ohiotim

And this is why I read but rarely post. Think because you bought a hat players are inhuman robots that should die for you. Enjoy that karma.

"The emotional crap w hamlin." I hope you're just being flippant and not dismissing the fact their teammate and friend died on the field in front of them. Cuz if not, that's just sick.

What scares me about Blaine Gabbert is that his name is Blaine Gabbert. Sounds like a character in a John Hughes film.

33% of what the Bills do wrong is draft a player, but they can't play. Examples: Aaron Maybin, John McCargo, James Hardy. 33% of what the Bills do wrong is draft a player, they can play, but they either 1) coach them poorly 2) can't figure out how to use them or 3) don't wanna pay them big money, and let them go, at which point they go on to success with other teams. Examples: Willis McGahee, Marshawn Lynch, Nate Clements, Antonie Winfield. 33% of what the Bills do wrong is develop free agent signings, but when they become successful, don't wanna pay them big money, and let them go. Examples: Jabari Greer, Pat Williams, Jason Peters. 1% of what the Bills do is right.

New Orleans players will be muttering that as they clean out their lockers tomorrow.

You know, all this speculation about where and when Cowher wants to coach comes from football pundits who need to feed a 24-hour news cycle. Now, I'm not saying their lying, but I don't know how many of them have any actual information, and how many of them are speaking to third and fourth-hand sources. Anyone remember when Barry Sanders retired? Remember the speculation? Oh, he'll be back, he's too young. Oh, he'll be back, he just wants to play on a winner. You do have to weigh the possibility that all the speculation is B-S, and Cowher hasn't ever indicated either way, or that he is actually happy just working on Sunday's and spending the rest of his week with his family. I mean, he's got a Super Bowl on a team that was 100% his (unlike the criticisms of, say, Gruden), and might feel like he has nothing to prove.

Bills in Person: Met Darryl Talley at Bernie Kosar's golf tournament in the early 90s (either '91 or '92). He was at a tee, waiting for the group ahead. Said hi and he signed my tournament baseball cap, still have it somewhere. Bills, not in Person: Let me preface this by saying Thurman Thomas was my favorite Bill growing up. One day I discovered he was Twitter, so I friended him. He made a comment about the Bills (of course), and I responded, figuring someone like him would never respond to someone like me. But he did, and demanded I explain my football knowledge. We argued about football, and then he started in on politics, which we argued about some more. Then, out of the blue, he insulted my mother. And then he apologized. This sort of back-and-forth went on for a few days. It was awkward, hilarious and sad. My friends were following the whole thing and aghast. They knew I grew up idolizing this guy, and he kept getting angrier and angrier, and I could never figure out why. Some people are just angry. I have interactions with people I don't know over the internet on Twitter, Facebook, messageboards, etc. everyday, and it has never reached that level. He's still my favorite Bill of the Super Bowl-era, but as a person I can't really stand him. Buffalo-related, sort of: I interned with the Buffalo Bisons when they were the Indians minor league affiliate, met a bunch of players (Richie Sexon, Einar Diaz), a few who went on to play in the majors. Most memorable is when Rex Hudler (anyone remember him?) out of the blue decided that he was going to retire. I was in the dugout, holding his mic, while he gave an interview to the broadcast team. Really nice guy.

I've listened to Patriots players and coaches being interviewed on NFL radio and I can tell you the single most import reason for their success: They Adapt. To a man, the coaches and players say they don't have a system and try to fit players in, they identify players who have a talent and try to figure out a way to exploit that talent. The players dictate the type of system they run, the system doesn't dictate to the type of players they acquire. Think about the 19-1 season. They ran a wide-open, spread offense focusing on the passing game. They put up insane point. Why? Because they added Randy Moss and Wes Welker during the offseason. Now think back to the previous Super Bowl runs, where they had Branch, Brown and Givens, and Kevin Faulk was the focus of their running game. They ran a completely different style of offense focusing on "dink and dunk" with the small, fast receivers.

Here's the playoff seeding for this year: AFC Jets (Sanchez, 1st rd pick) vs. Colts (Manning, 1st rd pick) Ravens (Flacco, 1st rd pick) vs. Chief (Cassel, 7th rd pick) Bye Steelers (Roethlisberger, 1st rd pick) Patriots (Brady, 6th rd pick) NFC New Orleans (Brees, 2nd rd pick) vs. either St. Louis (Bradford, 1st rd pick) or Seattle (Hasselbeck, 6th rd pick) Green Bay (Rodgers, 1st rd pick) vs. Eagles (Vick, 1st rd pick or Kolb, 2nd rd pick) Bye Atlanta Falcons (Ryan, 1st rd pick) Chicago (Cutler, 1st rd pick) 1st rd picks at QB in playoffs: 9 of 12 teams Teams that didn't make the playoffs with winning records: Giants (Manning, 1st rd pick) Tampa Bay (Freeman, 1st rd pick) San Diego (Rivers, 1st rd pick) # of teams with winning records + playoff teams with 1st rd QBs: 12 of 15 Other 1st rd picks at QB: Teams that didn't make the playoffs with .500 or below records: Dallas (Romo [hurt], undrafted, Kitna undrafted) Washington (McNabb, 1st rd pick, Grossman, 1st rd pick) - both have been to SB with other teams Detroit (Stafford [hurt], 1st rd pick, Hill, undrafted) - too early on Stafford Minnesota (Favre [hurt], 2nd rd pick, Jackson, 2nd rd pick) Carolina (Moore [hurt], undrafted, Clausen, 2nd rd pick) San Francisco (Smith, 1st rd pick, Smith, 5th rd pick) - Smith is a legit bust Arizona (Anderson, undrafted, Hall, undrafted, Skelton, 5th rd pick) Miami (Henne, 2nd rd pick) Cleveland (Delhomme, undrafted, McCoy, 3rd rd pick) Cincinnati (Palmer, 1st rd pick) - has been above average most of his career, but is starting to fade Jacksonville (Garrard, 4th rd pick) Tennessee (Young, 1st rd pick, Collins, 1st rd pick) - Young is a headcase, Collins has been to SB Oakland (Campbell, 1st rd pick, Boller, 1st rd pick) - both underachievers Denver (Orton, 4th rd pick, Tebow, 1st rd pick) - too early on Tebow Obviously, drafting a QB in the 1st does not guarantee a better team or playoff spot, but the numbers do not lie - to win in this league, you have to have a stud behind center, and 9 out of 12 times, they are found in the first round.

When I was a teenager, I hated the Dolphins and Jets b/c they were the best teams in the division and constantly challenged the Bills. I wanted bad things to happen to their players, wished for injuries and plane crashes of team flights. That was dumb and immature. Do I want to beat the Pats? Eff yeah! But these days, it doesn't rise to "hate." If you told me I could swap the Pats franchise and the Bills franchise for the last decade, questionable calls, spygate and all, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Fact is, when bad stuff happens to "your team," it's a lot easier to swallow/defend if you're winning. When I watch the Pats on draft day, I shake my head with equal parts admiration and disgust. It's like they're playing a different game.

A) He won two Super Bowls with the Broncos B) The Redskins were effed up long before he got there. I have no doubt the guy is a class-A ego maniac jerk, but let's not rewrite history.

#1 - Pass Rushing DE in the mold of Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers, Bruce Smith. Problem is, guys like this come around once or twice a decade. Remember when Mario Williams was gonna be the next Bruce or Dwight. Hasn't quite panned out. #2 - A reliable pass catching TE in the vein of Jermichael Finley or Marcedes Lewis. Gotta get production out this position, can't believe the best thing since Pete Metzellars has been Jay Riemersma. #3 - Linebackers. I don't care inside or out, pass rushing or run stuffing, this is the weakest link on the defense. Tight ends have torn apart this unit, opposing running backs have run wild, and overall this unit has been mediocre at best. They get by, they make tackles, but are there any disruptors - guys who change the way the offense plays? This unit, hell, this team, needs a Bart Scott, a (in his prime) Ray Lewis - a dynamic, playmaking linebacker. #4 - A ball-hawking Safety. I don't need the best tackler in the world, I'll take Ed Reed over just about anybody at this position. This unit as it stands now is adequate, but they don't come up with big plays. How long did it take to get an interception this year from the safeties? #5 - A stud LT. Find one like Joe Thomas or Jake Long, and the position is secure for 10 years. And if they do all this in the next draft, maybe we'll hit .500 next year. Assuming the lock-out doesn't ruin the season.

No offense (really), but learning experiences are for college. He's a pro, and it's not his first year. He's getting paid to make that catch, and all the other one's he dropped or tipped into the hands of defenders. It's one thing to be ineffective (i.e. - Maybin, McCargo on the bench every week), but Stevie cost the Bills a win. Good teams make those plays and win. Bad teams call them learning experiences and draft in the top ten for a decade.

Why does there have to be 110, just because there are now? I went to a MAC school, but realistically, they're never going to compete for a championship. Just look at the State of Ohio. If you're a high school talent, you're going to OSU, not BG, Toledo, Miami, Kent, Akron, etc. Axe the bottom 30, they can play Division 2 or I-A, or whatever the next level is. Exclusivity is positive, not a negative. It means a higher level of competition. One of my biggest pet peeves is when Ohio State plays a team like Akron and pretends its a legit contest. In reality, the wide out at OSU is gonna be playing on Sunday's in a year or two, and the cornerback from Akron will be looking for a real job. I want to eliminate those competition deficiencies. See above. Well, since I'm president of the new BIG 80 league, this is my rule. If a school violates rules, they are suspended from play and kicked down to the 2nd tier, and a team from the 2nd tier (perhaps the previous year's champion) moves up. It doesn't. All basketball is still run by the NCAA with their own conferences. Same as with college hockey and other sports. Look, I'm not saying this is gonna happen. I'm just saying that as it stands now, myself and a number of my friends aren't into college football as fervently as we are pro because there is no playoff and the ranking system is awful.

This thread reminded me why I stopped paying attention to college football as anything more than a farm system for the NFL. When "preseason rankings" and "voting" determine whether or not you get to play in corporate bowl games, you don't have a sport, you have a dog and pony show. Clearly, college football would never benefit from a playoff system, because as you know, millions of college basketball fans stop watching once March Madness rolls around. Or wait, is it the other way around, that millions of casual or even less on-lookers suddenly become rabid basketball junkies for a few weeks? Yes, playoffs are bad for business and interest. Lets just put the b.s. aside and say what the real reason Boise St. is not "worthy" of the big game - tv ratings. Much like major league baseball, regionalism drives the sport. When Texas and San Francisco played in the World Series, ESPN pundits talked about the lack of national interest. Has the Super Bowl ever suffered the same way? Does having small market teams like Green Bay or Buffalo play in a Super Bowl drive down the ratings? Methinks not. Yet, if it isn't the Yankees and/or Red Sox, the World Series is nothing more than a future trivia question for most of America. Same thing for college football. Guarantee more casual NFL fans know the Saints won the Super Bowl last year than casual college football fans can name whoever won the BCS championship last year. And, of course, I have a solution. Dissolve the BCS and all the conferences. Create 8 regional 10-team conferences. Each team plays all the teams in their conference (alternating home and away each year), and two random non-conference teams. The champions of each conference play in a 8-team playoff.