mort's makin' some excuses for td over at espn.com

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Here are some facts for you numbnuts...

Donahoe failed to build a playoff team in five years at the helm. Buffalo has a 31-49 record -- tied with Cleveland for the third-fewest victories -- during that span. Except for Houston, which joined the NFL in 2002, the Bills are the only AFC team to not make the playoffs since 2001.

 

The Bills haven't qualified for the postseason since 1999, the six-year drought matching the team's longest since the NFL merger.

What are you a Dolphin fan????????

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No, he's merely delusional. I discovered LONG ago that Adam is genetically incapable of criticizing the Bills.

[Adam]

Here are some facts for you numbnuts...

Donahoe failed to build a playoff team in five years at the helm. Buffalo has a 31-49 record -- tied with Cleveland for the third-fewest victories -- during that span. Except for Houston, which joined the NFL in 2002, the Bills are the only AFC team to not make the playoffs since 2001.

 

The Bills haven't qualified for the postseason since 1999, the six-year drought matching the team's longest since the NFL merger.

What are you a Dolphin fan????????

552633[/snapback]

Now you had to go and hurt my feelings!

 

Now There are things that have been done wrong- I wont dispute that.

 

Would I have liked to see the Bills draft an OL with their 1st pick last year, yes. He was right in NOT doing that though- the guy he had rated high enough was taken- and no, trading down is not always a magical solution.

 

I will judge Donahoe by the last 3 years, not all 5...the 1st 2 he had to fix the cap mayhem that was left a mess before he got here by keeping our previous team together too long.

 

He made some good and some bad moves- I'd say the bad may have outweighed the good, and there were some good moves that turned out bad.

 

Still, he does not deserve the venom being aimed at him. He was brought in to do something....for whatever reason it didn't get done, so its over and both sides move on.

 

Some fans need to mature, and start acting like the grown up people do though

[seq004]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=10343

 

Brandon (Buffalo): Would the Bills be better off starting fresh by firing Mularkey and replace him with one of the recently fired head coaches with more experience? Donahoe is only part of the problem...

 

Chris Mortensen: (11:32 AM ET ) I didn't think Donohoe was any of the problem and I think Mularkey should only be removed if there is a strong philosophcal difference. If I were a Bills fan, I'd be alarmed by the developments. I really would.

____

 

Jeff (Flint, MI): Don't you think that Donahoe was at least part of the problem in Buffalo? He took a lot of needless risks on draft day, such as McGahee and Loseman, and let valuable players leave that could have helped them win now, such as Bledsoe and Pat Williams. I'm not saying that I could do any better, but what positives did he bring during his tenure in Buffalo?

 

Chris Mortensen: (11:42 AM ET ) Again, I don't have the team. But he cleaned up a huge salary cap mess he inherited. He also inherited a terrible QB problem...and Bledsoe was the right bridge until they drafted a young guy. The Bills - and Ralph Wilson concurred - saw Bledsoe has a QB capable of being a 9-7 = now I hear Parcells is concerned about the same thing. Losman has the talent but the Bills counted on their No. 2 ranked defense to help them through. Pat Williams was a financial decision - they offered him a lot of money. He wangted more. They had key injuries on defense. I said this before - sometimes it just ain't your year. By the way, the McGahee pick turned out to be a pretty good one.

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Those two should just get a hotel room

[JoeF]

What's Morts favorite river in the world???

[UConn James]

What's Morts favorite river in the world???

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The Volga?

[JoeF]

The Volga?

552676[/snapback]

 

De Nile

[HarkinBanks]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=10343

 

Brandon (Buffalo): Would the Bills be better off starting fresh by firing Mularkey and replace him with one of the recently fired head coaches with more experience? Donahoe is only part of the problem...

 

Chris Mortensen: (11:32 AM ET ) I didn't think Donohoe was any of the problem and I think Mularkey should only be removed if there is a strong philosophcal difference. If I were a Bills fan, I'd be alarmed by the developments. I really would.

____

 

 

552486[/snapback]

 

 

Does "alarmed" mean the same thing as "relieved" or "excited about"?

[Rico]

Jeff (Flint, MI): Don't you think that Donahoe was at least part of the problem in Buffalo? He took a lot of needless risks on draft day, such as McGahee and Loseman, and let valuable players leave that could have helped them win now, such as Bledsoe and Pat Williams. I'm not saying that I could do any better, but what positives did he bring during his tenure in Buffalo?

 

Chris Mortensen: (11:42 AM ET ) Again, I don't have the time to cover all of it. But Donohoe cleaned up a huge salary cap mess he inherited. He also inherited a terrible QB problem...and Bledsoe was the right bridge until they drafted a young guy. The Bills - and Ralph Wilson concurred - saw Bledsoe has a QB capable of being a 9-7 = now I hear Parcells is concerned about the same thing. Losman has the talent but the Bills counted on their No. 2 ranked defense to help them through. Pat Williams was a financial decision - they offered him a lot of money. He wangted more. They had key injuries on defense. I said this before - sometimes it just ain't your year. By the way, the McGahee pick turned out to be a pretty good one.

1. I hope Mort finds the time to do a full-blown column on TD. If nothing else, it'd be a very good read.

 

2. Is he saying Tuna may be looking for another QB? What a surprise.

[plenzmd1]

Now you had to go and hurt my feelings!

 

Now There are things that have been done wrong- I wont dispute that.

 

Would I have liked to see the Bills draft an OL with their 1st pick last year, yes. He was right in NOT doing that though- the guy he had rated high enough was taken- and no, trading down is not always a magical solution.

 

I will judge Donahoe by the last 3 years, not all 5...the 1st 2 he had to fix the cap mayhem that was left a mess before he got here by keeping our previous team together too long.

 

He made some good and some bad moves- I'd say the bad may have outweighed the good, and there were some good moves that turned out bad.

 

Still, he does not deserve the venom being aimed at him. He was brought in to do something....for whatever reason it didn't get done, so its over and both sides move on.

 

Some fans need to mature, and start acting like the grown up people do though

552667[/snapback]

 

 

I have asked this before and will ask again. We all cried the blues when Butler would not agree to even talk with Ralph, and then left. Yes Ralph fired him when he it was obvious he was leaving, but thats another discussion.

 

Then TD walks in, says we are a mess salary cap wise, RW agrees with him as hes so pissed at Butler he would do anything to say what a poopy GM he was and look at this cap mess, and we ALL buy it like lemmings.

 

I am still not convinced we were in that bad a shape cap wise(outside of the two QBs), and that that squad needed to be blown up. Had they not got half their D blown up on one drive in Tampa and friggen not given up on the season in week 13, who knows they have made the playoffs.

 

 

I am so sick of giving TD a mulligan for the first two years

[Kgun5]

Now you had to go and hurt my feelings!

 

Now There are things that have been done wrong- I wont dispute that.

 

Would I have liked to see the Bills draft an OL with their 1st pick last year, yes. He was right in NOT doing that though- the guy he had rated high enough was taken- and no, trading down is not always a magical solution.

 

I will judge Donahoe by the last 3 years, not all 5...the 1st 2 he had to fix the cap mayhem that was left a mess before he got here by keeping our previous team together too long.

 

He made some good and some bad moves- I'd say the bad may have outweighed the good, and there were some good moves that turned out bad.

 

Still, he does not deserve the venom being aimed at him. He was brought in to do something....for whatever reason it didn't get done, so its over and both sides move on.

 

Some fans need to mature, and start acting like the grown up people do though

552667[/snapback]

 

I have a feeling that a lot of the "venom" you discuss stems from TD's treatment of the fans, as opposed to his failure as a GM. I also agreed with a lot of his moves, (although NOT trading up to get JP [or even taking Evans earlier that round,]) but hopefully he's still held to a higher standard in football operations than I am.

 

The thing that gets me is the arrogance and contempt. Not just for the bandwagon fan, but also for the diehard, the dillusionist, the media -- and basically, the whole damn community. Bad things DO happen. People tend to be more understanding and forgiving, however, when the person making the mistakes isn't a complete jackass.

[dave mcbride]

I have asked this before and will ask again. We all cried the blues when Butler would not agree to even talk with Ralph, and then left. Yes Ralph fired him when he it was obvious he was leaving, but thats another discussion.

 

Then TD walks in, says we are a mess salary cap wise, RW agrees with him as hes so pissed at Butler he would do anything to say what a poopy GM he was and look at this cap mess, and we ALL buy it like lemmings.

 

I am still not convinced we were in that bad a shape cap wise(outside of the two QBs), and that that squad needed to be blown up. Had they not got half their D blown up on one drive in Tampa and friggen not given up on the season in week 13, who knows they have made the playoffs.

I am so sick of giving TD a mulligan for the first two years

552698[/snapback]

you're preaching to the choir, brother. that "cap mess" was partly due to donohoe cutting a lot of the butler guys and seeing their bonuses accelerate into 2001, as i recall -- holocek, jones, sam rogers, flutie, and one or two others. they did need to get rid of one of the qbs, but i strongly believed then and continue to believe that they got rid of the wrong one (that i blame on gregg williams). moreover, most of the heavy salary cap lifting had been done -- thurman, reed, and bruce were all cut in february of 2000, before june 1 (if they had been cut after june 1, they would have impacted the 2001 cap.

[Simon]

If I were a Bills fan, I'd be alarmed by the developments. I really would.

 

<shudder>

[HelloNewman]

At the end of the chat Mort parted with:

Chris Mortensen: (11:59 AM ET ) Now if you'll excuse me I have to go meet a friend of mine who was recently fired. We're going to see a movie about cowboys in love to cheer him up...

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[Peter]

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Very funny.