The NFL playoff picture finally saw its final pieces fall into place late last night. Two teams lost at home yesterday - one in a huge upset - reducing their prospects in the post-season tournament which begins next weekend. The Seattle Seahawks came literally within an inch of taking the NFC West title and the right to a home playoff game with a home loss to San Francisco and the New England Patriots lost at home to the Miami Dolphins - something I said for the past two weeks was not going to happen. The Patriots still won the AFC East but now find themselves playing in the wildcard round for the first time in ten years. As is usually the case with the NFL's final day of regular season play, some games featured high drama while others were entirely irrelevant.
I made my way to one of the irrelevant games yesterday in Orchard Park where the Bills dropped their second straight game to finish the season at 10-6. In a drenching rain, the New York Jets cobbled together enough offense to post their 7th win of their lost season mostly against the Bills second-stringers. A massive rain system impacted Sunday's games in the eastern time zone and the Buffalo area took a direct hit. Luckily, the rain held off for the tailgating portion of the day and we were able to heat our turkey vegetable soup (a new cold-weather addition to the tailgating menu) and cook our sausages on charcoal in an on-and-off light drizzle. The heavy rain held off until after the game started and more than 69,000 still showed up for at least some of the game. I expect that my socks will be dry by tomorrow. The crowd was soaked and subdued for the most part but the loudest cheer came when we saw a replay of Tom Brady throwing a pick-six against the Dolphins in their most unlikely win.
For the Bills, they will, as expected, travel to Houston to face the Texans in the first of the NFL's 10 January playoff games on Saturday at 4.30pm. The Texans are early 3.5 point favourites. The Bills didn't quite achieve their objective of surviving the game without injuries as cornerback Levi Wallace suffered a non-contact right ankle injury as he made an interception in the first quarter and right tackle Ty Nsehke re-injured his ankle on an almost identical play to the one which sidelined him in November in Miami. Early reports are that Wallace is probable for Saturday while Nsehke is likely done for the year. Josh Allen saw limited action yesterday before Matt Barkley took over while most of the other key offensive players were inactive. T.J. Yeldin ran the ball effectively, especially later in the game and fan-favourite and former CFLer Duke Williams made some good catches in the rain.
As we left after the third quarter, I said to my season-ticket neighbour to my left, a very serious football fan named Steve (who looks a lot like Metallica frontman James Hetfield) that I would either see him for the AFC Championship Game in three weeks or in September for the 2020 home opener. As the fifth seed, if the Bills and the 6th seeded Tennessee Titans can collectively win four road playoff games at Houston, New England, Kansas City and Baltimore over the next two weekends, the AFC Championship Game will see the Titans travel to Orchard Park for the right to a birth in the Superbowl. I give that about as much of a chance as I gave the Dolphins of winning yesterday in Foxborough. Ok, maybe a bit less than that but I still can't quite believe that Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to pull out the win yesterday. He has one year remaining on his deal with the Dolphins and I expect to see him again next year in Miami, probably seeing plenty of playing time, even if the Dolphins draft another quarterback in the first round.
If the Patriots were the biggest losers yesterday (honourable mention to the Steelers), the biggest winners were the 49ers whose win secured home field throughout the NFC playoffs. A loss would have pushed them down to the fifth seed needing to win three games on the road to get to the Superbowl. Now, like the Ravens in the AFC, a bye week to rest followed by two home wins gets them there. In the four games next weekend, here are my picks: The Bills with a road win over Houston, the Patriots at home over Tennessee, the Saints at home over Minnesota and the Seahawks over the Eagles in Philadelphia. In a strange scheduling quirk, both AFC games go Saturday and both NFC games are on Sunday.
Monday, 30 December 2019
Sunday, 22 December 2019
Patriots 24, Bills 17
Earlier this month, after the Bills had won in Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, my friend Paul and I concocted what we thought would turn out to be a brilliant scheme. We decided to go all-in on the Bills final game of the season in Orchard Park against the New York Jets. He bought two lower bowl seats as Christmas gifts for his two sons and, with he and I using my seats, the four of us would witness a critically important game with complex playoff seeding implications for the Bills and for the other AFC teams jockeying for one of the six positions in the post-season tournament and/or for the admittedly remote possibility of securing a home playoff game and and the even-more-remote shot at one of the top two seeds which carries with it the advantage of a first round bye. Like a rookie quarterback trying to decipher a Bill Belichick defensive formation, we mis-read it. We were sacked, we fumbled and the fumble was easily returned for a touchdown. Did we lose the game? Well, like Sunday's upcoming regular season finale against the Jets, does it matter at all?
After the Thanksgiving win in Dallas, the Bills chances at their first division title since 1995 went from slim to almost none over the course of the next three weeks, even after the Patriots lost consecutive games to the Texans and the Chiefs and the Bills posted a big prime time win last week in Pittsburgh. Going into Saturday's game in Foxborough, the Bills had to win and then hope for a week 17 miracle in the form of a Dolphins win - also in Foxborough - while they took care of business against the Jets. The Bills, we figured, would leave their starters in against the Jets at least until the out-of-town scoreboard showed the Patriots with a big lead over the Dolphins. The possibility of something really big would exist for the first half anyway, we figured. This was all dependent on the Bills winning in Foxborough on Saturday. And they did not.
They came pretty close though and, although Sean McDermott doesn't subscribe to the theory of moral victories, the Bills showed, for the second time this season, that they can hold their own against their nemesis. As happened in their week 4 game against the Patriots in Orchard Park, the Bills came within one successful drive of tying the game. In week 4, after Josh Allen left the game with a concussion, Matt Barkley was overwhelmed by the Patriots defence on the Bills final drive and on Saturday, after leading the team all the way down to the 8 yard line in the final minutes, Allen couldn't overcome the Patriots pass rush when it mattered most and they came up empty on 4 consecutive tries for the tying touchdown.
So, locked into the 5th seed and awaiting a road game in either Kansas City or Houston (other remote possibilities of where they might play do exist - including going back to Foxborough), the December 29th game against the Jets is in effect the Bills bye week - and a well-earned one at that, after 4 consecutive weeks of high-pressure games against quality opposition. They can not change the fact that they will be the 5th seeded wild card team playing on the road on either January 4th or 5th. Unfortunately for those of us planning on going to the game, it is actually less important to the Bills than a pre-season game would be. At least pre-season games always carry elements of player evaluation and offer those players "on the bubble" the opportunity to move up the depth chart in the hopes of making the final roster of 53. But this game will largely be an exercise in avoiding injury while giving some real-time reps to the back-up position players. As for the Jets, their season was lost many weeks ago but as Bill Parcells said many years ago, "anyone who thinks that any NFL regular season game means nothing doesn't know what they're talking about." The Jets players and coaching staff will be motivated to secure jobs and contracts for next season and beyond by posting either their 7th win of the season after a win yesterday against the Steelers. The Bills will rightly be looking ahead to their playoff game, deploying nothing more than a vanilla game plan designed to reveal nothing for their playoff opponent to study.
We will make the drive anyway, immerse ourselves in the pre-game tailgate festivities and probably leave early to beat the traffic, get home at a reasonable time and prepare for New Year's Eve.
After the Thanksgiving win in Dallas, the Bills chances at their first division title since 1995 went from slim to almost none over the course of the next three weeks, even after the Patriots lost consecutive games to the Texans and the Chiefs and the Bills posted a big prime time win last week in Pittsburgh. Going into Saturday's game in Foxborough, the Bills had to win and then hope for a week 17 miracle in the form of a Dolphins win - also in Foxborough - while they took care of business against the Jets. The Bills, we figured, would leave their starters in against the Jets at least until the out-of-town scoreboard showed the Patriots with a big lead over the Dolphins. The possibility of something really big would exist for the first half anyway, we figured. This was all dependent on the Bills winning in Foxborough on Saturday. And they did not.
They came pretty close though and, although Sean McDermott doesn't subscribe to the theory of moral victories, the Bills showed, for the second time this season, that they can hold their own against their nemesis. As happened in their week 4 game against the Patriots in Orchard Park, the Bills came within one successful drive of tying the game. In week 4, after Josh Allen left the game with a concussion, Matt Barkley was overwhelmed by the Patriots defence on the Bills final drive and on Saturday, after leading the team all the way down to the 8 yard line in the final minutes, Allen couldn't overcome the Patriots pass rush when it mattered most and they came up empty on 4 consecutive tries for the tying touchdown.
So, locked into the 5th seed and awaiting a road game in either Kansas City or Houston (other remote possibilities of where they might play do exist - including going back to Foxborough), the December 29th game against the Jets is in effect the Bills bye week - and a well-earned one at that, after 4 consecutive weeks of high-pressure games against quality opposition. They can not change the fact that they will be the 5th seeded wild card team playing on the road on either January 4th or 5th. Unfortunately for those of us planning on going to the game, it is actually less important to the Bills than a pre-season game would be. At least pre-season games always carry elements of player evaluation and offer those players "on the bubble" the opportunity to move up the depth chart in the hopes of making the final roster of 53. But this game will largely be an exercise in avoiding injury while giving some real-time reps to the back-up position players. As for the Jets, their season was lost many weeks ago but as Bill Parcells said many years ago, "anyone who thinks that any NFL regular season game means nothing doesn't know what they're talking about." The Jets players and coaching staff will be motivated to secure jobs and contracts for next season and beyond by posting either their 7th win of the season after a win yesterday against the Steelers. The Bills will rightly be looking ahead to their playoff game, deploying nothing more than a vanilla game plan designed to reveal nothing for their playoff opponent to study.
We will make the drive anyway, immerse ourselves in the pre-game tailgate festivities and probably leave early to beat the traffic, get home at a reasonable time and prepare for New Year's Eve.
Monday, 16 December 2019
Bills 17, Steelers 10
Looking this morning at tie-breaker scenarios, if the Bills win at New England on Saturday and finish the season tied with the Patriots with the same win/loss record, the Patriots hold the tie-breaker and that can not and will not change over the course of the next two games. According to the NFL's tie-breaker rules which determine division champions for teams in the same division with identical records, the winner is determined by the following, in this order: first is head-to-head play; if the Bills win on Saturday, the teams would be tied in head-to-head play at 1-1. Second is each team's record against their other division opponents; if the Bills win their next two games and the Patriots lose at home in week 17 against the Dolphins, the teams again would be tied. The third (and in this case the determining ) tie-breaker is the two teams record among common opponents during the season. This is where the Patriots hold the edge, with a two game advantage in this category. Both teams lost to Baltimore this season but the Patriots won against the Eagles and the Browns - and the Bills lost to both of those teams earlier in the season.
For the Bills, the securing of their first home playoff game since the 1996 season (Jim Kelly's last) remains possible but will require that they not only win at Foxborough on Saturday but then they must put their faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins to win on the road in week 17, also in Foxborough, in a very meaningful game for the Patriots and one on which nothing much rides for the Dolphins. It could happen: the Dolphins will obviously have nothing to lose and can dig into their bag of tricks and find fake punts and flea-flickers along with their New Year's hats and balloons. But I don't give them much of a chance really. And if the Bills don't win on Saturday, it's all moot anyway. Either way, the Bills, who, if they do not capture the division, can finish no worse than the 5th seed in the AFC and would play at Houston in the wildcard round if the current standings hold. Buffalo's week 17 opponent at home is the New York Jets.
Although they are likely locked into the 5th seed and will probably not play at home in January, last night the Bills secured their first 10-win season in 20 years and also clinched a playoff birth for the second time in Sean McDermott's three seasons as Bills head coach. For a team which has endured also-ran status and has seen a revolving door of general managers, coaches and quarterbacks over the past two decades, it must feel pretty good. And it must feel quite different from the miraculous way they made their way into the playoffs two years ago as the team watched from its dressing room as Andy Dalton completed an unlikely 4th down touchdown pass in Baltimore. That was lucky. This is different. The team has a top-three defence and a quarterback who seems able to seize the moment in big games before national TV audiences.
It may take me a few days for me to recover from staying up way past my usual bedtime and enduring the stress of last night's 4th quarter which saw the Bills score 10 points and over come a 10-7 deficit against a good Steeler defence. It ended up taking two late interceptions - of the four the Bills made - to seal the win and send Bills nation into celebration mode. Third-string Steeler quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges played competently last night at times but the difference in the game, which matched two of the best defences in the league, was Josh Allen's play at quarterback. Although his statistics from last night look unimpressive, he did what was needed to win when it counted most. The first-ever NFL quarterback from the University of Wyoming has found a home in Buffalo.
Up next for the Bills is the aforementioned game in Foxborough on Saturday. Amazingly, it will be their third nationally televised game in the last four - and last week's game against the Ravens was the lead game on CBS and was seen by all of the "neutral" markets in the US (markets which have no team or whose team wasn't playing in the 1pm timeslot). The first two have gone well as the team posted wins in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Maybe next year, there will be a prime time home game. I'm getting weary just thinking about what time I'll get to bed after that one.
For the Bills, the securing of their first home playoff game since the 1996 season (Jim Kelly's last) remains possible but will require that they not only win at Foxborough on Saturday but then they must put their faith in Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins to win on the road in week 17, also in Foxborough, in a very meaningful game for the Patriots and one on which nothing much rides for the Dolphins. It could happen: the Dolphins will obviously have nothing to lose and can dig into their bag of tricks and find fake punts and flea-flickers along with their New Year's hats and balloons. But I don't give them much of a chance really. And if the Bills don't win on Saturday, it's all moot anyway. Either way, the Bills, who, if they do not capture the division, can finish no worse than the 5th seed in the AFC and would play at Houston in the wildcard round if the current standings hold. Buffalo's week 17 opponent at home is the New York Jets.
Although they are likely locked into the 5th seed and will probably not play at home in January, last night the Bills secured their first 10-win season in 20 years and also clinched a playoff birth for the second time in Sean McDermott's three seasons as Bills head coach. For a team which has endured also-ran status and has seen a revolving door of general managers, coaches and quarterbacks over the past two decades, it must feel pretty good. And it must feel quite different from the miraculous way they made their way into the playoffs two years ago as the team watched from its dressing room as Andy Dalton completed an unlikely 4th down touchdown pass in Baltimore. That was lucky. This is different. The team has a top-three defence and a quarterback who seems able to seize the moment in big games before national TV audiences.
It may take me a few days for me to recover from staying up way past my usual bedtime and enduring the stress of last night's 4th quarter which saw the Bills score 10 points and over come a 10-7 deficit against a good Steeler defence. It ended up taking two late interceptions - of the four the Bills made - to seal the win and send Bills nation into celebration mode. Third-string Steeler quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges played competently last night at times but the difference in the game, which matched two of the best defences in the league, was Josh Allen's play at quarterback. Although his statistics from last night look unimpressive, he did what was needed to win when it counted most. The first-ever NFL quarterback from the University of Wyoming has found a home in Buffalo.
Up next for the Bills is the aforementioned game in Foxborough on Saturday. Amazingly, it will be their third nationally televised game in the last four - and last week's game against the Ravens was the lead game on CBS and was seen by all of the "neutral" markets in the US (markets which have no team or whose team wasn't playing in the 1pm timeslot). The first two have gone well as the team posted wins in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Maybe next year, there will be a prime time home game. I'm getting weary just thinking about what time I'll get to bed after that one.
Monday, 9 December 2019
Ravens 24, Bills 17
Although it has history longer than Coca-Cola (by one year), I'm not sure if I've ever consumed a can or a bottle of the soft drink Dr. Pepper. Sold in the United States since 1885 and now available around much of the world, Dr. Pepper has long been a sponsor of American college football with its big-budget advertising campaigns appearing on nationally televised games for many years.
Since 2008, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway has been a halftime feature of college football Conference Championship games which are played on the last full weekend of play before the bowl games begin later in December. The Tuition Giveaway is a live halftime competition where two current or aspiring post-secondary students compete by throwing as many footballs into an oval shaped opening in a life-sized can of Dr. Pepper as they can in one minute from a distance of about ten yards. In recent years, winners have used the chest pass technique rather than using a traditional overhand football throw. In each competition, the winner receives $100,000 toward post-secondary tuition and the runner-up gets $25,000 (Dr. Pepper says it has given away more than $10 million over the past 12 years). In one of the games on Saturday, I happened to see one of these halftime competitions which was followed by a brief interview with the winner, a cheerful young woman whose goal is to attend medical school. "I want to thank God and I want to thank Dr. Pepper", she said in a rehearsed bit with the company's VP of marketing standing beside her with a giant cheque for $100,000. It reminded me of what a remarkable country the United States really is - one where a nationally promoted partnership between God and Dr. Pepper doesn't seem unusual until you think about it a little. This is a melding of three of the most important elements of what America is all about: football, religion and corporate power. If this particular young woman realizes her dream of being a doctor, she better have a can of Dr. Pepper on her desk to remind herself and her patients of who funded her education.
There were two very similar defensive plays which were critical in deciding NFL games yesterday - one in Orchard Park, NY and one in Foxborough, MA. The Bills almost completed their unlikely comeback but, trailing by seven points, Josh Allen's last minute 4th down pass intended for John Brown on the goal line was deflected away by Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. This sealed the Ravens 11th win of the season and gave them the inside track to having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots also found themselves down by seven with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against the Chiefs. A 4th down Tom Brady pass thrown into the endzone toward Julian Edelman was deflected away by cornerback Bashaud Breeland, allowing the Chiefs to hang on for the win. The Patriots have now lost two games in a row and the Bills remain one game behind them with three games remaining, including a head-to-head match-up in week 16.
This NFL season has been quite successful from the league's perspective with improved television ratings, a welcome absence of criticism from Donald Trump and only a few minor off-field player indiscretions. The biggest area of concern is clearly the poor quality of the officiating which has been evident almost every week. Yesterday was no exception. The Bills final drive was aided by three penalties against the Ravens, including one personal foul call which was not discernible to me on replay. In the Patriots/Chiefs game, it was much worse. A key missed pass interference call cost the Chiefs but the Patriots were the victims of two particularly egregious missed calls - one where receiver N'Keal Harry was called out of bounds on a play where he not only wasn't out of bounds but the replay showed clearly that he actually scored a touchdown . Under the replay challenge rules, since the Patriots were fresh out of replay challenges and the play was not a "scoring play" (not ruled a touchdown on the field) and did not occur within the last two minutes, it was not reviewed. The other missed call was on a play where the Chiefs Travis Kelce was called down by contact but had actually fumbled. The call was reversed on review but, had the right call been made on the field, the Patriots would have advanced the fumble and probably scored. Make no mistake, I'm happy that the Patriots lost but the league has a growing credibility problem caused by too many bad calls by on-field officials. As for the rules around replay challenges, since the millions watching the game on television saw N'Keal Harry's foot clearly land in-bounds before he launched himself over the goal line, the fact that the play could not be reviewed just feels wrong.
Up next for the Bills is a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Jerry Sullivan wondered if the league and NBC might be second-guessing their decision to flex that game for next week after the Bills woeful offensive performance yesterday. C'mon Jerry, the Ravens defence is really good, isn't it?
Since 2008, the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway has been a halftime feature of college football Conference Championship games which are played on the last full weekend of play before the bowl games begin later in December. The Tuition Giveaway is a live halftime competition where two current or aspiring post-secondary students compete by throwing as many footballs into an oval shaped opening in a life-sized can of Dr. Pepper as they can in one minute from a distance of about ten yards. In recent years, winners have used the chest pass technique rather than using a traditional overhand football throw. In each competition, the winner receives $100,000 toward post-secondary tuition and the runner-up gets $25,000 (Dr. Pepper says it has given away more than $10 million over the past 12 years). In one of the games on Saturday, I happened to see one of these halftime competitions which was followed by a brief interview with the winner, a cheerful young woman whose goal is to attend medical school. "I want to thank God and I want to thank Dr. Pepper", she said in a rehearsed bit with the company's VP of marketing standing beside her with a giant cheque for $100,000. It reminded me of what a remarkable country the United States really is - one where a nationally promoted partnership between God and Dr. Pepper doesn't seem unusual until you think about it a little. This is a melding of three of the most important elements of what America is all about: football, religion and corporate power. If this particular young woman realizes her dream of being a doctor, she better have a can of Dr. Pepper on her desk to remind herself and her patients of who funded her education.
There were two very similar defensive plays which were critical in deciding NFL games yesterday - one in Orchard Park, NY and one in Foxborough, MA. The Bills almost completed their unlikely comeback but, trailing by seven points, Josh Allen's last minute 4th down pass intended for John Brown on the goal line was deflected away by Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters. This sealed the Ravens 11th win of the season and gave them the inside track to having home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Patriots also found themselves down by seven with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds against the Chiefs. A 4th down Tom Brady pass thrown into the endzone toward Julian Edelman was deflected away by cornerback Bashaud Breeland, allowing the Chiefs to hang on for the win. The Patriots have now lost two games in a row and the Bills remain one game behind them with three games remaining, including a head-to-head match-up in week 16.
This NFL season has been quite successful from the league's perspective with improved television ratings, a welcome absence of criticism from Donald Trump and only a few minor off-field player indiscretions. The biggest area of concern is clearly the poor quality of the officiating which has been evident almost every week. Yesterday was no exception. The Bills final drive was aided by three penalties against the Ravens, including one personal foul call which was not discernible to me on replay. In the Patriots/Chiefs game, it was much worse. A key missed pass interference call cost the Chiefs but the Patriots were the victims of two particularly egregious missed calls - one where receiver N'Keal Harry was called out of bounds on a play where he not only wasn't out of bounds but the replay showed clearly that he actually scored a touchdown . Under the replay challenge rules, since the Patriots were fresh out of replay challenges and the play was not a "scoring play" (not ruled a touchdown on the field) and did not occur within the last two minutes, it was not reviewed. The other missed call was on a play where the Chiefs Travis Kelce was called down by contact but had actually fumbled. The call was reversed on review but, had the right call been made on the field, the Patriots would have advanced the fumble and probably scored. Make no mistake, I'm happy that the Patriots lost but the league has a growing credibility problem caused by too many bad calls by on-field officials. As for the rules around replay challenges, since the millions watching the game on television saw N'Keal Harry's foot clearly land in-bounds before he launched himself over the goal line, the fact that the play could not be reviewed just feels wrong.
Up next for the Bills is a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. Jerry Sullivan wondered if the league and NBC might be second-guessing their decision to flex that game for next week after the Bills woeful offensive performance yesterday. C'mon Jerry, the Ravens defence is really good, isn't it?
Monday, 2 December 2019
Bills 26, Cowboys 15
In the United States, Thanksgiving and football enjoy a long history together. Before professional football became by far the most watched television sport in America, Thanksgiving Day featured a slate of college football games. Some of those have now been relegated to the following day - Friday - when the sport of choice for most Americans is now contact shopping. Black Friday now features afternoon hockey and basketball games along with a handful of lower tier college football games.As for the fourth Thursday in November, make no mistake; the NFL rules the airwaves on Thanksgiving Day.
In 1934, the owner of the Detroit Lions saw an opportunity to raise the profile of his team and successfully lobbied the league to allow the Lions to play a game on the national holiday. Attendance was strong and the Lions have played a home game every year since. In 1966, Tex Schramm, the General Manager of the fledgling Dallas Cowboys sought the same opportunity from the NFL in order to boost interest and in-stadium attendance. The Cowboys inaugural Thanksgiving Day game drew more than 80,000 to the Cotton Bowl and another holiday tradition was born. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decreed that the St. Loiuis Cardinals would play Thanksgiving home games in place of the Cowboys in 1975 and in 1977 but, other than those two years, the Cowboys have had a home game, in the later afternoon time slot, on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1966. In 2006, a third prime time game was added to the holiday football viewing schedule.
Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium (the House that Jerry Built) was the first Thanksgiving game for the Buffalo Bills since they played in Detroit in 1994. As seven point underdogs, the Bills were facing a talented Cowboys team which was reeling from a tough loss to the Patriots four days earlier. Head coach Jason Garret was under pressure from owner / General Manager Jerry Jones and from an impatient fan base. The Cowboys needed to right their listing ship and their annual Thanksgiving game would be a perfect setting to do so. They took the opening kick-off and marched easily to the end zone for an early 7-0 lead, leaving Bills fans feeling that they were in for a long afternoon.
But those would be the only points the Cowboys scored until the game was essentially out of reach as the Bills chose the ideal time to dial up their best and most complete effort of the season. The defence looked fierce and Josh Allen got his wish of posting a win in Dallas followed by biting into a turkey leg which was handed to him by CBS field reporter Tracy Wolfson. For me, when receiver John Brown hit a wide open Devin Singletary for a touchdown on a gadget play late in the first half, I began believing that the Bills just might be able to pull off their biggest win in 20 years.
I was quite surprised over the weekend to read that Thursday's Cowboys v. Bills match-up generated huge television ratings. According to the CBS website, it was the most watched Thanksgiving Day game in 27 years and the most watched regular season game in the last three years. Average viewership was 32.5 million, surpassing the Academy Awards in February and making it the most watched television program in the US since the Superbowl. For context, the Superbowl attracts about 100 million viewers in the US every year, making it the gold standard in television viewership. My prediction would have been that the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game ratings would see their highest levels in games against one of their division rivals (Giants, Eagles or Washington), not for a game against a small market AFC team which has struggled for national relevance for more than two decades. But I sense now that the Buffalo Bills have somehow generated an almost cult-like following among NFL watchers. In other words, it is now officially cool to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. I've always know that of course. The NFL appears to agree, announcing yesterday that the Bills v. Steelers game on Sunday December 15th has been "flexed" from its original 1pm start time to the prime time Sunday Night Football game with an 8.20pm kick-off.
Michigan and Ohio State have played their annual rivalry game on the last Saturday in November since 1918. "The Game", as it is known was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Twenty years later, its importance has diminished slightly but remains the biggest regular season game in the Big Ten. For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, he probably wishes that it would disappear from the calendar as he is now a perfect 0-5 in these games, including an 0-3 record at the Big House which packed in more than 112,000 for Saturday's game. Ohio State scored two touchdowns in each quarter and sealed their entry to the four-team college football playoff. Harbaugh and the Wolverines will settle for a lower tier bowl game. Again.
As for the Bills, for now, they have found their way into the top three teams in the AFC (by record; they still occupy the fifth playoff seed) with a record of 9-3. After last night's Patriots loss in Houston, the current holder of the top seed in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park on Sunday. The Bills find themselves one game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head game with them in Foxborough on Saturday December 21st. The games just bigger and bigger from here.
In 1934, the owner of the Detroit Lions saw an opportunity to raise the profile of his team and successfully lobbied the league to allow the Lions to play a game on the national holiday. Attendance was strong and the Lions have played a home game every year since. In 1966, Tex Schramm, the General Manager of the fledgling Dallas Cowboys sought the same opportunity from the NFL in order to boost interest and in-stadium attendance. The Cowboys inaugural Thanksgiving Day game drew more than 80,000 to the Cotton Bowl and another holiday tradition was born. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle decreed that the St. Loiuis Cardinals would play Thanksgiving home games in place of the Cowboys in 1975 and in 1977 but, other than those two years, the Cowboys have had a home game, in the later afternoon time slot, on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1966. In 2006, a third prime time game was added to the holiday football viewing schedule.
Thursday's game at AT&T Stadium (the House that Jerry Built) was the first Thanksgiving game for the Buffalo Bills since they played in Detroit in 1994. As seven point underdogs, the Bills were facing a talented Cowboys team which was reeling from a tough loss to the Patriots four days earlier. Head coach Jason Garret was under pressure from owner / General Manager Jerry Jones and from an impatient fan base. The Cowboys needed to right their listing ship and their annual Thanksgiving game would be a perfect setting to do so. They took the opening kick-off and marched easily to the end zone for an early 7-0 lead, leaving Bills fans feeling that they were in for a long afternoon.
But those would be the only points the Cowboys scored until the game was essentially out of reach as the Bills chose the ideal time to dial up their best and most complete effort of the season. The defence looked fierce and Josh Allen got his wish of posting a win in Dallas followed by biting into a turkey leg which was handed to him by CBS field reporter Tracy Wolfson. For me, when receiver John Brown hit a wide open Devin Singletary for a touchdown on a gadget play late in the first half, I began believing that the Bills just might be able to pull off their biggest win in 20 years.
I was quite surprised over the weekend to read that Thursday's Cowboys v. Bills match-up generated huge television ratings. According to the CBS website, it was the most watched Thanksgiving Day game in 27 years and the most watched regular season game in the last three years. Average viewership was 32.5 million, surpassing the Academy Awards in February and making it the most watched television program in the US since the Superbowl. For context, the Superbowl attracts about 100 million viewers in the US every year, making it the gold standard in television viewership. My prediction would have been that the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game ratings would see their highest levels in games against one of their division rivals (Giants, Eagles or Washington), not for a game against a small market AFC team which has struggled for national relevance for more than two decades. But I sense now that the Buffalo Bills have somehow generated an almost cult-like following among NFL watchers. In other words, it is now officially cool to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. I've always know that of course. The NFL appears to agree, announcing yesterday that the Bills v. Steelers game on Sunday December 15th has been "flexed" from its original 1pm start time to the prime time Sunday Night Football game with an 8.20pm kick-off.
Michigan and Ohio State have played their annual rivalry game on the last Saturday in November since 1918. "The Game", as it is known was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North American sports. Twenty years later, its importance has diminished slightly but remains the biggest regular season game in the Big Ten. For Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, he probably wishes that it would disappear from the calendar as he is now a perfect 0-5 in these games, including an 0-3 record at the Big House which packed in more than 112,000 for Saturday's game. Ohio State scored two touchdowns in each quarter and sealed their entry to the four-team college football playoff. Harbaugh and the Wolverines will settle for a lower tier bowl game. Again.
As for the Bills, for now, they have found their way into the top three teams in the AFC (by record; they still occupy the fifth playoff seed) with a record of 9-3. After last night's Patriots loss in Houston, the current holder of the top seed in the AFC is the Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park on Sunday. The Bills find themselves one game behind the Patriots with a head-to-head game with them in Foxborough on Saturday December 21st. The games just bigger and bigger from here.
Monday, 25 November 2019
Bills 20, Broncos 3
Sometimes when I drive on Allen Road, I think of William R. Allen and the lengthy discussions in the 1970s surrounding the "Spadina Extension" to the road which now bears his name (and which was never built). The road's southernmost portion ends abruptly at Eglinton Avenue and this intersection is now quite often the scene of some of the worst traffic congestion in the City of Toronto. On the rare occasion when I find myself on Allen Road inching southbound toward Eglinton Avenue (and I'm done with pondering William R. Allen), I often think of the legendary NFL coach George Allen who coached the Rams and Washington from 1966 to 1977. Allen was known for his eccentricity, his paranoia and for being the first coach to put in 16 hour days - something that all NFL coaches now do regularly. Allen hired security guards to patrol the perimeter of his practice facilities for fear that his practices were being secretly observed and filmed. He also gave an up-and-coming coach named Marv Levy an NFL job as special teams coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams in 1970. Those are the first two Allens to be discussed here, with three more to come.
2019 will be known, among Allens worldwide, as their year in the NFL as no less than three Allens were under centre yesterday as NFL starting quarterbacks. One had a successful day, one had a decent game but came up short and the third has a long way to go if he wants to have a long career in the league. Let's start with Kyle Allen, the Texas A&M product, who almost quarterbacked the Carolina Panthers to a win in New Orleans but a missed field goal cost his team the game. He is now starting for the Panthers in place of the injured Cam Newton.
Allens two and three faced each other yesterday in Orchard Park. As the CBS graphic pointed out, it was only the fourth meeting in modern NFL history between teams whose starting quarterbacks bear the same sir name. Brandon Allen, who played his college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, started the game for the Denver Broncos, replacing the injured Joe Flacco. He struggled for most of the day against the swirling winds of New Era Field and against the Bills defence which had a big game. The Broncos ended the day with only 9 first downs and a paltry total of 134 yards of offence. Allen looked overwhelmed at times against the Bills pass rush but threw only one interception on a route mix-up between quarterback and receiver.
Last but certainly not least, we turn to Bills quarterback Josh Allen. The good news is that he finally hit on a deep ball attempt - this time to John Brown on a play which was incomprehensibly called incomplete on the field but was ruled a touchdown after replay review. That sealed the game for Buffalo. Earlier on, Allen threw his first interception in 173 attempts and had another errant throw which should have been picked off but wasn't. His reversion to accuracy problems possibly had more to do with the wind than anything else as he threw the ball well for most of the day.
Congratulations this morning go to Bills running back Frank Gore who passed Barry Sanders for third place on the NFL's all-time rushing list. With 15,289 rushing yards in his career, Gore now stands behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. For his part, Devin Singletary carried 21 times for 106 yards to add to Gore's 65 yards.
Canadian football had a good final weekend with the Calgary Dinos winning the Vanier Cup before a decent crowd of more than 8,000 in Quebec City and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers capturing their first Grey Cup since 1990. A near 30 year championship drought is something that's not easy to maintain in a nine team league. And as critical as I was of Calgary football fans who boycotted the Mitchell Bowl last weekend, more than 35,000 attended the game at McMahon Stadium yesterday. As for how many paid full price for their tickets, well, whatever.
The Bills have their only scheduled nationally televised game of the regular season coming up on Thursday afternoon in Dallas (the flex schedule has created another one on Saturday December 21st in New England). The Cowboys lost a close one in New England yesterday in a monsoon and will present the biggest challenge of the season for the Bills since their week four loss to the Patriots. They will then have 10 days to prepare for the high-flying Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park after playing the Rams tonight in Los Angeles and the 49ers at home next week. At 8-3, the Bills are finally embarking on a slate of important games in December.
2019 will be known, among Allens worldwide, as their year in the NFL as no less than three Allens were under centre yesterday as NFL starting quarterbacks. One had a successful day, one had a decent game but came up short and the third has a long way to go if he wants to have a long career in the league. Let's start with Kyle Allen, the Texas A&M product, who almost quarterbacked the Carolina Panthers to a win in New Orleans but a missed field goal cost his team the game. He is now starting for the Panthers in place of the injured Cam Newton.
Allens two and three faced each other yesterday in Orchard Park. As the CBS graphic pointed out, it was only the fourth meeting in modern NFL history between teams whose starting quarterbacks bear the same sir name. Brandon Allen, who played his college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, started the game for the Denver Broncos, replacing the injured Joe Flacco. He struggled for most of the day against the swirling winds of New Era Field and against the Bills defence which had a big game. The Broncos ended the day with only 9 first downs and a paltry total of 134 yards of offence. Allen looked overwhelmed at times against the Bills pass rush but threw only one interception on a route mix-up between quarterback and receiver.
Last but certainly not least, we turn to Bills quarterback Josh Allen. The good news is that he finally hit on a deep ball attempt - this time to John Brown on a play which was incomprehensibly called incomplete on the field but was ruled a touchdown after replay review. That sealed the game for Buffalo. Earlier on, Allen threw his first interception in 173 attempts and had another errant throw which should have been picked off but wasn't. His reversion to accuracy problems possibly had more to do with the wind than anything else as he threw the ball well for most of the day.
Congratulations this morning go to Bills running back Frank Gore who passed Barry Sanders for third place on the NFL's all-time rushing list. With 15,289 rushing yards in his career, Gore now stands behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. For his part, Devin Singletary carried 21 times for 106 yards to add to Gore's 65 yards.
Canadian football had a good final weekend with the Calgary Dinos winning the Vanier Cup before a decent crowd of more than 8,000 in Quebec City and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers capturing their first Grey Cup since 1990. A near 30 year championship drought is something that's not easy to maintain in a nine team league. And as critical as I was of Calgary football fans who boycotted the Mitchell Bowl last weekend, more than 35,000 attended the game at McMahon Stadium yesterday. As for how many paid full price for their tickets, well, whatever.
The Bills have their only scheduled nationally televised game of the regular season coming up on Thursday afternoon in Dallas (the flex schedule has created another one on Saturday December 21st in New England). The Cowboys lost a close one in New England yesterday in a monsoon and will present the biggest challenge of the season for the Bills since their week four loss to the Patriots. They will then have 10 days to prepare for the high-flying Baltimore Ravens who come to Orchard Park after playing the Rams tonight in Los Angeles and the 49ers at home next week. At 8-3, the Bills are finally embarking on a slate of important games in December.
Sunday, 17 November 2019
Bills 37, Dolphins 20
As Jerry Sullivan tweeted yesterday, it really is too bad that Josh Allen can't play the Miami Dolphins every week. With Allen under centre, the Bills have put up 30 points three times, all of them against Miami - and his three highest passer ratings have also come against the Dolphins. Sure, their pass defence isn't very good but yesterday in south Florida, Allen had what looked to me to be his best game as a pro which should silence the small group of Bills fans who've been ever-so-quietly beating the drums about how he isn't progressing quickly enough - and calling WGR 550 to make their case against him and, believe it or not, as one caller yesterday morning did, to make the case for switching to Matt Barkley. But I'm quite pleased with Josh Allen's overall development and with how confidently and effectively he's playing this season and I'm positively giddy about him when I compare him to two of his 2018 draft class-mates: Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. Not to mention how he stacks up against Nathan Peterman, EJ Manuel, JP Losman, Trent Edwards, Jeff Tuel....need I continue? Allen was not sacked yesterday, did not turn the ball over and he has now thrown 163 passes without an interception. He showed his prowess in the running game again with a 36 yard scamper and a touchdown.
Possibly my favourite Marv Levy quote was one from the week leading up to one of the Superbowls. Replying to a reporter's question, Levy said "This is not a must-win; World War II was a must-win". Holding a Master's degree in British military history, Levy actually downplayed comparisons of football to war, explaining that he had fought in a war and that he thought war metaphors were not properly applicable to football. Levy was born in 1925 and served in the United States Army Air Forces (the predecessor to the USAF) from 1943 to 1946. He began coaching football in 1951. As a Jewish American who served in WW II, there is no question that a man like Marv Levy appreciates the sacrifices that were made. Ok now please stay with me here as I transition to Don Cherry (for the last time).
Cherry was born in 1934 and was 11 years old when the war ended - plenty old enough to remember it and to have a sense of how important it was. Whatever efforts he has made in his life to remind us of the significance of the contributions of Canadians (and others) to the war efforts of the first half of the 20th century are entirely understandable, if not commendable. His strong desire for the continued honouring of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in these wars is admirable too. But last weekend, he went too far and he knew it. Everyone involved apologized the following day except for him. Ron MacLean told us on Saturday night that, in the end, Don was not willing to take the steps which he was asked to take - which presumably included making a clear and sincere apology - in order to keep his job with Sportsnet. So, his long run is over. I generally appreciated his hockey analysis without always agreeing with it. Even some of the groups he insulted from time to time would tune in to hear him on Saturday nights. I recall a story told by Mark Hebscher who had attended a game at the Montreal Forum in a private box and watched in amazement as all of the televisions in all of the boxes changed to English CBC after the first period and then back to French when Cherry was done.
In three-down football, Hamilton and Winnipeg earned births to the 107th Grey Cup to be played on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The Montreal Carabins and the Calgary Dinosaurs will meet in the 55th Vanier Cup in Quebec City on Saturday. I tuned in a bit of the Mitchell Bowl on Saturday, won by Calgary over McMaster, and by my rough count from seeing shots of the stands, there could not have been more than 200 people in the stadium, other than the teams, coaches and trainers. For the Dinos, this was a home game and with a birth in the Championship at stake, the turnout was pathetic. I know that Canadian university football has pretty limited appeal but honestly Calgary.....I guess there is a chance to have a better showing for the Grey Cup but I am not optimistic that the stands will be full. The Grey Cup game should be played every year at Mosaic Stadium in Regina until further notice.
Up next for the Bills, after two road games, they return home to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Broncos last won in Orchard Park in September, 2007 - a 15-14 win on a last second field goal in a game marred by a spinal injury to Bills receiver Kevin Everett. At 7-3, the Bills currently hold the fifth seed in the AFC. The schedule becomes much tougher over the final six games but I predict that Josh Allen and the rest of the team will rise to the level of their opponents and finish the season no worse than 10-6.
Possibly my favourite Marv Levy quote was one from the week leading up to one of the Superbowls. Replying to a reporter's question, Levy said "This is not a must-win; World War II was a must-win". Holding a Master's degree in British military history, Levy actually downplayed comparisons of football to war, explaining that he had fought in a war and that he thought war metaphors were not properly applicable to football. Levy was born in 1925 and served in the United States Army Air Forces (the predecessor to the USAF) from 1943 to 1946. He began coaching football in 1951. As a Jewish American who served in WW II, there is no question that a man like Marv Levy appreciates the sacrifices that were made. Ok now please stay with me here as I transition to Don Cherry (for the last time).
Cherry was born in 1934 and was 11 years old when the war ended - plenty old enough to remember it and to have a sense of how important it was. Whatever efforts he has made in his life to remind us of the significance of the contributions of Canadians (and others) to the war efforts of the first half of the 20th century are entirely understandable, if not commendable. His strong desire for the continued honouring of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in these wars is admirable too. But last weekend, he went too far and he knew it. Everyone involved apologized the following day except for him. Ron MacLean told us on Saturday night that, in the end, Don was not willing to take the steps which he was asked to take - which presumably included making a clear and sincere apology - in order to keep his job with Sportsnet. So, his long run is over. I generally appreciated his hockey analysis without always agreeing with it. Even some of the groups he insulted from time to time would tune in to hear him on Saturday nights. I recall a story told by Mark Hebscher who had attended a game at the Montreal Forum in a private box and watched in amazement as all of the televisions in all of the boxes changed to English CBC after the first period and then back to French when Cherry was done.
In three-down football, Hamilton and Winnipeg earned births to the 107th Grey Cup to be played on Sunday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The Montreal Carabins and the Calgary Dinosaurs will meet in the 55th Vanier Cup in Quebec City on Saturday. I tuned in a bit of the Mitchell Bowl on Saturday, won by Calgary over McMaster, and by my rough count from seeing shots of the stands, there could not have been more than 200 people in the stadium, other than the teams, coaches and trainers. For the Dinos, this was a home game and with a birth in the Championship at stake, the turnout was pathetic. I know that Canadian university football has pretty limited appeal but honestly Calgary.....I guess there is a chance to have a better showing for the Grey Cup but I am not optimistic that the stands will be full. The Grey Cup game should be played every year at Mosaic Stadium in Regina until further notice.
Up next for the Bills, after two road games, they return home to face the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Broncos last won in Orchard Park in September, 2007 - a 15-14 win on a last second field goal in a game marred by a spinal injury to Bills receiver Kevin Everett. At 7-3, the Bills currently hold the fifth seed in the AFC. The schedule becomes much tougher over the final six games but I predict that Josh Allen and the rest of the team will rise to the level of their opponents and finish the season no worse than 10-6.
Monday, 11 November 2019
Browns 19, Bills 16
When Sean McDermott makes his list of things for his football team to work on going into its next game in south Florida, goal line defence will not likely be on it. The Bills amazingly stopped the Cleveland Browns on no less than 12 plays from inside the three yard line, on two separate series yesterday on the south shore of Lake Erie. Browns coach Fred Kitchens was prepared to roll a lucky 13 on a fourth down play but chose to kick a field goal when one of his offensive linemen was flagged for a false start. That field goal gave the Browns a 9-7 lead before halftime.
In a game which was frustrating to watch for fans of either team, the Bills took a four point lead with just over five minutes remaining on Josh Allen's second rushing touchdown of the game. Just before that, Allen fumbled the ball - yet again - on the four yard line but the ball was knocked forward to Jose Feliciano, whose ability to find just the right balance between his music and football careers, showed that he really does have a keen sense of smell for the ball by recovering it on the one yard line to not only preserve possession and extend the drive, but for a first down as well. After the touchdown, leading 16-12, the Bills appeared to seal the win as Jerry Hughes recovered a botched "hand-off" attempt by Baker Mayfield and scampered to the endzone for an apparent touchdown and a 22-12 Bills lead. But as soon as CBS rules analyst Gene Seratore, a long time NFL referee, said that in his opinion Mayfield's unsuccessful short vertical toss amounted to an incomplete pass, I knew that the Bills lead had been reduced again to four.
When kickers miss field goal attempts, headlines in the sports press often declare that "there is plenty of blame to go around". Well, yes there is for a Bills team which continued again yesterday to struggle on offence but kicker Stephen Hauschka not only missed on a 53 yard attempt to tie the game in perfectly decent weather conditions, but he also missed a 34 yard try earlier on. We can all count, as Andy Reid once said, and by my count, the missed field goals really made the difference in the game. The Bills have generally been solid in the place-kicking department over many years - think of names like Steve Christie and Ryan Lindell - and Hauschka had success in Baltimore, Denver and Seattle before coming to Buffalo in 2017. He has been quite consistent over the past three seasons with the Bills and in August signed a two-year contract extension which pays him $4 million per season.
The Bills remain on the road in week 11, travelling to Miami to face the red-hot Dolphins, winners of two straight games, including an upset road win in Indianapolis yesterday over the heavily favoured Colts. At 6-3, the Bills are still well positioned for a playoff spot in the relatively weak AFC.
Elsewhere in the football world, the CFL's Division Championship games are set with Hamilton hosting Edmonton and Winnipeg playing the Riders in Regina next Sunday. The Grey Cup is set for November 24th in Calgary whose Stampeders lost at home yesterday to the Bombers. Since the game at McMahon Stadium drew only 24,000 yesterday in Calgary, Grey Cup tickets, I presume, will be easy to come by.
There is something about Alabama coach Nick Saban which I don't like so I was happy to see his Crimson Tide (and the 100,000+ fans in Tuscoloosa who cheered Donald Trump) lose to LSU whose coach, Ed Orgeron, looks and talks like a mobster.
My neighbourhood high school football team in north Toronto is the Lawrence Park Panthers. The Panthers play on Thursday in the Tier 1 semi-finals against Richview CI at Esther Shiner stadium. I know one of the players who I expect will be able to get me a good seat for the 2pm kick.
Finally, to the good people of Canada - and I guess to you too Don Cherry - today is Remembrance Day so please take a moment at 11am to pay your respects. Maybe its time to remove Mr. Cherry from the public airwaves since he has failed or refused to apologize for his baffling comments on Saturday night - leaving that to his employer, Sportsnet and to his broadcast partner Ron McLean.
In a game which was frustrating to watch for fans of either team, the Bills took a four point lead with just over five minutes remaining on Josh Allen's second rushing touchdown of the game. Just before that, Allen fumbled the ball - yet again - on the four yard line but the ball was knocked forward to Jose Feliciano, whose ability to find just the right balance between his music and football careers, showed that he really does have a keen sense of smell for the ball by recovering it on the one yard line to not only preserve possession and extend the drive, but for a first down as well. After the touchdown, leading 16-12, the Bills appeared to seal the win as Jerry Hughes recovered a botched "hand-off" attempt by Baker Mayfield and scampered to the endzone for an apparent touchdown and a 22-12 Bills lead. But as soon as CBS rules analyst Gene Seratore, a long time NFL referee, said that in his opinion Mayfield's unsuccessful short vertical toss amounted to an incomplete pass, I knew that the Bills lead had been reduced again to four.
When kickers miss field goal attempts, headlines in the sports press often declare that "there is plenty of blame to go around". Well, yes there is for a Bills team which continued again yesterday to struggle on offence but kicker Stephen Hauschka not only missed on a 53 yard attempt to tie the game in perfectly decent weather conditions, but he also missed a 34 yard try earlier on. We can all count, as Andy Reid once said, and by my count, the missed field goals really made the difference in the game. The Bills have generally been solid in the place-kicking department over many years - think of names like Steve Christie and Ryan Lindell - and Hauschka had success in Baltimore, Denver and Seattle before coming to Buffalo in 2017. He has been quite consistent over the past three seasons with the Bills and in August signed a two-year contract extension which pays him $4 million per season.
The Bills remain on the road in week 11, travelling to Miami to face the red-hot Dolphins, winners of two straight games, including an upset road win in Indianapolis yesterday over the heavily favoured Colts. At 6-3, the Bills are still well positioned for a playoff spot in the relatively weak AFC.
Elsewhere in the football world, the CFL's Division Championship games are set with Hamilton hosting Edmonton and Winnipeg playing the Riders in Regina next Sunday. The Grey Cup is set for November 24th in Calgary whose Stampeders lost at home yesterday to the Bombers. Since the game at McMahon Stadium drew only 24,000 yesterday in Calgary, Grey Cup tickets, I presume, will be easy to come by.
There is something about Alabama coach Nick Saban which I don't like so I was happy to see his Crimson Tide (and the 100,000+ fans in Tuscoloosa who cheered Donald Trump) lose to LSU whose coach, Ed Orgeron, looks and talks like a mobster.
My neighbourhood high school football team in north Toronto is the Lawrence Park Panthers. The Panthers play on Thursday in the Tier 1 semi-finals against Richview CI at Esther Shiner stadium. I know one of the players who I expect will be able to get me a good seat for the 2pm kick.
Finally, to the good people of Canada - and I guess to you too Don Cherry - today is Remembrance Day so please take a moment at 11am to pay your respects. Maybe its time to remove Mr. Cherry from the public airwaves since he has failed or refused to apologize for his baffling comments on Saturday night - leaving that to his employer, Sportsnet and to his broadcast partner Ron McLean.
Monday, 4 November 2019
Bills 24, Washington 9
When Jerry Sullivan was relieved of his duties as a featured sports columnist for the Buffalo News a couple of years ago, he was widely considered to be the opposite of a "homer" sports journalist. Always seeming to find a dark cloud in any story, despite the silver lining of eternal optimism shared by fans of the Buffalo Bills, Sullivan was the subject of a petition which gained enough momentum for the western New York daily to move on from him, saying that he was just too negative for their readers. In a larger market, Sullivan's "glass half empty" approach to covering losing teams (remember the Bills missed the playoffs from 1999 to 2017) would have been considered appropriate in my view. But enough fans in Buffalo had read enough of his doom and gloom columns - even if they were pretty much accurate most of the time.
A couple of days before the Bills fell to the Eagles last Sunday, Sullivan shared with his Twitter followers another of his dire tidbits which was sure to rile up those (like me) who are still interested in what he has to say about the Bills. Sullivan dug up the fact that since 2000, including last week's game against the Eagles, the Bills have had 17 chances to record their sixth win in a season before the 11th game (in other words, to get to a record of 6-4 or better). Over the course of those 17 games, the Bills were a perfect 0-17. In the 2011 season, the Bills started 5-1 (as they did this year) and went 0-5 in trying to get to 6 wins before game 11. Many Buffalo sports fans will see this data point as typical Sullivan - trying to find the most depressing angle from which to evaluate the team and anticipate more Bills losses. Maybe he's disappointed this morning that the team finally broke the streak of 0-17 yesterday against Washington but I'm sure that he will find another equally dire trend to infuriate his readers as the Bills take their 6-2 record to Cleveland next week. Either way, I'll be reading what he has to say. This is the best start to a season for the Bills since their last Superbowl year in 1993 but Sullivan probably won't mention that.
I heard something that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said the other day: with so many close games every week in the NFL, most games come down to which team is able to step up and execute in the last 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. The Bills allowed Washington, a team which had already fired its head coach earlier this season and was starting a rookie third-string quarterback yesterday, to hang around within one score in a 17-9 game. Then, as those critical final minutes began ticking down, the team stepped up on both sides of the ball and put the game out of reach. The defence stiffened and a Tre'davious White sack pinned Washington inside their five yard line, having to punt from their endzone. Josh Allen then led the team to the game-sealing touchdown - a two yard run by Devin Singletary.
Speaking of Singletary, the Bills rookie running back, only now appearing to be fully recovered from his early season hamstring injury, had a big day with 140 total yards. He had 20 carries for 95 yards on the ground and took a screen pass 49 yards for the game's biggest offensive play. As the featured running back yesterday, Singletary took the time to find running lanes and looked elusive and deceptively quick. On the other hand, Frank Gore, the highly respected veteran, seemed like he was banging his head against a brick wall with multiple unsuccessful straight ahead attempts in short yardage situations. He has been quite effective for the Bills this year but not yesterday. I predict that the combination of the two backs with very different styles will continue to work well with at least one of them finding running room each week. Adrian Peterson looked like the hardest player in the league to tackle in the first half yesterday as he repeatedly shed defenders who should have been able to bring him to the ground and was able to pile up 101 yards before the break but ended the game with only 7 more in the second half.
Going into yesterday, Washington had not played a game in Orchard Park since 2003. The 2011 game, won by the Bills 23-0, was played before a subdued crowd at the Rogers Centre in Toronto (I know it was subdued because I was there). The team from Washington is scheduled to play in Buffalo next in 2027.
Up next for the Bills is a short drive along the south shore of Lake Erie to visit their cousins, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are coming off a loss at Denver yesterday and are now at 2-6 - quite disappointing for a team which was hoping to contend with Baker Mayfield in his second year and the signing of Odell Beckham Jr for him to throw to. I expect a large contingent of Bills Nation to make the drive to Cleveland for a chance to see the Bills improve to 7-2.
A couple of days before the Bills fell to the Eagles last Sunday, Sullivan shared with his Twitter followers another of his dire tidbits which was sure to rile up those (like me) who are still interested in what he has to say about the Bills. Sullivan dug up the fact that since 2000, including last week's game against the Eagles, the Bills have had 17 chances to record their sixth win in a season before the 11th game (in other words, to get to a record of 6-4 or better). Over the course of those 17 games, the Bills were a perfect 0-17. In the 2011 season, the Bills started 5-1 (as they did this year) and went 0-5 in trying to get to 6 wins before game 11. Many Buffalo sports fans will see this data point as typical Sullivan - trying to find the most depressing angle from which to evaluate the team and anticipate more Bills losses. Maybe he's disappointed this morning that the team finally broke the streak of 0-17 yesterday against Washington but I'm sure that he will find another equally dire trend to infuriate his readers as the Bills take their 6-2 record to Cleveland next week. Either way, I'll be reading what he has to say. This is the best start to a season for the Bills since their last Superbowl year in 1993 but Sullivan probably won't mention that.
I heard something that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said the other day: with so many close games every week in the NFL, most games come down to which team is able to step up and execute in the last 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. The Bills allowed Washington, a team which had already fired its head coach earlier this season and was starting a rookie third-string quarterback yesterday, to hang around within one score in a 17-9 game. Then, as those critical final minutes began ticking down, the team stepped up on both sides of the ball and put the game out of reach. The defence stiffened and a Tre'davious White sack pinned Washington inside their five yard line, having to punt from their endzone. Josh Allen then led the team to the game-sealing touchdown - a two yard run by Devin Singletary.
Speaking of Singletary, the Bills rookie running back, only now appearing to be fully recovered from his early season hamstring injury, had a big day with 140 total yards. He had 20 carries for 95 yards on the ground and took a screen pass 49 yards for the game's biggest offensive play. As the featured running back yesterday, Singletary took the time to find running lanes and looked elusive and deceptively quick. On the other hand, Frank Gore, the highly respected veteran, seemed like he was banging his head against a brick wall with multiple unsuccessful straight ahead attempts in short yardage situations. He has been quite effective for the Bills this year but not yesterday. I predict that the combination of the two backs with very different styles will continue to work well with at least one of them finding running room each week. Adrian Peterson looked like the hardest player in the league to tackle in the first half yesterday as he repeatedly shed defenders who should have been able to bring him to the ground and was able to pile up 101 yards before the break but ended the game with only 7 more in the second half.
Going into yesterday, Washington had not played a game in Orchard Park since 2003. The 2011 game, won by the Bills 23-0, was played before a subdued crowd at the Rogers Centre in Toronto (I know it was subdued because I was there). The team from Washington is scheduled to play in Buffalo next in 2027.
Up next for the Bills is a short drive along the south shore of Lake Erie to visit their cousins, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns are coming off a loss at Denver yesterday and are now at 2-6 - quite disappointing for a team which was hoping to contend with Baker Mayfield in his second year and the signing of Odell Beckham Jr for him to throw to. I expect a large contingent of Bills Nation to make the drive to Cleveland for a chance to see the Bills improve to 7-2.
Monday, 28 October 2019
Eagles 31, Bills 13
On Saturday morning in my car, just after 8.30am, I checked WGR 550, the Buffalo sports radio station where there is usually plenty of Bills talk to be heard, especially this season with the Bills off to a 5-1 start and Bills Nation thinking about the possibility of the team's second playoff berth in three seasons under head coach Sean McDermott. The programming carried by the station at that moment was an infomercial for a sport betting tout service, thinly disguised as a football talk show. The sell line for these services go something like this: "I have access to critical game-deciding information which will help you have a winning weekend in college football and the NFL....subscribe to my service and I will give you my guaranteed locks for this weekend..." I was about to turn to another station when the tout said that his red-hot NFL "lock" this week was his pick for the Eagles v. Bills game on Sunday: "A guaranteed cover and outright winner for this game is available free if you subscribe for the next three weeks", he said. He then promised that he was so certain about this that he would refund subscription fees if his guaranteed Eagles v. Bills result failed to deliver. Across the various sports books, the Bills were somewhere between a one and a three point favourite in the days leading up to yesterday's game but by kick-off, most books had moved the line to a pick 'em. I did not subscribe to the tout service who offered a guaranteed winner for the game for two reasons: first, because I would never subscribe to such a service anyway (I prefer to spend $20 every week on a long-shot Pro-line ticket) and, second, I knew that all indicators pointed to the service advising punters to take the Eagles plus one or two. The "sharp" money late last week and leading up to kick-off was clearly with the Eagles. I'm sure that the tout I heard on Saturday morning is issuing no refunds today.
I had a bad feeling going into the game. The Eagles, at 3-4 and a Superbowl winner two seasons ago, were in a desperate situation - or at least they were highly motivated to improve their record to 4-4, rather than let it slip to 3-5, especially after being blown out by the Cowboys last Sunday. The Bills were coasting with a 5-1 record, having enjoyed a easy schedule and still in search of anything close to a "signature win" to establish themselves as a credible threat in the AFC. With the mostly soft schedule they face for the rest of the season, the Bills appear to have two remaining opportunities to record this elusive signature win: the first will come on Thanksgiving Day at Dallas and the second will be in week 16 at New England.
This is my 16th season as a Bills season ticket holder. Yesterday's visit to Orchard Park by the Philadelphia Eagles was only the second in all of those years. The NFL schedule is constructed so that out-of-conference divisions are matched against each other every four years, switching from to home to away, which means that an NFC team will visit a particular AFC team only once every eight years. The Eagles played in Buffalo in 2003, 2011 and yesterday with their next visit scheduled for 2027. The Eagles won easily in 2003 with Donovan McNabb under centre (and Drew Bledsoe at quarterback for the Bills) but the Bills managed to win in the 2011 game which featured a key Ryan Fitzpatrick hard count which drew the Eagles offside giving the Bills a first down at a critical point late in the game which was played on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The Eagles lead the all-time series 8-6. The other relevant connection between the two teams is that Sean McDermott began his NFL coaching career in Philadelphia under Andy Reid who remains a close friend and mentor to McDermott.
The Bills face Washington next week in their third consecutive home game. I have decided to stop using the name of the Washington football team for the same reason that long-time Blue Jays play-by-play broadcaster Jerry Howarth stopped using the name of Cleveland's baseball team. Daniel Snyder, the Washington team owner, responding to pressure from Native American groups demanding a name change, declared that the team's name will never be changed as long as he remains the owner. The team's name is particularly offensive - as is the logo which is similar to that of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Speaking of the BIackhawks, I recently saw an artist's rendering of a suggested culturally appropriate change to the Blackhawks logo which features a bird rather than a human head but with a similar design style and the same coloured feathers. I really like the image and if I were Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, I would change the team's logo to something like this. Easy for me to say but the change would not only leave the team's name in place but I suggest that it would generate significant positive public relations - and not just among Native Americans. Not to mention the potential sales revenue from an entire new line of Blackhawks branded jerseys and other clothing and swag.
I had a bad feeling going into the game. The Eagles, at 3-4 and a Superbowl winner two seasons ago, were in a desperate situation - or at least they were highly motivated to improve their record to 4-4, rather than let it slip to 3-5, especially after being blown out by the Cowboys last Sunday. The Bills were coasting with a 5-1 record, having enjoyed a easy schedule and still in search of anything close to a "signature win" to establish themselves as a credible threat in the AFC. With the mostly soft schedule they face for the rest of the season, the Bills appear to have two remaining opportunities to record this elusive signature win: the first will come on Thanksgiving Day at Dallas and the second will be in week 16 at New England.
This is my 16th season as a Bills season ticket holder. Yesterday's visit to Orchard Park by the Philadelphia Eagles was only the second in all of those years. The NFL schedule is constructed so that out-of-conference divisions are matched against each other every four years, switching from to home to away, which means that an NFC team will visit a particular AFC team only once every eight years. The Eagles played in Buffalo in 2003, 2011 and yesterday with their next visit scheduled for 2027. The Eagles won easily in 2003 with Donovan McNabb under centre (and Drew Bledsoe at quarterback for the Bills) but the Bills managed to win in the 2011 game which featured a key Ryan Fitzpatrick hard count which drew the Eagles offside giving the Bills a first down at a critical point late in the game which was played on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The Eagles lead the all-time series 8-6. The other relevant connection between the two teams is that Sean McDermott began his NFL coaching career in Philadelphia under Andy Reid who remains a close friend and mentor to McDermott.
The Bills face Washington next week in their third consecutive home game. I have decided to stop using the name of the Washington football team for the same reason that long-time Blue Jays play-by-play broadcaster Jerry Howarth stopped using the name of Cleveland's baseball team. Daniel Snyder, the Washington team owner, responding to pressure from Native American groups demanding a name change, declared that the team's name will never be changed as long as he remains the owner. The team's name is particularly offensive - as is the logo which is similar to that of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Speaking of the BIackhawks, I recently saw an artist's rendering of a suggested culturally appropriate change to the Blackhawks logo which features a bird rather than a human head but with a similar design style and the same coloured feathers. I really like the image and if I were Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, I would change the team's logo to something like this. Easy for me to say but the change would not only leave the team's name in place but I suggest that it would generate significant positive public relations - and not just among Native Americans. Not to mention the potential sales revenue from an entire new line of Blackhawks branded jerseys and other clothing and swag.
Monday, 21 October 2019
Bills 31, Dolphins 21
Of the roughly 25,000 men who have ever suited up for an NFL game, for many reasons, few are more fascinating than one Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick. Born and raised in Arizona, Fitzpatrick studied economics at Harvard and also quarterbacked the school's Ivy League football team. In the 2004 season, he led the Crimson to a 10-0 record and and Ivy League championship. He scored 48 on the Wonderlic Personnel Test and that score is the highest ever recorded for an NFL quarterback. By comparison, current Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored a 37.
Fitzpatrick was drafted in the 7th round of the 2005 NFL draft as the 250th overall pick by the St. Louis Rams. Including his current team, the Miami Dolphins, he has played for eight NFL teams over his 15 year career. This included four seasons with the Buffalo Bills - from 2009 through 2012 - where he started all 16 regular season games in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Known in good times as "Fitzmagic" and in bad times as "Fitztragic", his play has swung wildly between brilliant and horrific - from season to season, game to game and within games, from series to series. Known as a risk-taking gunslinger of a quarterback, over his career he has been a paradox - often showing flashes of brilliance in an individual game only to eventually throw a critical interception at the most inopportune time to seal a loss. He is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in a single game with five different teams (including the Bills). He has never played in an NFL playoff game as he seems to bounce around the league's bottom feeders as a capable back-up who always seems to have a notable impact on the fortunes of whatever team he finds himself on - usually a positive impact in the short term and negative one later on.
It was clear to me that Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins were motivated and well prepared going into yesterday's game in Orchard Park. For a team widely expected to complete the 2019 season without a win, the Dolphins played hard and at times played well. Fitzpatrick looked solid in the first half before fizzling out later in the game. For a 17 point underdog widely believed to be in "tank" mode this season, the Dolphins looked like a team which was long on effort and short on talent. This is a testament to the Dolphins coaching staff and probably to Fitzpatrick himself whose play yesterday replicated a common pattern he has shown over 15 years - strong play early on with his team well-positioned to pull off the biggest upset of the NFL season so far, then a crucial interception as his team was on the verge of another score. He even engineered a late touchdown, taking the ball to the endzone himself, to bring the Dolphins to within three points and a chance at recovering an onside kick.
Looking at the score this morning, a casual NFL fan might think that the Bills had built a comfortable lead before softening and allowing the Dolphins to rack up some garbage time points and earn a back-door cover. But the game was uncomfortably close for Bills fans until Micah Hyde sealed the win by returning an onside kick for a touchdown to restore a ten point margin. Good teams win close games and bad teams lose them.
The Bills play a much better Philadelphia Eagles team next week in the second of three consecutive home games in Orchard Park. The Eagles lost badly last night in Dallas and will present the Bills with the their second-biggest challenge of the season so far.
Canadians will elect a new government today in our 43rd general election. I'm glad that the campaign is over as it seemed to be far longer than needed with few interesting or relevant developments along the way. I predict the following: The Conservatives will not fair quite as well as expected and the Liberals will win the most seats but will fall short of the 170 needed for a majority. The NDP will win enough seats to hold the balance of power in a minority parliament and they will demand from the Liberals in exchange for their support, among other things, that the Trans-Mountain pipeline project be scrapped. How the Liberals decide to deal with this demand will be a large question - one with critical national unity and environmental implications.
Fitzpatrick was drafted in the 7th round of the 2005 NFL draft as the 250th overall pick by the St. Louis Rams. Including his current team, the Miami Dolphins, he has played for eight NFL teams over his 15 year career. This included four seasons with the Buffalo Bills - from 2009 through 2012 - where he started all 16 regular season games in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Known in good times as "Fitzmagic" and in bad times as "Fitztragic", his play has swung wildly between brilliant and horrific - from season to season, game to game and within games, from series to series. Known as a risk-taking gunslinger of a quarterback, over his career he has been a paradox - often showing flashes of brilliance in an individual game only to eventually throw a critical interception at the most inopportune time to seal a loss. He is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw four touchdown passes in a single game with five different teams (including the Bills). He has never played in an NFL playoff game as he seems to bounce around the league's bottom feeders as a capable back-up who always seems to have a notable impact on the fortunes of whatever team he finds himself on - usually a positive impact in the short term and negative one later on.
It was clear to me that Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins were motivated and well prepared going into yesterday's game in Orchard Park. For a team widely expected to complete the 2019 season without a win, the Dolphins played hard and at times played well. Fitzpatrick looked solid in the first half before fizzling out later in the game. For a 17 point underdog widely believed to be in "tank" mode this season, the Dolphins looked like a team which was long on effort and short on talent. This is a testament to the Dolphins coaching staff and probably to Fitzpatrick himself whose play yesterday replicated a common pattern he has shown over 15 years - strong play early on with his team well-positioned to pull off the biggest upset of the NFL season so far, then a crucial interception as his team was on the verge of another score. He even engineered a late touchdown, taking the ball to the endzone himself, to bring the Dolphins to within three points and a chance at recovering an onside kick.
Looking at the score this morning, a casual NFL fan might think that the Bills had built a comfortable lead before softening and allowing the Dolphins to rack up some garbage time points and earn a back-door cover. But the game was uncomfortably close for Bills fans until Micah Hyde sealed the win by returning an onside kick for a touchdown to restore a ten point margin. Good teams win close games and bad teams lose them.
The Bills play a much better Philadelphia Eagles team next week in the second of three consecutive home games in Orchard Park. The Eagles lost badly last night in Dallas and will present the Bills with the their second-biggest challenge of the season so far.
Canadians will elect a new government today in our 43rd general election. I'm glad that the campaign is over as it seemed to be far longer than needed with few interesting or relevant developments along the way. I predict the following: The Conservatives will not fair quite as well as expected and the Liberals will win the most seats but will fall short of the 170 needed for a majority. The NDP will win enough seats to hold the balance of power in a minority parliament and they will demand from the Liberals in exchange for their support, among other things, that the Trans-Mountain pipeline project be scrapped. How the Liberals decide to deal with this demand will be a large question - one with critical national unity and environmental implications.
Monday, 7 October 2019
Bills 14, Titans 7
Few scenarios are more satisfying for a football team, its coaches and its fan base than closing out a game, while holding the lead and the ball, by gaining first downs on the ground, making the opponent use its remaining time-outs and, finally, lining up in victory formation and watching the game clock wind down to zero after the head coaches have already made their way to mid-field to shake hands. The reason why its so satisfying is that everyone watching, including the defensive team, knows that this is what you're going to do - thereby removing any element of surprise or uncertainty around your offensive play calling - and yet you are still able to exert your will and get it done. The Buffalo Bills achieved this objective yesterday in Nashville to seal another road win and improve their record to 4-1.
Most NFL head coaches would probably choose to have their bye week later in the season than earlier. Injuries and fatigue usually accumulate through October and November and a late bye week before a final push toward the playoffs - rather than on Canadian Thanksgiving - is generally preferred. But for the Bills, the two week break which they begin this morning is a welcome "blessing" according to head coach Sean McDermott whose team was bitten by the injury bug again yesterday on both sides of the ball. On the offensive line, centre Mitch Morse (ankle) and right tackle Cody Ford (head) went down but the back-ups performed admirably, particularly on the final game-sealing drive. On defence, linebackers Matt Milano (hamstring) and Trent Murphy (head) left the game but the Bills defence didn't miss a beat either. When the Bills next suit up, at home against the lowly Dolphins on October 20th, hopefully these players, along with rookie running back Devon Singletary, will be back.
Two more head injuries to Bills players yesterday continued a disturbing trend for the team and for the league. Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph suffered a devastating helmet-to-helmet hit yesterday against the Ravens and a close-up shot from an endzone camera appeared to show him lose consciousness before he collapsed to the turf where he lay motionless for longer than Josh Allen did last week. Rudolph was taken to hospital and later released. Expect him to miss some playing time from this. As for Bills players Ford and Murphy, they have two weeks to progress through the NFL concussion protocol. Josh Allen can help them understand what to expect.
Cairo Santos has had his share of tragedy in his life. The Brazilian born place-kicker's father, a pilot with the Brazilian airline Varig, died in plane crash in 2013, Santos' senior year at Tulane University. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014 by Kansas City where he played three seasons before bouncing around the league seeing time with the Bears, Rams and Bucs before being signed by the Tennessee Titans on the eve of the 2019 season. He missed four field goals yesterday, tying a post-merger league record. His final miss, on a 53 yard attempt, sailed laughably wide right. I was quite surprised when Titans coach Mike Vrabel chose to try the kick on a fourth down and four play with his team trailing by a touchdown. The Titans will likely be working out new kickers this week but there may be few to choose from as 2019 has not been kind to kickers with veterans Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostowski, among others having their struggles. The Titans are not the only team looking to upgrade at the place-kicker position.
The Bills defence continues to show that it is an elite one in the league - easily in the top three. This means that (1) the team will usually be able keep games close and, (2) offensive game planning can be pretty conservative - an ideal scenario for the continued development of their second year quarterback. If the Bills can get Devon Singletary back and continue to develop their running game with the fleet-footed and illusive rookie, offset by the straight-ahead veteran Frank Gore, Allen should find opportunities to make big gains down the field - something which he has been hesitant to try to do in the last couple of games.
After the Dolphins in two weeks, The Philadelphia Eagles visit to Orchard Park on the 27th could be a marquee match-up.
Most NFL head coaches would probably choose to have their bye week later in the season than earlier. Injuries and fatigue usually accumulate through October and November and a late bye week before a final push toward the playoffs - rather than on Canadian Thanksgiving - is generally preferred. But for the Bills, the two week break which they begin this morning is a welcome "blessing" according to head coach Sean McDermott whose team was bitten by the injury bug again yesterday on both sides of the ball. On the offensive line, centre Mitch Morse (ankle) and right tackle Cody Ford (head) went down but the back-ups performed admirably, particularly on the final game-sealing drive. On defence, linebackers Matt Milano (hamstring) and Trent Murphy (head) left the game but the Bills defence didn't miss a beat either. When the Bills next suit up, at home against the lowly Dolphins on October 20th, hopefully these players, along with rookie running back Devon Singletary, will be back.
Two more head injuries to Bills players yesterday continued a disturbing trend for the team and for the league. Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph suffered a devastating helmet-to-helmet hit yesterday against the Ravens and a close-up shot from an endzone camera appeared to show him lose consciousness before he collapsed to the turf where he lay motionless for longer than Josh Allen did last week. Rudolph was taken to hospital and later released. Expect him to miss some playing time from this. As for Bills players Ford and Murphy, they have two weeks to progress through the NFL concussion protocol. Josh Allen can help them understand what to expect.
Cairo Santos has had his share of tragedy in his life. The Brazilian born place-kicker's father, a pilot with the Brazilian airline Varig, died in plane crash in 2013, Santos' senior year at Tulane University. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014 by Kansas City where he played three seasons before bouncing around the league seeing time with the Bears, Rams and Bucs before being signed by the Tennessee Titans on the eve of the 2019 season. He missed four field goals yesterday, tying a post-merger league record. His final miss, on a 53 yard attempt, sailed laughably wide right. I was quite surprised when Titans coach Mike Vrabel chose to try the kick on a fourth down and four play with his team trailing by a touchdown. The Titans will likely be working out new kickers this week but there may be few to choose from as 2019 has not been kind to kickers with veterans Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostowski, among others having their struggles. The Titans are not the only team looking to upgrade at the place-kicker position.
The Bills defence continues to show that it is an elite one in the league - easily in the top three. This means that (1) the team will usually be able keep games close and, (2) offensive game planning can be pretty conservative - an ideal scenario for the continued development of their second year quarterback. If the Bills can get Devon Singletary back and continue to develop their running game with the fleet-footed and illusive rookie, offset by the straight-ahead veteran Frank Gore, Allen should find opportunities to make big gains down the field - something which he has been hesitant to try to do in the last couple of games.
After the Dolphins in two weeks, The Philadelphia Eagles visit to Orchard Park on the 27th could be a marquee match-up.
Monday, 30 September 2019
Patriots 16, Bills 10
There is only one scenario where an NFL team can play a home playoff game without winning their division. And its about as unlikely as the Miami Dolphins winning a game this season. It involves the fifth and sixth seeded teams playing in a conference championship game which would take place at the home of the fifth seeded team. Win your division - and there are eight of them - and you will have a home playoff game. Make the playoffs as a wild card team and you will be on the road for all of your playoff games (except as mentioned above). The New England Patriots have enjoyed what seems like a perpetual stranglehold on the AFC East since Tom Brady began his career as their quarterback in 2001. Over that almost 20 year period, the Patriots have won the division every season except for two. The Buffalo Bills last home playoff game was in December, 1996, back when fewer teams made the playoffs and each conference's two wild card teams met in the first round. The Bills lost that game, the last of Jim Kelly's career, to Jacksonville.
Yesterday in Orchard Park, the Bills had their best opportunity in more than 20 years to lay the foundation for their first division title since 1995. But they couldn't quite get it done. A blocked punt which was returned for a touchdown was the difference in the game which saw the Bills in position to steal the game as they drove for the winning touchdown before the Patriots ended the game with their fourth interception late in the fourth quarter. The loss came despite the Bills defence holding the Patriots to 11 first downs and 224 total yards and the offence managing to the score the first and only touchdown against the Patriots through a full quarter of the season. In a game dominated by defence, the Bills went toe-to toe with the Patriots but fell short again, sending their fans home disappointed but perhaps not as disillusioned as they have been after previous blow-out losses to the Patriots in Orchard Park over the last 20 years.
Micah Hyde said after the game that if one of his teammates had hit Tom Brady the way that Jonathan Jones hit Josh Allen early in the fourth quarter (sending him into the league's concussion protocol where he would remain for the rest of the game) they would have been ejected from the game. Head Coach Sean McDermott said after the game that "there is no room in football for a hit like that" and also suggested that Jones should have been ejected for the hit. The NFL's senior vice-president of officiating Al Riveron, reached by Buffalo News reporter Vic Carucci after the game, disagreed. He said "we looked at it and in this situation, we didn't feel that contact rose to the level of ejection.......we have standards for ejection and this did not rise to that standard". Jones, for his part explained that "there is never intent to hurt anyone. We were running around playing football." And maybe that's the problem.
During the CBS broadcast, Dan Fouts commented after Allen's injury that they are trying to coach helmet-to-helmet hits out of football. Well, I'm skeptical. It just might not be possible to remove these hits from tackle football, regardless of instructional changes in junior football or the severity of penalties handed out to the offenders at the college or NFL level. It's part of football and always has been. Legendary ABC college football play-by-play broadcaster Keith Jackson used to look forward to teams "cracking some heads" when previewing an important rivalry game. If Josh Allen had been playing in the NFL 20 or 30 years ago, he probably would have missed one play after the hit he took yesterday. "You had your bell rung; get back out there" the coaches might have said to him. After the play which laid him out, Allen jogged to the locker room after being evaluated under the blue tent by an independent neurologist and was seen walking around and talking with team officials after the game. It is too early to say but I predict that he will play next week.
Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL in March and is now promoting his new CBD product line which he says has helped him become pain free for the first time in many years. At a promotional press conference earlier this month, Gronkowski explained (presumably to give context to the efficacy of his CBD products) that in his football career he had nine surgeries and 20 concussions, including five black-out incidents. He also suggested that any injury, including CTE, the affliction which can result from repeated head trauma, can be fixed and that the CBD product which he now promotes (as an investor and a consumer) has cured his headaches and "fixed" his issues with head trauma. After Gronkowski made this claim, a prominent behavioural neurologist publicly called him out, saying that neurodegenerative diseases like CTE or Alzheimers can not be fixed and will eventually win.
I like throwing and catching a football but I never played the sport in an organized setting. I do enjoy the game as a spectator and the fact that it is dangerous for those who play has not changed that, even as we learn more about just how dangerous it might be in the long term. For now anyway. So, on to next week where the Bills travel to Nashville, the scene of Homerun Throwback, one of the most infamous and devastating plays in Bills playoff history.
Yesterday in Orchard Park, the Bills had their best opportunity in more than 20 years to lay the foundation for their first division title since 1995. But they couldn't quite get it done. A blocked punt which was returned for a touchdown was the difference in the game which saw the Bills in position to steal the game as they drove for the winning touchdown before the Patriots ended the game with their fourth interception late in the fourth quarter. The loss came despite the Bills defence holding the Patriots to 11 first downs and 224 total yards and the offence managing to the score the first and only touchdown against the Patriots through a full quarter of the season. In a game dominated by defence, the Bills went toe-to toe with the Patriots but fell short again, sending their fans home disappointed but perhaps not as disillusioned as they have been after previous blow-out losses to the Patriots in Orchard Park over the last 20 years.
Micah Hyde said after the game that if one of his teammates had hit Tom Brady the way that Jonathan Jones hit Josh Allen early in the fourth quarter (sending him into the league's concussion protocol where he would remain for the rest of the game) they would have been ejected from the game. Head Coach Sean McDermott said after the game that "there is no room in football for a hit like that" and also suggested that Jones should have been ejected for the hit. The NFL's senior vice-president of officiating Al Riveron, reached by Buffalo News reporter Vic Carucci after the game, disagreed. He said "we looked at it and in this situation, we didn't feel that contact rose to the level of ejection.......we have standards for ejection and this did not rise to that standard". Jones, for his part explained that "there is never intent to hurt anyone. We were running around playing football." And maybe that's the problem.
During the CBS broadcast, Dan Fouts commented after Allen's injury that they are trying to coach helmet-to-helmet hits out of football. Well, I'm skeptical. It just might not be possible to remove these hits from tackle football, regardless of instructional changes in junior football or the severity of penalties handed out to the offenders at the college or NFL level. It's part of football and always has been. Legendary ABC college football play-by-play broadcaster Keith Jackson used to look forward to teams "cracking some heads" when previewing an important rivalry game. If Josh Allen had been playing in the NFL 20 or 30 years ago, he probably would have missed one play after the hit he took yesterday. "You had your bell rung; get back out there" the coaches might have said to him. After the play which laid him out, Allen jogged to the locker room after being evaluated under the blue tent by an independent neurologist and was seen walking around and talking with team officials after the game. It is too early to say but I predict that he will play next week.
Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL in March and is now promoting his new CBD product line which he says has helped him become pain free for the first time in many years. At a promotional press conference earlier this month, Gronkowski explained (presumably to give context to the efficacy of his CBD products) that in his football career he had nine surgeries and 20 concussions, including five black-out incidents. He also suggested that any injury, including CTE, the affliction which can result from repeated head trauma, can be fixed and that the CBD product which he now promotes (as an investor and a consumer) has cured his headaches and "fixed" his issues with head trauma. After Gronkowski made this claim, a prominent behavioural neurologist publicly called him out, saying that neurodegenerative diseases like CTE or Alzheimers can not be fixed and will eventually win.
I like throwing and catching a football but I never played the sport in an organized setting. I do enjoy the game as a spectator and the fact that it is dangerous for those who play has not changed that, even as we learn more about just how dangerous it might be in the long term. For now anyway. So, on to next week where the Bills travel to Nashville, the scene of Homerun Throwback, one of the most infamous and devastating plays in Bills playoff history.
Monday, 23 September 2019
Bills 21, Bengals 17
The Knox family name has been prominent in Buffalo, NY for well over a century. Seymour Horace Knox made his fortune in five-and-dime stores which were eventually merged with similar stores owned by Frank Winfield Woolworth. Knox was an early board member of the Marine Trust Co. which became Marine Midland Bank. His grandson, Seymour H. Knox III, along with brother Northrup Knox and attorney Robert Swados, successfully applied for an NHL franchise for Buffalo which began play as the Sabres in 1970. Buffalo sports fans are now getting to know the latest Knox to arrive in town - one Dawson Knox - and they are liking what they see so far.
Dawson Knox hails from Brentwood, TN, where he played quarterback and wide receiver for Brentwood Academy. He suffered an ankle injury in his senior year and was overlooked by major college recruiters. He made the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) team as a walk-on, converted to the position of tight end and "red-shirted" for the 2015 season. Despite his impressive physical attributes (6 ft 4 in and 237 pounds), in three seasons with the Rebels, he caught an uninspiring 39 passes for just over 600 yards. After his junior season, Knox declared for the 2019 NFL draft and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 3rd round as the 96th overall pick. He had not scored a touchdown at any level of football since his junior year at Brentwood Academy. Until yesterday in Orchard Park.
Knox caught a one yard pass from Josh Allen in the first quarter yesterday afternoon - one of three catches he made - but his 49 yard reception late in the 4th quarter is what Bills fans will remember this morning. After giving up a 14-0 lead and now trailing 17-14 to the winless and desperate Cincinnati Bengals, Allen hit a wide open Knox near the left sideline. Knox proceeded to bowl over defenders and break tackles, taking the ball all the way to the Bengals 22 yard line. A few plays later, Frank Gore dived into the endzone with the winning score, sending 70,000 sun-baked Bills fans home happy.
Effective tight end play can benefit an NFL offence in may ways - some of them more noticeable than others. The recently retired Rob Gronkowski was the most prolific pass-catching tight end in recent history but he wasn't exactly known for his run blocking. Dawson Knox now has three NFL games under his belt and it seems clear that he can run routes, catch the ball and break tackles. Based on what the rookie tight end has shown so far and in particular his performance before the home fans yesterday, the story of the Knox name, well-known in Buffalo for business success, philanthropy and professional sports, has the beginnings of an exciting new chapter being written by Dawson Knox.
I have been to plenty of early season games in Orchard Park but none hotter than yesterday's. Without the breeze which provided some relief from time to time, the visitor side of the stadium would have been unbearable as it baked in the late summer sun all afternoon. As did the parking lot beforehand. The spectacular weather (and the Bills 2-0 start to the season) meant an early arriving crowd and an absolutely full stadium with no empty seats to be seen. My new seats at the 44 yard line, 23 rows above the visitor bench were everything I expected in terms of sight lines and the civility with which older, long-standing season ticket holders enjoy their afternoon of football. No drunk or disorderly behaviour in section 111, that's for sure. Both teams scored touchdowns at each end of the field and we had an excellent vantage point for every snap of the game.
Next Sunday's game will present a monumentally larger challenge for the Bills than any of their opponents have through the first three games. Amazingly, the Patriots seem to have an even stronger team this season and could easily go 16-0. I know that my seats are highly desireable - particularly for fans of the visiting team. With both the Bills and Patriots at 3-0, interest in Sunday's game is as high as it could be for any week 4 game. So high in fact that within a couple of hours of the end of the game yesterday, my tickets which have been listed on NFL TicketExchange for a few weeks now, sold for almost $800 CAD for the pair. I hope that the Bills make me wish I had gone to the game.
Dawson Knox hails from Brentwood, TN, where he played quarterback and wide receiver for Brentwood Academy. He suffered an ankle injury in his senior year and was overlooked by major college recruiters. He made the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) team as a walk-on, converted to the position of tight end and "red-shirted" for the 2015 season. Despite his impressive physical attributes (6 ft 4 in and 237 pounds), in three seasons with the Rebels, he caught an uninspiring 39 passes for just over 600 yards. After his junior season, Knox declared for the 2019 NFL draft and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 3rd round as the 96th overall pick. He had not scored a touchdown at any level of football since his junior year at Brentwood Academy. Until yesterday in Orchard Park.
Knox caught a one yard pass from Josh Allen in the first quarter yesterday afternoon - one of three catches he made - but his 49 yard reception late in the 4th quarter is what Bills fans will remember this morning. After giving up a 14-0 lead and now trailing 17-14 to the winless and desperate Cincinnati Bengals, Allen hit a wide open Knox near the left sideline. Knox proceeded to bowl over defenders and break tackles, taking the ball all the way to the Bengals 22 yard line. A few plays later, Frank Gore dived into the endzone with the winning score, sending 70,000 sun-baked Bills fans home happy.
Effective tight end play can benefit an NFL offence in may ways - some of them more noticeable than others. The recently retired Rob Gronkowski was the most prolific pass-catching tight end in recent history but he wasn't exactly known for his run blocking. Dawson Knox now has three NFL games under his belt and it seems clear that he can run routes, catch the ball and break tackles. Based on what the rookie tight end has shown so far and in particular his performance before the home fans yesterday, the story of the Knox name, well-known in Buffalo for business success, philanthropy and professional sports, has the beginnings of an exciting new chapter being written by Dawson Knox.
I have been to plenty of early season games in Orchard Park but none hotter than yesterday's. Without the breeze which provided some relief from time to time, the visitor side of the stadium would have been unbearable as it baked in the late summer sun all afternoon. As did the parking lot beforehand. The spectacular weather (and the Bills 2-0 start to the season) meant an early arriving crowd and an absolutely full stadium with no empty seats to be seen. My new seats at the 44 yard line, 23 rows above the visitor bench were everything I expected in terms of sight lines and the civility with which older, long-standing season ticket holders enjoy their afternoon of football. No drunk or disorderly behaviour in section 111, that's for sure. Both teams scored touchdowns at each end of the field and we had an excellent vantage point for every snap of the game.
Next Sunday's game will present a monumentally larger challenge for the Bills than any of their opponents have through the first three games. Amazingly, the Patriots seem to have an even stronger team this season and could easily go 16-0. I know that my seats are highly desireable - particularly for fans of the visiting team. With both the Bills and Patriots at 3-0, interest in Sunday's game is as high as it could be for any week 4 game. So high in fact that within a couple of hours of the end of the game yesterday, my tickets which have been listed on NFL TicketExchange for a few weeks now, sold for almost $800 CAD for the pair. I hope that the Bills make me wish I had gone to the game.
Monday, 16 September 2019
Bills 28, Giants 14
The Buffalo Bills began play in the AFL in 1960 and, until yesterday, the team has never posted two consecutive road wins to begin a season. In a quirky scheduling anomaly, both wins took place in the same stadium in New Jersey, meaning that the Bills may well finish the season with more wins in the Meadowlands than the New York Giants will be able to register through their seven remaining home games. Let's hope that the Bills can replicate their winning ways in New York state with five of their next six games in Orchard Park.
It felt that the Bills were in complete control of the game, even as they gave up an opening drive touchdown to Saquon Barkley whose five carries took the Giants 75 yards to the endzone. With efficient play on both sides of the ball for the remainder of the first half, the Bills posted three touchdowns and took a lead which they would not relinquish. Perhaps channeling a bit of Tyrod Taylor, Josh Allen reduced his turnovers from four last week to zero yesterday. Along with his ball protection instincts, his passing accuracy was likely the best we've seen in any of his starts. With some decent receivers to throw to and with Brian Daboll's creative play calling, he is really showing what the team's brain trust saw when they drafted him last year.
The game produced a couple of notable injuries. Of concern to Bills fans will be the state of Devin Singletary's hamstring. The rookie running back clearly pulled it on a fourth quarter play as he ran toward the left sideline. Head coach Sean McDermott had no update after the game. Hamstring injuries can range from a mild strain to something which could keep Singletary out for a while.
The injury which concerned me the most as a football fan was the apparent concussion suffered by Giants receiver Cody Latimer. Latimer caught a pass in the redzone and was hit by Bills safety Jordan Poyer a half nanosecond after the ball reached his hands. The league has been trying to rid the game of helmet-to-helmet hits but not only did Poyer's helmet connect directly with Latimer's on the hit, no penalty was called on the play. I know that even if a defender leads with his shoulder in initiating contact (the "right" technique and the one that is being emphasized in high school and college football), if the intended target turns or lowers his head before contact, helmets can and often do collide - sometimes with devastating consequences. Poyer (and his teammate Micah Hyde) is a talented and hard-hitting safety for the Bills and his ability to deliver punishing hits keeps opposing receivers honest on certain kinds of passing routes but the kind of hit he put on Latimer yesterday is one of a few glaring elements of tackle football which makes North American parents register their kids in soccer rather than in junior football.
At least Latimer was removed from the game and, after being subjected to what the NFL calls its "concussion protocol", was ruled out for the rest of the afternoon. Last week, the Giants top receiver Sterling Shepard wasn't so lucky. After taking a hit to the head, he appeared woozy but waved off the team's training staff, stayed in the game and ended up on the field for all but one of the team's 69 offensive snaps. Only after the game was he subjected to the "protocol" and then eventually ruled out for yesterday's game.
After two successful trips to New Jersey, the Bills return to western New York for their home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bills are an early six point favourite and should find themselves at 3-0 a week from now. With the Patriots home to the Jets next week, the schedule sets up a likely week four showdown in Orchard Park between two undefeated teams for the outright lead in the AFC East.
To mark the new Ken Burns 18 hour film on country music, a friend reminded me of a great Bob Newhart line: "I don't like country music but I also don't want to denigrate those who do. For those who like country music, denigrate means to put down."
It felt that the Bills were in complete control of the game, even as they gave up an opening drive touchdown to Saquon Barkley whose five carries took the Giants 75 yards to the endzone. With efficient play on both sides of the ball for the remainder of the first half, the Bills posted three touchdowns and took a lead which they would not relinquish. Perhaps channeling a bit of Tyrod Taylor, Josh Allen reduced his turnovers from four last week to zero yesterday. Along with his ball protection instincts, his passing accuracy was likely the best we've seen in any of his starts. With some decent receivers to throw to and with Brian Daboll's creative play calling, he is really showing what the team's brain trust saw when they drafted him last year.
The game produced a couple of notable injuries. Of concern to Bills fans will be the state of Devin Singletary's hamstring. The rookie running back clearly pulled it on a fourth quarter play as he ran toward the left sideline. Head coach Sean McDermott had no update after the game. Hamstring injuries can range from a mild strain to something which could keep Singletary out for a while.
The injury which concerned me the most as a football fan was the apparent concussion suffered by Giants receiver Cody Latimer. Latimer caught a pass in the redzone and was hit by Bills safety Jordan Poyer a half nanosecond after the ball reached his hands. The league has been trying to rid the game of helmet-to-helmet hits but not only did Poyer's helmet connect directly with Latimer's on the hit, no penalty was called on the play. I know that even if a defender leads with his shoulder in initiating contact (the "right" technique and the one that is being emphasized in high school and college football), if the intended target turns or lowers his head before contact, helmets can and often do collide - sometimes with devastating consequences. Poyer (and his teammate Micah Hyde) is a talented and hard-hitting safety for the Bills and his ability to deliver punishing hits keeps opposing receivers honest on certain kinds of passing routes but the kind of hit he put on Latimer yesterday is one of a few glaring elements of tackle football which makes North American parents register their kids in soccer rather than in junior football.
At least Latimer was removed from the game and, after being subjected to what the NFL calls its "concussion protocol", was ruled out for the rest of the afternoon. Last week, the Giants top receiver Sterling Shepard wasn't so lucky. After taking a hit to the head, he appeared woozy but waved off the team's training staff, stayed in the game and ended up on the field for all but one of the team's 69 offensive snaps. Only after the game was he subjected to the "protocol" and then eventually ruled out for yesterday's game.
After two successful trips to New Jersey, the Bills return to western New York for their home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bills are an early six point favourite and should find themselves at 3-0 a week from now. With the Patriots home to the Jets next week, the schedule sets up a likely week four showdown in Orchard Park between two undefeated teams for the outright lead in the AFC East.
To mark the new Ken Burns 18 hour film on country music, a friend reminded me of a great Bob Newhart line: "I don't like country music but I also don't want to denigrate those who do. For those who like country music, denigrate means to put down."
Monday, 9 September 2019
Bills 17, Jets 16
For the first 10 or so years of my tenure as a Bills season ticket holder, each August I received from team, by way of an inconvenient trip to the FedEx pick-up depot in a nondescript industrial area near York Mills and Don Mills, a new ball cap, a t-shirt, a pin, a bumper sticker, a flag or some other piece of Bills branded gear. A few years ago, the pre-selected and directly shipped swag changed to a gift card which is redeemable at the Bills online store or at the stadium concession stands. Since I don't usually buy anything in the stadium, I pick and order items from the Bills online store and then pay a somewhat mysterious customs brokerage fee to FedEx when I pick up my package. Inconvenience aside, after all these years, I am certainly quite well equipped with Bills gear including shirts, jackets, shorts, a collection of ball caps, winter hats, scarfs, mugs, neoprene beer coolers, shot glasses and towels so this year, I chose a few small and more eccentric items, including licence plate holders and a pair of Bills branded socks.
As the excruciating first half of the NFL season opening game in the Meadowlands of New Jersey came to and end yesterday afternoon, I realized that I had somehow managed to sit down to watch the game without wearing a single piece of Bills branded clothing - something I rarely, if ever, do. So, realizing that the team really needed a re-start on offense as they entered the second half, I decided to don the socks at halftime. They ended up doing the job in the end but not before the Bills had dug themselves into a much larger hole - a 16-0 deficit - after giving up a safety (I still think Frank Gore made it out of the endzone on the first down play), a touchdown and a two point convert to the Jets in the third quarter.
Near the end of the game, CBS colour analyst Rich Gannon pulled out a stat which caught my attention: he said that, statistically, if a road team gives up 4 turnovers while the home team registers none, the chances of the road team winning the game are less than 1%. I have not independently verified this data point but it seems credible enough to me. As unlikely as the the Bills eventual victory was, and even though Josh Allen led the team to two 4th quarter touchdowns to steal the one point win, the Bills defence was the reason why the team finds itself at 1-0 this morning.
As bad as the Bills offense was in the first half, the defence was fantastic all day, holding the Jets to 223 total yards. Le'Veon Bell, who hadn't taken a hand-off in a year and a half, carried the ball 17 times for the Jets but only for 60 yards - an average of 3.5 yards per carry. Contrast that with the performance of Bills rookie Devin Singletary who rode the pines for the entire first half and then made the most of his 4 second half carries, earning 70 yards for an average of 17.5 yards. If he can maintain that per carry average throughout his career (and carry the ball 20 or more times every week), the Bills can trade all of their receivers away and run the ball on every down like teams did 100 years ago when the NFL began play. LeSean who?
The Bills could just stay in New Jersey this week if they wanted to. Next up is another game at the Meadowlands, this time against the Giants who were beaten soundly in Dallas yesterday and whose prospects for this season are not looking good. The Bills therefore have a good chance of starting the season with two road wins before coming home in two weeks to face the Bengals. I may order more socks.
As the excruciating first half of the NFL season opening game in the Meadowlands of New Jersey came to and end yesterday afternoon, I realized that I had somehow managed to sit down to watch the game without wearing a single piece of Bills branded clothing - something I rarely, if ever, do. So, realizing that the team really needed a re-start on offense as they entered the second half, I decided to don the socks at halftime. They ended up doing the job in the end but not before the Bills had dug themselves into a much larger hole - a 16-0 deficit - after giving up a safety (I still think Frank Gore made it out of the endzone on the first down play), a touchdown and a two point convert to the Jets in the third quarter.
Near the end of the game, CBS colour analyst Rich Gannon pulled out a stat which caught my attention: he said that, statistically, if a road team gives up 4 turnovers while the home team registers none, the chances of the road team winning the game are less than 1%. I have not independently verified this data point but it seems credible enough to me. As unlikely as the the Bills eventual victory was, and even though Josh Allen led the team to two 4th quarter touchdowns to steal the one point win, the Bills defence was the reason why the team finds itself at 1-0 this morning.
As bad as the Bills offense was in the first half, the defence was fantastic all day, holding the Jets to 223 total yards. Le'Veon Bell, who hadn't taken a hand-off in a year and a half, carried the ball 17 times for the Jets but only for 60 yards - an average of 3.5 yards per carry. Contrast that with the performance of Bills rookie Devin Singletary who rode the pines for the entire first half and then made the most of his 4 second half carries, earning 70 yards for an average of 17.5 yards. If he can maintain that per carry average throughout his career (and carry the ball 20 or more times every week), the Bills can trade all of their receivers away and run the ball on every down like teams did 100 years ago when the NFL began play. LeSean who?
The Bills could just stay in New Jersey this week if they wanted to. Next up is another game at the Meadowlands, this time against the Giants who were beaten soundly in Dallas yesterday and whose prospects for this season are not looking good. The Bills therefore have a good chance of starting the season with two road wins before coming home in two weeks to face the Bengals. I may order more socks.
Sunday, 3 March 2019
Nepal 2018: Nigel’s
Chronicle
Prologue
Dateline: Toronto, March, 2018
I’m working from my home office and the phone rings. I can
see that it’s Arthur Murdoch following up with me on a discussion we had about
a trip he is leading in November to Mount Everest Base Camp. When we left off a
few days ago, I said I’d think carefully about it and now he’s calling to try
to close the deal. My adventure partner Shelley has already committed - and her
sister Ainslie is close to doing the same - so I’m feeling the pressure from
her too.
The NFL schedule won’t be out for another month so I have no
idea how many games or which games I’d be missing by leaving the country – and
the continent – for three weeks. I won’t use that as an excuse when I talk to Arthur,
I thought; maybe I’m not fit enough and I don’t even like hiking that much
anyway; I’m quite scared of heights and what about those suspended bridges? I
don’t sleep well in a dorm setting; I often catch a GI infection when I travel
to third world countries (as if I really do that very often); maybe I’d be in a
better situation to do the trip in a year or two…..
“Hello Arthur, how are you?”
“Good. I’m trying to finalize the group for Nepal and I’m
hoping that you will be joining us. Have you made a decision?”
He was clearly ready to deal with all of my excuses. In
particular, he shot down the idea of waiting a year - or until next time.
“Enough delay will allow you to use the excuse that you’re now too old to do it
so that’s a good way to guarantee that you’ll never go”, he offered.
He was right. And I had nothing to counter this point. After
addressing my remaining questions and promising me that single rooms would be
available in the teahouses on the trekking trails, I had nothing left. Like a
salesman who had overcome all of his prospect’s objections, he had me. I knew
it and so did he.
Arrival
The streets of Khatmandu and the chaotic traffic they carry
were relatively calm for our first encounter. After all, it was well past 11pm
when we were all finally issued our tourist visas, collected our luggage and
proceeded outside the airport to meet Connor, our Outward Bound Canada (OBC)
lead course instructor, who had arrived the previous day to finalize and
confirm some of the more important arrangements. With him was a man named
Mingma who works for a tour company called Ang Rita in Khatmandu which OBC
hires to arrange ground transfers, hotel reservations and other logistics.
Mingma presented each of us with a marigold garland as he shook our hands and
welcomed us to Nepal. The flowers were real.
After a short drive in a van with our luggage tied on top in
a way which would probably be illegal in Ontario, we arrived at the Yak &
Yeti hotel which is a quiet, gated oasis amidst the mayhem of the city. It
looked and felt like a normal western hotel with crisp bed sheets and a
television that worked. I tuned in BBC World News for a few minutes as I tested
the electrical outlets to see if I could charge my phone (I could). After a 15
hour flight to Hong Kong where our newly formed group spent most of the day
roaming around the busy streets and sizing each other up, followed by an
evening flight to Khatmandu, “tired” only begins to describe how we were
feeling. Breakfast, we were told, would be at 9.30am. Connor reminded us to use
only the bottled water to brush our teeth. Good night.
After a good sleep and a shower, we caught the last 30
minutes of the breakfast buffet and had our first full team meeting around the
hotel restaurant table. “What was each of us hoping to get out of this course
(trip)?”, we were asked. I had been forewarned that there would be plenty of requests
to share our feelings, hopes, concerns in a quasi-group therapy format. Sure, I
can play that role, I said to myself, and being the team player that I am, I
volunteered my bit early on in the session (an approach I stuck with throughout
the trip and one which generally served me well): “I do a lot of wilderness
canoeing in Canada and I’m hoping to find some of the same kind of enjoyment I
get from that in this very different kind of adventure…” or something like
that. Others talked about their goal of meeting the clear objective of reaching
the “top” (not of Mount Everest itself of course but to make it to Base Camp
and to the top of Kala Patthar) and the opportunity to learn some of the
culture and history of a part of the world to which few of us had ever ventured.
As I now know, OBC programs are called “courses”; the OBC
staff who lead them are called “instructors” and, by extension, I suppose the
participants are “students” in some sense. Nomenclature aside, I gather that OBC
courses are intended to be journeys of self-discovery but within a team setting.
Sharing in an open and safe environment was an integral element of the course I
describe here and I was generally happy, if not eager, to share and to absorb
and process the thoughts and feelings of my team-mates.
After our team breakfast meeting, we re-boarded the van en
route to the “Monkey Temple”. This mid-morning journey through the streets of
Khatmandu was our first real exposure to its chaotic traffic with directional
flow and lanes serving as only vague guidelines. There are easily 20
motorcycles/scooters for every car with various sizes of vans and trucks also
mixed in. Traffic moves the way schools of fish do; at first glance, it looks
like utter chaos with no rules of order. But as we moved between small streets
and major thoroughfares on what felt like an untraceable route to the temple, I
noticed that the flow of traffic actually does follow a logic – just one very
different from the comparatively rigid traffic rules of Canadian streets. I
also realized that there was something distinctly different about the use of
horns. In Toronto, horns are usually used to express anger and as a means for
the honker to point out that she has been wronged in some way by another
driver. In Khatmandu, horns are used to sound brief warnings that the honker is
about to enter or come through a particular space or that another driver may be
getting too close (as in less than an eighth of an inch) to the honker. Horn
use in Khatmandu appears to be about communication, cooperation and civility, rather
than anger, indignation or aggression.
The Monkey Temple enjoys a prominent location offering views
of the city and the surrounding valley. Dogs and small monkeys peacefully
co-exist with tourists and vendors; they appear fully at ease with the daily
throngs who pass through. Most dogs happily relax or sleep while the monkeys
seem pre-occupied with searching for and perhaps stealing food if they get the
chance. After an hour or so, we were back in the van and back in the mayhem (I
use the words “chaos” and “mayhem” interchangeably in this piece to describe
the traffic in Khatmandu) en route back to the Yak & Yeti.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent with final duffle
bag packing and inspection by our OBS instructors with plenty of time to feel
the stirring of butterflies in our stomachs as our trek to Mount Everest Base
Camp - the reason we came all this way - was about to begin. The morning would
come early with a 5am departure to the airport and the last leg of our air
journey – to Lukla, known as the most dangerous commercial airport in the
world.
After a somewhat chaotic check-in for the flight, I realized
that I had I left my Kershaw knife, which I have had since 2002 and use
exclusively (until now) on canoe trips, in my carry-on daypack and not in my
checked duffle bag. By the time I realized this, the duffle was long gone
through the check-in desk and probably on a cart on the ramp beside the plane.
“If you have sharp objects in your bag, you will lose them”, declared the
security official as she passed the carry-on bags through the x-ray scanner.
Resigned to having lost my knife, in the hopes of minimizing the scene around
its imminent seizure, I tried to make eye contact with the person who was
watching the screen as my bag passed through. I was unable to do so because he
was reading a newspaper. My daypack emerged from the scanner; I grabbed it and
walked away. The only use I found for my Kershaw knife over the course of the
trek was cutting 250mg Diamox tablets in half – something I did every day
except for the two days we were above 5,000 metres (when I doubled my dosage).
The 27 minute flight to Lukla was uneventful in clear
weather with the snow-capped Himalayas coming clearly into view to the north.
The landing was smooth on the uphill runway and we were on the small ramp a few
seconds later. As we got off the plane and started making our way to a teahouse
for tea and a final team meeting before we set out, I noticed the faces of the
trekkers waiting to fly out. They had just completed the journey we were about
to begin and it reminded me of the scene from Platoon when Charlie Sheen’s
plane finally arrives near the front line in Vietnam and he sees the
hollowed-out faces and distant, blank gazes of those whose tours were finally
over and were heading home. Except these trekkers looked just fine. Maybe a bit
chilled but happy and healthy. If they can do it, so can we, I thought.
“Please share any fears you have” was the subject of the
last official team meeting as we drank “milk tea” around the varnished pine cabinet-like
tables which look partly like desks and are typical in teahouses. “I worry
about having a GI issue”, I offered, embellishing a little by adding that I
stopped going to Mexico years ago because I would come down with a case of the
runs every time I went. Others mentioned trepidation around the physical
challenge, the altitude and the cold. Unspoken were the reservations I’m sure
we all had about spending the next 12 days with each other, uninterrupted, and
in the context of whatever challenges – known and unknown - lay ahead of us.
The Trek Begins
After retrieving our trekking poles from our duffle bags,
they were zipped up, placed in white grain bags then mounted and tied on the
backs of three yaks which would accompany us on the entire trek. These
particular beasts of burden were actually a cross-breed between yaks and
cattle. Two of them seemed relatively docile but one had an attitude which
would flare up a couple of times later on. The “yak driver”, a very cheerful
man in his 60’s named Childress, was tasked with marshalling the yaks to
Gorakshep, site of the furthest and highest teahouse on our journey, and back.
They didn’t often travel alongside us but were either behind us or ahead of us somewhere
along the trail. Sometimes they would pass through as we were eating lunch.
They usually arrived at our nightly teahouse destinations within an hour of our
own arrival, giving us time to relax, have some tea and peruse the dinner
menus.
Day one of the trek took us mostly downhill from Lukla
through various villages with plenty of teahouses, shops and small farms. A
misty fog moved in just before we stopped for lunch where we were introduced to
“Sherpa Stew” which is a thick, mostly root vegetable soup. Janet, an executive
coach from Vancouver, presented the first of her “conundrums” which, after
exhaustive questioning and analysis, we eventually solved. The poison was in
the ice cubes.
After lunch, we came to our first suspended bridge over a
deep valley. Being fearful of heights, I had worried about my ability to cross these
bridges which allowed clear views, for those daring to look, through the strips
of sheet metal under our boots at what was usually a raging glacial river far
below. But much of my fear magically dissipated upon seeing the much higher
level of anxiety shown by Mark, a media executive from Toronto. Mark and I became
suspended bridge crossing partners. I led and he followed close behind me,
repeatedly counting the stitches on the outer compartment of my day pack. We
eventually learned to proceed first across these bridges so as not to be
impeded by those who followed and wanted to stop to take photographs.
A second bridge led us to the west side of the river and the
village of Phakding where we would stay the first night. For dinner, Mary and I
each ordered something called a “pizza set” which included what looked like a
pizza but didn’t have the texture or flavour of pizza as we know it in Canada.
I mostly avoided pizza after that. The bedrooms were decent with en suite
bathrooms. A small crying puppy awoke us in the night and had to be let outside
by Shelley.
I ordered porridge for breakfast. Another mistake. It was
thin and soupy. Later in the trek, I and others would discover muesli and hot
milk. We departed on day two just after 8am in fine, clear weather en route to
Namche Bazaar.
Namche
“Gore-tex sucks!” declared Connor. A cool afternoon mist had
rolled in as we neared the end of the steep climb to Namche and, having felt a
bit of a chill at a rest break an hour earlier, I had donned my Marmot Gore-tex
jacket and a clammy perspiration was now getting the better of me.
“I have my pit zips fully open”, I replied, wiping my brow
and wondering if I was feeling a bit of late afternoon hypoglycemia.
“Gore-tex doesn’t breathe nearly as well as they want you to
believe it does. What you need is a windbreaker; not a raincoat. I can help you
find one in Namche.” Connor offered.
Namche is the largest community in the Khumbu region,
nestled along the side of a valley surrounded by steep mountains. With an
elevation of 3,440 metres, its name is actually Namche Bazaar which describes
the market which was in full swing as we arrived. We ascended past rows of
vendors offering vegetables and other foodstuffs as well as a range of clothing
and other basic consumer goods on the way to what seemed like a never-ending
set of stairs to the teahouse where we would spend two nights to acclimatize to
the altitude. It would also be the location of the last shower we would have
for eight days. Part of Namche looks like a Swiss tourist resort with many shops
catering to trekkers and selling all conceivable kinds of trekking gear,
clothing and accessories – some of it actually name brand but much of it in the
form of cheap and crappy knock-offs. And at least two “Irish Pubs” as well.
Our “acclimatization day” in Namche did not involve much
sitting around. Instead, and to change things up a bit, we had a hike planned. And
what a hike it was. Among other things, we got our first full view of Mount
Everest after climbing straight up for a couple of hours to an exposed ridge.
The visible part of the top of Everest is striated black rock and its peak
showed the iconic plume of cloud spilling off toward the east. We continued on
to the Everest View Hotel where we sat on the sunny deck, drank tea and took in
the stunning mountain vistas.
We then descended northward into a picturesque valley and
the village of Khumjung, home to a large monastery and a high school built by
Sir Edmund Hillary in 1962. Our lead Sherpa guide Lhakpa attended the school
where he learned sufficient English to become a trekking guide. After a
satisfying lunch of noodles and mixed vegetables, we toured the school (it was
a Saturday so classes were not sitting) before we made our way past a
government yak farm and back to Namche.
Namche is also home to a monastery where the sitting monk happens
to be the uncle of our Sherpa guide Mingma. Some of us went with Mingma to
visit the monastery and his uncle who welcomed and blessed us each individually.
He said to me that I would live to the age of 108. I was feeling quite buoyed
by this revelation until I shared it with the others who reported that they
each were told the same thing. Turns out that the number 108 is significant in
Buddhist liturgy. Before we left the monastery, Janet handed her iPhone to the
monk and asked if he would snap a photo of us. Standing in his bright red robes
in the ancient monastery, he did that and then, without prompting or
instruction, he switched the phone to selfie mode, turned, stood with us and
snapped a hilarious shot of the group with himself in the foreground. As he
handed the phone back to Janet, he asked her how she liked the iPhone 8S as he
was thinking of upgrading to it himself.
Before dinner, a few of us joined Connor for a shopping
outing. I was in the market for a non-waterproof wind jacket – which I easily
found at one of the legitimate stores. I paid 14,000 Nepalese rupees – or about
$140 USD – for a light Black Diamond jacket tested by Connor for breathability.
The test is quite simple: literally see if you can suck air through it with
your mouth and, if you can, it will breathe. I also got a sun hat with the blue
eyes of Buddha above the word “Nepal” on the front and a buff.
Moving Above 4,000 Metres
Day 4 was bright and clear in the morning as we moved onward
and upward from Namche toward Phengboche. After lunch, some minor group issues
emerged with Shelley, a professor at the University of Toronto and Mary, an IT
manager from Orangeville, feeling that our pace wasn’t quite fast enough for
them. The issue was aired, the OBC instructors emphasized that the team would
not split into faster and slower groups and we resolved to maintain cohesion
and move on together. In retrospect, what was really needed was simply better
spacing between us – especially on the steep and narrow sections with trekkers,
porters and yaks clogging the trail in both directions at times. Shelley told
me 30 minutes after our group discussion on the trail that she was happy to
have had the chance to express her mild frustrations and that she had regained
a peaceful state. Mary seemed to take a little longer to come around.
In the afternoon mist, we passed the large monastery at
Tengboche (which we would visit on the descent) and descended again toward the
river and another suspended bridge. The longest day of trekking so far brought
us to the teahouse in Phengboche at 4pm. The rooms had exterior curtains
hanging outside the doors.
Dinner was particularly good - for me at least – with
delicious cheese and potato spring rolls and pasta with tomato sauce. After
dinner, we split into groups of two to re-connect with what we were hoping to
get out of the course and what success might look like for each of us. I paired
with Evan whose long history with Outward Bound (including being a former
member of the International Board) makes him well-versed in these touchy, feely
group sharing moments which are much less familiar to me. When we reconvened, I
talked about how pleasing it was for me to be cultivating meaningful individual
relationships with each member of the group. Before bed, the cribbage board
came out. Mark learned quickly. Connor took the game. Janet showed us a card
trick.
Day 5 was bright and clear and cold. After breakfast, we
watched Childress preparing the yaks for the day’s journey. Two were docile and
deferential but one was much less so. We watched with a measure of nervous
tension as Childress, who presumably has decades of yak driving and handling
experience, very carefully worked a
rope around the horns of our ornery yak who stood calmly but fixated on
Childress. The look on his face said “I actually had other plans for today so
you may want to re-think this business of getting that rope on my horns and
then loading me up with duffle bags”. In the end, of course, he acquiesced.
After an early ascent to warm us up, a rather short and easy
walk along an open meadow plateau brought us to Pheriche (4,300 metres and well
above the tree line) and the Himilayan Inn, a teahouse where we would stay
three nights in total. It has a large common room and the bedrooms are clean
and comfortable with en suite toilets which require that the tank be filled with
a jug from a large barrel of water for each flush. After lunch, Shelley and I
circumnavigated the village and its many walls of piled stones. Ama Dablan, a
strikingly steep and elegant peak overlooks the village from the south. At 3pm,
we made our way to the Himilayan Rescue Association Medical Clinic for a
presentation by the young staff doctors there – one from Minnesota, one from
Belfast and one from Australia - on the effects of altitude on the human body, the
various acclimatization strategies which are usually followed by trekkers and
an in-depth look at the two main kinds of serious altitude sickness. It is the
highest medical facility in the Khumbu. Multiple games of cribbage were played before
and after dinner and I finally won a game.
Day 6 was our second acclimatization day. After a leisurely
breakfast at 7.30am, we set out for our day hike which would take us above
4,800 metres under spectacular clear skies. Along the way, Janet floated her
second conundrum which I eventually solved after listening to relentless
questions from some of the others. I wasn’t really trying to solve it; it just
came to me: the man who the bartender pulled a gun on had the hiccups.
As I now know, Outward Bound courses often include a “solo”
element and our instructors decided that our Day 6 acclimatization hike would
be a good time for it. So we dispersed around the slope – some higher, some
lower, some around corners and none within eyesight of any of the others for a
period of about 40 minutes. Upon regrouping, I spoke about the concept of
geological time and how the mountains which surrounded us are the result of the
momentum of the continents coming together and pushing the land skyward. Mark
mentioned menu planning. Evan explained how he lay prone with his head facing
Ama Dablan. Afterward, some of us walked a bit higher before returning to
Pheriche for lunch. In the afternoon, I wrote a piece in the group journal
about time machines and tourism in the Khumbu. After dinner, the three-handed
cribbage game was razor thin with all three players within two points of
victory. Connor won the game. Again.
My day 7 breakfast was apple muesli with hot milk and two
boiled eggs. The weather was clear and cold. Again. We made our way to Lobusche
at 4, 910 metres. For the first time, I did experience a very slight altitude
related headache for the first couple of hours after arriving at the Oxygen
teahouse in Lobusche. Extra water and some down time were the remedies. The
ibuprofen and Tylenol I took had no effect.
As the dinner hour approached, the sunset on Lhotse was
spectacular and easily visible from the east window of the teahouse common
room. Just after the sunset, an equally spectacular almost full moon rose
behind Lhotse. Many of us went outside for a better view and hundreds of
photographs were taken.
After dinner, more cribbage was played. Most of our group
retired early but I stayed up with Connor and Lhapka. As we sat, Connor, who is
planning a trip to EBC with his family, asked Lhapka to list the names and
prices of the teahouses we had stayed at so far. He obliged. I noticed that the
teahouse prices for accommodation seemed low (I had only seen the food prices
on menus). This led to a larger discussion about economics in the Khumbu and in
Nepal generally.
Lhapka is a 27-year old trekking guide whose English is
excellent. As our lead guide, he was highly knowledgeable, endlessly patient,
always helpful and never unavailable. When Connor and I asked questions to dig
deeper into the issues of exploitation, poverty and corruption in Nepal, at
first he seemed reluctant to share his thoughts on these matters with us, his
clients. But, seeing our keen interest in pursuing these questions, he soon overcame
his reluctance and painted a compelling picture for us of how difficult life is
for most Nepalese citizens. The plight of porters (whose back-breaking work is
described in the epilogue) seems particularly harsh as they need to spend a
large proportion of their earnings on food, all too often at full tourist
prices. After his jarring description of the reality of life in Nepal, I
retired to bed feeling sad and conflicted by what I had heard.
The Summit
Day 8 was going to be a big one. If all went according to
plan (including having clear weather in the afternoon), we would reach Gorakshep
(the highest village in the Khumbu and the “end of the line” in terms of indoor
accommodations) and then, in the afternoon, the summit of Kala Patthar at 5,545
metres, the highest point on our journey and the closest we would come to the
peak of Mount Everest.
The trek to Gorakshep was difficult for me. Not that it was
overly physically challenging but most of the trail consisted of narrow
passageways over and through rocky and undulating terrain, around large boulders,
and over glacial streams. Most challenging was that it was particularly crowded
with trekkers, porters and yaks moving in both directions, making for a
claustrophobic and unpleasant experience. But we arrived at our teahouse in
Gorakshep before lunchtime. The weather looked perfect for a sunset view of
Everest from Kala Patthar.
After lunch, we set out up the steep but easy trail with
Mingma in the lead and Lhapka sweeping. We reached the peak after a couple of
hours and settled in to watch the setting sun, take photos, congratulate and
hug each other and eat Pringles chips and Snickers bars.
Nuptse creates an optical illusion from Kala Patthar as it
looks to be a taller mountain than Everest. It’s just physically closer and
when the sun has almost set, it shines on the top of Everest and only on the
top of Everest, thereby proving – as if it was needed – that Everest is indeed
the highest point on earth. I took one of my best photos ever of the
orange-coloured sun on the peak of Everest a few minutes before it set. After
sunset, we descended two thirds of the way then stopped to watch the full moon
emerge from behind Everest.
Back at the teahouse in Gorakshep, we relaxed for a few
minutes before learning that the next morning would be a very early one with a
5am departure to Everest Base Camp. As we absorbed that news, Mark regaled us
with a poem in anapestic tetrameter (like “Twas the Night Before Christmas)
where he cleverly incorporated a humorous reference about each of us in the
group and even worked in a mention of the ghost of Outward Bound founder Kurt
Hahn.
My room at Gorakshep was a very small single along a narrow
hallway with three other rooms just behind the common room. As I was drifting
off to sleep, trekkers piled into the other rooms, stomping around like
elephants and talking loudly in Eastern European voices and laughing for about
half an hour. I returned the favour at 4.45am after I dressed and packed for
EBC. Closing and locking the padlock mechanism on my door made a noise which
could wake the dead. And easily wake sleeping Eastern European trekkers.
We did the trek to EBC in darkness for the first 90 minutes in
rocky, barren terrain. A cold wind picked up after day break. EBC, which sits
at the base of the Khumbu ice-fall, is nothing more than a flat rocky area
within what looks like a gravel quarry – except that it lies beside the world’s
tallest mountains. There are strings of prayer flags and some simple
inukshuk-like monuments from previous groups. We stayed maybe 20 minutes, took
some photos and had another set of congratulatory hugs. It felt anti-climactic
especially after experiencing the wonder of the sunset on Everest from Kala
Patthar the previous day. But we had made it to the furthest point on the
journey and that felt significant. Now the long trip home was about to begin.
Tonight, we would sleep in Pheriche, again.
The Descent
Anyone who has read Into Thin Air knows that the descent
from a climb can be more difficult, more dangerous and more emotionally
draining than the climb itself. I realize that the parallel between the 1996
Everest disaster and our trek is far too dramatic but the fact is that,
although everyone in our group made it to Kala Patthar, attrition began to set
in immediately afterward. Three were not up to the 5am trek to EBC and chose to
sleep-in that morning. Those same three would not finish the walk back to
Lukla.
After breakfast in Gorakshep, we began to re-trace our steps.
The rocky terrain leading to Lobousche which I found so claustrophobic the
previous day was easier and faster (and less crowded) as our pace was greatly
increased from that of the previous eight days. We descended past the area of
the climber’s memorial to one of our previous lunch spots from the ascent.
Ainslie, an insurance underwriter from Moncton (and Shelley’s younger sister)
had suffered through the night at Gorakshep with a GI issue which precluded her
from having lunch this day. Others were suffering from head and chest colds
with persistent coughing. The entire group would make it to Pheriche later that
day but for Ainslie, it would be the end of her trek.
Lhapka addressed the
group after dinner. At the urging of Connor and me, he talked about the
economic and political issues facing Nepal that the three of us had discussed
two nights earlier - and expanded on them with more historical context.
Being a university professor, Shelley became interested in
one subject which Lhapka spoke about: the state of the public schools in Nepal
which is, apparently, terrible. The next day, she explored this further with
Lhakpa and learned that a child in the Khumbu could attend a good (or a much
better) quality private school for the sum of about $1,200 USD annually. Seeing
the opportunity, Lhapka mentioned his niece (the daughter of Tenzing, a Sherpa
mountain guide who joined us in Pheriche as an assistant guide on our ascent)
to Shelley as an example of a child who could benefit from better schooling. She
is six years old and lives in a village three hours walk from Namche – where we
would arrive the following day. Shelley offered to sponsor the girl and cover
her school tuition through the next several years. Tenzing arranged for his
wife and daughter to meet us in Namche.
It was decided the following morning (day 10) that Ainslie
could not muster the energy she required to walk with us. A chopper was
ordered. She, Judy (an OBC instructor from Vancouver) and Mingma stayed behind
to wait for the chopper to Lukla.
The descent from Pheriche was easy at first
on another fine, clear day but led to some challenging ascents after we crossed
the river. Before lunch, we lost another group member, Carmen, a lawyer from
Toronto (and Mark’s wife) to fatigue brought on by her chest cold. She hit the
wall and needed to complete the day’s trek on horseback. Miraculously, she
arrived at the Ama Dablan View teahouse in Kyiangjuma at exactly the time the
rest of the group arrived on foot. She reported that the ride was harrowing at
all times and particularly terrifying on the steep descents. The teahouse rooms
were spacious with en suite automatic flush toilets.
In the morning of day 11, it was decided that Carmen would
chopper out to Lukla to join Ainslie, Mingma and Judy. Our group was now
reduced to nine: six OBC course participants, OBC instructor Connor and Sherpas
Lhakpa and Tenzing. We forged onward to Namche where we toured a traditional
Sherpa house, a mountain climbing museum (which included a slide show) and paused
to take in a statue of Tenzing Norgay before lunch at the teahouse where we had
stayed two nights on the ascent.
It was here that we met Tenzing’s wife and six-year old
daughter who had walked the three hours from their home to meet us and, in
particular, to meet Shelley (and to briefly see her husband on his way to
Lukla). I said to Mark “its like someone called central casting asking for a
cute six-year old Sherpa girl with pigtails”. She was nicely dressed, shy and
simply could not have been any more appealing. Mother and father expressed
their gratitude to Shelley for her offer to cover their daughter’s school
tuition. It was a touching moment.
Late afternoon brought us to a teahouse in the village of
Monjo which had hot showers in each bathroom (without a stall or tub – just a
shower head on the wall beside the toilet and a slow drain in the floor). As I
remarked at the time, in the ordinary course of our regular lives at home where
most of us bathe every day, the shower in the room in Monjo would have
qualified as quite possibly the worst shower ever, with weak pressure and
constantly varying water temperature. But when it was hot, it was really hot
and since it was the first shower for any of us in eight days, it was among the
very best showers I have ever had. We shared some popcorn before dinner – by
hygeinically pouring small amounts into small cups so as not to spread our
germs any further. After dinner, more cribbage before Connor, Evan and I
reflected on the trip so far and discussed some possible changes to itineraries
for future EBC expeditions.
Day 12 would be our last on the trekking trails. It would
take us through a lush valley where we stopped to watch a farmer steering his
two oxen with a single plough blade. Industrial farming it wasn’t. I had the
most delicious large spring roll for lunch before crossing the last two
suspended bridges with Mark continuing to count the stitching on my day pack.
He knows exactly how many there are. We arrived in Lukla around 2pm – earlier
than some of us expected due, I believe, to a successful strategy of
expectation management on the part of Lhakpa who had prepared us for a longer and
tougher day. Trek over. We had done it. Now to re-unite our team.
Lukla to Khatmandu
As we walked through Lukla on our way to the teahouse for our
last night before returning to Khatmandu, I noticed a barber shop offering
shaving for men. After lunch, Evan and I paid it a visit. It was a cold shave with
a straight razor in a covered outdoor stall for 300 rupees. Without realizing
what I was in for, I opted for a “face wash” for another 300 rupees which
involved a somewhat unpleasant and rough rubbing of the dead skin from my face,
followed by applications of various creams and ointments. Evan wisely declined
the face wash.
Before dinner, we topped up the tip envelopes for our Sherpa
guides. Connor read a quote from Mark Twain about the completion of a difficult
task: “I’m glad I did it, partly because it was worth it, but mostly because I
shall never have to do it again.” Quotes were read most days – usually at meal
times – and, although I generally indicated a positive reaction to them, the
truth is that some of them seemed to me to be a bit too long, too clichéd and
not always relevant. But not this one from Mark Twain, however. I will quite
likely never trek to EBC again. Not because it wasn’t a worthwhile thing to do.
It was entirely worthwhile. But because there are so many other adventures to
pursue before I can imagine being ready to consider undertaking this particular
one again.
Tuesday morning in Lukla and we were off to the airport
which was less than 100 metres away. The chaos that is the Lukla airport early
in the morning is something to behold: dim lighting, confusing check-in and
luggage procedures, long security line-ups and overflowing crowds of would-be
outgoing passengers clogging the terminal. Flights from Khatmandu arrive and
depart early so as to minimize the possibility of cloud cover or mountain mist grounding
them. The airport is strictly VFR (visual flight rules). With our boarding passes in hand, we watched
several flights arrive and depart as the terminal slowly thinned out. Finally,
it was our turn. Pointed downhill on the east button of the 06/24 runway, the
pilot throttled up while holding the brakes before finally letting them off.
The plane accelerated down the hill (the runway has an almost 12 degree slope)
along the 500m runway with the pilot rotating just as the plane was flung off
the side of the cliff and into the air. We were in Khatmandu less than 30
minutes later.
Another journey through the traffic and we were back at the
calm luxury of the Yak &Yeti hotel by mid-morning. As we waited for our
rooms relaxing and napping by the pool, a gathering of high-ranking military
personnel wandered outside to take photos. Most of them looked like Central
American strong-men wearing full fatigues, tall black shiny boots, military
baseball caps and aviator sunglasses.
Goodbye Nepal
After our rooms were ready, I had a sauna and then Ainslie
and I navigated our way through the mayhem of the city streets to a pharmacy to
get a supply of Sudafed for Shelley to cope with the flight the next day. By
this point, she was in the depths of a miserable sounding cold. On the way
back, we saw what looked like a lost but very cute puppy aimlessly wandering along
the chaotically busy thoroughfare and looking up at passers-by as if to say
“will you take me home?”
We had a group celebration dinner at the somewhat famous Rum
Doodle restaurant, about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. It has long been a
gathering place for Himalayan mountaineers and Everest climbers and bears the
signatures and photographs of many of them, including Edmund Hillary. The margaritas
were good but then Mark ordered a bottle of Australian Shiraz of which we only
managed to drink two thirds – among the 12 of us. It was that bad. But the food
was good and we had a fun night.
The next and last day in Khatmandu started with a team breakfast
and a final group meeting which consisted of a thoughtful exercise where we sat
together and passed around ten separate pieces of paper - one for each of us -
where we each took a few minutes to write a personal note to each of our
teammates. I have looked at mine, and its nine separate handwritten messages, a
few times since returning from the trip. I predict that one of my nieces will
throw it out, hopefully about 50 years from now.
In the afternoon, we did some shopping in the Thamel district
of Khatmandu where I confirmed just how poor a negotiator I am with the
purchase of one of Nepal’s most expensive small yak bells. Then back to the Yak
& Yeti, something to eat and some more waiting around. Just before we left
for the airport, Mark recited another brilliant poem, this time a ballad, in
the form of the Robert Service poem The Cremation of Sam McGee. He named it
“Retreat From Kala Patthar”.
With a couple of hours to kill, we attracted considerable
attention in the check-in area of the Khatmandu airport by playing cribbage on
top of a pile of our duffle bags. Card playing is illegal for Nepalese
citizens. Finishing the last game cost me about an hour in the check-in,
immigration and security line-ups. We left on time and arrived in Hong Kong at
daybreak. Those of us going to Toronto had 12 hours before our next and final
flight. I spent the first couple of hours chatting with Janet before her flight
to Vancouver departed and the remaining hours reading, having lunch at
O’Leary’s and wandering the massive airport.
Epilogue: in honour of the porters
who haul freight on the trekking trails
The Things They
Carried is a semi-autobiographical collection of short stories by Tim
O’Brien about a platoon in the Vietnam War. The author was drawn to the small
items – some sentimental, some eccentric and some bizarre – that American
soldiers carried with them to remind them of home or to help transcend them
from the hell of war as time allowed.
On our trek, the trails were quite busy at times as some
50,000 tourists come to the Khumbu valley every year. We learned to step aside
(always to the uphill side) for yaks, donkeys and for the hard-working people
known as porters.
As we encountered these porters who were carrying truly and,
in some cases, literally staggering loads on their backs, I kept thinking that The Things They Carried should really be
a story about Nepalese porters. The size and weight of some of the loads we saw
on the backs of these poor souls defy proper description. Cardboard cases of
dried chicken soup mix stacked eight feet high, massive loads of bottled water,
cases of beer, chocolate bars, fuel cans – all destined to the teahouses where
trekkers like us ate and slept - sheets of plywood, dimensional lumber, rolls of
flooring and carpets, the duffle bags of countless trekkers; we even saw a
porter carrying a full kitchen counter
literally with the kitchen sink installed. Once at a rest stop we counted
the amount of beer in one porter’s load as he was buying something in a shop.
There were 12 cases of 12 beers each; that’s six cases of 24. I don’t buy cases
of 24 anymore because I find them a bit heavy to carry the 25 feet from the
trunk of my car to the back door of the cottage. But carrying six cases up
steep and rocky trails, at altitude and for hours and/or days on end? This
truly is grunt work of the most basic kind. Porters are paid by the kilogram so
they’re motivated to carry as much as they can. Even so, most earn around 1,500
rupees (about $15 USD – which is a high wage compared to the national average)
a day and then they have to eat – usually every day. We were not surprised to
hear that many porters last only a few years before back problems force them
off the trails.
I would like to thank these Nepalese porters for carrying
the food and supplies we consumed at the teahouses. I hope that some improvement
can be made to their remuneration formula – either in the form of higher wages
or lower prices for the meals they need to sustain their bodies.
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