Cotton Fitzsimmons

BullBuchanan, my good fellow, if YE OLE may... Far be it for YE OLE to speak for the masses, but the overwhelming issue with Schopp doesn’t seem to be that he disagrees with callers, but moreso how he treats callers. Sometimes people call in with takes that are pretty out there, and other times callers will have something to say that’s quite reasonable. Without any rhyme or reason Schopp will decide to take the next several minutes on air to sarcastically poke fun at said caller. It’s not in a manner of genuine disagreement, but it’s more in the spirit of what an idiot that last guy was... in some cases this act will dominate the remainder of the show. If you listen to someone like Sal, he’ll often disagree, but tell you why he feels that way and shares insight into his actual thoughts. He still acts appreciative that you called his show and it generally makes people want to continue to listen and participate in the discussion. Aside from that, others have mentioned he has used his show as a vehicle to promote “social justice.” There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, and YE OLE, himself, is quite politically involved and follows news closely... but there’s a point where it’s exhausting if it bleeds too deeply into sports talk. Many people like to tune in to sports talk to get away from other aspects of the world for a while. It’s not to say there aren’t genuinely political issues that are relevant to discuss as it relates to the NFL and other sports leagues, but Schopp reaches for it at all times and that can be exhausting. An example that sticks out in my mind is his opinion of Carson Wentz. Prior to last season he stated on multiple occasions that he wasn’t a fan of a Wentz and how he didn’t get all the hype about him. He went a step further indicating that it was because he was this white QB who met this prototypical mould and if he was black he would be an afterthought. It’s fine that Schopp feels the way he does, but my opinion, and I believe the opinion of much of his audience, is that most people are growing fatigued of Schopp’s insistence to make race a part of that discussion all of the time. Again, people can choose to tune in or tune out, but it seems many are limiting the amount they listen to the guy and a lot of it surrounds some combination of these things. If there was an alternative, many people would probably tune in. Just YE OLE’s thoughts for what it’s worth.

K-Gun, my good fellow, you are spot on per usual! YE OLE has listened to Schopp since his WNSA days. There was a time when his “sports talk for smart people” (his tag line, not mine) wasn’t bad. But, over the years it’s gotten horrible. The endless droning on about the Bachelor, candy bar drafts, politics, or whatever topic of the day is mostly nonsense. It’s fine if it’s your cup of tea, but it’s not what I want to hear about when I tune in to a sports talk station. Aside from that, he’s definitely rude to callers and isn’t at all appreciative for the audience he has. He makes it seem as though you’ve greatly inconvenienced him by calling his show. I think it’s all part of his shtick, but it makes me want to tune out. Bulldog seems like a nice enough fellow, but mostly takes a backseat while Schopp works over the poor soul that called in and dared express an unacceptable opinion or simply delivered it in a manner that wasn’t sufficiently eloquent for Mike. For the most part I think people agree with these takes, but he has his supporters too who will say “then just don’t listen.” For the most part YE OLE has tuned out, but admittedly listen to some extent (usually at least Sal’s segments this time of year) because I’m unaware of other options to get bills/Sabres talk, especially for those of us out of town. If there were better options YE OLE would certainly tune him out.

KZooMike, my good friend, YE OLE concurs. I hated the pick on draft night. I had bought the narrative that he had generational talent in terms of arm strength but couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. Clearly, the woeful accuracy thing is not true. He’s fitting the ball into some tight windows. We’ve obviously all talked about it, but the way the ball travels to the receiver it literally looks like he’s playing a different game than everyone else. I would’ve been over the moon had we gotten Mayfield or Darnold, and would’ve preferred Rosen over Allen, but as of right now I think I would take Allen over all of them. It’s preseason and who’s to say how any of them turn out, but Allen does things on a level that the other QBs in this class physically can’t do. Maybe he’ll still devolve into a complete train wreck, but right now I certainly see what McBeane bought into.

YE OLE was as disappointed as anyone when we drafted Allen. Then YE, like most, went through the usual stages of that thing we do as fans and start justifying it. Eventually YE OLE came around to thinking he may turn out. All of that said, Josh Allen legitimately makes throws that a vast majority of other QBs cannot make in their wildest dreams. More so than even YE OLE believed at the start of this draft process. Of of course this was preseason... but his ability to make certain throws is what it is regardless. The TD pass was ridiculous and that’s just a throw that isn’t attempted. MCCLOUD III was not open. We’ve all watched it over and over... YE OLE still has no idea how Allen got that ball in there. He’s also much quicker on his feet than I realized. I know what the combine numbers were and he was certainly billed as a pretty mobile guy, but he exceeded my expectations there. The thing that has moved the bar for me the most is simply the fact of how good his good throws are. The bad throws will probably always be present in his game to some extent, but I’m now of the mind that it might not matter.

Irish, my good fellow, Truer words have not been spoken. YE OLE’s good friend, The Astro Bot is, and forever shall be THE WHIP. FACT!

Ace Allen it is, gents! Who is under center... What is at WR... Why is at LG

Mykidsdad, you are spot on per usual my good friend! YE OLE was fortunate enough to catch this segment of the Rich Eisen Spectacular and YE also came away impressed. It sounds as though “Hacksaw” Josh Allen could indeed be THE WHIP... and that’s the fact Jack!

Maryland, my good fellow... Just imagine the first time Allen slings one into the hospitality tent during 7 on 7 work!

Oh well Art’s the kind of guy who doesn’t mess around. He knows all his sports, he knows every town. Basketball, football, baseball, hockey... oooohhh from Calgary to Boston and of course Buffalo! They call him Art Wander... Art Wander

A Shetland Quarterback, if you will...

YE OLE once wrote a fantastic parody about Trent, entitled “Football Wizard.” Naturally it was set to the tune of Pinball Wizard. What could have been...

MrEps, my good friend... you are spot on per usual. If there’s any legitimacy to the speculation that Luck can be had, this must be priority one. Now YE OLE is just spit balling here, but envision a scenario where Mike McCoy is calling plays and designing a system with Luck under center in Buffalo.

Brianmoorman4Jesus, my good friend, truer words have not been spoken. You are spot on all around!

What’s good, gents? What’s good? Let’s cheer the Colts to victory today for posterity sake!

YE OLE believes what my good friend T-Bomb is saying is that he picked the Bills to win before he picked them to lose. Therefore full marks for T-Bomb... Dilly Dilly!

Senator, my good friend, you are spot on per usual!

Youngmack, my good fellow.. you are spot on! We can only imagine the vicious array of screens that THE CHANIMAL would draw up for Shady

DC Tom, my good friend... YE OLE concurs. It must be done for POSTERITY SAKE!

YE OLE is also getting some nonsense error when trying to sign up for GamePass. Tried multiple cards/payment methods, nothing will go through. McBean, were you ever able to get it to work?

Big Cat, my good friend, YE OLE has had nothing but problems with Gamepass and in previous years the preseason streaming package. Every year YE OLE comes back for more and it never works. In week 1 of the preseason this year after an hour of frantically attempting to log in and getting redirected back to the main page, YE called the customer service number. Of course, no answer there... just a busy signal over and over. After multiple calls, YE OLE took to the online chat... also to no avail. That just timed out after several minutes with no response. Finally, after having been bested by these shysters at every turn, YE OLE emailed support and asked them to please fix it so I could log in or I would cancel my account. 24 hours later a response came that stated "Thank you for contacting support, your account has been cancelled." And the few times the service has worked, it's been very glitchy and the video quality gets very choppy. YE OLE has a reasonably strong internet connection and no problems at all with any other streaming services.

Hammersticks my good friend... how have you been? YE OLE has also been scouring the interwebs per chance to catch a glimpse of tonight's festivities. YE OLE is vaguely familiar with the parascope but as of yet no luck on a potential feed for the scrimmage.

Promo, my good friend, you have hit the nail on the head per usual! Schopp's absolutely demeaning attitude toward every caller was especially ridiculous given his take on today's game. He goes on and on about how he'd rather the Bills have lost this game, but how would THAT post game have sounded. Had the Bills lost in that scenario that would somehow make things better? You can only play the opponent in front of you. It might not be the greatest win ever, but it's better than laying another egg out there. And we've seen Bills teams over this drought do just that in these situations. Aside from today's nonsensical point of view from Schopp, his schtick got old long ago. If you call his show, he either completely disregards you or confronts you to let you know what an idiot you are. Clearly in his mind, no one caller has risen to his superior level of intellect and would ever be remotely capable of adding an interesting take to the conversation. For this reason, YE OLE, would never bother calling in and would gladly welcome any and all alternatives for some good Bills talk.

YE OLE concurs, my good friend! The worst part of the field position battle that seems to get guys like Marrone so jazzed is how little is gained. The fact is every time he elects to punt around the opponents 40 yard line we end up with a touchback OR Schmidt's latest trick is pooching it down there to force a fair catch right around the 18-19 yard line. Who cares about that? If we actually got the opposition pinned down down around their own goal line I could see the benefit. The problem is it's a lot higher percentage that you pick up 4th and 1 than down a punt inside the 5. It kind of gets back to Marrone punting down 2 scores late in the game. Better chance of getting a first down there than recovering an onside kick.

One fateful night YE OLE got lost in Toledo looking for the train station and wandered into a dimly lit gas station. The station attendant peering through his steel cage at YE OLE coldly stated "I do not know where that is" when asked about THE AMTRAK. Before YE could take refuge back in his vehicle... a group of hooligans and ne'er do wells came riding in and started circling the pumps, entrapping YE on the premises. The jig was almost up, and YE OLE was afraid he was going to get THE BLADE that night. TRUE STORY, gents!