off topic Buffalo Bills 2015

[JujuFish]

I'm hearing a lot of people bring up 2003 and the other years we started off 4-0 and missed the playoffs

Because this post made me curious, I looked up the years the Bills started 4-0:

 

1964 - Started 9-0, finished 12-2, won championship

1965 - Started 4-0, finished 10-3-1, won championship

1975 - Started 4-0, finished 8-6, 3rd in division

1980 - Started 5-0, finished 11-5, lost in divisional playoff

1988 - Started 4-0, finished 12-4, lost AFC championship

1991 - Started 5-0, finished 13-3, lost Super Bowl

1992 - Started 4-0, finished 11-5, lost Super Bowl

2008 - Started 4-0, finished 7-9, 4th in division

 

Twice, the team failed to make the playoffs. However, they went to the championship game four times.

[nfreeman]

nfreeman, has whaley grown on you?

Too soon to tell. I don't like the Freddy Jackson move for multiple reasons -- and now they're down to 3 RBs, which probably isn't enough. I also don't like the McCoy extension. The Dareus contract was the right move, although not without risk. The OL still needs significant bolstering.

 

It's also worth noting that I think Rex is calling most of the shots, so I'm not sure how fair it is to blame Whaley for any of the above moves if they don't work out. OTOH, he's the GM, and if he gets credit for good GM moves then he should get blamed for bad ones too.

[TrueBlueGED]

It did mean one thing: Sam Adams, rumbling his way to the endzone with an interception, on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

 

Funny, I was clearing out a bunch of old stuff the other day (to make room for newer old stuff, of course) and came across this. Keeping it. I also have the two covers from the Pats losing to the Giants, the Michael Phelps 8 golds cover, and a...ahem...few swimsuit editions.

[nfreeman]

Here's one more item on the Bills: I was at the Colts game and I was struck by how great RWS is. I really don't want a new stadium.

 

(As far as that goes, I'm going to offer TBPhD a one-time free retraction of his $300MM prediction for the cost of a new stadium. Admit you were out to lunch on that one and there will be no recriminations (or maybe just a few, but much less than there would've been.))

[WildCard]

Here's one more item on the Bills: I was at the Colts game and I was struck by how great RWS is. I really don't want a new stadium.

 

(As far as that goes, I'm going to offer TBPhD a one-time free retraction of his $300MM prediction for the cost of a new stadium. Admit you were out to lunch on that one and there will be no recriminations (or maybe just a few, but much less than there would've been.))

I love the Ralph. My biggest concerns with relocation is traffic, tailgate space, and a dome. The Buffalo Bills do not play under a dome. We drink beers from 8am-5pm outside until you can't feel the cold. 

[Doohicksie]

 

The metaphor of the Patriots as Orcs is awesome.

Disgusting, slimy creatures.

Then all of a sudden, our last 15 years are on par with the Bengals or Vikings. 

 

You say that like it's a good and admirable thing.

[TrueBlueGED]

Here's one more item on the Bills: I was at the Colts game and I was struck by how great RWS is. I really don't want a new stadium.

 

(As far as that goes, I'm going to offer TBPhD a one-time free retraction of his $300MM prediction for the cost of a new stadium. Admit you were out to lunch on that one and there will be no recriminations (or maybe just a few, but much less than there would've been.))

 

I already did this previously--I underestimated the absolute cost (no, I'm not searching the thread to find it). However, I maintain there's no reason it has to cost as much as the $1.4 billion Jerry World or the Giants/Jets new digs, etc. It can, of course, but it would be foolish to do so. I also maintain there's no way the cost for a good open-air stadium is going to go from ~$400 million in 2001 to ~$1.5 billion in 2022 or whenever ground breaks (for the record I'm referring to the Broncos stadium, which in 2015 dollars would be $535 million...another 7 years isn't tripling that).

 

PS: Every time you mention this I'll gently jab your "Rasmussen is clearly the best political pollster" nonsense from the politics thread during the 2012 general ;)

[Doohicksie]

We drink beers from 8am-5pm outside until you can't feel the cold. 

 

The most awesome sports spectacle I've ever witnessed was when I went to Houston to watch the Bills play the Texans.  Giant tailgate party of Bills Backers, most of us drunk before entering the stadium (and remember, the game starts at noon here in Texas).  No, it wasn't cold, but we weren't feeling any pain either.

 

The night before the game, Bills fans actually drank several bars in the downtown Houston area dry; we pretty much all ended up at the one bar that still had beer.  Just freakin' amazing.

 

For those of you who haven't lived outside of WNY, you have no idea how hardcore Buffalonians are when it comes to drinking, compared to lots of other cities.  It probably shouldn't be, but I kind of take it as a point of pride.

$1.4 billion Jerry World 

 

Jerry World is obscene.  You can see it from the school where my wife teaches, which is almost 10 miles away.  And even from that distance, it's huge.

[Huckleberry]

 

Always loved this one :D

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umhDCtOoJZ0

Edited September 17, 2015 by Huckleberry

[MattPie]

Always loved this one :D

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umhDCtOoJZ0

 

[inkman]

I love the Ralph. My biggest concerns with relocation is traffic, tailgate space, and a dome. The Buffalo Bills do not play under a ###### ###### dome. We drink beers from 8am-5pm outside until you can't feel the cold.

At some point,Bills fans may need to understand that going to a football game does not have to equal drinking 25 beers and becoming a pile of goo before kickoff. I won't go to games anymore because of the prevalence of it.

The most awesome sports spectacle I've ever witnessed was when I went to Houston to watch the Bills play the Texans. Giant tailgate party of Bills Backers, most of us drunk before entering the stadium (and remember, the game starts at noon here in Texas). No, it wasn't cold, but we weren't feeling any pain either.

 

The night before the game, Bills fans actually drank several bars in the downtown Houston area dry; we pretty much all ended up at the one bar that still had beer. Just freakin' amazing.

 

For those of you who haven't lived outside of WNY, you have no idea how hardcore Buffalonians are when it comes to drinking, compared to lots of other cities. It probably shouldn't be, but I kind of take it as a point of pride.

What you view as awesome, most would view as alcoholism.

[That Aud Smell]

I think we kicked it around pretty good once - the question of whether the drinking, tailgating culture will and/or should be preserved when a new stadium is built.

 

I'm betting that it won't be (at least not nearly in its current form), and, as someone who never made it part of my life, I won't be sad to see it go. I have close friends who become very emotional on this subject, and assure me that I don't understand how important and worthwhile the tailgate culture is at RWS.

 

I remain unconvinced and unimpressed. The drinking culture at NFL games needs to change. I understand that 90+% of people can go, whoop it up, and not cause a problem for anyone else. But there are 1000s of people there who can't do that, and they will ruin it for everyone else.

 

I haven't sat in stadium seats since a ~350 lbs. blackout drunk Jets fan fell on my father (who was mostly unharmed). Oh, and we were playing the Chargers.

[Claude_Verret]

I think we kicked it around pretty good once - the question of whether the drinking, tailgating culture will and/or should be preserved when a new stadium is built.

 

I'm betting that it won't be (at least not nearly in its current form), and, as someone who never made it part of my life, I won't be sad to see it go. I have close friends who become very emotional on this subject, and assure me that I don't understand how important and worthwhile the tailgate culture is at RWS.

 

I remain unconvinced and unimpressed. The drinking culture at NFL games needs to change. I understand that 90+% of people can go, whoop it up, and not cause a problem for anyone else. But there are 1000s of people there who can't do that, and they will ruin it for everyone else.

 

I haven't sat in stadium seats since a ~350 lbs. blackout drunk Jets fan fell on my father (who was mostly unharmed). Oh, and we were playing the Chargers.

 

 

I agree that it's a small minority that ruin it.  I've heard that they've done better in recent years of denying admission to those who are visibly intoxicated, but maybe they need to do a better job of cutting people off once inside.  

[LGR4GM]

Well, if you assume two more wins per year, you've kinda assumed away the problem, innit?

 

The Bills have been a joke. They haven't finished 2-14 every year -- but, and this is even worse, they weren't really trying to win. They sold off a home game every year for a few million bucks. They hired one bargain-bin loser after another at coach and GM. They were run not to be contenders but to scratch out $20MM - $30MM per year in profit.

 

That's what I can't forgive. That's the stain on Ralph's legacy.

 

It's different now. The galvanizing talk from Rex is great, and the possibility of Vick 2.0 is tantalizing, and the foot fetishes and porn lollipop tricks are pretty swell too, but the real improvement is that the team has rejoined the NFL.

 

Also -- Liger -- I freaking love that scene.

I honestly feel like that is what this game is like.  We screwed around for 15 years, we have been the laughing stock of the NFL, and now finally we have made it to the battle.  I know I am exaggerating but it feels like this is an epic moment for Buffalo.  I don't know if we will win or lose but "stadiums shall be shaken, pads shall be splintered, a game day, a red and blue day, ere the sun rises." 

 

I actually feel an emotional attachment right now to the Bills.  The last time they were good I was 12 or something, I just want them to live up to the hype for once.

 

 

 

On a completely separate note, I think the Ride of the Rohirrim scene is probably one of the best filmed scenes in the entire trilogy.

[Eleven]

It occurs to me that the team is making way too much of the upcoming New England game.  I also think they're talking way too much.  You blew out Indy.  That's great.  It's one game, and you are now facing one of the most talented, smartest, cheatingest teams ever assembled.  Until you actually beat them, and maybe until you actually start beating them regularly, sit down, concentrate on Sunday, and STFU.

[That Aud Smell]

On a completely separate note, I think the Ride of the Rohirrim scene is probably one of the best filmed scenes in the entire trilogy.

 

pretty badass.

[darksabre]

It occurs to me that the team is making way too much of the upcoming New England game.  I also think they're talking way too much.  You blew out Indy.  That's great.  It's one game, and you are now facing one of the most talented, smartest, cheatingest teams ever assembled.  Until you actually beat them, and maybe until you actually start beating them regularly, sit down, concentrate on Sunday, and STFU.

 

This is Rex Ryan football. The hype machine isn't just for the fan base. The one thing this team has lacked for so long is unapologetic confidence. You know what, if they go into Sunday talking talk and get blown up, fine. But tempered enthusiasm going up against arguably the most hated team in the NFL is just poor entertainment. I like a Bills team that is spoilin' for a fight. 

[LGR4GM]

It occurs to me that the team is making way too much of the upcoming New England game.  I also think they're talking way too much.  You blew out Indy.  That's great.  It's one game, and you are now facing one of the most talented, smartest, cheatingest teams ever assembled.  Until you actually beat them, and maybe until you actually start beating them regularly, sit down, concentrate on Sunday, and STFU.

I agree the team should STFU.  They should be focused on actually proving they are good.

[That Aud Smell]

Sit down? STFU? Tone it down?

 

C'mon, fellas.

 

For starters, who exactly is talking a lot?

 

And even if they are: This is a Rex Ryan team. Those who are so inclined (e.g., Aaron Williams) are going to be emotional, and they're going to talk. Have at it, I say. Keeping a low-profile and mumbling through the interviews during the week leading up to a big game have gotten us exactly where in the last 15 years?

 

Fuggit, man. I want these guys jacked. And I wanna know who's gonna be our Bart Scott come January.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJshw2Axsqc

 

Can't wait.

And, yeah. I know that interview is from AFTER a big win. Even so.

[Eleven]

Interesting ideas, d4rk and Aud.  I hadn't thought about it that way.

[That Aud Smell]

The hype machine isn't just for the fan base. 

 

Missed this when I posted. Excellent (and pithy) insight. 

[Claude_Verret]

Yeah, I don't mind Rex and the Bills players talking.  Keeping their mouths shut and bowing at the altar of the cheaters over the past 15 years certainly hasn't worked.

[Doohicksie]

The nice thing is that in the trash talk game, it's the Bills who are going after the Pats.  No more meekly trying to sneak up on them, we're busting down the front door.

[WildCard]

What have we really said anyways? That we don't like them?

[shrader]

Sit down? STFU? Tone it down?

 

C'mon, fellas.

 

For starters, who exactly is talking a lot?

 

And even if they are: This is a Rex Ryan team. Those who are so inclined (e.g., Aaron Williams) are going to be emotional, and they're going to talk. Have at it, I say. Keeping a low-profile and mumbling through the interviews during the week leading up to a big game have gotten us exactly where in the last 15 years?

 

Fuggit, man. I want these guys jacked. And I wanna know who's gonna be our Bart Scott come January.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJshw2Axsqc

 

Can't wait.

And, yeah. I know that interview is from AFTER a big win. Even so.

 

Based on the title of that video, I'm going to go ahead and guess that Bart Scott never actually flies at any point.