GaryPinC

That's funny, I was wondering the same thing and thinking that's why they switched him to offense in college. But I think it's better to play a guy where he wants to be rather than forcing a switch. He definitely needs a lot of work on technique, we'll see where he is at the end of preseason but for now I think you leave him be. At least he didn't get pushed around out there like Wang and Urbik.

That's funny. Did Buddy even bother to fill that position after Modrak left?

I agree that situations similar to the hypothetical Maybin scenario came up, but IMO don't think it explains 10 years of high round futility. Definitely agree it was time to turn the page and would just add that Buddy seemed to regard Modrak highly when he became GM then fired him about a year later.

I look at Modrak's role this way: there has been a history of poor early round drafting for a decade or so. No matter who's making the choice it's being pulled from Modrak's draft rankings/talent evaluation. You could argue that the draft decision maker ignored Modrak's board, but every damn year? You could argue that Modrak disagreed with each poor draft decision in the early rounds but the bust that got picked had to have been top-ranked by Modrak at their position most of the time. Would Ralph consistently spend first/early round money on guys that could be drafted later for less $? Mr. Wilson's inability to judge front-office talent forces him to blindly latch on to people hired from successful organizations, that's why it takes so long to root out their incompetence.

I was hoping the Bills would put some effort into signing Matt Roth as an OLB. He's a beast. Powerful hitter and also got great pressure on quarterbacks last year, seemed very mobile given his 275 lb weight. I thought he had a great year for the Browns last season and could really help our team. I know he's listed as a DE but I have an indirect connection to the Browns and know he'd rather be a OLB in a 3-4 than go back to DE. That's supposedly a big part of the reason he isn't back with the Browns. I'm unsure how good he is covering TE's because I didn't pay attention to it last year, but he really seems to be a good player that could help us. I'm interested to hear others thoughts/comments.

Haven't seen a good link to the terms of the contract, Bengals website estimates his contract @ $4 mil/year

I certainly understand your concern with the author but I do not believe the author is connected to the published paper in any way. Am I wrong? I am no climatology expert but the paper seems to do a good job of explaining their methodologies in detail, something I haven't seen from the pro-manmade global warming scientists. The paper demonstrates a large discrepancy in radiative feedback (planetary heat loss) compared to the standard computer models. Their methodologies are solid enough that the global warming scientists have to address the discrepancy if they expect to maintain any credibility. Thanks for posting this /dev/null. Interesting paper.

Lebron also wanted another superstar to play alongside with and that wasn't happening in Cleveland. Pretty much all the other players on his Cleveland teams were within the range of average. Cavalier offense during the playoffs often involved everyone standing around letting Lebron do everything. At the root of his decision was a desire to win a championship and he was unsure that Cleveland would get in the extra talent to do that. There's also the fact that Lebron was 25, a superstar who had spent his entire life in Cleveland/Akron. Can't blame him for wanting to get out and experience life somewhere else. My point is that I think Hplarrm's insight is closer to reality than this goalie coach. There's a diversity of influences and motivators for every athelete and for some it's simple and others it's much more complex. And while Drury and Briere may have come to Buffalo wanting to get out as quickly as possible they may have found reason to stay in their time here but things didn't work out. Jim Kelly's the best example of changing his mind about Buffalo.

First off, I definitely think Buffalo offered substantially more than Atl for Clabo but that doesn't mean they're going to give Burnett an equally inflated offer. And unless you're a gadget player on offense, I agree with you that most players probably don't want to come here especially considering all the crappy teams we've fielded the past 10 years so you're going to have to overpay to some degree. But the Bills may simply not want Burnett as badly as they wanted Clabo and aren't willing to overpay to Burnett's satisfaction. If you think that's BS, well good for you.

Agree. Sounds like the Bills aren't offering him anywhere near enough. Is he really going to come back to let the Bills counter-offer if he finds a better one? Not.

Sorry if this has been posted already (I don't feel like trying to get through 21 pages) but Poz leaving is probably for the best. He sounds like he really wants to be in the 4-3 D and we're supposed to be a 3-4. It's never a good thing to have an injury-prone middle linebacker who's uncomfortable with his role in the defense. He's never done that much here anyways and it sounded like the Bills never made much effort to sign him before the lockout, so hey, best of luck to you Poz. I hope the injuries go away and you have a good career (speaking as a Penn St. fan). Once again the Maybin bust makes our LB situation all the more painful.

Agree with you completely, except I'm not that upset because this is how the NFLPA leadership has behaved all along. Often, it's more about posturing for them, and this is part of the reason I lean towards the owners. I certainly support the players' right to take some time and look things over, we all know how stupid the owners were not to do this last time. But they could have communicated this less abrasively. I think they will approve the contract, but will probably put up some kind of stink about some minor issue(s) just to try and flex their muscles. Hopefully it'll be signed within a week, but with unions who knows? They may have decided to delay this thing long enough to cancel the first full preseason games and teach those owners a lesson.

Nope, as I mentioned there were the court depositions and his entire history of quotes and press releases. Leach is pretty consistent. Much like yourself, so I realize this is all too difficult for you to comprehend.

Pathetic. Court recordings from the depositions refute his claims. In fact his lawyers were using the school's own investigation to undermine Adam James' credibility. Leach is just trying to make some money but dug himself a bigger hole to get out of before he coaches at another FBS school. Completely sad that this guy is a talented coach but his huge ego and paranoia have absolutely killed his career.

Keep in mind one other factor: http://www.headinjury.com/sports.htm " ...during the minutes to few days after concussion injury, brain cells that are not irreversibly destroyed remain alive but exist in a vulnerable state. This concept of injury-induced vulnerability has been put forth to describe the fact that patients suffering from head injury are extremely vulnerable to the consequences of even minor changes in cerebral blood flow and/or increases in intracranial pressure and apnea...." Evidence is mounting that a large part of long term brain injury is due to subsequent head traumas before the person has recovered from the initial concussion, not simply repeated blows to the head. On the other hand if a person is diagnosed with concussion and fully allowed to recover, it may avoid long term brain injury even if the person experiences more concussion(s). If true, this puts the onus on the NFL to have the best diagnosis and treatment criteria available to avoid repeated injury. This also sets up future lawsuits if the NFL does not take sufficient responsibility given the scientific evidence. This is why the NFL is coming down hard on the head-to-head contact and why they are being much more cautious if a player is suspected of having a head injury. I don't expect the NFL to back down on the hitting/concussion issues and I even wonder if the league will expand its 53 man roster to help account for all the players that will be sitting out with any form of concussion. We'll see but I don't expect the NFL to go back on all this.

I didn't realize that was her arguement. Nice. Unbelievable that the courts let her drag it out and drive Verizon away.

Wow, that's amazing if true. Even though their amount invested in the local economy would have been much less (most of those $ were for equipment they would put there, it's just sad.

Would they be able to stop the Bills if the RWS lease expires? With all respect to those who want the stadium close to/in downtown, it seems to me this isn't about the Bills franchise helping Buffalo. It is about the Bills franchise making the most money possible (including attracting investors/financing $$) while remaining in the area. To me, Niagara Falls seems the logical choice, despite infrastructure issues which could be addressed.

Good call, I am detecting sarcasm but nonetheless amazed at how far you're willing to stretch the definition of "published". Awfully kind of you.

I think PTR's right on with his arguements. I love the Senator's ideas for putting it near Buffalo but a big part of the issue is bringing more Canadian money in and that seems best served by Niagara Falls. I also would love it if that area wasn't so damn commercialized but that's the history of the area and it's not going to change so might as well take advantage of it. Also you've got the fact that all the new gambling places are putting a hurt on Atlantic City: http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110531/ap_on_re_us/us_reshuffling_atlantic_city I've got to believe the Niagara Falls casinos have seen drop off in business especially when you factor in the economy and the newer ID restrictions. I'm sure the area would be amenable for a large draw of people on fall weekends and at other times during the year. Toronto companies might consider purchasing stadium suites, especially with all the other entertainment around there. To me Niagara Falls is the area's best attraction for drawing in people and therefore arguably the best place to put a new stadium. And let's be honest, Buffalo will never be a tourist destination so a stadium would help spur some development in the area but won't be a significant growth catalyst. When they built the Indians and Cavs new facilities here in Cleveland it certainly helped make the immediate area look better and resulted in some new bars and restaurants but these businesses struggle in the off season or when the teams suck and aren't drawing fans. Those facilities haven't changed Cleveland much. Buffalo needs to focus on new parks/greenspace, cleaning itself up and luring in new businesses. Make itself into an area where outsiders would come to raise a family, not try and lure in a bunch of tourists for a vacation.

How about if City Hall gets off its arse and has a Ralph Wilson appreciation day, even a halftime ceremony? When T.O. got his city key Ralph joked he's never been given a key to the city and you know the truth is often said in jest. Looking at how much vitality Ralph has lost in the last 6-10 months (he looked very run down when Dareus showed up) I honestly believe this season will be his last. Mayyyybeee he makes it through 2012 but I doubt it. I do believe some sort of succession plan is in place and Ralph wants it secret just to torment all the disrespectful "cheap" jokers he's had to endure over the years. If the city were to show him some respect perhaps he'd soften up and talk about the future.

There's a big difference between getting a smaller raise next contract and taking an actual pay cut. The only one lying to themselves is you.

My referencing the NBA's situation is due to a few months ago when posters who favored the NFL player's rights were touting the NBA arrangement as what the NFL should do. Open the books, make the players full partners like in the NBA. At the time the NBA was optimistic they wouldn't have a lockout, because of this open relationship. Fast forward a few months and the landscape looks much different there now. Even though NBA players have full access and some posters like tgregg feel that because of this the NBAPA will accept a large salary reduction, I think that instead they will attempt to dictate to the owners how to change their spending decisions to funnel more money to the players. Which is exactly why the NFL owners will not and should not "open the books" to the players. No matter how much info you give the players and their agents they will try and maximize their salaries alone, but it is the owner's team and it is their business and their league and their right to grow the league, not have the players shut that down in order to pad their wallets. Look at Green Bay's situation (check out the link posted on page 2). Over the last 4 seasons they have watched their profit margins shrink considerably while player cost increases outpace revenue increases. That is a recipe for future business troubles, that seem to have started shortly after signing the last CBA. I have a feeling their situation is similar to the rest of the league and the owners feel they need to act now before most of the teams are losing money. Why not open the books then? Maybe they've opened them enough but DeMaurice and the players aren't satisfied because they are making a pure power grab and want access to everything. Does anyone here honestly believe the NFL hasn't provided any justification for their demands? They say they have done this on multiple occasions but the players deem those efforts inadequate (go look at that Green Bay article for example). I support the players rights to be well paid but the owners have a right to make the decisions about their team and their league. And no, I am not under the erroneous impressions you presume. I know exactly how this started and certainly appreciate what the players have given up to be in a CBA and also how the current setup provides for a reasonably fair distribution of talent across the league and how important that is to our Bills.

Very interesting read: http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/2011/5/27/2193897/nfl-lockout-news-kurt-warner-says-players-have-to-give-back-money In all the discussions about this topic I remember some posters saying the NFL needs to open the books and be more like the NBA. Well, in one sense, they've gotten their wish: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118032543 "National Basketball Players Assn. exec director Billy Hunter has said he's "99%" sure that a lockout will occur." "We need a system that provides all 30 teams, regardless of market size, an opportunity to compete for a championship and be profitable," NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver says." Kind of like the NFL has? "According to Forbes, more than half the NBA's clubs (17 of 30) are losing money, with five teams facing deficits in the double-digit millions. Saying that the current system is completely broken, the league aims to cut player salaries by $700 million to $800 million annually -- a whopping reduction of 40% from what the players make now." Sounds like the NBA will have an NFL-style lockout and that at the end of the day they need to structure themselves more like the NFL. So much for opening the books. Shouldn't this mean the players will readily accept these salary reductions since they can look at the figures themselves? We'll see.