skibum

Ah, the schadenfreude thread.

All this really tells me is that Vegas makes spreads that are too conservative for teams with elite QBs. Happy wagering, folks.

Charlotte gets my vote. Everything is shiny and new and corporate. Everybody dressed like they're going to lunch at the country club. A banking city with no soul. On the plus side, there are multiple Bills bars there due to all the WNY transplants. KC and Indy are much better than people think. I have never been to Green Bay, but have spent time in Madison and LaCrosse, and was amazed at how much fun wisconsin's small cities are. Great classic dive bars everywhere.

It's also possible that the HOF voters have decided they have reached their limit of '90s Bills. Andre Reed just barely made it, and that could be the end of the line.

I never thought he was a serious HOF contender, but his credentials are actually very strong. How many guys have all this on their resume and don't make it: First Team All-Pro, 3 times Pro Bowl, 5 times AFC Defensive Player of the Year, 2 times NFL 1990's All-Decade Team Maybe the thing keeping him out was that all of this was over a fairly short period, but that's still a lot of big-time honors for a guy not to get enshrined someday.

My biggest pet peeve is similar to your #1. It's when they use a player's name to describe a generic style of player - "They need a Vince Wolfork to help against the run", or "He's not a Tom Brady or an Aaron Rogers, but he can win you some games". Others: ..."in this league" "He's a competitor" "Ath-uh-lete" "Jagwires" "They have to make adjustments" "In terms of..." - Overused in general, but sportscasters seem to especially love this turn of phrase.

Wow, on paper it looks like the losses far outweigh the gains...

Without a doubt. My first words besides Mama and Dada were "Joe Ferguson". Somewhat fittingly, I was watching the Bills blow a big lead when I got the call that my father had passed away. Great topic, by the way.

I had a fragile confidence until both Wood and Richie went away. Now I'm not feeling so good about their chances.

Bills Deep

I guess he had a lot of fans on this board, but I got tired of his constant vitriol against the Sabres and Bills organizations. Neither team has been perfect over the years, and any entity with that much influence in a community should be open to public scrutiny, but I always felt that Bucky had way too much of a personal vendetta - especially against the players. It's kind of pathetic for a guy who couldn't run a 40-yard dash without stopping at Arby's, to be so venomously critical of pro athletes' performance. I think it affected his work, because it seemed like the players didn't want to talk to him. I stopped reading his work a long time ago. Kind of ironic that his career at TBN ends with a buyout, which seemed to be his standard prescription for every underperforming Sabre over the years.

The Tank doesn't seem to be playing out all that well.

He was ridiculous in Madden 93.

It shows he is coachable. I can tell you that Wyoming is big-time ranch country. It's in squirt bottles on restaurant tables there, the way Red Hot is in WNY. Clearly, Josh studied the film and learned that blue cheese is the only acceptable option in his new home.

What's a ZJ?

I'm excited about the Allen pick. He may very well bust, but the kid is really smart, works hard, he's tall, he can run, and he has an absolute howitzer. I think a lot of the criticism is uninformed dribble, especially regarding his accuracy, which everyone seems to think is determined entirely by his completion percentage. When I watch him play, I see a gamer with incredible athletic skills who can put the ball anywhere it needs to go. This kid's ceiling is scary, and I do think he has it in him to reach it. The biggest risk I see is The Bills O-line. It's a big question mark right now, and if they stink, it's going to be tough on the kid.

Won't be much pocket going on in Buffalo this year.

The % is low for Allen in large part because he didn't have a lot of dump-offs to running backs. Those pad the stats a lot. On tape, his long throws don't look inaccurate to me.

B. I think the players they picked get an A, but there are too may holes in the roster to trade away all those picks to move up three times in the first round.

Excellent post, and very much needed in this time of insanity. So much hyperanalysis over outcomes that nobody can predict at this stage of the game. Let's just pick a dude, develop him as best we can, and see how it works out.

This is a great schedule. Get the best teams on the road early before they really start hitting their stride, then 6 of 9 at home to finish, maybe with some snow. Looks good to me.

Not even close. A guard probably needs at least 6-7 pro bowl seasons, with 3 of them being All-Pro, to get consideration for Canton.

That's funny when he asks whether you would rather be in Houston or Buffalo, as if it's an obvious choice. Don't get me wrong, Buffalo has its flaws, but I think I would rather be ANYWHERE but the redneck swamp of Houston!

His brother Ty was a gifted putter.

Kind of reminds me of Joey Harrington.