Lenny from Indy

Stop bitching.  The first string Colts played for 2 quarters and change, and only put up 15 points.  It’s not like they never saw the field.  They had time to play.

Would you rather change places with the fans of these teams?

1. St. Louis Rams – 60 more minutes and they have the first drat pick.

2. Washington Redskins – All the money spend on all of those players and  they sit at the bottom of the NFC East.

3. Chicago Bears – The interception riddled QB with no one to throw the ball to?

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – The sharp decline this team has felt since 2002 is comical.

5. Buffalo Bills – Been a joke since the music  city miracle.

6. New York Giants – Just played themselves out of the playoffs.

7. Seattle  Seahawks – Mora Jr is the coach.  We’ve seen that movie here with Mora Senior.

8. Cleveland Browns – Nothing good comes from or out of Cleveland.

9. Oakland Raiders – Commitment to Excellence.  Just Win Baby. Buzz phrases + bad drafting = failure.

10. Detroit Lions – Fail. Abort. Restart. Repeating that cycle since 1997.

The Colts are first place in the AFC South, number 1 seed in the AFC, and the road to the Super Bowl comes through Indy.  Take a breath you spoiled brats.

I reckon the “firing the coach thing” didn’t rally the troops to circle the wagons and get the win?

Hmmm.  This leaves me perplexed.

Now what Mr. Wilson?

In my own tiny opinion I believe that Ralph Wilson not only fired the wrong guy, he missed a few people.  This misfire exposes some other major glaring flaws within the team’s infrastructure.

Basic statement #1:  You are only as good as the players that you acquire through the draft and free agency.

Basic statement #2:  Proper coaching and a solid organized game plan is essential to at the very least being competitive in the NFL.

The Bills are so far behind the curve they make the Cleveland Browns look like Super Bowl Champions.  In case you didn’t know, Cleveland beat Buffalo in week 5 by the score of 6 to 3.  I’m not kidding with the score.  9 points all game.  This wasn’t a defensive battle type of game.  This has been referred to by some as, “The Game No One Wanted To Win”.  I think of that game as the game that set the NFL back 20 years.  Regardless of how it is remembered, it might be time for the Buffalo Bills to get back to basics.

It’s always odd when you look at the inner workings of a football team and see how they become accustomed to not only doing business, but how they are structured.

For instance… let’s take the current general manager Russ Brandon.  Russ, while involved in sports isn’t what you would call a “football general manager”.    Let’s look over Russ’ resume shall we…

Russ Brandon’s Resume

Class of 1989, St. John Fisher College

- Four-year letter winner as a wide receiver.

- .367 batting average on the baseball team.

- Inducted into the Fisher Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.

Work Experience

Rochester Red Wings, Triple-A team – Started as a intern and by the time he left in 1993 he was the co-general manager along with Dan Mason, who is currently is still the Red Wings’ GM.

New York Yankees – Was apart of the Sports Advertising Network division.

Florida Marlins – Start at the spring training facility, then the Director of Corporate Sales in Miami two years later.

Buffalo Bills – Nov. 1, 1997 – Executive Director of Business Development and Marketing.

13 months later – promoted to the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing.  In 1999, as part of a way to expand the Bills’ market area, Brandon helped bring the Bills training camp from SUNY Fredonia to his Alma mater St. John Fisher College.

Jan. 12, 2007, after spending two years as the Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Brandon was named the new Bills COO (Chief Operating Officer) and took control over both business and football operations.  That’s quite a jump for anyone in any business.

Here is what you are telling me when I see this resume.  A marketing/sales guy is now involved in the draft, free agency, and everything in-between???

This is a catastrophic error on the part of Ralph Wilson.  This team has been in disarray for a decade.  There hasn’t been any improvement on this team, no team chemistry and poor decisions made at every level.

Firing the coach wasn’t the issue.  It might have been one of the issues.  A very minor issue compared to the inner workings of the Buffalo Bills front office.  Your structure of management and choice of people might be the issue.  This goes beyond “time to clean the house”.  You need to set off a nuke and start again.

Don’t waste your time finding the “big name coach”.  The “big name coach” in the current management structure is doomed to fail.

So I predicted some games yesterday.  Let’s see how I did…. yesterday’s predictions are in the red text.

Upset of the week… Oklahoma beats Texas. – WRONG!  I BOTCHED THIS ONE BIG TIME.  MY BAD!

The obvious… Ohio State kills Purdue and I die a little on the inside. - WRONG!  I’M HAPPY I GOT THIS ONE WRONG.  IT HURT ME TO PREDICT THIS GAME THE WAY I DID.  F U OHIO STATE!  MY APOLOGIES TO THE GREAT PURDUE TEAM!

Expected… USC beats up on Notre Dame and the Catholic in me gets angry. – CORRECT!  SURE THE CATHOLIC IN ME WAS A TAD ANGRY BUT USC WON!  EPIC WIN!

More Expected… Florida rolls over Arkansas.  Tim Tebow after the game proclaims, “I don’t want to get drafted by Buffalo in the 2010 NFL Draft!  Can someone suck more than them this season please?” – CORRECT!  WELL I WOULDN’T SAY THEY ROLLED OVER ARKANSAS BUT THE TEBOW MACHINE KEEPS ON ROLLING.

2-2 for the day.  Meh.

Let’s start with a few quick facts on the Buffalo Bills in no order…

1. 9 seasons since the teams last playoff appearance.

2. Owner Ralph Wilson is a bit tight with the funds. Some would call him cheap.

3. A front office of novices.

4. The drafting skills of a you pick’em league at a elementary school yard football game.

5. The flashback uniform and logo is so much better than what is currently in place now.

6. New stadium deal not done in Buffalo.

7. No one in town is a big fan of head coach Dick Jauron.

8. A choice was made to play 8 games in Toronto, Canada over the next 5 years.

9. Fans deface players property when they make a bonehead play.

10. A failed Terrell Owens experiment can’t even be salvaged because why would another team want to waste money and picks on a guy that can walk to a new team in January.

11. You have the honor of playing the worst NFL game of the decade last week as you grappled with the Cleveland Browns, only to lose in the final seconds 6 to 3. You can’t even say that it was a defensive battle as the offenses on both teams generated so little heat that this was the most passive football has ever been.

12. It seems like when a player spends time in Buffalo and then moves to a new team, either through trade or free agency they seem to become better players.

13. A culture of losing is firmly in place.

14. An unemployed 18-year old has been collecting money through an internet campaign to buy a billboard that contains the message, “It’s time to clean house, Ralph.”

Make no mistake Buffalo, this is really sad.  I’d love to make a wise ass comment but these are facts.  This team is cooked.  The organization is rotten from top to bottom.

Many Bills fans talk of the past, the late 80′s and early 90′s had high flying teams and great players.  The end result was sadness.  It was sadness then and it is sadness now.

However, now you have a generation of fans that either do not remember or were too young to remember that you had a competitive team in Buffalo.

It doesn’t look like it’s lack of participation on the fans part would be a reason for moving the team away.  55,000 people have season tickets to Buffalo Bills games.  Kudos to the people for believing in the Bills.  Jeers on the ownership and management structure for engineering a monumental amount of sadness for paying fans to swallow.

Yeah I said moving.  It’s no secret that there is a group aggressively looking to bring one NFL team to California and Buffalo is on a short list of teams to try and woo with the dreams of a new stadium, new land, new fans, new outlook, and sunshine all year round.  But, I have to think that the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and even the Jacksonville Jaguars are higher on the list of teams to steal away than the hapless Bills.

Jacksonville?  An expansion team quite possibly is desired more than the Buffalo Bills.

Do you feel the sting?

The sting of shame as it hits you in your mouth.

Feel the shame Buffalo.

I see you already do.  Courage.

First year head coach for the Cleveland Browns, Eric “Mangenius” Mangini has had a bumpy start.  By bumpy I mean they are 0-3.

0-3 would be classified as a bad start.

In the past 2 games they Browns have put up a whopping total of 9 points for a grand total of 29 points for the year.

Quarterback Brady Quinn deemed the “quarterback of the future” is now relegated to the bench as now its Derek Anderson’s turn to guide the Browns team to a victory.  Let’s remember that the Browns a few years ago traded up in the draft to acquire him.  Now he is starting at the title of, “draft day bust”.

It’s no secret that former Browns coach Romeo Crennel didn’t leave a solid team behind for Mangini but let’s face facts, Mangini’s “I’m here and this is how it is done” attitude seems to be impressing no one.  And, its not leaving a great impression on his players.

Again, the team is 0-3.

How much more abuse can Cleveland fans take from the Browns?  The team has had 2 winning seasons since they re-entered the NFL in 1999.   They had to watch the actual Cleveland Browns, owner Art Modell and its new city of Baltimore celebrate a Super Bowl win in 2000.  This seems like cruel and unusual punishment, even for a Browns fan.

One unnamed Cleveland player says that the team has not given up on Coach Mangini.  However, its hard to imagine what these players would have to play for a coach that will fine people $1,701.00 for one unpaid water bottle or high jacking all the rookies for a 10 hour bus ride for a football camp in Connecticut.  His stay with the Jets comes down to Eric being more of a “me” guy than a “we” guy.

“Me” guys do not win championships.  “Me” guys might have a a brief moment in the sun.  “Me” guys will take credit for everything when it works.  You won’t find a “me” guy when they fail.  “Me” guys will pound their chest and manage upward.  The “me” guy points all blame away from themselves.  One thing about “me” guys…  They flash out fast.  Eventually the act gets tired, they get figured out and are shown the door.

“We” guys are in it for the long haul and win championships.

Eventually, Cleveland will find a “We” guy.