hondo in seattle

Just to put this in perspective: In the restaurant business, a local restaurant will typically sell for about 2 - 3 times it's cash flow. In other words, it will take you about 2 or 3 years to earn your investment back. If the restaurant is part of an established regional or national chain, the cost will be higher: between 4 and 8 times EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization). In these cases, it will take you roughly 4 to 8 years to earn your purchase price back. The Pegulas paid $1.4 billion dollars to buy a business that profits only $44 million per year. It'll take Terry & Kim approximately 32 years to make their money back.

DJ was a OC and QB away from being a good head coach. Chan Gailey was a DC and QB away from being a good head coach. Fred Jackson, in his prime, was about as good as Thurman Thomas. Eric Moulds, in his prime, was about as good as Andre Reed. Rex is neither a genius nor a buffoon but is an above average defensive coach and will have the Bills D in the top 10 this year.

I tend to agree with this, despite the source: James Walker, Miami Dolphins reporter: It's interesting that Rich Cimini, Mike Rodak and I have experience covering Ryan over the years. I covered Ryan at two different stops -- first as defensive coordinator of theBaltimore Ravens while reporting on the AFC North and later as head coach of the Jets while reporting on the AFC East. He has always been the same person -- a confident, outgoing coach. That won't change, and I don't view that as an issue. The problem is Ryan, for one year at least, lost his knack for getting the most out of his defensive talent. This was (and is) his biggest strength. I watched Ryan turn average players into solid players (Jim Leonhard), solid players into great players (Antonio Cromartie, Bart Scott) and star players into future Hall of Famers (Darrelle Revis, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis). Which Bills defensive player got significantly better last season under Ryan's tutelage? Maybe Ronald Darby, who was a rookie? Ryan knows he must get back to that. He is still a great defensive coach, and I view last season as a one-year exception. http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24938/afc-east-qa-is-it-time-to-question-rex-ryans-coaching-style

Given what he inherited, Rex performed disastrously last year on D. But I thought the offense performed well under the circumstances. You got to give Rex credit for recruiting Roman and probably having a hand in the recruitment of TT. Rex doesn't have a history of running poor D's. A lot of reasons have been given for the failures of 2015 and I'm willing to allow Rex some benefit of the doubt. Generally, I think head coaches need three years or more. But if Rex regresses again this year, I could be in favor of a 2 trial for him. For me, I think the threshold is 7-9. Anything worse and he should be fired.

I'm with you,brother. They're making me hungry.

Whatever the reason, who's ever to blame, Marcel is more comfortable in the defense this year than he was last year. That can only be a good thing. As far as 2 gap versus 1 gap is concerned... I wonder what the ratios are? How often does Rex ask his linemen to 2 gap versus 1 gap? How does this compare to the rest of the NFL? I have a pretty balanced view of Rex. I think he screwed up last year but I don't think he's a moron or buffoon. Neither do I think he's a defensive genius. I do think he's reasonably bright, has some talent to work with on this roster, and is moving beyond some of his mistakes of last year. My guess is we'll see the Bills D ranking somewhere between #5 and #10 this season.

I hope KW doesn't visit this site. There's one thread about steaks and steakhouses. Then another top thread offers up the "Restaurant Guide to Buffalo for Visitors." Don't want to KW to get hungry.

There's a Ruth Chris in Bellevue, WA, not far from where I live. I've been there exactly once in 7 years and that was for a company event. While my meal was fine, it wasn't quite good enough to justify the price. I tend to prefer ethnic food over steak-and-potato places and locally owned restaurants to national chains. When I am in a mood for a good steak here in Seattle, I go to Jak's, John Howie's, Daniel's Broiler or El Gaucho. The best steak I've eaten in Seattle was at El Gaucho. The best anywhere was at Tom Colicchio's at the Mirage in Vegas.

Thanks for this! I actually printed it to save for my next trip to Buffalo. I've eaten at virtually none of the restaurants mentioned.

Maybe I'm misreading the transcript but it doesn't seem to me Terry's excited about a new downtown stadium. On the one hand, he acknowledges the current stadium is old. But he adds that Buffalo is not LA, it's a different market. In other words, we don't have the resources for a shiny, new $1-2 billion dollar stadium.

I've had better meals than the ones I've had at Ruth Chris. My first experience was, in fact, "meh." But my last visit was very good. Different location? Different steak? Positive changes in the company? Not sure.

Being patient with Jauron and Gailey didn't get us far because neither had adequate talent on their rosters. Call me crazy but sometimes I think Jauron was a QB & OC away from being a successful coach. And I think Gailey might have been a QB & DC away from being a successful coach. We'll never know. Playoffs or bust is a silly standard. Only 12 of 32 teams make the playoffs. Generally speaking - with some exceptions - those 12 teams will have franchise QBs and established coaches. To give Rex just two years to join that elite group when he has a new QB, new offensive coaching staff and scheme, and a new defensive coaching staff and scheme is too demanding in my opinion. I say this even though I agree with many of C.Biscuit's points. Rex didn't use his defensive roster to their full potential last year. The D should have been better. Rex is not off to a good start. But I think he needs an opportunity to right the ship. And I think the Pegulas need to become like the Rooneys. If a coaching opportunity comes up in Pittsburgh, every coach and their brother wants the job because the Rooneys are patient, wise owners who give their coaches a fair chance to succeed. We don't want the Pegulas to be like Al Davis: trigger happy, meddling, impetuous. The Pegulas are new and forming their reputations now - for the future of the Bills it's important they create a coach-friendly reputation. Buffalo needs to be a place where coaches most want to coach because here they receive the full support of the owners and entire organization.

Even Barnwell seems to acknowledge the silliness of this exercise: "There's no obvious trio of positions to approach like there are with offensive triplets, so one team's group could include three defensive linemen, while another organization might send out three defensive backs. Comparing those groups is inherently more difficult." [and more subjectively stupid].

Why did we cut him, anyway? I remember he was a quick long snapper and was disappointed we let him go. He must have been a lot of fun in the locker room.

These are all good points C.Biscuit. But the Pegualas made Rex their first HC hire - only to fire him after his second season? I don't think that makes the Pegulas attractive owners for future coaches. HCs, OCs, and DCs want time to build their squads and implement their schemes. Furthermore, Head Coaches are continually refining their coaching staffs. Maybe some of the guys they wanted weren't available their first year. But they'll have trouble hiring anybody their second or third years if the Pegulas become known for short leashes. I'm with ScottLaw: unless the Bills collapse, Rex gets another year. I think the Pegulas need to send the message: we believe in giving coaches a fair chance to succeed. First impressions are lasting impressions and the NFL coaching community needs to like what they see of Terry and Kim right now.

Misery loves company, as they say. But maybe C.Biscuit is right. Maybe this is something to celebrate and brag about. "Don't whine to me, I'm a Bills a fan after all and we've suffered the longest!"

I remember stories about him doing magic tricks in the Bills locker room years ago. I also remember 30+ years ago taking a pretty young blonde to dinner at the Forks Hotel on the corner of Broadway and Union in Cheektowaga where some very talented magicians would rotate from table to table doing some pretty fantastic things.

In other words, we have the longest playoff drought of any major sports team, not just NFL teams? Thanks CBF for making my morning so much brighter!

2 years is not enough for any HC. To be fair to Rex and Roman, they need at least 3 years to build their coaching staffs and fully implement their programs. And Whaley needs at least three years to build a roster that fits their schemes. Coaches often - though not always - get better when given a chance to build something. Belichick coached the Browns for five years. I bet they wish they had given him more time. Both the Jets and Pats fired Pete Carroll before he found success with the Seahawks. Even Vince Lombardi didn't win a playoff game till his third year with the Packers. Coaches know it takes time to build a winner which is why they don't want to coach for teams that pull the trigger too fast. Let's not be one of those teams.

He's had the two longest jumps so far this year. Can you imagine being the best in the world at something? And having the chance to win gold at the Olympics? That's got to be super exciting for an athlete! As a football player, he's an oft-injured 2nd teamer. No wonder he like track & field more. I can't blame the guy for trying to do both. As much as I love football, if I was in his shoes, I'd want to compete in the Olympics too. And, yeah, Goodwin gets a lot of mileage on Bills fan sites. Why not? How many Olympic athletes play for the Bills? He's not the best Bill, but he is a hardworking young man trying to do something good with his life. I see no problems here.

Awesome choice. I saw two of the three live. Unfortunately, I was deployed to the middle of the Arabian Desert in 1990-91 and missed the Raider 51-3 game. Despite the statistical achievements, I don't recall the 2003 game as one of OJ's most exciting. Besides the obvious choice of The Comeback, I think the No Punt game was the most exciting Bills game I've ever watched.

I don't know if he'll ever be a good investment for the Bills. But I wish the young man well in the Olympics and beyond.

Congrats to you. Hope you get to see more of your favorite teams win championships (especially the Bills!).

I think Kromer can make preliminary judgments. He's worked with these guys before and knows how they hit/block. He can see what shape their in and knows their medical challenges. But, yeah, it's all preliminary.

I know there are some out there who worry about our receiving corps. Some same Sammy isn't elite and Woods isn't worthy of being a #2. After these two, the worriers see a wasteland of nobodies. Yet, especially considering we're a running team, I'm actually pretty happy with our receiving options. Sammy came on strong in the 2nd half of last year. Woods played with a groin injury in 2015 but observers say he's healthy and shining in camp. And whether it's Dez or another of our 23,000 camp receivers, someone will step up to capably fill the #3 role. With TT surely maturing as a starter, and Roman working overtime figuring out how to get Clay better involved, I'm expecting our passing attack to be (far?) more productive in 2016 than 2015.