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All: The new Billszone site with the updated software is scheduled to be turned on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The company that built it, Dynascale, estimates a FOUR HOUR shut down, from 8pm Pacific, (5pm Eastern) while they get it up and running. Nobody will be able to post in any forum until they are done. Afterwards, you may need to do a web search for the site, as old links will not work, because the site is getting a new IP address. Please be patient. If there are bugs, we will tackle them one at a time. Remember the goal is to be up and running with no glitches by camp. Doing this now assures us of that, because it gives us all summer to get our ducks in a row. Thank you!
There is work to be done and things to be learned. We are going to try to get the old look back - or something close to it. We also know there are bugs. A thread will be started to report bugs and then we can pass those onto the host.
Thank you for all the patience and support with this - hopefully this will greatly reduce the crashes and other site issues we have had lately.
Please use this thread to report any issues you come across
http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/forum/feedback-forums/billszone-q-a/6521455-upgrade-report-bugs-here
Whenever I hear terms like "building for the future," "forward-thinking," "big picture" etc. being used to describe the Bills front office, I get a mental picture of the fan base as a mule with Russ Brandon sitting on it's back. With one hand, he's holding a stick in front of the mule with playoff tickets dangling off the end of it, and as the mule walks blindly walks towards the tickets, he uses the other hand to reach into the saddle bags and steal money.
This franchise is constantly building for a future that never actually arrives.
Here's hoping McDermott/Beane know what the hell they're doing.
The problem we've had since we kicked John Butler/AJ Smith to the curb all those years ago is that no one's been able to I.D. a franchise QB ever since. That will make or break the new guys too.
Disclaimer: The sentiment expressed in this post is strictly for entertainment purposes only.
At least these guys have a new catchphrase, "Trust the Process." They should handout t-shirts during the home opener.
That's the problem, this team hasn't done any rebuilding at all since 2004. Band-aid after band-aid. Shuffling poor to mediocre QBs. Shuffling big flashy RBs. Giving the keys to the city to a primadonna.
The result of the band-aid approach is where this team is at today. A team not good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough to actually get the real piece(s) needed to become a playoff team.
I tend to agree with Op, given our draft history, but something about this regime does feel a little different. What seems to be gone is the delusion that we're just "one piece away." Like Pink said, this team has been essentially paying for repair after repair on an old car, when it is probably more beneficial to junk the thing and start over with something new.
They've built themselves a ton of high draft picks, which is good. I know everyone wants to use them to trade up to get the high-end QB, but I would almost rather see them used on good players that have high floors. Peterman needs to be made the starter this year the minute the playoffs are out of reach. Gotta see what he can do before making (another) big investment on an unsure thing.
"Miami played pretty damn good today and still got their ass kicked."
I think it's different. We can all recall the regime changes/coach changes/new-players-to-fit-the-scheme(cough*TorellTroup*cough)/cycle of mediocrity we've been through.
Ralph lucked out with Polian. In the years prior and since, Ralph hired guys who he felt "comfortable" with - qualified or not. As a result, the years without a competent GM yielded bad to mediocre teams - consistently.
The Pegula's had no "inner circle" of people to select to run the organization, they actually went out and selected people with solid NFL credentials. The current leadership may or may not work out, but at least they're qualified to hold the respective positions they have. The NFL strives so hard to have a parity league, it really takes a special kind of incompetence to have a 17-year playoff drought.
"You can't be a real country unless you have beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need beer."
~ Frank Zappa
Like it or not, the only way to fairly judge a new regime is by letting them try it their way, lock, stock and barrel. Once Ryan was here, he had to be allowed to fail on his own terms. Once Levy was here, he had to be allowed to succeed on his own terms. Same with Whaley/Polian.
A good part of the band aid approach has been a GM & HC not on the same page, not even considering bad GM's & bad HC's. No unified plan beyond the one upcoming season. They didn't even scout underclassmen, so it was even draft to draft. Polian & Levy were on the same page. My point is not that Beane & McDermott are Polian & Levy, those pages of the book aren't written yet, my point is that we finally have a normal process going again with GM & HC on the same page. That's the normal process that actually does work in building toward the future.
Unless anyone thinks they can instantly conjure a SB team from this roster, and I find that unreasonable, the team is going to have to follow a process, may as well be a purposeful one.
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