Whites Bay

Jesus. Relax. My take is that it's still October, and I've already had five (5) Mondays where I don't feel like hating life itself.

I'm approaching tomorrow with my normal brand of wary optimism, but the wariness will recede if the Bills can get up by two scores early (13-3? 14-3?). I don't care how they GET the scores. I'm cool with a Pick 6 or a punt return. Geno Smith does, indeed, show occasional flashes of brilliance. If the Bills get up by two scores, however, he has shown his tendency to become a turnover machine. The Bills DEFINITELY have the horses in Hughes and Williams to come after him, and chase him around the field as he scrambles out of the pocket. And the interceptions will rain down on the Bills' secondary like sugar plums in a child's Christmas dream. If the Jets keep it close, however, I'm not feeling too good about the fourth quarter. Not at all.

This is almost crazy. Personally, I LOVE a win! When you think that all of us wait all LONG off-season for what has recently been only 6-7 per season, HOLY CRAP! They're like Hen's Teeth! This having been said, I'm growing deeply concerned about two things (both related). First, the O-Line is just-this-side of a dumpster fire. But second is more disconcerting. So Marrone's ready to bring out the pitchforks and torches this week, and knock over the china and crystal on the O-Line to get more productivity out of it. Here's the big question - it's not like these guys aren't motivated to do better, and it's not like we have scads of diamonds-in-the-rough sitting around waiting for their time to start on the O-Line. The coaching staff has already evaluated all these people, right? I just have to wonder (reaching for my collar like Rodney Dangerfield used to do...)...do the Bills even have the talent on the roster to FIX the O-Line problem? And brother, if they do, they'd better do it fast. The Jets may be a TRUE dumpster fire, but at home against THAT D-Line? THAT'S what keeps me on edge. I love what Orton is doing. He's making plays that EJ is just not capable of making at this point in his career, and I hope he's soaking up all the pointers he can. But that O-Line against the Jets D-Line this weekend is NOT going to be a good thing.

I know (Marv Levy's?) old adage "If you listen to the fans, you'll soon be sitting with them", but...surely if anyone at OBD is reading this forum...they HAVE to see this frustration every goddamn week. You all know what the first play will be. I know what the first play will be. The Vikings know what the first play will be. So here's the question. Why don't we just start the game with...I don't know...2nd and 9, and CJ hobbling to the sidelines with a mildly twisted ankle? Just give up the first down and run 8 seconds off the clock. Because it's just so goddamn predictable. CJ up Pears' ass for a one-yard gain before he's crushed like a beer can at a frat party.

I don't fly as much as I used to, but I'm up in the multimillions range. If you're REALLY concerned, try to get seats in the wing box. It's structurally the safest part of the plane. What kind of books do you like to read? Get one that's completely engrossing, and start reading it a day or two BEFORE the flight. You'll be so into the book that you won't want to put it down. Add to this the many recommendations (mine included) to have a couple of belts, and you're already on the descent before you know it. But I'd stick with wine or hard liquor. Getting up to pump the bilge after too many beers is just going to remind you that you're not on Terra Firma.

To echo the OP's post, I have two grown daughters who are fully infected with the Bills virus. I just LOVE watching the games with my girls, and they are looking forward to sharing the joys and teeth gnashing with their kids. Bills Fans for generations to come. As a side note, I had to smile as I watched PTI during my workout last night. One of the topics was the rumor that two teams would be moving to LA in the next couple of years. NO MENTION OF THE BILLS. A fitting entry for my 1,000th post.

I've spent WAY too many weekends overseas looking for a place to watch the Bills. Mostly with NO success. It may be a pain in the @$$ (what the hell would you expect from the NFL?), but trust me - blow the lock off the vault on Sunday and just get NFL Game Pass. Just do it. You've spent $20 on dumber things. Probably even today. Just get the six-pack, grab the laptop, and do it.

Add to that the score that appears in the corner of that shot. They're down 14-3. Time to hang up the cleats and think about the flight home? Not Fred.

Those with more astute football minds than mine will give a more accurate evaluation of the Pats*...but, baby, they don't look like a very good team, period. They've bet everything around Marcia being able to work his miracles, giving him less and less with which to work every year. And it looks like the bill is coming due. I repeat - they don't look like a good team. The Emperor has no clothes. I think Cincinnati is going to eat them for lunch next week, and THEN the chattering monkeys on ESPN and NFL are going to have a meltdown right on the air. I have mental pictures of that famous scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in which the villain's head melts...

As someone who has flown a LOT, I can tell you that it doesn't matter how far you've flown. What counts is being able to get a few good hours of sound sleep once you land. And trust me, I'm a lot older than these kids playing the game - their bodies bounce back a lot faster than mine. But you know what would suck? Having to try to get a nap with a room mate. Some big dude in the next bed farting and snoring. THAT'S what is going to "F" with these guys. Knowing you have to wake up and share a bathroom with someone you barely know who had week-old sushi last night. Jesus.

Sorry to crap in the punchbowl, but a wet field means a lot of slips, and bad news for knees and ankles. Not cool for either running game. I see a low-scoring game with a lot of mistakes. Glad we have the better running game.

Thanks for flagging this. Just left a message on Corbin's voicemail. Pile on, North Country Bills Fans. The friggin' GIANTS in Watertown? This has to be an awful joke.

I hated the way Marino always got the ball off too fast for Bruce. Well, almost always. But I hate the Pats* and Brady so much more. It's friggin' visceral.

Why is it "Baffoon" in the headings and "buffoon" in the context? Who's f-ing with me here?

I am the eternal optimist, but... I am a Bills fan. So I'm not going to pick a score. I predict a Bills win. But the difference between this week and last week is a rolling, terrifying high tide for the Dolphins. If the Bills get up by 10 points like they did against the Bears last week (when they were up 17-7), it's going to be lambs to the slaughter. Miami's offense is not the Chicago Bears' offense. And I know that Miami came back against the Pats*, but that was at Miami, and that was against the Pats* defense, and it was in 95 degrees - an environment in which they've practiced all summer (and that the Pats* haven't seen in about 3 years). If anything is going to carry the Bills this year, it's their Defense. And Bill Belichek would trade his entire defense - man-for-man - for Buffalo's in a heartbeat, especially that defensive line. If Tannehill gets behind by 10 points in THAT stadium, in THAT environment... "Bad things, man. Bad things..."

Build a stadium and the team will come? That makes me think of the construction of the (now-named) Tropicana Dome in St. Petersburg. Agreed, it has a tenant now (the Rays), and has had them for over 15 years, but the place did little more than tractor pulls for 10 YEARS while waiting for MLB. Maybe things were different back then, or maybe they're different in Toronto. Who knows? I just can't imagine ANY investor, no matter how deep the pockets, forking out the money to build a state-of-the-art 65,000-seat NFL stadium and then being content to sit back and wait a decade for a tenant. Add to that - to echo many comments on this board - the fact that Toronto hasn't really cottoned on to either the Argos or the Bills (when they had them, and, yeah, I know they sucked up there but it WAS an NFL team), and I just can't imagine that sports business model ever seeing the light of day.

Oh, my goodness. What we used to do to Dolphins players and fans 25 years ago. Their players complaining about batteries being thrown at them, being urinated upon as they ran into the tunnel, their bus being rocked in the parking lot. These people must be joking.

Friggin' Cheap Shot Artist.... He was apparently offered a chance to command another flight (and, hence, obviously walk on the moon), but declined. Don't know how I'd handle that decision. That wasn't an occupation for the faint of heart. Nor is being a Bills fan. But I'm still here after 40+ years.

Jiminy Crickets. Some people just need to find something to worry about. I just finished a very good book about Neil Armstrong, in which I found a great quote from Mike Collins (and, if you don't know who these people are...don't bother replying to the post). Collins, a noted optimist, is quoted as saying "I'm not at all convinced that everything is going to work out well, but on the other hand, there's nothing wrong with thinking that it should". So...if an attitude like that can get you to the moon, why don't you give it a try?

And in 60 minutes, they'll have lost 3. And I want Tommy on a cart. You can tell it's a hell of a week, can't you?!

Jesus H. Rain on my parade. Okay, I'll bite. They lost two games in a row heading in the season finale. It happens.

Given that Yahoo! is moving forward with their operations in Lockport, I'm TOTALLY fine with: "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, from the frigid confines of Yahoo Stadium, where the 11-4 Buffalo Bills take on the slumping New England Patriots* in a showdown for the AFC East title"... (P.S. It'll always be "Rich Stadium" to me.).

I was thinking much the same as I drove in today. To all the chicken-littles on this board who CONSTANTLY harped about the Bills moving to L.A., or Toronto, or San Antonio, or Timbuktu...ENOUGH. Drop a note and say "I was wrong". It was NEVER going to happen, but you whined and whined and got the panties all twisted up. Yeesh! Here's a little more good news for the day. I saw SDS' thread about the server being overloaded and creaky. Well, now that we no longer have to post thread-after-thread-after-thread on "The Bills are surely heading to L.A.", we may not have to fix it!

Up at the lake with my wife and my brother. Lunch will probably be Persian kebab, which I'll grill and consume ahead of the game. I'm usually sporting such a knot in my stomach by the end of the first quarter that I can't eat anything. Washed down with what is sure to be one-too-many Sam Adams in cans.

My brother and I called Time Warner and did 2 hours of trouble-shooting last night, resulting in the purchase of a new HDMI cable. Problem solved. We figured it was better to get this sorted on Friday night, rather than calling them at 12:48 P.M. Sunday after the first home brew...