ticket and merchandise sales are an undeniable barometer of the health of a professional sports team. By managing the Bills on the financial down-lo while generating a generous income, RW can maintain a status quo favorable to new suitors who either wish to, or are ordered to by the league, to keep the franchise in Buffalo. Healthy small-market sports franchises are no longer common place entities, except in the NFL. Although he will, in the end, do whatever is best for his family's interests, I think RW does feel enough of an allegiance to Buffalo to wish for the team to remain there, and would rather hand the keys to new ownership devoted to that end. What we're witnessing now is RW tottering on lines stretched between economic realities, personal responibilities and his life-long passion for Bills football. Unfortunately, this is probaly how it's going to be until RW passes on. He may have already come to grips with never holding that elusive world championship trophy, and if he's surrendered that, I feel bad for him.
Kipers Hair Posted October 3, 2005 Author Posted October 3, 2005 Hey, I see the Sunday gatherings as an excuse to get liquored up, have a picnic, and meet old friends. The attraction can not be to watch good football. So like the old HS gathering spot in my hometown, long after it was demolished, kids gathered there as in the old days. So shall it be with the Ralph. Why does Western NY need a football team to conduct the 'normal' activities on gameday? Just rerun some of the past glorious games on the Jumbotron; most of the crowd won't even notice. 463306[/snapback] Now you're talking....WNY can tailgate for Ken West vs Ken East at Crosby Field...
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