I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

[JohnnyGold]

i get the feeling that if real life was a madden game, 95% of this board would sim through the 09 season.

why?

i think some of you are just being contrarian for the sake of it, or even worse, taking what ESPN says as gospel.

how can you say our o-line will be terrible this year? terrible compared to what? last years o-line? any o-line from the last DECADE of bills teams that hasn't had a winning season, save 04s 9-7 squad?

modrak is clearly taking the reigns in the front office, and for the first time since flutie was running things, he's eliminating question marks. the running game is solid. the wideouts are great. edwards in the qb, and the team and coaching staff believes in him. special teams are great. our secondary is there.

lbs and our de's need improvement, to be sure, but that doesnt happen overnight. it is, for all intents and purposes, a NEW front office approach, and it will take time to build the team. but to say that this team has gone BACKWARDS from last season is crazy.

there is plenty to be excited about for 09.

look, we have a young qb, who was playing his first full season as a starter under a new OC. theyre both back, with a year to build on. we were 7-9 last year, and the cleveland game, the jets game and the niners game all were winnable. yeah yeah yeah, close only counts in handgrenades and horse shoes but guess what? arizona won ugly last year on plenty of occasions, and look where it got them. a field goal here, a non-jp-losman-fumble there, and the team would be that much better.

i don't give a ***** what john clayton says about our schedule. our schedule is NOT hard. 3 games scare me - the 2 patriots games (as always,) and the titans game. the furthest west we go is kansas city. the team barely has to travel. we lose the home game to the jets in toronto, and the jets are going to be TERRIBLE this year.

the draft hasnt even happened yet, and were loaded with picks. if we ship parish to pit, we got more coming our way.

you wouldnt know it from reading this board, but we signed one of the best wideouts in the league, and hes going to be our # TWO. our offense will be sick.

i for one cant wait for the season to start. going into last season, i knew the bills would be better than the year before... everyone did. and they were. going into this year, i feel the same way. theyve only gotten better, AND THE DRAFT HASNT HAPPENED YET. theyll be a better team, the jets will be a worse team, the dolphins are relying on noodle arm to lead them with a trick offense through a tougher schedule. its gonna be great, i cant wait, see you at the stadium, unless you hang yourselves first.

[kernowboy]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

great post. The board needs more positive contributions like yours.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

So basically ignore the facts and be a fan. Any chance you can give me some concrete reasons why we'll be better in 2009?

[ddaryl]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

We have Dick Jauron for a headcoach

We have missed the playoffs for 10 years

We have given up a game a year ot Toronto.

We have more holes on the team now then we did when we ended the 2008 season

Bills fans have every right ot be pessimistic, even though some here are always pessimistic regardless of situation

[Pinkerton Security]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

So basically ignore the facts and be a fan. Any chance you can give me some concrete reasons why we'll be better in 2009?

no - wait for ALL the facts. If you honestly quit on the Bills when we have 5 months to go til the season starts, then you honestly werent a very good fan to begin with. You can complain all you want but quitting, thats just no good.

[mchurchfie]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

What, did Ralph send you over here for a little damage control Johnny?

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

I am with you Johnny.

Football is a form of entertainment. I have realized there are things A LOT more important than if we re sign a Left tackle etc....

When the Bills no longer exist or no longer bring me entertainment I will just stop watching. I am not going to worry so much about it.

Calm down everyone...

[yordad]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

It is a great post. I have had countless similar opinions over the years. Unfortunately, I was wrong countless times. No longer. I have come to believe they will never be good again. And, at this point, the only way to make me believe otherwise, is to have me see otherwise.

The glass maybe be half full, instead of half empty, but it surely isn't a full glass no matter how ya look at it.

I believe they are running an experiment. How much money can you not spead and still sell out? How do you cut Dockery with no replacement? Why would you cut him to save a roster bonus, when people were offering you picks? Ralph keep that money, and the offering teams kept their picks. Of course the Bills could have saved the money, and got the picks, if their head wasn't in a cloud leading up to the deadline.

Every year, same story. The optimisim has been beat out of me, and their is only one way to put it back. I don't think signing the pro bowl team would convince me til I seen it. I believe the Bills would still screw it up.

But I still root. I didn't choose to be a Bills fan, I just am. You want censership, or rose colored glasses, try one of the less informed boards. It you want to spead the love, and try to convince some of us the sky isn't falling, your welcome to stay.

[JohnnyGold]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

What, did Ralph send you over here for a damage control Johnny?

you exemplify my entire post. your sig is a picture of the absolute lowest point of last season. you take pride in reveling in our failure. you probably get a half guy when espn runs a story about the bills being cursed, and change the channel when they start talking about who were going to draft.

look forward brother. youre like a battered woman in an abusive relationship. you like losing. you WANT to have a reason to complain. take comfort in the fact that the majority of this board shares that view point.

[The Spaz]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

I admit I was down for a while but like I have always said if you if you want to criticize everything and anything and blowoff the team before they see the field why bother watching the game or be a fan?

[Philagape]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

It's an interesting psychological phenomenon, how the cheerleaders are more vocal than usual. Perhaps a defense mechanism? Inability to deal with far more holes on the team than the one that went 7-9 for the third straight year?
Dropping deadweight doesn't matter if they're not replaced with improvements. Right now, our saviors are Chambers, Bell, Hangartner and McKinney. We have a Wal-Mart O-line.
What are people's standards around here? The other day, someone defended the Wal-Mart line by saying they're "NFL caliber." So in other words, merely being good enough to play in the league is cause for optimism.
Playoffs? Oh, that's for the big boys. We're just happy to be here.
The draft needs to be a grand slam to get this team into contention. What are the chances of that with this front office? "Take time to build"???? They've had THREE YEARS, and they've gotten NOWHERE. Any gains have been offset by yet more personnel fiascos. Any team that's relying this much on the draft, and has as crappy a track record as ours in the draft, is in deep trouble.
The time has MORE question marks now. LT, LG, C, DE, WLB, TE, FB, FS. Other spots are mired in mediocrity, not to mention a joke of a head coach. More than half the o-line, and the pass rush, crucial to the defense, are up in the air. There is no reason to think this year's line will be any better than the last 10 years or crap.
What the hell is there to be excited about??? Don't give me crap about rebuilding and potential and upside and woulda coulda shoulda. I'll get excited when the team makes the playoffs, and not one damn day sooner. I'm sick of rebuilding.

[justasportsfan]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

i get the feeling that if real life was a madden game, 95% of this board would sim through the 09 season.

why?

i think some of you are just being contrarian for the sake of it, or even worse, taking what ESPN says as gospel.

how can you say our o-line will be terrible this year? terrible compared to what? last years o-line? any o-line from the last DECADE of bills teams that hasn't had a winning season, save 04s 9-7 squad?

modrak is clearly taking the reigns in the front office, and for the first time since flutie was running things, he's eliminating question marks. the running game is solid. the wideouts are great. edwards in the qb, and the team and coaching staff believes in him. special teams are great. our secondary is there.

lbs and our de's need improvement, to be sure, but that doesnt happen overnight. it is, for all intents and purposes, a NEW front office approach, and it will take time to build the team. but to say that this team has gone BACKWARDS from last season is crazy.

there is plenty to be excited about for 09.

look, we have a young qb, who was playing his first full season as a starter under a new OC. theyre both back, with a year to build on. we were 7-9 last year, and the cleveland game, the jets game and the niners game all were winnable. yeah yeah yeah, close only counts in handgrenades and horse shoes but guess what? arizona won ugly last year on plenty of occasions, and look where it got them. a field goal here, a non-jp-losman-fumble there, and the team would be that much better.

i don't give a ***** what john clayton says about our schedule. our schedule is NOT hard. 3 games scare me - the 2 patriots games (as always,) and the titans game. the furthest west we go is kansas city. the team barely has to travel. we lose the home game to the jets in toronto, and the jets are going to be TERRIBLE this year.

the draft hasnt even happened yet, and were loaded with picks. if we ship parish to pit, we got more coming our way.

you wouldnt know it from reading this board, but we signed one of the best wideouts in the league, and hes going to be our # TWO. our offense will be sick.

i for one cant wait for the season to start. going into last season, i knew the bills would be better than the year before... everyone did. and they were. going into this year, i feel the same way. theyve only gotten better, AND THE DRAFT HASNT HAPPENED YET. theyll be a better team, the jets will be a worse team, the dolphins are relying on noodle arm to lead them with a trick offense through a tougher schedule. its gonna be great, i cant wait, see you at the stadium, unless you hang yourselves first.

So what makes you think our OL will be better?

If you think going 0-6 in the division last year was better than the year before, then you must love being the AFCE's *****.

I think our OC coming back is the problem. Even the qb blamed him. Did you not hear what Trent said when Teams showed them defensive looks they did not pratice for? Thats a COACHING PROBLEM.


You think we'll just be a better team via the draft? Are you forgettting that other teams in the AFCE will be drafting too? Are you forgettting that they have a better track record of drafting the right players and coming up with schemes to make them succeed?

I too think that Modrak will have more power with draft decisions, question is, do we have the right coaches who know how to put things together? If yes, then prove it.


I used to be a homer like you . But after 3 losing seasons the cool aid I've been drinking gave me diabetes. It can be cured but right now they have to PROVE it instead of saying the same crap every year "we need to get better. I need to do a better job" .

[Jan Reimers]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

There are certainly a number of reasons for pessimism, but there is reason for optimism, too.

Our offseason, as of right this minute, has been as active as I can remember. We have gotten rid of deadwood in Fowler and Preston; severe underachievers in Royal and Dockery; and disgruntled players in Peters and Crowell. Greer is a loss, but we drafted his replacement last year in McKelvin.

We made a major upgrade at center in Hangartner; at WR with TO; and added great depth in Rhodes, McKinney, and Florence. Fitzpatrick and Thomas should help, and we're still talking trading Parrish and Kelsay, and acquiring Waters and Scheffler. At the moment, we have 9 draft picks, including 2 first rounders.

We have promising 2nd year players in Bell, Fine, Bowen, Ellis, McKelvin, Hardy, Johnson and Corner, and effectively a 2nd year guy in Poz, who missed most of his rookie year.

There are certainly holes, but there should also be reason for hope.

[trapezeus]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

i think if you are writing in a fan forum, it's safe to say you are a fan. I think we just have different ways of looking at it. For those of us who have been or have turned pessimistic, its relaly more for self preservation than anything else.

I have turned to the pessimistic side. i thought yordad was spot on. every year i get excited and tell everyone who wants to rag on the bills (i live in nyc) that its finally coming together. people look at me like i'm ******ed. and they trash talk the bills and i try to fight back. "we are going 11-5", "the schedule is easier than it looks." "so and so is going to be a lot better this year."

then we get last year's performance. There was nothing good that came out of last season. Last year's complete self destruction (2 wins in the last 10 games?) just confirmed two points that no winning team has. A Front office that misses on picks, free agents and coaches and coaches who don't know when players are ready and when they are not.

In many ways i felt like the detective at the end of "the usual suspects". I was dropping my coffee cup and realizing that our team is bad. And there is very little tangible proof that we improved.

and since the commitment to jauron instead of the commitment to winning, it's really hard to keep fighting with other fellow fans.

There are incredible stories where bad teams make great runs, and that's what we've been forced to root for for 10 years. It's old.

And i'm not even the jerk who says sign all the top talent immediately at record prices. I'm the guy who says, it's obvious that the new paradigm in the NFL is pay for the coach. Pay him a ton, and then skimp on the players because a good coach will unlock hidden talent and motivate guys to play.

Yet the bills will dish out a raise to TO, Evans (who isn't that good if he played on another team), Kelsay, Schobel, etc, but then not give them a coach that knows how to win a close game. Unacceptable.

So yeah, i'm pessimistic about 2009. If you saw this offseason happen to any other NFL team, you'd shake your head.

When Sept 14 rolls around, i'll get out of work early, have my jersey on and hoping like hell that this is the start of a magical run. God knows we all need that.

[kernowboy]

Re: I'm new to this board, but the pessimism here is about to make me a FORMER member

Why is Center now a need? We just signed a guy that the Panthers were reluctant to lose. Of those needs you've highlighted I will fill them for you now.

LT - draft Gerald Cadogan in R2. The Pats compare him to Matt Light which is good enough for me. I predict Cadogan will be Pro-Bowler more quickly than Oher or Andre Smith will be

LG - sign Pete Kendall. There is one season of gas left in the tank yet and he can help the rookie LT above as well as help develop Bell

C- dealt with that

DE - draft Everette Brown.

WLB - draft James Laurinaitis

TE - trade for Tony Scheffler and maybe pick up a TE lower in the draft as well

FB - take Tony Fiammatta in the 6th

FS - take Sherrod Martin in the 3rd. McKelvin speaks very highly of him

Of the rookies we might not need to start any of them, but it will be a kick in the pants to any veteran remaining and will produce an excellent training camp where the cream will rise to the surface

Brown v Denney, Kelsay or Ellis
Cadogan v Bell or Chambers
Laurinaitis v Ellison or Bowen
Martin v Simpson or Wilson
Fiammatta v McIntyre or Schouman

Whoever comes through will be much better for it