Lori

Has he really 'lost a step', though? Or is it just that he's got Larry Tripplett and Tim Anderson in front of him instead of Pat Williams and Sam Adams? (For the record, though, I'm equally skeptical about burning a franchise tag on him.) Ooh. Memories of another Penn State LB wearing #31, back in the day. Be still my beating heart. (Dunno if he'd be the most practical pick, but can't say I'd mind seeing him in a Bills uniform. Then again, my Blue-and-White allegiance should be well-known by now. Fight On, State.)

If you were actually being serious, there's one small problem with that idea. Trading deadline: October 17th.

Ouch. Great line. The list: 1972 - Arrowhead Stadium 1971 - Texas Stadium 1967 - Jack Murphy Stadium (now Qualcomm) 1966 - Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (now McAfee) 1958 - Candlestick Park (now Monster) 1957 - Lambeau Field 1924 - Soldier Field The Superdome (1975) and the Meadowswamp (1976) are close.

Fredo (Petey Carroll) instead of Belichick, who was still in New Yawk with Parcells, but yup, he went for two after Wade took the Bills off the field. Adam V. jogged into the end zone with a big grin on his face, and I started looking for something heavy to throw through the television screen. That was the same year Vinny Testaverde's helmet scored the winning touchdown against the Seahawks. (Said green-and-white helmet was the only part of VT's body to hit the goal line; the football never even got close.) That game ended up costing the 'Squawks a playoff berth, and coach Dennis Erickson his job. I try not to whine about refs too often, because I think we 'fans' can go overboard on that... but there are times when it's absolutely, positively justified. Foxhole definitely qualifies on that count.

You'll pay a lot more than that if they catch you, since the speed limit on the 190 is 55 last I checked...

November 29th, 1998: The 'Fiasco at Foxboro'. Six seconds left in the game, Shawn Jefferson catches a pass on fourth down, doesn't get both feet down before falling out of bounds, but it doesn't matter anyway because he's short of the first down marker. Not even close. Turnover on downs, Bills win. Yay. That is, until the refs congregate on the sideline right in front of the Buffalo bench and decide that not only was it a catch, it was a first down. (Remember, now, no instant replay that year.) Andre Reed was close enough to hear the conference: Those of us watching the game while posting on the (original) Wall were equally incredulous -- in fact, that one play may have been the reason behind the first profanity filter -- but we figured we'd still be OK, because New England only had time for one more play. Bledsoe drops back, heaves a Hail Mary into the endzone, incomplete, Bills win... uh, not so fast. Flag on the play. Defensive pass interference. (Yeah, on a Hail Mary play!!) First-and-goal at the one, no time left on the clock. (If you ever catch a replay of this game, not only is the call against Henry Jones very questionable, there's actually a legit OFFENSIVE interference call that could've been made amid all the jostling for the jump ball... which is why you never see PI called on one of those plays. Well, ALMOST never. .) By now the Bills D was in shock; Bledsoe hit Ben Coates for the game-winning TD, and Wade Phillips -- in a move that still makes me proud -- took his team off the field before the extra-point try. (With no defense, Vinatieri ran it in for two to make the final 25-21.) The bill wound up being $50,000: Bills beat the snot out of Cincy the next weekend, and gave the game ball to Ralph. Thank that game for the return of replay -- Wilson had been a consistent 'no' vote, but changed his mind after the events in Foxhole. And you can also blame those calls for Buffalo having to go to Miami for the playoff game: with the win, the Bills would've finished a game in front of the Fish instead of losing a tiebreaker for the top wild-card slot.

Very surprising indeed, since the last time I checked, they're actually 1-6... (I'm guessing that's why you included the ... )

Cost us a home playoff game, that did. If calls 'even out', we've been waiting EIGHT YEARS to get back for that one... grrrrrrrrr...

Hoo boy. I'll try to keep this shorter-than-Pyrite; don't know if I'll succeed: When I started watching NHL games as a kid, the few games I saw were on Canadian channels (meaning mostly Leafs or Habs) and Guy Lafleur was fun to watch. Oh yeah, and they won. A lot. So my older brother and I both hopped on the sizable bleu-blanc-et-rouge bandwagon. Then, St. Patrick's rookie season coincided with my senior year of HS... and the French Club trip to Montreal/Quebec City, which happened to fall during the Habs-Nords playoff series. Saw the hallowed ground of the Forum, loved the goofy kid who talked to his posts, watched him lift another Cup a few weeks later, had a new all-time favorite player. (Still true -- the only hockey sweater I own with name/number is a red #33, and I was P.O.'d at the franchise for YEARS after Mario bleeping Tremblay ran him out of town.) To be completely honest, though, I'm not immune to the 'hometown' feeling vis-a-vis the Swordsmen. Dad took us to our share of games at the Aud; more recently, the (sadly departed) Empire was a fixture on every TV in the house. So for the seventy-or-so games every year when they're not facing 'my' Habs, I'm cheering for Buffalo. That's even more true these days, when their fast-paced, exciting brand of hockey reminds me of the game I fell in love with before the Devils and their ilk reduced the NHL to a boring clutch-and-grab-fest back in the mid-90s. Add: Gotta figure out who this "Afgeninov" guy is they just showed on the Sports Machine, though. Michael should really practice pronouncing the names in his highlights....

Correct. In fact, we discussed this after the Jax game... Stadium Wall: September 2004

More likely, you "found" a friend or relative of Coy's, seeing as how he lists Camp Hill as his hometown and attended Cedar Cliff HS. And yeah, those 'lame' signs honoring various players' charitable endeavors are really terrible, aren't they?

A very good question... and according to Wikipedia, the answer is no.

Moon played for the Chiefs? Oh yeah, that's right, he did... (checking stats) And those three games and 37 passing attempts were SO meaningful. I guess they're just waiting for Todd Collins to officially retire before it's his turn to be so honored? (Disclaimer, for anyone who might misunderstand the origin of this thread: yes, Moon was a great player... but not in Kansas City.)

Yeah. Reminding me that my Habs account for two of the Sabes' victories is very comforting. Now I'm even more depressed. Thanks.

Wouldn't be without 'em. (And anyone who thinks they're unnecessary has never seen my driveway.) Cheaper than keeping up the inspection on our own plow truck, like we used to...

Buffalo Bills Radio Network For future reference, that link is in the preview every week... PIG (95.7) out of Olean has a strong signal, but you might still be too far east. There's a few FM stations on the list, but not many, so good luck with that. And wow, times certainly have changed at the ol' alma mater -- they didn't even have a pre-law program when I matriculated, much less the relationship with Dickinson. (BTW: capacity is up to 109K after the latest rebuild. Only 80K when I was there, which means I'm getting old...)

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't see the Miami game, but I'd heard Brown is getting some reps on D again. Fortunately for us, unlike Bledsoe, Losman doesn't have a history of throwing to Troy... He certainly impressed in week 1. Plus, early work for LM keeps "Clock-Killin'" Dillon fresh for the fourth quarter. Nice combo to have. I certainly hope to, anyway. Bill and the NYC crew are making the trip for this one, and they've been a good-luck charm in the past. Hey Bill, seeya Sunday!

I've been reading this board for longer than most, and Tod was dead on. They're called "discussion" boards for a reason. From the very top of the TOS: You're entitled to share your opinion. So is everyone else. And if you find certain poster(s) to be overly and consistently negative, I've heard the 'ignore' feature works much better than telling people to shut up because their opinion happens to disagree with yours. Have a nice day, and Go Bills.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (4-1) at BUFFALO BILLS (2-4) SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2006 – 1:00 PM EDT RALPH WILSON STADIUM, ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK TELEVISION: CBS / CBS HD PLAY-BY-PLAY: Greg Gumbel COLOR ANALYST: Dan Dierdorf DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket: Channel 709 / Channel 724 (HD) RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck Patriots Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: Gil Santos COLOR ANALYST: Gino Cappelletti Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 143 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 146 (New England feed) REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Patriots lead, 51-40-1. New England is 24-21-1 overall in Buffalo, 17-15 at Rich /Ralph Wilson Stadium. PLAYOFF RECORD: Patriots lead, 1-0. LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: December 11, 2005 – Patriots 35, Bills 7 preview Not much to talk about here. New England, tuning up for their playoff drive, ran roughshod over a Bills team in upheaval following an epic collapse in Miami the week before. Things actually looked promising early on, as a 58-yard Losman-to-Evans bomb gave Buffalo a first down at the Patriot 10. The offense shifted into reverse from there, though: after a two-yard loss and a couple of penalties, Losman’s overthrow on 3rd-and-22, intended for Sam Aiken, was picked off by Asante Samuel in the end zone. By the time the Bills converted another first down, the score was 14-0 New England. The second half performance featured two three-and-outs, two more interceptions (including one returned for a TD), and a missed field goal by Buffalo, and two Tom Brady touchdown passes for the visitors. With the score 35-0, most Bills fans were long gone when Josh Reed’s 51-yard catch-and-run finally broke the shutout just before the two-minute warning. LAST MEETING: September 10, 2006 – Patriots 19, Bills 17 preview Couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the season – Takeo Spikes celebrated his return to the lineup by blindsiding Tom Brady on the first play from scrimmage, and London Fletcher scooped up the loose ball to stake Buffalo to a 7-0 lead just twelve seconds into the game. Add a couple of decent drives from the Bills offense and a misfiring Patriot passing attack, and the score was 17-7 heading into halftime. The second half was a different story, though: New England held the Bills without a point – including a fourth-and-one stuff on Willis McGahee deep in the red zone – and the strong running of Laurence Maroney and Corey Dillon helped lift the Pats into a tie early in the fourth quarter. And when a penalty on the ensuing kickoff pinned Buffalo inside their own ten-yard line, the stage was set for a big play by the Patriot defense. Ty Warren didn’t disappoint the raucous Gillette Stadium crowd, dumping J.P. Losman in his own end zone for the game-winning safety. The Bills would get one more shot thanks to an interception by rookie safety Donte Whitner, but an illegal-block penalty which nullified a first down, followed by another sack, halted the drive near midfield. The Bills punted with 6:22 left and never touched the ball again. Losman completed 15 of his 23 passes for 164 yards, the only game this season in which he didn’t throw at least one touchdown pass. Brady rebounded from a horrific 3-11 start to finish 11-23 for 163 yards, with touchdown passes to Troy Brown and Kevin Faulk. The ground game carried the day – literally – with 183 yards on 41 clock-killing running plays. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PATRIOTS OVERVIEW (2006 RANKINGS) OFFENSE (#11 total yardage, #6 rushing, #18 passing, #t11 scoring): First-round pick Laurence Maroney looks like a star in the making; before the season opener, I surmised Maroney would supplant Corey Dillon in the starting lineup by midseason. That hasn’t happened quite yet, but the two are getting an equal amount of playing time – Maroney actually has ten more rushing attempts – and they give New England a solid one-two punch at the position. Versatile Kevin Faulk will also get some reps, mostly in third-down situations. The offensive line remains the same from last month’s game in Foxborough: LT Matt Light, LG Logan Mankins, C Dan Koppen, RG Stephen Neal, and rookie RT Ryan O’Callaghan. (Only O’Callaghan has missed a start this season.) The Bills got to Tom Brady three times in that game, but he’s only been sacked twice since then… and the team is averaging almost four yards per carry, even with several Brady kneeldowns affecting those numbers. The ageless Troy Brown, drafted the same year as Drew Bledsoe, needs six catches to surpass Stanley Morgan for the franchise reception record. Free-agent pickup Reche Caldwell (Chargers) is still the other starter for now, but that could change as Brady begins to develop a rapport with former Raider Doug Gabriel and second-round pick Chad Jackson. Gabriel was inactive for the first meeting, but he’ll play this time… and he has the size/speed combination that could give the Bills cornerbacks problems. (Already has, in fact: a year ago this weekend, he toasted the Buffalo secondary for five catches and 101 yards in a 38-17 Oakland win.) If Jackson can get past the hamstring issues that have limited him since training camp, he’ll provide a sorely-needed deep threat New England has lacked this season. The Patriots also signed former Houston Texans second-rounder Jabar Gaffney before the bye. With the almost-complete turnover in the wideout corps, the Pats have been featuring a heavy dose of two-TE sets. Ben Watson currently leads the team in both catches and receiving yardage. Fellow first-rounder Daniel Graham missed the Miami game and is questionable again this week; if he can’t go, David Thomas could get some playing time. Factoid: Tom Brady has a 17-1 career record on artificial turf. The only loss? Yup, you guessed it – the 2003 season opener at Ralph Wilson Stadium. (That game also remains the only blemish on his record vs. Buffalo.) Judging solely by his stats, one would think Brady is having a lousy year… but the Patriots just keep on winning, and the passing game should improve as the new crop of receivers becomes more familiar with the playbook. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEFENSE (#13 total yardage, #8 rushing, #24 passing, #t6 scoring): Everyone knows about Richard Seymour: four consecutive Pro Bowls, one of the best DEs in the league, et cetera, et cetera. But the other end, Ty Warren, might be playing even better than Seymour this season – he leads the team in tackles, and it was Warren who dragged down J.P. Losman for the game-deciding safety in the first meeting. DT Vince Wilfork provides a solid presence in the middle; reserve end Jarvis Green leads the team with 4.5 sacks. (NOTE: Seymour, Warren, and Wilfork are all first-round picks. One could reasonably argue New England’s recent run of success makes a strong case for spending those high draft choices on the big guys up front.) With Tedy Bruschi back from the preseason wrist injury that kept him out of the opener, steady Mike Vrabel shifts back to his normal OLB position. Rosevelt Colvin and Junior Seau remain the other starters, with special-teamers Larry Izzo, Don Davis, and Tully Banta-Cain in reserve. Same story, different season: the Patriots are once again battling injury in the secondary. After breaking a bone in his wrist against Denver, cornerback Ellis Hobbs underwent surgery and missed the Bengals game the following week. (He’s listed as questionable, but played with a cast on the wrist in their last game before the bye.) Asante Samuel starts on the other side; his two pickoffs against Joey Harrington remain the only interceptions by any Pats DB this season. Another CB, Randall Gay, joined Tebucky Jones on I.R. at the end of September, leaving Chad Scott as the #3. Free safety Eugene Wilson (hamstring) hasn’t played since the Denver game in Week 3, but there’s talk that veteran Artrell Hawkins is a better fit in the scheme anyway. Strong safety Rodney Harrison, who recently ‘won’ yet another dirtiest-player poll, is still working his way back from the ripped-up knee that cost him most of last season. James Sanders, the top backup at safety, has fond memories of Ralph Wilson Stadium: last December, he returned the first interception of his NFL career for a touchdown here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL TEAMS: Rookie Stephen Gostkowski has done an adequate job of stepping into Adam Vinatieri’s shoes, but has already had two kicks blocked in his first five games. (In comparison, ‘Automatic Adam’ had three kicks blocked in ten seasons.) Josh Miller’s 43.4-yard gross punting average doesn’t look that great… but 8 of his 22 kicks have landed inside the 20, and the New England punt-cover squad is leading the league with a microscopic 3.4 yards allowed per return. Kevin Faulk trails only Chicago’s Devin Hester atop the punt-return standings, with a 13.5-yard average. Maroney and Faulk share kick-return duties, with middle-of-the-pack results. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLOOK: Last week, the Bills defense allowed one of the worst rushing offenses in the league to exceed their per-game average by the end of their first drive. How will they fare against Maroney and Dillon, both averaging over four yards per carry? Belichick and Co. have had an extra week to prepare some surprises for Losman; that can’t be a good thing. Willis and A-Train both ran well in the first half of the first meeting, but the offense bogged down as the Pats’ run D stiffened… and never gained another first down after the blown fourth-and-one attempt on their first second-half possession. After watching the Bills go into Foxborough and play the Patriots close, I would’ve liked Buffalo’s chances in this game. But on the heels of a discouraging performance against a previously-winless Lions club, in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score might suggest? Not so much. The early ‘hey-maybe-they’re-better-than-we-thought’ optimism is fading, and most fans are back in ‘show-us-this-team-DOESN’T-stink’ mode. Guess that includes me. Can the Bills win this game? Absolutely, if they start playing up to their potential. But will they win? Tough to pick ‘em against anybody right now, much less a well-rested Patriot squad seeking its seventh straight win in the series. Hopefully that trend starts to change this week. See you in Lot 1 Sunday morning, and Go Bills. Links: NFL.com: injury report / Patriots depth chart / Patriots team stats / Bills depth chart / Bills team stats Ourlads.com: Bills depth chart / Patriots depth chart Official team website: Patriots.com Patsfans.com

Countdown to the next Hollywood Donahoe sighting, in five... four... three...

John Wawrow has been the AP's Bills beat reporter for several years now, so I'd hazard a guess that he's actually watching the games.

Hey, I'm right there with ya. Cincy's always been my team (well, until the kid in my avatar made the bigs, anyway); if I recall correctly, it would've been Reds-Expos in the playoffs the year you're thinking of.

A blast from the past:

Was it fair for the Yanks/Sox in the early nineties, when they were looking up at the Jays in the standings? (Good memories: I was on Yonge Street the night the Jays clinched their first AL championship. Best. Party. Ever. Wish I could've been there for the Series...)

Now that I think about it, that sobriquet was from a Lot 1 postgame conference a few years back; I've mentioned it on here a couple of times, but I'm not sure if BADOL himself ever did. His point wasn't so much that Jennings was injury-prone, but that he apparently shares a very low pain threshold with BigMike. Still patiently waiting for JJ's first sixteen-game season...