Year / 2010

by Greg

Regarding The Buffalo Bills

Perhaps you have heard that the professional football team nearest to the Campbell family hearts both geographically and emotionally has recently been making some changes. Starting a couple months ago when they fired their head coach, Dick Jauron. (Well, they really started just before the season began when they fired the offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, and released the converted-to-starter LT Langston Walker. Yes, just days before the season began. Neat.)

The shake-up continued when they announced that they had hired “football man” Buddy Nix (technically, he was promoted from within the organization) as the new General Manager. For a few years, Russ Brandon (former Marketing Guru for the Bills) has been handling those duties… sorta. Now he has been promoted to CEO. (I believe his official title is President and CEO. Impressive.)

Following that job responsibility shifting (and press conferences with Hall of Fame Bills, Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas) the Bills then announced that every single member of the coaching staff had been fired. But they said it nicer, something like, “The coaching staff has been told that they have completed their obligations to the Buffalo Bills.” (That probably makes it easier to swallow?)

Rumors are flying everywhere about whom the Bills are interviewing and who might be the next Bills coach. Bill Cowher, Mike Shannahan, Charlie Weis… (Yes, he was actually mentioned as an option!) We now know that Shannahan and Weis are with their 2010 teams. Cowher won’t decide till after the season (and post-season) are over. And the Bills continue to interview lesser-known candidates. (Though, intriguingly qualified… more than the recent list of head coaches.)

If last year’s signing of Terrell Owens is any indication of what the Bills organization is intent on doing, there is a good chance the Bills might actually have a recognizable name listed as their head coach in 2010.

Many Bills fans long for someone like Cowher who not only has the highest winning percentage of any current coach (not sure how he’s a current coach, but, I just report what I read/hear/see) he also brings discipline and toughness that has not been part of Buffalo Bills football for quite a while. At least, it has not been very evident to the fans.

Personally, I like the idea of Marty Schottenheimer. I’ve said that before (when I was doing the Buffalo Bills Review in years gone by) and I maintain that he would at least bring wins back to Buffalo. He’s always done that. In fact, I believe he has the second best career win percentage of any current coach. (Maybe it’s “available” coach?) The knock on Marty is that he can’t win playoff games. And, his record does show that.

At this point, Bills fans just want to GET to the playoffs!!!

Schottenheimer is also a former Bills linebacker, from the AFL championship teams in the 60s. (I believe he was on those teams.)

The Bills have also reportedly interviewed (or are seeking an interview with) his son, Brian, who is the offensive coordinator for the NY Jets, and has been sought by other teams for their head coaching position.

So… the intrigue continues. Bills fans are hoping that the Buffalo Bills of 2010 and beyond will look different than the Buffalo Bills of the aughts. (They ought!)

Perhaps they just need new uniforms…

by Greg

Stealth Mode

I am attempting to get back to my normal routine today, following about two weeks of semi-vaction. I’ve never done such a thing before (that I can recall) so I am still trying to figure out if it was good or bad. 🙂

It was good in that for two weeks I got to be with my family a lot more than I usually do. We played lots of games, read books, watched movies (especially the movie Up, which we bought from iTunes for a family Christmas present!) and just enjoyed each other’s company.

It was not as good in that I don’t quite feel like I had a vacation.

There were only a few days where I worked blocks of hours. Mostly I would just fit in answering emails or phone calls, and perhaps work a few hours after all were in bed. And, there were also a couple days completely free of any work (like Christmas and New Year’s Day … it’s a fun time of year!)

So instead of vacation, I dubbed the past two weeks “stealth mode.” Was I on vacation, or wasn’t I? Was I available to my clients, or wasn’t I?

Overall, it worked. I do feel more ready for to tackle the large workload ahead. Of course, that will also be much easier once I have all my files back on a working computer.

Ahhh, the joys of life with computers. 🙂

On a totally unrelated note, I wrote this post using a fun application called OMMWriter (Mac only). It’s pretty neat. Creates a full-screen writing environment, completel with ambient sounds (of your choosing) and tools that only appear when needed. Pretty neat.

Alright. Time to decloak. No more stealth mode. Game on.