Lori

I stand corrected, then. 83, you can resume, well, uh....

I'm done, Bob. Like I said over on the Bandwagon, if Slo is back next year, I won't be. He's a nice guy, trying to do things the right way (as opposed to the <expletive deleted> who got us into this mess), but the man CANNOT COACH. If they lose by double digits to the hated Griffs - as I fear - it's going to get ugly down here. Errr, uglier.

Umm... I think she's talking about the signed book sent to the club-seat holders, not the mass-produced card we commoners got. I could be wrong, though...

This may help, if you're making them from scratch. (Think we also used to use the egg-white method when we made our own soft pretzels...)

Whitlock has an interesting take on this over at his new home... AOL Sports

about halfway down the page.... http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=57278

That's actually from last season, Jes, so you were probably in NZ at the time? A few people hated it because they thought ESPN was mocking us, but most agreed with your 'friggin brilliant' review. It's even better on a full-size TV screen, where you can see all the little details they tossed in...

Not if WE'RE playing Baltimore that day, as per the original post. NEXT week.

There's a mention of "the two black females" about halfway through the story I linked, where the prosecutor is trying to defend his actions. And I absolutely agree. While the jury might have been following the letter of the law - i.e., there can BE no consensual sex with someone under 16 - the law itself is BS if you're talking about two high-school kids. Holy crap - when I was fifteen, three of my classmates had already had children.

He is. So is she. Background: Why is Genarlow Wilson in prison? And here's the REALLY interesting part:

Been ten years since I was there last, but I know there's a Damon's out by the mall on East College Ave. Here's a list of bars: http://www.happyvalley.com/Entertainment/bar_locator.cfm Since Pittsburgh is on the road (and thus on the local CBS broadcast), you'll definitely need to find someplace with the Ticket...

Never too early.

You're not wrong. Sorry...

Oh, and about Delaware State: NIT last season (after losing in the championship game of their tourney), NCAA the year before, and picked to win a third straight regular-season conference title.

Are you ^%#!ing KIDDING ME ?!?!?!? You want to see some putrid coaching, why don't you come on down to Olean? Better yet, send Witherspoon -- if y'all don't want him any more, we'll take him in a friggin' heartbeat. RW stinks, because he can't close the deal against the #2 team in the country. Nothing personal, Steven, but you're delusional.

Yeah, but at least the majority of us have figured out how to use the caps-lock key on the keyboard. P.S.: "Bunch of morons." is a sentence fragment. Thanks for stopping by, Vince...

(WARNING: Pyrite-length post ahead. Proceed at your own risk.) A few reasons: Supply/demand, in a much smaller venue. That's the big one. Everybody knew they were going to be good. Back when the Bills were good -- yeah, I know it's tough to remember that far back, but bear with me -- and the season-tix count was 5-7k above where it is now, I remember reading posts from people who bought single-game ducats for the crappier opponents on the schedule because the 'good' games were sold out, but they still wanted to go to a game, any game. Thanks to the spike in season sales, that's what Sabres fans are doing now - snapping up whatever tix they can get their hands on, even if it's a game against a bottom-feeder... I think the variable-pricing structure is a great marketing idea, too (even though all the MTL games are Gold ). Bills can't do that, though, because they need all the ticket $$$ they can rake in to hit that revenue-sharing qualifier. I think the TEN game still wouldn't have sold out at lower prices, but it would've come closer... and with them coming off a 4-12 season, this game definitely would've classified as a "Value" pick. And do the Sabes still do the mini-packs? I'd never consider buying all 41 games, but have thought from time to time about a ten-pack. That's something the Bills CAN do (and have in the past)... remember when you had to buy tix to another (read: dog) game to get ones for Miami? If people could buy a split-season package directly from the Bills instead of trying to find somebody to share them with on your own, that could boost season sales. So, to answer your original question, it's a combination of giving their customers more options and putting a good product on the ice/field. Bills can't claim either in the last few seasons, although adding the Rockpile section was a start. (But again, dropping those seat prices takes a bite out of the bottom line, and I don't think they can afford to do much more in that direction.) Used to be, people wouldn't dream of buying tickets for the Sabres instead of the Bills, but the shrinking economy + the contrasting performance of the two teams has made that a reality. There are a couple more factors I haven't mentioned, ones that impact the Bills far more than the Sabres: -Weather. Getting to and from Sabres games can still be a problem, but braving the elements to watch the game itself isn't. (Yeah, it's been a mild winter so far... but nobody knew that when the schedule came out and they saw all the home games stacked between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Personally, I have a heck of a time talking anyone into coming up to a game in November, much less December. Did that actually stop some people from plunking down the cash for seasons? I wonder...) -Fan behavior. I'm sure there are drunken louts at hockey games, but the perception is that the problem is far worse at football games, and the Ralph in particular. Last hockey game I went to was at the Aud, so I can't speak from personal experience, but everything I've heard suggests that if parents want to take their kids to a sporting event without scarring them for life, the Sabres are a much better choice. It's a shame, really, but that's where we're at these days. For all of us who enjoy responsibly tailgating and consider it a part of the gameday experience we couldn't do without, there are people who avoid RWS BECAUSE of it... and the problems it causes. That's my take, anyway. So where do we go from here? Next year's schedule looks a lot more favorable vis-a-vis ticket sales - Pats, Cowboys, and Giants games will sell out quickly, the #2 or #3 team in the AFC West (either KC or Denver) should be a good draw, and Baltimore and Cincy are a lot closer than the AFC South teams we played this year (who don't have a significant road presence anyway). And unless the team absolutely tanks these last two games, there should be some positive buzz heading into the offseason, when the ticket invoices start showing up in the mail. But let's be honest: even when the Bills were on their Super Bowl run, they still never sold more than 58k season tickets, and some games against the lower-tier teams didn't sell out. One thing I'll give TD credit for - I never imagined he could sell 47k seasons last year, considering we were 10,000 below that number in 1999 (coming off a playoff season and caught in the grasp of Flutiemania). Going to be tough to get that count back over 50k any time soon, and that's what HAS to happen for this franchise to remain viable. Back to the blackout rules, where this all started - I don't like them, never have, but I doubt they ever go away short of an edict from Congress. And with just about every other team in the league selling out their stadiums without even needing to bother with single-game sales, I doubt we'll find any sympathy there outside of the NYS delegation. "You don't like blackouts? Fine. SELL YOUR GAMES OUT, then. Everybody else does." Can this region continue to afford to support the Bills? I'm not as sure about that as I used to be. There's certainly no room to cut ticket prices as the Sabres did last year, and I'd imagine there are probably NFL rules against variable-game pricing. Do what Jacksonville did, and lower stadium capacity? There goes a chunk of gross income, which would probably mean raising prices elsewhere in the stadium. Personally, I'd still be okay if they did that, but how many season-ticket accounts would they lose? Vicious cycle. Sigh.... Happy Holidays.... (And back to the original point of the thread: I *still* think running a full slate of games on Christmas Eve afternoon doesn't serve the actual ticket-buying fan, but the league has already shown it cares more about the TV audience than the poor saps in the stands. Thanks a lot, NFL.)

Get bent. And Merry Christmas to you too...

UPDATE: Breaking on the AP wire... Surprise, surprise.

...and all I could think about was Tom Donohoe. You 'n me both, Rubes. (And probably a lot of other people here, as well.)

...and all I got was a lousy card... Good hearing from you, Ann! And yeah, it's looking more and more like DJ is the right guy at the right time for this team, no?

I think they did. SACKMARINO? And howzcome I always look like I can't stand up straight in those shots? :hic:

I still remember the one news anchor on WIVB when the 2005 schedule came out. "Exactly who thought it would be a good idea to schedule a night game in Buffalo, in December ?!?"

True.

Yup. Lambeau Field has been sold out on a season-ticket basis since 1960, and the people finally nearing the top of the waiting list put their names in some THIRTY YEARS ago. Also, since they used to play some home games in Milwaukee, many longtime season-tix holders drive north from the Milwaukee metro area (2000 population: 1.5 million). Donte may want to factor their demographics into his analysis. EZC, I agree.