Bills need to stop the status woe

Before I get to my mail, just wanted to let you know that parodies about the Bills latest autumn of discontent have begun circulating.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEFXV8ogv3Y for a hilarious spoof song imploring quarterback Trent Edwards to stop being a wuss and throw the ball downfield. And Buffalo radio station WGR 550-AM has one on Dick Jauron.

Just two more indications that the citizens of Bills Nation are fed up with the status woe.

I’ve been covering this team since the mid-1980s and following it since the late 1960s, and I can’t recall too many periods where the fans were this frustrated. Yes, the Bills certainly have had teams worse than this one, but the franchise has never been through a longer stretch of dysfunction. The 2000s have been arguably the worst decade in Bills history, with just one winning season and no playoff appearances. (The Home Run Throwback game was part of the 1999 season.) Even the 1970s, where 10-loss seasons were the rule rather than the exception, Buffalo managed three winning records, and boasted exciting teams with O.J., Fergy and the Electric Co.

I believe Bills fans have been incredibly and patient and loyal. The cries for wholesale changes are justified. And long, long overdue.

My column the other day suggesting that Ralph Wilson should jettison Jauron and begin searching for a big-name coach like Bill Cowher obviously struck a chord and a nerve with my readers.

Some of my former colleagues in the newspaper business disagreed with my call for an immediate change, saying Ralph might as well wait till season’s end. They said it would be foolish to plug special teams coach Bobby April in there while the search begins.

With all due respect, they’re full of it. By making the move now, you are at least telling your angry fans that you are ticked off, too, and that you aren’t going to allow this culture of mediocrity and losing to continue. You are telling your paying customers that you are listening to them. I believe the fans are owed that much.

Plus, I believe time is of the essence. There is a good pool of available coaches out there with Super Bowl rings – Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Mike Holgrem, Tony Dungy come quickly to mind. But there also are a bunch of teams in the same leaky boat as the Bills. So the courting needs to begin soon. As I mentioned before, Ralph will need to be willing to relinquish considerable cash and control if he wants to stop the bleeding.

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Every so often, I like to dip into my mail bag and let the fans have their say. Here’s the response to my call for Ralph to fire Jauron and get someone like Bill Cowher:

Doug McSorley says:
Hmm interesting thought Scott. Great idea. I wonder if he would choose another team that is closer to a superbowl team like Carolina for example. I agree with you though.. Something has to be done ASAP.

Steve Natarelli says:
Jon Gruden is also available... Somethig has to be done... But Wilson never wants to pay top dollar for a head coach... Then everyone else's players get better and the Bills players don't... Henne had never started an NFL game... But Edwards looked like the Rob Johnson only worse... Sad... I'm convinced the players have already given up on the season.

David Lewis says:
I couldn't have said it better myself. The current coach is a nice guy; but there are other nice guys who are able to inspire & motivate. Certainly, you shouldn't have to motivate professionals who get paid a lot more than we but this seems not to be the case here. Please Ralph, do it now before loyal fans (I've been one since 1959) suffer another embarrassing show. It may be only a game; but it's also a metaphor from which we can draw hope.

Kyle Kubera says:
Scott, are you OK. When has Ralph ever opened his pocketbook for a coach. Not even for Marv, who he took off the scrap heap.He won't even pay for players this year, which is why the Bills haven't signed an offensive lineman or linebacker who can help with all of the injuries.Sunday's game was the perfect window into both the Dolphins' and the Bills' organizations.Both teams need to win desperately, a division game. One team, the Dolphins, takes on the image of its coach (see team president Bill Parcells) and kicks the crap out of the other team. The Bills, on the other hand, take on the charateristics or their owner and the rest of the organization: a little senile, no direction, no fire, no passion and they get killed. And as long as people keep buying tickets and merchandise it will be that way...

Carolyn Miller says:
The only reasons the Bills spent any money in the late 1980s and 1990s is because Polian ran the show and people weren't buying tickets, so Ralph had to do something to make money.You see how Polian was rewarded, a ticket out the door because he wouldn't take Ralph's crap.And Ralph he sold the bill of goods that the team will have to move and he can't afford to stay in Buffalo, so people keep buying losing football. It is a shame.But they are not going to shell out money for Cowher, Gruden, Holmgren, et al.
I don't think we should leave Mike Shannahan out of this discussion - a Super Bowl winning coach....isn't he also available?!?

Kerry Gleason says:
I agree wholeheartedly that Jauron and his sunglasses should be packed off on the first bus outta Buffalo, and bring in somebody with some fire. Not sure Cowher would want the job, but he'd be a viable, albeit expensive, solution. Personally, I'm a Jim Haslett fan, and if Mr. Wilson could lure him away from Orlando in the UFL, I think you'd see a much better Bills' team that might win a few games.

Michael Moran says:
Never happen

John Spaulding says:
Honestly Scott, after having one eye on the Sabres and Bills this weekend, I have to say that I just don't care anymore. Its not the losing that hurts so bad, its the lack of effort.

Chris Sciarra says:
Cowher is waiting for the Carolina job to open up.

Michael Cunningham says:
Sadly, I just think they'll be going to Toronto, anyway. The NFL would love that.

Dave Smith says:
Nice article Scott!!

Jeff Chafitz says:
Looked up "pitiful" in the Dictionary Monday morning... saw a Bills Logo.

David Cortese says:
I agree Scott, but I don't think it will happen. Wilson is willing to spend his money on the field (except for offensive linemen, in spite of a weakness there for years), but not in the front office. Mediocre head coaches will continue to produce mediocre results, I'm afraid.

Anonymous says:
I agree! Almost any change would be a good one...they need to have lots more fire and passion!! When you cannot get the ball to your recievers and you don't have the game plan ...well the results are in plain sight!! The fish now eat buffalo!!!

Anonymous says:
Great article Scott, sending this one along! Thanks!

Andrew says:
I would love to see Bil Cowher on the Buffalo sidelines...he's got that personality you speak of that the Bills need. I think Cowher has been waiting out that Carolina job so not sure Buffalo has a shot. Regardless, they need to find out. If they can't get Cowher - go hard after Gruden. And please oh please, throw the ball down the field. PLEASE

Anonymous says:
While very exciting to speculate, Ralph felt burned after unsuccessfully turning over the keys to Donahoe. Do you really see him doing it again?His calculated risks now probably involve tapioca instead of jello.

Anonymous says:
It's always a mystery to me why the salary of the head coach is an issue, assuming he's not looking for Ben Roethlisberger or Eli Manning money. Top coaches salaries are rarely above $5,000,000/year. The Bills don't seem to have any trouble pissing it away on a has-been receiver like T.O., or never-was players like Losman, Rob Johnson, Mike Williams, etc. My contention has always been that if a $5,000,000 a year coach can get top-level production out of their second tier players, making higher paid prima-donnas expendable, he's more than earned his keep. Terrell Owens is making twice that of Mike Smith, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, and several other current successful NFL coaches. Hey Ralph -Replace T.O. next year and you'll have covered your head coach wages for 2 or 3 years and probably get more W's.

Anonymous says:
Scott, Ever heard of the Rooney Rule? The Bills cannot begin negotiating with Bill Cowher until after they have interviewed a minority candidate or 2. That means after the season for all intents & purposes. The NFL would slap the Bills pretty hard-loss of draft choices, fines or just voiding the contract, if they followed your recommendation. If the Bills want Cowher, or any other big name coach who isn't Tony Dungy, the best they can do is fire Jauron now, install a head coach for the rest of the season, and after the season ends, interview some minority candidates & Mr. Big Name and then choose the best candidate. Until those other interviews are done, negotiations with Cowher or anyone else can't begin.In the past the NFL voided a clause in Jim Haslett's contract last year saying he'd keep the Rams job with a certain number of wins & slapped the Lions for hiring Mariucci without considering minority candidates.

Chris DeMarco says:
It's a shame it probably won't, and also a shame the Jouaron wasted what could have been a talented qb like Edwards with his playing not to lose instead of win mentality

Time for some Cowher Power in Buffalo

Enough already.

If I’m Bills owner Ralph Wilson, I pull the plug on Dick Jauron now. I put fiery special teams coach Bobby April in as interim head coach and immediately begin negotiations with Bill Cowher. And, yes, I prepare to turn over a king’s ransom and complete control of football operations because if I do otherwise neither Cowher nor Mike Shanahan nor Jon Gruden nor any other big-name coach will be coming to Orchard Park and the Bills will continue to be stuck in this quagmire of mediocrity that has stymied them for nearly a decade.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

This has nothing to do with Jauron the person. He’s an honorable guy and the players love him. But this is a hyper-competitive, just-win-baby business and Jauron’s body of work (one winning season in 8 seasons and change with two different teams) is proof positive that he doesn’t have what it takes to be an NFL head coach.

Jauron’s conservative approach doesn’t cut it any more in a league where offenses and defenses are constantly on the attack. Football teams do, in fact, assume the personalities of their coaches, which may explain Trent Edwards’ penchant for checking down and playing it safe too often instead of taking the chances the really good quarterbacks take.

I called for this change after Buffalo suffered through its third consecutive 7-9 campaign in ‘08. But the Bills had painted themselves into a corner by jumping the gun after their 5-1 start and signing Jauron to a 3-year extension. It was a panic move because they foolishly believed if they made the playoffs NFL teams would be lining up in droves to sign the guy.

Well, you get what you pay for. And what Buffalo has is a coach with a 22-30 record heading into Sunday’s game against the winless Cleveland Browns.

Ralph doesn’t have a history of firing coaches in-season. In fact, the last time he made an in-sseason change was 22 years ago when he replaced Hank Bullough with Marv Levy. He lucked out on that one. But the time for “hoping’ some guy works out is over. Bills fans have suffered long enough. They’ve supported this team despite a stretch that has seen them post just one winning season this decade. And should they fail to make the playoffs this year (a likely scenario) it will mark the first time in the franchise’s half-century existence they went an entire decade without making the postseason.

The one time Ralph did spend big, big bucks for a highly sought-after coach was in 1978 when he signed Chuck Knox, who was coming off five consecutive divisional titles with the Los Angeles Rams. That’s what he needs to do now.

Something bold.

It will take more than an armor-car-full of greenbacks to secure Cowher, who helped make the Pittsburgh Steelers into Super Bowl champions and perennial playoff participants. He’ll demand to bring in his own personnel people (see you later, Tom Modrak and John Guy). And he’ll demand a commitment from Ralph to sign the players he’ll need to in order to change the Bills culture of losing.

Ralph told me on several occasions through the years that one of the keys to his success as an entrepreneur was his willingness to take calculated risks. He always said he liked going for it on fourth down. Well, it’s fourth-and-long, and he needs a big catch right now, and that catch’s name is Bill Cowher.

A championship for some guys who really do play for the love the game

OK, before I deal the dirt on the Bills embarrassing 28-point loss this afternoon to the Miami Dolphins, I’d like to doff my cap to the 19th century baseball club I play for – the Excelsiors.

The word “excelsior’’ means “ever higher,” and Sunday afternoon we went as high as we can go in our vintage base ball league by winning the Mayor’s Cup with a 12-7 victory against a gritty Knickerbockers squad at the Genesee Country Village and Museum in beautiful Mumford.

I was fortunate to be the winning pitcher, but that never would have been possible without a lot of help from my teammates, who baled me out of a 6-0 crater after just two innings.

We received spectacular defensive plays from Jeff Piper, our behind (hey, that’s what they called catchers back in the day), second basetender Curt “The Barber’’ Kirchmaier, center fielder “Dangerous’’ Todd Draper and leftfielder Jose “All Day’’ Pagan. Jose, who can track down fly balls with the best of them, deserves particular praise because he was playing with a broken finger (a serious obstacle considering we don’t wear gloves.)

Piper also had a superb afternoon striking the ball, as did our whole club, really. Our bats awakened after a lethargic start, and although we didn’t match our output of the previous two matches (29 and 22 runs), we scored enough to secure our second Cup in the 9-year history of the league.

So please indulge yours truly, aka Scott the Scribe, as I thank our captain and hot-hitting shortstop, Ryan “Doc’’ Brecker, for his leadership in juggling a formidable lineup that rivals the modern-day Yankees as far as run production is concerned. Besides the aforementioned base ballists, our championship wouldn’t have been possible without the father-son power-hitting duo of Andy “Frenchy’’ Cardot and Andy “House’’ Cardot; hard-hitting, fleet-footed third base tender Steve “Bo Lightning’’ Ost; hurler Mike Gruschow, who limited the Knickerbockers to 1 run in four innings to pick up the save, and rightfielder Sean Pieken, who’s another stick to be reckoned with.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention two guys who didn’t play Sunday, but who have been an integral part of our team for some time now – Max “Country Mile’’ Robertson, who was on the DL after recent foot surgery, and Scott Peters, who is serving our country in Iraq and to whom we dedicated this championship.

Thanks again, guys. As they said in the 19th century: “Huzzah!’’

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No “huzzahs!’’ for the Bills after their uninspired effort in South Florida.

Their woefully inexperienced offensive line was exposed again, yielding six sacks and failing to launch a ground game. The return of fresh-legged Marshawn Lynch from his three-game suspension was supposed to give the offense a boost, but he managed just four yards on eight carries. Quarterback Trent Edwards regressed some more, throwing three interceptions, including a pick-six for a Miami touchdown, as Buffalo converted just 1-of-11 third downs. And the Bills injury-depleted defense didn’t perform much better, allowing Ronnie Brown to run wild as the Dolphins racked up 250 yards rushing and controlled the clock for more than 37 minutes.

You would think that the Bills will be able to regroup against the winless Cleveland next week at the Ralph, but that game no longer can be viewed as a gimme because Buffalo is reeling while the Browns finally showed some signs of life in an overtime loss to Cincinnati.

Beleaguered and occasionally befuddled Bills coach Dick Jauron said he never considered yanking Trent Sunday and replacing him with Ryan Fitzpatrick. But calls for the backup quarterback are sure to grow louder this week, as will the calls for Jauron’s head. They lose to the Browns and things will get really ugly.

Daddy's little girl, Mr. October and predictions for the Cuse and da Bills

Before I get to the sports stuff, I just want to wish my daughter, Amy, a Happy Birthday. I’m still having problems believing she’s 23-years-old. How the heck did that happen? Seems like only yesterday (she’s going to be mortified by this) that I was changing her diapers and putting her on the school bus for the first time and going to those soccer games where she and her fellow 8-year-olds swarmed to the ball like bees to honey. The older I get, the faster time zips by. But no matter how much sand passes through the hour glass of our lives, she will always be my little girl.

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OK, I’ll stop being sappy and move on to the wacky world of sports. Had the opportunity Thursday to attend the Compeer Luncheon at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, where Reggie Jackson was the headliner. I’ve interviewed him on several occasions, and there have been times when his massive but fragile ego has made him tough to deal with. (Think T.O. in Yankee pinstripes.)

But the Reggie I encountered yesterday was gracious and accommodating, especially with the kids there, who like their parents, were playing hooky. At the end of his speech and question-and-answer session, Reggie stunned the folks at Compeer, by saying he was going to donate the use of a 20-seat suite to Yankee Stadium for a game next season. That’s no small gesture because some of those suites have been auctioned off for $75,000.

A special advisor to the Yankees, Jackson discussed a number of baseball topics. The man known as Mr. October because of his World Series exploits said his two favorite Yankees are Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera (my favorites, too). The toughest pitcher he ever faced was his former Oakland A’s teammate Rollie Fingers. And he admitted that the dimensions of the new Yankee Stadium are smaller than the old one, which helps explain the home run barrage in the South Bronx this season.

Although the Yankees have won the most games (102) and have the highest payroll, Reggie isn’t predicting a cake-walk to the Bronx Bombers 27th world championship. He anticipates a tough challenge in their upcoming best-of-five playoff series against the Detroit Tigers and their pitching ace Justin Verlander. And he’s quick to point out that money can’t buy you love or a World Series.

“I always thought if you had a pile of money, you’ll wind up being the best,’’ he said. “It doesn’t work that way. No world champions since 2000 (the year the Yanks last won it all) have had the highest pay roll. I know, because we’ve had the highest payroll every year.’’
As far as a National League opponent should the Yankees make it to the Series, Jackson gives the nod to the St. Louis Cardinals, though he admits he’s biased, having played for current Birds’ skipper Tony LaRussa in Oakland.

All in all, it was an entertaining performance by Mr. October on the first day of the month that made him a legend.

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I’m heading to the Carrier Dome tomorrow for homecoming at my alma mater, and I’m looking forward to seeing Greg Paulus live for the first time this season. South Florida might just be the most talented team Syracuse plays this season (though Cincinnati’s also very good, and Penn State is no slouch either, despite last week’s loss to arch nemesis Iowa.) In George Selvie, SoFlo boasts the best defensive end in the country, and their red-shirt freshman quarterback, B.J. Daniels, is coming off a game in which he shredded Florida State for 126 yards rushing. USF also features six receivers averaging at least 15 yards per catch and they’ll be going against a porous Orange secondary that has been toasted for 11 TDs so far. In other words, not a great matchup for the Cuse.

I’m wondering, though, if we are overrating South Florida just a tad. After all, their three opponents before the Seminoles were two Division IAA schools (Wofford and Charleston Southern) and Western Kentucky, whom they combined to outscore, 135-20.

For SU to have any chance, Paulus is going to have play super, the inexperienced SU offensive line is going to have to keep him upright and open some holes for Delone Carter and Antwon Bailey, and the special teams is going to have make a big play or two.

That’s asking an awful lot. Pressed for a prediction, I’m going to have to be untrue to my school and call it: South Florida 38, ‘Cuse 20.

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Since we’re doing predictions, I might as well get my Bills pick out of the way, too. I wouldn’t be shocked if they went down to Miami and won, but I believe they have too many things going against them. Buffalo’s secondary has been decimated by injuries, and I hate picking against desperate teams – and at 0-3 the Dolphins definitely qualify as desperate. So, I’m going to call it, Miami 23, Bills 20.

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If you love watching sports played by people who do it solely for the love of the game, may I suggest you check out the Mayor’s Cup 19th century base ball game at the Genesee Country Village and Museum Sunday at 1:30. My team, the Excelsiors, will be playing the Knickerbockers for the championship.

It should be a tightly contest match, and high-scoring if the past couple of games are any indication. We’ve piled up 29 and 22 runs the past two weekends, making us the New Orleans Saints of the Silver Park Base Ball league. We play according to 1864 rules, meaning we don’t use gloves. That helps explain the football like scores. But when we won the national Silver Ball Tournament six years ago, our victory was by a 1-0 margin, so defense, pitching, timely hitting and astute baserunning also comes into play.

Any way, it’s a lot of fun, and the musueum is going to be hopping with a ton of activities because this is the agricultural fair weekend, too. Love to see you there. Just make sure you root for the guys in the red socks and hats – the Excelsiors.

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I'm happy to report that friend and former Times-Union colleague Gene Duffey is making a great recovery from cardiac arrest. If he continues to make progress, Gene will be getting out of the hospital very soon. He heard from hundreds of friends during his ordeal, and even received a visit from a member of the Houston Texans staff, who presented him with a game ball from head coach Gary Kubiak. It was a classy gesture for a classy reporter.

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Congratulations to Pat Stark, the former Syracuse quarterback and assistant coach from Walworth, who will be among the members of the Orangemen's 1959 national championship team honored at halftime of tomorrow's SU-South Florida game. Pat's a wonderful gentleman whom I've gotten to know in my time as a newspaper reporter. Many also might remember him from his days as the head coach of the University of Rochester football team. Class act all the way.

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I'm not surprised the Rio won the rights to host the 2016 Olympics. As I wrote the other day, South America has never hosted the Games, so it was long overdue. Chicago could give another push for the 2020 Olympics.