SB Nation User Blog: Joe P.

Why Peters should honor his contract like everyone else.

Joe P. — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:46:17 -0000

The following is a true story. I work in the education profession. Since the start of my employment, I have received glowing reviews from multiple supervisors. You might say I am a perennial Probowler. About a year ago, may Dad called me asking if the date he had set for his wedding would work for me. You see, we live about a 20 hour drive apart. Since it was a full week prior to the latest date our school term had ever started, I told him that date would work for me. So, our family made plans to take a nice summer vacation trip cross-country. We would site see along the way, go to my dad’s wedding, and be back with plenty of time to spare. Tickets to concerts, motel reservations, etc were made. I am sure you can guess what happened next. When the schedule came out, the term was to start the Monday after my dad’s wedding on Saturday. I still was not worried. I have plenty of personal days, because I rarely use them. I am sure the administration will allow me, a veteran of many years, to miss the beginning of the term staff meeting. Boy was I wrong!!! I was told that my contract stated personal days could not be taken within the first five days of the term. I explained in detail the situation. Their answer was simple. “You signed the contract. We are unwilling to go outside the terms of the contract.” So, my choices are to spend all day at a wedding, leave immediately afterward (no reception), and drive 24 hrs straight with my wife and two small boys, so I can make it to a meeting I have sat through many times before. God forbid I fall asleep at the wheel and kill someone. Or, I can quite my job, putting my future and that of my family in jeopardy. That is the real world Mr. Peters. I have told you my sad story. I will be reporting to camp on time. What is your sad story Mr. Peters?

I am not intending to make an exact, direct comparison of the two professions. I am not looking for sympathy. I am trying to make a point about how we treat athletes and how athletes expect to be treated vs how it works for 90% of us. One thing is irrefutable. We both signed contracts. I will honor mine. Peters is not. All the arguments about why Peters should not have to are excuses we use as fans so we can keep cheering for our favorite players and team. If Peters was an alcoholic, those fans would be called enablers.

Bench Edwards for Favre?

Joe P. — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:39:28 -0000

On another site, we were discussing whether the Bills should go after Farve if he becomes available. I was against the idea, but many others though it would be a good move. My main points against signing Farve were:

1. Does anyone really think we are a QB away from getting to the SB?

2. If the Packers, who were one game from the SB, don't want Farve, then why would we?

3. These end of career trades very rarely seem to work out (see Joe Montana). Edwards is the man this year for the Bills.

4. Jauron will not pull a Mularkey and screw with Edwards' confidence.

5. Farve is not going to last more than one season. The odds are good that Farve will get injured. He will want to quit after one year.

I would be very interested in hearing what all of you have to say.

Poll

Should the Bills sign Favre?

My Bills are not Canadian

Joe P. — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:14:40 -0000

Editor's Note: This article, composed by Joe P, was written in response to the article immediately following it, composed by yours truly. In it, Joe P expresses his opinions on the Buffalo Bills' potential future move to Toronto. It's worth a read. Nice job, Joe. End Note

"Greed" and "Invaders" seem like accurate descriptions from the Canadian point of view. I don’t blame Canadian writers for aggressively trying to defend their league. In fact, I applaud them. They see the writing on the wall. Sticking your head in the sand and hoping the NFL doesn’t kill the CFL doesn’t seem like a winning strategy to me. Appeasement of an aggressive invader has never worked throughout history, just ask the French. Canadian writers are not suffering from paranoia. They are trying to save the teams and the CFL that they love. I can relate. Supporters of this home games in Toronto idea have tried very hard to make us believe this is not a prelude to a permanent move by the Bills. Many of the arguments given to both CFL fans and Bills fans are a joke. Since I am not a fan of the CFL and know very little about the league, I will address my arguments as they pertain to the Bills.

To think that having Bills home games in Toronto is anything other than a test run by the NFL to see if it is feasible to have a team in Canada is impossible to believe. The idea that having a Bills game in Toronto will somehow sell more tickets at the Bills' other home games is naive at best. Canadians have their own football league in the CFL and can watch the NFL on TV, or travel to the US if they really want to go to an NFL game. A home game in Toronto is more apt to have a negative impact on the amount of Canadians that come to The Ralph to see a game. They will wait and go to the ones in Toronto. What to you think will happen when they get a taste for Bills football in Toronto? Do you think they will be satisfied with one game? I think not! They will ask for more Bills home games in Toronto. Even if the Bills don’t uproot and move to Toronto, how long before they want two home games a year, or three, or all?

To expect Bills fans that live in the greater Buffalo/Rochester area to be happy about it is absurd. Yes, we have lost a home game and all of the fun and economic stimulus that goes with it. But, it goes deeper than that. Let's say you and your wife/girlfriend of many years are having some problems. Would you be happy about her dating some guy who has said he wants to take her away from you?

Some Bills fans try to console themselves by saying "Toronto is close to Buffalo. It is better than if they move to L.A. or Portland.” How does the Toronto Bills (if they even keep Bills) beat the Portland Bills? I am a Buffalo Bills fan. I started watching games at the "Rock Pile" and have happily frozen my tail off at Rich and Ralph Wilson stadium. I am not alone. The Bills are more than a football team to the people of Western NY. The Bills are a part of the identity of our community. The players and coaches eat in the same restaurants as we do, and their kids go to the same schools as our kids. They are contributing members of our city. Without the Bills, would we have Hunter's Hope? How about all the other community events supported by the Bills? If we lose our team it will hurt us economically. But the real loss will be in ways that are hard to measure. How do you put a price on community pride and unity? How many of you can still sing the Bills "Shout song" and "Talkin' Proud"?

If the Bills move to Toronto, make no mistake, they will not be our Bills. The Bills will no longer be the team I grew up loving, nor a team that reflects the values I identify with. To me, they will represent everything that is wrong with the NFL and, to a certain extent, our society today. They will not be a "blue collar", underdog team of the common man. They will quickly morph into another big market team with a "Jerry Jones" clone of an owner. How could I possibly be a fan of that?! Tickets will cost over $200. Tell me how I can afford to take my family to a game... I will have to take out a loan.

How big is big enough for the NFL? This is the National (United States of America) Football League. It is not, and should not try to be the World League, NFL Europe, XFL, or the CFL. The NFL had better be careful not to forget the fans that have made them what they are. The day the Bills leave Buffalo will be a sad day. It will be like the death of a good friend. It will also be the day I gather up my Bills gear, have a bon fire, and become a Cleveland fan.

Misinformation?

Joe P. — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:40:50 -0000

We had our pick of WRs in the second between Kelly, Sweed, and Hardy. We took Hardy, which went against everything we had been lead to believe about who the Bills were looking at. Was this by design or dumb luck? Aside from the debate about Hardy's domestic violence issues, I find myself wondering what is wrong with Kelly's knees, Sweed, and what the Bills actually knew. Sweed was never a favorite of the Bills brass, so passing him over is not a big surprise. His wrist, attitude, or football IQ could have been the issue. Kelly is a different story. Until right before the draft, we were assured by the Bills that Kelly's knees were not an issue. Our good friend Geronimo told us that Kelly's 40 times and outburst had not cooled the Bills on Kelly. Then, we pass on him in the second round? I could not have been happier, but I wonder if we were using Kelly to take heat off of our real target. The Bills had to be relatively sure that Thomas would not last until they picked in round 2. So, was Hardy the target all along? If so, great job by the Bills of misdirection. I hope they use the same creativity with their offensive play calling this season. Go Bills!!!