May Day 10

it would be good, i think. With the scheme/communication issues, a guy like Reed with familiarity with the system, and probably respect from the players would be great,

Im not sure I would consider this them 'losing' a team as much as it was a highly motivated owner desiring to create an enterprise in Los Angeles. As far as I know, St. Louis had a pretty legit $1 Billion dollar stadium development in the works. Maybe they can dangle that carrot for Oakland, San Diego, or a future expansion opportunity.

I agree. I hate teams moving... but let's face it, team(s) were moving, it was just determining the configuration. It would have been silly for Pegula to vote against it, just because RW might have. He is his own owner and needs to gain political favor there as the new guy. Kroenke incinerated the bridge to St Louis and if he were not selected, it would have gotten very ugly and probably worse for St Louis fans. Then we would have both San Diego and Oakland also relocating.

I agree on the Rams. I never really got used to the St. Louis thing. The Cardinals, I had more trouble getting used to the Phoenix-Arizona thing. St. Louis will get a crack at the NFL before long.

Ugh.

We'll see. St louis, bay area, San diego, toronto, San antonio, london, etc...

They'll pit a few cities against one another for the best deal

I dont know. The Pittsburgh/Cincy game was a contest of what the refs called whenever a player was knocked out.

There are certainly "different kinds" of 8-8s.

when it gets crazy like this every year or so, I always buy 1 ticket.

its awful to be honest. Its two completely different situations. Barring any kind of legal/financial collapse with the Pegula family...The Bills and Sabres will remain in Buffalo for the forseeable future. Any other talk is just silly.

I guess, I agree with you then? What coaching candidate is out there who would turn the Bills into a powerhouse (or even a playoff team)? Coughlin? Maybe? I saw some really despicable decisions at the end of Giants games this year though. The Pats game was a real head scratcher in particular.

It is of my opinion that the fail in this organization runs deep in the veins and Rex Ryan is just a symptom 'new management' was needed on the football side last October when Pegula took over, and informed decisions should have been made on every aspect this time last year. Now, the team needs to remain in this direction with "continuity" as the catch phrase says. Let them sink or swim. If they succeed, great. If we are 2 years down the line and the team still isn't getting anywhere.... then maybe they can build the program. Firing Rex wouldn't get them any closer, the same way firing anyone else (or resignations of HCs) never got them any closer.

We call the bus lot "district 9"

A lot of this is happening in the bus lots which is a Bills' lot, no?

whats a "playoffs"?

While I can understand why/how Marrone is viewed as a complete asshat here... There were rumblings of discourse between him and the long-time team FO from training camp on. Even with one of 32 jobs in hand, with a moderately successful team, with a wealthy incoming owner, he voluntarily walked the plank. Management was retained (who has not been able to produce a winning product in a generation). Marrone left. People just 2-3 weeks before (in the leadup to the Raiders game), in a similar discussion were calling Marrone a large accomplishment/feather in the cap for Brandon/Whaley and potential NFL coach of the year. Instead, in typical Billsy fashion, it was reduced to embers. IMO the truth of the matter is in between on both sides. I also recall Mularkey voluntarily walked the plank. The only 2 guys who produced winning records in what feels like (is) an eternity just left. As far as blaming the Pegulas... yes. They needed to bring in someone from the outside to run/fix the organization. I do not believe they know a lot of detail on football schemes/alignments/strategy. With that said, as they have committed this far, I support giving the staff another year or 2 to experience success... but if it doesn't come, the whole program needs to be built from the top down and NOT by Russ Brandon.

Its possible... However, Im not sure I buy the 'playoffs or bust' ultimatum. I would be more inclined to believe with "this team had better not take a step back" ultimatum.

But who made the environment where the coach chose to leave? Who made the choice to hire the coach who came in with a conflicting scheme?

Yeah, that game at RWS for UB had a decent amount. Probably more like 15K Id say (I was there) the weather was still poor... but it was as big a game as they could have... and was hyped all season. I would say optimistically if they built up... UB could draw 15-20K game in a decent stadium... and it doesnt need to be indoors. I would go to more games, but UB Stadium is the worst venue I have ever seen. Maybe if they advanced into a better conference, Joe and Jane sports fan may be more interested? I could see a conference be interested in our TV market and new stadium. Temple took off. I could see them maybe getting a Final Four... possibly a frozen four there but would a 63K seat stadium be applicable to that? Wrestlemania cant be there every year, it moves around like the Super Bowl. Ultimately, Im fine with whatever. Im grateful to be having this conversation. By then, Ill be 10 years older and probably in a different frame of mind. Right now I do think there is a gigantic aesthetic difference between, say the Lions home games and the Steelers, Broncos, Seahawks, Bills, etc.

WGR has played nice with the Sabres and Bills and they are fed info, exclusives, interviews, etc. They figured it out. TBN has remained in the perpetually critical zone and are constantly bypassed by PS&E... if not blatantly set up for embarrassment such as this.

I still dont understand what events are going to be held in a 63,000 seat indoor stadium between January and April that the FNC cant hold. I guess UB can play there, but they cant draw any fans. Maybe a Final Four one time. Maybe a Wrestlemania one time? Doubt they will start a low level bowl game because nobody local would show up. I also dont understand how there is a need for high end amneties and seats here that would require an indoor stadium. There isnt that kind of clientele in WNY... at least not a whole lot.

Especially with things like "garbage time", playing hobbled, bad matchup, etc. Its a short 16 game season full of outliers and variables. Baseball works because the sample size is huge and the variables are limited.

Football's sample size doesn't lend well to analytics IMO.

so we are back to "one year in", huh? Hiring Marrone who quit 2 years later, that period should be stricken from the record? I was told that the "new regime" started when Brandon took the reigns (officially) from Wilson... and we need to give them a chance. Pegula came in and stayed the course. Only the Head Coach voluntarily walked away (which can be a interpreted as a negative window into the front office). Im not down with tearing this thing down and Im glad that Whaley/Rex are retained... but if this team regresses back into the 4-6 or 7 win range next year/takes a step back... its going to be tough to support this continuity and not hope/wish for a manager from the outside to fix this organization once and for all.