Sal Mairano = the new Jerry Sullivan

[Boatdrinks]

I’ve always liked reading Sal Maiorana’s columns, articles and listening to his segments as a guest on WGR over the years. I think he’s a real pro, and pretty much tells it like it is. If the OP read his stuff after the Bills wins over the Jets and Jaguars, he’d probably find them very complementary overall. As I stated, Sal doesn’t sugar coat things. The Bills loss to the Jets was ugly in many ways and the team took a step back instead of building on their wins and even a tough loss at Miami that they nearly pulled off. Sports columnists aren’t always going to paint the rosiest of pictures or say it’s sunshine and rainbows in a torrential downpour. Nor should they. While Jerry’s column got very predictable and depressing he was closer to right than wrong most times. Would anyone want John Murphy to write a wrap up of a Bills game or a column for that matter ? 

[Thurman#1]

Nah.

 

Sully was really good. Maiorana's OK, though I have never kept close track.

 

And yeah, Sully was doom and gloom. Any sportswriter who was here during that full drought who wasn't pretty consistently writing doom and gloom was blowing smoke up the collective fan butt.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Thurman#1

[Freddie's Dead]

I like Sal, and Leo Roth is a personal friend.  They have good takes, and are not negative just for the sake of being negative.  They were as excited as anyone by the playoff run last year.  When I read their columns or listen to their podcasts, I don't hear the Bucky/Sully wall of negativity.

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, pop gun said:

So sick of hearing about Woods departure as an excuse for McBean. He failed his post season physical on locker clean out day and in the 6 months after the best McBean could do to fill the position was keep Groy and sign Bodine. Given McBean had 6 months to work with, they failed at getting an adequate replacement for Wood and that is 100% on them. They had plenty of time to work with.

 

 

And very little money. 

 

Whaley had them with a cap situation that looked like that of a team that was competing for a title and trying to make it in the last year or two of an old QB's slide into old age. And left them a lineup with a lot of holes and Tyrod Taylor as the closest thing we had to a franchise QB.

 

So yeah, they could have brought in a good center. But that would have left them unable to bring in some of the guys that they did bring in. What Wood and Incognito leaving did absolutely hurt this FO, simply because it opened up two more big holes on a lineup that was already full of them and was on limited resources this year.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

5 hours ago, Da webster guy said:

I spelled his name wrong I think, but this guy has fully morphed into Sully.  Everything negative, pretends like he speaks for all the fans in his articles, acts like this was supposed to be a winning season, you name it, he will criticize it and tell you how bad it is.

His radio spots are unlistenable, honestly this dude is worse than Schopp if that's possible.

So for the 3% of you that miss doom and gloom Sully, there's a new sheriff in town.

 

 

 

 

Thats my take of him and thats only from reading the headlines which prevented me from reading the article.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Buffalo Barbarian

[ProcessTruster]

7 hours ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

 

The losses of Wood and Incognito definitely did not help at all. The lack of wideouts and a veteran backup QB is just completely on them, however. I cannot wait until Clay is gone... he's a waste of roster space.

Cogs and Wood going down were huge.   But no one wants to talk about that.    They'll get the O Line fixed in the offseason. 

[ProcessTruster]

14 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

Cogs and Wood going down were huge.   But no one wants to talk about that.    They'll get the O Line fixed in the offseason.   BTW I see Cordy Glenn and Sammy Watkins (oh and Darby) are all out again.   Hmmm....

woops , operator error on this ole edit function... need to stop getting up so early.   sucks getting old

Edited December 11, 2018 by ProcessTruster

[SoTier]

7 hours ago, RosenNOTchosen1 said:

So just because he's critical of the Bills you don't like him?

 

Is the guy not allowed to have his own opinion? 

 

To a significant number of posters on TSW, if one dares to criticize the Bills, you are simply "being negative to be negative" despite the team only having 3 winning seasons in this century, and the  2018 squad looking like one of the poorest of that miserable collection.

 

7 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

Hey I agree there where numerous vet qbs out there  I doubt they thought it would be the debacle that Peterman/Mccarren turn out to be and they spent most of their free agent money and draft picks on D..when your rookie QB has to throw to WRs who are Undrafted Free Agents, low round picks, other teams practice squads, and Zay Jones you screwed up and Sal sees this 

 

How could professionals NOT expect the debacle when the "veteran QBs" they started the season with were a sophomore QB whose 1 NFL start was an historic disaster and a former backup QB anxious to get an opportunity to be a starter?  How could professionals wait a month to bring in another veteran QB -- a retired QB who hadn't played in a couple of seasons no less -- after Peterman predictably pooped the bed in the season opener?  

 

The handling of the backup QB situation, from trading away Taylor to signing Anderson, was unforgivable.  Either McDermott/Beane are totally incompetent to handle player personnel or their primary aim was to spend as few actual dollars as possible on the QB position rather than to win football games or even provide some veteran support for Allen -- classic moneyball.

 

3 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

And very little money. 

 

Whaley had them with a cap situation that looked like that of a team that was competing for a title and trying to make it in the last year or two of an old QB's slide into old age. And left them a lineup with a lot of holes and Tyrod Taylor as the closest thing we had to a franchise QB.

 

So yeah, they could have brought in a good center. But that would have left them unable to bring in some of the guys that they did bring in. What Wood and Incognito leaving did absolutely hurt this FO, simply because it opened up two more big holes on a lineup that was already full of them and was on limited resources this year.

 

This excuse just doesn't fly because the Bills alleged "money problems" are the result of this FO's own decisions.   By wasting draft capital with trade-ups in 2017 (they  traded up for both Jones and Dawkins), they gave up two additional prospects.  They also shed competent NFL caliber players without regard to the cap implications, most notably Dareus, Glenn, and Taylor (those three players account for more than $30 million in dead cap space).  In the case of Dareus, they replaced him with a competent DT but at a big price.  They replaced Glenn with a much cheaper -- and much less effective --- Dawkins whose poor play as a sophomore LT has contributed to the OL's failures.  They failed to replace Taylor with a competent NFL veteran at all. 

 

15 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

Cogs and Wood going down were huge.   But no one wants to talk about that.    They'll get the O Line fixed in the offseason. 

 

Incognito was 34 years old in 2017.  The Bills should have had a younger LG prospect on the roster in 2017, acquired either through the draft or through bringing in FAs.   Instead, they moved career backup RG Ducasse to the left side and pretended all was good when it wasn't.   OL seems to be the one unit where investing in low round draft picks/UDFAs is most likely to pay some dividends.  No one, especially McDermott/Beane apologists, wants to talk about THAT.

 

[WideRightRevenge]

9 hours ago, dlonce said:

Sals a very good reporter,been doing it a long time.

 

Its not his job to cheerlead,it’s his job to tell it like he sees it. 

Todays readers are so sensitive. The truth is this team is not very good, the coaching has been terrible and player personnel moves are  suspect.

 

McClappy is a dinosaur, his thinking is behind the curve. His hires have been mediocre at best. 

Clapping on the sidelines as though he’s coaching a tyro football team isn’t getting the job done.

 

He needs to hire someone who can work with Allen,someone with experience and a sharp offensive mind or we will be seeing our QB as the next big great game manager.

 

 

McClappy as you call him reminds me of Pete Carroll (in terms of sideline style)  .. he just doesn't chew gum .. seems to me that team (who looked good last night) wins with the run and defense ... I know there are a lot of commentary on the new NFL (KC, Rams, Saints style of play) .. but when you see Chicago shut down the Rams or Dallas shut down the Saints .. that's still shows that maybe .. just maybe .. a defense can win big games.

[Best Player Available]

10 hours ago, Da webster guy said:

I spelled his name wrong I think, but this guy has fully morphed into Sully.  Everything negative, pretends like he speaks for all the fans in his articles, acts like this was supposed to be a winning season, you name it, he will criticize it and tell you how bad it is.

His radio spots are unlistenable, honestly this dude is worse than Schopp if that's possible.

So for the 3% of you that miss doom and gloom Sully, there's a new sheriff in town.

 

 

 

Breaking news news like this post is so enlightening. 

[Joeziehmer]

14 minutes ago, WideRightRevenge said:

 

McClappy as you call him reminds me of Pete Carroll (in terms of sideline style)  .. he just doesn't chew gum .. seems to me that team (who looked good last night) wins with the run and defense ... I know there are a lot of commentary on the new NFL (KC, Rams, Saints style of play) .. but when you see Chicago shut down the Rams or Dallas shut down the Saints .. that's still shows that maybe .. just maybe .. a defense can win big games.

If the defensive side is better, more aggressive, and calls blitz packages with stunts yes; it does win.  McClappy on the sidelines though doesn’t win.  And, the media practice cemented Sean’s cluelessness.  Beyond Jauron in blaming Josh Allen for receivers dropping balls, mistaking receivers for tight-ends and telling them to drop into three or four point stances, and then the kids of death; demanding that Daboll slow down the rhythm passing drills.  Here we are 4-9 with Peterman a major contributor to it and Beane cutting him at the confidence presser. My view is sure they report to the Pegula’s it all depends on who can bend their ear more and to what extent Beane wants his own guy marching the sideline and not someone who brought him in.  Businesses make tough decisions all the time it seems like a no-brainer to fire McDernott at this point.  

[Phil The Thrill]

10 hours ago, Da webster guy said:

I spelled his name wrong I think, but this guy has fully morphed into Sully.  Everything negative, pretends like he speaks for all the fans in his articles, acts like this was supposed to be a winning season, you name it, he will criticize it and tell you how bad it is.

His radio spots are unlistenable, honestly this dude is worse than Schopp if that's possible.

So for the 3% of you that miss doom and gloom Sully, there's a new sheriff in town.

 

 

 

 

I don’t think Sal is quite as bad as Sully.  He’s pretty much fair and like a lot of us, he loses patience with the constant losing over the past 2 decades.  It really can’t be fun following a team that perpetually went 7-9 for 20 years.

 

One thing about Sal, some of his take are not very good.  He is critical but then he’ll defend someone who isn’t performing well.  Case and point, he get Rex Ryan should have been given another year.

[zonabb]

Years ago I realized all these reporters and columnists are not more qualified or skilled at understanding football and opining about it than anyone here. No joke. So I stopped reading and I think so have many more. Being a complete blowhard with hot takes to sell papers.... didn't work. The days of the intelligent reporter like Felser and Kelley are done. Those guys were respected for their work by their subjects. Because they were objective and knew the sport very well. Kelley was one of the greats. Sully was just a curmudgeon, it came out in his work, its tone, its arrogant ignorance. And what's that guy doing now? Some two-bit circus sideshow somewhere with the loser her groomed who is also out of meaningful employment. 

 

Don't blame the reader for not swallowing the rotten product and complaining about it. With so many options and outlets, no one has to read garbage they don't like and the invisible hand will sort out the wheat from the chaff, putting punks on the street. 

 

Maybe I'm insane for coming here for news but it serves me well, I get any new info from overnight. I get some decent links to things like All-22 reviews, which none of these newsprint hack can even talk to, they're so woefully unqualified to cover football. And occasionally I get about 10 minutes of WGR55 on the way into or home from work. 

[Albany,n.y.]

I'm listening to Bucky & Sully on 1270 via the internet and Maiorana is about to join them on the air & has a regular Tuesday spot with them.  

[Dopey]

12 hours ago, pop gun said:

So sick of hearing about Woods departure as an excuse for McBean. He failed his post season physical on locker clean out day and in the 6 months after the best McBean could do to fill the position was keep Groy and sign Bodine. Given McBean had 6 months to work with, they failed at getting an adequate replacement for Wood and that is 100% on them. They had plenty of time to work with.

If it was just Wood, he would be tough to replace, but we lost Cogs too. In the middle of a rebuild, it's tough to lose a pro bowl center and pro bowl left guard unexpectedly . You just can't do it in one off-season, especially when the draft was about getting your franchise QB. We have our QB and most on this board agreed getting a QB was paramount. Whether you agree or not that Allen is the guy aside, the front office did what they said they were going to do. And I am glad they prioritized the QB position over center or guard. Seems some folks either forget that or just want to complain. I am curious, what was your plan to replace them? Keep in mind the fact that at this moment you have had an extra 4 months since the season started to come up with a plan than they had. Also curious to hear Sal's plan. It's so easy to complain and not come up with an alternative. If we are in the same boat next year, complain all you want. I'l be right there with you. 

 

 

 

 

 

[TroutDog]

Sal wrote an article today chronicling how they D is number on me rated and why that it does not bare out in games. 

 

He also, after valid critical discussion, says why it bodes well for the future. 

 

I don't and have not seen any Sully in Sal’s writing. 

[Ned Flanders]

Sal's two Relentless books are why he'll always get a pass from me.  Sure he's critical, the guy spends half the day on the Thruway having to report on a downtrodden franchise, but for a fourth down pass by Andy Dalton, would now be looking at a 19 year drought.

 

And you think he's hard on the Bills, his bitching about the Yankees is even more annoying.  For a team with the second best record in the AL last season, and who went to to the ALCS the year before, you'd think he was watching the Orioles.

[HOUSE]

Edited December 11, 2018 by HOUSE

[WideRightRevenge]

23 hours ago, Joeziehmer said:

If the defensive side is better, more aggressive, and calls blitz packages with stunts yes; it does win.  McClappy on the sidelines though doesn’t win.  And, the media practice cemented Sean’s cluelessness.  Beyond Jauron in blaming Josh Allen for receivers dropping balls, mistaking receivers for tight-ends and telling them to drop into three or four point stances, and then the kids of death; demanding that Daboll slow down the rhythm passing drills.  Here we are 4-9 with Peterman a major contributor to it and Beane cutting him at the confidence presser. My view is sure they report to the Pegula’s it all depends on who can bend their ear more and to what extent Beane wants his own guy marching the sideline and not someone who brought him in.  Businesses make tough decisions all the time it seems like a no-brainer to fire McDernott at this point.  

 

Holy negative .. yea that's just what we need another coaching change .. granted a Andy Dalton miracle 4th down pass .. but we did make the playoffs unlike the prior multiple coaching regimes .. lighten up .. this was always a rebuilding year. 

[T master]

There always has to be "that guy" in the room & most of those guys do well because they go against what some of the fans think so by creating subjects while having a opposing view of what was suppose to be & what is he pisses people off & it keeps fans engaged to see what he is writing .

 

Every year we are all in hopes of the Bills doing better but there has been a lot to over come this year in some key areas but i have faith that McBean will get the players needed to do well going forward ... Despite what that guy thinks !!