Did the Sabres fire the wrong man? (2-24-13)

When the Sabres dropped the axe Wednesday on long-time head coach Lindy Ruff I felt like it was a terrible but necessary thing. The team has been so flat of late and it seemed like the players tuned out the longtime coach. I heard so many people talk about how sometimes you just have to make a change for the sake of change. Sometimes you just need a new voice in the room. He had been here nearly 16 years and the team hadn’t made the playoffs 6 of the last 10 seasons with this one looking pretty questionable. On top of that I had never heard the fans more restless than they were in Lindy’s last game as coach, that stinker against Winnipeg. The sad truth is that the team was lifeless and times like that the coach is usually the first one to go. It’s the nature of the business: lack of talent usually gets blamed on the general manager, lack of effort always falls on the coach. The Sabres seem to think they have a talented, albeit young group of players, so perhaps it was time. All the reasons made enough sense but something in the back of my mind bothered me.

 

Now let’s look at the facts: Lindy Ruff is the 12^th all time winningest coach in NHL history. He’s the only coach in Sabres history to have back to back 50-win seasons. He’s so well respected that Lindy was selected to be one of the coaches for Team Canada several times and did pick up a gold medal for his troubles at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The facts are that he is one of the most respected coaches in the league and by all reports he’s going to be able to pick and choose his next job because he will be heavily in demand. I hear he’s already rumored to be on the short-list if the Rangers reach their breaking point soon with John Tortorella. At his exit press conference he expressed his desire to continue coaching so it’s a near certainty he’ll have a new NHL head coaching job before the start of next season if he wants one.

He’s coached the Sabres when all they had was a Hall of Fame goalie and nearly won the cup. He coached the team after the first lockout when their strength was a bunch of quick, skilled offensive players and came within an eyelash and flukish luck (having half of his defensive corps injured in the eastern conference finals) of taking the team to the cup finals again. Lately as the league has changed and gotten slower and more physical, the Sabres personnel looks somewhat similar to the team crafted after the last lockout, except without nearly as much talent. Lindy tried to get these guys to play responsible 2-way hockey as he should but the current Sabres are not going to win many back and forth shootout style games and as we’ve learned, they’re not going to win many low scoring, mistake-free battles either. This team has too many flaws from lacking mental toughness to lacking size to outright lacking talent. Now all this falls on the architect of team, general manager Darcy Regier. 

Mr. Regier has put this boring, lifeless, mistake prone bunch together and back when the Sabres didn’t make the playoffs in recent years excuses were made for Darcy. Whether it was the money woes of the bankrupt Sabres in the early 2000’s or the supposed financial limitations of the Tom Golisano years, there’s always been a reason why Darcy has been spared from some of the blame he so richly deserves. Yes he made great deals to get Chris Drury and Daniel Briere here and maybe this Cody Hodgson trade may turn out to be another winner but for every good trade Darcy’s made there’s at least 2 bad ones and one bad free agent signing to go with it. That’s not good enough to be an NHL general manager for 16 years with the same team.

If you look at the standings right now the Sabres are 1 point shy of being the worst team in the NHL. Instead of making a badly needed trade to shake up the roster, the Sabres made a bigger move, removing the most respected hockey person in the organization. Rumors abound that Buffalo has been on the phones for several days looking to deal but Darcy Regier says the trade market is “soft” right now. To me that sounds like another excuse. I don’t know about you but I’m tired of the excuses. Money is not a factor, neither is a so called soft market. When you have to make a trade from a position of weakness like the Sabres are in, you sometimes have to give up a little more in a deal but in the long run it might be worth it. At this point doing anything might be better than going down with a sinking ship. Instead of talking about a soft market, I’d rather the team take a hard look at removing the excuses, starting with Regier. In a manner of days someone is going to break through the so called “soft” market and make a huge deal… someone always does and when they do, they’ll set the market for the rest to follow. From the sounds of it, it won’t be the Sabres who under Regier are always slow to make any. Especially the move they need to make most of all.    

New week, same story (12-10-12)

The signs and symptoms were there. They were there in the first half when the Bills practically dominated the Rams and merely held a 3-0 lead. They continued to show when the Bills took a puny 6-0 to the locker room. I thought for certain the Rams were going to come out after halftime and go up 7-6 and collectively we’d say “here we go again”. It’s a new week, but the same tired story. Eventually the Rams did take that lead but the Bills answered only for the Rams to reply. Then the Bills took over needing only 3 points to force overtime at home, but again another ill timed 4th quarter Ryan Fitzpatrick interception ended the Bills hopes for the game and for the season.


I don’t know about all of you but I’m tapping out. I’m done with the 2012 Bills. I’m going to watch next week versus Seattle and then the following week against Miami because they are on TV and I can (the Jets game to close the season will surely be blacked out), and it’s my duty as a Bills fan, but will I feel bad if they lose? Nope, not in the least, in fact I think deep down I am hoping they lose out and finish 5-11. The worse the finish the better and I know some of you are thinking, what kind of a fan wants his team to lose? How about a fan who is tired of coach Chan Gailey? How about a fan who has seen enough of likeable but ultimately ineffective Ryan Fitzpatrick who never ceases to amaze with his predictable 4th quarter Fitzmagic? You know the trick, the one where the Bills have a shot and then Fitzpatrick fumbles or throws a terrible interception to ice the game for the opposition… tada! How about a fan who wants changes and knows the only way to get any from this team is when it falls to pieces or goes to extremes? How about a Bills fan, like most of you, who is tired of being so bitter and cynical about my football team that hasn’t been to the playoffs for a league longest 13 years!?!?    


My feeling is if we finish with a worse record (5-11) than the previous year (6-10) with an easier schedule than we faced in 2011, someone over at One Bills Drive will see that for what it is, a regression. It’s harder to hide behind the veil of progress and in the name of continuity when things get much worse when they were supposed to get better. In year one, we started the rebuilding (again!) and went 4-12. Last year we started to show progress and went 6-10. Now in the pivotal third year of the rebuilding effort we went backwards when everything was in our favor. We had one of the easiest schedules in the league. Owner Ralph Wilson went against type and spent big money to improve the defense and the talent level on this team had definitely improved. I think it was pretty reasonable to expect an 8-8 or 9-7 season, and many people who get paid to talk about football were calling the Bills a potential playoff team before this season. Whether you wanted to buy into the playoff talk or not this team was universally expected to take a step forward. Well, now we know this year’s Bills are nowhere close to playoff caliber and if they end up with the same record or a worse record than last year’s team after all the hype, after all the money spent, after all the talent added, then someone should have to answer for it. That someone is Head Coach Chan Gailey.


His continued inability to get the ball into the hands of one of the most dynamic players in the league is baffling. His misuse of the clock in several instances this season is laughable and his downright fear to be aggressive on the football field is unforgiveable. Sending Ryan Lindell on the field for the 52 yard field goal that would have put the Bills up eight points was probably the right move. Lindell hit from 50 last week in similar if not worse conditions and he made both of his earlier tries in the game. If Coach Gailey suddenly acquired cold feet about trying the kick, so be it, take the delay of game penalty and punt from the 39 instead of the 34. But to call and waste a timeout and then punt is ridiculous. I thought he should have went for it, a 4th and 7 that was makeable and if not converted, would have given the Rams the ball at or around their own 30, hardly scoring position for an offense that up to that point generated only 7 points against the Bills defense. You don’t think he wanted that timeout back at the end when the Bills offense tried to get into field goal range to tie the game? Maybe with an extra timeout in his pocket Fitzpatrick would have thrown or dumped it over the middle of the field instead of that fateful toss to the sideline that was intercepted by St. Louis. Who knows, but having 2 timeouts in that situation instead of one surely would have made things easier. To make matter worse, both of the 2 teams in front of them for that final playoff spot lost as well, meaning the Bills could have moved to within one game of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati with 3 to play. The questionable decision making is killing the Bills from within regardless of who they are playing.


I’ve been done with Gailey for a while now. He makes some great calls at times but has trouble adjusting to the flow of the game and is absolutely brutal as a gameday “head coach”. His misuse of both the clock and the Bills’ assets are obvious to casual fans at this point and quite frankly he looks overmatched most Sundays. What he looks like to me is a solid, if not good from time to time, offensive coordinator masquerading as a head coach. He’s an offensive version of Dick Jauron and yes, I realize you can take that in more than one way. We all remember how that ended.


Losing out the rest of this season would probably bring an end to this ride. It might be the only way to get the Bills brass to move into a gear other than neutral. I know changes may take time to pay off but when you are certain the guy you have is not the guy for the job, you have to act. At this point, I think everybody knows Coach Gailey is not the man to lead the Bills to the next level simply because he hasn’t and he can’t. 3 years is plenty of time to prove yourself in the NFL. Consider this, when you bring in a new coach, you always take at least a half step backwards before moving forwards, it’s inevitable. Players have to learn the new system, some players get traded or released and new ones come in who better fit the new coach’s philosophy. Some new coaches take an already solid team and bring them to the next level quickly (the half step back) while others need time to achieve more than their predecessor (a full step). After that adjustment period, the honeymoon so to speak, owners and fanbases expect results. Now 45 games into the Gailey run, the honeymoon is long over. Sadly as we move towards the end of year 3, those results are not there and this team only looks better than most of the previous 12 non-playoff editions of the Bills on paper. In reality, a 5-8 record is par for the course around here and after 3 seasons of rebuilding on a large rebuilding job that was rebuilding on a huge rebuilding effort of another massive rebuilding endeavor I’m tired of the baby steps and the constant rebuilding. I want to win. For that, a new coach and a new quarterback are needed. All sentiments towards them aside, everyone knows it. When you can predict the outcomes of these games as they happen and you’re not the only one, then something has to be done.


Who else thought the Bills were going to blow this one? As I said earlier, the signs and symptoms were there. This game had a familiarity and comedic quality to it. It wasn’t difficult to diagnose. We’d seen this before. Some of the players were the same, some were different but it sure felt like a re-run. The predictable coach bumbling through clock management and timeouts, afraid to be aggressive and kick a long field goal or afraid to be aggressive and dial up some pressure and blitz a mediocre at best quarterback who seemed to be gaining rhythm as the 2nd half wore on. Any disruption in Sam Bradford’s timing would have helped. Even the passes he was completing were off target. His receivers had to routinely wait for passes, reach behind themselves or make circus adjustments to even get their hands on them (sound familiar?). You don’t think blitzing a guy like this would be helpful? The Bills front four while not completely ineffective at this point were not getting the same pressure they were getting earlier in the game and now that game was in the balance. Blitzing a linebacker here or a safety there could have disrupted Bradford’s already shaky timing and could have caused the turnover the Bills needed to ice the game since there was little to no chance the offense was going to put this one away. By the time George Wilson dropped two would be interceptions on that fateful last Rams drive, I think even the people who were optimistically delusional were starting to waver. 


Every time the offense went 3 and out or punted the ball back to the Rams in the 2nd half all of us knew what was coming. The Bills only led by 5 points when the 4th quarter began and the Rams offense while largely unsuccessful most of the day was within one score. One score is all it takes to ruin an otherwise productive day by your defense when your offense can only score 1 measly touchdown… at home no less. Your best offensive player received 7 rushes and 1 pass and was even showing signs in the 2nd half that he was getting warmed up. Spiller had 4 rushes for 10 yards at halftime and finished with 7 for 36. That’s right, in a tight game where you held the lead for a long portion of the half, your best player had 3 rushes for 26 yards. I guess those numbers, albeit a small sample size, plus the countless highlight reel moments this season were not enough to convince this Bills coach to use him at least a little more frequently. So the Bills lost this game the way they always lose close games the past 3 years, on the arm of Ryan Fitzpatrick and through the football coaching of Chan Gailey.


Maybe the next few games they’ll fight through the skepticism and still be optimistic in that locker room. Maybe Coach Gailey will remind them that a team made the playoffs with a 7-9 record only a few seasons ago. Surely someone will mention how the Bills are still mathematically alive but I don’t want to hear about math here. Yes, the Bills are mathematically alive the same way I am mathematically alive to win the Mega Millions Tuesday night… it’s gonna take a miracle. And with the surging Seattle Seahawks coming to town err… Toronto next week fresh off of a 58-0 beatdown of Arizona, a team the Bills could barely defeat earlier this year, I’m thinking it’s high time to talk about what changes the Bills should make after the season, our potential draft position in April and which young quarterback we should target in that draft and where/when we should take him rather than discussing our pathetic playoff hopes which are only dwarfed in their ridiculousness by how disappointing this once promising season has gone. It’s time to accept that. The season is gone and it’s time to turn the page. This book seems like it’s been going on forever, or 13 years, which feels like forever to a sports fan. It’s a new week but the same story and I for one, am getting very sick of reading it… mostly because I know the ending.

Rules for your Super Bowl party (2-1-12)

Going to a Super Bowl party this weekend? Super Bowl parties have become some of the most important social gatherings of the year. These parties have gotten so big that whether you are hosting or going to one, the parties now seem to have an unwritten code of etiquette that confuse many. Well, it's unwritten no longer as right here I've spelled out the rules for you and you can take pride in acting accordingly this Sunday! With no further ado, I present my Super Bowl Party Rules!

The Super Bowl Party Rules!

First things first. You must get into the mindset that Super Bowl Sunday is a National Holiday. IT IS! These days, many companies allow employees to come in late the next day, or even take the day off, especially in the cities represented in the game. All across America, when someone stumbles in an hour late that next day, bosses tend to be a little more lenient, especially if they are football fans themselves. Super Sunday is a big deal and should be treated as such! Once you accept this realization, these rules and guidelines will not only make sense to you but they will be easy to follow as well. And if you refuse to acknowledge the power of the pigskin… well I wouldn’t want you at my party.

Now the rules and what you need to know:

-On attire: It is advised but not mandatory that you try to wear something football related whether it’s a t-shirt, hat, jersey, scarf, gloves, face paint or the ever popular zubaz pants. Bonus points to you if you can find more than one accessory! Also, it doesn’t matter if your favorite team is not playing in the game, you should represent for your team regardless. Its okay to wear a Bills jersey, a Browns hat or a Jaguars ringer tee… this is as close to the big game as these teams get! Show your love and as is the case with other holidays, dressing up makes the day better! Can you imagine not wearing a costume on Halloween? A hideous sweater on Christmas? You would probably dress up for weddings, funerals and formal events and this is no less important!

-On what to bring: You are not actually required to bring anything to consume, provided you've received an invitation, but if you plan to consume large quantities of food and/or drinks, you should be courteous to the other guests and provide things for them to enjoy. This also means no "markup consuming", that is bringing a discount product of small quantity only to consume tons of someone else's high quality goods. Example: Bringing a 40 ounce bottle of Olde English malt liquor and then consuming a 6-pack of Guinness. You know in your hearts of hearts it’s not right and there should be honor among football fans. In addition, you cannot ask to take the unused portion of what you brought with you when you leave. It’s simply not polite. At the end of the party, if the host wants to get rid of some of the food/junk, you should take that opportunity to volunteer and be a “nice person”, otherwise consider ownership of your goods transferred to the host once you walk in the door.

-On Substances: Every party guest acknowledges when they enter the party, it's like signing an invisible waiver stating that they will have no knowledge of any “alleged” legal or illegal consumption of alcoholic, psychoactive or hallucinogenic items during their stay. What people do to enhance the game or their mood is up to them. As long as none of the party rules are broken, everything is fine.

-On the party’s location: Be respectful of the host’s place. No recreating any plays from the game, tackling, throwing of objects like a football, showing off your “moves” or any other locker room inspired antics. If you need to dance, make sure you can do it in your space. If you need to recreate any action from the game, you must go out to the yard or the nearest available park. After all, the Super Bowl is played on a spacious turf, not in a living room. Treat the place as if it were your own. That also means offering to help with cleanup after the game. Surely you can grab a few dishes and put them in the sink/dishwasher. Think about why you didn’t host… because you didn’t want to have to deal with everything the host is dealing with! SO show compassion for those who have the courage to do what you are afraid to and pitch in. If you do, you’ll be sure to get an invite the following year, if not for the Big Dance, NHL playoffs or any future sporting event worthy of another party.

-On America: Everyone must stand, remove their hats and show respect for America during the National Anthem... even as the flavor of the month "recording artist" or old fossil "vocalist" butchers it.

-On the less fortunate: There are always some people at the Super Bowl party with little to no knowledge of football. Just know I and most knowledgeable attendees are more than happy to help answer any questions or explain any parts of the game that some may not be able to understand or follow but please withhold any appropriate questions until an appropriate time, like a bad commercial, a time out or a break in the action. However, I and even the most helpful of football fans will not answer any questions having to address any player’s martial status, butt or dreamy eyes.

Which leads me to...

-On the game chatter: Absolutely no dialogue can occur during the action other than reactions, instructions and exclamations to said action. This is especially true of the immediate perimeter around the television. Consider it a no-fly zone for irrelevant dialogue. Any parties not fully invested in the game may conduct conversations, face to face or phone to phone, especially the non-football kind in the kitchen or nearest bedroom. If it is to be an angry or loud non-game related conversation, it must be conducted at least 100 yards from any television at the Super Bowl party.

-On the expensive commercials: All commercials will be judged immediately with a quick and simple review ("well, that was just stupid") that must be given before the following commercial has ended... because that one must be judged as well!

-On potential human obstacles: Anyone standing in front of the television for any duration longer than .5 seconds should be pelted with all the food available to be thrown at that time. If they still have not complied then it will be time to introduce them to the sauces, dips and condiments at the party.

-On the halftime show: Since the halftime show features an old musical act that is no longer relevant, the previous rules of dialogue can be ignored and guests can and should talk freely. This would be a wonderful time to load up on food for the second half, get to the restroom and for those with less serious questions to ask them. Keep in mind, if a guest gets up and goes into a room leaving something behind on their seat, the seat should still be considered occupied and for all intents and purposes they are still sitting there and should not lose their place. This is their reward for arriving either early or on time. If the seat is left uncovered or as it was at the beginning of the party, the rules of “finders’ keepers” will apply and in the case of a tie, a friendly arm-wrestling match, coin flip or staring contest shall be used to settle the dispute. In every case, the host may bypass the need for a contest and simply award the seat to whomever they feel deserving of it.

-On children at the party: No kids are allowed primarily due to the saucy language expressed throughout the game by the serious football fans, drunk people or both. Kids also have a hard time following many of the rules laid out in this big game planner and the only “time outs” at a Super Bowl party happen in the game. Find a sitter.

-On Food: Keep it simple- no tofu, high brow or vegan stuffs unless your entire guest list is comprised of vegans. Let’s be honest though, if have 15 vegans coming over for something, it certainly isn't going to be to watch a football game. In addition, guests should not bring anything incredibly messy that cannot be contained safely on a paper plate. This goes back to the previous rule about respecting the host’s place. The carpet is not a forum for your abstract modern lasagna art.

-On Party etiquette: Despite the fact you are probably eating like a pig from a trough, dressed loosely and comfortably and around many of your friends there are some manners you should attempt to employ at the party for the greater good:

Double dipping: This should not have to be explained. Think of the famous Seinfeld episode: “That’s like putting your whole mouth right in the dip. Look, from now on, when you take a chip… just take one dip and end it!”

The Passage of gas (burping and farting): Unless your party consists exclusively of very large men with no regard for such things there will be no “sharing” allowed in this manner. Farters should be treated like smokers and sent outside to conduct their dirty business. Belchers do not have to go to the same lengths but should attempt to muffle and certainly should not blow or direct the burp at any other attendees. In the case of an accidental release where a muffle or some type of control is not an option, an apology must be presented immediately and the offender will be placed on immediate party probation, meaning that any further violations will result in the guest losing their seat and having to watch the rest of the game from the outer perimeter of the party. If the offender is already on the outer party perimeter, they should be reminded that they are very close to the door. When dealing with repeat offenders with no regard for human life, they should either be removed from the party altogether or placed securely in a tight closet where they alone will have to endure their insolence.

Lastly: Under no circumstances is anyone other than the host allowed to change the channel, and even the host MUST have a legitimate reason (i.e. an emergency) for doing so.

So that's it! These are the rules for the big game. If you and your guests follow these simple rules there is no reason why your Super Bowl party won’t be a smashing success!

State of the Sabres (1-30-12)

With the All Star break just about over, the Sabres return tomorrow night against Montreal… did you miss them? Did you even know they were gone for a week? Things are not ideal in Pegulaville and I guess the more important question is could the MSG/Time Warner Cable stalemate have come at a better time than when it did? Watching Sabres games have become such a gamble that if you aren’t currently able to see them, it’s simply not worth it to go a local pub and drop a bit of cash for drinks and/or food only to be subjected to something so awful that said food and drink could come right back up. The Sabres only seem to play hard for 20 minutes a night, if that and that's usually all the time the viewer needs to ascertain what will happen that night. Will it be close? Will the Sabres give a fair effort? It’s a big difference from a few seasons ago and even the end of last season when a 2-0 deficit had us wondering if they could come back and win. We kept watching because more often than not, they closed the gap to 1 goal, took it to OT and even stole a few. Falling behind didn’t mean a sure loss. Now a 2-0 deficit has the viewer wondering how bad the final score will actually be. Will we get shutout? Will it go from respectable to downright embarrassing? It’s no way to watch a team or a game and it seems less people want to watch this team. Even after last Tuesday’s refreshing win over New Jersey, the Sabres are still fighting to avoid being last place in the entire conference.

I’ve watched nearly every game since the MSG blackout and one of the questions that cross my mind most nights is; are they trying to get Lindy fired? The team hierarchy offers the large amount of injuries this year as the primary reason for their dreadful performance so far and injuries certainly play a role but more than that it’s terrible play and a lack of consistent effort. Every athlete goes through little slumps here and there but for so many guys to play so badly, for so long, at the same time? It’s highly improbable. It seems like there’s more to it. The passing is horrendous and game by game we have to watch the worst passes of the bunch end up in the Sabres’ net but even worse than the lack of good fundamental play is the lack of a consistent effort from this team. This is the part where I think some guys on this team are trying to get Lindy fired or have simply tuned him out. Collectively the guys give little effort most nights and routinely get beaten to loose pucks, lose the battles in corners and refuse to block shots, hit and sacrifice for the greater good. In fact, some of these guys should be charged with Grand Larceny because they are stealing millions from owner Terry Pegula this season.

People are using terms like “lifeless”, “gutless”, “stagnant”, “stale”, “underachieving”, “no heart” and that many of these guys are doing nothing more than collecting a check. Isn't saying that a team has no heart the worst thing you can say about one? It would be one thing if they didn't have any talent. It would be different if these guys were busting their butts and hustling all the ice but just didn't have enough talent to beat the better teams but to give such a pedestrian effort most of the time against competition both good and bad, to show no concern or even any anger that they are regressing and to look like they don't give a crap about their coach, their owner, each other and their fans is unforgiveable. Where's the pride? You’ve fallen on hard times, we get it. Now fight your way back to your feet! Recently in Chicago Paul Gaustad was run and knocked out of the game by tough guy Jamal Mayers and no one lifted a finger. It was a cheap shot and while it was a dirty hit to a lesser extent than the now infamous Milan Lucic hit on Ryan Miller in November, it once again exposed the Sabres as a team that can be beaten up and pushed around and they won’t push back. They won’t fight back. Do they even care? It makes me sick to watch. I have a feeling I’m not alone.

Then there’s Ryan Miller. 2 years ago he was arguably the best goalie on the planet and an Olympic hero… what happened? He’s statistically one of the worst goalies in the whole league this year. Going into that game where he was run the Sabres had a record of 10-5 on the season. Miller was playing shaky but the team was going along well considering and everyone was waiting for them to really get into gear. Then the thrashing at Boston happened and the team has found themselves in a downward spiral that has seen them lose 24 out of 34 games since that day. Miller went from being in a slump full on into the abyss with more than a few people wondering if he will ever be that Vezina trophy winning netminder again. The fact of the matter is Miller has always been a fiery, sensitive, eccentric goalie. I know it seems silly when talking about a rich, successful professional athlete but when the home crowds booed him early this year and when none of his teammates would stick up for him that November night in Boston, I think his feelings were deeply hurt and it's partially alienated him from this team. I don’t think he’s been the same since and I feel like there’s a rift there. Combine that with the nasty concussion he suffered that night and one has to wonder if he’s 100% physically, psychologically and emotionally.

Between the concussion and the disrespect he might feel from his peers I’m speculating that his heart is not entirely in it with this team. Look at the 2^nd time he was run by Nashville’s Jordin Tootoo in early December. He immediately dove upon Tootoo himself! Would a goalie normally be so quick to attack his attacker like that? Or did he do what he did because he thought no one would have his back? I think there’s something to that with Miller, and I think it’s beyond a simple apology from everyone involved. I don’t think he trusts his teammates in tough spots and with good reason. They let him down with alarming frequency and several times a game Miller finds himself staring down a 2 on 1 or worse after another poor pass or lackluster effort  leads to a costly turnover. It’s been the Sabres’ recipe for doom lately and in the old days when it did happen; Miller would usually bail out his teammates with big saves. Is he letting in goals on purpose? Of course not, but like the guys in front of him, his heart may not be in it right now. If you want to call my theory conspiracy that's fine, but if I'm right, it’s not a situation beyond repair and as we know in sports, winning cures all. Perhaps if this team can play a team game and get it together, they could go on a little winning streak and maybe things could be what they were at the end of last season. Until then, we are left to wonder what’s wrong with Ryan.

Behind all of this turmoil on the ice I feel really bad for Terry Pegula, Ted Black and everyone who came in with so much positive energy and good intentions. These guys have come in and especially in Terry's case are living a dream that has become a nightmare. Terry, Ted and the rest have done a wonderful job with the organization, the community and have done nearly everything right... except the actual hockey stuff. I’m talking about General Manager Darcy Regier and Coach Lindy Ruff.

I wouldn’t be heartbroken if either were fired but I am more partial towards Lindy staying because I do think he’s a good coach. With Darcy I feel like there is definitely a place for him in a team’s front office I just don’t want him doing all the drafting, trading, signing and decision making, i.e. the main responsibilities of a general manger. As a GM Darcy is best from a position of strength, where he can methodically plot his course and take all the time he wants to make moves. It fits right in with his deliberate decision making and carefully slow action. In this case, in times of weakness where quick thinking, quick strikes and adaptable vision are needed he fails. Darcy is simply not a war-time consigliere.   

He missed his chance to help the team for this season about a month ago. Prior to Christmas all the cracks in the foundation were showing and this team desperately needed help to make a playoff run. Nearly everyone (fans, media) was agreed on that assessment. The rumors were that Darcy was asking too much for his guys, once again overvaluing the players he drafted and acquired that comprised the core of the wounded bunch. He probably didn’t think he’d get fair value for his guys. Guess what? The ship was sinking faster than the Titanic and with so many players having bad years of course he wasn’t going to get what he perceived as fair value for his guys. He is dealing from a position of weakness. When a team is struggling as bad as the Sabres have been it obviously isn’t the best time to deal but you cannot help the team in the short term by doing nothing. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet for the greater good. Some of these guys had to be sent packing in order to change the lethargic feeling that’s been growing in the locker room and spreading onto the ice. If the Sabres wanted to make a charge for the postseason like they did last year, the time to have made moves was at least a month ago. Instead of a spark we got excuses from the top down, even Pegula himself was citing the injuries as the primary factor for the unexpectedly bad results. Meanwhile, this team fell from battling for the last playoff spot to the bottom of the conference in the last month. Now, they are 10 points back and in a dogfight with 8 other teams for that last spot. It's too big of a mountain to climb.

With most of the team returning from injury the team shows little signs of improvement, especially after a 6 game road trip where they lost the first 5 games, some in gruesome fashion and barely won on the last stop on the trip due to a phenomenal performance by Miller. At least it was a win going into the break… Sabres fans were happy for that break by the way. With only 33 games left, it not unrealistic to think they need to win more than two thirds of those remaining games. That means they’d have to win possibly 24 of 33 games when they haven’t won more than 20 in the first 49 games. If they won 24 and lost 9 of the last 33 (with no OT or shootout losses), they’d have 93 points for the year which is what the N.Y. Rangers had last year to earn the last playoff spot in the East. Now that you know how long the odds are to make a playoff run this season, do you actually think the Sabres will do it? I have no reason to think they will and with that in mind, this is what I would do: 

My philosophy for the rest of this season could be summed up in one word: future. I want to blow this team up, sell off the stale and underachieving parts for what we can get, whether its draft picks, prospects or character guys and get some of the kids up from Rochester to get valuable NHL experience. Now when I say blow it up I don’t mean a complete rebuild. I'm talking retooling. There are some parts here that can be used going forward to build our winner. I would keep high priced guys like Vanek, Pominville and Ehrhoff, plus keeping Myers is a no-brainer. I would also keep more reasonably priced guys like Gerbe, Ennis and Weber who are useful 3^rd liners and depth. Keeping some of the high priced, higher talent guys helps to potentially make this only a 1-year turnaround whereas a complete rebuild would mean moving all the high priced core guys and that could take a few seasons before you have a good team. We want this to be a lot better by next October.

Then I would move Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, Jochen Hecht, Paul Gaustad, Brad Boyes, Jordan Leopold and I would listen to offers for Andrej Sekera and Ryan Miller although not actively shop them. If someone blows me away with an offer for Miller, I take it. Leopold still has another year on his deal but he is a solid veteran defenseman who can contribute offense. Teams are always looking for those at the deadline. Sometimes you can even squeeze a first round draft pick out of one. Also I just heard that Tim Gleason re-signed in Carolina for 4 years and he was one of the hottest Defensemen available on the trade market. Guys like Leopold and Sekera could now fetch a nice bounty at the deadline as desperate teams compete against each other to acquire them.  

Guys like Derek Roy and Drew Stafford have undeniable talent and through underachieving or just being undisciplined on the ice have drawn the ire of Sabres fans, including this one. Both guys seem overpaid right now with each making $4 million per year but if they play to their potential, they are fairly priced. If you have a guy with talent who isn’t a complete head case or someone who gets into trouble off the ice but is just struggling, you’ll always find a team or many of them who want to gamble and see if they can bring that talent back out. With the trade market becoming clearer by the day and with the lack of many superstars and top level talent available, both these guys could be highly sought after by playoff bound teams who feel they need one more piece to their Stanley cup puzzle.

Hecht, Gaustad and Boyes are making about $10 million in combined salary that was coming off the books after the season and they were most likely guys that wouldn’t have been re-signed anyway. They do us no good now that we are planning for next year. Why not try to get something for them before they depart for free? Between the 3 of them we can perhaps get a few draft picks and/or mid-level prospects to help restock Rochester.  

Why do need to restock Rochester? I’m glad you asked. We need depth there because I plan to call up Zack Kassian, Corey Tropp, Marcus Foligno, Derek Whitmore, Jacob Legace and perhaps a few more to replace the departed while expanding the current roles of Luke Adam and Brayden McNabb to see what all these kids can bring to the table in the near future.

This is what I’d do if I were in charge. The reality I subscribe to says it’s too late for this year to be salvaged and for that I blame Darcy Regier and think he should be fired for it. I keep Lindy for now with the hope that the newly reformed club will respond to him as previous Sabres teams did. Underachievers, upcoming free agents and easily replaceable players should be traded away to load up for the draft and this summer’s free agency and trade period. 

Will the Sabres follow a similar blueprint? Who knows? They’ll either make some moves this week to try to make a run for the playoffs now or they’ll sell off parts in February leading up to the trade deadline and raise the white flag. If they decide our season is over I would hope they’d bring in a new GM. I don’t want the man who put us in this mess and failed to respond when needed overseeing the retooling. The new GM could make the necessary moves by this year’s trade deadline and then spend the rest of this season evaluating the remaining "talent" to see who is part of the solution and who is part of the problem. Then when the season is over you make the moves needed to turn this around. A name that’s been brought up a lot is Rick Dudley, a passionate and accomplished hockey man with Buffalo ties. He’d be an easy sell to the fanbase not only as a former Sabres’ player and coach but also as a front office man who had something to do with building Tampa’s 2004 cup winning team as well as Chicago’s recent cup winner in 2010.  

As for now, until this team does something, anything to change the dreadful climate they’ve created, all of us fans remain hostages caught in the middle of a brutal financial dispute between our cable provider and the television home of the Sabres and even worse held hostage by the Sabres themselves who refuse to acknowledge what all of us have seen for months… that this team as it is now is unwatchable and something needs to change. Perhaps MSG did us a favor after all.   

The Braves... my favorite basketball team (12-27-11)

I don’t root passionately for any NBA team. I’m a Buffaloian and well, Buffalo doesn’t have a team… at least not anymore. For only 8 years in the 1970’s the Buffalo Braves dazzled and disappointed the crowds at Memorial Auditorium. In the 8 years spent here there was plenty of dazzle and unfortunately also plenty of disappointment. In a brief recap; the first three years were typical expansion team growing pains while the next 3 were fun, as the young team was finding its’ way and beginning to blossom with one of the best players in the NBA at the time, Bob McAdoo, leading the way. Unfortunately something ugly and horrible happened during the last few years robbing Buffalo of it’s basketball team and me of the team I would have unquestionably rooted for when I was old enough.

Without a team or rooting interest, basketball was the last major sport I cared about. I became a football fan as soon as I saw it on television. The game looked larger than life. My first memories as a football fan are of watching Bills fans tearing down the goalposts in 1980 after beating Miami for the first time since the 60’s. I remember Bill Simpson’s late interception sealing the first Bills playoff game I ever watched in 81. I can still close my eyes and see images of Gilbert Perreault and Phil Housley dashing up the ice for the Sabres in the early 80’s and the Yankees losing in the World Series to the Dodgers in 1981. Little did I know they wouldn’t be back for 15 years.  

When I did stumble into basketball in the mid 80’s I rooted for the Celtics. I think my first basketball memories might be seeing highlights from the 1984 finals between the Celtics and Lakers. Boston intrigued me. I liked that they won with a bunch of overachieving un-athletic players. Their best 3 guys; Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were not exceptionally fast, could not jump well and didn’t possess the kind of athletic ability you’d expect to see in star basketball players. But boy were they smart. They were technically sound and more than that they were savvy. McHale had the best post moves I’d ever seen, Parish would quietly produce game in and game out and Bird in his own way had some flair with his deft passing and ability to score with either hand. Their desire to win against more athletic and flashier teams impressed me and I rooted for them often but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t like they were MY team so while I’d want them to win it wasn’t so traumatic when they didn’t. I had what you might call a casual interest.  

As I got older I continued to root for the Celtics and even the Knicks during the 90’s because Knicks games were on television all the time and I got to know that team well. Now Celtics fans and Knicks fans aren’t exactly chums so to root for both illustrated how in search of a team I was and how emotionally invested I wasn’t. To give you a comparison that would be like rooting for the Sabres and the Leafs! Inconceivable!

All these years have passed and I still don’t really root for any one NBA team with the passion I do the Bills, Sabres and Yankees. I need a basketball team. About 5-6 years back when I started to research the Buffalo Braves I tried to become a Clippers fan… I mean, they ARE the Braves. I tried but it was too hard. Los Angeles is so far away from Buffalo, both literally and stylistically. Plus there are the circumstances of why the Braves left which make it hard for me to embrace the Clippers. Their existence is evil!

See you can’t really understand my feelings on the matter until you understand the history at work here, the history behind the Clippers Curse and the resentment. I want to like the Clippers but their existence, out on the west coast should not be and Buffalo and its’ innocent fans are/were the victims. How could I root for them? It makes me wonder if the Bills ever leave whether I could still root for the L.A. Bills or Toronto Bills. Now I don’t have the same deep, loyal allegiance to the Braves as I do the Bills, or the Sabres for that matter, built over a lifetime of being in a relationship with them and I was too young to know or remember what happened to the Braves exactly so research and several sources will help me tell the story.

The Braves began in 1970 as an NBA expansion team and for the first three years they stunk. This tends to happens when you start a team from scratch. You have to assemble the parts; good young players taken with high draft picks combined with useful veterans to help the team grow acquired through trades and free agent signings. Ideally you find a young cornerstone to build a team around and the Braves were lucky enough to get one in Bob McAdoo. The future NBA Hall of Famer was the Braves 1^st round pick in 1972 and immediately made an impact. In just his 2^nd year during the 1973-74 season he led the Braves to their 1^st ever playoff appearance and went to his 1^st All Star game while putting up averages of 30 points and 15 rebounds a game. No one has done that since. The next year he was even better, winning league MVP (the only one in Braves/Clippers history) and leading the Braves to the playoffs again. McAdoo was the best of a new breed. He was a big man who could run the floor and stroke the mid-range jumper. Centers normally did all their damage in the paint but McAdoo was a pure scorer who could hurt you all over the court. For those of you who need a contemporary comparison think Dirk Nowitzki, with a tiny bit less shooting range but more physical and a better rebounder. With an improving supporting cast the Braves gave the eventual Champion Boston Celtics all they could handle in the 2^nd round of the 1976 playoffs before losing out in 6 games. With one of the best players in all of basketball and 3 straight playoff appearances, the Braves looked ready to make the next step towards potentially winning the NBA championship but behind the scenes something terrible was happening.

It started with the Braves’ original owner Paul Snyder. Snyder was an area businessman who is responsible for Darien Lake among other things. He bought into the NBA the same time the Knoxes bought into the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres. Both teams shared the Aud and there was room for both however their management styles were very different. While the Knox family embraced the young core of the Sabres along with the fanbase, Snyder’s impatience was well known. The Braves featured a carousel of coaches and supporting players around Bob McAdoo. Finally, Snyder wanted out of the basketball game and tried to sell the Braves right after their 3^rd straight playoff appearance in June 1976 to a rich couple that would move the team to Hollywood, Florida. Talk about taking the money and running!

Before it was finalized the city of Buffalo filed a damage suit and stopped the sale. After it fell through the team and city signed a new 15 year lease. Things seemed to be all better but there was a provision in the new lease which gave the team the right to break it if season ticket sales fell below 5,000. The team averaged 12,000 fans a game so this number didn’t seem likely to be a problem but Snyder still wanted out.

Later in the summer of 76 he sold 50% of the team to a man named John Y. Brown. Brown was from Kentucky and owned the ABA team The Kentucky Colonels before they folded during the NBA-ABA merger in the summer of 1976... around the same time Snyder’s previous sale fell through. The NBA absorbed 4 of the 6 remaining teams left in the ABA but the Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis were forcibly folded. Brown was paid 3 million by the league plus nearly 2 million more for the rights to his best players from NBA teams for his trouble. He used that money to buy the share in the Braves. Snyder included a provision in the sale. If Brown sold the rights to any players on the Braves it would count against the purchase price. Essentially, if he sold some of the players on the team and got a good financial return on them, his purchase of the Braves could be for very little or for next to nothing.   

Before the 1976-77 season was half over the team sold a 21-year old Moses Malone to Houston after a whopping 2 game career in Buffalo. Yep, they gave up on him after 2 games. By the way, Malone would go on to be a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest to ever play the game. Shortly after, the Braves biggest star Bob McAdoo was sold to the New York Knicks for 3 million and a journeyman player who was gone within a year. Can you imagine trading away a 25-year old NBA MVP just entering his prime and not because of ridiculous contract demands or because he demanded it, simply because you are trying to save some money. The trade was lopsided in the Knicks’ favor and reeked of something else going on. McAdoo’s presence alone brought people down to the Aud to watch the Braves so to sell him off seemed to hurt the franchise more than help the pocketbooks of an already rich new owner. There was indeed something else at work here, something evil.

One of the most famous sports movies of all time is the late 80’s baseball film Major League. In this film, the long-time owner of the hapless Cleveland Indians dies leaving the team to his gold-digging ex-showgirl wife who absolutely hates Cleveland. So she conspires to get rid of every good player and put together a team of stiffs that would play so badly that attendance would drop below a threshold allowing her to break her lease with the city of Cleveland and enabling her to move the team to Miami trading the history of the team and it’s relationship with Cleveland for better weather and selfish perks like free membership in prestigious social clubs. Does any of this sound familiar? Of course in the film it backfired but in Buffalo, New York in 1978 this very thing occurred. 

Sometime during the 1976-77 season John Y. Brown bought the other 50% of the team from Snyder and obtained full ownership. Being a rich Kentucky businessman did nothing to endear him to the lunch pail, blue collar Buffalo fans and the feeling was mutual. Brown almost immediately sought to move the team from the second he bought it. Brown’s real dream was to own the prestigious history-laden Boston Celtics franchise but unfortunately they weren’t for sale in 1976.

During the next season the then Celtics owner Irv Levin, a movie producer, wanted to move the Celtics to California. However he could not get league approval since the Celtics were one of the cornerstones and signature franchises of the league. With the attendance for what was left of the Braves falling below the threshold to break its lease with Buffalo, a compromise was offered by an NBA lawyer named David Stern. John Brown and Irv Levin could swap franchises. Brown could own the team he’s always wanted to own and Levin could take over the Braves and move them to San Diego, California. Everybody is happy! Unless of course you count Buffalo basketball fans.

Basically all the rich guys would get what they want and screw Buffalo. But wait there’s more! Along with the franchise swap, the two teams made a complicated 7 player trade with 3 players going to Boston and 4 going to Buffalo. Don’t worry, Buffalo or should I now say San Diego didn’t get anyone good. With the unbalanced swap of franchises (the Celtics being worth far more than the Braves) the Braves had their choice of Boston’s first round picks. They could demand their 6^th overall pick or the 8^th overall. Of course the Braves took the lesser pick, the 8^th who turned out to be Freeman Williams who lasted about 4 seasons in the league before departing to be the rapper and frontman for the C & C Music Factory. The other pick, the 6^th which Boston got to keep turned out to be a young player named Larry Bird. 

In the early 80’s when that same NBA lawyer David Stern became commissioner of the league (and is to this day) the NBA changed the rules on collusion so that no owners could ever conspire again to do the tank and swap they did in 1978. How convenient.

The new San Diego Clippers began the first of 33 mostly terrible years on the west coast where they’ve had barely more many playoff appearances (four) in those 33 seasons then they had in the 8 years in Buffalo (three). Some say that the franchise is cursed. The truth is weird things have happened there. Draft picks went bust; good players would go there and promptly blow out their knees or have down years. The Clippers would give away great players in foolish trades. They often made boneheaded decisions drafting forgettable players ahead of future Hall of Famers. They traded for guys who were past their primes and those younger promising players they did get either suffered awful injuries or simply departed the franchise for more money or the chance to be more competitive elsewhere. The Clippers could do little right. Moving from San Diego to Los Angeles would do nothing to reverse their fortunes. Even when Irv Levin sold the Clippers in 1981 to Donald Sterling, things did not improve as Sterling has earned the reputation as one of the league’s worst owners during these past 30 years, accused of being cheap, racist, sexist and last year he even sat in the stands and heckled some of his own players because they weren’t performing to his expectations.

When current can’t miss star Blake Griffin was drafted by the Clippers in 2009, he promptly blew out his knee before his first season even started and missed the whole year. When he came back last season to be every bit the star he was predicted to be, I wondered or more like worried when he’d be struck by lightening. I always liked Blake Griffin in college and love him in the pros and last year I flirted with the idea of trying to root for the Clippers again.

This year a friend of mine was talking with me about letting things go and not holding grudges… even the sports related kind. So with those new lessons in mind and using rational thinking maybe I am finally ready to embrace the Clippers. Honestly, no one who was part of the Braves debacle is still there from the previous owners Snyder, Brown and Levin on down and just about every player currently on the team wasn’t even born when it happened. I couldn’t blame anyone there for what happened long ago and it was time to move on, right? Although I was close I was still on the fence. I wanted to do it. I weighed the pros and cons but I still couldn’t make up my mind.

Now I mentioned how I like Blake Griffin. He’s a hard working, dynamic player. The kind of player I always hoped Shawn Kemp would have been back in the day. You know the type; awesome athletic ability but a good work ethic as well. Kemp was lazy, ate his way out of the league and squandered his gifts. Griffin is the opposite of Kemp in that regard. He’s probably one of my 5 favorite players in the league along with Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, Steve Nash and Chris Paul. Oh, did I forget to mention Chris Paul now plays for the Clippers too? That might have tipped the scales for me.

When the whole Chris Paul thing went down a few weeks ago I was elated he went to the Clippers. Since New Orleans “had” to trade him and the Lakers were the first up and most aggressive trying to get him I thought along with a lot of people he’d end up there… one of my favorite players on one of my least favorite teams. But when the league stopped a perfectly fair deal between New Orleans, Houston and the Lakers I started to wonder what was going on. It wasn’t like Chris Paul was being traded for a journeyman and a few million bucks.

When the Clippers finally snuck in and stole Paul away from the Lakers with a comparable but not much better deal I wondered if something else really was at work here. Perhaps the basketball gods came to collect on Commissioner Stern. Or maybe Stern has had some Scrooge like holiday season epiphany and sees the errors of his ways after a night with the spirits of basketball past, present and basketball yet to come. While David Stern didn’t sell the Braves and move them out of town, he certainly had a whole lot to do with it and several thousand fans and the basketball gods have not forgotten.

While he has had a mostly solid run as NBA Commissioner the Clippers have been a wreck. Perhaps denying the Lakers more riches and giving Chris Paul to the Clippers is in some way Stern paying his penance. Maybe the curse will end. This summer if the Clippers are hoisting up the championship trophy we’ll know the gods are appeased and the curse has been lifted. If not, we’ll still understand that some good karma for Stern and the Clippers is a nice start to lifting the great Braves Curse. While it’s too early to know if the curse is over it isn’t too early to jump on the bandwagon of my rightful team. So I root for the Clippers now, except you’ll have to forgive me when I still call them the Braves.

Why So Serious? (12-1-11)

Yesterday the National Football League fined Buffalo Bills Wide Receiver Stevie Johnson $10,000 for his excessive celebration in the Bills 28-24 loss to the New Jersey Jets. If you haven’t seen the video of what he did, after scoring a touchdown late in the 2^nd quarter he pretended to pull out a couple of 6-shooters with his hands and did a bang, bang, bang thingy and then pretended to shoot himself in the leg ala Jets receiver Plaxico Burress, who shot himself in the leg at a New York city nightclub in 2008 and is finally back playing football again this year after nearly 2 spent in jail on the related charges. But wait, Stevie wasn’t done, then for his coup de grace he stuck his arms out and pretended he was a “Jet” like several Jets players do after they score touchdowns except Stevie didn’t have a happy landing. He sputtered out and crashed his fictional jet into the turf and was promptly penalized for excessive celebration, costing the Bills 15 yards and less than 2 minutes later Burress himself caught the game tying touchdown for the Jets as the game went into halftime tied instead of with the Bills ahead. Would the Jets have scored without the 15 yard penalty and the disaster of a kick by substitute kicker Dave Raymer that followed? We’ll never know but it certainly couldn’t have helped the Bills cause. That said; I am not one of these “fans” so upset about Stevie’s antics that I want him fined more, suspended or even off the team.    

I thought his biggest "crime" was trying to squeeze in 2 celebrations for 1 touchdown. The unwritten rule goes: 1 touchdown, 1 celebration/dance. As for Stevie’s celebrations, I laughed hysterically. One, he mocked the Jets TD dance and secondly he mocked a guy who brought a loaded gun into a nightclub because he thought he was above the law and shot himself in the leg. When you bring a loaded handgun into a nightclub stuffed into your pants and then accidently shoot yourself in the leg, I think you deserve the ridicule that comes in the aftermath. People were outraged with Burress when this happened. Now, he’s a sympathetic figure? I think people should lighten up a little. Stevie’s only mistake was overdoing it (with 2 dances) and picking up the penalty thus hurting his team.

Now his drop towards the end of the game, that's another story. Between last year’s wide-open drop of a potential game winning touchdown in the overtime of the Pittsburgh game and this, you can’t help but think he’s developing a reputation. People are starting to question whether the kid can come through when it matters most. The fact of the matter is that because of the high profile drops, there’s an issue with his focus. To be a number one receiver for a team, he has to improve his focus out there. That drop was a backbreaker which diminished an otherwise stellar performance. Penalty notwithstanding he was having a great game and instead of celebrating how he roasted the best cornerback in the game for 9 catches, 120+ yards and 2 TDs while leading the Bills to a HUGE win, we are talking about this. He's still very young and I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Will the rest of the fanbase forgive him? Some will.

Usually with a tone of contempt you often hear fans say that these guys are getting paid millions to play a kid’s game. That’s true but if we are willing to go that far let’s not be hypocritical. I think these overgrown, overpaid “kids” should be allowed to act like kids and feel that youthful enthusiasm the game generates both now and then. Part of that is acting like a fool when you score or do something large or impressive. Now before you oldschoolers dismiss what I am saying, I don’t condone the over-celebrating of first downs, 4 yard catches or making a basic tackle. That’s different. That’s just doing your job. Celebrations after basic, garden variety moments are the ones that should be penalized. That’s like a father patting himself on the back and feeling proud of himself because he takes care of his kids… Hello! You’re supposed to! But going above and beyond, like making an amazing play, scoring a touchdown or making a tackle, sack or interception that means the game, well I think you should be able to let out your joy and live in the moment. Those moments are few and far between (unless you’re the Packers). Besides, the pressure and scrutiny are intense out there. You gotta release some of it.

Can you imagine the stress and expectations a pro football player has to deal with, especially when they are a good player? Getting ready for a game all week long while you and your team’s every move is put under a microscope. Everywhere you turn someone is talking about what will happen and/or what has. It’s on television, in the paper, on the radio and all over the internet. Slip up and you temporarily become an even bigger celebrity for the wrong reasons. Can you imagine the pressure? Unlike other modern day celebrities who get judged less on their body of work but more on their latest offering, these guys are put under a similar microscope while sacrificing more than just a reputation. They are also putting their bodies on the line. We’re talking about people’s health here. Guys retire due to injury all the time and many ex-players have health problems later in life, some even have brain damage due to the constant collisions they endured for the life of their careers. Can Tom Cruise make a similar claim? Yeah they get millions to play a kid’s game and they get idolized as celebrities but you know what? They SHOULD! Football is HUGE business! Billions of dollars are generated through this “kids game” and even though football is big business, adult business, let us not take out the delightful roots of where it began… in the streets, parks and playgrounds of America. “You run to the Oldsmobile, turn around and I’ll throw it to you. The end zones will be this light post and the big oak.” Many boys played this game this way and when we scored, we danced! We danced like Michael Jackson then MC Hammer and now Chris Brown. We did the Electric Slide, the Tootsie Roll and the Dougie. Like it or not, it’s part of our culture. Now in the NFL or as they frequently get called the “No Fun League” power to the people would mean no limits so I’m not saying to let guys dance the whole game away at will… guys that don’t even get into the game would be dancing on the sidelines. I say let people dance and show the joy and emotion after big, important plays and then regulate the rest so that it’s not overdone. When you score touchdowns, especially dramatic ones I say let these kids be kids. Unfortuntely for Stevie, I'm not in charge of the NFL.

So by the league’s rule do I think he should have been penalized, yes... Fined? no... Criticized? Yes. Do I think he overdid it? Not at all… Stevie is just a big kid out there having fun and scoring a touchdown against the best cornerback in the league is something to be pretty excited about. Unfortunately the rules are what they are with that in mind, here's hoping Stevie learns and grows from this incident and here’s hoping fans lighten up and stop being hypocrites complaining about how the league won’t let the guys have fun out there and then jump all over Stevie for going too far. Why so serious indeed?  

Do you BILLieve it? (9-26-11)

Well how does it feel Buffalo? Over a day removed and I’m still somewhere between utter disbelief and incredible giddiness myself. The Bills finally slayed the Tom Brady dragon and won for the first time in 8 years against the New England Patriots. It was a span of 15 straight losses since an opening day 2003 beat down to the tune of 31-0 over Brady and Belichick in which Brady threw 4 interceptions (sound familiar?). Walking out onto Elmwood Avenue after the game felt wonderful as I found myself high-fiving strangers and feeling a sense of community I don’t feel that often except in times of great tragedy or rejoicing.

I rode my bike to work this morning wearing a Bills jersey with pride. I often wear a Bills jersey on a Friday before the weekend and on the Monday following it during the football season. It might have been a superstitious thing I used to do back in the day but I’ve been doing it so long I can’t remember the origin, so don’t ask me why. One thing was very different though. For the first time I was more expecting a person to beep “Let’s go Buffalo” at me as they passed rather than some idiot guy yelling “The Bills Suck” and almost startling me into a crash. Turns out neither happened but there’s still the ride home to look forward to (yes, I am writing this during the day today at work).

Something that began last season with this team was that despite the lousy 4-12 record, many of the games were quite exciting to watch. Ryan Fitzpatrick aka “Fitzy” had a wild arm but he wasn’t afraid. He trusted his playmakers to make plays for him, something many of his predecessors was unable to do. Combine that with top notch smarts to go with his moxie and he was starting to show signs that he could be a decent starter in this league. Coach Chan Gailey’s offense was designed to take advantage of Fitzy’s strengths while somewhat hiding his weaknesses. He’ll never have the big, strong arm and larger than life stature that football fans clamor for in their quarterbacks but he has all the intangibles the other guys who’ve been here since Jim Kelly have lacked and when the Bills did not draft a quarterback of the future this past April despite the fans’ rabid appetite for one, you had to think the organization and more importantly the coaching staff had the utmost confidence in the Harvard grad.

The team’s confidence in Fitzpatrick and many of the younger players on the team last season is being rewarded now as guys like Stevie Johnson are becoming stars and others like David Nelson, Eric Wood, Scott Chandler, Donald Jones and about a dozen more are becoming vital cogs in the core of this young team. It is one thing to be patient and Bills fans have had to be nothing but since the 90’s, but in this case it seems like the current regime are making much better personnel decisions which makes being patient last year as the team lost three quarters of its’ games worth it. That journey began only 19 games ago but unlike the last 4-5 rebuilding jobs Bills fans have had to suffer through, this one seems to be on the right track.

This young team took another step and a huge one at that yesterday vanquishing a hated rival who had dominated them for so long that you could count the number of Bills players who had seen the last Buffalo win over New England on one hand (2). They believe in themselves and more importantly they believe in each other and this rag tag bunch is learning how to win, how to finish games and how to compete with the league’s elite teams. When the team was 3-0 in 2008 under Dick Jauron, it felt more like dumb luck and wishful thinking while this time it feels like the ride is just beginning.  

Don’t believe me? Go to the stats. This was the first time a Brady quarterbacked team has lost a game when they’ve had a 21 point lead. It’s the 1st time EVER in NFL history a team has won back to back games when they’ve trailed by at least 18 points in each. The Bills are scoring an average of about 38 points in their first 3 games. You can’t “luck” into these things. It takes talent, determination, execution, heart and good coaching.

Take the jerseys off the teams and you’d be hard pressed to figure out which one was the Bills and which one was the battle tested, highly touted Patriots squad. In fact in the 2nd half, the roles looked completely reversed. The Patriots made the mistakes and let the Bills come back into the game and the Bills fought their guts out and stole it from the Patriots. How many times has that happened to the Bills… to us? We did it to them! How incredibly satisfying is that? The Patriots fans had their guts ripped out for a change as THEIR team blew it late.

As far as the game goes I’ll say this: I love Fred Jackson. I like the progress Donald Jones and David Nelson are making. I’m thinking about getting a Stevie Johnson jersey. I think Nick Barnett is a better LB for this defense than Poz would have been. I love how the offensive live didn’t allow any sacks of Fitzpatrick. It’s great to see the offensive playcalling be able to adjust as the game does, and think on the move unlike other coaching staffs we’ve had in Buffalo during the last decade. I love how the Bills players are doing the “Buffalo jump” into the stands after they score. I love how Fitzy shook off a rough start and came back to play beautifully in the 2^nd half (like Jim Kelly used to do) and I love how this team wasn’t afraid, wouldn’t give up and wouldn’t back down, even when New England fought back themselves and tied it.    

While I do feel giddy about what’s happening, deep inside me lies the natural skeptic and as someone who has witnessed regime after regime come in and promise big things and leave empty handed for 15 years that skeptic grew in power. I do wonder to myself, is this for real? Can the Bills make the playoffs? I’m actually fighting the urges and thoughts that this team isn’t quite ready yet for primetime because they are the ONLY undefeated team left in the AFC! They are a very entertaining team. They are well coached for the first time in well, seems like forever and parity has made this league so topsy-turvy that it is completely possible to be horrible one year and great the next. BUT let’s be honest, the Bills are not perfect. They gave up a ton of catches and yards to Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. For the second straight week they were unable to generate a single sack on defense. If this team can get a pass rush going, they might be even more dangerous. A good place to start getting this defense in gear is against a subpar opponent with an inexperienced quarterback, and what do you know, this week’s game features both!

This week for the first time in a few years I am seriously expecting a win. The Bungals of Cincinnati aren’t very good this year and they are starting a rookie quarterback who is learning on the fly. It should be party time for the Bills defense. For this team to take the next step, they need to beat down teams like this. Winning games you are supposed to win is a hallmark of the best teams. Considering how far we’ve come in such a short period I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually expect the Bills to win next week. I expect them to win big. I don’t know if I’ve had this level of expectation for a Bills team since the 90’s. It sure feels good. It feels good to BILLieve again.  

I BILLieve because the Bills have heart and guts. They play hard for their coach and for each other. I really get the sense that these guys are not a bunch of professionals thrown together but a tight knit group doing big things and growing together. Ryan Fitzpatrick recently stated that Fred Jackson is his favorite teammate of any he has ever had. That’s saying something when he’s been on 3 different teams and spent 6 years in the NFL. That also says something when you hear things like that and when you see Ralph Wilson Stadium looking like a Friday night high school game with the Bills jumping into the stands and partying with the crowd after the game the last few weeks. It looks genuine and heartfelt. Winning can do that for you. Winning can bring everyone closer together.

When the league locked out the players in the offseason there was certainly a disconnect between the fans and the league. Fans blamed the players AND the owners and watched in disbelief as the greed ran amok on both sides. Those days, while only a few months back, now seem like forever ago and it’s starting to feel more like these Bills are family rather than the highly paid mercenaries fans painted them to be. We’re rooting for the unheralded core of this team who are short on name recognition but big on heart. We root for guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson, Kyle Williams, and David Nelson and on and on. These aren’t 1^st round draft picks that came to the NFL amid big expectations and were signed to big dollars. These are late round draft picks and undrafted free agents, guys who were an afterthought, some well traveled and given up on in several places, who are finding a home here in Buffalo. These overachievers have come together to provide this town with as much hope and excitement as we’ve had in over a decade. A group of underdogs coming together to find success in the ultimate underdog city… now that’s the kind of story movies are made of. Hopefully this one will have a happy ending.