BillZerk

Nice report Thoner. Good observations

Sorry about the tragedy man. That had to be a very painful situation. I hope the daughter is OK.

Hey, I know we are getting off topic and I don't want to use this board as an evangelism platform but I wanted to say I appreciate your honesty. All I am asking you to consider is this person that you call ficticious is the one that Jimbo gives credit to for making a very real change in his life. A change that his wife and others close to him can attest to. Jim is 50 something years old and was pretty set in his ways and behaviours. It takes something pretty real to enable/inspire/allow you to make a radical life change.

I hear what you are saying. I feel it doesn't have to be either or. You can be transparent about your past and what Jesus saved you from while being a witness through your transformed life in the present. I don't think Jim goes into sordid details other than there were acts of infidelity. There is a guy out there who is going to connect with Jim's (and Jill's) story because it was a little specific. A drug addict in the throes of his/her addiction is going to be reached by someone whom they feel they can relate to...who has been where they are. I think that is the power of transparency, it helps you connect with people who can relate specifically to your story and offers them hope.

That is kinda the point isn't it. We talk about the Bills record before and after Kelly and the role Kelly played in the Bills glory days. It is easy to see Jim was a major factor in the Bills success of the 90's. Now look at Jim's personal record before and after Jesus. Before Jesus, a womanizer, unfaithful to his wife, denial about his secret behavior. I assume he felt guilt and shame. After Jesus, humble, forgiven, changed, committed, faithful and unburdened from guilt and shame. It is the transforming work of Jesus in the heart of Jim Kelly that brought this change. I am more proud of Jim for being transparent about his life than I am of his performance on the field. What he did on the field was exciting for the day. His personal witness could affect somebodies life for eternity!

I live near his hometown (Columbus, TX) His parents operate a restaurant. On Mar 19th we stopped there at lunch time and guess who was behind the counter making himself a plate from the buffet line. Aaron and his brother Matt. My son was wearing his Aaron Schobel jersey at the time. We talked to him for a minute and he signed my son's jersey. Took a group picture..... I wanted to ask him about his retirement decision but didn't want to bug him. He said something about being out of shape so that may be indicative of his passion.

IEatCrayonz, is that you?

Bill Walsh too.

And what is the trickle down effect of that to the players. You heard Jim Kelly, you can't distinguish a loss from a win Monday in the locker room. The players seem content to be competitive.

I think Jauron is good at taking a 4 & 12 team and getting them to 8 + 8. He has enough intelligence and game planning to do that. But much of the game is about emotion and momentum and I just don't see him being able to stoke those fires at the opportune times that translates into an extra win or too. Also, you have to be creative and get out of the box once in a while or make a decision based on gut feel or intuition. I don't see him being able to do that. he is too dependent on game plan and strategy. He is a smart guy and the players like him but I think the players need to fear him a little or be inspired by him rather than just relaxed all the time.

I think playing NE first game is our best scenario. First it will be Brady's first live game in a year. His conditioning and timing will only improve through the season. Also, it takes a while to get over the psychological impact of being injured. Second, Belicheat won't have 09 season game film (except for what he secretly filmed during training camp) to game plan against our new no huddle. From the Bills perspective, Jauron seems adequate when he has time to prepare and analyze all the imperical evidence etc. He doesn't do as well making geme time and mid season adjustments when things have heated up and you have to rely on gut feel and intuition. (Fast start --> Slow fade) I just think facing NE first game presents the best opportunity to beat them. A win would be very significant because it will set the tone for the season, give the team confidence they can compete and win against the best, and break the psychological hold NE has over Buffalo due to dominating us the last 10 years.

I don't think that is Mike. That guy is much more explosive eating that pie than Mike was coming off the line.

We have seen allot of great athletes got caught up in the trappings of being adored as a high profile athlete, get a big head, act like their above the law, focus on the money, fame, materialism etc. It takes a strong person to stay above that, see through the materialism and selfishness and have big picture priorities that focuses on serving rather than being served. I think that qualifies him more for telling people how to find God rather than someone who is in or has been to prison.

He has a high motor though

Unfortunately, I think Magox is right. His agent is yelling in his ear, "you only have a few prime time years. Your worth 8MM and they are paying you 3MM, in your prime." The hold out was stupid, he could have not held out, maintained his level of play from 2007 and have a much more compelling case case now for a raise than he accomplished via holding out. At this point though pay the man, make him happy so he makes us happy so everyone is happy.

I know were just talking about football heroes but heroes that you honor and put on a pedastal should be more than just good players. I am not saying they have to be saints but murderer (we all know he did it) and armed robbery are enough to disgrace him from hero status. To me its a package deal. I don't want to honor a thug or see my kid admire a murderer no matter how good a football player he was.

Do you want to honor a murder and now convicted armed robber. Should he be admired an esteemed the same way as the others on the wall. No way. I loved watching the Juice growing up but no way should he be enshrined on the Wall of Fame. IMO, it comprises the value of the honor afforded to all the others enshrined on the wall if a thug like OJ is included.

Maybe the 40 mph wind and blizzard conditions had something to do with as well?

Wow, good post. Makes you think. I agree that there is a powerful psychological or momentum thing at play. You see it in all sports, tennis, golf, hockey. An edge a team/player has when they are playing well and expect too. Your leaders are the guys who inspire that mindset by their play if they are players or words if they are coaches. I saw nobody on Sunday's team, from the coaches to the players inspiring the team. Everybody seems to adopt the low key, zero emotion attitude of the coach. The closest thing that came to changing the momentum was the kick off return at the end of the game. We followed that up with a touchdown pass but too little too late. Its just sad that the rookie already labled a bust by some, had to be the player to break the fung with his play. I like Jauron's demeanor most of the time. You want the coach to be a calming influence. But right now it seems to be a lulling influence that gives the players an excuse to accept mediocrity. Wouldn't it shake things up to see Jauron step out of character and light a fire under the Oline's @ss for example. On the personnell side, it seems we confuse high character with vanilla personalities. Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, they had personality. They could be grating. They would call somebody out. They were vocal leaders as well as impact players. We need that fire on our team.

Just win baby!

I don't like it, but that was funny

The more Reed is out, the more dependent we are on the tide ends for production and we all saw where that left us.

That seems like an extreme view. If a kid is trapped in a car, open the car door. You don't even have to touch the kid. Now if he was a pedophile with a criminal record and opened the door and removed the kids clothes to help him 'cool off', well than he deserves to be charged with molestation but that is a totally different scenario.

What you are inside comes out eventually. You don't change by relocating.

I live in Houston now but lived in Arcade till I was 17. I was fortunate to be able to go to a couple games at the Ralph. I remember standing by the tunnel and being so elated when several of the Bills Players gave me a high five. At half time me and my brother would run down the concourse as fast as we could through traffic, bobbing and weeving like we were running backs cutting through the line of scrimmage and getting to the second level. Annoying behavior to adults but much fun as kids. Good times!! Me and my brother would watch the games on TV and at half time go out and play tackle football we were so pumped up. Of course, these were the old days before TIVO and the Direct TV NFL package.