A View from Calico Jack’s

By Phil Mann

Reasonable people can argue about whether George W. Bush has been a successful president, but from a Bills' perspective, the answer is clear: the team has missed the playoffs every year of GWB's presidency. I'm not blaming him, per se, but he did find time to get involved in baseball's steroids scandal. Couldn't he have helped out the Bills a bit?

The last time the Bills made the playoffs, I'm guessing that a lot of you were teenagers. Others, like our NYCBBB co-founders, were freshly scrubbed and still optimistic (well, maybe not Soreco). And Marv Levy…he was already pushing 80.

Given this combination of facts, it's easy to question just why the Bills turned to someone of Marv's "considerable maturity" to turn around the Bills' situation. Did it really make sense for the Bills to ask Levy to learn a new job in his ninth decade?

I'm an unapologetic Marv fan, so it's probably no surprise that I believe it was a good move. It wasn't fair to expect Marv to hang on for a decade. But, in two years, he drafted some decent guys (it appears), and helped clean up the mess left behind by Donahoe. It's easy to feel good about the Bills again, and for that I give him great credit.

Now, the Bills are in the market for a new GM and a new offensive coordinator (Mike Martz, anyone? Doubtful.) I believe the GM spot will be hard to fill with a proven winner. These days, the glamour coaches and executives tend to flock to glamour teams and, especially, to warm weather sites. Whose prospects are better, the Bills or the Fish? Yet, can you imagine Parcells taking the Bills job?

If I'm right, which happens every so often if only by luck, it means the Bills will need to identify an emerging executive talent. Someone who can take charge of this team and create something that's been missing for far too long: a winning mindset, personality and expectation. I hope they find him…fast.

That's the present and future. What about the past? What kind of season was it?

To me, it was like a pretty good slice of meat between two moldy pieces of bread. The first three and last three games stunk (the first game almost tragically so). The middle of the season, admittedly against some weak competition much of the time, was quite entertaining – especially given the Bills' ability to compete despite an overwhelming number of injuries.

I'm also gratified that for the first time in what seems like ages, I'm not forced to choose our punter as the team's MVP – although the field goal kicker would be a good choice given the team's aversion to the end zone.

It's tempting to go with Marshawn, but in the end I'd choose Jason Peters as my MVP. He really emerged, helped open up the left side running lanes all year long, and proved his worth when he couldn't play!

Beyond all that, I thought it was a really fun year at CJ's and McFadden's, not that I was able to venture to McFadden's all that often with a three-year-old in tow. But, I got glowing reports from the front lines.

See you at the draft, everyone.

E-mail feedback and comments to Phil Mann at
pjmann at nyc.rr.com

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