Pyrite Gal

My guess is that this is either a trial balloon which will be uickly shouted (literally) down or potentially it is simply yet another case of the media overblowing some musing by Goodell in their ongoing search to create controversy that gives them some column inches to sell ads around. There of course this yet another example of rich powerful insecure little people feeling they can control everything and if they do this it will be to their own detriment, but my guess is that this is mostly a tempest in a teapot.

My sense is that Joe D probably has it wrong because 1]. A key for many good athletes at skill positions is that they simply see the field differently than you and I, an OL player like Joe or even lesser QBs. Eye test of folks like Gretzky have found that they have much wider effective peripheral vision than a normal person. He could not move his head side to side, but he could still see from one barrier to the other side of the rink, It would not be surprising to find that some successful QBs actually do not need to move their head very far to go through the progessions. In fact, if a QB minimizes his head movements to make reads he will throw off the D which is trying to read where he is looking by how he turns his head. In addition to wider peripheral vision, some athletes see a different game becaise they can predict (or sometimes distinguish individual sounds even amidat the morass of game and crowd noise) to determine how a player is proceeding with his route. A simpler uncomplicated example would be if before the play a QB knows the route and reads the coverage and knows that only one defender is in a position where he can defend the pass if he gets to a certain spot. He has "chemistry" with and knows his receiver so he merely needs to watch the defender to see if he is going to that spot and if he is not the route is quite likely to be open. We have all seen plays where the QB throws to a vacant spot where a player was supposed to be but he blew the route, or he threw to the player and did not see a defender who obviously was there,or plays like Crowell INY of Culpepper where no one knew whom he was throwing to and it looked like he did not even look. Actually, he might not have looked where he was throwing because the mistake he made was thinking that he had everyone accounted for with an initial read and knew where they were going. We have all seen athletes who operate as though they have eyes in the back of their head with pinpoint no look passes. Actually between wider peripheral vision and a developed ability to predict player flow and an ability to detect differences in player flow because someone is not where they should be or because they can seem to "feel" they are about to be sacked from the blindside or whatever, they know what is going on. It just is hard to tell where some successful athletes are looking by watching their head and it would not surprise me if this is the case with JP who has made a habit of running for his life at Tulane and has demonstrated a "feel" for the game.

Another question which is yet to be answered satisfactorily is WHY and FOR WHAT PURPOSE would you fix the games. I doubt that making money would be a reason for those with some semblance of control over the NFL (the NFL and NFLPA would have to be part of a "fix" in some way as if they were not their activities might squirrel the deal or they might stumble on to the fix) as they alrerady can make money hand over fist without fixing the game. Why risk messing up your money-making deal or risk imprisonment by fixing games. What would the fixer get out of this? Perhaps it is done for excitement and the callenge of it all. However, these types of conspiracies also tend to be revealed as there are a large number of people who suspect a cover-up who would then track it down for the challenge and the fun of it as well. In general, I think folks love conspiracy theories because they give folks the "whhat of" fun of writing and telling a story and also because it helps them pretend that somebody somewhere is actually in control of things and they can hide from the fact that life actualy is quite random and unpredictable. Between my sense that a fix would involve too many people to really keep a secret and also that there is far more profit in simply keeping the game going than in creating particular outcomes (its like betting and the line on games, folks need to remember that successful bookmakers never gamble, they get rich by getting as close as they can to an equal bumber of people betting on the game, having the losers pay off the winners and they get rich simply skimming a user fee off of both winners and the losers for providing a "service"). I simply see no good reason to fix a game by those who could do it.

I used to wonder seriously whether the game was fixed, but then the wife of a buddy asked me a question which put a stop to this theory for me. She asked, "If it were fixed why isn't it more interesting?" I actually do find the NFL quite interesting, but believe me if I was gonna fix the game, I wouldcome up with a lot better scripts than some of the idiocy that happens. Occaisionally one gets a good SB for example, but year after year, the games primary interest is if you have a dog in the hunt and your team is in it, otherwise the primary attraction is really the commercials. Last year, the Bettis season was really only marginally interesting and it ended up with a game where the MVP could as easily been picked by throwing a dart at the winning team's rpster. The Brady story was an interesting story for the Pats in the 2001 season, but things got pretty old with their re-wins in the 03 and 04 seasons. If the game were fixed one would be producing scripts which featured unusual applications of little know rules like the tuck rule, some teams hanging around for years while other teams are prominent and the do an el foldo and one evn wrote in the refs blowing the coin toss call in a nationally televised game. Perhaps these mistakes were all part of the conspiracy but if so is this the best they can do in terms of storytelling.

I will not be surprised if we see Peters in the backfield as they try different things in the redzone as: 1. Now that Marv is back at GM and one of the things he always held onto responsibility for when he was HC, regardless of who the OC might be was rezone playcalling. Under Marv they developed using Butch Rolle as an effective redzone tool and I think they will try to replicate using the TE well in that role. 2. Peters was initially a TE when drafted and was known for his soft hands, further in his ST stint with the Bills he not only blocked a punt but kept on gioing and recovered uit for a TD in the endzone showing his nose for the zone. 3. The actually already have used Peters as a TE eligible player and attempted a shovel pass to him on a long FG attempt in the NYJ game, I'm not sure what happened but it look like the holder (Moorman I assume) misfired on the shovel pass. Peters may escape blame and they will try him when the get in the redzone. Peters presents a number of issues when the team goes to 2 TE sets on the goalline. Employment of him as a TE elegible presents options for the Bills because he really well my operate as a blocker primarily and the RDE is effectively taken out of the rush as he has to watch Peters because he may have to cover him on a quick pass. If the RDE or outside rusher on that side does come for the QB. then Peters is free to catch the ball.

I think several factors came into play for reducing Bledsoe's 2005 sack #s and while WM's work was a part of it his blitz pick-ups were not one thing I noticed as being a big factor. In no partocular order I IMHO they were: 1. Running an O which was TC's more diversified set-up and not Kevin Killdrive's predictable one- At one point the Bills ran some phenomenal # of plays in a row on third and 3 or less which were pass plays (20 or 30 something in a row). 2. They "simplified" the audible scheme which i think meant they took away some of Bledsoe's ability to audible out of run plays to pass plays. I think part of the reason when ran so many times consecutively was that Killdrive was too clever by half and would try to pass in obvious run situations to cross up the other team. However, when Killdrive would happen to call a run, Bledsoe had so much confidence in his arm he would see some slight advantage in the D scheme and audible to a pass on the too few runs called by Killdrive. TC took this ability away and even Bledsoe praised it. 3. The Bills actually used Bledsoe as a runner. No one was gonna mistake him for John Elway, but a big boy like DB can simply stumble forward and fall for a significant gain IF the D abandons the center of the field which they blitzers would often do to get the best route to a sack. It was a good move because Bledsoe would get hit when he was tackled but he actually was dealt less of a blow when he delivered the hit with his bog bpdy running rather than getting his clock cleaned on a sack. 4. In addition to delaying the blitz with DB runs, WM played a big role because in 2004 they ran WM outside a lot where he showed he had a lethal stiff arm (which they absndoned in 2005 by running him almost exclusively between the tackles)/ Because LNs and DNs had to make sure they could get outside to get an angle on WM, they were reluctant to blitz an overrun the play or allow themselves to be sealed inside by blockers and WM would go one on one with some poor CB. 5. The Ol actually played better in 04 than in 05 (they even had a couple of low sack or sackless games as they started 1-4. I think they were better for several reasons: A. JMac did a great carrot and stick job reviving Mike Williams play after he showed up overweigt amd out of shape, many forget against MW's poor 2005 play which led to the correct decision to cut him that not only was he awarded a game ball as part of the carrot strategy for his good play in a game, but some argued he was the best of a group of often marginal OL players. B. CV was a couple of years younger than he is now and was that much better of a player as old age has definitely cost him playing time, but he was not bad oin 2004. C. The Bills pulled Lawrence Smith from the Ravens PS to start for us, He eventually was benched because he was not good enough in all phases of the game, but he actually was best at and often quite good at pass blocking. it was run blocking where he was an inconsistent player and actually he sucked so bad in the red zone our performance improved played DTs in his place, but he was effective in stituations were DB was avoiding the sack. 6. The trick plays helped cut down on the sacks. As much as its popular these days to blame MM for everything from being an offensive idiot to the E. Coli outbreak, his use of trick plays actually helped the sack number in that it caused opposing defenders to not commit so heavily to the blitzbecause MM might have some play on that they needed to watch for. I think these and probably other factors rather than WM and blitz pick-up contributed to the lower sack #s.

Its hard to consider some one the best ever when his little brain caused him to be involved in two of the stupidest plays in football history. The one Lett faux pas os famous among Bills faithful as his showboating gave Don Beebe a lift to his career that brought him fame that certainly he was able to ride to a big payoffs as Beebe slapped the ball from his hand for a touchback as he strolled into the endzone in a blowout. That dumb play is certainly understandable and even forgivable as it had no game effect in a blowout of the final game of the season. However, his other notable error was a big time one as it cost his team the game before a national audience on Thanksgiving (and I believe they might have even missed the playoffs by 1 game that year) which was him unexplainedly sliding into a ball which would have been a dead ball where the 'Boys simply ran out the clock. However, by careening into it in the snow he made it a live ball which the other team recovered and went on to win the game. Lett maybe is notable for briefly being the best physical specimen at the position ever, but it goes with noting his physical great play that he was a mental midget on and off the field. One faux pas can happen to anyone. A second error might be a mere coincidence. However, when you add the drug transgressions that cost him a suspension from being to even apply his physical talemts, this third problem constitutes a trend and its hard to consider any such miscreant the greatest anything except a screw up. In fact, of he was that talented a player, it simply makes his idiocy even more of an unacceptable waste.

Bingo! Thanks you for your work which totally undercuts the premise of the originsl post! It reminds of that scene in Annie Hall where someone is issuing his fact free opinions about the work of a particular author and Woods takes fault with him. The original whiner says no but Woody reaches off screen and brings out the author himself who then informs the complainer that he clearly does not understand the author's work. Allen then says, Don't you wish real life was really like this. Well it isn't, but fortunately the internet is not real life so one can actually share true facts that totally undercut an original argument. My sense is that this is probably true about some of the other fact-free opinions about WM which are offered like: 1. He does not make any effort- Well duh! Actually running into a line of oppposing screaming defensive players is an effort in itself. Perhaps one wants to complain that he makes less effort than other RBs, His 71 carries are 3rd among the top 30 rushers and even his ypc which previously was lower than the norm is well above 4 and is quite solid this year so even this complaint does not hold much water when one looks at the collected objective facts. 2. He is going to leave the Bills anyway and is just goofing off until he scores a big contract to go elsewhere- Well duh! I also doubt he will retire as a Bill since actually few players retire with the team which drafted them/ However, WM is our RB this year. In addition, WM is our RB next year. I;m not sure when his contract ends but if we want to keep him when he hits FA after 2007 we have the ability to tag him if we choose to and keep him a Bill in 2008. This time period already puts his career beyond the NFL average and we can barely plan for next year and palns beyond that are easily altered by reality. Has WM said word 1 that he wants to leave? I do not think so. Beyond an off-hand rambling by Rosenhaus last year I have not even seen a hint that he is gonna be a problem yet some treat it as a done deal that he is gone when he simply will be a Bill for the forseeable future if we want that to happen. Besides if he is so obviously be a slacker why would anyone pay him a huge contract. 3. Willis says he doesn't weghtlift and this is why he cannot do blitz-pick ups- The post which made this argument was one of the sillier ones. Hello Newman, better upper body stength will not help you pick up the blitz. Looking desperately for some logic in this post, it may be arguing that his lack of weight-lifting with the team was linkws to his lack of effort. However, this argument ignores the fact that his harsh stiff arm which showed a bit yesterday with Jauron running him outside instead of abandoning it like MM had shows great upper body strength. Even if the complaint is that he should strengthen his legs to increase durability he sure is showing a great ability to make carries compared to most RBs so durability does not seem to be the issue. The bottom line in my opinion is that if your question is whether WM is perfect. I would say no. His blitz pick-up obviously needs serious work, He pulled off a great one last week but immediately followed that up with a whiff. Ge whiffed badly at a crtical time yesterday. It was understandable that he missed a dew in his first full year, but he should do better now and the misses this season are unacceptable. However, he demonstrated last week he can do it and the issue is that he needs to consistently do it and claims he cannot do it at all are simply factually incorrect. He has also needs to score TDs like he did in his truncated 1st year, but a lack of TDs has so many other necessary elements like play calling an OL blocking involved you need to lay out a very in depth case to rationally claim the problem is the RB on this. He also needs to be more productive as a receiver, but again you need both the play calling and the QB choosing to go to you to make this happen. They misfired to him on a high pass in the 1st quarter and generally abandoned this approach until late in the game. Saying he sucks due to this is also irrational. WM is far from perfect, but through week 3 even given his clear failings I think one can reasonably call him an elite RB.

All along, I have held that the key to assessing the 2006 season is not simply what folks think about the Bills (we're doomed) but also an assessment of how our opponents look. As reality occurs, this obviously changes, but overall, I think no matter how little you think of the Bills chances, the 1-15 rants were simply nuts because not only can any team be beaten by even a horrible team on any given Sunday, but no matter how bad we really might be there are opponents we face who are equally as bad or in fact worse. This perspective is not dead lock certain predictive either, since as we saw yesterday on a given Sunday even a really bad team (as I still think the Jets are) may well beat you at home. However, this is my cut on the past games and future opponents after week 3. Sept. 10 @ New England L 19-17 - A surprisingly nice performance on the road against a recent multi-time SB winner in their house. I am not a real believer in the "moral" victory designation as morality as little to do with football results and like it or not this team is 0-1. However, acknowledging realtiy deems folks note that this performance was surprisingly better than expected from this team. Sept. 17 @ Miami W 16-6 - another surprisingly good performance and this time a W on the road against thse pretenders. Sept. 24 NY Jets Preview - A stinker. The Bills had to be expected to lay an egg when they should not have and though the real answer is that this team is not that good (though 1-15 still strikes me as really a stupid prediction) there is still potential that they might balance this loss of a should win game with a win of a should lose game. I doubt they will prove to be that good to make us that lucky but hope springs eternal or until the fat lady sings or some other cliche. Oct. 1 Minnesota 1:00pm - Our friends in Chicago may have provided Fairchild with a good primer on how to take advantage of the weaknesses in the Vikes D as the Vikes got beaten at home and should be beatable when they come to our house. The 2-1 Vikes may end up being favored over the 1-2 Bills, but all of their games have been close so they are certainly not a juggernaut and they are beatable though i think they may well be a better team overall than our Billsl Oct. 8 @ Chicago 1:00pm - a 3-0 start by the Bears should make this a likely loss for us unless Grossman does not make the over/under of four games before his typical season ending injury. Oct. 15 @ Detroit 1:00pm - Detroit is a very bad team built by that idiot Millen. Een on the road this game is emininently winnable by even a bad team. Oct. 22 New England 1:00pm - Our season opening performance where we came close to a win in their house means this one is definiitely winnable. yesterday's loss by the Pats to Denver may be a sign with their bare wins over the Bills and Jets that they are headed in a downhill period which makes this one winnable. Oct. 29 Bye Nov. 5 Green Bay 1:00pm - - They did a get a W yesterday, but this was on Detroit and it still looks like these are the Packers who went 0-2 in their first games and should be beatable. Nov. 12 @ Indianapolis 1:00pm - The most likely loss for us this seaon in my opinion. Nov. 19 @ Houston 1:00pm - Another bad team that folks are wondering if they might even go 0-16. Any given Sunday says no and definitely we should be depressed if we happen to be a W for them, but this game even in their house is winnable by even a bad team. Nov. 26 Jacksonville 1:00pm - Impressive evven in losing to Indy and this one looks like a loss even at home. Dec. 3 San Diego 1:00pm - A tough game in the part of the schedule which worrie me most as we face two teams in a row from the conference who may well make the playoffs this year. Dec. 10 @ NY Jets 1:00pm - Losing to them at home turns this one into a must win for us and how the previous games turn out may make what clearly must be considered and up hill climb for us a tough game. Dec. 17 Miami 1:00pm - Squishing the Fish was fun last week and they showed little in their victory over TN that indicates that this team will not likely get squished again when they roll into Buffalo in mid-December. Dec. 24 Tennessee 1:00pm - Their loss to Miami yesterday makes this bad team look worse and worse. Dec. 31 @ Baltimore - This 3-0 team was not impressive in beating lowly Clevelburg by only a point yesterday, but our best chance against them appears to be if they are restong up for the playoffs and we need this game. In summary in our remaining 13 gamese will face: We will face 4 games we will almost certainly lose (Indy, CHI, BAL on the road and wither Jax or SD here depending on how the season goes and the injury wildcard). We will face 6 games we will almost certainly win even if you judge the Bills to be a bad team (DET, GB, Hou. TN appear to be really bad teams which can be beaten by anyone anywhere and I like our chances facing a bad Miami team whom we already beat and an NE team whom we kept up with until the end and both at home. The remaining two games are MN here and NYJ there and I actually feel pretty good about these games because MN is not really that great (though on paper I think they are better than us and despite the loss yesterday I am not impressed with NYJ. How things turn out will be subject to how folks are doing week to week, but even wih a horrible loss yesterday, i think we are a long way from DDOOOMMED and I like our chances for finishing at least .500 this year. I think th keys will be: 1. Do not lose to the Vikes at hom next week as this game is winnable and if we lose as we are traveling to Chicago the next week this season could get very long after a glimpse of hope provided last week. 2. Stealing one from either Jax or SD at home (both better teams who on most Sundays would beat us) is essential to balancing off a bad beat we took yesterday. In fact, if we lose boh of these at home it will make this a long season for us and leave a bitter taste in Bills rooters mouths. As a Bills fan, even with a loss yesterday I still love this team (I actually would love them if they went 0-16). but the good news is that as a semi-objective football fan even with a loss yesterday I still like this team (as a semi-objective NFL fan I do not like it all when the team puts on a performance like they did last year) and think we have a good shot at fisnishing at least .500 because a lot of our opponents are simply bad teams.

Thanks for the research and the true facts! Is WM the top RB in the NFL? Nope. His game has too many glaring gaps in terms of blitz pick-up which are all on him and other issues like a failure to be extraordinarly productive as a receiver and a lack of TDs (both of which are incredibly reliant of the performance of others from the OC to the QB to the OL to blame him solely forthese problems though the best overcome the frailties of others and simply command the opportunities and make it work). However, folks who seem to complain bitterly about him showing: 1. A lack of effort (yeah right compared to what other RBs do in real life he simply has gained more yards rushing than any other RB in the league so far in this brief season and compared to you and me who often debate whether we shoud make the effort to get up off the couch and go to the can now or can we hold out until halftime, I do not think lack of effort is the issue here). 2. A lack of weight lifting (yeah right the stiff arm he laid on an onrushing tackler whom he bulldozed through for a few yards but then 5 more were tacked on because all the struggling opponent could do was tug his facmask for a penalty was a real showing of how weak he is because he did not lift more). 3. Crudity towards women because of his baby momma comment (yeah they are right but the answer to this is that they avoid sleeping with WM not worry about whether he is a good RB or not). At any rate, WM is not the full player that we want (yet), but like it or not he still is the fastest Bill RB ever to obtain 2000 yards rushing and he leads the NFL in rushing yards so far very early in this season. He is unfinished and has obvious imperfections ( I guess he is not perfect like the rest of us) but he is: 1. One of the top RBs in the NFL and use of the term of art "elite" to characterize him even with his clear failings is more than reasonable. 2. The Bills go-guy at the RB position for the forseeable future. I do not know the exact nature of his contract but this is not his FA year and even after next year, if he performs as he has to date (a big if given the possibility of injury in the NFL) the maket would quite likely give him an average of the top 5 RB contracts that the franchise tag would give him and easily a top 10 average that the Bills would gain right of first refusal if they laid this tag on him. More important for the Bills purposes, there is no easily forseeable replacement for him tht i can see us getting as our # 1 RB. If not, I would be happy to have you name him. This whole conversation is so speculative that though there is no requirement that we not be silly on TSW, the concept that we should get rid of him or that he is going to another team before the 2009 (it may be 2010 if the new CBA allows him to be tagged twice IF we choose to do so buty I cannot remember. WM is a Bill if er want him for forseeable future and well beyong the career of the average NFL RB. If he gets hurt then we may choose to let him go but contractually if we want him for a bunch of years we got him and at his current production levels, even with his glaring faults we want him because he performas extraordinarily well in several facet of the game and there IS NO OTHER REAL WORLD ALTERNATIVE FOR A #1 RB for the Bills.

It also is a bit odd that someone would claim that by lifting weights a player would drastically improve his ability to not whiff on blitz pick-ups. Are you making a point besides overlooking the things WM did extraordinarly well which do indicate great effort on his part. If anything, I think that WM (and JP) improve their work in all facets of the game when they calm down a bit and strike a balance between achieving precision on technical parts of the game while maintaining their animal ferocity in the gritty parts of the game. I think the WM issue is not so much a lack of desire (we even saw him use the stiff-arm a bit yesterday and simply beat back an onrushing tackler with a show of upper body strength and EFFORT) but a lack of precision in some parts of his game. This view is quite consistent with real world events such as him pulling oof a great blitz pick-up last week on one play and then turning around and whiffing on a blitz-pick-up the next time he was called on to perform this.

JP looked for WM in the second drive and threw a high pass that WM could only tip and as the NYJ DL player had tape on his hands like oven mitts he could not bring it in. Its possible that after that fiasco, a combination of Fairchild shying away from touch passes in the flat and JP failing to choose to attempt the throw is what led to the lack of attempts.

I hope he is able to play as well. However, the story of someone being an animal and pressing too hard and coming back to quicky is a common one in the NFL. I liked the role played by Tony Herbert who wrote a book about his experiences as a Col. in Vietnam. In his book which I think was simply called Soldier, Herbert was a well read and well educated man who quite frankly was simply a killer and a warrior as well. He was known to some as the Cultured Animal which I think reflected his lethal controlled passion. It was a great play causing a funble on the first play against NE. However, I hope that the Hammy pull which knocked him out of thesecond game was not caused by TKO simply being able to play at one speed in real games which is all out. TKO is a good enough player that simply based on his athletic skill and rep 80% of TKO is worth 100% of the typical NFL starter. I hope he has the control to sit if he needs to or that Jauron shows the strength if he judges it to be the case to simply inactivate TKO even if the player says put me in coach but Jauron has his doubts. Its a 16 game season and I would much rather have TKO for games 4-16 rather than risk him against the beatable Jets if there is any grave doubt or range of motion testing indicates he is gonna simply gut it through stress.

It was on an earlier play that Butkus laid one on Hughes. Hewrote a book about his career where he talked about how he always felt guilty about the earlier hit and his friends kept trying to convince him because Hughes died on a later play with no hit it was not his fault. however, he felt guilty anyway. This may be the reason that he is the only player mentioned as signaling frantically for help after Hughes fell without contact. PS the fact that it was Kotite that was responsible or this lame match-up makes perfect sense.

I agree that publiv dollars should go for public things you do not have to pay for beyond your taxes beyond a operation, maintenance and upkeep fee (the occaisional two or three dollar fee for a park camping permit or a hunting license fee for examplw), Paying public money to a private enterprise is essentially corporate welfare for the rich. However, one of the failings of our capitalist society is the Golden Rule, namely that he who has the gold rules and the payment of corporate welfare has become the norm in our society where capital holders pay for politicians to run campaigns callin for lower taxes and then they use that tax money to give various breaks, grants and perks to attract industry to move to the area. The studies show generally it actually is far more effecient economically to spend public money on pulblic amenties from infrasteucture like parks and beaches and operation costs like trash collection and public safety, However, it is simply the way of the world to try to improve the corporate welfare spending because we ain;t gonna wipe it out. As a football fan and Bills worshipper my preference for corporate welfare is to see NYS tax dollars which come from the people (the population is much larger in NYC) it go to WNY and the Bills. it ain't right but it is reality.

A new sound system would be great, but to some extent this would be trying to make a silk purse from a sow[s ear or putting a V-8 engine in a Studebaker. It would be a great sound system in an old stadium which does not have 20 years of advances in Stadium design and building advances beyond the retrofits they could kludge into the stadium when they took out a bunch of fan seats to make luxury boxes because Ralph could fnce this revenue off from splitting it with his partners. the NFLPA. As with real estate generally, the big ticket is about location, location and location. Under most circumstances the studies indicate that sports facilities are not as good an exonomic development tool as other investments in the public commons such as parks, beaches etc. However, Buffalo's down town as hit such a rock bottom in terms of economic activity, it actually is not hard to do better from any form of development hich attracts people. Buffalo has a threshhold problem that as many folks have escaped the City and different people than they grew up with in its ethnic communities, they have not even been in the City for years. A newsmedia which sells its commercials with a motto of if it bleeds it leads, have reinforced the specter of the City being a dangerous place (there are in fact more murders in Buffalo than in Amherst, but generally killers know their victims and it is not Iraq as far as dangerous places go). If NYS is going to send a chunk of change west from the population centers of NYC, and public investments in development are not going to go toward better investments in the public commons like beaches, parks, etc. then as a Bills lover I m happy to see money spent studpidly spent on something stupid I like. NYS should fun a stadium authority which builds a stadium or the Bills which will provide an anchor for peripheral development. A football stadium is a lousy development investment as it only draws crowds for sure 8 times a year plus exhibitions and any playoff home games. However, if the authority also sells bonds to fund the building of homes for the peripheral development (I would prefer to this and give the Bills sole use of the stadium which will simply sit there most of the year, but negotiating with them for use of the facility for concerts and other things is too much of a hassle since they are idiots so just give them the stadium and build other facilities for mixed use and control them. it would be more efficient to build a mixed used stadium but dealing with the Bills o give them their cut would be such a hassle it is worth giving them sole use of a facility built for them even tough it would be inefficient). A new sound system would be great but it should be part of a new stadium. Getting an initial offer from Pataki as he exits stage left is great as the Bills will not have to spend extortion chits with Spitzer to merely get the issue on the table. If the Bills can trigger a bidding war in the governor's race that would be good strategy, but Spitzer appears to be a blow-out winner and he may not bite. However, local elected officials and candidates will put a lot of preesure oh nim to bite so that the Dems are looked at as a party for WNY. In the longrun, Spitzer likely will see the potential to get a bunch offolks to come to the polls and vote for him and the Dems so he likely would bite anyway. We will see,

I think the better and more successful football is played by having him manage the games and not make mistakes. Like Bledsoe, i think he makes more mistakes when he tries to hard. They are not good enough players to win it all on their own (but then pretty much nobody is- Elway was one of the best athletes out there by far, but his teams always fell just short until they got outstanding play from teammates like Terel Davis, Sharpe and their D and then they could win it all). I think JP has actually shown some good abilities and posssibilities in his short career- 1. He really is pliable and does what the coaches tell him- From him absorbing the lessons which MM ham-handedly exposed him to as rookie like when he threw him into the NE game unexpectedly to take an edge off his cockiness, to Wyche molding him to try things which did not work, to Fairchild remolding him to actually play turnover free ball so far, JP has demonstraed that he will do what he is told to do. The key is to have a good plan and if the Bills have that JP will run it. The do not make mistakes plan is pretty boring but it is effective so far. 2. He has shown good talent when the play blows up- I'm sure it is his natural athleticism, built up by having to run for his life and improvise behind a porous Tulane line and he has fortunately survived as a pro since the TV shove in practice dspite his wearing the QB practice tutu, but these and likely other facors have combined to allow him to make plays like the one where Fowler shotgunned it past him and he quickly turned, fielded the bouncing ball, aprinted to the sidelines. and somehhow found Reed for the completion. These skills and his escapability are great tools to have when the play blows up, he simply has to maintain control such that when the blocking holds but no one is open he either checks down to a safety receiver. runs himself and slides with no hit, or tosses it OB. Its when he has the time to try to make a play when he gets into trouble. He should do this on 3rd or 4th down or the game is ending, but in general it makes more sense to live to fight another day with no play early in the game or on 1st or 2nd down. 3. The no INTs so far is something that even someone who badmouths JP should acknowledge is a positive sign. He ain't a good one yet, but all the more reason for him not to force it and take what he is given and simply work to not make mistakes.

I remember that play clear as a bell as I think it was the hardest hit I ever saw anyone lay on another player in person (a Butkus hit literrally killed Chuck Hughes of the Lions and I actually do mean literrally killed him but I heard it on the radio and did not see it). I forget which fool was HCing the Jets at the time but for some reason he had a rookie LT block Bruce one-on-one (the OL did not slant Bruce's way and there was not even an attempt at a blitz pick-up) and Boomer paid the price. I actually hope that JP does not set out to prove Boomer wrong by putting up big stats as I think his played sucke last year because he tried to hard. He and TC tried to do things the team simply could not do and this ended up with JP trying to win it all himself and try to do things he couldn't do and we paid the price with Ls. The way for JP to actually produce a QB rating over 90 is for him to take the same course he took last week and not throw the ball except when he has to or as a change-up. Its boring and can produce a goshawful QB rating in the first half, but it works and not only will his meaningless stats be better by the end of the game but the team will do well in the ultimate stat which is the comparative score at the end of the game.

I'm sure your grammar and your grandad appreciate you editing it for them!

I agree with scenario that 10-6 is actually the most likely of all the small chance possibilities out there (15-1 and 1-15 are the least likely). it is the most likely of the far less than likely outcomes as the analysis is based on chances of winnability at this point rather than dead lock certain predictions. I think it is quite likely that the Bills will lose at least one in some boneheaded loss, but also I think it is quite likely that this team will also have some amazing win (look even last year's team pulled out a pretty unpredictable upset of Cincy and few (like no one) predicted we would end up 9-7 after a 1-4 start. It all comes down to whether you now believe in the possibilities after Jauron led the team to hanging in there in NE and beating the crap out of the Felons. Of course the real determining factor will be how the oddly shaped ball bounces, injuries (and how we adjust to them) abd whether the refs blow the call on the coin toss. However, the fact we do not know what will happen is what makes this interesting. My other observations are these: 1. If we go into the Ravens game with the playoffs on the line and the Ravens either resting for the playoffs (more likely) or mailing it in because they suck (less likely) I like our chances even in this game. 2. Ironically, the loss in NE may have really been useful in demonstrating something to the youngsters they already knew: Having the experience of wantin it trumps how well the teams are actually playing to that point often. The first game against NE saw us handle them surprisingly well into the 4th quarter on the road. This was demonstrated by us being ahead by 10 points and knocking on their door to score again.. Yet on 4th an 1, they wanted it more in their house and stopped us. Then marched all over us offensively and defensively as their confidence soared and we were reeling. I think between that loss and us handing the Felons their head, this team is still young but learned a bit about winning in the NFL. 3. The next lesson unfortunately is gonna be the gut check which always come as the team has to respond to things not going well. Who knows what form that challenge will take (it was a losing streak and an injury to RoboQB for Pitts last year, it was BB totally mangling negotiations with Lawyer Milloy and also then a series of critical injuries for NE one year, it was the injury to Bledose and the team becoming a TEAM in 2001 (with a little help from the refs application of the tuck rule against the Faiders) in the 2001 season. I used to lead inner-city lead kids on 12 day Outward Bound style trips (the Appalachian trail could have been the Rockies compared to home and the Delaware R. could have been the CO Rr. for their purposes). It was fun watching the kids go through a fairly standard routine which was the first couple of days they would flail around trying to figure out what the rules were. Days 3 - 6 would see them go through some cathartic event be itsaying could not hike another step, accomplishing a semi-technical rock climb they did not think they could do or simplya bout of homesickness. The last 6 days, the group would become a GROUP and then you could teach outdoor skills to those who were interested and the individuals became a family who picked up for each other. Likewise with the young Bills. It may well be that the loss to NE wa the flailing around and this team will become a TEAM and a family that picks up for each other when the next challenge comes. We will see.

This is the direction I hsd figured things were headed with all the crying poor by Ralph (it is true he is poorer that multi-gazillionaires like Snyder and Jones). However, this amount seems like small potatoes compared to not only what can be extorted from taxpayers for the Bills in WNY but even in comparison the last NYS cash delivery to the Bills. My sense is that if someone offers you money you rarely say no. However, my guess is that this is aimply the Pataki swan song as he leves office and a deal does not get done. The real bidding is between Spitzer and whoever it is the GOP is sending out top die in the gubernatorial campaign (but recieve millions in post-electoral largesse from the GOP for being the sacrificial lamb). At that point if Mayor Brown and the City of Buffalo (and the swing voters from Erie County) weigh in for an NYS bond funded stadium authority (NYS can get far better rates on the loans needed to fund such an endeavor than the private sector, then we are talking about hundreds of millions of $ being delivered to the Bills for their primary (id not exclusive) use and control. While this is grossly unfair and actually a dumb way to do economic development compared to other investments NYS could make, funding for the Bills is far more likely to occur than the better economic development investments (and as shown by the NYC authority attempts not a sure thing itself) by NYS and it will send $ from NYC (where the people and thus the $ really are) to WNY and Buffalo. Like many things in life. Its grossly unfair and stupid but it benefits me and my team so I support it.

Exacrly, the NYT aided Osama and his boys who blew up the WTC by being such bad reporters they completely missed the fact that the Administration completely blew their "slam dunk" about WMD and did not challenge the obviously wrong idea that Saddam and Al Quaeda were working together. Sure the NYT can try to defend itself by saying but everyone else was wrong about WMD and the Saddam/Osama axis. However, i think it is pretty reasonable to expect a rich journal that portrays itself as America's newspaper of record to meet a higher standard of simply getting the story right so that we were not distracted from going after the terrorists who killed Americans. The idea that the NYT can justify itself by claiming others were wrong is almost as stupid as the idea that the American government should be let off the hook for getting thousands of its troops killed for nothing but revenge for the Prez's Dad amd mation building which we are doing a really bad job of in Iraq since Rumsfeld and the boys have not commited enough troops and are trying to do this on the cheap. Sure the centerpiece of the war on terror is now in Iraq, and Iran is really pleased about this as Al Quaeda chose this as a great place to make a stand as the nation we are building breaks down into 3 nations because of sectarian violence we will lose. I am convinced by the arguments about NYT that it and our President are doing a great job helping the terrorists achieve their goals.

In summary: I think the Bills played this right way. Given our sorry D last year and a critical lack of turnover production, there is no way I cut my leading producer of turnovers last year. He is well into the backside of his career, but since he was able to play in all 16 games last year, I give him the benefit of the doubt unless he clearly hits the wall in pre-season due to injury. Yet his age means I put a high priority on getting talent in the draft and sign an FA if I can because my key back-up Wire contributes only on ST and he will even have to vie for a spot there. Cap $ is alays an issue as I want to maximize profits, Tet the new CBA raises the cap and gives me flexibility not to have to cut players I have any probable need for. The TO situation creates that probable need for TV, plus when you add that my new Cover 2 tends his role toward his coverage skills where he made the Pro Bowl due to his youth and away from the run stopping required of a safety in the zone blitz. I cut his fellow safety Milloy which saves me far more money than cutting TV and fits the switch to a Cover 2. Further I fet the immediate starter at SS in the 1st round, luck into getting a CB in the 3rd with 1st round physical talent but 3rd round experience. Finally I get another safety who savvy I like early on the second day, This fuirther enhances TVs value as my DN position coach is gonna have his hands full with all this draft talent. Further, I get Bowen who definitely has the ST talent we want and I think can actually challenge as a position player. In addition I get K. Thomas who I think can challenge for the nickel slot and will compete with draft pick King from last year. In the final equation, my lucj with TV runs out as a nagging hamstring costs him the pre-season and eventually means he will need to sit for roughly 4 weeks with no gurantee he can come back. The good news is that Simpson is a player and the late signing Whitner also looks good. The TV injury may well be a blessing in disguise as his injury in pre-season gave the rooks more PT. Even better if IR'ed he will hang around and provide Pro Bol quality peer coaching to the youngsters. The CB coach xan devote full time to keeping good players on the field and well coached and TV can give time to Youbouty who is vehind anyway due to a death in the family and Calvado's job has to be to win on Sunday rather than train for next year. I think the Bills made the right move to keep him and bad luck cost them. However, the bad luck of injury provides some nice training side effects. The money issue is always there but simply means that the Bills instead of making outrageous profits with a growing TV payment with costs fixed by the CBA, simply means the Bills make less outrageous profit rather than more outrageous profit. No one chooses injury but, I think the whole thing works for us.

I understand the distinction you are making between players who are Bills for the long term versus players where this is clearly just a stop on the way to another team. Though, I think this is a valid distinction for a a few extreme cases of players (almost all the draftees are hoping to be so good that the team that drafted them will want to pay them big bucks upfront and keep them with the team which picked them for their whole career (many players assume they will become FAs at some point, but when a team offers you by far the biggest check you have ever gotten a couple of seasons before you hit FA, be they Peters, McGee. Crowell or whomever you sign an extension and bind yourself to that team for a period beyond the average career length of an NFL player even here in a little market). There are players on the backside of their career like a Centers, Gash, or even Bledspe who know this is just a stop ortheir last contract and one would rather develop you own and make these players at most the last piece you need in an SB run so the distinction you make is a real one, though it simply does not apply to many cases. The real world of the NFL is actually that all the players are consultants these days and they are well paid enough that they all better be businesmen (or they are going to broke). Whether you want consultants or not, your team is going to have a strong dose of FAs like Reyes, Fowler, Peerless, and Triplett playing critical roles on your team. We cetainly will have the Evans, the Whitner and the other players we drafted as a core of this team, but we gave folks like Triplett and Fowler bonuses such that it is clear we hope they will be Bills for a long time. Sould your team be built around consultants? They have to be in that I would hazard a guess that if you look at the current roster 10 years from now there will only be a handful (if that many) who make their homes in Buffalo. If you trestrict this survey to simply their period as members of the team it is simply the exception to the general rule the player who retires from the team that drafted them. Though I think that football and the "real" business world are quite different from each other. football teams can actually learn some lessons about how a good business gets good value from a consultant. I work as a consultant professionally and have had my own company for 17 years. I feel it is a smart thing for a company to hire me for: 1. Short-term work they need done but so not plan to stay in that business beyond a short time. 2. Immediate work where they have a need for expertise to produce immediately and do not have time to wait on a learning curve. 3. Most important, and when I am really used well is when I am hired not so much to do a specific job, but to build the capacity of the institution to do the work themselves. I am lucky enough that I can tend to avoid the first two types of work because I find it generally unfulfilling. Sometimes I will do it because I am paid googobas of money to do it or the job is in a nifty place I want to go. The best work in #3 is actually the hard part about being a consultant. If I do my job right I work myself out of a job and even worse I am not there for the kill and the fun part of accomplishing things. Still, I have a short attention span so this flitting around suits me. This is relevant because there are football analogies for each of these three needs. Unfortunately, the Bills have not been good enough for a while for the football case where the first two reasons make sense. When your team is one or a couple of players away from going for the SB, it makes perfect sense to bring in a "consultant" typr player who is not part of your history and will not be part of your future. However, if you are good and understand your scheme and make a judgment that a player who can perform a specific role in the immediate can put you over the top git er done. Likewise, forget the draft for meeting an immediate need as it usually only two or even one player who will start immediately for your team and a handul that contribute over the course of a season. You need a "consultant" player ifyou are lucky enough to get the right one. This brings us to Vincent. Actually he seems to fit the highest and best use of a consultant as it applies to football. What TV is all about particularly after going on the IR is building the capacity of several players on this team to perform well. Why are we able to use 2 rookies of all things as starting safeties and have them impress? Why is the rookie Whitner calling plays and changes assignments on thefield as though he we was a vet? I dunno for sure, but i would not be surprised at all if this is in part because of the presnce of TV. It could be that it is simply because Whitner is so great and Simpson is so great and Ellison listens to Whitner and does what he says becaise he knows Whitner is so great. However, what I think may well have happened here was the the young Bills (particularly the DBs and Ss are profiting from having a former multi-time Pro Bowler who clearly has both the on field and off-field respect of the players helping them dissect every piece of film on opponents and also critique and improve their own work. Maybe the rooks are just tremendous players who would do what they are doing even without TV. If so, then we should all really bow down and say we are not worthy to Marv and Modrak because they were smart enough to reach for Whiner and to draft Ellison, Williams and Simpson on the second day. Maybe it is the superior position coaching from Calvados. I think that is actually a big factor, but remember that he not only has the typical responsibility of working with vets like McGee and NC, but also he teaching the two rookie starters, AND needing to also school Youbouty, AND sorting through FA consultants like Bowen and Thomas and making the decision to cut King and keep Wire. My sense is that in the end we are going to feel quite fortunate the way things played out with TV. By going on IR most of the pre-season it gave valuable minutes to the rookies to learn the game, By being respected as both a player and as a person he immediately should have been able to command special respect from the rooks. In addition, a fellow player and peer, TV really can do some things and here some admissions from the rooks and talk to them in a way they simply would not talk to or admit their difficulties to a man who will decide whether they get cut or not. I cannot say for sure what difference TV had made, but given the many things on Calvados plate, the fact all rookies MUST learn the NFL game and it is not the typical thing for a rookie to start and play effectively for NFL teams immeidiately and really rare for a seconf day draftee to even contribute much less start for his team right out the box, What is different about this team: 1. The HC is a former DB, once NFL Coach of the Year and a defensive specialist. 2. The Bills players all expected to and are expected to contribute immediately though it was mostly ST where they expected to do this because of Marv's emphasis. 3. TV was there as quite frankly the most respected player you can have (voted NFL Pres and a multi-time former Pro Bowler) but yet because of his injury he did not take any time away from the rooks. I am really pumped about TV offering to stick around for a few weeks though many IR players simply go home if their rehab is set and they can do it remotely. My main hope is that now Youbouty and TV become fast friends and constant companions. Youbouty can oribably use the help since his Mom died and if TV can download to him while Calvados spends his time between the more than full time needs of two rook safety starters. The life may be very good.

While the two words are not in the same sentence, I think K F&B and I both interpreted your post in the same manner which was finding fault with manner TV operated. I was mistaken in this take, apologize for misinterpreting and am glad you did not mean it that way. I do not feel any disdain for psychoanalysts, just simply a disdain for what I call the dimestore version of it which is folks ASSuming some simplistic motivation for a player or individual's actions based on their simplistic read of the person's motivations. As an example off the TV subject, you would think some folks must be best friends with McGahee or have slept with him the way they rant about his motivations, plans or lack thereof. He probably is a jerk, but we really do not know for sure for the most part and the main take from what he has said is that folks should be careful not to have sex with him (kest you end up being a baby momma). Basically, what we really do know about him is his performance on the field and little more than that. It amazes me how folks seem to think they draw stone cold certain conclusions about what he is gonna do years hence based on their psychological profiling. I'm happy you do not think this way.