The Dean

I selected Other because there are some players I would trade for Spiller, but there is little chance the other team would make that deal. Of the QBs only Cousins interests me, and I'm sure either team makes that trade.

And there is this, from an article about the confirmation of a potential foreign owner of an NBA team (remember, there are Canadians involved in the process---and you know those Canadians!) "Leagues do not reject many prospective buyers in a vote by owners. They prefer to eliminate those who fail to meet their requirements in early stages of consideration. Last week, Rush Limbaugh was ousted from a group seeking ownership of the St. Louis Ramsbefore his name made it to N.F.L. owners. But not everyone whose bid reaches a vote by a league’s owners gets through. The N.B.A. rejected a group of investors led by the boxing promoter Bob Arum that sought theMinnesota Timberwolves in 1994, a decision that led each side to sue the other. Last summer, the chairman of the N.H.L.’s board of governors, Jeremy Jacobs, said James L. Balsillie “lacked the good character and integrity” to own the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/sports/basketball/19owner.html?_r=0

Good point I hadn't considered. Well any change will have its drawbacks. And we didn't really get too many fakes in the past. Still it is something to consider. I still like this better than the auto from the 2. And in bad weather the kick from the 15 may not longer be close to automatic.

Well, here is something: "Has a prospective owner been rejected• Yes. Several times," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, pointing to the failed 1998 bid for the Vikings led by novelist Tom Clancy and the 1999 pursuit of the Redskins by New York developer Howard Milstein. "Often the rejection is somewhat informal. In other words, it becomes clear that there will not be sufficient support or that there are insurmountable hurdles to approval, and the prospective owner withdraws prior to a formal vote being taken." http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_581142.html

I believe I heard a prospective Bills bidder had previously attempted to buy an NFL franchise, but wasn't approved. Can't recall which one, though. Edit: And the owners to actually vote on this, right? They don't have all the prospective new owner's financially data, so isn't there a chance they don't like what they see once they get into the nitty gritty of looking through the books? Why bother to have an approval vote, is it's already known. With that said, I suspect if there are no surprises, then it's a rubber stamp.

I believe the vote is for the regular season, next year. but I could be wrong.

I like it. I don't like Belicheat's idea of placing the ball at the 25, but the 15 seems about right. No longer automatic. Don't think so. But they do test out things for future years. The poster who said "it doesn't matter because it ends tonight" is wrong. If the NFL deems it a success it might return for real next year.

Of course. What I meant was it's the easiest scenario to believe where "the nfl" was involved. I don't believe it's the case, I'm just trying to suggest a way the NFL might get involved that I could believe.

But, but. but....what if....

Yes, let's sign a guy who has been out of football for two years, can't buy a tryout with another NFL team and refuses to play any other position with the team. And let's take on all the BS that some with that for what is pretty certain to be zero upside. Yes, let's to that. Then we can cut the long snapper, and just use a TE or something for that. Cut the punter, the kicker can do both. Why does this team need more than two RBs anyway? Trade Spiller for future consideration! Let's start doing things that 31 other teams in the league haven't thought of. We will be ahead of the curve! Let's DO IT! On second thought, let's not. Denver won a playoff game with Tebow at the helm,. I don't believe Tebow won the game. Sorry.

They have the ultimate negative say, That's it. They aren't in the middle of these negotiations. How would "the NFL" know at this stage if someone won't get approved? Is someone is that questionable, don't you think The Trust already knows it? All the owners need to vote. Who contacts The Trust on behalf of the NFL? Goodell? The idea some are pushing (I'm not saying you are) is the NFL wants the TO group to win. That makes no sense at any level. First of all WHO in the NFL? The NFL is a group of 32 owners. Have they taken a secret vote? After further review, I can think of one possible way the NFL may play a part in keeping the TO group alive. Perhaps Goodell, or more likely someone else from NFL's front office, could advise The Trust to not simply dismiss the TO group without hearing them out, for legal and PR reasons. That is, no pressure for them to win, but to make sure they weren't discounted prematurely. I might buy that.

Finally saw the finale (had to record an overnight replay as the NBC station here preempted it for the Jax game on Thursday). First of all, I thought they were all funny. Rodman's first set of the night was his weakest and I kind of think they didn't want to eliminate him on that one set, since he was the strongest competitor throughout. I really feel if they were to go only on that set, Rodman may have been the odd man out. I haven't been a fan of Lauchlan but he was at his best in the finale. I give him credit for finishing strong. I know many of you don't like Nikki but she destroys when she is on stage. Rodman was the right choice, and I think in the end, the judges saw he is the most developed, and professional, of the comics. (I wonder how much pressure they got to make Lauchlan their pick?) With that said, I'm not sure why comics like Rodman, Rocky (my favorite this year), Schubert, DC Benny, etc are on this show. Those guys are established comics who have had their own TV specials. When this show started, it was to discover new talent. I prefer to see guys like Monroe Martin, who really was formerly unknown to me. Same with Nikki and Lauchlan. To me, it's more fun that way, although the idea of making comedy (or music) a contest is pretty phoney. They waste so much time when they could be showing more comedy. And yes I know why they do it. Another thought, JB Smoove is not a particularly funny comic and an odd choice for this show, IMO. But I thought he did a good enough job when all was said and done. BTW, has anyone heard why Amy Schumer disappeared after one episode? I think she was supposed to have been a mentor for more episodes. What happened? BTW, most of the winners (and finalists) do experience a bump in their stand up careers. If they have enough material, I'm guessing it sticks. But everybody wants to be a sitcom, or movie, star. The truth is, most of the comics just aren't really suited to reading off a script and, you know, acting.

Funny as hell, actually. You can feel dirty laughing at it (I do a little). But still funny. Funny trumps everything, IMO. The voice over guy makes this video unlistenable and a candidate for the PPP thread, though. I actually like all of them quite a bit. They have their off days, to be sure, but all have a different take on comedy. In the beginning I wasn't an Attell fan, but it became clear to me he knows how to construct a joke and deliver. The material may not be your cup o tea, and that I understand.

I'm not sure I understand this. You have to stop for pedestrians, not traffic cones. By pretending to be a traffic cone he obfuscated the fact he was, in fact, a human pedestrian. Hey if I see a life-size traffic cone walking around I'm going hunt it down and kill it!

Exactly. Another Buffalo-centric group to compete. I'm sure that helps The Trust, too as it should result in an honest price, Still that's far from confirmed and unlikely to win if it happens. Hey, I do what I can.

I really have no idea what happened with Kelly's business other than the reports a lot of people got stuck with unpaid bills. IMO, it depends on how the deals went down, whether he ran the company with integrity and did what he could to have the business make restitution. Just because something is legal, doesn't make it the right thing to do. And just because someone has the legal protection of a corporation, doesn't make it OK to engage in questionable business decisions. BTW, I am NOT accusing Kelly of doing this, as I said I have no idea. But in general "it's just business", "I didn't do anything illegal" can get old when it seems those making the business decisions for those failing companies remain unhurt--often repeating the process on many occasions. Again, this is noting necessarily against Kelly. But I wouldn't simply apply the "it's a business" logic to dismiss any personal culpability. And, Buffaloed in Pa, it's "yadda, yadda..." Oy vey!

If there was a conversation or two, I don't care and I'm not disappointed. If they were to come to an agreement (which I don't see happening) that's a different story. As I've said before, we are privy to the stuff that normally goes on behind the scenes and never gets reported. I guess we think of it as entertainment to a degree, and that explains the strong reactions by some. I look at it as a dark comedy, myself.

I'm not sure here, but you will admit you are Anti-Pegula, right? The entirety of your being seems to be Anti-Pegula. I might suspect you were a shill poster for another group, or someone who has a personal grudge with Terry. Just own it: You are Anti-Pegula! Say it proud. And while you might not support JBJ if it suits your Anti-Pegula agenda you'll fan a flame or two in support. My bad, I didn't think you were so behind in what's gone on in the process. It's been well-known Kelly and Gundlach were looking to join a group and didn't have the $$ to buy the team by themselves. I made a mistake in assuming you were making your usual type of appearance.

Seriously you guys are over the top. i should add: PANIC! PANIC EVERYONE!

What does the NFL have to do with it, at this stage? This is an issue for The Trust, plan and simple. This is paranoia at it craziest, IMO. My guess is the Toronto group has fallen apart. JBJ is looking to find a way to link up with/lead another group. They had conversations. So what? What could have possibly come from two guys who lack the funds to buy an NFL team? Pretending JBJ is still with the TO group, even with Kelly, the TO group doesn't have the $$ to buy the team with JBJ as the lead. Kelly wants to make all the football decisions with almost no money. You think the NFL is backing this circus? And they have no say as to who buys the team, with the exception of approving, or not approving, the owner.

i get that---but because of that the guy never plays. I'd respect the list more if it simply said "Insert NE Patriots* #2 QB here."

Well it seems that way, doesn't it? I can only guess what goes on behind the scenes when other teams go on sale. Since we basically don't know anything about that, until the deal is done, it could be they are all this way. For sure some big time deals go down this way. People changing partners, aligning with different buyers. It's pretty unseamly when it's out in the open. Nobody wants to see how the sausage is made. "It's just business" is a great line, and the one used by people when they screw over someone else. But I think "just business" can be used to cover some particularly evil tactics. Simply because something is legal, doesn't' make it the right thing to do. I really like purple haze's take. "it's just personal". To keep this thread out of PPP, I'll hold off what I'd prefer to say. But let's just leave it at: "It's just business" is something many people say before they ruin your life---and laugh about it.

That doesn't answer the question "Why isn't jm backing pegula" It does address why Pegula doesn't invite Jim in as an owner. Why doesn't/hasn't Jim backed Pegula? Well I'm guessing it's might be due to ego. JK said for so long he had a group ready to buy the Bills---and he does not. Perhaps Jim is worried about his family, and thinks he can make enough $$ to take care of them all if he had an ownership stake. But this is all speculation. One can only guess why Jim has chosen this course. I have little doubt Kelly wants to threaten keeping the Bills in Buffalo, On that, I'm fairly confident. Another question I have is, "Why doesn't Golisano back Pegula?" Here's a guy who specifically said he isn't driven to own an NFL team, but would step in if the team was threatened to be moved. Pegula seems like a win/win for him, too. After all, he sold the Sabres to him, so I don't think he is worried about Pegula moving them. Is it just ego?

What makes you think Kelly is involved with "the Toronto Group"? My understanding is, he spoke with JBJ, personally. JBJ would join Kelly and Gundlach, I believe. Doesn't' really matter as it isn't going to happen.

What kills me is Mallet moved UP on that list. WTF is it about Mallet that makes people like him so much? You typically don't want two development QBs as they need lots of reps to develop. It's fine if you have a vet to start, though. In the Bills case, I think having a development QB is a waste, unless you have completely given up on EJ (which some here clearly have). I'd take Fitzpatrick as a #2 in a heartbeat. That's a perfect role for him. When McKown gets replaced by Glennon (if that finally happens) I'd jump at the opportunity to sign him He played better than Cutler last year.