TimGraham

I want to thank everybody for the kind words on here. Most everyone was enjoyable to work with. I'm glad I had the chance to meet several of you out at the stadium. Dozens of people on this site know how to get ahold of me. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything, and I hope to see you at the first tailgate. Take care, and have a fun 2010 season.

My father still is around. He pulled through, but still is in rough shape. Either way, I appreciate your regards. I didn't say you have to love Mort or have warm and fuzzy thoughts about his coverage because he was nice to me. I wrote that he's a human being who doesn't deserve to have his personal character disparaged because of the way he covers your team. You've totally misconstrued my point, which reinforces it. Some people can't separate the reporter from the human being. And to say Mort "has NEVER said anything positive about us" shows you view him through blinders. You don't have to like him. Hate him all you want. But don't throw out lines you know aren't true to try to emphasize your point. It undermines your message. On Google, I typed in "Chris Mortensen" and "Buffalo Bills." The very first item: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp...&id=4400294 Sure looks like an optimistic story to me.

Just for the record, Two Bills Drive hasn't linked my stories regularly for months. And I haven't shared a link to one of my own since Marshawn Lynch's plea bargain last year. ESPN is able to track where traffic comes from. This site increased my traffic by an average of about 150 clicks a month. My total traffic is anywhere from 1.5 million to 3 million clicks a month, depending on the time of year.

You might want to empty your cache and hit the refresh button. Looks like your computer is drawing an old page from a stuffed cache. The headlines on ESPNBoston right now are Bruins-Flyers and Celtics-Cavs from last night's games and today's coverage, a Red Sox story from last night's game and a Patriots story from this afternoon. http://espn.go.com/boston/ The stories you mention were archived long ago.

He says anonymously ... I'm not pointing that out as a challenge. But my reputation doesn't get put on a shelf when I log onto this site. Nor should it. I've learned that it is pointless to engage with people who are anonymous because we're not playing by the same rules and I can't win. If I take exception, then I'm thin-skinned or a whiner or a baby or need to grow a pair. If I don't say anything, ignore the post and don't stick up for my friends/coworkers, then I lose respect for myself. On the other hand, you don't have to own up to anything you write.

I'm not going to belabor the situation because it's really pointless, but for my own peace of mind and so that people know where I'm coming from, I will respond to a few points being made here. Some are saying it's because I'm thin-skinned, but the fact of the matter is I'm walking away not because of attacks made on me. I can handle those. As pointed out previously, I like to engage with readers who disagree with me in my chats or the comments section. But that's not the case here. This was an attack on a friend and a coworker, and by extension, my employer. And this wasn't the first time. Chris Mortensen, for instance, is another friend -- a man who went out of his way at a time when my father was near death to call me regularly to see how he was doing. I remember one of the first times he called and asked what my father's name was. I didn't know why he wanted to know, but I told him. He said "OK, because I want to mention him in my prayers tonight." That's the kind of guy Mort is. You may disagree with what he writes or how he covers the team, but the venom I read on here about him being a piece of [insert expletive here] makes my blood boil. The same goes with Jerry Sullivan, another close friend. People here can't or won't separate the reporter from the person, coverage from character. It's juvenile and gets to be too much. Would you remain a member of an organization that trashes your friends? I wouldn't either. I can handle myself, but I'm not going to implicitly approve of what goes on here by not only being a member, but also being active in it. If you see that as thin-skinned, then I can't help you. I see it as pretty logical. Here's what I wrote on my "Ask Tim" thread a while back when people here were demanding I out a source and trashing my credentials: The difference between what I face in my job and what I do here is that I don't get paid to come here. ESPN pays me to deal with the comments I receive at the bottom of my blogs and in my mailbag and wherever else. When I come here it's because I enjoy it. When I stop enjoying it, then I will find something else to do. If your wife nags you at home and you decide to go out with the boys to have some fun, do you feel compelled to walk up to a table full of women and ask them to yell at you because, after all, that is what's waiting for you at home? Now, I'll address a few notes on here. But I think you'll notice I wouldn't be refuting opinions of my work or my role on this site. That's because those are your opinions, and you're entitled to them. I don't take offense if you don't like what I do.

How is the page "flooded with this crap"? ESPN.com's "Follow the NFL on Twitter" function is in a small window, shows three tweets at a time and you need to hit "page down" twice to get to it. It looks to me like you're going out of your way to find a reason to get upset. As for me, I refuse to go out of my way for aggravation. That's why this will be my last post here. If you want to take shots at my employer, my friends, my coworkers and my profession, feel free to carry on and tell them to"STFU" (classy) without my involvement. Thanks for including me on Two Bills Drive for as long as you did.

Mike Reiss is a good friend of mine and is one of the finest journalists in the country. Those sites are huge moneymakers. Not counting ESPNNewYork because it's too new, but every other ESPN regional site has the highest traffic of any sports site in that market. In other words, ESPNChicago outdraws the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Comcast SportsNet, etc. ESPNBoston outdraws the Boston Globe and Boston Herald. ESPNDallas outdraws the Dallas Morning News. If ESPN started an ESPNBuffalo, it would throttle the Buffalo News and WGR combined. As I'm sure you know, ESPN.com has unlimited bandwidth. If you don't like what's on the main page, I'd suggest investing four more seconds and making another click or two to find other NFL stories in a number of different places such as the Blogs index or the Draft page or the Rumors page or the Teams page or the Videos page or the columnists index.

If Modrak wasn't going to be with the team and they were just using his scouting department's reports for this draft (which seems highly illogical to me), then I doubt the Bills would have put him on the podium three days in a row to talk about the draft picks. They would have put only Nix out there to speak for the team.

The Bills are in a state where their fourth-round pick helps them this year. The Bills are missing players that make guys like Spiller work, namely tackles to help him get outside. There were better picks for 2010. The Bills are not drafting for 2010. They are drafting with their eye farther into the future.

I guess I don't count.

I like the way the Bills are doing it so far. They'll take their lumps, but be better for it. I'm guessing one or two rough seasons of rebuilding would have gone over much better had the Bills done it in, say, 2004 and 2005. Better to get it over with now than continue the path they were on.

Thanks much. Everything is great with the house aside from having to mow a yard for the first time in three years. Tiny lawns down there in Florida.

Love the player, mildly dislike the pick. I don't think it helps the Bills for 2010, but they're not putting together a team to compete this year. Spiller will look much better in 2011 or 2012 when other pieces have been added.

I'm not going to grade a draft now. The Bills drafted a lot of players from smaller conferences I didn't see playing on my television. Neither you nor I have any clue how well they're going to perform on Sunday afternoons.

Sorry I didn't get to answer this one before it was rendered moot. The thread disappeared during the draft. But based on everything I've heard, the Bills were not interested in Roethlisberger.

Quite the opposite. Jerry isn't a chatty guy when he's in the office.

I wouldn't put much weight into the fact people talk to him on the sidelines. Everybody has worked with the guy who walks from desk to desk in the office, chatting away and not getting his assignments done.

I loved being at the rink again. I was able to cover the Sabres angle for the Boston Globe. Didn't get my old seat, though, because I was in the visitor's press box. I'll do it again if there's a Game 7. Can't cover Game 5 because it conflicts with the NFL draft.

Purely my gut feeling based on my observations and not from any inside knowledge, but my prediction is Jimmy Clausen if three tackles are gone.

I wouldn't say it's an obsession. It's logical to speculate that a player with baggage, who has been suspended already and is one more mistake away from a long suspension, who has not shown up for offseason workouts a year after losing his job, who looked nothing like a Pro Bowl running back last year, who will be playing for a coach trying to establish a new culture and might be looking to make a statement in the locker room, is a prime candidate to be traded. And you can't say Lynch isn't a cancer in the locker room. You don't know that, and neither do I. The only way you know for sure is when somebody confirms it. There are tons of instances where teammates or a coach didn't confirm a problem until the player was gone because they were trying to make the best of a situation. I covered one of those guys in Miroslav Satan. When a player is wearing your jersey, you remain diplomatic.

I sent you a personal message. Take a look and get back to me.

Tebow ahead of Horton? Wwwwwwooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww ... What about Tim Kennedy?

There's all sorts of information we could be missing. First off, being a starter doesn't mean he's worth the 41st overall draft pick. And if he's such an obvious pickup for the Bills, then he would be an obvious pickup for all of the other teams who could use a left tackle. It's not as simple as the Bills picking up the phone and putting dibs on him. There would be competition and plenty of haggling all the way around. That said, there's talk in Baltimore that he's not really on the trade block. A report from the Baltimore Sun says the trade talk was a ploy to get Gaither to show up for the offseason program. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/...ens/Football%29

The league and teams work together with many recurring opponents (the Jets and Giants play every year, for instance) with geography playing a significant role. Most games are regional.