VJ91

Marcus would laugh at Hendersons' comment. I think the two are still great friends that have a lot of repsect for eachother. And Henderson did laugh at the comment right after he said it, because Tuten Reyes of ex-Bills reject fame will be one of the players assigned to "whip Strouds' butt." The other guard is also a back up. And with Chris Spencer at center being the only decent lineman, Stroud should have a field day getting acquainted with David Gerrard and Fred Taylor again.

We are not talking about the Bills penalizing Cornelius Bennet or even Darryl Talley here. This is Angelo Crowell, a serviceable starting NFL linebacker, but not a difference maker. If he was, he would have helped the Bills win more then 7 games last season. He would have helped them stop the run better. He would have made some big plays to turn games around. With Poz and Mitchell supporting him, Ellison should be able to do the job without very much fall off at all. But Angelo Crowell is the huge loser in this situation. Obviously he upset the Bills by waiting this long to have surgery. What was he thinking? A few days before the season opener, and he takes himself out of the starting lineup? Who does that? I've never heard of the player quitting the team for exploratory surgery, just to see how bad he's injured. So Brandon places the guy on IR, and he sits out his entire contract year. What an idiot Crowell is. Compare him to Sean Merriman out in San Diego! He is a difference maker, and regularly makes plays to turn games around. A proven Pro Bowler. Chargers management would have been fine if he shut it down to have his surgery. Instead he decided to play the entire year for his team. That makes Crowell look even more pathetic to the rest of the teams that will be looking at him as a free agent next year.

Great article in today's News on Kawika Mitchell. I like his attitude. Here's a quote: “Last year taught me patience,” he said. “It’s a long season. You’re going to have ups and downs. Someone is going to have to be strong through those down times. It taught me to respect everybody, but fear nobody. I feel like I’ve been there. I know what I’m doing at this point and I feel I can help other people feel the same way.”..." Like I said, it’s a long season. You’ve really got to take it one game at a time, or at least break the season down into four-game quarters.” That's from one of the defensive starters from last year's upset Super Bowl winners. So when I hear posters out here claiming that the Bills have to win at least 3 of their first 5, or that they looked bad in the preseason, or that they have to win the opener, I laugh. Mitchell and the Giants just barely went 3-2 in their first 5 games last season, they easily could have been 2-3. I'm glad the Bills have Kawika to help the youngsters understand what so many fans don't....that you can get hot anytime during the 16 game marathon and make the playoffs and beyond, even if you have yet another slow start. So if the Bills end up 1-3 after the first 4-game quarter, Kawika Mitchell will be in the locker room to flash his SB ring and remind the kids to not give up on the season as quickly as their fans do.

ESPN knows everything right? So every expert on ESPN screamed for the Browns to start Derek Anderson instead of Charlie Fry last year at this time, because they all knew how good Anderson would turn out right? I must have missed those live up to date shows last year. You hate glove wearing Mary Edwards and Clean up the City Boy Losman so ESPN knows it all. Well I happen to think Edwards has all the tools to be a great QB in the NFL, and like Anderson for the Browns last year, he could very well break out this season. Losman? Well it was cool that he tried to lead a group to clean up downtown Buffalo the last few years. And maybe just maybe Fairchild was so bad as OC, Losman might be better then we all think. Bottom line? Bills go at least 10-6 this year barring so many injuries that plagued them last year.

The Bills have the salary cap room to pay Anderson fairly and re-sign Evans. Some posters say; "But Anderson is a right tackle"....are you joking? So you guys would rather have Kirk Chambers (who?) start at right tackle instead of recent Pro Bowler Willie Anderson? And please don't tell me that Anderson could not make the switch to Left tackle while Langston Walker can. Brandon took a risk signing former Pro-Bowler Marcus Stroud. How in his right mind could he not jump at this unexpected opportunity to bring experience and talent into Buffalo to add to his young improving squad? Bill Polian made his career with moves like this. John Butler and A.J. Smith too. Now it's up to Russ Brandon to make his mark. Get into the Anderson auction, Russ, you can afford it, and your offensive line desperately needs it. If and when Peters comes back? Then Anderson is there to push Walker and Peters to always play to their best or lose their starting jobs. How can that ever be a bad thing? Anderson is over 30, and as long as he feels he's paid well, I'm sure at this point in his career he could accept being the best back-up tackle in the NFL. Plus, raise your hand if some or most of you have not bashed Langston Walker once or twice since the Bills paid so much for him before last year? I cannot find one single negative here at all.

Minutes after finding out he made the 53 man roster, Bell hired Eugene Parker and left Orchard Park. Parker did not return calls, and the only word from Bell came from a text message he sent Xavier Omon stating he already misses the team and really loves football. Omon guarantees Bell will stay in shape while he's gone.

Sorry, arbitrarily cherrypicking for proof or not, the first 31% of the season does not matter enough to claim that if the Bills are not at least 3-2, they won't sniff the playoffs. What if Peters needs 6 games to get into shape and the defense needs that many to jell, and they are 2-3 or even 1-4? That less then awesome team from 2004 went on a 6 game winning streak and almost made the playoffs, remember? (Oops, there I go cherrypicking for another example, darn it!). Forget examples. My point is that I won't be giving up on the Bills if they start slow.

Really? I remember Wade Phillips first year in 1998. His Bills started 0-3, and were 1-4 in first 5. They ended up 10-6 and wild card. Conversely, the preseason SB Champs of '08, the 4-0 Lions, started last season 6-2 and ended up 8-8 and out of the playoffs. So I don't get your "first 5 games" importance. I can't imagine too many Giants fans who predicted a SB victory for their struggling team after the first 5 games last year either. Talk about the "drive-by media" immediate gratification 24 hour ESPN mentality on this subject! The preseason and the first 5 regular season games will not make or break the Bills 2008 season - chill out and have some patience! The 16 games are a marathon, not a 40 yard dash.

OBVIOUSLY it was just preseason Those are the only 5 logical words from your post. I only judge one thing watching those 4 meaningless contests: If the Bills come through them with no serious injuries, I judge the preseason a complete success. I choose to wait until Marcus Stroud plays more then 2 series a game before I conclude that he doesn't have it any more. As long as the Bills don't put 17 guys on injured reserve again, there is no way they end up worse then 10-6 this year, even with their "horrible" play in the preseason.

Yeah, I guess I'm a drone for the cable companies, since I do have cable and don't have a dish. And since the majority of people who live in the United States have cable instead of dish, that is why I brought the greed of the NFL Network up in the first place. But sure I could have found a sports bar and watched the game if I wanted to. I would have if the game would have been in the regular season.

Great point. But even back then when as you say, stadiums were being built brand new in the 200 Million range, our counties, state and owner still came up 50 million short. Oh well, Jim Kelly keeps telling us he has a group of billionaires who are ready to beat any bids to keep the Bills here. Let's hope he's right.

I don't hear any grumbling in Green Bay about needing a "New" Lambeau to compete in the NFL... That facility is ancient... Green Bay fans aren't grumbling because the shareholders and taxpayers voted to recently dump about $500 Million into that ancient facility. It was rebuilt into a bigger unshared revenue palace then the Ralph was rebuilt into, (gee, do you think because they spent about $350 Million more then was spent on the Ralph??). Plus, they also tossed in a Packers Hall of Fame building and other fan-friendly ammenities too. Yes, even tiny Green Bay Wisconsin seems to have more money for their NFL team then Buffalo.

Here's the part of your one sentence statement about winning and selling seats that I came up with the idea you thought the Bills would get a new stadium: "...and be able to sell out the boxes of a new stadium." Sorry I extrapolated into fantasy. Just in case you misread my last post, the bottom line is that all the winning the Kelly-led Bills did sans Super Bowls in the 10 years leading up to the 1998 end of the original Rich Stadium lease was worth NOTHING. It did nothing to help our case for a brand new stadium, and it did nothing to help sell out the new suites and premium seats available after the Ralph was re-built. In fact, even though Jimbo was gone, and most of his teamates were at the end of their careers, that '98 team was pretty good. The defense was terrific and Flutie was coming off his one magic year of Pro Bowl play. So no, winning did not sell out all the expensive seats available back in 1998.

Oops. that's right. I forgot that the NFL Network beams it's games into the "primary markets" of the two teams playing. You must forgive me, I live in Rochester and I don't have a dish. We are not considered primary market for Buffalo when it comes to the greed of the NFL Network. By the way, does anyone have any updates on when if ever the NFL Network will make an agreement with cable?

WRONG. No AFC team won more games and AFC Championships then Buffalo in the 10 years leading up to 1998. Instead of rewarding the fans with a brand new stadium befitting the palaces of that day (1998), the counties surrounding Buffalo, New York State, and Ralph Wilson could only come up with about 150 Million to "re-do" the Ralph. Then, to make things even more pathetic, Erkie and his business partners had to kill themselves for 25 hours a day just to get the reasonably priced new suites and new premium seats built with that 150 million sold. (And they have never sold all of them out creating waiting lists for all of them, as they have in place now at Lucas Oil Stadium.) At that time, around 1998, Cleveland was watching their brand new stadium get finished for the new Browns to begin play again in 1999, and Baltimore was already playing in their brand new stadium with the stolen old Browns team in Maryland. Not to mention new stadiums in Nashville, Houston and Cincinnati were built right around then too. Are you telling me that if the Bills would have won just one of those 4 Super Bowls, NY state would have paid to tear down Rich Stadium and built a brand new one in downtown Buffalo when the lease came up in '98? I don't think so. Finally, Lucas Oil Stadium was well under construction when the Colts won the Super Bowl two years ago. That palace would have opened last night even if the Colts would have lost to the Bears 73-0.

It's fitting that most of we Bills fans were unable to watch the game last night due to the greed of the NFL Network. We were spared the first look at another "small market" rising to the challange presented by today's insane NFL greed machine. Lucas Oil Stadium opened against the Bills last night for the Colts. Bill Polian must be laughing his butt off these days. Check out today's News article about how the 9 counties surrounding Indianapolis and the state of Indiana stepped up and presented the Colts with their new money making palace. The worst part for the welfare minded Bills fans who constantly whine about how expensive going to the Ralph is? Every luxury box and premier seat is sold out and have waiting lists. Seems the small market folks in Indianapolis decided that having the Colts stay around was more important to them then how small their market is. Hey, I'm the first one to stand up and scream that the owners of today's NFL teams are insane to pay the players so much of their profits. I have no idea why fans in Indianapolis are so willing to pay $2,000 a year plus the $200 per game cost of the ticket itself, for 3 year contracts, just to sit in seats that Bills' fans pay about $800.00 a year for! But they do. That's why Wilson and Brandon were so quick to play regular season games in Torono Wake up and smell the unshared revenue Bills fans! Is Indianapolis really that much more prosperous then Buffalo and Western New York? Obviously the answer is yes. Check out the waiting lists for every seat in Lucas Oil Stadium for the proof. What's my point with this post? It's to stop complaining about prices and just enjoy the Bills while we still have them in Buffalo. And if you think its unfair to lose games to Toronto, then shut up and step up and sell out every single premium seat and luxury box in the less expensive re-furbished RWS first!

Jason Peters could be the best left tackle in the history of the NFL by the time his career ends. Who cares? I'm only interested in when he and his idiot agent decide his career will continue. No matter how selfish, ungrateful and arrogant Peters and Parker are acting, the sooner he gets back into camp the better for the Bills.

Well said, Bill. I am firmly in Peters' corner since he is grossly underpaid even on his own offensive line, much less compared to other pro bowl type left tackles around the NFL. So fine, Ralph and his new guy Russ can talk up the company line and act as if no other decent player in NFL history has had the audacity to hold out from training camp while under contract. Peters has not established himself as a consistent star yet, so Ralph and Russ have a lot of support. But it makes no sense not to reach out to Peters when your only other viable option is to switch average right tackle and grossly overpaid Walker to left tackle, and replace him with.......nobody. And I mean nobody. You have Kirk Chambers (who?), and a couple of young kids nobody knows anything about to start at right tackle. Oh wait, the Bills did draft a tackle this past April. Some kid in the 7th round, right? I'm sure he's ready to start at right tackle after all, he is the son of Karl Malone, right? And why are the Bills wasting valuable time and practices doing nothing about this problem? If they won't deal with Peters while he holds out, why isn't Walker already starting at left tackle in practice now? And why haven't they tried to trade for a decent tackle yet? They are all cockly about blowing off Peters, yet they can't be delsuional enough to think they can replace him with their current roster and still have any chance of making the playoffs, can they?