Tailgate Lou

Thanks for the input! I'll get right to it on this one. 1) You're right, but I'm old. If I do talk, it tends to come out in a long steady steam, kind of like when I could still go #1 standing up. 2) Gotta disagree with ya on that one. I'm pretty sure it's fresh because I wrote it on Ma's desktop near the laundry machine. Smells like fresh linens to me. I'll try not to get overly pedantic in future posts, but some of us old-timers still enjoy a nice-long read now & again. Maybe it's good for someone in the outhouse on their MyPad?

Well whadda ya know? I figured out how to log back into this dadgum thing! Now I’m not normally much for talking, as I’ve always been more of a casual reader on these boards, but I thought enough time had passed since my first post that I could sound off a bit more while tending to these Zweigles White Hots I’ve got cookin’. I might not say anything that hasn’t been said before, but fresh perspective can be nice, so grab a seat, crack a cold one and try the wing dip, ‘cause here it comes... straight from the grill! So, you remember that old car that nobody wanted a few years ago? (Check the link to my first post if you don’t) That hunkajunker was such an eyesore here in Western NY that we couldn’t even get some folks to take a look (I’m so glad things are working out in DC, Mike). Alright, so a few pieces were rusty, some out of place, and others were just missing all together. But like any great restoration project, you’ve gotta strip it all down to find out what you’ve got. To his credit, Buddy Nix knew that some of y’all didn’t think he was the right choice, and he darn-well knew that most of y’all didn’t think Chan Gailey was the right move either. But he stood by his decisions and did precisely what he told us he would do; build through the draft to get bigger, faster, and stronger. It was a cold, painful reminder that we’d strayed from the yard with that philosophy, and while maybe a bitter pill to swallow, ultimately the correct dosage. So what have our braintrust done as far as this “build through the draft” philosophy? I’d say a whole helluva lot. First, let’s be real about how the draft works. It’s a crapshoot and anyone who tells you differently is a chud. You take players that you hope will add something to your team, and for most clubs, only a handful of the guys from each draft even make the team. So if we have contributions from 4 or 5 players per draft, I’d call that a pretty strong class. 2010 Draft - Contributors CJ Spiller - The kid came on slow, but proved why he was 9th overall when Freddy went down last season. Arthur Moats - For a 6th round draft pick, Moats has exceeded expectations, with his claim to fame being a streak-ending sack of Brett Favre. Don’t cross the Moats. Danny Batten - Anyone who says Batten hasn’t been a solid contributor doesn’t think about the importance of Special Teams. Another 6th round contributor. Alex Carrington - Has flashed potential and will provide solid depth as a pocket-pushing DT in our new scheme. Still hopeful: Torrel Troup & Marcus Easley. Injuries have kept these guys from showing what they’ve got. Crap or get off, boys. 2011 Draft - Contributors Marcell Dareus - 43 Tackles & 5.5 sacks. Sounds about right for a DT taken at #3. Aaron Williams - 32 tackles, 5 passes defended and 1 INT in only 9 games. Stay healthy, young man. Kelvin Sheppard - Stats don’t do justice to the progress this kid made between Training Camp & Week 17. Chris Hairston - Started at the all important LT spot, held his own. Da’Norris Searcy - Don’t look now, but George Wilson might have to step it up to hold this kid off. Flashed that big-hit ability. I think we all know how this 2012 Draft went, but we won’t know how it pans out until next offseason. With guys like Sanders, Carder & Graham, we’re continuing to get the strength/speed, but also the intangibles like character, leadership & the commitment to a new team-first philosophy. Acquisitions. The paradigm has shifted, my friends. We couldn't get a sniff from the A-list free agents (or coaches) the past few years and suddenly...boom. Super Mario. If that wasn't a watershed moment in the rejuvenation of this franchise, then I don't know what would be. Then Mark Anderson signs a few days later, what a way to sting the Patsies while putting some more bite into our bark. These were just the first dominoes to fall, and by the time this thing really gets rolling, you might be pleasantly surprised with who will be wearing one of those spiffy new form-fitting uniforms, or who might supplant Gailey when he eventually steps off the sidelines. (Anyone else noticing the Carolina connection? I can think of at least one Lombardi winning coach who loves the Carolina region, which the Bills have been stocking the cupboards full of over the past few drafts. Oddly enough, that same guy has close ties to our GM-in waiting, our HC aaaamd our new DC. Hmmmm.) Friends, there are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going... and I think this rebuilt vehicle is about to take us someplace. Here’s to hoping it’s straight to the delivery room where Chix will be beaming proudly, finally showing us that baby.

Well Thank You Kindly! And to think I wrote it from my mobile whilst sippin a cold one infront of Steven Seagal: Lawman!

The hardest part about being a Bills fan, beside the gastrointestinal disruptions, is the renewed sense of optimism. Pining away for a silver lining, year after year, no matter how agonizing or heartwrenching our season ends...were all lickin' our fingers come time for the combine. Now just take a bowling ball shot and sit down, son. Lemme give you a fresh, cold splash of reality, straight from the grill: Nix was never the best choice. But he wasn't that bad of one, either, considering the fact that NO ONE WANTED THE JOB! You can blame the ownership, you can blame the management, you can blame yer spooky superstitions, but this team has become a no-man's land throughout the NFL landscape. From players all the way up to front office personnel, they avoid us like the plague! That being said, it's acceptable that we got Nix to roll up his sleeves and dig into the mess, as well as for him to pull in a talent evaluator/GM successor from a franchise that is established in the same exact mold we'd like to replicate: A hard-nosed, cold-weather, run-first team with an aggressive and run-stuffing D. Whaley has witnessed firsthand how to build and maintain such a franchise. The best move Nix has made may have been the Whaley hiring. So he couldn't completely make Black & Gold in Buffalo, as Cowher didn't want the job, but Buddy got the guy Cowher said he'd hire first...Chan Gailey. Buddy then went out and hired a guy for his defense who may not have architected a 4-3 to 3-4 switch, but at least taken part in such a mess firsthand. George Edwards helped the dolphins linebackers learn the transition, so he gets a shot to do a bit more here. Again, neither of these guys were the best available, but the perhaps the best of who was willing to take on the job. Buddy & Chan have a plan, which is to fix the car. So maybe they can't take it from a Kia to a Porsche, but they can at least get it running. The first thing you do is lift the hood. Upon doing so, they've realized that its best to take apart the engine, clean it up, re-tool it and then give it a fresh start. Yes, they could have seen Edwards was a disaster on film, but you've gotta see if you can fix it yourself before you disguard it completely. Once they saw that all the pep-talking, posturing and perfect soundbites didn't measure up to 4 quarters against elite passrush for Trent, then you go to the next man up. When Fitz proved he had the moxy to sling it, Trent becomes expendable. It was a contract year and he still couldn't pull the trigger, boom, roasted. Lynch has been showcased all season, THEY NEVER WANTED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE, that's why you get Spiller. In a league where Moss gets a 3rd rounder from a desperate, win-now team... count your blessings that Buddy finagled a 4th plus conditional for a player who is anything but a sure thing for Canton. Give it time. Anyone who thinks that you can wave around a bunch of money and get top notch players to shuffle off to Buffalo should ask Julius Peppers why he chose a fiercer furry creature a but further west. Building through the draft is a painstaking but cathartic process, and we haven't done it the right way in a long, loooong time. Chan will be the coach until the team turns a corner, then as the league perception changes on the team, better coaches and better players will want to come, but they won't do that until someone lays the groundwork. So if the smoke is making your eyes water, then you're not done yet... and neither is the massive restoration project at OBD that nobody ever wanted to start in the first place.