Rob's House Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I'm kind of surprised this got such a reaction. Reading that article wasn't much different from browsing this board for the last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonechiller Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 We arent' the worst team in the history of football, and we did win an overtime preseason game against one of the worst teams in the league...but I don't think that in and of itself puts us in as favorites to win the AFL East. Our running game looks pedestrian even yesterday, and CJ was the fourth best runner on our lackluster running team. It was nice to win. But give me nine wins in the regular season before I jump on the bandwagon. Wow "AFL" East, flashback or am I missing a reference Its the pre-season, I try to remind myself not to get too hi or too low. I have to trust Gailey knows what hes doing, he seems to systematically work through players to get the correct people on the field. The schedule is looking better as we near the start of the season. Felser could just go away in my opinion, also Sullivan,dope, bulls*#t, all of them. There seems to be a bunch of naysaying hacks in Buffalo sports right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Wow "AFL" East, flashback or am I missing a reference Its the pre-season, I try to remind myself not to get too hi or too low. I have to trust Gailey knows what hes doing, he seems to systematically work through players to get the correct people on the field. The schedule is looking better as we near the start of the season. Felser could just go away in my opinion, also Sullivan,dope, bulls*#t, all of them. There seems to be a bunch of naysaying hacks in Buffalo sports right now! Agreed. Its like the 11 years of sucking have conditioned them to not having to work and just write about how bad we're going to be. There could be a good number of positive, informative stories coming out of this team, but that takes originality and thought, and they also don't want to risk their "cred" by writing something positive about a bad team. imo, theyre the real losers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 no. the mood hasn't changed for the fans. or for the team. the mood has changed for bi-polar message board posters who 7 days ago thought a scrimmage doomed us for an entire season of football. I would up vote the hell of out of this if that feature worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I'm kind of surprised this got such a reaction. Reading that article wasn't much different from browsing this board for the last week. Good point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 JMO, but I believe all 'professional' sports writers get their Bills stories -created or otherwise- from -wait for it.. HERE! Larry, who I used to truely enjoy, likely hasn't been to camp, likely has virtually no contacts in the new hierarchy and likely doesn't leave his house anymore. THIS -for better or worse- is the place all hacks go to for Bills stories -and we all know what that means. The Jag announcers alluded to this last night, saying all the Bills beat writers are flaming the OL and Jax expected to come in here and crush us defensively/sack Fitz multiple times.. Again, JMO. Of course, I'm omitting the omni-present jw -who lobs nefarious AP articles out there, stating little of relevence while impling doom which -in turn- 'stirs the turds' here which fuel the hacks. The circle is complete. In another personal opinion, I think we should just wait and see if what Channix are trying to do plays out well -or not- in the regular season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I'm kind of surprised this got such a reaction. Reading that article wasn't much different from browsing this board for the last week. There were a good number of rational posters that pointed out how stupid those negative posters were too. Same reaction... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glory Bound Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 Larry's old and clearly confused so let's give the guy a break. To give you an idea of how old Larry is, he used to be a ball boy in the 1940s for the original Buffalo Bills of the All American Football Conference. Those Bills went extinct, of course, but when Ralph started up a new iteration of Bills in 1959, Larry was there to cover it. He's been covering the Bills ever since, though now he's in semi-retirement and only writes once a week. Unlike Sully, Larry usually writes fair and balanced articles. He used to have good connections within the organization, amongst the players, coaches, and administrators. A reader often learned something new or, at least, was exposed to a knowledgeable insight when reading his stuff. He was always respected by his peers and by sports people in general. Larry was asked to serve on the NFL Hall of Fame Selection Committee back in the 80s (?). Jim Kelly gave special thanks in his enshrinement speech to Felser for his work in getting Kelly elected first ballot. It wouldn't be the last time Larry helped get a Bill into Canton. In '84 the Pro Football Writers of America voted Larry the Dick McCann Memorial Award, their highest honor. That plaque is now hanging at Canton not far from the busts of the Bills he helped send there. Felser's served the Bills with loyalty and talent for many, many years. Clearly not at his peak any more, I think we still should show the man a little Bills love. Hondo...this is no time for love! We're going to war in a couple weeks! Now take off that pink tutu, don your new white helmet you just bought, and bang your head against the fireplace a few times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 You guys do realize that he IS retired. He just writes that one column a week, which is usually kind of a stroll down memory lane......Since he's retired, he's not exactly writing it on deadline on Saturday night. It seems to me he usually writes it around Thursday. I'm sure he's well into his 80s by now, so I think he deserves to be able to write a column once a week, even if it's not exactly cutting edge. The best Bills radio show ever was Felser and Murph doing Monday Evening Quarterback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrags Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 He clearly wrote that before he watched the game. If he would have even had 2 sentences left and seen even the first quarter of the game there would have been some tiny little bit of information about the game and not just about how everyone in the Bills community was ready to jump from a bridge all last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delete This Account Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I'm kind of surprised this got such a reaction. Reading that article wasn't much different from browsing this board for the last week. right, "last week." after "last night," the fickle fandom's back on the bandwagon. doom's out of fashion for now. super bowl talk now de rigueur. jw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) felser is a hack! HE left the brainmatter home for that article.it contains no facts just innuendo ,retire larry before you embarrass yourself by your own words! oh yeah you've already done that! Larry Felser is not a hack. He retired after an excellent career and is highly repected in his field. This article was written before the game, the timing was poor in light of the good showing by the team. I will admit that since his retirement his column is hardly worth reading anymore. Every now and then he makes a great observation or brings up a highly relevant point but his writing just seems to lack substance. At one time that was not true. I would not call him a hack but he not what he was. Still he is an icon in Buffalo sports reporting and more connected than any of us. Edited August 28, 2011 by Bob in STL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glory Bound Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 You guys do realize that he IS retired. He just writes that one column a week, which is usually kind of a stroll down memory lane......Since he's retired, he's not exactly writing it on deadline on Saturday night. It seems to me he usually writes it around Thursday. I'm sure he's well into his 80s by now, so I think he deserves to be able to write a column once a week, even if it's not exactly cutting edge. The best Bills radio show ever was Felser and Murph doing Monday Evening Quarterback. When most people retire, they know the race is over & they play golf & go fishing. Then there's people like Bret Favre & Larry Felser that just seem to have misplaced their golf clubs & fishing pole, so they hang around just to make people roll their eyes & shake their heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsguy Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 It looks like he did write that before the Jags game (even though the time stamp is 12:29 AM today), because there was no mention of their performance during it. And the mood has definitely changed, not only for fans, but likely for the team. It doesn't matter when he wrote the article. He was right. It is typical for fans to overreact to every little thing including a meaningless pre-season game. The fact is that experienced Bills watchers have seen it all before many times. I have been watching the Bills since they began. The fans lurch from despair to euphoria in a matter of hours. This is ridiculous. Felser has taken the opportunity to look at the big picture and it happened to conflict with the momentary flicker of hope shown in a pretend game. Whoop-de -doo. Why would anyone get upset by someone who is sharing his wealth of experience observing Ralph Wilson's Bills? Is his opinion less valuable or less accurate than those who thought the Bills were a playoff contender for each of the last 11 pre-seasons? How about the inexperienced who think the Bills are a playoff contender this year? In a Twitter world where opinions are generated in seconds without thought or reflection, I'll take the experience and wisdom of a thoughtful writer who has been doing it for decades. Maybe someday those who are outraged at Felser's opinions will realize how correct he was. Maybe. Of course, that could change in 5 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Nice post Billsguy. MUCH respect for Felser here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glory Bound Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 It doesn't matter when he wrote the article. He was right. It is typical for fans to overreact to every little thing including a meaningless pre-season game. The fact is that experienced Bills watchers have seen it all before many times. I have been watching the Bills since they began. The fans lurch from despair to euphoria in a matter of hours. This is ridiculous. Felser has taken the opportunity to look at the big picture and it happened to conflict with the momentary flicker of hope shown in a pretend game. Whoop-de -doo. Why would anyone get upset by someone who is sharing his wealth of experience observing Ralph Wilson's Bills? Is his opinion less valuable or less accurate than those who thought the Bills were a playoff contender for each of the last 11 pre-seasons? How about the inexperienced who think the Bills are a playoff contender this year? In a Twitter world where opinions are generated in seconds without thought or reflection, I'll take the experience and wisdom of a thoughtful writer who has been doing it for decades. Maybe someday those who are outraged at Felser's opinions will realize how correct he was. Maybe. Of course, that could change in 5 minutes. I respect your respect for the man - but to say the team doesn't have many soldiers is not what I witnessed yesterday. I saw a scrappy bunch of guys fighting for jobs & a victory. That comment was a slap in the face & degrading to their character. And I don't know about you, but I am not smelling "chaos in the air" today. And to imply a coaching change at this juncture is simply a ridiculous comment. At the very least, he should have told the sports editor not to run the story until after he reviewed the game. I didn't read one article this morning about how Hurricane Irene totally destroyed the East coast that was written two days ago. My beef today with him is this article, not his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) no. the mood hasn't changed for the fans. or for the team. the mood has changed for bi-polar message board posters who 7 days ago thought a scrimmage doomed us for an entire season of football. It seems like everyone overreacts, huh? They lose two preseason games, they are the worst..they win a preseason game, and everything is fixed! I think everyone is guilty of that...preseason means very little. As for Felser, I have never really liked him...he was always negative about the Bills, the way people criticize Sullivan for, now. Felser hasn't really been relevant to Bills coverage in about 20-25 years...it almost seems like they still have him on the payroll, so the blue-hairs of Buffalo have one of their own to follow...I am cool with that... Edited August 28, 2011 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 In a Twitter world where opinions are generated in seconds without thought or reflection, I'll take the experience and wisdom of a thoughtful writer who has been doing it for decades. Maybe someday those who are outraged at Felser's opinions will realize how correct he was. Maybe. Of course, that could change in 5 minutes. Don't blame Twitter for idiots. They've been around for much longer than it has.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 The team has real personnel problems. Two losses in preseason doesn't mean its hopeful, one win against a bad team in overtime doesn't mean we are going to the supernbowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyVanMiller Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) As someone who knows a thing or two about writing an Op-Ed column, I've written over 600 in the past 11 years, it is important to remember that there are deadlines that writers must adhere to. I'm sure Larry filed that column mid-week, so cut him a little slack. Also, I've had my share that I wish I could have back once they went into print. I think I know enough about Felser's allegiance to the team and the fans to say that he is probably happy to eat a little crow this morning knowing that the team showed that it had a heartbeat last night. Edited August 28, 2011 by ChevyVanMiller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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