Archives for November 20, 2014

‘”I was right outside Mercy Hospital,” Marrone said. “It was tough. You see people trying to get to the hospital. You see emergency employees, nurses and doctors trying to get to the hospital. I can’t say enough about the people of Buffalo. It’s a really unbelievable experience. People were helping each other. People were helping get people to the hospital. People from the hospital were going out. The people were trying to plow snow from the streets.’

‘”I encourage Coach to be aggressive and just believe in the defense,” Williams said. “I tell myself this and I joke about it, but sometimes I really mean it. I feel like if we can’t make a fourth-and-1, we shouldn’t be able to win that game. Fourth-and-1 is literally just taking one step.”‘

‘Soon thereafter, Don Hartnett, the league security representative, gave me a briefing that curled my hair. It turned out we had players who were involved with drugs. We had a number of players whose lifestyles were not conducive to what you would consider to be upstanding NFL citizens.’

‘The NFL, not the Bills, will make the final determination on what to do, but the game could be pushed back to Monday, or perhaps contested at a neutral site Sunday or Monday, perhaps Toronto’s Rogers Centre, where the Bills played one regular-season game every year between 2008 and 2013.’

‘Bills coach Doug Marrone said he trusts his players to be able to take care of their bodies, but the inclement weather has obviously put a strain on the team when it comes to preparing for its Week 12 game against the New York Jets.’

‘”I don’t know,” Vick said when asked what he’s expecting. “Football is kind of a game where you just roll with the punches and the elements. You can’t question Mother Nature. You can’t back out of it. You have to go do what you got to do. It’s going to be tough. Adverse conditions are always going to be hard on a football team, but I think at the end of the day we all in the same boat, and we have to go get it done.’

‘”We’re looking to have 500 shovelers on site working those triple shifts,” Major said. “We don’t have a minimum number. We can’t have too many people helping.”‘

‘”It’s tough. You don’t want to compare it to other things and say this was worse than that,” Marrone said. “I think every phase is very difficult. This is very challenging. For me, the hardest part, or the most recognizing part of it was being in front of the hospital when I was stuck. Just made you realize a lot of other things that are definitely more critical than the point of me trying to get to the stadium. It’s a challenge. We’re all challenged here. I think everybody is doing the best job that they can to get it resolved. It’s a tough, tough situation. I’ve never been part of this, even being a New York state native. This brings me back to the 70s and the big storm we had back then.”‘

‘The remote option of using the Carrier Dome as a temporary home for the snowed under Buffalo Bills game on Sunday will not work because of cleanup from an American Hockey League game there the night before.’

‘So Williams was willing to lend a helping hand on Wednesday as many around Western New York tried to dig out of the snow. With Bills’ players having the day off from practice, Williams went over to the house of former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly to help him dig out from underneath the snow. Kelly’s wife Jill documented it.’

‘If these prices hold, this will be the cheapest Bills’ home game since they hosted the Jaguars back in 2012 when the average price for a ticket by midweek before the game was $31. The average ticket price for the Bills’ game against the Jets this weekend is currently $39.’

‘Whatever Vick has left, though, still makes him better than Smith and, for the last two games at least, more productive than Orton, who head coach Doug Marrone insists will remain Buffalo’s starter.’

‘The Rogers Centre in Toronto is unlikely, but it hasn’t been ruled out. “We have not been contacted by the Bills nor the NFL,” Stephen Brooks, senior vice-president of business operations for the Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, said in an email. “Hosting any event with such short lead time would present considerable challenges.”‘

‘Michael Signora, an N.F.L. spokesman, said the league was monitoring the situation. “We are working with the Bills to determine the status of the stadium,” he wrote in an email. “If a change to the schedule needs to be made, the league will make the decision, working closely with the club and local authorities.”‘

‘A league official told the Daily News that there is no set deadline to move the game that is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. The NFL, not the Bills, has jurisdiction over any time/date changes. Mother Nature had dumped up to five feet of snow on the Buffalo suburbs this week with another one to two feet expected Thursday, according to weather.com. Marrone couldn’t definitively say whether his team would practice Thursday, either.’