Buftex

I (as most of you) have seen a lot of really bad football games, as Bills fans. It is a lot harder for me to say which one, or two, or three are the "worst", than it is for me to say which were the "most exciting". If I had to pick one, I would guess, it came during the Dick Jauron era... for me, the worst era of Bills football, ever... I would pick the game in the Meadowlands, in 2008, as I recall. JP Losman had been demoted to second string, for good...Trent Edwards was struggling (or was he injured? It is all a blur)..Losman was getting what many said was his "very last chance" to show the Bills weren't fools for drafting him in the first round in 2004...his last chance to show he was a starting caliber NFL QB. As I recall, he played "ok", not great...until the final few minutes. He threw 2 picks late, but somehow, the Bills, who were in the midst of one their futility streaks for road games, were actually winning in the waning minutes of the game...all they had to do was kill the clock... 3rd and something (2 or 3 maybe), Losman rolls right...is he going to run or pass? While it looked like he might have been able to get it with his feet, he started to bring his arm like he going to try to throw it...a Jets D-lineman stripped him of the ball, and it was recovered, and returned for a TD by Sean Ellis... Up to that point, I was as positive and as apologetic as any Bills fan... but instead of getting pissed off and slamming my hand on the bar, I remember, I just started laughing...I couldn't control myself...it was "so Bills".... that game, or maybe moreover Dick Jauron, for the first time in my life, had my wondering why the hell I root for this team...

If I recall, that was the first game of the Drew Bledsoe era! That was actually a pretty fun season all in all...the next week they had an OT victory of Minnesota, on the road...Bledsoe made one of the most beautiful passes I have ever seen from a Bills QB, in that OT...

True story: The week after that game was played, I was at the Pro Football HOF in Canton. It was, if I recall, a Wednesday or Thursday morning. There were not a ton of people in the building... miserable weather outside...as I am wandering through the displays, looking at all the cool old jerseys on display, an announcement comes over the PA system. Somebody says "Attention ladies and gentlemen. If you would like to see the latest artifact submitted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, please head to the auditorium to see a special airing of this past Sundays' Browns and Bills game....the worst game in NFL history." The guy on the PA chuckled at the end, as did most around me. Nobody made a move toward the auditorium, and I had already sat through it once... I assume that most of the folks working at the HOF are Browns fans...the guy was just having fun...and hell the Browns won! They must have been feeling good...

Funny you mention this one...I am not sure it wold be my "worst in history", there have been so many games just like this. For me though, this was one of my personal "luckiest" Bills games. I live in Austin, and normally go to any Bills games played in Texas. On this particular weekend though, I had to work on Saturday, and could not get out of it. Many of my friends were going, but everyone was leaving on Friday night, or Saturday, to spend the weekend. I really wanted to go to the game, and had arranged to buy a ticket from someone, and was going to take a bus to Dallas, early in the morning on Sunday, and then ride back with some friends. When Sunday morning rolled around, I slept through my alarm. I had worked 18 hours the day before....I woke about 30 minutes too late to catch the bus I was going to take... and I just did not feel like driving there and back, by myself. The mature, adult, responsible part of me took over for a second, and I just decided I wasn't going to go. The game was on regular tv here (a rarity, unless the Bills are playing the Cowboys or Texans), so I went back to sleep...woke up a few hours later, started listening to the Sunday morning football chat shows....strangely, this feeling of guilt, for not supporting my team kicked in....it went away about 10 minutes into the game... I felt so glad I didn't make the Herculean effort to go to the game, and spend way too much for a ticket..for that! I have been to far too many road games like that... I showed up, other Bills fans showed up, but the Bills themselves couldn't be bothered...

Opening day, 1980. The Bills finally ended the Dolphins 20 game strangle-hold, Rich stadium goes ape-**** crazy...the goal posts come down...and 'Talkin' Proud" is born....the other was the 1990 AFC Championship game...51-3 over the Raiders...I wasn't there, but watching at home with about 4 other friends...knowing, for about 2 hours that your sports fantasy was about to come true, was just unreal...

I guess I don't use iTunes enough: Longest: "Blood and Guts"- Middle Brother(6:00) Shortest: "I'll Fly Away"- Ron Wood & Ronnie Laine (0:31)

You are a riot mrags!

That does not fit the prevailing attitude on OBD...EJ is a bust, it has been determined.... Two things that are in stark contrast to any other evaluation I have read of Manuel. In fact, both of those things have been sited, repeatedly as strengths. I do fear, however, now that the masses have spoken, and are getting increasingly louder, Manuel may buckle. I have already sensed a defensiveness in his dealing with the media (local meadia anyways) that wasn't there a year ago. He can't live up to the unrealistic expectations that many have for him...and we are an increasingly impatient (and miserable) lot, to try to please. Not saying much, I know, but I think he has flashed more potential than any QB we have had since Bledsoes first season...but we are nailing him to the tree already...

I would argue that EJ had 2 excellent games, 2 awful games (or "clunkers" as you call them), and 6 mediocre games. Go back to Russell Wilsons' rookie season...he had about 4 or 5 clunkers that year... or, just keep banging on EJ cuz it is easier...

Yes, the constant losing is what does it. People can't separate the current team, from the 14 that came before it. If anyone went back and re-watched Manuel's rookie season, I really don't think they would be as discouraged as we seem to be as a collective, about him. He wasn't perfect, and maybe he wasn't even great...but he did enough thing well, in my opinion, to indicate that he could still get better....but some can only focus on his worst moments, as if they represent his entire season, and are the only indicators that matter in predicting his success for the future. By my count, in his 10 starts, he had two excellent games, two awful games, and 6 games that were a mixed bag of good and bad. Pretty typical, given the circumstances. Its as if the rookie success of Luck, RGIII are now considered the norm for rookie QB's..anything less is failure. Those guys are still the exception, rather than the rule....

As one of the handful of EJ supporters (or at least one who thinks his suckiness is being vastly overstated), I couldn't help but being struck by the "post game" video interview with EJ on BB.com, I can't help but start to feeling a little sorry for the kid. I think the scrutiny is starting to get to him, just a tad. He is starting to get a bit of a defensive tone with answering his questions... I am not blaming the media guys, it is their job...and to many, unless they are being negative, they aren't doing their job...but I wish they would just let these kids breath a little. I generally don't hate all the GR guys as much as most here, but listening to Howard and Jeremy the last week or so, I have decided I am better off without them...the conversation, when talking about the Bills, has seemed to center entirely on quantifying their expectations going into the season. I am have as much healthy (I think) cynicism as anyone about the Bills, but jesus...these guys are just brutal...

It's well worth the money, unless you are just somebody who has zero interest in pre-season games....I love being able to see the Bills games, live, with a good, clear feed. Like you, I wasted more than a couple Friday evenings trying to watch pre-season Bills games on-line...choppy picture, normally losing the signal a few times...$20 is a small price to pay.

Exactly...tap into that World Cup slacker vibe! People ditch work, go out to the pub during work hours, watch on their computers at work... all for a super dull event!

I think you are talking to a wall on this one...

In all fairness to Bon Jovi, as Kelly said, he may have had no choice to associate his potential ownership with Canadian groups...with their clogs, mullets, murjani jeans, puka shells and hockey sweaters, they are the only ones who would seem oblivious to how repulsive Bon Jovi and is music are... not many self respecting US billionaires would want anything to do with him... but Trump doesn't need money!

That is a fair point...the numbers citied in the peice (I don't think anyone bothered to watch it) are International Centre on Prison Studies. Either way though, whether the China stats are correct (they reportedly have 1.6 million in jail vs. our 2.2), that is a pretty huge figure for the US. If the China stats are true (who knows) they have 1.35 billion people, while the US has 315 million (in 2013). 2.2 out of 315 million may not seem like that much...but if you are black or Latino the percentage is much higher for you...

But isn't a big part of "what comes with it" caused by the illeagality of the drugs? If drugs weren't illeagal, you don't think many of the crimes that accompany the drug culture would dissipate? I am not even necessarily a "legalize it" guy...I think there are legitimate concerns...as with alchohol. Some would be able to enjoy them in a responsible way, and others would not. But when you think of all the crimes that are committed to keep the illeagal drug trade going, are you sure the trade-off wouldn't be worth it?

I saw that a few months ago on PBS...great piece of work. Amazing how enduring the music that came out of that little shack is.

Yeah, that was kind of puzzling. I am assuming they meant, 269 3rd down plays for the Bills defense, and Dareus only made the tackle/stop on 7 of them...talk about a silly, meaningless stat...it is like holding one receiver responsible for every passing play run by the offense, passes intended for him or not. I really have no issue with Dareus performance on the field...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX-k86KESRU

Funny, I used to find that tall, big chick on there kind of attractive in a strange way...but then, one day, for no reason, she made some lame, off the cuff remark about how the Bills should be the Toronto Bills... she has been hideous to me ever since... apparently she apologized, sort of half-heartedly, shortly after, after getting some rather unflattering twitter feedback from Bills fans...

I know people hate Sapp (and I have become less and less a fan the longer he is on NFLN, mailing it in), we all know he is a big dude..as is Dareus. That said, I don't recall ever hearing of Sapp having conditioning problems during his playing days...being big, fat, doesn't necessarily mean you can't pass a conditionig test. That said, I saw Sapps' comments live...it is clear to me, nobody on the NFLN really pays any attention to the Bills (and other teams fans feel the same way I am sure), because their opinions and "information" are rarely built on anything real, just the "same old Bills" metality...this is a convenient "go to" resposne, so they have to do as little work as possible. Sapp, and one of the other flunkies (I think NFLN has, by far the worst assorment of "personalites"/analysts ever assembled to cover a sport...i think it is a terrible product, considering its' great potential) made the point that Dareus was "just in mini-camp" 3 weeks ago, how could he be out of shape already...I guess they missed the fact that he was not in mini-camp, and was excused, after his run-in with the fuzz over his driving skills....

My mother suffered through it for years, as did her mother...it is a really painful thing to watch somebody go through. It takes its' toll on everyone...

Yes, that is accurate. He has been feeling the effects of dementia for a few years now.

"We have more prisoners at the moment, than China.. the only other thing we have more of than China is, of course, debt to China.."