Sabres vs Islanders quick recap

-Tyler Myers hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire since the decision was made for him to stay with the Sabres. Myers had a terrible giveaway in the first period setting up the Islanders first goal. I think Lindy really needs to watch out for the kid's minutes. He's been one of the team's leaders in ice time and for being a 19-year old kid, he's still not use to playing all these minutes and games-

-Have to second guess Lindy Ruff decision on starting Ryan Miller tonight. Miller looked very tired and extremely passive, especially on the 2nd Islanders goal of the game. This was the perfect game to rest Miller, considering the Islanders aren't very good. With the Sabres schedule getting a lot harder over the next couple weeks, Miller should of been rested now in order to whether the upcoming storm. Lets not forget, Miller more than likely will be the USA's goalie in the Olympics come February. Getting him rest against lesser teams now is important-

-The Sabres still have problems finishing. It wasn't as if the Sabres didn't have their moments tonight. They dominated the 1st period, but as usual they made an average goalie look all-world. And wtf is up with Thomas Vanek, the dude is either over passing or chokes when he has a shoe-in goal opportunity-

-Even though the Sabres were involved with a couple of fights tonight, you can tell they really missed the physical play from Pat Kaleta & Paul Gaustad, who were out because of the flu-

-Speaking of the flu, for a team that has about 30 sponsorship deals with health care providers, couldn't the team get some free samples of Night Quill to fight the flu that is going around the team-

-It was a great October for the Sabres, but now things are going to start getting very interesting for the Sabres. Their November schedule consists of playing the Flyers three times, Boston twice, and both teams from Alberta. Luckily, the Sabres do play six of their next eight games at home starting Wednesday night against the Islanders-

Recap: Sabres vs Leafs 3-2 OT win

-Man, I just felt like I watched 25 Sabres games wrapped into one. There were moments the Sabres looked good, bad, lethargic, tentative, passive, and downright pathetic. Tonight's 3rd period was the worst period of Sabres hockey since those epic Islanders games from last year. The Sabres didn't even get their first shot on goal till seven minutes into the 3rd. But even with the Leafs dominating late, they couldn't dominate Miller who was the Sabres best player tonight-

-Thought Jason Pominville played his best game of the season. You want to talk about making two great plays in one shift. First, Pominville intercepts a cross-ice pass in his defensive zone. Then he sends a long touchdown pass to Connolly for a breakaway and beating the Leafs goaltender on the stick side. Pommer also had a nice shift in the 3rd period during a Leafs powerplay where he had a great scoring chance, along with controlling the puck for several seconds afterwards. Pominville has the ability to be a great two way player for the Sabres if he applies himself-

-If memory serves me, Ryan Miller hasn't allowed any shootout or breakaway goals this season. Miller still hasn't lost a regulation game this season and is sporting a 1.60 GAA. Want more? Miller has allowed two goals or less in 7 of his 8 games started this year. Elite? Give me another 10 games on that one -

-Is it just me or does Tim Connolly always score on breakaways but not in shootout situations? I've never been a fan of Connolly, but when the guy is in open space he's deadly. If the guy can just believe in his shot and his offensvie abilities, he can be a player that can score 30-40 goals (if healthy)-

-I know Jeremy White frowns upon fans who yell the word "shoot" during Sabres games. Well someone needs to have Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy stand at center ice and have all 18,000 fans yell the word "shoot." My god, you guys are scorers! Stop with the pretty passing. Thomas, when you have a 5 on 3 powerplay and you get the puck in front of the net, shoot!!! Derek, when your coming in on goal instead of trying to pass the puck through 3 defenders, how about shooting it. All of this happened within 5 minutes in the 1st period-

-If there is one thing the Sabres have to work on in practice, it's odd man rushes. I've seen way too many 3 on 2's wasted with not even getting a shot on goal-

-Does Craig Rivet still play for the Sabres? Seriously, I know the guy isn't going to score a ton of points, but it's as if he gets a pass from fans and media because he was actually a well known player (Term used loosely)prior to coming to Buffalo. I just don't see him doing much as a defenseman, especially with the amount of money he makes-

-I love Lindy Ruff. After the game he didn't pull any punches when it came to his team's 3rd period performance. He didn't like it. It's refreshing to have a Buffalo coach who holds his players to higher standards, even if they win. Hellooooo, Mr. Jauron-

-I know some apologists will say the Sabres team from last year wouldn't of been able to pull out this kind of victory. Maybe that's true. But really, should that make a fan happy because they barely beat a crappy ass Toronto team?

-So according to professor Harry Neale, if Toronto wants to improve their penalty killing, they shouldn't take so many penalties. Gee Harry, do you want to explain to me why you think the ice in Edmonton is better than the ice in Tampa Bay?-

-If there is anyone who is against Obama's health care plan, it's the Buffalo Sabres. I mean how many health care providers advertise on Sabres game? If Obama's health care plan makes America into Canada version II, a lot of health care businesses aren't going to be advertising anymore-

-Look, have the Sabres exceeded expectations so far this season? Yes. But I want this team to beat up on teams like the Leafs. I'm still worried that even with their fast start, the team still has a tendency to play down to their opponents. I'll be the first to say I'm very pessimistic when it comes to my sports teams. Remember, the Sabres have only beaten two teams above .500 (Coyotes and Devils). The Sabres are getting there, but games like tonight make me still wonder if these guys are scary good or just plain scarred-

Friday Rants

-So Bucky Gleason doesn't seem to be a fan of today's NFL Product. TBN columnist wrote that the NFL is not nearly as interesting as it was years ago because of the large amount of bad teams in the league. I find that line of thinking hypocritical. I bet these are the same columnists (and fans) who bitched about the parity of the NFL over the last 10 years. Are their some bad teams? Yes. But this is also the latest time in an NFL season that we have had 3 undefeated teams. I think the problem is covering the Bills or watching the Bills as a fan has detoured fans of the NFL product. And what's wrong with having a league full of great teams and bad teams? It worked in the 70's and 80's-

-I know I've been acting like a firing squad towards T.O. over the last couple weeks, but on Wednesday Owens spoke about his offensive struggles.  Owens was very upfront and said his numbers were "pathetic" and didn't deflect the blame on any of his teammates or coaches. For the first time ever, Owens was becoming a stand-up guy. Still, I wasn't a big fan of him joking about trying to outdo Roy Williams numbers with Dallas, considering Miles Austin in two games has almost doubled Owens production for the season. I just don't find it appealing that Owens is still playing the disgruntled ex-girlfriend and is more into sending insults to the Cowboys than sending the Bills to over 200 yards in passing (300 yards is unattainable) 

-I always find it funny when the WGR website has web polls which make fans pick between the Bills and Sabres product. Today their latest poll was showing that 53% of the fans are more into seeing the Sabres vs Leafs than the World Series and Bills vs Texans this weekend.  It should be noted that the WGR website is more for hockey purists than any other sport. Anyone whose looking forward to the crappy Leafs playing against the Sabres is just smoking out of their homemade hockey stick bong- 

-It's about time the Bills decided to sign a FA who actually has started in the NFL. Chris Draft has been a nice pick-up for the Bills. I hope management figures out instead of signing practice squad players they should pony up the extra $100,000 and get a veteran in that can play- 

-Was there any reason people made a big deal about whether Tyler Myers was staying or going? Any sports columnist or radio personality who was discussing the topic after his first 5 games as a pro was having a severe case of writers block-

-Don't you find it intriguing how Buffalo fans seem to always embrace "The Other Guy" rather than "That Guy?" A number of fans like Fitzpatrick because he isn't Edwards. Fans adore Tim Kennedy and Tyler Myers because they aren't Max or Derek Roy. It's like the old saying that the back-up QB is the most popular athlete in town. Hmm, it must of came from Buffalo when fans wanted Frank Reigh to start over Jim Kelly-

Ralph Wilson Ring ceremony is on for Sunday

The Bills announced that owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. will receive his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring in a ceremony at halftime of Sunday's game against Houston.

Mind of Joe

Haha, whatever happened to Wilson saying he canceled his original ceremony because he didn't want to take the attention away from his players? See what a 2 game winning streak will do for the psyche of an owner? I wonder what excuse the Bills will use if they are losing 20-0 to the Texans high powered offense? Oh, it was too cold for Ralph to be on the field and he forgot his Snuggie blanket in Detroit. 

I do wonder though if canceling the first ceremony will work in the favor of Not booing Wilson. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that Wilson didn't go  though with the original ceremony because the Bills high brace was scared he was going to get booed out of the building. Now that fans have time to reflect, I'm sure they will be extra respectful and give Wilson a nice hand. 

Still doesn't change the fact that Wilson is the biggest reason this team has been in the toilet for over the last decade. He's lucky fans are so happy to have a football team in Buffalo. Trust me, if this was NYC or Philly, they would of booed his ass off the airplane from Detroit. 

Sabres bedevil Jersey

-I'm still not on the Sabres bandwagon yet, but I am in the process of looking for a horse to carry the wagon (Lame). Tonight's 4-1 victory over the Devils was the most impressive game of the year. Why you ask? I'm looking for game situations where the Sabres are in tough binds. We've seen games where the Sabres have either blown out the opposition or come from behind. But tonight's game was about the art form of not just holding a lead, but adding to it-

-The Sabres dominated the opening period, outshooting the Devils 14-7 and holding a 2-0 lead. The Devils cut the lead in half early in the second period and had all the momentum in their favor. But Ryan Miller stood on his head and just when you thought the Sabres would go into protect mood, they attacked in the 3rd period. Nice goals by Goose and Jason Pominville, along with killing back to back penalties doomed the Devils and gave the Sabres a nice win-

-I hate to say the same thing after every Sabres game, but you have to love the team's ability to crash the net. Three of the four Sabres goals were because of having traffic in front-

-Talk about following your dreams. Congrats to Tim Kennedy for scoring his first NHL goal. He deserves it, not only because he's from South Buffalo, but he's been on the doorsteps of so many scoring chances thus far this year. But what makes Kennedy such a good prospect is his ability to play both sides of the ice. I bet 2-3 years from now, Kennedy will be the centerman against the opposition's top scoring line-

-I said in my last Sabres blog that Ryan Miller was the MVP of the Sabres thus far this season. As for my offensive player of the year thus far, it's Clarke MacArthur. He's got that Dave Andreychuk nose of getting just ugly rebound goals, yet has the grace of a Doug Gilmour with his shot. Yes, I'm going overboard. But there's something about his rugged, yet finesse game that I admire-

-Can I get a hockey fight sometime this year? I never thought I miss the days of Andrew Peters-

- I swear, if there is one team in the NHL that should be contracted, it's the New Jersey Devils. What does 3 Stanley Cups get you in the Dirty Jerse? Oh say, 3,000 fans in attendance for a hockey game. I remember when the Devils won the cup in 2003, it was as big of a series win in NYC as the Yankees sweeping the Red Sox..in May! To add insult to injury, the Devils style of play (The Trap) over the last 15 years took the NHL back to a dark ages of playing hockey with swords and using boulders as hockey pucks. The Devils are the devils of the NHL-

-So let me get this straight. The Sabres have a handful of road games in HD, but we have to endure a Devils video open to the game and then a "neutral" intermission report held by the Devils on-air talent. Lame! When the hell are the Sabres going to be in HD for all of their games? Hell, the New York Rangers games went all HD seven years ago! If you don't know, the Sabres get monster ratings in Buffalo in comparison to anywhere else in the USA. How about rewarding the fans with all 82 games in HD?-

-Sorry, work was kicking my ass today so this may not be one of my greatest recaps for a Sabres game. God, did I just compare C.M. to Gilmour? Man, work is really f$%king with my head-

WGR's bias strikes again

OK, so maybe I'm beating a dead horse and I'm being too picky. But I love when Mike Schopp craps all over the Bills game against the Panthers because it wasn't entertaining to him at all. I actually agree with him on that point. But shouldn't he have the same feeling about some of the Sabres games? Two games come to mind. The Predators and the Lightning game were some of the dullest hockey I've seen in a while. 

To be honest, what put me over the top to write something about Schopp was when a caller called into his afternoon show and asked why should we get excited about the Sabres since they started out well last year? It's a very fair question. Schopp pretty much crapped on the guy and said he refuses to answer that question. God forbid Mike would mention something that could be considered controversial for the Sabres. No worries, I'm sure if the Sabres were to tank this season, WGR would run the old reliable topics of your favorite "Aud moment" or your favorite team to see at the HSBC arena. 

One More Owens story

Lets face facts, no one in America cares about Terrell Owens anymore. Last week I posted a message from T.O.'s twitter account calling someone a h$mo. I still haven't heard any sort of backlash or coverage about his actions. Yet, Larry Johnson calls reporters fa#$ots and it gets front page treatment on ESPN.com. 

Oh poor Terrell, not only is his career in the toilet right now, but he can't even get scrutinized for using a slur. Maybe T.O. will resort to throwing Fitzpatrick, Jauron, or the city of Buffalo under his #81 bus to get some airplay. 

So why did T.O. not practice last friday?

So while T.O. is lavishing in the riches of Dallas with Miles Austin and Roy Williams, up here in the real world an interesting rumor by Jerry Sullivan was floated around about why Owens didn't practice on Friday. Sully said he heard that Owens was late for the team flight going to NYC for the Jets game. Wow, way to put your foot down, Dick. 

I'm sure Owens was really pissed off the team didn't let him practice. I bet during his down time he was planning a romantic diner for the real estate women from his reality show or maybe he was trying on his Cowboys uniform he so desperately wants to wear. Sully also shared a tidbit that Owens doesn't even fly back with the team on returning flights after games. When a fan tweeted T.O. about these accusations, Owens tweeted the following:

wht about it? Consider ur sources!! Who cares? Is tht really news?? Lmpo!!! :-D

It could be news, considering you could of practiced your deep routes with your quarterbacks, which by comparison make the days of Todd Collins to Quinn Early look like a Hall of Fame connection. 

As far as not going back with the team. Look, he's a prima donna and we all know the guy wants to party in 40 cities in 40 days. I guess I could make a big deal about his frequent flyer miles, but there's so much else to worry about with this football team and Owens play. 

Jauron says Fitzpatrick is the starter against Houston

Coach Dick Jauron didn't wait till Wednesday to announce his Quarterback plans for this week, ruling Trent Edwards out for Sunday's game against the Houston Texans.

"Trent will not play this week. That's the, as far as I understand it from [head trainer] Bud [Carpenter] and our doctors, that's the proper protocol. That's the conservative approach and the approach we'll take," Jauron said.

Jauron would not commit to Edwards as the starter when he's healthy. The Bills have their bye week after the Texans game.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Jauron said.

Mind of Joe

Hey Dick, about that bridge you're talking about. I think it's safe to say if the Bills go 3-0 with Fitz as your QB, Edwards will have a cement block attached to his feet and will be thrown off the Peace Bridge. I'm sure they are being extra precautionary because the Bills coaching staff wants to see what they really have with Fitzpatrick. 

The game against the Texans will be a big test for the Bills. This isn't the Panthers or Jets offense we are talking about. The Texans have been scoring a ton of points this year and the Bills offense is going to have to do his best to match score for score. No more game managing, Fitz. 

I really want to like Owens, but...

He just doesn't seem like he cares anymore. I wanted to buy into your escapades of twittering from the Wendy Williams Show or the Starbucks in New York City. I wanted to buy into your campy reality show and your cereal. But like I wrote during training camp, if you're not doing it on the field than you are dead to me.

Is it just me or does every single deep pass thrown to Owens looks as if that pattern has never been run before? It's as if Owens wants the ball to be delivered perfectly into his hands. God forbid he tries to dive and adjust to the pass.

And what about the drops? Owens had two drops yesterday to go along with his season's goal of having as many drops as catches. Going into the season, we knew this was the knock on Owens, but we thought for every drop there would be a 50 yard touchdown catch. Hasn't happen.

I'm not one to make a big thing about players facial expressions during a game. Hell, when Owens was yelling at his coordinators and QB's over the years it was no different than any other sideline in the NFL. I'd only wish I could see that passion again on the sidelines from Owens. Now Owens is sleep walking through plays and looks as if he's just counting the days down till the end of the year to film his second season of the "T.O. Show."

To make matters worse, the guy seems not interested in trying to better his game. Owens tweeted just now that he is on his way for a much needed R&R in Dallas of all places, to hang out with his former teammates. Um didn't he get enough rest when he took a much needed day off on Friday? He should be looking at film with Fitzpatrick in order to get their timing correct.

To make his National Lampoons Vacations seem more out of whack is that Owens injured his knee in yesterday's game (Via Owens Twitter). Um, shouldn't you be in the trainer's office icing your knee instead of flying 4 hours to Dallas? Does he plan on using the ice from the crystal champagne bottles for his knee? Your getting paid 6.5 million to make plays, not go on wild vacations.

Face facts, Owens doesn't want to be here. That's why he's in Dallas or NYC every other week. It must be tough for the guy to go from playing on "America's Team" and going to a team that doesn't even make the highlight cut on Sportscenter. I'm sure he loves the Buffalo fans passion for the team, but Owens isn't about one city. He's about the country, and we all know the country doesn't give a crap about Buffalo.

There's an old saying that goes "work hard, play harder," I think we all know what part of the saying Owens is obliging to.

Bills force 4 turnovers, beat the Panthers 20-9

-It was deja vu all over again for the Bills. Just like last week, they were thoroughly outplayed, but inconsistent QB play and four turnovers propelled the Bills to a 20-9 win over the Panthers-

-I've been very outspoken for Dick Jauron to be fired (And he still should be), but you have to give the guy credit. The team could of easily packed it in after starting 1-4, but their love (Corny) for their coach has kept them only one win away from .500. The crazy part is their next three games are against winnable teams (Texans, Jags, and Titans). Could the Bills be a 6-4 team by Thanksgiving?-

-Who the hell would of thought the George Wilson and Jarius Byrd safety combo would outplay the Whitner and Scott duo? Byrd is a hawk, bird, vulture, whatever flying mammal you want to use. Regardless of whom comes back from injury, Byrd is the starting safety, period! Bryan Scott should start getting use to playing special teams. As for Whitner, Byrd has five interceptions on the year, while Whitner has three interceptions..for his career! I do not want to look too far down the road, but Byrd is making Whitner expendable. Do not forget Whitner is a free agent after next year. How about the play of "the senator" George Wilson. It's amazing to consider the guy was a converted receiever to a safety only three years ago. He has two interceptions in as many games and is a well respected leader on this team-

-The Bills were dominated on the stat sheet.Carolina had a 425-167 in total yards, a 20-9 advantage in first downs and held the ball for 34 minutes, 40 seconds. Thank god they did not decide to run the no-huddle offense.

-Now for your QB portion of the blog. Look, it doesn't matter who the starting QB was the last two weeks. When your defense forces ten turnovers, you are supposed to win! Now, who should be the starting QB? It has to be Fitzpatrick. He is 2-0 on the job and his ability to resurrect Lee Evans career (That's a joke BTW) should give him the nod over Edwards. But if you expect Fitzpatrick to be the next Frank Reigh, you are sadly mistaken. Fitzpatrick is nothing more than a game manager. I will be frank, I want the guy to start because I just cannot take more checkdowns from Trent Edwards anymore. I will say it till I'm blue in the face, the Bills future QB is not on this team-

-WTF was John Fox thinking? You are going against the worst rushing defense in the NFL and you're averaging almost five yards a carry, and you decide to have Jake Delhomme throw the ball 44 times?! Just like last week when the Jets put the game in the hands of Mark Sanchez, after the team was running all over the Bills. I never thought I say this, but Dick Jauron has outcoached the opposition for two straight weeks. Well, more like his opponents have outcoached themselves-

-Well at least the Bills got their first rushing touchdown since week 16 of last year. But where the hell has the Bills running game gone? 52 yards on 30 carries is god awful against a defense that was ranked 29th against the run. Today the Bills relied more heavily on Lynch who had 17 carries for only 40 yards. The forgotten man was Fred Jackson, who only carried the ball five times for two yards. In order to have a descent 1-2 punch at running back, you have to have two distinct running styles. Jackson and Lynch's style are the same. More importantly, they're the type of players who need to be fed the ball at least 20-25 times a game. They aren't the type of backs who are going to break off 40 yard runs. I think in order for the Bills to be successful, they either have to run wildcat type formations or just have one every down back. The committee just is not working-

- Here's some stats for you. Did you know that Keith Ellison is number two in tackles in the NFL? How about the Bills winning two straight road games for the first time since 2004 and are 4-3 in their last seven games on the road. Don't even ask about homefield advantage. The Bills are 1-7 in their last 8 games in Orchard Park-

-Is it safe to say that the Bills last 3 games have been some of the worst quarterback play in the history of mankind? I'm including Derek Anderson, Sanchez, and Delhomme. We have seen a game with a QB completing just two passes, a QB throwing five interceptions, and another QB whose three interception output didn't even match his season high. See fans, the QB play in other cites can be worse.

The worst uniforms in hockey

I thought it was the Bolts uniforms from tonight..then I saw highlights of the Atlanta Thrashers game.
















Then you wonder why the NHL doesn't work in Atlanta!

Sabres beat the Lightning 2-1 in a shootout

-I wrote earlier this week that I wanted to see how the Sabres would play when facing adversity. Scoring the game-tying goal with 16 seconds left in the game is pretty adverse. The Sabres didn't deserve to win this game, but they battled and with timely saves by Miller, kept them in the game. A team that can win ugly, is good in my book-

-About 2 weeks ago, I wrote that Tyler Myers should be looking for a new house in Buffalo. Now he should be looking for endorsement deals with Celino & Barnes and Mighty Taco. It didn't look pretty when Myers started in on his shootout goal, but the way he was able to stop on a dime was impressive-

-I wish someone would of told me to just watch the last minute of each period of tonight's game. Take out those minutes, and you have a pretty dull hockey game-

-Is there any debate who the Sabres MVP thus far this season is? It's Ryan Miller. Whenever the Sabres need a big save, he always delivers. If it's a breakaway against Martin St. Louis or stoning the entire Tampa Bay team in a shootout, Miller is making a believer out of me. I don't want to say the word "elite" yet, but it's getting there-

-Have to love the line of Kennedy-Grier-Hecht. They are a fore checking and puck possessing machine. The play Kennedy made to set-up Grier's goal was all about pressure. Don't look now, but Grier is 3rd on the team with 3 goals on the year-

-Someone needs to tell Derek Roy for the upteenth time that he needs to shoot the puck more! In the first period, Roy led a 3 on 2 break and had a ton of room to take a shot, but elected to try and make an impossible pass to Vanek. Great players tend to be selfish, good players tend to be smart, average players tend to try too much. Which one do you think applies to Roy?-

-I don't know about you, but didn't you kind of want to see Miller versus Miller in the shootout?-

-Did you hear voices during Kevin Sylvester's pregame intro? Maybe it was Dudley Hart begging to be in the pregame show. BTW, who the f#$k is Dudley Hart?-

-Earth to Sabres TV production team!? When you are replaying a disputed goal, and the question is if the goal was scored before time ran out in the period, how about showing the game clock at the top of the replay?? Duh! Maybe I was supposed to look at the crowd and pinpoint when the fans were getting up for their intermission beer run-

-Is it just me or does every part of the Sabres broadcast have a sponsor? "And there's an icing brought to you by Perry's Ice cream." It's like I'm watching "The Truman Show" with Jim Carrey -

-Read an article on SI.com that rated the NHL's third jerseys. The Lighting got the nod as the worst uniforms in hockey. No argument from me. BTW, what would of happened if the Sabres decided to put their nickname on the front of their jersey? I mean if it was 1996, would it be "The workforce?" Or what about last year's team? "The Divers?"..OK trying too hard, but you get my drift. Dumb move Tampa?!

Bills vs Panthers Preview

-Put the children to bed when it comes to watching these QB's duel. I don't want to hate too much on Jake Delhomme. He's done quite a bit in his career giving his lack of talents, but he's really hit rock bottom over the last year. Delhomme has only 4 touchdowns and an eye-popping 10 interceptions on the year. The Panthers are obviously concerned, considering Delhomme only threw the ball 17 times last week. If you think Delhomme is bad, wait till we get a lode of Ryan Fitzpatrick. If you want to know why the Bengals season went in the toilet last year, it's because Fitzpatrick was leading the flush. Fitzpatrick averaged less than 160 yards over 13 games last year. That performance came with Chad Ocho cinco and TJ whose your mamma as his skill guys. Like I said, hide your kids-

-We all know what the Panthers are going to try and do in this game. It's going to be Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams show. Both backs were off to slow starts this season, but look to be back on the prowl with a 262 yard rushing performance against the Bucs.  I'm sure the duo is licking their chops at the thought of going against the Bills rush defense that has given up over 180 yards a game. This is NOT a good match-up for the Bills (Yes, captain obvious over here). 

-We all know the Bills  passing game has been dismal for most of the year (besides the Bucs game), but the one part of the Bills offense that has dropped off the most has been the running game. Remember when Fred Jackson was leading the league in rushing? The Bills rushing attack still has a respectable rank of 12th in the NFL, but the last 3 games have little to be desired. 46, 99, and 113 yards are the combined yards of the Bills duo since Lynch's return. This week is the Bills best chance to rebound. The Panther are ranked 2nd against the pass but 29th against the run. The key to the game is going to be which team has the best dynamic duo. 

-I know the Bills offensive line are coming off their best performance of the year, only giving up one sack against the Jets. But the Jets may blitz a lot, but they don't exactly get to the QB (Last in sacks in the NFL with 5). The Panthers are ranked 14th in sacks and the thought of Julius Peppers against Demetrius Bell isn't exactly Munoz vs Smith-

-How about a what might have been moment for Sunday's game? In 2001 Panthers coach, John Fox was actually a finalist for the Bills coaching job, but Tom Donahoe decided to go in the direction of Greg Williams. I'm sure Greg Williams dumb ass charts about run blitzing had something to do with it. Nice move, Tommy Boy- 

-Prediction Time: Don't like this match-up for the Bills. I think the Panthers running game is much better than the Bills and the threat of Delhomme and Steve Smith will keep the Bills run defense honest. Can't say the same of the threat of Fitzpatrick and Owens. Panthers have a better defense and better coaching staff. 

Bills: 10

Panthers: 23

-BTW, doesn't Fitzpatrick look like Jim Breuer?-

Are the Bills becoming the Oakland of the East?

On a footnote from the Owens article on Yahoo Sports. If there was one quote I took from the article, it's this gem from an unknown Jets player describing covering T.O. and the Bills franchise: 

“I don’t think we doubled him once,” the Jets player said. “Buffalo will make you hit a wall [in your career]. People thought Randy Moss(notes) hit a wall, too, didn’t they? How motivated is [Owens] to play in Buffalo? How excited is he about the offense? They just canned the no-huddle [stuff] because it wasn’t working. They’re not finding creative ways to get him the football, either.”

Asked if he thought Owens could still be a great player in the league, the Jets player replied, “I don’t know. But definitely not on that offense.”

Ouch! 2 things from that statement. 

1) Who the f$%k are the Jets players to say anything about how bad Buffalo is? The New York Jets are the epitome of mediocre football. If it wasn't for the Jets first name and some drunk QB who wore panties and had one good game 40 years ago. The Jets would be as big of jokes as the Bills. All you have to do is see how many divisions, Hall of Famers, and AFC championships each team has. The Jets are NYC hype at it's finest. 

2) As much as the kettle calling someone black applies to the Jets calling out the Bills, it's not a good thing when an NFL player thinks Buffalo represents a wall. The NFL is like high school went it comes to their players. Once a player says one thing negative about a coach and a team, the next second you'll have 20 players thinking the same thing. 

Why is Owens on the decline?

So why has Terrell Owens endured such a bad season? It's like asking the question of the chicken or the egg? Is it the Bills offense or Terrell Owens? Yahoo Sports had an article on Owens skills diminishing and painted Owens as an over the hill diva.

Look, do I think Owens skills are on the decline? Yes. But I think at least 75% of it has to do with the shotty QB play he's endured and the Pop Warner type offensive game plan he's following. The stats don't lie. Owens is coming off a decent 1000 yard season with 10 td's, and remember he did all that with Brad Johnson as his QB for 3 games.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a T.O. guy. I think he's only interested in himself and is more interested in being a reality TV star than the Balloon Boy's dad. But if you think it's all on Owens for his decline, just look at the overall offense.

Lee Evans is on pace to catch less than 50 balls this season, the offensive line is on pace to give up 60 sacks, and a first year coordinator is calling the plays. Hell, who exactly is the MVP of this sorry bunch? Jason Peters for deciding he wanted more money? Maybe Turk Schonert for getting himself fired from this mess?

And I haven't even talked about Dick Jauron yet. There's just way too many factors in saying Terrell Owens is finished. The Yahoo article used Marvin Harrison as an example of wides over 35 who suddenly declined. They should of mention most of Harrison's decline was due to injury. For every wide receiever you name who has declined after 35, I could mention Jerry Rice making pro bowls at the age of 39.

I still think in the right situation and QB play, Owens can still be successful. Unfortunately, it more than likely won't be in a Bills uniform.

Random thoughts

-Didn't get home last night for the Sabres game till the 3rd period, and by that point the game was over. From reading articles and watching the highlights, the Sabres played a great first period and pretty much sleep walked the rest of the way. But I'm not complaining. I think the biggest question about the team is going to be when they incur their first losing streak of the year. They've gone through the first test of playing against weak teams (Panthers and Islanders), but their biggest test will be when facing adversity-

-Just read a quote that Lee Evans didn't exactly give a ringing endorsement for Trent Edwards as the starting QB. And whose to blame him. It took Evans 16 games to catch a pass of 35-yards or more. This is the same guy who was on pace to have the most 75 yard TD bombs in NFL history. Edwards isn't known for his deep passing ability and has regressed over the last year as the Bills QB. If Fitzpatrick, who threw the ball 18 times in the direction of T.O. and Evans last week, can find a way to get the duo involved, you can bet it will be a full blown QB controversy at One Bills Drive-

-Will the Bills be the first franchise to give 3,000 yards twice in their history? If you look at the Bills schedule, they have some pretty fierce running back competition they have to go against. The Bills play Chris Johnson, Thomas Jones, Ronnie Brown, Steve Slaton, Michael Turner, and Maurice Jones-Drew. Ouch! Only the Patriots, Colts, and Chiefs are on their schedule who don't exactly entail a high powered running game. This week the Bills go against the two headed monster of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. The duo is coming off a hundred yards each performance against the hapless Bucs. The Panthers eat, sleep, and drink their running game. Look for Delhome to pass the ball about 10 times in this game-

-Well even though Roscoe Parrish wasn't traded, it looks like he's been traded in the eyes of Dick Jauron. Jauron is keeping the status quo of not putting Roscoe on punt returns. Still don't get why you couldn't just deal him if you weren't planning on using him. At least you would of been able to dump his high price salary- 

-Julius Peppers vs Demetrius Bell...I got Peppers on that one-

Paille sent packing

The Sabres have eased their logjam at forward, trading left wing Daniel Paille to the Bruins for two draft picks. Paille, a first-round pick in 2002, was sent to Boston in exchange for a third-round pick next June and a conditional fourth-round pick, also in 2010. (TBN)

Mind of Joe
Talk about being in someones dog house. Here's a player thrown out on his ass only two years removed from a 19 goal season. Look, I've always liked the upside of Paille and I know he hasn't brought enough intensity that Ruff wanted last year. But the strange part is that the organization has always been known for being overly patient with their homegrown players.

I could make a list of prospects from Tallinder to Kalinin to Miro Satan who should of been thrown out on their asses years before the Sabres cut the cord. For the Sabres to give up on Paille after just a couple of years speaks dividends on how badly Lindy Ruff must not of liked him.

I've always been the type of critic or fan that always wants to push young talent. I feel Paille never got the opportunity. I'd rather take my chances on him developing than seeing Adam Mair take dumb penalties and chase after Jarkko Ruutu. Ugh..that encounter bought Mair five lifetimes in Buffalo, just like Biron fighting Emery.

Parish the thought, Roscoe isn't going no where

The Buffalo Bills, after dangling receiver/return specialist Roscoe Parrish for weeks, are now expected not to trade Parrish to a new team before Tuesday's 4:00 p.m. ET deadline.

Parrish was a healthy scratch on Sunday against the Jets due to the possibility that a deal would be struck. (Profootballtalk)

Mind of Joe

Well that's just great! I'll be honest, I'm not that disappointed the Bills didn't trade Parrish, even though I've wanted him gone all along. But being on the trade block, to a healthy scratch, to not even getting traded is going to piss him off.

It takes me back to last year, when the Bills traded McCargo and the deal fell through because of his failed physical. McCargo wasn't too happy about coming back, and judging by his play, you wouldn't even know he's still in Buffalo.

We all know Parrish has an ego. Hell, he thinks he's the next Santana Moss of the NFL (even though Moss blows). I'm sure Peter King's articles on Parrish being the key to the Bills season probably went to his head.

But at the end of the day, I don't blame Roscoe for his emotions. Parrish wanted to be gone and by playing the deactivation card, so did the Bills. The Bills shouldn't of deactivated him unless they had a sure fire deal on the table for him. Hell, the Bills should of wanted to play him and showcase his skills to other teams. Now the Bills and Roscoe have to kiss and make-up. Just another boneheaded move by the Bills, but are we really surprised?

AVP to stay on the sidelines

Alex Van Pelt on Sunday decided he would call plays from the Bills sideline instead of the coach’s box upstairs as he had done the previous five weeks. The logistics, communication and play flow were so smooth that the sideline is where Van Pelt intends to stay the rest of the season.

“I thought it was great,” Van Pelt said. “I actually liked it. I came down for a few reasons, one to communicate faster to the quarterback. Two to talk to the quarterback in person and make sure we’re seeing things the same way.” (Bills.com)

Mind of Joe

Not sure if you guys remember, but last year Turk Schonert was calling plays from the sideline and midway in the season decided it was better to go upstairs. His reasoning was he wanted to view the field better. I've heard this song and dance many times from Coordinators when they decide to make changes in their coordinating habits. It's either you love sitting up in the press box so you can see the field better or downstairs so you can talk to your QB. It's all Bulls#$t. If your a good coach, it doesn't matter where the hell you sit when calling the plays. I'm sure Bill Bellichick could call the plays from a jail cell with a telephone made out of a cup and wire.

The Roscoe watch continues

Lost in the dullest game in Bills history since, well..last week.. was Roscoe Parrish being inactive for the game. Lots of speculation was that the Bills didn't want to risk Parrish getting injured because he should be good as gone by Tuesday. As usual, Jauron played it pretty coy when asked about Roscoe's status.

“Perception is in the eye of the perceiver,” said Jauron. “The switch was made there for a lot of reasons. Number one was the availability of Fred. Once Marshawn came back it gave us more room to use Fred in other ways where we really like him. And one of those ways is a return guy. When he’s our return guy it gives us more options for us across the board. We can get Stevie Johnson up as a receiver and we like Stevie and would like to keep developing him. He’s a special teams participant other than as a returner. He can play teams for us and it gives us a chance to get Justin Jenkins on the field for us who has been critical for us on special teams for us.

“It allowed us more leeway in terms of game decisions and personnel decisions. Both Roscoe and Freddy are terrific returners. We didn’t feel like we were losing much quite frankly.”

Thanks for the theory of relativity there, Dick. Not sure if Jauron knew, but Lynch has been back for the last 3 weeks, so spare me with your developing the father, son, and the holy spirit of players. Anyways, we all know this is just a smoke screen for Parrish to be on his way out.

ESPN is reporting that Parrish is the likely candidate to be traded before the deadline and the Bills are looking for either a 3rd or 4th round pick. Like I've said all along, Parrish is dead weight on this team and obviously doesn't want to be here anymore. I also question his skills as a returner as they seem to have diminished. Get some value for him while you still can. (Joenyc/Bills.com)

Um, someone please tell me Owens didn't just call someone a homo?

So I blogged earlier today that T.O. is in NYC attending the Wendy Williams show. Via his facebook page, Owens told his readers that he was at the Union Square Starbucks Coffee shop and told his legion of fans to come on down. Owens then tweeted the following after encountering a fan

Seriously, these guys r nuts!! They hv me crackin up! The 1 guy is claiming 2 get me a gig @ Ford modeling agency b/c he noticed the handsomeness! NO homo!!

Um, OK. Did Owens just issue a slur? 

Fire Jauron Billboard goes up

It was just a shade after midnight Sunday when the Fire Jauron Billboard was raised on Interstate-190 South. I'm sure the anti-Jauron fan base aren't in love with the timing of the Bills win. The billboard will stay up for at least one week. The group organizers raised $1191.89 to have it displayed that long, and have collected $810 more as of this posting in an effort to keep the billboard up longer. (Joenyc/Profootballtalk)

T.O. coming to a talk show near you?

Haven't had a Terrell Owens story in a while, but just thought I share this little nugget. According to T.O.'s facebook page,  Owens is heading to NYC to check out the Wendy Williams show. Not sure if he's going to be on the show or just chilling in the audience. I guess Maury and Springer were booked up for him to share his stories of banging the real estate agent or the party planner from his show. Is AM Buffalo still on? Maybe, he could of chilled out with Linda Pellegrino and made Buffalo Wings. 

Bills send Jets crashing in 16-13 O.T. win

(Photo from Buffalo News)

-Not sure what I want to make of this game. Am I happy the Bills won? Yes. Does this team still have serious issues? Yes. Should they fire Dick Jauron? Hell yeah! How the hell do you win a game giving up over 300 yards on the ground?! How the hell do you only win a game by only 3 points when you have 6 interceptions?-

- I know the talk of the town is going to be who should start at QB. I think you have to go with Fitzpatrick. Look, am I a big Fitzpatrick fan? Hell no. He was terrible last year in Cinncy, and had a passing rating of less than 60% today. But it's not really about RF, it's about Edwards. Is Edwards the better QB? Probably, but when you've struggled as bad as he has you have to think about the change. But to me, the topic is nothing more than a way to sell papers and air time on talk shows. This team still has QB issues no matter who starts. In other words, the Bills QB of the future isn't on this team.-

-Thought the secondary played a great game with 6 interceptions tying a Bills record. Of all the crap the Bills scouting department gets, the one thing their good at accomplishing is finding decent players in the secondary.The most impressive defensive back was rookie Jarius Byrd. Byrd had two interceptions on the day, giving him 3 in his last 2 games. I don't see how you can bench Byrd when Bryan Scott comes back from injury-

-I was ready to throw my computer or my couch through the TV screen during Jauron's conservative play calling during the last minute of regulation. How the f$%k do you call two straight running plays at the Jets 30 yard line with a half a minute left in regulation? You're going into the wind, Dick! Did Jauron forget about the Cleveland game from last year? Then he does the exact same thing in O.T. when the Bills were facing a 3rd and long at the Jets 30 yard line. I know some Bills apologists (Ron) will bemoan the fact they won, but it shouldn't of been that difficult. Jauron should be kissing Mark Sanchez's ass and Ryan Lindell's foot-

-Talk about a tale of two halves. I was ready to fire Bobby April after the Bills special teams imploded in the first half. How the hell do you have too many men on the field during a punt giving the Jets a first down!? Then to top it off, Josh Reed and Fred Jackson looked as if they had never fielded a punt (Because they haven't) when the ball glazed Josh Reed's foot and Fred Jackson sat their in awe as if he saw a ghost. But the Bills special teams finally got it together in the second half, pinning the Jets deep inside the 5 yard line on a punt and getting a nice return from Fred Jackson to set-up the game tying TD drive-

-I still think Poz is vastly overrated as a linebacker. I know he had a big INT in O.T. and played with half an arm. But when it comes to going east and west, he just doesn't have the speed you need. BTW, how the hell do you give up almost 1,000 yards in rushing over the last 4 games? The Bills have made Pierre Thomas, Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Jamal Lewis, and Thomas Jones look like the OJ Simpson's of the worlds. I'm not feeling next weeks match-up against the Panthers, who can run the ball pretty effectively-

-I will give the Bills credit, they never quit. They lost their starting QB after being made into a sandwich by half the Jets team. The Bills sideline looked more like a doctor's office waiting to get treatment. I think a fan could of played a fun drinking game in deciding who the next injured Bill was going to be. There were moments, especially in the first half when the Bills could of easily been down by 2 touchdowns. But their wil..err Mark Sanchez's errors kept them in the game long enough. I know most fans must of been thinking here we go again after Lindell's game winning attempt at the end of regulation sailed wide right. Luckily, the Jets had some stupid penalties in O.T. and the Bills believed in themselves. God only knows, they're the only ones that do-

-The Bills got a couple of monkeys off their backs today. Say goodbye to their losing streak against AFC East opponents (8) and teams with 3-4 defenses (10). Still waiting for the Bills to get their first rushing touchdown this season. And don't even ask about a Bills QB going over 300 yards-

-That crashing sound you heard was Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez's honeymoon ending. The crap I've heard from Jets fans acting like Ryan is the next Bill Parcells (plus 300lbs) was propaganda at its finest. And if I have to hear fans compare Sanchez to Broadway Joe, I'm going to vomit. The only thing the two of them have in common is their love for the NYC nightlife-

-Did anyone tell Dan Fouts and Dick Enberg that it wasn't a fake field goal in OT? How the mighty have fallen. Enberg use to call Super Bowls and Fouts, well..he was the 2nd biggest mistake in Monday Night Football history next to Dennis Miller-

-I know a win is a win, but I'm passed the point of getting excited when the Bills win ugly against average teams. Beat Carolina and Houston which could be winnable games, and then you'll get me talking. Wait, those are average teams. Doh! Just get me to .500 guys!

-BTW, have to give props to Heather B. for making the kick ass banner you see at the top of my page.

Ravens called about T.O.

Fox's Jay Glazer is reporting the Baltimore Ravens called the Bills this week about the avaliabilty of Terrell Owens. The Bills said, "Thanks, but no thanks" according to Glazer.

Like I've said all along it doesn't make sense to trade Owens for just a 4th or 5th round pick. Not to mention, Owens did spark a huge interest in fan turnout for the team along with helping the team become relevant in the NFL, until the Bills walked on the football field and everyone realized they kind of suck.

Sabres 4 game winning streak comes to an end

-Don't blame Patrick Lalime for this loss. The Sabres hung him out to dry, especially in the first 10 minutes of the game being outshot 12-1. Lalime's first two goals of the game wouldn't of been saved by Ryan Miller, Dominik Hasek, or Daren Puppa-

-11-2-1 are Johan Hedberg's career numbers against the Sabres. He made some good saves tonight, especially in the 3rd period turning away 19 of 20 shots. Every time I see the guy play, I think of the 2001 playoffs where the Sabres lost to the Penguins in 7 games. That series haunts me more than "No Goal" because the Sabres should of won that series-

-This was the first game this season where the 3rd and 4th lines didn't show up. Besides the scrum from Keleta causing the 2-man advantage, there wasn't any hitting from those lines-

-I thought Tyler Myers played his worse game as a Sabre. On Maxie Pad's goal, Myers looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa when he was deeked out of his skates. Myers, of course will have struggles because of his experiece-

-I don't ever want to see the Sabres play 5 forwards on the power play again. Their 5 on 3 would've been the game changer they were looking for, instead they couldn't even muster a decent set-up and iced the puck 4 times in 2:00-

-The Sabres just don't match-up well against the Thrashers, only winning 3 of their past 11 meetings. The Sabres don't have fast enough defeneman to match-up against the Thrashers explosive front lines-

-Does Lindy really need to juggle 3 of his lines because Adam Mair is returning to the line-up? I understand he was battling the Matt Ellis injury, but why couldn't he just put him on the last line? You're team just scored 12 goals in the last 2 games. Lets try not to tinker the line-up too much for Adam Mair's sake-

-Wow, what's with that golden Sabres door behind Rob Ray and Steve Montador's interview before the game? Does that lead to Golisano's penthouse apartment he has with Monica?-

-Still think Harry Neale is the most overrated color man in hockey. "The Sabres are 4-2-1 when Lindy Ruff eats a chicken."-

America's Game: 1990 Buffalo Bills season

If you're sick of this decade's futility of the Buffalo Bills, watch these videos. Nuff said.

Saturday's rants

-Just read that another Fire Jauron Billboard is getting funded in Detroit, where Ralph Wilson lives. A couple of things on Boardgate, do I feel embarrassed that fans are putting up billboards it seems like all over the country? No. The Bills team is the biggest embarrassment to anyone living in Buffalo right now. Even if fans have rallies, walkouts, or burn tickets the team is still the biggest joke in Buffalo. If fans want to voice their opinions on a crappy product, let them do so-

-If there is anyone whose embarrased by the billboards, it's WGR. The station is taking the position of trashing anyone who goes along with fire Jauron billboards ideas. Funny, do you think WGR is bitter because they never thought of the idea? Maybe they were too busy thinking of who to kick out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?-

-Have to love the CIA treatment the no-huddle offense is getting at One Bills Drive. The media relations staff of the Bills told the press core not to ask no-huddle based questions to Dick Jauron during his weekly news conference. To make matters even funnier, the press core was asked to leave(By reports, not in a nice way) during one of the Bills practices, possibly because they didn't want the media to see if the Bills were huddling. What a joke. Just come out and say if you're huddling or not. As if it's going to keep the Jets up all night thinking about what the Bills are going to do-

-I don't want to sound like a d$%k, but what the hell is up with Sabres fan's man crush on Marty Biron? Sabres fans gave him a standing ovation in relief of Dwayne Roloson in last night's game. Is there something about a goaltender who never started a Sabres playoff game that makes fans go nuts? You can boo Chris Drury and Daniel Briere out of the building but not Marty because he's a great quote? That's weak! Look, I know fans love the guy and he's really nice, but I just don't get the fixation with him-

-Speaking of former Sabres, Mad Max is returning to the HSBC Arena tonight with the Atlanta Thrashers. There has to be a ton of boos for the guy. Right? Maybe, but not from the young girls ages 10-18 that adored the guy-

-Did Tyler Myers find a house yet? Maybe he could have T.O. help him on that front. Actually did T.O. end up finding a house?-

-The Sabres are getting the job done thus far this season mainly because of their balanced scoring attacking. Everyone on the front line besides Roy, Kennedy. and Ellis has at least 1 goal. And where the hell have you been all my life Clarke MacArthur? He's tied for the team lead in goals (3) and has been a bull when it comes to going to the net-

-Don't call me optimistic about Sunday's game against the Jets. This has all the makings of a blow out. The Jets are hungry and pissed off and are facing a team that is starting a right tackle, Jamon Meredith, who was drafted in April by the Packers and signed off the practice squad by the Bills a couple weeks ago. Now the Bills have like 4 offensive lineman who have never started a game prior to this season. As of this Sunday, It's 3 rookies, a guy making his 4th NFL start, and some dude with 25 letters in his last name. I think the team's goal should be to try and start 5 lineman who never saw the light of day prior to the season. It can get worse people-

-Is the Dick Jauron clock still ticking? If you were to put a gun to my head and ask, I'd say he makes it through the end of the season. Like I've been hammering all along, 8 million dollars it would cost if he were fired on Monday. You could buy every billboard in Buffalo with that sort of money-

-BTW: Bills lose 23-0 against the Jets-

Sabres sink the Islanders

Sorry for the lack of blogs today. Work was kicking my ass and to make matters worse, I missed the majority of the game. The Sabres passed their test against a subpar team even though they were out shot. Had to love Tyler Myers game. He's the Sabres best defenseman this season and is their best rookie since Max (Sorry, but Max was a good rookie). Have to love the play of the 3rd and 4th lines again. Checking and scoring, with even Pat Keleta getting involved.

Sabres goto 4-0-1

Atlanta is next on Saturday night

Did the Bills miss the boat on Maybin?

Going into the season, I knew that the Bills drafting of Aaron Maybin wasn't going to do jack s#$t this season. Everyone and their mother termed Maybin as being a project player. Not that there is anything wrong with project players. 

Mario Williams from the Texans was a project player his first year only getting 4.5 sacks, but in his second and third year, Williams had 14 and 12 sacks. At the end of the the day, we won't know what we have with Maybin until at least 2-3 years down the road. 

The issue I'm having with drafting Maybin is the Bills desperately needed an impact player at the 11th spot. Everyone knew expectations were high over the summer and Dick Jauron needed a winning season to save his job. That's the difference between the Williams and Maybin pick. The Texans were rebuilding, while the Bills seem to be reloading. 

Maybin's stats this year aren't pretty. 5 games, 3 tackles. To make the pick more dubious is the other player the Bills were debating about taking, Brian Orkapo of the Redskins, has 2.5 sacks and 15 tackles on the year. 

Now will Maybin become a bust? No clue. But I assure you, Dick Jauron won't be reaping the benefits of what Maybin may become.  

Will Jauron sign cause road rage?

Ryan Abshagen and the website firedickjauron.wordpress.com has raised enough money to rent part of a digital billboard on the 190 starting Monday at Worthington Place that will flash a message to fire the Bills' front office. 

The official campaign started on October 8th but the idea was hatched on a fan website during the Miami blowout and the final design of the sign was chosen by fans Wednesday. Firedickjauron.wordpress.com raised almost $1200 to pay for the first advertisement and the site is on their way to secure enough money to rent a second billboard. (WGR)

Mind of Joe

Seriously? Couldn't $1200 go to the food bank of Western New York? More importantly does Wilson even drive down the 190? Does Wilson even drive? 

By showing the Bills that the fans are so anti-Jauron, the hire-ups may decide that firing him will be their publicity stunt for fans to gobble up tickets. In other words, fire Jauron, market the team with new blood, and don't make any changes to the roster. It reminds of when fans wanted Donahoe fired. After they fired him the Bills signed Larry Tripplet and Peerless Price and marketed Marv Levy as a savior. 

Also, it should be noted that the Bengals had the same dilemma as fans raised money to rent a billboard calling out Bengals owner Mike Brown on being the GM of the team. Years later, He's still the GM. 

Why do coaches get a pass for being greedy?

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blog saying that Mike Holmgren may be interested in taking over the Bills. Of course, I scoffed at the idea because Holmgren is going to want at least 7-8 million dollars and that's something Ralph Wilson has refused to do. Think about the guaranteed money Holmgren would get. We are talking 35 million over 5 years. That's a pretty impressive signing bonus. It then got me thinking, when did coaches become so greedy?

I'd say it started with Bill Parcells. Chris Mortenson put it best, "If there's one thing Bill loves, it's money." Bingo. Why do you think he always says "he's retiring" and not taking a break from coaching? It's because he wants owners to go deep into their pockets to convince him to come back. Hell, he even started a bidding war between the Falcons and the Dolphins 2 years ago for his services.

The list of high paid current and non-current coaches is about 8 coaches: Bill Belichick, Mike Holmgren, Marty Schotenheimer, Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells (GM or coach), Brian Billick, Andy Reid. All these coaches would make between 6-9 million dollars a year. That's a lot of money for depending on your offensive and defensive coordinator to call the plays during a game.

So why don't coaches get any sort of backlash from the media about being greedy?

After about 5 minutes of thinking, I think it's a combination of a couple of things.

1) Criticizing coaches for their contracts doesn't really have much of a sex appeal to fans. The best drama for a contract squabble is when a player complains to the media or holds out for more money. When was the last time you heard a coach try to negotiate through the media and complain about not making enough money? Exactly, they don't.

2) Maybe high priced coaches are worth the money. All of the above coaches I've listed have either won a Super Bowl or have built solid football programs in different cities. The only high priced coaches I can think of that bombed out were Dennis Green (Arizona) and Steve Spurrier (Washington).

3) This one's a stretch, maybe the media doesn't want to piss off a high level coach. At the end of the day the head coach is running the asylum. If you start a media war with a coach, he may try and freeze you out during Q&A and tell his players to do the same. Sh$% does run down hill and the coach is at the top of the mountain.

Now do I think Holmgren is worth 8 million dollars? Hell, yes! It boggles my mind why Wilson doesn't pay that amount of money for a coach, yet he'll give Lee Evans 10 million dollars a year. It's not a knock against Evans, but who do you think is going to win you more games? It's a coaches league now and someone needs to tell Ralph that.

Sabres thoughts

-Maybe Thomas Vanek called T.O. to borrow his hyperbaric chamber. Vanek's knee injury went from keeping him out for weeks to maybe just the weekend. I know most Sabres fans were thinking deja vu with Vanek being hurt, but luckily that wasn't the case. I was a bit curious to see what the Sabres would do to fill Vanek's spot if he was to miss extended time. For the record, I would of liked to see Nathan Gerbe come up from Portland. I've made my stance clear that Adam Mair should be waived. The team has too many checkers that do the same thing he does-

-I'm really looking forward to Friday's game against the Islanders. This is where we see if the Sabres are still that immature team that would sleep walk against inferior teams or if they have grown up to know that there's no such thing as a night off. Remember, the Sabres were terrible against losing teams last year and every time they played the Islanders, the game would always seem to end 2-0. The Islanders haven't won a game yet this year (3 of their 4 games did goto OT). Even if Vanek doesn't play, it's still no excuse for the Sabres to lose-

-This will get me in trouble with hockey purists, but I don't want to hear fans imply that the Sabres fast start is making fans get over the pain of the Bills. WRONG! Buffalo is a football town and if the Bills are flying high (which it's been like twice in the last 8 years), no one gives a crap what the Sabres are doing. Now, do the Sabres make watching sports fun if their winning? Yes. But football is still king in Buffalo. But that's just one man's opinion-

Trade winds at One Bills Drive? Not really

-I'll make no bones about it, the NFL is by far my favorite sport in the world. But if there is one thing the NFL is missing the boat on, it's the trade deadline. My favorite time of year in the other 3 sports (besides playoffs) is during trade deadline. It's as if the season starts all over again after the deadline. When the negotiations of the CBA start, I'd like for the NFL to try and make it more flexible for teams to make trades during the season (Maybe cap relief). Think of the hype trade deadline day would get-

-Should the Bills trade Terrell Owens? No. The reason being is you will get absolutely nothing for him. Maybe a 4th or 5th round pick, and we've all seen what the Bills did with their later draft picks (Keith Ellison, Alvin Bowen, Dwayne Wright, Ko Simpson). It would just be like the Bills firing Jauron mid-season, the team would still suck but at least you would know the organization knows they suck. If they really wanted to make moves to get draft picks, how about trading Lee Evans? Think about. Roy Williams was able to garnish a 1st, 4th, and 7th rounder last year. Why not try that. Evans isn't going to do much for the Bills, as the team is light years away from contending-

-ProfootballTalk.com reported that Brady Quinn may be on the trading block and listed Buffalo as a team that should look into it. Should the Bills trade for Brady Quinn? Um, no. Brady Quinn is another version of Trent Edwards, except he's living off a rep he had at the most overrated college in America. If it wasn't for Notre Dame having a rebirth (if you call 8 wins a rebirth) while he was playing there, he wouldn't of been a first round pick. Quinn doesn't make deep throws and always goes underneath. Sorry, but I've had it with check down quarterbacks -