SouthernMan

I'M NOT PESSIMISTIC!!!! ON THE CONTRARY!! Fact: Buddy has not accomplished his goal as an NFL GM. Fact # 2: A large portion of posters at TSW fawn over him as if he's brought multiple Lombardi trophies to WNY. If I were a public school teacher, I wouldn't give a student an A+ just for showing up with sharpened pencils and being able to recite Ozymandias by heart. They'd have to pass the exam with enough correctly answered question to earn the A+. When Buddy's actions in the offseason result in an A+ (being competitive in the NFL playoffs)I'll give him my "not worthy" bows as so many have you have already done. ps - Promo, always respected your points of view, but think maybe you been in that tin can too long.

THAT'S MY POINT EXACTLY!!!! Nobody's throwing birthday parties with pony rides and clowns for a blurry black & white image of a half tadpole, half human, 120 days after conception. I'll try one last time to make the point, and then I give up.... I'm as optimistic as y'all, but I'm not ready to heap unconditional praise on a GM that has yet to achieve the desired results. Th people in Pittsburgh, NY Giants, et al have earned that level of respect through results. When he does, I'll be right there with you full of Bills pride. God help me if I should disagree with one of you full time TSW geeks.

Thank goodness somebody using this forum can write intelligently and understand my OP without immediately getting defensive. To all of you who think the post was trolling or some other provocative action - it wasn't. I was simply attempting to say, hey, before we anoint Buddy and Co as the next messiahs, let's see some results. What's so hard about understanding that? I didn't say "the Bills suck, Buddy Nix sucks" or anything that could remotely be misconstrued as bating. I didn't say don't be excited about the coming season. Personally, I'm just not ready to pour my soul into it again, only to be burned by a team that again may fall short and has nothing but a barrel full of excuses to show for it. I think a forum (or any discussion for that matter) is most interesting when different points of view are explored, considered intelligently, and discussed in a civil manner. Unfortunately, the built-in Buffalo paranoia and defense mechanism has kicked in with most of the responders to my OP. Gee, sorry I didn't agree with you that we should be washing the feet of Buddy Nix. It seems at TSW if you're not towing the company line and being a synchophant for the opinions and nitwits who live at this site, you're deserving of name calling and other childish accusations. My statement is simple: in theory you have all the players you need be a respectable team that should be fighting for a playoff spot or winning the division. So, go ahead - show me. When I'm setting my DVR in January to record a Bills playoff game, I'll stop questioning. Show me the f ing baby!

A 386? Whoa! Get with the program pal. Back then, nobody knew how to install programs, download, or do much of anything with a compuer. Hogboys famous words were "(________) doesn't know a modem from a scrotum". Somewhere, somebody has photos from that first tailgate party in 1997. There were only about 10 of us - if that. Paula, Mr Paula, Greg D'ville, Hogboy, Lori?, you, me, and some others I guess. It was an unusually early season opener, Aug 31, against the Vikings. The Bills lost of course. The night before, I was at Rooties Pump Room with Hogboy when the images of Princess Diana were flashed onto the projection big screen TV. The always dramatic birth year to death year graphic....1961-1997. We laughed like hell. Strange to think there are probably readers and posters of the current forum who were not even born then!

BTW - wasn't referring to your OP. :-) meant I was pulling your leg. I don't recall the question being asked previously. There have been a lot of polls and questions posted numerous times, not to mention the know-it-all grammer police and others who are quick to show their intellectual prowess by jumping on any slight inaccuracy. And did I mention the R.I.P - threads? eg: the guy who played the 3rd chimney sweep in Mary Poppins died today...RIP Johnny Nobody. You watch pornography? As in moving pitchures? Holy crap! I gotta dump this IBM 486 one of these days. I'm still dealing with the unwanted glare from glossy print fold outs. :-)

If the wall crashed tomorrow, life will still go on as always. The Bills message boards were more important to me 15 or so years ago, when having a Buffalo News newspaper article mailed to me was the previous means of harvesting Bills info. The Rochester D&C Hyperbills was the original message board from which many of us were first exposed to virtual exchange of thought regarding the Bills. Hyperbills was to Two Bills Drive what The Quarrymen were to The Beatles. Back then, there was little Bills information immediately available for us out-of-towners. There was no NFL network or much in the way of football content on this brand new internet thing. Suddenly, there were newgroups! Then message boards, digital images, etc. ooooo! (just read where it was 20 years ago this week that the first photo image was uploaded to the internet - holy cow!) In the early days, before everyone over the age of 3 owned a computer, there was a greater percentage of knowledgeable football fans talking football. It was a semi-exclusive club of people who actually owned a PC. In 1997, probably less than 30% of households had a PC. Hard to believe how much has changed in 15 years. There was also a fair amount of comedy from Hogboy and company in the early days of TSW. The witty comedy has been replaced by inane polls and redundant questions like "who's your favorite all-time Bill?", and "How Important is Wall to You?". :-) Thanks to Scott et al for making this available to us. Many hours of enjoyment for sure. But if he packed it in tomorrow, I'd shrug and go back to some porn site. :-)

Often forgotten is that he, along with Frank Reich were instrumental in the famous comeback win over the Oilers. Thurman, Kelly, and Bennett were all sidelined for that game. Davis was the perfect role player and the chemistry that Polian brought to the Bills were the reason they were so successful.

I love the idea of a multi purpose stadium in Niagara Falls that could support itself by being utilized by haveing events more than 15 times a year. My only concern is that like to many state of the art facilities, it would be minus two of the features that make the Orchard Park stadium experience so great - blue sky above and plenty of space for tailgating. At too many of the newer facilities (eg -The Georgia Dome) there is minimal parking for tailgating. It's one of those take the train, walk through the gate, watch the game, pay $8 for each beer, and go home kind of places. Tailgating at The Ralph and communion with fellow Bills fanatics is half the fun. Even if the Bills suck or get blown out that day, it's still a great day when you got to party all morning and afternoon with your brothers in arms. And domes? Ugghhhh. I get claustrophobic. They're like being in a circus tent. Just seems unnatural to have football played inside. And BTW teen hoser, Canadians don't say "A" referring to an alphabet letter - It's "eh?", as in "right?" or "hear what I'm sayin'?" It's hard to imagine that you didn't know that.

Not only will they not support a team with which they have no emotional or historic ties (as do so many Buffalonians and ex-WNYers) during those off seasons, but as soon as hockey season gears up in early October, it will be a hard sell. Canadians will be spending more of their entertainment budget on hockey, and 5-18 year olds (and coaches&parents)who are involved in pee wee or junior hockey are going to be too busy or tired to bother with a football games. There are some great NFL football fans in Canada, but it's just not as popular as it is in the states. It's mirrors the efforts, interest, and level of enthusiasm for hockey here in Atlanta. Once spring football and baseball got underway in Atlanta, only a handful of hardcore fans and others with freebies were attending Thrashers games. I still agree that a Niagara Falls multi-purpose facility would be the ideal compromise.

I think too much merit is given to player's draft position and their current standing. If Troup were a 7th rounder or FA, rather than a 2nd round choice, how many of you predict he would stay on the roster in 2012. He's a bust, pure and simple. The defenses answer to James Hardy.

Reading the OP and thread I felt pretty good about this until I clicked on the link. From the County Executive's talk, it has all the earmarks of another dragged out - nothing gets done deal. (see Peace Bridge, Waterfront Project, Bass Pro Shop, etc) Loved all that typical political double talk..."it takes only ten percent of the time to complete ninety percent of the deal....but it's the last ten percent of the deal, which takes ninety percent of the time"...oooooooookk You big dummies...just start the last 10% first! :-) Why on earth should this take until "the end of the year" to work out the deal? How complicated could it be that it could take 5 more months? I'll bet the deal gets stalled somehow and nothing gets done, and eventually they'll have one-year agreements in place indefinitely or until the team gets moved.

Native Buffalonians have an inferiority complex. Chicks with low self esteem makes it lot easier to get laid in Buffalo. Gotta love a chick who'll throw back a beer with you, pay attention through an entire Bills or Sabres game without once mentioning her nails or hair, and then clean out your pipes before the night is over. Kinda makes that shiitty factory job you have to got to Monday morning all worthwhile!

When the usual whiners started blasting Belichick, I immediately thought of how the Bills acquired Kemp. I was looking to see if somebody here would bring up Kemp, 'cause if you hadn't, I would have. Thanks. All's fair folks. I hate BB and the Pats as much as the next guy, but if there's a move that will help the team and is within the NFL rules, standards, bylaws or whatever... WTF?

Seriously? They both left for the same reason - they were each building great teams and filling Rich Stadium. Both coaches hit the same wall - as soon as the team starts getting good, star players that are receiving national and league-wide recognition want to be paid like their peers. So long Ahmad Rashad. Have a great career. Typical. Ralph and his bean counters were fine when Chuck K was able to get something going with castoff veterans like Dobler, Robertson, etc. who came at bargain pricing. But it was the young upcoming players in their prime that couldn't get paid. Saban and Knox both left for the same reasons - they knew that under Ralph Wilson, they'd be in constant rebuilding mode - always having to replace the players drafted 4 years prior who were just reaching their prime. How frustrating it had to be to have a plan in place to build a champion, only to have the rug pulled out from under them by a misguided miser. Sound familiar? History repeats.

All good points. With free agency, there are few teams that don't have areas of weakness. And a team with a lot of heart and competitive spirit can win games that they might not have with less enthusiastic players. I think the Bills players have the right attitude. The point of my post wasn't to rain on anyone's parade. I was simply struck by the degree of praise given Buddy Nix, even though the team has yest to prove anything on the field. Every year we Bills fans get giddy with all the new acquisitions and hype that comes out of One Bills Drive. In spite of the unbridled optimism that precedes every opening day kickoff, we've been relegated to also-rans status as every other team made a playoff run over these last 11 years. Same thing every year.... "wait'll next year". So, what makes this year any different? I think the Bills are making some good moves, with the signing of Williams & Anderson, and are actually retaining their own free agents. Be optimistic! it's our team and I hope for some exciting football from them with playoffs in the picture. But until they actually show they're consistently competitive against the best teams, I'll reserve my unwavering praise of Nix and the rest of the crew at OBD. For years, many of you have cited Ralph C Wilson and his henchmen as being the obstacle(s) that keep the Bills from succeeding. Guess what? They're all still there.

After reading through several posts, I can see the annual offseason optimism is in full force. I think as fans of our team, it's great to be enthusiastic, but the love-fest for Buddy & Co is reminiscent of the unearned praise given to Sabres owner Terrance Pegula upon his arrival and following the personnel moves made by the Sabres front office. Sabers fans were already planning the Stanley Cup parade through Lafayette Square. Unfortunately for the team and fans, you have to make the playoffs to have a chance of winning the cup. Again, as is the yearly tradition, Bills fans are ever hopeful and some actually believing the Bills will be a team to be reckoned with in 2012. Maybe they will be, but I'll believe it when I see it. Bills fans are the Charlie Browns of NFL fans. We keep attempting to kick the football held by Lucy, believing "this time I'll really kick it". I'm always hearing the words "on paper". The proof is in the pudding. Unless a couple players really step up or there are some surprise breakout players or free agents, the Bills still have weaknesses that teams contending for the Lombardi trophy don't usually have. Wideouts - still need a complimentary receiver for S Johnson. Linebacking is average at best Corners - plenty of potential, but still green O-Line - LT spot still not settled. Don't expect Glenn to step in and be anything more than average as a rookie QB - Fitz is smart and a team leader. He's still a journeyman QB. When I see one complete season of top tier QB play out of him, I'll be totally on board with him. For now, he's Frank Reich 2.0. - serviceable and able to win some games. Where's our Jim Kelly? If the Bills can stay healthy - and that's a big if - they are probably an 8-10 win team. Does anyone really believe the Bills are capable of winning 12 games or more? The real question to be answered is can they finish strong? (as the Giants did in 2011). "On paper" Nix has done a good job, but to quote the man himself, "show me the baby". I'll reserve my valentine's wishes to Buddy when I'm still watching live Bills games well into January.

Negative. Pull out your old VHS tapes and look at Kelly in his short sleeves. My old biceps and triceps are more defined that his were. he looked like he never did a pushup or curl in his life.

Well if you're from Buffalo, of course you know what a 45 is. Starting sometime around the mid to late 70's, time has stood still in Buffalo. For proof, look no further than the hairstyle of any native female strolling the sidewalks of WNY, or turn on any local FM radio station and you're certain to hear Rush or Triumph within the hour. I'll bet you have 78's in your collection! :-)

I discovered something semi-interesting last week. Try this out on somebody under 30 years old..ask them what a 45 is as it relates to music and records. They won't know. They think it has something to do only with a pistol. Most of my friends are musicians and several have released singles recently. I was curious about the term "single" and how it's differentiated from the other tracks. Back in my era, a single meant a 45rpm record - or more commonly known as a "45". Lord knows what the answer would be if asked about 8 tracks.

If you were a Quebec Nordiques fan, you don't have to imagine - it happened to their fans when the team moved to Colorado and won the cup the first year in their new home.

Here's my prediction: Nobody in this prediction thread will get more than 1 correct, and most will have a score of 0.

This may be a case of "be careful what you wish for". Sure, the NFL ticket was $349 or something in the range last year, but with minimal negotiating, subscribers could work a substantially better deal with a cooperative customer service rep. Last year I paid $0.00 for the NFL Sunday Ticket, and to sweeten the deal, I received a $30/month credit for 6 months. They don't want to lose subscribers. With lowered NFL Ticket renewal prices, they may not be as willing to come off the advertised price.

Couldn't have said it better myself. As much as the politicians are blamed for WNYs failures, they're ELECTED officials, and the constituency ultimately has to be take responsibility. Didn't want to say it in my earlier post at the risk of being called a Buffalo-basher, but there are a lot of backward thinking residents of the area who still think it's 1946 and are clinging to things like their primary means of communication, the dial telephone screwed to their kitchen wall, and longing for the happier times of Irv, Rick, & Tom, and the Whammy Weenie. Tings dont change much down at da corner bar der - tank gawd. That said, the politics and policies of New York State government isn't helping the situation, and WNYers have only a small part of those decisions.

As a diverse and tight knit community, I love Buffalo too. It's probably the best small town in the country. Practically anything you want to do recreationally is there for you, and they don't have the traffic and geographical issues experienced here in Atl. Reasonable housing prices and outstanding food. If you have a decent job and don't have issues with the winters, there's' probably not a better place to live and raise a family. It's just a shame that that the business community and politicians can't seem to get on the same page and get anything done that will produce a dynamic job market. Outside of government, education, medical research, and a few other niche job opportunities, there's little there as compared to other NFL cities. It's practically a microcosm of the Federal model - minimal manufacturing/production of goods, top heavy in government and services. A strong economy relies on producing something that can bring in money from outside. But to your point about someone's opinion of Buffalo, why do you care so much? If there is such a thing as collective low self-esteem, Buffalonians are the most paranoid people in the USA - forever concerned with how outsiders view them or what is said by someone in a national arena or publication. It's really gay.

Not sure why the time allotted per question is so much greater on this sample test than the ones the actual players take. The sample quiz is 12 questions at 5 minutes (300 seconds) or 25 seconds allotted for each answer Player test is 50 questions at 12 minutes (720 seconds) or 14.4 seconds per answer This sample test of 12 questions should allow only 3 minutes time to be more similar to the NFL prospect test.