stevewin

I said in the other thread this is the one comment so far this preseason that gets me the most excited. Physicality matters in the playoffs

This may be the most heartening thing I've seen of any preseason report this year. Physicality goes a long way for wins in the playoffs

One thing I've come to realize is that the national media and non-Bills fans have a different perspective - they haven't been as close to it and for them the story is still a macro view where player dies on field, fights way back, and amazingly is back on the field to be celebrated as a hero. Buffalo fans being so much closer to it have seen so much more coverage of it from the beginning for so long. In some ways I think the Bills fanbase is past that - and at this point he is just perceived/assessed based on his ability on the field today and treated as any other player would be (which in and of itself is a testament to what he has done) Last year I had to smile during telecasts when broadcasts teams would go off on what a beloved hero Hamlin is in Buffalo and how joyous all Bills fans were to see him on the field.. In truth, while everybody appreciates the story of his survival and fight back, for those games many (most?) Bills fans only cared about how well (or badly) he was playing, whether he should even be on the field etc. It doesn't take away from what he's accomplished, but for the most part I think Bills fans view is different from the national one

Virgil cut kind of a surprise

And honestly also take the opportunity to just geek out and enjoy the access as most fans would

One thing I will say is there have been comments on here about how Pegula's interactions were all staged - and I'm not so sure. I've heard Beane in multiple interviews talk about how Pegula loves to be involved n the process of player evaluation - especially in the draft - and a natural extension of that would be the evaluation of who makes the final roster. Beane made the following comments on 'Fitz an Whit' podcast earlier this year before the draft: I've been to mutiple TC practices over the years where Pegula was present, and it is common for him to be talking to Beane and others on the sideline as was shown in Hard Knocks. I think he is 'hands-on' in terms of wanting to understand and be present during player evaluations bc he likes the process (probably how most of us would be), but I don't think he tries to meddle in the actual final decisions. I don't think the shots they've had of him have been totally made-up.

Saw a couple interesting Hard Knocks things today - McD on Shoop/Bulldog, they asked if there was any time/place to have full privacy and McD said one of the 'parameters' they required was that he would have no cameras in his office and that is where he has his private conversations - Beane on McAfee mentioned "they listened to things we thought would be invasive or uncomfortable" and specifically mentioned "we do not want to be releasing players on film" which is normally a big staple of the season finale It seems to me that the NFL was especially accommodating to the Bills - assume Josh, the status of the team etc helped them to be able to dictate some terms

Interesting most people thought Cook practicing yesterday was a sign they basically had come to an agreement, but in Beane's PC today he basically said they told Cook's team he needed to start practicing to advance the discussions - and the deal was made last night after he started practicing again.

Podcast episode for Ep 2 Thought the Siciliano portion was more interesting this one vs just a straight rehash the first. Goes into detail on Ray Davis story - makes one wonder if that is coming in future episode. Went thru Hamler's injury history. Also made me realize that for Andreesen, for all the screen time dont think they ever talked about him playing at UB and being at a tailgate just a few years ago in a Milano jersey where pics exist This interview is the director who is from Rochester and is another good one (Fitz interview in first ep was still the best). Goes into some making the sausage stuff. One thing thought was interesting was they didn't even find out they were going to the Dion drift stuff until the night before. Goes into his hometown connection and how it informs/influences him for this series. Cool story at the end too

Disappointed 2 pages and no one posted the gold standard

Thanks to those who explained 😛 Funny in the Beane portion of the interview they started with discussion of the Josh dick joke thing, which Beane said began early on in his career "Anytime he was around you became guarded - it was hard to have a serious conversation because you think I know there's a punchline here and you walk into it"

Hard Knocks looking for another storyline now 😛

Wish there was more of Buffalo Joe at Skoobs - including some screen time for Skoob (HS friend) I think the most interesting footage the first two weeks would have been guys hanging around in the dorms after practice but seemed obvious they weren't giving that kind of access. As much as they have to show some other storylines, Josh content is still the best content

Crazy Pegs said they had an AED right there and didn't know it

Re: the joint practice, just hoping to get out of it unscathed. Last year Ben Johnson was everybody's darling, but since he took over HC to me he has shown some serious douchebag vibes. Hoping his new 'tough guy' persona doesn't spill over to Bears players doing crap after whistles etc

I was literally about to type the same thing. Wonder what Gilbert would think...

You got me curious and I looked it up - assume this is what he is dealing with. As mentioned above seems common with soccer style kicking motions - kinda weird don't hear about it more often https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4610909/

Amazing Have just watched the first season - OJ OMG - just unbelievable how great he was. He averaged 143 yds that season! No one ran like him before or since - Loved when they show Mercury Morris who was walking after he got body slammed then suddenly drops like he died right there on the field - "After a short departure Mr Morris would return" - They need to bring back the 1973 mascot - Billy Buffalo must die

Agree - of all his bad moments that was the worst imo, just jogging after the RB after he ran past - at least show some desire to recover after the initial fail. That was a lack of effort at the end, wouldn't expect that from a high round (high motor?) rookie trying to establish himself in his first live game At least I think the game should be a big wake up call for him

Hoecht has a burst but he's been spastic overrunning plays

These home broadcasts for preseason games are so bad. Imagine being a Giants fan and they basically ignore the Giants long TD pass - blathering on about the stadium 😛

Hamlin been sticking his head in there on run support

Thanks. From some of the renderings I thought maybe there was glass over a large portion of the areas open to the outside to actually block the wind from entering the stadium along the concourse (and that the panels were more about confusing the wind from going up and over the exterior and into the stadium). It will be very interesting to see what the concourse feels like on a very cold windy day.

So will there be parts of the outer rim of the concourse that will be open to the air (just perforated confusion panels on the outside) vs window/wall? Also wondering same thing about the space between the canopy and the upper deck along the top

I think I hate the douchebag even more now - if that's even possible