Buftex

I have a theory. Want to hear it? No? Oh well, I am going to say it anyways... When Trump made his initial interest in owning the Bills public, back in March/April i think he was likely taken aback by the strong reaction that many people had against his possible ownership. On the flip-side, there were others who were really digging the whole notion of Trump owning the team..even coming up with a new Bills/Trump helmet that was shown on ESPN and other sports media outlets. For a few weeks there, Trump was talked up on PTI and all the other arguement shows on ESPN...Trump was everywhere, as it pertains to this story, because he was the only one making his intentions clear at the time. Trump is trying to "re-invigorate" those Bills fans who were/are so in love with the notion of the "great businessman" who "won't settle for losing" .... he likes hearing those things about himself. That has to be it...he can't possibly believe his own tweet!

I understand your point...though quoting Cowherd to me will never get me to change my mind...I think he epitomizes, more than anyone, what I hate about sports/sports coverage over the last 10-12 years... I just don't think sports would be near as big part of my life if I was growing up following them now...maybe that is the bigger issue. But, while there is merit to what Cowherd says, it is not really what I am talking about. NFLNetwork has about 4 hours of original programming Mon-Friday (more during the football season) which is re-run multiple times during the day. That is when they cover the current league topics...NFL AM, Total Access, etc etc. There, I expect them to talk about Johnny Manziel, Tony Romo, Tom Brady...etc etc...what I am talking about, is the other 12 hours a day when they just show the same Cowboys, Steelers, Patriots specials over and over. Been transferring old VHS Bills games to DVD. The last one I did was a 1988 game: Bills at Patriots. It was kind of hilarious, kind of makes you realize how much the game has changed. In that game (this is prior to the Bills no-huddle) the announcer (nobody I remember at all) is going on and on about how Steve Grogan is the only QB in the NFL who calls his own plays, and one of the few who regularly audibles, because his coaches "trust him that much". Also, early in the game, Kelly makes a short pass to Thurman which goes off his hands...they go on about how Thurman isn't really known as a receiver,and they would be surprised to see Kelly look his way again...

For about 4 straight Sundays, about a year ago, they played a noon "NFL Classic" game...no Super Bowls. I recorded all of them. Even though I hate both the teams, they showed the infamous Dolphins/Jets game where Marino did the "fake spike" to beat the Jets. It was a great game....wish they would just show more random stuff like that....doesn't even have to be the Bills. Would love to see some of the old "cardiac kids" Browns game, when Brian Sipe was leading them in the late 70's early 80's. They have all this stuff...why not show it to us?

Whether he is really going to test the free-agent market, or if this is (as the article suggests) merely a ploy to get Miami to committ to upgrading their roster, another kind of weasley move, IMO. Jeepers... 3rd consecutive final...they lose one, and now the roster isn't good enough? He is a tremendous basketball player, and I would take him on my team in a heartbeat... but whatever his motivation, it just seems like the guy still doesn't "get it" in terms of being a leader. Now, that would be cool.... and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up back with the Cavs, but not just yet. I think he will end his career there..but he in his prime... he and Melo might be able to win the east together in Cleveland, but I don't see them taking out a good team in the West. I do have to wonder if the Cavs owner said "too much" when LeBron left... but I love your scenario. Would love to see the Cavs do something.

LeBron will be a free agent this off-season! Or is it just a ploy? http://www.cbssports...come-free-agent

I think his eyes are fine. Perhaps you should have yours checked!

The fumbles are the thing that he has to work on...18 sacks (3 per game) and 1 pick every two games, I can live with. The line was pretty dreadful at times last year... keep in mind too, not saying much, but those 7 fumbles were not all lost. Maybe you are right, but just as I think people here have been too quick to throw Lewis in the scrap heap, they have done it with Manuel too. I realize the concerns about EJ, and some are legit, but you would think, from the overreaction of fans here, Manuel was complete garbage...I just don't think that is the case...he has more (cliche coming) "upside" than Lewis, and the position he was drafted in makes it, in my opinion anyways, imperative that they give Manuel another season to work through things....half a season at the very least, before they start playing musical chairs with QB's.

No Nancy comments about the special itself (it is really good), just about the overall repetitive nature of the NFL Network in general... I understand that, really I do... but I like the game enough, I am willing to watch coverage on any team....but I really don't need (or want) to see coverage of the Cowboys glory years every day...it is the same stuff over and over. The two-hour Bill Belichek special was great...the first two times I saw it...but it is on nearly every week... i'd much rather watch a feature I team I don't really care about much (say the Arizona Cardinals) than be regaled, once again, in the history of "Americas Team" or the "Silver and Black"....the NFL Network is, I would think, for hardcore NFL fans...there are 32 teams in the league....plus a bunch of others that aren't around any more...just wish they would give a more rounded view of the whole league. The NBA network, NHL network, and from what I have seen, the MLB networks spread their coverage around their entire leagues. I am not talking about creating new content to air...their are thousands of NFL Films productions that will likely never see the light of day, and the damn league has their own 24/7 network! Just doesn't make a lot of sense to me....

See, this is my big beef with the NFL Network... they are having 90's week....the one sole, one hour program they have devoted to the winningest AFC team (2nd winningest team of the decade) is this one special. During these retro weeks, they typically re-run 3 or 4 Super Bowls from the decade. What was the greatest Super Bowl of the 1990's? One of the top 5 Super Bowls ever? Super Bowl 25! The only Bills Super Bowl they are running is the trashing by the Cowboys in SB XXVII. I realize, the "all-time franchise teams" like the Steelers, Cowboys, Packers, Raiders and Patriots are perceived to be the favorites..but my god, there are 25 or so other teams in the leauge...their fans are every bit as loyal...why not throw them a few more bones? And why do they only replay Super Bowls? Why not show a classic game at 1pm every Sunday during the off-season? Man, if I ran that damn network, it would be so much better! Wouldn't you love to see a "yearbook" higlights reel of some random team (ie: not the freaking Cowboys or Steelers) from the 80's, 70's.... off my soap-box!

Sorry to hear this John, but glad she is okay!

I don't want Thad to start over Manuel...but I think people were pretty harsh in their criticism of him last season.. I think he did a credible job as a backup, particularly considering he had no training camp with the Bills, and was just barely a "vet" backup himself. He does need to work on the fumbling thing, but the guy had a knack for making some plays.

I don't like Esmonde, because he was always hitting on my old girlfriend back in the 1980s! Jerk!

I agree with you... but here is the article form the Washington Post I was referring to earlier. It seems that most of the NFL teams that have switched owners that have swithched hands in this century have sold for pretty close to their "value". The Bills are ranked as the 30th most valuable franchise in the league, according to this. It seems the Browns and Jags sold at slightly over their value, while the Ravens were one of the few that sold below value. Not saying it is right...just what this guy is predicting. I think what he isn't taking into account, is that the possiblity of the franchise re-locatiing thrown into the equation, means that whoever buys them is likely to pay over their value, to get the ensure the end result they want.... http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2014/06/20/buffalo-bills-shouldnt-fetch-1-billion-when-they-are-sold/

Washington Post article (linked on front page, sorry can't seem to link it on my phone), seems to think the Bills will sell much closer to their perceived value of a about 870 Million... My prediction, is Terry Pegula...the cost? Whatever it takes!

I think we all just assumed it would, at some point..but we passed that point a while ago. His loyalties lie with whoever is paying his 44 million dollar a year salary....not a bunch of schlubs like us! I always wanted to like the guy, and in some ways, I think he has a tough job (IRGT the whole "concussion era" of pro football), but he is well compensated to lie his ass off and sell his sole. When Mr Wilson passed away, Goodells comments, while on the surface seemed "classy" and sort of generic, upon further review almost seemed, in some ways as a pre-emptive strike, or warning to Bills fans that they could lose their team.

100% agreed.... but I still don't trust Goodell!

I get your point, but again, I think you are minimizing how fantastic Reed was in traffic. He may not have had quite the same career with the guys throwing passes to Moulds, but I honestly think he might have helped those guys look better. You can't really judge guys on what they might have been able to do if circumstances had been different... did anybody ever stop to ponder that, perhaps, Reed made Kelly look good from time to time too?

Somebody gave me the first book, before the show came on... I got about 80 pages in, and I just couldn't do it... love the show, but the writing style is a workout, for me.

Pasta...I think the whole point of the Hound/Arya story line, all season, was to show how Arya was becoming more and more cold, and devoid of emotions, because pretty much everyone she ever cared about got murdered along the way... and conversely, while the Hound toughened her up, she softened him up a bit... I have not read the books or anything, and I have no idea of what is in store for either character, but I suspect that Arya will become even "colder" as the show progresses... and remember, we didn't actually see the Hound die. I suspect we haven't seen the last of him...somebody (somebody with real motivation) will have to deal with the Mountain at some point... the estranged brotehrs will make for an epic fight.

All the nuance... fingers crossed that Pegula is our guy!

I don't typically like to get in these arguments, because when you say one guy is better than the other, it comes off as, one guy sucks (or sucked in this case) and the other was so clearly better. I like both Reed and Moulds a lot..I think they are both worthy of "best Bills receive of all time" status, consideration. But honestly, while Moulds may have been a better athlete, I don't think he was near as versatile as Reed was. It amazes me, to this day, HOF and all, how little some appreciate how truly great Andre Reed was. Reed may not have been as fast as Moulds, as strong as Moulds, but Reed was every bit as tough... in one of those HOF threads on TBD, somebody claimed that Reed doesn't belong in the HOF, because he was "afraid to go over the middle"... not saying this is true of you, but that made it clear to me that some people either have horrible memories, they are too young to have seen Reed play, or they simply didn't comprehend what they saw. Again, I like the guy, and he was great...perhaps the greatest physicall talent the Bills have had at the position in the last 25-30 years..but not the best receiver. Who knows what he might have done on better teams. But he wasn't on a lot of the Bills truly awful teams, and was on some pretty good offensive Bills squads. By that I mean, the argument that Reed had a great career, simply because there was more talent on the Bills during his time, just doesn't necessarily ring true for me. Flutie and Bledsoe, while not Jim Kelly, were better than average NFL starting QB's. I would also argue that Rob Johnson, when healthy, was a pretty decent passer as well... they also had a good running game, during most of Moulds tenure...and Peerless Price, the first time around, was a pretty decent complimentary receiver for about 4 years... they had guys like Larry Centers...the cupboard wasn't as bare as some paint it out to be. As talented as he was, I was always frustrated (particularly when Bledsoe came to Buffalo, and through the rest of his time in Buffalo) that Eric had a propensity for being as concerned about drawing pass interference flags as he was with trying to catch the ball.

I feel old...I clicked on the link in OP's post, and I got a headache looking at that...so Peter King doesn't write articles any more either?

Have no scientific reason for feeling this way, but I have a feeling the Saints are going to slide back some.

I remember when the Super Bowl Bills were in all their glory... Darryl Talley was always referred to as the most "underrated" player on the Bills, or the most "uderrated" player in the NFL....loved Talley, and he was great....but at what point does being consistently referred to as being criminally underrated make a guy overrated? Not sure that I agree with you that he is "overrated", but if he has a weakness, IMO, is that he is not stellar against the run...adequate to good, but not stellar. There have been a few times over the last couple of seasons where I recall him either getting turnstyled a straight ahead rush, or just taken out of the play by his own agressiveness.