Buftex

Golisano has recently said (before Mr Wilson acutally passed away), when the time came, if there was any notion that the Bills might be in danger of leaving Buffalo, he would have a similar committment to keeping the Bills in town, as he did with the Sabres, should he be needed to do so. I have heard it speculated that he and Peugla could actually partner up for ownership of the team. Of course, since Mr Wilson passed, neither Golisano or Pegula have made their intentions known. I don't the fact that Golisano no resides in Florida (for tax reasons) would diminish his interest in Buffalo/WNY. He said, during his tenure as Sabres owner, that these pro sports franchises are good for the economy in the sense that they their health keeps other businesses healthy. From what I understand, Golisano is heavily invested in the area, financially.

Agreed SF Bills Fan, I think Golisano is kind of maligned, for no real reason. He did Buffalo hockey a solid by keeping the Sabres on life-support for 6 years (or however long it was)... he was on record as saying he wasn't really a "hockey guy", but realized the value of the franchise to WNY, and, for lack of better way to put it, kind of served as a foster-father for the team, until he could find somebody with more interest in it, to take over. As I recall, too, he was steadfast in insisting that whoever he sold the team to, they would not move the team to another city. I appreciate what Golisano did, quite a bit. I like Pegula too. True, the team hasn't had much success under Pegula, but i don't think anyone who is paying attention can say it has been from lack of trying...I think Pegula will get it right with the Sabres....just taking a little longer than we might have expected.

I am not going to argue your premise OC... but I also think you overstate her influence a bit. She's a political rock-star. Everybody knows who she is, and that will always translate into fund-raising dollars. Now, it seems widely expected that Republicans will clean up in November, but how useful will she be in 2016? As I recall, in the last presidential election, the Republican party felt the need to distance themselves from her, and others with similar political appeal.

If we are taking a vote, count me as another who really hates the new draft format. I normally work on Thursday nights...but this year I switched a Friday for my Thursday night. A bunch of people here are meeting at our gameday bar to watch round one...things have been going so crappy lately, figured I could use the diversion...

When somebody knows something that other people would want to know, it is hard not to divulge it to somebody... I think the Bills are going to trade up, based on all the info out there...

Not sure that it matters in the bigger picture, but after the Bundy episode earlier this week, right wingers were all gleeful to find out that Sterling donated money to Democratic candidates back in the early 1990's... a few here in this thread have also referenced his political affiliations... so apparently it is of significance to them. The ones who think that the POTUS is the root of all evil... so, I just wanted to set the record straight, so we could ditch that tired, false, argument. I see so many here defending Sterling...saying he did nothing wrong, but then making the argument that his punishment was "too harsh". So which is it? Did he do something wrong (apparently his peers think he did), or should he receive no punishment?

Everybody who is upset about this (all those who normally talk about the NBA to let everyone know they hate it) will just throw out a bunch of false moral equivalents... no real point in trying to get them to realize the difference, I am afraid.

No, he is a registered Republican, since 1998. This according to the LA Times. So, the game of poltitical hot potato, Donald Sterling style, continues. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-no-donald-sterling-20140428,0,6977964.column#axzz30J2oMUcY

Notice I said "right now"...sure, moderates got the nomination, but don't forget the cast of clowns who were front-runners along the way. Biden would have a similar chance of winning his party nomination...as in no chance.

Graham directly questioned EJ as to whether he thought the Bills should draft another QB, as I recall. EJ got a little defensive, and kind of challenged Graham by asking him "Do you think they should draft another QB?"... I don't think EJ was expecting Grahams' answer, which was "yeah, I think they should". As for John Wawrow, I wasn't aware that he got involved in any of this kind of stuff. But even if he did (and I say this as an "EJ backer"), who cares? Who cares that Graham is questioning his abilities? Whatever I think of the Bills coaching staff (still in that "wait and see" phase with Marrone and company) I still trust their judgment on Manuel a lot more than I trust Graham, or any other writer. And that is no disrespect to Graham or Wawrow, or any other writer. While I don't think EJ was near the train-wreck on the field that so many here seem to think, as somebody who is all in on him, it is false not to acknowledge that he left some room for doubt to his detractors.

Do you mean that David Stern hated Seattle, or that the new commissioner, Adam Silver hates Seattle? It does seem likely that Seattle will get another team. Sonics should have never left...strong basketball city. Not sure if it would be the Clippers...it seems like LA has proven, at least, it can handle two pro basketball teams. I am not sure the NBA would be inclined toward letting the Clippers leave. The market seems to be there for them.

Talking about the possibility of Magic Johnson being the next owner of the Clippers...wouldn't that be something? Doc Rivers declines a meeting with Sterling... interesting.

Okay, cool. I thought so, but was wondering if there was significance to that particular baby. For some reason, that is the one story line, of the many stories going on, that I tend to lose track of sometimes. I remembered that Sam had taken her and the baby someplace to be safe, but couldn't remember if something had happened to the baby.

Great picture! The 70's!

Shhh...Kellyto83TD is taking another of his stances....nobody here knows anything !

Very sad news for me. Seems like pieces of my chidhood are disappearing by the week. I was a huge Braves fan as a kid, and Jack Ramsay was a big part of that. Kind of a Marv Levy figure in a way. I have always followed the NBA, and Ramsay, even in his 80's was still one of the best analaysts out there. I remember he, Randy Smith and Jack Marin all came to my house once, to sign autographs at our back-yard Muscular Distrophy carnival. Still have all of their autographs...ha ha! Remember those MD carnivals? Do kids have those any more? Anyways, those of you old enough to remember...from 1974-1977 or so, we had OJ Simpson, Gilbert Perreault and Bob McAdoo, all in their primes. Those were really great times for Buffalo pro sports...we were still young, and didn't know how much frustration was instore for us. Those Jack Ramsay coached teams were so fun to watch. Three playoff seasons in a row (never could get past the Celtics or 76ers)... too bad ownership and management issues derailed them...they sold off all their best players....Ramsay re-signed as a result, and went on to win a championship in Portland with Bill Walton. Great coach... RIP Dr Jack! Couldn't really find a great Jack Ramsay moment on the old Youtube, but here he is, inducting Bob McAdoo into the NBA Hall of Fame, back in 2000. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ2Sw3DtRIM

Pretty rough episode tonight... I felt complete empathy for Don Draper. Not always the case.

Hey...dumb question...but was the baby at the end just a son of one of the many daughters, or the son of Gilly?

Sad thing is, today, Cliven Bundy would be the top pick for Republicans right now...

If, somehow, Doc Rivers ends up coaching the Knicks next year, I am going to be extra pissed! Donald Sterling has always been a piece of ****, perhaps the worst owner in all of pro sports, for a few decades now.

That is pretty compelling, I must say.

Pajamas. In 1972, I got a pair of Buffalo Bills pajamas, with Bills slippers (they were made of simulated pig-skin!!!)... my older brother was a Celtics/Braves and Vikings/Bills fan, my dad was always more of a college sports fan (St Bonaventure, his alma-mater). I wasn't a super popular kid in the neighborhood, and my first name was Dennis...for whatever the reason, that name got me a lot of teasing from the Dave, Tom, Mike and Stevens in the neighborhood. I became known, eternally as "Dennis the Menace" or "Denis the Penis"...which I didn't really get...or just "Denise" by the less clever kids. I hated the name. But the same year I got those pajamas, I was 7, the Bills had a rookie QB named Dennis Shaw. I thought it was the coolest thing. Though he was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the year in 1972, I don't remember anybody really thinking he was great, except for me. My dad got pissed, because a I drew the number "16" on the back of my pajama shirt, and wrote "Dennis Shaw" on the back...lets' just say, at 7, I didn't have the best penmanship! But, for whatever reason, sharing that name really sucked me in. I will admit, basketball was my favorite sport as kid...I could play it easier (didn't need anyone else), it was easier to understand, and I got to go to a Buffalo Braves game from time to time, thanks to the Dairy-lea Milk coupons. My dad would never let me go to War Memorial for a Bills game..so it was a little more elusive. I finally got to go to my first game, the year Rich Stadium opened up, 1973. In fact, it was the first game ever played at the new stadium, a pre-season game against the Redskins. My sisters boyfriend, who played college football at UB, took me. He had a tryout with the Bills one summer (made it to the final cuts, but, ultimately never made the squad...a serious shoulder injury didn't help), and introduced me to John Leypoldt. Somehow they became buddies. Later introduced me to the "Electric Company" guys. It was pretty cool. From 1973-1979, I went to 1-3 games per season. What sent me over the top though, in 1980...feeling empowered by my paper rout money (I had 3 of them...I was never a lazy kid!), my older brother and I purchased season tickets. I would go with him and his stoner buddies...I would drink like a fish (maybe puke sometimes) but always felt great when I went out there...loved the games. That opening day game of the 1980 season, when the Bills broke the Dolphins streak, is one of the 2 or 3 greatest events I have ever been to in my life...I have been hard-core in love with the Bills ever since...damn-it!

The last Bills game I can remember (not saying much, admittedly) where the Buffalo weather played a big factor was 2004... I think. Or was it 2003...Bills ran all rough-shod over the Browns in the snow. McGahee had a big game, and Drew hooked up on a couple of big td passes.

I think you are right there. In explaining the new Flex rules, somebody (I think it was NFLN) they explained that a network can now FLEX any game, and are not relegated solely to the ones that would normally be an AFC or NFC broadcast. I would imagine that the NFL had to appease the other networks, since they gave the Thursday NFLN broadcasts to CBS. So, traditionally the AFC network, because of the Thursday pacakge, was now being allowed to broadcast NFC games....so, I would imagine FOX would not have been happy about that, and wanted similar flexibility. Speaking of Thanksgiving...it is a bit odd that all six of the teams playing that day are NFC teams.

So that doesn't count angainst "literally nothing"? I would imagine not many analyzed the schedules that closely before the Bills made an issue of it last season. And, as I recall, from the Bills complaint, it was learned that the Bills were not the only team in recent years to have similar scheduling anomolies.