Buffalo Bills Review
I really can’t believe they did this! It should have been done long ago. That was obvious to most Bills fans. But I really can’t believe they actually pulled the trigger. Dick Jauron was “relieved of his coaching duties” today. Amazing.
Can’t wait to see what is next… it has to be better!!!
Short link to article here: http://tinyurl.com/nomorejauron
Last night I donned my JP Losman Buffalo Bills jersey (yes, I actually do have one thanks to my brother-in-law unloading it on me) in eager anticipation of the start of another football league. Certainly not expecting the same level of play as we see on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and the occasional Saturday in the NFL. However, the coaches of all four teams have quite recognizable names and many of the players do as well (to an avid NFL fan, I suppose).
As the game began, we were all excited to see if JP (a former player whom many Bills fans still root for, for some reason…) could have more success in this new “minor league” football league.
In short, I think the answer is no.
What we saw was the same JP. He gets spooked by the pass rush and leaves the pocket way too early (and quite chaotically) and he just missed throws. He was throwing high and/or behind for much of the night. He did throw two TD passes, and was an (on paper) mildly impressive 21-31 for 226 yards. But his receivers were definitely helping him out.
And what was the deal with everyone pronouncing his name “LOHS-min” (“los” like “close” as in, near by). Is he trying to get away from the “Loss”man baggage he acquired here? (Or, was it just minor league announcers? Although, it was fun that Doug Flutie, another former Bills fan favorite was doing the color commentary.)
In the end, thanks to sloppy play from the other team as well (dropped passes, poorly thrown balls, missed reads in the running game) the Las Vegas Locos (JP’s team) won 30-17. Not a bad debut. Catch the full recap from the AP here.
We’re still rooting for him… and glad for more football… but perhaps there is a reason that these guys aren’t playing in the NFL this year anywhere?
For more on the United Football League:
League Homepage: UFL-Football.com
Versus Coverage: versus.com
The Sabres seem to have plenty of bad luck in the injury department. Not just this season, but nearly every season. A few years ago, they made it to game seven of the conference finals, but most likely lost because they had one starting defenseman who was healthy! Many of the defensemen have missed time this season also. 2009 has been pretty much the same story, including the most recent injury to all-star goalie, Ryan Miller.
In Saturday’s victory over the Rangers, the Sabres lost Miller to a high ankle sprain. Those are bad. They usually place football players on the season-ending IR. They involve at least weeks of recovery, sometimes months. That’s bad. Miller is arguably the Sabres’ best player. And if some might give that title to Thomas Vanek, well, he’s gone too.
The Sabres’ best news this season has been the huge contribution from Tim Connolly, who it seems has been injured for more than two thirds of every season he’s been in the league! (Including this one.) He has become the star the Sabres hoped he would be since returning from his injuries this season.
Sabres.com posted an article about the injured Sabres, including an encouraging update: Thomas Vanek is skating again in practice. He was not expected back this early. Max Afinogenov and Andrew Peters are also currently recovering from injuries.
It’s definitely not good when you are clinging to eighth place in the conference – the final playoff spot – and you lose your top two players. The Sabres are likely thinking about making some trades before the trade deadline on March 4th. Maybe a veteran goalie, maybe another forward… who knows. While Connolly, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford, and a few others have had pretty good seasons, it’s hard to recover from losing your best two players. Perhaps a trade or two can give the Sabres what they need to make the playoffs, get their stars back, and make a run of it. Perhaps.
The playoffs are always more fun when your team is in it. We’ll see if the 2009 playoffs will be “fun”.
The NFL has announced that the 2008 schedule will be released today at 2pm. The NFL Network will be doing a special show coinciding with the release. It’s a fun time of year when you get to see how the next season will unfold. Bills fans are hoping for a prime time game or two. I know I am going to look for the game against Cleveland and circle it on my calendar! That will likely be the “Buffalo Bills Review Game of the Year” where we all attend and invite any listeners to join us before and after the game for some Buffalo Bills fun!
For more details, see this page at ESPN.com.
Go Bills!
In a somewhat surprising move, the NFL decided to allow CBS and NBC to simulcast the Patriots vs Giants game that was scheduled to be broadcast on the NFL Network this Saturday night. The NFL is not known for its generosity, but the NFL Network is in such a small percentage of homes, and this game is of pretty significant (sports-world) historical significance, so it will be shown on all three networks.
New England coach Bill Belichick said, “It’ll be like the State of the Union, on every channel.”
If you’d like to read more, check out this article.
The Giants don’t stand a chance, but I would laugh for DAYS if they managed to defeat the undefeated Pats. They are the least likeable “great” team I have ever seen in my couple decades of sports fandom. They are arrogant, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and really just a bunch of jerks. Very hard to root for them. It’s hard enough to just stomach them at all.
That said, the Giants don’t stand a chance.
But, not many more people can watch the annihilation of yet another 2007 NFL team. And the unsportsmanlike taunting and gloating of another.
Great TV, eh?
The Bills play the Redskins this weekend, and the importance of the game has been seriously diminished by the killing of safety Sean Taylor. Taylor is one of the Redskins best players, leaders, and loved by all of his coaches and teammates.
A lot of people think that will motivate the Skins this weekend, but from what I have read, and especially heard and seen in press conferences and interviews, they are not thinking about football. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling the Bills will end up winning – maybe easily – and they won’t get the credit for it. The Redskins are definitely mentally and emotionally somewhere else.
There is a bit of “good news” regarding the murder. I found this article today which says that the police have charged three suspects and detained a fourth. The “good” is that they have the people who are responsible (and confessions from them) but it’s really sad that these guys are just teenagers. And, according to the story, were not intending to kill Taylor, just got “unlucky”.
Not sure I’m buying that.
So, it’s a really sad series of events, and certainly overshadows any of the fun of this game. It was going to be kind of fun, two 5-6 teams, Trent Edwards starting, London Fletcher playing against his old team, Derrick Dockery for the Bills doing the same… but sometimes there are things more important than football.
I found a couple articles that interested me in my news feed this morning…
One Small Step Toward a Mars Landing … at Sea
Reid Stowe is a “professional adventurer” (what exactly is that?) who is 100 days into a 1000 day stay on a small boat in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. His goal is to help NASA prepare for what it will be like to have a very small group of people on a small vessel for close to three years. Interesting research project. He also has a website aptly named 1000 Days At Sea.
How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web’s Hottest Platform
With my recent delve into the world of Facebook (finding and reconnecting with friends whom I have not had any contact with for over 20 years!) I noticed this headline, and found the article quite interesting. I had heard earlier that Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, had refused a $1 Billion purchase offer, but did not know the rest. Including the estimate that Facebook is now worth at least $5 Billion. Good job, Mark.
‘Minor Miracle’ For Everett
This is the best article, at least regarding the substance of its content. As you likely know, Buffalo Bills TE Kevin Everett suffered a life-threatening spinal injury on Sunday during the Bills/Broncos game. We were there. It was awful. Even worse was the report from the doctor who performed surgery the next day. (Watch Monday’s press conference at BuffaloBills.com.) But last night, reports began surfacing that Everett was able to move his arms and legs, and doctors are actually optimistic that he will walk out of the hospital. That’s just insane!
If it’s true.
I would suggest guarded excitement as I am having trouble corroborating this story. There are no updates on BuffaloBills.com, which is extremely suspicious. I’ll keep digging, but the linked article above does seem quite hopeful, and credits a few trustworthy sources. We shall see. From what I heard on Monday, even Kevin’s survival is a “minor miracle”.
More Kevin Everett Links:
The Sabres sent out an e-mail yesterday with an ad for pre-season tickets. The games start September 21st! Holy cow! I love hockey, and think it will be another fun season in Buffalo… but I can’t believe it’s hockey season already!
They are offering 50% off on kids tickets for the pre-season games. Click the photo for details.
Rumor has it that the Sabres/Penguins game scheduled for January 1st, 2008 in Buffalo could be held outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium!!! How cool is that?!? We would really like to be there, if that ends up being the case.
[Read the Buffalo News article that mentions this possible location for the game.]
As you most likely know by now, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere have moved on from the Buffalo Sabres to $$$Greener Pastures$$$. They were signed by two different teams (Rangers and Flyers) for a combined $84 million!!! Holy cow, that’s a lot of moola! The Sabres were unable and/or unwilling to match that, and in the case of Drury, he just chose to go to the Rangers (they were his favorite childhood team) instead of stay in Buffalo (who would have matched the Rangers’ offer.
So, good for those guys… at least financially. But this brings up yet again the sad state of sports with free agency and salary caps. There are many factors, and I really don’t want to get into it here, but I do want to say that I am not a fan of free agency.
I understand that it is very cool for the player. They get more money for sure, they also get the chance to determine where they will play (like Drury). But both Drury and Briere were captains on the President Trophy winning Sabres (for the best record in hockey) and they left that behind (understandably, in many ways) to pursue their goals. Not those of the team.
Does any player care about the game, or the team, or the city anymore? Perhaps that is unfair. Both of these guys said they would like to stay in Buffalo. Particularly Briere. But in the end, he was offered $25 million over 5 years by the Sabres, and the Flyers offered him $52 million over 7 years.
Yeah, I would too.
I think. Part of me says I wouldn’t. I would take the “paltry” $25M and stay with the team that I had helped build. I would not move the family and start over again… I would be OK with $25 MILLION DOLLARS. But, why take $25M when you can double it?!? So crazy.
It’s sad that this is hurting sports in so many ways. Small market teams are unable to keep up as they can not charge as much for tickets, and don’t have other sources of revenue to keep up with the larger salary caps. It’s also just raising the price of tickets in general across all the sports leagues. Many sports writers are prediciting we’ll just be seeing another lock out in the not-too-distant future if the NHL continues this way.
What if players decided they love the game, and love to win, and build a championship team. What if teams fairly compensated those players who made a commitment to stay with one team for their careers? We will likely never see a team that can repeat what the Bills did from 1990-1993, going to four straight Super Bowls … mostly due to free agency.
It might sound like sour grapes, but even before we lost Drury, Briere, and even Zubrus a couple days later, I was not a fan of free agency. Maybe it’s because my team is one of those “small market teams”, but I think it’s cause I love the idea of buildinig a team of guys you know and can root for for at least a good chunk of their careers. Now when you buy a jersey (like, #23 or #48) it’s obsolete in 3 years or less.
Too bad.
The Sabres did manage to hold on to Thomas Vanek last week, matching an offer that came in from Edmonton. They were not going to lose another one! Good for them.
I read a great article on this at NHL.com today. Check it out if you’ve got time.
The Sabres will go on. As will the Bills, and every other team. It’s the path that pro sports have chosen. I do wish there was some happy medium where players could be happy, not at the expense of the team, city, fans, owner… and vice versa. I don’t think we’ve found that just yet.