KnightRider

Some of us don't post a ton, but I do stand fast in Patsy land as a Bills fan. I have been saying to those I work with that the Bills will be in a SB before the Pats make it back as they are pretty clearly on the downslope. It seems to drive them nuts anyway... The thing about that game was that I believed they were still in the game when they were really getting blown out. Hey, they came back a few weeks ago, why not in the SB? From my standpoint today, I think I am a more than a little wary. The expectations were set artificially high for the last 5 years. I hope things can be set straight.

Don't take it too seriously. If you are around here in Sept/Oct it is kind of fun to watch the Bills/Yankees fans and the Bills/Red Sox fans bludgeon each other...

A weighted 360 degree rating would not be a bad idea. Teachers know who's a good teacher and who's not better than most. Parental and admin inputs are needed also. But a rating/performance feedback system is essential...

Seems like I remember hearing that Marv would eventually be coach once Bill P. was promoted as the two had previous ties. I may be wrong and I couldn't find anything via google...

Last I heard Rudy was hit by a little clump of sky...

It should have been built in Batavia. But then, I grew up in Pembroke and Akron... Seriously, Batavia would have been great for Rochester and Syracuse... The other place that might be better is Niagara Falls. Last time I was going through there, there was plenty of real estate... It would also be more Superbowl capable than Buffalo, OP, or Batavia...

I think it's the longest truly football related thread... That is good news about Gus. NG had a birthday once, too...

I said this Saturday night- Comparing Brady to Manning is like comparing Montana to Marino twenty years ago. If you were looking for amazing stats, Marino was your guy. Montana, I think, was a third round pick, which while not as low as Brady, was certainly low enough that no one appreciated that he was a football player first, QB second. Here is another thing to remember about the NE OL: that same line that allowed Mo Lewis to send Drew to the hospital protected Brady just fine as they won their first SB. Let's summarize- I'll take the guy that fits into his team and improves their play.

They may win the division, but they aren't going to see the SB for a while...

What is making it look more unlikely? With MM gone, he may redo his contract.

See you went and put the word pure in there, and that gets me thinking Marino, the best pure passer ever... Who would you rather have as your QB: Marino, or Montana? Same question, only 20 years later: Manning or Brady? Yep, I'd take Montana too.

You forgot Jim Kelly, Bernie Kozar, Vinnie T, Edge, ...

And Wyche...

<Shudder>

I suspect the 3-4 is probably coming back, too, but that leaves us really thin at LB...

Didn't Travis Henry have over 1300 running behind the Mike Pucillo & RJ handing him the ball? By the way, only 5TDs is very, very not best in the league...

You sir, commute a very long distance then for those 8 Sundays. NH, right? (I'm just north of Marlboro near 290&495) While I respect and appreciate that, you also do not even slightly have the mindset of the typical ticket buyer. Look at the early Sabres games when expectations were low, there was 12000. Now they are selling out. What TD has been able to do for every year except the first is convince people this team was loaded. He is a master marketer. Butler and Polian never did much, other than putting a strong team on the field, to get people to buy tickets. SJF training camp rather than Fredonia generates a lot of Bills interest east of Rochester.

One of the things TD accomplished was a brilliant job of filling the stadium. That's extemely impressive considering the product on the field. I also agree that we're not as far away as people around here feel. I doubt Spikes will ever be the same player, and think LB's are a little thin. The lines still need improvement, but going back to a 3-4 might help the D-line. I digress. When the flap with the signs blew up, I think TD lost that ability to fill those stands because of the backlash. That's where he probably lost his job. After 5 non-playoff years and the sign stuff, the fans lost confidence in Tom Donahoe. Ralph wants those seats filled, and TD is no longer trusted around here. He had to go. Levy will keep the seats filled till a better GM comes along, and the seats will be filled next year.

Ahh, no, I didn't have high expectations. But I hoped they would have performed at least as well as last year... I had hoped MW, who did improve last year, would blossom into a Pro-bowler. But don't get me wrong. The D was supposed to do what it did last year, too.

I'm not really sure I can rank the disappointments. Willis comes to mind. So does the OL. DL too. Maybe Jerry Gray. I cannot believe that the loss of Pat Williams caused the D to fall into oblivion.

I have defended him up till this year. The contract he received is structured such that the only way he could come back was if he made the pro bowl. He is simply not worth the money. If he takes a pay cut, sure he should be retained. I doubt he will though. Take heart, if I remember correctly, the 06 draft is supposed to be deep in tackles.

You know, I was going to say the simple "Go Pats!" <shudder> but then I thought, wouldn't it be kind of cool to see the Dolphins win the division, and get a chance to play an undefeated Colts team, at which point the Dolphins could then pretend like they were playing Jacksonville in the playoffs. Now that would be fun to see! Nope, too unlikely. Even though I live in New England, home of the fair weather fan, my loyalties to the team I dislike most shall never waver. Go Patsies!

If he were willing to be the Bills' GM, that would be great. But firing TD (because of on the field performance) without an upgrade to replace him seems foolish to me. Wolf would definately fill that void. Who besides Wolf though would be considered an upgrade?

Thanks for pointing that out...

Root cause is fine and good, but, did you do a Pareto Diagram and 5-why chart?