KnightRider

I tend to think organizational dysfunction originates from the ownership group. The Pats* were like that till the Krafts bought them in 1994, but were the laughingstock of the league in the late 80s when Victor Kiam owned it. I suspect it is no accident the Fish have made the playoffs only once since Ross bought them in 2009. Woody Johnson’s tenure as owner of the Jets also supports my opinion. Are there exceptions to this? Sometimes! While I think Ralph was great for the AFL/NFL as a league, I think he was not terribly good as an owner. When he allowed Polian to run it though, it flourished. Rich guys get that way because they made the decisions. It’s hard to allow someone else to make them… On the football side, the Pegullas seem to be pretty good owners! This stadium drama reminds me of the one the Krafts had before Gillette was built. What does not fit is the absolute cluster the Sabres have become. Maybe Terry only meddles with the on ice product.

If you are around enough to comment on how it is going downhill, volunteer to help moderate. Moderating is time consuming, and folks, over time have other priorities. The fact that SDS has been running this board for 20 years is just astounding. However, its success is based off the community those who pitch in. Now, for the reason I clicked on this thread: If we were to bring back a former Bills employee to right the ship, I would pick Dennis Abraham. He left with John Butler for San Diego, and is still with them. He's been their director of pro scouting for quite a while, now. He's also a Akron High School graduate.

I completely skipped the playoffs this year. It may be just me, but the random holding calls (these have been around longer than I've been watching) and more importantly the game changing PI calls (these almost never used to be called until Brady and Manning) have ruined the game. Championships should not be decided by officials, imho. So... we're there any pivotal PI calls? How about the timely holding penalties? And I agree with Chandler#81 - the SF game in (I thought it was '92?) was good a game as it gets.

I've been thinking this for a while, now. Football has gone from being a team sport where one player (the QB) either makes or breaks the success of the team. That makes it easier for the officials throw the game one way, or the other. I call it the NBA-ification of football. But crap calls like that PI just before the half happen far to often. The officials should not be able to decide who wins. They do, though. I used to love this game. I try to tell myself at the beginning of recent years that my impression of today's NFL is because the Bills have been bad for so long. They are not a bad team this year. But the officiating combined with today's QB-centric game leaves me wondering, why the heck do I still care about this game? I don't know that I have an answer anymore. I do know I turned off my auto-renew on my GamePass account though, today.

Good point on the light vs dark... At least the Jets looked like the Jets. I kept thinking the Bills looked like they were dressed in Pats* throwbacks.

It must have been terrible in the days when games were televised in black and white. No one could tell what was going on... There are plenty of reasons why the uniforms last night were a bad idea, though.

Flutie didn't have the arm strength to throw the ball downfield. I don't see that as an issue with Orton.

Oh, boy, the timing of this is ironic...

They're halfway there... Ohhha! They're livin' on a prayer... Sorry, that came to mind when I heard JBJ's bid was on life support.

To me, it looks like politicking... The news flash this morning was that Kelly had met with him, but the Kelly did not see any indication that they JBJ and Co. were still trying to move the team out of Buffalo.

This is a huge contributor... Buffalo's economy was built on that canal. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/can-buffalo-ever-come-back/64879/ does a pretty good job making a case that the St Lawrence was the spark that caused the fall. I openly admit there are few taxes I don't think need cutting, but I think high property property tax rates are probably the real problem. Quite a while ago, I read a WSJ article talking about how Boston and San Francisco's rebounds were due to a dramatic drop in property tac rates in 1978 for California, and 1982 for Mass... Found it!! http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/property-tax-cut-could-help-save-buffalo While I don't see a rebound of canal utilization anytime soon, I do think Buffalo has a lot going for it. Cheap, clean, energy, abundant fresh water, and real estate much cheaper than most of the country make it a huge opportunity, if the right actions were taken. Maybe Pegula's example can show the polititions they need a strong private sector, and that corporations are not inherently evil.

Nice article... I somehow missed Hull's death (I'll blame the extended loss of power due to the effects of hurricane Irene and the birth of my third son).

So just this last week I was listening to a Boston sports station who mentioned how uncomfortable it used to be when the Bruins players would visit the Jacobs home (in Florida, I think), and Jacobs didn't even know who the players were. While this doesn't exactly have me enthralled with him taking ownership, it also does not sound like he was living and dying Black and Yellow...

Boy, just when I thought Bills fans had it tough, it just seems to get worse. Thank you Ralph Wilson for the great years the Bills had as I grew up... It will be good to finally figure out how the franchise transitions to a new era.

Hah! I got that same question from my seven year old after the Pats game... It is a fantastic question.

Fixed. :-) But the others would not be a bad idea.

Crayonz logic, for sure...

To quote a Pat's fan - "If the Jets had Fitzpatrick, they would have been in the Superbowl."

I don't want Tebow anywhere near the Bills... Edit - What Mike said.

I agree with this. There is no way they really that bad.

That would be the way to get the song back on the intro, for sure.

Good for you, John. It's like crayonz went out and got 30 logins, though.

I'm not sold either, but I am optimistic. 2008 and 2003 are still too fresh in my mind for me to think about anything other than the next game. Let's see how things look around Thanksgiving time.

When Portis worked out for the Pats, the word here was that he really let himself go and was fat.

Bingo.