notwoz

This thread is titled "Why no game thread this week?" My response was that the admins say threads and the shoutbox are verbotten and that the only acceptable method of communicating with each other is through the chat room. I voted for a game-day thread because that's what I'm used to and I don't really care what the admins think. That's what I'm saying. For further elaboration about my views on being herded into the chat room because the admins say we should, follow this link

The admins told us not to use anything but the chat room. And I quote (and hope I'm not violating TBD's copyright policy): "Last game the discussion was too disjointed with 1/3 of the people using a thread, 1/3 in the shout box and 1/3 in the chat room. Let's try and get everyone to use the proper tool for game time discussion - the chat room."

I'd rather wait to see what kind of tight end talent crosses the waiver wire

I've been watching Bomar on the NFL channel vs. the Patriots. Midway through the third quarter he's 6 for 12 for 73 yards and 3 points. It's possible he's having an off night, but based on these stats, I'd be hard-pressed to call him an upgrade. He also appears to throw sidearm. In a world of 6'5" behemoths on the defensive line, I'd be concerned about that if I were his coach. As for trading for him? No way would I give up a warm body or a draft choice. If he's available in the off-season, it might be worth taking a flyer on the guy, signing him for the minimum and seeing what he does in training camp.

Too bad he's not a defensive player -- then we could talk about the stiff pass rush. Jeez, I can't believe I said that

I'd like to see the starters get more snaps then that, but I'm not surprised. I think the Bills' coaching staff (like the coaching staffs of most NFL teams) have figured out who the starters will be and want to see what the second- and third-stringers can do. Seems that most of the final preseason games will be an audition for those who aren't guaranteed a roster spot yet.

The fact that Bills fans have been packing the stadium through this 10-year drought is a testament to the fans. The Bills do sell a lot of tickets, but the tickets they sell are the cheapest in the league. The average ticket price for a Bills' games is a league-low $85.01, according to this morning's Wall Street Journal. Compare that to the top of the scale: $265.29 average price for a New York Giants ticket; $240.83 average price for a New Orleans Saints ticket; $225.68 average price for a New York Jets ticket. Granted, the top of the range is ridiculous and an example of how professional sports has priced itself out of the market for the "average" fan. But getting back to the Bills: By selling the cheapest seats in the NFL, the Bills almost guarantee that they don't make as much money most other teams in the league. In fact, according to Forbes magazine, the Bills had operating income of $12.4 million in 2007 -- 27 of the 32 teams had higher operating income. To repeat, while they may be selling out a lot of games, they are doing so with the league's lowest average ticket prices. Long story short: Football is a business. The the owners of these businesses are like you and me in one important respect -- we all want to make more money this year than we did last year. And we want to make more money next year than we did this year. The declining population of the Buffalo metropolitan area makes that task more difficult for the Bills with each passing year. So if population doesn't matter, why have the Bills expanded their marketing efforts to Rochester and Ontario? Because they need to put fannies in their bargain-basement seats. There are fewer and fewer enough potential fannies in Buffalo and the nearby suburbs. The result is that they have to expand their potential customer base by expanding their market area.

Are you really Pete Metzelaars?

Look on the bright side -- at least it's not another thread on Edwards vs. Fitzpatrick vs. Brohm vs. Brown, or maybe Maybin

Actually, unless something has changed, the revenues are shared by 31 teams. I seem to recall that in 2008 or so, Jerry Jones pulled the Cowboys out of the NFL merchandise revenue sharing arrangement and nows keeps all the money from sales of Cowpokes merchandise. I don't recall seeing any stories about the NFL forcing Jones back into the fold, but I don't pay that much attention to the issue so I could have missed it.

I'd be leery of tying up to much salary in one or two players. Seems to me that a team built on depth has a better chance of success than a team built on stars and scrubs. The Bills already appear to have a stable of solid, though not spetacular, receivers.

Uh, no. If I can be candid and honest: It's a stupid idea. Granted, downtown Niagara Falls is a s**thole. As a former resident of the Falls, it pains me to say that, but the city has been decaying for at least 50 years and really needs something no short of a miracle to restore its former glory. And no, a football stadium is not that miracle that will revive the city or benefit the team's ownership. And you have to take into consideration that the ownership could very well change long before any new stadium is completed. Let's start wtih logistics. There is no place on the American side of the falls to build a stadium that has a view of the cataracts as was suggested. Unless you want to have a "three-sided" stadium. Then you cut down on capacity. That doesn't even begin to address issues such as parking or a road system that can handle the traffic all of eight times a year. Also, the prime real estate closest to the falls and the gorge is owned by New York State. Good luck convincing Albany that anything west of the Husdon River is worthy of consideration -- especially a hare-brained idea like a football stadium at the brink of the falls. Additionally, in 2008 Congress designated the falls as a national heritage area -- which is a designation signifying the region’s "importance to American history and culture." According to the National Park Service: "Usually managed by a partnership of organizations and local governments, national heritage areas pool together resources (cultural, natural and financial) to promote the region for tourism and economic development, while fostering preservation and conservation for the visitors of today and future generations. The National Park Service is authorized by Congress to provide financial and technical assistance to the partnerships that manage the areas." If there ever was a person who could survive and successfully negotiate the cluster-f**k that this designation impies, he died about 2000 years ago. So just suck it up and drive to Orchard Park. Oh, by the way -- what are the other six wonders, and do they have sports arenas built on top of them? The population of Buffalo and Erie County is shrinking. This is something that's been going on for decades. The only logical place to expand the fan base is in Ontario. Every time I make the drive through Southern Ontario I see more and more development. When I cross the bridge into New York ... well, it's not a pretty picture.

I'm sure Buddy will sleep well tonight knowing you were wrong.

Makes sense to me. He might not get another shot at the brass ring -- he better save his money. I'm exposing my ignorance here -- but considering how easily Maybin seems to get pushed around by offensive linemen, would it make sense to convert Maybin into a tight end or possibly a safety?

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I'm afraid that in order to get that kind of view you'd have to build it on the Canadian side.

I think Peters can still be the Eagles' ticket to the Super Bowl. With all the money he makes, he can buy tickets for the whole team!

If we wait a few hundred thousand years, the falls will have eroded all the way to the Peace Bridge. Then they could build the stadium in downtown Buffalo!

The insurance policy is obviously a publicity stunt. However, unless I missed the reference, the story doesn't say what calamities the hair is insured against (clipping, clipping perhaps? ) or who the beneficiary is.

An interesting item in this morning's NY Times that tries to resolve the debate over whether passing is more important that running. Why Passing Is More Important Than Running in the N.F.L. The author argues that in general, passing is more important than running and goes into a statistical analysis to support his position. However, once he got to regressions and co-efficients, my eyes glazed over and I wandered off to the coffee machine for another cup of joe. He does note that running successfully can be critically important near the goal line, where the short field makes passing very difficult. Running also helps ice games in which a team has a lead, but that implies you need to somehow gain the lead in the first place. His conclusions: Get a running back who’s good at picking up blitzes or catching the ball (Hmmm, does Thurman Thomas comes to mind? And can CJ Spiller learn to pick up blitzes?). Never draft a running back in the first few rounds, and whatever you do, don’t waste precious cap space (or payroll budget) on him. Get a quality QB at all costs. Assess your linemen on how well they pass-block, and don’t worry as much about their run blocking. Get lots of pass rushers on defense. I probably agree with this guy more than not, but I'm not 100% sold. Regardless of whether he actually proves his theory, I hope it sparks some interesting give and take.

The way I read it, the thread was intended to be ironic. But looking at the reality of the situation, if Cowher didn't want to step into a bad situation and use his "talent" to make it better, it must have been because he doesn't have the balls or he knows he's not as good as his spin doctors make him out to be. In either case, it's his loss and not the Bills'.

This is not a criticism, but an observation: If Chan gets this team to play well -- and I'm not necessarily talking about wins and losses -- then he will endear himself to a lot of fans. I say good for him for standing up for his team and telling the hecklers to p**s off.

Bingo