Red

WOW! RUSS, GET 'R DONE!!! Fire Modrak, and bring in Parcells!!! Let Nix run the draft and Parcells be GM. Holy Crap would that be amazing! GO BILLS!!! SQUISH THE FISH!!!

AMEN!!!

Ah, and traded for a RT, drafted what looks like a solid LT #1, and traded for McNabb. Those 3 moves, in and of themselves, are hardly inconsequential.

Well, and that's another excellent point, and one that very few care to even acknowledge. To use the Major League Baseball analogy again, to think the Commissioner Selig did not know of what was going on with the Home Rub Derby between McGwire and Sosa, suddenly broken records w/inflated body types, etc one would have to be clinically insane. A great book on the topic, is Juicing The Game, by Howard Bryant. In it, Bryant describes the culture of baseball post-strike. Smaller fields, strike zone changes, etc. And steroids. Baseball was in a PR crises. It lost a tremendous amount of fans from the strike. It desperately needed to excitement to place butts in the seats. Turning a blind eye to the Steroid Era of Baseball does not waive one of guilt. Selig knew what was going on. In fact, it was only after our do-nothing Congress got involved in a PR event of their own to "save Baseball" from itself did MLB finally, FINALLY give way to drug testing and suspensions. And please, don't get me started on the Olympics. They're all doped. But the only guilty ones are the ones being caught. Does that spell conspiracy? Well, let's just say that the public is always wanting bigger, stronger, and faster (and an excellent documentary movie of the same name). Nature is limited. Pharmaceuticals can help extend and insure a players career. Quicker recovery, more muscle mass thus more power/ speed....what's not to love? I think the organizations involved all know about the drug use by professional athletes. Romo, or the late Alzado coming out publicly about their steroid use is not the minority. They are the ones who talk openly about it. Stallone got busted with a bag full coming from Australia. Arnold admitted to using. That type of muscle hypertrophy is not possible without anabolic assistance. But alot of money is changing hands. Do we as a fan base want a bunch of 250 lb lineman? Myself, I'd love to see real men playing football, and not dopers. 180 lb RB's, etc. But does the rest of the nation want to see reality? Then you must also look at the cost of testing. There isn't even a reliable test for HGH.

Hey man, I live in Northern VA. But to get to your point: you seriously don't believe that most (if not all) of professional athletes are on some kind of performance enhacing drug, right? Chris Brown is the mouthpiece of the Bills. He is certainly not one who can be counted on to disclose or even create any dissension in the ranks at OBD. One thing I am sick of, is the 'GNC supplement' garbage that is perpetuated by the media know-nothings. First off, I am not a novice. I have been a drug-free bodybuilder for the past 15 years. I've worked in the sport supplement industry for 5, I have my undergrad in Nutrition and Sport and am currently completing my Masters in Physical Education. I coach football; and have coached at different levels in the public school environment. The 'GNC' line is weak. Reason being: there is no legal, over-the-counter supplement that contains anything anabolic. Think about it. If supplements worked like steroids, we would not have steroids (which are illegal, can cause a whole range of problems, and are mucho expensive and just plain stupid). No manufacturer is putting illegal substances into their product. Not a one. To do so is not only an undeniable risk of imprisonment and/ or fines, etc, but the company would not be in business for very long if it did this. Not going to happen. If you ever hear anyone use this, you are being fed a line of cr@p. Of course, if we knew what the substance was, we could look at the NFL list of banned substances and be able to accurately determine if Chris Brown knows anything indeed about the situation. For example, caffeine, at high levels can be used as a performance enhancer. But caffeine, at high levels, is also a banned substance. Is Nelson being suspended for too much caffeine? I doubt it. For the absolute disgusting face of the underworld of sports, one need only look further than the relatively recent scandals with Major League Baseball. I mean, I hate baseball anyways, but to think that steroids would be so rampant in that sport is truly amazing. It's just not in the same league of power sports like football and hockey. Barry Bonds is an excellent example. I read an interview with him in a Muscle and Fitness, I believe, a few years ago- right before the GH/ steroid/ clear thing started. In it, he made meticulous mention of how many grams of protein he ate, carbs, fats, supplement intake, types of supplements, grams of Glutamine (an amino acid) he took along w/creatine. He talked about his supplement cycles, etc. In other words: the guy was very much informed and on top of the substances he was putting into his body, how much of them, when, etc. He was not ignorant. Yet in spite of this article, we are then supposed to believe (well, most idiots believed it) that somehow, somebody like his trainer purposely spiked his massage cream w/the "clear"? He asked what it was, was not given a good answer, and then allowed the trainer to just continue? Come freakin on! Not for a guy that can tell you what time is best for his creatine/ glutamine/ protein shake!! So, ignorance is not only a defense, in the case of professional athletes it is not even in the realm of possible. These guys (and females who used to be females but started taking MALE hormones and have become she-men- Jennifer "Romo" Capriati, anyone?), are physical machines. They have to be, as their body is their livelihood. They are not putting performance enhancing substances into their bodies out of ignorance, stupidity, or by mistake. Now, if he's just got caught snorting some lines of coke, you can disregard this response.

And being 'old enough to drink', proves what, exactly? Marshawn is old enough to drink.... Man, you sure are a cantankerous one. Why must you devolve into insults and sarcasm when I am simply trying to counter the points you mentioned? I noticed how you have no response to the players that you mentioned that I responded to. Are you really this tightly wound? When you fart, do only dogs hear the whistle? C'mon man, lighten up! Nobody on this board knows anything, and if we did, we wouldn't be coming to this board to post. I mentioned some Bills players that we have drafted that you had countered my original post with. Can you stick to football, and have an intelligent, opinionated conversation?

Oh, and 'but' is spelled with 2 t's...as in 'butt'.

I will add another to your list. The late Hugh Culverhouse- old owner of the Tampa Bay Bucs. When he was the owner- back in the old Orange and White days- they were the worst team in the league for decades. He traded Steve DeBerg, Steve Young, etc. As soon as he passed away, and new ownership came in, the Bucs turned themselves around to a Super Bowl win. The timing of the decades of failure with Culverhouse as the owner, and after his demise and the change in ownership and the subsequent success is amazing. I'm not wishing anything bad on Ralph, but an owner can certainly hamper the progress of an organization. Wow. That was quick. One response is your limit to intelligent conversation? And I'm the azzhat?

Well, then why keep him? If his opinions are worthless, and Ralph/ Jauron/ Donahoe/ Levy are going to do there own thing anyway, what exactly is his value to the franchise? And again, where is this "brain trust" getting their information on players from, anyways? To answer your second point, anyone claiming that the coaches and owner can sit back, have free time to scout college football AND run a professional franchise, obviously don't understand that is why you hire scouts and a director of scouting in the first place.

Your banal attempts at sarcasm fall far short of the mark. I notice that your referenced players from the years 2001-2006 are a bit, shall we say, light? In fact, we drafted close to 50 players, and we can only keep 1 or 2. Out of 50? I don't think it would take Mel Kiper that this is horrible drafting. And you obviously are missing the point in what I am arguing. So Josh Reed is available. So what? So is JP Losman. The fact that THEY ARE AVAILABLE states that the talent is just not there to earn a roster spot. Meaning: They ain't good enough. And how long were they on our roster? As far as the others you mention- Williams is a colossal bust, McGahee is a colossal a$$, Clements was good- but had crazy salary demands, Denney was never good enough and would not make it on any roster other than ours, Kelsay is overpaid for too little production, Losman needs no further comment, Whitner has yet to prove on the field what his mouth keeps telling us, McCargo for gosh sakes was FREAKIN' TRADED then the deal fell apart because of his poor health, Lynch is currently listed as the 3rd running back on the depth chart, Poz can't put a full season together, Hardy is a terrible disappointment considering his draft position, and Maybin is a 1st round "project". None of this bothers you? 1st round picks are meant to be instant starters. Fresh blood to a franchise. Do teams always strike it big w/1st round draft picks? Ofcourse not, nor is that what I am insinuating. However, our wasted high round picks have handicapped the franchise. We are in this position precisely because we have suffered from a massive LACK of infusion of talent in the past decade. If you think otherwise, none of this will make any difference to you. In the past 2 years, we have finally seen some signs of life. But, coincidentally this is also when Nix came back. Wood, Levitre, Bryd are all last season. What, Modrak suddenly woke up and decided to scout players? C'mon. Spiller is excitement that we have needed for a decade. No brainer. What about Shawn Nelson? Is he another boner scouting job by Tom Modrak? Parrish was a good selection IMO, but we have had to wait until the Gailey regime arrived to finally use him right. I've loved Schobel. But if you draft 12 players and only get 2 of merit, that's pretty bad scouting and drafting. All I am trying to say is that I want all of our picks to be stars. I know thats completely unrealistic. But I want the Bills to succeed. When we look at our picks of the past 10 years, you would have to be an idiot to think that we have drafted well, and our team is rife w/talent that was scouted and developed by the Bills organization. How many Pro Bowl players are on the Bills roster that were scouted by Modrak? Lynch is another DUI or fair trade on his way out the door. Modrak does not need your defense, nor should he find it. The record speaks for itself.

Mr. Wawrow, Truly, you doth jest. 'Tom's missed some'???!??!? When did Modrak take over as Director of Scouting? 2001? Go back and look at all of the players drafted from 2001-2010. How many are still with the team? Still in the league? Pro Bowlers? Go back and look at all of the Top 3 rounds we have drafted in. How many panned out this decade? How many are still with the team? Ever started? Still in the league? Bottom line: if the offense stinks, everyone wants the head of the QB. If the team stinks, everyone wants the coaches head. If the drafts have stunk to high heaven since Modrak came on board (with Donahoe and Guy, who have since both thankfully departed, nonetheless), then why should not the DIRECTOR of college scouting be gone too? And to counter your good draft picks: Troup, Spiller, Wood, Levitre, and Bryd can all be indicative of Nix, since they have all been drafted since he arrived at OBD. And I'm growing tired of this 'war room' decision argument. Regardless of who makes the call or who the "consensus" is, the coaches, owner, management, etc all have to get the information from somebody. That somebody is Modrak; or scouts employed- and thus supported by Modrak. Those players drafted in the later rounds in the earlier part of the decade should be atleast solid players on the CURRENT roster. There should be atleast a core of players to build around. Modrak, if not in title alone, has missed more than hit during his tenure at OBD,...er...Jacksonville. He's a Donahoe guy who keeps getting a check despite an abysmal record this decade. He should have been on the 1st train out w/Donahoe. Or atleast w/Guy.

C'mon guys. We all know these preseason prognostications are worthless. First off all, none of these guys see the intangibles. What has really killed the Bills the past year or two? Back to the Levy era, it has been 'lack of an identity'. Nobody on the coaching staff knew the first thing about offense. Now, that's not to give Modrak a pass, because as evidenced by the recent Bills getting cut by different teams (Josh Reed, JP Losman, Sam Aiken, etc) we can see that he is worthless as a talent evaluator. But watching the Bills of the past year or two, lack of identity is accurate. They were too predictable. No diversity. No adjustments. No slants, for gosh sakes!! Players from other teams have been quoted repeatedly that the Bills were too vanilla; opposing defenses knew what the Bills were always going to be doing, etc. Yet even in that vanilla approach, they were still competitive. They still hung on in games. Looking back on last years games, there were about 3 or 4 where they were owned. The Super Bowl winning Saints was not one of them. The Bills were in a 10-7 slug fest until it got away in the 4th. We also have to look at strength and conditioning. Having the strength and endurance to play an entire game is key. Having power and explosiveness in the 4th quarter is absolutely essential. With our history of injuries and quotes from other teams (yet again) claiming last year how they would not worry if it was close (or even if the Bills were ahead), the Bills would crack eventually. That's discipline. That's endurance. That's strength. When you're tired, one of the first things to go is discipline. How many times in recent years have we seen the Bills driving to take control (or win) a game, but find some offensive lineman false start in the 4th quarter, or hold? Those are errors of poor conditioning and poor discipline. I think (read: hope) that our new strength team will have these guys finally conditioned to win, and all of those ridiculous, drive-killing false start and holding penalties will be a thing of the past. Finally, I don't think enough can be said about the culture of winning Gailey, Nix, and Whaley are bringing to the Bills. Attitude. From chewing out some idiotic punks giving Trent a hard time at the last week of training camp, to creating an offense w/versatility and punch, we should be seeing a team out there on the field. Something we have not seen in some time. Now, how much do the intangibles matter? Well, we don't yet have a LT. I'm not sure we have a dominant pass rusher. But if the offense is 3 steps and fire, and Spiller keeps defenses on their toes, the offensive line will get somewhat of a break. If we start putting points up on the board other than field goals, maybe OTHER teams will be having to play catch up for a change. That helps a pass rush too. All in all, who knows? Only time will tell. GO BILLS!

I don't know... ...as much as I hate their team, the Ravens are looking much better offensively than they ever have. Ravens and Colts, AFC Championship game?

Crazy post. As in insane.

What a damn good picture!!! Where can I get a blonde like that?

It's about time, and I'm still not sure that TE Shawn Nelson is not another James Hardy in waiting. Modrak sucks, and needs to be dismissed. They have got to have something in the works. I'm pretty sure 1 TE is not going to cut it going into the season. Tony Scheffler is under contract, but might be a good pick up. I like Owen Daniels in Houston. Would Marshawn Lynch for Owen Daniels be a fair trade?

This is a great Buffalo story. It doesn't hurt the practice squad, but I'm not sure how it helps the Bills.

Second that. I don't care who has the better record- the Dolphins SUCK! But compared to the wonderful input of Tom Modrak for the past, oh...I don't know...10 FREAKIN YEARS...Parcells has not lost a thing. How many of our 2nd rounders drafted since Modrak came onboard, are still with the team? Heck, how many of our 1st rounders in the past decade are still on the team? Thanks, Tom!

Yeah, unfortunately, as much as I am happy to see the play of a David Nelson or a Donald Jones, the Bills spent a top 50 pick on Hardy, and that plain sucks. Thanks again, Tom Modrak. Your scouting input on players proves itself yet again. Sorry, but if your pass rush is any good you should not have to blitz.

Congrats to Duke for choosing an honorable path. But man, does he not look like the biggest idiot for bad-mouthing the Bills on his way to Green Bay?

I love these war room replies. You know the ones- it's not 1 persons fault, there are several people involved, etc. All baloney. When the bad stuff hits the fan on the field, who gets the blame? The QB. When the team just plain sucks, who gets the axe? The head coach. When your drafting has just plain rotted for an ENTIRE DECADE....maybe your DIRECTOR OF FREAKIN' SCOUTING needs to get a pink slip. Just an idea.... How many 1st round picks, made from 2001-2010, are still with the team? How many picks, from 2-7, are still with the team? From 2000-2005, there were something like 50 picks. What, 4-5 are still with the team? That is not bad; that's abysmal. How many of our 1st round picks in the past decade are still even in the league? Losman just got cut, for gosh sakes. Lynch is probably on the way out. Now, if his recommendations are so good, why has no one in 3-4 different administrations listened to him? You mean to tell me that he is of such high esteem, that Donahoe, Levy, AND Nix don't listen to him? Gregg Williams, Mularkey, Jauron, and Gailey disregard his unput? If his opinion is so valued, you would think somebody in 3 regimes would listen. No, he was brought on by Donahoe and should have left when Tom left. john Guy is gone. Modrak has done nothing to prove continued employment at OBD. Yet he remains.

Ah, the merits of Tom Modrak show themselves again...

I agree with you. Though there is probably some remote chance of finding a diamond in the rough, this is most likely slim pickings. I would feel better if we had more experienced and solid O Line depth. I'm glad Chambers is finally gone, but replacing him w/nothing is not an improvement. I don't want him back, but we need to get something back there.

aaaaa.....ok? Can you be more specific?