How does the Buffalo media whiff so bad on the Bills?

[TXBILLSFAN]

An objective journalist would have pointed out the money situation with Evans -- but would have also put equal credence on the fact that Nix wants team to get BIGGER (Evans is 5'10") -- Nix wants WR's that play over the middle (Evans does not) and the fact that during past 2 years, Evans was a non-factor, while other guys Stevie, Nelson, Parrish, Jones were --- it's tiring that they always gravitate to bubble bursting ---

[yungmack]

Here's a question: We're they right because they knew something or we're they just guessing right? The Bills historically have been a poorly performing franchise. Predicting they will suck every year make you right more than wrong, but doesn't make you an expert. And that is my point. The local media stopped doing its job and just predicts "suck" every year. They have shown they are no more knowledgeable about the teams they cover than any of us.

 

PTR

That's it exactly. (Except that there are plenty of people who post around here who really are much more knowledgeable than the WNY media). Forget the generalists like Matthews whose job is to cover every sport at every level in WNY and to comment on the national level; they're not that focused on the details (though when it comes to the Bills they should be). However, the minimal expectations for Bills beat writers is that they understand the game, the personnel and the team that they cover everyday of the year. And that's where most of them have shown themselves woefully inadequate. They have shown themselves to be incompetent at what is the sole reason they have a job.

[Delete This Account]

That's it exactly. (Except that there are plenty of people who post around here who really are much more knowledgeable than the WNY media). Forget the generalists like Matthews whose job is to cover every sport at every level in WNY and to comment on the national level; they're not that focused on the details (though when it comes to the Bills they should be). However, the minimal expectations for Bills beat writers is that they understand the game, the personnel and the team that they cover everyday of the year. And that's where most of them have shown themselves woefully inadequate. They have shown themselves to be incompetent at what is the sole reason they have a job.

oh really. the media hired Greg Williams and Dick Jauron, and somehow had the leverage to suggest the team not re-sign Pat Williams and then draft Aaron Maybin, and trade back into the first round to draft J.P. Losman, and fire Turk Schonert and cut Langston Walker two weeks before the start of the season, and to go with a no-huddle approach, and take a flyer on Willis McGahee when there were so many other needs to address and have Bledsoe drop back to pass inside his own 20 against the Steelers in the 2004 season finale, and continue starting Trent Edwards when it became apparent he had plateaued and had begun regressing, and punt from inside New England's 40, have Travis Henry throw a pass from inside the 5 against Miami only to have it intercepted, ask Leodis McKelvin to fumble a kickoff against the Patriots, blow a 10-point lead in the final minute against the Cowboys ...

 

yes, we are incompetent.

 

jw

[Billsrhody]

I dont think this is fair.

 

First of all, its only been one game. If the bills go through the rest of the season winless, you'll look back on this post embarrassed. I'm all for optimism but you cant go criticizing anyone too heavily after 1 game.

 

Second of all, most of the opinion pieces I've read from local guys believe the bills will show improvement, but still be a 5 or 6 win team.

 

So far that prediction still holds water.. you cant "whiff" on a season prediction after 1 week.

[GG]

In addition to underestimating the efficiency of Bills' offense, Gailey's gameplan to attack KC's weakness and Fitzpatrick's ability to make the right calls, no one foresaw the mess that KC is in and how quickly the team imploded. It was a close game early on, with Bills catching a few breaks and KC not. It snowballed from there. It was great to dominate on the scoreboard and the big test for the team will be to build on this, and respond to opponents who also noticed Sam Chandler.

[San-O]

I dont think this is fair.

 

First of all, its only been one game. If the bills go through the rest of the season winless, you'll look back on this post embarrassed. I'm all for optimism but you cant go criticizing anyone too heavily after 1 game.

 

Second of all, most of the opinion pieces I've read from local guys believe the bills will show improvement, but still be a 5 or 6 win team.

 

So far that prediction still holds water.. you cant "whiff" on a season prediction after 1 week.

 

 

+ 1

 

o 2008 Buffalo Bills won 4 games in a row with Jauron and TrINT. Not comparing just saying: it's a long season.

 

o Let's see how they handle the New England and Philly before we start throwing people under the bus.

 

o They played an almost flawless game on Sunday: Let's see what happens when things start to go wrong.

 

 

That was the most dominant showing by this team that I can remember in a long time. I'm a little shocked to be honest.

 

Go Bills.

 

Edited September 12, 2011 by SoCal-Surf

[yungmack]

oh really. the media hired Greg Williams and Dick Jauron, and somehow had the leverage to suggest the team not re-sign Pat Williams and then draft Aaron Maybin, and trade back into the first round to draft J.P. Losman, and fire Turk Schonert and cut Langston Walker two weeks before the start of the season, and to go with a no-huddle approach, and take a flyer on Willis McGahee when there were so many other needs to address and have Bledsoe drop back to pass inside his own 20 against the Steelers in the 2004 season finale, and continue starting Trent Edwards when it became apparent he had plateaued and had begun regressing, and punt from inside New England's 40, have Travis Henry throw a pass from inside the 5 against Miami only to have it intercepted, ask Leodis McKelvin to fumble a kickoff against the Patriots, blow a 10-point lead in the final minute against the Cowboys ...

 

yes, we are incompetent.

 

jw

As long as you're going to rehash all those screw-ups out of the past, why leave out hiring Hank Bullough?

 

The point is, we, the great unwashed masses, turn to you and your brethren, professionals with day-to-day focus on one team only, for meaningful insight. I'm sure that in the cases you listed above, that many did point out the stupidity and/or incompetence of the player(s)/coach(es)/GM(s)/FO Sachems. As many, many fans did at the time and some continue to do so to this very moment.

 

The fans can be forgiven for continued negativity and for resisting giving in to hopefulness because, well, we're freakin' fans. We love the Bills, we hate the Bills, they're the best, they're the worst, we're can't stand to watch another game, we can't stand NOT to watch another game. The truth is, good or bad, we're hooked on them. We don't base our commitment on logic (or, as more than a few posts around here make clear, on knowledge or intelligence either), it's emotional. Many of us can't help looking at the current Bills and seeing the ghosts of the past.

 

But that's precisely why we turn to you guys (and why PTR is correct in his critique) to give us the straight skinny, to say, "Wait a minute, these Bills under Nixley aren't those Bills who drafted those busts, made those foolish trades, screwed up the hirings, et al. Here's why these Bills are different..." And that is really the whole of the job. And that's exactly where our local guys have utterly failed. There outpouring of "insight" and "knowledge" has been on the level of your basic demoralized fan, not that of supposedly informed reporters. In other words, they are incompetent in their job.

 

BTW, I am a fan of yours, mainly because you have written with insight and intelligence when your confreres were regurgitating the "common sense" take on the Bills. I miss your AP coverage of the team.

[San-O]

oh really. the media hired Greg Williams and Dick Jauron, and somehow had the leverage to suggest the team not re-sign Pat Williams and then draft Aaron Maybin, and trade back into the first round to draft J.P. Losman, and fire Turk Schonert and cut Langston Walker two weeks before the start of the season, and to go with a no-huddle approach, and take a flyer on Willis McGahee when there were so many other needs to address and have Bledsoe drop back to pass inside his own 20 against the Steelers in the 2004 season finale, and continue starting Trent Edwards when it became apparent he had plateaued and had begun regressing, and punt from inside New England's 40, have Travis Henry throw a pass from inside the 5 against Miami only to have it intercepted, ask Leodis McKelvin to fumble a kickoff against the Patriots, blow a 10-point lead in the final minute against the Cowboys ...

 

yes, we are incompetent.

 

jw

 

 

You can add Jauron getting worked by Belichick a couple years back: Can't remember the details, however wish I could.

 

Something about substitutions, and time, or timeouts, something like that.

[Rubes]

I'm really finding this thread hard to believe. I can't decide which is more absurd, launching to the premature conclusion that the Bills have definitively turned the corner after one game, or expecting that covering the team as a journalist somehow would have provided the prescience to see yesterday's debacle before it happened?

[LabattBlue]

I'm really finding this thread hard to believe. I can't decide which is more absurd, launching to the premature conclusion that the Bills have definitively turned the corner after one game, or expecting that covering the team as a journalist somehow would have provided the prescience to see yesterday's debacle before it happened?

[PromoTheRobot]

I'm really finding this thread hard to believe. I can't decide which is more absurd, launching to the premature conclusion that the Bills have definitively turned the corner after one game, or expecting that covering the team as a journalist somehow would have provided the prescience to see yesterday's debacle before it happened?

Try reading the OP again and concentrate this time.

 

easy answer, though i speak only for myself. as Bills fans too well know, this team has provided promises and hope-raising expectations way too many times before to have burned me in my predictions.

i foolishly predicted playoffs in 2009.

i foolishly thought Mularkey's second year was going to be something.

and don't get me started on 4-1 in '08.

 

a broken clock is right twice a day. and i'll wait a few weeks before determining whether these Bills are actually for real or whether they caught a Chiefs team in turmoil. that's possible.

 

but please, it's Week 1. it was a good win. an uplifting one. but to bang this drum of the media this and the media that, puh-leeze.

 

we here get it both ways: we're not hard enough on them when they lose; and we don't milk them enough when they win.

 

perhaps this team just might be better. for win-starved Bills fans, i hope that's the case.

this town has deserved better.

 

jw

 

I'm glad you responded, but I'm still curious. What do you actually see when you cover the team and does it offer a glimpse into the direction of the team? I know you said you got burned on predictions before. Is it that hard to judge what you see outside of games?

 

PTR

Edited September 12, 2011 by PromoTheRobot

[Rubes]

Try reading the OP again and concentrate this time.

 

Okay, now what?

 

 

I still don't fully understand what kind of deep insight you expect journalists to have just by covering a team. What, outside of live action, would have given anyone any deep appreciation of where the team would be at this year? Conversations with players and coaches? More rah-rah stuff that we hear every year about who's ready to step up, which players are more comfortable with the system after a full season, and which players reported to camp injury-free and in the best shape of their lives? Comraderie during the long off-season? Great accuracy and route running during padless practices?

 

As for live action, did you or anyone else see anything special during the abbreviated training camp and four generally dull and lifeless preseason games (except for one half of one game against a depleted Jacksonville team) to provide a genuine shot of optimism and expectation for the big opener? Should journalists necessarily have a better eye for such details that apparently must be beyond the average fan's ability to see?

 

I'm sorry, I really just don't get where the question is coming from.

Edited September 12, 2011 by Rubes

[RayFinkle]

I agree you can't predict the Bills coming out and destroying KC. But if you are a reporter and your job is to watch the Bills every day, and you come out every day and report the Bills are a crumbling disaster, how can anyone take you seriously after today? Are you saying its impossible to see any improvement, or is the local media so jaded by losing they dismiss anything the Bills do, good or bad, as crap?

 

PTR

I watched all the preseason games and saw a struggling offense and an okay defense. Im not sure how you can sit on a high horse now and claim the media blows after 1 game. We could easily be 1-3 by next month.

 

It is a happy time, enjoy it. If this party ends with a playoff birth, then a lot of folks will happily eat a crow sandwich.

[PromoTheRobot]

Okay, now what?

 

 

I still don't fully understand what kind of deep insight you expect journalists to have just by covering a team. What, outside of live action, would have given anyone any deep appreciation of where the team would be at this year? Conversations with players and coaches? More rah-rah stuff that we hear every year about who's ready to step up, which players are more comfortable with the system after a full season, and which players reported to camp injury-free and in the best shape of their lives? Comraderie during the long off-season? Great accuracy and route running during padless practices?

 

As for live action, did you or anyone else see anything special during the abbreviated training camp and four generally dull and lifeless preseason games (except for one half of one game against a depleted Jacksonville team) to provide a genuine shot of optimism and expectation for the big opener? Should journalists necessarily have a better eye for such details that apparently must be beyond the average fan's ability to see?

 

I'm sorry, I really just don't get where the question is coming from.

I just assumed that if you are a reporter whose job it is to cover something, be it the White House, Wall Street, or a sports team, you have some insight to offer people. Something above and beyond what you and I can figure out on our own. Media outlets certainly like to tout their coverage as being special.

 

On a side note, I'm listening to Schopp & Bulldog talk to Stevie Johnson and Bulldog brought up "outside media" disrespecting the Bills. Outside Media?!?! I guess Bulldog tucked his tail between his legs there.

 

PTR

Edited September 12, 2011 by PromoTheRobot

[Buftex]

I agree you and I have no idea what the Bills are doing so all we can do is hope for improvement. We have no access to them so how could we? What I want to know is why the guys paid to cover the team have no clue? Do the Bills purposely look bad when the press are present?

 

PTR

 

I have not read all the responses, so forgive me if this has already been said...there is a difference between knowing the business of the NFL, and knowing the game of football. I would guess that most who cover the NFL, who are not ex-players, know very little about what they are seeing....they are like your average fan...they know what they saw, and they can tell you if it was good or bad, based on the outcome. But very few know the X's and O's of the game. So, to expect, say, Ed Kilgore to watch a Bills practice, and come away thinking, "wow, these guys are gonna be great this year" is kind of silly, because nothing in recent history would suggest any improvement. Most of us don't know, until the real bullets fly.

 

A couple years ago, I heard Chris Mortenson on the radio, taking calls. A fan of a middling team (can't remember which) sounding not unlike a thin-skinned Bills fan, took him to task for writing off his teams playoff chances. Mortenson explained, like I did above, that his expertise, if he has any, is the legue, following the players, coaches, etc, not the game plans of teams, and the development of players...that is why the networks jump all over ex-jocks as analysts, because they hope (though rarely deliver) that they will deliver some other perspective that the Costas of the world can't offer.

 

Enjoy the win...lets hope there are many more...don't worry about what people say....they are wrong most of the time. One win doesn't prove the naysayers wrong, just as one loss won't make them right. The Bills have been pretty consistent losers for the last decade...when they start winnig consistently (and I get a good feeling that they are gettting there) then we can have an argument...

[Realist]

Here's the thing that might add to Promo's point. The local media is there all the time throughout the preseason and we hardly heard anything good coming out of training camp. A national guy, Peter King, spent ONE day there and in his preview said he saw something special that might be happening in Buffalo. How is it that King saw the good in one day, but we got the same old crap from the locals?

[yungmack]

I have not read all the responses, so forgive me if this has already been said...there is a difference between knowing the business of the NFL, and knowing the game of football. I would guess that most who cover the NFL, who are not ex-players, know very little about what they are seeing....they are like your average fan...they know what they saw, and they can tell you if it was good or bad, based on the outcome. But very few know the X's and O's of the game. So, to expect, say, Ed Kilgore to watch a Bills practice, and come away thinking, "wow, these guys are gonna be great this year" is kind of silly, because nothing in recent history would suggest any improvement. Most of us don't know, until the real bullets fly.

 

A couple years ago, I heard Chris Mortenson on the radio, taking calls. A fan of a middling team (can't remember which) sounding not unlike a thin-skinned Bills fan, took him to task for writing off his teams playoff chances. Mortenson explained, like I did above, that his expertise, if he has any, is the legue, following the players, coaches, etc, not the game plans of teams, and the development of players...that is why the networks jump all over ex-jocks as analysts, because they hope (though rarely deliver) that they will deliver some other perspective that the Costas of the world can't offer.

 

Enjoy the win...lets hope there are many more...don't worry about what people say....they are wrong most of the time. One win doesn't prove the naysayers wrong, just as one loss won't make them right. The Bills have been pretty consistent losers for the last decade...when they start winnig consistently (and I get a good feeling that they are gettting there) then we can have an argument...

It seems you've made PTR's point. If they're just a bunch of guys not unlike us, then WTF? Perhaps foolishly, I expect competent understanding of the subject they're covering. Seems sort of the minimal requirement for a professional, no?

[bananathumb]

Here's the thing that might add to Promo's point. The local media is there all the time throughout the preseason and we hardly heard anything good coming out of training camp. A national guy, Peter King, spent ONE day there and in his preview said he saw something special that might be happening in Buffalo. How is it that King saw the good in one day, but we got the same old crap from the locals?

 

 

Peter King is a national NFL journalist for a reason. Schoop and Bull, Hamilton and White etc etc (Howard Simon, god!)...they are little frogs in a small pond making about $35,000 a year. Thing is, they have a microphone on radio and people assume that means something. But they didn't play the game and know nothing about it.

[JESSEFEFFER]

Most media types try to fill the role of the objective skeptic. It's how they view their job and it's a safe place to be. I think the Bills' and their locker room have been tough to cover over the last decade and many of the media have resented the way they have been treated. The problem is that giving too much credence to the historical precedents of the last decade encourages one to fail to give any effort to assess what new management has done. Analyze how Buddy is remaking the roster and how Chan and his staff are developing it. As someone that remembers the late 80's very well, it would be fun to see something like that happen again.

 

 

As far as looking for evidence, or lack thereof, of professional competence, were people not paying attention when Chan said that he had to "do a better job of getting Lee involved in the offense" and called his route running substandard? Lee has not been a physical WR ever. I remember Chan stating a preference for big, physical WRs because I thought at the time it made Roosevelt's chances of sticking with the team less likely. But Chan seems to appreciate the way he uses what he has. Can you think of a definitive Lee Evans TD where he out fought a defender for the ball or broke multiple tackles? A time where he laid out a defender to spring a long run? Why did he not show up in Arizona to build a better rapport with Fitz? Anyone else find that strange? Lee did not fit the physical WR job description and, i suspect, he knew it. I was not surprised he got traded but only at the timing even though the lockout probably had a lot to do with this. None of this suggests a management team that is incompetent to me.

 

I have been comparing the Bills 2010 season to the 1986 season. Thus, I have been optimistically calling for 2011 to be like 1987. Most reaction has been of the "Fitzpatrick is no Jim Kelly" order and, while true, the mental exercise need not stop there. But, while Fitz may fall short of Jim's arm and bravado, he has him beat in emotional maturity, ability to handle physical pressure, and gameplan execution. It seems to me he owns the locker room and that he knows how to act to keep it.

[Captain Caveman]

I agree you can't predict the Bills coming out and destroying KC. But if you are a reporter and your job is to watch the Bills every day, and you come out every day and report the Bills are a crumbling disaster, how can anyone take you seriously after today? Are you saying its impossible to see any improvement, or is the local media so jaded by losing they dismiss anything the Bills do, good or bad, as crap?

 

PTR

 

They showed improvement 2 years ago, then came out and **** the bed in the regular season.