Archives for May 2008

‘”To hear Mr. Wilson’s voice, and to know the honor will happen, I’m quite excited about it. It’s a blessing,” said Smith, 44, who operates Bruce Smith Enterprises, a commercial real estate development company located in Virginia Beach, Va.’

‘”We feel really good about Derek Fine,” Bills Chief Operating Officer Russ Brandon said after the draft. “He’s a heck of a football player. He’s a guy that’s going to come in and contribute. He’s a pass-catching tight end that’s very good with the run after the catch.”‘

‘While Whittle, a 10-year veteran NFL offensive lineman, is used to the crowd noise and support of Buffalo Bills fans during the season, the cheers he currently hears come from Laker Stadium are made by the parents, friends and family of his NFL Flag football team, the Panthers.’

”I tore my hamstring off the bone but now it feels great. I didn’t have surgery, it just re-attached to scar tissue,’ Whittle said. ‘It was the most painful injury I’ve had, but it actually healed really quickly, a lot quicker than anticipated. That was the first time I was on IR (injured reserve), it wasn’t much fun.”

‘"This is a great opportunity for me to showcase my talents and represent Coyote football," said Little. "I am looking forward to going out and giving it my all. I will work hard and try my best to do well at the tryout."’

‘”First of all, you won’t get it all (CFL rules) at once,” Levy cautioned. “You have to learn from the people in the league and the players. The rules are different, but the same things are applied to winning. If you run, throw, block, tackle, catch and kick better than the opponent, you’re going to win.”‘

‘Xavier Omon falls to his knees. Soon, he’ll cry. The man on the other end of the phone is a Buffalo Bills executive. Omon has just been drafted. What happens next? Elizabeth Merrill takes you inside the life of an NFL rookie in his first week on the job.’

‘Did the Bills wait too long in the recent NFL draft to take a tight end that can help spark their 30th-ranked passing game? Club officials don’t believe so.’

‘The Bills are getting almost $8 million a year in additional revenue from Toronto interests and even after profit sharing will have a significant amount of new money to invest in their roster if they so chose.’

‘The Bills have added two more quarterbacks to their roster to round out the competition heading into offseason workouts and training camp. They are Matt Baker, who has spent time with Miami, Houston, Arizona and New Orleans the past two seasons and college free agent Luke Drone of Illinois State. That gives Buffalo five quarterbacks with Trent Edwards and J.P. Losman firmly entrenched as No. 1 and 2. More players at the position gives the Bills some wiggle room if they do decide to move Losman in a trade, something they continue to deny they are seeking.’

‘Spygate isn’t a valid excuse for having your team get outscored by 228 points by another club over a 14-game period, and Bills fans would be wise to accept that.’

‘The last part of the formula is about the long term. Once they pack the expensive house for these games, promoters will put themselves on the fast track for a full-time franchise. Then will come the plan to build an 80,000-seat stadium, using the lottery list as a starting point for personal seat licences. They know what they’re doing, all right, and they’re about to let the buying begin.’

‘”It’s something I’ve always wanted. I still had the skills and knowledge of college fresh in my mind, so I didn’t want to wait,” he said.’

‘About the only thing that Buffalo has going for itself is the absence of a stadium in Toronto that would meet the NFL’s standards, but this too could change. When teams begin to follow the money, construction cranes and, eventually, moving vans are likely to follow.’

‘And now, specifically, we have the Bills and the Yankees, who don’t go in for any of that hooey about their fans being part of the extended family. Nah, they see those poor saps for what they’ve become: Sheep in need of shearing. And they, the Bills and Yankees, have some very sharp clippers in hand. Baa, baby. Baa.’