OvrOfficiousJerk

5-2? Youre missing a good chunk of the story there. That says nothing about two blowout losses to two thoroughly mediocre teams (DAL and MIA). That three game road swing killed the Bills last year. I agree that we need to do a better job of filling up the Ralph regardless of the record, but fans can be excused for not crashing the box office to score tickets to a 5-6 team taking a nosedive. If you really want a number, if the Bills are 5-4 this year heading into the Miami game, that game will sell out. And that's hardly a record thats a playoff lock

We dont know that the uncertainty is adversely affecting negotiations. For me I really think the sticking point is the Bills contribution. And yes our sanity is being tested but the more leverage they have for relocation the more govt $$$ they can get. They can speak volumes as to the succession plan by how ironclad the lease is

@johnc, if there was a group in place after ralph, i would argue that it would make the lease negotiations more difficult rather than easier. Thing is, the only way the Bills stay profitable is if the stadium is fully paid for, so the current ownership would want to make sure the next one doesnt have to pay off stadium debt (next ownership being hypothetical of course). The state/county probably wanted the team to throw down, which Littman understandably balked at. If Ralph says "no problem guys, the bills are staying put" he wont get the powers at be to pay up, which hurts not only his bottom line but also that of the next ownership group That said if the govt pays up the lease needs to be ironclad so the scenario which I outlined above actually played out. Because im not sold on a local group ready to buy the team. But no, just because negotiations arent going well doesnt mean there isnt an ownership plan in place

Joe B at GR actually did a good job breaking down the cuts, and I keyed into Roosevelt, who I kind of liked for sentimental reasons (Buffalo native, '08 MAC Champion Bulls). To a lesser extent, Hagan too, who I thought showed flashes during the preseason. Aiken never distinguished himself; Martin was only there for ST and a liability as a pass-catcher; Easley can be stashed on the PS if he survives waivers. So the only WR I thought was worth keeping was Roosevelt. Again my only concern is like last year, when Avion Black, Justin Armour and Reggie Germany were being brought in for workouts because our WRs were dropping like flies (Parrish and Jones, for two, and then SJ13's nagging injury). Then again, it's easier to get a FA WR up to speed instead of picking up an LB or a DB who needs to know the playbook a little more in depth, so while only 4 (Brad Smith - ~5) seems a bit unorthodox, it's easily justified.

+1 Reading over the report they only comment on whether or not any structures (e.g., brain tissue, blood supply, etc.) were compromised. To ID CTE or anything of that nature, you would need to stain the brain slides with certain chemicals/antibodies.

The NFL losing the antitrust exemption is not going to help keep the Bills in Buffalo per se, it's just a threat to the NFL to make sure the team stays here. The players did the same thing - threatened to bring a lawsuit in regard to the anti-competitive behavior of the NFL, and the new CBA represents a settlement to keep that case out of the courts. (at least that's what wikipedia taught me? I'm not exactly lawyer material)

Well unfortunately for the NFL, Issue #559,094,290 was the MLB steroid case, and Congress sure had hearings about that. And who says anti-trust isn't an issue? In the American Needle case, the Supreme Court recently said the NFL operates as a cartel and is subject to anti-trust legislation. Also, individual senators have INSANE powers (filibustering for one). See what Ted Stevens delivered for Alaska, one of the least populous states. All Schumer has to do is call for a repeal of Public Law 89-800. And, provided the Dems hold the Senate, guess who is going to be the Chairman of the Senate's Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights? Charles Schumer, D-NY.

What I'm telling myself so that I can have some semblance of a workday today is that The Bills spokesman mentioned in the story is low enough that he wouldn't be party to what Schumer is talking about. I mean I love Chris Brown as much as the next guy but his position isn't exactly at Executive VP level. Antitrust legislation Rozelle got away with (antitrust) murder with the merger, and to avoid litigation he made the promise that no team would relocate (to get Louisiana senator support, plus he put a team in NOLA). And with the exception of LA - which is about to get a team anyway - every city that has lost a team got it back. Buffalo won't be so lucky. So Schumer could make life a living hell for the NFL if they want to futz round with Buffalo And so he should

Eh that last line freaks me out a little; that Schumer's plan might negatively affect lease negotiations. And he isn't unknown for being an attention seeker (the most dangerous place in Washington is between a camera and Chuck Schumer) But ultimately he's one of the most powerful senators, and having him actively involved in keeping the team here is huge

John Carney. Audrey Meadows. Shelia McRae. GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY!!!

But he might have a better idea what the NFL wants to happen. He's not some putz from Bleacher Report or "Yahoo! Sports, A Fan's Take." Unless the team doesn't get the necessary renovations (which I'm still leery about), the Bills moving from Buffalo would not only be a terrible PR move, but again hurt the international expansion plans. Say what you will about Canadians "hockey addiction," they are interested in the NFL too (a methhead surely would never turn down a bump of coke), so it behooves the NFL to stay close to Our Home and Native Land. Now I think LA would trump Canada, but LaCanfora is putting importance on the Bills-Toronto Series for a reason - someone in the league office thinks that this is working

oops... who knew two "http://" weren't better than just one? At any rate, LaCanfora's article shows that people are buying the Bills' Toronto regionalization plan. The Bills-Toronto Series is hardly a huge hit -- we knew the prices were dropping even before yesterday's/today's announcement, and even though Rogers Centre is small to begin with (~5-10K smaller than even the smallest NFL venue), the place is hardly packed to the tilt for the Bills games. But it worked well enough for the football talking heads to think that the Bills' territory extends up the Golden Horseshoe to TO. Whether or not they're Bills fans is largely immaterial if they're paying money at the box office: Southern Ontario is still our territory. And if you ask any Bills fan who runs into a gaggle of drunk (yet polite) Canucks at the Ralph, we knew that all along. Canadians eat sports up, regardless of whether or not they have a cheering interest involved (see "Ontario Pro-line," for one), and the NFL hopefully is in the process of realizing that. Even if the GTA or Montreal couldn't support a team by themselves, making sure a team stays in Buffalo so that the league can get some action from the True North Strong and Free isn't a terrible idea from a business perspective.

"Regardless, the Bills aren't going to California." Per LaCanfora Pretty strong words coming from a solid, non-Buffalo source, but I won't believe it until that owner actually emerges after Ralph.

As a PS member I didn't want to question your source, but certainly I would like some more details. Where is this $300M coming from? Did the three men in a room sign off on it so it's a done deal or could some $chmuck from Downstate throw a wrench in the state contribution?

Poloncarz may be a politician, but he's also a lawyer. He knows how to negotiate. If the team contribution wasn't in the bag after the last round of talks, he knows better than to come off as a hard@ss to the public. When the team kicks in a couple dozen million, Poloncarz want it to look like he had to twist their arm to do it, but in reality Brandon knew darn well he wasn't going to get the renovations 100% covered by the government going into this.

Dml, im inclined to agree w you because I distrust politicians, but poloncarz has to be in a good position to call out the fact the bills are going to have to pay up. He doesnt say anything to the public if theres any acrimony over the bills share of the improvement $$$ (that or nys really has $300M in the wings and the bills share is inconsequential). Simple as that. He probably asked russ brandon in the last round of talks if he could go public with this to make himself look better. So basically, reading between the lines optimistically, the hard part - the money - is being taken care of And as it relates to the 10% takes 90% of the time comment, i dare you to read the lease from 1997. Lawyers wont let you scratch your nose or select the color of the pens being used without extensive litigation. And also, since these talks only happen every couple weeks, an agreement in principle by training camp is mildly acceptable. I mean, Ill believe it when I see it, but I have no reason to be concerned about the timeline

I like that Poloncarz has a bit of a backbone in this situation and not just cutting a blank check - the team knows it's going to have to pay up a bit. Hopefully Poloncarz has a figure from Cuomo/Silver in hand as to how much NYS can throw in (which should be significant, because of the state income tax $ they stand to gain - $8-10M annually, not to mention the money that went to help build the stadia downstate). Then the team can fill in the rest -- hopefully enough to trigger the NFL's G4 program: with the recent upgrades to KC/GB, it's only fair the team adds something to the pot. I won't believe anything until the lease is signed and the state cuts a check for a new and improved RWS, but so far, Poloncarz is doing solid work. Edit - Also, does anyone remember how things went down from the political perspective with the last lease renewal in '97 ? I considered myself rather politically-aware for someone still in grade school, but my memory fails me as to whether or not there was an ugly fight in the state or county legislatures for releasing government funds. Is it something that happens behind closed doors? I see all this drama that went down in Minnesota and Santa Clara, and I hope that we just emerge from a room with a signed lease and dollar signs all around in a couple weeks.

+1 to the bleacher report comment. I'd throw in Yahoo! Sports too with their "fan's view" bullcrap. It comes back to that stupid CNN iReport paradigm. They should pay one real writer instead of promoting 20 idiots Back to the post, I'm surprised no one has brought up Vince Wilfork, what a jerk. Cheap shots, unnecessary roughness, etc

I agree with that statement, my previous post wasn't exactly clear. I wasn't trying to argue that our DL is going to be a clone of NYG's DL. My point was that we finally have four capable players who could generate sufficient pressure without the need to thrown in a fifth body (DB/LB) on a blitz. Again assuming all stay healthy, the Bills haven't had this quality of a pass rush in quite some time.

That d-line was insane. Canty, JPP, Tuck, Uniemourya... They generated insane pressure from just four guys, so it didn't matter that they had a hospital ward of a defensive backfield (see: 2007 Buffalo Bills for further reading). We'll see if Williams Williams Dareus Anderson Merriman are as advertisted, which can rival that front four. I want to make sure the Bill Curtain stays healthy so we can shade that extra safety or LB over to better cover NE's tight ends. That way we will not have to worry about another shoot out to shut down the Pats.

I was going to say that Stevie Johnson slant which led to a 70-some yard TD doesn't happen if NYG's first string DB's weren't out by the start of preseason.

+1 As someone who is involved in fantasy football more than he should be, I take an annual look at Eli Manning's stats and shudder. He's somewhere in between Matt Moore and John Skeleton on fantasy draft boards (ok, maybe not that bad, but for someone with two rings you think his fantasy stock would be higher). So by that metric I can see why people say he's mediocre, especially because of the way that we now consume the game (fantasy stats on the crawler during games, for one). But say what you will about his supporting cast (defense, WRs, etc.), I still have to agree with LABillzFan and others that his teams would not have won without a significant contribution from him. Elite may be a bit of a stretch. But he is closer to elite than mediocre.

He seemed like a serviceable fifth or sixth DL to rotate through and spell the starting four, but I guess with better coaching he proved himself starter-grade. A couple other guys (Jim Leonhard, for one) from around that time also fit into that category. Run-ins with Rochester cops and drug tests aside (which is why I wasn't too surprised when he got nabbed during bounty gate), I liked him too. He always tried to get the crowd going, waving his arms and such, when on kickoff coverage or when he was on for a third down. Ditto for Haggan and Stamer. I really appreciate that sort of enthusiasm in a player, feeding off the crowd and all. Makes a guy who is average talent-wise a memorable part of the team.

+1, once Freddie went down, cj figured out that five yards between the tackles is better than twenty yards north-south to the sideline for a net gain of one foot. I mean spiller won't be Jerome Bettis anytime soon but at least he learned how to run like an NFL running back

Ehh... not sure if I agree. Reading between the lines, it's basically a grab at the $$$ of the people in Buffalo who read The News for free online but don't subscribe to the paper at all... the cost of a weekly online subscription is slightly more than a Sunday paper, and all print subscribers will get the online edition for free. Basically to save $25 a year ($2.50/week - online only, $2/week - Sunday only + online), people who really want The News will shift to the Sunday-only subscription. So, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a modest spike in Sunday subscribers, which IMHO is the real cash cow for the newspaper industry with all the advertising and such. Keep up the Sunday numbers, keep your financial head above water. Not sure what failed 5-10 years ago, but this is the way to do the print to online transition for local papers. Speaking of local papers, I'd happily drop $2.50 a week to make sure we don't end up like NOLA w/ the Times-Picayune. And as it relates to the Bills, I'd do anything to get Jerry Sullivan's incessant whining incisive commentary.