Archives for May 2014

‘” I really appreciated it. I loved it. I had a great time so this is my chance to give back and its actually a very fun way. Sometimes you kind of get a feel that things aren’t fun but kids love it and they feed off it and its a fun time so I’m going to keep doing it. They have a good time, get a new wave of kids in, basically just trying to make an impact on as many kids are I can.”‘

‘”I’ve been studying my playbook,” Gaines said. “And then I’ll watch a little TV, but I’m just trying to focus, trying to learn. So I’m ready for whatever opportunity I have. I just want to learn so I can play fast.”‘

‘”I think you can see it throughout the AFC East,” he said. “You look at the defensive linemen that are in this division, and you’re going against everyone in New York, to the guys in Miami and obviously the players in New England. … The players inside, everyone is getting bigger.”‘

‘”We’re pursuing the idea of a new stadium,” Cuomo told reporters during a brief question-and-answer session that followed a campaign rally in Amherst. “We’re going to be working very hard to do everything we can to keep the Bills here.”‘

‘”If you’re not having fun where are you going in life?” said Meredith, who caught Bills fever at a young age from his dad. “People go, ‘Why did you do this?’ Honestly, after Ralph Wilson died, I felt I needed to do something to pay tribute to him. Ralph Wilson brought me the Buffalo Bills and the Bills are a huge part of my life.”’

‘While some step-by-step procedures are spelled out in the NFL’s constitution and by-laws, in the real world events often unfold considerably less formally.’

‘”It’s been going pretty good. I can’t complain about it,” Jacobs said. “It’s been a pretty smooth transition. It hasn’t been completely smooth, but it’s not as hard as I thought it would because a lot of the schemes and terminology are some of the things I learned at Florida, so everything has been going pretty good.”‘

‘The Bills have signed all but their two top draft picks: wide receiver Sammy Watkins and offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio.’

‘”I’m used to knowing everything about the line, everything about my opponent and that level of competition that I faced is just going to help me here,” he said. “The plan is to try to get them to trust me, and hopefully love me so I can compete for these guys.”‘

Batavia: 33%

Downtown Buffalo’s outer harbor: 29%

Orchard Park (renovated Ralph Wilson Stadium): 28%

Niagara Falls: 5%

Other: 5%

‘He helped Buffalo, but Buffalo really helped him. Because Buffalo helped make him $110 million richer, it could help him return the favor again.’

‘In a column last week I indicated that reader email response to me was 3-to-1 against what the Bills did in the draft. That was actually less a negative response than might have been expected.’

‘We do have better ideas. Like the City of Buffalo, for example. Pick a spot. Downtown near the First Niagara Center could work. The Perry Street housing area has been mentioned and makes some sense. Pushing farther away from the arena area, somewhere between Larkinville and the Central Terminal on the East Side could work. I’m not closed off to something along Route 5, though I do think of all potential city sites, it is the most challenging in terms of getting people in and out.’

‘I don’t think there’s any reason to be nervous about Tom Golisano owning the Bills. Even if he sells the team I can guarantee one thing, he would not sell the team until it was iron clad that the Bills were staying in Western New York.’