May Day 10

Lawsons been a terror this game

Id say Bs. That is taking into account the likeability of the family, their desire to win, the security they provide for wny, and the amount of personal investment in the teams and facilities. As far as running the teams on field/ice, i probably dont need to rehash everything... but it has not been good. Especially with the sabres.

My response: Favorite Bills Browns Seahawks Least favorite Bills Patriots Cowboys

No, I wouldnt. I like the CFL. A Buffalo team would be poorly supported, if at all. I don't think I would go a lot. The whole Sunday thing makes it possible to attend games, that goes out the window with the CFL. I speculated at the time, that perhaps UB Football would get some share of the Bills support, and perhaps their program would grow and fill the void.

I like your thoughts, and I agree. We have a great fan experience here. I say it all the time, but I have friends from mass who come down in 3-4 car loads every single year to watch the Bills/Pats game. They love our game-day experience. We are going to have to endure some sort of new stadium... probably ranging from a massive reno of Rich Stadium (that would alter the general layout), to a full retractable facility downtown. We are going to lose the fan experience to some degree. I hope that when they design the new facility, they are careful, and keep in mind our demographic, fan behavior, etc. Design a stadium that harnesses noise, great sight lines, seats close to the field, aesthetically unique to Buffalo, probably doesnt need nearly as much peripheral baggage as places like Atlanta and San Fran hold such as lounges that detract from watching the game.

Last season that was the browns, and the bills beat them

It is saturated as all heck. I know someone who pulls in a solid 6 figures at beachbody. Gets a ton of free vacations and such... but also know like 8 others who seem to spend more than they make, while continually posting about it on social media.

If they are 5-1 i will eat it up again. They are 1-0, at home, beating supposedly the worst NFL team of the past 5-10 seasons.

His number one recommendation is for the bills and pegula to hire an experienced, outside president or at least a consultant to get this chronically inept franchise on track... i agree 100%. This team has had a management lineage that has carried on from the late donahoe days through whaley.... despite how the bills spun all the "new" changes, it was nothing but a continuum. Im hoping that mcdermott/beane is that role, but i still have doubts/trepidation. Building an organization from the 1st year head coach on up is kind of risky... but their actions have been different from the past 17 years, so its encouraging

I agree.... should we expect him to title his article "greatest team on turf"? We have seen this movie before... if its week 4 and they are 4-0 and he is a wet blanket, then there is an issue. I recall him changing his tune during the past hot starts.

not different This team, through most of the drought, has actually normally been able to 'take care of business' against the worst teams in the league. It is nice they won, did the job at hand and all, but this was the 5th preseason game. It is tough to really make any assessments after that. It is unfair to the team in a way because it was almost a no-win situation in the public opinion.\\\\

I think people underestimate the value woods brought for the offense. Its a sneaky-bad loss

I will concede that he did very well on his pro scouting side... Draft was bad, including unadvisable trade-ups. Bad at contracts. Bad about coaches... both selecting and working with. Now, we can play the game the bills have cursed us with for about 12 years and try to figure out whose fault was each decision. Whether it was whaley or the collaboration machine, it matters not. This team's management has been their biggest problem. Even if they suddenly granted whaley top authority, too much baggage, 7 years, working with the "collaborators". Also, whaley, with his laid back kick the feet up on the desk, poor public speaking makes me believe he isnt the greatest choice for steering the ship.... much like tim murray, for different traits. The clean break was necessary for the bills to redefine themselves as a team serious about competing, not preserving decision making for a few front office personnel At least now, the bills' game of creating fog around all the football decisions is over. If this rebuild falls on its face, we know it is beane/mcdermott and they can be replaced.

I think the whaley "era" is muddy. To me, it was one general era of levy-brandon-nix-whaley. It was all a series of resignations, management take one step to the left, and repackage it, while outsourcing blame. The team used heavy collaborating between brandon, nix, whaley, overdorf, wilson until late 00s, etc... they were always acting as if the bills were only one or two pieces away... when the team would have numerous ailments such as coaching, depth, qb, secondary, o-line, etc... Now we are seeing real, centralized football management. They are ripping the bandaid off. It stings, but they are building their program, which takes time. Im not worried about average age. That can and will be undone in one off-season. Many picks and possibly a qb in the 2018 draft... some growth next year and more 2019 picks and new-found cap space. A lot rests on the scouts and talent evaluators

No. He was garbage

I think this is accurate with a % of people, but extremely unfair to throw it out there in an argument. There have been times in the past 17 years this type of criticism has been thrown my way because I have been negative. The problem is... the entire essence of this franchise is negative. This is a team who hasn't won a playoff game for nearly a quarter-century. If they miss the playoffs this season, it will be the 5th longest drought in NFL history and it can buy tobacco products and also participate in consensual sex in every US state. For years, it was obvious they were in the same doomed cycle. It wasn't just hoping/betting to be proven right on a message board. It has been miserable. You also have to take into account, people who are conditioned to assume that every decision the team makes will be proven to be wrong. This does have a different feel and not the same MO. It makes me hopeful they have finally joined the 2000s NFL. Itll take a couple years, but I am hopeful

It was different in that case. Regier actually started the rebuild... and was doing kind of marvelously at it. He purged the roster, the team had accumulated a ton of draft picks and prospects. The fans strongly distrusted WHAT Regier would do with the assets and there was a pretty clear revolt that forced Pegula's hand. 17 years of the guy had worn everyone thin. Murray was supposed to be some sort of savant as far as identifying talent. With all those assets, he failed to bring in much. A number of guys he once scouted that he overpaid for (Kane, Bogosian, Lehner, etc)... He traded a ton of picks for questionable returns, such as 2-2nd round picks and Brayden McNabb (who was a good prospect at the time) for Fasching and Deslauriers. A 3rd for Veseys rights, 1st for Lehner, and so on... By the end of this season, with the Sabres had taken a step back, and Rochester being awful yet again... it was pretty clear that Murray had messed things up pretty badly and things had stalled out. I also feel pretty confident, watching his demeanor.... that he is not a good high-level manager at all.

Yes it is. A lot of it is self-inflicted. Chan Gailey, for instance, was not a serious hire. I cant speak to the pre-polian days, but post-Donahoe, the power structure of this team has been designed in a way to completely undermine the head coach and GM (and I know Donahoe battled these forces throughout his tenure). We have had patsies like Levy, Brandon, Nix, and Whaley who were fine with capitulating to the real decision makers in Wilson, Littman, Brandon, and Overdorf. By extension the coach gets damaged clay to work with.... and as a result, finding serious candidates to take the position is likely a challenge.... if they even bothered to try. This is new, and refreshing. It appears we have the football-leadership centralized solely on a head coach and GM, who apparently have been given the green light to take a sledgehammer to the program, even if wins will take a back seat for a year or two. I expect 4-5 wins this season, but havent been this optimistic about the Bills in maybe 15 years

They have had a long time run of awful hires. The only two gms/coaches who have achieved equal level employment post bills... are the two guys who voluntarily walked away

That isnt the problem... ugh. Can you imagine being locked into levy/jauron or nix/gailey for 10 years? The people who have been running the ship here have been nonsense. Was any administration here on the verge of any breakthrough? I dont think mcdermott and beane have a much different look than in the past... coming from me, that is a lot. I have hated pretty much every major move this team has made for more than a decade

Accumulating is a good first step though, and not one the Bills have had the stomach to make in a long, long time. The Bills have acted like a "contender" (for the last wild card spot) perpetually. As a result, they take the future for granted and almost never have the depth. Now if they havent formed a competent scouting team and fail to build a roster, then it will be for not and we will continue to be at square one. And yes, Beane and McD will have to answer.... The Sabres did an amazing job at accumulating.... mainly under Regier. Murray donked off way too many picks like they were burning a hole in his pocket. The step back this season, along with Rochester being inexplicably barren for a team who once had a wealth of picks and prospects.... it was pretty clear he had failed. Badly.

I like the trade. I am all for getting picks. It is frustrating though, and I understand the negativity reflex A real indictment on Whaley. Its a wonder why this guy got so much praise amongst Bills fans. He stunk and I dont see him getting another GM gig any time soon.

Basically, trying to jump in and just read about Kodi is going to seem overwhelming and impossible. Just jump in, get a fire stick or other receiver... and follow a youtube video (make sure it is recent and has a lot of views). The step-by-step is a pretty easy recipe to follow and get you into a place where you can comfortably recall a ton of movies and TV shows. Then work out from there. I have found that sports has a long way to go for the most part.... I think. Seems very tough to find streams, let alone decent-quality ones

This. I really doubt he puts that much thought into things.

Ralph's last stretch did set the team back. They essentially shielded the team from outside influence for a decade. The results speak. The drought is no fluke.