Buftex

He doesn't care what he looks like to the rest of the league. I think he is doing this solely for his guys, on his team. Doc is one of those coaches who really embraces that "us against the world" mentality. He perceives a "second-class citizen" status for the Clippers in regards to the Lakers (it is real) and players are aware of it too...he is trying to to throw it out there, maybe they get some negative press for it, but it makes the players work harder (reacting to the negative attention) to prove that they are every bit as good as the Lakers. They will obviously never have the Lakers history, but right now, they have enough talent (it seems) to make that next step toward being an elite team. I know, from being a Celtics fan, Rivers is big on using history as a motivating factor for the present. The Clippers don't have a winning history....so he is using a slightly different tact...it has worked for him in the past. For years, going to see the Clippers at Staples center is what you would do when you couldn't get in to see the Lakers..just to see the home of the Lakers. If you have ever been to a Jets game at Giants stadium, it is kind of like that, x100. As a sports venue, the Staples Center exists for the Lakers... Most of the guys in the NBA rigth now, grew up wanting to play for the Lakers...the Clippers have always been viewed as a horrible franchise...Rivers is trying to instill some pride in his team. If he looks like a jerk, so be it. His players will love him, and they will have his back...and be a better team for it...so he hopes. Rivers best assett as a coach is motivating his teams....I can't argue with his results. He got a ring out of aging roster, and had a roster, in Boston, that was counted out, year after year, vying for rings when nobody took them seriously. The guy can coach. Rivers wants to create a home court advantage for his team...

Cut that meat, cut that meat...

We had something happen at the bar today, which kind of plays into the whole thing...there was a couple there, big Bills fans...I hadn't seen them at the place before....the woman kept yelling "rub the helmet", referring to a full size Bills helmet they had on their table...not many were taking them up on it...the game was looking like another "noble loss"...the woman got up and started passing the helmet around the bar, making sure everyone "rubbed" (or tapped) the helmet... sure enough, right after the last person touches the helmet, Mario puts the hammer on Tannehill, and he coughs up the ball...it was pretty awesome...about 50-60 people screaming all at once...

Sports fans in Anchorage are known to smoke a lot of peyote.

This may be better in the "unpopular opinions" thread...but here goes: I still think Aaron Williams has some up-side. I realize, he has been burned a bit this year, but I think his coverage has been much, much better than last year. It may just be the result of better defensive coaching, but Williams, though beat, has had pretty good coverage most of the time...he has not been getting burned like last year...he has been so close on so many plays...corner really is one of the toughest positions to play in the NFL (probably behind only QB)...the receivers are getting bigger, and the rules are really stacked against them. I am sure there are those who are still not thrilled with the play of Leodis McKelvin, but look how long it has taken him to be thought of as a legit corner, rather than just a return man. Williams may ultimately be better at safety, but he does have some talent.

It may be petty, but it is Rivers' attempt to give the team an identity, other than being "the other" team in LA. The Clippers have an inferiority complex to the Lakers (they should), he wants them to feel equal to, not less than the Lakers. It is an attempt to get his team in a fighting posture...

I suppose this opinion is neither unpopular or popular....yet: I used to think Metzelaars_lives was a fine upstanding poster, but am now questioning that assessment as he made a special point to agree that Andre Reed will not be inducted into the NFL hall of fame..and that he shouldn't be. Metzelaars_lives would be dead to me, at this point, if he had also agreed that Eric Moulds was a better receiver than Andre Reed...since Metzelaars_lives is usually pretty sharp, I will assume he is not agreeing with that asinine statement as well...and he regained some credibility by pointing out, in his own way, that saying Kenneth Davis was a better running back for the Buffalo Bills than Thurman Thomas...still...this thread is really opening my eyes...I don't even know who some of you people are anymore...

Reminds me, the other day, I saw a youtube clip of John Lydon on the Conan show, from about 7 or 8 years ago...he was promoting his biography...one of the first things Conan says, "you aren't afraid to be be opinionated..who were some of the bands you hated when the Pistols were coming up?" With no hesitation, Lydon rattles off "Emerson Lake and Plamer, Yes...the Allman Brothers"...the crowd booed him pretty loudly...ends up the Allman Brothers were scheduled guests that night...

Judging from this thread, Bills fans are not necessarily "knowledgeable fans"...but OP said we are not supposed to flame in this thread...just espouse our unpopular opinions...no matter how fugged up they are! There are some doozies here...

Like the guy, but Eric Moulds is completely overrated on TBD... it appears. One of the biggest coaching blunders of the Wade Phillips era was the under-use of Antowain Smith. Smith was always in Joe Pendrys dog house, would come in and get 5 carries for 35 yards, and then be sent back to the bench, while journeymen caliber backs like Linton and Bryson gashed the defense 1.5 yards at a time. Dick Jauron may not have the worst win/loss record of modern Bills coaches (don't feel qualified to comment pre-1972), but he gives Hank Bullough a run for the money as the worst Bills coach in my fandom lifetime....which spans 41 seasons. Mike Mularkey was the best head coach post Wade...results for Marrone not in yet. If the Bills hadn't fired Tom Donohoe when they did, their playoff drought would have ended about 3 or 4 years ago. Joe Cribbs was one of the greatest Bills players of the past 40 years, but people at TBD will only remember him for leaving the Bills for the USFL. Which brings me too: Yes, we are lucky that Ralph Wilson has kept the Bills in Buffalo all these years, but anyone who has been with this team for a long time knows, he is as responsible for their lackluster history, as any coach or player whoever roamed the sidelines. As they say...Ralph is cheap...he did us a favor, but lets not pretend he wasn't paid back many times over....happy birthday Ralph!

Actually, last Sunday, my gf pointed out that he looks a little like (ugh) Bill O'riley... not a big O'riley fan, and never would have made the connection..but now I see it!

I think the Bengals are going to get stronger, offensively, as the year goes on...they have been starting to play, offensively, like they were expected to before the season started...the more points they score, the more opportunites for Gio. I like Terrell Pryor in Oakland, and I think their receivers are playing hard for him...but I just don't see the Raiders getting better as the season goes on. Not super scietific stuff there, I know..but I will take Gio's upside over McFaddens' already established pattern of being injured (but not injured enough to be a scrach before game-time) or, just invisible.

I would bet, all things being equal, and they didn't have to pay him like we are paying, the first guy from our roster that another team would grab would be Mario, or maybe even Spiller. As Bills fans, I am sure there are some detractors on those guys, but every other team would think they can get more out of both of them.

Gotta be Freddie...each period of Bills football, no matter how awful, had a guy or two that made you proud to be a Bills fan. Freddie, Lee Evans before him...I like all the other guys on the list (never had an issue with Byrd until this summer), but Fred is an "all-timer" in my book. Good player, good guy...

Somebody had too much time on their hands...

Well...they will be eligible at some point...how much longer does Britney Spears have to be eligible...another 5-10?

I wouldn't do that, cuz I think the Bengals offense is going to improve over the coming weeks...I have had McFadden before on FF teams, and he is just a frustrating guy to rely on. Of course, I am doing lousy this year, so what do I know. I have been trying to come up with a fair trade package to get Bernard in my league...

Funny, just a week or so ago, I was reading an interview with Linda Ronstadt from about 3 years ago...she, essentially said she could give a !@#$ about the rock-n' roll hall of fame, she never considered herself a "rock artist", but just a singer of songs, no matter the genre. She won numerous Grammys during her hey-dey, but doesn't have any of them....she claims she has no idea where most of them are..but she gave one to a record store owner in LA, and left the last one she received in the back seat of a rental car. To your point Gungy, they really should call it the "music hall of fame" or "popular music hall of fame". Nat King Cole and Linda Rondstadt certainly had a large impact on rock music, though they weren't necessarily hardcore rock artists, like KISS. I think there are conflicting notions about what is 'rock" music, and what is "pop" music. The line has been blurred too many times, for too many years to make a distinction. For all intents and purposes, if you really need to have strict definitions of what is what, you could almost say that Chuck Berry, Elvis, Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins, etc etc (the 50's guys) and everything that came after is not really rock-'n'roll. Bands like the Stones and Led Zepp, borrowed as heavily from the blues or country as they did from "rock" music. Yet, it would be ludicrous to say they are not rock artists...as time passes, things, sounds, get added... I would actually be more inclined to want John Lydon in a rock n'roll HOF for his work with PIL than the Pistols. They were a very important band, IMO, for mostly the wrong reasons. Their impact on the industry is bigger than their impact on music, IMO. Ironic, since Lydon still rages agaisnt the machine at every chance...there were other punk bands, not as iconic, but much better bands than the short lived Pistols. I actually saw their snub of the Rock HOF as much as a publicity stunt (their strongest suit) as a real statement about their standing with their place in the industry, or their place in rock-n'roll history.

At least this week!

Wait..so Tuel is ineligible as of this past week? Or, he will be ineligible in after another 3 weeks? Sorry, I am not as dumb as I sound sometimes...

I would like to see this. This may not be true...but somebody said yesterday that PS eligibility was based on how many games a player was active...this person (a TBD poster) said that Tuel was no longer eligible for PS. Never had time to research that...anyone know the rules?

Agreed...for as smart as fans usually are, we are a pretty reactionary lot when it comes down to it. I loved what Thad Lewis did on Sunday, but half the fan base is already ready to put EJ Manuel on notice, and hand the reigns over to Lewis long-term...one game at a time...

I agree, Flynn will be the odd man out, once Manuel is back. They stick with Thad until then...but in the event that the Bills start winning some games before Manuel returns, and Lewis gets hurt (the way things are going, we have to prepare for the worst case scenario), I would assume, the Bills want as many QB's as the can possibly afford to carry. For whatever reason, right or wrong, they seem to have determined that Tuel is worth carrying, no matter the situation. So, you almost have to take him out of the equation of who stays, and who goes. He is staying. Yet, given the Bills actions, there is a better chance that Dennis Dixon takes the field than there is off us seeing Tuel again....unless, of course, there are a bundle of QB injuries on game day. Tuels appearence against Cleveland was pretty awful, granted...but he did show some flashes in pre-season (fwiw)...it is possible he would perform a bit better with a week to prepare. I think what was most alarming about the Cleveland game was how weak his arm looked...but guys like Chad Pennington managed to be decent back-ups. The situation in Cleveland might have just a been a little "too big" for him. The Bills obviously see something in him...they kind of painted themselves into a corner with him. I am not convinced the market for him would be as hot as the Bills think (especially since they have given him a pretty obvious vote of "no confidence at this time"), but as long as they aren't carrying him to the detriment of other glaring needs, it might not be a bad thing.

The Replacements are the last rock n'roll band I really loved...could care less if they are in the HOF or not...and I won't begrudge them if they show up and accept the accolades. I don't think it will boost their record catalog sales much...people who have always loved them will still enjoy their music, and people who have never heard of them will not care...just be thankful, should they accept, that they didn't make it in the same year as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers or all the other horrendous 90's LA bands that have been part of the "all-star jam" at the end of the ceremony...your memories of Westerberg won't be forever tainted by seeing him suck up (or be sucked up to) by the likes of Flea, Dave Navarro and Slash! Though, it would be cool to see Tom Petty induct them, and admit that he stole one of his most famous lines ("rebel without a clue") from Westerberg... Personally, I think Westerberg (lets face it, this is about recoginizing him as much as the Replacements) is one of the great rock-n'roll songwriters of all time... he should reap some of the benefits (whatever those are) while he is still alive. When there is a country all-star tirbute to the Replacements, with Travis Tritt singing "If Only You Were Lonely" than you can worry about street-cred...

I kind of already went on a diatribe about this in another thread....but the worst draft day decision I ever made, ever was this year, when I was bent on getting one of the "can't miss" QBs in the draft. We have a 12 team snake draft...so, I had picks 12 & 13...by that time, there was crap left for legit running backs...only two guys left that were undisputed #1's on their teams (two guys I did not want to take, but was kind of forced to) were Ray Rice & Chris Johnson. So, when my next picks rolled around at 24 & 25, I was determined to get the best QB left (our league has high value on QB's) and the best WR...here is where I !@#$ed up royally: The only two "can't miss" QB's left were Peyton and Tom Brady. The only receiver left, that I had ranked as an upper tier guy, was Wes Welker...all of the sudden, the voice of Matthew Berry screamed at me "you don't want your #1 QB, #1 RB, or #1 WR to be from the same team..." I found this bit of advise less than sound when I heard it (especially IRT QB & WR), but I out thunk myself. Seeing as I knew I was taking Welker, I took Brady as my QB. I had some concern about Manning's health (at the time there was some "whispers" that he seemed to have lost something on the deep ball), but I had much bigger concerns about Brady and the lack of talent around him. I listened to Matthew Berry instead of myself, and took Brady...I fell into the whole Belichik, Brady, they always get it done..., well, to a degree that is still true (Pats are 5-1).... I don't think I need to tell anyone that Brady is having a terrible FF year (EJ my drafted back-up had more points on the season before he got hurt, his replacement Terrelle Pryor is neck and neck), but Manning is having a monster season...I really !@#$ed up. I went back and looked at the scores in my league so far...I would be 5-1 by simply trading Manning for Brady each week...and I have little doubt that the person who drafted Manning would have taken Brady if that what was left to them. That person is 6-0...I am just about dead at 2-4. Trade QB's, I am 5-1, they are 2-4. This is like the FF equivalent of the Colts getting cute, and drafting Ryan Leaf instead of Peyton Manning back in 1998...imagine how different the NFL would have been the last 15 years or so...