JDG

As a one-off promotional stunt, I figure we can be cool with it. But not if it means only using the Stadium for 4-6 games a year. JDG

Another reason is that the players hate having 2-4 extra "travel games" per year. With the amount of money Erie County has sunk into the Stadium, I think getting 8 games a year is the least we can expect. Moreover, any "sharing" with Toronto would become unequal over time. The Toronto area has over twice the popuation of Buffalo-Rochester-Dunkirk. As such, I don't want any piece of such a "partnership." Either the politicans in NYS, Erie County, and the City of Buffalo will get their act in gear and stem the tide of decline, or else my beloved home city will eventually fade away and the Bills will be forced to move on. JDG

Plus, the NFL wants to keep the CFL around a secondary developmental League, as long as NFL Europe remains on thin ice. JDG

If the NFL were to get a decent Stadium in the LA area, they wouldn't have much trouble selling seats. Just remember, that as of 2000, that for every man, woman, and child in the combined Buffalo-Rochester-Niagara Fallas-Dunkirk metro areas, there are SIX people in the Los Angeles-San Bernardino metro area - with another 1.5 million people left over. Los Angeles can totally support a team, and indeed, someday it will. I just hope that it is the Raiders. JDG

The "Why" was for your second point - why would Ralph Wilson be pissed if he were asked to move a home game to Toronto (Ralph surely would have the right to refuse, BTW)? And why would a season ticket holder feel stiffed about only having a 7-game package instead of an 8-game package? As for your first point - the next-most likely candidate for a team to move a home game to Toronto would be Jacksonville. Jacksonville is in the same time zone, has some difficulty selling out, etc. Somehow, though, I don't think that a Jacksonville home game in Toronto does much more for the NFL than a Buffalo home game. JDG

Why? Pariticularly if it was a dog opponent on say the Sunday before Thankgiving? JDG

Canadian fans are ultimately a small part of the Bills' fan base - which is predominantly the Buffalo-Rochester market. Do the Bills even have a TV contract for Canada? The combined Buffalo-Rochester media market would rank about #27. Right around Hartford and Raleigh-Durham. The real problem isn't that the current number is unsustainable, but that that number is declining every year. More importantly, the decision to move a franchise is generally ultimately the decision of the owner. The NFL isn't going to tell Ralph Wilson to move - but Ralph Wilson dies, it probably isn't going to stand in the way of a new owner who wants to move to LA or Portland. JDG

Its not really possible because of differences in economics. Certainly not in Mexico. For example, the cheapest seats for a regular game in Estado Azteco typically go for about US$6. When NASCAR held their race in Mexico, they sold tickets for about US$17. I couldn't find the NFL's Mexico City ticket prices, but I can guarantee that they aren't going to charge US$53 like they do in the US. The Cardinals averaged 35,000 fans last season. Assuming an average ticket price slightly below the League average, say about $45, that brings in $1,575,000 in ticket revenue. To bring in the same revenue from 105,000 fans in Mexico City they would have to charge about US$15. Of course, that doesn't include parking, concession, and other revenues. So, I'd say that the Cardinals might have just broken even, or even suffered a small loss from the deal. As for Canada, the US$ is currently worth about 1.15 loonies. That means, to match revenues, you would have to raise every US$ price by 15% to get the same return in Canadian loonies. The Bills' average ticket price is about $40. That would mean that they would have to charge C$46 to get the same revenue. But, wait, Ralph Wilson Stadium is about 38% larger than the SkyDome. So, to get 38% more revenue from each ticket sold, the Bills would have to charge C$63.48. That's a steep price in Canada, already, and again, that's not including making up parking and concession revenues. JDG

I agree that JP Losman has shown a lot of things - almost everything, in fact, excpet the ability to throw the ball! Quite simply, if you can't complete close to 60% of your passes in this League your offense is simply not going to stay on the field, and we'll be seeing a bit more of our MVP (Brian Moorman) than we want to. And as long as we're on the subject of David Klingler, can you guess which stat line is Klingler's and which one is Losman's???? Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD | +----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+ 120 265 45.3 1658 6.3 10 12 | 26 103 0 Com Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD | ---------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+ 113 228 49.6 1340 5.9 8 8 | 31 154 0 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Answer: the top line is Klingler's in 11 games, the bottom line is Losman's in 9 games. Losman is *dangerously* close to Klingler territory. And about the only thing worse than Losman being another Klingler, would be Losman being just enough better than Klingler for us to keep throwing him into the breech year after year, when he's just not good enough. I personally hope that that never happens. I think Losman is an exciting player, who if he could learn how to throw and to stay healthy could become one of my favorite players - but in the meantime, if I'm Marv Levy, I'm putting a huge question mark over his head and keeping a Plan B in the back of my mind. JDG

First of all, the guy basically played 9 games this year. And while JP Losman had some deficiencies in the surrounding coaching and the offensive line, JP Losman was also almost unbelievably bad. The guy completed less than 50% of his passes. That's a lower percentage than *69* other QB's this season, and putting him in the same territory as Tommy Maddox and Mike McMahon - both of whom could be out of the League next season. Even Alex Smith, who played on a team with near-zero talent, and played horrendousely this season managed to complete 60% of his passes in 3 out of his 8 games. JP Losman managed it just once - barely - against the lowly Houston Texans at home. Would I like to see JP Losman to get more time to prove himself? Sure I would. I still hope that JP Losman can be the QB in Buffalo for years to come. And indeed, sometimes QB's who play horribly for 9 games eventually get better. On the other hand, some QB's who play horribly for 9 games go on to play horribly for the rest of their career. If you invest too much time in "developing" a QB, giving him playing time in the hopes that he will get better, pretty much solely because of draft status, you can often times end up with Joey Harrington - and four years of lost seasons. I believe that four years of lost seasons would be disastrous for the Bills. So, what's my point? My point is that JP Losman came from a lower-tier Division I program, and had no real history of winning anything while he was there. He has since come to the NFL and has shown no signs of being able to complete a high enough percentage of his passes to keep our offense on the field and our defense off the field. Moreover, he has shown a disturbing inability to stay healthy in two full football seasons. Therfore, I think that a wise GM would start preparing now for the possibility that JP Losman is a bust. That does *not* mean using a 1st round pick (again!) on a QB, but it does mean putting a potential Plan B into the pipeline. It also means planning for the real possibility that Kelly Holcomb might be a better QB than JP Losman next season, and having to play Holcomb until Losman shows some improvement in practice to justify trotting him out onto the field again with the confidence of his teammates. JDG

Completely disagree. With a 16-game schedule, a 33rd team would completely destroy the already perilous competitive balance of the League. The real answer to the LA problem is that the Raiders simply aren't selling seats in Oakland, and there is absolutely no reason for the nation's #6 media market, which is only 1/3rd the size of the NYC media market to have two football teams. I know this is kind of gruesome, but once Al Davis dies, the NFL *needs* to move the Raiders back to LA. I just hope that Ralph outlives him. JDG

Such a game would almost certainly not be part of the season ticket package. JDG

You're neglecting the fact that all the tickets in Mexico City were sold in pesos. The Cards might still have lost money even in a full Mexico City stadium. JDG

Its more like that everyone thought that the suggestion was absurd. JDG

I think there is a HUGE quesiton at the QB position. Losman has done almost nothing so far to ever suggest he will be a starting QB for a playoff-caliber NFL team. At this stage of his career, that is extremely troubling. Unfortunately, the Bills have such gaping holes elsewhere on their roster, I'm inclined to address those holes with our #8 pick, rather than use that pick on yet another QB. Given the investment in Losman, he should definitely be on the Bills' roster in training camp. After an offseason of work, he will have an opportunity to demonstrate in camp what he failed to demonstrate this past season - that he is a better NFL QB than Kelly Holcomb. If he fails to do so, we'll go with Kelly Holcomb, who will do a fine job of managing games for us while we try to plug the holes on our offensive line and on defense. In the meantime, we maybe take a flyer on a late-round guy to be our #3 QB for next year, and to maybe have a shot to step in in 2007 or 2008 if and when Losman goes bust on us, maybe a guy like DJ Shockley of Georgia or Paul Pinegar of Fresno St. I'm not going to address the QB situation by hoping that AJ Smith loses his sanity. ;-) JDG

Uh, if the Bills didn't take him, the Packers were going to be all over him. JDG

Its only 53,000.... combined with the cheap loonie, its hard for it to be a money-making proposition unless attendance is well into Arizona Cardinals territory. JDG

Fletcher and Spikes will not exactly "be on their last legs" in three years. And Spikes can *definitely* add more to the team in two years than a draft pick because Spikes is *proven.* Even if you succeed in getting a 3rd or even a 2nd rounder for Spikes and Fletcher, lots of players drafted in those rounds simply never pan out. You could very easily end up with the next Gabe Northern or Travares Tillman. You can't just presume that players will get better with experience, sometimes not-very-good players get experience and remain just-not-very-good. You're right about the Bills needing to draft better and build around the draft - two failures of the TD era, but I'm a firm believer that a little bit of experience can go a long ways in that department. Moreover, the Bills need to build a culture of winning, and cutting people willy-nilly is no way to go about that. JDG

I could be wrong, but I could swear that I saw the back of Milloy's jersey flailing after a pass-catcher running downfield far more often than I would have liked this year. As I see it, our defense was even worse than our stats indicated this past year. If a team decided that they wanted to pass against us, they racked up record passing stats. If a team decided that they wanted to run against us, they racked up record running stats. It was like "choose-your-own-adventure" - only almost none of the endings involved dying at the end. At any rate, we all know that this defense could not get off the field on 3rd downs, particularly in the 4th Quarter. So, if our defense was so bad, I don't think that it could have all just been the lack of a defensive tackle. I suspect that there was a real weakness at safety with Milloy, Clements playing poorly, the Denney/Kelsay two-headed monster being invisible, Posey not being particularly good, and Crowell not being quite as good as the hype (somebody had to make tackles eventually - especially when the defense isn't get off the field.) JDG

The Bills have historically drawn very well for Raiders games, even though the Raiders can't draw at home. JDG

Sure, they didn't draft Rivers to ride the bench - but he made his own bed by holding out. And if keeping Rivers on the bench means playing Drew Brees instead of a JP Losman-caiber player, then keeping Rivers on the bench is exactly what they will do.... and it will be exactly the right decision. Drew Brees at this point is a proven playoff-caliber QB. From San Diego's perspective, the conversation starts at Buffalo giving the #8 pick straight up, and the Chargers might insist upon sweeteners. JDG

I don't think you are thinking about this the right way. For the NFL to get a game in Toronto, they will have to get an owner to agree to give up one home game. In particular, giving up one home game will mean: 1) Lost Revenue - fewer tickets, tickets sold in a weak foreign currency, lack of concessions, parking, etc. 2) Competitive Disadvantage from Playing Nine "Travel" Games The Cardinals played in Mexico City this year because they knew that they would have to pay people to watch Cardinals-49ers in the US, and so the Cards were willing to stomach the competitive disadvantage of a ninth travel game. Thus, ain't no way the Patriots, Steelers, or Cowboys are going to give up a home game to play in Toronto. The Raiders might be an option, since they can't sell tickets, but its hard to see the Raiders agreeing to an extra Eastern Time Zone game. So, the matchup would have to be between two lesser teams. Indeed, even though I think that it almost *has* to be the Bills as the home team, the Bills won't bring the Cowboys to Toronto because they can sell out the Cowboys without even trying. In 2007, our home dates are AFC East, Baltimore, Cincy, Dallas, the NY Giants, and an AFC West team to be named later. From that list, it would pretty much have to be either the Jets or Baltimore (if either is really bad next year). For 2008, the choices would be the AFC East, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco. If the 49ers are still a doormat, they could be a real contender for that slot - again. JDG

Uh, if that were true, how come the trade isn't for Holcomb? You did say a *good* back-up, right? JDG

Peter King reports today that Mexico City and Toronto will each bid strongly for an NFL regular season game to be played in their city in 2007. If Toronto wins, what NFL team is going to give up a home game to play in Toronto? Can you say the Bills??? Look for Bills-Jets to be in Toronto in 2007.... JDG

AJ Smith should be jailed for criminal incompetence if he took such a deal. JDG