The set-up: Overrated or underrated? Put that term next to any team or individual in sports, and sometimes you'll be surprised what sort of argument you will find. If you want me to take on an overrated argument, look no further than the Sabres 96-97 team. Some think it's the most popular team in club history because of their slap shot movie mentality and blue-collar work ethic. I always say Buffalo fans would love a team with a bunch of Paul Gaustads who score ten goals a year and play physical hockey. That sort of love affair with the way a team played makes this squad a tad bit overrated. They went as far as Dominik Hasek would take them. It was Dom...and a bunch of crazy hockey players who probably should have been in the AHL or washing cars.

The set-up: The Braves had finished the 72-73' with a record of 21-61, marking their worst record in club history. It was so bad that seven of their 21 wins were against the Philadelphia 76ers, who owned the worst record in NBA history at 9-73. Even with the crappy season, the Braves had young players such as Randy Smith, Bob McAdoo and coach Jack Ramsay, who was going into his 3rd year with the club. However, 21-61? Eh. The locals were restless, as the Braves had averaged only 7,847 for their attendance during the season. no comments

The set-up: After Lou Saban quit on the Bills for the 2nd time during the 1976 season, the Bills went 3-20 over the next two seasons. With the Bills in a free-fall, Ralph Wilson brought in Chuck Knox to try and save this sinking ship. Knox, had coached the LA Rams to five straight division titles and had won 10 games or more during those seasons. As the new coach of the Bills, his first order of business was to trade OJ Simpson, who was in the twilight of his career. The Bills were in full rebuilding mode, going 5-11 and 7-9 in Knox's first two seasons. However, during those two years, Knox was able to draft a number of solid players.

The set-up: Obviously, this is pretty fresh in our minds. Hell, I won't even have to do much research for this one. We should all know the story by now:

• The Sabres were the pure sh#ts during the first two months of the season.
• Then, in early December, we heard the rumors of Pegula taking over.
• By January, we really didn't care about the regular season, because we wanted July 1st to come.
• By the end of February, Pegula Day came and we traded away the old faces (Golisano and Quinn) for way better ones (Pegula and Black).
• Oh, and somehow, someway, the Sabres were making an improbable run to the playoffs with injuries galore.

Yeah, that about covers it.

The Set-up: Last weekend, the Buffalo Bisons put on Star Wars night at Pilot Field (Sorry, but that's what I call the stadium). Look, I'm as big of a Star Wars fan as the next person, but a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, America's past time in Buffalo was truly a force to be reckoned with and we didn't need Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker to make the turnstiles move. In a city where citizens flock to the waterfront and observe the mini-shops/tents on display, I can only imagine what it was like in 1988, when Pilot Field opened.

If you build it, they will come..and boy did they come.

(Referenced some material from the Bills 50th anniversary video and pro-football reference)

The Set-up: Ralph Wilson's dream of owning a pro football team got off to an inauspicious start. In the Bills first two years of existence in the AFL, the team had gone 11-16-1 under head coach, Buster Ramsey. The Bills finished their first AFL season ranked last in wins. The team even had the unique distinction of playing against a CFL team and fricken losing! Can you say the outcome of the movie Necessary Roughness, Major League, Miracle and The Replacements all wrapped in one? no comments

The Set-up: The Bills had just finished a magical 1998 regular season, where the team started 0-3, but Doug Flutie came on for an injured Rob Johnson and played lights out for the rest of the season. Flutie was easily the team's MVP for the season. Flutie passed for 20 touchdowns in just 13 games (10 started). He helped rejuvenate a franchise that had fallen on hard times in 1997 with Todd Collins at the helm. Players from the Super Bowl years were either retired or getting old. I know some may not want to believe it, but Doug turned around the franchise. The Bills finished the year with a 10-6 record and had a date with the Miami Dolphins on the road. The teams split their two meetings during the regular season, both winning by 6 points. In what turned out to be the last meaningful Miami vs Buffalo match-up, the two teams didn't disappoint.

The Set-up: The Bills had just gone 6-10 and fired Gregg Williams. The 2003 season seemed to represent the beginning of the end of Drew Bledsoe's career. #11 was god awful, as he passed for just 11 touchdowns in 16 games. After the season concluded, the consensus was that the Bills HAD to draft a QB. Normally, when you have a QB like Bledsoe, for the most part, if you are looking for the heir apparent, it's because your QB is getting older. Bledsoe was still just 31-years, so, in football years, he still had years left it would seem. Anyways, in what some had thought was an act of desperation, Tom Donahoe traded the Bills 1st round pick in 2004 and their 2nd round pick in 2003 for the Cowboys 1st round pick in 2003. The Bills used the Cowboys pick to draft JP Losman. At the time, I didn't really know much about Losman. All offseason long, I kept hearing that the Bills wanted Big Ben, but he went two picks earlier to Pittsburgh. Some experts felt that the Bills reached for Losman, because Donahoe was so desperate to find the heir apparent to Bledsoe. They were right.
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The Set-up: I'm not big on using a number of "What if?" scenarios on draft picks. Sure, the Bills could have picked this or that player, but you could use that analogy even during the Super Bowl years (JD Williams anyone?). However, for certain draft disasters, you can't help but ignore them, which leads me to this...Heading into the 2002 NFL Draft, the Bills were sitting with the 4th pick and the consensus seemed to be that the Bills were interested in Joey Harrington, Bryant McKinnie and Mike Williams. The Bills were a disaster during the 2001 season, going 3-13. Rob Johnson was gone (Thank God!) and John Fina was cut as well. So, right there, the Bills had two glaring weaknesses on offense. This was going to be Tom Donahoe's biggest draft choice of his life. It was also the highest pick the Bills had since 1985, when they selected Bruce Smith. You had to get this pick right.

The Set-up: I know when people talk about the Bills in the 2000s, it's mostly just a bunch of crappy memories. However, there are some, well, not awful moments that can be thrown into the conversation. The 2002 team with Bledose was a lot of fun. The 6-game winning streak in 2004 was cool. How about that great 5-1 start in 2008? 31-0 against New England (The good one, not the reverse one). T.O. in Buffalo? Those suggestions seem to come up the most. However, no one really mentions the 2000 Bills. To me, that was the best team of the decade. They had a top tier defense with the likes of Sam Cowart, Marcellus Wiley, Ted Washington, Pat Williams and Henry Jones. It was a mix of young players and a couple of old vets. Cowart, was the key to that defense, as he played at an all-pro level. He was that fricken good!