cwater10

My sports therapist pushed me to talk about it. She said; "I sense that someone you trusted may have hurt you in the past". I explained that my boyhood idols were O.J. Simpson and Pete Rose. She offered me a tissue as I pointed to the movie playing in my head. I wasn't ready to talk yet. All I could see was a bunch of demons skating around in the fog, large groups of people singing songs of thanks, and some guy named JoJo standing alone at a free throw line. There were bats in the fog and some dude named John Y holding hostages for a few years. Then everything went black for a while until a quirky tall man with a heavy Czech accent appeared. At first, he appeared to be a savior, but ultimately he smacked me in the head, laughed and taunted me to wake up. He asked if I was surprised when I looked in the crease? No, not really, I said. I knew it was coming. It always does. I pointed instead to a scene where Tommy Chong is defending a woman who is having a hard time processing things going on around her. He says; "hey leave her alone man, she's been through a lot in a short period of time". Yeah, I can relate... And so she kindly removed her Denver Broncos hat and said she kind of understood, but offered hope. I told her that all I wanted at that moment was something to quench my thirst. I felt like I had been walking aimlessly in a desert for 17 years. She offered me a glass of lukewarm water. It felt like it probably belonged to someone else, but I didn't care. It tasted great. I actually enjoyed the warm feeling and relief, but I sensed it wasn't real. She suggested that I may have some very deeply rooted trust issues. Then she showed me something new and asked, in kind of a familiar voice... "Do you believe in miracles?" No... not yet. I still have those damn trust issues. Can I see a little more first?

Guilty, but laughing now... Have to acknowledge work well done... Damn!

Great Scott! It'll be OK. Josh has a DeLorean for game days.

Yes, it was so obvious all along. And the cow jumped over the moon while the dish ran away with the spoon. Troll on...

And exactly how is that a competitive advantage or disadvantage to either team when they play each other. Before you tell me how interconfertnce games are counted or "discounted" as playoff tiebreakers, please tell me when the playoff berths are awarded. Are they not awarded after every team has played every game on their schedule? Given that, why does any of this matter to anyone?

Wait, what? Granted, I'm a bit older now, but if my math skills are holding up then nobody will have played an "extra game" until after week 18 is complete. Every season, teams play an equal number of games against different and inherently unequal opponents determined by a formula. Has that concept changed? Or has the formula simply been tweaked to add a 17th game that every team plays? I'm pretty sure its the latter. Has it ever been policy to have all teams play divisional or inter conference games at equal pace and on similarly scheduled weeks? I don't remember that ever being part of the deal. Do you? K.C. has already played Cleveland. We haven't and don't. K.C. has already played Baltimore. We haven't and don't. So what? This is NFL scheduling as it has always been. KC has played 3 games. So have we. When we meet them in week 5, we will each come in having prepared for and played 4 different and unique opponents. Life in the N.F.L. as it has always been...

So sorry for your loss. You sound like a very kind, caring and grateful son and soul. Her spirit will remain with you beyond today.

Wordsmith!

And Belichick frantically challenging the play, claiming that Fred scored the touchdown. I thought he was going to stroke out. I don't know that have seen before or since, a coach challenging to try to get a touchdown called for the other team.

I was on board for the entire 70's hellscape vs Miami. I was in the stadium for the 1980 opener as a college sophomore the first time I saw a Bills win of any kind, anywhere against Miami. I separated my shoulder celebrating in the stadium that day. I was in the Orange Bowl in 1983 when Fergy went off for 4 TD's and 420 yards to give Buffalo their first Orange Bowl win in (ever?). Those were glorious days. That rivalry was era defining. That said, I don't know that I have ever had even 50% of the contempt for any team that I have held for Brady/Belichick/Edelman/Kraft and that whole evil effing empire. Walking out of the stadium in 2011 after the comeback win from 21-0 was euphoric. Seeing the stunned look on the faces of the obnoxious TB12 jersey wearing trolls was... nice! Watching Belichick throw the phone against the wall last year, well that was a damn near sexual experience. If I put that moment on a recurring video loop, I would probably need to be carried away in a sensory overloaded seizure... So yeah... Hatred of Pats over Dolphins by a mile here.

Not looking to nitpick, but this is not accurate. The 1988 Bills clinched the division by beating the Jets in mid November, week 12 before Thanksgiving in a very memorable, goal post tearing down event in rain and fog... It was such a glorious moment in Bills history, couldn't let it pass unmentioned. The loss to the Bucs, however DID cost them home field vs Bengals in AFC Championship Game. But to the OP point, yes.. JK had horrible moments and slumps. He was often horrible and great, all within the same game, or even half. Josh will be fine!

Look out! I think that Phil Villiapiano is throwing chairs in your direction.

On to Washington...

Were we really too far off from that look after losing 4 Super Bowls? At the time, nobody else in our division was even getting a whiff of a Super Bowl, we OWNED Miami during the early and mid 90's and I don't remember being shy about assisting any of their fans raise their awareness of that... Good Times! In other words... Hell yes!

QB: Kelly, Allen RB: Thomas, Simpson, Gilchrist, Cribbs FB: Braxton OL: Wolford, McKenzie, Dellamielliure, Shaw, Hull, Ritcher (flex G/C) Ballard WR: Reed, Moulds, Butler, Chandler, Diggs (if eligible) , F Lewis TE: Metzellars, Seymour (blocking), McKellar, Rolle (red zone) DL: Bruce, K Williams, F Smerlas, M Kadish, T Washington, J Hughes, P Hansen, A Schoebel LB: Bennet, Talley, Haslett, Conlan, S Nelson, T Spikes CB: R James, T White, N Odomes, N Clemments, A Winfield, C Romes S: T Greene, B Byrd, H Jones, Saimes, M Hyde (difficult cut: J Nixon) P: Moorman K: Christie ST: Tasker Returns: T McGee (W Francis - Practice Squad) Head Coach: M Levy (McDermott closing fast - Needs a conference title to move ahead) Front Office: B Beane, B Polian, Tempo Restaurant

fwiw... https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2020/04/buffalo-bills-were-pursuing-emmanuel-sanders-30-minutes-before-stefon-diggs-trade.html

C'mon... former Panther. Obviously...

Cole is not trusting the process. That will not end well for him in Buffalo.

Imagine there's no veterans... (2022) It's easy if you try...

Filling the Ty Nsekhe void. Sounds wasteful to some, but you have to have those guys. Bonus points for potential development into stud.

They used the 1st rounder on Diggs. Did that frustrate you? You're dodging that fact.

And then they turned right back around and drafted a running back in round 3. What is your point? You said they never spend high draft capital on weapons for Josh. They did in 2020 with tremendous results.

How frustrating was it in 2020 when they spent their first round pick to give Josh an All Pro WR that helped turn Josh into a superstar?

Better late than gaslighting with touches of condescending and dismissive. I am not here to be, and definitely not qualified to be your debate coach or spiritual guide (far from that... lol), so I’ll take a deep breath and remind myself that it’s a just a freaking message board, all is fair I suppose… But really, I am here with a smile and appreciation for your well stated response above. Now I’ll go all in with my own fatal flaw… word-count-mageddon. At any rate, I get it. Stevie is obviously an issue for many Bills fans. I don’t agree with it, but I get the stated objections to Stevie. He was a diva at times. He took dumb penalties. Penalties, by definition, hurt the team. We can agree on those basic facts. I think that most would agree that Stevie was also a Rorschach test for Bills fans. Some looked and saw a beautiful butterfly and others saw a grotesque bat. If I am honest, I can see both on any given day. Personally, I prefer to let the perfect not become the enemy of the good. Stevie was good, period and full stop GOOD! But yes, very, very far from perfect. I still loved his good. After our exchange yesterday, I went back and looked at a few YouTube clips of his career here in Buffalo and I had forgotten just what that body of work looked like. If you take the 30,000 foot view, few players have reached that level of consistently good here in Buffalo. Let’s talk about your observations. 1. You say “Johnson and Hardy both sucked when the Hardy situation was relevant”. No, that is not true and more importantly, it is out of context. Stevie NEVER sucked in his time in Buffalo. Johnson was a much lower pick than Hardy, in the same draft class. He kept his head down and worked as a rookie and became the better player during their rookie seasons together. By the final 2 games that season, Stevie was getting much more playing time and grabbed a TD catch in each of the final two games. In 2009, their second season together, Stevie spent most of the year out with a severe rib injury while Terrel Owens was our rental WR1/Marketing stunt, that rendered both of them irrelevant that year. TO, keys to the city in hand, was going to be the whole show that year no matter what. In 2010, with Stevie healthy and TO “on to Cincinnati”, SJ was in the starting lineup on opening day. 2. I don’t remember much about how Gailey handled the existing roster. I do know that SJ was in the starting lineup opening day, benched and then put back in for good by midseason. I also remember a QB shuffle that eventually settled out with Fitz as the clear QB1. 3. This is one of my raw nerves with some fans regarding Stevie. You say that Gailey maxed out his talent. Did Stevie have nothing to do with his own success? Your prior posts make it sound like a Gailey, with some mythical power bestowed football superpowers upon Stevie and entrusted the chosen one to be perfect. I think Stevie had a hell of a lot to do with that success, and that forced Gailey and Nix to recognize his ability and get him on the field, and them feed him the ball. I think that Gailey and Nix could see it was in their own best interest to get SJ on the field, because that was their best shot at winning. At that is to Stevie’s credit. It was his ability to take advantage of opportunity, where others, more highly regarded had failed. Love the guy for that and then let’s talk about his infamous transgressions. I have a hard time with a narrative that credits Gailey for Stevie’s success and lays blame for Stevie’s imperfections only at Stevie’s feet. 4. So yeah, Stevie emerged in 2010 as a stud WR and a showboat. Well first, color me shocked. You bring in TO to sell tickets, bide time while young talent matures, and then get a case of the vapors when a young star WR starts to showboat when he gets his moment in the sun the following year. Please…. Just stop the righteous indignation and recognize it for what it was. Young player being silly no doubt. Emulating a hero and an influence that the team placed in his room, yes. Loser? Hardly. Can’t go there and never will. That man did a ton on the field and in the community that screams anything but loser. Kelly, Thomas, Andre, Bruce… they all had their selfish foolish transgressions. I think of Andre spiking his helmet during a Super Bowl tantrum. Don’t get me started on Thurman and helmets and his deflation of the entire team, sulking after his fumble in SB XXVIII. Bruce took suspension for substance abuse, refused to attend training camp etc…. I can say that cocaine was part of the culture in 1988 and I’m cool with Bruce and that would be true. I can also tell you that social media showboating was part of the culture in 2010, so I’m cool with Stevie and not see too much daylight between those two statements. But we revere those older players and eschew Steve for far less. 5. Those of us that are a certain age all lived it. And those that come after us will live their own path following this team. I had the Stew Barber years, The Harvey Johnson years to numb my soul with growing up. I spent what seemed like a decade watching games only to see how one player, OJ, would entertain me. Stevie will never be confused with OJ on any level, thank goodness, but similarly they served as some good entertainment on otherwise flavorless teams. All I know is that I enjoyed being a Bills fan as a kid because I enjoyed it. I didn’t need pity because the team sucked. I didn’t want any or feel compelled to bestow pity on younger fans during the drought. They will be fine, just as we were. The door is and was open at all times and worked equally will in both directions. The fan experience is usually the draw that keeps us around. Like it or not, Stevie was a big part of that experience for a handful of years and many of us remember him fondly for that. I can relate to your future attorney taunting you with cash to the cap justifications. I have a 43 year old practicing attorney daughter that will argue to the death that sports are a malignant drain on society. She has an uncanny knack of scheduling family dinners during big games or playoff games. I feel your pain…. And your joy. In summation… BADOL we probably have more common ground that is readily observed. You strike me as a fan that cares a lot. We share that. You strike me as a bit irreverent. It may look different, but we share that. I have referred in recent exchanges with you to different lenses, and I do believe that is what this all about. My lens looks back at SJ13 and sees an old friend, a favorite. Maybe your lenses look back and see an antagonist reminding you of the drought years. If that is so, I get it, but just maybe you can find even more fun in between those starkly drawn lines. You get to choose. But please…. SJ13 was never a loser and he left a much bigger footprint in this town and on this fanbase than any 7th round pick that I can think of. That is not the resume of a loser.

Again, clearly different lenses in use here. I guess maybe, as fans there is some confirmation bias at work in hearing these answers. I hear Gailey clearly stating that the penalty was a grey area, not a blatant violation of his policy, and that he had no choice to bench because it technically fit the rule he put forth. I also hear Chan clearly stating that for the hundredth time, that Stevie was not a bad guy, that he was a good guy that had at times used poor judgement. That is hardly the Old Testament scorching from a coach that you describe. Any lingering questions about where the organization really stood on Stevie was put to rest when the extended him with a very nice payday during the following off-season. Anyway BADOL, you get your opinion. I don't intend to change it. Be well.