THE ROCKPILE REVIEW - Highmark Rocks

[boater]

Alcohol consumption at Bills games could be severely curtailed if the NTSB has their way. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/20/1124171320/autos-drunk-driving-blood-alcohol-system-ntsb

 

Imagine leaving Highmark after a joyous 4th quarter come from behind win, just to have your Toyota Camry (or pick any car) lock you down from driving because because it detects a whiff of alcohol. ...this is seriously close to fruition.

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, NC Lifelong Bills fan said:

It was a great a relief to see the Rockpile Report after the Titans’ game. When there was no word from you after the Rams game, I feared that you had retired your report for good. Perish the thought!

 

Your insight is why I check the boards. I laughed when you described the sound of women’s voices in the covered/heated section where you sit, and those of us who weren’t there can only imagine the loudness quotient throughout the stadium. It DID come across on our tvs.

 

Please keep going here, especially with this year’s talent to discuss, and know that you have a fan club. Go Bills!(from NC.)

Thanks for your comments.   You may have missed my announcement earlier that this year that I no longer intend to write the Rockpile Review after every game.  That's why you didn't see it last week.  Between traveling to games (all the home games and a couple of away games, other commitments, and, frankly, finding it hard to be interesting when the team is so good (I mean, do you really need me to tell you Allen made a nice throw to Diggs???), I decided it was time to hang it up.   

 

The stadium was so much fun on Monday night that I decided to post something.  It remains to be seen how many more I will do.  Could be two, could be twelve.  I don't know.  

[LabattBlue]

15 minutes ago, boater said:

...this is seriously close to fruition.

IMO…not in 5 years, not even 10 years…probably never.  

[boater]

1 minute ago, LabattBlue said:

IMO…not in 5 years, not even 10 years…probably never.  

I vote for the never. If the National Restaurant Association has any sway, and I'm not sure that hey do, this hair-brained scheme will never see the light of day.

[Logic]

Thanks for this writeup, @Shaw66.

I flew in from Portland for the game. Spent the day before the game exploring Buffalo, which was abuzz everywhere we went. Ate wings at Bar Bill Tavern, two tables down from AJ Epenesa. Boy, professional defensive ends look enormous in person!

Like you say, the pre-game lots were a party. I mean, they're ALWAYS a party, but oftentimes there is nervous "I hope we can pull it off today" energy buzzing around. Not on this day. It was party time. It's not many years that see the home opener being a Monday night game, coming off a demolition of the defending Super Bowl champs. Special atmosphere.

Speaking of special atmosphere...I second the notion that it was so loud that I couldn't hear Kelly or Marv. I saw them on the big screen, I saw their mouths moving, but I couldn't hear a darn thing over the massive roar of the crowd. Ditto for the pre-game player announcements. The only thing I could judge from those is that Diggs got the second biggest cheer, and Allen the biggest (Duh). Deafening.

I agree that there weren't many Titans fans in sight, but there happened to be several sitting around me. They were all polite, all quiet, all well behaved. They were all cheers on the Titans touchdown drive. After that, they didn't have much to cheer about the rest of the night. I almost felt bad for the two little kids in front of me in Derrick Henry jerseys...but then I remembered the many Sundays that I was the one in the stands on the wrong side of a blowout over the years. "Bills fans deserve this", I thought. 

As I watched the Bills score all five of their touchdowns on the end of the field in which I sat, I thought back to the painful prime time memories I've had in the stands in that stadium. 56-10 against the Pats. The Cowboys Monday Night debacle. The Browns Monday Night debacle. So many dejected exits, so many long drives home. Not this time. This time, I had the weird experience of watching essentially a preseason game for the entire fourth quarter. Strange. Leaving the stadium? A whole lot more partying.

On the flights back to Portland, I crossed paths with several Bills fans, flying back to wherever it was they came from to attend the game. Sometimes we exchanged "Go Bills!", but often we just looked each other and grinned like the Cheshire cat. It's a special time to be a Bills fan.
 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Logic

[NC Lifelong Bills fan]

Thanks for the explanation. While I agree that the first two games defy description, I hope that you’ll continue, even at a diminished pace. You are such a bright spot (and have been during the lean and depressing seasons) and it’s going to be hard to see you fade away. Maybe the muse will be fed by this year and this team, and you’ll be refreshed and renewed. Thanks for the wonderful posts over the years. I hope you’ll write a book about our Bills.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Thanks for your comments.   You may have missed my announcement earlier that this year that I no longer intend to write the Rockpile Review after every game.  That's why you didn't see it last week.  Between traveling to games (all the home games and a couple of away games, other commitments, and, frankly, finding it hard to be interesting when the team is so good (I mean, do you really need me to tell you Allen made a nice throw to Diggs???), I decided it was time to hang it up.   

 

The stadium was so much fun on Monday night that I decided to post something.  It remains to be seen how many more I will do.  Could be two, could be twelve.  I don't know.  

All those ladies in your section looking for a sugar daddy probably keeps you busy, too. 

[Jay_Fixit]

I thought you retired?

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Jay_Fixit said:

I thought you retired?

My billionaire-super-model-wife told me to get back to work.

[Just Jack]

22 hours ago, boater said:

Alcohol consumption at Bills games could be severely curtailed if the NTSB has their way. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/20/1124171320/autos-drunk-driving-blood-alcohol-system-ntsb

 

Imagine leaving Highmark after a joyous 4th quarter come from behind win, just to have your Toyota Camry (or pick any car) lock you down from driving because because it detects a whiff of alcohol. ...this is seriously close to fruition.

 

There will be people roaming the parking lots, offering to start your car for $$$.  

 

This is also something to be concerned about...

 

Big brother may put an end to speeding in New York | RochesterFirst

 

Quote

Officials in New York are mulling a bill that would mandate speed limiters in new vehicles that would be set to the local maximum allowable limit. The system would use GPS and traffic sign recognition technology to determine the speed limit.

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Just Jack

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

On 9/20/2022 at 8:07 PM, Simon said:

 

Titans DT jumps just offside but doesn't make any contact.

Bills C goes to tap him on the head to create contact and active the penalty.

Titan DT was barely offside and then jumped back onside immediately.

By the time the Bills C touched his helmet the Titans DT was just barely back on his own side of the LOS.

Since he was no longer in the neutral zone, the penalty goes to Buffalo for movement/initiating contact.

 

 

 

I don't think the DT ever actually entered the neutral zone.  

[Shaw66]

2 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

I don't think the DT ever actually entered the neutral zone.  

That's what I thought.   And I think that not all offensive linemen actually understand that it is permissible for defensive linemen to move.  You see offensive linemen react and point at guys who clearly never entered the neutral zone.    I think it's generally a mistake to ask players to alter their behavior because they think they saw an infraction.  

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

22 hours ago, boater said:

Alcohol consumption at Bills games could be severely curtailed if the NTSB has their way. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/20/1124171320/autos-drunk-driving-blood-alcohol-system-ntsb

 

Imagine leaving Highmark after a joyous 4th quarter come from behind win, just to have your Toyota Camry (or pick any car) lock you down from driving because because it detects a whiff of alcohol. ...this is seriously close to fruition.

 

Seems like a good idea... in theory.

 

Multiple friends have had issues with interlock systems.  It registered albuterol as alcohol, it doesn't turn on when its cold, it breaks and registers it as you trying to modify it, multiple issues calling manufacturer, replacements are expensive and probably not under warranty, not a lot of mechanics service them.  

 

It's easy for a judge to not care about any of this... its in your car because you have a DUI.  But for them to try and institute this into new cars?  They need to go a LONG way to fixing the technology.  

1 minute ago, Shaw66 said:

That's what I thought.   And I think that not all offensive linemen actually understand that it is permissible for defensive linemen to move.  You see offensive linemen react and point at guys who clearly never entered the neutral zone.    I think it's generally a mistake to ask players to alter their behavior because they think they saw an infraction.  

 

In that one they were trying to get the defense to jump on a hard count so i think they were going to do this no matter what.  

 

Any normal situation?  Try and snap it.  

[Simon]

7 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

I don't think the DT ever actually entered the neutral zone.  

It was definitely close, which was why he was able to get back so quick.

I just have to trust the line judge's perspective over what we can see on TV.

[The Dean]

22 hours ago, boater said:

Alcohol consumption at Bills games could be severely curtailed if the NTSB has their way. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/20/1124171320/autos-drunk-driving-blood-alcohol-system-ntsb

 

Imagine leaving Highmark after a joyous 4th quarter come from behind win, just to have your Toyota Camry (or pick any car) lock you down from driving because because it detects a whiff of alcohol. ...this is seriously close to fruition.

  

 

Seriously close? Where did you get that idea? Certainly not from the article you linked 

[Simon]

53 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

And I think that not all offensive linemen actually understand that it is permissible for defensive linemen to move.  You see offensive linemen react and point at guys who clearly never entered the neutral zone.    I think it's generally a mistake to ask players to alter their behavior because they think they saw an infraction.  

I agree that players shouldn't be playing ref; Josh had a bad habit of calling Offside penalties and it got him in trouble a couple times.

Although I will say that a DL can be penalized without entering the neutral zone if he's considered to be "simulating the start of a snap" or simulating a snap count.

[LabattBlue]

30 minutes ago, Simon said:

I agree that players shouldn't be playing ref; Josh had a bad habit of calling Offside penalties and it got him in trouble a couple times.

Although I will say that a DL can be penalized without entering the neutral zone if he's considered to be "simulating the start of a snap" or simulating a snap count.

WR’s who simulate a flag being thrown every time a pass there way is incomplete, is very annoying. 
 

I wish they would put a stop to it, by making it an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  

[boater]

1 hour ago, The Dean said:

 

 

Seriously close? Where did you get that idea? Certainly not from the article you linked 

From the article:

Quote

It could be effective as early as three years from now.

 

[Saxum]

On 9/20/2022 at 8:10 PM, Warcodered said:

At the beginning of the game I thought they were going to shake the stadium to the ground with how loud it seemed.

 

Early stadium rebuild.  Wonder where Bills would play but Detroit likely when they do not have a game.

[Saxum]

3 hours ago, Just Jack said:

Big brother may put an end to speeding in New York | RochesterFirst

 

If it does not mandate out of state vehicles and have way of determining mandate is followed impact will be greatly reduced except by NY drivers who follow rules. 

Lots of cars will be registered out of state owned by relatives. 

Cars will be rented from companies out of state and would not be surprised to see companies set up to do this.