Archives for December 2008

‘Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, and host of Friday’s popular Marcus’ Mailbag on the Bills website, is the player guest on this week’s Thurman Thomas Show sponsored by Northtown Automotive.’

‘(On what went wrong the last 6 weeks after starting off 5-1) – "Turnovers. I think that was one of the biggest parts that really started in the second half of that Miami game. A lot of turnovers that happened that really weren’t really able to come back from and then score a lot of points. We won a lot of games because of the turnovers. Correcting them as of late gives us a chance and that’s really all we can ask for."’

‘”It seemed like everyone was having fun, win, lose, or draw,” Williams said. “For me, it was just a different experience and I really enjoyed that.”‘

‘The Bills sell out regularly and have not asked local leaders to replace The Ralph. The point of building a new stadium these days is more suites and luxury seating, precisely what the Bills have trouble selling more of.’

‘The Bills play in an aging stadium in a smaller market and fear they’re being lapped financially by the Jerry Joneses of the NFL. Sound familiar?’

‘”It should be 100 times better, more comfortable,” he said. “It should be 100 times better all around for everybody, them hearing my voice, cadence, calling the plays, everything. Everything is going to be much, much better, much more fluid if the quarterback is able to prepare himself one week knowing he’s the guy."’

‘”I know that each town that we went to, including the hometown fans, when you go to a game the people there are true fans,” Williams said. “Sometimes, especially in Miami, you get people coming only when you’re winning. Going to places like Hamilton or Regina, Calgary, there are really, really huge football fans there.”‘

‘”I’m a pretty basic guy. Besides movies, I love good books and going out to a restaurant and having a great meal. I’m starting to get into skeet shooting. Chris Kelsay and I just went pheasant hunting with Jim Kelly, so that was a great experience. I didn’t catch anything, but it was impressive watching Chris. That guy’s a natural.”‘

‘As a side note, this formation is not even new to the “modern” NFL. Marv Levy ran a variation of the Wildcat – the Wing-T- with Kansas City as the Chiefs’ primary formation in 1978. It was used out of necessity. The Chiefs’ defense was horrible, and Levy simply wanted to keep it off the field.’

‘”The Dolphins have said they hate coming up to Buffalo [in the winter], and they hate playing in the bad weather,” Keohane said. “It’s like they’re getting a bye, a get-out-of-jail card, a reprieve from the weather.”‘

‘The best hope for the Bills to limit what the Dolphins do on offense is a percentage, namely the fact that premier cornerback Terrence McGee is now 100 percent healthy. He was around maybe two-thirds to three-quarters power during these teams’ first encounter, which led to regular-strength Dolphin wideout Ted Ginn Jr. accumulating literally about 27 percent of his gains this season during that one afternoon.’

‘"I just want to have a good game and not have a repeat of what I did previously. I don’t feel like I’m out there trying to prove something; I just want to go out there and play some good football," said McGee, who has been doing a lot of that lately.’

‘From business owners in Orchard Park to season ticket holders who have braved rain, sleet, snow and ice at The Ralph — sometimes all during the same quarter — there are feelings of bitterness and paranoia toward the Toronto game. Most of all, they feel robbed of the experience — and, in some cases, revenues — that home games here provide.’

‘In 1995, the NFL was reeling after it went from having two teams in Los Angeles to having none. The Raiders moved back to Oakland. The Rams moved to St. Louis. That was considered good news for Toronto. “They were talking expansion,” Godfrey said. “One team for Los Angeles.” The other team, he believed, was going to be Toronto. “But all of a sudden,” he said, “the Browns are moving to Baltimore and all the anti-(Art) Modell forces were at work. The politicians got their noses out of joint.”‘

‘Bills fans are like aggrieved spouses right now. There’s an abiding love there, a lot of history. But after years of betrayal and emotional pain, they’re wondering if they might be better off without the heartache.’