BillnutinHouston

I voted other - Crossman. More a hope than a likelihood, however.

That settles it for me - we must pick a QB in either the first or second round to solidify the position.

Sorry but wins and losses come down to actual football plays - this cannot be refuted. The Stevie and Chandler fumbles were the key plays that caused the loss. I've yet to hear how playing in Toronto caused those fumbles.

For some reason my quote function is not working, but FireChan sure blew up this thread. He is dead on. This is a sensitive topic for me because although I have moved out of the area, I still support the team through season tickets. I hate not being able to attend most games so it burns me to see whiny, entitled local fans complain about Toronto and then leave seats empty at the Ralph. These will be the same ones voicing their outrage the loudest once the next owner realizes that Buffalo won't give him enough return on his investment. They'll swear that "The Man" did it to them again.

Give me a break - the Bills are not even trying to run in that race. How many investor groups are salivating at the opportunity to run a franchise in an area that commands the lowest ticket and suite prices in the league? Do you not think that cultivating the Toronto market, or even attempting to, has any impact on where the next owner decides to locate the team?

I guess people just see what they want to see. What I see is, if Stevie covers up the Bills win and the premise of the thread is out the window.

The facts don't support the premise. I'm still not clear on how the Rogers Center caused Stevie to fumble.

OK with all due respect, your logic is completely circular and nonsensical. The Toronto series in essence takes tickets off the market. Yet even when they reduce ticket supply by having games in TO, Buffalo still can't generate sufficient demand to sell out all of its games at the Ralph. So your remedy is, add even MORE ticket supply and ticket demand will magically explode as a result? How many tickets would you buy to the extra home game - more than you usually buy?

Agree. This game will be a pretty big stage for the Bills considering they're playing a marquee opponent at home heading into the playoffs. Of course if the Bills win, the narrative in the media will be "what happened to NE"? but if the Bills win you can bet that football people and agents will be taking note of the fact that the Bills are on the rise.

Is it arrogance or ignorance in this particular case? Anyone who has studied the Bills' performance on Sunday knows they played with purpose and intensity. Clearly these two on-air personalities haven't done their homework on the Bills, so I'd label it mostly ignorance. But it was New England, so arrogance is always a safe bet too.

That's a solid point.

Voices of reason are not entertaining. Stop it! If he's healthy enough to play, he must. He needs every snap he can get I develop, and the brain trust needs every snap they can watch to evaluate what they need to do.

Stop right there. I'm sure Tuel was thinking about Toronto as he was throwing his pick-6 against the Chiefs. So yes, that too should be blamed on Toronto.

Great move and I would think it takes some leverage away from Carrington (more importantly Eugene Parker).

If either Stevie or Chandler hang on to the ball, we win the Toronto game, period. I really dislike all the Toronto drama when in reality we should have won the game. The pair of fumbles that left us with a loss can't reasonably be blamed on the location of the game.

Your premise is dead on - Stevie and Chandler never fumble at the Ralph.

Ouch. But so true. Makes total sense. I follow the same rules.

This may speak to priorities, but it also speaks to economics. WNYers seem to forget how much money is out there - maybe not in NY, but certainly in Texas.

Sometimes I think that fans' appreciation for Buffalo having NFL football is inversely proportional to their distance from WNY. The idea that a burg like Buffalo still has an NFL team, and that locals seem to take it for granted, never ceases to amaze me. Move away from WNY and your perspective changes.

Hey, I have that haircut.

Agree.

May Day, I guess the main difference between you and I is, I don't take WNYs weak market personally. It is not a reflection of my worthiness, and I do not take any of Brandon's actions or statements as challenges to my personal worthiness. I believe he is doing what he thinks he needs to do, and is too savvy a marketer to try in any way to diminish his customers - but he is a businessman and therefore must be a realist. I don't see his stating facts or responding honestly to questions from Howard Simon as challenging the worthiness of customers. I grew up in WNY and although I've chosen to leave the area for my career, I will always consider myself a WNYer. Living where I do and being a STH and club seat owner, I rest easy in the knowledge that I'm more than a fan, I'm an "investor" in keeping the team in place. I do, however, worry about fans who can't see the bigger picture and those who are actually against regionalization (not saying you're one of those).

First, Brandon has never said the team needs to leave the area. He HAS been a huge proponent of regionalization and that's a no-brainer. If you take personal offense to the area's weak economy and the need to regionalize, anything I or others say will be lost on you. The facts are the facts. The truth is, if you love the Buffalo Bills and want the next owner to be able to afford to keep them here, Brandon's business moves are the best thing you could ask for. Since you want to quote Brandon, you also must quote his repeated statements that regionalizing is critical to positioning the team to stay in WNY for generations to come. Isn't that what we all want? Sure the truth hurts, but that pain makes it no less the truth. Should Brandon deal in fantasy or fact? In the 90's, when Bills fans were absolutely spoiled with the team's success, the truth is that there WERE occasional blackouts. If you recall, the Greatest Comeback playoff game was blacked out. Would you feel better if Brandon and everyone else just pretended it wasn't blacked out? Does the fact that that game was blacked out, in the midst of the Bills' great success, mean Bills fans are second class? Should anyone's mention of this inconvenient fact be cause to take offense? The answer is no on both counts. The fact is that the WNY market IS relatively small and the economic buying power of the region is far more limited than other markets. Hell, the Houston suburb I live in is more populated than the City of Buffalo. Brandon has an obligation, not only to Mr. Wilson but also more importantly to the next owner, to deal in reality and maximize the market in order to have any shot of keeping the team in WNY. Your taking such offense to these realities doesn't in any way further the cause of keeping the team in WNY. It's interesting that in the middle of your anti-Brandon argument you cite a lack of regionalization back in the 90s as a reason why talking about the 90's now isn't relevant. Although I would argue that blackouts in the 90s during the dynasty years are revealing of the very economic limitations of the region that Brandon has to work to counter, your acknowledgement of the impact of regionalizing is a good first step toward understanding the challenges of operating an NFL team in WNY, and by the way it's also a backhanded compliment to the job Brandon has done.

I challenge you to find me a quote of Brandon's that "throws the failures of the team on the fans" or that speaks of our inadequacies. And by the way, I'm a STH and club seat holder.

I don't mean this disrespectfully or personally, but get over yourself. A slap in the face? The numbers don't lie. The Buffalo market yields the Bills the lowest ticket prices in the league, can afford one of the least frilly stadiums in the league, and routinely waits for Ralph or Russ Salvatore to bail them out so they can watch games on TV. Brandon is making chicken salad out of you-know-what in this market and we should be thankful that he's trying to put the team on the best possible financial footing. If it wasn't for that, why in the world would the next owner want to keep the team in Buffalo?