leh-nerd skin-erd

this is so weird. as i read willis's comments, this little timmo1805 with a halo popped up on my right shoulder and whispered in my ear the same prayer as you just wrote, Sketch. And it made sense to me, but then, this little timmo1805 with red horns, forked tongue and pitchfork popped up on my left shoulder and screamed: "I really hope he gets theismaned in the pre-season..." as of this note, i'm liking the pitchfork guy...

he probably wanted to, but couldn't read the map.

see, this happens so much. the guy leaves, after some of the stupid things he has said over time, he gets dealt, and i say "no hard feelings, good luck to you.". meanwhile, he's skipping workouts designed to build a cohesive team, he's running his mouth about being the best back in the nfl and being average on a good day thereafter, and his stupid, if potentially taken out of context comments for pernthouse magazine. toss in there the fact that the guy really wanted a long term deal, was given time and money to rehab in year one, and has countless fans wearing their hard &^%$ing earned money on their back in the form of a McGahee jersey to the games....i can live with all that, and the guy going getting traded because frankly, he doesn't like us (i'm in Albany now but a WNY'er at heart always). and i figure---he doesn't like us, who we are, our city...fine, no hard feelings, just churn out the yards for us while you're here and enjoy Miami when you're not. then, this millonare douchebag who doesn't have the mental capacity to remember to put a glove on his little willis gets what he wants and goes elsewhere and has to run his mouth about the type of things one would expect HIM to bring to the table. we need only look back a week or so to London Fletcher's press conference to see how differently it can go. The major difference was lack of leadership, also known as class. So, Willis, good day to you, enjoy your time in a bigger city, hang out with Ray Lewis and your boys and thanks for nothing. In the end, you didn't matter here. All your talent meant nothing.

nate = the black bruschi i have a friend in SF who's a lifelong niner's fan. i wished him luck with NC (i have no beef with NC wanting to make the money), and recounted the infamous post-game interview with NC after Chambers caught 67 passes in the second half a couple years back. it was pretty damn funny when he stormed out that day (relatively funny given what happened against the fins that day..).

i'm not sure it says a heck of a lot about their character. it's an age old story, the girls gets pregnant by a successful guy---how this happens in 2007 makes you wonder who thought whom had protection and whom one should trust at particularly critical times in ones life. he would be wise to be careful where he serves brady's famous albino salsa in the future, though.

the cold hard facts of this business is that guys come, and guys go. some go because they can make some serious jack on the open market. some go because they want to play on a team which increases their potential of grabbing a super bowl ring. some leave because the team lets them go. some suffer injuries and you get to the point where management has to decide--will this once great player return to that level of performance, and if so, when? then there are players like McGahee. Signs would point to the likelihood that he should be a major impact player in the league. he's shown flashed ofdominance, had some good years, etc. if he played every game like he plays when he suits up against the jets, we'd not be having this conversation on a number of levels. i think the reality is that the whisper of a hint of what he might be able to bring to the table is tantalizing, but there isn't enough to push him over the top as your absolute go-to back. couple that with his likely desire to play in a larger market, his desire to renegotiate, and his mouth getting him into trouble now and again, and it makes sense why a wise management team might look to move him. i think marv's overall philosophy is this: let's take a reasonable and calculated approach to increase the probability that we will win a championship. we're in the 15th or 16th month of the marv/jauron era, they've made some mistakes and scored some victories. i'm with those of the mind that there is a plan in place to get good people who want to play in WNY to come and play in WNY. with a solid offensive line, and impact players on defense. after all, we're not looking to move LT for God's sake.

i appreciate your feedback. i shall forever be known as timmosarm, or holcomb1805. not sure which, but you hit the nail on the head. there are great players on every team. you gotta beat brady, manning, lt, whomever to win the big one. and, on second thought, my name change would be too hard.

my point is if you feel you have the right people, you build your team irrespective of what any other team is doing. the original poster thought we had made some good moves ("own" the division), but subsequent moves by other teams trumped them. deal with what you have, build your franchise, etc etc etc. i'm much more concerned about tom brady killing us next year then i am about the addition of thomas to their roster, and he was already in place. i thought my hot girl analogy was pretty clear, but obviously not. my bad.

you have to build your own team before you can expect to contend for the division crown. i think the recent success of the patriot's had more to do with what they were able to accomplish as a team, than specific individual efforts standing alone. it's like dating a really hot girl, and then running into a buddy who's got one slightly hotter. you can sit and wonder about all the great stuff he's going to be doing later that night, or invest some serious time into making sure your own night is good. besides, the pats still looked dangerous before FA. they have a kazillion picks, they'll be good again. hopefully, we'll be gooder.

i used to do a lot of jigsaw puzzles. i always hated them, they were so ugly. big holes in the middle, mine never looked like the picture on the box. the store wouldn't take them back, some b-s about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. i just stopped doing them. there may be a parallel here, but i can't see it.

ahh, so you feel positioned to be the trier of fact as to when it's acceptable for people to dump their seasons and when it's not? the guy from Virginia who decides he's not going to buy the product is ok to do so, but the guy from WNY who decides the product is substandard is a quitter? i spend money, time and effort to support the Bills, and if someone wants to get rid of their season tickets to send a message to Ralph, what's the problem to you? it's self-serving? this board is alll about self-serving statements. Pompous? Maybe in some cases, but no more so than someone suggesting that someone else "shut the f##ck up". i support the Bills on every medium I can find---home games, away games, network television, local bars, etc---but to suggest that's it's ok to dissect every play/player/coaching decision/owner statement and yet not toss out an opinion about the pro's and con's of season ticket purchases seems unAmerican to me. No soup for you!

i'm asking for some assistance here. i've done a bit of research and can't find an article where clements says, or levy is quoted, as saying that there was an agreement not touse the franchise tag again. i have read alot of speculation that a likely reason nate came back to camp when he did was perhaps because there was a verbal assurance re: it, but virtually every article i can find suggests marv's response was "no comment". i can only find quotes of nc saying something alon ght lines of "we;ll see what happens...". has anyone seen anything different? from what i gather, it appears that the Bills have positioned themselves to do what they want to do when this issue comes to a head, regardless of what nate wants. perhaps that involves moving on without him, but maybe not. he had a good year, it'd be good to see the defense step up a couple notches this year, and he'd certainly help.

hmm---i was kind of going off his reference at the time. i've never been much into metal, and big hair was descriptive. thanks for the feedback.

"but you're definitely using the lube, right Doct....arrrggggggg!"

on the bright side, you guys have been our BESTEST ally since the early 1800's! this post reminds me of when a girl i worked with got a new hairstyle. at the time, say mid-1990's, it was not what all the other girls were wearing, kind of a throwback big hair look popularized by your basic heavy metal band. she asked me what i thought, and of course i told her i thought it looked very nice. she went then to the next guy in the office---a guy with moderate hearing loss and a large booming voice, asked the same question, and he responded "JESUS CHRIST---I HATE IT! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? ARE YOU JOINING A METAL BAND?". some of these replies were brutal. funny, but brutal. nick--you are creative enough to come up with a logo, don't give up on the process. everyone said van gogh (sp?) was crazy while he was painting, and it look how it turned out for him!

i was speaking with a friend yesterday, a 'skins fan. he was mentioning the penalty trend that seems to nudge the pats in the right direction, unsolicited by me. he mentioned specifically the personal foul on the p.a.t. after the chargers went up by 8. this gave the pats a 15 yard bennie on the ensuing kickoff. i recall being surprised at the call---a couple of linemen pushing back and forth. i can't specifically recall it---but my recollection is it was the kind of after-play scrum you see routinely. anyone remember it? IF i'm correct ,it seems like an odd time to call a penalty for something like that. again--is it a push in the pats favor?

seems reasonable. i was just wondering, in no particular order. but--i swear i've seen quotes from marv on the importance of building strong lines on o/d. one quick thought that both perplexes and torments me in the recesses of my sould when, after midnight, the dead rise and walk the cold dead streets in search of souls to feast on: how could any coach/scouting staff/gm NOT come to the conclusion that ignoring the line(s) is done at your own peril. it's like working out and having some pretty cut up arms and shoulders, and skinny legs and a fat flabalanche belly. with a multidue of people giving input, even if you had one or two guys pushing for other positions, you'd thinkl one would say "hey guys, i was just thinking, our running backs are rotinely hit a yard deep on running playsm, and our qb is sacked every 8 times he drops back to pass--what's up with that?". yet it seems that it's done by many teams year after year. i never played organized football in my life, and yet it seems like it should be as basic as breathing. not necessarily looking for a response, just pondering.

it's hard not to count the pats in the mix based on past experience. it could easily go the way you suggest. a not-totally-objective observation is that much of what you attribute to the pats d holding the Chargers to 21 was more a result of lack-of-execution by the Chargers than execution by the Pats. Of course, you could infer that the multitude of dropped passes by the bolts, the mindless penalties and questionable decision-making by certain Chargers during the game were a result of the defensive show put on by the Pats and their coaches. I want the Colts to win to the extent that i care, and honestly I'm sick to death of the Pats winning, but this is not meant to be a negative "you got so lucky" post. much luck is made by the team on the field. the heads-up stripping of the ball to turn the game around by tb certainly has elements of luck (decision by the back to interecept v. knock down, the fact that he didn't have a clean pick and was boblling the ball on the run) combined with some damn good defense by an offensive player. to be fair, the Pats executed when they needed to and won the game. that's the mark of a good team, and will keep the Pats in the hunt as long as they can do so. on any given sunday, any team have a great defensive game. the probability that the pats will do so is substantially higher than most due to their coaching, execution, etc. if they bring it sunday, and get on a roll against peyton and the boys, they'll win. it seems to me that they've lost a step or two on defense, but they never roll over. could be a good game.

i'm of the mind he has taken those things into consideration and has a plan to address the needs. he's on record as stating the importance of solid line play on both sides of the ball. your analysis of a 'bush league' draft seems strong to me, but if you're disappointed in both the caliber of player and the decision-making that went into selecting the player, i guess bush league is as good a critique as any. i think the draft was a goos one in retrospect, and we'll see what happens in year two. so what's your read on why they didn't go the correct way on draft day?

tyson-holyfield? the infamous ear-biting fight? you may be right on this one---if you position the pats as the ones to beat, the ones who rarely back down, who rarely lose, and step up and punch them right in the face----maybe you get rid of that old history and make some new memories. i don't think they have to come out of the box hot, but control the game and put some points on the board. that was something the chargers struggled with. i concur as well, a good but not great team is coming in from new england. the house will be rocking...

i can't recall---did marv say he said it, or did nate or nates people say he said it. there's a lot of posturing in these negotiations, always. if marv said he wouldn't, he won't, but it seems like a strange thing to say to a marquis player when millions are at stake. and, assuming at the time nc had a big season, they'd have to want to pay him, or let him test the waters (or tag him and buy them some bargaining room).

"Here's the deal, Mike. I'm going to give you just an incredible amount of Me-given talent, and it will make you popular. Popular with the ladies, popular with the fellas, pop-pop-popular. If you take this talent, and work hard, you'll more than likely make just a boatload of money, and the boat will be big. One word of caution, these middle eastern kids I gave a pretty sweet deal to a few thousand years ago blew it by eating an apple---but I don't want to go there. Stay away from anything that could jeopardize your future. I don't give these gifts to just anyone. For example, when you're making it really really big, for My-sakes don't try the old double-secret-water-bottle-hide-the-stash trick and if you do, for the love of me DON'T ACT SUSPICIOUS!". ----God to Vick, as told to me Millions and millions of dollars to employ scapegoat drug mules, and this dope has to carry it through an airport, when they make you toss the travel-sized scope bottle. Does he read the news??? Unreal.

i don't have any problem with it was a "great" pick, but would agree he has not established himself as a "great" player at this point. i do think any discussion on him being a bust on the other hand, you're revising what jauron said just a bit, here's the quote from one article: **** BuffaloBills.com reports: '"He's talented, he's fast," said head coach Dick Jauron. "He likes to play the game and he'll hit you. Those are all things that translate well to our sport. He's still learning how to play, but one of the reasons we did like him is because he likes football. He likes to talk about football, look at it, study it and he likes to play. He's going to work out well for us because I see him improving all the time."' **** on this quick quote, and assuming dj didn't mean "he'll hit you" wasn't a reference to a "oh no you di'int" biatch-slap paris hilton swipe, i'll assume he meant he hits your hard. he's got to develop the proper technique, how/when/where to hit a brotha.

i would have said it, but had to get some sleep. i never had a beef with holcomb the way some others did, by the way, i will keep going back to the same thought as before---in the correct system, i think the guy has skills he brings to the table. he's more likely to thrive in a short passing game, possession-type receptions, nickle and dime a team to death. it can work, and has, and regardless of how exciting it is, i'd take a boring offensive team winning a super bowl any day. i favored letting losman take his knocks, but to be fair almost jumped out my office window by mid-season, even though we all recognized the line was not playing well. i'm greatful they turned the corner when they did, although my office is on the first floor. to answer your question regarding mangold and a second rounder--no, i agree, a tradgedy it would not have been. on the other hand, there are no guarantees they saw mangold as the most pressing need #2, for reasons i'll never know. ultimately, i'm pretty much a "let coaches coach" guy (and a horrible, darkly depressed indivdual when the coaches/player deliver a poor performance on any given Sunday). i like the approach, and try not to worry about what else might have been. there are too many variables that i don't know enough about---leinhart and the wind in buffalo, how many legitimate options were available on draft day and what were the strings attached, etc etc. certainly, many of you on the board do much more draft analysis than i do, or ever would. oh, and i can't read "patriot's reign" but follow the concept. i'm sick to death of them. tim

oh, it was a good rant. the d*** even fooled the censors. have a good night. dibs-good work. i enjoy your posts. God bless us one and all.