Lori

It's not their national sport, so there wasn't a depth of passion for it. People just found other things to do. On the other hand, the CFL does have that base of diehards ... just not enough of them to fill the Rogers Centre for a generic Argos game. I will tell you this, though: if the Bills continue at their current level of mediocrity, Toronto will NOT support them the way Buffalo has. In fact, at the game Monday night, the guy sitting next to a friend of mine told him, "I'm from Toronto, and if this is how it's going to be, you have NOTHING to worry about. They won't put up with this." Well. That makes me feel a little better. I guess.

They do have their diehards, but for most of Toronto, it's the Leafs, the Leafs, and the Leafs, with everything else far behind. And they're frontrunners, too. I was up there the night the Jays won their first A.L. pennant; everybody was a fan, and there was a raucous celebration in the streets ... but in the fifth-largest city on the continent, they've drawn below the league average for the last 10 years in a row.

I'm not bothered by how Trent's statement sounds to the other coaches in the league, but I do think it gives us a good clue to his current struggles. He's overthinking, pressing, trying TOO hard to break himself out of this slump instead of trusting his instincts. Just my opinion ...

With cheaper tickets than the Bills sell at RWS, the Argos average 30,000 fans for their home games. Multiple franchises have folded in Montreal and Ottawa; the current Alouettes are transplanted from Baltimore. Both Toronto and Hamilton went bankrupt and were taken over by the league in 2003. And in the most recent survey by Reginald Bibby, a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, the CFL was more popular than the NFL in all but one province. The exception? Ontario. Rogers screwed the pooch with his insanely high tickets; if he'd priced them near the NFL average, the game would have sold out in July. Too bad for him ... and I dearly hope Ralph got his cash up front.

For much the same reason, Eddie Donovan never took his St. Bonaventure basketball teams -- some ranked in the Top 20 -- to the NCAA tournament before the 1960-61 season. He preferred the NIT, which has always been played in New York City, to an NCAA regional that was sure to include a trip into the heart of the racist ACC. He finally changed his mind in '61, when two-time All-American Tom Stith led the Brown Indians to the No. 3 ranking in the final Associated Press poll, to set up a potential rematch against top-ranked Ohio State. Instead, SBU ended up playing Wake Forest in Charlotte. And despite the assurances given to Donovan by the NCAA committee before he agreed to enter the tourney, when they got to their motel, they were told Stith and Fred Crawford -- the two black players on the team -- could only eat with the rest of the squad if the entire group was placed in a separate dining room. The after-game players' party hosted by the NCAA was also whites-only, leaving Stith and Crawford to fend for themselves. In the game itself, the referees' bias was so obvious that Chuck Healy, broadcasting the game back to Western New York, disgustedly told the viewers, "You don't need me to tell you what's happening here, folks. You can see it for yourselves." Practically every time one of the black players -- both of whom would go on to be drafted by the NBA -- touched the ball, they were whistled for traveling. And in one unbelievable incident, after Whitey Martin had the ball knocked out of his hands and out of bounds, Wake Forest coach Bones McKinney picked it up and threw it up the court to one of his players, who inbounded it to their center for an easy layup. (The player? Junior guard Billy Packer.) Thanks in part to McKinney's role in a crucial basket, Wake won the game 78-73 to advance to the regional final against St. Joseph's. Hawks head coach Dr. Jack Ramsay met his counterpart on the court before the game, and the conversation grew animated, with Ramsay's finger in McKinney's face. Here's how veteran SBU radio broadcaster Don McLean recounts the incident: "After the game (won by St. Joe's, 96-86), I was at the NCAA function for the coaches and the press. I was talking with Eddie Donovan when Jack Ramsay joined us. He told Eddie that he informed Bones McKinney that if he tried to pull on St. Joe's what he did to St. Bonaventure the previous night, he would personally come down the court and punch the (bleep) in the mouth." And now you know why Billy Packer's name is a curse word in Olean, N.Y.

AFC East chat returns at 3 p.m. Lots of topics to discuss, even though most of them are negative ...

Crap. If my editor reads this board, I'm in trouble ...

Cheap natural gas supply, the same reason there were once SIX glass factories located in my small town. Takes a heck of a lot of fire to keep that glass melted. I couldn't begin to tell you how many millions of dollars we spend on gas every year. (BTW, Ball itself is out of the glass business, selling the division to Saint-Gobain about 10 years ago, and the huge factory complex in Muncie is gone.) No, he actually got a news-side television job in Texas: http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?s=8808235

Parrish, and Johnson, and ... Oh, sorry, I was still looking at the play stats from last week. Those are the only two names that appear after Edwards' first two interceptions.

Go Dolphins. Beat the snot out of the Pats*. Again.

mmm ... I like spam.

NFL source: Bills CB Greer to miss Chiefs game If true (and I have no reason to doubt it), not surprising. Looks like another week of McGee matched up against the other team's No. 1 WR -- probably Bowe -- all game long, with the rookies trying to hold the fort on the other side. Neither Donte Whitner nor Bryan Scott practiced again today, either. Is it too late to pick up Tyler Thigpen in my fantasy league?

http://buffalonews.typepad.com/sully_on_sp...chat-wit-1.html

Quality work there, No. 25.

The NFL's Game Statistics and Information System, which compiles stats and supplies them to club personnel, broadcasters and print media. This particular info came from the Play Statistics Report; as you can see, it's more comprehensive than the regular gamebook. All I did was find those plays and cut/paste.

Answer: Buffalo. One of Parmalee's other college jobs was cooking in the bowling alley out by the airport; when he first broke through with the Dolphins, my dad called me and said, "See that kid? He used to make me hamburgers."

Easy now, Anthony -- the play stats are mine (well, actually, they're from GSIS), but I take no credit/blame for talk of "B*t*hslaps" ...

In Pittsburgh? Against that defense? Prime-time crowd? Not a good time for his first start.

You're assuming Fitzpatrick will be able to complete 20 passes? Considering the state of their o-line, he may end up with more sacks than attempts ... (Okay, that's probably hyperbole. Probably.)

The National Lacrosse League site has a video tribute to Borrelli,compiled when he was inducted into their Hall of Fame last year, on the front page of their site.

No, he's the King of All Bastards. (And I certainly don't have that kind of pull ...) J.F. Christ, GBID. I think I'm going to be sick.

You got that right. Seriously, HFB to two people I'm fortunate to know.

Okay, fair enough. Nice history lesson on the Ball family, btw. We made those jars in our plant for a while, and that's the reason my dad moved out there in '87 (corporate HQ). In return, here's some for you: a Muncie team owned by the Ball brothers was actually one of the original members of the APFA, later to become the NFL. Didn't work out, though. And you do know where the Ball family is originally from, right? And on my first trip out there, you're damn right I snared myself a Ball U sweatshirt. Back to football ... yeah, Love's injury truly sucks. He was something to watch. Gotta love Davis, a quarterback who can throw the ball no matter where the laces are. I'm sure NFL QB coaches cringe when they see that, but hey, it works for him.

I'm not sure we disagree.

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