What the critic's don't get

[PromoTheRobot]

Having visited Buffalo the last few days, I got to hear and read the reaction to Marv Levy. Sadly, our two most prominent media outlets (GR and The News) chose to spin what transpired toward the negative.

 

Jerry Sullivan was his usually sarcastic but charming self. Schopp and the Bulldog were climbing over each other to see who could be more appalled. Even the affable Bob Matthews had misgivings.

 

What everyone seems to miss is that Levy is the last guy in the organization, besides Wilson, to have worked with the Bills when they were an elite team. He knows what parts go into making a team like that.

 

Levy also comes from a time, a time that predates most of us, our parents and grandparents time, when charecter was valued. All the great teams had character from top to bottom? Name one NFL team that had a bunch of showboaters that ever won it all?

 

Levy will have one job in evaluating talent: He will look for character players. Modrak and Guy will find them, chart them, and video them. Levy will tell them which ones have the fire.

 

Wilson? He just wants to be told what his team is doing. Something that Donahoe, incredibly, never did. No owner should find out stuff about his team in the papers. Levy speaks Wilson's language.

 

Mullarkey will be under the heat lamp in 2006, but I honestly don't think he would still be here is Levy didn't think he had some potential. Enough to put his rep on the line for him. Mullarkey would have to completely crash-and-burn for Levy to give him the hook mid-season.

 

So count me among the optimistic. Maybe the Sabres have a lesson for us. How many thought Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier should been fired ages ago? Who looks smart now?

 

PTR

[Adam]

They'll stay that way, until something is done about it. Is anyone finally going to push those chumps back? I'm all for it

[seq004]

Having visited Buffalo the last few days, I got to hear and read the reaction to Marv Levy.  Sadly, our two most prominent media outlets (GR and The News) chose to spin what transpired toward the negative.

 

Jerry Sullivan was his usually sarcastic but charming self.  Schopp and the Bulldog were climbing over each other to see who could be more appalled.  Even the affable Bob Matthews had misgivings.

 

What everyone seems to miss is that Levy is the last guy in the organization, besides Wilson, to have worked with the Bills when they were an elite team.  He knows what parts go into making a team like that.

 

Levy also comes from a time, a time that predates most of us, our parents and grandparents time, when charecter was valued.  All the great teams had charecter from top to bottom?  Name one NFL team that had a bunch of showboaters that ever won it all?

 

Levy will have one job in evaluating talent: He will look for charecter players.  Modrak and Guy will find them, chart them, and video them.  Levy will tell them which ones have the fire.

 

Wilson?  He just wants to be told what his team is doing.  Something that Donahoe, incredibly, never did.  No owner should find out stuff about his team in the papers.  Levy speaks Wilson's language.

 

Mullarkey will be under the heat lamp in 2006, but I honestly don't think he would still be here is Levy didn't think he had some potential.  Enough to put his rep on the line for him.  Mullarkey would have to completely crash-and-burn for Levy to give him the hook mid-season.

 

So count me among the optimistic.  Maybe the Sabres have a lesson for us.  How many thought Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier should been fired ages ago?  Who looks smart now?

 

PTR

557802[/snapback]

Nicely put

[Buffal0 Bill5]

Levy also comes from a time, a time that predates most of us, our parents and grandparents time, when charecter was valued. 

 

557802[/snapback]

They even valued it enough to spell it correctly. Just busting your chops.

 

I agree with your post. Unfortunately, character is not highly valued today.

[Simon]

Maybe the Sabres have a lesson for us. How many thought Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier should been fired ages ago? Who looks smart now?

 

That parallell has no relevance to Levy and if anything tells us that the Bills should have held off on dumping Donahoe, like the Sabres did Regier.

Coincidentally not only am I one of the few who don't think Donahoe should have been fired, I'm also one of the few who never thought Regier should have been fired.

[Pete]

Coincidentally not only am I one of the few who don't think Donahoe should have been fired, I'm also one of the few who never thought Regier should have been fired.

557832[/snapback]

I am with you on TD and Regier

[Simon]

I am with you on TD and Regier

557834[/snapback]

 

All right! We're an army of two!-)

[OGTEleven]

That parallell has no relevance to Levy and if anything tells us that the Bills should have held off on dumping Donahoe, like the Sabres did Regier.

Coincidentally not only am I one of the few who don't think Donahoe should have been fired, I'm also one of the few who never thought Regier should have been fired.

557832[/snapback]

Out of curiosity, why should Donahoe have kept his job?

 

If he did, what should have been expected of him and the team in 06 for him to keep it again?

 

From my point of view there are two major factors to be considered. The first is on the field results. The results there are undeniable. There may be mitigating factors (excuses). I can buy some of them, but not all. The failure to address the line(s) is real tough to look past for me. Even so, I can say "if this and if that...things would be better". The second factor is general team and franchise attitude. Granted, we don't know everything about this but what we can see is ugly. Unhappy players is not a good sign, nor is the general vibe of the front office(if you believe various press accounts).

 

What is/was the case for keeping him in your eyes?

[The Dean]

All right! We're an army of two!-)

557839[/snapback]

 

 

While I was never a TD basher, I agree with Wilson (and TD, it seems) that it was time for Tom to leave. Sometimes you wear out your welcome...sometimes people stop listening to you...sometimes, even though you did your best, it just doesn't work out.

 

TD did a LOT of good for the Bills. He also caught some tough breaks. But, he did his share of things toward the end, that rubbed a lot of people (in and ouside of the organization) the wrong way. The team needs a new start...and like it or not, they're going to get one.

 

As for Darcy...well, we'll disagree. I like what the team is doing this year, of course. But, I want to see what DR does down the stretch when other teams are making moves to get stronger for the playoffs. My guess is is takes way too long to make decisions and ends up doing very little or nothing. I hope to hell he proves me wrong.

[PromoTheRobot]

It's pretty obvious now that Donahoe was a "Captain Queeg." Probably even walked around the office, ballbearings in hand, wanting to know who took the strawberries.

 

(Now THAT'S a reference you'd have to be closer to Marv's age to get!)

 

One Bills Drive was a bad work environment under TD. He had to go.

 

PTR

[loadofmularkey]

It's pretty obvious now that Donahoe was a "Captain Queeg."  Probably even walked around the office, ballbearings in hand, wanting to know who took the strawberries.

 

(Now THAT'S a reference you'd have to be closer to Marv's age to get!)

 

One Bills Drive was a bad work environment under TD.  He had to go.

 

PTR

557904[/snapback]

 

Definitely. I know it couldn't have been only me (and you) who noticed an air of paranoia around One Bills Drive during almost all of Donahoe's tenure. Everything was so uptight and robotic during press conferences...that's why, while people seem to enjoy ripping on them, the PC's with Ralph solo and Ralph & Marv were so refreshing.

[Rico]

Modrak and Guy will find them, chart them, and video them.  Levy will tell them which ones have the fire.

557802[/snapback]

I thought Guy was gone, or was that just a rumour?

Hard to tell without a scorecard these days.

[Simon]

Out of curiosity, why should Donahoe have kept his job?

Simply because I don't see any better options available. Change for the sake of change accomplished nothing more than change and I don't think the Bills have gotten better in the front office, more than likely they have taken a step backwards.

 

If he did, what should have been expected of him and the team in 06 for him to keep it again?

I'm not keen on using absolutes to judge a job with so many variables involved. Personally I think what would have happened is that Donahoe would have used a large percentage of his draftpicks and capspace to address the interior of both the offensive and defensive lines. I also think he (along w/ Ralph) would have pressed Mularkey to let Clement and Gray go. These two strategies combined may very well have led to the kind of upgrades that would have had Bills contending for the AFCEast title next year. If instead they suffered through yet another year like this one, then I would have said it was time to move on.

 

The failure to address the line(s) is real tough to look past for me.

I see this said/written so often and I just think that it is so inaccurate. There was not failure to address the line(s).

On defense he brought in Sam Adams, and spent Day1 picks on 6 other DLinemen. That is definitley a concerted effort to build a strong DLine.

On offense he spent Day1 picks on MWilliams, JJennings and Kevin Everett and still gave FA contracts to starters like Vilarial, Teague, Anderson and Gandy while even trading for MCampbell. Again that is a very credible effort to address the OLine.

Now not all of these efforts worked out. Some guys like Kelsay, TAnderson, Everett and Preston are still young and improving. Other guys like Teague, Jennings, Vilarial and now MWilliams have been dealing with injury issues. The only call I thought he really blew was the Bennie Anderson signing.

Lookng at the lines, the Bills have yougn talent like Peters, Kelsay, Anderson, Williams, Everett and Preston to build around. And they have a couple solid veterans like Adams, Gandy, Campbell, Schobel to work with as well. They're really not all that far away from being good in the trenches and with their capspace and draftposition, they have a lot of options to get better fast.

As for the team and franchise attitude, the only way we have to get an accurate read on that is through a self-interested media which thrives on the controversy they create. As a result I don't put any stock in them and the only interior problem I would ahve worried about in the offseason was Moulds and his massive contract. Dump JGray and put a 2gapper next TheKeg and he'll be happy as a pig in shlt. The Bills have good character guys like Spikes, Fletcher, Evans, Milloy and Holcombe to keep the ship steady and I think the team has a healthy respect for Mularkey as well.

 

As ugly and bizarre as this year was, I think the Bills are/were a lot closer than most anybody was giving them credit for. Getting some starters healthy and having a solid offseason in FA and the draft could have put them right back in the hunt, in good cap shape and with a good nucleus of young talent.

Instead we just dumped our most historically succesful personell guy and replaced him with an inexperienced favorite uncle whose greatest, and possibly only real asset is his popularity. And while popularity might temporarily quiet down the most vocal part of a frustrated and whiny fanbase, it doesn't win football games.

Cya

 

P.S. I know I've been on a rampage the last couple days, so thank you for dealing with me w/o implying I'm a complete raving lunatic and an idiot to boot.

Nigel Tufnel would be proud.

[BADOLBILZ]

All right! We're an army of two!-)

557839[/snapback]

 

Me 3

[Simon]

Me 3

557923[/snapback]

Aw hell, there goes the 'hood.

[Rico]

Simply because I don't see any better options available. Change for the sake of change accomplished nothing more than change and I don't think the Bills have gotten better in the front office, more than likely they have taken a step backwards.

I'm not keen on using absolutes to judge a job with so many variables involved. Personally I think what would have happened is that Donahoe would have used a large percentage of his draftpicks and capspace to address the interior of both the offensive and defensive lines. I also think he (along w/ Ralph) would have pressed Mularkey to let Clement and Gray go. These two strategies combined may very well have led to the kind of upgrades that would have had Bills contending for the AFCEast title next year. If instead they suffered through yet another year like this one, then I would have said it was time to move on.

I see this said/written so often and I just think that it is so inaccurate. There was not failure to address the line(s).

On defense he brought in Sam Adams, and spent Day1 picks on 6 other DLinemen. That is definitley a concerted effort to build a strong DLine.

On offense he spent Day1 picks on MWilliams, JJennings and Kevin Everett and still gave FA contracts to starters like Vilarial, Teague, Anderson and Gandy while even trading for MCampbell. Again that is a very credible effort to address the OLine.

Now not all of these efforts worked out. Some guys like Kelsay, TAnderson, Everett and Preston are still young and improving. Other guys like Teague, Jennings, Vilarial and now MWilliams have been dealing with injury issues. The only call I thought he really blew was the Bennie Anderson signing.

Lookng at the lines, the Bills have yougn talent like Peters, Kelsay, Anderson, Williams, Everett and Preston to build around. And they have a couple solid veterans like Adams, Gandy, Campbell, Schobel to work with as well. They're really not all that far away from being good in the trenches and with their capspace and draftposition, they have a lot of options to get better fast.

As for the team and franchise attitude, the only way we have to get an accurate read on that is through a self-interested media which thrives on the controversy they create. As a result I don't put any stock in them and the only interior problem I would ahve worried about in the offseason was Moulds and his massive contract. Dump JGray and put a 2gapper next TheKeg and he'll be happy as a pig in shlt. The Bills have good character guys like Spikes, Fletcher, Evans, Milloy and Holcombe to keep the ship steady and I think the team has a healthy respect for Mularkey as well.

 

As ugly and bizarre as this year was, I think the Bills are/were a lot closer than most anybody was giving them credit for. Getting some starters healthy and having a solid offseason in FA and the draft could have put them right back in the hunt, in good cap shape and with a good nucleus of young talent.

Instead we just dumped our most historically succesful personell guy and replaced him with an inexperienced favorite uncle whose greatest, and possibly only real asset is his popularity. And while popularity might temporarily quiet down the most vocal part of a frustrated and whiny fanbase, it doesn't win football games.

 

557921[/snapback]

I pretty much agree with everything you say here except for the "most historically succesful personell guy" part and the MM references (IMO he's a disaster). Other than his horrible choices for HC, I think almost all of TD's moves looked great on paper, just had terrible luck. I'd much rather see him still here & MM gone than what we're looking at right now.

[Simon]

I pretty much agree with everything you say here except for the "most historically succesful personell guy" part

OK then, who in the Bills front office has been more historically succesful than Donahoe?

 

As for Mularkey, he looked very capable last year. Then this year he was put into a situation that only a handful of great coaches might have been able to deal with. And by deal with I mean go .500.

I'd have liked to see both those useless coordinators gone and both Donahoe and Mularkey given one year to see what kind of step forward they could have taken.

Cya

[Rico]

OK then, who in the Bills front office has been more historically succesful than Donahoe?

557952[/snapback]

That would have to be Polian. I'll definitely give you TD over Butler though.

[KnightRider]

As ugly and bizarre as this year was, I think the Bills are/were a lot closer than most anybody was giving them credit for. Getting some starters healthy and having a solid offseason in FA and the draft could have put them right back in the hunt, in good cap shape and with a good nucleus of young talent.

Instead we just dumped our most historically succesful personell guy and replaced him with an inexperienced favorite uncle whose greatest, and possibly only real asset is his popularity. And while popularity might temporarily quiet down the most vocal part of a frustrated and whiny fanbase, it doesn't win football games.

Cya

557921[/snapback]

 

One of the things TD accomplished was a brilliant job of filling the stadium. That's extemely impressive considering the product on the field. I also agree that we're not as far away as people around here feel. I doubt Spikes will ever be the same player, and think LB's are a little thin. The lines still need improvement, but going back to a 3-4 might help the D-line. I digress.

 

When the flap with the signs blew up, I think TD lost that ability to fill those stands because of the backlash. That's where he probably lost his job. After 5 non-playoff years and the sign stuff, the fans lost confidence in Tom Donahoe. Ralph wants those seats filled, and TD is no longer trusted around here. He had to go. Levy will keep the seats filled till a better GM comes along, and the seats will be filled next year.

[Simon]

That would have to be Polian. I'll definitely give you TD over Butler though.

557963[/snapback]

I didn't mean the most historically succesful personell guy the Bills have ever had, I meant the most historically succesful guy currently in the Bills front office.