Albany,n.y.

With the exception of Atlanta, every Super Bowl I've been to I was surrounded by real football fans, mostly for one or the other team. Don't knock something until you've tried it. Obviously from a financial standpoint it's better to be home, but for enjoyment of the game nothing beats being there.

The 2 years we had tickets from the Bills we had Bills fans around us. When I went to SBXXV I used the Disney package & was the last Bills fan before the Giants package, so I had Bills fans to the left & Giants fans to the right, it was fun talking with both. For the Atlanta game we were among corporate types & they didn't understand cheering & me yelling "They're playing the wrong Shout Song" after the Bills 1st score. In NJ, I joined in with the scattered Seahawks fans (I had Denver fans on my left & Seahawks fans on my right) because if the Seahawks won I'd win a pool that I put $10 in & got back $300. In Santa Clara I was neutral but our StubHub tickets were from Carolina, so we were surrounded by disappointed Panthers fans.

The biggest problem with the Basham pick is they thought enough of him that they turned down a trade down offer.

I've been to 6 Super Bowls, here are the costs updated for inflation to the present. Total then & adjusted for inflation in bold. I don't know how easily the spreadsheet will copy over to here so alignment may get messed up We won the Bills lottery in 1992 & 1993. I drove in 2014 & stayed with relatives in 2016 Year Transportation Car Rental Ticket Lodging Misc Parking Total Inflation ADJ to 2022 Notes 1991 $158.00 $83.73 $1,165.00 $60.00 $50.00 $0.00 $1,516.73 2.116975 $3,210.88 Lodging is for 2 motel nights in Orlando, ticket is Disney Package 1992 $919.00 $0.00 $150.00 $0.00 $50.00 $0.00 $1,119.00 2.05649 $2,301.21 Transportation and lodging grouped, includes $779 for flight/motel 1993 $344.50 $52.08 $175.00 $64.42 $100.00 $10.00 $736.00 1.996005 $1,469.06 Lodging & Car Rental represents half total cost. 1994 $60.00 $0.00 $1,248.00 $0.00 $150.00 $0.00 $1,458.00 1.947617 $2,839.63 Ticket includes lodging & flight, transportation includes est. railroad cost to Buffalo 2014 $60.00 $0.00 $1,857.50 $114.99 $125.00 $105.00 $2,157.49 1.233894 $2,662.11 Transportation is for gas & tolls to drive to game 2016 $395.00 $0.00 $4,726.20 $0.00 $125.00 $20.00 $5,246.20 1.2097 $6,346.33 Parking is shuttle to & from Fremont

I'll go, but I don't think I'll stay in Phoenix. I'm leaning towards Tucson where the motels aren't all booked up at over a grand a night. I bet $950 on the Bills to win the AFC at +425 (4.25/1) back in February as "Super Bowl Insurance" to pay for most of the ticket, which is currently at around $6,000 for the cheapest seats at NFL On Location. I'm trying to get Petrino to go with me but he's undecided right now.

It kinda came to a halt by the 3rd round of the NFL draft. I remember a pre-draft post comparing Willis to Josh even though he's half the size of Josh😉

Carr is the one going to the Jets.

The Denver job is as bad as the Bills job was when Chan Gailey was signed off the scrap heap because nobody else wanted the job because it was literally a no-win situation. The Wilson contract is a dead weight that will sink Denver for years. No decent coach will go there without a guarantee from ownership that the 1st 2 seasons records won't be held against him.

The Diggs trade was part of that draft.

Carolina would be crazy not to make Wilkes permanent.

Embarrassing loss yesterday

Smart coaches tailor their offense to the QBs strengths. They don't try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Look at Baltimore with Lamar & us with Josh. Remember halftime with a minute to go before Josh? The Bills would shut things down being too afraid to try to score because something could go wrong. With Josh, we get the ball back with a half minute or more & we're thinking of scoring another TD.

Go 1 deeper with Sanchez before Geno & it's 0-4 with 3 top 5 picks. That said, the Jets management combo of coach/GM has been different for all 4 QBs. Only Rex Ryan coached 2 of them. With all these changes in management, with each GM responsible for picking the wrong guy, it's almost more just bad luck than poor management. Here's what the alternatives were each of the 4 drafts 2009-Traded up to #5 for Mark Sanchez-Matt Stafford (picked #1) was the only successful QB & they took the best of the rest. Even if they had waited for 2010, they wouldn't have gotten anyone worth drafting since the only QB to achieve any success from 2010 was #1 pick Sam Bradford. 2013-Picked Geno Smith in the 2nd round in what has been historically one of the worst QB draft classes. Not willing to wait 10 years for a once in a generation story isn't on the Jets. 2018-Traded up to #3 to draft Sam Darnold & then gave him nothing to work with. A new GM came in & wanted his own man. Who knows what Darnold is even after 5 seasons because he hasn't been healthy any season, but obviously the Jets had a chance at Josh & didn't draft him. 2021-After trading Darnold the current Jets GM was sold on Wilson. Not correctly judging a player's ability to handle the NYC media & fans is a major blunder, even if the player has potential, which in Wilson's case is highly questionable. Right now Fields looks like the better choice, although long term it might be Lance, who at this point is a complete unknown. What is saving Douglas is he had a great draft in 2022, but where he was picking he better have had one.

Proof that Kiper was right saying Stats are for losers: College Stats: Josh Allen Final Season Comp % 56.3; Yards/attempt 6.7; TD 16; INT 6 QB Rating 127.8 Career Comp % 56.2; Yards/attempt 7.8; TD 44; INT 21 QB Rating 137.7 Zach Wilson Final Season Comp % 73.5; Yards/attempt 11.0; TD 33; INT 3 QB Rating 196.4 Career Comp % 67.6; Yards/attempt 9.1; TD 56; INT 15 QB Rating 162.9

Different GMs took Darnold & Wilson. The 2022 draft saved Douglas.

So the nut who started the thread actually believes Tua is in on the NFL's conspiracy against his own team & purposely threw those 3 picks, I guess to some the only way their team loses is through a conspiracy. I used to work with a guy like that who is a Cowboys fan. Every Monday after a Cowboys loss he'd come in with a different reason the NFL conspired against Dallas.

At the end of the season they're going to show their appreciation by chipping in for a luxury limo ride for Zach-as far away from Met-Life stadium as they can get him. .

No wonder the #1 Bills draft bust was Cousineau. What team drafts a LB & expects him to be a franchise QB? After trading away O.J. Simpson to the San Francisco 49ers, the Bills owned the first overall pick in the 1979 draft. The Bills selected Tom Cousineau to be their franchise quarterback but he never played a snap in Buffalo. Not only did he never play a snap, he never even played a snap.

No QB taken in the top 2 since the common draft has ever not made it to season 3 with the team that drafted him. That would make Wilson a bigger bust than Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell. Now if the Jets can get someone to trade for him & his guaranteed contract, Douglas would be close Beane-like wizardry if he wasn't the fool who drafted Wilson in the 1st place.

Almost 2 full football fields. Time for a diet.

McDermott spilled the beans at the post game press conference. Blame him.

The Bills have a morning flight to Rochester booked for tomorrow.

Patriots suck

I was there for that season finale, 12/27/87. It was the last Bills game I went to in Philadelphia since I was moving to Albany from Long Island in January 1988. I had previously gone to the Bills game there in 1985 when they blew a 17-0 lead. I went alone because it was 2 days after Christmas on an extended weekend & I couldn't get anyone willing to go to Philadelphia with me. The nice thing was I was able to get Eagles tickets in a mall in Long Island so after I gave up finding someone to go to the game with, I went & got 1 ticket. Bennett was about the only Bill who showed up that day. It was a run for the bus game for most of the Bills roster. I didn't have much interaction with Eagles fans although at the end when someone was laughing at me in my Bills gear, I said to them "We'll be in the super Bowl next year, you won't" Obviously, we didn't make the Super Bowl in 1988, but we were in the AFC Championship game & Philly was nowhere near contending for the NFC title.