drhockey

Leaving the office shortly and headed to the game tonight in Palo Alto. Can't wait... Sadly, the buzz here is not what you'd expect for a game of this magnitude. The Bay Area is definitely not a great college town.

"Duck Dynasty Talk with Buddy Nix"

Check out my avatar...it's our new assistant schredding on the guitar! He's a metal legend...

Good positive vibe from Schein on the hiring from an alum that obviously talks with the who's who around the NFL regularly. Good stuff. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000123802/article/doug-marrone-can-solve-buffalo-bills-ryan-fitzpatrick-problem

Nicely said and well played. I don't think I could have summed it up any better. Listening to Russ Brandon is painful. I have an MBA and try to listen to all of his business speak carefully and it's just insulting at times to the average fan. I understand he's just towing the company line and can't say too much, but come on, we're not all idiots and most of us are realists. This just appears to be the perfect example of a rudderless ship. It's as if we are attacking a naval warship with a row boat that has no oars and a hole in the hull.

It's like sex panther cologne... They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works every time...

The other thing that irked me this morning with the interview was when Buddy backtracked about the playoffs being the next step for this team. I don't have the exact quote, but he said something to the effect of "I've never said the playoffs was the next step" or something along those lines. Yet, before the season, he seemed to infer that it was playoffs or bust this year.... Some of the quotes like these may come back to haunt him: Expectations for your team. Are they getting out of hand? Does that concern you a little bit? "No, I like high expectations. I've never been many places where if you didn't have 'em, that good things happen. So I think they oughta expect a lot of us. We expect a lot out of ourselves. New England, the AFC -- they don't scare me. I think we can compete with any of 'em, and our intention is to try to win the division." The 2012 season for the Buffalo Bills will be a success if ...? "Well, I think anything short of going to the playoffs for me, personally, would be a big disappointment." http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/22...s-gm-buddy-nix

I listened to the interview this morning, too, and the one thing that kept ringing in my head is who is going to enact change that is above Buddy? Ralph? For all we know, he probably thinks Buddy is doing a great job and that the team in on the right track to make the playoffs sometime in the next 7 years. Let's say the Bills go 6-10 this year. Clearly, that's not progress in any of our eyes, but again, who's going to drop the hammer on Buddy or anyone else for that matter? There's no accountability upstairs and essentially this is a rudderless ship. We'll be spinning our wheels for years with this staff because they all think it's going in the right direction and that we have the right people in place, and there's no one upstairs that's going to tell them otherwise.

I just listened to local (SF) radio at lunch time here in the Bay Area and they had on the 49ers insider to talk all that is SF Football. They didn't mention the Bills once and even talked about several of their games in the distance. Suffice to say, the Bills are not even a blip on the 49ers radar right now and there is no talk amongst the fans locally about the upcoming game. The talk show hosts had more to say about the game after the Bills against the Giants. I think the general sentiment around here, both with the 49ers team and their fans, is that we (meaning the 49ers nation) have a softy coming up, so let's punish them physically like we do to everyone else and move on to bigger and better opponents. It's just a sad state of irrelevance for the Bills and us Buffalo fans. So frustating and pathetic. Oh well; i'll be there on sunday to take my weekly form of punishment and harrassment.

Sorry if this was posted already today since I haven't been lurking too much, but this is what Sully reported in his blog today at the Buffalo News: "After making the rounds on the weekly media day at One Bills Drive, here's my best answer on why the Bills decided to cut veteran Brian Moorman: Bruce DeHaven, the special teams coach, wanted Moorman to kick more directional punts, instead of the long, booming punts for which Moorman was well-known. Moorman resisted. He and DeHaven had never been on the same page since DeHaven returned to Buffalo two years ago. One person close to the situation described the relationship as "oil and water."' Philisophical differences, as they say...

as per Chris Brown and BB.com... No team reps for Shep Posted by Chris Brown on August 2, 2012 – 2:55 pm "Kelvin Sheppard was back participating in individual position drills, but there wasn’t much more after that. Shep did not get any team reps and just left the field with athletic trainers. He didn’t make anything worse just limited in his participation." So, hopefully it's not anything too concerning and just more of a precaution at this point. We're not in good shape in the middle after Shep.

I say why bother even caring about this stuff any more, at least not for this week. Anything Bills related at this point will just make our heads explode. I don't even want to get into the sabres on top of all of this garbage. What a mess - goodbye 2011. Instead, we should just enjoy classic Xmas memories and movies, like Christmas Vacation. Cousin Eddie delivered several beauties like these... "They had to replace my metal plate with a plastic one. Every time Catherine revved up the microwave, I'd piss my pants and forget who I was for about half an hour or so. I don't know if I oughta go sailing down that hill with nothing between the ground and my brain but a piece of government plastic." Pure awesomeness!! Merry Xmas everyone!

Did you ever hear "Against all Odds"? So take a look at me now, 'cos there's just an empty space And there's nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face Take a look at me now, 'cos there's just an empty space And you coming back to me is against all odds and that's what I've got to face Maybe Buddy can dial up Jeff Bridges and add him to our offensive arsenal next year.

The Bills are a rowboat without oars and have been tasked with attacking a naval battleship. Or, to look at it in another sense... We've just been dropped off on the beaches of Normandy with no weapons and have been instructed to use nothing but harsh language for the invasion.

This x1,000 So true. Say what you want about us as fans at times like this, but honestly, how much more of this can we go through? You'd figure at some point in the past 10+ years that we'd even get lucky and fall into something that would gives us some much needed hope and excitement. The first half of this season was fun, no doubt, but weren't we all waiting for the bottom to drop out at some point? Life of a Buffalo fan...

Jesus...what the f is going on at OBD?!?!? Are we going to hear next that they have decided to re-up Whitner and Maybin for an additional $100M?!?! Honestly, I don't even know what to say any more about some of their decisions. I mean, Kelsay's last two contracts have totaled close to $50M...$50 freakin million!! What in god's name is going on down there?!? No wonder we are the laughing stock and that no one of substance would even think of coming here to rescue this epic fail boat. It pains me to say it or even think it, but I am really starting to hate this organization. All I have to say is thank god for hockey. What the f...

Yes, i know that this is just an invitation to a beating, but still it's nice to see (as an alum) them getting some exposure. It definitely works as a nice little recruting tool. http://blogs.onlineathens.com/node/2198 They just added Tennessee to the schedule for next year as well. Nicely done.

So, if we are read the writing on the wall at this point (and, yes, i know things can change fairly quickly), it looks like the betting odds are on it being the combination of Nix and Frazier as GM/HC. I know that our collective disappointment has been beaten to death, but man, how many of us believed that this would be the likely result of all of this? What a kick in the face this would be (in my opinion). Think of the range of emotions we've had to endure over the past couple of months. I mean, we all were elated at the firing of Jauron in mid-November. Then, the Bills fire out of the gate with the Shanahan meeting. At that point, most of us are feeling "they may actually get this one right and finally realize that a major move is necessary." In between Shanny and Xmas, the rumor mill was churning that the Bills were at least reaching out to the big shots to gauge interest. Again, we're still feeling that optimism, albeit a cautious approach. NYE comes and we are greeted with the somewhat surprising appointment of Nix. The "interview process" was more than surprising to most of us, i would say. That "process" steered most of us back to the "hear we go again..it's the Bills and that's how they operate" feeling. Optimism quickly shifted to fear. Nix seeemed to say the right things at the press conference and made us inch back toward optimism. Now, after seeing the progress, or lack thereof, the general feeling within a good portion of is now come full circle back to dread, which is where we were after getting blasted by the Titans on Nov. 15. I understand that it can all change in an instant, but it is grueling and exhausting on us to go through such a roller coaster of emotions only to be left dissapointed in the end (the likely scenario). Especially, at a time where we all know that they needed to hit a home run with the management and head coaching changes. Ugh. I just had to get this off my chest. I know it's nothing new, but the dread that i feel is turning into frustration that is boiling over. I can only hope that we somehow get lucky or be pleasantly surpised with the outcome. Otherwise, it is going to be another painful stretch of time.

whomever _____________ is.... cue "Yakety-sax" and play clips of Benny Hill

If Ralph can also throw in a few rides (chauffer included) in his new luxurious Ford Taurus, we might be talking about one hell of an attractive package for a prospective coach. With the wings, beer, hookers, mighty, and taurus, we might just be able to lure Gary Coleman to Buffalo.

Ha. So true. I'm stocking up on booze and drinking more than ever lately. Luckily, we've had the sabres to keep us from completely going over the edge. But yes, by the end of all of this i'll be calling Promises rehab center in southern california to help me off the sauce. Hello, Promises...here i come!! yippee!

I can't wait to hear the "this is the guy we really wanted the entire time" speech and how they will spin this uninspired hire to us. I mean, this is just getting silly and embarassing, as we've all noted. At this point, i think i'm hoping and praying that all goes well with the Grimm interview or else i'm going to head straight for the Golden Gate Bridge (assuming Cowher is not coming). Sorry, but i am not at all jazzed about thinking of our future under Leslie Frazier. Instead of reforming our team, that end result would equal a complete continuation of what we have witnessed over the past decade. We may notice a slight difference in how it's coached or run, but i'm not holding my breath. Al Saunders as OC doesn't excite me either. And, of course they Bills liked Frazier...he is the only one that accepted (to this point and Grimm notwithstanding) a formal interview outside of Fewell. Come on! Over the past few weeks, i went from wanting to buy season tickets if Cowher decided to come (even though i live in California) to wanting to curl up in the fetal position in a foxhole for the next 5 years ignoring the Bills and the NFL. I'll try to be optimistic, but it is getting damn hard these days. Yuck. If there is a god, we sir need your help right now!

My apologies to all those that were offended by my mistake. I received it on my blackberry at work and read through it quickly while trying to actually get some work done. I deleted the email right away, so if it did say "off the air" versus "off the record", then my bad and i'm sorry for the error. I, personally, could care less about trying to twist words or to insinuate a different message on this board. All i was trying to do was pass along a quick message and typed incorrectly. So, shoot me. Sorry. I understand the integrity of the source and the "what they actually said" agrument, so spare me, but it can be amazing how sensitive people can be sometimes. Cripes. Let's all sing "Kum ba ya", shall we?

Just got a generic email from WGR stating that the station has talked to Billick himself off the record and he stated that he has had no official contact with the Bills and that no interview has been set up. Not groundbreaking news or something we didn't already assume, but just passing it along to everyone. With OBD being so quiet on interviews and Buddy saying that he wanted to address the Head Coach position ASAP, one may assume they are trying their darnedest to talk Cowher into the spot and possibly throwing the kitchen sink at him....or at least we can hope.

I did, thank you. But, the focal point of my post is that they interviewed Guy and Modrak, which is absurd to me and probably the 3,485,829 Bills fans. I mean, seriously?!?!? I'm not saying Nix won't do well, but is that the definition of due diligence?!?! I'm no NFL consultant, but i would imagine that there are several other OUTSIDE candidates that would merit an interview at the very least. None of us know whether they did interview outsiders, but this reeks of silliness.