Lori

Lower your expectations, then, because it ain't happening.

Take 2:

You had to bring up Schott, didn't you? Auuugh. Lifetime Reds fan here. They weren't bad for part of her tenure; in fact, there was that wire-to-wire division championship and World Series sweep in 1990, and they were in playoff position when the '94 season self-nuked. That said, she was a horrid person with or without the Nazi memorabilia -- remember when Eric Davis lacerated his kidney diving for a fly ball in that '90 Series, and she made him pay for his own medical flight from Oakland back to Cincy? THERE'S your miser, not Ralph. Speaking of which, does anyone remember the pre-salary cap days, when Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith were the highest-paid players in the league at their positions? Or RCW joking about "selling a Monet" to redo Andre Reed's deal?

Right there is the crux of the situation. You posted that IN A THREAD TITLED "ASK TIM GRAHAM." If I'd seen it before he did, I would have moved or deleted it, because it did not belong there. You apparently also missed SDS' memo. Damn right, I defended him (per usual). He's a friend. Who the hell do you think asked him to join this board in the first place? And I did that thinking TBDers would be mature enough to interact with him on an adult level. That was my first mistake.

Bingo. In fact, when ESPN issued a social-media policy which restricted its employees from participating in unauthorized (read: non-ESPN) blogs, message boards, and other platforms, Tim made the effort to clear his membership here with his editor. Didn't have to do that, either. He could have EASILY said, "Sorry, guys, but they're not going to let me keep doing this," which is what happened with one of their columnists who used to hang out at our writers' board. When I first asked him what he thought about the idea of a pinned thread, he replied, "I would be honored to do it." Only took 15 months for the haters to beat that out of him. Again, nice job. As for the Schottenheimer flap: while Nevergiveup disagreed with Tim on precisely who inside One Bills Drive was against hiring him -- they were getting their info from sources on opposite sides of the situation, remember -- he confirmed that Marty did indeed want the job, which is what most people were attacking Tim on.

Plenty of people here, in this thread and elsewhere, take issue with Bills ownership/front office/coaches/players/etc. Difference is, they're mature enough to do so without firing grade-school insults at everyone they disagree with. Two Bills Drive Terms of Service For anyone who finds that rule too difficult to follow, I'm sure there are plenty of other Bills message boards out there.

Yes, he did. Wrong answer. This is a PRIVATELY owned and operated website, which means that you can take your First Amendment argument elsewhere. The rules in this PRIVATE forum are set by its owner, SDS. Including this one: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?showtopic=106793 Perhaps "tell so-and-so to STFU" is dinner-table conversation in some of your households. Not in mine.

Why? The people who kept crapping on him didn't seem to be able to.

Why SHOULD Tim have had to defend the entire ESPN platform? He's not the one in charge of it. He said a while back that visiting the site was becoming less and less enjoyable, and when it stopped being fun, he was done. He's not the only one: have you guys ever stopped to ask yourselves why the crew from WGR faded away? Because (as one of them told me), every time one of them posted, it devolved into a let's-bash-Schopp thread, and they eventually got sick of it. So, I'll repeat myself: nice job. And don't be surprised if I start spending a lot less time here, too. Add: Hell, maybe some of you will applaud that as well.

Congrats, folks. You finally did it. Thanks for lasting as long as you did, Tim. And with that, I think we're done here. Add: the next question is whether or not I am. I'll get back to you on that one. 2nd Add: For those of you who care to, you can catch up with me on Twitter or Facebook, or drop an e-mail to portsports (at) verizon.net. Cheers.

Or because they're in love with the sound of their own voice. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Rome.

Trenton is a hole. Buddy works for the Trentonian, but lives across the river in Mo-ville.

He is. Went up in 1998. The list through 2008, courtesy of KRC. (You can find it under the "History" tab on the menu on TBD's front page.) http://www.twobillsdrive.com/buffalo-bills...s-wall-of-fame/ I know a couple of guys on the committee who really liked Chandler. He's probably a longshot -- don't know how they feel about posthumous selections, for one -- but don't give up hope just yet. As I said earlier, Edgerson's induction means they might also take another look at some of the other pre-Super Bowl players.

For those wishing to register a complaint about ESPN.com, here's their feedback page: https://r.espn.go.com/members/contact/index thanks, the management

At least this one didn't puke on anyone ... although he may have felt like it after getting tased for running onto the field. Hahahaha: http://www.philly.com/philly/photos/sports...?cmpid=42907682

Some interesting soundbites from today's media sitdown with Edgerson, including one on the play I wrote about: http://blogs.buffalonews.com/billboard/201...ll-of-fame.html Cookie's is a little different situation than Saban. I was told several years ago that he's actually been invited back to some of the AFL reunions, Alumni Days, and such, but demanded an appearance fee and refused to show up otherwise. If that's true, I can see the team saying, "Never mind." There also used to be a cookiegilchrist.com site floating around the Web where he called RCWjr. a slaveowner, but I don't know if it still exists. I'll check, but I'm not sure I can publicly ID the members of the committee. Sorry. (You can probably guess who the majority of the media representatives are, though. And of course, Ralph has a vote.)

Still there, far as I know: Cleveland Browns Front Office And one other thing signified by Booker's selection: guys like Byrd and Butler still have a chance. A few years back, I was told that once the committee started inducting the Super Bowl-era players, it was going to be near-impossible for anyone before that period to make it.

A buddy in Tennessee informs me via Twitter that the water has now hit Row 3 (and rising) at LP Field, and that the Predators' arena is also flooding. Along with countless area businesses and homes, of course, for those not preoccupied with the sports angle. I know there are several TBDers in that part of the world, and that y'all are probably doing more important things than messing around on a Bills message board right now. Just wanted to send some thoughts your way. Check in when you can, and let us know if there's any way we can help. Also want to send a shoutout to Paul Kuharsky, ESPN's AFC South guy. While he was stuck at Jags minicamp this weekend, his wife and infant son were at home in Nashville, and I know he was plenty worried about them. Hope all's well.

SJ, I agree with you on Saban, but it's not happening. As for the Wall not being merit-based, tell me who doesn't belong up there. I probably would've gone for Byrd first too ... until I started talking to the guys who covered that team. It's the same argument people used (and some still do) against Dick LeBeau for the Hall of Fame -- he has a ton of INTs, but he also played opposite two corners who were already in the Hall, Night Train Lane and Lem Barney, for most of his career. If you're a QB, are you throwing at Night Train or "the other guy"? And that's not meant as a knock on Byrd. They were both darn good. In fact, I think putting them up together would have been pretty cool, but the Bills want to focus on one inductee per season. (2000, with Kalsu's posthumous induction in addition to George Saimes, and 2001, when Smerlas was the choice but they HAD to put Kelly up before his HOF vote, were the only exceptions.)

It is not, but after talking to several members of the committee, I wouldn't be surprised to see it up there in the next few years. Props to the late Pete Knaus, a longtime member and former president of the Bills Booster Club, for spearheading the drive to get Kalsu's No. 61 up there. And if someone wanted to rename the stadium in Kalsu's honor, I wouldn't be opposed to that, either.

From Sal Maiorana's "Game of My Life": Interestingly, Mr. Gehman, Edgerson picked the same game you did for his chapter in Sal's book. My own humble submission: http://www.twobillsdrive.com/buffalo-bills/game-day/1174/ Add: forgot to note my own congratulations to Mr. Edgerson -- who, according to the people who watched that '60's team play, is an entirely worthy recipient of this honor in addition to being a heck of a nice guy. I was hoping to get the chance to talk to him for my story, but once the date of the announcement was moved up, that went out the window.

In a vote conducted on Friday, Apr. 23, a panel comprised of local media and team personnel chose cornerback Booker Edgerson as the this year's inductee to the Wall of Fame at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Nope. Doc's a college prof, not a high school teacher.

You crazy kids have fun. (In all seriousness, give ML my best, and have a great day.) Add: just remembered that it's also my former managing editor's birthday. I'd ask y'all to wish him a happy one, but he hates the Bills, so I won't.

He spared me the profanity -- partly because of my gender, I imagine, but also because we were at a public event. His description of Mike Webster's final days has stayed with me, though.