transient

No. It's preseason... by definition there is no significance to the victory last week, as the games don't count... as evidenced by the team's continued 0-0 record in games of significance for the 2010 season. You can't diminish something that doesn't exist.

The thing is, Schopp has been an evolutionary process. He's always tried to come off as erudite, and at the beginning of his radio days in Buffalo he was a bit different and out of place with regard to the topics he covered, but not mean spirited. He's definitely evolved to a demeaning joke that is contemptuous of the majority of his audience. I haven't heard him in years, but it sounds like that trend has continued in earnest. I feel like Sullivan has always written from a place of smugness and contempt, even during the '90s. I think that's what makes him so intolerable to me now... I almost feel like he is reveling in this decade. I would draw the analogy of late night television hosts and how much they loved having "W" in office because it was good for ratings, despite his effect on the nation as a whole. If the team turns things around, how is he going to point out obvious flaws so he can pound his chest and tell us how smart he is. His style is not the result of covering this long stretch of futility, rather the long stretch of futility is tailor made for this bell cryor of misery.

I don't know how to do the multiple quote thing. My responses are the bold ones.

I dunno, Jerry. Says here you got to town in 1989. http://corp.buffalonews.com/services/newsroom/sports.asp Is it odd referring to yourself in the third person?

I can forgive Howard Simon, Allen Wilson, and other credible personalities for their exasperation and showing some of the stress cracks of reporting on this team for the last 10 years. Sullivan using this as an excuse doesn't explain the fact that his schtick was the same prior to the last decade (I haven't lived in Buffalo in a while, and I despised his "work" well before I left). Sully is misery, and he loves company. Whether his column is fact based or pure opinion, it's never what he says, it's how he says it. He doesn't just tell you the **** smells, he wants to rub it on your face and put it in your mouth to try to prove the obvious. And when you tell him it's revolting, he tells you it's your fault. He dismisses people with valid points, usually by resorting to petulant name calling or other adolescent tactics, and the whole time he give the impression that he's his own biggest fan and he's certain he's the smartest guy in the room. I can't say I blame OBD for not granting him access... he come's off as the guy you'd invite into the house only to have him steal your silverware and brag about it to his buddies. Referring to him as average is being kind.

Fundamentally, I think we are looking at the future of this team in the same way. You may be right, but I'm not convinced that it's a slam dunk that they're the most talentless team in the league. I don't believe that the talent gap is as wide as is commonly portrayed. I am convinced the previous coaches couldn't maximize the talent that they did have because they were terrible coaches. Bad teams/coaches can make some pretty good players look pretty bad. Brett Favre and Steve Young come to mind immediately. I'm not saying we have anyone equivalent to either on the team, but I am saying we had 53+ guys that were utilized well below their potential last year. The notable improvement with Fewell as the head coach speaks to that. This season there is a head coach and GM who clearly have a vision of the team they want, something DJ never had in the time he was here, at least not offensively (defensively, he had the small part right for the Tampa 2, but I think he missed the memo about the quick part, secondary excluded). My hope is that Gailey is better at utilizing players' strengths and overcoming their weaknesses than a high school coach, and that Nix is a good enough talent evaluator to get him the players he needs over the next few years. Based on the recent discussion of DJ's lack of adjustments, as well as the fact that TE stated something to the effect of 'This is the first time in my career that I'm in an offense that calls plays to set up other plays later in the game', they managed to win 6 games last year with a coach/OC who had no fundamental understanding of how the game is played.

Sorry. Didn't mean to imply that YOU had stated the Jets would be a SB team. It was more in reference to the media overhyping them. What I'm saying is that the Bills are better via addition by subtraction, and that we may actually find that they have a few NFL caliber players when they institute some NFL caliber coaching/schemes. They also have a huge number of starters coming back. Only four games separated them in the standings from the Patriots*, yet the tone of your post suggests they were a 1-15 or 2-14 team. The Jets offense was predicated on their run game, and not one of their RBs from the league leading attack is returning. Their defensive philosophy is heavily based on a player who is likely to sit out the season in a contract dispute. The Pats* are aging and maybe this is the year that Belichick's smugness catches up to him (especially since his golden boy appears less than thrilled), and I'm not sure what to think about the Phins. Honestly, I think the biggest question in the division this year is what exactly will this edition of the Bills look like. Saying they're bad because they've always been bad overlooks the fact that their coaching was REALLY, REALLY bad... so much so that other teams' players actually commented in the press about how they felt bad for Bills' players, and the new regime may address this glaring fact. I fully expect the season to be a work in progress, but expect to see them look more like a team on the rise by the end of the season. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if they go 8-8, with the majority of the wins in the second half of the season. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the Jets crash and burn, especially if Sanchez cannot live up to expectations and their running game fails to resemble last year's.

As SJBF suggested, my post was a direct response to Kelly's post specifically about the Bills in the Super Bowl, and had NOTHING to do about Marv as GM. Taking it out of context to bash Ralph as owner is quite the agenda. As for the string of other posts regarding Marv the coach, I have no problem with his regular season or playoff coaching. However, he needed to recognize when the team was overmatched (especially in the era of NFC dominance) and put together a gameplan to offset any advantage the other team might have thereby giving the team the best chance to win, even if the team across from them might be the more talented team. That's what a head coach is supposed to do. I would argue that Sean Peyton did that last year, and that Parcells did that to him in the first SB. And for those Corey posts, yeah, the read and react/bend but don't break philosophy when you have that much talent and should be able to dictate the flow of the game both offensively AND defensively was a pure waste. Can you imagine how much MORE fun we could have had if BOTH the offense and defense had that go for the throat attitude.

Stems from Marv insisting that the team that executed the best would win, thereby overlooking the fact that the team lining up across from them also happened to be conference champions. Throwing a wrinkle or two into a gameplan, especially in big games, happened to be a forte of all the coaches we faced those four years, and not a particular strength of Saint Levy.

Whether Sullivan is right or wrong is immaterial. IMO, he selects things that are obviously a problem and then he injects his own special brand of feces to the subject. His pieces are indigestion inducing purely from the amount of venom that they are laden with. I don't know about anyone else, but I can name no other columnist whose work can put me in a bad mood purely from the tone it's written in, regardless of the point it's making. When I interact with someone who is overly negative or spiteful for no reason I can leave the interaction feeling, for lack of a better word, pissy, and his writing does that to me... usually within the first three sentences.

Despite the disaster of injuries, the continued miserable coaching of DJ, axing the OC and starting LT within 10 days of the season opener, and a midseason coaching change the Bills were within 3 game of the Jets and 1 game of the Dolphins in the standings, hardly "by far" the worst team. Suggesting a better coached team with a number of injured starters returning can't show a significant improvement in the standings is more than a bit pessimistic. I think the continued frustration of mediocrity combined with the utter exasperating and unwatchably boring/painful nature of Bills football over the last ten years has convinced many people that this team is much worse/more talentless than it actually is. I also think that the fact that the Pats* are in our division has led to the national media thinking the AFC East is much tougher than it actually is. While we won't actually know until the regular season starts, I think the Jets and 'Phins, and possibly even the Pats* will turn out to be more preseason hype than reality. The idea that the Jets are SB or bust makes me laugh.

Uh, the guy scored 70 something TD's at Wayne State... you'd think they could find more than every angle of his TD against the 'Skins, a few practice shots, a few live game shots, and a bunch of stills to fill 4 minutes worth of video. (Not so much a commentary on posting it, more a heads up for those expecting a bit more out of their 4 minutes). That said, he was dominant against DII talent, and doesn't appear out of place thus far in preseason. He could be a small school gem and give us some flexibility to deal ML if the need/opportunity arises. Here's to him producing more NFL highlights to fill out the next tribute.

Thus the disconnect. I would argue that they have drafted for need in early rounds more often than not, with this year being the most notable exception. I would also argue that based on the post you were responding to, Rob's House was insinuating that the Bills have a history of drafting for need over talent as well.

Drafting for need in the first few rounds when there is a huge disparity between the talent level of your need and the talent level of the BPA results in a team devoid of playmakers. Have you enjoyed watching that team for the last ten years? The tone of your post would suggest you haven't.

I think that was his point, those are drafting/reaching for need, which was what he was arguing against when he said it results in overpaid mediocrity. Don't know that I'd include Evans or Lynch in that, though.

Roethlisberger spun him around and had his skirt up over his head before he even had a chance to finish his roophy laced beer!

And after the first series, TWO starting running backs (in what is reportedly supposed to be a run first scheme). Nothing like a Varsity-JV scrimmage.

Is Roethlisberger still lining up behind RT?

I was gonna say Bell. However, anatomically speaking it should be a dead heat... but my concern is there are a number of Sallys that could actually finish last in that race!

I would argue that RF is the only known quantity at present. I think Gailey and Nix are trying to determine how much of TE's failure over the last season and a half was him and how much was the absurd coaching situation. IMO, Nix has done everything short of publicly scoff at the stupidity of last year's staff and I think he and Gailey are willing to give TE the benefit of the doubt for the preseason, at least. The fact they had interest in McNabb is enough to tell me they're not sold on the guy as the future.

Playing a stop-gap veteran also doesn't help you figure out what you have on the team now. It would be different if we had a championship caliber defense and were making a run at something, but otherwise bringing in short term garbage is not the answer.

I think either TE or RF gets cut, and who goes depends entirely on Trent's performance the next few games. Gailey is not tied to either guy. From purely a player potential perspective, I think what you see is what you get with RF... a guy who understands the game but doesn't have the talent to produce. If TE gets cut, I think the season is a developmental carousel because Nix and Gailey have to realize that RF playing at his best is not the future of this franchise, and letting him play out the season is wasting available time to see if either of the other QBs can play.

He played his freshman year at UM when Henne got hurt. He transferred to Arkansas after Carr resigned/retired when it became apparent that Rodriguez did not have him in his plans because he wasn't mobile enough.

I was in A2 at the time he started. My impression was that he was a freshman with a gun for an arm, but no touch on the ball. Heaven help the back catching a dump off from him, cuz it was thrown as if he was trying to force the ball in over the middle. Other than that, what can you say about a freshman QB playing at the beginning of the end for the Maize and Blue? He wasn't in Rich Rod's plans (but then again, apparently neither was winning or bowl games).

I don't know if that's accurate. If TE looks lights out against second stringers, does that really tell you anything worthwhile? At this point in time he should look good against a second and third string defense. TE is going to sink or swim against the other team's first string. If he continues to struggle throughout preseason I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone. Fitz has shown what he's got. It's not a matter of understanding the game with him, it's limited physical tools. Personally, I think either TE or RF makes the team in the end. I don't think this season is about wins, unfortunately, so it may not ultimately matter who is behind center.