nostyle126

That would not have "saved Buffalo". That was the late 1800s. Buffalo saw many prosperous years after the love canal's failure. Buffalo didn't truly begin to erode until the mid 20th century, as its key industries all died. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 was the proverbial nail in the coffin. Buffalo's status as a major player as a port, railroad hub, and steel center were history, and the remaining industries (such as the automobile industry) were headed for hard times as well. Buffalo's leaders had no vision for the city's future...no ideas to help the city in a painful but necessary conversion from an industrial blue collar town into a modern technology-driven white collar city. Now Buffalo is paying dearly for this lack of vision.

Here's an aerial of Charlotte. Notice the EMPTY LOTS that surround the stadium. Magnet for cafes, bars, condos, and shopping? Uh, no. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3321/356012...beb84dedf_o.jpg By comparison, an arena that hosts hundreds of events a year can fit in to a city's core quite well: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/356010...4fd46ce59_o.jpg

It was a horrible mistake, no doubt, but I think the decision to put the 190 along the waterfront was even worse. The urban renewal projects of the late '50s and '60s really destroyed Buffalo. The highways shattered neighborhoods. The waterfront was rendered useless. The urban fabric has never recovered. The decision to build UB in Amherst took what little hope Buffalo had left and gave it to the 'burbs.

You live in Charlotte. So do I. So go take a look at Third Ward. The whole area around Panther's Stadium is a DEAD ZONE. There is NOTHINGNESS for many city blocks in all directions. You need to walk 5 blocks north to reach development...3 blocks east. and NONE of those developments sprouted from the stadium. They were built to be near the CBD (such as the Wachovia Cultural Campus), not because of the "hustle and bustle" created by the stadium. For those of you that don't live in Charlotte, Google map it. The area around the stadium is DEAD LAND. That would be our waterfont if we did the same thing in Buffalo. Enjoy.

Give them 10 concerts. We're now up to, say 20 events a year. There are 365 days in a year. That leaves 345 days of NOTHING GOING ON at a MASSIVE stadium surrounded by SURFACE LOTS. Stadiums are out of place when built in the urban core. They are suburban in nature. I also think you guys underestimate how expensive it would be to build a new stadium in general, let alone in the brownfields that were recommended. Those are potentially toxic sites that would require very extensive remediation before the land can be used. $$$

Football stadiums do NOT belong in a downtown, let alone along valuable waterfront property. You only get EIGHT marquee events there every year (the NFL team's eight home games) and a few other events. The rest of the year the stadium is sitting there USELESS and EMPTY, devoid of street life and surrounded by SEAS of SURFACE LOTS. The stadium is fine where it is.

Great report. A few things come to mind as I read this. First off, maybe facing a 3-4 in practice will finally get TE over the 3-4 hump, which will definitely help in a division of all 3-4 defenses. Second, as good as the pass rush sounds, I worry that it's not really how good the pass rush is, but how bad our tackles are. Third, even if our pass IS good, it might not matter if teams can run all over us. I'm hoping that our guys inside can hold down the fort because I'm still not convinced we have anyone that can truly play NT in this system, and teams will try to expose that weakness all season long. Question. Is Shawn Nelson our hands-down #1 TE at this point?

He was being interviewed by the guys from 97 Rock. He gave them a ton of attitude and that was one of the things he said. He didn't mean on a specific play...not in the context of the conversation. I remember going to a Dolphins game one cold day back in the Rob Johnson Era. Fina was a turnstile that day. We got blown out and fans began to leave late in the 3rd quarter. There was fina, standing on the sidelines, sarcastically waving goodbye with this jackass smirk on his face. Not my kind of Bill.

As much as we love the Bills, from time to time players make their way on to the roster that just rub us the wrong way. Here's my list: 1) John Fina - overpaid, underachieving. Once told a reporter he's only paid to block for 4 seconds and if the play lasts longer than that, too bad. Oh, and he sucked during those 4 seconds. 2) Willis McGahee - never wanted him here. He was a bad draft pick and isn't a Buffalo kind of guy. I was glad to see him go. 3) Marshawn Lynch - not a fan of "Beast Mode". He's a cocky, immature, east-west RB that is underachieving out of the backfield and hasn't seemed to get any better at picking up blitzes since joining the team. A relatively obscure Fred Jackson was a welcomed breath of fresh air. 4) Mike Williams - he absolutely frustrated me, he was so soft. How this guy ever got to the level of an elite college tackle is beyond me. Anyone else worth mentioning?

Just curious, who do you guys think will be surprisingly good this year. Here are a few guys I think are candidates: Eric Wood - I think he's going to come back with a vengeance. Steve Johnson - May end up our #2 receiver. Reggie Corner - May end up our #2 cornerback. Thoughts?

Wouldn't it be better if WE got to decide where OUR money goes?

Aren't you almost a full season behind?

Sabres, UB, Charlotte Bobcats, Carolina Panthers, and Carolina Hurricanes (I follow them...that doesn't mean I like them).

If he said "we're gonna run a base cover-2 read-and-react defense", then essentially that's EXACTLY what he'd be saying.

I remember one of the sports radio guys betting on the Ravens before the season started back in 2000. Nobody ever saw the Ravens coming. He made some good $$$. ...anyone remember who I'm talking about? I haven't lived in Buffalo for nearly a decade.