CarolinaBillsFan Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 A lot of people would be right. But he was good enough to start nine games for one of the worst teams in the NFL. That is comforting!
mrags Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 Hi Tim, Hope your feeling better since the last few days. Please keep us informed as to how your doing. I was just thinking back to the T.O. signing and recall comments being made that the Bills were not done with FA, and expected to make another big splash. Now we all know that their thoughts of a splash could be Pat Thomas. But I think we were hoping something with a little more flash. During that time there were rumors that we were interested in trading for Brian Waters of the Chiefs. Do you have any inside information on what that splash might be, or if there is/was any truth to the Waters trade? Thanks
Jerry Jabber Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 Tim, Hello & thanks for your time. If things work out with Terrell Owens this year, do you see the Bills offering him a multiple year contract at the end of the season? Thanks!
Lori Posted March 20, 2009 Author Posted March 20, 2009 Tim do you know anything more than we do about Pat Thomas? A lot of people here think he is nothing more than a special teamer. A lot of people would be right. But he was good enough to start nine games for one of the worst teams in the NFL. That is comforting! Hey, good to see you back in business, scribe. My question: if you could choose one Big Game to cover (Super Bowl / NCAA hoops or football championship game / World Series / Stanley Cup Final / heavyweight championship fight, etc.), what's your pick? (Yeah, I purposely left the NBA Finals off that list, because I know better. )
TimGraham Posted March 20, 2009 Posted March 20, 2009 Tim, Hello & thanks for your time. If things work out with Terrell Owens this year, do you see the Bills offering him a multiple year contract at the end of the season? Thanks! I think that's possible. But he will be 36 before the season is over. Receivers don't have a long shelf life.
TimGraham Posted March 20, 2009 Posted March 20, 2009 Hey, good to see you back in business, scribe. My question: if you could choose one Big Game to cover (Super Bowl / NCAA hoops or football championship game / World Series / Stanley Cup Final / heavyweight championship fight, etc.), what's your pick? (Yeah, I purposely left the NBA Finals off that list, because I know better. ) They all have their charms ... I'll eliminate the World Series and BCS title game. I covered the Orange Bowl for the national championship once (Oklahoma over Florida State in 2000) and it did nothing for me. NCAA hoops would be thrilling, but I don't get into the sport as much as I do the NFL, NHL or boxing. Covering the Stanley Cup, you would miss one of the best parts because you'd be scrambling to file and get to the locker rooms when the players are shaking hands at the end and then lifting the Cup. But a Game 7 would be intense. The Super Bowl kind of drones on with all the commercials and the late finish, but it is the No. 1 event in the U.S. That said, nothing I've ever covered captures the tension of a world-class title fight. Anything can happen, and it might end at any time with a single punch. I've never covered anything else where I write with so much adrenaline pumping than after a sensational fight.
Lori Posted March 20, 2009 Author Posted March 20, 2009 Had a sneaking suspicion that might be your answer. So if you had access to a time machine, what's the one fight you'd want to see? And I agree completely about the NHL. No matter who's playing in the final, I can't tear myself away from the TV when the winners skate the Cup. To miss that part of the story because you're hustling downstairs from the press box ... Reminds me of Sully talking about how he didn't see Norwood's kick in SB XXV.
TimGraham Posted March 21, 2009 Posted March 21, 2009 Had a sneaking suspicion that might be your answer. So if you had access to a time machine, what's the one fight you'd want to see? And I agree completely about the NHL. No matter who's playing in the final, I can't tear myself away from the TV when the winners skate the Cup. To miss that part of the story because you're hustling downstairs from the press box ... Reminds me of Sully talking about how he didn't see Norwood's kick in SB XXV. I have an affinity for those transcendent moments -- both sublime and bizarre. I would love to have been ringside for the epic Hagler-Hearns fight, which ended within three unbelievable rounds. I also wish I could say I was at Holyfield-Bowe fight in 1993, when the Fan Man crashed into the ring. But I can say I was there when Mike Tyson bit Holyfield ... and when Oliver McCall broke down in tears and refused to fight Lennox Lewis.
BillsNYC Posted March 21, 2009 Posted March 21, 2009 Does the NFL 1) Want to get rookie salaries under control? 2) Have the ability to do so? The outrageous salaries, especially top 10 picks, unproven rookies are getting only benefit two parties here...the players and their agents. Does the first QB taken really deserve to be paid like Tom Brady?
Lori Posted March 21, 2009 Author Posted March 21, 2009 Programming note: Tim is on his way out to California for the league meetings which start tomorrow, so I'm not sure how often he'll check in here for the next few days.
markd2020 Posted March 22, 2009 Posted March 22, 2009 Does the NFL 1) Want to get rookie salaries under control? 2) Have the ability to do so? The outrageous salaries, especially top 10 picks, unproven rookies are getting only benefit two parties here...the players and their agents. Does the first QB taken really deserve to be paid like Tom Brady? Good point. Maybe they should look at the NBA.
TimGraham Posted March 22, 2009 Posted March 22, 2009 Does the NFL 1) Want to get rookie salaries under control? 2) Have the ability to do so? The outrageous salaries, especially top 10 picks, unproven rookies are getting only benefit two parties here...the players and their agents. Does the first QB taken really deserve to be paid like Tom Brady? I wrote a story on this at last year's owner's meetings. There's a split, but most owners don't like giving such exorbitant sums to unproven talent. One might think the NFLPA doesn't like it either because so often the No. 1 pick becomes the richest player at his position. But the union believes that system works because the next time Peyton Manning's contract is up, he'll have the ability to compare himself to Johnny Flamethrower and get even more money than that. So in that respect, uncapped rookie salaries raise the bar for the superstars.
Lori Posted March 23, 2009 Author Posted March 23, 2009 Why, so he did: Is top draft pick a reward or financial burden? By TIM GRAHAMPalm Beach Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 16, 2008 A long-standing NFL Draft tradition holds that the last pick of every draft be dubbed Mr. Irrelevant. Circumstances as they are, the first selection is becoming Mr. I'd Rather Not. The Dolphins have been trying to trade their No. 1 pick for months yet seem resigned to the fact they won't find any takers by the time NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces the top choice next weekend in Radio City Music Hall. When the premier selection in the draft turns into a hot potato nobody wants, NFL executives are even further convinced a hard rookie salary cap is needed to correct an awkward problem that makes it possible for unproven rookies to get paid more than future Hall of Famers at the same position. With top rookie prices about to burn through the ozone layer, teams picking at the front of the draft are bracing themselves more than reveling in the honor of presenting their jerseys to the finest college players. (more at link)
BillsNYC Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 I wrote a story on this at last year's owner's meetings. There's a split, but most owners don't like giving such exorbitant sums to unproven talent. One might think the NFLPA doesn't like it either because so often the No. 1 pick becomes the richest player at his position. But the union believes that system works because the next time Peyton Manning's contract is up, he'll have the ability to compare himself to Johnny Flamethrower and get even more money than that. So in that respect, uncapped rookie salaries raise the bar for the superstars. But is letting a rookie set the salary market a good thing in any business? Imagine if ESPN hired a hot shot intern and offered them twice what you make based on their potential. Same with anybody that posts here in their careers. It's just not a good business model.
ndirish1978 Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Tim, are the Bills done in FA? We appear to only have 10M in cap room and will use most of it to sign rookies. Of course we could unload Parrish and McCargo for some scrilla, but I don't see where it would go at this point.
TimGraham Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 But is letting a rookie set the salary market a good thing in any business? Imagine if ESPN hired a hot shot intern and offered them twice what you make based on their potential. Same with anybody that posts here in their careers. It's just not a good business model. You're assuming in that scenario that the NFL is like the real world and phases out proven talent. In businesses where it doesn't matter who is doing the work, you would have a point. But in the case of the NFL, proven talent never is phased out in exchange for cheaper talent. Never. Superstars always will get paid, so escalating rookie salaries are great for elite players. A janitor or a blogger can be replaced by younger, cheaper talent. But an NFL quarterback or left tackle or cover corner will never be out of work if he can do the job well. And the best will always make more than what blue-chip rookies establish in previous years. Jake Long will be the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history for only a brief period. As soon as a veteran Pro Bowler's contract is up, he will make at least as much as Long.
Steely Dan Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 They all have their charms ... I'll eliminate the World Series and BCS title game. I covered the Orange Bowl for the national championship once (Oklahoma over Florida State in 2000) and it did nothing for me. NCAA hoops would be thrilling, but I don't get into the sport as much as I do the NFL, NHL or boxing. Covering the Stanley Cup, you would miss one of the best parts because you'd be scrambling to file and get to the locker rooms when the players are shaking hands at the end and then lifting the Cup. But a Game 7 would be intense. The Super Bowl kind of drones on with all the commercials and the late finish, but it is the No. 1 event in the U.S. That said, nothing I've ever covered captures the tension of a world-class title fight. Anything can happen, and it might end at any time with a single punch. I've never covered anything else where I write with so much adrenaline pumping than after a sensational fight. The problem with a title fight is that the state of boxing is at an all time low, IMO. I don't see anyone out there that could hang with any of the guys from the 70's. Mike Tyson was a paper tiger. He had to pay off Lennox Lewis in order to avoid a fight with him. While both were knocked out by tomato cans Lewis is still the best boxer of the last 20 years. What's left now couldn't have beaten the third, fourth or fifth ranked boxer of the seventies. For crying out loud Foreman won the title at age 45!! And right now I think Klitchko is the title holder, I haven't followed the sport much lately due to it's pathetic state. I think Foreman might be able to beat Klitchko today. I've never seen a guy get so bloody in a fight, ever. The guy doesn't have a glass jaw he has a glass face. Ahhhh, for the quality of boxing to return to the level of the 70's, if only. In "When We Were Kings" (The best boxing documentary of all time.) they said that Ali wouldn't watch Foreman when he was hitting the heavy bag. What he did to the heavy bag was frightening, even to Ali. There is nobody even close to Foreman or Ali in their primes today. What do you think is the cause of the pathetic state of boxing these days?
WellDressed Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 You are only looking at the heavyweight division, open your eyes and look at the lightweight & Jr. welterweight divisions; some great fights there. The problem with a title fight is that the state of boxing is at an all time low, IMO. I don't see anyone out there that could hang with any of the guys from the 70's. Mike Tyson was a paper tiger. He had to pay off Lennox Lewis in order to avoid a fight with him. While both were knocked out by tomato cans Lewis is still the best boxer of the last 20 years. What's left now couldn't have beaten the third, fourth or fifth ranked boxer of the seventies. For crying out loud Foreman won the title at age 45!! And right now I think Klitchko is the title holder, I haven't followed the sport much lately due to it's pathetic state. I think Foreman might be able to beat Klitchko today. I've never seen a guy get so bloody in a fight, ever. The guy doesn't have a glass jaw he has a glass face. Ahhhh, for the quality of boxing to return to the level of the 70's, if only. In "When We Were Kings" (The best boxing documentary of all time.) they said that Ali wouldn't watch Foreman when he was hitting the heavy bag. What he did to the heavy bag was frightening, even to Ali. There is nobody even close to Foreman or Ali in their primes today. What do you think is the cause of the pathetic state of boxing these days?
Tortured Soul Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Hey Tim, Best guess - does starting the season in prime time have any effect on the commish's decision to suspend Lynch for the game? Do you think it should?
TimGraham Posted March 24, 2009 Posted March 24, 2009 Hey Tim, Best guess - does starting the season in prime time have any effect on the commish's decision to suspend Lynch for the game? Do you think it should? I don't think it will impact the commissioner's decision at all. Unless there's a shocking verdict and Lynch doesn't get suspended at all, he will not be playing in that game.
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