That Aud Smell

Appert subbed for Granato for a couple games.

As long as it isn’t his back. 😬

wait - what?

I heard someone on WGR relating the tiering of WR prospects in this draft -- that there's some outsized number of WR's in the consensus top-100 -- way more than normal. And that made me wonder, for the first time, whether Beane might consider moving back from the 28th pick if it meant getting another top-100 pick. That way, he could take 2 WR prospects in Rounds 2 and/or 3. I still think the better gamble is to move up and grab someone whom you really, really like. Otoh, you better damn well be right if you do that. (Which is why I sort of liked the idea of spreading risk across 2 less-heralded WR prospects.)

Shame! Shame! Shame! Possibly: Some people claim that P Ayyy is to blame

With all the excitement going on, I'm getting tripped up by stuff like there being both Mango and Guava poster accounts.

That extension was binding on ownership the minute it was signed. The fact that it didn't "kick in" before the team fired Granato is a factual matter, not a legal one. Granato's got quite a parachute coming out of this job. Good for him.

Hiring Appert into the role (on the cheap) would certainly make it more palatable to be paying Granato not to be HC. Edited to clarify: This is not something I would in any way endorse. I was just trying to think of the matter from Pegula's perspective.

Not as far as I'm aware. OTOH, if they were eyeing Appert as the next HC, I could see a scenario where they negotiated who the assistants would be as part of him being hired. And that would be a terrible idea. I'm in the camp of those who want someone who's done it before and has had success.

I genuinely liked Granato. There's no shame in not being cut out to be an effective NHL head coach.

Not firing Ellis can only signal an intent to find another role for him in the organization. Because a new HC is going to bring in his own assistants.

I think that the video coach would be the guy responsible for putting together the video packages that the coaches and players review between games and in-game.

Also, the opportunities for lol honky jokes can't be over-valued.

I like the sounds of that. I've read a few takes of "He's not a fit. Basically a higher-end version of Shakir. The Bills need a true 'X.'" I dunno. I'd rather bring in McConkey as a seemingly sure-fire very good NFL player instead of taking a risk on a big bodied prototypical X who may or may not work out. Also, has no one discussed how good it would be to get a McConkey on the Bills? It could help exorcise the demons of Super Bowls past. (That's Buffalo's own Phil McConkey. He of towel waving infamy with the New York Giants (where he was on a Super Bowl winning team). Until moments ago, I had it in mind that McConkey was on the Giants when they beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV. No so, it turns out.)

Do visiting NHL teams have their own camera feeds?

Thanks. I'm not sure why there'd be thinking that the Bills would take a guy who reputedly takes plays off. Like I said, that strikes me as disqualifying for what Beane/McDermott have always preached as the kind of players they covet: Quality character, high-motor guys who "play the game the right way." OTOH, the physical package here could be too enticing for them to pass on; they might just rationalize that they can "bring the guy around to their way of approaching the game" (or some such) or otherwise convince themselves that those criticisms were overblown, etc.

I should edit to say that - more than showing limited interest in blocking - the larger criticism is that he tends to loaf off if he knows the play's not going towards him. If the player were more level headed than Pickens, I'd take a prospect that matches Pickens' skills in a heartbeat.

I heard one football talking guy say that one of Mitchell's red flags is that he takes plays off, shows limited interest in blocking. If true, that sounds disqualifying for the Bills.

I haven't been following closely enough, I guess. You have an NFL draft guy?!

An @elcrusho sighting!! Have fun.

Shoutout the use of this song -- one with which I was heretofore unfamiliar. But I love this band and that sound.