SoMAn

I had the idea that Milano was bigger, but you’re right- they’re about the same size.

Something tells me Bernard will have an impact. I know little about him, but all the comments and everything written about him indicates he’s ‘a baller’ who can play bigger than his physical size. It’ll be interesting to see how he’s used in the Bills’ defensive schemes. Could he make a position change to be an eventual replacement for one of our veteran safeties? Could he be an undersized pit bull like a London Fletcher or Sam Mills? He’s one of the newbies I’ll be following closely, hoping he’s the next ‘unicorn’.

Choice # 5: ‘who cares?’

He, along with all his teammates needs a taste or two of actual speed live action before the games start counting. He won’t experience the same intensity in team practice as he will in live action against an unfamiliar opponent with different defensive schemes than the one he’s been facing for the past 7 weeks. There are reasons golfers practice the driving range and putting green before hitting the links. if the concern is injury, well, I suspect the chances are greater coming into the season ‘cold’. For preseason games, he’d probably only see 3-4 quarters total. I believe he can survive that.

Realism? I realize it’s fashionable to knock Sullivan, but there’s nothing in his column I disagree with. There’s a ton of optimism for the coming season. Rightfully so. It’s our right as fans. Hope springs eternal at 0-0. Every season there are surprises and divisional standings that get flip-flopped. With only 17 games, there’s less margin for error/injuries. Anything can happen. The other unpredictable nature of sporting events is part of the reason we watch. If the Bills continue growing and the new pieces (players and coaches) work towards that end, this could finally be our year. Or…a misstep here or there and those lofty expectations will sadly go up in smoke. Sullivan isn’t wrong in playing counterpoint to the Bills’ PR machine and GMF. The only way to find out is by playing the games. Bring it on!

The Fridge - excellent choice. Leading into the draft, Tasker addressed the value of a memorable (or cool) nickname that has the potential to raise a prospects' draft position. It's marketing. In the same era as the Fridge was Bengals RB Icky Woods - another guy whose achievements on the field weren't necessarily commensurate with the attention he received nationally. But...he was on a decent team, had a nickname, and had a dance. Aikman and Bradshaw led teams to multiple NFL championships. Enough said. If you're measuring Namath against current athletic QBs and sheer physical ability, he's average. But, he was a pioneer in a still fledgling AFL. He was brash, fashionable, and colorful. Just what the AFL needed in the changing 60's to compete against the old school NFL. He was a charismatic QB who probably had the sort of leadership qualities that can elevate the level of play of the rest of the squad. Overrated? For me there's someone on the Bills team, but rather than beating that dead horse, I'll leave it alone.

If anyone gets kudos as ‘the drought-breaker’, his name is Sean McDermott. To Tyron’s credit, by all accounts he was a hard worker and good teammate. As the starting QB he had some positive traits, but there were still flaws in his game. His low interception numbers are more attributable to his phobia of throwing into coverage than passing accuracy. His legacy is that of a typical Journeyman quarterback-a guy who could be a serviceable understudy as a temporary substitute for the starter. Someone who is never expected to lead a team to an NFL championship. Someone who rarely gets a second contract with the same team. The big question that haunts me to this day- why would someone’s parents name them after a car part?

Kelly's 4 AFC championshjps against far tougher competition is a greater accomplishment than 2 AFL titles in an 8-team league when they didn't have to play the NFL (NFC). Kemp's 'title" games were maybe the equivalent of a AFC Championships today, though with less competition. Kemp was a very good QB, but not elite. He's not in the HOF for a reason.

On the contrary. It could potentially generate more revenue if there were 18 weeks of meaningful games. Sure, there would be 2 weeks off for any given team, but that's more TV exposure for other teams. TV is where the real money comes from in the NFL. An 18-week season with 2 bye weeks would mean more TV money.

It’ll always be Sunday, but wish they’d go back to making it an afternoon game like it used to be. Start at 3:30 east coast time, 12:30 in the west and we can still have a party and be winding down the weekend by 8:30. None of the over-50 crowd I know that are still in the daily work force want to be partying late on a Sunday.

There are a lot of up in these parts. If I wear any Bills gear out in public I have a better than 50% chance of getting a comment from another ex-WNYer and/or Bills fan. Been in Woodstock GA zip code for 30 years. Sleepy little town has turned into party central on weekends with lots of live music, brew pubs, and upscale dining. Would have enjoyed it a lot more if I were 30 years younger. On the plus side, my home’s value has appreciated considerably with this in-demand market. maybe we need a local Bills-backers chapter up this way

Fortunately, the satellite revolution was coming in about the time the team was ascending into a playoff power, making it easier for us out of town transplants to witness the team’s rise. In the late 80’s Sports bars were discovering the advantages of catering to a dedicated team fan base, so in Atlanta there were a couple of ‘Bills bars’ that were sure to be a gathering spot for the pre-mafia fan base. Good fun and great way to commune with the fellow faithful. Eventually, residential dishes and NFL Sunday Ticket displaced the weekly sports bar. As convenient as the bars were at the time, it could get expensive and it was risky enjoying a few adult beverages unless you had a dedicated driver. As I get older, the comfort of my own easy chair and HDTV to never miss a game* are a luxury, though I’m hoping to join the mafia for at least one game at our local Anchor Bar in Kennesaw. * about the only time my viewing was interrupted was when some doofus let a Mylar balloon loose, hitting power lines outside the stadium and it blew out all power for the broadcast of the Chargers against the Trent Edwards-led Bills.

Times have certainly changed. We are probably about the same age. Relocating to metro Atlanta in mid-80’s, finding a crumb of Bills news was a chore. A few seconds on ESPN or a sentence or two in USA Today if you were lucky. No sports bars with satellite feeds and still a decade away from practical smaller residential satellite dishes. No internet. No cell phones. Around that time I found a large local bookstore in Atlanta where I could get the Sunday Buffalo News, usually by the following Friday. At least there was decent enough Bills’ content on the days leading into and throughout the season. The difference in today’s instant access is analogous to having to cross the continent by covered wagon in months compared to jetting from NY to L.A. in a few hours. You young whipper snappers with your fancy smart phones are the beneficiaries of a technical era in which you don’t know know anything other than immediate gratification. You spoiled little bastards! 😜 USA Today can SMD

After nearly 20 years dominating the AFC East and getting the better of the Bills in superbowk XXV, he and Brady still have the 'under the skin' lead on Bills fans by a wide margin As much we detest Belichick for being the architect of our misery, he's actually pretty gracious in his praise of Allen. The guy knows football inside and out and has respect for greatness. He gets pissed off and doesn't mask his emotions when he doesn't get the effort he's accustomed to from his players.

Arrange and sort the names first by least number of people murdered by that former player and then by year.

It’s obviously a serious condition, so regardless of the reason, my thoughts are with the Pegulas and praying for a complete recovery for Kim.

Do you know why you've experienced outages? Most problems can be resolved. I realize you've gone back to cable, but for others: Start with having maximum signal strength. Have you called DTV about the outages? Has your dish been 'peaked' recently? It may be as simple as getting a technician to re-point the dish to receive max signal. Do you have trees or other obstructions blocking the site line? If so, move the dish or the trees. Also, depending on the thickness of the foliage, you may get an ok signal in winter when trees are bare, but find the signal compromised in summer and more susceptible to weather-related outages when you're just barely locked in. If you're in an area that experiences frequent, slow moving violent storms, satellite TV may not be your best option. I haven't had an issue with it.

If you still think we (America) hasn’t made progress, consider how nobody today gives a second thought to a starting college or pro black QB. Briscoe and Harris and those who looked past color to give them opportunities were trailblazers. We’re not perfect, but we’ve come a long way. Briscoe was a great player. I was sorry the Bills traded him, but Saban was trying to get OJ to reach full potential, and to do that, the O-Line needed to be fortified. Briscoe was recognized in Miami for his accomplishments and awarded by having the Florida baseball team named after him. 😉 Thanks for the memories Marlin and for your part in advancing equal opportunity.

That sounds about right. Again, 20+ years since it all went down so don’t remember the sequence of events, but my sense is that the excitement generated by Flutie’s success which put the Bills back into the playoffs played a role in extending the lease. Up until that point, there was concern and the usual panic and hand-wringing among the Bills faithful that their beloved Bills could suffer the same fate as Modell’s Browns who departed for Baltimore after the ‘95 season.

Actually, the success of the Flutie-led Bills of the late 90’s was probably more of factor in keeping the Bills in WNY. I don’t recall all the details, but I believe the renewed interest, increased attendance, enthusiasm, etc was integral to funding for the necessary stadium renovations and extended lease. Anyone remember just how that went down?

Just gotta turn off the phone. But…that said…this past season I didn’t do that too much. Kind of got sucked into the social media vortex so I could tap into this forum and commune with the mafia when there were outrageous penalties or non-calls by the officials or phenomenal plays by the bills. Was curious to see if my fellow bills brothers and sisters were seeing things the same way I was. Time shifting isn’t an option when browsing the Stadium Wall during game time.

Surprised. Sometimes you just need to hit at the right time or get a knowledgeable rep. a lot of people received the email last year telling them it was being given free. I got something like that, then they billed me. Had to call and schmooze a bit, but got the ticket free and credits for $$ off. The password to get what you want is “cancel”. On the plus side for those without the ticket or DTV- Probably at least half the Bills’ games (or more) will be available without DTV, depending on their market.

When Sunday ticket goes to one of the other services, I’ll look into those options. DIRECTV gets expensive, though they’re usually willing (or desperate enough) to negotiate better rates. I do like the recording options. A lot of the shows are now available on demand, but the fly in the ointment is the inability to fast-forward through ads. During negotiations they’re always pushing the movie channels. Don’t have much interest in todays movie offerings. Mostly Kids fare, low brow comedies, superhero retreads, sci-Fi fantasy-just not my thing. Eball- are you still in Atlanta area? I’m in northern ‘burbs.

I’ve had DIRECTV for 24 years. Weather-related outages are infrequent. If the dish is peaked correctly and the line to the bird not obstructed by trees or other structures, outages are rare, but when it happens it’s usually very temporary. It only occurs when a large storm system is passing in the line between the dish and satellite transponder. I’d bet that cable subscribers have more outages. With satellite, there’s always ample bandwidth. It’ll be frustrating when the streaming services are overloaded and buffering becomes an issue. I enjoy the multi-room and DVR recording (time-shifting*)benefits that come with DIRECTV. I don’t know that streaming has those advantages. * while recording Bills’ games, I’ve often sat down to watch the game (from the beginning) an hour or so after real time kickoff. This makes the most of my precious weekend hours. I can skip through all the lame advertising, halftime banter, and endless promos for mindless CBS sitcoms and enjoy all the Bills game in about 2 1/2 hours.

I was there....sort of. I don't remember exactly, but I believe the couple I was with gave up and wanted leave early to beat the traffic when it looked like the Bills were going down.. We were just outside the stadium when we heard the roar and cheers from the crowd who stayed until the end. I've learned to NEVER give up when there's still a chance, as slim as it may be. Don't think I ever again left before the final gun.