"For all but the NFL playoff teams, the fields are now barren and the only song to be sung is "Give us some men, some stout-hearted men." Basically, that's the name of the game from now until after the draft, because stoking up on talent is essential for scouts who wish to keep their jobs.

Legendary player appraisers such as Bill Polian of Indianapolis and Jerry Angelo of the Chicago Bears already lost theirs. Meanwhile, A.J. Smith of San Diego and Andy Reid, who ran the entire 2011 talent and coaching circus for Philadelphia and not very well, barely fit into another working year.

That's life in the NFL. It happens every year. What happens in Buffalo, at least since the postseason of 2000, are no playoffs and a disgusted fan base. The disgust is often warranted, but frankly, losing is bad enough without the overload of whining over who does the coaching or the drafting and what bozos they are. The Bills have a long past in this business. The franchise gets into terrible trouble but also gets out of it. At least it did in the previous century.

With no football to be played in Buffalo for seven months the pouting resumes. This happens no matter the identity of the coach -- whether it was Lou Saban, who had two successful runs here in the 60s and 70s, Chuck Knox, who came to the rescue in the 80s, or Marv Levy, who took the Bills to the Super Bowl four times. That was four consecutive Supers, regardless of losses.

The same people who whined about Saban and Knox also double clutched some gripes about Marv. Now they're getting cranky about Chan Gailey, who hasn't been here long enough to suffer cranking. Beside, he's a good coach. Trust me.

Enough with crying about assistant coaches who get canned for doing a poor job. There is more than enough for poor Stevie Johnson when he gets fined or benched for acting like a kindergartner. I say don't put up with him and bah humbug to those who sneer at the "suits" in the owners' boxes. Without the "suits" there is no NFL. Nor is there an NHL, NBA and Major League Baseball."