GaryPinC
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Posts posted by GaryPinC
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Last call is at 4
This was probably 15 years ago but 5 of us were out at a bar in the burbs there and when 4 am rolled by and we wanted another round the bartender said LCB guys never check up on a place at 4 am and we could keep drinking till we're done (5:30). Good times!
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Super close grip on the bench press.
Say what??!!?? Look at his forearms in the photo. They should be perpendicular to the bar and his have a slight inward angle but not much. It's probably his normal grip considering he's 5'9". If his hands were where the spotter's are then we could talk close grip.
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That Miami game breaking the streak in 1980 cemented things in for me. Not that I would have ever given up on the Bills, but as a kid (I was 10) they sucked so consistently that decade I definitely had times I doubted whether I wanted to endure a lifetime of that! Our house in West Seneca abutted US 219 and I was in the backyard helping my dad scrape the loose paint off our detached downspouts so we could repaint. I remember everything. Mostly sunny day, my dad had rigged up a sandblaster (SOB stuck me with the wire brush!) and to protect himself had donned a heavy green plastic rain parka, welding goggles, and ventilator mask making him look amazingly like an illegitimate Tusken raider/Jawa love child. But that's my dad.
I remember the old silver radio in the grass, trying to keep that AM station coming in and struggling to hear over the sand blaster. Just following the game while working, slowly realizing Buffalo wasn't going away like normal, interrupting my dad but he was sure they'd blow it, then just stopping work in the fourth listening to Fergy bringing them back and the defense hanging on by seemingly the skin of their teeth. Jumping around the yard like a nut after it was over, listening to the scene afterwards and finally hitting the TV watching them pass the goal post up the stadium. What an amazing feeling from that game and season.
The traffic jam on 219 lasted at least twice as long as usual. The minute people got stopped they were out of their cars dancing and celebrating with each other it took 'em a while to realize the road had cleared in front of them. Nobody cared, what a fantastic reward after the previous decade!
Go Bills!
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The thing about what Ralph did with the lease is that if it's apparent the new owners will move the team to Toronto, then I would think ticket sales would fall through the floor until 2019. Maybe lack of attendance would allow breaking the lease early and paying the 400 million but that would still take years to resolve. I know if a Toronto group takes them over the team is dead to me unless they announce plans for a new stadium in WNY.
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Nice try, but he was just kicked off the team two days ago. You need to get up a little earlier in the morning next time, pal.
I'm well aware of this fact, I was simply addressing the value of your post. Plus, your post doesn't directly discuss him getting kicked off the team!
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IMO Freddy's earned the right to keep playing until it's completely obvious to everyone he's ineffective. That hasn't happened yet, and if it does I suspect Freddy will have already announced his retirement. I would expect this from a team-first humble leader and warrior.
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Promising young QB. Got the pedigree. Hometown roots.
He could get an agent and be eligible for Free Agency, as far as I understand.
Kid's got the right attitude. All he wants to do is win.
I say, go for it. What do the Bills have to lose??
You were 14 days late with this post.
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Haha. Great one!
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It's easy to see the Bills new owner supporting a NF stadium location, and it would not surprise me at all if a pre-vetted front runner is already quietly steering the committee to a NF stadium site recommendation. The site choice is incredibly important to the financial success of the new owner's investment, and there's no way that this committee won't be steered by the owner's wishes.
A NF stadium site is the most effective way to put a stake in the heart of Toronto's NFL ambitions. To ensure their long term survival, the Bills MUST do everything possible to obliterate Toronto as a threat to their market over the long haul. A NF stadium is the best possible way to do that, short of moving over the border. WNY needs a new owner more than he needs WNY, so the Committee will make whatever recommendations that the new owner wants them to make.
If the NFL signs off on a local owner-NF stadium site package, it signals to me that the NFL recognizes they can't have 2 viable franchises existing 90 miles apart, and have chosen WNY over Toronto once and for all. That would be a monumental statement. Game, set and match.
The idea of a shared Bills-Bulls training site in Amherst helps unlock lots of NYS funding. While leveraging NYS' help, this reported stadium-training site arrangement also skirts the NCAA's "no alcohol sales on campus" rules that rule out an on-campus stadium.
I think you have great points on this and in all honesty it makes the most economic sense for the new owners to have a stadium in Niagara Falls also. Plus, I would think casting aside the Argos to plunk an NFL franchise down would really alienate football fans in Canada let alone the Buffalo fans. Factor in the lukewarm response to the Bills playing up there and you have to wonder if an NFL franchise would be successful up there. Always makes me laugh how the NFL stares at the size of the market and lets that mandate a franchise. That's never worked for LA and I have to think it won't until you address how to get people to support the franchise.
Completely on board with PTR's points about foot or shuttle traffic across the rainbow on game day. Any tailgating Canadians can cross at Lewiston but the rest can park in NF, Canada and more quickly come across. Alleviating as much border-crossing pain as possible is critical. If done correctly, having a stadium in close proximity to the border would be of huge benefit. Regarding the local politics, I think the casinos, hotels and restaurants/entertainment would really support this and pressure local leaders to do so and I would think even the most despicable politicians would play nice for an opportunity of this magnitude.
I just see all the businesses on both sides recognizing the opportunity to offer packages and sell game days into all inclusive weekend deals during a traditionally slower time of the year. Having the stadium functional as a conference center and other events would seem critical also.
When I consider that NYS may step in to help or manage the financial situation, the franchise needs to keep and grow as much of its fanbase as possible, and the new owner needs to have the team in the best US regional economic situation, Niagara Falls seems like a no-brainer.
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I'm of similar mind. Jackson is no idiot, and I would imagine (or so I would hope, anyway) that he's more reasonable in private. my reply to Tom was meant as friendly, tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, but I guess that wasn't as obvious as I had assumed it to be.
If it's any consolation, the sarcasm meter was off the charts in your second reply to Tom.
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it would be even better if Jackson would say that in front of television cameras from time to time. sure, there will always be racism to one extent or another, but the racist/segregationist element in our society has largely been eliminated, and it would go a long way toward relieveing some of the unnessary racial tension that exists in our society today.
I agree and am in DC Tom's camp about his private vs public persona. Whatever his faults, I'll always applaud Bill Cosby for trying to publicly point out the African-American community needs to take more responsibility for its problems.
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Actually Jessie Jackson came to speak at the hospital I work at in Feb of 2013 and I found the time to go and hear him. I was quite surprised and pleased to hear him say the fight for racial equality is over and that while isolated racism still exists both the black and white communities need to continue to come together and work together. It would be great if some leaders of the black community publicly condemned this altercation.
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Definitely wide right. In hindsight, it was the only one we should have won.
I would argue that we should have won the last one also but after TT fumbled early in the third quarter for a Dallas touchdown to tie the score, the team gave up. The camera panned the players' faces on the sidelines immediately after and I was so mad because the look of defeat was so obvious I was yelling "it's only a tied game!" at the TV. That actually bothered me a lot more than wide right.
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Lastly, just because Brandon & co hired some new people in various positions. Doesn't mean those new people know what they are doing, all it means is they are new.
It's been one year. You may be right or they may know very well what they're doing. It's early. Perhaps you would feel more at home as a Cleveland Browns fan.
I'm looking forward to our draft this year. I don't believe Buddy "keep it simple" Nix was responsible for trading back and getting us that extra pick last year.
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Nothing has really changed, the old thinking that permeates this franchise still hasn't changed.
I don't hate the man, as I see things he is just doing what Mr Wilson asked of him, his job. Now he is going to be doing the same things for the Wilson family.
My thinking is that while Brandon might be a good guy, and the type that others really like...that doesn't win many football games, as Chan Gailey found out.
What wins championships is people with true football acumen, along with the knowledge of what it encompasses to build a championship team. All this hodgepodge hiring of "maybe" this guy has it, or perhaps this guy has been around the league long enough, simply isn't getting it done.
I could wait until after the draft to start my seasonal pissing into the wind against the perennial optimists. However, with that FA Williams signing I just don't see anything changing much, even with the draft. Lots of people see this team as being "close". I don't, not on offense.
Nothing's changed? For starters, if Ralph had still been in charge I highly doubt the Toronto series gets put on hold. Looking at how we went after Marrone and Pettine, I don't recall the Bills being that organized and decisive about coaching decisions ever.
Just to clarify, Russ Brandon is not directly responsible for winning games. He is responsible for bringing in the proper people under him so that they will win us games. Right now it's Whaley and Marrone and you HAVE to allow your people to work for you. It's also unclear if Whaley was Brandon's preference, he may have been Buddy and Ralph's preference. I don't hold Brandon responsible except from 2013 forward. He is a corporate speak guy, but you should be if you're the face of the franchise. He also came back from Detroit and went to an informal tailgate tribute the next day, he said they were going to review the Toronto series shortly before it got put on hold. That says a lot about his underlying character. I have the sense that this franchise has an organized plan moving forward which is refreshing. As far as Byrd, we just don't know what the decision making process was on that, Whaley/Marrone could have been a significant factor. We just know the FO wasn't comfortable with $9 mil per year, we'll see how it works out.
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I have a different viewpoint of Brandon than most. To me, I think Russ Brandon is fabulous at his job. I'm thrilled he is the face of the franchise while Ralph and now the trust cannot be. I truly believe he has the team's best interest at heart. I'm not sure there is anyone available in the whole country that I would want doing this job more than him.
And yet, I don't believe half of what he says. He sugar coats everything. He will not admit what is obviously true. He is a PR guy in every sense of the word. He will never say anything remotely negative about the team even when it is blatantly true. Usually those two things cannot work concurrently. But in Brandon's case, to me, it's remarkably true.
I think he's great for the Bills, although I rarely believe him when he speaks.
I share your viewpoint on Russ almost entirely and I'll just say this. He has to sell this team to every possible ticket/merchandise buyer he can and so he does. He's the face of this franchise. But he will also own up to unacceptable losses and did what he said he would with the Toronto series. I pay the most attention to him when he's addressing solving issues presently facing the team.
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At least for me, reading this article did shed some light on some things. For instance, I thought the $400M was what a new owner would have to pay if they wanted to move the team before the 7 years. But the way that article reads, the " specific performance" clause actually legally prevents the team from moved, and the $400m was just an insurance if for some reason that clause did not hold up in court. All the experts I have heard this morning say that clause would never be overturned in court.
Many have speculated a new owner could just look at the $400M as part of the purchase price and realize that investment right back if they moved to say LA. In other words, value of the franchise instantly goes up by more than $400m if they moved the team.
Now that option I'd off the table.
So yes, Ralph gave Buffalo 7 years to figure out what's next...I think that was mighty gracious of him
Incredibly gracious. Give a man a fish or teach a man to fish? Most everything said or heard about Ralph is that he valued the person, people but he was seldom one to give out fish. Business is business, yet he has put preconditions on the next owner(s) in hopes we all learn to fish and keep the franchise here without permanently tying down ownership. That's more than anyone should have expected and I for one am grateful for his thoughtfulness. I think the NFL wants the team to stay here for the reasons discussed in this thread and now a large part of that is up to us the fans.
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Yeah, I don't think Fred Jackson has any interest in misleading the fans. He must have had some contact with Byrd, and believes that the team is still in the mix to sign Byrd.
It would be okay with me if he returns.
I'm with you 100% Fred's a straight up kind of guy and he's all about the team.
i'm open to dating kate upton.
Well, how's the offer she made to you? Going to take it or test the market? ;-)
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+1. Using the tag flies in the face of further building a team that can persist for years to come. Tagging a player is a simple way of keeping him out of free agency for an additional year, but it’s seldom used around the league. Because of the huge dollar figure associated with tagging a player (and renting them, in effect), it often has the secondary effect of disgruntling a player that the given team wants to keep... hence Byrd, 2013.
Teams have largely shied away from the process of tagging players at all. There are few reasons beyond buying time that teams have to apply the franchise tag. If they upset a star player like Byrd again, he’ll likely leave at the end of the season anyway, and we’ve seen toxic players tear teams apart from the inside out. Teams, in general, don’t want to have players in their locker rooms that don’t want to be there themselves.
Players know this league is a business. It is the rules of the league that the Bills can use the tag and does Byrd make us a better team? How do FA's view our FO if we are not trying to put our best team on the field? The FO seems to have been respectful about the whole process, whatever the past they now risk sending the message that they are weak. Certainly the "lifers" spat points to that and not tagging him would also IMO. As others have queried, what NFL GM is going to talk trade about a player who's about to become a FA? The tag is the only leverage we've got left to get any kind of value in a trade.
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Byrd won't sign with the Bills. He wants out and will take less money from a contending team. The guy is sick of losing and wants to have a chance to play in the post season and maybe even a super bowl. He knows he will never get that opportunity in Buffalo. He's a great player and great players want to win. I can't say I blame him. Losing year in and year out has to take it's toll on your mental attitude. After being on a loser his entire career he probably can't take anymore.
+1 Sadly, I think this is what it all boils down to and the rest is fluff. Now we need a team to offer us a reasonable deal for him like Philly did for Peters. Hope to hell we're both wrong about all this though!
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Thing is, I picture Byrd being sick of the instability and turnover with the organization as top of his list to leave. He'd be fire jumping if he wants Cleveland.
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Zero. But 8 seconds is plenty of time to run another play with the players we had on this team. If nothing quick is there to the sideline you throw it away. Teams do this ALL the time. But instead we kick a FG thats at the max range of our kicker at best, who was only 1 of 5 from over 40 (and this was 47). 47 yards was a FG you don't kick with that FG kicker unless you have to. Well we didn't have to. We could have run one more play to try to get some quick yards to put it closer. And his kick was a few yards too far back from being good.
Norwood put it just wide, not short. If he was short I could see your point. But it was well within his range that night and was simply mis-aimed. If something weird happens trying to run another play and your receiver gets tackled in bounds it would be much worse than what Levy decided to do. They didn't need to squeeze a few yards out of one possible last play, Norwood simply blew it.
Plus, according to the statistics here, http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/norwosco01.htm the 1990 season saw Norwood hit 6-10 FG 40-49 yds, so he was 6-9 coming in to the superbowl. Over his career he seems to have hit from this range about 2/3 of the time so I'm not sure where you are getting the 1 of 5?
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I think he's in the same boat as Eric Wood. If an offense doesn't perform well, I don't think any members from that unit will get Probowl consideration. Once the team starts winning, and the offense is at least in the top half, then you'll start to hear buzz around certain players.
Cleveland's offense finished the season ranked 28th, sent Joe Thomas, Alex Mack, Jordan Cameron, and Josh Gordon to the pro bowl. I could acknowledge that Thomas didn't have his best year and popularity may have been a factor but not for the rest.
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I remember when everyone was laughing at Cleveland for trading Richardson a few months ago. I don't know, you add a defensive guy like Pettine, they have the ammo to move up and take whatever QB they want in draft, they have good players on offense and defense. At least they have 8 home games. Not sure, how Bills fans can laugh at anyone right now. Oakland and Jax probably only head coaching job worse than Bills. We were lucky last year to land a guy other teams were actually interested in.
Keep in mind they have to hold together the roster and I don't expect that to happen. That locker room has been through inconsistent or missing leadership for years and I think firing Chud after 1 year may have been the tipping point.
Pettine is inheriting a mess, players do not trust ownership and the FO. Plus, as others have said on here, it's not like Pettine has some awesome resume. I too wonder if he'll be any good as a HC considering the better teams were able to run holes in his defense with no answer/adjustment. It's not all bad he's leaving, if we get Wade back I will view the entire situation as a positive outcome.
Report: agreement forbids sale to an owner who would relocate
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
Biggest thing to me that is being minimized is the fact that Erie County and the publicly appointed Stadium commission have to sign off on any transfer of ownership. Also the NFL, of course. But, these two public entities can block the sale of the team. Bills are still allowed to play one regular season game in Toronto or alternate location and one preseason game every other year. Also if the NFL selects them for an alternate location game. Other than if the stadium has a physical problem prohibiting full seating or playing of a game, every other game HAS to be played at the Ralph.
Mr. Wilson did the area a huge favor with this. I think the cheaper buy-out provision in year seven is meant for if the team wants to relocate out of Erie County but within Western NY and Erie County refuses to sign off on it.