Whites Bay

You're right, Crayonz. I was calling for him to be cut by Week 4 anyway. I was using him as filler. But you have to admit that Dockery and Walker were big-ticket signings. At least - I THINK - you have to admit they were big ticket signings.

Oh, it's an internet board. I've learned not to blow a gasket each time out. Make mine Molson Canadian. What's yours?

"Ruthless" in the sense that you, Chalkie Gerzowski, the new GM of the team, gave your 2008 starting Right Tackle the chance to start at Left Tackle, and then blessed his spot on the team on the final 53 in September 2009. And then YOU gave the order to cut his big fat ass 24 hours later. Let go the internet anomymity. Pretend you're not Chalkie, but Ralphie. And picture yourself actually having to fire his ass to his face. Not so easy, is it?

If you think saving $3 million a year is senile, I want to sit down across from you in a game of poker, kiddo.

Fair enough!

I'm sure this post will drop to the bottom of the list within nanoseconds, but I'm going to post it anyway. For all of you Monday-morning-GMs-in-waiting-who-could-run-this-team-better-if-you-only-had-the-chance: Trust me when I tell you that there are 31 other team owners out there tonight who are grudgingly tipping their hats to Ralph Wilson. Ralph Wilson has the built-in excuse for EVERY move he makes. He is operating a team in a small market in very hard economic times. Cut your overpriced Left Guard? See ya. It's Buffalo. If hard decisions aren't made I'll get creamed. Cut your overpriced Left Tackle? See ya. It's Buffalo. If hard decisions aren't made, I'll get creamed. Cut your big-name backup running back? See ya. It's Buffalo. If hard decisions aren't made, I'll get creamed. Ralph doesn't need an excuse, and I believe he knows it. It's Buffalo. It's Western New York. He HAS to make ruthless moves like this to compete with Jerry Jones. With Dot-com Snyder. With Bob Kraft. These guys are MADE of money, so everyone is expecting them to SPEND it, and ALL the time. They ALL - trust me - ALL - wish they had the alibi that they were making these moves because it's a small market. Do you really think any of these guys don't want $XX million suddenly dropping into THEIR pockets? Are you goddamn serious? Ralph Wilson is (choose the metaphor): Punching above his weight Playing the hand he's dealt Making lemons out of lemonade Playing within the rules I don't fault the guy one bit that he's cut an overpriced underproducing left tackle. When the hell did you people think that this wasn't a business? I credit the guy for showing the stones to make a lot of really hard business decisions in a short time frame. I'm glad I'm not on the receiving end. This is the same guy who opposed the CBA, on which a large number of owners are beginning to come around. This guy's ruthless, and I'm guessing a lot of owners are mildly envious.

You're an embarrassment from outer space. Truly. Please go post somewhere else, and change your handle. "BB Fan 4 Life" my ass. I sure as hell want you next to me in a crisis. Are you like this at work?

Well, thank you, I Billieve. That's a very kind post, but understand that I'm now finishing off a plate of "crow" per my second point in that post. I sent Chambers to the unemployment line, and he's flipping me the bird. And it tastes of crow. Caution - I'm in the vanguard of the "Glass-Half-Full" crowd around here. There's always a ray of sunshine somewhere, and I'll find it. Crow isn't that bad when you get used to it. I've eaten worse.

Beautiful response. Perfect.

That explains a lot. Guess I can put down the remote and stop beating the hamster. Have at it.

I remember sitting in my livingroom in March 2003 when Syracuse won the whole enchilada. I didn't WHOOP like I thought I would. I just remember sitting there with a bizarre little grin on my face. Wow. My team did it. My team did it. And then I went to bed. Maybe I'm on the cusp of a trend. Go Bills! I could use the sleep!

In 40 years of watching professional football, I can't remember the last time - or the first time - I ever EVER watched or CARED ABOUT the reaction of a coach on the sideline. You actually watch Dick Jauron golf-clapping? Sheesh. I'm usually going to the bathroom by that time.

Yes, but wouldn't it be something? Trust me, I'll root until the final gun sounds, and believe each and every second that they can do it. The odds are greater than 99% that the Bills will lose, but OH my goodness the glow I'll have on Tuesday morning if the Bills pull it off. It's a pity that - if they win - we'll not see the half-empty crowd collectively get on line and tell us that they haven't had a good dump in three days.

The best part is I knew it was coming. I've achieved true veteran status. And it cracked me up even though I knew the train wreck was heading my way. My guess is that f-f-f-f-...ool would feel more at home on the Jills' team. Might look better than some of 'em, but I haven't seen this year's squad. "Car on a Hill" - Joni Mitchell (man, I love this tune)

Well, that'll teach YOU to leave for a weekend.

No. I'd originally meant to say "Wake the neighbors", but I'd rather be doing something else to "wake the neighbors", if you catch my drift. The dog will have to suffice, and it'll be me screaming at the big screen that does it.

Chandler, I'm certainly not ready to annoint John Wawrow as the next Woodward or Bernstein or Halberstam or Hemingway (yes, they both started out as journalists). What bothers me is twofold: 1) Anyone who's ever written more than a text message understands that for every sentence written in an article there are at least two more that ended up on the editing room floor. Maybe they were unnecessary sentences, maybe there just wasn't room in the article. But the odds are that those extra sentences were...I don't know...an interesting quote? A stat that I hadn't considered? Some insight as to why a player was traded/cut/benched? It is unlikely at best that Tim Graham or John Wawrow are ever going to BREAK a new story on Two Bills Drive. But once they feed a story to their mainstream outlet, one or two of these "edits" might sneak their way onto this forum. Those of us who live on every word related to the Bills might consider themselves lucky to get a better idea as to what is happening at One Bills Drive through these scraps. But now we're not going to see that, are we? 2) On a related note, we're just a bunch of chuckleheads living off the same rumors/sources/opinions. That's life on Two Bills Drive. Regardless of what you might think of Wawrow's writing style (the lack of capital letters drove me nuts, but I have issues that I'm working on correcting), he had/has SOURCES OUTSIDE OF THIS VACUMN CHAMBER. He doesn't have to identify them, and certainly never would if he wants to keep his day job. But if Tim Graham and John Wawrow say "My sources in the Front Office tell me...", I can assure you that I'm going to give THAT statement a lot more attention than some of the so-called sources that posters quote! Lori, per my earlier comment, and per the question raised by another poster on this thread, I'm all for banning some of the more acidic and truculent posters. I'm not so rosy-eyed that I think only positives can be posted on this forum, but I am of the mindset that I'd like to see posts that "further the debate". The "Dick sucks", "Ralph sucks". "Bills suck" crowd just aren't adding anything.

It does seem a little like crayonz' lost nephew, doesn't it?

Shawn Nelson. 20-yard curl. Complete. We're all spilling our beers on our collective laps and waking the dog.

I agree with a lot of your post. I've called out at least one of the posters who ran Wawrow off the board. I mean, Jesus, what's the goddamn point? "Think I'll get on the board, drop my shorts, and leave one in the punchbowl". Feel better? It's nothing constructive, and so goddamn pointless. "Ralph sucks." "Ralph's cheap". "Ralph doesn't have the balls or brains to hire [fill in big-ticket coach's name]". Oh, good. That helped me learn so much about the team. And then we actually have a national beat reporter contributing to the board who actually MIGHT HELP ME LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TEAM, and these internet prunes run him off the board. If that's not grounds for banning them, I don't know what is. Maybe that SHOULD happen. The word would get out pretty fast. Here's a REAL depressing thought. If these constipated weenies are pissed off after a 1-3 preseason, how do you think the tenor of this place will be if the Bills get out of the chute (e.g.) 2-6? Better double the guard on the Rainbow Bridge.

The aspect of the entire episode that strikes me as being the most "desperate" is the time constraint the team is now facing. I'm sure the folks in Kansas City and Tampa are feeling the same pressure - you're days away from the season opener in the biggest sports venue in the country and there's a firing of a major character. It's probably worse for the Bills, because it's Monday Night Football. What a great time to lay an egg. This is like one of those nightmares you have where you suddenly realize you're supposed to be taking an exam in physical oceanography in about 5 minutes and you have no idea where to even find a pen... As far as whether the firing was a good move, a bad move, or a desperate move...does it matter? It was a necessary move. As someone pointed out, the offense hasn't shown much since the Denver game last season, and just kept stinking it up in the pre-season.

I'm always one to look for the positive in any situation, and THIS post just made me feel a lot better. Thanks! I didn't look at the schedules for the rest of the AFC East. Wow. I could easily see Miami going 0-3 before they get to the Bills, and I could easily see the Jets going 1-3 by Game Five. I'm going to have to jump over to NFL.com to see New England's schedule, but you're right - they'll probably machine their first four opponents (yes, that includes the Bills).

Not meaning to be a dick, but I guess there's a reason why "they" are in the Front Office, and "we" are on a fan board. 1) I don't know zippo about the background of the firing of Turk Schonert, but the little I DO read about it tells me that he was instituting something more akin to Kevin Gilbride's offense than the FO wanted. I remember screaming "Just run the goddamn ball" during his era until my throat was hoarse. No thanks. In fairness, Jauron probably should have done this about 2-3 weeks ago so AVP could get a few miles under his belt. I'll definitely grant you that. But not getting into the end zone for the entire pre-season meant something had to be done, and they did it. Doing nothing would have meant pitchforks and torches around this place. 2) Rhodes and Chambers? Big deal. I've been saying for some time that Rhodes was a goner by Week 4. I'm VERY surprised he was cut so early, but the FO must have seen enough positives coming out of Omon that Rhodes was deemed expendable. Maybe they're still washing the taste of A-Train out of their collective mouths. As for Chambers, same thing. He's been described as "Journeyman Backup" so many times that it may as well be on his resume. Again, the FO apparently saw enough progress in Bell that Chambers can now add "Out of the League" to his resume. 3) On a slightly related point, let's give credit where credit is due. Trading Ko Simpson for a 6th-rounder the day before he was slated to be cut was a stroke of sheer genius. We should be so lucky to move ALL of our bubble players for draft picks. As someone pointed out, since it was the Lions' pick, it can almost be looked at as a late-5th-rounder. What a steal. Hell, we drafted Simpson in the 4th, and got almost-a-5th-rounder for him. Smooth. I guess this is a long way of saying that YES, it's going to be a long season, and probably a losing one. But I'm in the camp that says the FO probably knows more about the business than I do. I'll take it one game at a time.

Interesting point, SiC. It ties in with the line that appeared in Tim Graham's blog from yesterday, something along the lines of "My sources tell me that it's a very tense day at the Bills Front Office" (sorry, Tim, I'm paraphrasing, but I don't think I'm too far off). Sounds like his sources were closely linked to that meeting! And you bet yer ass it was "tense"! As in - it probably took about an hour for the sphincters to open back up.

So why do you characterize that as a sinking ship? A better metaphor might be tossing ballast over the side of a balloon basket in order to gain altitude. I agree with the fact that there would likely be a change if the Bills get off to a 1-5 start, but I would think that a coaching change would be viewed as a positive....particularly on THIS board!