Fencesitter

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Todd, Could you please save the "resume" post to bring out whenever some "inexperienced" poster questions running the ball on third or long, or someone without ten years marketing experience questions playing games in Toronto, or when someone without a license as as psychologist questions J.P.'s mental game, or basically if there is any opinion posted by any of these board members at all? (except Simon who has tackled more wide receivers than you have affronted posters--course not sure he would tackle so many if they weren't catching the ball in front of him) Since my own playing career lasted under a decade and I have only been to the one combine, the only football related thing I really have 10 solid years experience on is reading this damn message board. Does that entitle me to evaluate the quality of the posters? If so, I have my assessment of your abilities ready.

Thanks for holding the contest again LA....been a fan of your work since pre Fabio days. Going to fill in an entry even though you made me and my Canadian brethren ineligible. If I go 16 for 16, I'll send you a cheque for free dinner 8-8 with some major streaks Sept. 9 DENVER BRONCOS L Sept. 16 @ Pittsburgh SteelersL Sept. 23 @ New England PatriotsL Sept. 30 NEW YORK JETSW Oct. 8 DALLAS COWBOYSW Oct. 21 BALTIMORE RAVENSW Oct. 28 @ New York JetsL Nov. 4 CINCINNATI BENGALSL Nov. 11 @ Miami DolphinsL Nov. 18 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTSL Nov. 25 @ Jacksonville JaguarsW Dec. 2 @ Washington RedskinsW Dec. 9 MIAMI DOLPHINSW Dec. 16 @ Cleveland BrownsW Dec. 23 NEW YORK GIANTS W Dec. 30 @ Philadelphia EaglesL

I thought breaking news out of Tampa about Mike Williams must have Rosened it.

L - Sep 10 @New England L - Sep 17 @Miami W - Sep 24 N.Y. Jets L- Oct 1 Minnesota L - Oct 8 @Chicago W - Oct 15 @Detroit L - Oct 22 New England W - Nov 5 Green Bay L- Nov 12 @Indianapolis L - Nov 19 @Houston L - Nov 26 Jacksonville L - Dec 3 San Diego L - Dec 10 @N.Y. Jets W- Dec 17 Miami W - Dec 24 Tennessee W- Dec 31 @Baltimore 6-10

Another write-in candidate Marv's back. there is talk we need help at tight end. I am thinking the return of Lonnie Johnson. Nobody played the role at TSW better and since he has been away a while I think he can count as new.

Will you be bringing back any of the current market of free agent posters? Lenny in Sloan ? Lord Rupert? Also, what about the huge production drop off of JÂy RÛßeÒ? Are you just keeping him because he is a character guy? Will you reach an injury settlement with a couple of overly active posters who clearly have ongoing concussion problems? Will you be putting the franchise tag on Simon or let him see what his skills bring on the open market? Finally, in relation to the collective bargaining agreement: are finances solid or is a time for more revenue sharing?

It seems generally agreed that regular season success is unimportant and what matters is playoff success. So I guess all prizes should go to winner of playoff pool Bill, good luck on the final game. You want to tell me who you are picking on Sunday so I can be sure to pick the opposite.

"Only a cyclops could fully appreciate this." Sorry X. I'm not sure but I think TSW has spoken: pictures of possible Sarama haircuts=funny unelaborated references to Classical Greek literature=RJ

Yes but we are many years ahead of the Dolphins in the rebuilding plan I hold to my prediction of positive predictions though I suspect based on the "doomed" comment you might not be first in line, macaroni.

Not only have the Bills been, umm, "disappointing" this year, the AFC east has a shot at having the worst record in the league depending what happens with the NFC west in their non-division games the final two weeks (only AFC east non-dvision left is Bills-Cincy and Phins-Titans). So does this mean we are a really lousy team in a really lousy division or just one or two players away from a playoff team? I just don't see all this negativity continuing at the start of 2006. From an 0-0 standpoint we are probably not going to look too bad compared to the Jet and, Dolphins, and we'll remember that aging Patriot team we should have beat. My predicition--a series of positive predictions on The Stadium Wall next summer--maybe the Bills aren't as good as we thought they were coming into this season, but can they really be as bad as they seem now? Just as long as we can draft a couple of high motor guys, maybe a first round wide receiver, hire a head coach with NFL cooridnator experience, and bring back Kevin Gilbrde .....who knows

A couple of other things about the last visit by the Broncos. Jason Elam was stranded in a blizzard for 5 hours by the side of the road on the Saturday but eventually got picked up by some "good Samitaritans", got to his team, got to the airport and got to kick the overtime field goal with 1:56 left. As Lori's excellent report mentions, Christie had kicked a 55 yarder with about 2 seconds left. The weather wasn't too bad in the first half but the second half comeback for the Bills was in rain and sleet and the game should have gone down as the second greatest comeback in Bills' history. Until we called the double reverse, wide receiver pass in our own end in overtime!!! Like Lori, I don't think I can ever forgive Henning for that play call (and I am still kind of bitter towards that Good Samaritan who gave Elam a ride.) Damien Covington had 20 tackles and half a sack and looked on his way to greatness--it was his last game of professional football I believe. Rest in Peace.

What? McKinnie? Who could have guessed the only Miami Hurricane on the roster would face charges?

But Kelly wouldn't it also be fair and balanced to think that given Moulds has a decade without suspensions that the possible pretty heinous act and/or words might have been avoided with alternative management strategies? I agree nobody would want to suspend a player like Moulds under these circumstances but I would speculate that management might have been able to avoid these circumstances. (I realize I am still speculating about the suspension as well).

d'oh my bad--typing too fast. Change that name to Mike Holmgren and it might make some sense

Every team including champions (perhaps especially champions) is filled with guys who think they should get more playing time, more respect, and should be contributing more. Since you aren't likely to get a whole squad of All pros who possess the"just folow orders" attitude coaches dream about then coaching becomes about managing the egos in a way that the ongoing locker room soap opera doesn't derail the team goals. The locker room soap opera happens to every team-- some manage it better than others. One of the best ways to push it to the background it by winning--then everyone relaxes a little. Don't think the Super Bowl Bills didn't have their issues? If Mike Tice somehow manages to sneak those Vikings into the playoffs this season he deserves Coach of the Year and a whole big bonus pack of Super Bowl tickets to scalp. One of Paul Holgrem's greatest achievements was the way he held on in Seattle with a locker room, from what I've heard Hassleback say, was not keen on young Matt's Losman-like learning curve and Losman-like confidence in his abilities. Homgrem kept the messes from getting all publicly ugly like the Bills situation is now. The worst part for me is, unlike the Eagles, this dispute need not have blown up. T.O. parked in Coach's parking spots and refused to open his playbook at meetings. Now that sort of insubordination has got to be pretty rare and definitely can't be tolerated. But as far as I see, the way management is failing the Bills isn't that Moulds/Mularkey have issues but that we are talking about them so much. Moulds has done nothing that shouldn't have been handled at a point BEFORE Mulkarkey needed to stonewall like he is. It is not about not having the fires, its about being able to put them out before they spread. Again, easy when you're winning, harder when you're losing. Really hard when you're losing and you have Terrell Owens. If the management has lost control of the team then management change is called for because getting rid of one R. Brown, or one S. Adams, or one E. Moulds doesn't solve the problem and may worsen it. Oh yeah, and calling fans jerks when the situation is starting to get out of control does not strike me as an effective "put out fires" kind of strategy. Just one jerk's opinion.

Just a couple of thoughts on youth football and the Bills. John I sympathize with what you are going through but really have to agree with those who say just accept the overly involved self involved parents as one of the big downsides to a job that has a huge upside in terms of helping out a lot of kids. No Coach gives every kid a "wonderful experience" because in order for a Coach to be any good he/she has to be consistent and sometimes that particular style will misalign with a certain kid or as often the case a certain kid's "familial situation". You are volunteering and giving the best you can give and that's got to be its own reward because the "universal appreciation" award will never come. And if it comes one year then the next the exact same Coach might get villified. The parents you are dealing with undermining your work is irritating as hell but all you can do is the best job as you understand it-- learn what you can and teach what you can. But those "cancer parents" sometimes are simply good people with a blind spot. It reminds me of a comment I read on The Stadium Wall a couple of days ago saying "you guys are irrational". Well, of course we are. Anybody who gives as much passion to a football team as we do has got to be beyond rational. Some of those parents love their kids almost as much as we love the Bills and it causes them to respond to you the way Mularkey and Greg Williams and Tom Donahoe get responded to around here. Thanks for doing what you're doing and if you keep venting here rather than in ways that can do harm to the players then you are handling it well (not that you shouldn't make the collective wisdom of THE STADIUM WALL required reading for all your players who want to learn about the game of football)

One of the finest games I ever saw a Bills linebacker play was by Damien Covington. His injury agains the Broncos cut way to short a career that could have had his name as part of this thread. Rest in Peace Mr. Covington.

In the same vein of Queen trying to tour without Freddie Mercury. I thought Joe Strummer was great but The Pogues without Shane Macgowan just aren't The Pogues

I've been lurking here since the D and C boards melted down and I've gotta chime in....IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. It doesn't matter if you think the only change in Bledsoe from last year to this is that he has gone from the Venus deMilo gettting his arms knocked off to a stone replica of Franklin the Turtle...IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. It doesn't matter if you think Mike Williams has now lived up to his number 4 overall status (now 4 overall behind Patulski, Cousineau, and A.C. Cowling among first round draft picks taken in the top 5)....IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. It doesn't matter if you think the buck stops at Mularkey Donohoe or Wilson...IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. It doesn't matter if you think that Bruce Smith could get a better pass rush carrying our current defensive ends on his back....IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. It doesn't matter if the blocking of the current tight ends have you longing for the good old days of Friggin Lonnie....IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. It doesn’t matter if you think Travis, Willis, or Paris should be carrying your ball… IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday Now I have been a long time reader but I never thought I'd write....(hold on that sounds like the start of my response to the Cortland sorrority thread...) Anyway, I've been a long time reader and I never thought I’d write a “you’re only a true Bills fan if..." post. My tent of Bills fans if big enough to hold all of you...just as long as you can realize IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday and no matter how much this team has broken my heart or p.ed me off or how much stevestojan I've had to put up with we got to beat THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. My tent of Bills fan is wide...the community of TBD is like a garbage plate of posters which individually might not seem very appetizing but mixed all together creates something special. My tent is wide enough to hold JSP and YVEL-DIK-BARRY-FAT My tent is wide enough to hold Ed and Ice (as long as Ed doesn’t try to hold Ice) My tent is wide enough to hold everyone from Alaska Darin to DIB, from BillsGuyin Malta to AussieW and everyone in between . My tent is wide enough to hold all of you (well maybe Simon will have to stay in a pup tent out back but he’s still welcome on the campsite.) Just as long as you appreciate… IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday It has been tough to be a Bills fan this year, and there be more stevestojan to put up with before we can get past the way this team has been rosened by management. But still IT'S THE FREAKIN' DOLPHINS on Sunday. The Bills still have the chance to take 1/8 of the credit for the Dolphins 0-16 season. And I want to be able to mention that 0-16 team everytime somebody brings up that undefeated team of sometime last century. So Go Bills destroy THE FREAKIN’ DOLPHINS on Sunday