- 5 weeks ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00That is Bill's defensive coordinator, Jim Leonard, talking about Ed Oliver.
00:04That got a lot of people's attention this morning, I think.
00:09I know I saw the morning show.
00:10This stuff is all happening so early.
00:12It's all live during the morning show, and they get to react to it, which is fun.
00:16We've had that luxury lots of times in the afternoons with news conferences and whatnot,
00:21especially Mondays after games when the head coach talks
00:25and then both the coordinators talk during our show.
00:28But anyway, Oliver being moved around like that, okay.
00:34Indicative of a new day and a new plan there.
00:41I hope they have – I'm sure they do.
00:43It sounds like they have a plan in mind.
00:47How well it will work, how well they've got all the pieces in place remains to be seen.
00:56But that's one interesting little nugget from Leonard today was the idea of moving Oliver around in a way that
01:05–
01:06I mean, he even says it plainly.
01:07I don't know.
01:07I don't think it's being perceived as a shot at the way the Bills did things under McDermott.
01:14But, you know, he says plainly, like, they didn't really do a lot of that, and, you know, long story
01:20short,
01:20they're planning to do it, move Oliver around and find ways to get him in one-on-one matchups.
01:26I think Bean even said yesterday when he spoke that one thing that Leonard really wanted to emphasize
01:35when he was going through the interview process was that he had a plan for Oliver.
01:41Like, I think this guy's a hellraiser.
01:43He is someone who can be a difference maker, and I got a way to try to help facilitate that.
01:49So let's see how that goes.
01:51803-0550 is the number.
01:54Kind of like a summertime vibe check.
01:57Like, you know, it's been said in this room over the course of the last few weeks
02:01that the fan base is a little muted right now, and it strikes me that I don't have a lot
02:09of evidence one way or the other
02:10because I don't feel like I've been getting a lot of feedback on the team on the field
02:17or what you expect the team on the field to be.
02:19I know they've just only now gotten on the field, so I want to be careful there.
02:24But mostly it's been, you know, jerseys and the stadium and who's going to this practice and who's not
02:30and is that right and that's wrong and what did my PSL buy me and all that sort of stuff
02:35that has really nothing to do at all with where you're at on the team going into this year.
02:42So that's where we're starting today.
02:44803-0550 is the number.
02:46We'll get more on training camp in about a half an hour when Sal Capaccio joins me.
02:50Matt is first up this segment.
02:52Hi, Matt.
02:52Thanks for calling.
02:53You're on WGR.
02:54Thanks, Bulldog.
02:55And as we all kind of come out of the hibernation here and get back into calling,
02:58just wanted to first say how impressed and how proud you should be of Owen
03:02during that Sabres rung, man, in the spring.
03:04He became must-listen, I especially thought, during that Canadian series.
03:07And it was just really cool to see his maturity throughout the spring.
03:12I appreciate you saying that.
03:14He's really, really great.
03:15But on the Bill side, yeah, I think, you know, in terms of the temp check,
03:18you asked me about a week or two ago, I was probably a little cooler.
03:22I think it was kind of realizing, look, we're in year nine of Josh Allen.
03:26We're starting afresh with a new coach, new coordinators.
03:28And I was probably a little bit more pessimistic, but made the pilgrimage over to the stadium
03:34recently and got to check out kind of the whole experience.
03:37And I think that's just such a good reminder of, you know, what this contention window has been.
03:41And I think without Josh and without what we've done, it'd be really hard to imagine building a stadium of
03:46this stature.
03:47And then you roll that right into what Leonard has said today, how Brady came out yesterday.
03:52They might say the word right a few too many times, but ultimately I like the way that, you know,
03:57they're rolling with it.
03:58And this defense has me excited.
03:59I think the initial scouting out of camp scene is really, really positive.
04:03And it's kind of shifted my entire viewpoint.
04:05So I think, you know, as soon as we get pads on, we'll be feeling even better.
04:09And then that optimism will go from jerseys and stadiums into, you know, what's on the field.
04:13All right, Matt.
04:14Thank you very much.
04:15I heard Brad and Tim talking about the saying right at the end of a statement.
04:23You are not going to find me picking apart people's vocabulary habits.
04:32I'm going to stay out of that one.
04:34That's not, that's not a fight I need to get into.
04:37I got, I got my own, I got, I got a long list of my own problems in that department.
04:41Josh is next up.
04:42Hi, Josh.
04:42Thanks for calling.
04:43You're on WGR.
04:45Hi, Bulldog.
04:45How are you?
04:46I'm good.
04:46How are you, man?
04:47I'm doing all right.
04:49Yeah.
04:49It's such a really interesting conversation because the way that I kind of view it, the fan base
04:56reacting to the last several years, you know, is, is the fact that we've had such high highs,
05:02but also such a low lows that I think it almost kind of balances the reactions of the fan base
05:10out a bit, you know, like, like, you know, like if you're having chicken wings, you know,
05:16and you want to, you know, you know, tame the spice, you know, you have like a glass of milk
05:20or something,
05:21you know, it's like, that's, there's, there's, there's like a neutrality that's kind of,
05:26you know, attained when you have these, these, these incredible, incredible moments.
05:32I mean, I was down in Florida for grad school recently and just being able to just talk about the
05:41bills
05:41and Josh Allen, I, it's, it was really, it's, it was nice to kind of gloat a little bit, you
05:47know,
05:48but, but yeah, I mean, and I, and I think, I, I think it's, it's, it's, it's, it's really easy.
05:55It's easy to get stuck on the negatives and the, and 13 seconds and all that.
06:00But I mean, I would not trade the world for the highs that have come from the last several years,
06:08you know, and I think it also kind of plays out in the fact, like, you, you know, last year
06:12we,
06:12we said, Hey, we're a second half team, right? So that first half, those first halves we're having,
06:17you know, some stress levels were high, but then in the second half, we were able to really enjoy it.
06:21I think that's kind of like, you know, a visualization, so to say.
06:25A microcosm of the six years, kind of.
06:28Exactly. So, yeah.
06:30All right. Thank you, Josh. Appreciate the phone call.
06:33I like the, the, the caller before too, mentioning the stadium as, as a piece of this.
06:38Like I don't, I don't have a, like a long form, well thought out, um, position on the stadium's
06:50place in all of this, but it's so new and so different that I wonder if there's any sort
06:58of like the lack of familiarity that's exciting, but it's also kind of like, do you miss knowing
07:06where you're going to be and where you're going to meet your friends and like everybody's tailgate
07:11spot? And like a lot of that stuff, I am, um, I am very much often, often, often enough, I
07:20guess,
07:20uh, to my detriment, a creature of habit. Like I like to know like, where, where am I going?
07:27Where do I got to be? You know, what am I going to do? Where am I parking? What, all
07:31that. Like I,
07:32I, I crave that. We're going on a, on a, on a, uh, uh, uh, sort of a harbor cruise
07:38tomorrow.
07:40And I wasn't involved at all in like the, the whole planning or any, and then like, where's the
07:48place? Where, what time do we got to be there? Where am I going to put, I got, I got
07:52to know that
07:5236 hours ahead of time. Cause I'm, I'm a weirdo that way. Right. Um, the stadium is a, such a
07:59massive
08:00change. It's, there's no question. It's a overall a positive, right? Despite my misgivings about the
08:07video announcing this jerseys and whatever, like I recognize what it means. It's one of the most
08:12meaningful developments in my lifetime with this football team that that happened. So it's,
08:19it's momentous, but it also is maybe a little bittersweet. The stadium across the street has
08:26got a wrecking ball and I don't know, there's just a lot packed in there that like I, yeah. And
08:33everyone's going to react to it differently. Um, you know, it strikes me as I'm, I'm talking with
08:38the first few people who've gotten through today about, um, enjoying the last six seasons of
08:47contention that the bills have had. And despite the disappointment, like, would you look back at it
08:53and say like, that's been some of the most fun I've ever had? Like I, like I am. I mean,
08:57I'm telling
08:57you, you know, professionally and personally, those, those streams, they weave together all the time
09:04for me. Um, so if professionally I'm enjoying the bills personally, I am too. I mean, it's, it's just,
09:11there's no separating that. Um, and it has been a joy ride, but it does. I'm reminded of a conversation.
09:20I remember having, I don't know how soon after the 21 season it was, uh, but it might've been like
09:27at this time of the year, uh, going into the 22 season that I did a show like, just like
09:34a day
09:35like today, maybe in the summertime, Mike was away. I'm by myself. I sort of stumbled into maybe a
09:42caller even brought it to the table, um, comparing the drought to the disappointment of 13 seconds.
09:52And I ended up in a conversation with listeners and was stunned at how many people would assert to me,
10:05you know, publicly on the radio, not that, you know, you out there in the audience know who all these
10:10people are, uh, calling in, but still I want to call the radio station and I got to tell this
10:15guy
10:16that 13 seconds, a bitter playoff loss is worse than the drought. And, and I mean, it still blows
10:27my mind to this day. Um, and I guess like to an extent it shouldn't because everyone's different,
10:32but it's such a, it's such a window into how differently people who have the same
10:39interest can be wired or are wired because I can't even fathom. I mean, I just, I said earlier,
10:48and I'm not being overly dramatic. Like I really mean it. If the drought had kept going another two
10:54or three years, I don't know that I'd still be here doing this job. I, it was so mundane.
10:58There was just no longer. And unlike the, the Sabres, we mostly during their drought were able
11:06to ignore because for the, the, the back end of it here, the bills were excellent and football good
11:14or bad. There's always, excuse me, one of the dangers of working by yourself. And sometimes you
11:21got to cough and you can't reach the button in time. Um, and there's no one else to talk in
11:26your
11:26place. Um, you, you, you, you get to a place where you just can't ever stop. Football's just goes on.
11:39It never stops. Even when the bills are terrible, even when they're in the throes of a 17 year playoff
11:43drought, we're still talking about them every day. And it was so boring to me. I hated it. I'm just
11:50going to be, I hated it. The Sabres drought and kind of like, okay, they're not fun to talk about
11:56anymore. I think it's a tune out for the audience. That's okay. We'll just talk about the bills.
12:00Like that became the thing. There was no way to do that with the bills. You couldn't turn it off.
12:05And so it, it just, it was a horrible existence and to have, you know, perfectly like legitimate
12:17opinions about it being better than the bitter disappointment of losing a game. Like they lost
12:23in the 21 divisional round in Kansas city, the 13 seconds game. I just, I can't even really process
12:30that, but I know it happened. I mean, it happened live on this show that people were telling me,
12:35Oh, I prefer the drought to this. What did you do? You just won 13 games and had a great
12:43season
12:43and your quarterback has become a rockstar animal monster in the league. And you're telling me
12:50you'd rather be living with Trent Edwards still because it was easy to be detached. And now this
12:56pain is too much. I just don't, I don't, I, I don't get that. Uh, but that's, that feels like
13:01a little,
13:02a little sidebar in this conversation about a malaise or boredom or burnout or whatever it might be.
13:09Uh, because the bills are still again, a contending level team. And I'm not sure where we're all at
13:18as a fan base. 803-0550 is the number. So time for more of your calls before we hit the
13:23top of the
13:24hour. And then Sal will come in, tell us what went down at training camp. And there'll be lots of
13:28time
13:28for more of your calls after that. Mike is away today. I'm
Comments