When Rex Ryan was hired as Bills head coach in January, 2015, one of his first efforts to endear himself to the local fan base was to have his pick-up truck emblazoned with “Bills” along the sides of the doors at a local auto body shop. The car reflects the man, they say. I don’t know what vehicle Sean McDermott drives (a Prius or Chevy Volt?) but one of the first comments he made in his post-game press conference in Detroit was to tell the story of how on Saturday afternoon he drove his own vehicle to pick up Von Miller and Sam Martin (who live either next door to each other or very close by, being former long-time teammates with the Broncos) in their Orchard Park subdivision to get them to the team facility. A snow plow driver spotted McDermott’s vehicle struggling with the deep snow on his way out of the neighbourhood and proceeded to plow the way for them (after the requisite photo opp) back to the main road. McDermott said that almost every player, coach and staff member (most of whom seem to live in Orchard Park) had a similar story of their epic journey to get to the stadium (and the team bus to the airport) through two metres of snow on Saturday. Some almost didn’t make it.
The stories of personal journeys through the snow made me
presume that the team received special dispensation from the New State Troopers
and local police for an exemption to the driving ban which was instituted late
Thursday evening as the snow began. The only vehicles allowed on the roads in
Erie County from Thursday onward were snow plows, emergency responders and any
vehicle transporting Bills players, coaches or staff. And the Buffalo Airport
was also closed – except for the Bills charter to Detroit of course. The team
arrived at their hotel in Detroit just before 7.30pm Saturday. The Bills ended
up with about as much practice as they would for a Thursday game – just like
they’ll have this week as they prepare for their second game at Ford Field in
four days. As Sal Capaccio explained on the pregame radio broadcast, even if
the Bills played in a domed stadium in Orchard Park, the game would have been
moved (or postponed) anyway as the snow would have made it impossible for
70,000 fans to get to the area, let alone allowing access by first responders,
police and emergency vehicles. Yes, the stadium will have to be shovelled out
by hand but the roads around Orchard Park will not be clear of the two metres
of snow for at least a few days.
56,000 discounted tickets to yesterday’s game were sold on
short notice and in the true spirit of American enterprise, many were sold at
considerable profit on the secondary market. Hey, I was trying to sell my own
tickets too but ended up with just a credit on my season ticket account with
the Bills. The crowd, according to Bills radio play-by-play man John Murphy was
about 75% Bills supporters and 25% Browns fans.
As much as wanted to see the late afternoon Cowboys v.
Vikings game and the Chiefs v. Chargers SNF game, I couldn’t turn away from the
109th Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. For what seems like
decades now, the CFL manages to cap off disappointing seasons (in terms of fan interest)
with classic championship games which leave casual fans thinking that maybe the
three-down game is actually worth watching – and maybe more than once a year.
With a dramatic ending which included each team blocking field goals in the
final minutes, the Toronto Argonauts, the least deserving team in the league on
account of epic fan disinterest in Canada’s largest city, managed a thrilling
one point win over the two-time defending champion Blue Bombers. Amazingly, in
a nine team (and in some years eight team) league, the Argos and Bombers had
not faced each other in the Grey Cup since 1950. The Argos have won the Cup
each and every time they have faced the Bombers in the big game. The game was “sold
out” but it was a heavily papered house with plenty of empty seats throughout the
stadium (which is by far the best one in the league). As someone from Regina
said yesterday morning, CFL fans in Saskatchewan might show up just to cheer
against their arch-rivals one province to the east. Some did that I guess. I
ended up watching most of the Grey Cup for the first time in a few years and I’m
glad I did. Will I go to the parade? Will there even be a parade? Maybe Larry
Tannenbaum could just drive down Bay Street one morning with the coach and
quarterback in his car. I would go down to watch.
The Bills returned to Buffalo last night and will fly back
to Detroit on Wednesday for Thursday’s 12.30pm kick-off against the Lions who
have now won three straight, including yesterday’s win against the Giants. To
sum up some of yesterday’s football: Buffalo beat Cleveland in Detroit, Detroit
beat New York in New Jersey and Toronto beat Winnipeg in Regina.
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