The Dean Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Short update: the Graham family made it to Ohio without major incident. Still looking for a place in Buffalo, but at least the commute's a few hundred miles shorter now. He'll be in Pittsford watching the Bills next weekend (at which point he'll probably start hanging out online again, but that's just my guess), then hit a couple of other teams' camps before heading to Canton. Glad to hear Tim and family are well, and on their way to the Bufftown. I hope his housing situation gets cleared up quicker than TO's.
Tortured Soul Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Hey Tim, Hope the move is going/has gone well. I want your guess on how the Bills will perform this year. Don't worry, I won't be checking this in January and holding it against you. Over/under 7 1/2 wins: Over/under 1 1/2 division wins: Over/under 4 1/2 sacks for Maybin: Over/under 6 1/2 sacks for Schobel: Over/under 3 1/2 interceptions for McKelvin: Over/under 9 1/2 touchdowns for TO: Over/under 8 1/2 sacks allowed for Walker: Thanks, and welcome to North America.
TimGraham Posted July 24, 2009 Posted July 24, 2009 Hey Tim, Hope the move is going/has gone well. I want your guess on how the Bills will perform this year. Don't worry, I won't be checking this in January and holding it against you. Over/under 7 1/2 wins: Over/under 1 1/2 division wins: Over/under 4 1/2 sacks for Maybin: Over/under 6 1/2 sacks for Schobel: Over/under 3 1/2 interceptions for McKelvin: Over/under 9 1/2 touchdowns for TO: Over/under 8 1/2 sacks allowed for Walker: Thanks, and welcome to North America. Hello, everybody. I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I tried to unplug myself from football as much as possible the past three weeks and rarely logged on to a computer. I even -- gasp -- missed "The T.O. Show" debut. OK, Tortured Soul. I'll take a crack at these. But I have to say you might want to think about finding work in Vegas. These are some tough numbers. Under on the wins. I'm thinking 7-9 at the moment (that could evolve as we learn more in camp). Over on division wins. Under on Maybin sacks. Over on Schobel sacks. Over on McKelvin interceptions. Over (but barely) on T.O. touchdowns. Sacks allowed are dubious, but if we're going by the STATS Inc. numbers, I'll say over.
TimGraham Posted July 24, 2009 Posted July 24, 2009 Tim, as you can see from our marathon thread below on the Pats and cheating, which went for 12 pages and counting, many folks a year later haven't forgiven or forgotten Spygate. If you're still reading, what say you to an article on fans of other teams' perception of the Pats and Spygate, etc. a year later? For ex., giving some of the folks here who think they cheated more than has been let on a voice in the mainstream media. Perception may not be reality, but sometimes perception alone (whether it be correct or not) can be the story. I suspect (in fact, I know, since I did it myself last year and saw a thread on a Steelers board just yesterday that brought this up as well) that if you poll fans of other teams you'll find that the folks here writing in the Pats thread are not the only ones who smell something rotten in Denmark when it comes to Spygate and New England more generally. I'd be curious whether ESPN (and the League) would take kindly to opening that back up, or whether that's something they just want the lid to stay on as tightly as possible..... I don't know why you'd have the perception ESPN would want to keep a lid on Spygate. ESPN was at the forefront of turning that story into a major scandal. The Patriots and ESPN do not necessarily get along to this day because of it. That's why I laugh every time somebody on this board or in my blog comment section writes about ESPN's love affair with the Patriots. When it came to Spygate coverage, ESPN and the Boston Herald were mentioned in the same breath, with the New York Times closely behind. There's a lot of scar tissue there. If there was another Spygate angle to explore, I'm sure ESPN would have no compunction. That said, I'm not going to write a story giving credence to a "perception is reality" piece on my blog when I think the perception is misguided. If you polled the average football fan about the Dolphins and the Wildcat, I'd predict most would say it was their base offense. That doesn't mean I need to write a story about it.
Lv-Bills Posted July 24, 2009 Posted July 24, 2009 Timbo, Simple question..... Did the Bills collect the fines owed to them last year from Jason Peters?
TimGraham Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Timbo, Simple question..... Did the Bills collect the fines owed to them last year from Jason Peters? I have no idea. If they didn't, I doubt they'd ever admit it.
Guest dog14787 Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Welcome back Tim, Mind if I ask you what your take is on Michael Vicks 4 game suspension, also do you expect much interest in Michael Vick around the league and if so do you have any particular teams in mind that he might fit well with, kind of a three pronged question. Thanks ( T.O.'s not going to be happy with you)
TimGraham Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Welcome back Tim, Mind if I ask you what your take is on Michael Vicks 4 game suspension, also do you expect much interest in Michael Vick around the league and if so do you have any particular teams in mind that he might fit well with, kind of a three pronged question. Thanks ( T.O.'s not going to be happy with you) Thanks, dog. Good to be back. I like the commissioner's decision not only to suspend Vick for a few games (we don't know for sure how many yet), but also to do it now. He is doing the NFL front offices a service with the timing of this because once the suspension is announced, all 32 teams will have enough time to decide if they want to bring him in with full knowledge of how many games he'll be available. No more guessing. There will be interest in Vick around the NFL, but this situation is such a wild card; I can't predict what teams will be most interested. The four teams on my beat (AFC East) would seem to be long shots at best. The Patriots are often mentioned, but I think that rumor gained speed because the Patriots never comment on any rumor. Nobody in Foxborough will shoot it down, so many assume it must be true. But the Patriots don't say squat about their personnel preferences. One team mentioned on Colin Cowherd's show today (Erik Kuselias was filling in) was the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it made some sense.
Steely Dan Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Thanks, dog. Good to be back. I like the commissioner's decision not only to suspend Vick for a few games (we don't know for sure how many yet), but also to do it now. He is doing the NFL front offices a service with the timing of this because once the suspension is announced, all 32 teams will have enough time to decide if they want to bring him in with full knowledge of how many games he'll be available. No more guessing. There will be interest in Vick around the NFL, but this situation is such a wild card; I can't predict what teams will be most interested. The four teams on my beat (AFC East) would seem to be long shots at best. The Patriots are often mentioned, but I think that rumor gained speed because the Patriots never comment on any rumor. Nobody in Foxborough will shoot it down, so many assume it must be true. But the Patriots don't say squat about their personnel preferences. One team mentioned on Colin Cowherd's show today (Erik Kuselias was filling in) was the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it made some sense. I don't think he'll start for anyone this year. I think he'd be used mostly on WC plays and as a backup QB. JMO
Kettle Creek Football Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 I have no idea. If they didn't, I doubt they'd ever admit it. Wouldn't those have been deducted from his paycheck?
TimGraham Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Wouldn't those have been deducted from his paycheck? The team doesn't have to collect. I'm not saying this is what happened, but they could have negotiated away the fines as part of getting him to report. For example: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2999778
Tortured Soul Posted July 26, 2009 Posted July 26, 2009 Welcome back Tim, I know it's way early, but when you get a chance, can you give us an update on how McCargo looks? Does he have a noticeably different attitude this year, etc.
Guest dog14787 Posted July 26, 2009 Posted July 26, 2009 Tim, when you get a chance, I know its still early to get a real accurate gauge on how well T.O. fits in Buffalo, not just the team, also the City and surrounding area, but could you give us your first impressions. We as fans expect big things from T.O., are we asking to much from one player? Also, T.O. made a comment yesterday on the first day of practice when a reporter stressed how different Buffalo compared to other Cities when it comes to having someone of his stature coming here to play. His answer was he is humbled by the experience. If you don't mind, could you tell him thanks from me, and his answer meant allot to someone that's quickly becoming one of his biggest fans. Thanks
Offside Number 76 Posted July 26, 2009 Posted July 26, 2009 So Tim, we've got an interesting discussion regarding the first modern-era (i.e. not the 1920s Detroit Lions) black QB to start in the NFL. Not the AFL--we're aware of Briscoe and Harris--but the actual NFL, modern-era. Here's the link; any chance you can shed some light on the topic? http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=92186
MarkAF43 Posted July 26, 2009 Posted July 26, 2009 Tim, glad to hear, I know how difficult the housing market is in Buffalo, we have been looking for months now with no luck..... so back to football, I know everyone talks about the offensive struggles of the Bills, but if the pass rush doesn't improve significantly are we doomed to another 7-9 season? Is this team more so going to live and die on the defensive side of the ball in the nice "bend but don't break" system we seem to love so much?
TimGraham Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 Welcome back Tim, I know it's way early, but when you get a chance, can you give us an update on how McCargo looks? Does he have a noticeably different attitude this year, etc. I'll be writing a story on McCargo for Monday. I spoke to him today. He seems like he's in the right frame of mind. We'll see if that translates on the field.
TimGraham Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 So Tim, we've got an interesting discussion regarding the first modern-era (i.e. not the 1920s Detroit Lions) black QB to start in the NFL. Not the AFL--we're aware of Briscoe and Harris--but the actual NFL, modern-era. Here's the link; any chance you can shed some light on the topic? http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=92186 Keep in mind AFL records became NFL records after the merger, so the Briscoe and Harris starts go down as "NFL history." But the first merged season was 1970. That means Harris would have been the first black starter in the NFL when he started for the Bills that year.
TimGraham Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 Tim, when you get a chance, I know its still early to get a real accurate gauge on how well T.O. fits in Buffalo, not just the team, also the City and surrounding area, but could you give us your first impressions. We as fans expect big things from T.O., are we asking to much from one player? Also, T.O. made a comment yesterday on the first day of practice when a reporter stressed how different Buffalo compared to other Cities when it comes to having someone of his stature coming here to play. His answer was he is humbled by the experience. If you don't mind, could you tell him thanks from me, and his answer meant allot to someone that's quickly becoming one of his biggest fans. Thanks That reporter was me. And based on the reception he keeps getting, I'm sure he feels your gratitude.
Offside Number 76 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 Keep in mind AFL records became NFL records after the merger, so the Briscoe and Harris starts go down as "NFL history." But the first merged season was 1970. That means Harris would have been the first black starter in the NFL when he started for the Bills that year. He didn't start for the Bills that year--he didn't start again until 1971--but thanks for the reply. I didn't know that the records had merged. (Do we get to brag about our team's 2 NFL titles now?)
Guest dog14787 Posted July 27, 2009 Posted July 27, 2009 That reporter was me. And based on the reception he keeps getting, I'm sure he feels your gratitude. Your the man
Recommended Posts