Archives for January 2007

‘But when you have an NFL team playing in your city for the most affordable price in the 32-team league, the complaints about the latest ticket hike just don’t make much sense to me. Complaints about the team’s performance are valid; complaints about the ticket hike are not.’

‘The North Tonawanda native was a bit surprised by how much the production team wanted him to be a part of making his vision a reality. "I think they wanted me to be involved, but they didn’t want to force me," he said. "I did have some say. There were times where I just sat out in the driveway outside of the house where we shot some scenes and watched on the playback monitor. Then the director Joe Pytka would yell out, ‘What do you think?’"’

‘Chambers, a two-year NFL veteran, has been out of football since being released by Cleveland in September. He played the previous two seasons with the Browns, appearing in 21 games, mostly on special teams.’

‘”It’s a lot different for me than it was five, six years ago,” he said. “I have to factor in my family. This could be probably the last contract of my career.”‘

‘That’s partly why the club began to bolster their roster with potential offensive line depth Thursday in the form of Kirk Chambers who signed a free agent contract with Buffalo. A sixth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2004, Chambers appeared in 21 games in 2004 and 2005, after being a four-year starter at left tackle in college at Stanford.’

‘The price increase will be felt most by fans sitting in the best seats – those along the sidelines.’

‘"We’ve tried to continue to be responsible, but it’s a function of doing business these days," said vice president of business operations Russ Brandon on Wednesday in announcing the price increases. "The main fact is that we remain the least expensive ticket, on average, in the NFL."’

‘If Everett, who caught 23 passes for 310 yards in his final season at Miami, can develop into a decent go-to option for the Bills next year, Losman and the remainder of the offense would be far better off. Of course, the Texas native has to make the roster first.’

‘"We enabled him to do some things that we probably weren’t doing in the first half of the year," said offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild. "We still weren’t doing things to any degree that we would have liked to, but as the season went on we were able to do more third down and red zone situations with him in the practice setting."’

‘”I’ve grown to love him very, very much,” Thomas said. “And it would be special if he can be there.”‘

‘The average price for a Buffalo Bills season ticket in 2007 will be $371.60, or $46.45 per game, an increase of $40 from last season but nearly $128 less than the league average and the cheapest in the National Football League, the team said.’

‘The team, which has among the league’s lowest-priced tickets, did not announce a reason for the increase. The Bills are coming off a 7-9 season, in which they missed the playoffs for a seventh consecutive year to match the longest drought in franchise history.’

‘The most expensive individual game ticket will be $70. The cheapest will be $38, in the family section. The most expensive season ticket is $60 per game. The cheapest is in the Rock Pile, $27 per game.’

‘Ticket prices in nine of the 12 designated seating areas at Ralph Wilson Stadium will increase by $3 or less, and prices for individual games in some lower-demand seating areas such as the upper deck corners actually dropped.’

‘The price hike comes despite an attendance drop of nearly 6 percent to 67,646 per game from 2005.’