May Day 10

I worked M-Th 10 hours/day for awhile. It was amazing. I would do that forever if I could. Honestly I believe I was way more productive.

Haha. Mine is all gunked up from my kid. He has a playlist that resembles a weird version of Jock Jams. He listens to his playlist over and over again and tries to act out sports highlights. 1. Stop Me (a song that was on Madden a couple years ago) 2. We Will Rock You 3. Song 2 4. Dynamite 5. Vegas Lights Top Artists though kind of represented me better 1. Primus 2. The Claypool Lennon Delirium 3, Panic! at the Disco (from my kid) 4. Pearl Jam 5. Brownout

Just a really bizarre hype video. No words.

An interesting point about the saturation of the NFL and sports in general. I do agree with that. Also, I do see that there was no other evolution to this point. I remember the Sunday routine of ESPN NFL Gameday, 12:00 (or 12:30?) pregame show, then NFL Primetime on ESPN. If you were a crackhead, you might watch George Micheal Sports Machine later. That was all there was. Watching the 1 hour loops of Sportscenter every morning, most of my sports memories from like 1988 - 1997 were directly from that show. You had to wait to see the sports/highlights you wanted. I still remember huge sports moments through the lens of Sportscenter and what the host said. This was also the case with Empire Sports Network. I remember waiting through a Syracuse Orange show, or Ivan the Impaler (RIP) talking about wrestling, to get to the Sabres portion at the top of the hour and it was like drinking from a desert Oasis. It all seems somewhat quaint, but the limited exposure made it better and more 'mystical' as someone said. Now, I could probably tune into any of 4 or 5 syndicated sports radio talk shows, endless podcasts, twitter of every media member, can look at every thought that Tre White had this week on twitter, a team produced Cribs show about someone, countless sports websites, regional sports networks, national sports networks, and youtube. It is great and also a curse.

Get your 1986 Steve Young and jerry Rice graded as well as 89 Barry Sanders and Troy Aikman. If they are in perfect condition (including centering which you have no control of), they could be worth some bux. The rest are basically worthless (other then sentimental value of course).

Lots of interesting perspectives here on all sides. I think part of me thinking the NFL is great today has something to do with the Bills being an actual relevant team after living in kind of a darkness/B league for about 20 years. I also see a lot of the great, young, exciting quarterbacks that have taken the stage and it is kind of an unprecedented time. We get to see it first-hand all the time. because we apparently have one. The lack of 'violence' in the NHL kills it for me on an excitement level. As mentioned, there was always a possibility a game could turn into a mess of fights, misconducts, excitement, etc, and it could happen at any time no matter the score (actually more likely sometimes in a lopsided game). It made watching a crappy team bearable. Things would truly devolve a handful of times per season, but it was enough to keep me glued to games from buzzer to buzzer. It felt like we had our squad of warriors who represented Buffalo and would fight against 'evil' in the Bruins, Habs, Whalers, Flyers, etc. There were clear villains. I still hate Lyle Odelein. I remember going to games, getting the lineup sheet, and first looking at which players on the other team could fight. Now, nothing notable really happens. There is a glut of young stars with immense talent surpassing even gretzky probably.... but they dont really shine that much as per the nature of the sport. You could see a few amazing plays by McDavid, maybe a rush or 2 and even a goal every other game. But he could be completely neutralized on many nights. Contrast with the NBA. You see the best players playing a large portion of the game and doing awesome things. I realize there are great players, but not enough happens any given game to keep my attention for 2.5 hours 82+ games a year.

very sick of Tampa Bay. I went from thinking they were an interesting team to rooting for them to lose every game. It doesnt help that most Patriots fans are now bandwagoning for the Buccaneers because god-forbid their 'favorite' team isnt a top Super Bowl contender one time.

I was shocked at how poorly Lynn and the Chargers were prepared for contingencies with clock management, wasting timeouts, indecision, etc. Reminded me of the Gregg Williams era here. No wonder they lose every close game

That was a mess for the chargers No wonder they lose every game by a point

I say it every time, but I really wish they didnt have a horrible venue A record slashing skill position player makes that possible

This is a bizarre halftime show. No idea what is going on

Buffalo is in the elite tier I think, but the elite tier might have 5-8 teams in it this season. Pittsburgh KC Buffalo Tennessee GB New Orleans Seattle Arizona Rams? Raiders?

Yeah, thats a good comparison. Its like we have 10 Lindroses out there at all times. Complete with analytics and sports science. That is also a big reason why fighting became obsolete. These guys started to get huge, fighters even bigger and could do a ton of damage with 1 punch. I'm not sure a standard International rink would be the answer.... but something. Pittsburghs and Detroit's arenas should have had a bigger sheet. We would have varying sizes of ice surfaces for 40-50 years maybe, but that was a cool thing in the 80s and teams would be built based on their ice size. As far as goalies go.... I base a lot of it on Ryan Miller. Wasn't a big reactionary or athletic goalie. He just seemed very prepared to be in the right place and cut down the angle and make himself large. Its effective, but not fun to watch.

I agree the players are 1000x better.... Like Mike Weber would probably be a hall of fame franchise defenseman back in the day. but IMO it makes the NHL games worse. It all cancels itself out on a playing surface that everyone has outgrown.

Although I was talking about basically pre-1995 which was pre-trap.... I disagree. It is all still there, but it is re-skinned. Players are so efficient and big now, coaching is so refined, there is zero room out there for maneuverability. As I mentioned, it is a game to see who makes the next mistake. It is awful. You also had the possibility of any game turning into an ugly and exciting brawl, even if it was a 5-1 game. It felt like the players had real emotion and really cared. Nowadays it just feels like a recreational skate for millionaires a lot of the time. Goalies are spreadsheets, and we no longer see a lot of athletic saves. Goalies just know how to be efficient and be in the exact spot, making themselves take up as much space as possible to reduce the % possibility of a goal against. I go to a game and can barely recall anything that happened. I cant even watch any games on television including the Sabres.... and hockey used to be my thing. I probably missed less than 25 sabres games total from like 1987 to 2012. Everybody is so big and fast now. Watch a game from the 70s to see how much smaller and slower everyone is (including goalies) and there was so much more space and variety in play. I have said it before, and still think that they need to execute a 40-year advanced thinking plan and increase the size of the playing surface whenever a new building or major renovation is done. Larger nets should be considered as well. I absolutely loathe silly things the NHL does to contradict itself, first and foremost the awful "Coaches Challenge" for Offside plays. My goodness is that a silly rule that can only prevent goals (in a league desperate to create offense). Most times an Offside is 3, 4, or 5, steps away from a goal against, and means nothing, especially when they are analyzing if a toe had a millimeter of daylight when the puck crossed the line.

I think if they allowed collisions like they did 25-30 years ago, players would die and we would see broken necks/backs all the time. Players are so quick and strong now. I actually dont like seeing a player get laid out and they cant get up. Its heartbreaking. Back in the day, it didn't seem to happen as often. Even now with 'less hitting', these guys have a major toll taken on their bodies and I really respect that. I also believe that the NFL has transitioned well out of trench warfare and collision after collision into a captivating sport with a lot of offense and strategy. On the other hand, the NHL hasnt at all, and it has gotten worse and boring.

I was talking to my son in the car today about how people always look back to their childhoods and think everything was better (and often are correct). I used the NHL as an example. My dad would always tell me how much better the original 6 was. Now I tell my kid how much better the 80s and 90s were, with a lot of the fun stars of the day, high scoring games, lots of fights and rivalries, etc. Hockey is boring to me now, and the quality of the players and coaching has made every game a war of attrition to see who makes a mistake first. MLB the same way, although I much prefer today over the roid era. Still long for the days of older ballparks and Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripkin, George Brett, Mattingly, Winfield, Strawberry, Hershiser, etc... Then I got to the NFL and I paused... I actually think it might be much better today than it was when I was a kid (Im 42). I do think there would be an extra charm with the AFL days/1960s and 1970s that I missed... but overall, the sport has improved from the 80s and 90s. It has gotten faster, more action, much more in quantity and quality coverage, ridiculous popularity, fantasy football/pools, and lots of stars. granted, there are things I dislike... mainly the extreme proliferation of video review. It would also be nice if players had a longer shelf-life like they seemed to have in the past.

It's very hard to win 6 in a row. There is so much fortune involved, even when playing teams perceived as "weaker". So many games come down to a missed fg, late turnover, controversial officiating, weather, etc. Also add in the possibility of losing a position group to covid any given week This is a big reason I refused to dock the Bill's credit for running the table with "easy" games last season.

]You just knew those guys were on to bigger and better things and bolting at their first good chance. I dont get that sense so much from Leipold. He just seems like a slow-burn guy who is pretty comfortable with being a part of the fabric of mid level college football in the mid-west. I also don't see him as fiery/desirable/cutting edge for a decent-enough Power-5 program. Everything said, though.... it has been a really good run for the Basketball and Football programs and they really should continue as one of the most consistent programs in the MAC.

Yeah, mlb clubs in general have move in making a big play to completely make milb capitulate. It will make a complete turn to developmental. Might as well not keep score any more. It's too bad. They are eliminating pro baseball from existing within every corner of the nation. Long term, this is going to hurt the sport. I miss the day where I could go to a number of nearby places and see good, competitive pro baseball.

Coming from someone who wanted him gone after last season, he has been much better this year and even had some really good games.

Lol, are they trying to run him out of town?

It is hard/impossible to say... The AFC was fairly poor during that time period though. A very good chance they make at least 2 more of those Superbowls. With that said, those Dallas teams were juggernauts, and Washington was in a fluke season where they could do no wrong. So I am going to say in my construct, the Bills go to the next 2 Superbowls, and experience a similar result as to real life. They don't make it to XXVIII. You could tell they were fading slightly, and perhaps their will to 'win one' pushed them through.

This is the ultimate bottom line. Russ Brandon was trusted with stewardship of the franchise and Mr. Wilson was not in condition to manage the Bills day-to-day. Brandon was playing GM and owner since about 2006, and the role only increased through Wilson's advanced age. There was no escaping that other than, unfortunately, new ownership. McDermott came in and once and for all convinced the Pegulas that Brandon was a cancer on the football dept. He gained the autonomy, brought in Beane, made monumental improvements to the football side, and the Bills have been a relevant NFL team ever since. If we had a 60-year old Ralph Wilson managing the day-to-day? Sure, he could probably turn it around at some point. Based on the history of the franchise though, we would need a bit of good fortune. I highly respect Ralph Wilson's place in history with this team, and happy he was able to go out, and everything turn out positive with the NRA, Pegula bux, etc, along with the philanthropic initiatives from his estate.

Pretty much this. Nobody with options wanted to work here as gm or Hc. The organizational structure was rigged so russ brandon was the de facto gm. Marrone tried a powerplay against this when pegula purchased the team. The pegulas chose to continue with the russ brandon model. They finally figured it out and walled him off when the organization became a further embarrassment with the rex ryan era and a series of follies like the anthony lynn pc and whaley's "privy" fest.