Offside Number 76

Byrd will return to his first-year form.

They don't play soccer in snow, and in fact "wet pitch" and "frozen pitch" are sometimes given as a reasons for a postponed game in England (it has to be more than a normal rain, but it doesn't have to be more than "Buffalo cold"). I don't know about rugby. I think B!W! is right; American/Canadian football are pretty unique.

I don't really care about injuries. Would any of you have thought anything less of SB XXV had the Bills WON over a backup? No.

Anyone watch OU-Tulsa in the first half tonight? That was absolutely the K-Gun. Not some mere "no-huddle," (it was no-huddle, and so much more) but the K-Gun that we saw 20 years ago. Running backs peeling out for the short pass, stud receivers going deep, tight ends blocking and breaking out; it was that offense. OU was Buffalo circa 1990. It was like watching Jimbo, Thurman, Reed, Lofton, McKellar, and Metz in different colors. It really was that similar. (And to think I was rooting against OU.)

And after a very protracted "lightning break," ND loses to a directional school. FFS, when will ND pull it together? We're looking at almost 20 years of irrelevance. Wait--we're Bills fans--wait--what?

There's an article in every NFL city newspaper about this every preseason.

Every sport has its ESPN "columnist" who, instead of exercising independent thought, just goes with the conventional and runs with it. John Clayton : NFL :: Barry Melrose : NHL. Fitz is not in the bottom five. But he's somewhere around 20/32. And it's interesting to note that Clayton addresses non-offense aspects of other teams, e.g. Schaub ("He needs some help from his defensive friends") but not this one. Is Matt Schaub really better than Fitz? No. But Clayton needed a fluff piece, and here it is. Let it go at that. If the guy were good at football, well, he'd be coaching or playing. Instead, like Melrose, he's writing crap and appearing in 1-minute pieces for ESPN.

The Bills are good enough to beat a team like Jax sometimes and to lose to a team like Jax sometimes. They'll win some, lose some against similar quality opponents (Miami, Denver, KC, Oakland, etc.).

Every other decade.

I'm not the guy saying Fitz is the future, but the only way that pass gets completed, and probably the only way it doesn't get picked, is to go too high. Fitz was smart and took the 50/50; Easley brought it in.

Always a favorite of mine.

7%

Which is it? Frankly, I've never viewed the homerun throwback as a solid bad call by the refs. But it was a solid bad call by the Bills to not kick that out of bounds, the way the D was playing lights-out. And yeah, hindsight is 20-20.

This is all I have, and I'm still proud of it: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/36607-mike-mularkey-general-knowledge-test/

The year before last. I'm still pissed at McKelvin. No, I'm not one of the guys who vandalized his lawn.

You're right; the Ain'ts (I always will call them that) and Raiders are playing on it right now.

Australian media.

Don't bother giving his blog any additional traffic. It's senseless and not worth the read.

"Lindell's three-pointer in overtime came after team-mate Josh Scobee has earlier missed a 53-yard attempt to win the contest."

That was a great call and a great play.

I freaking love the helmets, except I wish the stripes would be of constant width rather than expanding towards the back. But I still love 'em more than anything I've seen since Ferguson. I never loved the reds, and the standing buffalo is, well, just standing around. The buffalo needs to charge.

Great game. Starting O looked great as did starting D. Someone, someday will explain to me the two PI calls that I saw before leaving w/ my date in the mid-third. The first made NO sense at all, unless hand checks are now pass interference. The second was almost as weak. I know, it's preseason for the refs, too.

I hope OP was there tonight to see why Smith will not be the starting QB barring injury.

I went tonight and had fun. And it certainly was "kid's night." The most out of control guy that I heard was a grandfather, WITH his grandchildren, and oh boy, did he let out a few words. But that was the worst. Granted, it's preseason, and I was in seats that I've never been in before (20 rows up and RIGHT on the 50--I'm used to either end zones or the top tier corners when I have the opportunity to go). Not sure what factor was most dominant (the "rich people" seats, the kid's night, the "Make Mom Proud" or the preseason), but it was ok. As for the bolded part, I am going to scream that next time it's third down. That's hilarious, and no one can hear what I'm screaming through cupped hands anyway.

The first question is a tough one; I think it's what this whole thread is exploring. I don't know where the line is drawn, but if it's drawn towards turning the stadium into a Chuck-E-Cheese, I'm against it. (If it's drawn towards turning the stadium into the infield at the Preakness, I'm also against it.) The second question: because high school games are about kids. Kids learning to play a game, kids learning teamwork, kids learning how to socialize with one another in the stands. The atmosphere is different, too. Ever been to a pro game where the whole crowd is chanting "@ss-hoooooole, @ass-hoooole" at a player or a ref? Can you imagine that at a high school game? I know the principal of my high school would have had a conniption if we had done that; probably would have made the next home game closed to non-players. But somehow it seems totally appropriate when directed towards Bryan Cox, you know?