Buftex

I am a litte confused about the Giontal move. I like the guy and all, and he is a WNYer...but he is also like 35 years old. Just weird dumping Erhoff for nothing, and then getting vetran leadership from a really old guy... I am hoping they can get Ott back. See also, they braught Cody McComanck back... very good move there, IMO Miller to Vancouver..Vanek to Minnesota...

Good call... these last 15-20 years are becoming such a blur, I almost forgot that Centers played for us for a coupld seasons..a Pro Bowler one of those years, if I recall.

Oh yeah...another one from the 90's...Darrick Holmes. Kid was a beast for about two years...one of the last picks in the draft, the Bills used a compensatory pick on him. For two seasons (95-96) he and Thurman made a pretty dynamic 1-2 punch... they had very similar running styles, but Holmes was a lot bigger than Thurman...maybe 30 pounds bigger. The last time I got to see the Bills live, during the Jim Kelly era, was a 1996 home game against the Washington football team...Kelly had a really great game (got him out of a bad slump from early in the season) and Thomas and Holmes ran all over the Washington football team defense..

Anyone who knows me, and my love of the Bills, knows how much I love the Chuck Knox era Bills. Joe Cribbs has already been mentioned a few times, so I won't mention him again (while mentioning him). As Chandler#81 points out, he was a multiple time pro-bowler, and offensive rookie of the year, so it is hard to call him overrated..but normally when I bring him up on TSW, somebody says that they hated him, for exercising his freedom, and signing to play in the USFL, when the owner of the Bills didn't want to pay him what he was worth. He was a fantastic player. Had his career not been derailed by the USFL thing, I think we might be arguing more often about who was better, Joe Cribbs or Thurman Thomas. Now, he is just viewed, mainly as a malconent... his game was great though. Also, from the same era, I would throw out Jerry Butler (maybe my all-time favorite Buffalo Bill), and Steve Freeman. Freeman gets overlooked a bit, because he played, maybe, a little too long, and was on some horriffic Bills defenses....but he was a smart player, who got the most out of his limited speed and size. In the 90's, two guys I think are often forgotten about, and were underrated, by fans and the Bills alike, were Bill Brooks and Antowain Smith. The Bills didn't really seem to place a lot of value on either of them... but if it weren't fof Bill Brooks, there is a very good chance the Bills wouldn't have made the playoffs in 1995...you recall, the and he he was quietly solid in 1993, filling James Loftons' role. As for Antowain Smith, as I heard, he wasn't a great "practice" player...and got in Joe Pendry's dog-house. But if you go back and watch any of those games from 1996-1999 or so, Antowain was the only Bills running back who had any sort of big play ability...the only guy who was posed any sort of threat to break a big run. Instead, we were treated to a heavy dosage of Jonathan Linton and Shawn Bryson...one yard at a time. Pendry was so down on Smith, that he insisted on giving him a limited number of carries...can't tell you how many times I would scratch my head, wondering why the hell Linton and Bryson were getting carries, averaging 1-2 yards a carry, when Smith would get 3 carries for 12-16 yards, and then be back on the bench again... I can't remember all the specifics now, but for some reason, I remember getting very excited in the playoff game against the TItans, when Antowain got more carries, because he was the healthiest RB that game... I knew he would break a huge one, and sure enough, opening drive of the second half, he breaks off a beutiful 44 yard run that nobody on in the Bills backfield could have done at that time. Linton was too slow, Bryson no feel for the game, and Thurman was shell of his great self.

James Gandolfini and Jane Fonda.

That looked like a good, clean, hit, even by today's standards. While it is true Tasker leads with his helmet, it looked to me like he hit Turner squarely in the chest...not the head.

Get him the Watkins jersey. If Sammy is all we hope he is, your boss will appreciate having the #14 jersey, and years from now, he will remember the time that he and WickedGame went to that Bills game years ago..."when was that?" people will ask. "It was the 2014 season opener...Sammy Watkins first game". ps...if your boss is a big dude, take a look at my post on the Trading Post!

The league I have been in, for about 20 years, has always used standard scoring. Looks like we are going PPR this coming season... been so busy, haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it yet, but this top 12 looks pretty different than I expected. The PPR element changes things a lot. Not saying Silva is wrong at all... just interesting how much standard vs PPR changes things...

I hate soccer...

Hands down. 12th Man...what's his name?

I get that...but what I am asking, is a new stadium the only way the team stays in WNY? From what Cuomo has said, twice now, it certainly sounds like the stadium issue is part of a discussion that we are not privy to.

It is one of my ex's all-time favorite songs...no pun intended. For me, it is anything by the Police....and "My Sharona". I'm mostly with you on this one Big Cat. Thing is, the 80's spawned some really great songs, but the production is so awful, it ruins most of the songs...

I have asked this question as few times, and received no answer, but I will ask again... Shortly after Ralph wilson's passing, Goodell offered his verbal support to the Bills staying in WNY. Along with that statement he said something to the effect of "the Bills need a new, modern facility, to insure their profitability and their future in WNY". My question has been, when he says "needs", is he speaking in platitudes? Or, is he implying that a local ownership won't be approved by the owners (his bosses), unless a new stadium is part of the deal? His remarks, along with Gov Cuomos, and now John Wawrow's cryptic comment, have me asking, "stayin?"

Gee...I wonder why that is...

Can't wait for "World Cup Fever" to break... This is pretty great...Triumph the Insult Dog takes on World Cup! http://teamcoco.com/...orld-cup-part-1

I am very optimistic...but I still am not sure that translates into a playoff spot. I sure hope it does, but in addition to EJ's performance, I am also a little concerned about the overall defense. I have mixed feelings about Schwartz, and I still don't feel completely certain in what ways the defense will be different...everytime I hear the issue addresssed by Marrone, or Schwartz, it seems to come out that the defense "won't be that different", but it will be "very different"... as weak as the defense was against the run last year, and as much as I don't think EJ Manuel was the trainwreck that so many here seem to feel, I think a lot of the optimism about this team is coming from their defensive performance last year. I am not as concerned about losing Byrd, as I am the changes in the defense, from a coaching standpoint..whatever they turn out to be. It seemed like Pettine, last year, got career years out of guys who had been here, performing underwhelmingly for a few years...and I have had the feeling on numerous occaisions over the last 15 years, that coaching/schemes have been as big a problem for this team as talent has been. I am not saying I think Schwartz is going to be bad, I just don't feel certain about him. We shall see... I always look forward to the season...

That is the key to what irked me most about LeBrons departure from Cleveland, just beyond the way he went aobut it. The mantra, from his defenders was that Cleveland didn't do anything to build a team around him..but that was BS. They added a lot of parts....there are no gurantees that those things will work though. He and Bosch signing in Miami, adding them to Wade (who wasn't so old at the time) was about as close to "buying a championship" as you could get...and that didn't even happen their first season together. People could point to the 2008 Celtics adding Garnett and Ray Allen..but that was much further from a "sure thing". None of those guys were in their prime, and Pierce was not a "superstar" in the Wade class...

Not sure if this will help anything...but John Murphy had Craig Hendenberg (sp?), a member of the BFA on, as a guest, back on June 17th. They have met 3 times, according to Hendenberg. What is the difference between the Bills Fan Advisory and Bills Fan Alliance. Here is a link...his interview starts at about the 1:05 mark http://www.buffalobi...de-48ae2e7b76cc

I hope you are right, but you are assuming an awful lot.

I guess Buffalo has been good for Mario....he was ranked #71 in 2011, didn't make the list in 2012 (injured most of the year), #72 last year...and now in the top 30! Incidentally, is Freddy the only offensive player the Bills have ever placed on the list? Did Spiller make it last year...or maybe Stevie? As I recall, Freddie was somewhere in the 80-85 range the first year they did it.

Pretty impressive, even it is utlimately kind of meaningless...every time I see the players names scroll across the bottom of the screen, and I see Kyle Williams at #32, it maked me happy...but then I pause when I realize the names he is ranked higher than? I am not saying it is isn't possible, or that he doesn 't belong...but he ranks higher than some pretty big names. Now, of course, their is condideration for positions..

As much as everyone is hanging this coming season on Manuel, a lot rides on Schwartz defense. I think that the loss of Byrd is being over-exaggerated by a lot of the national types (he made the pro-bowl, likely one of the 2 or 3 guys many of them can name from last years' roster), but Schwatz new scheme has to make the defense better, not slide back, for this team to take the next step up the ladder.

Yeah...who is Pegula? Trump would be uge!

Sadly, for me, I don't see my Cetlics getting any-time in the next two years or so... I like our coach, but I am just not sure there is enough there to build around..so they will have to trade their only assett (Rondo) to get better...oh well...the way it goes...2008 was still a blast.

I will admit Kiko, I didn't think of that angle...good on you! I was assuming one thing (and so are you)... but we don't know his real intent yet. I was assuming the worst, which, honestly, would really surprise me. You are likely right. I don't think LeBron wants his legacy to be as hired gun, albeit a great one. Still, though, the rumors are flying already....Chicago, LA Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Cavs...