Albany,n.y.

Of course it's speculation-that's why the 1st 2 paragraphs start with "I think" I'll be glad to provide a link when the final cuts are announced, or when Holcomb is traded, whichever comes 1st.

I can only think of 1 reason we're loading up on all these 3rd string QBs. Dick & Marv have seen enough of Nall & Losman to know that if either wins the starting job, which is very likely, there's not a need for Kelly Holcomb, since either Losman or Nall is adequate enough to be the 2nd stringer. However, I think the main reason is because, even though Marv was in Chicago during Johnson -Flutie, he saw the damage that Wade Phillips did, making it impossible for those two to co-exist on the same team and knows that Mike Mularkey, by his actions last season, has already poisoned whatever relationship Losman & Holcomb could have possibly ever had. As a result, Marv knows that there's no way to enter the season with one of those guys as the starter and the other his backup. If JP is the starter, his backup will be Nall, not Holcomb, and the team will need a 3rd QB. The fodder can fight it out in practice & may the best man win. If Nall wins the job, there's no need for both Holcomb & Losman on the team-and Holcomb is much easier on the salary cap to cut. Mularkey already divided the locker room last year with his QB games. Marv & Dick Jauron are not about to let that happen again this year and if all three remain healthy, Holcomb is the odd man out. There's no way they'll allow the Holcomb supporters to undermine JP, like last season-when the inmates ran the asylum. Although its not his fault, Holcomb is the final victim of Johnson/Flutie, thanks to a meathead former head coach.

If Losman & Nall show enough, and JP is the starter, Holcomb will be elsewhere on opening day. You don't need 2 vets as backups when 1 has 1-2 years left in the NFL in what is basically a build upon year, if not a total rebuild year. No matter how many games played in (or not played in), Nall is a veteran.

When Tucker took over in 2004, I though he played well, much better than others before & after him. If he didn't have a bad back, there would have been no need to sign Bennie at all.

Let's say JP wins the starter's job this year and goes on to be entrenched as the starter for years to come. I believe the most important day was when Mularkey left as coach. It would have been very difficult for JP to sucessfully play for a coach who totally undermined him at the end of last season and wasted his season last year. With the slate totally clean, and a new coaching staff, I say JP rises to the occasion, wins the starting job and is our QB for the next decade.

"He wasn't moving and I was afraid that he had died. ... He wasn't really speaking. He seemed dazed but he was resisting the effort to make him stay down," said Ford, who didn't realize the motorcyclist was Roethlisberger. Pretty stupid statement as presented in the article-he wasn't moving, she was afraid he had died, yet he was resisting the effort to make him stay down. Pretty feisty action for a dead man.

Personally, I don't know why some people in the media are so upset with this. If they want to kill themselves, let them. Only problem is they ruined some good linen. Let's put some rope in each cell to make it easier on these guys and stop ruining good bedsheets.

I take it you weren't around in the late 60s, mid 70s and mid 80s. There were times in each of those decades when the Bills were the laughingstock of the league. We lost the top pick in the 1979 draft to the friggin' CFL, and that was a team on the upswing at the time it happened. The USFL killed us, taking Kelly & Cribbs away from the Bills. The fact that the Bills had consecutive 2-14 seasons during the life of the USFL was hardly a coincidence. Players (see Chip Banks) would refuse to come to the Bills when traded for. One could say the mid 80s were the darkest days, but things were so bad in the late 60s-early 70s (when we signed the top pick in 1972 it was Walt Patulski) and mid 70s that they would be challenged if they labeled the 80s slump as the darkest days. Dark days, you don't know dark days.

Thanks for the post, very interesting, I'm glad I didn't post into that one. Rico wins the Paul Revere prize for best warnings on Bennie. I liked SICincy's wait & see take that it's bad QBs bringing Bennie down in Baltimore-Benny can use that line in his next tryout adding JP & Holcomb to the list

Anyone know someone in Buffalo who owns a restaurant Bennie used to frequent? That's who will really miss Bennie, along with all our opponents.

It all comes down to the QB position. If JP or Nall plays lights out, we can make the playoffs. If Holcomb is the starter, you can count on no more than 6 wins...unless he gets benched & JP or Nall plays lights out.

Here's a link http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/america...tember-3915.php

I got my TV Guide and there's a story (p12) that starting this fall, they'll be rerunning season 1 in syndication. Good news for Idol fans who started watching after the beginning and want to see past years. The show will feature clips that weren't show in the original airing, including Kelly Clarkson's 1st audition. ...and for those who never watched, now you can start from the beginning.

The next Bruce Smith!!!!! .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................a guy whose glory years are long gone and is not in the league in 2006

Euhus showed nothing last year and wouldn't have made the team. No matter what happens with the guy we're getting, the trade is a no lose for the Bills.

Not necessarily. Marv may have come in thinking he had 2 options 1) Sign some players keep some older vets and possibly improve to between 6-10 & 9-7, then finish around 500 for most of the immediate future like the Jets did for years. or 2) Dump most of the high priced vets on the wrong side of 30, get a bunch of very young draft choices (the 1st day it was all underclassmen), find out if you need to get a QB or if you can find 1 for the next 5-10 years between Losman & Nall. Have a roster set for multi year run at SB contention like the Bills of the 90s within 3 years and not give a damn about the W-L record in 2006. I believe Marv chose option #2.

Jo Jo White shooting free throws that ended the Braves season.

Where are his answers-part II?

I bought a Whirlpool AD50DSR dehumidifier last year. Within 3 days the thing is leaking on my basement floor. I take it back to the store (Coca's in Albany) and they hide behind the warranty-won't refund or exchange. They send me to their contracted repair shop with a bad, brand new dehumidifier. It's in the shop 2-3 weeks, I get it back & it leaks again-back to the shop for another 2 months. I get it back & it looks ok, but I see some leakage-by now it's the end of the summer & I don't need a dehumidifier until the following spring/summer-now. Well, guess what -leaks again. I've given up & instead of bringing it in for another repair, I'm just going to retire the thing and accept the fact that Whirlpool stole $200 from me. I wrote them some pretty nasty e-mails last fall, and the company is basically a bunch of crooks who hide behind a bogus warranty. I'll never buy Whirlpool anything again nor will I go back to the bums who sold me this piece of you know what. Anyone else want to vent about bad products?

I think what most of the negative response people fail to understand is that Marv is not looking at 2006, but the years beyond 2006. Look at how young the prime draft choices are. He's trying to build a young D this offseason. He's got the D backs with or without Clements, for the next few years. He drafted a DT and signed another young DT in the offseason. If Takeo comes back strong, we'll need 1 LB after next year, but that's easy. As the plan gets closer to fruition, another DE will be acquired through draft or FA. Now on offense-Marv is going to let Losman &/or Nall prove one way or another whether we need a new starter at QB. We're well stocked at WR, and the TE position has been upgraded with Royals, the development of Cieslak and the potential return of Everett. Willis is being counted on to be the franchise back. Once the OL shakes out, we can improve any weak spots in the offseason. Unfortunately, too many people can't look beyond one season. As far as this year, yes-I'm pessimistic about the W-L record. But if I see positive signs of building-the emergence of key players-I'll be happy even if we go 2-14. ...and if we go 2-14, we'll probably need a new QB, Brady Quinn wouldn't look too bad in a Bills' uniform. However, if JP or Nall plays lights out, a playoff spot is not out of the question, but the most likely scenario is a record similar to last year, with signs of a bright future from the young players. Looking back, 1985 was a bad year at 2-14, but the team had Smith and Reed developing into future stars and a HOF QB a year away from signing. Please be patient, and don't say Marv doesn't know what he's doing before any of his picks have put pads on.

I hope she never is in Playboy-they show so little compared with most of the competing magazines.

Looking back, there's no way that Rob Johnson (or Flutie either) would have led that team to the Super Bowl. Most likely Rob, who never put more than 2 good games (on consecutive weeks) back to back in his whole career, would have faltered in his next game and we would have lost. The Flutie fans convieniently forget that we scored less than 20 points in 9 of the 15 games he started and the offense was stalling with Flutie the entire season. Although that game could have been won, two more road playoff games to go before the Super Bowl made it virtually impossible that the team with either QB would have made it to Atlanta.

The shoe thing isn't some rumor. It's a well known fact & has been written about & discussed by just about every media person covering the triple crown. I even heard on the radio today that Donna Brothers (the former jockey who interviews the winner on horseback right after the race) studied the tape & saw exactly where he lost the shoe in the race. I'm sure she did this for the telecast tommorrow. It's really not a big deal because if Barbaro doesn't run his race Brother Derek-assuming he does run his race off 2 weeks rest (which would be the only thing that makes Barbaro vulnerable) will win. If Barbaro runs his race, Brother Derek has no chance of beating him. Brother Derek will be a short priced 2nd choice-probably at odds a lot lower than his chances of winning, because chances are the Derby took more out of Brother Derek than Barbaro. This, like most Preaknesses, is a terrible race to bet into, because everything is an underlay compared to its probability of winning.

I'm pretty sure the 1st time I read the article there was no Postscript about Nall. My guess is somebody wrote or called the guy and told him that it's a three way battle & Nall is on the roster and he covered his tracks with an update. I consider him an idiot because his original article indicates he didn't even know the roster and the QBs who are involved in the competition for the starting job. The fact that he added something so that it appears he knew all along that Nall is on the roster diminishes my (low) opinion of him even more.

How can this clown call himself an expert and then write a story on the Sporting News website about the 2 way battle at QB for the Bills. This "expert" apparently doesn't know Nall is on the roster and that the real battle is between Losman & Nall, not Losman & Holcomb. Holcomb is already a proven backup and everything Marv has done this offseason is indicative that were going young at all positions and were not looking for a 1 year starter at QB like Holcomb would be. Holcomb is going to be #2 or out the door unless Nall & Losman play so poorly that Juron has no choice but to start Holcomb.